Exciting Times

I am so excited!  As of today I will be a design team member on the Cardz 4 Galz challenge blog.  You can check it out from the link above or in my sidebar.  So far I have seen some fun challenges and a variety of great talent.

This is my first DT card, for today's theme which is fall colours.  I hope you like it!.

I have used a Gorjuss stamp by Santoro, which I thought would be perfect for this colour scheme because of the foxes.  I stamped the image in brown ink on kraft card and coloured it with Polychromos pencils.  I hand stitched around the edges of the circle and also added some thread through the buttons that I used as centres for the flowers to tie it all together.  The papers I have used are from the First Edition Desert Blooms pad.

An Easel Card

This is another family birthday card, this time for my mum. Myself, my dad, brother and mum all have  birthdays in September, so it was always a busy (and expensive) month in our house when I was growing up.  Actually, it's still an expensive month!  Thankfully my boys' birthdays are a bit more spread out (although the months coincide with two of my nephews).

This was my first ever attempt at an easel card.  The image is a digi stamp by Julia Spiri, and I  coloured it using Polychromos pencils.

I also used a variety of die cut flowers and butterflies on this.  The flower dies are clever.  They cut in strips and then they can be rolled up and the petals spread out.  I got these a while ago and unfortunately can't remember what brand they are.  I am going to have to start keeping bits of packaging!

The printed papers are by First Edition, and I also made a matching box since there was no way this one was going to fit into an envelope.  It's made from a 7 inch pizza style box which my 6 inch card with embellishments fits into nicely on a bed of pink tissue paper. 

Ouch!!

I'm feeling a bit fed up today.  I had a wisdom tooth removed last Tuesday, and despite folllowing the aftercare instructions to the letter, it has become infected.  I won't bore everyone with the details, but after a visit to the (very kind and sympathetic) dentist today, I am extremely tired but hopefully now on the mend (although my mouth trastes of iodine and I'm stuck on a soup and smoothie diet for a few days).

Today I am sharing a birthday card that I made for my brother.  I made it a couple of weeks ago but I had to wait until after his birthday to share it.

This was made using a digi stamp by Dr Digi, which I coloured using Polychromos pencils.  I distressed the edges of the papers using scissors and added some distress ink around the edges.

These are two "his and hers" cards that I made using Polkadoodles digi stamps.  The images are coloured with promarkers and I have matted and layered patterned papers for the background.

I am a big fan of bright colours!

Today I am sharing a card I made a while ago.  The dragonfly is a Sheena Douglass die cut, and I have also added a die cut background and flowers.

The background behind the dragonfly was created using inks and layered stamping, and I used mica powders on the dragonfly to make it shimmer.

Pink

In the interests of showing more of my recent work on my blog (and to match the new background), I am posting one more card today.

This is a card that I made using a Saturated Canary digi stamp, coloured with Polychromos pencils.

I love this image because it reminds me of what I was like as a girl.  My mum would try and make me look pretty, but I preferred boots and messy hair.

The butterfly dies are by Marianne Designs.

Bright and Cheerful

Hello again.  Today I have decided to share one of the cards I made recently.  This was a birthday card I made for one of my son's friends using a digi stamp by Dr Digi, which I coloured using Promarkers.  The die cut branch is from a Spellbinders set which includes cherry blossoms.

I have a few works in progress at the moment, and lots of recent work to share too, so watch this space!

Christmas

All of this time with no posts at all, and then two in one day!  It's September, so time to start making Christmas cards (at least if I want to have enough of them by the time December comes around).

This card was made using a digi stamp by Di's Digi Stamps, coloured with Polychromos pencils.

This is a card made using a free image I downloaded some time ago.  I have it credited as Kasjan's Scrapblogg, but I don't know whether or not it is still available.  Again I have coloured with image with Polychromos pencils.  I love these papers, which are from the Warm and Cozy collection by Carta Bella.

I have seen some lovely cards made by colouring on kraft card, so I decided to give it a go.  I always think this looks really effective, especially with whites, as the white really pops out.

I've added glitter glue on all of these cards, but I think it shows up particularly well on this card.  Christmas cards have to have glitter!

The papers used here are from the Jingle all the Way pad by First Edition.

I've been stuck in a bit of a colouring rut recently, so decided to try something a bit different.  The background here was created using embossing folders.  The winter scene was from my box of random bits and I've added a satin ribbon and bow, die cut snowflakes and die cut star.  The star is from a collection of X-cut miniatures, which I love.

This is another card created using embossing folders for the background.  The star is a die cut created using a Creative Expressions die by Sue Wilson, and I absolutely love it!

I think that's me done for today, but I will be back!

Sian. xx

Long time no see

Well, hello to anyone who's still following me after all this time!  I ended up having to take a long break from art, craft and blogging as I simply didn't have time to do any of it whilst working full time and studying for a degree.  I am pleased to report that I have now finished my degree and have a BSc (Honours) degree in psychology.  I graduated with first class honours, so it seems that the break was worth it!

Anyway, I've been busy making cards.  I don't have the space to do all the messy stuff now that my boys are bigger.  Looking back at my last posts, I think my card making has improved over the last 4 years despite having only been able to do it occasionally until very recently.

I have recently discovered that I really enjoy colouring with pencils, and the images on the cards on this post were coloured with Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.  If anyone is interested in trying out pencils I would highly recommend them.  They don't break easily, they are easy to blend, and the colours are lovely and vibrant.

The mermaid image to the right is a digi stamp by Julia Spiri. 

This is a Polkadoodles digi stamp from the Winnie in Wonderland Collection.  I really enjoyed colouring the hair in funky colours.

The image on this final card is by Pink Gem Designs.  This is one of my favourite cards from the ones I have made recently.

Now that I am back in the swing of things, I am hoping to be able to enter some challenges again, so if anyone could point me in the direction of some good ones I would be grateful.

I am hoping to be back soon!

Sian. xx