Snowflakes tag

 

Hi There! I got very very inky over the weekend! I thought you might like to see what I was up to.

I Decided to try a bit of resist technique and use some salt with dylusions sprays. 

I began by stamping and heat embossing the doodle art snowflakes with white embossing powder. Here is a close up where you can see the embossing a bit better!

Next I sprayed water all over the tag and sprinkled on a little explosion powder.

I then added more sprays - this time I used dylusions sprays in Calypso Teal and After midnight.

Whilst wet I sprinkled it all  with table salt and then left to dry (this will take quite a while and using a heat gun might over-cook the embossing powder.

Once dry I stamped smaller snowflakes, dots and stars randomly in the spaces with versafine Clair ink.

I used the same ink to stamp the Winter Wonderland on a scrap of white card, sponging a little extra ink around the edges

Finally mat and layer the tag, adding the sentiment and a ribbon. I also added a little faux stitching with gelly roll pens

Here is a close up of that mottled effect created by the salt.

I used:

Dina Wakely Media Tag - #10

Fine detail white embossing powder

Yuletide Doodle Art Stamps - Snowflakes (regular)

Versamark ink

Pretty Gets Gritty Explosion powders - I used Mermaid and Elf

Dylusions sprays - I used Calypso Teal and After Midnight

Salt

Versafine clair ink in warm Breeze and Blue Belle

Ribbon and gelly roll pens

Bev and Sam are off to the Craft Store with the faces stamps and some brand new journal Art stamps tomorrow at 3pm and I will be doing Try it out Tuesday Facebook Live tomorrow at 8pm over on the Bee Crafty Facebook page. 

Thanks for looking! 

 

A Snowflake bauble for Bee Crafty

                  

Hello there! It is Monday and time for another DT share for Bee Crafty. Today I made a Doodle Art Snowflake Bauble. 

I used:

Yuletide Doodle Art snowflakes (regular)

Versafine Clair ink

Ecoline brush pens

 A clear bauble (available from various craft shops like Hobbycraft, The Range and The Works)

Ribbon

Here is what I did:

 

I stamped the snowflake 3 times in versafine clair ink. You could use any ink that isn't water- based.

Next I coloured the snowflakes with the ecoline pens and cut them out.

I gently folded each of the snowflakes down the centre line and stuck the three together by two tips on each side.

 

If you want to go sparkly at this stage add glitter, glitter glue or use a sparkly pen. 

 

Once dry, place the snowflakes inside the bauble and put the two halves together. 

Add a bow and dangle from your Christmas tree! 

I do hope you like it! 

Thanks for looking and I hope your preparations for Christmas are going well!

Rudolf Day and a Digi from Dora

There aren't many days left in May, so it is time for the Rudolf days Challenge over at Scrappy Mo's. This first card is a little inkylicious scene, stamped in Memento Paris Dusk and watercoloured with Chipped Saphire distress in. I then mounted it on a base card that had been dry embossed with a magazine freebie snowflakew embossing folder.

My second card used Crafty Individuals stamps CI 463, CI 465 and CI 541. The papers were sprayed with mica sprays and the photo certainly doesn't do it justice in all it's sparkliness. Do pop over to Maureen's blog for more Christmas inspiration

Also, here is my DT Card using one of Dora's wonderful new floral digis, tulips, which I coloured with pencils. You can find Dora's fabulous Digis on her website here.
I have been busy beavering away at my samples for the next Crafty Individuals shows which will be on Hochanda on Tuesday 2nd June at 7am and 1pm. I really hope you can tune in and watch. The new stamps are absolutely gorgeous and I love them. I can't wait to show you! I will be posting all my makes with them here on my blog once the Hochanda shows have been aired, so very soon!
It looks like craft shops will be opening again here on 15th June, but workshops and shows will probably be a way off from that as social distancing will still be in place for a while. In the meantime I hope you have plenty of stash to keep you going, and, as we will have missed at least one craft show, you have the opportunity to treat yourself to a little something.
Stay safe and I hope you are well xxx

November at Stamping Sensations

It is the first Sunday of the month and time for our November challenge at Stamping Sensations. This month we have a lovely theme....

****Get ready for Christmas****

My project this month features stamps from Hobby Art. I used Zig cleancolor markers to colour it all. the robin and the ivy are fussy cut and stuck on with 3d glue.

Please remember, we need you to play by the rules:

Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image which reflects the theme as the focal element of your artwork , this means:

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest

 We are pleased to welcome back Swedish House Crafts as our sponsor this month, with a fabulous £25 store voucher for our lucky winner. There are some wonderful stamps and other crafty goodies on their website
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous creations from my talented team mates!
Thanks for looking!

Rudolf day for January

 January seems to have flown by! It is time for this months Rudolf days, so here are my cards. The first is a lovely little scene stamp from Crafty individuals with minimal colouring and a scrap of card sprinkled with brushos and stencilled with glitter glue.

