Vera Lane Studio: Contessa One

Hello and Happy Monday!

It is my DT day at Vera Lane Studio and we have a new release today. It's a 4 piece digi set called Contessa and features two quirky girls and two sentiments. I couldn't decide which of the Contessa images to use, so I made two cards.

Here is the first card I made:

Isn't she fabulous! I thought she needed some curly hair. I coloured Contessa with Copics and gave her white highlights. I teamed her with three circles from the collage sheet Circles and Stems and a cloud from Fun Collage Sheet No 3. Contessa is popped up on foam pads for some dimension. The other elements are glued directly onto the  background.

The background is brayered Distress Oxides in Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers. I added some text stamping in Black Soot and some black and white paint splatters. The edge of the background is edged with black archival ink.

This sentiment seemed very fitting for Contessa - I cut it into strips, inked the edges in black and glued it directly onto the background.

My second Contessa is on my next blog post coming later today.

Contessa
       

Circles and Stems              Fun Collage Sheet No 3

                               

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane.
It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Dream Valley #207 Hand Coloured Image 24/08
Daisy Chain Challenge #33 Summer 26/08
A Gem of a Challenge #16 AG 26/08
Cassic Design Team Challenge #8 AG 28/08
Dragonfly Dreams No Patterned Paper 28/08
Cardz TV #96 AG 29/08
613 Avenue Create  #224 AG 30/08 (#2)
Simply Create Too #152 AG 30/08
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #112 AG 31/08

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Colour Crazy Challenge: Winnie Mermaid

Hello!

Today sees the start of a new colouring challenge at the Colour Crazy Challenge Blog. The challenge is always Anything Goes, but, of course, your card must feature some hand colouring. You can use any colouring medium you wish. 

This week Polkadoodles is the sponsor.

I was lucky to receive a digi stamp to work with and I chose Winnie Mermaid Mermazing - Anchor's Away. My digi was the black and white line digi, as this is a colouring challenge, but it is also available in pre-coloured form here.

Here is my card:



I printed the digi and die cut it with a scalloped oval die.  I used Copic markers to colour the image, adding some white highlights and some Stickles Crystal glitter. I inked the background lightly while the die was in place, so that I got an even, crisp edge to the inking line on the outside. I used a blending brush and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.

I used design paper for my background, tucking a doily behind the image. The mermaid image is popped on foam pads to give some dimension to the card. The paper's edges were inked with Broken China Distress Oxide. I die cut some seaweed from the design paper and inked the edges. I arranged the seaweed, leaving the fronds loose and curled, with dried flowers which I dyed with Dylusions ink spray, and Little Birdie flowers. I die cut a circle, stamped the 'Little Claire' sentiment, inked the edges and popped the sentiment disc on foam pads.

Many, many thanks to Polkadoodles for sponsoring this challenge.

I hope you'll find time to share your hand coloured projects at the Colour Crazy Challenge! 
We'd love to see what you make!

That's all from me for today!

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Creative Moments #174 AG 20/08
Polkadoodles #33 AG 26/08
A Perfect Time To Craft AG 28/08
Classic Design Team Aug AG 28/08
Happy Little Stampers AG With Dies 31/08
A Bit More Time To Craft #98 AG 31/08
Creatalicious #169 AG with Sparkle 31/08

Crafters Cafe #225 Dots or Stripes 31/08
Crafting by Designs Aug AG 31/08
Creative Crafters #19 08/09
 Not Just Cards AG 08/09



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Let It Go

Hello!

Today I'm sharing an inky card featuring the beautiful Dancer Silhouette stamp by Lost Coast Designs. I love the distressed look of the silhouette. 

Here is my card:

I don't know about you, but when I've had a stressful day and I get home, I like nothing better than putting on some music, getting lost in the moment and dancing along. The dancer in my card looks far more elegant than me, though! I love the way she throws her head back, expands her chest and throws caution to the wind, letting all the stress and worry go... a perfect way to feel more relaxed!

Here are the steps I took to make the card:

1. I stamped the Dancer with Versamark ink and heat embossed with super fine, Primary Ebony WOW embossing powder.

2. I then blended distress oxides in Carved Pumpkin and Fossilised Amber to my card and spritzed with water to activate the inks. 

3. Next I made puddles of the same Distress Oxides on my crafting mat and dipped, dabbed and dried my card several times. 

4. I mixed some Fired Brick Distress Oxide with water and dipped just around the edges of the card. Some Fired Brick was also flicked onto the dried background. 

