Sponging and Stamping

I went to the card stash this week and found that I didn't have a single sympathy or condolence card - you can't believe it can you - all the cards I make and not one sympathy one left when I need one.
To be fair, I DID have a few but I suppose people take them to have in 'just in case'.

I don't often use grey backgrounds for cards but having seen something similar on Pinterest thought I would give it a go. I think the card that inspired me was done by girlgeek who uses a lot of inchie tiles in her projects.

I am quite happy with the way this turned out - using grey pearlised cardstock gave a lustre  and more interesting finish instead of a flat one.

The 3 'tiles' were odd bits of white card and I sponged Tumbled Glass, Squeezed Lemonade and edged the bottom of each tile with a little Peeled Paint before cutting them to same size rectangles.

The stamps are mostly from SU's Silhouette Sentiments. I used Versafine Smokey Grey ink as I though black may look too harsh and I wanted a softer effect.
The sentiment (also from an SU set) simply embossed with silver.

Challenges -
Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark
CCC- CAS
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
The Crafty Addicts - Anything Goes/Springtime
Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

We've had quite a nice day here for a change - the lawn got a haircut this morning and so did I! Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Two in two days!

I go AWOL for a couple of weeks then here I am sharing another make - post number 2 in 2 days - must be a record for me!
We are in the middle of thunderstorms and heavy rain/sleet and I got fed up catching up with the ironing so sat down at the crafty desk...

The lovely Loll is so encouraging (but sickeningly talented!!!!!) and her takes on the 'smooshing' technique made me want to have a go.
You may remember that when I posted my first effort HERE I said I had made a mess with another piece using different colours.

The 'spoilt smooshy' was left on the desk and today I chopped off the 'bad bit' which left me with this piece big enough to go on a 5 inch square card! 

The pretty Cosmos stamp is from Technique Tuesday and is NBUS so am showing this to Darnell!

Embossed with white then coloured using a mix of Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio DI's, adding a bit of Golden Malachite and Golden Pear Cosmic Shimmer to the inks as I went along - the finished result is lovely and shimmery which doesn't quite show up in the pic - but am pleased with it (for a change!!)

I used the 'Thinking of You' sentiment as I thought it could perhaps be used as a sympathy/condolence card as well as a general note card.

Challenges -
4 Crafty Chicks - CAS
Addicted to CAS - Delicate
Fantasy Stampers - In the Springtime (I think Cosmos are Spring flowers??? LOL)
Addicted to Stamps - A/Goes
OSAAT - A/g with Embossing


Hope you are all enjoying Easter, thanks for calling in - appreciate any comments you leave. x

Returned!

Arrived back after a brilliant couple of weeks on the Bowls England President's tour in Cyprus (my turn next year to sort one of these out heaven help me!). 85 people - bowls, drink, food and laughs.. oh and some sun too!

Thought that I had better post something though as it's been ages since my last share. 

This was a commissioned card and was one of several golden wedding cards ordered by the same person for several of her friends who were all celebrating anniversaries in the same year!
Consequently I had to resort to using a layout I have used before and inspired by Debby many moons ago!

The banners were all embossed and die cut from oddments of  cream linen card. The stamp is from the Stempelglede Vintage Garden set and  I like it a lot.
I cut out the butterfly then simply swept it across the ink pad and gold embossed - I didn't want a thick solid effect and I was happy with the way this turned out.

I hand made the rolled roses using a die (think it is a Marianne one but don't quote me!), punched out a couple of leaves and a gold mirri card die cut flourish. I added a pearl and gold wire stem for more blingy and the sentiment is from LOTV.

The pic background has a bit of a bluish tinge to it - should be white so obviously I had the camera on the wrong setting! Card has gone now so can't re-take it!

Using up the snippets means I can pop into the Playground this week - won't be able to hang about long as the washing machine has been on overdrive since we got home and I need to make a start on the dreaded ironing!
I will catch up with you all over the next few days and hope all is OK with you all in blogland!

