HMFMC 187 - LOVE IS IN THE AIR

They're all loved up over at House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge and since I made hubby's Valentine card for the last challenge this one really got my little grey cells ticking.

In the end, after rifling through my stamp collection, I decided on a Get Well Soon card for a LOVED one... This poor little guy has obviously flown through the air and landed with a bump. Good job his friend is on hand to patch him up and make him feel better... There! See how I made that work ;oD

As ever, Copics and Prismacolour Pencils were deployed for the colouring and I raided my stash for some suitable scraps of paper. I couldn't resist making a cute plaster for the sentiment and this gorgeous daisy paper, which I've used on the inside as well. seemed to be just perfect.

Once again, I've just about squeaked in before the deadline... Phew!

Lx

I JUST CAN'T PUT THOSE CLARE LLOYD STAMPS DOWN...

As soon as I got Clare's stamps I KNEW I HAD to make a little dolly. It's taken me a while to work out exactly what I was going to do but here she is at last and, for a first draft I'm mighty pleased with her if I do say so myself.

I used the stamp from Plate 04 of Clare's latest release for PaperArtsy (there she is in the bottom right of the plate).

I raided my stash to see what I had and found some fabulous hand died wool for hair, a scrap of "felt" from an old jumper and some beautiful silk fabric from an old cushion.

Just look at this yarn; it's fabulous and perfect for hair. I love all the different colours

To make the curls, I soaked a few strands of the yarn in a mix of PVA glue and water before wrapping it tightly around a couple of chop sticks.

I stamped her face onto a piece of cotton canvas with Archival ink and used pencils and pastels to colour her features. I set the pastels with a spritz of hairspray. It doesn't make them waterproof but it does fix them enough to stop them just rubbing off. I added a little beauty spot just above her lip and then set about making up the doll.

I kept the clothes very simply. A very basic skirt with some grey netting I had in my sewing box as a petticoat. I made a little wrap-over cardigan for her using bits of felt from my old jumper and added a bit of lace for a collar and some burgundy ribbon as a belt.

I enjoyed making her AND I used up some of my scraps so it's a win/win for me. A great way to spend a bit of a grey morning, as well as being another great way to get the most from Clare's stamps.

Lx

Clare Lloyd for PaperArtsy - More Samples and a You Tube Link

Morning all. It's a bright and sunny one here in Essex so I hope it is where you are too...

Here are a couple more pics of my samples for Clare AND the all important You Tube Link is here

I chose to treat this image very simply as the face is so pretty it really doesn't need a whole lot else. I used my copics, stamping and colouring straight onto the tag. I kept the background very simple, using one of the translucent Fresco paints in Limelight and used the sentiment to take the eye up the tag. I love the way the natural lines on the tag show through the paint.

Okay, so you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to realise I like making cards.  As soon as I saw this particular image I knew I wanted to put it in a film strip so I made this good luck card using the Dream sentiment from the set and a few very simple die cuts. all I needed to add was some stitched around the edge and it was job done.  That's what I love about these faces. They can be whatever you want them to be, depending on how you decide to treat them and let's be honest, we all want value for money from our stash.

I coloured this girl with my Copics and added a few details with Prisma Pencils

 

I brayered the background using Fresco paints in Orchid and Mermaid. The white lines were added using my stamp block and some good old fashioned gesso. I used the circles in the stamp sets to make the flower centres. The half daisies were made using the smaller slightly flat circles and I used the double arrows in the bottom right of the stamp plate to make flower stamens. the chevrons from the bottom right of the set were used between sentiments to draw your eye across the page. The hearts are just die cuts, stamped with the Dream sentiment and edged for definition and texture.  Finally I covered the whole page in Matte Medium, mostly for durability but I love the way you can see the brush marks in it and I love the way it makes the paper feel too (wierd huh!).

Last but not least, another card. Very quick to do but, again, shows the versatility of the images.

I coloured her very simply with Copics but I decided I wanted her to stand out a bit so I actually cut two layers, stuck them together and then coated the whole lot with matte medium to maker her appear like a chipboard piece. I die cut a few heart shapes randomly from a piece of pink card, stamped the sentiment into the apertures and stitched around the edge with my sewing machine for a bit of extra definition and texture.

Thanks for dropping by.

Do check out all the fab new releases at PaperArtsy. They really are worth a look.

Have a great weekend.

Lx

NEW RELEASE - CLARE LLOYD FOR PAPERARTSY

The talented and very lovely Clare Lloyd has no less than FOUR new sets of stamps to release for the wondrous PaperArtsy and I was lucky enough to be asked to play with two of the sets to see what I could come up with. Well HOW could I refuse? I had such a lovely time playing with them and am now completely addicted to Leandra's Fresco chalk paints into the bargain. HOW did that happen?

Clare's beautiful stamps are launching tonight over on the PaperArtsy Blog and her own blog here

Here are my two favourite samples. I've chosen them because I LOVE the colours and because it shows how versatile the images are. I went for two completely different looks with the same stamp and was really pleased with how they came out.

I coloured the image on my tag with Copic markers and used Mermaid and Guacamole fresco paints for the background, overstamping with one of the word stamps in the set. I found a broken necklace in a local junk shop and thought it would make a great embellishment.

For this journal page I switched to my Prismacolour Pencils, using all the colour's in Clare's chosen pallette. I LOVE how she turned out. Once again, I used Mermaid and Guacamole Fresco paints for the background and one of the phrases from the stamp set, which I tweaked a little. I added some chipboard letters, which were painted with the Fresco paints (orchid and mermaid).

I'm so excited to see what everybody else on Team Clare has come up with. Please pop along to PaperArtsy and to Clare's own blog for more inspiration.

A BIG thank you to Clare and Leandra for the opportunity to play with the wonderful stamps and paints. It has been such fun. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself and learned a lot.

Lx

HMFMC #186 MAKE IT MASCULINE

Okay, so long story, and apologies to those who have already seen this card and commented on it but it DOES actually fit into this week's challenge and Pauline says I can enter it anyway (thank you Pauline ;oD) so.... here it is AGAIN! I have actually added some gorgeous sugar-y glitter to the lettering in a manly blue...

Can't wait for next week's challenge. I've got my pens and pencils standing by...

Lx

HMFMC#186 MAKE IT MASCULINE

Right! After my near miss last week - again with the "Duhhhhh" - I'm back in the groove and have made a Valentine card for my hubby. He's a keen allotmenteer ("All for one and one for all"; swish, swish, clang, clang etc etc) and we grow a lot of peas but never get to COOK a lot for some reason!? They just taste SO good straight from the pod...slurp!!!

Anway, who could resist this cute little guy, asleep in his pea pod? I coloured the image with my Copics and glossed the peas with Glossy Accents.

I matted and layered with a variety of papers I had in my off-cut box and some gorgeous card from American Crafts and called it job done. The sentiment on the outside of the card is from a fab set by Clearly Besotted and the one on the inside is by Paper Smooches. They just seemed to fit perfectly.

Here's the inside

Hope you like it.

There's still time for you to enter this week's challenge, though you'll have to get a move on as there are only two days left ;oD. Go on, you know you want to....

Lx

HMFMC 185 - ANYTHING GOES

Well, apparently (thanks for the headsup Pauline) I can still enter this card for the current challenge and, actually, when I look at it, it is pretty masculine so you're not going mad...you're going to see it again further up because I've entered it into the Masculine Challenge at HMFMC...

As ever, I used my Copic Markers and Prisma Pencils to colour my image. The stamp is from Stampendous.

Have a great week all. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next House Mouse challenge is.



Lx