5. Spiced Pumpkin was blended around the edges and then Black Soot - this was to frame the image.

6. I added some stamped flourishes (stamp by Inkylicious) with Versamark Onyx Black. 

7. I added black and white Posca Paint pen splatters. 

8. Using a die cut circle, I created a spotlight for the Dancer using Cut and Dry foam and Fired Brick Oxide.

9. The background was mounted onto black textured paper.

10. All was adhered to a blank white card (15cm x 15cm).

11. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker, inked in black around the edge and attached with glue.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Lost Coast Portal To Creativity #81 AG 15/08
Always Fun #123 Circles 18/08
International Art and Soul #64 Embossing 18/08
Crafty Creations #396 AG 26/08
Stinkin Inkers Some Like It Hot 30/09
(Hot colours)
Corrosive Challenges #8 AG 31/08
Dare 2 B Artzy Aug AG 31/08
The Artistic Stamper Aug AG 31/08
Get Creative #83 AG 01/09
Path of Positivity #71 Relaxation 01/09
Crafty Gals Corner #198 Emboss It 10/09

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Vera Lane Studio: Mer-cat and Bear Bookmarks

Hello and Happy Monday!

This is my second post today. The first can be seen here.

Today is my DT day for Vera Lane Studio and I have two bookmarks to show. The swap this month has the theme of 'All Creatures Great and Small' and we are making bookmarks. Here are mine:

For the first bookmark I used the mer-cat from Land and Sea Cats which was released last week. I chose to use Catfish, the mer-cat and I teamed her with seaweed, starfish and shells from Under The Ocean and rocks from Seahorse and Octopus.

I coloured the images with Copic markers and I added some white highlights. The mer-cats tail and scales have Stickles for some shimmer. The background is brayered acrylic paints with stamping and heat embossing and some white paint splatters. The edges of the bookmark were inked with black archival ink and all was matted onto black card.

The second bookmark features the baby bear from The Three Bears set. I've given him some trees from Lil' Red and Big Bad and a snail from Snail's Pace. The images are coloured with Copics and the background is brayered paints.

Little bear and the trees have white Posca pen highlights and the background has black and white paint splatters.

Land and Sea Cats                 Seahorse andd Octopus


The Three Bears            Snail's Pace
 

Other sets used:
Under The Sea            Lil' Red and Big Bad
(both sets available on request from Janet & Etsy)
  

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane.
It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #111 AG 17/08
Pammies Inky inkies #1932 AG 18/08 Honourable Mention

Dream Valley #207 Hand Coloured Image 24/08
Daisy Chain Challenge #33 Summer 26/08
Cassic Design Team Challenge #8 AG 28/08
Corrosive Challenges #8 AG 31/08
Dare 2 B Artzy Aug AG 31/08
Get Creative #83 AG 01/09

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Artsystamper: Nature of the Beach

Hello! 
Happy Monday!

I'm delighted to announce that I've joined The Artsystamper Addicts Design Team! 

Artsystamper.com is a new company owned by artist, crafter and blogger Beverly Cole. Bev designs her own stamps and sells them in her Etsy Shop, TheArtsystamperShop.

Please pop over to the shop to see the wonderful hand drawn images, many of them inspired by nature, which are available in sets for all your crafting needs. 

This is my first project for Artsystamper Digitals. I used the Nature of the Beach Digital Stamp Set and Marble Magic Digital Paper. Here is the 5 x 7 inch card I made:


I planned my card design in MS PowerPoint on my laptop, simply because this is what I am most used to. This is very easy to do as Bev provides all the images in .png format which means they have transparent backgrounds. I opted to use the pre-coloured images this time and I need to tell you that the colours and details are terrific! Once I was happy with my design I printed out the individual elements and the River Meadow Marble Magic background paper. I fussy cut the images right up to the black line and die cut some seaweed from the spare background paper. Then I gathered all the tools I would need for my project:



I started by lightly inking over the paper to make it darker, especially close to the base where there would be shadows. I inked the edges of the paper with Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide. I also inked the edge of the seaweed to give it a bit more definition so that it would stand out better on the background.

I always run around the edges of my fussy cut digi images with a black Copic marker. This conceals any white edges which are left after cutting. For this project, I decided to shape the turtle, shells and starfish by using a large stylus on a foam mat. Simply turn the image upside down and roll the stylus around from the centre outwards - some creases may occur, but this is not a problem.

Now that the elements are ready, I place them roughly where they are to go and take a photo to remind me where to attach them.

