This doesn't happen very often ....... 3 for 1!

Good morning ........ Happy Friday folks!

What a busy week it's been ........ nice busy though.  I'm looking forward to a quiet, relaxing weekend .... yeah that's going to happen!

I've got a little reminder for you today of the latest Craft Stamper Challenge ..... are you playing along this month?

Before I share my inspiration piece with you can I just mention the challenge rules ..... there's not that many.
Each month we get some fabulous entries but unfortunately from time to time, some have to be excluded because they don't follow all the challenge rules. It's such a shame when all that work has gone into creating an amazing project for it not to be included in the draw for the prize.

Please make sure you check the following before entering the Craft Stamper Challenge ....

• Make sure your work is new and 100% original ..... CASED projects will not be included
• NO backlinking
• Your entry MUST have actual rubber stamping on there somewhere ...... digital images only don't count
• Only ONE project in your blog post please ..... sets of cards/ATC's etc. do count as more than one project
• A link to the Craft Stamper Blog must be on there
• When adding your entry please link to your actual post NOT just your blog
• You can enter a MAXIMUM of THREE projects but each entry MUST have it's own Blog post

All the challenge guidelines can be found here on the Craft Stamper Blog

OK .... now that's out of the way, here's a little bit of inspiration for you .......

CAS (clean and simple) but so pretty.  I must confess this is my new favourite stamp ..... I love it!!!
It's from Concord & 9th and it's a pretty set called Hello Lovely

I've simply stamped the large floral image onto a piece of white cardstock using Watering Can (a lovely shade of grey) Archival ink

I then coloured in the flowers using my Zig Clean Colour Brush markers (another current favourite) and a water brush.

I stamped part of the sentiment directly onto the white card, again using the grey ink .....

then stamped and embossed in white, the Hello onto a scrap of grey card, cut around it, and added it to the card using foam pads for a touch of dimension

To finish off I added a few splatters of yellow ink around the edges of the design ..... simply scribble some of the ink from the ZIG marker onto a craft sheet, spritz with water and use a paintbrush to splatter onto the card ....... all done!

Well nearly ........ as always there's a little of the design on the inside too .....

I love the yellow and grey colour combination .... it looks so clean and crisp.
Now it's your turn .... can't wait to see you challenge entries  ..... you could be our next winner and get your hands on this month's prize.  This month our sponsor is Imagine Design Create

and there's three fabulous stamp sets up for grabs so get creating!

You might just be thinking I'd actually planned this week's make, to fit in with some fun blog challenges.  OK .... you'd be right!
It's been a while since I joined in the fun but I couldn't resist playing along with this week's Less is More challenge ....... well, it is the lovely Anita's (aka Neet & Crafty) birthday week after all.  Happy Birthday hun .... this one's for YOU! x

It's a Colour Challenge and Anita chose the Yellow and Grey combination .... nice one!

And ...... it also fits in with the latest CAS Watercolour Challenge. As the post title says ....... this doesn't happen very often!!
I haven't played along here for a while either, but seeing as the theme this month is Flowers it fit's in perfectly!

Well that's it from me today ..... thanks for popping by.  Enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend. Ours gets underway this evening with a quick bite to eat out ..... as the weather's nice we're off to The Bridge down on the quay, then it's time to watch the football ...... very important match tonight.
It could turn out to be a great night .... if we win, or ...... not quite as great if we don't!  I'm talking about my boys in blue ....... Chelsea could win the Premiership if we get all three point at West Brom. Fingers crossed!

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

Up in the Air .......

Helloooo, I'm back!

A little later than I'd planned, but I'm here.  

What was I saying yesterday about the sunshine ........ well I should have kept my mouth shut!  It's gone again.  That'll teach me won't it.   At least it's not raining (yet!)

First Blog challenge of the week (might be the only one unless I get a wriggle on!) - Less is More
I am getting earlier with this challenge though, I had this week's done on Monday, just haven't had time to Blog it.

It's week 107 and the theme for this challenge is .....

Up in the Air

Chrissie and Jen want to see aircraft, balloons, rockets etc.  Things that go up in the air.  Here's what I came up with .......

I've used a cute little Happy Hoppers stamp from House Mouse called 'Balloon Journey', and the sentiment is an SU stamp from the Up, Up and Away set.
The little bunny and his balloons have been coloured using watercoloured pencils, and I've layered the balloons to add a bit of dimension.

