2016 Resolutions

One of my targets/resolutions for 2016 was to make more use of my blog, do regular posts, and beat my 70 posts per year total from the very first year I blogged as "@Cartway Cards". (2009)

I am pleased to have managed to double my posts to 144! The idea was to post three times per week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday as best I could, so I think I wasn't too far off doing that most of the year.

I am extremely happy to have a lot more hits and a lot more comments and I would like to thank everyone who came by my blog this year and left a comment for me. It is much appreciated and I have enjoyed blogging far more this year with the thought that someone might pop by and read it! lol.

Thanks everyone for being great chums this year and making it blogwise, my most successful year yet! :)

p.s. I sold the original of this illustration this year! Must start work on some new banners for 2017! :)

Bit of Festive Tim Holtz :)

Saw this gorgeous set featured in one of the craft mags so when I saw it half price the following year I snapped it up!

It's A Sizzix Framelit (So stamps and dies) called "Holiday Joy" and is part of the Tim Holtz Alterations Series.

I created a dark blue "Chipped Sapphire and Weathered Wood) distress ink background and flicked water to create a night-time snowy effect. I then stamped in white the fir tree stamp. I then blended three distress inks and stamped the topper elements.
Distress Inks: Seedless Preserves, Shaded Lilac and Wilted Violet.

Added ribbon, bling and sentiment to finish.

Hero Arts Christmas Set

I've had these three Hero Arts Cling Mini Sets for a while and thought it was time to use them for the original idea I had in mind when I bought them!

The three sets are:

Hero Arts Far out Holiday - CL247

Hero Arts Merry Always -  CL252

Hero Arts Gift for you - CL248 

I stamped the images randomly onto white cardstock using some distress inks and Versafine Onyx Black. I coloured them with Copic Pens and added stickles and glossy accents to embellish.  I used Baker's Twine and Ribbon behind the Sentiments which are made using the font "AntsyPants".

Another view. 

 

Boxing Day Robins - done two ways.

I'm a bit worried the title of this post sounds like I am about to cook some Robins for dinner! Oops. Actually these were the two Christmas cards I made this year featuring the "Tweet Birds" set by Woodware.(FRS226)

Randomly stamped robins and holly leaf to make a background paper.  Coloured with Copic Pens. Added ribbons and sentiment. Gems to embellish and Glossy Accents on the robin's eyes. Font is AntsyPants.

Cube stepper blank (From Everycraftsapound) and matt and layered individual robins. Coloured with Distress Inks as watercolours and stickles glitter.  Hobbycraft poinsettias to embellish. Font is Atlas of the Magi.

Distress Inks Used: Candied Apple, Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy and Weathered Wood.

More little pugs!

Another Pug card made for the family with pugs and frenchies :) I saw this pug postcard and reserved it for the next time I needed to whip up a pug project! :)
I got some "Everycraftsapound" blank stepper cards and thought this would be a nice way to make the card more special.

Diecuts: Joy Clouds, Spellbinders Circles, Scallop Circles and Cattails and Sue Wilson Maidenhead Ferns,
Flowers: Wild Orchid.
Papers, Bling, Numbers and ribbon from stash.

Final Challenge of the Year!

Final challenge for 2016 on The Crafty Addicts Challenge Blog! Challenge 31 is optionally themed " Let it Snow" or Anything Goes, as normal :) Super sponsor this time, Lemon Shortbread, offering 3 free digis to the winner, tbh it will be very hard to only pick 3!

I used Poinsettia Girl by Lemon Shortbread for my DT inspiration card, if you enjoy colouring hair, she is fabulous to tackle!

I have to admit, I was going to do a black and white card with just a pop of red in the poinsettia, but then remembered It has to go with the theme "Let it Snow!" Doh! So it's now somewhat more colourful. I just used the copic cool greys and black to colour her on smooth cardstock. She's 3D foamed to add some dimension to the card.
The snowflakes are from a hunkydory christmas kit.
The stamp is one of the set called "Hand Drawn Greetings" (JGS457) from Woodware.
Background paper is from "Tis the season" collection by BoBunny.
With added Stash Bling, Yellow Stickles, Glossy accents etc.

