Rudolf day for June

Back in May I got this gorgeous birthday card from my lovely friend Lesley, using a stamp from Honey Doo Crafts, a company that I hadn't really looked at before...When I did I spent quite a bit!!!
One of the stamps I bought was this one, which I have used to create three cards for Scrappy Mo's Rudolf days this month.
First up I used wow brass embossing powder on burgundy card...

Next up I tried it with flutter glu and flake...

Finally I tried flitter glu and flake again, but managed to get a smudge of something on the card and it looked a mess. I decided to cover it in different colour sprays including sparkly ones to cover the mess and create this one...

A reasonable save I think ;) Note to self - flitter glu and flake gives good resist with colour sprays like dylusions!
Do pop over to Scrappy Mo's and take a look at the fab inspiration and prize. Not sure if I will manage to join in next month  - might be without computer (still on XP here), but I will try and do extra for August if I don't join in.
I will leave you with a few photos of the birds in my garden.

 Goldfinches...

 Love this one!!!

 A great tit...

 and a very noisy baby starling taken by Meg - he was so loud he woke her up!
Thanks for looking.

Father's Day cards

I am sorry I haven't been around blog land much this week. It is report writing season and I need to get them done by next weekend, so I will be back soon. I have two cards to share with you today. One is for my dad and one is for Steve from Meg. Meg normally makes her own, but she has had three A level exams this week, so that is what she has been concentrating on.
First up is Steve's card...

For this one I used stamps from Inky Doodles . I made a little scene with my ink dusters then stamped the ducks ( On the Riverbank set), rushes, leaves (woodland walk set) and the boardwalk (Great outdoors set). Two of thses sets were purchases from Stamp Magic earlier in the month. I coloured the foreground detail with promarkers. The base card was stamped with fern leaves from Inkylicious in cracked pistachio.
My second card is a little watercoloured scene for my Dad

For this one I used Hobby Art stamps - the Harbour Scene-it set and coloured it with Aquamarkers - I haven't used mine in ages, but always tend to reach for them when I use Hobby Art stamps.
As I have used stamps I am entering my cards into the Allsorts challenge this week, and also My ducks have wings so I am entering them into the Penny Black and More Challenge where the theme is wings. I have made a third Father's day card for Steve's Dad (His 95th father's day) but I have made a very similar one for a magazine article that won't be out until August, so I will share it then!
Thanks for looking!

Playing with goodies from Doncaster

 When I was at Doncaster last week I bought several stamps from Visible Image. I needed a card for a colleague who plays the drums, so I pressed this one into use straight away, along with the sentiment from Inkylicious. I created the background by using a technique that I learned from Jean on the BJ Crafts stall.
I used a mixture of silkies and stencil paints applied with cut and dry and thinned a little with Magic-Blend blending solution (all from Imagination crafts). I then put the bubblicious stencil (Inkylicious)over the top and secured with stencil tape. I used a baby wipe to remove some of the silkies and stencil paint before rubbing over a little sparkle medium with the cut and dry. This technique requires good smooth card stock that will stand being rubbed with a baby wipe (300+gsm) and the right sort of baby wipes (Huggies don't work - economy Sainsburys ones do). Finally I stamped and heat embossed the Drummer (Visible Image) in black

Here is a closer view from an angle to show the sparkle bubbles a bit more clearly. It is definitely a technique I will try again. I am looking forward to having to time to try some other techniques I saw, like dylusions on shaving foam, but I have 28 more reports to write first!
Thanks for looking!

June Challenge at Stamping Sensations

Good morning! This is the first Sunday of the month and so time for a new challenge over at Stamping Sensations. This month our theme is........................

******Dies and Punches******

We still need to see a stamped element but this can be combined with whatever dies and punches you would like to use.
 Here is my card

The flower stamp is from Little Claires and the sentiment is from Inkylicious. I stamped the background with the inkylicious worn paint background. The dies are from Marianne designs and spellbinders. The inks are Adirondack Eggplant and Pool. I coloured the flower with promarkers and added colour to the card and die cuts with my ink dusters.

We have a fabulous prize from.............

Tonic Studios who are this months sponsor are synonymous with quality and precision cutting products from scissors to punches, guillotines to dies. During the last year they have extended their range of products to high quality clear stamps  and very recently released their own design papers. Their products are available from many High Street craft stores and frequently feature on Create and Craft TV. And here is a photo of that prize:

 

What an amazing prize it is! As this goes live I will be getting ready to set off to Doncaster to Stamp Magic, a show I really love! 

Hope you get the chance to join in with our Challenge this month. Please pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the wonderful inspiration created by my fab teamies!

Thanks for looking!

Stamp Magic Time!

So who is going to Doncaster to Stamp Magic tomorrow? I will be there, but on my own as Lynne is not able to visit this time, and Meg is deep in revision as her A levels start on Monday. I have already made my shopping list and am very excited to see some different exhibitors this time. I will of course be visiting the stalls of all my favourites like Inkylicious,  Inky Doodles and Little Claire.
No doubt I will bump into some lovely friends. Drop me an email if you fancy saying hello.
My card is made using Inky Doodles stamps, promarkers and ink dusters.
Thanks for looking!