Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Welcome to The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge Blog Hop. Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker loves to colour and she is hosting her fifth 30 DAY COLORING CHALLENGE. The premise of the challenge is to colour something everyday even if it’s for just five minutes. It doesn’t matter what you colour or what medium you use. It's such a fun challenge and a brilliant way to make sure that you take a relaxing break for yourself during the day.

Even if you can't get to colour every day you can join in at any time while the challenge is on. You will find that Kathy encourages you along the way to stretch your creativity a little bit more and to feel successful with your colouring. You will learn so much from Kathy and pick up lots of tips and techniques. More details on the challenge can be found in Kathy's blog post here and in Kathy's video here.

I first got to know Kathy through the Hero Arts group on Flickr and from the start she has amazed me with her sheer creativity and fabulous colouring skills. Today Kathy has assembled a blog hop to give your creativity a jump start. Along the hop you'll meet Hero Arts artists, friends and Hostesses.

You should have arrived here from the blog of my very talented friend Linda - can't wait to see what she has coloured and created! A full list of all the blogs on the hop can be found here on Kathy's blog. At the end of the hop you will find a fantastic GIVEAWAY from my favourite company Hero Arts - two shopping sprees of $25.00 each! Winners will be randomly picked from the blog comments of the blog hop - good luck! I have comment moderator switched on so please don't worry if your comment doesn't appear immediately.

Often when I stamp an image for a card I stamp off a few extras for the future in case I need to make a card in a hurry. I have a drawer full of these stamped images ready to go. For when I'm out and about I also keep some stamped images in one container and in another container I have images that I've fully cut out and are ready to colour along with others that have just been coloured. It makes it easy to grab some things when I have the opportunity to cut out or colour. Often when I'm sitting in my car waiting for my kids to come out of school I'll be cutting out and/or colouring. It's amazing how much you can get done when you're just waiting around!

From the time I got Hero Arts Spice Market Large Petal Background I've had great fun colouring it and have used it again and again on cards. Below is a card I posted a while ago which shows what the full image looks like on a kraft base and coloured with pencils.

Stamps - Spice Market Large Petal Background & Type (Hero Arts)

This time I wanted a brighter look so stamped part of the image on a scrap of white card and coloured with Promarkers. After cutting out the piece I adhered it to the top of the card. The sentiment was die cut three times and layered.

Stamp - Spice Market Large Petal Background (Hero Arts)
Dies - Thanks Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts)

Well after making that card it seems like I was bitten by the colouring bug and went on to stamp the image again using up more card scraps.

I went with cool blues and greens for the first card

Stamps - Spice Market Large Petal Background & It's Your Day (Hero Arts)
Die - Pierced Rectange Frames (My Favorite Things)

and then used a mix of warm colours for the second.

Stamps - Spice Market Large Petal Background & It's Your Day (Hero Arts)
Die - Pierced Rectange Frames (My Favorite Things)

I have to say I really enjoyed taking some time to lose myself completely in colouring and would encourage you to do the same and join in on Kathy's The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge if you haven't already done so.

Now it's time to pop over to the next stop on the hop where you'll be visiting the very creative Cheiron. Enjoy the rest of the hop and I'm looking forward to going hopping too!

Scrappy Happy Weekend

Over the weekend I continued with the plan to use up more of my card and fabric scraps to make some more cards. I got a bit carried away and made the following four cards plus blocks to go on future cards.

I forgot to take photos of my scraps before I started and I've completely used up some of the patterned paper scraps but I had a little bundle like this put together at the start of the weekend with fabric, card and even envelopes from bills.

My favourite die from WPlus9's Quilt Cuts 2 set is the star die and I used it and the inlaid die cut technique for all of my cards. For the first two cards I used some rainbow coloured fabric which I had left over from a quilt I made years ago.

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Scalloped Squares (Spellbinders), Tags & Bookplates (Docrafts)
Stamp - Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)

Die - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9)
Stamp - It's Your Day (Hero Arts)

I love greens and blues so I have loads of scraps in these colours left over from other projects. In my stash of plain card scraps I have lots of kraft and white so used a combination of patterned and plain scraps to make the following cards.

