Red and Gold

Home from a couple of days away with some good friends - was lovely to just relax - although we have done a lot of eating (and drinking!). We went to a Lantern Festival on Thursday night - freezing cold but a really nice evening -I even made a paper lantern complete with glow stick! 
I can post their card now as although my friend doesn't have a blog she does look at mine.

I am REALLY disappointed with this pic - I was so pleased with myself when I had finished the card but this pic doesn't do it any justice at all - so you will just have to imagine the finished article.
It was a quick card really despite the matting and layering and it was inspired by something similar seen on Pinterest.

I started by stamping the birdie on the branch (SU Beautiful Season) onto a piece of scrap paper and cut out to make myself a mask.
Stamped onto the red card and gold embossed, masked it, then stamped the script stamp in metallic gold ink.
Used some of the leftovers from the gold matt card to cut out the Holly die and added some gold grossgrain ribbon - Finished!
It does look so much better in real life!

Joining in over at -
Die Cut Divas - Winter
HLS Dies - A/Goes with dies
1 Crazy Stamper - Winter
Fussy & Fancy - Christmas
Thanks for looking - I am now on lots of 'me' time - have a couple of finishing touches to the re-arranged bedrooms to do and of course I have to get the tree up! (Last minute as ever!) Our Christmas will be quiet as usual with just the two of us and I am intending on trying to catch up on all that I have missed during my busy year. xx

One stamp = lots of cards!

Our snow disappeared this morning - because the rain decided to come instead!
It has been really cold here the last few days so in between the bed and wardrobe assembly and the clearing up afterwards I snook (hope that's a word!) into the craftie space...In between the Christmas cards I have been messing with alco inks  -  I will share those makes later  -  so I have a Christmas share again today.

This was a quick card - so quick I made quite a few - in different colours including the one below done with a Brilliance Ink Pad in Twilight colours.

The stamp is an old one and suppose it is intended primarily as a background stamp.
I stamped it in Silver Encore Metallic Ink and then silver embossed on top.

It is really lush!  The embossing has really stood out and is amazingly shiny. Didn't need to do much else so I embossed a sentiment onto a scrap of vellum and stamped a single silver snowflake, adding a tiny sparkly gem.
Layered onto silver matt card before putting onto the white base.

The other card was stamped with the tri-colour ink pad and clear embossed. It looks OK but isn't anywhere near as shiny as the silver one - but I like it.
I know there's not a lot of white space left on these cards but I consider them to be CAS so 
I am sharing at a couple of challenges  - I'm sure if they don't fit the Challenge criteria I can be forgiven for linking (after all it's nearly Christmas!!) - seriously though I know how irritating it is when the rules aren't followed so if they're not CAS enough I apologise in advance!!
 AAA - Sparkle
CHNC- Christmas (option Sparkle) 
CAS on Friday - Christmas
Addicted to CAS - Sparkle
Craftaholics R Us - Embossing
 I am off to see a friend for a few days from tomorrow - at least the snow has gone for the drive!
Stay warm wherever you are! x

Experiment!

Brr.... it's cold here! Had some snow and more forecast for the weekend. Have spent the last couple of days assisting dear husband whilst we have had a re-vamp of 2 of the bedrooms - a new bed ordered for one, a new carpet and a quick change round of the furniture. Looks tidier and we've not spent a firtune so am happy.

Am not so sure I am happy with my embossing on this card - particularly the sentiment!
The gold embossing on the black was a bit of an experiment and I masked off the card to leave me enough room for a greeting in the middle.
The sentiment stamp is from a set called Fabulous Fashion by Katy Sue designs.
I confess to never having inked any of this stamp set .... maybe that's why the embossing hasn't turned out as crisp as I would have wished?
There's a lot of little gold flecks where they shouldn't be.
 
The baroque style background is an old wooden backed stamp - so old that the name of the maker etc has worn off!
I mounted it onto gold matt card before layering it onto the black card base.
It's not too bad an effort - hopefully my next attempt turns out better! I have managed to make a couple more Christmas cards too - will share these over the weekend!

