Pen / Marker Storage - Bargain Solution!

Hi guys

If you saw my blog post yesterday you may remember I mentioned that I had a possible inexpensive solution to my Promarker/Flexmarker storage problem.

I've been looking around for storage for my growing collection of alcohol markers and just can't stretch to the cost of many that I've found online so far.  Until now I've had them in a couple of boxes, all thrown in together so its been very frustrating hunting through them each time I want to colour a different image.

I was recently at my local Home Bargains store when I saw these Flat Pack Pen Pots.  So tonight this is what I've done with them...

I bought 6 of these

straightforward flat pack design

I used strong double-sided tape to secure the internal flaps

Once the 6 were constructed I used the same strong adhesive tape to secure them together

and here is the finished article!

The boxes are only made of card (I'd guess about 300gsm) so the whole thing is a little bit bendy when containing the pens but its great for what I need for now.

And here's the best news of all, the whole unit (excluding adhesive) cost me...

£1.74!

Yep, each pen pot was 29p!

So, this will do me nicely for the time being.  I could do with more sections as I have some groups of colours in together but its certainly better than having them in a box.

I hope this idea can be of use if any of you are looking for the same storage solution :)

Take care

Muse Challenge #18 / Addicated to CAS #13 / Stampendous May 2013

Morning fellow bloggers

I made this card a couple of days ago but this is the first chance I've had to get it posted before the Muse Challenge ends later today.

This week's muse, Marion Vagg, has created a gorgeous bright card, it really stood out when it was initially posted at the beginning of the week.  I wanted to create something similar but wasn't feeling inspired by my floral stamps.  But then I remembered the Pink Petticoat stamps I went in search of recently as they were a free gift with Quick Cards Made Easy magazine (Issue 113 May 2013).  I think its still the current publication so go grab one, there was also a little pack of Pink Petticoat papers as a freebie :)

So, here's what I produced.  I decided to use the bright colours, the flowers and the sunshine yellow border of Marion's card as my inspiration...

 

 

I stamped the image in Versamark and embossed using black embossing powder.  I then coloured using Promarkers.  I decided on a square base card and wanted to keep it very CAS.  I think square cards look great with lots of white space.

 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Pink Petticoat - Pretty Potties stamps; Wild Rose Studio - Everyday Greetings
• Ink: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - Stampin' emboss Black
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Premium Cardstock (yellow); Southfield - Premium Pure White Card 200gsm; Card base from stash

 

I really need to get myself one of those anti-static thingamajigs to stop the embossing powder clinging to other parts of the card.  I used a little brush to remove most of the unwanted bits but some I just couldn't remove without disturbing the main image.  Apart from that, I really like this little card, simple but cheerful :)

 

Here is Marion's stunning card, fab in so many ways :)

 

 

 

Update:

 

I posted this card very early this morning and wasn't really awake! So, I've since looked through some challenge blogs and am also entering this card for the following:

 

Addicted to CAS #13 - Birthday

Stampendous Impressions - May 2013 - Fabulous Florals

 

 

I'd like to say a massive thank you for voting for my Muse entry last week and for the Honorable Mention, it means so much to know that you like my cards.  Thanks for joining me today and please leave a comment, it really makes me smile to hear what you have to say :)

 

Have a fab bank holiday weekend whatever you're up to.

 

Bye for now

 



To My Brother

Hi guys

I'm here today to share a card I made for my brother's birthday.  I couldn't upload it until now in case he saw it (like he's going to be interested in cardmaking and view my blog anyway!!!)

I used one of my new Wild Rose Studio stamps and thought I'd have some more practice with my ProMarkers and FlexMarkers.  They are all mixed up in a box at the moment so its a nightmare to go through them and find colours that blend although I may have found an inexpensive solution in my hunt for marker storage.  I'll update you soon if it works! :)

Anyway, on to the card, and apologies again for the photography, I'm still trying to find an ideal spot to get the best light...

 

 

My bro probably won't be happy with the tubbiness of this little guy but I thought he looked quite similar! And anyway, he should be pleased as I've given him more hair! :)

 

I didn't want to overload the outside of the card so I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment on the inside.

 

I really struggle to make masculine cards with what I have in my stash so I thought this would be a good time to enter the latest challenge over at The Paper Players where the brief is to make a CAS masculine card.  I'm quite pleased with my colouring effort on this one so I'm also entering it for the I Love ProMarkers challenge which this week is 'Anything Goes'.

 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Wild Rose Studio - Time for a Pint; Personal Impressions - To My... (Sue Dix)
• Ink: Impress - Jet Black
• Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Reverse Wonky Rectangles; MFT Die-namics - Fishtail Flag Stax
• Cardstock: Southfield - Premium Pure White Card 200gsm; Card base from stash
• Design Paper: Hot Off The Press - Cardmaker's Ultimate Pack (Floral)
• Coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers
• Dew drops from stash

 

Thanks for popping by, I made another card for another challenge last night so I'll be back with that in a while once I've photographed it.

 

TTFN :)

 



Precious Baby Boy

Hi folks

Today I'm sharing a card I made for an order for a friend.  The little chap concerned made an appearance into the world about 6 weeks early so I had to make this one ahead of time! :)

Apologies for the dark photo, I took this at about 7.15am today and the light wasn't great but I had to pass the card on today.

I couldn't wait to use my new stamp set by Clearly Besotted Stamps, Baby Love.  There are some lovely images in this set and I think this little pram is just adorable.  I was also itching to use my new pack of MFT Die-namics Fishtail Flags Stax.  I've seen these used all over blogland but everywhere I looked they were either really expensive or sold out.  I dragged my chap around a local craft shop a few weeks ago and he thought I was completely bonkers when I let out a little shriek from the corner of the shop where I found a little pack just for me!  *little claps*

I had all the elements stamped and cut out and was going to use a square card base but I just couldn't find a layout I liked so I decided on a landscape layout in the end.  I'm not entirely happy with it as it looks a little busy, sometimes I start with a layout idea and other cards just sort of evolve.  The pram ended up looking a little lost so I sparkled it up with some Stickles for a bit of bling.  Boys do glam too right?! :)

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Baby Love
• Ink: Versa Color - Baby Blue; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels One; MFT Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Stax; Xcut Nesting Dies - Circles
• Cardstock: Crafters Companion - Neenah Classic Crest Card (white); Docrafts - Boofle 6" x 6" Designstax (blue gingham)
• Glitter Glue: Stickles - Star Dust
• Ribbon and gems from stash

Hopefully be back soon as I hope to find time to make a couple of challenge cards in the next day or two.

Thanks for popping by as always.

CAS(E) this Sketch #28

Hi there

I've only ever entered one challenge over at CAS(E) this Sketch so when I saw this week's sketch I wanted to have a go as I love the layout.

I had a shuffle through my stamps and decided to use a stamp set I've had for years, it was one of my very first stamp purchases and hasn't seen the light of day since I've been blogging.  Its the Perfectly Clear 'Window Box' set by Stampendous.  I combined this with a few extras (hearts and sentiment) from a couple of my sets from Clearly Besotted Stamps and came up with this card.

 

This is the fabulous sketch we were given to work with...

I stamped the images using Impress ink then coloured with Promarkers.  I then had my first experience of using Glossy Accents...wow, I'm addicted, this stuff is fantastic!  I used this to highlight the hearts and then added some black gemstones to the flower centres.  I framed the card on a black mat to bring it all together.

Materials used:

• Cardstock: Crafters Companion - Neenah Classic Crest Card; Card base and black card from stash
• Stamps: Stampendous - Perfectly Clear 'Window Box, Clearly Besotted Stamps - Many Thanks (hearts) and Paired Up (sentiment)
• Ink: Impress - Jet Black
• Promarkers: Poppy and Cocktail Pink
• Accents: Ranger - Glossy Accents; Hobbycraft - 3mm Adhesive Gems

Right, I'm now starving as I got into crafty mode as soon as I came home from work and haven't yet had my tea!  Off to raid the kitchen :)

Thanks for popping by and as always I really appreciate any comments :) xx

Pastel Butterflies

Morning crafters

I'm back today to share a card I made last night for this week's Muse challenge.  Had to wait until this morning to photograph it!

This week's muse is Therese Calvird and she has created a gorgeous card for us to use as our inspiration.

I visited my craft cupboard but came up with not much at all in the beginning so I decided to pretty much CASE Therese's card and used butterflies and flowers instead.  I love the layout and the use of pastel colours so I stayed with this theme.

Here's what I came up with...

