ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - #523 - BIRTHDAYS

It's been a while since I used my Visible Image stamps so I had a dig through what I had and remembered this lovely heart stamp called Follow Your Heart which I thought would be perfect for our challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More this week which is birthdays. 

I stamped the image first then masked it off to stencil behind it with an old dotted stencil and Distress Ink in Squeezed Lemonade and Ripe Persimmon.  These colours remind me of old sweets we used to have as children called Fruit Salad! I used the same colours to colour in parts of the stamp.  The sentiment is from an Anita Jeram set called Birthday Wishing and I thought it was great to use on a birthday card. That reminds me that I should also get that whole set out and have another play with it as it's great for birthdays too.

I'm adding this into the following:

Simon Says Stamp Monday - Birthdays 

Neglected Stuff Challenge - AG 

We love 2 Create - AG 

Polkadoodle - AG 

Inspiration Station #88

Welcome back to Inspiration Station and I hope our lovely picture inspires you.  

I've used the lovely set by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE33 called Sunflower. I masked off the middle portion first and added the background with a leaf stencil from my stash.  I stamped the flowers the bee and the sentiment with Rusty Hinge Oxide and then clear embossed them.  I then added a wash over them all with Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide, Wild Honey and Iced Spruce.  I added the bird in black Versafine and added the sentiment just above. 

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES #192 FEMININE

Our challenge this month at Moving Along with the Times is something Feminine.  I'm off to a friend's son's wedding next month and was creating this tag for their gift and thought it would be perfect for this challenge.  She definitely looks feminine.  This is one of Tim Holtz's Paperdolls. 

The base of the tag is from a gel press play with some Paper Artsy ink in Sea Glass and Steel Grey.  I then cut out some paper flowers and hearts and added them to the background.  I added extra detials with the word Happy and the Love which is a die cut.  The wording on the circle is from a book and I added an extra heart.  

PEARLY SPARKLES #122 - SUMMER HOLIDAYS

We are celebrating Summer Holidays over at Pearly Sparkles this month.  I remembered this very old Stampin Up set - one that I've kept for years as it's a firm favourite.  It's called Summer by the Sea and I love the image of the little boy with the sand castle.  

I created my background using watercolours by Winsor & Newton and using my new Fuumuui brushes. I added some birds to the sky from a great stamp set by Waffle Flower called Wild Birds.  The sentiments are also from SU from old sets I still use for scrapbooking.

I'm adding this into the following:

Inkspirational - Beach Vibes 

Allsorts - colour of summer 

Send a smile 4 kids - AG

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #522 - CHRISTMAS

Christmas in July here at ATSM - hopefully if you join in all year you will have made a great start on your Christmas cards.  I'm using one of my all time favourite  sets here.  I just adore the shine you get on those bells just from the way the stamps are cut.

The stamp set is an old one from Sunny Studio called Holiday Style.  It comes with these gorgeous branches too - which I've inked in Versafine Shady Lane and then I went over the stems with a marker pen.  The baubles are a three stamp set to create the shine and it can be a bit tricky to line them up but when you get them they shine perfectly.  I've added some extra red and white twine to them to have them hanging from the branches and added some red enamel dots. The sentiment is a simple one from the same set. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Little Red Wagon - Christmas in July 

Unicorn - No Design Paper 

Make My Monday - Christmas in July 

Peace on Earth - Christmas 

Avenue613 - Holiday

Dragonfly Dreams - Christmas Sparkle 

Inkspirational - Christmas in July 

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 

I mentioned above that my watercolour painting was for a local competition.  I'm delighted to say I won First Prize.   A huge achievement as I consider myself a crafter not an artist and it was among some pretty tough competition.  

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.