Day 15 of the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop .....

Happy Tuesday ......

I hope your week is off to a great start .
It's time for a quick reminder of this months STAMPlorations Things with Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties.

The STAMPlorations girls have all got together for a month long celebration of Spring and Things with Wings.

Today its the turn of the TAGplorations team.  To play along here you need to create a project that is a tag or, has a tag/s on it. Don't forget the Things With Wings part either.

I've gone for butterflies today ....... on a simple tag

I cut the tag from smooth watercolour card, using the largest size of the TAGplorations Manila Tags Nesting dies

I then applied various colours of Distress Inks (blues and pink shades) to the back of the ARTplorations Shower of Flutters stencil, spritzed over the ink with water and then laid the stencil, ink side down, onto the tag

I gave the stencil a quick press down using a paper towel ....... this also mops up any excess ink and water ....... and then gently lifted the stencil off the tag, leaving the butterflies in this pretty watercolour effect behind

Once it was dry, I stamped the words over the top using Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink   I left my tag to dry naturally but, you could use a heat tool to speed things up if you don't like waiting 

I also heat embossed the sentiment with a clear powder ..... this makes the ink colour a little more intense.  This fab sentiment is called All Your Heart from the STAMPlorations Say it Big series

A few ink splatters here and there, and a couple of shimmery sequins and a few dots of glitter glue adds some sparkle to the tag ......

And to finish off, I inked around the edges with a little Wilted Violet Distress Oxide and added a bow from ribbon dyed using the same inks I'd used to colour the butterflies.

Hop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more Things With Wings inspiration and all the details on how to play along and join in with the Linky party ..... there's prizes up for grabs!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off back to the craft room, finding room to put my new goodies that came home with me from the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight last weekend.
What a fab day we had ...... we laughed and chatted all day.  It was so nice to catch up with everyone, some I only see once a year at this event!  I even managed to find time to shop ......

Now I need to find time to play with it all.

Cheerio until next time ......

Warmest Wishes ......

Happy Tuesday .......

How is everyone? Staying warm I hope.
It's getting a little chilly again here ...... we're bracing ourselves for a bit of cold snap, according to the weather forecast anyway.  We've got gales and wintry showers to look forward to for the next few days.  We've had the hail sleet and snow already .... and it's freezing out!

It's nice and warm in the craft room though ........ I've got another busy week what with DT stuff, birthday cards (it's Lauren's birthday tomorrow), and all the packing.  It's a good excuse for another clear out I think.

 In between all that lot, it's also time for a little reminder of January's TAGplorations Challenge.

The theme for January is appropriately ......... All about Winter, with the optional twist of using texture paste.

My tag has been cut from plain white cardstock, using the largest die from the CUTplorations Manila Tags Nesting Dies

I then used the ARTplorations Coffee Cup stencil, along with white texture paste, to add the outline of my design.

Whilst the paste was wet I sprinkled fine crystal glitter over the swirls of steam .....

and once the rest of the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil back over the texture paste and added colour to the cup and saucer outline with Distress Ink

I then stamped a little design onto the cup with a cute little snowflake stamp from my stash, and heat embossed in white before adding a wash of the Distress Ink colour to the cup itself, and a touch of brown for the coffee

A few splatters of gold and silver ink onto the background ......

and a little touch of enamel accents onto the coffee adds a bit more texture.

Check out the STAMPlorations blog for the challenge guidelines and details of the prizes on offer. You'll also find lots of fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on there too.

Mmmm ..... I think it's time for a nice hot coffee.

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Merry everything .......

Happy Monday evening .......

It's the 4th day of December and guess what ...... I think I've finished the Christmas shopping! Well, the gifts anyway.
Lauren and I hit the town this morning and I think we're all done ...... with just a couple of little extras.  Everything that was on the list was crossed off by the end of the afternoon plus we picked up a couple of bargains in the 3 for 2 offers! 
I even remembered to buy the wrapping paper.  Guess what I'll be doing later!

First things first though ..... it's time to get this month's Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge started
As always the theme is Anything Goes ...... with an optional twist for December of ....... a Stencil

The gifts may be bought but, I've still got most of my Christmas cards to make so quick and easy, with stunning results is the way to go I think, and stencils are a great way of doing just that.

I love this stag don't you ..... he's a perfect size to make him the focal point on your card with just a simple greeting underneath (my finished card is 7x5 inches).  You don't get much more CAS!

I used white texture paste through the stencil and then sprinkled over with a fine gold glitter ..... love how he sparkles

I added a dot of red glitter glue for his nose and suddenly you've got Rudolph!

A few dots of white Enamel Accents here and there, and a festive sentiment, heat embossed in gold, and we're done

As always the challenge is sponsored by the HLS store, and the winner will receive a $20 Gift Certificate to spend on fabulous craft goodies. Why not join in the festive fun!

As we were out Christmas shopping today and, the festive menu was launching at the Prospect, Lauren and I thought it was only right we should go and check out the delicious festive baguette ......

Hubby joined us too, for a Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings, on a crusty baguette ...... yummee!!  We'll be having one of those again!!

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

Cheerio until next time ......

