Vintage Penny Black

After two days back home have eventually managed to get at least one card completed........spent yesterday working my way through a mountain of work waiting on my desk in the office - yes I do have to do real work occasionally. But on the positive side did manage a couple of cards last evening, one met the bin post haste, the other I am a little happier with and fits the bill for this weeks Penny Black challenge which requires you to use Blue, Tan and Cream and Stamping for the Weekend which has the theme"Days Gone By - Vintage!

My main image is Penny Black 3865K stamped with versafine sepia and coloured in with Promarkers, overs tamped with Hero H2365 French Script using Tim Holt scattered straw. DP's are Bobunny and K&Co. I distressed the edges of the main piece with the same TH ink and rolled the ends to create a scroll effect and scrunched and tore the edges of the blue piece and again shaded with TH ink along the edges. Finally I added a corner embelli, some flowers, lace and gems.

Rosie Dees Challenge

Think I messed up a bit with my sheduled posts for our hols as seems I did not do one for this weeks Rosie Dees challenge, so sorry everyone, but am putting things right now with the reveal of my last card and this weeks sneak peek.

The theme for this one was "The Beach". The image I used is one I have had for years and although it's wood mounted has no identity I'm afraid. The background was created with Glimmer Mists, denim, grey, seafoam, pineapple and sunflower. I added some 'waves' using Inkssentials opaque pen, stamped Judikins 'sand' across the lower section to give the effect of dunes and Art Impression AA1038 (stones) and AA1378 (grass). The girl is coloured with Promarkers and her dress overstpamped with Art Impression B3023 flowers then decoupaged. Birds are Art Impressions G3235. The corner has been punched with Martha Steward embossed scallop, gems added and Daisy Bucket DP.

And finally, here is a sneak peek of this weeks new challenge. Do pop over and see the DT's fab inspiration and look forward to seeking your creations.

Back Home to meet Bernie and an award for all my blogging friends

Good morning one and all, well where do I start ? The holiday was fab, Mr Blogger played along and I want to say a huge thank you to all my blogging buddies for continuing to visit me........and leaving me so many awards which I deal with shortly.

But a bit of news first, the fellow in this picture is called Bernie and he was here to greet us when we got home. One of our sons has agreed to offer a home to Bernie who is four and came from the RSPCA rescue centre. It sounds as though he's had a pretty traumatic life so far and much as we were surprised by his arrival, you all know me and animals ! The three labs look so small against him but seem to be getting along OK, so now we all need to help build Bernie's confidence - he's afraid of the dark, very quiet and needs lots and lots of love, so he's come to the right place.

This picture does not really give credit to Bernies size so planning one or two with the labs to get things into perspective and will post later.

On the the awards, it's always lovely to receive them and to come back from holiday to so many........nine it total........is absolutely amazing and I can't thank you all enough. They come from: Shirley, Lynda, Dawn, Tracy, Sarah, Mel, Cherry,

As I have said lots of times before, I find the passing on part so so hard and I know lots of your share this problem. I would really like to pass these awards on to all the lovely people I have 'met' through blogland as a thank you for their continued support and encouragement.

I know I am repeating myself here, but I believe crafting is a continual learning curve and we all draw inspiration from one another, that's what it's all about. I know I am a coward for avoiding the decision making so instead of passing these awards on individually, they are awarded to all my blogging friends........this might not be in the 'rules' but will give me so much pleasure and hope those visiting will fee able to accept and lift one (or more) as a personl thank you from me.

Now to the nasty part of holidays, washing and putting everything away, then hopefully some crafting. I usually find it really hard after a holiday and the creative juices run a bit slow, but I do have some new products waiting to be used so am hopeful they will help Mr Mojo get back into action quickly. And I do have my Rosie Dees challenge card and sneak peek to post which I did before the hols so will post that shortly to get things moving along.

Allsorts challenge 14

And this week it my turn to choose the theme at Allsorts and surprise surprise it's got a botanical theme entitled "In an English Country Garden". And a fab prize of a gift voucher to spend at PDA card and craft, do go check them out, they sell the most exquisite cardstock, great value envelopes, card packaging, beautiful vellum's and so much more including a whole range of other craft goodies.

Now this doesn't have to be flowers and butterflies you know, it can be afternoon tea, teddy bears picnic, cuties playing tennis on the law, you decide what it means to you, that's what makes challenges such fun. And hopefully, if the Bay is kind I'll be back home and along to check out all your creations on your blogs. And I also want to say thank you to Chris at Craftings Cosy Corner, I love her style and her inspirational use of flowers.

Now, aplos in advance, this is going to be a bit lengthy me thinks.........I based my card around Shakespeare's Sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a Summers Day" ........ yes I love poetry as well and created a myriad of colour, fauna and of course butterflies starting with colouring a piece of carstock with Tim Holtz inks. I used dusky concorde, worn lipstick, mustard seed, spiced marmalade and shabby shutters, working them with a blending stick then drenching with water to make the colours bleed. When dry I spritzed with pearl Glimmer Mists.

Lots of stamping using dusky concord again - flowers - Penny Black 2666K, 3379H, Stampendous N152, diamond block Hero G3318 and Art Words G2678 which I stamped with versamark and dabbed over green chalk.

The poem is Hobby Art GR1341F again stamped with dusky concorde anf the tiny butterflies intermingled are from Penny Black 3--304 stamped with versamark and dabbed with pale pink chalk. The swirl is from Inkadinkado 97632 and butterflies made using a punch. The border is bazzil punched with Martha Stewart doily lace. Finally a corsage of flowers and pearls tied together with cord and garden twine and words printed on the computer.

More Magenta

All good things must come to an end they say and by the time Mr Blogger posts this one we will be leaving our last port of call in Northern Spain and heading homeward.......I really hope the weather has improved since we left because we sure are going to be cold otherwise.......just prior to us leaving the UK at the end of July as I schedule this post, temperatures in the Mediterranean were in the last 30's and early 40's, warm or what.

This is a really quick and easy card created for Sir Stampalot using Magenta 41017.K. The background for the stamped sections were created using Stayzon pumpkin, sunflower and citrus, sponged onto gloss cardstock. To create a softer look and to 'persuade' the colours to blend I spritzed with water. When dry I stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear. The other two sections are bazzil cardstock run through the Bug using the script folder. Some cord, a flower and brad added to embellish.

Parisian influence

Realised as I spend the day scheduling these posts that I'm also giving you a bit of a European tour as well, do hope I'm not boring you all to tears ....... probably come back to an abandoned blog ? Today we are scheduled to dock in Lisbon at 8am, quite a spectacular entrance to this Portuguese city under the huge de Abril bridge, 2.2m wide spanning the Tagus and alongside the Cristo Rei statue which is a replica of the one in Rio. Tomorrow we head to Vigo in northern Spain.......the seafood restaurants that line the streets are sometning else, can't wait.

This card is one I made for a friends birthday and as I rather liked it ended up making a couple more very similar. My main image is Stamps Happen 80436 stamped as is my norm with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured very lightly with Marvy pens. The wording is a Hero background stamp Life and beauty G2678. The DP is Scrappy Cat and I added some lace, a feather, flowers, pearls and ribbon.

Onwards to Spain

Goodness, I do hope Mr Blogger is going to play ball with me and all these schedules posts. This is the third of the Lavinia stamps - details on earlier posts - cards created before we travelled. Yesterday on our itinerary was Cagliari, Sardinia, never been there before so not a lot I can tell you about it yet, but have been to Cadiz in Seville before which is our next port of call. History claims that Hercules founded Cadiz which was a favourite haunt for pirates........so much so that the streets were specially designed in an intricate gridwork to deter them.......no idea if the theory worked though ! The city has a fantastic Cathedral and boats some spectacular Baroque architecture.

The background for this one is Glimmer Misted with patina, turquoise and pink bubblegum and some texture added by inking through some mesh fabric and embossing with detail gold. The fairy word background is also from Lavinia and stamped with Tim Holtz soft blossom and the small fairies stamped onto the background offcuts and their wings glittered. Bottom scallop and corner is Martha Stewart doily lace, ribbon and gem brads added down the side.