Christmas is coming!

I know it's only September but for a crafter the days are ticking by at an alarming rate and Christmas will be here before we know it! There are cards to make for the upcoming fairs, there are the cards that I need to make to send personally, there are orders to fulfill, there are hanging calendars to make, there are scrapbook calendars to make, the list goes on lol! As well as that the new term has started so my 'real job' as a tutor is starting again this week. And I have a 2 year old. Thank goodness I have my wonderful Mum, I would be totally lost without her :)

Anyway, thought I would share a few of the special cards that I made last year, hopefully they will be inspiration for you, I've certainly enjoyed looking through all my pics, given me new ideas for this year lol!

I love the colours on this card, and I think it would make a perfect get well card for someone who is poorly this winter. It's one of the gorgeous TGF Anya stamps coloured with water colour pencils to keep the tones lovely and soft. A few handmade flowers and some lace sets it off beautifully if I do say so myself.

Again using the same TGF stamp but looks so different when coloured this way. I think the combination of blues looks lovely and frosty, perfect for winter and would make a good Christmas, or winter birthday card.

Anya again (surprise, surprise) but I've kept the card much simpler this time, payered up with some gorgeous Basic Grey papers and glitter papers for some winter sparkle.

I hope you've enjoyed taking a look through a sample of my creations, I will return to share more with you. Take care xx

Getting ready for 2012!!

The last couple of weeks I've been trying something a bit different. Instead of cards I've been looking at creating some calendars - fun to make and make fantastic presents ready for Christmas. The beauty of them is that you can use whatever takes your fancy for the topper - whether it's a stamped image, printed image (I love some the big squares by Lili of the Valley and they would be perfect for this), or photos to make a really personal present.

This cute calendar is created on a 6 x 6 inch chipboard base with a cute Greeting Farm image stamped and coloured with Copic markers. It's embellished with Basic Grey papers, handmade flowers and gems in a bold colour to compliment the papers.

This calendar measures 8 x 8 inches and as the feature I've used a photo of my son, taken when he was about a month old. The papers are DCWV and I think the colours are fab and work so well with the photo - they're cute without being too babyish.

Feel free to contact me on my Facebook page - Craftyleo's Little Works of Art if you like the calendars and would like something made for you. Till next time xx

Craftyleo goes Manga :)

Good evening, this week I thought I would share with you a few different ideas for using Manga in greetings cards. Manga is such a popular style and a fantastic way to create cards for teenagers (and we know they are so hard to please!). I love this stamp from Funky Kits, the Manga Fairy can be done in so many ways (I'm looking forward to making her a Christmas Fairy later in the year :))

I love giving her fabulous coloured hair (a good choice for Manga images) and think that the soft aqua and peach complement each other well in this card. She's been coloured with Copic Ciao markers (my favs at the moment). A few hand made flowers and a sentiment is all that is really needed to finish it off.

Again I've gone for the soft aqua, but the main colour is the purple/ lilac which gives this card a very different feel. She's also coloured with Copic Ciao markers.

Again the aqua, but a much more muted shade, teamed with a lovely pink and green combo. This time I trimmed off the wings and wand, as the colours didn't seem to work as well for the total picture - but I think that gives this stamp much more versatility. Some fabulous background papers and a bit of bling to match the colour scheme (as well as the greeting, a custom card for a 14 year old's birthday) and hey presto. Here's hoping that the birthday girl loves her card, and that you've enjoyed looking at a few more designs.

Welcome to the world of Craftyleo!

Hello everyone, I've finally got around to creating my blog after years of crafting and promising that I would. I am Craftyleo - otherwise known as Leonie, and I'm a crazy crafter. I love crafting of all kinds and I'm happiest when I'm creating something new. I've taught various craft classes over the last 5 years and thought it was time to share my creations with a larger audience. I'll be adding photos of projects, and tips on various techniques along the way. I'll also keep you updated with my other venture - my business page on Facebook (also called Craftyleo's Little Works of Art). To get you started, here are a couple of piccies :)

This one was made with one of the gorgeous Miss Anya stamps by The Greeting Farm, stamped and coloured using watercolour pencils to keep the colours nice and soft. The papers are Basic Grey, chalked and layered up and topped with a border punched using the Marth Stewart Doily trim punch, and handmade flower :)

Again, this is using a Greeting Farm Miss Anya stamp, coloured with watercolour pencils for a soft colour finish. The papers are Basic Grey, layered up and embellished with twine and a handmade flower (using a combination of punched and Prima E line flowers), dewdrops and a handstamped sentiment.

Thank you for looking today, I'm hoping to add lots more along the way. Hope you stick around for the journey xx