On A Hot Summer Night...

Good Morning and happy Saturday! Just a quick post from me today in between washing and nursing duties. Chris is still quite poorly with a mystery virus that's totally floored him. He may be 23 but he's still my baby, and seeing him so ill really hurts. 

BUT gotta stay positive and cheerful, apparently it's part of the job description of being a Mum :-)

I've been having a play with my Indigo Blu stamps for their Summer Florals challenge. So without further ado, and in the words of Meatloaf, here's mine.

I thing Mr Darcy is looking particularly wolfish...

but will Boadicea fall for his charms...

well if it was Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, then yeah I think she would! - of course other Mr Darcy's are available but none so good as Colin :-)

Have a great weekend, enjoy the sunshine, and thanks very much for looking x

White Wedding

Hello and happy Friday. Yay it's the weekend, and time for my second 'Hot Summer Days' piece for the Country View Crafts challenge.
What could say Summer more than a nice wedding, so here's my version.

This just set off as the 'happy couple' but then it grew (and grew).

I stamped the Sheena Eternal Love couple on Ranger watercolour paper and coloured with Inktense pencils. Then I stamped the image again on acetate to go over the top.

I cut the frame out of black card with a Bigz die, then stamped various Sheena flowers also from the Day of The Dead range, and coloured with Pebeo paints.

More flowers stamped onto velum, white embossed and watercoloured.

Much cutting out later, and we have flowers.

Of course all white weddings need a best man/bridesmaid, and this one is no exception.
This is a Sheena Perfect Partners skeleton die and stamp. He's also been watercoloured.

He's been stamped and cut out again so that he can hold the wedding notice. White Wedding has been cut out with a Tim Holtz strip die.
I've added a bit of lace too - well it is a wedding!

 More vellum flowers - these have gone a bit curly in the sun...

Ok, time to stop now lol.
I hope you join in with our challenge at Country View Crafts, and show us your Hot Summer Days.

I'm also entering this into the Left of Centre quirky/weird challenge, and Dream in Darkness anything goes (but not cute)

Have a fun weekend, and thanks very much for looking x

Lazy Summer Days

A pinch and a punch, and white rabbits all round! It's the first of the month, so that must mean it's new challenge time at Country View Crafts. This month Jane has chosen Hot Summer Days, so get your sunglasses on, 'cos here's mine.

I started by making a gelli plate background for my tags with DecoArt Fluid Acrylics and lots of Tinting Base - which is my new favourite 'not quite paint'.

Next I brayered a more 'solid' sheet with the same colours and stamped lots of different Rubber Dance flower stamps.

I cut my tags out of the gelli plate sheet, then added some stencilling with Tim's Mini Layering Stencils and Distress Crayons.
Now I just needed to cut out the flowers (yawn this is not my favourite part) and assemble the tags.

 I needed some bits and bobs so got out the Mixed Media Thinlits, I must admit this is the first time that I've used them but it won't be the last, I really like them.

More of the thinlits...

Some old book pages too on this one, and what's Summer without a dragonfly or two.

I hope you play along with us this month, we need to celebrate Summer while we can. Thanks very much for looking, and have a great week x

Leave Space For Dreams

Hi and happy Sunday. It's time for my second piece for the Country View Crafts  circles challenge.

I'd recently come back from my holidays when I made this. I just looked at the challenge theme and though 'I got nothing'... And the more I thought, the more I couldn't come up with anything. So it was back to the very beginning. I chose my favourite bright Distress Inks and set about putting some colour down. Then I added a few different Dylusion stencils and spritzed with water to get a ghosting effect.

Time for some stamping now. I'd just received some of the new Visible Image releases, so I picked the circular ones and stamped away in the same colours as the background.

Time to jazz it up a bit, so out came the Tim Holtz Layering Stencils and Distress Crayons. I punched some circles from old book pages, got busy with the white pen, and added some sequins.

Just accented the sentiment from the same stamp plate and nearly done. The stamp around the edge was a freebie from Craft Stamper a little while ago.

I hope you like her, and will join me again tomorrow for the new challenge which is....

Have a great Sunday, and thanks very much for looking x

The Music Of The Night

Just a very quick post from me today as real life has got in the way again. Sorry I've been AWOL since my holidays but family always comes first. This piece just about sums up my mood at the moment lol.

All mediums are by Decoart, the stencils are Andy Skinner's, and the stamps are all by Stampendous.
I'm entering this into the That's Crafty birds of a feather, 
and also Dream in Darkness  and Love To Create anything goes challenges.
Have a great weekend, and thanks very much for looking x

Christmas In July Part 2

Hello and happy weekend! This is my second (and last) Christmas piece until mid December, - and only then if I can't put it off any longer.
It's a colour challenge with a Christmas in July theme at Rubber Dance Stamps, and this is what I've made.

There are lots of Rubber Dance stamps here, and it was a really fun piece to make, but no more Christmas now lol.
Have a great weekend, and thanks very much for looking x

Christmas in July at Lost Coast Designs

Aaagh, just back from my holidays and Lost Coast Designs are saying the C word already. Yup, it's Christmas in July! Here is the card that I made.

...but like a muppet I forgot to check the closing date, and yes, like my gorgeous girls, it's all in the past.
As I was now whistling Santa Clause Is Coming To Town, I though I may as well continue with a Christmas theme for their monthly challenge which is ATC's.

I think the little guy is safe, there's not much meat on him!
I'm hoping to do a bit of a blog catch up at the weekend, so thanks very much for looking, and have a fun week xx

The Same But Different

Good morning and welcome from sunny Spain, (I'm only on holiday I haven't moved lol). It's time for a new challenge today at Country View Crafts, and Hazel has chosen circles. On the design team we work a little in advance, and at this point with a couple of days left before my holidays (they don't call me last minute Sue for nothing), I needed a birthday card for my soon to be 14 year old niece,  a Fathers Day card, and a circles project! Mmm time to combine methinks, so here are my cards.

You know the routine, lots of pictures, not many words :-)

This is like the old white cat in a snowstorm joke. 
This is a piece of Ranger Watercolour paper that's been gessoed, then stencilled with various round stencils, and glass beads texture gel, DecoArt Modeling Paste, and Rock Candy Crackle for (hopefully) different effects.

These are the Distress Paint colours for my Father's Day card.

Dry brushed with a big stiff brush, the texture is starting to come through.

Then a little bit more colour (red is my Dads favourite)

Then did the same with the second lot of colours.

out with the distress crayons

and lots of stencils - don't judge me by my stencils, I will clean them sometime I promise.

Ok, backgrounds done, ready to decorate now.

I've used the Crazy Cats stamps, and the corresponding dies, together with the Handwritten Celebrate and Holiday Words.

The cats have been coloured with Distress Inks. I've added a few sequins too on my girly card.

These are my beaded texture gel circles.

Painty and crayoned circles,

 and even wooly circles.


I love the way these stamps and dies can be used for teenagers and Grandparents. They are just FUN.

I hope that you can join in with our challenge this month. Have a great week, and thanks very much for looking x