Rudolph Days - January 21

Hello there,

Just a qick post from me today with my entry for this month's 'Rudolph Days Challenge.' I started off really well last year but then got caught up with other things, so I'll try and do better this year.  Here's my card:

This one's a little bit different for me as I usually make inky cards but it's good to do something a little different from time to time.  The image is by Crafty Individuals and the frame is by John Lockwood.   I know that pink isn't a colour that narmally you'd use at Christmas but I though that it worked well with the feminine image.

That's all from me for today and I hope to be back with you soon x 

Something Bright and Cheerful!

 Hello there and how are you all doing?

It's tough at the moment with all this freezing cold weather about here in the UK.  At least during the first lockdown, we were able to get out in some sunshine for some lovely walks, so roll on April is what I say!  The plus side is that we have more time to craft, which always makes me happy.

As I have quite a large stock of my handmade cards, I'm enjoying my art journaling at the moment and it gives me the chance to use some of the unused stamps that I have.  I have quite a few that I love but that aren't really suitable for card making, so this is a great way of giving them some much needed love and attention.  Here's a page that I've made this week using stamps by Visible Image:

I started off by using rainbow colours of Brushos and then used various stamps to make the page.  I wanted something bright and cheerful Once the stamping was finished, I used a VI stencil to create a little more interest in the background.  I'm loving how this turned out and the colour really is that vibrant.  I just need to make another one now to go opposite to it in my journal.

That's all from me for today, so stay safe and take care of yourselves until we can chat again xx

Silhouette Christmas

 Hello there,

I do hope that you're all keeping safe and well and that you're managing to stay sane in this crazy, crazy world.   Thank goodness for crafting is all that I can say!

One of the things that I wanted to do this year was to try and enter in a few more challenges and so I've made this card for the 'CAS Christmas Card Challenge' and their theme this time is 'Silhouette.'  Here's the card that I've made:

The bauble, sentiment and tree stamps are by Inkylicious and the deer are by Crafty Individuals. 

I'd also like to enter this card into 'The Holly and Ivy Challenge.' (Anything Christmas Goes)

That's all from me for today, so until next time, take care of yourselves and stay safe xx

Winter Blues

 Hello there,

Back in December of last year, I was thrilled to be asked by lovely Jo at 'Try It On Tuesday' challenge if I would like to join them this month to do a Guest Designer spot.  As this is one of my favourite challenges, I didn't hesitate to say 'yes please.'  Their theme this fortnight will be 'Winter Blues' and here's the card that I've made:

Whenever I think of a cold January day, I think of sheep in snow coverered fields.  It's a tad early for lambing but it's not too far off now.  All of the stamps that I've used on my card are by 'Hobby Art' (Swallow Barn Scene-it and Sheep Scene it.)  I was really drawn to these two sets when I first saw Jenny demoing them on Hochanda last year and I couldn't resist buying them.  I I really enjoy creating different scenes with them, so they seemed like the perfect choice for this challenge.  For this card, I stamped the images in VersaFine Clair Twighlight, then watercoloured it using Adirondack Denim ink.

Why not pop along to the challenge to gather inspiration from their wonderful Design Team, or better still,  why not join in with them, it's all good fun!

Thank you once again to Jo, I've really enjoed being a part of your fabulous challenge.

That's all from me for today, so take care, stay safe and keep on crafting. xx

New Stash and Splatters

 Hello again,

I've been making the most of my spare time and I've had my first play with some Visible Image stamps that I got for Christmas.  Now I've been after this set for ages and while it was on offer on Black Friday, I decided that I would treat myself to the larger 'Total Chaos' stamp set.  I love these stamps and I've seen so many wonderful cards made with them but the flower is huge.  I wish I'd ordered the smaller set now as I think that I would probably get more use out of it but this set will be great for art journalling and I really like the background stamps that came with it, so no real regrets with my purchase.  

I mentioned in my last post how much I enjoy joining in challenges as they can often take you out of your comfort zone.  I love CAS cards but when it comes to making them myself, I struggle a little as I just don't know when to stop.  With me, it's usually the more ink or paint the better!  I love the 'CAS mix up card challenge' and it's one that I want to join in more with this year.  Despite not usually making CAS cards, I've really enjoyed doing this one and here it is.  

I started by stamping the flower with Versafine and then heat embossing with a clear embossing powder to stop it from smudging.  Next, I made a mask for the flower before blending Tattered Rose ink around the edges.  I then decided to stamp some text inside the flower, so I masked the outside of it to do this.  It was looking okay at this point but I thought that I would use some of the same ink to water colour selected parts inside the flower.  As I'm starting to use my stencils a little more these days, I thought that I would add some small circles to the outside of the flower.  Time to add the splatters at this point, so I pressed  a grey Memento ink pad onto my craft mat, then spritzed it with water.  I then picked it up with a wide paint brush bufore splattering in onto my card. There was just the sentiment to add at this point and I've used another of my new stamps here.  I guess this one 'Hope' is something that we all need right now isn't it.  I'm happy with my new stamps and I think that I'll add this piece to my art journal.  I really enjoyed making pieces of art just for the fun of it during the first lockdown and I think I may very well start doing it again, why not.

Take care my blogging friends and stay safe xx

Positive Words

Hello there my crafty friends ,

I can't belive that it's been a week since my last post and what a week it's been!  

We are now in our third lockdwon here in the UK and I'm so please that I've got enough craft supplies to keep me going. It's really easy to get brought down by watching the events on the news, so I'm trying to stay away from it as much as I can and I'm concentrating on the positive things in my life such as healthy food and regular exercise and spending more time doing what makes me happy.  One thing that I really enjoy doing is to enter some of the many card challenges that are around and I noticed that one of my favourite challenges which is  'Try It On Tuesday' has just started their first challenge of the year.  Their theme this time is to use an uplifting or positive quote and that's probably something that we all need more of right now, so I just had to join in.  Here's the card that I've made:

The flowers are by Crafter's Companion, the sentiment is by Inkylicious and the butterfly is by Bee Crafty.  I water coloured the flowers using Distress inks and then I did some soft blending around the edges of my card just to finish it off.

That's all from me for today, so until next time, take care and stay safe and remember this storm will eventually pass and the sun will shine again for us all xx