Merry Xmas

Good morning all.

It was pretty miserable here yesterday and rained most of the day, however the forecast is good for the next few days and the rain was probably needed! It did mean the housework (whispers) got done and I did manage some time in the craft room last night.

Another quick Christmas card to share today.

Another of my stamps from Artistic Stamper which I won recently, simply stamped in Memento ink, die cut with a square nestie and layered onto (some very old) coordinating card stock.

Challenges entered:

Polkadoodles - use something new (stamp)

Simply Create Too - anything goes

Simply Papercraft - anything goes

Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes

Stempelsonnen - anything goes

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

CHNC - something old (card stock)

Crafty Friends - clean and simple

A Snowflake Promise - anything Christmas/winter goes

Merry Christmas

Good morning all.

A few niggles with Windows 10 but not regretting downloading it. Quite liking the new browser and finding it less hassle for blogging...no missing graphics from everyone's posts but I haven't yet found a way to pin open pages as you can do in Chrome which makes things look a bit messy! There was a problem over the weekend with only the HTML button showing when I went to write a new post but this has corrected itself. My Family Tree Maker won't open but I think if I remove it and reload it I can get around the problem until a fix is released. All told I'd recommend downloading it!

Another Christmas card to share today.

The stamps are from The Artistic Stamper and were part of my recent win at their challenge. Dies from Spellbinders and backing papers from Bearly Mine...all layered onto kraft cardstock.

Challenges entered:

Christmas Card Challenges - anything goes

CHNC - something beginning with S (Santa, snowflake, stripe, sentiment)

Crimbo Crackers - Santa

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

The Artistic Stamper - anything goes

Secrets of the Garden

Good evening all....running a tad late today!

Sunshine and showers has been the name of the game today and waiting for the refridgerator engineer who turned up at 6.30pm!

This has been lying waiting for words on my desk for weeks now but I finally got it finished this afternoon.

My May page in my Art Journal. Lots of stamping and stencilling...main focal stencils from Imagination Crafts and Prima. Sentiment stamps from Bo Bunny, Paper Artsy and Mucky Paws. Background stamps from Artistic Stampers and Crafter's Companion.

Challenges entered:

Mixed Media Mojo - tic tac toe (May, stencil, stamp)

Artistic Stamper - journal your heart out

Stamps and Stencils - three of a kind (flowers)

Crafting with an Attitude - anything goes/spring fever

Inspiration Destination - anything goes

Not Just Cards - anything goes

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Noted

Good morning all.

We ended up with another glorious spring day yesterday despite the cloudy forecast. The eclipse was quite surreal as my computer sits in full sunshine at that time of day so I was sat with the sun on my back and the moons shadow shading the screen. It was actually too sunny to see the moon itself and I didn't have anything protective for my eyes so I basked in it instead lol.

A bit of upcycling/altering today...I won this  note block in a raffle recently and decided it was ripe for a bit of altering.

This is how it used to be...navy blue tacky plastic cover but a nice size and very sturdy. This is what it looks like now:

This is plan A...I started with plan B and painted the plastic with black gesso then used the brayer with various Fresco Finish paints but I didn't like it....so...

After removing the notepad I recovered the whole outer with adhesive canvas and painted it with gesso.  I then set to with a brayer and some Fresco Finish paints from Paper Artsy in first an opaque Mermaid then a translucent South Pacific. Peacock feathers DI was then sponged through a circles stencil from Memory Box before I stamped a chicken wire and word stamps from Artistic Stamper.

The bird on a branch is a stencil from Imagination Crafts and I've used two colours of Sparkle Medium. Noted is from Prima, metal doily and love plate were a recent purchase from China, butterfly charm from Splodgeaway and corners from Mucky Paws...these were all gessoed then sponged with peacock feathers DI. Feather and flower were from my stash.

I love how this turned out!

Challenges entered:

Mixed Media Monthly - birds of a feather

Our Creative Corner - junk in your trunk

Paper Artsy - deconstruction

Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re-Invent - anything goes

Mixed Media World - anything goes

Imperfection is Beauty

Good morning all. Hope you've all had a pleasant weekend.

Well I tackled the snippets invasion yesterday...I probably spent 8 hours die cutting and I've only just made a dent in the first box (there are four of varying sizes and fullness),  I think this was the largest! All the workspace I created on Saturday is now full of piles of die cuts and mats!
Off to the hairdressers this morning but I think I know what I'll be doing this afternoon!

An altered notebook to share today.

Cover was coated with several layers of gesso before being painted with no 6 aquatints. I then used various background stamps from Artistic Stampers, Bo Bunny and Visible Images inked with DI or Memento ink. Main image is from Indigo Blu along with the flowers in the top right hand corner and were a magazine freebie. Two sayings are from Visible Images along with the flower in the bottom left hand corner. I finished off with some white splats from my Premium Craft Brands set.

A picture with the protective front closed and one after the first coat of gesso as I forgot to take a before photo!! 

Challenges entered:

Frosted Designs Friday - mixed media

Inspiration Destination - anything goes

The Three Muses - shades of blue

Red Rubber Inspirationals - stay focussed on stamping

Not Just Cards - anything goes

Eclectic Ellapu - flowers

Altered Eclectics - anything goes

The Mirror Crack'd - the human form

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - anything goes/Halloween

All Crafts Challenge - anything but a card

Sweet Stampin - anything but a card

Christmas Card Club "Anything but a Card"

Good morning all. Hope everyone is well.

 Rain is forecast for the next few days so I think I'll hole up out of it in my craft room!!

I realised last night it was time for our fortnightly Christmas Card Club challenge so had an evening playing with ink. Lizzie had set us the theme of "Anything but a Card".

After seeing Doreen's card yesterday I've made a tag using the bleach blocking technique by Hels Sheridan, shown in the July issue of Craft Stamper. I've treated myself to a years subscription of the magazine to try and make more use of the many stamps I own! 

All the background stamps are from a set of Anita's I was given, which I've inked with embossed ink and heat embossed with white detail EP....then I got to work with my blue distress inks before doing the bleached block technique. I stamped a few snowflakes with distress ink and some with embossed ink to which I added Glamour Dust, I also inked the edges and added Glamour Dust but this isn't showing in the photo. The snow woman is from Artistic Stamper, this is also heat embossed and coloured with my distress ink pens before being fussy cut and added with foam pad. Tag is finished with some ribbon, a snowflake button and some gems.

I did enjoy my play and may use the technique again some day...but to those of you who get inky often (pardon my french on a Sunday)....HOW the hell do you get distress ink off your hands....I look like I've just filled the school ink wells!!!

You'll find the links to the rest of the girls on my sidebar if you want to see what they made for the challenge.

Challenges entered:

Craft Stamper - any technique from 2014

 A Gem of A Challenge - embossing

Crafting at the Weekend - anything goes

Artistic Stamper - anything goes

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

Creatalicious - monchromatic

Sparkles Forum - Christmas in July

Sparkles Forum Christmas - snowflakes

WOW Embossing Powder - monochrome

Christmas Stampin' All Year Round - tags