ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - MAKE YOUR MARK #501

Welcome back to our Make Your Mark challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

I created the background on my tag by smooshing some Tim Holtz Distress inks on to the tag and adding extra stamping from stamps by Alison Bomber.  The butterfly is from Sara Neumann from Paper Artsy and I coloured it in with Prismacolour Pencils.  They give a lovely vibrant colour.

I added a metal pen nib to the butterfly and some words from Tim Holtz idealogy.

THE HOLLY AND IVY CHALLENGE - #191

Welcome back to another Anything Goes challenge at Holly & Ivy.  My card today uses stamps by Alison Bomber.  I love the few little Christmas stamps she brought out last year one of which is the Winter's Tale.  It always has me singing that song by David Essex!  I kept the background simple so as not to take away from the lovely image of the Star Anise - mulled wine is one of my favourite drinks once the winter sets in.

I did some simple stamping of Alison's grasses from another of her sets and the background was created from one of my gel press play times using Distress Inks.

The sentiment is from one of Tracy Evan's Boutique Designs sets. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Simon Says Stamp - Music - the song Winter's Tale - bet you can't stop humming it now!

Girlz Creative Christmas - AG

The paper players - Food 

Inspire Create - Christmas 

Stamping Sensations  - AG 

JingleBells - no papers used 

Outlawz Festive - Christmas 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Stamps only 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA #119

Welcome back to another month's challenge at Creative Artiste Mixed Media where we ask that you use at least 3 different mediums on your projects and let us know what they are.  Today I'm sharing a piece I did for a local competition. It was a huge leap of courage for me to enter this as it was for the art section and a lot of local artists had entered.  I don't consider myself an artist - I'm a crafter but I do love to dabble in this sort of mixed media so I thought I'd give it a go.  I was beyond thrilled to win 2nd prize for my piece.  It helps your confidence and keeps you motivated.

My piece was inspired by Shawn Petite and uses one of her stencils which is the little window frame.  

I started off with a piece of Canvas Sheet 10' x 12' which is made by Crawford & Black.  It had already been gesso primed so my first thing to do was fill it with a load of old book pages.  I added some scribbles of paint from Tim Holtz Distress Crayons then covered it in white gesso.  You can see a few of the pictures below as the painting was coming to life. 

After adding the gesso I added some extra texture and interest with a stencil and some Texture Paste.  I always use Daler Rowney.  I then went over this with some Distress Inks to create a washed out colour.  I used the window stencil by Shawn Petite and the door was cut from one of her papers and I drew in some steps.  I wanted to give my house a Mediterranean feel so I added background stamping with the flowers in the pot to create more interest. I also added a butterfly.  I kept playing around with the colours until I was happy with what I had.  

I'm entering this into the following:

Dream Valley - 2 or more layers - lots of layers here 

Make My Monday - fun with stencils - background stencil and stencilled window 

Let's craft and create - layers 

DD Triple B - butterfly 

We love 2 Create - AG 

The Outlawz - AG card free 

Polkadoodle - AG 

Creative Fingers - AG 

PEARLY SPARKLES - PINK, PEARLS OR SPARKLES

Welcome back to another challenge at Pearly Sparkles.  September is always our dedication to Traci - pink, pearls and/or glitter or sparkle.

I'm not really a brights pink kind of girl but Tim Holtz Spun Sugur pink I can cope with.  My background uses my favourite Tim Holtz stencil which is the mosaic and I've used Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide Inks. 

The flower is a new one from Tracy Evans Boutique Designs called Dog Rose and Butterfly. I stamped it first then cut out some extra flowers to give is some more dimension and added a few pearls to the inside of the flowers.  I added the butterfly from TE50 set On the Wild Side.  The sentiment is from an older Tracy set. 

THE MALE ROOM #202 - CREATE YOUR OWN BACKGROUND.

Our challenge this month at The Male Room  is just perfect for me as I always create my own backgrounds.  I can't even remember the last time I just used a designer series paper!  I had fun making this one.

I used Antique Linen, Forest Moss and Black Soot Distress Inks for the inky background using watercolour paper as I added a lot of water to get the ink to move.  The extra stamping in the background tied in with the main image and were old Tim Holtz stamps.  

 The hand image from Ringmaster Blueprint CMS151 was stamped onto an extra sheet of watercolour paper and tore the edges.  I coloured it in with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  The extra ephemera are cut from the ticket stamp from the same set. The sentiment is a die cut from my stash.

SIMON SAYS STAMP STAMPTEMBER 2025 - YAY I WAS CHOSEN

I was beyond excited when a package popped through the door this morning as I knew I hadn't ordered anything - especially from the US.  Imagine my surprise when I realised I had been chosen as one of the 100 designers to have a play with the new Stamptember sets from Simon Says Stamp.

The set I received is Wild Birthday with some really cute animal images that will come in handy for birthday cards for the grandkids or kids at heart!

Here are two of my first plays with the set.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Crayons to colour them in and a touch of Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to add a touch of glitter.

I'm adding these into the following challenges:

Crafty Animals 

Critter Crazy - AG

Stamping Sensations - AG 

We love stamping - AG 

The paper players - Celebration, animal, bright colours 

Allsorts - Birthdays

Send a smile for kids - AG 

Simonsaysstamp Monday - Stamptember 

INSPIRATION STATION - #77

Welcome back to another challenge at Inspiration Station.  I adore Autumn as it's my favourite season and I just got so excited when I saw our image as inspiration this month.  Am I allowed to say I absolutely loved how my card turned out?

I created the background with Distress Inks in Rusty Hinge, Evergreen Bough and Scattered Straw on watercolour paper.  I created an horizon line with a felt marker and stamped the trees from Tracy Evans new set On the Wild Side.  I created a type of water image underneath them using a touch of black soot over the orange colours.  I stamped a faint image of the trees as a reflection.  The large Autumn sentiment is an old one of Tracy's and the words are from Alison Bomber. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Four Seasons Challenge - Fall/Autumn 

Just Add Ink - one layer stamping 

Creative Fingers - AG 

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES CHALLENGE BLOG DESIGN TEAM MEMBER

I'm delighted to be on another Challenge Blog as Design Team Member under the brilliant supervision of Helen Nile - welcome to Moving Along with the Times which Helen has recently taken charge of.  Our theme for this month of September is Butterflies and/or Dragonflies.  

My Tag started off on the gel press with a print taken from a fern taken from my garden.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Paint on the press to get a faint impression. I then added extra stamping in the background.  The butterflies are all from Tim Holtz Scribbly Butterflies dies which were cut from another gel press playtime using Tim Holtz inks.

I added various stamping and ephemera and added some to some linen which was affixed with some brass brads - remember those?  I finished off the tag by scribbling around the edge as I can't sew.

I'm adding this into the following:

Tag Along - things with wings 

Dragonfly Dreams - Lots of Layers 

LOVE TO CRAFT - ANYTHING GOES

Welcome back to another Love to Craft - and we look forward to seeing all your wonderful creations. 

It's another tag from me - I was lucky to win a set of Tag Dies from Brenda's new Tag Challenge so I just have to put them to good use.

It's another play with the gel press for me for this tag and the background was created with an Aallandcreate Stencil - this was the residue of ink left on the stencil after the press on the gel press and just stamped off onto to some extra paper so as not to lose the ink.  You can just see the faint blue marks.  I then added some background stamping and the star of the show - the poppy stamps - are from Tracy Evans - one of her old sets.  Alison Bomber of W0rdsandp1ctures has inspired me to use real flowers on my work so these poppy seeds are from the Welsh poppies in my garden.  

As well as gluing them on I fixed them with some twine and a touch of linen which has been stapled.  I then added the word Nature to hide the staples.  I added a butterfly which had been created out of a mood board - a play time of adding stamping and colours and then cutting out shapes - great fun. The sentiment came from Tim Holtz Ideaology snippets book.