Morpheus by Sheepski Designs

Hello there again!

I'm honoured to work on another Sheepski Design digi stamp this week, this time it's Morpheus. He is such a cutie in his flower, I'm sure you'll agree!

I've been experimenting with different mediums this week and so for the main image I printed him out on Neenah Crest cardstock and then used my new MozArt brush pen set to lay down the first colours. Once this was dry, I used my Polychromos pencils to add dimension and shading. I then added Wink of Stella in Gold on the flower and Spectrum Noir Glitter pen in green on the stem.

The background to my art journal page comprises of two patterned digi papers from Lozzy's designs over at Paper Lozzy. These particular papers can be found on her blog under freebie papers. Once I had printed off the digi papers, I ripped them and adhered them to my page with matte medium. Once they were dry, I added Liquitex Heavy Gesso in white and Liquitex glass beads gel. This added some glimmer and dimension. Once this layer was dry, I added some visual interest with some stamps from my stash. I coloured the centres of the flowers that I printed in Stazon ink in black with my MozArt brush pens. I added some bling from my stash in the centre of the flowers.

I had the 'dream' wording in my stash and I added some Distress Crayon to the edge to distress it a little, and did the same around the page where the papers end. I fussy cut Morpheus out and stuck him down then placed the wording underneath.

I'm entering my art journal page into the following challenges:


I hope you enjoyed my latest make, thanks for stopping by!

Michelle xxxx

A list of things used in this project:

Daler and Rowney Mixed Media Journal
MozArt brush markers (pack of 12). yellow, orange, brown, and both greens.
Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils.
Ranger Matt Medium
Liquitex White Heavy Gesso
Liquitex Glass Bead Gel
small decopage scissors
Caran Dache blending pencil
Wink of Stella - Gold
Spectrum Noir glitter pen - Green
Items from my stash

Left of Center #144

Hi there! Where's our beautiful sunshine gone? I do hope that that's not it now for the year and we are going straight in to Autumn so soon. Fingers crossed we get more sunshine, certainly before the kids got back to school early September.

For this week's Left of Center Challenge #144 we are lucky to have Sheepski Designs sponsor us. I chose Aisling and she came with Flutterby.

I created the background using a mixture of papers from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Lost and Found as well as Dark Grunge from Paper Lozzy and some inky background experiments I'd been doing. I ripped these papers up and layered them up on the background to add a bit of visual interest behind the main focal point. I inked the edges of the papers before sticking them on the Kraft card base.

Aisling and the butterflies were coloured with Polychromos pencils. I decided to stick with purple and blue tones throughout to keep it simple and cohesive. I'm particularly happy with how her hair came out  - it's one of the hardest parts for me to get right and I'm starting to grasp it much better I feel. I enjoyed sculpting her face and upper body to show shadow and define bone structure.

Once I'd finished colouring, I fussy cut them all out and created the focal point I wanted. I first inked the edges to enable them to sit well on the background with minimal white showing. I used Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Wax on her wings and the butterflies. I added some gems from my stash on the larger blue butterfly and on Aisling's wings.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my make for this weeks' challenge. Don't forget, Sheepski Designs are sponsoring us this week for  #144 - Friendship - you don't have to use a Sheepski Design digi to enter, all we ask is that you keep to the theme or go LOC (read challenge rules if uncertain what this means).

I will be entering this card into the following challenges:
Worldwide Open DT - #13 AG
Try Stampin' on Tuesday - #284 Paper Tearing/Sketch
Through the Purple Haze - #106 AG
SLS Lines - #23 Man vs Woman
Oddball Art Stamps - For you Blue (use blue)

Hannah and Friends - #255 Lieblingsfarbkombi

Dream in Darkness - August Make it Crafty
Doodle Pantry - #20 Ants in my Pantry Digital AG
Dark n Daring -  #04 AG
Craft Rocket Challenges - #22 Things with Wings Top 3
Crafty Friends - #38 AG
Crafting by Designs - August Anything Goes 
Crafts Galore Encore - August Use a Digi or Stamp 
Classic DT Open Challenge - #05 AG
Catch the Bug -  August BINGO
Cardz 4 Galz - #29 Dragonflies or Butterflies
A Bit More Time to Craft - #26 AG
Addicted to Stamps - #207 Make Your Mark 
A Gem of a Challenge - #176 Summer Fun 
Alphabet Challenge - M for Mythical
Artbymiran - #65 AG 
 
 


Thanks for joining me and see you soon!


Michelle xxx

Fantasy Crafters #2

Time is shooting by and here we are again with our second challenge over at Fantasy Crafters.

Our sponsor for this month is Crafts and Me and the prize is £10 voucher to spend at the store.

I chose Steampunk Odyssey as adore anything Steampunk and thought she was a very sassy lady - just my thing!!

I coloured her with my Promarkers and a silver gel pen for her wings, dagger, buckles and the owl's eyes. Instead of fussy cutting her out like I normally do, I decided to use my Ranger Distress Crayons and add a smudgy background in brown and cream. I added the crayon and then smudged it along the edge with my finger. I did the same with a grey crayon on the purple card base. I used a piece of Cor'dinations cardstock from the Chocolate Box paper stack with deep brown on one side and purple on the other and ripped the edges so the purple would show and distressed the corners. I placed this first on the card base offset at an angle, then used a purple doily which I added just sticking out from beneath the image. To finish off the card I added three steampunk cogs from Jac's store Things to Alter.

I shall be entering this into the following challenges:
Classic DT Open Challenge - #05 AG
Dark n Daring - #04 AG  Top 3
Worldwide Open DT - #13 AG

Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to join us at Fantasy Crafters for this month's challenge - AG as long as Fantasy.

Michelle xxx

Left of Center #142

It's always a little manic over summer holidays. Much as I love having my son home and spending time with him (when he can prise himself away from Skyping his friends, or chatting to them on Whatsapp or watching You Tube videos), it's hard to get sorted with my normal crafting and blogging routine - everything seems to have flown out the window past couple weeks - sorry for my delay in getting things up.

 I chose Pansy Girl from our sponsor Aurora Wings for my DT project for Hip to be Square.

I chose this image firstly because of my love of pansies but also because the image was an almost square shape so fitted with the theme. I started out by printing on Neenah Classic Crest cardstock and colouring with my Polychromos pencils. I then fussy cut her out and put her to one side whilst I worked on the card base and background.
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The base needed to be square so I found a pale blue square card base and matching envelope in my stash and layered it with a piece of paper I had inked and sprayed earlier in blues and pale lilac and left to dry overnight. This was cut to fit and placed on the card first. I then selected some paper with diamonds on it from my stash and cut that into a smaller square and offset it on top of the first. The final piece was from the same stash with tiny purple flowers similar to pansies on it, so this was cut smaller still and glued offset the opposite way to the second. I then glued the image in place on top. I added some clear and coloured dots, drops and crystals over the pansies and in the Pansy Girl's ears and added a butterfly embellishment to finish.

I hope you enjoyed the challenge last week - don't forget to join in challenge #143 - Bubbles over at Left of Center Creative Challenges.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Aurora Wings - #34 Theatrical

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle xxx

I'm late, I'm late!! Oh my hairs and whiskers!

Hi there - it's been a rather emotional and manic couple of weeks, and as such I'm a little behind on my blogging.

We have another fantastic challenge that started on 25th July over at A Inky Mess, and our sponsor for this month is the amazing Oddball Art Co Stamps!

For my DT inspirational project I chose Big Eyed Clown Girl, she's very cute, I hope you agree.

I used my Prismacolour pencils to colour the cute image in, and added some white gel pen streaks to her hair to give some highlights. I then fussy cut her out. The backing papers are a mix of Tim Holts Idea-ology Lost and Found and Bo Bunny Carnival. These were ripped and layered up onto a Kraft card base after inking the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I applied gesso with an old credit card over the top to take back the background a little so the cute clown girl would be the focal point. I affixed the girl to the foreground, and added some embellishments including some washi tape from my stash and a few little pieces I had hanging around. It needed something else....so I added a cute royal blue bow to the balloon strings. I added a quote I cut out from my stash to finish it off.

Please do go on over to our second challenge at A Inky Mess - we would love to see your makes, as long as mixed media. You'll be in with a chance of winning digis from our sponsor and/or a place in our top 3 of the month. Please do remember to link back to the actual challenge though, not just the blog, as we cannot accept entries that aren't linked properly.

