Fright Night

I had originally created this card for the 31 Days of Halloween event held at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. It was so fun to make, and I enjoyed using non-traditional Halloween colors. I loved the background, a sort of aurora borealis, or evening light as dark begins to descend .... 

My make :

For this card I have used all images from Lost Coast Designs. The awesome dude is from The Isle of Aud Creatures and the tree background is a stamp called  Grunge Tree Background.  

I had fun on the background, its made with a water color effect using my Neocolor II's. I used water color paper and spritzed it with water. While it was still wet I held each neocolor close to the paper and used a wet paintbrush to pull the color off the crayon and onto the paper. Because the paper is already wet, the colors move and merge. What I especially love about the neocolors is that when they dry they are permanent so I could add multiple layers onto the paper to add depth and interest.

When it was dry I stamped the tree in brown archival ink, then the creature in black versafine. I colored in any of the detail on his body and darkened him with an artist pitt pen. I then added some shading and depth to my tree with a dark brown marker, and a few white sprinkles of acrylic paint. Finally I edged the card with versamark and embossed it with a dark chocolate embossing powder.

Here is a close up :

Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a comment if you feel inspired :)

 Please come and join us at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity to see our future challenges and events, there's always something fun and inspirational going on over there :)

'Mix It' atc trade

Title for the next Vera lane studios atc trade is 'mix it'. Here is my creation, inspired by Wayne's World :

Isn't this fun, and so colourful. I have used a fish image from ocean 11, and some bunny but I elongated the body. I also used the free edge image that is available in the Facebook group. 

That background is made by painting on coloured molding paste. I late it try and rubbed it in brown shimmer ink to accentuate the texture. All parts were printed and coloured with copics, India ink, gel pen and sharpie. 

The ground is made from a mesh that I adhered with double sided tape. Then I added some of the tiny pop beads from American crafts. They stuck to the double sided tape between the mesh. 

The images were fussy cut at adhered, the main image embossed and popped up with dimensionals. I wrote the words and doodled some white bubbles with a white sharpie paint pen.

I also made this little ATC with the fish set, to accompany its friend in the ATC trade :

This is a rather unusual fish environment, but the little fish, wearing the lipstick seems perfectly content ! LOL This is an acrylic paint background, I finger painted the plants and used an india ink pen. The words were typed on my typewriter. The fish is coloured with prisma pencils and india ink and white gel pen. The eye lashes were cut from paper and glued in place. 

That was such a lot of fun to create. I had a bit of a stressful day and there's nothing like unwinding by doing some crafting and watching an old movie :) 

Humorous teeth tag

I made this tag today using one the new fish from Vera Lane Studios, Ocean 11 :

It may seem kind of random, but living in a house of male children this is how my thought process went : I started off wanting the fish to be shouting to the kids with that big wide mouth ..... then I started to colour him and I coloured his teeth brown .... then I though about the battles in my house for cleanliness and teeth cleaning ... and this is the end result ! LOL I know, its kinda random, but I thought his face and expression were perfect for this.

I coloured the background with distress stains. I decided I don't use them enough. I may only have 6, but they are so versatile I can make lots of other colours with them. I got them out, applied them and spritzed with water to make the ink run and blend. I stamped a sea fan lightly in the background, and used a stencil to add some whipped spackle circles. The words were typed on my typewriter.

The fish was resized in word and printed on my ink jet printer. I coloured the fish with my prisma coloured pencils and blended with gamsol - it was sooo fun, and I love the result. I especially love the teeth - don't they look gross ! LOL I fussy cut the fish and glued him in place, adding some white pen around him to make him pop off the page. I added some ribbons and it was it was done. 

I know lots of people have hobbies that we enjoy, well I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed making this, the whole process from start to finish, inking, colouring, cutting etc etc etc. 

Love from, a very happy crafter :)

Some Bunny ...

A card I made for a friend using Some Bunny by Vera Lane Studios : 

The background is blue distress stain, then I used a lindys stamp gang starburst spray in brown - see the yummy shimmer. Then I used a stencil with moulding paste that I coloured the same colour blue as the distress stain. Bunny was coloured with copics and gel pen and fussy cut. I added some deep purple washi for contrast and glued it all together :)

I hope my friend likes it, inside it says .... Thinks you're awesome :)

You Animal ! ATC's

This week Vera Lane Studios is sponsoring Wicked Wednesday, my makes :

 This is the dog from the Ruby and Romeo set. Coloured with copics and with a gelli® print background

This second ATC is a light gelli® background and washi,  the images coloured with copics and gel pen. The images are from a set called Whimsical coffee lover.  

About this ATC, dont we all love a little ginger in our tea ? LOL

I loved the idea of the cat just knowing with all certainty that he was her ' cup of tea'. Speaking of which .... its morning here and time for my tea :) Have a great day x

Expand your horizons ATC

I made another ATC for the New Stamp Release Event over at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity that will be going on between 18-31 January 2016.  These cracked critters are featured quite a lot .... go check them out ...

