Sun, Sea and Sand

Morning everyone, another scheduled post as our family are all decamped to the venue for Anysia's re-scheduled, re-scheduled wedding so I've been MIA yet again. So hoping the weather stays kind. 

Time for another challenge at Allsorts and this week Lorraine's theme is 'Anything Goes with the option of sun, sea and sand'. Quite a few stamps went into the one above, mostly Stampscapes along with Distress Inks to create the sea and sand. 

And below a recent samples for Create and Craft TV using a new sun ray stencil from Oakwood, their Daisy dies, some stamped grass and sentiments.

As always my thanks for your visits and words of encouragement.

 

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Sailing into the sunset and my race heroes

Morning Peeps, back from holiday and in time to tell you about our new challenge at Allsorts where Ellie has chosen the theme of 'Sun, Moon, Stars or Baby'. Our lucky winner will receive a double Hollypond Hill CD ROM set. Again this is a two week challenge during the holiday season.

When I ran regular classes and demos, something I only do now and again these days as my health is unpredictable, I was often referred to as the "Moon Lady" or "Poppy Lady" because invariably I included a piece of work featuring either a sun or moon often accompanied by Poppies as well.

Old habits die hard as they say as nothing has changed and I continue to use both in my crafting regularly. On the above card I stamped the mountains and sea first which are from Stampscapes, placing some torn paper in the foreground where I wanted to create a beach before stamping. Then a sun mask, built up the colour using Pan Pastels, stamped the boat, also Stampscapes and some Inkylicious leaves around the top to frame the scene.

We have been on holiday in the Alps and Alex had a race on the Italian side on Mont Blanc, the 60K Monterosa Est Himalayan Trail endurance race with weather conditions from 30deg to snow and ice at 3000m so we were thrilled that he came 5th in a large field of athletes. And a podium finish as in Ultra races they extend the podium to six. So I thought I would share a couple of photos, the bottom one is at the finish where he looks a bit battered and worn but happy.

And at the same time one of his elder brothers Eliot below was running the Centurion North Downs Way 100 mile race, he's been injured and unable to train properly but still managed 20th place, I don't have a photo of him in that one but this is one taken on day five of the Sussex Marathon Madness event which is in June - yes marathons on five consecutive evenings which he seemed to complete with ease and happy to display all five medals.

Daughter Joy also runs (but she's camera shy), mostly 10k and half marathons although she did do London as did eldest Granddaughter Anysia. And then of course there is Grandson Zachary who took part in the London Triathlon for the second time in July. I don't know where they get all their energy from as every one takes months of training, preparation and dedication but we are super proud of them all.

And at the risk of being super boring, this is a Tweet from the Home Secretary this week, our eldest son to the left who was seconded to the Home Office a few weeks ago as the UK National Mobilisation Coordinator, again we're super proud parents!

Back to Allsorts and my second card uses a mixture of stamps, I know the trees and sentiment are Inkylicious but I have no clue what make the fence is as it's unmounted, but a suspicion it might be Prickly Pear from the days I designed for them. Again the background is Pan Pastels and a mask and stencil to add the sun and rays.

I took lots of photos on holiday but not had time to edit them as yet, we were delayed getting home due to BA's problems this week but were lucky that our flight did at least get air bound eventually, I think it was the last BA flight out of Geneva that afternoon. And to add further delay a lorry ran our taxi home off the M11, fortunately we were OK, it could have been far worse but the driver did a sterling job of controlling the car to prevent us going down the embankment to the oncoming traffic. The lorry failed to stop and seemed to speed up but we got all the details and it's thought he was on his mobile phone.

Have a good weekend everyone and please do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration on display from my team mates.

 

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All about Pets

Morning Peeps, it's my turn to be your host at Allsorts this week and I would like you to join me in celebrating National Pet Awareness Month and RSPCA week, a charity very close to my heart. It's also National Veterinary day this coming week as well. So my theme is 'All about Pets'.......any animal you would find in peoples homes.

Animal have always played a huge part of my life.........you will find some of ours on the 'family friends' page at the top of my blog, we have dogs, cats, horses, chickens and ducks........and I have to admit some days when it's tough going I prefer spending time with them rather than people. Their love is unconditional and they always seem to sense when we need that extra bit of love, that might sound crazy to those who don't have pets, but I am sure those of you who do will be able to identify with exactly what I am saying.

For some years I have donated cards to our local RSPCA charity shop as well as my other charity of choice the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket and naturally I have found some Animal related prizes which you can find over at the challenge blog.

Obviously I had to incorporate both horses and dogs in my DT pieces this week and the top card is one I made for the lovely Bev at Bee Crafty using some of their recent stamps, the tree, horses and birds. I started with a Distress Ink background and then added the images after which I used a piece of torn paper to ground the horses and tree. I used Distress Markers and a spritz of water on the tree and pulled out the colour with a damp brush and stamped the horses and birds with Versafine Toffee. And of course I had to sponge in a few sunrays.

There is a right mixture of stamps on this one, Stampscapes, Art Impressions, Sutter and I think the girl and dog are Clarity. I stamped all the images first and then built up the colour with Pan Pastels and Distress Inks, plus a sun mask, bleached out some colour from the cows - well they are Fresian's  so they had to be black and white and dragged out some colour on the cottage.

And a card for the current Rudolph Days challenge over at Mo's, not entered for a couple of months due to all the kidney faff and my enforced absent from blogland so didn't want to miss it again. I had this one already made and as it has the black Lab on it I figure it fits in with my Pets post rather well. Penny Black stamps repeat stamped to extend the scene, also a PB sentiment, Pan Pastels, some glitter and of course a masked sun.

My team mates have lots of pet inspiration to share and I really hope you will pop over to the challenge blog and take a look and of course join in this weeks challenge.

Greek culture and salami from Naples

Morning Peeps, we are still on our travels and so another scheduled post, since my last post we will have visited Santorini which is one on the Cyclades Islands, no matter how many times you go there you are taken aback by it's sheer beauty and the beautiful whitewashed houses that rise up from the blue waters of the Aegean Sea.

And today our itinerary has us in the port of Piraeus, the gateway to Athens which is about half an hour away. We have been there several times before, explored the Acropolis a couple of times and also the City of Athens and it's modern shopping centre so will probably just have a wander in the local town. Then it's off to Italy with stops in Naples and some of their wonderful local salami and of course wine, then onwards to Rome.

So still scheduled posts and our new challenge at Allsorts where this week Mervi is going all Autumnal with the theme of  'Trees and Leaves'. Our sponsor is Marianne Designs.

It's another theme that plays right into my hands which means two cards, one an Autumnal scene and another with lots on inkiness. The one at the top is a sample from last weeks Chocolate Baroque Hochanda shows with DI background then stamping using images from Autumn Poppy, Natures Table and Natures Peace and colouring with DI's, some white highlighting and stenciling using the laves mask.

A bit more inkiness along with  Pan Pastels to create the background, a masked sun and
then stamping with a mixture of Sutter, Stampscapes and Creative Expressions stamps.

Short and sweet I'm afraid as I'm rushing to schedule this ahead of our holiday.

Dance, sing, love............

I would like to start by saying thank you for all your kind comments and messages of support the last few weeks, it seems like a never ending saga, but hopefully I will get back to some sort of normality soon. 

In my post yesterday I spoke a little about my MS and I was touched by some mails and comments I received as a result, sometimes we can forget that we are not an island and there are others out there coming to terms with a new diagnosis. Here are a few words from one lady's mail to me "Thank you so much for opening up about MS, I was diagnosed in January and it's scary as nobody tells you much about what to expect. I have followed your blog for a long time and know you don't accept the limitations of MS, you continue to inspire me to keep trying even on bad days. Keep up the good work". I did ask the ladies permission to share.

It's time for our challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes are 'One for the Boys' and 'Add a Sentiment' and as always there are wonderful prizes to be won at both.

My Stamping Sensations share at the top uses a real mixture of stamps from Stampscapes, Inkylicious and Art Impressions. I started with a masked sun and then added Adirondack and Distress Inks to create the sky and lake before stamping everything into place with black archival ink.

My Penny Black card is not exactly what I planned but after creating the Brusho background the oranges looked rather like an explosion of fireworks and reminded me of a famous photo of the 1900 Paris Expo with all the exploding lights behind La Tour Eiffel. So I used a Sheena stencil and blue distress inks, then stamped my all time favourite Penny Black quote and PB butterfly which I cut out and coloured with the same colour Brusho's.

My team mates have created some fabulous pieces of artwork to inspire you so I do hope you will pop over the the challenge blogs to see them and of course join us this month.

Just for fun stamping

Happy Monday Peeps, I hope your weekend was a good one, the weather was a mixed bunch here in the Fens and a hard frost this morning, but it's led to some nice sunshine.

A warm welcome to my new followers and a big thank you for all the lovely comments on my recent posts. Quite a few of those have been my Tattered Lace makes, die crafting is a whole new ball game to me but one I am thoroughly enjoying so it is very encouraging to know that you are liking what I am doing with them.

