April at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning! It is the first Sunday of the Month and time for a new Challenge over at Stamping Sensations! This month's theme is...........

***Anything Goes***

As the title suggests we want to see your projects  - no theme this month, but please remember we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not. And please note: if we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.
 For my card I used Woodware Large fennel in the foreground and Indigo Blu tiny backgrounds for the inky layer. These stamps, and the distress ink used for the background are all bought from PDA (our lovely sponsors this month), along with the liquid pearls and the lovely black paper used for matting and layering.
So what is the prize I hear you ask... A whopping £40 online voucher to spend with PDA! I can easily spend that every time I visit, lol, so if you need any help....😉
I just wanted to say I'm sorry I haven't been around much recently. The run up to the end of term has been so full on this last two weeks. I have been buried under assessments, Data and record keeping as well as observations, a class exhibition, a trip and some student reports. I have now finished for a full two week holiday though, so I aim to have some me time! Apologies for the lack of blogging. I even missed March Rudolf days! Not like me - hopefully normal service should now resume!
Thanks for looking!

Snippets, Rudolf days and a few photos

 I've been very good using up snippets this week. I made some Christmas cards with a stamp from Indigo Blu that fell into my basket and some Be creative embossing Crystals.

 Three very similar DL cards but none with a traditional feel

 This third one has a lot more contrast in real life, but I couldn't seem to capture it in a photo. The embossing Crystals are from the more recent Be Creative  sets. I used Winter Wonderland, Pistachio and Summer Berries. There are more lovely exciting colours coming next week on Hochanda on Wednesday 31st August.

My final card is a mixture of imagination crafts sparkle medium on  Kraft and a very old sentiment from Stamporium. I did some faux blanket stitch in Sakura Jade stardust pen around the sentiment.
Four this time makes up for the fact that I didn't get round to doing Rudolf days cards for July. I am entering these into August Rudolf days with Scrappy Mo and Miss Di's Snippet playground.
Finally here are a few more photos from our holiday in Wales. I've kept it to Butterflies, Birds and a rather handsome beetle this time.

 First we have small tortoiseshell on some Hemp Agrimony.

 Next is a common blue,

Followed by a Wall Brown,

 and a Gatekeeper,

 Anyone know their beetles? I love his turquoise sheen! 

Finally we have a Fritillary, possibly a Dark Green, but I can't be sure - they all look so alike! He had definitely been in the wars too.
If you are ever near a Pembrokeshire Falconry Display I highly recommend it! Here is a photo of Meg with a Harris Hawk and sporting her new short hair do, not that you can see it very well through the rain!

I'm finishing off with a photo of me, which I very rarely do, but my companion was so cute! He went by the name of Frodo and I really wanted to bring him home!

Thanks for looking and all your lovely comments. Back to work next week so I may be around a bit less.

A card, a walk and a milestone!

 I hope you are all well and enjoying the warm weather! I can't believe the difference from a week ago! I am sharing a card I made using an indigo blu stamp and distress inks in fossilised amber and abandoned coral. I am taking this to Miss Di's playground, as I every bit of card I used except the base card was snippets. The stamp was one of four bought for me by a good friend for my (50th shhhh!) birthday last week. We started the celebrations last weekend with a lovely walk around Langsett Reservoir...

 and ended up as Banks End Cafe for lunch and a pudding (Jam roly poly and custard was just the ticket, lol)! At the time there was still snow on the hills and we wrapped up warm. Don't you just love their polka dot wall?

 My celebrations continued with a visit to a craft shop, another tea room and my Karate grading this weekend. I may be doing a pretty good impression of a beetroot, but I was awarded my first Kyu (brown belt with two black tags). The next time I grade it will be for black belt. I also got a lovely surprise as Meg and her boyfriend, Grant came down from Sheffield to support me. Here I am below with Sensei Alex, Meg and Sensei Richard

 The guy on the left here is Sensei Karl, who is the Area Sensei, and Sensei Richard is from my Dojo. I think they find the height difference amusing too! Everyone here has played a huge part in my karate journey and I really appreciate their help and support over the years.

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments.

Last Rudolf Day

It is the last Rudolf Day before Christmas and to be frank I am approaching headless chicken stage now! It is only my second time entering and I've got no where near enough cards yet- I am hoping to join in way earlier next year! Keep nagging me Sarn! Do pop over to Sarn's blog and have a look at her fabby makes
Here are my offerings - 2 CAS single layer cards, now postage is so expensive for anything else!

