A Happy Hello and Birthday Balloons .......

Happy Friday .......

The weekend is here again!  Although I thought it was Friday yesterday, and then today has felt like Saturday so, my weekend is almost over!
  
It's time to give you a little reminder about this month's CAS challenges.
First up ....... the CAS Mix Up Challenge.

I'm Hosting this month and the theme is Gesso Resist

This is just another fun way using gesso.

If you're still not sure about the technique, check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for links to some really useful videos.

Gesso is great for stamping with, especially when doing the resist technique.  You just have to remember to clean your stamps straight after use .... don't let the gesso dry on there.

I've used an old Penny Black, wooden stamp here. 

I simply put the gesso onto a craft mat, brushed it out to a thin layer and then used it like I would an ink pad to ink up the stamp. 
I then stamped the image randomly over a piece of watercolour cardstock ......

Once the gesso was dry, I spritzed over the top with Distress Ink sprays and let the colours sit for a while.  I then mopped up the excess and the stamped images started to show through.
I repeated the sprays until I got the depth of colour I wanted.

Once that was dry, I used a circle die to make my topper.  I stamped a sentiment, added a touch of pen work using a white gel pen and a few sparkly gems

To add a bit more interest to the card, I used the same floral stamp to add the design to the actual card.

CAS Stencil challenge next ......

This month is all about Layering your stencils ........

Again, if you need to know more, check out the CAS Stencil Blog for links to some great videos

I've gone for a really quick and easy design here, using just one stencil but, layering the balloons over the top of each other .......

I used various colours of Distress Inks, applied through the stencil with blending brushes, across the bottom of my cardblank

I added a simple sentiment above ......

And finished off with a few ink splatters

The CAS Challenges are open until the 24th of the month so there's still lots of time to join in the fun.

Just to let you know that from next month (June) there's going to be a few changes to the CAS Challenges. 
Three of the challenges are coming together to make up a new CAS Mix Up Challenge which will include Mixed Media, Stenciling and Watercolour.  More details will be in June's CAS Mix Up post.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend.

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
CAS Mix Up
Stamps: clique (Penny Black); Happy Mail (Gina K)
Inks: Distress Ink Sprays - Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Catherine Pooler inks - Party Dress, Tiara, Tiki Torch
Others: White Gel Pen; Nesting Circle Die; Clear Gemstones

CAS Stencil
Stencil: Balloon stencil (Uniko)
Stamps: Tiny Words - Birthday (Mama Elephant)
Inks: Distress Inks - various colours: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Gold and Silver Delicata inks for the splatters
Others: Black gel pen

Layered Stenciling for the CAS Stencil Challenge ........

Happy Monday .......

I hope you all had a nice weekend. 
I spent most of mine in my craft room, doing online workshops ...... it was great!!!  However, that does mean that this week I'll have to catch up with all the boring day to day stuff ...... like housework (sigh!) and the ironing ..... I've got nothing to wear!! 

Before I start all that, it's time to get this month's CAS Stencil challenge underway.
Hilary is our host for May, and the theme is  ........ Layered Stenciling

There's many ways of layering stencils, check out the video links on the CAS Stencil Blog for some fabulous ideas and inspiration.

One way is to simply layer two, or more, different stencils, one on top of the other to create interesting backgrounds and focal points.

One of my favourite stencils at the moment is this fab distressed looking stripes ...... I love it!!  I think it's called Watercolour Lines from Funky Fossil.  

It makes a great background, and just think of all the colours you can use!

I used Distress Ink, applied lightly with a blending brush building the colour up gradually

I then used an old Imagination Crafts stencil over the top, with a black ink for a silhouette look

Again, build up the depth of colour gradually.  I like to use a sponge with black ink, and less is definitely more.  

I use very little ink, and I pounce the sponge onto the stencil ...... no swirling!  You don't want the black ink to go underneath your stencil.  Just take your time and you'll get a nice crisp image.

A simple sentiment to finish off .......

and I added a little more interest with some Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Check out how the rest of the Design Team, and Greta our Guest Deisnger this month have been layering their stencils, and then join in the fun!

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

I'm off to enjoy a little bit of the sunshine ........ hubby's putting the BBQ on I think!

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stencils: Watercolour Lines (Funky Fossil); Flower Stencil (Imagination Crafts)
Stamps: kisses & wishes (Penny Black)
Inks: Distress Ink - Stormy Sky, Broken China (I think!); Versafine Clair - Nocturne
Other: Nuvo Crystal Drops

There's still time to play along with this month's CAS Challenges .......

Happy middle of the week ......

We've had another lovely sunny day here, and I've done absolutely nothing!!
I did go into the craft room this morning, put a few things away, moved stuff around a little bit on my desk, and then walked straight back out again ....... it was too nice to be in there.  Instead I grabbed my laptop and Kindle, a bottle of sun cream and headed outside.  It's been lovely catching up on emails, watching some FaceBook Live craft videos, and just enjoying this nice weather.  Might even go in the hot tub later!

First, I have got a quick reminder for you, about a couple of this month's CAS Challenges.
We like to give you a few more ideas mid way through the challenges just incase you need a little bit of inspiration.

First up ..... the CAS Mix Up Challenge, where the theme this month is Bleaching

Don't forget to check out the links on the CAS Mix Up blog to some useful videos on using this fun technique.

You might think using bleach on your cards is not for you.  I know I'm not that keen on the smell, and even though you can get odourless ones these days there are other ways of achieving the same look.
I like to use plain old water, and Distress Inks, it works a treat. 

I stamped the flowers across the centre of a piece of white cardstock, heat embossed the image in gold, and then blended Distress Ink over the top.

Using a paintbrush and some clean water, I 'bleached' out the colour from the leaves.
I simply painted the water onto the leaves and then mopped it away with a piece of paper towel removing the Distress Ink too.  The more water you apply, the more colour you will remove

Once it was dry I fussy cut around the bottom edge and then attached it to the top the front of a card blank, leaving white space at the bottom to show off the fussy cut edge

I stamped a sentiment on there and finished off with a few sparkly gems

Next up .... the CAS Stencil Challenge
This month the theme is Gilding Flakes. Not a product known for using with stencils but, they work.

I've gone for a 'less is more' approach on this design with just a touch of gilding flakes on the stenciled detail in the background.

I smooshed a little Distress Ink onto the centre of a white cardblank using a piece of acetate, and then stenciled over the top with some texture paste.

Once this was dry I placed the stencil back over the paste and used my finger to apply a little bit of glue to the surface ...... not too much, and I wasn't that careful about applying it as I wanted a sort of grungy look, I didn't want to completely cover the texture paste.

I removed the stencil and then applied the Gilding Flakes.  A gentle rub over to make sure they had covered all the glue, then I took a sponge and rubbed away any excess

I stamped the butterfly onto a piece of mop up card and added a touch more colour to it using some coloured pencils before fussy cutting around the edge

He was attached onto the card, and I finished with a sentiment

 I think we could all do with some happy thoughts right now!

There's still plenty of time to get your entries in for all the CAS Challenges, and if you need more inspiration then check out what the rest of the Design Teams have been up to.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to create something in the kitchen now, not quite sure what yet.  I'm thinking a chilli maybe with a nice bottle of Malbec.  Well it is World Malbec Day on Friday this week ..... we've already booked our special menu for Friday night, freshly prepared and delivered from our little place in town ...... looking forward to that.

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

Products used:

CAS Mix Up
Stamps: Precious Peony (Altenew); Special Sentiments (Penny Black) 
Inks: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry; Versamark Ink; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
Other: Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Clear Glitter Gems

CAS Stencil
Stamps: Flutters 2 (Inkylicious); Happy Thoughts (Penny Black sentiment)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry
Other: Tim Holtz Stencil - Stripes; Texture Paste (Ranger); Flitter Glu, Gilding Flakes (IndigoBlu) 

CAS Stencil Challenge ......

Happy Saturday to you ........

I hope you're having a good day.

It's time for another Blog Challenge.   Are stencils your thing?  Fancy doing something a little bit different with them?  How about joining in the fun on the CAS Stencil Challenge. 
We've got a great prompt for you this month .........

