Rather Be Skiing

Good morning,
The weeks just fly by don't they?
Today is my final week as guest designer for the I♥ProMarkers challenge.
I'd like to thank Ruth for asking me to be their guest, I've enjoyed making some christmas cards this past month, and it has motivated me to make more.
To Ruth & the DT, thanks for having me! xx

Well, it is almost December. In fact, not only is it my son's 16th birthday tomorrow, but 27th November means it's exactly 4 weeks until the the big man in red has left gifts for all the good girls and boys!
If you haven't started already, best get your christmas craft on peeps! ;)

How about joining in with this weeks challenge, which is 'Frosty The Snowman'
yep, you guessed it, show us your snowpeople please.

This week we are sponsored by Marianne Design and by Milk Coffee.

Here's my card...

The image is Rather Be Skiing Snowman by From The Heart Stamps.
Oooo, by the way, there's a Thanksgiving Sale on there at the moment ;)

Promarker colours used:
Snowman - pastel blue & lots of blender (slight shading of the snowman), spice & orange (nose), black & ice grey 5 (coal 'buttons').
Hat, scarf & gloves - rose pink, cocktail pink & lipstick red; grass & leaf green; powder blue & sky blue.
Skis - powder blue & sky blue; ice grey 5 & cool grey 3.

I used a clear glaze pen on the eyes, buttons & carrot nose. Then used a clear glitter pen around the edge of the image and again on the bottom of the skis and on the snow on the ground.
I added some polar white Flowersoft to the hat.
Papers are both from the same pad; Dovecraft, Merry Magic.
I finished the card with a snowflake, cut with a die from Clearly Besotted Stamps.

I'd like to enter this card at:
The Pink Elephant - anything goes
Shopping our Stash - free is good (flowersoft was a gift from a friend)
Christmas at Sweet Stampin - snowpeople

Thank you for stopping by today.
Please remember to go visit the blog for the challenge, where you can link up your entry, and see more fabulous inspiration from the design team :)

Fa La La La La...

Good Morning :)
Here's my 3rd card as a guest designer for the I♥ProMarkers challenge blog.
This week, we want you to use your favourite Christmas song or Christmas carol as inspiration for your entry please.
This weeks fab sponsor is Polka Doodles.
 

How cute is this image? it's Dexter Caroling, a Pollycraft image, that you can buy from Little Miss Muffet Stamps.

Promarker colours used:
Dexter - black, ice grey 5, spice, honeycomb & sunflower yellow,
Hat - pastel green, denim blue, ivory & ruby,
Songbook - pastel green & soft green.

I've teamed up my cream card stock with 2 different patterned papers;
First Edition 'Nordic Christmas', and BoBunny 'Silver & Gold Collection' (the "red" piece!).
The ornate square frame is a Lea'bilities die (Leane 005 Frame Curve).
The holly was die cut using an old Quickutz die, I used shiny red brads for the berries.
Fa La La La La is handwritten.
The card jingles (Jingle Bells!) thanks to the 3 silver sleigh bells tied together with bakers twine.

I'm entering this card at:
Sweet Stampin - to die for
Passion for Promarkers - entertain us ( carol = "Deck the halls")
Sister Act - anything goes

Thank you for stopping by today.
 Please remember to go visit the blog for the challenge, to link up your entry, and to see more fabulous inspiration from the design team :)

UPDATE: woohoo! Thank you!

FTH sketch #87

Happy Monday! it's time for a new I {heart}sketches challenge with From The Heart Stamps :)

Here's the sketch, and an optional inspirational photo too, should you wish to use it as well as the sketch and/or twist, which, this time, is to finish the inside of your card too...

Join in the challenge, and EVERYONE who plays will receive a $1 discount code for the store, and if you are the challenge winner, you will receive a $5 discount code to the store! :)
Remember though, you must use an image by From The Heart Stamps to be eligible, and please include a pic of the sketch in your blog post too.

Here's my card...

and the inside...

The image i've used today is November's Stamp Of The Month, Angel Joy.
I've coloured using promarkers, then added a touch of shine and a teensy bit of glitter with a couple of Sakura gelly roll pens; clear glaze and clear stardust.
Both patterned papers are from Lawn Fawn's 'Peace, Joy, Love' paper pad.
The greeting inside the card is free with this image :)

You can find more inspiration, and enter the I {heart} sketches challenge by clicking HERE.
Please join us on Facebook and “Like” our page to read about the latest FTH news.
We'd also love it if you'd join our Facebook Group too, this group makes it easier for you to share pics of your FTH makes, we'd love to see them!


