Blooming Marvellous!

Happy Monday to you all.

I have spent today playing about with some new watercolours (a little treat to me - a Winsor & Newton half pan of 45 lush colours!)

It was good having some time to sit and lose myself as for obvious reasons things have been a little mad round here.

The stamps were a freebie from a mag. Not often I buy crafting mags but I liked this flower and the matching dies.

The flowers and the green leaves are all from the same set and I stamped everything in Versafine Black before playing with my new paints.
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The black leaves are from SU. No idea why I coloured them black but it looked 'right' somehow! No matching die for these - all fussy cut!! Used leftovers for the flowers and leaves so am visiting the Playground (and have a note to explain my absence)!

A frame cut out with a stitched die then the card front run through with the EF, frame back in after a few paint spatters and a sentiment stamp from another set.  Job done!
(Although the weather here today has been anything but blooming marvellous that's for sure).

Many thanks to all of you who have left messages about my M-I-L. A long road ahead.

Sharing my blooms with
Little Red Wagon - Flower Frenzy
Die cut Divas - Flowers
HLSWatercolour - Happy
HLS Dies - A/Goes
PB & More - Feminine

Thanks for looking - and happy crafting! x

Baby Wipes!

It has been a struggle this month for me to keep my promise to myself to enter the CAS Mix Up Challenge each month (reason explained in the post below this one) and I am almost at the last minute sharing this into the gallery.

I tried a couple of things using the Baby Wipe techniques suggested on the challenge blog but was disappointed with the results. I desperately wanted to have a go with my limited Distress Oxide stash on glossy paper, however the photo paper I have is very thin so didn't take the inks well. (Will buy some better stuff next time I am out!)

In the end I opted to use the Baby Wipe as an Ink Pad, again with only limited supplies!
Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick and Weathered Wood ink refills dropped onto the wipe , a very old Hero Arts stamp set used for the leaf flourish and flower head.
The 'splatters' are from SU.

Then I got very messy and folded the wipe and dragged across the bottom of the card.
More ink on the fingers and the surrounding craft mat than on the card but undeterred had another couple of 'passes'!

The die cut sentiment was lying on the desk so used it before it became too tatty.
Overall, don't think it looks too bad!
There's also a brand new challenge over at The Foiled Fox   asking for a Colour Trio, so am linking up there too!.

Thanks for looking today and thanks to everyone who has sent me their best wishes for my M-I-L. They are much appreciated.  x 

Inspired at last!

My visits to blogland have been a little bit sporadic of late. And if I haven't visited you in a while I promise to get round to you as soon as I can. (Explanation of absence at the bottom of this post)

I have needed some time to simply relax and managed to grab a couple of hours in the craftie space.
(My side of the room is scheduled for an overhaul very soon as I simply have too much stuff on tops of bookcases and desks so a little redesign coming up - I hope!)

I used my fave textured card for this make, masking off a panel and inking with Shabby Shutters DI before overstamping the grasses with Mowed Lawn.

The tulips were stamped, clear embossed, coloured and the heads and leaves fussy cut - (that was a fiddly job! They're really small!!) - before popping them up on tiny foam pads.

A snippet of white card used to make the frame and a die cut butterfly to tie it all in together.

Sharing my make at -
Paper Players - CAS + Plants
ATSM - Make Your Mark

So I said I would explain my absence -
My mother in law has fractured two bones in her back - simply by making her bed would you believe?
It took two emergency phone calls as the pain was so intense and she was unable to move, followed by 2 stays in hospital before they finally decided that instead of simply giving her painkillers and sending her home saying it was a pulled muscle that there may be something more serious causing the pain.  An X ray revealed 2 fractures.
So now she is in a full body brace for the next 5 months.
She is currently in an Intermediate Care Facility and is coming home to her flat on Saturday, having passed some small mobility tests today. She lives on her own and has always been active and independent so being confined indoors until she gets a bit more able to do more things for herself is not going to be well received I think!
She lives an hour away too so there has been much travelling of late and this looks likely to continue for a short while at least.
Thanks for visiting today - promise to get round to you as soon as I can. x

May Mid Month reminder - Stamping Sensations

Here is my little nudge to remind you of our May Challenge at Stamping Sensations!

Chocolate Baroque are our sponsors - and who wouldn't want to win some stash from them???!

I again used the Honey Bee stamp set and my Honeycomb embossing folder (and if you missed the first post about this challenge it is HERE).
I really do like this stamp set!

So after a little bit fussier with the last one, this time I went for CAS.

The flower and bees were stamped, watercoloured and fussy cut.

I added some Glossy accents to the bees wings and they really do look transparent now on the card!

