A wee rodent problem here...

I am not sure how I would react if a mouse popped up from my birthday cake but it sure looks cute on the card!

This stamp is called Birthday Cake Mouse and it's by Whimsy Stamps. I used my plain old watercolours and loads of glitter to perk it up.  The banners are from Whimsy Celebration Pennants set, stamped on patterned paper and heat embossed.

 The papers I used are from Basic Grey Life Of The Party pad. Flowers are made with Marianne's Floral die set. I also used Whimsy Double Scallop Border die.

And now a bit of enabling - have you noticed that Quixotic is now carrying new Authentique 6x6 paper pads? Boy they are lovely - I think I absolutely NEED that blue one - it's so hard to find papers in those hues for some reason!

Now isn't that just lush!

My another awwwww-moment are  Rick St Dennis bears and clowns - so quirky and fun and fabquality of artwork!!

Thanks a million for popping by and happy crafting!
Annika

I see sea side - and a humongous out-of-proportion bow too...sigh

This time I am trying my hand with colouring a Carmen Medlin stamp called Siren's Call by SCACD. I have to admit the colouring didn't go as well as I planned - it seemed I wasted most of my steam for the background and scene and then everything about the poor mermaid went a bit wrong. :( But hey, we all have our bad ...and worse days! ;)

All I used was my watercolours and Sakura white gel pen (that's what I made the most mistakes with, sigh).

And the more I look at that oversized monstrous bow, the more I detest it. It's stuck on VERY firmly though. I tested. Sigh.

The chipboard flourish and dragonflies are by Make it Crafty and the pretty papers are from Prima Moulin Rouge pad.

Just a little tip - if you want to paint in strong background involving layered washes like this one, it really helps if you invest into some art masking fluid and cover the foreground figures with it. You can just boldly colour the scene in then, wait it to dry completely and rub off the masking fluid - no ultramarine washes on you mermaids face! :)

Thank you so much for popping by!
Hugs

Mix & Match with Tiddly Inks & Make it Crafty

It’s finally time to release the big Mix n’ Match collection from Tiddly Inks and Make it Crafty!

Together they have been craftily plotting behind the scenes for months (making us drool in anticipation) to bring you a fabulous collection of Steampunk creations with a Victorian theme! You’ll find little steampunk houses, bits and bobs background scenes, flying contraptions, gorgeous characters and the finest selection of digital papers!

We could send you on a little hop, but they are getting a bit boring... so we knocked our heads together and thought up a game to play instead!

‘I SPY’ with my little eye...

... hmmm what do you spy??
Well to find out, head on over to where it all begins!!

CLICK HERE

PLUS 15% OFF NEW RELEASE IMAGES FOR A WEEK!!

Start Mix n’ Matching with Tiddly Inks and Make it Crafty straight away as you grab the super bargain of 15% OFF!!

Just enter the coupon code MIXNMATCH at checkout!

I mixed-and-matched this elegant Owlette from Tiddly Inks with a glorious Steampunk Treehouse from Make It Crafty.

As you can see I've been messing with watercolours again. I reduced the opacity of the background house quite a bit in Gimp to prevent it from competing with the foreground too much - and then used too bright tones for colouring it...duh! - lesson learned!

It was a pretty big image I coloured - about five and half inches square or a bit more. I was determined to add some clutter though to go with overall steampunk/ornate Victorian feel.

I used different bits of Make It Crafty lasercut chipboard and heat embossed it with three different embossing powders. I totally fell in love with these dragonflies!! To give them lil' heads and bodies I snapped off backs from some metal brads and attached these with glue gel.

Thank you so much for popping in and happy mixing-and-matching to you! :)
Hugs

Sundays With Crissy - an example of what happens if you get your challenges mixed up and a DT call

The challenge at Sundays With Crissy is Distressing this month. Can you spot ANY distressing on my card? No? That's because there isn't any! I totally got things mixed up! lol

The image is a Cupcake Bliss stamp from Whimsy Stamps. I coloured it with distress inks on watercolour sketching paper. It's quite thin so I tried to keep my colouring drier than usual.

There's also great news - Sundays with Crissy is having a DT call!!

 You can find all the details about the DT call HERE.

Hugs!

Stamp Something - Digi Day

It's a digi day today at Stamp Something and I was working with an image from Delicious Doodles.

The image was printed on watercolour  card with inkjet, washed to prevent runs and watercoloured after it dried overnight. I embossed the card and designer paper and treated both with gold poster paint and bronze acrylic paint.

Thank you for visiting and happy crafting!
Hugs

Whimsy Sneak Peek - day 4

Today is the last day of Whimsy previews and all the new rubber stamps will be available tomorrow. And of course there will be a blog hop with loads of cool prizes!

I am showing a card with image from Meljens called Mailed With Love.

I am REALLY unhappy with this card - just didn't come together the way I wanted to at all. Which is a real pity since I actually am pretty happy with the colouring on the image. It looks better irl - the photos ain't great either...

Thank you so much for visiting and happy crafting!
Hugs

And a little peak...

It's time for Whimsy Stamps June rubber release previews!

I am using a new stamps called Fairy Daydreams - it's going to be available from Whimsy on next Wednesday, June 15th.

I coloured her with watercolours - thought it would work real well with the big lush blossom and I think it does.

The fancy corners are a laser cut chipboard coloured with sparkle paint. I also painted the doily. The sentiment is from Whimsy Magical Mini Letter Seals set.

Challenges:
Clearly Inspired - 2W, 1E, SIO - 2nd week - Distressing
Fairy Fun Fridays - 2W, SIO – 2nd week - Summer fun
Totally Papercrafts - Summer
Aud Sentiments Challenge - 2W - Summertime
Crafts and Me - #38 Stamp something
Simply Scrapping Creative Card Challenge - 1E, M - painting
A Spoonful Of Sugar - 1E - #155 Summer - Colours, images etc
Crazy Amigo Challenge - Summery Card
Creative Card Crew - Wings
KB Cute Monday - Bright colours
Scrappy Frogs - 3W - 3rd W - Birthdays

Thank you so much for visiting and happy crafting to all!
Hugs

Does that look like my card at all??

The challenge this week at Stamp Something is a recipe: Flowers, buttons and sparkle.

Our sponsor this week is Sugar Nellie with a lovely prize you should definitely check out!

I've liked the stamps from Leanne Ellis for a long time but haven't really had a chance to play with any. Well, I had a go this time and tried to go with the artsy feel of them - I'm not sure of what to think of the result. Not exactly BAD but probably too different from my style, takes some getting used to.

I coloured the image with watercolours (yup, a cheap-as-chips set and I think I have to invest in better one - the pigment doesn't dissolve properly and I get kinda powdery bits in my washes). Also added some detail with white opaque calligraphy ink - tastes revolting, btw, managed to stick the brush into my mouth while I was contemplating. Note to self - need a 1mm (extra-extra fine) brush. Anybody know where to get one?

The papers I'm using are from Prima Melody 6x6 pad. I got some different ones from Quixotic and I have to say I adore them - not only are the patterns and colours lovely (I was sorely missing some purples and lavenders in my stash) but they are also really big (48 sheets) which in my book makes them an excellent value.

Little pearly dots are made with Viva Pearl Pen in Dark Brown. Who in their right mind makes dark brown pearls, you ask. Well...me, lol

I made the flowers with various punches and embossing tool (you know, the one with a ball end) and that intricate tag die is from Whimsy Stamps. If you're in UK or Europe, you can get it from Quixotic HERE. It is a total staple die that I can see myself using again and again and again ... and you'll all will become sick of it and stop coming here and...

OK, now I'm getting all depressed! lol

Challenges
C.R.A.F.T. - Challenge #99: Flowers.
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - SIO -  Challenge #55: Glitter & glitz
ABC Challenge - C5 - S is for Sparkle
Scrapbook Sisters - #32 buttons
Truly Scrumptious - 2W - #55 vintage
Cards & Things - 1E, JFF - Colour
 Oldie But Goodie Challenge - 2W, must use stamp at least 6mts old - Fit for A Queen/Princess
Sweet Stamps - 1E, SIO - Some Sort Of Frame On Your Card
Top Tip Tuesday - 3E - Open Challenge
Stamp Fairy - For the Girls with a Sentiment
Woodware USA - 2E - Die Cuts/Punches

Thank you so much for visiting and happy crafting!
Hugs

Stamp Something - April Showers...

If you are looking for WHIMSY STAMPS new release blog hop and prize draw then you can find my post HERE.

Today's challenge at Stamp Something is SOMETHING APRIL SHOWERS. Today's sponsor is Whiff Of Joy!

I've used a cute Stampavie hedgehog and he's coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils. You can use those dry but if you wet them the pigment becomes ink and colour very vibrant. Once the ink dries it becomes waterproof. They are kinda cool to work with and I see myself  trying a lot of different things with them. They also work with mineral spirits so possibilities are truly endless.

