A bit of embossing and some happy faces

Morning Peeps, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Annie is challenging us to use either wet or dry embossing on our work. Our sponsor is the Sizzix.

I tend to heat emboss an awful lot of my stamping, not only do I like the sheen from it gives but if I am going to colour in it gives me a good edge to stop me going over the edges.......a regular occurrence as something of an unnatural colourist.

Both of my shares are Chocolate Baroque samples, the top tag was cut twice from heavy cardstock using a TL die and stuck together to create a firm base for the inks. My starting point was to pain the whole tag with a light brown acrylic paint, the a coat of crackle graze followed by a coat of cream acrylic paint. I then randomly stamped a Rose and script image and heat embossed with detail copper and also added some stencilling. The UTEE piece is just a random blend of UTEE crystals which I melted on a craft sheet and then stamped into with the Rose image. The three little hearts were stamped with the same script and embossed with detail clear to give them a bit of a sheen.

This set of cards and matching box are all TL dies, one of my favourite die sets from 2016. The Spring flowers formed part of a recent CB show on Hochanda and are all stamped with versafine and heat embossed with detail white powder , then coloured in with Spectrum pencils and matted and layered in coordinating cardstock.

Last week the girls 'Sussex Cousins' came to stay with their Mum and Dad - aka one of our son's and DIL. Pictured above are from left Cousins Prince and Luka along with Daisy, Holly and Poppy to the rear. Luka is a rescue from Cyprus, apparently they have a large number of Hungarian Viszlas abandoned over there, they are bought for hunting and then just abandoned when the season ends and an English lady Vicar living there tracks them down and re-homes them, mostly in the UK.

My team mates have all come up with different embossing takes on the theme and you will find them all over at the challenge blog.

Russian floral egg, Fairies and Rudolph Day's

I'm here with another GDT make for the Chocolate Baroque DT blog and showcasing another of the fabulous Russian influenced stamps launched on Hochanda, these were exclusive to them initially but I believe you will now find them on the Chocolate Baroque web site as well. Further down are a few of the samples I made for Chocolate Baroque's Hochanda shows on Monday.

I decided to make an easel drawer card and fill it with some mini chocolate eggs, it's ages since I made one of these and was more than a little shocked to see how long ago it was when I did the tutorial for it here (should you fancy making one)..............where on earth did those seven years go ?

I digress, as usual you will find all the details form making this one over at the CB DT blog along with the link to the gorgeous Russian Floral Egg which I used.

The April Rudolph Day's kicked off yesterday over at Mo's blog and again I am all prepared. Mind you I may not be quite as keen on making Christmas cards in another month or so as the time has come to start preparing samples for the Christmas TV shows, every year they seem to start selling Christmas products a bit earlier than the previous year.

It's a pretty quick and simple card using an Inkylicios image stamped in black archival, some Pan Pastels for a little colour and snow glitter, then an aperture cut into a top panel which I embossed with a holly folder, a stamped sentiment and some cord and finished.

And a few of my Fairy samples as promised above.....................

My thanks as always for popping by today.

I spy with my little eye............

Morning Peeps, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week it my turn to host the theme and I have come up with 'I spy with my little eye something beginning with B'..........how many of us played this in the car when we were children or with our own children to keep them occupied ? 

Lots of choices here, Butterflies, Bees, Bears, Buttons, Blossom, Brushos........the choice is endless and I am sure you will come up with lots of ideas. There are two super prizes this week and of course they both begin  with 'B'.

And my first card above is 'B' for Beautiful which I think is fitting for the lovely lady in her ball gown. She is from the Tattered Lace Rare Earth 'Strike a Pose' stamp collection and another of the samples I made for a recent Create and Craft TV show. I tended to keep all my samples simple as the image say's it all, so she was coloured with Spectrum pencils, matted and layered onto coordinating cardstock and then some ribbon and flowers added.

And here we have 'B' for Brusho's, Butterflies and Birds. The background is Brushos, then some stencilling using black DI's, two Butterflies which are TL dies and coloured with the same Brusho's and a sentiment which is also TL from the rare Earth Scribbles collection which were released on C&C TV back in February.

Please do pop over to the challenge blog to see what my teamies have come up with and lot's of different 'B's to inspire you.

Magnolias, another trip to Russia and more garden blooms

Morning Peeps, I am back with another Guest Design creation which you can also find over at the Chocolate Baroque DT blog and as all of the information and links to the stamps I used are on the DT blog, I won't bore you with all the details again.  

I also have my Penny Black mid month creation which I should have posted yesterday but somehow I got my dates totally muddled........it doesn't take a lot !! And further down a few more photos from the garden as things come into bloom.

These stamps featured in the Hochanda shows at the end of March and all have a strong Russian influence which having visited Russia a few years ago had a very special appeal. All of the new stamps are beautiful and as always were a joy to work with so today's post gave me the perfect opportunity to get some of them inked up again.

My framed canvas features the lovely Katya, Russian Palaces and crackle background (which I added to increase the crackle pain effect). 

Moving onto my Penny Black share I have used old time favourite Dance, Sing, Love along with one of the new releases Magnolia Rhapsody. It's a pretty simple make, stamping first the sentiment with black archival and then using distress markers to ink the stamp and spritzing with water before repeat stamping. Matted and layers and finito. As the pink matting layer has been gutted I think it should fit into the current Snippets Playground.

And as promised more blossoms from the garden, it is never my intention to capture a Lab or at least part of one in almost every photo I take, there just always seems to be one very close by.

There is an absolute profusion of blossom on this apple tree (as well as Daisy underneath), I just hope we don't get the Fen Blows in the near future.......being so flat here in the Fens when there's been a dry spell it doesn't take much wind to whip up the soil and along with it newly seeded fields, young forming fruit and so on and is known as the Fen Blows

Clematis Montana, this is the first of several to come into full bloom although I don't think the blooms are quite as prolific as last year

Choisya Dewitteana Aztec Pearl and the perfume is glorious.......there goes another Lab 'bum'

Apple blossom but no idea of the variety of this one, it's been in many years

Yet another Lab in the scene.......and this is what the Easter Bunny delivered - aka daughter, it's been at a very acceptable 38/40 deg since it was installed. The decking surround still has to be put in place but it's a welcome addition to the secret garden. It's supposed to be for six people but I think that would be a tad cosy, but works nicely with four

Thank you so much for popping in today.

Time for a sketch and more Chocolate Baroque shares

Morning Peeps, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Kath has a sketch for us to follow. Our sponsor is the lovely Jo from Lets Create. I also have some shares which are over on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog today, they are some of those I made for the release of the Russian Collection which premiered on Hochanda and are now available on the web site.

Not sure what it is about sketches that always freaks me, I think probably it's all the layers as most of my cards are single layers with just mat and layering, but a challenge is a challenge and I came up with this using a favourite Penny Black image which I inked with distress markers and gave the customary spritz of water before stamping onto Fabriano. A light dusting of DI around the edges and used scraps of DP and some hessian to create the layers. Finally a bow and some pearls.

Using the beautiful Katya again onto a Brusho background and just a little colouring and gold added to her headdress

Using the Russian Palaces on to a shaving foam background - I always keep a stash of these ready made as you can then make a really quick card, especially with silhouette stamps

The Russian Palaces again this time with a misty background created with some ripped paper, a sun mask, DI's and ink dusters

Happy Easter weekend all and as always thanks for popping in.

An Easter bunny

Today I have a card which you will also find over at the Chocolate Baroque DT blog using a selection of the new stamps Lesley has been demonstrating on Hochanda in recent weeks, all of which should now be available on the Chocolate Baroque web site as well as Hochanda.

It's no secret that I love Spring so I thoroughly enjoyed working on samples for the show where all of the stamps in the above creation featured and it was no hardship making yet another card for this post using them. I guess you could call this one a signature Brenda make as it encompasses several of my favourite things, Spring, flowers, animals, an inspirational quote, a masked sun and Pan Pastels, what more could a girl ask for when creating a card ! I have written up details over on the CB DT blog so do pop over there if you want to read more about how I made this one.

My thanks as always for your visit.

Favourite things

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

You are probably fed up hearing me say how much I love Spring but I couldn't miss this opportunity to make yet another piece displaying a few more of the lovely blooms we see at this time of year, in this one I have PB Daffodils and Tulips and Stampendous Violets, all stamped onto a Brusho background and base card made using TH Cabinet Card.

Once my card was made and the three sections fixed together with little spines, I inked the edges and used a harlequin stencil to add a little background interest.

I do hope you will join us this month and also pop over to the challenge blog to see all the super inspiration from my team mates.

Blossoms all around

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Tracy would like is to 'Bring on the Bling'. Marianne Designs are our sponsor this week. 

Further down I have also added a few photos from the gardens............I know I do it every year but I so love Spring and like to share...........things seem well ahead this year and already there are some wonderful aromas wafting in the air. The Lilacs and Ceanothus are all well into bud and I will be sharing some of those soon.

Onto my Allsorts creation, sparkle and Fairies just go together and there are non better than Lavinia ones. I started with three shades of DI's using the red at the top and graduating down to the palest, next I placed the Sheena sunray stencil and used a wet sponge to remove some of the colour. All of the stamps are Lavinia stamped with black archival and then glitter added to the blossoms and Fairy. Finally, using a grey pencil I added some shading under the Fairy and Mouse to ground them.

Viburnum Burkwoodii smells beautiful

Prunus Taihaku and as always when I have the camera out there is a Lab lurking in the background - Holly I think

Sophora Sun King Hislop, it's at least 20' tall despite harsh pruning

Clematis Armandii Snowdrift with a glorious aroma, it's now so high it's outgrown it's trellis and well entwined over the top of an apple tree

Blossoms on one of the Conference Pear trees, they are just so delicate looking

Tinus Jermynes Globe - I think - so many out there and over time I've forgotten which is which, this one is a very slow grower

Spirea Aguta, always looks so spindly until the leaf comes out

Violets, transplanted from my Dad's garden many years ago and constantly multiplying

A simple but beautiful Daffodil

Another Sophora Sun King entwined into a Prunus tree

As always my team mates have lots of inspiration to share so please do pop over to the challenge blog to take a peek and I hope you all have a good weekend, the weather forecast here in the UK looks promising and youngest granddaughter is already talking barbies.

A Russian influence and Spring flowers

It's time for our challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes are 'Anything Goes' and 'All things Spring'. As always there are wonderful prizes to be won at both.

Spring is a season I love and there is no shortage of stamps in my stash that fit the theme, so for this months share I have used both the lovely PB Daffodil Dance and Cherry Blossoms, a love chunky wood mounted stamp. I create a base card using the waste from another card using Timmy's Vintage Cabinet die, I made a small spine to join the two together and then used DI's to distress the edges and a stencil to add some interest to the corners.

Next two pieces of Fabriano, very softly inked with DI's, stamped both the images inking with distress markers direct to stamp and spritzed with water before stamping. I added some honeycomb stenciling and fixed in place behind the apertures with foam pads. Some twine and a Butterfly from PB Love Art clear set.

Two Stamping Sensations creations, the one above is one of the samples I made for last weeks Chocolate Baroque shows on Hochanda when a collection of wonderful Russian inspired stamps were released. I adore this image with the beautiful Katya and traditional Russian costume and wanted to keep this simple to let the face do all the talking. So I stamped with black versafine, embossed with clear powder and coloured sparingly with just red and gold, placing the image inside another waste frame after cutting a TH Cabinet Card die..................it was never my intention but I realise only now that two of my cards have the same frames and both are using the waste..............I think I actually prefer the waste element. The two buildings/temples are another of the new releases and again minimal colouring, finally matted onto red card and some gold beading across the top. I would like to enter this into Miss Di's current Snippets Playground Challenge.

The card at the top started out as a Parisian scene created with masks and Pan pastels but I wasn't sure where I was going next, then decided on Roses to the fore using the new Penny Black Red Blush....but yellow......repeat stamping the image several times and embossing with detail clear. I coloured the Roses with Spectrum pencils and stamped a few leaves with a Chocolate Baroque stamp, coloured to match the Roses and stamped a few birds in the sky.

As always we have some super prizes to be won at both challenges and my team mates have lots of inspiration to share so I hop you will pop over the the challenge blogs to take a look.