Happy New Year 2020

Hey bloggers

Happy New Year to you all.

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but, to be honest, my previous laptop was more trouble than it was worth to log in. Half of the keys didn't work, so putting in passwords etc was a nightmare. Anyway, I was extremely fortunate to get a new, fully functioning laptop from the Christmas Faerie and so I am a very happy bunny again. 

I am starting the new year with a promise (NOT a New Year's Resolution (as I always break those) to post every new card I make, this year, here, for you all to see (or not, depending on how many followers I still have) Lol.

I sadly, must confess, that my mojo has been somewhat lacking, as I realised the other day, that the last card I actually made was in January 2019 (a whole year ago)!!!

So, without further delay, here is my first card of 2020 and, hopefully, the first of many more to come.

All of the cards, made so far this year, have been commissions for my best friend, Maggie. She is the one solely responsible for getting my mojo back. So, thanks for that Maggie... hope you like them?

This card was made for Maggie's sister-in-law who celebrated her 60th birthday this week.  

I'm sorry but I cannot remember who the artist of the digi stamp is. I coloured her with my copic markers and mounted her onto matching colour cardstock.  I then cut out a circle of both white and then the same red again, just to give the background some interest. I then added some glitter letters and numbers from Hobbycraft and finally, I added a few red adhesive pearls. The inside was left black as Maggie wanted me to handwrite a personal message from her and her family on her behalf (as she likes my handwriting... awwww).

The second card I've made, so far, this year, was a thank you card for Maggie's counselling friend, Chris Barton. 

He is very good at getting someone to practice mindfulness and wellbeing and has his own clinic. Maggie also suffers with Multiple Sclerosis and so, Chris has literally been a godsend for her.

The digital stamp is by Mo's Digital Pencil, called 'King for the Day' and can be found here.  

I coloured him with my copic markers and added some texture to the chair by stippling, shading and highlighting. 

All of these techniques I have learned from Alyce Keegan of Kit and Clowder. She is a fantastic teacher and has an overwhelming number of members. Check her out, if learning better colouring techniques is high on your list of priorities this year. She really is amazing and is happy to discuss anything with you on a one-to-one basis if you are finding something difficult or need extra help. So don't be put off by her numbers of followers, as that alone should tell you just how great she is.

The final card of three, is another birthday card for Maggie's aunt, who will be celebrating her birthday on the 20th of this month. 

The image again, is from Mo's Digital Pencil, called 'Bronte Birthday, and can be found here.

Again, I coloured him with copic markers, and Prismacolour pencils. I used white card to mounted him, which I coloured the edges of using the same copic marker used on the tutu.

I then added some highlights using a Jellyroll White Pen and added some pink adhesive gems.  I used some pink sparkly background paper (from my scrap stash) and the card was finished.  

Again, Maggie wanted the inside left blank so that I could handwrite a personal message on behalf of her and her family.

So... that's it so far.  Looking forward to sharing many more with you in the very near future.

I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and will have a very happy and healthy New Year.

TTFN, Fae xx

Let's See Some Gingham

Over at the Fab 'n' Funky Challenges blogspot, this weeks theme is "Let's See Some Gingham'.  So, as I have quite a bit of gingham paper in my leftover scrap paper box, I thought I would take part in this cute little challenge this week.

The digi image used is from Lili of the Valley, she is called 'Cake Glorious Cake' and can be found here and is found under the heading 'Fairies and Mermaids'.

I coloured her with Copic markers and did the shading with my prismacolour pencils, blended with Sansodor and a blending stump. I then mounted her onto silver glitter card and added the gingham paper directly to the front of the white card base (8" x 8"). I then added some matching coloured paper flowers (which I think I purchased in bulk from eBay - I know I ordered absolutely loads of them for just a few pounds and I still have loads left) and put adhesive gemstones into the centre of each flower.  I added a sentiment, also from Lili of the Valley, (the reason it is at that angle is because just underneath it is a big dollop of glue that tore the paper when I tried to remove it - but I still think it works, hahaha).  I then just added a small amount of glitter to the fairy wings and highlighted the 'bits' in the cake with a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

Hope you like her?
Thanks for stopping by, Fae xxx

Glitter, Pearls, Bow

Hello everyone, time to take part in another challenge.

This month I am joining in with the Cutie Pie Challenge Blog and their challenge is to select a line OR a full house with their challenge game of 'Bingo'. I chose to go with a line, Glitter, Pearls and Bow.

I chose to do a Christmas themed card as I have yet to start making mine and, well... as it is now July, I guess now is as good a time as any.

The image used is a download from the Thoroughly Modern Misses collection from Lili of the Valley and can be found here.  Yes, I know she is actually the image for January, but I like this one for December too.  The wording attached is from their 'Monthly Traits' collection of sentiments which can be found under the same heading of Thoroughly Modern Misses, but if you're in a hurry the link is here.  I chose to keep a lavender coloured theme and used up a few papers from my scrap box. I roughed up all the edges before mounting them onto a plain white card blank (8" x 8"). I then added the ribbon and circle cut my image (which was coloured with my Copics and shaded with Prismacolor pencils, then blended with Sansodor and a blending stump). I then mounted this onto the background papers, followed by added the sentiment with foam pads and a bow in the same ribbon as previously attached. I then added the pearls and the glittery snowflakes (which were just cheap ones bought from Hobbycraft).

I hope you like her? Don't forget to pop over to the Cutie Pie Challenge blog using the link above if you too would like to take part.

Thanks for stopping by.
Fae xx

Lazy Summer Days

Hello fellow crafters,

Here's a card I have made this week using a gorgeous image from Mo Manning called 'A Secret' and it can be found here.

I am entering this card into the following blog challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
Dragonfly Dreams - Summer
4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes (Summer)

I used Copic Markers to colour her and used Prismacolor Pencils and Sansodor to blend for the background and the sand. Kept the layout fairly simple and added the sentiment, which was included with the digi stamp.  Finally, I mounted her onto blue card and then again onto blue glitter card to finish it off.  Background paper was from my stash, unfortunately I can't remember / don't know which brand it is.

Hope you like her...?

Want to colour better?
The techniques I have used here, on her jeans and background, for example, have been learned through a Copic Colouring class I subscribe to, with the lovely Alyce through www.kitandclowder.com, she is very supportive, extremely talented and has so many different techniques on offer to assist you with your colouring growth.  If you want to join up, her classes are very reasonably priced and you are able to cancel at anytime. Kit and Clowder also have a Facebook group and Instagram.

Thank you so much for visiting today.
Fae xxx

A card for Oma

As promised, here's my second post for this evening...

I made this card for my beautiful Auntie Riet's birthday. She's Dutch - hence the Oma bit and the Dutch sentiment, which means 'Heartfelt congratulations for a Happy Birthday!'

Anyway, I can't post it on Facebook yet as all my Australian relatives will see it, whereas they don't know about my blog so I can post all their cards here and they wouldn't be aware of it.

Oma's birthday is in March, but I will have to post it shortly to ensure that it arrives in beautiful Loveday on time.  I really do hope that she likes it, as I made a card for my Uncle Colin's birthday last year and I think she was a bit disappointed that she didn't receive one too. So I wanted to make an extra special one just for her, as I really do love her so much, she's adorable.  My second mummy.

Here's a close up of the Stamping Bella image I used for the card. Unfortunately, the photo quality was a bit poor and editing the picture didn't do much for it either, but you get the general idea? I hope?

I used my trusty Copic Ciao markers and some gently blended (with Sansodor), Prismacolour pencils.  I love this image, and I hope that it will make her think of me, sitting in the park somewhere, reading and re-reading her letters.

Sadly, the lovely Oma, passed away this year, March 2017. She will be very, very missed. She was such a big part of so many lives.  RIP Riet Marie Alderson, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grand mother and loved Auntie Oma.

Thanks for visiting, as always.
Much love

2016!!!

Hi Bloggers
Okay, so don't faint...  I received a phone call yesterday from an old friend (Hi Claire) who thought she'd get in touch to find out why I hadn't blogged for a while. Maybe she suspected I was dead or something, as it has been a looooooooooong time since we were last in touch, but it was nice to hear I was missed so I thought I'd post something just in case anyone else (who isn't following me on Facebook and Instagram) was wondering the same thing???

So, I know it has been a while since my last post, that was in June 2015.  I went off to Australia to visit my rellies and while I was over there, Michelle (my cousin) announced that she was getting married to her long-time partner Mitch, in November 2015, so I just had to go back again so that I could be one of her bridesmaids.  It was a fantastic event and I was a very lucky girl to get to go over there twice.

Anyway, it is now the beginning of February 2016.  Since November, last year, I have had so much to do, it has been busy, busy, busy - with one thing or another. So I really didn't have much time for blogging. I'd like to show you all the cards I made after my return to England in December, but sadly that would take too long, and quite frankly, if there is anyone out there still following me, to be honest, I wouldn't want to bore you to death. So, for now, I am just going to blog this years' cards.  So here are a few I have made so far this year. Hope you like them, and thank you for your patience.

My good friend, Mike Murphy, has been ordering cards from me for the past 11 years now.  He is a teacher of upper school students, and every year, when term begins, he goes through his register, finds out when everyone's birthdays are, and writes them down for me (as all his students will be turning 18 or 19), he then sends me a copy of the list and I make all of his students and 18th or 19th birthday card.

Generally, they are all 18th birthdays, which is why you'll find there are quite a few in the 18th Birthday tag section.  Here's one I made a couple of weeks ago for his first student on the list.

The Image is from Stamping Bella and all my images are coloured using Copic Ciao markers and sometimes, a little Prismacolour too for added depth.

Another of his orders, was for a young lady, the following day. So I put together this one for her. Mike said she was quite a flamboyant young lady, with a zest for life, so I really liked putting this one together for her.

Another Stamping Bella image (I'm really into Stamping Bella at the moment - got quite a few for Christmas AND I managed to also spend a small fortune on just a few!!! Naughty!!).

Again, coloured with Copic Ciao markers and just used a little Prismacolour pencil, blended with Sansodor for the shading so she didn't look too 'flat' on the plain white background.

Added a few embellishments and a big old '18' on the front and I was really happy with the finished result.

This lovely image by Stamping Bella, happens to be my favourite at the moment. My Beagle, Ruby, bought it for me for Christmas, and I love it. She's just too cute (the image that is, not my dog - although she is rather, if I'm honest!)

Decided to go a bit girlie on this one, and, as you can see, one of the few 19th Birthday cards requested.

Kept it really simple with just a few embellishments and a sentiment, plus of course a '19' in the corner.

This young lady likes the 'old fashioned' way of communicating and Mike says she is always writing letters to overseas PenPals etc, so I thought I would use this image and call it 'Snail Mail'... Cute huh?

I decided to enter THIS card into the Passion for Promarkers Challenge, as this weeks theme is 'Show us your favourites' - well, this little beauty is definitely my favourite stamp at the moment (for the reasons above).  The challenge blog can be found here, if you'd like to enter your own little favourite something.  Good luck!

Anyway, that's all for now, otherwise this is going to be one heck of a long post.  I do have a few more cards to share with you, but I will add those to an additional post.

Hope you like the cards I have shared with you so far, and thank you for taking the time to visit, as always.

Much love