Brighten up these grey days!

Don't know about your neck of the woods, but up here it's been damp, dull, dreary and draughty lately. Very draughty! And very damp! Not to mention cold! We've had the odd fine day, but they've been few and far between, and the unremitting grey leaves me feeling blue. I'm definitely not a winter person. Roll on the spring!

However, at least we have Christmas to look forward to, along with this month's challenge from Stamping Sensations which I hope is going to brighten things up considerably as our December theme is

* * * * * WINTER SPARKLE * * * * *

Bring out the bling, and show us your winter wonders, but please do remember that the main image of your project must be stamped and follow the theme.

We are sponsored once again by the fabulous Gordon and Justin of Be Creative, and knowing Justin's love of all things Christmassy and glittery, I'm sure they will both be looking forward to seeing all your entries as much as I am.

I've used some of the superb Be Creative products on my card.

Their Wonder Tape, Wonder Sheet and Glue Wands are my go-to adhesives for card making, and their Wonder embossing powders and crystals are to die for. I stamped the sentiment (Inkylicious) and embossed it with one of the detail embossing powders from the White Mystical set. This is a set of four white-based powders, three of which have glitter mixed in, and the one I chose is named, appropriately, Winter Sparkle. I used the same powder to make the background. I cut a piece of Wonder Sheet to size, removed the cover sheet from one side and sprinkled the powder all over it, and heated it. Both the Wonder Sheet and the Tape are heat resistant, so they are perfect for heat embossing. Once melted, the silver glitter mixed in with the white powder really does sparkle beautifully. The photo doesn't do it justice, although you can maybe see it a little better in the next one.

I diecut the sentiment with a Spellbinders die and added a few punched snowflakes (Tonic Studios punch) to finish off the design.

My lovely teamies have loads of gorgeous sparkly inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog, so do go and take a look, and I hope to see lots of entries for our final challenge of the year. Let's make Blogland sparkle!

Getting there!

Well, I have managed to make a few more Christmas cards!

I'm particularly pleased with this one, because the background is not printed paper, believe it or not, it's stamped! I love tartan and plaid backgrounds, as they are colourful and go with many themes, so when I saw this new stamp set by Concord & 9th, I was delighted! I can now make my own plaid papers in whatever colours I like!

For the topper I've used the Woodware Lino Cut Wren (which I think could also be a robin!) and embellished with poinsettia dies by Marianne Design and pine branch by Britannia Dies. The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with a die by The Works. Stitched circle dies also by The Works.

This card also fits our November challenge at Stamping Sensations, where the theme is "Get Ready For Christmas!" There's still plenty of time to enter. Pop over to the Challenge Blog for all the details.

Now, only another 60 or so Christmas cards to go.............

And panic begins to set in......again!

This is the time of year when I suddenly realise that, in spite of all my good intentions, it is less than two months until Christmas and I have hardly started making my Christmas cards! (Also just realised that my November post last year had a similar title!) So it is just as well that our theme for November at Stamping Sensations reminded me that I'd better get a move on, as it is

* * * * * GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS * * * * *

We'd like to see your take on all things Christmassy, just as long as your main image is stamped and follows the theme.

Here I've used a gorgeous new winter scene from Inkylicious (so new I don't think it's even on their website yet! I bought it at Stamp Magic last month.). The background stamps are a set of two Twinchie stamps, also by Inkylicious, The sentiment is one I've had for many years, and the make is unknown. The holly diecut is a magazine freebie. I coloured the main image with watercolour pencils and added some glitter glue for a bit of sparkle.

We are sponsored this month by the fabulous Swedish House Crafts. I'm sure this will be a very popular theme, so I will look forward to seeing lots of lovely entries! Now, I'd better start thinking about some more Christmas card making......

Autumn Colours

The theme for our October challenge at Stamping Sensations is one which I'm sure will be a favourite for many people.What better to showcase at this time of year than the

* * * * * SHADES OF AUTUMN * * * * *

The subject of your entry can be anything you choose as long as the main element of the project is stamped and you have used typical autumn colours, such as greens, yellows, oranges, reds and browns.

Nothing says Autumn to me more than the changing leaves in all their multicolour glory, so that is what I have portrayed on my card.

I stamped various leaves (both solid shapes and outlines) from a set by Stamps By Me, leaving spaces to cut out three more leaves with a die by Concord & 9th. I made a background with Brushos, using autumn colours, and adhered it behind the stamped piece, after which I fixed the diecut leaves back into their cut out spaces so that the Brusho background showed through. I was quite happy with the result but felt that it just needed a little more, so I added the sentiment (Inkylicious) and stamped a few splatters (Concord & 9th) to finish it off.

There's a £25 voucher from our fab sponsors Stamp Addicts for our lucky October winner, and my lovely teamies have some gorgeous inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog.

Whilst autumn is not my favourite season of the year (too close to winter and the cold weather!) I do love the autumn colours, so I'm really looking forward to seeing lots of lovely entries. Good luck everyone!

I Spy With My Little Eye......

And I hope lots of you will join in the game too, as our September challenge theme at Stamping Sensations is 

* * * * * SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH "B" * * * * *

Your project may contain as many elements beginning with "B" as you wish, but one of them should be the main feature of your design, which must be stamped, to comply with our challenge rules. We don't want to have to look too hard to find them!

We are sponsored this month by the wonderful Bee Crafty, (details on the challenge blog) and I've used some of their beautiful stamps for my card, on which you'll spot Butterflies, Brushos and Blue!

All stamps are by Bee Crafty, except for the sentiment, which is from Prickley Pear.

Remember, you can enter up to three projects for the challenge, and they don't have to be cards, as long as the main element is stamped and fits the theme. Should you need any inspiration, my very talented teamies have plenty for you on the Challenge Blog, and they would be delighted if you were able to visit their individual blogs too. I can't wait to see this month's entries - wonder how many "B"s I will be able to spy!

What's your favourite?

We're well into the summer holiday season now, so to keep things nice and easy our August Challenge at Stamping Sensations is an "anything goes"one but with a twist!

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES WITH YOUR FAVOURITE STAMP * * * * *

The choice of topic is yours, but your project must include your favourite stamp as its focal point! This can be an all-time or current favourite; if you are anything like me, you'll find it hard to decide! My current favourite tends to be whichever one I've just bought! However, I have several old faithful stamps which I find myself going back to again and again.

So, on my sample I've used a current favourite and some all-time favourites!

My current favourite stamp is the gorgeous "Coneflower" by Rubber Dance, who happen to be our lovely sponsors this month. They have an amazing collection of stamps and have donated a fab £25 voucher for the lucky winner.

I stamped the flowers on to a background coloured with Distress Oxide inks, stamped and cut out two extra flowers to decoupage on the front, and then embellished with my all-time favourite Hero Arts butterflies. The flowers and butterflies were coloured with Zig Clean Color markers. Backing paper is by Bee Crafty and I cut out the easel shapes with dies from The Works. Sentiment by Hobby Art.

It has been interesting to see the selection of favourites that my teamies have come up with - lots of flowers and butterflies, animals, gorgeous girls, and a touch of fantasy too! Do pop over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at them. I can't wait to see yours!

Another garden card

Just a quick reminder of our July challenge at Stamping Sensations, where our theme, sponsored by Crafty Individuals, is "In My Garden".

Again, I've used stamps by Crafty Individuals, along with some of their masks and one of their gorgeous new background sheets. The sentiment is by Personal Impressions, the butterfly die by Cheery Lynn.

There's still plenty of time to enter the challenge. For full details, challenge rules, and more stunning samples from my talented teamies, check out the challenge blog at Stamping Sensations.

Summer at last!

We are currently in the midst of what is, for Scotland, a most unusual heatwave! Wall to wall blue skies and sunshine! It won't last, of course, but for now we can make the most of it. And since the school hols have just started, there's plenty of opportunity to sit out in the garden with a glass of something cold and simply relax. That makes our July challenge theme at Stamping Sensations very appropriate, as it is

* * * * * IN MY GARDEN * * * * *

Floral images spring to mind, of course, but you could also depict garden birds, creatures or insects, the veggie plot, garden shed, tools, water features, or garden activities. I'm sure you could add plenty more to the list! But as usual, please remember that your main image must be stamped for your entry to be eligible for our prize or top 3.

We are sponsored this month by the fabulous Crafty Individuals, who have a wonderfully eclectic collection of rubber stamps and accessories. These include many garden related images, several of which I have used on my card.

All stamps by Crafty Individuals, except for the sentiment which was a magazine freebie. I used Versafine inks and pigment inks for the stamping, and Zig Cleancolor markers for colouring.

My teamies have some absolutely gorgeous inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog. We are looking forward to seeing lots of lovely summery garden themed projects! Hope you enjoy the challenge!

No stress!

We have a nice stress-free challenge for you this month at Stamping Sensations, as our theme is

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES * * * * *

Well, maybe just a tiny bit of stress! We are a stamping challenge, so the main image or focus of your project must be stamped, but apart from that you are free to choose any subject for your creations.

Our fab sponsor for June is Visible Image, and I've used several of their amazing stamps on my card.

