I Spy With My Little Eye #15

Hi everyone, the last month has absolutely flown by, it’s the third Wednesday in the month again, so 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 

*** Something For Boys or Men ***

I know that many of us struggle to make cards for the men in our lives, so here’s a golden opportunity to get inspired and see what you can come up with. Please do pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

Once again we have two guest designers joining us this month - Gundi and  Fiona - so please click on their names to visit their blogs and see their fabulous masculine creations. 

Here’s my card for the challenge - I decided to go for a vintage monochrome theme. Usually I tend to make vintage style cards in sepia tones, so I thought I would try something a bit different, not least because I’ve run out of cream stamping card and the brand I use (Lavinia multifarious card - I will only pay out that much for card as it is a non-standard colour) is no longer available.

I die cut a stitched square of white stamping card slightly smaller than a 6” card blank, and stamped the Visible Image vintage car in the centre. I coloured all the trims with watered down silver Posca pen paint, and the highlight areas with my clear Sakura Stardust pen. I then stencilled all around the car using Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide, and stamped a variety of Lavinia cogs in two corners. I blended Black Soot DOX round the edges of the panel and matted it onto a black border and my card blank, then added my sentiments which I stamped onto separate card, cut out and coloured with blended Lost Shadow DOX to remove the stark whiteness. Finally I applied some Glossy Accents to the car windows and headlights to add a bit of dimension.

Here is an angled pic to show the metallic shine on the wheels and bumper.

Stamps: Visible Image You’re a Classic, Lavinia Cog Set 2, Cog Set 3;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Black Soot, Hickory Smoke, Lost Shadow); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Posca pen (silver); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Glossy Accents;

Tools: Hunkydory Duo-Stitched Squares die; Lavinia stencil - Divine.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #468 - Birthdays

Alphabet Challenge - C is for Cars - SPOTLIGHT WINNER

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (May) - Make Me Smile (2nd entry)

C.R.A.F.T. #719 - Birthday

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

Daisy Chain #85 - Boys/Men

Dragonfly Dreams (May) - Use a Stencil (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #116 - Man or Boy

The Male Room #186 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Use Die Cuts (2nd entry)

We Love Stamping (May) - Vintage

Word Art Wednesday #647/648 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

This month the I Spy challenge will end a day earlier than usual, on Saturday June 15th at 23:59 US Central Time. That’s because in June we will have a surprise for you, but you won’t need to wait  too long, as the next challenge will also begin earlier than usual on Monday June 17th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Watercolour Poppies

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a fairly simple watercolour effect card I made, based on a design by Jo Rice. I used to love watercolour stamping back in the day using my old Marvey watercolour markers with Penny Black brushstroke stamps, though I only had a very small number of the stamps to play with. Recently I have been trying a similar technique using my Zig pens and some silhouette Lavinia floral stamps … I am very pleased with the results although the pens really seriously stain your stamps!! Here is my latest effort.

I cut a 13cm square of white stamping card and masked a 2cm border all the way round. I then created my background with blended Elements inks and an acetate circle mask. I stamped the poppies and grasses by colouring with Zig pens then lightly spritzing with water, then added a flight of birds stamped with Pinecone Versafine Clair. I removed the masks and stamped the sentiment in blue, then matted the finished panel onto a blue pearlescent linen card border and a 6” square card blank.

Stamps: Lavinia Wild Poppies, Field Grass, Birds, Let Your Spirit Take Flight;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Lagoon, Sundance); Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Medieval Blue); Kuretake Zig Clean Colour watercolour pens; Sakura Stardust pen (yellow);

Tools: Lavinia acetate circle mask.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Aud Sentiments #313 - Flowers plus a Sentiment

Craft Rocket #114 - Flowers (2nd entry)

Ellibelle’s Crafty Wednesday (May) - Anything Goes

Lavinia Creative Challenge (May) - Favourite Florals (3rd entry)

Make My Monday #225 - Florals (2nd entry)

Moving Along With the Times #166 - Flowers (2nd entry)

Path of Positivity #121 - Anything Goes Positive (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Light and Airy (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #647/648 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Hope you’re having a great weekend. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Mooch Amongst the Flowers

Hi everyone, yesterday I traded a couple of ATC’s and am now waiting for one that features Mooch the Lavinia cat, so this inspired me to have a play with my own Mooch. I also wanted to create a fancy fold card for this week’s Allsorts Challenge and to incorporate flowers for this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge - here is the result.

