Needles and Pins

This week at Allsorts the lovely Jo is hosting her very first challenge with the theme "Needles and Pins".

I thought this card which I made for Ruth a while ago but never blogged was ideal for this theme, using her mannequin image which you will find here at A Passion for Stamps. I printed the image onto Fabriano card and coloured lightly with Copics, used some Cosmo Cricket DP and added some lace ribbons and pins to embellish.

A bit of a quick post I'm afraid as struggling with the dysfunctional body a bit, but will hopefully be back with some more work again in the next few days.

Have a lovely weekend and my appreciation for your visits, they always mean so much.

Happy New Year to you all !!

And what better way to kick start 2012 than with two new challenge themes and perhaps an opportunity to use some of your new crafty stash that Santa delivered ?

At Stampalot Challenge our theme in Monochromatic which gives you plenty of scope to create whatever you fancy and at Penny Black at Allsorts it's 'Love and Hearts' so you can make a head start n all those Valentine cards.

My card at the top is my DT piece for Stampalot and uses the lovely Penny Black 4035K Letter and Flowers which I inked up with a combination of TH Vintage Photo distress ink and Aquamarker sepia, before spritzing with water and stamping onto a piece of Fabriano watercolour card which I pre-stamped and distressed with Hero Arts G3316 Harlequin and F5042 Leaf Flourish. The DP is Cosmo Cricket and I inked a piece of cheesecloth with the same TH ink and made a little pendant from Shrink Plastic.

My second piece for Penny Black and More was more of a challenge as I struggle a bit with the whole love theme....................I freak every time I am asked to do a wedding as I'm not a fan of the repetitiveness of multiple cards....................having just finished the stationery for one rather large and high profile wedding this Spring with close to 400 guests, up pops another.........I don't actually seek out wedding work, it sort of finds me via friends, then I hate to say no.

So I opted for the same technique of inking the stamp and spritzing with water, this time with Penny Black 3796K Words Sweet and just Aquamarkers. I mounted it onto a mat created with MS round the page three dot scallop, added some ribbons and gems and a sentiment Penny Black 3322D I Love You.

Enjoy the rest of the New Year break and I hope you can join in our challenges.

A real Passion for Stamps

Hello peeps, did you all have a good weekend ?

Mine sort of passed by in a flash, hubby's has been poorly for the last week and somehow all those things I planned to do never quite got accomplished. Never mind, I can at least share a couple of my sample cards I made using more of Ruth's lovely artwork which you can buy here at A Passion for Stamps.

The top card..................yet another easel I know, is Ruth's Acidanthera flower. I have made one or two cards with it, but each time it said to me "try making me into a Poinsettia" so I had to give it a try and I think it's quite effective. I printed the image out several times, cut the flower heads out in decreasing sizes so I could decoupage them, after colouring with Aquamrkers, inking with versafine frost the spraying with Glimmer Mist pearl to make them flexible to shape and of course give a lovely sheen to them.

The sentiment is Penny Black 3227K Hope is Born, I really have fallen in love with this sentiment and it's popping up on quite a few Christmas cards this year. A bit of distressing with TH fired brick and the easel was cut with Go Create dies.

My second card a leap from my comfort zone but when Ruth sent it to me and said she understood if I didn't use it, there was my challenge.............so I lightly coloured the Mannequin image with Copics, used some Cosmic Cricket DP, pins, bits of ribbon and lace and there was my card. The measuring take is also from the DP stack.

Thanks for visiting and hope you have a good week................and get some of the sunshine they forecast in the UK...............I'm a bit of a sceptic when it come to the weather forecast so shall wait and see.

Hero Arts Debut 2011

This week at Allsorts it's my turn to host the theme and as the challenge is going to run for two weeks I am making life really simple with the theme 'Free and Easy'. So you could enter now and then again making something with those new Christmas goodies Santa brings you.

I am sharing yet another easel card using the the lovely Sweet Pea Poinsettia Fairy.....she's still my favourite of all those I own......more masking, boring I know, but this time a sun.....makes a change from a moon (tutorial link on sidebar) and coloured with Copics, the wings glittered and decoupages along with the flowers. The frame is a Spellbinder die, the lace, MS punched border and punched vellum flowers. The DP is Cosmo Cricket DP (I think). This card is also for the following challenges:

In a Sweet Pea Dream - Anything sweet pea

Flutterby Wednesdays - Open theme

Sweet Pea Stamps - Anything goes

And one more really, really quick share and preview of the new Hero 2011 Debut collection that will be available to purchase at the special launch day at Sir Stampalot tomorrow. Full details below or on their web site.

Lots more ideas in the making, but this was as far as I got this afternoon and of course it was dark by the time I came to take my picture, so the colours are not great. Stamps used here are Hero Aerts K5503 Bird Collage and CL477 Delicate Leaf Clusters, plus, TH rusty hinge, Cosmo Cricket DP, sentiment Personal Impressions PICS033, Aquamarkers, Versamark frost and Glimmer Mist pearl

Hero Arts 2011 Debut Party

There's a Hero Arts Debut Party at Sir Stampalot, Peterborough on Saturday 18th December, and you're Invited!

Pop along for a fun make and take, munchies and of course your chance to see, up close and personal, the Debut selection of stamps and accessories from the New Hero Arts 2011 catalogue.

This card is for the following challenges:

Sweet Stamping - Celebrate (Birthday)

CES - Anything goes

Crafty Ann's - as above

Quick and easy Christmas

Hello everyone.

Is it cold your way ? We had frost the last two nights and it suddenly feels like winters close. I guess as November is only ten days away it is almost winter, I just like to hand on to the idea that we might still get some decent Autumnal days and all those gorgeous colours that seems to be evading us around here.

A really quick couple of shares. The first card above following a really great sketch, one I will definitely use again........in fact I made it up in two colourways, but can't share the other for a bit yet. The DP is Cosmo Cricket, nicely roughed up round the edges and a main image using Penny Black 3768K Christmas Montage, inked with TH inks and Marvy pens and spritzed with water before stamping and gems added to embellish. This card is for the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Sketch (loved it)

Charisma Cards - Vintage

Delightful Challenges - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Crafty Creations - Red, brown and green (the DP is brown, although it does not show too well in the picture)

My second card uses a stamp I've had ages but probably only used once or twice. It's Art Impression G273 stamped with stayzon sepia and coloured with Aquamarkers. The DP is My Minds Eye, some lace and punched and glittered snowflakes. really easy peasy and quick. This card is for the following challenges:

Scrapbook Sisters - Pets galore

For Fun - Red, brown and cream

Pear Tree Designs - Free for all

Tuesday Throwndown - Anything goes

New Molly Blooms and The Witching Hour

Good Morning, hope everyone is ready for the weekend, whatever you have planned. Lets hope the weather is kind.

I picked up a couple of new stamps at Sir Stampalot this week........well more than a couple if I am honest, needs must and all that and I do have an upcoming class and demo day to consider.........

I fell instantly in love with this lovey scene forest scene CRR 123 from Stampendous which I stamped onto gloss cardstock using stayzon, then used a versamak pen and clear embossing powder to highlight the tree trunks, houses and tiny trees. I added a little watercolour to the roofs and small trees then brayered using the lights end of Big and Juicy soothing sunset. The embossed areas resisted so I could buff up to make them show through the brayered colours.

The image is Molly Blooms MB00341, one of the new Christmas range recently released by Sir Stampalot. She is coloured with the same B&J inks and decoupaged. The frame is a Nestie and the DP My Minds Eye. This card is for the following challenges:

A pocket full of posies - Autumn leaves
Stamplaing for the Weekend - Halloween or Fall

Crazy4 Challenges - Fall

At Allsorts this week Helene would like us to play Bingo. This is a new theme to me but it has been great fun to work with.

Two cards from me, the first following the 'flowers, lace and tag' row on the Bingo board and using what I think is an Inkadinako stamp......no codes anywhere.....which is stamped and coloured with Aquamarkers and Copics. The DP is Cosmo Cricket and the poinsettias are made with punched from red vellum.

My second card follows the 'flowers, pearls and ribbon' row. The image is Rachael Anne Miller, coloured with Copics and cut our on Nesties. The paper was provided to the DT by this weeks sponsor Robyns Fetish. This card is also for the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - Autumn

Something Completely Different - Orange and Black

This week at Polkadoodles, Ruth has given us the theme "Something Spoooooky". I so hoped someone would come up with this one as I love the Halloween section on the new CD Sundaes of Seasons. I'm not big on Halloween usually, but this CD changed all of that, thanks Nikky.

Don't you just love the witch ? I enlarged and printed out some spooky trees onto an A4 piece of cardstock, then decoupaged the witch, toadstools and leaves to make a scene. Created an arched window from acetate and added a couple of dangling spiders. This card is for the following challenges:

Everybody Art - Halloween

Creative Craft - Trick or Treat

Cute Card Thursday - What's Buggin' you (spiders)

Penny Black Christmas 2010

Hello folks, bet you have been wondering where I have been with no post for three days.

Firstly there are puppydogs who takes a fair amount of time and are growing like triffids. I'll try and get some more piccies shortly to share. Then there is me sounding like a long playing record, I got flue the second day of our holiday, in fairness several of us did, but as usual despite antibiotics I can't shake it off so it turned into bronchitis and now a "hint of pneumonia" - GP terminology whatever that really means. So lots more pills.

But today I actually felt like crafting, helped enormously by a very nice man from Fex Ex who delivered a parcel from America..............Penny Black Christmas 2010.............it's a wonder you didn't hear the squeal, I was that excited. So I have a couple of creations to share with you and you can see all of the new range of Penny Black stamps here and you can get yours from Sir Stampalot just as soon as their delivery lands so keep an eagle eye on the 'whats new' section of their web site.

My first card........another easel I'm afraid, I'm still that addicted to them........... uses this gorgeous collage stamp Penny Black 4112K To Follow the Star. I made a mask for the moon and brayerd with Adirondack eggplant, stamped the image with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, then sponged Tim Holts marigold and sage to add definition. I tore the edges and embossed with iridescent powder to add some shine. The star is Hobby Art QT801A and DP's Kaiser which I also used to make three roses. The swirl is cut through the Big Shot using a Sizzix die then pearls and gems added to embellish.

This card is for the following challenges:

Crafts and Me - Petals and pearls

Creative Cottage - Christmas

Fab and Funky - Flowers - make your own

A Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas in August

My next card used an absolutely adorable slapstick stamp.....I am certain this is the same little girl as in one of the summer releases 40-021 For Goodness Sake. I stamped and embossed the image three times, colouring each with Copics then decoupaging. The DP is Cosmo Cricket which I also used to make the punched flower and sprayed with Glimmer Mist dazzling diamonds. I added some snow, glitter, lace and pearls to embellish and a a border punched with Martha Stewart embossed scallop.

This card is for the following challenges:

ABC - Blue

Cute Card Thursday - Sketch

Creative Card Crew - Sparkle and shine

And finally, one I forgot to add earlier - my head is obviously somewhere else. This is not a Christmas stamp but it is a new release and when I saw it I just loved it, reminds me of Harvest festival and all the beautiful displays in Church. The image is Penny Black 40-037 Autumnal Gifts, stamped with versfaine sepia and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Copics and some of the fruit decoupaged. I used Hero Arts S5316 Silhouette Grass to the main card using Tim Holtz rusty hinge and punched the October Afternoon DT with Martha Stewart arched lattice.

This card is for this weeks Penny Black Saturday, not entered for a few weeks what with holiday etc., and when I saw the theme of Get Fruity I was stumped , until Mr Fed Ex arrived with his goodies that is.

All dressed up

A night at sea and here we are in the island off the tip of Italy one could imagine Don Corleone might have frequented along with his brothers.

I would like the name of the island here and I'll tell you we sailed through the Straights of Massina to get here. You can find the largest active volcano in Europe on this island which is also famous for it's lemons and a liqueur called Limoncello......which just happens to be the name of my local deli in Cambridge. Your can check out what you need to do to enter in the post at the top of my blog.

Mount Etna

Now Allsorts where my talented teamie Fleur has come up with a brilliant theme this week........"Dressing Up" she says it can be fancy dress, prom, party or even a posh pair of shoes.

I had this Hero Arts image stamped out weeks ago from a crafty session with Chris and the girls at Sir Stampalot........it's Chris's stamp so thanks matie. I stamped the image once onto cream cardstock and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz scattered straw, then again on to Cosmo Cricket DP.......there seems to be a whole dressmaking thing going on at the moment because they work with the stamps brilliantly........have to say the stamp and DP's are not some I would have chosen as a norm, but actually quite like the finished project.

Some of the DP has tape measures, which I cut our and rolled across the centre of my card, added some buttons, rick rack, cord and a computer generated sentiment.

And there's a new theme over at Penny Black at Allsorts where the theme for August is Glitter and Glitz, if you have not already been over to the new challenge blog what are you waiting for, some fabby prizes to be had.

Next candy clue, Wednesday 4th August.

Glitter and bling

Stampalot DT card

Continuing my holiday itinerary and your next clue for the candy.....how to enter in the post at the top of my blog......today sees us in a beautiful City that only a few years ago was ravaged by war.

Standing in the beautiful walled City of turrets and towers it is hard to imagine such atrocities such a short time ago until you look at the bullet and shell marks still evident on the City Gate below. Sitting on the coast in the Adriatic Sea, it used to be part of Yugoslavia and following the Civil war in 1991 changed to Croatia. Nine letters, the first is 'D' and the last 'K'.

And as it's the first of the month, Stamplalot Challenge and Penny Black at Allsorts both have new challenges, here are the themes:

Stampalot: Bring on the Bling

Penny Black at Allsorts: Glitter and Glitz

There are similarities and I can see quite a few being combined here, but equally I am sure lots of you will see totally different ideas. And both have some wonderful prizes on offer, Stampalot have a whole collections of craft essentials and Penny Black at Allsorts have six prizes on offer.

For my Stampalot DT card above I used Penny Black 4039K Candid stamped with versafine sepia one a background created with Tim Holtz olive and mustard seed, spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl and then over stamped with Magenta 32090M crackle background. I stamped the flower heads again and coloured with the same two TH inks and spritzed with GM to make them pliable before decoupaging them onto the main image.

The DP is from stash and I have no idea of the make, I so wish I did as I love the colours of it. The border are punched with Martha Stewart double loop and the swirl is a sizzix die. For the bling I added some Swarovski crystals, so when I use them it means it's for someone special..........our daughter whose birthday is whilst we are on holiday.

My second card is my DT work for Penny Black at Allsorts:

Penny Black at Allsorts DT project

Its ages since I made a box easel card, so time to put that right. I have used some on the new Cosmo Cricket DP's to cover the box, the colours of this one are so yummy. For the main element I masked a piece of cardstock and sprayed with Glimmer Mist turquoise and sunflower to create a panel effect background. I then stamped Penny Black 3948 Fireworks over the GM's section and Penny Black 3940 Life to the side.

The borders are punched with Martha Stewart embossed scallop, the punched leaves and roses glittered liberally and Liquid Pearls added to the stamped flower heads plus more glitter.

Don't forget to pop back tomorrow for the next candy clue.

Birthday Lillies and cards

Good morning folks, sorry no post for a day or so, been back having another op on my mouth. I really thought all that was over last year, but the problem spread so there was no option. Still rather sore with the stitches so not a lot of talking from my end.......what a relief for my whole household I hear them say.

So a bit of a catch up on what I should have posted yesterday along with today's postings so this might be a bit of a long one. First up is this weeks new Polkadoodle's challenge where it's my turn to host the theme and I am going with "Something for a Boy" as it's Birthday time in our house this weekend, today it's my hubby's, myself and Grandson's tomorrow and Monday one of our granddaughters, nothing like cramming them all in together is there.

I have crated a card for my daughter to give to our grandson using the Paper Boutique CD. The template is all designed for you and even coloured, all you have to do is print it off, cut it out and layer it up, easy peasy. I printed a few extra stars, added some eyelets and fibres to the spine and stickles to the stars.

Next a reminder about our new Penny Black at Allsorts challenge which kicks off on Thursday. If you have not already been over and added your name to make sure you don't miss anything what are you waiting for, there will be super prizes from Penny Black themselves and one or two other exciting things lined up as well........I will be doing a post on the challenge blog in the next day or so to tell you a bit more about that.

And finally our brand new weekly challenge at Allsorts where it's the lovely Kirsten's turn to host the theme where she would like us to use "Embossing" on our projects.

I have used Hero Arts K5393 Lily Silhouette as my main image which I stamped with versamark and embossed with detail clear onto a piece of red cardstock which I had stamped with Hero H2364 Old French Writing using Tim Holtz distress ink soot black, then bleached out the image.

The spotty DP is from Cosmo Cricket and the cream panel was run through the Big Shot using a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The swirls are from a Sizzix die and the flower made with punches and the beady leaves are from Magnolia. Finally ribbon threaded down one side........don't ask me why, but whenever I use ribbon like this I think of French Follies.......I think it must be the basque image.

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.

Golden roses

Hope everyone is having a good Sunday, here in the Fens the rain has stopped at last and the suns making a reasonable effort, but judging by the clouds it won't be around too long.

And it's the last day of the Premiership, I'll miss my footie like crazy, but we do have the world cup coming up.......not sure if that is good or not, but we can but hope for positive things. An yesterdays 20/20 match was exciting so more of that to come this week.

A card to share for this weeks Penny Black challenge where they have a sketch......and a perfect chance to use some of the new goodies from Sir Sampalot on one of my sample cards. As usual when I saw the circles I freaked, I always struggle with them, heavens knows why. Also a couple of new ones for me, well at least it's a long while since I entered so thought it was time. They are Flutterby Wednesday, plus two both celebrating their Birthday and have that the, Stamp Something and Simon Says.

I drew my colour inspiration from this pretty Cosmo Cricket DP and coloured my main image Penny Black PB40-021 For Goodness Sake with Copics. I stamped the image three times and decoupages and masked the base image to stamp the fence which is from Magnolia Tilda collection. The cobbles, flowers and grasses and Art Impressions. The large rose is one of the scummy new ones from Magnolia........have you seen the colours, how to choose.......well you can't really, so it's probably no surprise I have a bag of them sitting in my craft room along with the lovely matching beady leaves.

The sentiment is Hobby Art GR435. I cut the second circle on the sketch from a doily with a Nestie, the middle panel was run through the Big Shot with a Cuttlebug folder and the border are Martha Stewart doily lace. Some lace, ribbon, gems and pounced butterflies to finish.

Field of spring flowers

Good afternoon peeps, hope everyone is having a good weekend. For the month of March I am hosting the challenges at Rosie D's and it probably won't surprise too many of those who know me that I have come up with the theme:

Think Spring

Spring is probably my favourite time of year.........I know I have told you all this before, but it really is with all the wonderful colours of fresh growth and blossoms and nature replenishing itself as if by magic. You can interpret the theme any way you wish, whatever this beautiful time of year means to you.

This month we have a new sponsor - Sir Stampalot who are offering one lucky winner two Stampendous stamps, ideal for all your Spring and Summer crafting.

Another box with an easel card on top, I'm on a bit of a roll with these at the moment and I like the idea of the card being an integral part. I created the box with a little opening drawer by folding and scoring - I find this the simplest way to make a box as you can adjust the size to suit whatever you want to do with it. I covered it with one of the new Cosmo Cricket DP's which is double sided so ideal for this purpose to get the colour contrasts.

The topper is my version of a fallow field full of spring flowers very like the one adjacent to our house with the obligatory fairies in attendance and the original rickety fence........no, my shrink plastic did not break, I did it intentionally when it was still hot. I started with a piece of watercolour card and created a hazy sun with chalk inks (tutorial here) then gently shaded the edges with Tim Holtz mustard seed. I have used a whole collection of stamps and inks so won't bore you with the list.

The fence and toadstools are made from stamping cream shrink plastic, the bunny border is Martha Stewart, the branches across the top a Sizzix die run through the Big Shot and flowers made with punches.

Going green and cutsie

Morning Peeps from a foggy and frosty Fen. Winter seems to be going on forever this year and I so long for Spring, probably my favourite time of year when I never fail to be amazed by the wonders of nature with all the re-birth of everything that has laid dormant all winter. I think I get this from my dear Dad who as a farmer, had his whole life dictated by nature.

I have spent a good deal of crafty time this week preparing DT work so that I can get ahead of myself and have time to get started on the preparations for the new Stampalot challenge I am organising. Much of the artwork I have finished can't be shared until March, except the samples I created for Polkadoodles new CD which the oh so talented Nikky is launching on C&C next Thursday 25th.

Today's card is for two challenges Everybody Art challenge whose sketch I have followed and ABC challenge which is "One Paper" - which is says can be double sided and count as one, which is what I have done. My piece of paper is one of the beautiful new designs from Cosmo Cricket which I plundered when I was at Sir Stampalot when they arrived the other day.

My image is Sarah Kay picnic time stamped with versafine back and embossed with detail clear three time, coloured with Copics and decoupaged. I decorated round the image with various Art Impression leaves and flowers and the large flowers is made with punches using the same DP scrunched up and sprayed with Glimmer Mist lily pad, plus some leaves and pearls.