Happy Birthday boys! .....

Happy Monday .......

I hope you've had a lovely weekend.

We were on the boat on Saturday, starting our motorhome trip, and, for me, the crossing was not great.  

Let's just say I was glad when we docked!!!  And I'm definitely not looking forward to the trip back!

Before we came away, we had some special birthdays to celebrate, both grandsons.  One was 5, and the other 16 ....... not quite sure where those years have gone!!!   Anyhow,  I had some cards to make.

I don't know about you but,  I always struggle making cards for boys.  

Pinterest is always my first stop for ideas and it hasn't let me down yet.

The first card was for the youngest grandson ....... Arthur.  He's a Minions fan, so this is my version of a design I found on Pinterest

All done using coloured cardstrock, dies, punches and a little bit of stamping.  It was so much fubn to make and  Arthur loved it!

The second one was for Alex who was 16!!  Teenage boys ...... hmmm, not really interested in the birthday card, more interested in whats inside I think

An easy design that says it all ....... stamped using Versafine Clair inks, a few ink splatters on the bsackground, and then the die cut numbers added to the front using small strips of acetate, concertina folded to create a small spring so that the numbers move around.

I can't believe he's 16!!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

We're off for a stroll shortly, and a spot of late lunch.  It's nice to be back in the van!

Cheerio until next time .....

Have you played along with the CAS Mix Up Challenge? .......

Happy Wednesday .......

I hope you're having a good week.

Sorry I've been a bit quiet on here, it's been a busy couple of weeks.

Have you played along with September's CAS Mix Up Challenge yet?  

If not, then there's still lots of time to get your entries in.

It's a Watercolour Challenge this month, with the added prompt of Sunflower.

I must say, the gallery is beginning to look fabulous with all those beautiful blooms.

Here's a quick and easy idea using the gorgeous Sunflower Garden stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.

This stamp set is quite large, there's just the one bunch of sunflowers and also some fab sentiments to go with but, that doesn't mean you can only use this for large cards.

My card is 6x6inch square and I've kept things CAS by just using part of the image, stamped off the bottom edge.  This would work for any size of cardblank.

I stamped onto watercolour card using black ink, and then coloured the flowers with Altenew Watercolour Paints

A simple sentiment, a little natural twine for added detail, and a few paint splatters to finish off.

The challenge runs until the 30th September so, have some fun and watercolour those sunflowers!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

I'm busy this week getting the motorhome ready.  We're off on a road trip at the weekend (fingers crossed.  I'm taking things extra carefully on the stairs!!!)  It's not the trip we had booked back in June/July but, we're really looking forward to getting away.

We start off in Keswick in the beautiful Lake District, which should be nice this time of year.  

The season is definitely changing, Autumn is on its way.  

It's my favourite season of the year, I love the changing colours of the leaves, the cooler mornings and of course it's time to get those cozy woollies out!  I'm just hoping the nice weather holds out a little longer, you can't beat a bit of Autumn sunshine!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Inks ........  Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Stamps ....... Sunflower Garden - Simon Says Stamp; Tiny sentiment from Soul Whispers stamp set by Tracy Easson
Other ......  Watercolour card, Altenew Watercolour Paints, Gold Ink for splatters, Natural Twine Thread

September's CAS Mix Up Challenge ........

Happy Thursday ........

Well, we're in September!!  It's going to be a busy month I think.  There's two birthday's coming up.  We're going away in the motorhome in a couple of weeks (finger's crossed!), so I need to start getting things ready for the trip.  And, it's been quite the emotional day today.  Schools are back, and our eldest grandson, Alex, has started his final year at secondary school (where has that time gone!) and, for the youngest one, Arthur, it's his first day at Infant School (he's growing up too fast!!!)

But, that's not why I'm here ........... a new month means a new Blog Challenge.

Welcome to September's CAS Mix Up Challenge. 

Bobby is our Host this month, and the challenge is a Watercolour Challenge.

Watercolouring Sunflowers to be exact.

Sunflowers, for me, are happy flowers.  They always make me smile.

I don't know about you but I'm always a little nervous when it comes to watercolouring.  I love the look of watercoloured images but it's not always easy to create.  As they say ........ practice makes perfect!

One easy way of achieving the watercoloured look is to use stamps, and water reactive inks.

I've used one of the stamps from an old Stampin Up! set ...... Painted Harvest.  (I'm not sure if its still available or not.  I haven't bought from Stampin Up! for a long time!)

