HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS - WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE PLUS OPTIONAL DIES

Welcome back to another Water Colour challenge from Happy Little Stampers.  We are looking for your water coloured projects with the additional option of adding die cuts.  

I chose to use a lovely stamp from Woodware Craft Collection called Magnolia Spray.  I decided to try the ink spritz watercolour technique - I'm not even sure if that's it's name but it sounds about right.  I used Tim Holtz distress inks in Dusty Concord, Picked Raspberry and Peeled Paint adding them from the inks from the small ink cubes.  I then spritzed with water and added it to some Water Colour cardstock from Creative Expressions.  I love the effect it gave and decided it really didn't need anything else. 

I layered it on to some old purple SU cardstock I had and layered the sentiment with the same colour purple. I added a few green sequins and some Nuovo Drops in Raspberry Pink to the flowers. 

TIC TAC TOE GUEST DESIGNER #tttc202

I'm delighted to have been asked to be Guest Designer over at Tic Tac Toe this month.  Here's the grid we are working from.

I chose to do the middle vertical line - Flora/Foliage - Free - Pastel Colours.  I started my card by using a piece of the new Worn and Weathered patterned paper by Sam Poole for Creative Expressions. I teamed this with a new stamp set called Flower Seed.  I stamped the flowers in Versafine Black and water coloured them  with Distress Oxide in Victorian Velvet - one of my favourite colours at the moment.  I used Peeled Paint for the leaves.  These were my pastel colours.

My Free was another new craze I'm enjoying which is rub ons from Taperlogy. I love using them on strips of fabric and I chose the rose and added it to some calico.  I added some more stamping for the sentiment and also stamped and layered a butterfly.

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS - ONE LAYER

Our challenge this month at Christmas Craft Creations is one layer.  Wow this was a real challenge for me as I am loving all my collage and mixed media at the moment.  I really wanted to use the Tim Holtz Christmas Tree stamp set called Watercolour Trees.  

I've been looking for a nice O Christmas Tree stamp sentiment and found it on this set so decided to use it here.  I stamped one of the trees first then masked it off and added the sentiment over it -first generation stamping at the top and bottom and then stamped off for over the actual tree.

I added two Distress Inks to stamp the tree and added some Nuovo Drops to look like fairy lights.  I really had to walk away from this to stop adding anything else and keep it one layer.  

Fiona 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #CC410

Welcome to our Colour Challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week. I've done a centre fold card for a change using some old Stampin Up DSP I found in my stash which I thought was a great match for the colours.

The image for the front is a cute little mouse from Creative Expressions set called Missy Mouse which was coloured in with a watercolour brush and the colours of our challenge. 

I'm adding this into the following Challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - Oh So Sweet

Make My Monday - spring colours 

Use Your Stuff - Animals 

Stamping Sensations - with a tail 

Secret Stamper - fun fold 

SPRING GREENS

I'm still in the process of decorating and sorting out my craft room.  It is a room hubby and I both use for our respective hobbies - his is fly tying and his desk is even messier than mine!  So we've bought some Ikea units to try and sort out and make things look a bit tidy and given the whole room a makeover.  I therefore have limited space and supplies out at the moment but am missing the crafting!

I love these stamps from Tracy Evans with the wellington boots called The Great Outdoors. I found in my stash a background I had made with a Tim Holtz stencil using Distress Oxide Ink Iced Spruce.  I added the stamps of the boots and then cut them out to layer onto themselves.  The hares are from other Tracy Evans sets Miniatures for the small hares and the ants and Long Eared Mammal for the larger hare.  I used Tim Holtz Distress inks in Crushed Olive and Rustic Wilderness for the additional greens.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - Green 

Allsorts - AG - trio of three - my three hares 

As You See It - Spring clean - actually re-arranging my craft room and finding old backgrounds I've made 

AIChallenge - Green 

FREE YOUR IMAGINATION

It was one of those mornings - up early - couldn't sleep - the wind is howling up our Welsh mountain - my craft room is still being re-organised and decorated but I managed to find a spot to do a bit of creating.  I was inspired by the challenge at Inkspirational to have a play along.  Their challenge this week is numbers.  I remembered a lovely Visible Image set that has a great little stamp with numbers on which is just perfect for backgrounds - I found a background I had previously made in my stash and my card grew from there.

I stamped the numbers from You're A Classic in Versafine Morning Mist - a gentle grey to some of the background.  I then took another Visible Image stamp set Free Your Imagination.  I stamped and cut out some extra numbers to add to the pages of the book and added a touch of Tim Holtz Old Paper to the pages. I had some extra numbers falling from the eagle's claws as if he'd dropped them on the page.  I added some Aallandcreate Washi tape which was just perfect as it had the right colour of blue and black in it and those fabulous numbers.

I'm also adding this into the following:

Inkspirational - Numbers 

Allys Angels - AG 

Stamping Sensations - AG option of wings 

Snarky Stampers - I is for ink 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS SC409

We have another sketch for you today at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I started my card by making a background with some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink and using a Tim Holtz stencil to go over it.    The little bird is from Aallandcreate stamps - I just love the way it is perched on the pot.  I coloured it in with Distress Oxide ink.  The strip below has been made with a Tim Holtz Emboss and Cut embosser.  Very clever as it cuts as it embosses.  I added a few Nuovo drops to add some interest and as this was for a friend's birthday I added the sentiment. 

CREATIVE ARTISTE - NEW DESIGN TEAM MEMBER

I am delighted to have been asked by Andree Crowe of Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog to be one of their new Design Team members.  I love the mixed media element to their challenges and so jumped at the chance.  Here's my first entry as DT member.

I run a Facebook group called Joy of Sets and we have swaps every month. This month's swap was to make a double sided door hanger with the theme of Spring.  I used a heavy back board from a used paper pack for my hanger as it gives it more strength.  I cut out the circle with a scalpel and covered up the rough edges with some circles of paper.

I then added a first layer of white Gesso  to the substrate so that I could add all those layers of papers and paint.  I started off by using a Tim Holtz stencil which is a mosaic style with some Texture Paste and then added some layers of paint with a brayer tool.  I've used a lot of Tracy Evans stamps for the backgrounds as well as the main images as well as some Tim Holtz collage papers, especially the pretty birds.  Lots of layers and textures give the piece more interest - and I've also clear embossed some  of the flowers and butterflies to make them shine a bit.  I added torn off pieces of washi tape here and there also and added some Nuovo drops and embellishments from my stash.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Mix It Up - AG 

CRAFT - Not a card

The Outlawz Challenge - my two items over 2 years old are the bee embellishment and the blue clip (20 years old eek) on the first image 

Four Seasons Challenge - Spring 

Tuesday Taggers - let's get messy - lots of gesso, texture paste, papers, ink 

We love 2 Create = AG 

THE MALE ROOM CHALLENGE #172 - MARCH 2023 - SKETCH

We have a sketch challenge for you this month at The Male Room Challenge.  I started out by covering my cardstock with a layer of Tim Holtz Oxide ink in Brushed Corduroy.  I stamped over the background then with some stamps from Aallandcreate by Bipash BK called Background Voices. I then added a stencil over the top and used Walnut Stain for the image.  The stencil and cat is from a stamp and stencil set combination from Tim Holtz.  I cut the cat out and layered his balloon.  Some splatters of white paint and the sentiment at the bottom finished off the card.

ONCE UPON A TIME - MARCH 2023

How fun is this book cover for our challenge this month at Once Upon A Time.  I loved all those squiggles and they reminded me of a Tim Holtz Embossing folder I  had in my stash.  Once it was embossed I went over it with a Stampin Up pastel chalk to bring up the purple.  The stamp set is from Anita Jeram called Paint Town and I added the word Purple to the end of the stamp with some Tim Holtz letter dies.