Trees

Well true to form it is the last day for submitting entries to the Claritystamp Blog Challenge and I'm late as usual, next year I really must try to be a bit more organised.

This months entry is all about trees and I have to say that I really enjoyed making it. 

Ingredients

Piece of Clarity coated card stock

Claritystamps- Winter Trees clear stamp set and Church clear stamp.

Versafine Onyx Black

Versafine Olympia Green

Archival Potting Soil

Distress Inks - Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Stormy Skies and Black Soot.

Picture frame form Ikea

I started off by stamping the trees and church using a combination of the Versafine and Archival permanent ink pads. 

Once this was dry I started work on the sunset with the Distress Inks, first a bit of Squeezed Lemonade.

Next, for a bit of Mustard Seed.

Then, some Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade.

And to finish off some Ripe Persimmon, Stormy Skies and Black Soot. Finally, once it was dry I mounted and framed it in a frame from Ikea. 

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback is always appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Take It, Make It Challenge: December 'White Stamping!'

I always look forward to getting my Craft Stamper every month and checking out what's new in the crafting world, reading reviews and finding great inspiration in the projects that are published. 

I have never really thought about sending in an entry until I saw this one for 'Stamping in White'.  

The card I have made is using a rubber stamp from the Impression Obsession, Cover-a-card range and is called 'Tree Line'. The trees are stamped on the reverse side of Centura Pearl card using a VersaMark Dazzle watermark stamp pad and then embossed using white detail powder. The background is spritzed over the top using Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Mist in pastel blue, pastel pink and pastel purple which is very subtle and has a slight shimmery effect to it. The edge has then been distressed slightly with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink and it has been matted and layered onto white and black and put onto a white base card.

I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Crafty hugs xx

Lavinia Stamps Challenge 12 - 'Add A Flower'

I can't believe that this is the last challenge of 2014. 

Well I've had a wonderful week, Christmas Day and Boxing Day spent with family and friends, but saddened as it was the first year without Mum by our sides, although she was with us in spirit.

I've had a lovely rest, not as much crafting as I'd have liked but Dave and I have had some quality time together so that more than makes up for it. What a difference from last year when I was suffering from shingles.

I started this card, liked the brusho background but then got to a point where I wasn't really feeling it, if you know what I mean. It was nearly filed under 'B' for bin.

I had a break, cup of tea and a mince pie came back to it half hour later thinking that's not so bad after all. I'm glad I persevered, once some highlights and flowers were added I matted and layered it onto black and purple and voilà. 

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-12-add-a-flower/

The Seasons

This is my entry for this months Challenge which is called 'The Seasons'

I created the backing card using a Clarity leaf stencil and laying down different colours with stencil brushes. On this I matted my main image using the boy and bird stamp but I only stamped the boy, I then drew in the lines and added the cut out coloured maple leafs to give the impression that he has been caught on the breeze. I toyed with the idea of adding the 'Autumn the year's last, loveliest smile' but decided less is more on this occasion.

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Lavinia Stamps Challenge 10 - 'Autumn Colours'

Well there's another month nearly gone. When I entered the last challenge I said 'Autumn will be upon us before we know it' and here it is. My favourite season of the year. 

Well it's been a good week for crafting, started off by a fab workshop run by a Pauline Butcher, the first of many for her, she is sure tone a great success.

I started this card at the workshop, it was supposed to be a Christmas snow scene but I kind of went off at a tangent resulting in an Autumn Sunset.  I then stamped  the Harietta silhouette as the focal point, added some land and foliage and finished it off today with a bit of bling. 

Finally it was matted and layered onto black card and placed on a white base card. 

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-10-autumn-colours/

Feminine

This is my entry for this months Challenge which is called Feminine.

Ingredients 

7x7 Pearlescent base card

6x6 feminine grey backing paper 

Small scrap of die cut shaving foam coloured card 

Clarity NDC Love You stamp

Versafine black onyx ink

Tim Holtz tattered poinsettia die cut parchment flower

Festive Berries DI

Spellbinder die cut feathers

Victoria Velvet DI

I matted and layered the backing paper onto the card and added the die cut sentiment to the middle, I really like this wording it is excellent for wedding cards and anniversaries. Next I added the tattered poinsettia flower, this was coloured with Festive Berries DI and spattered with a little bit of water for contrast and secured together with a lilac gem brad. The fathers were given a little hint of colour using Victorian Velvet DI and added to the card and the final touch was to add a couple of pink gems to the sentiment. 

I enjoyed making this card and find it easier to do 'pretty' than 'grungy' so it came quite easy for me. Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 8 - 'Add Some Glitter'

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 8 - 'Add Some Glitter'

Yet another month has nearly passed us by, Autumn will be upon us before we know it. 

