Daisy Elegance

Hi everyone, I’m not sure where the last week has gone to since I last posted, but for some reason I don’t seem to have found any crafty time until yesterday. Today I’d like to share the result of that playtime, using another AALL & Create Tracy Evans stamp set I bought before Christmas in the sale. I still have several stamps from that little spree that haven’t seen ink yet, so for the moment I’m trying to resist Tracy’s new own brand stamps until I have at least used most of what I bought previously .. though I’m not sure how long that resolve will last! So many stamps, so little time!

Today’s card is C5 which is larger than I normally make, but that’s because the main stamp I used is HUGE! I started by cutting a piece of stamping card slightly smaller than C5 and stamped the main image. I then masked the bottles and flower heads, and created a smooshed background using Antique Linen and Old Paper Distress Oxides applied with acetate. I removed the masks and coloured the image with Zig watercolour brush pens, added some white Posca pen highlights to the petals, and highlighted the water in the vases with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen.  

I stamped the birds and nibs onto separate card, coloured with Zig pens, fussy cut and attached. I added some white Posca pen spatters and allowed to dry, then added the sentiment which was heat embossed in white onto black card. Finally I added some torn washi tape, matted the finished piece onto a black linen card stock border and C5 card blank, and added Glossy Accents to the flower centres and pen nibs.

Here’s an angled pic to show the sparkle and gloss.

Stamps: AALL & Create #266 Daisy Elegance, #908 Quill Ends, #533 Bring On the Sentiments;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pens; Versamark; detail white embossing powder; Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Glossy Accents;

Other: AALL & Create washi tape #44 - Around.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #765 - Anything but Square

Beautiful Blossoms #13 - Anything Floral Goes

Crafty Addicts #9 - Anything Goes

Double Trouble #158 - Something, Anything, Everything - TOP 3

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #181 - Anything Goes (5th entry)

Papercraft Challenges #102 - Anything Goes

Path of Positivity #119 - Anything Goes Positive (2nd entry) - TOP PICK & DT DELIGHT

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Add Some Texture

Stamping Sensations (January) - Mood Board (2nd entry)

(I have chosen red flowers)

Triple B (January) - Birds, Blooms and/or Butterflies (3rd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Add Some Text

We Love 2 Create #1 2024 - Anything Goes Using Media

Word Art Wednesday #633/634 - Anything Goes

Worldwide Crafters and Colorists #13 - Anything Goes (2nd entry) - RUNNER UP

So here we are at the end of January already … hopefully a few more weeks and we will start to see lighter evenings and spring flowers.Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

January Blues

Hi everyone, today I’d like to show you the first card I have made with another stamp set and stencil from my recent Visible Image win - “Let It Snow” and “Frosty”.

I created a smooshed background with 2 colours of Distress Oxide ink, then stamped the centre snowflake and heat embossed in white. I then stencilled around the edges using blue DOX and added some dark blue stamped snowflakes. I added some Posca snow spatter and let it dry before matting onto a dark blue and then lilac border and onto a 6” card blank, then finally I stamped and heat embossed my word onto dark blue card stock, cut out and attached.

Stamps: Visible Image Let It Snow;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Blueprint Sketch, Wilted Violet); Versafine Clair (Medieval Blue); Versamark; detail white embossing powder; Posca pen (white);

Tools: Visible Image stencil - Frosty.

Challenges I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas - A is for Anything Christmas

Allsorts #764 - January Blues (2nd entry)

Christmas Crafts All Year Round (January) - Snowflakes (2nd entry)

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (January) - Be Wordy (2nd entry)

Festive Fridays (January) - Christmas (2nd entry) - TOP 3

The Holly and Ivy #155 - Anything Christmas Goes

Incy Wincy (January) - New (3rd entry)

Merry Little Christmas #54 - Anything Christmas Goes

Moving Along With the Times #162 - New Craft Item (3rd entry)

My Time to Craft #525 - Something New In Your Stash (2nd entry)

We Love Stamping (January) - Something New (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #631/632 - Anything Goes  (4th entry)

I’ve definitely made a better start with my Christmas cards this year … I think I’m taking advantage of the wintery mood caused by the weather!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Frosty Pinecones

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a set of ATC’s I have made for Tracy Evans’ monthly FB ATC swap … this month the theme is “Winter Wonderland”. I hardly have any wintery stamps by Tracy but I do have her “Pinecone” set so I decided to give them a frosty and snowy look. I made 3 identical ATC’s for the swap plus one extra as I really liked how the design turned out .. here they are.

