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I had a terrible job of dragging myself away from the wonderful warm sunshine and beautiful sandy beach that we have enjoyed for the last couple of weeks.... home to wind, rain and the heating on!😢

I have a make to share though -  a card made for the stash box  and out of leftovers!

The 3 stitched rectangles were the middles from some frames I cut out for other cards.

I stamped and white heat embossed the leaf ( from the WOW Flights of Fancy set) on some other scraps and simply watercoloured.

Layered them to the rectangles then layered the rectangle to the card base.
A quick make!
 
The dew drops are maybe a little large? But they're all that I had so they will have to do!

Popping into the Playground to see what everyone has been up to whilst I've been away and also linking to -
SOS - Dream the Embossable Dream
Crafty Gals Corner - Fall Colours
Cardz4Guyz - Trees or Leaves

Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog today - hope all is well in your part of blogland! x

CAS Stencil - Mid month reminder

It's time for my CAS Stencil little mid month reminder!

Julia set the challenge of using Baby Wipes with your stencils - a simple technique but really effective for backgrounds!
My first DT card this month (if you haven't seen it) is here - and here's my reminder card!

One for a rather sad occasion but there's no getting away from it - we all need sympathy/condolence cards at some time.

Watercolour card inked with Peacock Feathers DO.

The leaf stencil ( a bargain buy from The Range), placed over and the baby wipe used to reveal the design.

A simple die cut frame for my leaf sprig die cut and a sentiment stamped in Smokey Grey ink.

There's lots of lovely ideas and inspiration  on the challenge blog and also a couple of links to video tutorials.
Hope that you will join us this month - we love to see our gallery full of amazing creations!

By the time you read this I will have just arrived on Day 1 of my holiday - warm sunshine and a complete relax -and no doubt the odd long cool drink on occasions!! (Purely to be sociable 😇😇😁)

Thanks for looking today - whatever you're doing and wherever you are, I hope your day is a good one. x

Mid Month - Stamping Sensations September Challenge

A reminder that our challenge at Stamping Sensations this month is 'Anything Goes with Flowers'

Bee Crafty are our sponsors and there's details of the prize over on the challenge blog.
(Please read our rules before submitting your entry)

This was a reasonably quick make as I have not had much time - (holiday looming! - in fact by the time you read this I shall be on my way ✈⛱🌞)

Stamp heat embossed in black and watercoloured.

A simple die cut sentiment and job done!

Would love for you to join us this month - grab your flower stamps and get making!

Hope the weather is as nice for you as it is where I'll be!! Happy Crafting. x

Opposites Attract!

I managed to grab some time in the craftie space in between the ironing and packing - we're off for a 'celebratory holiday' in a couple of days (our 20th anniversary)  - then when we come back we're only home for a week and we jet off again - this time to visit our friends who live overseas who are also celebrating a big anniversary - double ours!!

But I couldn't go away without a fix of inkiness and paper - I made a couple of cards similar to this last year and when I saw the challenge at CAS Watercolour I remembered that the colour combo fitted -
The orange and blue hues are opposite on the colour spectrum and I think they go really well together.

I used watercolour card and my paints and once dry I stamped the bullrushes and the birds. 
No sentiment on it yet - originally I thought it might work as a Sympathy card  but think it would be suitable for other occasions - so will keep it plain until I use it!

Thanks for looking and leaving any comments - I really DO love to hear from you. x

Leaves

Autumn is here in the north west of England - we have had really strong winds overnight and it's still blowing a gale this morning - had to rescue a few of my pots on the patio which had been battered by the wind. The weather as always though gives me the perfect excuse to shut myself in the craft room - and that's what I intend to do!!
So here's today's share -

A simple and quick birthday card - and it's one layer too, so not too fat for posting!

I fixed my leaf stencil over the card and masked off the bottom using masking tape.

I used Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Inks and using a baby wipe I pressed the colour through the stencil.
Using a wipe instead of a sponge gives a lighter and more delicate colour impression which I really like.

Am popping this into the gallery at CAS Stencil where our theme this month is to use Baby Wipes!

Cut 2 leaves and before removing from the die pressed the inky baby wipe through the die.

Stamped the sentiment, fixed the leaves adding a teeny bit of twine and job done.

Desperate for masculine makes in my stash box so this is the first one done!

Sharing my quick CAS card over at
AAA Birthday - Use a Stencil
APTS - Masking
Dragonfly Dreams - Happy Birthday

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

Inchie

Made a couple of cards today - both for the same challenge but will just share one for the time being!

CAS Mix Up has 'Inchies' as it's main challenge - so one single Inchie, a tiny bit of stamping, some die cutting and a little watercolouring make up my required elements for this first card.

I used my small cone flower die and cut it out twice,watercoloured then snipped off the smaller flower stem from each (as there wasn't enough room!) - not wasted them though - have glued them on the inside!

Embossed a frame round the Inchie and then die cut using a cross stitch die.

The sentiment stamped in Smokey Grey ink.

Our weather has turned distinctly Autumnal the last couple of days - seems this summer has been one of extremes - with red hot days then rain of monsoon proportions - and as always the nice weather was over far too quickly.
That said I have managed to get all my washing dry today! (Ironing is the problem......😡😡!)
Linking to these other Challenges
Flower Challenge - Anything Goes
Sheepski - Dies
MMM - Use a Shape

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

CAS Stencil September Challenge

Julia is hosting our CAS Stencil challenge this month and she would like to see us using Baby Wipes with our Stencils to make CAS cards.

There are some links on the challenge blog showing a couple of techniques, so if you're unsure of how to mix a baby wipe with a stencil, pop over and have a look!

The idea for this card has been swimming round (no pun intended!) in my head for a little while. But several attempts to make it look like I imagined it (using a Bokeh technique) were unsuccessful - this month's challenge though gave me an opportunity to have a re-think as to how to achieve what I wanted.

The Oyster stamp was a mag freebie. Heat embossed with Platinum EP and coloured with Cosmic Shimmer powders. The pearl was done using Nuvo Crystal with a teeny bit of Pearl Cosmic Shimmer scattered over it then when dry added a layer of Glossy Accents. I was rather pleased with the way it turned out as it stands proud of the shell and kinda 'glows' -  even dear husband said it looked like a pearl!!

Blended Salty Ocean, Fossilized Amber and Mustard Seed DO onto watercolour card and stamped some 'sandhills' and a starfish.

My 'wavy bubbles' stencil I have had for a while and never used but I kept fingers crossed it would work and turn out like the idea in my head!
I used the baby wipe and very carefully removed the colour by GENTLY rubbing across the stencil, it worked better in some places than others but having messed up a couple of pieces by pressing too hard when trying out this technique I learnt my lesson - only LIGHT pressure is needed!!

The sentiment also from the same freebie set simply heat embossed in white onto black card.

I hope you will try out this simple technique and share your makes in our gallery. We have a great Guest Designer too this month - Sarah and the rest of the CAS DT would love to hear what you think of their cards too!
Thanks for looking - hope I have inspired you to have a go! Happy Crafting. x
Sharing over at
Crafty Cardmakers - Pearls
Country View - Under the Sea

Stamping Sensations September Challenge

I needed a retirement card so this seemed a good opportunity to use this lovely sentiment stamp from Bee Crafty, who are our sponsors this month at Stamping Sensations.

Our September challenge is - Anything Goes with Flowers - so I also used Bee Crafty's pretty Dandee Border!😁😁

Started with a blended ink background in lilac and blue shades.
The Dandee Border stamp and the sentiment stamped in Versafine ink.

The large dandelion is one of the first stamps I ever bought and ranks amongst my favourite stamps EVER!
(Now removed from it's wood backing so haven't a clue which make it is?)

I sponged some Black Soot DI round the edges to soften them before matting onto black card then layering onto lilac.

Hope you will join us this month - please pop over to the Stamping Sensations blog and check out our rules before linking your entry!
The DT have some fab examples and they would also appreciate a comment! Thanks for looking and have a great day. x