Bold

Well we have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous since my last post! Searing temperatures first then we have had 2 days of lashing rain! Cannot win! Yesterday was a lovely sunny day again but thankfully much cooler than recently.

My card to share today is one that used a single big stamp. And I mean BIG!

Huge isn't it?!
Not made for anything specific in mind - another for the stash box.

Stamped in Versafine onto watercolour card then painted with my watercolour brushes.
Added the sentiment and a few black ink spatters and done.

Sharing my card over at Inspire.Create who's challenge this time is Birthday.

Am planning on a nice relaxing crafty day today, so am hoping Mr Mojo decides to put in an appearance - sometimes it is really annoying when I prepare myself to craft and then end up staring at the pile of stamps and paper with a blank mind!!

Thanks for stopping by today - have a lovely day whatever you're doing. x

Happy

We are currently experiencing some very hot weather for the UK!
As is usual here in this country we are completely unequipped to cope with extremes of temperature or weird weather!
If it snows, everything grinds to a stop, if it rains heavy  we can't seem to cope with floods and if it's very hot we can't deal with that either!
Dire warnings about what you should and shouldn't do in the heat this last few days - sometimes I think that people are incapable of thinking for themselves and having basic common sense!

My friend here on the front of this bike is also not very sensible - no hands!!!
And high heels??? 🙈

But how wonderful to be so full of life and simply enjoy - being! 
A bright dress, a big hat, your fave shoes - and being happy with your 'bezzie' and your doggy and doing something daft like freewheeling on a bike - we all need a bit of happy abandon now and then (however old we are!) 

The stamp is from Penny Black and I coloured with my waterbrush pens.
I saw a similar card where only part of a stamp was coloured and thought I would give this a go.
I stamped the rest of the image on the inside so it looked like they were travelling along  (but forgot to take a pic!)

Sharing over at
Back2Basics - Off the Edge
Sweet Stamping - Friendship
PB+M- Summer Colours
CTD #553 - Orange/Pink/Yellow

Thanks for visiting, I am sorry I have been absent for a little while - real life caught up with me this week - I could have done with a bit of freewheeling! x

CAS Stencil Mid Month

Half way through my first month as member of the CAS Stencil DT and I have another card to share.

The challenge this month is being hosted by Cathy and she has chosen Alcohol Inks/Alcohol Lift.

As I did the 'lift technique' with my first card, I decided to try some basic use of the inks with a stencil by simply applying with a piece of felt on an applicator onto Yupo paper.

I used Butterscotch first then spotted a teeny bit of Orange Sunset onto the pad and just dabbed over the honeycomb stencil.

The mottled effect turned out fine (I think😌)

The bees were stamped, the larger one fussy cut and both were coloured with watercolours.
I used some Glossy accents on the wings and they really DO shine!

A curvy die and a couple of black gems finished my card.

The ladies at CAS Stencil have some amazing examples of how to use your stencils with Alcohol Inks - please pop over and leave them some comments - and of course - get your own inks and stencils out and join us!
Other challenges -

CAS on Friday  - 'Use a Stencil'
Addicted to Stamps - CAS Summer card
Thanks for looking today! x 

Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

Time for a little reminder for the July challenge - we want to see inspiration for your makes from the  well known quote of  Emerson -   'The Earth Laughs in Flowers'
Stamping Sensations is lucky to have Crafty Individuals as our sponsors this month and they are giving a whopping £25 voucher to our winner!
Please pop over to the challenge blog , read the rules and then make something and join us!

Purple/Lilacs are not colours I use often but thought I would try them for this card.

Sponged inky piece, some random stamping with Smokey Grey ink provided the background.

The flowers and stems stamped and clear embossed before watercolouring

Fussy cut then added some Nuvo pearls to the centre.
Finished with a scrap of lilac gingham ribbon and a sentiment before mounting on dark purple card.

My teamies have some great inspiration for you over on the challenge blog too!

Happy Crafting. x

Complete Overhaul (and a long post!)

A week since my last post. I sit now in a completely overhauled craft 'studio' - taken almost a week to do, but it has been worth it as the room had become cluttered and untidy and a revamp was long overdue!
It's not quite finished as it needs painting but at least now I have all my crafting stuff neatly to hand and dear husband has a proper area now for his electric piano to sit  alongside his iPad and laptop. Just to the right are his main PC and 3 screens (don't ask - but apparently they are an ABSOLUTE necessity when you command the Starship Enterprise😵 or are a General in War Planet Online😉😉!).

Having been able to actually sit at a desk yesterday I spent my time making up a few cards from my saved 'practice' bits.
I had messed about on some small pieces of Yupo with Alcohol Inks trying out different colours. I put them to one side to dry then promptly forgot about them until we began the big re-vamp! So here's one -  I topped it with a NBUS die cut (another odd bit!) and a gold metal butterfly.
Gold embossed the sentiment.
Quick, easy and more bits used up so am calling in on my good friend Di at Pixie's Playground with this make and also sharing at the CAS challenge at Allsorts.

Whilst my first DT card at CAS Stencil involved Alcohol Inks, (my card is HERE)  the challenge at CAS Mix Up called for  Alcohol Ink Lift Technique.

I found this technique much easier using a dry baby wipe with blending solution wrapped round a stamping block and applied to the stamp rather than using the Lift Ink Pad.  

Easier ?  Yes but happy with the results? Not really!!

My seahorse and seaweed stamp design looked so much better in my head!
But I will have another go at this I think as I like the soft etheral look  that is achieved using the blending solution to lift off the colour (and I have LOTS of bits of Yupo to use!)

I have a couple of plants to pot up outside then I am planning to enjoy my lovely new 'studio' (and use up the rest of the bits on the desk!)
Thanks for looking - enjoy your day whatever you're doing. xx

July at Stamping Sensations

Today our challenge is a well known quote for you to interpret - it's Emerson's  'The Earth Laughs in Flowers'.
Stamping Sensations is lucky to have Crafty Individuals as our sponsors this month and they are giving a whopping £25 voucher to our winner!
Please pop over to the challenge blog , read the rules and then make something and join us!

I got out the Brushos for this one!
I have found that I am much better wetting the card and sprinkling on the Brushos rather than the other way round.
If I put the Brushos on first then water I end up with far too much colour all over the place - if the card is wet before you apply them you can see how the colour is developing..... well it works for me anyway!

The stamp is from Crafty Individuals called 'Spring Flower Garden'. Stamped onto watercolour card, clear embossed and when dry added the water then the Brushos.

Luckily for me I had the challenge theme saying in a sentiment stamp!

CAS Stencil July Challenge and NEWS!

So - here I am - with my very first ever post as a member of the Design Team at CAS Stencil!
Scary eh?????
Am petrified!

But was very, Very, VERY excited to have been asked to join another team with such incredibly talented crafters and an opportunity too good to miss!
It also makes me deliver CAS cards which I have been leaning more towards and of course to use Stencils which I have never used a lot of before.

The challenge this month is being hosted by Cathy and she has chosen Alcohol Inks/Alcohol Lift.
Here's my contribution -

 I used Raspberry and Sunset Orange Alco Inks on Yupo paper.
I am still very much learning with Alco inks despite having had them for a long time - I have found that Yupo paper (although not cheap) is the easiest to work with when using Alcohol Inks.

My stencil is a 'Morrocan Tile' Effect and using the 'Lift' technique I carefully removed the  colour from the inks using blending solution sponged through the stencil.

Once finished I blotted with a paper towel and then carefully removed the stencil (Holding my breath!).  Some solution had run under the stencil on one side but I simply trimmed the piece slightly.

Mounted the finished piece when dry onto basic white card to give a bit more stability to the Yupo, chopped in two and after stamping the sentiment direct onto the card base stuck on my two 'Tile' pieces using foam pads.

If you're new to stenciling or using Alco Inks check out the video tutorials over at the Challenge Blog and also see the beautiful cards from my teammates and our July Guest Designer,  Janet.

I hope that you will come along with me whilst I travel down the road of CAS Stencil and maybe we can learn to use our stencils in different ways together!

A Birthday Bouquet

It is my blogging buddy Darnell's birthday today! (Shhhhhh - don't say how old🙊🙊)
Clever Darnell is part of the wonderful DT at CAS Watercolour and they are celebrating her birthday with the challenge of a 'Bouquet of Flowers'.


 I hope Mr Postman delivered my card to Darnell in time for today but just in case it hasn't arrived across the pond yet I have made one to share with her via the Challenge as well.

I have recently acquired this stamp and matching die set. I love it!
I stamped and heat embossed in gold and used my new watercolour paints before die cutting.
The background in the circle is a simple colour wash and some gold spatters and a heat embossed sentiment.

Happy Birthday Darnell! xx