Gnomes!

Hi all, just wanted to share a few photos from today's needle felted gnome workshop I did with my friends Helen and Kay courtesy of Lana Mutado. 

Fun course and nice not to have to travel too far for a workshop too. 

(Mine is the green one!)

Doing the beard is defo the fun bit!

Aren't the pointy hats great?! Hoping Helen will let me pop round to hers to add some ornaments to my one, we got lots done in the workshop but it would be nice to have some more time to tszug him up!  Pop to there facebook page if you are interested in doing a workshop too?

Best in show!

Very happy to be back with more from Dr.Digi's! Saw this image and knew it would be perfect for my Cousin (Well actually my Mum's cousin, but it gets so complicated!), she is really into gardening and often enters horticultural events and competitions. This digi is "Best In Show".

As normal it's polychromos, and I worked hard on trying to get the marrow right! I actually coloured it solidly in light and dark green stripes, and then made the spotty pattern using my electric derwent rubber, the effect was the right kind of shape spots!

This is my second go at the lady on the left's dress, originally it was covered in vegetable patterns but it looked a bit too messy and uneven to be a printed dress so I went back to a check pattern. You don't get many chances to redo an area on this kraft cardstock, but you can erase a complete layer once without too much impact on the tooth.

Font is one of my current favs - Bernadette Rough. The paper is from a freebie set that came with a magazine, think it might be christmas but it didn't matter for this :)

Close up of the older lady.

Close up of the young girl.

Here it is the shop. Unusually for me I didn't change much at all, I just added a stem to her glasses, I don't count adding pattern as a change, lol.

Tempted to have a go at colouring it? Both characters are really fun to do and the marrow wasn't hard at all for a background! Hoping my Cousin laughs and then wonders which one she is meant to look like? lol.



I have entered this into the Morgan's ArtWorld June Challenge.

Dr Digi Friday with Andy

Hello folks :) It's a fortnightly Friday slot for Dr.Digi's DT-ness and I have used Anglin' Andy.

I actually made this as a commissioned card for a friend, but then they decided they didn't want it so... I was pleased with it anyway! It felt a bit of a cheat using the pre-coloured background for him but... it was just so perfect! :D

Tried out a few new things with this one, I have left quite a lot of pencil stripe texture on his chest-high waders, It was tempting to make them completely smooth, but I stopped before the final smoothing session, was it a good idea? Love doing the fish ( Ok... it might not be a realistic looking one tho!) and thoroughly enjoyed doing a different kind of plaid shirt. (It actually looks like a shirt the intended recipient wears for fishing, was aiming for Andy to be dressed pretty much in the same clothes that he wears.)

Bit of a close up on the check details, tho it actually took a lot less time than the fish and the waders! :D So he is all coloured with polychromo pencils on kraft card and then cut out and mounted onto the background with 3D foam.

Font is Scoobydoo again! Just like how informal and friendly it looks. I added some real flyfishing hooks (they are attached by a blob of glossy accents over the sharp bit of the hook) and the twine is metallic thread, a stash item virtually older than me.

Here is Andy in the shop. And also the backing paper you can buy for him.

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To review or not to review....

Was going to pop to one of my local craft shops today so I could blog a quick review of my experience and share it with you. Maybe even take some pictures inside the shop if possible.

Alas, it didn't happen.


*****UPDATE: Sunrise Crafts has since closed. Apparently the business didn't work at the new location, and gradually a number of irate crafters stormed the internet asking where their orders were and why no-one could be found to refund them. Allegedly the company is still trading as an online business under a new name. The lady that ran Sunrise is not responding to any message, even from close friends.*****

I haven't been to Sunrise Crafts since they moved from their old home at a very derelict Wombourne Garden Centre. It was quite a bit further to track them down in their new home at The Mill in Wordsley (Used to take me about 15 mins, now takes almost 30mins) I checked their website and their facebook to make sure it was open. I rang their number and their answering machine confirmed they were open too. (They all said different times of closing, but all confirmed they'd still be open when we got there about 3 p.m. on a Sunday.)

We found their new location. Really out the way, not terribly easy to find. Their website said to "Follow the signs to Sunrise".... we saw none, and it was actually hard to tell they were in the location they were in until we got right up to their door. Tiny poster on the door said "Sunrise Crafts" and their opening times.

It said it was open. It looked shut. We tried the door. It was shut.

Not even a note on the door to say why. No-one answering their phone number to let us know if they'd be back.  It's annoying to get that far and something isn't open, but if there was a note on the door because they'd had an emergency I would have understood, but nope, nada. On the dim chance they locked the door because they were doing a workshop (The lights appeared to be off tho.) they'd pop a note on the door to lock loudly wouldn't they? Listen out for customers knocking?