There's still time to join in with our SOTM challenge, you can enter until November 30th :)

I'd like to enter this card at:
Sister Act - anything goes
Crafting when we can - use markers
Christmas Card challenges - colour challenge

Thank you for visiting today, hope you have a great week :) xx

Thanks

It's Inspiration Wednesday with From The Heart Stamps :)
I needed a quick thank you card, and this image shouted out for me to use it...

This is Spring Fence.
Yeah, I realise that it isn't Spring, but I still think it looks fab for a thank you card.
The image is detailed enough that it will look good on its own, so I let it be the star of the show, and just gave it a delicate watercolour wash background.
'thanks' has been cut using a die from Clearly Besotted Stamps.
A quick and simple card (if you don't mind fussy-cutting).

Check out more inspiration on the blog.
Remember that we have a new sketch challenge and a SOTM challenge too.

Oooh and today is the day that the Blog hop winners are announced... could you be a winner? ;)

Superheroes love Christmas too.

Happy Wednesday everyone :)
It's my 2nd week as guest designer for the I♥ProMarkers challenge :)
This week, we are sponsored by the fabulous KennyK Downloads & also by Dies to Die For
The theme is to make a christmas card for a male.
I have made a christmas card for a Superman fan...

So, as you can see, I've used Superhero by KennyK for my card this week.
As you can see, I gave the image a christmas hat.

I'd like to thank Elena & Kenny for allowing me to add the hat to their image.

IMPORTANT: Always ask for permission from the copyright holder BEFORE altering any image(s).

Although actually, I didn't alter the original image at all. But I still wanted to ask beforehand.
I opened up the image in my paint program, then created a new raster layer for the christmas hat which I drew in. I then erased parts of the hat layer and added the final lines around the edges so that the superhero image would show underneath, making it look as though they were merged when in fact they were not.
I finally sent these layers to my printer where it printed both as one image.
I had to touch it up a little around his hairline with my fineliner pen before colouring as my lines didn't print out as smooth as Kenny's professional lines.
I'm happy with how it turned out though, and the colouring of the image certainly helped to make the 2 look as one image.

Promarker colours used:
Costume and Hat - royal blue, midnight blue, poppy, burgundy, sunflower yellow.
Skin & Hair - oatmeal, tan, umber.

For my design, I took inspiration from my Grandson's birthday card that I made a couple of weeks ago. It worked so well with that card that I decided to do something similar again for a different super hero. Plus, I wanted to play with that cityscape die again :)
I framed my cityscape scene with a gold mirror card heart frame, cut using dies from Marianne's scalloped heart set. The mistletoe above the frame was also cut (twice) using a different Marianne die, then I added some flat backed pearls for the berries.
The yellow starry paper is from Doodlebug's Hip Hip Hooray paper pad.
The name was cut from red and blue mirror card using Die-namics By The Letter dies.
I really like how this card turned out.

I'm entering this card at:
MAWTT - sparkle and/or shine
Creative Card Crew - christmas joy
QKR Stampede - christmas
Crafty Calendar - christmas

Thank you for stopping by today. Please remember to go visit the blog for the challenge, and to see more fabulous inspiration from the design team.
Have a great day, i'll be back at 11am with some inspiration 'from the heart' ;) xx

Mikey The Knight

Here's a pic of the cake that I made for my grandson, Mikey, who was 4 last week...

I made him a castle cake, the photo above was taken just after i'd finished it.

The following pic was taken once we'd delivered it and had his action figures placed around it,
I wasn't brave enough to have a go at modelling those!

Mikey was very happy with his cake, phew! success!

FTH November Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on this month's From the Heart Stamps blog hop.

Our theme this time is "Faithful Friends"

As you hop along, please leave a comment on each blog.
One random commenter will be selected on each blog to win an image of choice from the FTH store.
And additionally, one commenter on the From the Heart Stamps blog will be selected to win a $15 gift voucher to the store!

If you have arrived here from Jessica, you are in the right place, wasn't her card lovely, I love the fresh blues against that black background, and the image really pops! :)
If you haven't arrived from Jessica, why don’t you start at the From the Heart Stamps blog, so you don’t miss anything. The full hop list is there too.

