Hello Love!

I don't do Valentines.    He doesn't do Valentines.    We have never done Valentines.
That's because it is Dear Husbands birthday - (we don't do Birthday cards either which is surprising considering how much I like making them!) - and because everywhere is full of lovey doveyness on 14th we normally end up having a birthday meal at another time!
I have though made a card which is a CASE of a CASE that I did a couple of years ago.
It is not for Valentines specifically and I think it could also be used for Christmas or anything else so have CASE'd it again!

The image is from A Day for Daisies.
I don't use digis a lot (although I have loads of them) as I always end up not getting the placement right/ printing them out too small/too big/ not waiting long enough for them to dry before trying to colour etc etc etc. List is endless!
And I DO prefer to actually hold a stamp (or put it in the MISTI) but I think I need to try more digis as there are so many really nice ones out there!

A simple card and the colouring is not the best as I have seen this image with proper shading on her dress and it looked amazing - sadly I am not that good with the Promarkers!

I glittered her wings and halo and added a few sparklies.
The sentiment is by SU.

Lots of love themes around so am sharing over at
Cute n Crafty - Love
Use Your Stuff - Hearts
Dream Valley - Love
CUYL - Love

So kitchen slowly taking shape - no water connected yet - hopefully that will be in the next 24 hours - then at least I can get some washing done. I confess I am fed up with the white dust that pervades everywhere in the house - made worse by the bare concrete floor.
We are likely to be almost there apart from the floor by the end of the weekend - so at least I will be able to start putting some of the stuff that currently is living on all the bedroom floors back!
Will be round to visit you all a bit later! x

Another Stencil

Earlier this week I shared a make here with Brushos and Stencils. As I had the Brushos out and my first attempt turned out OK, thought I would try another!

I think I may be getting hooked on stencils! And I am going to blame it on some (talented) crafters over at CAS Mix Up as I wouldn't have bothered with stencils if it wasn't for them deciding to start a new challenge - CAS Stencil.

This amazing flower was amongst the pack that I got from AliExpress and I used Scarlet, Orange and Yellow for the petals and a teeny amount of Brown for the centre.
Once again there was panic when the colours began to pool together!

I wasn't sure about the way the centre turned out initially but it grew on me as I waited for it to dry.
I randomly added some small seed beads to the middle.

Opted for no sentiment as think the bold flower makes enough of a statement on it's own!
I had some odd bits of coloured card which were a good match for the shades I used so after cutting out my flower with a stitched square die I layered it onto them.
A few Brusho ink splats on the base card and done!
Also sharing over at ATS+M where the challenge is Make Your Mark

We have rather a nasty stormy day here and normally wouldn't consider venturing out - but lack of cooking facilities mean we don't have a lot of choice so it will be coat/hat/boots/gloves for our daily meal out trip!
Have a great day whatever you're doing and thanks for visiting! x

Stencils and Brushos

CAS Stencil challenge this month is to use powdered inks.  I have just acquired a few small stencils so played about with them and my Brushos. Was a bit nervous at first as I have never used Brushos on a stencil before and worried about the inks running underneath the stencil but I watched a couple of video tutorials over on the CAS Stencil blog and plunged right in!

Here's my first attempt
The stencil reminded me of a Rennie McIntosh rose.
I was careful and taped it in place on my watercolour card  and made sure it was secure and held in place as tight as possible.


I used Yellow, Orange and Bright Red brushos.
I am normally VERY heavy handed with Brushos so I was really  extra careful this time, making sure I didn't use too much and was also very sparing with the water! I used a Mini Mister and sprayed from a LONG way above the stencil!

Panicked a little bit as the colours pooled and kept my fingers crossed that it hadn't 'leaked' underneath.
When I was feeling brave, I carefully removed the stencil and this is the result. Not bad even if I do say so myself!!

I found some red card in the paper mountain which was a near enough match to the red Brusho and finished it off with a simple sentiment stamp from Altenew.

Full of confidence 😳😳 I got out another stencil right away and had another go!! 
Will share in the next day or so once I can take a pic.

Sharing my make over at  SSS Monday - Add Some Red and at Colour Throwdown (check out the blog for the colours).

The kitchen has some units assembled!!! And all my appliances were delivered today. Still no electricity/water/etc etc but a start made.... only another 8-10 days to go! 
AND I have been told by Dear Husband that I HAVE to make my mind up about the new flooring PRONTO.... 😟 well - have whittled the 10 that I liked down to 3..... so maybe by the weekend I will have decided??
Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Love is everywhere..... except in my kitchen!

As currently the house is in a state of disarray🙈🙈 (no kitchen - just a bare concrete floor and re-plastered walls, no electrics, no water, nothing, zilch), I have had to spend the weekend sat in what little uncluttered space was left on the top floor.
There was me thinking that I would be able to come back from our little break (more on that at the bottom of the post) and be able to not find white cement dust everywhere..... WRONG!!!  The lounge has the old kitchen table and chairs in it, the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms turned into store rooms and the top floor the same, so surrounded by glasses, pans and the like (did ALL that stuff actually come out of the old units???) I made some room on my craft desk.

CAS Mix Up's challenge this month is 'Dimensional Dies' and although I hate mess anywhere else except the craft table, I managed to find enough spark of imagination to come up with this card. 

Coveted this stitched die for a while and was very happy when I returned home at the weekend to find it waiting for me!
I stamped the back panel in Versafine Smokey Grey Ink as I thought black may be too stark. The stamp I used is a very old one and as I removed it from it's wood backing a long time ago have no idea whose make!

The heart die cut was triple embossed with 'Red Tinsel'.  It glittered quite well but had a slightly rough finish to it, so gave it the Glossy Accents treatment!
Very pleased with the way it turned out when dry. Here's a close up.

Added it to the little stamped panel with some foam pads and then die cut the 'string'.
I hooked the little curl of the string around the word die and simply stamped to finish.
(Dimensional Dies/Stamping/Embossing)
Quite happy with the way it turned out all things considered!
Sharing  at
Allsorts - Love
CUYL - Love
JUGS - Love
JOS#2 - Glimmer/Red/Heart
Country View- Black/White + One
MTTC - All you need is Love
Time Out - Inspired by the hearts on the pic (to see it please go to their BLOG) 
And finally - a great week away with some really good friends, lots of food/drink and a bit of bowling thrown in!
4 years on from first winning this trophy we managed to do it again last week!  A lovely end to a lovely week.
Can only hope that in another 10 days time the kitchen also has a lovely ending!

Sorry this has been a picture heavy post! Hope all is well with you all - and thanks for visiting me today! x

February at Stamping Sensations

Our February challenge at Stamping Sensations is ' Happy Anything'! So that can be a wide range of things that need to be celebrated - a birthday, anniversary, wedding etc etc the list is rather a long one!
We're sponsored by Bee  Crafty - They have fabulous stamps and stencils, and loads of other things too, and our lucky winner will be able to choose £25 of goodies from their online shop.

Please read the rules on the CHALLENGE BLOG before submitting your entry.

It struck me that whilst I have been trying to use up coloured cardstock, it was a long time since I last used some of the Kraft card.

I had a piece cut from a larger sheet so as I'd made my mind up to use it I simply worked a colour combo round it.

The Teasel stamp and sentiment is from Bee Crafty BEAUtanicals collection and I teamed them with some other floral stamps from my stash.

Inked them all in Black.
I took a couple of different wildflower stamps and inked them in Weathered Wood DI, gave them a quick spritz and just randomly stamped.
A few ink spatters and the front was done.

Matted onto the Kraft and attached the sentiment with a grey (almost Weathered Wood colour!) brad.

Hoping that you will find some time to join in this month!

I am joining in at
A2S+M - A/Goes
Crafty Creations - A/goes
Aud Sentiments - A/Goes + sentiment
MAWTT - Add a Sentiment
CRAFT - A/Goes

Special Day!

Over at Pixie's Snippets Playground, Di 👸 recently celebrated her SEVENTH anniversary as Headmistress of Pixie's, having taken over at the beginning of 2012 from the lovely Jules!
Fancy having to put up with us lot for that long!! 🙈🙈😁😁
If you don't know about the Playground 😞 (and I can't believe you don't!!)  and fancy joining in this fortnightly challenge, all you need to do is bring your creation with at least one element made with a snippet ~ that is a scrap/left-over/tiny tatty bit of paper left lying on the desk!

I have made many friend in blogland over the last hundred years (actually it's 13 but I thought that may be unlucky......) and Di is one of them.
Darnell has set up a Linky Party for all of Di's friends to get together en mass to thank her for all she has done for us all these years!

To play along, please post a card and thank Di on your blog, and then go visit Darnell and link your card on this post.

So in honour of Di  here's a snippet make for this week.
Textured card left over from the previous make made into two squares. Smaller one inked with Scattered Straw and Tumbled Glass DI.
A little bit of shadow stamping and some Gold Pearl used on the top of the bolder flowers, a few birdies and a sentiment stamp especially for Di.

Also sharing at
Allsorts - Friends
ATCAS - Friends
Time Out - Inspirational Quote (Friends)

I am away for my penultimate duty as part of the Bowls England Presidential Team this week, so will catch up with you all when I get back (providing the kitchen fitters have not demolished the house) - thanks for visiting me - Have a great week! x

Rainbows

The Card Concept  has an inspirational pic of Rainbow Cupcakes (HERE) which matched an inked background made for another project that I never completed (😏😏)- and thinking back I had made 2 cards using a die cut and the negative left over.

So my original idea (which was just shades of blue), the yummy cupcake pic and a trawl through my 'card ideas' folder' produced this! (I cannot credit for it as the link no longer exists, but the addition of the 2 strips down the side of the white textured card were from the ideas folder).

I cut out two flower dies from the inked panel and another from the white, and using the negative from the white positioned it so you couldn't see where the coloured flowers had been cut from.  So no waste!
 
I really like the vibrant hues to this make although I think maybe I should have used a different colour instead of the Pistachio at the bottom but overall am happy.

Sharing this over at
Crafty Creations - A/Goes
Creative Crafters - A/Goes
HLS (Dies) - A/Goes

It has been a bit of a dusty week here.
Dear husband and a friend took up the kitchen floor in preparation for a complete kitchen makeover which starts next week and is expected to not be completed for 3 weeks.
The very large tiles that were down were 'a bit of a 'pig' to get up'  (I've cleaned that up a bit 'cos that's NOT the word dear husband used) and the dust created got everywhere despite best efforts to contain it - even onto the craft desk etc which are on the 3rd floor!
Happily for me I will not be here next week when the wall tiles are removed (more dust) and the re-plastering commences - sometimes a duty at Bowls England CAN be a blessing!
Hope all is well in your part of blogland! x

Blue and Silver

The challenge at CAS Christmas this month is Blue and Silver. 

I only wish that the taking of the pic of this card was a quick as it was to make. I have had a pig of a job trying to get a photo that didn't have a real icy blue tinge on it.

However, several hours after the first pic attempt I have finally got a reasonable one!

I took some fern and pine needle stamps, inked them in Versa Summer Sky and just stamped randomly at the bottom and sides of the card.

The 'Snowberry' is from an old Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) set  and heat embossed in silver.
Some of the berries are simple outlines so I added some silver Nuvo Crystal drops to the larger ones.

The die is a new purchase (a bargain!) and I silver embossed that too after cutting out.

So into the stash for Christmas - not a bad idea to try and do a couple of cards each month -  I doubt if I will stick to it but will try!

We have had some snow showers today, although nothing has stuck but boy is it cold! So perhaps the blue/silver combo is just right for today!
Hope you are warm wherever you are!

Joining in at
SSS (Wednesday) - CAS
A2S+M - CAS
ABC Christmas - B for Berries
Christmas @Sweet Stampin - Anything Christmas
Craft Rocket - Winter

Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

Our challenge at Stamping Sensations is 'Fabulously Feminine'.

I was sent this Stampin Bella stamped image by one of my friends after drooling over it - see -  if you annoy someone enough they give in to shut you up! 😂😂

 Showing no shame either I also copied the same colour scheme!

 Seriously tho' I really do love it so thank you (you know who you are x).

I used Promarkers to colour - Poppy and Ruby for the jacket,  Apricot and Honeycomb for her skirt.
I had some tiny black gems so they doubled as buttons.

I fussy cut her out (not a job I am going to repeat!) and popped her onto a Sun Ray embossed background which I thought was perfect for the sentiment using foam pads so she stood out.

We have an amazing prize this month - please visit the challenge blog to check out what it is, and
PLEASE read and follow our rules before linking up.
If you don't follow our rules the DT can't comment on your entry and then you can't be in with a chance of winning!

Sharing at
Cardz 4 Galz - Dimensional Element
I love Promarkers - A/goes
Crafty Creations - A/goes

CAS Mix up - Mid month reminder

It's middle of the month and time for a reminder for the CAS Mix Up challenge.
Was so proud to have been asked to be guest designer this month and I have enjoyed revisiting the long forgotten technique of Bokeh. (be warned - there are more made yet to share!)

For my mid month post I have gone for coloured Bokeh instead of the usual white on a darker inked background as I did for my first post here

I used a stencil I made myself from acetate and circle dies and selected 3 shades of ink in soft pastel colours.
Inking then commenced!
When done I cut it out with a wavy stitched die.

The sentiment is a Technique Tuesday die and stamp and I finished my card front with a flower die before layering it onto the base card.

 Still time to have a go and join us - and lots of inspiration to be had over at the blog!

I am sharing this with -
Alphabet Challenge-  Use stitching (my frame die)
Crafty Calendar - Make it Flowery
CAS on Friday - Flowers
HLS January - A/G with Dies
Crafters Castle - A/G + Fun Technique

Happy Thoughts

A simple and quick CAS card to share today but the pic quality is not the best as once again it is a grey damp and windy day!

I promised myself that I would try to enter the new challenge at CAS Stencils this month.

This brand new challenge is all about playing with stencils and learning how to use stencils with different techniques and different products.
It aims to make us stretch our stencils and if like me you don't own many this can only be a good thing as it will give me the opportunity to try what few I have in different ways.

The first challenge is the basic 'Sponging' technique and my other 2 choices are Stamping and Die Cutting.
I sponged my little circle stencil (a magazine freebie I only bought the magazine as it had 4 free stencils! ) with Squeezed Lemonade DI.  As it is only small I had to move it around to re position a few times.

I then stamped the SU black grid and the tiny splats which had been stamped once on scrap paper before stamping onto the card so they weren't too harsh.

The black butterfly was die cut from some black pearlised card and the sentiment is from Technique Tuesday.
Matted onto black card before popping onto the card base.

Joining in at
Creatilicious - Something New (and that's my stencil!)
Crafty Catz - A/Goes
Cardz 4 Galz - New Stash

Thanks for looking today. Enjoy your weekend. x

A Commission!

Over the last couple of years I have rarely made any commissioned cards due to lack of time but a few months ago a close friend asked me to make her a baby card.
Her daughter had given up all hope of ever becoming a Mum so it was much excitement and trepidation all round when they got the news that she was expecting -  not least because in the normal course of things she was considered 'past the age' !!!
(In her 40's! -positively ancient 😲😲!!)

Baby Zach entered the world yesterday so I now can share the card.

I opted for a relatively simple card using an old image from Sugar Nellie - I have had this for a long time and it is one of my favourites - not least because I am pretty useless at shading and this stamp already has it.

Pearlised card used for it all - the embossed background was a piece I had cut out at some time and never used so I just tidied up the edges.
The oval (another odd piece of card!) is of course a Spellbinders die, and I inked the edges in Tumbled Glass DI.
Baby was coloured with Promarkers

The sentiment and the corners also inked were cut from some snippets of pearlised card.
The lace, ribbon and heart charm all from my stash.
Oh and here's Zach!

 Popping over to the Playground to see what everyone has been up to.

Also joining in at  
TIOT - Something Old (Image)/New (Baby!)
PB&M- New beginnings
Fab n Funky - New Beginnings
Cupcake Insp - New

We are having 2 new external doors fitted today - woke up to thick frost this morning - the poor workmen are frozen.... me - I'm tucked away in the Craftie Space at the top of the house with the heating on!! 
Oh and here's Zach!

Have a good day whatever you're doing! x

A new challenge year at Stamping Sensations!

It's time for our first challenge of 2019 at Stamping Sensations and this month we have a terrific prize for someone - full details at the bottom of the post!

Our first theme this year is   'FABULOUSLY FEMININE - suitable for a lady'.  
Lots of scope for you to create something pretty!

So here we are -

Quite a change for me to do 'frilly'! Just lately I have been leaning towards more CAS cards simply because they don't cost as much to post!

Lots of coloured card in this craftie space and immediately someone says 'girly', I reach for Pink! The next sheet in the pile was a scrummy dark chocolate brown colour and they looked OK together!
I stamped and clear embossed the flower (SU) onto the pink background card.
Then stamped it twice more onto white card and once again on the scrap of pink left over from the base, using a brown ink.
Assembled it all onto another scrap of pink card before layering it.
Finished with a large brown bow and a couple of pearlies!

Now about our prize - just in case you didn't get enough crafty stash over Christmas we're giving someone the opportunity this month to win a STAMP BUNDLE!

Ten stamps (yes I did say TEN) go to the person our Design Team vote as their winner this month - how can you resist?? 😍😍

Please follow our challenge rules and make stamping the focal point of your project! Look forward to visiting you to see what you make!

Joining in at
Simply Create Too - A/Goes
Creations in Pink - A/Goes
ABMTTC - A/Goes
CDTCB - Open Challenge #1
Craft-Dee Bowz - A/Goes

Guest Designer at CAS Mix Up!

Super excited to have been invited to be the Guest Designer over at CAS Mix Up this month after winning the November challenge, although I did have to think a bit as the technique is one I haven't done for a long time!

But as I started to do my Bokeh background I wondered why I had hadn't done these backgrounds on more things!
Bokeh is a simple technique really - so there is no excuse for me not doing it more often! And you can use a variety of mediums to create the effect.

I used Distress Inks in shades of Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon and Stormy Sky for my background and a White pigment ink for the circles.

Originally I was going to make my own circle stencil but then I remembered I had this one by Inkylicious called 'Bubbles'.

I had no idea what I was going to do until I finished the background and then the card just came together.

The colours which are amongst my fave DI's just reminded me of the sea so Miss Mermaid seemed to be appropriate!
She is from a freebie stamp set which I have had for ages and never used.

I stamped her sat on her rocks twice onto white card and fussy cut. I had to extend the rocks as they weren't big enough to cover the whole of the card base!
I coloured her with the same Distress Inks mixed with a bit of Golden Malachite and Tropic Blue Cosmic Shimmer Powders - her tail is lovely and shimmery! 

Popped her rock seat on small foam pads, slid the background in behind then sat her back on top.
Finished off with a couple of Dew Drops and a sentiment from the same set which I rather liked.

There it is - my GD card - Bokeh, Stamping and my choice was watercolouring!
There are plenty of Bokeh tutorials on You Tube if you've never tried it - and it would be lovely if you could join in - you can see some wonderful examples from the talented lot on the Mix Up DT over on the blog.
Happy Crafting and Happy New Year!x

Santa has been!

Happy Day after Christmas!
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day - I did - lots of lovely crafty stash from hubby... who proved that whilst I was muttering about  'Mmmmm that's a nice stamp - would really like it '  he was listening!
So I plan to spend the next couple of days playing about with the new stuff - be rude not to show how much I am enjoying the presents now wouldn't it???😊😊
Unsurprisingly though, today I am going to share a card made for sending next year - another one inspired by a Pinterest trawl.
(I actually don't know how many hours I spend looking at other peoples stuff instead of making myself!)

This card all made with little snippets of card laying about from the big Christmas card make, .

Have now had a BIG clean up on the desk and I was surprised to actually SEE the craft mat - been a long time since I have made it's acquaintance!

Used a 'snow' embossing folder on the card base and die cut 2 small circles.
On the smaller circle I brushed over some Peeled Paint DI then had a little bit of splattering fun with Festive Berries DO.

The holly flourish die I have had for a while, and the larger holly leaves and berries was a purchase earlier this year. Both again cut from tiny bits of card. The larger die cuts out the leaves and berries separately - trying to find 3 tiny berry circles amongst all the mess on the desk was fun (not 😕)

After painting all the die cuts I used some Glossy Accents on the all berries and sprinkled a little glamour dust onto the berry trio.
The sentiment was coloured with Festive Berries and also given a dose of glossy accents.

Am paying a visit into the Playground - (hoping that there's some Mince Pies left), although I will have to be well wrapped up as I am still suffering with that nasty cough!


Enjoy the rest of the Festive holidays everyone! x

Santa is on his way

I love this Santa stamp!
Sadly he doesn;t belong to me so when I got an opportunity last year to steal him for an hour from a crafting buddy I stamped him rather a lot.... brought lots of him home.... and promptly forgot about him. 😧😧

So there I was putting away the Christmas stash for another year and he was there looking at me from the drawer.
He was still smiling so maybe he isn't too annoyed - and hopefully he will still come and visit me in a couple of days.

Coloured him lightly and popped him behind a die cut frame then added a few holly bough die cuts.

Gave him a bit of sparkle and finished card - unfortunately he will have to go back in the drawer now till next year!!

I have been quite poorly this week with what I can only describe as what started off as a cold but quickly developed into the worst cough in the universe. 😷
I ventured out to do some food shopping on Thursday and it only served to make me worse. I have been indoors ever since.
I am hoping that by Monday I at least start to feel a bit better - otherwise it will be Christmas Day in my PJ's on the sofa wrapped in a blanket feeling very sorry for myself!

If this is your last visit to me before the Big Day, I wish you all a happy Christmas surrounded by those you love. xx

Joining in at
MMM - CAS Christmas
Use Your Stuff - Christmas
LRW - All things Christmas
Dies R Us - Christmas
TIOT -  Santa

Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

Not long to go before 25th and it is time for our mid month reminder at Stamping Sensations. If you're needing last minute reasonably quick cards here's one! Our theme is 'GLITTER AND SPARKLE'.

I am STILL trying to use up the coloured card mountain - barely a dent sadly..... but I AM trying!

Navy blue card this time -

Stamped and embossed the snowflakes then die cut the oval aperture.
Took a scrap of glitter card and die cut a smaller oval, then put it on small foam pads behind the big oval.
I stamped and embossed the tree on the base card then simply layered it all up.
Added a teeny sparkly at the top of the tree and job done! Quite pleased as it looks very effective and didn't take long to do.

Be Creative are our sponsors this month so make sure your entry has stamping as the focal point to be in with a chance to win, pop over and link up and good luck!

Last Minute cards

I for the first time in a long time am not panicking that I haven't made enough cards!
I am just using up stuff out on my desk and have made another for next year's stash.

This was seriously one of the quickest cards EVER!

A couple of (very) old tree stamps stamped and heat embossed onto a scrap of linen card.

Some Stormy Sky DI and a penny to create the sky!

A sentiment stamped inked in Versafine Majestic Blue.
Some Stckles sparingly used for a teeny shimmer of snowdust
All layered onto a base card and done!

Joining in over at
Allsorts - Trees
HIMCR - Keep It Simple with Xmas
HLS CAS - CAS Emboss
Fashionable Stamping - Winter

Well the snow I was looking forward to didn't materialise at all - so contented myself with making snowy scenes instead!
Hope all is well in your part of blogland and thanks for stopping by. x

Is the snow coming?

We may have a light dusting of snow at the weekend.... it probably won't last but I confess to liking to look out at the snow covered fields!
So my share is a card featuring snowflakes today (in anticipation!😀😀)

I have had this snowflake background stamp for several years. I have no idea of the manufacturer as it is another I removed from the wood block as my stamp collection grew and I needed more storage space!

The stamp is only about 3" x 2" so I had to randomly stamp a couple of times to cover the card front then heat embossed in white.

I brushed over Tumbled Glass DI and then 'polished' the card front with a paper towel to remove any excess ink from the top of the snowflakes.

I cut the card with a wavy stitched die then mounted it onto base card.

The snowflake was cut from some left over blue sparkly paper which matches the DI and I added a blue pearl in the centre. Finished by stamping the sentiment and heat embossing onto a scrap of vellum.

Joining in at
Cute Card Thursday - Embossing
Back 2 Basics - Resist technique
C@SS - Anything Christmas
HTSB - Tic/Tac/Toe (Snow, Blue, Emboss)
City Crafter - Snowflakes
CAS Mix Up -Emboss Resist/Stamping/Die cutting

And armed with my little bits of leftovers I am popping over to the Playground to see Miss Di, Parsnip and the gummy fur ball Dudley (he's losing his baby teeth!) - he's been the doggy parlour too so he smells nice!
Hope you are all safe and warm in your part of blogland and thanks for visiting. x

Poinsettia and Pixie Powders

It's a horrible day here! The wind is howling so a perfect day to sit in the craftie space - like I needed an excuse.
This card was inspired by a lady called Holly Brown who made several cards like this in different colours.
I have much neglected the Pixie Powders and the Brushos of late in my desire to make quick  CAS cards but to be honest, this card was really just as quick as many of the others I have made.

I have the Powders and Brushos still out on the desk so am going to do a few more in different colours and then do some for Birthdays instead of Christmas using different flowers. 

I only have 3 Poinsettia stamps. One is for layering/die cutting and not suitable and the other is a PB Watercolour one - again no good for this!
This one is from PB's Wonder Collection and was a challenge win some time ago! I teamed it up with a Holly stamp from Woodware's 'Christmas Greenery' set.

Stamped, embossed then masked the Poinsettia then stamped and embossed the holly.
I used 'Midnight Blue' Pixie Powder on watercolour card.
I am still perfecting using powders -but think this one turned out OK, although I usually am too heavy handed when sprinkling the powder.
The sentiment stamping was a disaster hence the addition! 

Sharing over at
Alphabet - S for Seasons Greetings
Just add Ink - 'I'nky Techniques
Allsorts - Christmas Flowers
Beccy's Place - December
The Flower Challenge - Use an Older stamp

Thanks for looking and I appreciate any comments you leave.
Hope you are warm and dry in your part of blogland! x