A Quick Catch-Up

Well, that's another hectic week over with, but still no chance to relax. I'm still trying to get one of my clients accounts finished - am saying no more than that!


I did manage to get a few cards made this week, I was totally inspired by the TGF Relay, which unfortunately had to be abandoned because so many people joined in it crashed their galleria. Anyway, here's my 3rd card for the relay that I forgot to share with you...

Image: Toby Cub from TGF, coloured with promarkers.
Papers are Basic Grey Lime Rickey, chipboard greeting from Papermania, bow is papermania capsule collection, cardstock is core'dinations


I also turned a year older on Wednesday - ugh!! Think we'll just forget my birthday from now on. But i did want to share some of the handmade cards I got from my fabulous teamies at PfP.
First one is from Sue...

This next one is from Maria

This one is from one of my bosses at PfP, Denise

And this one is from the BIG boss at PfP, Gina

And finally this one is from my mum and dad, my mum made it herself.

So, we woke up yesterday morning to a blanket of 4 inches of snow - ugh, thought we'd seen the last of the white stuff. So I took the kids to school and playgroup. One of my neighbours had got her car stuck at the corner just along the road from us, and I tried to stop to ask if she was ok, but my car wouldn't stop! Then when I went to go for Faith, I really struggled to get out - so I decided to just pick the kids up from school at the same time in case I didn't get out later. That was definitely a good idea because the snow kept falling. I woke up this morning to another 2 or 3 inches of snow, so there's not much chance of going anywhere this weekend. Shame eh? Unfortunately though, I don't get peace to get any crafting done during the day, then by the time I'm finished chasing the girls back to bed for half the evening I really can't be bothered. But I have done my DT card for PfP this week so I'm pleased I don't have to rush it.

DigiStamp Boutique - GDT

I took a wee break from accounting the other night and made a nice quick and simple card - I love these quirky wee flowers from Sally-Ann at Digistamp Boutique, and I thought the card design needed to be completely unfussy to do them justice.

Image was coloured with promarkers, stamens were covered in glamour dust and the flowers and leaves were decoupaged
cardstock is all core'dinations and lace is from stash

TGF CHA RELAY - WS Charlotte

This is just a quick post, took another break from the accounting last night to make this card for TGF CHA Relay day 2. Unfortunately the Galleria has crashed again.

So this is WS Charlotte, who I thought would look great in pink and I decided to combine this with Jacqui @ Simply Create's CLAN Fundraiser who wants us to make Pink cards to raise funds for CLAN. Jacqui has a fantastic blog candy up for grabs. 

 

and the customary close-up...

 

 

Passion for Promarkers #36 and Angel Crafts DT

I'm not going to apologise, but I am going to explain. I am up to my eyeballs with clients books and accounts at the moment and that is why I haven't been blogging or commenting on anyone else's blogs lately. Unfortunately blogging doesn't pay the bills, but my business does so it has to take priority - especially at this time of year. But once we're past the 31st January deadline I should get back to normal - fingers crossed.


So, this card is a double whammy - I have to make good use of my "spare" time.

This week at Passion for Promarkers we have a colour theme as chosen by the lovely Anjie and its Pastel Green and Blossom - a beautiful combination, so I hope lots of you are going to join in this week. Its certainly worth entering as this week we have a £10 voucher up for grabs from the fabulous  


As I'm so pushed for time at the moment this is also a DT card for Angel Crafts. I'm so thrilled that Angela asked me to be on her team, and I get to play with the most beautiful ribbon kits. On my card I have used ribbon, a flower and the "Believe" chipboard shape from the brand new Believe ribbon kit. There's oodles of stunning ribbon, lace, flowers, a gorgeous stamp, some kaisercraft pearls and the believe chipboard - you absolutely HAVE to have.

Image: Summer Fairy digi from TGF, coloured with promarkers: Blush and Dusky Pink for her skin, Primrose, Mustard, Tan and Spice for her hair, Pastel Green with Mint Green for shading for her dress & wings, Blossom with Fuchsia for shading for the flower. I also covered her wings with Ranger Crackle Accents to give a veined effect.


Paper is CCSR, cardstock is core'dinations, I coloured the chipboard "Believe" with pink sakura pen, ribbon, chipboard and flower from Angel Crafts Believe ribbon kit, button and string from stash


Here' her close-up...

Remember to pop over and see the rest of the DT samples, you'll be blown away.

TGF CHA RELAY - Mer-Ian

Have you been over to the TGF blog lately? they are doing this super fun free digi giveaway relay to celebrate CHA.

So this is the first freebie - Mer-Ian. In order to get the next free digi, you have to use Mer-Ian and upload your creation before 6pm CST today - which by my calculations is midnight tonight.

So here's what I did with Mer-Ian.. 

Image: Mer-Ian digi from TGF coloured with promarkers and I also used glamour dust - can you use glamour dust on a boys card??
cardstock is all core'dinations, paper is Basic Grey Lime Rickey, ribbon from stash, cuttlebug sirls embossing folder and MS deco shell patp punches, nestabilities large scallop and inverted scallop circles


here's his close-up...

