SUGAR NELLIE, FUNKY KITS & MANGA MAY

Sugar Nellie are releasing an amazing set of images - 6 Manga characters which are unlike anything else I have seen. The whole set is being given as the prize for the current Sugar Bowl Challenge & with Funky Kits (from whom Sugar Nellies may be purchased) celebrating their Third Birthday there are many things happening in Scotland. Below are the various links for more information:

Sugar Nellie Blog

Sugar Nellie Manga Release - Cheerleader, Sporty, Goldilocks, Rock Idol, Tiny Tiddler & Goth Girl

Sugar Bowl Challenge

Funky Kits

Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers Forum

Karen is also asking for suggestions for future Mangas - see here

Clean & Simple Sugar Nellie on a Desert Island

front of card

inside of card

The fourth challenge at the Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers forum is to produce a Clean & Simple card. I had absolutely no idea what that entailed but Zoe had said:

"I want minimal embellishments and layers please. Something simple and pretty!!!!"

I tried not adding any ribbon but decided that the contrast in texture it provided was essential as was the subtle pearlised silver effect of the Black Moondust cardstock layer. Dimension was achieved by heat embossing the stamped image onto the focal panel & mounting that using 1mm foam pads.

As I was typing this I realised that the card I created is really representative of what I would require to make cards on a Desert Island: a selection of plain & Moondust cardstock; a selection of gingham ribbon; Sugar Nellie's Little Artist stamp (I can colour it with Distress inks or leave it plain & it is suitable for men or women, old & young); Distress Inks (the original set of 12 of which the two I used are representative); the Cuttlebug & one set of Nestabilities; & the black embossing Powder with heat gun & VersaMark stamp pad. With that little lot plus double-sided tape, scissors, ruler & knife I would manage very well indeed.

Recipe
Stamp Sugar Nellie Little Artist.
Inks etc... VersaMark Stamp Pad, Stampendous Detail Black Embossing Powder, Distress Inks (Dried Marigold, Black Soot) for edging cardstock.
Cardstock Black Moondust, cream & orange from "stash".
Punches/Dies Spellbinders Nestabilities Large Deckled Rectangles.
Ribbon from "stash".
 
Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers 4 - Clean & Simple
Colour Create #43 - Burnt Orange, Black & Cream
Crafty Cardmakers #19 - Desert Island (see above explanation)
One Stop Craft Challenge #77 - Metallic Colours or Materials (the pearlised silver effect of the Black Moondust cardstock) 
Paperplay Challenges Wk 16 - No Patterned Paper

ProMarker Candy - & an educational tour

I've been wracking my brains over Clean & Simple & what it entails, then came across this blog & had all my answers, never mind the candy being offered. I stumbled acxross it - quite how I don't know - the candy draw ends 24th Apr.

Swedish American Candy

I was highly amused by this blog candy for it reminded me so much of my own family. Many of my father's uncles (both my parents were Swedes & I was born there) emigrated to America & my father's brother did the same in 1964. So a combination of Swedish stamps & American papers had me reminiscing.

Happy Birthday Sugar Nellie

front of card

inside of card

detail of image

It was incredibly diifficult to photograph this combination of colours. The brown is a deep chocolate & that which appears white is actually a pearlised golden cream. The patterned paper is actually a mixture of greens from yellow & olive greens to blue greens, the latter more evident on the turned over corner which exposes a  Regency Stripe design.

Since I  wanted to submit a Golden Oldie for Sugar Nellie (they are celebrating their third birthday in May & have been telling some of the history of the company in their blog) my stamped  image had to be this one again. I've tried to do something a little bit different & so picked  what I  considered a complicated layered Sketch (Friday Sketchers #98 rotated 90 degrees clockwise) with a turned over corner.

Recipe

Image Stamped (Sugar Nellie Little Artist) & heat embossed (Stampendous Detail Gold).

Sentiment Stamped (Woodware #FRCL046 Fairy Delight) & heat embossed (Stampendous Detail Gold).
Punches Corner - Crafts Too, Scalloped Oval - Woodware.

Patterned Paper K&Company Brenda Walton Madeline. 
Cardstock & gems from "stash".
All the cardstock & paper edges were inked (Brilliance Galaxy Gold).

Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie Golden Oldies card competition
Friday Sketchers #98

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 33

front of card

inside of card (the light cardstock is actually pale yellow)

close-up showing sparkle on glasses & puddle

close-up showing floral elements

Challenge 33 is a sketch by Gayle with the stipulation to include flowers. Of my two Sugar Nellie images Little Artist was the more suited to the sketch, but I had to think how to incorporate the flowers without them looking like an afterthought or making the card too feminine. The original stamped image has the little boy placing handprints onto the easel - these I replaced with flower gems to make it look as if he is painting them. I replaced the sentiment with the floral spray & the whole sketch was rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise.

