Lemon and Lime and more !

Helene is our host at Allsorts this week and I admit I totally lost the plot here hence several cards. I had prepared my post, thought I had the weeks wrong so changed it all yesterday only to find I was right in the first place.......are you still with me or as confused as I was ?

So the theme definitely is Lemon and Lime, but thought I might as well share all the cards. The one up top uses the gorgeous new lily stamp Ruth created at A Passion for Stamps. I used Hero Arts F2365 to stamp the background with TH pumice stone and mounted onto a mat punched with MS around the page 3 dot scallop and lightly shaded the edges with the same inkpad. The image is coloured with Copics and decoupaged.

My second card is one of the samples I made for a Stamp Addicts programme using the Courting Couples silhouette stamp sheet. The background is stamped with Hero Arts K5056 friendship writing then the image stamped over using Brilliance orchid. The DP is Bo Bunny and I punched a border using MS garden trellis.

And the one above is the original one I did for Helene's Lemon and Lime theme. I stamped a piece of lemon bazzil with Hero Arts S5264 Antique flower background using Hero chalk ink soft green, The ovals are cut with Nesties and the butterfly is from Hero CL383 set and coloured with Aquamarkers. The sentiment is from Darkroom Door.

Love is all around us

It' love all around this week, at Allsorts my teamie Debs says "it must be love, love, love".......well it is nearly Valentines isn't it........ and our new theme at Stamptaculr Sunday is "Hearts gone Wild", all a bit outside my comfort zone as I'm not really a love and hearts person, but have given it my best shot.

First up the one at the top and an easel card created on the Cricut using the DS so I could weld the elements together. The smaller heart is cut with a Nestie, with I shaded using TH linen whilst still in the die then stamped randomly with Penny Black 3322D Je t'aime using Brilliance gold.

The main image is Penny Black 3865K Gossamer which I stamped several times onto DP from stash which I also used on the base card again cutting on the Cricut and decoupaged the flowers. The heart border is a Martha Stewart punch and I used the little waste hears to decorate here and there and ruched some red and gold ribbon.

My second share is the first outing for Penny Black 4023K Love is the Message.......I've actually had the stamp for ages but never quite sure if it's me or not. I decided on the colours but took ages to find an ink that matched the purple bazzil and the only one close was Memento which dries really quick, but I managed to get some detail clear embossing powder on it in time so I got a nice shiny finish.....but thanks to the rotten weather and light it looks more like black than purple in my picture.

The mat is punched with Martha Stewart double loop round the page and I stamped directly onto the Fancy Pants DP which has a pretty delicate pattern that does not overpower the image. Flowers coloured with Copics, feathers, punched leaves, a border punched with Martha Stewart hearts punch and some pearls to finish.

Beauty of Nature

The beautiful findings of a deranged shopper

Hello Peeps, hope you all had a good weekend. The weather was decidedly iffy here and the central heating swung into action, I just can't abide being cold.

And the trees are feeling the cold as well and the leaves and beginning to fall rapidly, but oh how beautiful the all are. When we were shopping Saturday......I'll share with you shortly what was sourced at John Lewis...........I just couldn't resist picking up these leaves. We had to smile though, as a lady sitting in a coffee shop with her husband watched me intently as I rummaged the leaves for a couple to bring home, touched her husband on the arm with a sad half smile and they both gave my hubby such a caring sympathetic look. Clearly they though I had totally lost it..........but I can't resist revelling in the beauty of Nature.......I thought that was just normal ?

Now on to John Lewis.........my anniversary present from hubby. He made no mention what he was thinking until we hit the shops, said he wanted to go into the computer section of John Lewis, then announced he though a Mac would be just the thing for me with all my art and craft work. So this little package, well not so little, the screen is 27" is being delivered on Thursday.

I confess to lots of reservations, I've used HP's both at home and in the office for years, so me thinks a sharp learning curve is in the offing. But a couple of the children have Mac's so I am hopefully they won't just give me a 'dahhhh' glare when I am at my whits end with all the change. At least I have the luxury of enough space in my craft room to have old and new running until I conquer the Mac......that'll be mid 2011 then !

