April at Stamping Sensations

Good morning, It's time for our April challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we are looking for

****April Showers bring May flowers ****
 As the title suggest we would love to see your hand stamped creations that reflect that phrase. I am sure you will come up with lots of fabulous designs involving flowers, gardening and the odd rain cloud, brolly or wellies! 
My card this month was made with a Woodware stamp that I stamped in versamark and embossed with Be Creative detail white embossing powder. I had used faded lilac, peacock feathers and cracked pistachio distress inks on the panel. I went over the flowers and leaves with distress markers to intensify the colour in places before splattering with a little water and gold mica spray. The base card was dusted and stamped with the inkylicious water droplets stamp in the same shades of ink.  
Our prize this month is a £25 voucher from our sponsors, Be Creative. Gordon and Justin have a lovely range of embossing powders, adhesives,  a stamping platform and the screen-pal as well as some fabulous layering stamps.

Please ensure you check our challenge rules before entering, it may save you embarrassment and make sure your entry receives comments from the team and is entered into the prize draw. We run our challenge for fun in our spare time. It is your responsibility if entering to make sure you check our challenge rules. It is not our responsibility to read your posts and remind you if you fail to comply. If you do not follow the rules we will simply ignore your entry.

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the gorgeous designs from all my talented teamies! They really have made some beautiful cards again this month! 

Thanks for looking!

May at Stamping Sensations

 

It is the first Sunday of the month and time for our May challenge at Stamping Sensations. Spring is such a wonderful time of year so we have a theme to compliment the season.................

********Close to Nature********

We are looking for flowers, trees, wild animals and insects, in fact anything associated with the wonders of Nature and the great outdoors which surround us every day.

Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image which reflects the theme as the focal element of your artwork , this means:

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest

Both of my cards were made with Hobby Art stamps, Stamped in memento Desert Sand and coloured with watercolour markers. I think this is my new favourite technique, and very satisfying to colour 😊
Our sponsors this month are Chocolate Baroque, and there is a great prize on offer!
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous creations from my talented team mates! This is obviously an inspirational theme for them all.
Thanks for looking!

October at Stamping Sensations

Good morning, It's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we are looking for

********Autumn Glory********

So as the title suggest we would love to see all things Autumn, be it trees and flowers, Autumnal scenes or you may wish to use a favourite stamp and use all those lovely rich colours that we associate with this time of year. Our Sponsors this month are Stamp Addicts who manufacture their own branded rubber stamps which frequently feature on Hochanda TV as well as exhibiting at craft shows across the UK. It seemed only right that I used the scenic stamp set from Stamp Addicts for my first card. It is such a versatile stamp set and can be used for all different seasons. I have used it to make snowy scenes too. The leaf stamps are from Hobby Art and the sentiment is from Inkylicious. The extra leaves I stamped made another card, along with the lovely Autumn quote also from Hobby Art. All colouring was done with Distress markers and Zig clean color markers

 

Our lucky winner this month will receive a £25 store voucher. 

 Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork. You can enter up to three creations but please note: If we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment on third party hosts particularly Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Splitcoast. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the gorgeous creations from my multi talented teamies, and I look forward to visiting your great entries!

Thanks for looking! 

September at Stamping Sensations

Good morning, It's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we have some photo inspiration for you with some pretty colours that can range from bright to pastel, it's very much down to you which ones you choose to work with, or you may want to go floral inspired by the lovely Iris.

I used both for my inspiration and came up with this...

I coloured the iris stamp (Hobby Art) with distress markers in peacock feathers and picked raspberry and then used a water brush to spread the colour, adding a little glitter glue. I  created an inky panel for the base card using dylusion sprays, distress oxide ink in broken china, a stencil, a crafty individuals background stamp and another Hobby Art stamp. It sort of evolved as I went along, and I was reasonably pleased with how it worked out!

Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork. You can enter up to three creations but please note: If we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment on third party hosts particularly Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Splitcoast. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.
We have a lovely prize of Hero Arts goodies this month and a second prize of ribbons too. 
     
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the gorgeous creations from my multi talented teamies, and I look forward to visiting your great entries!
Thanks for looking!  

Coastal Scene

I stamped and water-coloured this scene whilst on holiday and it has been waiting patiently to be turned into a card. I used the Hobby Art Coastal walk and seashells set, and my colouring was inspired by the scenery we saw from the Pembrokeshire coastal path. Here are a few photos...

A walk around the Marloes peninsula was so good - great views, lovely sea and sands, lots of wildlife and wildflowers and the sound of the sea!  We took a boat trip round Skomer and were lucky enough to see seals, porpoise and dolphins! I took hundreds of photos, but these were the best!

 I am back at school and the children start tomorrow, so probably not going to visit blogland again until the weekend.
Thanks for looking!

