ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE BIRTHDAYS #493

Another birthday challenge this week at Addicted to Stamps and More.  I started off my card using some Distress Oxide in Dusty Concord.  Purple is not a colour I often use but I thought I'd go for all the purples with this one.  I smooshed the ink onto the mat added water and then picked up the ink on the paper and left it to dry.  You never know what sort of background you will get.

My flower which is from Tracy Evans stamps was stamped in Wilted Violet and clear embossed.  I then used Tim Holtz water colour pencils in the purples to colour it in.  I added one of Tracy's fern stencils at the bottom and various background stamping in a very faint purple.

HOLLY & IVY CHALLENGE #185

Welcome back to another challenge at The Holly & Ivy Christmas challenge.  This is an image from Visible Image stamps I haven't used for a while.  I stamped the image of the santa first and coloured him in with Distress Inks.  I then created the background around him with Distress Oxide and added some snow splatters. There is some texture snow on the top of the wall.

THE MALE ROOM - #198 - UNDER THE SEA

This was a great challenge for me too this month from The Male Room as I realised I don't really have much in the way of Sea products in my stash.  It's not a theme I often go to.  But looking through my stamps I was delighted to find this image from AallandCreate designed by Bipasha BK from a set called Navigate Home. 

I decided to do a Tag and used my gel press to create the background with Distress Oxides in Salty Ocean, Salvaged Patina, Chipped Sapphire and Iced Spruce.  I then used black embossing powder for the stamp.  I then found a very old stamp set from Kaisercraft which had the fish and the coral images.  They were also embossed.  The words from Tim Holtz Ideaology I thought fit the piece as I'm not very confident in the sea and I loved the little metal piece with the word lost on it. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Creative Inspirations - AG 

Hearts Quest for shaped tags 

Dragonfly Dreams - Sea Life 

We love 2 create 

We love Stamping

Outlawz - card free

Tag Along - AG 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #492 - CHRISTMAS BAUBLE

 

Another Christmas challenge at ATSM this week.  I'm sharing a card I made with stamps by Tracy Evans.  Some are her old ones from Aallandcreate and some are her new ones under her own brand Tracy Evans Boutique Designs.  The bauble is one of her stencils and is such a great stencil to work with. 

I stamped and masked the poinsettia flower before I added the bauble to give that effect. All inks used are Versafine and Tim Holtz Distress.

I'm adding this into the following:

Krafty Chicks - Christmas 

My time to craft Christmas 

Outlawz Festive 

12 months of Christmas 

Girls Creative Christmas 

Peace on Earth

THE HOLLY AND IVY CHALLENGE #184

Welcome back to another Anything Goes Christmas Challenge at The Holly & Ivy.  

I've used the wonderful Robin stamp from Tracy Evans together with some of her foliage stamps to create this little wintery scene for my robin. I've kept it in cool colours with lots of white splatter for the snow.

I'm adding this into the following:

Krafty Chicks Christmas 

My time to craft Christmas

Outlawz Festive 

12 Months of Christmas 

DD Triple B - Bird 

ABC Challenge - I is for ice - my icy background 

Girlz Creative Christmas 

Peace on Earth - 

Inkspirational - Christmas/winter

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA

Welcome back to another challenge at Creative Artiste where we want to see your Mixed Media entries please - remember to use a multitude of mediums on your piece and let us know what you've used.

I threw lots at the background of this tag but once it's finished you can hardly see the background.  I find it very hard to cover up the backgrounds so am really trying to let go as they say. This one does have some paste and papers behind all the details.  

I found a scrap of paper I'd kept from a Somerset Studio magazine of 2021 where they give you papers to use and the one I chose was made by Lynne Moncrieff.  It has the words To Myself on it.  I  knew I wanted to incorporate that scrap of paper somewhere in my tag and that's what gave me the colours.  The butterfly was from the same sort of paper and I've given him centre stage sitting on a piece of real bark.  

I've also added some dried umbel seed heads - thanks to Alison Bomber for giving me the confidence to use dried flowers on my pieces. I now find myself hoarding lots of dried grasses!

A look through Tim  Holtz Ideaology clippings book found the perfect sentiment of "Give me a few moments"... to go with the saying already there. 

I'm adding this into the following:

NBUS - adding natural elements to my work 

TAGalong - 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - AG 

Papercraft Crew - Masc, Wood, Nature

Try it on Tuesday - Deep in the forest there are butterflies, bark, flowers 

Make my monday - things with wings 

PEARLY SPARKLES - #107 BLACK AND WHITE PLUS ONE OTHER COLOUR

Our challenge this month at Pearly Sparkles is Black and White plus one other colour.  I've gone for a CAS card - yes I know not my usual throw everything at the paper style lol! 

I started with a gentle water colour wash of Dusty Concord Distress Oxide Ink as my colour.  I then stamped the lovely Umbrel heads from Alison Bomber for Paper Artsy in black.  I added a sentiment from Tim Holtz Ideaology which fit perfectly.  

I'm adding this into the following:

Simply CAS - Flowers 

Four seasons challenge - spring 

Ellibells corner - spring flowers 

Simon Says Stamp Wed - AG 

LOVE TO CRAFT - MAY #86 -

It's time for another challenge at Love to Craft - don't the months go quickly!  As always we are an Anything Goes challenge and it's so nice to see all the different entries we get.

I've used a stamp here I haven't used before.  I was inspired to use it after creating this background piece on a gel press using Tim Holtz paint in Salvaged Patina and Salty Ocean.  I stencilled some extra bubbles on it and highlighted some of them in marker pen and white highlighter.  

The stamp is from Aallandcreate by Bipasha BK - I love all the extra wording she puts into her stamps.  I embossed it with copper embossing paste to give it an aged look.  The sentiment is from Tim Holtz Ideaology. I added Tim Holtz Distress Crayon in Tarnished Brass around the outside of the card.

INSPIRATION STATION #73

Welcome back to another challenge at Inspiration Station - we hope you are inspired by our image.  Don't forget when entering to let us know how our image inspired your creation.

I went with some scrapbooking pages for a change. I continue to do scrapbooking, especially for my grandkids, but rarely share them on here.  I just thought these pages were perfect and show my son when he was 8 following in his dad's footsteps on the beach - this one was in Mexico.  The second one was many years later when we were in Greece and he was still following in his dad's footsteps. Interesting to see how my style changed from the early one created in 2004 to the later one which I did for this challenge!  

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - WHATEVER THE WEATHER

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE

It's my final week as Guest Designer for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and it's been an honour to have been part of this great challenge for the whole of April.  

The challenge theme this week is Whatever the Weather.  Spring is definitely on our minds as we hopefully turn to warmer weather here in the UK and the birds on their nests.  

I started my card with spritzing some Tim Holtz Distress Oxides direct to the card to give a mottled effect.  I then used the Tim Holtz stencil with Speckled Egg to create the extra markings.  I wanted it to look a little bit like a birds nest - all jumbled together.   

I added a stamp from Alison Bombers set Winter Grasses for Paper Artsy stamps just behind the die cut of the feather.  

The die cuts are from Tim Holtz Thinlets set Funky Nature - I just love the addition of the feathers and the eggs in that set.  The little bird is one of Tracy Evan's Boutique Designs stamp set New Beginnings which I stamped and cut out and tucked behind the eggs. 

The sentiment is from another Tracy set with an additional quote from Tim Holtz Ideaology cuttings book. It doesn't show up very well on the picture but I also stamped the quote New Beginnings on the right hand side of the card and embossed it in white embossing powder - to give extra texture. 

Stamps - Tracy Evans Boutique Designs - The Wonder of Nature - TE14

                Tracy Evans Boutique Designs - New Beginnings TE004

        

                Paper Artsy Alison Bomber Winter Grasses - EAB42

Stencil -     Tim Holtz Doodle and Bubble 

Dies -         Tim Holtz Funky Nature thinlets 

Inks -         Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray - Speckled Egg 

                    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink - Bundled Sage 

                    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink - Evergreen Bough

                    Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink - Frayed Burlap

                    Versafine Clair - Pinecone 

                    Posca Fine White Paint Parker 

Sentiment -     Tim Holtz Ideaology clippings Small Talk 

Embossing Powder - Ranger White 

Don't forget every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone

RUDOLPH DAYS CHALLENGE - GUEST DESIGNER

I'm delighted to be a Guest Designer this month over at Rudolph Day's Challenge.   The theme is Anything Goes and I've chosen to use some stamps by Alison Bomber for my card.  

