ATC

I have recently joined in with an ATC swap on Facebook using Visible Image stamps.  The theme was Living Things. 

I used a background that I had in my stash which I'd made using a gel press.  I used two Visible Image stamp sets for the ATC.  The first one was the Totally Toadstools one.  I stamped the main toadstool and fussy cut it out.  It was coloured in with Spectrum Tri Blends and I added some Texture Paste to the white dots to add... texture lol!  The smaller toadstools were coloured in white with a Posca white pen.

The trees, owl and the sentiments were from another Visible Image set called Into the Woods.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - ATC's 

Creative Fingers - AG 

Mod Squad - not a card 

Creative Mixed Media 

Mixed Media Lovers - AG 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS SC386

Here's our sketch for you this week from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I turned mine onto its side elevation to give me more room for the larger circle I wanted to use.  I've just got the new stamp set from Tracy Evans called Friendship Florals with lots of lovely large image stamps and great words too.  I love her stamps which allow me to make these collage style stamps - I love the collage look on stamps or art journals and these stamps make it so easy.

Here I've used the sunflower stamp and added it to a stitched circle frame.  It has been coloured in with Derwent Metallic Watersoluble pencils which gives it quite a vibrant look, sadly missing in the photo.

The smaller circles are some more of the stamps from the set and the sentiment is from two of the word stamps.  I coloured all the circles with a light coating of Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and used the same ink for the background and went over it with a stencil using Distress Ink in Faded Jeans.  

I added a touch of Tracey Evans Birdsong Washi Tape to the top and bottom of the card. I edged the circles with a Stabilo all pencil in black to add a touch of shading.  There is also some Spectrum Noir sparkle on parts of the card.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

International Art & Soul - Circles 

Sir Stampalot - I love.....

We love 2 create - mixed media AG 

We love stamping - stamp of the moment 

Flowers and Circles

I've recently purchased one of Tracy Evan's new stamp sets called Friendship Flowers which has lots of gorgeous collage type stamps on it.

This card started out using a gel press background I had made and found in my stash.  The colours are not colours I normally use so I pushed myself to actually use this background.  It was made with Arteza Inks and a stencil from my stash.

I stamped and fussy cut out one of the flowers from the set and coloured it in with Distress Inks.  I added it to a stitched circle die cut which I stamped with a text stamp.  I added a cut circle die cut behind and added the flower.  I added some old ribbon with lovely little circles on them out of my stash.

I added some of Tracy Evan's washi tape and fussy cut out a blackbird from her Nesting Bird stamp set.  I added a little circle element at the top of the card in a purple colour to co-ordinate with the colours in the card.  I added one of the words from the stamp set.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

International Art and Soul - Include a circle 

Make My Monday - Use a Stencil 

Tuesday Taggers - Flowers 

Hand Stamped Sentiments #IC385

It's my choice of mood board for this week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I hope you find something on there that inspires you.

I started off with some Tim Holtz watercolour card and I masked off the edges.  I used two Distress Oxide inks for my background - Salty Ocean and Fossilised Amber.  I added lots of water to the cardstock before adding the inks and letting them mix together.  

I then used a circle stencil and stenciled some of the Salty Ocean on top.  I used Tracy Evan's stamp sets Nesting Bird and Foliage for my images.  The nest was embossed with black embossing powder.  The eggs were embossed with Tim Holtz Speckled Egg powder.  I added some twine behind the cut out bird.

I'm adding this into the following:

Stamping Sensations - moodboard inspiration 

We love2create - AG 

Pink Gem Challenge - AG 

Allsorts Challenge - In the Garden

We love Stamping - Spring 

Spring is in the air

My card today is inspired by Tracy Evans who has a challenge running on her FB group for circles.  I also wanted to add a card for Ukraine and used their colours.

My  card uses Tim Holtz Distress Oxides in Salty Ocean and Fossilised Amber  with a watercolour background with the Flutter stamp white embossed on top.  I then added part of the Bird Song stamp set and the words Fly Free which I thought were apt for Ukraine at the moment. 

I'm adding these into the following challenges

The Paper Players - Spring mood board 

Mod Squad - Ukraine 

Addicted to stamps 

Mixed Media Lovers 

Everybody Art - Beginning with B for Birds 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #384

These colours were my choice for our challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I thought they were perfect for spring and I'm ever hopeful here in Wales for some sunshine and spring to show itself.  Saying that we've had a lovely weekend and although a bit chilly the sun was definitely shining.

For my card I used one of my favourite SU sets Dandelion Wishes.  I stamped them flowers randomly on to some white cardstock.  I then used a blender brush  ( I use make-up brushes which are a lot cheaper and just as good) to add the Mind Macaron and So Saffron to some of the flowers.  I used Fresh Fresia for the wording and used an old SU punch to stamp it out.  I added a butterfly in the same colours and some So Saffron twine.  A very simple but effective card.

