A Day At The Zoo!

Here are some more of my samples for Crafty Individuals. The new stamps, designed by Ellie Mulligan,  have now been released and will be on their website very soon. All stamps are by Crafty Individuals.

The background for this easel card was made with Distress Oxide inks using blending brushes. I hand cut a stencil for the footprints.

I had some lovely handmade paper in my stash, which I thought would go well with the elephants. I stencilled some hearts on to the background piece (stencil by Bee Crafty) and used the same paper, minus stencilling, to stamp the elephants on. I matted and layered them on to the background with some patterned paper from Crafty Individuals "Wonderfully Weathered 2" set of A5 papers.

Pink again for the flamingo, but this time with a stencil from Lavinia Stamps for the background. The feathers die was a magazine freebie.

Another Distress Oxide background, with a bit of shading on top using Arteza coloured pencils. The giraffe was coloured with Arteza Fineliner pens.

A simple Brusho background for this zebra portrait.

The elephants again! I was playing with some spray inks (Dylusions shimmer sprays and Distress Oxide sprays) and a stencil by That's Crafty (available from Crafty Individuals), and the resulting papers reminded me of Indian fabrics. I thought they would be perfect as a background for the elephants. I stamped them with Versafine Clair ink on Crafty Individuals white satin stamping card and embossed them with clear powder. I carefully coloured them with Arteza Fineliners, and then managed to smudge ink on to the white areas surrounding the image, having forgotten that it wouldn't dry over the embossed parts! What to do? I didn't want to just throw it away as it had taken ages to colour! I suddenly realised that it would be the perfect opportunity to try out my new Posca brush pen with gold ink, which I used to colour over all the white areas. I think it actually enhanced the image. Happy accident! A sentiment from Crafty Individuals CI-464 stamp set, and a little bit of bling, finished off the card nicely.

Hope you have enjoyed this little trip to the zoo! Thanks for looking!

Creatures of all sizes!

July already, and time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations! It's one of my favourite themes too!

* * * * * ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL * * * * *

We want to see any type of real creature on your projects - animals, wild or domestic, birds, bugs, butterflies - but no teddy bears or fantasy creatures such as unicorns or dragons! And please note our usual rules, that they must be the focal point of your entry, and they must be stamped and fit the theme. A small stamped element added to a mainly stencilled or die cut project will not be eligible. We prefer conventional hand stamping, but do allow digital images as long as they are hand coloured.

If you don't have any creature stamps, look no further than our wonderful July sponsor Crafty Individuals, who have the most amazing designs of all types of animals, birds and butterflies, as well as all sorts of other stunning stamps, papers and accessories. The have donated a fab £25 voucher for the winning entry, to be spent in their online shop.

Crafty Individuals have been one of my favourite companies ever since I first discovered them, many years ago now, not just for their fantastic products but also for their excellent customer service. All the stamps I have used on my card are by Crafty Individuals.

During my most recent craft room tidy up I rediscovered some old ink sprays. Many of them were dried up and had to be disposed of, but a few were still ok, so I decided to use them to make a background. A couple that I had were shimmery, the others were plain. My background is a mixture of both.

I stamped the Hare And Moon (CI-508) first on watercolour card, and masked it, before spraying the background. I did actually spray some of the shimmery ink through a stencil (by Bee Crafty) but it doesn't show up very well, though I rather like the effect. I grounded the hare by using another mask and sponging with pigment ink. I stamped the crow (from the Crow Plate CI-361), and the grasses from CI-495 Perching Pied Wagtail (masking off the bird before inking) and from CI-207 Ferns And Grasses set.

It just so happened, (quite unintentionally!) that where I stamped the crow was over some of the shimmery spray, and the shimmer showed through the ink. It gave the crow a sort of ethereal, dream-like quality, which tied in rather nicely with the sentiment, which is also from the Crow Plate. Serendipity!

My teamies  have come up with some superb samples once again, so do pop over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at them. I promise you will not be disappointed. I am really looking forward to seeing this month entries!

Rainbows!

I do hope you are all staying safe and well in these uncertain times. We crafters are very lucky to have our hobbies to keep us busy, and we hope you will be able to join in our April challenge at Stamping Sensations, where our theme is

* * * * * SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW * * * * *

Although the theme was chosen quite some time ago, it has proved to be very apt at present as rainbows are seen as symbols of hope, and many children recently across the UK have been drawing rainbows and putting them in their windows to cheer passers by.

As the title suggests, you can take inspiration from the song or you can use the colours of the rainbow in your project (or both!) but the focal point of your entry must reflect the rainbow theme.

We are sponsored once again this month by BeCreative, who will be giving our lucky winner a fabulous £25 voucher to spend in their online shop.

I've chosen to be inspired by the colours and by the song. Singing is a great thing to do, and it is proven to be beneficial for both physical and mental health. I think the Italians, in lockdown, singing from their windows and balconies recently, had the right idea!

I began my project by using my ink dusters to brush various Memento inks through the music stencil to make the rainbow background. I stamped the singer on a separate piece of card, cut her out and adhered her to the rainbow panel with foam pads. The sentiment was stamped directly on to the panel, which was then matted first on to purple card and then on to a 6" x 6" base card. This was a very quick and easy card to make. The stamps are by Visible Image and the stencil is by Bee Crafty.

 

I am extremely lucky to live in a beautiful rural area, and am able to take my daily walk along the banks of the river which runs by our house. It is so quiet and peaceful there, the only sounds being the rippling water, the birds singing, and the wind in the trees. Truly special! I thought you may like to see a few photos from one of my recent strolls.

My teamies and I are so looking forward to seeing your rainbow-themed projects! I'm sure you will have no trouble at all in deciding what to make, but do go and have a look at the gorgeous examples which we have for you over on the Challenge Blog, as one can never have too many rainbows in one's life, and we certainly are in need of something to cheer us all up just now. Stay safe everyone!

It's Feminine February At Stamping Sensations!

I have to say February is my least favourite month. Christmas and New Year are long gone, it still seems ages until spring, my favourite season of the year, and although the days are beginning noticeably to lengthen now, they are often cold, wet and grey. Just as it is this morning! There is nothing particularly exciting to look forward to in February, its only saving grace is that it is shorter than the rest!

However, it is not all gloomy, as we have a new Stamping Sensations Challenge to brighten things up, and this month our theme is

* * * * * FEMININE * * * * *

Plenty of scope here, as we want to see anything suitable for a lady or girl. Please do remember, though that the focal element of your project must be hand stamped and reflect the theme if you want to be in with a chance of a prize or top 3 place. And we have not just one, but two prizes on offer this time! Our regular sponsors Bee Crafty have donated a fantastic £25 voucher to spend in their online shop, and we also have a sponsor who is new to us, JMC Designs, with hand drawn digital images by Julia McNeill. She is offering a selection of her gorgeously quirky designs for one of our lucky winners.

I am on a mission this year to use up old stash! So my first sample this month is not a card, but an A5 notebook, which has been taking up space in a drawer for longer than I can remember, just waiting for the right project to come along! I have been having a major craft room tidy up, and came across a pack of mixed media fabrics and threads which I have had for even longer than the notebook, possibly for at least 20 years!! I decided to combine the two.

In the pack was a piece of hand dyed fabric, on to which I stamped the Bee Crafty Doodle Art dragonfly (Regular size). I coloured parts of the image with Arteza fabric pens, and then highlighted the body and wings with space dyed threads and sequins from the pack. I added a few more sequins around the dragonfly for extra sparkle. The central lines on the wings are in a sparkly thread, but unfortunately it doesn't show up well on the photo. I inserted the dragonfly behind the cut out window in the front of the notebook.

A long time ago I bought some gorgeous wrapping paper from Ik*a, and had a little bit left over, just enough to cover the front of the book. It is almost like mulberry paper, with a very subtle debossed floral pattern, perfect for a feminine project. Over it I stamped various Bee Crafty stamps from the Doodle Art Dragonfly and Doodle Art Sunflower sets and coloured them only lightly with Arteza coloured pencils, as I wanted the debossing still to show. I sponged a bit of extra colour over the background too, and finally stamped the sentiment from Bee Crafty Creativity Words set. A glittery ribbon (bought at one of the very first Stamp Magic shows 10 years ago!) around the binding added the finishing touch. As the sentiment implies, I will use the notebook for jotting down thoughts and ideas for future projects.

