Fearless Flight

Hi everyone,

Today I would like to share a set of ATC's I made, my first using my new Visible Image set which is specifically designed for use with ATC's!! My ATC mojo has gone a bit walkabout right now, so I hoped this new set of stamps might help rekindle it!  I have caled this set "Fearless Flight".

For each ATC I created an ombre background by blending Distress Oxide inks, then I used the darkest shade with  a circle mask to create a sun. I stamped and heat embossed my tree and birds, and created my landscape with a hill mask and more Distress oxide. I 2nd generation stamped some Lavinia background words over part of the image, and added some clouds across the sun with a torn paper mask and blended DO. I finished off with some Sakura stardust pen highlights and a Tim Holtz sentiment sticker, before matting onto standard ATC size black linen card stock. 

Here's a close up of each ATC:

1/3

2/3

3/3

... and an angled pic to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Visible Image - VI Minis #1; Lavinia - Keeping Faith;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Black Soot, Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo, Seedless Preserves, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Golden Meadow, Charming Pink; Versafine (Majestic Blue);

Other: TIm Holtz Idea-ology "Small Talk" stickers.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #18 2022 - Anything Goes

Arty Divas (August) - Anything Goes (2nd entry) - SPOTLIGHT WINNER

DL.Art (August) - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #150 - Silhouettes (3rd entry) - WINNER

Path of Positivity #103 - Anything Goes Positive

QKR Stampede #450 - Anything Goes

Sheepski Designs #65 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Make Your Own Background

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Shimmer and Shine - TOP PICK

Snippets Playground #435 - Anything Goes With Snippets 

(black linen matting cut from snippets)

Thanks very much for visiting.

Hugs,

Magical Birthday

Good afternoon all,

I don't have a lot of birthday cards to make throughout the year, but right now birthdays are coming along like buses .. yesterday was both a family member and a friend's birthdays.  My dear friend Christine gifted me a Lavinia voucher for my birthday earlier this year, so I thought it would be good to make her a magical Lavinia birthday card ... and here it is.

The underlying premise of this card was that I wanted to try making bubbles, so the whole design was based around that! 

First I used a circle mask and sponged Distress Oxide inks to create my sun and sky, then hill masks to create my landscape. I stamped my fairy Olivia with the flower head of her dandelion masked, so I could then hand draw a bubble blower with a fine liner. I created my bubbles with a home made circle mask and various colours of DO + Posca pen highlights following the method in this Natasha Foote Youtube tutorial, then I additionally outlined the bubbles with Sakura stardust pen. I actually made an error at this point as I meant to outline all the bubbles with my clear sparkle pen, but I accidentally picked up my gold pen for one of the smaller bubbles, and drew round the left side before I noticed. Luckily I thought this looked a bit like the sun's reflection, so I outlined the left sides of all the other bubbles in gold to match!! 

I stamped my fence and gate plus a variety of trees and flowers using various colours of Versafine Clair and 1st/2nd generation stamping, then coloured my fairy wings and added more highlights with my Sakura sparkle pens. I reverse masked the sun and added some 2nd generation text stamping over it. At this point I wasn't sure where to place the sentiment, so decided to encase it in the largest bubble; so I masked a sentiment to allow me to stamp it over several lines. I finished by outlining the image panel with black pen and matting onto pearlescent turquoise card stock.

Stamps: Lavinia - Olivia small, Tree of Faith, Small Trees, Gate and Fence, Wild Summer Flower, Bluebells, Field Grass, Birds, Faerie Spells; Crafter's Companion - Magical Sentiments;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade, Mown Lawn, Rustic Wildreness, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Salvaged Patina, Salty Ocean); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Green Oasis, Charming Pink, Warm Breeze); Sakura Stardust pens (clear, pink, gold).

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthdays #40 - Anything Birthday Goes (2nd entry)

Arty Divas (August) - Anything Goes

Country View Challenges (August) - Happy Birthday (3rd entry)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #150 - Silhouettes (2nd entry)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2234 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Shimmer and Shine

Stamping Sensations (August) - Make It Magical (2nd entry)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

We love Stamping (August) - In the Garden (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #557/558 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

That's me done for today, though I had so much fun creating those bubbles I think I will be back with more before too long! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Dancing Till Dawn

Hi everyone,

Today is my cousin’s daughter’s 40th birthday, so I would like to share the card I made for her.   What do you make for a 40 year old?? …   I decided the only way to go was to use my brand new Lavinia fairies “Dancing Till Dawn” as that is what I would wish for her … here’s the result, which is a large 8” x 8” card.

First I cut a square of stamping white card, spritzed with water and the applied brushos to make my background sky. I then applied Distress Oxide ink around a circle mask to create a moon outline, and pink DO inside the moon outline to give some dimension. I used a hill mask with DO’s to create landscape, then stamped my Lavinia fairies, trees and flowers in various shades of Versafine Clair. I added some stars using Versamark heat embossed with silver embossing powder, then used the head of one of my Lavinia dandelions to represent a firework burst, stamped three times around the moon and heat embossed in silver, white glitter and holographic EP. I stamped my sentiment over the moon, and applied silver stickers for the number 40 … in hindsight die cut numbers would have been better, but hey it’s done now. I highlighted everything liberally with my Sakura stardust pens to make it sparkle, then matted  the finished panel onto black linen card stock then onto my card base, and decorated the inside of the card and envelope to match.

Here's a pic of the matching envelope - also an angled shot to show the sparkle!

Stamps: Lavinia Dancing Till Dawn, Celestial Tree, Dandelions, Silhouette Foliage Set, Silhouette Grass, Stars Mini; Uniko Birthday Sentiments;

Media: Brushos (Ultramarine, Purple); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Black Soot, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire, Spun Sugar); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Medieval Blue, Charming Pink); Versafine (Majestic Blue, Imperial Purple); Versamark; coloured embossing powder (white tinsel, silver, holographic); Sakura Stardust pens (pink, clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthdays #40 - Anything Birthday Goes

Classic Design Challenge #8 2022 - Anything Goes

Country View Challenges (August) - Happy Birthday (2nd entry)

Creative Knockouts #466 - Anything Goes

DL.Art (August) - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #150 - Silhouettes

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (August) - Make It Magical

I hope the recipient will like this card and that she has a wonderful day. It is also a close friend of mine’s birthday today, so I will be back tomorrow to share the card I made for her. Until then, take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge # 690/691

Good morning everyone, and welcome to a new Allsorts Challenge. Due to the school holidays we have another two week challenge for you this time - Brenda has chosen the theme and it is

*** Anything Goes with option of Roses ***

A lovely option where we hope you may be inspired by all the summer roses blooming in the garden!

This week we have 2 fabulous prizes - first from Oakwood Direct 

is this adorable Stampendous House Mouse stamp

and secondly we have a prize from Ruth Hamilton Design of 3 digi images of the winner's choice.

Here's my card for this week.

I don't own a lot of stamps featuring roses, and although I love this one I'm always a bit unsure how to use it ... with its background stamping it demands to be cut into a panel which will form a card topper, but I can't seem to make it work with my design papers (probably as I’m so out of practice using them I’ve forgotten what I have!!). I therefore kept it simple and placed it on a simple stencilled background. 

Firstly I created a smoosh panel with Saltwater Taffy Distress Oxide and Antique Linen Distress ink, then stamped my image with Vintage Sepia Versafine and heat embossed. I coloured the flower with distress inks, then distressed the edges with my distress tool and edged the panel with more DI. I spattered the image panel with gold Posca pen then matted it onto some rose gold card stock which I cut into a deckle edge, and adhered to my card base which I had stencilled with DI. Finally I stamped my sentiment and heat embossed in gold, and added a few heart gems.

Here is an angled picture to show the gleam ... it also shows that my spattering went a bit unpredictable which sadly is a problem I tend to have all too often!

Stamps: Chocolate Baroque - Rose Stem Script; Hero Arts - Pen Love;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint); Tim Holtz Distress oxide ink (Saltwater Taffy); Vesafin (Vintage Sepia); Versamark; gold embossing powder;

Tools: Lavinia stencil - Divine.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #436 - Make Your Mark

Colour Crazy Craft Challenges #33 2022 - Anything Goes With Colouring

Craft Rocket #95 - Flowers

DL.Art (August) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Let's Craft and Create #186 - Anything Goes + option Feeling Distressed

Simon Says (Monday) - Fun With Stencils

Try It On Tuesday - Summer Blooms

Use Your Stuff #454 - Nature

We love Stamping (August) - In the Garden

Word Art Wednesday #557/558 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Hope you can join us for this two week challenge, 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,

Dragonfly Dreams II

Hi everyone,

I’ve been rather MIA  as I’ve not had a lot of time for crafting recently due to having some work done on our house. Life seems to have been a constant roundabout of prepping for workmen, supervising them, cleaning up after them, researching, ordering, collecting (and in some cases returning faulty) soft furnishings and accessories … the house has been upside down for the last 5 weeks and it’s been a whirlwind! Things are now starting to calm down slightly, and I had a number of projects I needed to complete so I thought I’d better crack on!

Today I would like to share a set of ATC’s that I made for a monthly swap in the Visible Image FB group … you can use only VI stamps, stencils and/or dies. This month’s theme was “Mother Nature’s Marvels”, so I pulled out my favourite dragonfly stamp for my focal image. The swap is one ATC but I made a set of 4 so that I would have some extras to trade separately - I have called this series "Dragonfly Dreams II". 

 This is my first ever completed project using Brushos ... wow I love the intensity of the colours they create!!

First I cut a piece of white stamping card, spritzed with water and then tapped on some brushos and spritzed  some more to make my first ever brusho backgrounds … yay! I stamped and heat embossed my dragonfly image and highlighted the wings with Sakura stardust pen, then stamped some second generation background circles in Versafine Clair, and my DNA stamp in Versamark heat embossed with white powder. I stamped my sentiment onto separate card, heat embossed and cut out, then attached to the ATC. I then matted the image panel onto black linen cardstock and finished off with teeny heart gems.

Here's a closeup of one of the ATC's.

It is the convention in this group to enclose the ATC within a handmade greeting card, so I also made a card to match the ATC design. The only additional step for the card was to spatter the image panel with metallic gold Posca pen.

Stamps: Visible Image “Dragonfly Dreams”, “Creative Chaos”, “Butterfly Effect”;

Media: Brushos (Leaf Green, Turquoise); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Warm Breeze); Versamark; clear and white embossing powder; Sakura Stardust pen (clear); gold metallic Posca Pen.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #17 2022 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (August) - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations (August) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2233 - Anything Goes

Sheepski #65 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Snippets Playground #434 - Anything Goes With Snippets

(My ATC’s were all cut from snippets)

Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero (August) - It’s Hip to be Square

(square card and squares in the dragonfly stamp design)

Sweet Stampin’ - Firsts

(First brusho backgrounds)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes 

Word Art Wednesday #557/558 - Anything Goes

I'm hoping to be back soon with some more of the projects that I need to be making .. until then take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #688/689

Good morning everyone,

It's Saturday so it's time for another Allsorts Challenge. This time we are having a two week challenge due to the school holidays -  Lorraine has chosen the theme and it is

*** Anything Goes with option to Create Your Own Background ***

We look forward to seeing all your makes in line with the simple challenge rules, but would particularly love to see your handmade backgrounds ... the only limit is your imagination!!

This week's fab prize is a £15 store voucher from WOWVOW

Here's my card for this week, using yet another stamp bought from the FB UK Stampers’ Forum Craft destash site 😀

I cut a piece of white stamping card and created a smoosh background with Distress Oxide inks spritzed with water on my craft mat then dabbed onto the card with acetate. I then did some background stencilling with a second colour DO. I stamped and heat embossed my main image, then coloured the flowers and leaves by painting with more watered down DO’s, with a few highlights painted using gold Posca pen ink. I added a little background stamping using Golden Meadow Versafine Clair .. I actually made a mistake at this point as I fully intended all the background stamping to be second generation, but I forgot in the top left corner and stamped first generation! Not what I intended but I decided to just roll with it! I finished off with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment, a few sparkly gems and simple matting onto a 7” x 5” base card.

Stamps: Indigo Blu “Blazing Poppies”; AALL & Create “Scripted Hexagons”; Crafter’s Companion “Magical Sentiments”;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Fossilized Amber, Twisted Citron, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Mowed Lawn, Wilted Violet); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Golden Meadow); Posca pen (metallic gold);

Tools: stencil - AALL & Create #110 “Digits Checked”.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More! #435 - Die Cuts and/or Stencils

Country View Challenges (August) - Happy Birthday

DL Art (August) - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers: Birthday (August) - Birthday

Creative Knockouts #464 - Birthday Wishes

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2231 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Happy Birthday!

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Emboss It

Try It On Tuesday - Make It Feminine 

Word Art Wednesday #555/556 - Anything Goes

I would also like to share a pair of ATC’s where I also made my own backgrounds using the acrylic block stamping technique with distress oxide inks. 

I cut two pieces of white stamping card slightly smaller than standard ATC size. As luck would have it I have a long thin rectangular acrylic block that is just the right width, so I masked part of its length and then inked it with 3 colours of DO, then spritzed with water and stamped onto the card to create my grass and sky, which i then spattered with water droplets to create further interest. I then stamped my Lavinia meadow flowers and grasses plus dragonflies using various colours of Versafine Clair and 1st/2nd generation stamping, and coloured my flower heads with Sakura stardust pen. I stamped my sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached, then matted the finished panels onto standard ATC size dark blue pearlescent card.

Here's an angled pic to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia “Wild Meadow Flower”, “Leaf Spray”, “Field Grass”, Fairy Bugs”; sentiment - AALL & Create #449 “Through the Meadows”;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, Mowed Lawn); Versafine Clair (Twilight, Green Oasis, Verdant, Warm Breeze); Sakura Stardust pen (clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

ATC’s With a Heart (August) - Flowers - TOP 3

Classic Design Challenge #8 2022 - Anything Goes

C.R.A.F.T. #647 - Summer

Craft Rocket #95 - Flowers

Creative Crafting Uncles #31 - Anything But a Card

Creative Inspirations (August) - Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks #623 - Stamp Act

Moving Along With the Times #145 - Anything Goes

Sheepski Designs #65 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us this fortnight, and I look forward to seeing your entries - don't forget you have two weeks to enter this challenge, which closes on 19th August. Also please do make time to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,