TTPH - Halloween challenge with Simply Betty Stamps

Hello all, and welcome to another Team B challenge with Through the Purple Haze Challenge Blog. 

This weeks theme is Halloween and is sponsored by Simple Betty Stamps. 

As Halloween isn't much of a big thing in the UK and definitely isn't celebrated here as much as in the US, I thought this challenge would be quite a difficult one. 
I love Halloween colours - oranges, purples and greens, even venturing to yellow and black. 
My crafting imagination suddenly left town when I asked it about Halloween embellishments! 

I had a nosy around for some form of Halloween-y decorations and was told by a staff member in one store, that it was too early to stock Halloween items as it was only the third week in September. I thought well, maybe, but then queried the fact he was casually putting the Christmas puddings in straight lines!!!???!!! 

I chose the Witchy Wednesday Digi to work with from the Simply Betty Stamps Store. 

First of all I coloured in the image using ProMarkers. I decided early on I wanted Witchy Wednesday to have flame orange hair so started with the skin and hair.

I continued with the outfit and chose a colour palette of purples and lime green. 

I decided the cat obviously had to black. I coloured in his eyes and 'coloured' in the rest of him with a clear embossing pen. I triple heat embossed him using 'Heat it Up' Black embossing powder.

I heated him from the top to create some texture with the embossing powder.

Then came the embellishments.... As I had to be a bit imaginative... I drew a rough (as the are in nature) spider web from white card and cut it out. I inked it with orange ink then randomly dabbed areas with clear embossing ink and sprinkled areas with the black embossing powder and heat embossed it.

I wrapped thin white cotton thread around the 'web' in different directions, occasionally tying knots as I went and leaving some threads to hang. I also wrapped some around the sentiment and around the Witch's hat.

I wanted to have a more 'quirky' sentiment than just Happy Halloween so wrote free-hand the words 'Have A Witchin' Halloween' and then again, heat embossed it with the black powder and inked the background with the orange ink. 

I matted and layered purple, orange and black card on to an 8 X 8 card blank and chose an orange paper with a white motif pattern as my main background. I mounted the sentiment on to black card. 

I adhered all the elements on to the background using foam pads and sat the cat on top of the sentiment acting as a ledge. 

Ingredients:

* ProMarkers - 
Skin - ivory, satin, blush.
Eyes - lavender, lilac.
Lips - bright orange.
Hair - bright orange, honeycomb.
Outfit - lavender, lilac, amethyst, pear green, lime green.
Broom - cinnamon, caramel.
Cats eyes - apple.
* 'Heat It Up!' embossing powder - black.
* Zig clear embossing pen.
* 'Ink It Up' ink - clear, pumpkin.
* White cotton thread.
* Selection of card and paper.
* Foam pads.
* Adhesive.

I think this creation is one of my favourites because I love the image and had to think outside the box when it came to the embellishments. And to be honest, I don't think I've ever made a Halloween card!

I know one thing is for sure - when Halloween does come around I will defo be stocking up on embellishments!!!

Thanks for looking, please leave me a comment - I love hearing your thoughts.

Toodles for now. Lisa x

THE STAMPING CHEF -1ST DESIGN TEAM CHALLENGE

Well, my world wind adventure has started. Welcome to my 1st challenge with The Stamping Chef as a Design Team member.

*** This is 'Bad Habit' and is available in the 'New Release' section of The Stamping Chef store with 20% off for this weekend only. 
click HERE to go direct to the stores New Releases.*** 

As always, this is another amazing, fun and quirky design from The Stamping Chef. 

I started by colouring the skin and hair and decided right from the start she was going to be a red head.

I wanted the outfit to be shades of grey and black.

The colour palette of this creation was very minimal as I think the design speaks for itself and didn't want to take away from the design with the colour. 

For the background, I embossed a piece of black gloss card then sanded it back. I stuck the 'Bad Habit' image over the top using foam pads. 

For the backing paper, I wanted to create a disco lights feel as though the character was sitting in a bar environment, so chose a red/black/orange spotty paper. I decided it needed something in between the black swirls and spotty background so chose a white pearl paper to tone down the sharpness.

