Welcome to June .......

Happy weekend ........

Welcome to June!   Can you believe we're almost half way through 2023 ....... it's crazy!

I hope you've had a good week.  It's been absolutely glorious here.  We've had beautiful blue skies, and warm sunny days all week, it's been great!! 

Perfect weather for all the islands TT visitors.  

We were up at the Grandstand earlier in the week, to soak up a little bit of the atmosphere ......

grab a cheeky beer, or two, in the Trackside bar .......

and of course, pick up this years stash from the Merchandise tent!

Just need to catch some actual racing now!

Because the sun's been shining I haven't spent any time in the craft room this week ..... naughty of me I know, especially as I should be in there ........... deadlines are approaching!!  Dare I say it ..... Christmas is coming!!!!!  More on all that later.

I have got a little something to share with you though, a journal spread I did before we went away.

This was an online workshop with the lovely JOFY (Jo Firth-Young), started way back in the days of lockdown, and I've only just got around to finishing it (I've actually got a few of those!!)

That's the good thing about the online workshops, once you've signed up to them, the content is always there.  So, if you don't get chance to do them live, you can go back and finish them whenever you like.

I really enjoyed playing around with this, spending a few hours using paints and stencils, and pretty patterned papers, which is something I don't use very often these days (maybe that will all change now!)

creating my little garden of flowers.

 

The flower heads are all hand drawn onto the papers, and then fussy cut and layered together, in true JOFY style, to create these bold, funky styled, blooms ...... love them!

To make them stand out, each one was finished with some penwork, outlining each of the petals and adding little doodled details here and there.

I finished off my pages with some paint splatters and a couple of stamped words and I also added a little ladybug, stamped onto a snippet of card and layered onto one of the leaves ..... so cute!

You can see in the background that some of the stencil work has also been highlighted using a white gel pen ....... small detail but so effective.  Helps to create the look of more layers which is what this workshop was about.

This really was so much fun to do, and what a great way of using up all those pretty patterned papers!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your weekend.

I can just about hear the roar of the bikes ........ time to start the racing!

Cheerio until next time ......

CAS Stencil Challenge Reminder .......

Happy Friday ......

It's time for a quick reminder for the October CAS Stencil Challenge.  There's still time to play along if you fancy joining in.

Loll is our host this month, and the theme is all about using Patterned Papers with your stencils.

We all have stacks of patterned papers, some we just look at and stroke occasionally (please tell me I'm not on my own there!).  We have our favourites that we go to all the time,  and then there's the ones at the bottom of the pile, we don't use them but we can't throw them out.

Well, why not use your stencils over the top and give them a completely different look .......

Here I used a leftover piece of patterned paper that has a vintage script design (not sure of the brand as it was in my bit box). 

I stenciled over the top using Black Archival ink applied with a sponge, building up the depth of colour gradually so that the ink didn't bleed underneath the stencil

I didn't want to cover the patterned paper completely, I quite like the script, so I kept the stencil to one side and off the edge.
I also like how the script shows through the black ink, it's like the design on the paper has acted as a resist

I added a few drops of  glitter glue .....

and finished with a simple, heat embossed sentiment ......

Check out the CAS Stencil Blog for more inspiration using stencils and patterned papers.  The Design Team and our Guest Designer Gundi have some fabulous ideas for you.

Happy stenciling!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until time .......

Products used:
Stencil: Black Orchid stencil (Sweet Poppy Stencils)
Stamps:  Hello stamp  
Inks:  Black Archival ink; Versamark ink
Other: Patterned Paper; Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Nuvo Glitter Drops

TAG time again ......

Happy Tuesday .......

Time for another Blog Challenge....... and guess what ..... it's another tag (I'm having great fun at the moment .... I love tags!) 
It's STAMPlorations this time with the second TAGplorations Challenge
Last month's launch was really popular ..... looks like you all enjoy making tags too, we had some fabulous entries.

This month the theme is All About Gratitude ....... and there's an optional twist ....... Polka Dots

This tag was so easy to do and it uses some of those pretty patterned papers that we all love to collect but never use!

I covered a piece of Kraft card with some pretty polka dot patterned paper and then die cut my tag using the largest die from the CUTplorations Manila Tags Nesting Dies

Blossom Spray #1 was stamped onto white watercolour card and then painted using Distress Inks

I fussy cut around the blooms and attached it to the front of my tag using foam pads for dimension

'Thank You' was stamped and heat embossed in gold across the bottom of the tag ......

and I finished it off by simply stamping the second part onto a snippet of card and cutting it into a banner shape before attaching it underneath ...... (sentiment from the STAMPlorations stamp set  For the Birds)

Check out the Blog for all the challenge details along with more gorgeous Tag inspiration from the rest of the Design Team, and then ........ why not join in the fun.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by again ...... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to make a start on the packing for our weekend away ...... important stuff first, my craft trolley!
Because we're on the ferry with the car, there's no big decisions to be made on what to take with me, and what to leave behind ...... I can take the lot!!!  Well ..... not everything of course, but you know what I mean.

Cheerio until next time ......

Why use one tag when you can use four ......

Happy Monday .....

