Dads' Day

The 17th June was Fathers' Day here in the UK and between us my "Film Crew"  and I have four daughters. And to show their love and appreciation for the things that Griff does he is given a token of their esteem.

It can vary from year to year .... sometimes he gets useful stuff and others it is something funny or frivilous .... especially from Griffs'  youngest daughter ... and this year was no exception.

I had to share this gift with you as we did no amount of laughing over this. 

They like to have their little jokes about us getting on and how they are going to spend their inheritance .... but we are making sure that we spend that before we go !!

So what did Donna get her dad this year ??

 Well it was this  large and rather smart  Ceramic cupcake money box all studded with little gemstones....





Click to enlarge

... but to get the joke you need to read the inscription on the top of the cake.

And she has added a picture of her dad on the cherry ... complete with moustache... it just has a bit more hair than he does !!

But we aren't past it yet and can still give them a run for their money.!!

Hugs xx

Water Colouring with Distress Inks

I am sure that you have a collection of Distress inks and that you have found many ways to use them... from distressing the backgrounds and corners to your cards to inking through your Spellbinders to give the edges some definition.

But they also make an excellent medium for water colouring  and the results are superb.

This pretty Christmas image from Lili of the Valley  has been coloured with a limited palette ...  but the card looks very soft.

This is another using the Dusty Concord Ink and of course the Spellbinders.

Because I was asked how to get the look I added three videos to cover the different aspects on the image.

The  First video on Skin  will give you the links to the two other parts on hair and clothes.

And the image I used was from the SWALK collection from Crafters Companion 

The videos cover the skin, hair and clothes and I have used the Water coloured card from the same company.  And because the image is being water coloured then you will need to use a waterproof ink such as StazOn.

This is also a good way to put your   "Big'N Juicy"   ink pads to work too though the colours from them are a lot more vibrant..... so take extra care.

Hugs xx

Plaited Ribbon

This is another way to use  your beautiful ribbons and it uses a  Spellbinders  border shape to plait the ribbon through.    

It is not the same as the Braided Ribbon featured yesterday and does not use as much ribbon as it is only plaited.

But this is  another video   and if you have  any  Spellbinders  borders in them then this is one way you can use them for   Plaited Ribbons   

Adding ribbons can really make the card very feminine and the doily in the backgound of this card has the same effect.

The image is from the SWALK collection from Crafters Companion and has been Water Coloured using Distress Inks.

One more Ribbon technique to add to your list is the Ruffled Ribbon  and this creates yet another pretty look for your designs.

Hugs xx

   

Braided Ribbon

This ribbon technique is one I learned years ago but it now seems to be coming back in fashion... especially on cards.

The only drawback to this feature is that it takes a lot of ribbon to get the look.   This wreath took about 4mtrs of 1cm wide gingham ribbon to create and the card is an A5 size.

It has been added to some glitter card and the gold corner piece is metal.   The Spellbinder shape has the sentiment heat embossed in gold and is  raised on foam pads.

I featured a PolkaDoodle card earleir in the year with the same  Braided Ribbon   and I added a video to show how to create the look.

This pretty baby card has some really pale pink ribbon and the flowers on both cards are fromWild Orchid Crafts   and they have been sparkled up with Glamour Dust. 

The pearls in the corner just add that little extra and I always like to add that extra bit to all my cards.

The Teddy Bear image is from HunkyDory  and the edge is foiled in silver.

 Hugs xx

Brown Haired Baby Fairy

I am so delighted with these images from  Mo's Digital Pencil that  I have been colouring them in for days.

This one has normal coloured hair ... but then fairies can have whatever they want... well the ones at the bottom of my garden can. 

I have coloured this one with Spectrum Noirs from Crafters Companion and I am getting quite a lot of emails on this colouring system.    Many are asking me to compare them to Promarkers and Copics.

To be fair to any of the mentioned pens it is not about comparison as each brand has it's own merits ... and each perform well in their own individual ways.  I have pens from all and I enjoy working with each just as much as the other.

So if you are wondering which to buy then I would suggest that you buy a small sample of  each brand,  say some of the skin tone sets,  and see which is your prefered choice is,  for the budget that is available to you.

For this card I have double layered the ribbons, and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the added "Bling" is from Want2Scrap   The image has been layered onto a Spellbinder Oval and then the Scalloped Oval

The very pretty papers are some that I found on my computor and I have no idea where I got them from ... so if you recognise them then please tell me... they have been matted and layered with some pale lilac card.

Hugs xx