Well I've not really had the time to craft lately and haven't done the challenge for a few months but I have managed it this month as I'm off work for a week. Not done as much crafting as I would have liked during the week because Dave and I have been doing a major make over on the garden and when the sun shines..........

This month I started off using a Sweet Poppy stencil 'Wishing Tree' designed by Tracey of Lavinia and used it as a basic template, put in the branches using brusho's and then added some 'candi' coloured with Brusho's and some black Enamel Accent dots.

Next I stamped in the Fleur Silhouette fairy and grounded her using Black Soot Distress Inks. The final touch was to stamp some stars and then different coloured glitter to the stars, wings and droplets.

Finally it was matted and layered several times using white card and card coloured with Distress Inks Festive Berries and Salty Ocean and placed on a cream scalloped base card. 

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:  

 

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-8-add-some-glitter/

Metal Flowers

Hi Everyone

Welcome to blog land again. 

Well I'm nearly at the end of my week off work and it's nice to say that I have managed to do some crafting. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. 

This is just a quick post to show what you can do with an empty beer/lager can. Once emptied (with the help of my husband) the cans were cut up using a sharp pair of scissors (don't use your best ones though). The cans were then embossed using Sizzix embossing folders and die cut with Tim Holtz Tattered Florals. 

The next step is to colour the pieces, I used alcohol inks and a little bit of Inka Gold for definition. Then it's a case of shaping and sticking together, I used a glue gun for this purpose and it works really well. The main thing to remember is to handle with care because the cans are very sharpe.

Once I had shaped the flowers I started to put the picture together, the background paper is a collage of pieces covered in Distress Paint 'Picket Fence' which has a nice translucent quality and then covered with some grunge paste through a rose stencil.

The tag was made using an Indigo Blu sentiment "Live Every Moment Laugh Every Day Love Beyond Words" which came with a recent Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine and layered on top of some white netting for dimension. Finally, a few butterflies and a dragonfly were buffed with Inka Gold and added to finish it off. 

I hope you like it, any thoughts or comments would be most welcome and don't forget if you try this watch your pinkies.

Thanks for taking the time to visit. 

Crafty hugs. xx

Sweet Lilac Flowers "Anything Goes"

I have looked on the Sweet Lilac website a few times but couldn't decide what flowers to get first because they are all so beautiful.  Imagine how thrilled I was last week to find out that I was the winner of a hamper of lovely flowers fom Jo Rice's Fussy & Fancy Blog Hop Candy. 

So here is my first make using these wonderful flowers. 

The background was made using the shaving foam technique and alcohol inks, I then stamped the Clarity stamps sentiment and Tim Hotz butterflies, added a bit of picked raspberry around the edge before matting and layering onto white and a cream base card. 

Finally, I added the beautiful Sweet Lilac flowers and I have to say I think the end result is stunning, the photo really doesn't do it justice. 

I am going to make this my first entry for the Sweet Lilac Blog Candi/Challenge (May/June), why not have a look at the blog and maybe enter yourself:

http://sweetlilacflowers.blogspot.co.uk/p/blogcandi-challenges.html

I hope you like it, thanks for taking the time to pop by and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 5 - 'Birthday Girl'

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 5 - 'Birthday Girl'

Nearly the end of another month and again I've not had a great deal of time for crafting but I do like to try and find time to enter this fabulous challenge.  This is my entry for the Lavinia Stamps Challenge 5 - Birthday Girl. 

I decided to use the stamps that came free with the Papercraft Essentials Magazine and stamped the main image using Potting Shed Archival Ink, once this was dry I grounded the fairy again using Archival Ink Potting Shed, Fern Green and Red Geranium.

I then put in the background using a piece of curved acetate to form hills with Distress Inks Peeled Paint, Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, Shaded Lilac and Stormy Sky. Next I put in a moon mask and started to build up the sky applying the Distress Inks with a make up sponge using Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserve, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord and Wild Honey. The moon was coloured once the mask was removed to make sure it wasn't too stark a contrast. To finish the background off I stencilled in some leaves with Dusty Concord. 

The card was trimmed and matted onto a white Linen Card then to finish it off I stamped some fairy dust and added glitter to this and the fairies wings and added a 'Happy Birthday' peel off.

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at the challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:  

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-5-birthday-girl/

Remember

This is my entry for this months Claritystamp Challenge which is called It's All About The Words.

Ingredients 

7x7 Geli card x 2

Poppy stencil

'Remember' stamp from word chain set

Corner stamp from journaling stamp set

Distress Inks Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Frayed Burlap and Black Soot

Versafine Onyx Black

Cream scalloped edge base card

As it is coming up to the 70th Anniversary of D-Day I thought it would be fitting to do a card to celebrate and honour not only those that made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives but also to everyone who took part during World War II.  This should be a time to remember everything that they secured for the life that we know today. 