I shall see you soon with my next DT piece and some craft swaps I've been working on.

I wish to enter this card into the following challenges:
Worldwide Open DT - #13 AG
Dark n Daring - #04 AG
Dream in Darkness - August Make it Crafty 
Classic DT Open Challenge - #05 AG

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle xxx

Left of Centre DT Project #136

Hi again - no you're not seeing double, I have actually written two blogs on one day! It just so happens that the newest challenge blogs DT I have joined happened to have their first, or latest challenges on the same day this time round.

 

I'm just as excited about this challenge blog as the last. Left of Centre Creative Challenges is a challenge blog that showcases the weird and wonderful world of gothic, fantasy, punk, grunge, dark and quirky. We also welcome the traditional here, but we do ask that your work is mixed media- on whatever medium you prefer whether canvas, art journal, card, bottle or anything else really! The challenges run every week from Saturday morning and we have a fantastic range of sponsors who we showcase each week, and who are generous in offering prizes of digi images to winners of our challenges. We also do winners badges for those chosen by the DT each week to proudly put on your blog/instagram/website.

This is my first DT project for the team and this week's sponsor is Moonflower Digistamps.

The week's theme is Monochrome and so with this in mind I decided to rummage through my colours and decided on blue as my main colour.

I chose Minako the Oriental Maiden as my digi image, she's gorgeous!!

I adore this image, and have always loved oriental imagery. It was a very popular this week and I'm not the only DT member to choose it, so I had to think about what colour to use so as to not duplicate what had already been done.

I printed on white card and set about colouring her in with my Promarkers. I used four different blues: Blue Pearl, Sky Blue, Duck egg Blue and Indigo Blue. For her skin I used Vanilla and Pink Blossom and for her hair I used Henna. I added a touch of green for the leaves on her kimono.

I used a mix of paper from my stash for the background on my Daler Rowney Mixed Media A4 paper. I tore the papers up and stuck them down, then once coloured, I fussy cut the digi image out and affixed her to the page. I added a sentiment I found in my stash, coloured parts of it with blue ink to keep to the monochrome theme. I added some sequins from my stash to her head dress and in the centre of her fan to add some bling, and some tiny blue flower gems to the centre of the flowers. I coloured a silver metal fan charm from my stash with Indigo Blue Promarker and affixed it to the quote. It didn't feel quite finished so I got my white gel pen and added dots of white to the quote and flowers, and doodles circles and arrow heads onto the blue background papers to add some interest.

I hope you enjoy my project and that you'll come along and join us for this week's challenge at 8pm GMT today. The theme is Monochrome. Go to Left of Centre (LOC) Creative Challenges. We also have a page on Facebook.

I shall be entering this project into the following challenges:

Classic Design Team Open Challenge Blog - #03 Anything Goes

  The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - #25 2nd Anniversary
A Bit More Time to Craft - #22 Anything Goes 
SLS Lines Digital Stamp Challenge - Anything But A Card

Michelle xx

A Inky Mess - DT Member

After some shocks and disappointments in the crafting community, it was lovely to see so many gather together and offer help, advice and support. As part of a team that found itself without a blog, I was one such person who was made to feel welcomed - and as such, I was offered not one, but two new Design Team positions.

My second is with a brand new challenge blog - A Inky Mess. Come along and show off your mixed media makes. Each month you will get the opportunity to win digi stamps from some of the leading stamp designers of the moment as well as badges for being the favourite projects of the month to add to your blog or website.

I'm really excited to be part of this team and to getting my first project done. The very first challenge will start on 25th June, so do come along and see what the DT have made to inspire you, and join in with the fun and mess!!

Michelle xx

Left of Centre Creative Challenges DT Member

I have some exciting news!! I am officially a member of the Left of Centre Creative Challenges Design Team!

I want to thank Maureen for inviting me to join the team, and thank the other DT members for the warm welcome I have received.

I will be debuting with the team on the 25th June so watch this space!!

Left of Centre Creative Challenges invite the darker side of mixed media and card making. Using digi images from our fantastic sponsors every week, the Design Team create inspirations projects to showcase the stamps of the sponsor of that week. They are typically dark, fantasy, gothic, punk, grungy, but we do the occasional cute too!! There's no rule to say you can't have cute, but we do like it to be quirky too. Whether you like the darker side of mixed media or like to be traditional - all are welcome at Left of Centre.

