Is it too early for the Christmas tree? ...........

Happy Friday ........

I'm joking about the Christmas tree ...... or maybe I'm not.  Can you believe there's only 10 more Fridays until Christmas.   Better start making those lists!

We're half way through October so it's time to remind you about this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge.

It's a Mixed Media month and our host is the lovely Bonnie, who's got a fabulous theme for us ....... 

Bonnie would like us to use something from the garden ....... leaves, flowers, ferns etc., to create beautiful botanical prints on our cards.  I don't know about yours but our garden is full of Autumn leaves that have fallen from the trees so there's lots to choose from.

This little fern makes the perfect tree for a CAS Christmas card ........

I carefully inked the fern using Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink straight from the ink pad, then used the fern like a stamp onto the centre of a piece of white cardstock.

I did cover the fern with a piece of copier paper and applied a little pressure with my hand, just to make sure I got a good print.

Not bad ....... I love the detail that I mamaged to get.

I then made a little pot for the tree to sit in ..... just a tiny piece of kraft card cut to shape and shaded on the edges with Distress ink

My sentiment was stamped underneath and heat embossed in gold,

I added some baubles onto the tree using dots of glitter glue, 

and finished with a little die cut, and heat embossed star on the top

There's still time to play along with the challenge, follow the theme (Botanical Prints), include some stamping on there and, remember to use one other Mixed Media element ....... you can find a list for those on CAS Mix Up Blog.  

You'll also find on there links to some great videos using this technique, more inspiration from the Design Team (they've been very busy) and we also have a fabulous Guest Designer ...... Izzy (Izzy (Scrap) is joining us this month, so pop by and say Hello! and then join in the fun!

Thanks for stopping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.

Now where did I put those Christmas decorations .......... Ho! Ho! Ho! (just kidding!)

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: Wonderful Christmas (Inkylicious)

Inks: Distres Inks - Rustic Wilderness, Gathered Twigs; Versamark 

Other:  Fern from the garden; snippet of kraft card; WOW! Embossing Powders - Detail Gold - for the senitment, Gold Sparkle for the star; Stickles Glitter Glue - Cranberry, Gold, 

What a busy World Cardmaking Day ........

Happy Saturday ........

Welcome to the weekend.  This time last week I was getting ready to spend the day in my craft room celebrating World Cardmaking Day, did you join in with any of the celebrations?

I spent the day with Facebook .......... yes I know, some of you may think a whole day on Facebook, what a waste! ....... not this one!  I had so much fun, it was the longest I'd spent in the craft room actually making something, for a long time!  And the good thing is, I have a whole pile of cards and lots of ideas, again something that's been missing for a while.  

It was a fabulous day, organised and put together by Sharon Everett from The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin.  

The whole day was full of demonstrations and inspiration from lots of familiar names and faces in the craft world.  There were FB Lives which you could craft along with, recorded sessions again which you could follow along with.  All the supplies used had been listed during the week leading up to it so I was all ready to go.  

The FB group is still there, with all the videos available to watch, however it's now been made a Private Group so I think you have to ask to join or be invitied ...... check it out if you haven't already, here's the link ......... World Cardmaking Day

  

The lovely Jo Firth-Young got things underway.  I followed the techniques, I didn't have the stamp she used so I improvised .......

I also used something that's been in my stash for a while, hardly ever used but, I love the effect from PaperArtsy's Pearl Glaze ....... will definitely be using that again! 

Just a touch here and there, but how pretty does it look when the light catches it!   And get this ..... I even did the inside of the card.  Not a bad start to the day.

 

Next up was Martine Smith doing amazing things with flower dies and embossing folders.   

Making flowers is not really my thing, I don't have the patience but, I did have the embossing folder so I went with that

One of Martine's tips was to ink your embossing folders before putting them through your machine.

How pretty does this look with just a hint of colour .......

along with some added sparkle of course 

One of the pre-recorded videos was from Marion Emberson using WOW! Embossing Powders

I love this simple design, and it was so easy to do using double-sided tape with the embossing powders. and a die cut sentiment.

There's so many fabulous WOW! Embossing Powders to choose from with so many different looks.  Just remember if you're using double-sided tape under your powders, make sure it can stand the heat!

That's just some of my cards from last weekend ....... as you can see it was a busy, but fun day.

I'll share the rest with you some other time.

I've got another crafty day today. I'm off up to the North to meet up with the girls ...... it's been a while! 

Not sure I'll be as productive as last weekend but, you never know.

Thanks for popping by, have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time ......

 

Products used:

Card #1  inspired by JOFY 

Stamps: JOFY 106 (PaperArtsy); the small sentiments are from my stash

Inks: Jet Black Archival ink; Versamark

Paints: Cerulean, Ice Blue, Snowflake (PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint)

Other: White Gel Pen, Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Pearl Glaze (PaperArtsy); Chunky Whit Embossing Powder (Stampendous)

Card #2  inspired by Martine

Stamps: Chritmas sentiments from my stash

Inks: Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Speckled Egg; Delicata - Golden Glitz; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Embossing Folder: 3D Poinsettia embossing folder (Lisa Horton Crafts)

Other: Silver thread; Tim Holtz Merry Christmas dies; Fine crystal glitter

Card #3  inspired by Marion 

Stamps: Birthday Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers - no longer available)

Inks: Distress Ink - Salvaged Patina; Versamark (used on the die cut word)

Embossing Powders: WOW! Embossing Powder - Glacier, Bluetiful; Bahama, Halo on the

Others: Double-sided tape; self-adhesive gems 

Botanical Prints for the CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

Happy Friday ......

How are you? ...... I hope you've had a good week.

Welcome to October ......... only 84 days until Christmas (just saying!)

I have started to think about the festive season, and I must confess ...... the shopping has started!