I decided to add a little extra stamping and such to the background, not that it needed it, but I just like to add my mark on cards I make using pre-coloured images. I stamped some wild grasses in Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Ink. I also added some watered down white acrylic paint splatters and some water spots which bleached out some of the colour. The turtle was the first image to be attached using foam pads in the centre and glue around the edges. The shells, seaweed and starfish were also arranged on foam pads to keep their shape and dimension.

Once everything was in place, I added some Stickles to the starfish and shadows to the conch shells and the turtle shell using grey Copic markers. I also added some white highlights to the images using a white Posca paint pen. Some dried flowers were tucked behind the shells to mingle with the seaweed.

Small iridescent sequins were added to the background along with some Nuvo Crystal drops to replicate bubbles. Wet glue was applied along the bottom of the background and Golden Prills sprinkled over to represent the sandy sea floor. 



Finally, the sentiment was matted onto blue card and attached on foam tape.

The background was then matted onto dark blue card and placed onto a 5 x 7 inch card base. 
Here a final look at the finished card:

Here's my sweet kitty, Casey, enjoying the sunshine and photobombing in the garden!

 

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I mentioned before that I prepare my design in PowerPoint. I decided to print out the slide and make a one-layer, flat card - perfect for popping in an envelope and mailing. These digitally designed cards are quick and easy to make. Bev has a great tutorial on how to do this on her You Tube channel here.
You'll notice that I added some of Bev's Field Flower Silhouettes to the Marble Magic background paper, digitally changing the colour from black to teal and green. I added Posca paint pen lines and dots in black and white to the images. I matted the image onto dark blue paper and attached it to a 5 x 7 inch card base. 

 Nature of the Beach            Marble Magic              Field Flower Silhouettes
      
That's all for today! 
I'll be back with another Artsystamper project in two weeks time.

Meanwhile, please check out:

 TheArtsystamperShop Etsy

Artsystamper Digitals Blog
BZCole Mixed Media (YouTube)
Artsystamper Digitals on Facebook 

Thank you for stopping by today!

I'd like to support the following challenges:

Cardz TV #95 AG 15/08

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #111 AG 17/08
Creative Fingers #169 AG 23/08
Daisy Chain Challenge #33 Summer 26/08
Cassic Design Team Challenge #8 AG 28/08
Craft Rocket #62 AG 31/08
Crafting by Designs AG 31/08
Corrosive Challenges #8 AG 31/08
Dare 2 B Artzy Aug AG 31/08
Get Creative #83 AG 01/09
Path of Positivity #71 Relaxation

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Vera Lane Studio: The Bees Knees

Hello!

Today is my DT day at Vera Lane Studio and we have a new release! It's a digital set called Bee and Butterfly and has two cute and quirky girls, one with a bee slide in her hair and one with a butterfly slide. There are also separate digis of the bee and the butterfly and two sentiments.

I made a card with Bee:

I coloured the images with Copic markers and added some white highlights. I used a flower head from the Floral Burst set as a sun. I gave the large bee a set of Stickles glittered wings.

The background was made by horizontally and vertically brayering Distress Oxide inks in Fossilised Amber and Twisted Citron.  Some honeycomb stamping was added in Fossilised Amber to the background using a Tim Holtz stamp. I added some leafy flourish stamping in Grey Flannel around the edges of the background. The edges of the background were inked with Twisted Citron and archival black ink.

The images were popped on foam pads to add dimension to the card. Finally, I matted the background onto black polka dot paper and placed it onto a 14.5 x 14.5 cm card base.

I wanted to make the bee into a badge/brooch and attach it to the card, but it ended up a little too bulky to fix to the card. The little bee in the bottom right corner is the brooch I made. He is super cute! I live very close to Manchester, a city that expanded during the Industrial Revolution, and the the worker bee is the one of city's emblems, so here I am wearing it:

 

Bee and Butterfly            Floral Bursts
   

I hope you'll come along and play on Vera Lane.
It's such a friendly, fun place to be!

  

Here's all the info you need:

Vera Lane Studio Blog

Vera Lane Studio Facebook Group

Vera Lane Studio You Tube Channel

Vera Lane Studio Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

CRAFT Challenge Inspiration Photo 07/08
Yellow (flowers) and green
A Gem of a Challenge #15 AG 12/08
Cardz 4 Galz #102 Summer Fun 12/08
Moving Along with the Times Bees 14/08

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #111 AG 17/08
Crafting with an Attitude #54 AG 25/08
Daisy Chain Challenge #33 Summer 26/08
Cassic Design Team Challenge #8 AG 28/08
Craft Rocket #62 AG 31/08
Crafting by Designs AG 31/08

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