TAGGING ALONG

I was delighted to be lucky enough to win a set of Tag Die Cuts from Brenda at Tag Along new challenge so I just had to put them to good use this week.  The theme over at their challenge is Travel.

My tag uses just one of the 11 dies in this set and I used an old Stampin Up embossing folder for the background.  It seems ages since I've used embossing folders.  This whole tag became a case of using up long forgotten items.  I inked the folder first with some Distress Oxide in Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint to create the mottled background. As it's quite a detailed emboss I didn't think stamping direct on to it would work so I used some tissue paper to stamp on.  

The stamp is from a set by Bipasha BK for Aallandcreate called Phonebooth Elements - another hardly used stamp.  I loved the idea of the world on it which I thought really fitted with the Travel element.  I then added some very very old Tim Holtz stamps.  I think I've had them over 20 years and the polymer is starting to give up a little but hopefully it will last a big longer.  I used the city scape stamp at the bottom and the Postcard and Discoveries word.  

I'm adding this into the following:

Tag Along - Travel 

Neglected Stuff Challenge - lots here - embossing folder - lots of stamps 

PEARLY SPARKLES - LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Our challenge this month at Pearly Sparkles is Love is in the Air.  I'm sharing my card which will be for hubby - celebrating 44 years of Valentines this year and our 40th Wedding Anniversary later in the year.  Where did those years go?  He's still my one and only!

I used an old embossing folder from Stampin Up for my background.  I think it's called brush stroke and I added some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink direct to the embossing folder in Frayed Burlap and Victorian Velvet.  It then adds that gentle touch of colour when you run it through the machine.  The little love sentiment and the die cut word are from my stash - things I'd forgotten I had.  The little key was also in my stash and can you see? .... I've used a brad lol!  

The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Ideaology and I've added it to a piece of adhesive burlap paper - which is a great find from a local craft shop.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Crafty Calendar - Hearts 

Allsorts - Romance 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - AG 

CRAFT challenge - AG - Love

INSPIRATION STATION -

A fabulous collection of what look like wild flowers is our inspiration for you this month at Inspiration Station.  

I thought I'd try to create my basket of flowers on some Kraft paper and use some coloured pencils.  This doesn't always work for me so it was a challenge but I was pleased how it actually worked this time.  The trick is a good white pencil and I  bought myself a new one from Faber Castell which seems to have worked a treat. 

The flower basket is an old stamp from Stampin Up - I added some stencilling behind for the basket to sit on and the little petals are also a stencil from creative Expressions.  The sentiment and extra leaf petals are from Tracy Evans. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Triple B - Blooms, Butterflies 

The flower challenge - colour your flowers 

Make My Monday - Florals 

Outlawz Challenge - Monday - AG 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS CC436

Welcome back to another colour challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Such pretty spring colours I look forward to seeing what you create with them. 

I started my card by using my brayer to layer the three inks on the left hand side of the card with some added pink on the right.  I then used some of Tracy Evans' new boutique stamps called Malva for the background and the cut out flower.  I used some old Stampin Up stamps and dies for the branches from A Jar of Love.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I added a few embellishments to finish off the card. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - Song Title - Hello by Lionel Richie - I used to listen to him all the time when I was younger and haven't heard him in such a long time. 

Simon Says Stamp Monday - Make your own background 

Cupcake Inspirations - Flowers 

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA - APRIL

Welcome to another month's challenge at Creative Artiste Mixed Media where our challenges are always Anything Goes as long as you've used at least 3 different types of medium.

I rarely share my journals but I wanted to just show this double page spread this month.  The tissue paper in the top left and bottom right actually came wrapped around a garden gift from a company called A Blackbird Sang and the garden accessory was wrapped in this lovely paper.  It was far too good to throw away and became the inspiration for this page.  