 First one features an Indigo Blu stamp, stamped and embossed with Kaleidoscope embossing powder. The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.  The holly leaves are from Inkylicious and useful for hiding finger prints, lol! Take a closer look at the sparkle and shimmer!

Next I went for more traditional colours...

The second card is made using Inkylicious stamps from the Winter spruce set. I used a strip of masking tape to make the border across the middle and stamped the sentiment (woodware) in memento Rhubarb Stalk (yes, it isn't straight, but IRL it isn't quite that wonky, lol!)
Thanks for looking

A bit of Spring

I hope you have had a lovely Mother's Day. I certainly have. I have spent most of the day Crafting with a regular supply of cups of tea and other nice things!

I have finished my DT pieces for a couple of months and had a bit of paper left over from one of my Gelli plate designs. It made a lovely CAS card, but needed a little extra, so I stamped the Indigo Blu hares (Craft stamper freebie) and dusted a background of rolling green hills behind them. I used Crafty individuals large elegant swirl to make the background, and a small text stamp from Inkylicious.  I realised this fit perfectly for this week's theme of Spring at Allsorts Challenge, so am entering it there. I have also had a lovely play with my new pearlised acrylic paint colours (Sapphire, Amethyst, Emerald Green and Blush)  and my Gelli plate. Here are some of the papers from this weeks play.

The first of these was made with a couple of stamps from the Chocolate Baroque set 'Peacock Glory'.
The second and third I made using the Hydrangea set by Inkylicious and Art Impressions serpentine background. I am rather looking forward to using these! Only three shares from my gelli plate, but another 26 papers! The photos really don't do them justice either. Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of Mother's Day.

Feathers and Lighthouses DT projects

It is the first Sunday of the month and I am here to share my DT projects with you for February! First of all here is my Card for Stamping Sensations where the theme is Fur and Feathers. I opted for 'feathers' and came up with this:

I used a mixture of Adirondack inks and distress markers to colour the stamp from Indigo Blu. The sentiment is from the same set. The background was created with my Celtic rollagraph wheel.
Here is the prize from our generous sponsors for this month - Stixz 2.

Enough sticky stuff to keep you going for ages! My super talented teamies have made some gorgeous creations too, so do pop over to the challenge blog when you have finished here... oi! not yet though!
On to my second card...

Next up is my card for Craft a Scene this month where the theme is 'Let your Light shine' and needs to feature a lighthouse, of which I have several! This one is an Inkylicious stamp, positioned on a rocky ledge made with a Stampscapes stamp. The grasses are all from Inkylicious and the  sea is from Stampscapes. The quotation is from a lovely set by Hobby Art. I coloured the rocks with distress markers in pumice stone, weathered wood and frayed burlap, and I was rather pleased by the way they turned out. Again my teamies have done us proud with their gorgeous lighthouse creations on the challenge blog, so do pop over and take a look there too.
Thanks for popping by and thanks too for leaving your lovely comments. I hope you will be able to join in this month. 

And now for something completely different!

I have been having a sort out of some bits of paper I had sprayed with Adirondack colour washes and Crafty Notions creative colour sprays. I sprayed them about two years ago at least, and thought I really ought to use them! I found one bit that I particularly liked and covered the front of a card with it. I stamped some text (Inkylicious) and added a ribbon that I spritzed a little too. Then I stamped the image and the sentiment (Indigo Blu) with archival ink onto some scraps of silk art card and ink dusted them with some Adirondack inks.
This is very much a card made from snippets so I'm off to share it with Miss Di and the girls in the playground.(Pixie's Crafty Snippets). The theme at Allsorts this week is masculine cards, so I thought I would share it there too, as I am hoping it will go down well with a teenage fan of Harry Potter and Merlin.
Thanks for looking.

Stamping Sensations - Traditional Christmas

It is the first Sunday of the month and we are delighted to launch Stamping Sensations  - an independent Challenge blog. Many many thanks to all those of you who have stuck with us for almost three years since our challenge began. Everything grows and evolves and here we are with a brand new name, image and a wonderful range of sponsors, including  INDIGO BLU this month.
As Indigo Blu are our sponsors it seemed only right I should make a card with one of their luscious stamps, so here is my Traditional Christmas card.

