Guesting over at LIM

Good morning folks.
I can't keep my secret any longer as today I'm guesting over at Less is More!!!!



I was so shocked when I got the message asking and I said yes in a shot.
LIM is one of my favourite challenges and I try to enter every week, so it was a no brainer really.
This week LIM are celebrating their 300th challenge!!!!!!!!!!! What a landmark.
So this week the challenge is

CELEBRATION/ FESTIVALS

So what to do?
After a little thought I came up with the idea of balloons as my theme, what says celebration more than that.
So here is my card for your inspiration.

As the latest challenge over at Uniko is about rainbows, I wanted to incorporate that colourful theme into my card. I started by stamping the 'celebrate' from STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders 'Celebrate' set, embossing it in silver then die cut a selection of balloons. Rather than use coloured card I cut them in white and coloured them with Copics, adding freehand 'strings' with a fine liner after I had stuck them to my panel in more or less rainbow order. I trimmed down the overhanging balloons, then glued the completed stitched panel to a base card. 

The finished card would be great for any occasion, I think and even suitable for those tricky males we know!

Thanks again to the ladies at LiM for this opportunity, please support this fab challenge and celebrate their 300th challenge post in style.

I'd like to join in over at

       

I'm late, I'm late .....

Morning all.

The weather is really weird again. When I went to the shops on Tuesday  lunchtime it was a chilly 9'C but on the way to my son's in the late evening it was 12'C, really odd. As I write this the sun is blazing and outside it is quite pleasant. Mind not as strange as the 15'C on Boxing Day a few years ago. Still it wouldn't be Britain if we had settled weather and we wouldn't have anything to talk about!

Anyway, over at Cardz4Galz we have a new challenge for you.

FAIRY TALES/ FANTASY

Here is my inspiration card for you.

My socially active Grandson was off to yet another party at the weekend and his Mum asked if I would make a card for him to give that was linked to the theme of the party- Alice in Wonderland, fantasy I think.

That really got me scratching my head but I found this free kids colouring image online so decided to use him as it was a card for a little boy to give to a girl!

The layout is one of my favourites, using a snippet of NitWits DP in the stash with images of teacups and teapots on a dark purple background card. The embossed center is a Tri Boss folder by Crosscut which gives a really deep and clear impression of timepieces.

The White Rabbit was coloured with Copics then fussy cut and I added a computer generated sentiment, cut with a MFT banner die. Apparently the recipient squealed with delight when she opened it, so I guess she liked it!

For more fantastical fairytale inspiration check out the rest of the DT and why not join us this time.

I'd like to join in over at -

         
Always Anything Goes                       Anything Goes



Use 5 of a kind - I used 5 dies here.

Congrats, have a Wonderful Day, take two!

Hi, and welcome to post to announce the start of a brand new challenge over at ATSM.

This week our theme is

MAKE YOUR MARK

Here is my inspiration for you.

When I started with this card I had a few challenges in mind, my STAMPlorations teamie Becca (The Damsel Of Distressed Cards) is hosting challenge to highlight the problem of domestic violence, the gorgeous pastel bouquet at Fusion and the AYLI challenge, where it's old v new stash!

As to old versus new stash, who doesn't like new stuff? As regular readers will know, I expanded my Altenew stamp stash at Port Sunlight stamp fair at the beginning of the month and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to break open my 'Remember This' set. New stash is often inspiring but can often sit there on your desk waiting for the muse to stike, almost saying you bought me now what are you going to do with me!

As the colour for domestic violence awareness is purple, I used Wilted Violet DI to wash in the colour over the white embossed flowers in a water color style, with a little Salty Ocean added for shadow. This set has their trademark layered stamps but also the solid outline stamps, which I've used here. It is a very detailed flower head and took time to get the graduated shading on all the individual petals. The leaves and stems were coloured with a mixture of Mown Lawn and a mix of the Salty Ocean I used for the background wash, as well as a bit of the Wilted Violet in the shadows. Although the Fusion bouquet has pink, white and lilac in the bouquet, I kept with the lilac for my card, the bloom reminded me of this new bloom stamp too.

I was unsure which sentiment to use on my card but as the stash of wedding/anniversary cards has been badly depleted this summer, I thought I would use the Congrats word die from Cuttlebug and the text stamps from HLS Everyday Sentiments to make one.
I used the same combination for another DT inspiration card here.