My second card has stamps from Hobby art, a bit of liquid pearls and glitter glue and an ink-dusted background. The hobby Art stamps come from the holly and Ivy set and the Nature Trail set.
Do pop over to Scrappy Mo's and take a look. I can totally recommend joining in each month and getting organised for next year.
Thanks for looking! 

Festive flowers and foliage at Stamping Sensations

 Good morning! It is the first Sunday in November and time for a new Challenge at Stamping Sensations. Our theme this month is Festive Flowers and Foliage, so show us your holly, ivy  flowers and mistletoe! Our Sponsor is a new sponsor called  'be Creative!'
Here is my card featuring 'be Creative!' Winterland papers.

I stamped the poinsettia (Penny Black) twice in versamark ink and embossed it with sparkle gold embossing powder before cutting it out and decoupaging it using 3d glue. I attached another of the papers from the pad to the front of the card and then attached the flower. I added a crafts too die cut holly spring and pearls to the flower. Finally I added the sentiment from the recent Creative Stamping magazine on a spellbinders die-cut, and a ribbon.

My second project is a tree decoration using the same papers. I used 'Jus-Cutz' scalloped star dies. I will be writing a tutorial for this very soon! The Prize is about £60 worth of fabulous goodies - feast your eyes on this!
 
                               
Now for a bit more about our new sponsor  'be Creative!'.
  have just launched a brand new range of craft products. They will be launching their new web site very soon but in the meantime you can keep up to date by following their Facebook page where you will see some of  the new products. You can also contact Gordon and Justin by phone on 01623 818910 . The products were recently very well received at their launch on Hochanda and will also be available at the NEC Hobbycraft show on 5th through 8th November. As a member of their DT I can honestly vouch for the quality of every single product!
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the wonderful creations from our DT, mostly created with  'be Creative!' papers.
Thanks for looking!

Rudolf day for August

I was very naughty and missed Rudolf day for July. I was busy packing for my holiday and making my anniversary card! Still, it is the first one I have missed this year, which is a bit better than previous years! On to my cards for August...

I have made quite a few small one layer cards this year to cut down on postage costs. For this one I masked off a third of the card then dusted and stamped the remaining card with Tea Dye distress ink and Inkylicious tiny script. I then stamped the Christmas tree (Christmas tree curl - small) with memento cottage ivy and added liquid pearls. I love how they shine in the light.

finally I added a very old sentiment from Stampourium. I can see me making quite a few in this design, as it took longer for the liquid pearls to dry than it did to make it!
My second card is very similar to one I made earlier in the year, but I found a Chocolate Baroque sentiment to pop in the gap.

All stamps except the sentiment are from Inkylicious (Winter Spruce and Musical Melody). Inks are Memento inks in cottage ivy, northern pine and espresso truffle. I added dots of red stickles as holly berries and coloured the cones with a tea dye distress marker. Again, very quick and easy. Do pop over to the lovely Sarn's blog and take a look at her fab and very classy Christmas cards this month, and maybe even join in the fun!
Thanks for looking!

Rudolf Day for June with snippets

I am dashing in for June Rudolf Day a little later than I had anticipated! I missed Sarn's posts due to blogger dashboard issues and I don't seem to have a clue what day it is at the moment, lol!
I have gone for two trees again - the small Christmas Tree Flourish from Inkylicious, with a musical background.
Here is the first...

I used the edge of the tree to make the border and Adirondack inks in Aqua and Pool. the sentiment is also from Inkylicious. I did add irridescent glitter, but you can't really see it in the photo.
For my second card I used the same stamps with wild honey distress ink and versafine tuxedo black.
The Dies are all from spellbinders and the red spots are red stickles.
I used snippets for both, so I'll be skipping off to Miss Di's Snippet playground with them too.
Meg and I spent yesterday looking round at Birmingham University. It was definitely worth going to look at possibilities for courses next year, although a little disappointing in how elitist some of them are. I won't have a rant, but I did feel a bit cross at one point and then very proud of how resilient Megan is. 
Thanks for looking!

Made a start on Christmas

Well, I have finally managed a card that I'm happy with. It isn't brayered and it isn't CAS, and I gave up trying to think of something to fit a challenge this week and started the Christmas cards - a little early for me this year!

I used the Woodware Tipsy Tree set that I was introduced to by Chris at the Sir Stampalot  blog girl day last year, and fell in love with! Paper piecing works brilliantly with this set and I'm rather pleased with the colour combo - a new one for me on Christmas cards.  I got a bit carried away with my Faux stitching because I have just treated myself to a new very fine pen. I also used liberal amounts of Distress inks in tea dye and walnut stain.

Now, the good thing about paper piecing like this is that you get two for the price of one, so here is the other one.

More stitching on this one too, along with some old and rather temperamental stickles that needs replacing, hence the blobby blobs! I was rather pleased that I could use up some scraps of paper in such an economical way.
Life at work is very busy already, so I'm going to be a bit hit and miss leaving comments, apart from on the stampalot challenge blog for a bit. I am attending a course tomorrow on 'Middle Leadership' that I think will require me to do some extra activities over and above my regular teaching. I'm just hoping I can get my head around it all - especially after lunch on Friday afternoon!
Thanks for looking!

