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.

Happy Flowers!

We have a lovely new challenge theme for you this month at Stamping Sensations! What could be more reminiscent of summer than

* * * * * THE EARTH LAUGHS IN FLOWERS * * * * *

We want to see anything floral in your creations, but please do bear in mind that flowers must be the focal point of your project and they must be stamped (hand stamped or hand coloured digi) or they will not be eligible for our prize (a fab £25 voucher from our lovely sponsors Crafty Individuals) or top three, nor will they be commented on by our DT.

I have used some Crafty Individuals stamps and papers for my project.

My base is a MDF Artboard plaque from Inkylicious, which I covered with a piece of one of the gorgeous background paper A4 sheets from the Aurora Borealis pack. This has a matching stamp (CL-493) which I stamped over a pigment ink sponged background and cut with dies from The Works for my focal point. I embellished the design with flowers from the CI-206 elements plate which I cut out and coloured with brush pens. A sentiment from Hobby Art completed the plaque. Apart from the sentiment, all stamps are by Crafty Individuals.

I think our July theme is going to be very popular, because who doesn't love flowers! So I am looking forward to seeing lots of beautiful floral entries!

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!

Flowers all the way!

I have a feeling our July theme at Stamping Sensations is going to be very popular. It's certainly one of my favourite topics, and I have more stamps on this subject than any other, more even than my beloved butterflies! I can't imagine there is anyone who wouldn't like

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

So we want to see projects filled with floral delights. However, please do remember that we are a stamping challenge, so a hand stamped (or hand coloured digi) image depicting flowers must be the focal point of your project. A tiny punched flower in one corner will not do! And you will not want to miss out on the chance of winning one of our prizes this month. Prizes?? Yes, that's right, we have not one but two!

Our lovely sponsors for July are Crafty Individuals, who have given us a fabulous £35 voucher for our first winner to spend in their online shop. Our second winner will receive a mystery prize!

It so happens that Crafty Individuals produce some of my favourite flower stamps, one of which I've used for my card.

I made the background with Distress Oxide inks and overstamped it with text and butterfly stamps. Then stamped the main image and coloured it with Distress Oxides. The sentiment was stamped on a spare piece of the background paper and matted with co-ordinating colours. I shaped the corners of the sentiment with an X-cut punch. All stamps by Crafty Individuals.

I am so looking forward to seeing lots of floral entries this month! I doubt anyone will be short of inspiration, but even so, do go over to the Challenge Blog and take a look at the wonderful projects which our design team have to show you. They're blooming marvellous! Good luck everyone!

Floral Delights

Our May Challenge at Stamping Sensations has one of my favourite topics! It is

 * * * * * FLOWER POWER * * * * *

We will be looking for entries with flowers being the main element of your design. Spring is my favourite time of year for flowers, with so many beautiful blossoms bursting into new life, but you can show us flowers from any time of year.

I doubt that there are many people who don't like flowers, so I think this will be a popular theme. It also happens that this month's sponsor is one of my favourite stamp companies, Crafty Individuals.

Once again, Jean and Malcolm have generously donated a fantastic £35 voucher for the lucky winner to spend in their online shop, where they have tons of the most gorgeous stamps, papers and accessories to choose from.

For my card I've used one of their beautiful floral stamps CI-422 , along with a background paper from their "Shades Of Summer" book.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, matted it with contrasting borders and added a simple ribbon bow to finish.

I am looking forward very much to seeing lots of lovely floral entries! The Design Team's samples are a flower-filled feast for the eyes, so do go and check them out on the Challenge Blog. I'll leave you with a photo of one of my favourite flowers, primroses, which have been glorious up here this spring, both wild and cultivated, and which are still blooming beautifully in our garden.

Summer Blooms

There can't be many people who don't like flowers, so I think our June Challenge at Stamping Sensations will be very popular! The theme is

SUMMER BLOOMS

We have a wonderful sponsor this month too - Heartfelt Creations, who have given us a gorgeous prize. Some lovely floral stamps and a set of matching dies.

I decided to make a tag for a change, and have chosen a Dutch Iris as my summer bloom. The matching stamp and die sets are by Heartfelt Creations. (They don't appear to be on their web site now, but there may be some shops which have them in stock still).

Irises were my late mother-in-law's favourite flowers. She had them in her garden in various colours, one of which was a gorgeous deep purply pink. For the background to my tag (which is from Inkylicious), I used a technique shown by Andy Skinner in a video on his blog. He calls it Alcohol Ink Floating Background. Very easy to do, and a lovely subtle marbled effect. I overstamped it with a Texture Fragment stamp and a Floral Edge stamp, both from Chocolate Baroque, and a text stamp by Stampin' Up. The little butterflies are also by Chocolate Baroque, and they and the iris were coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils (which I found at Dunelm Mill last week for half price - a bargain - and I love them!). Having sponged ink around the edges of the tag, I matted it on some green card and finished it off with a sentiment by Hobby Art, some ribbons and fibres and a bit of lace. 

My talented teamies have some bloomin' gorgeous samples for you this month! Do go over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at them, and then show us your summery projects. We can't wait to see them!