Home is where the Heart is .......

Good morning ...... and Happy Friday!

Brrrr........ it's a bit chilly out there this morning ...... windy too, but at least we haven't had any snow (yet!)

How was your first week of 2017? .......  I'm ready for the weekend I can tell you. It's been non-stop!

As it's the first Friday of the month, the latest issue of the Craft Stamper magazine hits the newsagents shelves, and it's also time to launch the first Take It Make It Challenge of the new year.

There has been a slight change ..... you know how we used to alternate each month between Take a Stamp and Take a Theme/Technique, well as of this challenge (January) ALL the TIMI challenges will be Take a Stamp.  Every month the theme will be Anything Goes as long as there's some actual rubber stamping on your project somewhere .... easy.

As always we have a challenge sponsor ....... and for January it's Rubber Dance

And the challenge winner will receive this fabulous stamp plate, which is featured on the cover of the latest Craft Stamper magazine (February issue)

Don't forget there's also the Design winner too .... chosen by the DT.  They will get ..... their winning project published in the magazine, an invitation to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge and a Winner's Profile published on the Craft Stamper Blog.  So .... what are you waiting for, get those stamps out!

Your project can be anything you like ..... a card, a journal page, a scrapbook layout.  How about a piece of home decor or a little 3D piece maybe.  Just remember to include some actual rubber stamping on there somewhere ...... no digi's

I've decorated a boring little notebook using JOFY stamps (JOFY29) and one of the WhimsyGirls by our very own Trish Latimer

I rummaged through my paper stash and found a piece of card that luckily fit the front of my notebook .....  with the addition of a piece of black card behind!
I think its a piece of mixed media card that's been coloured using acrylic paints.

Anyhow ..... I stamped the trees and the house (JOFY 29) onto the coloured card and added a little bit of interest to the background by using masks and Distress inks to create hillsides, and also ground the images.

I stamped the house again, this time onto various pieces of previously coloured card and old book pages, from my stash  and then paper pieced onto the main panel .......

This is a great technique if you're not that keen on colouring in your stamped images ..... let the papers do the colouring for you

Love the book page for the roof.
And how cute is that pink front door ......

The little WhimseyGirl was stamped onto white card, fussy cut and coloured with Distress inks before I attached her to the front

I stamped the heart again, added some colour, fussy cut it and then gave it a coat of glossy accents to add some shine

The words are also from JOFY ..... JOFY Mini 42
Simply stamped and heat embossed in white and then coloured in completely with a white gel pen.

You can see I added a few white paint splatters here and there just to finish off.

I love how my notebook has turned out ..... it's not boring anymore, and it's going to get used ... a lot!! You see I made this for a reason ..... very soon it's going to be full of lists and bits of paper, and will be going everywhere with me.
There'll be lists of things to do, lists of things to buy, list of things to get rid of.  List of places to view, telephone numbers, and people to contact.  Colour schemes, measurements etc., etc.
You guessed it ..........we're moving ..... again!  Hopefully sometime around the beginning of March. This place is just too big.  Now that both kids have moved out and the little man, hubby and I are rattling around this place like two peas in a barrel. We don't even go in half of the rooms!
Don't get me wrong I love where we are but ...... we could manage with something a little smaller ..... not to mention the running costs.
But .... we have to find somewhere first ...... it's not going to be easy.  We've started looking (don't you just love Estate Agent websites ..... not!!), viewed a couple already, but ....... it's early days.  No doubt I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks for popping by ........ check out the Craft Stamper Blog for more inspiration for this months challenge and who knows ..... you could be one of the winners.

Enjoy the rest of your day ...... and have a great weekend. Stay warm.

Cheerio until next time