 This Lollipop Tree is so versatile I have used it for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Christmas now! I embossed it with Green metallic embossing powder. I framed it with a holly stamp from Sheena Douglass, and made a background with the Inkylicious Music Background and Distress inks. A few pearls and gems finished off my tree.
I have made a second card using Woodware holly stamps.

I stamped the watercolour paper and coloured it with Distress markers. I then sprayed it with iridescent gold glimmer mist, before adding a topper using a personal impressions stamp and a die cut poinsettia(Marianne Designs). The card and the topper were cut with Nesties. A bit of faux stitching finished it off.
What is the prize this month? Well, Indigo Blu are offering a most wonderful prize with their Special issue Movember stamps, a wonderful tree called Tree-mendous and a fantastic Flitterglu kit.  Pop over to the challenge blog to see pictures of the prize and my teamies wonderful creations. You can also grab a discount code for Indigo Blu - how cool is that? After that all you need to do is to get your thinking caps on and make a Traditional Christmas card  for the challenge! I will look forward to visiting your entries. Thanks for looking!

Take Flight with Sir Stampalot

It's the first Sunday in the month and time for a new Challenge at Stampalot. This Month our theme is

    Take Flight

In other words we want you to show us any creations that feature things that fly, be it butterflies, birds or dragonflies, or even planes and helicopters!
Here is my creation.

This was my Niece's 30th Birthday card. The stamps are from Indigo Blu, stamped in Memento Black and coloured with promarkers. The die cut leaves around the edge are a Joy Crafts die. The tiny Dragonfly brads were from Lakeland in the days when they sold craft stuff for a while, several moons ago!
The prize for this month looks like this:

- Lots of lovely goodies with a flying theme! I'm really looking forward to visiting everyone's entries this month, so go and get some more inspiration from my amazing teamies on the DT, over on the challenge blog. I do hope you will join in this month.

I didn't get round to visiting as many people as I intended last night as I got all distracted by the Olympics! Wow! Another major haul of medals - Well done, team GB! I'd also like to congratulate everyone who was in the athletics stadium on their superb rendition of the national anthem when Jessica Ennis was awarded her medal. You sang brilliantly!

Thanks for looking!

What's my Crafty Passion?

Good Morning and welcome to the first Sunday in the month, in other words, time for another Stampalot Challenge. For July we are asking 'What's your Crafty Passion?' Well, where do I start?!

Distress inks, tree stamps, Hero Arts leaf swirl and old French writing to name but a few. Here is a close up of that old French writing that I stamped in versamark and brushed with mica powders...

The tree(Indigo Blu) was stamped with flitterglu and then covered with gilding flakes.

Another crafty passion I have is floral stamps, so I made a second card featuring a Penny Black floral stamp called Dreamy, Hero Arts friend definition, and the gorgeous new summer set of distress inks. I used my ink dusters over the embossed image to blend the three inks together before stamping the friend definition with shaded lilac DI from the spring set. The prize this month is this rather lovely set of goodies.

 Pop over to the Challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous creations of our lovely Design team, and then create something to show us your crafty passion.

Thanks for looking!

Less is more - one layer and 3 stamps

Hi There
It has been a bit of a topsy turvy weekend, so I'm later getting here than intended. There I was Saturday afternoon starting my LIM card and suddenly it was walked over by an ant! I cleared my craft space and found one more, removed the packet of boiled sweets and sat down to craft again. Five minutes later there was another! I've still not found where they are coming from, but I have spent some time crawling round on my hands and knees!
Anyway, I finally finished my card for this weeks Less is More challenge.

I have to admit I was inspired my my lovely friend Sylvia, to get out my Indigo Blu stamps. All of these are from the Poppy Meadow plate except for the butterfly that was from a set of butterflies I picked up in Tescos a few years ago. I added a bit of distress inks in Crushed Olive and Tumbled Glass with my ink dusters, and added some colour to the butterfly with aqua-markers, before covering it in glitter.
I have emptied my craft space a further twice today, chasing the elusive blighters, and found them very distracting, hence just the one card! However, it was not all bad, as I was delighted to discover I have won some flitter glu and Yorkshire Dales mega flakes  in the Samuel Taylor April challenge. That definitely made my day! Right, off to lay some traps and peer at the skirting boards!
Thanks for looking!