Dream, Hope, Believe

Hi everyone, after my recent run of cards in soft and/or vintage colours, I felt like making something bright and vibrant! Today’s card was supposed to be a quick and simple playtime, but for some reason it just kept going wrong so this is my 5th attempt! Having said that, I’m pleased with how it turned out in the end, so never mind! This card was inspired by several challenges, primarily Tracy Evans FB Challenge (black & white with a pop of purple) and the two Simon Says challenges. 

I took a 30cm x 15cm piece of Pink Frog stamping card, and scored to create a square card blank. I blended three colours of Elements inks though a large circle mask then spritzed with water to create a dappled effect. This was my first time playing with a coupe if the new Elements colours and I just LURVE their vibrancy! I then stamped the statement flower using Nocturne VFC, and the tiny text using Monarch. I added grungy background stamping in Nocturne, then stamped the main sentiment words onto the leftovers from a previous failed attempt, cut out, edged in black and attached. To finish, I added white Posca accents to the flower, and stamped a teeny pheasant gazing up at the flower.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE32 Alpha Florals; AALL & Create #370 The Great Outdoors, #756 Miniatures, #533 Bring On the Sentiments, #904 Flower Journey;

 Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Flying Fig, Pink Elephant, Della Blue); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Monarch); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Lavinia acetate hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #30 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Crafts Galore Encore #136 - Anything Goes  (2nd entry)

Girlz & the Art of Letters - C is for (2nd entry)

(Circle, coneflower)

Outlawz Monday Greetings (June) - Any Greeting with a Floral Image (3rd entry)

Path of Positivity #132 - Anything Goes Positive

Simon Says (Monday) - Spritz and/or Splatter (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Going Round In Circles (2nd entry)

Tracy Evans FB Challenge (June) - Black & White with a Pop of Purple (2nd entry)

We Love 2 Create #6 2025 - Anything Papercrafting/Mixed Media Goes (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #704/705 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Summer Birthday

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a birthday card I made for my husband’s aunt, whose birthday falls today.  As it is for a family member it’s A5 which is bigger than most of my makes.

I cut a piece of stamping card 18cm x 12cm, masked the edges with masking sheet, then created a blended ink rectangle using Distress Oxide which I spattered with water. When dry I removed the masking sheet and stamped the focal flower and bee in black, followed by various background stamping in 2nd generation pink and grey. I coloured the flower and bee with Zig pens topped with sparkle pen to add some sheen, then added some white Posca highlights. I edged the panel with black marker then matted onto blue and pink card stock and an A5 card blank. I stamped the typewriter sentiment onto separate card and cut out, then positioned it so I could gauge where to stamp a couple of teeny birds perched on it, stamped the birds then attached the sentiment. Finally I added some faux silver spatter to the background and Glossy Accents to the flower centre.

I also decorated the inside of the card with the same flower along with a slightly larger bird and a grungy sentiment by Visible Image.

Stamps: AALL & Create #924 Flower Trio, #531 Textured Florals, #756 Miniatures, #455 Seasons; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE6 Branched Heart, TE30 Garden Elements; Pink Frog Typewriter Sentiments; Visible Image Birthday Wishes;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Broken China); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Baby Pink); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pens (white, silver); Glossy Accents.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #30 - Anything Floral Goes (2nd entry)

Craft Rocket #126 - No Designer Paper

Crafts Galore Encore #136 - Anything Goes

Daisy Chain #97 - Birthday (3rd entry)

Let’s Craft and Create #220 - Anything Goes

Moving Along With the Times #179 - Birthday (3rd entry)

Outlawz Monday Greetings (June) - Any Greeting with a Floral Image (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Spritz and/or Splatter

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Going Round In Circles

Try It On Tuesday - In the Garden (2nd entry)

Unicorn #110 - Not Square

Word Art Wednesday #704/705 - Anything Goes  (2nd entry)

Happy summer solstice everyone! The only negative aspect is that the days are only going to get shorter from now on!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait!

Hi everyone, regular visitors to my blog may recall that three weeks ago I went to a craft club where I made a couple of cards using Tracy Evans’ stamps (here). One of the stamps I didn’t have so I borrowed it from Jacqui who was leading the class, and I loved it so much I just had to have it! 

Unfortunately it is one of Tracy’s retired designs for AALL & Create and I could only find it in stock on 2 UK websites, so I ordered it from Hixxysoft  (who I had never used before) - and what a performance that turned out to be! Their order confirmation email estimated delivery within 1-2 days, but a week later nothing had arrived … that’s when I discovered their website contact form doesn’t work, and emails, phone calls and FB Messenger messages go unanswered … and a whole host of disgruntled users on Trustpilot report similar issues! Then I got a dispatch email with another delivery date 1-2 ahead (no explanation or apology!) … but another week went by and still no delivery. After more unanswered emails/phone calls/FB messages, I eventually gave up hope and raised a dispute with my credit card provider … and the next day it dropped through the letterbox!! Nearly 3 weeks late … but all’s well that ends well! Needless to say I will NOT be ordering from them again - I believe they are closing down, but that’s still no excuse for such appalling customer service! 

 Anyway, having finally got my hands on the goods I couldn’t wait to get busy, and I made a card for Tracy’s current FB challenge which is to show support for a member whose sister is going through testing medical treatment:

Black & White with a pop of Purple

Here it is …

I cut a piece of white card 6” x 4”, and stamped and heat embossed the focal image. I then masked the stopwatches, and created a smooshed background by applying Graphite Elements ink to a piece of acetate, spritzing with water then dabbing onto the card. I stamped the image again onto a separate snippet of card, coloured the largest butterfly with Zig pens topped with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen, fussy cut and set aside. I coloured the small butterflies on the base image with different shades of purple Zig pens + sparkle pen, added some background barcode stamping, added some white Posca accents to the image, then matted the panel onto a black and purple border and a 7” x 5” card blank. I stamped my sentiment words onto a snippet of card smooshed with purple inks (left over from a previous card), cut out, edged with black and attached. I applied Glossy Accents to the stopwatches, and when dry attached the coloured butterfly and bent its wings for dimension. I finished off with some faux white Posca spatter, a couple of little stamped birdies and some torn washi tape.

One thing I have noticed is that my Glossy Accents seems to have developed a yellow brown tinge, even though it’s a fairly new bottle. Can anyone advise me if this is normal?? It goes on with this tinge and then mostly clears as it dries, but on this particular card there is still a hint of colour on the top right clock. As this is a vintage style card it doesn’t really matter, but I wonder if anyone else has experienced the same thing? 

Stamps: AALL & Create #733 Temporal, #533 Bring On the Sentiments; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE30 Garden Elements;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Lavinia Elements inks (Graphite, Violet Chalk, Della Blue); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white); clear embossing powder; Glossy Accents;

Other: AALL & Create washi tape #33 Be a Rebel.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Creative Artiste #116 - Anything Mixed Media Goes

Dragonfly Dreams (June) - Use One or More Butterflies

Outlawz Festive Fridays (June) - Bugs/Butterflies

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2523 - Anything Goes

Paper Funday #77 - Anything Goes with option Embossing (Heat or Dry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Monochrome

Snippets Playground #508 - Use Snippets

(Everything on this card is a snippet apart from the base card)

Tracy Evans FB Challenge (June) - Black & White with a Pop of Purple

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

Word Art Wednesday #702/703 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

More Daisy Elegance - and a Classic Collection

Hi everyone, the craft club I attended recently (more info here) reminded me how much I love this stamp “Daisy Elegance” by Tracy Evans - until 2 weeks ago I had only inked it up once as it is a huge stamp, but the sample in the craft club demo only used part of the stamp, which is a genius idea I hadn’t considered previously! So I thought I’d use it again to make a final entry for Tracy’s current challenge The Colour Purple.

I cut a 6” x 4” piece of stamping card and created a smooshed background by layering Elements inks applied with acetate. When happy with the colour I stamped the focal flower, having masked off part of the stamp. I then stamped some additional script at the bottom from the same stamp, and coloured the flowers and vase with watered down Posca Sparkle Pens. I added a small branched heart and some background stamping using Very Peri, then added white Posca highlights to the flowers and vase, and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to the water in the vase. I added some white Posca spatters, then stamped the sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached. Finally I fussy cut a washi tape butterfly to add to the corner, matted the finished piece onto black and purple card stock, and a 7” x 5” card blank, and added Glossy Accents to the flower centres.

This is a very sparkly card, as they go!

Stamps: AALL & Create #266 Daisy Elegance; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE6 Branched Heart; Lou Collins Typography (sentiment);

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Violet Chalk, Della Blue, Flying Fig); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Very Peri); Posca Sparkle Pens (Purple, Light Blue, Blue); Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white); Glossy Accents;

Other: AALL & Create washi tape #41 - Kaleidoscopic.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (May) - Anything Goes with option Floral Delight (4th entry)

AAA Birthday #73 - Anything Birthday Goes (3rd entry)

Addicted to Stamps & More #493 - Birthdays

Ally’s Angels #94 - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms #29 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Cardz 4 Galz #251 - Floral Frenzy

Creatalicious #289 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley #337 - Hand Coloured Image