Brrrr ..... it was a bit chilly here this morning.  Glad we finally switched the heating on last night ...... still can't believe we lasted this long without it!   Could be something to do with me having my own personal summers .... you know what I mean!!!

I hope you all had a good weekend ..... ours was fab! Lots for great food, nice wine, the best company ever and lots of laughs.  I won't go into details but ...... I'm now known as Lola!!!  Don't ask!

It's the start of a new week and it's a short one for me ..... I'm off across to the UK on Thursday (whoo hoo!!)  More about that later though ..... I've still got lots to do before I close the craft room door.

First up this week is ....... November's Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge

As you can see, this month's theme is ..... Tag!

Now you know me I love making tags ..... and I seem to have done quite a few recently, so when I saw this month's theme I decided why stop at one .... why not use lots of tags ...... so here we are with four of them ..... on one card!

The tags all started out the same size ..... approx. 4.5 x 10.5 cm and they were cut from red cardstock, black, kraft card, and a manila tag.
Let's start at the top ..... with the red one

Simply stamped using a grey ink and Black Versafine and a couple of the layers from an Altenew stamp set.

Next up was the Kraft tag ....... covered with patterned paper and then stamped over the top with a gorgeous flourish stamp, heat embossed in white ......

One of my favourite IndigoBlu stamps next .... the gorgeous Jane

Stamped onto the manila tag using Black Versafine ink with a tiny bit of colour added using Zig Markers for the eyes, and Distress Ink for the cheeks and lips.
I then masked off the face before I stamped the script in the background

Last but not least .... the black tag

Stamped with the gorgeous flourish again and heat embossed in gold.

I took some red, black and white inks and splattered a piece of Kraft card

 
The edges were brushed with Aged Mahogany Distress ink, and the sentiment stamped and heat embossed in gold across the bottom

Each of the tags was cut to a different size before attaching them to the card and a little piece of lace knotted on one of the tags adds the finishing touch.

Now it's your turn ....... don't forget, there is a prize for the challenge winner ......  a $20 Gift Certificate to spend in the HLS Store
Happy stamping!!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.
I've been busy in the craft room trying to get through the To Do list. As I said earlier we're off to the UK on Thursday.  Hubby and I are having a few days away ... he's off to spend time with his buddies whilst I'm off the Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat ..... can't wait. 
I am keeping my eye on the weather though ...... we're on the boat!!!  Last week, the sea was like a mill pond everyday.  It's been a little bit on the choppy side today but ......... that can all change by Thursday ......... it could get worse!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a smooth crossing.

Cheerio until next time ......

Where did that week go .........!

Happy Friday folks .....

Boy am I ready for the weekend!  How's your week been?

It's the first Friday of the month so it's time to get the Craft Stamper Challenge underway.

As always the theme is Anything Goes ..... as long as there's actual rubber stamping on your project somewhere.
And please make sure to follow the challenge rules to be in with a chance of winning .... you can find full details on the Craft Stamper Blog.

Our sponsor this month is the fabulous STAMPlorations .....

And the prize for the challenge winner is ....... three (3) sets of fantastic stamps

That's not all ........ for the whole of July when Craft Stamper readers/followers place and order for $15 or more from the STAMPlorations store they can get 20% off all stamps, stencils and dies by using the code CRAFTSTAMPER at the checkout ........ not bad eh!  And, with the recent brand new release there's lots of fabulous goodies to add to your craft stash.

Onto the challenge ...... here's one of those new release stamps .....

Design #1 from the gorgeous new Blossom Spray range ....... how pretty is that!  And I've teamed it with Be You from the Say It Big series.

The new Blossom Sprays are so pretty and can look so different depending on the colours you use.
I've kept my design quite pastel ..... using ZIG Markers with a water brush to colour the flowers

The words, simply stamped in black alongside the spray make quite the statement I think.

I then used one of the CUTplorations Stitched Snow Hills dies to cut across the bottom of my card and then separated the two pieces by adding in a strip of co-ordinating patterned paper to make the whole thing fit on a 7x5 card blank (the gap is about an inch wide, maybe a little more)

To finish off I dotted a few liquid pearls here and there ....

And stamped the blossom spray on the inside ......

Using patterned papers on my cards is something I haven't done for such a long time.
I have loads of them (although not as many as I used to have) ........ gorgeous 12x12 papers, that just sit in boxes.  You know the ones I mean ...... we all have to have them.  We get them out occasionally, look at them, even stroke them now and again, but we just can't bring ourselves to cut into them.  And when we do, we have to hang on to every last little piece just in case we NEED it! Go on ..... admit it, you've got boxes full too!

Well this weekend I'm going to be using some of those papers .... even the small bits! My little crafty group are going to be using patterned papers on their cards.  Paper piecing .... always fun and a great way to add colour ........

Stamping onto the papers to create a pretty collage effect .......

And using them to create beautiful quick and easy cards .... can't wait!

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

It looks like it's going to be a nice day here, the sun is shining.  I've been up since 5 ..... hubby was on an early flight to London this morning.  I made good use of my early start though ..... all the housework is done, even the old craft room is tidy!  I'm off out for coffee later with a friend and no need to rush back now ...... it's going to be a nice day.

Cheerio until next time ......