An old favourite

Here's another card which is going into our gallery at CAS Mix Up where the theme for the month is Emboss Resist.

I have had this stamp set for ever - It is by Chocolate Baroque but back then the company was called Elusive Images!

The wild meadow we can see from the back of our house is full of wild flowers and native grasses at the mo and this stamp could have been done to imitate the scene.

The meadow framed stamp was stamped and heat embossed in black.

Used a small coin to make a moon mask and simply ink blended the background in some of my fave shades.

I then used a rectangle mask to cover it up and did some secondary stamping in grey ink either side.

A card that I was pleased with for a change and the theme at TIOT is Summer Blooms so am linking this.

We are having some fabulous weather -even though it is a little too hot for me to actually sit outside in it - it doesn't stop me feeling happy when I see the lovely blue skies and sunshine!

Hope the sun is shining where you are and thanks for stopping by! x

CAS Mix Up August Challenge

 August already!
And it's time for a brand new challenge at CAS Mix Up, this time set by Nancy with the theme of 'Emboss Resist'.

I stamped and heat embossed in white then fussy cut the leaves and flowers.

I have a feeling that the flower stamp came free with a mag - but who knows?!

I used Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserve to watercolour the flowers and Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn for the leaves.

I used a diamond stencil for the background and lightly inked in Bundled Sage and Stormy Sky.

I liked the subtle effect of the background as it made the flowers stand out a bit more.

There's some wonderful examples of this technique over on the challenge blog, so please go visit!

We have BRENDA as our Guest Designer this month - please go visit and see her lovely card!
I really hope you'll be able to join us this month and look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery! x

Sandy

 
Sometimes a card never turns out as well as it looks in your head - and this was one of them - Hey Ho!

This Sizzix embossing folder is an old one but it is one of my most well used.

(If you have a look HERE I used it with alco inks and embossing powder.)

The reverse side of the folder for some reason reminded me of the random way the sea fans out when running to the shoreline - Which is a bit odd and shows how my mind works considering it's supposed to be a folder depicting shattered glass!

But undeterred I carried on with my 'vision' - 😄 and despite now looking at it for a few days am still not sure if it works or not......

Some ink blending in shades varying from the Salty Ocean blue to the Scattered Straw sand and I stamped and fussy cut a little starfish and a shell.

The sentiment may be from Penny Black (not sure!)

Despite it not looking how I imagined it (!) I am still going to link up at

CYHTP - Beach
Let's Squash It - Keep it Simple
Inkspirational - Photo prompt
Thanks for looking - appreciate you coming to visit and if you have left a comment than you again! x

PS - If you are visiting from the CAS Facebook group to see the Vellum card please scroll down to the previous post!

Vellum Reverse Stamping

Whilst it has been too hot to do anything (well too hot for me anyway) I took my fan, positioned it 2 inches away and sat at the craftie space desk!

I have been meaning to have a go at this technique and this week Chrissie gave me the nudge that I needed!

It's a technique which has endless possibilities using different colours and stamps and creates really pretty effects - it's not complicated either - so my type of technique......😄

White heat emboss one side of the vellum with whatever stamp you like - I used two single leaf stamps here.

Once the embossing has cooled, turn it over and using the same stamp(s) pick a colour and simply stamp again.

I took a bit of a risk and used Distress Oxide for my reverse stamping (Barn Door) but I did let it dry overnight before assembling it behind the frames.
I heaved a huge sigh of relief when it didn't smudge and had dried completely.

I used linen textured card throughout but it doesn't show up in the pic!

Chrissie has done a video tutorial and you will see her step by step and her lovely finished examples here -
Fabulous Vellum Backgrounds 

Thanks for looking!

I shall be doing more of this reverse stamping on vellum I think!

Christmas in July

I've managed to ignore the roasting temperatures and pretend that it's cold and snowy whilst doing this month's card for CAS Christmas!

The challenge theme is 'Santa'.

I have just 3 Santa stamps and this is one of them - it was a freebie many moons ago and I think it's likely this is the first time it's seen ink.
Santa and his reindeer actually have a large moon round them but I didn't want the moon that big so carefully removed the ink before stamping.
Ink blended background using a coin for my moon mask.                           
The snow drifts were done using a mask and Shaded Lilac ink.

Other stamps are Lavinia (Bunny), Inkylicious (Large Tree) and Cardio (small trees and twigs).
Sentiment is another mag freebie.

Another card for the Christmas Box!

There's a few other Christmas themed challenges about so am linking up at -

HLS CAS - Christmas
MIUCB - A/Goes option of CAS
Sweet Stampers - Christmas In July
ABC Christmas - O is for Old (my Santa and sentiment stamps)

Thanks for looking! x

      

CAS Mix Up Mid Month Reminder

Linda chose 'Things With Wings' for her theme for this month's watercolour challenge at CAS Mix Up.

Our friends recently celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary and I made this for them using a new Penny Black stamp set called 'How Sweet'.
A golden anniversary calls for gold embossing doesn't it?! And of course the flower had to be yellow!
The little hearts above my two love birds are from a really old set - but they didn't let me down and stamped and embossed beautifully.

Thanks for stopping by - hoping you will join us us this month - please pop over to the challenge blog and see whatthe rest of the DT have created! x

 

Magical

I was delighted to have been asked to contribute as a Guest Designer at Try It On Tuesday for their new challenge.

The challenge is set fortnightly and this time the theme is 'MAKE IT MAGICAL'.
My card is made using stamps from Lavinia and Inkylicious.

The background was blended using Stormy Sky at the bottom then graduating to Shaded Lilac for the 'hills'.

My sky was a mix of Spun Sugar and Shaded Lilac.

I resisted the temptation to keep adding flora and fauna in the blank space on the card as I didn't want to detract from our little man who was out for a stroll in his woodland home when he discovered this spotty flower - as with all naughty and curious boys he couldn't resist poking it with his finger!
 
The spots were dotted with a Posca pen and the fairy words stamped at the sides using Shaded Lilac DI.
I finished off with a few tiny white spatters concentrated towards the bottom of the card.

Thanks to the talented ladies at TIOT for having me and I hope you like my card!
Am sure they would love to see your magical creations in their link up too! x

Just Beachy!

I made something similar to this some time ago as a thank you to a friend who had given us the use of their beautiful lodge down on the South coast for a few days break.

Whilst having a sort out I found this square shadow box so I replicated the scene only on a much smaller scale. The scene measures just 3".

It was a project that I enjoyed doing although I am fast running out of wall space - I have a tiny spot in the downstairs cloakroom for this!

Heavy watercolour card for the background as I wanted some texture and some loose watercolouring.

The boat was in a box of bits - at some point it came from a laser cut sheet I think - that long ago I've forgotten. It was a little tatty but once glued it looked OK!

The 'sand' is in fact sandpaper ( dear husband won't notice that a little scrap has gone from his tool box!).

I sponged some Gesso along the torn edge to try and replicate foam (not sure I managed it) as the waves reach the beach

The shells are really small but I collect a few every time we go to a beach - I am actually quite fascinated by sea shells - I love the tactile feel of them and the array of colours.
These were from a trip to one of my fave beaches in the North of Scotland at Lossiemouth.
The 'rope' is a tiny scrap of string.

The outside of the box was given a wash of gesso and some light brushing of Weathered Wood randomly.

Linking up at
TIOT _ Here comes Summer

I hope the sun is shining in your part of blogland! x

CAS Mix Up July Challenge

 We have a new challenge today at CAS MIX UP set by Linda. This month is Watercolour month and Linda has set the theme of 'Things with Wings'.

I have been playing about a little with Brushos - I am not confident using them as I am a little too heavy handed and the card usually ends up swimming with blob pools!

But here's my card for our challenge -
Green shades are not colours I use often, maybe I was inspired by all the green in the garden!

Brushos applied first then once the card had dried I stamped the background with some grungy stamps which I have had for ever, then stamped the 2 butterflies direct onto the card for placement.

The 2 butterflies were from different sets - and remember I mentioned about blob pools?

Well my first attempt ended up very blobby and was still blobby when I stamped and fussy cut the butterflies so I smooshed them through the wet bits and then stuck them on top of the stamped ones!

Hope you can join us this month - the rest of the DT have some fabulous makes to inspire you over on the blog!
Watercolour, Wings and keep your make CAS - that's all you need to do and I am looking forward to seeing your creations! x

Friends

One of the amazing things about Blogland for me has been the number of lovely people who have come into my world and stayed there.
Even though there are many I have never met I feel very lucky to have all these people in my life, they are generous, supportive, encouraging and I count them all among my friends.

My share today is for Loll.  

I mailed her a different birthday card which I hope she has received by now, but this is one I made especially for her for our CAS 'on-line birthday share'.
Once again though I am disappointed with the pic as it simply doesn't show the dimension or colours in a true reflection!

This is a Lisa Horton 3d embossing folder called Bold Blooms inked with shades of pink and lilac.

The sentiment is white heat embossed on vellum.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLL. x

We have had some very hot days recently but it is more normal temperatures now - and with the normal temps has of course come the rain - which although irritates me, it made the garden and my pots happy!
I hope the sun is shining in your part of blogland. x

Sharing my card over at
Inkspirational - prompt word is Precious (which is what my blogging buddies are to me)
Alphabet - F for Friendship
Just Add Ink - Flowers
CYHTP - A/goes

Sparkly Flower

Whilst doing my DT makes for the CAS Mix Up challenge of 'Gels and Pastes', I made a couple more so this one is destined to be added to our gallery which is full of gorgeous creations!
(I'll share the others I made at some point.)

I love this floral spray stencil from Honey Doo - it comes as a pair - this smaller one and a really large one big enough to fill a DL card (which I have - twice!!)

I used another Honey Doo stencil for the background and inked lightly in pastel colours.

The floral spray was done using Glitter Kiss paste which is amazingly sparkly and I love it!
Finished with a gold embossed sentiment.

I am though having a lot of bother trying to find somewhere inside the new place to get decent pics, eventually I will find somewhere that isn't full of shadows or is that bright everything looks ice blue white!

We've had some beautiful weather the last few days - fingers crossed we get more of the same!

Hope the sun is shining in your part of blogland and thanks for looking. x

CAS Christmas - June

I was happy to see that CAS Christmas has also re-started this month after the CAS challenges extended break. It really helps me with the Christmas card stash!

The challenge this time is 'Wreath'.
To make my card I drew a circle with a green watercolour pencil then used a very small ferny branch stamp inked in Versamagic Aloe Vera, over-stamping it lots of times round the pencil drawn circle.

I had another tiny pine branch stamp and added a few random stampings in Sage Green to try and give some variety - Looking back maybe I should have alternated them round the circle as they don't show up too well in the pic but too late now! 
Both of these tiny stamps were free in a magazine some time ago - and as is usual this is the first time they've seen ink.

The candle was a bit of an experiment which didn't turn out too bad. Nuvo Crystal Drops filled in a hand drawn candle - and in real life it actually looks like wax - so a plus!

Red Nuvo used to create a few berries and some gold glitter for the candle flame with an SU sentiment to finish.

I used some ivory hammered cardstock for this make and to be honest it really doesn't photograph very well but thanks for looking.
I'll be back in a couple of days as I have been having a fun time  making messy with pastes and stencils which are our current CAS Mix Up challenge! (If you scroll down you'll see what I have done so far!)
Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

CAS Mix Up Mid Month Reminder

 Mid way through June and here's my reminder post for CAS Mix Up!

The challenge this time has been set by Loll and is a Stencil one using 'Gels and/or Pastes'. I really hope you can join us if you've not already done so and don't forget to make your entry CAS!

I used a colour combo that I've seen several times before and it just appealed to me! Rocket Red and Peacock Feathers are not colours I would normally put together but I think they work well!

I used gesso for my stencil and once the gesso had dried I re-applied the stencil and sponged over it. Did a couple of random watercolour splodges with the Peacock Feathers D.Ox.

The flower is by Visible Image, stamped, coloured and fussy cut. Was a bit fiddly but managed it!

We've some lovely cards in our gallery - hope you are there too!

Thanks for looking! x
PS - Thank you to everyone who sent me cards and messages today, I've had a lovely birthday!

It's a man thing!

 Hands up those who like making 'man' cards........ mmmmmm thought so - not many of you is there?!  And I am with you keeping my hands firmly by my side - but - whilst you're in the mood (and trust me I wasn't to begin with), you have to go with the flow so here it is

I cut a piece of heavy cardstock to the exact size of the Tim Holtz 'Alterations' embossing folder.

I inked it up with Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen and Rusty Hinge randomly to start then spritzed with water before running through the Big Shot.
Left it to dry out a bit.

Rubbed over the top of the impression lightly with Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy, being careful (for once!) not to press down too hard as I only wanted the clock faces highlighted!

Chopped the panel into 3 pieces, matted on gold mirri card and mounted onto dark brown cardstock.
A gold heat embossed sentiment to finish and one man card done!

Sharing over at
TIOT - Man in your Life
Let's Squash It - Make it Manly
Alphabet - E for Emboss
Crafty Friends - Men
CYHTP - A/Goes

We have had a sunny weekend here but it has been very windy - good for drying the washing but not so much for the hair!
Hope the sun has shined where you are and thank you for looking! x

CAS MIX UP JUNE CHALLENGE

 CAS Mix Up is back this month after our extended break. The challenge this time has been set by Loll and is a Stencil one using 'Gels and/or Pastes'. I really hope you can join us and don't forget to make your entry CAS!

I started by using a masked off square and lightly inked using Twisted Citron blending outwards, then took another stencil and lightly brushed shades of pink and green round the square.

My Cherry Blossom stencil is by Indigo Blu. I wanted a shiny effect for the blossom so used some heavy structure gel first which dries clear but leaves a raised impression.

Once dry I sponged (very carefully!) a deep pink over the flowers and a light brown for the branches.

Finished with a few Gold Pearl drops for the flower centres.

It has a wonderful shine in real life and although it doesn't show very well in the photo, the structure gel has given a good dimension.

The sentiment is from Stampin Up.

There are some gorgeous makes from my buddies on the DT over at the challenge blog and our guest designers Jules and Darnell. I am looking forward to seeing your creations in our gallery too!
Linking up at
A2S+M - Stencils
Thanks for looking today! x

Gilded

I haven't played with Gilding Flakes for a while - mainly because I am messy at the best of times and gilding flakes are really not something I should be allowed to get my hands on.😳

I did though manage not to have too much of the stuff floating about the place this time - a minor miracle!

I have used both of these stamps before (card is HERE) but thought I would try the flakes with the same stamps to see what it looked like.

The verdict is - not too bad at all considering I am a 'flaky' novice!

The bird house is a really old stamp from Chocolate Baroque formerly Elusive Images.

I decided at the time that adding more foliage was probably a step too far as no doubt I wouldn't have got it positioned right but on reflection maybe I should have been brave as the bird house does look a little lonely on just a gold line drawn thread.....

And typical me - the black card I used wasn't big enough for my normal size makes so the gold strip was added - which I think finishes it better - so happy necessity!
Am sharing over at
Use Your Stuff - Add Gold
TTPH - CAS
Retro Rubber - Anything Goes
Thanks for looking today - I appreciate you coming to my blog! x

Big!

 I recently acquired an Indigo Blu big butterfly stamp. Have actually used it - and more than once!

The Brushos were out on the desk top as I have used them for another project which will be shared in a couple of weeks time.
I stamped and heat embossed the butterfly before fussy cutting.

I thought that if I cut off the body (psycho tendencies 😈😈- LOL) on one side this meant that I could use the other side complete with body to make another card.....😊

Once the embossed wing was dry I looked for a suitable matching purple ink shade and simply stamped the whole butterfly onto the card base.
A few Brusho spatters and a die cut sentiment dipped in the wet brusho residue on the craft mat - it made for quite a quick card and one for my own stash box!

Work has continued here outside. We have extended the existing patio (those flags were HEAVY!) and rebuilt the dismantled raised bed in the shadiest part of the garden right outside the kitchen window- it's now filled with lush shade loving plants which cheer me up when I am washing up!

Still a bit to do planting up a new border and the all important water sculpture installation - which are jobs to be tackled over the next few weeks - dear husband is prone to reminding me that
'we're not as young as we used to be so everything takes a bit longer'! (Like I needed to hear that.......😒)
Sharing my bodyless butterfly at
TIOT - Butterfly
Dragonfly Dreams - Butterfly

Thanks for stopping by - hope all is well in your part of blogland! x

Wall

We've had some nice dry days recently so the work has continued in the garden and the craft desk has been sat at infrequently.

But I did do a couple of makes and tidying away the usual mess I make (yes I am keeping the new room tidy 😉), I thought I would use the Gesso again before it got consigned back to the cupboard after being inspired by Pinterest.

I have quite a lot of stencils - I have decided I have to start using them more - I buy them, look at them and then they just get filed away!

I have a couple of brick wall stencils but this one is a large one from Clarity.

I started by inking my background in shades of Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet and Seedless Preserve.

Once dry I simply randomly applied the gesso through the stencil.
A bit of random stamping along the bottom and one of my fave sentiments using Memento Sweet Plum
Job done!

Sharing over at TIOT whose challenge this time is Use a Stencil, and over at Colourful Options the challenge is Pretty in Pink.
Hope all is OK in your part of blogland and will get round to catching up with you all soon! x

Spray

We've had some lovely weather recently and it has given me a chance to start re-designing the new home's garden to make it our own so I have been absent from the craft desk for quite a while.

As my back is insisting I have a day off from digging (and it's a bit cloudy!) I have a share for you today.

I love the Delicate Florals set from Penny Black and teamed it here with some background stamping and stencilling.

I brushed the background first with DI's in shades of yellow, overstamped randomly with an old script stamp before sponging through the diamond stencil.

I used my Arteza waterbrush pens direct to the stamp then dragged out the colour with a wet brush after stamping.

Finished with a few tiny gold liquid pearl dots.

When I packed up to move I found the rounded corner punch (covered in cobwebs as it had fallen down the back of a cupboard!) so thought I would see if it still worked. I quite like the soft rounded edges so have put it where I can find it!
Sharing over at
Colourful Options - Yellow
Country View - Spring
HLS Watercolour - A/Goes

Thanks for looking today - hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

 

Flowers

 A quick share from me today -

we have had some nice days this last week and despite still coughing (Can't believe I have been left with this cough and waves of fatigue! Getting better but boy is it slow!) I have spent some time outdoors planning out the changes to our garden, so crafting has taken a back seat.

But I made this after being inspired by Pinterest - in fact I made two similar but will save the other one for a later share.

Just a simple 'fishnet' stamp partly inked and a few black splatters to start for the background then a die cut piece of foliage, a daisy and one of my fave dies, this big Chrysanth bloom.
All just smooshed through some ink on the craft mat.
That's it!

We are having 4 days away with some friends next week - they also have recently moved house so we all think we deserve a rest - although we are hoping to play in a bowls tournament - first time for nearly 3 years since I have played - and only hoping I can stand up long enough and not cough my head off!

Sharing over at TIOT who's challenge is Spring Colours.

Thanks for looking and I wish you all a Happy Easter. x