Wk 41 Pan Pastel UK Challenge - Falling Leaves

Hello and welcome to another Creative Sunday!

Brrr the weather here in the UK has finally changed and the Autumn chill is upon us! So we thought it was time for another autumnal challenge this week....

Falling Leaves

We want you to show us your leafy makes (autumn colours will also be ok for this challenge, hey it's all about the taking part and a bit of artistic licence does no-one any harm does it!)...

First of all, we must remind you about our October Blog Candy which is up for grabs! 

Simply share our candy on your blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Mars and the Moon and back with a link to this blog 

PLUS

YOU MUST SIGN UP TO FOLLOW THIS BLOG

and leave us a comment under this post and we will choose one random winner on 7th November to win this gorgeous prize which is worth over £120!! WOW - that is a LOT of stash!!

In the candy is a fantastic Pan Pastel set including a palette tray and Sofft Tools, 3 Maimeri Mediums and Gesso. 2 Stencils/Masks and 4 Stamp sets (A6) - all fantastic products you will love and use over and again!

So what are you waiting for? Get sharing now!

Don't forget to leave us a comment - we will check that the winner has shared AND FOLLOWED US to be eligible so don't try and bend the rules! ; )

HUGE thanks to everyone who has entered the current Week 40 challenge - don't forget you still have an extra couple of days to enter as it doesn't close until Tuesday! We're mega excited to see so many entries, it looks like our new rules have made it easier for you all, so the team are all really happy to see all the makes! If you're not sure of our rules you can see them all in the tab at the top of the page - we don't have many! 

So let's announce our Random Winner for Week 39

...Big Congratulations goes to No 3 Mandy!

The team also choose our favourite Top 3 entries too, which are:
10 - Yvonne, 31 - Irene and 36 - Jane

Congratulations to you all! 

Mandy please email here to claim your prize and please grab your badges from the sidebar to wear on your blogs! Your names will go in our hat and you may be asked to guest design for us next month!

Remember to join our Facebook group too, Premium Craft Brands, where we have daily inspiration and share some of our favourite makes & hints and tips every day, it's a great place to be. 

So let's get to the challenge!.....LEAVES/AUTUMN

(You can use ANY products to enter our challenge!) 

The team had great fun with this theme, so let's see their inspiration! 

You have until Tuesday 22nd October to enter and the chance to win a great Pan Pastel prize, plus our Top 3 favourites may be asked to Guest Design for us next month!

Nikky...

I haven't got an autumnal project for you as I've been busy filming and making magazine deadlines this week, but instead I have another Video for you showing the amazingly LUSH metallic Pan Pastels, so I hope you enjoy this ( I did reshoot this but the camera battery ran out halfway through so I had to revert to Plan A...basically, remove the stencil before you start application so you don't waste all the product!)...hope you enjoy it anyway....

Claire C 

I've created a rusty background using Maimeri gesso, Metallic PanPastels and Phthalo Green and bright yellow green PanPastels. I added some texture with a mixture of Maimeri light modelling paste and microbeads. I had loads of fun creating lots of leaves using die cuts and more PanPastels....

Zoe

I've used Pan pastels to create my leaves and stamped using versamark and metallics Pan Pastels. Check out my blog to find out in more detail!

Tracy

Hi everyone, this week my inspiration came from a Leaf that I picked up when I was out walking . . . it reminded me of the bottom half of a boat!...

I used a bit of wood that I had lying around the shed along with: Maimeri Mediums, the new Metallic Pan Pastels, if you haven't got them already you need to they are deeeelish...Mask Stencil, Stamps and Ultra Thick Embossing powder.You can find out more on my blog Here along with links to the materials I've used.

Terry

I have worked on a Birdhouse but made it into an Autumn Falling Leaves house...the background was worked on with Gesso, modelling paste and a stencil. I worked on the bricks with embossing powder and Inksprays.

The butterflies are colored with the GraphIt Markers and on top to seal them I embossed it with Utee, the leaves are embossed and sprayed with Inks and I added some text to it.

Lou: I wanted to use the fab holly leaves from the Premium Craft Brands Christmas stamp sets for my card this week as they are easy to stamp and crisp images to use on any project. I stamped them on to card using a Versamark pad and then coloured them with my pan pastels. I also diecut some extra leaves and coloured them too with pan pastels. I have tried to add a subtle gold sheen to my leaves.

For my background paper, I have used Glassy Gel with a stencil and then enhanced the design with metallic pan pastels and a hint of magenta.

The sentiment is also from the same fab set of Christmas stamps.

So there is our inspiration from the fabulously talented Pan Pastel UK team this week!... 

You have until  Tuesday 22nd October at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! 
The winner of this challenge will be announced on Sunday 28th October here on this blog. 

Please check our rules for all entries: 

1. All entries MUST follow the challenge theme. 2. Please link your blog post and not your blog address with the linky tool - this saves us from searching your blog for your entry.  3. No back-linking to previous posts - these will be disregarded from our voting.4. Please ensure you follow the challenge theme!

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

How to use Metallic Pan Pastels video tutorial from Nikky Hall

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to share a quick video with you all using PanPastel Metallics!

As you all know by now, I am completely addicted to this amazing new product and as it's so difficult to sometimes photograph metallics in their full glory I hope this video shows you the true effects a little better.

Enjoy! (and don't forget to make sure you join in the Blog candy below this post, it's awesome!)....

I'll be back later in the week with another video for you!
x
Nikky

WK40 6 OCT - Pan Pastel UK Challenge - Water

Hi everyone! Welcome to another Challenge from the Premium Craft Brands team!

Firstly, HUGE thanks to everyone who has entered the current Week 39 challenge - don't forget you still have an extra couple of days to enter as it doesn't close until Tuesday!  We're sooo pleased to see so many entries, it looks like our new rules have made it easier for you all, so the team are all really happy to see all the makes! If you're not sure of our rules you can see them all in the tab at the top of the page - we don't have many! 

So because the current challenge is still running, we don't have a winner to announce this week - the week 39 winner and Top 3 favourites will be announced next Sunday so make sure you follow our feed or sign up to get the emails when we post.  

Remember to join our Facebook group too, Premium Craft Brands, where we have daily inspiration and share some of our favourite makes & hints and tips every day, it's a great place to be. 

So let's get to the challenge!.....

Water effects...

(You can use ANY products to enter our challenge!)

The team had great fun with this theme, so let's see their inspiration! 

You have until Tuesday 15th October to enter and the chance to win a great Pan Pastel prize, plus our Top 3 favourites may be asked to Guest Design for us next month!

Claire

I've water coloured my little scene with PanPastels and added some raindrops with Maimeri Glassy Gel Medium. I added some shine to the fish with the glassy gel and created the background with shades of blue PanPastel and the A5 Delicate mask....

Terry....The background was made with a sentiment stamp and lots of Metallic PanPastels....

On top I worked with a leaf stencil and used lots of Maimeri Modelling Paste for it. And to make the waterdrops on the leaves I used Maimeri Glassy Gel, Metallic PanPastels and embossing powder. You can even color lace with the Metallic PanPastels guys, so what are ya waiting for, you just have to get those in your crafting room!

Zoe

I've used Pan Pastels and Maemeri Gesso to create this tag, pop along to my blog to read how I created it in more detail...

Tracy :

Oh my, I had such a messy, crafty time popping this set of journal pages together using a mixture of the new Metallic Pastels, PanPastels, Maimeri Gesso, Iridescent Paste, Gloss Gel Medium, Matt Gel Medium, stencils and Rub Ons...

  . . . fun, fun, fun!! This looks complicated but it's really easy to do - just work in layers, you can see more on my blog...

Here`s a closer look of my pretty stockinged lady splashing and dancing in the puddles . . .I used the Iredescent Paste { LOOOVE } to make the puddles and splashes, applying with my fingers and a Palette Knife, rubbing a few colors of Pan Pastels over the top in  - Phthalo Blue Shade, Neutral Grey Shade and Titanium White.  I have used so many colors and mediums for texture, so please pop on by my blog to see more HERE.   Happeeee Crafting!!

Suzi.....For my water inspired project I chose a beautiful mermaid digi from Polkadoodles which I coloured with Graph'it Markers. My background papers were created with embossing folders, Pan Pastels and some Glassy Gel Medium on some of the punched out bubbles....

I really wanted to show a project which shows that you can bring messy products into your basic cardmaking really easily. I love how the Glassy Gel acts the same as Glossy Accents but you get a massive tube so it works out so much more economical!

Lou ... for my project this week, I want to really stretch myself (as it were) and decided to have a play with all my goodies! I knew the quote I wanted to use but not how I wanted to display it. I have primed my canvas with gesso and then dry brushed a mixture of blue acyrlic paint mixed with the pewter metallic pan pastel. I used a mask to create a background using the same paint mixture but added a good dollop of the irredescent paint in to it as well! I even raided my garden for some lickle stones to add an underwater feel. Full details of how I made my canvas can be found on my blog ....

So there is the inspiration for our water theme - I'm sure you'll agree that the Design Team have pulled it out of the bag again this week!

You have until Tuesday 15th October to enter and the chance to win a great PanPastel prize, plus our Top 3 favourites may be asked to Guest Design for us next month so just add your creation to the Mr Linky below - please make sure your make fits the challenge! Thanks for joining us!

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

Wk39 - Anything Goes! Pan Pastels, Mediums, Masks and more

Welcome to our new look Challenge! 

Before we get to the challenge news, we want to welcome our fantastic new Design Team members who will be bringing some great inspiration to you over the coming months - it's very exciting! We have had a little facelift and relaxed our rules to enter the challenges so just to recap:

1. You do NOT need to use Pan Pastels or our other products on your entries as long as you follow the challenge theme - obviously we'd love you to use the products but realise not everyone has them.
Each challenge runs from Sunday 8.00 am and ends the following Tuesday at noon GMT - this gives you 9 days to add your entry and join in with us. 
The winner of each challenge will be chosen at random by a random number generator.
Please note: Due to postage costs the Random Winner Prize will be posted to a UK postal address only - but overseas entries are still welcomed and will be included in the Top 3.
In addition to the random winner the Design Team will also choose their favourite Top 3 entries for that week who will all be able to proudly display their winners badge and may be asked to Guest Design for us. Overseas entries are welcome and will be included in our Top 3.

So we hope you like the changes and it has made it easier for you all to enter! 

So let's get to the challenge! 

ANYTHING GOES......

You can use ANY products to enter our challenge!

Before we get to this week's inspiration and prizes, it's time to announce the winner of last week's challenge which was ANYTHING GOES. From today we are changing our weekly prize winner to a RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR so that everyone has an equal chance of winning. IN ADDITION we will also pick a Top 3 and may ask one of those people each month to join us as  Guest Designer. So here is today's winner:

No.5, Clare

So a huge congratulations to  Clare!

Please email us here to claim your prize and please grab your badge from the sidebar.

Let's get to the great team inspiration this week...

Remember to join our Facebook group too, Premium Craft Brands, where we have daily inspiration and share some of our favourite makes & hints and tips every day, it's a great place to be. Here's the Design Team's creations:

Claire

I've used Magenta Tint PanPastel as a background and then used some of the gorgeous new Maimeri Acrylic Paints and masks with my gelli plate to make a little card and altered a PanPastel box.

Terry

I've used the Gesso and the fabulous A4 butterfly stencil with roses with Light Modelling Paste to make the texture on the frame. The Metallic PanPastels were used on top of the frame and give the frame a shine. The wooden hearts are worked on with Metallic PanPastels and Crackle to give it a fragile look.

The background in the frame has lots of texture from a honeycomb stencil and a sentiment stamp. On top I played with the Metallic PanPastels. The butterflies are from Wendy Vecchi and I played with Embossing Powder and Utee to finish them. 

Nikky
I made this large hanger using a 3 MDF shapes which were cheap as chips. I covered the top house in paper and added an embossed piece of card to cover the roof, then coloured it with Metallic Pan Pastels, using Versamark ink to get a richer colour.

On the centre panel I used a mask and Pan Pastels in Permanent Green and Phthalo Green, using a hairspray to fix each layer so I could then add another layer on top to get some depth of colour. This project was actually a workshop I did on various metallic effects so it also has metal gilding flakes applied to it in some parts but I REALLY dont like them, I wish we'd just stuck to the Metallic Pan Pastels instead, I prefer the look! Finally, I glued a die cut swirl onto the bird and then inked all over with Versamark and applied the Metallic Pan Pastel over the top to make it look like brushed and embossed metal. You could easily make this with sturdy card too or mountboard.

Zoe - Hello there I'm Zoe and I'm so excited to be joining this fabulous team! Nikky has done an amazing job of revamping the blog! Onto my first projects with Premium Craft Brands!

I've used PanPastels for the background in two layers, you can get more details on my blog!

My second project is PanPastels again, using the fabulous A5 Victorian mask. Again more details on my blog for this project....

