ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - # 521 MAKE YOUR MARK

Welcome back to ATSM and a chance to get your colouring mediums out to play be they paints, marker pens, pencils etc.

I'm sharing a recent watercolour I created for a competition at a local event later in the month.  Wish me luck.  The paints I've used are Winsor & Newton - a mixed palette of lots of lovely colours.  I used my new Fumuui brushes to create the scene.  I don't really consider myself an artist as I normally rely on stamps but this was free hand and I'm pleased how they turned out. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Papercraft Challenge - Summer 

Allsorts - AG 

Inkspirational - summer mood board 

As You Like It - my first time creating free hand watercolour flowers and I loved doing it 

Ellibelle's Garden Party - from the garden 

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Flowers 

INSPIRATION STATION - #87

Welcome back to another month's challenge at Inspiration Station and our prompt photo for you this month is Christmas in July. Where will you get your inspiration from?

I chose that back fence as my starting point using some old paper from Kaisercraft I had in my stash and aging it with some Distress Ink.   I created a snow scene with the middle panel and added a Tim Holtz Stag Die to the snowy background. I used some patterned paper for the stag which also had deer images on it.  I also added a deer charm.

I'm adding this into the following

613 Avenue Create - AG Any Holiday 

Dragonfly Dreams - Christmas in July added sparkle 

We Love 2 Create - AG 

Krafty Chicks - Christmas 

Creative Knockouts - Christmas in July 

Craft Rockets - Animals 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - 4 legged friends 

FabnFunky - Christmas in July 

DAYDREAMER

Inspired by one of the challenge blog to create a card with the letter D I decided to use this lovely butterfly stamp by Sara Naumann for Paper Artsy ESN62.  My word for the D is Daydreamer.

I had a look through some of the gel press prints I had done recently with some leaves and found the perfect one for the background.  I added some stamping by Alison Bomber EAB42 and some background script from Studio Light stamp set.  The butterfly was coloured in with Prismacolor pencils.

I'm adding this into the following:

Girlz and the Art of Letters - letter D is for Daydreamer 

Crafts Galore Encore - AG 

Simons Says Stamp - Monday - Stripes on the butterfly 

We love 2 Create - AG 

Simon Says Stamp - Wed - AG

LOVE TO CRAFT - #93

Welcome back to another Love to Craft - those months just fly by.  I'm sharing a page from my new journal book I'm creating from an old book.  I've used most of the pages individually on various projects and as the book was getting thinner I decided to use the remainder of the pages and the book itself as my journal.

I've recently found Sam Poole's papers on her Etsy site.  I've not downloaded papers from Etsy before and I was surprised how easy it was and how I now have these lovely papers to play with over and over again.  I did have an issue when my printer started running out of ink and the papers came out purple but I used them anyway.  Info on my Instagram account. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZcco1CDFLM/?img_index=1

This page is my first page in the book.  I added a pocket also and a tag so I can journal on the back. I've used extra stamps from Tim Holtz - that lovely egg, and extra background stamping by Alison Bomber. I also added texture paste through a stencil which you can just see top right.  I stamped on some material under the egg so it was nestled in something soft! 

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES - #191 - COLOURING MEDIUM

Another month's challenge with Moving Along with the Times and this month we would like to see some colouring on your projects.

I have used an old stamp by Tracy Evans called In The Bucket.  I used Prismacolor's to colour it in.  I've put it in a frame as it is going to be entered into a local competition so wish me luck! 

PEARLY SPARKLES #121 - CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Welcome back to Pearly Sparkles and we are celebrating Christmas in July.  That's right get out those Christmas supplies ignore the heat possibly and get your Christmas tunes on in the background!

I've used some of Tracy Evans Boutique Designs for my card.  Her bauble stencil and the lovely poinsettia stamp.  I white embossed it onto Kraft card and used Primacolor pencils to colour it in.  The Bauble stencil was created with a white pencil.  I added an extra Tracy robin just because! 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - #520 DIE CUTS AND/OR STENCILS

It's time again to get the diecuts or stencils out and have a play  with us at Addicted to Stamps and More. 

I've chosen to do a New  Home card - you never know when you might need one of these in your stash.  I started by colouring the cardstock with Distress Ink Vintage Photo and then added some texture paste through a brick stencil. I coloured the paste first with Re-inker in Distress Ink Walnut Stain and added extra ink around the edges.  

The die cut is a very old Tim Holtz one - Sizzix Bigz Die Window Frame which I've had such a long time and it rarely gets used.   I created the scene using some old Clearly Besotted small stamp.  The letters were cut out with Tim Holtz die cuts Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower 664407.

BLOOM AND GROW

I've been playing with one of the last releases from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs, the wonderful wisteria from the set called The Miracle of a Flower. I do love wisteria and don't have any in my garden and really should try and grow some.

I started my card by using some texture paste over Tracy's new wall stencil ST9 and I added some Distress Ink in Pumice Stone to give a grey effect.  I then added extra stamping from another old Tracy set.  I stamped the flowers in Versafine Very Peri and Verdant for theleaves.  I don't often use purples but was drawn to them for the wisteria. I also added some different shades of purple with my Prismacolor pencils.  I then fussy cut them out and adhered them to some dimensionals.  The sentiments are from the same set.

I'm adding this into the following:

Allsorts Challenge Blog #852 - Blooms  

Just us girls - Flowers 

FabnFunky - Summer Flowers 

Unicorn Challenge - Flowers 

POCKET TAGS

I recently purchased some downloadable papers from Etsy - something I've not done before and it was really simple.  I purchased some of the lovely bird papers from Sam Poole.  I used to create with Sam's stamps and dies when I was on the Creative Expressions Design Team.  Now that they have closed I don't think Sam is producing any more stamps but she is creating papers.  She is also running a challenge over on Instagram to create tag used with some of her papers.

This one is a pocket tag - the main tag was just cut out of some cardboard from that well know shop we all seem to have to use!  At least some of it is being recycled lol!  I added her papers to the background but also added some old book page.  I created a pocket from the bird pictures and added to extra little tags.  The larger egg is from Tim Holtz stamp set Bird Feather but everything else is from Sam Poole.

I found the little paper flowers in my stash and added some pearls.  The little button die cuts are also from Sam from years ago.

I'm adding these into the following:

Tag Along - Add Text 

613 Create - My hobby is my crafting 

Neglected Stuff - paper flowers, pearl seeds, die cut buttons 

BIRD JOURNAL

I have been creating a bird journal with some of the lovely papers by Sam Poole Designs which I downloaded from her Etsy account.  It was my first time trying this and it was very pain free and great that I now have these papers I can print over again.  However, my recent page threw a curveball. Those of you who know my work will know these really aren't my colours.  I don't do a lot of purple.  My apology is to Sam as these are not the colours she chose - however, my printer is running out of ink and this is what it gave me.  I didn't want to just discard them so pulled on my big girl pants and created with purple tones.  A bit of a shock but I survived.  I had to grunge it up with some black to recover lol!

Extra stamping with the quote is by Sara Naumann for Paper Artsy.  This quote is by Victor Hugo and is from her stamp set ESN22.  It fits the page perfectly and is a reminder to me creating my journals that I can create this type of art which I'm finding so much more fulfilling than cards.

All other examples of this book so far are on my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/the_welsh_crafter/

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Heart's Quest Lovable Quotable 

CRAFT -AG 

Creative Inspiration AG 

Tuesday Taggers - flying high 

Polkadoodle - AG 

Creative Fingers - AG 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #519 - ANY OCCASION.

We are back with another Any Occasion challenge at ATSM.  I need cards in my stash as I run a RAK group on FB where we send cards out to each other - we are based all over the world and it's so nice to receive hand made cards.  This one will probably be winging its way to someone this month.

I started by using the new wall stencil by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke.  I then used her dog rose stamp from the set Dog Rose and Butterfly.  I stamped it first then cut out the extra flowers to add dimension.  I coloured them in with Prismacolour pencils.  The leaves along the sides are an old stamp I'm not sure where from.  I added some ephemera pieces and the sentiment embossed on black cardstock. 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA - #127

Back to another month's creativity with Creative Artiste Mixed Media challenge - As a gentle reminder to be considered as one of our monthly winners you must use at least 3 different mediums on your project. 

