November Twofer

 This month's challenge at Twofer is 'Stars'. Last challenge of the year too!
I made a Christmas card and a Birthday card using the same Star die and some odd bits of glitter card.

The background for the Christmas card was done using Chipped Sapphire and Stormy Sky DI with a little dab of Squeezed Lemonade round the 'moon' for the sky and Shaded Lilac for the 'snow'.
Liberal amounts of white Posca pen spattering too!
I used a silver pen to 'hang' the stars from the die cut branch. I treated myself to this sentiment last week and it seemed just right!

The Birthday card is a tried and tested 'man' card!
Have done a few of these in different colours.
After stamping few grungy elements in grey, I added a couple of ink blots using a Midnight Blue ink.
The dark coloured stars were also cut out of the same dark blue card as the matted layer.
The sentiment I think was a freebie some time ago.

These two cards were also a way of using up the odd bits of glitter card that I always seem to be left with at this time of year.

Thanks to Darnell (Dolly 😘) for all her hard work this year with this challenge - and thanks too to the DT for their inspiration -  enjoy your month off! x

Linking my Christmas card over at
CHNC - A/Goes (Glitter)
Inkspirational - Frame It
and a quick visit to Pixies Playground 'cos my glittery bits were all leftovers!

A week?

Was astounded to see it is almost a week since my last post - it's not as if I have been mad busy although I have done some jobs outside for a couple of hours a day whilst the weather has been reasonable.

My share for today is one from a Tim Holtz stamp set that was released a few years back.  I wanted it but it was way down the always expanding wish list - I saw it on sale last week so just bought it. The wish list does not seem to get any smaller - EVER.😞 (And two more sets have now taken the place of this one!)

I have done a couple of cards with the set mostly inspired by Pinterest as Mojo😩 has been at a premium.

I have no idea if this stamp depicts a violin player or not - but it looked like it to me! So a music themed make seemed appropriate.

Made a mask of the stamp and then smooshed the background (Antique Linen), overstamped with a music stamp in sepia tones and some foliage in grey.

Watercoloured the image and then began the search for a sentiment!
Eventually I remembered this NBUS one from Bee Crafty which I think fitted.

We currently have a lovely day here - it's cold but bright and dry. Popped to a nearby town earlier to go to the bank for M-I-L.  Sad to see our fave coffee and cake places currently shut -feel for the lovely staff and of course the owners. Town was really quiet so it was just a pleasant short stroll for me up and down the High Street!
Thanks for looking today - stay safe. x

Bling!

Grey day here so needed something to brighten it up!

I also brightened up the desk with the glittery embossing powder - 🙈🙈
Started with two pieces of leftover black card  and stamped then clear embossed a Diamonds stamp by Kaisercraft down one side of the largest piece.

I bought this Funky Fossil Diamond stencil some time back - and tried a few times to use it with different mediums but simply wasn't happy with my end result -  then I bought some WOW 'White Twinkle' Embossing Powder. Which does exactly what it says!
Really happy with the result although I had two attempts at embossing the stencil on the other leftover piece before I was satisfied. 

After fussy cutting I positioned it over the diamonds but it looked kinda odd on it's own - so I embossed a Sun Ray stencil in the centre (Inkylicious) and sat the diamond on top.

Sentiment also by Inkylicious embossed with the same powder and added an odd strip of glitter card to make the size right for the base card!
Linking up to
Pixies Playground #390
Stamplorations (Stamps and Contrast)

Been a changeable week here - we've had some lovely days weather wise but also some fog and damp.
Being in lockdown means I want to be cheered by lots of blue skies and not made miserable by wet weather!
We are though better off than most as we do have lovely fields to look out on whatever the weather - and this morning the sheep arrived for their yearly overwinter visit from higher up!
Wherever you are I hope that all is well with you.
Thanks for visiting. x 

Non Traditional Christmas

Finally it has stopped raining and we had an overnight frost which gave way to a bright sky. Some clouds about but hopefully it will stay dry even if it's cold!

The November challenge over at CAS Christmas is 'Non Traditional Colours'.
It gave me an opportunity to get out the pile of rarely used coloured cardstock.

This colour is called Amethyst - I like it but have never used it before (a bit like a lot of the colours I have!)
I tried a few things (inspired by the use of coloured card on Pinterest) but in the end opted for embossing a stamp (SU's Bright and Beautiful) and simply using clear embossing powder.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how effective it looked!

The sentiment is embossed in Platinum.

A really plain and simple make and I have lots of coloured card so will try a few more I think.

Linking up with
TIOT - Embossing
ABC Xmas - 'X' for Xtra Special

Hope the sun is shining where you are - we go back into full lockdown tomorrow so am hoping that the blue skies stay with us for a while as looking out on wet grey weather only makes you more fed up! x

CAS Mix Up November challenge

 The lovely Bonnie is our challenge setter this month at CAS Mix Up. A Watercolour theme is the rotation this month and Bonnie has chosen 'OFF THE EDGE' as her challenge.

As we are in November I thought perhaps it might be a good idea to make a Christmas card for my stash. My dear husband💖 bought me my Misti for Christmas a few years ago - and I can honestly say it has been the best Christmas present EVER! Don't know what I would do without it --- or how I managed before - my stamping must have been awful!

I cut a small piece of watercolour card and positioned the stamp off the edge at the top. Using my Arteza Watercolour Pens I started by inking the Pine Cones, spritzing with a little water after I'd inked the stamp. 

I did this a couple of times until I got the colour I wanted, then did the same with the pine needles. I then moved some of the colour round a little with a wet brush to the right of the cones as there were a few bare spaces.

Hope you can join us this month for our last challenge of the year  - we have MICHELE  as our wonderful guest designer - please go and visit and see her beautiful make and of course, please pop over to the rest of my friends on the CAS Mix Up Design Team - they love visitors as much as me! x

 

Stamping Sensations November Challenge

 The theme this month at Stamping Sensations is 'Garlands, Wreaths and Christmas Flowers'.  Another great prize this month and details are over on the challenge blog - whilst you''re there check out our rules and have a look at some of the great makes from the rest of the DT!

I used kraft card and stamped my woodgrain panel.

The snowflake wreath and the baubles were magazine freebies earlier in the year - from the Silhouette Scenes by Phil Martin. Stamped and white heat embossed before adding a little bit of sparkle.

I sponged some Gathered Twigs round the edge to soften it but thought it still looked a little bare - I found a really old holly flourish stamp so inked it in Olive Green and randomly stamped round the edge before matting onto a dark brown card and popping the whole thing onto my card base.

Hope you will join us this month!

Paint, Carpet and Ink

This week we have done a little bit of decorating in the room where we spend most of our time - the craft/music/online gaming room. (The latter 2 are not me by the way!)
I am a messy crafter. Over the years since we have been here I have dropped ink pads (always the pad side down) onto the carpet tiles, splattered odd bits of Brusho here and there, managed to get glue everywhere - you get the picture.
I am now sat in the freshly painted room with some nice new flooring and the comment 'Let's see how long it takes for you to make a mess'...... 😳😳
So not being apprehensive at all I got out the ink......................

A linen textured card base called for a linen textured panel. After inking, I took 2 stencils inking with 2 more different shades of green.
Stamped and clear embossed the leafy branch and watercoloured.
A few drops of white Nuvo  and a stamped sentiment.

The ink mustn't have been completely dry as the white Nuvo soaked it up so now the little drops are green but in real life it looks OK!

So today it looks like we are moving from Tier 3 into full lockdown next week. At least I have a freshly pained craft space to spend my time in!

Oh and I bought a rather large rug online which covers MOST of the area I work in.... bets on bouncing ink pads anyone?????

Sparklers

Today's card was one of those where you start by just trying things out and see if it looks OK. 

I silver embossed this recently bought Crafty Individuals 'Winter Garden' (CI-425) stamp onto a piece of vellum and then double embossed the sparkler flower heads with some gold.
I think this is such a pretty stamp and it will likely appear again in the not too distant future!

I had done a few square backgrounds using trees and a tiny deer stamp for some quick cards and they were in a small pile on the desk ready to go onto card bases  - I put the newly embossed vellum piece over one of them.

I was quite happy with how it looked although the top right corner looked a little bare so I found a corner flourish (old old old) and silver embossed it.

Card done!
Does anyone remember Woodware making a product called 'Miracle Adhesive Film'?  I bought a few packs of this probably more than 10 years ago now - it was specifically for use with vellum.

Sadly I have been unable to source it for several years but it really was brilliant to use for sticking vellum down completely transparently. I have yet to find any make of glue or tape that works as well.
As I now only have a few small sheets left I cut some small pieces for the corners instead of using the entire sheet - save as much as I can!

UPDATE 28TH OCTOBER - Thank you to my lovely visitors who have found a company in the UK who still have a few packs of this in stock. The power of blogland!! 

Sharing my make over at
TIOT - Embossing
Christmas Kickstart - Festive Florals

We have another wet, windy and miserable day so with the ironing done and a (very) quick flick of the duster it's off to the inky space for me! Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Dawn Reflections or Sandra's Trees!

It has been a difficult couple of days! Mr Mojo went AWOL (again) and motivation to do anything has been in short supply (not that I EVER have any motivation for ironing and the like but there are times it is easier to force yourself to do it than others).

I had an inkling of an idea last night and here is the result.

'Sandra's lovely trees' (the Crafty Individuals stamp is called Dawn Reflections CI-554 but to me it will always be Sandra's Lovely Trees!)  were sitting on the desk and I decided to force Mr Mojo out of hiding.

I masked off the bottom half of the stamp (the reflection bit) and stamped the top part first.

I found my Inkylicious little man in a boat and stamped him next.
I made a mask of him and then stamped the bottom part of SLT (Sandra's Lovely Trees!).

Held my breath that it would look OK when I removed the mask...... not too bad at all!

Inked my hills in Shaded Lilac and used Squeezed Lemonade and Tattered Rose for the rest of the sky, my coin (circle mask) moved a little so the circle isn't exactly circular but I hope it's only noticeable to me.

The water done with Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky.
I think he looks quite happy out there on his own surrounded by this lovely scenery.

Crafty Individuals has a Facebook Group HERE.  There are challenges every month with prizes offereds - this month's challenge is called NEW DAWN. So countryside scenes, nature etc are all eligible. I know the Crafty Individuals DT would love to see you over there too!

Been a horrible wet and very windy day - we have a Wind Farm nearby and thought someone had come along and stolen the 12 of them - couldn't see it this morning the grey rain filled clouds were so low. And it hasn't improved much as the day has gone on so likely the pic isn't the best either!

I hope you are safe warm and dry wherever you are in blogland and thanks for visiting. x

Fern (and a long post!)

Spent yesterday outside in windy but sunshiney🌞 (and not too cold) weather preparing my pots and containers for the winter season. I have the fleece ready for my precious Camellia 🌺 and have re-arranged most into bigger groups so they can protect each other from the monstrous winds we get here. An added bonus was I got all my washing dry!
Today by contrast is dull grey and drizzly so a perfect excuse to sit at my favourite desk (and ignore the ironing 🙈). 
After failing miserably last month, I have managed to actually finish the cards I made for the Twofer Challenge  this month  which has the theme of Silhouettes.

The hardest part for me was deciding which stamp to actually use but as I had used this SU fern stamp recently it was - well - there!

The background on the square card was a smooshed piece using Cracked Pisatchio and Spun Sugar.

The two teeny birdies (which I simply LOVE) are from Inkylicious and the sentiment is Technique Tuesday. 
I think they are there for each other during this weird time we are living through hence the sentiment!

I lightly inked the edge with Black Soot and matted it onto black card.
It looked really stark on the white card base so I blended a little of the inks on it.

My second card is shadow stamped with the fern in Memento Tuxedo Black and the second stamping white heat embossed.

In the absence of a coloured card base which I could use, I blended Wheat coloured Versacolour ink for the background and spattered a few black droplets.

Again it just didn't look right on top of white card so the ink blending was carried over onto the card base.

Glad that I actually managed to link up this month instead of remembering 2 days after the challenge closes.

I hope everyone is coping - it's tough when there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of this loooong tunnel.

But when all else fails there's always blogland......
and cake,
lots of cake.

In fact I have a rather nice Belljun Choklit cream filled Shoo Bun sat here on a plate next to me....

well it would be rude not to wouldn't it?

Take Care! x

An Old Favourite

 Have been doing a variety of things the last few days ranging from struggling with a piece of vellum (😒) to making my fingers multi coloured with ink to shifting a ton of gravel (honestly) up several steps onto our garden!
So it was nice to be able to spend a couple of hours yesterday having a FaceTime chat with some crafting friends followed by a bit of CAS cardmaking!

I have had this die for such a long time. It's been used on Wedding cards, Birthday cards, Sympathy cards - but this is the first time I have used it on a Christmas card!

The snow dry embossed background piece was left over from something else and I used a wavy die to tidy up the ragged edge and gold embossed. In fact the whole card was made from leftover bits!

A mix of Festive Berries and Candied Apple inks for the larger flowers, and some gold metallic ink on the smaller pieces. Finished it off with some red Nuvo pearls for berries.
A couple of circles die cut and liberally spattered with the red ink and a gold heat embossed sentiment.

Didn't take too long to do!

This month over at the Flower Challenge they are celebrating their 4th Birthday and the theme is Circles.  I am also hopping across to Pixies Snippets Playground to see what's been going on.
We are on the highest lockdown restrictions again so likely there'll be more cards getting made as I try to find something to occupy myself now that the pots and containers don't need as much tending to. 

Take care wherever you are in blogland. x

A bit like buses....

A rare thing for me -  I'm back with my second post of the day - I am absent for 5 days then I post twice in the space of a few hours! But had to share - couldn't wait!
Before I do, just want to say thank you to everyone who tried to help regarding replying to a question left as a comment on a post. I still can't reply (Carol H - I am not ignoring you) despite trying several things suggested. If you e mail me (on my profile) I can answer.

So onto the card.
This stamp was designed by Sandra (Sandma's Cards) for Crafty Individuals. (CI- 552)
Be warned there's a few of them in Sandra's set and they're all wonderful!
(It would have been rude not support Sandra wouldn't it? - - - At least that's what I said to him indoors as I was clicking on BUY NOW   😉).

Used Arteza Waterbrush Pens to ink the bottom part of the stamp then some blendable pencils for the small riverbank in the background.

If you're like me, sometimes you look at stamps and think they need lots of inky backgrounds to make them work.
At first that's what I was going to do but changed my mind and am quite happy with how it turned out.

Sharing over at
MAWTT - Animals or Birds
Krafty Chicks - CAS

CAS Mix Up October Mid Month Reminder

My challenge of Tone on Tone stencilling over at CAS Mix Up has reached the mid way stage. Hope you can join in - it really is an easy technique and gives some great effects with your stencils.

For my mid month card I used Altenew inks.

I masked off the top part of the cardstock and used a brush to blend the lightest of the 3 inks ('Pink Diamond') on the bottom of the card.

The balloon stencil is from Hunkydory and was sponged with 'Pinkalicious' ink.

I took a piece of scrap card and blended the darkest of the 3 shades (Rubellite) across it then used it to die cut the 3 balloons

A little bit of twine and a sentiment along with a tiny bit of blingy on the balloons to finish.

Hope you will have a go at my challenge this month - and please check out the amazing creations from the rest of the DT! 

We're delighted to have the wonderful  Pat (Colourful Card Creations),  as our Guest Designer this month and she's made a fab card and I'd really appreciate it if you paid her a visit!

Thanks for looking today. x

Autumn and a Reply to a Post?

Before we get to the card can anyone tell me how to reply to someone who has left a comment on a post? There's no e mail on the persons profile and now Blogger has removed access to the link back to the person's blog. I don't want the person concerned who has asked the question to think I am being rude! There must be a way to do it in the Blog settings but I can't find it, so any help appreciated.

 

I love the colours of Autumn.

Dry days where there is nothing better than walking through crunchy fallen leaves. I think it may be my fave time of year as nature's colours are simply spectacular.  Autumn Glory indeed!

 

The stamps used here are all by Stampendous and I inked them in shades of orange and red with a bit of green onto an odd piece of card.

Matted the panel onto another left over piece of orange card and stamped two more leaves onto a couple of odd scraps that were just about to go into the bin.

Fussy cut the leaves, stamped the sentiment and job done.

Sentiment inked in Spiced Marmalade.

Joining in at a few Autumn themed challenges -  

TIOT - Autumn Colours
MTTC - Autumn Colours
CAS on Friday - Autumn

Have a great day whatever you're doing! x

Landscape

One of the best things about blogging is the 'friendships' you make. I am very lucky to have made many with people who, like me, share a love of ink and paper. (And everything else crafty!)
A small (but select😊😊) few of my blogging friends have been able to recently spend a little more time together and we have been able to group message each other often and have group phone chats.

Being able to actually SEE each other  (instead of just 'on-line' typing) has been wonderful and it has lifted my spirits. Sometimes circumstances bring people together in the unlikeliest way - and this is how this card came into being.
Lynne has taken some gorgeous photos. Amongst them are spectacular sunsets. In a moment of madness someone suggested it would be fun to try and replicate them...... so Lynne set us a challenge to use any of her photos and interpret them any way we wanted.
I chose this photo.
It's stark landscape appealed to me!
Trying to capture something so awesome that Nature gives you might on the face of it seem not too difficult - HA!

I first tried doing a watercolour - and I was really pleased with the cloud formation at the top - the rest of it was not for human consumption!

Here is my effort done with ink blending.

Try as I might I could NOT get that lovely band of grey from the original photo to look right on my copy attempt.
Nor could I grab the vivid yellow of the sun as it sets!

But overall I am not too disappointed in how this turned out! The birds were my 'poetic licence'😉.

I am now off to visit Lynne,  Sally, Sandra and Joan to see their creations.

Thanks for the challenge Lynne! x

Blue tones

I started this card intending it to be my DT card for my Tone on Tone challenge at CAS Mix Up this month - but once it was completed I realised that there probably wasn't enough 'clear space' (actually there was NO clear space!!) and although I considered (briefly) cutting it into a panel, I decided against it as I liked the whole stencil!

 I was happy with the card once it was finished so just sharing another example of 'Tone on Tone' stencilling.

I rarely use coloured card stock for a base but this card I thought was light enough to show up a stencil.

My 'Petal Burst' stencil is from Funky Fossil and I used Versamagic 'Sea Breeze' ink.

White heat embossed/ black sentiment, a few white enamel dots added, and after sponging lightly round the edges, I popped it onto the blue card base.

This was a quick make too and maybe the coloured cardstock I have will get used for this technique more often, especially when I need a card in a hurry!
Happy crafting and stay safe wherever you are in the World. x

Autumn Day

A quick card make to share.

Simply done by blending an ink background and using a coin to mask off a circle.

I opted not to make the circle really defined as I wanted it to look misty! (Not sure I've achieved that but....!!)

Graduated Stormy Sky down to Shabby Shutters  with a touch of Peeled Pain at the bottom.

The stamp was a gift from a friend and I don't know which make it is.

I positioned my background in the Misti and added some colour to the stamp with my Arteza brush pens and just kept adding different colours till I was happy that the colours reflected Autumn trees.

The sentiment came from the same set and I think it may become a favourite!

Thanks for looking today. x

CAS Mix Up October Challenge

Uber excited as it's MY turn to host at CAS Mix Up this month.

As it's stencil's turn I have chosen Tone on Tone Stencilling. Nice and easy and you can play about with different shades!

There's some links over on the blog to give you some technique info but it really is just as the title of the challenge theme suggests.

I  watched a video from the very talented Eileen (link over on the blog) and decided to try the technique of making a soft geometric background using only shades of one colour.

I chose shades of blue - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Weathered Wood, Stormy Sky - a bubbles stencil and a waves stencil to be the background for my seahorse.

I added a couple of blue and clear drops to finish.

This was my first try at this geometric background technique using a piece of acetate for the straight lines and it won't be my last as I really like the soft abstract effect it achieves, so am looking forward to having more attempts with different shades.

Hope you will have a go at my challenge this month - and please check out the amazing creations from the rest of the DT! 

We're delighted to have Pat (Colourful Card Creations)  as our Guest Designer this month and she's made a fab card and I'd really appreciate it if you paid her a visit!

Thanks for looking today. x

Isla

This week has flown and tomorrow will be time for my launch card for the new challenge at CAS Mix Up - but a quick share from me today.

I simply HAD to have this stencil from Sweet Poppy - we have lots of Highland cattle in the fields around us and quite simply I think they're cute- (particularly when they're babies!)
So 'Isla the Highland Cow' found her way into my shopping basket and I have made about 6 cards so far including a couple of Christmas cards after being inspired by blogging buddy Linda.

All of them quick one layer makes and great for just swelling the stash for those hard to do 'man' cards.
I have used different sentiments on the birthday cards like 'Did Someone Say Cake?' and 'You are as perfect as me'!

I bought some cheapie make up blending brushes from Amazon and they work a treat for ink blending - I am quite impressed considering how much they were! They give great coverage.
For 'Isla' cards I used shades of Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Old Paper.

Thanks for looking today - hope you will come back soon! x 

Sharing Isla over at -

AAA Birthday - Critters/Animals
AAA Card - One layer
Creative Craft Cottage - Add an Animal

BIG Birthday!

One of my very good blogging buddies NANCY is celebrating a BIG birthday today!  🎂  There is only one candle on this cake - but Nancy is a teeny weeny bit older than one! (Only a little bit😉😉)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANCY!

To mark this occasion Loll is hosting a linky party for Nancy's birthday over on her own blog HERE

I am lucky to have got to 'know' Nancy (and marvel at her talents!) when I joined the CAS DT team. She may be hundreds of miles away but she has become a blogland friend and I am grateful for her support and encouragement. Here's Nancy's birthday card from me -

I took some white cardstock did some shadow stamping - the stamp is a recent purchase - Soulful Silhouettes by Penny Black.

Stamped first in Memento Tuxedo Black than again in Versamark and white heat embossed.
I used one of my fave colours - VersaMagic Wheat - for the blending. 

A few ink splatters and a sentiment which I hope conveys to Nancy that I am grateful for her.

I cut out with a stitched die and matted it onto black card.
I tried the panel on white card base and didn't like it -  the white jumped out before the panel! So I simply inked the white card base with the same colour and was happier!

I made another card similar using a fern stamp (whilst I had the ink out) which I will share at some point as I found making this was quite relaxing

Thanks for looking and for any comments you may leave. x 
Also sharing over at
Krafty Chicks - All occasions
Get Creative - Black +1
Watercooler Wednesday - All Occasions

Last Day of Summer?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Linking to

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

Mist

This week has been a week of contrasts. Warm, Cool, Highs, Lows, Ups, Downs!

We took a picnic at the start of the week and went out to Dunham Massey - a lovely warm and sunny day.
Walked a long way so the high was replaced by a low when the hips and back suffered for it the next day!!
The warm weather has been replaced by cooler conditions today although it is still sunny.

There was definitely a BIG 'down' during the week (details now unimportant) but this resulted in an 'up' when I realised that even during the down times there are many people around in Blogland who I am privileged to know and are there when you are low.

So my share for today was made after all the angst of the week.

It serves to remind me that despite there being a lot of 'mist' about it does eventually clear and sooner or later the sun comes out and the clouds disappear.

I am holding on to this thought too as in addition to the trials of the week, once again (like many others) we are having further restrictions imposed on us and paying for the lunacy of some.

I wanted to achieve a soft effect for this make - Memento London Fog used for all the foliage and the sentiment.
Background (from the bottom) - Hickory Smoke, Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass and Squeezed Lemonade.
Thanks for looking today - I hope your weekend is full of Highs not lows and Ups not downs!

Sharing over at
Inkspirational - Prompt word 'DAY'
Cards Galore Encore - A/Goes
Crafty Sentiments - A/Goes
APTTC- A/Goes
Creative Moments - A/Goes

CAS Mix Up September Mid Month Reminder

Our 'Embossing with Dies' challenge set by Joanna is mid way through at CAS Mix Up, so there's still time to enter!
Here's my card.

I had this fern leaf die and stamp set and thought I would try it for this technique. I used a woodgrain embossing folder to give some texture to the background.

My first attempt at running the die and EF through the machine was not a success as the 'sandwich' was too thick and the card ended up creased and the die had cut through in some places. I fiddled about a bit with a shim until I finally got a run through that was OK.

I stamped the embossed die image several times with Peeled Paint DI (the stamp is mostly outline highlights), then lightly watercoloured the rest of the leaves.

The sentiment is from Woodware again stamped with Peeled Paint DI.  I really like the mottled effect stamping with Distress Inks gives.

Fussy cut the sentiment and popped it onto the card base.

Our Guest designer this month is Mac and her make for our challenge is lovely so hop over and leave her and the rest of the team some love!

Inky

 We have some lovely weather today - although it is windy it is warm. Took full advantage and stripped the bed, all dry in 2 hours. Kind of lifted my mood a little bit seeing sheets blowing out on the line with a blue sky above although by no means has the feeling of restlessness disappeared.

The celebratory birthday challenge at Allsorts is entitled 'I Love' - which asks that you do something that you love or use something that you love. This was quite a difficult choice for me.
I love creating CAS cards but - I also think there's nothing better than getting out ink blenders and stamps and making messy fingers!

So it was the ink blending and stamps option that I chose to do using stamps from two of my fave companies - Inkylicious and Lavinia.

I just adore this cat! I am trying to make my mind up if he and the birdie are friends having a nice chat or whether he is plotting how he can reach the birdie from his mushroom!

I think as there's so much bad stuff going on in the World, that I would prefer them to be best buddies and while away the time together.
I do intend to stamp a sentiment on the top right side eventually but I am keeping this for my own stash so a sentiment will be added when I decide what I'm going to use it for!

Am also sharing this over at Sweet Stampin' where the theme is 'Pets'.

Thanks for looking today - I hope the sun is shining for you too. x

Brusho Christmas

 I sometimes look at my craft stash and think 'It's a long time since I used that'.... and so it is with my Brushos.
I don't use them enough - probably because I am not very good with them!

This card was inspired by a technique I saw a while ago and I stored it up to try it.... long forgotten but it just for some reason popped into my head when I saw the challenge at my Cas Mix Up's sister blog-  CAS Christmas this month was 'Christmas Tree'.

The technique is to simply 'ink' your stamp liberally with water, stamp onto watercolour card and sprinkle the Brushos on the wet impression, allowing each impression to dry before repeating.

I struggle so much with Brushos and also the 'move the colour around with a brush' thing that everyone I know seems to be so good at so there were several failed attempts before I managed to achieve something which I call 'passable'!
I was also limited as I only have a 12 colour starter pack so the colour options were not many - I used Emerald Green and Ultramarine.

Once dry I just dotted a white gel pen randomly before adding the sentiment.
As I said, this for me is a passable effort - I doubt if I am ever going to become expert.
I am struggling a little lately - my problems are compounded by the fact that no matter how much I try the face mask just makes me panic after 5 minutes. So for me now it's simply out in the car to somewhere flat so I can just walk - a visit to the shops are no longer an option. The weather here tho' has not been the best for walking which probably explains the 'restlessness' I am experiencing and my complete lack of any inspiration or motivation!

Stay safe wherever you are in the world. x
Linking up at
Sweet Stampin' - A/thing but a Birthday Card
Time Out - Season
CRAFT- Christmas

Stamping Sensations September Challenge

Our challenge at Stamping Sensations for September is 'The Great Outdoors'.

I've used stamps from Hunkydory for my scene and watercoloured.

I wanted to use the hiking man silhouette but when I tried him on the scene background he was all out of perspective so I extended the scene background by turning it round and stamping at the bottom - this gave me a bit more 'path' for him to stand on - he still looks like he's about to go for a swim but at least he is the right size!!

We've got a great prize this month -   2 A4 stamps sheets from Rare Earth Illuminated Florals collection - full pics are over on the challenge blog.

Please read our challenge rules - we're a stamping challenge so the focal point of your entry MUST be stamping!

Hope my card has inspired you to join us - if not there's lots of lovely inspiration from the Stamping Sensations DT!

Colours

Trawling through craftie shops on line recently a couple of stamps which I thought looked a little different and possibly interesting just jumped into my basket by accident......😳😳
Interesting they were - they took an age to colour and so kept me occupied!
I am happy though with the way they turned out so here's the first one (The other similar stamp has Angels on it which I'll share later)

I stamped then clear embossed - which was just as well I did -  as it at least gave me an opportunity to try and keep the colours inside the lines!

It took me a couple of hours and this was my first attempt so there are places where I think the shading could have been better but overall not too bad.

If you look very carefully a litle way down under the point of the star is a tiny arch where there is a manger - it's really small and to be honest I only noticed it as I got to it with the paint.

I cut out the finished piece  and popped it up with 3d pads onto the white base card.

This is quite a big stamp and there wasn't a lot of room for a sentiment on my 6" x 4" card but found this small Penny Black one which I think is ok.
A friend asked me for several Christmas cards with a religious theme so at least these stamps are going to get a bit of use - which is more than can be said for a lot of my Christmas stash!

As this is the first outing for this stamp I am joining Darnell at the NBUS Challenge!

Also sharing over at
Double D - Lots of Colour
Holly and Ivy - A/Christmas
MLCCB - A/Goes

As ever, thanks for taking the time to look, hope all is well in your part of blogland. Stay safe. x

CAS Mix Up September Challenge

Hello CAS Mix Uppers! Today is the start of another new challenge at CAS Mix Up and this month we are back to a 'Mixed Media' challenge and Joanna has set the challenge of Embossing with Dies.

I have had this die from StudioLight for a little while - another impulse buy and 'never before used'!
All I will say about this card is it was one of those where I had a good idea in my mind but the execution and composition turned out nothing like I expected!

I angled the die across my card base and then dry embossed.
I took lots of odd bits of card that we all keep and simply die cut them all, then pushed out the tiny triangles from the die.

I had a fun time (not) of finding pieces that fitted into the embossed part as I didn't put any to one side just kept die cutting until I thought I had enough to finish the picture in my head!

Boy was there a mess on the desk!

But you know.....even though it didn't quite resemble what I had in my head, I don't think it turned out too bad at all!

Lots of lovely inspiration over on the CAS Mix Up blog, some video tutorial links and a really special card from our Guest Designer, the wonderfully talented Mac

 Hope you will enjoy using your dies in a different way and share your make with us!