Monday 19 August 2013

Double Bubble Bingo Challenge!

Good Morning Bloggers!
Me again, and this week we have a Double Challenge over at Through the Purple Haze......  so Two Sponsors, and Two prizes up for grabs..... and it is luvverly and easy, cos they are both along the same lines.. so lots of scope for playtime!

The Sponsors are.... Crafts and Me and Lacy Sunshine, both have some stunning digis.... and the challenge is Bingo themed!  Trust me though .. it is easy peasy! :-)

All the details are over at the Through the Purple Haze blog (link at the top of the page)  but we were all given a bingo card to play with and we had to pick a line, in any direction, and ONLY use those items!  Talk about less being more... this was a bit of a challenge for me I can tell you!

So.. here is the Bingo Card......
Now.. I am on Team B (yayyy go the Bee's!!!)  and we got to play with an image from Crafts and Me......   My image is by the very talented Hannah Lynn....  Now I have to confess, I hadn't heard of them before, but OH WOW!!!!  I sorta wish I wasn't on the DT so I could play along and try to win this week... the images are DIVINE!!!!  My Crystal Ball tells me I might be spending a few pennies in their shop!!!  The quality of the digi stamps is amazing!

So.. I took my image, and I selected my Bingo Line..... Ribbon, Three Papers and Pearls.....  I printed her at almost A4 size onto some Pastel Printing Paper I found during a clear out, and I painted her with my scrummy watercolours... and I have to say I was thrilled with how the painting went... the pastel paper is divine to paint onto.. will have to google and find out where I can get some more from.. I think I have a new addiction......

Enough waffle...... here is my entry.......



Isn't she sassy!!!!  I adore her attitude!


I had so much fun making this..... got glue everywhere mind you trying to stick the mulberry paper down!!! ..... I am rather pleased with how she turned out.....

OK... over to you... Now as this is a double challenge..... you have no excuse for not joining in.....  jump over to TTPH blog, read all the rules, and get playing......  oh... and there is a little bit of an inter team challenge going on this week.. just for fun... so please remember to vote for your favourite DT sample!!!!
Yayyyyyyy

Have a luvverly crafty week..... see you soon! Hope you like my DT entry this week, and it would be great if you left me a message!!!

:-) xxxx


Update... I have entered this into the following challenges.....

Anything But A Card..... Fairy Fantasy

Lacy Sunshine ... Girls Girls Girls

Robyns Fetish .... Put a Frame Around It


And don't forget to go and vote on The THPH blog.. not that I am competitive.... Much! :-) x




Monday 12 August 2013

Floppy Latte..... butterflies and other garden lovelies

Good Morning!
First off.. Huge Apologies to all the Through the Purple Haze Blog entries for last week... Stunning stunning work, but Mr Blogger has been hating me, and I have been unable to comment or do very much at all really... including pre schedule this post... I just hope you can all read it! :-)
Grrr to technology.. love it when it works.......

So this week....  The wonderful sponsor is Floppy Latte.....  what an a amazing site.... stunning digi's, you have to go look if they are new to you!

Keeping it short (so as not to upset Me Blogger too much) so here is my DT piece for this week!  I hope you like it...... Not done parchment for a while, and it felt good to drag all the tools out and play.   I worked on Black, which is one of my favourite techniques, and of course I used pencils!  Derwent Coloursoft.. in my opinion the best pencil for parchment as it blends without accidentally embossing as you go!

Right.. off you trot.. link at the top of the page..... Hope you all play along!
Hugs all


Monday 29 July 2013

Simply Beautiful Images!

Good Morning... Welcome to another week of Through the Purple Haze Blog Challenges..... This week is the week of Team B.. so that is me! :-)

Our Wonderful and Fabulous sponsor this week, is the Wonderful and Fabulous Simply Betty Stamps.....  and Oh Wow.. her website is amazing... so much to look at and want!!

Well.. we were all very lucky, and allowed to choose an image to work with this week, after much ooohing and ooooooohing, I finally chose one..... I totally fell in love with her, the beautiful Witchy Wednesday,  I think she is beyond cute!

