It's all about the texture .....

Happy Friday!

Whoo hoo!!!!  It's the weekend .... thank goodness!  What a busy week! I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend .... as if that's going to happen!!

Just popping in this afternoon, with a quick post for this weeks Less is More challenge ..... time is running out, deadline approaching!!!

It's a Theme Week ....... we have to stick to the usual rules ...... CAS .... lots of white space and this week we also have to .......

ADD SOME TEXTURE

I've  used the gorgeous Stampin Up! embossing folder ..... Softly Falling only I've turned my embossed piece upside down ..... see ... not only for Christmas cards!

The sentiment is from Penny Black .... simply stamped in Rose Bud Memento and then cut into a strip to fit across the bottom of my embossed panel

To finish off I added a couple of die cut flowers (one of my favourite dies if you hadn't already guessed! ..... I do use this A LOT!!)

I've used two layers, one of which was cut from cardstock covered in an old book page for the flower head, and then both layers have been coloured using Distress Inks.

A few dots of sparkly glitter around the sentient inside and we're done!

Speaking of using old book pages that's what I'll be doing along with a group of ladies tomorrow on a craft workshop.  We'll be stamping onto them, using them as backgrounds.  Colouring them, fussy cutting and layering them. Should be a fun day ...... I'd better get in the old craft room and finish off getting everything ready.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a fab weekend.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Barbara's back with new Clarity goodies .......

Happy Wednesday ......

It's the middle of another week ....... and at last, I've got a minute, or two, to blog!
We've had a busy few days .... but what's new! What with the usual weekend stuff, moving furniture for Chris (he's finally got his sofa's in), shopping with hubby ..... for him not me ..... which is always fun!!!
What is it with men and clothes!  It's a case of pop in one store ....... I'm looking for shirts oooh they look fine ...... I'll have these ..... let's go!  No browsing, no trying on. No going back for the first thing you saw after going in every other shop on the high street (not that there's that many in Douglas!!) And there's definitely no stopping for coffee, we have coffee at home!!!! It's much more fun shopping with girls!

I did get a nice meal out on Sunday though (and Friday come to think of it!) We've set ourselves a little challenge ........ to eat somewhere new each month, somewhere we haven't been before.
You know what it's like, you have your favourite restaurants and you always end up going to the same places ..... and more often than not choosing the same thing off the menu.  Well ....... because there's so many nice restaurants on the island it would be a shame not to try them all, so we're giving it a go!!!
It was Castletown's turn at the weekend ..... a place called Leonardo's.  It was lovely ..... nice Italian style food ..... delicious rosemary focaccia bread and yummy desserts (I saved room for one of those!) ..... bit overpriced on the wine but you expect that!  Definitely one to add to the list of places to go.
We need to decide where to go in March now.

Anyway ........ How's your week going?  Good I hope.

It's been all go in the old craft room too.  I've been preparing for a workshop at the weekend which should be fun, and I've also been playing  ooops! ........ working with some new Clarity goodies too.

Yes Barbara is back on our screens on Thursday ....... that's tomorrow! ........ on HOCHANDA (Sky 663/Freeview 39/Freesat817) at 11am, 3pm and again at 5pm.  I think I've got that right but you might want to double check it on the Clarity website or Barbara's Blog

There's some fab new stamps coming up ..... not giving too much away though, you'll have to tune in to the shows ........ or set the record button

There's a great new set of stamps ...... fun words with some fabulous little add on stamps ....... great for creating backgrounds

Perfect for doing quick and easy, fun cards ......

There's a really useful frame in there too!

Puzzled?  I do like a good jigsaw ....... something new to create your artwork on perhaps!

The rest of the DT have been busy too so there'll be lots of inspiration on the shows for you, and of course Barbara will be in action using the new products too.  So ......book your seat or set your Sky Box to record ...... and enjoy!

Thanks for popping by ...... have a great day!
It's back to the old craft room for me ....... more Design Team work to do.  It's Sweet Poppy stencils today .... my first lot of DT samples!!!!  Nervous? ...... Who me? .... You bet I am.  Let's just hope that Mr Mojo is in the mood to play nice.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Reminder for the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge .....

Happy Thursday folks .....

How's your week going?
Last night's poker game got off to a great start for me ..... didn't end too well though! (nothing new there then!) The least said about that game, the better ..... I was not a happy bunny I can tell you!  At least the pizza was good though!!!

Anyhow ..... it's time for a quick reminder about the current STAMPlorations CAS Challenge
The theme is Anything CAS Goes ..... with an optional colour twist this month of .....

RED

You don't have to use the colour twist to enter, and you don't have to use STAMPlorations products on your project ..... although it would be fabulous if you did!!
Check out all the details over on the STAMPlorations CAS challenge blog .... you'll also find more fabulous inspiration pieces on there from the rest of the Design Team.

I've gone with the colour twist on today's inspiration piece ...... lots of red!

