Back to school

Hello all, I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog post, I have absolutely no idea where the summer has gone (or if indeed we have actually had a summer!). Anyway, the kids are back at school, and I'll be back teaching in a couple of days time. I've been busy creating cards for children heading back to school, or starting school this term. My son is only just 3 and he'll be starting nursery next week (which he is very excited about, as am I!). Today I'll be showing a little selection of the cards I made using stamps by Lili of the Valley.

This first picture shows a few of them that I coloured in using various colour ways, I found that it was so much fun to colour that I just kept on trying different ways!

The next one shows one of the finished cards for a little boy. I've kept the colour scheme pretty simple with this one, keeping it all to shades of blue and browns, the papers are by My Minds Eye, with just a couple of brown gems and computer printed sentiments

 

 

The next card is another one for a little fella. Again, I've gone for the blues but with some more autumny colours with these papers by Basic Grey. Again, a computer printed sentiment and a couple of little gems to finish off

 

 

 

Next, we have a card for the little ladies out there. This time I've kept the colours all neutrals, from the pale grey dress, to the shades of beige and brown for the card itself (papers by My Minds Eye).

 

 

But, Back to School cards don't have to be done in school uniform colours, they can be bold and fun, like this next card I was asked to make. Shades of pink with a little splash of green make this version bold and funny and perfect for any little girl

 







I hope you've enjoyed taking a little pink into this little collection of cards, hopefully I won't leave it so long next time! Take care everyone xx

The cheeky girls!!

I'd like to introduce you to some fabulously cheeky stamps by The Greeting Farm that are just so much fun to use! I love that these little cuties are so easy to use, and look great in such a range of different styles/ colours.

This beauty queen was created as a Valentine's Day card, and looks wonderful with the vibrant purples and soft lilac. She's been coloured using Copic Ciao markers, and the papers are by Basic Grey (this one is the Green at Heart collection).

Another Valentine's card, but this time done up in a range of delicate pinks and peaches, with a little splash of creamy yellow. Again she's been coloured using Copic Ciao markers, and the papers are from Basic Grey's Two Scoops collection.

This card has a completely different feel with this colour way. I think the black and white is extremely effective for this image - this time it's been coloured with the Promarker Greys collection - I think the tones are very complementary and it's very easy to get these results. The papers this time are from the Desert Bloom collection by Trimcrafts First Edition papers.

I hope you've enjoyed taking a sneak peak at a few more of my cards. Many more can be found at Craftyleo's Little Works of Art of Facebook - which has been going for a year today, so it's a Happy Birthday :)

Pretty little miniatures

Hello all, can't believe we're almost at the end of February already, where is 2012 heading off too? This time I would like to share some mini cards with you  - small and sweet and just as much a piece of art as a larger card :)

These images are just great - from a stamp set by The Greeting Farm, they are a little smaller than the single stamps, but I think they're the perfect size to add to a mini card. I like to use funky colour combinations with these images, I think they lend themselves well to things like the green hair like this one - and the contrast with the hot pinks make it really stand out from the crowd.

I love the colour combination on this card, even though it's the same image as the first card it looks so different coloured in a range of browns, and mounting with a range of greys gives it a totally different look. A very classy combination I think.

I think the strong blue tone to the hair gives a really nice contrast with the hot orange and subtle layering with pink. I think this combination gives a nice twist and a modern edge to this card design.

All my colouring is done with Copic Ciao markers, I love the feel of those for colouring, they're so easy to layer and get such a range of shading - I love to play with them, to create hair colours in particular.

As ever, you can see more of my work on Craftyleo's Little Works of Art on Facebook. Thanks for reading xx

Busy New Year

Hello all, I cannot believe it's been so long since I updated my blog. Christmas was lovely, very quiet but that's how I like it, with lots of chance to craft - cards, calendars and some knitting in there too. I was very busy with orders from my Facebook page, I really hope that all the recipients liked there gifts.

I also had some good news in the run-up to Christmas, Papercraft Essentials magazine named me as a runner up in their Papercrafter of the Year competition, so I received some lovely new crafting goodies and had my worked published in the magazine. You can see my entries in this months issue (76) and my work is pictured on page 25. I'll share with you some close ups of my entries and a little bit about what inspired me to create them.

This entry was made using one of the Gorjuss Girls playing cards, I thought the images on them were so beautiful they would make fantastic toppers. I paired it with purple, black and green - a great combination that looks a bit gothic, but not too dark (with using purple). The background layers have been hand stitched with metallic threads to give some texture and a little bit of bling without being too sparkly. It's topped off with a handmade flower, paper lace and black pearls. The idea was to be something for a gothic princess - bit girly, bit punky

This next creation is a calendar threaded with grosgrain ribbon ready to hang wherever takes your fancy. This is a picture of my little man, taken when he was about a week old and smiling in his sleep. The papers are from DCWV Green stack and I think the colours are fantastic, I love the fact they are so bold, but the neutral background to the pattens makes it easier to mix and match and layer up with embellishments in co ordinating colours. I think the hand made flowers in red and turquoise fit well with the papers and the colours in the photograph - an important part of using photos is making sure that the colours complement the overall design, just like any other topper that you would use.