Now.... what to do with her? The theme for the week was Favourite Colours..... that was easy.. Purples and Greens..... Making something spectacular.. Hmmmm... thinking cap time to do the image and the team proud!!!

So, two projects from me..... First a mini canvas....  Inky sprayed background....few flourish stamps, computer generated wording and the digi image.. and even a touch of glitter!!!  Rather pleased with her I have to say!


 For my second project.. I had an idea... and dug out the slide mailers I have had for ages, cos I neeeeeded them, but was never sure what to do with them!  You know the ones.. the solid cardboard little book things, that when you open them, you can put four microscope slides in them for safety.  Saw a project ages ago with them, and had to have some.. and they have been sat on the shelf ever since.... till now!  I am thrilled with this one.........  Again, same ingredients as before, inky stuff, flourishes, computer generated text and the beautiful Witchy Wednesday...... plus some gloopy ink and ..well, the ingredients in the book :-)




Even if I say so myself... How Cute Is That!!!!!

So.. that is me done..... now hop yourself over to Through The Purple Haze to join in this week..... not only can you win some Simply Betty Digi's, if you play along every week.. you go in the draw for the Christmas Bumper Goody Box!

Have fun... and see you over there!   Toodles! :-) xxx


A little addition...... I have just entered this for the challenge over at  My Heart Pieces Digital Stamp Challenge..... this week it is Favourite  Fruit Colour... so Purple and Green.... well.. I love plums and apples.... so Yayyyyyyyyy!!! :-) x

Saturday 20 July 2013

I Drew Pretty!

And I am thrilled!!!!

I may have mentioned.. I am doing the wonderful Book of Days with Effy, and I confess to being woefully behind already.. we are only three weeks in... whoops!  So this morning.. I was up early, and I played!  And for a rare change...everything went according to plan..... Happy Day!!!!

The combination of Effys videos, and the workshop I took recently with Kat McBride..( Kat Can Paint ) .... resulted in a moment of sheer magic on my desk.......

And here it is!....... Using scrapbook papers, and my trusty Coloursoft pencils!




You have no idea how thrilled and bouncy bouncy chuffed I am!   Off to add her to this weeks Piece A Week.....  Yayyyyyyy!
hugs xxxxxx

Monday 15 July 2013

New Day, New Challenge, New Blog!!!!

Gooooood Morning!   What a wonderful and exciting day this is!  A Brand New Challenge Blog!!! And I am Thrilled to be part of it.... Thrilled and Honoured...... I really am! An enormous Thank You to the Luvverly Anita who has been running about like a 20 legged, 7 headed mad thing getting this all sorted out........

It is all starting today, over at Through The Purple Haze ... go check it out ... we have some of the most AMAZING sponsors lined up and some fabulous challenges..... AND.... if you enter.. every week from now until we break for Christmas... there is the biggest lushest goodie bag you have ever seen....  Melt pot included (I wish my entries counted!!!!)

So, without further ado.....  here are my very first sample cards for the Challenge, which this week is sponsored by, the one and only, totally fantabulous...... INDIGO BLU!!!!!  Told you we had fabulous sponsors!!!  All the deets you need are on the TtPH blog..... so go join in the fun!
(don't worry if you don't have Indigo Blu stamps.. you can still join in..... we are running a double challenge this week to start us off.. the other challenge is Anything Goes... and it is sponsored by..... Joanna Sheen!!!  Get us!!! )

The set of gorgeous stamps we had to work with was Live, Laugh, Love set... totally beautiful..... and the moment I saw them... they screamed Shrink Plastic at me......  so this is what I made.....

Yup.. the little wooden birdhouse I showed you last week..... and it is little, about 2 1/2 inches high... sooooo adorable!  I painted it with some spray inks, trying to give it a slightly weathered look, then stamped and coloured the bird, leaves and one of the flower stamps.....then shrunk them down. I had soooooo much fun, and I am thrilled with the result!
I also made a large tag...... cos the stamps were so yummy.. I kept playing!
This was stamped first with Versacolour clear, them sprayed with inks.......  The sentiment was stamped and die cut out with a separate cut for the border, and the flower was layered up.... again... so much fun to make.....  These stamps are amazing!





I also made another sample.... and I have to be honest.. it is because I read the rules too quickly... jumped in and started creating.... THEN I saw it had to be the Live, Laugh, Love set! Whoops!  But hey.. had a blast, so happy accident!   This is using Grand Tour III.  Now this stamp set really got me happy dancing... totally up my street... I hope you like it as much as I do!






Right..... that is it from me..... Now Jump over to the challenge... and join in...... Oh, and let me know what you think!!!!

Tooodles!!!! xxxxxx

Debs... Proud DT member of.....

Through the Purple Haze Challenge Blog






Friday 12 July 2013

MEGA EXCITEMENT!!!!!

Hello!   Sorry I haven't blogged lately.... been mad busy in the background sorting stuff out!

Sorting what?  Well! As you asked! :-)

New Blog on the Block......  and a fantabulous one.. you have to check it out.....  Challenge Prize Blog.... with some totally amazing sponsors, including Simply Betty Stamps, Kenny K, FeeJ, Eye Art Candy, Indigo Blu, Derwent, Penny Black, Rick St Dennis and many many more.......  go check it out....  Through the Purple Haze ......  But... before you go......  check out this too for a totally amazing prize giveaway!


Just look at all those goodies.. including a melt pot.... I neeeeeeeeeeeed one of them!! How do you get your hands on all of that?  Simples....  pop over to Through The Purple Haze, and join in every week from MONDAY.. (Yes it all starts Monday) until we break for Christmas..... and you are in a with a change of winning the lot!

I hope you come and join us... we have a huge amount of talent in the DT..... some totally stunning samples have been created, so there will be masses of inspiration for you all... I am so thrilled to be part of it... and to be part of it right from the very beginning..... I think this is going to be fantastic!

So check it out... here is the link .......  Through The Purple Haze  Grab a coffee of something, and go see, follow the links too so can can see the DT blogs.. some amazing stuff going on.

Meanwhile.. a couple of piccies to leave you with.....  Been busy with The Book of Days, and thrilled with the Journal I made.........



It is called a Dos-a-Dos, meaning Back to Back... It is not finished.. I am still playing with the cover and making it all splendid (the writing is only blocked in, needs colour!).........had so much fun making it.. I am going to buy a roll of canvas and make one with five folios instead of just two!

And... pop back Monday... when TTPH launches and see what is going on...... and .. see what I made with this!!!



Have a fabulous weekend.....  I am off to finish my last DT sample.. and then we go Live!

See you Monday!   Toodles! xxx

Friday 28 June 2013

Education, Inspiration and just a little bit of hero worship!

Morning Bloggers.....

Education, Inspiration and just a little bit of hero worship! What a title.. and they all relate to the same lovely person!

I am a facebook friend with a totally wonderful and unbelievably talented generous fabulous lady, whose work I admire greatly, and a few weeks ago.. I was able to book my seat on my first proper course with her. How excited was I!!! I have sat in on many of her free workshops, and watched oooodles of her Videos on YouTube.. but this was my first grown up paid course.....

AND IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!! (and it was not very many pennies either!!)

It was called Sweetlings.... and we drew... Sweetlings! LOL Adorable little girlie figures, with wonderful backgrounds, and we blended... Yes.. the White Pencil technique.. this was how I (in my opinion) perfected it!!... and I had the BESTEST time!!!!

These are my offerings..... the first one I did "in class" the second I have just finished, and I am starting a third.... I want to try an angled head Sweetling!




How totally adorable are they!!!! Ok, they may not be everyones definition of "art", but heck.. who cares... to me they are heartwarming bundles of luvverlyness.. and I am THRILLED!!!!! I am so so pleased with the blending of the faces.. using just a couple of pencils... I was over the moon when I sussed it... totally hyper bouncy!

