Green fingers and gardening...

I made this card for my SIL to give to my nephew for his birthday. He has been enjoying his garden recently. Stamps are all from Hobby art and are watercoloured with brush pens. the base card was inked with distress oxides and stamped in versafine clair.
I'm entering it into the Boys and Men challenge over at Penny Black and more and Anything goes at Allsorts. I'm taking it to The Male Room too where the theme is 'in the garden' ( thanks for letting me know, Faith x).
Hope you are all okay. I am fine, if a little green around the edges due to an accident with my brushos!!! I went to pull out the pin on the lid and the entire lid came off. I thought I'd cleaned it all up, but I keep discovering more. It mixes really well with handcream to give an all over green tinge, and I must have sprinkled a minute amount on the bath mat when I went to wash my hands again, as when I got out of the shower this morning I noticed green footprints. I managed to rescue the card I was making, but whether I can rescue the bath mat remains to be seen😂😂😂. Remind me never to try shampooing the craft room carpet!
Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments

Rudolf Days for November

 It is the last Rudolf day before Christlmas and I am here with quite a few cards. I have a good selection to add to my stock ready for the local craft fair where I have booked a table. Now I am no longer at work I have been having a ball making cards, candles and mdf items for my stall. 

My first six cards all used Hobby Art stamps and zig pens on watercolour card.

 For my last two cards I used a Uniko set that I won in their September/October challenge.

 They are both stamped over a round gelli plate background made with brayering and stamping Distress inks in Tea Dye and Bundled Sage.

So the grand Christmas card total is currently at 60, and if they all sell, I'll be making another thirty plus family ones in the next couple of weeks, lol. Keep your fingers crossed for me! Do pop over to Maureen's blog for some Christmas Inspiration and thanks for looking!

October at Stamping Sensations

Good morning, It's time for our October challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we are looking for

 ****Trees, Leaves or Autumn****

 As the title suggest we would love to see your hand-stamped creations that include trees, leaves and autumn. I am sure you will come up with lots of fabulous and seasonal designs. 
My card's focal image is a gorgeous leaf bouquet from Lesia Zgharda stamps and was coloured with zig clean color brush markers. Our wonderful sponsors this month are  Stamp Addicts. They have a show on Hochanda on Thursday (10th October) at 4pm. Do tune in and take a look at their fabulous goodies!

Even though it is an easy theme, 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

  There is a fabulous £25 store voucher for our lucky winner. There are some wonderful stamps and stamping products on the Stamp Addict's website, not forgetting their new releases on Hochanda on Thursday.
 Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous creations from my talented team mates!
Thanks for looking! 

Beside the Sea...

Back in June I made my Dad's Father's Day card with the Hobby Art Stamp sets called Water's Edge and Shore Scenes. I used the Inkylicious waves stamp for the water. More recently I used the same stamp sets to create another scene for my Pearl Wedding Anniversary card for Steve.

These stamps are so beautiful! I think I might be playing with them some more soon. Both cards used a panel of silk art card for the scene and then the bird was coloured with Zig Clean colour markers on watercolour paper, cut out and stuck on with 3d glue.
Thanks for looking!

Woodware Flowers

 This woodware flower has been in my stamp collection for several years and I have used it in a variety of ways over that time, but mainly as an embellishment. I love the fact that it is so easy to cut out, as are the leaves (also Woodware). I decided stamp several and to colour them brightly with my Zig markers on watercolour paper and give them a black background.

I added some liquid pearls, glitter glue and white posca pen to finish them off. Hope you like them. They will be used for birthday cards in the next month or two - there are quite a few coming up.
I am entering these into the Challenge at Penny Black and More where the theme is All Things Feminine
Thanks for looking!

Rudolf Days for April

Hi there! It is time for another Rudolf Day over at Scrappy Mo's. This month, as I often do, I have two offerings for you, both using the same inkylicious stamp. the first is stamped in Chipped Sapphire and the second in Mermaid Lagoon. The stamp is quite a bit larger than the image you see here. I had already cut some squares of watercolour paper, so it was sensible to use them. I used a water brush to spread the colour a little.

For my second card I dry embossed the base card using a Sheena embossing folder and dusted more Mermaid Lagoon ink over it. I also added a punched border to cover the area not embossed.
Sorry it is so short and sweet.
Thanks for looking!

My Favourite Stamp...or is it?

The Challenge over at Allsorts this week is to use your favourite stamp... now that is a tricky one! I've ummed and ahhed  and thought about hares (my latest favourites), moons, leaves and trees, and finally came up with this tree from Inkylicious. The splatter circle is also a stamp and a very useful one too.

I stamped the Inkylicious splatter circle with second generation oxide ink in candied apple, fossilised amber, cracked pistachio, tumbled glass and wilted violet, sprayed with water. Once dry I stamped the inkylicious tree with versafine clair in Morning mist, grounded it with a little sponging and added buds with gold and green liquid pearls. The base card was sponged with the same distress oxide inks through an inkylicious stencil. You will be able to see the first generation stamping of the splatter circle on my mid month card for stamping Sensations Rainbow themed challenge, tomorrow.
A close contender for favourite stamp has to be one of my new purchases from Pink Ink designs. Here is my first inking of the lovely Meadow Hare.

 I stamped him onto a piece of watercolour card left over from another project and coloured him with Zig clean colour markers. I cut him out then stamped his tail again onto a snippet of white card, cut out and stuck in place with 3d glue gel. I did the same with the butterfly wings. I then stamped it once more onto a piece of smooth white card dusted with wilted violet, peacock feathers and citrus zest distress ink using a moon stencil. I coloured with the same pens and added dots of liquid pearls and glitter glue to the hare and the background. These stamps are such a joy to work with! I am taking this card to a couple of challenges. There is Cardz 4 Galz where the theme is March Hares or Rabbits and Miss Di's Snippet playground.

    Thanks for looking!

January Rudolf Day (there isn't one)

I thought I would just pop on to mention to anyone that doesn't know that there will be no Rudolf day Challenge this month because Maureen is having knee replacement surgery.The Rudolf Challenge will be back on the 25th of February 2019.

I'm still here posting a couple of cards as I'd already made them and got them ready. The first is a woodware stamp on a gelli plate background, with an inkylicious splatter stamp round the edge. I made a similar one last year.

My second card is a uniko stamp, watercoloured and then bordered with an inkylicious splatter stamp. The tartan papers are from Craftwork Cards.
Here is wishing Maureen a speedy recovery and a big thank you to the ladies on the DT for everything they do.
Thanks for looking!

Make it Masculine

There is a new challenge over at Allsorts where the Theme is Make it Masculine. It seemed the perfect opportunity to share some makes using new stamps with you. I have been busy making Steve's Birthday card and then I made a second using the same stamps...not sure which to give to him now!

 For both I used Inkylicious stamps - Celestial moons and planets and Reflections Alaskan Pines. I also used watercolour paper and Koh-I-Noor watercolour paints. This first one was a bit of a mistake. It was looking beautiful until I stamped the trees in Versafine clair and then put it through the guillotine before it was dry... More planets were needed to cover the fingerprints and smudges! The second went a little more smoothly!

Here is a close up of the base card - I stamped the planets in Versamark and dusted with a variety of cosmic shimmer powders.

I am also entering it at The Male Room, where the theme is Anything Goes with an optional twist of Beverages (Thanks Faith!) Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments.

Hope you had a good one

 Hi there! Christmas has come and gone very quickly, but I am happy to say a good time has been had by all, here. As usual we had a quiet Christmas day and then lots of family visiting with a full Christmas dinner and tea time treats on Boxing Day.
Anyway, I thought I would show you the last three Christmas Cards I made. The first was for Meg and Grant who had just returned from a trip to the Galloway Forest Park. They spent an evening at the observatory there, where they watched a meteor shower. Stamps are all from Inkylicious and the background was created with Brushos then sections were bleached for the snow

 My second card was for Steve. All stamps on this one were from Card-io and the background was dusted with Blueprint sketch and chipped sapphire distress ink.

My final card was for my Dad. He loves his scenes so I combined inkylicious stamps to create a snowy mountain and lakeside scene for him. this was coloured with watercolour pens.

I am now 'procraftinating' trying to re-organise my craft table (our big dining table that gets cleared every boxing day) and not put as much back on it as I took off! All I have managed so far is to unwrap my Christmas present stamps and find homes for all but two. There is still a huge pile of bits and bobs in the spare room waiting to return downstairs. When I retire I will have to do some serious sorting! 

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments over the past few weeks. I don't intend to be absent from Blogland as much as I have been. My new years resolution is to look after me a little better and not let work take over. 

Rudolf Day for November

It is already 25th November (I know! Where did that go?) So it is time for another Rudolf Day over at Scrappy Mo's. I have been playing with some more Uniko stamps (I couldn't resist, despite saying I didn't need any more Christmas stamps!) For all the cards I stamped onto watercolour card then coloured with zig clean color real brush markers.

This second one was a complete mistake! I had made a few mistakes on the colouring so sprayed water all over it and walked away. When I came back the colours had created a fabulous background, and I was able to colour it again, this time with the right glasses on! 

 The next two cards were stamped in memento desert sand and coloured. I love this 'no line' technique!

 Not sure if I should add a sentiment to these last two. What I sometimes do is save a couple like this and add a Happy New Year sentiment in case of forgetting to send a Christmas card. The tartan papers were from Craftwork Cards.
I seem to have quite a healthy stash of Christmas cards now, so Thank you Mo for taking the panic out of December!
Do pop over to Mo's Rudolf Days Challenge for some inspiration

Thanks for looking! 

October at Stamping Sensations

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

****Shades of Autumn****

My project this month features a background stamp on the base card from our sponsor, Stamp Addicts, and small stamps on the main panel from Hobby Art. I used Zig cleancolor markers to colour the watercolour panel.

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 Stamp Addicts  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 August

 Happy Rudolf day! August has flown by hasn't it? I decided to dig out a stamp I haven't used in a very long time. This is the Chocolate Baroque Poinsettia, bought when they were still Graphicus. I was never very satisfied with my colouring of it back then, but decided to have a go with my (now) favourite colouring medium, zig clean colour markers on watercolour paper. I added a few highlights with a white gel pen and a stardust gel pen. With the second card I added a bit of stamping down each side of the base card with Hobby Art stamps from Christmas foliage.

Do pop over to Mo's blog and take a look at the gorgeous DT cards, and there are still a few days to get working on building your Christmas card stash!
Thanks for looking!

A Little Owl

The theme for July over at Penny Black and More is 'things with wings', so the perfect opportunity to share my latest lolly stick wall hanger. The stamps are a newish set from a Hobby Art, designed by Janie Burnett-Bleach. I stamped in Versafine onto watercolour paper, coloured with Zig clean color markers and fussy cut before mounting onto the lollystick base with 3d glue gel. I used glossy slap-it-on from Indigo Blu to give the leaves a bit of a sheen. I do like the slap-it-on as the sheen is not as glossy as glossy accents, so perfect for realistic leaves. I used glossy accents on the eyes, and a bit of starlight paint on the moon.
Do let me know if you start getting bored with my lolly sticks 😉. I am holding a stall at the local arts festival next weekend and will be interested to see if they sell. This one will end up on my kitchen wall if it doesn't.
Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments. A week and a half to go at school before we break up. Fingers crossed that Ofsted don't call before then. TTFN

May at Stamping Sensations

 

It is the first Sunday of the month and time for our May challenge at Stamping Sensations. Spring is such a wonderful time of year so we have a theme to compliment the season.................

********Close to Nature********

We are looking for flowers, trees, wild animals and insects, in fact anything associated with the wonders of Nature and the great outdoors which surround us every day.

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

Both of my cards were made with Hobby Art stamps, Stamped in memento Desert Sand and coloured with watercolour markers. I think this is my new favourite technique, and very satisfying to colour 😊
Our sponsors this month are Chocolate Baroque, and there is a great prize on offer!
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous creations from my talented team mates! This is obviously an inspirational theme for them all.
Thanks for looking!

Rudolf day for April

Hi there! First I must apologise for being so quiet for the past two weeks. As well as Meg's 21st, (Thanks for all your birthday wishes for her!) I have been very busy making samples for Inkylicious who have a show on Hochanda on Friday afternoon at 2pm. Do tune in  - the stamps are gorgeous!  I will share my makes with you once the programme airs, I promise!
Rudolf day has snook up on me again! Where did April go? Anyway, here are my cards.

I don't do a lot of cute, but these geese from Hobby Art will definitely appeal to lots of our friends so I had to get them. They are stamped on watercolour paper and coloured with zig clean color markers and distress markers.
Do pop over to Mo's blog and take a look at the fabulous inspiration from her and the DT.
Before I go, here is a sneaky peek at one of the cards I've made for Inkylicious

Thanks for looking and Happy Crafting!

April at Stamping Sensations

Good morning, It's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we are looking for

********One for the Girls********

As the title suggest we would love to see your creations featuring all things feminine. It could be flowers, feminine colours, bling or just about anything that would appeal to the ladies in our lives! 
My card was made for my great niece and features a stamp from many, many years ago. I think it was by Sugar Nellie, but I don't think it is available any longer. The background was stamped with an Inkylicious leaf and spritzed using Be Creative mini spritzers. The main image was coloured with watercolour markers and a Be Creative water brush. The whole thing was assembled using Be Creative wondertape.
As you have probably realised, our sponsors this month are Be Creative. Gordon and Justin have very kindly donated a £25 voucher for their web store, and with some new goodies coming to their website this month, we can't wait to see what new, value-for-money products they are launching! 

Please can we remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image as the focal element of your artwork, not just a stamped sentiment or stamping in the background, this means:

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest 

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the gorgeous designs from all my talented teamies! They really have made some beautiful cards this month! 

Thanks for looking!

Steve's Birthday Card

I'm flying in 😉 to show you Steve's Birthday card! Made with Hobby Art Stamps, I stamped onto their watercolour card and coloured the scene with a mix of Zig clean colour markers and Distress inks using a waterbrush. I added a bit of sparkle to the head feathers using a clear spectrum noir sparkle pen and added shine to the beak and eyes with a clear gelly roll glaze pen. The base card was stamped using lucky clover distress oxide ink.
Here in Nottingham, Duck is a term of endearment, and Steve loves ducks, so this set of stamps was a must-have!  
Short and sweet from me I'm afraid as I need to get to bed. Looking forward to some crafty time during half term and some time to visit blog land too. Just five more days at work before half term starts.
Thanks for all your lovely comments and I hope you have had a fab weekend x

February at Stamping Sensations

Good morning, It's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we are looking for

********Anything with Flowers********

As the title suggest we would love to see your floral creations. I am sure you will come up with lots of beautiful floral designs.

My Card this month is a beautiful Iris from our lovely sponsor, Bev at Bee Crafty. I coloured the stamp with memento inks in Paris Dusk and Cottage ivy. I then dragged colour and added a little extra with a water brush. I also added a little yellow and orange zig cleancolor marker. The background was stamped (Hobby Art stamps) and dusted with distress inks in bundled sage and tea dye.

Please can We remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image as the focal element of your artwork, not just a stamped sentiment or stamping in the background, this means:

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest

As I mentioned above our sponsor is Bev from Bee Crafty. She is offering the lucky winner £25 worth of gorgeous goodies from the Bee Crafty store! There are gorgeous stamps, stencils, inks and all sorts of other goodies just waiting to fall into your basket! Rather a lot fell into mine, I can tell you! If you didn't see it before here is a card made with more Bee Crafty Stamps that fit the theme. I LOVE that sentiment!

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the gorgeous designs from all my talented teamies! They really have made some outstanding cards this month! 

Thanks for looking!