Roll on Spring!

Well, I'm glad February is over and done with. What a dreary and dismal month it turned out to be. It is still very cold, very wet and very windy up here in the north, but there are signs of spring at last. The snowdrops are glorious, our daffodils are not far off flowering, we even have a few primroses out and the local birds have been seen gathering nesting materials. I just wish it would hurry up and get a bit warmer.

Talking of spring flowers brings me to our new challenge at Stamping Sensations, where our March theme is

* * * * * SPRING FLORALS * * * * *

We want to see lots of lovely floral creations to brighten up these dull days! To comply with our challenge rules and be in with a chance of winning, please ensure that flowers are the main subject of your project (a few tiny ones in a corner won't be eligible, flowers must be the focal image), and that they are hand stamped (or hand coloured digis).

We have a fab new sponsor this month - Thirsty Brush, who have a gorgeous range of  hand drawn stamps, along with an extensive range of accessories to complete your designs. I have used a stamp from their "Modern Floral" stamp set for my card, along with the matching die.

I coloured the image with Arteza coloured pencils, diecut it and adhered it with foam pads to a tag die from Stamps By Me. I matted the tag on to two layers of coloured card which I cut out by hand. The sentiment is also from Stamps By Me (diecut with a magazine freebie die), the butterfly die is by Cheery Lynn, and the background paper is from The Works.

My teamies have some blooming gorgeous inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog! We hope you enjoy our March Challenge, and we are really looking forward to seeing your floral creations.

Footprints on the Moon

Hadn't used the Brushos for ages, so having a few spare minutes, and some lovely new stamps from Stamps By Me, I thought I'd get them out and have a play.

First I stamped and masked the moon, and then made the background with the Brushos using the sprinkle & then spray method, blotting it after spraying to lighten it up as it was quite dark. Some of the paint leaked under the mask a bit, but I quite liked the effect. I thought it looked like clouds over the moon and gave it some dimension. Serendipity!

The Stamps By Me set has the trees, the moon and two sentiments. I particularly liked the one I've used here, but I thought the picture needed something else to help tell the story, so I added the rabbit & buzzard, along with a few grasses at the bottom, all from Inkylicious.

I stamped the sentiment in Versafine Clair ink and embossed it with WOW Neutral Ultra Shimmer Regular powder, which has the most gorgeous sparkle, but the photo doesn't do it justice. You can perhaps see it a little better in the next one.

And here's the rabbit gazing at the moon! (And probably hoping the buzzard doesn't spot her!)

 

It's quite a while, well before Christmas in fact, since I had chance to make something just for the sake of it, rather than for a particular person, event or occasion, and I really enjoyed doing this one. When I make cards for family and friends, I tailor them to the recipient and usually know what I'm going to do before I begin. Not that I don't enjoy doing those too, of course, but I love having the creative freedom to pick out a few stamps and inks etc. and just see where they lead. When I started making this card I had no idea how it was going to turn out, but I'm happy with the result!

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!