I took a large snippet of white stamping card and created a smooshed background with Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Oxide ink, then cut the panel into 4 pieces each slightly smaller than a standard ATC. On each piece I stamped the pinecone and foliage using Pinecone and Rainforest Versafine Clair, using my stamping platform to enable me to stamp in 2 stages, one for each colour, wiping the ink off parts of the stamp where not required with a baby wipe… a bit fiddly but worth it! I then coloured it with Zig watercolour brush pens, highlighted the cone with white Posca pen, and both cone and leaves with a clear Sakura Stardust pen to give a frosty look. 

I added a little background stamping in grey, then stamped the word “Winter” in Twilight, coloured the “W” with my Stardust pen and added some snow to the letters with Posca pen. Finally I added some sparkle to the pinecone with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen and some Posca snow spatter, then matted onto dark blue linen card stock ATC’s cut from a couple of snippets in my stash.

Here’s a closeup of one of them…

… and an angled picture to show how extremely sparkly it is! 

Stamps: AALL & Create #389 Pinecone, #455 Seasons;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky); Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Rainforest, Morning Mist, Twilight); Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pens; Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #764 - January Blues / Anything Goes

ATC’s Around the World #109 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Double D - Sparkle and/or Shine (2nd entry)

FarmQuest General Store #12 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

Four Seasons (January) - Winter (3rd entry)

Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Skrappy Challenge (January) - Anything but a Card (2nd entry)

Outlawz (January) - Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Sparkle and Shine (3rd entry)

Snippets Playground #472 - Use Snippets

Word Art Wednesday #631/632 - Anything Goes  (3rd entry)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend... the weather is supposed to be wild later on today, so stay safe everyone! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Bee Happy

Hi everyone, this month’s Visible Image Facebook ATC swap has a very open theme, as it asks participants to choose their favourite theme from previous swaps, of which I believe there have been 33!!

I had an additional criterion I wanted to include, as I recently won a VI store voucher so I thought it only right I should use some of my new stash! There were lots of great themes to choose from, but  I eventually settled on “Twinkle” from November 2022  as I adore twinkly things and have previously made several cards and ATC’s using twinkly VI butterflies including ones for that challenge posted here. However this time I decided to get my twinkle on with my new VI bee stamps and dies. I made an ATC and card for my swap partner, plus 2 more ATC’s to trade separately - here they are.

I started by assembling various pieces of white card, and creating smoosh backgrounds using orange and yellow shades of Elements ink. I then cut three ATC bases each 3.25” x 2.25” and a card panel 14cm square. On both the ATC’s and card I stamped the hexagon background in opposite corners and I coloured them by painting with Posca sparkle pens which I had tapped onto an acrylic block.  

I  stamped the large bee and 3 medium bees onto various card snippets and heat embossed with clear EP, then coloured the bodies with yellow Stardust pen and the wings with Zig watercolour pen and a wash of Wink of Stella. I die cut the bees with the matching die set - the first time I have had matching dies for a stamp and I really like the effect! - and placed them on the cards to enable me to position the wording which I then stamped and heat embossed. On the ATC’s I attached the die cut bees directly to the background, and on the card I die cut a mesh background from my last snippet of pale gold card and placed under the large bee before attaching. Finally each piece was matted onto a black border, some gold faux spatters added to the background with Posca pen, and the card matted onto a 6” square card blank.

Here's a closeup of the card.

... and an angled picture to show the twinkly effect of the various sparkle pens I used for colouring.

... and finally a closeup of the ATC which I enclosed with the swap.

Stamps: Visible Image Bee Happy;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Sundance, Sahara, Russet Orange); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Sakura Stardust pen (yellow); Posca sparkle pens (orange, yellow); Posca metallic pen (gold); Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pen; Wink of Stella;

Tools: Visible Image Bee Happy co-ordinating dies, Broken Mesh die.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Card:

Allsorts #763 - Make Your Own Background (2nd entry)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #587 - Stamp It

Incy Wincy (January) - New (2nd entry)

Moving Along With the Times #162 - New Craft Item (2nd entry)

My Time to Craft #525 - Something New In Your Stash

NBUS #58 - Use Your Never-Before-Used Schtuff

Path of Positivity #119 - Anything Goes Positive

Simon Says (Monday) - Sparkle and Shine (2nd entry)

We Love Stamping (January) - Something New (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #631/632 - Anything Goes  (2nd entry)

ATC:

ATC’s Around the World #109 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafts Galore Encore #119 - Anything Goes

Everybody Art #549 - Anything Goes

Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Skrappy Challenge (January) - Anything but a Card

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #181 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Love to Craft #78 - Anything Goes

Love to Scrap #165 - Anything Goes

Mix It Up #69 - Anything Goes

Outlawz (January) - Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (2nd entry)

Worldwide Crafters and Colourists #13 - Anything Goes

I must say I'm very thrilled and happy with these craft goodies that I won, and hope I'll be back soon with  further makes.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #11

Hi everyone, it may seem like only the blink of an eye since Christmas, but already it's the third Wednesday in the month which means it's time for a new 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 has chosen the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

 Hearts and/or Roses 

We hope you will agree this is a perfect theme with Valentine's Day just around the corner, and of course it is also suitable for anniversaries and various other loving occasions, so we hope you can join us. Please do pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here. 

