Home Sweet Home

Hi everyone,

My oldest friend moved house last week after 25+ years at the same address, so I wanted to make a really special card to mark the event. I had my eye on the beautiful Lavinia stamp “Harrietas House” (yes, no apostrophe!), and got it for my birthday from my husband, along with some other Lavinia stamps from another dear friend. I decided to make an 8*8 card with a Lavinia scene, using a mix of new and existing stamps.

This card has to be one of the most complex scenes I have created, as it required various layers of masking the house and sun to create the stencilled hills and clouds. I coloured my house with Promarkers, then masked the image and also cut a circle from masking sheet for the sun, while I blended first my landscape then clouds using DO. I then removed the sun mask and cut a “negative” in copy paper, to enable me to sponge yellow DO inside the circle for the sun. I stamped my trees and birds using Versafine Clair with my house mask still in place, and stamped my foreground flowers and foliage using a mix of VFC and DO’s,  and first/second generation stamping. I sponged some DO round the edges of the panel, highlighted the image with a yellow Sakura sparkle pen, and finished with a stamped sentiment.  I matted the finished panel simply onto a border of pearlescent black linen card. For a final touch I used a teeny gold sticker from my stash to put a house number on the door 😀

I also decorated the inside of the card …

… and the envelope to match. 

Once again, here's an angled picture to show the sparkle of the Sakura pen ...

Stamps: Lavinia - Harrietas House, Celestial Tree, Small Trees, Garden Poppy, Wild Poppies, Bluebells, Vine Flourish, Fairy Charms, Birds; sentiment - Woodware;

Media: House - Promarkers; scenery - Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Iced Spruce, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Squeezed Lemonade, Wilted Violet); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone,  Charming Pink, Warm Breeze, Rainforest); Versafine  (Majestic Blue, Sepia); Memento (Black); Sakura sparkle pen (yellow);

Tools: Lavinia hill masks; home made hill, circle and cloud masks; masking sheet.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #429 - Any Occasion

Classic Design Challenge #5 2022 - Anything Goes

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge #19 2022 - Anything Goes With Colouring (2nd entry)

Daring Cardmakers - Rain or Shine

Day of the Month #39 - Love a Tree Day (2nd entry)

Little Red Wagon #653 - Make It Bloom

Make My Monday #174 - Springtime

My Time To Craft #481 - Around the House

Simon Says (Monday) - Alcohol

(I used Promarker alcohol markers to colour the main image)

Stamping Sensations (May) - Anything Goes with option Floral and Fauna (2nd entry)

Try It on Tuesday - Use a Stencil

Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge #5 2022 - Anything Goes

Take care, and thanks very much for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #676

Good morning everyone,

It's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge, and this week I am excited as it's my turn to pick the theme .. and I have chosen

*** Add Some Sparkle ***

So a lovely happy theme ... and how easy is that? I do love a bit of sparkle!!

To encourage you further we also have the following great prizes on offer:

First up WOWVOW has kindly donated a £15 store voucher 

Secondly we have 2 Paper Discovery stencils (designs will vary).

Before I get on to showing you my card for this week, I'd also like to give everyone a heads up about next week's challenge .... Allsorts Challenge will be 13!! Yep! The Allsorts baby will become a teenager, and we will have a special celebration challenge with LOTS of prizes ... you won't want to miss it!

Ahead of all that excitement ... here's my card for this week.

This is one of my first cards made with some of my new birthday stash from my darling husband. 

First I created a smoosh background with Distress Oxide inks, then background stamped my butterfly circles using 2nd generation VFC in Charming Pink, and my grungy circles using Versamark and white embossing powder. The butterfly is part of a larger stamp - I stamped and heat embossed it twice, coloured the butterflies with a mixture of Sakura sparkle pens and gold Posca pen, then fussy cut and adhered to the main panel. I finished off by stamping, cutting out and attaching my sentiment, and attaching some sparkly hearts.

As so often, the main pic does not capture the fact that the butterflies are VERY sparkly ... though I did have a moment's anxiety while colouring in as my pink pen was threatening to run out! I got a birthday voucher from another good friend for Hobbycraft, and yesterday (after making this card) I went to my local branch and got me a set of 8 sparkly Posca pens … they seem to be the latest craze on the Lavinia website but strangely are much cheaper in Hobbycraft, and of course I didn’t pay anything 😀 .. watch this space to see how they perform! Anyhoo, Here’s a pic to try to show the sparkly wings.

 

Stamps: Butterfly - Woodware "Butterfly"; background and sentiment - Visible Image "Butterfly Effect";

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Charming Pink); Versamark; Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Kitsch Flamingo, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac); Sakura sparkle pens (Rose Sparkle, Lilac Sparkle); gold Posca pen; white detail embossing powder;

Heart gems from my stash. 

Challenges I would like to enter:

Butterfly Challenge #170 - Spin the Butterfly Wheel

(I have used 2 colours - Amaranth & African Violet - plus butterfly)

Classic Design Challenge #5 2022 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Colour Crazy #19 2022 - Anything Goes with Colouring

C.R.A.F.T. #637 - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore #99 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Catz #595 - Anything Goes

Creations In Pink #45 - Anything Goes in Mainly Pink

Creative Friday #307 - No Patterned Papers

Dragonfly Dreams (May) - Butterflies and/or Flowers (2nd entry)

Love to Scrap #155 - Anything Goes

NBUS #38 - Use Your Never Before Used Schtuff

(mine is all the stamps on this card + the pink VFC)

Sheepski #62 - For the Girlz

Sisterhood of Crafters - Think Pink

Use Your Stuff #447 - Inspired By Cinema 

(The Butterfly Effect / Papillon)

We love Stamping (May) - For a Lady  (2nd entry)

Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing your sparkly creations. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Magical Birthday

Hi peeps,

The week is flying by, and today I would like to share another card I have made with the Lavinia owl stamps I bought a couple of months ago specifically for making male birthday cards. It is not dissimilar to one I made a few weeks ago here, but with a few key differences...

This time I created my background by smooshing Distress Oxide inks on my craft mat, building up layers of lilac, purple and dark blue...this meant I could create a moon dappled with colour rather than mostly white as previously.  I created my moon using a mask and sponging both DO and Versafine Clair ink to give more definition, then sponged my hills using hill masks and more DO. I stamped my main branch, owls, large trees and foreground meadow plants using Nocturne VFC, then stamped further branches and meadow grass in purple and dark blue to give more depth. I coloured my flowers with Sakura stardust, purple and blue sparkle pens, liberally highlighted the scene with Sakura Stardust pen, sponged round the edges of the image panel with black DO, and applied streaks of white mist with a white pastel pencil. I matted the panel onto black card and then onto the card blank, stamped and placed my sentiment, and finished off with spatter dots of white Posca pen and a couple of teeny star gems. 

Here's the obligatory angled pic to show the sparkle more clearly ...

Stamps: Lavinia Brodwin and Maylin, Tree Branch, Forest Scene, Nigella Damascena, Meadow Grass; sentiment - Crafters Companion Magical Sentiments;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Wilted Violet, Villainous Potion, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight); Versafine (Imperial Purple); Pastel Pencil (white); Sakura Sparkle pens (Blue, Purple, Stardust); white pastel pencil; white Posca pen.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #10 2022 - Anything Goes

Craft Rocket #92 - Birthday

Crafting Happiness #123 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (May) - Anything Goes

Creatalicious #234 - Anything Goes

Day of the Month #39 - Love a Tree Day

Double D - Birds/Nests/Bird Cages

Moving Along With the Times #142 - Birthday

Taylormadecards4u (May) - Masculine card

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Yesterday I had several parcels of craft goodies delivered, which were things I had ordered for my birthday either with the approval of my dear husband, or arising from a friend's gift voucher; so I now have an embarrassment of riches including some new Lavinia, Visible Image and Woodware stamps, a fab new VI die, Tim Holtz stencil and some texture paste, so this afternoon is going to be playtime - woo hoo!!  Watch this space to see what I manage to come up with!!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #675

Hi everyone,

I'm here again with another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Lorraine has chosen the theme and it is

*** Favourite Stamps and/or Dies ***

This week we have 2 great prizes on offer: Oakwood Archer has kindly donated a surprise craft bundle for one lucky winner, and a stencil for a second winner.

Here's my card for this week.

This theme gave me a dilemma in the nicest possible way, as I have lots of favourite stamps, which have changed over time and even day to day. My first loves were Penny Black, then I graduated onto Lili of the Valley ... and more recently I have gravitated towards Lavinia stamps and also love some of the AALl & Create and Visible Image ones too (oh for a bank balance to accommodate them all!!). However I decided to use this old wooden Stampendous stamp "Agapanthus Cluster" - as it is a perennial favourite I return to again and again and suits so many occasions and styles of card (I even have this stamp decorating my bookmark!!).

I decided this time that instead of inking the stamp in the usual way, I would use it as a "brushstroke" stamp. I coloured it with Marvey watercolour markers and spritzed with water before stamping, then repeated to make two overlapping images. I then die cut it out using my stitched fancy rectangle dies, spattered the panel with 2 colours of DO and also sponged round the edges. I don't really have favourite dies and don't even use them all that much any more; but I bought these recently from Amazon and I really love the look they create. I softly stencilled a square background panel using a Lavinia stencil and Distress Oxide ink, attached lace and mesh ribbon, then matted onto a large snippet of pearlescent linen cardstock I found in my box. I also cut a matching stitched rectangle from a second snippet and matted my flower panel onto it,  then attached to the card with foam tape. lastly I stamped and attached my sentiment, and attached a small bow with the edges frayed and 3 lilac heart gems.

Stamps: Stampendous "Agapanthus Cluster"; sentiment - Uniko - Simply Said Blocks II";

Media: Marvey watercolour markers; Tim Holtz Distress oxide ink (Tumbled Glass, Wilted Violet); Versafine Clair (Nocturne);

Tools: Lavinia "Leaf Trail" stencil; stitched rectangle dies from Amazon;

Ribbon, lace and gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge #5 2022 - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore #99 - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams (May) - Butterflies and/or Flowers

Happy Little Stampers : Watercolour (May) - Anything Goes with Watercolouring

Pearly Sparkles #73 - Let’s Layer It Up

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Feminine

Snippets Playground #427 -  Use Snippets

(Pearlescent lilac linen card stock)

Stamping Sensations (May) - Anything Stamped with option of Floral and Fauna

We Love Stamping (May) - For a Lady

Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge #4 2022 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Hope you can join us again this week, and I look forward to seeing your entries. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #674

Good morning everyone,

Saturday is here, so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week it's Lynn's turn to choose our theme, and it is

*** Anything Goes with the option of Scenic ***

So all entries are welcome so long as they comply with our simple challenge rules, but we would especially like to see any landscapes, seascapes

 or any other scenic pictures your imaginations can come up with!

This week we have 2 prizes to give away: fIrstly we have a beautiful Indigo Blu stamp 

For a second winner we have 3 digi images of their choice from Ruth Hamilton Design.

Here's my card for this week.

For me a scenic card was always going to have to be Lavinia as I have been collecting their scenic stamps over the past 6 months or so. I created my hills by blending Distress Oxide inks using a mix of Lavinia and home made hill masks, and I had my first attempt at making a cloud-filled sky with more Distress Oxides and a home made cloud mask. The sky didn't turn out perfectly but I kept going regardless!  I then stamped my trees, hares and birds using a mix of black and grey Versafine Clair and 1st/2nd generation stamping, and added a bit of colour by stamping my bluebells with Distress Oxides, as I don't yet have VFC in those bright colours. Lastly I added a bit of watercolour pencil "grounding", sponged a bit of black DO round the edges of my image panel, stamped my sentiment and matted everything onto a black linen border before adding two silver heart gems.

Stamps: Lavinia Forest Scene, Trees, Skeleton Tree Scene, Wild Hares (large), Bluebells, Field Grass, Birds, sentiment (retired - name unknown);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Iced Spruce, Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Misty Morning)

Tools: Lavinia hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #9 2022 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

 Crafty Catz #593 - Anything Goes

Creative Crafters #51 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #268 - Add Embellishments (2nd entry)

Hero Arts (April) - Blend It Up (5th entry)

Krafty Chicks #609 - All Occasions

Simon Says (Monday) - Wild and Wonderful (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing your entries. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Teal and Pink Wishes

Hi everyone,

As I continue on my ATC adventure, I have this week joined a FB group called UK Stampers' Forum. I was not aware of this group before, but a commenter on here recommended it as it has a monthly ATC swap (amongst many other swaps and competitions!) ... sorry I can't remember who made this recommendation, but thank you!!  I really loved this month's swap theme which is teal and pink, so I sat down this afternoon and made a set of 3 ATC's for the swap just (hopefully!) in the nick of time ... and here they are.

I cut three standard ATC size pieces of white stamping card, and created a smoosh teal and pink background using Distress Oxide inks. I then 2nd generation stamped my background words using VFC in Warm Breeze (which is a great shade of teal!), then stamped and heat embossed a white Lavinia dandelion on each card. I surrounded the main flower with 2 other dandelions stamped in Morning Mist VFC using 1st and 2nd generation stamping, then stamped, heat embossed and adhered my sentiment. I finished off by sponging round the edges of each ATC with more DO and highlighting the white dandelions with holographic glitter, before edging each piece with black marker and mounting onto black card stock.

And here's a closer look ...

ATC 1/3

ATC 2/3

ATC 3/3

Stamps: Lavinia "Dandelions" and "Words of Spring"; sentiment - Uniko "Simply Said Blocks II";

Media: Tim Holtz Distress oxide inks (Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers); Versafine Clair (Warm Breeze, Morning Mist); Versamark; white detail embossing powder; holographic glitter.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #9 2022 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Classic Design Challenge #4 2022 - Anything Goes (6th Birthday Challenge) (7th entry)

Crafting Happiness #122 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafty Catz #592 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2217 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Wild and Wonderful

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Taylormadecards4u (April) - Anything Goes with option The Great Outdoors (3rd entry)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge #4 2022 - Anything Goes

As this is my first ever ATC swap I now need to go and look out a suitable envelope to send these to the co-ordinator ... I've got some little poly sleeves to protect each ATC but methinks I need to get organised!!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

ATC Frenzy!

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to share with you a few more ATC’s I have made .. I am so enjoying making these teeny tiny creations, even though they sometimes take longer than a full blown card!!

First up, a single ATC called “Bee Amazing”.

This one may look simple but was actually quite fiddly and time consuming, and required several attempts before I was satisfied. First I cut snippets of white and black card to slightly smaller than standard ATC size. I stencilled my honeycomb pattern onto my black card with Versamark then heat embossed using gold EP ... this took several attempts, I suspect ‘cos my EP is past its best !! I then hand trimmed my embossed panel to create a piece that would form a diagonal across the ATC. I carefully positioned, stamped and heat embossed my wording ... I didn't have any suitable stamps so had to get creative -  the word “bee” was formed by careful masking of the word “because” in my Uniko “Just Because” stamp set 🐝 

I then stamped and heat embossed my bees, and coloured them with black Promarker and gold Posca pen, and used holographic glitter on the wings. I masked off the bees and created some gold spatter on the white background with my Posca pen, then when it was dry I edged my panels with black marker then adhered my honeycomb panel and matted it all onto a standard ATC size piece of gold card.

Here is an angled pic to show the sparkly wings.

Stamps : bee - Woodware “Blooming”; sentiment - Uniko “Just Because”;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Versamark; embossing powders (gold and clear); Posca pen (gold); holographic glitter;

Tools : Darkroom Door stencil - Honeycomb.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #57 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafting Happiness (April) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Animals #60 - Include an Animal

Creative Crafters #51 - Anything Goes

Creative Knockouts #449 - Wings and Things or Furry Creatures (2nd entry)

Crafty Catz #592 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments #233 - Things With Wings (2nd entry)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2216 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Path of Positivity #100 - Anything Goes Positive (2nd entry)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

After all that I wanted to speed up a bit, so I created a larger smooshed distress panel and cut it into several pieces which ended up as a series of 3 floral ATC’s called “Dream, Wish, Believe”.

I created a smoosh panel with pink, orange and green Distress Oxide ink and cut it into pieces slightly smaller than standard ATC’s. On all 3 I did second generation background stamping using a LotV text and foliage stamp with Morning Mist VFC, then stamped a large swirl in pink pearlescent ink and heat embossed with clear EP. I rooted in my die case and selected three floral stems, which I die cut using snippets of white pearlescent card and adhered one to each ATC. For my sentiments I stamped some small LotV  sentiment tags, then cut out the words and edged with black Promarker before adhering. Finally I edged each main panel with black marker to hide the white edges, and matted into black linen cardstock, and finished off with some teeny pink gems.

And a closer look at each individual one ...

ATC 1/3

ATC 2/3

ATC 3/3

Stamps: LotV “Grunge Letter”, “Everyday Tags”; Crafty Individuals “Large Elegant Swirl”;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimon, Twisted Citron); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist); Brilliance Dewdrop ink pad (Pearlescent Orchid); clear embossing powder; black Promarker;

Tools: ATC1 - Memory Box “Fresh Daisies” die; ATC2 - Joy! Crafts “Vintage Flourishes” 6003/0030 coneflowers die; ATC3 - Memory Box “Prim Poppies” die.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #9 2022 - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - B is for Blooms

As You Like It - Favourite: Floral or Cute (and why)

(I love both, but am currently veering towards floral as I explore a more arty style of crafting)

Corrosive Challenge #4 2022 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (April) - Anything But Square (3rd entry)

Day of the Month Card Club (April) - California Poppy Day (ATC 3/3 only)

Dream Valley #268 - Add Embellishments

Hero Arts (April) - Blend It Up (4th entry)

River of Creativity (April) - Anything But a Card (3rd entry)

Snippets Playground #426 - Use Snippets

That’s me all ATC’d out for the time being, though they are so addictive I sure I’ll be back on the case before too long .. I’m even working up to the idea of actually trading some 😀. I really love how they make you think about your stash in a different way … eg. I’m not too well off for appropriate “inspirational wording” stamps, so I am trying to get creative with masking and cutting down of what I do have 😀

Take care and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks for visiting. 

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #673

Good morning everyone,

Wow where have the past two weeks gone to?? The Easter holidays have flown by and here we are again with a new Allsorts Challenge. This week Ellie has chosen the theme and it is

*** I spy something beginning with 'B' ***

This week we have two fab prizes on offer:

A £15 voucher from Pearlywinks

and 2 Paper Discovery stencils (designs may vary).

Here's my card for this week.

B is for Birthday, Blooms, Black, Blue, Butterfly

Over Easter my husband has been tackling the unenviable but long overdue task of decorating our hall and stairs, where he has had to strip off all the wallpaper which was put on originally as the plastering is not good. He is currently trying to remediate it (before we decide whether to call   in a professional plasterer) but the whole house seems to be in chaos, plus I am also now starting to think about all the overdue house improvements which were put on hold due to the pandemic ... so all in all I have had little time or inclination for crafting this week!

Due to lack of mojo I decided to revisit a technique I have tried before based on a Jo Rice tutorial - stencilling a scene across multiple layers. As before I made things a bit trickier for myself by stamping across multiple layers, but I learned from last time and this time I stamped from the bottom layer up!

First I cut my pieces of card, and placed them on my base card, held down with magnets using my Press to Impress Art Board. I created my sun and landscape using Lavinia masks and blended Distress Oxide inks using my trusty makeup brushes from Amazon. I stamped my fairy onto the top panel, then positioned my other stamps one by one, removing my card  panels to stamp the base card first, then the second and third layer. I added some clouds across the sun using more DO and a piece of ripped paper, coloured my fairy wings and highlighted everything with Sakura sparkle pens. Lastly I edged each layer with black Promarker lines before assembling the card and adding my stamped sentiment popped up on foam tape.

Stamps: Lavinia Moments Like These, Tree of Faith, Silhouette Foliage Set, Fairy Bugs; sentiment - See D;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Sakura Stardust sparkle pens (yellow and turquoise);

Tools: Lavinia hill and circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge #4 2022 - Anything Goes (6th Birthday Challenge) (6th entry)

Creative Knockouts #449 - Wings and Things or Furry Friends

Creative Moments #233 - Things With Wings

Hero Arts (April) - Blend It Up (3rd entry)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2216 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Whatever the Weather

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Rain or Shine

Stamping Sensations (April) - I Love ... (3rd entry)

(Lavinia stamps, Distress Oxide inks, sparkle, creating scenes with masks)

Taylormadecards4u (April) - Anything Goes with option The Great Outdoors (2nd entry)

Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge #4 2022 - Anything Goes

That's all from me for today. Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing your entries. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,