CAS Mix Up Challenge - Stencilling with Powdered Inks

Hi everybody.  Here we are again with a new month of CAS Mix Up, and this month is Stencilling using Powdered Inks.  Jenny is the host this time and great to see Bonnie (Stamping with Klass) as our Guest Designer.  The technique this time is a fun one which entails dropping the powder onto the stencil and then spritzing with water  and lifting it away fairly swiftly to reveal the design, and handy to have something to remove the excess liquid if necessary.  I think it is probably better to use a stencil with larger spaces which helps keep the resulting pattern clearer.  I wanted to use the lovely bee and I have only the one honeycomb stencil which does have very fine lines and I did do several runs at it to achieve the look I wanted, and try not to be too heavy handed with water...ask me how I know...lol.  The finer the spray the better.

For this card I used a Tim Holtz Honeycomb stencil and a Art Journey Honey Bee stamp, and also a set of XCut Hexagon dies and a Crealies Squares with Small Squares set of dies.

 I started by using a couple of colours of Brusho Powders - Yellow and Orange through the Honeycomb stencil onto a piece of white card and then cut out the three hexagons using one of the smaller ones in the set.  I then moved on to the bee stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and coloured using my Lyra Pencils in Canary Yellow with a touch of Light Orange and I fussy cut it out and I then added some Wink of Stella onto the wings which doesn't show but it seems to have made the wings look a bit yellow and not sure why.  I decided to put the hexagons and bee onto a mat and found another piece of white card and die cut it with the Crealies die, the largest size in the set.  I finished it by adding a sentiment also stamped using the Nocturne Ink and heat embossed with the Clear Gloss EP.  I did use some Pinflair Glue Gel to give the bee more dimension.

I hope you will visit us over at CAS Mix Up and take a look at the beautiful work from our Guest Designer Bonnie and the rest of the team, and there are also a couple of videos to watch for more inspiration, and the challenge is open until the end of the month so plenty of time to play along with us.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

Blackout Poinsettia

Hi all.  I am a bit late posting this card but I suddenly realised that as I have been busy with other things I had forgotten about CAS Christmas which has the theme of Poinsettia and as the theme at CAS Mix Up this month is a mixed media month and the chosen theme is Blackout Embossing I would combine these and use a Crafter's Companion Pretty Poinsettia 3D Embossing Folder and die cut part of it using a new set of Essential Arches Dies from Spellbinders which I got in a recent sale and having their first outing.

I embossed the whole of the 5' X 7" EF onto a piece of white card and then I die cut using one of the Arches dies which wasn't the best way round to do it as the die cutting did flatten the embossing quite a bit, so I then lined it back up in the EF and ran it through again to get the dimension back.

For this technique you use the negative side of the EF and colour with inks..in this case Candied Apple Distress Ink for the flowers, Sunshine Yellow Adirondack for the centres and Pine Needles Distress ink for the leaves and also after filling in I carefully swiped the ink pad across the piece which fills in the background, and I went over it in all different directions to completely cover the background.  I started with just the pad to add the colour on the flowers and leaves just using an edge to colour over the different areas as it doesn't matter if you go over the edges as long as the other colour over the whole piece is dark enough.  I did however find that I couldn't entirely fill in everything properly so used a blending tool too. 

To finish I added some gold gel pen to the flower centres as the yellow was not bright enough, and I decided to add a gold matted layer and then I added the stamped sentiment embossed with WOW Metallic Gold Rich Embossing Powder and added it onto a white 5" x 7" card.

As I said both CAS Christmas and CAS Mix Up are due to finish soon but you do still have over a day left and this technique is quite quick to do as you do not need to be really accurate when you add the colours as long as the background colour is really dark it will cover, and if you prefer you can add the colour using a roller instead of using the ink straight from the pad, and it is so satisfying to see how the dark colour brings it all together.

Thanks for coming to see me here today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

CAS Christmas Challenge - Oct. 26 Poinsettia.

CAS Mix Up Challenge - Oct. 26 Blackout Embossing.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 861 Feminine/Anything Goes.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes/Numbers.

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - No. 115 Gothic Christmas.

AAA Christmas Card Challenge - No. 1 Traditional Christmas (great to see a new Christmas challenge starting up)

ABC Christmas Challenge - 'U' Unused Stash & 'V' Violet.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - No. 189 Use Colours Red and Green.

NBUS Challenge - No. 91 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Holly and Snowflake Wreath

Hi all.  I thought it was about time I properly started my Christmas cards and I managed to get hold of a copy of Die Cutting Essentials Magazine Issue 109 which had a Memory Box Wreath Die and which I had seen for sale and thought it was pretty and I do have a soft spot for wreath shapes on cards and as it wasn't brand new I did get it a little cheaper which is always good..lol.  This is the first time I have used it. 

