A couple of Butterflies

I needed a couple of cards and the Bigz butterfly from Inkylicious had been on my desk for a few days waiting to be inked up, so here is the result. I ink dusted and stamped the backgrounds with Tiny Text onto Silk Art card. For the first card I used bundled sage and dried marigold. To colour the butterfly I used the same colours of Distress ink marker and also tumbled glass.

My second card used the spring set of distress inks (Peacock feathers, Shaded lilac and Squeezed lemonade). For both I used the Weathered Wood Distress marker to make a shadow around the edge of the butterfly, blending the edge with a water brush. Once it was dry I added a few highlights with a Sakura clear stardust and a glaze pen. All stamps and inks are from Inkylicious.
Can't believe my luck that the Challenge this week at Allsorts is Butterflies so I am entering them there! I also used snippets to mat and layer with so I am skipping off to the snippet playground with them, and that has absolutely nothing to do with the mention of empty bottles! I am just back from a break in south Wales, so I am bringing some Welsh cakes with me. I'll be back with photos to share very soon. 
Thanks for looking!

More cards with Large Fennel

 

When I made my card for Stamping Sensations I didn't just stop at one. I made three cards using the stamp. These two are less colourful than he first. The top one has a background of Memento Elderberry, Bahama Blue and Grape Jelly blended with ink dusters. Once it was totally dry I stamped the image in Elderberry and embossed using one of the chameleon embossing powders (Unicorn) from Be Creative.

My Second card was made in the same way but this time I used Rich Cocoa and Bahama Blue inks and stamped the image in Espresso Truffle. I used one of the small fennel stamps on this one too. I added three strips of the narrowest Be Creative wonder tape and brushed with coordinating mica powders.

Thanks for looking  and for all your lovely comments.

August Challenge 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 our theme is

********Anything goes********

 I used my ink dusters to create the background above.  The stamp is called Large Fennel and is from Woodware and the inks were Memento Dandelion, Bahama Blue and Lilac Posies, oh yes, and Tuxedo black of course! The finishing touch is a few spots of glue and some beautiful blue/black glitter on the seedheads. The usual rules apply, you can enter up to three times, combine with other challenges, use any make of stamp......but can I please remind you we are a stamping challenge and stamping must be the focal/predominant element of your work. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not.
Our sponsors this month are Foil Play who have supplied a wonderful £35 voucher for us to offer to you.
 Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fantastic creations by my lovely teamies. There are some absolute stunners again this month! Hope you get the chance to join in and I'll look forward to seeing all your lovely creations!
Thanks for looking!

Hope I am not boring you!

As we finished the term, I took one last visit to the wildflower meadow on the allotment. I have become fascinated by the number of different types of poppies we have.

There are so many!

I particularly love the crinkly petals on this one.

Some have black crosses, white crosses or no markings in the middles.

The corn marigolds vary from white to deep yellow.

Oh yes, did I mention the poppies, lol?

The bees love them too!

I love how the blue cornflowers contrast so well with the poppies...

and the corn marigolds do too!

These poppies even have black and white markings in the middle!

I am sure I must be boring you now!

This, below, is the only flower I am not sure what it is... anyone know?

Here are a couple of lovely blue cornflowers...

And one last look before September...

I promise that is it! Thanks for your patience and indulging my latest photographic obsession, lol! In all seriousness, if you have some land you don't know what to do with, get a bag of wildflower mix and throw it down! This cost us £8 from Wilkos and has been truly amazing! It has also been alive with bees for a good month, so we are happy to have done our bit for the environment too!
Thanks for looking!

A couple of little scenes

My Brother-in-Law celebrated his birthday recently and it was the perfect opportunity to use my new inkylicious stamps, Reflections-Black Forest and Mini branches twigs. You can find them on the recently added pages of the Inkylicious website. All stamps are from Inkylicious. I dusted with memento tuxedo black, dandelion and canteloupe inks and Fossilised Amber Distress ink. Final touched were added with a white and a stardust clear sakura pen. 

 My second card is the one that I made Steve for our wedding anniversary, This lovely harbour scene is a hobby Art Rubber cling stamp I simply stamped using my big and juicy waterfall pad and then spread some colour using a waterbrush. I then added some fossilised amber DI for the beach and roof tops. The background is old wood floor from inkylicious, stamped in memento rich cocoa and dusted with tea dye DI. The sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse.
This does remind me of places along the Yorkshire coast, like Staithes and Robin Hood's Bay...Where does it remind you of? Well we finally broke up from School on Tuesday and I have been busy finishing a magazine commission since then. As this was christmas themed I have decided to not join in with Rudolf day this month and do extra for next month. My head is definitely not in Christmas mode, lol! I now intend having some serious R&R for a couple of weeks, which will definitely involve visiting some blogs and some crafting and colouring.
Thanks for looking!

Another card using Dora's Digis

Whoops! I just realised I should have posted this on Tuesday! I had it all prepared then didn't get any further!  To make my 7x7" card I used Be Creative papers and markers. I printed this lovely image (one of the birds reversed) on to smooth white card stock before colouring in and adding sky, hills and grasses with  ink dusters and inkylicious stamps. Dora and I have been wondering what chicks they are and the nearest we have come up with are Stone Curlews. I love their quirkiness and those cute little wings! You can find Dora's Digis here on her blog.

Sorry I haven't been around much. I have been quite busy at school (still 2 more days before we break up!) but there is light at the end of the tunnel! Steve's dad is now out of hospital and recovering nicely at home. His warden aided complex has 'chocolate and chat' in the lounge most evenings and he ventured down the corridor to join his friends on Friday. He is still a bit wobbly, but coming along nicely.
Meg went camping with some old friends for a few days and had a great time...unfortunately so did the insects that bit her, in fact it looks like they had more of a party than she did! Bless her, she has become very tasty to the insect world in the past couple of years.
Right, I'd better go and catch up with my DT commenting. Once I have done that and got my latest magazine article finished I will be in blog land a little more, hopefully!
Thanks for looking!

Candy Winner!

Thanks so much for all the wonderful comment and hello and welcome to all my new followers. I am so sorry I can't send you all a little something, and I do hope you will enjoy your visits here.
On to Business - We have a winner!

This is Sue T! Please drop me an email (sallyholmes66@virginmedia.com) and let me know your postal addy and I will get your prize in the post as soon as I can!
Thanks again everyone!

Follower Blog Candy!

This candy is now closed.
Once upon a time I had 300 followers and then Blogger decided to have a sort out and I lost 22 of them... It has taken a few months, but I am back to 301 followers so it is time to celebrate! It has been a lovely 7 1/2 years since I started my blog, and this will be my 961st post. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has left me a comment or visited during that time. I truly appreciate your kindness. Onto the prize. I have selected most of the stamps I used for one of my most popular Christmas cards on Pinterest. This was something else to celebrate...

This card that I made for Meg has been pinned over 2200 times! I have included a few extras and will continue to add to the prize as I go. I am going to keep it open for a month for all my followers (Blogger and Bloglovin') Please feel free to share on your side bars once you have entered by putting your name and blog on Mr Linky. 

Thanks for looking and all the best!

Some more Samples for Be Creative

Here are some cards made with the Be Creative paper pads for Gordon and Justin's appearances on Hochanda a little while ago. For the first I used a Digi from Hero Arts (I also have this as a clear stamp and a red rubber wood mounted stamp, but the possibility of resizing the digi made it a must have as well!)  I coloured it with Be Creative alcohol markers, shaped it with spray 'm' boss, and mounted on a Nellie Snellen die cut. The border is a spellbinders die and the gems are also from Be Creative, coloured with an alcohol marker. I added some Be Creative glitter glue to the butterfly too.

For my second card I used a stamp from Inkylicious over some card washed with Distress inks and water. I added a skeleton leaf and popped them on the front of a card covered in paper from the Be Creative Nature's portrait pad.

My final card was made with the time flies pad and a Digi from Digistamp boutique, again coloured with alcohol markers. The sentiment was stamped then placed into the flattened bottle cap before mounting with 3d glue gel.All Be Creative products are available from Once Upon a Stamp. You can find their website here.
Sorry I haven't been in blog land much recently. There has been lots happening at work and Steve's Dad has been in hospital all week after a fall caused by very low blood pressure. He had a nasty knock to the head, but no broken bones, and after transferring him to another hospital he had a pacemaker fitted on Friday...not bad going for a 95 year old, and to be honest he seems more lively now than he has in months! He should be home by the middle of next week, but is still a bit wobbly walking.
I will leave you with a photo or two of our wildflower meadow in the allotment at work. So pleased it came into flower just as we were judged for the Nottingham in Bloom competition!

Thanks for looking! 

One for the boys

The Challenge this week at Allsorts is 'One for the boys'. I made a card for a colleague who was doing a sponsored bike ride and whose birthday is next week, and it definitely fit the bill! I didn't have a cyclist stamp so I found a clip art silhouette and popped it in the middle of some smooth white printing card. I then used ink dusters, Inkylicious stamps and mountain valley stencils to create a little scene around him. I am quite pleased with the result!
A huge welcome to my 16 new followers! To all my followers, thanks for your support and kind comments.
Before I go I want to share some photos from a walk last weekend. We walked around the Teversal Trails. It is almost five miles and at this time of year there are plenty of orchids around, as well as other wild flowers... Take a look...

Hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for looking!

July 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 our theme is

********Anything goes with a stamp and ribbons********

 I used my ink dusters to create the scene above.  All stamps are from Inkylicious and the inks were Memento Dandelion, Cantaloupe and Rosebud, oh yes, and Tuxedo black of course! The finishing touch is a luxurious black satin ribbon The usual rules apply, you can enter up to three times, combine with other challenges, use any make of stamp......but can I please remind you we are a stamping challenge and stamping must be the focal/predominant element of your work. 
Our sponsors this month are Crafty Ribbons who have supplied this wonderful prize for us to offer to you.
 

 Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fantastic creations by my lovely teamies. Also please say a big welcome to our new Teamie, Marlies. There are some stunning DT cards again this month! Hope you get the chance to join in and I'll look forward to seeing all your lovely creations!
Oh, yes, and if you aren't too busy today do try and catch one of the Be Creative shows on Hochanda - they have some great gadgets to help with all your crafting!