So..... following on from that.... I got an email.... from the Wonderful and Talented and Oh-So Luvverly (drum roll.........) Effy Wild... and there is a NEW course starting... SOON..... and because she is so wonderful (it is OK.. she knows about the Hero Worship thing.. and I have asked her to adopt me!!!) anyway.. yes.. because she is so wonderful.... she is giving away THREE seats FREE!!!!!!

To win.. you have to go and watch the video, follow the rules and pass on the wonderfulness......

Now I want to win a seat so bad... I want to be on the class so bad.. I can feel it.... taste it.... Oooooo I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed it!!!! So I am tempted just to tell you about it and then say goodbye.... :-) but the rules say I have to share ... so I am.....

Go check it out...... you will see exactly why todays blog title is as it is....... Have fun.. enjoy and good luck....... But hurry.. you only have till Sunday to enter......

I am off to get Inky messy painty.. and maybe make another Sweetling to fall in love with! xxxx

Tooodles! xxxxx

Book of Days Giveaway!

Thursday 20 June 2013

In the words of

my absolute favourite Strictly Judge!

Absolute Dis-arster Dahling!

Hello Bloggers! Well... what can I say... talk about getting it wrong..... I am running out of ways to co...sc... errm, Mess this up! :-)

But... thought I would blog it anyway.. as there was an incident I feel I need to share, just so you don't do the same!!

So.. using my personal tried and trusted method.. off we go....

OK.. take one canvas...... using pencil, lightly sketch the image you want on the canvas...... when you are happy... rub most of it out, so the lines are very feint... and Gesso over the whole thing to provide a tooth for your beloved pencils! Once the gesso is dry.... using a Posca pen, draw in all the details you want to keep......



Then.. when all of that is dry, start colouring...... I was using Inktense pencils (of course!!) and my water brush.... did a few leaves.. and all was fine.... started on her face..... and the calamity struck!

For some reason, best known only to itself... the Posca decided NOT to be waterproof!!!! My pretty little pink faced fairy, slowly turned into a flesh eating grey hued Zombie Queen before my eyes! LOL Serious... all the ink was running with the sweep of the water brush, and she looked hideous! I have no idea why! Maybe the Posca didn't like the gesso today.... maybe, oh I don't know.... maybe I didn't pick up the Posca, but another black pen that wasn't waterptoof... who knows! Anyways... it was ruined! So I gessoed over the whole thing (once I had stopped crying that it) and what a luvverly muddy mess that made!!!!!



All that sludgy grey... is the ink running... WHY?!?!?!?

Oh well.. no matter... it is only a canvas, and I had only just started..... I can still see the lines under the gesso, so we carry on! This time, I will colour first and outline after!!!

Well... couldn't get a decent shade for her skin on the grey... wanted her to be all pastel and floaty.. to get the colour on, she looked a bit like a circus clown! LOL So.... draw up another fairy (which incidentally is the body of a Sherri Baldy digi stamp, and my own drawing for the face) and stick it down.... Betters!!!!! Have to be careful the amount of water etc used, as the paper does bubble a bit.. but hey.. we are getting there!

Took it to Art Club last night to carry on..... Started to build up the colours, but waaayyyy too muted at the moment.... so will carry on.... so far only using pencil... but the Twinkling H2O's are ready and waiting to go on to give it some pazzazz when I have enough of a back ground to make the colours POP!

So... here she is so far...... will update you next week... and be warned... Posca may not always be waterproof!!!!

Toodles! xxxxx

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Positively Passionate about Pencils!

Good Morning.... for those of you still following me (lol) Loooong post this morning.. sorry... so best grab a coffee now!!

OK.. Pencils! Love them.. addicted to them... adore them.... but why? Is it just that I have slight OCD about them and collect them.. or are they actually as fabulous as I think they are? I was chatting to some friends last week about pencils, and I got to thinking..... I have loads, I mean loads, literally hundreds of them, all Derwents, but all different... I don't just mean different colours, I mean different types.... WHY? Do I need them all? Do I need more? (well, yes, obviously.... but do I need or just want?) What does each pencil do that the others don't, what can each pencil do? Am I just rambling on trying to justify my passion for them.... Hmmmmm


"Some of my babies!"

So.. over the weekend.. I had a little play and experiment, and I have to say, the results blew me away! I am No Artist.. so please.. no comments re technical ability!! But as a Very Enthusiastic Amateur... I had a blast! I stamped up one of my favourite image stamps onto decent quality smooth white card.. lots of times, then I played! I used the same colours from each pencil type for each image, so I could see the difference within the techniques used. There is every chance that you all know everything I found out, but hey.. some of it was new to me, and I was so excited by it all, there may be something you didn't realize!

Are you sitting comfortably? Well, I will begin! (note.. these are all DERWENT pencils... I buy no other brand!!)

COLOURSOFT.

I love my coloursofts... beautiful pencils... use them lots! They are particularity fabulous for Parchment as they have such a soft creamy core which you can apply with pressure to the sheet of parchment without accidentally embossing the paper as harder pencils will do sometimes. Coloursoft blend beautifully (especially with a blending oil on parchment), and they are just a dream to use. Not a huge amount more I can say.. could rave about them for hours, but that would get boring for you! :-) I started the weekend with these pencils, becasue I know, love and trust them.... was a gentle ease into the experiment, but I did discover a couple of things!




OK.. totally self explanatory, but! First picture.. no extra blending at all, just coloured with the pencils, blending as I added the next colour.. nothing fancy... lovely colours, lovely finish.. Happy! The middle picture, I blended using a stump.... Can you see the wax bloom on her arms and face? They blended easily, but the wax bloom appeared..... Hmmm! The third image, I used a white pencil to blend (this technique I knew, but I perfected last week doing an online course with the FABULOUS Effy Wild... thrilled with the results!) This has to be my preferred blending method... no contest! The colours blended beautifully, and no wax bloom....You can really create some depth and shadow using this method, and I love it! Press fairly hard, as the pressure you apply helps to soften the wax and move the colours around..... Yayyyyy! Perfect!!! But then, I thought.. I wonder.......



And Yes... although not as easy to manipulate, and you need to be patient, and GENTLE... and although they are not water-soluble as such..... you CAN blend coloursoft with a wet brush!!! Oh WOW! OK.. it is not blending as such, but the rich pigmentation of the pencils means the wet brush picks up the top layer of colour and moves it... Great fun.. This was a New Discovery!!! It works better on the richer colours, the reds and blues as you can see by the little scribbles at the side.... this was not done as neatly as it could have been (apologies) it was only an "I wonder" moment but I was chuffed with the results, so included it!


INKTENSE

My second pencil to play with, is my second favourite! Love Inktense... Love the vibrancy, the Wow factor, and the surprise factor. They are stunning pencils dry and blended, but add water... An eye-popping rainbow of lushness appears! Which can sometimes be a bit of a shock, because as you are using them dry, your eye sees the colour in front of you, and your mind forgets how much some of the colours explode when wet! Love these pencils so much!



OK.. first image.. dry, and blended... one side stump, the other white pencil... Both had some wax bloom build up...but again I found the blending easier with the white pencil, although it did mute the colours a little bit. The middle image, I applied the pencils dry, and went over with a water brush.... I love this technique... the colour is easy to push around, and if you apply a bit more water, you can shade areas right down just leaving a hint of colour. The smoothness of the result does however depend on the consistency of the dry application..... and be careful, becasue some papers won't take the amount of water required to smooth it all out. The third image, I used the water brush, and took the pigment straight from the nib of the pencil.... This is a difficult technique for me, because I am not a painter, but I am pleased with the results.... the colours are lovely, and they blended so easily.. I might do more of this!
My only complaint about the Inktense, is there is no suitable skintones in the range (well not in the ones I have, and I have most of them!) so a bit of fiddling and manipulation is required, but I think I got an OK tone to her, especially wet.

ACADEMY WATERCOLOURS

I don't use my watercolour pencils very much I have to confess.... why.. ermm.. dunno! I think it is because the colours are more muted... I am the same with paints, prefer acrylics and the vibrancy of the colours, but that is just my love for the dramatic .... anyhow.. I gave them a go, and I was very interested by the results.



Well.. for starters... watercolours don't dry blend! Well, not with a paper stump anyway... I tried and tried, but nope, they were not having it! Quite pleased with the coloured image still.. but no.. not blendable! So second image, dry applied, and wet brush over... Blend fabulously, easy to move the pigment around, but be careful, too much water and you lose the colour! Third image was using a wet brush to take the pigment from the nib again.. (and out of my comfort zone again!) but for a non painter, I am pleased with the results.. the colours are a tad richer and I have to say I loved the ease with which they blended as you worked.... I think I will be using these pencils more often now! Still think they are a bit muted.. but that is only my personal preference for drama!

(are you still with me? Told you it was a long post!!!)

GRAPHITINTS

(these are not mine.. I have borrowed them from my mum, and I am sad already that I have to return them.... they are next on my Have To Purchase List!!!!) Well.. if we are going to talk WOW factor, and the surprise element in pencils.. these are the ones to have! It is mind blowing (to pencil freaks anyway! LOL) the difference in the colours wet and dry... Love them! Just look at this.. I promise you.. it IS the same colour on each image!!



How Fantastic is that!!!! Like Magic! OK.. dry.. very dark, but the colours do blend within themselves very well, wonderfully creamy core again, and they are beautifully smooth to apply. When you add water though.. Oh My! All these lush and vibrant colours just explode from the page.... I love it!!! One thing I did note, the pigmentation is incredible.. so less may be more when water blending them, but I am stunned by the colours... I love her hair!!! For skin tones, some playing around may be needed as all the colours in the set are fairly dark.... I used the lightest colours there were and she looks fine, and has a very healthy tan! Another down side (to the non perfect artist such as me!) is they are fairly unforgiving... once you have put the colour down, especially wet.. it is there! For ever! Oh well.. I will just have to be a bit more careful then! They are fabulous for large areas though... beautiful sweeps of colour, and a lovely moment of Oh Wow when you swipe across with the wet brush! Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed these pencils in my life though!

AQUATONES

The pure pigment ones.. no wooden barrel.... very soft and creamy to apply, not so good at small delicate areas (well, not for me anyway) but lovely to use. They Blend beautifully wet and dry, I only have a few of these, but I managed to get great results from the ones I had. The wet side of the image was applied dry, and then water brushed over. Again, these are fabulous for large areas as it is so easy to move the colour about.



Only a few more now promise!!!

ARTIST

Hmmm.. Now this was a discovery!! Artist were the first Derwent pencil set I owned... must be three years ago now... Hubby got me the full wooden box set for my birthday all 120 colours in the range.. Stunning set.. so stunning in fact, the box was put aside for admiration and stroking purposes only, and I have never used the pencils!!! How bad is that! Well.. I have used them now.... and I can honestly say WOW!!!! Apparently, the Artist range was the first coloured pencil produced by Derwent, back in the 1930's, and they must be doing something right if it is still so popular today!



These pencils are STUNNING to use! Easy and dreamy to use, harder than the coloursoft, but just as beautifully beautiful to blend with. Using just the colours, they blend fabulously, the colours merge together so well, and being so many of them.. it is so easy to create a whole variety of highlights and shadows. Amazingly, blending with a white pencil is even dreamier to do! I was amazed by the ease of use from these pencils.... Blissful to play with! Totally blissful... I am thinking I might have a new nearly almost favourite here! I am totally in love! Cannot fault this range at all.. 120 stunning colours and magical to use!

Last lot.. promise! :-)

OTHERS

Four more piccies, bundled all together cos you have been sitting here ages!! These are my others.... pencils I have a few of, and don't use that often... till now! Couple of real WOW moments for me!



OK.. working our way along... PASTELS ...I don't like pastels! There I said it! Love the effect and other peoples work with them.. but I don't like them! I only have them cos a shop was doing a special deal and they were in the pencil wraps which I wanted.. so bought them.. couple of years ago.. occasionally get them out and look at them.. but No.. dont like them..... or do I?!?!?! What I didn't know, Pastel is naturally water soluble! Is it? Hmmmmm. So I coloured my girlie in, one side I stump blended, while chuntering all the while about the amount of mess these pencils create.... yeah, not bad blended.. you lose some of the chalky yukky mess, so happier with that, but you also lose some of the colour too....the other side I applied my trusty water brush and OH WOW!!!!! You can water them.. and they are DIVINE!!!!! The colours are stunning, they don't go all insipid wishy washy outy on you, they are vibrant and gorgeous, and I only have a few pastels, and I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed to go shopping and buy more! Like NOW!!!! Oh my.. I was beyond thrilled with this I can tell you! Bouncing!!!!

METALLICS... I bought this set at the NEC, use occasionally for highlights, but not really played... Didn't know they were water soluble either... Oh LUSH!!!! One side I coloured the girlie black first as it says on the tin best on dark background! Not my best move... I would go for dark paper if I was you, the black pencil isn't brilliant to work from and they are not the best blenders in the world. The other side of the girlie I left white, the metallics are nice on there, but wet opens them right up.. I think these will now be used lots with the inktense as the vibrancy is perfect for that range, with added "twinkle" :-)

ARTBARS... another NEC buy, last year.. spent ages at the Derwent stand watching these being played with... only got a small tin, but might neeeeeeeeeeeeed more! OK.. they are messy, as in they are sooo creamy, unless you are very careful, your hand sweeps the colour all over the show.... plus the chunkiness of the bars makes small areas difficult to colour, but that really isn't too much of a problem, cos when you apply the water brush, the pigment is sooooooo intense. you can paint it for miles and not dilute the richness.. I adore these!!! By increasing the amount of water used, this obviously reduces the intensity of the colours, so shading (even with only a handful of basic colours to start from) is easy.... I love these... Crayons for Growed Ups!!!

Finally COLOURED CHARCOAL.. another I don't like these! Yet another NEC purchase, cos I loved the demo (I am a sales promoters dream.. see it, love it .. buy it!!!) Got them home, tried them.. like pastels.. all yukky gritty chalky messiness ... No.. not for me.... But.. one girlie left.. so lets try them! Dry.. yeah.. messy, chalky, messy, Hmmmmm....dry blended with a paper stump, better... the messiness goes,They do blend beautifully, they really do, I was impressed, and they are easy to rub out if you make a mistake or ten! However....... charcoal.. have you guessed.. Yup.. naturally water soluble... Wayyy Hayyy!! And you know what.. while I am not loving them as much as some of the others.. I am liking them lots, very lots! The colours are nicer wet (I think), they are still easy to erase any mistakes, and the pigment is easy to manipulate. The colours are all very dark though, but I can imagine for clever people who create those gorgeous landscapes, they would be stunning!

Well.. you will all be thrilled to know.. that is all! Yayyy.. Finished.. I wonder how many of you made it this far?!?!?

What are my findings then? (before I leave you all and go and play again) Well... for starters, I am even more totally and utterly in love with Derwent... I cannot fault a single pencil of theirs that I have... some of them may not be my favourites to use or colour-wise, but for ability and quality, I think they ROCK!

I was blown away by some of the stuff I discovered, yeah it might all be old hat to you, but to me, it was magical... I had so much fun! My biggest WOW moment was deffo using the pastels with water! I seriously did not expect to be that impressed by a pastel pencil, like ever!!!!

So.. seeing as all this was about trying to justify my pencil collection.. did I?!?!? Well Yes.. I jolly well think I did! Ok.. a lot of the pencils are very versatile in the cross overs of techniques, but they all have the little jobs they are best at, and for that reason alone, I need all the ones I have... and possibly the ones I don't have too! Yes you can make do with less.. but heck.. where is the fun in that!

Right.. I am off for a much needed coffee after all that typing... then I am going to have a little trawl of the net.. make a new definitive list of The Pencils I Crave and Covet ... I am happy to email this list to anyone who wants to buy me a pressie at all!!! Then I am off to RightMoves, to see what houses there are in Cumbria.. cos I need to move and live on Derwents doorstep and beg them to give me a job!!

Have a great week.. and if you have stuck with me till the bitter end.... while you are here.. leave me a message... would love to know what you think, and how many of you stuck with me!

Toodles!!! xxxxx

OK.. for those who did make it to the end.. CANDY!!! Leave a message, and I will randomly select a winner for this set of pencils... Not Derwent! LOL They are Koh-Noor's, Lovely pencils, but like I said.. Not Derwents.. and I am staying true to them! :-) xxxx


Sunday 9 June 2013

New Journal update

Morning! Nearly forgot to blog! Had a busy week, working on a few bits and family and stuff.. mostly stuff.... doesn't it get in the way of what you want to do! :-)

Anyhows... almost finished the new journal.. just a bit more stitching around the edge, but I am doing that slowly cos it is thick and sore on the old fingers!!!

So.. here it is so far.... only a quick post this week... Hoping to do a much bigger blog tomorrow or Tuesday, and need to get the bits finished for it, got a few experiments going on... Fun Times!

Inky Hugs xxxxxx



Oh.. and here is the piccie of it all curled up as I was inking the covers....... unstretched canvas has a mind of it's own you know!!!!

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Hey.. it's me.. Blogging again!

Hello!
Hot on the tail of my last posting, along comes another! :-) Wonder how long this will last?

Just a quick picture for you... had some canvas turn up, and I have plans for it! It is half term, so they may not go to plan.. but I am going to an art group one evening a week.. so hopefully among all the chatting, Art may get done!

Anyway.. here is a piccie for you..... I wonder what it will turn into? I know what it is supposed to turn into, but as ever, there is always an element of doubt as to it actually going to plan!

Be back when there is more to show!

Toodles! xxxxx




Monday 27 May 2013

Have you missed me?

Or even noticed I was gone? LOL

Hello Blog Land.. been a looooong time! Been mad busy, decorating and all kinds, but getting back on track now!
Without boring you all silly, just a few piccies this week.. I took the Fabulous Cotton Candy Girls workshop, and I LOVED it!! then off to add them to A Piece a Week.... and grovel like mad cos I have been very nawty and not played along!

Hugs all xxxx




Tuesday 26 March 2013

Totally Triumphant Tuesday!!!!

Yayyyy! OK.. we are still clearing and sorting and decorating.. but at the weekend I thought.. I have had enough! I neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to play.. so I did!

A few months ago, the totally fabulous Effy Wild (YouTube her..... make a coffee, a big one, and YouTube her!) made a video showing how to make a stitch bound journal.. I loved it, but didn't have time to sit and play, but I remembered enough of the basics to have a go at it.....

Ok.. we started life as a large stretched canvas and a heap of A4 card stock folded in half




I cut the dried canvas out of the frame..measured (sort of!!), and folded in "half" so it would nake a wrap around cover for the pages.... I used the offcuts to make a pile of flowers with a the Big Shot.




And I played! LOL Lots of brads, and ribbons and charms etc.. I had a blast.... (which considering most of my stuff is packed.. I think I did well! LOL)



I then sewed the "signatures" (pages) together, three at a time to make mini six page booklets... five times, sewed them all together, glued the front page to a piece of A3 folded and cut down, and glued to the front of the cover.....

Taaa Daaa!



Not perfect I know... but I was half making it up as I went cos I had forgotten what Effy had said! :-)
I am going to hunt out my A3 card when I have finished the house and make a square journal next.. I am thinking 8x8, ans as I know all the bits I made difficult this time.. the next one will be much betterer!!!

Right.. off to add this to the Piece A Week.. which I have been neglecting.. bad me... and back to the Glossing! Hate Gloss by the way.... but 'tis nearly done!

Toodles! xxxx