The vision in my head was a bit different to how it turned out and I'm not particularly loving this card now but as I made it for the challenge I thought I may as well share it! :)

The camera hasn't picked up the DP too well, the yellow butterfly has a white swirl design and the blue one has a white circle design.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Butterfly Wishes Additions; Sentiment tag from unknown set
• Ink: Versafine - Black Onyx
• Die: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Butterfly Wishes
• Design Paper: Dovecraft - Back to Basics IV (6 x 6 paper pack)
• Cardstock, paper flowers and dew drops from stash

This was the inspiration card but I don't think I've done this one justice in the slightest!...

Ok, that's all from me today, I hope you all have a fabulous Saturday whatever you're up to.

Bye for now from sunny (yes sunny!) Torquay :)

Less Is More - Week 119 One Layer - Take 2!

Hi there

I'm back again with my second entry for the latest Less is More challenge.  The brief is to create a one layer card using a coloured card blank, no white, ivory, black or kraft allowed.

I decided on a navy blue card base and came up with this...

I decided to use a stamp set I only purchased recently and haven't used yet.  This is one of four flower flourish designs in the set.  I stamped the image and sentiment with white pigment ink which came out better than I thought it would.  I was undecided what colour gems to use at first then I went with orange which is blue's opposite colour to make them stand out. 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Inkadinkado - Modern Flower Flourish; Woodware - Salutations
• Ink: Versa Color - White
• Cardstock and gems from stash

That's all from me tonight, glad to be back in blogland :)

Take care

Less is More - Week 119 One Layer

Evening lovelies

I've found some time tonight to whip up a little card to take part in this week's challenge over at Less is More.  This week we are to make a one layer card and this is the brief...

Coloured Card Blank

"Yes that's right, none of your boring, white, ivory, black or kraft card blanks, we want to see you add some colour"

 

So, without further ado, here's my entry...

 

 

I raided my stash of card blanks and grabbed this one, I've not used a tall card for a long time and I actually really like them.  This card base has a lilac pearlescent finish so I had to think carefully about how to stamp it.  I only really have pigment ink but I've struggled with this on cards with a glossy pearlescent surface so I opted for VersaMark and then embossed with black embossing powder and it worked really well.  I then coloured the flowers with Letraset markers and accented the flower centres with Liquid Pearls.

 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Wild Rose Studio - Flower Doodles
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - Black
• Coloured with Promarker (Magenta) and Flexmarker (Wild Orchid)
• Accents: Liquid Pearls - White Opal

 

I'll be back in a mo with another entry, couldn't stop at one! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uniko Studio Design Team CASE Challenge

Hi there

So sorry I've not been posting on here lately, just seem to constantly be busy and had no time for crafting but last night I MADE TIME!

I had a little hop around the Uniko Studio May Design Team Blog Hop in which a previously released stamp set, Pure Florals: Gerbera, is being showcased.  This stamp set has definitely made an appearance on my wish list after seeing the fabulous cards made by the Design Team.

I then decided to take part in their CASE challenge to CASE one of the Design Team's cards.  I chose one of Amber's lovely cards.  I wanted to use an Uniko Studio product so as I only possess two stamp sets I had to go with the Bright Butterflies stamps, and they stamp beautifully.

Here is my interpretation of Amber's card...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko Studio - Bright Butterflies
• Ink: Versa Color - Lavender, Pink, Fresh Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Cardstock: Papermania Premium Textured Cardstock (pink); black and white card from stash
• Embossing Folder: Cricut Cuttlebug - James' set (1 of 4 folders)
• Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels One
• Ribbon from stash

My card isn't a patch on that created by Amber but I had fun making it.  I've not used this many layers on a card for a while so had lots of fun :)

Here are Amber's gorgeous cards...

Thanks for popping by and hopefully I'll be back with a lot more to share soon.

Take care

I'm Still Here!

Hi guys

Just a quick post this morning to apologise for not being very active on here lately.  I've taken a week off work and have been getting out and about making the most of the sunshine.  I've just had a lovely couple of days in Cornwall with my other half just to feel like we've had a break.

I'm off out for lunch today with some friends to celebrate my forthcoming birthday on Tuesday.  We're then continuing with drinks this afternoon into the evening...not sure how long I'll last, can't party like I used to!  Gonna try my hardest to feel young as I'm now heading into the last year of my thirties.  Its the big one next year...yikes! :(

Its a gorgeous day down here in South Devon, I hope it is where you are too and that you all have a fabulous bank holiday.

Catch you soon