The Witching Hour

Hi everyone, I’m very late to the Lavinia Hallowe’en party as I think I have said previously that I don’t really “do” Hallowe’en, but I decided somewhat belatedly to buy a small selection of the 2024 Hallowe’en stamps so that I could decorate the October page of my Lavinia 2025 calendar. I’ve not had a Lavinia calendar before and I have to confess that it has sat in the cupboard since about July, so I recently woke up to the fact that I need to get a wriggle on to complete it before the end of 2024! My new Lavinia stamps and ink pads arrived on Tuesday so I set straight to work, mixing my new items with existing ones to create the October page. My concept was to incorporate both Hallowe’en and autumnal elements - here’s the result.

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I wasn’t brave enough to create straight onto the calendar page, so I measured up and cut a piece of stamping card 19.5 x 14.5cm. I started by creating a background with blended Elements inks, working outwards from light to dark. I then created some landscaping using hill masks and blended Elements, then started stamping. I started with Hattie the witch in the middle of the page, then added the castle, trees and cauldron all in Nocturne VFC. I stamped the moon using Morning Mist, then added the owl, bats, mini mushrooms and cat in Nocturne, and the magical mist and wording using lilac VFC. I coloured the castle windows, mist and Hattie’s dress with Sakura stardust pens, added white Posca accents and highlighted the scene with a clear Stardust pen to suggest moonlight. I then stamped a few autumnal leaves in various  shades of Elements inks, added some shadows with grey Inktense pencil, and blended darker Elements ink around the edges of the panel. 

This panel is very sparkly … here’s an angled picture.

Stamps: Lavinia Hattie, Willow the Witch (cauldron), Magical Mist, Far World Castle, Seasonal Tree, Skeleton Tree Scene, Brodwin & Maylin, Bats, Moon, Small Lanterns, Mini Jinx, Slender Mushrooms Mini, Leaf 1 Mini, Mini Maple, Witching Hour;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Sundance, Sahara, Russet Orange, Violet Chalk, Merlot, Mulberry, Graphite); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Lilac Bloom); Sakura Stardust (clear, yellow, orange, purple); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Lavinia Hill Masks, Mini Hill Masks, White Orbs stencil.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (October) - Anything Goes with option Lots of Leaves (4th entry)

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

Crafting Happiness #198 - Bats

Creatalicious #282 - Anything Goes with option Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Creative Crafting Uncles #58 - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (October) - Anything but a Card (3rd entry)

Dream Factory #133 - Hotel Transylvania (Hallowe’en) (2nd entry) - TOP 5

Fab ‘n’ Funky #603 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Hallowe’en and Other Occasions #19 - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #197 - Boo! Eek! (2nd entry)

Inspired By … - Witch - WINNER

Make My Monday #237 - Spooky/Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Outlawz (October) - Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone with option Name Game (3rd entry) - WINNER

(I used P for Purple and Posca)

Papercraft #111 - Spooky Season (2nd entry)

Simply Create Too #205 - Hallowe’en/Hallowe’en Colours (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #255 - H is for Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Sweet Stampin’ - Hallowe’en

Try It On Tuesday - Make It Magical

I must admit I had been putting off decorating my calendar as I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but having completed my first page which was a real labour of love I’m now feeling fired with enthusiasm to continue! So hopefully in amongst the Christmas rush there will be 11 more of these coming along over the next few weeks - watch this space! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Pastel Christmas

Hi everyone, I’m here with another Christmas card - this time a simple card in soft pastel shades featuring Lavinia Christmas trees.

I stamped a row of 3 fir trees in 3 pastel shades of Versafine Clair, then 2 more 2nd generation trees in between to suggest depth. I grounded the trees with a grey Zig pen, added some background stamping in the corners then stamped a silver star on the central tree. I highlighted the trees liberally with Sakura Stardust pen and the ground with Stickles. I stamped my Christmas word onto a separate card snippet in two tone, and added the masked word “Merry” from a different set, cut out and attached. Finally I added some white Posca snowflakes and matted onto a border of ombré glitter card and my card blank.

Here’s an angled picture to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Fir Tree 1, North Star Mini, Winter Magic, Seasonal Words, Christmas Greetings; 

Media: Versafine Clair (Hawthorn Rose, Very Peri, Lilac Bloom, Arctic, Baby Pink, Medieval Blue); Stickles (Stardust); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Pisca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours (6th entry)

C.R.A.F.T. #738 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (October) - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafty Catz #681 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Double Trouble #178 - SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing

Inkspirational #327 - Seasonal (5th entry)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2443 - Anything Goes - HONOURABLE MENTION

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Christmas (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #671/672 -  Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I was strangely a teeny bit dissatisfied with this card … with hindsight I wished I had left off the background wording and the balance of the sentiment isn’t quite right … but these things tend to evolve naturally so sometimes it just works out better than others! 

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Christmas wishes, sent with love

Hi everyone, today’s card is another one using my bauble stencil, but this time I have coloured it rather than creating a little scene inside it. I took the opportunity to use my cute little bird with the wording “calm” and “peace” which I thought would work really well  for Christmas, especially with the addition of other positive Christmassy words.

I cut a 5” square of stamping card, and created the main bauble by blending Distress Oxides through the stencil and spritzing with water while the stencil was still in place. When dry I stamped the foliage using 2 shades of green VFC, and the 2 teeny baubles also using VFC. I added shading around the baubles with my new grey Inktense pencil (I don’t think I’ve really got the hang of it yet but will persevere!) and shading to the small baubles using Zig pens and white pastel pencil. I then added some sparkle to the paler areas of all 3 baubles with my Spectrum Noir sparkle pen, stamped the bird in the bauble, and added some white Posca highlights and some 2nd generation background words. I matted the panel onto a black border and the card blank, drew my bauble strings and added some spatters, then stamped, cut out and attached the 2 main sentiment panels.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE18 Decorations, TE4 New Beginnings; AALL & Create #806 Fallen Leaves, #831 Sent With Love;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Grass Green, Green Oasis, Monarch, Charming Pink); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white); pastel pencil (white); Inktense pencil (Neutral Grey);

Tools: Tracy Evans stencil SS06 - Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter: 

12 Months of Christmas #115 - Anything Christmas Goes (8th entry)

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours (5th entry)

Crafty Catz #681 - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy #171 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Inkspirational #327 - Seasonal (4th entry)

Krafty Chicks #739 - All Occasions (2nd entry)

Path of Positivity #124 - Anything Positive Goes (2nd entry) - TOP PICK

Rudolph Days (October) - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Christmas (2nd entry)

Simon Says - Celebrating 20 Years of Distress #SSS20YearsofDistress

Word Art Wednesday #671/672 -  Anything Goes (2nd entry)

I’m currently considering the new Lavinia stamps that were launched on Thursday … of course I don’t need any of them, but since when has that stopped us crafters?? We shall see what happens …

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

Hugs,

Bewitched

Hi everyone, this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge is “Bewitched” … clearly in homage to Hallowe’en. I don’t really do Hallowe’en as I have no young children to send cards or treat boxes to, so I’ve never invested heavily in Hallowe’en supplies. I have actually extremely belatedly ordered a couple of this year’s Lavinia Hallowe’en stamps, primarily so that I can decorate the October page of my calendar, but they’re not here yet so I had to get my thinking cap on in order to sneak a last minute project in before the challenge closes! The upside is that there are also lots of other Hallowe’en/spooky themed challenges around right now to enter!

I decided to go for Mooch the cat being bewitched by the moon, and the scale of the scene I had in mind best fitted the dimensions of a tag - something else I don’t create very often! So I also had opportunity to bring into play a grungy tag die set that I bought a while ago when there was a promotional offer, but I hadn’t used yet.  Here’s the result.

