C.R.A.F.T. #776 - Guest Designer

Hi everyone, I was thrilled to be asked to be guest designer on this fortnight’s C.R.A.F.T. Challenge, where the theme for the next two weeks is 

*** Christmas - Children ***

The fabulous sponsor for this challenge is

All Dressed Up

The prize is 2 images from their online store.

The design team have made some fabulous projects to inspire you, so please do visit the challenge blog to check them out, and to link up your own entries. 

Here is my card for the challenge. I will hold my hand up that I did struggle a bit with this - I have absolutely no requirement for children’s Christmas cards so my stash is not really geared that way; but I decided a glittery, fantasy Christmas tree and fairy might work for a girl, so that’s what I went with!

I die cut a stitched rectangle of white stamping card, then stamped the Christmas tree in pink and heat embossed with holographic glitter embossing powder. I stamped the fairy with the lantern she normally carries masked off, then coloured her wings with Sakura Stardust pens. I hand drew a bauble in her hand using my White Orbs stencil,, which I also coloured with Stardust pens along with the baubles on the tree. I added a stamped sentiment and a few stars, then matted onto turquoise glitter card and a 7” x 5” card blank. To finish I added the absolute last star gem that I could find in my stash to the top of the tree!

This card is really VERY sparkly - here’s an angled picture.

Stamps: Lavinia White Pine, Dragonfly Keepers; sentiment and stars free with craft magazine; 

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Baby Pink, Bali Blue); Sakura Stardust pens (pink, turquoise, clear);

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched rectangle die; Lavinia White Orbs stencil.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #132 - Anything Goes Christmas

613 Avenue Create (March) - Anything Goes with option Things With Wings

ABC Christmas  - G is for Gems

Christmas or Not BINGO #18 - BINGO Card

(I have chosen column “I” - Christmas / Pink / Stamping)

Christmas Crafts All Year Round (March) - F is for … Fairy

Crafty Catz #709 - Anything Goes

Merry Little Christmas #67 - Anything Christmas Goes

Outlawz Christmas (March) - Anything Christmas Goes

Peace On Earth #108 - Anything Goes Christmas

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Clean and Simple

Word Art Wednesday #744/745 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Thanks very much to the C.R.A.F.T. challenge Design Team for asking me to be guest designer this time.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #35/36

Hi everyone, once again it’s the third Wednesday in the month which can only mean one thing … it’s time for another I Spy With My Little Eye... challenge over at Ellibelle's Corner. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last time - please do check over on Ellie’s blog to see if you are one of our top picks. 

This time we have got double the fun for you, as we are running a two month long challenge with two themes, so you have got both plenty of time to enter, and plenty of choice of subject. So … our two themes for this challenge are

*** Spring Flowers***

and

*** Spring Showers ***

Please don’t forget to pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

We are also delighted to be joined by a guest designer - Jolanda - so please do click on her name to visit her blog and view her beautiful creation.

Here’s my card for the challenge - as you can see I decided to go with spring flowers.

Last autumn I bought a fabulous extra large background “spatter” stamp by Inkylicious at a craft fair, but for some unknown reason I had never inked it up until now. It is VERY big, so I decided to make a one layer card to give maximum space to accommodate it! I scored a piece of 30cm x 15cm Pink Frog super smooth card to make a square card blank, then dabbed various colours of Distress Oxide onto the stamp and spritzed with water then stamped - it acted rather, like a gel plate! I stamped the daffodils, then stamped again onto a separate snippet of card, coloured with Zig pens and Wink of Stella, fussy cut and attached. I stamped two bunnies in the corner which I highlighted with white Posca pen and pastel pencil, then stamped the sentiment - job done! 

Stamps: Inkylicious Spatter Circle XL; Visible Image Golden Daffodils; Lavinia Wild Hares (large); Uniko Spring Botanicals Snowdrop (sentiment);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Broken China); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Medieval Blue); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Posca pen (white); pastel pencil (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #39 - Anything Floral Goes with optional Mood Board

Craft Rocket #134 - No Designer Paper

Crafty Calendar (March) - Spring

Creative Crafting Uncles #75 - Spring and/or Easter

Creative Moments #280 - Bunnies and Blooms

Daisy Chain #105 - Flowers

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #13 - Anything In or From a Garden

Four Seasons (March) - Spring (2nd entry)

Girlz Creative Crafts #66 - Flowers

Papercraft Challenges #128 - Joy of Spring

Passion for Markers #829 - Make It Bloom

Path of Positivity #139 - Anything Goes Positive

Simon Says (Monday) - Beautiful Blooms

Sparkles #198 - It’s Springtime!

Triple B (March) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms

Try It On Tuesday - Spring

The I Spy Challenge will end on the Sunday before the next challenge starts at 23:59 US Central Time - as our challenge runs for two months this time that is Sunday May 17th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday May 20th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

You’ll Always Be a Classic

Hi everyone, today I’d like to share the birthday card I made for my darling husband’s 65th birthday. This is actually an enlarged and expanded version of a card I made last year, and as I really liked it the first time and always had in mind I wanted to make something along similar lines for him. My mojo is still on an extended holiday and this is my first make for 2 weeks, so it was good to have an idea to get me started!

I die cut a grungy square, and created a grungy inky background by smooshing Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Oxides using acetate and spritzed water. I then stamped the focal car in Nocturne VFC and coloured the highlights with a white Posca pen. I added various stencilling of diamonds, cogs and dots using more DOX, and background stamped numbers and spatters using Portobello and Nocturne VFC. I stamped the sentiments and numbers, highlighted with white Posca, then matted the panel onto a die cut black border. 

I then cut a larger piece of tan striped DP from an 8” x 8” sheet, lightly stencilled cogs all the way round and added stamped spatters, before matting onto a black border. I matted the image panel onto the paper, a black border and ann8” square card blank. To finish off I added Glossy Accents to the car windows and headlights, and some small metal Tim Holtz cogs.

Stamps: Visible Image You’re a Classic, Sunflower Grunge (spatters); AALL & Create #455 Seasons (numbers);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides inks (Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Scorched Timber, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Portobello); Posca pen (white); Glossy Accents;

Papers: LotV ‘Country Gentleman):

Tools: AALL & Create die #42 Papyrus Essence; Darkroom Door stencil - Diamonds; Visible Image stencil - Halftone; craft magazine cogs stencil;

Other: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Gears.

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthday #83 - Use Die Cuts

As You Like It - Favourite Person to craft for (and why)

(Mine is my husband, of course! ❤️)

Cardz 4 Guyz #383 - Monochrome Colour Palette

Crafts Galore Encore #145 - Anything Goes

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (March) - Use a Stencil

Creative Artiste #124 - Anything Mixed Media Goes

Cut It Up #351 - Happy Birthday

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #3 2026 - Birthdays 

Little Red Wagon #849 - Boy Inside the Man

Love to Craft #91 - Anything Goes

Love to Scrap #178 - Anything Goes

Mix It Up #84 - Anything Goes

Shopping Our Stash #569 - I’m Counting on You

Sparkles #197 - Vintage/Mixed Media

Tic Tac Toe #288 - Tic Tac Toe

(Stencils / Ink blending / Spatter/smooshing)

Unicorn #118 - Transportation

We Love 2 Create #2 2026 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes

Word Art Wednesday #742/743 - Anything Goes

Hope you’re having a great weekend, whatever you’re doing.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Spring Has Sprung!

Hi everyone, it’s March and spring is officially here, though looking out at the weather here in the UK you wouldn’t necessarily notice! Confession time … yesterday was time to turn over my Lavinia calendar page for March, but due to a variety of reasons I hadn’t made it - eek! So yesterday afternoon I thought I’d better get busy, and here is the result. 

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm and first stamped the cottage and fairy path. I then masked them and created the hills and sky by blending Elements and Distress inks using my hill and circle masks. I stamped the fairy washing line (which I treated myself to last week specifically so I could make this page!), carefully masking it so that the washing was stamped in Nocturne while the end trees were stamped in Shady Lane VFC. I stamped Sky the fairy then added some stamped trees on the background hills, adding spring green leaves from the Spring Trees set. I then coloured the cottage and path with Zig pens, and fairy wings with Sakura Stardust pens. Unfortunately my Zigs didn’t blend well on the cottage - I have recently bought a new pack of super smooth stamping card and have noticed it definitely doesn’t blend as well as previously! So … I stamped another cottage onto separate card, coloured it with watercolour pencils, cut out and attached. I added a few finishing touches by stamping a fence, various foliage and bluebells around the cottage and the edges, a flight of birds and lastly some background spring wording.

When my husband saw the finished result he enquired about the absence of any March hares, or (having been brought up in Wales) daffodils. I had to tell him that sadly Lavinia don’t make any daffodil stamps (he replied that as a Welsh company, maybe they should!); but I added the hare sitting looking at the fairy, just for him! ❤️

Stamps: Lavinia Sky, Woodside View, Fairy Path, Fairy Washing Line, Skeleton Tree Scene, Trees, Spring Trees, Bluebells, Thyme, Winter Foliage, Gate & Fence, Forest Hares, Birds, Words of Spring;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Olive, Pine, Lime  Punch, Sundance, Lemon Drop); Tim Holtz Distress ink (Tumbled Glass); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Pinecone, Acorn, Shady Lane, Avocado, Very Peri, Lilac Bloom); Kuretake Clean Color watercolour pens; watercolour pencils; Sakura Stardust pens (pink, yellow, green); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Lavinia Hill mask and circle masks; My Favorite Things cloud stencil.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (March) - Anything Goes with option Things With Wings

Country View Crafts (March) - Spring Into Life

Cardz 4 Galz #270 - Wings

Crafts Galore Encore #145 - Anything Goes 

Crafty Catz #708 - Anything Goes

Four Seasons (March) - Anything Goes

Lavinia Creative Challenge (March) - Spring Awakening

Outlawz Anything but a Card (March) - Anything but a Card

Simon Says (Monday) - Whatever the Weather

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

We Love 2 Create #2 2026 - Anything Mixed Media / Papercrafting Goes

Word Art Wednesday #740/741 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

I’m just hoping that the weather will finally get the memo that spring is here, and we can see an end to the relentless rain we’ve been having! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Misty Meadow

Hi everyone, I had a gel plate print left over from a previous crafty playtime and it reminded me of a misty, rainy sky, so I decided to make a simple scenic card for this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge. Unfortunately I seem to have missed the challenge as this afternoon the entry box wasn’t there on the website - grr! 

I don’t normally make sympathy cards to have in reserve in my stash, but the background on this card just spoke to me that way! Please excuse the poor photograph - it is SO dark here today!

I cut a square of white stamping card, brayered Shaded Likac and Stormy Sky Distress Oxide inks onto my smaller square gel press, spattered with water then took a print. I masked the white edges of the card, created a misty sun with a circle mask and blended DOX, then stamped a variety of meadow flowers in various shades of Versafine Clair. I edged the sun with clear Sakura Stardust pen, and added sparkle and white Posca highlights to the flowers. I added stamped birds and a sentiment, then matted onto a border and 6” card blank.

Stamps: Lavinia Wild Poppies, Dandelions, Fairy Dandelions, Buttercups, Birds, Heartfelt Verses;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Shaded Lilac, Stormy Sky, Hickory Smoke); Versafine Clair  (Monarch, Lilac Bloom, Very Peri, Morning Mist, Medieval Blue, Nocturne); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #38 - Anything Floral Goes (2nd entry)

Classic Design Challenge #2 2026 - Blooms and/or Butterflies  (2nd entry)

Craft Rocket #133 - Flowers (3rd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (February) - Magical Meadows

Little Red Wagon #847 - Leftovers

Moving Along with the Times #186 - Floral (3rd entry)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2608 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Triple B (February) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #740/741 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I took a small crafty delivery today so I’m hoping that will trigger some action shortly on my March calendar page! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Birthday Blooms 🌸🌼🌺

Hi everyone, today I’d like to share a card I made for a friend’s birthday. As the weather and life generally has been so dull and miserable recently, I was in the mood to create something bright, cheerful and vibrant! 

I die cut a stitched square of white stamping card then stamped and heat embossed the beautiful floral arrangement by Julie Hickey - I really do think this stamp has wow factor! I coloured the flowers with Zig pens, added some white Posca highlights then topped the two largest flowers with Wink of Stella for added sparkle. I stamped the greeting, then added gold Posca dots to the image and some spatter. When dry I matted onto a purple border and a 6” square card blank.

I was actually quite disappointed by my colouring of the purple flower - I started with the yellow one and was pleased with my shading, but the purple pens wouldn’t behave themselves very well so I ended up with a flatter colour. My Wink of Stella went a bit blobby as well, but never mind … I did my best! 

Stamps: Julie Hickey - Julie’s Handpicked Blossom and Blooms;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Wink of Stella (clear); Posca pens (white, gold); clear embossing powder;

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo- Stitched square die.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #38 - Anything Floral Goes with optional Mood board

Classic Design Challenge #2 2026 - Blooms and/or Butterflies

Craft Rocket #133 - Flowers (2nd entry)

Crafter’s Cafe #327 - For the Girls

Creative Color Girlz #1 - Anything Hand Coloured Goes (3rd entry)

Creative Moments #279 - Feminine

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #2 2026 - Birthday

Moving Along with the Times #186 - Floral (2nd entry)

Passion for Markers #825 - Shop Your Stash

Triple B (February) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms

Word Art Wednesday #740/741 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #34

Hi everyone, it’s the third Wednesday of February, so it’s time once again for the  I Spy With My Little Eye... challenge over at Ellibelle's Corner. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last time - please do check over on Ellie’s blog to see if you are one of our top picks. 

Ellie chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** Something You Love ***

The possibilities are almost endless with this theme - craft supplies, technique or tool that you love to use … or maybe your favourite colour, animal or even season! We look forward to seeing your makes! Please don’t forget to pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

We are also delighted to have Chris joining us as guest designer this month - please do click on her name to visit her blog and take a look at her fantastic creation.

Here’s my card for the challenge. There are many things I love in crafting, though my lack of mojo recently has made me struggle a bit to connect with them. I decided to go with my love of Tracy Evans stamps, inky backgrounds, random background stamping and my favourite stitched dies.

I cut a large piece of white stamping card, and created an inky background by first blending patches of various shades of pink and orange Distress Oxide, then lightly brayering the same shades on top, then spattering with water. Finally I brayered some white acrylic paint on top to soften the overall look. I randomly stamped various background stamps using 2nd generation Summertime and Charming Pink VFC, and added some further stamping using Versamark hear embossed with white embossing powder. I completed the background by adding some stencilling using Hickory Smoke DOX, then die cut a large stitched rectangle.

I then die cut a smaller stitched rectangle, and stamped the focal flower using Summertime and Charming Pink VFC. I added a little pencil shading to give depth, then added white Posca accents. I added a little background stamping and stencilling, then attached to the background panel. I stamped the sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached, then added a teeny stamped mouse. Finally I edged the finished panel with blended Hickory Smoke DOX to add depth, then matted onto a 7” x 5” card blank.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE32 Alpha Florals, TE11 Background Elements; AALL & Create #756 Miniatures, #906 Art Notes; Uniko Simply Said Blocks II;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Kitsch Flamingo, Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Persimmon, Hickory Smoke); Versafine Clair (Summertime, Charming Pink, Nocturne); Versamark; WOW. Opaque White ultra fine detail embossing powder; Posca pen (white); acrylic paint (white);

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched Rectangle dies; AALL & Create stencil #110 Digits Checked.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #103 - Anything Goes

Cardz 4 Galz #269 - Hugs and Kisses (3rd entry)

Craft Rocket #133 - Flowers

Crafts Galore Encore #144 - Anything Goes 

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils are our Game (February) - Use a Stencil with option Create Your Own Background