Enough gabble and a share of a couple of cards. The first one is obviously inspired by the lovely leaves above, very similar to one I made a few weeks ago, but I rather like the design. The leaves are Hero Arts CL457 real leaves, inked with various colours of Brilliance inks, stamped onto linen cardstock and diamond glazed after cutting out. I used the same leaves to stamp a background, but stamped them off first to diffuse the colours a bit. I tied ribbon across the middle panel and added a button to one leaf. This card is for the following challenges:

Mojo Monday - Sketch
Paper Playtime - Ribbons, buttons or rhinestones
Sweet Stamping - Punch it Out

The second card is a clean and simple design using Stamps Happen 80427 which I stamped onto a background created with Tim Holtz frayed burlap, linen and sage and a touch of gold brilliance. I coloured the image with Aquamarkers and added diamond glaze to the glass. The borders are created with Martha Stewart cornice punch. Cord and a button to embellish. This card is for the following challenges:

Cupcake - Happy Hour

Paper Sundaes - Something from Stash (cord and buttons)

Molly Blooms

Good Afternoon peeps, it's Monday so back to the grindstone but at least the sun is shining and no winter woollies today.

Hope you all had a good weekend, mine was a mixture. Saturday I was busy finishing the samples for yesterdays exclusive launch at Sir Stampalot of the new Molly Blooms stamp range. It was really lovely to met Clare, the very talented artiste of the stamps which are now on line to buy here. Scary or what, I am quite getting a liking for cutsie.

I have used Molly Blooms Strawberry Girl on this card, masking her so she is sitting on the toadstool which is another of the stamps in the range, colouring her with Copics and decoupaging, adding some grass and flowers using Art Impression stamps. The DP is Cosmo Cricket, the border punched with Martha Stewart embossed scallop plus some ribbon and a doily. This card is for this the following challenges:

Cupcake - Strawberries and Cream

Stamptacular Sunday - Cute as a Bug - butterflies plus bees on DP

Stamp Something - Summer

My second card uses Penny Black 2407K Keepsake as the main image inked with Brilliance Mediterranean blue and yellow then spritzed with Glimmer Mist daisy yellow. I stamped the three flowers again to decoupage them after spritzing them with the same GM. The DP is October Afternoon, one of the brand new ones just arrived at Stampalot. The corner stamp is Penny Black 3857H Footnote, the with love sentiment is Art Impression and the left hand wording computer generated. This card is for the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday - Travel/holidays

Stampin for the weekend - Sketch plus yellow and blue.

And finally I thought I would share a piece of fairy artwork my hubby bought me yesterday.

It's a bit unusual as it is a print glazed onto natural slate and the colour of the slate blends beautifully with Arthur Rackham's wonderful depiction of Ginevra from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Not sure where I am going to hang it yet, but I think my craft room is the most likely as it's very 'me' and I can feel the inspiration coming already.

Daisies and Dragons

Crafting still seems on go slow, the ideas are there, they just seem to take forever getting all put together. It does not help that for three days I've been plane spotting........or rather keeping an eye on any changes to the flight situation where it seems the whole world has gone crazy.

Our eldest son and his wife are stranded in Thailand and been told the earliest they can be re-booked on to a flight is 1st May. We have tried every computation to try and get them home, but at the moment coming up against brick walls. They flew via Dubai with Emirates who are still flying into Malta so if they can get there, could get home via ferry and train. A tortuous journey but possible, but Emirates want a Kings ransom to change their original flight arrangements.

Back to crafting, two cards for two challenges. The first for this weeks Everybody Art Challenge who have a lovely sketch created by Jenny, the second for Tuesday Taggers who would like to see Dragons.

An easel card for the first challenge using Kaiser DP's. For the main image which is Penny Black 4042 Daisy Fields I created a background with Brilliance inks olive, gold and yellow, water and Glimmer Mist pearl. I then stamped over the piece with Magenta 3940M crackle background, then the main image using versafine sepia and detail clear embossing powder.

I stamped the flower heads a second time, coloured with Marvy pens, inked with versafine frost as this bleeds and softens the colours, then spritzed with the same GM, moulded whilst still wet and decoupaged. The sentiment is Penny Black 3940 Life. The border is punched with Martha Stewart eyelet lace, punched butterflies and some Magnolia gem leaves........I'm sure they have a proper name, but I threw the wrapping !

The second card which I confess I am non too keen on, is made with the only dragon stamp I possess and it probably not the sort of dragon St George would have associate with, but artistic licence and all that. I stamped all over the card itself with JudiKins 2201J using versamark and detail clear embossing powder, then inked all over with Tim Holtz rusty hinge, dusted with Perfect Pearls and moved the colours around with a baby wipe to create a more aged look.

I used the same TH distress ink to create a background for the main image, plus a smidgen of TH dusky concord, then embossed the edges with gold. I stamped the dragon image which is Rubber Stampede 3006F with versafine imperial purple and embossed with detail clear. The sentiment is Stamp Barn kanji cube and purple cord to finish.

Stampalot challenge April

Good Morning everyone, it's seemed ages coming but at last the day has arrived when we launch our Sir Stampalot challenge.

Our very talented Design Team have come up with some awesome projects for our theme of "Fantasy". And as promised Sir Stampalot are providing a very special prize for our winner........a Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter no less plus a Pooh font cartridge......... plus we will be selecting our Top 3 who will be able to display our special blinkie.

My project is a box card, using shades of blue, a colour I don't work with that often, but somehow I felt it matched what I was trying to depict. The background was brayered and masked with Big and Juice waterfall. The fairy called Fairy Dust is from Lavinia stamps inked with versamark and embossed with iridescent. I rolled the brayer over the stamp to pick up the image and create a reflection in the water. The cherry blossom and flowers across the bottom are from Magenta CS-043 and the grass and reeds Art Impression. DP is Basic Grey. The tiny fairy at the bottom flap - which folds down - was stamped onto shrinky and colored with Brilliance inks.

A footnote: As you might guess this post was scheduled but though I would add this bit to tell you that this little box has just found a home. Anysia who is studying Equine Husbandry at Cambridge.........I have shared pictures of her riding.......had a bad fall yesterday and has a broken femur.

They could not operate until the swelling reduced and bleeding stopped. But she is in surgery now and they say it will be about three hours before she comes back up, so have popped home to get some bits for her and collect the fairy box which will give her something to look at instead of flowers.......the hospital does not allow them. She is going to be in hospital most of Easter, so I may not be about much, but there are a few scheduled posts to go up.

Spring for Allsorts 43

Saturday's here again and another challenge at Allsorts and hopefully this post will pop up as scheduled and I will be at Sir Stampalot sharing my passion for getting messy with Tim.......in my dreams at least, just his inks in reality.

Amanda has chosen the theme of Spring this week and it really does look like it is almost with us now at long last and I actually saw the first daffodil showing colour in the garden yesterday.

I have made another easel card, it's one of the new shapes that I find so elegant and easy to work with. Plus they do stand so nicely. The background for the main image which is Penny Black 4036K has been created by masking and colouring with Brilliance inks orchid, thyme and yellow and spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl before removing the masks to stamp the image.

The larger piece was stamped randomly with one of the butterflies from Penny Black 30-048 using using versafine and detail clear embossing powder. I then distressed with Tim Holt worn lipstick, mustard seed and peeled paint........as the brilliance inks do not work well with this technique I experimented with colours and found these actually match the brilliance colours really well. Again I spritzed with the same GM.

I stamped and cut out more of the poppy flower heads, coloured with Brilliance orchid and decoupaged, adding some swirls and leaves. The border punch is Martha Stewart 3 dot scallop.

And don't forget, if you not already entered for this weeks Stampalot Candy of a Hero Arts Goody Bag you still have time.

