SWEET STAMPIN - SPOTS OR STRIPES?

Welcome back to another challenge with Sweet Stampin and it's great to see you all saving a bit of time to join in with our challenges. This week we are asking Spots or Stripes?  I couldn't decide so I did a bit of both!  

I started out with using the new Tim Holtz Tiny Text Christmas stamps - stamping them in Peeled Paint distress ink then cutting them all into strips to become my stripes!  I inked the background wit a light dusting of Crackling Campfire ink and some of the new Rustic Wilderness Distress Crayon around the outsides.

The Deer is from the Tim Holtz Cool Yule Thinlets set.  I added some spots to his scarf just to keep in with the theme - he also has a few bells dangling from his antlers - I'm not sure if they show up in the picture.

I added some of the Tim Holtz Holiday Greens Mini thinlets but I've kept them in white and covered them in Dazzling Diamonds to give them a shimmer and added a shiny red glitter dot in the middle.

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #SC353

Our sketch this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments is a great one as I love to add tags to my cards.  I started off by using a Tim Holtz tag for my card and used various Distress Inks to crate the background.  I used an old stamp set with matching dies from Tim Holtz called Holiday Joy.  I used Peeled Paint Distress Inks to stamp the trees in the background and Pine Needles Distress for the cut out trees.  I stamped the Joy in Distress Ink Festive Berries and added some touches of white with a gel pen.

I used the same colours to create my background for the tag using some more Tim Holtz Stamps called Christmas Classic. I added some Tim Holtz Greenery thinlets at the bottom and a Tim Holtz bell which actually rings for the top of the tag.

     

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - #SUO263 - CHRISTMAS

A nice simple challenge for you all from Stampin Up Only this week - Christmas.  This is my personal favourite time of year for my crafting - I love making Christmas things - I'd really like to try and get into doing more home decor projects - it's not something done quite as much in the UK as in the US but I love all the things I see done.

My card returns to one of my favourite Stampin Up Christmas sets of all time - Winter Post.  I just adore this image of the skaters and have used it so many times over the years - it is definitely one of those sets I will never get rid of - even though it's an old-fashioned wooden set now.  I don't even want to take it off the wood in case I damage the stamps!

I started off by using a piece of Whisper White card stock and blended a mix of Blackberry Bliss, Night of Navy and Basic Black for the top - going down to some Basic Grey and a touch of Taken with Teal for the bottom.  I then spritzed the inks with some water and blotted it with a paper towel to add some white spots.  I used some Crushed Curry for the touch of gold by the little star and used the same colour to stamp the Santa Post stamp.  I added a touch of white pen for the snow and left the skating couple blank of colour.  

Dazzling Diamonds was added all around the card and it was then added to some Night of Navy Cardstock

I'm also adding this into the following challenges:

Christmas Card Throwdown - Winter Wonderland

CrazyHazelnutsChristmas - Anything Goes Christmas

Craft Rocket - Anything Goes Christmas

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday - Christmas/Winter

ABCChristmasChallenge - W for Winter Wonderland

Double D Challenge - Winter blues

             

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - TSOT484

A great double sketch on TSOT for you this week with the added inspiration word of Merry.  I don't know if it's me but I always find it strange just adding the word Merry on it's own - I had to stop myself from adding Christmas on to the card!!

I started off with some Tim Holtz Distress Inks blending Wilted Violet and Fired Brick to get the effect I wanted.  I used the new Tim Holtz snowflake Stencil and some Picket Fence Distress Ink for hte background - the Snowflake is a TH die cut out in silver paper.  The Merry is from TH stamp set Christmas Classic.

I versamarked a TH snowflake and used Silver Embossing Powder and added some Nuovo drops to finish off the card.

 

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY - 597

Wow - or should I say WOYWW - it's years since I joined in with Julia's blog and I recently found it again whilst commenting as a Design Team member for something else - isn't it great the way the connections run with the internet.  I hope you are doing well Julia xx 

I thought it would be fun to join in again and see what everyone is doing - and whether it is all Christmas stuff on their desks.

I'm in a real Mixed Media frame of mind lately enjoying the lovely goodies from Tim Holtz and finally knowing how to use them all since watching his Facebook Live videos.  I've been a fan of his for over 15 years but didn't always know what I was doing and whether I was using them in the right way.  I love the way he says just be you and create your own thing and I've had a great time just doing that.

Here are some Christmas backgrounds for tags I'm working on - I'm a sucker for reindeer so his new thinlets were a must for me - I also cut them and use them as stencils so getting a double whammy.