Christmas at Tuesday Taggers!?!

Don't worry it is still July, but over at Tuesday Taggers our lovely teamie Emma has chosen the theme Christmas. Now I know I don't really do anything Christmassy until at least September, so I kept it simple.

An oval cuttlebugged with the snowflakes embossing folder, a digistamp from Digistamp Boutique coloured in with promarkers and lots of stickles!  Please do pop over to Tuesday Taggers and take a look at my teamies fabulous work. Hope you can join us!

Grab a plate...

...and help yourself to a mince pie fresh out of the oven. My mince pies aren't the prettiest, but they taste fine! You could have some ginger cake too, although some is a gift for a friend. The hamster card (featuring a Mo Manning digistamp) is for the same people - we 'hamster sit' for them a few times each year. The Turkey card (Dustin Pike) is for my dear friend Julie who came to my rescue when the oven packed up on Christmas day last year and I had the whole family coming over on Boxing day and a gigantic turkey to cook! The last card (also Dustin Pike) is for Julie's daughter and Meg's best friend, Sam. I've done all my cards, but time is running out and I won't have time to post Meg's and Steve's cards. I had intended entering Allsorts and Tuesday Taggers, but cooking is going to have to take priority!
So, here's wishing each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas. I hope you are surrounded by those you love and that Santa brings you everything you want!
Merry Christmas Everybody!

By the Cute and Girly Challenge - Winter Wonderland

Here is my entry for this months By the Cute and Girly Challenge. Please check out this great challenge blog - there are lovely prizes on offer! I had been hoping to take photos of my project in daylight, but I couldn't wait! It has been such a long time coming, and I had planned it in my head almost as soon as the challenge was announced. Sunday allowed me about 3 hours uninterrupted craft time and then I put the finishing touches to it at about 11 last night! I made my own size exploding box (inspired by Elaine) and made the backing paper using versamark, Clear choice snowflake stamps, a whispers stamp and Tim Holtz faded jeans and dusty concord DI. The lid used my spellbinders shapeabilities snowflake dies and the other snowflakes were a variety of punches. I finished off with a few dots of stickles and a few gems. You slide off the lid and the snowflakes bob about! Cool! I think I've come up with something to follow my card last month...hope you like it and thanks for looking!

Allsorts Challenge: For a child

Here is my card for this weeks Allsorts challenge which is a card for a child. The stamp is from Pink Gem and I fell in love with it when I saw it. I almost put googly eyes and a pompom for the nose, but opted for glaze as my googly eyes were a bit large! I used my promarkers to colour him and added a bit of diamond stickles. The papers have been in my stash for ages and the sentiment is from Craftwork cards.

While I was tidying my table I found this lovely image that I had coloured with promarkers ages ago. It is a free download from here. I quickly made it up into a card and I'm rather pleased with the result. Very summery and warm! I also found half a bar of Galaxy which put me in an even better mood!!! The weekend has got better and better as I have bought Brenda's promarkers from her and arranged to meet up with her on 5th December at Sir Stampalot's open day. We had a lovely chat on the phone  - it feels like I've known her for years! It's just like Christmas already!!!

There's an Angel by the name of Julie that lives up my road

There I was on Christmas Day cooking a fairly simple dinner ( just the 3 of us to cater for ) when a fuse blew and the cooker and Microwave went off. We went to the fuse box and switched everything back on one at a time and all seemed well... until I realised the oven was no longer steaming up my glasses and I couldn't hear the Duck portions sizzling any more. I have a cooker with a small top oven as well as a main oven, so I quickly got that going and transferred the duck. The problem that was causing me to panic was the fact that I was cooking Christmas dinner for seven on Boxing Day, and was staring at a huge Turkey that would fit into my top oven about as easily as Dawn French would fit into a size 8. I could cook everything else - roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, brussels, broccoli, gravy, bread sauce, and stuffing, but not that one vital ingredient. I even looked at saws in the garage, wondering whether to chop it up and just roast a bit of it, or stew it in a big pan!

Anyway, after lunch I got a text from my friend Julie thanking me for their presents. I rang her back to see if she would be around on Boxing Day, and she immediately said she would cook my Turkey for me! I took it up there at 9am and Steve fetched it, swathed in towels to keep it warm at one o'clock. I think that must be the sign of a true friend - someone who would cook your turkey for you, and to perfection too! So, on Boxing Day our whole house toasted Julie, for saving our Turkey (or should that be Bacon)!
Thanks is such a small word, but means such a lot!

Merry Christmas!

Meet Tufty! This beautiful little robin spent his juvenile days hoping around our garden in the summer of 2007. He was very bold and regularly landed a few feet away. As he got his adult plumage he followed us around the garden and we nearly put our hands on him when he kept settling on the spade handle!

I spotted him on Tuesday (really murky day, so bad picture!) with a little gift... for this young lady...