15 August 2021

Mushroom Forest

Hello lovely people and a very happy Sunday to you.  I have a few cards I haven't shared on here yet.  I must admit I'm guilty of sharing on my Instagram page but my poor little blog gets a tad neglected.  I always think to myself "I'll do that later" and then never do.  Do folks even read blogs anymore? or is it all Insta and TikTok now?  I don't know but for now I shall make an extra effort to update here as well.

So my latest is another card and it's fairy themed again.  I just love my fairies lol but then you know that.  I think I shall call this one 'mushroom forest'.  I've used Lavinia Stamps images and stamped in Versafine Clair ink.  My background was made with lots of blending of Distress Inks and a Lavinia Stamps template for the moon.  I coloured the spotty mushrooms with Inktense pencils and those that were 'solid' images I used some soft pastels and Sakura metallic gel pens to add light accents.  All in all I love how it came together.

Images:  Lavinia Stamps - 'Spellbound fairy', 'Spotty Toadstool', 'Meadow Mushroom', 'Fairy Toadstool', 'Creeping Vine', 'Luna Lights' and 'Slender Mushrooms mini'

Backgound:  Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Picked Raspberry and Lucky Clover

Images stamped with Versafine Clair in Nocturne and Twilight

I used a metallic silver gel pen to add highlights to the mushroom/toadstool stalks and the hanging luna lights and then just dotted some acrylic paint pens around for like little flowers and fairy dust.  Oh and not forgetting my white Signo gel pen for the stars that are just peeking through the foliage.  No fairy is complete however without a little sparkle so if you look closely you may see her twinkly wings but photography is not my forte so it doesn't show up as much as I'd like.

So that's all from me today.  As I said I have a few more cards to share so I'll be back in a few days.

Take care folks and happy crafting.

Ann-Marie
xxx


I would like to enter into the following challenges:-

Allsorts  -  add some sparkle

The Fairy and the Unicorn  -  anything fantasy goes

Cute Card Thursday  -  anything goes






2 August 2021

Falling Flowers

Happy Monday lovely crafty peeps.  Hope you are all doing okay and staying safe in this somewhat crazy world of ours.  Well we have been in isolation for the past 10 days as my son tested positive for Covid.  I'd just received his NHS letter through too to book a vaccine jab typical really.  We have been very lucky though and he only felt unwell for a few days so they were very mild symptoms indeed.  So what do you do when you can't go anywhere ... you craft of course!

I was having a little looksie through some of my stash and I came across an older Bildmalarna stamp and I'd forgotten just how cute they are.  I coloured her up with my copics to compliment the papers which I also found amongst my stash and must be years old lol! 

Image:  Bildmalarna Little Winged Friends 'Falling Flowers'
Medium:  copics
Papers:  Making Memories 'Sydney' (old stash)


She really is adorable and a dream to colour.  I decided to mat all the papers onto black card.  I like using black card behind papers as it really makes them pop.  I didn't add too much 'fussy' stuff didn't think it needed it, although I did do a little doodling around the image with a black fine liner.

Copic list

Skin:  E41, E50, E53, E33, R20
Hair/Shoes:  E43, E44, E47, E49
Clothes:  B60, B63, B66, B69/G40, G43, G46, G29
Flowers:  Y21, Y23, Y26, YR27, E08/B66, B69

Okay that's all from me folks.  I'm back to work tomorrow so an earlier night for me but I think I can still squeeze in a couple of hours of colouring before I go.  What to ink up next though?  I'm off to have a rummage through my stash.

Take care and happy crafting.

Ann-Marie
xxx

Challenges I'm entering into

Crafting Happiness challenges  -  always anything goes

Simon Says Stamp  -  anything goes (option slimline)

Cute Card Thursday  -  anything goes

Allsorts  -  anything goes (option roses)









 




 

19 June 2021

By the light of the silvery moon

Happy Saturday lovely crafty peeps.  It's a very quick drop in from me today as I'd like to share one of my latest cards made using Lavinia Stamps and distress inks.

As I've mentioned before I'm very new to making backgrounds and building scenes it's a complete learning curve for me not just the placement of everything but also the colour blends of the inks.  I've listed under my card the inks I used to create the background and I've got to say this combination is going to be a firm favourite of mine.  

