A few cards

Well, I've had several requests for cards and had to just get on with them - mojo or no-mojo. I can't say I'm particularly thrilled with any of them, but I'm posting them any way, as I've nothing else at the moment.
The first one is a silver wedding card using Inkylicious stamps and silver embossing.

 

The second card is a Mo Manning Digi called 'I love it!'. I coloured it with promarkers and Used some MME papers behind it.

 

Not sure what happened to his hair - not the colour I wanted it to be!

Next we have a Penny black image, stamped for me by my good friend Jules and coloured with promarkers. I teamed it up with some Pink petticoat papers.

Finally we have some owls (one of my two magnolia stamps). I coloured the owls with promarkers, and did a bit of research on owl eye colour. Did you know that an owl with very dark eyes is normally active at night, an owl with yellow eyes is active during the day, and an owl with orange eyes is active at dawn and dusk? Unfortunately this lot look positively evil now! The papers here are MME also.
Thanks to those of you that wished me well on my course. I have to say I wasn't looking forward to it, but it was surprisingly very good, in that it was focused on the real world and will be useful too!
Well, thanks for looking, and if you see my mojo, please send it back to me pronto!

Made a start on Christmas

Well, I have finally managed a card that I'm happy with. It isn't brayered and it isn't CAS, and I gave up trying to think of something to fit a challenge this week and started the Christmas cards - a little early for me this year!

I used the Woodware Tipsy Tree set that I was introduced to by Chris at the Sir Stampalot  blog girl day last year, and fell in love with! Paper piecing works brilliantly with this set and I'm rather pleased with the colour combo - a new one for me on Christmas cards.  I got a bit carried away with my Faux stitching because I have just treated myself to a new very fine pen. I also used liberal amounts of Distress inks in tea dye and walnut stain.

Now, the good thing about paper piecing like this is that you get two for the price of one, so here is the other one.

More stitching on this one too, along with some old and rather temperamental stickles that needs replacing, hence the blobby blobs! I was rather pleased that I could use up some scraps of paper in such an economical way.
Life at work is very busy already, so I'm going to be a bit hit and miss leaving comments, apart from on the stampalot challenge blog for a bit. I am attending a course tomorrow on 'Middle Leadership' that I think will require me to do some extra activities over and above my regular teaching. I'm just hoping I can get my head around it all - especially after lunch on Friday afternoon!
Thanks for looking!

Creative in the Kitchen

Well, the mojo is still a bit lacking, so I've stopped looking at the craft table and made a few cakes. This first lot I made last week, and they are Peach and Basil Muffins. I know it sounds a bit odd, but the flavours work brilliantly together. It is a great way to use up those peaches and nectarines that go from solid to overripe in a few hours, too!

This weekend they look a bit less healthy. First up we have the Mocha Cupcake...

That is a mini chocolate finger on the top. Now I'm normally not thrilled by chocolate cake, but with the light coffee frosting I found them very tasty! I need to have another go at the frosting, as although it tasted great it looked a bit dodgy! Finally we have the apple and cinnamon cupcake...

This one has a lovely light golden sponge made with light brown sugar, cinnamon, and grated apples from our Bramley apple tree in the garden. It is topped with honey and cinnamon flavoured frosting.
I've finished off the afternoon by watching Barbara Gray, and I feel a few ideas coming on now! Hopefully I'll be back with a card or two before too long. Thanks for looking (Wish you could smell them too!)

Flowers and swirls at Allsorts

Well, I was wondering if I would make it this week! I am a bit lacking in the mojo department and didn't know what to do for this week's Allsorts, where the theme is flowers and swirls. Then I remembered a card that I made in the summer and didn't blog. Here it is:

I'm just hoping that embossed background is swirly enough! The sweet Pea stamp is an old one from Stampourium (no longer available, I'm afraid - about 14 years old!) I used distress inks to colour the sweet peas. The background is stamped with Hero Arts Antique flower background and the gold embossed leafy swirl is from Inkylicious. The flowers are a mini poinsettia die from Marrianne designs. They make a rather good clematis I think! Here is a close up of my crackle background.

Thanks for stopping by and your comments are much appreciated!  Hopefully I will find my mojo soon!

Green and Blue

Just a very quick post this evening. Thanks so much for all your well wishes for the new term! I have a lovely new class (if a little lively) who are very excited to be back at school. I am working with a wonderful TA too, who is very skilled and an asset to our classroom. Some sunshine at playtime wouldn't go amiss, but apart from that it's great!
The card is my entry for this week's Allsorts challenge where the theme is Green and Blue. Stamps are from Hero Arts, Paper Artsy and Crafty individuals, and all inks are distress inks - bundled sage, pine needles and broken china. I used a spellbinders label die cut in half for the hinges. Have a great rest of the week, and I'll hopefully manage another post at the weekend.
Thanks for looking!

Quiet Reflection

This week seems to have raced by, with several trips into school and planning and prep very much in hand. We did manage a day out on Tuesday though, to Old Moor, an RSPB reserve in South Yorkshire. It was a mostly dry day, but the sun didn't show itself much. The dull day didn't lend itself to detailed photos of birds, but I enjoyed trying to capture a few reflections.

This young heron posed perfectly for us.

A tufted duck...

 clouds reflected in water...

and a great kingfisher perch with no kingfisher, but a couple of ducks in the background!

Finally there was a great crested grebe that was looking at us looking at him.
It was a very peaceful, restful and calming day. I hope to capture a little of this atmosphere in a card soon. Thanks for looking!

Freebie Fridays at Sir Stampalot!

Sir Stampalot are promoting a new weekly feature, starting tomorrow. It’ll be called ‘Freebie Friday’ and will be sent via their email newsletter, so if you want to join in, you’ll need to sign up for the newsletter before end of day, today !

Follow  this link

Alternatively, you can go to the Sir Stampalot web site and sign up at the "Stay in Touch"  "Sign up to Smudges" link on the left hand side of the home page.

It's a frame up at Sir Stampalot!

Hi there! This morning sees the launch of the latest challenge at Sir Stampalot. Our lovely sponsors at Sir Stampalot have provided us with a wonderful prize this month, and here it is.

Gorgeous stash isn't it? 

Our theme this month is 'It's a frame up!' and we want to see a frame on your project - not just a border, but a frame 'feature'. Here is mine.

The papers are from My mind's eye - the Stella and Rose collection. The scalloped base card was stamped with Hero Arts old french writing and antique linen distress ink. The frame around the flower was cut using labels 18 , classic square and standard circle nesties. The flower is a magnolia stamp, coloured with promarkers and layered up to create a 3d image. 

I do hope you will join in this month. Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous makes from the DT. Thanks for looking!

Less is More - take three challenges

I had a session getting very inky last night and came up with two cards for this week's Less is More challenge. I selected the following three challenges:
Three Squares (Week 4)
Use ink (week 28) - I swiped distress ink across my craft mat and sprayed with Iridescent gold glimmer mist before laying my paper on top
Embossing (week 15) - I stamped in black and heat embossed in clear. I also dry embossed borders across both cards.

Both sets of squares came from the same sheet. The colours I used were Mustard seed, Worn lipstick, Broken china and Spiced marmalade. I had forgotten how vibrant these colours were, and had hardly used the worn lipstick and Spiced marmalade.
I haven't added a sentiment, because I will use them as and when. I suppose I didn't need to mat them onto the black metallic card, but it made it easier to get them straight that way. The squares on the stamp are not quite equal in size!
thanks for looking!

Photos from my holiday

Well, I've been back from holiday for 3 weeks and have realised I haven't shared many photos with you, so I'll do a quick post today and then maybe share some cards with you tomorrow.
Whilst in Suffolk we visited Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, and got up close to some beautiful birds of prey. There was the Red Kite...

and the Buzzard...

and so many owls!

Great Grey owls,

Eagle owls,

barn owls

and spectacled owls, that have the most beautiful soft hoot you could imagine. Thanks for looking!

Brayer or dusters?

I know there are lots of  people who prefer either dusters or brayers, but I have to say I love both and have no particular preference. I love the way I can create shafts of light in woodland using a brayer, like these two examples a la Barbara Gray, but inspired by Crafty Linby's cards here.

For the first I used the Clarity silver birch and 2 sizes of Birch leaves with big and juicy waterfall. The sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse.

For the second, I used the same stamps as above, but also added two Lavinia ferns. The ink was Adirondack Butterscotch, Lettuce, Meadow and Bottle. Both examples were done on Silk Art card.

However, I also love the versatility of Ink Dusters with which I find I can create softer landscapes and add patches of colour and shading. I've had another play with my ink dusters and 'flight of dreams' stamps from Inkylicious, using my Creole Spice Kaleidacolor ink pad.

I am entering this card into this week's Allsorts challenge where the theme is 'You've been Framed'.  

I've also had another go at a beach scene, this time trying for a more sunset/ evening feel - I don't know how successfully though!

 I used a mixture of Big and Juicy soothing sunset, Memento desert sand and rich cocoa, and a touch or two of walnut stain and dusty concord distress inks. I used the Seascape memories and essential grasses stamps (Inkylicious). I used white gel pen to add a few little highlights where the sun is catching the water. The lovely little shells on the base card are also from the seascape memories set, stamped in chalk ink and brilliance inks. I'm entering this card into the latest challenge at Stamping for the Weekend where the theme is holidays.

So, there is definitely room in my crafting world for both brayers and dusters. Thanks for looking!

A lovely day

Yesterday Meg and I went to another Blog Girl day at Sir Stampalot. We met some lovely new people like Nikki, Lynn, and Tracy and really got to grips with our brayers, led of course by the lovely Brenda. Here are a few of my cards.

It is always lovely to meet up and enjoy a bit of social crafting whilst developing those skills, and trying new things. Thanks for a fabulous day!