In the garden

A very Good Morning to you all, did you get any of the white stuff ? We certainly did, it started last evening and by this morning it was a foot deep against the front door where it had drifted, that's one of the benefits of living in the Fens, when it blows it really does blow. But it looks absolutely beautiful, the dogs have already had a good play in it and later the horses will get a little play or rather roll...........yes Keryn...........like me she loves animals and loves to hear about the horses activities................... it's another of their little treats. Believe it or not horses love snowy and frosty ground to roll in, but only ten or fifteen minutes mind you before it's back into their stables for the daily carrot hunt.

It's the first Sunday of the month so that means new challenges at Penny Black and More and Stampalot. The theme at Penny Black and More is 'Lets Play Bingo', but no ordinary Bingo, I decided to try out something different and have created a colour bingo grid. And at Stampalot the theme is 'In the Garden', no prizes for guessing who came up with that theme !! And of course I could have gone in making them forever for the garden theme, but I think two are enough this time round.

For my first Stampalot piece I stamped Hero Arts CG153 on acetate using Archival black ink.........I wanted a larger aperture for my frame than the actual stamp so inked and stamped the left side first, cleaned the stamp and inked just the centre elements and stamped them and finally inked and stamped the right hand side. It actually lined up quite nicely, but the frame covers the edges anyway. Next I then mounted it inside a frame created with Nesties and edged the aperture with another little frame punched from Nitwits DP. I then  stamped the inside element onto a piece of rainbow cardstock using Adirondack dye inks watermelon and meadow, stamps used are Penny Black 3381 Aspire, PB 3948K Fireworks and all time favourite Stampendous P107 Agapanthus Cluster.

I mounted the acetate framework over the flower piece arching it to create a window effect, then mounted the whole piece onto a base card. The two large butterflies and the tiny one on the inner piece are from Hero Arts CL383 and coloured with the same dye inks.

I have been really good with my second piece and dug out some pretty old Stamps Happen stamps as I thought they were ideal for the theme. When I was making this one I came to the conclusion that a non crafting male designed the stamps because who else would come up with four stamps for the four season and make three vertical and one horizontal ?

So I had to come up with a design where I could incorporate all four together and made the base shape using a score board and two pieces of A3 cardstock - it is a bit of a heavyweight card. I coloured all four imaged with Aqumarkers, matted onto bazzil and used two coordinating sheets of Kaiser DP for the background. The sentiment on the central panel is Penny Black 2905H The Best, the swirls a making memories die and the flowers and leaves a Marianne die.

This seems to have become a bit of a lengthy post so I hope you can bear with me until I have finished my Penny Black and More share. I opted for the yellow, white and black row as it's a colour combo I love............and this card is very similar to one a few weeks ago, just different stamps................always so fresh and crisp. My main image is Penny Black 4039K Candid................I don't think they are mean to be daffodils, but I always think with a bit of imagination and the right colours you can get away with it..........and Penny Black 3096F Host of Daffodils. I inked the floral stamps with TH mustard seed and Aquamarkers and spritzed with water before stamping onto as piece of Fabriano watercolour card. The frame is made with Nesties and the flowers Spellbinders and Marianne dies and some feather to finish.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone and I really hope you can join in our challenges this month.

Blog hop fun

This Blog Hop has now ended................

Happy New year everyone.

I really don't know where to start with this post because there is so much I need to include.........a new weekly challenge at Allsorts.......then Stampalot and Penny Black at Allsorts monthly challenges........as well as a Blog Hop.

So first up is my creation above for Allsorts where Fleur would like to see Thank You creations. My card made with Kraft cardstock uses Hero Arts CO114 as the main image, stamped onto the reverse of the Kaiser DP and the flowers stamped several times more, cut out, spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl and decoupaged with peal gems and brads to embellish.

Next up is my creation for this months Penny Black at Allsorts where the them is "All you Need is Love"...................and keep your eyes peels for a Blog Hop there later this month as well. A real comfort zone card using Penny Black 3796K Words Sweet which I inked with carious Tim Holtz inks and spritzed with water before stamping. Lightly distressed edges and mounted on the Kraft cardstock stamped down the leading edge with Penny Black 2636K Scroll Pattern. Some DP from stash with gold hearts, which I also used to make three matching roses, some cord and finito.

