Wishing you a day of sunshine ........

Happy weekend! .......

And what a fantastic weekend it's going to be.  

I probably shouldn't say this but .... the sun is shining, the skies are blue and the forecast doesn't look too bad for the next few days.  

And guess what!! ...... the Isle of Man TT is back ....... whoo hoo!!!  

 

Tomorrow (Sunday May 29th) the roads will close and the long awaited qualifying sessions will begin around the world famous 37.73 mile mountain course ...... excited or what!!

Things are already getting busy with the ferries full of visitors and motorbikes, and thousands more expected over the coming week.  The island is buzzing and I love it!!!

Our TT fortnight gets underway tomorrow ...... have I mentioned that we're off to The Big Stage @1886 to see Jessie J live ..... looking forward to that!

Before all that though, I've got a little piece of last minute inspiration for this month's Simply Sweet Poppy Stencils Facebook Challenge.

The challenge closes tomorrow so there's still a little bit of time left if you would like to play along.

The theme is Flower Power this month, and Sweet Poppy have a mahoosive collection of pretty floral stencils ......... which one will you choose?

This is the Lazy Daisy stencil .......

A beautiful large daisy head, which could be any colour you like.  I've gone for sunshine yellow and orange shades for my happy little card.

I applied Distress Inks through the stencil, blending the colours with the fabulous Sweet Poppy blending brushes.  These make applying ink sooo easy

I then used a piece of acetate to add the splashes of colour to the background.   

Simply swipe your ink pad onto a craft mat, spritz the ink with water, and then use the acetate to pick up the pools of colour and then lay it down onto your card.  

This technique gives a softer look to your ink splatters and you can control where the splatters go a little more than when you're just splattering the ink with a paint brush.

A little stamped sentiment ......

and a hand doodled frame around the edge, using a black fine liner, to finish it off.

There's a £40 gift voucher to spend on The Sweet Poppy Stencils website for the challenge winner but, you have to be in it to win it!!  Go on ...... get those stencils out.

Thanks for popping by ....... hope you have a great weekend.

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

Supplies:

Stencils:  Lazy Daisy (Sweet Poppy)

Stamps: sentiment from Inkylicious

Inks: Distress Inks -  Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Brushed Cordroy; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Black Finer Liner pen

CAS Mix Up Challenge ........

Happy Tuesday .........

Well, that's January done and dusted ......... welcome to February!

A new month means a new challenge from CAS Mix Up.  

I have to say, February's theme is another first for me ....... I do love a good challenge and I'm alswyas happy to try a new technique!   

Chosen by Susan, our host for this month, the theme is ..... Faux Cloisonne. 

Hmmmm ...... sounds interesting.

If it's all new to you too, then check out the CAS Mix Up Blog.  On there there's a lovely message from Susan explaining a little bit about the technique, and you'll also find links to some great video tutorials too.  I watched them all before I made a start! 

So, according to Wiki, Cloisonne is ....... an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold.

One of the craft worlds ways of achieving this look is to use glossy magazines, or patterned papers, along with gold heat embossing ...... sounds good to me.  

I'm all for recycling although, glossy magazines are not something I buy these days.  The only magazines I have are my journaling/craft mags., and I'm not cutting into those!  

I did however find a copy of one of our motorhome magazines which was perfect.

I stamped and heat embossed my butterflies onto the magazine page ........ being careful not to have the heat tool too hot!

I then fussy cut around the butterflies ...... I do love the finished look.  Ansd what a great, quick and easy way of adding colour to stamped images.

I arranged the butterflies on a piece of navy cardstock and once I was happy with the layout I stamped and heat embossed just butterfly antennae ........ this saves having to fussy cut around them, far to fiddly for me!

I attached the 'cloisonne' pieces over the top, added a sentiment and a few gold ink splatters.

To finish off, I heat embossed the top and bottom edges of the card, using an embossing pen and a ruler to get the straight edge.

I really enjoyed playing with this technique, I hope you give it a try too.

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

Cheerio until next time .......

Supplies:

Stamps: Bigz - Butterfly 2 (Inkylicious); Everlasting Happiness (Altenew) for the sentiment

Inks: Versamark ink; Delicata - Golden Glitz for the splatters

Other: Old magazine page; Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Embossing Pen (WOW!)

A CAS Snowy Lodge ...........

Happy Tuesday evening ........

I hope you're having a nice week.  

Mine's got off to a bit of a slow start after the weekend of Christmas parties.  

We had a great night on Saturday although we did leave early.  It was really nice to catch up with everyone, it was the first big social gathering from hubby's work since the beginning of the year so everyone was there.

Then on Sunday it was Christmas lunch with my crafty ladies ...... always fun when we all get together.

It's been blowing a right old hoolie here all day.  The good news is I didn't have to go out in it and ...... I'm almost finished with the Christmas cards ..... whoo hoo!!

Keeping things clean and simple seems to be my theme this year ......... 

I do like a bit of Kraft card for the festive season, and I love the contrast from the black stamping.

I used my MISTI to stamp the snowy lodge, then with the card still in the stamping platform, I coloured the snow using a white gel pen.

Once this was dry I re-stamped the image again over the top of the white gel pen, to put back any of the detail that I might have been covered up.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment using a fine detail gold embossing powder ......

added a touch of sparkle here and there with some fine crystal glitter ......

and finished with few splatters of white paint onto the background, and a little bit of white ink brushed around the edges, to give a real snowy look ...... brrrrr!

That's a few more done, just need to get them in the post now!

