Valentine's Day Is For Mugs!!!

See the romantic in me isn't dead!!! Lol. Incase you're wondering this project for my oh so patient Hubby who really appreciates handmade gifts. This is a bit of an unusual project which I kind of hope you'll like. It's also a bit of a product comparison/review which for those of you who commented on my last post regarding the Graph 'It Markers. Also if you want to see them in action Nikky Hall is on Create & Craft demoing them at 2pm today - I know she has some amazingly cool techniques to share with us :)

Now, you've all seen the Sharpie Pens projects on Pinterest and I'm pretty sure that most of you will have pinned it onto your "Must Do" board? Yeah, well so did I! Infact I decided that it looked such fun that I'd let the kids in my Arts and Crafts Class have a go (the results of which can be seen here). Now whilst prepping that project, I got to wondering if it would be possible to stamp on a mug and use marker pens to colour the image. A bit of googling didn't provide the answer, I could only find tutorials for stamping using porcelain paints. So I decided the only way to find out if my idea would work was to play and this is what I ended up with.

Now I have to say when I did this project with the kids they drew on the mugs with Sharpies and coloured them in. Before they went in the oven the colours were really vibrant but once fired the colours altered drastically and in many cases went really flat, patchy and dull. Whilst the mugs still looked amazing I have to confess to a tinge of disappointment that the colours didn't hold.

With the above results in mind, I knew that if at all possible I wanted to avoid using Sharpies. However, as I don't have an unlimited stash of permanent marker pens I knew that there was going to be a good chance that I might have to use the odd one or two! So I gathered my pens together and set to work.

The first thing I noticed about the various pens was the way they grabbed the surface of the mug. Sharpies instantly grabbed the surface of the mug and created a nice even vibrant coverage as did the Graph 'It Markers. The Promarkers didn't grab the surface very well and the colours were really translucent with very little depth.

Now this instantly created a problem for me as the majority of my pens are Promarkers and I really didn't want a "wishy washy" colour effect. I tried adding further layers of the pens to create depth but it caused the ink to reactivate, bleed and go patchy, so that was a no go. At this point I started to think that maybe the reason why I'd found no tutorials online other than the Sharpies one was because quite simply other permanent markers just didn't work. At this point I felt really disheartened  as it had taken me a fair bit of time to stamp the images to an acceptable standard and in addition it meant that I'd have to rethink the whole Valentine's gift thing! But you know me I'm not a quitter and decided that even if it was a complete disaster that at least I'd tried but not only that I'd have an understanding of what results I could achieve with each type of pen.

So with that in mind I thought I'd start the whole colouring process from scratch. So I grabbed a baby wipe and went to clean the ink of off the mug. The Promarkers and Sharpies wiped off instantly but to my surprise the Graph' It Markers didn't. I actually had to use an old blender pen to loosen the ink and bit of elbow grease before it would wipe off cleanly! Now this in itself was a fab discovery because potentially it means that the pens can be used on lots of non -porous surfaces with great effect, think of the endless possibilities.......... :)

Once the cleanup operation had been finalised I started the task of colouring again. The first thing I did was the ground and rocks with Graph' It Markers. Much to my amazement I found that if you allowed the pens to dry for a couple of minutes you could start to add another layer or even a different colour without the ink underneath starting to bleed or move. This meant that I could add shade to the rocks and soil, so I was pretty impressed.

The soil, rocks and notice frame have been coloured with Graph' It Markers. You can see that the pens allowed multiple layers to be added without bleeding or lifting the base colours.

I then switched to Promarkers and Sharpies which drove me to distraction! Firstly I found that it was almost impossible to darken any colour already applied to the surface with Promarkers as the ink just re-activated, so it basically meant that I couldn't shade. The only way I found I could create any depth within the image was to work from dark to light, but even this was tricky as the ink would lift away leaving white areas. Eventually I found that if you allowed the ink to dry for a few minutes and then used a stippling action you could with extreme care create shading. I also found that if you applied Sharpies first you could successfully blend a lighter coloured Promarker. However, the Promarker then needed cleaning as it obviously picked up the darker ink, so not really an ideal method to be using!

The purple character has been coloured with Promarkers and Sharpies, Notice how the colour has been leached and gives a mottled effect when colouring from light to dark. However the blue character has been coloured with Sharpies and then Promarkers which gives a much smoother finish.

Next came the firing of the mugs. Now at this point I was fully expecting the inks to either fade or reduce in vibrancy during the process, but I actually got a really nice surprise! The Graph' It Markers didn't appear to change, the colours remained true and vibrant. The Promarker colours intensified slightly but retained an even coverage, which on this project was fine, but could be potential problem with other projects. Sadly the Sharpies behaved exactly as they had done in previous projects and changed colour, went patchy and dull.

The character with the black heart was coloured with an Orange Sharpie - as you can see the colour has changed upon firing and looks flat and lifeless

Considering this project was one massive experiment I was actually  really pleased with the way the mug turned out and even more pleased that I can now use this experiment as an excuse to buy more Graph' It Markers. Maybe another new set will be my Valentine's pressie to myself  ;) 
Claire x

Materials:
Mug
Graph' It Markers
Promarkers
Sharpies
Images - Whisker Monster With Sign, Line Up

I'd like to enter this mug into the following challenges:
Stampotique - Heart in your art
Simon Says Stamp - Have a heart

Look what I've had published in Pen & Paper Circle 4 - My Vintage Christmas Card!

Have you got your copy of the Pen & Paper Circle 4 yet? If so then you'll see that I've had this card published in there - does a little happy dance! If you missed ordering this issue then keep an eye on our Facebook page and the store as occasionally one or two issues become available (and when I say one or two I literally mean one or two). Issue 5 is now available to order, but you'll need to be quick as orders are only being taken until 7th October.

Thanks for stopping by today

Claire x

PS. Thanks to everyone who commented on my Faux Metal Box and left comments suggesting I try either coke cans or metal tape. I did try coke tins, but it didn't give me quite the finish I wanted and then I found the panel wasn't quite big enough to cover the box :( The tape would've been fine but again it wasn't quite wide enough for the box. Hence me using foil! I will be doing a tutorial on the kitchen foil technique for those of you who either emailed or asked via Facebook. x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Mini Box Frame for Polka Doodles Make It Summery Challenge

It's a quick post from me today as I've been working all this week and will be at work when this post publishes :(

I've made a little box frame for this weeks challenge over at Polka Doodles which is Cabin Fever, so we want to see loads of Summery cards and and projects. The prize is a brand new Candy Doodles Collectors Edition CD. Anyhow, it's stash box stamp week which meant that I got to play with one of my gorgeous uninked stamps, so here's my offering for this weeks challenge, a box frame made entirley from paper/card. I hope you like it, cos I think you'll be seeing a few more of these! :D

Oh and before I forget don't forget to pre-order your copy of The Pen & Paper Circle Kit. This edition has a really gorgeous A6 set of stamps and a cd containing 54 backing papers and coordinating png alphabets and if that wasn't enough there's a magazine with 12 step by step tutorials, hints, tips & inspiration. Remember, you only have until the 7th March to order.

Materials:
Papers, Tree Image & Sentiment taken from Polka Doodles Candy Doodles Collectors Edition
Elisabeth Bells Little Curls
Martha Stewart Punch
Stickles
Promarkers

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
PaperPlay - For mother
S J Crafts - Flowers
The Crafty Purple Frog - Green & Yellow
Crafty Catz Weekly - Something beginning with B
Fussy and Fancy - More than words
CropStop - Is it blooming outside
Crafts & Me - Shades of Spring
Crafty Creations - Fancy folds
Flutter By Wednesdays - Inspiration photo
The Paper Shelter - Add a sentiment
Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Use a digi
Truly Scrumptious - All creatures great and small

Rosalee Pretty In Pink - Delicious Doodles Challenge

TGIF - not often I say that, but this week has been one of those weeks and I will be glad to see the back of it! I'm not normally a stress head, but this week has pushed me to my limits, it's probably not been helped by the fact that the kids have been on holiday and I seem to have managed to acquire additional children who have made themselves well and truly at home! Grandparents who have been unwell again and needed taking to Dr's appointments etc...The one highlight of the week was celebrating my Dad's 70th birthday, but to be honest I was so shattered that I ended up coming home early. Oh and I almost forgot to mention I've gone back to work part time to finance the building work that we need doing to enable me to have a craft room - see hogging the dining room has finally paid off!! ;).

Anyway, enough of my moaning, lets move onto this weeks challenge over at Delicious Doodles which is Pretty in Pink! Seriously who ever picked this must have been having a giggle! As you probably know most of the girls just don't do pink, so I'm amazed that so many of them have turned out for this challenge! Why not pop over the to the challenge blog and take a peep at the lovely projects they've produced.

