Sneaky Peeks & More Bluebells

Just popping in with a few sneaky peeks for Crafty Individuals' new stamp release, which will be shown this Friday April 2nd on Hochanda (which will be changing its name on Thursday to The Craft Store!) .

 

The gorgeously quirky images have been designed by the very talented Sharron Bates, and I am sure they will be very popular. I'll be posting a few more sneaky peeks before the big reveal on Friday!

In the meantime, here's another card using the lovely new "Counting Bluebells" from Crafty Individuals, beautifully drawn and designed by the equally talented Jean Hardy. I made it with the remainder of the background piece I created with Pretty Gets Gritty Explosion Powders for the card in my previous post, stamping the image three times directly on to the background (having masked off the parts of the image I didn't want to show) and colouring them with Arteza coloured pencils..

The sentiment is from the "Woodland Words" stamp. Again, I masked the rest of the stamp before inking up just the words I wanted to use, and then die cut them with a Spellbinders die. The bee and butterfly are also by Crafty Individuals.

Hope you will be able to tune in on Friday to see the fab new stamps, at 10.00am and 2.00pm!

Last Challenge Of The Year At Stamping Sensations

I can't believe it's December already - this year seems to have flown by! Whether you have all your Christmas makes done and dusted, or you're like me and having a last minute panic, we hope you'll find a few minutes to enter our final challenge of 2019 at Stamping Sensations.

We appreciate that it's a busy time of year, so we have a nice easy theme for you:

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES * * * * *

The subject of your entry can be anything you like - however, please note that our challenge rules do still apply (see them here), otherwise your entry sadly will be ineligible.  We would hate you to miss out on the chance to win the fab prize from our lovely sponsors Be Creative. See the challenge blog for details.

My sample is a Christmas card (I actually managed to get two done!)

I used the brilliant "Deck The Halls" turnabout stamp from Concord & 9th. I love the turnabout stamps, they are so clever. You can find all the stamps and how-to info on the Concord & 9th website.

I stamped Deck The Halls 4 times, using a different colour each time. The first layer was embossed in silver. Should you wish to try this, make sure your embossed layer is the one you do first, otherwise the embossing powder will stick to all the previous layers, unless you've made sure to dry them completely first. Which I didn't, on my first attempt, so you now have the benefit of my experience!

I cut the bauble with a Spellbinders die, sponged pigment ink around the edge before removing it from the die, then added the stamped sentiment (magazine freebie). A ribbon bow completed the design.

Here's card No.2 in a more traditional colourway.

My teamies have some absolutely gorgeous inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog. I hope you'll pop over and take a look, and that you'll be able to join in our last challenge of 2019. We look forward to seeing your projects!

Red, Green, Gold

Well, it's that time of the year again, you know, the one where I start to panic because it's November and I have made the grand total of 3 Christmas cards! I start the year with the best of intentions to do a few each month, but somehow that never happens. I do manage to get them done in the end. If only it could be in an atmosphere of calm relaxation instead of a frantic rush ! Oh well, maybe next year.....

Were it not for this month's Stamping Sensations Challenge, my grand total thus far would have been two! However, our November theme is to use

* * * * * TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS COLOURS * * * * *

and so my sample became Christmas card No. 3!

We would like to see your projects in the traditional colours of red, green and gold. You may use any or all of those colours, but the main focal image must be stamped and reflect the theme, otherwise it will not be eligible. This month we are delighted to be sponsored again by Chocolate Baroque, who have very kindly donated these two gorgeous stamp sets for our lucky winner.

             

I have used the beautiful Christmas rose stamp for my card.

I used the no-line colouring technique, stamping the image with Desert Sand Memento ink, and colouring it with Arteza coloured pencils. I cut it out with a Spellbinders die, sponging a little red pigment ink around the edges before I removed it from the die. I covered the base card with a background paper by Dovecraft, mounted the image to it with foam pads, and added some tartan ribbon, die cut sentiment (Britannia Dies) and holly sprig (magazine freebie) to finish it off.

I love hellebores, they are such elegant flowers, so the Christmas rose is one of my favourite Chocolate Baroque stamps. It's lovely to colour, and in fact I did manage to have quite a relaxing hour or so doing it! Here's another close up.

I must admit to being a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas, so I am really looking forward to seeing lots of entries in those Christmas colours. I'm sure you won't have any trouble coming up with ideas for this theme, but do go and have a look at my teamies' samples on the Challenge Blog anyway, just to feast your eyes on their loveliness. Meanwhile, I had better make a start on card No. 4........

Flap and Flutter!

For our August challenge at Stamping Sensations we return to one of my favourite themes, which is

* * * * * THINGS WITH WINGS * * * * *

I love to watch the birds and butterflies in my garden, so it's not surprising that they frequently find their way on to my cards and projects. Of course, anything with wings will be eligible for our challenge, so this could include insects, fairies, dragons or even aeroplanes, as well as butterflies and birds. To be eligible for our prize or Top 3 your "thing with wings" must be the main focal point of your project and must be stamped, and you must put a link to Stamping Sensations Challenge in your post. For the full list of rules, see here.

For my card I stamped some butterflies from Inkylicious, coloured them with Arteza watercolour pencils, blended the colour with a water brush, and cut them out. I used a Spellbinders die to cut a piece of white card unequally in two, matted the pieces on to purple card and stamped a sentiment by Chocolate Baroque on the larger piece. The beautiful backing paper was a magazine freebie. A few flower sequins added the final touch.

Also returning this month are our lovely sponsors Rubber Dance, who are giving the lucky winner a fantastic £25 voucher to spend in their online shop.

I can't wait to see this month's entries! My teamies have plenty of gorgeous inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog, so do go and take a look!

Back to winter!

Well, after all the water which came down in March, April turned out to be a great month! Dry, warm and sunny for the most part. Anyone would have thought it was summer already! It was obviously playing tricks on us, though, as right now it's so cold it feels as though we're back to winter, at least up here in the north. And even further north it's been snowing, apparently! Minus temperatures are forecast for us tonight. I think I put the thermal undies away too soon! How all that fits with global warming, I've no idea, so I'll just move swiftly on to this month's Stamping Sensations Challenge, where our theme for May is

* * * * * IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN * * * * *

We'd like your projects to show what you might find in a typical English country garden, so you could include, for instance, flowers, trees, birds, insects, wild animals, etc., or perhaps garden furniture, shed, greenhouse or even washing on a line! Whatever you choose, your main image must be stamped and relevant to the theme, otherwise your project will not be eligible. See here for our full challenge rules. You will not want to miss out on the chance to win this month's fab prize of these 2 beautiful A5 stamp sets, kindly donated by our lovely sponsors Chocolate Baroque.



I have used Chocolate Baroque stamps on my card.

I created the background with my Gelli Plate, covering it with Distress inks and then lifting off some of the colour with stamps from the Chocolate Baroque Spring Foliage set before taking the print.

The central image is from the Home Sweet Home set and the robin is cut from the main image in the Robin the Spruce set. I coloured the butterflies (Just Butterflies set) to look like Orange Tips, which have been visiting my garden during the past few weeks. The flowers on the grass at the front are from "The Spinney" Design A Tree set.

The main image is coloured with Polychromos pencils and cut out with a Spellbinders die. I used Arteza brush pens for the robin and butterflies.

There is some truly delightful inspiration from my teamies over on the Challenge Blog, so please do go and check it out. I am so looking forward to seeing your entries for this theme.

Mine is a Scottish Country Garden but it has plenty in common with an English one! I'll leave you with a few recent photos.

Orange Tip butterfly. Hard to photograph as they are hardly ever still!

Lesser Redpoll

Auricula

Ivy Leaved Toadflax, growing in the garden walls. In our garden, the wildflowers sit happily alongside the cultivated ones. We do not have weeds!

Bank Vole. We have a family of them living in the undergrowth behind the bird feeders. The baby ones are so cute!

Yellowhammer. Due to recent population decline they are now classed as an endangered species. Not apparently so in our garden! Last year we counted 20 here on one occasion. Not so many yet this year, but still several pairs visiting regularly.

Bluebells. This seems to be a really good year for them as there are lots about, both wild and cultivated. 

Sycamore. The warm April weather brought most of the trees bursting into leaf. This is my favourite time of year, when everything is fresh and new.

Heron. Not in our garden, but I took the picture from the garden as it took off from beside the river which is next to our house. We are so lucky to live here, surrounded by beautiful wildlife. It makes up for all the rain!

A Riot of Colour For March!

We have a great theme for our March Challenge at Stamping Sensations, and there'll be no difficult decisions about which colours to choose for your project, as you can use all of them! We'd like to see your take on

* * * * * SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW * * * * *

You can take inspiration from either the colours of the rainbow or from the well known song. All we ask is that your main image is stamped and that your project adheres to our Challenge Rules, otherwise it will not be eligible for our fab prize, and may not be commented on. Our lucky winner this month will receive a lovely selection of dies.

I've gone for rainbow colours for my card, and kept the design quite simple to let the colours stand out.

I've had this very pretty Woodware flower stamp in my stash for a while and never got round to inking it up until now, but I thought it would be perfect to show off our rainbow theme. The sentiment is part of the same stamp set.

The card was very quick to make. I used ink dusters and Distress Inks to make the rainbow background, and the same inks to colour the flowers. I cut the border with a Spellbinders die and added some sparkle to the flowers with a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. You can see the effect better in the next photo.

I know I say this often, but my brilliant teamies really have outdone themselves with their projects this month! Go and feast your eyes on the rainbow of stunning samples over on the Challenge Blog, and then see what you can come up with to rival them! We're looking forward to seeing a riot of colourful entries!

Brighten up these grey days!

Don't know about your neck of the woods, but up here it's been damp, dull, dreary and draughty lately. Very draughty! And very damp! Not to mention cold! We've had the odd fine day, but they've been few and far between, and the unremitting grey leaves me feeling blue. I'm definitely not a winter person. Roll on the spring!

However, at least we have Christmas to look forward to, along with this month's challenge from Stamping Sensations which I hope is going to brighten things up considerably as our December theme is

* * * * * WINTER SPARKLE * * * * *

Bring out the bling, and show us your winter wonders, but please do remember that the main image of your project must be stamped and follow the theme.

We are sponsored once again by the fabulous Gordon and Justin of Be Creative, and knowing Justin's love of all things Christmassy and glittery, I'm sure they will both be looking forward to seeing all your entries as much as I am.

I've used some of the superb Be Creative products on my card.

Their Wonder Tape, Wonder Sheet and Glue Wands are my go-to adhesives for card making, and their Wonder embossing powders and crystals are to die for. I stamped the sentiment (Inkylicious) and embossed it with one of the detail embossing powders from the White Mystical set. This is a set of four white-based powders, three of which have glitter mixed in, and the one I chose is named, appropriately, Winter Sparkle. I used the same powder to make the background. I cut a piece of Wonder Sheet to size, removed the cover sheet from one side and sprinkled the powder all over it, and heated it. Both the Wonder Sheet and the Tape are heat resistant, so they are perfect for heat embossing. Once melted, the silver glitter mixed in with the white powder really does sparkle beautifully. The photo doesn't do it justice, although you can maybe see it a little better in the next one.

I diecut the sentiment with a Spellbinders die and added a few punched snowflakes (Tonic Studios punch) to finish off the design.

My lovely teamies have loads of gorgeous sparkly inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog, so do go and take a look, and I hope to see lots of entries for our final challenge of the year. Let's make Blogland sparkle!

A Cold And Frosty New Year!

Happy New Year  everybody! Hope 2018 is a year of peace and happiness for all. It's been a bit nippy lately up in our neck of the woods, and that makes Stamping Sensations' first challenge of the year quite appropriate! We'd like you to use

* * * * * COLD AND FROSTY COLOURS * * * * *

We're thinking blues, purples, lilacs, whites, silver etc. for the main colours of your project. And as always, please do remember that we are a stamping challenge, therefore we must see a stamped image as the focal element of your artwork, not just a stamped sentiment or stamping in the background. This means that stamping must be the central subject of attention and interest. 

We have a super prize for our winner, this wonderful assortment of products from Sizzix!



I've used Distress Oxide inks (Broken China and Wilted Violet) and Inkylicious stamps for my card.

This was the first outing for my Splatter Circle, which I bought at last October's Stamp Magic show but haven't had chance to use until now. It's a fabulous stamp, very versatile, and huge! (My card is 7" x 7"). I inked it up randomly with the two inks and then lightly misted it with water to blend the inks. Once the image was dry, I overstamped it with the Winter Birds (another new favourite stamp!) and went over the snow with a white gel pen. I coloured the berries with a Promarker. The sentiment was cut out with a Spellbinders die, and I added a couple of gems for a bit of sparkle. A snippet of glitter paper found amongst my stash was perfect for matting the picture, and I also used some DP which was a magazine freebie. All stamps by Inkylicious.

Although we haven't had much snow yet this winter, we have had some very hard frosts. There are still a few berries around here for the birds, and we have lots of visitors to our feeders every day. Recent ones were these stunning bullfinches. We had three pairs one day, flitting amongst the brambles at the edge of the garden.

  I managed to capture a bit of video of them.

We get not only most of the common garden birds, but also some more unusual ones. For example:

Goldfinch

Yellowhammer

Siskin

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Lesser Redpoll

the gorgeous Pheasant

And my favourite cheeky, chirpy Long Tailed Tits!

I never tire of watching the birds, and I don't even have to leave the house to see them. All the photos were taken through my kitchen window! We are so lucky to live where we do, with nature all around us. I'm never short of inspiration.

Talking of which, if you should need any to help you with our Cold And Frosty Challenge, do fly over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at the beautiful samples which my talented teamies have produced for you. Can't wait to see your cool creations!

Mid-month Inspiration at Stamping Sensations

The DT's current mid-month theme at Stamping Sensations is "My go-to stamp", and I have to admit that my heart sank a little when I saw it! For me, trying to pick a go-to stamp is like attempting to choose a favourite piece of music - there are so many I like and all so different. How do I narrow it down to one above all? Well, if I have to decide, I guess it must come down to trees or butterflies. And as this month's challenge theme is Animal Magic, I've gone with a butterfly. It's by Hero Arts and I have it in three versions: the original rubber, clear (in a set), and a rubber cling which is part of a Sizzix Framelits set. Oh, and a digi version! Sadly I think they are all now discontinued, but some occasionally pop up on eB*y.

The original one is one of my oldest stamps, but I still use it a lot, often as an embellishment to something else. This time, however, I decided to let it take centre stage, which, since it is so pretty, it certainly deserves to do. And it's wonderful to colour.

I made a background by dusting with Memento inks and overstamping the butterfly in two colours. Then stamped the butterfly again on white card, coloured it with Zig Clean Color pens and cut it out and matted it with Spellbinder dies. Sentiment by Stampingallday. Here's a closer look.

There's still time to enter our Animal Magic challenge, with a fabulous prize from sponsors Tattered Lace. Thanks for looking!

Coffee and Cream

Happy New Year, everyone, I hope 2017 will be good to you all! As New Year's Day is a Sunday, we're straight in with our first challenge of the year at Stamping Sensations, where our January theme is

* * * * * COFFEE AND CREAM * * * * *

As usual, you may interpret the theme however you wish, but please do remember that we are a stamping challenge, so the main element of your design must be either hand stamped or hand coloured digi and should reflect the theme. Sadly, projects which don't fit the theme or our rules will not be eligible for the prize or top 3, and may not be commented on, in fairness to all those who do follow the rules. If you're not sure what they are, you can find them here.

Here's the prize for this month's lucky winner!

And here's my sample.

I was aiming for a vintage feel, which I think works well with this lovely image by Crafty Individuals. The background paper is from the same Dovecraft pack as the paper I used in my November sample. Although the pack is Christmas themed, many of the designs are suitable for other occasions too, and the one I've used here seemed to go perfectly with the theme. A piece of self adhesive lace. some pearls from Be Creative, and a sentiment by Inkylicious, cut out with a Spellbinders die, completed the card. I thought the sentiment was quite appropriate for the New Year.

My lovely teamies have some really beautiful samples to show you over on the Challenge Blog, so do pop over and have a look at them. I'm just off to put the kettle on. Still got a drop of cream left over from Christmas, so I shall have a final seasonal indulgence and put it in my coffee. Back on the diet tomorrow!