LINDA TRACE DESIGNS

crafty adventures of a makeup loving Japanophile!

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Wednesday 25 June 2014

thanks for all you do



Hi there!

It's card-time again! I'm hoping to soon share some Project Life layouts, but first, I have to actually get them done lol

Ok on to my card

More Friends in the Woods, coz seriously, why wouldn't I?!

 on the inside it says "for all you do". I think this would make a lovely Mother's Day card, or even a card for a sister. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I wont go into deets, but the sentiment is Simon Says Stamp, the stitched border is using a Distress Marker, the glitter strip is AC glitter tape, sequins are Neat and Tangled, paper is Echo Park and Studio Calico.

Hope you like!

See you again soon xx








Sunday 22 June 2014

Fairy Wishes

Greetings!

So I'm sure you've all noticed how BIG watercolouring is, in the cardmaking industry right now and I've always been a fan of it, but didn't really have the desire to do it lately. Until the last couple of days when an idea started mulling around in my head.

So I thought I'd run with it :)

Meet Fairy ;


I stamped her on Tim Holtz watercolour cardstock, then coloured her in with Distress Markers (wiping them onto an acrylic block then picking up colour with a wet paintbrush).

This set, Wishes, is an older one but just such a joy to colour in.


 I added LOTS of glitter. Stickles to her wings, a little gold Delicata refil in her hair, wink of stella on the edges of her dress :) A fairy should shimmer, RIGHT?!

For the background, I made sure the fairy was dry completely, then I went around and carefully but thoroughly wet the rest of the card (around her), and then added little drops of blue from distress markers (again, picking the colour up off an acrylic block). The wet background (doing it first, I mean) gives a really soft, flowy effect and it's so perfect for skies.

If I'd painted the ink on in the same way I did the fairy, it would've been much more deliberate and the strokes of the paintbrush would have shown through much more. I didnt want that.

To add clouds, I simply dabbed a paper towel (that was scrunched up) into little areas around the sky, and it lifts the water and the colour, right up off the paper. So cool.

That fun handwritten sentiment is Hero Arts.

That's it for me! Super simple and so effective.

Did you see the Colour Along Wednesday this week? I always seem to miss it (dropping kids off at school, or out of the house) but you can always watch the recorded version on ustream. Kristy is the BOMB at colouring. One day I'll be just as good as her *snort, yeah right!*



Friday 20 June 2014

We Miss You

Hello sweet friends!

I'm here with another fun card using the deliciously adorable images from Create A Smile Stamps!

I'll get right to it.


So, because the Design Team are still working off the digi versions of the images, I was able to really play around with the size of the animals. I freaking love this set. It's going to be called Friends in the Woods.

Once I had them all in the size and order I wanted them (on my PSE canvas), I printed them out onto X-Press It cardstock, then coloured them in with a combination of copics and Spectrum Noir markers.

I saw a card somewhere recently where they'd used little dots around the outline of their stamped images, and I loved the effect, so I thought I'd give that a go.love it

The sequins are from Neat and Tangled (of course) and the paper is from and old 6x6 pad.

Hope you like it!

I'll be back again soon with more :)




Wednesday 18 June 2014

Wedding card with Some Odd Girl


Hi!

So a few weeks ago a friend of my mum's got married and she asked me to create a card for her.

I decided to use First Dance Mae.

I coloured her and her man, in with Spectrum Noir Markers. Instead of the usual cool/icy blues around the edges of the wedding dress (to make it look more white), I went with very soft beiges and greys. I think it gives the wedding dress more of an ivory/vintage feel. I love it :)







I got this spellbinders die recently and I gotta admit, it's driving me cray-cray that it doesn't cut all the little parts out (it's supposed to emboss some and cut others out), but now I look at it on this card, it kinda works anyway.

A pretty self-explanatory card I think!

Have you checked out the Colour along Wednesdays with Kristy? They're so fun and such a great way to learn more about colouring. Do check them out!

Also, don't forget we have a newsletter, that will give you early news about releases and lot of other fun stuff.

If you want to subscribe, you can here.

http://www.someoddgirlblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/newsletter.png
see you again soon!




Tuesday 17 June 2014

CONGRATULATIONS DANIELLE!!

Hi everyone!!! 

I'm here today with THE most special of occasions.
My sweet, darling friend Danielle has FINALLY had her baby girl!! We've all been waiting for such a long time for her to arrive and we're so very excited for Danielle, Mike, Grayson and Miles.


In celebration, we thought we'd host a bit of a hop.




You should have arrived here from the oh-so-talented Yana's blog.




I went with bright, vibrant colours for the background (all Distress Inks), the tags are cut out using Simon Says Stamp cardstock, and a Hero Arts Tag die. The sentiment is all Neat and Tangled (of course!). The onesie is from Simon Says Stamp, and the patterned paper it's been paper pieced out of is from Ruby Rock-It :)

Next up on the hop is the incredible JUNE!

In case you're lost or would like to hop back to another link in the hop, here's the full list


Neat and Tangled 
Amy Kolling
Jessica Pascarella
Evgenia Petzer
Ashley Marcu
Yana Smakula
Linda Trace  <<-you are="" br="" here="">
June Houck
Betty J.
Amy Tsuruta
Anna Kossakovskaya
Barb Murphy
Tracy Ercole
Mary Dawn Quirindongo
Heather Ruwe
Mayuri
Christine Drogt
Ren-Yi Lo



Well that's it for me today!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See you again soon, and congratulations again Danielle!!! xxx


Monday 16 June 2014

ABNH Challenge: Bokeh

Hi there!!

