A little bit of...

..Christmas stash.

I suppose I'm not the only one to have a purse full of 'loyalty cards'. I have various supermarkets, coffee shops, chemists, craft shops etc. and for those that don't have 'plastic', I have the cards that get stamped every time I spend over a certain amount.

For some folk this may seem like a bit of a faff but it is surprising how those savings can mount up.

This week I had a little spend on some Christmas stash in The Works...

...and this little lot didn't cost as much as you would think because I had £6 to spend on my loyalty card.

Loyalty cards can often entitle you to other benefits - special promotions, freebies - which all help to stretch the budget so make them work for you.

In the meantime, I'd better stop stroking this little lot and actually put it to some use........................................................

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...................................................

Fiskars...

...Power Punches.

I was lucky enough to win one of the new Fiskars punches when the lovely Kath Stewart had a giveaway over on her blog. It arrived yesterday and I hope to have a lovely play with it this weekend.

Kath can often be seen at the NEC on the Fiskars stand and this was her box of new goodies that she will be 'playing' with to make samples and things...

...the punch I won is the same as the one right at the front of the box - a flower.

Kath is currently playing with some spooky Tim Holtz stuff before prepping her next lot of classes/workshops - do hop over to her blog to take a look.

Thank you Kath, I will have fun trying my punch on lots of different materials........................

Digi images...

...from a number of sources.

I have lots of digi images and they come from a variety of companies. This collection of images that I coloured today are an example...

...there is a Polkadoodles image, one from Bugaboo and a couple from KennyK.
This KennyK image was a newsletter freebie for August...

 ...I think she is such fun and decided to have a play with a couple of different colour combos...

 ...in both I've used colours that will work well with the G45 papers in the Rare Oddities collection.
This was another of my winnings from Bugaboo...

 ...she is called Strength Fairy and for some reason she made me think of the pop singer 'Pink' - hence the colour choice.
A while back, Polksdoodles did some digi images of their design team...

...this one was Kath Stewart and her golden bundle of furriness, Buddy.

All the images were coloured using Copics.

Did anyone see the Tonic pens that were on Create & Craft the other day?

I would love to have a play with them as they are a rather unusual shape and I was wondering if they would be any better for when the old arfa-ritis plays up. I mean, there's only 36 of them so not too many to add to my existing collection of pens LOL...............................................

Coffee...

...and a cuddle.

Another digi Saturated Canary image from the Complete Cardmaking CD.

This was just a quick bit of colouring and I wanted to try out some 'scruffy fur' on the cute little kitty on the coffee container...

...although not as dark as my Sister's cat, I think this will make the perfect image for my Sister's birthday at the end of July.

My Sister is a bit of a coffee addict (just like me) and her cat always chooses to jump on her lap just as she sits down with a coffee or is trying to "help" with the making process out in the kitchen.

Most definitely the perfect topper for her card................................................................

It's the most...

...wonderful time of the year.

Now if you are of a certain age and can remember the Andy Williams Christmas Specials that appeared on the TV, you will be humming along to that song the same as I am...

As I was checking my emails this morning, one arrived from Starbucks - advising me that if I went into my local store today and uttered the words "It's the most wonderful time of the year" when I made a purchase I could be lucky and receive a free Christmas mug.

Look what I got...

...not bad for just remembering a line from a song - these normally retail at around £10 and I received it for nothing, zilch, nowt. Did any of you manage to get one?

So once again Starbucks - Thank You - this really is the "Hap, happiest season of all".

I'm doing a happy dance at the moment but hope the tune doesn't stay in your head for too long **chuckle**....................................................................................................................

I came home to...

...two lovely envelopes the other day.

The first was my surprise goodie from the Lili of the Valley inspiration site. I was lucky enough to be chosen in one of the daily draws and the lovely Erica sent me one of the current Christmas stamps - Window Seat. It is so cute. Pop over here to take a look at the stamp I mean and you will also see a lovely creation from their DT. More colouring this weekend, for sure.

The second envelope contained some Stick it - a sheet adhesive that is designed to help you stick down all those fiddly die-cuts...

...Kath Stewart was giving away sheets to four lucky winners over on her blog and I was one of them.
Thank you Kath, I will enjoy 'playing'.

The weather certainly has turned Autumnal in true British fashion - dull, chilly, wet days...although at this moment in time, there is actually some blue sky & sunshine. Wonder how long that will last..................................................................

Ignacio has worked his magic...

...just look at what he did.

With a bit of techy whizziness...

...the photo of the journal looks much better (one day I will learn how to do stuff like this).

 

However, take a look at these...





 ...one bright image on white CS...

 ...and one muted image on kraft CS. Ignatio has cleverly used my coloured images on the vintage library card digi set. He has also very kindly offered this one as a Freebie for a limited period...

...so if you haven't already had a hop over there to take a look at all the super work done by the DT, you really should go and take a look and you can pick up a Freebie whilst you are there. You can hop over to the Nicecrane blog here..............................................................................

Happy, Happy...

...Happy Mail.

