It's a Heilen Coooo .......

Happy Friday ........

I hope you're well, and looking forward to the weekend. Have you got anything nice planned?

We're still enjoying our Scottish motorhome adventure.   

After three lovely nights on the banks of Loch Lomond we left on Wednesday morning and drove to Oban over on the west coast of Scotland.   We then took a ferry across to the Isle of Mull ...... it was a bit breezy, but luckily the waters were very calm.   

We've been staying on a lovely campsite about halfway up the north coast of Mull at a place called Salen Bay.  It's beautiful ...... we're pitched right on the edge overlooking the Sound of Mull.  I'll share some pictures with you later.

There's still time to play along with this month's Sweet Poppy Challenge over on the Simply Sweet Poppy Stencils Facebook Page

There's a whopping £40 voucher for the challenge winner to spend on Sweet Poppy goodies.  And guess what ....... the brand new Christmas release is available from today on pre-order, so it would definitely come in handy for that.

The theme is ......... Just for Him.  We want to see cards perfect for those fabulous men in our lives!

As we're in Scotland, I couldn't resist using this fun Sweet Poppy Stencil ...... Isla - the Highland Cow, or Heilen Coo as they're known around here.

I do love this stencil, and it's perfect for masculine cards.

I used various colours of Distress Oxide ink through the stencil onto a piece of Kraft card. Oxides work so well on coloured cardstock, you just need to build up the depth of colour slowly.

I added a few black ink splatters onto the background, and blended a little ink around the edges of the card

before adding the sentiment on the bottom ........

The challenge is open until the 29th of the month so get those stencils out!  Remember they do have to be Sweet Poppy stencils though.

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

For those of you following our Scottish adventure here's a few pictures from the last couple of days.

We're on Salen Bay Campsite ...... todays view from the front of the van

A little breezy, but the sun is shining!

Yesterday we hopped on a local bus and took a trip up to Tobermory ...... the weather was a bit cloudy and grey but it was lovely and warm.

We had a nice walk around the town, did a bit of shopping, and found a lovely restaurant for lunch ....... 

One of my favourites ....... a delicious seafood pie (yum!)

Then we finished the afternoon off with a trip to the local whisky distillery for a tasting ....... or two

The perfect end to the day was to watch the sunset over the Sound of Mull, with a wee dram .......

Cheers!

We're on the move again tomorrow.  We're on the early morning ferry back to Oban then we're driving up to Loch Ness ...... maybe I'll see Nessie!

Cheerio until next time .....

Supplies

Stencil: Isla - the Highland Cow (Sweet Poppy Stencils)

Stamps: One for the Boys stamp set (Woodware)

Ink: Distress Oxide Inks - Gathered Twigs, Ground Espresso, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, Crackling Campfire; Distress Ink - Black Soot 

Other: Black Fine liner pen for the eyes 

We're in Scotland! .........

Happy Monday! ..........

Hello from bonnie Scotland. 

It's so nice to be back in this stunning part of the world.

We left the Isle of Man on Saturday, on the morning ferry to Heysham.  We then headed north,  and stayed one night on a lovely campsite just outside of Glasgow (Strathclyde Country Park Campsite).

After a leisurely morning yesterday, we set off on our travels again and headed further north up to Loch Lomond.

We're currently on the stunning Luss Campsite, right on the banks of the Loch ...... it's beautiful.  We're literally 10-12 feet from the waters edge ......

Monday morning wasn't bad at all ........ the sun was shining and the loch was so still.  The perfect spot for a morning coffee

We're here for another two nights so fingers crossed the weather holds.

Anyway, enough of all that, the real reason I'm here is I have some cards to share ....... yeah!!! Don't get too excited though, there's only 2, and one of the designs I Case'd from Pinterest

June's Simply Sweet Poppy Stencils Facebook Challenge is well underway, but don't worry, if you fancy playing along there's still plenty of time left, the closing date is not until the 29th of the month.

The theme this month is ...... Just for Him, perfect timing as it was Father's Day yesterday.  Also, the perfect excuse to restock cards for all those 'hard to make for' men in our lives. 

Here's a quick and easy idea using some of the Sweet Poppy aperture stencils .......

I used Distress Inks through the Circle, the Triangle and the Tall Triangle to create this bold, geometric design.

Easy to do, with lots of possible colour combinations ........ use his favourite colours, or his football team colours, or even just your favourite colours. 

The beauty of using Distress is they are so easy to blend, and no matter what colours you choose, they all seem to work well together (speaking of Distress colours, have you seen the new one yet?  Uncharted Mariner ....... what a gorgeous shade of turquoise blue.  Hopefully mine will be waiting for me when I get back home)

I used three colours of Distress Ink through the stencils, overlapping them in the centre of my card

I stamped my sentiment over the top and added co-ordinating self-adhesive enamel dots to each of the stenciled shapes

and finished off with a few white gel pen highlights.

This was the card I case'd from Pinterest .......

Such a fun design I think, really easy to do, and perfect for guys. Just think of all the different 'shirt designs' you could create.

I used the Plaid Backplate from Sweet Poppy Stencils (most guys like a check shirt!), and I used Distress Oxides this time onto kraft cardstock.

I stenciled the plaid design over the whole of a piece of kraft card and then cut the various pieces I needed to create the look of a shirt front ........ the pocket detail

a triangle for the collar, and a strip for the buttons down the front

I added some faux stitching using a white gel pen and added my sentiment on a small triangle of white card and attached it as though it was a hankerchief in the pocket

The  challenge rules are simple and it's open until the 29th, so plenty of time left to enter.

There's a £40 voucher for the winner to spend on Sweet Poppy Stencil goodies but, you have to be in it to win it!  

Happy stenciling!

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

Cheerio until next time .......

