BIRD JOURNAL

I have been creating a bird journal with some of the lovely papers by Sam Poole Designs which I downloaded from her Etsy account.  It was my first time trying this and it was very pain free and great that I now have these papers I can print over again.  However, my recent page threw a curveball. Those of you who know my work will know these really aren't my colours.  I don't do a lot of purple.  My apology is to Sam as these are not the colours she chose - however, my printer is running out of ink and this is what it gave me.  I didn't want to just discard them so pulled on my big girl pants and created with purple tones.  A bit of a shock but I survived.  I had to grunge it up with some black to recover lol!

Extra stamping with the quote is by Sara Naumann for Paper Artsy.  This quote is by Victor Hugo and is from her stamp set ESN22.  It fits the page perfectly and is a reminder to me creating my journals that I can create this type of art which I'm finding so much more fulfilling than cards.

All other examples of this book so far are on my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/the_welsh_crafter/

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Heart's Quest Lovable Quotable 

CRAFT -AG 

Creative Inspiration AG 

Tuesday Taggers - flying high 

Polkadoodle - AG 

Creative Fingers - AG 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #519 - ANY OCCASION.

We are back with another Any Occasion challenge at ATSM.  I need cards in my stash as I run a RAK group on FB where we send cards out to each other - we are based all over the world and it's so nice to receive hand made cards.  This one will probably be winging its way to someone this month.

I started by using the new wall stencil by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke.  I then used her dog rose stamp from the set Dog Rose and Butterfly.  I stamped it first then cut out the extra flowers to add dimension.  I coloured them in with Prismacolour pencils.  The leaves along the sides are an old stamp I'm not sure where from.  I added some ephemera pieces and the sentiment embossed on black cardstock. 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA - #127

Back to another month's creativity with Creative Artiste Mixed Media challenge - As a gentle reminder to be considered as one of our monthly winners you must use at least 3 different mediums on your project. 

I'm sharing another one of my tags from my tag book.  I think I may nearly be finished - I have completed 8 tags which is 16 sides and it's all looking quite bulky now - I do have 2 spare tags but I'm not sure whether to add them to the book. Once I'm finished I will show you all the tags complete.

I always add some white Gesso to the base of the tags - even though they are a thick kraft card I need to know it can cope with all the extra mediums I'm going to throw at it.

I added some Paper Artsy paint in Seaglass  and then went over it with some Texture Paste and a stencil.  I added some stamping from Alison Bomber and Bipasha BK from Aallandcreate in Versafine Pinecone.

I die cut some of Tim Holtz Funky Nature dies and inked them in Ground Espresso.  The butterfly is a free paper from Shawn Petite and I added some extra stamping to her wings.  I cut her on to some harder cardstock to give her some more strength and added some cheesecloth under her antennae.  There are extra papers and stamping underneath and then I used a sentiment from Craft-0-Clock which is just perfect for me as I tend to look back not forward.

I'm adding this into the following:

Paper Rocks Scissors - used everything bar rocks! 

Hearts Quest Tags 

Triple B Butterfly 

Daisy Chain Challenge - not square 

Let's Craft and Create - Use a sentiment 

Allsorts - from the garden 

Ellibelle from the garden 

Tag Along - text added to the butterflies wings and the ribbon beneath

INSPIRATION STATION #86

Welcome back to Inspiration Station and a lovely summery image for you for June.  I'm actually nibbling on some strawberries grown in my garden at the moment.  The weather has been far too hot in the UK over the past week - we are not kitted out for the heat in our homes - luckily my craft room is a bit cooler so I can escape it.

I was wondering what to do for this month's inspiration for you when I suddenly remembered a very old Clearly Besotted stamp set I have which must be over 5 years old. How do we as crafters do that?  We suddenly remember something we have in our stash from years ago. The set was called Simply Scrumptious.

I even found that I had the matching dies for the wreath and the strawberries which was a miracle!  I created the background with an old SU stencil to re-create the weave of the basket.  I then used a Lavinia Stamps stencil mask for the inner circle.  I stamped the wreath and used the die to cut it out.  I added various Distress Inks for the various greens.  I stamped the strawberries and used the dies to cut those out too.  

I also then remembered another little Clearly Besotted stamp I had of the strawberry mouse so she had to be included, the set was called Feeling Fruity and I thought the sentiment was just perfect. 

PEARLY SPARKLES - #120 MAKE ME SMILE

Welcome back to Pearly Sparkles challenge #120  - we want to see things that make you smile.  I had recently been playing with Tim Holtz sparky cats and decided to create another card.  They do make me smile and this card is going to a friend who always brightens my day.

I smooshed some Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Vintage Photo, Candied Apple, Peeled Paint and a touch of Twisted Citron.  I did some faint background stamping.  The cat was fussy cut and added with a cut out bottle of the milk.  

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES #190 - FAVOURITE STAMP, DIE, TOOL

Welcome back to MAWTT and oh wow I found this challenge difficult.  How on earth could I choose a favourite stamp.  I have so many that are my go to and use all the time and then there are the ones I love but don't use often and then there are the ones I'd forgotten I'd loved!  

In the end I had to choose this lovely Robin stamp by Tracy Evans.  Robins are my favourite birds and I love this version of him as a scruffy little bird.  I've shown a couple of examples here to see the versatility of this little stamp.  All the extra stamps are also by Tracy Evans.