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Scalloped Squares (Spellbinders) and Thanks Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts)

Dies - Quilt Cuts 2 (WPlus9), Bundle of Stitched Shapes (Simon Says Stamp) and Tags & Bookplates (Docrafts)
Stamp - Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)

Whenever I can I like to use recycled materials on my cards and now, thanks to the blue and white patterned insides of envelopes which came with bills, I have some blocks lined up for another card. At least there's some upside to bills;)

Card on a Card Scramble

Yesterday in the Hero Arts Flickr Group Jayne hosted a great Scramble with the theme a card on a card. I don't think I've ever made a card on a card before but I think it's something I'll do again and again.

The ninety minutes to make, photograph and upload a card really flies by so I just tried to make a quick and easy card. To create a mini card I folded white cardstock and then die cut a circle (through both layers) at the folded edge but kept the fold just inside the circle die. After die cutting the flower shape out of the front of the mini card, I added a piece of backing card which had been stamped with the woodgrain pattern. I used shabby shutters distress ink spritzed with water. The flower was stamped on patterned paper and layered.

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Butterfly and Flowers Stamp & Cut set, It's Your Day and Woodgrain Background

To finish the flower I added clear Wink of Stella and a button. After adding the flower to the mini card I used foam dots to adhere the mini card to a kraft die cut scallop circle.

I'm submitting this card into Hero Arts Tic Tac Toe Challenge using the circles, background stamp and watercolour.

Making Roses out of the Messy Bits

Recently I bought a beautiful set of Spellbinders dies called Tudor Rose and used a couple of the dies on a card, gift bag and set of cards for a friend's upcoming birthday.

I have lots of what you could charitably call experimental pieces but in reality they are messed up inked or painted backgrounds that didn't work out and could never use in solid pieces!

Anyway over the years I've found that these kind of yucky panels can look okay if used in smaller amounts rather than in big solid pieces. Because of this I never dump my inking disasters as they'll always get used up in some way.

For the flowers I used the die cut inlay technique which I always enjoy. This is the card I made for my friend

Die - Tudor Rose (Spellbinders)
Stamps (Hero Arts) - It's Your Day & Be Happy

and this is the matching gift bag.

Dies - Tudor Rose (Spellbinders) & Goodie Bag (Lawn Fawn)
Embossing Folder - Textile Texture (Cuttlebug)

Since I was enjoying making the flowers and clearing out some of my messy pieces, I continued making flowers and put together a little set of cards to include with my friend's birthday pressie.

Die - Tudor Rose (Spellbinders)
Stamp - Making the World a Better Place (Hero Arts)

Die - Tudor Rose (Spellbinders)
Stamp - It's Your Day (Hero Arts)

Die - Tudor Rose (Spellbinders)
Stamp - Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)
Embossing Folder - Butterfly Corner (Darice)

Die - Tudor Rose (Spellbinders)
Stamp - Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)
Embossing Folder - Butterfly Corner (Darice)

It's hard to see in the photos above, but each flower is layered in the centre and I've applied Wink of Stella (love that stuff!) on the flowers for some lovely shimmer.

I'm submitting these cards and gift bag into Simon Says Stamp Friends or Superhero Challenge.

Birthday Brunch

I needed to give my hands a break from all the snipping that's involved in finishing a raggy quilt so thought I make a card for an upcoming birthday.

To start with I mixed a white and a red watercolour paint to make various shades of pink. After applying paint to a panel of watercolour card, that had been moistened with water, I added some splashes in the stronger pinks. Once the panel was dry I added the "happy" die cut sentiment that was made up of three layers and the gold embossed sentiment panel.



Stamps & die (Hero Arts) - Happy Stamp & Cut and It's Your Day

Then to finish I added a sprinkling of sequins and gems in various shades of pink. I don't eat much ice cream but every time I look at this card it reminds me of one ice cream that I do like, a brunch, and now I'd fancy having one! Because of the splashes of paint and the sparkle of the sequins and gems I thought the card would fit into the showers part of Simon Says Stamp's April Showers and\or Spring Flowers Challenge.

Flower Gift Bag

This morning I wanted to make a gift bag to hold a small pressie and gift card for my sister so gathered together some patterned paper scraps and supplies to make it.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut and It's Your Day
Dies - Goodie Bag (Lawn Fawn) & Curvy Leaves (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

After die cutting the two pieces for the goodie bag, I stamped the sentiment on the bag front with Hero Arts Butter Bar Ink and added some stitching. Once the bag was assembled I added the embossed flower and die cut leaves.