Challenges -
Allsorts - Wings
Alphabet - B for Butterflies
Jade's Sparkling Butterflies - Use Die Cuts

Kindness

A non crafting friend bought me a complete Santoro Glitter Decoupage Book and some matching papers last year which were in a 'bargain bin'. She hadn't a clue what they were but thought that 'you could make some quick cards for your charity box and they might make a couple of pound"!
I thanked her very much and didn't like to say that I am not normally a decoupage type person - mainly because I am rubbish at cutting out - so imagine my relief when I saw that these were already pre-cut!

Shamefacedly I must say though that it was a while since I attempted to make any cards with the contents but can now announce that to date I have done 3!

They weren't bad to make either and I only had to add some fancy embellies.
I used some peachy vintage lace, hand dyed and scrunched up seam binding tied it into a bow and added a resin rose in the centre.
Popped on a few pearls and card finished.  Although I don't think I will ever become a completely decoupage card person I confess that because I didn't have to think too much it was quite nice making these up.

(Whether I do the whole book is another matter - but think they will be good to use when Mr Mojo disappears!).
Still away from home - hoping you're all having a nice day whatever you're doing. x

That 'Perfect' stamp again

Does anyone know if stamps wear out? I'm just wondering how long I have left for this sentiment stamp which is definitely the most used one I possess!


Another card for the stash box and one which I enjoyed colouring.

The bird image is from SU Moon Lake. Because we had a big garden with lots of trees in our old house we were blessed by visits from many blue tits - it has been something I missed since moving here - as we are so open there's not many trees near - hence no visits from these lovely little birds.
So I tried to capture the colours of those that used to visit us when colouring the stamp.

The houndstooth check DP was an old left over piece as was the scrap used for the scalloped frame - I think they were both from Basic Grey. I know I used the papers a lot as they were this lovely lime green with pinks and browns.
I added a sequin and a few teeny gems after stamping the sentiment.

Am still on tour so again hoping that Mr Blogger behaves himself and publishes!
Catch up with you all soon. x

Spots and Scraps!

Had a bit of a mooch about in the 'box of leftovers' recently and found several pieces of spotty card.

Strangely enough they were all roughly the same size - so I tidied the edges of four pieces and used them as a background.

I used up a pile of white snippets too so am feeling quite smug with myself!

Sorry the pic is not the best - no idea why.

A few odds and ends of ribbon, some pearls and a butterfly punch and these have to rate among the quickest cards on record - (hope they don't look like it!) - all done and dusted in less than half an hour.

Looking at the darker pink one am now not sure if the ribbon might have been better placed straight rather than on an angle... but too late now!

Snippets Playground for me I think - if I can get an internet connection long enough to link it up this week - (am away on tour)!

Thanks for having a look today. Have a great day whatever you're doing.x

Smooshed

Having been inspired (on more than one occasion) by the very very clever Loll who is another 'Queen of the CAS' style I really wanted to try and perfect the 'smooshing' technique. 
Tried a lot and failed miserably - too wet, too dry, not enough ink, blotchy rather than a lovely swirly colour finish etc etc etc!

However, practice makes perfect so I persevered and finally managed two pieces of smooshed background that I was happy with.

The first was a lovely blue/green combo then I stamped a sentiment on it and made a mess. It wasn't only the paper that had a blue background - the air saw it's fair share!

Here is the second piece using Fossilised Amber, Abandoned Coral and Squeezed Lemonade DI.
Thankfully the stamping and white embossing of the sentiment went unhindered this time.
Added a few teeny blingy gems to the Chloe stem die cuts and mounted onto white cardstock.

Not too bad... and am determined to try and rescue the other piece - even if it means it's only a very small background piece or I use it to cut out a flower with!
The only annoying thing is I tried this and am getting better then Loll comes up with 'smooshing with acetate' and I now have to practice that!
Loll and Bonnie have a new Challenge Blog called CAS Mix Up so as my card featured the 3 things required Smooshing (Watercolouring), Stamping (Sentiment), Your choice (Die Cutting) am paying them a visit.
Also the smooshy piece and the die cuts were from odd scraps so it's the Playground for me too - (if I can get my head through the gate cos Miss Di selected my poppy card amongst her top picks last week - and I'm told she picked it without having any of Sarn's hooch either!!)

