Pine blossom - not just for Christmas

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I'm back with a reminder that you still have time to join us at The Flower Challenge with your floral thank you cards!

 

I've brought out The Greetery's Pine Blossom set to make a Christmassy thank you card which has a kind of folk art vibe about it :) 

 

I started with a kraft card base. Distress oxides are my current favourite inks and I knew they would look lovely and vibrant stamped directly on the kraft. Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Abandoned Coral all worked their magic - and I will definitely be using this technique more often! I stamped the flower cluster on the top of the card base using my stamp positioner, then flipped the card base round 180 degrees before stamping again for a perfect mirror image.

 

To create the illusion of layers, I held a smaller panel of card in the centre of the card front and sponged round the edges with brown ink. The sentiment is from MFT's All Occasion Sentiments, stamped on a snippet of kraft card, fussy cut and popped up with dimensional strips. To finish, I added details to the flower clusters with markers.

 

Now it's your turn! Do hop over to The Flower Challenge blog and admire the fabulous designs my team mates have come up with to inspire you. When you're ready to share your own card with us, you can use the blue Linky button at the bottom of that post. Have fun!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Allsorts and We Love Stamping where there are Christmas themes, and the Anything Goes option at Stamping Sensations. Also joining in with the Anything Goes challenge at Triple B with my blossoms :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I'm delighted to report that Eva's paw is looking better and better and she is back to giving her fluffy sister a hunting partner to be reckoned with!

Here she is with an expression on her face that we like to call 'Noble Dog'!

Sending hugs,

A Winter thank you

Hello, crafting friends,

 

Welcome to a new challenge at The Flower Challenge! For November we'd like to see your floral thank you cards:

I do like to have a little stash of wintery thank you cards ready to send after Christmas. This one uses a new-to-me Altenew set called Hope and features what looks like a camelia - which always seem such magical flowers, blooming like hot house flowers but in the depths of winter!

 

The layered camelia and leaves were inked up with distress oxide inks and fussy cut. I teamed these with winter foliage and berry stencils from The Greetery's Banner and Bough set, stenciling directly onto a thick card front. I added fir branches using the coordinating stamp set, then glued the flower in place. I love how the pink flower really pops against the dark blue greens!

 

To create a frosty look, I used a pale blue-green ink to sponge round the edges of the card front and stamped more fir branches over the top using the same ink. A tiny sentiment from Clearly Besotted finished the card.

 

Do hop over to The Flower Challenge blog and check out the amazing designs my team mates have come up with to inspire you! You can enter your own card from there using the blue Linky button at the bottom of that post. We're looking forward to seeing what you make!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up over at Allsorts' Magic of the Season challenge. Brenda, who organises this long-running challenge, has just announced some changes to the format and is looking for new design team members. Do hop over and check out the details HERE.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Firework season has descended upon us again. Pretty sparkly stars bursting in the sky are lovely and often don't come with loud noises - and of course you can draw blinds and curtains if your pets are averse; but can someone please explain to me why people are attracted to what sounds like the noises of war complete with exploding bombs, and gunfire? Also, why do these seem to get louder every year? Poor Eva had a tough time of it on Saturday but Lulu, who is very sensitive to voices or the sound of cars outside, was quite calm through the explosions. She didn't like seeing Eva so frantic though. There were more fireworks yesterday too and this will go on for another couple of weeks until we can finally relax until new year. 

 

Sending hugs,

How lovely are your branches

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Yet again the end of the month has hurtled towards me without a single Christmas card being made for my stash! Out came the inks and stamps and sponges as I made a valiant effort to address the situation (although it is very difficult making a card while two pairs of anxious brown eyes are just mentioning that it's really time for a walk and you must have forgotten and we don't want to push ourselves forward but we know you wouldn't want to abandon your proper duties...!)

 

I came up with this vintage-style card by stamping a card panel with one of the fir tree from an older set, Spruce Trees by Inkylicious. I used a greyish brown ink, stamped off, then sponged over the trees with more of the same ink plus some pale blue ink for a misty feel. To create 'snow', I wet my hands with water and clapped over the panel, blotted it with a paper towel and left it to dry. To complete the background, I added script using a stamp from The Greetery's Pretty Postmarks and sponged dark green ink at the bottom of my panel to ground the trees.

 

The next stage was to stamp a different spruce for the focal tree. I stamped it in dark green ink then cleaned the stamp, moved the panel very slightly in my stamp positioner, and stamped it again using white craft ink. I added a little brown marker to the trunk of the tree and used a white acrylic marker to add more snow. The sentiment from Uniko's Rustic Wreath was stamped in red and I mounted the panel on matching card. Finally, I decorated the tree with glitter glue lights and and a tiny glittery star.

CHALLENGES

I was inspired by the misty tree from the mood board at Peace on Earth as well as the Vintage theme at Jingle Belles; I'm also joining in with Rudolph Days where Anything Christmas goes. I noticed that Retro Rubber has a Great Outdoors theme and since my Spruce Trees set is from 2015, I'm playing along there too :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

When my children were little and things were getting a bit hectic, I would find myself speaking in what we called my 'Mary Poppins voice'. I was thinking about that this morning as I was flying about trying to shorten my To Do list and wishing that I could snap my fingers as she did in the (original) film to get things tidied away!

 

 Sending hugs,

Sunshine celebrations

Hello, crafting friends!

 

It's time for another Tic Tac Toe challenge, and this time, the board has been devised by Linda! She's opted for some lovely seasonal ideas.

 

I went for the diagonal from top left: Sunshine/Free/Blue to make a masculine birthday card.

 

The background was made by masking off a rectangle on an offcut of white card and stenciling a sunburst using yellow inks through Clearly Besotted's Sunny Day stencil. I trimmed this out with a stitched rectangle die and mounted it on another offcut of white card, trimmed to be ever so slightly larger than the sunshine one and swiped with blue ink. I sponged a card base with paler blue ink and attached the sunny panel to the card front.

 

The banner is from Concord and 9th's Hello Sunshine stamp set. I stamped it with blue ink twice on more offcuts of white card and stamped and heat embossed one of them in red with a sentiment from Uniko's Floral Vines. I sponged both with pale blue ink and snipped them out with paper snips, cutting just the central bit of the sentiment version to pop up over the whole banner. A few colourful enamel stars finished the card.

Okay, now it's your turn! Do hop over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge blog to check out all the beautiful cards the rest of the design team has made to inspire you. Choose a row, column or diagonal from the board and create a card, then link it up with us using the blue Linky button at the bottom of the challenge blog post. We are looking forward to seeing what you make!

 

CHALLENGES

I'm off to the Snippets Playground with this card as I used lots of offcuts of white card to make it;  I'm also linking up with The Male Room, which is challenging us to make Mixed Media masculine cards; and Allsorts, where Sarah's optional theme is Summer Days.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

While I was getting this post ready, the golden girls were romping about playing with each other. They play pretty boisterous games, taking it in turns to be hunter and prey. I am always impressed with the way they look so fierce with all their jaws exposed but never hurt a hair of each others heads (or bodies come to that!) Lulu is younger and more agile but she never takes advantage, always deferring to her big sister.

 

I stopped typing for a minute to see if I could get a photo of them playing but they immediately stopped...

 

 

... and Eva made this "WHAT?!!" face at me! Lulu looks very submissive in this photo but do not be deceived! She will be up and fighting as soon as I have stopped interfering with my silly photos!

 

Sending hugs,

Let the bells ring out!

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I have returned to the land of the vaguely up and running just in time to join in with Christmas in July!

 

At the beginning of the year, I won a bumper prize at one of my favourite challenges The Snippets Playground which included an un-named Crafters Companion stamp set with ringing bells on it. That caught my eye and I had a little play with it today.

 

The stamp was quite small but I stamped it twice at the top of a 4" square card so that it could be the main feature of a CAS one layer card. I used pale brown ink to stamp the image and then coloured the bells with oil-based coloured pencils, including a metallic set for a lovely shine. The fade-out background was added with a brush and pale blue-grey waterbased ink and a brush and I added a bit of more intense colour at the top with a sponge.

 

Using a white acrylic paint pen, details were added to the bells and 'snow' to the background. The card was finished with a curvy sentiment which I thought went well with the ringing bells.

