Magical Birthday

Good afternoon all,

I don't have a lot of birthday cards to make throughout the year, but right now birthdays are coming along like buses .. yesterday was both a family member and a friend's birthdays.  My dear friend Christine gifted me a Lavinia voucher for my birthday earlier this year, so I thought it would be good to make her a magical Lavinia birthday card ... and here it is.

The underlying premise of this card was that I wanted to try making bubbles, so the whole design was based around that! 

First I used a circle mask and sponged Distress Oxide inks to create my sun and sky, then hill masks to create my landscape. I stamped my fairy Olivia with the flower head of her dandelion masked, so I could then hand draw a bubble blower with a fine liner. I created my bubbles with a home made circle mask and various colours of DO + Posca pen highlights following the method in this Natasha Foote Youtube tutorial, then I additionally outlined the bubbles with Sakura stardust pen. I actually made an error at this point as I meant to outline all the bubbles with my clear sparkle pen, but I accidentally picked up my gold pen for one of the smaller bubbles, and drew round the left side before I noticed. Luckily I thought this looked a bit like the sun's reflection, so I outlined the left sides of all the other bubbles in gold to match!! 

I stamped my fence and gate plus a variety of trees and flowers using various colours of Versafine Clair and 1st/2nd generation stamping, then coloured my fairy wings and added more highlights with my Sakura sparkle pens. I reverse masked the sun and added some 2nd generation text stamping over it. At this point I wasn't sure where to place the sentiment, so decided to encase it in the largest bubble; so I masked a sentiment to allow me to stamp it over several lines. I finished by outlining the image panel with black pen and matting onto pearlescent turquoise card stock.

Stamps: Lavinia - Olivia small, Tree of Faith, Small Trees, Gate and Fence, Wild Summer Flower, Bluebells, Field Grass, Birds, Faerie Spells; Crafter's Companion - Magical Sentiments;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade, Mown Lawn, Rustic Wildreness, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Salvaged Patina, Salty Ocean); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Green Oasis, Charming Pink, Warm Breeze); Sakura Stardust pens (clear, pink, gold).

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthdays #40 - Anything Birthday Goes (2nd entry)

Arty Divas (August) - Anything Goes

Country View Challenges (August) - Happy Birthday (3rd entry)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #150 - Silhouettes (2nd entry)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2234 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Shimmer and Shine

Stamping Sensations (August) - Make It Magical (2nd entry)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

We love Stamping (August) - In the Garden (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #557/558 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

That's me done for today, though I had so much fun creating those bubbles I think I will be back with more before too long! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Magic of Christmas

I’m now onto my final push of quick batch Christmas makes, and today I would like to share a few from a batch of cards I made inspired by a Jo Rice Youtube tutorial here.. 

I used the idea of creating a scene across 2 layers of card, and incorporated Jo’s brilliant  tip of outlining card panels with a pen rather than matting them onto coloured card, though as I don’t have any Sharpies I experimented with the pens I do have and ended up using the chisel tip of a Promarker. 

Card 1:

I cut my card panels and placed the layers onto the base card as per Jo’s tutorial, and used my Lavinia acetate masks and Distress Oxide ink to make my hills and moon. I then diverged from the tutorial by using the reindeer and tree as my focal images; and I made things a bit more difficult for myself by stamping the tree across 2 card layers which meant I had to stamp it twice … once on each layer. On most of the cards in this batch I stamped first with the top layer in position and then again with it removed .. but my learning point for next time is that a better image is obtained by stamping on the lower layer of card first then placing the upper layer in place and stamping again.  

I used my Sakura sparkle pen to highlight the moon, snowdrifts and tree branches, added stars using twinkly pearlescent lavender ink, then assembled the cards before adding snowflakes with my Posca pen. On these cards I added the snowflakes as dots, applying different pressure to get different size flakes. I have now given up on the flicking technique, as however careful I was the paint flew everywhere and I had to be quick to wipe it off all my craft equipment and (more importantly!) dining furniture!! 

