Clockwork Rabbit

I recently received a commission to design a Clockwork Rabbit to be used as a tattoo.  Although I have drawn several different clockwork birds now and the odd fish I have not done anything like the rabbit before.  I enjoyed the challenge of working out how to illustrate the bunny so that it looked like a clockwork animal that could work but still looked like a rabbit.  Here are some pictures from my sketchbook…

This is the final illustration drawn in dip pen and ink… 

Although I can’t see myself ever having a tattoo (not a fan of needles!), the idea that someone else would want my designs permanently drawn onto their body is such an honour!  Here’s the finished tattoo of the rabbit…

A sunny weekend…

Did you have a good bank holiday weekend?  I made the most of the sunshine by spending my time in the garden :)  

Watching the Chelsea Flower Show last week on tv inspired me to tidy my own garden – with all the aquilegia on flower at the moment it is looking very pretty.  I was also inspired to have a go at some flower arranging.  Normally my idea of flower arranging is to poke some flowers in a vase and hope they stay where I put them!  I found some tips on Pinterest and tried using some clear tape across the top of the vase in a criss-cross pattern to make a sort of mesh to keep the stems in place.

I was actually quite pleased with the outcome – much better than my usual attempts!  This vase contains an allium, bluebells, mint, privet and grass…

I also made another arrangement in a bowl, not so happy with this one but it was an experiment!  This one is mainly made from lilac and heather.

Steampunk Stamps

I’ve been playing around with my rubber stamp samples from Queen Kat Designs and made this card…

I used the Clockwork Blackbird stamp and lightly coloured it with pencil and pen.  The ‘suede’ coloured card blank is made from recycled card and I have coloured the edges with a gold ink pad.  This is one of my favourite techniques at the moment – I coloured the edges of the scalloped circle and cream card strip (across the bottom of the card) with the gold ink pad too.

I also used some of the papers from my Steampunk scrapbooking paper set.  The mini spotty buttons and bakers twine are from my Steampunk embellishment pack.

The Clockwork Blackbird stamp comes with the Clockwork Robin – you can buy these stamps and more of my designs from Queen Kat Designs.  The stamps are laser etched and come unmounted – so don’t take up much space!  As you can see from the bird above, the stamps are really detailed.  I'll be making some more samples up with my other stamp designs - so look out for those on the blog soon!

New Paper Crafting Kits

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog recently, the reason is I have been working on some exciting new products and I’m finally able to show you what I have been doing for the last couple of weeks!  I am expanding the craft supplies section of my shop and combining my designs for scrapbooking papers with some gorgeous new supplies like ribbons, bakers twine and buttons.

There are 3 new collections of kits; ‘London Calling’, ‘Cupcakes and Roses’ and ‘Steampunk’.  Each theme will have a card making kit and embellishment pack.  I will also be selling separate sets of things like baker’s twine.  If these prove popular I will be adding more themes and colours too.

The London / British themed card making kit contains 5 cards and envelopes, printed patterned papers, collage sheet and embellishments such as ribbon, buttons and beads.  (I love the bunting grosgrain ribbon in this set!)

The embellishment pack contains the same embellishments in red, white and blue as the card making kit but more of everything – longer lengths of ribbon, more buttons, beads, brads…

This pretty Cupcakes and Roses themed kit has blank cards, patterned rose paper, hot pink stripy buttons, pastel green and pink bakers twine and more…

The Cupcakes and Roses embellishment pack contains more ribbon, buttons, beads etc than in the card making kit.  Each of the embellishment packs contains fabric covered brads which I have made using different patterned new and vintage fabrics.

The Steampunk card making kit contains card blanks made from recycled card, brown kraft envelopes, patterned papers and collage sheets featuring my steampunk illustrations and coordinating embellishments.

Inside the Steampunk embellishment pack are 4 different colours of baker’s twine, satin ribbon, mini spotty buttons, beads and more…

I’m also adding other craft supplies to my shop like this card of baker’s twine in 5 bright colours.

What do you think of my new supplies?  Is there anything else you would like to see me stock in my shop?

~*~ You can see all the craft supplies and printable papers I sell in my Etsy shop: www.hfcSupplies.etsy.com

Colour Inspiration #17 – Spring Flowers

Spring is well and truly here! :D It’s my favourite time of year – blue skies, the sun is warm (but not too hot!), the garden has come to life and is full of flowers like these tulips.  Although our garden is actually looking quite tidy there’s always lots to do – I spent an hour or so yesterday morning potting up sunflower, sweet pea and marigold seedlings…

I’ve almost run out of space on the greenhouse bench so am hoping that some of the plants will be able to go outside before the next ones need planting up.  A few years ago I only managed to get one marigold seed to come up – now I have a forest! :)

Handmade Birthday Cards

Spring is a busy time for birthdays and other card giving occasions in my house, so I thought I would share a couple of cards I made recently.

This fishy card was for my Dad’s birthday.  I used some backing paper from my set of Fish scrapbooking papers and fish from my collage sheet printed onto card.  The vallis leaves were cut from coloured paper and I made the design more 3D by sticking the fish on with foam pads.  Finally, for a bit of sparkle I used some translucent sequins…

I’ve made a few variations of this butterfly card recently (this one was for my sister’s birthday)…

I love the pearlescent pea green card blank I used for this design, unfortunately it’s a discontinued colour so I won’t be able to get any more :(  I printed one of my butterfly patterned papers onto sandstone coloured card and the butterflies and message were printed on card from my butterfly collage sheet.  After cutting the patterned background to size I coloured the edge with a gold inkpad.  The large butterfly was attached with foam pads and the small butterfly glued to the card along its body, with the wings slightly folded up for a 3D effect.  I also used some pretty yellow and blue gems to finish the card.

Have you bought any of the printables from my shop to use in your cardmaking or craft projects?  If you have I would love to see what you make with them!  Leave a link to your photos in the comments below :)