African Queen

Our new artist at Digistamps4Joy is Tanya O'Connor and she drew this gorgeous digi called "Strong Lady 1". When I first saw it I saw an African lady so have attempted to colour a darker skin - not easy! If you purchase this digistamp, both Tanya and I will donate part of the proceeds to the Cancer Association of South Africa, so indirectly you are also donating to CANSA. Cancer affects anyone, no matter your skin colour, and I thought by colouring this digi in with an African skin, it would pay tribute to all our African sisters who also have been battling this disease.

I coloured her in with a combination of Copic pens and Spectrum Noire pens, added the requisite bling (of course!), and mounted it on 2 papers that I found in my stash that I thought have a slight African feel to them.

New items used - digistamp
Old items used - BP, brown cardstock, white pastel pencil for highlights.

A new DS4J digistamp used for embossing

This digistamp "He is risen" is another new one I drew and is in my shop Digistamps4Joy.I decided to do something quite different this time. I printed out the black/white image onto plain white paper, put this on the light table with a piece of gold vellum on top of it, then traced over all the lines with a white gel pen!

Why, you ask? Well the reason is I wanted to see if I could create a pergamano image from the digistamp, and normally in the pergamano craft, you first trace all lines with white ink, then go and do the embossing and rubbing on the back of the image. Pergamano is a craft that requires a LOT of patience and good eyesight, and this card took me quite a while to rub out and prick! But it actually worked!! So, I have now used a digistamp as a pattern for Pergamano - howz that!!

 

Here's a close-up of the 'fish' shape and words.

The edge of the shape around the image was created by laying a wavy-edged oval shaped die on top, then tracing around with the white gel pen, and pricking and pricking and pricking around the edge until the outside piece of vellum could be torn off. The curvy line near the edge is embossed from the back by hand. The rest of the card is made up of a piece of white paper that I bought ages ago, with all the stitching and gold glitter on it. I punched 2 butterflies from the same gold vellum paper, added small gems, cut and folded the triangular shapes at the left, glued some glitter card inside, and finished off with a large gem.

 

New items used - new digistamp
Old items used - white embroidered paper from stash, gold vellum from stash, gems.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Avenue 613 - anything goes
Challenges 4 everybody - anything goes
Creative inspirations paint - anything goes
Glitter 'n sparkle - bling it on
Sweet pea stampers - use a digistamp
Lady Annes - anything goes + sentiment

 

New releases at Digistamps4Joy

It's Sunday, and Digistamps4Joy has released 12 brand new images. I made a card with one of the images called "Winston". Now this one has a special meaning to me because my father drew it in 1951 - so dad, this is for you! I scanned in his drawing and digitised the image, then searched for a suitable Churchill quote! The end result is this easel card which could be given to any person.

 I used my Spectrum Noir pens to colour the image, dies for the oval shapes, a new punch for the lacey double-sided border, and created the sentiment on the PC.
To see the rest of the fantastic new releases and the cards the DT made with them, head on over to the DS4J BLOG.

I am entering the card into the following challenges

2 Sisters Challenge - ‘Anything goes’

Crafty Mess Challenge - ‘Anything goes’

Creative Belli blog - 'veteran or military'

Fussy and Fancy Challenge - easel card

Joyful Stamper - anything goes
Sweet 'n Sassy - show appreciation

 

Digistamps4Joy Blog Hop WINNER

It is the 11th October (Thursday), and the day I can announce the WINNER of the digistamp on MY blog during the Digistamps4Joy Blog Hop!

CONGRATULATIONS

The winner of this image ("A Letter for You") ...

is

GEORGIA EHRMANN

Please email me at info{at}digistamps4joy{dot}co{dot}za to claim your prize.

DS4J BLOG HOP

The Blog Hop  has now closed. Thanks so much for everyone who visited and left a comment - I loved every comment! Please come back here or go to the main DS4J blog to see the winners posted on Thursday 11th.

Welcome to the Digistamps4Joy
WORLD CARDMAKING DAY CELEBRATION
BLOG HOP

 
You have arrived at Margy's blog in Pretoria, South Africa, and the photo below shows what my city looks like in the month of October with all the Jacaranda trees flowering!

