Spring daffodils

Good Morning everyone, this is a really quick post before we head of the The Smoke to spend the day with two of our boys.

When I saw the sketch at this weeks Friday Sketchers I though they must have second sight because what I had been working with matched perfectly. It is one of the new stamps that landed at Sir Stamplaot this week Hero F5352 Sweet Daffodils. It's only a small stamp, but such a pretty shape. I stamped three times with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, the coloured with Twinking H2o's and decoupaged the flowers.

I used some more of the new Magnolia DP's, this one has daffodils so matches perfectly and used Martha Stewart eyelet lace to punch the border and added ribbon and gems.

And don't forget tomorrow I will be doing the draw for more Her Arts candy, if you have not entered your name yet there is still time here.

Rain rain everywhere......

Hello peeps from a very wet Fenland. It rained most of the night and has not stopped yet today, so lots of muddy paw marks in and out and hubby's not too impress as Bernie went straight into the conservatory last time he came in and puddled all our the new wood floor. Guess who'll be cleaning that later ?

Challenges and a combined effort here, this weeks Creative Card Crew is "Punch it" and the same at Simons Says so a first here for me as it fits so nicely and I have followed the sketch at Friday Sketchers although I have turned the oval inside out.

What with all the Stampalot challenge activity this is the first chance I have had to have a proper play with my latest collection of the new Hero goodies........and not much chance to visit most of your blogs, so sorry I have been such a bad blogger this week but just not enough hours in my days right now.

The new Hero Chalk Inks are just lovely, super vivid colours and for this card I have used Iris and Grass stamping the Dandelion Frame CG153 which I just love. I cut an oval from the centre with Nesties through the Big Shot and then smaller scalloped circle placing it behind to add definition. I then stamped Hero G4917 Dandelion with the same inks and placed it into the aperture.

A little glitter has been added to the dandelions as well as the three punched butterflies. The border is Martha Stewart embossed butterflies with some organza ribbon added. I also used knotted ribbon for the butterflies thorax's for a change to gems. My card looks a bit drunk in the picture, but it is straigtt in the flesh - honest.

Penny Black and Friday Sketchers

Hello peeps, scheduling this one, so it should Monday when you read it and hoping you all had a good weekend. Mine was real fun but hectic to say the least, sixteen for lunch and dinner Saturday, then eight sleepovers just making their way home, so not much blogging or crafting. Work in the morning, then in the afternoon off to watch Anysia taking part in a chariy "Strictly come Show Jumping" - she's dressing as a very pink fairy, tutu and all over her joddies and Ben nicely braided in matching hot pink. Just hope there's not a horsey language where the others can tell him what a woos he looks.

Crafting........well this is it from my weekends activities, a card following this weeks Friday Sletchers and Penny Black who want to see 'Red and Gold'. An easel card as I am rather getting to like these and still have one or two crimbo cards to make. My main image is Penny Black 3768K Christmas Montage, stamped with versafine and embossed with a mixture of red and gold powder. The DP is K and Co, the border punched with Martha Stewart Apline and the gold swirl and poinsettias cut with Sizzix dies through the bug with gold gems added to the centres.

A real mixture

Well, how is everyone this Sunday morning ? I have just one card to share having been very, very good, done as I was told and yesterday made just one card and no blog hopping.......sorry peeps, I will be round to see you all soon. I found that if I lowered my daylight light so I was sort of working above the gaze that seems to work OK and I promised myself if my eye started to hurt I would stop and leave my card !!!!

I am being a bit naughty and combining three challenges here as realistically I can't spend any longer crafting just yet.......but I have managed to use some of my new goodies from Sir Stampalot so you can all see what super new stuff they had delivered this week.

The challenges are Friday Sketchers who have a nice sketch by Jeanette, Tuesday Taggers who want to see 'Red, Gold and Green' and Creative Card Crew who would like to see 'String, Hemp, Twine, Rope etc' on projects.

The image is one of the new Rachelle Anne Miller images - Scarecrow RM064, stamped in versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured in with my brand new Copics which I absolutely love and am getting on with really well. The little board round her neck - yes she is a lady scarecrow - is blank, so I wrote in the name I have given her - Raggy Annie and diamond glazed over.

I stamped her hat and the patches again onto some scraps of Junkitz DP and decoupaged them and also cut out some squares from the same paper to create the background. I added a band of hessian and some raffia which I thought went well with the rustic feel of the card. The layered flowers are from a new Woodware punch from Stampalot called Sakura which does a multi stamp of five flowers in various sizes for layering up. The sentiment it Stamps by Judith SK-LG-207 available from Stamp Addicts.

The red panel has been run through the Bug and lightly sanded and a stamped and coloured a second image onto Shrink Plastic which is placed just above the sentiment.

A Halloween Trio

Morning peeps, cold wet and windy this Sunday morning here in the Fens.......typical the rain had to appear before they get through with the beet harvesting. And to match the weather I have a cold coming out so will be keeping it brief.

Mind you, before I can curl up and forget the world I must dash to Cambridge to pick up my coffee beans.......the worse possible thing happened yesterday I realised I was almost out and had forgotten to order my supply.......I have 2kg about every four weeks. Those that know me will realise the implications if I can't kick start my morning with the odd Espresso or four and my beans from Limonchello, my most favourite Italian delicatessen are my greatest indulgence at £50 a time, well apart from crafting 'essentials' that is. I know what you are saying, that's expensive, you can get them half the price, but believe me they produce the most wonderful flavour and crema.

So my card after all the babble that I was going to keep to a minimum. There is a lot of Halloween going round at the Moment.......might be something to do with 31st October, but as I don't have very much at all in the way of Halloween stamps, in fact just the one, plus a few tinies, I am combining three challenges here. The first is Penny Black where the theme is 'Halloween', Stamping for the Weekend who have the theme of 'Fangtastic Halloween' and I am using the nice sketch from this weeks Friday Sketchers. And finally this fits with Tuesday Taggers challenge, a new one for me but I have been prompted by Pat so here goes.

The main image is Penny Black 3716K stamped with versafine black, embossed with detail clear and coloured in with Promarkers. I used the three small stubby stamps I have with a pumpkin, spider and bat to stamp the hessian ribbon and also added a couple of bats to the main image. The spooky three is cut on the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination, the DP is a double sided one from Bo Bunny and the border my new Martha Stewart Checker Border.......this was another of those mystery purchases when I was at Stampalot Thursday. The sentiment is computer generates and I added gems to embellish the corners round the image.

Two cards, two challenges

I usually do a separate post for each card, but time being a bit at a premium and with several posts to let loose early next week for an new Stamp Addicts Create and Craft show on Wednesday 14th , I am including two here for two different challenges.

The first is for this weeks Friday Sketchers following Beatrix's sketch. I have created a moonlit background by masking the moon then brayering with Big and Juicy Waterfall. I have absolutely no idea of the origin of the image which I think is a Venetian gondola.......might be on the river Cam for all I know, ther is enough of them there, but Venice is far more romantic a notion. The overhanging leaves are Art Impression F2055. The DP os from my stash as is the butterfly and gems. Not a lot more to tell you really, quite a quick and simple card. Mats were cut using Nesties run through the Bug.

The second card is for this weeks Stamping for the Weekend where there is a colour theme of Orange, Brown and Leaf Green, nice combination. The DP is My Minds Eye and the image stamped onto the reverse of the DP is Magenta 42022K simply stamped with Versfine sepia and embossed with detail clear. I stamped the leaf and dragonfly again and decoupaged them. I made two two paper roses from the same DP and added some cord and pearls. The leaf across the bottom corner is from Inkadinkado 98396.

Friday Sketchers

I'm so thrilled as I won the candy at Friday Sketchers, $30 of stamps - my choose - from Verve stamps, so a big thank you to all. And this week Heidi has given us another super sketch to follow.

The finished article is a bit busy compared with my norm, but I think it has a sort of Victoriana feel to it and it's growing on me. I used a stamp I have had for ages but rarely used, it is Great Impression H133 which I stamped with versafine back and embossed with detail clear, then coloured the butterflies with Promarkers. The DP is from Kaiser and the butterflies made using my Xcut punch using some scraps of checked vellum which seem to be made for this DP as the colours match so well. I added some lace, made wire antenna for the butterflies, layered them and added Distress Stickles for the thorax. The greeting is from a clear Hero set, but afraid I don't have the code.

Friday Sketchers

Well it's Friday, bank holiday ahead and the weathers is distinctly British.......at least it is here in the Fens, blustery, cloudy and rain looming. But according to the optician this morning Monday is going to be lovely - I certainly hope he is right.

