Soft Wings and Orchids

Time for our monthly challenges at Stamping Sensations and Penny Black and More where our themes are Dies and Punches and Wings.

My Penny Black creation uses the lovely Penny Black Soft Wings Butterfly, it's quite a large stamp and needs little more with it on a card. I used distress markers to ink the stamp and spritzed with water before stamping and cutting out. The border is Tattered Lace Victoria and I added all to a background stenciled with the same colour DI's.

On to my Stamping Sensations DT work and two cards from me, the first using Ruth's Tonic Pick of the Bunch Lilies Window die and some Theresa Collinds DP's. The sentiment is Stamp Addicts.

I have just realised that I have used the same TL border die for the above card, it wasn't intended that way but figure means I rather like it, on this occasion I used just the inner portion of the die to create a pattern within the base layer which I also embossed with TL foliage and butterflies. The beautiful Orchid is a Sheena stamp coloured in with Spectrum pencils and a little stenciling added to the background.

And here are a few of my Orchids in flower at the moment, hubby nurses them all winter long in the conservatory which seems to be just the right temperature for them and waters them with filtered water and each Summer they bounce back with the most beautiful blooms.

As always we have some fabulous prizes to be won at both challenges so I really hope you will join in this month.

How does your garden grow and Saturday candy

Tracy has come up with the theme of 'How does your garden grow' at Allsorts this week and we have two fab sponsors, A Passion for Stamps and Crimson Cloud .

So two cards for me as I wanted to make something with Ruth's lovely products but I also had the one at the top which I made a while ago with this sweet Art Impression image which always makes me think of the nursery rhyme 'Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow'. I paper piece the little girl and created a little garden scene around her with various stamps and Pan Pastels and made a couple of rolled roses from the same DP using the Cricut Mini Close to my Heart Art Philosophy cartridge - it's so quick and easy to cut as many flowers as you want all in one go.

My second card uses Ruth's Tonic Passion for Flowers Lily frame die and Lily punch and stamp set which compliment each other perfectly and the soft pinks really lend themselves to the Lilies. The background was created with a mask and perfect pearls and the sentiment an unmounted one of which I have no idea of the origin. The frame and Lilies were all coloured with Pan Pastels.

Now for the winners of last weeks candy who is Mags, well done please mail me with your full name and postal addy.

And this week I thought something a bit Christmassy, some glitter, snowflakes, gems and ribbons, same rules as usual....................

• Add the Saturday Candy logo from my sidebar to your sidebar (not this picture)
• Be a follower of my blog
• A random winner will be selected from all comments left on my blog between now and Friday, so two comments during the week two chances of winning and so on.
• The winner will be announced next Saturday

Happy weekend all.

The Lady of Shalott

Good Morning to all you crafty Peeps, it's the first Sunday of June so time to tell you about our new challenges and at Stamping Sensations it's my turn to choose the theme which is Summer Blooms..........I know I am so transparent and most of you could have predicted that one.........and at Penny Black and More we would like to see CAS creations.

Warning in advance this is a picture heavy post but the top creation was a difficult shape to get a decent photo so I have also done one of each section. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to create for Stamping Sensations which was to use Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott is some way........I absolutely adore the poem, but with nineteen long verses there was no way I could use it all so I picked out four which I felt matched the photos I had. I also wanted to use my Heartfelt Creations window die as they are our sponsors this month.

Now I know you are probably thinking what on earth does this have to do with Summer Blossoms, well quite a lot actually as there are references to flowers, barley, leaves and so on throughout the poem. For  instance in the first verse which is on the first panel of my card refers to lilies and verse eight in my second panel makes reference to water lilies. 

So I copied and printed out each photo, they are not brilliant copies but I think the slightly hazy finish blends with the tones I have used and placed each behind one of the Heartfelt windows and inked the edges with distress ink Rusty Hinge. Next I printed off the verses onto cream card stock and threw some gold embossing powder on before the ink dried and heated, the gold onto the black ink gave a nice deep gold colour. I cut an arch shape for each section and then randomly stamped with Inkylicious paint background with the same distress ink. Finally I joined the panels with lace, mounted the window panels and decorated with some Spellbinder leaves and lilies made from Ruth's punch and stamp peruvian lily set (links for products in the thumbnails at the bottom on post).

Phew..........it was a labour of love but I really enjoyed making it and I intend keeping it until July for history teacher daughters birthday, so apt as like she she is a lover of poetry.

I would like to enter this card into:

The Hobby House - Anything goes
Bloggers - To die for
Hels challenge - I dreamed a dream

Now for my Penny Black and More DT piece which takes far less explanation. It is one of the samples I made last year for Stampington magazine and have never blogged any of them until now because of exclusivity and so on.

I masked the top and bottom of the reverse side (matt side) of a piece of centura pearl and inked the background with distress inks mowed grass and salty ocean, then stamped with the Penny Black grasses using the same inks, which I also used for the butterflies. 

Here is another one from the same set of four cards using the same ink pads and masking, but this time I stamped and embossed the butterflies with clear powder to give a resist finish before adding the inks.

I would like to enter this card into:

Crafty Calendar - Things with wings

Have a lovely Sunday and I do hope you will join in our challenges this month.

Lace and more lace

Good Morning Peeps. time for some more new monthly challenges and great themes, at Pretty Little Ribbons we would like to see 'Lace' and at FlonzCraft Vintage Stamping Challenges it's 'Lace, Pearls and a touch of Elegance', I can see some perfect opportunities to double up here.

My FlonzCraft piece uses a new stamp from their Vintage Fashions Girls range - apparently that's now the 50's and 60's so a bit scary to think that I hail from a Vintage era......C'est la vie! Ayhow, I paper pieced the image using the same DP's as the background which are Teresa Collins and I absolutely love this colour combo. I grounded the image using an Art Impression cobblestone stamp and added a few blossoms at the top with another FlonzCraft stamp. Some lace, pearls swirls and die cut flowers and leaves and finito.

I would like to enter this card into:

Fashionista - Shabby or vintage
Bloggers challenge - A feminine touch

And this one is my DT piece for Pretty Little Ribbons using some of Sarah's lovely 16mm Guipure Lace, Pearl Hearts and White Satin Leaf Trim, The image is the gorgeous violet stamp from Stampendous and some new Spellbinders which I just had to have.

I made the three violets in the corners using the small leaf punch from the Tonic Punch and Stamp Rose set and the leaves are from Ruth's Pick of the Bunch Lily stamp set which I stamped onto bazzil cardstock which match the leaves on the stamp rather well.


I would like to enter this card into:

Gingerloft - Lilac and lace
Crafty Calender - Blooms and Blossoms
Kraftyhands - Flower Frenzy

I have just one more to share as I had a small piece of the Guipure Lace left so couldn't resist a second card, this one used a Chocolate Baroque bird image and a Stampendous sentiment.



The background is distressed with Squeezed Lemons and Shabby Shutters and over stamped using a Penny Black background stamp before stamping the main images with archival coffee. The flowers are also from PLR and I coloured the Satin leaf Trim with green distress ink.

I would like to enter this into:

No Matter Which - Things with wings
BTCG - Flowers

Have a good Monday Peeps and hope you will get your lace out and join in our challenges.

Sew special

Good Morning Peeps, it's the first Sunday of the month which means time for new challenges at Stamping Sensations  where we have the theme 'Embossing and/or texture' and at Penny Black and More it's a bit of a double take 'Sew Special' and can be something for that special person, have some stitching, or even both.

For my Penny Black DT piece I have used the gorgeous PB Venetian Summer stamp coloured with watercolours. The backing DP's are My Minds Eye and I made the roses from the same using the Tonic Rose punch and stamp set and the leaves are a Memory Box die which I recently had from Coleman's Craft Warehouse for some sample cards.

I would like to enter this card into:

One Stop Craft - Flower Power
Crafters Circle - Buds, blooms and blossoms
Jellypark Friends - Girly
CRAFT - A stitch in time

As Tonic are our sponsors at Stamping Sensations this month I had a real dilemma what products to use as being on Ruth's DT I am lucky enough to own rather a lot of them. I dabbled for a week or so and made a couple of cards that ended up in the bin then I had the germ of an idea in the middle of the night.............as you do when the pain is keeping you awake, but it was productive time as I came up with something I am actually reasonably happy with now it's finished.

I bought a couple of shadow boxes at Stamperama which were in the cupboard taking up space, this one is 8x8. I started by coating it with gesso followed by a mixture of gold and beige acrylic paint, just adding it randomly here are there until the gesso was covered, then overstamped both the outer frame and inside aperture with a mixture of background stamps.

Next I made three roses from some music score using my Tonic Rose punch and stamp set and whilst they dried stamped some ivy (Chrysanthemum Pick of the Bunch stamp set) butterflies (Rudbeckia stamp set) and large leaves (Lily stamp set) on to brown and ivory bazzil. Once I had cut them all out I dipped all including the roses into UTEE in the melt pot and when cooled arranged them into the frame.

Needless to say I had great difficult taking photos as no matter which way I turned the shadow box I go reflection from the glass, but hopefully you can get the general idea.

I would like to enter this piece into:

Country View - How does your garden grow
Oozak - Earthtones
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything goes

I have another share for Penny Black and More using a FlonzCraft 20's lady image. Lots of background stamping with several Penny Black stamps over Dylusions, the lady was stamped and then bleached out. The sentiment, sadly long since discontinues is Penny Black as is the butterfly and I added some stitching around the sentiment to tie in with the theme.

I would like to enter this into:

Heck of a Challenge - Fashion
Fashionable Stamping - Anything goes

And finally before you all fall asleep on me this really is the last one, another for Stamping Sensations.

Just a little pretty fussy creation using Tonic Peruvian Lily stamp and punch set...............if I am honest this set really is my favourite one, some new Spellbinders and Teresa Collins DP, so quick and easy to make but I think rather pretty with those lovely flowers.

I would like to enter this card into:

My Time to Craft - Sentiment as focal point
Southern Girls - Sentiment of quote

I am really hoping you will join in our challenges this month, as always we have a fabulous collection of prizes at both and I can see plenty of scope to combine the two challenges if you wish.

Enjoy your Sunday and as always thank you so much for your visits and kind comment.

Spring blossoms and blooms

Good Morning all you crafty Peeps, another scheduled post with our new challenges at  Stamping Sensations where our theme is 'Special Occasions' and at Penny Black and More where we have 'blossoms and Bows'.

My Penny Black and More DT piece which is the top card is an order from my daughter for a leaving card for a teacher colleague and she specifically wanted me to use this PB sentiment, it had never occurred to me before to use it for that type of card but it is actually quite appropriate. She also wanted a simple but stylish design and a large card as all the Humanities department need to sigh it, so it's a 10x10 with a matching box.

I started by stamping and embossing the PB blossom stamp and then cutting round some of the blossoms so that I could place them over the edge circle nestie to they stayed intact before cutting the aperture. The background is shaded with Pan Pastels and the PB sentiment stamped and embossed in black. I added a little colour to the image and then some small punched flowers and as it's a 'special' card used swarovski crystals in the centres.



I have two DT pieces for Stamping Sensations, the first above uses lots of lovely poppy stamps, the one in the aperture is Penny Black and the ones around the frame which I stamped and then cut round so they go into the frame is a Clarity stamp, one of the very few from them that I own but this one was a must have. The flowers are all coloured with Pan Pastels and the sentiment is computer generated.

My second Stamping Sensation piece is a bit of die and flower indulgence really. The base piece is embossed with one of the new A4 size Spellbinder embossing folder which are so useful without all the faff of lining up patterns with the smaller ones.

The central mats are more Spellbinder dies (details to all on the thumbnail links below) and the flower made with Ruth's Tonic Pick of the Bunch stamp and punch set.

I really hope you will join in with our challenges this month, as always we have some fabulous prizes on offer.

Spring had Sprung and this weeks candy

I am hoping Mr Blogger is playing the game over Easter as this is scheduled as we are in Paris to watch one of our son's run in the Marathon, it's all part of his prize from the Runners World/Ascis Athlete of the year awards. 

Since his win in November, he's been mentored by their expert personal trainers, physios and dieticians, receive lots of lovely running gear along with the all expenses paid trip to Paris and next he is off to Munich for another marathon at the end of the month. He has been training so hard and thinks nothing of popping out in the morning for a swift 20 mile run, as you do.

So now on to this weeks challenge and it's all about Spring at Allsorts this week with Jo's lovely theme of Spring has Sprung and we have two great sponsors, DigiStamp Boutique and Crafty Ribbons.

My card at the top is a bit of inky indulgence with a Dylusion background, lots of random stamping and gold embossing, a lattice window using one of Ruth's Tonic Pick of the Bunch dies and birds and branch are all Timmy dies. The little butterflies are from the same Pick of the Bunch stamp sets and the sentiment computer generated.

Now for this weeks candy is a 8x8 paper pad and the winner will be selected at random from all comments left during the week......... if you leave more than one then you get entered again, simple as that and the only other requirement is that......................

1) I would love if you were a follower (candy only blogs will be discounted)

2) Leave a comment and add the logo from my sidebar to your own blog

And last weeks lucky winner is Rosie from Mondays post, congratulations please mail me with your full posal addy and I will get your stamps off to you as soon as I get home from Paris.

For my second DT piece I have used Roses stamp sheet from DigiStamp Boutique which is paper pieced onto these pretty Spellbinders, an embossed panel at the bottom and the top section is stamped with a Hero Arts rose stamp using distress inks. The rose and leaves in the bottom corner has been made with Pick of the Bunch stamp and punch Rose set.

I really do hope you will find time to join us this week as we have two great prizes on offer from our sponsors DigiStamp and Crafty Ribbons so double the reason to enter.

Tonic meets Stampendous

Hello craft Peeps and welcome to my new followers and also a big thank you for all your comments on my last post, I think it's fair to say that a good few of us would like to be on that tropical beach right now. How about we charter a flight for a few crafty days in the sun...........now that is a good idea.......and if we are really lucky Captain Jack Sparrow aka Johnny Depp might happen to pass our island and drop in.........you all know I live in a fantasy world so just humour me.

Anyhow, back to reality and I thought I would share a bit of spring through my card above, violets are such pretty flowers with the most amazing scent and when I saw this Stampendous stamp had to have it. I have coloured the image with watercolour pencils and made some violets to embellish using the small petal punch from the Rose stamp and punch set from Tonic. The leaves which I thought reflected those on the image so well are stamped into bazzil using  Ruth's Pick of the Bunch Lily set.

I thought I would have another go with the Flitter Glue and Gilding Flakes, I bought it months ago but have never been happy with the results and usually end up with a  desk full of mess, but I was so pleased that this time it worked and I seem to have mastered it at long last. The frame is another of Ruth's products, the Lilies Window Die....................I am so impressed with these Tonic dies, even the more intricate ones still cut like butter, there's non of this faffing about having to run them through the machine several times to get a good cut. I cute the frame a second time onto black cardstock and cut out the lilies and bee, then overstamped with the matching stamp set using the flitter glue and gilded them. The ivy in the background is from the same stamp set and again gilded as is the central sentiment.

That's it from me today, back to proper work and get my desk cleared before Easter.

Deco Delights and this weeks candy

Saturday morning can mean only one things, yep a new challenge at Allsorts and this week Tracy is our host and has the inspiring theme of 'Deco Delights' and our sponsors are The Craft Barn and DigiDarla.

This was a perfect opportunity for me to use one of the lovely Art Deco stamps from FlonzCraft, this one is is called 20's Fashion Girls 6 which I stamped and coloured with watercolour pencils and stamped Art Impression cobbled path to ground them and a few leaves across the top. I was a bit stumped for backing DP as I had nothing that really fitted the geometric style prints of the eara, but I managed to find a free download of a Art Deco inspired William Morris wallpaper. A few feathers and a beaded pin following some jewellery images I found from the 20's.

Now for this weeks candy giveaway, a pack of ten elegant tent cards and envelopes.

And the winner of last weeks candy is Aud - her Thursday comment came out of the hat, please mail me with your full postal addy Aud so I can get your stamps posted off to you.

And for those of you who missed last weeks post, I am giving away a craft item every week with the winner selected at random from all comments left during the week, more than one comment, extra chances to win. here's all you need to do:

1) Pop the logo above to your blog sidebar and leave a comment this week
2) And I would love it you were a follower (but no candy only blogs - I do check)

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and will find time to join in this weeks challenge.

Cherish and Dream

Good Morning to you all and thank you all for your comments on my last post regarding the forthcoming Blogger changes. I think it's one of those things where we all have our preferences how we like to follow other peoples blogs and as far as I can tell if you view through your dashboard as I do, then no need for panic. 

Apologies I've not got round your blogs the last couple of days, it's been a tad busy work wise and I've not had too much chance to do any blogging, but hopefully can put that right today. 

So meantime a couple of shares, again it was playtime with my Tonic Pick of the Bunch stamp and punch sets. The one at the top has a background very lightly distressed with Tea Dye and Olive and a spritz of gold Glimmer Mist. The swirl is stamped and embossed with details clear using part of a Hero Arts swirl stamp and the sentiment is a really old one from Penny Black and sadly long since discontinued. For the roses I stamped a piece of Kraft cardstock with Hero Arts Old French Writing before punching and making up the flowers.

My second card uses Spellbinders Grand Decorative Ovals, another Penny Black sentiment and flowers from the same stamp and punch set, they are not meant to be anything specific so I shall simply call them fantasy flowers, quite fitting for me. I wouls also like to enter the following:

House of Gilli - Flowers and/or Ribbons
Shabby Tearoom - Anything Goes
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Flowers and Ribbon

By the Cute and Girly - Favourite Things (Flowers)

Thanks for popping in and have a good Thursday.

More floral play

Morning Peeps and what a chilly one it is as well, we had -6 this morning but it looks absolutely beautiful with a slight hoar frost on the trees and bushes.

I've not been overly active on the craft front this week, somehow I managed to pick up flu yet again and as usual  it's knocked me for six so I have stuck with comfort crafting and more flowers using Ruth's punch and stamp sets.............. links to stockists in the post below.

The card at the top is a little scene created through an overall mask with Stamp Addict stamps and a Clarity Poppy one, coloured with Pan Pastels and a Poppy made from the Tonic Rose set. This could be our own village church as it's set down a lane on the edge of the village surrounded by fields amidst our scenic flat Fenland landscape.

My second card it is a very quick and easy one to make using some coordinating Kaiser DP's, some ribbon and a Rose made from the same set.

Have a good Thursday everybody and as always my grateful thanks for your kind comments and visits.