Winter Wonderland at Stamping Sensations

It is the first Sunday of the month and time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations. Our theme this month is Winter Wonderland - perfect for any last minute Christmas cards, or winter birthdays. I have made a couple of scenic cards - no surprise there, lol! This month we are being sponsored by Chloe's Creative cards. I have used their Starry wreath, embossed in holographic silver, as a frame for my little scene (Deer -Stampscapes, Tree- Making Tracks, Inc.). I used my ink dusters to make the sunset with Memento inks.
I used the same colours (Grape Jelly, Dandelion, Tangelo) to make the little scene below.

 All stamps except the sentiment are from Inkylicious for this one.

 Here is a different angle so you can see the glittery snow.
The prize is this lovely lot of stash and stamps!

 

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fabulous creations that the DT have made this month. There are so many beautiful creations! It has been a whirlwind weekend for us. Megan had her black belt grading yesterday. I am delighted to say she passed and here is a photo of her sporting her shiny new belt alongside two other successful students, Heidi and Stuart, who are also from GKR region 30.

Here is an action shot or two!

 

Our form of Karate practices minimum contact, so Megan didn't land a punch on this young man's chin, but it was definitely on target! I would be scared, lol! In a couple of hours we are off out to celebrate Steve's Dad's 94th birthday with some of the family.
Thanks for looking and I hope to pop over and see you soon!

Puffins!

I realised that I haven't posted Meg's Birthday card yet, and luckily it has birds on it, Puffins to be exact - great for a couple of challenges!

The rocky ledge stamp is from Stampscapes, the puffin is from Crafty Individuals (CI - 349) and the grass, flying birds and posts are Inkylicious stamps. I created the background for the scene using my ink dusters and a mixture of memento and distress inks, and coloured the puffins and ledge with distress markers. I also drew the shadows of the posts with an antique linen Distress marker. Although you can't really tell in the photo, I used diamond stickles for the breaking waves. Meg loved it. Puffins are such wonderful birds, and one of her favourites.
Here is a close up

I am entering this into Allsorts challenge for this week where the theme is Birds and feathers, Fashionable stamping Challenge, where the theme is Flying things and My Time to Craft where the theme is Up, up and away.I am also entering this into the Crafty Individuals challenge for April where the theme is Nature's Beauty
Thanks for looking and I hope you had a good Easter. Back to work for me tomorrow. 

Dad's Birthday

Last time I went to see my Dad he had been having a good look through his handmade cards from the past few years. His favourites were his eightieth birthday card (post here showing each of the panels I made for it) and the second card in this post. He likes a scene, lol! So I set to work on this year's birthday card, as it is his birthday tomorrow...

I stamped the scene in Archival Black before dusting with Memento Bahama Blue, Danube Blue and Adirondack Butterscotch inks. The rocks in the foreground are coloured with distress markers(Shades of Brown and grey), the cabin too(Brushed Corduroy). All stamps are from Stampscapes except the birds, which is an Inkylicious stamp. Do those colours make it look tropical? Dad is more of a Lake District fan than warmer climes!
With all those colours beginning with B I had to enter it into Allsorts this week, as that is their theme!
Thanks for looking, and I hope you stay warm and dry with all these storms!

My Favourite Five Creations of 2013

 

I am joining in with Debby's top 5 creations for 2013 again this year. It always so much fun reminding ourselves of the years projects, and it is so good to look back at things we are proud of. Here are mine, although it has been a mammoth task to whittle it down to five! 

I have thoroughly enjoyed the creative side of 2013, and here are just a small selection of projects I have loved making and sharing.

First up is a seaside scene using a mixture of Inkylicious and Stampscapes stamps. My original post about it is here.

 Second is an altered box that I made for the Inkylicious Create and craft shows in May and June. I was tickled pink when the cup of chance got demoted and my box was used to put emails in instead!

My third card is this one, for which my wonderful daughter filmed and edited a 'how to' video on youtube which you can find here.

Fourth is my personal favourite from this year, and was the subject of my second you tube video. I just couldn't part with this one and I was delighted when I found a square frame to fit it in Tesco a couple of weeks ago!

This autumnal scene was a birthday card for my dear friend Lynne and is my fifth and final card. It started life on a smaller card here, but it didn't look right so I used a bigger card and came up with this instead! What a great year I have had and a big thank you to all those people who have helped me to achieve more than I would ever have dreamed of!
I hope you all have a wonderful New Year  and that 2014 brings plenty of opportunities to be creative and everything you could wish for. Big hugs to you all! Do pop over to Debby's blog and take a look at her wonderful top 5 too.
Thanks for looking!

Christmas and Birthday Scenes

Here is the Christmas card I sent to Brenda this year. I know she has received it so I can post it now! The base card was stamped with a Visible Image background stamp, Gaudette. The main panel was stamped on glossy card stock using a combination of memento Grape Jelly ink and Adirondack Pool. the trees are Inkylicious Black Forest and the stag is from Stampscapes. I used my mountains and valleys mask and ink dusters to create the snowy drifts and I pinched together the ink duster bristles to make the tree shadows. I finished it with ribbon and a sentiment from craftwork cards. Sorry about the awful photo. I don't see the house in daylight until the weekends at the moment.

My second card is for a friend for her birthday. For this I dusted the middle background in impress lemon yellow ink then added Memento Bahama Blue and Danube Blue each side of the yellow. I stamped the inkylicious grasses and seed heads (Build a meadow) in Danube blue and added a few silver gel pen highlights and stickles. I do like these colours, although again the photo doesn't do it justice!
Thanks for looking!

Craft a Scene Tropical Shores

Here is my mid month post for Craft a Scene where the theme is Tropical Shores. I am also afraid to say it is my last piece of DT work for them, as until my Dad has recovered from his hip replacement (operation due at the end of the month) I need to be devoting more time to looking after him, and making sure he doesn't overdo it. He is a fiercely independent 84 year old and it sometimes takes my best teacher voice to tell him to let someone help! On top of that he has always been very active and very fit, so to lose his mobility is so frustrating for him.
Anyway, onto my card. I used the Stampscapes 'Palms with Huts' small set along with water pattern (231C) and Gulls (302A). I was quite pleased with the colours, using Adirondack Pool, Peri, Cloudy blue and Shell pink. This was all done with ink dusters. I coloured the huts and beach with distress markers.
 This won't be the end of my scene cards, it's just the DT commitment I needed to give up. Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous scenes from my team mates.Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments.

Feathers and Lighthouses DT projects

It is the first Sunday of the month and I am here to share my DT projects with you for February! First of all here is my Card for Stamping Sensations where the theme is Fur and Feathers. I opted for 'feathers' and came up with this:

I used a mixture of Adirondack inks and distress markers to colour the stamp from Indigo Blu. The sentiment is from the same set. The background was created with my Celtic rollagraph wheel.
Here is the prize from our generous sponsors for this month - Stixz 2.

Enough sticky stuff to keep you going for ages! My super talented teamies have made some gorgeous creations too, so do pop over to the challenge blog when you have finished here... oi! not yet though!
On to my second card...

Next up is my card for Craft a Scene this month where the theme is 'Let your Light shine' and needs to feature a lighthouse, of which I have several! This one is an Inkylicious stamp, positioned on a rocky ledge made with a Stampscapes stamp. The grasses are all from Inkylicious and the  sea is from Stampscapes. The quotation is from a lovely set by Hobby Art. I coloured the rocks with distress markers in pumice stone, weathered wood and frayed burlap, and I was rather pleased by the way they turned out. Again my teamies have done us proud with their gorgeous lighthouse creations on the challenge blog, so do pop over and take a look there too.
Thanks for popping by and thanks too for leaving your lovely comments. I hope you will be able to join in this month. 

