Spring Has Sprung!

Hi everyone, I haven’t been doing much crafting recently as I really haven’t felt in the mood, but I thought I’d better get a wriggle on as it is nearly time to turn over the April page on my Lavinia calendar, which is one I hadn’t yet completed. I really wanted to develop the theme of my March page here, using similar but different stamps including some of my recent purchases. I also took inspiration from my husband’s birthday card which I made a couple of weeks ago, so here is Herbalum Bob watering his pots in the spring meadow!

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5 cm, and created the landscape by blending Elements inks using hill and circle masks. I then built up the scene gradually using different shades of Versafine Clair, and masking on the wheelbarrow and pots and around the tree base where necessary. I coloured the tree and pots with Zig pens, then added white Stabilo pencil shading and white Posca highlights to the scene and also highlighted the sun and flowers with various colours of Sakura Stardust pen, to add a little sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Herbalum Bob, Tree of Hope, Tree Scene, Skeleton Tree Scene, Spring Trees, Oak Leaves, Wheelbarrow, Flower Pots, Thyme Pots, Dill, Bluebells, Bird Collection, Birds, Words of Spring;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Pine, Olive, Blue Lagoon, Sundance); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Portobello, Acorn, Avocado, Shady Lane, Bali Blue, Paradise, Blue Belle, Baby Pink, Lilac Bloom, Cheerful); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Sakura Stardust pens (clear, pink, yellow, turquoise, blue); Posca pens (white, yellow); 

Tools: Lavinia Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

2 Sisters on the Blog #95 - Spring/Easter (2nd entry)

Ally’s Angels #92 - Anything Goes

Cardz 4 Galz #246 - Springtime

Crafts Galore Encore #133 - Anything Goes

Crafty Gals’ Corner #265 - Fill In the Blank: Fairy Tale … (pixie)

Creatalicious #287 - Anything Goes with option Easter/Spring

Creative Crafters #86 - Anything Goes

Creative Crafting Uncles #63 - Spring/Easter (2nd entry)

Daring Cardmakers - Celebrate Spring

Dragonfly Dreams (March) - Gardening (2nd entry)

FarmQuest General Store #26 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

Heart’s Quest Fantasy #3 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy (2nd entry)

Krafty Chicks #761 - Masculine

Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (March) - Anything but a Card

Outlawz Festive Friday (March) - Spring

Papercraft Challenges #117 - Spring Blooms (2nd entry)

Pearly Sparkles #105 - Anything but a Card

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Triple B (March) - Birds, Blooms and/or Butterflies (2nd entry)

Try It OnTuesday - Spring Fling (2nd entry)

We Love 2 Create #3 2025 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #692/693 - Anything Goes

Having made this spring scene has put me back in the mood again for crafting, so hopefully I’ll be back with another make soon.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #24

Hi everyone, March really is flying by for me, and already it’s the third Wednesday in the month so it’s time for another 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 chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** The Dawn of Spring ***

Please do pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

This month we are delighted to welcome not one but two guest designers - Rosi and Gerrina - so please click on their names to visit their blogs and see their fabulous creations.

Here’s my card for the challenge. I have recently made a couple cards featuring vibrant spring flowers, so I decided to go in a different direction with this one and create it with a more vintage mixed media vibe.

First I took a mid sized snippet of white card and created a soft vintage background by smooshing 3 shades of Distress Oxide, then I stamped my tag onto it using Portobello VFC. I angled the tag how I would want it on the finished card and stamped the daffodil onto it, then fussy cut the tag, attached a snippet of twine I saved from some packaging, and set aside. I cut a 6.5” x 4.5” panel from another white snippet for my background. I blended patches of DOX over the panel, spritzed with water and blotted, then lightly brayered  more of each colour over the top plus some gold metallic acrylic paint. When dry I added some background text stamping in Arctic VFC, 2 lots of stencilling using DOX and Distress Texture paste, blended shades of brown DOX round the edges and distressed with my Tim Holtz distressing tool. I stamped the daffodil again onto a separate snippet of card, coloured with Distress Watercolor pencils topped with gold Wink of Stella on the flower, then fussy cut and set aside. I assembled the card by attaching the tag at an angle on the background panel, then attached the coloured daffodil. I stamped the tiny hares in the corner, then stamped the sentiment onto an off cut from the original smooshed card, cut out and attached. Finally I matted the finished panel onto a 7” x 5” card blank.

Stamps: AALL & Create #623 Spring Florals, #756 Miniatures; Visible Image Sketched Tulips (background text & sentiment); Woodware Old Paper Tag;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper, Speckled Egg, Bundled Sage, Frayed Burlap, Scorched Timber); Versafine Clair (Portobello, Arctic); Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils (Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint); Tim Holtz Distress texture paste; acrylic paint (gold); Wink of Stella (gold);

Tools: Visible Image stencil - Off the Grid; Darkroom Door stencil - Diamonds.