Cathy's  our Host for the April challenge,  and she wants us to use ........ Gilding Flakes

Possibly not the first thing you think of when using your stencils but ..... they do work so well.
If you're not familiar with using Gilding Flakes then check out the CAS Stencil Blog.  On there you'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team, and our fab Guest Designer this month ...... Mac (The Sweetest of Peas).  There's also some links on there to some fab videos to give you some ideas on using gilding flakes.

I've used Gilding Flakes to add a touch of shimmer and shine to the background, using one of my favourite stencils ..... I do love this honeycomb design.

I started by using the stencil with Distress Ink directly onto my card.
I then took a piece of Cut n Dry foam and applied a light touch of glue, over the ink, through parts of the stencil ....... remember if you're using any kind of glue through your stencils clean them thoroughly asap after use.

I placed my Gilding Flakes onto the sticky surface, rubbed over the top with the flat of my hand to make sure I'd covered everything and then gently rubbed over the flakes using a sponge to take away the excess and bring out all the detail of the stencil again.

I stamped the pretty sunflower onto a seperate piece of cardstock and heat embossed the image with a clear powder.
I coloured it using Distress Inks, and fussy cut.

 I stamped the bee and my sentiment onto the card ......

The sunflower was added using foam pads to give a bit of dimension, a bit of colour onto the bee, and I finished off with a touch of shimmer on his wings ......

I'd forgotten how much fun Gilding Flakes can be ..... enjoy!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your weekend.
I've got another night off from cooking this evening ....... we're having a little treat (again!)
A lot of the restaurants on the island have had to rethink ways of keeping their business going during this crazy time.  A lot of them, our favourite little place (Wine Down) included, have been offering take aways and delivery service for food, and wine.
Wine Down have also been doing their special menus ..... week before last was Greek week, which was delicious.  Last night we had a special Lebanese menu, which was amazing!  And when we saw the menu for this evening we couldn't resist so, we've ordered in again!
We've got Beef Wellington tonight.  It's all arrived, beautifully prepared, with full instructions on how to cook it and all I have to do is put the oven on and open the wine ....... sounds good to me.

Stay safe everyone ......... cheerio until next time

Products used:
Stencil: Texture Honeycomb stencil (MemoryBox)
Stamps: Sunflower Bee (Julie Hickey Designs; Bee Happy Clear Stamps (Uniko)
Inks: Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Scattered Straw, Tea Dye; Versafine Clair - Nocturne;
Other: Clear Embossing Powder (WOW!); Chariot of Fire Gilding Flakes, Flitter Glue, Scoochy Sponge (IndigoBlu); Yellow Watercolour pencil; Wink of Stella pen

A quick reminder for this month's CAS Challenges ........

Happy Sunday .......

It's been a busy weekend for blog posts.

Time to remind you about this month's CAS Challenges ...... first up CAS Mix Up .
March is a special month for us ..... we're celebrating our 4th Birthday ..... whoo hoo!

To mark the occasion there's prizes to give away ........

a $25 Simon Says Stamp Gift Certifiate for the Challenge Winner

and ....  a $25 Simon Says Stamp Gift Certificate for one random draw from all the entries

(you must follow the challenge rules to be eligible for the prizes)

Our host this month is the lovely Jenny and the theme she's chosen is ........ Acrylic Paint

We all have them ..... we don't always use them though, especially for card making.  But, all those bottles and tubes or tubs of pretty coloured paints can give amazing results and effects.
Still not convinced ...... then check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for links to some really useful videos full of tips and techniques.

I've used my acrylic paints to add colour to the flowers on this design .......

The piece was originally done for one of my workshops where we were using a faux bleaching effect.

The background was coloured using Distress Ink applied directly from the ink pad onto the card and then swiped across using a wet wipe

Once the ink was dry, I stamped and heart embossed the flower bouquet using a white embossing powder.  Then with a water brush and a paper towel I 'bleached' out the colour from the stamped image.  Simply paint with water over the flowers and leaves and then dab away the colour with a paper towel.  This removes the colour from the image allowing you to paint over the top with pencils, or markers, or in this case acrylic paints

I used opaque Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics from PaperArtsy and mixed them with a little water to make them easier to paint with.