       

JOY OF SETS BLOG HOP - THANKFUL

Another Blog Hop from Joy of Sets Group organised by the wonderful Angie McKenzie who keeps us all in check.  Her choice this month is Thankful For You - I'm sure we all have so many people we are thankful for.  I am thankful for Angie as she has been a great support to me and my Facebook Group The Joy of Sets since we began three years ago.    She is a very busy lady but always finds time for others and although we live thousands of miles apart and may never meet in person - I'm glad we've got to know each other. 

I started off my card with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and blended some Tim Holtz Distress inks to get the colour I wanted - I used Barn Door, Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge, Walnut Stain and Forest Moss. I added a Tim Holtz wood stencil over the top and then embossed it with the SU Winter Knit embossing folder.  I then used some SU thinlets to cut out my leaves.  I used an old piece of SU DSP with the wood effect for the background.  

The middle piece is made with a Tim Holtz 3d Impresslit Provincial - I love the Impresslits - as they emboss and cut and leave you with a great 3d image.  I distressed mine with some TH Metallic Distress Crayons and a touch of Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I added some Metallic Distress to the leaves and layered them on the card.  The sentiment is from Stampin Up Country Home - stamped in Early Espresso.

To be taken to Alejandra's blog - please click on the button below.

Here's the full list of our hoppers this month:

November 2020 Blog Roll

Angie McKenzie

Narelle Fasulo

Lisa Mackey

Vicki Milyard

Pia Gerhardt

Tricia Butts

Gez Carpenter

Linda Moore

Jill Chapman

JoAnn Pollock

Brenda Nelson

Susan Webster

Rochelle Laird-Smith

Fiona Whitehead

Alejandra Gomez

Mo Rootes

SWEET STAMPIN - USE YOUR FAVOURITE STAMP

What a difficult challenge for all us stampers at Sweet Stampin this week - use your favourite stamp.  If I really had to choose my favourite stamp it would be this Father Christmas stamp I've had for nearly 15 years.  It was made by Rubber Stampede and has featured in many cards over the years.

Here are some examples 

I hope you've enjoyed looking at the different styles and examples from this one image - it just goes to show what one stamp can do and how it can change depending on how you use it.

 

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - THANKSGIVING #SUOC262

Our theme at Stampin Up Only challenge this week is Thanksgiving.  This is not a holiday we celebrate in the UK but I did live in Houston for two years and got to experience it.  It's a lovely concept - to sit around with the family and celebrate with a meal - and it's a shame we don't have anything similar here in the UK.

I've used the lovely Country Home stamp set which is one of my favourites from the catalogue.  As I'm not an SU demo I am not able to buy loads of sets so I'm very particular about those I do - this one caught my eye because of that milk churn - I love it.  I have a few of them in my garden.

I used some retired DSP for the background in Blackberry Bliss and matched it with Crushed Curry - these colours go so well together I think.  I used SU inks to colour in my flowers with an SU Blender pen. 

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #IC352

Look at our gorgeous images to inspire you this week from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I've been releasing my inner mixed media vibe lately and this card was no exception and I was inspired by that Santa and the tree behind him.

I started off by using some Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium in Vintage and covered my cardstock and added some of the lovely Tim Holtz Christmas Collage papers. I also added some free papers donated by the lovely Shawn Petite on her website.  The music paper at the top and bottom is from TH  Christmas sticker book.

The Santa and the tree are from Kaisercraft and I added some glitter to the tree.  Tucked at the bottom is one of Tim's new deer dies.  The sentiments are from the sticker book and Tim's new stamps Tiny Text Christmas.  The Dec 25th wooden embellishment is from my stash - covered in Distress Ink Festive Berries and a touch of glitter.  I added some suede ribbon from Stampin Up and one of Tim's metal embelishments - with a touch of white Distress Crayon which helps to make the numbers pop.

I think we can safely say this has a real nostalgic feel to it - maybe it's the sign of the times at the moment.

 

JOY OF SETS TIC TAC TOE NOVEMBER - #JOSTTT023

Can you believe we are in November already? We are coming up to my favourite time of the year with Christmas on the horizon.  Who knows what sort of a Christmas it will be but I will still be doing all my favourites with our own family rituals of baking and crafts which my mum taught to me.

As you can see from my entry for this month's Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe grid put together for us by Cheryl Even I have Christmas on my mind.  I'm in a real mixed media frame of mind at the moment and love getting inky.  I chose Numbers, Emboss, Embroidery Floss for my card.  

I started off with this gorgeous coloured paper from Stampin Up as my card stock and used a Tim Holtz numbers stencil for the background numbers.  I made a tag with some old sheet music I have in my music stand (I play piano and sing and never thought to use that old music which is torn and unloved) and some of Tim Holtz Christmas Collage Paper and inked over it in Wilted Violet Distress Ink.

