INSPIRATION STATION - #76

Welcome back to another Inspiration Station - I hope you are inspired by our lovely picture above - please let us know when you enter what inspired you.  I chose the Unicorn and the fact that it was a birthday cake.  My little granddaughter was 6 in June and she is just at that stage where she loves pink and unicorns. 

All my stamps were from Lavinia stamps.  As my little girl loves all things pretty I added the little ribbon and the gem - not something I would normally add to my cards.

I'm adding this into the following:

Simon Says Stamp Monday - Happy Birthday 

Allsorts - AG Animal 

Heart's Quest - Fantasy

Send a smile 4 kids - birthday card 

Critter Crazy - AG 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE - BIRTHDAYS #488

Welcome back to another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More and this time we are back on Birthdays.

March is a very  busy month in our household with no less than four birthdays for my daughter, son, son in law, and husband just sneaks in on 1st April but still four major birthdays in a two week period!  

This was the card I did for my daughter this year - I love using these stencils by Lavinia Stamps and creating a little scene inside.  All inks are Tim Holtz.  I did add a few drops of Nuovo along the edge of the bottle too. 

I'm adding this into the following - 

Addicted to CAS - stencil - not sure if this is CAS enough though 

Allsorts - Feminine 

Heart's Quest - Fantasy

Polkadoodle - AG 

Creative Moments - for a special lady - this was for my daughter 

Creative Knockouts - Birthday Wishes 

THE MALE ROOM #196 - MIXED MEDIA

It's time for another challenge at The Male Room and we want to see your Mixed Media cards this month.  This challenge is just perfect for me as I do love a bit of mixed media and regulars to my blog will know this is one of my favourite ways of playing with our hobby.

I started off by using a gel press to create my background and some Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Salvaged Patina and Victorian Velvet.  Once it was dry I white embossed one of Alison Bomber's stamp sets EAB30 for Paper Artsy Stamps and the William Shakespeare words from that set.  Why Shakespeare?  Well that will become clear when I tell you about the sentiment!

I also added some extra texture with some texture paste through a small leaf stencil by Creative Expressions.

The leaves are Tim Holtz Thinlets called Leaf Fragments. They were in my stash as the result of another play with the gel press and some Pixie Powder from Cosmic Shimmer.  

I stamped a tree from Lavinia Stamps on the far left and attached the leaves. The sentiment is a quote from Shakespeare - it comes from a little pack of cards I found recently which I had bought about 20 years ago for hubby as he loves Shakespeare.  Each card has a quote and information on where that quote was used.  I think this one really suited the leaves falling off the trees. It is taken from Shakespeare's King Lear.

I'm adding this into the following

Unicorn Challenge Blog - Male Cards 

Simply Ellibelle - AG 

Paper Funday - AG - twist of weather - wind 

Simply Ellibelle - I Spy - no DP

Simon Says Stamp - favourite technique - mixed media especially using texture paste 

ZURI THE UNICORN

My little granddaughter who is 5 is slowly moving her attention away from dinosaurs and to Unicorns!  I had to buy this one from Lavinia Stamps over Christmas and haven't had a play yet so today was the day - inspired by a few challenge blogs.

I used all Lavinia stamps to create the little scene and the words come from a word stamp called Sacred Spells. I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks and Versafine clair ink.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Critter Crazy - AG with an animal 

Creative Fingers - AG 

As You See It - challenge - this year I will use the stamps I have bought and make sure they get inked!

FAbnFunky - include a stamped image 

Crafty Animals AG 

Creative Crafters - AG 

Unicorn Challenge - Stripes of the unicorns mane and the hanging flowers 

PEARLY SPARKLES - SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW - JANUARY 2025

Welcome back to Pearly Sparkles and a new challenge for 2025 which is Something Old, Something New.  My something new uses some new stamps from Lavinia and an older sticky stencil from Lavinia.  I love these sticky masks - they are so easy to use and I've used the circle one here as part of the moon.  I added some Nuovo drops in silver all round the outside of the moon shape.  