I saw this idea in the magazine which had four colours of strips of card diagonally over the background but I decided to use a piece of paper from an old Indigoblu box kit..not sure which one though, but I liked the check design and so I started with this cut to fit a 6" square white card.  I then cut a circle from another piece of white card just a bit smaller than the patterned paper and with a circle aperture slightly larger than the wreath, and adhered that over the patterned paper.  I then cut the wreath twice, once from white and again from silver mirri.  I then glued the outline of the wreath inside the aperture and then I filled the white leaves back into the relevant spaces, luckily not too time consuming.  I then cut out the two snowflakes off the silver one which I had managed to keep intact in the die and glued then over the white ones and, now the fiddly part, getting all the little silver berries into their relevant holes, and lastly I cut a silver bow and the letters for Noel from another piece of silver mirri and glued them in place.  The letters were extremely small and I think instead of using glue next time I will use some sticky sheet which would be quicker and easier.  I love the finished look and I may make a few more but maybe a different style..this was definitely not one to batch make.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Rudolph Days Challenge - Oct. '26 Anything Christmas Goes.

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 544 Where we use our snippets of paper and card (my snippets were white card for the wreath and silver mirri used for parts of the wreath and also the bow and Noel)

Allsorts Challenge - No 851 Feminine/Anything Goes.

ABC Christmas Challenge - 'U' & 'V' - Unused Stash/Violet (mine is Unused Stash.

Girlz Creative Christmas Challenge - No. 200 Traditional/Non-Traditional Colours.

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge - No 122 Anything Christmas Goes.

A Cut Above Challenge - Oct ' 26 Anything Using a Die Cut Goes.

Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge - Oct' 26 Anything Goes/Ghosts, Goblins/Things That Go Bump in the Night.

NBUS Challenge - No. 91 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Canary Bird Rose Anniversary

Hi everybody.  I visit a lady who makes some very unique and beautiful cards and ATC's and I saw an anniversary card where she had coloured the flower with a 2B pencil also added white gel pen highlights and was surrounded by the outline of a heart and around that some stencilled spots.  She has made quite a few cards with pencil work and so beautifully done that I decided to do something similar myself and CASE her wonderful card.  Her name is Sam and you will find her card here.

I decided to use this Chocolate Baroque Canary Bird Rose and a set of Torn Edge Hearts from Creative Craft Products bought quite a while ago, and also a stencil with tiny hearts bought at The Range..sadly none are available now.  Whilst on a recent holiday in Cornwall I found a couple of different Graphite Sticks in a gift shop..one thin and the other with a lot thicker tip and I am trying them out for the first time and I think they worked well.  

I cut a square white mat to fit a 6" square card base and I decided where to place the flower and what size of heart die to use around it which would best fit the card.  The flower  is quite a large stamp so part of the stem is missing and I stamped it using Versafine Smokey Gray Ink and then coloured with the Graphite Sticks.  I used an eraser to lift out some of the graphite where I need a lighter highlight. 

 I then added the outline of the heart cutting it from a piece of 120gsm paper and using the positive piece and a brush I brushed the Spun Sugar Distress Ink just off the edge of the heart working my way round and making sure to keep the ink off the flower as much as possible and where it didn't quite work I used a sand eraser.  In the photo the ink looks more orange than pink on the background as against the sentiment which is stamped from the same ink but looks fine in real life..not sure why.

This is where it went a bit awry as I miscalculated when I added the stencilled hearts as I only covered the part of the flower which was within the heart shape and when I lifted the stencil which unfortunately was a dark colour and not easy to see through I had added hearts to quite a few of the leaves by mistake.  The air was blue for a bit but I decided to stamp colour and cut out another and place it over the top.  Parts of it were not the easiest to cut out but after about three quarters of an hour of cutting and having snipped through several of the stems so it was in several pieces I did manage to get it stuck over the top of the original..I do not like to go down without a fight...lol.

I finished by adding a sentiment onto a strip of white card stamped using the Spun Sugar Ink and heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Oct. 26 Anything Goes/Shades of Autumn.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 860 Anything Goes/More Than One Fold.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Oct. 26 Anything Goes with Stencils.

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 90 Big and Bold.

The Paper Funday Challenge - Oct. 26 Anything Goes/Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice.

Gem of a Challenge - No 9 Anything Goes.

Dog About Town

Hi everybody.  I saw this Creative Stamping Magazine with Snoopy stamps and I know there have been several sets which I haven't bought but as this was a Christmas set I decided to get it, and although it has a seasonal theme there are several for other occasions, and this is one of them and being used for the first time.  It is for the husband of a friend who I thought this would work for, and I already had this paw print stencil from Creative Expressions which I thought would make a good background.  

I used a couple of Adirondack Inks - Cranberry and Butterscotch as these two colours were the closest in tone to the red and yellow theme over at Color Hues and as Snoopy looks OK in red and the paw prints work in yellow, I decided to go for it.

I found a square piece of white card to which I had already attached the double sided tape, and it was a good fit on the 6" square card I intended to use, and I added the stencilled paw prints to it using a brush.  I then stamped Snoopy onto a snippet of white card using the Cranberry Ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and added some colour with a waterbrush using the same ink and die cut with a circle die.  I then found another circle which I had already cut, luckily just a bit larger than the topper, and covered it with the same ink straight from the pad to get good dark coverage and I then adhered the stamped piece to it.  Finally using the red ink I added the stamped sentiment to the background and heat embossed it with the WOW Clear Gloss EP.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Color Hues Challenge - No. 142 Amber & Burnt Red.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Oct. '26 Anything Goes/Shades of Autumn.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 860 Anything Goes/More Than One Fold.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Oct. '26  Anything Goes.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 528 Birthdays.

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 543 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.  (the square of white card and the white circle which I coloured red were snippets already cut and in my 'bits box'.

NBUS Challenge - No. 91 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 2 Dies.

And All That Jazz

Hi all.  As a winner of a previous challenge, I was asked to be a Guest Designer over at The Male Room Challenge and the theme is Geometric.  I had some leftover snippets from the last music themed card I made featuring a sax player here, and the background music piece from which I cut a circle is being used backed by a slightly larger white circle snippet which I found in my bits box and which fits the brief. 

I was so pleased to have been asked to join in the challenge and as you can see you have plenty of time to take part.

I decided for this one to use the trumpet player from the set I bought a while ago and this is its first outing.  I cut it twice from black and then kraft for the top layer..all snippets and I layered that up and adhered the circles and put the trumpeter on top.  I thought this would look best on a 6" square white card and I decided where to add the sentiment and added that in black Versafine Clair Nocturne ink before layering it all onto the card.  I finished it by adding some notes again using a snippet of white card.  The music notes are all fixed together and I cut the whole lot twice and used the outline piece to hold each note whilst I added glue and fixed another layer of each on top and then glued them into groups of three onto the card.

Thank you again to the team for asking me to be their Guest Designer this time, and I'm sure they would love you to go and visit to see all their great inspiration and to join in the challenge too.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 542 Where we use or snippets of card and paper etc.

A Cut Above Challenge - Oct. '26 Anything Goes using Die Cuts.

Cut It Up Challenge - No. 366 More Than One Die Cut.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Oct. '26 Anything Goes/Shades of Autumn.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 859 Anything Goes/Anything Autumn.

N.B.U.S. Challenge - No. 91 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

CAS Mix Up Challenge - Blackout Embossing

Hi everyone.  Here we are with a new challenge over at CAS Mix Up, and this month it is Blackout Embossing hosted by Linda, and great to see Darnell (djkardkreations) as our Guest Designer.  This technique involves adding colour to the debossed side of an embossed piece and then dragging a dark colour of ink over the top to cover the raised areas and gives a really dramatic look to it.

For this card I used a Spellbinders Twirling Tulips 3D Embossing Folder and also a set of Clarity Frame Its square dies, one die which cuts quite a few in different designs, and I chose two about which are about 4" in consecutive sizes.

I started with the blackout technique using the Twirling Tulips EF and embossed onto white card.  I coloured the tulips using my Lyra Brush Markers in yellow and orange and a mid green for the leaves, and then used a Versafine Majestic Blue Ink Pad rubbed carefully over the top to catch the raised parts trying to keep the pad as level as possible and with light pressure.  I found turning the card around and doing it from each direction covered it more evenly.  

I already have a stash of the Frame Its in a bag ready to use and chose two of about 4" square in consecutive sizes and coloured with a bit of blue ink which was already on a brush just to add a hint of colour.  I then cut a piece of white card about 4 1/4" square and adhered the two frames to it and then chose a portion of the inked piece and cut it to fit just inside the frames with just a tiny space around it.  I finished with the sentiment stamped using the Majestic Blue Ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

I hope you will visit us over at CAS Mix Up and take a look at the beautiful work from our Guest Designer Darnell and the rest of the team, and there are also a couple of videos to watch for more inspiration, and the challenge is open until the end of the month, so plenty of time to play along with us.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Cut it Up Challenge - No. 366 More Than One Cut.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes with Embossing Folders/Trees.

A Cut Above Challenge - Oct. '26 Anything Goes with a Die Cut.

Triple B Challenge - Oct. '26 Birds, Butterflies and Blooms (one, two or all three).

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar - Week 1 Ink/Colour Mediums.

Circular Scene on Patterned Paper

Hi all.  This was supposed to be shown a little while ago as a follow up post for the August CAS Mix Up Challenge, but it didn't work well because I had finished the scene and was adding some birds in the sky and some stray ink landed on the top part which could not be erased as patterned paper is not forgiving so I cut the top part off just above a layer of clouds but after some thought I finished it.  Stencilling was the media for this challenge and I used parts of the Clarity Deerscape, Mountains and Hills and Clouds Mask Sets.  The wild flower stamps were from Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine No. 284 featuring Indigoblu stamps called Wings and Things.