This week we have two fab sponsors

QKR Stampede and Eureka Stamps was purchased by Stamp On It in 2013 from the state of Colorado and moved to its new home in Michigan! We(Stamp On It) had its humble beginnings over 25 years ago and is now a mobile(on-the-road) family owned and operated business. We travel coast to coast and attend as a vendor over 25 retail stamping and scrapping shows each year. 

Prize: 3 digital images 

and

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More is proud to sponsor of Addicted to Stamps and More. 

Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps And More, a division of I Did It Creations, was created and is owned by Robyn Weinrib. Robyn offers a wonderful variety of digital stamps and digital papers, designed to meet the needs of all digital paper crafting addicts for every occasion. 

Prize: 3 digital images (does not include designer papers)

So no excuses not to get making your mark and join in!

For more fabulous inspiration please check out the rest of the DT.

I'd like to join in over at:-

       

Old or new stash

Say it with Balloons!

Morning all.

As it's Tuesday it is time for a brand new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz.

This week we would like to see cards that have -

MOVEMENT

So, sliders, waterfall, tabs, you name it it's all over to you.

I went with an exploding box card for my inspiration project.

I made this awhile ago for a commission for a friend of my daughters after she saw one of my other cards. This uses die cut balloons which are attached to thin strips of acetate that move around when the card is opened and when there is air movement. It is quite an easy thing to achieve but has a great impact on the recipient! 

I cut thin strips of acetate, mine came from some waste packaging, which are then sandwiched between two die cut balloons, then stuck to the strips across the center of the box card. This one was made with offcuts  of glitter and shiny card in the recipients favourite colours.

As well as the balloons, I added some fussy cut explosion stamps by Uniko and trimmed the base with EF embossed panels and the name and age cut with MFT dies.

What will you create, we'd love to see. For more inspiration, please check out the rest of the team here.

I'd like to join in over at:-

        

Anything Goes                               Sparkle and Shine

Witching You .....

 Morning all.

The weekend stretches before us, the crisp autumnal air means the log burner is up and running but as yet the range in the kitchen is yet to be lit. I'm glad that's the hubster's job as I'm OK at adding the logs I'm not so good at starting it off, there is definitely a knack to it. I have memories of coming down in the morning as a child and watching Mum with a coal shovel and a piece of the night before's evening paper placed across the fire opening getting it going. A tricky thing to judge when to remove the paper just before it went up in flames!

Life is a little easier with a log burner but there is still mess to clear up in a morning! However, there is something comforting about sitting in the glow of the logs watching Saturday night Strictly. Love this year's series, so many great contestants but one or two are putting their heads above the ramparts, Ore and Danny were fab last week and who can forget Ed Balls' Mask samba from the week before.

Anyway back to the real reason for this post. Today sees a new challenge over at Fantasy Stampers.

Our new challenge for you is -

HALLOWEEN FUN

Here is my card for your inspiration.

Originally, I planned to use the sketch over at Freshly made Sketches, but looking as how it finally turned out I hope it's acceptable! Instead of a purely Halloween card I turned it into a birthday card with this computer generated sentiment. The colours are those at Colour Q, Copics for the little witch from LOTV Halloween, minus the 'ghost' and DI blended for the panels with a little water spritz for texture.

For more inspiration please check out the rest of the DT and then why not join us. We'd love to see your stamped creations.

I'd like to join over at -

        

STAMPlorations, a reminder

Hi and welcome to a post to remind you that there is still time for you to enter the sketch/theme challenge over at STAMPlorations.

This time I went with the theme for my inspiration card. 

If you don't fancy the theme you could go with the sketch or go wild and give both a whirl!

I was struggling to come up with an idea for this post until I remembered a card that used a panel with lots of white embossed roses on it. So I thought I would have a play with my rose stamp from the Boxed Blooms set. I didn't want the square of the stamp on the finished panel, so I wiped off the Versamark before stamping and embossing with white EP, repeating until I had covered the card panel. I usually keep well within the lines when colouring but as the theme is SPONGING, I used a very loose technique, one I'd not used before to ink the roses, first in Spun Sugar DI followed by Picked Raspberry then in between with Mown Lawn. When finished I die cut a panel using the middle die of my Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Die Set. The sentiment is from the Sentiment Builders -Celebrate set and the large black Smile is the Cutplorations  Smile die.

That's about it from me. Please check out the rest of the DT along with our GDT over at the STAMPlorations site, where you will also find all the relevant Ts and Cs.

I'd like to join in over at-

I was influenced by Ardyth's flowers and bold black sentiment, as well as indulging in a new technique and getting messy!

Plaid robins

Afternoon folks.

While tidying up my craft room the other day I found a load of coloured toppers and items that I must have made while stopping in the caravan ages ago and forgot all about. As the local craft shop were asking me for some Christmas cards I thought I would use these to make some quick cards.

Among the stash were four cheeky robins, coloured in a graphic style using my old Marvy pens with a bit of fun flock on the hat as trim. I wanted to use them and went looking for inspiration and came across this cute card here. As the latest challenge at Merry Monday is PLAID, I thought I would use the layout with my robins. I couldn't decide which plaid DP from the stash to use so I made three!

I'm still not sure which one I like best.

The original stamp was a really old one that has lost its packaging so I don't know the brand.

All the layers are flat so it's also post friendly!

I'd like to join in over at -

Ghosting

Hi folks.

I have been playing around with a technique I first came across awhile ago, GHOSTING.

I used it for a card when I GD'd over at HLS  CAS challenge, here. I used the same technique for this card.

The inspiration for this is from the garden as we have a huge rudbekia plant flowering profusely, even managing to survive the ravages of rabbits, sheep and slugs!

I inked up a panel of card with DIs in golden yellows and oranges then stamped the flower heads from a STAMPlorations set, in grey. I added the stems and leaves freehand. The flower heads were then painted over with water then blotted with a piece of kitchen roll, to bleach away the colour = ghosting. The centers were then coloured with brown and shadow added with Weathered Wood DI. The stems and leaves were painted with a mixture of greens and brown. 

To add further interest I covered the flowers and splashed the background with water before mopping up the splatters with the kitchen roll. I stamped the THANKS from STAMPlorations on a vellum strip and embossed it with gold and wrapped around the coloured panel.

The base card was also stamped with the flower head but this time I embossed them with clear EP.

I'd like to join in over at-

My choice is embossing

Autumn

Spiders or Insects

Morning all.

Everyone in blogland seems to be in full Halloween mode. Not really my cup of tea, but when you're on a DT you sometimes have to make things that aren't what you would normally make. So for this week's challenge at Cardz4Guyz we are asking for cards on the theme of

BOO (Halloween) or  THANKS

Anyway, I got my thinking cap on and made this. 

I was inspired by the challenge over at Less is More to include an insect or spider on your card.

I'd seen some funky goggle-eyed spiders on a card somewhere and thought them a bit of a hoot. I quite like spiders, we have plenty of them here in the countryside and at the old house we used to see  a rather large one scuttle from the fire across the carpet at this time of year. I found out recently that they are probably males looking for love! Well the deceased one in the guest en-suite was sadly unrequited!

OK, here's how I made this card. I first inked a panel with some DI in Wilted Violet, Seedles Preserve and Stormy Sky leaving a lighter central section, before stamping a star from a Wplus9 set that I added extra lines to to make the body more rounded, then doodled in the legs and added a pair of googly eyes. The background panel was embossed using an old Cuttlebug EF folder and the white letters were cut using dies by MFT.

For more inspiration please check out the rest of the team here.

I'd like to join in over at -

Spiders or Insects

Halloween

R is for ...

Well according to ABC Challenge it's Red Ribbon and Reindeer.

I just happene to have made a card that fits the bill to a tee, The local craft shop asked if I had some Christmas cards for them so I've been using Pinterest and some odds and ends to make a few.

Here is the first of the few.

I picked up the cute deer die at Hobbycraft the other week and the snowflake panel from the sale rack at The Range earlier this year. The frame die I indulged myself after borrowing one from Chris Stokes at the retreat this July. It is actually cut from an Avery Elle double pierced square stack that I left connected! As it is a WOW card I used some linen effect card stock to add interest.

I'd like to join in over at:-

R is for red, ribbon and reindeer

LOTV Facebook Challenge

Morning all.

Back today to announce the start of a brand new challenge over at Cardz4Galz.

This week our theme is -

USE 1 or more DIE

Nice and easy!

I've taken the opportunity to make a card for the Facebook challenge at LOTV.