Recipe

Image Stamped (Sugar Nellie, Little Artist) using VersaFine Onyx Black. Coloured (Daler Rowney Artists' Watercolour Pencils, Sakura Stardust Pens & Inkssentials White Opaque pen), cut out & mounted onto punched (Woodware) circle with inked (Brilliance Mediterranean Blue) edges.

Floral Spray Made using punches (Woodware except outer petals, Xcut), edges inked (petals - Brilliance Sunflower Yellow, leaves - Tombow Marker Pen), outer petals glittered (Stickles Lemon Ice) & innermost petals coloured (Sakura Stardust Pen).

Inside Message panel punched (Woodware), edges inked (Brilliance Sunflower Yellow) & double mounted onto patterned paper & navy cardstock. The navy cardstock corners were punched (Fiskars).

Paper Provo Craft French Country Colors Bitty Scrap Pad, edges inked (Brilliance Mediterranean Blue).

Cardstock from "stash" with the navy edges inked (Brilliance Mediterranean Blue).

Gems from "stash".                                  

Stationery Childhood Outings with Sugar Nellie

diagonal double pocket card with notecards & envelopes

(front view)

 

back view showing flat knot on band

the various parts with band in place & without

close-up showing sparkle & texture on image 

The third challenge on the Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers Forum is to make a Diagonal Double Pocket card. I adapted the tutorial on Splitcoastampers so that I could use the A4 double-sided cardstock I already had & again used one of my two Sugar Nellie stamps (I shall have some other Sugar Nellie images in a month or so). I find there's an unpredictable dynamic to what I work on & a project develops as my thoughts interact with the practical execution - this time the result was a small stationery set containing two sizes of notecards & envelopes. Also, as in this instance where working on  the owl image made me think of my childhood birdwatching trips with a friend, challenges to enter somehow present themselves.

Recipe
Focal Image Stamped (Sugar Nellie Owl issued with Craft Stamper Magazine July 2009) &  heat embossed (Stampendous Claret Embossing Powder). The beak & claws were highlighted using 3D Crystal Lacquer & the hearts on the body with Stickles Glitter Glue (Xmas Red). Cut out & mounted on a band/collar made using 4 silky flowers (from embellishment kits of unknown origin purchased some time ago) & ribbon (from "stash"). The ribbon was tied in a flat knot on the back so that the collar can just slide off. The collar both provides some decoration on the back & gives extra security for the notecards & envelopes (though they sit fairly firmly without it).
Notecards 2 sizes of deckled rectangles (Spellbinders Nestabilities) cut using Cuttlebug, stamped (Elusive Images Wise Owl - larger feather, Elusive Images Let Your Hear Sing - smaller feather) using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink & the deckle edges inked with the same. Envelopes (from "stash") similary stamped with smaller feather.
Double Pocket Card Base Forever Friends Gift Wrapped Double-sided Cardstock, all edges inked (Aged Mahogany Distress Ink) after assembly.

Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie Splitcoaststampers 3 - Diagonal Double Pocket Card
Charisma Cardz #15 - Monochromatic
Cupcake Craft Challenge #86 - Childhood Memories (I was an avid birdwatcher)
Cute Card Thursday #108 - Touchy Feely (ribbon, silky flowers, the double-sided cardstock is slightly textured)
One Stop Craft Challenge #76 - Things with Wings
Papertake Weekly - Cutie Pie (owl image)
Secret Crafter Saturday #79 - A Day Out (my childhood birdwatching outings)
Stamp Something - Layered (the owl on top of 4 flowers on top of ribbon & the whole project is layers)

Magnolian Birthday Blog Hop

The Just Magnolia Challenge is celebrating a year of challenges with an amazing blog hop. Both the challenge & the blog hop are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. It is quite an educational tour - there are so many different styles & interpretations of both the theme (Thank You) & Mina's sketch. In addition some of the DT members have made little gifts to accompany their cards. It really is worth taking a look.

Tri-Shutter Challenging Challenge with Sugar Nellie

closed card lying flat

extended card lying flat

extended card standing

close-up of an image panel

close-up of message panel

On the Sugar Nellie Forum at Splitcoaststampers Zoe set the challenge of making a Tri-Shutter card. I  decided that out of my 2 Sugar Nellie images the owl was the more suitable & having been intrigued by the colour combination at Colour Create set about finding some paper. Leafing through my Joanna Sheen pads I stumbled across the pattern above & was immediately reminded of the owl's eyes.

It was whilst placing a lilac circle within its scalloped counterpart that I misjudged & offset it to one side. However as I was about to bin it & start again I remembered the Crafty Cardmakers challenge, thought again & did something rather daring. I decided that the narrower border at the top of the circle actually added some weight to the panel so I did the same on the second panel & kept that element as part of the design. I might even use that design detail on purpose in future.