I started by cutting a circle of white card and then cut a circle from a piece of patterned paper from one of my magazine sets, but sorry not sure which one.   It had a fairly minimum amount of pattern and in a sort of cream/light brown shade and so I chose my colours to go with this.  I used some brown Distress Ink in I think Tea Dye Distress Ink with a small amount of Hickory Smoke DI to shade the edges for the foreground hill using the Deerscape stencil, and then one of the Mountain/Hill stencils for the next one back using Dried Marigold DI.  I then followed this with the cloud stencil using the residue brown ink with a touch of Tumbled Glass DI.  I also added the deer using the Deerscape stencil and Walnut Stain ink, but using just one of the deer featured on it. 

This is where I cut the rest off after getting some stray ink onto it which could not be erased, and after a lot of thought I decided to cut another circle of thinner card and a circle of the same patterned paper to complete the circle and I added the sentiment using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink.  I then added foam tape to the back of it.  

I was going to keep the background plain white but I thought it needed something so I found a border embossing folder with these grasses and I embossed it being careful to make sure to place the top plate just below the top edge of the folder and luckily it worked and didn't leave a line.  I finished by colouring the embossing with a brush using the Dried Marigold DI.  I added this to the 6" square base card and then added the circle in the centre.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Sept. '26 Trees and Leaves/Anything Goes.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Stamp It.

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 89 Use Patterned Paper.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 525 Diecuts and/or Stencils.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Sept. '26 Anything Goes/Yellow.

CAS Mix up Challenge - Watercolour Sunflower

Hi everybody.  This month the CAS Mix Up Challenge is featuring Watercolouring with the theme of Sunflower hosted by Bobby, and our Guest Designer is Barbara (My Creative Room).

I used an old set of Papermania stamps called Build a Sunflower, and I also used a stencil which came with a Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine No. 284 with stamps and a double stencil from Indigoblu, both have never been used before.

                            

I decided to use a 5" x 7" card base and I cut a piece of white card to fit this.  I stamped the largest sunflower in the bottom right corner using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, going off the edge slightly and then I stamped it again onto some masking paper and cut it out.  Having masked the image I then used the mandala stencil in that corner using a brush to apply the Distress Ink Mermaid Lagoon, and then I decided to add a smaller bit of the mandala on the top left hand corner using the same ink.  I also added four of one of the tiny sunflowers stamped in the same ink around the edge of the stencilling in just that corner.

I removed the mask and then watercoloured the sunflower with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade DI's on the petals and Walnut Stain DI for the centre using a waterbrush.  I finished with a bit of pencil smudged around the edge of the flower to give it more definition and added the sentiment also using the Mermaid Lagoon ink.

I hope you will come and visit us over at CAS Mix Up and take a look at the beautiful work from our Guest Designer Barbara and the rest of the team.  There are also a few videos you can watch for more inspiration and the challenge is open until the end of the month so you have plenty of time to play along with us.  I love sunflowers which are always so bright and pretty and can be seen quite late into the summer which is lovely, and if you ever see a field filled with them it is a spectacular sight.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.  

I am entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Stamp It.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 525 Die Cuts and/or Stencils.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Sept. '26 Anything Goes/Yellows.

NBUS Challenge - No. 90 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 5 Stencils.

CAS Christmas - Woodland Critters

Hi everyone.  I am so pleased to have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at CAS Christmas after being the winner of last month's challenge, and the theme this time is Woodland Critters.  

I have used a mix of a Card-io set of stamps called Oriental Blossoms, using just the twiggy branch and a small leaf, and then some silhouette stamps from Crafter's Companion called Festive Foliage from which I think I may have used the holly in the past, but not the berries or pine cones, so these are getting their first outing, and I think the twiggy branch and leaf have not been inked before either..both sets were bought a long time ago so great to get some use  at last.  The fox and bird came from two different magazine stamp sets from Highlight Crafts Two Red Robins Box Kit 4 which had the fox, and Creative Stamping No. 129 had the little bird, and both sets have lots of other lovely Winter/Christmas images, and neither set has been used very much so I must endeavour to use some of these for festive cards this year, and the two I used had definitely not seen ink before...tut tut!