I used the water colour technique on the rubber stamps to create the borders.  Simply add the ink direct to the stamp and spritz with water.  It gives that very soft ethereal effect.  I love Alison's Christmas stamps with the Christmas Carols on them and wanted to use the Holly and the Ivy which is one of my favourite's at Christmas time.   It also enabled me to use the holly stamps I had in my stash.  The background music stamp is also one of Alison's.

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #491 - MAKE YOUR MARK

It's time for another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More and we want to see your colouring with any type of medium - inks, pens, pencils, water colours. 

I've used a lovely flower stamp from Creative Expressions and used my Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils to colour it in.  I then cut a rough edge around the stamp and layered it onto some paper from my stash.  The butterfly and sentiment is from the same set.  I cut out the butterfly and used the same colours to colour it in and pop it on a dimensional. 

I wanted this to be a shabby chic style card so added some ribbon, lace and buttons. I stamped onto the ribbon.  

THE HOLLY AND IVY CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - #183

I love these little robins from Creative Expressions.  I've used them in quite a few Christmas cards over the years and they are always a firm favourite.  Here I've teamed them up with a die cut Christmas tree from Tim Holtz together with a tree stencil from Tim.  

I've kept the background colours in soft Old Paper Distress Oxide and the trees in Peeled Paint Distress Oxide to allow the reds of the robins to stand out.  I used Tim Holtz Festive Berries Oxide ink to colour them in.  Some white splatters and a touch of Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen finishes off the card. 

SIMON SAYS STAMP MONDAY CHALLENGE GUEST DESIGNER - BLOOMING BLOOMS - AURICULA

SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE 

I am delighted to be Guest Designer again for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and our challenge this week is Blooming Blooms.  I chose some of the new stamps by Tracy Evans Boutique Designs for my card.

The background was created first with the gel press and some distress paint by Tim Holtz.  I gently brayered Salvaged Patina and Peeled Paint over the gel press and you just never know what you'll get which is part of the fun.  I was happy with the background colours and added some extra detail with the Fronds Snippet Stencil by Tracy in Peeled Paint again. 

Once the background was completely dry I used one of Tracy's Stamps called Take Flight embossed in white to add some more interest to the background behind the flower.

The flower stamp is called Alpine Plant and I stamped this and fussy cut it to add some layers to the piece. It was coloured in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils.

Behind the flower in its cute pot I added another stamp, a persicaria flower, by Tracy from the set Delight in Nature.  The sentiment which is from New Beginnings has been stamped on a piece of calico from my stash in Versafine Nocturne. 

Stamps used - Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Design in Nature TE13

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs New Beginnings TE004

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Take Flight - TE009

                        Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Alpine Plant - TE 001

Stencil            Tracy Evans Boutique Designs Fronds Snippet Stencil SS5 

Paints -            Tim Holtz Distress Paint Salvaged Patina 

                        Tim Holtz Distress Paint Old Paper 

Inks -             Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Spray - Iced Spruce 

                       Versafine Clair Shady Lane

                       Versafine Clair Nocturne

                       Versamark Embossing Ink Pad

                       Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils my sets used are 1, 4 and 5 

Embossing 

Powder            Ranger Embossing Powder Cottontail

Tools                Gel Press 5 x 7 

                         Speedball Brayer - 4 inch 

Every week  Simon Says Stamp generously give away a $25 voucher to spend at  Simon Says Stamp Store!  One lucky participant chosen at random has the chance to win the voucher - You can join up to 5 times which gives you 5 chances to win.  You have until next Monday at 8 a.m. Ohio time 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET time to join in.  Good Luck everyone