A Spray of Carnations

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Today's card has been lying about on my desk all month! In early January, I had enthusiastically stamped some carnations on some snippets of white card and fussy cut them, but then came up blank on what to do with them. From time to time I'd pick them up and arrange them on a card base and then rearrange them, and then sigh and put them to one side. Can anyone relate?!

 

It's now nearly the end of January but here's the card in a state of completion! The carnations are from a retired Stampin' Up set (rather confusingly called Inspiring Iris.) To showcase them, I finally decided to stamp a Uniko background called Wonky Stripes onto a card base and colour the stripes with a variety of pink coloured pencils. On this background, the carnations were assembled into a curved spray and glued into place.

 

The card was finished with a favourite sentiment from another ancient SU set, stamped first with versamark and then dark red ink and heat embossed for a lovely shiny look. I also added a pink bow, cut out of a snippet of pink card with a die from MFT's Birthday Cocktail die set.

 

CHALLENGES

I'm linking up with Stamping Sensations, the challenge that had got me stamping carnations in the first place! There's a mood board featuring them and I took my pink and red colour palette from the board too. I'm also skipping over to play at The Snippets Playground as plenty of white and pink card off cuts were used in this creation.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

One of the joys of having two dogs is that it changes the dynamic with the other dogs you meet. Eva loves other dogs but is not very confident around bold dogs, especially now she's an older girl. Lulu on the other hand IS a bold dog!! On our walks we sometimes meet a lady with a large boxer called Boris. He is playful but rather pushy around Eva who stays close to me when he's around. He was out on the fields this morning and Lulu, noting his behaviour, told him off for leering at Eva and then proceeded to flirt outrageously with him herself! I love her boldness: when other dogs try to establish their superiority over her, she just frolicks around them, dancing just out of reach; when she's got their interest she gallops off, luring them to chase her, and she is SO fast they can never catch her. When they return, they are always her slaves for ever and she has protected Eva from their unwanted attentions! Darling Lulu :)

 

Sending hugs,

Soft Magnolias

Hello, crafting friends!

 

What a treat to have a bit of time to craft for the sheer fun of it! It was a beautiful frosty day today and I was inspired by the soft winter colours seen out on our dog walk - as well as some favourite challenges of course!

 

This card started with a bit of water colouring on a thick card base. I used Stampin' Up's Boho Blue, a lovely greyish blue, and added a few splatters while I was at it. While that was drying, I stamped some magnolias from MFT's Floral Focus on some white off-cuts of card, watercoloured them with blush and pink inks and left them to dry. When they were dry, I fussy cut them and added a deeper pink coloured pencil for a bit of detail.

 

In my designer paper drawer, I found a snippet of wood-look paper and trimmed off a thin piece. I attached it vertically on my card front, tucking the magnolias under it. To add to the ethereal look, I attached some curls of thin gold thread to the wood and popped up a sentiment label over the top, stamped with sentiment from a retired SU set and cut out with a Postage Stamp punch.

CHALLENGES

I loved Lisa's choice of colours at The Color Throwdown and combined them with Judy's fab sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

It is a joy to see my golden girls playing together again after Lulu had to take it easy with her cut pad. 

 

Here they are taking a breather - they actually look terribly fierce when they are in the middle of a playfight, and I didn't want to scare anyone!! It constantly amazes me how clever they are at baring all their teeth and leaping about all over each other and yet there's never a graze or anything!

Sending hugs,

Circle of thanks

Hello, crafting friends!

 

It's Thursday and that means being inspired eight different ways by a new board at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge! Let's have a look at the ideas Betty has put on the new board:

 

 

What a lot of fabulous ideas! I settled on the right hand column Yellow/Diecuts/Floral.

 

 

I had a lot of fun coming up with this layout! I started with two die cut stems and flower heads from The Greetery's Wildflower Mix die set which I coloured with sponge daubers and ink. While playing around with them I saw that the stems formed a circular shape so decided to create a medallion-style sentiment. Using a circle punch, I cut three yellow circles and and stacked them on top of each other (the photo hasn't picked up the yellow sadly), finishing with a white circle stamped with a sentiment from an old Stampin' Up set. The flowers and medallion together made quite a long shape so I created a sponged and stenciled background for them down the centre of a card base, scoring lines either side for a neat finish.

 

 

Okay, so now it's your turn! Which column or row is speaking to you this week? Or maybe you're attracted to one of the diagonals? Do hop over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge site to check out the beautiful inspiration from the design team. When you're ready to link up your own creation, youi'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post. We can't wait to see what you make!

 

CHALLENGES

I've just seen that our favourite craft challenge duo, Darlene and Diane, have come up with another great challenge: The Triple B Challenge! Get your Birds, Butterflies and Blooms ready for this one and there's an optional inspiration board. I'm entering with my blooms this time; I'm also joining in at Allsorts where Anything Goes with the option to Use Your Dies.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

This is Cody, one of Eva's pals.

 

He is rather concerned.

 

I asked if anyone fancied a Walk and he said Yes with his tail, but now I have disappeared into the kitchen to answer the ringing thing that humans call Telephone and Cody is a bit worried that I have forgotten the Walk. 

I hadn't forgotten though and it was an extra special Walk with Swimming! Cody was relieved - he knew he hadn't been mistaken in me :)

Sending hugs,

Bringing flowers as a guest

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I am delighted to be guesting with Retro Rubber Challenge today after winning challenge 183 with THIS card. This time the challenge is a sketch - and of course the requirement is to use some of your older stamps - choose ones that are over a year old and do let us know when they were released! Here's the sketch:

Isn't it inspiring?! I have an old Stampin' Up stamp set (Painted Petals, released in 2015 I think) that I love and still use quite often; I thought it would be perfect for this sketch!

 

Taking a white card panel, I stenciled pale yellow ink into a trellis stencil to create the rectangle shape. There are dots and stripes images in the stamp set which were perfect for recreating the two horizzzontals.

 

The trellis is quite subtle but you can see it more clearly on the photo above. The cluster of the flowers and leaves was stamped on scrap card and fussy cut. I added detail with coloured pencils before attaching the flowers to the background. 

 

To finish the card, I chose a pretty flowing script from another older set, Altenew's Birthday Greetings (released 2015) and stamped it between two of the stripes. I attached the card panel to a card base using dimensional strips and added a sprinkling of coordinating sequins too for that feminine touch!

Okay so now it's your turn! Do hop over to the Retro Rubber challenge site where the design team has some beautiful samples to inspire you. When you're ready to share your own creation, you can use the Linky Tool which you'll find at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to use stamps older than a year - and have fun!!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at We Love Stamping where the theme is Anything Stamped with the option of Hot Sunny Colours; I'm also joining in with Laurie's Green Thumb challenge at The Paper Players; and Allsorts where Ellie has chosen the theme of Flora and/or Fauna.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I love the summer days for walking. When Eva has friends we tend to walk out in the countryside but when she and I are on our own, we tend to walk in the local parks because it is her great joy to greet people and other dogs. One of our parks has created great areas of wildflower meadow to attract bees and butterflies and other pollinators and they always make me marvel.

 

Here's Mrs Floof, poised to have a romp through the poppies!

Sending hugs,

One layer of flowers

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I've had a little play with some birthday goodies!

The flowers on this one layer card are stenciled with MFT's Flower Bouquet Builder which has made me love stencils more than ever! I created a little cluster of them using jewel coloured inks and then added a little offshoot of leaves and seed heads.

To finish this simple card I stamped a sentiment from a long-ago retired Stampin' Up set and added a few coordinating sequins.

 

CHALLENGES

I fell in love with the colour palette at CAS Colours and Sketches this week and am just about in time to link up there I hope! I'm also joining in at Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge where Anything (stenciled) Goes.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I wear trainer socks all the time and have never thought of them as being particularly cute. But on a little pusscat, trainer socks look VERY cute indeed!!

 

You're welcome!

 

Sending hugs,

A bit dotty

Hello, crafting friends!

Welcome to another glorious day here in the heart of England :) There's a colour challenge starting today at CAS Colours and Sketches and it couldn't match the weather better!

I couldn't wait to use these delicious colours that reminded me of mango sorbet, strawberry daiquiri and sun-drenched mint leaves! Having said that, I went in a different direction and brought out a beautiful flower gifted to me by a lovely friend:

I presented the flower on Uniko's Background Blocks Halftone, stamped in Mango Melody ink directly onto a card base. The flower, from Butterfly Basics by Stampin' Up, was stamped in the Olive ink over the top. I coloured it with coloured pencils which allowed the dots to show through. I liked the texture this gave the leaves and stems but preferred a cleaner look for the flowers, so...

... I stamped the flower again in pale pink ink, coloured the petals and sepals with my coloured pencils and cut them out, glueing them over the top of the originals. To finish, I stamped a retired sentiment in the space under the flower.

So now it's your turn - and who wouldn't enjoy playing with these uplifting colours? Come on over to the CAS Colours and Sketches blog where the team and this month's special guest, Deborah Wheeler, are waiting to inspire you. You'll find the Linky Tool there too so  that you can upload your own creation. I can't wait to see your take on these colours - but don't forget to keep it clean and simple!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with CAS on Friday where the theme is Flowers; and The Flower Challenge, where the challenge is clean and simple.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Right, who's joining me for a strawberry daiquiri?!

Sending hugs,

A breezy hello

Hello, crafting friends!

It's Tuesday and that means that we have another fun challenge for you at CAS Colours and Sketches! Wei is hosting this month and she has chosen a beautiful colour combination this week:

I started my card by stamping the new-to-me Background Blocks Wonky Stripes by Uniko on a card panel.  The stripes were coloured with blue and Cabana alcohol markers for a breezy ocean feel.

The flowers are from an old Stampin' Up set, Painted Petals, and I stamped them and added extra colour with alcohol markers. After fussy cutting them, I glued them to the background and added a crisp white sentiment, cut with the Little Letters alphabet from MFT.

So now it's over to you! Do go to the CAS Colours and Sketches blog to see all the amazing inspiration from the team and from this month's wonderful guest, Melanie Hungerford. You'll find a linky tool there so that you can link up your creation. Don't forget to keep your design nice and CAS!

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

This card won an honourable mention at Time Out :)

CHALLENGES

Coincidentally, the current challenge at Time Out has a beautiful inspiration photo in our colours, so I used it to inspire my design. I loved the boards on the floor and the ceiling and those gorgeous chairs contrasting with the bright flowers. I'm also linking this card at NBUS where it's all about sharing your Never Before Used Schtuff.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

You know, sometimes, all you need in life is a bit of a tummy rub. And then everything starts to look okay again.

I'm pretty sure this only works if you are a dog ;)

Sending hugs,

Rocking my inner Monet!

Hello, crafting friends!

Back in early summer, I enjoyed walking along the riverbank with Eva and was amazed at all the waterlilies in the river this year. The ones that grow here are a beautiful bright yellow and they are the inspiration for today's thank you card.

The Riverbank stamps from the Craft Consortium illustrates the lilies so well. I've inked them up today and stamped them at the bottom of a card panel, colouring them with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and trimming the panel with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle.

The card was finished with a sentiment from Stampin' Up's Painted Petals and a sprinkling of clear gems.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

Delighted that this card was deemed a Rocker at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge!

CHALLENGES

It's a delight to welcome a new challenge into Blogland! Nancy Leppek from Scrapperatheart.com has set up Color Hues to inspire us twice monthly with a colour duo - and I am so here for it!! This fortnight's challenge is green and yellow so I shall link up there with this card. I'm also joining in with Watercooler Wednesday, where the theme is Anything Goes With A Feminine Twist, and Allsorts, where they're looking for hand-coloured images.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Ok. I give up.

I have given her the blouse to be her very own.

Sending hugs,

Sunshine flowers

Hello, crafting friends!

I've been as busy as a bee over the last couple of days and crafting has had to take a back seat. I did find time to do a little colouring though while on a coffee break and today I got the job of figuring out what to do with it!

This is the image, from Sending Sunshine by Clearly Besotted, and I just love it for late summer! I chose semi-coated cardstock and coloured with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. It's trickier on shinier card stocks but I quite like the ability to layer colour and the slight sheen you get. As long as you give plenty of time for the colour to dry, it doesn't smudge. This is what I did with my coloured image:

I spent a little time making a mask by stamping the image on a couple of sticky notes stuck together and cutting it out. With the mask in place, I stamped Stampin' Up's Hardwood background stamp on the bottom third of the card using Cajun Craze ink. Over the top, I blended Pear Pizzazz and Bermuda Bay inks gently upwards and outwards.

Here's a very bad photo to show yyou how sparkly those sunflowers are thanks to the magic of a Wink of Stella pen! To finish the card, I gave the wood part of the background some darker shading with alcohol markers and added a sentiment from Stampin' Up's Painted Petals.

EDITED TO ADD AN AWARD

So delighted to see this card chosen as one of the Artist Picks at Hand Stamped Sentiments!

CHALLENGES

There were lots of challenges to inspire me with this card: wonderful mood boards at The Double D Challenge and Handstamped Sentiments and a gorgeous colour palette at As You See It. The sparkle of the sunflowers was prompted by this month's Flower Challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

There are no wonderful fields of sunflowers here but there have been whole swathes of poppies this year and I did manage to snap my gorgeous girl with a glorious background of them.

Hope you've had a great weekend!

Sending hugs,