The In Beween Bit

 Does anyone else always think the bit between Christmas and New Year is odd? I always feel like we should be doing SOMETHING but don't know what, although this year restrictions have made the decisions on what to do for us - which is NOT A LOT!
We have however been out this morning for a walk as we had ⛄snow overnight and I simply had to get out in it (love💝💝 it!). Hope it lasts but it probably isn't going to as some of it has gone already .. 😞
So my share today is a Snowy Scene

A one layer card using a rectangle stencil to make the mask round the edges.

The stamps are by Hobby Art called 'Country Walk'
I used Speckled Egg DI for the sky - fast becoming my 'go to' colour now for  EVERYTHING!

A little bit of sponging for snowdrifts (which don't show up very well in the pic) and the rest coloured with watercolours.

Sharing at
Alphabet - S for Snow Scene

and here's a couple of pics from this morning -

Thanks for calling in. Stay safe. x

Peace

 

I realised as I was writing this post that I have not made many white on white or predominantly white cards this year but this was one of the few!

Made with some odd bits left over from other cards so I am paying a visit over at the Playground.

An oddment of card was the basis for the centrepiece and the stamp is from Honey Doo which is in fact a swirly Christmas tree that I turned upside down and angled it, stamping in metallic silver ink and then rounded off two corners.

Once this bit was dry, I backed it with some matt silver card - I by far prefer this to mirri card as I think it is just a little bit more subtle yet still gives a nice sheen.

Some silver sparkly and white card to make the layered snowflake and I silver embossed the Peace sentiment.

The news here in the UK has not been good today and (coupled with some personal sadness over the last week), it has once again highlighted to me that although at the moment there are so many things over which we have no control we can only try to stay positive and hope for better times ahead.

Christmas has always been a quiet two person affair for us so nothing is different this year but I know there are many who will miss being surrounded by family.
I want to say a massive thank you to those who have kept visiting me this year - you have kept me going through all this madness.

I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and I hope that 2021 is a better year for us all. X

Sharing my card at -
Time Out - Photo Insp
Use Your Stuff- Winter/Snow/Christmas

Cupcake Inspirations - Snowflakes
Mix It Up - A/Goes + CAS
Stamplorations - Sparkle and Shimmer

Monochrome

I've continued making Christmas cards! I think because I wasn't rushed this year it has made it something I've enjoyed so have decided to not put away the Christmas stamps. I am going to keep a few makes out - just in case there's anyone I have forgotten!

I like monochrome but usually add a pop of colour - when I finished this card though, I liked it just as it was, so the idea of coloured stars on the top of the front line of trees was discarded.
A simple to do card with some second and third generation stamping. I added some well watered down Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide under the trees and under the deer for some shading and smudged a white Posca pen over the top of it.
A liberal spattering of the Posca pen to finish it off.

We have this morning put up the Christmas Tree! This is nothing unusual for us as we always wait till the week before - it's not that I am a complete Bah Humbug person (!) but to be honest I have never been any different - I get sick of looking at it if it goes up too soon!
Waiting for it to go a little darker then as always I will take a pic for our yearly album - which this year is a little sparse as we've not been anywhere - and I don't want a pic of the front of Aldi or Tesco in there!

Thanks for calling in today. Hope all is well in your part of blogland. xx
Sharing over at
MTTC - Monochrome
Alphabet - S for Snow Scene
Fezziwigs - Last Minute Christmas
Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas Goes
Sweet Stampin - Last Minute Christmas

Pine Cones

A quick share from me today.

Made this using some watercolour cardstock and my Arteza Waterbrush pens

The stamp is called Brush Pines from Penny Black and it is one of my fave 'go to' Christmas stamps.

I started by inking the pine cones first and spritzing with water, then went on to the pine needles, using a couple of different shades, inking and spritzing as I went along until I was happy!

I dragged some of the colour from the pines outwards and then added a very pale blue/grey wash to the entire front.

A white pen highlighted the cones.
The sentiment is from SU.

Sharing this with
Krafty Chicks - Christmas
PBSC - Christmas
Craft Gals Corner - Tis the Season
Just as well that we are still under the toughest restrictions and unable to do anything as once again we have a very grey and damp day!

A perfect excuse to sit at the craft desk - am hoping that Mr Mojo will join me at some point! x

Winter Landscape

A quick share from me today using some Hobby Art stamps from their Country Walk set.
Quite enjoyed doing this and a really flat one layer card which was great for posting too!

Stamped and coloured with watercolours then lightly sponged the sky.
The 'snowdrifts' also added with some sponging.
I added 'snow' to the fence and tree stumps with a white Posca pen and a few dabs of glitter here and there.

I am really sorry about the poor pic quality - the light here over the last week or so has been seriously bad - we seem to have had grey skies and rain constantly since the lovely white snow paid us a quick visit.

A Case of the Deer

Cards made written and posted, which done so early, has to be a first for me! Nice to not be panicking that I haven't made enough for a change, in fact I have a few left which will make a good start for next year.
Despite the horrible year 2020 has been I actually think now that it has gone relatively quickly - maybe because every day is pretty much like the ones that have gone before they have all just merged into one!

I have coveted this Penny Black die for a while after seeing what my clever buddy Loll did with it. I found it a couple of weeks back and was really excited when it arrived and had to have a go at doing what Loll did and get the gilding flakes out.

I love the effect of gilding flakes - just don't like the mess they make - but because they are messy I didn't stop at one card and made a couple of each in different colours - gold, silver, copper and then another done with a mix of the 3 colours. 

After gilding each die with a colour I just pushed the flakes to one side and started on the next one so the last ones made used up a bit of the residue on the desk! (that was my attempt at being tidy(ish))

I used metallic ink on my star stamp and a metallic Posca pen for the spatters.

Gave Mr Deer a shiny red Nuvo Drop nose.

The sentiment also done with gilding flakes - was a little difficult to work in the flakes but got there in the end.

Finished the card by running the metallic ink round the edges.
I now have a few more design ideas for this die and flakes so thanks to Lolly for kick starting me - although I wish she could pop over and clean up after me too!
Sharing at
Cardz4Guyz - Traditional Christmas
TIOT - Christmas Sparkle
Library Challenge - The Night Before Christmas (inspired by the book title) 

Winter!

Yep Winter is here! Some snow overnight that thawed a little then we've been treated to a couple of hours of the white stuff so we have a nice covering! Probably not going to last but I have had the pleasure of looking out on it (cos I love it) whilst warm inside the house!

My share for today is snowy too! 

A piece of watercolour card to start then I stamped and white heat embossed the branches - an old one so not sure who's make).
I had a small feathery pine needle stamp in my stash. It is one of the first clear stamps that I bought -  came in a set with some ivy, a reindeer and a small brick wall stamp -  it's a bit yellow now but still stamps OK so I stamped that on the ends of some of the branches and heat embossed it too.

I used a broad watercolour brush loaded with water across the background first then added the colour allowing it to fade out as I went down the page.

Once dry, some Nuvo Drops for shimmery berries and a liberal spattering with a white Posca pen in an attempt to make it look like the snow was falling from the branches!

The die cut is a Gemini 'window' stamp and die set with the word simply chopped off from the 'window'.
I still have some more cards to put addresses on so that's my job for today - in between gazing out on my very own Winter Wonderland - you have to make the most of it whilst you can and it's cheered me up a bit watching the sheep slowly blend into the white landscape!
Hope you are safe and warm wherever you are. x

Linking at
ABC Christmas - Y for Your Fave thing (and one of mine is definitely snow!)
Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act
Shopping Our Stash - Let It Snow

December

 Lovely bright day here after a very frosty morning - such a contrast to yesterday when I had the lights on at 1pm it was that dark and miserable!

Sat and wrote most of my cards and a trip to the Post Office this morning to send the overseas ones so I feel a little more organised - which makes a change!

Today's share is a  card done with another of my fave Penny Black stamps 'Berry Bevy'. I use it a lot every year at Christmas and every time I do, I say I should use it for other times of the year too. Maybe this year I will not put it in the Christmas box which may remind me!

I used a left over piece of  of textured linen cardstock which gave the inked background a bit of texture.

Quite a simple to do card really, -some ink blending, white heat embossed branches and some Silver Nuvo drops for the berries.

The silver does have a lovely shimmer to it and I decided against white snow spatters as I simply wanted it to look like branches against a clear night sky (not sure I've succeeded!)

The sentiment is from SU.

Still a couple more cards to write which I am going to do today and then maybe I shall make a few more - might as well start on next year's!

We will be remaining in the highest restriction Tier once our National lockdown finishes tomorrow. I have a feeling that I may well be buried under what my friend describes as a massive 'cardalanche' by the time our restrictions are finally lifted.
Hope the sun is shining where you are too. x
Linking up with -

Mix It Up - A/Goes plus CAS
Merry Little Christmas - A/Goes
TIOT - Winter Wonderland
Country View - A/Christmas

Tree

Been carrying on with Christmas makes - I probably have enough but figured it's best to keep going whilst I am in the mood! 

This card uses a Never Before Used Stamp - it's not a new one - I think Penny Black released it a few years ago, it's simplicity appealed to me as I thought it was a lovely tree.

I figured on using it to make one layer batch CAS cards with just simple stamping and colouring.  Ha! Total cards made with this stamp  =  ONE. This one! And definitely not one layer simple stamping and colouring!

That said I was quite happy with this when it dried out - I am still very much experimenting with my watercolour backgrounds - and a long way to go - but overall I don't think it's too bad.

I resisted the temptation to 'spatter it', no 'snow' spatters or even water droplets, just left it as it was.
The sentiment is a new one (more NBUS!) from Penny Black so of course I am linking up at the NBUS Challenge too!

Sharing over at
ABC Christmas - X for Xtra Special
Fezziwig - Decorate the Tree
Holly & Ivy - Anything Christmas

Thanks for looking - and I welcome your comments on my watercolouring efforts good or bad! x

3 Kids and a Brolly

 How changeable our weather is! No venturing out today as it's wet and very windy (again) but we have managed this week two nice long walks - yesterday particularly was beautiful as we had nice bright blue sky even though it was cold. Don't mind the cold but hate the rain!
So here's my share for today.

I have wanted this stamp for a long time and recently over at the Crafty Individuals Facebook Group was lucky enough to be picked to win a stamp of my choice - there are lots  and lots of lovely stamps that I want but this was the one (CI-399) I chose, simply because it has been on my wish list for EVER!

I teamed it with Penny Black 'Hidden Lane'.
There was lots of masking, inking and spritzing and it wasn't a quick card to do because of that.

Building up a scene is not something I am very confident with, but I really enjoyed doing it.

Stamped the children first, masked and then worked round them, inking the PB stamp with my Arteza waterbrush pens.
I used a small blending brush for the sky and the 'snowdrifts' to the right of the fence
The sentiment is also from Penny Black.
This stamp has already been well used for my Winter cards and is set to become a very firm fave with me.  
Thanks for stopping by today - Stay safe wherever you are in the world. x

Linking up at -
ABC - W for Winter Wonderland
SSS - Happy Holidays
Creative Knockouts - Winter Wonderland
CRAFT- Christmas

CAS Mix Up - Mid Month Reminder

This is my last CAS Mix Up post for this year as we are having a break over December but we will be back in January with our new challenges for 2021.

Our  final 2020 challenge is being hosted by Bonnie and the challenge rotation is a  Watercolour one with the theme of  'Off The Edge'.

All the stamps I have used are from Penny Black.

The pine branches were stamped in Mowed Lawn and Crushed Olive and I moved the ink round with a water brush.
Added a few drops of red Nuvo for a bit of shine.
The birdie and the bauble were stamped, fussy cut and watercoloured.
Poor birdie was glossed to within an inch of his life but he really does shine.

Couldn't leave the bauble out so it too got a dose of glamour dust! 

Hope that you will share your CAS makes with us if you haven't already and I hope that you all have enjoyed our challenges this year.
We've enjoyed seeing your gorgeous creations and look forward to seeing more next year! x

November Twofer

 This month's challenge at Twofer is 'Stars'. Last challenge of the year too!
I made a Christmas card and a Birthday card using the same Star die and some odd bits of glitter card.

The background for the Christmas card was done using Chipped Sapphire and Stormy Sky DI with a little dab of Squeezed Lemonade round the 'moon' for the sky and Shaded Lilac for the 'snow'.
Liberal amounts of white Posca pen spattering too!
I used a silver pen to 'hang' the stars from the die cut branch. I treated myself to this sentiment last week and it seemed just right!

The Birthday card is a tried and tested 'man' card!
Have done a few of these in different colours.
After stamping few grungy elements in grey, I added a couple of ink blots using a Midnight Blue ink.
The dark coloured stars were also cut out of the same dark blue card as the matted layer.
The sentiment I think was a freebie some time ago.

These two cards were also a way of using up the odd bits of glitter card that I always seem to be left with at this time of year.

Thanks to Darnell (Dolly 😘) for all her hard work this year with this challenge - and thanks too to the DT for their inspiration -  enjoy your month off! x

Linking my Christmas card over at
CHNC - A/Goes (Glitter)
Inkspirational - Frame It
and a quick visit to Pixies Playground 'cos my glittery bits were all leftovers!

A week?

Was astounded to see it is almost a week since my last post - it's not as if I have been mad busy although I have done some jobs outside for a couple of hours a day whilst the weather has been reasonable.

My share for today is one from a Tim Holtz stamp set that was released a few years back.  I wanted it but it was way down the always expanding wish list - I saw it on sale last week so just bought it. The wish list does not seem to get any smaller - EVER.😞 (And two more sets have now taken the place of this one!)

I have done a couple of cards with the set mostly inspired by Pinterest as Mojo😩 has been at a premium.

I have no idea if this stamp depicts a violin player or not - but it looked like it to me! So a music themed make seemed appropriate.

Made a mask of the stamp and then smooshed the background (Antique Linen), overstamped with a music stamp in sepia tones and some foliage in grey.

Watercoloured the image and then began the search for a sentiment!
Eventually I remembered this NBUS one from Bee Crafty which I think fitted.

We currently have a lovely day here - it's cold but bright and dry. Popped to a nearby town earlier to go to the bank for M-I-L.  Sad to see our fave coffee and cake places currently shut -feel for the lovely staff and of course the owners. Town was really quiet so it was just a pleasant short stroll for me up and down the High Street!
Thanks for looking today - stay safe. x

Bling!

Grey day here so needed something to brighten it up!

I also brightened up the desk with the glittery embossing powder - 🙈🙈
Started with two pieces of leftover black card  and stamped then clear embossed a Diamonds stamp by Kaisercraft down one side of the largest piece.

I bought this Funky Fossil Diamond stencil some time back - and tried a few times to use it with different mediums but simply wasn't happy with my end result -  then I bought some WOW 'White Twinkle' Embossing Powder. Which does exactly what it says!
Really happy with the result although I had two attempts at embossing the stencil on the other leftover piece before I was satisfied. 

After fussy cutting I positioned it over the diamonds but it looked kinda odd on it's own - so I embossed a Sun Ray stencil in the centre (Inkylicious) and sat the diamond on top.

Sentiment also by Inkylicious embossed with the same powder and added an odd strip of glitter card to make the size right for the base card!
Linking up to
Pixies Playground #390
Stamplorations (Stamps and Contrast)

Been a changeable week here - we've had some lovely days weather wise but also some fog and damp.
Being in lockdown means I want to be cheered by lots of blue skies and not made miserable by wet weather!
We are though better off than most as we do have lovely fields to look out on whatever the weather - and this morning the sheep arrived for their yearly overwinter visit from higher up!
Wherever you are I hope that all is well with you.
Thanks for visiting. x 

Non Traditional Christmas

Finally it has stopped raining and we had an overnight frost which gave way to a bright sky. Some clouds about but hopefully it will stay dry even if it's cold!

The November challenge over at CAS Christmas is 'Non Traditional Colours'.
It gave me an opportunity to get out the pile of rarely used coloured cardstock.

This colour is called Amethyst - I like it but have never used it before (a bit like a lot of the colours I have!)
I tried a few things (inspired by the use of coloured card on Pinterest) but in the end opted for embossing a stamp (SU's Bright and Beautiful) and simply using clear embossing powder.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how effective it looked!

The sentiment is embossed in Platinum.

A really plain and simple make and I have lots of coloured card so will try a few more I think.

Linking up with
TIOT - Embossing
ABC Xmas - 'X' for Xtra Special

Hope the sun is shining where you are - we go back into full lockdown tomorrow so am hoping that the blue skies stay with us for a while as looking out on wet grey weather only makes you more fed up! x

CAS Mix Up November challenge

 The lovely Bonnie is our challenge setter this month at CAS Mix Up. A Watercolour theme is the rotation this month and Bonnie has chosen 'OFF THE EDGE' as her challenge.

As we are in November I thought perhaps it might be a good idea to make a Christmas card for my stash. My dear husband💖 bought me my Misti for Christmas a few years ago - and I can honestly say it has been the best Christmas present EVER! Don't know what I would do without it --- or how I managed before - my stamping must have been awful!

I cut a small piece of watercolour card and positioned the stamp off the edge at the top. Using my Arteza Watercolour Pens I started by inking the Pine Cones, spritzing with a little water after I'd inked the stamp. 

I did this a couple of times until I got the colour I wanted, then did the same with the pine needles. I then moved some of the colour round a little with a wet brush to the right of the cones as there were a few bare spaces.

Hope you can join us this month for our last challenge of the year  - we have MICHELE  as our wonderful guest designer - please go and visit and see her beautiful make and of course, please pop over to the rest of my friends on the CAS Mix Up Design Team - they love visitors as much as me! x

 

Stamping Sensations November Challenge

 The theme this month at Stamping Sensations is 'Garlands, Wreaths and Christmas Flowers'.  Another great prize this month and details are over on the challenge blog - whilst you''re there check out our rules and have a look at some of the great makes from the rest of the DT!

I used kraft card and stamped my woodgrain panel.

The snowflake wreath and the baubles were magazine freebies earlier in the year - from the Silhouette Scenes by Phil Martin. Stamped and white heat embossed before adding a little bit of sparkle.

I sponged some Gathered Twigs round the edge to soften it but thought it still looked a little bare - I found a really old holly flourish stamp so inked it in Olive Green and randomly stamped round the edge before matting onto a dark brown card and popping the whole thing onto my card base.

Hope you will join us this month!

Paint, Carpet and Ink

This week we have done a little bit of decorating in the room where we spend most of our time - the craft/music/online gaming room. (The latter 2 are not me by the way!)
I am a messy crafter. Over the years since we have been here I have dropped ink pads (always the pad side down) onto the carpet tiles, splattered odd bits of Brusho here and there, managed to get glue everywhere - you get the picture.
I am now sat in the freshly painted room with some nice new flooring and the comment 'Let's see how long it takes for you to make a mess'...... 😳😳
So not being apprehensive at all I got out the ink......................

A linen textured card base called for a linen textured panel. After inking, I took 2 stencils inking with 2 more different shades of green.
Stamped and clear embossed the leafy branch and watercoloured.
A few drops of white Nuvo  and a stamped sentiment.

The ink mustn't have been completely dry as the white Nuvo soaked it up so now the little drops are green but in real life it looks OK!

So today it looks like we are moving from Tier 3 into full lockdown next week. At least I have a freshly pained craft space to spend my time in!

Oh and I bought a rather large rug online which covers MOST of the area I work in.... bets on bouncing ink pads anyone?????

Sparklers

Today's card was one of those where you start by just trying things out and see if it looks OK. 

I silver embossed this recently bought Crafty Individuals 'Winter Garden' (CI-425) stamp onto a piece of vellum and then double embossed the sparkler flower heads with some gold.
I think this is such a pretty stamp and it will likely appear again in the not too distant future!

I had done a few square backgrounds using trees and a tiny deer stamp for some quick cards and they were in a small pile on the desk ready to go onto card bases  - I put the newly embossed vellum piece over one of them.

I was quite happy with how it looked although the top right corner looked a little bare so I found a corner flourish (old old old) and silver embossed it.

Card done!
Does anyone remember Woodware making a product called 'Miracle Adhesive Film'?  I bought a few packs of this probably more than 10 years ago now - it was specifically for use with vellum.

Sadly I have been unable to source it for several years but it really was brilliant to use for sticking vellum down completely transparently. I have yet to find any make of glue or tape that works as well.
As I now only have a few small sheets left I cut some small pieces for the corners instead of using the entire sheet - save as much as I can!

UPDATE 28TH OCTOBER - Thank you to my lovely visitors who have found a company in the UK who still have a few packs of this in stock. The power of blogland!! 

Sharing my make over at
TIOT - Embossing
Christmas Kickstart - Festive Florals

We have another wet, windy and miserable day so with the ironing done and a (very) quick flick of the duster it's off to the inky space for me! Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Dawn Reflections or Sandra's Trees!

It has been a difficult couple of days! Mr Mojo went AWOL (again) and motivation to do anything has been in short supply (not that I EVER have any motivation for ironing and the like but there are times it is easier to force yourself to do it than others).

I had an inkling of an idea last night and here is the result.

'Sandra's lovely trees' (the Crafty Individuals stamp is called Dawn Reflections CI-554 but to me it will always be Sandra's Lovely Trees!)  were sitting on the desk and I decided to force Mr Mojo out of hiding.

I masked off the bottom half of the stamp (the reflection bit) and stamped the top part first.

I found my Inkylicious little man in a boat and stamped him next.
I made a mask of him and then stamped the bottom part of SLT (Sandra's Lovely Trees!).

Held my breath that it would look OK when I removed the mask...... not too bad at all!

Inked my hills in Shaded Lilac and used Squeezed Lemonade and Tattered Rose for the rest of the sky, my coin (circle mask) moved a little so the circle isn't exactly circular but I hope it's only noticeable to me.

The water done with Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky.
I think he looks quite happy out there on his own surrounded by this lovely scenery.

Crafty Individuals has a Facebook Group HERE.  There are challenges every month with prizes offereds - this month's challenge is called NEW DAWN. So countryside scenes, nature etc are all eligible. I know the Crafty Individuals DT would love to see you over there too!

Been a horrible wet and very windy day - we have a Wind Farm nearby and thought someone had come along and stolen the 12 of them - couldn't see it this morning the grey rain filled clouds were so low. And it hasn't improved much as the day has gone on so likely the pic isn't the best either!

I hope you are safe warm and dry wherever you are in blogland and thanks for visiting. x

Fern (and a long post!)

Spent yesterday outside in windy but sunshiney🌞 (and not too cold) weather preparing my pots and containers for the winter season. I have the fleece ready for my precious Camellia 🌺 and have re-arranged most into bigger groups so they can protect each other from the monstrous winds we get here. An added bonus was I got all my washing dry!
Today by contrast is dull grey and drizzly so a perfect excuse to sit at my favourite desk (and ignore the ironing 🙈). 
After failing miserably last month, I have managed to actually finish the cards I made for the Twofer Challenge  this month  which has the theme of Silhouettes.

The hardest part for me was deciding which stamp to actually use but as I had used this SU fern stamp recently it was - well - there!

The background on the square card was a smooshed piece using Cracked Pisatchio and Spun Sugar.

The two teeny birdies (which I simply LOVE) are from Inkylicious and the sentiment is Technique Tuesday. 
I think they are there for each other during this weird time we are living through hence the sentiment!

I lightly inked the edge with Black Soot and matted it onto black card.
It looked really stark on the white card base so I blended a little of the inks on it.

My second card is shadow stamped with the fern in Memento Tuxedo Black and the second stamping white heat embossed.

In the absence of a coloured card base which I could use, I blended Wheat coloured Versacolour ink for the background and spattered a few black droplets.

Again it just didn't look right on top of white card so the ink blending was carried over onto the card base.

Glad that I actually managed to link up this month instead of remembering 2 days after the challenge closes.

I hope everyone is coping - it's tough when there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of this loooong tunnel.

But when all else fails there's always blogland......
and cake,
lots of cake.

In fact I have a rather nice Belljun Choklit cream filled Shoo Bun sat here on a plate next to me....

well it would be rude not to wouldn't it?

Take Care! x

An Old Favourite

 Have been doing a variety of things the last few days ranging from struggling with a piece of vellum (😒) to making my fingers multi coloured with ink to shifting a ton of gravel (honestly) up several steps onto our garden!
So it was nice to be able to spend a couple of hours yesterday having a FaceTime chat with some crafting friends followed by a bit of CAS cardmaking!

I have had this die for such a long time. It's been used on Wedding cards, Birthday cards, Sympathy cards - but this is the first time I have used it on a Christmas card!

The snow dry embossed background piece was left over from something else and I used a wavy die to tidy up the ragged edge and gold embossed. In fact the whole card was made from leftover bits!

A mix of Festive Berries and Candied Apple inks for the larger flowers, and some gold metallic ink on the smaller pieces. Finished it off with some red Nuvo pearls for berries.
A couple of circles die cut and liberally spattered with the red ink and a gold heat embossed sentiment.

Didn't take too long to do!

This month over at the Flower Challenge they are celebrating their 4th Birthday and the theme is Circles.  I am also hopping across to Pixies Snippets Playground to see what's been going on.
We are on the highest lockdown restrictions again so likely there'll be more cards getting made as I try to find something to occupy myself now that the pots and containers don't need as much tending to. 

Take care wherever you are in blogland. x

A bit like buses....

A rare thing for me -  I'm back with my second post of the day - I am absent for 5 days then I post twice in the space of a few hours! But had to share - couldn't wait!
Before I do, just want to say thank you to everyone who tried to help regarding replying to a question left as a comment on a post. I still can't reply (Carol H - I am not ignoring you) despite trying several things suggested. If you e mail me (on my profile) I can answer.

So onto the card.
This stamp was designed by Sandra (Sandma's Cards) for Crafty Individuals. (CI- 552)
Be warned there's a few of them in Sandra's set and they're all wonderful!
(It would have been rude not support Sandra wouldn't it? - - - At least that's what I said to him indoors as I was clicking on BUY NOW   😉).

Used Arteza Waterbrush Pens to ink the bottom part of the stamp then some blendable pencils for the small riverbank in the background.

If you're like me, sometimes you look at stamps and think they need lots of inky backgrounds to make them work.
At first that's what I was going to do but changed my mind and am quite happy with how it turned out.

Sharing over at
MAWTT - Animals or Birds
Krafty Chicks - CAS

CAS Mix Up October Mid Month Reminder

My challenge of Tone on Tone stencilling over at CAS Mix Up has reached the mid way stage. Hope you can join in - it really is an easy technique and gives some great effects with your stencils.

For my mid month card I used Altenew inks.

I masked off the top part of the cardstock and used a brush to blend the lightest of the 3 inks ('Pink Diamond') on the bottom of the card.

The balloon stencil is from Hunkydory and was sponged with 'Pinkalicious' ink.

I took a piece of scrap card and blended the darkest of the 3 shades (Rubellite) across it then used it to die cut the 3 balloons

A little bit of twine and a sentiment along with a tiny bit of blingy on the balloons to finish.

Hope you will have a go at my challenge this month - and please check out the amazing creations from the rest of the DT! 

We're delighted to have the wonderful  Pat (Colourful Card Creations),  as our Guest Designer this month and she's made a fab card and I'd really appreciate it if you paid her a visit!

Thanks for looking today. x

Autumn and a Reply to a Post?

Before we get to the card can anyone tell me how to reply to someone who has left a comment on a post? There's no e mail on the persons profile and now Blogger has removed access to the link back to the person's blog. I don't want the person concerned who has asked the question to think I am being rude! There must be a way to do it in the Blog settings but I can't find it, so any help appreciated.

 

I love the colours of Autumn.

Dry days where there is nothing better than walking through crunchy fallen leaves. I think it may be my fave time of year as nature's colours are simply spectacular.  Autumn Glory indeed!

 

The stamps used here are all by Stampendous and I inked them in shades of orange and red with a bit of green onto an odd piece of card.

Matted the panel onto another left over piece of orange card and stamped two more leaves onto a couple of odd scraps that were just about to go into the bin.

Fussy cut the leaves, stamped the sentiment and job done.

Sentiment inked in Spiced Marmalade.

Joining in at a few Autumn themed challenges -  

TIOT - Autumn Colours
MTTC - Autumn Colours
CAS on Friday - Autumn

Have a great day whatever you're doing! x

Landscape

One of the best things about blogging is the 'friendships' you make. I am very lucky to have made many with people who, like me, share a love of ink and paper. (And everything else crafty!)
A small (but select😊😊) few of my blogging friends have been able to recently spend a little more time together and we have been able to group message each other often and have group phone chats.

Being able to actually SEE each other  (instead of just 'on-line' typing) has been wonderful and it has lifted my spirits. Sometimes circumstances bring people together in the unlikeliest way - and this is how this card came into being.
Lynne has taken some gorgeous photos. Amongst them are spectacular sunsets. In a moment of madness someone suggested it would be fun to try and replicate them...... so Lynne set us a challenge to use any of her photos and interpret them any way we wanted.
I chose this photo.
It's stark landscape appealed to me!
Trying to capture something so awesome that Nature gives you might on the face of it seem not too difficult - HA!

I first tried doing a watercolour - and I was really pleased with the cloud formation at the top - the rest of it was not for human consumption!

Here is my effort done with ink blending.

Try as I might I could NOT get that lovely band of grey from the original photo to look right on my copy attempt.
Nor could I grab the vivid yellow of the sun as it sets!

But overall I am not too disappointed in how this turned out! The birds were my 'poetic licence'😉.

I am now off to visit Lynne,  Sally, Sandra and Joan to see their creations.

Thanks for the challenge Lynne! x

Blue tones

I started this card intending it to be my DT card for my Tone on Tone challenge at CAS Mix Up this month - but once it was completed I realised that there probably wasn't enough 'clear space' (actually there was NO clear space!!) and although I considered (briefly) cutting it into a panel, I decided against it as I liked the whole stencil!

 I was happy with the card once it was finished so just sharing another example of 'Tone on Tone' stencilling.

I rarely use coloured card stock for a base but this card I thought was light enough to show up a stencil.

My 'Petal Burst' stencil is from Funky Fossil and I used Versamagic 'Sea Breeze' ink.

White heat embossed/ black sentiment, a few white enamel dots added, and after sponging lightly round the edges, I popped it onto the blue card base.

This was a quick make too and maybe the coloured cardstock I have will get used for this technique more often, especially when I need a card in a hurry!
Happy crafting and stay safe wherever you are in the World. x

Autumn Day

A quick card make to share.

Simply done by blending an ink background and using a coin to mask off a circle.

I opted not to make the circle really defined as I wanted it to look misty! (Not sure I've achieved that but....!!)

Graduated Stormy Sky down to Shabby Shutters  with a touch of Peeled Pain at the bottom.

The stamp was a gift from a friend and I don't know which make it is.

I positioned my background in the Misti and added some colour to the stamp with my Arteza brush pens and just kept adding different colours till I was happy that the colours reflected Autumn trees.

The sentiment came from the same set and I think it may become a favourite!

Thanks for looking today. x

CAS Mix Up October Challenge

Uber excited as it's MY turn to host at CAS Mix Up this month.

As it's stencil's turn I have chosen Tone on Tone Stencilling. Nice and easy and you can play about with different shades!

There's some links over on the blog to give you some technique info but it really is just as the title of the challenge theme suggests.

I  watched a video from the very talented Eileen (link over on the blog) and decided to try the technique of making a soft geometric background using only shades of one colour.

I chose shades of blue - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky - a bubbles stencil and a waves stencil to be the background for my seahorse.

I added a couple of blue and clear drops to finish.

This was my first try at this geometric background technique using a piece of acetate for the straight lines and it won't be my last as I really like the soft abstract effect it achieves, so am looking forward to having more attempts with different shades.

Hope you will have a go at my challenge this month - and please check out the amazing creations from the rest of the DT! 

We're delighted to have Pat (Colourful Card Creations)  as our Guest Designer this month and she's made a fab card and I'd really appreciate it if you paid her a visit!

Thanks for looking today. x

Isla

This week has flown and tomorrow will be time for my launch card for the new challenge at CAS Mix Up - but a quick share from me today.

I simply HAD to have this stencil from Sweet Poppy - we have lots of Highland cattle in the fields around us and quite simply I think they're cute- (particularly when they're babies!)
So 'Isla the Highland Cow' found her way into my shopping basket and I have made about 6 cards so far including a couple of Christmas cards after being inspired by blogging buddy Linda.

All of them quick one layer makes and great for just swelling the stash for those hard to do 'man' cards.
I have used different sentiments on the birthday cards like 'Did Someone Say Cake?' and 'You are as perfect as me'!

I bought some cheapie make up blending brushes from Amazon and they work a treat for ink blending - I am quite impressed considering how much they were! They give great coverage.
For 'Isla' cards I used shades of Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Old Paper.

Thanks for looking today - hope you will come back soon! x 

Sharing Isla over at -

AAA Birthday - Critters/Animals
AAA Card - One layer
Creative Craft Cottage - Add an Animal