Hoping by Mo Manning

Well it's that time of the year again when we make our New Year's resolutions and with that in mind I thought this would be the perfect image to use. This is Hoping and I can feel her pain, and her wonderful use of excuses LOL.

Wishing everyone a Happy 2023, and here's hoping the world settles into something resembling tolerance and friendship.

Gnome by Mo Manning

When I saw this fabulous image I just knew I HAD to get him and colour him up. This is Gnome and I just love the way his eyes seem to stare into your soul. I've seen him coloured by several different people and he is gorgeous no matter what colour his clothing is. I decided to go with a non-traditional Christmas colour palette for my easel card and I'm really happy with how it turned out. The poinsettia and sentiment are all glittered up, adding to the festive feel.

Sandy Santa by Mo Manning

Now that Summer has officially arrived here in Australia I thought it was time to create a more Aussie Christmas card. This is Sandy Santa and I think he's FABULOUS! You gotta love a man who is happy to roll up his sleeves to relax on the sand. Great to see him being sun smart too with his hat and sunnies 

Case me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

I always love it when my friend Michell Lupton contacts me to ask if I want to be a part of her "Case me a Christmas Card" challenge. She has some amazing artists on board taking part in her challenge and, it's always fun to see how people interpret each other's work, especially when styles can vary so much.

 

This is the card I chose to Case this year. I took the ombre coloured background with the rest of the card being predominantly white. I also added a little bit of glitz, just in a different way to Michelle.

 

Michelle's work is always so beautifully elegant, and I hope I've done her design concept justice.

You can find Michelle's CASE of my work HERE, and she's teased me saying she hasn't chosen one of my cards but one of my recent quilts to CASE instead! I'll be heading over to check it out soon hope you do too

Snowball Fight by Mo Manning

 

This little cutie is Snowball Fight by Mo Manning. Sadly it's almost appropriate for the weather we've been having here in Melbourne lately! It may only be 2 weeks until our Summer starts, but there have been snow falls in the nearby hills and the weather has been pretty miserable for Spring! At least this little one is smiling and enjoying the snow!

I printed the image out on a digi paper background from Bearly Mine Designs - sadly they are no longer in business :( , but I do love using the papers I bought. I added some coloured lights and sparkle to the background too, just for some additional festive flair. 

First Snow by Mo Manning

Recently Mo released some fabulous new images and this was one of them. This is the beautiful First Snow. I cut it out within a circle using my Silhouette Cameo. This turned the image into a beautiful frame that I popped up with a Winter forest scene in the background.

It seems strange to think of snow when we are heading into Summer here in Australia, but I have fond memories of my childhood in England, when we loved looking for the robins and enjoying the magic snow can bring with it.  

Autumn Witch by Twistoon Stamps

Well I did it - I tried to make a video tutorial of my colouring of this image called Autumn Witch - but it's so much harder than it looks! I have uploaded the finished result in case you wish to check it out ;) 

Please note that at the end of the video I didn't like the right hand side of her hair above the leaf - so I darkened the shadows there with C10.

Link to video is HERE

Image printed at 12cm tall

 Skin - R11, R20, E000, E00, E 11, E13

Eyes - YR17, YR01, Black, White

Lips - YR07, YR12

Hair - V05, V06, V09, V12, YR15, C10

Clothes (Hat & Dress) - C0, C2, C4, C5, YG0000, YG01, YR00, YR000

Neck Bow and Hat Ribbon - C4, YG01, YG17, G28, V12

Nails - Black, White

Pumpkins - E07, E19, YR07, YR15

Pumpkin Vine & Leaves - G28, YG17, YG63, (+ YR00, YR21 for leaves)

Broomstick - E18, E29, E74

Broom Brush - Y21, Y26, Y28

Cats - B05, YO4, R20, C10, White

Mouse - R20, Y04, C4, C2, White

Getting Ready for Christmas

Recently I saw a friend had made a "flip flap" card and I loved the concept. I watched this tutorial and decided to adapt the concept to fit as a topper on my standard 5 1/2" square cards. I cut down the number of flaps from 3 to 2 to make it work. I then drafted the pattern in my silhouette cameo to make life easier for me ;)

I always loved paper dress up dolls as a kid, so thought Lula Fairy Doll would be a great image to use. The card front became her "bedroom" and the flaps the doors to her wardrobe. Inside the wardrobe, hanging up ready to wear for that special day, are some of the clothes from Lula Christmas Elf (clothes only) 

The papers I used are digital papers from Mo Manning - on the front is Colorful Trees and on the back is Silver Blue Ornaments. I have sized these to work as I wanted them to on my project. 

Other clothing options available for Lula are Lula Butterfly and Lula Angel Wings

Most of the dies I used are from La-La Land Crafts

I hope you enjoyed my fun little project.

Kissing Frogs by Mo Manning

Something a little different from me - a little more pastel! This is the uber cute Kissing Frogs by Mo Manning and I just felt the soft pinks and muted greens suited her more than my usual bold colour palette. I tied her in with some foil embossed designer paper for added fantasy.

I hope you find her as magical as I do.