(SOURCE)

Digistamps4Joy is running a Blog Hop from 4 – 9 October 2012 to celebrate World Card Making Day on the 6^th October, and is offering a different image on each Design Team Member’s blog as the prize for the randomly drawn winner on that blog. With 12 blogs in this hop you have 12 chances to win an image – or maybe more! So come on in, meet our fabulous Design Team, and have some fun!

If you landed on this blog first, then just carry on down the list and work your way though to the final stop (Ursula’s blog) and then from the main DS4J blog down again to mine. oooorrrr you could of course start at the top .The hop order is indicated on each blog, so you will not ‘get lost’!

Digistamps4joy

JEN
AMANDA
ANGELA
BERNI
CHARLENE
DESIRE
ELENOR
MARGY YOU ARE HERE
KAREN YOUR NEXT STOP
KARIN 
URSULA (last blog) 

Here is the IMAGE I am showcasing on MY BLOG.

The image you can win on this blog 
is called "A letter for you" and is a brand new image that will be available in the DS4J SHOP this Sunday!
I coloured it in with alcohol pens and created an easel card 'on it's side'.

RULES FOR ENTERING THE RANDOM DRAW

Please read carefully - we do not want you to miss out!

1). Be/become a follower of THIS blog.

2). Leave a comment on THIS post.

So easy isn’t it!! Thanks for visiting my blog.

Your next stop will be the talented KAREN

The Hop will end at 6 am (Central African Time) on Tuesday 9^th October.

The full list of winners will be announced on Thursday 11^th October on the Digistamps4Joy blog. 

Each blog will also indicate its own winner on 11^th October.

Challenge #52 at Digistamps4Joy

YES, it's time for a new challenge at Digistamps4Joy - Challenge #52 - 

"Create a tag OR incorporate a tag on your papercraft project". 

I decided to create AND sort of incorporate my tag on this flat card. I've made this type before as it works quite nicely by making a little pocket on the front to slip the tag into. I used the TEA TIME CORNER image from the Digistamps4Joy STORE and coloured it in with SN pens, then added the requisite "bling" to the tablecloth. Do pop into the DS4J BLOG and see what the other DT members have created for this challenge, and then enter YOUR creation in the InLinkz to put yourself in line for winning a prize!

Twigis

A twinchie is a 2 inch x 2 inch piece of artwork, in other words, any drawing/painting that fits onto a 2" square block! So I played around a little with creating a digistamp to fit this size, and came up with my first set which I am calling the "Beach twigis". The word TWIGI is my own definition for the mix between a 'twinchie' and a 'digi'. As these are miniature works of art, none of the lines have been drawn with a ruler, which I think adds to their charm. The set is made up of 6 artworks plus one sentiment and will be available in the Digistamps4Joy shop on Sunday 30th September.
I then coloured in 5 of the images (6th one is an ice cream cone but not shown) and the sentiment with SN pens, and made up a card with the coloured images.

I think the beauty of these is first of all that they are DIGISTAMPS so can be resized to 1" artwork ("inchies") or larger if you want a larger image than 2", therefore no boundaries! Secondly, adding all, or some, or even only one twigi to a card opens up a plethora of layout opportunities. Thirdly, they are so easy to colour in!!!! I actually had fun with this set.
I entered this card into a challenge at ...
Show us your twinchies challenge - add a stamped image
Bearly Mine - add a sentiment
Party time Tuesdays - anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey - must use sentiment.
Patties Creations Challenge - anything goes

"Bettie bow" - a new release at DS4J

Digistamps4Joy has released some super new images into the shop today! To see a summary of the new images pop into the website or the BLOG and see the cards that the DT have made to show off these images!! I made a peephole card with one of the new images called "Bettie bow". The outside of the card has the peephole (Punched with a MS punch) through which a tiny portion of the DS4J image can be seen. I also added a gingham punched border to the inside and outside of the card.

The inside of the card shows the 'real deal! The image is coloured with SN pens and I added a little glitter glue so she looked 'blingy'.

I am entering this tag into the following challenges:
Digi Designs - use more than one diecut or punch
Sugar Creek Hollow - shabby chic/pink
Card Crafter's Circle - add gingham
Joyful stamper - anything goes

New DIGISTAMPS4JOY releases (Sunday 9 Sept.2012)

Digistamps4Joy has released some super new images into the shop today! To see a summary of the new images pop into the website or the BLOG and see the cards that the DT have made to show off these images!! I made a plantpot tag with one of the new images called "Herb".

Jen was visiting at the time and suggested making a tag instead of a card and what a brilliant idea! I just LOVE the end result so much that I asked her to design a set of these tags for herbs, so WATCH THE DS4J SHOP!!!!

I used a combination of my new Derwent watercolour pencils and Spectrum Noir pens, added the image to a dark brown background, added a dotted white line border, and then layered this onto red cardstock. The peg for pushing into the ground (not visible as it is black!) was fixed to the back of the card.

I am entering this tag into the following challenges:
Just Some Lines - two colouring mediums
One Stop Craft Challenge - no floral embellishments
Paper Crafting Journey - anything goes
Joyful stamper - anything goes

Digistamps4Joy Challenge #46

The DS4J Challenge # 46 is LIVE and is running FOR ONLY ONE WEEK, which means you only have 1 week to wait to see if you are the winner with your entry!!! The theme is "WHAT IS YOUR WEATHER", and we want you to make a card showing the type of weather you are currently experiencing in your country, and believe me there is some weird weather going around at the moment!!
Digistamps4Joy has some super 'weather' images in the STORE in case you need one! Here are a few examples of what we have for this challenge ...

Hope to see your entries there for this ONE WEEK challenge!

DIGISTAMPS4JOY FREEBIE

Digistamps4Joy has released a FREEBIE today, and this will be available for only TWO days (6+7 July) so head on over to the Digistamps4Joy BLOG and download it!! Here is a card I made with this freebie (my own image!).

DS4J Challenge #44

Team "B" of Digistamps4Joy is showing off their cards today for challenge #44 with the theme "Bride of yester year" and we want you to make an ANNIVERSARY CARD WITH A VINTAGE LOOK.
DS4J has some beautiful images for weddings and so I chose two images (Bella Bridesmaid and Ring bearer) and merged them together before printing, using the .png file versions which have a clear background. It worked like a charm! I coloured them in with Copics and Spectrum Noire and added a little white gel pen lines and clear glitter glue.

Don't forget you must use a digistamp to enter the challenge, and if you use a DS4J stamp you will go into the draw for the amazing $10 prize from the DS4J store, so head on over to our BLOG and enter your card in Mr Linky.

My project for Digistamps4Joy Challenge #43

You've seen the first set of DT project, and today we will show you the second set of projects these ladies created for challenge # 43 with the theme "June Bride - anything but a greeting card".
At first I thought urgh this is difficult, but then I started to think of all the little things we had to make for my daughters' wedding, and the creative juices flowed! One area of a wedding that is often neglected is the ablution room, and what better than to perk it up with a tissue box cover! So easy to make, yet so effective. Don't forget you must use a digistamp to enter the challenge, and if you use a DS4J stamp you will go into the draw for the $6 prize!

I  bought one of those little square tissue boxes, covered the base with a sheet of 12x12 scrapbooking paper cut into two strips and glued together, added some gorgeous vintage braid I had in my stash, and added a few pink pearls.
The image is called "Bridal Couture" and can be found in my shop at Digistamps4Joy.  As the dress is white I had very little colouring in to do, so edged all the lines with a light grey Spectrum Noire pen to give depth to the folds of the dress. The requisite bling was of course added to the veil. The top of the box was cut out of plain silver cardstock, a hole cut in the top and edged with the braid, and VOILA  .... a tissue box fit for the queen of the day! (Well actually, it's in my home now!)

Don't forget there are some super prizes for winners in the DS4J challenge, so head on over to our BLOG and enter your card in Mr Linky.

Sitting Ballerina card

I just could not resist this new image in the DIGISTAMPS4JOY store called "Sitting Ballerina"!

