CRAFTING ON A WET DAY

It's one of those wet windy days here in Wales - we are getting the left overs from Hurricane Ian but obviously nowhere near as bad.  I don't do hurricanes really - having lived in Houston when Katrina hit New Orleans which then turned into Rita for us in Houston I had my fill of weather that could kill.  I always feel for those who have to suffer intense weather.

So for us its just a bit of wind and rain but definitely a day indoors crafting by the log fire!  I've joined in with two challenges today - my first is for TGIF challenges which I found an incredibly hard challenge.  No sentiment!  Who would have thought that was so difficult to do - I really had to stop myself from putting anything on this card. 

I was inspired by one of Tracy Evan's videos - I love crafting along with her even when I end up going my own way and my card is always a very loose interpretation of what she does but it gets me thinking.  Here I've used two of her stamp sets - the background panel in the blues was made with Tim Holtz Distress Oxides in Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers. It was masked off and smooshed on with an acrylic block.  I then stamped the gorgeous pine cone and extra leaves from one of Tracys sets. I repeated the pine cone leaves on the background kraft card stock and edged it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  The Robin is from another one of her sets and I coloured him in with Distress Ink and cut him out.  I added some white splatters and some Spectrum Noir Sparkle and then had to leave it alone lol!

My other card was for the challenge over at Create a Smile where we were given a sketch.  I used a few stamp sets for this one - a mushroom one for the background panel from Tracy Evans, the hare and the large toadstool from Lavinia and the sentiments from Tracy Evans.  The background was embossed with a folder from my stash and edged with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.

COLOR MY HEART - #516

I love this combination of colours for this week's challenge at Color My Heart. I decided to make a bookmark for my project.  I started with the blue as my main background colour and stamped one of Tracy Evan's stamps called Poppy Seedheads.  I added some extra pinks by colouring in some of the stamp.  It's all the same pink but either darker or lighter as is the blue.  I added some extra background stamping and some washi tape.  The sentiment is also washi tape.  I added some ribbon and a button in the same colour theme.

I'm also adding this into the following challenges:

Krafty Chicks - AG 

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday - AG 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #398

It's time for another sketch challenge here at Hand Stamped Sentiments. 

I turned the image around for my card.  I started by using a stencil for my background which has leaves on it using Tim Holtz Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Ink.  I used Fossilized amber for the circle and the tag and added some stamping from some Tracy Evan's stamps.  The butterfly is a new stamp I've got also from Tracy Evans. I wanted quite a vibrant butterfly colour so I used Lime Otter watercolour brush pens.  

The sentiment is a die and I cut it out a few times and layered it and added it to a tag with a touch of washi tape at the bottom. 

COLOR MY HEART DARE #514

What gorgeous rich colours in our inspiration photo this week at Color My Heart.  I hope they inspire you.  

I started my card off with some Tim Holtz Unchartered Mariner Distress Oxide Ink - adding some ink to my Tim Holtz mat and then adding water and swooshing the card stock to get pools of blue ink.  The leaf is a stencil from Lavinia Stamps and I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Crushed  Olive, Spiced Marmalade, Gathered Twigs.  

The sentiment is from Tracy Evans.  The leaf dies are some from my stash - they could be old Stampin Up.  I added some thread just to finish off the card and some background stamping from an old script stamp.

I'm also adding this into the following challenges:

Just us Girls - colour challenge 

Alphabet Challenge - L is for Leaves 

Creative Artiste - Mixed Media AG 

Simply Create Too - Colour Challenge 

Create a Smile - Autumn mood board 

Creative Moments - Autumn

HIRAETH

Hiraeth is a word in Welsh which really doesn't have a direct translation into English. It means that longing for home and most Welsh people outside of Wales will feel that yearning to be back home.  Last October we were lucky enough to be able to return home to Wales.  I live a few miles away from one of the famous castles of Wales called Carreg Cennen. Perched high up on a limestone crag nearly 300ft above the River Cennen, its dramatic silhouette dominates the skyline.  It was officially classed as the most romantic ruin in Wales.  

My mixed media painting was made for the theme of new beginnings in a local show and I chose to do Sunrise over this magnificent castle.  In the background are stamped images of the Three Feathers, a map of Wales itself and our famous Dragon.  I was delighted to win 2nd prize for my painting. It is an uplifting painting and never fails to put a smile on my face that I now live in this glorious part of the world. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Path of Positivity Challenge AG plus something special about where you live

Creative Artiste Mixed Media - AG 

Through the Craft Room Door - AG 

THE MALE ROOM CHALLENGE #166 - SONG TITLE

Welcome to another challenge at The Male Room Challenge - this is a great one to get your creative juices flowing - a song title.  

I just happened to have this Stampin Up To The Moon set on my desk when looking at this and the song Blue Moon popped into my head.

I used some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks to create my background - using Black Soot, Fossilized Amber and a touch of Wilted Violet.  I stamped the moon from the SU set in Chipped Sapphire for the blue colour and added a touch of the Wilted Violet.   I cut out two circles and popped another one behind the moon to make it stand out a bit better. The sentiment is from Simple Stories stamps.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #IC397

Welcome to another challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  We are now officially into Autumn so I'm told as of 1st September and I must admit it's my favourite time of the year.  I loved all of these images we were given as inspiration and chose to use the sunflower and the little ladybird as my feature for my card.

I started off by smooshing some Distress Oxide Ink in Salty Ocean and added some Brushed Corduroy.  All the stamps used are by Tracy Evans for Aallandcreate.   I stamped the wellington boots and cut them out and added them to the card with some dimensionals.  I used Tim Holtz Distress inks for the boots.  The Sunflower was also coloured in with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and an aqua brush.  The little ladybird stamp was from my stash.

I'm also adding this into the following challenges:

Sunday Stamps - Autumn 

Four Seasons Challenge 

Die Cut Divas - AG Autumn 

The Paper Players - Fall fun 

Tic Tac Toe - Orange/Rust - Free - Layers 

Not2Shabby - mood board

DREAM BIG

Playing along with Sunday Stamps today and their sketch challenge below.

I used a background I had made with the gel press and some acylic inks as my starting point.  I cut out a Tim Holtz butterfly thinlet out of the background and added it to a circle cut out covered in Wilted Violet Distress Ink.  I stamped the panel background with a stamp from AallandCreate #457.  The sentiment came from a set from Aallandcreate #47. 

I added more Distress Ink to the outside edge of the card  added some splatters and some bling.

I'm also adding this into the following:

Critter Crazy - AG 

A Perfect Time to Craft - AG 

Crafts Galore - AG 

Love to craft - AG 

COLOR MY HEART DARE #512

I love these soft colours for our challenge this week at Color My Heart.  Just perfect for my little watercoloured scene of these cute Anita Jeram stamps.  The sets is called Paint Town.  

Even as a DT Member I don't have any of the inks suggested in our prompt.  But as long as you use the inks you have and keep as close to the colours as you can you will be fine.  

I used Tim Holtz Distress and Oxides for my inks.  I used Salty Ocean for the background blue, Dusty Concord for the purple, Mermaid Lagoon for the darker blue and Antique Linen for the animals.

HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS - NEW DT MEMBER

I'm delighted to be part of the Happy Little Stampers Design Team for their Watercolour slot.  So exciting.  I love using watercolours for the soft image they give.  Our challenge is an Anything Goes challenge and always starts our monthly challenges.

My first card uses the lovely Anita Jeram set Stargazers - and I had my bears sitting in the field watching birds fly by.  I used watercolour paper to get the best effect.  My bears were stamped with Versafine Clair in Acorn - a lovely brown which gave the bears a softer outline that using black.  

I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in three tones of browns for the bears, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, and a touch of Ground Espresso.  The sky was coloured in Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean Distress Oxides so that I could layer the colours better.  The birds are from an old Stampin Up set called High Tide.

ONCE UPON A TIME - SEPTEMBER

Welcome to another challenge here at Once Upon a Time, where we give you a children's book cover as your inspiration.  You can take anything you like from the cover, whether it's colours, the storyline, an image - as long as we can see that you have used something in the image.

i started off my card by using a Tim Holtz stencil and using some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Pumice Stone for my background to give a spider's web effect.  The little spider stamp is a very old Stampin Up one - I knew it would come in handy one day!  The other little images are from Clearly Besotted and they were coloured in with Distress Inks.  The with love sentiment is from the same group of stamps and is cut out with square framelits.