no longer a distress virgin!

Hello bloggers, sorry i havent  posted this week but i really still havent been to good with the heat this week. My M.E is messing about but feel a bit better today so thought i would shout out about what i have done today.
Now i have been very jealous lately, it seems more and more people are colouring and stamping using Tim Holtz distress inks. From what i have seen they are brilliant, so wanted to try them for my self. I have only 5 distress inks of my own these are:
-worn lipstick
-brushed corduroy
-dried marigold
-vintage photo
-broken china
One of my favorite stamp collections(due to elisabeth bell) is whiff of joy, i just love her designs, I came across their whiff of joy inspirations and tutorial blog. I try and go on there every other day to check out their blog posts and fab tutorials.
Well i came across this tutorial and jumped at the chance to have a go at this. I have seen other tutorials but they havent been as detailed as this one plus i was in the mood and had the energy to go to hobby craft to get supplies. I picked up a water colour pad and some brushes.
Now as i only have 5 distress inks i was limited in the colouring area but i had a go and different strengths of the colour. Please remember this is my first go at this, so to be honest it isnt that good.

This picture is with out a flash. As you can see i smudged the far right hoove with my hand(silly me) Also i think i used a bit too much water and that is why some of the colours have run. For the body i used brushed corduroy and i havent shadded it correctly but i was just practicing with different depths of the same colour and i was really impressed.

This is with the flash and shows the colouring depths better. I am pleased with it as like i said it is my first go at this. I am so happy i found the tutorial and want to say a big thank you to Ann who posted the tutorial, i found it so easy to follow. I am now going to add more distress inks to my wish list.
Stamp-whiff of joy, Charlottes Horse
Distress inks- from inkylicious (cheapest i have found in the UK)

I hope you like the post i found and if like me if you have never tried distress inks and want to have a go take a look at the tutorial.
I would love it if you could leave a comment, let me know what you think good/bad or any advice or tips you would like to share with me.

x Laura x

last post today

I love my new magnolia wedding collection 2010 stamps. I wanted to use them with some of my older stamps. This is what i came up with.

Stamps- Magnolia, wedding rose arch, tilda with three flowers.
Sentiment-verve
DP-magnolia, pink starlit
Flowers-wild orchid crafts
Punch-MS, corner punch daisy
Spell binders nestabilities label ten
Colouring-Background(sky and grass) chalks, rest of image, promarkers

 Hope you are all enjoying the UK weather at the moment! x

 x Laura x

New stamp. yipeee!

I have been searching for this stamp for ages. It has been out of stock for a while now, well it is a lovely stamp so there is no surprise there. I finally found a shop in Australia(i am in the UK) that had it in stock and i jumped at the chance of ordering it. It worked out around the same price to get it from Australia as it would to buy it from the UK. Mad isn't it. I was expecting to wait around 10-14days. I ordered it on Thursday and to my amazement it dropped through the door on Tuesday. I am amazed. It took the weekend. I sometimes have to wait longer for supplies to come from within the UK. As soon as i received it i just had to use it. What stamp i here you asking. WELL............

This is a belles n whistles stamp called beary big hugs. I love it, it is just so cute. I coloured this cute image with promarkers. Flowers are from wild orchid crafts. They have a new website now and so much more stuff. Ribbon is wide organza ribbon in white. I coloured the ribbon in with my promarkers to match the jeans in the image.

I added pink stickles to the edge of the flowers to make them sparkle, and blue around the image.
If you have any questions ever, just leave a comment and i will get back to you ASAP.

x Laura x

Where to start?

OK i know i have been a bit slow on the posts this week but i havent been very well. I have ME and have had it for just over 2years now. Due to the lovely hot weather in the UK at the moment i have been very tired, so unable to do much.
Anyway i have managed to make a couple of cards today. So will have alot to show you. I think i may spilt this up into a couple of different posts(dont want to bore you lol!)
This is a card i made for my dad. A bit late i know. But better late than never.

 My dad loves doing BBQ`s so i saw this image and thought it would be great for him. The image is a digital download you can find it here. I wanted to do more of a scene maybe trees in the background but run out of time. Papers are from my stash(they were loose and i dont know where from) I coloured the image with promarkers. Sentiment is from verve. I love their sentiments.



 x Laura x

Happy fathers day.

