June Challenge at Stamping Sensations

Well, flaming June it certainly isn't up here! We have had a few sunny spells between the showers, but it's so unseasonably cold and windy. However, last month's bumper crop of flowers (well over 200 entries) for our floral challenge at Stamping Sensations certainly brightened things up! I'm confidently expecting this month's theme to be equally popular, as it is

* * * * * DIES AND PUNCHES * * * * *

You can use either just dies, just punches, or a combination of both. And of course, as we are a stamping challenge, we need to see some rubber stamping on your project as well. Making a welcome return visit to sponsor us for June is Tonic Studios, who have given us a full set of their Pretoria Alphabet Dies for the lucky winner! What a fabulous prize!

 

I have used a die (Celtic Circle) and a punch (Celtic Strip), both by Tonic Studios, for my card.

Other supplies used -
Celtic bird stamp: Non Sequitur
Small Celtic circle stamp: unknown
Background text stamp: Judikins
Sentiment: Innovative Stamp Creations
Background paper: Paper Cellar
I used Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink for all the stamping and to ink around the edge of the BP

I'm still on a mission to revisit/use up old stash, and everything on this card is at least a couple of years old, and some things many years! Had another mini clear out of my craftroom the other week, but still don't seem to have any more space on my shelves! As long as I can keep things from encroaching too much on to the floor, though, I'm happy! I think back to my old tiny craft room, where I had to step over boxes to get to my desk, on which there was never more than about a square foot clear to work in, and remember how lucky I am to have so much more lovely space in the new one.

Here's a closer view of the gorgeous Celtic bird stamp. I've always liked it, don't know why I don't use it more often!

Anyway, as ever, there's plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog My brilliant teamies would love it if you visited their individual blogs too, and we look forward to seeing what you can do with your dies and punches.

Jules's Sunday Scrap challenge

Just made it in time to join in with Jules's Sunday Scrap challenge. Jules has set herself the task of making something each Sunday using only pieces from her scrap box, and invites anyone to join in. So here's mine.

I've punched the flowers from scraps of coloured vellum, and given them glitter glue centres. Unfortunately the colours don't show up very well in the photo. The leaf is left over from yesterday's card. The background papers have been in my scrap box for so long I can't remember where they came from, but I think the patterned paper is by Hot Off The Press. The girl stamp is by Innovative Stamp Creations, and the border is one of my new Nestie-compatibles from Waltzing Mouse. The sentiment is by Katzelcraft.

I found this quite a difficult challenge, but I've got so many bits to use up, I'd better have another go next Sunday!

Cards for men

I struggle a bit with cards for men. I send fewer cards to men than I do to women, so I don't have many male-oriented stamps. Can't justify buying a stamp that I might only use a few times, and I don't feel, really, that I can use the same one each year, even though the recipient probably wouldn't remember it from one year to the next! Though I suppose they might if they got it EVERY year!

However, I couldn't resist some lovely stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations which I think are equally suitable for men or women. Both images are striking enough not to need much in the way of background or embellishments, so I kept those to a minimum.

The boat scene (the stamp is entitled "On The Shore") is coloured with watercolour pencils, and attached to the card with foam pads. The mesh, shells and starfish are all very old stash. I knew I'd find a use for them one day! The text is computer generated, printed on to acetate and sponged with alcohol inks.

The next one, called "Picturesque", reminds me of various beaches I have visited, and I think it's going to become one of my favourite images. I coloured it with Promarkers and mounted it over a background which was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and inked with Versamagic inks.. Again, computer generated text  and another very old starfish embellishment, with a recycled bit of string separated into its component strands to tie it all together. I'm feeling really good about getting some old stash used!

As well as the two stamps I've used in these cards, I also bought a new ISC set called "Mini Ledger", which I think is going to be very versatile, though I haven't made anything with it yet....

Innovative Stamp Creations is owned and run by the very talented Betsy Griffin, who calls her design team the Creative Architects Group. They all have many samples, using ISC stamps, on their blogs, links to which can be found here, as does Betsy on her blog. All worth a look. (FTR, I have no connection with ISC, other than that I like the stamps!)

Second childhood?!

Here are a couple of cards made with some of my new stash from Harrogate. Anyone who has read previous posts will know that I don't do cute. I must admit, however, that I do have a liking for fairies. Probably for the same reason that I like butterflies - they are such beautiful, ethereal creatures. A favourite book from my childhood, one which I still have (it's older than me!), is called "Once Upon A Birthday".


It tells the story of two children, a boy and a girl, who meet in Fairyland having been taken there magically to celebrate their respective birthdays. I loved it because it's full of gorgeous, colourful pictures of fairies. They have lots of exciting adventures in Fairyland, and in the end the little girl, once back home, gets a fairy outfit complete with wings for a birthday present, something I always wanted (particularly the wings!) but sadly never received!

Some time ago, at school, we had a reading week when staff were asked to take in a favourite book from their youth to read to a class. I took my fairy book, of course, interested to see what modern, worldly wise children, aged 5 to 7, raised on computer games and TV, would make of it. The story is strongly moralistic (eg. in one chapter a little fairy sulks because she lost a race in the school games, and her punishment is to come last in every game until she has learned her lesson, which she duly does) and quite politically incorrect. I was surprised, not to say delighted, that without exception they loved it. And, even more surprising, the boys did as much as the girls!

So what started this train of thought? New fairies from Lavinia Stamps! Lavinia Stamps are designed by Tracey Dutton, and her stand at the shows is always full of beautiful samples which are treats for the eyes. I was really taken with one card in particular. Check out her Gallery and you'll see it. This is my attempt to recreate it. I bought the Fairy, Vine & Secret Garden stamps at the show, and then filled in with others I already had, all Lavinia except for the trees on the left, which are by Innovative Stamp Creations. I would have bought the Lavinia Tree Root stamp also, but I'd run out of money by then, so I had to make do. I liked this fairy because she isn't too cute, and I love the air of mystery and magic about the "Secret Garden".




Still on the childhood theme, I couldn't resist these miniatures from
Clarity Stamp. I found the pretty ribbon at Harrogate too, but I'm pleased to say that all other materials on this card are old stash!

(The background paper, by Papermania, doesn't show up very well in the small photo - click on it to see the detail in the big one.)

Contrasts

Still busy with my Nestabilities. I cut a scalloped frame for a Crafty Individuals flower image from their book "Butterflies & Flowers" (currently their free gift with orders over £25). Background and butterfly are Cuttlebug embossed. The wording around the frame is computer generated. Rather proud of myself for that because it's the first time I've figured out how to do it to make it fit! The edge of the frame and the Prima flowers are tinted with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.



Then, for something completely different, A Walk in the Woods. That's the title of my newest stamp, which is from Innovative Stamp Creations. As soon as I saw this stamp I simply had to have it, because I love trees anyway and a walk in the woods is one of my favourite pastimes. It's a superb stamp. Doesn't look much until you stamp it, & then it has an almost photographic quality, even on plain paper, though it's even better on the shiny card I used here. I coloured the picture with diluted Distress Inks. On the background card I stamped birch trees (from Beeswax) and part of A Walk in the Woods (though that doesn't show so well in the photo). Punched leaves extended the path out of the picture, balanced by three co-ordinating brads on the opposite side.