Passion for Promarkers #35

Morning folks
We're already onto challenge number 35 at Passion for Promarkers and this one's a nice easy one, you can use ANY COLOURS and the theme is Girls, Girls, Girls .

The prize this week is a 5-pack of promarkers from the fabulous Letraset, so get entering if you want to expand your collection of promarkers

 You have to pop over to Passion for Promarkers and check out the other DT samples - they really are stunning.

So here's my attempt at Girls, Girls, Girls... I decided to use my absolute favourite girly stamp - Daisy, from Sugar Nellie.

 Image: Daisy from Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers: Cool Grey 1-5 and Maroon.
The papers are Panduro Tilda which I bought a while back at Simply Create. The raspberry cardstock is core'dinations. The silver ribbon is from a Boots gift box lol, and the silver and pink card candy is from Craftwork Cards 

Here's Daisy's close-up

Promarker Class - samples

Thought I'd show you some of the samples I did for my promarker class on Saturday...

And these were the two images I demonstrated...

 Look out for that image of Daisy on my DT card for tomorrow's PfP challenge

Promarker Class

Well, firstly I'd like to apologise for my lack of blogging this year - I'm so glad I didn't resolve to blog every day of 2010, or I'd've broken a resolution right for a start.
For those of you who know me, you'll know January is an incredibly busy month for me, and for those who don't know... I'm a self-employed accounts service provider and as the self-assessment tax deadline is the 31st January, I am always up to my oxters in books, tax forms and spreadsheets at this time of year. But I only have one client left to do, and even remembered to file my own tax return so  things should be back to normal around here by the end of the month - I'm hoping its actually the end of this week, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part.
 So I'm also going to apologise for my lack of blog-hopping and commenting for Passion for Promarkers. At PfP, we pride ourselves on the fact that all the DT try to comment on all entries to the challenges - we think its only polite to take the time to look at the entries and leave a comment. But I've asked for a little time off from that until I get back to normal. Believe me, when you're spending 16 hours a day staring at numbers on a spreadsheet, the last thing you want to do is anything else on the pc.

So, now that all my apologies are done, I'll tell you about today.
Today was my very first time teaching a promarker class out at Simply Create, my stomach has been in knots all week - its one thing to colour an image, its quite a different story teaching someone else to do it.
BUT... I'm pretty chuffed at how well it went, Jacqui said that everyone really enjoyed themselves and they were all really pleased with the results they got.
I think it really helped me that Kath, Jacqui and Anne were all there - they helped me to relax immensely.
Firstly I demonstrated how to colour a monochrome image, I used my absolute favourite stamp of all time - the perfect "Daisy" from Sugar Nellie. I thought that by showing them how to colour in monochrome they would pick up the concept of blending far easier than confusing the matter with colour - and it seemed to work really well. Every single one of them did a fabulous job. 

Here's some pics of us all - minus Kath as she was behind the camera -  at coffee time, complete with choccies... if any of the ladies in the pics are visiting here, can you leave me a comment telling me which one you are please, I'm taking Tramadol at the moment which seems to make everything leak from my brain lol

 That's my good side (I'm the one in the foreground in scarlet)

 I think Kath was actually focusing more on the Hero Arts stamps than the ladies in this one lol

 thankyou Kath for cropping out my lumpy bits (ie all the bits below my shoulders lol)

(Sorry, have been asked to remove this pic)

The second stamp we coloured was one of the Gorjuss Girl stamps, again from Sugar Nellie. Now that they had the basics of blending and shading they all managed it easily.

And I had a fabulous time, once I got into my stride and got over my nerves (and learned to tell them to shurrup! lol), I really enjoyed showing them all how to use the promarkers and I was chuffed to bits with how quickly they all picked it up and their finished images were lovely. So Jacqui has asked me to come back and do another class, so keep an eye out for that.
Jacqui, if you're reading this - thankyou for talking me into teaching a class, I thoroughly enjoyed myself today and you've given my confidence a huge boost. 

I'll be back tomorrow to share a few of the samples I made up for the class. 

Passion for Promarkers #34

Wow, 2010 is flying by already.
This weeks colour theme at PfP was chosen by one of our new GDT's - Sam, and she's chosen the lovely COOL AQUA and COCOA for us all to use as the predominant colours. 
So I decided to make a boy card - something I don't do terribly often. And it was the perfect opportunity to use my lovely Max stamp that I got from my PfP secret santa, Natalie - thankyou once again Natalie.

Image: TT Max from TGF, coloured with promarkers: pastel pink and blush for his skin, Cool Aqua and Duck Egg for his top, Caramel & Cocoa for his hair, Cocoa and Chestnut for his trousers. Cool Grey 2 and 4 for his controller

Cardstock is core'dinations, papers are Papermania Capsule Collection, greeting is Hero Arts and Craftwork Cards card candy

So pop on over and check out all the other DT designs, they are stunning as always. And remember to join in with the challenge.

