Why Not Now

Good afternoon and happy Thursday.  This is a journal page that I've made with a facebook group that I belong to. This journaling lark is all very new to me, but I did enjoy creating it, and that's what matters.

There's lots of painting and stencilling, and bits of everything really, and it was fun! I've used DecoArt Americana Premium Acrylics and some Dina Wakley and Dylusions stamps and stencils, all of which are available from Country View Crafts.

I'm entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge which is 'anything but a card' and also the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media challenge which is 'layers'

Have a wonderful week, and thanks very much for looking x  

A Cold Wind Was Blowing....

I've had a play today with all things Dylusional. Lot's of spraying, stamping, and stencilling, and this is what I made.

One day  I will be brave enough to do this straight into my journal, but today is not the day!

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

How You Doin

Hi, it's time for my second piece for the 'make your own background' challenge at Country View Crafts. Meet Joey and Rachel aka Winston and Lulu.

The background has been made with Dylusion stencils and sprays. Then I drew the border with an acrylic block and doodled inside.

Winston and Lulu have been painted with watercolours.

Doesn't he look dapper in his tux. These two remind me of Joey and Rachel from Friends for some reason, so it seemed fitting to have Joey's catchphrase for the sentiment.

The words were stamped directly on the card (eek) with the Dylusion stamps.

I then covered the journal cover with DecoArt black gesso - I love this, one coat will cover anything! I cut around the frame and stuck it all down on the cover and job done.
So time for you now to join in with our challenge. Hope you like mine, and thanks very much for looking xx

Baa Baa Tie Died Sheep???

Hi and happy November - only 54 more sleeps until Christmas! 
Have I scared you - good lol.
This month Doreen has chosen the theme for the Country View Crafts challenge, and she has picked the colour blue. I don't know anyone who doesn't like blue (except for skirts 'cos they remind me of my old school uniform. But then again I've not worn a skirt for 20 years :-) So here's my blue

I've been playing with my new Distress sprays in Mermaid Lagoon  and my favourite (for now) Blueprint Sketch.
I've also used a Dylusion stencil - a selection of these can be found here

More spraying and stenciling, and a Dylusions border has been stamped.

The sheep image is by Stampotique, and he's been coloured with Distress Markers. My tie dyed sheep has also got pink and green 'Fluffy Stuff' wool.
The sentiment is also from a Dylusions stamp set.
I hope you join in with our challenge - remember there's a chance to win £20 to spend in the store, and if you're one of our top 3 you can join us as a guest designer.

Enjoy your weekend, and thanks very much for looking x

She Loved Like Diamond.

I've been playing with my Dylusion stamps and paints today. I just managed to finish it before it started to rain, and rain, and rain some more.
Thank for looking, and enjoy what's left of the weekend x

Lazin' On A Sunny Afternoon

White Rabbits, white rabbits and a happy August! It's the first of the month so it's time for a new challenge at Country View Crafts and this month the lovely Alison has chosen Summertime. 

What a nice idea, just to be lazin' - I seem to be living the life of the headless chicken at the moment lol.

There are a couple of photographs missing as unfortunately they didn't make it through the recent life saving surgery on my computer. 
The background is a Sheena Douglass stencil on black card. I've used DecoArt white gesso as a base then Pebeo Dyna paints - these are really fab on black card.

I sprayed a couple of backgrounds with Dylusion inks all ready for my lazy girl.
She's made from a couple of old Dyan Reaveley stamp sets. It's a shame that as we get new stamps we sometimes forget the old ones.

The words were also stamped with Dylusion alpha stamps. I've attached my girl with brads so she's very flexible now lol.

She's safely stuck in the album and the song quote has been finished off. I'm a very old bird so I remember this Kinks song.

I do hope you join in our challenge. Have a lovely weekend, and thanks very much for looking. 

Really!

The challenge at Tag Along this week is 'girls', and as Mr Postman (cue for a song) has just delivered me a yummy set of new Dylusions stamps, I had to play along. So here are my girls.