I cut my tag from white stamping card, and the tag border from black linen card stock. I blended Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide on the bottom 1/3 of the tag, and Wilted Violet and Villainous Potion on the top part with a circle moon mask in place. I then  created the landscape with Black Soot DOX and my Mini Hill Masks, and stamped Mooch near the bottom. I added some softly blended Spiced Marmalade DOX inside the moon circle then stamped the moon over it using 2nd generation Morning Mist VFC. I stamped the castle at the edge of the tag, added some branches, mushrooms and a flight of bats. I coloured the castle windows with watered down Posca sparkle pen, and highlighted the scene with orange Sakura Stardust pen and white Posca. I blended Black Soot DOX all around the edges to add depth, and finally added some orbs using sparkle pens coloured through my White Orbs stencil and dotted with Posca pen. When dry I matted onto the tag border, punched a hole and edged with a teeny die from the same set, and added black glitter twine.

Here’s an angled pic to show the shimmery orbs.

Stamps: Lavinia Mooch, Far World Castle, Moon, Bats, Tree Branch, Slender Mushrooms Mini;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Spiced Marmalade, Wilted Violet, Villainous Potion, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist); Sakura Stardust pens (Orange, purple, clear); Posca sparkle pen (orange); Posca pen (white);

Tools: AALL & Create die #30 Taggletastic; Lavinia White Orbs stencil; Lavinia Mini Hill Masks and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Cardz 4 Galz #236 - Pick 3 of Purple, Orange, Black or Green - TOP 3

Country View Challenges (October) - Hallowe’en

Craft Rocket #119 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Crafting Happiness #197 - Moon

Crafty Gals’ Corner #260 - Anything Goes with option Make It Spooky 

Creatalicious #282 - Anything Goes with option Hallowe’en and/or use Black and Purple

Creative Crafting Uncles #58 - Hallowe’en

Daisy Chain #90 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (3rd entry) - TOP 5

Dream Factory #133 - Hotel Transylvania (Hallowe’en)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #603 - Autumn/Hallowe’en

Hallowe’en and Other Occasions #19 - Hallowe’en

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #197 - Boo! Eek!

Inkspirational #327 - Seasonal (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (October) - Bewitched

Make My Monday #237 - Spooky/Hallowe’en

Papercraft #111 - Spooky Season

Simon Says (Monday) - Spooky/Add Some Purple

Simon Says - Celebrating 20 Years of Distress #SSS20YearsofDistress

Simply Create Too #205 - Hallowe’en/Hallowe’en Colours

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #255 - H is for Hallowe’en

Tag Tuesday - Spooky Vibes - CHALLENGE FAVOURITE

Try It On Tuesday - Hallowe’en - TOP 5

Two Old Bats (October) - Anything Goes Hallowe’en

Unicorn #103 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (3rd entry) - TOP 3

I think that’s me all spooked out! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Vintage Christmas

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a card that is my first attempt with a new-to-me technique - stamping a silhouette stamp with Distress Oxide ink and then dragging out the colour with water, and then creating the background by watercolouring (carefully!) around the stamped images with more DOX. This was inspired by one of Tracy Evans’ snippet videos - she used different stamps and colours, but it prompted me to try something very similar with the Christmas baubles.  It’s quite a different approach to my recent card here where I stamped the baubles with VFC and coloured with Zig pens and pastel pencil. 

I cut a 6” x 4” piece of stamping card, then stamped the baubles by dabbing Scorched Timber DOX around the edges. I then drew the colour towards the centre of each bauble and added more watered down DOX with a water brush until I was reasonably happy with the shading. 

I created the background by painting around the baubles using watered down DOX and dragging out the colour, gradually adding more nearest to the baubles. I spattered with water and allowed to dry naturally, then added random background script stamping using Vintage Photo DOX. I then brought into play my new set of  Tracy’s stamps for AALL & Create which I bought last week in the A&C sale - I have wanted those ferny branches for a while! I stamped these at both top and bottom of the panel using Scorched Timber and Vintage Photo DOX, then added some blended DOX around the edges. 

I added some Wink of Stella to highlight the baubles, white Posca accents and spatters, then stamped, cut out and attached the sentiment which as also lightly brushed with blended DOX and topped with white Posca to represent snow. Finally I hand drew the bauble strings with a dark brown fine liner pen, and matted the finished panel onto dark brown and kraft card stock then a 7” x 5” card blank.

Here’s an angled picture to show the shimmer on the baubles.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE18 Decorations, TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE11 Background Elements; AALL & Create #806 Fallen Leaves (branches);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Scorched Timber, Vintage Photo); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Wink of Stella; Posca pen (clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #115 - Anything Christmas Goes (7th entry)

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours (4th entry)

Allsorts #803 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Ally’s Angels #87 - Anything Goes - TOP PICK

Creative Moments #263 - Monochrome (2nd entry)

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers - Falling for the Holidays {BYSCH} Linky Party (4th  entry)

Dream Valley #324 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Festive Friday (October) - Christmas (3rd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #171 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Inkspirational #327 - Seasonal (3rd entry) - TOP PICK

Krafty Chicks #739 - All Occasions

My Time to Craft #545 - Monochrome (2nd entry)

Peace On Earth #74 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry) - TOP 3

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Christmas - WINNER

Simon Says - Celebrating 20 Years of Distress #SSS20YearsofDistress

Word Art Wednesday #671/672 -  Anything Goes 

I’m really delighted with how this one turned out as I love the soft vintage look of the Distress Oxides, and the time spent watercolouring was really therapeutic! It’s actually my favourite of the cards I have made with these bauble stamps  so far. My enthusiasm for colouring these baubles in various ways means my Christmas card pile is now starting to look a bit more healthy, though there is still some way to go!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Patterned Papers

Hi everyone, this week’s challenge at Allsorts is to use patterned paper … something I rarely do nowadays although I have enough to stock a craft store! Given this prompt I decided to look some out and have a little play with it, and the result was a simple (but hopefully effective) card with shadow stamping.

I tore two pieces of patterned paper and attached down the left side of a kraft card blank, then shadow stamped a group of fir trees using first Portobello Versafine Clair, then Brilliance pigment ink in Moonlight White. I grounded the trees with brown Zig pen and white Posca pen, then stamped the sentiment in Portobello and added white Posca “snow” accents. I then died some white Posca snowflakes and that was it - job done! 

Stamps: Lavinia Christmas Tree Group; sentiment - Visible Image Poinsettia Grunge;

Media: Versafine Clair (Portobello); Brilliance Pigment ink (Moonlight White); Posca pen (white);

Paper: LotV Krafty Christmas.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #115 - Anything Christmas Goes (6th entry)

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours (3rd entry)

Addicted to Stamps and More #479 - Any Occasion (3rd entry)

Allsorts #803 - Use Patterned Paper

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers - Falling for the Holidays {BYSCH} Linky Party (3rd entry)

Creative Moments #263 - Monochrome

Dream Valley #324 - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy #171 - Anything Christmas Goes

Inkspirational #327 - Seasonal (2nd entry)

My Time to Craft #545 - Monochrome

Word Art Wednesday #669/670 - Anything Goes (6th entry)

That’s all from me for today. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Bauble mania!

Hi everyone, today’s card is another one from the same craft session as my previous card, which explains why it is in a similar colour scheme. Right now I’m on a bit of a roll, experimenting with various ways of stamping and colouring my silhouette bauble stamps and stencil by Tracy Evans - this one is stamping with Versafine Clair onto a smooshed Distress Oxide background, then shading the baubles with Zig pens, pastel pencil and sparkle pen. 