There's two layers to the flower, the base layer I used Mustard Seed Distress Ink, then the second layer I used Fossilised Amber, then Wild Honey over the top

I inked my stamp using the ink pad, then before stamping I spritzed the stamp with water, not too much just enough to react with the ink.

You can repeat the stamping process until you're happy with the depth of colour.

I used Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain to colour the centre, applied with a paint brush.

I stamped my sentiment underneath using a brown Versafine Clair (I think it was Acorn), and I finished off with a few splatters using the Distress colours.

I also decided to have a go at painting my own sunflower ...... what do think?

(I can't take full credit as the idea came from Pinterest)

This time I used my Altenew Watercolour Paints, and a small brush ......

It's not perfect but, it's a start ..... maybe next time I'll go for the full flower!!!

I masked off the edges of my card, painted the sunflower, then doodled the frame around the edge using a black fine liner.

A tiny simple sentiment, a bit of sparkle and some gold splatters to finish it all off

Check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for more Design Team inspiration for this months challenge.

You'll also find some links on there to some great videos using this technique.

We also have a fabulous Guest Designer this month.  Barbara is joining us from My Creative Room so be sure to pop by and say hello there too.

Remember, follow the simple challenge guidelines (you can find these on the Blog), use the monthly prompt, and keep your cards CAS (Clean and Simple) .......

I look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Inks ........  Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Fossilised Amber, Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain; Versafine Clair - Acorn; 

Stamps ....... Painted Harvest - Stampin Up!; Siunshine Wishes - Inkylicious; Tiny sentiment from Soul Whispers stamp set by Tracy Easson
Other ......  Watercolour card, Altenew Watercolour Paints, Small Heart gemstone, Black Finer Liner, Gold Ink for splatters

CAS Christmas Card Challenge

Happy weekend .........

The sun is shining again ..... yeah!   The temperature has dropped a little though ........ over here it has anyway!  And I must confess, the 'C' word (dare I say it .......Christmas!) has been mentioned a couple of times lately.  Don't worry, I'm not going full on festive just yet but, I am playing along with this month's CAS Christmas Card Challenge ...... well, I have to make a start on those cards at some point!

As you can see the theme is .... Santa's Sleigh

I smooshed a little bit of Distress Ink onto my card using a piece of acetate ...... I love this technique.  Everytime you smoosh the results are different, and no matter how hard you try you can't repeat one particular 'smoosh'.  I know this because, it took me three, no wait four attempts to create this finished card!  The harder you try not to make a mistake, the more they happen ....... don't you just love CAS designs.  Anyway, I got there in the end!  

Once the smooshed ink was dry, I stamped the cute little Santa and Sleigh over the top, using my MISTI and a black Versafine Clair ink.

I dotted around some falling snow using a white gel pen, and added in a few dots of glitter glue here and there to give a touch of sparkle.

To finish off  I stamped my sentiment ...... the words in red are an old wooden Penny Black stamp (yes I do still have a few wood mounted stamps that have survived all the clear outs).   

The small text underneath is from a Stampin Up set.

I do love CAS card, even though they can be a little difficult to achieve!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy your weekend.

We've got the Manx Grand Prix going on, so I don't think we'll be going very far this weekend.  

Oh well, at least there's horse racing on the TV and the football season is underway so, every cloud and all that!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Inks ........  Distress Ink - Chipped Sapphire; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versafine - Crimson Red

Stamps ....... Holiday Home stamp set - Stampin Up! (Santa & Sleigh and small sentiment); Wood mounted ..... to all - Penny Black
Other ......  Acetate (for the smooshing); White gel pen; Crystal Stickles Glitter Glue

Another online workshop ........

Happy Thursday ........

I hope you're enjoying your week.  

It's been a craft filled few days for me.  I started the week at a crafty get together which was nice, haven't seen the girls for a while (and there was cake!)

I've also been catching up with the JOFY online workshops again.  This one was all about the recently released stamp set JOFY146

Another fun afternoon, with a workshop filled with lots of tips and techniques.  There was stamping, stenciling, using patterend papers, fussy cutting, heat embossing, using coloured pencils.  You name it, we did it!

I love how Jo comes up with different ways of using her stamps and stencils .....

I wasn't so sure about this next card when I started it but, I stuck with it and I'm pleased with the result.

As I've said before, if you haven't tried one of JOFY's workshops, give them a go.  They're so much fun to do,  and full of fabulous ideas.

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

I'm off to tidy the craft room, I've one more workshop to do ..... or it might be two actually!

Cheerio until next time .......