The result of this though is not just one missed customer, it's all of one customer's business, cos I won't risk going their for it to be shut again, so probably won't go again at all. I won't be pestering my friends to go visit it, so their money is gone too. I will probably tell my friends who ask about it that it's not reliably open, so more customer possibly lost. Next time I will pop to their competitor OR just the big chain shops, because it's too far to go to a company who don't care enough about their customers to pop a note on their door when they are shut!

Found on the website that shop updates will be on Facebook and Twitter! So realised I should have checked twitter too! Guess what? Also nothing about being shut! Sigh.

This very limited review is now over. They do a lot of online sales these days, as a business, maybe their online customer service would be better.

Update - 11th June 2018

I posted on their facebook page to say what had happened and they replied with:

"I am so sorry this has happened, unfortunately we had a family emergency and had to close. It was unexpected and we where not very well prepared. Under normal circumstances we are open 7 days a week. My sincere apologies."

Thing is, it's very hard to argue with "family emergency" isn't it? I suggested they made a sign to pop on the door in case they had to dash out for another one. :/

Miss Lilly is back, on her bike!

Back again on the 8th with a Little Blue Button Stamps post (x-post to the LBBS blog) and this time it's with Miss Lilly on a bike! :)

She is coloured in with polychromos on kraft, with a spot of stickles and bling from the stash!

Just a simple birthday greeting (In New Style Titling Condensed) and some paper from the Kanban A5 Garden Vistas Pad.

Here she is in close up! (Colours looks a bit different on this one, it's because I am using my mobile phone, not a proper camera!)

Here she is in the shop if you fancy a go, she is only $2!

If you fancy some inspiration for colouring your LBBS stamps, why not pop to the facebook page and have a browse?

MIB

Hi! Had in a quirky request card I wanted to share with you! This is -

MIB + Ferrets on Leads + Texas + ENT + Leaving Card.

I didn't have much time for this, so it's literally a drawing, coloured with copics and mounted on a large 19cmx19cm card. The greeting, in Breamcatcher, is 3D foam mounted onto the picture.

I drew this in pencil and then outlined it in black pigment fine liner. Then coloured it with copics.

If you were interested in ordering a card off me, like this, or with any random quirky image it costs between £5 and £6 including postage. You can order from me via email, or if you want to be super safe (I understand!) you can order from me via this etsy listing.

Morrissey

Had another commissioned card for something a bit musical, but this time it was Morrissey!

Last year I made a similar card for a Bowie fan! I really like making them, they look just like a minature record when they are done, and I like anything minature!

I hunted round for an album cover I thought she might like and made it into a sleeve for the round card. I printed the front and back of the album cover onto card and then cut them out with tabs so I could glue them together. I made sure the round card would fit inside. I made the round card using a tin lid and then in the centre some layered diecut circles, finally die cutting a central disc from a print out of the actual centre of the real LP. I then popped a hole in the middle using my cropadile.

Marina!

Quick post of a commission card I have recently made for a fan of Marina and the Diamonds.

It wasn't a complicated card, what took the time was researching enough about Marina that I could cater for the tastes of a fan! Consequently I listened to a lot of her music and her videos so I could get cool ideas for the badges. The customer also wanted a bit more input on the card than usual, so I did quite a few designs for badges and let her pick the five she liked best.

Most of the badges refer to songs, lyrics or albums. Very luckily it was for a 17th birthday and Marina has a song about being seventeen! lol. I used my Super Badge It Machine to make the badges. I made the badge designs and background on the computer and then printed them out to use.

It was quite nice to be introduced to some new music, actually really enjoyed her videos and am tempted to buy the  "Froot" album now :)

Mycroft and Watson

Dr.Digi Friday folks, second post today, both DT's have for just one day, aligned! I am here to share with you the fabulous Mycroft and Watson.

Really enjoyed colouring this up, though I did slightly regret opting for a woven dog bed, about thirty minutes into colouring it, lol!

I added a sentiment directly to the digi before printing it out and colouring it in. Font is Bernadette Rough. Just finished it off by 3D foaming it onto the card blank and backing paper, and then some corner bling to finish. Glossy accents on the noses HAD to be done.

Here is the digi in the shop if you are interested in taking a look and maybe purchasing?

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Final Shot of the card, cos I took far more photos than were strictly necessary! :D

New Release LBBS!

Hi Everyone, first of the month and back with a new release from Little Blue Button Stamps! This is the beautiful Odrie.

I coloured her with Polychromo pencils and added a few touches of white with a posca pen.

Tried some different ways to colour the hair and eyes this time, eyes inspired by how you would normally colour animé eyes!

The font is Breamcatcher and Viner Hand ITC. Just found a strong supportive quote to go with her!

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