I cut a piece of white card to fit a 6" square card base and then decided how large it needed to be in order to stay CAS and for the little fox to fit inside it.  I made small pencil marks where the perimeter of the circle would be in each direction and then started at one side and continued round to aim for the marks to keep it reasonably circular which luckily worked OK.  I did add one or two more branches where I thought they were needed, but didn't do any second or third generation stamping which if I had kept it plainer I probably would have done to fill it out more.  I then added the holly leaves at intervals with the berries over the top..perhaps the bunch of berries was a bit large but I didn't have a lot of choice and they do make a statement.  I then added the pine cones, and in two other gaps I added a couple of small leaves.  I used Distress Inks except for the red which was an Adirondack ink pad in Cranberry which I thought would be darker and therefore have enough ink coverage to push the holly and twiggy branch into the background, although close up you can still see both beneath.  The pine cones being brown stand out fine, as do the little leaves.  I was very happy with the result as I don't think I have attemped this sort of wreath before.  I meant to keep a note but I think the Distress Inks were Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain, and the leaves were a combination of Twisted Citron and Pine Needles over the top

The next step was to add the sky and snow slope within the wreath and I kept it simple using one of a set of stencils from Lavinia and using Tumbled Glass DI brushed very lightly.

I then found a small offcut of white card and stamped the fox coloured with my Lyra Pencils and then cut it out, and similarly with the very small bird.  I did also use my pencils to add a bit more definition to the the holly leaves and berries and the pine cones, and I added a white Posca pen highlight on each of the berries.

Finally I added the sentiment using a mix of Versafine Satin Red and Crimson Red inks.  The Satin Red was a bit too bright and the Crimson a bit dark so this just made it about right to match with the red of the berries, and after cutting the piece of card down slightly as the wreath wasn't totally central and adding this to the card base, I added the fox and little robin using Pinflair Glue Gel to give them a little dimension.

I hope you will visit CAS Christmas and see what the Design Team have made to inspire you, and hopefully join in the challenge which is open until the end of the month so lots of time to take part.

Thanks for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 70 Anything Goes.

Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 118 Anything Goes Christmas.

NBUS Challenge - No. 90 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

All Creatures Great and Small

Hi everybody.  I am so pleased to have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at Allsorts for their latest challenge which is as you can see All Creatures Great and Small.  I chose to use a couple of fairly recent purchases both being used for the first time.  The hare image is from Indigoblu Magazine Box Kit 11 and for the background I used a 3D Embossing Folder from Funky Fossil called Oak Leaf Cascade.  

I started with a piece of white card cut to fit a 6" square card base and I placed the folder in such a way that it would leave some space at the bottom for the hare and foliage.  I did have the card and just the edge of the embossing folder beyond the plates but unfortunately it did leave the impression a little but in real life it hardly notices and so I left it but can see that the photo is less forgiving.  I then ran a Twisted Citron Distress Ink Pad over the raised areas of the leaves trying more or less to miss the acorns, followed by a Bundled Sage DI which brought out some of the lines and detail, and then I used a Brushed Corduroy DI on the acorns.  I then used a waterbrush and washed over the leaves to move the ink around and also added more of these colours as well as a little Pumice Stone DI.  I then added some sky around the leaves and acorns using Tumbled Glass DI.  

Then I moved onto the hare which I stamped onto a spare piece of white card using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink and then coloured with the browns I had already used on the leaves and after added some depth with my Lyra coloured pencils.  I then cut this out minus the foliage discarding the whiskers..cutting those out was an impossibility..lol.  I then just inked up the foliage around the hare using Bundled Sage DI and stamped it in the position where the hare would be place on the background, and I then inked it a few more times to fill the entire bottom of the card.  I did add a little of the Twisted Citron DI using a watrbrush to fill it in.

I finished the card by cutting down the background slightly to allow room for the sentiment beneath which I stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink and then added the background and I gave the hare more dimenson by adding some Pinflair Glue Gel and placed it on the background.

Thank you for coming to visit today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Bees.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Summer Blooms.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 524 Any Occasion.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

As You Like It Challenge - Favourite Wild Animal (They are fun with their long ears and legs, and the males have a boxing match in the spring).

NBUS Challenge - No. 89 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 4 - Anything Goes.

Flourishing Hearts

Hi all.  I needed a quick anniversary card and remembered seeing somewhere a card using flourishes behind a heart aperture and I haven't used any flourishes on a card for ages.  I decided to use a set from Honey Doo bought ages ago called Flowers for Design which has a flourish which I have never used, and I also used my Torn Edge Hearts and a couple of different mica powders.

I started with a piece of white card just a little smaller than the 6" square card and I roughly found the middle and started down one of the sides by about 1/2" using Versamark ink.   I stamped the flourish and then from the other direction did the same thing so the long straight edge of the flourish joined up in the middle.  I then heat embossed using WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder.  I decided where to cut the heart..a little above the centre using one of my Torn Edge Hearts. 

Moving on I decided to use Brushos to colour the slightly smaller heart with, i.e.Violet and Ultramarine and spritzed to get them moving.  I then decided to add some mica powders whilst wet so that they would set, and I chose a silver and a pinky lilac and using the tip of a piercing tool I put some of each on and moved them around and then dried the heart on the low speed of my heat tool.  Wow, some great sparkle and I wiped it over with some kitchen towel to remove any that was likely to come off which wasn't much.