I've inked the clouds in the background using Tumbled Glass Distress ink and a hand cut mask that I've had for absolutely ages - it's well used! 

It's so simple to do.  I had a comment over on the Indigo Blu DT Blog last week asking how I did this, and I said I would do a 'How To' on here.  I haven't forgotten, I just haven't time to do it yet - watch this space!

Speaking of the Indigo Blu DT Blog (ooh ..... nice link there!).  As it's Wednesday, it's the day for my regular weekly post. 
Kay is back on the telly at the weekend, which means lots of new goodies.  I've been busy making samples this week and I've posted some sneaky peeks if you fancy a look.  Just follow this link. 
If you read the IB blog regularly you'll know that the DT have been hinting about something BIG happening soon on the Blog.  Well the wait is over, tomorrow is the big day - oooh ..... exciting!  All will be revealed.

It's back to the old craft room now.  I have to parcel up all my show samples ready to post in the morning, and then it's time to tidy up the mess.  I can't actually see the floor in places, and seeing as we've got visitors at the end of the week I think I should do something, don't you.

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

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

Here's one I made earlier ......

Morning!
How's your Sunday going?  Hope your's is nicer weather-wise than what we've got here - RAIN, RAIN, and more RAIN!
My day's got off to rather a late start, had a lovely lie-in (well ... it was a little late when I finally snuggled under the duvet last night - or should I say this morning).
I'm the only one up so I'm taking advantage of this quiet time.  There's nothing to rush for today. We were going to go to a special Harvest Time Farmers Market over in Castletown later on, but looking at the weather I don't think we'll bother.  So,  I've got my morning coffee and would you believe a LIM card for this weeks challenge to share with you.
Yes, you read that correctly.   My Less is More entry is DONE!  

It's unheard of for me to have this ready by Sunday (the challenge only comes out on a Saturday morning) but here it is ...

Ok! Ok!  I confess.  It was already done. (I hope that's within the rules)  This is one of my latest Indigo Blu cards and I think it fits the challenge so well.  It's the first proper look at the brand new Christmas stamps too.

It's Week 85 - Theme week, and our theme is to incorporate an OVAL somewhere in the design.

Ta Da!! - one oval used.  There is a little bit more on the design than I normally do for this challenge but I think there's still enough white space there, (I hope there is anyway) and there's not too many embellies, we'll see.

The little winter scene has been done using stamps from the new 'Looks Like Rain, Dear' set by Indigo Blu. This is a fab collection of stamps that has a bit of everything on there.  There's a couple of larger images, a lovely flourish you can use all year round for backgrounds etc., a festive verse from my favourite Christmas story - Twas the Night Before Christmas, and you get lots of little stamps  you can create your own little winter landscapes with or use on their own to make smaller cards, or tags.
For the design I've used a Nestabilities die to cut and emboss my oval.  Then, with the die still in place I've built up my scene using Distress ink and a couple of paper masks to create the moon and the landscape.  The reindeer and the trees are just stamped in black Versafine using first and second generation stamping. A little touch of ultafine glitter has been added to highlight.
The Merry Christmas sentiment is also a new Indigo Blu stamp, and is large enough to use on a card on it's own if you wanted to.  I've inked it up using two colours - Crimson Red and Olympia Green Versafine.  A few gems have been added for the holly berries, and a pretty red satin bow finishes the whole thing off.
I do hope this is not too much for the LIM girls.  It was nice to have a design that fit the bill when the challenge was announced, and not have to rush and squeeze something in on the last minute.  It's another busy week ahead so time is something I'm not going to have a lot of. 
Before all that kicks off though I'm taking a day out of the old craft room, catching up with the usual day to day stuff and I'm going to do some baking.   It's not something that I'm really good at, but I like to keep trying - practice makes perfect and all that!   Unfortunately I didn't inherit my mother's, or my grandmother's baking skills.  I love cooking,  it's just the sweet stuff I have a problem with.  That's not such a bad thing though, I'd be the size of a small house if  I was any good!!  My efforts do always get eaten though, so they can't be that bad, I think it's just me, I'm too critical!

Time I got out of my PJ's I think.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. 

Thanks for popping by.

Linda

x