Floral

A quick post from me today!
Sharing a card I made recently for a friends Birthday using a NBUS stamp!
Had this PB 'Delicate Florals' set for a while and this is the first time this particular stamp from the set has seen ink!

I stamped and silver embossed then used DI's to colour. (Picked Raspberry, Victorian Velvet, Cracked Pistachio)
Die cut a Butterfly and silver embossed the body before popping it onto a teeny scrap of vellum which I coloured with Cracked Pistachio DI.
Die cut the sentiment and coloured again with Cracked Pistachio before mounting onto the die cut stitched squares.
A few paint splatters to finish.

Sharing over at
PB&More - Spring
PB Saturday Challenge - Fresh Spring Colours
Allsorts - Feminine
CAS on Friday - Butterflies
Alphabet - C for Cas

Thanks for visiting me today. I will come see you all soon as I can! have a great day whatever you're doing. xx

The Rain Returns!

After some wonderful warm and sunny days we have returned again to typical April showers. In fact last evening there was a downpour of monsoon proportions!
My real life has taken up quite a lot of my time but happily I did find some 'me' time.

Some time ago I saw a card made by fellow blogger Michele  which I loved so I asked her if she would allow me to take her inspiration and use it for myself. She happily agreed so here is mine -

I decided to use a brick background on the lower part of the card to add some texture. Looking at it now I might have got away with the whole of the background embossed.....

I really like these Gerbera stamps - stamped and heat embossed in white then out with the new Brush Pens.
(Enjoying playing with these - although they are going to take a bit of getting used to and am not sure if I am brave enough yet to just try using them as watercolours without an embossed stamp line to guide!) 

Fussy cut the flowers then punched 3 small circles into a strip of white card, stamped a sentiment and my little card finished.

Sharing my make with
Crafty Creations - A/Goes
House that Stamps Built - A/Goes
MAWTT - Flowers

Thanks for visiting today - hope whatever you're doing is making you feel happy! x 

Sunny Days!

Well!  The weather here has been amazingly wonderful - really warm and beautiful sunshine and according to the forecast set to stay for a few days over our Easter Holiday weekend.
I am just hoping that this isn't our Summer!
I treated myself to some Water Brush pens this week and have been trying them out.
Trawling the internet I came across this
 https://channin.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/water-media-mat-faux-watercolor-stamping/
and I thought 'perfect for trying out my new stash!
 
The poppy stamp is by Technique Tuesday and with some removal of ink from the other parts of the stamp I managed to just keep isolating one flower head.

The sentiment is from the same set, white embossed.

This was my second attempt.😳😳

The first one I haven't discarded completely and may make an appearance at a later date - but I have somehow managed to leave quite a large space in between the flowers and will need to think carefully about how I am going to disguise it! (The position of the space  doesn't really lend itself to a sentiment I don't think but.........!!!!)

Am going to pay a second visit this month to CAS Watercolour where the challenge is 'Poppy'.
Also sharing over at
Daring Cardmakers - Blooming Wonderful
MAWTT - That Spring Feeling
A2S+M - Make your Mark

Happy Easter and I hope the sun is shining wherever YOU are! x

April Reminder for Stamping Sensations

Time for a quick reminder that we are half way through this month's 'April Showers Brings May Flowers' challenge theme at Stamping Sensations.
I have this card to share and hope that if you haven't already joined our wonderful challenge that you will create something and join us - there's a whopping £25 voucher to be spent at the 'be Creative!' store as our prize this month!

I used watercolour card and stamped this flower stamp several times, masking as I went along.
I have had this red rubber stamp for a long time and surprisingly have hardly used it!

The leaves are from another set.
I clear embossed the stamped images and watercoloured.

Some Liquid Pearls dotted in the flower centres.

The sentiment stamp is by Inkylicious.

I am a little disappointed with the quality of this pic - each flower was coated with Glossy Accents and they shone off the front but sadly you can't see this and as it is already on it's way to someone, you will just have to take my word for it!!

Joining the challenges at -
Allsorts -Blossoms
TIOT - Springtime
Sweet Stampin - Spring
PB & More - Spring

Thanks for looking!

Starry Sky

The challenge at CAS Stencil required me to have a serious think about what I was going to do simply because I am finding it quite difficult to concentrate on any one thing for longer than a minute.
I had a couple of offcuts left over from another card which have simply been lying on this tip of a desk for a while.
I was about to throw them in the bin (working on my 'I must keep the desk tidy' promise) when I had a light bulb moment 💡💡💡!

We have had some lovely blue sky days and some very clear (and cold) nights - so here is the result of someone flicking the switch and reminding me that on clear nights you can see the stars.....

My little scrap of galaxy background had some white acrylic paint spattered over it and then I set about making myself a stencil from a star die and some acetate.
The smaller star is a home made stencil from a previous project.

I had bought some Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Sparkle Paste (Frosty) and never used it so tried it on the larger star.

Swirling it about and applying it thicker in some parts gave an (unintentional) random line effect which I thought didn't look too bad. I used a thinner layer on the smaller star but if you look closely it also has some slight random lines!

The sentiment was a mag freebie from last year.

Sharing my stencilled sparkly stars at -
Seize the Birthday - A/Goes
TIOT - Use a Stencil or Two

It's another cold day here but there IS some blue in the sky again. The weather is set to warm up this week I think and not before time!
I have promised myself that today I am going to have a small clear out and tidy up in the craft space - I need to make room for my new waterbrush colour pens!
Have a great day. x

Spring

It's been a week which has passed quickly if not productively.

On many occasions this week I have found myself staring blankly at card and wondering about making something - anything!

I think the thing is I simply cannot concentrate on one thing at the minute, I want to do several different things and because of this my thought process is jumping from one thing to the other - and I end up with........  nothing!

I only managed to make 2 cards this week... and this is one.
The Altenew blog gave me some much needed inspiration and another opportunity to practice with layering stamps.

Altenews Peony Bouquet stamp set, Ink shades - Shabby Shutters/Peeled Paint/Forest Moss and Memento Pear Tart, and Versafine black for the main flower outline and sentiment.
I finished with some pale green pearls.

Sharing my card over at
Creative Knockouts - Spring is on its way
MAWTT - Spring feeling
SSS Wednesday - No Designer paper
Elliebelle's Wednesday - Spring Blossoms

We've had a fine dry sunny week here, and although it is still a bit cold I think Spring is poking it's head out!
I hope you too are experiencing nice sunny days wherever you are.  Thanks for calling in today. x  

Hello

The challenge for April at CAS Watercolour is Poppies.
I found this small stamp in my stash that had 3 poppies on it - it also had some agapanthus in the background - these were removed after careful application with a cotton bud and some cleaner after I'd inked the stamp!

I coloured it with Inktense Watercolour pencils.

I am not feeling very inspired at the moment (real life again) so the addition of the die cut sentiment coloured in a gradient of the colours used for the stamped image and background was the only embellishment.

I DO though, have a few things unassembled on the desk which I intend to turn my attention to over the next few days!

We had a truly beautiful day here yesterday. I ventured outside in a short sleeve shirt with my cuppa so it must have been warm.

There's a bit more cloud about today but at least the temperature hasn't dropped too much.

Hoping that the warmer days are becoming the norm now rather than the exception!


Also sharing at

CAS on Friday - Spring
Cardz 4 Galz - Flora.
Thanks for taking the time to pay me a call today. I hope that you are warm too in your part of the world! x

April at Stamping Sensations

'April Showers Bring May Flowers' is our theme for this month's challenge at Stamping Sensations.
We are sponsored by the wonderful Be Creative who are offering a super prize for our chosen winner! More details on the challenge blog and just a gentle reminder please to read our rules FULLY before linking up with us - thanks!

This Crafty Individuals stamp was part of the pile that dear husband bought me at Christmas (has good taste doesn't he??? Or maybe it was because it was on the list of 'What Viv Wants'??!!)

Anyway,  it fitted for this months theme so at least I have now used it!

The stamp was coloured with Distress Inks.

The raindrops are a Creative Expressions Mini Stencil, sponged in white then clear embossed with Be Creatives Crystal Clear Embossing Powder.
Used a watercolour brush to blend some blue/grey inks across the sky.

The sentiment was masked for the front and inside - the whole thing reads 'Come Rain or Shine, Have a Wonderful Day '

Let's hope this month doesn't bring us TOO many showers!

Whilst you're linking up at the challenge blog  have a look what my teamies have done too - we love visitors and would appreciate you leaving us a comment!

Thanks for looking today! x

A learning curve and thoughts to ponder!!

Have you ever wondered (when you look at little piles of failed attempts in the bin ), why you tried in the first place?

Have you ever wondered (when you look at the greasy fingermarks), why you decided to use some (rather expensive) navy blue card which is coated with something that instantly attracts every single teeny bit of anything that is floating about above the craft desk?

Have you ever wondered (when you look at the finished article) why, even though there is nothing on the actual card the camera appears to have picked up strange shading and tiny specks?

I have.
I have wondered all these things  🔮 -  and don't know the answers!!

But in the making of the little pile of mess now sat in the bin I discovered that Pink embossing powder does not work when applied direct to this particular card.
Nor does Blue.
Nor does  Yellow
Nor does Green.

This stamp set  is called 'Under The Cherry Blossom tree' from Altenew and I confess that although I coveted it, it was not what I expected when it arrived.
There is nothing wrong with the set, it is a really pretty set but for me the majority of the sentiment stamps are really tinyand likely I will only use one or two.

I used Gold and Platinum EP on the branch - then, on trying to layer the cherry blossom in pink and the teeny birdie in aforementioned colours, I found out that this card definitely does not like it!

Try #1 - pink blossom ended up a sludgy maroon colour
Try #2 - blue birdie ended up translucent
Try #3 - yellow birdie was green
Try #4 = Green birdie looked as sick as the proverbial parrot!!

So blossom and birdie ended up white!

I am entering my tale of woe (and the card) into the following challenges
CAS Mix Up  - (Layered Embossing, Stamping and Die Cutting)
Time Out - Inspiration Pic (Blue, gold, white and blossom)
Stamplorations CAS Challenge - Dark Navy

I am off to put away pots of EP and empty the bin!! x

Back to Blighty

We had to pack and depart for a few days last week to assist my mother in law return from her annual 5 month trip to warmer climes. Following a stay in hospital the mammoth task of packing to return was just a bit too much, so we just put everything on hold, went out, packed her belongings up, got her back on a plane and she is now settled back in her own home...

Now I am back home I am wanting to get back in the crafty space (of course) but needed a quick card to get in the post to someone who is about to embark overseas - so here it is.

A genuine quick and simple CAS card made in no time at all!

A sea shell embossing folder, a set of sandy themed stamps. and a scrap of twine.

Stamped the starfish with  Fossilized Amber and fussy cut.
Sentiment stamped with Adirondack Butterscotch

Some Bakers Twine knotted round the bottom, starfish sat on top and panel fixed to base card.

Took a piece of white paper, stamped sentiment, another shell and some 'sand' from the same set and insert done too.


Over at AAA the challenge is
"Made in Minutes with  Dry Embossing".

Sadly the weather here is not currently good enough to be relaxing on the sand!
Am thinking that M-I-L will be wishing that she was back in the warm sunshine as we've actually had some large hailstones this morning..... but as always it gives me a perfect excuse to get up into the craft room and get back to inky fingers.


Hope the sun is shining where you are and thanks so much for visiting me! x