Kath Stewart (Kath's blog) recently offered a super Craftworks Cards Giveaway on her blog. I was the lucky winner and I came home from work yesterday to this bundle of loveliness...

...the Paper Couture collections is fabulous...

 ...beautiful double sided PPs in the most delish colours...

...the bundle also contained wonderful blooms, pearls and matching ribbons...

...and to complete the set there are super die-cut sheets as well as some wonderful inspiration sheets.

Kath has made an amazing desk-tidy/craft caddy with one of the new Craftwork Cards collections (take a look on her blog) and I am seriously considering making something similar with this bundle of goodies. I have to stress the "thinking about". At the moment I am still drooling over & stroking this fabulous piece of Happy Mail...Thank you Kath.....................................................................

Lucky...

...Lucky me!

The folk over at Polkadoodles recently had a Blog Hop to celebrate their 5th Birthday. At each of the DT blogs there was the opportunity to collect a freebie digi stamp of that DT member.

At the blog of the lovely Enfys Cashmore "Going Buggy" there was the chance to win one of the 'Work & Play' CD ROMs...and guess who was one of the lucky winners...yep, ME!!!

In super quick time the CD arrived - it was waiting on the door mat when I got home Wednesday evening. I have won the 'Collection 2' CD...

...which is just perfect as amongst the characters there is a Soldier (I have family in the Army), a Ballerina (I used to be a dancer) and an Office worker - I work in an office. How fab is that.

So a very big thank you to Enfys for such a fabulous gift. I am a very happy bunny.........................

Happy 5th Birthday to...

...Polkadoodles.

The folk over at Polkadoodles are celebrating with a blog hop that involves some super freebies along the way and a grand prize for someone picked at random.

You really do need to hop on over there to be able to join in the fun.

Wishing everyone at Polkadoodles a very Happy Birthday.....................................................................

Going Buggy...

...is having a Giveaway.

The lovely Enfys is having a giveaway of some goodies she brought back with her from her recent trip to the USA. Hop on over to her blog to take a look.

There are two different sets of goodies to be drawn depending on where in the World you are.

Do hop over there to take a look at how you could be in with a chance...and whilst you are there, take a look at the lovely cards she creates...........................................................

Time to share a card...

...and a freebie.

I showed you in the previous post this lovely image of a little miss holding a Windflower. It was a delight to colour and thought that I really should make it into a card.

There are two lovely sets of images that you can grab from the Nicecrane Design site.

This is the B/W digi-stamp sheet containing five charming images ready to be coloured...

...and if you would like your own set of images, you can get them here. Remember, as they are digital images you can print them onto the paper/cardstock of your choice and then colour them using your favourite medium. I use alcohol pens but you could use water colours, pencils - whatever you prefer.
However, I know that not everyone likes to colour - or perhaps doesn't have the time to do so...

...not to worry, because the design sheet comes in a pre-coloured version that you can grab here.

Now I mentioned making a card and here it is...

...and as the image was coloured in lavenders & purples, I decided to carry the colour scheme through to the body of the card. The base card is smooth white CS (A4 folded in half to create an A5 card) and the edges were inked with 'Wisteria' - a shade in the new Mixed Media ink pad range from Colorbox.
The background PP is from a 12x12 stack by DCWV. I roughed-up the edges and applied more of the wisteria ink...

...the leaf spray is a Memory Box die called Lavish Branch and I cut it in white CS and purple holographic miri card. The flower is constructed from the two smallest pieces cut by the Sizzix "Tattered Floral" die - more inking on the edges and held together with a brad. The sparkly droplets are sticky-backed domes from Papermania.
The fancy corner in the top corner of the card is cut using a Tonic die - from the set "Deco Frame - Ivy". Again it was double cut and the two layers attached to the card slightly unevenly...

...the image itself was inked around the edge and attached to a matt of the purple miri card before being attached to the card.

That's my card creation but look what Ignacio was able to do digitally over on the Nicecrane Design blog...

...doesn't it look super.
Ignacio has also been very generous - remember I showed you this image in my last post...

 

...well, Ignacio has very kindly offered the image as a freebie - thank you so much Ignacio...

...just right-click on the image above and save . Windflowers come in lots of lovely colours so I would love to see what colour you decide to use on your version. Do please pop back and leave me a comment so that I can come and see what you have created with this lovely image...........................

 

 

 



Another Step-by-Step...

...and news of a new Facebook group.

Ignacio (Nicecrane Designs) asked me if I would do another tutorial with an image that he had offered as a freebie to one of my fellow 'teamies' for her new facebook group. When I saw this adorable image, how could I say no...

...and if you would like to try colouring this image you can find it here.

The image is so lovely - I had it downloaded and printed off in the blink of an eye...

...then I had to decide how I was going to set about colouring it in.
Starting with the sky, I gave the whole area a gentle swipe of colour using the chisel end of my pens...

 ...I was pleased with the result that I had achieved with my Fairies and Angels image (previous post) so I decided to stick with the same colours...

