Even More Colour!

I'm loving this month's theme at Stamping Sensations! Entries are coming in nicely for our "Make It Colourful" challenge and it's great to see such bright and cheerful designs.

I made another card using stamps from our June sponsor, Visible Image.

I stamped the flowers and butterflies with Versafine Clair Ink on Cass Art hot press watercolour card and coloured them with diluted Distress Ink reinkers, using a waterbrush to blend the colours. I splattered drops of the inks over the design with a fan brush and added liquid pearls to the butterflies' bodies. I hand wrote the sentiment and stamped the colour splash (a magazine freebie designed by Visible Image) over the appropriate word.

It was a very quick card to make, and I really enjoyed the process. Sometimes I prefer to work with more muted colours for a softer effect, depending on the subject, of course, but at the moment I'm definitely going through a bright and colourful phase!

Our June challenge runs until the 1st of July, so there's still plenty of time to enter if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a fab voucher to spend in Visible Image's online shop.

Let's brighten things up!

Wow, we had a bumper bunch of floral entries for last month's challenge at Stamping Sensations! It was a real delight to view them all. Hopefully we will have a similarly copious crop for our June challenge, the theme for which is

* * * * * MAKE IT COLOURFUL * * * * *

This should be a nice, easy challenge! We want to see lots of colour in your projects. However, please remember our challenge rules. We are a stamping challenge, so the main element of your design must be stamped, and must reflect the theme. (We prefer hand stamping, but hand coloured digital images are acceptable). Your entry should contain a link to Stamping Sensations Challenge. The full list of rules can be found here. Sadly we had to discount several entries last month which did not adhere to our rules, such a shame as it meant they were not eligible for our prizes or top 3 spots.

This month we have a return visit from our wonderful sponsors Visible Image, who have generously offered a fab voucher for our lucky winner to spend in their online shop. They have the most amazing stamps and stencils, so please do check that your entry qualifies to be in with a chance of winning.

All stamps and stencils on my card are by Visible Image.

I began the design with only the vaguest of ideas as to how it would proceed. First I stamped the flower, stem, butterflies and sentiments and embossed them with clear embossing powder. During my most recent craft room tidy up I rediscovered my Twinkling H2Os. Couldn't remember the last time I used them. I had forgotten how bright and pretty they are! I decided they would be perfect for colouring the elements of my design. Unfortunately their beautiful sheen doesn't really show up in the photo. 

It turned into a bit of a back to front card, as I did the background last! With the embossing protecting the main elements, I was able to paint the background with Brushos, which I then overstamped (the yellow dots) and stencilled (the purple blobs along the bottom, which are part of the Butterfly Ink stencil). Finally I sponged pigment ink around the edges to pull it all together. The finished card is nothing like I had originally envisaged, but I quite like it, and it is certainly colourful!

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!

Blue, Purple, Turquoise

It's hard to believe, but already we are halfway through our 2019 challenges at Stamping Sensations! This year is flying by! We've had some great themes so far, and loads of wonderful entries, and there are plenty more to come.

For June we would like you to

* * * * * SHOW YOUR TRUE COLOURS * * * * *

By, that, we mean use your favourite colours in your project! This is a nice and easy theme, and one you probably shouldn't have to think too hard about. However, please do remember that your entry/entries must still follow our challenge rules, which you can read here on the challenge blog. 

We are delighted to welcome back Visible Image as our fab sponsor this month. They are offering a super £25 voucher for the very lucky winner to spend in their online shop. I'm a big fan of their amazing stamps, several of which I have used for my card.

My favourite colours have always been those at the cool end of the spectrum - blues, purples, turquoises, and greens. Shades of the sky and the sea, and of the earth and the trees. Calming and soothing hues. I think one of the reasons I feel so much more relaxed living in this beautiful rural area than in the city which was our previous home is that I look out every day over rolling green fields, majestic trees and distant hills, with stunning big skies overhead, although the latter are looking pretty grey at this moment!

My card reflects those heavenly colours. The circle background was done on a gel plate, with Distress Oxide inks, then I used a fan brush to flick some diluted Brushos over the whole square. I stamped elements from Visible Image's "Creative Chaos", "Wings of Change" and "Random Art of Kindness" sets, using Versafine Clair ink, and coloured them with Arteza coloured pencils (my new favourite art medium!). I sponged the edges of the picture with pigment ink to define them before matting it onto a background made with alcohol inks. No, I hadn't intended seeing how many different media I could use on one card, that's just how it turned out!

Occasionally I like to challenge myself and tiptoe outside my comfort zone with a different colour scheme, but I did so enjoy creating this card! I can tell by my teamies' beautiful samples that they also enjoyed indulging themselves, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed if you nip over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at them. I am looking forward to a rainbow of entries!

Must have been hibernating!

The other day I came across something called Alcohol Lift-Ink by Tim Holtz. Yeah, I know, where have I been for the last six months, lol?! It hadn't come up on my radar until now, and it sounded interesting, so I thought I'd better find out what I'd been missing. I'm glad I did! It's clever stuff! For anyone else who's been hibernating like me, you can learn all about it in Tim's video here.

Anyway, I've had a play with it and made a few cards.

(Fern leaf - Embossing Arts, Butterfly - unknown, Sentiment - magazine freebie)

         (Fern leaf - Embossing Arts, Butterflies - unknown, Sentiment - magazine freebie)

 (Fern leaf - Embossing Arts, Butterfly - unknown, Sentiment - magazine freebie)

(Fern leaf - Embossing Arts, Butterflies - Visible Image, Sentiment - magazine freebie)

My alcohol inks had been neglected for quite a while, and the Lift-Ink gave me the impetus to get them out again. Wish I'd found it sooner!

A Moment

Just had a play with some lovely new stamps from Visible Image, Distress Oxide inks and watercolour pencils.

No stress!

We have a nice stress-free challenge for you this month at Stamping Sensations, as our theme is

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES * * * * *

Well, maybe just a tiny bit of stress! We are a stamping challenge, so the main image or focus of your project must be stamped, but apart from that you are free to choose any subject for your creations.

Our fab sponsor for June is Visible Image, and I've used several of their amazing stamps on my card.

I simply stamped them directly on to the background music paper (which I've had in my stash for years!) and added a few music notes which were diecut from gold card to finish it off. The dots & squares were stamped first with Distress Oxide inks and spritzed very lightly with water. All stamps by Visible Image, from their "Jazz It Up", "Soul Music" and "De-stressed Backgrounds" sets. See, even the stamps are stress-free! Here's a closer look.

Over on the Challenge Blog my teamies have some super samples to inspire you. Do go and have a look at them and I hope you will be able to join in this month and enter a project (or three!).

Decisions, decisions!

Wow, we had some fabulous entries last month at Stamping Sensations! With all those stunning butterflies and fairies, I was in heaven! But this month it's not just about my favourites, but about everyone's, because the theme for our June Challenge is to

* * * * * USE YOUR FAVOURITE STAMP * * * * *

Favourite stamp?? How could I possibly choose one favourite?! There are so many that I like and use frequently.

I wonder whether you will have the same difficulty in choosing a favourite stamp as I did! I am really interested to see people's selections, but please do remember that our Challenge Rules require that  your project must use a stamp (which can be rubber, clear, or hand coloured digi) and the stamp must be the focal point (main element) of your project, if you want it to be eligible for the prize or top 3. You will certainly not want to miss out on the chance to be our winner, as from this month we will be giving not just one but two prizes! For full details of this month's prizes, see the Challenge Blog

Since my favourite topic is butterflies, my favourite stamp would have to be one of those, and and very possibly it would be one by our lovely sponsor for this month, the fabulous Visible Image. So I've used the butterflies from their Own Kind Of Beautiful set for my card. The sentiment is from their "Live In The Moment" set, which includes some beautiful dragonflies.

I also used my favourite inks of the moment, Distress Oxides, in my favourite colours, for the background and all the stamping, which I think shows the versatility of these amazing inks. The three main butterflies were cut out by hand and affixed with sticky pads.

My fab teamies have come up with a very eclectic selection of gorgeous designs for you this month (just goes to show we all have different tastes!), so do go over and take a look at them on the Challenge Blog. I'm hoping to see lots of creative entries for what I think should be a really interesting challenge. Hope you enjoy it too!

Stamping Sensations April Challenge

First Sunday of the month, so time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations, and we have a very easy one for you this month as our theme is

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES * * * * *

The choice of subject is entirely up to you, but of course, as we are a stamping challenge, the main element of your design must be hand stamped (or a hand coloured digital image). Please do check that your project fits our rules (see them here), otherwise it will not be eligible for the prize or top 3 and may not be commented on, in fairness to others who do follow the rules.

Our wonderful April sponsor is PDA, who have given us a fabulous £40 voucher for the winner to spend in their store!

I managed to get my hands on some of the new Distress Oxide ink pads last week, and I've used some of them for the background of my card. Think they are going to be my new favourite inks! I'm only just beginning to explore all their possibilities but I'm loving them already!

I stamped over the background with Lavinia stamps (flower border, pods and butterflies), a text by Inkylicious and a sentiment by Visible Image.

Good luck everyone, I'm looking forward to seeing lots of lovely creations!

Monolith

I loved the idea of the new Visible Image monoliths and couldn't wait to order a pack, along with some of their stunning new stamps. Here's what I did with the first one.

I primed each side and the base with gesso, let it dry, then sponged with acrylic paints using a make up sponge to create landscapes. On the butterfly side I used the edge of the sponge to make some little flowers, which looked lovely. However, when it came to stamping the images, I couldn't fit in the ones I'd chosen without covering up the flowers, and I also decided the colours didn't look right, so I covered them up again with more paint!

I was aiming for the mood of each side to be different but still to complement each other, and the flowers just didn't work. The beauty of using the acrylic paint is that it was easy to get rid of them! Because the surface of the MDF became a little rough as the fibres swell a bit when painted, it was tricky to get a good stamped image, and I had to go over them in places with some ink and a paintbrush.

The large bird and tiny bird (Leave Your Fears set) are both on the one stamp, but I wanted the tiny bird to be further towards the corner, so I inked and stamped the two parts separately. I used the tiny bird on the other side as well, again to tie the two sides together. The butterflies (one stamped over the other) are from the  gorgeous new Own Kind Of Beautiful set, which is my new favourite Visible Image set! All stamps I've used are by Visible Image. To finish it off I sponged around all sides with pigment ink.

Here's a close look at each side.

I really enjoyed making my monolith. Now what to do with No. 2.........

Anything Goes for February at Stamping Sensations

It's time for our February Challenge at Stamping Sensations, and we have a free and easy theme of

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES * * * * *

Choice of subject is up to you, but as always, because we are a stamping challenge, we must see a stamped image or sentiment as the focal element of your design if you wish to be considered for the prize or Top 3 place.

Our sponsor this month is the fabulous Visible Image.

It says on their website "Unique designs, awesome stamps" and I would definitely agree with that! If you do too, make sure you enter our February challenge, as Visible Image have donated a very generous £35 voucher for the lucky winner to spend on their site! 

Some of you may remember the song "Colours Of The Wind" from the Disney film Pocahontas. It's a beautiful song which I have used with many of the school choirs and classes I have worked with and they have all loved it. So when I saw the Visible Image stamp set with the same title, I just had to have it! Having said that, being a tree/leaf/nature lover, even without the association it has for me I would still have bought it, as it is such a gorgeous design.

At the Stamp Magic show last October, I watched a demo of Imagination Crafts Starlights paints, and thought the effect obtained with them was stunning. I bought several of the colours, but hadn't got round to using them until now. I thought they would be perfect with the Colours Of The Wind stamp. I stamped the image with Versamark Ink and clear embossed it, to act as a resist. Then I brayered over it with 3 shades of the Starlights paint, which I gently wiped off the image itself with a babywipe to reveal the leaf in all its glory. The small diecut maple leaves (Spellbinders) were painted with the same shades of the paint (Topaz, Turquoise and Dark Orchid). The sentiment was stamped randomly over the base card before the main image was matted on to it, and also on a diecut label (Spellbinders) which was attached to the card with a scrap of ribbon.

On this next photo you can perhaps get a better idea of the lovely shimmer of the Starlights paints.

My teamies have some stunning samples to show you over on the Challenge Blog, and as many of them are also Visible Image fans too, you will not be short of inspiration! However, you do not, of course, have to use Visible Image stamps on your project. The choice of products is entirely yours. We look forward to seeing your creations!

Fairy Nuff!

I started out with the intention of making a background with the Be Creative alcohol markers and then stencilling over it. However, the project had ideas of its own!