I think she has a little bit of attitude lol.

Crazy hair day... this was my first tag, the other two are the mop -up's

The Queen Bee...

And sewn onto a jumbo tag to make another page for my tag book.
I like my girls even more when they are all together.
I'm on my way to work now, so enjoy your weekend, and thanks very much for looking x

Oops I Did It Again..

Over at Dragons Dream Tag It On, Tracy has chosen the theme of Dress To Impress. The team have done some beautiful subtle tags.... and here's mine :-)

The recipe is a dress or dressform, an embossed impression, and some bling.
Ok maybe not so subtle, infact the queens face is making my eyes bleed, but I did enjoy making this.
The stamps are a mixture of Stampotique and Dylusions, and they've all been coloured with Distress Markers.
I'm also entering this into the Altered Alice challenge, which is anything goes, and the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge 'what are you known for'. I hope I'm known for not taking myself too seriously.
Please pop over to the Tag It On blog and check out the gorgeous inspiration, then Dress to Impress us and show us a tag using at least one real stamp.
Thanks very much for looking x

Art For Art's Sake

It's the boss (Frankie's) turn to set the challenge this time around at Dragon's Dream, Tag it On, and she has chosen a handmade background, interesting character(s) and a quirky twist. The handmade background came in the form of Dylusion house stamps that were stamped then masked. My tag was then sprayed with water then Dylusion ink in fuchsia. 
The leaves and border stamps are also by Dyan. The leaves were coloured in inkadinks, then stamped with the Stampotique spatter and text stamps.
Froggy has been coloured in Prismacolour pencils, and the houses in Twinkling H2O's.

For my quirky twist I added a piece of cellophane that came wrapped around a bunch of flowers. Yes it's true, I don't throw anything away! The heart is an ear-ring from the pound shop, it came with the matching necklace so I did alright there lol.
Please pop over and have a look at my teamies fab pieces of art dahlings then get out your stamps (at least one real stamp please), follow the recipe, then tag along with us.
Thanks very much for looking x

I'm So Excited, And I Just Can't Hide It....

...'cos I've been invited to join Gingersnap Creations as a visiting artist  for January. The theme this month is Get Organised, and this weeks challenge is to use a set/collection of stamps. I thought I would get organised by making myself a calendar page. This again has been inspired by the fabulous Kate Crane and her monthly pages.
I've chosen some of Sam Poole's Creative Expression stamps, Snowdays and a journal set. I love these stamps as they ink up really nicely, and they're not toooo fussy to cut out.
 The background has been inked with some Dylusion inks. It was going to be a blue page, but then I added a bit of yellow, and before you know it, it was green.  Funnily enough that happened the last time I used these two colours together - who knew eh! The trees in the background are mostly Tim's, and the children have been coloured with the Dylusion's and Inkadinks.
Please get yourselves over to Gingersnap Creations and check out the fab inspiration over there.
Thanks very much for looking x

Friends - Cheaper Than Therapy

I decided to go for the inky and messy look today (I'm a real fan of yellow and green fingernails lol) so I made a 6x4 postcard. The background is a mixture of Dylusion spray inks and Inkadinks.
The stamps are mostly from Art Journey, although the bird is from The Paper Company. The guy's shirts have been painted in Inkadinks. One drop on my craft mat goes a long long way and the colours are really vibrant - I love them!
The quote stamp originally said 'Chocolate It's cheaper than therapy' and it's always reminded me of Crocodile Dundee when he's asking why people have therapist's rather than just talking to their friends, so I left the chocolate bit off. It has to be the first time I've EVER turned down chocolate!
I'm entering this into the Gingersnap challenge which is 'shared moments, and the Shopping our Stash challenge which is no coloring allowed (pens or pencils).
Thanks very much for looking x

Who Would Live In a House Like This - Stampotique Triptych Challenge

Those girl's (and guy) over at Stampotique are not making thing easy this week, the challenge is to make a triptych using only Stampotique stamps. This is the first time I've made a triptych (except for the one that's in the bin), and it took me hours but it was great fun.
I inked a couple of sheets of card with Dylusions and Glimmer mists, then left these to dry overnight. I stuck these together, then cut out to make the triptych shape. The Welcome Door and border have been stamped on some Basic Gray and stuck on. Kitty has been stamped on my Killer Bees paper.

The Stampotique tree has been stamped in the same BG paper and the bat has been added from the Halloween cube. The bla bla bla and daisy's were stamped directly onto the card. This was a very scary bit for me lol.

I was reminded of that old Lloyd Grossman programme Through the Keyhole, where he looked round famous peoples houses, so I added the words. Next came the fiddly bit, I made the closure with a couple of spacers, jump rings and a piece of silver chain. The door opens by opening the chain clasp.
I really enjoyed making this, so thanks for the challenge and thanks for looking x

Just For Fun Challenge 3 For The Wings of a Bug

You know when you get an idea and it all comes together and everyone lives happily ever after - no me neither except for this tag. The JFF challenge this week is Wings of a Bug, and I was struggling with that part, but THEN postie brought my new Stampotique stamps, one of which is a butterfly/moth.
I wanted to do a nice bright background, so I used my favourite Dylusion paints in red, yellow and green. The stamps are from Scrolls Work and Paper Artsy, and I've stamped with bright Stazon's.
My grungy dude (do we still say dude lol) and the quote below him are from a Paper Artsy plate. I did him once then realised I'd cut his arms off when I tried to stick his wings on :o)
I really enjoyed making him, so thanks very much for the challenge, and thanks for looking x

Simon Says Stamp And Show Us A Tag

It's tag time over at Simon Say Stamp And Show, it's always nice to make a tag as I've run out of people to send cards to lol.
I used Dylusion paint to create my background, then stamped over with a polka dot stamp. I used a Prima Moulin Rouge stamp to create a bit of a background texture.
The papers are also Prima Moulin Rouge and they are gorgeous, it really hurt to tear one up :o)
The Eifel Tower is from Craftwork Cards, and I covered it in masking tape, stamped with the same background stamp, and added a bit of brown ink.
Thanks very much for looking x

Are Yer Dancin'?

I bought the Dylusion paints and stamps at the back end of last year, then Christmas kicked in before I really had a chance to play. But I dug them out today and they are never going away again. The paints are gorgeous, they go on so smoothly and blend.... yum. I used green, yellow and orange for the background then sprayed with vanilla custard spray OMG I never wanted it to dry, the colours just glowed. The houses are stamped onto DI's in yellows and oranges. I defy anyone to use Dy's products and not have a big fat grin on their faces. It's like she puts something of herself into her paints, you don't aim for straight, or measure, you just slap it on and know that it will be ok :o)
Twinkie and Marci are feeling the lurve, and he's asking the age old question...
I'm entering this into Simon Says Stamp And Show's polka dot challenge. I had the best time making this - thanks very much for looking and enjoy what's left of the weekend.

Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead

Here is my first attempt at an art journal page. It's on the Dia de los Muertos theme which I love - all those bright colours :o) This is a Mexican holiday which is on the 2nd of November, and celebrates the lives of those no longer with us. I've never seen so much white space as the first page of my book. The background was painted in various Dylusion paints from the lovely Dyan at Art from the Heart. She was kind enough to demo these for me at Doncaster Dome, so it would have been rude if I had not bought some lol. She taught me how to apply them with great care and precision (slodge with a wet wipe) and they are lovely, you can layer up the colour and they dry to a matt finish.

The stamps are from Third Coast and they are fab. They're unmounted and have so much detail. I love the dog and the donkey lol. I can really recommend a virtual visit.

The skull is a digi image from The Octopode Factory. Lily has some lovely quirky images - even die hard rubber stampers like me couldn't resist.

Thanks very much for looking x