Card 2:

Card 3:

Stamps: Lavinia “Reindeer (large)”, “Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Stars 1 Mini”; LotV "Grungy Christmas Sentiments" (Card 1); Penny Black "a wish..." (3502F)  (Card 2); Penny Black "joy hope" (3898F) (Card 3);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Shaded Lilac); Versafine Onyx, Brilliance pigment ink - Pearlescent Lavender; Sakura Gelly Roll pen - Stardust; Posca pen - white;

Tools: Lavinia acetate masks - hills and moons.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Card 1: 

Christmas Craft Creations (December) - Make A Scene

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #572 - Anything Christmas Goes with option Quick and Easy (2nd entry)

Creative Inspirations (December) - Christmas Time

Ellibelle’s Crafty Corner (December) - Baby It’s Cold Outside!

Krafty Chicks #589 - Christmas

Pixie's Snippets Playground #418 - Chrstmas/New Year and use Snippets

(I used snippets left over from cutting 5" square panels fom my stamping cardstock, to make the smaller front panels on all the cards in this batch).

Simon Says (Monday) - Cold As Ice

Simon Says (Wednesday)  - Cold As Ice

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #131 - Non-Traditional Colours (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (December) - Choose a Theme and Stamp It (2nd entry)

(I have chosen Christmas)

Card 2:

A Gem of a Challenge #25 - Anything Goes

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #57 - If It's Christmassy - Link It up

Country View Challenges (December) - Anything Christmas Goes (5th entry)

Crafty Catz#576 - Anything Goes - option Christmas

Creatalicious #224 - Anything Goes with option of Christmas (3rd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (December) - Anything Goes

My TIme to Craft #472 - Christmas Animals

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #250 - Anything Goes

We Love Stamping (December) - Anything Goes with option of CAS

(I have chosen Anything Goes)

Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Card 3:

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafter’s Castle #48 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafts Galore Encore #94 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Creations #428 - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes

Creative Moments #228 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley #260 - Christmas (3rd entry)

Paper Funday #36 - Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Phew! I think that's me done for today ... hope you're all keeping well and not scrambling too much to get Christmas "done".

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Cold and Snowy Christmas Night

Hi everyone , hope you are well, warm and dry in the awful weather we're having again with Storm Barra. Today I would like to share my latest Christmas card using Lavinia stamps. 

I am still experimenting with placing my limited selection of tree stamps in snowy landscapes … for this one I tried a larger moon mask than previously, and experimented with using different colour inks for background and foreground stamping to create more depth. I also had another practice at snow splattering with my white Posca pen … my technique is getting a bit better but it still really needs practice! Also I had a bit of an accident with my sentiment - I was a bit tired of using the same Chrimbo sentiments so fished another one out of my stash which is a mounted rubber stamp ... and despite carefully cleaning the edges of the stamp after inking it deposited an ink splodge on my snow (grrr!!)!! Hence the perhaps strangely placed mini pine cone, and another at the other side to balance it out!! 

Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Tree 1”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, "Mini Pine Cone",“Winter Magic”; sentiment - Crafter's Companion "Beary Merry Christmas";

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky; Versafine Clair Twilight and Morning Mist; Sakura Gelly roll pen - Stardust; white Posca pen;

Tools: Lavinia moon and hill acetate masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Christmas Embellishment and Why

( I love all sparkly things, but particularly my new Sakura sparkle pen which is brilliant for embellishing moons, trees and snowdrifts)

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Country View Challenge (December) - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Crafter’s Castle #48 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (December) - Christmas

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #571 - Anything Christmas Goes

Creatalicious #224 - Anything Goes with option of Christmas (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Happy Holidays / Christmas (3rd entry)

Stamping Sensations (December) - Choose a Theme and Stamp It

(I have chosen Christmas)

Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas Goes

Hope your Christmas preparations are on track … I’m getting in pretty well with the cards now, though I’ve hardly done any Christmas shopping yet. I feel a quick online blitz coming on! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #653

Good morning peeps,

It's Saturday so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Lynn has chosen the theme and it is

Include a die

This week we have 2 great prizes on offer:

Firstly: a Tattered Lace "Floral Edges" cut & emboss die

and secondly,  Ruth Hamilton Design

is offering 3 images of the winner's choice.

