Guest Designer on the HLS Watercolour Challenge

Happy Tuesday evening to you …….

I'm back in the world of technology .... whoo hoo!!! 

Just in case you’re wondering where I’ve been …… no I haven’t been on some exotic holiday, not even a little trip across to the UK.  The reason I’ve been AWOL is …….. we’ve been moving house!

We’re still not fully sorted in the new place yet, but we’re getting there.

I'm so glad our internet is finally up and running ...... and just in the nick of time too.

It's the start of the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge for the month of March and guess what ........ I’m Guest Designer! 

Thank you so much ladies for inviting me along ..... so happy to be joining in the fun.

The theme is Anything Goes with an optional twist …… and for March that twist is ....... SMOOSH!

I do love a good smoosh …… and for my GD piece I’ve used the acetate smooshing technique .....

I applied some regular Distress Inks directly onto a craft sheet and then spritzed them with a little water.  I say ‘regular Distress’ because guess what’s waiting in my new craft room?  Yep!  The brand new Distress Oxide’s!!!  All 12 colours, plus the re-inkers ….. excited or what!  I need to get the craft room sorted before I can play though!

I used a piece of acetate to pick up some of the colour and then smooshed the ink onto a piece of white card.  This is such a fun technique, and a great way to create colourful backgrounds.  No two will ever be exactly the same.

I repeated the technique a couple of times until I liked the look of the background …….. note, each time I used a different colour of ink I dried off the previous one first,so as not to mix the colours too much.  I didn’t want to end up with a muddy mess!

Once it was all dry I used the HLS Doodled Flowers and stamped the flowers using a Black Versafine ink.

At this point if you wanted more colour on the flowers you could always go in with your Distress Ink and a paintbrush, or even use pens or pencils over the top.   I chose to leave things as they were and let the smooshed background show through.

I drew in the stems by hand with a black fine liner pen and added a few leaves from the Doodled Flowers stamp set …….. they’ve been coloured  using Distress Inks

The sentiment is made up of ……  ‘Happy’ from the Bold Birthday Sentiments stamp set, stamped in a pink Memento ink.  I did use my MISTI for this to get a nice even coverage, and then I added the ‘Birthday’ part from the Butterfly Birthday set, stamped in the black

I couldn’t leave the inside blank now could I ……. 

Acetate smooshed again using the same colours of Distress and finished with another sentiment from HLS Butterfly Birthday set 

Hope you like it. 

Check out the HLS Blog for more fabulous smooshing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.   You’ll also find links on there to some great videos and demos of more smooshing techniques.

Don’t forget, as with all the HLS Challenges there’s a prize up for grabs.  The challenge winner will receive a $15 discount voucher to spend in the HLS store ……. So get smooshing!!

As the old craft room isn’t fully up and running yet at the new house I won’t be joining in with all my regular DT commitments/challenges throughout March (sigh!)  

I'll still be keeping an eye on things though, visiting all the various challenge entries and leaving comments for you lovely people who take the time to join in,  so I won’t miss anything.  

It just gives me time to settle into my new craft room properly and then normal service will resume at the beginning of April ....... I promise.  You'll hear from me again before then though.

As I said we've been busy moving house ..... always fun!  We haven’t moved far, and we’re settling in nicely. We're finally in a place for just hubby and I ..... both kids have flown the nest (again!) and we're back to just the two of us.  It’s quiet, but it's already beginning to look, and feel like home. 

There's still a few things to sort out though .   The telephone and internet finally got connected today (thank goodness!) so that's one thing off the list.  Sky TV hasn’t done their bit yet (good thing we have plenty of Blu-rays to watch) and my mobile phone is out of action ..... talk about feeling cut off!!!  It had a little accident during the move …….. it came into contact with water (ooops!)  So now it’s with the local gadget guy and is hopefully being fixed ….. if not,  guess what my birthday present will be at the weekend ..... yep .... a new phone! 

The new craft room is coming along though .... slowly!  I’m up on the top floor this time, with a sea view.  How much I'll get done up there remains to be seen.  All I've done so far in between the unpacking is drink my coffee and stare out to sea! 

Once it’s all sorted I will share some pictures with you. 

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

 

Cheerio until next time ......

Party Time .........

Happy Thursday .......

Well today's the day ......... we're moving!!
All the furniture is finally going to the new place ..... I can't wait until we're all settled in.
By the time you read this I'm hoping that the bulk of it's done .... and I'm busy unpacking boxes.

 I've got a quick reminder for you of this month's STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge ........

It's Anything Goes ..... anything CAS that is, with the optional colour twist .... HOT PINK!

I've gone all girly today with a collection of pretty party dresses ..... one of the stamps from the STAMPlorations Party Girl

I stamped the first dress in the centre using a pink Memento ink, made a mask and covered the image then stamped the dress again either side, this time with Black Versafine ink

I added in the hangers, from the same stamp set and then coloured the centre dress with Picked Raspberry Distress ink
I added a touch of glitter glue to give it some sparkle ....... well, a party dress always needs a little sparkle I think ....

I then finished off with a couple of sentiments from the STAMPlorations Party Time! ..... one on the outside

and a little something on the inside too .........

Check out more fabulous inspiration for this month's challenge from the rest of the Design Team over on the STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge Blog

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
Hopefully I'm disappearing under a pile of empty boxes by now ..... putting everything back in it's place.  Let's hope nothing's got broken!

Cheerio until next time

Happy Valentine's Day ........

and a happy Tuesday to you ......

Have you been playing along with the STAMPlorations girls and our LOVE TAGplorations event? We've had seven days of tag making fun ... all with a love or Valentine's theme.

It's the final day today and LOVE is definitely in the air ..... well it is Valentine's day after all!
Did your postie bring a sackful of cards this morning? ....... no, neither did mine.  I did get a single red rose though ..... from the waiter in the restaurant last night!!
We're in the middle of moving house so I suppose our Valentine's Day will have to wait!  Mind you after 29 years of being married ..... together for 31, everyday is Valentine's Day!!!

OK ....... that's the lovey dovey stuff over with ...... onto the important bit!
A cute little project for you today using a tag on a card ............

I cut my tag using the CUTplorations Luggage Tag thin metal die ....... and with the die still in place I added a touch of Distress ink to the centre

I then added a few little hearts onto the background using the cute little ARTplorations Hearts All Over mini stencil

I stamped a branch across the bottom of the tag and then added the birds from the STAMPlorations Small Birds set and coloured them using Distress Inks ....... cute little love birds

The words are from  Rosebuds for the With Love 

and A Full Heart for the Happy Valentine's Day

I added a pretty bow to the top of the tag using some vintage seam binding, coloured using the same Distress Inks that I used for the tag and a few dots with a silver gel pen to add a touch of sparkle

I then took a piece of white card, and used the mini Hearts All Over stencil again with some Festive Berries Distress ink to create the background .....

before adding my tag to the middle.

I hope you've enjoyed our TAG event ..... we certainly have.
There's still a little time left to play along ...... commenting and the Linky button are open until the end of today.
Don't forget there's prizes up for grabs.  Full details can be found here on the STAMPlorations blog

And remember ....... if you place an order for any of the STAMPlorations products on the website, use the following code and you'll get 20% off your order ..... go on, treat yourself!

use code .......... STAMPGIRLLINDA

Thanks for popping by ...... have a lovely Valentine's Day.

I'd better get back to the packing ....... why do we have so much stuff!!!

We've not done too badly though over the last few days, everything's nearly done at this end ..... and all the furniture goes on Thursday.  There's quite a bit been unpacked at the other end too .... kitchen stuff mainly and the garage is filling up nicely! My new craft room is a bit of a mess though ........ I can't wait to get in there and get it all sorted. Hopefully it won't take too long.

Cheerio until next time ....

Have you entered the challenge yet .......

Happy Friday .......

It's the weekend again ..... whoo hoo!  and it's time for a little reminder of this month's Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge.

Anything Goes as long as there's actual rubber stamping on your project somewhere ...... easy!

Here's a simple card for you using the Altenew Bamboo Rose stamps ...... they're so pretty and I like that you get the different sizes of blooms in the set.

I've simply stamped some of the blooms onto opposite corners of a piece of white card using Versamark ink, and then heat embossed them with a detail gold embossing powder ......

then used my ZIG Clean Color Brush pens to add the colour.
I wet each individual petal of the flower with a water brush first, then just a quick touch with the ZIG pen to add the colour.  The colour spreads itself through the water giving this pretty shaded effect.

If you don't get the effect you're after first time ..... just add more colour and use a little more water until you get the flowers how you want them .... same with the leaves

A added a few ink splatters onto the background and added in a few sequins here and there for added
sparkle

And then finished off by adding my layered die cut sentiment ......

3 layers cut from black card using the CUTplorations word die, and then layered together to add a touch of dimension.

Check out the Craft Stamper Blog today for more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Our sponsor this month is the fabulous Seven Hills Crafts ...... a super online store bringing you the best craft products from the USA

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

A couple of reminders if you're entering the challenge .........

• include some actual rubber stamping on your project
• keep your blog post to the one project only
• and make sure you include a link back to the Craft Stamper Blog

Some of the challenge entries unfortunately have to be excluded each month because they don't follow the rules. This is such a shame after all the hard work that goes into them.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.
Mine's going to to filled with boxes ..... packing and unpacking.  We're moving most of the small stuff ourselves before the removal men arrive on Thursday next week.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend most of what's in my craft room will have gone along with all the kitchen stuff etc. At least we haven't far to go!

Cheerio until next time ......

LOVE TAGplorations ....... 7 day event

Happy Thursday,

And welcome to the LOVE TAGplorations 7 day Blog Hop event with the STAMPlorations girls.
Yes ..... seven days filled with tag making fun, showcasing lots of Love-themed or Valentine's Day tags.

It's Day 2 today and I'm joining in the fun with a cute little tag for you.  If you missed yesterday's projects don't worry ...... you can catch up here.

I love this set of Nesting Tag Dies ..... I've used the largest one for my tag, cut from Kraft card

I stamped one of the balloons from the Balloons and Banners stamp set  across the bottom of the tag, heat embossed with white detail embossing powder and then added colour using Prismacolor Pencils

I stamped the heart shaped balloon (from the same stamp set) onto the tag, heat embossed in white as before and coloured with the pencils again.

I added a layer of glossy accents to the red balloons .... just look how they shine ......

The edges of the tag have been inked with a little Festive Berries Distress Ink and then I doodled the faux stitching around the edge using a white gel pen

To finish off I added some words (from the STAMPlorations Rosebuds .... from the Bees Knees range) and a few dots of white gel pen here and there ......

You can all join in the fun too ...... hop over to the participating blogs and leave a comment, or why not create a tag and join in through the linky party.

Commenting and linking up is available until February 14th so there's lots of time.
There's prizes up for grabs too ......

- (3) randomly drawn winners from all comments left on the STAMP blog and participating designers blog will each receive a $10 gift certificate to the store

- (1) randomly drawn participant in the Love TAGplorations linky party will receive her choice of stamp set (Pocket Blooms, A Full Heart, or Two of Us)

- (1) randomly drawn participant in the Love TAGplorations linky party will receive her choice of any 2 of the new love-themed dies (Love, Always, XOXO, Forever, You & Me, Clustered Hearts)

- (1) randomly drawn participant in the Love TAGplorations linky party will receive her choice of tag set: Luggage Tags or ATC/Tag Builder

Happy hopping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
We got the keys to our new place this morning .... excited or what!

Cheerio until next time .....

I haven't forgotten my journal .......

Happy Wednesday ......

How's your week going? The sun has been shining but it's a bit on the chilly side over here.  Didn't stop a little trip out though.  I went AWOL today ...... took a break from the packing and had a lovely afternoon catching up over coffee down in the south of the island.  Managed to pick up a few bits for the new house too ..... ooops! more stuff to pack!

There's not a lot going on in the old craft room this week.  I'm just finishing off the last of this months DT projects. Oh ....... and playing around with a few pages in my journal.
Yes, I'm still playing along with Creative Journaling 365 ........ still trying to catch up though.  I'm way behind on the doing something everyday bit!

I have got a couple of finished pages to share ........ these have been on going for a few days, doing a little bit here and there.
Pages 17 & 18 ...... I've been trying out the gorgeous Luscious Pigment Powders from IndigoBlu.
I've had some of these a while just never got around to playing with them, but after watching Kay on the telly I had to give them a go .......

The journal pages had already been painted with acrylic paint and a bit of dry brushing with some white gesso.  I'd stamped and heat embossed the Prima butterfly too, and that was as far as I'd got.

So .... out came a few leaf stamps and I added some foliage around the edges ...... love this vine from Dylusions

And Carabelle Studio ......

Then came the fun part ...... adding colour using the Pigment Powders.  WOW! these are so nice to use, the colours are gorgeous, the coverage is great, and the shine from the mica is just stunning. I used the green on the leaves with a touch of teal ......

I added a few more butterflies to the background ....... stamped and embossed and then added some colour using the Luscious again .......

There's a little bit of stencilling on there too ..... along with some more stamping here and there

And I finished off by adding some gilding flakes here and there for added shine.

Pages 19 & 20 are not quite so busy ........

This was my take on the prompt .... leave some white space.  There's plenty of space although it's not very white!

IndigoBlu again ..... this time the Giant Poppy stamp ..... love this large bloom!
I simply stamped it off the edge of the pages and heat embossed with a detail white embossing powder ......

I then used a red Brusho to add the colour ...... I wet the petals first using a paintbrush and water, carefully sprinkled on the Brusho pigment and then spritzed more water to spread the colour, trying to keep it just on the flower.  I did this a few times, mopping up the excess as I went along until I got the colour I wanted.
Some of the Brusho did go over the rest of the page and when I added some white paint on the top it gave this gorgeous pinky shade

I added a bit more detail by applying some white crackle paste through my favourite brick wall stencil and finished off with some words from Inkylicious

Things are getting a little bit crazy around here now getting ready for the move ...... the boxes are piling up as we speak. There's lists everywhere, and I'm cleaning for England!!
It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years.  But, we're being ruthless (again!) ...... if it hasn't been worn in the last 12 months .... it's going!  If I haven't used it in the last 12 months ..... it's going (that doesn't include anything in the old craft room by the way!)  And all the kids stuff that we're still 'looking after' well that's going as well!  They can look after their own bits and bobs, they've both got their own places now.  This new house is just for hubby and I ..... we hope!

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

Cheerio until next time ........