I've used my favourite colour of Brusho .... Rose Red for the background.  I simply sprinkled the Brusho powder onto a corner of watercolour card and then spritzed with water ..... aiming from the bottom up if you know what I mean ...... I wanted the look of more colour in the corner spreading out across the card diagonally

Once it was dry, I then stamped one of the blooms from Dee's Artsy Impressions - Blooming Buds stamp set ..... twice onto the card again in that bottom corner, and embossed with a clear powder

I then took a wet paintbrush and a touch more of the Brusho powder and added a bit more colour to the flowers to make them stand out a little more from the background colour.

A sentiment from the same stamp set finishes off the front .....

And a little more of the Brusho and another bloom complete the inside

There's still plenty of time to enter the challenge ....... you can have up to three entries and there's fab prizes for the winners.  Go on ..... give it a go!

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

We've got blue skies and sunshine again over here ..... still a bit chilly though.  Let's hope it stays nice for the weekend.

Something else to look forward too ...... apparently it's only 99 more sleeps (not that I'm counting!!)

until all this starts again .......

the Isle of Man TT 2016

Winners enclosure ...... TT senior Race
 John McGuinness (1) & James Hillier (2)

The good thing is ..... when all that excitement's over, we've got what's now come to be an annual event  ..... our family trip to Bourton-on-the-Water in the lovely Cotswolds.
Now that I am looking forward to!!

Cheerio until next time .....

Linda

xx

Bloom ........

Happy Wednesday!

Whoa!!!! ..... this week is flying by!!!

Time for a bit of fun though with this weeks Less is More Challenge.  It's One Layer Week ..... always a favourite ..... and this time as well as it being one layer, we've also got to .....

INCLUDE A STEM

I've got three on my entry .....

I'm having a bit of tidy up around the old craft room ...... nothing too major just sorting through a bit of stuff .... and actually putting things away.  I'll never find anything again now but hey ho!! At least my desk is clear .... sort of!!

In my big clean up I am finding things I'd forgotten I had .... like this stamp for instance.  An old Penny Black wooden stamp called garden poems ...... how pretty is this and perfect for the challenge.

I simply stamped it in black ink and used my Distress inks to add the colour

A touch of fine glitter adds a bit of sparkle ..... and the word Bloom is from a brand new set of stamps by Emma Godfrey from PaperArtsy (EEG14)

You can see the flowers are on the inside too ..... perfect!  I may just keep this stamp out for a while, I quite like it.

A bit short and sweet from me today ..... I'm dashing out to meet a friend for coffee then I've to get home and get sorted because we're having a poker game at ours tonight .... apparently!!  Hubby dropped that one on me at 8.30 this morning ..... thanks love!!!  At least I don't have to cook ..... they'll all be ordering pizza at some point .... yum!!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Happy Valentine's Day xxxxx

MWAH!

XX

I thought I'd never get this post finished!!!

Happy weekend!

After the excitement of yesterdays news it's time to come back down to earth and get some work done!!

It's time to catch up with the rest of my Clarity samples from last weeks shows.
The Meadow Grasses was one of the gorgeous new sets that launched last weekend ...... my favourite
(although I shouldn't really have favourites!)

We'll start off with a nice simple design ...... I took a background from my stash ..... made by using Distress Inks applied to an acrylic block, spritzed with water and then used the block like a stamp to apply the colour to card ..... gives a nice soft watercolour effect

I cut the card into three pieces and then stamped the pretty bloom onto each piece and embossed using a clear powder

I then added more colour to the flowers using each of the shades of Distress Inks used on the background

To finish off I added a little extra detail to the corners

Next up  ..... Distress Inks again only this time direct from the ink pad onto a piece of white card ......

Spritzed with water to add a bit more detail to the background .......

Then I used some of the stamps from the set to create a little meadow scene across the bottom

I added a bit of detail using a white gel pen and used a couple of stamps from the Clarity Word Chains along with a white embossing powder.

I also added a bit of detail to the backing layer by simply stamping one of the images around the edges of the card and then embossed with a clear powder ..... adds a touch of subtle detail  I think.

As a little extra embellishment I stamped the large blooms onto a piece of white card, added a touch of colour and then fussy cut around them before adding them to the finished card

Another similar design ...... same colours of  Distress for the background and more spritzing .....

This time instead of adding colour to the flowers I took it away ....... using a paint brush and clean water to give the bleached effect

Finally ......  a cute little tag card ....

I used the embossing resist technique ........ Stamped and embossed the flowers using a white detail embossing powder and then applied Distress Inks over the top

Once I was happy with the depth of colour I used a paper towel to rub over the emobssed images and remove any excess ink ...... this really makes the white embossing pop!

A touch of doodling with a white gel pen ......

One of the Word Chains again ....