So let me share my card.  I've used lots of mediums on here.  Obviously distress inks blended out for the background.  I created the moon with a Lavinia template and then gesso and soft pastels.  All of the Lavinia Stamps were stamped using Versafine Clair inks in various colours to compliment the background and out came my Sakura Stardust pens and Nova metallic markers to highlight some of the foliage images and add like little flowers.  Finally, everything was flittered with a little microfine glitter especially the wings of the fairy.  I'm rather pleased with my bat flying across the moon too.  I don't have masses of Lavinia Stamps yet but I wanted something to be like flying across the sky/moon so I used my mini Sycamore £1 stamp, stamped it but didn't stamp out the stalk part and altered it slightly with my black fine liner pen to look like bat wings and a little head and ears and I've got to say I just love it!


Images:  Grace(small), Creeping Vine, Fairy Buttercups, Lavender, Orchard Grass, Slender Mushrooms Mini, Mini Sycamore

Stamped with Versafine Claire (Nocturne and Twilight)

Background:  Distress Inks (Seedless Preserve, Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers)

Okay, so that's all from me today.  I'm off to have another play around with my stamps and backgrounds.  I find where I'm still learning things it can take me a little while to actually finish a card and I dither quite a bit with where to place all the stamps.  I'm hoping I'll get less hesitant as I do more lol.

Happy crafting folks.

Take care 
Ann-Marie
xxx



Challenges

Crafty Calendar  -  anything goes

Sweet Stampin  -  something beginning with B (I'm going with bat and colour blue)

The Fairy and the Unicorn  -  anything Fantasy goes

Cute Card Thursday  -  anything goes









19 May 2021

Last of the sun's rays

Happy Wednesday lovely crafty people.  I hope you are all diddling okay.  It's been a tad soggy here in fact I think it's rained every day this past week, but on the upside it's perfect weather for hiding yourself away in your craft room.

I have another card to share with you guys.  It's another one I've made using lots of Lavinia Stamps.  Still out of my comfort zone as normally I just stamp and colour, but really enjoying getting inky and theres lots to learn.  In my head it wasn't meant to turn out quite so bright but hey I love it all the same.  The background was made using Distress Inks, Lavinia Stamps stencils and Versafine Clair inks and I just accented the sun and mountains with soft pastels.  I also grabbed my Inktense pencils and added a little colour to the toadstools and fairy wings.

The beautiful fairy is 'Raven' and she has got to be one of my faves and she's just perched on the branch taking in the last of the evening sun. 

Stamps used:
Lavinia Stamps - 'Raven', slender mushrooms mini, lavender, 
meadow mushroom, fairy toadstool.

Versafine Clair ink pads:
nocturne, chianti

Distress Inks:-
scattered straw, spiced marmalade, seedless preserve

Okay so that's all from me today.  I've managed to grab an unexpected day off so time to play I think.

Happy crafting folks.

Take care, 
Ann-Marie
xxx

Challenges:-

Crafting Happiness challenges  -  anything goes

Love to Craft  -  anything goes

Allsorts  -  anything goes

Creative Fingers  -  anything goes






10 May 2021

A sprinkling of fairy dust

Happy Monday lovely crafty peeps, it's been a little while since I've popped on my blog to share anything.  I have still been making things it just kinda gets uploaded to Instagram first and that's as far as it gets.  However, this is me making a concerted effort to contribute more to my little old blog.  

So let me share my latest with you.  Well you know how much I love anything fairy and magical so after watching a fair few You Tube videos I finally took the plunge and ordered some Lavinia Stamps.  It's a completely new direction for me what with inking my own background and making scenes and stuff.  So out of my comfort zone but I had so much fun.  I had a few disasters before I actually got to the finish line, but hey what a fun learning curve!



Okay so my background was made using Distress Inks and I used a Lavinia Stamp mask to create the moon with gesso and soft pastels.  I dug out my Inktense pencils to add a little colour to some of the stamps especially the beautifully tree 'Druids Inn'.  All of the stamps used to create the scene are Lavinia Stamps and I've stamped using a range of Versafine Clair ink pads.  I used a touch of soft pastels here and there where I wanted a little more depth such as on the mushrooms and the door in the tree and as finishing touch I used some metallic markers to make all of the little tiny flowers as it needed something and I didn't want to add any more stamping.  

I must say I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  Considering I didn't really know what I was doing I just went with it I'm quite surprised I had something worth photographing.  After matting it on complimenting cardstock and I have one finished fairy card which will probably makes it way to my mum for her birthday.

That's all from my crafty cubbyhole for today which incidentally is a complete mess after making this so let the clean up operation begin!

Take care folks and I promise to not leave it so long next time.

Happy crafting.

Ann-Marie
xxx


I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:-

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends  -  always anything goes

Allsorts  -  create a landscape or scene

Sweet Stampin  -  things with wings

The Fairy and the Unicorn  -  anything fantasy goes

Creatalicious challenges  -  anything goes (option of 'things with wings')




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