Celebrating May

Hi everyone, it’s May Day already … where is the year going to? April has flown past, so it’s time for a new Lavinia calendar page. This month’s calendar illustration was the cute mice celebrating and generally having a good time, so I thought I’d go with that. It’s also my birthday this weekend, so the celebratory vibe is also a nod to that! Also after nearly a month without a post on here they are suddenly coming along like buses - that’s two in a couple of days!

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm and stamped Teapot Cottage and the Fairy Path. I then masked them and created the landscape and sky by blending Elements inks using hill and circle masks. With the masks still in place I stamped flowers sprouting from the teapot and Tilly the mouse emerging - I always think she looks so joyful! I then removed the masks and stamped the meadow flowers, bench with a birdie perched on top, and more dancing mice. I added some background trees on the hills and stamped foliage and blossom on them using the tiny stamps which come with the Spring Trees. I coloured the teapot and path with Zig pens, and dotted the meadow flowers with white Posca topped with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I added some bluebells and yellow poppies to fill out the base of the scene, and added various white Posca and pastel pencil highlights to the scene. I finished off with  a butterfly and flock of birds in the sky. 

Confession time … the swirling mist coming from the teapot spout is to hide a few marks where my pink blossom somehow ended up in the sky as well as on the trees!

Stamps: Lavinia Teapot Cottage, Fairy Path, Bench, Tilly & Tango, Summer Flower, Wild Poppies, Garden Poppy, Bluebells, Dandelions, Tree Scene, Small Trees, Spring Trees, Magical Mist, Fairy Bugs, Bird Collection, Birds;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Olive, Pine, Lime Pinch, Blue Atoll, Lemon Drop, Sundance); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Shady Lane, Avocado, Very Peri, Baby Pink, Golden Meadow, Portobello, Acorn); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens); Sakura Stardust pens (pink, yellow, clear); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white); pastel pencil (white);

Tools: Lavinia Hill, Mini Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps & More! #516 - Make Your Mark

Ally’s Angels #105 - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore #147 - Anything Goes

Crafty Gals’ Corner #276 - Anything Goes with option Spring

Creative Artiste #126 - Anything Mixed Media Goes

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #14 - Anything In or From a Garden

Four Seasons (May) - Spring

Lavinia Creative Challenge (May) - Flower Spirits

Love to Craft #91 - Anything Goes

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

Paper Funday #86 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - 4 Legged Friends

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #750/751 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Hope if you’re in the UK you enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend, whatever you’re doing.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

The Wanderer Returns!

Hi everyone, I’ve been MIA for most of April, as my mojo has been on a long exotic holiday, and I just couldn’t seem to get motivated or inspired to make anything! Yesterday, however, I had to sit down to make my latest calendar page, so while I was in the mood I also made a card using a statement sentiment stamp that I picked up in a charity shop a few weeks ago, but which I haven’t inked up until now!

I cut a 14.5cm square of white stamping card, and stamped the Inkylicious Spatter Circle XL, which I had inked with bright pink, orange and yellow Elements ink and spritzed with water. I stamped the sentiment towards the right using Nocturne Versafine Clair, then die cut a black mesh panel and a couple of white daisies to place on the left. I coloured the flower centres with the same pink Elements ink, and added some gold Posca brush pen highlights both to the flower centres and the text. I matted the stamped panel onto a black border and card blank, then attached the die cut pieces.

Stamps: Inkylicious Splatter Circle XL, Stampendous sentiment;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Pink Elephant, Russet Orange, Lemon Drop); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Posca brush pen (gold);

Tools: Visible Image Broken Mesh die; flower dies from Amazon.

Challenges I would like to enter: 

As You Like It - Favourite Brights or Pastels (and why)

(I love both depending on my mood, but I particularly love how the vibrancy of bright colours can make black and white elements ‘pop’)

Beautiful Blossoms #40 - Anything Floral Goes with optional Mood Board

Crafty Catz #712 - Anything Goes

Daisy Chain #106 - No Design Paper

Girlz Creative Splash It With Colour #20 - Yellow and/or Pink

Girlz Rebel #51 - Flowers

Paper Funday #86 - Anything Goes with option Die Cuts/ Punches

Path of Positivity #140 - Anything Goes Positive

Pearly Sparkles #118 - Something Old, Something New

(Sentiment is new to me, flower and mesh dies are old)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Make It Feminine

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

Unicorn #119 - Use Dies

Word Art Wednesday #750/751 - Anything Goes

Word Power (April) - Sentiment as Focus

I’m still not feeling massively inspired, but I did enjoy making this so hopefully I’ll be back before too long with more new makes.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

C.R.A.F.T. #777 - Guest Designer

Hi everyone, I’m here again with another guest designer card for this fortnight’s C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - that’s twice on the trot! The theme for the next two weeks is 

*** Seasons / Weather / Anything Goes ***

The fabulous sponsor for this challenge is Polkadoodles 

.. who are offering a fab prize of 3 Digi images from their store.

The design team have made some gorgeous 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 decided to make a cheerful spring card, using a beautiful Tracy Evans spring floral stamp which I bought last year but hadn’t inked up until now. 

I took a snippet of white stamping card and stamped the focal flower, then stamped some coordinating script beneath it from an older large Tracy Evans stamp. I coloured the flowers and background with Zig pens , blending out the background with my Zig blending pen, then added Wink of Stella on the flower petals and white Posca spatters. I die cut a large frame from a snippet of green gingham paper, then cut my image snippet to size and attached behind the aperture. I stamped the sentiment onto separate card then die cut, edged with green ink and attached, and attached the finished panel to a card blank. I felt it still needed something else, so I retrieved an experimental coloured flower from the bin, fussy cut it out and attached in the top right corner. I then added a couple of stamped bunnies to finish and highlighted them with white pastel pencil.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE47 Wild and Free, TE32 Alpine Florals; AALL & Create #266 Daisy Elegance; Penny Back Spring Magic (2852C);

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne): Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Lavinia Elements ink (Line Punch); Wink of Stella (clear); Posca pen (white); pastel pencil (white);

Papers: from my stash;

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo- Stitched square dies.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #39 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Card Concept #225 - Spring Flowers (2nd entry)

Creative Moments #280 - Bunnies and Blooms (3rd entry)

Paper Players #779 - Tic Tac Toe

(Die cut / Flowers / Layers)

Papercraft #128 - Joy of Spring (3rd entry)

Passion for Markers #831 - Dies and/or Punches

Sparkles #198 - It’s Springtime! (3rd entry)

Snippets Playground #529 - Use Snippets

Sweet Stampin’ - Spring or Easter (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #746/747 - Anything Goes 

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

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

April in the Secret Garden

Hi everyone, this week it was time for me to get busy again to make my Lavinia April calendar page, and this month I managed to complete it with a day to spare - woo hoo! I was racking my brain trying to think of something slightly different from my previous springtime calendar scenes whilst incorporating the bunnies that illustrate the page, when I suddenly had a mini brainwave! I’ve always thought that the flowers which form part of the fairy stamp ‘Moments Like These’ look rather like open tulips, so I decided to use the fairy but also incorporate the flowers into the foreground too - a lot of very fiddly masking was required there, let me tell you! 

I cut a piece of white stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm, and created the background hills and sky by blending Elements inks using hill and circle masks. I then stamped the fairy, masking the flowers and stems with low tack tape, then stamping them using appropriate colours of Versafine Clair. I stamped the Spring Trees on the right mid foreground, and used the matching small foliage stamp to give them a cloud of green leaves. I stamped the tulips from ‘Moments Like These’ in the foreground in various colours, then added the bunnies. I added a little foliage amongst the flowers and hanging foliage top right, and a flight of geese. I coloured the fairy wings with Sakura Stardust pens, and added white Posca and Stabilo pencil highlights to the scene. Finally I thought that the centre ground still looked a tad bare, so I stamped the Secret Garden sign, then stamped again onto kraft card, cut out and attached before attaching the finished panel to my calendar.

Stamps: Lavinia Moments Like These, Spring Trees, Vine Flourish, Flower Pots, Wild Hares (large), Ducks, Secret Garden Sign;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Atoll, Pine, Lemon Drop); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Avocado, Hawthorn Rose, Cheerful, Summertime, Portobello); Sakura Stardust pens (pink, yellow, orange); Posca pen (white); Stabilo pencil (white).

Challenges I would like to enter: 

Beautiful Blossoms #39 - Anything Floral Goes (2nd entry)

Card Concept #225 - Spring Flowers 

Creative Crafting Uncles #75 - Spring and/or Easter (2nd entry)

Creative Moments #280 - Bunnies and Blooms (2nd entry)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #634 - Easter/Spring

Four Seasons (April) - Spring

Lavinia Creative Challenge (April) - Faerie Glen

Love to Craft #91 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Love to Scrap #178 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Moving Along With the Times #188 - Anything Spring

Mix It Up #82 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

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

Papercraft #128 - Joy of Spring (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Sparkles #198 - It’s Springtime! (2nd entry)

Sweet Stampin’ - Spring or Easter

Word Art Wednesday #746/747 - Anything Goes

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

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 - TOP 3

Tic Tac Toe #288 - Tic Tac Toe

(Stencils / Ink blending / Spatter/smooshing)

Unicorn #118 - Transportation - WINNER

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 - TOP ROCKER

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,