Busy bees

Hi all, it has been a busy few days with one thing and another here but thought I would share a completed Audrey Hepburn portrait I have done along with another card I have rustled up.

This picture shows Audrey partially completed and next to the original picture so you can see her progressing along.

Here is the completed portrait, mounted, framed and ready to go to its new home.

With this card I used just two colours, red and black. I then used this gorgeous die from Tonic and cut two out, one in red and one in black. I used the black to shadow the red and also mirror the red swirls, 

I then finished the card off with highlighting the red hearts with glossy accents and putting a couple of Tonic flourishes in the corners.

Happy dayz.....its the weekend!

Well its the weekend at last and it certainly feels like this week has dragged. Anyhow, I have my son's grading tomorrow for his martial arts class that he attends so that will be good.

Craftwork Cards have asked to share some of my makes on their blog which is great. When they have been put up, I will share the link. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics of the cards I made using the butterfly kisses kit from Craftwork Cards.

This card was created using the pretty waste from the butterfly kisses set to make the frames.The joins of the frame were then disguised with black ribbon and pink organza ribbon. I also distressed the inner frame and highlighted the flower embossing detail with sparkle pens.

I used silver mirror card and black card to add layers from behind. I then used another piece of silver mirror card which I stuck down at a jaunty angle.

The butterflies were suspended using twine and I then finished the card off with some tonic flourishes and a small black bow.

For the second card, I simply embossed the top part of the card using a heart embossing folder. I then chose three butterflies for the middle part and then added some twine to finish.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, speak soon.

Flowers and Butterflies

Hello! Hope you are all well. These days are rolling into one, can hardly believe it is nearly March. Hopefully the warmer weather will kick in soon as we head into Spring. Well on a cheery note, here are a couple of cards I have made using the Craftwork Cards pocket full of papers USB.

I highlighted the gerbera with sparkle pens and glossy accents.

 

 

For the flower I used one of Julie's stamps from Craftwork Cards. I used distress inks on the flower then layered it together and finished with some glossy accents in the centre.

This next card was made by scoring and folding several folds to the end part of the front section of the card to give it some texture and dimension. I then added a strip of patterned paper on the inside of the card to carry the design on from the back to the front.

Using the papers I had printed out, I then cut out several butterflies and then attached to the card.

Glossy accents were then added to the sentiment.

I then highlighted the pretty butterflies on the paper with more glossy accents to add depth (can you tell I like my glossy accents lol!)

Finally, I added some roses and a sentiment to the inside of the card.

I am currently playing around with the Butterfly Kisses set from Craftwork Cards so hope to share that with you in the next day or two.

Love is in the air

Well I had a lovely valentines weekend despite having a nasty cold. My lovely hubby took me out for lunch (a rare treat in our household!). We then randomly decided to go for a drive and we ended up at Castle Coombe. Despite the freezing cold temperatures, we had a lovely Sunday afternoon walk, followed by a hot cuppa sat outside a pub, watching everyone go by and soaking in the atmosphere.

On a crafty note, here are some pictures of  my finished book folding piece.

 

 

I distressed the outer cover of the book and used gold gilding wax around the edges

I lined the inside cover with one of my favourite papers. The textures and gold foiling tie in nicely with the distressed look of the book as a whole.

The finished piece. This was definitely my favourite 'Love' pattern to do.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of pics of the valentines card I made for my hubby.

 

Look we have sunshine.....be careful not to blink, it might vanish!!

 





I am working on some Craftwork cards at the moment so hopefully will share those with you in the next couple of days.......happy crafting!

Creating craftiness

Well now I seem to getting the hang of things here, I thought I would share some of my crafty makes. I will also show you some of my wedding invitations I am currently working on as well, hope you enjoy.

This heart wall hanger was made using a filigree heart die I already had. Using some of my pretty papers, I then die cut the 'live, laugh and love' out several times and created a shadow effect from behind. For embellishments, I made some flowers out of corrugated card, used some Dreamees stamps to make some flowers and finally used some wooden hearts to decorate it. I distressed the ends of the hearts using gold gilding wax. I cut out and lined the backs of each heart with cork to make them firmer and then finally joined the three hearts together with twine.

