CAS x 2

A card for 2 challenges -
CAS Watercolour  is 2 years old! Hard to believe it's been that long since the challenge started but Happy Birthday! Their challenge this month is a colour one chosen by Bonnie - Orange/Green and Brown

and the lovely Mac is hosting the CAS Mix Up challenge - and the elements for that are Metal/Stamping/Your Own Choice. (So mine was Embossing!)  This card was never intended to fit the 2 challenges but I think it contains all the elements!

The leaves were cut using blue metal dies so maybe Marianne Dies? Anyway, I cut them out using some leftover watercolour card then coloured them with water soluble wax pastels, using the 3 colours that Bonnie stipulated in varying degrees of depth.

Another leftover piece used for the wood embossed background which I attached to the base card.
I used Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink for the sentiment which is from SU and cut out with a stitched die.
So CAS Watercolour sorted!   When I'd finished though I felt the card was lacking something but didn't know what.

Then I remembered some gold wire which I had - after spending 20 minutes on my hands and knees under the desk I emerged clutching the wire - which I remember saving and thinking it would come in useful.... have no idea where it came from.
I just added it around the sentiment and curled it round the top leaf  - am hoping that wire counts as metal but if it doesn't am sure someone will tell me!

Daisy Chain - Autumn/Fall
House of Cards - Autumn Colours
Use Your Stuff - Autumn
Crazy for Cas - Fall (in Love)

We've had some lovely weather today and same is forecast for tomorrow so we may get a day out and about to enjoy the sunshine! Hope the sun is shining where you are too. x

Stamping Sensations October Challenge

This month our challenge is 'AUTUMN COLOURS' at Stamping Sensations.
I love Autumn - love sunshine and warm summer days too - but the colours of Autumn are often spectacular and I love to drive along looking at the changing colours of the trees.

So it will come as no surprise that I chose to use a tree stamp!
It is from Stampendous and is another of my rarely used ones.
I stamped it onto watercolour card using Coffee Ranger Archival Ink.
Out with the Distress Inks - Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint.

The stamp is a large one and I thought about a sentiment on the front but decided against it - I remembered that I had these leaf buttons from years ago - took me longer to find them than it did to make the darn card! Found eventually and attached with a little bit of string.

We have the wonderful STAMP ADDICTS as our sponsor this month - we are very lucky to have such great sponsors of all our challenges and if you want to be in with a chance of winning then please follow our rules which are shown on the blog.
We are a stamping challenge and stamping HAS to be the focal point of your entry.

Hope you can find the time to join us - and please take a look at some of the DT's creations - they love visitors!


I am linking up at -
PB&M - Autumn Splendour
Allsorts - Trees/Leaves
Crafty Calendar - Autumn
Alphabet - N for Nature
Daring Cardmakers - October Elemental Inspiration Pic

Holly and Ivy

I took a pic of this card that i finished yesterday and intended to save it for a later post but onto my reading list has just popped up the brand new challenge over at CAS Christmas which has the theme of Birds!
Now I know Halloween is approaching but to have a challenge theme for a card I literally just finished is - well - a little bit spooky!!

This card was just made to go into my stash for me to send at Christmas and has used up a few odd bits of watercolour card.

Simple brick embossed background, a couple of dies and a stamp! Oh and a leftover piece of vellum too!

The stamp was a freebie which has never been used, coloured with watercolours and fussy cut.
Both ivy and holly dies also watercoloured and I added a bit  of Red Nuvo drops to the holly (not sure they look  like berries but you get the idea!) and a little bit of white embossing powder to the ivy leaves.

The sentiment stamp is an old wood backed one, part of a set of  Papermania Christmas sentiment stamps I bought when I embarked on my card making a long time ago. I used Olympia Green Versafine ink then clear embossed.

Didn't take too long to make and is reasonably flat so will be OK to post too!
Popping over to
Pixies Playground
HLS CAS Christmas - Vellum
ABC Christmas - U for Upon and V for Very Quick
THAIC - A/Goes
Addicted to Stamps - Christmas comes early

Back to the inky mess on the craft desk - think I need to clear up a bit! Thanks for calling in. x

A week gone...

So much for me having time to come and idle away in blogland!
A week has gone by since I last posted, although I have found time to do a few things at home.
I made lots of mess 😁😁 with Pixie Powders and Brushos on watercolour card and have made a couple of cards with some of the backgrounds.

We are currently enjoying a lovely spell of warm weather and I am loving watch the trees change colour.
This inspired this card really -
A variety of dies used on one of my inky backgrounds and they have a lovely glimmer to them in real life.
The paper behind the circle die is stamped in Vintage Sepia and the stamp is Hardwood from SU.

The sentiment is from Inkylicious, heat embossed in Copper onto a scrap of vellum and slipped behind the circle cut out.
A few Antique Copper Pixie Powder splashes onto the plain white card and a little brushing with Tea Dye round the edges and done.

Lots of Autumn themed challenges about -
Allsorts - Autumn Glory
Creative Moments - Autumn colours
Die Cutting Divas - Fall colours
Alphabet - N for Nature
Crafty Gals Corner - A/Fall
4 Crafty Chicks - Happy Fall Y'all
MAWTT - Fall colours

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are and as always, thanks for popping in to visit - I really appreciate you all. x

In at the Last Minute!

It has been so long since I managed to join Loll and Co over at CAS Mix Up and I literally have made it this month at the last gasp as the challenge closes on 24th!

The challenge this month is to use markers on your stamps as well as Stamping and your choice. So I have chosen die cutting as my third choice.
The stamp I used is one of my 'Go To' every year at Christmas. Its Penny Black 'Poinsettia and Pine' and is one of the very few wood backed stamps that I still own.

I used Distress Markers in Festive Berries, Pine Needles and a tiny bit of Blueprint Sketch. I had several attempts at spritzing and stamping but none of them I was happy with so eventually after another failed attempt I didn't even dry the stamp, just inked over it and stamped!

Some Gold Liquid Pearls in the centre with a dusting of  yellow fine glitter  and another PB stamp inked in Festive Berries for the sentiment.

The watercolour card and the layer behind were die cut from odd bits so am paying a long awaited visit to the Playground too.

If you follow me on Facebook, you will know that it has been a different kind of day for me today - sadly, we had one of our Internationals diagnosed with a acute myeloid leukemia earlier this year and she hasn't left hospital since - she is just 29 years old.
So in aid of a good cause we decided to recreate 'Calendar Girls' (and boys!!) with a bowls theme and today was my day to 'bare all' for the photo shoot! Boy was it cold!
The pic has turned out really well and although I was very apprehensive (as were the others) we have come away feeling rather proud of ourselves and happy that we are raising money for a worthwhile cause!  https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/hot-shots-of-bowls

Enjoy the rest of your weekend whatever you're doing! x

England and Wales

Been a little while since the last blog post - I had my final two celebration matches in the middle of last week then a couple of days spent with some friends, before travelling on to South Wales - where I had a lovely (if occasionally damp) weekend with our talented Under 18's squad who played against Wales U18 in their annual test series.
Am home now for a couple of weeks  - an odd day where I am needed here and there but am hoping to get back into a proper routine as the winter approaches!
I did a quick stock take of my stash and found that I was quite low on a couple of different themes - New Homes, Thank You and Condolences/Sympathy. I intend to out that right over the next week or so (then I suppose I should make attempts at Christmas??)

I had inked this background panel (without the black bottom) some time ago for a 'fairy' card but it just got left!

The poppy stamp was the result of a little Inkylicious  spendie some months ago and never inked.

Once I'd stamped it, I didn't like the bottom stems just lying there on top of a salmony pink sky so used some Black Soot DI and made the bottom black.

The sentiment stamp I think was a freebie.

Matted onto black card before layering onto a white base and done.

I made a few sympathy cards yesterday and will share as we go along. They are the kind we hope we never have to send but inevitably there are occasions when we need them.

I hope you are all happy in your own part of blogland - am taking dear husband to the dentist but once back this afternoon I will come and visit for a catch up! x

Joining in at
CGCC - A/Goes
Flower Challenge - A/Goes
Creative Crafters - A/Goes
CFTH - A/Goes
Crafts Galore Encore - A/Goes

At Last!!

I am back in my craftie space! I have missed it sooo much these last months and it took ages for me to settle down to do anything - isn't it horrible when you have looked forward to something then when you actually have it within reach you can't seem to think of anything to do??
So I have been like that since Monday - (once I cleared all the dust off everything) - but today I finally made something -

with the help of Pinterest of course - better than nothing at all I think!

Had a bit of bother with the light taking the pic too.

I white embossed the flower (a small stamp from Altenew called You Make me Happy) onto watercolour card then coloured them with Distress Inks.
I used a pale blue water-soluble wax pastel for the background.

Finished it off with a teeny blob of Gold Liquid Pearls on the flower stamens.

Was a little disappointed with the sentiment - it was a small set from Kaisercraft and despite using Versafine ink and my Misti, it smudged a little.
But dear husband said it looked Ok so I resisted adding a new sentiment on another piece of card over the top of the smudged one.

It's been forever since I joined in with a challenge so am linking up to

Crafting By Designs- A/Goes
Sist. of Crafters - Flowers
SOS - Crazy for colouring
Flower Challenge - A/Goes


Thanks for visiting - am now able to sit here and call round and see what you have been up to!
Hope all is well in your part of blogland too! x

Stamping Sensations September Challenge

September already!
Here's my card for our September challenge at Stamping Sensations where we have a theme of 'Something beginning with 'B'.
Lovely Bee Crafty is our sponsor  -

I have a few 'B's on my card! Beach, birds, bark, a (life) Buoy and Birthday!

I have had this stamp for a long time - bought as a pre loved one and this is the first time I have inked it. It's rubber as opposed to my fave clear ones so always panic about positioning - particularly as there is no wood backing to even help line it up in the correct place!The MISTI helps but I still panic cos I can't see it!

Stamped it onto the cardstock, stamped again onto a piece of scrap and cut out then masked it off whilst I made the background scene with distress inks and my duster brushes. I have slowly got more confidence doing cards like these and there's something quite therapeutic about making a picture!

The grasses and 'sandhills effect' are from an Inkylicious set I think (no packaging!).
The main image was coloured with DI's too.
A little bit of string to secure the sentiment tag - job done!

Linking up over at
Allsorts- Things with Wings
Crafty Friends - Animales or Birds
ATS&M - Make your Mark
heARTful - A/goes

Inky things

I have scheduled this to post whilst at the National Championships so I hope Mr Blogger behaves himself - I haven't got much free time now until the first week in September but am hoping to be able to get home for an overnight stay when I have 2 days off together so will be round to visit everyone whenever I can!

If the forecasters are correct I am currently enjoying some lovely weather and am hoping that it will last for the entire Championships.

Before I came away I did manage to make a couple of cards.

A poppy die cut from a leftover piece of watercolour card and painted with watercolour paints.
The background was another oddment of watercolour card. Brushed Peeled Paint DI onto the bottom then overstamped with some foliage stamps.

A few red paint splatters and some red Nuvo crystal drops next and finally a die cut sentiment.

Quick card really and hope you like!

Hoping that you too are having sunshine and blue skies and thanks for stopping by. xx

Stamping Sensations - August Challenge

This month at Stamping Sensations we have another great prize - a £25 voucher to spend at RUBBER DANCE.
One of the things about our blog is that we, the DT, get to choose our winners each month by voting for our faves - so there is nothing random about our prizewinners!!
Our challenge is a really hard one for me - USE YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE STAMP! How can I pick a fave from all those stamps that I possess??😟
As I simply cannot pick a fave (as each time I buy a new one it's my fave for that week- LOL) I decided to use a stamp that shows one of my fave flowers instead!

