It's challenge time at Happy little Stampers ......

Happy Wednesday evening

Or it might already be Thursday if you're popping over here from the Happy Little Stampers Blog!

Well March is definitely making an entrance over here .... we had snow this morning!!!  Not too much here in Douglas, it soon changed to that cold, sleety rain. But in other parts of the island, especially up on the mountain it was a different story .....

pictures courtesy of the Isle of Man Webcams

Enough of the weather ....... Are you ready for a new Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge?  I hope so ..... we've got a fun one this month.
It's all about using  the Faux Mother of Pearl Technique .....

If you're not familiar with this technique or you would like a reminder on how to do it, then pop over to the HLS blog ..... there you'll find links to some fab tutorials, as well as lots more gorgeous inspiration from the rest of the DT.
We also have a fab Guest Designer for the March challenge ...... the lovely Anita (My Papercraft World) is joining in the fun. Please pop over and say HI!

So .... Faux Mother of Pearl ........ a great little technique with different results every time.
You can use it for backgrounds .... stamp on to it, stencil over the top of it, use it with your embossing folders or ...... like I've done today use it to paper piece your stamped images to add colour.

All you need is some cardstock, white pearlescent paint (I used the IndigoBlu's Snow White acrylic paint) and some ink.

Using a piece of scrunched up cellophane, clingfilm or waxed paper works well too,  dab the pearlescent paint onto a piece of white cardstock.  Apply randomly all over the card remembering to leave some white spaces for the ink to colour .... check out the tutorials on the HLS Blog

I then used Distress Inks to add the colour ...... Mustard Seed/Spiced Marmalade/Abandoned Coral and Picked Raspberry.
Polish off any excess colour on the acrylic paint ..... and there you have it ..... Faux Mother of Pearl.

I cut a strip of the coloured card and gave it a fancy edge before attaching it to the front of my card
...... see how the pearlescent paint catches the light ..... pretty!

I then stamped my birdies from the HLS Whimsical Friends above the coloured strip and added a sentiment (Bold Birthday Sentiments)
ooops!  Those birds get everywhere!!

I then stamped the birds again, this time onto the Faux MOP card and embossed them with a clear powder before cutting them out and paper piecing onto my card

I still had a little bit of my MOP card left so I added another of the birds to the inside .....

And finished off by die cutting some matching stars.

The challenge is sponsored as always by the Happy Little Stampers Store

And the challenge winner will receive a voucher for $15 (that's Australian dollars) to spend in the store

Happy stamping folks!

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

At least the snow's gone ..... we've just got rain now .... lots of rain, and wind.  And it's COLD ..... brrrrrrr!!  Luckily I don't have anywhere to go so I can stay cosy and warm in the old craft room. Sounds good to me!

Cheerio until next time

XX

PS ....... I'm also going to enter this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #6.  

So what exactly is NBUS? .... well if you're already familiar with the lovely Darnell you'll know all about NBUS.  If not ..... where have you been!!?  Pop over there now and all will be revealed .... you'll find full details of the challenge,  the theme, the rules ..... the lot!

It's as it says on the button above ..... Never Before Used Schtuff!  Come on .... admit it, we've all got an ever-growing mountain of it ..... so now's the time to use it ..... dig deep girls (and boys), all those forgotten craft purchases are just waiting to be used!

I've just realised that my HLS Whimsical Friends stamp set is a piece of NBUS ...... first time they've seen an ink pad but it probably won't be the last!!  They're so cute!!

I'm hoping to join in the fun again before the closing date (March 10th) ...... I'm sure there must be something else in my stash that's crying out ..... USE ME please!

Have a good evening .......

Linda

xx

It's challenge time again at Happy Little Stampers

Hi folks,

Twice in one day ....... whatever next!  Well actually it's tomorrow already for the Happy Little Stampers Challenge ..... they're in Australia!  I'm always a little confused as to whether I've got the timing right on this one ..... it'll be even worse later in the month because the clocks go back ..... I'll have to do my calculations again!

We've got a fun theme for you this month ....... Paper Piecing

I love this technique ..... it's great for all those of you who don't like colouring in your stamped images too.
Just stamp your image, stamp it again on nice patterned paper, cut out the bits you want to use and paper piece your original image ..... easy!

This month the challenge is sponsored again by the Happy Little Stampers Store

and the winner will receive this fabulous, really useful stamp set ......

So what are you waiting for ........ here's a little bit of inspiration to get you started

I love these little guys and they're perfect for paper piecing.  The stamp is by Clarity and comes with some pretty little flowers which I haven't used here .... and there's also a set of pre-cut masks too which are really useful.

