Happy New Year and a few favourites

So here we are approaching 2020. I am looking forward to starting the new year with crafting, karate, walking, cooking and enjoying nature at the top of my list of things to do.  I thought I would take the opportunity to share a few of my favourite crafty projects with you. It is a very quick and randomly selected top ten, that If I looked again I would probably change, lol.

 First up is one of my favourite Inkylicious tree stamps and that XL spatter,

 Next is a tree from Bee Crafty and that gorgeous sentiment. I made this after a walk in the woods when I'd decided that I was going to resign, so holds a special place in my heart!

 I invested in many hare stamps this year, but this was my first and I loved how well it worked on that background.

 More inkylicious stamps on this one. The wolves are great for male cards.

 This was my first foray into candle decorating, which ultimately led to joining Crafty individuals DT and craft fairs and tables, sales and lots of fun!  

 I've enjoyed having the time to work on my colouring skills, like this 'no-line' Hobby Art christmas wreath coloured with zig clean colour real brush markers.

 Whilst we are on the subject of Hobby Art, this little owl had to be on here somewhere. He flew off to a friend in Japan, and is going to be framed. A little owl is not just for Christmas!!! 😂

 My Crafty individuals robin and kingfisher candles were popular too.

 Here's more of my favourite inkylicious stamps on Meg's christmas card,

and finally this is the plaque I made for my lovely friend Lynne (we met in about 2002 or 3 when we taught together...I think we were boh dragons, lol!)
Thank you all for your continued crafty friendships and support.  I really appreciate each and every one of your comments and I look forward to visiting you all in 2020 to see more of your wonderful creations.
                                   Happy New Year! 

The craft fair and a gift

On Sunday I had a stall with my lovely friend Lynne at the little garden centre at our local park. I thought you might like to see some photos of the stall.

Lynne makes beaded jewellery and her earrings and bracelets are so beautiful.

  

We had a lovely time chatting and people and dog watching. There were some lovely pooches who came in after their run around the park so their owners could warm up and browse with a cuppa. There were some lovely customers too.

There is a glimpse of my Christmas Gift at the top of this photo. Here is a better photo of it.

I've made 3 of these since July, one hanging one and two on stands. This one is now going to be a gift for a former colleague for Christmas, lol. I used the Pink ink dragon and the bee crafty sentiment and mdf. I made the first back in August and shared it on Pink inkers facebook page, and am happy to say that Pink ink workshops use mdf from Bee Crafty now 😁.
As this is a Christmas Gift, I am entering it at Allsorts this week, as that is their theme. I am also going to enter it at Try it on Tuesday, where the theme is 'inspired by a song or carol'. My Song would be 'Puff the Magic Dragon'.
Thanks so much for all the positive vibes, as they certainly worked. Our takings amounted to more than the years insurance, the table fee and left me with a little spending money too. We are very grateful to all of the lovely customers who bought our work and the lovely comments we received. It was a great day.
Thanks for looking x

Candles! (Tell me if I am boring you!)

 

Confession time - I've got a bit addicted to decorating candles! All have been stamped onto tissue paper in versafine ink and coloured with Zig real brush pens. The first one was my first attempt before I found out about using greaseproof to stop it from melting and dripping everywhere! It is a Lesia Zgharda stamp.

 Next is the gorgeous Happy Cat from Crafty Individuals, this time as a grey cat.

 The Hobby Art little owl also fits nicely onto a 15cm candle.

 

I had a special request for some Westie candles, so I bought this hunkydory stamp, and made two which sold immediately. This was a vanilla scented candle from the range, measuring about 12 cm.

 Here is another Crafty individuals stamp. Jean Hardy inspired me to use this one and will be on Hochanda demoing this on Tuesday 3rd December at 12pm and 4pm. Do tune in and check out their fabulous stamps! For those of you on Facebook there is also a new private group for fans of Crafty Individuals products where we can share our lovely crafty makes.

Finally, here is the Pink Ink Hare on a 20cm candle with a few tiny drops of liquid pearls.
If you fancy having a go, I can recommend IKEA and the Range for candles.
Thanks for looking!

Animals at Penny Black and More

The September challenge at Penny Black and More is Animals, so a perfect opportunity to share an Elephant!

This beautiful stamp was from Pink Ink and one that I treated myself to with birthday money. I stamped it on a background smooshed with Distress oxide inks then added some colour to the elephant with watercolour pens. I bleached the colour from the tusks and added some liquid pearls. This stamp is huge, filling an A5 card, but is very good quality and stamps beautifully with either a block (I used a cuttlebug plate!) or a stamp platform.
Thanks for looking!

A Turtley beautiful Stamp for mid month inspiration

Here is my mid month inspiration for Stamping Sensations where the theme is 'Show your true colours'. My favourite colours are green, blue and purple. The stamp is from Pink Ink designs and was a birthday present from my hubby (the sort you buy yourself then they wrap up 😆). Isn't he beautiful? I created the background by smooshing Distress oxide inks, before stamping the turtle and colouring it with Zig clean colour markers. I used an inkylicious twinchie splatter stamp all around the edge and to create a little detail in the water and a little white gel pen on the turtle's shell.
 You still have plenty of time to enter the challenge, so do pop over to the challenge blog for more inspiration. Don't forget to check your entry against the challenge rules!
Thanks for looking!

A dragon for Allsorts

The Challenge over at Allsorts this week is Fantasy World, so a perfect opportunity to share this gorgeous Dragon stamp from Pink Ink. I stamped it on watercolour paper and coloured it with brushos and zig brush pens. I also used some gold and blue metalic sprays to splatter the background before adding lots of dots of glitter glue and liquid pearls. I have seen so many beautiful cards made with this stamp and am looking forward to colouring it in lots of different ways. Seven weeks left at work and then I hope I will get chance to play with it some more.
Thanks for looking!
EDIT: Delighted to say that I won at Allsorts! 😁

March at Stamping Sensations

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

****Somewhere over the Rainbow****

As the title suggest we would love to see your hand stamped creations that reflect that song or the colours of a rainbow. I am sure you will come up with lots of fabulous designs.

My first card this month features gorgeous teasel stamps from Woodware. I created the background with Distress Oxide Inks on to a craft mat, spritzing with water, then laying over a piece of watercolour card. Once it was dry, I stamped with Versafine Clair in Nocturne.The sentiment is from Crafty Individuals, and is much straighter IRL than it appears in this photo!

 My second card was a respray and second 'dip' onto the same craft mat. I stamped the gorgeous Pink Ink Design hare onto the background once dry, along with the grasses and teasels from the same set. I stamped it a second time onto some smooth white card, cutting out and matting into place with a little 3d glue just under the ears. I am very impressed with the quality of these gorgeous stamps and I definitely need more!
Our prize this month is a selection of fabulous dies, which you can find more details of on the challenge blog.

Please ensure you check our challenge rules before entering, it may save you embarrassment and make sure your entry receives comments from the team and is entered into the prize draw. We run our challenge for fun in our spare time. It is your responsibility if entering to make sure you check our challenge rules. It is not our responsibility to read your posts and remind you if you fail to comply. If you do not follow the rules we will simply ignore your entry.

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 rainbow cards this month! 

Thanks for looking!