This weeks prize is 2 Sugar Nellie stamps, kindly donated by Karen at 

Passion for Promarkers #33

My goodness, didn't December just fly by??
Here we are at week #33 over at Passion for Promarkers and our first challenge of 2010. The incredibly talented Michele has chosen this week's theme of Love/Valentine plus a sketch - and you can use ANY COLOURS of ProMarkers.


We like to be ahead of the game here at PfP so this will give you a chance to make your partner/hubby/boyfriend/significant other a card in plenty of time.


Michele has put together this fabulous sketch for you all to use, and you know how I love a good sketch - takes all the hard work out of the card and lets the creative juices flow a bit easier.

This weeks prize is a pack of 5 ProMarkers which is kindly sponsored by Letraset.

 So, here's my effort. I really enjoyed putting this card together - I used a stamp I've had since before xmas that had never been inked up and some fabulous papers that I bought quite a few months ago from Simply Create in Alford.

 Image: Sassy Suzi from TGF, coloured with promarkers: Blush for her skin, Burgundy for her mouth, Maroon for her coat, Fuchsia for her top, IG 1-5 for her hair and jeans and Fineliner for her gloves and boots.

Papers are Tilda, card is core'dinations - both punched with Martha Stewart Loop punch. Half pearls are papermania and greeting is from stash

Here's Suzi's close-up...

Which Colours to buy - Updated to include new colours

I thought it was about time I updated my guide to which colours of ProMarkers to buy seeing as I haven't done it since Letraset released all their new colours.


My basic advice remains the same though, that if you're working on a tight budget - you are best to buy say 3 graduated colours per colour family.


You will definitely need some skin tones, you can either purchase the Set 3 Skin Tones 5-pack which includes Ivory, Satin, Blush, Dusky Pink, Cinnamon or I would suggest Coral, Blush and Sunkissed Pink. For darker skins I would suggest Tan.


Some of the starter kits that Letraset produce are a good all round starting point. The colours in the Craft Gift Set were specially chosen with the crafter in mind and provide a good basic range of colours: Blush Pink, Carnation, Fuchsia Pink, Denim Blue, China Blue, Grass, Lush Green, Caramel, Cocoa, Umber, Sunflower, Poppy.


The other 5-pack sets from Letraset are also a good way of expanding your collection:
Set 1 includes: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Grass and Black
Set 2 includes: Royal Blue, Poppy, Gold, Pine, Cocoa
Set 4 includes: Vanilla, Coral, Blossom, Pastel Pink, Shale
Set 5 includes: Cool Grey 1, Cool Grey 2, Cool Grey 3, Cool Grey 4 and Cool Grey 5
Set 6 includes: Pastel Yellow, Pastel Blue, Pastel Green, Pastel Beige and Pastel Pink
Season Set Spring includes: Powder Blue, Pink Carnation, Buttercup, Leaf Green, Orchid
Season Set Summer includes: Azure, Antique Pink, Tulip Yellow, Peach, Mint Green
Season Set Winter includes: Denim Blue, Cardinal Red, Oatmeal, Soft Green, Bluebell
Season Set Autumn includes: Burnt Orange, Cocktail Pink, Tan, Pear Green


Here are my suggestions if you want to just choose a few from each colour family - I have chosen these for easy blending. If you're on a budget you can collect a different colour family every time you wish to buy - I'm not suggesting you buy all of these at once.

Reds: Poppy, Ruby, Burgundy
Oranges: Amber, Pumpkin, Mandarin
Peaches:  Soft Peach, Peach, Mango
Yellows: Yellow, Canary, Gold
Fresh Greens: Lime Zest, Lime Green, Pear Green
Spring Greens: Meadow, Apple, Grass
Olive Greens: Marsh Green, Moss, Olive Green
Deep Greens: Forest, Pine, Holly
Aqua Blues: Cool Aqua, Duck Egg, Turquoise
Bright Blues: Arctic Blue, Sky Blue, Azure
Soft Blues: Denim Blue, Cornflower, China Blue
Lilacs: Lavender, Lilac, Violet
Purples: Orchid, Amethyst, Purple
Pinks: Baby Pink, Pink Carnation, Fuchsia Pink
Soft Pinks: Pastel Pink, Cocktail Pink, Salmon Pink
Browns: Tan, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Walnut, Umber


To help you with your collection I produced a blank colour chart for Passion for Promarkers, you can download it by clicking on the pic







You should print the chart off onto the card that you normally use with your promarkers, I suggest a smooth card like Stampin' Up Whisper White, Craftwork Cards Digital,  or IQ Smooth 160gsm
You can then colour in the spaces with your markers - this will give you a true representation of the colours and is also a handy guide to the colours you have.

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I just want to wish everyone who visits my wee space here on the www, a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2010.


Anyone got any good resolutions?
I don't usually do resolutions as I have the willpower of a bar of chocolate lol But I completed the one I made in 2009 - to blog every day of 2009 - so I'm quite chuffed with that.


Well, now that I've seen in the new year I think I'll go to bed - not really a hogmanay type of person. Here's hoping the kids let me have a long lie (not likely!)