I haven't really made anything really pretty in a while, so I thought I'd use this challenge as opportunity to do so! I had so much fun with this card and have been trying some new colouring techniques out (they're not quite perfect, but I'm going to persevere), so what do you think?

I coloured the image Rosalee with Promarkers and then used a glitter pen to add a little sparkle to her dress. The image was then aged with Distress Ink and faux stitching added with a pokey tool and fineliner. I lightly distressed the edges of the papers using my nail and then inked them before adding more faux stitching. The postage stamp sentiment was stamped in Vintage Sepia Versafine Ink and then inked with Distress Inks.

Materials:
Rosalee - Delicious Doodles
Promarkers
Brown Fine Liner
Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Nellie's Multi Frame's
Whimsy Postage Stamp Die
Whimsy Postage Stamp Sentiments
X-Cut Border Punch
Seam Binding - Crafty Ribbons
Buttons - Woodware
Pearl Spray - Stash

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafts & Me - Distressed
Gingersnap Creations - Faux Technique
Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything goes
Passion for Promarkers - Distressing
The Stamping Boutique - Faux Stitching
Love to Create - Buttons & Bows
My Craft Spot - Girly Girls
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes
Stamps R Us - Anything Goes
OSAAT - Anything Goes
Craft Your Days Away - Get Stitchy

LOTV Wedding Couple Vintage Card & A Box Envelope

Morning folks and a very happy 4th July to all my US readers.

DH came home from work on Friday and said "I need a really nice card made by next weekend!" Normally it wouldn't have been a problem, but I have soooo many cards and projects on the go this month that squeezing one more in seemed like an impossibility. However, I have to say I have done very little this weekend except craft, to the extent where I had the luxury of spending the whole of yesterday just making this card and envelope. Yep that's right my DH has run the ship for the entire weekend so that I could craft :)

Anyway, I didn't have any wedding images in my stash and for some reason totally overlooked any digi ones that I did have (doh!!), so I called on my friend again to pinch another of her Lily of the Valley images. Now I'm going to make a confession here and will be probably be stoned for saying it.....but.......... I haven't bought any LOTV images (other than a sentiments set) and the ones I do own were gifts that are currently uninked, I didn't think I liked them as they were a bit too cutesy for me. However that's all changed now - I had heaps of fun colouring this pair in and do you know what? I actually really like my card! Something I've not been able to say for months!! I hope you like it too - any feedback on what I could've done to improve it will be gratefully received :)

The image has been coloured with Promarkers. I've used Stickles to highlight the bride's dress, Gypsophila and tips of the petals on the roses. The shoes and ribbons have been given a bit of shine and dimension with Glossy Accents. I've distressed the papers using my thumbnail (it gives it a softer finish than using scissors or a distressing tool) and then inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink. The papers were then pricked with my pokey tool and hand stitched with embroidery thread.  Yes it took ages, yes I could've used my Sew Easy or the sewing machine, but the Sew Easy gives way too big stitches and I also didn't want a completely uniform look, so hand stitching it was!!

The doilies were cut using my Marianne Creatables (I got this die when it was first released before Christmas and am ashamed to say I've never used it, but now I have I love it and will be using it again). I used the circle part of the die to cut the message circles inside (please note I haven't made a mess of the left hand message, I'vejust  blurred out the hand written message to protect the couples privacy). I also used my Tim Holtz Alerations Ornate On The Edge Die which again has sat in my stash for ages unused.

The foliage has been cut from white card using the new Spellbinders Foliage Die and then coloured with Promarkers. The flowers were white Prima Eline's which I've coloured with Promarkers and then added faux pearls from the Viva Pearl Pen. The seam binding has again been coloured with Promarkers and the bow has been fastened with a pearl brad (I don't know why, but my photo makes the ribbon look as if it has strange texture, when infact it is just standard seam binding).

The Box Envelope was made using this tutorial on the lovely Paola's blog. I altered the measurements slightly to fit my project and decorated it to match the card. Unfortunately I didn't have anymore of the K & Co glitter paper to match the card, so I used another co-ordinating sheet from the same range.

I really hope that the happy couple like my card and that they have a long and happy marriage.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xx


Tools
Sizzix Big Shot
Spellbinders Shapeabilities Foliage Die
Marianne Creatables Doily Die
Tim Holtz Orntate Die
Pokey Tool

Materials
Image - Wedding Couple from LOTV
Sentiment - Anita's
Ticket Sentiment - Caz @ A Load of Old Bloglocks
Papers - K&Co, Prima - Botanicals
Promarkers - Pear Green, Oatmeal, Soft Peach, Tea Green, Cool Aqua, Sun kissed Pink, Satin, Dusky Pink, Blush, Sandstone, Primrose, Burnt Sienna, Cool Grey 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Stickles - Star Dust
Glossy Accents
Viva Pearl Pen
Seam Binding - Crafty Ribbons
Embroidery Thread
Prima E-line flowers
Crystal stems

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Paper Sundaes - Stitching
Dream Valley Challenges - Ribbons
Craft Your Days Away - Vintage
Card & Scrap - Punches/Dies
LOTV - Celebrate 
I ♥ ProMarkers - Flowers
Deep Ocean Challenge - Flowers
Craft Your Passion - Anything goes 

Bad Hair Day??

We all have them, but for once it's not me, it's the cute little madam on my card! However, I have to say the dragged through a hedge backwards look that she was sporting has been greatly improved by me since I gave her a hair cut! It wasn't intentional, I'd just finished fussy cutting and then somehow manage to catch an ultra-fine piece of the image and rip it off! Naughty words weren't used - much!! I was going to re-do it, but as I'm running way behind schedule this week with everything that has been going on, I've taken a gamble that most people won't notice or will be far to polite to point my poor workmanship out - so I've left it.

Anyway, this week over at Sweet Pea Stampers we want to see your SCALLOPS. I really hope that you'll be joining us.

Now I don't normally do scallops as they are just that little bit too frilly for me, so this was a real challenge. I don't think I did too badly, but have to say that I'm tempted to totally re-work this card as it's not one of my favourites - not sure what the problem is but it just doesn't feel right - maybe it was that haircut!

The scalloped shaped card was cut using Large Nestabilities.As previously mentioned I used Bad Hair Day by Lisa Victoria from Sweet Pea Stamps. The image has been coloured with Promarkers and then decoupaged onto the digital designer paper from Fred She Said. The fairies dress has been covered with Clear Star Sakura Gel Pen to try and give a really sheer translucent look to the skirt. Her wings have been coated with a thin layer of Stardust Stickles. The toadstool has had a coat of Glossy Accents and Picket Fence Stickles. The butterflies are from my most favoured punch at the moment Martha Stewart 3 in 1 Butterfly Punch and the gems are from my stash. The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.

I've added this second photo to try and show the sparkle and shimmer on her skirt and wings. If you click the image to enlarge it you can just about see it.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - No flowers
Flutterby Wednesdays - Photo inspiration - sky
Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes
Bearly Mine - Birthdays
Magical Monday - Spring Colours
Totally Papercrafts - Shaped Cards

Delicious Doodles Challenge #11 - The darkness has decended!!

Morning folks I hope you're all ready and raring to go? I hope so, cos this week we have teamed up with the fabulous Smeared Ink and are running a sketch challenge and blog hop. There will be two prizes up for grabs this week, Delicious Doodles are offering five digis of your choice and  Smeared Ink are offering five single digis or one digi set. Full details of this weeks challenge and the blog hop can be found on the Delicious Doodles Challenge Blog. For those of you already hopping the running list is at the bottom of this post.

Smeared Ink kindly let the DD DT chose an image each from their store, and whilst they are renowned for their "alternative and darker" images, I happened upon some fabulous vintage stuff as well as dare I say it, some cutsie images!

Now I must've had a moment of madness as I've taken myself completely out of my comfort zone and played with one of the darker images! Yikes!!! It was all going rather well until I decided to check back onto the Delicious Doodles Admin Site only to discover I was supposed to be following the sketch! Those of you who read regularly will know I'm not the biggest sketch fan, so you can imagine it threw me completely. Anyway, I managed to salvage almost everything I'd done with the exception of the fantastic sentiment that goes with this image. I just couldn't find anywhere to put it, so I'm afraid it's ended up tucked inside the card. The sentiment reads " Have a howling good time" and can be found here. So... whadya think of my efforts?

I've used my beloved Distress Inks to create the image background. The image has been coloured with Promarkers and I've then randomly stamped some foliage with black memento ink. I've then given everything a generous blast of Glimmer Mist to soften the inks.

