Allsorts Challenge #700

Hello everyone, today  Allsorts  is having a very special challenge.

Today is our 700th challenge - woo hoo!! Yes that's 700 weeks - nearly 13 1/2 years since the first challenge in May 2009!! So that's 13 1/2 years of fabulous inspiration from a whole host of DT members, and brilliant prizes from a whole variety of kind patrons. Of course, Allsorts could not continue without the support of all you wonderful bloggers who enter each week .. so a big thank you from all the team for your ongoing support 😀❤️

Brenda has chosen this week's theme, and what else could it possibly be but 

🎉🥂🎈*** Let's Celebrate ***🎈🥂🎉

So we would love to see your makes to celebrate any special occasion.

This week we are really getting in the celebratory mood with four great prizes on offer.

First up, a fantastic mixed media bundle which includes stencils, brayer, ink pads, pens and other goodies.

Second, we have a prize of 2 Two Red Robins stencils.

Prizes three and four will be the following bundle split between two winners.

I have also got into the celebration mood and made two cards this week.

Firstly a Christmas card, inspired completely by this adorable mouse image which has to be one of the overtly celebratory images I own!!

I cut a piece of white card 13cm square and stamped my image with Memento ink, then coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers. I masked off the image and stencilled my snowflake using Distress Oxide ink, then stamped my sentiment with Versafine Clair - I really think this joyful sentiment fits so perfectly with that joyful little mouse!  Finally I applied some holographic glitter highlights using my Quickie glue pen, matted the finished panel onto purple glitter card and then onto my card base.

Here is an angled pic to show the glitter - the light was really not very good when I was photographing this card!

Stamps: Penny Black "Let it Snow!" (1524K), "joy hope" (3898F);

Media: Promarkers, Flexmarkers, Tim Holtz Distress oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac); Memento ink (black), Versafine Clair (Nocturne); holographic glitter;

Tools: Crafter's Companion stencil - Winter's Sparkle.

Challenges I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours

As You Like It - Favourite Christmas Image or Animal (and why) - TOP 3

(I'm not sure whether this is my all-time favourite Christmas image but it is certainly right up there, as it is not only cute but also incredibly joyful .. it is one of my oldest stamps and I return to it year after year)

Daring Cardmakers - Creature Comforts

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday (October) - Anything Goes - TOP 3

Fab 'n' Funky #559 - Season's Greetings - WINNER

Festive Fridays - Christmas / Animals

Penny Black Saturday (October) - Anything Goes with Penny Black - TOP 3

Rudolph Days (October) - Christmas

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #126 - Anything Christmas Goes

Winter Wonderland (October) - Let It Snow! - TOP 3

Secondly, I also made a birthday card to reflect the concept of a more individual special occasion.

I used what is possibly my favourite AALL & Create stamp which I acquired as a bargain in the summer from a Craft De-Stash FB group. One reason I love it is its versatility - last time I made a card with quite a distressed look, but this time I decided to go more for blocks of colour that would “pop”.

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5 x 8.5 cm, and stamped and heat embossed my image. I coloured the circles and flowers with Distress Oxide inks, and painted the butterfly with watered down paint from a silver Posca pen, then coloured on top with a Sakura Stardust pen to add extra sparkle. I sponged DO round the edges of the image panel, then added some spatter using more DO and a white gel pen. I stamped, heat embossed and die cut my sentiment circle and attached with a sparkly silver brad, then attached 3 pastel sparkly brads to reflect the colours in the image and did a little doodling at the top and bottom with a black fine liner pen. Finally I matted everything onto black and pearlescent turquoise card, and attached to the front of a DL card blank. 

Here’s an angled pic to show the sparkly butterfly.

Stamps: AALL & Create #449 - Through the Meadows; sentiment - See-D;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Kitsch Flamingo, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers); Posca pen (silver); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); white gel pen;

Other: sparkly brads from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthday #42 - Favourite Technique

(I love to stamp and heat embossed, then colour with Distress Oxides and/or sparkly pens)

A Gem of a Challenge #22 2022 - Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps and More #441 - Make Your Mark

Colour Crazy #43 2022 - Anything Goes With Colouring

Crafts Galore Encore (October) - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #612 - Anything Goes

Double Trouble #123 - Let’s Get A-Round to It

My Time to Craft #493 - Wings

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #567/568 - Anything Goes

Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge #10 2022 - Anything Goes

Hope you can help us to celebrate by joining the challenge 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, including our guest designers who have joined us specially for this milestone week. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Hubble bubble II

Hi everyone, today I would like to share my extremely last-minute make for this month's Lavinia website Creative Challenge "Dancing orbs".

I racked my brain over this one, as I don't have the orb stamps and have never attempted colouring orbs in before, but I have the "White orbs" stencil, so I decided to make a little ATC with Willow the Witch with her cauldron, from which orbs float upwards as she casts her spell!

I cut a piece of stamping card slightly smaller than standard ATC size, and created my night sky with Distress Oxide inks and a circle mask, including some wispy clouds across the moon. I stamped and heat embossed Willow and her cauldron, then "grounded" them with a torn paper mask and sponged DO. I used my orbs stencil to colour various tiny circles using my Sakura Stardust pen, and then dotted the centre of each one with a white gel pen. Finally I stamped my branches and birds which I (clumsily) turned into bats by drawing on them with a black fineliner, highlighted everything with my Sakura stardust pen, and matted the finished piece onto standard ATC size black linen card stock.

Here is the usual angled pic to show the sparkle.

 Stamps: Lavinia Willow the Witch, Birds, Mini Branch;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion, Seedless Preserves); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); white gel pen; black fineliner;

Tools: Lavinia stencil - White Orbs.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Tiny Craft #14 - Spooky (2nd entry)

ATC's With a Heart #121 - Hallowe'en (2nd entry)

Country View Challenges (October) - Hallowe’en or Harvest (3rd entry)

Crafty Calendar (October) - Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

Creative Knockouts #475 - Hallowe'en - WINNER

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #153 - 31 Days of Hallowe'en (2nd entry)

Make My Monday #186 - Spooky or Hallowe'en Colours - TOP PICK

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Spooky

The Most Magical Time of the Year #1 - The Most Magical Time of the Year (4th entry) - TOP PICK

Try it On Tuesday - Hallowe'en Time - TOP 5

No more tricks or treats from me for today. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #699

Good morning everyone, it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Brenda has chosen the theme and it is

*** Colours of Autumn ***

This week we have a fabulous prize donated by AALL & Create - this beautiful autumnal stamp set Acorn Collage

Here's my card for this week.

I made this card with a Visible Image stamp set which is another purchase I made at Port Sunlight specifically for making autumnal cards, and some of my new Brushos.

Firstly I made a coloured panel by sprinkling two colours of Brushos onto stamping card and spritzing with water. When dry I stamped my leaf images and fussy cut out. I then cut another square of stamping card and created a smoosh background with Distress Oxide inks, and stamped my focal point leaves again plus some extra small leaves in the background. I used my VI "Broken Mesh" die to create a stencil, and blended Distress Ink through it onto the centre of my background, then attached my fussy cut leaves. I stamped my sentiment then matted the panel onto three autumnal colours of card.

I was really pleased with how this experiment with Brushos turned out, and felt the colours in the leaves reflect the sentiment really well!

Stamps: Visible Image - Erika's Maple;

Media: Brushos (Gamboge, Vermillion); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade); Distress Ink (Vintage Photo); Versafine Clair (Pinecone).

Tools: Visible image die - Broken Mesh.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Creative Inspirations (October) - Autumn or Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

Daisy Chain #68 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Four Seasons (October) - Anything Goes Fall 

Let's Craft and Create #188 - The Colours of Fall - WINNER

Path of Positivity #105 - Anything Positive Goes with option Celebrate Something Special About Your Favourite Season - TOP PICK

(I always think beautiful autumn leaves are pretty special)

{PIN}spirational Challenge #294 - Inspirational Photo - FAVOURITE

Stamping Sensations (October) - All Things Autumn (3rd entry) - TOP 3

Taylormadecards4U (October) - Anything Goes with option Halloween/Fall (3rd entry)

We Love Stamping (October) - Autumn Colours (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #565/566 - Anything Goes (3rd entry) 

In fact I was so happy with my inky experiment that I decided to get my money’s worth out of my new autumn stamps, so I sat down in a completely separate crafting session and made a set of co-ordinating ATC's, which not surprisingly I called "Falling Leaves".

Here's a close up of one of them ...

These were made using more or less exactly the same method/supplies as listed above, except that I used a different stencil on the smaller space - Crafter's Companion "It's Time".

Challenges I would like to enter:

ATC's Around the World - Autumn - TOP 3

Addicted to Stamps and More #440 - Die Cuts and/or Stencils

Ally's Angels #63 - Anything Goes

Colour Crazy Craft Challenges #42 2022 - Anything Goes With Colouring

Craft Rocket #97 - Autumn/Hallowe'en (2nd entry)

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

Happy Little Stampers (October): Watercolour - Anything Goes with Water Colour Media

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2242 - Anything Goes

QKR Stampede #454 - Anything Goes - TOP 5

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything 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 fab inspiration from the rest of the team. 

Before I go, just a quick heads up about next week's challenge, which will be Allsorts' 700th Challenge - woo hoo!! It will be party time with guest designers to provide extra inspiration and some fantastic prizes to give away, so you won't want to miss it!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Dragon's Night Flight

Hello, today I would like to share a pair of ATC's I made with Hallowe'en in mind.  My newest acquisitions include a Lavinia fairy castle and teeny tiny dragon, so I tried to represent a flight of the dragon over the castle at night with a blood red sky  - very Game of Thrones!!

I created an inky background on a large snippet of stamping card using Gamboge (yellowy orange), Vermillion and Purple brushos spritzed with water, then cut the inked panel into 2 pieces each 3 3/8" x 2 3/8". On each panel I stamped my castle using Versafine Clair, then used a small punched circle mask to create a moon using black Distress oxide ink. I stamped my li'l dragon and some tree branches to frame the scene, then coloured the castle windows and highlighted the moon, dragon and castle with Sakura Stardust pens. Finally I added sentiment stickers related to the flight of the dragon (as I don't have any specific Hallowe'en wordings, but I thought these would work well with the dragon), and added some gold Posca Pen spatter before matting onto standard ATC size cards cut from snippets of black card stock.

Here is an angled pic to try to show the sparkle ...

... and a close up of each ATC.

1/2

2/2

Stamps: Lavinia Far World Castle, Mini Dragon, Mini Branch;

Media: Brushos (Gamboge, Vermillion, Purple); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Sakura Stardust pens (copper, clear); Posca pen (gold);

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

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Tiny Craft #14 - Spooky

ATC's With a Heart #121 - Hallowe'en - TOP 3

Country View Challenges (October) - Hallowe’en or Harvest (2nd entry)

Crafty Calendar (October) - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (October) - Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #153 - 31 Days of Hallowe'en - WINNER

Sheepski #67 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Hallowe'en/Spooky - DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT

Snippets Playground #439 - Anything Goes With Snippets

The Most Magical Time of the Year #1 - The Most Magical Time of the Year (3rd entry)

That's all for today - take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #698

Good morning everyone, and welcome to this week's Allsorts Challenge. This week it is my turn to host the challenge, and I have chosen the theme

*** Add A Sentiment ***

A very easy theme I hope you'll agree, so I'm looking forward to seeing lots of entries!

This week's prize has been provided by Oakwood Direct 

and is a Polkadoodles sentiment stamp set and co-ordinating paper pad.

Here's my card for this week.

I decided to go for a CAS card so that I could showcase this BIG Christmas sentiment, which is from a set I chose as part of the fantastic £100 store voucher I won from Uniko earlier in the year.  I also had another colouring session with my favourite LotV James the Bear.

I simply cut a piece of stamping white card, stamped my image and coloured with Promarkers & Flexmarkers, added glitter and Stickles, and stamped my sentiment. I then matted simply onto festive red and green card. 

Stamps: LotV - James Christmas Tree; Uniko Festive Sentiments;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers, holographic glitter; crystal Stickles.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Traditional or Contemporary Christmas (and Why)

(I love both, but I particularly favour contemporary styles such as this CAS cute bear)

Happy Little Stampers; Christmas (October) - Anything Christmas Goes

Krafty Chicks #633 - Christmas

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2241 - Anything Goes

Passion For Markers #662 - Anything Goes

Retro Rubber #193 - Anything Goes - TOP PICK

(James the Bear is several years old)

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #125 - Anything Christmas Goes

The Most Magical Time of the Year #1 - The Most Magical Time of the Year

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes - WINNER, TOP 3

Word Art Wednesday #565/566 - 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,

Seasonal Tree

Good morning, all,

In my previous post I used one of my new stamps - Lavinia "Seasonal Tree" - for a Hallowe'en card, but mentioned I had bought it primarily with a view to enabling me to make the occasional autumnal card ... so here is my first attempt. 

My idea was to make a tranquil scene with an early misty morning vibe, so having stamped and heat embossed my tree I created my background with a colour wash of Distress Oxide rather than the usual ink blending or smooshing. I used a little ink blending to create my sun and to ground the tree, then stamped and coloured my falling leaves. I finished off with my stamped and cut up sentiment and birds, and matted the finished panel onto brown linen card stock.

I have to confess I did struggle with this card - having stamped my tree I couldn't decide how to represent falling leaves, and had several failed experiments before finally coming up with this. 

Stamps: Lavinia Seasonal Tree, Birds; leaves and sentiment - Visible Image "Erika's Maple";

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Hickory Smoke, Frayed Burlap); Versafine (Vintage Sepia); Versafine Clair (Nocturne).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Alphabet Challenge - N is for Nature

Creative Inspirations (October) - Autumn or Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (October) - Autumn or Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Everybody Art #521 - Autumn

Sheepski #67 - Autumn Things (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Fabulous Fall Moodboard

(I was inspired by the top right and bottom right pictures, and the colour swatch buttons)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Fall Colours

Stamping Sensations (October) - All Things Autumn (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Autumn (2nd entry) - TOP 5

Use Your Stuff #468 - Autumn/Fall

We Love Stamping (October) - Autumn Colours (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #565/566 - Anything Goes

This card is actually pretty representative of the weather outside today as it is quite misty here. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Hubble Bubble ...

Hi there, today I would like to share the results of my first playtime with some of the new stash I bought at Port Sunlight on Saturday. I don’t normally do Hallowe’en, but there are so many challenges out there I thought I’d buy a couple of new Lavinia Hallowe’en stamps so that I could join in 😀

First I stamped and heat embossed Willow the Witch and my tree (it is called “Seasonal Tree” and I chose it primarily to create Autumn cards, but I think it also works very well for Hallowe’en). I then created my background with blended Distress Oxide inks, created a moon halo with a circle mask, and stamped the moon 2nd generation. I stamped my birds (as I don’t have bats !!) and highlighted everything with a selection of Sakura Stardust pens and Posca glitter pens. I also created some sparkly dots to represent the spell bubbling out of the cauldron, and some wisps of mist with a white pastel pencil. 

I only realised when I came to make this card that I don’t have any specific Hallowe’en sentiments, so I finished off with a “magical” sentiment from Crafter’s Companion, and edged the card with sponged black DO to create some depth before matting onto plain black card stock. A fairly simple Hallowe’en card, but effective I think.

Stamps: Lavinia - Willow the Witch, Seasonal Tree, Moon, Birds; sentiment - Crafter’s Companion Enchanted Dreams;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Barn Door, Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist); Sakura Stardust pens (red, orange, clear); Posca Sparkle pens (Sparkling Orange, Sparkling Violet); Posca pen (metallic gold); pastel pencil (white);

Tools: Lavinia circle and hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Aud Sentiments #298 - Hallowe’en/Fall plus a Sentiment

Country View Challenges (October) - Hallowe’en or Harvest

Crafty Calendar (October) - Hallowe’en - TOP 3

Creative Inspirations (October) - Autumn or Hallowe’en

Craft Rocket #97 - Autumn/Hallowe’en

Daisy Chain #68 - Autumn/Hallowe’en

Dragonfly Dreams (October) - Hallowe’en

Sheepski #67 - Autumn/ Hallowe’en

Taylormadecards4u (October) - Anything Goes with option Hallowe’en/Fall (2nd entry)

The Most Magical Time of the Year #1 - The Most Magical Time of the Year

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

James the Bear … and All the Fun of the Fair

Hi everyone,

One afternoon this week I didn’t feel like unpacking all my craft supplies, so I just stamped a few images and had a bit of a colouring session with my Promarkers. As I need to get ahead with some Christmas cards I used one of my favourite old Christmas images - James Christmas Tree by LotV. This adorable little bear always makes me smile ! 😀 I then had another session where I made up my images into 4 cards, so they will be appearing at intervals over the coming weeks - here’s my first effort.

Stamps: LotV  - James Christmas Tree; sentiment - Elzybells;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; holographic glitter; Stickles;

Papers: LotV  “‘Twas the Night”;

Tools: stitched square dies from Amazon.

I decorated James's hat with holographic glitter and applied Stickles to the snow both underfoot and flakes - here's angled pic to show that a bit better.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #21 2022 - Anything Goes

Christmas Craft Creations (September) - Ribbon or Twine

Crafty Animals #66 - Anything Goes With Animals

Hero Arts (October) - Merry Everything

I ❤️ Promarkers #520 - Anything Goes (2nd entry) - WINNER

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2240 - Anything Goes 

Simon Says (Monday) - Stitch It

Sweet Stampin’ - Anything but a Birthday Card

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #125 - Anything Christmas Goes - TOP 5

Word Art Wednesday #563/564 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to pay a visit to the Stamping Together Craft Fair in Port Sunlight … I always used to visit this festival back in the day, but as I only came back to crafting during the pandemic after  over 5 years of almost complete inactivity, this was my first craft fair for a very long time! I was amazed by how busy it was … the fair isn’t as big as it used to be but there were still a number of great stands and it was absolutely thronged!! I spent most of my time endlessly debating with myself what to buy from the Stamper’s Grove stand which was an absolute paradise of all things Lavinia and Visible Image, not to mention ink pads, brushos … where to start?? I also got chance to say hello to the lovely Jo Rice and Sarah Anderson who were demonstrating Lavinia, and were very helpful in showing me some of the many similar colours of brushos to help me decide.

Here’s a pic of my haul … I think I was pretty restrained all things considered … I know I definitely could have bought a LOT more ☺️ However I focussed on getting a few autumn themed items as I didn’t really have any, a couple of Hallowe’en stamps (even though I don’t really do Hallowe’en .. but there are so many challenges to enter!), a couple of Tim Holtz ephemera to inspire future ATC’s, and some more brushos as I am really loving those vibrant colours!!

That’s all for today … chores beckon, and I also need to find time to start playing with my new stash 😀

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,