Mad about Distress Oxides

Hello Friends,

It's amazing what a little time away from work can do for my mojo! Although back at work this week I've thoroughly enjoyed playing with inky blending and Distress Oxides and only just getting round to posting my cards here. In fact I'm only just experimenting with these inks having bought 4 of them about 18 months ago. Unfortunately the colours I picked didn't really blend nicely together so I simply had to buy a few more!!!

I only have 13 colours in total ... my favourites, which I know I'll use and blend nicely. I love bright colours and particularly rainbow tones so you can no doubt guess which inks I've gone for!

So a bundle of 'same but different' resist technique cards using the Marvellous Mendhi set by Uniko and various stamp company sentiments.

I think this has to be my favourite colour combo ... using Blueprint Sketch, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio. I've a feeling this has an Altenew sentiment.

The sentiment on this one is Clearly Besotted and I've used Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade and Worn Lipstick for my colour combo. 

I think this is another Altenew sentiment (apologies I just grabbed a load of stamp sets and pulled off sentiments I liked to heat emboss en masse! I've used the same colour combo as the previous card with a little Picked Raspberry too and inked more randomly than the previous one. 

This sentiment is by Mama Elephant and the distress ink colours are Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade.

I'm still experimenting with different blends but hope you like these ones so far. Thanks for calling by.

Crazy for MORE Stencils

Hi Friends, I'm zipping in with another 'just for the fun of it post' featuring a bunch of stencil inspired cards. If you visited my blog a few days ago HERE you'll see I was showcasing stencils by fellow blogger and friend Sarah G of Funky Fossil Designs and I've still got more of those to share once they are made up into cards BUT I was loving the colour combo I used on the previous post and decided to root out some older stencils in my stash and bring them back to life ... here goes:

This one uses a 'handmade' stencil - I die-cut several circles in some acetate then randomly inked through the shapes in my favoured colour combo using Distress Oxides (Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron and Blueprint Sketch). The die-cut 'happy' is by CUT-plorations and it's mounted on a stitched circle die by Simon Says Stamp with a 'birthday' sentiment from Uniko.

Next up using a trio of Bokeh stencils by Simon Says Stamp and using the same colour combo, I rotated each stencil 4 times to achieve the clusters in each corner. The Sentiment is heat embossed with clear embossing powder and is by Mama Elephant, mounted on a stitched square by MFT Die-namics

I think this has to be my all-time favourite stencil and one I frequently go back to. It's the Concentric Circles by My Favorite Things, with a sentiment strip featuring 'Fabulous' by Uniko: Explosion Additions and 'Friend' die-cut by Paper Smooches

If you follow the Uniko blog HERE you'll have seen a balloon stencil released with the last bundle of new goodies. I didn't buy it because I new I had this similar one from Neat & Tangled but I was inspired by the stencilled balloon creations from the DT and decided to give it a whirl with this one. The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is by Impression Obsessions.

Thanks for calling by today and I hope you're having some crafty fun!

Less is More #369

Hello my crafty friends, it's time to announce our latest challenge at Less is More and we're stepping back in time with what's required for this one! All the details are on the main challenge blog HERE and here's our cue card.


You might decide to use a technique or stamp set that's not seen the light of day in a while or an additional element/embellishment that's perhaps no longer deemed 'fashionable' in crafting circles at the moment. 
Unbelievably I've 3 cards to share with you today ... having had a 2 week Easter break I had a little extra time to craft. These first 2 use handmade paper / mulberry paper I think it was called although this one is a thicker variety than others. 
For the first card I used a Columbus scalloped circle die from Mama Elephant to create a frame for the handmade paper. I stamped the sentiment from WPlus9 around the circle and mounted the 'wonderful' die-cut sentiment on foam to hide the balloon string. The balloon is from the Happy Little Stampers set 'Simply Said' and it's coloured using Promarkers.

This one uses a glittery embossed handmade / mulberry paper which I've adhered to some teal cardstock then used a die-cut 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from Impression Obsessions

Last but not least I have to admit that I own hundreds of these papery flowers in my stash; all different shapes, sizes and colours and I simply couldn't resist using them along with 2 mini sparkly brads in the centre (another of those no-longer-fashionable craft items).
I used some of the foliage stamps from Altenew Vintage Flowers to create a backdrop for the paper blooms but I'm not sure it's working for me! The sentiment is by Happy Little Stampers, our sponsor this month at Less is More.

