Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2021 - Take two!

 Hi everyone!! It was very exciting this morning as the clouds tried to rain. It drizzled for about two hours and I really thought with the sky being so black that rain was going to pour down. But no, the drizzle stopped and the sun came out. Bummer.....back to watering my garden with the sprinkler again....

There are a few more days left of the 2021 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, so many incredible projects have been entered, almost makes me want to try a cup of coffee!!

As I mentioned in my last post Funky Fossil Designs are one of the Super Sponsors for the hop. I was in a water-colouring mood so grabbed some of their floral stamps:

I've often heard people refer to coffee as 'giving them a buzz' so thought that would make a great idea for a card.

First off I stamped the bee's from 'Bees Knees' and the cup from 'Pugs and Hugs'  (the cup actually has a little pug sitting in it but was able to fussy cut him out) with my usual Gina K Amalgam black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out.

The floral wreath from 'Blooming Wreath' was also stamped in the same black ink but on TAD watercolour CS. I then used my ZIG Real Color Brush Markers, some water and a brush to colour everything in. Once it was dry I used a white gel pen and black fineliner to add some details to the flowers. 

I cut the panel down to a square and added to a white square card base that had a panel of black CS adhered to it. I used a piece of black foam to give it some dimension. I then put the cup and bee's on some foam tape, as well as the white heat embossed sentiment (also from 'Bees Knees'). And for a bit of sparkle I covered the bees in Wink of Stella.

Think I'll set myself up in front of the tv now and watch a movie. I've been watching so many older movies of late like Face Off, Armageddon...can't seem to get enough of the 90's. Will have to see what Netflix or Disney can fix me up with tonight!!

Take care

Shona

 

Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2021

 Hello there!! Its been a beautiful day today, lots of sunshine and not much wind, just enough to get the washing dry. A stark contrast to yesterday where there wasn't a breath of wind (was quite eerie, it was so still) and very dark and cold. Dave was tempted to light the fire but I told him to put another layer on instead. We usually don't start lighting the fire until mid to end of April, if we start now we will run out of wood. The joys of Autumn....

I'm one of those strange people who doesn't drink coffee or tea.....or water (makes me feel sick), however I always get excited when the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop comes around. With all the incredible coffee and tea related products that are produced now, the projects are amazing and there are oh so many to see!

Funky Fossil Designs are one of the Super Sponsors of the hop and are giving away a $25 GBP gift voucher to their store. I wanted to create a coffee card using their products and came up with an idea to use some of my favourite images:

I've used these mushrooms and toadstool images so much its a wonder they still stamp! I really enjoyed putting this all together and I'm gradually getting more confident adding my own little details with a pen.

I started by stamping the mushrooms/toadstools from the 'Bee's Knees' and 'Whimsy Town' stamp sets with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I did the same with the snail from the 'Snail Mail' set and the cup from 'Sew Lovely'.

For the background I blended Distress Ink 'Twisted Citron' over the card front using the 'Slimline Landscape' stencil. I left a gap along the bottom and blended Waffle Flower 'Coffee Loves Milk' for the pathway. To create pebbles I dotted the path with brown Altenew Markers. 

Once I worked out where the images would sit I decided to ground them a bit by blending some 'Mowed Lawn' Distress Ink using one of my new Altenew Detail Blending Brushes. It was fantastic for adding a little bit instead of scrunching up a blending pad. I also used a dark green marker to make some little grass blades. Before adding the images with foam tape, I blended some 'Salty Ocean' Distress Ink for the sky, leaving it 'unblended' in spots to add some interest. To finish off I popped the sentiment (from the 'Snail Mail' set) on foam tape.

Starting to get dark, even though its only 7.30pm. We only have daylight saving until April 3rd so making the most of it to water my garden. We haven't had any rain for weeks, hoping now the weather is getting colder the rain clouds will return....

Take care

Shona

 

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #183

 Hello there!! I've been busy in my own garden today, pruning my peach trees and removing my swan plants (the plants that monarch butterflies eat and lay their eggs on). After all my caterpillars died from the virus 'Black Death', I thought it best to remove the plants as they probably still have remnants of the virus on them. I'm not sure if I will put more swan plants in for next season yet, having all of them die was quite traumatic, not sure if I want to go thru that again.....

On to much happier things, the theme for the current TIME OUT challenge is 'Different'. There are a myriad of ways you could interpret this on your project. You could try a different technique, use different colours or maybe show off something different about yourself....its totally up to you!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Funky Fossil Designs and they are giving a 15 GBP voucher to the winner. They have recently had a new release and have an amazing number of products to choose from.

 I'm extremely lucky to be on the Design Team for Funky Fossil Designs and wanted to try out some 'different' make up designs on a certain stamp set:

This is quite a different type of card for me. I'm usually all about pastel colours with lots of white space. Wanted to try a different style and had so much fun doing the make-up...

