Happy 10th Birthday!

Welcome back :)

And thank you to all those who have left comments and/or have joined my site recently. I really appreciate it. Spread the word!

Last weekend was my nephew's 10th birthday. Goodness me, time goes fast.... Here's the card I made for him.

Card stock by American Crafts "Denim"

Papers: My Memories # 140044 & Kaisercraft P431 "Volume" from the Rewind range, "Go for Broke" P320 from the Rustic Charm range. 

Grosgrain ribbon by Kaisercraft.

I used navy and silver inks from my stash.

Twine by Hemptique.

Embossing folder "Swiss Dots" by Couture Creations. 

As I was making this card, things got a little messy. I think maybe there was a problem with the quality of the inks (those ones are a little old). As a result, I had ink all over the place - so I decided I would add some more. Boys can be messy so this became the perfect "messy boy" card. 

Lots of inky ribbon, knotted twine and bumpy bits. 

I think he liked it - he was having too much fun at his party really :) 

Don't forget, my etsy store is up and running now - The Little Purple Forest Shop. Take a peek, tell your friends :) I'm hoping to do a few more things soon to stock the shelves. Things tend to start getting busy this time of year with Christmas fast approaching! 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Abs 

The Little Purple Forest Shop!

Welcome back everybody :)

The Little Purple Forest Shop is now open! If you would like to browse, you can do so from here. I must admit, I was a little nervous upon clicking the "Open Shop" button. Eeeeeee! Then I suddenly had an urge to cut a ribbon and drink some champagne.... :)

When I was a little girl, my dad would always give me Crayola crayons for my birthday and Christmas. I loved them! There were so many different shades and I found the names of the colours really interesting - Burnt Sienna, Antique Brass, Cornflower, Melon....and I remember being amazed that there were crayons in Gold and Silver! Wow! My mum and I would colour in for hours. I think I still have my big jumbo colouring in book somewhere that we coloured our way through. I still love to colour in and really wanted to get into using markers on my cards.

So, this is my first attempt at using Copic markers. I learned quite quickly that there is a bit of an art to using these, and even an art to choosing the right colours to use together. After watching a couple of "how to" videos on You Tube and a couple of practice runs, I think I have done ok....

A little hippo!

I love twine. I find it a lot less frustrating to tie compared to ribbon :)

And something for the inside...

A little frog! Ribbit!

Card stock by Kaisercraft - Vanilla

Papers by Cartabella - "Dear Little Dots"

Also a lovely white piece of paper which I think may have been by Christina Re.

Stamp & rhinestones by Kaisercraft.

Ink by Versa Color - Sage 187 and a black from my stash.

Copic markers - E40, BV00, BV23 (frog) & R20, E40 (hippo).

Twine by Hemptique.

Embossing folder by Couture Creations "Swiss Dots".

The paper I used for these cards was more like card stock - quite heavy - which makes for a lovely sturdy end result. 

Ribbit!

These cards are available as a 2 pack at my new Etsy store - The Little Purple Forest Shop. Have a browse!

Next on my "to craft" list, a Happy Birthday card for one of my nephews. He's 10 years old already...I remember holding him as a little baby....*sigh*....

Till next time,

Abs :)

Thanks and Thoughts.

Welcome back :)

I am still on my self imposed challenge of resisting the urge to buy new supplies, and use up what I already have. As all crafties understand, it is one of the easiest things in the world to see some pretty paper, embellishments, stamps or whatever the case may be, and believe 100% that they are needed and should be bought. It doesn't even matter if you know you have absolutely no time in the near future to craft, or have anything specific that you need to make - that new range of papers is coming home regardless.

I am quite proud of myself for resisting this urge for as long as I have....that's why I bought a new embossing machine the other day...:) Kind of like a little reward....tee hee....it's my first embossing machine and I love it. I might even name it. I have been wanting one for so long and was going to wait for Santa to perhaps drop one off but I found a good deal and went for it. Yippee! So stay tuned for embossing. I might even emboss the bills to make them a little more attractive....and just so I can use my machine.

Now for some craft... The papers I used for these cards were really versatile. Most of the detail was already on the paper, all I had to do was be a bit creative with what I already had in stock. See what you think.

Card stock by American Crafts "Aloe" & "Grape" (Thank You Card) & "Lilac" (Just For You Card)

Papers by K & Company "Sparkly Sweet"

Inks by Versa Color Sage 187 & Boysenberry 26

Yarn by DMC #553

Rhinestones by Kaisercraft

Stamps and flower punch - not sure of the brand, sorry! Have had them for a long time. 

I used a flower punch to create some double layered blooms, and added some yarn to the flower stem for some detail. One of the papers in the collection had some nice big patterns to cut out and use as elements - you can see this to the top left of the "thank you". 

A little something for the inside...

And some detail for the inside.

I love the colours in these cards. The combination on the papers was probably something I would not have come up with myself. It was fun working with some different shades. These cards will soon be available as a 2 pack at my Etsy store - The Little Purple Forest Shop. Stay tuned!

In one of my previous posts, I made a card for a friend who was soon to be married. She had a High Tea as part of her celebrations. You can see the card I made for her here. Coming up in the next post is the card I made for the newly weds. Think tropical.....curious? See you soon!

Thanks for visiting :)

Abs 

Funky Cards For Boys.

Welcome back :)

Wow! Little Purple Forest has had over 1000 hits! Thank you everybody :) It is much appreciated and very encouraging. Please feel free to follow too!

Just popped by to show you these two cards, some funky patterns and colours for the boys!

I hope your eyes aren't hurting...they are pretty bright! 

Card stock by American Crafts: "Grape"

Inks by Versa Color: Sage 187 & Boysenberry 26

All papers by Kaisercraft: from the "Konstrukt" paper pad

Some detail for the inside...

And again, something for the inside...

I really like the bright colours and mish mash of patterns on these cards. With such contrast, I didn't bother embellishing them any further - I think they speak for themselves really. And it's good to see that you can make something with impact by using only card, paper and ink! Easy huh! I must admit, it was fun tearing up paper rather than trying to cut to precision :) I purposely left them as generic cards so they can be used as the occasion arises. 

These cards will soon be available to purchase as a 2 pack at THE LITTLE PURPLE FOREST SHOP on etsy.com. Whoo hoo! Coming soon!

There are some pretty cards coming up next...lovely colours. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Abs :)