Creating Monsters

I've been admiring the work of my friend Andrea over at www.stampinmoments.com while there, I fell in love with the Lil Monster by Annabelle Stamps and all the beautiful cards Andrea had created with him.......and I just had to add him to my collection of toys. The first card I created with him was very much inspired by Andrea - I took her fabulous idea of replacing the balloon in his hand with a flower.


Copics Used:
Monster - E31, E33, E35
Jumper - B93, B95, B97
Crown - YG63, YG67
I also coloured a white paper flower with B95 - the patterened paper is from my old Stampin'Up stash, the sentiment is also from Stampin'Up - Oval All set.

I've actually done lots of blog hopping lately and as always, it sparks another addiction LOL! - my newest being Hanglar Stanglar Stamps -
how cute are these little Scandinavian images?? - I so NEEDED to add these little beauties to my collection.....there was a slight problem though, they are only available in Sweden, Finland and Norway...but I am grateful for student exchange programs and friends in just the right places... 'cos this allowed my new addiction to become a reality!! - lucky me!! - so without further ado, I introduce my first Hanglar Stanglar cutie to you. This is Sommartjej ( Summer Girl ) from the 2008 collection.


to colour her I used RV10, RV13, RV21, B93, B95, B97 - the blue patterned paper is from the Kaisercraft - Lovestruck range
( very apt!! ) and the pink paper from EK Success is called Pollyanna - the large pink rosebuds are from Prima's fairytale collection.

While on the subject of creating monsters and finding new addictions - my eldest daughter has decided to try her hand at some Copic Colouring and card making - these are her first ever creations and now I am a little frightened that I may have to share my toys - not sure how I am going to handle that LOL!! - but it was fun to "play" with her and she did a fabulous job.

A Touch of Purple...

..paper lace and lots of flowers!! If I had to pick my least favourite colour it would have to be purple, as a stand alone colour, I am not it's greatest fan. However, co-ordinate it with green, lemon and a splash of blue and I can be tempted to change my mind LOL!! My latest card creations are all made up of shades of purple and despite it not being a favourite colour, I'm happy with the results....even though I went a little overboard with my flower embellishments!!
I'm not sure of the correct name of this little Miss Tilda from Magnolia Stamps. I stamped the image when I borrowed my friend Judy's collection - thanks Judy!
I coloured her in using my Copics - BV00, BV02, BV04, BO2 and BO3 as I did on all three of these cards. However, I used my Lavender Spica Marker to add some glittery highlights to her dress. The patterned paper is from the Kaisercraft Utopia Collection - called Idyllic and it is don't you think???



This card is another of Judy's images - yes, she is a good friend!! and is called Rainy Day Emma from C.C. Designs - very apt for the wet weather we are experiencing at the moment. The yellow printed paper is from the "Count Me In" collection from Sassafras and the lilac is from a stash of Stampin Up paper I found in my cupboards ;)



...and my final card from this weekend's playtime is a Swiss Miss from C.C.Designs - Heidi Among the Flowers - I used lots of clear kiddy glitz on this card and again used some of the Utopia Collection of papers from Kaisercraft - this one is called Paradise. I also used my white gel pen to add lots of highlights to her dress and the flowers.



On my craft show travels (over many years!) I have collected all sorts of "odds & sods" that I might one day use. My latest find, amongst these treasures was some adhesive lace I purchased many moons ago!! I used it on all these cards and am sadly getting to the end of what I have...so, if any of you lovely blog readers of mine come across some in your own craft travels could you let me know?? - I would be forever grateful. xx

Digital Playtime

I've packed up my copics and my stamps and hit the world of digital scrapbooking again....well that is the way it may appear - but it is not "techinically" true. I have a heap of stamped images ready to colour and some wonderful new Digital kits to play with so I am alternating between the two. My latest digital kits are by designer Amy Teets and you will find her lovely work over at www.fortheluvofart.com.
One of the things I love about Spring is all the wonderful photo opportunities it gives me and my camera! - Gods best work is produced at this time of year...the Spring Fling Mini Kit by Amy is full of beautiful spring colour and is the perfect colour palette for my photos.


I also used another kit by Amy - It's a Family Affair Scrapkit for this photo of my daughters - this pic is one of my all time favourites and I love using it - it features in a number of layouts in many of my scrapbook projects. Don't you love the quote embellishment? - it says it all...and if you want to add this kit to your collection it is currently on sale at www.fortheluvofart.com

Anything But A Card

The current challenge at www.madformarkers.com.au is to create "anything but a card" but you must use your Copic Markers on your creation. I chose to make a little desktop calendar it was so much fun and very easy to do.



I love the little Tilda characters from Magnolia Stamps so I chose "Sweet Tilda" from the Raising the Ceiling Collection & Right Through My Heart Collection 2010.