My second sample showcases one of Julia McNeill's delightful digis, the lovely "Marcelle".

I've coloured her with Promarkers, stamped a few hearts from the Bee Crafty Doodle Art Dragonfly set,  matted her over a floral background paper (VERY old stash!) and added some Bee Crafty Ticker Tape Words (Set 1).

My teamies have a bumper selection of stunning samples for you over on the Challenge Blog, so do go and feast your eyes on some fabulous feminine inspiration. And have fun creating your own feminine projects. We can't wait to see them!

More Flowers

Just a quick reminder of our September challenge at Stamping Sensations, where the theme is "Anything Goes With Flowers", sponsored by Bee Crafty. A £25 voucher to spend in their online store is the fab prize for this month's winner. All stamps and the stencil I've used on my card are by Bee Crafty.

I sponged the background with pigment inks, added more ink through the stencil, and then stamped the borders and sentiment. The flowers and leaves were stamped separately on watercolour card, coloured with brush pens and cut out. They were then adhered to the card, with some being raised on sticky pads to give a bit of extra dimension.

 We have some wonderful entries so far, and there's still plenty of time to enter, as the challenge runs until Wednesday 2nd October.

Easy Peasy With A Floral Touch

Well, we're into September now, about which I always have mixed feelings. Sad that the summer is coming to an end, happy that the autumn colours will soon be in evidence, and sad again because once the summer holidays are over it feels as though we're at the start of the slippery slope to winter and (sshhh!) Christmas! I'm one of those people who wish they could hibernate over the winter and wake up in spring, my favourite season. I hate the cold and the dull, gloomy days. But at least the long dark nights are the ideal excuse for more crafting!

But not quite yet, though. Hopefully there will still be a few fine days to come, and we've given you a nice easy challenge this month at Stamping Sensations, for which the theme is

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

An easy topic, but please remember that our usual rules still apply. Your subject matter can be anything you choose, but your project must include flowers and the main element/focal point must be stamped or a hand coloured digi. For full details of the rules, please look on the challenge blog here.

We have a very welcome return visit from our fabulous sponsors Bee Crafty, who have generously donated a £25 voucher for our September winner. They have the most amazing and eclectic range of stamps, stencils and card making accessories, some of which I've used for my card.

I decided to use the "Daisy" set from the Beautanicals range. This set also includes the Serendipity sentiment, which turned out to be very appropriate! I made the background first by dotting drops of Distress Oxide inks (from reinkers) on to my glass mat, misting them with water and laying a piece of watercolour card on top to pick up the inks. The inks are very concentrated, so I blotted the card with a piece of kitchen roll to lighten the colours. The result of this was that the dotty embossed pattern on the kitchen roll transferred itself to the card, which I have to admit was quite unintentional and very serendipitous!

Having got this unexpected bonus, I didn't want to cover it all up. I used one of the discs from the Inkables "Texture Discs Set 2" to stencil a few areas with pink pigment ink,and stamped the daisy three times down one side, masking where necessary. I added a couple of butterflies (Birds & Butterflies Set 1) and coloured them and the daisies with Arteza coloured pencils. The sentiment completed the picture, or so I thought. However, I wasn't happy with it, it seemed a bit lifeless. This is how it looked at that stage.

I often find the hardest part of a project is determining, in the first instance, what you're going to make. The next hardest is knowing when to stop! I didn't want to introduce another element in case it spoilt it. After some pondering, I decided to define the flower centres with Nuvo Crystal Drops, and to bling up the butterflies' wings with a clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen (a bit hard to see in the photo). Still not sure if it made enough of a difference, but it is certainly better than it was before.

Anyway, I hope you like my serendipitous card! There is some gorgeous inspiration from my teamies over on the Challenge Blog, and I will look forward to seeing lots of lovely entries to keep these last few days of summer bright and happy!