I cut a square of white stamping card and created the background by dabbing on two colours of Distress Oxide ink using acetate. I then stamped the baubles using Bali Blue and Avocado VFC, added shading with Zig pens, then highlighted with white pastel pencil and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I stamped falling holly branches using a mix of Avocado and Shady Lane VFC, then  added berry branches in 1st and 2nd generation Bali Blue. I added some grey background stamping, then stamped the greeting onto separate card, cut out and attached with 2 stamped birds sitting on top. I added grey Zig pen shadows to both the baubles and the sentiment … I have decided I definitely need a grey Inktense pencil like Tracy uses in her technique videos, and have ordered one today to add to my meagre Inktense collection! Finally I stamped a teeny red heart above the birds, added some white Posca highlights then matted the finished panel onto coordinating card stock and a card blank.

Here’s an angled picture to show the shading and highlighting a bit better.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE18 Decorations, TE21 Holly & Berries,TE11 Background Elements, TE10 Quirky Birds (heart), TE22 Christmas Wishes;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Twisted Citron, Salvaged Patina); Versafine Clair (Bali Blue, Avocado, Shady Lane, Morning Mist, Nocturne, Strawberry); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); pastel pencil (white) Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #115 - Anything Christmas Goes (5th entry)

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours (2nd entry)

Addicted to Stamps and More #479 - Any Occasion (2nd entry)

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers - Falling for the Holidays {BYSCH} Linky Party (2nd entry)

Crafty Calendar (October) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Catz #680 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Creative Crafters #81 - Anything Goes

Inkspirational #327 - Seasonal

Peace On Earth #74 - Anything Christmas Goes

We Love 2 Create #9 - Anything Mixed Media Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #669/670 - Anything Goes (5th entry)

I’m still not done with these baubles … I think my next challenge is to try different techniques for stamping them with DOX inks! … so watch this space! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

🖤Happy Christmas🖤

I everyone, I’m back in the Christmas groove again, and would like to share another Christmas bauble scene I made. I love the challenge of creating a little fantasy scene in such a small space! For this one I reversed the method I used on my previous bauble card, using the stencil mask (inner) to create the bauble shape rather than the actual stencil (outer). Here it is.

I blended three colours of Distress Oxide ink around the bauble stencil mask to define the bauble shape, then spattered with water to add some texture. I then placed the stencil over the bauble shape and used Mini Hill Masks to create landscaping with more DOX and stamped the trees using a variety of shades of green Versafine Clair. I added second generation stamped background wording, and two small stamped baubles which I shaded with my Zig pens, white pastel pencil and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I added some stamped holly branches using 2 shades of VFC to add interest, then stamped and shaded a little robin. I hand drew the bauble strings and added highlights with white Posca pen and Sakura Stardust pen before adding some white Posca snow spatters. When dry I added my stamped and cut out sentiment and matted the finished piece onto dark turquoise card stock and a card blank.

With hindsight I’m not completely happy with the brighter shade of green I chose to stamp one of the larger trees and think I should have used Avocado instead, but hey it’s done now, and overall I’m quite pleased with it.

Here’s an angled pic to show the sparkle.

Stamps:Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE18 Decorations, TE21 Holly and Berries, TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE23 Winter Delights;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Iced Spruce, Bundled Sage, Salvaged Patina); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Bali Blue, Avocado, Shady Lane, Green Grass, Rainforest, Pinecone, Morning Mist); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Sakura Stardust pen (clear); pastel pencil (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pens (red, white);

Tools: Tracy Evans snippet stencil SS6 - Bauble; Lavinia acetate Mini Hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #115 - Anything Christmas Goes (4th entry)

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unusual Christmas Colours - TOP 3

Addicted to Stamps and More #479 - Any Occasion

Allsorts #802 - Anything Goes (3rd entry) - TOP 5

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers - Falling for the Holidays {BYSCH} Linky Party

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (October) - Use a Stencil (3rd entry)

Dream Valley #323 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

FarmQuest Country Christmas #13 - Anything Country Christmas Goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #170 - Anything Christmas Goes - TOP 5

Simon Says - Celebrating 20 Years of Distress #SSS20YearsofDistress

Sparkles Christmas #165 - Use the word “Christmas” (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #669/670 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,