Here is my card...

I've used Brotherly Love for my image today., and I've coloured using promarkers.
I chose colours to match the papers which are from Doodlebug (Hip Hip Hooray).
The sentiment is one of three that you get for free with this image :)

I'd like to enter this card at:
Allsorts - Masculine
Bugaboo Stamps - November Anything Goes challenge
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Now, please head over to Kathy's blog to see her fantastic card for this hop.

Thanks for hopping with us today.
The hop will end on Monday November 10th at 6am, EST.
Winners will be posted on the From the Heart Stamps Blog on Wednesday November 12th
Good luck, and happy hopping! xx

Rudolph

Good Morning :)
I'm very happy and excited to tell you today that I have been asked to be a guest designer for the I♥ProMarkers challenge throughout November!

The new challenge today is 'Cute Christmas', so you don't really have an excuse not to play do you? I think everyone has their fair share of lovely christmas cuteness to colour up eh? ;)

For my cuteness, I chose to use a Pollycraft image. I bought this before Paula closed the Pollycraft doors, oh how we all still miss her talent don't we?
This is Rudolph...

I've coloured him using promarkers of course.
Colours used:
Costume and Antlers - umber, cocoa, sandstone.
Hair - buttercup, sandstone, caramel.
Skin - oatmeal, peach, pastel pink.  Nose - ruby.
Banner - ruby, forest green, pine.

I wanted to keep to a bright red, white and green colour palette, so along with my plain card stock, I used a candy stripe paper from Lawn Fawn's 'Peace, Joy, Love' paper pad.
I then edged the image either side with die cuts from Clearly Besotted Stamps; Snowflake Trio Die Collection. I have used the 2 smallest dies on this card.
I wanted to add a touch of green for balance, so finished the card with a couple of punched stars.
I've left room at the bottom of this card to add the name of the recipient.

I do hope you'll join in the challenge this week, who doesn't love making cute christmas projects? ;)
This weeks sponsor is Sherri Baldy, details of the prize on offer can be found on the blog.

I'm entering Rudolph at:
The Ribbon Girl - christmas
Crafty Calendar Challenge - christmas
Without Words - preparing for christmas
Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes 
Allsorts Challenge - masculine
Creative Card Crew - christmas joy

Hope you liked my card, thanks for visiting, I look forward to seeing what you make for the challenge.

FTH sketch #85

It's Monday, a new week, and time for a new I {heart}sketches challenge with From The Heart Stamps :)

Here's the sketch, and an optional inspirational photo too, should you wish to use it as well as the sketch and/or twist, which, this time, is to make a gate fold card, or include a window to the inside...

Join in the challenge, and EVERYONE who plays will receive a $1 discount code for the store, and if you are the challenge winner, you will receive a $5 discount code to the store! :)
Remember though, you must use an image by From The Heart Stamps to be eligible, and please include a pic of the sketch in your blog post too.

For my card, I have used the sketch and 'sort of' a window, but it doesn't show the inside of the card, it's a window for a shaker card...

This image is Trimming The Birdhouse, and has been coloured using promarkers.
Hehe, one of those poor Birdbrains (obviously male! lol) got his foot tangled in the lights while decorating their birdhouse.
I thought it might look good to make a shaker card so that there could be falling snow around them.
I filled the shaker with Polar White flowersoft, in hindsight, it doesn't 'fall' very easily, i'd probably have done better to just add some glitter instead. Never mind, it looks ok.
My papers are both from the same pad; Dovecraft's Back To Basics Christmas (Modern)
The snowflakes are the 2 smallest dies by Clearly Besotted Stamps; Snowflake Trio Die Collection
I cut them from white card that had been covered with Stampin Up's dazzling diamonds glitter.

I'd like to enter this card at:
The Ribbon Girl - christmas
Crafty Calendar Challenge - christmas
Without Words - preparing for christmas
A Random Fan - red, white, & green
Crafty Cardmakers - cut it out

You can find more inspiration, and enter the I {heart} sketches challenge by clicking HERE.
Please join us on Facebook and “Like” our page to read about the latest FTH news.
We'd also love it if you'd join our Facebook Group too, this group makes it easier for you to share pics of your FTH makes, we'd love to see them!

Thank you so much for stopping by today :)