Pretty pastels .....

Happy Thursday ......

Hope you're having a good week ..... not long until the weekend.

It's time for a little more inspiration for this month's STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge.
The theme is Anything Goes ....... anything Clean And Simple that is ...... and don't forget there's that optional colour twist which you can use.  This month it's all about pretty PASTEL shades ...... blues, pinks, lilac ..... what's your favourite pastel shade?

Here's a very quick and easy, CAS design using the really pretty ARTplorations Happy Flowers stencil (the small version)

I simply blended various shades of Distress inks through the stencil ..... starting with a very light application and building up the colour until I was happy with it ..... Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Mowed Lawn

I added a few splatters of ink to the background and a few dots of glitter glue to add a touch of sparkle ......

And finished off by adding a strip across the bottom stamped with my greeting.  

This is a current favourite of mine ..... using strips of card to add cute little sentiments.  Not only does it make use of all those tiny greeting stamps that don't always get used but ..... it makes use of those off cuts of card that would normally end up in the bin!  You know I don't like to waste anything.

I added more stenciled flowers on the inside too ......

There's still plenty of time to play along with the challenge ........ and there's some great prizes up for grabs.

You can enter up to three CAS cards, and you don't have to use the colour twist.  You don't have to use STAMPlorations products either ..... but it would be great if you did!

The challenge winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to spend in the STAMPlorations store and there's $5 gift certificates for each of the Top Picks.

Don't forget that if you shop for anything in the STAMPlorations store, use the following code at the checkout and receive a 20% discount on your order .......

use code ........ STAMPGIRLLINDA 

Happy stamping!

A quick reminder too ....... we have the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party going on at the moment ..... 25 days celebrating Spring!

Check out the details on the STAMPlorations Blog

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

I'm taking a break this afternoon and doing a spot of retail therapy with Lauren and the little man ..... could prove expensive!!!

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 ....

The ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop ........

Happy Monday folks ........

Not long to go now to the big day, and we're almost ready for it ... whoo hoo!
I've only got a couple of things to do this week then it's time to relax and really get into the festive spirit ...... although after last night I think I might have had enough!!!  Shall we just say The Prospect/Saddle Staff Christmas party was a great night .... I think!

The craft room door is still open .... there's a few little bits to finish off in there before the big clean up at then end of the year.

One of the things on the list is a little more inspiration for the ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop which is still running .....

There's already been lots of gorgeous makes from the STAMPlorations girls ...... loads of ideas on how to make the most of your stencils.

It's DAY 6 today, and I've got a really quick and easy way to create great looking cards for any occasion .....

I seem to have been making Christmas cards forever ..... it was nice to create something with a non-festive theme

This was so easy to make ...... and by changing the colours of ink you use it will look totally different each time.

I taped the ARTplorations Stencil ...... Circular One onto a piece of white card and then used various colours of Distress Inks through the whole design

I removed the stencil, and cut the card to size leaving a small border around the edge.
Then using a silver sparkly gel pen I edged around all the inked parts of the design ..... you could leave the stencil in place to do this, I just found it easier to do it without

A bit of matting and layering with some black and white card frames the design nicely, and to finish off  a simple die cut word from the CUTplorations range

A few dots of white enamel accents here and there adds a little more interest and texture to the card

You've still got time to join in the Blog Hop .... it runs until tomorrow.  If you missed the start, with all the information on the Hop and prize details then just click back to Day One.  There's also a Blog Hop Linky button so you can really join in the fun and share your stencil projects .... go on, we'd love to see them.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and Happy Hopping!
Time for another coffee I think!

Cheerio until next time .......

Fancy a Blog Hop ........

Happy Wednesday .......

And welcome to the ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop with the STAMPlorations girls ......

Seven fun filled days of gorgeous inspiration pieces, all created using the fabulous range of ARTploration stencils from STAMPlorations.

This is just one of the many fabulous designs ...... Peony #2 ..... a gorgeous large bloom that has so many options on how to use it .....

I've simply used it on a background card found in my bit box, and brushed Distress Inks through the stencil ..... Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, and Worn Lipstick .... such a pretty combination

Using the CUTplorations Birthday die, I cut my sentiment from the centre of the stenciled card, and again from plain black cardstock ..... inlaying the black die cut into the stenciled card and then layering the coloured layer. slightly off set, over the top ....... to give a shadow effect

I stamped the 'happy' over the top, using one of the sentiments from STAMPlorations Party Time ...... and then gave the raised die cut a coat of clear Wink of Stella .......

Stencils are so much fun to play with .... use them with inks, paints, texture paste.  Spritz through them, emboss with them .... the choice is all yours.

Check out the main Blog Hop Post on the STAMPlorations Blog for all the details, along with a full list of all the blogs involved.  And don't forget .... the blog hop is running until Dec 20th, so you've got lots of time to join in the fun

Happy stenciling!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
This is actually a scheduled post.   After a busy morning in town, Christmas shopping, and a cheeky gingerbread latte with Lauren, I'm enjoying a birthday lunch with some of my crafty ladies.  I could definitely get used to this!

Cheerio until next time .....