The backing paper has made from white paper sprayed with a mixture of Maya Road Mists. The main BP has simply had a flourish stamped over it. The other BP's have been run through the Big Shot in embossing folders.

Materials:
Cardstock - The Papermill
Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire and Forest Moss
Maya Road Mists - Blue Corn, Evergreen and Licorice
Flourish stamp - Viva decor
Foliage Stamp - Tim Holtz
Embossing folders - Sizzix/Tim Holtz Woodgrain and Craft Concept Garden Swirl
Nellie Snellon - Flower Punch
Little Claire's Fern Die
Stickles

If you're looking for the blog hop running order it's here:
Teri
Anita Marie
Pascale
Allison
Ildiko
Alex
Claire
Terra
Tori
Alison
Kelli
Black Dragon
Lady Brayton
Meredith
Kapree
Lisa
Jane

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Hos' - No designer Papers
Craft Us Crazy - Anything goes 
I ♥ ProMarkers - Anything goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything goes
Passion for Promarkers - Photo Inspiration (landscape & blue) 
Magical Monday - Flowers

Jewelled Fairy Easel Card

This going to be a really quick post from me today as I'm supposed to be ironing :( and then taking the kids out for the afternoon :)

Teri over at Delicious Doodles released this gorgeous fairy the other week and I was desperate to get her coloured and made into something. The fairy has been coloured with Promarkers and I decided that as my distress inks have been feeling a little neglected lately I would bring them out to play to create the entire background on this card and to colour the flowers. A bit more sparkle and glimmer has been added to everything by the use of Glimmer Mist, Sakura Gel Pens, Smooch, Stickles, Glossy Accents and Gems.

If you get the chance please do pop over to the Delicious Doodles Blog to check out the rest of the DT's cards as there are some amazing creations being showcased on a daily basis. Plus it's my turn to post over there today and I don't wanna be talking to myself  - LOL ;)

Oh and one more thing don't forget to enter my £30 giveaway!

Tools
Big Shot
Nestabilities
Sizzix Tattered Florals Die
Little Claire's Fern Die
Tim Holtz Blender

Materials
Image - Delicious Doodles
Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Sakura Gel Pens
Stickles
Smooch Ink
Glimmer Mist
Glossy Accents
Gems

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly - Sparkle & Bright
I Did It Creations - Surprise Me
Speedy The Cat's Challenge - Diecuts/Punches
Craft Your Passion - Glitter/Sparkles
Karber Monthly - Fantasy
2 Sisters - Anything goes
Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle
Stamp Something - Use a digi
The ABC Challenge - Glitter
Simon Says Challenge - Punches/Die cuts

Pssst - I've got a secret to share!!

Want to know what it is???Here's a clue

Got it yet??? No? Well, you can either read on or click here for the answer!!! ;)

Got it now? Yep that's right, I've been invited to join those hugely talented girls over on the Sweet Pea Stampers DT !!  :)

This my first challenge card for them, and just in case you haven't guessed, this week the challenge is easel cards. There's a fantastic prize of  3 Sweet Pea stamps to be won. I really hope that some of you can find the time to pop over there and give me some support. It would be fab to see some of my followers joining the challenges and hopefully winning the prizes on offer.

Anyway as this is a huuuuuggggely long post I'll keep the deets of how I made the card brief! The picture above doesn't really show the shimmer and glimmer, so I've popped a couple more  on to try and show it.

I've coloured the image with Promarkers, created the background with distress inks and then given it a generous spritz of glimmer mist. I've added lots of gloss and sparkle with glimmer mist, stickles, sakura gel pens, gems and glossy accents. The snowflakes are Marianne Creatables which have been coloured with distress inks, glimmer misted and decorated with iridescent snowflake buttons and gems. The blue gem swirls have been created using a Eline Template (yes I really did glue each gem on individually).

Oh and just one more thing before I go, please don't forget to enter my CSN giveaway where you can win a £30 gift voucher to spend on anything you like.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Crafty Purple Frog - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Pear Tree Designs - Free for all
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything goes
A Crafty Little Place - Easel card
In a Sweetpea Dream - All about Christmas
Moving Along With The Times (sponsored by Letraset)- Anything goes Promarkers
Meljens Designs - Anything goes
Delightful Challenges - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Sarah Hurley - Christmas card, but red and green must not be seen

MSE Challenge - Bling or Glitter