Freshly Made Sketches 200th Challenge

Good afternoon all.

Well thank goodness someone in the house was prepared for going back to school today....in my head it wasn't going to happen until next week! Lora is most disappointed not going to college but they can't offer her all her course choices and it's all but impossible to contact them. Just waiting now to see how long it takes the accommodation provider to respond!

My first post today...I'll be back again soon with my inspiration for the STAMPlorations spotlight week.

Freshly Made Sketches are celebrating their 200th challenge today and since Shery from STAMPlorations is one of the many sponsors us design girls were asked to join in.

Here is my make:

I started by masking off an area of my Wplus9 die cut and used a paint splatter technique with acrylic blocks to create my pattern. I used twisted citron, cracked pistachio, peacock feather and picket fence distress paints...pooled them onto my mat and sprayed with water then applied them to my card with an acrylic block. You need to dry each colour and keep layering until you get the desired effect. 

Sentiment is from STAMPlorations Fond Expressions 2 set. I added a few sequins to finish and propped the die cut on foam to add to the base card.

and here is the sketch:

Challenges entered:

Happy Little Stampers CAS - masking

AAA - maskerade

Die Cuttin Divas - celebrate it

The Sisters of Craft - anything goes

Great Impressions - add a sentiment

Pile it On - bright colours

Spotlight Week Day 2

Good afternoon all.

Typical - yesterday was blazing sunshine when we had no plans, today when we're going to look at a property it's peeing down!

It's day 2 of the Stamp Spotlight Week at STAMPlorations.

Spotlight on BALLOONS AND BANNERS

Lots of inspiration from my team mates, prizes to be won and special offers to be had!

Spotlight Week

Good afternoon all on this glorious Monday....sun shining, washing blowing in the breeze and...

...today sees the start of the Stamp Spotlight Week at STAMPlorations.

To kick things off, we're putting the spotlight on the World Birthday Cakes set designed by Shirley for her stamp line, The Bee's Knees.

Lots of inspiration from some of my team mates, fabulous prizes to win and some special offers too...what are you waiting for!

Our Precious Little One

Good afternoon all.

Yesterday turned into a lazy day mostly with a little of crafting for good measure.

An upcycled stamp block to share today as inspiration for the STAMPlorations Stencil Sunday challenge. This was a present for my nephew and his wife whose first son arrived at the end of June.



I started by making a mood board with my small gelli plate, acrylic paints and lots of stencils. I then cut a couple of pieces out to fit onto my stamp block, which I'd painted with white gesso.

Stencils used: Hearts Tumbled, Shutters, Oh My Stars, Dots and Dashes, Hearts all Over, Gridlocked, Nestled Circles, Bubbles, Foiled and Foiled Again.

Both pieces were stamped around the edges with black archival ink before being attached with gel medium. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment for the front side onto tissue paper and attached with gel medium. The reverse side was computer generated onto tissue paper and attached with gel medium. The sides were stamped and heat embossed with Wendy Vecchi EP.

Stamps used: Heaven Sent and Mixed Media Grunge, Artsy Border Maker.

Project is finished with a small bow and a "handmade with love" charm. My photo holder was a job lot from Ebay.

Challenges entered:

Unruly Paper Arts - manly

Art Journey - blue and white

The Artistic Stamper - anything goes

Mixed Media Monthly - get texty

That Craft Place - blue

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

Golden Oldie

Good morning all.

Well I got bitten to pieces when out star gazing on Wednesday evening...my decollatege resembles a dot to dot puzzle! Too cloudy here last night to see anything though we'd had a lovely day.

Off to share a golden oldie with Erika today as once again it's Friday. This is just for fun but it's nice to look back and see how your crafting style has changed over the years.

I've gone back to 2008...this was one of my favourite images from Joanna Sheen's Jayne Netley Mayhew CD. Papers are also from the same CD. This was a commissioned card for an 80th birthday. This was a great CD was those hard to cater for males and this image made a fun card.....I used it several times.

Domestic goddess duties call today then I've got several inky, painty projects on the go that I want to make progress with. Catch you later!

The Eyes...

Good morning all.

Well all the fruit has been dealt with...I think I'm all strawberried out for this year! The eyes last night were on the skies...the boys went off up the hills with their mates to get the best view. We had a good view of the space station from the back garden and I did see a little activity before my neck cricked!

I haven't played over at Less is More regularly for a while now with holidays and such but when I saw this weeks prompt I knew I had some NBUS stamps in my collection which were perfect.

This is a JOFY stamp from Paper Artsy, inked with versamark and heat embossed with white EP. I used a Spellbinders die to create a mask and using twisted citron, peacock feathers and mermaid lagoon DI's inked over the image...a quick dust and polish and Bob's your Uncle!

Challenges entered:
Less is More - the eyes have it
Happy Little Stampers CAS - masking
Addicted to Stamps - make your mark
Sweet Stamps - anything goes
Sweet Stampin - anything but birthday

Strawberries and Roses!

Good morning all.

Hubby decided we would go strawberry picking yesterday...it did seem a good idea at the time! 9kg of fruit picked and 6kg of it hulled, washed, frozen and bagged later I'm beginning to wonder!!

Thankfully the strawberries are off the ground, I don't think my back could have stood up to bending down to pick! Younger son was happy (not) to serve us but we did get his staff discount. We also got some blackberries. redcurrants and gooseberries. The freezer is going to be full of lots of fodder for making smoothies over winter.

Some more photos of my roses too...top left is Silver Wedding and the other photos are of one plant called Designer Sunset, it's absolutely loaded with blooms....the colours of this are gorgeous and both roses smell divine. I'm keeping all my roses in pots for now until we finally move again...which may or may not be anytime soon!

So very little crafting going on although I did manage to put a coat of paint on the current projects lying on my desk

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

Christmas Card Club "Lots of Layers"

Good morning all.

I was brave yesterday and updated to Windows 10...it downloaded no problems and so far I like what I see - once I'd worked out where all my files were stored that is!!

Another two weeks have flown past and it's time for our little Christmas Card club reveal. Lorraine set us the challenge of using lots of layers this time.

I finally managed to make a start on my special cards. Topper is from Wild Rose Studios; papers are from DoCraft; circle and square dies are from Spellbinders; snowflakes are from Paper Smooches; poinsettias and fir from Marianne Designs; sentiment from LOTV. I've added some stickles to finish things off.

This one will be hand delivered so didn't need to be flat.

You'll find a list of the girls on my sidebar if you'd like to see their take on the theme...you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

CHNC - something beginning with S (stripes, snowflakes, snow, scarf, sentiment)

Jingle Belles - photo inpiration...I used the colours

ABC Christmas Challenge - P for polka dots

Christmas Cards all Year Round - snowflakes

A Gem of a Challenge - animals or birds

Brown Sugar - anything goes

Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes

Moving along with the Times - snow in summer

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Papers - anything goes

Blossom like a Butterfly

Good afternoon all.

I've had lots of lovely baby cuddles from Seb...he's gorgeous and really good too.

Today it's my turn to inspire you over on the ARTplorations blog with a tutorial. Here is my project...click on the link to see how I made it. 

Today's make is an Artist Trading Block made using a recycled stamp block (I've got quite a few of these waiting to be used!).

Products used:

• ARTplorations - Shower of Flutters, Bloom Factory, Foiled, Foiled Again, Nestled Circles, Bubbles and Gridlocked.
• STAMPlorations - Mixed Media Grunge, Trendy Butterflies and Blossom like a Butterfly.
• Others - acrylic paints, gel medium, Wendy Vecchi embossing powder, black gesso.

Challenges entered:

That Craft Place - anything goes mixed media

We Love 2 Create - anything mixed media/creative goes

Our Creative Corner - Mexico moods

Mixed Media Mojo - anything goes

Country View Challenges - summertime

Golden Oldie

Good morning all.

Friday once more, don't know where my week has gone! I'm off to meet baby Seb today...he's already six weeks old, how did that happen??

Sharing an oldie with Erika again this morning and I'll be back later with my August tutorial for ARTplorations.

This one was made for a card swap in July 2009! Image and papers are from Joanna Sheen's Messy Rabbit CD.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

Good morning all.

Lora got her exam results on Tuesday...we were very pleased with how she did. She passed everything including her maths so only English to resit next year. Just waiting now to see if she gets a place on the biology course at college...we have to hope someone else failed their Nat 5 or changes their mind!

A quick decoupaged card to share today, made for a card swap.

Decoupaged image is a Paintbox Poppet from Crafter's Companion. Die is from Wplus9 and I used a Spellbinders die to cut the inside out of the frame.

Challenges entered:

Creative Moments - anything goes/summer sun

Inspiration Destination - anything goes

Paper Shelter - anything goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - summer heat

Crafty Boots - beach/summer vacation

Oh La La Creations - nautical

Country View Challenges - summertime

Die Cut Divas - favourite holiday (one by the seaside)

Dies R Us - summertime fun

Sparkles Forum - sun, sea and sand

HLS Christmas Challenge #2 "Sparkle"

Good evening all.

I've had an afternoon out with my friend today...a facial at the local spa followed by a leisurely lunch....it's always good to put the world to rights!

So pleased to be here sharing some inspiration for the second Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers. The theme this month is:

Here is my card:

One of my favourite dies from Poppy Stamps, cut from a Nestie square then mounted to the base card with some double sided foam. I then used red glitter to fill in the die cut blanks. A very simple but effective card and flat enough to post.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 

Challenges entered:

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - no dp's

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

Crafting from the Heart - anything goes

Not Just Cards - anything goes

Perfectly Rustics - glitter

Sparkle and Sprinkle - anything goes with loose glitter/embossing powder/flock

ABC Challenge - o is for open

Always Something Creative - CAS

Paper Creators Crafts - die cut/punch

Happy Christmas

Good morning all.

A quiet day yesterday keeping the migraine at bay...I'll catch up with you all in a day or two as I can't spend too much time at the computer while it lingers!

This was meant to be my July Rudolph Day card but by the time it was finished and ready to post it was going to clash with my DT post so I saved it for another day.

This was to be a very quick card!! I'd planned in my mind to use this piece of gelli plate paper I'd saved from one of my early plays and team it with teal and red...so first thoughts when I got everything out was to use a die for a speedy card. Opened my drawer and found this snowflake from Impression Obsession which I was convinced I'd used before but turns out it's a NBUS. I cut it from the teal layer and dozens of passes later when I came to remove it from the die I discovered it came out in about four very fine parts.....urgh!!!! I was losing the will to live by now...

Deep breath and I put through a red version using bubble wrap to help the cutting along (it does help!). Lots of photo glue later I'd managed to stick everything together!!  The sentiment was a freebie from Tattered Lace. A gemstone finishes the card off.

Don't think I'll be repeating this experience any time soon which is a shame as I like the end result!

Challenges entered:

Winter Wonderland - Christmas Carol/Song (Snowflake by Jim Reeves)

Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes

Southern Girls - anything goes

Inspiration Destination - anything goes

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

Whimsy Stamps - Christmas in July

Christmas Cards all Year Round - snowflakes

We Love to Create - anything mixed media/inky goes

CHNC - two of something (words)

Stencil Sunday #2 August

Good afternoon all.

Yesterday didn't quite go to plan when I was struck down by an almighty migraine! Several doses of pills down the line I rallied round enough to go out and enjoy the meal thankfully. Two out of three kids made it with us but my younger son had to work so my friend joined us instead. It was a very pleasant evening with lovely food.

A month gone and it's time once again to inspire you for our mixed media Stencil Sunday challenge at STAMPlorations. It was great to see so many entries to our first challenge. I have a canvas to share with you today.

This is one of those pieces which went horribly wrong!! I started with a small canvas board which I had painted with black gesso. I then used texture paste through the Happy Flowers stencil and once dried used Mica Powders to add some colour....the result was awful!! I didn't want to waste the canvas so after leaving it for several days I covered the whole canvas with plumbers tape and used various acrylic paints to build up the colour. I used various stamps from the Mixed Media Grunge set to stamp around the edges and background with black archival ink. To finish I used some Metallic Gilding Wax over the stencilled area. It now needs a black frame to finish it off I think!

The theme is always anything mixed media goes except a card and you must use at least one stencil (any brand) in your project. Linky closes at the end of the month.

Prizes: $15 gift certificate OR choice of any 2 ARTplorations stencils to the winner

choice of 1 ARTplorations stencil to the top picks.

 Looking forward to seeing all your creations.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see what my team mates have produced, you won't be disappointed!

Challenges entered:

Mixed Media World - stencils

The Artistic Stamper - anything goes

Mixed Media Mojo - anything goes

The Mirror Crack'd - canvas

That Craft Place - anything goes mixed media

Eclectic Ellapu "By the Sea"

Good morning all.

A new month and a year older...wonder what this year has in store for me!

With the new month comes a new challenge at Eclectic Ellapu. Yvonne has picked the theme of "By the Sea" for the Pink Team this time.

I started with a canvas board which hadn't turned out as planned and covered it with a napkin before painting with white gesso. The texture paste stencilling  was still evident so I positioned the canvas with this in the bottom right corner to give the sand some texture. Once dry I used antique linen crackled paint and two shades of blue chalk frescoes from Paper Artsy to paint my background. My image is a Paintbox Poppet decoupage from Crafter's Companion which I've framed with my die from Wplus9; the sentiment, cloud and sunshine die are also from the same set. The seagull and compass stamps are from Kanban and I've stamped onto tissue paper. I've used some dark blue ink to stamp around the edges with a stamp from The Mixed Media set from STAMPlorations.

This  was one of those pieces which had no plan and just evolved as I went along...I love how it turned out....and my canvas didn't go to waste :)

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the other girls, you won't be disappointed. The Purple Team have a recipe for this month - 3 dies, 2 stencils and 1 sentiment.

Challenges entered:

Stamps and Stencils - happy holidays

Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

Die Cuttin Divas - the great outdoors

Crafty Cardmakers - anything but a card

Simon says Stamp - not ordinary paper (used a napkin)

Altered Eclectics - anything MM goes

Rhedd's Creative Challenge - anything MM goes

Sparkles Monthly - sun, sea and sand

The Mirror Crack'd - canvas

Anything but a Card - anything goes