I simply stamped them directly on to the background music paper (which I've had in my stash for years!) and added a few music notes which were diecut from gold card to finish it off. The dots & squares were stamped first with Distress Oxide inks and spritzed very lightly with water. All stamps by Visible Image, from their "Jazz It Up", "Soul Music" and "De-stressed Backgrounds" sets. See, even the stamps are stress-free! Here's a closer look.

Over on the Challenge Blog my teamies have some super samples to inspire you. Do go and have a look at them and I hope you will be able to join in this month and enter a project (or three!).

It's only natural

We have a lovely new challenge theme for May at Stamping Sensations, and it's one of my favourites! This month we would like you to get

* * * * * CLOSE TO NATURE * * * * *

and show us your projects depicting the natural world. Lots of possibilities here, but please do remember that the main image of your design must be stamped and must fit the theme if you wish it to be considered for a prize or top 3 place.

Our sponsor for May needs no introduction, I'm sure - it's the fabulous Chocolate Baroque, who have donated one of their stunning Wild Meadow A4 Stamp Sets plus a sheet of mounting foam for the very lucky winner.

For my card I used some of the stamps from the Wild Meadow set, along with some from one of my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque sets, Spring Foliage, which features bluebells, pussy willow and alder catkins, all of which are in flower around here just now, timed perfectly for our theme!

I stamped various flowers and foliage from the two sets on the base card, stamped the bluebells and coloured them with Zig Clean Color pens, diecut them with a die from The Works, and attached them to the base card with foam pads.

 A tiny butterfly and sentiment from Hobby Art completed the design.

My amazing teamies have some absolutely beautiful samples to show you over on the Stamping Sensations Challenge Blog, and they would be so pleased if you were able to visit their personal blogs too, where you can see their projects in more detail. I'm really quite excited about our nature theme, and am hoping to see lots of lovely entries! Good luck everyone!

April Fool ???

It's hard to believe it's April already, when we still have freezing temperatures and yet more forecasts of snow. Is the weather playing tricks on us??! However, the calendar says it's April, so that means it's time for our next challenge at Stamping Sensations, and our theme this month will hopefully be a bit easier that last month's, which seemed to stump some of you! Plenty of scope this time, with

* * * * * ONE FOR THE GIRLS * * * * *

Anything and everything feminine, or whatever might appeal to the ladies, as long as your main image is stamped and fits the theme, of course. And since we have a fab prize of a £25 voucher from our lovely sponsors Be Creative, what's not to like?

Although the stamp I've used for my card, "Afternoon Tea" by Docrafts Papermania, is old now, it's still a lovely design and works well for various occasions.

I chose only to colour the ladies (with Promarkers), to focus the attention on them and kept the rest of the design quite simple and graphic. The sentiment is by a sadly long defunct company, Eclipse Cards & Crafts, but its small size is useful when I want to convey the message without it detracting from the picture.

There's plenty of girly inspiration over on the Challenge Blog, where my teamies have some gorgeous samples for you. Looking forward to seeing yours!

Right up my street, or rather my woodland path!

One of the joys of living where I do is the abundance of local wildlife, which I love to see. So it should come as no surprise to learn that this month's challenge theme at Stamping Sensations is one of my favourites! We would like to see your creations filled with

* * * * * FOREST FRIENDS * * * * *

Lots of lovely creatures to choose from, but your Forest Friend/s must be the main image of your project and must be stamped (hand stamped or hand coloured digi) if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of our  fab prizes. Our sponsor for March is Tattered Lace, and here's what our lucky winner will receive! Beautiful ribbons, a storage box to keep them in, a bow maker and an inspiration book!

 I decided to make an easel card to showcase my forest friends.

I used paper masks and ink dusters to create the landscape background. The trees, leaves and creatures were stamped individually on a separate piece of card, coloured with Zig Clean Color pens and cut out. The components for the easel card were cut with stitched circle dies by The Works and then assembled. The base was covered with a gorgeous leaf print paper by Bee Crafty, and finally the creatures, leaves and sentiment were added. All stamps by Hobby Art.

The creatures depicted on my card are all to be found in the woods and fields around here, but in fact we have seen all of them on occasion without even having to leave the house! I do tend to spend quite a lot of time by the window with my camera! I could have added otter, stoat, rabbit, owl, mouse, hare and vole to my picture too, but there wasn't enough room!

I am so looking forward to seeing this month's entries! My lovely teamies have got some gorgeous examples for you over on the Challenge Blog, with oodles of the aww factor! Do go and have a look, and remember you can enter up to 3 projects. Hope you can join in, and good luck!

Snow!

We tend not to get much snow here. In the six years we've lived here, I could count on one hand the number of significant snowfalls we've had, none of which lasted for very long. This winter is definitely making up for the rest, though! More snow than I can remember for a long time.

The sight that greeted us when we looked out across the field this morning was quite amazing. The gale force wind was blowing the snow over the hill and it looked like water flowing over a weir. One day a waterfall of snowdrops (these are in the garden next door!) ....

.... the next a waterfall of snow! (Best viewed full screen to see the effect.)

Just thought I'd also upload a few photos from the last couple of days, mostly taken through the window! So glad I didn't have to go out in it! I daresay the sheep are used to being outdoors in all weathers, but I do feel sorry for them. The birds have certainly been taking advantage of our feeders, which we are having to top up every day.

"And as I was just saying to Mrs Sparrow...."

Can't remember the last time we had icicles!

So cold, the river froze at the edges

But it looked lovely when the sun shone

Mind your head!

It's been an interesting few days, but if the weather would get a bit warmer and drier very soon I'd be most grateful!

Blooming Marvellous!

Time for our February Challenge at Stamping Sensations, and what better theme to brighten up this cold, gloomy month than

* * * * * ANYTHING WITH FLOWERS * * * * *

I have a feeling this is going to be a very popular topic, and of course, the scope is endless, but please do remember that the main focus of your project must be stamped and must comply with the theme (ie. your creation should be all about the flowers, not just a couple of tiny ones hiding in the background!) if you want it to be eligible for the prizes or top 3.

Our fab sponsor this month is Bee Crafty, who have given us a fantastic £25 voucher for our winner to spend in their online shop. I've used one of their stamps, the Backdrop Frames Splatter Swirl Upright Rectangle for my sample.

 I stamped it directly on to the front of the base card and cut away the inside of the frame. On a separate piece of card I stamped the tulips (Technique Tuesday), coloured them with watercolour pencils, masked them and stamped the text background (Stampin' Up). I then adhered the image behind the frame. The butterflies (Dovecraft) and sentiment (Hobby Art) are also stamped on to the base card.

I love most flowers, and tulips are a particular favourite. My daughter surprised me with this beautiful bunch the other day.

I'm looking forward to seeing lots of lovely flowers in this month's entries, tulips or not! I'm sure you'll have plenty of your own inspiration for your floral projects, but do go and look at my amazing teamies' creations as well, they're absolutely gorgeous! You'll find them here on the Challenge Blog. Let's brighten up this frosty February with some flower power!

A Cold And Frosty New Year!

Happy New Year  everybody! Hope 2018 is a year of peace and happiness for all. It's been a bit nippy lately up in our neck of the woods, and that makes Stamping Sensations' first challenge of the year quite appropriate! We'd like you to use

* * * * * COLD AND FROSTY COLOURS * * * * *

We're thinking blues, purples, lilacs, whites, silver etc. for the main colours of your project. And as always, please do remember that we are a stamping challenge, therefore we must see a stamped image as the focal element of your artwork, not just a stamped sentiment or stamping in the background. This means that stamping must be the central subject of attention and interest. 

We have a super prize for our winner, this wonderful assortment of products from Sizzix!



I've used Distress Oxide inks (Broken China and Wilted Violet) and Inkylicious stamps for my card.

This was the first outing for my Splatter Circle, which I bought at last October's Stamp Magic show but haven't had chance to use until now. It's a fabulous stamp, very versatile, and huge! (My card is 7" x 7"). I inked it up randomly with the two inks and then lightly misted it with water to blend the inks. Once the image was dry, I overstamped it with the Winter Birds (another new favourite stamp!) and went over the snow with a white gel pen. I coloured the berries with a Promarker. The sentiment was cut out with a Spellbinders die, and I added a couple of gems for a bit of sparkle. A snippet of glitter paper found amongst my stash was perfect for matting the picture, and I also used some DP which was a magazine freebie. All stamps by Inkylicious.

Although we haven't had much snow yet this winter, we have had some very hard frosts. There are still a few berries around here for the birds, and we have lots of visitors to our feeders every day. Recent ones were these stunning bullfinches. We had three pairs one day, flitting amongst the brambles at the edge of the garden.

  I managed to capture a bit of video of them.

We get not only most of the common garden birds, but also some more unusual ones. For example:

Goldfinch

Yellowhammer

Siskin

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Lesser Redpoll

the gorgeous Pheasant

And my favourite cheeky, chirpy Long Tailed Tits!

I never tire of watching the birds, and I don't even have to leave the house to see them. All the photos were taken through my kitchen window! We are so lucky to live where we do, with nature all around us. I'm never short of inspiration.

Talking of which, if you should need any to help you with our Cold And Frosty Challenge, do fly over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at the beautiful samples which my talented teamies have produced for you. Can't wait to see your cool creations!