Recipe
Image Panels Stamped (Sugar Nellie Owl issued with Craft Stamper Magazine July 2009) using VersaFine Onyx Black. Watercoloured (Daler-Rowney Artists' Watercolour Pencils), beak & claws highlighted using 3D Crystal Lacquer & hearts on the body with Stickles Glitter Glue (Silver Ice). Cut out & edged with Inkssentials White Opaque Pen. Mounted onto punched (Woodware) circle & scalloped circle, scallops paper pierced.
Message Panel Oval & scalloped oval punched (Woodware), scallops paper pierced.
Paper Joanna Sheen - New Oriental.
Ribbon Slides Maya Road Boston City Round Slides.
Moondust lilac & plain white cardstock, ribbon & gems from "stash".
Edges of all cardstock & paper elements inked (Distress Ink) as were the 4 outer edges of the Tri-Shutter card base.

Challenges Entered
Sugar Nellie SCS Tri-Shutter
Colour Create #42 - Lilac, Grey & White
Crafty Cardmakers #18 - A Challenging Challenge (Tri-Shutter format, using ribbon sliders, see above)
Totally Papercrafts #11 - Distressing (Distress Ink edging on cardstock & paper)

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 32 - Sketch by YOU!

front of card

inside of card

close-up of focal panel, the paper piercing is just visible

close-up of message panel showing paper piercing

Challenge 32 is the choice of a sketch to be selected from the previous challenges. I made a half fold card based upon the sketch from Challenge 28 rotated 90 degrees clockwise. The sentiment was replaced with a bow.

Recipe

Focal Image Stamped (Sugar Nellie Owl issued with Craft Stamper Magazine July 2009) & heat embossed (Stampendous Detail Silver) onto punched (Woodware) scalloped square. Scallops paper pierced. Four hearts were punched (Woodware) from patterned paper & placed with the scallops angled outwards to both represent the four small squares in the sketch & mount the focal image upon.

Background Panel  Moondust cardstock edged with punched (Martha Stewart) patterned paper border.
Internal Message Panel Oval scallop punched (Woodware) from Moondust cardstock, scallops paper pierced & mounted on patterned paper.
Paper Laura Ashley 2008, Contemporary.
Pearls Kanban.
Bows & cardstock from "stash".
All paper & cardstock edges were inked (Brilliance Mediterranean Blue).

Fortnightly Candy - Lorraine's Loft

Lorraine's candy is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Normally it is run on a fortnightly basis but not this week - I stumbled upon  this week's stamp prize  & thought it such a different image that I investigated further.

Wings in Pink

easel card standing

card open

close-up of butterfly & distressing

close-up of focal image

I did not intend to make an easel card this time but then Pile It On set that as the challenge. I used Claudia's sketch from Cute Stamps & Cards. Photographing the card was difficult because of the shimmery nature of the focal image.

Recipe

Focal Image Stamped (Inkadinkado 99120 Patterned Birds & Bugs), heat embossed  (Stampendous Star Dust) & watercoloured using Sakura Stardust pens. Oval (cut using Xcut Shape Cutter) edged with Stickles Glitter Glue.

Background Panels Cardstock inked & stamped (Stampers Anonymous Fancy Flourish) using Distress Inks.  A combination of crumpling & dampening aged the appearance & the panels were ironed flat. Edges inked (Distress Inks).

Propping Panel Butterflies - punched (Woodware), shaped, edges inked (Distress Inks), dampened to disperse the inks, re-shaped & covered in Glossy Accents. Flower - assorted sequins & beads from "stash". Scalloped circles punched (Woodware) & outer scallops inked (Brilliance Starlite Black).

Message Panel Punched (Woodware) & scallops inked (Brilliance Starlite Black).
Cardstock, ribbon & pearls from "stash".

Challenges Entered
Allsorts Wk 46 - No Design Papers
Charisma Cardz #13 - Animal Magic (one of the DT samples featured a bird)
Crafts & Me #1 - Fairies or Wings
Cute Stamps & Cards - Sketch
Pile It on #13 - Easel Card
Simon Says Stamp - It's So Distressing (Distress Inks & background panels)
Stamp Something - Pink Something

Tickled Pink Candy

Blogs & Challenges have an international dimension that I'd not appreciated before I stumbled upon this "community" in January. Magnolia images are used across the continents in interestingly diverse ways & it was this phenomenon that introduced me to Kellie Winnell of the Magnolia Down Under Challenge Blog. Kellie has her own business Tickled Pink Stamps with a Design Team of Pink Ladies:

"Tickled Pink Stamps first started out as Magnolia Down Under in 2009, but in April 2010 Magnolia Down Under was taken over to Tickled Pink Stamps and supplied a larger range of stamps. What was the reason for this? I am Kellie the owner and founder of Tickled Pink Stamps and when I first started stamping I fell for anything and everything Magnolia, I had to have them. While I still share the same love for them to this day, I started to see more amazing stamps by talented designers world wide and I just had to share them around Australia and this is how Tickled Pink Stamps was born, aiming to be Australia's No. 1 Stamp supplier of all things cute and Tickled Pink.... "

Her work is well worth looking at & she is generously sharing some Tickled Pink candy (until 1st May 2010) to celebrate the changes she is making.