Close up of the card.

This is the first time I have tried to colour black hair with copic pens. I can see now where I need to get more light/shine, but I think it was ok for the first go! :)

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Victorian Christmas Fayre at St.Leonard's Church.

Just wanted to share a few photos from the Christmas Fair earlier in December. It's hard to make blog posts at the moment because I am making tonnes of Christmas Cards which I can't post about until AFTER Christmas!

Bit of a disappointing fair this year, didn't sell enough to make it worth doing, so I think I will concentrate on online sales next year and do something else! :)

Catnips Kitties!

I always make a batch of catnip toys to sell at the Christmas Fair. I am working on some drawings for a set of new digis based around Furry Tails (Fairy Tales) and thought I would make a few catnip toys using those as designs.

Here is Catmodo Dragon, Purrmaid, Kittycorn and Frog Pawrince!

Just have a few Kitticorns left over which I shall probably gift to friends with cats over Christmas. :)

Winter Wonderland!

Time for the final Crafty Addicts Facebook Challenge! We have decided not to run them next year as a regular monthly thing, but we may have a few random challenges during the year as we still have access to some amazing sponsors!

This time the challenge is Winter Wonderland or Anything Goes and the two sponsors are Morgan's Art World ( Prize of 3 digistamps ) and A Day for Daisies (Prize of a $12 gift certificate). I had seen the "Penguin Flight" stamp in one of the craft mags and was so excited to be able to choose it as DT inspiration for this challenge. I seriously love it! And for inside the card, I made a sneaky purchase and bought "Penguin Snowman" too!

I loved making this, infact I have made several towards my christmas card orders this year. The background is done with a mask and Faded Jeans distress ink, directly onto the card stock. The stamps is from the Woodware set called "Hand Drawn Greetings" (JGS457). I printed the images out and then watercoloured them using distress inks. When dry I added a few sequins to one of the balloons.

Close up of the stamp.

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Sled Dawg! :)

Last but one challenge for the year on The Crafty Addicts Challenge Blog. As well as Anything Goes, there is an optional theme of Christmas Colours. Are red and blue christmas colours? I went with "yes" :)

Two awesome sponsors this time, Imagine That (Offering a $10 gift cert to winner) and Lacy Sunshine! (Offering 3 free digis to winner).

I did Christmas Sled by Imagine That for my inspiration card, it was super to colour!

I used polychromo pencils on smooth white card. Glossy accents on his eyes, nose and bells. The bobble trim, papers, snowflake and button were from the stash. The sentiment is also from Imagine that.

Here is a bit of a close up.

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Pop-up Box - Fifties Baking Styley

Really enjoyed making this commission! I had to feature baking and decided to go with a fifties style theme.

Pop up box template is from Everycraftsapound, really handy to have around, save a lot of time. I downloaded lots of the  free images/vintage advertising from the web and the papers are mainly from Papermania Happy Days set.

I finally got to use a magazine freebie pack of chipboard embellishments called "Nana Loves" by Jennifer Ellory - lots of great bright kitschy elements.

Font is Blessed Day.

Close up of the card.

Pickles and Jams

Two commission cards today, same kind of layout with an extra tweak :) One was for a keen pickler, and the other a keen baker!

These are two layers, like standard shaker cards, with a layer of perspex between the topper and the base, and the contents (in most of the jars) can move about. I put sequins in the jam pots, and cut out some mini veg shapes for the pickles. I need some thicker foam for shaker cards, the sequins don't move as much as I'd like! :)

All the images were free clipart.

The font is Angel Tears.

Poppy baking.

Commissioned card for a friend, based on a photo of the birthday girl (She'll be nine!) baking.