Today there is a fab new sketch from Claudia over at Friday Sketchers, there was also the addition of a colour combo - Blue and Orange.......which I remembered after I had made my pink card.......something of a common trend amongst some of this week it seems. Luckily when I re-visited their blog it sad the colour theme was "optional" so I have stuck with my pink card girls.

My image is one of the fabby new cling stamps from Hero Arts CG105........when Andy (Mr Sir Stampalot) said try them out I was hesitant, but they are great and I am really impressed with the quality and of course they work out rather cheaper than wood mounted. I stamped simply with Hero soft blossom onto linen cardstock and matted up following the sketch with My Minds Eye and Doodlebug DP's. Border cut with Martha Stewart doily lace, leaves with L-Em and flowers with Woodware punches respectively.

Friday Sketchers

Another great sketch at Friday Sketchers this week which I have used to create another card for next weekends Christmas Launch at Sir Stampalot with the new release Penny Black stamps.......the new release Hero ones are still in the box waiting, but promise to share some of what I do with them as soon as I get there.

This card used the poinsettia from Penny Black 30-036 unmounted set. I love to work with poinsettias as they lend themselves so well to decoupage which is what I have done here. Stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear three times onto vellum. The circles were cut with Nesites on the Bug from My Minds Eye DP's. The swirls across the bottom were stamped with black Stayzon using another new set from Inkadinkadoo 97513......I need to do more with this set as it has some gorgeous leafy swirls and tree.

I stamped the poinsettias several times more onto shrink plastic and some holly from the Penny Black set as above.. All were coloured with Brilliance.......I add it straight from the pad to the plastic, this is such a quick and easy way to colour your images before shrinking if you want colour and not too much detail is required. Finally, gems added to the large poinsettia and a greeting.

Penny Black challenge plus more

Good morning everyone, an early start after a super days teaching at Stampalot yesterday and a yummy new punch I am going to share with you shortly (and they still have some in stock if you 'need' one). We had a fun day and the girls created some fabulous work - one of two were reluctant when I said we were going a bit messy, but persuade them all to partake in a bit of inky stuff with Tim Holtz distress inks, watercolour card and lots and lots of water. Think some of them will be trying it out again today at home.

Still trying to catch up on absent posting of new work, so starting with this weeks Penny Black challenge which has a recipe "3 ribbons, 2 flowers and a charm/pin. This was easy to tie in with yet another great sketch over at Friday Sketchers and Stamping for the Weekend which asks you to use masking on your card.

So, where do I start, the masking I think which is using the tree and teddy stamp from Penny Black 30-304. Teddy and the flowers were masked then the tree added and both stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear. I coloured in with Marvy pens, was going Promparkers but I'm still finding it slow going with them and need to take time and wanted to get this one done and posted. My DP is a really pretty double sided one from October Afternoon and I also punched my two flowers from that. Now the leaves, these are cut from the lovely new punch Andy at Stampalot acquired for me, it's from L-em.com and is so like the MS one I have been hankering after for months but which doesn't seem to be available in the UK.

Finally added the three ribbons in graduating widths, some buttons those punched leaves oh and yes, the charm.

Stamping for the Weekend and Friday Sketchers

Afternoon all, bit light on the postings afraid this weekend and apologies that I've not been doing my blogging rounds as I should, but spent good deal of time at hospital yet again, not going into details suffice to say not nice and painful. And looks like more rain and if the BBC can be relied on it won't be much different for the next few days........ only upside as far as I can see is for the horses, the grass it growing like a triffid. And I guess it's just what the Aussies were hoping for as we had them on the rack at the weekend (I'm on cricket now) and now they smell a draw. (Update - we won !!)

I'm combing two challenges here, this weeks nice sketch from Friday Sketchers and Stamping for the Weekend which is based on "Rock and Roll and offers three song titles and you must depict one in your card - I have gone for Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan........confess I don't remember this one, but in the 70/80s I had other things on my mind apart from music - try a new baby or four for starters ........ but ask me about Queen and some of Freddy's greatest moments and there would be no problem........strutting his stuff at Wembley in those oh so snug white shorts with frayed edges (yes I was there) that yellow tee shirt and not forgetting the white skin tight jeans, ermine cloak and crown, oh my, what Freddy couldn't do with a mic stand isn't worth remembering........oh I could go on for ages on this one, not that I'm an eternal fan or anything you realise......... put it like this, if Verdi or Andrea Bochelli's not on my i pod, Queen is the rest of the time.

Now, anough waffle and on to my card, the image is a Sarah Kay which I have coloured with Promarkers. The DP is Daisy Bucket and Sandylion. Leaves are cut on Cricut storybook, inked with Tim Holt china blue and heat embossed with iridescent powder and the Hero Arts flowers have been inked with the same TH ink and versamark then embossed with detail clear giving them Always About Colours Chris's 'peanut' treatment.

Friday Sketchers

Afternoon all and a follow on from yesterdays post Friday using the new Magenta stamp 14315.O which Sir Stampalot asked me to create some samples with. This one is a bit of a lengthy process, but I will share it as that's all part of this blogging business.

This time I have used it in a totally different way following this weeks super sketch from Friday Sketchers, which is very 'me' nice and symmetrical. Quite a lot of elements used here, but real fun and a bit messy too ........ right up me street. I stamped the image onto a piece of ivory linen cardstock using Tim Holtz spiced marmalade, then while it was still wet brushed gold perfect pearls over which gave me a nice shiny finish but with some of the orange still showing through. I then spritzed the piece with Glimmer Mists gold and terracotta and finally roughed up the edges and distressed with more of the TH ink.

I used the same stamp again onto a pieced of tan cardstock stamping with versafine brown and embossing with detail clear, then bleached out the flowers ........ the bleach worked really well on this card, it's always a bit hit and miss as they all react differently, but I was really pleased with this finish.

The butterfly and swirls were cut in Cricut home decor/accents, and 'splodged'.......this is most definitely a technical terminology.......with Adirindcak acrylic dabbers copper and gold. Finally a band across the middle punched with my MS embossed scallop, a button, some raffia and some gems ........ swarovski ones so this card must be for someone special - ah just remembered, it has a home in Peterborough !

Friday Sketchers

Another nice sketch from Friday Sketchers this week by Claudia, a bit different and I wasn't sure how I could work it at first, but relatively happy with the finished article returning to my safety zone of botanical......well I have done two cutise this week so don't want to go OTT.

DP's are a new double sided one I picked up last week from My Minds Eye and I used the reverse for the diagonal strip with an edging using MS arch lattice punch. The background for my image has been Glimmer Misted with tiger lily, pineapple and gold, my main image is Penny Black3939K stamped with a Kaleidoscope green rainbow pad and embossed with detail clear. Then I randomly stamped diamonds using Hero G3316 with Brilliance rocket red gold which I also embossed with detail clear. Crystal stickes have been added to the two flower heads and ribbon and buttons down the side and........ I'm gonna give away a secret here ........ I over inked my image and got a shadow down the stems, hence the ribbon across the image as well !

Friday Sketcher & Stamping for the Weekend

Another great sketck to follow at Friday Sketchers which I have combined with this weeks Stamping for the Weekend which has a quirky theme of "Rock and Roll 60's" with a twist - three songs from that eara to depict ........ I can't even remember one, so of the other two I've gone for A White Shade of Pale by Procoal Harum. To me this conjours up thoughts of white and pastel pink so is the route I have followed.

My main image is a stamp with no name I'm afraid stamped onto pale pink vellum with versamark and detail white embossing powder and the same with the sentiment, Art Impressions E1427 which I always think fits this image so well. Both have been mounted onto white glitter paper and all mounts cut using Cricut storybook. DP is some really old K&Co, flowers are hero and I have added pearls and liquid pearls to finish.

Penny Black Celebration

The Penny Black challenge is celebrating it's first birthday and aptly the theme this week is "Celebration - Any Celebrations". There is also blog candy on offer so check out their blog to see what you have to do to be in with a chance of winning. The layout of this card is following Jeanette's lovely sketch for Friday Sketchers so is also my entry for that challenge.

I have chosen a card suitable for a new arrival using Penny Black 30- 304 from Stampalot stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured teddy with a mixture of Marvy and Sakura pens, adding glitter to the flowers and butterflies. The tree is from the same set ........ and before anyone asks why the apples aren't red, it's because they are Russet's which are golden coloured so match the colour theme ! The greeting stamped with versafine majestic blue is from Stampsmith and DP's are from October Afternoon which I found on a trip to Capture the Magic.

Friday Sketchers 55

It's been like hard labour this week trying to get anything crafty completed ........ you know, one of those weeks when you never seem to get where you want and it all takes forever.

But, I did at least finish one which will fit in with this weeks Friday Sketchers which has a great sketch by Jacque and you know how much I like sketches and this weeks sponsors are Sir Stampalot so I have no option than to enter. Also, a new one that's just off the ground this week is Stamping for the Weekend where the theme is "Dusk to Dawn" - using the colours Purple and Yellow, two colours that I love together, so all in all I enjoyed the task in hand.

My image is a Stampsmith one I've had for years, they do some really unusual stamps and this little girl sitting in the moon fits the bill just right. I have stamped her simply with Brilliance victorian violet and given the moon a bit of glitz with a quickie glue pen and crystal glitter. The DP's are Doodlebug and Basic Grey and the scallops cut with my Fiskars punch ........ yes, still waiting for the Martha Stewart ones. The scallop mount is cut on Cricut Storybook and the oval tag is from a new set of nestie labels and a flowers and pearls added to finish.

Friday Sketchers 54

Good morning everyone, a beautiful sunny start to the day here, hope it's the same where you are.

I'm up against time here this morning as decided to treat myself to a laptop so I can transfer my Cricut software to it.............. and if I'm honest so I can blog on the go even when I'm away from my desk. But it will free up my desktop so justified I've told myself and John Lewis has a very nice new Toshiba on offer so I'm headed that way shortly.

Before I go, just found time to do this weeks Friday Sketchers challenge which is a lovely sketch from Jacqueline from the Netherlands. Have to say I'm not 100% happy with the finished article as not sure about the DP which is a double sided one from Crate Paper. I had decided on my image Penny Black 3949H and though the DP would match, but might be a tad dark for a summers day. But laptop calling, decided to go with it. The greeting is a skinny stamp from Stamps by Judith available from StampAddicts. Ovals cut on the cuttlebug with nesties.

Stamped as usual with versafine black and clear emboss, coloured with Marvy pens, stamped a second image for the two flowers at the top of the sketch and diamond glazed all. I cut the card itself on Cricut Wild Card, welding and flipping one of the shapes to achieve Jacquelin's chosen shape. I have used three beads threaded on a pin to fit with the left hand corner of the sketch and tied with a bow.

Also sharing a picture of one of the lupins and digitalis which are just coming out in the garden and also a hydrangea which is just showing colour. And by way of an explanation on the merecats before anyone asks, they totally fascinate me and when I saw these advertised in a ST supplement last year my Dad told me to buy them, so now they sit amongst the flowers.

Friday Sketchers 53

A wonderful sketch by Heidi is this weeks Friday Sketchers challenge and has given me another opportunity to try our more of the new My Minds Eye papers and stamps detailed in the post prior to this one.

The Hero stamp set is a bit quirky but has a real appeal. I decoupaged the leaves and little birdie, anyhow I think he's a bird, stamping with versafine sepia and clear embossing powder onto the reverse of the DP. I lightly distressed the edges with Tim Holtz vintage photo and also embossed the flowers with detail clear to give them an enamel look. The oval mats were cut on the Cuttlebug using nesties.

Three into one

My second card today combines this weeks Penny Black challenge which is "Recipe - three flowers, 2 papers, 1 charm/brad", Secret Crafter challenge which requires the use of "Glitter" and Friday Sketchers which is a sketch by Claudia Rose which I hared round to draw in all three requirements.

The image is Penny Black 3633K, stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Sakura glaze pens and glitter added whilst still wet. DP is Basic Gray and the circles have been cut from this and some really nice deep blue glitter paper using nesties through the Cuttlebug as have the flowers. A small flower charm added to the top and the image mat dusted with chalks to soften the background.

Friday Sketchers 51

This weeks Friday Sketchers challenge is a sketch with quite a lot of layers, well for me anyway, but that's why it's called a challenge is'nt it ?

Unusually frugal, I have used some DP's that came free in a magazine which carried some of my artwork. The image is GR1353 DD from Hobby Arts, stamped with versamark and embossed with Moonglow razzelberry plum and cut on the cuttlebus using nesties. This is a lovely sentiment that I often use in class and there's always a list of orders for it afterwards.

The horizontal 'mat' is a border scroll cut on cricut storybook as are the hibiscus flowers across the bottom. I had added some florist stamens and liquid pearls to the centres.