Creative Artiste #123 - Anything Mixed Media Goes 

DL.Art (February) - Anything Goes

Double D (February) - Signs of Love (Hugs)

Girlz Creative Splash It With Colour #15 - Orange and/or Pink

Moving Along with the Times #186 - Floral

Papercraft #127 - Hearts and Hugs

Sisterhood of Crafters (February) - Stitching

Sparkles #197 - Vintage / Mixed Media 

We Love 2 Create #1 2026 - Anything Mixed Media / Papercrafting Goes

Word Art Wednesday #740/741 - Anything Goes 

The I Spy Challenge will end on the Sunday before the next challenge starts at 23:59 US Central Time - so this time that is Sunday March 15th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday March 18th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

An Oldie But a Goodie ❤️

Hi everyone, yesterday was of course Valentine’s Day, and I posted the card I made for my husband. A memory popped up during the day on my FB page from 5 years ago, of the Valentine card I made for him back in 2021. I was particularly interested as it included a Valentine sentiment that I thought I had but couldn’t find, so I started looking back on my blog to check it out. Much to my surprise I found that this must have been a rare card I made during the period when I wasn’t crafting or blogging; and having searched my blog as thoroughly as I can I have concluded that I’ve never published it before. So here it is! It is very different in style from what I make nowadays, but it really made me smile.

Naturally I can’t remember much detail about the process of making it, though I clearly decorated the stepper card with patterned papers, stamped, coloured and die cut my main image (I coloured James the Bear with Promarkers), then added other stamps and die cuts plus a ribbon border.

Stamps: LotV James Big Heart; Me to You husband sentiment; Valentine sentiment - unknown;

Media: Memento black ink; Promarkers; 

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Floral Ovals and Classic Hearts; Memory Box Cherish border die.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (February) - Anything Goes with option Animal Magic - TOP ROCKER

Addicted to Stamps and More! #510 - Diecuts and/or Stencils  (2nd entry)

Aud Sentiments #334 - Dies and/or Love plus a Sentiment  (2nd entry)

Cardz 4 Galz #269 - Hugs and Kisses  (2nd entry)

C.R.A.F.T. #773 - Love  (2nd entry)

Crafty Animals #102 - Include an Animal

Crafty Calendar (February) - Love Is In the Air  (2nd entry)

Crafty Gals Corner #274 - Anything Goes with option Heart  (2nd entry) - TOP 3

Creative Color Girlz #1 - Anything Hand Coloured Goes  (2nd entry)

Creative Creases #112 - Anything Goes with a Fun fold 

Die Cut Divas (February) - Red/Pink plus Use Dies

Dragonfly Dreams (February) - Fun Fold

Everybody Art #593 - Have a Heart  (2nd entry)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #630 - Love Is All Around  (2nd entry)

Girlz Makes Guyz #36 - Fun Fold

Girlz Rebel #49 - Ribbon, Lace or Twine

Heart’s Quest Challenge #82 - Anything With a Heart Goes with option Red or Gold heart (3rd entry)

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #2 2026 - Valentines  (2nd entry)

I ❤️ Promarkers #600 - Love / Romance - TOP 3

Inkspirational #361 - Visual Prompt - February Collage  (2nd entry)

Just Us Girls #810 - Valentine  (2nd entry) - SHOUT OUT

Leigh SB Designs #49 - Hearts and Flowers - WINNER

Let’s Craft and Create #228 - Anything Goes with option From the Heart  (2nd entry)

Little Red Wagon #845 - I’m Seeing Red  (2nd entry)

Pearly Sparkles #116 - Hearts (3rd entry)

Tic Tac Toe #286 - Tic Tac Toe  (2nd entry)

(I used Hearts / Die-cutting / Red or Pink)

Try It On Tuesday - All Loved Up  (2nd entry) - TOP 5

Unicorn #117 - Animals - WINNER

Word Art Wednesday #738/739 - Anything Goes  (2nd entry)

I think that’s me all loved out now! 🥰🥰

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,