That's it ...... I'm done!

Hello again .....

Well I made it ... just about - phew!  All jobs done that need to be done (well ..... almost!)
How's your Sunday been?

The last day of the month just wouldn't be the same if I wasn't up against the clock to get my tag done for the 12 Tags of 2014, now would it!!

This month there wasn't really a theme to follow, or a new technique to try.   We've been encouraged to create something showcasing our own creative muse ..... hmmmm!

This was the tag from the master himself .......... you can find out all about the thought behind this and see how it was put together over on Tim's blog

And here's mine ...... not sure quite where I was going with this but ....... see what you think

It was a case of what I could lay my hands on today!
I did use Tim's idea of using the tissue tape as a surface to stamp onto, and used the pretty Flutterby Butterfly from IndigoBlu as my main image

I added some texture using a couple of stencils and some texture paste (again taking this idea from Tim) ....... the stripes

and also the Harlequin design

I then coloured my tag using Distress Stains ..... Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Ripe Persimmon and Bundled Sage ..... quite an autumnal mix I think.

I added a few rub ons here and there and a touch of Fran-tage embossing powder

The words are from the Stampers Anonymous Just Thoughts stamp set (CMS078).  I've just cut into the sentiment and arranged the words to fit the tag

I think I need to pause a little ...... what happened to August?!!!!
Not that September is going to be any different ...... so far I've 2 trips to the UK planned.  One's a week of crafty fun, the other a trip to London with hubby.
Hubby's parents are coming over to the island for a visit in-between those trips.  It's Alex's 4th birthday (where has that time gone!) and there's the island's Food and Drink Festival to look forward too ..... always a great weekend!  As well as all the usual stuff.  So ...... another quiet month then!  Bring it on!!

Thanks for popping by ....... see you in September!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

There's not going to be enough hours in the day .....

Happy Sunday morning to you ......

There's lots to do today so I thought I'd get an early start.  It's the last day of the month (again!) and you know me ..... I've still stuff to do!!!

It's been a busy week what with DT work, magazine submissions, getting stuff ready for a workshop  and of course a couple of blog challenges thrown in ...... as well as a trip to the cinema yesterday with the little man (check out the size of that bag of sweets!)

It was his first time watching a movie at the cinema and he loved it!!  (sorry about the quality of the photo ..... no camera, just Lauren's phone!)

What did we see ..... Planes Fire & Rescue of course!

Good old Dusty Crophopper helps save the day.  Even Grandad enjoyed it!

Anyway ..... I mentioned blog challenges, one of which is the fab Christmas card challenge over at Merry Monday.

The challenge this week is to Use a Wreath on our cards ..... I do like a nice wreath (or 2 .... or even 3!) included in the Christmas decorations.  And there's got to be one on the front door ......

Here's this weeks card .....

I've used the pretty Mistletoe Wreath ..... a stencil from Sweet Poppy.
I inked through the stencil using Peeled Paint Distress Ink, then I went back over the design with a translucent texture paste.

I used Ranger's White Enamel Accents for the berries, and added a touch of fine crystal glitter to the leaves.  A pretty satin bow and a festive greeting are the perfect finishing touches.

Well, that's another job off the list.  Just need to get through the other 25 now .... only joking!  That's September I'm looking at!

I will be back here again today ..... fingers crossed!  Yes ... you've guessed it .... there's still 'THE TAG' to do!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your Sunday

See you later! ......

Linda

xx

Finally ..... time to blog!

Happy Thursday,

Don't you just love long weekends!  Don't get me wrong the Bank Holiday was great (last one before Christmas ..... eeekkk!) but, I've spent the rest of the week trying to catch up with everything, and before I know it the weekend is fast approaching again...... and it feels like nothing's been done!!! (sigh)

Before I go any further I'd like to first, welcome my latest followers ..... thank you for joining me, it's nice to have you on board.
And secondly, I want to say a BIG Thank You to everyone for all your lovely comments on last weeks post for the IndigoBlu/ICE Resin Blog Hop.  We had loads of fun over the three days and it looks like you lot enjoyed it as much as we did.  Thanks again for making it a great success.

Ok ........ back to business.  You're not going to believe this but, this was actually made BEFORE lunchtime on Saturday!!!  What!!! I hear you say ........ LindyLou's challenge entry made on the day of the challenge launch ....... can't be!!!   It's true ..... definitely a first (and probably the last!) ......... I just haven't had chance to blog!!

Are you ready for this ....... my entry for this weeks Less is More Challenge - Ta dahhh!!!

It's Sketch week ...... and this is what we had to work from ....

I used the Penny Black Snowy Park stamp, onto acetate (one of my favourites from a few years ago)

Then I added fine crystal glitter to the back using double-sided adhesive sheets.  Mounted the wintery scene onto a piece of white card to make the image really pop and attached it to the front of a 6x6 square card.
Added the sentiment underneath and job's done!