I didn't want a lots of small, fussy embellishments to go with this image so chose the huge silver hexagon embellishment to feature on its own with a length of red and black ribbon.

Ingredients:

* ProMarkers 
skin - ivory, blush, satin.
hair - cinnamon, poppy, ruby, maroon.
outfit - cool grey 4, slate, black.
* Black gloss card.
* Swirls mask.
* White pearl paper.
* Spotty paper.
* Ribbon - red and black.
* Silver metal hexagon embellishment.
* Foam pads.
* Adhesive.

*** You can also click HERE to go direct to The Stamping Chef Store and have a look at the amazing selection of fun quirky designs available.***

Have a look at The Stamping Chef Facebook Page @ www.facebook.com/TheStampingChef and join in with The challenges @ www.facebook.com/groups/TSCRecipes/

Thanks for looking, and as always, I would be very greatful if you left me a comment.

I HAVE NEWS........... NEW DESIGN TEAMS

Hello all, well as I mentioned yesterday. I have some fantastic, amazing and brilliant news!!!!

As many of you know, I am a happy member of the Design Team at Through The Purple Haze. 

I have been there for a few months now and have really enjoyed my time so far. I have met some amazing people and love the friendly family feel of the team.


But..... I decided to apply for other Design Teams and....... was extremely successful.

As you know from my blog posts I have been entering the weekly competitions at The Stamping Chef and have really enjoyed it each and every week. I love Tamara's fun and quirky designs, they are very modern and a little bit cheeky!!

Anyway, I am now a SOUS CHEF!!! I am now on The Stamping Chef design team! 

Which means I can work along side all the other fabulous Sous Chef's and play with some fantastic images.



And.... some more amazing news.... I also applied for a position on a fabulous challenge blog ONE STITCH AT A TIME and by some miracle, was again offered a position on the Design Team!!!

This is an amazing challenge blog which has a new challenge every Sunday. With lots of fabulous sponsors, being on this design team is going to be brill!! 


I have only just decided to announce this news on my blog now as I thought I may have been dreaming that I was accepted on to two new Design Teams - and didn't want to say anything until I had been given my 1st challenges. And now that has happened I can shout from the roof tops!!!

     YYYYIIIIIIPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Anyway, thanks again for popping by.

I'm off to play with my new teams now, urg hem, I mean work, work with my new teams. 

Toodles for now. 

Gerda Steiner Designs - September challenge

This is something new for me but I came across it when looking at a friends blog and thought it was soooooo cute so decided to play along.

This is my entry for September's Challenge @ Gerda Steiner Designs. 

This months freebies challenge was Tom the Turtle.
But, me being me.... I decided to print Tom once then print out Tom again in a mirror image... to make Tanya!

So here is Tom and Tanya, going for a walk on a summers day, chasing butterflies and picking flowers.

As I had to cut two images out, I then had to put them back together. I coloured the two images (and added eyelashes on to Tanya) and put them together holding hands. I coloured and cut out all the other elements and re-attached them using foam pads on to a silky mat background card.

Hope you like it!!

PaperArtsy #3Up Challenge - Part 3

Well, I've finally got around to posting my 3rd project I did for the PaperArtsy #3Up Challenge. 
And here it is.

I did another project with the large flower stamp from PaperArtsy Hot Pick 1011 stamp set as this stamp, apart from being gorgeous, is so versatile. 

I wanted to use a different medium to colour in the stamps and decided to use ProMarkers.

I stamped the flower three times at different levels on white smooth card with 'Ink it up!' black ink. I coloured the flowers in using Lavender, Lilac, Amethyst and Lime Zest ProMarkers.

I then inked around the edges of the card in to the center using Dusty Concord and Crushed Olive Distress Ink going from dark in the corners to lighter in the center.

I matted and layered the white card on to purple glitter card, then on to cream textured card and finished by layering it on to olive green coloured card. 

This is a different side of my crafting, which I call 'clean crafting'. Very simple, very clean and simple but still very effective.


