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!

Been doing the dusting....!

Inspired by Sally's fabulous new Inkylicious ink duster video tutorial and her stunning sample cards, I decided to have a go at doing something similar with my Inkylicious tree.

I kept it quite simple, a) because that's how the tree looks, up there on its hill all by itself, and b) because I needed to make it quickly and get it in the post for a friend's birthday!

Having first cut a circle mask for the setting sun, I made the ink dusted background using the colours of Memento Inks which Sally used, but substituting Danube Blue for the Bahama Blue, which I don't have. An Inkylicious Mountain Valley Stencil helped to produce the receding hills. I love these durable and reusable masks, much better than fiddling about with torn pieces of paper.

Once I was happy with the background I stamped the tree and buzzards with black Versafine ink. I wanted the base of the tree to go right across the card so I extended it using a black pen. The sentiment was ideal for filling in the space at the top left of the picture. All stamps are from the Inkylicious Old Beech Tree set.

Made A Card!

Well, that's such an unusual occurrence at the moment that I though it deserved an announcement! I've been so busy lately that I've had very little time for crafting. However, I've just got some gorgeous new Inkylicious stamps which simply had to take precedence.

First I stamped the Lattice in Versamark ink and embossed it in clear powder, then coloured over it using my Inkylicious Ink Dusters and Adirondack inks. The background paper was coloured in the same way and then overstamped with the Damask stamp. Both stamps are repeatable, which is great because you can cover any size paper with them. I cut out the lattice and the brown frame with Spellbinders Labels 8 dies. The small label with the sentiment is also by Spellbinders, and the sentiment is by Inkylicious.. Butterfly die by Cheery Lynn, poppies die (coloured with Promarkers) by Memory Box. I saw the idea for fastening the ribbon with D-rings on a blog somewhere (I think!) but unfortunately can't remember where. Happy to give credit if someone can let me know where it's due! I though it was a neat idea, but it took me a while to find D-rings small enough. Eventually got them on eB*y.

I've a couple more new stamps still waiting to be inked up. Just need some more spare time!

Stamping Sensations - Traditional Christmas

It's an exciting day for us all at Stamping Sensations as we launch our first challenge under our new name! I expect everyone is now well into Christmas card making, so our theme for November should certainly appeal! We'd love to see your projects celebrating a

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS

Our fab sponsor this month is IndigoBlu, who have given us a stunning prize! A Flitter Glu starter set, containing everything you need for wonderful gilding effects, a gorgeous tree stamp, and a special edition Movember set which is really fun! We also have a little extra prize from Stamping Sensations.Have a look on the Challenge Blog for full details, and also to see some great inspiration from my fantastic teamies and this month's lovely guest designer.

I've used the IndigoBlu Bare Forest stamp as the focus for my card, stamped over a background made with Inkylicious ink dusters and Distress Inks. The holly accent is an old wood mounted stamp from Hero Arts, no longer available, although they now have the same design in a slightly larger cling stamp. The sentiment, stamped on a Nestabilities label, is one of the first stamps I ever bought, about 20 years ago! It was made by a company called Embossing Arts.

Not only are IndigoBlu giving us that fabulous prize, they are also offering everyone a 10% discount off their products until 15th December! How cool is that?! Simply go over to our Challenge Blog to get your Discount Code.

Can't wait to see all your Christmas creations this month. Good luck everyone!

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Dandelions

I've been having another play with the Pan Pastels, and I think they're growing on me. I still think they're messy (I seem always to end up with chalky dust over everywhere, but maybe that's just me!) but the end result probably justifies the means.

I made two cards to compare. I did one background with the new Spring Distress Inks applied with ink dusters, and the other with the Pan Pastels. The pastels do give a lovely soft effect, while the DIs are more vibrant, but I like them both! The PPs I bought at the show are mostly pale shades. I think I might have to get some more intense ones....

Anyway, here are the cards (DI background first, all stamps by Inkylicious). See what you think.