Linking up to
Kitty Bee- Anything Goes
Crafters Cafe - Embossing
Moo Mania & More - Heat Embossing
Stamplorations December Challenge -Theme - Stamps and Gold

Hope you are all snug and warm - have a great weekend whatever you're doing. x

Not Christmas!

I have had a few days in the crafty space in my 'wind down time'. As today is also the first day of the Stamping Sensations Challenge please scroll down the the next post to see our challenge this month!
Finished the Christmas cards (will be able to show these now as I am at home!) but in addition just sat and made a few other cards too.
I had a little trip out to a craft shop (dear husband sat in the car outside for HOURS!!!) and I spent a little on some new stash.
None of it inked as yet......LOL
The inspiration for this card is attributed to the very talented Birgit who made a card like this using a similar stamp a few years back.

I am really pleased with the way this turned out! I used Carved Pumpkin Distress Ink and linen textured card.
The stamp is from Technique Tuesday. Stamped and heat embossed then coloured with Carved Pumpkin.
Simply inked the bottom panel then added the flower top.
Found these beads in my stash - no idea where they came from! But they were a good colour match so used them.
The sentiment is from Stampin Up.

Used up some odd pieces of card so am paying a visit to the Playground - have missed not being there during the summer!

Also linking to
PB&More - CAS
CAS Mix Up December - Stamping, Heat Embossing, Watercolour
Crafters Cafe - Embossing

Hoping you are all having a happy Sunday. x

Stamping Sensations December Challenge

Not long to Christmas now so our Challenge at Stamping Sensations is a related theme of Winter Trees and Flowers.

I was going to do another winter tree scene but changed my mind and ended up using one of my 'go
to' Christmas Stamps which is this Poinsettia stamp from Creative Expressions. The set has several different sizes of the flowers but for this card I just used the largest one.

I stamped and gold embossed onto white vellum then fussy cut each one.

On the base card just stamped and embossed few blobs (!!) (SU Timeless Textures) on the left - (on reflection may have been better just spattering with gold paint as I think they look a bit 'bulky')
Positioned the flowers folding in and securing those that overlapped the edge.
Sentiment from my stash again gold embossed.

Originally thought about pearls for the centres but them found these lonely glittery bits in the Blingy Box so used them instead!
And another bonus - this is quite a flat card despite the blingy centres so in keeping with my promise not to make OTT multi layered cards to save postage!

Our prize this month is all these goodies and to be in with a chance you need to link up your creation.
Please remember we are a Stamping challenge and so we must see a stamped image sentiment etc as the FOCAL element of your submission. Stamping must be the central point of attention! Hope you will find time to join in with us!

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Almost at the end.....

....of the Presidential year! 3 more events to go - but none now until the 2 in January and then the final one at the end of February so a nice long rest time in-between for me!

Time to write those cards that I have made (and bought!! LOL) and maybe now I'll be able to get back into making messy.

Have done only a few fussy/fancy Christmas cards to date - concentrated on CAS this year mainly because of time.
Quite liked how this one turned out even though it was a bit fiddly!

I don't have separate star dies - this is one that has the 3 stars on it so it took a bit of working out about the positioning but got there in the end.

The gold glitter card behind is really subtle and gives a lovely muted sparkle which the pic doesn't really show.

I used a gold gel pen for the strings and stamped the sentiment in gold mettallic ink.
Job done.

Joining in at -
LIM - Let it Shine
AAA- CAS Christmas
CHC - A/thing Christmas
Jingle Bells - Baby it's Gold Outside

And speaking of gold - I had a wonderful night at the Ladies National Presentation Dinner last Saturday in Coventry! Was as nervous as anything having to give my speech but got through it without any hiccups or anything.

I had a full length dress - why do long dresses always come in lengths only for 6' tall women!
I ended up having to buy shoes with MASSIVE heels so it didn't trail the floor - thankfully I managed not to fall off them when presenting the trophies!
Kept them on too for almost 6 hours!!!