Pink Polkadoodles

This is my very first time to host the challenge since I was invited to become a Polkadoodler and I have come up with the them of Wings with some stamping......I know I am so transparent, but don't we all love wings and especially those of the flutterby version.

Myself and fellow DT members were so lucky to get to play with the brand new Paper Boutique CD before it was launched by Nikky on Create and Craft last week. There are some absolutely beautiful elements on it and if you have not ordered yours yet, then what are you waiting for because it's a must have.

As soon as I saw it I had to get to work with the Secret Garden section and based my creation around one of the templates which I cut out an decoupaged to make an easel card. I then made a small box with a drawer, covered it with papers from the CD and mounted the card on the top. The little trees and flowers are stamped onto shrink plastic using the BTN stamp set and coloured in with Brilliance ink. The fence is a Martha Stewart punch.

I have made a few of these easel card boxes lately as I feel they a bit different and make a lovely gift. I have been asked how to make them several times, so will do my best to get a tutorial together.

Challenge Andy

The lovely new Magnolia Spring papers arrived at Sir Stampalot yesterday when I was there.........a huge box spilling over with beautiful pastel colours, roses, harlequin patterns, bunnies, all so yummy. I must have been drooling so badly that Andy set me a challenge........go create with them and a new Martha Steward lattice fence punch.

So who I am to question such an order and here is what I have come up with so far. I have used the aqua and pink ones, but there is also a really pretty one with yellow daffodils and that will be my next one to get to grips with.

For the pink one I used one of the new Penny Black stamps 40-021 For Goodness Sake. I had to have this one as soon as I saw it, call me sentimental, but I remember a picture of myself as a little girl dressed just like that, right down to the hat, I think it was at a wedding. I stamped the image several times, coloured with Copics and decoupaged.

The edges of the Magnolia DPs' have been distressed with one of the new Tim Holt Distress inks Victorian Velvet.......do check the new ones just in stock, there are some beautiful subtle colours. The leaves and flowers around the image are all Art Impression stamps. Then I used my Martha Stewart bunny border punch to match the bunny on the image and also those on the Magnolia DP. The sentiment is Hobby Art and ribbon, cord and a peg to embellish.

For the blue card I created a shaped easel card (inspiration in the current Magnolia magazine) using Cricut Sorybook. I created a background using Brilliance inks and Glimmer Mist pearl, overstamped with Penny Black 2410 Penmanship using TH distress ink Weathered Wood the stamped Penny Black 4042K Daisy Fields with versafine black, embossed with detail clear and coloured with Copics, cutting a second image out and decoupaging the larger flower heads.

The new MS lattice fence punch came into action to create a 'back to back' effect across the middle and also corners. The oval 'prop' on the bottom of the card is Penny Black 3857H Footnote stamped onto the same background as the main image, cut out with Nesties through the Big Shot. To finish I added tiny flowers, buttons and cord.

More fairies

A really quick share with you all this morning before I charge off for a rather special session with Elizabeth Allan from Penny Black who is spending a day at Sir Stampalot and for a few very lucky ladies who get in there quickly, doing a class as well.

My card is another of those I have created using some of the the new Lavinia products (link to their store on my sidebar). I created the background with Tim Holts distress ink marigold and tea dye, then spritzed with Glimmer Mist gold to blend the inks and give some sheen. The honeycomb effect is created with a piece of mesh and brilliance ink and the images all inked with versafine black and embossed with detail clear.

All go at Sir Stampalot

Ciao peeps. Hope you all had a good weekend. Ours went according to plan and I think my hubby might be in demand as a Derby mascot as they beat Peterborough 3-0. And the way our team Liverpool are playing this season he might be converted, although in reality I doubt it.

Saturday Jules and I had a whale of a time........what better way to spend the day than at Sir Stamplaot unpacking boxes of the new Hero Arts stamps and other goodies and stacking them all onto racks.........drool, drool........I was able to introduce Jules to most of the gang and it was such fun helping Andy and Janice with the move to their new store which is just amazing. And even better was seeing customers faces light up when they saw the fantastic new shop and all the space. And Louise was doing a Copic demo and showed us how to make her flowers which we decided were a floribunda/wild rose - thanks Louise.

