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. 

INSPIRATION STATION

I love the image for our inspiration this month at Inspiration Station and hope it inspires you too.  My card is a New Home card - it was hopefully going to be for my son and his girlfriend as they try and sell their house but sadly after nearly a year still no sale for them.  But at least the card is ready when finally they do.

I used a lot of ink blending of Tim Holtz Distress Oxides to create the background and added some stamped trees from a Visible Image stamp set.  The little house is a very old stamp from Clearly Besotted that I found in my stash.  I stamped it and the trees  onto acetate also to create the reflection.

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.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #420

Welcome back to another challenge for Hand Stamped Sentiments.  The weather here in the UK for nearly the whole of July was wet and miserable.  We even had to light a log fire the other evening - so Ice creams and the gorgeous images on our mood board are very far from my mind at the moment - but I can dream of Summer. 

Probably with that in mind I took my inspiration from the flowers on the bottom right.  I used an old leaf stencil for my background - giving it just a kiss of the ink, spritzing it and then adding it to the paper to give a very subtle imprint of the leaf.  I masked off part of the middle to add my mouse and my sentiment.  I used an old SU set Botanical Prints to create my flowers.  The little mouse is from Clearly Besotted. I added some background word stamping and some sequins to finish off the card. 

ONCE UPON A TIME - MAY CHALLENGE - ONE LOVE

Welcome to another challenge at Once Upon a Time where we challenge you to take a book title and be inspired. I loved the bright colours on this cover and brights are not really a colour palette I often work with.  

I cut out the letters ONE from some Tim Holtz die cuts and I had a die cut with the word love on it which was just perfect.   I kept the CAS feel to the card by adding some birds and sentiments from Clearly Besotted.  The tiny birds are from Casio stamps. 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #411

Welcome back to another challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I love this mood board we got to work with and hope you are inspired also by the images.  I really wanted to use the wheelbarrow but sadly didn't have any wheelbarrow stamps so decided to do the umbrellas instead - after all it is April and we are having lots of rain!

I started off by using a Visible Images stencil which I haven't used for such a long time.  I used my gel press and some acrylic inks to create the background - mixing the colours and then added the stencil.  I took a piece of blank watercolour paper - put it over the gel press lifted it off and hey presto! a great background.  The little tag with the umbrella image is an old stamp again from Clearly Besotted.  Another one I'd forgotten I had - it's amazing what you can find in your stash!  The sentiment is just perfect.  I added some dotted ribbon to the top of the tag and a pale blue brad.

I'm adding this into the following challenges

Little Red Wagon - Spring - April showers 

Double D - April Showers

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Rainbow colours 

Tuesday Taggers - Spring showers 

ONCE UPON A TIME - FEBRUARY 2023

Welcome back to another challenge from Once  Upon a Time - I'm excited to see how our image above inspires you this month.

I loved the grey colours with that touch of yellow and it reminded me of a set I have which I haven't used in a long time from Clearly Besotted with the little mole.  The sentiment is just perfect too for the book.  The card would make an alternative style for a Valentine's card.

Fiona 

ONCE UPON A TIME - SEPTEMBER

Welcome to another challenge here at Once Upon a Time, where we give you a children's book cover as your inspiration.  You can take anything you like from the cover, whether it's colours, the storyline, an image - as long as we can see that you have used something in the image.

i started off my card by using a Tim Holtz stencil and using some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Pumice Stone for my background to give a spider's web effect.  The little spider stamp is a very old Stampin Up one - I knew it would come in handy one day!  The other little images are from Clearly Besotted and they were coloured in with Distress Inks.  The with love sentiment is from the same group of stamps and is cut out with square framelits.  

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT524

Optional Theme - patterned paper/dsp

Welcome to another week's sketch at Try Stampin on Tuesday.  I'm in the middle of moving home, plus my daughter's wedding in two weeks with the move the next day so time is short in my household at the moment and most of my crafting stuff has been in boxes for a long time.  So very quick posts from me over the next month or so til I get settled and internet gets switched on.

I've used some gorgeous papers from a pack from Pretty Papers called Rose Gold Memories.  The little bird is from a Clearly Besotted set with the cute sentiment which comes with the set.  I coloured him in with a touch of Distress Ink. I've added some strips of red washi tape between all the papers. 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT 522

Anniversary

Our challenge this week at Try Stampin on Tuesday includes this great sketch with the added prompt of Anniversary.  It's my wedding anniversary next month - 36 years with my hubby.  Three days later our daughter gets married and then we move house - well actually move country - from England to Wales!  Lots going on in our household over the next month or so.

My card uses a Stampin Up Mask for the background with some Tim Holtz Speckled Egg.  I used some old SU cardtstock for the bands and ran them through the Painted Texture Embossing folder from SU.  The flowers is an old set by Clearly Besotted - I do like stamps with jars of flowers.  The sentiments are from my stash and I added a few little heart gems.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #IC370

A great mood board for you this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I chose to use the butterflies top right for my card.  

I used a new stamp set for me from Creative Expressions called Butterfly Splash - a great set with 9 butterfly stamps on it, some greenery and two great ink splodge stamps lol!  I started off the card by using the greenery stamp at the bottom, the lavender stalks are from Tim Holtz wildflowers stamp set.  I stamped the butterflies in Versafine Clair inks.  I then used various pastels from the new Stampin Up pastel set to cover the whole image.  I went over the pastels with Tim Holtz Distress Glaze.  The colours seem to show up better in real life - whereas here they look a bit muted.

The happy birthday stamp and matching die cut is from a Clearly Besotted stamp.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Path of Positivity - Enjoy Nature

Stamping Sensations - Celebration 

613 AVENUE CREATE - ANYTHING GOES PLUS OPTIONAL PAPER PIECING

Our new challenge this month at 613 Avenue Create has the added option of paper piecing.  I had seen this technique of paper piecing done by Kristine Werner and thought I'd have a go.

I started off with an American Crafts Stencil and some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen.  On a separate piece of card I stencilled over one of the flowers and the leaves and cut these out and layered them on top of the stencil.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks to colour them in and popped the flower up on dimensionals to add an extra layer.

The sentiment is from a Clearly Besotted set.  I added some gems for a touch of sparkle.

I'm adding this into the following challenges

We Love Chocolate Baroque - Paper Piecing 

Through the Craft Room Door - AG 

SPRING FLOWERS

What a wet and miserable May we are having in the UK at the moment - heavy showers have knocked all the blossom off the apple trees and the spring flowers are looking sad.  One of my favourites is the crocus - such strong little flowers pushing their way up through snow and hard ground just to cheer us all up.

For my card today I've taken one of the lovely stamps from Simon Says Stamp Thoughtful Flowers.  I have already cut out a mask for this crocus so used it for this stamp. I started by using a stencil from Clearly Besotted with the umbrellas which is perfect for our weather at the moment.  I then coloured in the crocus with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Crushed Olive for the leaves and a mix of Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick for the flower.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I sponged the edges and layered it onto a piece of card stock from Stampin Up.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

As You See It - favourite first flower of spring

We Love Chocolate Baroque - Bright sunny colours

Dare 2B Artzy - Flowers

Stamping Sensations - Flowers

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - CLEAN AND SIMPLE (CAS)

Welcome to another month's Christmas challenge here at Sparkles and we have a CAS challenge for you this month. CAS normally means lots of clean and white space and it is something I struggle with.

For my card this month I chose to use the delightful little set from Clearly Besotted called Merry Mouse.

I used an SU blender pen in Light Grey for the little mice and Distress Inks for the remaining colours.  The sentiment has been embossed with silver embossing powder and I added a small piece of silver washi tape to the bottom.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - AG 

International Art and Soul - Natural world at Christmas - no robins

Kraftin Kimmie - Something Yummy 

Addicted to CAS - Animal 

FabnFunky - Christmas 

Delighted to say my card was chosen as a top 3 for International Art and Soul

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #TSOT492

Another great sketch for you at TSOT this week with the added challenge of Love is in the Air.

Valentine's isn't really as popular in the UK as it is in the States with cards really only going to sweethearts whereas I think it's much more of a holiday feel to it in the US.  This card is for my hubby.  We are both Welsh and I couldn't resist these little sheep from Clearly Besotted Kiss Me Quick stamp set.  After nearly 10 years of wanting to return to our homeland of Wales from England we are finally making the move this March.

I used some heart die cuts I had and stamped the sheep on the smaller one using Stampin Up Stampin Blends in Light Grey and Dark Grey for the sheep with a touch of white gel pen for highlights.  I inked the edges with TH Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick and added one of the sentiments from the set.

I used some old SU Designer Series Paper from my stash for the background and added the other sentiment.  The washi tape is from my stash and I just added some little x's on the top with a white gel pen.  The little heart gems were from my stash. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

 Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge of Love/Hearts

Little Red Wagon - Hearts 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Love is in the Air

Double D Challenge - Love 

             

SWEET STAMPIN - BABIES

Our theme this week at Sweet Stampin is Babies.  I've used this lovely set by Clearly Besotted called Fun on the Farm.

I started off with an SU heart mask and stencilled the hearts in TH Speckled Egg Distress Ink.  I cut out three stitched square framelits and inked in yellow blue and pink for the three little animals.  I wanted to use the remaining animals in the set so stamped them and cut them out.  

The little Love die is one from my stash and I'm not sure where it came from.