I'm sharing another one of my tags from my tag book.  I think I may nearly be finished - I have completed 8 tags which is 16 sides and it's all looking quite bulky now - I do have 2 spare tags but I'm not sure whether to add them to the book. Once I'm finished I will show you all the tags complete.

I always add some white Gesso to the base of the tags - even though they are a thick kraft card I need to know it can cope with all the extra mediums I'm going to throw at it.

I added some Paper Artsy paint in Seaglass  and then went over it with some Texture Paste and a stencil.  I added some stamping from Alison Bomber and Bipasha BK from Aallandcreate in Versafine Pinecone.

I die cut some of Tim Holtz Funky Nature dies and inked them in Ground Espresso.  The butterfly is a free paper from Shawn Petite and I added some extra stamping to her wings.  I cut her on to some harder cardstock to give her some more strength and added some cheesecloth under her antennae.  There are extra papers and stamping underneath and then I used a sentiment from Craft-0-Clock which is just perfect for me as I tend to look back not forward.

I'm adding this into the following:

Paper Rocks Scissors - used everything bar rocks! 

Hearts Quest Tags 

Triple B Butterfly 

Daisy Chain Challenge - not square 

Let's Craft and Create - Use a sentiment 

Allsorts - from the garden 

Ellibelle from the garden 

Tag Along - text added to the butterflies wings and the ribbon beneath

INSPIRATION STATION #86

Welcome back to Inspiration Station and a lovely summery image for you for June.  I'm actually nibbling on some strawberries grown in my garden at the moment.  The weather has been far too hot in the UK over the past week - we are not kitted out for the heat in our homes - luckily my craft room is a bit cooler so I can escape it.

I was wondering what to do for this month's inspiration for you when I suddenly remembered a very old Clearly Besotted stamp set I have which must be over 5 years old. How do we as crafters do that?  We suddenly remember something we have in our stash from years ago. The set was called Simply Scrumptious.

I even found that I had the matching dies for the wreath and the strawberries which was a miracle!  I created the background with an old SU stencil to re-create the weave of the basket.  I then used a Lavinia Stamps stencil mask for the inner circle.  I stamped the wreath and used the die to cut it out.  I added various Distress Inks for the various greens.  I stamped the strawberries and used the dies to cut those out too.  

I also then remembered another little Clearly Besotted stamp I had of the strawberry mouse so she had to be included, the set was called Feeling Fruity and I thought the sentiment was just perfect. 

PEARLY SPARKLES - #120 MAKE ME SMILE

Welcome back to Pearly Sparkles challenge #120  - we want to see things that make you smile.  I had recently been playing with Tim Holtz sparky cats and decided to create another card.  They do make me smile and this card is going to a friend who always brightens my day.

I smooshed some Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Vintage Photo, Candied Apple, Peeled Paint and a touch of Twisted Citron.  I did some faint background stamping.  The cat was fussy cut and added with a cut out bottle of the milk.  

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES #190 - FAVOURITE STAMP, DIE, TOOL

Welcome back to MAWTT and oh wow I found this challenge difficult.  How on earth could I choose a favourite stamp.  I have so many that are my go to and use all the time and then there are the ones I love but don't use often and then there are the ones I'd forgotten I'd loved!  

In the end I had to choose this lovely Robin stamp by Tracy Evans.  Robins are my favourite birds and I love this version of him as a scruffy little bird.  I've shown a couple of examples here to see the versatility of this little stamp.  All the extra stamps are also by Tracy Evans.  

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - #518 BIRTHDAYS

Welcome back to our Birthdays Challenge at ATSM.  It's been a while since I used my Tim Holtz Snarky cats stamps and thought they needed another outing.  I've done this one as a wobbly card just by layering some paper behind the cat.  I've also given him some wobbly eyes! 

The background was created with a gel press and some Tim Holtz paint in Vintage Photo.  I then added extra stamping and some stencilling and some white splatter.  The balloon is on a dimensional but not a wobble.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Hearts Quest Birthday 

Girlz make guy cards 

The paper players - masculine 

Dragonfly dreams - masculine 

Crafty Calendar - for the boys 

Girlz and the art of letters - b for Balloon 

Krafty Chicks - Birthday 

Dream Valley challenge - four legged friends