Things with Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party

Hello again .....

I said it was going to be a busy month ..... what with new releases, the usual Blog challenges, a workshop, trip across to the UK for my favourite craft show and of course we've got the Isle of Man TT in a little over 3 weeks.   Get all that over with, and we're off on holiday again!

But first it's time to get this month's Blog challenges underway.
This is going to be fun. We're starting May with the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties
All of the STAMPlorations girls are joining forces for ONE, month long Blog Hop.  That's 31 days of Blog hopping fun, celebrating Spring and Anything with Wings!

Why not join in the fun, it's easy ....... create a winged-themed project and link it up to one, or all of the STAMPlorations challenges.
All the challenges are back to their usual launch dates, it's just we'll all have the same theme .... Things with Wings
The TAGplorations team are getting things started,  and to play along here you need to create a tag, or a project with a tag (or tags) on it somewhere, and don't forget those 'wings'

I put my tag on a card ....... a simple tag, cut from plain white cardstock using the CUTplorations Manila Tag Nesting Dies.
I then coloured the tag using Distress Oxide inks ....... swiped directly onto the tag then blended with a baby wipe, before stamping with the STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves using the same colours of Oxide inks, to create the look of layers.

I added some splatters to the background and used the edge of an old credit card to put a little more detail on there with some lines of white paint

The birds were cut from a snippet of coloured card from my scrap box, using the CUTplorations For the Birds dies  and again from plain white cardstock.

I cut the branch off the coloured version leaving just the birds, and I coloured just the branch on the white one.
I brushed around the edges of the birds with a little Vintage Photo Distress ink to give them a bit more definition, before layering them onto the white die cut, sitting them back on their branch.

The sentiment is from the co-ordinating For the Birds stamp set 

Now it's your turn .... what will you create?
If you link up a project you'll be in with a chance of winning some fab prizes ......

• $15 Gift Certificate for the winner, voted for by the Design Team and
• two randomly chosen winners of a $5 Gift Certificate each.

You can link up as many projects as you like, just remember to follow the rules for each challenge. And make sure that each entry has it's own Blog post. You don't have to use STAMPlorations products by the way ..... but it would be great if you did!

Happy hopping!

We're definitely celebrating Spring here at the moment, the weather has been beautiful for the last few days and we've been making the most of it.  Well we did get some new garden furniture at the weekend so it would have been a shame not to use it ........

It's been BBQ every evening ......... it's great, hubby won't let me near to do any cooking, all I have to do is brush it clean when he's finished ....... pity it doesn't work like that in the kitchen!

I did do this though ........

Spicy bourbon marinated beef rib ..... slow cooked on a low heat. Yum!!!

There's no cooking for me tonight either ....... we're on the leftovers this evening, after a nice G&T in the garden I think ......

Lauren brought us this back from her trip to the Lake District ..... Grasmere Gingerbread (possibly THE best gingerbread in the world!) and a new gin to try ...... cheers!

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

Cheerio until next time ....