 

CHALLENGES

I'm joining in with Stamping Sensations where stamping is required and the optional theme is Christmas in July; The Daring Cardmakers also have a Christmas in July challenge with the option to use Christmas supplies to make a non-festive card; Peace on Earth which has a lovely mood board from which I chose my colours; and last but not least, I'm linking up with Rudolph Days which has us making festive cards on the 25th of each month (link up runs until the end of the month.)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Here in the UK, we've all been yearning for a bit of sunshine as we has have an appalling grey summer so far, after a miserable wet winter. And now a heatwave has descended upon us! Lulu has embraced the paddling pool but has no notion of lying peacefully in it to cool off! It's hunting practice for her - and she likes to chase balls in there and murder them.

 

 

Here she is, my little huntress, swaggering out of the pool, leaving a trail of ball corpses in her wake!

Sending hugs,

Sending Love and Prayers

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Welcome to the Tic Tac Toe challenge where Betty is inspiring you today with a fabulously versatile board:

 

 

I went with the centre column, Die Cuts/Free/Any Sentiment, and made a card for a friend who is struggling with health issues.

 

Isn't it fun to bring out a stamp set you haven't used for a long time! Here, I used the retired Banners For You  by Stampin' Up. To begin, I masked off the edges on a thick card base with low tack tape, then used leaves and flowers and berries from the stamp set to create a background pattern. With the tape still in place, I gently sponged a blue-green ink from the edges inwards. After adding dots of white acrylic paint to the berries, and stalks with a fineliner pen, I removed the tape.

 

To create the label, I stamped a sentiment onto an offcut of white card, then trimmed it to size with a nesting label die making sure I kept the sentiment in the top half. I then stamped a leafy stem and flower using the same colours as the background and fussy cut it. The flower was popped up with small pieces of dimensional tape and the label attached to the card front.

 

Okay, now it's your turn! Head over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge and check out all the amazing inspiration there; choose your row, column or diagonal from the board and make a card using the suggestions; share it with us using the blue Linky button at the bottom of the challenge post. We can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I used the red and green colours from Color Hues for this card, so I'm linking up there. The all-over pattern at Beautiful Blossoms also inspired me so I'm joining in there too.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Life seems to have a bit of a cake theme at the moment! There are lots of events going on and I have been baking cakes for each of them; also a lovely friend, taking pity on my stressiness, whisked me out for an early coffee yesterday and made me* eat a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam for breakfast! Verdict? Ten out of ten, would recommend as a top breakfast!

 

*I may not have put up much of a fight!

Sending hugs,

A curve of tulips

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I'm popping in today to remind you about our Birthday challenge at The Flower Challenge :)

 

 

Just make a birthday card with flowers as the main focus and you're good to go! Here's what I came up with:

 

I've gone die-tastic this time! I found an off cut of green card and used a die from Stampin' Up's retired Swirly Scribbles die set to cut a curvy panel with a stem-like design. The background rectangle was completed with a bit of masking and sponging with blue ink.

 

The tulips are from The Greetery's Botanicuts Tulips die set, cut from lots of white card offcuts and sponged with distress oxides. After assembling the flowers, I arranged them in a curve around a birthday greeting from Arched Sentiments, also from The Greetery. A few cream coloured enamel dots finished off the card.

 

Do hop over to The Flower Challenge blog to see the wonderful cards the team have made to inspire you! You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and can use it to link up your own floral birthday card. You have until 25th July 5pm to join in and we can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

I was intrigued by Marlena's challenge at Inkspirational to Use Products from 2 or More Stamp Companies. I do tend to mix and match anyway but I've limited myself to two companies here -
SU and The Greetery. I used a snippet of green card and lots of white off-cuts so will be taking this card over to the Snippets Playground. It's the first time I've used the Swirly Scribbles die so I'll also paying a visit to Darnell's NBUS Challenge.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Time has been running away with me lately so I haven't been around Blogland as much as I'd have liked. The weather is usually more predictable in the UK in the summer, so that's when everyone plans their events, and we've had birthdays, a church weekend and family visits to plan and attend, as well as Wimbledon tennis (my OH loves this!) and the Euros football tournament to support. Yesterday evening, our neighbourhood celebrated England being in the final of the Euros by setting up a large screen on the green to watch the match after a barbecue before kick-off. Sadly, the team lost to a Spanish team who scored the winning goal four minutes from full time, but we have thoroughly enjoyed this tournament.

I think Eva has had enough of people unexpectedly leaping to their feet cheering wildly and has retired to her favourite sunny spot in the garden to have an uninterrupted snoozle!

Sending hugs,

Friendly Flowers

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Happy Thursday to you :) I'm here to bring you a brand new challenge at Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I have created a fun board with all my favourite things on it!

 

This is what I made with the diagonal from top left, Friendship Theme/Flowers/Bright
Colours:

 

What a joy it was to bring out this gorgeous stamp from Waffleflower,  Poppy Hawthorn, and colour it with alcohol markers. The sun was out and I went for splashes of yellow and orange to celebrate! Once the colouring was finished, I fussy cut the cluster (I'm sure dies are available for those that are allergic to fussy cutting!)

 

Taking a thick card base and masking off a border with low tack tape, I sponged some blue inkinto the centre for a background. I removed the tape and stamped a sentiment using Uniko's Floral Vines, then glued the flower cluster in place, trimming off the bits that overlapped the edges of the card front. Very simple and lots of fun!

Now it's your turn! Here's how to play: Hop over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge blog and check out the amazing inspiration from my team mates; Choose a row, column or diagonal from the board and make a card using the ideas; Share with us using the blue Linky button at the bottom of the challenge post. We can't wait to see what you make!

CHALLENGES

We Love Stamping has a theme of Fabulous Florals for their 15th anniversary challenge so I'm joining in there; I'm also linking up at I Spy With My Little Eye where the theme is Something Blooming Lovely.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The European Cup football tournament is on at the moment and my OH and I are enjoying watching it with the golden girls. Of course we are armchair experts and are constantly yelling at the players to move faster and pass more accurately!

 

No need to tell this young lady to move faster. Lulu for the win! Poor Eva is still on the bench with her paw injury but is enjoying watching (and partaking of the snacks!)

Sending hugs,

Against the wall

Hello, crafting friends!

 

We're half way through the month of June and I'm here to remind you that you've got plenty of time to join in with our sketch challenge at the Flower Challenge.

 

And here IS the sketch:

I love this sketch and am particularly obsessed with the background panel! For my first card, I focused on adding pattern to the centre (you can see that HERE) but this time, I decided to add pattern to the sides to emphasise the centre. But first, I got going with the flower/foliage cluster!

 

When I bought this stamp set (Wallpaper Art by Altenew) the coordinating mask/stencil was on special offer, so I bought it too - and it's been so useful! I stamped the flower and masked it off; then stamped the left hand leaf cluster and masked that off; and finally stamped the bottom leaves before removing the masks. The flower and larger leaves are line art, so I coloured those with Arteza watercolour brush pens and left it to dry.

 

When everything was dry, I replaced the masks and also blocked off the vertical centre of the card with sticky notes before sponging pale blue ink over the sides. When that was done, I positioned Funky Fossil's Brick Wall stencil over the card front and sponged blue-grey and light purple inks through it. When I removed the masks again, the flower cluster appeared to be in front of the brick sections - yay, the magic of masking!! To finish, I added a sentiment from my UFO box and some purple gems.

Right! It's over to you! Don't forget to check out all the amazing inspiration from my team mates over at the Flower Challenge - you'll be glad you did! When you've made your own card, you can link up using the Linky Tool at the bottom of the challenge post. Have fun won't you!

CHALLENGES

I am linking up at the Beautiful Blossoms challenge under the Anything Floral Goes theme - but I will be back as I'm totally inspired by that gorgeous mood board with its oranges and pinks! Also linking up at the Stencil Fun Challenge where there's an optional theme of Birthday but I've gone with Anything Goes.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

While Eva's paw is healing, I am walking her gently on hard level surfaces only. This kind of polite on-lead walking is not what Lulu needs - she's young and needs to get out and really run. So, although I take them out together in the morning and at night, for the main midday walk I'm walking them separately for the moment. What has amazed me is how much this has affected their behaviour. They are both much more focused on my guidance and it's quite obvious that they are enjoying the one-to-one attention. When Eva is better, I may carry on with separate midday walks a couple of times a week. It also represents a massive step forward for Lulu, who would once have barked the place down if I had tried to take Eva out without her!

Sending hugs,