And a little something on the inside to finish it all off

Phew!!! That took some blogging ..... I started this post at about 11am this morning ...... it's now 5.30 in the evening!!
I've been on a crafty get together all day ..... I did take my laptop with me with the intention of blogging this morning (seeing as I'm out this evening) then I could craft with the rest of them this afternoon.
Yeah ..... didn't happen.  I did start the blog .... then got distracted with Pinterest, online craft shopping, Facebook, helping out with craft projects.  Then it was time for lunch ....... Tried again this afternoon ..... got distracted  with new stamps,  craft magazines  and the toffee pudding and ice cream didn't help .... yum!!
Anyhow I got to the end ...... eventually!!  And .... I've had a fabulous day. Hope you have too.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a lovely Valentine's Day tomorrow ..... mwah!!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Exciting news!!!!

Hi everyone ......

Just a quick post this Friday evening ......... how's your day been by the way?
It's been lovely here in the Isle of Man ....... the sun has been shining, I've got loads done both in the old craft room and around the house.  Even managed to fit in a quick tidy of the garage and got rid of all the rubbish that was in there ......... it was mainly wine bottles but we'll say no more about that!!!
I also managed to find two nice books perfect for a bit of crafty re-cycling.  All in all not a bad way to start the weekend.

The reason I'm here this evening is .......... I'm just bursting to share my news with you .......
I've made it onto the Design Team for the fabulous Sweet Poppy Stencils ...... whoo hoo!!!!!
I'm so excited (can you tell?) and I can't wait to get started.

Here's some of the pieces I've made in the past using Sweet Poppy Stencils ........

I love this design against the Brusho background

Clean and simple ....... classic black and white.

Beautiful floral designs ...... use with inks as well as texture pastes

And don't forget those festive designs for easy, yet stunning Christmas cards.

I'm so looking forward to being part of such a fabulous Design Team .... a little bit nervous but, it's going to be fun!  A new chapter begins.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your weekend.
I'm off to celebrate with a cheeky glass (or two) ..... I knew the garage wouldn't stay bottle free for long ...... CHEERS!!!

Cheerio until next time.

Linda 

xx

A little reminder about the Craft Stamper challenge ...... Text Me

Good morning ...... Happy Friday!

Another week has whooshed by ........ and it's Valentine's weekend ...... the day for LOVVVVE! (yeah right!)  

It's also time to remind you about this month's Craft Stamper Challenge ...... Text Me!

It's a Take a Technique month and we want you to use TEXT on your projects.
When we say 'Text' ....... think backgrounds.  Text or script stamps ....... torn book pages ..... dictionaries ..... pages from magazines.  It can be any language and any style but NO single words please ...... phrases or sentiments don't count!! And don't forget to include some stamping on your project too!

The challenge this month is sponsored by A Sprinkle of Imagination

And the challenge winner (randomly chosen) will receive a £25 gift voucher to spend in the store.

Not only that A Sprinkle of Imagination have kindly offered 10% off all purchases from the shop, for the duration of the challenge, to all blog readers ....... isn't that nice!!
All you have to do is use code CSBlog10% at the checkout when you place an order.   The offer runs from the 5th - 25th of February with  a £5 minimum spend ....... excluding p&p.

Don't forget there's also the Design Winner, chosen by the DT and they will get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine, be invited for a Guest Designer spot on a future challenge and have a Winner's Profile published on the Craft Stamper Blog!  Not bad eh!!

I've got a canvas for you today using torn strips from old book pages added to the background, and I've also stamped onto painted pages, and then cut out my images ......

I painted a small white canvas using PaperArtsy Fresco Finish acrylic paints ...... Mermaid, Guacamole and just a few brush strokes of Candy Floss

These paints are fab to use and they blend so well .....

Next I added a few torn pieces of an old book page to the canvas and then used texture paste through a stencil over the top ..... making sure that I could still see some of the text through

Once that was dry I washed over the top of the paste and the book page using the same paints as before.  I added a bit more water to the paint over the text so that the words still showed through.

Using Ranger's Glue & Seal I glued another book page onto a piece of white card to give it a little bit more strength, and then added some colour to it using the same shades of paint I'd used on the canvas.
I then stamped my flowers, and embossed them with a clear powder.

The stems were stamped directly onto the canvas and again embossed with the clear powder, before adding a touch of colour using the paints again.
Each one of the flowers was then fussy cut and attached onto the canvas.
The words (from JOFY 09) were stamped along 2 of the edges and embossed .....

And to finish off I added some white paint splashes here and there and used a credit card with the paint to add the lines around the edge

The whole thing was mounted onto a larger canvas, which has been painted using the same paints as before ...... Mermaid and a touch of Candy Floss.  And the final little touch was to add another 'text' flower to the bottom

Pop over to the Craft Stamper Blog for more inspiration for this months challenge, then get creating ...... you have to be in it to win it!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely Valentine's weekend

Mwah!!

xx

After a day with my crafty buddies tomorrow, Hubby and I are off out for our romantic Valentine's meal ....... he's taking me to my favourite restaurant.   We're going tomorrow, because would you believe that they're not open on Sunday ....... only in the Isle of Man!!  Never mind I'm sure it'll be fabulous ...... and it does mean that we can look after the little man on Sunday whilst the youngsters go out with their better halves ........ awww young love!!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx