Falling Leaves 🍁🍂

Hi everyone, the weather has been dropping colder here and the leaves are starting to fall - autumn is upon us, so I felt motivated to make a seasonal card. I have had this set of leaf dies since last year and only used them once before, but I really like them so foresee bringing them out on an annual basis! 

I gathered a couple of snippets of white stamping card and made smooshed backgrounds with various autumnal shades of Elements inks, then sprayed the card with a home made gold mica spray. When dry I die cut a variety of leaves and set aside.   I cut a piece of white card 6.75” x 4.75” and masked a border round the edges, then blended Elements and Distress inks to create a lightly coloured panel. I randomly stamped some background script by partially inking a very large old woodblock script stamp I found in my drawer, then stamped the word “autumn”. I arranged and stuck down the cascade of falling leaves then stamped the bird in the corner, stamped again onto separate card, cut out and attached the body on top of the original image. I added the “falling leaves” stamped sentiment then matted the finished piece onto a dark brown border and a 7” x 5” card blank.

Here’s an angled shot to show the gold sheen - I’ve also noticed that I left a couple of the teeny cut outs in the leaves, but I think they’re glued down solid now!

Stamps: AALL & Create #455 Seasons; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE4 New Beginnings; Penny Black Letter Background (1999L); Visible Image Erika’s Maple; 

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Sahara, Russet Orange, Paprika, Olive, Soft Cygnet); Tim Holtz Distress inks (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo); Versafine Clair (Portobello, Sand Dune);

Tools: Unbranded leaf dies from Amazon.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (September) - Anything Goes with option Lots of Leaves - TOP ROCKER

As You Like It - Favourite Die (and why)

(Although I’ve only used it a couple of times I love this leaf die set as the leaves are so intricate and work so well with fabulous autumn colours)

Cardz 4 Galz #259 - Dies/Punches

Classic Design Challenge #9 2025 - Anything Goes with option Trees and/or Leaves

Crafty Catz #701 - Anything Goes with option Autumn Colours

Crafty Gals’ Corner #270 - Fill in the Blank - Fall ___

(…ing Leaves)

Creative Artiste #119 - Anything Mixed Media Goes - TOP 3

Cut It Up #339 - It Looks Like Fall

Die Cut Divas (September) - Anything Goes with a Die Cut (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #345 - Autumn Colours

Inspiration Station #77 - Inspiration Photo (2nd entry)

Make My Monday #261 - Autumn Festival/Autumnal Fall

Outlawz Festive Friday (September) - Colours of the Season

Papercraft #122 - Amazing Autumn

Paper Funday #80 - Anything Goes with option Changing Seasons

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #266 - Finally Fall

We Love 2 Create #9 2025 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #718/719 - Anything Goes

I’ve got a small number of additional photos from our holiday in Pula (most photos were on my previous post here). 

Me at Pula amphitheatre

Graham and I at Rovinj

Wedding anniversary dinner by the Temple of Augustus 

Fish and butterflies at Pula aquarium

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

Hugs,

Pine Forest Bauble 🌲

Hi everyone, yesterday afternoon I managed to my first crafting session in three weeks, as I have been completely preoccupied with booking, taking, and sorting myself out after, a last minute holiday. Having never even heard of it until a few weeks ago, we booked a getaway in Pula in Croatia after seeing it feature in a programme on TV. I’ll include a few holiday pics at the end of this post , but first … a card!

Today’s card is closely based on a YouTube tutorial by Heidi the Yorkshire Crafter, but as usual with a few adjustments and twists of my own. The basic premise was an ink blended night sky and tree scene in a bauble using Tracy Evans stamps and stencils. I used an elliptical rather than round bauble stencil (as that’s all I’ve got!) so I changed the card shape from rectangular to square, and as I didn’t have the exact tree by Tracy I substituted with several pine trees by Card-io. My ink colours were similar but not quite the same, and I added a little background stamping around the bauble, primarily to cover a faint smudge on the white card! 🤣

I cut a stitched square of white stamping card from a mid sized snippet, and taped down my bauble stencil and a hill mask. I then blended various shades of blue Distress Oxide to form the sky working outwards from light to dark, and lightly inked in the snowdrift. I then added some blended Twilight VFC at the edges of the sky to make it pop, and lightly blended my palest shade around the bottom edge of the bauble to define it. With the hill mask in place I stamped a few small background trees in 1st and 2nd generation VFC, then added a foreground tree using Twilight. I stamped the teeny mouse from Tracy Evans set TE?? in Nocturne, then grounded the mouse and tree and added a couple more snowdrifts using torn paper and blended Twilight VFC. I added a shadow effect around the bauble by placing the stencil inner on top of the bauble and lightly blending Black Soot DOX around it. 