More things Bright And BEAUtiful!

Here's another of my samples for this month's All Things Bright And BEAUtiful theme at Stamping Sensations Challenge.

Again, all the stamps I've used are from our sponsor for February, the wonderful Bee Crafty. The tulips are from their gorgeous BEAUtanicals range, and the butterfly is from the Birds & Butterflies set. But Bee Crafty are not just about stamps, stunning though those are. They also have lots of accessories with which to enhance your projects, including some fab MDF pieces such as the Victorian Tag Artboard which you see here. 

There is still plenty of time for you to enter our challenge, and since the prize is a fantastic £25 voucher to spend in the Bee Crafty online shop, what's not to like?! My teamies also have more stunning projects for you over on the Challenge Blog, please do take a look and they would be delighted if you paid their individual blogs a visit too. If you have already entered, or are inspired to do so, good luck! If not, I hope you enjoy looking anyway!

Bright and Beautiful Fox!

February already, so it's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations! We have a lovely theme for you this month:

* * * * * ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL * * * * *

We are thinking along the lines of the wonderful old hymn - All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small. We'd like to see your hand stamped creations celebrating the wonders of nature. Please do make sure that your entry fits our challenge rules which you can find here.

We are delighted to welcome back Bee Crafty as our lovely sponsor for February. They have a wonderfully eclectic range of fabulous stamps and stencils, and loads of other things too, and our lucky winner will be able to choose £25 of lovely new stash from their online shop.

I decided to make something other than a card for a change, using stamps from two Bee Crafty sets, Scenery Animals - Fox and BEAUtanicals - Ferns.

 I made a plaque from wooden lolly sticks and painted it with gesso to prime it. I created the background with a home made mountain stencil, punched circle mask for the moon, and Versamagic pigment inks. All stamping was done with Versafine Clair ink. The row of trees and the single fern (which I hope looks like a tree!) were stamped directly on to the plaque, while the foreground ferns and the fox were stamped separately and cut out before being affixed to the plaque.

Here you can see the beautiful scenery detail in the fox stamp.

I'm sure this will be a popular theme, and I can't wait to see what you come up with! My amazing teamies have once again excelled themselves with some gorgeous samples to inspire you, so do go and have a look at them on the Challenge Blog. Remember, you can enter up to three times, and with such a fab prize on offer, it's definitely worth maximising your chances of winning. 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!

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!

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!

August at Stamping Sensations Challenge

Hi everyone, we have another easy theme for you this month at Stamping Sensations! For August it's a case of

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

Just a little reminder, however. Although the theme can be anything you like, your entry must still adhere to our challenge rules, which you can read here. We are a stamping challenge, so stamping (using either conventional rubber/polymer stamps or hand coloured digital images) must be the focal (ie. main element) of your project. 

For my card, I decided to go with something old (the large butterfly, by Prickley Pear, small butterflies in background, by Crafty Individuals, and sentiment by The Craft's Meow), something new (Distress Oxide inks) and something new but old (the flourish frame by Bee Crafty) which I've had for quite a while but never used before!

I coloured the background first with the Oxide inks, and then overstamped the butterflies with the same inks. Stamped the frame on top with Versafine ink and cut out the middle. Stamped the sentiment on a separate piece of card and glued it behind the aperture. Stamped and diecut the large butterfly and attached it with a line of glue (used a Be Creative Wonder Glue pen) down the body only, so that the wings could be raised up for display, but would lie flat for posting. Finally matted it with a black border on to a 6" x 6" white card.

We have a brand new sponsor this month - Swedish House Crafts! This is a relatively new company run by the lovely Suha, and she has some fabulous designs! Check them out, along with the rest of her stock, in her online shop on the above link. She has very generously donated not just one but three prizes for our lucky winners! A £25 voucher top prize and two £10 vouchers for the runners up!

As you might expect, given that Anything Goes this month, our DT samples are delightfully diverse, and really showcase my teamies' varied talents! Do go and have a look at them on the Challenge Blog, and it would mean a lot to them if you were able to visit their individual blogs too.

I hope you can join us this month, and thanks for looking!