Whateva !

"Whateva !" is the theme at Stamptacular Sunday this week, so of course it's no surprise that I have gone floral.

A pretty mat punched with Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace around the page set, some DP from stash and the flowers are Hero Arts S5362 Dogwood.......I make no excuse for using this one over and again as it is so versatile and lends itself to decoupage beautifully. After stamping with versamark back and embossing with detail clear, I coloured with Aquamarkers, cut out the three flower heads, inked with versamark and spritzed with Glimmer Mist dazzling diamonds. The combination of the two blends the colours and allows you to shape the flowers which become quite rigid as they dry. Finally I added orange stickles.

Recycling at Allsorts

My teamie Helene is "Saving Nature" at Allsorts this week and would like us to re-cycle on our projects.

My re-cycled element is the red ribbon which came from a Christmas package, it was a bit crumpled but a after a good iron it was good as new. The main image is Penny Black 4-39K Candid which I inked with Aqumarkers and spritzed with water before stamping onto a piece of cardstock which had I stamped with Hero Arts H2365 Old French Writing. The DP is My Minds Eye, the border punched with Martha Steward Doily Lace then the spine of the card scored, eyelets added, tied with cord and finally a few gems in the flower centres.

Message from B

Hello Ladies, B’s hubby here with a message she was determined I sent to you all as she is unable to write it herself, although she is directing operations as I type, no doubt you all know her well enough to understand what I mean !!

Her shoulder and arm have not improved as we hoped and now her MS has kicked in quite rapidly over the last few days, more so than it has done in several years now. As a result she is suffering a lot of pain and immobility and her hands and legs not really functioning properly - luckily or perhaps no so for me, her vocal cords are all still functioning well !!

She has been finding typing difficult for a few days but carried on despite all the warnings from myself and medics and today has reached the point where she has no choice in the matter and her computer is going off forcibly.

She has asked that I tell everyone that although she will be missing from blogland for a week or two, she has several posts scheduled and all her DT work done and where it should be - I expect that means more to all of you than it does me.

So that’s it in a nutshell really and if you are reading this, then B’s instructions how to put this on her blog were not that bad.

Brayers roll again

Morning all, really quick shares today, got another appointment with the osteopath this morning to do a bit more on the shoulder and need to make an appearance at work, but as you seemed to like looking at my brayer attempts yesterday though I would share a couple more.

And I have decided that as several of you hinted at the idea and also some lovely mails asking so nicely to share how I do it, I am going to do a tutorial................just as soon as there is a decent day of sunshine so I can get some reasonable pictures. So watch this space.

My card above again uses Adirondack dye inks and a whole variety of stamps. I wanted to try and create the appearance of rays of sunshine on the field so after masking and brayering, I did a bit of sponging.....I will try and show this in my tutorial as well.

This second card again incoporates brayering and sponging plus some masking and that lovely Penny Black 2905H sentiment. You will note the trees are all the same ones and I 'need' more....I have seen a lovely tree scape stamp so many times, I think it's Stamping Up, so if anyone knows what it is and where or how I can get it...................please let me know. This card is for the following challenges:

Incy Wincy - Winter Wonderland

Shabby Tearoom - as above

Pollycraft - Black and White plus one

My fianl share is using another favourite.............grief do I have a lot of favourites, this one Crafts and Me Orchid of the Night stamped and embossed with detail clear and coloured with Copics onto a masked and brayered background. The DP is from American Crafts, the border Martha Stewart Doily Lace Trim, the branch is a Sizzix die and of course lashings of glitter and decoupaged fairy wings. This is for the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad - Girly

Crafty Cardmakers - Flowers

Oldie but a Goodie - Fantasy images (had this since July, so just !)

Messing about with the brayer

Monday morning already, where did the weekend go ?

Well, I guess I should admit to a fair bit of playing about with inks and the brayer. I have been promising myself an inky session for ages and as I went to Coleman's who I do the odd demo for on Saturday to get some new colours of Adirondack inks, it seemed only right I tried out a few of them. Don't know how many of you know about Coleman's warehouse at Rushden, but it's pretty awesome and you can while away hours there. Yesterday looks like a blue and yellow day although it was not planned that way, just how it turned out, so my next session will be a bit more colourful.

Most of the stamps are either Lavinia, Art Impression or Clarity, except the fairy which is a really old Rubber Stampede one. I so enjoy brayering and find it very rewarding and it's always a popular one when I demo. I did think about doing a tutorial, but then decided it might not be fair to bore peeps. So the above card is for:

Crafty Catz - A forgotten stamp

One Stitch at a Time - As you like it

Pear Tree Design - Mainly blue

The card above is using one of the new stamps Hero Arts K5503 Bird Collage, stamped simply with versafine sepia and embossed with detail clear. The October Afternoon DP is double sided and I stamped Hero CG222 Music Background on the lighter side to add interest. Edges have been nicely distressed as is the flower made from TH tattered floral die. This is for:

Paper Sundaes - Distressing

Alys Sundays - For the guys

Gingerloft - Things that fly

Stamping Sisters - Vintage

Fairy time again

Good Morning evenyone, hope you are all having a great weekend.

Before I move on to my share for today, can I say a great big thank you to all the guys over at the Crafty Pad for selecting my Venetian Mask as one of their Top 3. I was really not sure about it as it's not my normal style of crafting and the peeloffs were so alien to me and a faff to work with, so that makes it all the more special.

On to my share which is my DT work for this weeks new challenge at Stamptacular Sunday where the theme is "Who said three was a crowd ?".......use 3DP's, 3 ribbons and 3 flowers.

A chance for me to use one of my latest Sweet Pea fairies.....whose name I seem to have lost temporarily. Anyhow, I can tell you what I did to create my card which was to stamp the image with Adirondack black, then mask her and a moon and brayer over with Big and Juicy Hydrangea. I then coloured the image with Copics, glittered her wings and framed her using a Nestie. The DP is American Crafts from a pack I had for Christmas.....they are gorgeous and most are glittered and foiled. The border and corners were punched using Martha Stewart doubler loop, then ribbons, flowers and a swirl cut with a TH die. This is also for the following challenges:

Moving Along with the Times - Sketch and flowers

Glitterbabes - Sparkle and pink gems

Lets Ink it Up - Anything Goes

Crafty Emma's - Angels or Fairies

A mans world

Morning Folks, another week has spun by and it's time for another challenge at Allsorts where the lovely Amanda would like us to make cards suitable for boys and men.......you know, the problems area in crafting.

My card uses a new stamp that my hubby picked up recently at Stampalot as he thought he would be good for male cards, so here it is to prove his point. It is Art Impression T1221 Country House which I stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and added some leaves to the trees with Art Impression A893. The image is coloured with Aquamarkers and the DP is My Minds Eye, with some buttons and cord to finish. This card is also for the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - 3,2,1, recipe (3 buttons, two papers, one bow)

Pixie Dust - Button up

Sweet Stampin - Clear as Mud (brown plus one)