My journal is an old leather bound book hubby bought me years ago and it has handmade papers in it which can be a bit tricky when working on so I always cover the pages with lots of gesso before I begin.  The background colours were made with Sam Poole Botanical Stains in Carrot Top Green and Tea Leaves  from Cosmic Shimmer - I loved the way they turned out. I added some background stamping with some Tracy Evans stamps and two of her birds.  The feathers are from Stampin Up.  I doodled on some flower images and added some strips of Washi tape.  

I'm adding this into the following challenge:

Make My Monday - natural birds 

Here's my calendar page also for March - a year long challenge I have set some of my members of my FB group to create our own calendars for 2025.  I'm adding this into the following challenge:

Beautiful blossoms 

Simon Says - Monday - Spring flowers 

Dream Valley - Spring flowers 

Here is a place to Start - AG with flowers 

Stamping Sensations - Spring 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #CC430

I loved the choice of colours we had for this week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments - I actually had two of them which is always a plus for me.  I used Bermuda Bay for the Pretty Peacock.  

I used a Creative Expressions stamp for my project.  I inked the stamp with all three of the colours.  I then picked out the butterfly and the bird in the Berry Burst and the Bermuda Bay and fussy cut them out and added some Glossy Accents to give them more definition.  The Hello sentiment is a die cut from my stash.

I then used an old Stampin Up Stencil for the dots around the outside of the image, which had been torn and inked on the edges with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Krafty Chicks - all Occasions 

We Love 2 Create - Mixed Media 

We Love Stamping - Something New - the stamp is new 

Snarky Stampers - N is for new - 

Just Us Girls - Stencils - background stencil 

Stamping Sensations - 

BOO!

I'm not really one to make Hallowe'en cards but Songs and Rhymes challenge had something I just had to join in with.  Plus it had me singing the song all day and it was one of my favourites to sing back in the day when I used to!  So their song is Midnight from Cats musical.  I took the idea of the cat and the Midnight of the song to create my little 4x4 card.  

I used the moon from an old SU stamp set called To the Moon and then stamped the black cat on it from Visible Image set Curious Cats.  I stamped it in Versamark Nocturne and then clear embossed it to make it shine - although it's not shining in my photo.  The background is another SU Set called Drybrush and the added little stamps are from a very old SU set called Bitty Boos!.

I'm entering this into the following:

Songs & Rhymes Challenge

Tic Tac Toe - - black, cat, embossing 

Tuesday Taggers - circles 

SUYP - Cats 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS IC423

Welcome back to another challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments and our lovely mood board.  I so wish I could have that wreath on my front door - isn't it just beautiful!  My card was inspired by the little box of flowers. 

The colours look a bit washed out here when they are in fact quite dark browns reds and greens - all of Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  The flower set is from Tracy Evans at Aallandcreate called In the Bucket.  I kept it simple with watercolouring.  The sentiment Autumn is a very old one from Stampin Up.  On a wooden block - wow I haven't used one of those in a while!  I do still have stamps on wooden blocks but must admit they are rarely used - how about you - are you still an avid wood block user?

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

Welcome back to another challenge at Once Upon a Time where we offer you a children's book cover as inspiration and leave the rest to your imagination.  I chose to focus on the children in the image and decided to do a stepped easel card.

This stamp set is a very old one from Stampin Up and one of my favourites that I will always keep.  I love that image of the little girl looking out into the distance and the little boy making his sand castle and it takes me back to when my two were little.  The sentiment memories was just perfect for me to add.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Retro Rubber - this stamp set is over 10 years old 

SU Only challenges - fun fold 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #CC418

A great choice of colours for your inspiration this week from us here at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I started my card off using my favourite embossing folder from Stampin Up called Painted Texture.  I realise I don't use embossing folders nearly enough.  I think they need a dusting.

