Try It On Tuesday

Am back this challenge over at Try It On Tuesday where our theme is 'Make It Magical'

This is one of my favourite Lavinia stamps and I waited a long time to bring her home with me - so she's well loved.

Other stamps are also (obviously) from Lavinia.
Background done with Chipped Sapphire and Wilted Violet Oxides for sky and then a liberal splashing of water and Hickory Smoke Oxide for the landscape.

I used some white Pan Pastel round the moon and highlighted the branches and other stamped images with a white gel pen.

She does have some sparkle on her wings but the pic doesn't capture it and I may yet still add a few dotty sparkles from the heart shaped corner stamp.

For lots of reasons I am not able to be crafting as much as I used to but I do hope to continue with the DT when I can.
Please go visit the rest of the DT at their own blogs when you have time.  

Thanks for looking today and for any comments you might leave. I appreciate them all. x 

Deep in the Forest

 Challenge time again at Try It On Tuesday - and our theme this fortnight is DEEP IN THE FOREST'

At twilight, Briana was making her way home when she wandered from her usual path and went deeper into the forest.
As it got darker she used her magic to light her candle (no matches!) to try and find her way back. to the path.
She walked through a carpet of lavender and saw a silhouette of a bunny ahead.
Briana was friends with all creatures and she thought maybe bunny was lost too so she headed towards him.

As she got closer she saw something looming in the darkness and suddenly there in front of her was a very old tree, so old that some of it's roots had burst through the forest floor and pushed the ground round it into a little hill.
The tree had a door and a window and there was a light inside.
Briana couldn't decide whether to knock and disturb the occupant and explain that she was lost and she had used the last of her magic for that day lighting the candle.

BUT - What if there was a Troll inside? Briana was taught never to go near trolls as they were monstrous creatures.
What though if there was a friendly Hobbit living there?  Hobbits were happy go lucky beings who would be kind to a stranger.
Briana stood and thought - Knock on the door and hope it was a Hobbit? Or try and find her way vback to the path on her own and not risk the chance of it being a Troll's house?
What do you think she did?
😊😊😊
Thanks for looking today!
Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Try It On Tuesday New Challenge

 We have a theme called 'WHAT A NIGHT' for our latest challenge at Try It on Tuesday.

I hope you can find time to pop over to the BLOG and see what the rest of the creative team members have come up with - and that you'll be inspired to join us.

This card was something of an experiment for me - I wanted to do a sky that was a dark and moody Northern Light type display (instead of the bright green and violets) and used black card stock as the base card instead of my usual white.
It gave a completely different effect but one that I am not too disappointed with!

I roughly and randomly brushed the top of the card with some white Brilliance ink and then used the same ink with the mountain stencil and built up the colour at the bottom.

The sky colours are Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry and Blueprint Sketch.
The castle is from Lavinia and the pine trees are from Inkylicious.

I have had the sentiment for a long time and just white heat embossed to make it stand out before adding a few small ink spatters to make stars in the sky.

Overall I am not too displeased with the end result on the dark card background - but I think I wouldn't blend the colours over the last and largest mountain range if I did this again.
I wanted it to look like the sky was reflecting off the snowy slopes and I don't think I quite nailed it.
Thanks for looking and for any comments you leave - I really do appreciate it! x

New challenge at Try It on Tuesday

 Our theme this time round at Try It On Tuesday is called 'MAKE IT MAGICAL'.
Hope that you will join us with your creations and please visit the blog and see what the rest of the team have made!

I have quite a bit of coloured cardstock that gets rarely used except for layering and matting but occasionally I manage to use it as a base card after seeing a blogging buddy use a really dark card for her design.

The Slate Grey card is from Creative Expressions.
Lavinia stamps used throughout and everything was stamped in Versafine Clair Pinecone and Shady Lane.

Starting with the Fir Cone branch stamp,layering it as I went along, then the mini berry stamp and the mini holly. Added the baubles and then stamped Quinn underneath the middle bauble.

Coloured the mini berry and the baubles with my Aquarelle pencils then highlighted the pines and the fairy with a white Signo pen.

I recently bought a white Pan Pastel and used it on the moon and the snow. Although it doesn't show well in the pic there is a bit of sparkle!

Look forward to seeing what you come up with and thanks for looking today! x
Sharing over at
Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas

Just playing

 I treated myself at the last Lavinia release. Although I am not a Halloween person I fell in love with the lovely pretty witches so they got on their brooms🧹 and flew here bringing a couple more things from the release with them. I am very controlled when it comes to buying Stamp Collections - I sift through and only get what I know I will use - (👼polishes halo!) as it is too easy just to click on 'buy all'!

Since buying I've had very little time to try them out nor have I had any ideas so it was simply a matter of finding a simple design and having a go.

Ink blended, stamped, highlighted with sparkly Posca pens and a white Signo pen.

Don't forget there is still time to enter our Halloween challenge at Try It On Tuesday!

Ages since I linked up at other challenge blogs too so am popping over to
Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge
The Crafting Challenge - Halloween
Make My Monday - Spooky/Halloween
Daisy Chain - Halloween

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

Colourful at Try It On Tuesday

We have 'MAKE IT COLOURFUL' as our new challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY.
I did a bit of ink blending for this challenge.

Colours used were Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber and Blueprint Sketch.

I remembered a brighly coloured tag I'd seen some time ago which used the dandelions as the centrepiece and as I hadn't used them for a while got them out!

I used the Coral over the blue to make the landscape at the bottom - it's actually taken on a bit of a violet hue in the pic but it is definitely blue in real life!

The stamp at the top is from Inkylicious and the other 2 are Lavinia.

I spattered the dandies with a white Posca pen and added a few black dots.

The clouds across the sun are not quite as good as I hoped - more practice needed - but overall was happy with the way this tuned out.

Hope you will visit the blog and the rest of the DT and look forward to seeing your creations!

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

In the Garden at Try It On Tuesday

Time for another challenge!
This time Try It on Tuesday want to see your creations with the theme of  'In The Garden'.

Ink blending and Lavinia stamps for me this time.
Only used 2 colours for the blending  - Lilac and Green.

All the stamping was done with Versafine Clair inks (Nocturne, Verdant, and Shady Lane) and I did a little highlighting with a white gel pen and a pink glitter pen.

I love the idea that somewhere in all the flowers in the garden there's a little fairy balanced on a dandelion!

Hope you will pop over and see what the rest of the DT have done - and of course, I hope you will join us this fortnight!

Thanks for looking and any comment you leave - I really appreciate them all. x

Fantasy at Try It On Tuesday

Our new challenge at Try It On Tuesday starts today and for the next 2 weeks we hope you will share your 'Fantasy' themed creations with us!

I make no apologies for once again playing about with my all time fave stamps - I LOVE these mermaids!

This was framed and given to a friend - who like me thinks Mermaids are one of the coolest things ever!

Ink blended background and used a Lavinia stencil for a bit of added interest.
All stamps are also from Lavinia (obviously!)

Coloured the images with my Mondeluz Aquarelle Coloured Pencils which are simply awesome - and they blend beautifully and a few highlights with a white Posca pen..

Thanks for stopping by and hope we will see lots of fantasy creations over at the challenge blog this time round! x

Card Chain Challenge January Reveal

 My make for the Card Chain Challenge in January was sent to Helen in Ohio and I received a lovely make from Marianne in Greece!

I was happy that I managed to incorporate the colour option, the Mythical Creatures theme and the Ink Technique this time.

My background was created with Wilted Violet and a touch of Tattered Rose for the sky for the nearest to Amethyst I could get!

I masked off the moon and inked round it using VersaMagic Sea Breeze for the Aqua colour.

For the Slate I stamped the tree in Memento Grey Flannel.

I tried stamping the unicorn in the same colour but he really didn't stand out so opted to over stamp a couple of times (thank goodness for Misti!) with Versafine Smokey Grey. The over stamping really darkened him.

A few trees on the horizon with the Grey Flannel and the flowers and foliage at the bottom using all the inks mentioned before.

I blended some Hickory Smoke round the edge.

My little Unicorn simply had to have a little bit of sparkle added to his horn, mane and tail but doesn't show very well in the pic. The light here over the winter months has been terrible for taking pics!
 
There is still time for you to link up for the February challenge - everything you need to know over on the Card Chain blog!

Try It On Tuesday- our first 2024 challenge!

  It's time for the very first challenge of the New Year at TRY IT ON TUESDAY and the theme is WINTER BLUES.
(I hope none of you are feeling blue after all the excitement during the festive season!)

Last year we had lots of lovely people sharing their creations with us every month and I hope you will find the time to join us this year too.

My first make for the challenge is a card made for a friend's winter birthday.

I blended a little Iced Spruce on the background first before using a light dusting of Chipped Sapphire and used the Iced Spruce to make the snowy hills at the base.

I secondary stamped the swinging fairy and the toadstools using Versafine Clair Twilight - the first generation stamping was simply too dark.

The vines were second and third generation stamping.

Some 'snow' on the tops of the toadstools using a white gel pen and I added a little bit of sparkle with a silver Posca glitter pen.

The rest of the TIOT team have some lovely makes to inspire you (if you need inspiring) so please pop over to the challenge blog for a look and thanks for visiting me today! x

Card Chain Challenge December reveal

 For the final chain of 2023 I sent my card to Ellie in Illinois and received a lovely card from Imke in Germany.
This challenge was another mega head scratcher as the Tic Tac Board had the annual 25 squares!
This time my five squares were chosen from the diagonal from bottom left to top right.

I confess to a little creative licence with regards to the card I made!

Blue - an ink blended Chipped Sapphire D.I

Bauble -  the ones on the tree - all highlighted with Nuvo drops so they really do shine

Buddy - Rory and Darcy are definitely good buddies! Exploring everything together - and poking at Christmas tree baubles!

Bling - why is sparkle so hard to photograph???
I added lots of Diamond Stickles to Rory and Darcy's wings and a liberal helping along the ground.
I also used a gold glitter Posca pen  and added lots of dots with it on the tree so it does have a shimmer in real life.

Burgundy - well I am hoping that the ink blended Seedless Preserve D.I used for the ground will pass!

It's been a lovely year receiving cards from all over the world.
A huge thank you to those who administer the Challenge too.

It's such a lot of hard work and when you think we've exchanged over 4,000 card in 33 countries it's mind boggling!

Still time to sign up for the first challenge of 2024 too!

Snow Storm

3 weeks before Christmas and Mojo packed his bag and went on his Christmas Holidays!
 
I have discovered it is very difficult to be creative or concentrate when other things are happening around you so at this year's end I want to say thanks for inspirational crafters without who nothing would have been made this festive season! This scene was inspired by a lady called Laura Foster.

There's something about ink blending that I find calming - I like to experiment with colours and see the card background being transformed.

Inks used here were Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar, Squeezed Lemonade, Lost Shadow and Hickory Smoke.

The holly leaves were stamped using Memento Potters Clay.

I was quite pleased with how Foxy turned out eventually - he was stamped first in Versacolour Bark, then the edges of the stamp were inked with Versafine Clair Nocturne.

Highlighted him with a white gel pen and a black Aquarelle pencil.

Highlighted the snowdrifts with Posca pen and of course I then had to 'spatter attack' the whole piece!

Thanks to everyone who has continued to visit my blog during 2023 and I hope to see you all here again in 2024.
I wish you and all those you care about a very happy and healthy New Year. x

More Purple!

 I notice that I've not posted many Christmas cards this year - I have made some but most days the lighting here hasn't been good for pics! Anyway, most are now written and posted so there's only a few cards I can show!

I had some lilac and purple shades out on the desk after making the card for the Card Chain Challenge (post below) so before I had a tidy up I made another.
I used Oxides for this one - Wilted Violet and Shaded Lilac for the sky, masking off the moon circle first then some water splatters.
I removed the mask and gave it  a quick light dust over with the Lilac.

I have an Inkylicious moon stamp which has the cloud drifts so inked it with Wilted Violet DI and stamped.  Was pleased with the result.

The snowdrifts were done using Lost Shadow ink.

My Lavinia foxes are very well used and I used a white pen round his body - still practicing with this but I don't think he looks too bad overall altho I was a little heavy handed!

The branches were stamped in Purple, Metallic Silver and Brilliance White - I heat embossed the white then did the same with the bauble.
A few stamped twiggy bits and finished!

Thanks for looking. I hope everyone is well and not getting too panicked about Christmas approaching! I am feeling quite organised this year for a change! x

November Card Chain Challenge Reveal

 The November Card Chain Challenge saw me send my card to Hilary here in the UK and I received a lovely card from Gundi in Germany.
This month there was one of my fave colour combos and a 'Winter' theme among the choices.

I used Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet and Shaded Lilac for my ink blending.

White heat embossing added some definition to the dangly bits (!) from the tree branch and some second and third generation stamping in both Versafine black and  Memento Grape Jelly for a little bit of depth.

The branch was highlighted with a Posca pen to give a snowy effect.

Tree line was stamped in Versafine Clair black and again some white Posca pen used for the snow.

I did a little light ink blending with Hickory Smoke across the base of the trees after seeing something similar whilst trawling the internet and I quite liked the way there is no actual defined horizon with things just melting into the background.

Finished it all with a few spatters!

Thanks for looking and for any comments you may leave - I appreciate it very much! x

TIOT's 'Cold Outside' Mid Way

 Tuesday marks the mid way point of our latest challenge over at Try It On Tuesday - which is called 'Baby It's Cold Outside'.
If you're not a regular follower to the blog and missed the launch post, my card is in the post immediately below!

I have had a lot of pleasure this year making snowy scenes and this one is where I finally managed to do a fox that I am happy with! ( I seem to have been trying to do a good one for such a long time!) I did though make a teeny mistake on his bum... but then other half said it could be a shadow so I left it!

Chipped Sapphire and Broken China used on the sky, trees stamped in Rich Cocoa and then coloured with pencils.

Foxy was stamped in shades of brown with a touch of Elements Russet Orange.

I considered white heat embossing the tree branches but experimented with a white acrylic pen instead to try and achieve frosty bits rather than a block of white!
My usual helping of white spatters for a snow storm and done!

Thanks for looking and you have just a week to get your entry into our challenge at TIOT! x
Sharing over at
Peace On Earth #52 - A/Goes Inspiration photo
Inkspirational - Seasonal (Winter)
Crafting Happiness - Turkey or Any Animal
52CCT - Winter Countryside

New Challenge at TIOT!

 Today's new challenge at Try It On Tuesday which runs for 2 weeks is called 'Sparkle All The Way'.
Perfect for those Christmas cards....
So I didn't make one..... a Christmas Card that is! Although I love schparkly blingy stuff I thought for my first card this challenge I would do something not Christmas related.

I had this idea in my head of the magical fairy wandering into a grey gloomy place and setting it alight with her magic wand!

So here it is - I had a lot of fun making it.

All Lavinia stamps using Morning Mist and Charming Pink Versafine Clair inks and lots of secondary stamping.

I think I went a bit mad with the glitter ......🙈.... and the Wink of Stella became a complete over the top Blinking Binge!

That said I was really pleased with how it looked - until I tried to photograph it - what an absolute 🐷🐷🐷to get a decent picture - and this was the best of a bad bunch of about 40!

Anyway even if it doesn't inspire you I hope you'll come and join us this time round - thanks for looking and have a great day whatever you're doing! x
Sharing at
Daring Cardmakers - A Bit of Bling
Krafty Chicks - Any Occasion

Home for Autumn!

 

It's been a very dull grey misty morning here and it generally feels damp - the leaves on my Birch tree have changed colour and are now falling -  I think Winter is on it's way!

Another Lavinia to share - (and having needed to do a couple of new homes cards for my own stash and unable to come up with something a bit out of the ordinary, I turned as always to Pinterest).

This is a large slimline card and I really like these cottage and lodge stamps 'cos I can imagine them hidden away in the magical kingdom home to elves and pixies!

This one is called 'Bayleaf Cottage'.

Coloured with Inktense pencils after ink blending the background with Spiced Marmalade and Fossilized Amber.

I used Carved Pumpkin DI through the Lavinia stencil.

A few leaves stamped in Autumn colours and a little tree (which looks just like my Birch tree!) to finish.

Sharing over at
Stencil is our Game - A/Goes w/Orange option
I Spy - Autumn Shades
Dragonfly Dreams - Autumn

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

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

Inspired

Having been determined to stop dithering about and to be inspired by some of the gorgeous makes that pop up from the Lavinia Design Team, I have done several pieces which are now in frames.

A couple of my friends have granddaughters who are mermaid mad so there are 3 makes spoken for and finding their way into Christmas stockings this year - this is one and I will share the others at a later date.

This measures 11" x 9" in it's frame (which is white wood with a white mount) and to be honest I am really chuffed with myself for stepping away from the normal sized card fronts and having a go at something a bit bigger.

I have also become a stalker! I watch every tutorial from the very talented Mona Hauge who makes the most amazing scenes and is very generous in sharing her tips and techniques.
She has given me confidence to try things I wouldn't have thought I was good enough to do and I have been really delighted with the results.

For the first time I have begun to use coloured pencils to add definition and shading instead of trying to use an ink brush and I am fast running out of white pens for highlighting!
Yes, there have been mistakes, disasters and downright frustration but it has been wonderful expanding my horizons a little bit!

I am still though very nervous of trying alcohol ink backgrounds for stamping scenes (only cos the Yupo paper is so expensive) and I confess to having a Gelli plate and have never used it - but that's the next on the list! (And yes I know I've been saying that for EVER but I will get round to it!)

Thanks for looking today - I know blogging seems to be way down the list now with social media taking centre stage but I really appreciate all those of you who continue to follow my blog and leave comments.
Have a lovely day whatever you're doing. x
Sharing over at
APTTC - A/Goes
Ally's Angels - A/Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - A/Goes