Monday, February 29, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #63 - Happy Balloon Day


It's the last day of the month, so we've got some more inspiration for you over on the STAMPlorations blog.  I've been playing with Deepti's Balloons And Banners set to make a one layer birthday card.

I stamped and coloured the balloons and strings in Wild Honey, Twisted Citrus and Crushed Olive, then added the strings in black.  The Happy Birthday sentiment grounds the balloons (should balloons be 'grounded' anyway??).

Don't forget to leave a comment on the STAMPlorations Inspiration post for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate :)

I'm entering this into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes,


and CAS(E) This Sketch.


Saturday, February 27, 2016

Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd Birthday Bash

I'm late to the Late Party!  Winnie & Walter are having their Belated 2nd Birthday Bash with loads of lovely challenges to enter.


As is usual when I start making something for one of the challenges, it soon finds itself overlapping into some of the other challenges.  So I've ended up with two cards and a bookmark that, between them, cover all ten challenges.

The first challenge to spark my creativity was Taheera's Image Inspiration:


and this is what I made, using torn washi tape and the Happy cutaway:


It's a twofer cos I'm also entering it into Mayuri's Inlaid Die-Cutting challenge.

My next card is a fourfer:
Vanessa's Rainbow challenge,
Kelly's Over the Edge challenge,
Heather H's Gold & Watercolour challenge,
and Gayatri's Create Your Own Background.


And finally, another fourfer:
Kate's Anything But a Card challenge (bookmark),
Heather P's Colour challenge,
Lydia's Floral challenge,
and Shay's Two challenge (two flowers, two torn washi strips, two rows of machine stitching).


Happy Belated 2nd Birthday, Winnie & Walter!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Seize The Birthday - No Topping


It's Seize The Birthday time, and for this challenge there's no topping, so it's Anything Goes as long as it's a birthday project.


I've used the Penny Black 'Sparkler' stamp, using Distress Inks as watercolours, and a Distress Marker around the edges of the petals.

I'm entering this into CASology, where the challenge is 'Distress'.  Predictably, I've gone for Distress Inks as my interpretation of the cue word :)


Wednesday, February 24, 2016

STAMPlorations Art Marks - Special Release from Shery


Hi peeps, and welcome to a little mini-release and hop from STAMPlorations.  Shery has designed this fabulous grungy Art Marks set with plenty of scribbles, splatters and other marks to enhance your creativity.

Here's my card.  I stamped some of the images in Versamark then white-embossed them.  On a piece of acetate I smooshed some Victorian Velvet, Crushed Olive and a touch of Aged Mahogany, spritzed it then dipped the card onto it.  (I know I could have smooshed before stamping and embossing, but I wanted to do it this way round.  I'm like that.)

I stamped the sentiment on black card in Versamark then white-embossed it, trimmed it down and stapled it to the panel, then added the panel to my card base.


Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more stunning inspiration, and don't forget to leave a comment on all our posts for a chance to win.

The Art Marks set is available in the shop at 10% off for one week until 2 March.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #62 - Happy Dragonfly


Ready for some more STAMPlorations Inspiration?  Good!  Today's card uses the ARTplorations Bloom Silhouettes stencil with Distress Inks swished on the back and spritzed then laid onto a piece of white card.  The excess ink is taken up by pressing kitchen roll onto the stencil before lifting the stencil off, then all the colours run into each other.

On a spare piece of card I stamped the dragonfly from The Bee's Knees Winged Things, coloured it with the same inks, then cut out the wings and body and slathered them in Wink of Stella.  I stamped the dragonfly onto the panel, then attached the dragonfly body over the top.

The sentiment is from Shery's new set, Big Greetings.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration, and don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Gelli Plate Playtime


Last week I did a demonstration at my craft club using the 5x3 inch Gelli Plate, followed by a make and take workshop and a giveaway of 3 Gelli Plates and mini brayers.  So in preparation for the demo, I made about 20 prints in various colours, using various stencils, bits of lace, bubblewrap, etc.  Out of all of them, this was my favourite print - I love how there's still a bit of colour in the white spaces, and it almost looks like it's embossed, but it's completely flat.

To finish off the panel, I masked the central print and stamped around the edges with Mixed Media Elements and Mixed Media Grunge.

I'm entering this into TIME OUT - if you look closely at the inspiration photo you'll see blues and greens on the globe.


I'm also entering into Cupcake Inspirations - blue green and white.  Hope it's not too grungy!


A few weeks ago I bought this photo multi frame, with the idea that I would gradually fill each 6x4 aperture with a new piece of artwork, but as soon as I got it home I ended up filling every aperture with various background panels from my stash because I couldn't stand to see all the blanks!  There's just enough room to slot the panels in front of the glass, so I can chop and change the images easily without having to take the frame down.    It's on my craft room wall, and it makes me happy every time I look at it.  Here's what it looks like at the moment, but I think today's panel will be finding its way on there soon!


Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Vintage Calorie Treat


This is the third card in my vintage tea room themed trio.  My first one was here and on the STAMPlorations blog yesterday, and my second one is on the STAMPlorations blog today.  If you pop over there you'll see a run-through of how I made them.

The tea room was adorned with vintage themed ephemera, pictures, teapots - and the food was absolutely gorgeous!  Here are a couple of pics that I snapped while we were in there.

Love the wire dress form!

froffee coffee


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #61 - Vintage Sundae


It's Tuesday so it's Inspiration day over at STAMPlorations.  Today I've got a card with a vintage tearoom feel to it.  I won't go into any detail over it - you'll have to pop back to the STAMPlorations blog tomorrow for my Spotlight feature :)  And maybe you might see a couple more on the same theme...

In the meantime, pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

Monday, February 15, 2016

CASEplorations Reminder

This month at CASEplorations, we're CASEing this card by the delightful and delectable Anita in France:


Here's my original CASE for last week's post:


And here's another version.  For this version I mimicked the circular diecut negatives by stamping images from The Bee's Knees Newlyweds and Newlyweds Extras, tinting them with colour, then punching out circles from the images.


Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more inspiration, and enter your CASE of Anita's original card here to be in with a chance of a prize.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Cupcake Inspired Rosebuds


STAMPlorations is sponsoring this week's Cupcake Inspirations, and some of the girls from the STAMPlorations team are playing along.  Here's the inspiration photo for this week's challenge:


I took a piece of smooshed card from my stash, then stamped the rosebud bouquet from The Bee's Knees Rosebuds on it.  The chevrons are from Mixed Media Grunge, and the sentiment is from Rosebuds.

Pop along to the Cupcake Inspirations blog to see more inspiration and to play along.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Spritzed Poppies


A quick post from me today.  I'm playing along with Simon Says Monday Challenge - Spritz and Spray, and Timeout Challenge - Love Is A Flower You've Got To Let Grow.  I stamped my poppies (Clearly Besotted - retired) with Distress Inks onto mixed media card, then spritzed water over them.    When dry, I dotted some Distress Stickles on the centres of the flowers.  I coloured a snippet of card with green Distress Stains then diecut the 'happy' from the main panel and the green panel, and swapped them over.  A little washi tape is helping all the bits stay where they should be.  I added some washi tape down the left then added my cut panel to the card front.

  

Also I just wanted to give you a quick reminder that the Mixed Media Card Challenge - Red with an option of Hearts - is open until 25 February.



Friday, February 12, 2016

Craft Stamper Take It Make It Reminder - Text Me


Are you playing along with the Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge?  This month our theme is Take a Technique - Text.  We want you to use text on your card.  Book print, magazine print, scrapbook papers, large text stamps - anything you like as long as it's text.  You could even write it if you wanted to!  We're not after single word stamps, a phrase or a sentiment (include them by all means, but we still need a substantial chunk of text somewhere on your creation.  And some actual stamping.   (And don't forget to read the eligibility guidelines on the blog.)

After stamping and masking my image I've used a Hero Arts background text stamp in Faded Denim.  Pop on over to the Craft Stamper blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, then join in with us for your chance to win.

This month's sponsor, A Sprinkle of Imagination, are generously offering a £25 voucher to their online store to one randomly selected player.


And the winner chosen by the Design Team will have their entry published in Craft Stamper magazine along with a profile feature, and will be invited to guest design in a future challenge.  Yay!

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Seize The Birthday - Cupcakes or Candy


Time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday and this time our topping is Cupcakes or Candy.  I went all CAS with this gorgeous image, using Distress Inks to watercolour.  The sentiment is from The Bee's Knees World Birthday Cakes.

Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team, then join in with us.  If you don't want to use cupcakes or candy in your design, you can still play along with any birthday creation.

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #60 - Stylish Dress Form


I've got some STAMPlorations Inspiration for you today, in the form of a dress form.  I had my 'texty background' head on after doing cards for one of my other design teams.  I started with a paint-brayered panel which was in my stash, then added lime, blue and white Dylusions paints, then stamped some bubblewrap with white paint.

Once all that was dry, I stamped the dress and the dress form from The Bee's Knees PartyDresses, then masked parts of the dress while I stamped some grunge images from Mixed Media Grunge.    I made the text background using a stamp from The Bee's Knees CityGirl, which is also where the sentiment comes from, then added shadow around the dress form with a Neocolour II crayon.

To finish off, I splattered the panel with white paint, stuck some torn washi tape on my card base, then mounted the panel onto the card base.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team and don't forget to leave a comment there to be in with a chance of winning.

Sunday, February 07, 2016

Happy Anniversary


I'm over at A Sprinkle of Imagination today with this card - pop on over for the details.  There are plenty of heart/love-related challenges at the moment, so I'm entering it into the following:-

Inkspirational - Photo inspiration

Time Out - 'Love Is A Flower You've Got To Let Grow'

AAA Cards - Love Me Like You Do
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart


ETA:  I'm also entering it into Pixie's Snippets Playground Week 215.  Having introduced ourselves over a couple of emails, I admitted to lurking outside the railings occasionally, so I thought it was high time I came into the playground and played along nicely. (I have played before, but a while back.)  Oh, my snippet is the heart, die-cut from a leftover piece of inked/dry embossed/heat embossed grungepaper.


Friday, February 05, 2016

Craft Stamper Take It Make It - Text Technique


Time for a new challenge at Craft Stamper Take It, Make It, and this month we have a cracker for you.  It's Take a Technique, and we want you to add text to your creation.  We're talking about text backgrounds - stamped, torn from old books/magazines, scrapbook/background papers, etc.  Whilst you can include sentiments, phrases or single word art, they won't qualify as the 'text' part.  Your background text doesn't have to be stamped, but you do need to include proper stamping somewhere in your creation.


Our sponsor this month is A Sprinkle of Imagination, who are offering a £25 voucher to one lucky random winner to spend in their online store.


But that's not all - A Sprinkle Of Imagination are offering an extra 10% off for blog readers! The code is CSBlog10% and will work from 5-25th of February, with a minimum £5 spend excluding P&P.

The winner chosen by the Design Team will have their entry published in Craft Stamper Magazine, a designer profile, and a guest design spot in a future challenge - yay!

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Comic Strip Cards. Again.


I've got another comic strip card for you - my last for a while.  If you pop over to the STAMPlorations blog, you'll see a step-by-step on how I created this and my other recent comic strip cards.

I'm sharing this at Kathy's 30 Day Colouring Challenge.


Tuesday, February 02, 2016

STAMPlorations Inspiration #59 - Dream Big


I've got some STAMPlorations inspiration for you today with a smooshy, dreamy card.  I had a little smooshing session the other week, so it was time to start putting my smooshed panels to use.

I picked this bluey-greeny background, which reminded me of a skyscape, and looked for an area that would work with the image stamp from the Country Rustic set.  Having stamped the image, I extended the pole with a stamp from the Artsy Border Maker set, then stamped the sentiment.  The pole divided the sentiment a little too much, so I added a couple of rows of black stitching so that the eye would follow the sentiment.  A couple of Winged Things completed the panel, then I mounted it onto blue card.

Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for some more fabulous inspiration, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win.

I'm entering my card into Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes


and Pinterest Inspired Challenge, with this gorgeous pin as inspiration: