Monday 31 July 2023

HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS - AUGUST - OPTIONAL HAPPY



Welcome to another challenge at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge. I chose to go with the option of Happy for my card.  

I used watercolour for my card stock as I knew I was going to be putting a lot of water down for the background.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide stains to give a loose watercolour background.  Once dry I added some background stamping with Versafine Clair Morning Mist which is a soft grey - not as harsh as a black for the stamping.  

The bird is from Tracy Evans set Bird Song  and the sentiment is from Visible Image.    I added a loose border with a Micron pen and added some pink edging.  








Wednesday 26 July 2023

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS - ANYTHING GOES PLUS DESIGN TEAM CALL



Our challenge this month over at Christmas Craft Creations is Anything Goes.  We are also offering a Design Team call so if you love making Christmas cards I would encourage you to apply.  It's a great way to have lots of your Christmas cards done already by the time the season is fully underway.  I've loved being on the team this year and am looking forward to another year of Christmas every month.

As we are Anything Goes this month I've used a Tim Holtz  star for my card.  The background was made with a gel press and I added lots of white embossing powder for the snow and the star. This makes it a quick and easy card to make if you need to make lots.  The sentiment is from Anita Jeram stamp set.







Tuesday 25 July 2023

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS SC419


Welcome back to another Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge and our sketch challenge for you this time.  I hope you are inspired by the sketch and the Design Team's entries.  Here's mine.  

For the stripes on the right hand side I used various washi tape from Aallandcreate.  The left hand side is a background I made with the gel press.  I added the lovely bird from one of Tracy Evan's stamp sets called Birdsong which actually matches some of that lovely washi tape.  






Monday 17 July 2023

SCRAPBOOK PAGE

It's been a while since I've done any scrapbooking and shared any pages.  However on Saturday a new friend and I started up a Crop in our local village hall.  We had 5 ladies turn up - 3 of whom had never scrapped before.  Safe to say they caught the bug.  I have so many pages I need to do as my granddaughter is now 4 and my grandson is now 6 months.  

However I lost my darling dog in January and really need to start doing some more pages of her.  This page was inspired by Allsorts Challenge blog and the dog and the gorgeous peach colour of that flower.



Allsorts Challenge - dog picture 







Monday 10 July 2023

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #CC418



A great choice of colours for your inspiration this week from us here at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I started my card off using my favourite embossing folder from Stampin Up called Painted Texture.  I realise I don't use embossing folders nearly enough.  I think they need a dusting.

I used an old SU set for the flowers and butterflies on the right of the card called Natures Perfection.  The flower in the middle is from Tracy Evans set Worded Petals and the Butterfly is SU from the same set.  I added some sparkle to the main butterfly with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I added some red splatters and some sequins.  The sentiment is from Tracy Evans.  I put it on a white background to keep the focus colours bright. 










Friday 7 July 2023

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA CHALLENGE JULY 2023 - TIME CANVAS



Welcome back to our challenge Mixed Media lovers - as always we are an Anything Goes challenge at Creative Artiste Mixed Media.  I've chosen to do another 7" x 5" canvas.  I love the size of these canvases but I'm going to have to challenge myself to do some bigger ones soon.

I'm curious - do you plan your projects?  Do you always have an idea in your head exactly what you are going to do before you start because I know I certainly don't.  Does it show? lol! I start and then it just kind of evolves - that's if I'm lucky.  There have been times when I've just had to rip it off and start again.  But this one worked just as I'd hoped.

It didn't really set out to be a time piece as such but that's how it evolved. I added all my base layers with inks and stamps and used Liquitex Acrylic ink in Muted Grey over some Distress Spray Stain in Antique Linen.  The clock images are from a Creative Expressions stamp set which I haven't used in a while and the pen nibs are from Tracy Evants.  I found the little circle fob watch in my stash - I think it's an old Tim Holtz Ideaology one. I stamped a clock face on the inside and then covered it in gold wax and added a little chain.  The sentiments and numbers are from Tracy Evans and the paper doll is Tim Holtz. I added some extra Pebeo wax around the edges. 









Butterfly Tag

On my own Facebook Group The Joy of Sets we run monthly swaps.  Last month's swap was a butterfly tag.  This is mine which will be winging its way over the pond to the US.  I hope my recipient likes it.

I started off with one of Tim Holtz large tag dies which is the perfect size for tags.  I added some Distress Oxide Spray in Antique Linen, Speckled Egg and Victorian Velvet.  VV is one of my most favourite TH colours and I use it quite a lot - I have it in all his mediums lol!  

I then added some stamping from Woodware Expressions set by Francoise Read called Three Butterflies.  It's one whole stamp but I just used parts of it - not using a block just my fingers to get the parts I wanted. I also used some of the stamps from Alison Bomber's set for Eclectica by Paper Artsy called Rosemary Edition.

I added some butterfly ribbon I had in my stash and used a Tim Holtz die for the large butterfly.  This was cut out of some gel press collage paper I had done and fitted the colour scheme.  It was made with Distress Mica Stain in Tart Cranberry.


I'm adding this into the following challenges:







Wednesday 5 July 2023

THE MALE ROOM - TRAVEL #176



Welcome back to another great challenge here at The Male Room.  We have chosen Travel for this month's challenge.  It's something I haven't really done since pre-Covid - especially not out of country - apart from nipping into England from Wales to visit my son but I'm not sure that really counts.  I still don't feel comfortable with air travel and all the hassle of the airports and planes so a trip to Greece is still going to have to wait a few years!  In the meantime I went off on my travels by creating this postcard.

My background was made with  my gel press with some Tim Holtz paints to give a vintage feel.  The stamps are all various Tim Holtz as is some of the ephemera.  I found a lovely picture of this old vintage bi-plante and added it to give more of a vintage feel. I distressed all the edges of the ephemera.  The stamps at the bottom are also old Tim Holtz ones I didn't even know I had!  So, let's be honest, this is sort of a Tim Holtz collage lol!  










Saturday 1 July 2023

HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS - WATERCOLOUR CHRISTMAS


Happy Early Christmas!  We are celebrating Christmas as an option this month at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.  Well, I am always up for a bit of Christmas crafting.

I decided to go with a tag as I use so many of them at Christmas time on gifts for the family that I need to have a lot ready by the big day.  Some I save and re-use them the following year but shh don't tell the family they never notice.  They are too nice just to throw away.

I love this vintage image of Santa by Tim Holtz and he is now my go-to Santa for Christmas projects.  He came as a small set with some matching stencils called Vintage Holidays.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks to create the background and did some background stamping.  

I coloured in the Santa with Distress Ink re-inkers and a water brush to give a bit more of a stronger look to the colour.  I used a white Posca pen for the white bits on his coat. All the extra details came from Tim Holtz Idealogy Christmas pack from a few years ago.  The gorgeous ribbons are also Tim Holta Idealogy - I just kept adding little details and really had to stop myself and say enough it's done lol! A few white splatters just to lift the colour a little bit and I decided that was it.





I'm adding this into the following challenges:







ONCE UPON A TIME - BEAUTIFUL OOPS


Welcome back to another challenge here at Once  Upon a Time.  We have this great book cover to inspire you this month.  

My card uses one of the great sets by Anita Jeram called Paint Town.  I thought that little guinea pig was just perfect for my card. I used Tim Holtz Wild Honey Distress Oxide for my background leaving a white edge around the stamped image.

 I added lots of water colours to show the ink oozing out of the paint pot.  The oops words were Tim Holtz word die cuts and the sentiments came from Colorado Craft Company stamp set.  Now all I need to do to use this card is forget someone's special day lol!