Hand drawn image coloured with distress inks used as watercolours.  Utensils and Chocolate are from Personal Impressions (I've never had a card before that I wanted to use them on, so they are rather longterm stash items). Font is "Angel Tears."

Monkeys on Skateboards

Another commission, this time Monkey's on Skateboards as a theme! These monkeys are a set of digistamps from Melonheadz Doodles (Called 5 Monkeys) , and I combo'd them with a freebie clipart skateboard, so they fitted my theme.

I printed this out on a large piece of 8x8 kraft card and 3D mounted it onto a kraft card blank. It was going to be a one layer image, but I decided to mount it in the end. Coloured with polychromos on kraft, I masked off the central section to keep it clean and assure crisp lines.

Christmas Unicorn!

Another challenge post from me today for The Crafty Addicts Challenge Blog, Challenge 29!

The theme this month is Christmas Paper or Anything Goes.

Both sponsors this month , Spellbinding and Scrapper's Delight, are offering 3 digistamps to the winner, so double the chance to win! This is the first time I have had a chance to colour a Scrapper's image, so I was really pleased to finally get Kira Unicorn Pony! (My friend Helen had coloured him a lonnnng time ago, and I loved her!)

So here is Kira!

The papers are all from magazine freebies and offcuts from the stash. Kira is coloured in polychromo pencils on kraft card. I added some green stickles to her mane and tail. The Happy Christmas greeting is from Woodware set "Hand Drawn Greeting" (JGS457).

Close up of Kira.

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Sports Cards

I had in an order for a Man U football card so decided to use this Hunkydory kit called "Man of the Match!" I made the kit up as per the layout they suggest and added personal elements to tailor it for the order. Afterwards I wasn't happy with it so I had a rethink and added some stars to make it seem a bit more fun and special. What do you think? Did the stars work?

I also used the kit to make a rugby card at the same time for a friends birthday.

Before

 After

Bicycle love.

Card inspired by this card - found on Pinterest and from http://bigganed.blogspot.co.uk.

Another commissioned anniversary card, for cyclists - so I adapted the inspiration card to include 2 bikes and used the dies that I had to achieve a similar look.

Hearts from Spellbinders Nesties - Classic Hearts.
Bikes from Marianne Creatables CR0394
Birch trees from IO Dies 079-U
Landscape using Joy Mery's Christmas Tree Border as a mask.

Distress Inks are Stormy Sky and Seedless Preserves blended.

Quick drive by die review!

• All my Nesties dies work with one run through the cuttlebug, I've had them forever, and they cut perfectly.
• The Birch Trees from IO are quite intricate and took two passes through the cuttlebug to pop out cleanly. I was cutting card though, they would only require one cut normally. This die is almost new and cut really well.
• The Landscape die I used as a mask from Joy cut perfectly first time. It's almost new and was impressively precise and immediate.
• The Bikes from Marianne are also new, and one took 12 passes through the cuttlebug (with extra paper to tighten the process) and some scissor work after, the other took 14 passes. It is a fiddly design and I was cutting card but I think it's not a good start for a new die!

Anniversary Card for Gardeners

Another commission card, this time an anniversary card for two people who enjoy gardening.

From a distance I now realise it looks rather like a rattle! Or a bauble! However, it was meant to be a ring of garden images with the greeting in the middle!

Background is  blended Shaded Lilac and Bundled Sage Distress Inks, with flicked Wilted Violet and Lucky Clover and a final splosh of Cosmic Shimmer Golden Mint to add some sparkle! :)

The images are stamped with Brushed Corduroy, Shaded Lilac and Bundled Sage Distress Inks.

Stamps are from Buzzcraft Oliver's Orchard Characters and Captions No.485, Hunkydory Flutterbye Garden and Rose Garden by Clear Impressions. Also a freebie magazine set that I have now lost the details for! (oops!)

