CAS card with elephants

A quick post for a quick card!

I used this lovely stamp  from Creative Stamping magazine #57 (May 2018) to make this CAS card.

If you like the stamp,  the original red rubber by Crafty Individuals is still available (CI-390).

The background has been created with Distress inks and one of the stamps from Andy Skinner's ASCRS06-Toxic set (Stampendous).

The sentiment (also from the Creative Stamping set)  is usually applied to Birthdays but it seems fitting for this mother and baby image (and my current state of mind), since no matter that your offspring can legally drive, vote, drink and have left home, they are still your babies..

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Uniko,  River of Creativity, Paperbabe, Stamping Sensations, challenges.

Amp up your stencils!

This Autumn I am starting a Mixed Media feature on the STAMPlorations blog.

I have chosen 4 different techniques that will add oomph/zing to your stencilling. First up the "bump" technique which gives a shadow or highlight impression as in the background of this card:

It is normally used with acrylic paints, since the technique needs the medium used to be opaque.

Supplies:
Flowers 2 - ARTplorations
Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies
Flutter Zen 1 Layering Dies
Everyday Sentiments

For those who prefer inks I tested an alternative on this card:

Supplies:
Peeking Dahlias - ARTplorations
Everyday Sentiments

Do check out my step by step on the STAMPlorations! blog

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday challenges.

     

   

Autumn colours

Hello crafters!

I am back for a  second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, where the theme for is 

Autumn colours, chosen by Corrie. 

I used the Autumn colours for a gender neutral birthday card:

 The impression is imperfect, especially in the centre, due to the technique and the texture of the paper I used,  NOT the stamp, which is actually very detailed, probably too detailed for this technique.

I sprayed water on my stamp, Paisley Script Background (Crafty Individuals CI-435) and then sprinkled Brushos with a fine paint brush. With this method I can get 3 to 4 impressions with just one inking.

I added the sentiment,  a Hot Foil embossing die (Ultimate Crafts Happy Birthday). 

There you have it, quite simple really if a bit messy. Next time I will know to use a smoother card though!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the  SSS Wednesday, Allsorts, Paperbabe, We Love Chocolate Baroque challenges.

Young wild and free

As much as as I have tried to ignore it Autumn is upon us, school and universities are in session again and  the only silver lining is the beautiful colours of the falling leaves.
Following on last month's Country View Challenge, the theme for October is Autumn colours, chosen by Corrie. 

I have created a journal page with that fabulous Lady stamp set from Stamperia that I hadn't even inked since getting it last year. It is a big stamp, too big for most cards but excellent for journaling and Mixed Media!

I started with Gelli printing my background with acrylic paints, mainly DecoArt Mixed Media, I then added stencilling details with Yellow Ochre and Gold paints with the "Wall Music and writing" stencil from Stamperia( KSTDG01).

I stamped the Lady image with Versafine Clair in Pinecone on a separate piece of cardstock, coloured it with pencil and fussy cut it before placing on the background. I added a bit of Distress crayon in Vintage Photo around the image to detach it from the background.

Finally I found the perfect sentiment for my lady in the stamp set "Life is so much better" (from Chocolate Baroque), designed by fellow blogger Brenda .

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.

Just remember to use only Autumnal colours (yellow, red, browns, muted greens +black, white and skin colours).

Thanks for coming by,

Snarky Cat Christmas 3

Definitely my "stamp (set) of the moment, here is another Christmas card with the Snarky Christmas Cats stamp set (CMS 416) from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.

For this one, I took inspiration from the sentiment and imagined Santa on his way to deliver gifts to this naughty cat and changing direction after checking his list! 

Poor cat... he does looks crestfallen!! 

The card is simply stamped with BlackVersafine and Memento Rhubarb stalk for the Ho sentiment. I added colour to the hat with pencils .

The "Ho" and footprints are freebie stamps from the now defunct, and greatly missed, Craft Stamper magazine.

I do hope you are enjoying these as, yes, there are still more, many more...

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts, We Love Chocolate Baroque, Stamping Sensations, Lost Coast Designs, Addicted to stamps and Paperbabe challenges.

Autumn Leaves

Welcome to my second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge,  hosted by Jane, who chose Leaves (The leaves are falling) as the theme.

This time I created a journal page with Autumn colours:

First I applied some texture paste and stamped into it before it dried completely with Paper Artsy ELB33 leaf stamps. Judging when the paste is ready is the most difficult and I did have a few false starts!

The texture paste I used was also an experiment, as I used the Cosmic Shinner Multi-Tex powder to make it. What is the point of making your own paste?

For me having a single pot of dry powder to make a custom recipe for a project means that I

a) need only one pot instead of  many AND

b) the product will not dry in the pot between uses because I don't use a particular product often enough.

In effect it saves me both space and money!

Once the paste had dried I sprayed lightly with water and sprinkled Brushos powders. Unfortunately I had forgotten that dye inks do get absorbed in  texture paste and when dried the colour was very much faded...:

I put plan B in motion... which means using a pigment rather than a dye (something to do with the molecular size of the particles) so I pulled out my Paper Artsy Frescos and painted on several colours trying to match the colours I already had underneath.

For the focal point I sprayed Distress Oxide in Walnut Stain, which dried out turned out grey blue, I guess this is how this colour "oxidises"... Never mind, grey could work too.

I die-cut a bunch of leaves from remnants of Gelli prints with added inks here and there.

For the sentiments I used rub-ons to spell my quote, an in joke in our family hailing, in a roundabout way, from Game of Thrones.   

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.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Inspiration Station (the colours and Autumn theme inspired me), Simply Create Too,  Sweet Stampin', and the Alphabet challenges.

Snarky Cats Christmas 2

Did you like my Snarky cat on a sledge? Well here's another Christmas card with the Snarky Christmas Cats stamp set (CMS 416).

The card is simply stamped in either Memento London fog, coloured ink or black (the bells) and coloured with pencils.

There's more to come... I am aiming for 10 cards in the same style...

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts, SSS Monday, Paperbabe,  and Stamping Sensations challenges.

Tropical beach Journal page

Summer is almost over and what a damp squib that was in this country! Yes, whilst some of Europe and America burned (literally in some cases), England still is a green & pleasant land!!! 

On our Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Jane, we want to see leaves. Well you might be thinking of the ones which fall and turn to yellows, reds and browns but... not me!  As I said, I didn't have my summer yet so I am taking you with me to the beach in this journal page.

I first created a fiery sunset with iridescent sprays (my current supply includes the older Prima Color Blooms and the new Cosmic Shimmer Airless Misters). The Airless Misters can be sprayed at any angle which makes life easier and they do not clog.  After drying, I stamped the trees which are part of the Tropical Sunset stamp (Crafty Individuals CI-497).

I added a bit of blue pencil for the sea, white accents for the waves with a Distress Crayon and a bit of pencil for the sand texture.

Finally I added my die-cut leaves from a coloured piece of card (combination of watercolour and Distress inks) and a bird (from the CI-272 stamp set)

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.

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

Let it snow Snarky Cat

It's been very quiet over here and it's not because of the holidays... touchy subject since. for many of us,  Covid cancelled all plans! My mojo, however, managed to take some leave, hence the lack of creativity on this here blog.

 
At last, I tackled a few Christmas cards with the fab Snarky Cats Christmas set
and here's the first one.

As well as the Snarky Cats (CMS416 from Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz) set I used old freebies from magazines, the Let it snow and the gloves. The snowflakes have been stencilled the in blue with Distress inks and a My Favorite Thing stencil.

I inked my cat with Versafine Clair in Pinecone and Memento in Rhubarb Stalk with the help of my stamping platform.

I do hope it brings a smile as this is part of a set I made as a gift! 

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Addicted to stamps, Stamping Sensations and We Love Chocolate Baroque challenges.

Monochromatic stencilling and stamping

 Welcome to my second inspiration post for our Country View Challenge, where the theme, chosen by Debs, is "Monochromatic".

I like stamping scenes and usually they are in colour so I thought this would be an interesting experiment for me.

I used masks cut out of paper for hills, a stencil for the clouds (Stamplorations) and the left hand motif is from a stencil created with an old punch (EK success). 

The stamps are all Lavinia: 

Tree scene

Badger

Mini mushroom

Leaf Trails

as is the Elements ink in Merlot I used for everything but the badger, and the Multifarious card. 

I hope I have inspired you to create a monochrome project to enter our Country View Challenge. 

For the avoidance of doubt you can use white and black as the lightest and darkest hue of your chosen colour but no other.  

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Casology and Paperbabe challenges.

Monochromatic card

As we finally had a bit of hot weather I have been thinking (obsessing) about the beach and the big blue. So it was pre-ordained that I would choose blue when our August Country View     Challenge came around with Monochromatic as the theme, hosted by Debs!

I settled on a birthday card with a cheesy sentiment:

The background waves were made with an inked embossing folder, using 2 colours of Distress Oxides.
The dolphins were stamped, coloured with pencils and fussy cut. The stamped sentiment is embossed with white detail EP.
Both the folder and the stamps are from a recent Creative Stamping magazine (issue 97).

I hope I have inspired you to enter our challenge, but do have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog for more inspiration. If you do link up a project you will be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

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

Sensational Stamping

Exciting post today!!! Well exciting for me anyway...
I am guest DT for Stamping Sensations, having been selected as the Featured designer for my June challenge entry.
The August challenge theme is "Any Celebration" and as the A level results (high school leavers exams) are due this month I plumped for this graduation image by Polkadoodles. I know, the ONE time I get a spot on Stamping Sensations and I use a digi... me... a hardened hand-stamped afficionado!
In my defence, the owl is cute and I didn't have anything else in my stash.

Once printed I coloured the image with alcohol pens and die-cut it with the Layers, Frames and Banners Rectangle die set (JHD-CUT-1003) from Julie Hickey Designs.

The sentiment is from the STAMPlorations set Everyday Sentiments.
Let's hope the grades are good and I get to give my owl card!

Hop on over to the Stamping Sensations blog to get inspired by the DT.


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