Here's my card for this week.

I decided to make a die cut the focal point of my card, and by happy coincidence given our prizes, it is a Tattered Lace die. I’m still very much embroiled in the Christmas card scramble, though over the past 3 weeks I’ve made nearly 30 cards so I am getting there!!

I cut a mask using my largest circle die (the only one the sentiment die would fit within!!) and used it to sponge Distress Oxide both outside and within the circle. I then masked off the circle and stamped my background sentiment all over the card - this was quite tricky as my ink was a pale colour and each stamping needed 2, 3 or even 4 impressions .. would have been impossible without my stamp positioner! I then stamped my pine cone wreath and holly, decorated them with my Sakura sparkle pens, and cut and attached my sentiment die. Lastly I stamped and heat embossed some teeny stars .. they are a pearlised embossing powder but sadly hardly show up on camera. This card has a much more traditional look than most of what I have made recently, but I think I like it for a change. 

As often is the case, the card is a lot more sparkly than photos suggest .. I have taken another angled shot to try to capture it a bit better.

Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Cone Branch”, “Mini Holly”, “Stars 1 Mini”, “Winter Magic”;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink - Iced Spruce, Speckled Egg; Versafine - Sepia; Versafine Clair - Rainforest; Versacolor - Cement; Heat It Up EP - Silver Pearl; Sakura Gelly roll sparkle pens - Stardust and red

Tools: Tattered  Lace Die - “Merry Christmas”.

I did actually make this card as part of a batch as it does seem quicker for Christmas makes .. originally 3 but one got spoilt. Here is the other one I finished .. not the same, but too similar to really warrant a separate post.

All stamps and supplies as per first card, with the addition of “Mini berries” stamp. Also I had to trim my die cut flourishes a bit as with the stamped berries my aperture was smaller 😀

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes

Country View Challenges (December) - Christmas Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafter’s Cafe #279 - Anything Goes

Do-All Kreatives #60 - The Scent of Christmas is in the air (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #260 - Christmas (2nd entry)

DRU #182 - Anything Goes with die brands sold by DRU

(I used a Tattered Lace die)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #541 - Anything Christmas

Simon Says (Monday) - Sparkle Mode (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Happy Holidays / Christmas (2nd entry)

TFJB Challenge (December) - Yuletide Delights

Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing your entries. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Snowy firs

Well here we are ... December already!! How are your Christmas cards coming along?? I'm still in feverish preparation mode, though no longer quite in "total panic" ... but I daren't take my eye off the ball!!

Today I would like to share a couple of CAS Christmas card I have made recently ... in fact I have made a couple of batches of cards very similar to these, around 8 cards in total. 

The general concept of stamping fir trees onto an inked panel in the middle of white space was inspired by a card I saw by Elizabeth Arden on Pinterest here .. I have adapted the idea by using a different combo of stamps, and different colours of ink on my background which is a deckle rectangle rather than a normal square.

For my first card I cut a deckle rectangle mask using my nestie dies, then used it to make a Distress Oxide panel which I spattered with water. I then stamped my trees using Versafine, and my star using Versamark and embossing with detail white EP. I added a sentiment and three teeny gems to mirror the colour grading on my inked panel, and matted simply on dusky blue glitter card.

My second card is very similar except that instead of spattering water onto my inked background I had my first go with my new white Posca pen to create snowflakes. I actually tried this technique on 4 cards and this was the best one .. I need to practice to get smaller spots!! 

Stamps: Lavinia “Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “North Star Mini”; sentiment - Stampendous (card 1), Elzybells (card 2);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Iced Spruce; Heat It Up detail white EP; Posca white pen;

Tools: Spellbinders nestabilities "Deckle rectangles"; corner punch; 

Glitter card and gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter: 

AAA CAS Challenge #204 - Along the Edge with Optional Twist - Snow

Country View Challenges (December) - Christmas Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore #94 - Anything Goes - DT FAVOURITE

Creatalicious #224 - Anything Goes with option of Christmas

Do-Al(l) Kreatives #60 - Christmas Fragrance is In The Air

Dream Valley #260 - Christmas

Shopping Our Stash #459 - Triple Threat - TOP 3

(tree images and gems on card 1)

Simon Says (Monday) - Sparkle Mode

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Happy Holidays / Christmas

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #131 - Non-Traditional Colours

Thanks very much for visiting today - take care and stay safe.

Hugs,

Watercolour flower bookmarks

Hi peeps, hope you are keeping warm, safe and well with all this wintry weather we're having.

I felt the urge today to make another set of bookmarks to give as a stocking filler Christmas present to a lovely elderly lady who lives nearby - this time I thought I would make a set of 3 using more of my old Penny Black brushstroke flower stamps, and it also gave me chance to use a few of my card snippets (both white card and coloured - all the pieces here are snippets!!)

The photo is quite poor as I took it in electric light so I could  catch a couple of challenges before month end ... I will try to update with a better daylight photo tomorrow! **Edit** I have now replaced the photo with a daylight one!

For each of these I created a background using Distress and Distress Oxide inks, then stamped my brushstroke flowers using Marvey watercolour markers and spritzing the inked stamp with water. I then stamped my sentiment and alphabet before mounting the finished piece onto backing card and completing the hole and ribbons.

Stamps (left to right): 

1. Flower - Penny Black "Blush" (2666K); sentiment - Crafter's Companion Lee Holland set "You Are My Sunshine";

2. Flowers - Penny Black "quite dandy" (3623K); sentiment - Penny Black "the journey" 3177F);

3. Flowers - Penny Black "Aspire" (3381K); sentiment - Penny Black "...dreams..." (2711F);

All - alphabet stamp - Woodware "Additions";

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint; Distress Oxide Inks - Kitsch Flamingo, Shaded Lilac, Stormy Sky, Twisted Citron; Marvey watercolour markers - various colours;

Ribbon from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #419 - Any Occasion

Ally's Angels #52 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Country View Challenges (November) - Christmas Gifting (2nd entry)

Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour): November - Anything Goes

Penny Black Saturday Challenge (November) - Anything Goes with option Not a Card (2nd entry)

Pixie's Snippets Playground #417 - Use Snippets 

River of Creativity #7 - The Gift (2nd entry)

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

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

That's me done for today ... I think tomorrow i may well be back on the last minute Christmas card scramble!

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #652

Good morning everyone, hope you are all safe and well after last night’s horrendous winds … my husband is currently out in the back garden inspecting some smashed fence panels !!

The weekend is here again, so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Brenda has chosen the theme and it is

Anything Goes with a Hand Stamped or Digital Image

So we just need to see any image as the focal point of your project this week … pretty easy we hope 😀

This week we have 2 gorgeous prizes on offer:

2 Bee Crafty Border stamps

and

Ruth Hamilton Design

is offering 3 images of the winner's choice.

My card this week allowed me to play with my new Lavinia Christmas stamps and masks the same day as they arrived, so it is a bit of an experiment, but I’m very pleased with how it turned out. 

I used my new hill masks to blend inks for my hills,  then a circle mask to create my moon and sky with Distress Oxides. I stamped my reindeer and trees using various shades of Versafine and Versafine Clair to give a bit of dimension, and  using a mask to create the small trees in the background from the top of my small fairy fir. I used my circle mask negative to stamp my wording over the moon, stamped some berries round the edges and a sentiment, and highlighted the moon and trees with my Sparkle pen. Finally I spattered the whole panel with white acrylic paint to create snowflakes. It was my first time trying spattering with white acrylic paint and it wasn’t altogether successful … pretty uncontrolled and VERY messy .. now thinking about getting a Posca pen to try 😀

Stamps: Lavinia “Large Reindeer”, “Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Winter Magic”, “Mini Berries”; sentiment - Pink Gem Designs;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion, Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo, Stormy Sky; Versafine ink - Onyx Black; Versafine Clair - Twilight, Morning Mist; Sakura Gelly Roll pen - Stardust;

Tools: Lavinia acetate masks - circles and hills.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (10th entry)

C.R.A.F.T. #619 - Winter

Crafter’s Castle #47 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #259 - Anything Goes

NBUS #32 - Use Never Before Used Schtuff (2nd entry)

(mine is almost all the Lavinia stamps, Villainous Potion DO, Morning Mist VFC and the acetate masks),

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2147 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

SheepSki Designs Challenge #56 - ‘Tis the Season (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy #106 - Anything Christmas Goes

Try It on Tuesday - Winter Wonderland

I look forward to visiting your blogs and seeing your entries this week. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. 

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I’m Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Hello everyone, yes I’m back again with yet more Christmas cards … I’m trying to really ramp up over the next 2 weeks to get myself sorted! Hopefully if I have a full year of crafting in 2022 I won't be so behind ... though that never made any difference in the past!!  😀

Today I would like to share 2 more cards made with my new Lavinia stamps … just how many different ways can I use them before my next order arrives (hopefully tomorrow)?

Both of these cards are very similar, featuring ink blending using a circle mask, trees and a pine cone partial wreath. I have refined my sparkly decorating technique a little, now dotting the trees and hills with my sparkle pen rather than drawing lines which definitely looks better. As always the card looks much more sparkly in real life than the camera shows.

My main challenge for both of these was finding a sentiment to fit … I have quite a few Christmas sentiments but no really small ones .. so may need to adjust the size of my circle next time!

Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Tree 1”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Fir Cone Branch”, “Stars 1 Mini”; sentiment - Wild Rose Studio (card 1), Me To You (card 2);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo, Black Soot; Versafine - Onyx Black and Imperial Purple; Sakura Gelly roll pen - Stardust.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #52 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (9th entry)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #569 - Anything Christmas Goes with option of glitter  (2nd entry)

Happy Little Stampers (Christmas): November - Anything Christmas Goes with option Make a Scene

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2147 - Anything Goes

Pearly Sparkles #68 - Merry Christmas (2nd entry)

SheepSki Designs #56 - ‘Tis the Season (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Make Your Own Background (4th entry)

Stamping Sensations (November) - Christmas (3rd entry)

We Love Stamping (November) - Christmas (3rd entry)

I have actually made a  couple more cards than I am showing here but the rest are near duplicates of earlier cards … and I’ll be carrying on the rest of this week with more of the same!! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Christmas batch cooking

Good morning everyone,

I’ve been trying to crack on with a few more Christmas cards using my new Lavinia stamps; and have produced a couple more that are a bit of a melting pot of techniques in various video tutorials I have seen, with twists to cater for the stamps and inks I have available. I actually made a batch of 3 cards but ditched one of them as I wasn’t happy with my background stamping. 

I only got my first Lavinia stamps 10 days ago and already I have ordered more online .. I think I either need Santa to bring me some goodies in his sleigh or to win the lottery to keep up with my potential wish list!

For both of these I used a home made circle mask (positive and negative) to sponge my background using Distress Oxides, then created my hills with torn paper. I used second generation stamping to stamp my sentiment around the circle, stamped my trees then stamped mini holly round the circle - all using Versafine Clair. On one of the cards I had to do a bit of rescue work as I had put an ink mark on the plain white area, hence the fir branches in the corner!! Finally I stamped my stars using Distress Oxide, coloured the holly berries with my red Sakura Sparkle pen, and highlighted the circle and hills with my Sakura Stardust pen.

I’ve decided that as Christmas looms batch making is definitely the way forward .. both of these cards do have mistakes but I’m still pretty happy with how they turned out.

Stamps: Lavinia “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “ Mini Holly”,  “Mini Stars 1”, “Fern Branch”, “Spirit of Christmas”;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio; Versafine Clair - Twilight  and Rainforest; Sakura Gelly roll sparkle pens - Red and Stardust.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #52 - Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge (November) - Anything Goes (8th entry)

Crafty Creations #427 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #569 - Anything Christmas Goes with option of glitter

Double D - Trees (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (November) - Christmas / Winter (3rd entry)

SheepSki Designs #56 - ‘Tis the Season

Simon Says (Monday) - Trees (3rd entry);

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Create Your Own Background (3rd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #105 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

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

Hugs,