THE MALE ROOM CHALLENGE - ANIMALS

Welcome to another challenge over at The Male Room with our theme of animals.  We have a menagerie here with two cats, one senior English Springer Spaniel and a whirling dervish of a Sprocker puppy aged 9 weeks.  Wow they take up a lot of time - luckily he still sleeps quite a bit during the day and has one of his beds by my feet in my craft room.  The old boy isn't too far from him but he's still not sure whether he likes him yet or not.  The cats are not happy so they were on my mind when I chose one of Tim Holtz's snarky cats for my card.  

I started off by using a Tim Holtz stencil and added some Distress Oxide Ink in Frayed Burlap to give the idea of some of the spilt beer.  I cut out the cat and coloured him in with Distress Inks.  The little bottle is from another Snarky cat set - it should say milk but I changed the words a bit to go with the sentiment.

I added some extra background stamping and splatters to finish off the card. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Crafty Animals - Include an animal

Alphabet Challenge - C is for Cat

Crazy for Cats - Cat theme

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - SC413

Welcome back to another challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments with our sketch for you this week.

Over on my Facebook group the Joy of Sets our challenge this month is to use something in your stash you have never used.  With this in mind I decided to use this little stamp and matching die from Anita Jeram and Colorado Craft Company.  It's called Watering Can mini. 

 I simply coloured the image in with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  I stencilled the flowers in the background with Bundled Sage and a very light dusting of Lumberjack Plaid.  I added some Washi Tape from Aallandcreate which was in my stash and which I also haven't used yet.

ONCE UPON A TIME - MAY CHALLENGE - ONE LOVE

Welcome to another challenge at Once Upon a Time where we challenge you to take a book title and be inspired. I loved the bright colours on this cover and brights are not really a colour palette I often work with.  

I cut out the letters ONE from some Tim Holtz die cuts and I had a die cut with the word love on it which was just perfect.   I kept the CAS feel to the card by adding some birds and sentiments from Clearly Besotted.  The tiny birds are from Casio stamps. 

HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS - WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE PLUS OPTIONAL FLOWERS

Welcome back to another challenge at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - we are giving you the option of adding flowers to your project too.  

I chose a selection of Tim Holtz Wildflower stamps for my card.  I did a gentle colour wash of Distress Oxide Salty Ocean for the background after masking off the space with masking tape first.  I then added Distress Inks direct to the flowers and spritzed them with water and then added them to the water colour card stock.  It gives them a lovely soft watercolour feel.  

The tag and sentiment is from Tracy Evans and I added a piece of twine and some sequins to the card.

I'm adding this into the following

Make My Monday Challenge - Flowers

Aud Sentiments - Watercolouring 

A Perfect Time to Craft - AG 

Crafting Happiness - Flowers 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #412 COLOUR CHALLENGE

Another colour challenge for you this week from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  These are some of my favourite SU colours and I have them all which doesn't often happen for me lol!  

It's been a while since I used this beautiful stamp set from Colorado Craft Company called Olive Branch of these gorgeous olives and I thought the colours would work.  I was really happy how they turned out. Most of the olives are flat to the page apart from the bottom cluster which is layered just to give a bit more interest.  I added some sequins and some old SU embellishments to finish off the card.  The sentiment is from the same set and I used Cosmic Shimmer White embossing powder. 

I'm adding this into the following

A Place to Start - AG 

Stamping Sensations - AG 

We love stamping - AG 

Allsorts - AG 

Addicted to CAS - garden 

Inkspirational - CAS 

AS YOU SEE IT CHALLENGE #296

I'm playing along with the challenge at As You See It which is this sketch.

I started with some background paper from a paper pack called Worn and Weathered by Sam Poole which is a very soft vintage style pink.  I made my two panels by stamping the number stamps from a stamp set also by Sam Poole called Timeless Roses.  I added them to both sides of the paper for 'balance'. 

My main image is also from the same set and is this wonderful pocket watch.  I cut it out with a stitched framelit and fussy cut out the winder at the top.  I covered it in a very light layer of Pebeo gilding wax in gold - this is new to me today and I can't stop using it lol!  

I added the sentiment from another set from Creative Expressions called Missy Mouse - and heat embossed it in gold embossing powder from Stampin Up.

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA - APRIL CHALLENGE

Welcome back to another Mixed Media challenge from Creative Artiste - Anything Goes as long as it's Mixed Media.

I'm on a real craze for making small canvases at the moment - 7" x 5" which I find just the perfect size. 

I started off by prepping my canvas with some gesso.  Once dry i added some Distress Oxide Ink in Antique Linen.  I used a new stencil from Creative Expressions called Graceful Butterflies and used some Cosmic Shimmer Texture Paste in Gold Pearl to create the butterflies and the leaves on the background. 

I added some Glitter Kiss glue from Creative Expressions in various colours to a piece of paper and once dry used the new Frames & Tags Butterfly Rectangle from Sue Wilson to cut out the small butterflies.  The large butterfly is a stamp from Francoise Read for Woodware Craft Collection  and I added the same glue - stamped it first to get those lovely background stamping details then added the butterfly on top. The words my butterfly moment came from an old dictionary.

I'm adding this into the following:

Crafty Calendar - Die Cuts - my butterflies 

Cut it Up - Die cut letter B - butterfly 

We love to create mixed media - AG 

THE MALE ROOM CHALLENGE - APRIL - STENCIL AND/OR DIES

Welcome back to another challenge from The Male Room.  This month we would like to see your use of Stencils and/or Dies.

I've done a birthday card for my project this month which will be going to hubby whose birthday is 1st April - I know April Fools bless him!  As he loves cars this is a perfect image for him.  I used a stencil from Aallandcreate for the background using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Chartered Mariner.  The car image is from Visible Image stamps - it also has those lovely numbers as a stamp in the same set which have come in so handy lately. The set is called You're a Classic.  I kept the stamping in the same colours to create a monochrome card.

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #411

Welcome back to another challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I love this mood board we got to work with and hope you are inspired also by the images.  I really wanted to use the wheelbarrow but sadly didn't have any wheelbarrow stamps so decided to do the umbrellas instead - after all it is April and we are having lots of rain!

I started off by using a Visible Images stencil which I haven't used for such a long time.  I used my gel press and some acrylic inks to create the background - mixing the colours and then added the stencil.  I took a piece of blank watercolour paper - put it over the gel press lifted it off and hey presto! a great background.  The little tag with the umbrella image is an old stamp again from Clearly Besotted.  Another one I'd forgotten I had - it's amazing what you can find in your stash!  The sentiment is just perfect.  I added some dotted ribbon to the top of the tag and a pale blue brad.

I'm adding this into the following challenges

Little Red Wagon - Spring - April showers 

Double D - April Showers

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Rainbow colours 

Tuesday Taggers - Spring showers 

ONCE UPON A TIME - APRIL CHALLENGE

 

Welcome back to another challenge from Once Upon a Time where we give you children's book covers for your inspiration.  I must admit this is another book I don't know - I'm learning so much being on this Design Team. We must have different books in the UK.  

I don't really have any teddy bears in my stash but I do have these lovely bear stamps from Anita Jeram from the Stargazers set. I made my background with a gel press adding some Tim Holtz distress inks to create the background.  It didn't turn out quite as red as I had hoped but I went with it.  I stamped the bears and cut them out.  I added the stars with a stencil and some glitter paste.  

I look forward to seeing your take on our book cover. 

HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS - WATERCOLOUR CHALLENGE PLUS OPTIONAL DIES

Welcome back to another Water Colour challenge from Happy Little Stampers.  We are looking for your water coloured projects with the additional option of adding die cuts.  

I chose to use a lovely stamp from Woodware Craft Collection called Magnolia Spray.  I decided to try the ink spritz watercolour technique - I'm not even sure if that's it's name but it sounds about right.  I used Tim Holtz distress inks in Dusty Concord, Picked Raspberry and Peeled Paint adding them from the inks from the small ink cubes.  I then spritzed with water and added it to some Water Colour cardstock from Creative Expressions.  I love the effect it gave and decided it really didn't need anything else. 

I layered it on to some old purple SU cardstock I had and layered the sentiment with the same colour purple. I added a few green sequins and some Nuovo Drops in Raspberry Pink to the flowers. 

TIC TAC TOE GUEST DESIGNER #tttc202

I'm delighted to have been asked to be Guest Designer over at Tic Tac Toe this month.  Here's the grid we are working from.

I chose to do the middle vertical line - Flora/Foliage - Free - Pastel Colours.  I started my card by using a piece of the new Worn and Weathered patterned paper by Sam Poole for Creative Expressions. I teamed this with a new stamp set called Flower Seed.  I stamped the flowers in Versafine Black and water coloured them  with Distress Oxide in Victorian Velvet - one of my favourite colours at the moment.  I used Peeled Paint for the leaves.  These were my pastel colours.

My Free was another new craze I'm enjoying which is rub ons from Taperlogy. I love using them on strips of fabric and I chose the rose and added it to some calico.  I added some more stamping for the sentiment and also stamped and layered a butterfly.

CHRISTMAS CRAFT CREATIONS - ONE LAYER

Our challenge this month at Christmas Craft Creations is one layer.  Wow this was a real challenge for me as I am loving all my collage and mixed media at the moment.  I really wanted to use the Tim Holtz Christmas Tree stamp set called Watercolour Trees.  

I've been looking for a nice O Christmas Tree stamp sentiment and found it on this set so decided to use it here.  I stamped one of the trees first then masked it off and added the sentiment over it -first generation stamping at the top and bottom and then stamped off for over the actual tree.

I added two Distress Inks to stamp the tree and added some Nuovo Drops to look like fairy lights.  I really had to walk away from this to stop adding anything else and keep it one layer.  

Fiona 

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 

SPRING GREENS

I'm still in the process of decorating and sorting out my craft room.  It is a room hubby and I both use for our respective hobbies - his is fly tying and his desk is even messier than mine!  So we've bought some Ikea units to try and sort out and make things look a bit tidy and given the whole room a makeover.  I therefore have limited space and supplies out at the moment but am missing the crafting!

I love these stamps from Tracy Evans with the wellington boots called The Great Outdoors. I found in my stash a background I had made with a Tim Holtz stencil using Distress Oxide Ink Iced Spruce.  I added the stamps of the boots and then cut them out to layer onto themselves.  The hares are from other Tracy Evans sets Miniatures for the small hares and the ants and Long Eared Mammal for the larger hare.  I used Tim Holtz Distress inks in Crushed Olive and Rustic Wilderness for the additional greens.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - Green 

Allsorts - AG - trio of three - my three hares 

As You See It - Spring clean - actually re-arranging my craft room and finding old backgrounds I've made 

AIChallenge - Green 

FREE YOUR IMAGINATION

It was one of those mornings - up early - couldn't sleep - the wind is howling up our Welsh mountain - my craft room is still being re-organised and decorated but I managed to find a spot to do a bit of creating.  I was inspired by the challenge at Inkspirational to have a play along.  Their challenge this week is numbers.  I remembered a lovely Visible Image set that has a great little stamp with numbers on which is just perfect for backgrounds - I found a background I had previously made in my stash and my card grew from there.

I stamped the numbers from You're A Classic in Versafine Morning Mist - a gentle grey to some of the background.  I then took another Visible Image stamp set Free Your Imagination.  I stamped and cut out some extra numbers to add to the pages of the book and added a touch of Tim Holtz Old Paper to the pages. I had some extra numbers falling from the eagle's claws as if he'd dropped them on the page.  I added some Aallandcreate Washi tape which was just perfect as it had the right colour of blue and black in it and those fabulous numbers.

I'm also adding this into the following:

Inkspirational - Numbers 

Allys Angels - AG 

Stamping Sensations - AG option of wings 

Snarky Stampers - I is for ink 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS SC409

We have another sketch for you today at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I started my card by making a background with some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink and using a Tim Holtz stencil to go over it.    The little bird is from Aallandcreate stamps - I just love the way it is perched on the pot.  I coloured it in with Distress Oxide ink.  The strip below has been made with a Tim Holtz Emboss and Cut embosser.  Very clever as it cuts as it embosses.  I added a few Nuovo drops to add some interest and as this was for a friend's birthday I added the sentiment. 

CREATIVE ARTISTE - NEW DESIGN TEAM MEMBER

I am delighted to have been asked by Andree Crowe of Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog to be one of their new Design Team members.  I love the mixed media element to their challenges and so jumped at the chance.  Here's my first entry as DT member.

I run a Facebook group called Joy of Sets and we have swaps every month. This month's swap was to make a double sided door hanger with the theme of Spring.  I used a heavy back board from a used paper pack for my hanger as it gives it more strength.  I cut out the circle with a scalpel and covered up the rough edges with some circles of paper.

I then added a first layer of white Gesso  to the substrate so that I could add all those layers of papers and paint.  I started off by using a Tim Holtz stencil which is a mosaic style with some Texture Paste and then added some layers of paint with a brayer tool.  I've used a lot of Tracy Evans stamps for the backgrounds as well as the main images as well as some Tim Holtz collage papers, especially the pretty birds.  Lots of layers and textures give the piece more interest - and I've also clear embossed some  of the flowers and butterflies to make them shine a bit.  I added torn off pieces of washi tape here and there also and added some Nuovo drops and embellishments from my stash.

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Mix It Up - AG 

CRAFT - Not a card

The Outlawz Challenge - my two items over 2 years old are the bee embellishment and the blue clip (20 years old eek) on the first image 

Four Seasons Challenge - Spring 

Tuesday Taggers - let's get messy - lots of gesso, texture paste, papers, ink 

We love 2 Create = AG 

THE MALE ROOM CHALLENGE #172 - MARCH 2023 - SKETCH

We have a sketch challenge for you this month at The Male Room Challenge.  I started out by covering my cardstock with a layer of Tim Holtz Oxide ink in Brushed Corduroy.  I stamped over the background then with some stamps from Aallandcreate by Bipash BK called Background Voices. I then added a stencil over the top and used Walnut Stain for the image.  The stencil and cat is from a stamp and stencil set combination from Tim Holtz.  I cut the cat out and layered his balloon.  Some splatters of white paint and the sentiment at the bottom finished off the card.

ONCE UPON A TIME - MARCH 2023

How fun is this book cover for our challenge this month at Once Upon A Time.  I loved all those squiggles and they reminded me of a Tim Holtz Embossing folder I  had in my stash.  Once it was embossed I went over it with a Stampin Up pastel chalk to bring up the purple.  The stamp set is from Anita Jeram called Paint Town and I added the word Purple to the end of the stamp with some Tim Holtz letter dies.