I embossed the stamp 25 days of Christmas with clear embossing powder and added a touch of ink.  I used some old paper in a similar colour to the Wilted Violet and tore the edges.  This paper used to be used all the time years ago and I found it in my stash and thought it could be used again - I can't even remember the name of it so if anyone knows I'd be grateful.

I added one of Tim's metal tags and used a white Distress Crayon to hightlight the wording.  A brass brad and some of the floss finished off the top.  I splattered some white gesso for some snow.

 

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE - CHRISTMAS TAGS

The challenge over at Simon Says Stamp on Monday is right up my street - Christmas Tags - one of my favourite things to make.

I've gone for a huge tag here as I wanted to get lots of the text from Tim Holtz' new stamp set Tiny Text Christmas on it to represent a christmas tree.

I started off by inking my tag with one of the new Tim Holtz mini stencils - the one with the Christmas Tree using Distress Ink Peeled Paint.  I then used Crackling Campfire Glaze for the sentiments and the star at the top.  I added some holly stamps with some green embossing powder.  I then cut out some of the Tim Holtz winter floral dies for the holly and pine branches and added some gems.

The white sentiments in between all come from Tim Holtz Sticker Book - Christmas as do the images and the plaid top and bottom of the tag.  I splattered some gesso over it to give it a snowy affect and edged the edges with Crackling Campfire distress ink.

Now the tricky bit is putting all those sentiments back in order in their packaging lol! 

 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT482

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with our sketch this week at Try Stampin on Tuesday - I'm definitely in Christmas mode - let's be honest I will make a Christmas card as soon as September has passed lol!  They are my favourite cards to make.  I haven't started off the Christmas music yet though - however with the UK back in lockdown I just might start playing some to keep me out of the doldrums!  I hope you are all staying safe wherever in the world you are and how strange it is to see different countries doing different things - very confusing!

Anyway - on to my card for this week's sketch.  I wanted to do a card which would also fit in with Tim Holtz's Saturday live this week to use leaves.

I started off with using one of his new Christmas mini stencils which as the lovely pine leaves, fir cones and berries and I used Rusty Hinge distress ink on some SU cardstock in Crumb Cake for my base.  I used Festive Berries distress ink for the berries.  I had an old piece of a project in my stash which had the wood grain embossed on it and I used this for the background for the wreath.  The wreath is one of Tim Holtz' and I used Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Pine Needles to colur it in.  Festive Berries was used for the bow.

The leaves in the background are also Tim Holtz die cuts and I used a mix of distress inks in the greens added with Walnut Stain and Scattered Straw to colour them in. 

I added some shiny red rhinestones and the sentiment is from the new TH stamp set Tiny Text Christmas which has been embossed in Crackling Campfire embossing glaze.  I also hung the wreath from the top of the card with some SU linen thread.

 

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - SILVER OR GOLD AND /OR GLITTER

Firm favourites are the challenge over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge this month with a choice of Silver or Gold - so I'm not sure why this nearly had my stumped! I tried a few options until I was happy with the one I chose.  

I started off with some Tim Holtz Distress inks and blanked off a part of my base card stock with some paper and then added the inks - I chose Distress inks in Wilted Violet, Weathered Wood and Chipped Sapphire Oxide Ink.  I waited until the ink was completely dry before adding a Tim Holtz snowflake with some Versamark ink and then covering it in Silver Embossing Powder.  

The sentiment stamped in TH Archival Ink in Cobalt is an old TH stamp.

 

SWEET STAMPIN - CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY

Our challenge over at Sweet Stampin this week had me a bit stumped. I must admit I don't often do children's cards and don't really have any stamps that fit.  So I did some punch art in every child's favourite toy - Lego.  

I cut out the shapes in prime colours and then cut out some circles in the same colours and added them with dimensionals - with a touch of same colour ink around each circle it gives the impression of a lego block.  I added some stamping around the outside and a big number for a birthday.  A very simple but effective card I think.

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - FALL/AUTUMN

A nice easy challenge for you this week at Stampin Up Only with the theme of Fall/Autumn.  My favourite time of the year.  I went for the cute Special Someone stamp set.

I started off by using an SU mask to stencil in the trees in the background with Soft Suede ink.  I then made my panel image of the squirrel and the mouse and used my SU watercolour pencils to colour it all in.  I added the grass stamps from High Tide at the bottom of the scene and added some old SU sequins. 

I layered it all on to Early Espresso card stock.  The sentiment is from the same set and I used an old ink Really Rust to stamp it.  The banner is an old SU die cut and I added some retired dots in the middle of the flowers.