TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT470

Here's our challenge for you this week at Try Stampin on Tuesday A great sketch with the addition of a challenge word of texture.

I've had some Tim Holtz Glassine paper in my stash for a while and not sure what to do with it so I decided to have a play - it certainly adds texture.  I scrumpled (is that a word?) it up and added some distress ink in Black Soot just to add a bit more definition to the lovely creases that formed.  I've used a stamp set here from Mama Elephant called Sweet Havana which has matching die cuts.  I've used just three Distress Inks for the flowers - Seedless Preserves, the same ink stamped off and Picked Raspberry together with Crushed Olive for the leaves.  The lovely jug was inked lightly stamped in Pumice Stone and then I used an aqua brush tomove the ink around.  The sentiment and the banner also comes with the set.

I sponged the white cardstock with Distress Ink Antique Linen leaving a white patch just behind the flowers - I added stitching with a pen as sewing machines and I do not get on!  For the banner at the side I used a SU banner punch and just cut the top off and added a Tim Holtz Idealogy sticker to add to the sentiment.  Some fine linen thread and some tiny pink pearls from my stash finishes off this card.

 

JOY OF SETS BLOG HOP - AUGUST 2020 - ALL ABOUT THE FONTS

Angie McKenzie who organises our Joy of Sets Blog Hops has a great challenge for us this month - all about Fonts.  I've been in a bit of a mixed media mood lately playing with lots of Tim Holtz goodies.  I've done a tag for our hop this month as Christmas is coming lol!  I know but it does get here quick and there's so much else to be doing I like to get my crafting done early.

I started off by covering my tag in some Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium - I then added some papers which were actually very old sheet music I had in my piano stool.  They were fraying and torn so I gave them a new lease of life.  I also used some free download collage papers from Shawn Petite including the green piece that looks like a clock.  I used a Tim Holtz wreath die to cut this out of the clock and added the bird on top.  He is a die from TH called Feathered Friends and I used some of the papers to make his body and wings.  I coloured him in maindly red as I love robins at any time of year.

The Peace letters are from the new TH Shadow collection - I coloured in some paper first with some TH Distress inks and then cut out the letters.  The Joy font is from TH Holiday stamps and the sentiment is from TH Idea-ology.  I used some SU suede ribbon and some burlap and thread I had in my stash for the top of the tag.

I don't have a sewing machine and probably couldn't even use it if I did so my stitching round the edge is done by ink - can't you tell lol!  There is also some Glossy Accents on the bird just to give him a bit of pop.

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Here is our complete list if you get lost

August 2020 Blog Roll

Angie McKenzie

Annette Ball

Lisa Mackey

Tricia Butts

Narelle Fasulo

Mo Rootes

JoAnn Pollock

Jill Chapman

Gez Carpenter

Susan Webster

Fiona Whitehead

Sue Allen

Rebecca-Jo Unwin

Rochelle Laird-Smith

Brenda Nelson

Alejandra Gomez

If you would like to be part of our next blog hop you need to join our Facebook Group The Joy of Sets. We are a busy little group offering swaps, challenges, Random Acts of Kindness, Birthday group, and of course our Blog Hop each month.

Click on the link below to be taken to the FB group.

 

SWEET STAMPIN - INSPIRED BY BOOK OR A SONG

What a great challenge we have for you this week over at Sweet Stampin - Well I certainly loved it - there was so much to choose from but my eye was drawn to this stamp I have from Visible Image from a set called Dream, Imagine, Inspire and as soon as I saw it I kept humming that song - yep you know the one!  Are you humming it too now?

I've been on a bit of a mixed media craze lately so I decided to make a tag.  I started off with some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Salty Ocean and added some Peackcock Feathers Distress Ink and Chipped Sapphire Oxide around the edges.  The Dream stamp and the words comes from Visible Images and I just cut around all the words - I stamped it in the Salty Ocean Ink.

The dreamcatcher comes from a Kaisercraft set of stamps called Hide and Seek.  I used the same inks to colour the dream catcher.  I then used an old SU set called Feather Together for the little feathers and I stamped them and cut them out.  I added them with some thread and also covered them in Glossy Accents.

I added texture by using some of SU textured paste and a Tim Holtz dots stencil.

I hope you have fun with this challenge and I can't wait to see what you do!


 

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - #SUOC255 - USE YOUR FAVOURITE STAMPS

Now how difficult is this challenge going to be for you from Stampin Up Only Challenge #SUOC255?  Use your favourite Stampin Up stamps - could be of all time, or just in the current catalogue.  The choice is yours.

I've mixed mine up by using a new stamp from the current catalogue, a current stamp and old favourite.

The first stamp I used is the background stamp Drybrush.  This was gifted to me by a friend who is a Demo and I must admit it's not a stamp I would have bought but I love it - it has so many possibilities.  Here I've stamped it using four colours - Mint Macaron, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive and Perfect Plum.  It's a large stamp so I just put some ink on parts of it and then stamped onto card stock.

I then used Dandelion Wishes to stamp the dandelions in black ink.  I used the framelits from Watercolour Wings to make the butterfly and cut out two and layered them.  The bottom one is in plum cardstock, the top one has also been inked with the Drybush stamp.  A touch of the lovely old lace ribbon, a sentiment from Watercolour Wings and some retired embellishments finish off the card.  There is a touch of Wink of Stella on the butterfly and the dandelions too to give a bit of sparkle.

I look forward to seeing which favourite stamps you choose.

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #HSSCC345

Our colour challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments has the following:

I'm not a current demo so I don't always have access to all the colours, especially in inks - and that's was my dilemma this week.  However, we always say the colours are a guide - luckily I did have some Coastal Cabana card stock and ribbon so I used that as my base.  

I used the lovely background stamp from SU Drybrush which is current.  This is not a stamp I would necessarily have bought - it was gifted to me by a Demo friend - but I love it - it's so great for all sorts of backgrounds even if you just use part of it.  I used my Tim Holtz stamping platform as it's such a large stamp and I used Crushed Curry as my ink.

The other stamp set I used is a retired one called Happy Wishes.  I love this set and it's so versatile - this time I've used the Best stamp and coloured it in with Mint Macaron and Melon Mambo as the closest colours to the inks specified.

I layered them with the Spellbinders Elegant Twist Rectangle dies - these are so pretty - and I've added a touch of that lovely retired SU ribbon in Coastal Cabana edged in gold.  A touch of Tri Spectrum sparkle pen on the word Best and the flowers just gives the card a bit more of a lift.

 

JOY OF SETS TIC TAC TOE - #JOSTTT020

Here's our grid for the monthly challenge over at Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe - #JOSTTT020.  A lovely one for summer, if it comes back to the UK!  The last few days have been quite miserable and winter seems to be coming early.

Saying that my card isn't particularly summery. I went for the option of Blue, Book and Triangle. I had recently seen this fold called a book fold because when you open the card it looks like a book inside. I followed the wonderful directions of Dawn Griffith on her You Tube channel.  

I used SU Night of Navy and Bermuda Bay for my colours, together with some retired SU DSP in that lovely blue plaid.  I also used the High Tide set - you can just see the light of my lighthouse is the triangle bit of the grid - phew! 

I used the water stamp of the set on the inside of the card to give the feeling of water and kept the style almost CAS for a masculine feel. 

 

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE #115 - FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

What a great challenge we have for you this month over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge - From Our House to Yours. This really got me thinking as I didn't think I had anything suitable - it's amazing what you can come up with though.

I made a scene with some Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Chipped Sapphire and just used a piece of old card stock to make the snow.  I added a touch of TH Tumbled Glass on the snow banks just to give a bit of dimension.  The image stamps are from Clearly Besotted Shake It Up.  They have been coloured in with SU Blender pens and Lime Otter watercolour brushes.  The snow has been added in with a white gel pen.  The Cheers to You is from Kaisercraft.  I added some Liquid Pearls in White Opal to Santa's hat!

 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - CHRISTMAS IN JULY #tsot468

I'm not sure where the whole concept of Christmas in July came from? Is it because stamp companies start issuing their Christmas/Holiday stamps early and we all join in? I don't mind as I love making Christmas things and making them early takes the pressure off come Christmas time when there is so much more to be doing.

Our sketch this week at Try Stampin On Tuesday has the option of Christmas and I'd love to see your Christmas entries.  I went with the Christmas theme, naturally lol! I love making tags especially Christmas ones so this sketch was just up my street.

I started off with a small tag and covered it in Tim Holtz Collage Medium then added some retired Stampin Up papers which were just torn and laid randomly.  I added some strips at the bottom and the greeting is from Tim Holtz Idealogy Christmas stickers book.  I added some thread and die cut a stag's head from my stash. I used some Distress Inks in Fired Brick for the sheet music and Gathered Twigs for the stag.  I added a touch of Tri Spectrum sparkle to his antlers.

I used a Sizzix Christmas embossing folder for my card stock in a lovely star burst design and added some sparkle to them.  The foliage is die cut out of some old SU paper and a touch of ink added to the edges.  

 

SWEET STAMPIN - CHRISTMAS IN JULY - TAGS

It's Christmas time here on Sweet Stampin - yes you read that right!  A lot of companies have to get themselves organised for Christmas early and stampers are no different.  Actually doing Christmas cards all year round really helps to relieve the pressure when November December looms - there's enough to do without trying to get your Christmas cards ready also.  Although there is something weird making Christmas cards when it's warm outside - I guess though it depends on where you live in the world!

I've been on a bit of a journey with all my Tim Holtz stuff recently - spurred on by watching his Facebook Lives really helped me to understand the various TH products I had and how to use them properly.  I've always loved his grunge style although I know it doesn't suit everyone - what I love is that no matter how many people use his products all the art looks individual - so often using a certain companies stamps or products makes it all look so samesville so it's hard sometimes to recognise if it's your own work or not.  Does that make sense?

I've used an old Christmas set from TH called Holiday Joy which has stamps and matching dies.  I made myself think outside of the box and not use red and green for the second tag - I'm always in a bit of a rut come Christmas using the same two colours which happen to be my favourites.

This tag was simply coloured, stencilled and finished with a layer of Distress Collage Medium.  The Joy was part of the set - the To The World is from a Kaisercraft Stamp and the sentiment was from Idea-ology Christmas sticker book.

This tag had a lot more inking going on with Distress Inks in Chipped Sapphire, Speckled Egg and Salty Ocean.  I then went over it with a French Script Stencil and coloured it with white ink.  I then took a TH stencil and a baby wipe and wiped away some of the ink to reveal the stencil.   I also used some TH texture paste and Speckled Egg embossing glaze with the wonderful TH mosaic stencil - which has to be one of my favourite stencils ever!

 

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE- #SUOC254 - COLOURING

Our challenge this week at SU Only Challenge is colouring - so get out your favourite way to colour your favourite images.  I've used a retired SU set Sitting Here but it's a new one for me.  I started off by stamping the swing in Basic Black and then using a blender pen in Light Gray Granite to colour it in.  I used the clouds stencil for the background with some Soft Sky ink and the branch and flowers are from Colourful Seasons.

I stamped and cut out the cat and the little pillows.  The pillos were cut out of the same DSP as the background.  I added some dimensionals to give them the appearance of fat cushions.  The cat was also cut out and coloured in with Real Rust, More Mustard and some Black inks.  The little bird was coloured in with the same Grey Granite with a touch of blue.  I used some Stampin Up Markers in pinks, yellows and greens for the flowers and Real Rust for the pot.  Old Olive was used for the grass and I added some extra leaves from SU High Tide.

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #HSSSC344

A great sketch for you this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments  #SC344.  True to form I've gone for a retired stamp set from Stampin Up but it's actually a new set for me - I bought it just for this lovely rooster - called Home To Roost - I quite like the font of the sentiments too so I think this is going to get a few inkings.

I started off with a piece of DSP from my stash - I'm not sure if this is SU as it was gifted to me but I just loved that colour blue.  I used some Lime Otter water colour pens to colour in the rooster giving him a lovely blue tail with lots of Spectrum Noir sparkle and a touch in his comb.  I then cut him out with a stiched framelit and added some Tim Holtz Speckled Egg to the background.  I simply stamped the flowers from the set in some Ranger Archival Ink. 

For the banner I cut out a piece of the same paper and used one of Tim Holtz's impresslits - I love these - they cut and emboss at the same time and give you a 3d effect. This one is stars and I think you can just make them out.  I added this behind the rooster and added just some linen thread.  The sentiment was simply stamped at the top.

 

TRY STAMPIN IN TUESDAY - #TSOT 466

We have a lovely fruity sketch for you this week at TSOT - you have the choice of just using the sketch or also adding the fruit.

I decided to use both and had just the image I wanted to use by Clearly Besotted.  It's called Simply Scrumptious.  The little strawberry set comes with it's own die cuts too so that was simply stamped in two colour greens and then cut out.  The strawberries were stamped and also cut out.  The sentiment is from the same set. I then used some retired SU DSP for the background for the strawberries and for the card.  I added an SU doily behind.  

The little mouse is from another Clearly Besotted set Feeling Fruity and as he is a strawberry mouse he was the ideal candidate for adding to the image.   I added some SU glitter gems to the bottom in what look like a lovely strawberry colour.

 

JOY OF SETS BLOG HOP - CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Welcome to another blog hop for the Joy of Sets Facebook Page - we are organised by the fabulous Angie McKenzie and I can't thank her enough for taking on this responsibility for me - she does an awesome job.

Her theme this month is Christmas in July.  I'm also part of a Christmas Challenge blog so I've been used to making Christmas cards through the year - it's a great habit to get into so you aren't in a mad panic in December.

I have a lovely set of sentiment stamps from Visible Image called Sentimental Christmas and there was one in particular that caught my eye and gave me inspiration for my card.

I started off with some Tim Holtz Watercolour Paper and various Distress Inks until I got the colour background I wanted.  Firstly though I stamped and masked the moon - this is a very old Cherry Pie Art stamp which has great detail on the moon.

I then cut out some scrap paper and layered the bottom of the card stock to look like snow and added a touch of ink just to define the layers.  The trees are a mix of Gina K stamps and SU Waterfront.  The little deer are also Gina K as is the deer across the moon.  I really like the sentiment and I think it goes well with this card.  I think I need to get myself a santa in a sleigh stamp too which I find I don't have.  I added a glitter pen from Spectrum Noir and some added starts with a white gel pen.  The stars are from SU and Visible Image.

I hope you enjoy looking through our blog hop and getting some Christmas inspiration - it's never too early!

If you would like to join our Facebook Group - click on the image below.

To move forward in the hop - click on the button below to be taken to Narelle's blog 

Here's our full lost of hoppers!

Angie McKenzie

Annette Ball

Tricia Butts

Vicki Milyard

Rochelle Laird-Smith

Mo Rootes

Brenda Nelson

Libby Fens

Fiona Whitehead

Narelle Fasulo

Gez Carpenter

Susan Webster

Alejandra Gomez

Sue Allen

Jill Chapman

Kristie Meeker Wilson

Sandra Roberts

Rebecca-Jo Unwin

Lisa Mackey

 

SWEET STAMPIN - FAIRIES AND FANTASY

Our challenge for you this week at Sweet Stampin is Fairies and Fantasy.  I knew just the stamps I wanted to use for this.  The Enchanted collection by Kaisercraft has the stamps and the matching papers which I've used here.  The stamps include the lovely toadstools and the sentiment.  I also used a new layering die cut from Spellbinders.  The fairy image is from Lavinia stamps, fussy cut out with some sparkle on her wings.