Thursday, December 31, 2009

Tooth Fairy

Hi guys, Happy New Year!
Here is my entry for the Spoonflower 'Mythical Creatures' fabric competition. My 'Tooth Fairy' is a fiery redhead with deep pockets for all those gold coins. Click here to see her in repeat.


There are lots of great designs that you can vote for here. If you are new to Spoonflower it's a print on demand fabric company - and now you can even sell your fabric through them. Cool huh! They also run weekly comps. The next one is 'birds' - anyone can enter so check it out.

As per usual I like to give away freebies - so check out 'My Download Page' to grab my Tooth Fairy clipart.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Circles

Hi, Pam has got another super challenge @ 365 'Circles'. This one is for my hubby - Merry Christmas sweet.
I made the background paper with a halftone patterned brush. I like the way the circles become gradually smaller and there are definitely more than 10! I added a bit of text and Santa. Voila. Enjoy.



EDIT: My Santa is now available at Squigglefly 2010.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Santa

EDIT: My Santa is now available at Squigglefly 2010.

Here is a quick place/name card idea for a 'Santa Claus' set I designed. It's too little late for release but decided to show it anyway. And now you can grab the Santa clipart from 'my downloads' page for free (or see the side bar).

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Gingerbread Man

A quick CPS card and probably my last for the end of the year. I've flipped sketch 147 used my new digital stamp Gingerbread man. Here I've swapped my watercolour pencils for Photoshop and coloured the line version of the Gingerbread man (the set also includes silhouette version and two borders - see below). The dotty background is a digital paper by Lynne Grieveson at Digital Designers and I've type a text overlay for the bottom paper. Enjoy!


Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and a glorious new year!


Gingerbread Man


Edit: I'm also entering this card for Get Sketchy 'Your favourite colour' challenge - and my favourite colour is Green! Dont forget to check out my free download page. I've just added a clipart Santa - see sidebar!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Celestial

Introducing Celestial my new stamp set for Squigglefly (Dec 5th). The range includes a Star, Tree, Bell, Bauble and Heart in both lined and solid versions (JPG & PNG). Perfect for colouring or to use as a brush.

I've used the solid bauble image to make a brush in Photoshop. Then I stamped the bauble in three different sizes and colours. I printed them onto 'Misty' paper (from Lindcraft), cut out and popped them up with foam stickies. Add a bit of black Artline pen. Volia! A quick and simple card.


Quick Photoshop tip: If you find it hard to choose colours (like me) stamp your image onto a transparent layer first. Then add a 'fill' layer above the stamp and select 'create clipping mask'. You can quickly change the colour of the 'fill' layer to see which colour fits you existing scheme. This method works great with digital paper too. Hope this helps!

Friday, December 4, 2009

'Tis The Season

I've been thinking of trying the colour challenge at Embellish for a couple of days now - and when I saw Lucy's second challenge 'Wings & String" I had the perfect idea. The colour scheme for Embellish is'Orange, Brown & Green' - which works wonderfully with my Turkey.

I coloured him in Photoshop - printed, cut and popped him onto the sentiment 'Tis The Season'. Due to a slip of the finger with my printer he came out a lot smaller than I expected - so I made a mini card instead.



The Turkey image is from my 'Birds OF A Feather' stamps set at Squigglefly. The twine is DMC cotton thread #581. Papers by Kikki K & Misty.

Panda Magic

Hi, Just wanted to share my latest accomplishment of 'Member Spotlight' over at Magnolia Grace. Check out my new blinky! Brooke kindly hosts the 'Rory Email Club' where she previews her new digital images. As a member you get to sample her great designs and clipart for free. So if you want to join in - check out her site Magnolia Grace.

p.s. Brooke loves seeing what crafters do with her images. So send in your creations and you may be the next Member Spotlight with a blinky to boot!
---


Okay, here is my tag for 365 & Digital Tuesday. Pam is running two challenges that caught my eye so I decided to combine them (hope that's not cheating). Challenge # 277 'Just a fraction' is to use just a portion of your image & challenge # 278 'You can’t miss it' is to only colour part of you image with glitter. When I saw these two challenges I immediately thought of Brooke's panda - which has a bow just waiting to be zinged with glitter.

Digital Tuesday also has a sparkle theme so I’ve added some silver twine to match the bow.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Penguin

This week I'm going for two challenges in one. This is my first entry for the Caardvarks blog whose challenge 'Colour It' links nicely with ABC's 'I for Indigo'. So, here is my Indigo penguin (which I think looks great in blue). I've popped him up with foam stickies on some homemade snowflake paper. And finished it off with a Christmas sentiment and a bit of white floss.


If you'd like to make your own snowflake paper you can download the transparent gif 'free' from my Download Page or see sidebar.
Also, to celebrate my new illustration set 'Birds Of A Feather' at squigglefly you can pick up a pre-coloured clipart version of Penguin too.