July at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning! It is the first Sunday of the Month and time for a new Challenge over at Stamping Sensations! This month's theme is.....

***Anything with Flowers*** 

As the title suggests we want to see your projects featuring your favourite flower stamp.  And please note: if we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.
As our sponsors this month are Crafty Individuals, I am using my favourite flower stamps from them. the first card uses Crafty Individuals CI-302 and Crafty Individuals Paper Book 3 Springtime. For the second card I used Crafty Individuals CI-411 and CI231. In each case the stamp was stamped onto silk art card in archival ink and coloured with Zig clean clean color markers and Distress markers.

Jean and Malcolm have a huge range of unique rubber stamps, papers and other crafting items, all amazing quality and value. You can find their online shop here They are offering a fabulous £35 voucher as our prize. If you win and need help spending that, I am definitely your woman 😁😁😁 There is also a second mystery prize on offer, too!
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the gorgeous creations from my multi talented teamies, and I look forward to visiting your great entries!
I finally finished writing reports and that has coincided with the arrival of some lovely Hobby Art stamps, so my crafty time is sorted for this weekend. 
Thanks for looking!

A couple of Butterflies

I needed a couple of cards and the Bigz butterfly from Inkylicious had been on my desk for a few days waiting to be inked up, so here is the result. I ink dusted and stamped the backgrounds with Tiny Text onto Silk Art card. For the first card I used bundled sage and dried marigold. To colour the butterfly I used the same colours of Distress ink marker and also tumbled glass.

My second card used the spring set of distress inks (Peacock feathers, Shaded lilac and Squeezed lemonade). For both I used the Weathered Wood Distress marker to make a shadow around the edge of the butterfly, blending the edge with a water brush. Once it was dry I added a few highlights with a Sakura clear stardust and a glaze pen. All stamps and inks are from Inkylicious.
Can't believe my luck that the Challenge this week at Allsorts is Butterflies so I am entering them there! I also used snippets to mat and layer with so I am skipping off to the snippet playground with them, and that has absolutely nothing to do with the mention of empty bottles! I am just back from a break in south Wales, so I am bringing some Welsh cakes with me. I'll be back with photos to share very soon. 
Thanks for looking!

June's challenge at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning! It is the first Sunday of the month and time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations. Our Theme is Feature a Creature and we are sponsored by Be Creative. Your creatures can be furry, have wings, have 6 legs, eight legs or no legs if you like! They can be real or mythological (Everyoneloves a unicorn, lol) - it really is up to you.
 The usual rules apply, you can enter up to three times, combine with other challenges, use any make of stamp......but can I please remind you we are a stamping challenge and stamping must be the focal/predominant element of your work. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not.
 For my card I used a Crafty individuals stamp, CI-225. I stamped the image on to silk art card with Archival ink and coloured with distress markers and a water brush.The background layer was stamped with Inkylicious old wood floor stamp and memento rich cocoa ink.  the backing papers come from the Be Creative Natures Portrait paper pad. The lacy border down the paper is also from Be Creative.
'What is the prize?' I hear you ask. You get a big stash of the new wonder crystals and embossing powders, in fact some brand new colours that Justin and Gordon have been busy creating! Take a look on the Hochanda Website and Once Upon a Stamp's Website for Be Creative goodies.
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fantastic creations by my lovely teamies. There are some absolute stunners again this month! Hope you get the chance to join in and I'll look forward to seeing all your lovely creations!
As this post goes live I am off to Doncaster Dome for Stamp Magic and a chance to spend some birthday money! Sadly I am going alone as Lynne hasn't been able to come down due to a nasty virus. I have her shopping list though, and  I am also going to select some blog candy, because after all of Mr Blogger's shenanigans, I now have 300 followers again! Come back soon for more details. Hope your Sunday is a good one!
Thanks for looking!

May Challenge at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning! It is the first Sunday of the month and time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations. Our Theme is Anything goes, so a nice easy one for you and we are sponsored by Crafty Individuals. The Usual rules apply, you can enter up to three times, combine with other challenges, use any make of stamp......but can I please remind you we are a stamping challenge and stamping must be the focal/predominant element of your work. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not. For my card I used two Crafty individuals stamps, CI-430 and CI-387. The background was stamped in Stormy sky and dried marigold DI. I stamped the main image on to silk art card with Archival ink and coloured with distress markers and a water brush.

Crafty Individuals is an exciting web based venture into the creative world of crafts and altered art products and produce an eclectic range of unique and top quality art rubber stamps, cutting dies, masks/stencils and paper craft products. One very lucky winner will win a £35 voucher to spend in their store.
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fantastic creations by my lovely teamies. There are some absolute stunners this month! With a theme like anything goes, it would be rude not to join in, lol, so I'll look forward to seeing all your lovely creations! 
I'm entering my card into the Crafty Individuals blog challenge too, where the theme is anything goes as long as you use one Crafty Individuals product .
Thanks for looking!

Masculine cards

There have been several male birthdays in our family and friends recently. First up was Steve's birthday...

As a duck fan, this stamp from Crafty Individuals was perfect and I stamped it on silk art card and coloured with distress markers. The base paper was one that was a very pale gelli plate print, so I washed over it with distress stain to make it fit the colour scheme. The snippet of paper under the stamped image has to be at least 15 years old and I am not sure where it came from!

Next was my Dad's birthday, so a little scene was called for. All stamps are from Inkylicious, except the stag (stampscapes) and the scene was created with inkylicious stencils and ink dusters. 

Finally it was Meg's boyfriend's birthday. He is a 2nd Dan Black Belt and Sensei, so when I saw this Kenny K digi it was perfect! I coloured it with be Creative Alcohol Markers. the Paper is from Canon Creative Park and the sentiment is a very old one from Stamporium.

A Sneak Peek!

Hi There! I am popping in today with a card made using papers and embellishments from 'Be Creative', a new company who will be launching their range of craft products later next month.

The papers are 180gsm and double sided, so you get two different designs per sheet. There are 24 pages and 4 different double sided papers (that is 8 different designs) per 8"x8" book. They are made from recycled paper, but ooze quality and elegance! Can you tell I am impressed? At 180gsm they are stiff enough to make easel cards with, and I will be back with one of those soon! The flat backed pearls and buttons are self adhesive and each pack contains a range of sizes. I used inkylicious stamps and distress markers for the main image.
This weekend we are busy helping Meg to move into her student flat. The house has been full of boxes for the last few weeks and it will suddenly seem very empty once she has gone! I am looking forward to exploring new craft shops in Sheffield when I visit her! I have had one or two slightly tearful moments as she had her last karate classes in Notts for a while, and both Sensei spoke of their pride in her achievements and wished her luck - More proud mum moments!
I will share some more of the gorgeous products from 'Be Creative' very soon, and let you know a bit more about them.
Thanks for looking!

A couple of challenges and a bit of a birdy post!

At Allsorts this week the theme is the colour purple. My inspiration for this card was the sight of two whirling buzzards on Saturday afternoon, and the scrap paper pile I lean on when I am ink dusting sometimes!
Here is the card...

The background was created using ink dusters, Memento inks in dandelion, rosebud, purple twilight, elderberry and Danube blue. The stamp is from Inkylicious, on the old beech tree plate.
Here is the top of the pile of scrap paper I have been using and taking some inspiration from!

My second card is for the current theme at Less is More, where they want to see wings.

This started off as a one layer card with the lower half masked off. It was when I removed the masks and attempted to stamp the sentiment that it all went wrong! I dropped the stamp in completely the wrong place and made a right mess! I ended up cutting part of the front off the card, mounting it on some blue and using a fresh base card. Good job it wasn't a one layer week! Stamps are from inkylicious, stamped in memento ink and coloured with distress markers and a water brush. The background was dusted with tumbled glass DI using a cloud stencil.
Thanks for looking!

My Top 5 of 2014

Good morning! Still plenty of the crisp and even stuff here. Hope you are managing to stay warm. I am joining in again with Debby's Top 5  for the year. I had to go back through very carefully and had completely forgotten some! It was so hard! I think my choices are based on the reaction of the people who received them more than anything. Here goes then. My first card was inspired by a photo and stamped with Inkylicious stamps- the post about it (and the photo) is here.

 My second card was for a dear friend and colleague. Softy that I am, the sentiment on this card was so pertinent that I it made me cry. All stamps on this one are from Inkylicious and the original post is here

 My third card, using Inky Doodles stamps, was for another dear friend who loves foxes.

 My fourth card was the one I gave Steve for our Silver wedding Anniversary

 My fifth card was Steve's Birthday card

I couldn't just choose 5 though, so I have three runners up!

 First is Meg's birthday card using a mixture of Inkylicious and Crafty Individuals stamps. Find out more here. I was pretty pleased with the realistic shadows and waves breaking on the shore!

Next is one of the cards that I produced as a part of my third video tutorial

and finally a play with my dylusions, treasure gold, distress markers and Crafty individuals stamps which was a DT card for Stamping Sensations. More details here. Do pop over to Debby's blog and take a look at her lovely top 5 (+)!
Welcome to my latest followers Joey, Desire, Rita,Barbara and Viv. Sorry it has taken a while to welcome you! It is great to have you here. Thanks for looking and I will see you on Sunday for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations!

Things with Wings at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning and it is time for another challenge over at Stamping Sensations. Our theme this month is Things with Wings. I chose dragonflies for my cards this month.