A 4x4 card

This is a new size card for me - a 4 x 4 as asked for by Retro Rubber in their challenge this week. It is a tic tac toe and I chose the vertical line of 4 x 4, embossing and twine.

I started out by using Distress Inks to create my inky background.  I added a very old stamp by Cherry Pie Art Stamps in Black Versafine and then used an old SU embossing folder Painted Texture to emboss it all.  The stamp must be at least 15 years old!  I added extra stamping around the edges, added some twine and some pearls and layered it onto coloured cardstock.

I'm adding this into the following challenge:

Love to Craft Challenge AG 

Pastels - what a challenge!

Well this was a real challenge for me - over at As You See It challenge they had a mood board as below and you had to use all of the items. It was only as I sat down to join in I realise how much I don't use pastels! 

I grabbed an old SU Set Choose Happiness which I don't think I've ever used much.  I've been going through all my old sets and sorting them in to keep or let go.  I'm now looking at these sets with a different eye - and if I can use them on my art journals or mixed media then they stay.  This was one of the stay ones - anything with birds on has to stay too lol!

And so my challenge began to find some pastel inks.  I stamped the main images in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink which is my favourite black ink.  I then used some Distress Inks and a water brush for my flowers - Victorian Velvet and Milled Lavender.  The leaves were stamped in Versafine Clair Shady Lane and coloured in with Distress Ink Twisted Citron.

I then used my favourite SU embossing folder Painted Texture to emboss the stamped image.  i went over it in parts with some SU Soft Pastels.  I found them in a drawer and haven't used them in a while.  I cut out some butterflies with an SU butterfly punch in the same colours and added some pearls.

The ribbon is old SU Powder Pink shimmer and I added the bird in Archival Distress Picked Raspberry which had been stamped off to make it paler.  The sentiment comes from another old SU set that's a keeper Feather Together.

I didn't have any pastel cardstock to layer it onto but did find this very pale patterned cardstock someone had gifted me which fit perfectly.

Hand Stamped Sentiments #383

I love this sketch we have for you this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I love anything with tags on.

I decided to dig out my old friend the Rooster from Home to Roost.  He is one of those sets that will always be with me as it's just such a fabulous bird stamp.  

I used some old SU DSP for the background and just inked up the edges.  I started off by laying some ink down on my tag with Distress Ink in Old Paper.  I then added a leaf stencil from Lavinia Stamps and added some extra textures with an old script stamp from SU.  

The bird was coloured in with SU Marker pens and a touch of Wink of Stella on his feathers.  I stamped the greenery at his feet.  The sentiment has been inked on to a piece of ribbon.  I added some thread around the tag and ribbon at the top. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Creative Fingers - AG 

Gem of a Craft - AG

Hands

I spotted the challenge of Hands over at Shopping our Stash Weekly and found that quite intriguing.  Digging around in my stamps I found the Mindful Moments set from Visible Image stamps. Perfect!

I started by making a background with some acrylic inks from Arteza.  I stamped and cut out the image, added some Distress Ink in Speckled Egg and stenciled over the top with silver embossing paste from Stampin Up using one of their mandala stencils.  I added some extra silver embossing to the edges of the card. The silver embossing gives the card a lovely sheen.

 I used the wording from the set and kept it plain and added the extra hands.  I added some words to the background with an old Cherry Pie art stamp script stamp.

CAS - Clean and Simple

A bit of a change of direction from me today after all the mixed media and grunge.  Something Clean and Simple and hopefully Elegant for the Allsorts challenge.

I took my inspiration for the card from the sketch over at Retro Rubber.   I grabbed the old SU set Botanical Prints which I haven't used in such a long time and the flowers are so pretty I thought they could stand up to being CAS all on their own.   

On opening my stamp set I found some of the extra bits that came with this set so I used one of the cut outs to look like Trellis behind the flowers.  I stamped the flowers in Distress Archival Ink and Versafine Clair.  I used a stitched framelit to cut them out and layered them on dimensionals to make them pop a bit more.  The sentiment is from an old Simon Says Stamp set.

Simply Less is More - Birthdays 

Allsorts Challenge Blog - CAS

Retro Rubber - Sketch 

Double Trouble - fruity colours 

Sisterhood of Crafters - Flowers 

The flower Challenge 

Art Journal Page - T stands for.....

I was inspired for my Art Journal page today by the challenge at Altered Book Lover by Elizabeth and Blue Beard which said T stands for......  Mine is a double T - T stands for Time to Try as I start on this art journal journey, which I'm loving by the way.  My new passion is trying clusters too and I added one to this page.  

I decided to do this in my clean journal - as opposed to my messy book altering one.  I wanted to use just two inks and Tim Holtz Victorian Velvet is one of my favourite at the moment and I paired it with Speckled Egg.  I used a make up brush to add my inks to the page and then used a Tim Holtz stencil for the clocks.