I look forward to seeing what you all got that was new this Christmas. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations - Something old, something new 

Make My Monday - #235 create your own background 

My time to Craft - something new 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - something new 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA

Welcome back to another month's challenge here at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge.  We love seeing all your mixed media and the huge variety that the concept of Mixed Media envelopes. 

This month I've been channelling my inner artist - and it is so inner it's hard to find.  I find it amazing that I now make art - my older brother was the artist in the family and it was never something I ever thought I would do yet here I am.  This is a painting I have made with a few Lavinia stamps.  The inspiration came from a youtube artist Lisa Taggart and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

From a Mixed Media point of view I've used a variety of colouring tools to create this including ink for the stamps, watercolour inks for the backgrounde, soft pastel sticks, and oil pastels for creating the heathers and the trees. 

I'm adding this into the following challenge

We love 2 create - 

Stamping Sensations - Magical 

Ally's Angels - AG 

Crafters Cafe - AG Magical 

Hearts Quest Fantasy

ADDICTED TO STAMPS - #480 DIE CUTS/STENCILS

Welcome back to another challenge at ATSM  and we are asking you to use your die cuts or stencils.  I must admit I don't use a lot of die cuts - I do have some Tim Holtz which get used especially at Christmas but generally I don't use them a lot.  So with that in mind - I've used a stencil lol!  This is one of the Sticker Stencils from Lavinia stamps. I love them - so easy to use and so far mine still have their sticky qualities - and you get the positive and the negative image so that's two in one.

This one is just one of the plain ones that I've used to create a snowglobe/jar.  The little Christmas tree being decorated by the fairies is also by Lavinia stamps as is the saying which is Merry Christmas in Welsh. 

IT'S A KIND OF MAGIC......

Having a play with some Lavinia stamps again - I really think I need to add another fairy to my collection cause I only seem to have the one - Seren.  I used a background that was in my stash which I'd made with a gel press a few weeks ago - not sure it's not too busy for the scene but hey ho - I've gone with it. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Allsorts 802 - Magic Myths or Legend

Conjuror of Dreams - AG 

Crafty Calendar - AG 

Heart's Quest - AG 

Simply Ellibell - AG 

PEARLY SPARKLES - FANTASY

Welcome back to another challenge at Pearly Sparkles and our theme of Fantasy.  

I've recently discovered Lavinia Stamps' stick on stencils and they are amazing.  Such a great idea and my first purchase was the lovely vases.  They are quite big though but I think they also do a smaller size.  I used the stencil to create my scene within the vase.  I've used a lot of Lavinia stamps for my scene with a few infill of foliage stamps by Tracy Evans.  I'm finding these scenes quite addictive to create! 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Allsorts - AG - opps sorry I got the last one wrong Brenda lol! 

More than words - my spirit animal is the Hare and you will find them all over my house and garden. The hare spirit animal is one of new beginnings and that's certainly true for me in the last few years.

Double Trouble - AG  

DARING CARDMAKERS - LEAFY LUSHNESS

Leafy Lushness is our brief over at Daring Cardmakers.  I created a stencil with a cut out of a leaf to create my scene using Lavinia Stamps.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Bundled Sage and Wild Honey for inside the leaf.  I added just a soft amount of the Sage around the edge of the card and some words from Lavinia. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Shopping our stash - leaves 

Stencil Fun - plus autumn 

I have a new rescue cat Luna who at only 2 had already had a hard life.  She was a farm cat for a year and then became a mum and the cat rescue found her and looked after her.  For a year she lived outside in one of their pens then we came along in July to add her to our brood of 13 year old cat, 14 year old dog and 18  month dog.  For the first two months she stayed in her bedroom only coming out to stay at the top of the stairs.  Slowly paw by paw over the last month she has gained in confidence and is navigating her way around the house and coming to realise the other pets aren't going to hurt her.  She's even started going outside and feeling grass under her paws for the first time in over a year.  Her favourite place at the moment is to come and sit by me while I craft.  This is a huge step for her and it's lovely to have her company. 

