Minute By Minute

Good morning and a very happy Thursday. Today I'm sharing my second project for the Country View Crafts 'Time' challenge, and this time it's a card.

I started by dropping some alcohol inks on glossy card. I must admit it's a lot easier blowing through a drinking straw lol.

Then I stamped my lovely Tracy Evans stamp.

I wasn't sure if you could splatter with alcohol ink, but it turns out that if you're quick, yes you can!

Next, it was just a case of re-stamping some of the flowers and sentiments and layering over the top.

There are also some ancient Tim Holtz embellishments.

Here's my fab stamp set, Susan has a brilliant selection of them here in the store. 

It's over to you now to join in with our fun challenge for the chance to win a £20.00 voucher to spend in the store.

Take care, have a very happy week, and thanks so much for looking x

The Magic Of Christmas

Good morning and a very happy Thursday, welcome to December - the most wonderful time of the year!!

It's time for our annual Christmas challenge over at Country View Crafts, and for my first card, I've followed a Tracy Evans tutorial. I can 100% recommend these, Tracy has such a relaxed teaching style and makes anything seem possible.

I went a little bit wrong with my background and ended up making the stamp jump, BUT it will be perfect as a background for my background????? Well I know what I mean lol. 

A little bit of matting and layering with these beautiful AALL & Create stamps.

And sparkle, lots of lovely sparkle!

Do you see that tiny blackbird? I would never have thought to add anything there, but Tracy's projects are full of the little details that make all the difference.

Please join in with our fun challenge and show us your Christmas makes, and I'll be back later in the month with my second project.

Take care and have a very happy December xx

Welcoming Autumn

 Good morning and a very happy Monday, I hope you had a lovely weekend!

Today I'm sharing my second project for the fun 'Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness' challenge over at Country View Crafts, and this time I've made another postcard.

I started by making my background with lots of Distress Inks and AALL and Create stencils.

This fabulous Tracy Evans  AALL & Create stamp is really all the card needs.

I tried to use different coloured inks on different parts of the stamp, and I really like how it looks.

I re-stamped the pine cone and layered it up just to add a bit of contrast.

And I added some words just to finish it all off!

I hope you like it, and also that you join in with our challenge.

Take care, have a lovely week, and thanks so much for looking x

Amongst The Trees

 Good morning and a very happy Friday, the weekend starts now! Oooh wait a minute, I'm retired - the weekend started in 2015!!

 There's a new challenge starting today at Country View Crafts, and the lovely Corrie wants us to celebrate Spring.  So, we need to see Spring colours AND Spring images. Here's my first project.

I started by brayering a painty background in Spring colours then stamping some lovely Tracy Evans stamps for AALL & Create. I've used a DL die set to create my layers.

Then I made some toppers using the stamps from her latest release (and some older ones which fitted in perfectly)

Some careful shuffling and it all fitted together. 

I think I'm now leaving my sequin phase and entering my sisal period lol. OR why not both!

And these are my beautiful stamps. 

Susan has a wonderful range of AALL & Create here in the store. 

I hope that you join in with our challenge and share your Spring creations. Who knows, you make be the lucky winner of our £20.00 gift certificate to spend in the store.

Have a very happy weekend whatever you are doing, and thanks so much for looking xx

Adventure Awaits

 Good morning and a very happy Thursday!  Today I'm back at Country View Crafts with my second project for our Monochromatic challenge.

This time I've made a card for my brother-in-law as he and my sister have a beloved camper van.

I started with a Brusho background in shades of blue, and added some stenciling with the AALL & Create world map and circle stencils. I then stamped the wonderful AALL camper stamp. I loved how it looked but didn't feel that the image stood out enough.

So I stamped it again on some thick vellum. I tore round the edges and embossed it in some ancient Moon Glow Two Tone embossing powder. Honestly I must have had this at least 15 years but it only comes out on special occasions lol. I also coloured some bits underneath with blue and white pencils to highlight them.

I wanted to highlight the turtle and van windows further so I added some Glossy Accents. Maybe not the best of ideas 'cos it really made the vellum warp (OK I did put rather a lot on) I attached this over the original card with brads through the wheels and it actually looks quite nice now - the warping seems to give it a bit of movement so we'll pretend that that was part of the plan!

Before I added the vellum I put back the two stencils and put through some Izink Ice just to make the design stand out a little more.

This is what I've used.

Distress Ink

Distress Oxides

AALL & Create Stamps

AALL & Create Stencils

Izink

I hope you have a lovely day whatever you are doing, take care, and thanks so much for looking x

Blossom & Bloom

Good morning and a very happy Friday. Today I'm over at Country View Towers with my second project for our "Add A Stencil Or Two" challenge, and this time I've made a card.

Again I've used my long-neglected AALL & Create stamps.

I started by making a couple of inky backgrounds with my stencils and Distress Oxides. On the top one, I've inked through in the traditional way.

And on this one, I've inked the actual stencil, sprayed with water, and then laid on the page.

Then I've stamped the lovely Tracy Evans A4 stamp. Look away now if you're easily offended, 'cos I've actually cut the stamp in half so that it fits on my stamping platform! I've also held the paper down with masking tape as they are such 'sucky' stamps that they always want to bring the paper up with them. Well not this time lol!

These are my lovely stamps and stencils. The AALL & Create stamps can be found here in the store. 

To finish, I've used another of Tracy's stamps to pop up a centre for the flower. Again I've not added a sentiment yet as I'm not sure who will be receiving this. I also found paint chips in my stash (don't ask!) that matched the background colours so on they went!

I've really enjoyed using these stamps and definitely won't leave it so long next time.

Have a very happy day whatever you are doing, take care, and thanks so much for looking xx

You Gotta Use A Stencil Or Two

Good morning and a very happy Thursday! I know I'm showing my age now, but I'm totally in Ron Moody/ Fagin mode for the new Country View Crafts challenge: Use a Stencil (or two).

So apart from whisteling "You Gotta Pick A Pocket Or Two" I've been digging deep into my stash! It's been ages since I inked up my AALL & Create stamps, and they also have some great stencils, so it looks like a plan is coming together!

These are the stencils that I used on my large Art By Marlene album and gel plate.

I added some extra bits of stencilling in the corners, then stamped this lovely long border stamp and put in a bit of stitching.

This is what I've used, Susan has a great selection of AAll & Create stamps here , and stencils here, as well as cutting dies and washi tape.

To finish I added a bit of white and black pen, and stamped the circles from another AALL set. I don't think it needs a sentiment but there's always room if I change my mind.

I hope you join in with our fun challenge and pick a pocket stencil or two. 

Take care, and thanks so much for looking x

Bloom And Grow

Good morning and happy Sunday. It's ages since I've made any tags for my tag book, so I thought the Country View Crafts challenge of Splatters, Splashes, and Drips was the perfect opportunity to get tagging. 

 I started by cutting some tags out of glossy card, and choosing my alcohol inks. I've gone all high tech since I last did this technique, I've bought a can of air rather than using a straw. To be honest a straw is just as good and it leaves you two hands free so I'll be going back to that. Maybe I'll give my computer keyboard a treat with the canned air - not that it needs it (much!)

 I've used Studio Light and Aall and Create stamps for my images. In the end I had to tape my card down to my stamping platform as the glossy card was clinging so firmly to the stamps that it kept lifting. 

Then I added some stitching and dyed seam binding, and added to my big tag. You can add a bit of colour too with alcohol pens if you wish, but I think these stamps look just right on their own, and once you've added it you can't take it away again.

 I love how bright and cheerful these look, and it was good to make some tags again.

You've still got ages to join in with our challenge - in fact there's an extra day this month, so put your best splatter forward!

Have a very happy month, and thanks so much for looking x

All Things Bright And Beautiful

Good afternoon and happy Monday. The very lovely Tracy Evans is running a challenge over on her face book group, and it's to make a concertina card. This couldn't have come at a better time for me as my crafting has hit a bit of a post Christmas slump. I think it was doing the same old same old for the Christmas cards, so I was really happy to make something new - in fact this was the first inking for some of the stamps, and it's AGES since I made a concertina card.

I started by choosing my stamps from my collection of Tracy's border stamps.

These are the paints that I got in my last ScrawRbox, and it's the first time out for these too.

So here they are after their first stamping and painting. I used heavy watercolour card as I knew that they would be having lots of water added. The card stood up to it really well, but I was very gratefull to my stamping platform for the stamping. It didn't help that my ink pad needed re-inking either lol.

Here they have had some glossy accents added and the sentiments have been stamped onto brown paper. They all stamped beautifully onto the smooth paper . 

I wanted to add some paperclips to one of the images, but my office supplies have really dwindled since I gave up work, and the only ones I had were blue plastic! Luckily I still had some Tim Holtz Distress embossing powders (does anyone else still have these) and they were just perfect for what I needed.

So here we are, all done.

And it still folds up nicely, and just about fits into an envelope (with a bit of a push)

Thanks so much Tracy, I really enjoyed making this.

I'm entering my card into the Craft Stamper TIMI challenge for January, and the

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  challenge which is Fun With Florals.

Have a very crafty week, and thanks so much for looking x