In her tutorial Heidi created a silver glitter card bauble top by drawing round the stencil and cutting out - but me and craft knives don’t really mix, so I coloured the bauble top with silver Posca pen and blue fine liners, and drew a bauble string. I added some Posca snow to the trees and spatter to the scene, then when dry I stamped the sentiment and a couple of Christmas numbers  in 2nd generation, which I also decorated with Posca snow. I matted the finished piece onto a border of charcoal glitter card (my last large snippet!) and onto a 6” square card blank. 

Stamps: Card-io Pine Forest; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE32 Alpha Florals;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight, Morning Mist); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched square die; Tracy Evans Snippet Stencil SS006 Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #126 - Anything Christmas Goes

ABC Christmas - T is for Trees

Addicted to Stamps & More #502 - Christmas

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

Creative Moments #274 - Trees

The Holly and Ivy #192 - Anything Christmas Goes - WINNER

Merry Little Christmas #64 - Anything Christmas Goes

Peace On Earth #96 - Anything Christmas Goes

Rudolph Days (September) - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground #515 - Use Snippets

As mentioned above, we got back at the end of last week from a last minute holiday to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so my previous couple of posts were scheduled while we were away. We had 10 days in Croatia, staying in Pula which is primarily noted for its Roman ruins including an amphitheatre which is fundamentally a smaller version of the Colosseum, and a 2000 year old Roman temple. It was really interesting to see the monuments, and we also had a lovely day trip to the pretty coastal resort of Rovinj plus a visit to  Pula’s amazing Aquarium and turtle rescue centre. We were a bit concerned just before we went by the weather forecast which predicted 4 days of rain, but in the event it only rained for one afternoon and evening - phew!

Here are a few pics from our break.

View from hotel balcony

Pula amphitheatre

Roman arch

Temple of Augustus

Roman Temple and medieval Town Hall

Pula by night

Rovinj

Having had a few days of running around madly getting ready after our last minute booking, and a few days of the obligatory washing and ironing after our return, things are finally settling back down to normal so I guess it’s now time to really start gearing up with the Christmas makes - happy Rudolph Day!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #30

Hi everyone, wow we’re nearly 3/4 of the way through the year already and autumn is almost here - when did that happen? It’s the third Wednesday of the month, so it’s time once more 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 

*** Something Clean and Simple ***

Clean and Simple, (CAS) projects can often be made pretty quickly, so hope everyone will find time to join in this month!  Please don’t forget to pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

Here’s my card for the challenge - the CAS theme was an absolute Godsend to me this time, as I didn’t have a lot of crafting time available! I’m not sure it’s really CAS in the true sense, but it was simple to make and is about as CAS as I get! 

I stamped and heat embossed the focal flower and sentiment, then coloured the flower using watered down ink from my Posca sparkle pens - for some reason I always feel the urge to colour this particular image in rainbow hues, which guided me to use this sentiment which I felt suited it well. Unfortunately my red sparkle pen had dried up, so I improvised with an old Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paint for that. I then added some  background stamping of grungy squares and scribbles, and some faux gold Posca spatter. When dry I matted onto black, then satin gold card and my card blank.

Here’s an angled picture to show the sparkle a bit better,

Stamps: Visible Image Creative Chaos (flower); Uniko Spring Botanicals Daffodil (sentiment); unbranded background stamps;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne); clear embossing powder; Posca sparkle pens; Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paint; Posca pen (gold).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps & More! #501 - Make Your Mark 

Ally’s Angels #98 - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - K is for Keep It Simple (2nd entry)

Colourful Options (September) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Creative Fingers #307 - Anything Goes

Path of Positivity #133 - Anything Goes Positive (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Add Some Metal

(gold mirror card and gold metallic Posca pen)

Tic Tac Toe #279 - Tic Tac Toe

(Large Sentiment / three or more colours / stamped image)

Sparkles #192 - Single Flower

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

Word Art Wednesday #716/717 - 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 October 12th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday October 15th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Happy Anniversary ❤️

Hi everyone, today I’d like to share the wedding anniversary card I made for my darling husband.  We had a few things going on which put me somewhat behind, and I ended up making this in something of a panic. Feeling a tad short of inspiration, I turned to a design I made last year (here), and CASE’d my own design with a few amendments and enhancements as this card is bigger - 8” square.