Fab ‘n’ Funky #617 - Add a Sentiment 

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #5 2025 - Birthday (4th entry)

Inkspirational #342 - Celebrate

Krafty Chicks #770 - Anything Goes

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

Sisterhood of Crafters - Flowers (2nd entry)

Tracy Evans FB Challenge (April/May) - The Colour Purple (4th entry)

Word Art Wednesday #700/701 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I think I truly am all purpled out now! 💜💜

In my previous post I mentioned how I went on a walk with an alpaca last bank holiday weekend 🥰… but that was not all! On the way home from that delightful experience we happened by chance across a huge classic car fair at the beautiful Cromford Mills. There really was an incredibly variety of vehicles … here’s a selection.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Craft Club

Hi everyone, yesterday I had a great day out at a craft club which takes place monthly in Warrington, about 15 miles from where I live. I found out about it from Tracy Evans’ FB group, as this month Jacqui, one of the members, was due to demo (with permission) some cards based on design inspiration and techniques from Tracy’s videos. All attendees were provided with a small pack of pre-cut stamping card, card blanks and a list of preferred materials to make something similar to the demos. As I have quite a few Tracy stamps and loved the “look” of the sample cards I thought I’d give it a go … and here’s what I made.

 Both cards used the same colours and similar techniques, but with different stamps. First of all I created a smooshed background by layering Distress Oxide inks dabbed onto acetate and spritzed with water: I’m completely familiar with this technique but had never considered this colour combo before. The demo instructions suggested using Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke and a touch of Black Soot - I also added in a little Frayed Burlap for added gradation of shading.  

I then stamped the focal stamps using VFC Nocturne - for the floral card I masked part of what is a very large stamp; and for the second card Jacqui very kindly allowed me to borrow her stamp which I love so much I now need to buy it! Parts of the stamped images (vase and some clock faces) were then coloured with watered down Distress Oxides, and the flowers and a couple of clock faces were painted with white acrylic paint. Again this is something I hadn’t previously considered, but it really makes the images pop against the dark background. I kept the designs very similar to the demo samples, just adding a couple of little personal touches. Primarily these were extra text stamping and a little stencilling on the floral card, adding a second fussy cut and coloured butterfly to add dimension, white Posca pen accents, adding sparkle to the butterfly and flowers, and Glossy Accents on the vase which I did when I got home so I wouldn’t smudge it! I also didn’t add sentiments as I will decide on them as required.

Here are a couple of angled pictures.

Stamps: AALL & Create #266 Daisy Elegance, #733 Temporal, TE32 Alpha Florals;

Media: TimmHoltz Distress Oxides inks (Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne);  acrylic paint (white); Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Glossy Accents;

Tools: Darkroom Door stencil - Diamonds.

As these designs are so closely based on Jacqui’s samples I won’t be entering them into any challenges. I just wanted to share them as I was really thrilled with how they turned out - my painting with white acrylic paint definitely needs some practice but I will certainly be using this technique again to create cards with a grungy vintage look!

Overall I had a great day with a lovely group of crafty ladies. They are looking to expand their numbers for anyone who lives within striking distance of north Warrington. 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Purplicious! 💜

Hi everyone, I am still feeling inspired by Tracy Evans’ current FB challenge The Colour Purple, so I thought I’d make another project for it. I wanted to use this particular floral stamp as I bought it during AALL & Create’s mega clearance sale, but I’ve never inked it up until now. I have also recently seen several paper pieced projects on other people’s blogs and I think this flower is very suitable for that, so here’s how these various sources of inspiration came together.

I cut a piece of white stamping card 20cm x 10 cm and created a smooshed background using Della Blue and Violet Chalk Elements inks spattered with water. I also created a smaller smooshed panel using an offcut with Flying Fig and Dark Denim Elements. I stamped the focal flower onto the main panel, then again onto the smaller panel where I fussy cut the flower head, added a coat of Spectrum Noir sparkle pen, and added some white Posca accents. I added a little purple background stencilling using A&C ‘Digits Checked’, then some white stencilling on the edges using TimmHoltz ‘Dot Fade’ stencil. I coloured the flower leaves with Inktense pencils and attached the paper pieced flower head. I stamped the little birdies and added some white Posca spatters then, when dry, matted onto a black border and DL card blank. Finally I added a stamped sentiment, Glossy Accents to the number circles, and a couple of pieces of torn washi tape.

