Friday 22 September 2017

The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge - the first 10 days!

Hi there :)  I've been taking part in the 30 Day Colouring Challenge held by Kathy R and I'm really enjoying myself.  I've actually been getting a lot more time in my craft room and making a conscious effort to be more productive with my crafting... of course, going on a craft retreat last weekend helped as well!

I thought I'd update you with how things have gone during the first 10 days so here goes:

 

Day1

Background created with Distress Inks on watercolour paper.

Images from MFT Mermazing stamp set.  Colouring the skin with Distress Ink.

 

Day 2

Rocks, shells and fish from MFT Mermazing and some more Distress Ink colouring.

 

Day 3

Finished the mermaids I started on Day 1.

 

Day 4

Finished card - this one was for one of Michael's nieces who just celebrated her 21st birthday.

Another finished card - this one was a commission card for a twelve year old who is planning on being a marine biologist when she leaves school.

 

Day 5

First stamping with MFT Witch way is the Candy? stamps... I don't celebrate Halloween but I couldn't resist that cute little witch!  Images coloured with Distress Inks.

 

Day 6

Images from MFT Grave Situation... loving the combo of Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks for the tomb stones.

Die cutting the coloured images from Day 5.  They look different when you cut them out!

 

Day 7

A few more images from MFT Grave Situation and Witch way is the Candy? stamps... and a bit more of the Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks.

 

Day 8

Having a go at doing a monochromatic look using Distress Inks on the witch... really loving the look of this style.

 

Day 9

See what I mean about how different the images look once they're cut out??  

Here's a finished card with the Witch way is the Candy? images.  This is the card that I entered into the MFT Card Design Competition which is only hours away from closing!

Here's a close up of the card:
All stamps and dies are from MFT... you can see all the details HERE.

 

Day 10

Another finished card featuring more of the coloured images from MFT Witch way is the Candy? and Grave Situations.  The big spiderweb background is cut from black glitter cardstock and die cut with  MFT's Spiderweb dienamic.  I love how it sparkles!

So there you have it... 10 days of colouring.  This represents a whole lot of fun and creativity... and a big chunk of Happy as well :)

Thanks for visiting my blog today xx... and feel free to leave me a comment :)

Sunday 10 September 2017

My Favourite Things - Card Design Superstar 2017

Hi there :)

During the Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge I've been having a really good time with my newly acquired 'Witch way is the Candy?' stamp and die set.  I've been colouring some of the images in traditional Halloween colours (orange, green and purple) and then I hit on the idea of a monochromatic colour scheme using Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke Distress inks... and I LOVE the results.  In fact, I love the results so much that I've decided to enter my card in MFT's Card Design competition (click on the pic to read all the details):
https://www.mftstamps.com/blog/you-could-be-a-2017-card-design-superstar/


After reading what was required for each different category... and a bit of gentle persuasion from a fellow colouring challenge creator (thanks Patricia)... I decided to enter my card into the 'Coloring Virtuoso' section.

Coloring Virtuoso

Whether your preferred medium is paint, marker, or pencil, coloring is a skill you’ve honed since those early years spent with Crayolas and a favorite coloring book. The MFT collection of images is vast, so now is your opportunity to show off your exceptional coloring skills!

Here's my entry - A Halloween Hello

My Favorite Things products used:

The galaxy background was created using Gansai Tambi paints... totally love how it turned out!

All of the stamped images were coloured using Distress Inks:
  • Twisted Citron - frogs eyes
  • Antique Linen and Tattered Rose - witch face and hand
  • Hickory Smoke and Pumice Stone - all other colouring including sentiment banner
The witch and frog are both popped up on foam for some extra dimension and the cute little witch broom that was used as a prop is from - Tim Holtz Idea-ology BROOMSTICKS... super cute and just perfect for this card.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog xx

Saturday 9 September 2017

Mermazing cards

Hello :)  I've been taking part in the Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge and I'm pretty pleased to say that I've actually spent time in my craft room colouring EVERY day.  Some days it has literally been for about 15 minutes but most days I've been able to squirrel away a bit more time... which makes me a very happy crafter!  You can see my latest colouring creations in the Instagram shortcut - side bar on the right.

I haven't just been colouring though... I've actually been using some of the images to make cards and today I've got two cards to share with you featuring MFT stamps Mermazing stamp & die set.

The first card is for one of Michael's nieces who is about to turn 21.  I used MFT's Mermaid Tail background stamp and distress inks to create a background (with wonky edges - such a cool technique) and then added the images to the front of the card.

The second card I created was another commission card.  This time it was for my friends Goddaughter who is going to be celebrating her 12th birthday soon.  When I asked my friend if she thought her Goddaughter would like a mermaid theme she was ecstatic because her Goddaughter is hoping to become a marine biologist when she gets older... how perfect is that???  Here's the card:

The background of this card was created using MFT's Whimsical Waves stamp and Distress Inks.  I really like the little white dot detail on the mermaid and the fish swimming in the water.

Thanks so much for visiting my little corner of the universe :)

Sunday 3 September 2017

Shake, shake, shake... shaker cards!

Hi there :)

Remember when I was commissioned to make the space card for a little boy who was turning 3?  Well his younger siblings were celebrating their first birthday within a couple of days of him and I was asked to make their birthday cards as well.  Since they're twins I made cards that were 'the same but different'... here's the finished cards:

I made the wee boy's card first using MFT's Happy Hippos and Balloon Shaker Window die set.  I started off with a piece of watercolour paper that was die cut using my ever faithful stitched rectangles die... I think this must be my most used die I own!  I then watercoloured some Distress Ink onto the paper using the 'wet on wet' technique with Mowed Lawn, Blueprint Sketch and Fossilized Amber.

While I had the inks already on my craft sheet I used the rest of the ink to colour the die cut balloon frame... love how that turned out!

Next I die cut the opening for the shaker card... make sure you have a pretty good idea of where everything is going on your finished card so that you have room for everything... just saying LOL

Then it's time to start assembling the shaker card... this is the really fun bit!

Along with the Balloon shaker pouch from MFT I used some Ice Cube Jewels and Lagoon sequin mix from Little Things from Lucy's Cards.   I've got a growing collection of pretty things from this company and apart from looking cool in shakers they are also delightful to look at on my shelf... and I do like pretty things :)

I loaded up some of the sequins and the ice cube jewels into the shaker pouch and then ran some glue around the edge before sticking it down onto some glitter cardstock.  Multi Medium Matte is definitely my 'go to' adhesive for this kind of thing because it sets quickly and extremely securely!

The next step was to adhere the shaker pouch to the back of the card front using some more adhesive... that sounds more complicated than it should... take a look at this photo and you'll see what I mean:

Next I added the balloon frame and the 'string'.  At this point I also realised that I hadn't stamped my sentiment on the card front but thankfully the shaker pouch is relatively the same depth as the MISTI magnets so it wasn't even an issue. 

Time to add my pre-coloured images... a cute litte hippo and a wee bird.  I die cut some foam to give them extra dimension and it worked really well.  At this point, I layered the card front onto some dark blue cardstock which really made the colours pop!

I added another hippo to the inside of the card:

And here's the finished card:

And now for 'the same but different'... since I'd already worked out my basic design, the second card came together really easily.  Colour the watercolour card using Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet. 

I coloured a balloon frame as well and die cut a window for the shaker pouch:

This time I used some more Ice Cube Jewels along with 'Magic Wand' sequin mix for the shaker pouch:

At this point Michael came into my craft room and I forgot to get a few of the photos I wanted but here's one of the inside of the card:

Here's the finished card featuring MFT's Adorable Elephants... love those little guys!

Here's a photo of all three cards together.  I really did love making these cards and I know they were all really appreciated by the recipients and their family :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today xx

Friday 1 September 2017

A new project

Hello :)  Today is the start of a new project for me.  Kathy from The Daily Marker is hosting the next 30 Days of Colouring project starting 1 September. 

This is not a new project... in fact this is the 8th time Kathy has hosted the 30 Day Colouring Challenge... but it's MY first time joining in.  The idea of the project is to colour something every day... even if it's only for 10 minutes.  You can read more about it all HERE on Kathy's blog.

Since I've bought my new computer I have to admit that I am actually spending time EVERY day in my craft room... and I LOVE it!  I've been feeling more inspired to create so the enthusiasm is definitely there... now it's important for me to actually DO something... to make a little time for ME in the every day rush of life... to make creating a PRIORITY because I'm much happier when I'm doing something creative.

Rather than blog my creativity every day... because, to be honest I just know that won't happen... I'm going to upload my efforts onto my Instagram account.  You can follow what I'm up to by looking up 'Shell Honig' on Instagram or clicking on THIS link. 

I thought I might do an update a couple of times during the month... maybe Days 10, 20 & 30??  Who knows... I'm going to see how that works out. 

I will share with you my little effort for today though... I used MFT Mermazing stamps and stamped several images onto watercolour paper and then I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  Next up I've coloured all the skin with Distress Inks.  For the skin I started off with some Antique Linen and then while it was wet I layered on some Tattered Rose.  That combination seems to give me a good skin tone.  The pink in the cheeks is Spun Sugar... and I started adding a bit of pink to the shells as well.

I also made a card background with an ocean theme... they ARE mermaids after all LOL  I stamped MFT Whimsical Waves onto some watercolour paper with white ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Next I watercoloured the background with Distress Inks: Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean... very appropriate colour names!  Here's the finished result:

So there you have it... nothing too major but definitely fun and creative!  If you are doing the 30 Day Challenge I'd love to hear from you... it's always more fun doing something like this with friends :)

See you on Instagram :) #thedailymarker30day #mftstamps #distressink