Card Chain Challenge June Reveal

 My card for June in the Card Chain Challenge went to Gail in Norway and I received a really pretty make from Patricia in Texas!

Once again the colour option from the vast list of things to choose from appealed to me and I also used the Summertime theme.

I used a Memento ink pad called Sahara Sand for the sandy beach, then blended another Memento colour called Turquoise Gem. The Navy blue colour element was a mix of Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide.

I stamped a few starfish randomly along the sandy beach and once the background was dry, I got out these brilliant Ocean stamps from Inkylicious.
I've used these stamps quite a lot recently - they are absolutely perfect for adding embossed waves and foam to beachy scenes.

Although it's hard to see in the photo the starfish and the sand do have a teeny bit of sparkle - achieved by random dotting of Wink of Stella Pens in brown and gold.

Finished with a stacked die cut. (I always think there's something very dreamy about listening to a tide lapping on a sandy shore so the die seemed a good fit!)

There's still a few days left to sign up for the next Chain if you fancy having a go! x

Summertime at Try It On Tuesday

 How quickly time goes past - we're halfway through 2024! It's difficult to believe - don't know where the weeks go to!
Anyway, as it's Tuesday our challenge for the next two weeks at Try It On Tuesday is called 'Here comes Summer'.

There are many things that I relate to Summer. Ice Cream is one, Strawberries another, my flip flops and of course the scent from the flowers in the garden.

But nothing reminds me more of Summer than when I see a Beach Hut! There's something about them that conjure up visions of lazy days and I do have a memory of spending time in a beach hut on a summer holiday when I was a child.
That's probably why many years ago I bought this stamp. I have no idea who made it - it came in a set of 2 I think - the other is just a smaller beach hut with it's door closed.

Stamped, then masked and blended the background. I coloured the image with watercolour pencils.

The Inkylicious shoreline stamp was white heat embossed and the sentiment is from Card-io.

Thanks for looking today - hope you can find time to join us this challenge - please pay a visit to the rest of the DT, it's lovely to have you visit!  And I hope Summer has come wherever you are! x
Sharing over at
Hand Stamped Sentiments #441
MMM - Outdoor Summer Fun

Let's Go Outside at Try It On Tuesday

Our latest challenge at Try It On Tuesday is called 'Let's Go Outside'.

Lots of interpretations for this one and look forward to seeing what the challenge prompt means to you!

I love the Sea.
I live in a pretty rural area but we're literally 10 minutes away from the coast so I have the best of both worlds.

Here's my make. The two girls are a stamp from Crafty Individuals and the boat is from Card-io.

I had it in my head that these two girls (sisters/friends) were just seeking solace at the water's edge, dreaming of escaping to some magical place aboard the boat!
(I know - fanciful imagination I have!)

I also got to try out one of the waves stamps from Inkylicious (which I bought and then forgot I had them!)

Just lots of ink blending and heat embossing and I fussy cut the girls to make them stand out a bit more.

This was one of those makes that I was (and still am ) undecided about as I think I maybe got the perspective askew - maybe the sea should have been less and the beach and sky more??? Just call me undecided!
Hey ho, it's done now!

Hope you can find time to join us for this challenge - we welcome all types of crafting, not just cards!
And please pop over to the challenge blog and have a look at the rest of the DT's makes - we love visitors!
Happy Crafting! x

Sing A Song at TIOT

New challenge day at Try It On Tuesday - and the theme this time is 'Sing a Song' - so find a song you like and make something reflecting your tune!

OR -
you can do what I did and do something really random!
Whilst looking for another stamp set I saw this Cardio set called 'High Flyers' - It triggered off a song in my head and I showed my age by singing the chorus of it (and it's been driving me nuts ever since!)

The song is - of course-  'Lets Go Fly A Kite' from Mary Poppins.
I had a red kite when I was a child and my Uncle took me to the local sand dunes to fly it - a lovely childhood memory!

I made my little scene using all Cardio stamps from a few sets - Beach Trail, Beside the Sea and Flipping Out (don't you just LOVE Flip-flops!) as well as the High Flyers set.

I did some gentle ink blending using chalk inks which give a much softer effect than Distress ones to create my sandy beach and sea and (although it doesn't show very well in the pic) the sky - which is a very pale blue with a watery sun - cos not all days on the beach are hot and sunny!

I added some white posca pen to highlight the little ripples as the sea reached the shore and underneath the pier.
I hope the little boy enjoyed flying his kite as much as I used to do! 
Thanks for visiting me today - please have a look on the challenge blog and see what the rest of the team have come up with - and hopefully you'll join our challenge this time round!

February Card Chain Challenge

February's  Card Chain Challenge card was sent to Jo in the UK
Having received a bumper bundle of Card-io stamps at Christmas from my other half I am enjoying using them!

I am waiting for warmer weather so it seemed apt to use some stamps that made me think of sunny days.

The colour option this month asked for Brick Red, Aqua and Sand which shouted all things beachy to me - so once again I bypassed the Technique/Sketch/Theme options!

I started by stamping the boat in Fired Brick Oxide then masked it off.

I experimented a little using VersaMagic chalk based ink and a small blending brush for the sea. As I normally use Oxides for ink blending I wasn't sure how it would look - but I was really happy with the result. The 'Sea Breeze' ink colour blended beautifully and gave a soft effect which was a change from the depth of colour you get with Oxides etc.

I wanted the boat to remain the focal point so I used the Sea Breeze ink to  stamp the Pier rather than using a grey or black
I used another colour - 'Wheat' for my sand and some of the grasses.
The stones and shells were more of the VersaMagic inks Sahara Sand and Niagra Mist.

Took my blue and yellow blending brushes and just rubbed on the top for the sky using the excess ink on the brushes rather than inking them up again so the colours weren't overpowering.
I am really enjoying the Card Chain Challenge - the challenge themes give you lots of options to choose from and it's lovely receiving a surprise each month! This month I received a really pretty make from Tina in Slovenia!

Sandy

 
Sometimes a card never turns out as well as it looks in your head - and this was one of them - Hey Ho!

This Sizzix embossing folder is an old one but it is one of my most well used.

(If you have a look HERE I used it with alco inks and embossing powder.)

The reverse side of the folder for some reason reminded me of the random way the sea fans out when running to the shoreline - Which is a bit odd and shows how my mind works considering it's supposed to be a folder depicting shattered glass!

But undeterred I carried on with my 'vision' - 😄 and despite now looking at it for a few days am still not sure if it works or not......

Some ink blending in shades varying from the Salty Ocean blue to the Scattered Straw sand and I stamped and fussy cut a little starfish and a shell.

The sentiment may be from Penny Black (not sure!)

Despite it not looking how I imagined it (!) I am still going to link up at

CYHTP - Beach
Let's Squash It - Keep it Simple
Inkspirational - Photo prompt
Thanks for looking - appreciate you coming to visit and if you have left a comment than you again! x

PS - If you are visiting from the CAS Facebook group to see the Vellum card please scroll down to the previous post!

Just Beachy!

I made something similar to this some time ago as a thank you to a friend who had given us the use of their beautiful lodge down on the South coast for a few days break.

Whilst having a sort out I found this square shadow box so I replicated the scene only on a much smaller scale. The scene measures just 3".

It was a project that I enjoyed doing although I am fast running out of wall space - I have a tiny spot in the downstairs cloakroom for this!

Heavy watercolour card for the background as I wanted some texture and some loose watercolouring.

The boat was in a box of bits - at some point it came from a laser cut sheet I think - that long ago I've forgotten. It was a little tatty but once glued it looked OK!

The 'sand' is in fact sandpaper ( dear husband won't notice that a little scrap has gone from his tool box!).

I sponged some Gesso along the torn edge to try and replicate foam (not sure I managed it) as the waves reach the beach

The shells are really small but I collect a few every time we go to a beach - I am actually quite fascinated by sea shells - I love the tactile feel of them and the array of colours.
These were from a trip to one of my fave beaches in the North of Scotland at Lossiemouth.
The 'rope' is a tiny scrap of string.

The outside of the box was given a wash of gesso and some light brushing of Weathered Wood randomly.

Linking up at
TIOT _ Here comes Summer

I hope the sun is shining in your part of blogland! x

Last Day of Summer?

I had a couple of pieces of card lying on the desk - I used to save all little offcuts of card but was in danger of being buried under a paper mountain of tiny bits🗻 so have got into the habit of only keeping card if it is of a reasonable useful size. (Wasteful I know but I used to spend hours searching in the 'bits box' and invariably ended up not having a 'bit' big enough for what I wanted!)
 

So now the 'bits box' only has bigger pieces in it and this card was made with them.

I took a piece of card which was the exact perfect size for a panel and used a Stampasurus stencil for my background blending with Speckled Egg and Picked Raspberry.
 

My stamp is from Altenew's Just Because set - this was it's first use!
After stamping I fussy cut.✂
I thought about colouring the flower bouquet bit decided it would make more impact left.

I added a small strip of black card under the flower (another odd bit!)
The sentiment and die word is from Technique Tuesday.

Yesterday we had a day out at the seaside - it was warm and sunny, there was hardly anyone on the beach (I collected a couple of 'keepsake' shells which I am going to use for a small canvas).
After our beach walk we sat on the prom looking out at the blue sky and the sea and had a fish and chip lunch - it was just a perfect day.

Today our weather has ended up being grey, cool and windy! So maybe we made the most of the last day of summer?
Thanks for visiting me today.
I am more reliant than ever on contact with my blogging buddies as the months go by and the virus remains with us.

Stay safe and well wherever in the world you are. x

Linking to

TIOT - Use up Your Scraps
NBUS #18 - (My Altenew stamp)
Pixies Snippets Playground #387

Far from the Madding Crowd

We're still under local restrictions. And no sign of it abating. I am finding it very difficult to not get angry with those who think they can just do as they want - for example 100 people at a wedding indoors and less than a week later approx 200 people caught by a Police helicopter's infra red camera at a garden party.  Words fail me.

The 'Beach' challenge is still ongoing at CAS Mix Up so I am adding this to the gallery which has some beautiful beachy inspired makes so far and there is still a couple of days left if you want to come and join us!

I've had this stamp for a while and it's never seen ink. When I looked at it, I thought how perfect it would be to be miles away from all the madness that is currently going on especially here where I live.
Far from the Madding Crowd indeed.

The pic quality is poor I am afraid, the sky is a pale sunkissed blue which doesn't show up at all. I clear embossed after stamping.

We have had some very strong winds the last few days - yesterday was bright and sunny though today is rather wet!

Outside I have been nurturing a Stargazer Lily in a pot and it had grown nearly as tall as me and just begun to flower when the strong winds arrived.
On Wednesday morning it was lying face down on the patio having been blown over and looking very sad. Graham went and picked it up and brought it inside - it is now in my lounge- (well away from walls and furniture) - but it has rewarded me by completely bursting into bloom!
The scent is obviously overpowering but I am real pleased as being up here on the top keeping flowers is a bit of a challenge to say the least, if it's not the rain it's strong winds even in summer and mostly a combination of both! 

Sharing my card with -

MMM - On the Beach
Country View - Seaside

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

CAS Mix Up August Mid Month

Time for my mid month post for CAS Mix Up! It's Watercolour time this month and our challenge theme has been set by Loll which is 'BEACH'.

I stamped the bottle image (which was part of a freebie set some time ago) and heat embossed first before watercolouring with my watercolour paints.

A simple stitched die and mounted onto a hammer textured card base. I wish I could draw and watercolour freehand but no chance so it's stamping and colouring for me!)

We are happy to have as our Guest Designer

 Brenda (Inkspired to Stamp)

 

There are already some great cards in the gallery and we look forward to seeing yours if you've not already linked in!

CAS Mix Up August Challenge

Time for our new challenge at CAS Mix Up and this month the challenge  is WATERCOLOUR and the theme set by Loll is 'BEACH'. 

These shell stamps don't get used nearly enough so I took the dust from them and stamped them onto some mixed media paper, heat embossing in white.

My Brushos also don't get used enough either so I used the Turquoise and Black on this card!
I sprinkled the Turquoise first  then sprayed with water and just watched as the colours appeared. I added a tiny sprinkling of Black here and there and sprayed again lightly.

The sentiment is an old one taken from another stamp.

We have  

 Brenda (Inkspired to Stamp)

     as our Guest designer this month and some beautiful cards made by the Design Team so please go visit!

Am also linking this to

MIUCB - Embossing

CAS on Friday - Summer

CRAFT - Summer

Sisterhood of Crafters - Ocean/Beachy

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