Promarker Storage - Finished at Last

Hello all and welcome to my latest followers,
Today,  I want to start by saying a big, big THANK YOU to Anne for her generosity. 
A few weeks ago I mentioned in one of my posts that I needed either a 10/11mm circular punch or the same size in white circular labels.  I desperately needed to mark the ends of my Promarkers with the colour inside to make searching easy when I was colouring and several of you kindly gave me some wonderful ideas and advice, thank you to you all for that.
Well to my delight Anne had found and used some of the labels I needed and most generously sent  me two packs of them. The smaller sized dots I put on the ends of the Promarkers and the larger ones I put into my notebook so I can always see what colours I have when ordering or buying more (Anne gave me that tip too).  Bless you Anne, you really did make me a very happy chickie!  You said they were inexpensive, but to me their value was much greater.  I now had something I had been trying to find for months and you saved me from having to trawl the internet again and again.
Now all my Promarkers are easily identified and tidied away within easy reach, right next to my craft desk.  I made a foamboard storage rack to fit within an old Ikea CD shelf unit next to my desk.   A fab job done and all thanks to the lovely people I keep meeting via crafting.   I love the world of crafting, don't you!!!
Here's the finished Promarkers (I don't have them all yet, but I am trying to buy a couple every month in my craft budget).

Here is how the unit sits next to my main craft desk.  Now all I need to do is sort through my Whisper & Sakura pens and my colouring pencils (below) and that will be another unit tidied.
On the left of that unit you can see my latest acquistion, my mini drawer unit.  It is a fabulous unit with very long drawers that are broken down into three sections with removeable dividers.  I store everything from my long fancy pins, grommets and pearly buttons to metal hinges, tiny brads and eyelets. They all stay in position and because the drawers are wide enough to allow for your fingers to reach in, removal of items is easy peasy!   That's 32 drawers times 3 sections giving a whopping 96 compartments, plus the big bottom drawer; all that for just £8, not bad aye!! (Aldi product).  I just have to label it now.

Well that's another storage solution completed (well two if you count my mini drawers).   I know from your emails that some of you have your own awesome ways of storing your markers etc, maybe you could share them with us today, if you have time.
Before I go, I meant to say in yesterdays post, that I ran out of mount board and as I didn't want to spend money to buy more I decided to recycle again  (which I love to do as often as possible).  Using some card from old cereal boxes etc, I glued four layers together, picture sides inside, and let them dry beneath a couple of heavy plastic storage boxes.  I then used one of my mountboard ribbon cards as a template, cutting them out with my craft knife and a metal edged ruler.  By using several layers with glue between, it gives the card extra strength.
I am going to try and get the competition up tomorrow as long as I get all the work done that is planned for today.  So keep those fingers crossed for me because if I am honest, I am really getting fed up of clearing, cleaning, organising and reorganising.  Don't worry I have been having time to rest; but thats half the problem, my silly back is the reason it is taking so long! Maybe I should just leave it completely for a few days and just craft to cheer myself up a bit.  Then I can get back to it with some renewed gusto.... ummm worth considering me thinks :D 
I hope you all have a productive and enjoyable day today.  Be happy dear blog friends and thank you all again for your warm and wonderful comments, they really do mean the world to me.
Best wishes and Big Hugs Linda xx

Colour Blocking

Good morning everyone,
First may I apologise for the missing challenge.  I managed to find out about the Linky tool that is needed for the entries and I immediately applied to use it; however, it said I had to wait for an email with which to activate the account.  I am still waiting!  As I know nothing about this tool and I have been so busy getting my son back to university, I haven't been able to find out any further info.  So, as soon as I am able later today,  I will do web search for some help.  Until that is sorted of course,  I cannot go ahead with the challenge details here. however you can carry on creating your lovely bookmarks in readiness.
Bookmark entries:-  You can enter up to two designs for the challenge, but only if your designs are different styles  eg: Corner and Ribbon wrap.  Anyone entering two identical styles will have the last one they entered disqualified from the challenge.  That makes it fair for everyone who enters.
Who can enter:- Anyone
    Bloggers, link your entry to your blog please using the Linky tool as soon as it is available.
    Non-bloggers, email me the pictures with any details you want included and I will add it to the challenge for you.
As soon as I have the Linky info, I will write up the challenge here and we will get underway.
I hope you will forgive my naivete, I really should have looked this up before mentioning a challenge instead of keeping everyone waiting.  I am truly sorry.

Ok, lets get on to todays card.  I have recently been looking at some of the clothes on the catwalk etc (via the web) and notice that Colour Blocking is still really big and it gave me the basic idea for todays card.  I was quite surprised as it really inspired me and it also allowed me to use some of the decoupage I had cut out months ago and had left just sitting about in a box.  So here it is, very different for me and therefore, a bit of a challenge at first, but I really like it now it's finished.  What do you think?

 The background layers are embossed using the new M-Bossabilities folders from Spellbinders (No EL-005).  The embossed falling flowers seemed to be the perfect backdrop for the little Geisha girl.  Also I added some diecut swirls over more embossing using the inside of the M-Bossabilities folder.  These double sided embossing folders are just lovely, they are easier to store (less of them) plus they are of a larger size too making it easier to emboss bigger areas.
Here is a close-up of the embossing and swirls and another of the little flower spray:

The flowers I added to the side, were from Wild Orchid Crafts, however, I didn't have any orange roses, so I used some plain white ones and coloured them with promarkers.  I used Soft Peach and Orange for the roses and Gold (yellow) for the stamen with Turquoise added to the stems to make them a bluer shade of green to coordinate with the backing card.
I did try adding a little bit of purple to the mix, to bring in the colour of the Geishas hair, but it became too overpowering for me.  I do like colour blocking but sometimes the mix of deep and vibrant shades can be a little too strong for me.
Well, I am now being called by my 3year old grandson, so I had better go now before he decides to come and jump all over me and I end up losing all my hard work to his inquisitive fingers! 
However, before I go I would like to welcome all the new followers and also thank you all so much for the wonderful comments you have left for me recently; I have been blown away by the response to my New Candy.  I am so thrilled that you think it a good idea. 
Thank you again for your patience with me concerning the challenge, we will get it sorted asap I promise.  Have a good day whatever you are doing.  I hope you will be back soon to see what I have for you next time.
Big hugs and best wishes Linda xx

Sue (Bearhouse) please can I have your permission to show some of your cards?  You can email me at lindascreativeharmony@gmail.com, or just put your reply in a comment below. Thanks Linda x