HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #HSS331

I hope you are inspired by our gorgeous images over at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week.  I took my inspiration from the mug and the snowflake.  These little mugs were gifted to me by my swap partner on a Christmas Envelope swap we did before Christmas on my Joy of Sets Facebook Group.  They are just so lovely and I knew I wanted to use them. 

I added some papers from Kaisercraft Christmas Collections which complimented the colours of the mugs.  The snowflake is a Tim Holtz die - one of my recent purchases!  I added some Wink of Stella to the snowflake to make it glisten.  The sentiment is from a Clearly Besotted stamp set called Let It Snow.  I added some of the lovely bronze jewels from SU and mounted it all onto some gorgeous bronze card stock.

 

INSPIRED BY..... QUIET

The challenge over at Inspired By is Quiet with a lovely image for us to follow.




In my day job when I'm not crafting I am a Reiki healer.  Quiet and mindfulness is a part of what I try and do every day and I try and instil this to my clients - take time out to just Be. I recently shared on my Facebook page  a wonderful quote I found written 125 years ago!  I wonder what Octavia Hill would think of our lives today? 

So for my card today I reached for a wonderful set of stamps by Visible Image called Mindful Moments.  I started off with a stencil from the same company called Atomic Flower and used some Tim Holtz distress ink in Shabby Shutters ( a nod to the shutters in the image) and SU Mint Macaron to sponge over the stencil.  

I then used some Distress Inks and Oxide inks and some water to make a background for the image of the main stamp.  I stamped this in Mint Macaron and then cut her out - I used some of the same paper for the sentiment and used a framelit to cut it out. I added the small stamp to represent the Chakras in Mint Macaron and then added a few sequins.  I made this a 6" x 6" square card.

 

THE LIBRARY CHALLENGE No 49

Phew - talk about cutting it fine to avoid a fine lol! The Library Challenge No 49 had a great challenge I really wanted to join in with over the Christmas but just couldn't find the time - but I've just made it with a few hours to spare.  Their challenge was to choose one of their challenges through the year and as soon as I saw Chocolat by Joanne Harris I knew I had to choose that.  This is one of my favourites books - I've read all of hers and was lucky enough to see her in September 2019 giving a talk on her latest The Strawberry Thief - here's a picture of me getting my book signed by her.

 

So for my card I found a very old stamp by Tim Holtz which has the lovely image of the Eiffel Tower which features on the front of the book.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Dusty Concord for the background and spritzed it with water and then dried it with my heat tool.  I used an SU ink in Elegant Eggplant for the stamp of the Eiffel Tower. I also used a stamp from SU Background Bits which is a script stamp to represent the words in the book.  The Artist stamp from the same Tim Holtz set was embossed in Gold Embossing and I added three lovely chocolate pearls to finish off the card.  I then layered it onto some lovely gold card stock.

 

SWEET STAMPIN - THANK YOU CARDS

Our challenge over at Sweet Stampin is a timely one.  Something that should be in high demand after Christmas giving is a Thank You card - I do wonder though how many still send them?  It's not something I ever receive for gifts I send but my children (I say children they are 28 and 25 still send them out to relatives).  It's so lovely to receive one and it doesn't have to be in recognition of a gift.  

My card today uses a set from Card-io Majestix Stamps called Golden Daffodils together with a butterfly from one of their other sets Oriental Blossom together with the Thankful Thoughts set from Stampin Up.  I am Welsh and the daffodil is the National Flower of Wales so I can see lots of use for this little set.

This is a nice simple one layer card which is great for posting - I send a lot of RAK cards in my Joy of Sets group so one layers are always more economical to send and I know just the person to send this one to.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Mustard Seed and Bundled Sage - I added some ribbon from my stash which is the perfect colour combination together with some coloured pearls. 

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #HSSCC330

Welcome back to another year of challenges with Hand Stamped Sentiments - our first one for 2020 is a colour challenge: 

I've used some new Tim Holtz Sizzix dies for the flowers on my card.  I layered them onto some of the gorgeous SU DSP Perennial Essence - I have had it a while and just couldn't bear to cut it - you know how it is.  Once you cut into it initially you soon get over the trauma and enjoy using it! lol!  I used the same paper to cut out the flowers and leaves.  The Friends sentiment is from SU Waterfront - the Happy Birthday is from a retired set Fresh Fruit.  I added a few sequins just to finish it off.

I look forward to seeing what you all do and whether you are using new crafting goodies you got for Christmas 


 

SWEET STAMPIN - CELEBRATIONS - BONFIRE NIGHT

What a great challenge we have at Sweet Stampin this week - Celebrations for Bonfire Night.  When I was a little girl all those years ago we used to celebrate Bonfire Night at home - we had a large garden and always had our own bonfires. Mum and Dad's friends and their children would come round and we would do apple bobbing, make toffee, have baked potatoes cooked in the fire and bowls of hot soup.  There would be a few fireworks but nothing too noisy or spectacular.  It was a night I always looked forward to and we did the same for our children when they were little. Sadly I now think commercial Hallowe'en has taken over our traditional bonfire night and the fireworks seem to get louder and go on for longer - and last more than just the one night.  My pets are always terrified of the screams of the rockets.  How bah humbug that all sounds.