I die cut a triptych card in white, and three white panels on which to create my scene. I created the background by blending Elements inks using acetate circle and hill masks (I held down  my panels on my magnetic stencil board with magnets to allow me to line everything up properly). I then stamped Mooch in Nocturne, Spring Trees in Acorn, bluebells in Paradise / Shady Lane and grass in Shady Lane (1st/2nd generation) Versafine Clair. I stamped cherry blossom from the Spring Trees set using 2 shades of pink Distress Oxide, then added Fairy Bells stamped in Shady Lane and the petals coloured with white Posca pen. 

I added a retired Lavinia sentiment which required some complex masking to fit in the available space .. I had a few problems with this and ended up with a few marks on the card, but having spent so much time on the card I did my best to disguise it with a bit of random doodling! I added a dangling heart for Mooch to look at, and finally I added a few highlights with white Posca, Sakura Stardust and Spectrum Noir sparkle pens, then matted the finished panels onto pink linen card stock and the triptych base card.

Stamps: Lavinia Mooch, Spring Trees, Bluebell, Fairy Bells, Grass, Birds, Fairy Charms, The World is Full of Beauty (retired);

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Lagoon, Olive, Sundance); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Kitsch Flamingo, Spun Sugar); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Acorn, Shady Lane, Paradise, Charming Pink); Posca pen (white); Sakura Stardust pen (yellow); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear);

Tools: Studio Light Essentials triptych dies; Lavinia acetate circle and Mini Hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #779 - More Than One Fold

Crafty Animals #83 - Use an Animal

Day of the Month Card Club #63 - “Vappu” - Finnish Spring Festival

Festive Fridays (May) - Spring Flowers

Four Seasons (May) - Anything Goes Spring

Incy Wincy (May) - Spring and/or an Animal

Inkspirational #315 - Seasonal (Spring)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (May) - Favourite Florals (2nd entry)

Little Red Wagon #755 - Create Your Own Background

Path of Positivity #121 - Anything Goes Positive

Show Us Your Pussycats #100 - Furrything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Light and Airy

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Use Die Cuts

Simply Create Too #200 - Add an Animal

Sweet Stampin’ - Animals

Word Art Wednesday #647/648 - Anything Goes

I see that Allsorts Challenge are celebrating their 15th birthday on May 18th so they are asking everyone to spread the word. I’m a big fan of AALL & Create so I’m sure the prizes will be awesome!! 😍

I was lucky enough to receive a Lavinia gift voucher for my birthday from a good friend, so seeing as there are some new stamps being released today plus I have my eye on some of the new VFC colours (which are as rare as hens’ teeth here in the UK right now!) I may just go have a look on their website and see what’s what over there.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

In the Moonlit Meadow

Hi everyone, last week I published a meadow scene card using my round gel press and some Lavinia flower stamps (here)  … and I enjoyed it so much and received such kind feedback. (particularly on the Lavinia fans’ FB page) I decided to make another one! This time night has drawn on and the previously sunlit meadow is now bathed in moonlight .. here it is.

