My year in Cards

Hi there! Brenda has posted her favourite cards from this year and I so enjoyed looking at them I decided to do the same. I won't put detailed information, just the make of stamps. I did enjoy reminding myself of what I had made this year. Here we go then...
January has to be Steve's Birthday Card using Inkylicious stamps.

For February I have chosen the valentine card I made using Inkylicious stamps.

March's card is a rainbow through the woods, again using Inkylicious stamps!

April had to be Meg's birthday card, using Janie Burnet-Bleach's Oliver owl stamp from Hobby Art.

 

For May I chose the monochrome (with a spot of red) Christmas cards that I made for Rudolf day using Inkylicious stamps.

 June's card is a moonlit fishing scene using inkylicious stamps.

 July's card is a hobby art cottage scene with some wheat on Kraft card. 

 August had to be a Pembrokeshire-inspired Hobby art coastal scene.

 September was a Hobby Art harbour scene.

October 's card was Inkylicious Autumn Leaves (and inkylicious stencil)

 November was a bit of Delft inspired real estate using Inkylicious stamps.

 And December was a bare snowy tree from Inkylicious!

Just so you know, I do own more than two makes of stamp, lol, but these are my favourites.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and truly wonderful 2018. I'm off to cook up a global inspired buffet for tonight and a very British Roast Dinner with massive amounts of veg for tomorrow for 8 of us 😁
Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

 Just popping in to Blogland to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Here are a few last minute Christmas cards - the first two made with Hobby Art stamps and the third with Inkylicious stamps. Tartan paper is from Craftwork Cards.

 I've started 'domestic godessing' with home made bread, butternut squash soup,  a bran loaf, lemon drizzle cakes and mince pies so far. Gammon joint will go on to cook very soon.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year.
I know you are all aware of my love of wildlife, and having been deeply moved by Blue Planet 2, I am making the decision to not buy any more glitter or glitter glue until a biodegradable alternative comes on the market. I will also not buy plastic coated double sided tape, sequins and buttons etc made of plastic. Where possible I will recycle. I am now faced with the quandary of whether to use any of the above that is already in my stash... Hope I can encourage others to start thinking about crafting a little more greenly in 2018.
Have a good one xxx

Cold and frosty colours

The Current challenge at Allsorts is to use cold and frosty colours. I have been playing with Bare Trees 3 from Inkylicious for a couple of cards and had just created this little scene when the theme popped up.
Here is another card made with the same tree, but in warmer tones and with a Card-io sentiment.

The Inkylicious set comes with two trees, speckles and grass and will be great for any season - I'm just in winter mode at the moment!
Sorry it is so short and sweet after no posts for a fortnight. Meg and Grant have just arrived home for 3 weeks and last week was Panto week at school. I've been all out completing assessment data, but only 4 days left to go at work so the end is in sight!
Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments!

December at Stamping Sensations

 

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

********Winter Trees and Flowers********

There is plenty of scope here and I am sure many of you will find the theme fits in very nicely with your Christmas card making, so we look forward to seeing what you create. I have focused on Christmas cards using stamps from inkylicious and techniques that Deby and Emma have been demonstrating recently. I used silk art card and Tea Dye distress ink on the first card and the second was smooth stamping card and the Fruitcake Kaleidacolor ink pad. the base card was stamped with a Crafty Individuals snowflake.The snowflake is a lawn fawn die.

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

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest

On to our prize and this month. We have a super collection of crafting goodies from Stix 2 plus another small prize from them for a second winner.

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the gorgeous creations from my multi talented teamies, and I look forward to visiting your great entries!

Thanks for looking! 

A robin is not just for Christmas!

Hi there! I know! Two posts in one day! I am here to share a card I made with a gorgeous new stamp from Crafty Individuals. Dora had drawn the branch as part of a card she was sending to Jean at Crafty Individuals, and Jean asked if they could use it as part of a stamp along with their own robin and flowers. In return she sent Dora some of the stamps and I was lucky to receive one. I stamped it on watercolour card and coloured it with zig clean colour markers. I love Robins and see them all year round so decided to go with the blossom on the stamp and make it into a Spring card. I think this robin will be singing his heart out  to impress his mate! Well done Dora and a big thank you to Jean for being so generous. You can find the stamp here on Crafty Individuals website.
Thanks for looking!

November Rudolf day

As it is the last Rudolf day this year I've gone all out with four cards to share with you. The first two feature Inkylicious stamps. This first is a matted and layered version of one I did last month, using fluffy puffy stuff for the snow and glitter around the edge of the base card.

 The second card was made using the techniques shown by Emma in the video for the winter snow pines kit.

 My next two cards feature Hobby Art stamps. The top one is on silk art card with an ink dusted background and coloured with Zig clean color markers. The one below is on smooth white card and is coloured with promarkers before coating in lashings of glitter 😁

Apart from Christmas cards I haven't even thought about Christmas yet. Now Steve has retired he may well have a lot of errands to run very soon! 😉
Do pop over to Scrappy Mo's blog and check out the Rudolf Day challenge. Thanks for looking and I hope your Christmas preparation is going better than mine!

A glittery Robin for Allsorts

I coloured this Hobby Art Robin and Ivy a while ago but hadn't thought what to do with them. they are stamped on watercolour card and coloured with zig clean colour markers I've got round to making them into a card this morning. 

The challenge at Allsorts this week is to use glitter...I've had one or two serious glitter incidents recently, so went for glitter glue instead, lol!It is round the edges of the Kraft card and also in the ivy leaves and the snowy hills in the background.
I will leave you with a photo of our resident robin from my garden.
 
Thanks for looking!

A lakeside cabin I want to live in

I've decided I want to relocate to this little cabin! It looks very peaceful and I bet they get all sorts of wildlife in the garden. These are the new Lakeside cabin and Lakeside boat stamps from inkylicious in two colourways on watercolour card. It is really easy to line them up with a stamping platform. I used my Stampers Friend from Be Creative. The first scene is stamped in memento Paris dusk and coloured with blueprint sketch distress ink using a waterbrush. I started off thinking Delftware then added some glitter to give it a frosty feel

My second was stamped in Memento Rich cocoa and coloured with vintage sepia distress ink. All of the stamps and  inks can be found on the Inkylicious Website.
Thanks for looking! 

November at Stamping Sensations

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

********One Layer Christmas Cards********

By one layer we mean your artwork must be stamped directly onto the base card, definitely no matting and layering. 
I've gone for a CAS design on both my cards. I started by laying a strip of masking tape across the card. I then stamped and dusted a little ink either side of it. On the first card I used Inkylicious Berry Branches and added 4 colours of liquid pearls and glitter glue. Once the tape was removed I stamped the Inkylicious sentiment along the space.
My second card is a very similar design using stamps from the Inkylicious winter spruce set. These cards take about 5 minutes to stamp and about 20 to dry, lol!

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

Stamping must be the central point of attention and interest

On to our prize and this month. We have a super Tote Bag collection from Tattered Lace plus another small prize from them for a second winner.

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the gorgeous creations from my multi talented teamies, and I look forward to visiting your great entries!

Thanks for looking! 

More shades of Autumn - a few photos

 On our last day of our short break in Wales we went to Pistyll Rhaeadr, the highest single drop waterfall in Britain. We parked by the Tea rooms at the bottom and climbed the steep path to the top of the falls. It doesn't take too long, bit I was glad of my monopod /walking pole as it was quite slippery in places. I chose three photos from the walk and have put them in order of my own preference. I love the contrasts on this first one.

 The second is the view of the Waterfall from the other side of the valley. I stood just to the right of where the water falls from.

This is looking in the other direction down the Valley. The bracken definitely makes the grass look greener.

 Now I don't post many photos of me, but as someone who really doesn't like heights I was very proud of myself standing upright just there! That water to my left is the edge of the waterfall.

                                
                    
Thanks for looking!

Autumn leaves

Here are a couple of cards made with some new stamps from inkylicious. The stamps are called Autumn Leaves and come as one large stamp in one set and three smaller stamps in the other set. For my first card I stamped the leaves and coloured with Zig clean colour markers before cutting them out and covering with Modpodge. I used one of the new inkylicious stencils in the background and attached the leaves with 3d glue.

The second card was stamped and heat embossed using brass embossing powder over an inky dylusions panel.
There is plenty of inspiration for Autumn themed cards out of doors at the moment and the sycamores are particularly colourful this year.

These photos were taken near Lake Vyrnwy yesterday. The colours were amazing! Thanks for looking!

Rudolf day for October

 Hi there! Sorry I haven't been around much! I'd intended to post a couple of cards after my visit to Doncaster, but it took a bit longer to get home than anticipated. To cut a long story short, I broke down quite dramatically (and expensively) outside the Dome and had to be towed home. We finally got our car back on Saturday. You don't realise how much you rely on the car until you are without it, and also how much longer it takes on public transport! Anyway here are my cards for this months Rudolf days. I used some of my goodies from Doncaster, a new stamp from Inkylicious called Evening walk. The snow on the first is fluffy puffy stuff, and the background is memento grey flannel ink.

The ink on the second card is Memento Paris Dusk and the snow is white gel pen and gellyroll star dust.My third card is something completely different. The sentiment is an inkylicious stamp, but the background is an Imagination Crafts stencil and sparkle medium over an inky dylusions background. It is very sparkly and the colour comes through the sparkle medium too!

 Do pop over to Scrappy Mo's Rudolf day challenge on her blog and join in the fun getting ready for Christmas in plenty of time! Theres some great inspiration from Mo and the DT too.
We had a lovely time at Stamp Magic, despite the car, and enjoyed meeting up with crafty friends. I don't normally have much luck with selfies, but for once I was quite pleased with this one which features 3 members of Stamping Sensations DT. I think you can tell how much we were enjoying ourselves from those smiles!

 

Thanks for looking!

A Pink Birthday

A dear friend bought me some beautiful floral layering stamps from Studio Light and a little while ago I made her Birthday card with them. It was a great opportunity to use my Stampers friend from Be Creative to line them up and I was very pleased with the accuracy I managed. I used memento inks. The sentiment is from Hobby Art. I added some spots of glitter glue, wanting it to look like dew...might have been better with glossy accents thinking about it now 😉
As it is Think Pink week at Allsorts, it was the perfect opportunity to post it. Lynne, Audrey and I are off to Stamp Magic tomorrow and will be enjoying a crafty moment or two this evening. Hope you have a wonderful weekend too!
Thanks for looking!

October at Stamping Sensations

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

********Autumn Glory********

So as the title suggest we would love to see all things Autumn, be it trees and flowers, Autumnal scenes or you may wish to use a favourite stamp and use all those lovely rich colours that we associate with this time of year. Our Sponsors this month are Stamp Addicts who manufacture their own branded rubber stamps which frequently feature on Hochanda TV as well as exhibiting at craft shows across the UK. It seemed only right that I used the scenic stamp set from Stamp Addicts for my first card. It is such a versatile stamp set and can be used for all different seasons. I have used it to make snowy scenes too. The leaf stamps are from Hobby Art and the sentiment is from Inkylicious. The extra leaves I stamped made another card, along with the lovely Autumn quote also from Hobby Art. All colouring was done with Distress markers and Zig clean color markers

 

Our lucky winner this month will receive a £25 store voucher. 

 Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork. You can enter up to three creations but 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 on third party hosts particularly Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Splitcoast. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the gorgeous creations from my multi talented teamies, and I look forward to visiting your great entries!

Thanks for looking! 

Rudolf day for September

Here is my Rudolf day card for this month. I have only managed one again I am afraid, so I will attempt to do three next month. Especially as I will have half term.Anyway, enough waffling. My card was made with a digi from Dora, which you can find on her blog here. Dora's digis are a delight to colour - I used alcohol markers to colour this one.
The papers are from Craftwork Cards and the snowflakes are a lawn fawn die. The ribbon is silver, not that you can tell in this light!
Do pop over to Mo's blog and take a look at the lovely creations from her and the Design Team
Thanks for looking!

Another Harbour and a thing with wings!

Here is another harbour scene using Hobby Art Stamps. Centre front is a cheeky seagull, keeping his eyes peeled for any unsuspecting passers-by with chips or an ice-cream! I used Lakeland Inktense pencils to colour it . The outer edge of the base card was stamped with Inkylicious splatter effect stamps and Bahama Blue memento ink. I also added a few blobs of Be Creative Teal Emerald glitter glue. With the seagull I think it qualifies for entry to Allsorts this week, where the theme is 'Things with Wings'.
Apologies that I haven't posted for two weeks. I came down with a very nasty cold last weekend and didn't feel like doing much for about four days. Feeling much better now though. Now Steve has retired there are lots of things he is doing around the house. We have just had a weekend of moving a single bed to his Dad's flat and a rather heavy double bed back to ours. Next I need to do a bit of rearranging of craft stuff so we can fit a keyboard in the front room. I may need a craft retreat once he starts sorting the loft!!!
Thanks for looking and I hope you have enjoyed some sunshine this weekend. I will be back next weekend with a new theme for Stamping Sensations and hopefully to join in this months Rudolf days before that!

Distress oxides!

Have you had a play with Distress oxides yet? I have just purchased the second set and I love them! It is so nice to have something so different to experiment with. Here are a few cards I have made with the backgrounds I have made. The first was done with a bit of smooshing and spattering. Stamps are from Hobby Art. I painted with the inks to add a bit of colour and also added a little glitter and pixie powder to highlight the plants. As this one used snippets left over from other cards I'm off (shamefacedly) to Miss Di's snippet playground with it. Hopefully they will remember me and let me in!

The butterfly card was made using blending with a sponge, then splattering with water, left over ink and glimmer mist, adding a touch of gold sparkle. The Butterfly is an inkylicious stamp.

Finally, this was a smooshed background splattered with water, then stamped over with regular Distress inks for the leaves. The border down each side is from Crafty individuals and the rest of the stamps are from Inkylicious. In all cases I stamped the main images with versafine black and for the first two I clear embossed them.
Sorry I have been a bit quiet in blog land. I am back at work and working on a magazine commission as well. I probably should have said no, but it all adds to spending money for Doncaster in October😁😁😁
Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments. I really do appreciate them all!