I have not had a lot of time for scenic stamping recently so over the weekend I had a little playand my just for fun session made a lovely change.

I used Pan Pastels for the colour on both cards and a mixture of Sutter, Art Impressions and Stampscape stamps.

Thanks for taking a peek and hope you all have a good week.

Brosho's with a few Pan Pastels thrown in for good measure

Time for our monthly challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes at both are 'Anything Goes'.........that wasn't actually planned, it's just how it seems to have turned out !

For my Penny Black card it is my all time favourite inspirational quote 2696J Dance, Sing, Love along with Penny Black 2636K Scroll background around the edges, both are pretty old wood mounted stamps. I started with a Brusho background using Leaf Green, Violet and Cobalt Blue which gives out lovely hues of purple as the water shifts the powder and I also used the latter two to colour the flowers which I made using a Heartfelt die and stamp. Some grunge paste harlequins, a couple of die cut swirls cut on the cricut, seam binding and pearls to embellish.

The first of my Stamping Sensations pieces used Silhouette Elephants from our sponsor Little Claire in the foreground and in the background I repeat stamped a really old Judikins cube with the trees and Zebra, the word Serengeti is also part of the same cube. All colouring is Pan Pastels and of course a masked sun on the horizon.

Another Brusho background for my second Stamping Sensation piece, this time I used masking fluid to create a sun and a paper mask to separate the land area before spraying on yellow, orange and brilliant red. Next I rubbed away the sun mask.........I am presently using Pebeo masking fluid and I think it's the best yet. I used Pan Pastels for the land elements of the scene and a mixture of Stampscapes, Sutter, Art Impression and Chocolate Baroque stamps.

Hope you all have a good Sunday and keep warm in this cold and frosty weather.

Cabin by the lake

Morning Peeps, it's a lovely sunny Autumn day here and hope it's the same your way.

A very quick post and not much writing as just had my annual retinal screening which means all blurry for a few hours so just a short explanation for these two cards. Alex and Zoe dropped the boys off before they flew off to Frankfurt for the marathon at the weekend and she left a little note in my craft room saying she loved the scene below and how she would love to have a log cabin there. So that led to the top card as a well done on their race achievements.

Stamps are a mixture of Stampscapes and Sutter and mountains created with a torn paper mask and Pan Pastels.

A poinsettia for Advent

Morning to you all, it's time for our new challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where this month we have the themes of Free and Easy and Traditional Christmas colours. And as always some great prizes up for grabs so I do hope you will join in.

The above one is my Penny Black and More piece with a vellum stamped poinsettia and below some inky indulgence  using a variety of stamps and of course Pan Pastels.

Have a good Sunday everyone.

Coastal scenes

Morning everyone, hope your week is going well. Afraid I've been a really tardy blogger this week, no post for several days mainly because I've had my head down getting DT work done that needs to head off over to the States so what with work as well time has been in short supply, so apologies for the lack of visits.

I know in advance that this is going to sound a tad deja vous as it's another really quick pre work post with a couple of shares.

Both were created a few months ago when I was in a bit of a coastal mood..........it must come from living so far from the sea and not seeing it very often.

The top one was done with Pan Pastels and a mixture of Stampscape and Sutter stamps and the second one is brayered and sponged using Adirondack dye inks.

Have a good Thursday all and thanks so much for your much appreciated visits and lovely comments.

Parisian sunset

Saturday morning and time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week we would like you to share your 'Favourite Things' with us. Our sponsors this week are DigiStamp Boutique and My Mums Craft Shop.

Dilemmas or what, Distress Inks or Pan Pastels, flowers or a scene, well in the end the Pan Pastels won the day along with a Parisian scene and it's another take on the card I blogged last week as I am still in Parisian mode. Again I used the Clarity Parisian mask to create the background along with PP's then paper pieced a lady and grounded her with some darker PP's and a Stampscapes cobble stamp. The Oak branches are also Stampscapes and the grasses in the front are Indigo Blue.

When I showed this one to number one critique his comment was "will she or won't she" when I said will she what he replied "jump", I actually thought it gave the impression she was looking down over the City from a park somewhere on the outskirts, clearly he saw something different to me !

Happy weekend to you all and time allowing will be popping round over the weekend.

A fenland meadow

Morning to you all, hope your week is going well. Thanks you for all you kind comments on my Parisian scene on Monday and also welcome to my new followers.

I thought I would share the birthday card I made for hubby, I did think it had already been blogged but seems not so here it is. I started by stamping the trees with black archival ink, the large one is Creative Expressions and the small one Stampscapes, then created the background with Pan Pastels and finished by stamping the Sutter Stamps fence, Hobbyart sheep, birds and branches adding a little watercolour here and there to highlight. The sheep stamp is a long one with six on it but they are all in a bit of a row so I ink the stamp in sections to give a more random look. I then rub out the Pan Pastels..............that's the great thing about them....... and add a little white micron pen to lift them.

Hope you all have a good Wednesday.

Fishing on the lake

Morning Peeps, it's another quickie I'm afraid, not that I am rushing to the office, more the need to keep away from the computer as I am having one of those silly dizzy phases where the whole world is on the move and laying flat seems the only answer.............C'est la vie avec MS.

All I managed yesterday was to finish me new blog header, I thought I would go with a summery scene for a while now that everything is so lush and green and the poppies will be out soon just as they were when this one was taken last year.

The above card is just a little scene I created for a class using Pan Pastels, Stampscape stamps and I think the sentiment is from a Sheena Douglass set.

Have a good Thursday everyone, I shall do my best to get round when my visual world keeps still long enough.

Down in the meadow

Good Morning, hope everyone had a good weekend. Thanks for all your lovely comments on my last post and welcome to my new followers, it's lovely to meet you.

I thought I would share a little bit of inkiness today, these are ones I made a few weeks back when I was having a play as you do. There's definitely a bit of a cow thing going on here, when I made these I had just received some new stamps from Sutter Stamps and the cows were amongst those so itching to get inked up.

Both of the backgrounds were created with Glimmer Mists, it's not something I do that often for my scenic cards but I quite like the mottled sky effects and then I added distress inks to obtain some depth to the meadows. The stamps in both are a mixture of Sutter and Stampscapes with a few Art Impression thrown in for good measure. The fence in the top card is Sutter and the one on the bottom card drawn in by hand.

OK, off to do some proper work now, have a good Monday.

Another tropical shore

Good morning to you all, how's the weather your way ? I've seen snow in March before, but never in the volume we seem to have had the last few days and it's not in any hurry to shift. And there was me thinking it's almost Easter so it must be Spring.

I have my mid month inspiration for Craft a Scene challenge where the March them is 'Tropical Shores', I am not actually on the DT any longer as I decided to step down, but I already had this months work prepared so would like to share it and remind people about the challenge.

I would also like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has joined in my Blog Celebration so far, I am totally overwhelmed by the beautiful and varied creations and humbled by the great efforts to which you have all gone to create such special pieces of artwork. I know there are still some of you planning to join in and as I said in my initial post I am going to let it run for another week or two yet.

My card uses in the main stamps from Stampscapes, although the sentiment is from Printworks and the surfer image one I had specially made to make cards for for our second eldest son who is a keen surfer. I first stamped the images and reflection in the water then masked a sun before adding colour with Pan Pastels and a bit of shading with watercolour pencils.

As always thanks for popping in with your kind comments and hope you have a good week.

Serengeti sunset

Good Morning all my crafty friends, it's the first Sunday of the month so time for some new challenges and at Stamping Sensations our theme is 'The Great Outdoors', at Penny Black and More it's 'One for the Boys' and at Craft a Scene it's all about 'Tropical Shores.

For my Penny Black DT piece at the top of this post I have used one of the new Spring release stamps  40-194 Go Wild because as soon as I saw this set I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it and thought it would be ideal for this months theme. I started by stamping the background using a Judikins cube using two of the images and repeat stamping one of them. Next I masked a sun and coloured the Serengeti sky with Pan Pastels, stamped the focal animals and  coloured the remainder again with Pan Pastels and added a bit of shading with watercolour pencils. Finally I stamped some random branches and grasses to frame the scene. The sentiment is from the same PB stamp set.

For my Stamping Sensations DT piece I have used an image from our sponsor Crafty Individuals CI-367 Flowers and Butterflies repeat stamped simply in black archival ink onto a background created with Pan Pastels. After stamping the images I sponged some sun rays with Adirondack dye ink, then added the bird tucked among the founa which is from Chocolate Baroque and some birds in flight.

My final share is my Craft a Scene DT piece. I stamped the scene using a mixture of Sutter, Inkadinkadoo and Stampscape images and as per usual masked the sun and coloured all with Pan Pastels and watercolour pencils plus some white gel pen to accentuate the rolling waves and grasses in the foreground.

I really hope you will join in our challenges this month, we have loads of fabulous prizes on offer.