RUDOLPH DAYS CHALLENGE - GUEST DESIGNER

I'm delighted to be a Guest Designer this month over at Rudolph Day's Challenge.   The theme is Anything Goes and I've chosen to use some stamps by Alison Bomber for my card.  

I used the water colour technique on the rubber stamps to create the borders.  Simply add the ink direct to the stamp and spritz with water.  It gives that very soft ethereal effect.  I love Alison's Christmas stamps with the Christmas Carols on them and wanted to use the Holly and the Ivy which is one of my favourite's at Christmas time.   It also enabled me to use the holly stamps I had in my stash.  The background music stamp is also one of Alison's.

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #491 - MAKE YOUR MARK

It's time for another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More and we want to see your colouring with any type of medium - inks, pens, pencils, water colours. 

I've used a lovely flower stamp from Creative Expressions and used my Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils to colour it in.  I then cut a rough edge around the stamp and layered it onto some paper from my stash.  The butterfly and sentiment is from the same set.  I cut out the butterfly and used the same colours to colour it in and pop it on a dimensional. 

I wanted this to be a shabby chic style card so added some ribbon, lace and buttons. I stamped onto the ribbon.  

THE HOLLY AND IVY CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - #183

I love these little robins from Creative Expressions.  I've used them in quite a few Christmas cards over the years and they are always a firm favourite.  Here I've teamed them up with a die cut Christmas tree from Tim Holtz together with a tree stencil from Tim.  

I've kept the background colours in soft Old Paper Distress Oxide and the trees in Peeled Paint Distress Oxide to allow the reds of the robins to stand out.  I used Tim Holtz Festive Berries Oxide ink to colour them in.  Some white splatters and a touch of Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen finishes off the card. 

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - BLOOMING BLOOMS - AURICULA

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I am delighted to be Guest Designer again for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and our challenge this week is Blooming Blooms.  I chose some of the new stamps by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs for my card.

The background was created first with the gel press and some distress paint by Tim Holtz.  I gently brayered Salvaged Patina and Peeled Paint over the gel press and you just never know what you'll get which is part of the fun.  I was happy with the background colours and added some extra detail with the Fronds Snippet Stencil by Tracy in Peeled Paint again. 

Once the background was completely dry I used one of Tracy's Stamps called Take Flight embossed in white to add some more interest to the background behind the flower.

The flower stamp is called Alpine Plant and I stamped this and fussy cut it to add some layers to the piece. It was coloured in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils.

Behind the flower in its cute pot I added another stamp, a persicaria flower, by Tracy from the set Delight in Nature.  The sentiment which is from New Beginnings has been stamped on a piece of calico from my stash in Versafine Nocturne. 

Stamps used - Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Design in Nature TE13

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs New Beginnings TE004

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Take Flight - TE009

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Alpine Plant - TE 001

Stencil            Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Fronds Snippet Stencil SS5 

Paints -            Tim Holtz Distress Paint Salvaged Patina 

                        Tim Holtz Distress Paint Old Paper 

Inks -             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray - Iced Spruce 

                       Versafine Clair Shady Lane

                       Versafine Clair Nocturne

                       Versamark Embossing Ink Pad

                       Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils my sets used are 1, 4 and 5 

Embossing 

Powder            Ranger Embossing Powder Cottontail

Tools                Gel Press 5 x 7 

                         Speedball Brayer - 4 inch 

Every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a $25 voucher to spend at  Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - TREATS

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I'm delighted to be Guest Designer again this week for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  The challenge this week is treats.  I just adore Anita Jeram - my kids read her books when they were young and I now read them to my grandkids.  I even have a mug with some characters on.  So when I saw this set over at Simon Says Stamp and the little treat jar it was a must have! It's called Treat Yourself. 

I wanted to keep the colours fairly close to Anita's own style of soft colours.  I stamped the dogs first on some water colour paper in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I stamped the treat jar and then restamped it and fussy cut it to add a bit more interest.  I carefully added some clean water around the dogs then used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Salty Ocean and Peeled Paint for the background.

For colouring the dogs I used the following Distress Oxides with a very small paint brush -  Black Soot, Brushed Corduroy, Pumice Stone, Walnut Stain, Saltwater Taffy

The little treat jar was coloured in Salty Ocean, Saltwater Taffy and Rusty Hinge. 