...in fact, there were just two colours BT1 (Blue Turquoise) and FS8 (Flesh) - oops, didn't realise the pen was round the wrong way - and the blender pen to bring them together. FS8 is quite a strong colour so I used the blender pen to dampen the area where I wanted this shade and then very gently swiped the colour across. I then used the blender to even out any areas where the pen caught a little too much. At this point the sky was very pale but that is the joy of alcohol pens - you can come back and build up the colour later (if you want).
There was an overhanging branch in the top left corner which I completed next so that I wouldn't be rubbing my hand over the main part of the coloured image later...

 ...I used TN4 (Tan) for the wood, DG1/2/3 (Dull Green) for the leaves and FS1 & 8 for the blossom. You can see that the colour has bled a little - this helps to soften the look of the blossom.
The next stage was to give the ground some colour by swiping with the chisel end of CG3 (Citrus Green)...

 ...the fence and seed bag were also given a hint of colour using EB1 (Earth Brown).
The large areas of grassland were given a quick swipe of DG1 - I have left some of the streaks showing to give texture. The hedges and blades of grass were coloured with the bullet end of the pens in DG2 & 3. The brambles in the bottom right corner were give more detail using CG2 & 3 along with a touch of GB3 & 5 (Gold Brown)...

...the basket was given some colour using some of the Tan shades and I started to add colour to the dog using IG1 & 3 (Ice Grey). A bit of shading was added to the fence...

...the EB2 and GB8 look quite harsh here but by using the EB1 over the top the shades start to blend together.
A touch of BG1 & 3 (Brown Grey) was added to the dog...

 ...and the first shade was added to the skin areas...

 ...FS1 is used here for the first of the fleshtones.
Here is my little copper-headed miss. Shades used to achieve the hair colour are TN1, GB1/6/7...

 ...the smock of the other child was coloured using BGR1 & 3 (Blue Grey) with a touch of TB6 (True Blue). Now this is another area where I made good use of the blender. BGR1 all over and BGR3 for the shadows was rather flat so the blender was used to smooth the shades into each other and to take some of the colour away where the 'light' would be hitting - it also helps to give a slightly faded and worn look. The TB6 was just used to pick out the smocking across the top.
I used GT1/2/3 (Green Turquoise) for the dress of my little redhead...

 ...on this occasion, I started with the two darker shades to highlight the creases and shadows and then used the lightest shade to colour over the top and blend the shades together.
The second child has been coloured as a blond using GB8 & 9 and CT2 (Citrus). A little IG1 to give the children's socks a bit of shape, some blender to take away some of the orangey hews from the basket and a little more BT1 added to the sky...

...and there you have it - all done.
So if you would like to give this a go, don't forget you can grab this freebie...

...by using the link under the B/W image at the top of this post.

Now folks that visit here on a regular basis know that I don't 'do' Facebook. However, my fellow DT member Ginny is setting up a "Christian Card-makers around the World" group over on Facebook and as I know many of you are on Facebook I thought you might want to go and take a look. You can hop over to Ginny's blog to find out more details or go directly to the Facebook group via;

http://www.facebook.com/groups/610077695743800/

Ginny has some super stuff on her blog so I'm sure you will find more goodies on the Facebook group...................................................................................................

A bit more colouring and a Freebie...

...to help get you in the mood.

Nicecrane Designs have a wonderful collection of image sheets and this is one of the latest...

..."Enchanted Spring" which you can find here and if you hop on over to the Nicecrane blog, you will find some wonderful creations that the DT have used the images from this sheet on.

However, what do you do if you have something in mind and these images are perfect but the colours are not what you wanted...well, if you are a bit techy you can play around with them in one of the various graphic programmes that are widely available but if like me you are a bit of a numpty when it comes to things 'techy', what do you do?

Nicecrane have lots of lovely 'digi-stamp' images sheets and they are great to colour - you really should go and have a browse here.

I loved the image in the top left of the pre-view sheet shown above but it wasn't the colour that I wanted. The fabulous Ignacio sent me a digi-stamp version and this is what I did...

 ...I have coloured the image using Spectrum Noir alcohol pens. I have softened the colour of the flowers around the edge by making them more of a peach shade and I have changed the colour of the character's outfit to turquoise but that wasn't all that I did. Whilst colouring, I wondered what the image would look like in more sepia tones...

 ...using the brown-greys (BG) from the grey range and FS1 from the flesh range, I started to colour the image again...

 ...gradually adding deeper shades and starting to blend them in with the use of the FS1 and the Blender pen...

 ...the brown-greys come in 10 shades but I thought it would be too dull to leave it at this, so I added some of the lighter tan shades - TN1, TN2, TN3 and TN4 to brighten the image...

...and as you can see, this image looks very different from the first one I did with the turquoise dress.

Don't be afraid to 'play' with colour - what is the worst that can happen? You waste some time and possibly spoil a bit of CS but you will have learnt what works for you and what doesn't

Ignacio very kindly sent me a little something to share with you...

...here's your chance to grab your very own freebie - Download here.

I would love to see what you do with your freebie so please hop back here and let me see what you get up to......................................................................