A button was added to the flower centre and I applied clear Wink of Stella to the flower and leaves - unfortunately it's a dreary, grey day here today so I wasn't able to capture the lovely shimmer on the flowers and leaves.

I'm submitting this gift bag into Hero Arts Nature Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Add a Little Texture Challenge.

Just a little reminder in relation to the Hero Arts Hostess Hop - you have until 11:59pm PST tonight to comment for a chance to a prize pack of Hero Arts goodies. Day 1 of the Hop starts here. Good luck!!

Butterfly Birthdays

This morning I still had a Hero Arts Butterfly die on the table and couldn't resist making another butterfly card using this die. I love the dramatic colour combination on monarch butterflies so went with these colours on this card.

Die (Hero Arts) - Butterfly
Stamp (Hero Arts) - It's Your Day

I started by die cutting the butterfly in black. Then I applied distress inks (dried marigold, spiced marmalade and barn door) to white card and die cut the wing pieces from this and scraps of white card. After the pieces were inlaid into the black butterfly I placed it on an embossed panel and added some enamel dots and the sentiment.

Last night I also made a butterfly card using the same die for a fun scramble Judy hosted over at the Hero Arts Flickr Group. Judy's theme was to make a card using pastels but also to add touches of black. Whenever I've made pastel coloured cards in the past I've always stuck with white or pale colours, so it was great to try out Judy's theme and see all the wonderful creations everyone came up with. Now I'll definitely put black with pastels more often. You'll find all the cards here.

Die (Hero Arts) - Butterfly
Stamps (Hero Arts) - Solid Dots Pattern & It's Your Day

To start with I embossed the sentiment on the background and then embossed the dots with a stamp that Marilyn had sent me (thanks again, Marilyn:)) I used stardust embossing powder which has given a lovely sparkle to the card but is impossible to photograph!

As we were restricted to 90 minutes last night (and I'm a very slow cardmaker!) I just added pastel pieces to the main body of the butterfly and left out the small dots all around the edges of the butterfly. Also in my haste I managed to poke holes in a couple of pastel body pieces but sure a scramble wouldn't be a scramble for me without those kind of mishaps! For my touches of black I added some enamel dots and a black mat.

I'm submitting these cards into Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge. Hope you are having a lovely and inky weekend. I'm hoping to get inky again later with some fun images my son Mark drew for me. I asked him to draw some quirky images for me to put on cards and now I can't wait to play with them!

Quilt Block Card Set

I wanted to make a set of cards to include with my Mum's birthday present so pulled out one of the dies from WPlus9's Quilt Cuts 2 set.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamps (Hero Arts) - Dolls, Everyday Sayings and It's Your Day, Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

Having dabbled in quilting in the past, I just LOVE this set and am looking forward to making lots more blocks in the future, using fabrics as well as paper. It will be a perfect way of using up some of my mountain of scraps.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts) - Dolls & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

Anyway I still had Studio Calico's Snippets paper out on my desk from making this card the other day so decided to use the same papers again.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts)- Everyday Sayings & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

After die cutting and putting together the quilt blocks I added little heart gems to the centres. Then using Nestabilities, I die cut scallop squares to use as a border around the blocks. The sentiments were stamped using Hero Arts Cup O' Joe shadow ink.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts)- Everyday Sayings & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

I'm submitting this card set into Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts) - It's Your Day & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

The birthday girl should be here any minute so I'm off to get the cake ready!

Birthday Border Made From Snowflakes

I recently bought the very pretty Kate snowflake die from Simon Says Stamp (thanks again, Linda, for bringing over my order :) ) but didn't want to wait until I was making Christmas cards to use it.



Die (Simon Says Stamp) - Kate Snowflake
Stamp set (Hero Arts) - It's Your Day

I also wanted to try the inlaid die cut technique I've seen a lot recently. As I have accumulated so many small scraps over the years, I thought it would be a good opportunity to use up some of these too. I didn't cut out a full snowflake each time (or I'd have ended up with loads more scraps to add to my pile!), I just put small pieces of card on the centre of the die before running it through my Big Shot.



As you can see I just used three colours when I was die cutting and inlaid a mix of blue and green card on the centre line.



I had also intended doing the same on the two other lines but changed the plan as I went along as I think I'd be still here next week messing with the fiddly little pieces! To finish I added the Hero Arts sentiment and some star gems.

I'm submitting this card into Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

This morning I received some happy mail from my good friend Linda (thanks again, Linda:) ) and immediately put to use one of the window die cuts she had sent me. I just had to make another card with the funny looking moose from the Missing You set. As he has a slightly mischievous look about him, the moose brought to mind one of my sons' favourite books when they were younger - If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Well I must have read that book to them hundreds of times and can remember all the giggles that ensued because of that rascal of a moose!


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Missing You, It's Your Day, What's Cooking and Clouds Background

Originally I thought I'd have the moose peeking in the window at a muffin, but then I decided to bring him inside close to the muffin. Actually come to think of it I wouldn't mind being that close to a muffin myself right now:) So I started by masking off most of the card, leaving a small rectangular aperture to stamp the clouds. I applied a mix of blue distress inks (broken china, tumbled glass and faded jeans) to the stamp and spritzed liberally with water before stamping. On top of that went the die cut window followed by the moose and muffin which had been coloured with ProMakers. I added some Glossy Accents to the moose's eyes and went a bit dotty adding white gel pen to the moose's body - hope he's just blending in with the muffin rather then allergic to it;) After that the sentiment was stamped with tea dye distress ink.

I'm not exactly sure if this constitutes a CAS card, but it's a CAS card for me compared to my other cards, so I'm submitting it into Simon Says Stamp Clean and Simple Challenge and A Blog Named Hero Layer Cake Challenge.

We had another beautiful sunny day today with temperatures reaching 20C/68F earlier on. The garden doesn't know what's happening to it with all this early summer like weather. The bluebells are completely out

and the first bloom on the camellia has fully opened.

I just love the splashes of colour that are appearing around the garden. Hope it's sunny in your part of the world:)

Lil Hoot Birthdays

If you've visited here before you may have noticed that I'm mad about the cute little critters from Hero Arts Lil Hoot set. I don't think they've spent a lot of time in their package since they popped through the letterbox!

Anyway today I pulled out the owls and bears again to make a couple of birthday cards. On the first card I started by cutting a window in a panel of Core'dinations card, embossed it and did a bit of sanding. For the sky I applied distress inks (tumbled glass and faded jeans) onto white card and spritzed with water.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Lil Hoot, Christmas Reindeer & Be Happy

The bears were coloured with ProMarkers and layered for some dimension. After stamping and cutting out the grass I coloured it with ProMarkers and mowed lawn distress ink.

Next up are the owls. Again I die cut, embossed and sanded a panel of Core'dinations card. For the sky I applied distress inks (tumbled glass and faded jeans) to the clouds background, spritzed with water and stamped on white card.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Lil Hoot, Clouds Background & It's Your Day

The owls were coloured with ProMarkers and to finish I added glossy accents to the eyes.

I'm submitting the cards into Hero Arts' Birthday Challenge (kids catagory).

Scramble Rainbows

I always enjoy the 90 minute Scrambles over at the Hero Arts Flickr Group and on Saturday had fun hosting one. The theme I went for was making any project using mainly neutral colours with dashes of at least three other colours. Over here you'll see all the amazing cards everyone came up during the scramble.

I made a couple of sample cards using the theme and time limit. For the first one I embossed the owls and thought bubble and cut out a window in the bubble.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Lil Hoot & Write Your Message

Then I embossed the sentiment on a piece of white card, applied distress inks (barn door, spiced marmalade, mustard seed, mowed lawn and broken china) and placed it behind the speech bubble. If I had more time I probably would have added machine stitching but because I was in a hurry just added faux stitching with a white pen. To finish I added googly eyes - I have to start using up the collection I've accumulated over time!

I have lots of little scraps of white card left over from other projects so I decided to use some of these on my second card.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Tiny Star Background & It's Your Day

I applied distress inks (barn door, spiced marmalade, mustard seed, mowed lawn, broken china and milled lavender) to some of these scraps and stamped the star background on them using the same inks. These pieces were placed behind circular windows I had die cut in a panel of card. Then I just stamped the sentiment and added die cut frames around the windows.

I'm submitting the second card into the rainbow of colour section of Hero Arts birthday challenge.