I have a new stamp set from Woodware Craft collection called Vintage Circles and they are just perfect with their images of clocks and butterflies.  I stamped some direct to the page and others I stamped in black, coloured in and then cut them out.

I added one of my clusters to the bottom of the page.  I stamped my sentiment on to some vintage fabric.  I am trying to include fabrics into my mixed media.  The quote at the top is from Tim Holtz Ideaology and I thought if fit perfectly with my theme.

T also stands for Tea Cake and at the moment I am making a Bara Brith - a Welsh speckled tea bread made from fruit soaked in tea.  Bara Brith literally means speckled bread. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

We Love Stamping - Stamping and stencils 

We love 2 Create - AG 

Creative Artist Mixed Media 

Hand Stamped Sentiments #IC382

Welcome to another challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments with these gorgeous images to inspire you.

If you are a regular to my blog you know I'm not an SU demo and don't have any of the latest products.  I'm starting to become a firm believer in using all the mountain of stash I have - especially from an environmental point of view.  We crafters use a lot of papers and surely the supply isn't endless.  So I'm doing my bit for the planet and using up that mountain of supplies I already have rather than buying new - at least until it's run out - I wonder when that would be?

For my card today I've used an old SU stencil for the brick wall and some Tim Holtz distress ink - letting it fade down at the bottom.  The stamp set is also an old one I think called Feels Like Home.  I stamped the image then cut round the edges and roughed them up a bit and added some ink round the edges.  I used Versafine Clair ink in  Warm Breeze to stamp my image and used some old SU marker pens to colour in the door. I used a touch of Nuovo Drops just to give some added interest. 

Tim Holtz' Cat Chat

It's been a while since I've played with this fun set so I thought it needed an airing especially as I have the co-ordinating dies.  

I was inspired by the colours and image of the rather grumpy cat at As You See It Challenge.  I didn't have all their SU colours but did have Crumb Cake ink and cardstock and Calypso Coral.  I used Distress Inks for the greens.  

I started out by using my Gel press to mix and add the colours adding lots of water to give them a subtle look.  I stamped the cat and coloured him in with the two SU colours.  I added some stencilling to the background and also added some of the images of the milk bottle and fish bones which come with the set. I cut a few of them out also and added them to the card. I layered it onto black and then Crumb Cake card stock.

I was a bit stumped for the sentiment for this then found this great one in my stash.  I hope it also makes you smile.

I'm adding this into the following challenges

As You See It #267 - Mood Board

A place to start - Critters

Stamping Sensations - anything with a tail

We love stamping - plus stencil

SUYP - AG cats

Art Journaling

I started Art Journaling last year when I was so frustrated at a longed for house move that just wasn't happening.  I found putting my thoughts and feelings onto paper really helped me.  I found a variety of artists on the internet but the one who spoke to me most was Shawn Petite and I have learned so much from watching her videos.

I started out first on papers and made my own book of sorts.  Then I found an old book in a charity shop and have breathed new life into it by adding my art to its pages.  Here I can be as messy as I like as no-one sees it.

At Christmas hubby bought me a gorgeous leather bound book which he said was for my journaling.  It's so lovely I can't let any Gesso or mess near it lol!  So I now have two books in which I journal - one where I can be messy and one where I need to take a bit more care.  I'm showing both images here.

I've just found an Art Journal challenge on the internet called Art Journal Journey and they asked What is your Style?  Well I really don't know yet - and it seems to be different depending on which book I'm working in.  I'm enjoying this art medium and working through what I like and what I don't.  I'll be interested in looking back in a few years and maybe seeing how my style will change.  

I rarely share my journal pages on line but here goes!

This is what I call my clean pages journal:

I'm adding this page into the More than Words challenge for the use of Florals and Stencils.

And this is my altered book pages 

Delighted that my following page won Top 5 over at Try it on Tuesday 

I'm also adding this into:

 Try it on Tuesday Challenge for their add a quote 

Creative Artiste Mixed Media - AG 

Valentine's Card

I thought I'd share my Valentine's Card for hubby this year - quite safe as he never looks at my blog lol!  This will be our 40th Valentines together - my how the years do fly by.

I started off using the Gell print and Distress Ink in Crackling Campfire and Speckled Egg.  They made a lovely background which I'm going to do again.  I added the heart from Visible Image stamp set called From the Heart.  Using an embossing pen I embossed parts of the image in Crackling Campfire and Speckled Egg Glaze.  I added the little sentiment from Tim Holtz ideaology pack and some of Tim's velvet ribbon.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

SSS Wednesday - All about Love 

Double D Challenge - all about hearts 

Watercooler Challenge - Occasions 

Paperfunday - AG option hugs and kisses 

Make the Card Challenge - Valentines 

The Card Concept - Image 

The Four Seasons - winter hearts 

Retro Rubber - Love - the stamp is dated Nov 2020

IA&S - hearts

Country View Challenge  hearts and flowers and bold print