The font is Delinquente Demo.

Forza

Commissioned card for a 12 year old, into computer games and particularly Forza. Have to hope I got the right version of the game (there are many!) and he recognises the screen shots! :)

The images are all from google searches, 3D foam mounted.
The diecuts are a set from All Occasion Dies and are called Techno Gadgets. They cut extremely well and all the buttons come out with no fuss, extremely impressed!

Not A Card!

New Challenge (No.13) on The Crafty Addicts Facebook Page- Anything Goes or Anything But A Card!

The two sponsors this month are Lacy Sunshine and Ppinkydolls both offering a prize of three digis! I used an image called "Twinkles Boo" from Lacy Sunshine and I used her on the cover of a small reporter's notebook. I've kept the embellishments pretty flat so it remains a useful little notebook and not something that's going to damage easily.

I coloured the image using polychromo pencils sticking to a yellow and blue colour scheme. The stars are enamels from Prima and I also used Papermania Stars. The glittery bits are yellow stickles and her eyes are glassy with glossy accents.

Here is the notebook lay flat with its fastener on.

Think this notebook was a cheapy from the pound shop, three for a pound maybe...

Here is a closeup of the image.

Really fun to colour this image! I enjoyed trying something different with the hair this time, love a bit of experimenting!

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Hanging Kitties.

The first Novemeber challenge (No.28) on The Crafty Addicts Challenge Blog is up! New Theme is ATG or Winter Blues and the Sponsor is the fabulous "Imagine That" who are offering a $10 gift certificate to the winner!

The stamp I chose for inspiration is called Hanging Kitty! And it was fun to use blues, but I found it super hard not to get distracted and use some red and green! :) It came with some greetings as well as the "Feline Festive" that I have used.

As normal this is polychromo pencils on kraft card, matted onto blue card stock and a white card blank. I only added sequins as an embelli, and tacked on a "Special Friend" banner so I could use it at Xmas.

Close Up

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Final Holiday Post

Just so you know I wasn't relaxing completely on holiday, I was also making up Knitty Kitties to sell this Christmas at the Fayre. :) If there are any left over this year, I am thinking of popping them on Etsy :)

Card For The Bride.

Really struggled to get this card looking right, I don't normally use pastels and I'm not that confident with watercolouring! There were a few incarnations of it before I setttled with this one. Never hurts to have a restart! :)

I used white heat embossed stamped images from a Hunkydory Clearly Stamps Set called Celebrations. Once embossed I used distress inks like watercolours to colour the images and backgrounds. I also used inks to make the backing papers.

Distress Inks: Peeled Pain, Shaded Lilac and Worn Lipstick.

I printed my text (in Edwardian Script) and then added the banner shapes by hand in lilac pen. The bride one was stuck across the middle of the flower heart.

Inside, I used the champagne glass from the stamp set and cut it out after watercolouring it. I added hearts from the stamp set, sequins and glossy accent bubbles.

I repeated the sequins and bubbles on the blank area left for the personal message. I really like the flute, hearts and bubbles, and might reuse that idea the next congrats card I make.

Pumpkins!

Challenge 27 on The Crafty Addicts Challenge Blog has started! This time the theme is Halloween Colours (Or Anything Goes) and we very pleased to be sponsored by Moonflower Digistamps! They are offering a great prize of a $10 voucher, so worth a go! All you need to do is blog your card and post a link to it using the Linky button on the Challenge Blog Page (scroll to the bottom to see it!)

I have used the image called "Gina Pumpkin" by Moonflower Digistamps, she was great fun to colour, three times over in places as I did her as a layered decoupage.

I used polychromo pencils on white and kraft card. I had printed the image 3 times so was able to make her into a decoupage. 

The stickers are old ones I think from Hobbycraft, I love them.

The papers were freebies from http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/

The font is "A Charming Font"

Stars are from Shimelle (American Crafts)

Close Up Of Gina

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