Midway reminder for Try It On Tuesday

 We're half way through our AUTUMN challenge at Try It On Tuesday so there's still time for you to enter!

I've done a small note card for my stash which measures 5"square.

I used watercolour card  and a stamp from Rubbernecker, (I've had it for a long time!).

Inked up the stamp using watercolour pens and gave a very light mist of water, then stamped.

Was happy how the first pass looked and there still seemed to be a little colour left on the stamp so did it again.
The secondary stamping didn't turn out quite as well as I hoped but it's not too bad!

A bit more watercolouring then cut it into 3 panels and popped it onto a die cut stitched frame.

Thanks for looking and have a great day whatever you're doing! x

It's a man thing!

 Hands up those who like making 'man' cards........ mmmmmm thought so - not many of you is there?!  And I am with you keeping my hands firmly by my side - but - whilst you're in the mood (and trust me I wasn't to begin with), you have to go with the flow so here it is

I cut a piece of heavy cardstock to the exact size of the Tim Holtz 'Alterations' embossing folder.

I inked it up with Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Antique Linen and Rusty Hinge randomly to start then spritzed with water before running through the Big Shot.
Left it to dry out a bit.

Rubbed over the top of the impression lightly with Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy, being careful (for once!) not to press down too hard as I only wanted the clock faces highlighted!

Chopped the panel into 3 pieces, matted on gold mirri card and mounted onto dark brown cardstock.
A gold heat embossed sentiment to finish and one man card done!

Sharing over at
TIOT - Man in your Life
Let's Squash It - Make it Manly
Alphabet - E for Emboss
Crafty Friends - Men
CYHTP - A/Goes

We have had a sunny weekend here but it has been very windy - good for drying the washing but not so much for the hair!
Hope the sun has shined where you are and thank you for looking! x

Dragonflies

(Picture heavy post!)
The Twofer challenge always makes me think and this month I had to think more than usual!

It's taken me a long time to  make a decision and to come up with something - which is madness when you consider the prompt was 'YOUR CHOICE'!

Eventually I came up with these -
I've had this Stampendous stamp for ever! Forget the last time I used it so made up for lost time and used it twice.

I stamped and clear embossed then added some Brushos. I am still not very good with Brushos and this panel was my third attempt.

A little grungy overstamping with a hexagon stamp and an arrow stamp. Liked the hexagon, didn't like the arrow so overstamped it with the 'Make Art' which fortunately for me looked OK!


My second card involved more embossing!

Gold embossed the dragonfly

then fussy cut, getting rid of the flourish and the vines. I painted the wings with several Mica Powders so they have a little shimmer.

The background is an old stencil from Imagination Crafts - I used Tea Dye for the Bullrush tops and Twisted Citron for the leaves.

I lightly inked some Speckled Egg DI for the sky and stamped the sentiment in the Tea Dye ink.

Am going to share the second card at
MTTC- Stencil It
Stamplorations Stencil Challenge - A/Goes

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking today and thank you for any comments you leave.

I really appreciate you taking the time. x

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

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

Home

I am still suffering a little from lack of ideas and thought maybe if I had a quick tidy of the desk it might help.
I have a stack of odd bits of card shoved to one side so I began a sort through, dumping those that I couldn't use.

The brick background was obviously done for something (no idea what!) but it was there so I used that as the base - the card just kind of evolved from the background and it incorporated a little bit of everything and used up few odd bits.

The window die is one of a few Spellbinders ones that I own (and hardly use......)

I had a scrap of watercolour card (and it was only a teeny scrap) but miraculously it fitted behind the window!
So a little scene created with some stamps and watercolours.

The stamps are from a mag freebie some time back - and I bought the mag as I thought the stamps would be useful for quick New Home cards.

The fussy cutting of the plants and keys tried my patience a bit cos they really ARE small!
Used a grey brad to 'hang' the keys from.  

Am sharing this over at -
CRAFT - New
Craft Rocket - New
MAWTT - All things new
TIOT - White Space

Have a great day whatever you're doing and thanks for visiting! x

Daisy

I've had some 'crafter's block' 😞😞 recently and was getting a little fed up staring at stamps and being devoid of ideas💡!

I don't know what I would do without Pinterest!! Saw a card like this and thought - "I have that stamp".....

Thinking that I had the stamp was the easy bit - finding it was something else 🙈. But find it I did (and another similar Dahlia one from Indigo Blu - also never seen ink)

I used Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet direct to the stamp and highlighted the centre with some Nuvo Pearl. The Nuvo was white but the ink underneath reacted with it and I got a pale pink and white mix - which I think looks fine.

I popped a plain white frame over it and mounted it onto the card base and added the sentiment.

Been a nice morning here - blue skies after a heavy frost - one of the better winter days!
Thanks for looking today and for any comment you leave - I really appreciate it. And thank you to the crafter who posted her make on Pinterest!

Sharing over at
A2S+M - Make your Mark
Krafty Chicks - CAS
Allsorts - More than 1 word sentiment

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

CAS Christmas - October (Part 2!)

My Christmas cards are coming along - I am still  needing a lot more but I am currently away visiting my friend in a nice warm country🌞 (and attending meetings about an event we are running next year - so it's not all sun and pool lounging!). Unsurprisingly I really can't get my head round snow and ice at the minute. No doubt when I get back in a few days the British weather will soon change that.
I made these before I left when I was in Christmas card mode! It's very rare that I make 2 cards that are almost the same, and to be honest that was not the intention with these - the one on the left was a 'practice run' and I full expected to at least smudge it - but although I made a few changes when I came to do the second one as I looked at the first I thought it wasn't too bad- so onto a card it went!

I used the solid branch stamp from an Altenew layering set called Cherry Blossom, partly inking and adding bits of it to main branch in Versafine Smokey Gray.
The sponged background is Pumice Stone DI liberally splattered with water and once dry added my two Inklylicious birdies stamped in Crimson Red.

I used Iced Spruce on the base of the first card (not happy) and Tumbled Glass on the second - (much happier) before adding a little bit of glitter.
The 'snow' on the branches done differently too - the  left one had Nuvo Crystal (too thick) and I used a white gel pen on the second one!

Sharing these into the gallery at CAS Christmas where the theme is 'Winter Scene'.
Thanks for looking today - will catch up with you all in a couple of days when back home with the heating on! x

Large Stencil

 I used an Inklylicious Stencil to create my background, inking it in Shaded Lilac and Spun Sugar.
The stamps are from Inklycious and Lavinia and the sentiment stamp was a freebie last year.

I didn't have any really tiny tree stamps so the trees next to the Castle are simply the top of the Fir Tree stamp, after masking the bottom of the card.

I inked up the largest circle in the stencil on a separate piece of card and cut it with a circle die before stamping again.
A little bit of pink ribbon and my tag was created!

August at Stamping Sensations

Hello Crafty People!

August already! And the Stamping Sensations challenge is ' Things With Wings' - so  a lot of scope there - please remember though you MUST stamp and have the 'thing with wings' as the FOCAL point of your entry.

I had a bit of fun with a few stamps and ink!

Stamped the butterfly first then masked off.

The diamond background stamp is from Kaiserkraft and I just inked it with a few co-ordinating Distress Ink colours and stamped away on the background. Used an old circle stamp from a textured collection and randomly stamped a few circles.

Sentiment came next

Sponged the edge and matted onto green card before popping onto the card base and done!

We have a great prize for you again - our sponsors this month are the fabulous 'Rubber Dance' - pop over to the blog to check it out - and visit my wonderfully talented teamies - they love comments!

Tidy up

Since arriving back home from my few days away I have been chasing my own tail a bit catching up with washing/ironing/shopping for M-I-L etc (note there was no mention of housework in there....😉😉) and the last 3 days have just disappeared.
Today I intend to sit and play with some new stamps but before that I had a quick tidy up of the desk (this counts as housework in my opinion😏😏)

It's actually amazing what you find when you clear away  ....🙈🙈

I remember doing this and not being happy with it at the time.
Looking at it this morning, it's rather grown on me - but only a little -  although I still don't know if I will put it in the Card Box.
It was a bit of an experiment and a practice with pencils for colouring on dark card and my original intention was for a Sympathy card but maybe it is too dark and brooding?

Stamped and clear embossed the stamp  - from Joy Crafts I think but is that old I can't remember?!!)

Coloured with Inktense Watercolour Pencils.
I think maybe the centre could have been a bit more vibrant and am considering going over it with a brighter colour - although if I am not going to use it I mightn't waste time!

Sharing over at
Make My Monday - the letter B (Bloom and Black)
Crafty Friends - the letter B (Bloom and Black)
Paper Craft Crew - #342 Stamping/Floral/Feminine


Desk now cleared and ready for action - but am going to get a cuppa and come visit you all first!
Thanks for visiting today - and if you have left me a comment I thank you very much! x

Blooming Marvellous!

Happy Monday to you all.

I have spent today playing about with some new watercolours (a little treat to me - a Winsor & Newton half pan of 45 lush colours!)

It was good having some time to sit and lose myself as for obvious reasons things have been a little mad round here.

The stamps were a freebie from a mag. Not often I buy crafting mags but I liked this flower and the matching dies.

The flowers and the green leaves are all from the same set and I stamped everything in Versafine Black before playing with my new paints.
.
The black leaves are from SU. No idea why I coloured them black but it looked 'right' somehow! No matching die for these - all fussy cut!! Used leftovers for the flowers and leaves so am visiting the Playground (and have a note to explain my absence)!

A frame cut out with a stitched die then the card front run through with the EF, frame back in after a few paint spatters and a sentiment stamp from another set.  Job done!
(Although the weather here today has been anything but blooming marvellous that's for sure).

Many thanks to all of you who have left messages about my M-I-L. A long road ahead.

Sharing my blooms with
Little Red Wagon - Flower Frenzy
Die cut Divas - Flowers
HLSWatercolour - Happy
HLS Dies - A/Goes
PB & More - Feminine

Thanks for looking - and happy crafting! x

Baby Wipes!

It has been a struggle this month for me to keep my promise to myself to enter the CAS Mix Up Challenge each month (reason explained in the post below this one) and I am almost at the last minute sharing this into the gallery.

I tried a couple of things using the Baby Wipe techniques suggested on the challenge blog but was disappointed with the results. I desperately wanted to have a go with my limited Distress Oxide stash on glossy paper, however the photo paper I have is very thin so didn't take the inks well. (Will buy some better stuff next time I am out!)

In the end I opted to use the Baby Wipe as an Ink Pad, again with only limited supplies!
Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick and Weathered Wood ink refills dropped onto the wipe , a very old Hero Arts stamp set used for the leaf flourish and flower head.
The 'splatters' are from SU.

Then I got very messy and folded the wipe and dragged across the bottom of the card.
More ink on the fingers and the surrounding craft mat than on the card but undeterred had another couple of 'passes'!

The die cut sentiment was lying on the desk so used it before it became too tatty.
Overall, don't think it looks too bad!
There's also a brand new challenge over at The Foiled Fox   asking for a Colour Trio, so am linking up there too!.

Thanks for looking today and thanks to everyone who has sent me their best wishes for my M-I-L. They are much appreciated.  x 

Inspired at last!

My visits to blogland have been a little bit sporadic of late. And if I haven't visited you in a while I promise to get round to you as soon as I can. (Explanation of absence at the bottom of this post)

I have needed some time to simply relax and managed to grab a couple of hours in the craftie space.
(My side of the room is scheduled for an overhaul very soon as I simply have too much stuff on tops of bookcases and desks so a little redesign coming up - I hope!)

I used my fave textured card for this make, masking off a panel and inking with Shabby Shutters DI before overstamping the grasses with Mowed Lawn.

The tulips were stamped, clear embossed, coloured and the heads and leaves fussy cut - (that was a fiddly job! They're really small!!) - before popping them up on tiny foam pads.

A snippet of white card used to make the frame and a die cut butterfly to tie it all in together.

Sharing my make at -
Paper Players - CAS + Plants
ATSM - Make Your Mark

So I said I would explain my absence -
My mother in law has fractured two bones in her back - simply by making her bed would you believe?
It took two emergency phone calls as the pain was so intense and she was unable to move, followed by 2 stays in hospital before they finally decided that instead of simply giving her painkillers and sending her home saying it was a pulled muscle that there may be something more serious causing the pain.  An X ray revealed 2 fractures.
So now she is in a full body brace for the next 5 months.
She is currently in an Intermediate Care Facility and is coming home to her flat on Saturday, having passed some small mobility tests today. She lives on her own and has always been active and independent so being confined indoors until she gets a bit more able to do more things for herself is not going to be well received I think!
She lives an hour away too so there has been much travelling of late and this looks likely to continue for a short while at least.
Thanks for visiting today - promise to get round to you as soon as I can. x

May Mid Month reminder - Stamping Sensations

Here is my little nudge to remind you of our May Challenge at Stamping Sensations!

Chocolate Baroque are our sponsors - and who wouldn't want to win some stash from them???!

I again used the Honey Bee stamp set and my Honeycomb embossing folder (and if you missed the first post about this challenge it is HERE).
I really do like this stamp set!

So after a little bit fussier with the last one, this time I went for CAS.

The flower and bees were stamped, watercoloured and fussy cut.

I added some Glossy accents to the bees wings and they really do look transparent now on the card!

The background was inked with Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey and Squeezed Lemonade and I applied the Bokeh technique of sponging over it with a circle stencil and white pigment ink.

Another piece of cord to secure the cute sentiment and done!

Floral

A quick post from me today!
Sharing a card I made recently for a friends Birthday using a NBUS stamp!
Had this PB 'Delicate Florals' set for a while and this is the first time this particular stamp from the set has seen ink!

I stamped and silver embossed then used DI's to colour. (Picked Raspberry, Victorian Velvet, Cracked Pistachio)
Die cut a Butterfly and silver embossed the body before popping it onto a teeny scrap of vellum which I coloured with Cracked Pistachio DI.
Die cut the sentiment and coloured again with Cracked Pistachio before mounting onto the die cut stitched squares.
A few paint splatters to finish.

Sharing over at
PB&More - Spring
PB Saturday Challenge - Fresh Spring Colours
Allsorts - Feminine
CAS on Friday - Butterflies
Alphabet - C for Cas

Thanks for visiting me today. I will come see you all soon as I can! have a great day whatever you're doing. xx

The Rain Returns!

After some wonderful warm and sunny days we have returned again to typical April showers. In fact last evening there was a downpour of monsoon proportions!
My real life has taken up quite a lot of my time but happily I did find some 'me' time.

Some time ago I saw a card made by fellow blogger Michele  which I loved so I asked her if she would allow me to take her inspiration and use it for myself. She happily agreed so here is mine -

I decided to use a brick background on the lower part of the card to add some texture. Looking at it now I might have got away with the whole of the background embossed.....

I really like these Gerbera stamps - stamped and heat embossed in white then out with the new Brush Pens.
(Enjoying playing with these - although they are going to take a bit of getting used to and am not sure if I am brave enough yet to just try using them as watercolours without an embossed stamp line to guide!) 

Fussy cut the flowers then punched 3 small circles into a strip of white card, stamped a sentiment and my little card finished.

Sharing my make with
Crafty Creations - A/Goes
House that Stamps Built - A/Goes
MAWTT - Flowers

Thanks for visiting today - hope whatever you're doing is making you feel happy! x 

Hello

The challenge for April at CAS Watercolour is Poppies.
I found this small stamp in my stash that had 3 poppies on it - it also had some agapanthus in the background - these were removed after careful application with a cotton bud and some cleaner after I'd inked the stamp!

I coloured it with Inktense Watercolour pencils.

I am not feeling very inspired at the moment (real life again) so the addition of the die cut sentiment coloured in a gradient of the colours used for the stamped image and background was the only embellishment.

I DO though, have a few things unassembled on the desk which I intend to turn my attention to over the next few days!

We had a truly beautiful day here yesterday. I ventured outside in a short sleeve shirt with my cuppa so it must have been warm.

There's a bit more cloud about today but at least the temperature hasn't dropped too much.

Hoping that the warmer days are becoming the norm now rather than the exception!


Also sharing at

CAS on Friday - Spring
Cardz 4 Galz - Flora.
Thanks for taking the time to pay me a call today. I hope that you are warm too in your part of the world! x

A learning curve and thoughts to ponder!!

Have you ever wondered (when you look at little piles of failed attempts in the bin ), why you tried in the first place?

Have you ever wondered (when you look at the greasy fingermarks), why you decided to use some (rather expensive) navy blue card which is coated with something that instantly attracts every single teeny bit of anything that is floating about above the craft desk?

Have you ever wondered (when you look at the finished article) why, even though there is nothing on the actual card the camera appears to have picked up strange shading and tiny specks?

I have.
I have wondered all these things  🔮 -  and don't know the answers!!

But in the making of the little pile of mess now sat in the bin I discovered that Pink embossing powder does not work when applied direct to this particular card.
Nor does Blue.
Nor does  Yellow
Nor does Green.

This stamp set  is called 'Under The Cherry Blossom tree' from Altenew and I confess that although I coveted it, it was not what I expected when it arrived.
There is nothing wrong with the set, it is a really pretty set but for me the majority of the sentiment stamps are really tinyand likely I will only use one or two.

I used Gold and Platinum EP on the branch - then, on trying to layer the cherry blossom in pink and the teeny birdie in aforementioned colours, I found out that this card definitely does not like it!

Try #1 - pink blossom ended up a sludgy maroon colour
Try #2 - blue birdie ended up translucent
Try #3 - yellow birdie was green
Try #4 = Green birdie looked as sick as the proverbial parrot!!

So blossom and birdie ended up white!

I am entering my tale of woe (and the card) into the following challenges
CAS Mix Up  - (Layered Embossing, Stamping and Die Cutting)
Time Out - Inspiration Pic (Blue, gold, white and blossom)
Stamplorations CAS Challenge - Dark Navy

I am off to put away pots of EP and empty the bin!! x

Back to Blighty

We had to pack and depart for a few days last week to assist my mother in law return from her annual 5 month trip to warmer climes. Following a stay in hospital the mammoth task of packing to return was just a bit too much, so we just put everything on hold, went out, packed her belongings up, got her back on a plane and she is now settled back in her own home...

Now I am back home I am wanting to get back in the crafty space (of course) but needed a quick card to get in the post to someone who is about to embark overseas - so here it is.

A genuine quick and simple CAS card made in no time at all!

A sea shell embossing folder, a set of sandy themed stamps. and a scrap of twine.

Stamped the starfish with  Fossilized Amber and fussy cut.
Sentiment stamped with Adirondack Butterscotch

Some Bakers Twine knotted round the bottom, starfish sat on top and panel fixed to base card.

Took a piece of white paper, stamped sentiment, another shell and some 'sand' from the same set and insert done too.


Over at AAA the challenge is
"Made in Minutes with  Dry Embossing".

Sadly the weather here is not currently good enough to be relaxing on the sand!
Am thinking that M-I-L will be wishing that she was back in the warm sunshine as we've actually had some large hailstones this morning..... but as always it gives me a perfect excuse to get up into the craft room and get back to inky fingers.


Hope the sun is shining where you are and thanks so much for visiting me! x