I added a simple stamped sentiment to finish.


Are stencils your thing?  Then how about playing along with the CAS Stencil Challenge .....

This month's theme is all about using your stencils with Heat Embossing

I've simply used Versamark ink through my stencil design ....... applied using a sponge ....... and then sprinkled gold and silver embossing powders over the top and heated in the usual way.

If you wanted a little more dimension to your stencil design, use stencil paste instead of the Versamark, sprinkle with embossing powder whilst the paste is wet, and leave to dry.  Heat the embossing powder once the paste is dry.  This also creates a little more texture too.

I die cut the word star from three snippets of card, layered two of them together and covered the third with Versamark ink and used the embossing powders again.  I did this a couple of times, to create a thicker embossed layer

I attached the embossed word on top of the others and then inlaid it into the stenciled panel.
Finished of the sentiment with a little stamping.

Another fun way of using your stencils.

See you in the gallery!

Thanks for popping by ........ enjoy the rest of your weekend.
We've got the family coming round later ..... don't think they're here to see us, they want to check out the new motorhome I think!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

CAS Mix Up
Stamps: Hello Lovely (Concord & 9th); Simply Said Blocks (Uniko); Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamp)
Inks: Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry (background colour); Versamark;
Acrylic Paint: Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic - Wisteria, Lavender, Magic Moss, Granny Smith, Lemon Meringue (PaperArtsy)
Other: White Embossing Powder (WOW!);

CAS Stencil
Stamps: Written in the Stars (MFT)
Stencils: Shooting Stars - Funky Fossil
Inks: Versamark, 
Other: Gold & Silver Embossing Powders (WOW!); Shining Stars Die (MFT)

Birthday Fishes for the CAS Stencil Challenge .......

Happy Wednesday .....

Guess what ..... have I mentioned it's my birthday tomorrow!!!
I'm 29 ..... again, and again, and again. In fact I'm 29 again for the 29th time (hubby worked that one out!!)

Anyway, enough about my birthday ...... it's time to get this month's CAS Stencil challenge underway.
Viv is our host for March, and the theme is ..... Heat Embossing

This is another fun way of using your stencils.
We've all sponged inks and paints through our stencils,  applied some texture paste perhaps. Well, how about trying some heat embossing.  Use your stencils instead of stamps ........ apply Versamark or an embossing ink through the design, sprinkle on some embossing powder and heat in the normal way ..... easy!

Use your coloured inks too, all you need is your ink to stay wet long enough for you to get the embossing powder on the top.
I've used Distress Oxide inks on the above design.  These inks do tend to stay wet for a little while so if you're quick enough you can sprinkle your embossing powder over the top and then heat in the usual way.
Regular Distress Inks also work, Versafine and Versafine Clairs work well too, and I'm sure there's lots more brands that you could use,  just play around with the inks you have.

My background is a mop up piece from my stash ....... I think its just Distress Ink on plain white cardstock, nothing fancy.
I then used a Funky Fossil stencil and applied Distress Oxide Inks through the design

I quickly sprinkled sparkly embossing powders over the top and heat embossed .....

It looks so pretty when the light catches the fish .....

I added a sentiment, and finished off with a few dots of Nuvo Drops to look like bubbles

Need more inspiration?  Then pop over to the CAS Stencil Blog for more fun ideas from the rest of the Design Team and, our lovely Guest Designer ..... Cat (Cat Luvs Paper) who's joining in the fun this month.   You'll also find some useful video links on there too.

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

Not sure if I'm looking forward to tomorrow or not ....... we're out in the evening which will be nice but, I have an appointment at the hospital in the morning.  A simple routine check for a woman of a certain age ....... yes it's time for a mammogram ..... Happy Birthday Me!!

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stencils: Shoal of Fish (Funky Fossil)
Stamps: Gill Friends (MFT) - for the sentiment
Inks: Distress Oxide Inks - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Twisted Citron; Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass (background); Versafine Clair - Warm Breeze (sentiment)
Other: WOW! Embossing Powers - Under the Sea, Glacier, Golden Pine; Nuvo Drops - Sea Breeze