Supplies

Stencils: Circle, Triangle & Tall Triangle Aperture stencils; Plaid Backplate (Sweet Poppy Stencils)

Inks: Distress Inks - Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Oxide Inks - Bluprint Sketch, Fired Brick

Stamps: One for the Boys (Woodware)

Other: Self-adhesive enamel dots; white gel pen; small metal button charms

Twofer Card Challenge .......

Happy Thursday ......

We're heading nicely towards the weekend ..... and this time next week, hubby will be nearly home!
 
Today I'm playing along with this month's Twofer Card Challenge ..... two cards, for two occasions, made using the same stamp or die.
The theme for August is ...... Geometric

Hmmmm ....... took me a while, but I got there in the end (just in time too .... I think the challenge closes tomorrow)

I've used a Memory Box die ...... I think it's called Mod Squares Background ..... and yes it is on both cards.
First ..... the female version ......

This beautiful stamp from Unity is one of my current favourites.  Stamped and heat embossed in Rose Gold and then coloured using the new Spun Sugar Distress Oxide before being cut into using the Mod Squares die

I also cut the die again, three times, from white cardstock and then inlaid and layered the various squares back into the stamped image.
I varied the number of layers on each square so that they would be at different heights and add a little more interest and texture to the design

A simple stamped sentiment and a few ink splatters finish it off

Now one for the boys using the same die .....

This was so simple to do ....... I die cut the squares from a piece of black card cut to fit the front of my card blank.  I cut it again from another piece of black card and again from a couple of pieces of designer papers.

I layered up the various squares of card and papers and then inlaid them back into the main piece of card matching up the stripes on the papers ....

An embossed sentiment and few dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops and we're done!

Two cards, two occasions, same die!

I was out yesterday for a lovely afternoon tea.  I met up with some of our crafty group to celebrate Carol's BIG birthday ........ we couldn't let that one slip by now could we!

I can show you her birthday card now .......

Love this image from Stamping Bella ........ coloured with ZIG markers and fussy cut

The sentiment is from SU ....... and is a two parter.   This goes on the outside of the card ....

and I'm sorry, but silly me forgot to take a picture of the inside, which says ......

 ...... Like "WHY did I walk into this room?" 

(it made me smile)

That could actually be me at the moment ..... can't remember anything unless I write it down!!

Happy Birthday Carol ..... remember hun, it's only a number!

I do remember though we arranged another crafty get together at mine at the weekend which should be fun .... looking forward to that. There's going to be birthday cake!

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

The sun has just popped it's head out .... lets hope it dries up all the rain from the monsoon that we had about half an hour ago!  Typical Isle of Man weather,  all the seasons in one day.  There's supposed to be another practice session today for the Manx GP  ..... fingers crossed!

Cheerio until next time .....

Welcome to June ..........

Happy Thursday to you .......

And yes .... it is the 1st of June! (less than two weeks to our holiday .... whoo hoo!!) and guess what ..... the nice weather's disappeared again.
Come on now ...... be fair ..... whoever's got the big yellow thing can you please share it. Just until next weekend ..... we've got a few guys here wanting to race motorbikes over the mountain course (the Isle of Man TT for those of you who don't know what I'm going on about).  They can't do it if the weather's bad ...... sunshine makes it all so much nicer.

Practice was stopped again last night when the mist (sometimes known as Manannan's Cloak) came in.  We were out along the course hoping to catch some of the racing ..... one full lap that was all we got, when everything came to a halt.  The second lap, the riders went out at race speed from the Grandstand but were flagged part way around the course, and then had to be escorted back over the mountain section by the Marshalls.
They were hoping to get another practice session in this evening but, looking at the weather it isn't going to happen.   Oh well .... maybe the sun will come out tomorrow!

Anyway ..... enough of all that (sorry about the song that you're probably singing now too!!!) 
you're probably here to see the launch of this month's STAMPlorations CAS Card challenge ..... well here goes ......

As always the theme is Anything Goes (anything CAS that is!) along with the optional colour twist, which for June is ......

Masculine Colours

Oooh ...... masculine colours ..... always a favourite (not!!).  Although what exactly are masculine colours these days?  I suppose they could be anything ..... depends on the guy you're sending it to!

I've gone for blues and browns, with a little green and red thrown in there.

I love these quirky birds from the Fowl Play stamp set in the Bees Knees range, available from STAMPlorations of course.

Simply stamped onto white card, and coloured using ZIG markers .......

I love these pens, they are so easy to use, and blend really well with a touch of water

As it's going to be Father's Day in the UK while we're away on holiday, I thought I'd better get the cards done early ..... they can get packed in the luggage then!

I die cut the letters using the CUTplorations Uppercase Alphabet Plate Die. I cut each letter twice, from different coloured cardstock, and then layered them on the card to give a little dimension.

For some added interest I used a white gel pen to add some dots to the letters and finished off with a few dots of glitter glue here and there.

There's a few challenge rules to follow ......

• Your design must be CAS
• You don't have to use STAMPlorations products (although it would be great if you did!)
• You can enter with or without using the Colour Twist 
• and ...... you can link up to 3 CAS cards

And as always there's prizes up for grabs ......
$10 Gift Certificate for the challenge winner, and $5 Gift Certificates for the Top Picks.
Full details can be found on the STAMPlorations Blog along with lots more inspiration from the Design Team to get you started.  Happy stamping!

We're taking a little break from the STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge ........ June's challenge will be the last one for a few months ..... sob! sob!
Don't worry, we'll be back on October 5th ...... all refreshed and raring to go again.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm having a bit of a lazy one ..... a day away from the old craft room.  Coffee and a catch up with friends and a spot of retail therapy is just what I needed.

Cheerio until next time ......