Relax ......

Happy Wednesday .........

I can't believe it's May at the weekend ...... another month has whooshed on by.  

Things are looking good though ....... our little island is moving in the right direction finally,  the 1st of May sees our border restrictions starting to lift (yeah!!)    

Anyhow, I'm just popping in today to play along with the latest challenge at AAA Cards.  It's CAS Game #188 ....... 

As you can see the challenge is ...... a one inch strip (got that!) with an optional twist of using small stamps (didn't really follow that one ...... although the sentiment is a small stamp!!!)

My one inch strip is a little bit of Distress ink blending across the width of my card

I masked off top and bottom and then used a brush to apply the inks, building up the colour gradually and blending the two shades together in the middle.

For a bit more interest I splattered some water over the top, let it sit for a few seconds then mopped up the excess with a paper towel (I never get tired of using this technique with Distress inks, you get different results every time!)

I stamped the dog onto a piece of white card, and water coloured him using Distress Inks 

I fussy cut around the image and used foam pads to attach him to the card ...... he fits perfectly in the one inch strip (if the sun comes out later this will be me ...... relaxing in the garden!)

And here's my small stamp .......... 

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

I'm off to make a start on getting the van ready for the weekend.  As it's a Bank Holiday weekend we're making the most of it and having a few nights away ...... on the island of course  (I'm not brave enough to travel further afield just yet!) 

It's been a while, so all the checklists are out ....... and he needs a wash!  No doubt that will be my job too so, looks like I've got a busy day!  

It's not all bad though, hubby is taking me for a belated birthday treat this evening ........ a meal out at a very nice little Italian restaurant in Douglas.  I think I'll have earned it!!   

Cheerio until next time ........  
 

Products used:

Stamps: Doggone Sweet, Happy Snippets (Penny Black)

Inks: Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Twisted Citron, Tea Dye, Rusty Hinge, Festive Berries; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Low tack masking tape; Water 

A rainbow of colour ........

Happy Wednesday .........

How are you? 

It's all good here at the moment ........ fingers crossed!

Our latest lockdown restrictions were all lifted on Monday (yeah!)  A new exit plan for opening our borders was published yesterday (whoo hoo!!) ....... roll on the end of June!  We've booked a family holiday Staycation, and a long weekend away in the van.  And ..... we're off out this evening for the first time in what feels like FOREVER!!  It's nice to be getting back to normality!  

I say fingers crossed because, I've just heard on the local news that there are new unexplained cases of the virus on the island that have been detected overnight ........ lets hope that further investigation doesn't bring bad news!! 

Anyway, the reason I'm here is  .......... I'm playing along with the CAS Christmas Challenge again ....... sneaking in another festive card before the deadline.

The theme is ...... Rainbow.  Not something I would normally think of for festive designs but ..... it works

Who doesn't love pretty fairy lights, and these would brighten up any Christmas tree!

I stamped and heat embossed the fairy lights onto a piece of white cardstock, and then coloured them using ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers and a waterbrush

I added a touch of fine crystal glitter to each of the bulbs for a little added sparkle,

 and used a silver gel pen and my waterbrush to colour the tops

I used a fancy stitched edge die to add extra detail to the bottom, and trimmed my stamped image to match 

A simple sentiment, stamped underneath and heat embossed, adds the finishing touch.

I've enjoyed creating the rainbow designs for this challenge but, I think I'm still more of a traditional girl when it comes to my festive cards!

Speaking of rainbows, here's a colourful idea for this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

It's not the usual form of paper piecing but I think it would pass.  

I haven't actually stamped an image and paper pieced it, instead I've cut the petals from an old book page and then pieced them together to make my flower ...... could be a daisy, or a sunflower maybe.

I took an old book page and coloured it using various colours of acrylic paints.  

I used my finger to smoosh small patches of colour but you could use a brush ........ I've done a few too many workshops with the lovely Tracy Scott I think, she loves to finger paint!  It's such an easy way of applying colour, and you don't have to be too careful either for this technique. 

I stamped on top of the painted page using a few background stamps to add some more detail and interest ...... another technique picked up from Tracy

I then cut myself a template for the petal shape ...... you could cut your petals freehand if you prefer. 

I concertina folded my painted book page to fit my petal template, drew around it across the width of the paper and then cut out the petals. 

I arranged the petal shapes to form the flower on the edge of a piece of black cardstock.  Once I was happy I glued each one into place, trimming off any excess.

For the centre of the flower I cut a circle from another book page and glued it over the top. 

I added some white gel pen around the edges of the petals to make them stand out,  and finished with a few splatters of white paint

A simple heat embossed sentiment was all it needed on the bottom 

Both challenges close on April 24th so there's still a little time left if you fancy playing along.

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

Cheerio until next time .......
 

Products used:

CAS Christmas card

Stamps: Outline Christmas Bulbs (Simon Says Stamps); Sentiment was a freebie I think

Inks: Versamark ink;

Other: Metallic Platinum Embossing Powder (WOW!); ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers; Quickie Glue Pen; Fine Crystal Glitter, Silver Sparkle Gel Pen; Fancy Stitched Edge die (not sure of the make)

CAS Mix Up card

Stamps: Various background stamps from my stash; Sweet Daisy stamp set (Julie Hickey Designs) - for the sentiment

Inks: Versamark ink;

Other: Old book pages; PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints - various colours; White embossing powder (WOW!); White gel pen

Paper piecing for CAS Mix Up .......

Happy Thursday ........

We've reached the middle of April already ....... time to give you a little reminder about this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge.

I'm hosting this month, and the theme I've chosen is ..... Paper Piecing 

We've had some fabulous entries into the gallery already but there's still plenty of time left if you'd like to play along.

Paper Piecing is a really fun way of adding colour to your stamped images.  Quick to do, and it's a great way of using up all those off cuts of patterned papers that we all have in our stash.

I've been playing with some JOFY stamps recently ...... nice large images, perfect for paper piecing.

I love this pretty floral design, I think there's so many ways you could use this stamp.

Using a black ink, I stamped the image first onto my card blank, again onto a scrap of patterned paper, and also onto an old book page.

I then chose parts of the image to paper piece ........ the large flower from the patterned paper

I used the book page pieces to add some extra detail here and there, and then coloured in the rest of the image using coloured pencils 

Flowers will always work well with the paper piecing technique but, you can paper piece any stamped image.  How cute does this look ......

This set is from the JOFY new release ....... I love her!!

I stamped the background, watercoloured with ZIG markers and then added a few pink and gold splatters.

I stamped the little geisha girl onto a separate piece of white card and fussy cut around her.  

I coloured her hair and face using pencils and paper pieced her little kimono, adding in some detail with coloured gel pens

I even paper pieced her little top knot to match

She was attached with foam pads for dimension, and I finished with one of the sentiments from the stamp set

Just think, this little one could have a whole wardrobe of pretty kimonos ....... it's like playing with paper dolls all over again!

Don't forget to check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for more inspiration ideas from the Design Team, they've all been having fun with this challenge.

Thank you for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.

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

Products used:

Card 1

Stamps: JOFY 96

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Oxide Ink - Seedless preserve (for the sentiment)

Other: Faber Castel Polychromos Pencils; Patterned paper and book pages from my stash; Gem stones

Card 2

Stamps: JOFY 100

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Delicata - Golden Glitz(for the splatter)

Other: Patterned paper from my stash; Faber Castel Polychromos Pencils; IG Clean Color Brush Markers, Coloured Gel Pens

Perfectly CAS Challenge #14 .......

Happy Wednesday ........

I hope you're enjoying your week.  It's been lovely here so far, Spring has finally arrived.  

The BBQ is back in action, the hot tub is up and running .... and the grass is growing!  Guess what I'll be doing later in the week!

It's time now though to get the next Perfectly CAS challenge underway.  It's challenge #14 and the theme this time is ...... WINGS

Before I share some inspiration, a quick reminder about the rules for this challenge.  We've noticed a few entries recently that don't quite fit the bill.  The main requirement for Perfectly CAS is ........ that you only use one third of your card space, or less. 

 

So, what is Clean and Simple (CAS)?   For me it's .........

• one main focal point
• Lots of white space
• minimal layers
• minimal embellishments

Of course one persons idea of CAS can be completely different to the next but, if you stick to using just one third of your card space you can't really go wrong.  Your cards will always be Perfectly CAS.

Check out the grid below ......

Divide your card space into thirds, use just one row/column and leave the other two blank ....... easy!   

Using my MISTI, I stamped the bee not quite in the centre of my card.  

With the card still in my MISTI ....... and I didn't remove the stamp ...... I added a touch of colour to the bee using Prismacolour pencils.  Because I hadn't removed the stamp, or my card, it was easy to re-stamped the image over the top of the pencil crayon, to put all the detail back in again

A tiny sentiment underneath and the card is done!

When using the one third rule, you don't have spend time measuring and getting everything exact ....... if you go over just a little bit that's fine.  

If you see below, my ink splatters have gone outside of my chosen third, but the overall design is still very CAS.  Splattering ink is not always easy to control!  I suppose I could have covered it up but, I didn't ...... oh well! 

You don't always have to use small stamps to create CAS cards ....... my favourite butterfly was a little too big to use in full so, I just stamped it off the edge

Smooshed some Distress Inks over the top and added in the splatters ......

I added a bit more colour with some coloured pencils, and a few gold highlights here and there, before finishing off with my sentiment.

Happy stamping!

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

Our little island is preparing to get back to some sort of normality.

Fingers crossed, we're hoping that from next Monday most, if not all of our current restrictions can be lifted ...... except for the borders I think.  We'll know more tomorrow but,  the kids will all be back at school on Monday ..... thank goodness.  Non-essential shops can open up again ........ yeah! and I believe that the hospitality trade will be back ..... whoo hoo!!   We've already booked a table at our favourite restaurant for Wednesday, so we're hoping for good news!  I'll keep you posted.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:

Card 1

Stamps: Queen Bee Mini (IndigoBlu); Warrior (Tracey Hey) for the sentiment

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Prismacolor pencils 

Card 2

Stamps: Perspective (Tim Holtz); Tiny Words (SSS)

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Ink - Kitsch Flamingo, Cracked Pistachio

Other: Prismacolor pencils;  Gold gel pen

I do love a rainbow .......

Happy weekend .......

I couldn't resist playing along with this months CAS Christmas Challenge, they have such a fun theme going on for April ........

I do love a rainbow but, I must confess I've never thought about using all those colours on a Christmas card .......... but hey! don't they look fab.

This is definitely Merry & Bright!  And it was so easy to do.

I cut myself a simple mask from a piece of copy paper to cover the bottom half of my card.  With this in place I then used various colours of Distress Ink, and the tall triangle aperture stencil from Sweet Poppy, to create the line of rainbow trees.

The stencil is quite a large aperture as a whole, I only used the top part and varied the height slightly as I went along the card ......

I stamped my sentiment underneath in a gold ink .......

and added some sparkle with a touch of fine crystal glitter along the tree line.  

A tiny star on top of one of the trees finishes off the card ......

What a fun theme .... I love it!

I've also got a little more inspiration for April's CAS Mix Up challenge.  I'm hosting this month, and the theme I've chosen is ........  Paper Piecing

This is such a fun technique, especially if you're not a fan of colouring in.  

OK a bit of fussy cutting is required, and I know that's not everyone's favourite thing to do but, if you keep your images simple then cutting them out isn't going to take that long.  And just think of all those bits of patterned papers you can use up!

I like to use old book pages to paper piece, I think the text gives a little more interest to your designs.

I brushed some colour onto my background using Distress Ink ..... I smooshed the colour onto a craft mat first, spritzed with water and then used a paint brush.

To give a bit more interest I added another layer of ink, this time using a piece of acetate to pick up droplets of ink from my craft sheet and then smooshed them onto my card.

I then stamped the single poppy onto the inked background, coloured the stem with a ZIG Marker and paper pieced the head of the flower .....

I used two sentiment stamps to complete the card .... one heat embossed in gold,the other simply stamped in black

Both challenges are open until the 24th of the month so if you fancy playing along with either, or both, of them there's still lots of time.

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

Remember the yacht I told you about sitting in Douglas Bay well, it's still there.  Lauren and I were out and about yesterday ...... we had a little trip to the garden centre now that they're open again, so we decided to drive along the prom and take a look at this boat.

OMG!  it's BIG!!!!

We managed to park somewhere quiet and take a few photos .......

It's really hard to appreciate the size of it as there's nothing else in the bay to compare it to, but trust me, it's huge!  I bet when those sails are up it looks amazing.

It did look nice in the sunshine though .......

It's the Grand National at Aintree this weekend.  I'm not normally a horse racing person but, there's something about the National.   

One of the runners is owned by a guy on the island so it would be rude not to have a flutter now wouldn't it. Trouble is, I can't win an argument never mind a bet on a horse race ..... wish me luck!

Cheerio until next time ......... 

Products used:

CAS Christmas

Stamps: sentiment was from Uniko but I think its now retired 

Inks: Distress Inks - Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Broken China, Cracked Pistachio, Kitsch Flamingo; Delicata - Golden Glitz

Other: Tall Aperture Stencil (Sweet Poppy); Fine Crystal Glitter; Quickie Glue Pen

CAS Mix Up

Stamps: Happy Watercolor (Stampin Up!) for the flower; Sentiment Collection, Heartfelt (Penny Black)

Inks: Distress Ink - Festive Berries; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark

Other: ZIG Clean Color Brush Marker (for the stem); Gold embossing Powder (WOW!)