 

 

I have had a go at book folding which was quite fun to do. I used distress ink to colour in the heart and then embossed a panel for the spine of the book and then finally lined the edges and spine with gold gilding wax. I'm currently working on a much prettier 'love' design and have used some of my luxury papers to line the inside and have distressed the outside of the book. I will upload a picture of it shortly.

 





Here are some of my wedding invitations I am currently working on. They are not quite finished yet and are still a work in progress but I will keep you all updated with their progress. I am currently working on a website so do watch this space for more info.

This invitation is made using a heart embossing folder, some Dreamees stamped flowers and a Tattered Lace flourish. The writing has been stamped and glossy accents were used to highlight the writing and also in the centre of the flowers. The invitation is then finished off with some black satin ribbon.

 

 

For this invitation, I have used linen card stock in white and have used a rose die from Todo. The mock names have been die cut using a tattered lace alphabet set and glossy accents have been used to highlight the names and the centre of the flowers.

 

This invitation is one of my favourites. It's still a work in progress but I like the clear crisp white linen card stock used alongside brown craft card. The gorgeous die used is from the Diesire edgeables collection and is the doily lattice, treillis napperon. On the inside invitation part, I have used a tonic flourish with tiny hearts in the corners. The invitations slot into the white part and are joined together by white satin ribbon with a flower in the centre. These invitations will also come with their own boxed envelope.

 

 

 

This invitation was made using silver centura pearl card stock along with black card stock. The edges were cut from the Diesire edgeables collection, floral dance, danse floral. Black satin ribbon was used to finish the invitation off.



This invitation was made using silver centura pearl card stock layered with silver mirror card. The panel die is from tattered lace and the heart stamp and flowers are from dreamees. The flowers were stamped and heat embossed using silver embossing powder onto vellum to give a luxurious look. The mock names were cut from tattered lace alphabet dies and pearls were used to embellish the corners.

With this invitation, I have gone for a more rustic, simple look which will feature in my budget range. A script stamp was used with subtle sparkle pens used over the top to give a hint of sparkle. The card was then finished off with twine.

This is another invitation from my budget range. I used a Lindsay Mason Designs stamp set. I then used burlap and craft card to mat and layer. The top layer was stamped using a Dreamees heart stamp and then the word Love was cut out using a Tonic die. I also used sparkle pens to add a hint of sparkle to the card.

 

 

This invitation design is a classic. Its a simple pocket fold design using luxurious ivory embossed card stock .

 

Finally, this invitation has a Halloween/gothic theme catered towards weddings with an alternative theme.

                                     

 

I have just received my craftwork card USB from Create and Craft so I shall be working on some designs from this in the next couple of days. Will upload some pics of these when i'm done.

New Beginnings

Well I thought I would get this year off to a good start and finally get round to writing a blog. January was hectic and flew by as usual so here I am at last....blogging!!

With the dark gloomy, rainy days we are surrounded with there is nothing more satisfying than brightening up your day with either drawing or crafting. In and around a hefty, busy schedule with four children and a husband, I still find time to craft and draw so thought I would share some of my creations so far. I am also in the process of starting up a small wedding stationery business so watch this space for more news on this soon.

Here is a completed portrait of a commission I really enjoyed doing of Maxi the Westie who is sadly no longer with his owner anymore. I have included the original photo so you can see the two together.

 

 

 

This portrait was a bit of a challenge to do as the original photo was quite grainy. I really enjoyed working on the fur and including lots of highlights.



 

 

 

Not a very clear photo I am afraid but this photo was taken whilst this portrait is hanging on my wall. It was one of the very first portraits I did and still among one of my favourites.

 

 

 

Another picture from my wall of the lovely Sean Connery :) One of the first people portraits I did and again, one of my favourites.

 



 



 

 

 

A quick drawing of the iconic Amy Winehouse.

 

 

 

This commission was lovely to do, I really try and capture the animal through their eyes to help bring the picture to life.

 

 



 

All my drawings are completed in black and white and are done on Bristol board. I occasionally put a splash of colour in the eyes to help bring the portrait to life.

 

I hope you will join me on my journey and would be great to hear from other arty and crafty people.