  I went for a pastel blue/white look to the whole card, and then added a tinge of lilac. Fortunately I had a pad of Kaisercraft papers in my stash, and the pieces with the swirls were PERFECT for this card! The arched tags were cut with my Cuttlebug and 2 Ellison framelits die (one of my favourite dies!). The small white flowers and the lattice edges were both punched out of white paper then spritzed with a fluorescent green/blue (which is not showing up on the photo unfortunately). I coloured the Ballerina image in with Copics and Spectrum Noire pens, and added clear glitter glue to the shoes, hair ribbons, and dress frills, and a green glitter to her eyelids. The large white flower was cut with a die, and before I removed the paper out of the die I sponged through the holes with light blue chalk to create the veins.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Phindy's Place (1 image, 2 design papers and three embellishments)

Di's Digi Designs (bring on the bling)

Outlawz (sports theme)
Card Makin' Mamas (use a punch)
ATC's and Cards with Attitude (anything goes)

Final entry for CDAC Challenge - Hot Cactus

This is my third and final entry in the CDAC Digital Drawing Challenge (closing 25 May 2012) for the theme "HOT". Would love it if you voted for my drawings after the 25th.

And here is HOT CACTUS. Shame poor fellow. I would 'melt' if I had to stand in the hot sun all day!

So that's it. Hope you like them. They will be going into the Digistamps4Joy Store as soon as the CDAC Challenge is closed.

Second entry for CDAC Challenge - Chillis

This is the second entry in the CDAC Digital Drawing Challenge (closing 25 May 2012) for the theme "HOT". Would love it if you voted for my drawings after the 25th.

Here is the stippled real-life drawing of CHILLIS, one whole one and one cut in half. I added the half-chilli so that when I coloured it in there would be something more interesting than just a red chilli to colour in!

CDAC Digital Drawing entries - Chilli Dude

I found a little time to do some drawings as entries in the CDAC Digital Drawing Challenge (closing 25 May 2012). We are allowed to enter 3 x drawings, and the theme for this round is "HOT" - interpreted anyway we wish! I actually wanted to draw this really hot 'dude' but he ended up looking like a scary person, so threw that one away!! Instead, I reverted to the cartoon drawing method, and 1 stippled real-life drawing. So here they are. Would love it if you voted for my drawings after the 25th.

 

This is CHILLI-DUDE. The first thing that came to mind with the word HOT was a chilli pepper, so as I threw the cool dude drawing away, and converted the chilli into a mod, muscle-toned dude! The sentiments are part of the set. 

FREEBIE digistamp at Digistamps4Joy

There is a super freebie going up for grabs for 2 days (4-6 May) at the Digistamps4Joy blog. Run over there and grab the freebie quickly, and while there, visit the other blogs. This is the card I made up with the image.

School is Cool !

CDAC is currently accepting entries for their 2nd progressive challenge. This is my first card made with an image from Digistamps4Joy (artist=Jen). The bookworm reminds me so much of the old kids TV character called Bennie Boekwurm" - he's cute isn't he, and those glasses are to die for!!!!!

Digistamps4Joy DT challenge #3

Digistamps4joy challenge #3 was chosen to remember Breast Cancer Awareness month - October, and it really is a super challenge - all you need to do is "think pink" and create any papercraft project with pink. And the prize? Three lucky people will each win ANY digistamp from the store - and believe me there are some really soooooper stamps to choose from! There's a FREEBIE too! So enter the challenge, you only have 2 weeks to enter your card!

I used "funky Kate" to make my card, and she can be purchased here at Digistamps4Joy. The list of other items used are:
fluorescent pink gel pen, and watercolour pencils, Copic E000, pink spotted ribbon from stash, pastel pink, ruffled, shiny BG paper (also from stash), duck brad, white card stock (embossed with Cuttlebug Snow Dots folder), cerise and silver cardstock, glitter gems (pink and silver), pink frame from Cricut Sentimentals, and of course .... silver glitter glue for the "bling"!
Did you notice the pink ribbon 'gem' in her hair? Reminded me of the breast cancer ribbon.
Do pop into the other DT member's blogs and take a look at what this great team has created. Leave a comment too, as we love hearing from you!
Debbie (South Africa) http://dkhdesigns.blogspot.com
Jen (South Africa) http://jencraftsa.blogspot.com
Margy (South Africa) http://deniquecrafts.blogspot.com
Louise (New Zealand) http://www.punknscrap.com
Audrey (United States) http://hippieaud.blogspot.com
Gemma (UK) http://handmadebygem.blogspot.com
and our Guest DT (Sweden) http://bettina-bettyboop.blogspot.com