CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS - FEBRUARY

Our challenge at Christmas Craft Creations this month is to use a stencil or embossing folder.  I chose to use a stencil and decided to make a Christmas tag.  One of my favourite things to make for the Christmas season.

I started with a Tim Holtz tag cut from one of his dies and I used the Tim Holtz Christmas Tree stencil.  Before adding the stencil I made a background from Iced Spruce Distress Oxide Ink.  I added some splashes of water and let it dry.  I then added some Twisted Citron and added water and let it dry.  I then did some stamping using Versafine Clair ink in Shady Lane.  I used word stamps from Visible Image and a pine branch from Tracy Evans. 

I then used the stencil with some Cosmic Shimmer Antique Sand Paste in Moss Blanket.  It is a lovely paste to use and gives a lovely muted grungy look.  Once it was dry I added a very fine layer of Cosmic Shimmer sparkle glaze on top.  The Christmas tree is a very old stamp from Tim Holtz which has the matching die cut and I stamped them in two Versafine Inks, Shady Lane and Verdant.  The O Christmas Tree sentiment is from Tim Holtz and the little saying is from one of his Ideaology Christmas books.  I added some white splatters before I added the trees and added some fine thread behind the trees.  I edged the tag with a black Micron pen and then roughed up the edges and used Tim Holtz Scorched Timber around the edges.  I finished the tag with some green and brown ribbon from my stash and an old brad. 

B... IS FOR BIRD, BLOOMS, BEAUTY

Another card to show using Tracy Evans Boutique Designs and her new set TE4 New Beginnings.  I used my gel press and some Tim Holtz paint to create the background.  I stamped the flower and then masked and stamped again.  I added a circle stencil at the top and the bottom to be able to add some more interest to the flowers.  

I used Tim Holtz Watercolor Pencils for my colouring.  I added the little bird at the bottom and finished it off with the sentiment white embossed and some water droplets. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

I spy - the letter B

Beautiful Blossoms 

Allsorts - things that fly

Daisy Chain - Flowers

Simon Says Stamp Monday - Fur or feathers 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Blooms 

Attchoo - oh dear sorry

I have a stinking cold and am feeling very sorry for myself.  I blame hubby as he had it last week - and there was I congratulating us that we had got through the winter without getting anything.  Famous last words! So to try and take my mind off it I thought I'd come into the craft room and see if I had the energy to create anything.  I was inspired by
Inkspirational and their gorgeous peonies which are my favourite flowers.  

I knew I had a peony flower somewhere and found it in one of Tracy Evans stamp sets Friendship Florals.  She really is my go to designer at the moment.

I started off my card by using some of the lovely Sam Poole Antique Sand Paste in Delicate Blue.  I then added some Tim Holtz Spun Sugar and Speckled Egg and a touch of white paint with a dry brush over the paste.  I stamped the words from the peony stamp in Speckled Egg Archival.   I stamped the whole image in black to get some of those lovely words and then fussy cut out the image of the flower and coloured it with Spun Sugar Distress Crayon.  I added some twine behind and used some pin flair glue to make it stand proud.  The Peony sentiment is from the same set - the other sentiment is from one of Tracy's new sets.  I added a few little dew drops to finish off the flower.  

~I'm also adding this into the following

My time to craft - make your own background 

Festive Friday Challenge - Blue White Pink

Krafty Chicks - AG 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS IC432

Welcome back to another challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments #IC432.  We have a gorgeous board for your inspiration.  

I started by masking off my card stock which I then filled in with Distress Oxide in Victorian Velvet - one of my most favourite colours of this range.  I then took an old rose stencil and went over it again with the same ink.

The stamp is from Tim Holtz Flower Shop CMS401 and I stamped it in Versafine Clair Chianti and Shady Lane.  I added some background stamping with an Tracy Evans stamp in the same Chianti ink.  I added some drops of the Victorian Velvet around the outside and added some water droplet embellishments and a stamped sentiment. 

SPRING .... PLEASE

We finally have a dry day here in Wales - so nice to see a bit of sun rather than this constant rain.  After a lovely long walk with the dog up the mountains it was home for a quick bit of crafting time.  I decided to play along with two challenges - Sunday Stamps for their colours and Freshly Made Sketches. 

I couldn't decide whether Sunday Stamps were purples or browns but went with the image of the plums and the wording I spotted Plum Tones.

I used Wild Honey Distress Oxide for the mustard colour and used a stencil for my background.  The bottom colour is Distress Villanous Potion.  I added a tag for the shape and used one of Tracy Evans stamps Tulip from her Elegant Spring Florals set as a perfect Harbinger of Spring.  I coloured the image in with Tim Holtz Watercolours pencils.  I added some washi tape from my stash, some plum ribbon I found at the bottom of the ribbon box and a few water droplets embellishments. 

Auricula Hearts

I am loving the new little Auricula stamp from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs - it's even got me thinking I'd love an auricula theatre in my garden - I didn't even know there was such a thing.  

The challenge over at Inkspirational is hearts and they really only want to see a card with hearts on it - not necessarily a Valentine's card.  Well I've already made hubbies Valentines and I don't sent out any others so this little card will be just perfect for another occasion.

I've used some of Tracy's old stamps on this one as well but the star has to be that little auricula stamp.  

I made the background with my brayer and when I stamped the image and coloured it it didn't stand out enough for me against that background so I re stamped it and fussy cut out the image of the flowers in the pot.  I love those little hanging hearts.

I'm also adding this into the Flower Challenge 

THE MALE ROOM - #183, VALENTINE - USE A HEART

Our challenge this month at The Male Room is Valentine/Use a Heart.  I cut the heart die cut with it's matching edge from a Creative Expressions die and used the negative space as a stencil.  I used Distress Ink Mustard Seed, Fossilised Amber and a touch of Vintage Photo. I added some water to parts of the background to lift the colour and give it a bleached effect. 

As I was using the stamp set from Aida Domisiewicz for Aallandcreate #47 which had bees and honey I chose to use these colours rather than the usual red.  I think it's worked out lovely and hubby will be getting this for his Valentine.  I used a stamp set called Background Voices by Bipasha Bk for Aallandcreate for the background stamping.  A little bit of bling in some embellishments and gold Pebeo wax finished off the card. 

I'm adding this into the following: 

Creative Inspiration - AG 

Just us girls - Love 

Simon Says Stamp Wed - Love 

We love stamping - romance 

Stamping Sensations - Creatures 

Addicted to CAS - Heart 

CAS on Sunday - Heart 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS SC431

I loved playing with our sketch this month from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  So many possibilities!  

I started out by using a Creative Expressions Stencil for my background with Old Paper Distress Oxide Ink.  I then used three strips of washi tape in spring colours.  I wanted to use the flowers from Tracy Evans set Elegant Spring Florals for my shapes.  I fussy cut them out and coloured them in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils in spring colours. 

I added some string behind them and used some pinflair glue to attach them to the card.   I then used the word Spring from the Seasons stamp set by Tracy Evans.  I added a few water droplet embellishments to finish off the card.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday - Stencils 

Try it on Tuesday - flowers 

Stencil Fun - AG 

INSPIRATION STATION FEBRUARY #58

I'm delighted to be starting off the New Year with a new Design Team - Inspiration Station.  But oh I nearly stumbled at the first hurdle when I saw our photo for inspiration and realised I have absolutely no dog stamps whatsoever.  Even though I have two dogs lol!  So forgive me for just showing this gorgeous little cat on my card.

She is one of Anita Jeram's stamps called Watering Can Mini.  I decided to ink her a little off the one side of the page rather than in the middle to give more of an effect.  I added some little flowers under her watering can and used the sentiment from another Anita Jeram set.  The little xo's are from Clearly Besotted.

TIM HOLTZ FLOWER SHOP

A recent purchase is the Tim Holtz Flower Shop stamp set CMS401.  I adore the rose in this set.  The background was made with a brayer and some Tim Holtz Paint as well as a Tim Holtz stencil.  I used the stamping platfor to stamp the image on using Distress Oxide Inks.  The paste has been coloured with Tim Holtz distress ink.  The sentiment is also from Tim Holtz. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Triple B - one bloom 

The flower challenge - use a flower and add a heart - my heart is the little gem 

Daisy Chain challenge - flowers 

We love stamping - romance 

The paper players - love 

Crafting Happiness - red and pink 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA - AG

Welcome back to another month's challenge at Creative Artiste Mixed Media.  We hope you've had a nice break and are now raring to go with a Mixed Media project. 

I run a Facebook craft group called The Joy of Sets and I have set the ladies a challenge on there that will last us all year.  We are going to make our own 2025 calendars adding a page a month.  This is my January page.  The background paper was taken from a Somerset Studio magazine as my base.  I used various stamps from Creative Expressions.  I also added some pieces from Taperlogy.  The feather was from my stash and was inked in Tim Holtz Black Soot.  I stamped some of the sentiments onto some calico.  The January and date stamps are from Tracy Evans. Strips of washi tape have also been added.  I've added some Tim Holtz embellishments.  The calendar part was printed from my computer.

I'm making my calendar in a watercolour pad by Winsor and Newton which luckily has 12 pages.

If you would like to join us at my Facebook group you will find us here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1287196548026205

I'm adding this into the following:

Outlawz Challenge - not a card 

CRAFT challenge -winter 

The Four Seasons - Winter 

NEW STAMPS BY TRACY EVANS

I've always loved Tracy Evans' stamps when she designed for Aallandcreate.  Well she is now branching out on her own - such a brave thing to do and her many followers are right there with her. She is now Tracy Evans Boutique Designs. 

Here I have a set of four cards which I have recently made with her new stamps - TE1 and TE4.  I have used some of Tracy's old sets for the backgrounds. 

Stamp Set TE1

The stamps come beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and with a tag and string and I just had to use these in my first card.

Stamp Set TE4 

I'm adding these into the following challenges:  

A perfect time to craft - AG 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - AG 

The sisterhood of crafters - anything blue - my blue card 

Stencil Fun - my pink card uses Tim Holtz mosaic stencil 

A place to Start - AG 

As You See It - my craft purchase is new stamps by Tracy Evans 

Krafty Chicks - Stamping