Challenges I would like to enter:

2 Sisters on the Blog #95 - Spring or Easter

Beautiful Blossoms #27 - Anything Floral Goes

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

Creative Artiste #113 - Anything Mixed Media Goes - TOP 3

Creative Crafting Uncles #63 - Spring/Easter

Papercraft Challenges #117 - Spring Blooms

Snippets Playground #502 - Use Snippets

Triple B (March) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Spring Fling

Word Art Wednesday #691/692 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

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 April 13th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday April 16th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

In the Spring Garden

Hi everyone, my husband loves gardening, so it was a bit of a no-brainer for me to make his birthday card a spring gardening scene with using some of Lavinia’s latest stamps. I’m also planning on making my April calendar page along similar lines but I needed to get this done first, so here it is. 

I cut a 7” square of stamping card and created the central heart by blending Elements and Distress inks through a heart stencil mask, using my mini hill and circle masks. I stamped the focal Herbalum (pixie) and wheelbarrow, then filled the wheelbarrow with stamped herb pots using various masking. I added some trees in the background including a couple in blossom, then stamped a group of pots in the bottom left corner and cute bunnies bottom right. I stamped a wreath of variegated foliage around the heart, then coloured the pots with Zig pens which I also used to “ground” the pots and bunnies. I stamped the sentiment and coloured it with a Zig pen, then highlighted everything with white Posca pen and Stabilo pencil before matting onto 2 shades of green card stock and an 8” card blank.

I also decorated the envelope to match. 

Stamps: Lavinia Herbalum Bob, Wheelbarrow, Rosemary and Thyme Pots, Flower Pots, Dill, Thyme, Skeleton Tree Scene, Tree Scene, Spring Trees, Leaf 1 Mini, Wild Hares (large), Birds;  Woodware sentiment - Made For You;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Pine, Sundance); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Portobello, Avocado, Shady Lane, Rainforest, Blue Belle, Lilac Bloom); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Posca pen (white); Stabilo pencil (white);

Tools: Press To Impress heart mask; Lavinia Mini Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthday #71 - Masculine

Addicted to Stamps and More #488 - Birthdays

Crafty Catz #689 - Anything Goes with option Add a Sentiment

Creatalicious #286 - Anything Goes with option Use Green (2nd entry)

Creative Aunts #99 - Fantasy

Double D - Going Green - TOP 3

Dragonfly Dreams (March) - Gardening

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #1 - Anything In or From a Garden

Everybody Art #574 - For a Boy

Four Seasons (March) - Spring (2nd entry)

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #3 2025 - Birthday

Heart’s Quest Fantasy #3 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy - TOP 3

Inspiration Station #71 - Inspiration Photo

Lavinia Creative Challenge (March) - Animal Magic (version without sentiment)
Male Room #196 - Mixed Media 

Outlawz Monday Greetings (March) - Happy Birthday

Simon Says (Monday) - A Bit O’ Green

Simon Says (Wednesday) - A Bit O’ Green

Unicorn #107 - Boys/Men

Word Art Wednesday #691/692 - Anything Goes

It actually took me several attempts to make this card as I had a couple of mishaps, including masking part of a pot stamp with low tack tape for inking, then forgetting to remove the tape before stamping - oops! In truth I also managed to make a black smudge on this one near the bunnies, but I think (hope!) I managed to disguise it with the foliage! Also the shading on the “grounding” isn’t as good on the envelope as my Zig pen didn’t blend as well on the paper of the envelope. Never mind - it’s done now and overall I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. 

I also wanted particularly to mention a brand new challenge - Ellibelle’s Garden Party -  which started yesterday over on my bloggy friend Ellie’s blog. It gives us opportunity to share anything garden related such as cards, garden photos etc … perfect for this or any time of year! 

I’m hoping the weather will be kind so that Graham and I can spend some quality time going out somewhere together over his birthday weekend. 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Celebrate Spring!

Hi everyone, it’s a lovely sunny day here today and at last we are starting to see the first signs of spring! I love it when the daffodils start to appear in the garden, so I felt inspired to use this beautiful Visible Image daffodil stamp on today’s card.

I cut a 6.5” x 4.5” piece of stamping card, masked a border then brayered Distress Oxides onto the panel and spritzed with water. I stamped the daffodil on top, then stamped again onto separate card, coloured with Zig pens with white highlights and a touch of Wink of Stella, then fussy cut out and attached. I added some grungy background stamping for a bit more interest, then stamped the sentiment in the corner before matting onto aqua card stock and a 7” x 5” card blank.

Stamps: Visible Image Golden Daffodils, Where Flowers Bloom, Sketched Tulips (the word “spring”); Uniko Birthday Sentiments (the word “Celebrate”);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides inks (Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Paradise); Kuretake Clean Color watercolour pens; Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #26 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Country View FB Challenge (March) - Use Flowers

Daring Cardmakers - Bring Me Flowers

Four Seasons (March) - Spring

Love to Craft #85 - Anything Goes

Paper Players #727 - Spring Flowers

Simon Says (Monday) - Use Your Favourite Technique

(I have many favourites but I do love blending and spritzing Distress Oxides)

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

We Love 2 Create #3 2025 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #689/690 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,