At first I had thought that I would add the coloured heart into the torn heart aperture but thought on reflection that I would place the heart back into the aperture to show off more of the flourish and then I added the sparkly heart over the top, and finished with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment using the same Silver EP.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS Challenge - No 315 Anniversary.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 856 Embossing (dry or heat)/Anything Goes.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Nature.

Try it on Tuesday Challenge - Inspired by a Song (Anyone Who Had a Heart - Cilla Black).  If anyone fancies a bit of nostalgia find it here.

A Cut Above Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Fall Flowers.

Stencilling over Patterned Paper

Hi everyone.  Here is another card using the technique over at CAS Mix Up this month.  I used a Tim Holtz Flourish stencil and a Creative Expressions mini stencil called Shabby Harlequin, and a set of Creative Craft Products DL Torn Edge dies and also the Oval Torn Edge Dies.

I started with a piece of quite plain dp from my stash and cut it with a DL Torn Edge die  to fit a DL card, and then using the Flourish Stencil I chose one portion of it to fill a corner by masking off around it so that I wouldn't ink up bits I didn't want, and added it to each end of the piece of paper using Wilted Violet Distress Ink using a blending brush.  I then decided to add another pattern as I felt it was a bit too plain in the centre and used Spun Sugar DI quite lightly to the centre with the Shabby Harlequin stencil, but then decided to do it all over the piece.  I wasn't sure about the colour so I then put the stencil back over and worked my way over the whole piece with Picked Raspberry DI, again quite lightly but it did brighten it up slightly but was still quite a peachy pink but thought I would leave it there.  Although this second stencil is small being a regular pattern it matched up fine.  

I finished by cutting two of the Torn Edge Ovals and the larger one I coloured with the Wilted Violet using the blending brush, and then on the smaller white one I just used what was left on the brush to take the whiteness down a bit.  I finished by stamping a sentiment onto it again with the Wilted Violet ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and layer it up onto the card in a landscape format. 

I hope you will give this a try as if you are like me you have lots of patterned papers which perhaps don't look so great on their own but used as a background they are perfect and my stencils get a bit neglected too.  We would love to see what you can do so do come and join us.  There is still a couple of weeks before it closes at the end of the month.  Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Embossing Wet or Dry/Anything Goes.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes/Nature.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Aug. '26 CAS Design Style/Anything Goes.

Time Out Challenge - No. 319 "Pick 2" ( I have Birthday and CAS and an extra Geometric (diamond stencilling and oval mats).

CAS Mix Up Challenge - Auig. 26 Stencilling over Patterned Paper.

Take Time to Smell the Flowers

Hi everyone.  I have a card today for a birthday and I know by the time it reached her it will have been very late...I had a few to make when that spell of hot weather hit and I just could not get my head round doing any of it in that heat, even with a fan on in the room.  I am using a recently acquired set of stamps which came with Creative Stamping Magazine 162 designed by Françoise Read, with a sort of mixed media/ephemera look to them and they are a bit different to any other stamps that I have and the set also comes with two stencils which work together for a postage collage look which I haven't used yet.  This is one of the four big stamps.  

I needed to keep it relatively simple as time was of the essence, so I did an acrylic block background using Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and luckily I had a block which was exactly the right size.  I lay the inks down on it and then spritzed and added it to a piece of white card to fit a 5" x 7" card base.  I did it several times varying the amount of each ink to get good coverage although I think there is still more of the blue then the green but still OK.  I then stamped it using Versafine Smokey Gray ink and then I used some of my Lyra pencils to colour the flowers and leaves and also to add a bit more blue to some of the images.  I then added the sentiment which is also one of the stamps in the set again using the Smokey Gray ink and heat embossed it using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.   When I had mounted it on the card I decided to give the flowers, bird and hands on the two clocks a bit of sparkle with my Clear Wink of Stella brush pen as a finishing touch, the recipient will appreciate this touch I think...lol.

This card has been waiting for its turn for rather a long time but better late than not at all..lol.  Thank you for coming to visit me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Aug. '26 Summer Blooms/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 855 Colours of Summer/Anything Goes.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 523 Birthdays.

AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 88 Flowers.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Aug. '26 Anything Goes.

N.B.U.S. Challenge - No. 89 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Trio of Trees

Hi everyone.  This was a quick card made this evening to enter the Addicted to CAS challenge which only has a few hours left.  I have been wanting to enter this challenge the last few times and for one reason or another I have left it too late, but I was determined not to miss it again this time as I do love trees.  I used this Crafty Individuals stamp which I have had for some time, and also a leafy stencil which came with an Indigoblu Mixed Media Magazine Issue 11 and being used for the first time.  Being good I didn't get it when it first came out but when I had a closer look later on I was wishing I had, but by waiting I managed to get it for half price which was great.

I decided to use a 5" x 7" card and cut the mat to fit it..I did cut it down more when I was ready to add it to the card.  In my rush to take the photo and get it up I forgot to cut a bit of excess card from the bottom as it is a little unbalanced but too late now...lol.  They are actually winter trees but I wanted to make them in leaf.

I inked the piece of card using the stencil and two Distress Inks - Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage keeping it light, and then used my stamp positioner and some Staedler Watercolour Brush Pens straight to stamp and added a little water but lost quite a lot of the detail.  I then stamped over it with a Versafine Sepia Ink and then added a bit more of the water colour pen straight to the paper, and using a waterbrush I moved it around and softened it by removing some of the ink with a piece of kitchen towel.  Not sure that it totally works but it was a quick card.  I finished with the sentiment which came with the magazine stamped with the Vintage Sepia Ink.

Thank you for visiting me today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS Challenge - No. 313 Trees.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Aug. '26 Summer Blooms/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 855 Colours of Summer/Anything Goes.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Anything Goes/CAS Design Style.

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Happy Birthday.

NBUS Challenge - No. 89 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar - Week 1- Ink/Color Mediums.

CAS Mix Up - Aug. '26 Stencilling over Patterned Paper

Hi everybody.  We're back at CAS Mix Up with a new challenge and this month it's hosted by Viv, and a technique I have never actually done before, using patterned paper as the base to stencil onto.  I also used a set of Torn Edge Stars from Creative Craft Products still available on Etsy at the moment.

               

Sorry, after many tries I couldn't get the photo any better...not easy when using mirri card.  It does look much better in real life, and it does at least show off the stencilled texture paste with the glitter over it.

I have quite a lot of papers from the different magazines I have bought and I'm afraid I don't get them out very often, but I had a sift through and found a few quite neutral looking papers which I thought would make good backgrounds to ink over.  In fact I decided to use some white texture paste through a snowflake stencil from Crafter's Companion Magazine Box Kit No. 6.  I also used some Pergamano Perga-Glitter Hint of Silver bought a while ago but only just being used for the first time. 

I cut the piece of patterned paper which was a lovely blue which I thought would be fine as I didn't intend to ink so being darker was not a problem.  I taped the stencil onto the paper and using a palette knife I added the white texture paste and then sprinkled the Perga-Glitter over it and it has given a lovely sparkle to the snowflakes.  I then left it to dry for several hours..it did warp a bit but I decided to cut it with a square stitched die and actually this seemed to sort the warping out.  I then stuck this down onto my white 6" square card.  I thought it could do with some sort of extra image over the top, and I decided on a Torn Edge Star set of dies from Creative Craft Products using three sizes. and cut them from silver mirri card and stuck them at different angles.  I decided at this point to add the sentiment using Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Silver Metallic Embossing Powder.  Finally I added the star to the centre and raised it up with some thin foam tape. 

Please come and visit the challenge which is open until the 31st August and there is a link to a video and also some brilliant cards from the rest of the team to inspire you.

Thank you for visiting me today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No 69 Anything Christmas Goes.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - No. 187 Clean and Simple.

Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 117 Anything Christmas Goes.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

First Christmas Card of the Year

Hi all.  I have looked back and this is the first Christmas make of this year and in very hot temperatures..not the best for creating,  I am so pleased that CAS Christmas Challenge has returned and this month the theme is a Snowman.  I have dug out an old Serendipity stamp which has three fun snowmen.  

I found a white stitched square that I had put in my bits box and I decided to embellish with a bit of embossing using just part of a folder from Crafter's Companion called Touch of Winter, but in order to get the snowmen on it without stamping over the embossing I did a small portion top and bottom, although I could have been a bit more generous with  the bit at the bottom.  I stamped using Versafine Smokey Gray ink and then coloured using my Lyra Pencils and also added a little bit of Wink of Stella to the white fur and bobble/tassel on their hats and the falling snow and balls of snow on the ground, and also the hoop of gold stars held by one of the snowmen.  I also stamped the sentiment with the Smokey Gray ink and backed the topper with a piece of foam for some dimension.  

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

CAS Christmas Challenge - July '26 Snowman.

Rudolph Days Challenge - Christmas in July.

Pearly Sparkles Challenge - No. 121 Christmas in July.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 854 At the Seaside/Anything Goes.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 522 Christmas.

Can You Handle the Pressure Challenge - July '26 Anything Goes/Celebration.

Group of Cardmakers - Adding Dimension to Die Cuts

Hi everyone.  I have a masculine birthday card today following the design technique this month over at the Group of Cardmakers which is adding dimension to die-cuts.  I have used a couple of dies I bought a while ago at Temu but which are getting their first outing and also a music stamp from The Artistic Stamper which I won in a challenge ages ago..they don't do that now.  I bought the dies with one of our friends in mind as he has started playing the saxophone.  Unfortunately he has already had his birthday this year but I will put it in my box and leave it there for his birthday next year, unless someone else I know starts playing a sax..lol. 

I started the card by covering a snippet of white card with the music using Versafine Satin Red Ink.  I had to add a partial second row to make it wide enough as it need to be square and allowing the music die to overhang a little.  After I had stamped the piece I cut it out with a stitched die and then cut a circle aperture in the middle.  I then cut the music die at an angle across this stamped piece and made sure I kept all the pieces intending to fill in the shape around it when layering it up but I soon realised that the die had far too many pieces and the filling in would be an absolute nightmare.  

I carried on by adding a piece of black card just a little smaller than my 6" square base card, and wide enough that the music die would be contained by it when mounted across the music background.  I then glued the black card down on the card.  I decided to inlay the piece of die cut music where it had cut into the background above and below and added some tape behind the spaces so I could get it to stay together whilst I added it onto the black background.  I actually was pleased that I didn't inlay all the stamped layer pieces as it does stand out better against the black.  I did cut three of the die cuts using snippets of white card to give more dimension, and I cut the same amount of the sax player from more snippets of white card and then glued it across the die cut music.  I finished by adding a die cut sentiment to finish the card using another snippet of white card. 

I hope you visit us and also make a card and add it using the Linky at the bottom of the page so we can all enjoy seeing what you've made, and there are various videos showing different versions of the technique for inspiration and more wonderful inspiration from Loll.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Color Hues Challenge - No. 137 Black and Red.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 854 At the Seaside/Anything Goes.

A Cut Above Challenge - July '26 Anything Goes with a Die Cut.  (congrats on your 2nd Anniv.)

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 537 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Make Your Own Background.

The Male Room Challenge - No. 212 Hobbies.

NBUS Challenge - No. 88 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Challenge - Week 4 'A' = Anything Goes.

Ebb Tide

Hi everybody.  This is the card I made for hubby's birthday which was nearly a couple of weeks ago...I have been extremely slow in catching up with posting the cards I've made as I got behind during the hot weather..fortunately a bit cooler now.  It's a stamp from a set by Sheena Douglass which is another from her A Little Bit Sketchy range called Just Chilling, from quite a long time back.  I decided to give my post a different title which more suited it I think.  My hubby said when he saw it that it was'an old wreck for an old wreck', which was not my intention when I made it, but it made me laugh.   I also used a Torn Square Die from a set from Creative Craft Products over at Craft Stash, unfortunately not available now.

I used Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink to stamp the image, and then my Distress Inks with a waterbrush to add the colour and finished with the birds stamped with the Nocturne Ink, which are part of the same set, and then added the sentiment using the Nocturne Ink heat set with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I finished by adding this onto a navy blue piece of card and then die cut a larger mat in a lighter blue using the Torn Edge Square Die set and added this onto a 6" square card.

Thank you for joining me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - July '26 Summertime/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No, 854 At the Seaside/Anything Goes.

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge - No. 388 Summer Theme.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Make Your Own Background.

Seize the Birthday Challenge - No. 331 Square Card and Non White Base/Anything Goes.

Heart Full of Bunnies

Hi everybody.  Recently hubby and I celebrated our 44th anniversary and I made this card for him.  Not totally a masculine look but I couldn't resist making a card using  a bunny which I recently won which was part of a lovely prize over at The Snippets Playground and being used for the first time, and as a background I used a Sizzix Making Hearts Embossing Folder and a set of Torn Edge Hearts which came from Creative Craft Products over at Craft Stash which is no longer in business.

I decided to use a 6" square card as the base and cut a mat a bit smaller and the background was made by inking part of the negative side of the EF opened flat, spritzing with water before pressing the paper down onto it to get this impression of the heart design.  I dried it with a heat tool and then added the second colour by pressing the pad onto the card...I used Blueprint Sketch first and then added Spun Sugar Distress Inks.  The Spun Sugar is a very soft pink so I didn't water it down for that reason.  I then cut two of the hearts from snippets of white card to make a frame, and then using more snippets of white card I cut two lots of the rabbit die, four in total, so I could double each one up.  I put the card together and before adding the bunnies I coloured them using pencils adding blue stripes and added grey to the ears for the boy, and then a pink cap sleeved top with pink cheeks and inner parts of the ears on the girl, and lead pencil to add emphasis to the eyes on both and some pink for the lips.  This bunny has its head to the side a bit and only has one eye but I did pencil in a second one too.   Hubby and I do sing and each belong to choirs and I thought they do look by the shape of the mouth that they could be having a little sing together..lol.  Am I becoming a little silly in my later years, probably..lol.

That is all from me today and thank you for dropping by and I'll be back soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

A Cut Above Challenge - July '26 2 Year Anniversary - Anything Die Cut Goes.

The Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 536 Where we use our Snippets and card etc.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 854 At the Seaside/Anything Goes.

Critter Crazy Challenge - No. 112 Anything Goes with a Critter(s).

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Fun With Paint.

NBUS Challenge - No. 88 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I.D.E.A.S. Calendar - Wk. 2 Dies.