It's time for a new challenge over at ABNH, so this week we're challenging you to do


 Bokeh is such a fun effect, but boy can it be a challenge to create on a card! I've seen some very easy ways of creating Bokeh on cards, but of course I had to think of something difficult! In the end I cast that idea aside and decided to go a different route.


This month we're playing with the following two companies, and goodness are they fun!





 &



Here's what I made.



Instead of going for a 'proper' bokeh, I decided to use the idea of bokeh, in the soft, muted circles (specifically with the blurred edges).

I really like how it turned out!

I used Finding Nana washi tape behind the photo, as well as paper clips and the gorgeous flair (aren't they perfect?!).
I used Gelatos to create the background (darn, I love those things!)

The little words that are stamped around are from Hero Arts :)

That's it!.

So please hop over to ABNH, to check out what the rest of the DT made, and join in the fun! You could win a

http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/
 with thanks to our sponsors
http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/


Thanks so much also to Leena from Finding Nana and Faber Castell Design Memory Craft, for generously sponsoring us with products to use for these challenges!

Thanks for stopping by!


Wednesday 11 June 2014

Cody and Cork



Hi friends!

I'm here today with a fun, MASCULINE (shocking, I know) card for you today.

I used my new Hipster Cody stamp, which is oh-so-cool and fun to colour in.

Take a look



I stamped him in Memento Tuxedo Black, and coloured him in with a mixture of Copic Markers and Spectrum Noir Markers.

I wanted his clothes to have a very vintage, worn feel, so I made sure to only leave a TINY bit of the darkest colour on each piece of clothing. I love that his trousers kinda look like well-loved corduroys.

I decided to try mixing up the colours a bit, I figure a hipster is happy to take risks with his fashion LOL.

That fantabulous cork piece is from Francheville, and I stamped the sentiment from Cody's set, straight on there. It looks super cool and textural in real life.

The background stamp is Hero Arts Evelope Background, and I added some Hero Arts black pearls. That washi tape is from somewhere, but I can't for the life of me remember where.

Finally I mounted the lot onto a black cardbase, leaving just a smidgen around the border showing.

That's it! I hope you like!

I'll be back again soon with more Some Odd Girl goodness, but for now, I'd love it if you left me some comment love--what's the most daring thing in your wardrobe? Can you pull off the Hipster look? (I know I can't lol)

See you soon!

Be sure to subscribe to our Youtube Channel for some fantastic tutorials, or check out the Pinterest boards--lots of cool inspiration there!


Saturday 7 June 2014

more Create a Smile :)



Hi there!!

I'm here with a sweet little card I made using another of the Create a Smile images :) We're not far off there being actual stamps to play with!! Squee!



I used Wendy Vecchi Embossing paste for the clouds (and a Balzer Designs stencil), The gorgeous penguin is from Create a Smile, and the sentiment is Lawn Fawn :)







love the texture in those clouds!

Hope you like!

Linda xx






Tuesday 3 June 2014

Some Odd Girl Release: Fruit Salad

Hi there!

It's time for another release from Some Odd Girl and boy is it a CUTE one!

Today we're launching FRUIT SALAD.


Here is my card. I kept it super simple, so the stamp could play the star :)


CUTE huh?!

Both sets released this week are now available for purchase in the store!

I hope you'll head over to the Some Odd Girl Blog, and check out the rest of the DT's projects, coz I'm sure they're awesome!

If you're after some extra inspiration, have a look at our Pinterest boards! They're chock-a-block!

See you again soon!






Monday 2 June 2014

Some Odd Girl Release: Cookies n Milk

Hi friends!

It's time for another Some Odd Girl release, and let me tell you, this month's sets are ADORABLE!

Introducing Cookies n Milk!


 cuuuuuuute huh?!

I just love these images. Now, I'll admit, "Milk and Cookies" aren't really as big a 'thing' here in Australia, but I totally love these stamps, so I'll be putting them to good use! 

Here's a little closeup, so you can see the eyes :)



I love how the hands/arms are positioned at just the right height on the stamps, so that they can hold hands.


Be sure to pop over to the Some Odd Girl blog to check out the rest of the team's creations!



And if you're interested (and why wouldn't you be?!),  you can sign up for our newsletter HERE so you don't miss any of the action!

http://www.someoddgirl.com/index.php/newsletter



I'll be back soon with more!




ABNH Challenge time!

Hi there!

It's time for a new challenge over at ABNH, so I thought I'd share the layout I made!

This month we're collaborating with TWO fabulous companies!





http://www.shopfindingnana.com/


Talk about a match made in heaven!

Here is my layout



First I stamped the Constellation Background from Hero Arts, and embossed it with silver embossing powder, then I added the gelatos background. I used the darkest Blue, purple and silver.  I then used a wet paintbrush to blend it out.

Next I stamped the International Skyline stamp along the bottom.


Next I created the photo and paper cluster. The red bracket paper, black polkadot paper are both using washi tape from Finding Nana's shop. (I just put the washi onto white cardstock repeatedly, matching up the patterns, to create patterned paper).

I added in some random Project Life cards, as well as a Finding Nana Flair badge.




that's it! I hope you like it, and you'll join in the challenge! you have a chance to win a

http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/





thanks to our generous sponsors


http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/



thanks for stopping by!