I stamped the image across my card, and then stamped the birds again, this time onto a sheet of patterned paper.
This is a great technique for using up all those scraps of paper that we all horde I mean have.  Go on admit it ..... you have a whole bunch of them that you just can't bring yourself to throw away, just in case you need them!
I found this lovely paper with music notes on which I thought was perfect for the birds .....

It had a whole mix of colour on the one piece so it was easy to get each bird a different shade

I added a touch of colour to the branch with some watercolour pencils and stamped the words underneath ...... they're actually from a set of JOFY stamps but again perfect to go with my birds

I finished off by adding a few ink splatters here and there and of course a little something on the inside ....

This was actually made with someone in mind ...... yes I confess, I forgot a birthday .... shame on me! I'm all forgiven though .... she loved her card (phew!)

Now it's your turn ...... have fun paper piecing.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day.  There's a nice glass of something chilled that's got my name on it I think ....... the weekend starts here!

Cheerio until next time

xx

Just about made the deadline ..... I hope!

Good morning ......... Happy Tuesday!

It's the last day of June and I've managed to squeeze in another entry for this month's Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge.

This month it's all about using Sprays and Mists .......

For today's card I've used sprays in a couple of different ways ....... misting with water, and straight from the bottle!

It's still a CAS design though .... with lots of white space.

I stamped the gorgeous Tim Holtz butterfly onto a piece of white cardstock, just slightly over one edge.  I then stamped the image again, this time onto a piece of card that I'd coloured using Brushos.
If you haven't tried these yet ....... I call them 'little pots of magic' ..... they're pots of highly pigmented ink powders, which can be used in many different ways, one of which is to sprinkle the powder onto cardstock (you only need a tiny amount so they'll last ages!) spritz/mist with clean water, and then watch the colours explode!

The more water you add, the more the colours will spread. Also depending on what type of cardstock you use, you'll get different results.

I fussy cut around the butterfly and then attached it to the card over the top of my stamped image, trimming off the edge to match the card.

I then added a sentiment .......

and then using some co-ordinating Distress Spray Stains (Picked Raspberry & Mustard Seed) I added a few ink splats here and there.
To do this I took the top off the spray bottle and then flicked the ink over the card using the plastic tube attached ..... easy!

A little bit more on the inside .......

along with some nice words ...... and job's done!

If you're VERY quick ...... there's still a little time left to get your entry in before the deadline closes.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
 
I'd better get a move on ......I'm off out for coffee this morning, catching up with a friend.  I don't think she would be impressed if I turned up in my PJ's and slippers, do you?

Cheerio until next time ....

Linda

xx

Sprays and Mists for Happy Little Stampers

Happy Thursday folks!

Another quick post before I close the old craft room door for a few days.  It's not exactly tidy in there but who cares .... there's going to be no-one here to see it!!!  Only one more sleep then we're leaving the island for a week of rest and relaxation.

Before I go I've got a little something for the latest CAS Challenge from Happy Little Stampers.  The theme this month is ......

 Sprays/Mists  

I won't be able to enter next month (shame!) ... seeing as I'm on the DT (whoo hoo!) so here goes .....

Sprays and Mists .... hmmmm ......  not everyone's go to craft stash item but I love them!  and I really should use them more often.  No two pieces will ever turn out the same, and they can be so unpredictable ..... but that's half the fun of using them!!  There must be a knack to them, I just haven't found it yet!

I've used a piece of card from what I call  my 'bit box' ..... we've all got one, a box where we keep all our 'well that didn't turn out quite as I expected' pieces, and you know me, I don't like throwing anything away so mine is getting quite large now.   

So .... I delved deep and came up with this piece of watercolour card that I'd coloured using Brushos and a water spray.

I do love these little pots of magic ...... you never know what you're going to end up with.  

I took a piece of watercolour card, brushed it all over with clean water then added my Brushos ..... Rose Red and Lemon (I think!)

I then spritzed the whole thing with more water and just watched the colours spread.  

I trimmed the piece down to size, edged around it using a Gold pen and then attached it onto a piece of white cardstock.

I added a nice simple die-cut (Prim Poppies from Memory Box) in plain white card ......

and then finished off with a simple sentiment from Penny Black .....

For the inside, I kept it really CAS .... using another of the pretty poppy die cuts ......

and another PB sentiment.

Do you use sprays or mists/ ..... why not enter the challenge.  You can find all the details here.  Go on .... join in the fun.

Well that's about it from me.   Before I go though I'd like to say a big Hello and Welcome to my latest follower ...... the  number's up to 208 now!!!!  Thank you so much ..... all of you ...... for sticking with me, and taking the time to read my ramblings, I do appreciate it you know, and I love reading the comments you leave!  

Oh well ... better go ..... hubby needs help packing his suitcase!!!!  

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx 

Port Sunny here I come .......

Morning!  Happy Weekend!

A bit of an early start for me .... no lie in this weekend!!! I've been up since stupid o'clock but I don't mind though because right about now I should be sat with a coffee (depending on the state of the sea!) on the ferry, with friends (hoping that we're all still awake!) crossing over to Liverpool, on my way to the Happy Stampers Festival at Port Sunlight .... whoo hoo!! (Let's hope we have a good crossing!)

It's been quite a busy week what with one thing and another but, I've made time to play along with some of my favourite challenges.
Today it's the turn of  ........ the Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge  (no relation to the craft show) ....... where we have to use Die Cuts or Punches

I chose Die Cuts for my entry and used one of my favourite dies from Penny Black ......

Nice and simple ...... I stamped the words (one of my favourite Tim stamps) in the centre (ish) of a piece of white cardstock .....

I then cut the die from coloured card ..... twice in green, one pink and one white.

I attached the stems onto the card along side my words, then layered the flower heads over the top.
You can see I've added a touch of shading to the white one using a little Distress ink around the edges.
A touch of glitter to the centers  finishes them off nicely.

I also added a few ink spats to the background for a bit more interest.

Me being not one to waste anything .... I used the leftover waste from my die cut flower as a stencil to decorate the inside of my card .....

A little co-ordinating Distress ink brushed through and you've got a matching flower .....

So simple to do but very effective ..... and it's another way to use all of those dies.

Well hopefully we'll be nearly there now ..... raring to go, looking forward to catching up with friends, and ready to shop!!
If anyone's going along to the show today have a great time, spend loads and if you see me .... say hello!

As this is a scheduled post my link up to the challenge won't actually happen until I get home later tonight .... don't worry I've left myself a note so I won't forget!!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the weekend.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

The move starts now!!!

Happy Monday!

I see someone else has joined us over the weekend .... Hello and Welcome to my latest Follower, it's always nice to see a new face.  Thank you for taking the time to visit.

The Giveaway prize has also been claimed ..... and the goodies will be on their way to the winner later this week.

Well, we have the keys to the new place ........ the move begins now!  We picked them up on Saturday morning and everything's fine ....... the house is just as we remembered it ..... BIG!!!
We spent most of the weekend shopping for more furniture to fill the place, in between packing and moving boxes that is.  Boy do we have some stuff ..... it took all day yesterday just to empty the loft!!

We finally have a sea view too ...... you have to go up to the roof terrace to see it mind, but ..... what a view!  It'll be a great spot for watching the Red Arrows when they come over, which is usually during the TT.  And of course we'll be able to watch the firework displays from up there too.
This was Saturday afternoon's view ........
 

It was a beautiful day, lovely and warm too! It's south facing so it gets the sun all day.
There's power up there as well so ..... I can see quite a few relaxing evenings spent up there, and I can grab a glass of something chilled, plug in the old laptop and blog away in the sunshine!  You'll probably get sick of seeing this view ...... sorry!!!

Anyway, before I get on with more packing this morning I have a little something to share with you for the current Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge. 

This is my second entry in the challenge, and my first attempt at creating the Bokeh effect, which seems to be very on trend at the moment .... see what you think

I randomly coloured a piece of white cardstock using Distress inks ..... I think the colours were Cracked Pistachio (my new favourite colour!), Shaded Lilac, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry. Once the inks were dry, I cut myself some acetate stencils using various sizes of circle punches, and applied white pigment ink through them over the top of the Distress

I let each layer dry before going over the top with the different sizes of circles and I love the result.

I finished off with my sentiment (Kaiserkraft) and added a few dots of crystal glitter for the touch of sparkle!

Well that's it from me I'm afraid ...... possibly for the rest of the week!   
I don't think I'll have much time to spend in the old craft room this week, plus it's looking a bit like a disaster area at the moment, there's stuff everywhere ....... more than usual ..... finding a place to work isn't easy!  So unfortunately no playing along with this week's blog challenges for me (sigh!).  I do still have my tag to do for Tim's 12 Tags so you never know, if I can manage to squeeze in some time to play, you may just hear from me.

Thanks for popping by ..... have a great week whatever you're up to.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx