It's not easy being green...

My goodness me it's been a while since I blogged here; April 2020 to be precise! A lot has happened since then. We've been in and out of lockdown, we've now got a vaccine, but we also have various new variants. Which brings me onto my card. Variants. Not of the virus kind. 

Given all we went through in 2020, I expected to be feeling a lot more positive coming into 2021 with the vaccine, but another lockdown, another round of home schooling, bubbles bursting, and just more uncertainty has taken its toll on me since January. I've really struggled mentally this year so far.

One thing that has been getting me through various trials are the recent Marvel TV series on Disney+. From WandaVision, to Falcon and the Winter Soldier, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. My latest obsession and by far my favourite, however, is the recently finished, Loki. If you're a fan, you'll get the reference to variants...

It's polarised quite a lot of Marvel fans, but with some fabulous and very engaging performances by the main characters, Tom Hiddleston, Sophia Di Martino and Owen Wilson, a brilliant score and writing, I loved it. Thankfully there will be a Season 2 sometime in the next 18 months, so the cliff hanger ending will get resolved - I hope... I highly recommend for some escapism in trying times, even if it at times isn't so cheery!

I was going through my card making stash, and having a bit of a clear out - some eBaying may be on the horizon - and found in my scrap box, this image of an MFT Viking that I stamped onto some watercolour card ages ago. The stamp is no longer available by the look of things, so I will be hanging onto it. Given Loki is from the Viking myths and legends, it was clearly a sign to use him up at last.

I got my Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils out and spend a happy few minutes colouring him in. It's not quite the fine Asgardian leather that Loki wears in the TV series, but you can't have everything, right? I don't have the die to go with him, so I simply fussy cut and kept him very simple on a green card base with a white background. With coloured images I find simple is best.

I made the card base out of some lovely green cardstock from Stampin' Up, and I ended up with two card bases, so I just carried on and made another simple card with a wax seal I bought from my lovely Etsy buddy Karen. She makes and sells wax seals that you just have to peel and stick to your card - I can get embellishments without the added need to buy more crafty paraphernalia.

Simply done, with some added sequins from Lucy's cards - I have so many and it was hard to part with them, so I'm using them up! - and I have two cards and had a very enjoyable session whilst the children played outside. A win win for everyone.

I hope you have managed to stay sane as much as you can since last April when I last posted, and I hope to be back here a bit more regularly, as I've found card making at least once a month, can really help. Keep going, it's all we can do!

Sweet2Repeat Blog Hop

Welcome to the Sweet2Repeat Blog Hop for the August release. You should have got here from Martha and there is a full list of on the SugarPea Designs blog. 

I didn't get a chance to use the cute Bewitched set during the release, so it didn't take me long to ink them up and have some fun colouring.

Since doing my last Copic colouring class, I've really been trying to work on my no line colouring, so I inked up the witch on her broomstick with some Memento Desert Sand and got colouring away. It's not easy, but I really really love the challenge of trying to work out the shadows and highlights and the end result makes me feel I'm heading in the right direction.

Once I'd finished with my Copics, I added some details in with my Polychromos pencils. They work very well together and the wonderful Marika Rahtu, who sadly no longer does videos, has some great tutorials on her YT channel.

I die cut the witches out and to add some interest in the back panel, I cut out some stars using the Sugar Cut - Star Dust die on some blue card stock and adhered a panel of yellow behind.

I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and popped up the witch and her hat with foam tape before I attached the panel onto a white card blank.

Thank you so much for stopping by today :) 

The Flower Challenge #21 - Use a Previous Challenge

No I haven't gone back to my old days of being on the DT, although I have to say I miss the camaraderie we had, no, I decided after seeing all the great posts from the team and the object of using any previous challenge I couldn't refuse to join in.

This one is for Challenge 17 - CAS. I love CAS and it's a great opportunity to focus on the flower itself. With this one, it's all about the colouring and I even braved some no line as well.

I stamped the Make a Wish image from Clearly Besotted onto some Strathmore Coloured Pencil paper with some yellow memento dye ink. I then got to colouring slowly and with very light layers using my Faber Castell Polychromos, trying my very best to give it some light source. I really struggle with this technique.

I went back in to give it some added depth with some black pencils in all the nooks and crannies as Kathy would say.

I haven't done much in the way of colouring for this current 30 Day Colouring Challenge, so it was nice to sit down and spend some time with me and my colouring medium.

I'm linking this up to the challenge at The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge and also the Flower Challenge #21 Use a Previous Challenge.

Thanks so much for popping by and happy crafting! :) 

Mermaid Week - Day 7 - Honey Bee Stamps - VIDEO

Well, here it is, the last day of Mermaid Week! I hope you've enjoyed all my creations so far. Now this one is special to me because I was given the stamped image on a panel at the very first Colouring Challenge Road Trip in Edinburgh last August. I intend to buy this set as soon as I can - Honey Bee are now being stocked in Dies to Die For - and so I hope you'll forgive me not actually owning it quite yet.

It's a fabulously cheery mermaid and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her. I wanted to give her the coloured pencil treatment and to use my black pencil for highlights and add a stencil around her just like Kathy does.

I have a speed colouring video you can watch here or over on my YT channel:

I used my Polychromos and made sure I sharpened them often. I'm still not too happy with skin tones - I struggle with this with my Copics as well - but I enjoyed the challenge and the practice.

  
Thank you for sticking with me. I have so enjoyed using up my stash in as many different ways as possible and I enjoyed that they all turned out completely different. The only thing in common was that they were mermaids. Adieu Mermaids for a little while at least...

Happy Crafting Everyone!

Dream Big - Clearly Besotted Stamps and Polychromos Pencils - VIDEO

Hello again Everyone. I'm enjoying making videos at the moment, so I have another card from the last Clearly Besotted release (not long now until the new one!) that I've coloured with Polychromos Pencils. I got these for Christmas 18 months ago and I need to get them out of their case more often!

I started by cutting a piece of white card to A2 (US) size and then die cutting it with a stitched rectangle and then with the MFT stitched Peekaboo frame die.

With an A2 white card base and my Precision Press, I stamped the pianist and the curtains in Memento Tuxedo Black. Even though I'm not Copic colouring, it's a nice black ink that dries quickly.

I then proceeded to colour with my pencils, and you can watch it all in the video below or over on my YouTube channel.

I stamped the sentiment on the front with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and then popped it on the card base with foam tape - as you can tell from the video, that didn't quite go to plan, but I'm still pleased with how it all turned out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me today, and I hope to see you all again soon!

Joy to the Chicks and YOU!

Hello Everyone - we made it to Christmas Day! Yay! We made cards, mailed cards, bought presents, wrapped presents and I think everyone is happy - we are all well fed too.

So a very quick share of a card I made with a cute set called Gingerbread Chicks from Stamping Bella. My lovely crafty friend Lisa gave me this for my birthday and I have already made 5 cards with it as it is flexible enough to be used for birthdays and other celebrations.

I forget how well rubber stamps straight away, but in order to keep the images on the same level (you can't see through rubber as well as you can photopolymer!) I drew a line on my piece of water colour card and stamped them above.

I used my new Hahnemuhle card stock and I LOVE it - so nice and thick. I stamped two of the images in archival black ink and then coloured them in with my Polychromos pencils. I love that the images come with an image coloured in and so I tried to match that in my colouring, especially with shadows.

I stamped the sentiment and then die cut the border with a Mama Elephant die. I simply adhered it with foam tape to an A2 (US) card base that I had attached a scrap of Lawn Fawn patterned paper to.

I want to take the opportunity to wish you all an absolutely fabulous Christmas, a thank you for taking the time to visit me on my blog, my YouTube and over on Instagram. I can't thank you enough for helping me to keep going and doing something that keeps me sane when the kids are finally asleep.

Here is a list of the supplies I used on this card. I have signed up to affiliate links on some products (at present only through Simon Says Stamp). If you purchase any item after clicking on an affiliate link, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps to support the cost of running my blog and your support is much appreciated :)

Hahnemuhle Watercolour Paper 300gsm 25 x 32.5cm 40 Sheets

Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black

Gingerbread Chicks - Stamping Bella

Faber Castell Polychromos Artists Pencils - Tin Set of 60 Pencils

Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Winter 6x6 Pad

Mama Elephant Landscape Trio Creative Cut

InLinkz.com

A very Merry Christmas to you all!

30 Day Colouring Challenge + The return of Sven, the Avery Elle Viking

Hello my fellow crafty chums! Another week goes by and finally January is over. I don't know about you but I find January a hard month to get through - I always seem to have so much on - but now we're into February and another colouring challenge is upon us and I get to spend loads of time colouring and crafting - all for fun!

Who else is joining in? I spend a ridiculous amount of time on Instagram during the challenge, so please join me there if you can and say hello. I love seeing what everyone else is doing and get loads of inspiration from all your posts.

Today's card is inspired by Kathy's first post - her amazing kaleidoscope card - and being desperate to try out my Polychromos on water colour card a la Julia Altermann. I coloured in Sven again. I can't seem to stay away from him - he's terribly handsome, suave and charming, just like my husband ;)

Polychromos pencils are amazing. They are even more amazing on water colour card. It's like a light bulb moment and I think I'll use this from now on.

You can see the colour better in this close up of hunky Sven.

I still have a lot to work on, but I like how his beard turned out and will be using these pencils a lot, so a worthwhile investment.

So onto the card itself. I took a 14.5 x14.5 cm card blank and covered it with some patterened paper I won in a giveaway from the lovely and talented Liz McGuire. I then took two white pieces of card slightly smaller than the card front, and using my circle dies, cut out a circle from the centre of each one - one bigger than the other. I fussy cut Sven out (there is a die that goes with it, but I like fussy cutting!) and stuck him in the middle, using multi medium matte glue and placed the smaller aperture on top with double sided tape. I then attached the larger aperture on top with foam pads for dimension. 

The heart I found in a pack of scrap booking bits that also came from Liz. I attached it with foam pads - had to be done!

I don't usually go all out for Valentine's Day, but I thought I might as well get into the spirit of things and have loads to choose from for my husband :)

[Supplies: Avery Elle Viking; Faber Castell Polychromos pencils; Ranger Archival Jet Black ink; WH Smith Water colour paper 12 sheets; White card blank; white card 250gsm; Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large; Foam Pads; Ranger multi medium matte; Double sided tape; Paper pad and heart from stash]

I hope you're going to get involved in the challenge - it is a lot of fun and colouring is so relaxing. 5 minutes a day in a colouring book is all that is required :)

Don't forget the latest release for Clearly Besotted is due on Friday at 10pm - the pirates are on my list!

Have a crafty week and a very crafty colouring month! Thanks so much for reading :)

Edit: I noticed that this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is all about hearts, so I thought I'd link him up too :)