My final share is for this months theme at Stampalot Challenge where the theme is to take inspiration from Queens hit song or Shakespears "A Winters Tale". The main image is Stamps Happen 80182 Let it Snow, coloured with Aquamarkers and Judikins snow glitter added. A computer generated verse from Shakespeare.

Now for the Blog Hop which starts today at StampaloT Challenge and runs from Today until 10th January. I am sure lots of you know the sysTem but for those of you who might be new to Hops, you need to go to the Stampalot Challenge blog where you will find all the informaTion you need.

Once you starT the hop and follow the rouTe you should arrive here from Francesca's blog and your nexT port of all will be Tracy . The letter clue you need to collect from me is hidden......or hopefully not too hidden, in This and the above couple of paragraphs. Here is the prize for my step of the Hop, a lovely Hero Arts set of stamps and to be in with a chance of winning you just need to leave me a commenT on this post.

Thanks for visiting, have fun on the Hop and I will be round to visit you all.

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)

Hedgies and flowers

I have decided I ought to issue a public health warning to anyone reading my blog. As if we were not already spending enough time at hospital, last night saw another visit to A&E. This time granddaughter Azaria (who lives next door) came down the stairs in her usual Olympic gymnast style (despite being told repeatedly for years to slow down) and this time landed a bit too hard. Six stitches to her forehead and a bandaged finger, but she's fine.

I feel a bit guilty doing this post, but we are back to normal visiting hours now that Anysia is stable so can't visit until this afternoon but I can't really get my head round crafting and have been aimlessly wandering round the house, so decided to trawl my gallery to see what I have that might fit some challenges. And have come up with two.

The first is for this weeks Penny Black challenge which is "Check it Out". The hedgie is Penny Black but I don't have the code I'm afraid, coloured with Copics and decoupaged. The border is Martha Stewart doily lace trim, the corners and letters all Sizzix dies. I think this card also fits the current ABC challenge which is "R for Red".

The second card is for this weeks Stamping for the Weekend who have the theme "Ribbons and Bows" and Cupcake challenge who would like to see "make your own flowers". So this card uses a favourite image from Stamps Happen Paris Socialite with the slightest addition of watercolour, some DP from stash which I also used to make the roses, plus ribbons, pearls, a feather and lace added to embellish.

Cupcake challenge

Reality hit with a bang this morning - that thing called work and Christmas already seems like a distant memory.

Not much posting new stuff the last few days as been locked away doing samples for Polkadoodles new CD.........which is absolutely gorgeous.......and is being launched on Create and Craft this coming Sunday, so make a note everyone.

Over at Cupcake the new challenge is a "Baby Card" and by sheer coincidence I have one that I made as one of my By the Cute and Girly DT cards and which is already gone off to Amanda, our DT teamie at Allsorts who had a baby boy on New Years Eve - they have named him Alfie.

I made an easel card with an image from Stamps Happen 80230, stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured with Copics. The DP is from stash and the roses made with the same paper. The corner swirls were cut on my Big Shot Express using Sixxiz dies The sentiment is JudiKins but had no code I'm afraid.

And after gentle persuasion from Shirley I am also entering this card for Cards for Men who have the theme of "New' which they say can be new baby. I was a a bit thrown by the title but having checked it our looks like it definitely counts.

Journal gimmer mist fun

As promised, an advance peek at what I will be up to over the weekend at Sir Stampalot. This class is a bit different to my usual in that we will be creating a journal using Tattered Angel products.......the kit is designed for class use and comes complete with everything included, glimmer mists, stencil screens, framed fonts, glimmer chips and of course the journal itself.

I had a play with the kit last week and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself. As a cardmaker primarily this was a bit different for me and no way to I profess to be a scrapbooker, but this kit uses all the lovely messy Glimmer Mist techniques I so enjoy in my cardmaking. The glimmer chips and framed fonts were new to me, but again I love they way they add dimension to the journal. I did manage to incorporate some stamping as well and used a stamp I have had for ages, Stamps Happen 90913........one of those impulse buys that looked nice sitting on Stamplaots shelves, but which I have never found a use for - unill now, so it will get a good airing in class this weekend. Having just looked at the stamp again it is called "Baroque background" how apt when you take into account much of the Venetian architecture and especially the wondeful Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute which domiates the Grand Canal.

Even before I made up my journal, I decided I would base it on our trip to Italy this year and have included pictures of Veneto and Roma, I somehow felt the aged feel of the journal lends itself to the history of these magnificent cities. As you can see from some the the pages pictured I have followed my Italian theme with the wording with the exception of the gondolier, Luigi and I think the only words I can add there are "il piacere" (translated - enjoyment, delectation- there is no Italian translation for Hunk !) so I shall be adding that finishing touch shortly.

The Glimmer Mists included in this kit are Cherub Pink, Starfish, Rum Raisin and Creme de Cocoa. I used copper embossing powder for all my stamping as I felt it was less stark than gold and a variety of Tim Holtz distress inkpads for shading.

I will hopefully get the opportunity to take some photos in class and post them next week so you can see what the girls create.

Passions for Promarkers and Creative Card Crew

I got such a lovely surprise this morning when I went to look for the new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers - last week I made the Top 5 again with this card........will teach me to remember to check in future. So thank you girls for selecting my card, I will have a smile all day.

On to this weeks theme, there is an 'open' invitation on colours but with the emphasis on "Girly and Glitzy", how good is that. And at Creative Card Crew the theme is "Pink, Black and White" so I felt these two themes lend themselves to one another.

My image is the very chick Stamps Happen 80436 Paris Socialite which I stamped with versafine back and embossed with detail clear and of course coloured with Promarkers. Her fur stole is encrusted with diamonds courtesy of crystal glitter and her bag, hat and corsage have black Swarovsky crystal gems to decorate. I added lace and ribbon, a feather, hat pin and beads to embellish. The border is Martha Steward embossed scallop.

Rosie Dees sneak peek and reveal

Time for this weeks sneak peek of the new challenge at Rosies Dees and the reveal of last weeks card when the theme was "Sea", a place where we usually love to visit this time of year but the weather this summer probably means if you are like me, visits have been limited, unless of course you are fortunate enough to love close to the coast, which we do not.

I have used a lovely Stamps Happen image 80268 called "Linger by the Sea", it's quite an old one but I believe still available. I always find it a useful stamp for some of more 'difficult' cards - men of course !

I Glimmer Misted the background using midnight and a splash of rose tea for the sky, seafoam for the sea and sunflower and gold for the sand. The great thing about GM's is if you have a stamp in mind you can prepare and spray your card to fit with your image as I did here. I stamped very simply with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and did no colouring in at all as I felt the GM's gave it sufficient depth. The only addition was some dashes of Inkssentals white opaque pen to the waves. The DP is from my stash, the borders punched with Fiskars threading water, the letters cut on Cricut jasmine and finally the sail boat and lighthouse diamond glazed to lift them.

Parisian influence

Realised as I spend the day scheduling these posts that I'm also giving you a bit of a European tour as well, do hope I'm not boring you all to tears ....... probably come back to an abandoned blog ? Today we are scheduled to dock in Lisbon at 8am, quite a spectacular entrance to this Portuguese city under the huge de Abril bridge, 2.2m wide spanning the Tagus and alongside the Cristo Rei statue which is a replica of the one in Rio. Tomorrow we head to Vigo in northern Spain.......the seafood restaurants that line the streets are sometning else, can't wait.

This card is one I made for a friends birthday and as I rather liked it ended up making a couple more very similar. My main image is Stamps Happen 80436 stamped as is my norm with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured very lightly with Marvy pens. The wording is a Hero background stamp Life and beauty G2678. The DP is Scrappy Cat and I added some lace, a feather, flowers, pearls and ribbon.

Stamp Something Challenge Easter

This one is for the http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com/ challenge. I have used a Stamps Happen stamp 80036 which I've had some time but never used much but thought the bunnies were just right for Easter. Coloured with Marvy and Sakura pens, mounted on some Best Creations paper and finished off with a greeting, buttons and flower and swirl cut from Cricut Home Decor.