As always there's loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies  over on the Less is More blog HERE and as I mentioned earlier, our sponsor for this challenge is Happy Little Stampers so do play along for a chance of a prize, which we'll announce at the start of next month. 

I hope you'll feel inspired to play along with and have some crafty fun along the way.
Thanks for calling by today!

Less is More #363

Hello my crafty friends, 
Another fortnight has zipped by and I'm here to announce our latest challenge over at Less is More - and it's that dreaded one! Although we've moved to fortnightly challenges we are still using the same rotation of 'themes' so it's our ONE layer week!
Here's the cue card, which is self-explanatory, I hope, followed by my cards and I've 2 to share today.

First up, using a James Bear image from LOTV is the card I made for Kylie of Happy Little Stampers when she became a Nana for the first time at the end of last year. Having seen the photos of her adorable grandson I couldn't resist stamping this little cutie on the card. The 'Hey' sentiment is from Uniko with the 'Nanny' from Clearly Besotted Stamps.

Loads of masking and stamping on this second one using a mixture of pandas, as they're super cute ... yes? The sets are by Mama Elephant and it's Incoming Mail and Pandamonium. I've added a couple of score lines at the bottom for some extra interest and a little bit of shading and colour with Promarkers

As always there's loads of fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE and if you missed the first challenge this month, we introduced a brand new sponsor for January; Skull and Cross Buns! Why not head on over and check out their gorgeous range of stamps and do make sure you play along for a chance of a prize, which we'll announce at the start of next month.



I hope you'll join us and have some fun and thanks for calling by today!

Honey I Shrunk The Kit #14

Hey there friends, I'm so excited to be sharing another day out with my fellow Honey Babes for another HISTK post! BUT I'm absolutely dreading it at the same time as it's my turn to host! What I thought might be a fun kit to work with turned into a bit of a nightmare as my mojo went AWOL in the last few weeks so I'm relying on the Babes to showcase it to the MAX!

The name of my kit is 'Sugar Fix' and here's a little piccy of the contents: 

... and here's the list of contents:

Stamps: Reverse Confetti: Donut You Know (plus donut die), Neat & Tangled: Say Yes to Donuts, Avery Elle: Pick N Mix (plus dies) and Mama Elephant: Carnival Cupcakes (plus dies)

Other Dies: L’il Inker: Smile, Mama Elephant: Columbus Circle and Neat & Tangled: Hooray word dies

Other Items: Hobbycraft Basics: patterned paper, Action Wobbler, Doodlebug: bakers twine & Anita’s: half cut pearls

Somehow I managed 5 cards, some I like a lot more than others and this first one has to be my favourite. I made it for my niece and nephew for Halloween using the action wobbler behind the bag of sweeties. I used a couple of extra images from a CBS dis-continued set called In the Spirit.

No additional items were used for this one other than the kit and the images are coloured with Promarkers.

My colouring medium for the next one was the Kuretake Zig Clear Brush Pens but my doughnut looks a little burnt, don't you think? I used a wonky stitched die-cut panel (thanks to fellow Honey / LIM teamie, Anita ... quite convenient that she came to stay at my house recently and brought some of her treasured stash with her)!!!

Ooooh! What's this ... another wonky stitched panel (thanks again Anita)! Images and die-cut sentiment once again coloured with Promarkers, with the 'it's a boy' sentiment by CBS.

I'm really not sure about this one but had a few bits and pieces to use up so a framed display of sugary, jelly sweeties, all coloured with Promarkers and coated with wink of stella and glossy accents.

I hope you like my cards but I'm sure you'll love my teamies cards even more! Don't delay, check out these lovelies as I'm off to do now! Thanks for calling by and I hope to be back with more Honey I Shrunk the Kit kits next year! 

Hazel Hodgkins: Hazel's Paper Designs Sarah Gray: Funky Fossil Designs Shona Chambers: Twine Around Anita Bowden: Neet & Crafty Sarah Platt: Sazzle Dazzle Crafts ... that's ME!

Less is More #344

Hi There friends another week has flown by and I'm back with the details for his week's challenge at Less is More. It's the start of a new month which means we're back round to our COLOUR challenge and here's this week's Cue Card so nice and easy ...



We are delighted to welcome back Happy Little Stampers, our generous sponsor for challenges in September so do play along each week to be in with a shout of a prize! What's more Kylie, owner of HLS is our Guest Designer for this one and I'm sure she'd love a visit if you have the time. She's got a never-ending repertoire of stunning techniques to try so why not grab a brew and spend some time swooning!

I've two cards for you today and the first one uses one of my favourite stamp sets from HLS: Mix Mash with a large 'Happy' sentiment from the Everyday greetings set. The inks are Altenew and I masked the bottom section of my card base before stamping then added the 'birthday' greeting once the tape was removed. For a little added interest I stamped the happy on a stitched circle die cut and sliced the bottom off then popped it up on fun foam. 

I rarely make square cards but this greeting from Mama Elephant was just too big when die-cut from a circle to add on my normal rectangular card base. I used Zig Clear Brush pens to colour my sentiment and repeat stamped a few times. While the sentiment and card were still in place in my Misti I used Versamark ink then heat embossed the sentiment with clear embossing powder to add some extra shine. I couldn't resist matting my cardbase with lime green and royal blue papers and I think it sets off the circular greeting quite well. To finish a few coordinating enamel dots. 

That's all of my examples but do pop along to the main blog HERE where my teamies, as always, have worked their magic to provide even more inspiration. 

I hope you'll play along with us, have some fun and thanks for stopping by today.

AAA CAS Cards Challenge #95

Hello there friends, it's time for another challenge over at AAA CAS Cards and this post is tinged with a little sadness as I'm stepping down from the Design Team at AAA Cards following this challenge. It's been a brilliant opportunity, creating alongside such fantastic talent and I've loved every minute. I've also made some wonderful friends who I hope to meet up with in the near future and definitely keep in touch with them via social media. 
The demands of being on a Design Team are challenging and unfortunately being on several design teams, alongside work certainly eats into precious family time, which has led me to this decision. I do hope to play along in the challenges now and again and I'd like to thank everyone at AAA CAS cards for being such perfect teamies!
The theme for this one is Rainbow and it's one of my favourite themes so  here's my card followed by a little photo inspiration for you too

This was a very quick and easy card to make using rainbow coloured strips adhered at an angle to a panel of white card-stock. This was die-cut using a stitched rectangle die before adding a die-cut 'happy' sentiment and stamped 'birthday' greeting. To finish I couldn't resist a few enamel dots in rainbow colours.

As always there's plenty more super CAS creations by my fellow teamies, with links to their blogs on the AAA Cards blog HERE

Our Guest Designer for this challenge is a formidable Queen of CAS and creator of the ever-popular Less is More Challenge. It's Chrissie of Simply One of a Kind! She is a whizz at Clean and Simple designs and I hope you'll pop along and visit her blog this week.

Our sponsor for this challenge is STAMPlorations and I hope you'll feel inspired to join us and play along.

AAA CAS Cards Challenge #92

Hello there friends, I'm back again this weekend and this time it's to introduce the latest challenge for this coming fortnight over at AAA CAS Cards
... but first of all we are also introducing some wonderful new teamies to our little challenge blog and I'm sure they'd love to receive a visit from you if you have the time to pop along and leave some love and encouragement. Our newbies aren't new to the world of blogging but just in case you haven't 'met' them before here's their names, with links to their blogs: 
Asa of Scrapatheltenkelt, Cheryl of Cards and Clutter, Elaine of Craft-e-place Lucie of Luciegcards, Maaike of Cards by Maaike and Tracie of Tracie Pond Designs
Alongside the original Design Team and our special and super talented Guest Designer; Jasleen of Happily Eva Crafter our newbies have worked their magic with our latest technique themed challenge



Here's my card and for this challenge ... we are being sponsored by Happy Little Stampers and I simply had to use their gorgeous 'Butterfly Birthday' set as it's my favourite and works perfectly with a resist technique. I've stamped the butterflies in Versamark ink before heat embossing then blended distress inks over the top. To add a little interest to the card front I've used a stitched landscape border die from Mama Elephant, with a sentiment and sparkly gems from Happy Little Stampers.

As always thanks for calling by my blog today and I hope you feel inspired to play along with us!
Have fun and happy crafting!

Less is More #329

Morning friends, are you ready for this week's challenge at Less is More, I hope you've not put all those shape style stamps away as there's another chance to play with them this week!

Here's my cards and due to lack of time this week it was only going to be the ONE for today but I had a little mojo spurt last night and made a 2-fer using a wonderful geometric set from our sponsor, Uniko. This one's called Background Builders squares. It's teamed with a 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from Simply Said Birthday and the second one uses die-cut letters by MFT Die-Namics with the 'birthday' sentiment from the newly released 'Happy Succulents' set by Uniko.



Next up I've used one of my favourite heart dies here from Neat & Tangled and it's so versatile as you can use both the negative and positive sections of the die-cut to create striking images. It's the negative bits and pieces here which take quite a while to re-stick back in place but I think it's worth the effort! The shapes are coloured using Promarkers and it's mounted on a scalloped rectangle from Mama Elephant with a sentiment and banner by WPlus9.

Don't forget to check out the fabulous designs from my fellow teamies over on the main blog HERE 
Hope you'll play along and have some fun and thanks for calling by and I'll be back soon!
Wish me luck this weekend as I'm hosting a New York themed party for my brother and his fiance on Sunday as they are jetting off to get married there later this month and it's our family send off / stag and hen combined party! I must be mad but I've been making all manner of bunting and decorations for my house - instead of crafting!

Honey I Shrunk The Kit #11

Hi blog friends, I'm thrilled to be sharing another day out with my fellow Honey Babes for our latest HISTK post and it was Shona's turn to 'host' the kit, which she's called .........

Here's the line up of Honey Babes followed by the picture of Shona's goody bag!
Hazel Hodgkins: Hazel's Paper Designs Sarah Gray: Funky Fossil Designs Shona Chambers: Twine Around Anita Bowden: Neet & Crafty Sarah Platt: Sazzle Dazzle Crafts ... that's ME!

Here's a picture of Shona's kit and a list of contents:

Neat and Tangled: Sequins, Big Hugs die-cut, Awesome die-cuts, Awesome Stamp set

Winnie and Walter: Friend die-cut

My Favourite Things: Hugs die-cut, Cool Cat stamp set, Beast Friends stamp set, Otterly Love You stamp set

Studio Katia: Stitched Creative Nested Squares die-cut 

Pretty Pink Posh: Stitched Rectangle die-cut, Stitched 3-window die-cut

Although I wasn't entirely sure where to go with the kit or what colour scheme to use I thoroughly enjoy playing with these gorgeous images and die-cuts. In the end I went with the colours of the sequins in the kit and tried to colour, not so successfully (particularly the otters) along these lines too so here goes. 

I used a few additional items for this one: Stencils by My Favourite Things - Scallops and Concentric circles which were both inked through with distress inks and the frame die is by Paper Smooches. The images and sentiment strip are coloured with Promarkers.          

                     

For this one I dry embossed the card base with a We R Memory Keepers next level embossing folder with a basket weave texture, coloured the die-cut friend sentiment and the images with Promarkers and mounted them onto a die-cut panel from WPlus9: Sunshine Layers dies

There was no need to use any additional items on this one. I merely coloured the images and the inner squares from the filmstrip die with Promarkers as well as the BG to the Awesome die cut sentiment.

I have to admit that I messed up the colouring of the 'heart-style' yeti but his face and head survived!!! I created a little wintery scene with a purple sky (as if!!!) blended with Wilted Violet distress inks and some landscape dies from Mama Elephant. The heart frame is from WPlus9.

And just enough to make this one which I was determined to make into a Christmas card with the twinkly fairy lights around this little beastie's neck BUT I couldn't resist the Big Hugs die cut sentiment which is coloured with Promarkers and all mounted on a scalloped panel from the WPlus9 Sunshine layers dies.

Thanks for another perfect pack of goodies Shona, I've had a brilliant time playing with these cuties; it was like receiving 3 whole new stamp sets that I'd never imagined owning. I can't wait to see what you and the rest of the playmates have created with the kit!  

Thanks for your visit and catch up soon.