Mid Month at CAS Mix Up and FINALLY!!!!

Our CAS Mix Up January challenge of 'Loose Watercolour' is half way through and you have until 24th of the month to join us.

There's already some lovely cards in our gallery and we love to see your creations!

I did a bit of accent stamping to highlight the lovely big flower which is from Altenew. It's one from their layered sets and I just used the outline stamp.

Stamped it in a pigment ink in a dark pink shade and then once dry watercoloured.

Hope you can join us this month - the DT and our Guest designer Karen (Random Reflections)
have lots to inspire you!


My lovely blog visitors will know what a terrible trial we have had since selling our home last May and then moving into a tiny (and very cold) rented property supposedly for a few weeks.
Almost 7 months on we finally exchanged contracts on our new home on 11th of this month, we get our hands on the keys on the 19th and our removal firm are booked for 21st.
I cried with relief when we finally exchanged contracts, it has been a long hard few months, fraught with worry wondering if it was going to happen at all.

I have several more grey hairs than I did 6 months ago! Anyway, onward and upward for us now.
The new place doesn't need anything doing in terms of decorating but we do have to buy new furniture so that will be exciting and more importantly I am looking forward to a brand new craft space! (The only downside is no internet until mid February!)
To those of you who have sent me message of support and put up with me generally moaning and being miserable for what probably seems like an eternity, (you know who you are), I thank you and am eternally grateful for my blogland buddies.
I will be back as soon as I am able. x

First Christmas Card 2022!

Last year I joined in at CAS Christmas for almost every month apart from one so am trying to have another go this year. Seems quite weird making Christmas cards so early but last year playing along every month helped me a bit so there was not as mad a rush at the end which was just as well considering the house situation!
I also have not yet re-packed  the few Christmas stamps I'd got out so it made sense to use them!

The first challenge of the year is 'Silver and Gold'.

I took a circle stencil/mask and lightly inked the outside in Hickory Smoke then tore some paper to make 'snow drifts' inside the circle and inked.

The stamps are all from Lavinia and Inkylicious.
The embossing was a bit tricky!

I did all the silver stamping and embossing first, then embossed the gold tree. Used an embossing pen to dab onto the berries and gold embossed.
I was a little apprehensive in case I overheated the silver and made it dull but thankfully it all turned out OK and it really is shiny in real life!

The sentiment stamp was a freebie in a craft mag last year - was quite disappointed with it as it didn't give a crisp impression but you can make out the words 'Winter Greetings' when you have hold of it so overall am quite happy with the way the card looks.
One down - lots to go!
Peace On Earth have a Christmas theme of  'Anything Goes', so am popping this into their gallery too and Country View Challenges January challenge is 'A Year to Sparkle and Shine'.

New Year, New Challenge!

Today is the start of our new challenge after our December break over at CAS Mix Up. Jenny has given us the task of 'Loose Watercolouring'.

There's lots of links to tutorials over on the challenge blog and also some fab examples from the DT and I really hope you will be able to join in with us - after all no doubt you all got lots of lovely stash at Christmas so time to use it!

I enjoyed doing this as it was nice to just be able to watch the colours blend together without any effort on my part - apart from putting the paint on the brush.

Stamped the flowers onto watercolour card and just left to dry overnight. Wet the image then added the colour - simple and looks quite artsy (well I think so anyway!)
It's unlikely to win any accolades from art critics but I'm quite pleased with it!

Quick and easy, added a simple sentiment and matted onto coloured cardstock - job done.

Visitors to my blog will know that the latter part of 2021 was quite a stressful time for me on top of Covid, let's hope 2022 is a better year for us all.
 
Thanks for looking today, appreciate it! x

Watercolour and twigs and Thank You!

 

A quick and simple card - so quick and simple I made a batch of them!
Watercoloured using Distress Oxides, then when dry stamped the twigs.

I resisted the temptation to put berries on them using Nuvo drops as I quite liked them stark and bare. The stamp is by Inkylicious called unsurprisingly 'Willow Twigs'!

One of the things you realise when you're in a confined space is that it really isn't a good idea to spatter your Posca Pen without covering up anything close by - I am currently typing this onto a snowstorm covered keyboard and viewing it through a snowy screen!

I had several small scraps of white card lying about so simply tore them all up and laid over the bottom of the watercolours, then stamped the sentiment (Stampin Up). Altogether I made 8 cards!

As each card only has one tiny snippet I am not sure if Miss Di will allow me to visit the Playground but am linking up and if not she can send me to the naughty step and give me detention!!

Am sure everyone's as fed up as me over my house move saga, so will only say we've not had much movement apart from a suggested date but nothing definite -and it ain't for a few weeks yet cos apparently solicitors (unlike the rest of us mere mortals) have to have extended Christmas holidays... enough said.

I will try and visit everyone in blogland before Christmas Day, but if I don't manage it, I want to wish you all a peaceful, happy Christmas surrounded by everything that is special to you.

Thank you all for sticking with me, particularly the last 6 months which have at times been a hard slog for me, I REALLY appreciate you all, your comments have kept me going.

Christmas wishes everyone and stay safe. xx

Moon

Another Christmas/Winter make.

The Inkylicious moon mask has taken a hammering this year along with a couple of stamps owing to the fact that I cannot access all my stash!

Bottom masked with some torn paper then ink blended the sky. Stamped the Twiggy Branches then removed the mask from the bottom.

It looked a bit bare so more torn paper and more stamping,with a bit (?!) of blending.

I wasn't too happy with the bottom as I went a bit daft 🙈 trying to do snow drifts and used too much ink.
Finished with some White Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Tomorrow should have been Moving Day. Should have been😭😭.

Yet another delay😡 at the top of this chain as their solicitors seem completely incompetent and we were told it is 'unlikely that anything will be done until the New Year'.
Our solicitor is tearing her hair out as we and the lady we are buying from are all ready to go, as is the next two in the chain, it's the one after that that is causing all this stress, grief and disappointment, not to mention cost.
Coupled with the new 'work from home' edict from the Government because of the huge rise in infections here, this will only add to further delays no doubt.
It's incredibly depressing and when you think we should have only been here for about 6-8 weeks and we've now been here 6 months, with cardboard boxes stacked floor to ceiling and furniture stacked everywhere. I am beginning to think we are going to be stuck here forever!
Moan over! x

Majestic

I have ploughed on with the Christmas cards and they're now all done and ready to go.  I held off as long as possible as I thought I may be able to pop in the new address but..................😩😩 so I have spent the morning sticking down the envelopes!

Over the last couple of years I have gone for clear cling stamps and steered away from rubber - I liked the ability to see where and what I was stamping and found it easier to construct scenes.

But there have been some stamps that I liked very much so have stopped bothering about if they're 'see through' or not and just bought them!

This Katzelkraft scene is one of those stamps - and to be honest I have used it to death making lots of Christmas cards with it and just doing different background colours and different moon positions!

This one was an attempt at a subtle Northern Lights background and is one of the lighter coloured mix that I used.

The moon stamp is from Inkylicious
I left them all sentiment-less on the front as I just wanted the majestic image to stand out. I'll share one or two of the others at some point.They have the added bonus of being one layer too!

Linking up at
Sweet Stamping - A/Christmas
Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act
Winter Wonderland - A/Christmas

We have the WORST weather today - lashing rain, some hailstones thrown in and high winds. Winter is definitely here!
Have a good day whatever you're doing. x

Christmas is Coming!

 Despite my entire life being on hold😔 it hit me last weekend that Christmas is not too far away - and although I have some cards made there are a few more that I need/want to do so I thought I'd better make a start!

Here's a share for today.

I made a couple like this - they were quick to do (apart from the fussy cutting of the Robin, not made easy because of the arthritic thumb which has really flared up in the last week)

The twiggy stamp is from PB, simply white heat embossed and then some ink blending done round it.
The robin is from Crafty Individuals and is the smaller one which is the perfect size for a tag (if you use the whole of the stamp!)
I finished it by using some Nuvo Red Crystal drops for the berries.

It's been FOREVER since I managed to post something and link it up for a challenge so am sharing this over at

TIOT - Winter Wonderland
Holly & Ivy - Anything Christmas
TicTacToe #140 - I used the line Red, Bird and Tree

Tentatively we may have some movement on the house - but we have been disappointed so often in the last 6 months we are trying not to get too excited - so we will just have to wait and see!

Thanks for visiting, hope all is well with you in your part of blogland. x

Mid Month at CAS Mix Up

Our 'STENCIL MONOPRINT' challenge is halfway through at CAS Mix Up. My first make at the start of the month is here
It's hard to believe that we are in the middle of November! We all have a little break over December so this is my last CAS Mix Up post of the year - we are back on 1st January with a brand new challenge for a new year (and hopefully a new house for me!)

So I have done 2 cards in anticipation of our little holiday during December - bit of a long post!

The first one is another masculine card using an Art Deco style stencil from Funky Fossil.
The print was done using Chipped Sapphire and Blueprint Sketch inks.

I matted the panel onto dark blue card and the sentiment was stamped in Versafine Midnight ink

The second card has lots of white but has a couple of layers so although not absolutely strictly CAS it does show how much I like messing about monoprinting stencils!

Again my stencil is from Funky Fossil and it gets a lot of use at this time of year - I really like the modern look of the trees.

I used Bundled Sage and Mowed Lawn to pull my print and then die cut the trees.

Added another die cut piece of a snowy hill with trees and an embossed snowy sky.

Lots of gorgeous makes from the DT over at the challenge blog, hope you will have a go at this technique if you've not already done so - it's another way of stretching your stash and the results can be fab!

November CAS Christmas

 It's time for the last challenge of the year over at CAS Christmas. Strange really as although I think for me the last couple of months have gone by slowly, but when I look back the year has gone!
This month's challenge is 'Christmas Critters'.

I don't have a lot of 'cute' stamps but I have one set from Penny Black called 'Holly Days' and I used one from that set for this make.

I ink blended my panel in shades of blue using a mask for the bottom. 

I transferred the mask to the base card and lightly inked along it to continue the hill.

Stamped our happy little soul and watercoloured him. Used a dot stencil and some sparkle paste for the 'snow'!
He makes me smile as he looks so pleased that the sparkly stuff is falling from the sky!

Anyway another one for the Christmas stash which I should really now get round to sorting out and writing!

I managed to take part in all but one of the challenges this year and have enjoyed the different themes, so thanks to the ladies over at CAS Christmas!

I'll be back in a few days with my mid month DT card for CAS Mix Up - but until then thanks for visiting and for any comments you leave. x

CAS Mix Up November Challenge

 This month's challenge at CAS Mix Up has been set by Loll.
It's time to use a stencil and the challenge is 'STENCIL MONOPRINT'. This is one of my fave ways to make a background using a stencil although I confess I am still struggling as no house move date has been fixed yet so concentrating and creativity are a little thin on the ground!
I opted for a masculine card as I never have a lot spare in my stash -

The waves stencil is from Funky Fossil and I used Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon and a little bit of Cracked Pistachio ink to make my monoprint.
The circular frame is supposed to look a little like a porthole!

My little boat being tossed about by the waves was stamped direct onto the background, stamped again and fussy cut then paper pieced after colouring.

I lightly inked through the stencil as normal to give the background of the card a bit of interest and added a couple of birds and a sentiment.

There's some amazing examples of this easy technique over on the challenge blog done by the DT and our guest designer Steph.

There's also links there to tutorials and I hope you will give it a go and join us in the gallery!

There's very little movement on the house front, we are in the hands of others further down the chain and can only hope they don't drag things out unnecessarily.
Thanks for sticking with me and visiting - will stop by you all as soon as I can. x

Mid Month CAS Mix Up

It's mid month reminder time for the challenge at CAS Mix Up. This mixed media month has the theme of BOTANICAL PRINTS.
This is a fun technique and although I am struggling to have any inspiration for card making, I did enjoy the theme set by Bonnie.
Lots of gorgeous examples from the Design Team though and our special Guest Designer Izzy along with some video tutorials all on the blog!

As I steered away from Autumn shades in my launch card, I used them on this one but opted for the duller brown shade rather than the vibrant red and orange with which we always relate this time of year to.
This botanical print was done with leaves from a rather large oak tree which sits at the bottom of the path in this rental house.

I used Espresso Truffle ink to get the impression.

Some soft ink blending for a bit of background interest and matted onto brown card.

The acorns were from a free set with a magazine, stamped, embossed, watercoloured and fussy cut then I added some glossy accents to make them shine.

I apologise for the poor picture which really looks rather 'flat' and doesn't show the colours very well at all - there simply isn't a place anywhere here with good light to take images - soooo frustrating!

Thanks for looking and hope you will join us this month. x

Unmotivated!

I broke my New Year resolution to myself last month by failing to enter the CAS Christmas challenge - it was the first month I have missed this year.

I am finding it very difficult to become motivated or interested in doing much, although things are starting to move a little on the house front although an actual move is unlikely to take place for a few weeks yet.

I was determined to make something for CAS Christmas and not miss another month but found myself staring vacantly at card and ink!
In the end I did a simple remake of a card I made a couple of years ago - altering the colours to comply with the challenge theme of Gray and Red.

Another thing about this house we're in is it is simply impossible to get a decent photo of ANYTHING!

Am disappointed because after stamping my foliage in Smokey Gray ink and my flower heads in Memento Rocket Red, I took out the Nuvo Gloss Drops and painstakingly applied tiny red drops to all the flower heads. - It simply does not show either gloss or dimension on the pic - but it looks OK in real life.

And as I am struggling to come up with anything at the mo, this is the best I can do and I'll just have to accept it!

The sentiment is one of my favourites at Christmas and is from Stampin' Up I thought about altering it to say 'May your season be blessed with a new house'!!

I apologise again for my sporadic (sometimes non existent) visits to you all -fingers crossed for something approaching normality soon!

Thanks for looking! x

CAS Mix Up October Challenge

Bonnie has set this months challenge at CAS Mix Up.
It is mixed media time this month and she chose the theme of BOTANICAL PRINTS.
I had only ever tried this once before and my results weren't brilliant so was a little apprehensive, but I watched some more tutorials and took the plunge!

I was quite pleased with how my attempts turned out - done using leaves from a rose bush.
I wanted to try a different colour than the usual Autumn shades so turned to one of my fave colours - Grape Jelly.

As my Big Shot is still packed away, I just inked the leaves and popped them alongside each other, took another piece of card and just pressed down.
Held my breath when I lifted off the card and leaves but was amazed to find that the impressions were really not bad at all!

Linen textured card, die cut frame, a little bit of ink dusting, some watercolour shading and job done.

The Design Team have some simply beautiful makes using different methods of getting these prints, please pay them a visit and we have  Guest Designer Izzy (Izzy Scrap), who has also made a stunning contribution to our challenge this month!

So put your coat on, go outside, grab some leaves and come and join us!

Ups and Downs

It has been a few weeks of ups and downs so unsurprisingly I've not felt like doing anything.
DOWN - The purchase of the house we have been trying to buy since May has fallen through with the buyer (after weeks of messing us about and running up our solicitors bill) deciding he didn't want to sell it after all.  I have had some not very nice and very uncharitable thoughts about this person.
UP -  The search for another home proved fruitful and we made an offer which was accepted.
DOWN - The lady selling has not yet found somewhere else to live so we are stuck here in the rented house for several more months.
UP - Trying to make the best of things we set to and shifted some of the cardboard boxes and other stuff which were surrounding us in the room where we had temporarily put the work desks and my storage shelves were put back together. OK the other room is like Cardboard Mountain but here in what is now the 'Office' and 'Craftie Space' is tidy and I have rescued some more (not all) of my stash from the packed cases. 

I just fiddled about a bit and made this slimline card using pastel coloured DI's, a Flourish stencil and a stamp that was free with a mag eons ago.
The sentiment is from an Altenew set.

So that's the update from here - and I now have a stable internet connection too which means I can have some time visiting you all. Thanks for looking today! x
Sharing over at -
Cardz 4 Galz - Stencils
Mod Squad - Slim Cards
HLS Stencils September - A/Goes

CAS Mix Up September Challenge

CAS Mix Up September challenge is a WATERCOLOUR one and the theme is AUTUMN COLOURS which has been chosen by Leslie.

I did this card whilst most of my crafting supplies were still packed away and am really happy with the way it turned out!

The stamps were a freebie with a craft magazine last year - an assortment of Autumn stamps, trees, acorns etc. I really liked the small scattered leaf stamp and there were also a couple of really small ones which although fiddly did the job.
After stamping the leaves at the bottom, I used a wet brush and smudged the ink a little.
Am hoping that I have projected an image of an Autumn woodland floor!

We have a great guest designer this month and the rest of the team have made some beautiful cards to share with you all - hope you can find some time to watercolour something with those lovely colours that Autumn brings and pop it in the gallery over at CAS Mix Up!

Making Do for CAS Christmas!

 At the beginning of the year when I made the (now rash) promise of joining CAS Christmas' challenge every month, I didn't know that space and supplies would be at a premium.

I spent a little while searching for my Kraft card without success  - undeterred though, I decided the best thing I could do when living in a cardboard box filled house was to take a pair of scissors to one of them!

I chopped a square(ish) piece and ripped it a bit   (I can't wait to be doing that to them all I can tell you 😈)

The stamps are all from a never before used Creative Expressions set called 'Inky Christmas'. I just chose two of the smaller bauble stamps and a grungy spotty stamp, stamped the cardboard and heat embossed in white, with a bit of random embossing elsewhere.

This is definitely NOT one of my better efforts  -   hey ho 🙅....... and I doubt if it will stay on the white textured card base but the cardboard from the box was simply too thick to make a card with (or even cover the front of a card blank).  I think it will look so much better on a Kraft one. If it doesn't then it will find it's way out with the rest of the cardboard.....💣
Still, am content because I have kept my word to make a card every month for the challenge!

CAS Mix Up August Mid Month Reminder

The move to our  rented accommodation went relatively smoothly - despite it being the hottest day of the year - the poor removal men were melting!
We're surrounded by boxes - and are just waiting for the legal process to complete so we can buy and move into our next home - likely to be another 3-4 weeks at least - which is trying my patience a little.... so dear husband thought it would be a good idea to set me up a small work area (and it IS small compared to what I had!) before I went completely crazy!
He also bought some wireless thingies that plug into the back of the PC so I can get on the internet occasionally!

We found a cardboard box which had some crafting stuff - not much but better than nothing - and as I really wanted to try and join my teamies at CAS Mix Up for the mid month I cobbled together a card!

The challenge set by Jenny is to 'stamp through a stencil' and I used a crackle stamp on my ink blended butterfly, embossing the crackle in Platinum.
The grungy diamond stamp was the only one that I could find in the box that looked OK to highlight the butterfly.

I need to find somewhere where the light is good to take my pics too but at least I managed to make something and stave off the withdrawal symptoms a little - not sure how I will get on with other makes whilst we are in this state of limbo but well see! 

I will try and visit everybody when I have a good internet connection and thanks for looking today. x

CAS Mix Up August Challenge

 Scheduled post!
The challenge this month at CAS Mix Up has been chosen by Jenny and she has set us the task of 'Stamping through a Stencil'. 

This flower stencil was a present and I really do like it!

These 'hot' colours are ones I don't use very often either!

I added some tiny stones to the flower centres for a little bit more interest and used the same WOW Polka dot stamp on the base card to reflect the  stamping on the flower petals.

(I really wanted to use orange base card but having packed it away in a removal box it wasn't an option!)

We have two guest designers this month too -
Bobby (bits & pieces) and  Michelle (I Card Everyone) so please pop over to see their lovely creations and those of the rest of the DT.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by the blog today.
Appreciate it! x

Absent

 I've scheduled this post as I wanted to share another make for the challenge at CAS Mix Up which is to use Alcohol Inks on Vellum. My other posts for the DT are here and here
Also sharing over at  MMM - Trees

My vellum sky was done using Watermelon, Orange Sunset and Citrus alcohol inks, mixed with a liberal helping of blending solution.
The trees were popped onto the base card and the vellum piece with 3d foam and it has quite a good dimension in real life.
The sentiment was inked in Memento Canteloupe which is not a bad match at all!

I will be absent from blogland for a while as I'm taking an enforced break from crafting.

We have sold our house and are having to move into a rented property on 21st July as the purchase of our next home will not be completed until September.

 

So the craft room has been finally all packed away - I am hoping to be able to do a little whilst in the rental as I will get withdrawal symptoms if I have to wait till September to get out the card and inky stuff!

 

We also are in the process of the sale of mum-in-law's flat and purchasing a new apartment for her so as you can imagine we are currently meeting ourselves coming back and I can honestly say it is now official - I HATE CARDBOARD BOXES!🎁
I will visit you all as soon as I am able to! x

CAS Mix Up Mid Month Reminder

 Half way through our challenge this month at CAS Mix Up and the challenge is a mixed media one set by Coni who wants us to use Alcohol Inks on vellum.
I had a little bit of inky fun using some of the blues from my AI collection and came up with this.

I was a little apprehensive about heat embossing the sentiment - thankfully the vellum behaved itself and didn't warp!

This wavy stitched die is one of my more often used.
I stamped and heat embossed the shells and starfish then fussy cut, a couple of heat embossed seagulls finished it all off.

I rarely use my Alcohol Inks so it was good to dust them off for this challenge and it reminded me that I do like making an inky mess from time to time!

I'm particularly happy as the vellum used was a left over piece as were the 3 wavy die white pieces - so it's off to visit Miss Di in the Playground too!

We have some great cards done by the DT and in our gallery - lots of inspiration to be found. Grab that vellum and come along and join us!
Also sharing over at
Krafty Chicks - CAS