The papers are from Echo Park Sweet Sumertime - love the colours!

Challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Weather inspired
Pals Paper Arts - Use flowers
Crafts and Me - #30 Ribbon
A Spoonful Of Sugar -  All Creatures Great & Small
Kaboodle Doodles - cute and cuddly animals
Paper Playtime - Weather

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!
Hugs

Last Whimsy sneak before the release

Today is a last day of Whimsy Stamps April rubber stamp previews and I am showing you a card that almost made it's way into circular file instead of the pages of my blog.

Lets start with the adorable fairy from Meljens (called Curious Little Fairy). I tested my kids watercolours again but this time it was a different box and these paints didn't seem to have much pigment at all, on top of it they were kinda waxy and would leave smears on paper instead of being absorbed in and blended. Lesson learned. That box will not be nicked by Mommy again. lol

The sentiment is from the new Everyday Sayings Mini Postage Stamps set. All the papers, leaves and flowers were altered with acrylic paints and Tim Holtz Rock Candy distress paint.

Tomorrow is a day of the Whimsy Stamps April release blog hop and I'm pretty HAPPY with the card I made so I really hope you will find time to pop in! :)

Hugs

OK, I probably need decent-ish watercolours...

One of the reasons I started abusing my kids watercolours this week was today's challenge at Make It Colourful which is Colouring Backgrounds. I like to let my hidden experimenter inner me out for that challenge and had this idea of trying out making a "proper" watercolour scene. Considering I hadn't really done much with watercolours at ALL before, the result ain't too desperate, lol

I was actually ignorant enough in the area to sneak to library and drag home couple of books on painting, just to get some rough idea how to go about it, lol.

Putting aside the specific rules for watercolouring (like working from back to front, letting the project dry between washes, how to mix colours etc.) the basic rules for colouring apply. Like using more washed-out and bluer tones for distance and getting warmer, brighter and more detailed as you come "closer". For distant hills I used paler washes and mixed greens quite heavily with blues. You would need to do the same with any medium.

I used Hilly Lane  from Make It Crafty as a base for my background, choosing to use some details and just paint over others. Very bold of me, I know...

I don't have many information about the Tilda on my card. She is from a Magnolia kit I got couple of years ago, I think it might be called Chasing Butterflies. I stamped her onto NOT 300gsm watercolour card and coloured in fairly "wet" style, letting colours mingle and soft watercoloury textures form. Then I let her dry and put in deeper shadows wet on dry, working on little areas and blending by dabbing with almost-dry clean brush on the very edhe of the wet shadow area. You need to have kitchen paper in your hand and keep constantly dabbing the moisure and pigment off your brush. Have to confess that's a technique I kinda "made up" and maybe it's outrageously wrong. :)

Either way, I had fun experimenting :)

Challenges:
Cardmadfairy's Digi Days Challenge  must use a digi - back to nature
Fairy Fun Fridays - Spring-themed
Fairy Knoll - happy!
Stampin With The Dragon - bring on Spring
Art Impressions Stamps Challenge - Water Colours
Dutch Dare Card Challenge - Celebrations
Samuel Taylor's Challenge - Butterflies
Crafts and Me - anything goes
Little Red Wagon - butterflies
Everybody-Art-Challenge - Happy Birthday
Card Cupids - Spring Inspired
Cheerful Stamp Pad - Be a Sport


Thanks for visiting and come back tomorrow for a video tut on colouring facial features with Copics!
Hugs
Annika

Do you think there's enough orange on my card?

It's going to be a very short post - my laptop was finally taken away for repairs and I'm utterly computerless.

This week at Tickled Pink challenge our challenge is to create something for lads. The prize is 3 digital stamps of your choice and the challenge requires a use of Tickled Pink image.

I used Sir Rupert for my card, he is coloured with the toddler-grade watercolours I dug out from my kids craft box.

I went for fairly mad colour combo - don't think I've ever done orange/navy before and maybe for reason, lol

Challenges:
Art Impressions Stamps Challenge -  Water Colours
The Outlawz POM  - no Copics or other alchohol inks  - Sparkle & Shine
Paper Play -  Distressing
Southern Girls -  Add An Animal
Stampin' B's - Masculine Card
Cooking It Up With Katie -  animals, colorful, buttons
Sisterhood of Crafters -  masculine
Clear It Out! - Buttons
Digital Tuesday - include a digital element -  Button Up
Crafty Pad - Use a Digi


Thank you so much for looking and happy crafting!
Hugs