I started off by stamping the girls face from the Funky Fossil Designs 'She is Fierce' stamp set using Gina K Amalgam black ink on some Strathmore Watercolour CS. I then, very carefully and very slowly, used my Kuretake Zig Real Color Brush Markers to bring her to life. I'm very inexperienced with doing skin for any colouring but took my time and was amazed I could get the blush to work along with some shadowing on her face. Once she was dry I fussy cut her out.

Keeping with the 'dark' theme I die-cut a circle of white CS with a die from Couture Creations and then stamped one of the border stamps from Funky Fossil Designs 'Doodle Borders' across it using Versafine Onyx ink. After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I put the circle on a piece of black foam and put the girl on some foam tape. To finish off I added a sentiment from Funky Fossil Designs 'Small Print'  and some Studio Katia pearls. 

You have until Wednesday 24th March to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Lisa of Paper Mountain Parcels have created to inspire you. Can wait to see your 'different' projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Happy Birthday Waffle Flower!!

 Hi everyone!! Its been a lovely warm day and got a lot of gardening done. We still haven't had any decent rain yet for months, so everything is looking rather parched....

 

Waffle Flower are celebrating their 7th birthday. I still remember when they started and I'm so happy they have become so popular. For their birthday they have a blog hop (which I totally recommend) and giveaways. They also have a Linky Party where you can add your own favourite Waffle Flower projects from over the years. I've just spent a couple of hours looking at all my WF cards on my blog and Instagram, reminiscing about how I made them and being grateful my colouring skills have gotten a lot better!!

I scrolled back to the beginning of my Instagram account and found that the second card I shared back on the 6th August 2015 was this:

Sorry the photo isn't perfect, I had to take a screen shot and download on to my computer as I couldn't find the original...

I still actually remember making this card! I had won the stamp set and matching dies from participating in a Waffle Flower Challenge and spent ages with my cheap pencils, trying to colour with shading etc. I still think its a cute card and I'm not too embarrassed by it (some others I looked at are awful...) and it would seem Waffle Flower has been a part of my life for a few years.

I have a few other WF cards to share with you that I still love to this day. That was when I seemed to have more time on my hands and spent hours working out die-cutting creations. 

Here's to many more years of Waffle Flower!!

Take care

Shona

 

Rosies Studio - Seahorse fun

 Hello there!! The weather has been doing all sorts of crazy things of late. The last few days have been really hot and sunny but this morning I woke up to rain, which pretty much stopped by lunchtime and now its boiling hot again with lots of cloud. Talk about bizarre!! So I didn't end up by doing any gardening today but its given me a chance to catch up on all sorts of jobs I keep putting off at home....

You will have seen me use products from Rosie's Studio over the years on my cards. They are a small craft company based in Auckland, New Zealand. They come out with around 7 collections each year with stamps, papers, stickers etc. Their stamp sets have gotten so much better over the years and I always try to get my hands on them. And the price of them is phenomenal!!

 One of their latest collections is 'Salt and Sunsets', I really loved the stamp set as it has a large seahorse image. I got it last week and spent some time over the weekend colouring. I don't make many 'under the sea' scenes so this one was a bit of an experiment:

 I was trying to create the effect of sun-rays in the water. I watched a YouTube video by 'Much Love, Sara' which was so beautifully done. She used Distress Oxide inks and small blender brushes. I don't have any little brushes and not the right colours in Oxide inks, so I did what I could with normal Distress Inks. Pretty pleased with my first attempt!! 

First off I stamped the images with Gina K Amalgam black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. 

I cut a panel off Strathmore Bristol Smooth CS and blended lots of blue and green distress inks, finishing off with a little black around the bottom edges for depth. I then flicked over some water (ended up with some bigger blobs than I wanted...) and pressed with tissue paper. After working out where the seahorse would sit, I stamped on some tiny blue fish. I also stamped some seaweed on white CS and because I couldn't cut them out without lots of white CS showing, I blended over some of the distress inks. 

I trimmed the panel down slightly and popped up on a piece of white CS. I glued all the seaweed, shells and starfish into place. The seahorse was put on foam tape, along with the sentiment (from the same stamp set). To finish off I added some Studio Katia pearls and put lots of Wink of Stella on the seahorse, shells and starfish.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'A Bit O'Green'. This is my 2nd entry.

I'm off to the supermarket now (seem to go there every day.....) and will then pick up Max from College. Phoebe has been trying the Vegan way of eating again and I found a recipe for Oatmeal Vegan cookies today, so might give those a go when I get back. Sure would be easier if the whole family went vegan so I didn't have to do separate meals. I could easily go vegetarian but I would miss my dairy products!

Take care

Shona

 

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Maya Angelou

 Hello everybody!! Its Sunday here in New Zealand and its the most gorgeous, sunny, non-windy day. I'm about to go out and enjoy the sunshine while trimming some hedges and listening to my Spotify (Juice World and Foo Fighters get me in a hacking sort of mood....). Suddenly remembered that I shared a card the other day on my Instagram and Facebook but not on my blog!

Funky Fossil Designs recently had a new release and I really like to see how I can incorporate the new stamp sets with the older ones:

After making this card it reminded me how much I love to use navy and that I should try to use it more instead of black.

Firstly I adhered a panel of navy CS to the front of the card. I then cut a slightly smaller panel of white CS. Using a tree image from the 'Winter Wonderland' set and my trusty MISTI, I stamped the tree across the bottom of the panel. I used inks from Waffle Flower and Hero Arts, starting with the lighter colours first so they were in the background. It sounds funny but I don't often 'over-stamp' images, doesn't feel right, like I'm making a mistake but I'm in love with this effect.

I stamped the bird from the new 'Bird Song'  stamp set with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on white CS, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cut out. I also added some details with a white gel pen. I popped him up on the card with some foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment from the same set. And of course I had to finish off with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'A Bit O'Green'.

My husband Dave has been in Christchurch since Friday for a family members wedding. He's on his way back now driving and sent me a msg to say he had picked up my precious cargo.....my order from Donut King....so can't wait for him to get home. My tummy will be waiting!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #182

 Hello there!! We are celebrating a HUGE birthday over at TIME OUT challenges. Its our 7th birthday and I've actually been part of the Design Team for 6.5years. Hard to believe so much time has gone by and I've loved every minute of it. And also so exciting to see how popular the challenge has become over the years, and that we have so many people who play with us a lot, which is such an honour for our team. Thank you so much everybody for your support and here's to many more years of challenges!!

So for our 'birthday party' our theme for this challenge is 'Celebration'. Your project can be for any type of celebration you like i.e. wedding, birthday, new home etc or maybe something that's personal to you that you want to 'jump for joy' over.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stamplorations who have Sponsored us from the start and have been very generous not only to the winners but also the Design Team. They are giving a whopping $40 gift voucher to the winner of this challenge, which would be so much fun to spend!

For my card I definitely wanted to use Stamplorations products and was in a colouring mood:

I spent a few evenings sitting in the warm evening air on a beanbag under my peach tree's, colouring away while watching 'Superstore' on my iPad. Gotta love Summertime....

First up I stamped the images from Stamplorations 'Birthday Bash - Shery Russ Designs' with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on a panel of white CS. I coloured them quickly with Altenew Artist Markers and then added lots of detail with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. 

Once I had finished I wanted to add a waffle-edge to the panel (like the edge of the cupcake liner) so die-cut it using a MFT Stamps die from the 'Blueprint 27' set. After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I put the cake panel on a piece of black foam. 

For the sentiment (from the same stamp set) I used Ranger Black embossing Powder on a piece of plain vellum. I then used a circle die from Couture Creations to cut it out. It didn't stand out enough against the background so I used a smaller circle die with some white CS and glued it to that before putting on foam tape. To finish off I added some pearls from Studio Katia in similar colours.

I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge  which is for projects using their products.

You have until Wednesday 10th March to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing any help with ideas or inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Karen of Random Reflections have created for you. Karen has played with us for years, so its really lovely she is the GD for this challenge.

Thanks again for all your support with TIME OUT and I hope to see your projects in the Gallery.

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Smile

 Hello there!! We almost had rain today which would have made a lot of people happy but it was nothing more than a sprinkle. Just enough to make my boots and gloves all muddy, and my hair all frizzy..... Now we've hit March hopefully the rain will return so everything isn't looking so parched.

A few days ago Funky Fossil Designs had a New Release and it was a doozy! It included stamps, dies, washi tapes and a new paper pad...something for everyone. I wanted to share with you another card I made with the new 'Geo Elements' stamp set and another older set, to show how well it goes with other images:

I had so much fun colouring this little guy, he's smiling but you can't tell because  his big, chubby jowls are in the way....

I started off by stamping the doggie from the 'Furry Friends' stamp set with Gina K Amalgam black ink and coloured using Altenew Artist Markers, just making up his fur pattern as I went. For the background I used my MISTI and the same ink to stamp the heart shape (from the 'Geo Elements' set) across a white CS panel. I didn't measure or anything, just used my eye to try and keep the lines straight. I then used the same markers in pastel colours to create a pattern on each one.

After adhering a panel of black CS to the card base, I cut down the heart panel so it was slightly smaller and popped up on black foam. The doggie was put on foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment (from the new 'Graphic Words' set). To finish off I glued on some cute heart embellishments in similar colours.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Better go and set up my mattress for the night. We finally had a chance to get Max's room re-lined with GIB, so Wednesday night last week Dave stripped the walls. Max is sleeping in our room, Dave is sleeping in the garage (he has it set up like a bedroom but there are too many spiders out there for my liking....) and I'm sleeping on a single mattress in the lounge room. Its close to the tv and my craft area so its actually not too bad. Only problem is that both cats sleep with me (they take up half the bed) and Bella sleeps beside me on the floor. Her snoring, farts and breath is enough to keep anyone awake at night believe you me.....

Take care

Shona