I am really looking forward to creating and showcasing my first project with the team. Do come on over and be in with a chance to win digis from our Sponsor of the week, and/or win a badge or two by being our Design Team's chosen winners.

Michelle xx

More Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes (opt. Purple)

Here we are in what is meant to be warmth and sunshine - however it appears that we have either gone backwards to early spring or flown forwards to late Autumn, the temperatures have dropped and Mr Sunshine seems to be in hiding. Perhaps it was because we had a Bank Holiday on Monday or because the kids were off school, but let's hope the warmth and sunshine return very soon.

On to this month's More Mixed Media Challenge DT project. This month's optional colour for the Anything Goes challenge is purple and it's a colour I adore using. This time I thought I'd go down the recycling route and after watching a couple of interesting You Tube videos with talented ladies doing art journelling on brown paper bags, I thought I'd give it a go.

I decided on one of my favourite stamp designers - Ching-Chou Kuik and love this image. It's called Dreamy Lily.

Thick White Gesso, Texture Paste

Gelatos in Deep Pink and Purple

Hero Arts stamps for background stamping,
Stazon Ink Black Soot, Ranger Distress Ink Old Paper, Marvy Matchables Deep Pink

Lozzy's digital papers from Fun and Funky Numbers digi packs (one fussy cut for green flowers)

Tim Holtz and Crafters Workshop stencils

Cosmic Shimmer Coloured Pearlised PVA and Metallic Gilding Wax

Ranger Distress Crayons, Spectrum Noir Glitter pens

Coloured thread,, Washi tape

Glittered sticker 'Best Friends'

Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils, Water brush.

I hope you enjoy my latest make. It was great fun to do and I shall most definitely be using recycled materials again in my mixed media projects.

As well as this being for More Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes , I'd also like to include this project in the following challenges:

Creative Artiste Challenge  Blog - Anything Goes
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
We Love 2 Create - Anything Goes
Craft Stamper - Take it Make it
2 Crafty Girls - Anything Goes + DT call
Sisters of Craft - Anything Goes
Creative Ladybirds Creations - Anything Goes 
Left of Centre Creative Challenges -  #133 Distressing 
Classic Design Team Open Challenge Blog - #03 Anything Goes

New DT position for Cute As a Button Design Pocket Letter FB Group

Wow it's been over a month since I last posted - how can that be possible? I have to say, I've been so busy with my new passion - pocket letters, that I haven't had a chance to come on and update my blog. Very remiss of me!

All that is now changing though, as I have recently been made part of the DT team for Francesca Lopez's Cute As A Button Designs Pocket Letter Facebook Group. Now I hope that most, if not all of you who do any sort of card making and other papercrafts, would have heard of Francesca. I first heard about her when looking for Digi images for my cardmaking. Now, I adore stamps, I really do, but noone can have an infinite store of actual stamps at home, and digi stamps give you that flexibility to acquire something that's been designed by someone very talented, in a theme we want. I did a search and found Cute As A Button (CAAB) and fell in love with the beautiful images there. Wow! So to be accepted to join the team was an honour indeed for me.

The pocket letter side is very new - it's literally only been up for about two weeks, and we are busy working in the background to create a fun, interactive group for people to create pocket letters using the CAAB designs. Francesca has even designed specific Pocket Letter Kits to make it easy to create stunning pocket letters with everything you'll need - from the 9 designs for the cards, and embellishments to add to them.

There will be a monthly competition whereby Francesca will provide a FREE image for you to use in your pocket letter design, and the winner will be awarded with TWO CAAB images of their choice from Francesca's shop - how great is that!

So, please check out the new Facebook group that will showcase these gorgeous images, have regular challenges showcasing the CAAB images and those monthly competitions with the opportunity to get a free CAAB image and win prizes, plus of course, a place to show off your work using your CAAB images and kits. It's a place to talk about all things pocket letter related.

Do come and join us in one of the newest pocket letter groups on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CuteAsAButtonPocketLetterGroup/

We look forward to seeing you there.

Michelle xx