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

I'm off to tidy up this mess just a little bit ...... it's been a snowflake kind of day today, I'll share the results later in the week

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: Winter Lodge (Inkylicious); Big&Bold Slimline Poinsettias (Colorado Craft Company) - sentiment

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark; Distress Ink - Picket Fence

Other: Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); White Gel Pen; Fine Crystal Glitter, White Acrylic Paint (PaperArtsy); 

Seas the Day ........

Happy Saturday ........

It's been another lovely day here.  I even ventured into town this morning, for the first time in ages. Hubby was off to the physio so I tagged along and did a little shopping whilst he was in there.

I've got a little reminder for you about this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

It's a Watercolour challenge this month, hosted by Loll,  and the theme is all about the Beach.
What does that make you think of ...... soft sandy beaches, cool deep blue sea, amazing sunsets maybe or, has it got you dreaming of tropical holidays and delicious cocktails (not having any of those this year ...... the holidays not the cocktails!!)

I found this little beach scene in my stamp stash .....  oh! to be sat there now, dipping my toes in the water.

I stamped the image using a grey ink and then heat embossed with a clear powder. 

I then used Distress Inks and a lot of water to add the colour to the image and the background

I finished with a sentiment on the bottom

and added just a touch of shimmer to the water

There's still plenty of time to play along with this months challenge, and if you need some more inspiration then check out what the rest of the Design Team have come up with on the CAS Mix Up Blog

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

We're staying at home this weekend, catching up on stuff.  And hubby's playing with his latest new toy ....... he's bought himself a drone. 
He's spent all afternoon charging batteries and watching YouTube videos ........ it kept the little man occupied too.  Alex is quite excited about it ..... maybe we'll buy him a smaller one for his birthday next month.

 
Cheerio until next time ........

Products used:
Stamps: Deck Chairs (Inkylicious); Mermaid's Tail (Ellen Hutson - for the sentiment)
Inks: Ranger Dye Ink - Cool Graphite; Distress inks - Salty Ocean, Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Carved Pumpkin, Antique Linen, Tea Dye; Delicata Ink - Silvery Shimmer
Others: Clear embossing powder (WOW!); Clear Wink of Stella pen

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) 

Perfectly CAS (using only one third or less!) Challenge ......

Happy Tuesday .....

It is Tuesday isn't it!?  I'm having real trouble remembering what day it is .... thank goodness it tells me on my mobile phone!!

I hope you all had a good Easter ..... probably not the one you planned but, at least the weather was nice.

It's time for challenge #8 for Perfectly CAS (using only one third ..... or less)

CAS (Clean and Simple) ....... not everyone's cup of tea, and not always that easy to achieve.
It's all about white space, minimum layers and very little in the way of embellishments, and if you stick to the one third or less rule, then you can't really go wrong.

The theme this month is Masking ......

I decided to use a few different stamps, and a bit of clever masking to creatre a pretty layered look

I stamped my sentiment first, followed by the butterflies.  You can see I stamped the butterflies quite close to the words.
Remember ....... when using multiple stamps to create a layered, or collage look, the image that you want on top, or at the front, needs to be stamped FIRST, and then masked.  This makes anything that you stamp over the top, look as though it's underneath once the masks have been removed (hope that makes sense!)

So, I created masks for the butterflies, just from simple Post-It notes. 
Tip ....... when stamping onto Post-It notes make sure that some of the image is stamped with the sticky strip underneath, that way your mask has something to help keep it in place

I masked off the butterflies and also the words ..... again just with a simple Post-It note cut to size.
I then stamped the foliage over the top before removing all the masks

I used ZIG Markers and a water brush to add some colour, and to define the sentiment  I drew along the edge of where the mask had been using a gold marker pen, creating the look that my sentiment was on a seperate piece of card.

I finished off with a few splatters of gold ink on the front, and added a little bit of detail to the inside

I look forward to seeing your designs in the gallery.

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

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Flutters 2, Sentiment stamp (Inkylicioous); Wallpaper Art -foliage (Altenew)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Delicata - Golden Glitz (splatters)
Others: ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers, Gold Metallic Marker pen 

More calendar pages .......

Happy Thursday evening .......

At last ..... time to sit down and blog.
What a busy week it's been, and it's not over yet!  I've got this evening to myself though, hubby's out with work and I'm home alone.  So it's PJ's on,  catch up on some TV, and an early night I think.  There's been enough partying for me this week!!

First though, here's a little look at last weekend's workshop.  We did a couple more calendar pages, playing with simple masking techniques, lots of rubber stamping and a little bit of scene building using the gorgeous Lavinia stamps.

 
Page One ...... easy masking using Post It notes.  I went all floral for one of my designs ...

And Butterflies for the other ......

All coloured using ZIG Markers and a water brush ...... it was a very quiet afternoon at one point!

Page two ....... simple scene building.
I do love Lavinia stamps ..... I don't know why I don't use them more often.

It's so easy to create magical scenes, with a little bit of masking, a few Distress Inks and some of those gorgeous Lavinia fairies

Add in a bit of foliage, some flowers and of course a touch of glitter ......

Change the colours of your inks, and change the season ......

I did a little bit of faux bleaching on my design .....

I think everyone enjoyed their day.

As I said it's been a busy week.  On the craft side, there's been magazine stuff to do, new release samples for Sweet Poppy Stencils, a shopping list to put together for Port Sunlight at the weekend .... it's all go! 

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
Time to put my feet up!

Cheerio until next time .....