I used the poppy stencil and coloured through with Distress Inks of varying colours to give depth to the image. This was then matted onto scalloped card and a piece of Geli card which was distressed using Spiced Marmalde and Fired Brick to tie in with the main image. I stamped the word 'Remember' on to a separate piece of card and distressed the edge with Fired Brick, this was mounted with foam pads to raise it a little and finally the corners were added.  

I enjoyed making this card, thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Tarmac Technique - Take Two

Hi Everyone

Here's my latest project.

I was so taken with this new technique I persuaded my other half Dave that we 'needed' to take a trip to Ikea at the weekend (sorry Mandy, we'll have to go again but I couldn't wait). A few hours later and we arrived home with lots of goodies including half a dozen mirrors.

Here's what happened next:

I picked out the paints that I wanted to use, I found a good selection of garden paint match pots at 

B & Q favouring nice bright colours

Next I stuck my embossed backing papers, die cuts and boards to the mirror.

Introduced some paint and went from bright white to just BRIGHT!

Then covered it with Karen Clare's secret ingredient....... This is where you get to thinking 'What have I done?'

Then for the Big Reveal!

Finally, a bit of bling in the form of a Inka Gold wax, I used Gold, Copper, Old Silver, Rosa, Violet and Steel Blue. 

AND VOILA

Now I'm planning my next one which will be on a 'Sewing' theme and I'm waiting for some new Sizzix embossing folders to arrive that I just couldn't do without. 

I hope you like it, any comments would be greatly appreciated. 

Crafty hugs

Jules

Tarmac Technique

On a sunny Sunday morning in May, Amanda (my crafting partner in crime) and I went to a most fantastic workshop hosted by Karen Clare ( AKA The Clock Lady) to learn all about the Tarmac Technique.

Very different from anything I've done before, a thoroughly good day was had by everyone and the finished mirrors were all absolutely stunning.

Here is the my mirror, I was so pleased with what I had achieved and keep going and having a sneaky peak and still can't quite get over the fact that 'I made that'.

Thank you so much for the inspiration Karen and to everyone there for making it such a fabulous and fun day. 

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself so much I went to Ikea at the weekend and bought some mirrors so that I can do it again and again and again..............

Hope you like it, any comments would be gratefully received. 

Crafty hugs xx

Lavinia Stamp Challenge 4 - Spring Colours

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 4 - Spring Colours

It's been a busy month and I've had very little time for crafting, more's the pity.

This is my entry for this months Lavinia Stamps Challenge, 4 -  Spring Colours. I started by stamping he main images then colouring them in using Distress Inks and Distress Markers. I have then put in some shading for the landscape and and mounted it on to a cream scalloped card.  I have then finished it off with a silk anemone flower and brass leaf embellishments. 

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at the challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:  

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-4-spring-colours/ 

Monochrome - Not So Mellow Yellow

This is my entry for this months Claritystamp Challenge 14 which is called Monochrome, to produce a card or piece of artwork using varying shades of one colour only. 

Ingredients 

Geli plate card 7x7

Clarity Stencils, Chinese Lantern & Framer Shapes (circle).

Clarity Stamps, Joy Frame Kit & Remountable Journaling Stamp Set.

Wild Honey Distress Ink.

Cream scalloped edge base card.

Silk anemone flower and small paper flower 

Donnington Tendril die cuts from Memorybox

I haven't had much time over the last few months to do a lot of crafting but I still try to enter the Clarity blog Challenge if I can.  As there was no set theme on what stamps to use this month I decided to use the journaling set and also the Joy framing kit, both of which I haven't really used since buying them at the NEC. I started off by cutting a paper circle and laying a mask in the centre of my 7x7 Geli Plate card then brushing over the top of that using the Chinese Lantern stencil, I then added stamped images using the journaling set so that some fall behind the circle. I then removed the mask and stamped the centre image, all of this has been done using the Wild Honey DI. I just love the Clarity stencil brushes they are a real dream to work with. Finally, I distressed the edge slightly, matted it on a cream scalloped card and attached a flower which has been coloured with Wild Honey.

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

I am also putting this into the Simon Says Monday Blog Challenge - Not So Mellow Yellow, more details at http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/?p=1380

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Claritystamp Challenge 13 - Flower Power

This is my entry for this months Challenge which is called Flower Power.

Ingredients 

Theuva card

Clarity Stamps, Large Blossom Branch, Small Blossom Branches, Blue Tits & Feeder, Large Blue Tit, words from Word Chain words. 

Garden Bird Mask

Black Soot Distress Ink.

Cloudy Blue Adirondack Ink.

Variety of Pro-marker & Spectrum Noir pens 

Cream scalloped edge base card.

Lilac card.

Spring is one of my favourite seasons and I just love it at the moment seeing all the daffodils, crocus and hyacinths in bloom and the trees in full blossom.  When I saw the new Blossom Branches on Create & Craft I knew that I wanted to use them to make a card from my Brothers and I for a very special lady indeed 'Our Mum'. I have also used the Blue Tits & Bird Feeder for that spring time feeling, are we really changing the clocks tonight?

I stamped the images on Theuva card using a black soot DI and coloured them in using a variety of Pro-marker and Spectrum Noir pens.  I used the 'Our' and 'Special' words from the new word chains and made up the word 'Mum' by partially inking up letters from other words. 

The background of the card has then had a light dusting over with the stencil brush using a cloudy blue Adirondack ink pad.

This was then matted and layered onto lilac card and a cream scalloped base card. 

My Brothers really like it and I know that Mum will too. 

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

Claritystamp Challenge 12 - Love & Romance

Here is my entry for this months challenge using the stamp that came from the New Design Clarity Club. The stamp says it all really. 

Ingredients

Centura Pearl card

Assorted Distress Inks

Isabella Butterfly die from Memory Box

Backed on a pearlescent card

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 2 - Blue or Lilac or Both

It's been a busy month, we've moved offices at work resulting in a much longer commute and also I've been moving from a tiny craft room into a much larger room so there's been much planning going on with the redesign to create the perfect crafting space. 

This is my entry for this months Lavinia Stamps Challenge, 2 -  Blue or Lilac or Both. The main image is the stamp 'Shaylee' which has been stamped over a simple scenery background created using distress inks. 

I have matted and layered this onto lilac and navy card for contrast and mounted onto a cream base card. As a finishing touch a lilac flower was added in the bottom corner with a couple of  brass leaf embellishments.

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at the challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:  

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-2/

Lavinia Stamps - Challenge 1 - Add Some Glitter

This is my entry for this months Lavinia Stamps Challenge, 1-  Add Some Glitter.  The main image is from the Zentangle range and is called Alura , I have surrounded her with small zen flowers and coloured them in with Promarkers and Distress markers and then added depth with Distress Inks wild honey and spiced marmalade.

I have matted and layered this onto purple card for contrast and mounted onto a cream base card. A little bit of red ribbon and the final finishing touch of some turquoise Stickles Glitter Glue and Jones Tones holographic glitter. 

Why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at the challenge yourself, you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:  

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-1-add-some-glitter/

Claritystamp Challenge 11 - New Beginnings

This is my entry for this months Challenge which is called New Beginnings. 

Ingredients 

Centura pearl card

Clarity - Brick wall stencil

Acrylic paints

Black Versafine ink pad

Clarity Stamps, Lily, Rosie, Annabel, Large Sketched Lady, Feminine, Small Lamp Post, Letterbox Kit, Tag from Remountable Shapes, Wrought Iron Bench and the cat from the Birdhouse Kit. 

Black card

Theuva card

Distress inks, tumbled glass and antique linen

Variety of patterned paper

Wooden coffee stirrer 

Variety of Promarker pens 

As soon as I heard what this challenge was I had the idea of creating a shop window. It has been a bit of a labour of love as I was originally using a deep picture frame but the size was restricting what I wanted to do. That said, I'm glad I stuck with it and I'm really pleased with the end result.

The main card has been made using a piece of Centura pearl card which was cut and shaped. The brick wall was created using the stencil and two layers of paint, this was stippled rather than using the Geli plate as I wanted fairly clean lines around the edge. 

The window frames were created using black card and the corner window frame was made using a wooden coffee stirrer coloured with a black Promarker.

The figures were stamped on theuva card and coloured with Promarker pens and the dresses printed on a variety of patterned papers. The inside of the shop was stamped on theuva card and finally the shop was given its name and the SALE tags. 

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you like it and any feedback would be much appreciated. 

Hope to see you again soon. 

Crafty hugs xx

It's a New Year

Hi everyone

Well it's the start of a brand new year and let's hope it brings health, wealth and happiness to everyone. My New Years resolution is to get more organised, especially on the crafting front which should make life much easier. 

I'll soon be moving into a new (larger) room for crafting but have got to plan it carefully first. Once done there will be a massive task of having a really good sort out, difficult because as you know us crafters don't like to throw anything away. 

Here are my first cards of the year which have been made on the reverse of Centura Pearl card, stamped with black Versafine ink and the coloured with Distress Inks. All of the stamps are from Inkylicious. Happy Crafting x