I brayered 3 colours of Elements ink onto my gel press, spattered with water then took a print. I created the moon by blending more Elements ink around a small circle mask, then blending Brilliance Moonlight White pearlescent ink inside the circle.I masked outside the inked circle and stamped a variety of flowers and grasses using 1st/2nd generation Twilight and Monarch Versafine Clair, then added highlights with white Posca pen and my clear Sakura Stardust pen.i added a flight of birds in black, and added more sparkle to the moon with my Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I stamped the sentiment onto separate card and positioned before attaching, to guide me where I should stamp the bird, which I also highlighted with white Posca and white Stabilo All pencil. I added random dots around the circle using silver metallic and purple sparkle Posca pens, plus dots of blue Stickles. Finally I matted the finished piece onto blue card stock and a 6” card blank.

Here is an angled picture to show the sparkle and shine!

Stamps: Lavinia Wild Poppies, Wild Summer Flower, Lavender, Field Grass, Bird Collection, Birds; sentiment - unknown;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Dark Denim, Della Blue, Violet Chalk); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight, Monarch); Brilliance pearlescent ink (Moonlight White); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pens (white, silver); Posca sparkle pen (purple); Stabilo All pencil (white); Ice Stickles (blue);

Tools: Lavinia Roland gel press, acetate circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Craft Rocket #114 - Flowers

Krafty Chicks #714 - Stamps (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (May) - Favourite Florals (version without sentiment)

Make My Monday #225 - Florals

Moving Along With the Times #166 - Flowers

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2418 - Anything Goes

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

We Love 2 Create #4 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #645/646 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Worldwide Crafters and Colourists #16 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Anyone For Bubbles?

Hi everyone, this month the Visible Image FB group is celebrating its third anniversary of monthly ATC swaps, so they have a theme of Celebrations and a generous £30 store voucher for one lucky participant. I have been taking part in the swap for nearly 2 years now and was lucky enough to win the anniversary prize voucher last year, which has helped me build up my VI stash so I can continue to take part!

ATC’s for the swap need to be made using only VI stamps, stencils and/or dies, so I decided my most suitable stamp set was the versatile “Anyone For Bubbles” which is ideal really for any celebration. As always I also made a co-ordinating greetings card - here they are. These are actually quite apt for me right now as well as it is my birthday weekend !!😀

I cut a piece of white stamping card 6.5” x 4.5” and another 3.25” x 2.25”, and created a smoosh background on each one with Elements ink. I stamped the bottle in green and heat embossed, coloured the foil with gold Posca brush pen and added white Posca highlights. I then added some soft green stencilling with my “Frosty” stencil (which I think also looks like fireworks!) and stamped the fizz with Versamark and heat embossed with silver embossing glitter. I stamped and heat embossed the cork and my sentiments (I had to mask and reposition the sentiment on the ATC due to the small space) then added a little more stencilling in grey using “Off the Grid”. I coloured the corks with an Zig pen, edged the finished pieces with gold Posca then matted onto green card stock, and as a finishing touch I added some holographic glitter to the fizz and a couple of pieces of torn washi tape.

Stamps: Visible Image Anyone For Bubbles?;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Lime Punch); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Hickory Smoke); Kuretake Zig Clean Colour watercolour pens; Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Rainforest); Versamark; WOW Metallic Silver embossing glitter; detail clear embossing powder;  Lavinia Starbrights holographic glitter; Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Posca pens (white, gold, gold brush pen);

Tools: Visible Image stencils - Frosty, Off the Grid;

Other: AALL & Create washi tape

Here are a couple of closeups:

Card:

Challenges I would like to enter:

Birthstone Challenges #9 - May = Emerald

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (May) - Make Me Smile

Double Trouble #165 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (May) - Use a Stencil

Krafty Chicks #714 - Stamps

Love To Craft #80 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #645/646 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

ATC:

Challenges I would like to enter:

ATC’s Around the World - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (May) - Anything Goes

Crafty Gals’ Corner #254 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Love To Scrap #167 - Anything Goes

Outlawz (May) - Anything Goes In a Card Free Zone

Sheepski #86 - Anything Goes

We Love 2 Create #4 - Anything Goes

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,