There's even a second version! ..... well, actually this was the first one but it didn't follow the sketch exactly so I changed my mind at the last minute!

Same image stamped onto some 'pearlescent card' this time

I say 'pearlescent card' .... it was actually regular white card spritzed with some IndigoBlu English Cottage Acrylic Paint, in the brand new Snow White colour, mixed with a little water.

This time the sentiment was gilded with gold flake and cut out using one of the Spellbinders Labels dies

And of course, the inside has been decorated too.

Lets see if I can be as quick this weekend shall we ...... you never know, I my just get around to blogging it early too!

Thanks for popping by,  I'm off to the old craft room later this afternoon.  First though, I'm on Grandma duty ..... it's all jigsaws, Disney's best and strawberry milk for now.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ....

Linda

xx

ICE Resin Blog Hop

Good morning! Good morning!

Happy Friday! ...... It's been a busy old week again but it's definitely ending on a high.

I'm so excited, and absolutely thrilled to be part of the ICE Resin/IndigoBlu Quintessentially Christmas Blog Hop.
It's three days (21st - 23rd August) of fun, fab projects and ..... prizes!!!
It all got underway yesterday (Thursday) with some fantastic posts and projects from Jenny and Lisa from the IndigoBlu DT, along with members of the ICE Resin Design Team.
Don't worry if you missed any of the posts from yesterday, there's loads of time to catch up, you'll find all the links you need at the end of this post.

I mentioned there are prizes ......

Each day IndigoBlu will be giving away a standard Starter Kit.  All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to leave a comment on the IB Design Team posts that are part of the hop ..... today it's the lovely Nikki ...... and me!  If you leave comments on both posts, then you have 2 chances to win today ..... easy!

Here's my inspiration piece for you  ...... a card and gift in one!

The background has been created using the brand new IndigoBlu Snowflake Lace stamp along with Sheffield Steel and Chariot of Fire Mega Flakes ..... there's so much detail in this stamp and the flake picks up every inch of it!

I then tore a piece of sheet music down to size, aged it a little around the edges with a touch of Distress Ink and stamped the snowflakes in the corners using an Archival ink.  I then coated it in ICE Resin, both sides, and left it to dry.
I just love how the ICE Resin makes the paper translucent ...... so cool!

Next came the bezel ..... I stamped and flaked the snowflakes again on black card stock, and punched out a circle to fit in the bottom of one of the Rue Romantique bezels.
To stop the ICE Resin soaking into the card I sealed it all, on both sides, with IndigoBlu Slap-It-On before attaching it to the bottom of the bezel.   I added a couple of gemstones to the centres of the snowflakes and then covered with a layer of ICE Resin over the top and left it to dry overnight.
Once it was dry, I placed a metal snowflake charm from my stash, into the bezel and covered it again with the ICE Resin.  As this was drying I added a touch of fine glitter to give a little extra sparkle

How pretty is that!?
I attached a couple of extra charms to the bottom, tied it onto a piece of beautiful Rue Romantique organza ribbon, and added it to the front of my card.

This could be a pendant to go on a necklace, or a handbag charm maybe.  Or, it could just be a beautiful ornament to hang on someone's Christmas tree ......

Hope you like it!

Don't forget the daily Prize Draw ......  all you have to do is leave a comment here to be in with a chance of winning.   There's also prizes up for grabs from the ICE Resin team too ..... check out the details here

Now for that list of all the links you need to complete the blog hop

starting with the ones you may have missed yesterday ......

DAY ONE: Thursday, August 21

Jenny Marples - http://pushingtherightbuttons.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ice-resin-blog-hop.html

Lisa Baker - http://lisabdesignsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ice-resin-blog-hop.html

Kathy Cano Murillo http://www.craftychica.com/category/blog/

Jennifer Cabic http://jennifercabic.blogspot.com/

DAY TWO: Friday, August 22 ..... that's today!

Nikki K - http://fairyelephantdesign.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ice-resin-blog-hop.html

Linda Walmsley - http://lindylou-lifeinthecraftlane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ice-resin-blog-hop.html

Carol La Valley http://wp.me/p1MCno-3st

John Creighton Petersen http://artnewwave.com/?page_id=468

and these will all be live tomorrow, from 8am

DAY THREE: Saturday, August 23

Laura Williams - http://laurawilliamscards.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ice-resin-blog-hop.html

Baerbel Born - http://wp.me/p4nlri-ud
Kay Halliwell-Sutton - http://www.indigoblu.com/blog/?p=6341

Clare Horner - http://gotpaintinmyhair.blogspot.com/2014/08/ice-resin-blog-hop.html

Thanks for popping by ...... happy hopping!!

LindyLou

xx

Do you fancy an Indian Summer ......... ?

Morning all,

Happy Thursday!

It's August 21st ........ that means we have a brand new theme for you over on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog.

Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun last month, and Congratulations to Number 14, which was Christine,  our latest challenge winner.
It was so nice to see you all getting into the Christmas spirit, even though it was only July!

This month the theme is ......

INDIAN SUMMER

It's something we all dream of as Autumn sets in, hoping to hold on to those nice sunny days and warm nights ....... and, it makes me think of all those beautiful colours from summer mixing in with the changing shades of Autumn.

I've used the Butterfly Collector stamp set again ...... it's so pretty.
After colouring a piece of white card stock, using a mix of Distress Inks, I stamped the pretty silhouette grasses across the bottom using a black Versafine ink, and added in some of the butterflies

I then stamped the butterflies again on a separate piece of card, coloured them with Distress Inks and cut them out.  If you're not a fan of fussy cutting then try adding more colour directly to the stamped images using inks, markers or pencils.   Or, another good option would be, instead of adding colour, why not  'bleach' it away by adding water to the butterflies and using a paper towel to remove the Distress ink (like I've done on the background)

I glued my butterflies flat onto the card, but you could use foam pads to add some dimension to your project.

The sentiment is from Grand Tour II, I've stamped it, cut it out with a circle die then used Flitter Glu and Mega Flakes to edge around it, before attaching with foam pads

To finish off I made a co-ordinating border, adding in the Script Background for a bit more interest ...

And carried on the design on the inside ......

Now it's over to you ...... what's your idea of an Indian Summer?

Need more inspiration? ..... then pop over to the challenge blog and see more fabulous ideas from the rest of the Design Team.

Remember ..... all the usual rules apply, and you have until 8pm on September 20th to get your entries in.  Have fun .... and good luck!

Thanks for popping by...... have a great day

Cheerio until next time

LindyLou

xx

Bee happy ......

Happy Tuesday,

It's turning into another busy week ......... lots going on at the moment.

Don't tell anyone will you,  but I'm going AWOL from the old craft room again this afternoon ....... having a little bit of 'me' time and spending it in the company of Ballaugh Crafty Crafters which should be fun.

Before I go though I want to share this weeks card for Less is More.  It's Theme Week this week and it's all about ......

ANIMAL

Anything from the Animal Kingdom will do, but remembering to keep things clean and simple and of course lots of white space.

How did I do? ......

I thought I'd go 'cute' this week ...... it doesn't happen often these days!

It's also a stamp from my NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff!) collection - yeah!!!  I really do need to start using more of this stuff that I keep buying! (ooops .... was that hubby I can hear agreeing with me!)  

These little guys have been in the box for ages ....... how cute are they!!!  They're from the Happy Hoppers range from House Mouse.  The words are by IndigoBlu (Bear Hugs) 

I stamped the image onto white card using Black Versafine ink then coloured in with Distress Inks, mixed with a little water ......

I added a touch of fine glitter to their wings and jobs done!

Soooo cute!! 

I must confess I do keep popping into the local pet store looking at the bunnies.  It all started when I saw a fabulous rabbit hutch .... when I say hutch, I mean beautifully made, swiss chalet style, size of a small garden shed, two storey rabbit home.  It was gorgeous!!  And it would look fab in our garden ..... I just keeping asking myself who would look after him/her while I was off the island?  I think I'll just keep looking ...... for now!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

So excited!!! ........ I'm Guest Designer

A very Merry Monday to you all!

What a great start to the week ....... I'm absolutely thrilled to have been asked to do a Guest Designer Spot (yippee!!) on one of my favourite Blog Challenges ....... Merry Monday.  It's the challenge all about Christmas cards, and getting a good old head start on the festive season.

This week the challenge is to use Black, Gold and Silver on your designs ...... very sophisticated!

Here's my inspiration piece .....  a gilded little number for you using a couple of the brand new festive stamp designs from IndigoBlu ....... Connor's Crown Jewels (oooh err!) and the gorgeous Snowflake Lace.

I stamped the design onto Black card stock, using the IndigoBlu Flitter Glu ..... then carefully added Sheffield Steel Mega Flakes around the edges, and Chariot of Fire to the design in the centre.
I smoothed over the whole of the image using the palm of my hand, to make sure that all of the Flitter Glu was covered with flake, then used a scoochy sponge to take off the excess and really bring out the design ....... just look at the detail

I did the same process again, mixing the silver and the gold flakes, this time using the Snowflake Lace to create a matching border for the bottom of my card

A bit of matting and layering with black and white card stock and a pretty little gemstone gives the card a nice elegant look,

 
and of course  I had to add a little something on the inside .... just to finish off.

Hope you like it.

I've thoroughly enjoyed being part of this weeks challenge .... thank you ladies for having me, it's been a pleasure.

Now it's over to you ..... can't wait to see all of your designs.

Thanks for popping by ...... have a great day.

Cheerio until next time

Linda 

xx

Enjoying a lazy weekend ........ I'd almost forgotten what it's like!

Good morning!

Happy Sunday to you ..... I hope you're enjoying the weekend. I'd like to say a BIG Hello to my latest follower ..... Sid of Harpies Crafty Corner has joined me over the weekend and I just want to say it's nice to have him along.

I had a lovely day yesterday .... doing absolutely nothing!!  OK OK that's not strictly true ...... I did do some stuff, and I did go in the old craft room for a little while.  I only went in to check on how something was doing, and ended up tidying my desk, as there was too much stuff on there ..... and then I went on the internet and ordered more new stash!!!  This is what happens when I'm not that busy ..... I go on the internet and shop (sshhh ... don't tell the other half!)

Speaking of hubby he did take me out for brunch yesterday.  We went to a little place that's not been open very long, down by the quay in Douglas ...... the Little Fish Cafe.  Talk about living the life ..... Eggs Royale and champagne cocktails, on a Saturday lunchtime, watching the boats .... a girl could definitely get used to that!!
Anyway .... enough about food, I have to cook a family roast dinner later.  Roast beef and all the trimmings .... yummeee!

Before all that though, I want to share this weeks Christmas card for the Merry Monday Challenge.
And, on the subject of Merry Monday, I'm thrilled to say that I was chosen as the WINNER! for last weeks challenge - whoo hoo!!  I've had quite a few Honorable Mentions over the weeks but to actually win one, well .....  I'm so proud!!!

This week it's all about pine cones, and greens, and plaid ribbon ......

not my usual festive go to images but ...... here's what I came up with, eventually

It's got pine cones on it, and greenery (both stamps from Sam Poole's Pine Cone Christmas set) and even plaid ribbon (thanks to Carol by the way!)

The large pinecone has been layered, to add some dimension, and I've added a touch of fine crystal glitter ........

And finished off by adding the ribbon tied in a pretty bow

Well, that's Challenge 121 done ....... I wonder what next week will bring ..... hmmm!?!

The 2014 Manx Grand Prix got underway yesterday ..... well sort of.  The roads closed on time for the start of Practice Week, and the first practice race started, but unfortunately it had to be abandoned due to the lack of marshals.
One of the boats sailing to the island was delayed, which meant that there wasn't enough marshals on the course for the race to go ahead!  It all gets underway again on Monday evening ....... the sound of motorbikes and road closures during the next two weeks ..... oh joy!!!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Cheerio until next time

Linda 

xx

One Layer week at Less is More

Happy Friday!

It is Friday isn't it?   Thank goodness ..... that means it weekend!!!!  I'm soooo looking forward to this one .... there's nothing written on the calendar, we've nothing planned, and the old craft room 'to do' list is looking pretty good at the moment (probably shouldn't have said that ..... should I!)
I've got one project to finish today....... oh wait, no two,  then I can close the door and relax until Monday!

Before I get started in there though,  I had a lovely day on Tuesday .... our little group got together again for a day of crafty fun, a good old natter, and of course cake!!!  We don't do anything in particular, we all just take our own stuff and do our own thing .......  we swap ideas, raid each others stash ..... you know what I mean.  This week it was a good opportunity for me to catch up with some blog challenges.

I had to join in at Less is More ...... well, it's One Layer Week again .... yeah!!!  The theme for the challenge is ........

FOLIAGE

What do you think? ......

One layer, still with lots of white space.  I even put a tiny embellishment on there, if you can call it that ..... can you spot it?

This was so simple to do.  I love inking panels onto cards, such a easy technique but gives a really nice effect.

I used masking tape and copier paper to do mine, then inked the background lightly using Peeled Paint Distress ink.

I then placed my leafy stencil over the top (without removing the masking) and inked through using more Distress inks ...... Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw and Aged Mahogany.

Once I was happy with the colours, I carefully removed the stencil, and the masking tape etc.  I then added the words underneath using a dark brown Archival ink

To finish off I placed my stencil back onto the card and inked the design again around the end of the words, to add a bit more interest.

And there's the embellishment ....... a tiny drop of dew on one of the leaves.  Well it's Glossy Accents really but you know the look I'm trying to create.

The more I do one layer cards, the more I love them ..... they're cheaper to post too!!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day, and have a great weekend.  I'll be back at some point with another challenge entry ...... I said I had a good day on Tuesday, very productive!

Oh well, it's time I was in the old craft room .... fingers crossed everything goes according to plan otherwise my relaxing weekend will have to wait!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx