Early Christmas makes at Allsorts

Mervi is looking for some Early Christmas Makes at Allsorts this week where our sponsor is FlonzCraft and a huge apology to Leo as I didn't get quite as far as making another with one of his stamps, but you can still click on the link and check out his lovely Vintage inspired stamps which are excellent value for money.

I have been working on some DT cards using some of the newly released Stamp Addict stamps so this is a perfect opportunity to share some of them with you. All the stamps can be found n in the whats new section here.

The card above is not dissimilar to one I blogged a few weeks ago, fairly clean and simple but this time using the new White Christmas quote and a Stamp Addicts Poinsettia stamp from a couple of years ago but still available, I stamped and coloured the image a couple of times to decoupage and did some fancy stitching round the edge.

I have used the Festive Bouquet for my second card, stamping it six times to create a wreath affect, I used olive distress ink and embossed with detail clear. The sentiment is another from a set by Stamp Addicts matted onto some nestie circles and some red pearls.

Have a lovely weekend Peeps.

Party time

Part of the garden prepared for the party, we had literally yards if fabric bunting made by Zoe and draped it from the house to the gazebos and back again and just about every where really. Hubby asked when the Vicar was arriving as he said it looked like the annual Church Fete - fair point although I don't recall any alcohol there.

Hello Peeps, hope everyone had a good bank holiday weekend despite the abysmal weather here is the UK, quite a culture shock after our hols.

I know I promised a little health update before our holiday but time sort of got the better of me and as my Mojo still appears to be in the Med have nothing crafty to share so thought I would take the opportunity to let yo know how things went. Also I am sharing some photos of Azaria's 18th Birthday party which was the week before we went away, her Birthday is actually the end of this week, but as so many of the family were going to be on holiday this week we went for an earlier date to accommodate everyone and going out for a meal on the actual day.

So health matters and an explanation why my blog activities have been spasmodic in recent months. The positive is that I am so pleased to say the latest scans do not show any cancer in my neck now. But I am not totally in the clear as my PTH and Calcium levels are still very high which means something is still amiss and I am being referred to Addenbrooks for different scans on my chest as two of the Parathyroid glands have relocated there........I know that sounds crazy but apparently possible

And the calcium imbalance has created a couple of other problems, a stomach ulcer but thankfully that now seems under control and it's had a detrimental effect on my teeth leading to several roots needing to be removed as they were no longer strong enough to hold the crowns. Apart from that all is reasonably stable and I am hoping my Mojo reappears and I can get stuck into crafting again.

As you can see Labs get everywhere

Daisy ready for the Barbie, we laid the food out in the secret garden as it's nicely shaded

Some of the desserts but had to leave some indoors as it was the hottest day this Summer. But absolutely perfect for the party and we were able to sit out until well past midnight.........well those still in a fit state to do so that is

The bouncy castle..........an adult one as there were no children present, in fact Birthday girl was the youngest. As you can see it proved very popular. And did I.................yes of course I did, but it went with a strict warning that none of the photos reached any social media sites......mind you I don't do any of them so who knows ?

Two of my 'little' boys having a somersault competition.......the one at the back threatened to sleep on it overnight and much to our surprise he actually did, fallout from Uni days I guess.

The bouncing went on all afternoon and into the night

The calm after the storm, no it didn't rain it's just water - my boys have always been partial to a water fight and couldn't resist, they held out until the evening but the water soakers made their usual appearance and the boys antics didn't disappoint - dare I say even hubby joined in !

It's two more of those Labs again

Thanks for taking a peek and hope you enjoy seeing what us Fen Folk get up to on a warm Summers day......the benefit of living in the middle of nowhere is that you can make all the noise you want !!

Warm Sunshine Colours

Fresh back from my hols and time for another new challenge at Allsorts and his week it's my turn to be your host and I have the theme of "Warm Sunshine Colours', you know oranges, reds, yellow all those colours that remind us of hot summer days despite there not being too many of those in the UK since we came home. Our sponsors this weeks are QKR Stampede and Marianne Designs.

I used several colours of Dylusions to create the background and am quite happy how the colours intensified to give the sunshine appearance, you never can be sure as no two background are the same even using the same colours. I sponged sunrays using a stencil, think this is a Timmy one, some harlequins and then grunge paste. The flowers are all cut from a piece of card using the same colour Dylusions using a Prickly Pear die, some core and ivy and a piece of corrugated.

Happy weekend all and hope you will join in our challenge this week.

Purple Poppies

The last of my scheduled holiday posts, this time with my Prickly Pear Monday share and also my Penny Black and More mid month inspirational piece.

It's another Dylusions background for my PB creation - crushed grape, cut grass and fresh lime with usual spritz of glimmer mist pearl. The edges are stamped with PB swirls and bleached out here and there, random inking and grunge paste though stencils and poppies cut with PB field of dreams from card coloured with the same Dylusions.

And my PPRS share is a bit more inkyness using the lovely HH0044 Floral Silhouette stamp which was a Crafts Beautiful commission. The background is another of those using distress inks and an acrylic block - the sort with guidelines which give an interesting affect when used to stamp.

Have a lovely week everyone and will be round to you all very soon now

Sing and dance and new PPRS stamps

Still on the scheduled posts for this weeks Allsorts challenge where Helene has set us the theme of using our 'Masks and Stencils' and we have a fab new sponsor Ace Envelopes who are offering a £25 Amazon Voucher to one luck winner - how cool is that !

And over at Prickly Pear there is a three day blog hop going on here to celebrate the release of the new stamps and dies. I am not taking part this time round due to being on holiday but I do have a card to share with you today using one of the new stamps myself and the DT have been playing with the last few weeks. And I will be sharing more of the new stamps in the coming weeks.

Using HH0164 Pumpkin Balloon, CLR014 Four Seasons and  GG0082 Delphinium

So for my Allsorts piece it's  more lovely inky indulgence with a a background created with Dylusions and distress inks then grunge paste through a Timmy mask and an arch window stencil through which I sponged distress inks, some random stamping with a Penny Black stamp, two sections of a Penny Black sentiment and Penny Black Bashful die daisies cute from a piece of card sprayed with the same colour dylusions.

And for my Prickly Pear piece Pan Pastels, some masking and the stamps as listed above

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Summer meadows and a sort of blog hop

GG0082 Delphinium,  FF0104 Wheat Stalks, GG0175 Birds on wire and FF0018 Live Dance Laugh

Yet another scheduled post, today we are due to be in Genoa, another lovely Italian city with lots of heritage and once the home of Christopher Columbus, a highlight is wandering the Caruggi area of the City with it's famous alleys and take in the atmosphere of this ancient city.

So here are this weeks Prickly Pear and Nicecrane Designs DT creations. The above card is my PPRS piece crated with a masked a piece of Fabriano watercolour card, distress markers direct to stamp for the corn and flowers and Pan Pastles for the shading. Stamp details and links above.

Now on to the Hop, it's not quite the norm as this one is about sharing the work of ourselves and our blogging buddies and a little bit about ourselves and crafty habits as well. I was asked to join in by the lovely Julie from Rainbow Days who I have know for some years and who always has lots of inspiration to offer on her blog.

There are some question to answer so here goes:

Question 1 - What I am working on right now ?

This is a really difficult one to start off with as we are on holiday so the only thing I am probably working on right now is a tan and a glass of bubbles in my favorite Country Italy. This sounds like a real cop out but can only tell the truth !

Question 2 - How does my work differ from others of it's genre ?

Well this one might be a bit easier, I always think no two crafters are alike and this has been confirmed to me so many times in class over the years when I give all present the same 'ingredients' but no two finished pieces of artwork are ever the same. Equally I don't think any of us can call ourselves an expert in any given area of craft as it's a constant learning curve. I am not sure this really answers the question so perhaps the only thing I can add is that I tend to work with what to many are very off the wall colour palettes, usually Pan Pastels but also Distress Inks as well, but my theory is if you don't try them out how will you ever know.

Question 3 - Why do I create what I do ?

In the main my pieces or artwork reflect my love of nature, animals and the countryside, you could call it comfort crafting but is that not the catagorie a good many of us fall into ? That said I am always up for a challenge and will give anything a go, with the exception of lots of colouring in as I fail dismally every time.

Question 4 - How does your creating process work ?

Good question and made me smile as I thought about how to answer. I could say I have a piece of artwork all planned out in my mind and go for it but nothing could be further from the truth as invariably very few pieces end up as I anticipated. For me that's what makes crafting such fun as we are in charge and can change direction on a whim and end up with a very satisfying piece that bears no resemblance to the initial idea. For example many of my pieces have trees and flowers and not forgetting the sun or moon of course, but it's not until they are stamped into place and you start to build the scene that you really know what else needs adding or colours to enhance a piece.

Well that's it and if you have not already fallen asleep thank you so much for reading this post. I would like to nominate Tracy to carry on the fun. I first met Tracy some years ago when she came to one of my classes and although she doesn't live close traveled some miles to attend. Over the years I have seen Tracy's crafting develop so much as her confidence grew and she has a versatile approach to her crafting. She is one of my fellow Allsorts DT's and I hope you will pop along to her blog and say hello, she will be taking the hop to the next stage on Monday 18th August.

The little girl perched in the tree is another image from the Brisley Playing Children design sheet I used last week and yet again teams up perfectly with Graphic 45 DP's, some lace, a Penny Black sentiment and little die cut dragonflies.

Thanks as always for popping in, your visits are always much appreciated.

Music, Light, Promise, Hope.............

Still on the scheduled posts for this weeks Allsorts challenge as we are still away on our holibobs, today we should be in Roma, the eternal city and along with Venice one of my favorite cities in the world. Jo is our host this week and our theme is All Sentimental, our sponsors are PPR Papercrafts and Buttons for Brains.

I do love making this style of card especially using Penny Black's lovely inspirational quotes, it seemed rather odd making a Christmas card for when we would be in the Mediterranean sunshine but I wanted to try out this new Memory Box poinsettia die. I am finding it a bit of an odd die actually, not sure if anyone else has any thoughts on it ? What I find strange is that once you have cut it out all the petals are loose so it's virtually impossible to keep everything in place to emboss, I tried a good few time and gave up in the end.

All that said I do rather like the elegance of it and teamed it up with what is probably my favorite Penny Black Christmas quote and some fancy stitching around the edge quite like the finished piece.

Happy weekend all.

In the Pink

A scheduled post again as I am on my hols and about now leaving France and into the Bay of Biscay......will it be a good crossing I wonder, it's always unpredictable...........but should be on our way to some more nice warm Mediterranean sunshine and visits to Malaga, Villefranche, Florence, Pisa, Roma and Lisbon to name a few.

It's time for a new challenge at FlonzCraft Vintage Stamping Challenges where our theme is 'Summer Days' and as always there is a chance to win $20 stamps of your choice from FlonzCraft. And as it's Monday I also have my Prickly Pear and Nicecrane DT shares.

As with my last FlonzCraft DT card I have used some of the newly released DP's which you will find here along with Girl on a Windy Hill, another of my favorites and at $2.99 exceptional value for money. I love the pretty pattern and pinks in this DP and kept everything fairly simple adding just a organza bow and little rose embellishment.

FF0174 Starburst Daisies, DD0204 Grown in Grace and PPRS D031 Poinsettia die

My PPRS piece is one I made for a magazine commission and now it's been published I am safe to share. The stamps and dies I used are listed above along with links to them in the store.

And finally and in keeping with the post tile here is my Nicecrane share for the week. I love this image and have again teamed it up with Graphic 45 DP's, some gingham ribbon and bunting using a Penny Black die.

Hope your week is a good one.

Pan Pastels and Inks all the way

Today we are off on our holiday and the taxi will be collecting us at 7am for the trip to Southampton to embark the ship, so this is a bit of a heavy post with not only my usual Saturday Allsorts share, but also those for Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More. I decided it might make sense if I posted the Sunday challenges a day early so I could check them out whilst on dry land as I refuse to pay the exorbitant on board wifi charges.

Tracy has chosen this weeks Allsorts theme of Favourite Things and at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More it's 'Anything Goes'.......ooooops how did that happen I wonder, clearly I wasn't thinking when these were decided but at least it offers you all the opportunity to double up.

Well there was no thinking to do for my Allsorts piece really, it had to be Penny Black stamps, Dylusions and distress inks, my perfect idea of crafty fun. After spraying the reverse of a piece of Centura Pearl with Dylusions and Glimmer Mist pearl I stenciled the sun rays and then the Penny Black stamps, Red Tango......not sure I have actually done these Poppies in red yet but Himalayan ones work fine for me.......and Daisy Fields, a pretty old stamp but a real fav and the best part about both are they are wood mounted.........call me old fashioned but I far prefer them to the modern unmounted ones.

My Stamping Sensations piece is a little Country scene created with some masking and Pan Pastels, a mixture of Sutter, Inkylicious and Stamp Addcits stamps and a bit of highlighting with watercolour pencils.

And finally my Penny Black piece using the Bashful die.................I know yet again but I really am loving these new Penny Black dies and so many are an identical match to some of my old wood mounted stamps as with this one. The background is Pan Pastels, the sun rays sponged with Adirondack ink and the daisies stamped with the same and distress markers for the stems, the die cut daisies are coloured with PP's and a PB sentiment.

Happy weekend to you all.