Autumn with a hint of Spring

Morning Peeps, time for some more Chocolate Baroque fifteen minute card where we aim to show the versatility of their beautiful stamps. Details of how my cards were made along with those of the other designers can be found on the DT blog here.

Thanks for all your kind comments on my previous post, you are all very kind and also understanding that typing and therefore visiting remains challenging, but I am persevering and getting a little done each day.

I used some snippets for the die cut greeting on this one so am popping over to the Playground with it.

Many thanks for popping by today.

Christmas at Allsorts and a cute Tattered Lace Mouse

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Tracy Mouse would like us to 'Make a Start on Christmas'. Our sponsor is Let's Create.

My starting point for my card was to stamp an Inkylicious stamp four times to create a frame and the two Deer inside, then create the sky and land using Pan Pastels, a sun mask and torn paper for the hills. I added a few random 'bushes' using the tip of a tree stamp and the paper mask. Finally some birds and pearls around the frame. My teamies have come up with some super inspiration over at the challenge blog.

I am also sharing a few of my Tattered Lace samples using dies from the new Demure Collection which premiered on Create and Craft TV yesterday. As most of you know I just don't do cute but I have to admit I loved this little sweeties the moment I saw it. There is also a lovely new tri fold frame which I will share another day.

Happy weekend all.

Yet more Poppies, Rudolph Day and Tattered Lace releases

Morning all you crafty Peeps, time for me to share another Guest Designer creation for Chocolate Baroque. As with the last couple of weeks I have written up all the details over at the DT blog here so it seems silly to bore you again with all the information a second time. 

Sorry my visits have been limited, not been a good week or so pain wise and avoiding the computer as much as possible, things can only improve !!

I used a couple more snippets of Fabriano so am off to the Playground where I am hoping for some Halloween fun with the other insouciant playmates. I found a recipe for gooey orange filled cupcakes which should go down well with some hooch up in the tree house, not a word to Miss Di mind you and Parsnip has vowed silence so long as he gets double dibs.

And here is this month's Rudolph Day's card, I am rather impressed with myself this year as I promised Mo I would try harder and apart from when we were on holiday I don't think I've missed a month. 

Looking at my card now the trees all look a bit drunk and at an angle, yet looking at the card itself they seem upright........your gonna have to believe me on this one. Maybe it's the angle I took the photo or maybe it's the north wind blowing !!

Using black archival I stamped a mix of different stamps, Inkylicious, Art Impressions, Lavinia to create the scene, then masked the sun and used distress inks, ink dusters and a piece of torn paper to add colour and finally some glitter on the snowy hills and shy.

And here are a few Tattered Lace makes, I've not done too much lately due to my slow progress on the crafty front, but the lovely wrought iron gates have been released on C&C this week so I am safe to share.

Many thanks for popping in today.

Sparkle and Shine and graduation photos

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Susan has chosen the theme 'Sparkle and Shine'. Our sponsor is Stix 2.

We had a very special day in Cambridge this week when Zachary graduated gaining a First with Honours in History and below are a few photos of the day, not that clear I'm afraid as they were taken on my phone, but will still make their way to the family album.

I also have my card for the new Butterfly Challenge where this time round it is H for Hoops and/or Harebell along with your Butterfly.

Above is the card I made for our Granddaughter Amelia's 21st Birthday in the Summer and as she is a pink girl I had to indulge her passion for her special day. The focal image is a Sweet Poppy stencil designed by the talented Tracey Dutton of Lavinia stamps.

I started by masking the sun and sponging the sunrays........pink ones of course in this fantasy world of mine and Amelia's it seems as she loved it. Next a Penny Black stamp to add some blossom across the top with sparkle added to the blossom.

Then I stenciled the Fairy image using white texture paste and added more pink glitter over the whole and  a few Lavinia toadstools stamped on the bottom. The sentiment is computer generated, an TL embossed panel and some pretty ribbon which I bought in Worthing when we were staying with one of our sons and DIL..........like me she loves ribbons and took me to a gem of a shop which was like an Aladdin's cave of ribbons and fabric.

With Azaria (she graduates from Cambridge next year) and Anysia (she graduated from the same uni last year)

Zachary (sorry about the background, was taken in Cambridge Grand Arcade wandering between robing and the ceremony)

The class of 2016, Zachary second from left

Now for my Butterfly share and I was certain I had a Harebell (Campanula) stamp but I drew a blank searching my draws and boxes but I did realise after making my card that the flowers in the pink card at the top are probably Harebells. So I just went with the colour along with some hoops and of curse the Butterfly. I started with a piece of 600gsm Fabriano and sprinkled lots of water, Brushos and pearl mica and allowed the colours to blend.

Next I used tops from embossing powders and dipped them into distress ink and 'stamped' them onto the background, followed by some stenciled circles using a white ink pad. The main image is a really old wooden stamp called Filigree Butterfly from The Artful Stamper, this must be at least fifteen years old and I was surprised to find it's still a stock item. I stamped the Butterfly a second time, coloured with the same Brusho's, added wire antenna and some white Frantage around the edge and decoupaged. 

The sentiment is from Inkylicious and as the words overlap I used a post it to mask first the top and then the bottom as I stamped so that it was split into two, then more Frantage around the edges of both the sentiments and main piece before assembling.

Happy weekend all.

Fun with distress crayons

Morning to you all, I have my next Guest Designer creation for Chocolate Baroque. As with the last one I have written up all the details for the DT blog here so hope you will again forgive me for not going into detail on my own blog as well as typing takes forever, the mind is willing but the body not as accommodating which is sooooooo infuriating to say the least.

In fact my whole left side is still pretty wonky following the last relapse and I am beginning to think this is as good as it's going to get. Over the years there has always an element of things not going quite back to how they were before a relapse, but this time the deterioration is far more significant and the pain reluctant to ease. But there are those far worse off and I am grateful that I can still craft and do many of the things I want, I just have to accept it takes longer.

I also have my Penny Black mid month share.............a day late I'm afraid !! Fabriano 600gsm card, lots of inks, background stamping and embossing and my all time favourite Penny Black sentiment which I cut into four and made little tags just for a change. And I used a few acorns when I took the phone, this year one of our Oaks has been particularly abundant and they are like a carpet beneath the branches.......isn't Nature wonderful ?

I am heading off to see Miss Di at the Playground with this one and the tags used up several oddment of Fabriano.

Many thanks for you visits which are always most appreciated.

Pink October and more Chocolate Baroque

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Mervi has chosen the theme of 'Pink October'. Our sponsor is Crafty Ribbons.

It's another outing for my Altenew stamps this one is Peony Bouquet stamped onto white linen cardstock with a a mixture of distress and adirondack inks and a sentiment from Visible Image. Matted onto black card and finished, a really quick and easy card.

I also have some shares of some more 15 minutes cards for Chocolate Baroque which you can find over at the DT blog here along with how I made them.

There is lots of inspiration from my teamies at both Allsorts and Chocolate Baroque so I do hope you will pop over and take a look.

Poppies and wheat

Morning Peeps, my thanks for all your lovely comments on my last posts and also for all your good wished for our Anniversary, I am a little late with my thanks but all were much appreciated.

Today I am just popping in with this weeks Guest Designer creation for Chocolate Baroque, instead of a card I have decorated a photo frame which is now hanging in our conservatory. I have written up all the details over at the DT blog here so hope you will forgive me for not going into detail on my own blog as well as typing is still quite an issue, but on the positive side I am finding new ways of crafting with one gammy arm and hand so it's not all bad.

Smile, it's a beautiful day

Today sees the start of a new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and this month our theme is 'Trees'. As always there is a generous prize of a $20 shopping voucher from FlonzCraft.

As a confirmed 'treeaholic' this theme was right up my street and this is a card I made for one of our son's Birthday's back in September. The main image is from Inkylicoous, stamped twice to extend the scene n to Fabriano 300gsm cardstock. The fences across the front are from Sutter, I also have a bit of a thing for fences............. Once the main stamping was done I masked a sun and used Pan Pastels to create the background and DI's and mask to create the sunrays. I added a little watercolour to the trees and finally stamped the birds, leaves across the top using an Art Impression stamp and the sentiment is from the same set as the trees.

And since I'm on a quest to use up all those pieces of Fabriano.......I buy it in A3 sheets, cut down to squares as I seem to use that shape the most, but am always left with long end pieces which fit perfectly for landscape cards..........I am hopping over to Di's Playground playground with this one.

I do hope you will come and join us this month, it's the perfect opportunity to let those Autumnal colours loose.

More Autumn

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week it's my turn to choose the theme and I would like to see Autumn inspired work..............probably no surprises there as I always love working with Autumnal colours. Our sponsor is Digistamp Boutique.

I also have a share for the new Butterfly Challenge which I thought I would also pop the above card into the Playground where I've been missing for a week or two. The new Butterfly theme is Checkered and/or Cyan along with your Butterflies.

The starting place for my first card at the top was to mask a central circle and a sun on a piece of Fabriano 300gms cardstock and apply distress inks before removing the masks and then stamping the focal image and the little girl on the swing and sentiment, all of which are Inkylicious. Finally matted and layered onto the base card, a really quick and simple card to create. You will see a few acorns at the front of my photo, this year one of our Oaks has produced literally thousands of them and there is a carpet under the branches which crunch as you pass by to the hens.

My second card has a Pan Pastel background and the scene made with a mixtures of Sutter, Art Impression and Inkylicious stamps and a few hills added again with PP's after the images were stamped.

Now for my Butterfly and Playground share, I started out with an offcut of Fabriano and used distress crayons and water to create the background, next I stamped the Inkylicious sentiment and Fairy and was all set to use a new stencil for the checks but having done so not sure about it, it's called 'houndstooth check'  but doesn't look too much like it to me. I added some glitter to the Fairies wings and around the three little butterflies.

My Allsorts team mates have some lovely cards to inspire you again this week so I do hope you will pop over and take a peek and also join us this week.

Autumn Glory and a special anniversary

It's time for our challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes are 'Autumn Glory' and some Colour Inspiration which screams out Autumn, I know they are much the same but it's such a glorious time of year and always seems such a popular theme. As always there are wonderful prizes to be won at both.

For my Penny Black share I used Broshos to create a background and dabbed with a piece of kitchen towel to tone down the colours a little and when dry used a Tinny die in one corner. I then randomly stamped a script background and PB leaves from Nature's Gifts inking the stamp with distress markers. The flowers are stamped with PB Blush and cut out with the coordinating die called Bashful. Some hessian and a button to finish.

For my Stamping Sensations piece I again started with a Brusho background dabbing off some of the wet colour with a paper towel. Using a stencil and grunge paste I added the flourish and when dry sponged some DI. The Butterfly and sentiment are from Inklylicious and the Butterfly coloured in with the same colour Brusho's.

Yesterday hubby and I celebrated a rather special wedding anniversary, instead of a card I made him a wall handing for his office using chipboard hearts, paint and crackle glaze and several Penny Black stamps along with some stenciled wheat.

I'm not saying which anniversary it was, all I will say is it seems a lifetime ago when at seventeen I walked down the aisle with my dear Dad in a dress made by one of the Royal dressmakers......no we weren't rich, my Mum just happened to work with the sister of one and that's how it came about. And much to the horror of my elderly Aunts I had a bouquet of Lilies, I know they are a popular choice now, but back in those days they were for funerals only and not readily available year round as they are now, mine were Longiforum Lilies and had to be brought in from France. Now that we have grandchildren the same age and older than I was then it is quite scary as they seem so young and marriage is the last thing on some of their minds, let alone becoming a Mum at nineteen as I did.

But I wouldn't change a thing, it just meant we did things in a different order to nowadays. At thirty eight soon after being diagnosed with MS and despite my Mum thinking I was mad I embarked on a Psychology degree. Then as the children got older we started to travel to all those distant places we were unable to afford when they were small.

We knew the children would feel a party was essential so decided to explain in advance, much to their disappointment, that we would be far happier enjoying a lovely family meal with immediate family at a nice restaurant and left them to sort that out among themselves. That's eighteen of us in total so almost a party in itself.........the benefits of a large family.

Hope I have't sent you all to sleep and looking forward to seeing all your lovely Autumnal creations this month and as always we have some super prizes to be won.

Re - Run

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and Helene has an inspired theme for us...........'Re-Run', she would like us to case the work of a previous DT make. Our sponsor is Sizzix.

I have cased Helene's card from November 2014 which you will find here

Helene's card

My trees are part of a much larger Penny Black collage stamp so I inked just the trees with distress markers spritzed with water and stamped adding some splatters by flicking a paintbrush loaded with a watery mix of the same colour DI's. I didn't have spotty ribbon so used some olive coloured organza and a Penny Black sentiment.

Thanks for the inspiration Helene I enjoyed making this one.