Stampendous P107

Morning Peeps, it's Saturday and time for a new challenge at Allsorts, it's a two week challenge to take us over the Easter period, I would normally say holiday period but this year nothing is normal and Easter will not be the same. No option to go to Church, normally there would be the stripping of the Alter on Maundy Thursday, the Good Friday service and then the service of celebration on Sunday. Such sad times in so many ways, not least the horrendous death toll across the whole World.

Kath's is our host and her these is 'Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue', but you will need to check out her post to know exactly what she is hoping to see. This weeks winner will receive some lovely Woodware stamps from Craft Stash.

I'm afraid my mojo remains is self isolation and I'm shamed to admit I've created nothing in two weeks, I did have a go last week but it all ended up in the bin. I have however spent hours washing woodwork, door handles and so on, it's a daily ritual and hubby is convinced the whole house will need repainting as I'll wash away all the pain.

So my shares today were all made some weeks ago, my top card a bit of Fairy indulgence using some new Lavinia stamps along with some older ones, and an oxide background.

And it stands to reason that the contenders for 'Old' were Penny Black or Stampendous P107, or a combination as both are some of my oldest stamps and Agapanthus Cluster just happens to be my all time favourite. Those who have ever attended one of my workshops will be familiar with this stamp as it features regularly. Both of mine (yes I have two) are really old wood mounted ones, but I believe it is now available unmounted.

So I blew watery Brusho's down the page, then simply stamped the Agapanthus several times, some second generation and then stamped the PB sentiment, finally some stencilling across the top.

Stay safe and well everyone.

 

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An early Magnolia

Morning Peeps, I've completed my two week screen rest after my second eye op, at the moment all seems to be going well, my distance vision is much improved and I can see to drive again !! Close vision is poor but should be helped with glasses once my eyes settle. The consultant seemed fairly confident that what he's done should relive some of the strain on my optic nerves and give me a couple of years reasonable vision, but warned the right eye is deteriorating quite quickly and is the one I'm likely to lose sight in first, but overall not all bad news and hopefully not in the short term.

Now onto our new challenge at Allsorts where our host is Ellie who would like us to use "Dies and/or Punches' on our creations. We have a new sponsor this week WOWVOV, do pop over to their web site and have a browse there are so many different products to compliment our crafting.

My card is a Chocolate Baroque Hochanda TV creation using Brushos on the base layer, then a Penny Black die - it's quite small but is very easy to line up and extend as I have done here. The Magnolia was stamped with Versafine black, coloured and cut out and placed over the lattice. The little Butterfly is also CB well it's actually quite a large one initially but was stamped onto shrink plastic and magically transformed.

Happy weekend all.

 

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Autumn Glory and Versafine Clair - wow

Morning Peeps, time for our new Allsorts challenge and this week I am your host, like many of us I love creating with the beautiful colours of this time of year so my theme is 'Autumn Glory'. Our sponsor is Lost Coast Design.

So inevitably there would be more than one from me this week and two of my shares uses a new stamp from Lost Coast Designs which I recently won in their challenge, it's called Large Shrubbery and my goodness it is a big stamp. The top one has a Pan Pastel background, was stamped first with Versafine Toffee and again with Versamark so that I could heat emboss with detail copper powder...........my Timmy stamp platform is perfect for doing this. I added a sentiment and some birds, heat embossing them as well and cut into three to make a triptych card.

Although I love this season I don't relish the thought that it means winter is approaching and when I saw Sue's lovely card a few days ago using the Sweet Poppy Squirrel I had to have it, it was showing as out if stock so I was thrilled when Lucy called to say it was available and half price so bonus and I ordered it along with a couple of replacement pots of paste as I'm getting low.

I created a Distress Oxide background and used Copper paste to stencil the squirrel onto it, mounted it on to some coordinating card and added an Inkylicious sentiment.

Next my entry for the current Butterfly Challenge and the wheel has spun round to the letter 'S' giving us Scarlet, Sea Green, Sahara Sand, Sequins, Silhouette and Spots plus of course a Butterfly. I knew instantly that Brushos would help me out and I used Scarlet, Sea Green and Sandstone which I applied to the background along with liberal helping of water. I loved how the sea green ran into the sand colour, although it does look rather orange but that's the beauty of Brushos, you never get the same twice.

I then stamped a silhouette Lavinia Fairy and built up the scene with other Lavinia stamps including a little mouse, then three Chocolate Baroque silhouette Butterflies, used tiny sequins on their thorax, and finally added spots using a stencil thus completing the full compliment of the Butterfly wheel.

My third card also has a Distress Oxide background and has been stamped with Versafine Toffee, a, Inkylicious sentiment and a few leaves across the top to frame the scene.

And I just had to share my enthusiasm for Versafine Clair inkpads, I know they have been out a while and lots of you have already tried them but I have heard contrasting reviews so have not bought any........until this week. Chocolate Baroque Lesley mentioned recently that she was impressed with them so I though I really should try a few and when Allsorts Kath told me this week that an on line store had a one day 20% off offer I ordered myself six...............I know I could have tried just the one but wheres the fun in that.

To say I am impressed is an understatement, I took a Lavinia Fairy and stamped her out in the six colours and got a super image, I actually used my Timmy stamp platform thinking I might need to stamp a couple of times, but not necessary and what you see is just one stamping. It's quite a chalky finish which I rather like and so intense......no secret I do love colour as does Lesley and why she suggested I try them. I can see now I didn't clean the stamp properly after the last couple so there's a bit of transfer onto the skirt.

Happy weekend all, I hope the weather stays nice as today we are out for lunch with the Assistant Chief Constable of Hertfordshire..... aka eldest son Owen.

 

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New sandals in Rhodes plus a glass or two in Mykonos

Good morning Peeps, still on scheduled posts and today we are in Rhodes in the Greek Isles before sailing overnight to Mykonos, we have fond memories of Rhodes and will be visiting Yan for new sandals...................he made some for us last visit and they have lasted forever.  So we are looking forward to another visit there and it's always nice to wander the streets in Mykanos with a coffee or two.........or even something stronger along the way as they produce some really decent wines.

It's my turn to share some more inspiration on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog using stamps which Lesley showcased on Hochanda recently. The shows were all about Autumn, Trees and Poppies so ticked all the right boxes for me as I love working with Autumnal colours and as those who know me can confirm Poppies are my favourite flower plus I am a self confessed 'Treeaholic'.

For the card at the top I used three panels of cardstock and stamped two with images from the Autumn Edges set colouring with DI's and on the the third panel used the same inks to add the words using the Seasonal Journey stencil.

The lovely Poppy from Pretty Poppies is the focal image on this card, stamped with Versafine Black onto a watery Burosho background, I mopped quite a lot of the colour away as I wanted a subtle finish and then coloured the flowers with sparkly pens, stamping the Butterfly a second time to decoupage. The corners are from Baroque Corners stamped in the same black and then I added a few leaves using Useful Leaves stencil and ties some red ribbon and added a Poppy button.

The same stencil as the top card has been used along with DI's to create the background for this card and the for the focal panel I created a Brusho background and stamped one of the tree from Fantasy Woodland adding a few stenciled leaves using the Seasonal Elements stencil.......I can't begin to tell you how useful these stencils are for building up interest and colour on your artwork.

This is another sample from last weeks shows on Hochanda, this time using one of the images from Butterfly Poppy Collage stamp set, it's an A4 stamp sheet and you get absolutely loads of beautiful images. The background is Distress Oxides, stamped with Versafine black and the colour added to the Poppy heads using the same Wilted Violet ink and Glossy Accents added, plus a little stamping down the left edge, again using the same ink and stamps from Nature's Peace and the same set as the main image.

I am tentatively adding this one as Lesley asked if she could use it as the basis of one of her demos, however I will be away on holiday when the shows are aired and this post goes live so it may or may not have featured. Using a circle as a mask I stamped a selection of flora and fauna from Nature's Table, Nature's Peace and Poppy Meadow, inking with Distress Markers direct to stamp and a spritz of water before each stamping. The horse chestnuts in the corners were stamped with DI and are also from Natures Table. After stamping I removed the mask and used the negative to stamp the focal sentiment, again from Poppy Meadow and added some shading around the circle.

And as I seem to have quite a number of pieces in my gallery which have not been blogged as yet I thought I would share a few of them in this and my following few posts.

A triptych design which was for the August shows featuring the beautiful Harlequin Bouquet stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with detail copper powder on to a Oxide ink background and some stenciling to carry the harlequin design.

This one features the lovely Summer Fayre stamped onto black cardstock using Versamark and detail white embossing powder, then coloured into metallic pencils, the colour is quite subtle but I rather like the soft finish.

Have a lovely day, I am hoping mine will be warm and sunny.

Magical and Mythical

Morning Peeps, it's Saturday so that means it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Ellie is hosting her first challenge since joining the team and has a super theme for us of 'Magical and Mythical'. We have two lovely prizes on offer this week so double the reason to join in.

My card at the top uses all Chocolate Baroque stamps, a sample for the recent Hochanda  TVshows where the focus was Fairies. The background was a bit of an experiment as I wanted to try mixing Oxide inks with gilding polish so I mixed a pale blue polish with vintage photo and broken china oxide inks on a craft sheet, spritzed with water and mica spray, laid a piece of 600gsm Fabriano onto the wet mixture and rather like the muted result.

I then stamped the castle in the background, the fairy to the fore and a few flowers around the edge. Next I bleached the colour from the Fairy and coloured with watered down pale blue gilding polish and also dragged out some colour in the castle. Then randomly stamped some harlequins here and there.........I usually hold background stamps rather than mounting on a block, that way you can bend the stamp to get the pattern more or less where you want it. Finally, a CB sentiment which I cut into pieces to arrange on my card.

My second card uses an assortment of Lavinia stamps, I started by using masking fluid to create a sun and then added Brushos and not too much water as I wanted to keep the colour areas separate. Once dry which only takes moments I rubbed away the masking fluid and stamped the scene, coloured the little houses with pencils and glitter here and there.

Happy weekend all and I hope you will join us over at Allsorts this week.

Dream until your dreams come true

It's time for our challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes are 'Butterflies, Fairies and Wings' and 'Photo Inspiration' which has a strong hint of Poppies about it. As always there are wonderful prizes to be won at both.

My top creation is my Stamping Sensations piece which has a background of Distress Inks and pearl mica spray. To achieve the coloured sky I masked the water line across a piece of Fabriano and added the inks followed by the mica spray as this helps blend the colours. Next I removed the mask and used DI's to add he water, I then stamped the images with back archival. All stamps are from Lavinia with the exception of the sentiment which is Inkylicious and finally some glitter to the fairies wings and a pretty bow.

For my Penny Black piece I again started with a piece of Fabriano and repeat stamped the PB Poppies and then painted on masking fluid to all stamped areas. Next I saturated the piece with water and sprinkled on Brusho's..............I like to use 600gsm Fabriano when using Brusho's as it does not warp when using a lot of water.

When dry I stamped all time PB favourite Dance, Sing, Love, then rubbed away the masking fluid and coloured the Poppies with Spectrum pencils.

I hope you will join us at both challenges this month.

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.

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.

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.

Lovely Katya, Russian Palaces, Flowers and Flamingo's

A selection of the Russian Palaces stamped onto a Brusho background

Afternoon peeps, I have only been posting weekends recently with my DT makes, but I thought I really should share some of my DT creations made for the recent Hochanda and Create and Craft TV shows.

First up here are a few of the 20 or so I made for the weekends Chocolate Baroque One Day Special using the lovely Russian stamps which included the beautiful Katya. Mindful that this is going to be a rather lengthy post I will just add a few details below each picture, if you want to know more then always happy for you to mail me.

Katya stamped and embossed in gold and highlighted with gold and blue pens onto a dry brushed acrylic and gilding polish background

Russian Palaces stamped onto a distress ink background then bleached out and sections of the Russian Floral Egg stamped and embossed with detail white powder

A selection of the the Russian Dolls and Palaces

The Russian Floral Egg with Gilding Flakes onto a DI background overstamped with the new Crackle background stamp and stenciled sunrays

Next are a few of my Stamp Addict shows which also aired over the weekend, I forgot to record them so hoping they will soon be uploaded to rewind.

The largest Flamingo stamped onto a DI background stamped with some of the distress elements and a sentiment from the same release of stamps

I love this Dad stamp (so wish mine was still here to send him this one) along with the new stars and background elements onto a DI background

Using the new Daisy Frame onto a Brusho background

DI simply brushed and the large Flamingo and Flamingo border along with one of the new sentiment stamps

And finally, some Tattered Lace and Rare Earth (TLs' new stamp range) samples.

One of those I made for the Finding Dory show (and yes I had to Google the name to find out what it was......how sad is that !) using both the dies and coordinating stamps

One of the samples for for recent release of the Spring Flower dies

This one was for the latest Art Deco release

Using some of the dies from the Spring Flowers release and sentiment from the Rare Earth Scribbles release

Using a selection of the floral and background stamps and new inkpads being released by Rare Earth this week

The new Rare Earth letters, background element stamps onto a DI background - I also stamped the harlequin stamp using gold texture paste to get a nice grungy feel

More stamps from the floral release along with inks and brayer which will also be on the show

Finally, when there are flowers there has to be a floral wreath and on this one I used more of the pretty new pastel inks

Many thanks for taking a peek and hope I haven't sent you to sleep with so many cards in once post, but as you will guess I am well overdue posting some of them.