Monday 29 November 2021

Watercolour flower bookmarks



Hi peeps, hope you are keeping warm, safe and well with all this wintry weather we're having.

I felt the urge today to make another set of bookmarks to give as a stocking filler Christmas present to a lovely elderly lady who lives nearby - this time I thought I would make a set of 3 using more of my old Penny Black brushstroke flower stamps, and it also gave me chance to use a few of my card snippets (both white card and coloured - all the pieces here are snippets!!)

The photo is quite poor as I took it in electric light so I could  catch a couple of challenges before month end ... I will try to update with a better daylight photo tomorrow! **Edit** I have now replaced the photo with a daylight one!


For each of these I created a background using Distress and Distress Oxide inks, then stamped my brushstroke flowers using Marvey watercolour markers and spritzing the inked stamp with water. I then stamped my sentiment and alphabet before mounting the finished piece onto backing card and completing the hole and ribbons.

Stamps (left to right): 
1. Flower - Penny Black "Blush" (2666K); sentiment - Crafter's Companion Lee Holland set "You Are My Sunshine";
2. Flowers - Penny Black "quite dandy" (3623K); sentiment - Penny Black "the journey" 3177F);
3. Flowers - Penny Black "Aspire" (3381K); sentiment - Penny Black "...dreams..." (2711F);
All - alphabet stamp - Woodware "Additions";
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint; Distress Oxide Inks - Kitsch Flamingo, Shaded Lilac, Stormy Sky, Twisted Citron; Marvey watercolour markers - various colours;
Ribbon from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally's Angels #52 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)
Country View Challenges (November) - Christmas Gifting (2nd entry)
Penny Black Saturday Challenge (November) - Anything Goes with option Not a Card (2nd entry)
River of Creativity #7 - The Gift (2nd entry)
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

That's me done for today ... I think tomorrow i may well be back on the last minute Christmas card scramble!

Take care and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

Saturday 27 November 2021

Allsorts Challenge #652


Good morning everyone, hope you are all safe and well after last night’s horrendous winds … my husband is currently out in the back garden inspecting some smashed fence panels !!


The weekend is here again, so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Brenda has chosen the theme and it is

Anything Goes with a Hand Stamped or Digital Image

So we just need to see any image as the focal point of your project this week … pretty easy we hope 😀

This week we have 2 gorgeous prizes on offer:

2 Bee Crafty Border stamps


and



is offering 3 images of the winner's choice.

My card this week allowed me to play with my new Lavinia Christmas stamps and masks the same day as they arrived, so it is a bit of an experiment, but I’m very pleased with how it turned out. 


I used my new hill masks to blend inks for my hills,  then a circle mask to create my moon and sky with Distress Oxides. I stamped my reindeer and trees using various shades of Versafine and Versafine Clair to give a bit of dimension, and  using a mask to create the small trees in the background from the top of my small fairy fir. I used my circle mask negative to stamp my wording over the moon, stamped some berries round the edges and a sentiment, and highlighted the moon and trees with my Sparkle pen. Finally I spattered the whole panel with white acrylic paint to create snowflakes. It was my first time trying spattering with white acrylic paint and it wasn’t altogether successful … pretty uncontrolled and VERY messy .. now thinking about getting a Posca pen to try 😀

Stamps: Lavinia “Large Reindeer”, “Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Winter Magic”, “Mini Berries”; sentiment - Pink Gem Designs;
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion, Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo, Stormy Sky; Versafine ink - Onyx Black; Versafine Clair - Twilight, Morning Mist; Sakura Gelly Roll pen - Stardust;
Tools: Lavinia acetate masks - circles and hills.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (10th entry)
Crafter’s Castle #47 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Dream Valley #259 - Anything Goes
NBUS #32 - Use Never Before Used Schtuff (2nd entry)
(mine is almost all the Lavinia stamps, Villainous Potion DO, Morning Mist VFC and the acetate masks),
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2147 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
SheepSki Designs Challenge #56 - ‘Tis the Season (3rd entry)
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes
The Holly and Ivy #106 - Anything Christmas Goes
Try It on Tuesday - Winter Wonderland

I look forward to visiting your blogs and seeing your entries this week. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. 

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,


Tuesday 23 November 2021

I’m Dreaming of a Pink Christmas


Hello everyone, yes I’m back again with yet more Christmas cards … I’m trying to really ramp up over the next 2 weeks to get myself sorted! Hopefully if I have a full year of crafting in 2022 I won't be so behind ... though that never made any difference in the past!!  😀

Today I would like to share 2 more cards made with my new Lavinia stamps … just how many different ways can I use them before my next order arrives (hopefully tomorrow)?


Both of these cards are very similar, featuring ink blending using a circle mask, trees and a pine cone partial wreath. I have refined my sparkly decorating technique a little, now dotting the trees and hills with my sparkle pen rather than drawing lines which definitely looks better. As always the card looks much more sparkly in real life than the camera shows.

My main challenge for both of these was finding a sentiment to fit … I have quite a few Christmas sentiments but no really small ones .. so may need to adjust the size of my circle next time!


Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Tree 1”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Fir Cone Branch”, “Stars 1 Mini”; sentiment - Wild Rose Studio (card 1), Me To You (card 2);
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo, Black Soot; Versafine - Onyx Black and Imperial Purple; Sakura Gelly roll pen - Stardust.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #52 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (9th entry)
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #569 - Anything Christmas Goes with option of glitter  (2nd entry)
Happy Little Stampers (Christmas): November - Anything Christmas Goes with option Make a Scene
Pearly Sparkles #68 - Merry Christmas (2nd entry)
SheepSki Designs #56 - ‘Tis the Season (2nd entry)
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Make Your Own Background (4th entry)
Stamping Sensations (November) - Christmas (3rd entry)
We Love Stamping (November) - Christmas (3rd entry)

I have actually made a  couple more cards than I am showing here but the rest are near duplicates of earlier cards … and I’ll be carrying on the rest of this week with more of the same!! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

Sunday 21 November 2021

Christmas batch cooking


Good morning everyone,

I’ve been trying to crack on with a few more Christmas cards using my new Lavinia stamps; and have produced a couple more that are a bit of a melting pot of techniques in various video tutorials I have seen, with twists to cater for the stamps and inks I have available. I actually made a batch of 3 cards but ditched one of them as I wasn’t happy with my background stamping. 

I only got my first Lavinia stamps 10 days ago and already I have ordered more online .. I think I either need Santa to bring me some goodies in his sleigh or to win the lottery to keep up with my potential wish list!


For both of these I used a home made circle mask (positive and negative) to sponge my background using Distress Oxides, then created my hills with torn paper. I used second generation stamping to stamp my sentiment around the circle, stamped my trees then stamped mini holly round the circle - all using Versafine Clair. On one of the cards I had to do a bit of rescue work as I had put an ink mark on the plain white area, hence the fir branches in the corner!! Finally I stamped my stars using Distress Oxide, coloured the holly berries with my red Sakura Sparkle pen, and highlighted the circle and hills with my Sakura Stardust pen.


I’ve decided that as Christmas looms batch making is definitely the way forward .. both of these cards do have mistakes but I’m still pretty happy with how they turned out.

Stamps: Lavinia “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “ Mini Holly”,  “Mini Stars 1”, “Fern Branch”, “Spirit of Christmas”;
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio; Versafine Clair - Twilight  and Rainforest; Sakura Gelly roll sparkle pens - Red and Stardust.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #52 - Anything Goes
Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (8th entry)
Crafty Creations #427 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #569 - Anything Christmas Goes with option of glitter
Double D - Trees (2nd entry)
Dragonfly Dreams (November) - Christmas / Winter (3rd entry)
SheepSki Designs #56 - ‘Tis the Season
Simon Says (Monday) - Trees (3rd entry);
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Create Your Own Background (3rd entry)
The Holly and Ivy #105 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Hope you’re having a great weekend, and thanks for visiting today. 
Hugs,

Saturday 20 November 2021

Allsorts Challenge #651


Good morning … It’s Saturday so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge - hope you can find time to join us. This week Brenda has chosen the theme and it is

One for the Girls

We have 2 fab prizes on offer- they are:

A gorgeous Tattered Lace die


... and a Woodware stamp set.



Here's my card for this week.


This card is again something of a showcase for my recent winnings .. I won the beautiful digi image and also the gorgeous Uniko sentiment set in recent blog challenges. 

I made a simple background by randomly sponging two colours of distress oxide ink through a stencil and then spattering with silver acrylic paint. I printed off my digi image, coloured with Promarkers and then fussy cut and adhered to the background, I then stamped and heat embossed my sentiment, and attached die cut and punched butterflies and gems before matting the whole panel onto co-ordinating glitter card and attaching to my card base.

Stamps: Rachel Vass Designs “Awesome Anemone” (digi); Uniko “Birthday Sentiments”;
Media: flower - Promarkers; background - Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Kitsch Flamingo, Cracked Pistachio);silver acrylic paint;
Tools: stencil - Craft Sensations at The Range; Joy! Crafts butterfly die; small butterfly craft punch (unknown);
Gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite: Dies or Stencils, and why
(This is almost impossible to answer: I have dozens (hundreds?) of dies collected over 15 years and used to use them all the time, but since coming back to crafting this summer I have started using stencils for the first time and they are my new obsession. So it is finely balanced, but at the end of the day I love the intricacy of dies so I think they will always be my favourite).

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (7th entry)
Colour Crazy #46 - Anything Goes with Colouring
Crafter’s Castle #47 - Anything Goes
Creations In Pink #39 - Anything Goes In Mainly Pink
Creative Craft Cottage #146 - Add Some Sparkle
 Promarkers #448 - Anything Goes with option of No Patterned Paper
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2146 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Make Your Own Background (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. 

Have a great weekend, take care and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

Wednesday 17 November 2021

I see trees of green ...


... and I think to myself, what a wonderful world!!

Yes I’m here again with another Christmas card using my new Lavinia stamps … you will be seeing a lot more of these as I enter the mad scramble phase for Christmas readiness!!


I decided to experiment with a green colour scheme instead of blue as per yesterday’s cards, using my new Speckled Egg and Iced Spruce DO’s and Versafine Clair in Rainforest. I also used my new Fir Cone Branch and Mini Holly stamps to partially frame the scene, and tried heat embossing my stars with Silver Pearl embossing powder … looks quite twinkly in daylight but not as impactful as white.  I also highlighted the edge of the moon and snowdrifts, tree branches and pine cones with my Sakura stardust pen - looks much more twinkly than in the picture!


Stamps: Lavinia “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Fir Cone Branch”, "Mini Holly", "Stars 1 Mini" and “Spirit of Christmas”; 
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks - Iced Spruce, Specked Egg, Cracked Pistachio; Versafine Clair - Rainforest; Sakura gelly roll pen - Stardust and red.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (6th entry)
Crafty Catz #572 - Anything Goes with option Sparkle & Shine - TOP 3
Do Al(l) Kreatives #59 - Embossing Plus Frosty Times (2nd entry) - WINNER
Double D - Trees
Krafty Chicks #585 - Christmas (2nd entry)
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2146 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Simon Says (Monday) - Trees (2nd entry) - DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Make Your Own Background
The Holly & Ivy #105 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Just got back from having my Covid booster jab, so I'm going to have a cup of tea and a chill out now, and hope that my arm won't be too sore to craft tomorrow!
Take care, and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

Tuesday 16 November 2021

O Christmas tree!!


Hi everyone,

I took my first ever delivery of Lavinia Christmas stamps last week - woo hoo !!, so now I’ve had my first opportunity to have a play. 

I bought a selection of stamps, a few new ink pads and some embossing glitter inspired by the Lavinia Tutorial - Winter Trees, so I made a couple of cards inspired by that but with a few tweaks ... and here they are.


For my first card I kept it fairly simple, creating hills, moon and sky with distress oxides and paper masks, then splattered with water and stamped my trees. I edged the card with first and second generation stamped  fir branches using midnight blue glitter and white heat embossing, very similar to in Tracey’s tutorial except that I used snowflake tinsel white embossing powder. Also I couldn’t resist doing a bit of second generation stamping with my new “Spirit of  Christmas” sentiment .. not sure whether I like that but I’m happy to go with it. I edged the moon and snowdrifts with my new Gelly roll stardust pen, then a simple card mounting and a stamped / heat embossed sentiment and I was done. 

Stamps: Lavinia “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Fern Branch” and “Spirit of Christmas”; sentiment - Pink Gem Designs;
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks - Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Barn Door; Versafine Clair - Twilight; WOW embossing glitter - Midnight Dream; Heat It Up embossing powder - Snowflake Tinsel; Sakura gelly roll pen - Stardust.


For my second card I proceeded along similar lines but used a different stamp for my focal tree, then masked off the trunk of the small fairy fir tree to create smaller trees in the foreground and background using 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation stamping to create some depth. I’m pleased with that element of versatility in the stamp. I also introduced my new teeny stars stamp in the sky, and this time I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment on separate card then mounted on foam tape. In case you’re wondering … yes that was to cover up a sentiment stamped directly onto the main panel where I tried a different colour embossing powder and didn’t like it!!

Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Tree 1”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Fern Branch” and “Stars 1 Mini”;  sentiment - Pink Gem Designs;
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks - Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass; Versafine Clair - Twilight; WOW embossing glitter - Midnight Dream; Heat It Up embossing powder - Snowflake Tinsel; Sakura Gelly roll pen - Stardust.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (5th entry)
C.R.A.F.T. #617 - Christmas (2nd entry)
Crafty Calendar (November) - Anything Goes (3rd entry)
Do Al(l) Kreatives #59 - Embossing Plus Frosty Times
Dragonfly Dreams (November) - Christmas / Winter (2nd entry)
Krafty Chicks #585 - Christmas
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2146 - Anything Goes - HONORARY MENTION
Simon Says (Monday) - Trees - DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT
Stamping Sensations (November) - Christmas (2nd entry)
We Love Stamping (November) - Christmas (2nd entry)

That’s all for today, but I think there will be plenty more where these came from! With each new card I will be trying the odd new colour combo or technique, so watch out for some experiments which may or may not turn out well!

Take care, and thanks for visiting 
Hugs,

Saturday 13 November 2021

Allsorts Challenge #650


Good morning everyone,

It's Saturday so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Wendy has chosen the theme and it is

Christmas

So it's your perfect opportunity to catch up with those Chrimbo makes if you haven't already!

We have 2 lovely prizes on offer this week:

Fistly, we have this bundle of Christmas ribbons and embellishments


... and secondly



is offering 3 images of the winner's choice.

Ruth has some new images due to go on her website soon, and some of my fellow teamies have used these designs to give you a sneak peek … you can see them on the main challenge blog.

Here's my card for this week.


This is another LotV James the Bear stamp I’ve had from about 3 or 4 years ago and am sure I never inked before. I coloured him with Promarkers and Flexmarkers, including creating a wash around the image where I then lifted the colour by dabbing with rubbing alcohol and a cotton bud. I also broke out a couple of snowflake dies and punches I haven't used for a while - I do really love this gorgeous Memory Box border. I also decided to add a bit of sparkle both with gems and some holographic glitter on James's darling Santa hat.


Stamps : LotV “James Snowman”; sentiment - Penny Black “Joy, Hope” (3898F);
Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;
Papers: LotV “Frosty Snowflakes”;
Tools: Memory Box die “Frostyville Border”; snowflake die (unknown); Martha Stewart snowflake punch.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (4th entry)
C.R.A.F.T. #617 - Christmas
Creative Inspirations (November) Wonderful Winter/Feeling Festive
Cutie Pie #165 - Anything Cute
Dragonfly Dreams  (November) - Christmas/Winter
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2145 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Pearly Sparkles #68 - Merry Christmas
The Holly & Ivy #105 - Anything Christmas Goes

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 inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

Wednesday 10 November 2021

A Gift For All Seasons


Hi everyone,

I enjoyed making my first bookmark so much a couple of weeks ago that I decided to make a few more as Christmas stocking filler presents … goodness knows why as I have hardly made any Christmas cards yet!! This evolved into the idea of challenging myself to make a set of 4 bookmarks as a single gift set, themed around the 4 seasons. I don’t have much in the way of sentiment stamps to reflect each season so I decided to go with seasonal images and colours, coupled with some of my inspirational words or verses that rarely get inked.  I also tried to take the opportunity to incorporate a variety of stamping and inking techniques across the 4 pieces.

Here is the full set. All of the bookmarks consist of a decorated panel adhered to backing card, with a hole bounded with a small die cut and threaded with ribbon from my stash. The common denominator on all 4 pieces is the Woodware alphabet stamp.


And here is some detail about each individual bookmark …

Spring


For this bookmark I created a simple colour wash background with “Twisted Citron” Distress Oxide ink daubed onto my craft mat and a water brush. I then stamped my sentiment using Sepia Versafine and heat embossed, then coloured my brushstroke flower stamp with Marvey watercolour markers, spritzed with water and stamped to create a soft watercolour effect. I then stamped the alphabet with “Peeled Paint” DI and heat embossed. 
 
Stamps: flower - Penny Black “Jonquil” (3587K); sentiment - Penny Black “...dreams...” (2711F); alphabet - Woodware "Additions";
Media: Tim Holtz DO and DI inks; Marvey watercolour markers.

Summer


For this one I created a “smoosh” background with a mix of “Kitsch Flamingo” DO and “Antique Linen” DI inks, then stamped my sentiment using “Picked Raspberry” DO and heat embossed. I coloured my flower stamp with Marvey Watercolour markers, spritzed and stamped as above. I stamped the alphabet and  extra foliage using “Cracked Pistachio” DO and heat embossed, and finished off by randomly stamping and heat embossing small dot clusters around the flower using Versamark and detail white embossing powder.

Stamps: flower - Penny Black “Blush” (2666K); sentiment - Penny Black “"The Journey” (3177F); alphabet - as above; dots - Woodware “Additions”;
Media: Tim Holtz DO and DI inks; Marvey watercolour markers.

Autumn


I blended three colours of DO (Fossilized Amber, Ripe Persimon and Barn Door) using my foam blending tools, and using a home made mask to create the sun; I then splattered with water to create some texture.  I stamped my flowers, tree branch and alphabet using Sepia Versafine and heat embossed, then created a composite sentiment by masking off parts of 2 different sentiment stamps. This was made a lot easier using my Press to Impress stamp positioning tool. 😀

Stamps: flowers and bird branch - “Meadow Flowers” set free with cardmaking magazine; alphabet - as above; sentiment - composite of unknown sentiment set and Crafter’s Companion stamp/stencil set “Life Happens”;
Media: Tim Holtz DO inks.

 Winter


I blended my sky background using Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean and Tumbled Glass DO and a mask for the moon. I created a bit of landscaping by blending Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire DO’s and using torn paper, then spattered with water to create a “snowy” texture. Lastly I stamped and heat embossed the tree (Versafine Onyx), alphabet (Faded Jeans DI) and sentiment (Colorbox Pigment ink)

Stamps: tree - Penny Black “Before the Snow”  (3993K);  alphabet - as above; sentiment - Crafter’s Companion stamp/stencil set “Fairy Kisses”;
Media: Tim Holtz DO and DI inks; Colorbox pigment ink.

Challenges I would like to enter: 
(the full set of bookmarks unless otherwise stated in brackets)

Classic Design Challenge (November) Anything Goes (3rd entry)
Crafty Calendar (November) - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations #427 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Creations In Pink #38 - Anything Goes (Summer)
MAWTT #136 - Anything But A Card - TOP 5
Penny Black Saturday Challenge (November) Anything Goes with option of Not A Card 
(Spring, Summer, Winter)
Try It On Tuesday - Make It Magical (Winter)

Phew! I think a need a bit of a lie down after that little lot. It was a lot of effort to create these, but I am pleased with how they have turned out and would secretly like to keep them for myself ... but I will resist!  Take care, and thanks for visiting today.
Hugs,

Tuesday 9 November 2021

Thinking of You


Today I would like to share a simple card I made to showcase one of the beautiful Rachel Vass Designs digital images I won last week - I don't use digital images very much, but I just couldn't wait to print off this one and colour it.


 I coloured the image with my Promarkers and Flexmarkers, and created a co-ordinating smoosh background with my DO and DI inks. I also spattered the background lightly with silver acrylic paint, though that didn’t show up too well. I kept the mounting simple as I really wanted the image to be the focal point of the card, though I found a bit of two-tone ribbon in my stash that was such a perfect match I just had to use it! 


Stamp: Rachel Vass Designs "Happiness Blooms" (digi); sentiment - "Meadow Flowers" free with cardmaking magazine;
Media: flower - Promarkers and Flexmarkers; background - Tim Holtz DO and DI inks, silver acrylic paint;
Ribbons and gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of A Challenge #23 - Anything Goes
Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Colour Crazy Challenge #44 - Anything Goes
Crafter's Cafe #277 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Crafty Calendar (November) - Anything Goes
Creative Moments #226 - Anything Goes
 Promarkers #447 - Anything Goes - TOP 3
Passion For Markers #617 - Three of a Kind
(I have used 3 sparkly gems)
Simon Says (Wednesday) - Thinking of You

Weather is looking grim so I may well stay in and have another crafting session this afternoon. Thanks for visiting.
Hugs,