All Sewn Up

Coby is our hostess this week at Stampotique Towers and she has chosen a theme of stitches. Here's what she has to say
I love stitches in my creations, sometimes stamped sometimes made by hand and sometimes with the sewing machine.  I challenge you to use stitching in your creations this week.

Here's another page for my tag book.

I had a great time playing around with my Brusho's and DecoArt paints for my backgrounds.

This is a Brusho background and some of my favourite new stamps. I've used 

Stalks

Dog Cube 

 Alphabet Upper and Lower

together with Daniel's Hearts in the background.

In the words of Craig this was a bit of a disaaaaarster daaaarling. I was trying out my new DecoArt paints and a fab Andy Skinner technique.

Looking nice painted tag and Isopropyl dropped over it.

Second layer looking good...

More layers and some white over the top - really liking...

Then I dropped a black inkpad sticky side down right in the middle of it. Not a happy bunny - in fact the odd naughty word was heard to come from my craft room...

Luckily I keep a very dirty craft mat, and a lot of paint had seeped through to the other side of the tag, so when I picked it up (to throw it away) I quite liked the other side! No way would I have left so much white space deliberately, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the doo dah's so on went Bla Bla Bla, Freakin People Person, and 3 Dwarfy Gnomes.

This one is my favourite. I used DecoArt Multi Surface Satin, in red, yellow, and blue. You could here the cogs in my brain ' red and yellow make orange, yellow and blue make green, red and blue make purple' yep we should get away without mud! There's an Andy Skinner stencil in the background, and Kate's lovely Sing, with the words from Hold On Tight

All of the tags were then stitched, then stitched to the larger tag to make a page.

I loved working with these bright colours, they really cheer me up!

I'm entering this into the Craft Stamper colour challenge.

I hope that you join in with our challenge at Stampotique, and show us your stitching.

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

Please read ALL RULES on the linkz page before linking your creation.

If you didn't follow the rules posted, you may have been deleted.  

Feel free to relink your creation with the correct information for a chance to win.

Thanks very much for looking x

Spring Is Here...

The challenge this week at Tag Along is Easter and/or eggs, and I've gone along with the egg theme.

The tag has been coloured with distress paints then stamped with Artistic Outpost stamps from the Birds of a Feather plate.
I think my poor bird is incubating some cuckoo eggs judging by the size of them!
A few feathers and bit of raffia and all done.
I'm also entering this into the Artistic Outpost and
Mixed Media World Anything Goes challenges.
Thanks very much for looking x

Happy Happy Happy

Happy Easter everyone - this morning we had some lovely sunshine, but now we have typical Bank Holiday weather, and the clouds have descended again.
The challenge this week at Stampotique has been chosen by Arwen, and she has asked us to make an unusually shaped card. Here is my Easter bunny

I've made a Brusho background on some watercolour paper then simply stamped Roc's Bunny The Happy is from Carol's Happy Anniversary stamp.
Hope you get the chance to join in with the challenge, and enjoy your long weekend.
Thanks very much for looking xx

Feeling Krafty Again For Country View Crafts

Hi, I've been having another play with my Kraft card and some Dina Wakley stamps and paints and made a page for my Kraft album.

 I started by laying down the masks from the Mask and Stencil Leaves set then spraying with Dylusions in Squeezed Orange and an old (and favourite) fuchsia. I stamped the Scribbly Flower and embossed in white.

Next I stamped the butterfly from Scribbly Insects and embossed, together with the sentiment from the same set. I added some text from an older stamp. 

I got a bit carried away with the stamping here, and so the sentiment didn't show up too well so I added some stitching to highlight it a little.

The butterfly was painted directly with a mixture of Dina's Sky and Magenta.

The leaves were painted with watered down Lime and the flower head was made by swiping lime, Lapis and Blackberry Violet onto Kraft with an old credit card and embossing again in white. There's a little bit of hand stitching in the middle. 
I hope you like it, and that you join in with the challenge at CVC, and show us your kraft.
Thanks very much for looking, and have a lovely Easter xx

I'm also linking this to the Mixed Media World Anything Goes challenge - thanks for the reminder Donna :-) xx

King For A Day

Hi, and happy April Fools Day. This month it's my turn to choose the theme at Country View Crafts, and I've chosen Kraft.

This is the card I've made for my Dad for Father's day.

 I started by embossing my kraft card with an A4 embossing folder, then rubbed over with Treasure Gold, Silver , and Copper.

The gold mirri card has also been embossed with the same folder. The Sheena Douglass bird has been stamped onto kraft and coloured with Prisma pencils, and my felt branch has been cut with the TH Garden Greens die. 

This was how I'd pictured it in my head but I had a play around (it's taken my years to learn not to stick it down until I was certain)

...and I decided that I liked it better landscape.
The eagle eyed among you may have noticed the change of colour for my branch. Note to self, (1) a blunt needle and felt does not work and (2) buy more green felt. 
So that's me with my Fathers Day card all ready in advance, I just need to make sure that I don't put it in a 'safe' place now lol.
I hope you like it, and that you will join in with my Kraft challenge.
Thanks very much for looking x

We're Not In Kansas Anymore...

It's the amazing Nellie's turn to pick the challenge this week at Stampotique and she has asked us to choose our favourite background technique. I think mine is the 'everything but the kitchen sink' technique so this is what I've made.

I've even remembered to take step by step photo's but you can skip these if you like :-).

My chipboard album painted with DecoArt multi -surface satins and a wee bit of Media interference paint in gold and lilac. (All the paints used throughout are from my stash of DecoArt paints. I've recently joined their Blogger Outreach programme and can't wait for my parcel to arrive :-)  )

 Ready for some PanPastels now. I've used gold, silver, and bronze over the top of Versamark. The stamps are
Text Block 3 and
Cracks

Some stenciling now with my favourite sunburst stencil and more DecoArt paint.

More stenciling and finally some stamping. Can you tell how the weather has changed - the sun keeps coming and going. I've stamped and painted Janet's 2 Nuage's  and France's Majestic Tree.

I've also added some of France's Romantic Text with orange PanPastel.

I've painted more card and stamped Majestic Tree and die cut to make a lolipop tree.
Dorothy and Toto have been watercoloured.

I'm pretty sure these guys were not in the Wizard of Oz! Jo's Mushroom Group and Kira's 3 Dwarfy Gnomes have been painted. I've used Spectrum Noir Aqua Marker's on the gnomes - I do like theses but have to practice not just using them as felt tip pens! The sun is shining again now lol and it really picks out the interference paint.
I've spent all day doing this ('cos I'm so slow) and I had a fab time so thank you Nellie for such a great challenge.
I hope you join in with us and show us your favourite background technique 

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

Please read ALL RULES on the linkz page before linking your creation.

If you didn't follow the rules posted, you may have been deleted.  

Feel free to relink your creation with the correct information for a chance to win.

I'm also entering this into the Pan Pastels Alter It challenge, Mixed Media World's Anything Goes (I bet they're fed up of me over there lol) and Simon Say Stamp Wednesday which is also anything goes.
Hope you like it, and thanks very much for looking x

Happy Anniversary Country View Crafts

For my second piece for Country View Crafts I've gone with something I really enjoy doing, and made a master board.

All of the stamps are by Darcy for PaperArtsy and I've used hearts

from the EDY01 and EDY02 plates. They've been stamped in Wendy Vecchi's Red Geranium, Orange Blossom and Fern Green, and coloured with the translucent Fresco's London Bus, Blood Orange and Claret.
I've also used a mixture of Old Gold and Metallic Glaze, and also the Pearl Glaze. I've nevery really used the glazes before, but they are fab, and I'll definitely be using them again.
For me the hardest part of a master board is cutting it up and using it, but I bit the bullet and made a couple of cards. 

How romantic, side by side lol.

I've just added a chipboard heart to this one, and the topper has been covered in some of Tim's Frosted Film to give it a sheen.

You can't really tell here, but it's all frosty!

This is about as creative as I get with a craft knife lol.
If you haven't done already (and even if you have) there's still time to join in with our challenge, remember anything goes!
Thanks very much for looking x

Talk To The Animals

Hi, I've been having lots of fun playing with my Alice Palace stamps and DecoArt paints. This took waaay longer than I thought it would, but who cares I was having fun and the ironing can always wait - lets face it it's never going to go away is it. 
I've made a flip flop book

Ok so there's lots of pictures now but not too many words (phew)

I started by using an old credit card and DecoArt Multi Surface satin acrylic paints.

Chopped 'em up and added some stenciling with the same paints. I got a bit adventurous with the sewing machine too.

Then I got to work with the stamping. 

I know the ducks aren't Alice Palace, but they are by Crafty Individuals.

Lurve these bunnies, and a Robin isn't just for Christmas :-)

Are you still with me, lots more photographs still to go...

A bit of washi tape too on these.

So all my images stamped, time to make the book.
Yep more photographs...

Side one, followed by...

Side two, I know some are upside down but there is a reason...

'Cos when you fold it all up

They are now the right way up.

The front, please excuse the painty finger

And the back! This was such fun to make, the stamps are so cheerful and I loved working with the bright colours AND we had some sunshine today so I could take the photographs.

I'm entering this into the Crafty Individuals challenge which is The Animal World, the That's Crafty challenge which is Wings 'n' Things, the Mixed Media World Anything Goes, and Craft Stamper Anything Goes.

Hope you like my flip floppy book, and thanks very much for looking xx