I used Versafine  Clair Morning Mist stamped off for the Yummy sentiment and Pinecone for the main sentiment. 

Supplies used:

Stamps -     Anita Jeram Stamps Treat Yourself 

Inks     

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Saltwater Taffy

             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Salty Ocean

             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Peeled Paint

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Brushed Corduroy

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Black Soot

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pumice Stone

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Walnut Stain

           Versafine Clair -  Nocturne

            Versafine Clair   Pinecone 

            Versafine Clair   Morning Mist

Don't forget every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

I'm adding this into the following:

4 Season - Animals 

Dragonfly Dreams - Animals 

Stamping Sensations - Animals 

SimplyCreate2 - Furry Animals 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #490

Back to our Diecuts/or Stencils challenge this week and I've used another favourite of mine which is the bird die cut from Tim Holtz.  He does seem to feature a lot in my tags as he's such a perfect size.    The feather and eggs are just perfect to use with the bird  and they are part of Tim Holtz Funky Nature set.  

I used Distress Oxides in Speckled Egg and Crushed Olive with a touch of Salvaged Patina by directly adding the inks to the card stock.  I then used some Texture Paste in Delicate Blue by Cosmic Shimmer.  I have another one of these pastes but it's all gone hard so I'm hoping some hot water may just revive it.  

I layered the bird onto some lace and a real stick to give a bit of dimension and interest with the eggs just behind. I added some background stamping in an old script stamp and some pen doodling around the edges.  

I'm adding this into the following:

We love 2 Create - Mixed Media 

Outlawz - Not A Card 

Creative Inspiration - AG 

Mix it up - Layers AG 

Stamping Sensations - Birds 

Paper Funday - Beginning with B 

Ellibelle's Corner - Dawn of Spring -birds, nests and their eggs 

Unicorn Challenge - use Dies 

Hearts Quest - TAG 

A cut Above - Dies 

Tic Tac Toe - Birds, Free, Pastel Colours - free is my lace 

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE #182

Welcome back to another Christmas challenge at The Holly & Ivy.  We are actually having gorgeous unseasonal weather here in Wales and it seems strange creating Christmas cards.  It's a great habit to get into though to make them all year round so you don't get rushed nearer the big day and challenges like ours are the perfect motivation.  As usual we are Anything Goes and here's my card for this week. 

I've used some of the gorgeous stamps by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs to create my wreath. The inks are all Versafine Clair.  I then used one of Tracy's stencils to create the baubles in the middle and embossed them in gold embossing powder. I added some touches of white to the baubles to give them dimension.  The little bird is also from Tracy and the sentiments are from Tim Holtz.

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - A TAG SHOWCASING STUDIO LIGHT

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I am delighted to have been asked to be Guest Designer for the month of April for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  

Our first challenge for this month is a Tag showcasing Studio Light.  I must admit this is not a company I have heard of before so it was exciting to be using some new stamps.  My eye was immediately drawn to this gorgeous Thistle stamp set with the gorgeous thistle and the extra images of the bird and the ladybird.  A set that is right up my mixed media street!  I had a great time playing with this set and as well as the project for the challenge I also did a few more which I've added below. 

For my tag for this Monday challenge I did the following:

I used some watercolour paper from my stash for the tag which measures approximately 6" x 3 ".

I started off by smooshing some inks for my background - drying in between until I was happy with the results.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers and Distress Oxide Twisted Citron.  I then stamped the thistle stamp in Versafine Clair Nocturne and used some black embossing powder to make it pop.  

I coloured some ribbon from my stash with the Wilted Violet and added some wording from an old dictionary I use for my mixed media with the word Thistle on it.  I also stamped the little ladybird next to the thistle.  

Some Distress Oxide in Black Soot and some twine from my stash which was inked with the Wilted Violet finished off this tag.

Products Used:

Stamps - Studio Light Thistle 

Inks -      Tim Holtz Distress Ink Wilted Violet 

                Tim Holtz Distress Ink Peacock Feathers 

                Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Twisted Citron     

                Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Black Soot 

                Versafine Clair Nocturne

Embossing Powder - Spellbinders Black

I also had a play with this set on a canvas which measures 7" x 5".  I love working on canvases of this size and it makes a change from cards.  I brayered Old Paper Distress Oxide and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide onto the canvas.  I used a Tim Holtz Dot Fade stencil with some Tim Holtz Crackle Paste to add a bit more texture.  I used a Tim Holtz word stencil with some Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina to some of the corners.  The numbers are from the same stencil which were inked in Pumice Stone.

I then stamped the thistle stamp with Versafine Clair Pinecone.  I stamped the bird separately and cut it out layering it onto some cheesecloth material which has also been stamped with the extra dots stamp that is in the set.  I added some twine as a branch for the bird to rest on. The quote is from an old Tim Holtz Ideaology book Small Talk and thought it suited this as I was trying to work with just this one set and not throw a load of products at my canvas like I usually do. 

Here is what I used on my extra canvas project:

Stamps - Studio Light Thistle 

Inks  - Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Salvaged Patina 

           Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Pumice Stone

           Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Old Paper

           Tim Holtz Distress Ink Weathered Wood

           Tim Holtz Distress Ink Scorched Timber 

           Versafine Clair Pinecone

Stencils - Tim Holtz Dot Fade 

                 Tim Holtz Mini Stencil set 49

Media - Tim Holtz Crackle Paste Opaque 

I had one more play with a tag using a simple watercolour technique.  I inked the stamp with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Peeled Paint and Dusty Concord - gave it a spritz of water and stamped it onto watercolour paper.  Once it was dry and I added some Distress Oxide Antique Linen to the background and Distress Oxide Iced Spruce to the edges.  A simple CAS tag which allows this lovely stamp to shine. 

Inks - 

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide  Peeled Paint 

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Dusty Concord

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Antique Linen

            Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Iced Spruce 

Don't forget every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

I'm adding this into the following:

Ellibelles Wednesday - AG 

Stamping Sensations - Flowers 

We love 2 Create - AG Mixed Media 

Allsorts - AG 

Outlawz - Not a Card 

INSPIRATION STATION - #72

Welcome back to another inspirational photo for you from Inspiration Station.  We would love to see how you are inspired by our image.  

I chose to use the lovely set by Anita Jeram called Stargazers of the bears watching the sky at night.   I started by using a die cut to cut out the inner part of the card which I then coloured with Distress Oxide in Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean.  I stamped and coloured in the bears and added some embossed stars.  I then put the piece back into the white card stock and layered it onto some grey card. 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA CHALLENGE

Welcome back to another Mixed Media challenge at Creative Artiste.  

I've made some vintage style slides.  I'd had this little die cut for ages and never really used it and finally got to have a play with it.  I used a variety of stamps, washi tape and ephemera for my little slides.  I even got those old brads out for all the corner.  Keep a thing for 20 years and you finally use it.  

THE MALE ROOM - GEOMETRIC #197

Welcome back to another month's challenge at The Male Room and we would love to see your Geometric projects.  I realised this is something I don't often do so it was a good challenge for me.

I used a stencil for my geometric background and used a number of Distress Oxides Inks and also some Distress Crackle Paste to give added texture.  The stamp is from Tim Holtz.  This card was actually for my son's birthday-  there is a certain film we both love which has a song about a moustache - and if you know the film you'll know you can't stop singing the song once you see this card!  

PEARLY SPARKLES - MONOCHROME #106

Welcome back to another challenge at Pearly Sparkles and our choice for you this month is Monochrome.  

I covered my whole cardstock in Distress Oxide Peacock Feathers.  I then stamped the lovely flower stamp from Tracy Evans in Versafine Clair Warm Breeze.  I then took a wet paint brush and removed some of the colour to give the white effects.  The bird also from Tracy Evans was also stamped in Warm Breeze and I used white embossing powder for the sentiment. 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - ANY OCCASION #489

It's time for those Any Occasion cards this week at Addicted to Stamps & More.  I chose to go with a Thank You card because you never know when you might need one. 

I started my card with an embossing folder from Tim Holtz - I thought it looked like  mice tails.  The image is from Anita Jeram from her set Thank You.  I stamped the image first then inked round it with Distress Oxide in Dusty Concord and a touch of Iced Spruce and then added some water splashes.  I added some pen squiggles to the paper to look like he'd written something.  

I'm adding this into the following:

Creative Inspiration - AG 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - AG