Thanks for visiting today. A cold wet and windy day here - hope you are all having a nice day whatever you're doing. x

Star

A bit of using up the paper mountain here!

I have had these heavyweight papers for ages - I bought them at a local fair several years ago - in fact I bought a pack with pastel colours and a lady who I have never met bought a pack of dark colours and we sat on the floor (no seats -  the place was packed) and divided up the two packs as neither of us wanted the whole one!

Needless to say as is usual with me, I used a couple of them and then the rest got packed away.
Found them whilst looking for pale blue card!

The star is from SU. I have used it a lot and is probably one of my more sensible Christmas Stamp buys.

I used Versa Magic 'Aquatic Splash' ink - it was a great colour match with the papers - and clear embossed.

I didn't buy the dies that matched the stamp set as I thought they were very expensive - and after all even I couldn't mess up cutting round a star shape.... (the second layer hides the bit I took out of the bottom star)
A little bit of glitter round the edges and dotted here and there and assembled when dry.
The script die was another indulgence - first time of use.......
Another card finished!
Challenges -
Crafting w/Dragonflies - Non Trad card with bling
Sweet Stampers - Christmas
Monochrome Magic - Anything Goes

I finished my round of County Presentations last Saturday. I have taken the battery out of the bathroom scales after all the food I have eaten at these lunches and dinners.
I only have 4 more duties left before I hand over the chain of office at the end of February. My year has almost finished!
There is one more event for me before Christmas - the Ladies National Presentation this weekend. The BIG ONE! Long frock, high heels and gold nails! Oh and yes - the speech to millions present - eek!!
Looking forward to having a bit of 'me' time in December!
Enjoy your week whatever you're doing and thanks for visiting! x

Golden

Carrying on with the Christmas makes whilst I have been able to. Production now halted as I have two more Presentations in the next few days!
Another quickie card really -

Stamp is from the Wonder Collection by Penny Black.
This card was the second attempt and was inspired by Pinterest.

I originally stamped with metallic ink onto the dark grey base card.
The result was a rather pale and sad looking tree which could hardly be seen.

By the time I had decided it needed embossing I had already removed the stamp from the Misti so didn't chance trying to position it in the exact same place on the grid - mainly cos I couldn't remember where exactly it was in the first place!

So - another piece of card used (not that it made any difference to the paper mountain).
Stamped the middle tree first then gold embossed, repositioned the stamp twice more and gold embossed.
This time you can actually see the trees!
A Simple embossed sentiment, matted onto gold mirri card and a gold thread bow finished it off.

This is a card that I can't quite make my mind up about. Am unsure about the flat background - this dark grey is not a favourite!
Might try on a blue background with silver... or might even buy some black pearlised paper (cos there's none of that in the paper mountain) and redo in gold.
Hoping that you all are happy in your own little part of blogland - will see you all later in the week! x
Challenges -
CCC - Anything Christmas
Crafty Catz - No Patterned Papers
Cardz 4 Guyz - Oh Christmas Tree

Quick Christmas 2

Getting on with some Christmas cards and made a few using leftover card.
I often am inspired by my blogging buddy Loll who makes simply beautiful cards and once again this one comes from Loll's ideas.
Loll also provides the tutorial for making the background!

Yupo paper and Alcohol inks in Sail Boat Blue and Stream with a teeny bit of silver additive. I used a large piece of Yupo and made a few cards like this and another which will be revealed in the New Year.

Simple dies cuts for the trees and the stitched frame and I ran a silver gel pen round the outline of the trees as I thought they needed to stand out more!
Dabbed a white gel pen on the background (not sure it looks like snow.... LOL) and added the sentiment in Silver Ink.

Another one which isn't too bulky to post and another few made for my stash - although am a long way off from the number I need......
I can feel a visit to the supermarket may be necessary!

Linking up to
ATSM - Make your Mark
Xmas@SS - Anything Goes
Cardz 4 Guyz - O Christmas Tree
Hope you are all having a good day. Thanks for visiting! x
  

One layer Christmas

Christmas will soon be here (and as usual I have done not a lot in the way of cards!) - so this month at Stamping Sensations we have a Christmas Challenge for you - if you're like me you need a push to get going!
Just one teeny point - the challenge is ONE LAYER CHRISTMAS! So not fussy and fancy millions of layers, cost a fortune to post cards - just one single layer!

There is a great prize on offer this month from Tattered Lace  - who wouldn't want this lot of goodies before Christmas?
Please remember though - WE ARE A STAMPING CHALLENGE - .
So must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork , this means:

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest

I managed to get a little free time and do my card - sadly the weather was terrible when I came to take the pic so it's not the best but my little winter scene looks OK in real life.

I used a £2 coin (for the moon) and brushed Stormy Sky and Victorian Velvet DI's for the sky. I didn't want the moon outline too sharp so applied much less ink near the coin!
Tumbled Glass DI sponged  along the top edge of a hills template for the shading of snow.
The trees stamp is an old one (it must have been wood backed at one time - sadly no more so no idea where it came from).

I randomly stamped the trees using Stormy Sky DI.
Then I made the mistake with the sentiment by using the same DI - which didn't give a good crisp impression - but hey ho I've just gone with it!
Finished it all off with a white Gel pen and some glittery stuff!
Linking up to
AAA - Ink Blending
Crafty Friends - Christmas
Hoping that you will join in this month  - my teamies have once again come up with some great inspiration for you - please pop across to the blog and take a look!
As for me - well I'm still on the road attending End of Season Presentation Dinners. But am home a little bit in between so promise to pop along and visit you all when I can.
Hope all is well with you all in your part of blogland! x

Quick Christmas

We travelled to Dorset last week then on to the Isle of Wight - both Ladies Presentations and both enjoyed very much.
Drove home last night and confess to being dog tired.... have changed the bed and done all the washing and sat down here determined that today and tomorrow I am going to make something particularly as I am now aware it is almost November and I need Christmas cards!
Decided this year that most/all will be CAS and quick and trying to make them in batches of four.
Here's the first -

this is one layer and was done using Bright and Beautiful set from SU.

Am a tad disappointed in the pic (aren't I always) as the stars are actually quite reflective/shiny - I used an Encore Ultimate Metallic Gold Ink Pad - and it really is lovely ink!

The sentiment is one of my very first Christmas stamps and I love the script.
Just added a few little gems for added sparkly.

I made four of these - am going to have another go on dark cardstock and emboss the stars - and if I run out of other one layer ideas then there likely will be more in different colours!

My Presentations are not yet over - have a few more then I have the Ladies National Presentation Dinner at the end of next month - cue long frock!!! My year finishes at the end of February with the Men's National Dinner.... so no doubt another long dress will be required (any excuse!).

I hope all is well with you all here in blogland. Have a few days to myself this week so will try and see you all - if you're still showing up in my Reading List - as Mr Blogger appears to have banished you all to cyberspace.....
Am linking up to Christmas Card Challenges  and Christmas at Sweet Stampin' who both have Anything Goes challenges and also to CASe this Sketch - which you can see here.

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x
  

Unfinished!

I had a full day at home yesterday which is in itself a bit of a novelty!
Apart from the usual mad unpacking, then the big decisions of what to wear to the next Presentation (as we all know you can't be seen in the same thing too many times!!!!) - I set aside a couple of hours to do something for me.

As always though I have ran out of time and although I finished one card (my DT card for next month's challenge) I didn't manage to finish this one - but thought I would share it anyway.

The more I look at it, the less I like it!

It was one of those that formed in my head but when I tried to interpret it onto the paper it just didn't  work!
And I have no idea what to do to finish it off - 'cos I think it does look unfinished!

Maybe that's what comes from trying to use up oddments of coloured card in a vain attempt to clear the desk (which is full of dust anyway as I've been absent so much) - or maybe it's because I simply had a need to do SOMETHING as I haven't been able to just sit for hours and mess about with inks!
Shall put it to one side and hope that it I find a use for it.........
Am popping into the Playground as I DID use up some odd offcuts of card!

I have a half hour before I have to leave for the next trip - so am going to try and visit as many of you as I can.
Have a great day whatever you're doing - and any thoughts you have on this sad little card would be welcomed! xx 

Autumn Glory

It's time for another challenge at Stamping Sensations and our theme is AUTUMN GLORY. Please please remember we are a STAMPING CHALLENGE so stamping has to be the FOCAL POINT of your entry
We have the fab Stamp Addicts as our sponsors too - a great prize on offer!

My DT submission started off it's life as a tag... but then I thought it needed to go on a card!!

I started off with a plain manilla tag, a variety of leaf stamps and Distress Inks.
I clear embossed the large leafy branches and the tiny 'dotty' stamp first then began to build up the colour.

Covered the whole tag with Dried Marigold then blended Ripe Persimmon and finished with Seedless Preserve - although this is purple it gave a lovely Autumny colour over the other inks!

Rubbed the whole tag with a paper towel and this allowed the clear embossed bits to stand out a bit.
Simply randomly stamped a few odd leaves, a tiny script stamp and the word stamp- used same inks with the addition of Gathered Twigs.
A wooden bark effect button and some twine finished it.

My stand alone tag looked a bit 'lost' so with ivory linen card I used a wood background embossing folder and just brushed the ink duster over it (didn't apply any more ink - just used up what was on the brush!)
Matted then put onto the card and popped a teeny wooden peg on the top.

Hope you like it - please go visit the Stamping Sensations blog and have a peep at what my teamies have come up with this month!
Thanks for visiting me today - appreciate you all! x

Where have I been?

It has been a long long time since my last post!
I have been so incredibly busy travelling, visiting Clubs up and down the Country, being at the four International Series and of course the National Championships and other National Finals. I have been home for 4 days, have just about got myself sorted as I'm off again tomorrow - this time to the European Championships!
I have neglected my DT friends and all my blogging friends but honestly have been that tired when I've got back to wherever I am staying I have had no energy to do anything but fall into bed!

This make was half finished before I went away last month. It was SUPPOSED to be my DT card for the colour challenge over at Stamping Sensations.

Needless to say I didn't have the time to finish it. So I have finished it today.

Too late for the Challenge blog but am posting it as there is still a week to go before the challenge closes and thought you might want to give it a go... that is if there's anyone out there still following me!!!!
(Pic isn't the best either - as my camera has run out of power after being abandoned on the desk for 6 weeks - so used the phone)

It's been quite difficult without my crafting to relax over the last few months - it'll be a little while longer before I can get back into it too - October and November are busy as I shall be attending Annual Prize Presentation Lunches and Dinners... but am hoping that inbetween I will be able yo throw some ink onto some paper!
Card made using SU Gift of Love stamp embossed in white. Spun Sugar DI and various watercolour pinks, blues, greens for the 'spatters'. Sentiment a freebie in a mag, inked in versacolour Orchid and clear embossed.

I hope all is well in your world. Now the packing is done ready for tomorrow, I have sat here with a cup of tea and am going to spend some time here in blogland.
Love to you all. x

Sunny Days

Another scheduled post!
The August challenge at Stamping Sensations is 'ANYTHING GOES'!!
Don't forget we are a STAMPING challenge so stamping has to be the focal point of your entry!
Another great prize on offer... pop over to the blog for the deets. Here's my share for the DT this month.

Made from scraps too so am quite pleased with myself!
Background square masked and inked with Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon DI.
The stamp is of course from SU - an old set but I really like this pic of the little man building his sandcastle.

Painted the image with Promarkers - long time since I had those out!
I fussy cut round it and  tried to blend the edges where it met the sea with a teeny dab of DI - then raised it up with foam pads.
Punched a sun out of some yellow card, stamped a couple of birds then put it into a frame cut from linen card (another left over - it wasn't big enough to make a card with!)
Added the sentiment and a couple of shells all stamped in Vintage Sepia.

Am hoping that by the time August comes, we will be having some Sunny Days - not least because I am away for the month at the National Championships!

Thanks to everyone who is still visiting me and commenting. I am really enjoying my Presidential year but am sooooo missing my craftie space and blogland. x 

A Day (or 2) of rest?

Been home for 3 whole days!!! Unbelievable.
Spent a lot of it catching up with paperwork and the boring stuff such as washing/ironing etc etc
Found literally half an hour to have a cuppa in the craftie space and rummaged about in a 'Bag Of Bits' on the desk.
Once I'd wiped the dust off that is.......
There were some odd bits of linen card in rough squares (Lord knows why I saved them - but hey - I've used them!)

This is a variation on a card I made some time back - that one was blue.
Went for girly pink this time!
Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and tattered Rose to be exact!.
Just inked distressed and layered the squares, wrapping a scrap of dyed binding round the bottom one.

Couple of die cuts from the 'Cut Out and Don't Know What to Do With' box tucked in behind the ribbon, 3 pink pearls and there you are!

It's not very inspiring.
Nor is it very complex.
At the moment no time to do inspiring or complex. No time really to have been sat in the craftie space with ink pads either!
But it IS a make. Which is better than nothing.

Not a lot of time to link up to any challenges but AM going to find half an hour for a trip to the Playground to see my buddies who I am missing madly!

I am seriously missing blogland. Just going to pop round to as many of you as I can and have a lookie at what you've been up to....
So too many pics of all the places I have been to over the last 10 weeks to show here  but am sharing a couple of pics of what I've been up to with our Internationals....... who are of course THE BEST!!

 
















Am off again with the Internationals this week - this time it's the turn of the Under 25 women. Hoping for more of the same success that the Seniors have had!
Until I'm back have a great time whatever you're doing. xx

Flowers anyone?

Another scheduled post as I am currently in Ireland  with the Men's Senior International Team - last day's play today so am hoping that the trophy is ours by the time you get round to reading this!
Our July challenge at Stamping Sensations is - 'Anything With Flowers', so there's lots of scope for you - but don't forget - we are a STAMPING challenge so stamping has to be the focal point of your project please!
Our sponsor this month is Crafty Individuals.

I had a bit of an inky fest with this card.
I used watercolour paper and Salty Ocean DI. I really like this blue and it was a change for me to use blue and yellow together.
The stamps are all from Stempelglede Vintage Garden Set. I've had them a long time and like them a lot.
The flourishes and main image were stamped in Vintage Sepia.

I double stamped the flowers and fussy cut the two largest flowers, and used Derwent Inktense pencils.
I wasn't as happy as I could have been with my colouring but am so busy travelling and doing my Presidential duties at the moment - so hope it doesn't look too rushed and you can glean a teeny bit of inspiration from it!
I simply finished the panel off by running the DI round the edge and added a organza bow threaded through a pearl buckle.

Please find a couple of spare minutes to pop over to the Stamping Sensations blog and I know my teamies appreciate if you visit them and leave them a quick comment! (Like me too!)
Bit of a quick change for me - flying home tonight then tomorrow I am driving to Buckinghamshire, then on to Bedfordshire at the end of the week. Am hoping to grab some time to come and visit you all.
Have a great week! x

Spotty!

As you may have guessed from my lack of appearances once again I am travelling. I thought though rather than leave my blog unloved for the next couple of weeks that I would schedule a couple of posts.
(Desperate not to lose any of you!)
None of my makes recently have been pretty inspiring I am afraid. I have put this down to being tired from the journeys, playing, not sleeping in my own bed (and yes being nice to people ALL the time!!! 😀😀😀 )
I have tried to make a couple of cards but spare time has been at a premium when you have only 48 hours at home before off on another trip - and in those 48 hours there's the washing/ironing etc then the re-packing to do - not to mention trying to re-charge the batteries ready to go off again!

This is a simple card. But I quite like it - and as I have lots of spotty card/paper in my stash I shall be making more for cheapie sales for the charity box.

The parcels were inked in Certainly Celery and a teeny pearl centred in the bow. 

The whole of the inside is the spotty card (with a suitable white square for the greeting). I simply cut a third off the right hand edge so you could see it. 

So have scheduled this - when it posts  I shall be on what is quite a long run of celebration matches (Wiltshire, then 2 games in Worcestershire followed by the Senior Women's International Series in Wales then on to Cambridge, Hertfordshire and Norfolk.)
I am hoping that I will be able to get over to see you all at least once in the next couple of weeks!
'See' you all soon. xx

Crossing the Sea

Today sees the start of the new challenge at Stamping Sensations - and for June we have Visible Image as our generous sponsors.
The challenge is to 'Use Your Favourite Stamp'.

How difficult is that???? I have lots of stamps I like and it is impossible to choose a favourite so instead I chose one that I have used a lot as it is I think a great versatile background.

I used it on a lot of ordinary occasion cards - Birthdays, Get Well, Sympathy altering the look by masking and stamping small areas rather than the whole background and adding other stamps. (examples HERE and HERE)

This time I used the entire stamp inked in Certainly Celery.

Not sure why I chose green as the background colour instead of blue considering the 'sea' reference but it looks OK!

The large ship stamp was by Flonzcraft, inked in Smokey Grey and stamped several times to obtain the depth of colour I wanted.

The sentiment stamp is from another set, stamped onto left over card, edges distressed and 'hung' with a bit of string and a brad.
A bit of embellie - a scrap of hessian and a tiny seahorse - couldn't resist!

Hope you can find the time to join in with us this month - am currently away on my travels again but hoping to find a spare hour to visit everyone! x  

A Change

Have had two full days at home this week!
Put the washing in as soon as we walked through the door Thursday night (about 11.30pm), managed to get it all dry and ironed yesterday, packed again for this week (away again tomorrow!) and then sat down today in my much missed craftie space for a couple of hours.
Straight after my tour (the one here in England not the one abroad) a friend lent us the use of their static caravan on the South Coast. We had a lovely couple of 'down time' days, much needed and it was really nice to relax.
I collected a few shells from some walks along the beach and we generally just lazed about for 3 days. WONDERFULLY FABULOUS!!
I wanted to give them something to say thank you so this is what I've done......

Apologies for the shadows on the pic - it was a right palaver trying to get a decent photo at all!

So I started off with a piece of left over watercolour paper, (might just get in under the gates before it's dark in the Playground then.....) painted the sky with watered down Stormy Sky DI. Masked off the bottom half and did a bit of sponging with Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss and Crushed Olive to make a grassy hill then masked again and used watered down Salty Ocean for the sea.

The sand is sandpaper! Stamped the birdies (Wetlands - SU), ripped the sandpaper and then went over the torn edge with white wax pastel. Ran the same pastel along the sea to make something that remotely resembles waves.

The yacht was on a sheet of laser cut thingies that I bought simply years ago - found it when I was in the drawers looking for the sandpaper - I just snipped it off and stuck it down - surprisingly it looks like the boats on the Solent where we were.
The shells were from those collected and I added a tiny bit of string - for no other reason than it was well - just there in the drawer!
The shadow box frame was painted with white acrylic paint (suitably thinned) then I used a large flat brush and dragged Iced Spruce DI across it.

I am actually rather happy with this - It's only a small piece - about 4 inches square, and I really hope the recipients like it too. It's been a long time since I've done anything other than cards - well in fact it's been a long time since I've done - well- anything!!!
So am sharing this little thank you present with the following challenges -
Scrap + Craft - A/Goes with String (and I know it's only a small piece but it IS String!)
SOTSS - B is for Beach
A Inky Mess - Anything Mixed media
Rubber Dance - Inspiration Photo

Thanks for taking the time to look and I love reading your comments - promise to be round to visit you all very soon. x