WELCOME AUTUMN

Autumn is my favourite time of year but it's come far too early as we have hardly had a summer yet here in Wales and now we are almost into winter!  So much wet weather.  Hopefully we will get a few dry crisp sunny days to enjoy the autumn colours.

This was definitely on my mind this wet Sunday with my next card.  I used a combination of stamps from Lavinia, Alison Bomber, Visible Image and Tracy Evans to create my little scene.  I used a leaf stencil from Visible Image to add extra leaves in the same Wild Honey distress Ink to the background.  Colours are from Tim Holtz Distress Oxides apart from the shimmer on the little light and the rose hips which are Renaissance Colours hand made paints.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Autumn Colours 

Colourful Options - Be Bold 

Lets Create - AG 

Day of the month - Autumn Stroll 

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - A is for Autumn 

Simply Create Too - Autumn 

Tic Tac Toe - Leaves, Ink Blending, Multiples 

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday - Stamp It 

Four Seasons Challenge - Fall 

How exciting to be the Designer's Choice at Tic Tac Toe 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #474- ANY OCCASION

Another challenge for Addicted to Stamps and More is any occasion.  It's been a while since I've played with my Lavinia stamps.  I don't have a lot of them but the ones I do have still can create some little scenes.  This fairy is called Seren which means Star in Welsh and I'm in Wales so I just had to have her.  

I started by creating the yellow light orb in the middle with some Distress Oxide Ink in Wild Honey.  I then stamped the fairy and the remainder of the stamps to create the little scene.  The sky was inked with Chipped Sapphire and Unchartered Mariner blended together and some stars added with Spectrum Noir Sparkle. 

I'm adding this into the following:

We Love stamping 

Creative Fingers - AG 

STAG

I spotted this challenge blog on my travels today Just Us Girls and it intrigued me so I thought I would try and join in.  I've recently just created my own template/stencil for circles which was on my desk so that was my first thought.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink Saltwater Taffy to fill in the circle which isn't a colour I normally use.  I then used a Visible Image stencil to stencil in some stars in the same colour.

My gorgeous stag is from Lavinia Stamps and I kept him simply stamped with Versafine Chianti and added just a few water droplets to his antlers.  The sentiment is a die from Creative Expressions and I found a scrap piece of paper in my stash which I had covered with Distress Mica Stain in Tart Cranberry and it was just perfect.  CAS cards are always tricky for me so I hope I've kept this CAS enough.

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

Our challenge this month at 613 Avenue Create is Anything Goes but with the added twist of School Days for those who fancy the twist.  I chose to stick with the Anything Goes theme as I have nothing in my stash for back to school. It's a long time now since my two were in school and it's so long ago I don't even know when schools are in or out.  In the UK our kids don't go back until September anyway.

For my card I started with a background I had created which was sitting in my stash.  I used a stencil for the leaves and some distress inks and water to give a mottled effect.

The fairy stamp is from Lavinia Stamps and she is called Seren, which means star in Welsh.  I used VersaFine Clair ink in Acorn for all the stamping to give the monochrome effect - adding a touch of bright yellow marker pen for the lantern.  The Believe washi tape is from Aall&Create.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Use your stuff - AG 

Inspiration Station - using the lantern to see your way down the road 

The Fairy and the Unicorn - AG as long as it's magical

Lavinia Stamps - Use Leaves - Leaf background stencil 

SEREN

The challenge over at Allsorts this week is Magical Worlds.  I have only recently found Lavinia Stamps and don't have many but I managed to make this scene with the ones I have.  The stamp Seren immediately spoke to me as it means Star in Welsh ( I am Welsh) and it is the name I have in mind for my next Welsh Springer Spaniel! 

Here I have combined her with the Toadstool and Sebs House stamps, together with the footpath stamp.