My final entry is something very pretty and girly. The image is stamped and coloured with Copic pens, which I love for getting a crisp finish in a design. It's mounted onto layers of soft lilac and grape cut out with nestabilities dies - though one layer is made by using the die as a template and cutting out by hand so the borders between layers weren't as large. The papers are by Prima, I think the designs are very soft and delicate that they lent themselves well to keeping the range of colours very small - just using the lilacs with white, like a monochrome colour scheme. It's made up onto an easel card base, with pretty lace and handmade ribbon bows to finish off. There are some pretty gems on the bottom layer alongside a hand stamped sentiment, which I think adds just the right amount of bling. I think it's a very versatile image/ style that could be used for a little girls birthday card, or a thank you card for a bridesmaid.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at my entries and that they've inspired you in some way. Take care everyone, I'll share some more of my designs again soon xxx

Christmas is coming!

I know it's only September but for a crafter the days are ticking by at an alarming rate and Christmas will be here before we know it! There are cards to make for the upcoming fairs, there are the cards that I need to make to send personally, there are orders to fulfill, there are hanging calendars to make, there are scrapbook calendars to make, the list goes on lol! As well as that the new term has started so my 'real job' as a tutor is starting again this week. And I have a 2 year old. Thank goodness I have my wonderful Mum, I would be totally lost without her :)

Anyway, thought I would share a few of the special cards that I made last year, hopefully they will be inspiration for you, I've certainly enjoyed looking through all my pics, given me new ideas for this year lol!

I love the colours on this card, and I think it would make a perfect get well card for someone who is poorly this winter. It's one of the gorgeous TGF Anya stamps coloured with water colour pencils to keep the tones lovely and soft. A few handmade flowers and some lace sets it off beautifully if I do say so myself.

Again using the same TGF stamp but looks so different when coloured this way. I think the combination of blues looks lovely and frosty, perfect for winter and would make a good Christmas, or winter birthday card.

Anya again (surprise, surprise) but I've kept the card much simpler this time, payered up with some gorgeous Basic Grey papers and glitter papers for some winter sparkle.

I hope you've enjoyed taking a look through a sample of my creations, I will return to share more with you. Take care xx

Getting ready for 2012!!

The last couple of weeks I've been trying something a bit different. Instead of cards I've been looking at creating some calendars - fun to make and make fantastic presents ready for Christmas. The beauty of them is that you can use whatever takes your fancy for the topper - whether it's a stamped image, printed image (I love some the big squares by Lili of the Valley and they would be perfect for this), or photos to make a really personal present.

This cute calendar is created on a 6 x 6 inch chipboard base with a cute Greeting Farm image stamped and coloured with Copic markers. It's embellished with Basic Grey papers, handmade flowers and gems in a bold colour to compliment the papers.

This calendar measures 8 x 8 inches and as the feature I've used a photo of my son, taken when he was about a month old. The papers are DCWV and I think the colours are fab and work so well with the photo - they're cute without being too babyish.

Feel free to contact me on my Facebook page - Craftyleo's Little Works of Art if you like the calendars and would like something made for you. Till next time xx

Craftyleo goes Manga :)

Good evening, this week I thought I would share with you a few different ideas for using Manga in greetings cards. Manga is such a popular style and a fantastic way to create cards for teenagers (and we know they are so hard to please!). I love this stamp from Funky Kits, the Manga Fairy can be done in so many ways (I'm looking forward to making her a Christmas Fairy later in the year :))

I love giving her fabulous coloured hair (a good choice for Manga images) and think that the soft aqua and peach complement each other well in this card. She's been coloured with Copic Ciao markers (my favs at the moment). A few hand made flowers and a sentiment is all that is really needed to finish it off.

Again I've gone for the soft aqua, but the main colour is the purple/ lilac which gives this card a very different feel. She's also coloured with Copic Ciao markers.

Again the aqua, but a much more muted shade, teamed with a lovely pink and green combo. This time I trimmed off the wings and wand, as the colours didn't seem to work as well for the total picture - but I think that gives this stamp much more versatility. Some fabulous background papers and a bit of bling to match the colour scheme (as well as the greeting, a custom card for a 14 year old's birthday) and hey presto. Here's hoping that the birthday girl loves her card, and that you've enjoyed looking at a few more designs.