We also have two guest designers this month - that's Helen and Rosi - so please do click on their names to visit their posts and see their wonderful interpretations of this month’s challenge theme.

Here's my card for the challenge.

This theme immediately made me think of Valentine's Day, but in one respect that was a bit difficult as I never publish cards for my husband on here before I have given them to him. The obvious and neat solution to this was to make him a generic romantic card just because I can!

I cut a square of white stamping card and stencilled the heart frame using Elements ink. I stamped the cute pup and coloured him with Zig watercolour pens, then added a little Wink of Stella to the rose. I stamped the sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached popped up on foam tape, then stamped a few roses onto a separate snippet of card, coloured with Zig pens, fussy cut and attached with silicone glue to give a little dimension. Pretty simple really, but I think men like that!

Here's a closeup to show the sparkle on the roses.

Stamps: Penny Black clear sets Critter Party, Every Which Way; sentiment - Lavinia Rose Set;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Blue Lagoon); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Medieval Blue); Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pens; Wink of Stella;

Tools: Heart stencil from The Range;

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #763 - Make Your Own Background

Art Impressions #366 - Anything Goes

Crafty Animals #79 - Anything Goes With an Animal

Crafty Catz #663 - Anything Goes with option No Designer Paper

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (January) - Use a Stencil (2nd entry)

Daisy Chain #81 - No Design Paper (2nd entry)

Double D - Sparkle and/or Shine

Inkspirational #307 - Use Stencils - TOP PICK

Penny Black Saturday Challenge (January) - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Sparkle and Shine

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Cute Critters (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #631/632 - 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 February 18th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday February 21st. 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Celebrating with Snippets!

Hi everyone, this fortnight over at the Snippets Playground they are celebrating, as it is the 12th anniversary of Miss Di holding the keys to the playground and taking on the thankless task of keeping us all in order whilst prodding us to submit our homework rather than playing endlessly on the swings!! Of course her headmistress-ship is undermined  massively by her partner in crime craft Sarn who seems intent on encouraging the playmates to be as naughty as possible including dangerous playground games and out-of-hours consumption of illicit alcohol - what a minx! But I digress ... 

I was inspired by Sarn's fab projects to try some paper tearing and I knew straight away I had to turn to some old kraft Christmas papers, and as luck would have it I found a few snippets!  

I also love Christmas so thought I would start this year's celebrations early, especially as we have woken up to a covering of snow this morning... perhaps Sarn will find some eggnog left over from the treehouse Christmas party (who am I kidding?? I saw the state of  everyone staggering into the dawn light after that knees up!!)

Here's the result - my first Christmas card for 2024 (that's something to celebrate in itself!!).

I took a kraft card blank and tore a couple of strips of paper from my snippets, ensuring the edges were white. I stamped the adorable robin and coloured him with Zig watercolour pens (this is my first experiment using them on kraft card and I am delighted with the depth of colour I achieved). I stamped the robin banner onto a separate snippet of white card, then stamped the sentiment and added some white Posca snow. I added some Posca pen snow spatter and when dry attached the torn paper strips and robin banner directly to the card blank.

Stamps: AALL & Create #690 Robin and Nuthatch; Visible Image Grunge Poinsettia (sentiment);

Media: Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pens; Versafine Clair (Pinecone); Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen (clear);

Papers: LotV Krafty Christmas.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Paper Brand (and why) - TOP 3

(I always loved LotV papers as both the designs, co-ordination and quality were fabulous)

Christmas Crafts All Year Round (January) - Snowflakes

Festive Friday (January) - Christmas

Four Seasons (January) - Winter (2nd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #154 - Anything Christmas Goes - TOP 5

Little Red Wagon #738 - Show Some Snow

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Cute Critters

Snippets Playground #471 - Celebration (and use snippets)

Triple B (January) - Birds, Blooms and Butterflies (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #629/630 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

So I'm off and running with my Christmas cards for 2024 ... time will tell how long this resolution will last!

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm, especially if like here you have got snowfall and treacherous road conditions. Take care, and thanks for visiting. 

hugs,

Snowdrop

Hi everyone, I would like to share a fairly straightforward card today, as I’ve been suffering with a rotten cold since the weekend so haven’t done much crafting due to feeling completely devoid of motivation and energy! 