Ingredients:

* ProMarkers - Lilac, Lavender, Amethyst, Lime Zest
* Distress inks - Dusty Concord, Crushed Olive
* 'Ink it up!' black ink
* PaperArtsy 1011 stamp set
* Selection of paper/card


Keep tuned for the final part of the PaperArtsy journey - Part 4 coming soon.

Toodles for now - leave me a comment if you wish. All comments are gratefully received. 

Through The Purple Haze Design Team - 'Bling it up!!!'

Hello all, this weeks Design Team challenge at Through The Purple Haze was sponsored by My Mums Craft Shop and the instructions were to 'bling it up!!'



It is SOOOOO NOT my cup of tea to be a bit bling, bling. 

I have a few crafting rules when it comes to adding bling to my creations. I may have been known to add a few pearls here and there on occasion, in a very minimal way. And mirror card.... mirror card is strictly for Christmas related projects. However, it can be used with everyday projects as long as it has been sanded and distressed to near death!!!

The design brief this week threw all my bling related crafting rules out the window! (But I must admit.... I had a blast creating this card!)

Here is my finished design.

I used one of the Moulin Divas - Tres Chic from Kanban and stamped it on to white card with black 'Ink it up!' ink. I then coloured in the image using ProMarkers. I wanted to use very simple and a minimum of colours as I knew the background and embellishments would be very wow, so wanted to keep the main image subtle.

After stamping and colouring the Moulin Diva, I cut around it using Labels Twenty-Nine Nestabilities Spellbinder die and inked around the edges with Pumice Stone Distress Ink.
I then covered the entire die cut image with 'Ink it up!' clear embossing ink and triple heat embossed it with 'Heat it up! clear embossing powder. This gave a real shimmer to the main image. 

The next step was to add the bling... I started with some rainbow shimmer mirror card and cut out five of the background flourishes using the Spellinders D-Lites Fantastic Flourish One die. 

I decided to stick to grey/silver and white for my background papers. I chose a pearl white, silky, slightly textured paper for the 8 X 8 background and cut a 7 X 7 sheet of embossed silver/grey paper from the same paper pack for the matt. 

I added the Spellbinders Flourishes around the background and attached them flat to the card. I mounted the main image on to double foam pads and attached it to the center of the card.

I decided it needed something else to make the card more 'Tres Chic' and chose to add feathers. I tucked the ends of white feathers underneath the main image and added one on to the Divas hat.

I finished by adding silver matt pearls on the corners of the card, corners of the image, on the spines of the feathers and at points on the flourishes. (53 pearls in total added to this card - how's that for bling!!!)

This weeks design brief, to be honest, scared me a little bit. (As soon as I heard the phrase 'bling it up!' my brain automatically saw Jenny from the Block kitted out with 9" thick gold chains and dripping in diamonds!!!!)  
After recovering from the initial panic attack.... when I had (TIT) thought it through, I realised this could be a fun project without the tack.... and it was...... 

Hope you enjoyed this some-what different creation from me.... We all need to try something new once in a while.

Toodles for now - oh, please leave me a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts.


Ingredients:
* Kanban Moulin Divas - Tres Chic stamp set
* 'Ink it up! black ink
* White card
* ProMarkers - 
cool grey 4
slate
satin
ivory
poppy
* Spellbinders dies - 
Nestabilities Labels Twenty-Nine
* Spellbinders D-Lites Fantastic Flourish One
* Pumice Stone Distress Ink
* 'Ink it up!' clear embossing ink
* 'Heat it up!' clear embossing powder
* Rainbow shimmer card
* White feathers
* Silver matt pearls
* Background papers
* Adhesive

The Stamping Chef - 'Put a ring on it'

This weeks challenge over at The Stamping Chef was 'put a ring on it' A wedding theme image including a bride, some roses and huuggggeee diamond! 



Here is my finished design.

I started by colouring in the image with Promarkers. I started as I generally tend to do by colouring the hair and skin, if these two things arn't right, the whole image tends not to look right. 

I originally coloured the dress in with pink tones as I didn't want it to be white, along with the veil and gloves but then decided it needed something different. There is NO WAY this girl would wear a plain wedding dress. It needed something wow adding to it..... glitter!

I covered the whole of the dress, gloves and veil with a quickie glue pen and added My Craft Studio Extra Fine Crystal Glitter. It instantly made the dress stand out but not in a obvious over-the-top way.

I then coloured in the roses using Poppy, Ruby and Maroon. And Apple, Pear Green and Forest Green for the leaf in the center. 

I continued to colour in the ring and diamond and the crown.
I added a touch of glitter to the roses, ring and crown.

I wanted the main image to stand out so cut a oval frame from a Spellbinders die using rainbow shimmer card. 

I needed a sentiment on the card and wanted to use something different than... on you wedding day or congratulations. So chose "wishing you a day that sparkles" which I think is very in keeping with the dress.

I covered a 8 X 8 card blank with silvery white embossed paper, I inked around the edges of the sentiment with Victorian Velvet Distress ink and mounted the sentiment on to a smaller Spellbinders die cut rainbow shimmer frame with foam pads.
I attached the main image using foam pads to raise it from the frame. 
I then tided a quadrupled bow with a length of red satin edged organza ribbon and attached it above the sentiment. To finish I added three silver crystal gems to the top and bottom of the sentiment panel.

Ingredients: 
*Promarkers
apple, pear green, forest green, lime green, - leaf and the eyes. 
poppy, ruby, maroon - roses.
ivory, dusky pink, blush - skin.
buttercup, vanilla, mustard, sandstone - hair.
dusky pink, rose pink, blossom - dress, gloves and veil.
*Quick glue pen
*MCS extra fine crystal glitter
*foam pads
*card stock

I think this is my favourite completed card I have done from The Stamping Chef challenges so far. I think my colouring in this project is quite special, especially on the roses, as I was trying to work with tones rather than colour. 

Next weeks challenge at The Stamping Chef is going to be amazing. TSC is teaming up with Simply Betty Stamps again for a Halloween special - Vamps V's Cool Chicks.

I have already got my images and I'm ready to play, have you??? Check out The Stamping Chef blog for more info here.

Thanks for popping by, make my day and leave me a comment. Toodles.

I would like to submit this card in to the following challenges:

Glitter n Sparkle Challenge Blog - ADD A BOW http://glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Hobby Cutz Challenges - ANYTHING GOES http://hobbycutzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

One Stitch At A Time - CHALLENGE #180 USE A DIGI http://onestitchatatimechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Through The Purple Haze Challenges - Penny Black sponsored sketch challenge.

This weeks challenge on the TTPHC blog was a sketch,

and was sponsored by the wonderful Penny Black.

For those who are unaware - a sketch is a simple outline drawing to show where the main image, embellishments, sentiment etc should be placed on the card. The sketch can be rotated or mirrored to add interest or look balanced on the card blank depending on the size you have chosen to work on.


This is the sketch we were provided with.

Here is the card I created interpreted from the sketch. 

I decided to use the same shapes throughout the card but wanted to use an unusual shape rather than squares or circles. I decided to use the decagon dies from Spellbinders. 

I chose to work with a Kanban stamp set which I adore and chose a beige, brown and cream colour theme.

I stamped the image of the dress on to white card and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder. I cut it out using the biggest of the decagon dies. 

I stamped two of each of the crown#1 stamp, crown#2 stamp and the clothing hanger stamp and again heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

I coloured the images in with Promarkers using Caramel, Mustard, Henna and cinnamon.

I cut out a 6 inch circle using the EK Success Circle Scissor Pro. (A-MAZ-ING tool, fabulous to use and cuts the most intricate circles, fantastic.....) 

I embossed it using the grid mask from Stamps Away, inked it with Pumice Stone and Old Paper Distress Inks, placed the mask back on to the circle, then inked it with clear ink and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder. 

I cut lengths of different types of ribbon and coloured each one with a Promarker from the colour palette I had chosen.

I then followed the sketch to put the elements together, adding height to the different pieces using foam pads. 

I wanted my version of the sketch to be different as we have all done a sample with the same sketch on the team. I wanted to keep in neutral but add a gleam with the embossing powders.

I hope you like my take on this weeks challenge. 

Thanks for popping by. Toodles.