So anyway on to my card for this celebration - and did I have anything to do with fireworks?  Nope I didn't so I had to think outside the box a bit and came up with Stampin Up's Dandelion Wishes - I know - who would have thought it?  But I think you'll agree they look quite good as fireworks.

I started off by creating my background with Tim Holtz Distress Inks with lots of Black Soot, Fossilized Amber, Fired Brick and Chipped Sapphire.  Once dry I added the stamps and heat embossed them in white embossing powder.  I then added some glitter all over them and extra ink.  Different coloured rhinestones were added to the middle.  The word is from SU and was cut out of plain white card stock.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #SC326

We have a fabulous sketch Challenge for you at Hand Stamped Sentiments  this week -

I started my card off with making a background with some Tim Holtz Distress Inks to give a mottled effect and I then cut this out with a stitched oval framelit.  The snowflakes are from Stampin Up Colourful Seasons framelits which have some coloured rhinestones in the middle.  The background border was embossed with an SU snowflake embossing folder.  The sentiment is from my stash and has been heat embossed in white embossing powder.

 

JOY OF SETS BLOG HOP - OCTOBER SAME STAMP SET THREE WAYS

We have another Blog Hop for you this month from the Joy of Sets Facebook Group which I run. My thanks to Andrea Parr for organising us again, especially as she is so busy at the moment with her Charity Event for Ben's Beanies. Today we are showcasing one stamp set three different ways.  I chose to use Stampin Up's Winter Woods - I love this set as it can be used for far more than Christmas . 
My first card could be for any occasion.  I made a mask and inked it with More Mustard,  Old Olive and a touch of Tangerine Tango.  I then stamped the Birch Trees from the set in Early Espresso.   A simple banner for the sentiment and a heart finishes off this simple card.

My second card uses Crumb Cake as a base and the birch trees from the same set stamped as a background.  I made my own DSP with the other stamps in the set and stamped the tree onto Crumb Cake with Early Espresso and cut it out.  I added some glitter to make it shine.  I then added some washi tape to the back and some Old Olive twine.  The sentiment was cut out with the label punch.

My third offering also uses the birch trees from this set which have been watercoloured.  I started off with some Water Colour paper and added a cloud stencil in Tim Holtz Stormy Sky.  I used Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and Barn door for the grass.  I added some extra colour with a sponge dauber on the actual trees, adding a  touch of Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany.  I layered it onto some Always Artichoke card stock and then some Crumb Cake.and added some brown twine from my stash. I cut the sentiment from the main sentiment to give another option for sentiments.  

To continue on the blog hop - click on the next below to be taken to Kaylin's Blog.

If you are working backwards click on the previous to be taken to Annette's Blog.

If you would like to be part of our next Blog Hop or to join our Facebook Group click on the image below - we have lots going on as well as a monthly blog hop.

I'm also adding some of these trees into the As You See It Challenge as their theme is Lovely as a Tree

 

SWEET STAMPIN - FEATURE A CREATURE HALLOWEEN

Our challenge at Sweet Stampin is feature a creature for Hallowe'en.  I wanted to use the crazy Bird stamps from Tim Holtz - I started off by creating my background with some distress inks, and layered them with various stencils including a cloud stencil.  The Bird was coloured in with some water colour pencils.  The little Hallowe'en stamps are from an old SU set called Bitty Boos.  It always comes in handy at this time of year and is the only Halloween stamp set I have!  

 

ONE CORNER CAS CARD

The challenge over at AAA Cards #151  this week is One Corner Cas Card 





I decided to make another Christmas card - you can never have too many!  I wanted to use the Holiday Style set from Sunny Studio and forced myself to not use that gorgeous bell!  I stamped the branch with some Ranger Adirondack Earth Tones in Oregano and added some Chocolate Chip from SU with a marker pen to the branch stem.  I also added a touch of Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters with a sponge dauber among the leaves.  I used Stampin Up Real Red and Cherry Cobbler to make the ornament and the same colours for the bow.  I added some Dazzling Diamonds to make it shine.  The sentiment which comes with the set was simply inked in Cherry Cobbler.

The Challenge at A Bit More Time to Craft is Anything Goes 

 

SATURDAY CRAFTING

It's a wet old Saturday here in the UK and a chance to catch up on some crafting for some challenge blogs other than the ones I'm on the Design Teams for. 

My first card is for the Inkspirational Challenge 197 which has given us the following inspiration for our card.



I wanted to use some new Visible Image stamps I've got called Imagine Dream Inspire which are such great inspirational word stamps.  I started off my card by inking with some Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Peacock Feathers.  I then used a stamp from SU's Jar of Love - the little fish, and inked him in Stormy Sky.  I then used a dot stamp from SU's Painter's Palette and inked it in an old SU ink called Spectrum stampin pad which has a combination of 5 inks colours.  I don't know why they haven't brought out more of these - they are great for combining colours.  I then stamped the Imagine word in Hero Arts Intense Black ink and layered it onto some shiny SU paper.

My second card is for another two challenges :


Less Is More - 



Allsorts - Spots 

I've again used the Visible Image stamp set but a different word stamp - I used the same dots and inks to create the background and simply stamped the word stamp over and then cut it out with a stitched framelit.  This is seriously CAS for me but I think it's quite striking!