The background was inked with Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey and Squeezed Lemonade and I applied the Bokeh technique of sponging over it with a circle stencil and white pigment ink.

Another piece of cord to secure the cute sentiment and done!

Playing about

Not had much time to myself this week, but managed to have a go at a technique which is really simple and I don't know why it's taken me so long to do!
This is for a friend of mine and I needed it in a hurry.

I don't have many Distress Oxides and you need them for this, but I do have my 2 of my fave colours EVER and I used them for this.

On reflection I think perhaps I should have used a darker blend of inks but you learn as you go along!

Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon brushed onto plain white cardstock.
The hydrangea is from Technique Tuesday, gold embossed onto the inked piece.

By simply using a paintbrush loaded with water you can 'remove' the colour from the flower petals lightening the embossed image.

The pic really doesn't do it justice - I am very pleased with how this turned out for a first attempt - the image seems to float amongst the darker background.

I will try another using a darker Oxide shade I think at some point.

As it's Friday I hope you are all looking forward to a fabulous weekend! Thanks for visiting! x

Sharing my card at
The Flower Challenge - Embossing (Heat or Dry)
A2S&M - A/goes
SOC - Flowers
SOS - May Flowers

Monster!

Had a few hectic days with a 2 day trip to Cardiff then a day in Dorset before travelling back today. A busy time but enjoyable although now am tired!

I made this card just before I went away and didn't have time to post it -


I don't often use digi stamps but this months challenge at CAS Watercolour has the theme of 'For a Child'.
Now, child suitable stamps are not something I possess!


So improvised with this monster which I had saved in my digi folder (likely a freebie and sorry but have no idea where it came from as it's years since I even opened the digi folder never mind the stamps in there!)
I coloured with my waterbrush pens (still practicing!), then fussy cut him out, dotting some white on the parcel.
I randomly stamped the background spots in the same colours adding the sentiment with Versamark.
He looked kinda lost on a plain white background so opted to use an embossing folder!

Sharing over at
AAA- Up to One Third and Bright colours
Always Fun - Embossing folders
CAS Watercolour - For a child

Been a lovely day here - too late home to do all the washing (my excuse) but suspect that there will not be ANY option tomorrow as the forecast is for a lovely day!!
Thanks for looking - will be round to visit you all now I have my cup of tea in hand! x

Out of this World!

Those who know me know what I am like about football! (Soccer to my friends across the pond!).... so today I have been allowing my blood pressure to return to normal after an amazing night at Anfield last night!
Suffice to say the result was definitely 'out of this world' and the boys in red really did 'sparkle' - so in their honour -

Regular visitors will recall I made a card with an offcut from a galaxy background (it's HERE if you want a look!).  This is the original background where that offcut came from.
I quite like galaxy backgrounds (when I get them right) and I think this is one of my better ones. If you've not tried a galaxy background there are lots of great examples here on pinterest!

Lots of different colours used - Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserve, Dusty Concord, Black Soot.
A liberal splattering with water then when dry some white acrylic paint gave me my stellar sky.

The Starbursts and the sentiment are from Visible Image, simply heat embossed.

Sharing at -
Sweet Stampin' - Spaced Out
A Place to Start - Technique (Galaxy)
Fab n Funky - A/goes
APTTC - A/Goes

Thanks for looking today.
I am planning a quiet night in the craftie space - no more excitement for a few days at least! x

Raindrops

Found some time this morning to sit in the craftie space and hoped Mr Mojo appeared. He refused to show his face at all yesterday but I have noticed that when other things are going in in real life sometimes it is really difficult to conjure up enthusiasm for paper and ink....!!
Thankfully CAS Stencil provided me with something to concentrate on this morning and also helped me dispose of a scrap piece of background which has been getting shifted from one side of the desk to another for a while!

The challenge to use a stencil over a coloured background provided the perfect opportunity to use up this piece of blue inky background.

I used a small Raindrops stencil and after sponging the white ink, I clear embossed.

















Quite happy with the effect the clear embossing gave the drops!

The umbrella is from SU's Weather Together set, stamped in Versafine Majestic Blue onto a snippet of card and fussy cut.
The sentiment is from the same set and I used another sentiment 'I'm here for you' on the inside.

Also sharing my card with -

MTTC - CAS
Alphabet - C for CAS
Pixies Playground
TTPH - Blues

We have a sunny day here with no sign of raindrops thankfully - but my it is COLD!!
Hope the sun is shining where you are and thanks for taking the time to come and see me! x

May at Stamping Sensations

Time for another challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we are sponsored by the amazing Chocolate Baroque.
A fantastic prize of  2 Stamp Sets (pic on the challenge blog)  awaits our lucky entrant who receives the most votes from the DT this month!
But if you want to even be considered you MUST follow our rules! Please read the rules before you join us - we want to be fair to everybody.

Our theme is - 'In an English Country Garden'... for those of you who aren't familiar with the song, the lyrics are available if you google the title - and it lists lots of things that you can use as a basis for your project!

I used a stamp set from our sponsors called 'Honey Bee' and stamped onto watercolour card.
I really enjoyed colouring this (even though I am a little scared of bees as I get a nasty reaction if ever I am stung!) but they ARE clever little things and we need them!

I used a Honeycomb embossing folder and cut out a circle to frame the image.
Finished by adding some cord, a fussy cut bee and a few punched hexagons.

Thanks for looking today and we all look forward to having you join us this month!

Floral

A quick post from me today!
Sharing a card I made recently for a friends Birthday using a NBUS stamp!
Had this PB 'Delicate Florals' set for a while and this is the first time this particular stamp from the set has seen ink!

I stamped and silver embossed then used DI's to colour. (Picked Raspberry, Victorian Velvet, Cracked Pistachio)
Die cut a Butterfly and silver embossed the body before popping it onto a teeny scrap of vellum which I coloured with Cracked Pistachio DI.
Die cut the sentiment and coloured again with Cracked Pistachio before mounting onto the die cut stitched squares.
A few paint splatters to finish.

Sharing over at
PB&More - Spring
PB Saturday Challenge - Fresh Spring Colours
Allsorts - Feminine
CAS on Friday - Butterflies
Alphabet - C for Cas

Thanks for visiting me today. I will come see you all soon as I can! have a great day whatever you're doing. xx

The Rain Returns!

After some wonderful warm and sunny days we have returned again to typical April showers. In fact last evening there was a downpour of monsoon proportions!
My real life has taken up quite a lot of my time but happily I did find some 'me' time.

Some time ago I saw a card made by fellow blogger Michele  which I loved so I asked her if she would allow me to take her inspiration and use it for myself. She happily agreed so here is mine -

I decided to use a brick background on the lower part of the card to add some texture. Looking at it now I might have got away with the whole of the background embossed.....

I really like these Gerbera stamps - stamped and heat embossed in white then out with the new Brush Pens.
(Enjoying playing with these - although they are going to take a bit of getting used to and am not sure if I am brave enough yet to just try using them as watercolours without an embossed stamp line to guide!) 

Fussy cut the flowers then punched 3 small circles into a strip of white card, stamped a sentiment and my little card finished.

Sharing my make with
Crafty Creations - A/Goes
House that Stamps Built - A/Goes
MAWTT - Flowers

Thanks for visiting today - hope whatever you're doing is making you feel happy! x 

Sunny Days!

Well!  The weather here has been amazingly wonderful - really warm and beautiful sunshine and according to the forecast set to stay for a few days over our Easter Holiday weekend.
I am just hoping that this isn't our Summer!
I treated myself to some Water Brush pens this week and have been trying them out.
Trawling the internet I came across this
 https://channin.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/water-media-mat-faux-watercolor-stamping/
and I thought 'perfect for trying out my new stash!
 
The poppy stamp is by Technique Tuesday and with some removal of ink from the other parts of the stamp I managed to just keep isolating one flower head.

The sentiment is from the same set, white embossed.

This was my second attempt.😳😳

The first one I haven't discarded completely and may make an appearance at a later date - but I have somehow managed to leave quite a large space in between the flowers and will need to think carefully about how I am going to disguise it! (The position of the space  doesn't really lend itself to a sentiment I don't think but.........!!!!)

Am going to pay a second visit this month to CAS Watercolour where the challenge is 'Poppy'.
Also sharing over at
Daring Cardmakers - Blooming Wonderful
MAWTT - That Spring Feeling
A2S+M - Make your Mark

Happy Easter and I hope the sun is shining wherever YOU are! x

April Reminder for Stamping Sensations

Time for a quick reminder that we are half way through this month's 'April Showers Brings May Flowers' challenge theme at Stamping Sensations.
I have this card to share and hope that if you haven't already joined our wonderful challenge that you will create something and join us - there's a whopping £25 voucher to be spent at the 'be Creative!' store as our prize this month!

I used watercolour card and stamped this flower stamp several times, masking as I went along.
I have had this red rubber stamp for a long time and surprisingly have hardly used it!

The leaves are from another set.
I clear embossed the stamped images and watercoloured.

Some Liquid Pearls dotted in the flower centres.

The sentiment stamp is by Inkylicious.

I am a little disappointed with the quality of this pic - each flower was coated with Glossy Accents and they shone off the front but sadly you can't see this and as it is already on it's way to someone, you will just have to take my word for it!!

Joining the challenges at -
Allsorts -Blossoms
TIOT - Springtime
Sweet Stampin - Spring
PB & More - Spring

Thanks for looking!

Starry Sky

The challenge at CAS Stencil required me to have a serious think about what I was going to do simply because I am finding it quite difficult to concentrate on any one thing for longer than a minute.
I had a couple of offcuts left over from another card which have simply been lying on this tip of a desk for a while.
I was about to throw them in the bin (working on my 'I must keep the desk tidy' promise) when I had a light bulb moment 💡💡💡!

We have had some lovely blue sky days and some very clear (and cold) nights - so here is the result of someone flicking the switch and reminding me that on clear nights you can see the stars.....

My little scrap of galaxy background had some white acrylic paint spattered over it and then I set about making myself a stencil from a star die and some acetate.
The smaller star is a home made stencil from a previous project.

I had bought some Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Sparkle Paste (Frosty) and never used it so tried it on the larger star.

Swirling it about and applying it thicker in some parts gave an (unintentional) random line effect which I thought didn't look too bad. I used a thinner layer on the smaller star but if you look closely it also has some slight random lines!

The sentiment was a mag freebie from last year.

Sharing my stencilled sparkly stars at -
Seize the Birthday - A/Goes
TIOT - Use a Stencil or Two

It's another cold day here but there IS some blue in the sky again. The weather is set to warm up this week I think and not before time!
I have promised myself that today I am going to have a small clear out and tidy up in the craft space - I need to make room for my new waterbrush colour pens!
Have a great day. x

Spring

It's been a week which has passed quickly if not productively.

On many occasions this week I have found myself staring blankly at card and wondering about making something - anything!

I think the thing is I simply cannot concentrate on one thing at the minute, I want to do several different things and because of this my thought process is jumping from one thing to the other - and I end up with........  nothing!

I only managed to make 2 cards this week... and this is one.
The Altenew blog gave me some much needed inspiration and another opportunity to practice with layering stamps.

Altenews Peony Bouquet stamp set, Ink shades - Shabby Shutters/Peeled Paint/Forest Moss and Memento Pear Tart, and Versafine black for the main flower outline and sentiment.
I finished with some pale green pearls.

Sharing my card over at
Creative Knockouts - Spring is on its way
MAWTT - Spring feeling
SSS Wednesday - No Designer paper
Elliebelle's Wednesday - Spring Blossoms

We've had a fine dry sunny week here, and although it is still a bit cold I think Spring is poking it's head out!
I hope you too are experiencing nice sunny days wherever you are.  Thanks for calling in today. x  

Hello

The challenge for April at CAS Watercolour is Poppies.
I found this small stamp in my stash that had 3 poppies on it - it also had some agapanthus in the background - these were removed after careful application with a cotton bud and some cleaner after I'd inked the stamp!

I coloured it with Inktense Watercolour pencils.

I am not feeling very inspired at the moment (real life again) so the addition of the die cut sentiment coloured in a gradient of the colours used for the stamped image and background was the only embellishment.

I DO though, have a few things unassembled on the desk which I intend to turn my attention to over the next few days!

We had a truly beautiful day here yesterday. I ventured outside in a short sleeve shirt with my cuppa so it must have been warm.

There's a bit more cloud about today but at least the temperature hasn't dropped too much.

Hoping that the warmer days are becoming the norm now rather than the exception!


Also sharing at

CAS on Friday - Spring
Cardz 4 Galz - Flora.
Thanks for taking the time to pay me a call today. I hope that you are warm too in your part of the world! x

April at Stamping Sensations

'April Showers Bring May Flowers' is our theme for this month's challenge at Stamping Sensations.
We are sponsored by the wonderful Be Creative who are offering a super prize for our chosen winner! More details on the challenge blog and just a gentle reminder please to read our rules FULLY before linking up with us - thanks!

This Crafty Individuals stamp was part of the pile that dear husband bought me at Christmas (has good taste doesn't he??? Or maybe it was because it was on the list of 'What Viv Wants'??!!)

Anyway,  it fitted for this months theme so at least I have now used it!

The stamp was coloured with Distress Inks.

The raindrops are a Creative Expressions Mini Stencil, sponged in white then clear embossed with Be Creatives Crystal Clear Embossing Powder.
Used a watercolour brush to blend some blue/grey inks across the sky.

The sentiment was masked for the front and inside - the whole thing reads 'Come Rain or Shine, Have a Wonderful Day '

Let's hope this month doesn't bring us TOO many showers!

Whilst you're linking up at the challenge blog  have a look what my teamies have done too - we love visitors and would appreciate you leaving us a comment!

Thanks for looking today! x

A learning curve and thoughts to ponder!!

Have you ever wondered (when you look at little piles of failed attempts in the bin ), why you tried in the first place?

Have you ever wondered (when you look at the greasy fingermarks), why you decided to use some (rather expensive) navy blue card which is coated with something that instantly attracts every single teeny bit of anything that is floating about above the craft desk?

Have you ever wondered (when you look at the finished article) why, even though there is nothing on the actual card the camera appears to have picked up strange shading and tiny specks?

I have.
I have wondered all these things  🔮 -  and don't know the answers!!

But in the making of the little pile of mess now sat in the bin I discovered that Pink embossing powder does not work when applied direct to this particular card.
Nor does Blue.
Nor does  Yellow
Nor does Green.

This stamp set  is called 'Under The Cherry Blossom tree' from Altenew and I confess that although I coveted it, it was not what I expected when it arrived.
There is nothing wrong with the set, it is a really pretty set but for me the majority of the sentiment stamps are really tinyand likely I will only use one or two.

I used Gold and Platinum EP on the branch - then, on trying to layer the cherry blossom in pink and the teeny birdie in aforementioned colours, I found out that this card definitely does not like it!

Try #1 - pink blossom ended up a sludgy maroon colour
Try #2 - blue birdie ended up translucent
Try #3 - yellow birdie was green
Try #4 = Green birdie looked as sick as the proverbial parrot!!

So blossom and birdie ended up white!

I am entering my tale of woe (and the card) into the following challenges
CAS Mix Up  - (Layered Embossing, Stamping and Die Cutting)
Time Out - Inspiration Pic (Blue, gold, white and blossom)
Stamplorations CAS Challenge - Dark Navy

I am off to put away pots of EP and empty the bin!! x

Back to Blighty

We had to pack and depart for a few days last week to assist my mother in law return from her annual 5 month trip to warmer climes. Following a stay in hospital the mammoth task of packing to return was just a bit too much, so we just put everything on hold, went out, packed her belongings up, got her back on a plane and she is now settled back in her own home...

Now I am back home I am wanting to get back in the crafty space (of course) but needed a quick card to get in the post to someone who is about to embark overseas - so here it is.

A genuine quick and simple CAS card made in no time at all!

A sea shell embossing folder, a set of sandy themed stamps. and a scrap of twine.

Stamped the starfish with  Fossilized Amber and fussy cut.
Sentiment stamped with Adirondack Butterscotch

Some Bakers Twine knotted round the bottom, starfish sat on top and panel fixed to base card.

Took a piece of white paper, stamped sentiment, another shell and some 'sand' from the same set and insert done too.


Over at AAA the challenge is
"Made in Minutes with  Dry Embossing".

Sadly the weather here is not currently good enough to be relaxing on the sand!
Am thinking that M-I-L will be wishing that she was back in the warm sunshine as we've actually had some large hailstones this morning..... but as always it gives me a perfect excuse to get up into the craft room and get back to inky fingers.


Hope the sun is shining where you are and thanks so much for visiting me! x

In the absence of Mojo

I have been struggling to come up with ideas of late. There have been a few 'real life' things which have invaded into my little cocoon and this has resulted in me being unable to make anything that I am happy with!
I sat yesterday and just made a couple of simple cards  - achieved by smooshing watercolours onto watercolour card.
The basic design of both is the same - I used the same stamp, embossed and smooshed! Will share the other (even plainer) one at a later date but here's the first

I have tried a different way of smooshing and found this works better for me - it is simply instead of putting the colours onto your craft mat and dipping the card into it, I put the colour onto a piece of acetate, spritzed and then pressed it over the embossed image.

It's probably not as random as you can actually position the colours but as I can see where the colour is going it stops me from covering massive areas when I only wanted to cover a tiny bit!

The stamp is a smaller one from a 2 part Woodware set.

I used Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Dried Marigold with a little bit of Peeled Paint, drying each colour with the heat gun before moving onto the next.
I added a teeny bit of Vintage Photo into the centre of the flower.

I finished it with a few (did I say few?) ink spatters and a new to me die cut sentiment.

Then I decided it wasn't finished and added the little black card with the white embossing  - THEN it was finished!

Sharing over at
TIOT - Say It With Flowers
AAA - 1 image/Spring
Crazy 4 CAS - Watercolour
Alphabet - Z for Zesty
Cut It Up - Flowers

We have had a dry but very windy day here today - but it really IS cold!!
Have a lovely day whatever you're doing and thanks for coming to see me today. x