Many thanks for joining us on this exciting journey x

Tracy - Lets get messy with mixed media!
Hi everyone, so happy to be sharing my joy in using a mixture of Pan Pastels from mixed media sets 1 & 2 along with the new Metallics and Maimeri Mediums on some recycled cardboard packaging.

So quick to put together . . . a quick coat of Maimeri Gesso over the cardboard and for the splats of color on the background I added a little Pastels to the Maimeri Gesso, added water and flicked it using a paintbrush.

While that's drying take some old book pages and cut out the shapes before applying the Pan Pastels with the Sofft tools, sponges and my fingers.The raggedy boots and little hearts had a touch of Maimeri Glassy Gel added and I wish you could see how lovely they look in reality. I used the Maimeri Matt Gel Medium to fix all the shapes in place before adding some journaling and doodling along the way. For a little more texture I randomly applied Versamark ink, sprinkled with Utee and heat set. 

Lou
My turn to say "Hi" and so excited too to be part of this talented team. For my 1st project I have used the PAB Christmas stamps, masks and pan pastels to create a quick Christmas card.

I have used the metallic Copper pan pastel married with Magenta on the edges of my papers to create a warm feel. I have used the Perfect Poinsettia stamp to add over stamping on the 2nd paper using distress inks. The border strip has been embossed with the long baroque mask and then pan pastelled,

I stamped the poinsettia on to some heavy weight vellum, highlighting the veins with the soft silver pan pastel to give a shimmery effect, finishing with a brad. I have even found a use for the wax paper we all use when cutting out our dies and it works fabulously with pan pastel. Pop over to my blog for the full details.

So there is our inspiration from the fabulously talented Pan Pastel UK team this week!...

You have until  Tuesday 8th October at noon GMT to enter below by adding your creation to Mr Linky below - don't forget you have the chance to win a fabulous prize! 
The winner of this challenge will be announced on Sunday 14th October here on this blog. 

Please check our rules for all entries: 

1. All entries MUST follow the challenge theme. 2. Please link your blog post and not your blog address with the linky tool - this saves us from searching your blog for your entry.  3. No back-linking to previous posts - these will be disregarded from our voting.4. Please ensure you follow the challenge theme!

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
For best results, use HTML mode to edit this section of the post.

Getting busy with Metallic Pan Pastels!

Hi everyone!
Hope you're loving the new look blog - we're having a couple of issues with the blog feeds and Google+ so to make sure you still get all our posts and makes please make sure you refollow and sign up for the feeds - we have some amazing blog candy coming up so you don't want to miss that!

I just thought I'd share a project with you today featuring Metallic Pan Pastels - this is my absolute FAVOURITE product ever right now, the results you can achieve with card, the 6 colours and a Versamark inkpad are just stunning. If you haven't seen these yet or tried them they are really really high on my recommended list! Well worth the money and VERY versatile - you will think they are a cream like all other metallics or a wax, but they're not, they genuinely ARE the same texture and consistency as your other Pan Pastels! This means that they can be used in exactly the same way and with all the same great techniques you use normally - but with the added bonus that when mixed with the original colours they then become metallic too! AWESOME!

This really simple make was done by embossing black card with a Sizzix embossing folder then covering it with Versamark ink. Dab on a mixture of all 6 metallic colours then smooth them together with your Sofft sponge (If you use a normal sponge you really must switch to the Sofft sponges and applicators, we guarantee you will get better results!)...So smooth out the colours until you have a great coverage, then take a soft cloth or tissue and gently buff off the excess powder - this really will bring up an amazing shine! My top tip for using the metallics to give you a really great brushed metal effect... once you've finished, take one specific lighter colour and then sweep it slightly over any raised embossed areas and around all the edges. And voila! Completely looks like metal.

On this card I Also used a few die-cuts, again pressing them into Versamark first to make the Pan Pastel adhere better - if you do this you get a much more intense laydown and richer finish.

Look at the shine on the Butterfly, this blows me away every time I see it! The flowers are actually coloured with normal Pan Pastels (is there such a thing as 'normal'?) but because I used the autumnal browns and greens the metallic has completely changed the look of them and made thos look metallic too! Don't forget you can also use a cheap hairspray as you apply the colours - this will seal each layer so that you can then work on top and keep gaining a more intense and layered effect to your work.

So that's it from me today - please come back and join us on Sunday for our newly revamped Challenge!

Nikky x