I'm still playing...

...with the LOTV images I bought.

I did buy rather a lot LOL...so it is taking me quite a while to work my way through them.

I have loved this image for quite some time so when LOTV had one of their super sales - it was a "no brainer" that this would be amongst my selection...

...I didn't go for a traditional colour scheme on this (although I do love the samples I've seen with this little miss in Christmas red) but went for blues & pinks. I still have some papers from the "Silver Bells" range that I think will work well.

I am still woefully behind with my Christmas cards but I think I have most of my presents sorted.

So better get a move on with my card makes otherwise it will be the usual panic session taking place to get them all done.......................................

Some more...

...LOTV cuties.

I have been meaning to get some of the LOTV calendar fairies and finally treated myself during one of their recent sales. I haven't made any cards with the images yet but I have been playing with a bit of colouring.

This little miss is so cute playing around in the fallen leaves...

 ...she was such fun to colour but don't look too closely. I decided to add a bit of sparkle after I had fussy cut the image and horror of horrors - I dropped the Spectrum sparkle pen lid and it had ink inside which splashed all over the place (including my image). Most mopped off but my little miss has rather a 'glow' around her neck & chin area...oops.

With Halloween fast approaching, this little cutie is just perfect...

...I think she is destined for a treat bag rather than a card - I kept the sparkle pens away from this one LOL.

Autumn has certainly arrived in my neck of the woods. ......................................

It's turned out...

...nice Mice again.

For some reason, the shade of where I was sitting on Tuesday made my photos look very 'blue' so I had to re-do them.

By the time I got around to snapping these little cuties again...

...I had already fussy-cut them so that they are ready for use on the blank cards that I will be using.

This little miss really is blue...

...and is just waiting for a bit of bling on her wings to finish her off.

I did do another version of this image using traditional Red/Green but I think I deleted the wrong copy from my camera when I was getting rid of the 'iffy' photos taken in the shade - what a numpty.

The recent "Christmas in July" event over at Bugaboo Stamps made me realise that time is ticking away and I really don't have nearly enough Chrimbo cards for my needs. So I'd better 'pull my finger out' and 'get a move on'.....................................................................

Colouring ready for...

...Christmas.

I mean, what else would you be doing when the temperature is hitting 33C by 10am in the morning.

Tuesday morning the temperatures were soring and the perfect place to be was sat on one of the benches by the green over at Barleylands. The bench was nicely shaded and just right for sitting and doing a bit of colouring.

In all this heat you don't really want to be thinking about "Snow" so the tropical Santa's came out to play...

...don't you just love Santa in his 'shades'. This image also reminds me of how we used to bury Dad when we went to the beach LOL...

...at least Santa doesn't look as if he minds.
Sunny days means Pimms or fancy cocktails with umbrellas...

...so why should Santa be any different.
Of course, when it is hot the best way to cool down is with a quick dip...

 ...both the snorkeling Santa and the rubber ring Santa...

...are such fun - do you think that Santa's beard gets matted in all that salt water and just think of having to comb out all that sand...

I had a lovely hour or so on Tuesday sitting in the sunshine and then Friday I went back because I was meeting my friend Hilary for lunch & a natter. We had a lot to catch up on as we had missed each other the previous weekend (I had left my mobile at work and as a result didn't get her text asking if we were lunching on the Saturday).

After lunch, Hilary went off to her parchment class and I sat in the courtyard merrily colouring away.........................................................................

Christmas in July...

...has arrived over at Bugaboo Stamps.

This post will stay at the top until the event is over - please scroll down to see new posts.

Details of the week-long event that started yesterday (Sat 9 July) can be found here.

There are lots of prizes. The fun challenges that will go 'live' with a link on a daily basis and you can hop over to the site to see what everyone is up to here and then scroll down to the relevant day as the information post will stay at the top of their blog.

This post will stay at the top of my blog for the week of the event and I will add my 'makes' as I go...so this post will grow as the week goes on. The daily challenges are listed below and I will add my photos as the challenge goes live - I'm hoping that I manage to get them all done; we shall see.

Saturday, July 9 – A Theme Challenge – 

 

My 'day-one' make features both snowflakes & a snowman...