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

Stamps: AALL & Create #539 Gem of a Plant; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE 30 Garden Elements; sentiment brand unknown;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Violet Chalk, Della Blue, Flying Fig, Dark Denim); Spectrum Noir Harmony dye ink (Pale Fig); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Versamark; WOW Ultra fine white embossing powder; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white); Inktense pencils; Glossy Accents;

Tools: AAL L & Create stencil - Digits Checked; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz stencil - Dot Fade;

Other: AALL & Create washi tape #45 Night Shade.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (May) - Anything Goes with option Floral Delight

As You Like It - Favourite Soft or Bold Colours (and why)

(I tend to prefer soft colours as they are more gentle and atmospheric, but also like bold colours occasionally - I think this card has a bit of both!)

Beautiful Blossoms #28 - Anything Floral Goes (4th entry)

Cardz 4 Galz - Flowers (2nd entry)

Craft Rocket #125 - Flowers (2nd entry)

Crafty Catz #693 - Anything Goes with option May Flowers (2nd entry)

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

Do Al(l) Kreatives #101 - Anything Goes with option Flowers - DT FAVOURITE

Dream Factory #138 - Magnolia (Use Flowers) (2nd entry) - WINNER

Girlz Rebel Challenge #40 - Anything Goes with an Image

Let's Craft and Create #219 - Anything Goes with option No Patterned Paper

Outlawz Festive Fridays (May) - Say It With Flowers

Simon Says (Monday) - Stencil Fun

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Beautiful Blooms (2nd entry)

Tracy Evans FB Challenge (April/May) - The Colour Purple (2nd entry)

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

We Love 2 Create #5 2025 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday  #698/699 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Talking of Purplicious …. I went with my husband on Friday to see Torvill and Dean’s farewell tour ‘Our Last Dance’. 

We first saw them in 1985 on their first world tour after winning Olympic gold, in their home town of Nottingham - an event which still rates right up there in terms of excitement after all these years! This performance brought back a lot of memories … here’s a little clip of them skating an updated version of their iconic Olympic gold medal routine ‘Bolero’.

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

Hugs,

Creative Artiste #115 Guest Designer

Hi everyone, I was really thrilled and excited to be asked to be a guest designer for this month’s Creative Artiste Challenge, where the theme is always

*** Anything Mixed Media Goes ***

There’s lots of inspiration on the challenge blog from the talented design team, so please do pop over to have a look.

I really wouldn’t describe myself as a mixed media crafter as my efforts are mostly confined to cardmaking and ATC’s, I don’t do any journaling, altered art etc., plus I’m not massively adventurous when it comes to using different colouring media. That is mainly because I know that each time you start to dabble with a new medium it becomes the new favourite and opens up a whole new money pit, plus I’m already running out of space to store my current stash! Anyway, I have done my best to use multiple media on this card, and here it is.

The original inspiration for this card came from the current challenge in the Tracy Evans FB group, which is to flood the group with projects featuring the colour purple to support the sister of a group member who is going through some very difficult medical treatment. 💜

I stamped the focal flower onto a snippet of white stamping card using Wilted Violet and Villainous Potion Distress Oxides, then lightly blended out the colour using a fine paintbrush and water. I added definition to the flowers by shading with watercolour pencils and a white Stabilo pencil, then added a little depth by outlining some of the petals with a grey Inktense pencil and blending out. I die cut using a stitched rectangle and set aside.

I then die cut a a larger stitched rectangle from a larger snippet and created a smooshed background with Distress Oxides. I added some 2nd generation background letter stamping using Lilac Bloom and Very Peri VFC, and some random script text using Versamark heat embossed white. I placed the flower panel so I could stamp the bird across it and the background, then added a little background stamping to the flower panel along with a li’l insect coloured with my gold Wink of Stella pen, added white Posca accents  and blended more DOX round the edges. Finally I assembled the card, added a white heat embossed sentiment stamped onto a snippet of black card, and added some teeny heart gems to the flower centres.

Stamps: AALL & Create #985 Flower Smudge, #831 Sent With Love, #756 Miniatures; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE4 New Beginnings, TE11 Background Elements, TE16 Artsy Alphas/Numbers;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides inks (Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac, Blueprint Sketch; Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Lilac Bloom, Very Peri); watercolour pencils; Inktense pencil (grey);  Stabilo pencil (white);  Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (gold);

Tools: Hunky Dory Moonstone Duo-Stitched rectangle dies;

Other: silver heart gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #28 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Cardz 4 Galz - Flowers

Craft Rocket #125 - Flowers

Die Cut Divas (May) - Watercolour

Make My Monday #250 - Things With Wings

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

Snippets Playground #505 - Use Snippets - TOP PICK

Tracy Evans FB Challenge (April/May) - The Colour Purple

We Love 2 Create #5 2025 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes - TOP 3

Word Art Wednesday #696/697 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

I’d like to say a big thanks to Andree for inviting me to be a guest designer at Creative Artiste Challenge this month.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,