January Card Chain Challenge

My card for the first Card Chain Challenge of 2023 went to Pia in Norway!
There were a few challenge options to choose from this time and I managed a couple - the colour option is always the one I go to first but this month I was also able to use the Product/Technique option of Distress Oxides and as Pia and I have been following each others blogs for some time now she is amongst my blogland 'friends' so I also could use one of the theme options too.

Here's my make. Over time I have made a few of these using the same basic design but in different colours. Blue shades, Orange shades  and Lilac shades to name just 3!
This is the first one using Pink!

A little moon mask started the background and I blended some Picked Raspberry round it first then moving downwards lightly, before swapping the colour for Saltwater Taffy to fade it down.

The darker of the floral branches were stamped with Altenew Razzleberry ink.

The second and third gen stamping was done using Versafine Clair Charming Pink. The stamp is from an Oriental Blossom set by Inkylicious.

I die cut the branch and birds and then gave the birds a quick blend with the remainder of the  Picked Raspberry left on the blender.
Added the little sentiment and then die cut the arched frame (Moonstone Dies) for the panel to sit behind.

It's not an exact replication of the colours on the challenge post but not far off!
I received a lovely card from Carol - and if you fancy joining in this month you have until 6th Feb to sign up - just go to the CCC blog!

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

Misty Magnus

 Brrrrrrr!!! Really cold here these last few days - and because of the ice underfoot I am feeling a bit stir crazy as I've been unable to go out for my walk - a few steps to open the shed door every morning is the most steps I have achieved.
I have a large camellia in a pot that is simply full of buds so it's living in there at the moment. The poor daffs and hyacinths that dared to poke their heads out must be wishing they hadn't bothered too!

Anyway being stuck indoors meant I had a look at what I could do - other than stare out at the beautiful bright blue skies - and found a Lavinia tutorial on social media.

This is what I managed to produce - it's not perfect but it's not too bad either. (Well, I don't think so anyway!) Although when I looked at others I began to think it was JUST passable!

Working with black cardstock was a bit of a challenge I admit (the tutorial made it look easy - don't they always! 😀) however I think I may try a few more as I quite like the dark and mysterious!

I need a lot more practice with white pen highlighting too.

I had some difficulty taking the pic which is really irritating 😠. Am not sure if it was just simply the light or the combination of the black card base with the blended oxides on top - although it is supposed to be very misty the photo made it look downright foggy!

It was good trying out another new technique and passed some time while I wait for the thaw - the idea of blending inks onto black is probably not new to most but if you've not tried it have a go!

I hope you're warm and dry in your part of blogland and thanks for looking today! x

Sharing at
MMM - Fave theme from 2022 - #189 Winter Card (Not Christmas)
A Place to Start - A/Goes

Blown Away

After a little trawl round Pinterest (spend more time on there than actually making!) I had a not particularly successful play with my Brushos and a stamp which is NBUS!

After the weather we have had in the last couple of days (with yet another grey wet and windy day here)and the dreadful storms and floods others are experiencing across the pond I thought this Katzelkraft stamp was very apt!

I am not very good with Brushos. I have now been practicing with them for what seems like EVER and never seem to improve. My bin is full of discarded soggy pieces of paper!
 
This share is one of the more passable attempts - so you can imagine what the discarded bits look like 🙈🙈 - but at least I tried! If only it looked as good as the one I originally saw and tried to emulate!

All that said I DO love this stamp as it just strikes a chord with me.
Whilst out of it's packaging I stamped a couple more images and will make CAS cards with them I think - cos the Brushos are back in the drawer until I feel like inflicting some form of torture on myself again!

This card is now in an envelope ready to be sent to a friend who is currently having all that is horrible about life thrown at her - Thanks for looking today - I hope you're warm, dry and safe wherever you are in blogland. x
Sharing over at
TIOT - In with the New
MMM - New
Sweet Stampin' - New

and of course visiting the NBUS challenge blog too!

December 2022 Card Chain Challenge

It's reveal day over at the Card Chain Challenge - and my goodness this month WAS a challenge!
There was this simply HUGE Tic Tac Toe board - 25 squares in all - I wonder if anyone managed to use them all?  Not me that's for sure, I had enough trouble selecting five! I chose the second column - and got my thinking cap on.

To be honest once I decided on which line to use, I managed to pull together a make which I sent to my partner Joanne this month and hope that she likes it!
So here's the challenge line I chose-

Slimline, Bird, Black, Deer and Stars

My background was done using (from the bottom up) -
Seedless Preserve, Victorian Velvet, Shaded Lilac and Chipped Sapphire. I lightly inked the moon blending outwards with Iced Spruce.

I am a relative newbie to this challenge but it's kind of given me something to aim at - and it has the added bonus that each month you receive a lovely hand made card from somewhere else in the world!

I received a lovely Christmas card from Kath in this month's chain- a beautiful row of tiny poinsettias- delicate and very pretty - thanks Kath! x
 
Thanks for looking today - December simply flew by - in fact 2022 flew too -
Happy New Year to everyone! x

Catching Hearts!

 My goodness it has been so cold this last week! I know many in other parts of the world experience arctic conditions much worse and for longer periods but here it is so unusual for it to be sub zero for so many consecutive days.

Thankfully this morning, although still cold it is a little warmer than it has been and the forecast is for it to get higher temps in the coming week - but we're to have rain!
So not sure which is the best, cold and ice with bright blue skies or warm and wet but grey overhead!

Whilst making this (another Pinterest inspired card) I thought how cold this poor fairy's bum must have been sat on the snowy floor.....  😨😄 (I resisted the temptation to outline it in white!)

There were a couple of things that perhaps I could have done better -
I was irritated that I didn't manage to align the hanging string when extending the dangling heart but don't think it looks too bad (if you don't inspect it closely!👀🙈)
and I don't think the 'grass' stamped at the bottom of the pine cone spray was the best idea but I will know for next time!

Despite several different stamps this really didn't take too long to do and overall I am contented with how it turned out.
I am now finished with making my Christmas cards! 

Sharing at
Jingle Belles - Wrapping up 2022
Country View Crafts - Christmas
Krafty Chicks - CAS

Snowy Landscape

There is no sign that the current freezing cold icy weather will disappear any time soon, so after a short trip out to collect an ordered present I holed myself up in the Happy Place where it is lovely and warm!

I have been having lots of inkyness just lately having visited Pinterest. I am in awe of the talent so many possess with their gorgeous scenes and I thank them for inspiring.

Here's another I did after a Pinterest trawl -
I love these Lavinia foxes. Am practicing very hard with the white highlighter on the fur - not quite there yet but improving each time.

The sky imitates what I looked out on today! It was quite misty fog earlier and only cleared mid afternoon. The grey sky was achieved by smooshing Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide and flicking some water across it. I masked off the bottom with some torn paper before smooshing.

Blended a little Fossilized Amber over the top for a watery sun and stamped a few branches after making a few snowy drifts.
As usual I had to splatter!

Another practice session completed and another card for my stash!
Thanks for looking. Hope you are warm and well in your part of blogland. x

Sharing at
Time Out - Winter
TIOT - Winter Wonderland
MMM - Winter card

November Card Chain Challenge

This month in the Card Chain Challenge I sent my card to Dee in Kenya!
I chose to do the colour option (well tried to anyway!) and used a stencil as the technique option.

The Lavinia stencil was inked using Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink - my substitute for Slate
I stamped the pinecone branch, tree and the berry wreath using Versafine Clair Pinecone - my substitute for Chocolate
I painted the berries with Carved Pumpkin Oxide and used the same to stamp the stars.
I finished with some orange glitter on the fir tree - well you've got to have a bit of bling haven't you!.

I know it's unlikely Dee will see snowy fir trees in Nairobi so thought I might send her some wintry greetings from here!

It was really nice receiving my card from Jeanne last month - happy mail!
I've signed up again for the December challenge - if you aren't in our chain of happy mail, pop over to the blog and sign up - you still have time!
Thanks for stopping by today - have a good day whatever you're doing. x

More Christmas!

A couple of weeks ago a DT post that I had scheduled published - which would have been OK if the  challenge that the post had been done for was still running!

It was only on my blog for an hour and I know a couple of people saw it before I took it down but it was only a couple so I am sharing it now.

I really enjoyed doing this 'reverse stamping on vellum' technique and I have made quite a few cards using different colours for different things.

This snowflake card done in white embossing and a much used icy blue shade of ink was really quick to do with various snowflake stamps and the technique is simple to do.

I started with the white embossing first and then stamped the reverse with a pigment ink.

I die cut the bottom to give lots of white space as this was for a CAS challenge but think I will do a whole panel for the front of a card as the technique gives an elegant look.

I hope all is ok in your part of blogland and thanks for looking. x

Sharing over at
ABC Christmas - X for Xtra Special
Merry Little Christmas - Christmas/Winter
CAS on Friday - Greeting Card
TIOT - Traditional Christmas

Peaceful Winter

I am well into Christmas card mode and here's another.
Have kind of rediscovered my enjoyment of ink blending recently too - I still like CAS a lot but there's something about trying to make a scene blending inks - and of course there's always Pinterest to be inspired by!

The background sky for this was done in Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire Oxides, using a large moon mask.

The fir trees are among some of my most used stamps and are from Inkylicious.

I stamped them in Versafine Clair Morning Mist rather than black ink as I wanted a softer effect.

The tree branches were second and third generation stamping in Chipped Sapphire and a couple stamped in Brilliance Moonlight White.

The little deer (he really is tiny!) was a freebie in a mag - maybe last year - and so was the sentiment.

A liberal spattering with a white Posca pen and my traditional snow scene was done.

I am carrying on making for the forthcoming Artisan Fair and it's strange because I actually don't feel under any pressure to produce lots of stuff, and am just bimbling along! I've done candles, some wooden tree decs and lots of lovely Fairy Baubles as well as cards so maybe it's the variety of makes I am enjoying more?
Anyway, thanks for looking and hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Sharing over at -

TIOT - Traditional Christmas
Use Your Stuff - Winter/Snow
Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

A Winter Scene

 It's not quite Winter yet - or if it is no one has told some of the summer plants in the garden - I still have fuchsias and alstromerias in flower and this morning 3 cone flowers have appeared! Although the temperatures are dropping it is still relatively mild for November- even my Christmas Roses have decided to poke their heads out.

All a far cry from my snowy scene here!
I bought this Inkylicious Ornate Leaf stencil when it first came out and to my shame this make was the first time it's been used - but I made 3 more similar with it so I didn't feel quite as guilty.

A quick card really with some ink blending, stamping and glitter.

Used Tumbled Glass and Blueprint Sketch oxides inside and Iced Spruce for the shading and Versafine Clair Twilight for the figures and trees. The dark blue made a change from the usual black I use for silhouettes/

I think I may need a little more practice with the shading at the outer edges - I was bothered about putting on too much and making it really dark!

The stamps are all from Cardio.
Sharing over at
Fab n Funky - Shades of Blue
LRW - Winter
Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

In a moment of madness I agreed to take a table at the local Community Centre for their Christmas Artisan Fair so have spent some time stamping on candles (a first for me and dead chuffed with myself!), and making Fairy baubles as well as cards. Am working on the basis that if all leftovers will simply end up being used by me!

Hence why my blogging is sporadic at the mo but now am a bit better organised I can sit and visit everyone!
Thanks for looking today - hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Ooooops!!!

I have been such a bad blogger lately and real life has just got in the way - so much so that I didn't check all my scheduled posts.
I know some of you saw a post from me yesterday for a CAS Mix Up challenge. This was a scheduled post and it shouldn't have been published.😵

CAS Mix Up sadly is no more and I know there were some of you who left comments saying they were glad it hadn't closed after all BUT am afraid it has!😢😢
I am really sorry to have got your hopes up and if nothing else it has made me check carefully that I have nothing else scheduled to go live when it shouldn't!

xx

October Card Chain Challenge

Today is the day of the big reveal for the October Card Chain Challenge.
This is the first time I have taken part in this and it was fun to create something that I knew would be going to Robyn in Australia.
This month I used the option of the Fantasy Folk theme along with the colour palette option (I am not very good with sketches!)

The colours don't have to be exact matches so here's my card

(Oh and before you say there's no 'folk' on the card they were far too cold so have gone indoors!)

 
For my 'silver' I used Iced Spruce Oxide, my 'blush' was a combination of Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet (cos I didn't think the Spun Sugar was enough on it's own) and my 'frost' element is the ice on the tree achieved by white watercolour with a thin coating of Nuvo shimmer.

I did the background ink blending first then stamped the Inkylicious fir trees.

I then remembered that the Inkylicious icy tree branch is also meant to go on the right!

So I stamped it onto acetate and then pressed down onto the card to get a reverse impression then went over the outline with a black pencil.

The fairy tree pods and the little house are Lavinia.

I really enjoyed doing this - I hope it got to Robyn in time and that she liked it!

Autumn has come round fast!

Back home after a little break with some friends and on our little jaunts out it was really apparent that here in the UK Autumn has arrived. Doesn't seem that long ago when I was greeting the spring daffodils!

Another card inspired by the photograph taken on the recent walk (see photo here)  and back to CAS this time - although I have been going a little mad with inky backgrounds just recently, more of which will be shared in due course!

A simple watercoloured background (the pale blue sky hasn't shown up too well 😔) fading to a grey horizon and then the straw coloured wheat and wild poppy field.

The sentiment I have decided is definitely one which will be used often - as it is so true.

Sharing over at
Alphabet - N for Nature
Addicted to CAS - Autumn
Dragonfly Dreams- Autumn

Some time ago we were lucky to see a huge sculpture by Luke Jerram of the Earth, this week we saw another of his amazing works currently on show at Lichfield Cathedral - the Moon!

They are enormous, detailed and very accurate, (although obviously not to scale!). But just like the Floating Earth, his Moon sculpture is taken from actual images supplied by NASA so all the craters etc are actually what the surface is really like and in the exact places.

It makes you realise how small you are! Fabulous! Live in the Moment indeed.

Leaf

I love the colours of Autumn so have no idea why I opted to steer away from the rusty orange type colours when deciding to use this stamp but thought it would make a change!

I watercoloured three straight colour blocks using Distress Oxides Squeezed Lemonade, Bundled Sage and Cracked Pistachio.

I used a rectangle mask to try and achieve (reasonably) straight edges and painted inside.

Not too bad and I quite like the fact that some of the colours have run into each other.

The leaf and sentiment stamped with Versamagic Ocean Depth which is fast becoming one of my fave colours and as usual with me I had to add a few ink spatters!

Sharing over at
MMM -  Autumn Flora
SOS - Leaf it alone
A2S+M - Any Occasion

Have braved the terrible weather here this morning (lashing rain!) and popped down to a local Macmillan Coffee Morning. Two pieces of cake later I thought the time had come to go before I was tempted further!
Now an afternoon at the craft desk for me! Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

A bit of inky magic (and a picture heavy post!)

Sharing an inky make today!
Whilst I love CAS, I also love ink blending - I made a card in similar colours a little while ago (here) and I liked the way they blended together so made another.

The colours are all lilac/purple shades and pinks.

I used a moon mask from Inkylicious this time instead of my usual coins as I wanted something a bit bigger!

All the stamps are Inkylicious and Lavinia.

This was sent to a friend for her Birthday although I left the front without a sentiment - I just liked the scene as it was.

Linking up at
Alphabet - M for Magic
Fairy and Unicorn - A/Fantasy Goes

We had a few days away last week in the beautiful Lake District - so lucky to be so close to this lovely part of the world and we were blessed with sunshine during our stay. Took hundreds of pics! 
Despite my iffy knee we had a tramp up to the very top of Gowbarrow Fell - a great sense of achievement for me although I regretted attempting it on the way back down😔 - and of course the following day my knee told me in no uncertain terms that we weren't going to repeat it anytime soon!
But - we managed to take in such a lot whilst there - here's some pics.

Thanks for calling in today - have a lovely weekend! x

CAS Mix Up Mid Month Reminder

 Half way through Hilary's challenge at CAS Mix Up where we have to use Gesso and a Stencil!
Lots of lovely examples over on the challenge blog and also some links to video tutorials to give you some inspiration.

The stencil is from Honey Doo and I used Spun Sugar ink over.
The butterfly was coloured, fussy cut and given a liberal helping of glossy accents so it shines bright.
The sentiment is from SU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly this is our very last challenge at CAS Mix Up, I have loved being on the Design Team with the most talented group of crafters.

Thank you to everyone who has played along over the years, it has been a joy to see all your wonderful creations. x

Inspired by a walk!

We've been out for our usual walk this morning, and as always we remind ourselves how very lucky we are to have all this countryside on our doorstep and also be within 10 minutes of the coastline!

I always take lots of pics when we're walking as I enjoy comparing the season changes, watching the planting, growing, harvesting etc as well as the changing colours.
This morning's fave pic -

Autumn may well be on it's way despite us having some very pleasant temperatures!

This field is the last one to be harvested and I suspect it won't be long before it's done.

I came back and sat at the craftie space and made this card.

The reverse stamping on vellum technique is one which I am enjoying (even if I'm not enjoying trying to take decent pics!)

The pic looks like there's a shadow or a dirty mark on the last seed head.... there isn't!

This stamp is from Bee Crafty Beautanicals collection and is the smaller of the Teasel set.

The reverse stamping was done using Versamagic Sahara Sand.

Made for no other reason other than the teasels were in my head when we got home.
Sharing over at 

Country View - Season of Mists and Fruitfulness
Four Seasons - Autumn

Thanks for looking! x

Snow and Ice

Over at CAS Christmas the latest challenge is 'Sparkle and Shine'.
Well, I mean who doesn't love a bit of glittery stuff? Having found the glitter card, I sat and looked at it for a while then I remembered I had bought a Hot Off the Press die last year in a clearance sale and never used it because when it came it was far bigger than I expected! (Note to self - read descriptions and take note of sizes!) It's not massive but at the time it didn't suit me!
Anyway, I used it finally today.

I die cut the skates in silver glitter card then die cut again in bright white Centura Pearl card and pieced the white inside the silver.

The branch is an old Spellbinders one which is probably one of my most used.

Cut the branch from some silver sheen card which isn't as reflective as mirri card and I like it better - I think it looks like the branch has been embossed.

Die cut a couple of snowflakes and then assembled it, using a snowflake embossing folder for the background..

Quite pleased with the result - it really is sparkly and shiny - and I am thinking how nice it would be to be near an icy lake with sparkly skates on - cos after a very dull morning the skies have cleared and it is very warm here at the moment!

Thanks for looking. x
Sharing over at
NBUS #42 - (cos this is the first time for my dies)
Peace On Earth - A/Goes
CHNC - A/Goes with option of the letter 'S'
Sparkles Forum Christmas - A/Goes
A2S+M - Christmas

CAS Mix Up September Challenge

This month at CAS Mix Up Hilary has set the challenge of 'Using Gesso with your Stencils'.
I have used Gesso for mixed media projects but rarely on a CAS make so I had to think quite hard! I must have been on my own as when I saw the beautiful makes from the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer Sue I wondered why I struggled so much when everyone else had done such beautiful makes!
Anyway here it is -

The cogs and gears stencil is from Hunkydory.
After painting on the gesso and letting it dry I had a bit of a crisis moment as I simply couldn't decide what colours to use - I didn't want orange rusty colours but something more subtle as I'd already made my mind up on the colour of the base card!

Delving into the drawers I remembered I had several pots of Imagination Crafts metallic gilding wax in different colours so thought I would try them out.

White Gold, Pewter and a tiny amount of Green rubbed all over my stencilled panel and then wiped off with a cloth gave me a dark background with the stencilled cogs taking on a dark silver.

Was quite happy with the result although if I did it again I think I would use Cobalt with the green to give a more verdigris type effect!

The die cut cogs are Spellbinders using the same gilding wax.

This card looks so much better in real life - taking pics using metallics has to be one of the hardest things!
There's lots of inspiration over at the challenge blog and links to videos if like me your initial reaction to the theme was dread!

Have fun, get the gesso out with your stencils and make something CAS and share with us! x

Moments

 

I found a Brusho background done some time ago so used it up and made a few cards from it.

All quick, simple and easy as Mr Mojo is on walkabout currently and I'm finding it very difficult to put together any ideas.
In fact am finding it difficult to even HAVE ideas!

I think the foliage stem circle die is by Memory Box but am not sure.

I added a die cut circle frame over the top and the sentiment from Inkylicious was stamped in grey ink for a 'softer' look.

One for my stash box!

Am sharing this at~
TIOT - Keep it Simple
A2S+M - Make Your Mark

I hope you are also having sunshine and warm days like we've been having - and if you see my Mr Mojo lazing about on a deck chair somewhere will you please send him home? x

August CAS Christmas

This months challenge at CAS Christmas has the theme of 'Pine'.

Dipping into the Christmas boxes I came across a Uniko stamp set which fitted the theme.

The pine branches stamped with Memento Cottage Ivy ink then a bit of shadow stamping added to puff it out a bit.

I don't have a lot of brown inks (which shall no doubt be rectified very soon 😉) but I had Memento Rich Cocoa which actually looked OK for the pine cones!

Again some shadow stamping before I fussy cut the pine cones.

A liberal spattering with a white Posca pen and a sentiment from Penny Black.

Thanks for looking and I hope the sun is shining where you are! x

Sharing over at -
HLS Christmas- A/Goes
SSS - Christmas
Krafty Chicks - CAS