I cut a 6.5” square of stamping card and created a heart by blending red Elements ink through a stencil. I then stamped Tilly and Tango “holding hands” and hearts to either side of them, which I turned into balloons by adding strings drawn with a fineliner pen. I then added a further dangling heart being held by them both, and a grunge heart by Tracy Evans in the top corner, with an unbranded “I love you” postmark. I grounded the mice by blending some Graphite Elements using a hill mask, added some white Posca accents to the scene, then stamped my sentiment which was built up from a Woodware set and an old “Me to You” set. I assembled the card by matting onto black and red borders and my card blank.

As it’s for my husband I also decorated the inside of the card …

… and the envelope.

Stamps: Lavinia Tilly and Tango, Single Heart Mini, Hearts Mini, Fairy Charms; AALL & Create #453 Heart Grunge; Woodware Happy Anniversary; Me To You Husband sentiment; Pink Frog Typewriter Sentiments; Unbranded postmark stamp;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Emperor Red, Graphite); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Strawberry); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Press to Impress Heart stencil; Lavinia hill mask.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Perfect Time to Craft #9 2025 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Alphabet Challenge - K is for Keep it Simple

Crafts Galore Encore (September) - Anything Goes

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

Dream Valley #344 - 2 or More Layers

Ellibelle’s Crafty Wednesday (September) - Anything Goes

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #9 2025 - Anniversary (2nd entry)

Love to Craft #88 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Make My Monday #260 - Fun With Stencils

Mix It Up #79 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Layer It Up

Word Art Wednesday #716/717 - Anything Goes

We’re planning to spend the day having some quality time together ❤️

In other news, last week I was really thrilled to discover that my September Lavinia calendar page (here) was chosen as ‘Make of the Week’ on the Lavinia FB page, AND was featured on a graphic about sources of calendar inspiration in the Lavinia FB community groups! Woo hoo! I’ve edited the calendar post to mention it but am also mentioning it here as this is my first post since finding out 😀

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Sending Positive Thoughts

Hi everyone, I don’t make many cards where the primary focus is die cuts, but I made an exception for this one as it is the first outing for my new Craft Addiction slatted dies. I have been admiring them on various blogs over the summer and stalking the Craft Addictions website to try to get my quivering paws on them but they had all been out of stock … until now! I finally managed to get my hands on a couple of sets last week but things have been hectic here since then, so here’s the result of my first play with them.

I die cut a stitched square of white stamping card and embossed with a floral embossing folder. I die cut a large slatted square, then cut a fractionally smaller square of ombré glitter card to stick behind it. I die cut two flowers from pink glitter card then attached the slatted square and flowers to the embossed panel. I stamped, cut out and attached the sentiment, and added a silver die cut mirror card butterfly which I found already cut in my cupboard. I added some pink Distress Oxide round the edges of the embossed panel, then attached to a 6” square card blank.

Stamps: Crafter’s Companion Sending Positivity;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Spun Sugar); Versafine Clair (Mornings Mist);

Papers: Crafter’s Companion ombré glitter card;

Tools: Hunky Dory Moonstone Duo-Stitched Square die; Craft Addictions Slatted Square dies; unbranded flower die from Amazon; Die-Sire Butterfly Easel die; Embossalicious floral embossing folder.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps & More #500 - Die Cuts and/or Stencils

Beautiful Blossoms #32 - Anything Floral Goes

Can You Handle the Pressure?  - Anything Goes with Embossing

Cardz 4 Galz #258 - Stitching Real or Faux

Crafty Calendar (September) - Lots of Layers

Creations In Pink #84 - Anything Goes In Mainly Pink

Die Cut Divas (September) - Anything Goes with a Die Cut

Double Trouble #199 - 3-2-1 Recipe

Just Us Girls #791 - Die Week

Let’s Craft and Create #223 - Anything Goes + Lots of Layers

NBUS #78 - Use Your Never-Before-Used Schtuff

(Slatted Square dies)

Path of Positivity #133 - Anything Goes Positive

Pearly Sparkles #111 - Traci’s Recipe: Pink, Pearls and/or Sparkle

Simon Says (Monday) - Stamp It in STAMPtember (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Stamp It (2nd entry)

Sisterhood of Crafters - Card of Encouragement (3rd entry)

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

Word Art Wednesday #714/715 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

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

Hugs,

Mooch amongst the stars 🌌

Hi everyone, one of my close blogging friends very sadly lost her pet cat just recently, and understandably she was absolutely devastated. So I made her this sympathy/memory card to express my condolences and support. I kept it relatively simple as I always think that’s the best way with sympathy cards, and I envisioned her darling cat gazing at the moon whilst surrounded by a halo of twinkling stars.

I cut a square of white stamping card and created a circle by blending Elements ink around a large circle mask. I stamped Mooch sitting in the corner of the circle, then added a soft hazy moon and wispy clouds with more ink blending. I stamped mini stars around the circle, alternating blue and sparkling silver embossed. Finally I stamped the sentiment in blue, a flock of birds in grey, grounded the cat using a grey Inktense pencil, and matted the finished piece into a dark blue border and card blank.

 

Stamps: Lavinia Mooch, Stars 1 Mini, Birds, Heartfelt Verses;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Della Blue); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Very Peri, Morning Mist, Medieval Blue); Versamark; WOW Silver Sparkle embossing powder.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Perfect Time to Craft #9 2025 - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - K is for Keep It Simple

Crafty Animals #98 - Include an Animal (2nd entry) - TOP 3

Critter Crazy #192 - Anything Goes with featured critter (2nd entry)

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #9 2025 - Sympathy

Love to Craft #88 - Anything Goes

Mix It Up #79 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Stamp It in STAMPtember (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Stamp It

Unicorn #113 - Circles - WINNER

Word Art Wednesday #714/715 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Very sad to have to make a card like this but I hope it will show my friend she is in my thoughts.💙

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Hello Autumn! 🍁🍂

Hi everyone, yesterday afternoon I had to sit down at my craft table and get a real wriggle on, as for the first time a new month had rolled round, and I hadn’t completed my Lavinia calendar page - waaah!! Life just seems to have got in the way recently, but yesterday I just shoved everything else to the side and got busy - here’s the result.

I have to start by saying this didn’t turn out remotely like my original vision, which was always going to include a squirrel and acorns; but I started with the pheasant and then the squirrel looked far too big, so I just went in a different direction! You may also wonder why there is a heart between the 2 hares? Well, we have our wedding anniversary in September, so within this autumnal scene the bunnies gazing at each other and the heart are a nod to that ❤️

I cut a piece of white stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm, then created the landscape and sky by blending various Distress and Elements inks using my hill and circle masks. I stamped the 2 focal trees in Portobello Versafine Clair, then the pheasant and hares using Pinecone VFC to bring them to the foreground. I stamped some background trees using masking and 1st/2nd generation Portobello and Sand Dune VFC, then coloured the main trees with my Zig pens.  I added mini mushrooms in the bottom corners and some autumnal background wording, then stamped leaves in various autumnal shades both on and falling from the trees, using Elements inks.  I blended Vintage Photo Distress Ink round the edges to darken them and draw the eye to the centre of the image, and added some white Posca highlights before matting the finished panel onto my calendar.

Stamps: Lavinia Tree of Courage, Tree of Hope, Pheasant, Forest Hares, Tree Scene, Skeleton Tree Scene, Mushrooms Mini, Leaf 1 Mini, Mini Maple, Single Heart Mini, Winter Spice;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Sahara, Russet Orange, Emperor Red, Mulberry, Olive); Spectrum Noir Harmony dye ink (Bordeaux); Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Vintage Photo, Tea Dye);  Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Portobello, Acorn, Sand Dune, Strawberry); Sakura Stardust sparkle pen (yellow); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Lavinia acetate Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Colourful Options (September) - Anything Goes

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (September) - Hello Fall

Crafty Animals #98 - Include an Animal

Critter Crazy #192 - Anything Goes with featured critter 

Do Al(l) Kreatives #105 - Anything Goes

Dream Factory #142 - Wild - TOP 3

FarmQuest General Store #31 - Anything Farm or Country Goes - TOP 3

Four Seasons (September) - Fall

Girlz & the Art of Letters #8 - H is for … (2nd entry)

(hares, heart)

Inspiration Station #277 - Inspiration Photo

(I was inspired by autumnal trees and the changing colours of the leaves)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (September) - Enchanted Forest

Love to Scrap #175 - Anything Goes

Night Owls #52 - Trees - TOP 3

Outlawz Anything Goes In a Card Free Zone (August)  - Anything but a Card (2nd entry) - TOP PICK

Simon Says (Monday) - Stamp It in STAMPtember

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

We Love 2 Create #9 2025 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes - TOP 3

Word Art Wednesday #714/715 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

I have a bit of a respite now, as I have already completed my October calendar page (in fact it was the first one I did back in October 2024!) - in fact I only have November left to complete. However the 2026 calendar is now on sale, so I’m asking myself is the whole cycle soon going to begin again?? Watch this space …

Edited: just found out that this page was chosen as ‘Make of the Week’ on the Lavinia store  FB page and as one of the ‘sources of calendar inspiration’ for the Lavinia FB community groups - wow, I’m absolutely thrilled! I’ve actually also mentioned it on the first post after finding out 😀

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,