Dyan made me paint!!!

I am soooooooo artistically challenged that I was not a happy bunny when on arrival at the Art from the Heart retreat this weekend Dyan announced that we would be painting - freehand!!

One of the reasons I love rubber stamps is because I cannot draw or paint for toffee. I have a GCSE in art but I cheated and did pottery, so really it's a GCSE in craft!

I'm still not sure about it but at least I did it and the sleigh does look quite festive on the hearth. Some of the shading and highlighting techniques were handy and I am sure I'll use them again. Not a convert to freehand painting though I am afraid...

There is a pic of me and my buddies on Dy's blog - we all look knackered!

Smile!

I am rather pleased with this card if I do say so myself! The stamps are by Art Journey who make some lovely stamps

The design is from a sketch in an old issue of Take Ten magazine. I actually started this card with a view to entering it - I found the half finished article the other day and decided to complete it.

Charming!

Today I thought I would share with you a little weeny bag charm I made ages ago. It's similar to one I created for Craft Stamper magazine earlier this year. It's created from a bottle cap and a Tim Holtz Fragment - the Fragment is stamped and coloured on the back and then glued into the bottle cap. I finished it with a little flower bead and some yummy pink crystals.

It's been on this bag sometime and it seems to be surviving pretty well!

Sketch Saturday Challenge

Another card challenge; another Christmas card! This time I've used the sketch on Sketch Saturday - these sketches are really kick-starting my xmas card making (just as well really!).

I pared the sketch down a little as I wanted to make something I'd be able to duplicate a few times. It's all stamping again - the tree is Stampin' Up!, the background is a really useful stamp from Crafty Individuals and the greeting is from Stamps Away.

I stamped all the elements with a tri-colour Brilliance inkpad (Twilight) so it was really easy to make this one. Even the scalloped circle is inked with the pink part of the inkpad so it all matches perfectly. I love inkpads me!

The photo doesn't really do it justice - Brilliance ink is hard to photograph. Trust me, it's all pretty and shimmery!

Friday Sketchers Challenge

I've made a start on my xmas cards - finally! I've been meaning to do this for ages, but I just kept putting it off (that's the bah humbug coming out LOL).

So thank you to Friday Sketchers which got me started with this week's sketch challenge. This is my first Friday Sketchers card but I loved working with the sketch so am sure I will be back again!

I've used a lovely stamp from Crafty Individuals and the papers are from an Artylicious CD. I added a little lace and a flower with a stickled snowflake brad in the centre for an extra wintery touch.

Blog revival

I am back blogging again - well that's the plan! Firstly I am giving my online home a bit of a facelift and then I might actually get around to posting some crafty stuff...

To create my header I used a freebie digi kit called Spontaneous Delight from Shabby Princess. I'm not a digi scrapper but I do sometimes print papers and elements from digi kits to add to my paper projects. This kit is fab with lovely papers - especially good given it costs no pennies!