I have lots of new Hero stamps and inks which I need to get creative with, but for now I have one card to share for this weeks Penny Black challenge which has the colour combo of Blue, Cream and Gold and I have followed the sketch at Stamping for the Weekend designed by Fiona.

I created a background with Brilliance gold, Mediterranean blue and sky blue by dabbing the inks onto a silicone sheet, spritzing with water and rubbing the card into the mix. I part dried it with a heat gun then spritzed with Glimmer Mists midnight and gold. Next I stamped Penny Black 3817K Tigress using versfine black and detail clear embossing powder and coloured in with Twinkling H2 0's. The circles are all cut with Nesties through the Big Shot and the greeting PB3419D in the same way using a Nestie ribbon slide. The DP's are Daisy Bucket and Basic Grey. Borders and corners are Martha Stewart double loop.

To create two of Louise's roses I spritzed a piece of plain paper with the same Glimmer Mists and gold brilliance, scrunched up whilst still wet and then punched out when dry and made up the flowers. Louise used the Copic air gun system to colour hers, my method was rather messy by comparison.......but you know me, if I don't have mucky fingers I'm not having real fun.

Allsorts week 34

Time for a new challenge at Allsorts and this week Emma has come up with a great sketch for you to follow.

I fully intended going light and bright, but somehow got drawn into warm colours based on a piece of My Minds Eye DP. My main image is Penny Black 3948K Fireworks stamped with versafine sepia and embossed with detail clear onto a background created with Brilliance copper, gold and olive spritzed with water to persuade the colours to merge and then oversprayed with Glimmer Mists Olive and iridescent gold.

The mats are cut with nesties through my new Big Shot Express........it's quick and effortless to use.......and embellished with three roses made from the same DP plus some liquid pearls on the flower stamens.

Polkadoodles DT project challenge 51

Before I go on to this weeks Polkadoodles challenge, I want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone for their wonderful support. I confess I was a bit thrown by the events of the past day or so, but with your help I have been able to rise above that negative activity and blogging will re-commence as will roses and other crafty activities.

Now on to Polkadoodles where the theme is an open one. The DT have come up with some awesome projects using the new Back to Nature CD, do pop along and check out their inspirational work. When I saw these flowers on the BTN CD I fell in love with the colours and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them........you know, one of those rare cards where it just clicks into place.

I re-sized the flowers, cut them out and decoupaged. The stalks are stamped with Brilliance Thyme using one of the swirl stamps from the Daisy Doodle Stamp set and added leaves cut from the petals of one of the flowers. The sentiment is also from the stamp set and the picket fence a new Martha Stewart punch I just had to have. I chalked clouds in the background and added punched vellum butterflies and gems here and there.

Thank you and challenges

Oh wow, where do I start, yesterday was a fabulous day at Sir Stampalot and I can't begin to express how thrilled I was to meet so many of my lovely blog buddies and to be able to put faces to names. And of course not forgetting all of those I already knew who also popped in to say hello. At the risk of offending anyone by missing their names I am just going to say a huge thank you one and all for taking the time to come, many travelling quite a distance from places such as Nottingham, Norfolk, Yorkshire and Hampshire.

I would love to have been able to spend more time chatting and talking crafty with everyone, but unfortunately the popularity of the day just did'nt allow as we were kept on your toes from start to finish. And if the queues in the shop were anything to go by there is are an awful lot of new crafty goodies being played with today.

I have one card to share with you today which is for this weeks Penny Black challenge which has the theme Christmas for the Girls and Stamping for the Weekend which wants to see Red, Green and Gold. I don't really have a 'girly' PB stamp so have gone for he more sophisticated female approach and made an easel card .......these seem to be popping up all over blogland so thought it was time I made one.

My image is Penny Black 3768K Christmas Montage, stamped with Brilliance Red, Thyme and Gold, distressed round the edges and covered with two coats of UTEE. Another of my roses that were very popular yesterday (using a 2" punch for those of you that saw a demo) and surrounded by punched leaves and pearls. The bottom border was punched with Martha Stewart embossed scallop, the greeting is my favourite Christmas sentiment this year Penny Black 3995F Ornamental Script and DP is K & Co.

Challenges

After vowing only this morning that I really had done with Christmas cards and was making no more, here I am back with another.......mind you it's a bit unconventional, but my daughter will adore it and that's just where it will be going.

The theme for this weeks ABC challenge is "I for Indigo" and as I don't work with blue a great deal it's made me step outside my comfort zone a bit which is never a bad thing. I have coupled it with Everybody Art Challenges theme of "Christmas" and Creative Card Crews "Favourite Things"........everyone who know me knows I adore butterflies. Not sure if the finished card is a bit overkill, but my hubby's (who is my main critic) comment was "not in the current run of pile it on crafting". Hmmmmm !

I created a background with Brilliance inks, sky, silver and Mediterranean blue, dabbing them onto a silicone sheet, spritzing with water then whooshing a piece of card around to get a good covering which when dry gives a lovely glistening background to work on. I stamped my image, Penny Black 3896K with versafine blue and embossed with detail clear, then painted the poinsettias with the same brilliance inks. The lovely sentiment is Hero Arts C2604.

The card itself which is pearlescent silver is randomly stamped with Penny Black 3999H using the same blue versafine and embossing with iridescent powder. A piece of pale blue vellum has been laid diagonally across the card because I felt the snowflakes were a bit overpowering. The gorgeous ribbon which has tiny butterflies all over was a present from a great blogging friend......I know you don't like your name in lights, but you know who you are, so thank you mate.

To finish I made up a stick pin with blue and pearl beads and some butterflies punched from vellum. Overkill possibly, but I actually quite like the finished project.

Rosie D's challenge 57

Hello all and time for the reveal of my card for the current Rosie D's Challenge which has the theme of Pink, White and a Wafer plus a sketch for you to follow designed by our very own Rosie. As we are now a fortnightly challenge there is still another week for you to enter so what are you waiting for ?

Now before I tell you about my card, a confession and you will realise what a lovely gang we have here at Rosie D's. A couple of weeks back when I did my card for this challenge I posted a very cute blue Christmas card following Rosie's sketch. It suddenly dawned on me just before our DT work was posted to the challenge blog what there was actually a colour theme and it most certainly was not blue.......panic set in and I quickly prepared another one following the right colourways......but my teamies are so polite that nobody had said a work to me other than to compliment me on the blue card. You can imagine what a dozy mare I felt !!

So my card, main image is Penny Black 3996K stamped with Brilliance Orchid and shaded round the edge with Hero Shadow Blossom and the edge of the card distressed with Tim Holtz Antique Linen. DP is from stash and the border punched with Fiskars Threading Water and some lace. I made the flowers from the same DP, embossing the edges with iridescent powder and the leaves are my 'wafer' punched from corrugated card coloured with the same orchid ink and embossing powder.

Stamping for the Weekend

Good afternoon and a quick share of a little item that seems to have made it's way home with me from Stampalot yesterday. But before I get into crafty things.......I know that's what this is all about really, but we need a bit of social interaction as well......what's the weather like your way ? Sunshine seems in short supply around here this week, it's not one thing or another. What is for sure these cold nights have put paid to most the beautiful Autumn leaves and there are more off than on the trees now and a thick carpet everywhere you walk.

My card is for this weeks Stamping for the Weekend where there is a colour theme of 'Orange, Blue and Purple' but with a twist of an 80's song title with three to choose from: Girls on Film-Duran Duran, Dirty Laundry-Don Henley, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun-Cyndi Lauper, which is the one I have opted for. This also my entry for DCM who want to see use of your newest punch.

My image, a wood mounted stamp, the origin of which I have no idea, looks like a lady that definitely has fun and does not give a damn what anyone thinks. I stamped her with versafine black, embossed with detail clear and painted with Brilliance inks, adding a bit of purple foiling to the flowers and her dress. The really gorgeous DP is from Prima. I ripped the edges of the main piece and shaded with Tim Holtz Dusky Concorde.

The flowers are made from the same DP which is double sided and the leaves are also cut from that and Bazzil using my new L-Em punch from Stampalot which is called 'Ash Family 2' which cuts three matching leaves in varying sizes in one cut. I think this one is a real 'need' and so useful with the different sized leaves, especially as it coordinates with my other ash leaf punch by the same manufacturer. Finally, some lace, punched butterflies and pearls to embellish. The words are printed on the computer using 'Folio Girls' font.

Everybody Art Challenges

Hello everyone, been a bit quiet this end and not too much crafting for a day or so what with my flu/cold plus Buffy is poorly. Been to the vets a couple of times......with Buffy - not me......mind you I might get more sense if I made the change. They think it's some kind of virus - bless her she is sneezing constantly and has a really high temperature, but hopefully the antibiotics will kick it quickly and she will be back to her old self. When a Labrador if off her food you know she's not feeling good.

Back to all things crafty and something for this weeks Everybody Art Challenges where Thelma has set theme of 'Autumn', one I just love to play with. The sun has been created with a mask and sponging and then my owl image -Inkadinkado 98396 - stamped into the centre with versafine sepia and embossed with detail clear.

Quite a lot of stamping going on in the background using Hero Arts 97513 Harlequin and Inkadinkado 97513 and Brilliance Thyme, Rocket Red Gold and Rust and Hero Arts H2365 stamped onto the bank across the middle which I punched with Fiskars Threading Water. The leaves are from the same Inkadinkado set as are the tiny ones which have been stamped onto Shrink Plastic with some raffia and a single rose made from the same paper as the band across the middle of the card wich is stamped with H2365 Old French Writing.

Sir Stampalot Demo Day

I can't beleive it's Friday already and I can't really identify what I have done all week. Apart from 'proper' work, my spare time seems to have drifted by in a haze preparing for various DT work and my demo day at Sir Stampalot this coming Saturday - 10 through 4, free refreshments and demo day special offers.

I will be stamping with Penny Black, Hero, Inkadinkado and more and of course some nice messy background techniques, brayers and distressing.......mind you by the time they get rid of me Andy and Janice might well be the distressed ones after putting up with me all day.

Here are just a couple of the cards from the sample boards I have made up ready for Saturday. The first is very simple with a moon created by masking and using Tim Holtz broken chine and brilliance silver. Stamped with Inkadinkado 98396/97513 using versafine back and detail clear embossing powder.

The second card has a background created with Tim Holtz spiced marmalade, dusky concord and peeled paint.......now for some of my peronal technical crafting terms...... all 'splodged' onto a non stick sheet, spritzed very liberally with water then watercolour card 'swished around' in it. The image is Penny Black 3982K stamped with Versafine imperial purple and embossed with detail clear, then stamped again offset with the residue left on the stamp. The DP is Daisy Bucket, all well distressed and tattered round the edges, with cord and handmade roses made from the same matting paper.

By the Cute and Girly reminder

Well, it's halfway through the month and what a fabulous response we have had to our first challenge at By the Cute and Girly . We are thrilled how many of you have already entered, but for those of your that have not had a look yet you can do so by clicking here. The Inspirational Team came up with a fantastic selection of projects for this months theme of Autumn Glory and being that this challenge is about ALL crafts we hope it will allow more of you to join in and show us what you make in your spare time. And of course there are prizes on offer and not just the one either, but three.

This is one of my projects where I tried to capture the three phases of the day, morning, noon and night. The image is JudiKins 2633G and the cobble path Art Impression L3297. The background on all three images was created with Glimmer Mists and masks and touches of Tim Holtz distress inks here and there. The words on the front were cut on Cricut Stretch Your Imagination and the leaves are from Inkadinkado 97513 inked with Brilliance and the tiny ones have been stamped with the same ink onto Shrink Plastic. The border is Martha Stewart Arched Lattice.