Angels are friends in High places

Shelly of Shelly's Images gave away this absolutely gorgeous image in the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge! The requirement is that you MUST make a card with it and enter it into the CDAC PF challenge, before March 31st. That's easy isn't it?" So here is my card made with her image.

An all-white card is what I was aiming at, but somehow the pastel pink and blue colours crept it, yet I quite like it. In had an A4 piece of white, shiny, heavily embossed paper in my stash which I covered the card with. Then I put my new X-Cut doily die through the Cuttlebug with another piece of shiny white paper. And here's a tip .... if your die has these absolutely MINUTE, TINY holes in it, put a piece of waxed paper between the top of the die and your paper that is to be cut. No more trying to pry or pierce your paper out of the die (and then it tears) - it just slips off! Because I wanted the holes in the diecut paper to be a little more obvious, I actually mounted the diecut piece onto a light, pastel blue, cardstock.  The image was coloured with  a combination of Copic and SN pens, and a pastel blue glitter added to the wings. Now the next bit was the 'fun' part! See that swirl? It looks like a piece of aluminium metal! Aha - look at the tutorial on 'faux metal' in the latest (Jan/Feb.2013) issue of Through The Craft Room Door magazine, as there is a tutorial there by Jo Ham on how to make 'faux metal embellishments' - super easy!

New items used - X-Cut doily die
Old items used - papers, flowers, card candi, angel charm

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

CMC - your favorite colour combos
TTCRD - anything goes
Fairytale challenge blog - my newest stamp (mein neuester stempel)
Crafty calendar challenge - what's new
CDAC - Progressive challenge
Outlawz challenges - paper-ala-mode - anything-goes
Lady Annes friday sentiment - anything goes

7 Kids Challenge - use something new old

New Digistamps at DIGISTAMPS4JOY (27 Jan 2013)

Sometimes I get these hair-brained schemes, and then erroneously think that this will be easy, and I'll get it done in no time at all! hhmmph! This card was one of those experiences.  Look at the card first, then read how I did it. This is one of my new images in the Digistamps4Joy store called "Voortrekker Vrou".

I decided that instead of colouring in the digistamp, I would just print it on top of a piece of card I was going to paint/stamp. Well... this "piece of card" took me nearly 45 minutes to make because I kept fiddling and adding more colours. I took a plain piece of white card, then spritzed it with 4 different browns/gold/orange colours. Not satisfied, I got out some brown/red/orange chalks and rubbed these over the page as well. Only THEN, did I actually put it through the printer and print the digistamp onto it. Still not satisfied, I then took my SN pens (dark grey and light brown) and created shadows on and outside the image. The image was then torn out to create a vintage edge. btw ... do you know that a super easy way to tear paper, is to take a fine paintbrush and paint a line with water where you want to tear? I then raised the whole image onto fold-down tags at the back. The lace is one of those self-stick laces - except this one was NOT self-sticking any more! Nothing daunted, out comes the double-sided tape. Problem is that the lace has holes in it, and the sticky part of the tape is ummm sticky and showing in the gaps! Just pour some fine glitter onto the lace and press down, then shake off the excess glitter.
New items used - digistamp, flowers punched with a new punch, lace
Old items used - button brads, papers, spritzes

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Drunken stampers - all that glitters
CMC - your favorite colour combos
Fairytale challenge blog - my newest stamp (mein neuester stempel)
Crafty calendar challenge - what's new
CDAC - anything goes
Outlawz challenges - paper-ala-mode - anything-goes
Lady Annes friday sentiment - anythng goes
TTCRD - anything goes
7 Kids Challenge - use something new old

New releases at Digistamps4Joy - 20 January 2013

This is one of my new images in the Digistamps4Joy store called "Flamingo pair". I went with an olive green and cherise/pink colour scheme, coloured the image with SN pens, made a folded flower from double sided paper with a MS punch, and added a few pearls. Fairly simple, but I love the end result of this card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Allsorts - flower power
CMC - your favorite colour combos
Krafty hands - new beginnings
Stamp your life - new beginnings
Chocolate coffee cards -for the birds
Crafts 4 eternity - punch it
Fairytale challenge blog - my newest stamp (mein neuester stempel)
Crafty calendar challenge - what's new
CDAC - anything goes

Art With No Boundaries

I just 'happened' to find this blog - Art With No Boundaries, with artwork by Chris Stern (CS Designs) - this morning while surfing, and must have spent nearly an hour looking at everything there! I'm hoping this will inspire me to 'get-out-of-my-box' a little!! I know I've always had something inside me that says "different" but never seem to be able to express it, and always end up staying inside the box. I suppose it's almost like being born - it's very comfortable, safe, and warm in the womb, yet as some stage you have to come out. But it's the coming-out experience that is the hardest - painful, tight, cold, bright lights, noisy, perhaps even a little fear. I think I often feel like that, andthen just slip back into the womb - my comfort zone. Yet I know that on the other side, there will be freedom. I'll get there, and when I do, I know this feeling of being boxed in, will be gone!!!

I particularly enjoyed the article on "Oil pastel backgrounds" in the February issue of Art With No Boundaries Online Magazine Vol 2, especially as oil pastels as my favourite medium of artwork. Pop into the AWNB blog and read the latest ezine.

New release at Digistamps4Joy - "Art deco beauty"

This is my third card to show off a new release at Digistamps4Joy. I used another one of the FIVE new butterflies that I drew. This one is called "Art deco beauty". I love swirly/curly things, and just sat and doodled this butterfly and my love of the swirls came out!

I started colouring in the tail with my blue Spectrum Noir pens, and somehow ended up with this rainbow-coloured butterfly! Once fussy-cut, I popped it onto the butterfly background paper with some foam tabs, added glitter and a few gems, and highlighted some areas with the white gel pen. The small butterfly is punched and glitter glue added.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Allsorts - dies and punches
Card Makin Mamas - anything goes
Brown Sugar challenge - butterflies
Drunken stampers - all that glitters
Digihaven - sparkles and bling
Spectrum Noir - winter blues

New releases at Digistamps4Joy - "See-through Lady"

This is my second card to show off a new release at Digistamps4Joy. I used another one of the FIVE new butterflies that I drew. This one is called "See-through Lady". I saw one of these amazing creatures fluttering past my nose when I visited the Butterfly Farm in Pietermaritzburg in November 2012, and just fell in love with her!

I initially contemplated cutting out the see-through parts of the wings, but decided against it as some of the veins are just too thin to cut around, so added lots of crystal Stickles glitter glue instead. It produced the see-through effect I wanted, so I'm happy. The butterfly was coloured with SN pens, and I added white gel pen hand-drawn flowers and dots. The background butterfly paper was diecut with an arch shape and then pasted on top of the dark brown cardstock. The scalloped edge around the card was hand drawn (rather wobbly though!!).

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Allsorts - dies and punches
Card Makin Mamas - anything goes

Drunken stampers - all that glitters
Digihaven - sparkles and bling

New releases at Digistamps4Joy - "Spotty Queens"

Sometimes I amaze myself at how much I can get done in one evening! I not only had to get all the new images into the Digistamps4Joy store, prepare the DS4J blog, but also managed to make 3 cards. It doesn't always go like this though LOL!

This then is my first card to show off a new release at Digistamps4Joy. I used one of FIVE (yes 5!!) new butterflies that I drew. This one is called "Spotty Queen", and while it is not the real name of this butterfly, I am of course allowed to use a little artistic licence!

 I made a different card, but basically only because I was looking for a certain shade of cardstock, and found a piece where I had already punched out a window - and voila, here is my 'peek-a-boo' card! The image is on the inside of the card, and just peeps through the window when the card is closed.

The background image is also a DS4J image called Bluebell log.  I printed out 2 x butterflies and flipped one horizontally, then placed them on top of the log at different angles.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Allsorts - dies and punches
Card Makin Mamas - anything goes
Brown Sugar - butterflies
Drunken stampers - all that glitters
Dis Digi Designs - new techniques