I used an old SU set for the flowers and butterflies on the right of the card called Natures Perfection.  The flower in the middle is from Tracy Evans set Worded Petals and the Butterfly is SU from the same set.  I added some sparkle to the main butterfly with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. I added some red splatters and some sequins.  The sentiment is from Tracy Evans.  I put it on a white background to keep the focus colours bright. 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS CC415

We have a lovely soft colour palette for you this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  My card uses a new stamp by Francoise Read for Woodware Craft Collection called Three Butterflies.  I used three of the colours for the butterflies and kept the Petal Pink for a soft water coloured background.  I added the sentiment from a set from Colorado Craft Company called Olive Branch and popped it on dimensionals and added a co-ordinating bead to finish it off.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Love to Craft - AG 

Crafting Happiness - AG 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #CC410

Welcome to our Colour Challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week. I've done a centre fold card for a change using some old Stampin Up DSP I found in my stash which I thought was a great match for the colours.

The image for the front is a cute little mouse from Creative Expressions set called Missy Mouse which was coloured in with a watercolour brush and the colours of our challenge. 

I'm adding this into the following Challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - Oh So Sweet

Make My Monday - spring colours 

Use Your Stuff - Animals 

Stamping Sensations - with a tail 

Secret Stamper - fun fold 

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS - IN THE PINK

Our challenge this month at Christmas Craft Creations is Pink.  I must admit this isn't a colour I think of when doing Christmas cards so it was a great challenge for me also.  I am sponsoring our challenge this month with a new stamp set from Bipasha BK for Aallandcreate of this lovely bird stamp called The Old Vase.

I started off my card by masking the shape in the middle using some masking tape.  I used Distress Oxide ink in Spun Sugar for my pink middle.  I added some white dots with a posca pen and some touches of glitter from a Spectrum Noir pen in Sparkle.  I added a piece of card stock across in pink which was stamped with snowflakes and cut out and added the word Believe.  Some sprinkles and some glitter snowflakes finished off my card all layered on to some pink cardstock from Stampin Up.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS CC#408

We have a lovely choice of spring colours for you for our Colour Challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I have all of these Stampin Up Colours with the Flirty Flamingo being a marker pen.

I decided to use three retired SU sets for this card - Choose Happiness which gave the sentiment and that lovely leaf, Bliss which gave the lovely bird and the little flower and Lots of Lavender which gave the background petals.  

Fiona

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS # IC406

We are all about the hearts at Hand Stamped Sentiments for this challenge.  My eye was drawn to that wonderful black cat  - being a bit of a cat lady.  I rummaged among my supplies as I knew I had a wonderful cat stamp I hadn't used in years made by Cherry Pie Art Stamps.  Yep there it was - keep a thing for 20 years and it comes in useful!  

I started by stamping the cat stamp and added the border around it.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Spun Sugar and then added some hearts and a stencil in Picked Raspberry.  I added a touch of script with some stamped off black ink.  The love hearts are from a very old Stampin Up set called Sweet Talk from 2004!  Very nearly 20 years old.  I stamped them and used a heart die to cut them out.  I added a touch of Nuovo Drops at the top and bottom.  The little added sentiment is from Tim Holtz Ideaology - hubby will be getting this Valentine's.

I'm adding this into the following:

Crazy for Cats - AG 

Crafty Animals - AG Animals 

SUYPG - AG 

Colour Hues - pink and red 

Papercraft Challenges - AG 

Fiona 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS -#cc405 HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year everyone and welcome back to another year of fun with Hand Stamped Sentiments.  We hope you continue to be inspired by our challenge.  We have a colour challenge for you to start us off - and such spring like colours will really help us during the depths of winter.

I started off by using some Petal Pink ink and adding it to some white texture paste then I spread this through an old SU stencil to create the background.  My little mouse is a delightful little set called Missy Mouse from Creative Expressions which is one of the new stamps I received for Christmas.  I stamped her in Versafine Ink in Acorn and coloured her in with Mango Melody and Pool Party with a touch of the Petal Pink also. I added a touch of Nuovo drops to the insides of the flowers in Wedgewood Blue.  I layered it onto some Pool Party cardstock and added a little tag with an old SU brad.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Blog - something new - my little stamp

Try it on Tuesday - Something New

Make My Monday - Something new