Spookalicious

Hello there,

I've never done any Halloween cards before this year but I've definitely made up for it over the last few weeks.  You've got Jean and Malcolm to thank for that over at Crafty Individuals as they brought out two fabulous new stamps designed for them by Maria Kitano.  Here's the last of my offerings and it's a' Spookalicious Dream Scene' inspired by the sentiment that I've used on my card:

Is all that we see or seem

but a dream within a dream?

I've also used CI-361 which has lots of different elements on it that work perfectly with the Crow stamp.  

Take care and I hope to be back with you all again very soon x

Peaceful Waters

Hello there again,

Now I wouldn't ordinarily post twice in a day but I've had a such lovely and peaceful weekend with lots of time to play with some of my new stamps.  At the Stamp Magic show a couple of weeks ago, I caught up with the lovely Inkylicious crew and it would have been rude not to have bought a few new stamps at the same time;)  I'd like to share a piece of art that I've made today using their new 'Mountain Ranges' stamps:

I've used two of the mountain ranges here to bring them into the scene, rather than having them in the distance.  I actually just stamped over and it was very forgiving but in future, I will stamp the first range and then mask it off before adding the next one.  I've used inks and water paints to colour the water and I've highlighted it using my white gel pen a Posca marker, which I absolutely love to bits.  It also covered the incoming tide without picking up any of the blue and it looks quite realistic.  All of the stamps that I've used in this scene are by Inkylicious.

Right then, I promise that's me done for today, so I'll wish you all a happy and peaceful day x

It's That Crow Again!

Hello there,

I do hope that you and your loved ones are keeping well and happy.  If not, then I wish you brighter days to come x

I'm here today to share another card featuring one of the fabulous new 'Crow' stamps by Crafty Individuals.  Now in all fairness, I did warn you that I hadn't been able to put these down, hence there being quite a few of them!

I've created more of a tranquil scene this time, although it may have spooky undertones, what do you think?

There's quite a lot of masking on this one and I've used several different CI stamps, all of which can be found on their web site.  Finished off with a little Ivy, burnished with Gilding wax.

Just one more to come now for the time being but I'll save that for the 31st.

Take care and be happy x

Glimmer of Light

Hello there,

I'm back a little earlier than anticipated as it's absolutely freezing here today, so I decided to head into my craft room and get messy!

When I went to Stamp Magic a couple of weeks back, I was thrilled to see 'Stampers Grove' there as they stock Visible Image stamps, which I absolutely love.  I'm building up my collection slowly but surely and I've been wanting to buy the Glimmer of Light stamps for a while now as I already had the Light Bulb set which work with them perfectly.  Here's what I've made:

I made the background using Brushos with a touch of water colour to create a galaxy effect.  I then used a white Posca marker pen to add the stars.  The light bulb and Moths were coloured in Autumnal colours and then fussy cut out.  I used my new Koi Noor water colours for the first time and I was really impressed by the depth of colour that they have and they blended beautifully as you can see on the large Moth.  Right then, time to start on the Christmas card I think.  

I'll be back with you again tomorrow but until then, stay warm and 'Happy Crafting.'

Envelope Mini Album

Hello there,

I've been so enthralled with the new Crafty Individuals stamps that I completely forgot to post some pictures of the small album that I made for their last show on Hochanda which featured 'Tickets and Ephemera.'

I haven't really done anything like this before so I followed a tutorial on YouTube about how to make an album using envelopes.  Once I got into it, I really quite enjoyed it and it was good to use so many of Crafty Individuals' stamps and papers.  Here it is then:

I used tags on each page which can be removed and used for journaling.  I'm just thinking that it might be a good idea to make something like this with pictures of the family taken at Christmas time. 

That's all for today and I'll be back on Sunday.  Until then I wish you lots of happy crafting x

More To Crow About

Hello there,

I'm here today to share with you the second of Crafty Individuals new stamps which is another fabulous crow, drawn by the very talented artist Maria Kitano.  Here are two of the cards that I've made so far using this new stamp:

These new stamps are wonderful and I've tried to show here how you can either bring in lots of different colours and elements or keep it quite simple as I've done with my second card.  Either way, you're going to love them and I've noticed that they're already popping up on lots of blogs, so I'm not the only one who thinks they're terrific.

Take care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of your day x

I would like to add my first card into the following challenges:

Artistic Stamper - Inktober

That's Crafty - Spookalicious Challenge

Try It On Tuesday - Trick or Treat it's Halloween

Mid Month Inspiration - October 18

Hello there,

I hope that you’re all keeping well and happy, and if not, then I wish you brighter days ahead.

I had an wonderful time on Sunday at Stamp Magic.  I got to meet up with a my crafty friends Sally and Lynne from Stamping Sensations and  lovely Kath from ‘Allsorts.’  I also shared a table with a very nice lady who turned out to be Lorraine from Mrs. Bs Blog.  We chatted for ages about our love of crafting it felt like we’d known each other for ages.  Next, I chatted to the Inkylicious crew who I’ve known for ages and then I met Jean and Malcolm from Crafty Individuals for the first time.  Can you see why it was an amazing day?  Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any better, I won the raffle prize which included contributions from all the exhibitors, so plenty of new crafting goodies to keep me quiet for the next few weeks.  Anyway, on to the matter in hand.......

I'm here today to offer you some mid month inspiration with our current challenge over at Stamping Sensations and here's my card:

I've opted to use Autumnal colours in this tranquil lakeside scene.  All of the stamps and stencils that I've used on this card are by Inkylicious.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Hello there my crafty friends,

I hope that you're all keeping well and happy and that life is being kind to you.  If not, then I wish you brighter days to come.

Now very recently, I received some new Gothic stamps from Jean Hardy at Crafty Individuals and she asked if the Design Team would make a few samples to share with everyone.  Well, as soon as I opened them, I knew that I just had to get them inked up straight away.  Needless to say, I had an amazing time creating this card as I'm sure you'll see.  I've never made anything for Halloween or in a Gothic style previously but everything seemed to flow perfectly with this one and I have to be honest and say that I absolutely love the finished result, so much so that I'm going to frame it and keep it in my craft room.  Being my own worst critic, that's praise indeed from me lol :)  Anyway, I'll stop going on and show you the card:

The background was made using two shades of Brushos spritz with water.  I then stamped the CI image of the Crow and Cross, along with Whitby Abbey and the birds.  Next, I bleached out the colour from both images and the moon, and then water coloured the colours back in.  On this occasion, I left the Crow in black and white to give a a more dramatic look.  I used another new CI stamp to create the lightening and then heat embossed it in white.  The ghost in the right hand corner is from a CI Filmstrip and the date on the gravestone was cut out from an old calendar,  I used a CI Crackle stamp around the edge and then used a blender tool with Adirondack Eggplant ink to create a darker outer edge which with then naturally draw the viewers eye in.  The cobweb was stencilled in using a Bee Crafty Dinkable.

I'll be back soon with more samples of the new CI stamps but until then, I wish you lots of crafty happiness x

Shades of Autumn at Stamping sensations

Hello there you crafty lot and thank you for visiting today.

It's time for a new challenge over at Stamping Sensations and our theme this time is 'Shades of Autumn.'  Now I don't know about you but I love this time of year when the colours of nature at at their finest.  We visit the Lake District quite often and I never fail to be amazed by the scenery at this time of year.

Here's the card that I've made for this challenge:

I started by stamping and masking the Owl which is by Flonz Craft.  I then stamped my moon and masked it off using a circular stencil.  Next, I used my Ink Dusters to colour the background with autumnal colours.  I stamped the trees in the background and then set about creating some hills before stamping in the larger trees in the foreground.  I removed both masks and then used some distress inks to watercolor  my owl.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment to complete my card.  All stamps with the exception of the Owl are by Inkylicious.

That's all from me for now, so I'll wish you a happy and peaceful day x

Just The Ticket - Mixed Media

Hello there,

I hope that you're all keeping well and happy.

Just a really quick post from me today to share with you the wall hanging that I made as a sample for Crafty Individuals' Hochanda shows earlier this week:

Hope you like it.

Take care and I'll be back with you on Sunday when we'll be starting a new challenge over at Stamping Sensations but until then, I wish you lots of happy crafting x

Just The Ticket

Hello there,

Well, it seems ages since my last post but life has been quite hectic of late with one thing and another, so sorry for my absence and for my lack of commenting.  I'm hoping that things will be back to normal soon so that I can be back with you all a little more often.

Did you manage to catch Crafty Individuals on Hochanda yesterday?  There were some great demos by Jean Hardy and Lesley Wharton of Chocolate Baroque.   The shows were all about tags and tickets and I'd like to share with you a few of my samples:

I hope you like them and I'll be back with you on Thursday to share a wall hanging that I made.  Until then, I wish you lots of happy crafting x