C.R.A.F.T. #777 - Guest Designer

Hi everyone, I’m here again with another guest designer card for this fortnight’s C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - that’s twice on the trot! The theme for the next two weeks is 

*** Seasons / Weather / Anything Goes ***

The fabulous sponsor for this challenge is Polkadoodles 

.. who are offering a fab prize of 3 Digi images from their store.

The design team have made some gorgeous projects to inspire you, so please do visit the challenge blog to check them out, and to link up your own entries. 

Here is my card for the challenge - I decided to make a cheerful spring card, using a beautiful Tracy Evans spring floral stamp which I bought last year but hadn’t inked up until now. 

I took a snippet of white stamping card and stamped the focal flower, then stamped some coordinating script beneath it from an older large Tracy Evans stamp. I coloured the flowers and background with Zig pens , blending out the background with my Zig blending pen, then added Wink of Stella on the flower petals and white Posca spatters. I die cut a large frame from a snippet of green gingham paper, then cut my image snippet to size and attached behind the aperture. I stamped the sentiment onto separate card then die cut, edged with green ink and attached, and attached the finished panel to a card blank. I felt it still needed something else, so I retrieved an experimental coloured flower from the bin, fussy cut it out and attached in the top right corner. I then added a couple of stamped bunnies to finish and highlighted them with white pastel pencil.

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE47 Wild and Free, TE32 Alpine Florals; AALL & Create #266 Daisy Elegance; Penny Back Spring Magic (2852C);

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne): Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Lavinia Elements ink (Line Punch); Wink of Stella (clear); Posca pen (white); pastel pencil (white);

Papers: from my stash;

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo- Stitched square dies.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #39 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Card Concept #225 - Spring Flowers (2nd entry)

Creative Moments #280 - Bunnies and Blooms (3rd entry)

Paper Players #779 - Tic Tac Toe

(Die cut / Flowers / Layers)

Papercraft #128 - Joy of Spring (3rd entry)

Passion for Markers #831 - Dies and/or Punches

Sparkles #198 - It’s Springtime! (3rd entry)

Snippets Playground #529 - Use Snippets

Sweet Stampin’ - Spring or Easter (2nd entry) - TOP 3

Word Art Wednesday #746/747 - Anything Goes 

Thanks very much to the C.R.A.F.T. challenge Design Team for asking me to be guest designer again this time.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Bluebells and Bunny

Hi everyone, today’s card is a fairly simple one I made for this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge - “The Joys of Spring”. I love bluebells so I decided to incorporate some into a little scene, along with a cute bunny being as it is nearly Easter!

I took a pre-cut 30cm x 15cm piece of  Pink Frog super smooth card, and scored it to make a one-layer card suitable for blending inks directly onto the card base. I masked the card so that I could create an inked vertical panel blending Elements inks and using my acetate Mini Hill and Circle masks. I then removed the masks and stamped my scene using various shades of Versafine Clair. I highlighted the bird and bunny with white Stabilo pencil, and added white Posca accents here and there. I also outlined the sun with Stardus pen and highlighted it with Wink of Stella to add a little sparkle. Finally I stamped the sentiment directly into the card base.

Stamps: Lavinia Bluebells, Trees, Grass, Gate and Fence, Wild Hares (large), Bird Collection, Birds, The World Is Full of Beauty;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Lagoon, Pixie Green, Lemon Drop); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Blue Belle, Very Peri, Medieval Blue, Shady Lane, Portobello); Sakura Stardust pen (yellow); Stabilo pencil (white); Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (clear);

Tools: Lavinia acetate Mini Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #28 - Anything Floral Goes

Creative Aunts #100 - Spring

Double D - Springtime Flowers (2nd entry)

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #2 - Anything In or From a Garden

Fab ‘n’ Funky #614 - Think Spring (2nd entry)

FarmQuest General Store #27 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

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

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #4 2025 - Spring Season (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (April) - The Joys of Spring (2nd entry)

Let’s Craft and Create #218 - Anything Goes with option Add Flowers

Moving Along With the Times #177 - Spring Flowers (2nd entry)

Outlawz Festive Friday (April) - Bunnies/Birds

Paper Funday #75 - Anything Goes with option Things Beginning With “B” (2nd entry)

(Bluebells, birds, bunny)

Shopping Our Stash #545 - Hippity Hop

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

Try It On Tuesday - Oh So Sweet

Word Art Wednesday #694/695 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Hope everyone is having a lovely Easter weekend, whatever you’re doing.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #25

Hi everyone, it’s the third Wednesday in the month again, which means that 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. 

I chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** April Showers / May Flowers ***

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 again welcome two guest designers - Carrianne and Lia - so please click on their names to visit their blogs and see their fabulous creations.

Here’s my card for the challenge. I decided to go with a floral theme, and that I would allude to the concept of April showers with the wellingtons! It also gave me opportunity to play with my lovely Tracy Evans primula stamp which I bought a while ago but haven’t inked up until now, as I was inspired by the primulas currently in our front garden. 

I have a confession to make … only after I made this card and posted it did I realise that although the background, shading and details are different, the basic concept of wellies and primula is the same as Ellie’s “I Spy” card from last month… I have had an incredibly busy and quite stressful few weeks so the memory of Ellie’s lovely card from last month had completely gone from my mind … (it may also be an age thing as my memory isn’t the best!). Sadly I didn’t have time to make another one but Ellie was lovely about it when I told her of my mistake .. so let’s just say this is a tribute to her gorgeous card.

I created a smooshed ink background on white card with Distress Oxide inks, then stamped the background leaf on the left using 2nd generation and a mixture of Avocado and Shady Lane VFC. I stamped the wellingtons onto separate card, shaded with DOX then fussy cut and set aside. I stamped the primula twice onto card snippets and coloured with Zig pens, topped with Wink of Stella on the flowers, then fussy cut out. I added a little more background stamping on the right in Bali Blue, then attached the wellingtons and flowers. I added a couple more background stamped words, a little bee and hare, then stamped the main sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached. I edged the finished piece with black marker pen then matted onto yellow card stock and card blank.

I  actually made a bit of an oopsie with this card … I decided last minute to add some shadow shading underneath the wellies with a grey Zig pen, blended out with a water brush. Unfortunately the brush was sparkly (no, I don’t know why!!) so my shadow ended up sparkly which I don’t think happens in nature! ☺️ I got so distracted by this sparkly shadow that I then forgot to “ground “ my bunny, which I only realised after I had photographed the card… I’ve rectified that now!

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE31 Nature’s Beauty, TE32 Alpha Florals; AALL & Create #370 The Great Outdoors, #449 Through the Meadows, #756 Miniatures; Lavinia Heartfelt Verses;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Twisted Citron, Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass,Bundled Sage); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Avocado, Shady Lane, Bali Blue); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Stabilo pencil (white); Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Cute or Floral (and why)

(I just love flowers, especially in springtime as they really lift my mood)

Craft Rocket #124 - Layer It Up

Double D - Springtime Flowers

Four Seasons (April) - Spring

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #4 2025 - Spring Season

Fab ‘n’ Funky #614 - Think Spring

Moving Along With the Times #177 - Spring Flowers

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2515 - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground #504 - Use Snippets

(I used snippets for the base layer, stamped wellies and primula, sentiment & yellow mat)

Word Art Wednesday #694/695 - 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 May 18th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday May 21st.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

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,

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 - TOP 3

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,

I Spy With My Little Eye #23

Hi everyone, it’s the third Wednesday in the month, so it’s time already 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. 

I chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** No Designer Paper ***

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 Lynda (Loopyloo) as our guest designer, so please click on her name to visit her blog and see her fabulous creation.

I am still working through completion of my 2025 Lavinia calendar, so I decided to make a scene for my March page. 

I was extremely lucky to win the Lavinia Creative Challenge in December, and as it was the Christmas challenge the prize was a £60 voucher rather than the usual £40 - woo hoo! Whilst considering my many purchasing options the latest release appeared, and I immediately thought that some of the new collection would be perfect for spring crafting so I ordered some of the new stamps along with a few older ones to help with my scene building and have used some of them on this project - here it is.

I cut a piece of white stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5 cm and created the hills and sky by blending Elements inks using hill and circle masks. I then stamped the trees using Portobello Versafine Clair and added some spring leaves using the new Dill stamp and the teeny foliage stamp from the Spring Trees set. I stamped the teeny houses on the hill using Morning Mist VFC so they would look more distant, then added the fab new bench, Herbalum Baz and a new-to-me Forest Hare in the foreground. I stamped some poppies in yellow to reflect the illustration at the bottom of the page and coloured their stems with a Zig pen, then framed the bottom half of the piece with 1st and 2nd generation foliage using the new Dill and Thyme stamps. I stamped a little fence, some birdies on the bench and in the sky, then to finish added some shading with a white Stabilo pencil and highlights with white Posca pen.

I’m very pleased with the new stamps, as I think the herbalums (gardening pixies) are just sooo cute and quite versatile, and I’m also impressed by the delicacy and versatility of the herb stamps Dill and Thyme which are lovely for foliage, borders and/or wreaths. 

Stamps: Lavinia - Herbalum Baz, Bench, Spring Trees, Small Trees, Skeleton Tree Scene, Forest Hares, Group Poppies, Gate and Fence, Dill, Thyme, Bird Collection, Birds;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Olive, Blue Atoll, Sundance); Versafine Clair (Portobello, Pinecone, Nocturne, Morning Mist, Avocado, Shady Lane, Golden Meadow); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pen; Posca pen (white); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Stabilo pencil (white);

Tools: Lavinia acetate Hill, Mini Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #486 - Make Your Mark (3rd entry)

Ally’s Angels #91 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

As You Like It - Favourite Stamping or Digi (and why) (2nd entry)

(I love hand stamping and letting my project develop as it goes along)

Creatalicious #286 - Anything Goes with option Use Green

Creative Crafters #85 - Anything Goes

Creative Moments #267 - Cute 

FarmQuest General Store #25 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

Lavinia Creative Challenge (February) - My Humble Abode

NBUS #71 - Use Your Never-Before-Used-Schtuff

Outlawz (February) - Anything Goes In a Card Free Zone (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #687/688 - Anything Goes (3rd 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 March 16th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday March 19th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Spring Tulips

Hi everyone, this month’s ATC swap over on the Visible Image FB group is on the theme of Flora and Fauna. I decided I wanted to interpret this as spring florals, and to make something bright and cheerful for spring days. I actually made these a while ago, but my swap partner this time lives  in Australia so I had to wait patiently for them to be delivered!

I took a large snippet of stamping card, spritzed with water and sprinkled some of my neglected Brushos to make a background, sprinkling and spritzing until I was happy. When dry I cut it into a 5” square and a rectangle 3.25” x 2.25”. I stamped three tulips onto a separate card snippet and coloured them with Zig pens then fussy cut out. I stamped tulips onto the inked panels for placement, then added black dotty stencilling and white heat embossed background script. I  stamped the word “Spring” onto the card, and matted onto a black and orange border cut from larger snippets.  Finally I stamped some script onto the tulips and attached, then stamped “new life” onto a separate scrap of card, cut out and attached.

Stamps: Visible Image Sketched Tulips;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Versamark; WOW ultra fine white embossing powder;  Kuretake Zig Clean Colour watercolour brush pens; Brushos (yellow, leaf green); Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Black soot);

Tools: Visible Image stencil - Halftone.

Here’s a closeup of each with challenges I would like to enter.

Card

Beautiful Blossoms #15 - Anything Floral Goes (2nd entry)

C.R.A.F.T. #713 - Easter/Spring - TOP 3

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

Creative Crafting Uncles #51 - Spring and/or Easter (2nd entry)

Creative Inspirations (March) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Fab 'n' Funky #591 - Spring (2nd entry)

Four Seasons (March) - Spring (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Easter/Spring

Snippets Playground #476 - Use Snippets - WINNER

Word Art Wednesday #639/640 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

ATC

Crafts Galore Encore #121 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Addicts #11 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Double Trouble #162 - Spring Florals (2nd entry)

Everybody Art #553 - Spring (2nd entry)

Little Red Wagon #748 - Florals (2nd entry)

Outlawz (March) - Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (2nd entry)

Paper Funday #63 - Anything Goes

Retro Rubber #226 - Spring Is On the Way!

(I have had this tulip stamp set for a year)

We Love 2 Create #2 2024 - Anything Mixed Media Goes (2nd entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,