2020 Retrospective

To celebrate this very sorry year ending, 

a retrospective of my 10 favourite makes of the year

Christmas ATC's

Blogging has been a great motivator in my crafting, as well a way to get in touch with the crafting community and share information, inspiration and encouragement. Sadly, Facebook, Instagram and other social media are slowly edging out the more leisurely blogs. Maybe it's a generation thing, maybe it's a sign of the times... always going quicker, always moving on to the next thing...

Unsurprisingly, several blogs and challenges have given up, A Vintage Journey being one that I admired greatly. I had to enter their last challenge despite ATCs being a real struggle for me!

The left hand ATC includes some Graphic 45 paper and a chipboard piece, a deer die-cut and a gold star from the Sizzix Thinlits Set- Christmas Shadow Box  (663611), some gel medium mixed with white acrylic paint and sprinkled with white flock. 

 
The right hand side has a background made with an embossed wax paper (Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folders: Bricked & Woodgrain set 656644) , ironed and inked over. Santa Claus is also graphic 45 and I stamped the sentiment from an old magazine freebie set.

Only one thing left to say..... 

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Thanks for coming by,

The Inside story

Are you getting a sense of deja vu....
You would be right if you did, because, indeed this is the front of the card I showed you in my last post. 
But wait... there is more, a lot more inside! In fact the main event IS the inside:

Now you need to it in action so I made this short video:

Making it is not especially difficult but you do need the die to make the mechanism (Photo Collage Pop-up by Karen Burniston) and you need to follow her instructions. It is however a bit fiddly as the pieces have to be placed so that they don't get into each other's way whilst moving as well as when the card is opened. 

To make it I used a kraft card base and all the papers are Graphic45. Mine is an old collection (Nutcraker sweet), but you can find the latest here, including some Christmas themed ones.
I took some photos too but November's natural light is not enough (immediately below) and flash photography isn't very flattering (2nd photo below).

I hope you are feeling inspired... You have until the end of the month to enter your Christmas makes into our Country View Challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

Shimmering wreath

Welcome to my second inspiration piece for the STAMPlorations Theme & Photo Prompt challenge !



Today's inspiration make  is a Christmas card where I used non-Christmas themed supplies to complement the die-cut sentiment.

I started with the circle in the middle which I stamped with a Gelli plate inked with Versafine, sprayed lightly with water and sprinkled with Brushos.

I then stamped the wreath using 2 images from the Wooded set.

I stencilled the background with ink first, then with Versamark before applying mica powders for that shimmer effect... The stencil I used is Abstract April Showers

The Jingle All The Way Phrase Die was die-cut from white cardstock which I also transformed with Versamark and mica powder.

Here's another photo taken in the shade so you can see better the colour and shape of the stencilled motifs:  

The STAMP girls are showing inspiration for all the challenges on the STAMPlorations blog so pop by and don't forget there are prizes to win if you link up to our  Theme & Photo Prompt challenge ! 

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Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the Allsorts, Lost Coast Designs challenges.

 

Wintry weather

This year is so unusual that organising December activities is a struggle... In between Christmas decorations, I squeezed in this wintry card to make my favourite thing, a stamped scene!

For the background I cut some curved masks and used Distress inks to create some hills and a sky, preserving the "moon". The falling snow is white acrylic paint splattered with a small paintbrush and the stamps are all from Lavinia, Mia the fairy and Tree Scene. 

I was thinking of adding some vegetation at the bottom but decided I liked the emptiness more! 

Let me know what you think!
Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday,  SSS Wednesday,  Paperbabe, We Love Chocolate Baroque, Stamping Sensations, Lost Coast Designs challenges.

Shimmering Coffee

Hello, me again... I am here to give you a bit of inspiration for our STAMPlorations Theme and Photo Prompt

You can follow the theme or the photo prompt, and of course both, but your make must have some stamping!

Today's card is using the Thank You Coffee set, and both the focal image and the sentiment have been  stamped with white pigment ink. 

I then used and coloured with metallic pencils (Derwent) for the cup and flower. 

I have found it very difficult to show you a true to life photo of that card as the natural light is less than ideal at this time of the year. The colours are truer in this one taken in the shade (left) 
And in the sun all you can see is shimmer and the colours are completely obliterated:

Pop by the STAMPlorations blog to admire what my teamies did for this month's challenge and get some inspiration to create your own make for a chance to win.

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Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,

 

Kraft, Red & White Xmas card

Hands up who's happy to see this year ending in 4 weeks? Sadly I can't see you all through the medium of blogging but I bet there are a LOT of hands up... Whilst we wait, but we still have Christmas and other festive celebrations as rays of happiness to cheer us up. So let's celebrate with Christmas makes for our Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Jane. 

I went for a a simple design, perfect for those mass card making sessions. Although the dies I chose here are so detailed they need a few passes in the die-cutting machine and have lots of bits to take out....

The sentiment die is by Tonic Studio and the snowflake border is a magazine freebie. I cut the border out of vellum and placed it over red cardstock. 
Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

I will be back on the 19th for my 2nd inspiration make which you won't want to miss!!! 

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge.

Catch up shows

No, I haven't been struck by Covid 19, gone on holiday (I wish..) or got bored of blogging...

The reason for the lack of posts is that I have been busy with creating for last Wednesday Hochanda shows with That's Crafty featuring 13 Arts latest collections.
I was delighted to receive the Bella collection which ticks all my boxes with the distressed walls, romantic windows and doors from Italy.

I made 5 projects using lots of papers from the A6 postcard pad, 6"x6" and 12"x12" adding die-cut ephemera, chipboard shapes and acetate sheet. I also used some of the mediums and paints from the 13 Arts range.
First up a CAS card made with one of the postcard that I cut into each of its square motifs and added to an 8"x8" sheet of cardstock.

Then a scrapbook page, where I distressed and punched the edges of that beautiful paper to which I only added a few splatters with Metallic Color Glow in Ruby mixed with water. I also used that powerful powder to colour the Bellissima chipboard word but I am not sure if the photo renders the shine from the paint.... The "photo" is not mine but one of the postcard from the 13 Arts A6 Paper Pack.

For something different I made a bag with a single sheet of 12"x12", adding a pocket with a square cut from a foiled acetate sheet to put tags in, and a closure I made by sandwiching 2 Ephemera die-cuts around a paperclip

A mixed media tag where I used stencils and chipboard pieces with 13 Arts Gel medium, Ayeeda Pastel Mist and a dash of Splash! Ink Glitter (between the leaves).

And finally a simple mini album where I mostly used the postcards, without any cropping, as mats for photos. Each album page is a pocket so that additional tags, ephemera, photos etc.. can be added and I made a mini folder decorated with 6"x6" papers that can be pulled out. I will spare you all the individual photos, you can watch the slide show instead.

If you would like to know more about these makes don't hesitate to ask!

Thanks for cosming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenges.

Dreamscape Journal page

This did NOT turn out as I intended... 

My journal page for our Country View Challenge, on the theme "Not a card",  was to be Vintage, soft colours, shabby chic... Somehow we ended up with this bright, colourful and fantasy scene. Go figure...

I started with a Gelatos background on Gesso'ed pages:

I then removed colour through stencils, above Fibres from Visible Image and Tim Holtz mini layering stencil set #43  below

Then I used the star stencil from the same TH set and the Strobes stencil by Visible Image to finish the background.

By now I was well on the way to a landscape, with strange colours, yes, but I could see river(s), sun and stars... I retrieved some stamps and set out to further that impression.

I stamped a forest with Lavinia's Tree scene set and some Dandelions.

The Moon and Mia the pushy fairy... I think she pushed the stars in a maelstrom...

And finally Mini Mushrooms, the Large Path and some foliage (Berry Leaves):

And to reward you if you have read so far... the finished page:

I do hope you like my page and will be inspired to enter the Country View Challenge. If you do, you might win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop. And that ain't bad, is it!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts challenge.

Green & Red look a lot like Christmas

Mid month and it is time to inspire you to enter our STAMPlorations Theme & Photo prompt challenge! 

This time I went for the classic Christmas contrasting colour scheme of red and green.

For my background I used Distress inks to create my red base and stencilled with white pigment ink the Winter Flowers stencil recently released.

My focal point is the stamp Like Christmas embossed with WOW powder in Earthtone Olive on vellum. 

The STAMP girls are showing inspiration for all the challenges on the STAMPlorations blog so pop by and don't forget to comment along the way for a chance to win.

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Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Lost Coast challenge.