The Great Australian Craft Show

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Carla's Wild Creation

Carla's card conjures up thoughts of an Kenyan adventure, journeying through the savannah on the look-out for majestic animals and breath-taking scenery. Don't you just love the fabulous background paper she chose for her project? It coordinates perfectly with the giraffe image and decorative patterned strips.

Stamps:

Last Days!

Just three more days to grab a bargain before these sets are permanently retired.

You'll save at least 50% on each set!

Click on the image to head to the sale!

Indomitable Will

This regal fellow needed a spectacular backdrop, and there's not much that's more breathtaking than a glorious sunset. To make sure everything coordinated nicely, I used one of the same markers to colour over the sentiment panel.

Stamps:

30 Days of Organisation

Throughout the month of April, I'll be posting daily tasks to help get your crafting space cleaned and sorted! From colouring charts to UFOs, we'll wade through all those jobs that have been put off for far too long. The small, daily tasks will soon have you working in a more comfortable and organised creative space.

Selected, retired digital stamps at an incredibly low price for just 48 hours.

No rainchecks. No repeats.

Egg Collection

digital stamp set

Lofty Heights

Join us over the next week as we showcase some new projects created with the Safari set, featuring majestic African animals and a collection of thought-provoking sentiments. 

Deanne will get the ball rolling for us this month with a wonderful card created with the giraffe image and one of the matching sentiments. A piece of coordinating paper and some shiny, self-adhesive drops finish the project perfectly.

Stamps:

Merging Images

Last month I made a card using the little koala from the Warm Fuzzies digital set combined with one of the images from the Eucalyptus clear stamp set. I was very happy with the outcome so decided to try my hand at merging the digital versions, this time using the line drawing from the Eucalyptus set rather than the solid image.

I started by adding the line drawing of the leaves and gumnuts from the Eucalyptus set. The image on the left is flipped and resized to be slightly larger than the one on the right. As you can see, I moved the image down a little too, in an effort to reduce the repetitive look you sometimes get when stamping multiple times. Happily, the little koala is saved as a png with a transparent background, which meant I could simply drop him in on top. If you're not really into colouring, you can get the same result by using the coloured digital versions of each of these stamps.

Eucalyptus leaves are beautifully colourful and can include shades of green, blue, purple, brown, yellow, pink and red... that's almost every colour in the rainbow, plus a couple extra!

I've used dull greens as my base colour then added in the reds, browns and yellows over the top. To help blend the colours I add more of the lightest green as my final layer.

The gumnut flowers are coloured with three shades of red, starting with a base of the lightest colour and ending with the darkest shade in by the centre of the flower. Some yellow dots around the perimeter give the impression of pollen.

I love to colour the koala in various shades of warm grey... in fact, I used everything from W1 right up to W10!

Stamps:

One More Week!

These images are only available until the 31st of March 2020.

Grab a bargain while they last!

Click the image to head to the sale!

Tutorial - Colouring The Fantails

Flowing, translucent fins and shimmering scales are the iconic features of fantail goldfish, and today I'd like to share a colouring technique for achieving that look.

I started by stamping one of the images in blue, water-based ink on a piece of blending card. The water-based ink doesn't react with the alcohol markers, so smearing and smudging shouldn't be an issue.

Colour the entire image with the B91 marker.

Use the B93 marker to darken the fins where they meet the body of the fish. Flick the strokes outward from the fish's body toward the edges of the fins.

Blend the colours together by adding another layer of B91 marker over the top of the B93. Don't overwork the colour or you'll end up with a mottled look. If you want to work further on an area, come back to it after it's had a chance to dry.

To give the illusion of translucency, use the B93 marker to darken the parts of the fin that pass in front of the body, such as the pelvic fin. You want to follow the shape of the body to give the impression that it can been seen through the fin.

Do the same thing where the fins pass in front of each other, such as the curls on the dorsal fin. Use the marker to describe the shape of each fin as it disappears behind the others. You can make a very light guide line with a pencil first if you'd prefer.

Use the B93 marker to darken all the areas where the fins and tail pass in front of another part of the fish. Allow to dry for a few minutes, and then add another layer in the same areas.

To colour the body of the fish, add a layer of B93 all over. Work your strokes along the body of the fish, from nose to tail, rather than side to side. Following the shape of the fish will give you a better result.

Use the B95 marker to darken the body, avoiding the belly, chin and edges of the gills. Start to give some texture to the scales by colouring little circular areas around the belly. 

Continue to darken the body with the B97 marker. Apply the darker colour over the B95, making sure that some of the light colour is still visible. There should be three distinct colour areas visible on the body of your fish, with an obvious light, mid and dark range. Use the tip of the marker to describe the shape of the scales with a little more detail. 

Use the B99 sparingly. A little around the end of the body, under the gills and scales and in front of the eye should be enough.

Now you're going to work all the way back down through the colours again, starting with the B97. Colour over the top of the B99 but not quite all the way to the B95. You want to blend the colours a little, but not so that you lose all the texture you've added to the scales.

Use the B95 next, colouring over the top of the B97 and almost to the B93. Work your way down the markers blending the colour that's one step darker. 

The final task is working on the eye, which usually forms the focal point of any image. I've used a black pen to colour the pupil and add a little shadow around the edges. A dot of white brings life to the eyes. (CLICK HERE for a tutorial on colouring eyes)

Stamps and Dies: