Half Way at CAS Mix Up

This months 'Sunflower' challenge at CAS Mix Up still has a little time to run and on a grey and very wet day I made another sunshiney card.

The stamp is from Waffle Flower and called (unsurprisingly😉) Sunflower Love.

It's one of those stamps that I have used quite a bit (unlike a lot in my stash that have seen ink once or never).

Stamped it and after colouring with my Aquarelle watercolour pencils fussy cut the image.

A mooch through the cardstock stack resulted in me finding some card which went really well with the flowers so happy days!

So my elements for this challenge are the THEME (Sunflower), CHALLENGE (Watercolour) plus the required STAMPING. 

For those who think at CAS Mix Up we only accept white backgrounds, we treat coloured cardstock as the same as white card. 
As long as there's open space (one colour, no pattern)  it fulfills our CAS rules. Please visit the blog for the rules!

There's still almost two weeks left for this challenge to run so I hope you'll make something Sunflowery and pop it into our gallery - we love seeing them!

I am sharing my bright sunflowers over at
Beautiful Blossoms

Thanks for looking - and I hope the sunflowers have brought some sunshine to your day too! x

Pretty Papers

Time to sort out some of your paper stash for the challenge this time at TRY IT ON TUESDAY! 

The theme is 'Pretty Papers' - so lots of things to do with that pile that's lurking in your craft space!

My paper is from a 12 x 12 pad bought a while back in The Range. 
Bought for no other reason than I liked it.

No idea why really as I prefer to make my own backgrounds rather than use patterned paper but it was a nice paper pad so it came home with me!

I used some of the pad to make 'Exploding' boxes and this was left over. 
Luckily I had a few pieces which I could trim up into triangles for the front.

I die cut the flowers and foliage from odd pieces in the 'Should Throw Away But They May Come in Useful ' box!  

Stamped the sentiment, layered it onto am scrap of pink card and cut round it with scissors.

Come and join us with your pretty papers for this challenge!

Hope all is well in your part of blogland and thanks for looking today. x 
Sharing over at
Snippets Playground #541
Beautiful Blossoms #45
Paper Rocks Scissors #20
Love those Pretty Papers

CAS Mix Up - September challenge

 Bobby is the host for our September challenge over at CAS MIX UP and this time our challenge involves Watercolouring!

The theme is Sunflower. There's some videos over on the CAS Mix Up blog to help - just remember - your make has to be CAS.

My card is made using an Indigo Blu stencil. The stencil is half sunflower and half mandala.

I outlined the petals with Mondeluz Aquarelle pencils then simply drew out the colour with a wet paintbrush. Once dry I went over the base of each petal again with a darker shade of orange.

A few spatters (as always!) and the sentiment is from Card-io.
Go look at the challenge blog and see what the rest of the DT have done this month - and I hope you'll join us! 








Sharing over at 
Stencil Fun - A stencil with the option of yellow
Inspiration Station - Sunflower
Ellibelles I Spy - Sunflowers

Bossing it at Try It On Tuesday!

This time the TRY IT ON TUESDAY challenge theme is 'EMBOSSING - WET OR DRY'.

I love this embossing folder from Altenew and the monochrome look was an accident really.

At first I intended to colour the debossed flowers then do the blackout embossing technique, but I was playing around with the black ink first and just swiped it over the debossed side to see what it looked like!

I was a little unsure at first - I thought maybe it was a bit too much/overpowering so I left it on the desk for a couple of days whilst I worked out if I could do anything with it, like maybe cut it into panels etc.

3 days later and I decided each time I looked at it I liked it a bit more than the previous time! 
I think it's the 'drama' of the stark black and white that has appealed to me so it was simply mounted onto black card and a white snippet strip added to the bottom.

I am undecided if I will add a message - I have a simple 'BLOOM' stamp which I may use (white embossing on the black in the top left) or I may simply leave it as it is!

I'd love to know what you think of this card? Like it? Love it? Loathe it?!
Thanks for looking and hope you will join us at TIOT with your embossed make! x
Also sharing at 
CYHTP - A/Goes
Mix It Up #85 - Embossing

Inspired by a Song

 Over at TRY IT ON TUESDAY we're asking you to make something that's been INSPIRED BY A SONG.

It's been a long time since I fiddled about and made lots of  mess but I had an 'itch' to make use of a piece of board which had been sat in the cupboard.  

(It had a 'friend' too so I did another 'go with the flow' piece which I will likely share at another date -  well - I didn't want to have to clean up  more than once and the desk looked like a bomb 💣💣had hit it!)

Attached to the boards was a plastic bag with odd cardboard shapes inside which I know were left over from 2 mixed media canvases so I used some of them too. 
I must have bought these boards over 10 years ago so I am now patting myself on the back that they have finally been used.  In truth I had forgotten all about them 😳. (Am linking up to NBUS and Neglected Stuff Challenge)

This 6" square was treated (?😏) to lots of stamping, scribbling with a white pen and some acrylic paint over a piece of patterned paper (which may be Crafty Individuals.... or not!). 
I tried to not think too much and just let the piece kind of evolve.

I punched two holes in the top and threaded a bit of rusty wire (Lord knows where that came from!) for a hanger.

The words 'HAVE FAITH' are of course from a George Michael song simply entitled 'Faith' - and the little green triangle needs to have faith that there is room for him in that circle.😊

Hope you like my little attempt at coming back out of my shell a bit - I enjoyed doing it (and it's friend) but the newly manicured nails not so much 😧 - which was when I remembered why I don't do this kind of thing very often!

Another for CAS Mix Up!

As I'm the host this month for the CAS Mix Up challenge I thought I'd do another make!
My theme is Stencil Over Patterned Paper and to be fair it was not a technique that I've used often but surprisingly I enjoyed doing it! 

The hardest part was picking out a patterned piece that I thought I could do something with and to create within the rules regarding the CAS remit (which are on the challenge blog)

This piece of card was one of those that you like but don't know what to do with! 

It came in a pack of 'tropical' themed backgrounds and to be honest I wasn't sure that pink was the best colour option for ferns.

Anyway as luck would have it I had a fern stencil (bought some time back and never used) which was perfect. 
(Sharing over at NBUS and Stencil Fun too!)

I used Cosmic Shimmer Sparkle Paste and was really pleased with how it turned out. The sparkle is really good and I actually managed to apply it smoothly and evenly without smudging anywhere else!

I opted to stamp the sentiment in pink to tie it all together.

If you've not tried this technique please give it a go - it's amazing what you can do with a piece of patterned paper! (My first card is a little down the page)

Lots of inspiration from the rest of the CAS Mix Up DT  and a few tips and tricks on the blog too!

Thanks for looking  and have a great day whatever you're doing. x  

Colourful at Try It On Tuesday

Here we are with another challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY and this time the theme is 'MAKE IT COLOURFUL'

I opted to do a simple and easy make using strips of coloured card - you know from all the millions of odd bits we save cos they'll come in useful....... and in fact never use!

I used up quite a few odd scraps cos I made a couple of these and made the fronts different by using different flower dies and using different greetings.

They'll be handy in the card box and am also linking up to Snippets Playground with my snippets make!.

Hope you can join us - pop over to the challenge blog and have a look at the colourful creations from the DT!

Thanks for taking the time to look in on my blog. x

CAS MIX UP August Challenge

I'm hosting the challenge this month at CAS Mix Up and it's a Stencil one - use your stencil over patterned paper.

There's a couple of video links over on the CAS Mix Up blog to give you some ideas and of course you can see what the rest of the talented team have done to inspire you! There's also some guidelines for the challenges in general.

I used a piece of patterned paper from an Indigo Blu Magazine - it had daffodils on it but there were some large spaces which had a more muted background design, with some lines and a bit of scripty flourish.

Wild Honey (very apt!) sponged over a honeycomb stencil to create my finished background.

The bee is from the stamp set that came with the Magazine. After watercolouring I used a liberal helping of Glossy Accent over his body and applied some very fine glitter to his wings.

For a change I used some hammered textured cardstock instead of my usual bright white - I like it!
The sentiment is from MFT.
The CAS Mix Up rules are over on the challenge blog - have a look!

Summer Blooms

We're definitely in the middle of Summer here and our challenge for the next 2 weeks at TRY IT ON TUESDAY is called Summer Blooms. 

Whilst having a look through saved stuff I came across an image which as well as being really pretty, it also meant I could use up some coloured card from the cardstock mountain!
It's been a long time since I bought any coloured card - and also a long time since I used any too!

The stamps are from Altenew and I coloured the image with Aquarelle pencils before fussy cutting and sticking to the coloured base.

I hope you'll go visit the challenge blog and the rest of the DT and look forward to seeing what 'Summer Blooms' you share with us!
 
Have a lovely day! x

Sunshine!

Trying to escape from the current heatwave has meant retreating to the craft space armed with the floor fan!

I used to soak up the sun in my younger days but have found as I have got older the heat and humidity has become unbearable - and I resort to being agitated and grumpy - well a little bit more agitated and grumpier than usual that is!

In my cool crafty retreat (!) I have caught up on makes for the card box and this is one of those.

I have been experimenting with coloured card and my watercolour pencils.

After gold embossing the stamp (Sunflower Love from Waffle Flower), I coloured it in the shades similar to the coloured card base.

Really quite like the result and as I have lots of coloured card I shall do this again!

It's been a long time since I linked up a make at a challenge blog other than my two DT spots but I am linking this over at -
Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral Goes

Thanks for looking - and have a great day whatever you're doing! x

Animals

 Here at TRY IT ON TUESDAY our new challenge is called simply 'ANIMALS'
Your animals can be real or imaginary so there's lots of options!

Its been a very long time since I purchased a craft mag - but when I saw the one from Indigo Blu recently I simply HAD to have it.

I ADORE this fox! I've used it such a lot - same with the hare - and to me these 2 stamps alone were worth the price of the mag.

I used a piece of paper from an Autumn coloured pack from my stash which I overstamped with a leaf branch from Inkylicious using Memento Rich Cocoa ink. 

I then sponged a bit of Speckled Egg DO randomly and did some more 2nd/3rd generation stamping of a script stamp in the cocoa colour.

The fox was stamped in Vintage Sepia and I just used a yellow pencil lightly on his eyes. 
Matted onto brown then layered onto Kraft base.

Thanks for looking - hope all is well with you in blogland. x 

We're back!

After a long absence CAS MIX UP has returned!
It's great to have the team back together - some old faces/some new ones and I am soooo happy to be back and part of it!
All the info as to what is happening and the rules are also on the CAS MIX UP blog.
Our challenges run for 1 month, all the rules are shown on the challenge blog and there in my sidebar. 

Our first challenge is a mixed media one, simply called 'ECLIPSE'.
Please make sure your creation follows the definition of Clean and Simple and your make must include stamping.
There are some video tutorials to help you along the way on the challenge blog and also some amazing inspiration from the Design Team and our Guest Designer this month  Michelle (I Card Everyone) 

 I really hope you will link up a creation to the gallery. 

This was my very first attempt at this technique - I stamped and heat embossed then watercoloured. 

I have no idea why I have never tried this before as I really like the 3D look.
I was that excited 😄I made two! 
Thanks for stopping by. x

In the Garden

The challenge theme this time at TRY IT ON TUESDAY called 'In the Garden' gives me an opportunity to share another page from my fabric book!

This is the centre of the book.

Some stamping again like the other pages but no floral fabric background, just left it plain white as I wanted the lace embroidered flower piece to take centre stage!
 
I have to thank my friend for this beautiful piece of lace which I had to chop up to make it fit on the pages - was a 'hold your breath cos if you ruin it you're not going to get anymore' kind of ten minutes as I attacked it with a pair of scissors!

I positioned it first and pinned it then decided where I was going to stamp.
After stamping I very carefully stitched the lace pieces into place. 

I remembered I had a teeny bee stamp in an old Hero Arts set - loved💖 him! 
He was fun to stamp then embroider him hovering over the flowers deciding which one took his fancy. 
I resisted any notion of adding a couple more as I thought it was nice that he had all these pretty flowers🌸 all to himself!
 
The bird house might have been from Clarity eons ago and I found the small butterfly on a stamping block at the back of the drawer.... (don't say anything.....) 

No secret garden is complete without a lock and key to the gate is it?!

Thanks for visiting me today! 
PS The front cover of the book is HERE if you haven't seen it. x
PPS - I am currently away celebrating a birthday (you know one of those that have a zero on the end) so will catch up when I get back. x

Flying High

For the next 2 weeks our challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY is called 'Flying High'.
So anything that flies in any form - which gives lots of scope! 

Sometime back I was given a very very large collection of costume jewellery which was no longer needed.

I have made a few sparkly things for Christmas (the post is here if you want to look) and lately have fiddled about making a few pictures which no doubt will appear on my blog at some point!

This one though is quite a large piece, which I have made for a crafting friend for her birthday.

My hot air balloon is made up of all bits from the costume jewellery box and a few pearls from my stash.

The top is a necklace (disappointed as pic doesn't show the sparkle really - the edges of it are tiny rhinestones which really do catch the light!) and the 'basket' at the bottom is a large earring

The focal point in the centre was a necklace  and I added a teardrop shaped earring at the bottom - mainly to fill the space!

I used pieces from a bracelet and some silver chain (that was a nightmare to glue without leaving marks)

Normally I put pieces of jewel art onto a black background but thought blue was better for this piece.

Hope you can find time to join us for this challenge!
Thanks for looking - appreciate you taking the time. x
  

Circles

Here's my take on our challenge theme over at TRY IT ON TUESDAY which is called 'GOING ROUND IN CIRCLES' 

As buttons (in the main) are circular I got out the box and lifted out a selection

Using an Inkylicious Willow Twig stamp and the grass stamp from Skinny Trees set for the background with Versafine Shady Lane, I did some first and second generation stamping.

Ink blended the background with Bundled Sage for the bottom and then used the pink, yellow and blue blending brushes without loading any more ink! It was surprising really how much there was left on the brushes and it gave just enough colour for my background.

Once the buttons were stuck I mixed a little ink in similar shades to the buttons and did a few spatters.  

My only deviation from the 'circle' theme was the white heart button - (it also has some white spatters round it but you can't see in the photo) as I am giving this to a good friend who says her life is a constant battle with weeds in her garden so the sentiment seemed very apt!

Hope you will find time to join us this challenge and thanks for visiting me today. 

(I appreciate everyone who takes time to leave comments and also who send me messages privately. I have good days and bad days but the good ones are now far more in number than the bad and am a lot more positive thankfully. Love to you all.x) 

Simples!

 We would like you to KEEP IT SIMPLE for the next fortnightly challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY!

I have done a very quick and easy one layer card and try as I might I simply couldn't get a decent pic! 
I spent longer trying to take a photo than I did making the darn card! 

I used a Lavinia stencil and lightly sponged over it with Bundled Sage DO.

The stamps are mega old (one of the stems has simply disintegrated!) but they're a much used set.

All the stamping was done with Versafine Shady Lane.

Once dry I used a white Posca pen on the seed heads and then dotted some Stickles onto them. They look real nice in real life and for a really quick make I am happy (for once!).
Look forward to seeing your creations over at the challenge blog. x

Another page

Here's another page from the fabric book (well two actually!)
These two are the last page and inside back cover and it has been a labour of love. 

My lovely visitors will have already seen the front of this book which I have been working on for a while - it's now finished and I still have some pages to share. 
(The front cover is HERE)

Am so very grateful to a good friend who introduced me to 'Slow Stitching' when things here were at rock bottom. 
Not only has it helped my health but it's also served the purpose of making a very large dent in all those scraps of lace, fabric etc which have accumulated over the years!

I simply sat and hand sewed odd bits of stuff and with the exception of me deciding I wanted to do something 'frothy' which also reflected my love of birds and flowers there was no definite plan.
I did what I wanted and didn't concern myself if the stitches were untidy or the edges frayed. The whole point of slow stitching is the mindfulness, where you shut out everything and just let things evolve. Perfection isn't the point - the journey is.

I can honestly say that this has been the best therapy.
Life now has got so much more positivity and I am thankful.
Sometimes 'hanging in there' makes your arms ache but it makes your shoulders stronger!

Thanks for looking. x 
It's been a long long time since I have linked up to any challenges but here goes
Snippets Playground (all my fabric/lace are leftover snippets)
Neglected Stuff
Triple B
Ellibelles Garden Party #14

Mid Month at TIOT

As promised here's the second make with the stencil for our current challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY, where the theme is NUMBERS.

I used a stamping block for the centre inked with Fossilized Amber DI.

The stencil was inked in Cracked Pistachio and Fossilized Amber.

The Dandelions are Lavinia.

I made a mistake when I stamped the sentiment - I wanted the dandelion seed to seem as if it was carrying off the word flies..... but in a moment of brain fog I stamped it the wrong way round! 
Hey ho.😞😟              

There's a week left for you to join us with your Numbers creations! x 

Countdown?

 NUMBERS is the challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY.

I'd already made my mind up to use the Woodware numbers stencil  as it was the only thing I could think of.... but then sat looking at it wondering what else I could do!

Remembering a very old Visible Image stamp set  I rooted about until I found it. The numbers stamp and the sentiment are from that set - it's called Time after Time - and have no idea how long I have had it - except I think it might have been one of the first VI sets I ever bought!

Inks used - Cracked Pistachio and Tumbled Glass.

I made two cards using the stencil - (the second one is scheduled for mid way through this challenge) -  as it was out of the desk I might as well use it, although it is not one of the stencils I like to use a lot - it's long and thin and moves about a lot as there's not a lot of places to stick tape to in order to make it secure. 

Was just glad that I came up with something on the theme! x

Inky

This is my make for TRY IT ON TUESDAYS new challenge which starts today. 

The theme is 'MAKE YOUR OWN BACKGROUND'.
It's been a while since I got out any inks and made a mess on the craft mat and I started without any real ideas in mind!

I made a couple of background pieces using just 2 different colours on each one and this is one of them.

Speckled Egg and Pumice Stone just swiped on the mat and then the card pressed down randomly.

Didn't think it looked too bad so this was the first inked piece I used.

I'm trying to motivate myself to clear out the craft room. 

We're having new flooring in a month or so, so of course all the cupboards have to be emptied. 

To my shame I found this uninked and obviously unloved Woodware stamp during a half hearted attempt at putting some stamps in a box.

No idea how long I have had it either. I stamped it in Rich Cocoa ink and then just highlighted little bits of it with a blue pencil. Stamped a small script and a bit of a crackled stamp to give a bit of depth to the background.

The stamp has now been consigned to the 'get rid of' box as I doubt it will ever see ink again! 

Thanks for dropping in. Hope you can join us this time at Try It On Tuesday. x