It's Cold Outside

First challenge of 2026 at Try It On Tuesday.
Our theme this fortnight is 'It's Cold Outside'.⛄

I always think of blue shades whenever anyone mentions cold so did something relatively quick, simple and of course blue!
Some ink blending and stamps from Lavinia, Inkylicious and Card-io.

I hope you will find time to join us this challenge!

Feeling a bit more upbeat the last couple of weeks. 
We had a wonderful time away over Christmas - and another couple of places I wanted to visit ticked off my bucket list. 

Budapest is a beautiful city, Salzburg was stunning and Vienna was simply magical. I felt like I was in a fairy tale and had to keep pinching myself!

So with Canada and Alaska done, 3 of my 5 European cities done it's time to look forward to the next big adventure which will take place in a few months time round a big birthday.... (21 again before anyone asks...).

Happy New Year to everyone.

 

 

Get Ready For Christmas

Time for our next challenge at Try It On Tuesday and this time we're kick starting Christmas preparations.

I had some wooden circles left from a previous (and very old) project so I made a couple of 'baubles' by simple stamping and colouring, highlighting the edges with either a Posca pen or a little bit of white embossing.

The backs of the wooden circles were simply stamped with a Christmas Greeting.

The pics aren't the best as I am having difficulty holding camera/phone steady at the mo. It's only temporary but certainly ain't good for trying to get clear images!

Hope you can join us this challenge - looking forward to seeing your creations and thanks for looking today. x 

Summer at Try It On Tuesday

Our challenge for the next two weeks at Try It On Tuesday is called 'Summer'.
This is a wide ranging theme and can be anything that you relate to summertime - holidays, travel,or even bikinis!

In the absence of Mojo (and not motivated enough to sit in the craftie space for long as whenever I do I end up staring at all the stash and just feeling completely overwhelmed and devoid of ideas!), I went back to an old design.

I really like Cardio stamps as you can create scenes with little effort really which is good for me at the moment.

For a change I used some pastels for the sky and sea instead of my normal inks- the effect is quite nice I think as it's a softer look.

Thanks for looking today and hope you will join in with us this time - you have two weeks! Please go over to the challenge blog too and see what the rest of the team have done - all visits are very much appreciated.

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

New Challenge at Try It On Tuesday

Having not had a proper holiday since pre-Covid and as this year was our 25th wedding anniversary we sat down and talked about what we wanted to do. Other half wanted a lazy beach holiday and I wanted the trip of a lifetime!
If we have learnt anything in the last 25 years or so it is how to compromise - so a beach holiday was duly booked for this year and my dream trip booked for next!
It was a lovely relaxing break and the weather was fantastic. I have lounged about, been waited on hand and foot by the amazing staff at the Asimina Suites and was sorry to come home.
So I apologise for not visiting you all the last 3 weeks but now I have sorted out the washing and ironing I will rectify that and come and see you!

It's not surprising given the date that our challenge at Try It On Tuesday for the next 2 weeks is called 'Halloween'!

I don't actually 'do' Halloween but I have made a card which is (loosely) Halloween related!

I started by stamping the smallest pumpkin from Lavinia and masked it before stamping 'Pumpkin Lodge'. 

This was also masked before I stamped the Fairy Crook.

The 'evil' pumpkin was then stamped to hang from it (I actually think it's quite cute with it's smiley face and not at all scary!)

This was one of the few times I did the stamping before the ink blending. I left the masks in place and used Spectrum Noir Midnight, D.Ox Chipped Sapphire, Villainous Potion, Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint.

Did a bit of shading, highlighting and colouring with Aquarelle Pencils, glittery Poscas and a white Posca pen.
The two dangly spiders are from Card-io.

Hope you can join our challenge this time round and please do stop by the BLOG and see what the rest of the DT have done!

Thanks for stopping by. x

Try it On Tuesday - new challenge

Our new challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY is 'BLACK, WHITE AND ONE OTHER COLOUR'.
This is one of my fave colour combos - there's so much scope as there's so many different colours which are striking with black and white.

After using Lime Green with black and white recently I opted this time to go for Red.
This piece is now framed and hung on my back sitting room wall.

I started by masking off a circle and used a piece of card for a straight line to make the horizon. The Red sun was ink blended with a combo of  Fired Brick and Festive Berries Oxides - it really is a fiery red!

I lightly blended the remains of the colour on the brush below the sun, just dragging it in a 'V' shape in an attempt to imitate a reflection.

I used Black Soot Oxide for the rest of the blending taking care not to overload the brush and always blending onto scrap paper before blending onto the main piece and then only used gentle pressure as I didn't want it black.

The stamps are from Card-io and the white 'cherry blossom' and highlights were achieved with a white acrylic pen.

Thanks for looking - hope to see you linked up in the challenge blog! x

Obsessed!

 It is official - I am completely obsessed with these new stamps designed by Andy Skinner.

Not one normally for waxing lyrical about stamps but I simply adore this set - so much so that I have made that many cards I don't know what to do with them!

It's hard to have a favourite but this little boy makes me feel sad and happy in equal measure - one minute I think he looks happy 😄 with his balloon, the next I think he's sad because he is by himself with just his balloon for company😢.

I know there are many who like me couldn't resist these stamps. They are nostalgic and I think a reminder of a simpler and less stressful way of life where as kids we were happy with a balloon and a day at the Beach instead of wanting expensive fancy phones or computer games!
 
So here he is having a 'wishing day'... wishing he and his balloon could float across the sea to the fair on the Pier!

My background was ink blended, the other stamps are from Card-io.

I coloured Balloon Boy and added highlights with my watercolour pencils.
Don't you just want to cuddle him and take him to the Fair?

Am linking up at
Alphabet Challenge - H is for (Summer) Holidays
Sparkles Monthly - 1 for the Boys
Crafters Cafe - A/Goes + add balloons
I Spy - Summertime Vibes

Thanks for looking today. x

New challenge at Try It On Tuesday

 Our challenge at Try It On Tuesday this fortnight is called 'Baby It's Cold Outside' - and to be honest here today it is!!
Although not quite as cold as it looks on my make!
I have been completely devoid of any ideas for the last couple of weeks and currently am experiencing a bit of a struggle to make anything. The idea for this came from a FB craft group -there were a few examples of white ink on dark card - it also meant I could continue my quest to use up my coloured card.

The base card is called 'Curious Blue'. I bought it some time ago at a show so am not sure which brand it is and this is the last piece.
I liked the colour but it is a bit of a pain to work on as it has a subtle coating on it.
That said it took the white ink really well.
I think there was some white embossing on the original examples but I simply used the white ink without.

Began by ink blending the snow with Brilliance Moonlight White - it took a while to build up the colour but was quite chuffed with the result.
Added the fence and owl (both Card-io) using Versafine Clair Nocturne.

The trees were stamped several times using the Misti but on the last stamping I shifted the card ever so slightly to try and give a misty effect. Again was more than a little pleased with how it turned out!

The branches at the top are from a Stampin Up set and those at the bottom are Card-io.
I used a white Posca pen to add snow to the fence, highlight the owl and then spattered loads across the whole card to make a snowstorm.
Thanks to the Card-io group for helping me out in my time of need!

Hop over to the blog and see what the rest of the team have done this week - and hoping you will be able to take part in this challenge! x
Sharing over at
Christmas Bingo - Letter 'B' (Free/Stamped Image/Ink Blending)
Daisy Chain - Christmas/Winter
IYGACAC - White
Use Your Stuff - Winter/Snow
Cards4Guyz - Winter Scene

New Challenge at Try It On Tuesday

 Happy Tuesday! It's time for our new challenge over at Try It On Tuesday and for the next 2 weeks we're wanting to see your Halloween creations.
Having no children means Halloween doesn't mean much to us although we do always buy some treats for the trick or treaters! Other half always hopes it rains so they stay at home because it means he gets to eat the sweeties! How bad is he????!!

I don't send Halloween cards so this was a bit of a challenge for me too!

I have been having a play recently with coloured card as a base so I found some really vivid orange and used that for this.

I started by stamping my owl, cat and broomstick (all Lavinia) direct onto the orange card.

Then inked my moon with Brilliance Moonlight through an Inkylicious stencil and ran a white pen round the edge.

The hills were Black Soot DI and I resisted being too heavy with the ink as I really wanted the orange base to show through a little.
The trees are one of my most used sets from Inkylicious.

The castle is Lavinia and the teeny spider (cute isn't he?!) is from Card-io.

I finished by dragging the white stencil brush across the card to give the appearance of mist - but am not sure I achieved it!

I intended to stamp 'Dont Forget to Fly' but am damned if I can find the stamp - it'll turn up when I don't want it no doubt!

Hope you will join us this month - if you pop over to the blog there's lots of spooky makes from the DT too.
Thanks for looking today - have a lovely day whatever you're doing. x
Sharing over at
Triple B - (Bird- my owl)
Stamps+Fun - Black and Orange
Crafty Calendar - Halloween
Sparkles - Things that go bump in the Night
If you give a Crafter a Cookie - Black
Two Old Bats - Halloween

Try It On Tuesday - New Challenge

Well! October! This year has simply flown by and Autumn is well and truly upon us here.
Seem to have spent a lot of time lately getting up the leaves from the large oak tree that overhangs onto rear driveway from our lovely neighbours. Its a magnificent tree and I love to watch it as the seasons change.

Anyway the card for Try It On Tuesday's new challenge of Autumn which starts today is inspired by a mischievous squirrel who loves to run up said oak tree with his spoils - he disappears from view when he gets near the top so I hope he has found someone to share them with!

I used a variety of colours and stamps for this make.

The leaves and the log stamps are from Lavinia as is the rather large 'nut' being inspected!
Potters Clay, Rich Cocoa, Tangelo, Tea Leaves Memento and Versacolour inks, and Fired Brick Oxide.

The two squirrels are from Card-io and the sentiment is from Inkylicious which I thought was so very apt and very true.

The rest of the DT and our Guest Designer have lots of inspiration for you so please pop over to the blog and pay them a visit. Hope too, that you will join us this fortnight and celebrate the colours of Autumn! x

September Card Chain Challenge

 Reveal Day at Card Chain Challenge!
My make this month winged it's way across to Chris in Illinois and I received a lovely card from Dee in Kenya. Truly global we are!

I was happy when I saw the themes to choose from this month and it also meant I could incorporate the colour option.

My theme choices were Foxes/Autumn and the colours were Sky/Sunset/Bark. All tied in very nicely!Started by ink blending the sky in Speckled Egg and Stormy Sky DI.

Stamped the tree using Lavinia for the trunk and some branches from Card-io.

I have been trying to perfect the inking and colouring of foxes for a while and am still not there I don't think despite watching lots of tutorials!
I stamped originally in Russet Orange and then began highlighting with acrylic pens - not too bad but more practice needed!

The leaves on the tree were a freebie stamp with a mag some time ago and they have been well used!
Colours were second generation Versafine Shady Lane, Barn Door and Spiced Marmalade DI.
I finished off by adding some ink blended grassy mounds.

Thanks for looking today - there's still a few days left if you want to sign up for next month's chain - it's great fun!

Also sharing at -
Four Seasons - Autumn
CUYL - Autumn Leaves
Sweet Stampin' -Autumn 
Cupcake Inspirations - Colour Board

Flaming Sky

 My friends other half runs a Hot Air Balloon company and in one of our previous houses we were surrounded by fields - it was perfectly normal for him to be flying over the field next door very low - and on two occasions landing in it! Cue one very irritated farmer!
(Have just read that back and it sounds like we move every five minutes - the house I am talking about we were in for almost 30 years!)

I  bought this Card-io set called 'Up Up and Away' last year and this was the first time of inking so I am hopping over to NBUS before this months challenge closes.

I saw something similar to this some time back on Pinterest and with a birthday looming for my friends hubby it was the perfect opportunity to use the set.

I wanted a sunset sky but think I might have overdone it cos it actually looks like the forest below is on fire..............🙈🔥🔥

Regulars to my blog will know how much I like ink blending!
Used Crackling Campfire (how apt!), Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door and Black Soot for my background.

The trees are one of my most used stamp sets - they're from Inkylicious and I love them.

Simply stamped in black Versafine Clair in the foreground and then used Versafine Crimson Red for my second and third generation stamping.
Am sharing over at
MMM- Create your own Background
Dragonfly Dreams - Happy Birthday
Mix It Up - Make your own background
SOS - Colour me Beautiful

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!

Birds/Feathers at Try It On Tuesday

The weeks are simply flying by (no pun intended) and it's a new challenge over at Try It On Tuesday - the theme is Birds and or Feathers!

Some time ago I saw a painting depicting a bird who had escaped from it's cage and I wanted to try and make a card along the same theme.

We have so many lovely birds singing in the garden and they always sound so happy (they make me feel happy too) so my make this time is a combination of bird song and freedom which to me means - - Happiness!

This little bundle of feathers is out in the tree celebrating the fact that someone has left his cage door open and he is free.

Ink blended background of Picked Raspberry, Spun Sugar and Antique Linen.

I used Black Soot along the bottom and stamped the grass using Card-io stamps from the Textures set.

My birdcage is an old die - has a branch attached to it so I cut it off!

Bird and the tree branch is also Card-io.

Thanks for looking today! x

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!

A Winter Scene

 It's not quite Winter yet - or if it is no one has told some of the summer plants in the garden - I still have fuchsias and alstromerias in flower and this morning 3 cone flowers have appeared! Although the temperatures are dropping it is still relatively mild for November- even my Christmas Roses have decided to poke their heads out.

All a far cry from my snowy scene here!
I bought this Inkylicious Ornate Leaf stencil when it first came out and to my shame this make was the first time it's been used - but I made 3 more similar with it so I didn't feel quite as guilty.

A quick card really with some ink blending, stamping and glitter.

Used Tumbled Glass and Blueprint Sketch oxides inside and Iced Spruce for the shading and Versafine Clair Twilight for the figures and trees. The dark blue made a change from the usual black I use for silhouettes/

I think I may need a little more practice with the shading at the outer edges - I was bothered about putting on too much and making it really dark!

The stamps are all from Cardio.
Sharing over at
Fab n Funky - Shades of Blue
LRW - Winter
Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

In a moment of madness I agreed to take a table at the local Community Centre for their Christmas Artisan Fair so have spent some time stamping on candles (a first for me and dead chuffed with myself!), and making Fairy baubles as well as cards. Am working on the basis that if all leftovers will simply end up being used by me!

Hence why my blogging is sporadic at the mo but now am a bit better organised I can sit and visit everyone!
Thanks for looking today - hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Christmas in July

I've managed to ignore the roasting temperatures and pretend that it's cold and snowy whilst doing this month's card for CAS Christmas!

The challenge theme is 'Santa'.

I have just 3 Santa stamps and this is one of them - it was a freebie many moons ago and I think it's likely this is the first time it's seen ink.
Santa and his reindeer actually have a large moon round them but I didn't want the moon that big so carefully removed the ink before stamping.
Ink blended background using a coin for my moon mask.                           
The snow drifts were done using a mask and Shaded Lilac ink.

Other stamps are Lavinia (Bunny), Inkylicious (Large Tree) and Cardio (small trees and twigs).
Sentiment is another mag freebie.

Another card for the Christmas Box!

There's a few other Christmas themed challenges about so am linking up at -

HLS CAS - Christmas
MIUCB - A/Goes option of CAS
Sweet Stampers - Christmas In July
ABC Christmas - O is for Old (my Santa and sentiment stamps)

Thanks for looking! x