Tuesday 29 March 2016

Passion for Promarkers - Weather...

Good morning, everyone!  Hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend, whatever you were doing!  We made the most of the Spring sunshine on Friday by visiting Erddig house near Wrexham, before having tea at the Alyn pub in Gresford and finishing the evening watching Superman Vs Batman.  A bit of shopping and ten pin bowling with the little man on Saturday, then a chilled out Sunday and Monday, mainly controlled by the fact that the weather was a bit of a washout!
Speaking of weather, today sees the start of a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers and the lovely Julie has chosen the theme of 'Weather'...very apt for this time of year!  We're being sponsored by Little Claire Designs who are offering one lucky winner 4 digis from their online store...
http://www.mylcdesigns.co.uk/

...So why not get out your Letraset pens and join in with our topical challenge this week?...
...I was TOTALLY inspired by this card made by the ever so talented Christine - one of my latest blog loves! Her cards are totally my style, I love her use of bright colours and her colouring is AMAZING!...
...I used the umbrella digistamp and sentiment from Another Play on Words, coloured with my Pro/Flexmarkers - I don't know if anyone else is finding the same, but a lot of my Flexmarkers are starting to dry up, despite being a lot newer than some of my old faithful bullet nib pens - hence the rather dodgy shading on the green panel.  I had to add a couple of extra clouds in the mix...just because I love a cloud...and some little diamantes as raindrops.  I added the white dots to the umbrella with a white gel pen, before promptly wiping them all off as I stuck the layers to the card and had to redo them!!  I have to admit I'm not sure about the navy blue layer and wonder whether I should've gone for a paler blue, but hey ho...it is what it is!
Thanks for the inspiration Christine and I'm sure I shall be using this pretty Lawn Fawn Fluffy Cloud border die a lot more in the future...I mean, check out this other card that Christine did in the same style...adorable!  Do I feel a batch make coming on?! :)
Well, that's it from me today - I hope you can find the time to join in with our fun challenge this week and look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.  Don't forget to check out what my talented teamies have been creating for your inspiration, by clicking on their names above their corresponding card photos over on the Passion for Promarkers blog.
Have a terrific Tuesday and enjoy the rest of the week!
Hugs,
Lisa x
I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :
Come Rain or Shine closes today
Add some Bling closes tomorrow

Monday 28 March 2016

Family frame...

Good afternoon, dear Blogger buddies!  The sun is shining and we seem to have weathered storm Katie pretty unscathed...hope it's the same where you are! I'm popping in today to share another box frame that I've made this afternoon whilst sat at my crafty table...
...I have to say, I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out and maybe this one might not make it to the selling box!?!  I cut the branch by hand and used Cheery Lynn Leaf border die cuts and punched flowers to decorate it.  I dotted in a couple of tiny butterflies (again, another punch) and my Memory Box Precious Hearts hanging from a couple of places.
Hope you like my home decor project and I'll be back in the morning with a brand new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers.  Until then, enjoy the rest of your day!
Hugs,
Lisa x
I'd like to enter my frame into the following challenges :
Flowers closes tomorrow
Anything Goes until 1st April
Anything Goes until 3rd April
Anything Goes until 4th April

Friday 18 March 2016

Workshop makes...

Good afternoon again, lovely peeps! I forgot to share our last workshop makes so thought I would come on and show you what we made...

...I really liked these two cards (and enjoyed creating them) and the girls did too!  They all went home with 2 lovely creations, though I don't know how many of them get sent to anyone, I think they just get put in a box for safe keeping...and inspiration, hopefully!?
I need to get my brain into gear and come up with some more designs for upcoming workshops, though I have a couple of weeks to play with because of Easter holidays...it's the timing that's the hardest to gauge - something that might take me an hour at home could take longer in the workshop because of sharing equipment, etc, so trying to time two cards to fit into 3 hours (with tea and cake of course!) can be a little challenging!
The girls often ask how I come up with the ideas and to be honest, I sometimes wonder myself?!  The number of times Mum and I will start designing a card, then I sit looking at it overnight and decide I don't like it anymore!  Or we shuffle paper around determined that we are going to use certain products, only to scrap it and start again!  Then other times it all just comes together easily...that's the joy of crafting!
I hope you've all had a wonderful week and thankfully, the weekend is here again! Not much planned, so I'm hoping it may last a bit longer than the ususal, blink and you miss it!
Huge crafty hugs,
Lisa x

Thursday 17 March 2016

Batch card making...

Good morning again, dear Blogger buddies - how about this?  Three days in a row! I thought I would pop on today and share the cards that I have been batch making to try and bulk up my stocks...
...I went through some of my old card images and picked out some easy to replicate designs plus created a couple of new ones too...
...Firstly is one of my favourite cards using the flowers and plant labels from Another Play on Words...
...Next was a sweet card made using Digistamp Boutique's Rosie with Presents image and then I created a kite card with my Fluffy cloud border, Marianne square dies and of course, my Memory Box cloud dies.  I paper pieced the kite and coloured the ribbons with Pro/Flexmarkers...
...Lastly, is another of my favourites using the embellishments sheet from Another Play on Words to create the bunting card and a simple Happy Birthday card which I thought would be good as a male card.
So that's 20 cards to add to my box...all I need now is for them to sell...oh, and some good weather on the day!  I need some more inspiration now for items other than cards...Pinterest here I come!
Crafty hugs,
Lisa x

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Another box frame...

Good morning, crafty buddies and a wonderful Wednesday to you all!  As promised, I am back to share my latest altered box frame...
...This one started out life as a plain and somewhat bright purple box frame...
...After a lot of sanding, painting and inking, this is what it was transformed into...
...I really enjoyed making these paper flowers...
...I covered the edges of the frame with a muted gold pearl paper, as the purple was a bit too bold, then sealed it all with an acrylic sealer.  I found the quote on Pinterest and to be honest, I won't mind if this one doesn't sell as it will go beautifully with my Laura Ashley tulip wallpaper in the hallway!  (I'll put it on the stall for a day or two, mind!)
Hope you like my florally altered project and I'll be back again tomorrow to share some batch card making that I've been doing...until then, enjoy your day!
Hugs,
Lisa x

I'd like to enter my frame into the following challenges :
Let's Get Sentimental closes 18th
Flowers until 25th
Purple Haze closes today
(wasn't sure if I could enter a project other than a card, so please feel free to delete my entry if it needed to be a card)

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Passion for Promarkers - Child's Birthday...

Good morning, on another beautiful Spring day here in North Wales!  Tuesday has rolled around again which means it's time for the start of a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers.  This week it's the lovely Eileen in the hostess chair and she's chose a nice easy theme of a card or project for a Child's Birthday.  (You can enter any sort of project, as long as you use your Letraset mediums and let us know where you've used them).
Our sponsor this week is the beautiful Aurora Wings who are offering one lucky winner a $15 voucher to their store!
Ispired by a card that I saw on Pinterest (which actually looked totally different to my end result!), I decided to have a go at an aperture easel card...
I used my Marianne square nesting dies to cut the aperture in the card base and frame, then went to town with my new scene dies from Clearly Besotted, Memory Box cloud die and a Marianne doily centre die for the sun!...
...I used Digistamp Boutique's super sweet Dan Fishing image and coloured him up with my Pro/Flexmarkers, then fussy cut him out and attached him using foam pads.  I embossed the 'water' panels using Cuttlebug embossing folder Distressed Stripes and inked with Stormy Sky DI.  I didn't want the scene to be over fussy so just added a sentiment and a couple of pearls as my crafty signature! I really liked the way the aperture easel card turned out and may just have a go with some different shaped apertures...but for now, that's it for me...I'm currently playing with paper flowers altering another box frame for my upcoming stall, so will share once I'm done!
Have a terrific Tuesday and I hope you can find the time to join in with our simple theme this week.  Don't forget to see what my other talented teamies have created for your inspiration and I'll be back soon with some more craftiness...promise!
Crafty hugs,
Lisa x

Sunday 13 March 2016

Full of the joys of Spring...

Good afternoon, lovely Bloggers!  It's been a beuatifully mild and sunny (if at times hazy) day here in North Wales and I am full of the joys of Spring!  It's such a lovely time of year (when the weather is like this, anyway!) full of hope and expectation...hope that Summer isn't far away and the expectation of what is to come, in all the buds that are ready for bursting on the plants and trees!  It is the simple things that please me about a day like today...sitting out with a cup of tea for the first time this year...washing on the line...cleaning windows so that the world can be seen in HD again...and generally just feeling brighter and happier!  Nature's volume has been turned up a notch from the birds singing, the odd bee buzzing by, the hum of lawn mowers and the bleating of the new born lambs in the field...so WELCOME SPRING...and long may you stay...well until Summer takes over anyway!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend and enjoying the sunshine, if you have it!
Hugs,
Lisa x

Saturday 12 March 2016

Flower frames...

Good afternoon, guys and dolls! Hope you're all having a super duper Saturday!  Just thought I'd pop on and share the flower frames that I made yesterday, after being inspired by the uber talented Caroline Rose Art's beautiful handiwork!
 These days I find that Facebook is easier to keep up with everything going on and tend to neglect this lil' ol' blog of mine! I often forget to post things over as I know that some of you don't do Facebook...heck, I didn't myself until the last year or so...so I will try to remedy this and remember to post any creations on my blog. 
We've managed to get a few little jobs done today, mainly thanks to the dry, mild weather and it's supposed to be close to 15 degrees tomorrow, oh bliss! Can't wait for a bit of warmth to be able to get outside and feel the sunshine! Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I'll be back with some more craftiness soon.
Hugs,
Lisa x

Tuesday 1 March 2016

Passion for Promarkers - Girls Only...

Good morning, Blogger buddies and a Happy St David's Day to you all! Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers and the lovely Anna has chosen the theme 'Girls Only', so we'd like to see all your feminine creations!
This week we are being sponsored by Sassy Studio Designs who are offering one lucky winner a $20 gift voucher...

We were lucky enough to be able to choose an image to work with, so I went with Day at the Park and coloured her to give a teenage feel...I coloured her with my Pro/Flexmarkers and paper pieced her T shirt using the hearts paper from the Weather set of Another Play on Words...
I am loving my square and rectangle dies at the moment to make frames for cards and I added in a few new purchases in my Fluffy Clouds border die and Clearly Besotted Hill die - just perfect for creating the park scene for my girl...
I added some Memory Box clouds and a sun and sentiment from Another Play on Words.  The paper is also from the Home set of Another Play on Words.  I then finished the inside with a small pink polka dot paper and writing panel.
So, that's it! I hope you can find the time to join in with our easy challenge this week and look forward to seeing all your girly creations! Don't forget to hop on over to the Passion for Promarkers blog to see what inspiration my talented teamies have come up with.
Right off to do the dreaded food shop - freezers are empty and the cupboards are bare! Have a terrific Tuesday!
Hugs,
Lisa x

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges :
Anything Goes closes tomorrow
Mother's Day / Female closes tomorrow
Use a Digital Image closes 5th