WOW - Thank you

The challenge over on the WOW blog is thank you...... and my card for this months challenge is now up.
I love love love the puff powders.... this is the card that I made....

Here are some close ups for you ...... look at the puffyness..... and yip that is a word! lol
The puff powder reminds me of when I was a little girl and I used puff paint to decorate t-shirts....

It would be great if you could come on over and join us for the next challenge - pop on over and have a look at the DT cards.
Make sure you leave a comment or link to your blog too - we would love to pop over to see your designs as well.
Back to the craft table for me..... lots of commissions to do.....
Nikki x

Crafting with Kanban

I love love love the quality that you always get with Kanban.
I adore their products and you will find something for everyone in the range that they have...

For these projects I have used 'Kiss it better - chocolate'

I had so much fun crafting away..... not that I am wishing anyone ill but now I just need someone to send them to.... lol
It's always handy to have a couple of get well cards in my stash box.... hopefully never needed but sadly always used!

What are you up to today?
I've got to finish a few commissions then off to work..... but I'll be back! lol

When is a bauble not a bauble?

When it's a flower........

Using Do Crafts 'Home for Christmas' range, I cut the baubles from a 12x12 sheet then stuck them onto a card disk.
I used silicone to give it a more 3d look.
It also gave me a lot more time to work with the petals and get them into the position I wanted.

I've made a few of these to use to decorate some prezzies this year...

What have you been up to?
Nikki x

One for the boys

I just love a challenge...... 'Nikki can I have a card please..... tonight.....' every card makers nightmare...
But as it was for a friend and I had the time to do it.... i excepted the challenge and enjoyed it too!!! lol
I had to make a card for a teenage boy - never an easy challenge!
This is what I came up with....

 The next photo is taken from my walk this weekend - I love this time of year.... the trees changing colour..... kicking the leaves..... it reminds me of walks I took with my Grandad when I was a little girl - I always loved those walks and I really loved kicking the piles of leaves...

I love these images.... so much fun and they have so many different designs.....
I think it's Hobby House - but I'll check for you and confirm or edit the post...

What have you been up to this weekend?
I'll be back soon with some more to share x

A sad farewell

I'm sorry that I haven't posted on here for a couple of weeks.... boy what a couple of weeks they have been...
My Mother In Law, Nan, has been battling cancer over the past few years, a battle we thought could be won. Well in the beginning we did.
Sadly a couple of weeks ago she became very ill and although I did my best for her and nursed and cared for her, it was her time to go.
Her funeral was today.
This is Nan.....

This picture was taken at my wedding to David..... her son....... at least they are now together again....
I wanted to share with you all the poem that I wrote for her. It was read at her funeral.

4 Candles

by Nikki Smith

There are 4 candles to be lit when we go home tonight,

4 candles that burn like a guiding light.

The 1st candle, it shines showing a mothers love,

Still present, still guiding, only now from above.

Ruth and I have so many memories of you here on this land,

while David now walks with you holding your hand.

The 2nd candle is for the gran, who in her own amazing way,

adored Kris and Callum, her 2 special grandsons, every single day.

They are both so lucky to have spent time with her here.

As these memories are precious, they keep their gran near.

The 3rd candle is for you Nan, a friend to everyone here.

Memories of special moments that we will always hold dear.

From childhood to 80 you crammed life with joy, laughter and fun.

The kindest of hearts shared with everyone.

The 4th candle we light, although a lot more we could burn.

Is for all the strength and courage you showed at every turn.

A strong matriarch figure on whom we could all depend,

with so much pride and dignity right to the end.

A light on the earth went out that day.

But now with Gordon, David and others, you will guide us all in a special way.

So for now, as tears silently fall, it's goodbye that we say.

But we know in our hearts, we'll be together one day.

I hope you like it. It came form the heart.....
I'll be back again soon with some crafty things to show you - xxx
And a massive thank you to those of you who have sent me emails or messages to let me know you are thinking of me and supporting me.
You are all totally amazing!
Thank you xxx
Nikki x

Scott & Nicki's wedding card

I was asked to do a wedding card as a commission.
I had to feature a bride and groom and the colour green..................
This is what I came up with

I think the image is a Lily of the Valley one....
I bought it as the SECC last year......

Today I am out and about.... but later on I will be playing with all the lovely Kanban stuff that I bought yesterday!!!!!! I'm gonna be busy! lol
What are you up to?
Nikki x

Home for Christmas

3 of my samples cards.
I like this range - it's great to use on it's own or with other ranges. The starts in the photo above ans glitterations stickers.
They look like nothing on the packet, but wow.... so pretty when you take them off the backing sheet.
Nikki x

Building a wreath

This is another one of the samples that you will see on the show presented by Dawn Bibby on Create and Craft today.
Again using the Home For Christmas stamps, twine and bows.
I stamped the holly sprig onto some cardstock in the shape of a wreath and then cut it out. - to get more depth to your stamping here, re stamp the image without re-inking. This will mean you get different shades of your image.

It's a great collection that has been very popular at my demos.
What are you creating at the moment?
Nikki x

Blue snowflakes

This is one of the samples I created for the show that Dawn Bibby will be presenting on Create and Craft tomorrow. (As a thank you for stopping by my blog - I thought I would show it to you first!!!).
It's created using the Home For Christmas stamps (one of the yummy new selection of goodies from Do Crafts).

I used all three of the snowflakes on my block at the one time, inked them with different shades of blue then stamped on the top of the card.
I like the look of the white organza ribbon, it's soft and gentle but creates flow on the card.
The greeting is also from the Home For Christmas range.
Back tomorrow to show you more xxx
Happy crafting!

Promarker shading

I was asked to create a birthday card for Samantha - now I don't know Samantha but I was told that she liked horses and shoes....
Hmmmm, another interesting challenge then!
So I thought I would do a bit of a colouring tutorial at the same time..... The photos should help to show you each stage as I do it.

Meet Candifloss!
First thing you need is your image to colour...... I drew this one but you could use a stamp or digi stamp if you aren't keen on drawing....... I will be doing some digis soon - I plan to give them free on this blog, so keep an eye out!

 Right here we go.......... Image ready and a selection of your colouring medium.... for this tutorial I am using promarkers.

 I am using almond, pale pink, orchid and bluebell.

 Starting with my palest colour, fill in the whole area that you wish to colour. Add shading by changing the colour of your pen to either a shade darker or a slightly different colour. Add the shading onto the opposite side of where your light source would be (I often work that my light source would be on the right hand side, so my shading is to the left).

 Remember to do the same for other parts of the image too!

 For the main body I am using Ivory and Almond. This keeps the colour light and clean but still allows shading.

 Here you can see how the slighty warmer shade helps to give depth to your image.

 Pastel beige is used to create shadow and some final depth.

 It also takes the white edge away from around the whole image.

 Time to cut it out and add glitter......
This is what she would look like if you stuck her feet into position.

 But this is what I did with her to get both things into my challenge!

I hope you like her and have found it useful to show how I coloured her.
Happy crafting.
Nikki x