Here's the background. First I coloured the whole of it with one of the markers, using the chisel end of the marker, then dabbed various colours on to felt pads and stippled over it, mainly around the sides.

I left it to dry, and when I came back to it, it made me think of a secret glad in an enchanted forest. The vertical streaks were trees, and the stippled parts vegetation.So I had to turn it into a fairy card instead!

The gorgeous sentiment is by Visible Image, all other stamps by Inkylicious. I sponged around the edges with Memento ink (being water based it won't smudge the alcohol ink), with extra at the bottom to ground the fairy, toadstool and flowers, and added a few blades of grass with a Micron pen. The sentiment seemed to go with it all perfectly. Liberal application of Be Creative glitter glue provided the necessary sparkle!

Now what was it I was supposed to be doing.......?

A Free and Easy end to our Challenge year

Well, it's time for our final challenge of 2013 at Stamping Sensations. If you're like me, you'll be frantically trying to get the Christmas preparations sorted at the same time as keeping up with all the regular stuff. Anyone who has finished making all their Christmas cards by now has my ardent admiration! The rest of you will, I'm sure, be grateful that our December Challenge has the theme of

***** FREE AND EASY *****

so anything goes! If you're still on with the Christmas cards (like me!), you could show us those. If not, we'd love to see what else you've been working on lately.

As usual we've got a fabulous sponsor to help us round off the year, Visible Image, an all-British company with a fantastic range of stamps, no less than 5 sets of which have been very generously donated by them for our prize.

Anyway, on to my card. It's a Christmas one, of course, 40 down, about another 30 still to go!

I treated myself to an early Christmas present of a couple of Memory Box dies which I've had my eye on for quite some time. The one I've used here is called Tessatina Border. I cut it out of both red and green card, and then inserted the green cut-out into the space left in the red card. It was then framed with the X-cut Poinsettia Border punch. That was another new buy! I was delighted recently when The Range opened a new branch not 10 miles away from me, a small oasis in the crafting desert in which I live! Had to go and check it out, of course, and couldn't resist the Poinsettia punch. So pretty, and needn't be confined to Christmas cards!

The card was finished with some flowers cut with the Marianne Design Mini Poinsettia die set, a Spellbinders bauble diecut overstamped with a Waltzing Mouse stamp, and a sentiment also by Waltzing Mouse. The background paper was a freebie from Making Cards Magazine.

My amazing teamies have some stunning samples to inspire you with. Do go and have a look at them on the Challenge Blog. We had a brilliant response to our Christmas theme last month, and I'm sure you'll all do us proud with your entries for December. Can't wait to see them!

Now, back to the Christmas card production line.......

A Treemendous finish to the year!

It's our final challenge for 2012 at Stamping Sensations, and the theme is

TREEMENDOUS!

Plenty of scope there. They could be Christmas trees, if you haven't yet finished your Christmas cards, or if you have and you can't bear to contemplate any more festive foliage, any other kind of tree will be perfect! If you're a lateral thinker you might go for family trees, or shoe trees... or not! But whatever your arboreal aspirations, we want to see them!

Trees being one of my favourite topics, I have really been looking forward to this month! When I was at Stamp Magic in October, I couldn't resist buying the fabulous Inkylicious Christmas Tree Flourish, and that is what I've used for my card.

I stamped it with Versamark ink on to white card and embossed it with WOW Neutral Ultra Shimmer embossing powder, which gave it the most gorgeous shimmery sparkle which unfortunately is hard to see in the photo. I then covered the whole thing with Chipped Sapphire Distress Stain, which the embossed areas resisted, of course, and matted it first on to white card and then a piece coloured with the same Distress Stain. The computer generated sentiment was cut with a Nestie label die, and the little snowflakes with a Tonic Studios punch. Quite a simple design, but I don't think the tree needs anything more to complement it.

Our lovely sponsor this month is Visible Image, a British company based in South Wales, who have a fantastic range of stamps. They have given us this amazing selection for our prize.

So, if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning, show us your Treemendous creations. Just remember that your entry may be combined with no more than five other challenges (that's 6 in total including ours), otherwise sadly it will be ineligible. My talented teamies have come up with some brilliant inspiration for you, so don't forget to check it out on the Challenge Blog. I can't wait to see yours!