Announcement

I am so excited to let you all know that I have started illustrating for squigglefly. As you may have seen from my freebies (which I've moved recently to their own page) - I enjoy doodling and messing around with Photoshop.

I would also like to give a shout out to Brooke from Magnolia Grace who has been wonderful, encouraging me in my stamp design. I'm using my Aussie spirit of 'having-a-go' and we'll see what happens next.


I've paper pieced 'Robin' using some lovely papers from Lindcraft. I think they are called Misty, and have a lovley watercolour paper texture.

I have two sets of images 'Birds of a Feather' & 'Celestial' due to be released December 5th. So in the meantime I'll give you a sneaky peak of what's to come.

My 'Birds Of A Feather' set has three images: Penguin, Robin and a Turkey. They come in both JPG's & PNG's. So, they are perfect for colouring or transforming into brushes! They also come with some hand drawn text.

So, I'll post again when I get my links from Ashley. But in the mean time you can check out the other new stamps released over at squigglefly.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

CPS # 143 | Reindeer

I have been away from blog land and my craft stash for 4 whole weeks - boy did I miss it. Anyway, I'm back and its time for a CPS challenge. I'm using the super cute "Reindeer" by the wonderful Brooke over at Magnolia Grace. What a fantastic surprise it was to find a whole bunch of digital stamps in my inbox just waiting to be printed out. Thanks Brooke.
So, here goes. I've added faux 'Kwerner' stitching; ribbon with a fancy knot; and a sentiment for the circle element.

Enjoy!

Edit: I just had look over at 365 cards and the new challenge 'knots' fits my card perfectly. I must have been picking up Pam's subliminal thoughts when she made her card. Check out the blog here. Also, Pam is looking for a new DT team. Good Luck everyone!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Top Trio

Whoopteedoo!
My Gretyl card made TOP TRIO over at 365 Cards. I entered it for the motion challenge and was commended for my use of stitching. My Gran will be so proud! Thank you all for your kind comments on my blog. You can see the orginal post here. Congratulations to my fellow winners Deane and Juanita. And a super thanks to Pam @ 365 cards.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Joy | Circle & Colour Challenge

Hi, Here is my take on the Embellish Circle Card Colour Challenge..wow that's a bit of a tongue twister. I thought I had missed the deadline but it's been extended to Oct 18 so you have a few more days. The Stamp is a free digi by Katie Pertiet "One word" over at Designer Digitals. I used it here to make my own patterned paper & cut out. I love this stamp. A little ribbon and some stitching - really into my stitching at the mo too.
All done. Enjoy!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Moxie Fab Shout Out!

OMG I'm so chuffed to get a Moxie Fab Shout Out from Cath for the Gradient is Radient challenge. See the post here. It was an excellent challenge with realy great work. Congratulations to the winners Maille, Amy, Nina, Vanessa and Anya.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Gretyl | Halloween Digi

Hi all, I’m going for a quadruple whammy for this post - 4 challenges in one.
I've been doing some more doodling and came up with "Gretyl" a little witch on a broom for Halloween. She's no good sitting on my laptop so I decided to make a card and it just so happens that there are a few challenges that will work for her.

1. The first is CPS #137. 2. The next, ABC F is for Flying which fits in perfect with my witch (OCT 27). 3. Then there is 365 Card's Tuesday challenge is In Motion. 4. And seeing as my witch "Gretyl" is digital I thought I'd enter her at Digital Tuesday challenge BOO! - make a Halloween card.

So, here is my card. I rotated the sketch to be landscape. For the horizontal element, I hand added stitched some abstract clouds/wind in the same style as my "Little Owl" card - see here. I coloured, printed, and cut my digital witch "Gretyl" for the main element and popped her up with foam pads. I think she's having a great time flying around.



If you'd like Gretyl for yourself you can download her here or see the link in my sidebar. NB. This is for personal use only ;-). Please give credit to CraftBelle and link back here. Enjoy!

Supplies:
Image: "Gretyl" by CraftBelle
Font: Kristen ITC
Other: Linen Yarn by Gutermann, Foam Stickies by Paper Craft

Sunday, October 11, 2009

My Template | CD Wallet

Hi guys,
I thought I'd share a 3D craft for this post. My wonderful sister and her husband came over to visit us over a year ago now and we finally mangaed to complete a DVD momento of their time here in glorious Sydney. We normally send CD's and DVD's home of our adventures but this time (...and probably because its taken so long to get together) I decided to make them look a little bit more special by creating a pesronalised CD Wallet to send them in. I looked around for shop bought products but couldn't find anything suitable, so I decided to create my own.


When my sister received the DVD's she was absolutely thrilled with the packaging and its contents...aah!

So, considering I put a fair bit of effort into the DVD & template I thought I'd share it with all who might find it useful.