It being New Year there are currently severaI challenges around on the subject of "New". I’m very lucky to have quite a bit of new stash at the moment … my darling husband bought me a set of Zig watercolour brush pens for Christmas, and I also have several sets of AALL & Create stamps bought in their recent sale which haven’t seen ink yet, and further stamps and stencils from a couple of challenge wins. Bizarrely I actually feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, but I thought I needed to start somewhere so I allowed myself to be inspired by a couple of challenge mood boards that feature snowdrops (I love snowdrops!!). Here’s the result.

I decided to use this gorgeous new-to-me snowdrop stamp which is rather tall, so I elected to make a DL card for a change. I cut a piece of white stamping card 20cm x 9 cm, stamped and masked the snowdrop, then created an inky background by smooching 2 colours of Distress Oxide ink onto my craft mat and applying with acetate.  I removed the mask and coloured the snowdrop with Zig Markers and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen, then added a couple of stamped background words. I then decided to add a bit of background stamping which I did in Morning Mist VFC, applying the stamp directly to the card without a stamping block. I then added my stamped sentiment and matted the panel onto blue pearlescent linen card stock and a hand cut DL card blank, also adding a little ribbon trim. Finally I masked the lower portion and edges of the card and added some white Posca spatter, using a brand new fine white Posca pen which seems to behave itself rather better than its predecessor!

For challenge purposes the new items on this card are stamp sets #623 and #455, and previously unused stamps from stamp sets #453 and Typewriter Sentiments; also this is my first teeny tentative use of my Zig pens.

Stamps: AALL & Create #623 Elegant Spring Florals, #455 Seasons, #453 Heart Grunge, #304 Heartfelt; Pink Frog Typewriter Sentiments;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Salvaged Patina); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist); Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pens; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #762 - Mood board

(I have chosen snowdrops .. I wasn’t sure if they were crocuses but the DT have shown some snowdrop cards so I hope that’s ok)

Beautiful Blossoms #12 - Anything Floral Goes

Cardz 4 Galz - A DL Card With Flowers - TOP 3

Double Trouble #156 - Background Personality - TOP 3

( I have chosen Introvert - calm, soft pastel)

Four Seasons (January) - Winter

Incy Wincy (January) - New

Moving Along With the Times #162 - New Craft Item

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Something New (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (January) - Mood Board

(I have chosen snowdrops)

Sweet Stampin’ - What’s New With You? (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Winter Blues - TOP 5

We Love Stamping (January) - Something New

I'm off now for a sniffle and a possibly a doze!  Hope I'll soon be feeling perkier so I can hopefully start doing justice to some more of my new stash!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Hi everyone, today I’m delighted to tell you that I was asked to be the Guest Designer for January at Dragonfly Dreams challenge.

 Of course I said yes, so I set to work to make a card for this month’s theme which is

*** Planes, Trains and Automobiles ***

Here’s my GDT card - please do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the design team and to link up your entries.

For me this theme immediately brought to mind this fab Visible Image line drawing stamp of a vintage car, and also gave me opportunity to play with a new VI stencil which I selected when I was the lucky winner of a £50 VI store voucher in their FB Christmas card competition.

I started by stamping the car onto cream stamping card using Acorn Versafine Clair, and cut out the image using deckle blade scissors and added Distress ink blended round the edges. I cut a 14.5cm square of cream card and deckled the edges, then created my background by dragging various shades of Distress Oxide and Distress inks over the card, then stencilled with Distress ink and added some stamped spatters. I matted the image panel onto the background then added a stamped sentiment which I cut out with deckle scissors and distressed. Finally I matted the whole panel onto a 6” card blank and added a Tim Holtz tiny metallic gear to one corner.

Stamps: Visible Image You’re a Classic, Sunflower Grunge (spatters), Christmas Robin (spatters);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Stormy Sky, Antique Linen); Distress inks (Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain); Versafine Clair (Acorn);

Tools: Visible Image stencil - Off the Grid;

Other: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Gears.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Aud Sentiments #309 - Make Your Own Background and/or Birthday + a Sentiment

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

Double D - Anything Birthday/Anniversary with optional Bronze Moodboard (2nd entry)

Kraftin’ Kimmie Saturday Challenge #676 - Birthday

Little Red Wagon #737 - What’s New?

(New background stencil)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #181 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Paper Players #671 - Cheers to the Years (Birthday card)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Something New

Sweet Stampin’ - What’s New With You? - TOP 3

Unicorn Challenge #94 - Birthday (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #629/630 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,