 My first card features a new stamp from Inkylicious called Dragonfly bookplate. I coloured it with distress markers and dusted around the edges in grey flannel memento ink. I then used a clear stardust gellyroll pen to go over the dragonflies.

you can just about see it in this photo. My Second card was made with Crafty Individuals stamps, again coloured with distress markers. The background was dusted with tumbled glass and broken china distress ink

Our prize this month is donated by Crafty Devils.
                                         
£35 worth of goodies - how good is that!
I do hope you will join in the challenge this month and I look forward to seeing your lovely stamped creations. Pop over to the challenge blog to see the wonderful creations by my very talented teamies and to remind yourselves of the rules.
Thanks for looking!

Animal antics at Stamping Sensations

It is the first Sunday of the month and time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations. This month our theme is Animal Antics and we are being sponsored by Crafty Individuals.
For my card I used my Elephants stamp (CI - 390) on silk art card. I masked the elephants and dusted the background in lemon yellow and cherry pink impress ink, and persimmon Distress ink. I then removed the mask and coloured the elephants with distress markers in pumice stone and weathered wood. The panel beneath was sprayed with dylusions and glimmer mist before stamping with CI- 170 background stamp in Adirondack eggplant.

So, onto this months prize. We have a voucher for £35 worth of Crafty Individuals goodies of your choice! How wonderful is that? Especially when they have a whole load of lovely new stamps out! You can read all about them on Jean's Blog.
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the projects that my talented teamies have created. I look forward to seeing the wonderful creations that I know will be entered in this challenge. Just remember  that we are a stamping challenge. If you wish your entry to be considered for the prize it must include hand stamped elements, not just digis!
Thanks for looking!

Anything Goes at Stamping Sensations

It is the first Sunday of May so time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations.

 It is an 'anything goes'  theme this month, so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to use some newish stamps! For my first card I used some paper that I had sprayed with dylusions and stamped crafty Individuals CI -182 in Gesso. I added a snippet border (CI -147) stamped in versamark and brushed with gold mica powder. The owl stamp (CI -225 ) was stamped in archival black onto silk art card and coloured with distress markers before cutting out and matting onto an embossed panel rubbed with treasure gold sapphire using 3d glue.This too was from my snippet drawer.

For my second card I stamped the base card with versamark using the border stamp CI - 147 and rubbed over with pan pastels. I then aged it a little by dusting around the edges with Tea Dye distress ink. I added a snippet panel sprayed with irridescent ink and some lace. The main image is CI - 387, stamped in archival black and coloured with distress markers. I mounted it on a couple of snippets and put together with 3d glue.
So, what is the prize this month?

We have a mystery prize so you will just have to keep an eye the challenge blog to find out!
Do pop over there and take a look at the fabulous creations my lovely teamies have created this month, too.

All you need to remember is that we are a stamping challenge and your focal element must be a stamped image, you can enter up to three times and combine your entry with other challenges.

I am off to enjoy my birthday with a walk in the woods looking at Bluebells, happy in the knowledge I don't have work tomorrow! Don't you love Bank Holidays?!
I have just realised that there are several snippets on both of these cards, so I am off to Di's Crafty Snippet playground with them. Will be back soon to share photos from my walk x

Puffins!

I realised that I haven't posted Meg's Birthday card yet, and luckily it has birds on it, Puffins to be exact - great for a couple of challenges!

The rocky ledge stamp is from Stampscapes, the puffin is from Crafty Individuals (CI - 349) and the grass, flying birds and posts are Inkylicious stamps. I created the background for the scene using my ink dusters and a mixture of memento and distress inks, and coloured the puffins and ledge with distress markers. I also drew the shadows of the posts with an antique linen Distress marker. Although you can't really tell in the photo, I used diamond stickles for the breaking waves. Meg loved it. Puffins are such wonderful birds, and one of her favourites.
Here is a close up

I am entering this into Allsorts challenge for this week where the theme is Birds and feathers, Fashionable stamping Challenge, where the theme is Flying things and My Time to Craft where the theme is Up, up and away.I am also entering this into the Crafty Individuals challenge for April where the theme is Nature's Beauty
Thanks for looking and I hope you had a good Easter. Back to work for me tomorrow. 

Ivy wall playtime

I've had a bit of a play with Inkylicious Footprints on our hearts and  Ivy Wall. I began by stamping it in Memento black onto silk art card, along with the sentiment. I coloured it with distress markers (rusty hinge, antique linen, peeled paint, pine needles, crushed olive and weathered wood) and a water brush. I should probably have used an archival ink, as there was a little bleeding of colour from the black ink, but it isn't obvious. I dusted the rest of the panel with rusty hinge distress ink and ink dusters and popped it on the front of a 5" x 7" card.
I am entering this card into a few challenges
Sister act Challenge - Anything goes
Vintage stamping challenges - Anything goes
Lexi's creations - Focus on the sentiment
Thanks for looking!