This is Cracked Owl, which comes either as a large individual stamp, or smaller as part of a plate. I have used the smaller owl here, which is on Mini Cracked Critters Set One.

The words are from a set called Travel Quotes. I actually only used part of the stamp, the whole sentiment is " Expand your horizons. Your imagination will follow "

To me this owl looks like he is setting out on a new path, perhaps 2016 holds something special for him ?

The background is made with Nuance Powders, now sold by Lost Coast Designs. I am having so much fun with them. I used them simply here by adding a few sprinkles of colour to the water color paper, spritzing with water and allowing them to dry. I then stamped the owl image and coloured him with prisma colour pencils. I went over a few areas with a black marker to highlight the detail.

I doodled around the edge of the ATC, stamped my sentiment and matted the water colour paper onto coloured card stock. The final stage was to add some metallic details using silver liquid pearls. 

Thanks for stopping by x

Chicken ATC

Vera Lane Studios has a new set of digital images in the Floral Park Collection, called Chicken. So adorable, here she is :

Chicken girl is coloured with copics and gel pen, as are the chickens. I added flower to her dress, and made the ground to match :)

I resized and printed the chickens onto the card stock which was to become my background. The background is sponged with distress ink, I splashed on some water drops then used a stencil and moulding paste. I added some accents and a frame with inktense pencils.

I typed the words on my typewriter :)

Thanks for stopping by x

A few cards :

I made a New Years Resolution to make and send more cards. So aiming to make one a day and build up a stock. I'm sure that like me, you occasionally have to rush making a card .... it really can detract from the pleasure of creating doesn't it. So this year I have a plan to just enjoy my creative endeavours :) 

So here's a few recent makes : 

Firstly a Birthday card using nuance powders for the background and a Grumpy from Smeared Ink (sadly no longer available). The speech bubble is from Stampin' Up! :

The second card is for my sons Birthday. This image is from Vera Lane Studios, from a set called Mothers Love. And the sentiment from Stampology, called Billboard. The image is coloured with copics, the background and clouds with acrylic paint.

Hearts ATC

Its Wednesday, and this week the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge is `Hearts`. Our sponsor is Rachel Huddleston, and I have used the cute dog : Heart Shaped Glasses. The digi image is the whole dog, but I cropped him because I was focussing on his glasses :

I loved this quote, it was being banded around facebook last year and I kept a note of it. It works perfectly with this image, don`t you think :)

The dog was resized and printed. I lightly sponged around him in distress ink, then coloured him with copics. I went over his coat with my blending tool and blending solution to give his coat that dappled look. The words were typed on my typewriter, and a layer of crystal effects added to his glasses. I love how the rainbows worked out. Finally added a little washi and matted the ATC onto dark blue cardstock.

Please come on over to check out the other DT inspiration and visit Rachel`s site. Her range of critters is amazing. You wont be disappointed :)

"Fly" ATC

I made this ATC for the New Stamp Release Event over at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. It will be going between 18-31 January 2016.

There are so many new Lost Coast Designs Stamps, have you seen them ? These cracked critters are just awesome, go check them out ...

This is Cracked Bird, which comes either as a large individual stamp, or smaller as part of a plate. I have used the smaller bird here, which is on Mini Cracked Critters Set One. I entitled this ATC "Fly" and as you can see, the bird is making a good effort .....

The background was made using my new Nuance powders by Magenta that Lost Coast Designs now sell. They are a water soluable dye ink, and my fave new product ... I cant stop playing with them.

I used a Stencil Girl stencil and molding paste to make the pattern. Look how the ink coloured the molding paste - oooh, liked that. For the background I also used lumiere paints. Look how shimmery the paint is.

The bird was stamped with brown ink and colored with copics, pencils, lumiere paints and white gel pen. I stamped the bird first onto the background and then fussy cut my image and stuck it over the top. That saves cutting out those fiddly feet and feathers.

The fly was stamped with some individual letter stamps.

So, do you think he will make it ? Will those little thin legs take him fast enough to reach great heights ? I am thinking yes ... fly little bird :)

Every day there will be inspiration on the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity and I'm quite certain that these cracked critters will make numerous appearances.

Maison ATC

Dont you just love Vera Lane Studios and the new Floral Park Collection, meet Maison :

The digi set you purchase from Vera Lane contains a few things, the gorgeous gal, the house, some words and a heart and some borders. I have just used the gal, the house (resized) and one of the sets of words.

The background is made with acrylic paints, moulding paste and a stencil and distress ink. I resized the images and printed them, coloured with copics and gel pen. Then fussy cut them. The ground is torn paper, colourised with distress ink. I glued everything into place and added some black details and doodling :)

Thanks for stopping by x

The ocean is my home

It is no secret .... I am a big fan of Artist Trading Cards (ATC's), and wish all this cold weather here where I love, I thought I should create something warming, what could be more appropriate than a mermaid swimming in the ocean on a warm sunny day.  To create this ATC I used one of my current fave background stamps, Whitecaps, coupled with Star Mermaid with face from Lost Coast Designs.. Have you seen the awesome selection of mermaids, go check it out at Lost Coast Designs.

Here is my ATC : 

The card stock was painted with various blue acrylics, then I heat embossed the whitecaps with pearl white embossing powder, adding some white gel pen to accentuate the white caps. The mermaid is stamped and colored with copics and fussy cut. Her tail and the star she is holding are glittered and the pearl she is holding is dimensional, using liquid pearls. With a craft knife I cut across the waves and slipped part of her tail in. The wording is handwritten. I think she makes a very beautiful focal point in this background.

Reminder that there are monthly challenges at Lost Coast Designs, they start the first Monday of each month at our event and challenge blog. Hope to see you there :) Nikki x

2nd Anniversary ATC trade

I cant hardly believe its been 2 years since I started the ATC trade at the Stampotique facebook group. We have had so much fun and so many people have played and traded internationally. 

To celebrate this cotton anniversary we will be doing an ATC trade entitled : Two much fun. The ATC trade is also coupled with the Stampotique Designers Challenge on the blog #229. There you will find some featured ATCs from the trade, as well as a collage of all the ATC's from the traders taking part this month. In addition to the regular and totally AWESOME design team makes.
A very big celebration, and lots of love for Stampotique.

My Two Much Fun make :

My ATC features Jammin' from Stampotique, coloured in copics with an acrylic paint mixed media background. To frame the image I distressed and edged the ATC in black and gold embossing powder.

The latin words "ad nauseum" mean to do something to the point of nausea. See how green around the gills Jammin' is ? He has been having 2 much fun and is now feeling really quite nauseous. LOL

I am entering this ATC into the SDC229 challenge as well :)

Thanks for stopping by x

Wanderlust weeks 1 and 2

I am doing the online mixed media course this year called Wanderlust. And I have to say I am quite taken with it. There is a new video every Friday, but I want to know why Friday takes so darn long to come around ..... LOL.

My week 1 make :

My week 2 make :

Crazy Bird Birthday Card

My lovely friend Michele sent this stamp set to me at Christmas. Its been one of those that I liked, but hadn't got around to buying. So it was such a lovely surprise, and it stamped so wonderfully. 

I made this card for my nephews Birthday :

Vera Lane Studios ATCs

Sharing a couple of ATC's I made with images from Vera Lane Studio's digital images from the new Floral Park Collection : 

And I received a request to trade for the Love with all your Heart .. so made another similar one :

Make it Sparkle ATC

A sparkly challenge at Wicked Wednesday this wee, sponsored by All Dressed Up.

I have used this adorable image, Little Skater for my ATC :

The image was resized in word and printed. I coloured her with copics and prisma colour pencils and then I sponged the background, using torn paper to create dimension on the icy ground. I stamped a few light snowflakes in the sky, added stickles to her skirt and glitter on the ice. I edged the image in cool grey, using a darker grey where there were shadows. Finally I typed the words on my typewriter. 

Thanks for stopping by, and please visit us at Wicked Wednesday to see the other inspiration.

Wrapping Paper ATC

A fun challenge, to make an ATC using some used wrapping paper from Christmas :

I used red, white and silver shiny ornament wrapping paper for the background and tied it up like a gift with glittery ribbon.

Then I added the legs, these are from a set called Daddy Long Legs from Dylusions. They are colored with copics and I heat set the boots in clear embossing powder so that they have a nice glossy look.They were fussy cut and added with dimensional tape. The words were typed on my typewriter and finally I added some silver sequins and beads.

Isn't it fun :) I imagine everyone standing, similarly clad, in the returns queue/line at shops returning their unwanted Christmas gifts. Or is that just me returning stuff? LOL

Clean and Simple Card

This is not the easiest style for me to do, but this is the new challenge at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity.

I made this card using Cracked Party Cat : 

I stamped the cat onto my white card front and coloured him with copics, pencils and a black fine tip marker. Here is a close up of him :

Then I die cut an oval to frame him, in white card stock.

I think would make a great Birthday card, its such an adorable image.

Stop by at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity to see the other Clean and Simple inspiration :)

Happy New Year

I didn't make many Christmas cards this year. I decided instead to do the french tradition (Thanks Coco for the idea) and make New Years cards, and used these adorable Grumpy Penguins from Katzelkraft, aren't they delightful :

The penguins were stamped in black memento ink and their beaks coloured with copics. I then sponged the background with distress inks and used the cloud stamp by Katzelkraft for the ground. What a great snowy/icy ground effect it gives. Final step was to use black marker for the eyes and add glass glitter to the ground. I matted the card front onto white card stock. The 'Happy New Year' sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse Stamps.

As you can see, I made quite a few of these cards :

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year.

I hope 2016 is a good one for you xxx