The template is plain, and is designed to fit onto standard A4 paper which makes it perfect for home printing. A few score lines, cuts with a craft knife, some double sided sticky tape and voila you have your very own customisable CD wallet. If you're handy with a graphics package (or even Word) then you can add a graphic, hand stamp, hand write or just print on some wacky paper.

Download CD Wallet Template by CraftBelle (PDF 1045 KB)

If you like the template and find it useful then please tell your friends, attribute and link back to me CraftBelle @ http://craftbelle.blogspot.com

Please note: This template is for personal use only. Please do not share or distibute this file in digital or hard copy. Instead tell your friends to download it from my site directly.

Enjoy!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Hello | Gradient Challenge

Wow, It's been such a long time since I posted anything. I'm just in time for the Gradient challenge over at MoxieFabWorld. Cath has extended the deadline until October 12, so you've all got just a wee while longer. There's lots of great work up so do check it out.

Okay, I wanted to keep this card clean and simple and I was thinking about using geometric shapes or tiles for stepping out the colour change when I came across these Alpha blocks by Katie Pertiet over at Designer Digitals. They looked just like my doodle and were ready to go. So, I spelt out "Hello" to create a sentiment and graphic in one - yeah!




Next, I selected a colour change of yellow to a burnt orange, which I think sits nicely with Autumn as well as for spring here in OZ. I made a gradual change in the shade of paper (Jesse Edwards) of each block to make the gradient. And then cut and popped them up with foam pads. Finally I added some Frangipani inspired flowers (an altered K Petiert graphic), buttons, French knots and lifted the corners to add a little dimension.

Enjoy!

"Hello" Supplies:
Paper: DCWV Glitter Stack, Derwent Art Paper, Jesse Edwards Colour Challenge Digital Papers
Stamps: Block Alpha & Web Chellenge Kit 8-9-09 by K Pertiet @ Designer Digitals
Adhesive: 3D Adhesive Foam Stickies by Paper Craft

Monday, September 21, 2009

Moxie Fab: Household # 2

Hi guys,
Thanks for the comments on my light bulb entry - very kind.
I wanted to have another go at the Moxie Fab challenge and my hubby came up with the idea of a Hoover (Vacuum Cleaner as you guys say) with the slogan "Life Without You Sucks".


I couldn’t find a suitable stamp or image so I had to crank up the laptop and design my own. I made the Hoover into a brush and then repeated the stamp whilst reducing the size. The font used for the sentiment is Cooper Std. I stretched to look like it was being sucked into the Hoover. Enjoy!
Thanks for a great challenge Cath - I wonder what’s this week!

Supplies
Image: "Hoover" My Own Digital Stamp
Font: Cooper Std

P.S. You can download my "Hoover" JPG and brush for free here. For personal use only ;-)

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Moxie Fab Challenge: Household

Another great challenge over at Moxie Fab. For this challenge you need to create a paper crafted project that incorporates some kind of household item as its focal point. Cath has included lots of inspiration so check out the link above.

Okay, getting hold of a "household" stamp has been pretty impossible around here. So, I decided to opt for the old pen and paper and make my own doodle instead.



The light bulb and sentiment was drawn onto watercolour - I really love the bumpy texture. Then I popped them up with foam stickies and added some faux stitching to the DCWV paper. Voila!



Supplies
Paper: DCWV Glitter Stack, Watercolour Paper
Ink: Artline 210 medium 0.6 in Black, UniBall Signo Broad in Silver

Deadline: Wednesday 21 September
Draw: Friday 23 Septmeber
Extra: Upload to World Card Making Day

Good Luck Everyone!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Halloween: Fabric of the Week * Closed *

Hello, On a bit of a whim I entered a sketch of some witches for a competition over at Spoonflower (it’s a print of demand fabric site). And, my design has been selected for round two of the competition. I am SO excited!

So, if you like my fabric please vote for me CraftBelle @ Spoonflower. No need to be a member - just click here or in the side bar to vote. The design is called "Witches by CraftBelle".

Thanks guys! Sweet!

Ps. For you budding fabric designers, this week's design theme is flowers and spoons!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

CPS #133

Time for CPS sketch #133. I've kept the sketch as is this week - love landscape format. I'm using another digital stamp this week - courtesy of Brooke over at Magnolia Grace. The character's name is Little Owl and in this stamp he sits on a branch. To see more of him, head over to magnoligrace.blogspot.com.
Thanks Brooke.





Okay, So I printed Little Owl out twice. The back image was coloured black to create a permanent shadow and top image was coloured with watercolour pencils and popped up with foam stickies. To frame the image, I created some abstract clouds/wind with stitching and used a sentiment and the branch to form the lower horizontal element of the sketch.
Enjoy!

Supplies
Paper: Kikki K in Gold and Pearl
Stamp: Little Owl by Magnolia Grace | magnoliagrace@blogspot.com
Ink/Colour: Artline 210 medium in Black (love these pens), Faber-Castel Watercolour Pencils
Adhesive: 3D Adhesive Foam Stickies by Paper Craft

Saturday, September 12, 2009

CPS #132 Happy Birthday


Time for another CPS Challenge #132. I must admit I've been a bit slow with this layout (not sure why). So, I headed over to the sponsor's site Sweet N Sassy Stamps to see what they are all about and I found this little Clown Fish.
Each Thursday Sweet N Sassy give away a digital stamp (cool huh!) and the Clown Fish was this weeks freebie. So cute!

Here is my card.



Firstly, I rotated the sketch (I'm a landscape kinda girl). I resized the Clown Fish and made some portholes for them to swim behind (all in MS Word would you believe). Then I coloured them up with watercolour pencils and silver pen for highlights. My hubby suggested some bubbly text for the sentiment (thanks sweetie). A few snips and some double sided sticky and it was all done.
Digi stamps are pretty cool - Thanks Sweet N Sassy.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Raspberry Suite #16


Hi, this is my first attempt at a Raspberry Suite challenge and I'm really excited. I made a special trip to the craft store to source some gold/orange paper (lovely and shimmery). No Kraft paper again, so I had to make do with the back of jotter pad! So, here goes.



I was thinking about silhouettes from the Moxie Fab challenge as well as the rich chocolaty palette and decided to create a boudoir kind of feel with a cameo. I designed and cut the profile piece (pencil and Kraft knife), and framed it with the chocolate cardstock (looks rich and dark in real life). I created some cheeky ruffles with ribbon for the cream element and added a little sparkle for the Orange/Gold. Voila!



Supplies:
Cardstock/Paper: Kikki K, The Paper Mill, DCWV
Ribbon: Boutique
Cut Out: Drawn & Cut by me CraftBelle
Other: Foam Pads by The Paper Mill

Caardvarks Candy

Candy give away from Kim Hughes over at Caardvarks. Kim Hughes reveals tips for publishing and an overview of her talents. Check out the blog Paper Hugs.
Candy: Autumn Stamps @ CHF. Draw: Not stated.

Monday, August 31, 2009

CPS #131

Check out the new sketch over at CPS.
I wanted to make a male birthday card with this sketch, so it took a while to juggle the elements around so that it didnt look too fussy. I layered up some of the stripe to create the focal element and added a sentiment.
Here goes!


Sketch: Rotated anti clockwise.
Paper: DCWV Glitter Stack.

Moxie Fab Candy

Leave a comment at Moxie Fab to be in for a chance to win papers from the Season collection from CRATE PAPER.
Drawn: Midnight MDT on Sunday, September 6

Friday, August 28, 2009

My Downloads

Hello,
Here are the links to My 'Free' Digital Stamps, Brushes and Templates.
I decided to collect them here as my side bar is getting a bit full.
I hope you enjoy using them, and please remember they are for personal use only. Do not share, but encourage others to come and download for themselves. Comments are greatly appreciated.
Enjoy, CraftBelle


Tooth Fairy

Here is my Tooth Fairy I created for a Spoonflower fabric contest. See my original post here. I'm giving away the clipart image (without the blue outline). Enjoy.

Tooth Fairy Download JPG & PNG



Santa

Here is my take on the Old St Nick - round and jolly with a full beard. This was intended to be part of a set for squigglefly but I missed the cut off date for Christmas.
So I decided to give it away instead ;-)

See what I've done with it here and here

Santa Download PNG & JPG






Snowflake

Use these snowflakes as a key element or to make background papers (see my original post). The download includes 2 different snowflakes as transparent PNG's - one tinted baby blue the other a minty blue. Plus the orginal PNG's for all you Photoshop users to make your own brushes with.
Snowflake Download ( 236 KB).





Penguin Clipart

I'm giving away this Penguin clipart to celebrate my new set of illustrations 'Birds Of A Feather' over at Squigglefly. The Penguin is solo, with a soft blue halo. Click here to see more designs from the set.
Click here for the download (GIF 378 KB).






‘Gretyl’ Digital Stamp

I designed this image for a halloween challenge - and recieved my first competition win at 365 cards. You can orint and colour her or concert the png file inot a bruch for background images. See what I did with it at the original post here .Click here for download (JPG & PNG).




‘Hoover’ Digital Brush

I designed this brush for a Moxie Fab challenge. Use it as a graphic or a brush for making your onw digital background papers.
See what I did with it at the original post here.
Click here for download (PNG & ABR).





‘CD Cover’ Template

The CD Cover template is designed to print onto A4 paper. It is plain, leaving plenty of space and opportunity for personallising. Add a digital image, colourful stamp or just print onto whacky paper. See what I did with it at the original post here.

Click here for download (PDF 1045KB).