WInter wonderland - Christmas past

The theme at Winter wonderland challenge, is christmas past. So I immediatly thought, vintage and distressed and made this really easy tag, using all PaperArtsy stamps (Xmas plate 4 and Ancestors plate 2) and distress inks and powders.

A very long post!!

Had a good crafting day today, my fingers are covered in ink and glue to prove it.
First of all I have made a card for TGIF, where the theme is apples pears and peaches.



Then I have made a baby card, using the mother and baby klimt image. I have, however cropped it to remove the "nipular" area, so as not to offend anyone! I have included a close up of this to show the silver highlights. The heart says "made with love" very appropriate for a baby card, don't you think. The blue edging to this is actually a cover up, it was going to be a really simple card but then I dropped some bue ink on it, so I made a feature of it



next is another skate card, seriosly I don't know what I would do without these stamps. This one is for Ben (hence the giant B)

And finally, here is a coaster card, I have made for the PaperArtsy DT. (because I have had a pile of coasters given to me) All the stamps, paper and ribbons are from PaperArtsy

Craft Stamper is out today

And I have taken part in the stamping contrasts article again. This time we had the rose flower fairy sheet from crafters companion, so of course I had to make a jar fairy! ( I do have a bit of a thing about jars). For the second piece I decorated a cheap clip frame. My favourite thing about this piece his how I did the wings on vellum.
I've included a couple of sneak peek pictures here, but you'll need to get the mag to see them in there entirety and to see what other people did with the same stamps.

I also have an inchie cube in the article written by Carol

TMTA look into a face

Three posts in one day, well that should see me good for a few days!
I couldn't resist TMTA's theme of "look into a face". I had to use one of these adorable babies from the ooh baby plate from the stampsmith.
(I am also putting this on the stampsmith blog)

mixed media monday: playful dolls

The theme at Mixed Media Monday is playful dolls. I decided to use this lovely stampsmith image from the Thank heaven for little girls plate. The thing about the MMM challenge is it encourages me to try yo use other media, apart from just paper and card, so in this case I have gone for fabric and buttons, with a touch of sewing

I am also uploading this to the stampsmith blog

forever friends sketch

We have a sketch challenge again for you over on the forever friends challenge. I used it to make a birthday card for a party my son was going to

Quick Knit along project

The wonderful Marie Greene has a little knit along project on her blog for a dream pillow, but she showed me another way to use it as a bag, so I knitted one up. I love the stitch pattern, it's so easy to follow when you get the hang of it.

I have entered this for the secret crafter "pretty packaging" challenge, I hope knitting counts!!

Homer Simpson Scarecrow

See this is why I needed the doughnuts! Our village has a scarecrow hunt, with models and scarecrows dotted around the village for people to find. The theme this year is America as we are holding it on the 4th July. Now I don't want any of my american readers to take offense. I do not think Americans are all like the Simpsons, I just really really love the show!

Crocheted doughnuts!!!

Why? you might ask. Well, that will become apparent in a future post. I needed a doughnut for something else I was making, so I found this adorable pattern on lion brand. I only needed to make one, but they are as addictive as real doughnuts and I ended up making four!! I tweaked the pattern slightly and the sprinkles (or "hundreds and thousands" as we Brits call them) are sewn with embroidery thread.
The only practical use I can think of for these is pin cushions, but wouldn't they be the best pincushions ever?

Christmas already?

Well, it's always christmas at the Christmas challenge blog, where the theme this week is a blue Christmas. I made this gift box, using all stamps from PaperArtsy. The box is made from just one plain card blank.
I have used versafine deep lagoon for the images, and distress faded jeans for the background.

forever friends: torn edges

It was my turn to chose the theme at the forever friends challenge this week, so I chose the theme "torn edges". I made a tag with lots of torn edges and a torn flower and attached it to an acetate base card.

pet twinchie

The theme at small world of inchies an twinchies is me and my pet, and I had the perfect stamp from the stampsmith.
I am also featuring this on the stampsmith blog.

mixed media monday numbers

I really wanted to use the paperartsy background number stamp on my piece for mixed media monday this week. However you'll have to look carefully to see it.
I found some old acrylic paints that I decided to use up, so applied them with a piece of torn cardboard to this mini canvas. I then stamped the numbers in gold paint, then dry stamped to lift some of the paint off, then finally when it was dry, I overstamped the same stamp in black stazon.

serene tag

I've made this tag for a couple of challenges, Louise's tag tueday challenge, where the theme is masking (I use a tim holtz mask for the background) and Tag it on where the theme is simplicity and serenity. I thought this girl from The stampsmith has such a serene look I had to use it, and I kept the tag as simple as I could.......