...the post showing all the entries & DT samples can be found here.

 

 

Sunday, July 10 - Sketch

 

Day two and we have a sketch to follow...

...and I decided to go for a fairly CAS look, although there is plenty of bling & sparkle. Here is the link for day two's post over at the Catch the Bug blog. 

Monday, July 11 – 

 

 

Day three is asking for tags, so here we go...

 



 

...a couple of tags (I actually got to play with my new tag punch) and the post can be found here.

 



Tuesday, July 12- New Release + Bingo

 

Day four and I had to use a JJ image...

...and the bingo line that I went for was "Sparkly/Bugaboo image/Lime green". The image is obvious (I do so love the JJ images), there is lime green on the image & the embellies and there are sparkly flat-back gems and a bit of foiling to round off. I think that just about covers it. The day four entries can be found here.



Wednesday, July 13 - Humor Me Wednesday + 

Day five and a bit of a recipe to follow...

 

...some scallops (used my threading water border punch), bling (red gems & stickles) and layers (red tartan card). The post where you can see all the entries is here.



 

Thursday, July 14 - Oldie But Goodie + Photo Challenge

 

Day six, well the holiday Santa's had to come out...

 

 

...and the photo of the flip-flops made me think of Santa with his surf-board. Take a look here at what other folk came up with.

Friday, July 15 - Friday Freebie and Color challenge

Last but not least is the Day seven challenge which as you can see involves a selection of colours...

...and as you can see, they all appear in the coloured image that I used. If you want to see what the DT came up with, take a look here.

Phew, I actually managed all seven challenges. I really didn't think I was going to get there as this week has just flown by

 

Let's see how many I manage...well folks it is all seven, so I now have another seven Chrimbo cards to add to this year's stock.

 

But that's it for "Christmas in July 2016" - I hope some of you were able to play along too.................

What a numpty...

...I was.

One of the things that I packed for my weekend away was my G45 folio using the "Christmas Carol" papers - I really wanted to get it finished so I packed everything into a storage box so that I would have everything to hand...or so I thought.

When I opened the box and got everything out, there was a very noticeable lack of G45 papers - Yep, I'd packed the embellies, the folio and the bits I'd cut out ready but somehow managed to leave the papers at home.

Everything got put back in the box.

Out came the colouring again.

This little Christmas Elf was a stamp that I couldn't resist...

 ...I tried her first off in some icy blues...

 ...and then had a bit of a play with my new "stitched" square nesting die set. But as I often do with Christmas images...

...I had to try it in a different colour combo...

 ...but didn't finish her off as I couldn't make up my mind on what other colours to use.
My "Fairy - Betty Boots" made another appearance...

 ...I do love this stamp...

...and this time I played with peach & chocolate shades.
I had this digi Saturated Canary image in my folder...

 ...so she got coloured - I think this is the first time I've coloured this one.
I grabbed another Christmas digi to have a play with...

 ...I have coloured this one once before but I was playing with my new Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens at the time. On this occasion...

 ...I used just Copics.
This Saturated Canary digi has seen quite a bit of use since I got her last year...

...and I do love trying different colour combos - different mixes of clothing and hair colourings give this a very different look each time.

So that was some more colouring done but there was more and that will shared in another post.........................................................................

A blissful day...

...of colouring and catching up with friends.

The workshop at Pinnacle Crafts on Saturday was all about colouring. Andy (Pearson) had organised a day for folk to come along and enjoy a day of colouring and perhaps try out some colour combos or techniques that are usually outside of their comfort zone.

The first image we played with was very much a fun item...

...beach huts can be very bright and colourful...

...or a little more 'shabby'. I don't tend to use long, flicking strokes when I colour so this was a bit of a play for me - doing something that I don't often do.
Whilst folk were finishing off their beach huts, I had a go at this Mo Manning image...

 ...Penny Black have released 3 new Mo Manning images and this one that I found in Andy's stamp storage appeared to be of a similar theme but from an earlier release.
Most of the ladies had moved onto a butterfly image but I'm not overly keen on butterflies so I dug out a digi I had with me...

 ...this Saturated Canary image (I think it is called 'wine time') was a freebie with a magazine that has since ceased. I love this image and have coloured her quite a few times.
Although not a great fan of butterflies, I decided to have a go...

 ...mainly because it used the long, flick strokes again. The colours used on this butterfly were the Warm Greys from the Copic Ciao range of pens.

These were the finished images...

...I added some clear sparkle pen (Spectrum) to the lips and wine glass just to finish it off but it doesn't really show in the photo.

The last image that I started at the workshop was this elephant from a set of stamps by Hobby Art...

...I had only completed the head at the workshop but this is after a bit more colouring at home. It still requires some shading to a few areas (evening light isn't the best for this type of colouring) so it is not quite finished but I'm very pleased with the way it is coming along.

The café re-opened in the week but neither Hilary nor I were certain about the opening times. I arrived just after 9.00am and it was open and already doing a fair trade with the stall holders from the Farmer's Market. Toast & Raspberry jam with a latte went down very well - did I mention that the new owners are 'Tiptree Jams' (fabulous display of jams & chutneys for sale). Lunch time Hilary & I had Jacket potatoes & prawns and a lovely natter and then after class we popped back for a coffee and to purchase some of the lovely jams.

At the moment the café is offering self service only but at Easter they will be opening the rest of the restaurant area and waitress service will be available in that part - something to look forward to.

A fabulous day. Thank you Andy for a lovely workshop and thank you Hilary for a lovely natter.

The next workshop isn't for a couple of weeks but I think it is going to be one of Andy's messy ones as it involves ink - a fun day to look forward to............................................

First full week...

...back at work.

What a nightmare!!!

On the craft front, there hasn't been much time to 'play' as the new rail timetable is still causing problems so sitting down and actually getting my craft stash out hasn't been high on my list of priorities. However, I did need to make a card for a friend.

This little miss was already coloured so I grabbed some PPs...

...some kraft CS and a selection of flowers and this was the finished result.

There was a bonus to making this card - everything came out of my scrap box so my 2016 aim to use up more of my old stash is off to a good start..............................................

Do you want...

...to get organised in 2016?

The lovely Kerryanne English over at the "Shabby Art Boutique" has a lovely set of free printables available so that you can create your own 2016 Planner.

Starting with a pretty Victorian style calendar she is intending to post links to a variety of printables over the course of the coming week and then she will have a tutorial about putting together a planner - in case you need some ideas.

If you are interested, do hop over to Kerryanne's blog and take a look. You can use the link above or just press the pretty button over on my sidebar...................................................

Finally managed...

...to get Hilary's card finished.

Hilary loves lavender/mauve shades so that is what I went with...

...the image is coloured with Copics and is the Christmas Fairy digi from Bugaboo Stamps.
I also got her present a wrapped up and found some ribbon that makes pretty bows...

...just by pulling the two narrow tails sandwiched between two layers of the dotty organza.
I love using tartan patterns at this time of the year and the background of the card is some CS I found in mauve tartan...

...and although it doesn't show very well in the photo there is Cosmic Shimmer 'Twinkles' on the wings and on the snowy ground.

I love this image as it is fun to colour and I've done versions in lots of different colourways.

Unfortunately, I think I got my dates confused with Hilary's last parchment class and my last crop so we will not be able to meet up as planned. Joanne & Paul (Pinnacle Crafts) very kindly said they would pass everything on to Hilary this week when she comes in to her class.

I'm frantically wrapping presents and at the moment my lounge looks like there has been an explosion in a paper factory - good job I can close the door LOL

Most of the presents for work have been wrapped and are sitting under the tree in our office but family currently have gift bags with some items wrapped and others still awaiting attention.

It can't be the 9th already, surely.............................................................

It's been a while...

...since "Stella" saw some colour.

I have a lot of Bugaboo digi images but not that many from the 'Stella' range. I tend to reach for "JJ" or one of the cutie type images so I thought it was time to get Stella out again.

Coloured with Copics...

 ...rough cut...

 ...add a bit of bling/sparkle...

...mount on 3D foam - and there you go.

I've made several Christmas cards so far but there are still more to make and time seems to be running away.

How are you all doing with your Chrimbo makes?.................................................................