Flowers All The Way!

Whilst butterflies feature high on the list of my favourite topics, flowers are also right up there so I am delighted that the theme for our May Challenge at Stamping Sensations is

* * * * * SAY IT WITH FLOWERS * * * * *

We want you to show us your very best floral creations! Please remember that we are a stamping challenge, and the focal element of your project must reflect the theme. This means that flowers must be the main subject of your design. A few added flowers as an embellishment will not fit the criteria, and will not be eligible for the prizes. We prefer conventional hand stamping, but do allow digital images as long as they are hand coloured.

We have not one but two fabulous prizes this month! Our sponsors are the wonderful Chocolate Baroque, who have generously donated some of their fantastic new Blueprint stamps, and our very own Dora, who as well as being a member of our DT, is also a designer of the most beautiful digi stamps. She is offering a choice of four of her lovely images for the lucky winner.

As tulips are amongst my favourite flowers, I have used Dora's gorgeous tulip image for my card.

Having printed out the tulips onto watercolour paper (Cass Art Hot Press), I coloured them with Arteza watercolour pencils and diecut the image with a die from The Works. Before removing the panel from the die, I sponged around the edge with pigment ink.

The background paper has been in my stash for years! I bought it from Lakeland back in the days when they used to have a craft section in their shops. There were several different papers in the pack (I bought two packs!) and I have used up most of them, but the one I have used here has always been my favourite, as it is so pretty with the tulips and lovely spring colours. I did think twice about cutting it up for the card, but it fits so perfectly with the image, and since I had two sheets left, I decided to do it!  I will be keeping the remaining sheet!

Because the paper already has an appropriate printed sentiment within the pattern, I didn't think it needed anything adding to it, other than a little diecut butterfly (magazine freebie die).

 

Our lovely daughter, who is doing the shopping for us during the lockdown, surprised me yesterday with this gorgeous bunch of the real thing!

They are currently on the windowsill of my craft room, where they are outshining the needle felted one I made recently!

My teamies have a profusion of beautiful floral samples for you - they really have excelled themselves once again. Do go and have a look at them over on the Challenge Blog. We are so looking forward to seeing your entries and hope you will enjoy this month's challenge.

Been a bit wet here lately!

This year I think the April showers came along with the March winds! At least, I hope they did, and that we're not going to get them again this month! The river by our house, usually calm and placid, turned into a lake.

Fortunately our house is well above any possible flood level, but it is quite scary to see nonetheless.

February was lovely, much warmer than usual, but March certainly made up for it, and though the daffodils came out a good few weeks early, no doubt spurred on by the warmth of February, they are probably wishing they hadn't, as they are now being battered by the winds, sleet, and hail showers, and shivering in single figure temperatures! And it's only a couple of months until the longest day!

Still, hopefully all that water will be put to good use, which brings me nicely to our theme for our April Challenge at Stamping Sensations, which is

* * * * * APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS * * * * *

As usual, it is up to you how you interpret this, but the main image of your project must be stamped and relevant to the theme. Please check out our full challenge rules here to ensure your entry is eligible.

Our lovely sponsors this month are Be Creative who are offering a fab £25 voucher for the lucky winner to spend in their online store.

I had a gorgeous new background stamp from Concord & 9th which I was itching to use, and it happened to be perfect for our theme. It's called Lovely Blossoms and is a turnabout stamp. If you've never come across turnabout stamps before, there are many Youtube videos on the subject that are worth watching.

Having stamped and matted the background on to a 6"x 6" base card, I used the emboss resist technique to create the circle element. I stamped all the images with Versamark ink, embossed them with clear powder, and sponged various colours of pigment ink over the top. Wiping away the excess ink with a tissue made the stamping pop. I added a bit of extra colour to the main flowers with brush markers, and the result was nice enough, but didn't quite have the impact I was hoping for. After a few moments thought, I decided to stamp and colour the three large flowers again, cut them out and attach them over the original stamping with sticky pads. That simple addition made a huge difference and gave depth to the picture. It just needed something in the bottom corner to balance the composition. I had a Concord & 9th flower die which was similar to the stamped flowers, so I cut it twice and used the cutouts from one to fill in the other, with a piece of  Card Candi from Craftwork Cards for the flower centre. All stamps by Concord & 9th, except for the raindrops, which was a magazine freebie. Circle dies from The Works. The sentiment is computer generated.

In case you're stuck for ideas, there's some gorgeous inspiration from my teamies over on the Stamping Sensations Challenge Blog. We are looking forward to seeing lots of lovely flowery showery entries!

Getting there!

Well, I have managed to make a few more Christmas cards!

I'm particularly pleased with this one, because the background is not printed paper, believe it or not, it's stamped! I love tartan and plaid backgrounds, as they are colourful and go with many themes, so when I saw this new stamp set by Concord & 9th, I was delighted! I can now make my own plaid papers in whatever colours I like!

For the topper I've used the Woodware Lino Cut Wren (which I think could also be a robin!) and embellished with poinsettia dies by Marianne Design and pine branch by Britannia Dies. The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with a die by The Works. Stitched circle dies also by The Works.

This card also fits our November challenge at Stamping Sensations, where the theme is "Get Ready For Christmas!" There's still plenty of time to enter. Pop over to the Challenge Blog for all the details.

Now, only another 60 or so Christmas cards to go.............

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!

It's only natural

We have a lovely new challenge theme for May at Stamping Sensations, and it's one of my favourites! This month we would like you to get

* * * * * CLOSE TO NATURE * * * * *

and show us your projects depicting the natural world. Lots of possibilities here, but please do remember that the main image of your design must be stamped and must fit the theme if you wish it to be considered for a prize or top 3 place.

Our sponsor for May needs no introduction, I'm sure - it's the fabulous Chocolate Baroque, who have donated one of their stunning Wild Meadow A4 Stamp Sets plus a sheet of mounting foam for the very lucky winner.

For my card I used some of the stamps from the Wild Meadow set, along with some from one of my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque sets, Spring Foliage, which features bluebells, pussy willow and alder catkins, all of which are in flower around here just now, timed perfectly for our theme!

I stamped various flowers and foliage from the two sets on the base card, stamped the bluebells and coloured them with Zig Clean Color pens, diecut them with a die from The Works, and attached them to the base card with foam pads.

 A tiny butterfly and sentiment from Hobby Art completed the design.

My amazing teamies have some absolutely beautiful samples to show you over on the Stamping Sensations Challenge Blog, and they would be so pleased if you were able to visit their personal blogs too, where you can see their projects in more detail. I'm really quite excited about our nature theme, and am hoping to see lots of lovely entries! Good luck everyone!

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!