Flowery Thanks...

Hey,

It's been a while since I played along with The Flower Challenge.

I liked the theme this month -

I have had this Christine Adolph flower stamp for a couple of months and it really hasn't had much use.

I coloured the orange one first, but got so excited I coloured another one!! I used distress inks and a paintbrush - I used to use aquabrushes, but I realised how much I prefer a good old fashioned paintbrush and so switched and now I watercolour with them all the time.

The Thank You stamp / die is from a shop call The Works in the UK.

Super simple cards to make and I now need more flower stamps by Christine Adolph, as it was a dream to colour.

Cx

MAWTT: Floral Birthday...

Hey,

Happy Sunday and welcome to July!!

Today's card is topical, as I am having a playdate with JT today..

I saw JT's DT card for MAWTT this time and I loved it and she is right, we all have a ton of flower stamps.

So I thought I'd play along - their theme is 'June Blooms'.

I used a fave stamp for my flowers it is 'Floral Background' by Pink Fresh Studio.. It's a large stamp and a bit of a beast to ink up and stamp, it takes a few attempts and that is with a stamping platform! All tips are welcome!

I watercoloured it using distress inks and a paintbrush. I trimmed it to fit my card blank, added a sparkly strip and simple sentiment blocks (by Neat & Tangled).

Super simple make, because the stamp is so busy, I wanted to keep all the other elements to a minimum.

Cx

MAWTT: Adding Red...

Hey,

I really liked JT's choice of theme over at MAWTT this time and so I thought I'd play along.

Also her card is AMAZING!!

Her theme is black, white + another colour.

I went with red for my other colour.

I kept this card pretty simple and used a new to me (second-hand from Cheiron) Waffle Flower 'Circle Flower' set.

I stamped the stems and flowers and messily coloured the flowers, using Zigs and a paintbrush. I added a few red dots here and there for an added bit of colour and the sentiment is from the same set.

Super simple, but the red makes it all pop and works really well with the set.

Cx

Happy Birthday Die..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I made today's cards right at the start of my 'enforced hiatus', but never got round to posting them.

I loved the Happy Birthday circle die by MFT, I thought it would be super versatile.

I cut a bunch of them in white, so that I could colour them anyway I wanted.

For the main card, I took a die-cut white panel (Stitched Wonky dies by MFT) and stamped just a section of the Unity Stamp Co. Star background stamp. I coloured the HB circle using Picked Raspberry distress ink and a paintbrush. I thought it would be fun to use the Reverse Confetti Alligator here and I think the end result is a fun card that would be suitable for any age.

With the next card I used the same technique for the HB circle, but with Broken China ink. I hadn't used the awesome Reverse Confetti scalloped die yet, so I thought it would work really well here and I added a MFT Hippo.

Both cards are a bit different but I think they both work for all genders / ages.

Have a great weekend, I will be finishing the baby quilt tomorrow for the baby shower on Sunday..why have I left it to the last minute!! Tonight is date night with Hubby..yummy prime rib, here I come!

Cx

Today is going to be awesome..

Hey,

JT and are probably checking out of our hotel in Boston as you read this, heading to CROP ON THE CAPE..whoo hoo!!

Roughly this time last year I got a lovely lightbox - you can read all about him here.

I love colouring and even though I am a crafter and a lot of what I make needs to be coloured, I still like to colour random imagery for no actual use.

The last year has been a lot of fun for me, as I can now trace the pages and/or parts of the pages of colouring books into my mixed media sketchbook and colour with any medium I like. It also means I can mix and match imagery to create one big image.

My page today was made using a new Target colouring book ($2) and I used imagery from x3 of the pages in the book to create mine.

The photo above shows you Mr Lightbox, the 3 pages I used and the final drawing pre-colouring.

Fun right!

Cx

You're Crazy Awesome...

Hey,

Today I am off to Cheiron's with the rest of the craftgang to have a epic playdate / baby shower.

I know that JT's card has arrived, so now I can share it with you.

I love this set by Concord & 9th, but there are no dies and that central stamp is a beast!!

So recently I used my Silhouette to cut a bunch of them.

I have used this stamp a ton of times, but I have never used it with the flowers, I've never really been that keen on them, so this was an experiment!

I love how it turned out, I think using similar colours to the ones in the central stamp worked better.

I decided that I would not try and add a birthday sentiment here - telling JT on her birthday that she is 'crazy awesome' seemed to be enough.

I coloured all the elements on the card using distress inks and a paintbrush.

I'm glad I cut a bunch of the central element, so I can now experiment with other colours.

Cx

Bullet Journal: January 2018..

Hey,

So as I love notes, journals, pens and all things stationery related, I have been considering trying out bullet journaling for a while.

I finally bit the bullet (sorry..) and spent some of the Christmas break doing extensive research about how my journal would work and what I wanted it to look like.

I started using a Traveller's Notebook last year and I love the format. I also got this new Webster's Pages TN in the Black Friday Studio Calico sale ($9) So I bought a mixed media TN insert and utilised this for my new bullet journal.

I do not have the tidiest handwriting so this was part of my concern about bullet journaling, but so far it doesn't look too bad.

One of the things I learnt during my research phase is that every Month doesn't have to look the same. I like this, variety is the spice of life.

I started by drawing a rough sketch and figuring out what I really wanted, I decided that sections for a monthly calendar, goals of the month (self-shaming..) and highlights of the month, were a must have.

I also thought it would be fun to add Monster of the Month. Partly because I love Monsters and have a huge Monster/Alien stamp collection and also because I am a crafter, there had to be a stamp and colour element for me. Underneath my January Monster is 'Monster Facts' LOL. For January its a little blurb about the stamp, he's an Alien and he is from my first ever Alien/Monster stamp set from 2012.

As you can see I have x3 'spare' boxes - I am using one for 'To Do List' and the other two I have no plans for right now..

I added colour to my page with Zigs and a paintbrush, I like how it came out, feels like a frosty January and it sure is that here in NYC right now!!

I might add something to the top right hand corner, but we'll see...

Cx

The Cats Pajamas....

Hey,

I have wanted this 'It could be Vodka..' set by The Cats Pajamas for ages.

I finally got a bit of a deal on it last week and it arrived quite quickly.

Because I was off on Tuesday I managed to have an extended playtime at my desk, so I broke out the set and rustled up two cards.

I stamped the main image for both cards in the same place, but for the main card I created a background using the mini Fish, Cat head and square stamp that come with the set. I coloured the images using distress inks and a paintbrush.

I created the sentiment by using 3 stamps sets and masked off parts I didn't want.

It's so bright and cheery. I like it, I really like the teeny square stamp and the Cat stamp is going to be very versatile.

To illustrate that point, here is card number two..

I stamped mini hearts onto the teacup and coloured them using Spectrum Noir sparkle pens and added a simple sentiment to it.

Adding some detail to the teacup gives a totally different look to the stamp..I can't wait to make a few more versions of this.

There are also a few more stamps in the set that I need to play with..hopefully before I leave for London (so tonight then?!)

Cx

4 Cards, 1 Stamp Set: Pink Fresh Studio

Hey,

It has been a while since I did a 4 cards, 1 stamp set post.

Before we left for Atlantic City, I pulled out a new Pink Fresh Studio stamp set ' Lovely Borders 2' for a little play -

I really liked this quirky set, I thought the borders would make simple fun cards.

I die-cut watercolour paper and stamped four of the borders, each with slightly different spacing. I watercoloured all of the borders using distress inks and a paintbrush.

The sentiments got pulled from a variety of stamp sets.

They are so CAS, I really like them and they were super easy to make, which is always nice!

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #76..Anything Goes..

Hey,

Yes! It is that time again for a shiny new Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have everyone's fave for you...Anything Goes..

I decided to have a manual rummage through my stamps to find something that hadn't been used in ages for this challenge. Embarrassingly I came across this beautiful stamp by Gorjuss that I had a) forgotten I had and b) have never used!!

I bought it as part of a post-Christmas sale haul in January 2016.

I coloured the stamp using Zigs and a paintbrush, then I fussy cut it out and mounted it onto a wobbler. I thought it would be a fun random card for a friend who recently became a cat owner, hence the sentiment!

I kept the whole card pretty simple and chose a co-ordinating card blank and an ancient scrap of Chevron paper. I like the simplicity of it, as the stamp is HUGE and a bit fussy.

My friend already has the card and I have actually seen it in her kitchen on her 'Cards from Claire' pinboard..I am a Happy Mail Spammer!

Check out what my awesome teammates have made over at Retro Rubber and show us your fun anything goes makes.

Don't forget to use a stamp older than a year on your project and tell us all about it, that is a big part of the Retro Rubber fun. Also please feel free to combine our challenge with others, but keep it to a maximum of 10 challenges including ours.

Challenge ends on December 1st.

Cx

PaperArtsy Thank You..

Hey,

So my parents gave me a bit of money for my birthday.

I used it wisely -

I got a bit of PaperArtsy envy when I saw Cara's haul from the stamp show she went to...so I invested my bday money in some new PaperArtsy stamps, along with some goodies from Avery Elle and Reverse Confetti.

I decided to use some of my new stamps to make a Thank You card for my parents.

I combined two of the Zini's, I had seen a similar idea and liked it, it's also a great way to get more out of your stamps.

Here is a in progress shot -

I masked the 'Dog' Zini off and stamped the flower. Ages ago I did an online card class about Masking and it has been one of the most useful classes I have ever done.

I coloured the stamps using Distress Inks and a paintbrush, I added a Simon Says Stamp sentiment and decided not to add anything else and let the image be the hero.

I made 4 of these, some without a sentiment, so that I can use them for other things.

Cx

Prima Princess: Zara

Hey,

I thought I would show you another one of the great Prima Princesses that I have been colouring recently.

They are so much fun to colour and I previously showed you Alexis.

This is Zara and I LOVE her hair, obviously I still have some work to do on my skin tones, but I think I nailed the flowers here.

I am really enjoying working with a traditional paintbrush v a aquabrush (has a water reservoir). Using a variety of brush widths I am mastering detail and shading much better.

More of these beauties to come.

Cx