Rat Pack

I treated myself recently to some of Sarah's fab Funky Fossil Design stencils. (Well you simply have to have a treat now and then don't you????😁😁 )

Thing is there are so many wonderful designs it's hard to choose!
But here's one which I loved as soon as I saw it - called The Rat Pack. It arrived the day after I placed the order - how good a service is that?!

I mixed it with a sentiment stamp from Visible Image's  'Brighten the World' set and the skyline from  'The Right Direction'.

Die cut and watercoloured my Manhattan Skyline and mounted it all onto black card using a bit of Black Soot DI round the edges.

The light here is not the best as once again we have been treated to a deluge of rain, sleet and snow so the pic is not the sharpest or brightest - will try and amend that as soon as we get a good day for picture taking!

Linking up to -
Craft Stamper - A/goes
Cardz4Guyz - Use Ink/Paint
AP2S - Masculine
Mix It Up -A/Goes + Stencilling


Thanks for looking today - hope you are warm and dry in your part of blogland! x

Fun with Foil!

I have enjoyed playing about with Foils recently and there is still a few days left in our current challenge at CAS Stencil so have made another card!

It is a bit of a change for me to use a coloured card base and I have been disappointed with some coloured card that I have bought recently as it had a rough feel to it like it was unfinished! I am now on a mission to find somewhere here in the UK that sells smooth high quality coloured card in small packs (- I don't want to be buying 100 sheets - ) and doesn't need me to take out a second mortgage to buy it.

This grey card pack of 10 sheets was in a recent sale and was happy that it has a lovely smooth finish to it when it arrived.

The silver mirri card was a left over bit and fitted the length of the card so cut it out with wavy dies. The white was also a left over piece.
I heat embossed the sentiment (not very well looking at it!!!) in silver to keep the grey and white colour combo throughout.

I'm popping into the Playground this week with my make too.
Thanks for looking - would love to see your foiled stencil creations in the gallery if you have time to spare over the next few days! x

Christmas Stash

I've managed to make another Christmas Card🎄!

Thinking it will be really nice to have a small supply done and stored in the Christmas Box and this was a quick card really so I have no excuse not to continue with the Christmas makes.

CAS Christmas challenge is 'Joy'.
I don't have any dies or stamps that just say 'joy' so hope that my 'joy-ful' wishes stamp is OK.

The circlet die I have used is not specifically a Christmas one but it was in the die cut box and I thought it would double up as a Christmas one.

Simple snow embossed background and some silver Nuvo Pearl used on the flowers. A little double organza bow with a blingy buckle and a sentiment done in metallic silver ink - job done!

Am sharing this Christmas make at
Allsorts - Dies
Alphabet - W - Anything you Wish
Winter Wonderland - Anything Xmas

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

February Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

It's half way time at the Stamping Sensations challenge this month.
Our theme is 'Feminine' and if you've not yet entered grab those girly themed stamps and get making!

Our sponsors are JMC Designs and  Bee Crafty and rather than me tell you about it, pop over to the challenge blog, have a look at what you could win and don't forget to check out our rules!
If you don't follow them then we can't select you for the prize!

I used one of Julia's digis called 'Marcelle', who is so obviously French (well she is to me anyway!).

So a French girl simply HAS to have a French background!

I printed the digi out onto watercolour paper and left overnight.

Stamped an Eiffel Tower from a very old stamp set and watercoloured a background.

After colouring the digi was fussy cut and popped onto the background using foam pads.
The sentiment is from the same set.

Hope you can find time to make a 'girly' card/project and look forward to seeing it in the gallery! x

CAS Stencil Mid Month Reminder

We're halfway through our challenge of Using Foil with your Stencils at CAS Stencil this month set by Barb.
I had fun using this technique and here's my DT card

I used some Brushos on mixed media paper for the background to my stars.
The stencil was a Christmas present!

Used Transfer Gel and a blue Deco Foil, running it through the old laminator.
After foiling I die cut out the stars.

The rest of the stamping on the card was done with silver metallic ink using a Stampin Up set.

Another card for my stash of masculine cards!

The one thing that no one tells you is that sometimes taking a pic to show off the shiny bits is a tad difficult!
So here's a little close up of my stars which are very shiny!!

Look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery!x

Boy Racer!

February 14th is a special day as it is DH's birthday!
When he was (much) younger he owned a silver Ford Capri which (according to him) was the best car in the entire universe🚀, it went fast ⛐⛐ and was his first love💕
(He obviously thought it might turn him into a demi god or something...... 💋💋😁)
Last year Visible Image brought out a stamp set entitled 'In The Right Direction' which featured a Ford Capri and I was tempted to buy it but didn't. Anyway whilst away this week my friend (who is just embarking on becoming like the rest of us and completely hooked on crafting) took me to a craft shop near where she lives.
Fate definitely played a hand as there on the sale rail were Visible Image stamp sets reduced to £8.40 and a double whammy of 3 for 2 offer - and there was one single 'In the Right Direction' set left!
(Of course 2 other sets found there way into the basket - you can't leave a bargain can you????) 

Thing was, I bought the stamp Wednesday, we travelled home yesterday and his birthday is today - so I made a very quick card last night.
HE LOVED IT despite me making it in about 30 minutes flat!

We had a lovely few days away (craft shop not withstanding!)  and the Tutankhamun Exhibition

at the Saatchi Gallery in London was awesome.

I took tons of pics - (far too many to share on this post) - it was such a special day and one which I will remember. 

I know people say you can see all these treasures in Cairo but we are highly unlikely to ever travel there and to be able to see the exquisite artefacts up close was just wonderful.
The amazing workmanship and attention to detail was incredible and the sheer beauty of some of the pieces took your breath away - it is impossible to imagine what it would have been like to be first into that gold and jewel strewn tomb!

Hope all is well in your part of blogland! x

Lovely Lilac!

Purple shades are not colours which I tend to use a lot, so if anyone asks me why I used Lilac on this card I would honestly answer that I simply don't know!!

The main challenge over at CAS Mix Up is to 'Make a Stencil from a Die Cut' .
This die used to be one of my 'go to' ones but it has been neglected recently.

I spent a little while agonising over the use of the pearls and am still not sure if their addition was needed or not but what's done is done!


So the elements of my card to comply with the CAS Mix up requirements are
Stencil from a Die Cut, Stamping, Die Cutting (the frame) and heat embossing (the sentiment and the spotty border are clear embossed).

Also sharing at
Mix It Up - Use a Stencil
Crafty Calendar - Use Dies

I am off for a few days with friends and a trip to see the Tutankhamun 'Treasures of the Golden Pharoah' Exhibition. Although there is no Death Mask (already back in Egypt), this will be the last chance to see the rest of the artefacts before they go to their permanent home in Cairo.
This exhibition is celebrating the Centenary of the discovery of the tomb and I am really looking forward to it!

Thanks for calling to see me today - hope everything is well with you in your part of blogland. Hugs from me. x

CAS Stencil February Challenge

This month at CAS Stencil, Barb has set us the challenge of using Foils.
Before I really looked into this, I thought that you had to have proper foiling machines to use foiling on your cards - but I found out that you can try foiling without buying lots of products if, like me, you are simply wanting to have a go at something different and don't have lots of cash to spend.
I used 2 different techniques on this card -and no it's not perfect (will explain in a minute) but I was happy with the finished article.

I watched some tutorials (lots listed on the challenge blog) and realised that I could perhaps try this technique with a little outlay.

I bought 6 A4 sheets of foil in different colours (from e bay) and invested in some Transfer Gel - neither broke the bank.

So - onto the card - the sentiment was done with a die cut, some foil left over from the main stencil and double sided sticky tape.
This was really easy - a sticky tape sandwich of card,tape and foil-  using a bone folder to smooth out the foil before die cutting.

The rose stencil is a new one. Secured it onto the card and used a palette knife to apply the Transfer Gel.
Once done, removed the stencil and left the Gel to dry. It dries clear so you know it's ready!
Foil over it, then put it between a sheet of parchment paper and ran it through an ancient (and I mean  ancient - like 20 years old!!!) laminator.

Filled with trepidation when I took it out and peeled off the foil..... ..........
Not too bad considering!!

There are some small gaps where the foil didn't stick - although this may have been my uneven application of the gel rather than the foil and the pre-historic laminating machine!

The DT have some lovely examples to show you so please pop over to the challenge blog and pay them a visit - and don't forget to visit our talented Guest Designer Steph's blog HERE
Love for you to try this out and join us this month - Happy foiling!! xx

Red and Black

A lovely week away with our friends topped off with winning the Bowls England tournament - so now we have a hat trick of 3 wins in this event in four years - we're really pleased!
Only downside was a very tiring 6 hour drive home so as usual it will take me a couple of days to get over it - decided to spend my relax time doing a few cards for some upcoming challenges.

CAS Watercolour's challenge this month is 'Red and Black'. These colours always shout 'Oriental' to me so my card was obviously inspired by that.

I dragged a brush with some watered down black paint and made a few background mountains, adding a little pale red highlights.

I used an old stamp which is a little bigger than the impression here - the balance would have been all wrong as it was too big  for the background - so masked off the bottom first and then stamped in Versamark Black.

I used a coin and carefully drew a circle, which I then watercoloured avoiding the spire as much as I could!

Some more watered down black paint and a very old Chinese letters stamp (no idea what it means or even if it means anything at all!) before framing and matting onto the base card.

Quite pleased with how it turned out as I am still not confident with watercolours and although there's not !

Also sharing over at Pearly Sparkles where the challenge is to 'Use Some Red'. 
Thanks for looking - hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Feminine for February at Stamping Sensations

Bee Crafty is our sponsor this month at Stamping Sensations.

Our theme is 'Feminine' so there are lots of things that you can stamp relating to girly stuff!


Please follow our challenge rules because if you don't we can't consider you for the prize (details of which are over on the challenge blog along with some inspiration from the DT -if you need it!)

My 'fabulous flamingo' was stamped, watercoloured and fussy cut. Highlighted a little with a white gel pen.

The background done with some ink blending and tropical palm stamps.

I thought she needed a bit of bling so stamped and fussy cut a couple of the petals from the tiny flower stamp (not something I am repeating any time soon!!!) and made a little necklace

Sentiment stamped and then matted onto dark green card before placing on the card base.

Hope you find time to join in with us this month! x