Tiger Wobbler - VIDEO

Well, Hello everybody! So, how has everyone been? Enjoying the Spring Sunshine? - not that it lasted that long!

Today I have a card and a video to share. I needed a birthday card for someone who I discovered like tigers. Having no tigers in my stash, I remembered I had a cat balloon which could be coloured in tiger colours. That's when I had my genius moment about doing a wobble action and decided to capture it all for you - seriously, that was my first ever attempt. You can tell me if you think I've been successful or not!

Hope you can tell which one is the wobble?? 

It was actually quite a simple card to make. Some quick Copic colouring of the 'tigers' on my main panel and some scrap Neenah, and then I die cut out the one I stamped on scrap card. To make the wobble, I die cut two of the smallest of my Spellbinders circle dies, and then wound some picture wire round the end of a Zig marker (coming in handy, just not for their intended purpose of colouring!!!) and snipped it with my jewellery snips (I use these for cutting the wire between dies). 

I attached one end to one of the circles with tape, and then put double sided tape on the back and stuck it to the tiger. I did the same with the other end and then stuck it to the card. Was quite pleased to see it wobbled. Maybe not as much as with one bought from a shop, and I put on too much wire, but, not bad for a first attempt. Just an aside, I wouldn't use these home made wobbles on for cards for children - the wire is quite sharp.

I added a strip of Lawn Fawn paper I found in my stash down the side of an A2 white card and then the panel on the top.

Below is a list of what I used to make this card and where I purchased them. Please note I DO NOT USE affiliate links :)

InLinkz.com

So here's the video to accompany this blog post, and I hope you find it interesting/enjoyable/useful/amusing - let me know what you think. Don't forget I'm still learning ;) 

Oh and a couple of you asked on IG what I thought of the Lawn Fawn Shammy. You'll see me use it in the video. I like it. I don't use it to clean my stamps straight off. I still use my scrubber pad for most inks, and then wipe off with the shammy to remove any remains of the stamp cleaner - I have found it can sometimes leave a little oily residue that can interfere with future inkings. It works really well at removing any traces that might not have scrubbed off. Definitely a good addition to my craft routine. I just keep it in a little IKEA snap seal bag, so it doesn't make any projects I'm working on wet. I take it out if I'm not going to be crafting for a while so it doesn't go mouldy in there :)

Hope you're all having a good week whatever it is you're doing. Thank you for reading and watching!

Sven and the Seven Hills Crafts Challenge

Hello All! Hope everyone has had a great week? I've been missing the 30 Day Colouring Challenge and all the fun of seeing everyone's work, but I know it will be back later in the year so I have something to look forward to. 

I started off the challenge by colouring Sven the incredibly handsome Viking, and I ended up colouring him in on the last day too. That last Inktense coloured image I decided to turn into a card for this month's Seven Hills Crafts Monthly Craft Challenge - I'm not sure I'll manage to top my runner's up spot from last month, but it's worth a try (see my challenge wins list!)

It's a sketch challenge this month, and I kept it simple so everyone can admire Sven's beard.  I coloured him in muted earthy tones and die cut him with a SSS stitched square. I then took a piece scrap Neenah and stamped a tiny heart from my Lawn Fawn Best Pun Ever set in Ranger Classic Cherry several times. I die cut it out  with a small stitched circle.

What a hunk! Anyway, back to the card. I took a piece of Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid, cut slightly smaller than A2 and added some twine around it. I then adhered it to an A2 card base.

I added Sven on top and the heart on foam pads in the corner. It was really very simple!

Below is a list of what I used to make this card and where I purchased them. Please note I DO NOT USE affiliate links :)

InLinkz.com

Thank you so much for reading. Have a great weekend, whatever you are up to :)

NBUS #6 - A Clearly Besotted Pirate Party

Wow! What can I say? I'm not kidding when I tell you I've been bowled over by all your positive comments on my first ever card making video. I do indeed plan on making some more, and you'll be the first to know when one is on its way :)

On to my card! I've been following Darnell for a while now and I love her witty style - the exploits of her 'hamsters' is a hilarious addition to a craft blog. She is incredibly kind and also very talented. Twice a year she runs a challenge known as NBUS - Never Before Used Schtuff - in which she encourages all us hoarders crafters to use all that stuff we've had for ages but never used. I don't have a huge amount yet, but it's growing, so my Lenten buying ban has been rather good at halting this for the time being.

We're already on day 9 of 10, so I took the opportunity to finish up a card I started the other day, using one of my Clearly Besotted sets that I hadn't inked up yet. Shameful!

Those Pirates! I took inspiration from one of my favourite Tintin stories, The Secret of the Unicorn (please don't mention the film, it wasn't a patch on the original works!). I also took inspiration from Kathy Racoosin's first post for the Colouring Challenge - I absolutely love the telescopic look you get from the different layers.

I started out by stamping three images from the Pirate Party set and two birds from Some Birdie Loves You. I coloured them in with Copics (you might have seen it on IG). I then fussy cut them out - I do actually enjoy it!

I then scrabbled around in my scrap box for various shades of green and die cut out several branches from my Concord and 9th Take A Bough die - I only made one little tree last year so it's nice it's being put to good use - and chopped them down to size, and to remove the holes.

I took three pieces of white card stock and die cut three circles from the centre, each of a different size.

Onto a white card base, I adhered some blue polka dot paper from my Lawn Fawn Let's Polka pad to make it look like water. I adhered the treasure chest onto it and three bits of 'seaweed' onto the back of my first aperture and then stuck it on top.

The next two apertures were stuck on with foam tape, as were the pirates, with some of the 'leaves' glued on top to hide them. I added the birds on with sticky red tape and two more leaves on the underside of the top bird. I decided the sentiment should go on the inside.

I've decided to trial using InLinkz for my product lists to save some time. I'm hoping it will make things easier for us both :) Please note I DO NOT use affiliate links. If this ever changes, I will let you know.

InLinkz.com

So I'm linking this up to NBUS #6 on account of the Pirates. I also noticed that the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is about adding a Bit O' Green to your cards and Clearly Besotted, so I'm linking it up to that too.

I loved doing this card - I really love the dimensional nature of it and building that scene.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all continue to have a great week.

Video - Fox and the Moon - Mama Elephant and Altenew - VIDEO

Hello Crafty Chums! Back so soon, you say? Well, I decided to edit the video I did the other day of a similar card to my previous post as a practice - these new things take time when you're heading for 40 and I like to feel comfortable! I showed it to my sister and she told me that I was to go and post it on my blog. I'm a good older sister and do what I'm told, so here I am with my very first card video!

The card is slightly different to my other card, but all the ingredients are the same. I do hope you like it.

Short and sweet today, 'cos it's Mothering Sunday and I have a box of choccies to munch whilst watching rubbish telly for a bit before bed.

Hope you've all had a great weekend! See you again soon.

Muse Challenge #155 + A Thank You!

Hello Again! How are things with you all, Crafty Chums? We've had loads of snow, but it hasn't lasted long, which for me is great, but for my girls, is really boring. Oh to be that age again and appreciate instead of worry how to get to school without falling over!

But, enough of me waffling about the weather, here is a card inspired by the latest Muse Challenge #155. As soon as I saw the balloons I remembered an idea I had to use my Mama Elephant Up and Away set inspired by E.T. - you'll see what I mean below:

Yep, it's that bit with the bicycles and the moon! This involved a lot of different techniques, from masking to heat embossing and distress ink blending to Copic colouring.

I started by making masks of the fox and the balloons. I then stamped them onto my very last piece of Neenah 110lb card stock (I'm using Crafter's Companion at the moment which is fine for blending, but it isn't very thick so an order to SSS is needed!) with Memento Tuxedo Black and masked them off. Using my WRMK Letterpress as a positioning tool, I stamped the moon on top in London Fog, Ocean Waves and then heat embossed with WOW! Bright White.

I then started some distress ink blending (seedless preserves, chipped sapphire, salty ocean) and was geting really into it when I realised I hadn't masked off the moon....... but you know what, I think it turned out rather nice nonetheless! I did then make a mask for the moon and pounced a little Ranger Glacier White pigment ink onto the card around the images as a bit of a halo.

Once blended, I cut out the panel with a Memory Box stitched rectangle die and then did some Copic colouring - I could do with more orangey browns, but that will have to wait until after Easter. A sentiment heat embossed onto the bottom right hand corner and some white and Wink of Stella dots finished the scene. I simply added it to a white card base.

[Supplies: Mama Elephant Up and Away; Altenew To The Moon; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb; Distress Inks Chipped Sapphire and Seedless Preserves; Glacier White Pigment Ink; Versamark Ink; Altenew Ocean Waves; Memento Tuxedo Black and London Fog; Copic Markers - E18, E55, E57, R35, R37, R59; Memory Box Stitched Rectangles; WRMK Letterpress Kit; WRMK Evolution Die Cutting Machine;]

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who commented so positively on my craft room tour video. I now have 10 You Tube subscribers - you crazy (but lovely!) people! I have been working on trying out videos, but as a chaotic crafter with limited time, it's taking me a while to get used to. I also need to work on my set up. I did actually make a video of a similar card to this and was quite pleased with the results until about 5 minutes into the replay I realised you couldn't see half of what I was doing!!! It's a definite learning curve. But I want to get it right for you, so I hope you'll all bear with me.

Oh and I hope you like the new design? I sold a Tattered Lace die and bought a Blogger template. Win win!

Thank you as always for reading and for your wonderful comments. Have a very wonderful weekend whatever you are up to.