Little Bear by Mo Manning

I have always loved teddy bears and colouring them up. They are open to using so many different texture techniques which can create such different looks for the same image. Today I decided to colour "Little Bear" up looking fluffy, perfect for a young child to snuggle up to on their 1st birthday - if only he could jump of the page for that hug!

Little Fairy Mandi by Mo Manning

 

It's Spring here in Australia so the trees and flowers are bursting into life and Little Fairy Mandi is enjoying time in the garden :) I've coloured her with Copics and there are touches of fairy dust (aka glitter) throughout the card to add a magical feel.

All the dies used on this card are from La-La Land Crafts

Collette and Kitten by Mo Manning

When I spotted Collette and Kitten in Mo's store I just knew I wanted to colour her up - she's adorable! I coloured her up using Copics and paired here with a stunning 3D sunflower using the  Lovely Layers Sunflower Die by Honey Bee Stamps.

Until Next Time...

George's Walnut Car by Twistoon

Isn't this little guy the cutest??? The image is called "George's Walnut Car" and he's another is the amazing range of gnome images from Twistoon Digi Stamps. If you're a gnome lover and haven't checked them out yet you really should. There is one for almost any occasion, or even for just a bit of fun!

I thought he would be perfect for a belated birthday card and I hope you agree. I created the sentiment on my computer to fit.

Teacher Chibis from Twistoon

Working at a school meant these gorgeous teacher images from Twistoon Digi Stamps were must haves for me, especially the male teacher as you don't find those as often. I paired them with a couple of teacher "classics" - a chalkboard sentiment and an apple ;)

Click on the links to find them instore - male or female

Until next time....

Mason Jar Tissue Dispenser Tutorial

Recently I saw some really cute mason jar tissue dispensers and I figured I could do something similar and include a cute digi image onto the project, so I went hunting for a jar. This was the part I thought would be easy! But most of the handle less jars have images and words embossed onto the surface of the glass which wouldn't suit my project - so I ended up with a mason jar glass with a handle. I've put together a few steps for you if you'd like to give it a go yourself :) I used Mo Manning's "Needs Mummy" image.

You'll Need                                                            

- a mason jar with 2 part lid (something else I couldn't find so I ended up 3D printing one!)            

- sheet of white foam                                             

- 2 coloured images on thin paper (I used copy paper)

- all purpose sealer

- glue

- white acrylic paint

- ribbon

- stazon ink pad

- texture stamp

- gloss varnish

Since I wanted my images to wrap around the glass slightly and not have a high profile, I decided to print them onto copy paper and colour. I used my copic markers but you have to have a lighter touch on copy paper to prevent the ink bleeding too much. I wanted an image on both the front and the back of the glass so I coloured up 2.

I then sealed my images with an all purpose sealer on both the front and the back, allowing to dry in between. I have skipped this step in the past but the images became transparent when I varnished them and the background pattern showed through! Cut out your sealed and dried images.

Tape off the rim and handle of your jar before sealing and painting. I sponge my first coat of paint on the give it some grip for the subsequent coats. Carefully remove the tape and stamp on a pattern using stazon ink if you wish.

Glue your images onto the front and back of your jar - making sure they don't lift. Once dry add several coats of clear varnish.

Once I cleaned up my printed lid I cut a circle of white foam to fit inside it. Before gluing it in place cut a cross in the foam to allow the tissues to come out while providing a dust cover for the rest - see image above.

Decorate the rim of the jar before loading with tissues and attaching the lid.

I used this YouTube video tutorial to load the tissues into my jar.

I hope you enjoyed this and....

Bless you ;)

Nose in Book from Twistoon

I coloured this cutie up a while ago and decided it was time she made it onto a card. This is "Nose in Book" and you can also get a boy version if you prefer. 

I created the red scrunched flowers to tie in with her glasses and laces.

I think it's time to do a bit of reading myself now....

Until Next Time

Happy Crafting 

Christmas Crackers

I promise this is my last Christmas in July card.....for now ;)

I couldn't resist playing with these cuties from Twistoon Digi Stamps - and they come in a set of 4! It was supposed to only be 3 images but one of the boys lost his beard in the "cracked" image set so now you can choose if you want him beardless or not. You can find the Stan and George Cracker set HERE

I created a slimline card and added a little explosion to the background - those boys do love to do things to the extreme ;)

Until Next Time

Happy Colouring

Toyshop Helper by Mo Manning

This adorable little guy is called Toyshop Helper and I may have had him coloured up for a while just waiting for the right time to post and luckily I can use Christmas in July to justify posting him now. That cheeky little face is just so sweet!

I hope you like him, and until next time...

Happy Crafting

xXx

Christmas in July with Twistoon Digi Stamps

 It's always a bit of fun to create card for Christmas in July for me given Christmas is my favourite time of the year! Here are a couple I did using images from Twistoon Stamps.

This first one uses one of Lisa's adorable Gnomes - this is "George Christmas Tree" and you can find him HERE. The word dies I used are from La-La Land Crafts.

This fun lovin' gal is called "Wreath Head" and you can find her HERE. I wish you could see how sparkly this is IRL with her glittered stockings and trees, and the sparkly baubles. 

Let's hope we can all feel a little festive and sparkly this July.