Challenges -
LIM - Citrus
Dragonfly Dreams - Use a Die Cut
CUYL - Use a Die Cut

Thanks for looking - appreciate any tips and comments! Have a nice day whatever you're doing. x

Bring On Spring

The challenge at Stamping Sensations this month is Flower Power! Our sponsors this month are the terrific    'be Creative!     and they have given us a great prize to offer - pop over to the Sensations blog and have a look!  I hope you will share all your floral themed creations with us this month!
I got out an old and rarely used stamp set for this card - but Ranunculus relate to Spring so the stamp set got an airing as hopefully Spring IS just round the corner. They are gorgeous blooms in real life and I love the upright stems and pretty flower heads.

I opted for a CAS card as I didn't want to detract from the flowers.
I still have the eebie jeebies when stamping direct onto card - this one only took 2 attempts and then as you can see I ended up making one layer into a couple anyway!
After stamping I coloured with Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry for the flower heads and Mowed Lawn for the leaves. Mounted onto a coordinating pink card before wrapping round the pink grossgrain ribbon, then layered onto the base card.
I added a couple of pink sparklies (as a girl has to have a bit of bling somewhere....)
Finished with the sentiment - which I think rates amongst one of my faves.
Other Challenges -
Gem of a Challenge - Spring
Crafty Friends - Floral
Suzy B's - A/Goes with a spring twist
The Pencil Case - New blooms/spring flowers
Just Us Girls - Flowers

Hope you can find time to join in with us this month - and if you can't think of anything to do please have a peek at my teamies makes - am sure you'll be inspired there! x

Missing?

Have had a week of doing 'bitty' stuff since I came back from the Men's National Presentation (was a nice weekend and of course I stepped up another rung on the Presidential ladder to Senior Vice President!)
Strange though I feel I have been busy without accomplishing a lot.. and as usual when I am in this type of mood Mr Mojo is hibernating.
I felt that I had to make SOMETHING - so ended up 'caseing' a card which was inspired by the amazingly talented Birgit.

My fave white linen textured card with the centre panel from the snippets box! I inked the edge of the centre panel with Pumice Stone DI, then positioned the die onto it and sponged inside the die to create the shadow.

Odd scraps of red and green card used for the poppy die, glued the poppy heads over the green stems.

Used Glossy Accents on the poppy heads and once dry put the die on top of the sponged shadow.
The sentiment was stamped using Shabby Shutters DI.
Randomly stitched round the edge of the panel before mounting onto the base card.
Some red pearls to finish.

Challenges -
Snippets Playground - week 218
Crafting By Designs - A/Goes
Creative Moments - A/Goes with sentiment on front
Unicorn - CAS

Thanks for calling in today - now have a coffee so will be in blogland for an hour or two!
Have a great day whatever you're doing and here's the Senior Vice Presidential pic - can't believe it is a year since I was elected onto the Presidential Team!

Another one for the Christmas Box!

Am surprising myself as I have managed to make a couple of Christmas cards - what's the betting though that I still won't have enough by the time December comes?!

Anyway, it's 25th of the month so that's Rudolph Day at Scrappy Mo's.
Here's mine -

I coveted this Penny Black stamp for a long time and finally got my grubby mitts on it just before Christmas!
Cream base card, gold mirri mat and some gold embossing powder! Job done - so made a couple for the box.
The sentiment stamp is an old wooden one I have had for a while. My stamping wasn't as sharp as it could have been with the sentiment.. there's a few tiny flicks of gold where they shouldn't be! LOL

Other challenges -
CCC- Anything Goes
ABC- D is for Don't Overdo It

I am off to Coventry tomorrow until Sunday, so wishing you all a great weekend and catch up with you soon. x

Been Tango'd!!

Wet, windy cold and miserable here and am away later today until tomorrow night on a course so am hoping the winds ease down a bit for the drive.

I have looked at those who use bright card stock on Pinterest and their own blogs so effortlessly with envy and have kept saying to myself this is a way of using up that tons of coloured card you posses instead of just using it as matting for images and patterned papers. So yesterday I took the plunge and CASE'd a card I saw a couple of years ago, making it with one of the brightest colours I have.

Talk about 'you've been tango'd'!!

(Think I might do a purple one next - as I have a friend who simply loves purple and it means another sheet of card used up.)

The image and sentiment from SU Bloom With Hope set, stamped and white embossed, a small scrap of grossgrain ribbon in the same colour as the card and a couple of teeny pearls. Finito!

I resisted the temptation to put more blingy bits around the flower heads! Quite pleased with this CAS effort although still a long way to go to convince myself that some cards DO NOT NEED lots of embellies!!

Challenges -
Allsorts - Birthday Wishes
Crafty Catz - CAS
Choc, Coffee & Cards - Anything Goes
RRR - Celebrate

Thanks for taking a look - and thanks for any comments/tips you leave me. Have a great weekend. xx

Fly

Lots of CAS and case'd cards likely over the next few posts I think!

Have long tried to perfect CAS type cards - mostly because without lots of embellies like flowers and bows they can be posted!  And there's something about minimalist stuff that just at this moment in time appeals to me more than anything else! That's not to say I'll abandon fussy and fancy completely, just that I have a bit of an urge to CASE those clean and simple perfectionists I have long admired. Loll, Birgit, Lisa, Sarah, Hannelie and a host of others too numerous to mention all make CAS look effortless - don't they annoy you?? LOL

Made this card with leftovers of my fave white linen card so shall go across to the Playground to see if they're all behaving themselves in  Miss Di's absence - likely I shall be counting Sarn's grey hairs 'cos I bet there's more than last week......

The wood background stamp is by SU and I used Versafine Smokey Grey ink.
The butterfly MAY have been a freebie - watercoloured and fussy cut after stamping, then lifted with silicone glue to give a bit of dimension.
The sentiment stamp definitely WAS a freebie!
Rounded off the bottom corners and added a few sparklies in different sizes. Job done.

Other Challenges - Sweet Stampin - CAS,  Bunny Zoes - Wings,  OLLCB - CAS, HIMCR- Super Scraps Saturday.

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

Friday Blues

Weekend almost here and I have spent this week coughing and spluttering and generally feeling sorry for myself!! Trouble with colds is they make you feel so damned MISERABLE!!! But it has made me feel grot and not feeling like doing much - which explains why the wash bag is full and the ironing pile is untouched for a week.... (no change there then really!)

I was lucky to win a challenge recently and spent the voucher on 3 Kaisercraft stamp sets! So of course, even with the cold I had to stamp.
This fountain stamp is called 'The Lake House'. All the papers are from Raspberry Road's 'Country Picnic' set. Stamped the border stamp round the edges then distressed and used Weathered Wood DI.

Coloured it using Promarkers, adding some Perfect Pearls for the flower centres.
The sentiment was from another of the Kaisercraft sets called 'Enchanted Garden'. Distressed the same then stamped the rose border along the background card, just adding a little blue pearl. 

A few more pearls, a bit more distressing and some broderie lace finished it off! Papers also carried on into the inside.

Challenges -

Time Out - Inspired by Words (Flower)
Butterfly Challenge - Stamping/Sapphire
I Love Promarkers - Bingo (Sentiment/Free/lace)
Passion for Promarkers - Papertastic

Have a great weekend everyone. x

Love is all around!

I don't do Valentines. Never have. Think it's a load of tosh!! Why should there be one designated day dedicated to showing someone else you care???? Do it all year round you loveless lot!!
Valentines Day = Money Making Exercise in my book!  Rant over.
Going to now spread a little LURRRVE with this card!!

I really liked this image from Mo Manning and have used it many times over the last couple of years.
Coloured it using Promarkers and then rubbed some pastel chalks for the sky and ground - merely to take off the stark whiteness of the card as the papers have more of a creamy background than white.
I think the papers were originally from a Christmas Paper Pad but they seemed to fit OK for the 'love' theme!

I followed the sketch from this weeks challenge at 'Card and Scrap' HERE and based the colours on the pic at Cupcake Inspirations HERE.
Sentiment is from SU 'Good Greetings' set, cut the oval with a nestie, matted onto red and punched out a couple of little hearts.
The ribbon was a challenge win from eons ago and I added a red button secured with some twine.

Challenges -
Fan-tastic Tuesday -  A/G. Twist - Sweetheart
OSAAT - Love is in the Air
Dragonfly Journeys - Queen of Hearts
Eceltic Ellapu - Love Actually
Come and Get It - 1 image, 2 papers, 3 embellies (ribbon, button, punched hearts)
Corrosive Challenge - Love, Love, Love
DP2 - A/G with Mo image

It's a wild day here! Perfect for sitting up here listening to the wind and rain! Thanks for taking the time to pay me a visit today - have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Feathers

We have an 'Anything Goes' theme set this month at Stamping Sensations and as our sponsors are the fab Visible Image, I have done a remake of a card I made a couple of years ago, using some of their awesome stamps!

I steered away from my usual linen card and went for a white leather look textured card instead and layered the bits onto black.
I considered an all over inky bright coloured background and may yet do a couple of small notecards with this wonderful bird before it goes back into it's file, but I wanted a stark card with impact so the basic white and black with a touch of cream it ended up.

I stamped the feathers with Versamark - one onto an old dictionary page and the other just straight onto dark cream paper and fussy cut them both.

The bird  and sentiment were stamped twice - once onto the main panel and then again onto a scrap piece of the card. Simply cut with a nestie and positioned on top with foam pads
The feathers were glued at the top near where I tied the twine into the bow.

Quite pleased with this - stamping onto the textured card was a bit tricky as it is quite thickly embossed but overall the stamping hasn't turned out too bad!
Please call in at the Stamping Sensations blog and check out what the rest of the DT have done this month - and then get stamping and come and join us - you might win!!

I have been away in Norfolk this week with two really good friends and the other half...- look what we got up to.....

 WINNERS WINNERS CHICKEN DINNERS!!!!!!

Linking up to these other challenges - Allsorts - CAS, Crafty Friends - Birds, LOC - Wings, Addicted to Stamps - CAS and as I used a couple of snippets for the circle and the panel am going to have a nosey in the Playground!

Thanks for popping in, will be round to see you all - have missed blogland this week! x

What happened to this week?

So the weekend almost upon us and I have no idea where this week went. Am away from Sunday next week but hope I will be able to access the internet at some point.

Have done a few CASE'd cards this week as Mr Mojo steadfastly refuses to show his face so to all you lovely talented bloggers out there I thank you for the inspiration as without you I would have had a week of just sitting looking at the craft mat vacantly.

 The spotty background papers I have never used - bought  on a trip to a craft show several years ago. Now that they are on the desk I may well start to use them up.

The grey base card is from SU.
I used up some leftover Christmas red card for the flower heads. They are not from the same die set.The larger one may be Marianne?

 The leaves are a Memory Box die, and again just an odd bit of pale green card lying about found it's way into the machine!
The sentiment was stamped onto a left over piece of vellum and heat embossed with WOW Fine White.
Added a few blingy gems and another card which won't need a mortage to purchase a stamp to post I think.

Nipping quickly into the Playground  - no swings or hooch today tho - PJ's and sofa for me for the rest of the day I think - had a bit of a bug the last few days which I am hoping will subside before the 6 hour car journey on Sunday.
Challenges -
Crafting By Designs - Add a Flower
Crafty Gals Corner - A/Goes
Crafty Girls Creations - A/Goes
Incy Wincy - Rhinestone/Red/Flower

I hope the latest storm we are having is giving you all a perfect excuse to venture no further than the Craft Room Door! Have a great weekend. x

One month on.......

and 11 more to go!! Of course it's Christmas I'm talking about! Have decided to try and do as many cards as possible during the year (well - that means before May cos once May arrives I only just have time to BREATHE never mind anything else....).

And I really did feel bad about not supporting Mo last year and her 'Rudolph Day' challenges so over the next couple of months am going to try my best!

Did a couple similar last year so as Mr Mojo has gone AWOL this morning, the only thing I could come up with was the same kind of design.

There is also a sketch here at Sunday Stamps so this is my interpretation and a similar one here at Sketch Saturday which I tuned upside down!

This was quick and easy and now I've said that it doesn't give me an excuse not to make more Christmas ones during the year does it?

A die, some spotty cardstock, a sentiment stamp and some glamour dust - what could be easier???

Other Challenges -
AAA - Winter Wonderland
Eceltic Ellapu - Use a die
CCC - Anything Christmas

Have a great day and thanks for looking! x

Keep trying!

After a dry start today it is now absolutely throwing it down! It's also ridiculously warm - can't believe it can you - beginning of the week we had 2 inches of snow!
Have done several CAS cards this week (most are inspired by others) and I have been trying to go back to techniques that I am not very good at!

 So here's the offering for today and as they say Practice Makes Perfect!

I mixed some Stormy Sky and Weathered Wood Distress inks onto the mat and sprayed with a little water.

Normally I use too much water - I don't think I used enough here!

Pressed the card down onto it, then repeated with Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint for the ground.
The stamp is from a clear set and have no idea which make they are!
Simply used Versafine Black for the big tree and Smokey Gray for the smaller ones.
I then dipped and dragged a wet paintbrush at the base of each tree trunk with some of the DI left on the mat.
Layered onto white linen card and my all time fave sentiment stamp - done!

I am reasonably happy with this - and at least I am trying to become better at stuff that previously I have struggled with!

Challenges -
Less Is More - Silhouettes
Craft Rocket - CAS
Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark
Seize the Birthday - CAS

Thanks for looking and thanks for any comments you leave - I love to hear from you.x

Vintage

Am feeling quite pleased as I have managed a few CAS cards the last few days - but needed a fix of frilly and also needed to do some DT ones for forthcoming challenges!
So here's a frilly one using up some of the leftovers from one of the DT makes -

Cream base card and Sweet Paris papers. Distressed and stitched all the layers and added a pale green doily.
The pink and green braid is from my stash.

The wooden frame was embossed with Weathered White embossing powder as was the sentiment which was stamped on another scrap which fortunately for me fitted inside the frame!

I stamped a couple of odd bits with a postcard and script stamp and tucked them behind the frame at the top adding a couple of pearly pins.
 Flowers and dyed seam binding and an Eiffel Tower charm to finish with the papers used on the inside too.
This is a rather fussy make and in stark contrast to what I've been doing just lately - change is as good as a rest!!!
Off to the Playground with all my odd bits to see if there's anyone about.

Challenges -
Fantastic Tuesday - A/Goes with a girly twist
SOS - 3, 2 1 (3 flowers/pins, 2 braids/trims, 1 Frame)
Paper Shelter - Rough It Up
Fab n Funky - Buttons or Bows
CFAS - Ribbon and Pearls

Thanks for looking in today - off for a trawl round blogland and Pinterest as I need some more CAS inspiration I think! Have a great day whatever you're doing. x 

Blues

Everywhere here stark white this morning! Quite a lot of snow last night and it's still here!
A 'Man' card to share today as the 'man' stash is really low so made a couple of train/boat/plane themed ones this week for the card box.

A blue colour scheme for this one as the ship's wheel background paper I have had for a long time and never used.
The other paper was just an odd leftover bit but was big enough to use to cut a circle and a couple of banners.

The stamp was inked with Versafine Majestic Blue and I lightly sponged round the edge of the white card before distressing and layering onto the blue base.   

The charm secured with some blue/white twine and the sentiment stamp just tucked behind.

Challenges -
Fantasy Stampers - All About the Boys
Just Us Girls - Light/Dark Blue and White
Sparkles Monthly - January Blues (Monochromatic)
Glitter n Sparkle - Mono
Craft for the Craic - January Blues

Used up a few bits too so over to the Playground with my woolly hat and furry boots to make a snowman!
Have a great day whatever you're doing. x