This sweet little penguin is one of a trio of festive penguin images I've had for awhile, using them quite a lot last year! I saw the idea of rotating the die cut snowflake and placing it over the opening left awhile ago and thought it made a great frame for a Christmas image. In this card I used 4 dies in total, the Snowflake, Sizzix Bigz, Blue mount, Spellbinders circles, penguin topper, MFT stitched circles stax and a MFT banner die from a Blueprints set.

The white topper was embossed with a Swiss dot EF from Cuttlebug after cutting out the snowflake, before gluing flat onto a panel of blue glitter paper. The sentiment is from a Uniko set I bought from Port Sunlight embossed in sparkly red EP. The penguin was coloured with Copics and then cut out with the circle die, feeding his scarf and hat to the outside before cutting so they weren't lost!

OK, that's about it from me. Please out the rest of the team and join in, why don't you?

I'd like to join in over at -

No option for me

Always Use Rubber

Penguins are black and white!

Challenge #30 A/G twist of the seasons 

Another Port Sunlight Bargain Stamp

Welcome to my late night post to announce the start of a new challenge over at ATSM.
This week it is our

PHOTO INSPIRATION

Here is my interpretation

of this inspiration photo.

I'm not big on Halloween and don't give cards so mine is just based on the sunset and silhouetted tree.
I used another bargain stamp from Crafty Individuals that I got the other Saturday.
We get a lot of spectacular sunsets here, I jokingly say it's the Runcorn effect, power station and oil refinery about 30 miles to the NW of here. So I was quite keen to try out a sunset scene.
I started by putting down a pale layer of Carved Pumpkin DI, then masking off the moon with a die cut circle made from a Post It. I then went back in with more of the Carved Pumpkin and some Black Soot at the top of the panel. Removing the mask, I swiped across the sky with the Black soot to suggest clouds against the moon. With a torn piece of Post It, I inked i the hills with Mown Lawn DI, followed by Black Soot. Finally I stamped the tree, complete with birds in Versafine Onyx Black. I popped the finished panel up on foam and stamped the greeting from STAMPlorations in black.
Please check out the rest of the DT for more fabulous inspiration and why not join in.
This week we have two sponsors

QKR Stampede and Eureka Stamps was purchased by Stamp On It in 2013 from the state of Colorado and moved to its new home in Michigan! We(Stamp On It) had its humble beginnings over 25 years ago and is now a mobile(on-the-road) family owned and operated business. We travel coast to coast and attend as a vendor over 25 retail stamping and scrapping shows each year. 

Prize: 3 digital images

 and 

Founded in June 2013, California-based STAMPlorations™ is owned and managed by husband-and-wife team, David & Shery Russ. From just a handful of stamps, we now have 100+ stamp designs, 4 stamp designers, our exclusive line of stencils, and 20 amazing crafters spread across 3 teams who constantly produce gorgeous projects featuring our products. Our clear stamps are perfect for creating CAS, one layer, and mixed media cards, and they can be combined to create a variety of paper crafts. All of our stamps are proudly made in the USA. Our clear stamps are made from the finest, non-yellowing photopolymer resin. Through our stamp line, we hope to encourage crafters of all ages and

experience levels to "Stamp with all your ART!" 

Prize: 2 digital images

So even more reasons to join in.

I'd like to join in over at-

Follow your dreams

Welcome back. 

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz.

This week our theme is 

TIME FLIES

Tempus Fugit, as they say. I wasn't sure where to go with this but as ever CAS came to my rescue.

Over at Paper Artsy I saw the technique of sprinkling ink crystals on a damp acrylic block then stamping it onto card to give a soft background for stamps. I've used this block stamping technique with DIs before so thought I would have a go. Check it out here

I used some Infusions crystals in Lemoncello and A Bit Jaded here. These crystals are a bit grungier than my normal Brushos, perfect for this masculine card. I stamped then wiped off some of the ink from the edge of the stamps before stamping at opposite corners. The stamps are Paper Artsy Clocks 3 which I've had for ages and very useful for guy cards. In the sample a die cut was used but as the challenge at LIM is OL, I thought I would emboss this fern from Uniko's Natural Treasures in white and add the sentiment from STAMPlorations, it goes really well with the phrase stamp I think. Everything was stamped in Ground Espresso except the fern. It teams rather well with the browns in the ink stamped panel.

OK, that's all from me. Please check out the rest of the DT then why not join in.

I'd like to join in over at -

OLC - DREAMS