There is something about Poppies isn't there?

I opted for an orange/black colourway seen on Pinterest instead of the usual poppy red and I think it makes a change.

This stamp set is from Inkylicious inked in Carved Pumpkin and Shabby Shutters onto watercolour card.

The poppies are coloured with Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey, with the centres spotted with Forest Moss.

I used a bit of Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey and Mustard Seed for the bottom of the panel.

Sentiment was a real cheapie which I have had for a while and use a lot, simply embossed in white.
2 bronze pearls and a finished card!

Please go to the challenge blog and check out the other inspiration from the rest of the DT.  There are not many rules but we are a stamping challenge so stamping has to be the focal point of whatever you create!
I am at the National Championships for the entire month but will catch up with you all when I get a day off -Happy Crafting!

Summer and the mad month ahead

It has been an age since I have been able to find some time to post. I have been busy at British Isles Championships and International series all over the place - the men and women are at different places and times as are the Under 25's!
But the weather was kind (too hot on many occasions) and I have a few days at home before the August madness of the National Championships. A whole month away from my own bed and am hoping that the weather stays dry!

My craft time has been limited to making baubles like they're going out of fashion -(they are really popular and now have mastered the inking and glittering!), catching up with my Design Team inspiration (😏) for the next few months and satisfying my craving to make a few cards for the stash.

Thought this image from All Dressed Up was awesome and I have enjoyed using it!
Background created on watercolour card.
Sky ink duster brushed with Tumbled Glass - I made the 'clouds' template by using scalloped scissors!
The sea was watercoloured in shades of blue and the sand was also watercoloured using Scattered Straw DI. I randomly overstamped with a stamp from Inkylicious

The girl on the deck chair was coloured with Promarkers. On reflection I should have printed her out on watercolour card also instead of the plain white card which necessitated the promarkers rather than my paints.
I coloured her in, cut her out and popped her onto the beach!
The sentiment is a NBUS and I thought it fitted perfectly.

Ironing and packing are the order of the day for tomorrow and then I will be off. I hopefully though will be able to get some internet where I am staying (although it is a little remote - in glorious countryside so I can relax away from the greens).
Thank you for continuing to come and visit and leave me comments - I love hearing from you. x 

Joining in at
ADU July - Anything Goes
Craft Rocket - Summer
MMM - Coloured Image
Sisterhood of Crafters - Summer Vacation
PIP - Summer Days

CAS Mix Up

Happy Wednesday!
I am a little bit like a bus aren't I? Not been around for over a week then 2 posts at once!
(if you've popped over from the Stamping Sensations blog please scroll down to the next post to see the mid month DT card!)

I love Loll's CAS challenges but during my busy summer season it takes me all my time to do my own DT cards and no time left for anything else.... but I did find time this month for the CAS MIX UP which has the challenge of Colouring Die Cuts, Stamping and any other choice. Loll and the rest of the DT are inspiring - they make beautiful cards!

I have had the birdie die cuts for a little while and this just popped into my head.
I sponged the background using Distress Inks and stamped the flower panel. On reflection maybe this would have been more CAS if I'd left the background and just embossed a wood panel? Hope it's CAS enough for the challenge......

The birdies were coloured with Black Soot, Peacock Feathers and Fossilized Amber.
I think maybe I should have coloured him in a brighter colour looking at the pic but in real life he stands out OK!

I had the card all planned out in my head but then ------
The sentiment drove me mad - I had this sentiment on a stamp - could I find it???? 😠😠 Have absolutely no idea where it went. After wasting lots of precious time hunting I gave up and printed it out.

Am linking up with
HLS Dies - A./Goes with Dies
Fashionable Stamping - Use Your Inks
Crafty Sentiments - Add a Sentiment
Dream Valley - All things Bright + Beautiful

I will be AWOL again after today until middle of next week but will catch up with everybody whenever I can. Have a great week/weekend whatever you are doing - me ? I will be once again at an International Series!! (Hoping the sun continues to shine!) x

A Mid Month Reminder!

This is the first time I have been able to join in with our Mid Month reminders at Stamping Sensations (it's also likely to be the last for a couple of months too!).

This was a really quick card to make - and I used one of my fave sentiments stamps - cos it suits me very well!

I used a coloured card base for a change - it's not often I use up any of my coloured card!

The background is DP. I loved it 💗, bought it 😦 and have looked at it for a long long time 😉😉. (Years in fact).
So I steeled myself and used it.😱

Just quick and simple, mounted it onto white card, used the Poppy Border stamp, a couple of dragonflies and the sentiment - all embossed with white EP.
A few blingy bits and a little 'schparklie' on the dragonflies wings and finished.

Our theme this month is 'In My Garden'.
If you haven't joined us yet there's still time and you could win a fab prize from our wonderful sponsor CRAFTY INDIVIDUALS - so what are you waiting for??!!

If you still need some ideas, hop over to the challenge blog and have a look at the DT's mid months too - if you have time, please leave a comment - we love to hear from you!

I am joining in at -
Country View Crafts - In My Garden
CDTOC - A/Goes
CHPP - A/Goes with Patterned Paper
Daisy Chain - Summer

Dreaming of Christmas?

Spare time once again evaded me this week and it does not seem 8 days since my last post!
A share from my 'Drafts' folder today as no card making been done at all this week.
Here is the confession - THIS IS THE ONLY CHRISTMAS CARD I HAVE MADE THIS YEAR!!!!
So no doubt once again I shall be madness itself nearer the time...

I have a collection of these window dies. Like most dies I have bought they are hardly used😔😔.... my crafting seems to go in phases.. Stamps, Dies, Fussy, CAS and I never have quite decided on the one that fits me best.

Behind the window die is the tiniest bit of watercolour card, stamped with some teeny trees and heat embossed.
Was a bit fiddly but eventually managed to get the tree placement right.

The holly die was simply coloured and re-assembled and I added some glossy accents onto the berries and a bit of blingy before adding it to a piece of folded card for the window ledge.
 I used the brick embossing folder for the background as I thought it looked a little 'flat'.
So one made - only another zillion to go!

The weather has been so warm it's hard to think of Christmas and I suppose that I won't think of it again now until November!
Hope the sun is shining where you are and you are not fed up with the sunshine - thanks for popping in today. x
Challenges -
Kitty Bee - Christmas In July
CAS on Friday - Christmas In July
Xmas @ Sweet Stampin - Anything Christmas
Crafters Castle - Christmas in July
CHNC -  Anything Christmas plus a die

Beautiful

Having been at home since the middle of the week I have had some time to relax and enjoy the glorious weather. Although it's been too hot for me at times I have really enjoyed seeing blue skies and sunshine - long may it continue!
Have a share today using one of my Technique Tuesday fave stamps - Cherry Blossom.

I love this stamp. When I was a child we had a huge cherry blossom tree in the garden. I used to climb it!
It was so pretty when it was in flower - but drove my poor Mum to distraction when the blossom started to drop all over the garden!

I stamped onto a small piece of watercolour paper in Abandoned Coral DI then misted the paper and simply splashed about with a watercolour brush.

Added some gold Liquid Pearls and cut out with a stitched rectangles die.
It looked a little 'lost' on the background linen textured card so I cut out a slightly larger rectangle. Used 3d foam pads to raise it up.


Quite happy with this one!

Am popping over to the following challenges -
Crafters Cafe - Keep It Simple
Flower Challenge - Monochrome
CAS on Friday - Splash of Watercolour
Fussy and Fancy - Pretty in Pink
A2S+M - CAS
HLS Watercolour - Anything Goes

Quick update - Miss Di has allowed me to join in at the Playground this time round as I was too late for last challenge last night and too early for the one that started today - she's a nice person our Miss Di - and I promise I won't spray anyone with the hose pipe.....! xx.

Thank you for looking and for leaving any comments. I appreciate it!
Enjoy the weather! x

Stamping Sensations July Challenge

This month at Stamping Sensations we have the wonderful Crafty Individuals as our sponsors.
Our theme is called 'In My Garden' and here is my DT card -
 I really enjoyed making this as it gave me another opportunity to practice my scene constructing!
And it also reminded me of the garden in our last house which was big and pretty! Along with the house I also inherited a huge dovecote - (no doves, just their house!).
Although I didn't have a dovecote stamp, this little bird house evoked memories of my much loved (but very labour intensive) garden.
The bird house stamp is a set of 2 - the second one is much smaller and I have had them for a long time so no idea which company they are from.

Used Stormy Sky, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss for the background with a little touch of Squeezed Lemonade around the sun. Inked the edges of the whole panel with Forest Moss too.

The stamps are a mixture from SU's Wild About Flowers and others from my stash.
The branches are by Inkylicious as are the birds. (I made a bit of a mess of the bird on the house - although I used the Misti, I must have moved the card slightly when stamping for the second time-  but dear husband says it's not too bad as it looks like said birdie is flapping his wings! Don't you love him - forever trying to make me feel better!)

Please have a look at the Challenge Blog and follow our rules before submitting your entry. We are a stamping challenge - and you MUST have a stamp as the FOCAL point of your creation!
If you can find time to visit my teamies and leave them a comment too, that would be really appreciated!
I am linking up at
Dragonfly Dreams - Summer
Sweet Stampin' - Summer Brights
4 Crafty Chicks - Summer is Here
Cardz 4 Galz - Summer Sunny Days

Thanks for visiting. x

Peace and Tranquility

Been a hectic time recently - home very late last night but have a 4 night stopover in my own bed ... was bliss!!
So a quick post from me as I have much to do (boring washing etc)

There have been times I have wished I was in the middle of this lake - the man in the boat has definitely escaped from it all - don't get me wrong, I am enjoying my final year with Bowls England but sometimes it IS nice just to be away from everybody in your own little world of peace and quiet!
And of course there hasn't been any time for crafting - which is seriously irritating!
Stamps all from Stampscapes and I just added a little bit of Distress Ink for some weak sun rays!
So that's all the time I have just now.

I will be round later today to visit everybody - I am determined to spend some time in the craftie space - I have new goodies and the withdrawal symptoms are just dreadful!
Hope the sun is shining for you a little more strongly that the weak sun on my card - have a great day!

Joining in at -
Alphabet Challenge - G - Great Outdoors
Daring Cardmakers - Wonderful World
Sisterhood Snarky Stampers - Q for Quote
Simply Create Too - Male themed

Weather??

So I was woken up at 4am by lashing rain and winds that were as strong as they were in winter. Crazy weather. T shirts and shorts and under the parasol all week and now today it's wellies, mac and a sore back with leaning into the gale!
Annoyed too as I had some plants in pots out on the patio that the wind thought would be fun to lift and tip over. I have one very sorry for itself rhododendron and others (particularly the standards) who have had branches broken off  and their flowers bashed to bits- I am NOT happy!
Even more concerning is that I am supposed to be catching a flight to Belfast later today and currently all are delayed - so the sentiment on this card is what I am doing - daring to dream - that
1. The flight won't be delayed for ever and
2. the weather improves for the next 5 days (although I am not hopeful looking at the forecast).

I just made inky with this as I was desperate to try out this unicorn stamp!
DI's used - Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Abandoned Coral and Barn Door on the sky.
Seedless Preserve, Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender and Picked Raspberry on the ground.
Edged the whole piece with Black Soot. 
Stamps from Lavinia and Inklylicious and the sentiment is so old I have no idea which company made it!
Dotted a little bit of schparklie here and there before matting onto black.
Linking up at
Use Your Stuff - Magical
Fairy & Unicorn (quite apt don't ya think?!!) - Mystical/Magical
Dragongly Dreams - A/Goes
PDE - A/Goes
A2S&M - A/Goes
Creative Moments - A/Goes

I will catch up with you when I get back - fingers crossed that Team England don't get too wet!
Thanks for looking! x

Home Sweet Home

Have been on my travels again - so the title of this post is very apt!
Only Home Sweet Home for a few days though as once again later this week I am off.
This was one of those cards that started life as a scrap piece of card that was left over after I had inked a sky for something else! So I used it.

Simple to do and used up lots of little oddments of coloured card.
Inked the trees directly to the stamp and then after stamping lightly coloured the 'grass'.
The 'blossom tree' was simply a twiggy stamp and I added a few 'flowers' with some watercolour paint.

I have had the little picket fence die for a long time and this is the very first time I have ever used it. (Funny 'cos just at the moment all the barns where we live are having this fencing put up in between the gardens so maybe that was what was in my head at the time).
The die cut house I treated myself to as I thought it would be handy to have for quick new home cards. I die cut one each in black, white, yellow and red and simply mixed up all the bits - fiddly but better than one solid block of colour I think.

I washed some Pumice Stone DI along the 'path' at the front of my little red house.
Quite happy with this  - now all I need to do is paint my own fencing when it is finished...😒
As my make used all snippets I am paying a flying visit to the Playground before the gates shut! 

Joining in at
HLS June - Anything with Dies
Love 2 Craft - A/Goes
ABMTTC - A/Goes

We have another lovely day here - long may it continue - have a great weekend. x

Stamping Sensations June Challenge

This month we have the wonderful Visible Image as our sponsors for our challenge at Stamping Sensations. They are offering a £25 voucher to spend!

(Please note though that in order to be eligible for the prize you MUST follow our challenge rules! You must have a stamp as the FOCAL point of your project - Please go to the blog and read before entering!)

I have used the bird from their 'Free Your Imagination' stamp set for our 'Anything Goes' challenge.

I used linen textured card as my base. 

Masked off the sun and inked with varying shades from Squeezed Lemondade through to Fossilized Amber.. adding a little bit of Wild Honey randomly over the top.

I double embossed the bird with WOW Pale Gold (Fine).

The tiny spots were from the SU Timeless Textures set and the feather was from a Bird set from Chocolate Baroque - used these because I thought the splats and the feathers in the original set might have been a little large for such a CAS design.

I have had the sentiment such a long time I have no idea where it came from but it seemed to fit the card somehow.

Layered onto matt gold card before attaching to the base card.


Hope you can find time to visit all my teamies this week who have made some great cards to inspire!
Looking forward to seeing what you create!

Summer!

I am sooo enjoying this glorious weather (although I know some of you have had thunderstorms!). It makes such a change for every day to be dry and sunny - and makes no time for crafting...😏😏
But yesterday after  tending to the patio pots I came inside as I was having withdrawal symptoms.
Here is a share for today -

Had a bit of fun with some Pixie Powders after being inspired by a similar Brusho card on Pinterest.

I love the shimmer the powders give and overall am well pleased with this card which is destined for the stash pile.

Because I am so heavy handed with powders I wet the watercolour card randomly first with a mini mister.

The powder colours are Lava Red, Aqua Lagoon,  Straw Yellow and Pale Olive.

The Dandees are by Lavinia. The flower silhouette and the dragonfly are Inkylicious and I think the sentiment MAY be Hero Arts (lost packaging!).

Am sharing this over at -
Fashionable Stamping - Floral
PB&More - A/Goes
Aud Sentiments - Summer + Sentiment
HeARTful - A/Goes +Stamp


So that's it from me for today. I am going to have a couple of hours outside in the sunshine but I am visiting Blogland tonight! 
Hope the weather is kind to you wherever you are and thanks for visiting me! x

A late mid month reminder!

I was supposed to show this post over the weekend - but here I am nearly in the middle of the next week and just remembered it!
Following this months 'Close to Nature' theme at Stamping Sensations, and in honour of the glorious sunsets we have been having lately whilst enjoying our lovely weather here is my card.

 I used a mix of stamps for this one -
And a mix of colours for the background! The whole yellow/orange range of my Distress Inks in fact!

There is something wondrous about sunsets I think.
We sat last night and watched as the sun went behind a cloud here - then there was a little slit in the cloud and all you could see was a bright orange/red glow- for a couple of seconds it looked like the sky behind the cloud was on fire - then the cloud closed over and we were left with a few rays streaming down from the sky. It was simply beautiful to watch.

My sentiment stamp is an old one and is much loved.
 There have been so many lovely entries into our challenge so far but you still have plenty of time if you have not had time to join in or would like to share another creation.

Our sponsor is Chocolate Baroque and there is a lovely Nature Inspired A4 stamp set to be won.

I hope the sun is shining where you are and you too have many wonderful sensets to watch.

Thanks for taking the time to look - have a great day whatever you are doing! x 

Challenges -

Make My Monday - Hint of Summer

HeARTful - A/Goes + stamp

Crafty Friends - 'B' - (Bird, Birdhouse)

SOSS - I for Inky

Rainbow

There has been no chance of seeing a Rainbow here in the last week...😃😃 weather here has been glorious. Wall to wall sunshine!
Hoping that it lasts all summer.

I started this with the intention of taking part in this month's CAS Watercolour challenge where the theme is, of course, Rainbow.
It has been a couple of months since I was able to join Loll and Co and likely it will be a sporadic visiting time over the summer as my Presidential Team duties take me away once again.
But I promised myself that I would try and enter - now that it is finished I am not sure that there is enough white space for it to be deemed truly CAS but am linking it to show that at least I tried!

Used lots of lovely inks (I really DO like making messy) starting off with Candied Apple and worked my way through the colours until I finished with Chipped Sapphire.
The Dew Droplets were out on the desk so I used them......😀
Also linking to Crafty Cardmakers - (No patterned paper)  and  Addicted to Stamps - (Make Your Mark).
I hope the sun is shining where you are and thank you for looking today! x

A week?

Have spent a couple of days this week just a short drive from home in the beautiful Lake District. My duties start again next week so it was nice to just spend a couple of days away relaxing. My travelling starts again next week and although it is not as intense a year for me there is still much expected and much mileage involved!

This make came about by me trying to practice making scenes.
I have no idea why I chose to colour it pink - although in my defence I did a similar one in blue.
I am not sure about that one either!
I am hoping that someone somewhere likes it......😊
Picked Raspberry, Victorian Velvet and Spun Sugar.
I matted it onto a piece of black card but when I put onto a white base it was really stark and 'in your face'. My solution was to brush the ink dusters over the white card......  😨
I am hoping that those 'master scene makers' out in blogland will be kind when commenting!
I am linking up at Allsorts where the challenge is 'Pink' and also over at Crop Stop's May's Linky Party (Anything Goes)

It is a really nice day here so am going to spend a couple of hours fiddling with the patio pots.
Thanks for visiting - will be around to catch up with you all later - Enjoy your Day! x

May Challenge over at Stamping Sensations

'Close to Nature' is our challenge for you this month at Stamping Sensations.
Our sponsors are Chocolate Baroque and you need to pop over to the challenge blog to have a look at the great prize on offer... and whilst you're there, please check out our rules for entry please - we are a STAMPING challenge!

Some inkiness from me this time round for our 'Nature' theme. And a card made in super quick time as I didn't have a lot of time spare!

This is a technique called Water Reactive Colouring and is a really easy technique of sponging a card front with Distress Oxide inks, heat embossing a design, and then lifting colour using a water brush.

With each pass over the design you lighten the image so that it stands out against the dark background.

I used Mermaid Lagoon and Peacock Feathers for this card using a stamp from a set called Hydrangea Tag by our sponsors.
I added a small gold die cut butterfly - cos he was lying on the desk looking lonely!

There are some great examples of this technique in blogland - here, here and here!

There's also lots over at the blog to inspire you - please visit my teamies blogs and tell them what you think of their inspiration - hoping you will join in with us again this month!
Sharing my card with
613 Ave Create - Mainly Blue
Dare2bArtzy- Flowers
PB&More- A/Goes
AAA - Gold/Watercolours/Flowers

Sunny

Have been really busy the last few days as I had a few orders for the baubles I shared here. Seems very strange to be making Christmas Fairy baubles in May but to be honest I have loved doing them!
In between though I have made just a couple of cards.

I am still messing about with watercolour backgrounds on odd bits of watercolour card (a trip to the Playground then this week!) and rather liked the way this one turned out. It reminded me of sunsets and thought it would be suitable as a background for one of those hard Sympathy cards that we all wish we didn't need but have to have.

I tried a couple of die cuts over it but in the end settled for this one. (I had wild imaginings about them swaying gently in a breeze!)
The Distress Ink background simply placed behind a stitched frame with the die cut tucked in after snipping off bits I didn't want.
The stitched circle was a recent bargain buy set from The Works and it was the perfect size for this small sentiment stamp.
I simply added another stitched square layer for a bit more depth.

Am sharing this over at -
Fussy & Fancy - Use a Die Cut
Challenge Up Your Life - Watercolour
TIOT - Die Cuts
Get Creative - No patterned paper

After a rainy morning, the sun is out here - but boy is it still cold! Hard to believe it is May!
Hoping the sun is shining wherever you are. x

Iris

Another Technique Tuesday stamp arrived for me earlier this week! Love getting these little envies with goodies in - and having the time to use them!

I didn't use the die that comes with the stamp as I wanted to move a couple of the leaves about and after stamping, I fussy cut - which was quite easy to do.

For the background, I used Peeled Paint DI at the bottom, then graduated Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber before finishing with Shaded Lilac Oxide.
A few Lilac spatters (once again more on the craft mat than on the card....)

The flower was painted in the same shades and I added some teeny blobs of Gold Liquid Pearls.
I wanted to make the bottom of the card a little different and tuck the flower in rather than just having it on top so hence the use of the scallop die.
I stamped a few grasses for the base of the flower to give it a bit more depth.
The sentiment also part of the same set.

Sharing over at
Addicted 2 Stamps - CAS
Everybody Art - Flower
House that Stamps Built - A/Goes
House of Cards - Flower Corner

Shopping, a little bit of ironing then an afternoon in the craft space - it's quite grey and cool here and the wind is howling - not that I need an excuse! Thanks for visiting and have a great day whatever you're doing! x

A Snippets Card

Pixies Snippets Playground has me this week to show what I have done using those odd left over bits of card - let's face it, we all have them and the challenge run by Di, is a fortnightly way of getting us to try and lower the scrap mountain!
If you have come across to visit from the Playground it's lovely to see you and hope you will come back soon.

My card uses a stamp called Cosmos from one of my fave companies - Technique Tuesday.  (Long admired the cards made by Birgit and some of her creations are made with stamps from TT - which got me started!)

Recently I have been practicing watercolour backgrounds so I now have odd bits of watercolour cardstock to add to the ordinary cardstock pile!
Stamped and heat embossed in white onto a scrap of watercolour card and coloured the flower heads with Peacock Feathers DO before fussy cutting.  

Used another oddment of watercolour card cut into a square and stamped and embossed the Cosmos flowers again. 

I then washed part of it with the same ink using lots of water to dilute the colour to create my background and positioned the stitched die frame (another leftover) over it.

The flower heads were popped up with foam pads.

The stitched rectangular piece was just another odd bit on the desk so I ran round it with a stitched die and used it! 

Finished it off with some liquid pearls in the centre of the flowers and a couple of bits of bling. 

Hope you like my make for the Playground this week and that you will come along and join us!

Sailing

It's certainly sailing weather here today - I think Spring may finally be here in my little part of the world - we have glorious blue sky and warm sunshine.
I have had friends with me for a few days and the house is really quiet now they've gone home! One of them remarked that my poor husband must think he has now gone deaf! 

Used a stamp set purchased a little while ago that has never seen ink until now.
This was a simple card really.

Done on watercolour card and after stamping the lighthouse and boat, I simply masked and then sponged and painted.
I used Distress Inks - Salty Ocean for the sea, Tumbled Glass for the sky and Squeezed Lemonade for the sun, then watercoloured the cliffs, grass and boat with watercolour paints.
Some birds and the sentiment (which I really like!) and job done!

This has now been put in the 'man stash' section of my card box. 
It didn't take too long to do either - I never do enough male themed cards and need to improve this!


Sharing over at
Cardz 4 Guyz - Travel/Transport
Crafty Sentiment Designs - Only For Boys
SOS - Masculine
Crafty Cardmakers - Water
Watercooler Wednesday - Masculine

Hoping that you too have the lovely weather we have - and thank you for visiting me today! x

Blossom

Carrying on practising my backgrounds - am trying to convince myself that I do not need a mountain of paper to make nice cards.
I have so much patterned paper some of it is so old I cannot remember where/when I bought it and looking at the cards I have made in the last few months I have used probably 4 small pieces of it. The time has come I think to get rid - if I could only find a home for it!

For a long time I have wanted to subscribe to Technique Tuesday's 'Greenhouse Stamp Society' but as I have been away so much over the last 3 years there seemed little point - until now!
Although I still have some travelling this year it is not as intense as it has been so I took the plunge. It's nice to have something to look forward to arriving in the post every month and I have subscribed for both stamp and the matching dies.

This stamp is the March release called Cherry Blossom and I love it! I made a couple of cards with it and am sharing the first one which was just a basic design - but am pleased with how it turned out.

Stamped and heat embossed in white, then painted with DI's. I added a teeny bit of liquid pearls to the stamens of each blossom.
The circle frame was a left over!
I took some watercolour card and splashed/smooshed a bit of Spun Sugar on it and tucked it behind the die cut circle.
The sentiment is from the same set, cut from watercolour card and painted.
A few teeny pale green pearls and done!

Joining in at -
A2S&M - Make your Mark
Ellibelle's  Crafty Wed - Flowers + Sentiment
PDE - Flowers

I have a full house for the next few days - some friends coming to stay till the middle of next week and am looking forward to a bit of girly gossip and no doubt some shopping!
Have a great weekend and thanks for the visit! x

Still Life

Irt's been a beautiful 2 days here. We've had some nice sunshine and thankfully it's been a little warmer. It's such a change from grey damp and dreary.  A couple of visits to a garden centre and home with some spring flowers, (now all planted up in their pots) has cheered me up a bit!

I have also found some time to do a few more cards for the stash.
Some of them have been a bit of an experiment - some have turned out as a disaster but others have been OK.

I have a whole file of 'Inspiration' and this is my take on one of those cards I saved. 

I think I should have put some shading behind to make the design have a bit more depth but practice makes perfect (or in my case practice will make something passable - eventually!).
I used Hickory Smoke  and Pumice Stone for the background.

I die cut the 3 vases from watercolour card and coloured with Distress Inks.
I stamped the leaves (from a freebie set) on the front one and then used glossy accents over the vase. The other two were just left after painting. I used foam pads to stand the vases out from the background.

Although it doesn't show very well in the pic, the front one has a lovely glossy finish and really stands out.
The tiny branches are an old stamp from Chocolate Baroque (I think) and I used some Liquid Pearls to make tiny white berries.
Sentiment and vase dies are from MFT.

I have long been an admire of the awesome Birgit. I love her CAS but so detailed style and the way she combines different elements effortlessly. She has inspired me to keep trying with small watercolour backgrounds and add different elements to the focal point of the card. 
My 3 vases are not quite as good as Birgit's but it will do for me!
Sharing at -
Simply Create Too - Use Die Cuts
Creative with Stamps - CAS and Sentiment
Die Cut Divas - A/Goes
Allsorts - Square
Crafter's Castle - A/Goes

Hoping the sun is shining wherever you are - thanks for calling by and if you've left me a comment, thank you! x

Asian Inspired

I notice that Oriental themed stamps seem to be making a little bit of a comeback just recently. At one time they were immensely popular and now are undergoing a bit of a revival.
I remembered my little stash of embossing folders and stamps which have been neglected for a while so I have made some giving the old stuff an airing.

Will post the others as and when - but here's the last one I did yesterday ('cos it didn't stop raining here), and it just used up the leftovers from the days crafty sesh!
Quick, simple and I like it!

Chinese script on vellum. The branches cut from a bigger die in black pearly card and the flowers also from the same die set.
The 'vase' was a sentiment die with an oval centre - just snipped it off! I added a little bit of gold embossing powder to give it some texture.
And that's it.

It's a stunningly lovely spring day here (finally) - we have blue sky and sunshine - although still not very warm it is lovely to see the sun!
Sharing my little oriental make over at -
S+F=C -  CAS
Use Your Stuff - Spring
P B & More - Black/White plus 1 (hoping that the teeny bit of embossing doesn't count as another colour!)
SOS - Black/White + 1 (ditto about the embossing)
Library Challenge - Memoirs of a Geisha (stunning black/white/red cover too)

Thanks for visiting - have a great day! x

Stamping Sensations April Challenge

Our challenge at Stamping Sensations for April is 'One for the Girls'.

We are sponsored by Be Creative who are offering a whopping £25 prize to spend in their store - but remember you MUST follow our challenge rules to be eligible for the prize!
Although the challenge theme sounds simple, we do have some basic rules that we ask you to follow. This makes it fair to everyone who submits an entry! Please read our rules over on the blog.

I opted for a CAS card this month, done on a linen textured card base and using up some small pieces for the flowers.
(A visit to the Playground beckons!)

I love this layering set from Altenew called Peony Bouquet, although I didn't use all the layers for this card.

Treated myself to a set of 4 Hero Arts inks in lovely shades of green -  not a colour I use a lot of normally but I really like how this turned out.

The outline stamp was inked in 'Antigua'.
Then used two more of the layering stamps in 'Tide Pool' and 'Mint Julep'.
All fussy cut (not rich enough to buy the dies!).

Happily I managed to find a scrap of paper which matched perfectly so used that as a mat behind the stitched rectangle die.

Sentiment from Technique Tuesday inked in 'Tide Pool' and a couple of Dew Drops.

Please see what my teamies have delivered up this month to inspire you!

Crafty  Creations - A/Goes
Sisterhood of Crafters - Spring
Crafty Gals - A/Goes
Happy Crafting!

Baubles

So -  it was wet this morning. I had a really good excuse then not to do a lot (I did the ironing though....😇😇)
Ironing completed I had a bit of fun messing about with faux snow. Well, we've seen enough of the real stuff lately (and more to come) but surprisingly I am not sick of it YET....and decided to remind myself what it looked like ahead of the forecast for later this week.

These were really cool to make and not bad for my first attempts. I am going to make some more and be more adventurous colouring the acetate a bit more - perhaps adding moons and stuff!

I need though to get some more of the ribbon that you can gather - it has string attached that you pull and does the gathering work for you (as shown on the right hand side one) - better pic here I think - so if anyone can help I'd be really grateful as I don't know what it's called to search!

I popped some tiny lights behind to take the pic - these lights are tiny battery operated ones and the battery compartment is really small and light so might try and make one with the lights inside and hide the battery compartment at the back.
I think these will look really nice on a tree!

Baubles and Fairies are of course from Lavinia. Faux snow and glitter was in my stash (now all over the table....LOL)

Sharing over at -
Inkspirational - Mythical
Not Just Cards - A/Goes
CHNC - A/Goes
LPOCF- A/Goes
Pile It On - Circles ( well a bauble IS a circle!)
Crafty Friends - A/Goes

Hope you are all enjoying yourselves whatever you're doing! Thanks for looking.x  

Stamping

I am still enjoying having some free time - although I am off to a meeting tomorrow once that is finished I am free then for another couple of weeks before my year as Immediate Past President starts. (Commonly called 'The Pasty'!)
I have been making the most of being able to just sit and play with inks - it's been lovely.

I saw this colour combo on Pinterest and thought I would try it.
The really bright blue and vibrant red appealed to me and although I get lots of inspiration from Pinterest I am very guilty of spending far too much time looking and not enough time doing!

I sponged the background then splashed some water droplets. This has given a real subtle effect and I am pleased with myself!
The Dandy stamp is by Inkylicious inked with Versafine Majestic Blue and Versamagic Wheat colour.
The red berry stem was inked with Dew Drop Rocket Red.
Sentiment stamped with Majestic Blue.
Another one for the stash!

Am sharing this over at
Cards In Envy - No patterned Paper
Craftaholics R Us - A/Goes
Crafty Addicts - A/Goes
Time Out - Inspired by Words (and I chose Birthday!)


Have a great day whatever you're doing - and as always I really appreciate you visiting and leaving any comments. x

Friends

We still have a little snow lying here, but the sun is out and the sky is a clear blue so no doubt it will all be gone by the end of the day even though it is still really cold.

As I was confined to the house because of the snow (!!😀😀) I made quite a few cards.
The sky might be blue but I had a terrible job taking this pic!
The butterfly stamp is an old one. Part of a set with flowers but no idea whose it is. I embossed it in white and then used my DOx Shaded Lilac.
Confess I am really like the oxides... need to get some more!

This is a really simple and quick card - I made another using a different butterfly and another colour.

The sequins are actually an incredible exact match to the lilac in real life although they do have a pinky tinge to them on here. But when all said and done - bling is bling!!

The sentiment is from SU - and I stamped it in Wilted Violet DI. Often when I use DI's to stamp sentiments they don't give a good impression but this time it worked perfectly.

Sharing over at -
CAS on Sunday - Sequins
Allsorts - Bling
TSOT (March Technique)- Embossing
Crafty Catz- A/Goes

Thanks for taking the time to visit - I hope you are all warm and well wherever you are in blogland! x

The Garden Wall

Almost the weekend! Altho how much of a good weekend will have to be seen as we have snow forecast again! So it will be a very very GOOD weekend if it does 'cos I can just stay in the craftie space!! (Probably in my PJ's too - sheer bliss!)

Made a card for this month's challenge at CAS Watercolour. The theme is 'Garden'.
I don't use digital images very often now but I remembered I had this one which was a freebie many moons ago - I think the company was Just Inklined - but am not sure.

The image is called 'Garden Wall' so am hoping it qualifies for the theme - if not never mind cos I have another card for my stash! 
It was quite a nice image to colour. I printed it out on watercolour card then left it overnight.
All coloured with Distress Inks.
I highlighted the wall with Old Paper DI creating a wash then going over the cracks again to give it more depth.

Am quite pleased with my colouring on this - I am usually guilty of being too heavy handed and using too much ink but this looks fine (to me!)

Also popping over to share at
The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes
Sparkles Monthly - Spring
Pearly Sparkles - Flowers

Hoping everyone is safe and well in their part of blogland. Thanks for calling in - I really appreciate your visits. x