Hi all, I made a quick card today for my boyfriends dad, he is mad about golf. Every time i see him he is off  playing golf. lol! I did rush this a bit have things to do. You can still see the glue around the pearls. I don't have time to wait for it to dry and disappear. Things to do!

Recipe:
Stamp-penny black golfing hedgehog, Sentiment,verve.
Papers- papermania, regency(brown spotty paper) Basic grey(brown paper at back) stash(stripey)
Ribbon-old stash
Bling/pearls-stash

Challenges:
totally gorjuss- one for the boys
crafts and me- family and friends
charisma cardz- all about bling
the cute and girly- something new(verve stamp) and something old(brown ribbon)

I hope to be back tomorrow with another card.


x Laura x

A girl can dream!!!

I just had to do a quick blog update. I have been busy this week and just havent been able to do much crafting. I received my 2010 wedding collection magnolia stamps yesterday. I ordered 6, i was good. I just had to stamp this up and colour it straight away.

I took a picture with and without a flash, but the pictures just dont do it justice. I loved colouring this in i used chalks for the background and promarkers for the figures. I just love this scene and couple. The reason you ask, well this would be my perfect wedding. On a beach, me and my loved one getting married. And at the rate im going this probably will be the closet i get to it. So i think i will frame it and hang it up some where, maybe the craft room. I have already showed my boyfriend(hint hint) lol! Maybe i should frame it and put it next to my boyfriends side of the bed. Oh well a girl can dream. I was going to make it in a card, but have no one to give it to, so frame it, it is. I will be back soon hopefully with more cards using my new magnolia stamps.


x Laura x

sketch challenge

Just a very, very quick post today. I came across a new challenge blog totally gorjuss. They had a sketch challenge for this week so thought i would join in. They have brilliant challenges so go check them out.

 Recipe:
papers- papermania, mixture of the rose garden and henbury lane.
ribbon-papermania
stamp-magnolia, lady tilda coloured with promarkers
Glitter-stickles glitter glue
Pearls-selection from quixotic paperie


 x Laura x

Longing Tilda!

Hi all, Just a quick post today. I made this card this morning with some challenges in mind. Straight to the card.

I hope from this picture you can see the lace heart punch out glitter. I sprayed it with perfect pearl mist that i mixed together my self, using the powder, water and a mini mister. I do love it, but i find you have to be carful how much you use otherwise your project can get very wet(i had to wait a while for it to dry).  I wanted to add some words to it, i was looking for something like "just thinking about you" "just sitting here thinking of you" something like that. I searched all through my stamps and have released i dont have alot of sentiments. If fact hardly any. I found this "thinking of you" in my sticker draw, but only had it in silver. It was the best i had so used it. You cant see it that well in the picture but its looks OK in real life.

I coloured this using my promarkers, still practicing my shading, its getting better.
Recipe:
papers-Tim Holtz, vintage shabby
stamp-longing tilda, castle window
Punch-MS, heart lace
flowers-selection from wild orchid crafts

Now onto the challenges i am entering this card into:
a spoonfull of sugar-floral delight
crafts and me-distressed
charisma cardz-flowers
cupcake crafts-dazzle
Fingers crossed.

x Laura x

Sir stamp alot.

I am back home now, and back to the craft room i go. I really didnt have a plan when making this card, so i am a little unsure about it. However i found that sir stamp alot have a new monthly blog, they have such good prizes i just had to join in. Junes challenge recipe is "Punch it". Find the challenge HERE.

Stamp- whimsy stamps "wings of hope"
Coloured in using pro markers
Punch- MS lace hearts
Paper- Blueberry hill by papermania

I coloured and cut out 3 stamped images and popped them up to give the card more dimension. This took my all day as i haven`t been feeling that good, I had to do it a little at a time. I think im going to have a early night. Fingers crossed for the challenge.

x Laura x

Magnolia

Hi, just a very quick post. first of all i will be back home tomorrow so hopefully will be able to get back in my craft room and get started. secondly 1 of my favourite craft online shops has just got the Magnolia wedding collection 2010 for pre-order. (due in the middle of June). I cant wait i have already put my order in(i really shouldnt off as i cant really afford it this month) have now restricted my self from buying any more stamps(well for the rest of the month) you can find them at crafts u love. Im so excited. Really looking forward to them arriving, I will start stalking the postman! I hope everyone is well.

x Laura x