Pinch and a punch for the first of the month .......

Happy Friday folks .....

And welcome to July!!!
We're half way through the year!  Yep .... six months done and dusted ...... how did that happen!!?  It won't be long before my Christmas Countdown appears back here on the blog ....... Ho! Ho! Ho! (actually .... it never really went away.  It just got moved to the bottom so you're not seeing it everyday!)

It's a busy month here ..... it's hubby's birthday, our wedding anniversary, and we were hoping to fit in another trip away ..... we'll have to see about that one!

So .... let's get this month started, with a brand new challenge over on the Craft Stamper Blog.
It's the turn of Take a Stamp this month, so that means Anything Goes ...... as long as there's stamping on there of course!

I've been playing with these amazing new stamps ..... Wonky Tonk Girls designed by Craft Stampers very own Tracy Easson and available through WhichCraft?

This little lady is called Francesca and I love her!!

I've simply stamped her with black Versafine ink, coloured her using Distress Inks, fussy cut around her and added her to the front of my oversized tag.

All of the stamps I've used to create the background come on the same set ..... I love the words!

For the background I swiped Distress ink pads across a manila tag .... two shades of green and two blue, and then lightly spritzed with water to blend the colours a little.

I stamped the clouds and the cute little washing line, then using clean water I removed some of the ink from the clouds before adding a little white acrylic paint, to make them pop a little.

Using my MISTI  (yes I'm acutally using it!!) I stamped the words in place.  Then I painted over them with some white Gesso and then once it was dry, using the MISTI again, I stamped the words exactly in the same place ..... love it!!!  The white gesso underneath makes the words pop that little bit more I think

I added a touch of sparkle to her wings .....

and finished off the tag with a bit of matting and layering using a piece of card that's been given the woodgrain effect ...... a neat little technique from Karen Dunbrook .... so easy, you need to give this a go!

And of course every tag needs some ribbons ....

Now it's over to you.

A few rules to remember about the challenge ......

• You can enter up to 3 projects into the challenge ...... just remember each project MUST have it's OWN blog post.  No sharing the post with  projects for other challenges  ....... Unfortunately if this happens your Craft Stamper entry is not taken into account for the prizes ..... which can be a real shame as some have been stunning entries recently
• Also you need to mention the CS Challenge in your blog post and link to the Craft Stamper Blog challenge page.
• Oh .... and when you enter your project please link back to your actual Blog page NOT just your Blog ..... this makes it easier for the DT to comment on your project.

Sorry to go on a bit about the boring stuff but .... when you've put in all the love and hard work to create something fabulous, you don't want it to be disqualified on a technicality .... just saying!

OK this month's challenge ..... our sponsor is the fabulous Calico Craft Parts

And the winner will receive this amazing bundle of laser cut MDF embellishments and shapes all with a nautical theme ..... 3 aperture ATB kits, 4 beach/nautical mini shape sheets, seashell frame ATC blank,  and a nautical shrine kit

NOTE .... if you're this month's winner this is how your prize will come to you ..... flatpacked.  You need to assemble it yourself ..... it's easy though so don't worry.

You'll find more inspiration on the Craft Stamper Blog ........ the DT have been really busy this month, along with all the challenge details

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a fab weekend.
I'm still feeling a little under the weather so it's going to be a quiet one for us I think.

Cheerio until next time