The Artistic Sloth Digital Stamps - Trixie

Congratulations to the super talented Trudie Howard who has launched her very first range of digital stamps today.  The first bundle of images is a big collection of excellently designed characters – including a selection in time for Halloween and the festive season!!!  I’m delighted to have been asked to join her design team and I hope you all like my first colouring that I have created for her using her character Trixie.

You can find Trudie’s digi store “The Artistic Sloth” here on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheArtisticSloth

Also, if you want to grab a FREE digi gift please pop along to The Artist Sloth Facebook fan group here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1849482695088470/?ref=br_rs 

I hope you enjoy Trudie’s designs and I can’t wait to share more finished colourings with you soon

Coloured with Spectrum Noir pens.

Festive & Metallic Spectrum Noir Inkpads Launch!!! Hochanda

Right, that’s it – summer’s over, let’s get festive!  If you enjoyed the new Spectrum Noir inkpads then don’t miss the launch of 6 new festive-inspired colours in the Harmony inkpad range PLUS 6 exciting colours in the BRAND NEW metallic inkpad range called Spectrum Noir Midas!  There’s so much I can tell you about these Midas inkpads starting with the fact that they are opaque and highly pigmented plus they have an amazing metallic look to them.  Because they will layer up in a very opaque way you can stamp with them, do inky background techniques and, my personal favourite thing about these inkpads is that they can literally replace my gilding waxes for papercrafting (plus multiple home decor / mixed media applications too!)

Find these inkpads at Crafter’s Companion and on Hochanda at 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday 20th September 2018, and through the day on the 21st.  Also on the show will be Donna Radcliffe’s Christmas Elves stamps and some fantastic festive 3D Embossing Folders from Crafter’s Companion (see below for a sneaky peak)…

Spectrum Noir Harmony and Finesse Inkpads UK Launch

Spectrum Noir Harmony, Finesse and Watermark inkpads will be launching tonight on Hochanda at 6pm and 8pm.  These really are the new must-have inkpads in my opinion!  I’ve created a selection of samples to show the versatility of the Harmony inkpads.

Essentially, the Harmony inkpads are water-reactive dye inkpads for distressing, stamping and blending; Finesse are the permanent inkpads and come in 2 types – water-proof (so that you can use water based mediums like the Harmony inks or aqua pens) and alcohol-proof (so that you can use your Spectrum Noir pens or other alcohol markers).  Finally there is also a watermark inkpad for watermark techniques and heat embossing.  For more details on the range click here for the Spectrum Noir website or visit Crafter’s Companion to shop.

The main image is using the Finesse alcohol-proof inkpad for colouring with my Spectrum Noir pens.  The background is a perfectly blended rainbow using the Harmony inks.

This card was created using a combination of the Harmony inkpads and the Rustic Brown Finesse Water-proof inkpad.

Spectrum Noir Inkpads!!! World Launch!!!

I’m so excited that I can finally tell you that Spectrum Noir is launching BRAND NEW INKPADS!  These truly are amazing!

In particular I’ve been playing with the Harmony inkpads which are water reactive and dye based.  They are perfect for blending and distress techniques, plus they are slightly slower at drying than other inks which means they are so easy to work with!  The collection includes co-ordinated 3-colour palates which means that for each colour you will get a light, medium and darker tone – enabling you to create 3-colour ombres and blends straight away!  Those middle tones are soooo vibrant and bright!  In conclusion, I LOVE these inkpads and can’t wait to get hold of the storage trays so that they can live on my desk!

The inkpads are launching on HSN on 11th July 2018 and in August in the UK on Hochanda.

All of my samples below were inked onto Sheena Stamping Card.

To create this effect I have used the yellow inkpad as an embossing ink for clear embossing powder.  That made the butterflies glossy and resit the rest of the inking techniques.  Stamps by Cherry Green and embossing folder from Crafter’s Companion Textures range.

I’ve done a similar embossing powder resist technique on this card but using a stencil.  Stamps by Sheena Douglass and quilling flower dies from Crafter’s Companion.

Crafter’s Companion Subscription Box July 2018

Have you seen the new Crafter’s Companion Subscription boxes yet?  Each month they are packed with lots of products to get you started making projects straight from the box.  I was lucky enough to be asked to make some samples using the July 2018 box which happens to be based on the Sparkle pens!  You get over 130 elements which includes 3 sparkle pens (a yellow, a blue and a pink/red) which are all the colours you need to get started with sparkle pens, cute 4” card blanks and envelopes, clear stamp sheet, plain watercolour card, watercolour card with white embossed images, watercolour card with printed images ready to colour and coloured paper for matting and layering.  I wish we had sparkle vision as it never shows in photos – but basically imagine that everywhere these pens have touched is sparkling with microfine glitter.

Apart from glue and foam pads, I’ll mention on each sample if I’ve used anything else in addition to the box…