Well, you know what it's like, you see things when you're out and about, and I do have an extra one to spoil buy for this year.  

Arthur isn't really going to understand the whole Santa thing this year, and he may be the smallest member of the family now but, no doubt he will have the largest pile of presents under the tree!!!

Anyway, enough about the C word ..... it's the first of October so that means there's brand new CAS Mix Up Challenge ...... yeah!!!

Bonnie is our host this month and she's chosen a real fun challenge for us.

  

It's a Mixed Media month, and the challenge is to use actual leaves or flowers etc. from your garden to create your Botanical Prints ....... cool or what!

There's a few ways to do this.  Ink up your leaves etc. with paints or ink pads and then use them to stamp with.  Use them as stencils with spray inks, or on your gelli plates.  Or, you can even run them through your die cutting machines sandwiched between watercolour paper.  This is really cool, I've never tried it but, I have seen it done.  

If you're not sure which way to go then check out the CAS Mix Up Blog.  Along with all the gorgeous inspiration from the DT you'll find links to some great video techniques for this challenge.

As it's a Mixed Media month remember to include some rubber stamping on your card, and at least one other Mixed Media element. 

OK,  here's one way of using leaves .......

I used Distress Ink, directly from the ink pad onto the leaves and then I used the leaves as a stamp.

I placed the inked up leaves onto a piece of white cardstock and then I covered the leaves with a piece of copier paper and applied a little bit of pressure to transfer the image. 

I love the detail on the leaves ..........

And I think I have a new favourite Distress colour ....... Salvaged Patina, I love it!!!!!! 

I repeated the process twice and then stamped my sentiment over the top using a black ink.

I added a few splatters of gold ink to the background ......

Now you know me, I don't like to waste anything, especially ink.  

I noticed that there was still a little bit of colour left on my leaves after I'd used them to print so, I spritzed with a little water, grabbed another piece of white card and used them again .......

I love the different look to the leaves, more of a watercolour feel I think ......

The paler leaves in the background are the ink that was left on from my first card ...... 

The second, deeper image in the front was done by inking up the leaves again, although not using as much ink as I did on the first card, spritzed with a little water and then repeated the technique.

I stamped and heat embossed half of my sentiment directly onto the card, stamped the other half onto a scrap of cardstock that I'd coloured using the same Distress Ink.  I cut this down and attached with foam pads, adding some rainbow mettalic thread underneath to add a bit more interest to the design.

The final touch was a few splatters of gold here and there, done using a technique I picked up from Tracy Scott

You know how I love to splatter well, these were done with water and gold embossing powder. 

Simply splatter the water onto the card, sprinkle with embossing powder and heat set.  It gives a bit of a different look to the splatters and a touch of texture too.

Now its your turn ..... pop into the garden and see what you can find to create your Botanical Prints.

See you in the gallery!

We have a great Guest Designer for this month ....... Izzy (Izzy Scrap) is joing the Mix Up Design Team so be sure to pop by and say Hello!

Thanks for stopping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.

It's World Cardmaking Day tomorrow (Saturday 2nd October), and the lovely Sharon Everett from The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin  has gathered together some favourite faces from the craft world to celebrate, with a whole day of online videos and tutorials.  

It's all going on on Facebook ......... click HERE if you want to check out the details.   

Jo Firth-Young (JOFY), Tracy Scott and Julie Hickey are three of the names who will be live during the day.  The lovely Eileen Godwin will also be joining in the fun, along with a whole host of others. 

Sharon gets everything underway at 10am (UK time), and the last demo is around 8pm I think so, it's going to be a busy day. 

I'm off to get my craft desk clear and some supplies ready to use, so I can join in the fun.  Maybe I'll see you there! 

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: Sentiment Collection (Penny Black) - card 1; Happy Happy Happy (Lawn Fawn) - card 2

Inks: Distress Ink - Salvaged Patina; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark; Delicata - Golden Glitz (for the splatters - card 1)

Other: Leaves from the garden; Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Metallic thread

It's officially Autumn .......

Happy Wednesday ........

How is your week so far?

Summer is officially over (sigh!), although looking at todays weather you wouldn't think so ..... it's gorgeous out there.  A little windy perhaps but hey, it's always windy on the Isle of Man!! 

It's the first day of Autumn today and CAS Mix Up have the perfect challenge ...... 

There's still a couple of days left before the deadline if you fancy playing along.

I've been going through a few boxes in the craft room ....... unfinished projects, cut off pieces of paper and card, mop ups, and my overflowing bits box, when I came across a piece that I thought was perfect for this challenge.

Coloured with Brushos in beautiful Autumn shades, it made the perfect background for one of my favourite floral stamps from Unity Stamp Co.

I stamped the image onto the coloured card and heat embossed with a clear powder, before adding more colour to the flowers.  I used the same shades of Brushos, mixed with a little water and used as a watercolour paint, building up the depth of colour gradually

A simple sentiment on the bottom, and a few splatters of gold paint here and there ......

And to finish everything off,  I added a frame around the edge using a gold marker pen, before attaching some co-ordinating cardstock to the bottom.

The challenge is open until the 24th of the month so you'll have to be quick if you do want to enter.

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

We're off out for tea today,  birthday tea actually with this young man, who was eleven yesterday!!!!

We would have gone yesterday but the restaurant where he wants to go only opens Wednesday - Sunday so he decided to wait.  He's already decided what he wants to eat ...... pork ribs followed by homemade churros and ice cream ...... yum!!  

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: You are Forever Beautiful (Umnity stamps); happy snippets (Penny Black)

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne, 

Others: Clear Embossing Powder (WOW!); Brusho Pigment Powders; Gold Fresco Finish Paint (PaperArtsy); Coloured cardstock, Gold Leafing Pen