A bit minimalist

Happy Sunday! Hope you are keeping warm. We woke up to a layer of snow this morning - very pretty, but not a great deal and now we have reached mid afternoon it is looking quite patchy. The light has been beautiful all day, though, casting a tinge of very pale apricot across the garden. I thought I would share a card that I made just before going back to work. I used some of my favourite colours - Peach Bellini, Mountain Rose, purple twilight and Eggplant. The stamps in the foreground are Stampscapes and I coloured them with distress markers and white gel pen. The hills were just masks and ink. The flourish on the corner was a new die I had for Christmas. I tried the card with 2 , but it covered up the detail in the foreground, so I just stuck a scrap triangle of black under the image. The black pieces were both scraps so I am entering this into Di's Crafty Snippets challenge. I know they are a tiny part of my scrap mountain but every little helps! It will be good to be in the playground again. I have been away too long!  This scene is a bit minimalist for me, and I am really tempted to put some birds in the sky or some dangling branches, but in the end I've gone with it as it is.
Well, I'd better go and see what I can find for my followers candy before I get tea ready. Thanks for looking!

Been playing...

My lovely hubby was very kind and got me some Stampscapes stamps, with some serious unsubtle hinting (i.e. I want those for Christmas, lol!) Once all our visitors had been and gone I was able to reclaim my craft table and have a play. I only have a couple of shares today as I have been busy making some DT cards, but those will be here on the first Sunday in January.
So, here are my cards. First is a sunset using the Lakeside Cabin set.

I used Adirondack inks in Peach Bellini, mountain rose, purple twilight and denim. I coloured the rocks in the foreground with weathered wood and frayed burlap distress markers. I even tried making a few stars with white gel pen and a little bit of white ink on a cotton bud. The sentiment is from Inkylicious.

For the second I tried a scene with the Country Chapel set and added a tree or two from the Lakeside Cabin set and some sky from the Light and the Sea set. I didn't manage to capture the light and dark very well on this one, but it isn't bad for a first go. I absolutely love the sedge filler, as you can just create hills with it!
Today I took my Dad for his first appointment for a hip replacement. It looks like it will be done by Easter! They confirmed it was very worn and that it was just the left hip, and not his knee as well, which is good. The surgeon said that he would be extremely pleased if he had my Dad's mental fitness at the age of 83, and seemed even more impressed when he heard about his gardening, walking and table tennis! Not one to sit around, my Dad! Hopefully a new hip will keep him going for a good while longer too. Well, I'd better go and get on. Stamps to play with and all that, lol!
Thanks for looking, and I hope Santa was good to you too!

More troubled skies at Craft a scene

I had a play with most of my Stampscapes stamps after watching Kevin's videos on Youtube. Here is my second DT offering of Troubled Sky for Craft a Scene. The colours of Adirondack ink are Peach Bellini, Denim and Eggplant. The base card is stamped with Hero Arts Silhouette Grasses and a sentiment from Inkylicious. I added a few highlights with white gel pen to lift the darkness a little.
You still have a bit of time left to enter the challenge, so get those stamps out and have a go!
Before I disappear I thought I would share a troubled sky or two from our summer holiday last year! I can't complain because it was only really two days in a fortnight that it really rained, but it was rain with attitude!

  Thanks for looking!

Troubled Skies at Craft a Scene

It is the first Sunday in November and time for a new challenge at Craft a Scene. The theme this Month is Troubled Skies and I have been learning how to use my Cumulus stamp (Stampscapes) with a bit of help from Kevin on You Tube. The rest of the scene was created with my Inkylicious stamps - the Seascape Memories and Essential Grasses plates. I used a range of Adirondack inks and my ink dusters to create the background, then added a bit more detail with my distress markers, including the Picket fence one on the light house. I was feeling a bit worried about this theme, but I am quite pleased with my results.
Pop over to the challenge blog to check out the rest of the DT's creations and find details of the challenge.
Thanks for looking!

Less is More plus a bit of Brayer fun

 It has been a few weeks since I managed to enter Less is More, but as I am enjoying a few days of crafty play, I thought I'd better turn my thoughts to this week's Challenge where the theme is one word. I have looked through lots of stamps and finally came up with this.

A very simple watercoloured house. The stamps are from Chocolate Baroque and haven't been inked nearly enough!
 There are some fabulous CAS cards on show from Chrissie and Mandi, and I am looking forward to spending a little time visiting my fellow LIMettes.

My brother has a birthday in early January, and as a keen bird watcher I thought I would use my pheasant stamp and silver birches from Clarity stamps. I stamped and masked before brayering the sky and stamping the Inkylicious trees in the background. I then used my ink dusters to put a few shadows in the snow and coloured the pheasant with promarkers. The base card is stamped with the clarity small feather stamp in very pale blue. I often make him cards that would double as a Christmas card... well, serves him right for having a January birthday!

Next up is my first play with my Christmas stamps. The Stampscape set is called The light and the sea. The only stamp that isn't from that set is the foliage on the right, which is from the Andy Skinner Winters tale set. It isn't perfect brayering, and there are a few stamps hiding fingerprints (note to self: new handcream and shiny card are not a good combination!) but never mind. I was please with the colour combo. Bet you Brenda will be able to tell you the colours of Adirondack I used in both!
A very happy New year to you all and thanks so much for your lovely comments this year. I really appreciate them. Thanks too, to all of my followers for your continued support.

Better late than never!

Here is my rather late entry for this week's less is more where the theme is 'legs' and 'one layer'. I used post its to mask off an area of card and then used my ink dusters and distress inks to create a landscape. I stamped it with the tree (Making tracks, inc.) and the stag (Stampscapes). The trees needed a bit of water brushed over them to give them more definition. The sentiment is from Personal Impressions. This one is for my Brother-in-law, whose birthday is at the end of the month.
Only a week left at school now, and I can't tell you how much I am ready for a holiday, but I wish I could hang on to the wonderful class I've had. This year has flown by far too quickly!

A couple of Birthdays

Well, here is Steve's Birthday card. I got the Brayer out, but had 4 attempts before I managed this one! I managed to smudge a couple, and then wasn't happy with the ducks flying over. I used Adirondack inks in Butterscotch, Terracotta, Purple twilight and Eggplant. The moon was coloured with scattered straw distress ink. The stamps are from stampscapes (bulrushes), Hero arts (Silhouette grass) and Lavinia (Ducks). The sentiment is from a clear set by personal impressions. The theme for Stamptacular Sunday this week is 'Whateva!' so I'm entering it in their challenge.
My next card was for a lovely blogging buddy who celebrated her birthday last week.

The papers are from my Artylicious Essence of nature cd, The ribbon was a gift from Lesley aka Crafty Mamma and the Sweet pea fairy Stamp was from the lovely Brenda. I coloured the stamp with promarkers and added quite a bit of glitter with my quicky glue pen. Here is a shot from a different angle so you can see the glitter a bit better.

All that glitter should meet the requirements of the sweet pea stampers challenge blog where the theme is glitz and glamour, so I'm entering this one there too.

Tueday Taggers gets Messy!

Tuesday Taggers this week is sponsored by The Craft Barn, and the challenge is to get messy. I very definitely did! I got out lots of different sprays - Adirondack colour washes, Creative colour sprays and my starburst stains (these were in pots originally, but I transferred them to some spray bottles I found in Sainsburys!) Firstly here is a picture of a bit of my mess...

and now I'd better show you the results...

All of the stamps are from Stampscapes apart from the geese flying over, and those are Lavinia stamps. It is a 'Joy Fold' card. Not sure why it's called that, but I saw a couple last week and decided to have a go. The backgrounds are all done with Adirondack colour washes apart from the scrunched/ creased one, which was done with starburst stains. I had such fun, and now I have a stash of background to use, so no doubt you will be seeing lots more!
Thanks for looking!