To colour her, I used the following Copic Colours:

Skin - E00, E51, E21,
Cheeks - R20 - (Highlighted with a White Gel Pen)
Hair & Shoes - E31, E33, E35
Dress - YG00, YG03, RV10, RV02, RV06 (Highlighted with Pink Spica)

I then scored a white A4 sheet of cardstock at 3 places 1.5 cm from the top - then again at 12cm and 4cm intervals and folded into my calendar base. I decorated the front of my calendar base in the same shades of Pink and Green as "Sweet Tilda's" dress. I used Coredinations Cardstock in Apple and St. Valentino and from the Kaisercraft Hey Birdie Collection of printed paper I cut my 2 tree embellishments - the larger one I adhered direct to the background and the smaller one I adhered using foam adhesive.I added some rhinestones to both trees to add some extra dimension - the smaller tree orginally had clear rhinestones but I changed the colour to green; using my YG03 Copic Marker. I used a white gel pen to add stitch lines to the green background and the trees. Next I handcut around my "Sweet Tilda" also adhering her with foam adhesive to the background. Lastly, I added my Calendar Pad ( size 50mm x 80mm - mounted on pink cardstock and printed paper ) and for my finishing touches some silk flowers.

Digi Stamp Image

I am honoured to be a guest designer for www.madformarkers.com.au during the month of October....so exciting to have this sort of recognition for one so "new" to the world of copic markers.

The current blog challenge is to colour in a digital stamp image. I chose Spring Flower a little Chibis Digital Stamp designed by Star at www.speschstamps.com. To colour the image I used the following Copic Colours:

Skin - E00, E51, E21, R20

Hair - E33, E35, E37 ( which are my all time favourite hair colours! )

Eyes - BG01, BG05

Dress - BV00, BV02, BV04

Flowers & Leaves - R32, R35, YR02, YR04, YG45, YG63




I pieced together the card using some "Salmon" coloured cardstock and some printed paper designs from Basic Grey's Olivia Range. I also resurrected from my "Tools Archive" some Sizzlets Hawaiian Flower Dies and a Carl Leaf Punch to use for my embellishments.( I seriously can't remember when I last used them ) I then cut the flowers out of my scraps of white X-Press IT Blending Card then coloured them in with the same copic colours I used for the flowers in the digi stamp image. I also coloured in my circle sentiment using these colours - that is one of the things I LOVE about my copics, I can always have, perfect colour co-ordinated embellisments on my card creations! I adhered all the embellishments to the card using some foam adhesive and added some orange/yellow coloured faux pearls to the centre of the flowers. I think this little bit of dimension, finishes the card off beautifully.

Don't forget to pop over to www.madformarkers.blogspot.com and check out all the other gorgeous digi stamp images and creations designed by a bunch of talented card makers across the globe

More Card Creations

I do have some digital layouts to share with you in the next few days but in the meantime I have have finished a few more cards - all photographed ready for "show & tell"

While the Magnolia Stamps are a true favourite of mine...I've also experimented with images from The Greeting Farm and C.C.Designs - today's card was using "Sing" a cute Greeting Farm figure. I also dusted off my Hawaiian Flower Sizzlet dies - to embellish this card - they haven't been used for years!! - but were the perfect finishing touch for this card - the sentiment is from one of the very first Stampin' Up sets I purchased "Sincere Salutations" - so yes! all the "toys" in my collection always make there way back to the "playground" ;)





Tilda with Cat - love this stamp!!... reminds me of the way my daughters would walk around with our kitty when they were little....I decided to add some dimension to this card by stamping two images of the kitty's head and then cut one out and adhered it over the top of the other....cool effect. Copics used to colour in Miss Tila's clothing were B93, B95, B97, YG64, YG67 - they co-ordinated beautifully with the checked paper from BasicGrey's Olivia range.


...as soon as I saw this Chinese Tilda Stamp from Magnolia's Bon Voyage Collection 2010, I knew I had to add it to my ever growing "stash" of these stamps. I have a bit of a soft spot for Asian art in black and red tones and this is what I wanted to create with this card...I'm ok with the results but I'm not all together pleased with how the parasol turned out - looks like I need some more lessons in colouring in LOL!!

All that Glitters & Shines...

..yes my latest card creations are all about glitter, gold and all that sparkles! My parents celebrate their 5oth Wedding Anniversary next weekend and I wanted to make a card that highlights how special a Golden Wedding Anniversary is. I used the "only" wedding stamp I own - Tilda & Edward the Loving Couple from Magnolia's Wedding Collection 2010 and combined it with lots of metallic gold paper and some fairytale rosebuds to which I added a little Crystalina Kindyglitz - I'm actually pretty pleased with the finished product ;)- what do you think??


I usually use my warm gray copics for background shading but this time I used them to colour the brides dress and they worked a treat... came up with the antique "off white" look I wanted to create


I also splashed around a lot of KindyGlitz on this card too! - this stamp is a new one, added to my collection a couple of weeks ago - she is Brigitta on a Tree Stump a Swiss Pixie from C.C. Designs - the white card I made from Quill's Galaxy Board in Galactic White it has a glitter finish to it. It is a little hard to see in the photograph but it does glisten & shine in the light - I love it!
The copic colours I used were inspired by some other examples I have seen using this stamp and the bright coloured Prima flowers sitting on my shelf. The Thankyou Stamp is from Stampin' Up's Oval All collection and I used a scallop punch to cut it out. I added rhinestones to my flower embellishments, then coated with a bit more Kindyglitz - maybe I over did it with the glitter?? - LOL!! but whenever I think of fairies - I think glitter!!