As I have used a stampsmith image I have featured this on the stampsmith blog

a rainbow of beanies and the forever friend challenge

My son's teacher asked me last week if it was possible for me to create 7 beanies for the eco-warrior 7 dwarves, in their alternative version of snow white and the 7 dwarves. So here we are: 7 beanies in 9 days. Just please don't anybody ask me to make them a beanie for a couple of weeks, I am sick of the sight of them.


Also this weeks challenge at the forever friends blog is a sketch challenge. Mine didn't actually end up looking much like the sketch, but the essence of it its there!!

Seriously, What are the chances?

Can you believe I posted a wizard of oz piece yesterday and the challenge at sunday postcard art today, is "somewhere over the rainbow"
Well I just had to get my new wizard of oz plate from the stampsmith out again!!
I made the background by rubbing distress inks onto a non-stick sheet, then spritzing with water abd putting the card onto it. it came out much more vibrant than I expected!
I have also put this on the stampsmith blog

black and white with a touch of red

The theme at small world of inchie and twinchies is black and white with a touch of red. This immediatly made me think of the film, the wizard of oz, because I love how the film starts in black and white, and then the colours become such an important part of the story: the yellow brick road, the emerald city, but most importantly the red shoes.

oh the red shoes! I love those red shoes, and have forever had a thing for red shoes since seeing the film as a child. I currently own 4 pairs of red shoes, and I love them all, but none of them are sparkly. One day I will own a pair of shoes just like Dorothy's.

All the stamps on this twinchie are from the stampsmith's wizard of oz plate, and so I am also featuring this on the stampsmith blog

Wednesday stamper : fashion

For the fashion theme at wednesday stamper, I decided to decorate a small gift box in the style of a miniature hat box using one of my new stampsmith stamps. This one is from the "isn't she lovely" plate. I have coolured her with markers. I decorated the box with k&co papers and various bits and pieces I had in my bits and pieces box ( thanks you Carrie for the rose and pearl buckle). I have also featured this on the stampsmith blog

I am also going to sneak this in as a second entry to mixed media monday's lace theme

ooo new rubber!!!

My stampsmith DT parcel arrived today, and wow!
I immediatly had to use this little fella. I needed to make some good luck cards for some A level maths students that I am tutoring, and I thought his face said it all!!
other stamps are paperArtsy and studio G

collaborative project part four

And this time it's Audrey's choice. She chose cream and brown. I used a stampsmith image, so I have also featured it on the stampsmith blog.

mesh background

I'm really pleased with how the mesh background on this piece turned out. I keep a dry 100% cotton waffle facecloth on my craft desk which I use for quick stamp clean ups. I suddenly thought today that the pattern would make a nice background, so I flattened it out, inked it up with distress ink and pressed my card onto it. brilliant.
I stamped over this with the paperartsy sewing pattern background, added an Inka collage image, some lace and a button, and a word from Paperartsy.
I have made this ATC for the Theme thursday's "people with Hats" theme and mixed media monday's "lace" theme

forever friends citrus challenge

This week on the forever friends challenge we challenge you to use citrus colours. You can make whatever you like as long as it uses a forever friends product. This week we have introduced a new feature: FF Faves. The challenger will pick there favourite submission of the week and post it to the FF challenge blog.
I chose to make a tag this week (because it was quick!!) I used oranges and yellows on the flowers and the background. The stamped circles are a PaperArtsy stamp

make a moo and wednesday stamper

I decided to combine this weeks moo theme of alphabets with wednesday stampers' theme of fairies to make this moo.
All of the stamps are by PaperArtsy. The girl does actually come with butterfly wings, but I love mixing up the "old style" PaperArtsy stamps with the newer "squiggly ink range". I did this to give her fab new wings. The alphabet background is a PaperArtsy Mini, and the stencil alphabet is from a border set

Another boy card

I don't know what I would do without these skateboard stamps from I brake for stamps. I think they are a must for boys' birthdays. This is for a boy called Harry (hence the giant H) who will be 11. The circles are by PaperArtsy, and as I have used circles I am entering it for the Created by Hand Circle theme

my mug cosies at baa ram ewe

I visited my new local yarn shop today to see the mug cosies that I made on display. it was lovely to see them, and it's an absolutely gorgeous shop.
If you are looking for the free pattern, you can find it here.
If you get the chance to visit baa ram ewe in Headingly Leeds, then you really should. The yarns are scrummy and Verity, who runs the shop, is lovely.

never throw anything away....

My friend recently bought a necklace from ebay and although she really liked it it was longer than she really wanted, so I said I could shorten it for her.
This is the shortened necklcace.


Which left me with 16 of these lovely red beads. I couldn't just leave them like that, so I had a rummage through my stash and found some seed beads from an old project and a clasp from an old broken necklace, and I made a whole new necklace for her.

and here's a lovely picture from my holiday in scotland. That rainbow was one of the brightest I have ever seen.

2 challenges

Did you miss me? I've been on holiday for a week and I've missed my craft room so much, although I did knit a new pair of socks. I thought I better try and catch up on a couple of challenges, so this is for make a moo or two, where the theme is musical instruments and wednesday stamper, purple and green.
The image is from Designs Ink'd.

stamped fabric gift bag.

This project was completely inspired by the Paperartsy Mini sewing background stamp. I made the bag from some oddments of fabric that I had. The yo yo flower is so easy to make and you don't need any special equipment.

To make a yo yo flower, simply cut a circle roughly twice the diameter of the required flower (draw round a saucer). With the wrong side facing you turn a small hem towards you and hold in place with a simple running thread, all the way around. pull up thread and fasten off. finish with a large button.

The main image is also a Paperartsy Mini.
I am entering this for Wednesday Stamper's "mixed media" challenge

make a moo or two happy

The theme at make a moo or two is "happy" so I have used this happy image from the stampsmith, which you can also see on the stampsmith blog . At first I didn't think I had a stamp that said happy, then I realised I had loads, happy anniversary, happy birthday etc etc, this was taken from a stamp that said "wishing you a happy day"

lots to do: wood

The challenge at lots to do is too use wood. So I went into my "assorted stuff" drawer to see what I had made of wood, and I found a packet of clothes pegs, and some magnets. Along with the new papers and stamps that I just received today from PaperArtsy, this magnetic clip was born.

I needed to make a sympathy card and I decided to use the stampsmith's little angel stamp. I have uploaded it, with details, to the stampsmith blog

If you would like to see your stampsmith art on the stampsmith blog, the information is here

tag it on

This week on the tag it on challenge, we are challenged to make a oriental card in blue.
I decided to use this stamp from PaperArtsy as it is very handily already in a tag shape.
All of the other stamps are also by PaperArtsy

forever friends birthday boy

This week on the forever friends challenge blog we challenge you to make a birthday card for a boy. The two stamps that I had were not suitable so I treated myself to this birthday cake bear stamp. The background of scrunched up paper is supposed to represent the wrapping paper that gets strewn over the floor at a party. This was a really quick simple card, but I was especially pleased with the colouring on the bear. I used derwent coloursoft pencils and sansodor.

Test Knitting

For the last couple of weeks I have been test knitting a pattern for a book that the fabulous Marie Greene is putting together. This is my finished piece, modelled by my eleven year old. it's not often you can find a knitting pattern that a boy of that age actually likes, but he really likes this one, and I really enjoyed knitting it.

my first piece for the Stampsmith DT blog

This is my first contribution to the stampsmith DT blog. I made a jar fairy using this beautiful fairy some time ago and it is one of the most visited posts on my blog, so I felt it was time to make another one. This one is made from a spice jar.
*top tip, if you have stubborn glue on a jar label, use stazon cleaner to remove it. Is there anything, that stuff doesn't remove?*

could I be any more excited?

I have been invited to be on the design team of a company whose stamps I have been in awe of for such a long time, The Stampsmith. They do the most beautiful photo stamps, but I am sure you don't need me to tell you that!
This card is one that I actually made some time ago using a stampsmith stamp, it's not new, but I don't like to post blog posts without pictures!! (and this picture, just about shows you what I felt like doing when I received the news, lol)
phew!! 2 design teams in a week, I'm going to be busy, but it's going to be a lot of fun!!
You can check out The Stampsmith Blog to keep up with what the Design Team are up to.

gift box idea.

BEFORE:

10 MINUTES LATER:

My boys are at that age where they and their friends really appreciate money for their birthdays, but I always feel like it looks like no thought has gone into the present. So while I was in the craft shop today (ahem! I've no idea how I ended up in there I saw this little gold gift box, which I thought would make a nice change for presenting the money. At the time I had no plans to decorate it, until my (non-crafty) friend said I should distress it and add a hinge or something, and well that was it!! I used the hinge from the new crown and castle plates from PaperArtsy, some black stazon for distressing and some gold zoomz. My son's friend then suggested I put the money in in pound coins and mix it with some sweets in shiny wrappers! which I think is a great idea.

I'm going to be going back to the shop for a few more of these boxes!!

Theme thursday, and a little announcement

The theme at theme thursday is masculine.
my little announcement is that I have been invited onto the Design team of PaperArtsy. As luck would have it, some of my best masculine stamps are by PaperArtsy, so I have made this card using just stamps from them.

Alice Postcard

I couldn't let the Alice theme at sunday postcard art go by without something.My first thought was to do a really simple piece with Alice on an Alice in wonderland book page, but I just kept adding to it. Most of the bits on this piece are things I found in the pile of rubbish on my desk

forever friends sketch challenge

This week at the forever friends challenge we have a sketch challenge for you

I turned the sketch on it's side for my card

The complete set of tiles, mounted.

Thank you to Chris, Deb, Audrey, Penny, Carol, Karin and Suse for the gorgeous tiles they made for me. I have now mounted them onto a canvas (14"x10") which I painted and stamped with stamps from Inka
I hope you like what I did with them, girls.

tag it on!

Well here's a challenge site I haven't tried before, Tag it on.. The theme is Fairies at the bottom of the garden.
I used a fairy from the rose flower fairy set from crafters companion. wildflowers from crafty individuals, the music stamp on the artificial flower is from Paperartsy.

As I have used a music stamp and some music paper, I will also enter this for Theme Thursday's music or dance theme
and crazy amigos "fly with me" theme. I am also going to sneak this onto Secret Crafter's Brads or eyelets theme as I have used one of the extra large We R Memorykeepers Eyelets on the flower.

finally!

I finally got round to making the 2 inch tiles for my own set. My colours were cream and sepia with touches of black. These actually turned out a lot simpler than I had planned. The base is corrugated cardboard which I have painted. I then stamped the background with a paperartsy background script stamp and crafty individuals wildflowers stamps. The collage images are by Inka.
I have decided to enter these for TGiF's Childhood theme.

You can see the complete set of 24 mounted here

Deb's tiles

Our forum's ongoing collaborative project of sets of 2 inch tiles. This month is for Deb, and she chose "tropical sea tones" for her colours. I hope that these are okay.

Last month was my choice, and I received a gorgeous set of tiles from all the other participants. Unfortunately I haven't got round to doing my own yet. Isn't it funny how when the deadline is just for yourself it doesn't quite have the same urgency. I promise I will do them this week as I am sure that the reast of the forum are looking forward to seeing them presented together.

Forever friends: a different shaped card

The challenge at forever friends this week is to make a card of a different shape, i.e. not square or rectangular.
I chose to use my favourite bear stamp with the flowers and make my card flower shaped.

This was really easy to do, first of all I cut a card blank with a circle cutter to get a semi-circle, made a template for the petals and cut them out of various patterned papers, added a a cicle of patterned paper and a bear and voila!

catching up with challenges!

I've had a couple of days off stamping, and look how far behind I've fallen with all the challenges, so I decided today to catch up with as many as possible in one piece!
The background of this ATC is created with Alcohol ink dripped onto glossy card. All the stamps are by PaperArtsy
created by hand blobs and splatters.
Wednesday stamper orange
Theme Thursday hats or crowns
Lots to do Lets Face it
Saturday's Workout Make a collage
Secret Crafter Flowers

Announcement

It really saddens me to pass on this news but Inka has decided, after a lot of deliberation to go out of business. She will be having a huge going out of business sale to reduce her inventory so don’t miss out and tell your friends too. The savings will be anywhere from 60% to 75% off all the rubber. The sale will start May 1 and run this month or until her inventory has been sufficiently reduced.

She will still be selling her collage sheets and patterns from time to time on ebay or etsy but this will be your last chance to get any of her rubber. It will be on a first come first served basis so if there is something you would like now is the time. She will continue with her art and with her blog candy once she has completed the sale so please don’t forget to check back next month.

I have absolutely loved being on the Inka design team, and I will miss it so much. But I have made some good friends and played with a lot of stamps.

Crazy Amigos, forever friends and my messy desk!

The theme at Crazy Amigos is "colourful vintage" so I thought I would enter this Card I made for Jo's birthday. It's an Acetate card so of course it's near impossible to get a good photo, lol. Don't you just love this Image? isn't she just the cutest? The Image and stamps are all by Inka.


We have a sketch challenge, set by Emma, at the forever friends challenge this week, so this is my piece (I just realised, I used the same papers for both of these cards, just goes to show you, if it's on your desk you will use it.)

Talking of my desk, after I took the photo of the forever friends card, I realised that you would never guess the mess surrounding that picture, so I thought I would show that as well.

Paper artsy again

I'm loving these new paperartsy stamps, I just made this quick card for no real reason at all! All of the stamps are by PaperArtsy

Make a moo or two : quote

You know how it is when you get new rubber and you have to play with it straightaway? I couldn't resist a couple of these new castle and crown plates from Paperartsy, and one of them had this great quote, as the theme at make a moo two is quotes I thought I would use it. However the quote was too big for a moo, but I soon got around that by putting the moo on an ATC, clever huh? All of the stamps are from Paperartsy's new range, and the chequered effect was just done by cutting a random square from card and repeatedly sponging through it.

lots to do

I hadn't intended blogging thses cards at all, because they are such basic, quick makes. In fact the only reason they are not already sealed up for the party this afternoon is because I am STILL waiting for my son to write in them (roll eyes).
Anyway, as the theme on lots to do is names, I thought I may as well blog them. I like to put names on childrens cards (and no greeting) as I have been told that children like to use my cards as doorplates or bookmarks after their birthdays. I have used the skateboarders from I brake for stamps again. These stamps have been so useful. Having two sons I have to make a lot of boys cards, so these stamps were definitely money well spent (mind you isn't money spent on stamps always money well spent?)

wednesday stamper :mother nature

I guess I haven't been very original, but I used the same stamp on my wednesday stamper as the sample piece, but when you have the perfect stamp, you just have to use it. The stamp is by Paperartsy. I used distress inks for all the colouring, and white pen to make the details stand out.

forever friends: red and white

To celebrate St Georges Day,the challenge at the forever friends blog was to make a card predominatly red and white. So I coloured my bear's flowers red and white, then found everything in my craft room that was red and white and sort of threw it at a tag!

TGIF umbrella

You know how it is, when you use a jar of sauce when you are cooking, and it's just too nice a shape to throw in the recycling? It happens to me so often. I decided to make a jar for all those bits of change that get left in various piles around the house and tie it in with TGIF's umbrella theme, and make it "for a rainy day" money.
I stamped the glass with a crackle stamp, added a lock stamp to the lid (to cover up the "best before date".
All stamps are by Inka

Glamour girl (no socks)

The theme at theme thursday is Glamour Girls. The woman and the frame are inka collage images, the top hat is an Inka stamp. I have put mirror card behind the frame as I thought she would be standing in front of a mirror (well I would be with a figure like that!!)

I am also entering this for one powerful hour's "circles" challenge, as I have used circle sequin waste, and it took me well under an hour.

one more pair of socks..

for my 6 year old son this time.

put your sunglasses on!

another pair of socks, but what a colour!!!!!
I actually used this gruesome colour as I was experimenting with number of stitches for thicker yarns and never actually expected them to work out. But they did and I WILL wear them, lol

happy easter!!

a day late! This is my piece for this weeks forever friends challenge DT. The theme was easter so I decided to make an egg shaped hanging, The letters are by banana frog, and the background stamps are by Inka.

another pair of socks!

These are definitely my favourite so far. made using Marie Greene's pattern

and another tag

I love the look of bingo cards in mixed media art, but they may not always be easy to come accross, so I thought this bingo card stamp from Inka would be very useful.
I have used some new extra large We R Memory Keepers Eyelets from QVC. I love them!!
I have also used a vellum collage image from Inka.
I am entering this for the lots to do challenge which is numbers.

just a quick tag

I needed a tag for my Brother in laws birthday present, so I whipped this up, I used an inchie collage image from Inka, and also a stamp from Inka for the background. I thought I would enter this on the Saturday surprise challenge where the theme is childhood

forever friends :monochrome

The theme at forever friends is monochrome, so for my DT card I decided to go with different shades of brown. As I have also used sewing on this card I will also enter it for Theme thursday

Oreo truffles

I got this recipe from the fabulous Bakerella blog. My Boys and I had a lot of fun making these, and although they were a bit dubious about mixing cheese with oreos, they were very impressed with the results and they are disappearing rapidly.

next challenge, basic cake pops

TMTA and a pair of socks

The theme at TMTA is Togetherness, I used an Inka Easter collage image and Inka stamps, and some more flowers and leaves from Joanna Sheen. Again I have covered it all in clear sticky back film to protect the delicate pressed flower.


I have also finished a whole PAIR of socks!! I'm really pleased with them

One sock finished!

If you have spotted my sidebar recently, you may have noticed that I have been taking part in Marie Greene's Sock along.
My first test sock was knitted on needles that were much too large, but considering that, I'm thrilled with how they turned out. The great thing about this pattern is that it makes sense, it's not just following a sock pattern, but learning to make socks. I plan to use up some of my wool stash using this pattern (although the temptation to go out and buy new sock yarn, is almost overwhelming (oooo all those lovely self-striping yarns, how can I resist)

Paris twinchie

The theme at small world of inchies and twinchies is paris. I bought this eiffel tower stamp in a little royal and langnickel set ages ago, and this is the first time I used it. I also used the script from hero arts and a postmark from Crafty individuals. the collage image is by Inka.
Iam also entering this for Theme Thursday's Paris theme

make a moo or two: eggs

The theme at make a moo or two is eggs. All stamps are by Inka

TGIF secret garden

The theme at TGIF is Secret garden, hosted by Jo Capper-Sandon
I made this bookmark using inka stamps and collage image.
The pressed flower and leaves are from Joanna sheen, and I have covered the front of the piece in clear sticky back plastic to protect the flowers.

craft stamper a sneak peek

The new issue of Craft Stamper is out on friday and I have taken part in the stamping contrast challenge again. This time it was to use some Crafty individuals Wildflower stamps. I made a card and some tags, but first I made some backing paper using the stamps to use on the pieces I made. This is a peek at the backing paper I created.

forever friends : a gift

Fisrt of all let me share some news. I have become a permanent member of the forever friends desigh team which is really exciting. This week we had to make a gift. I decided to decorate a candle. of course surrounding a candle with highly flammable papers and dried leaves may not be the best idea in the world, so if you do this be sensble. This wrap is removable. Never leave a lit candle unattended and when it burns down remove the wrap. Or better still just don't light it, but leave it around just to look pretty!!

theme thursday: clowns

Here's a quick clown card I made to fit in with theme thursday's clown theme. The collage images and ringer stamp are from Inka

forever friends and flower soft

Here is my guest designer piece for forever friends challenge blog for this week, the theme is "for your mum". . I decided to use flower soft on this one, so I went for a really simple layout to make the flower soft the main feature. The image is coloured with whispers markers.

I am also entering this forcreated by Hand's Flower challenge

Birthday card for my son

Tricky age, eleven, don't you think? Thank goodness for these skateboarder stamps from "I Brake For Stamps". I've also used stamps from Banana Frog (letters), Cherry pie (splatter) and Inka (star). The rather funky strip of punched black card was to cover up that painful incident of catching the edge of the rubber on the stamp. But I wasn't going to waste good Basic Grey Paper, so I came up with this instead!!

I am entering this for the Crazy Amigo stripe challenge

new tea towel tote

This is my favourite tea towel tote yet. I have made it for my Mother in law for one of her mother's day presents.

(The tea towels are "stella" by Portmeirion, and are way too nice to be used as tea towels!!)

gothic arches: mother and child

The theme at Gothic arches is Mother and Child. So I decided to use this lovely Klimt stamp from Cherry Pie, the splatter stamp is also cherry pie and the love stamp is by VAP.

oo yes, just thought I can enter this for theme thursday's flower theme as well!

st patricks day

This is my 3rd piece as guest designer for the forever friends challenge
.
And look!! I have a new forever friends stamp!I have coloured the bear and heart with derwent colour soft pencils and sansodor and added a little bit of whisper pen for depth. I have then done a little bit of decoupage to raise the heart. The floral stitching on the acetate is a doodlebug rub on.

As it is almost entirely green I am also entering this for Wednesday Stampers' green challenge and stamp something's something green challenge

2"x2" tiles

On our forum we are doing a collaborative project where the 8 of us taking part each make 3 tiles in a colour chosen by one of the participants who then gets to keep them all. Each of us will get a turn at this, isn't that exciting?
Chris chose the colour theme orange/yellow/hot colours. This is way, way, way out of my comfort zone, so obviously I couldn't wait to get started! I wanted each of my 3 pieces to stand alone, but also to work together. I hope you like them Chris!!

Another Cowl

After I made my last cowl, I decided I wanted to make something a bit more "fancy" so I had a look around for an easy lacy pattern, and I found this pattern. Mine isn't exactly the same, but I really enjoyed doing it.

mixed media monday: the written word

Two posts in one day, I haven't done that for a while!
The theme at mixed media monday is the written word, so I thought I would use this springtime verse from Inka.
All of the stamps and collage image are by Inka, I've included a close-up to show the shimmer and the embossing.

forever friends sketch challenge

I am the guest designer again (as I will be for the whole of march) on the Forever Friends Challenge blog


This week we are challenged to use this really lovely sketch.


I really enjoyed this. I coloured my bear with distress inks. Watch out for next week, I have a new forever friends stamp (about time too, hey?)

make a moo: sweet like strawberries

When I saw the theme at make a moo or two this week I didn't think I would be taking part as I couldn't think of any fruit or veg stamps, but then I remembered tihs strawberry stamp from craft stamper nagazine. I have used Gemstone card for the backgroud, which is a bit like bazzill bling, but from docrafts, I got a 6x6 pad today of 20 sheets, but each sheet is a different colour, which makes me afraid to use them up (how daft is that?) But as a moo card uses such a small amount I didn't mind too much. the background stamp is also something I got today, it's one of the papermania duo stamps. I like it, but you can hadly see it here as it's covered in sugary glitter. Erica and the word stamp are by Inka.

Theme Thursday: a nest in a box

The theme at theme thursday is birds, eggs or nests. So I decided to make this altered matchbox with a little nest in it.
All of the Stamps are by Inka (who has a sale on at the moment)

Guest designer for Forever Friends challenge

I am really pleased that I have been asked to be a guest design team member for the month of march for The Forever Friends Challenge Blog



This weeks challenge is "St David's day" Straight away I wanted to use daffodils, as they are my favourite flower as well as being significant to the Welsh, but I still only have the one forever friends stamp (I think I need to trip to the craft shop for some more if I'm going to be on the DT, lol) so I have tried to make the daisies look like daffodils, very fiddly, but I think I've almost got away with it!

gothic arches sunday postcard and an Inka Sale

The theme at Gothic Arches is pink and brown and the theme at sunday postcard art is Once Upon A Time, so I combined these two challenges to make this arch/postcard. The piece is postcard sized, but folds to form a card.

The gorgeous collage image and stamps are all by Inka. And on the subject of Inka Stamps I am pleased to announce the following Sale for the month of March.

Inka Stamps is proud to announce that we have a new design team member Cynthia Powell! To celebrate if you put Cindy in the message to seller box on the check out order form you will get a 30% refund within 24 hours. If you are ordering snail mail you can just deduct the 30 % off qualifying merchandise.

This offer is not applicable to prize awards, items already on sale, grab bags and items on the "Vintage found items and mounting supplies" page at Inka Stampstheme

wednesday stamper : silhouette

The silhouette theme at wednesday stamper could not have come at a better time. I recently bought these skateboard silhouette stamps from I brake for stamps to make some birthday cards for my son's friends who are approaching their teen years. It's such a difficult age to make cards for, so when I saw these stamps I had to have them. The paper is basic grey, the splatter stamp is from Cherry Pie, the alphabet is hero arts, and I stamped the name with chalk ink. I was really impressed with how well it showed up on the dark card.

lisa vollrath again!

ten two studios are offering free images to celebrate St Patricks day from the 1st to the 17th March HERE

forever friends black and white..

...oh and a touch of red!
the theme at the the forever friends challenge blog is black and white, but we were allowed to use colour on the bears so I used a touch of red on the flowers, but then I "accidentally" used a red button too, but it's just worked so well that I had to.
The image has some very subtle colour on it with a grey copic marker (the only colour of copic marker that I own!)

theme thursday: labels

The theme at theme thursday is Labels. There are some links on the site to download some lovely free Labels from Inka, so I decided to celebrate getting a new printer by using some of these on this ATC I made for the challenge. I have also used an Inka collage image and there is also a little bit of a gothic flourish stamp on there as well.

forever friends again!

I am certainly getting value for money out of this stamp. The challenge this week was to make a "general" birthday card!
I am also going to enter this for Cute Cards Thursday where the theme is signs of spring, as I think this is quite a "spring like" card

my heart has wings

The theme at mixed media monday of hearts and wings was just the push I needed to use these fabulous wing stamps that I just got from Inka, aren't they beautiful? I combined them with the floral heart (already one of my favourites)and a few other bits to make this quick hanging.
as the theme at lots to do is also wings I am entering this piece for that challenge as well.

well what would you do with a child free hour?

This card came about because my husband and I had a child free hour this afternoon, so what did we do with the time? well some colouring in of course!! My husband had been admiring my colouring on his valentine card so I said I'd show him how I did it as he likes to draw manga. Then I remembered that I had this fab manga stamp from DewDrop crafts. So we had fun with coloursoft pencils and sansodor! It seemed a waste to not make something with the result of my colouring so I made this to fit with the wednesday stamper challenge (to use hearts in a different way, I used two punched hearts to make a bow to match the one in her hair) and TGIF (The number 13, I thought this would make a suitable card for a 13 year old's birthday)

The pink isn't quite so bright in real life (but almost)

flowers

The theme at Artygirlz is flowers, I made this for Chris's birthday and as it contains quite a lot of flowers I thought I would enter it. All stamps are by Inka

sunday postcard art

The theme at sunday postcard art is chairs. I have this image from Inka which reminded me of grabbing the last chair at musical chairs, so that is the theme I went for. All stamps are by Inka

you know you might have too many rubber stamps...

...when you have one that says this. I got this from Inka as I thought it would be perfect for the back of cards. This is the back of the forever friends valentine card from an earlier post.

rubber stamp body art

In this month's craft stamper magazine I noticed the prize for the ATC competition included tattoo ink (Bombshell stamps - Temporary Tattoo Body Ink Pad -BLACK) for rubber stamps from 3D jean. I immediately thought, "I gotta get myself some of that!"
It arrived today so I thought I would give a quick review. First thing I noticed when I opened it is that it is not a raised ink pad, which means inking large stamps will be difficult. Then the hinged lid, does not lift all the way back so you can't "take the ink to the stamp" very easily. Also the pad itself doesn't look very moist. On top of that it doesn't come with any instructions, so you don't know how long the tattoo is supposed to last, etc.

So I wasn't holding out much hope for a convincing tatto. But, I was pleasantly surprised, as you can see the result is pretty good. You have to be careful when inking your stamp to avoid catching the rubber, as stamping onto flesh is obviously nothing like stamping onto paper. The ink dried quickly and held up well to gentle rubbing and rubbing against clothing (not sure I'd risk it against light clothing though). I purposely got it wet amd the tattoo remained, but if rubbed while wet it does smudge easily. The tattoo removes easily with soap and water and gentle rubbing.

So if you are considering getting this pad, I hope this review helps. I'm glad I got it, but I think it has definite room for improvement in the design of the pad.

p.s. yes my arm really is that freckly!

(the stamp is rather unsurprisingly from Inka!)

forever friends valentine

The forever friends challenge this week is valentines. so could I make my one forever friends stamp do another week... I think so! I've added some hearts on wire to his bouquet. I will be giving this card to my husband for valentines day, so I've tried really hard not to make it too girly.

Happy Birthday Make a moo or two

This week Make a moo or two are celebrating their first birthday. so we are asked to make a moo with the number 1 on it, so here is mine, all the stamps are by Paperartsy and the dog is from one of Inka's new collage sheets. The background is shimmery which unfortunately you can't see on the scan

is that really an Inka stamp?

I think it's rather obvious from my blog how much I love Inka's stamps, and how much I love being on the design team. One of the reasons for this is the sheer variety of stamps and collage images available to me. I think this stamp sums that up. I can even do "cute" with Inka's stamps. This is Zina, and isn't she adorable? I've made this card to fit 3 challenges, sketch saturday, Secret crafters,where the theme is recycling (I've used corrugated cardboard from an amazon delivery) and Cute Card Thursday where the theme is metal (I've used gold zoomz and some green wire).

The patterned papers are by Papermania, and Zina is coloured with a combination of derwent colour soft pencils and sansodor with a hint of whispers pens and a bit of paper piecing.

pretty paper hearts

the theme at Pretty Paper Hearts is "Cracked". Which I took as an opportunity to use this amazing technique which has been demonstrated by my super talented friend Carrie in the current issue of Stampers' Sampler.
This technique allows you to make the most fabulous crackle background using only acrylic paint and PVA glue. If you like messy techniques, they don't come much messier than this one!
first I painted the card with cerulean blue acrylic paint, and allowed it to dry. (I do not do well waiting for things to dry, I'm about as patient as Mr Impatient of Impatientsville) then I painted this with a layer of PVA glue and immediatly with a layer of white acrylic paint, then waited....and waited.... and went for a bath...then came back and WOW!! how cool is that effect! after leaving it to dry a bit more (spot the impatient fingerprints), I finished it off with collage image and stamps from Inka and embellishments (including the most perfect button that was in the Blog candy I received from Marie)

mixed media monday : Fruit

As soon as I saw the theme at mixed media monday I knew the image I was going to use. I absolutely adore this image from Inka, it's almost too good to use! But I've done it as it was just so perfect for the theme. The background of this ATC is whispers ink brayered onto glossy card and in real life looks just like a green and red apple. Other stamps are floral spray, sequence waste and large collage words all by Inka.
I have used a white pen to accent the leaves.
The collection of "junk" on the left hand side covers up a rather unattractive bubble caused by using a heat gun on glossy card.