Leave a little sparkle .........

Happy Sunday evening .......

I hope you've had a nice weekend.

It's time to launch the latest Perfectly CAS Challenge.  You know the one ...... CAS designs using just one third (or less) of the space on your card ..... easy!
Or maybe not.  Perhaps you struggle with Clean and Simple (CAS) designs ....... can't quite keep to the 'less is more' or, maybe all that white space is just a little too scary! Well, if you keep to the one third rule you really can't go wrong.  Check out the Perfectly CAS blog for lots of inspiration and fabulous CAS designs.

The theme for this challenge is ...... Sparkle

I do like a touch of sparkle ........whether it's from glitters or pretty gemstones, sparkly inks or even embossing powders.

I also have a thing for large sentiment stamps ..... perfect for creating CAS designs.

I simply stamped the words directly onto the front of my card using a gold metallic ink and keeping to that centre third of the card

I then sprinkled a sparkly gold embossing powder over the top and heat set ...... so pretty!

A few tiny gemstones and a splattering of gold and silver ink onto the background and I'm done ..... simple!

How will you add your sparkle?


A NOTE FOR ALL YOU PERFECTLY CAS FANS ......

Perfectly CAS will be taking a break after this challenge, but don't worry we'll be back again in the New Year.
Here's a little note from the lady that does all the hard work ........

A QUICK NOTE TO OUR REGULARS

We are going on hiatus after our June Challenges. After 8 years of running challenge blogs, I need a break :) So, all my challenge blogs will be having a 6 month holiday at the close of the June challenges. Thank you for your understanding!

Kylie

We've been out in the motorhome again this weekend ..... down in the south of the island this time.  We've had a lovely, quiet weekend ....... well, apart from when the family came to visit on Saturday!! We've been at a place called Glendown Farm Campsite, inbetween Port St. Mary and Port Erin.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon so we've had three nights there. The weather wasn't great but it didn't spoil our fun.  It rained Thursday evening and some of Friday ....... but we did manage a walk into Port Erin once the rain stopped (I needed some new jigsaws!)
Saturday was completely different though ..... it was glorious! 
As I said, the family came to visit us .... to eat mainly!  And I actually did an online journaling workshop with Tracy Scott in the morning, in the van!!

I didn't make any mess either, which was a bonus!

Last week wasn't great so it was nice to get away for a while and just chill for a few days.
I won't go into too much detail but ...... my father-in-law passed away on Wednesday.  We knew it was going to happen at some point but, that doesn't prepare you for when the call actually comes. And because of all the travel restrictions etc., at the moment we haven't been able to get across to the UK yet.  Hopefully we can sort everything next week and be there for the funeral.

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

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Leave a Little Sparkle (STAMPlorations)
Inks: Golden Glitz, Silvery Shimmer Metallic Inks (Delicata)
Others: Unicorn Magic Embossing Powder (WOW!) 

The weekend is here ......

Happy Friday .....

Well we're home!  The crossing wasn't too bad, a bit like a roller coaster in places ....... up and down, side to side ...... but we had a cabin again so we slept for most of it.
We crammed in as much as we could whilst we were in the UK ....... sadly not enough time to see everyone though.

It's business as usual again now.   There's exciting DT stuff to do, I've still got a couple of tags left for the 12 Tags event, and I have a  Christmas workshop tomorrow (Saturday).  Things are getting a little Christmas crazy around here and it's not even December yet!!!

Speaking of Christmas though, I'm catching up the 12 Tags of Christmas with Loll & Friends ......

Here's my tag, or should I say tags, for Day 11 ......

Inspired by the girls from STAMPlorations, I've used some of the fabulous festive sentiments from their Christmas Typografia range
I love large sentiment stamps and these are perfect for creating really quick and easy, yet stunning Christmas cards, and they are great for tags

I simply stamped and heat embossed the words onto my coloured tags .......

This one is perfect to make into a Christmas tree ..... a simple tub on the bottom and a few dots of glitter glue here and there for the baubles,

Or why not add a sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing Powder to give a great snowy look.

Simple fussy cut holly leaves on the bottom of this one ..... very festive.

A popular technique at the moment is to give this spotlight effect ...... achieved by simply blending the same colour of ink as your base card but, a shade or two darker, around the edges of your tag

I love the effect .... don't you.

I'm also linking these tags up the 25 Days of Christmas Tags 2018 ...... hosted by Tracey McNeely

 

Thanks for popping by ....... I know it's getting late. I've been trying to blog all day but things just kept getting in the way!

I'm going to put my feet up, catch up on some TV and have a nice G&T ...... I've earned it today.

Cheerio until next time .....

 

Happy 5th Birthday STAMPlorations! .......

Happy Wednesday ......

I hope you're having a good week.
We're off on our annual family get together on Friday so things are a little busy here at the moment getting everything ready.

June's a busy month for the STAMPlorations team too.  Why? ...... because it's our birthday.  STAMPlorations is 5 years old!!!  WOW! ....... that's 5 years of amazing stamps, stencils and dies, and a whole load of inspiration from the brains behind it all ..... Shery, and of course the STAMPgirls (sounds like a band!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

As you can see we're having a little bit of a celebration ...... and you can join in with the fun too!

There's prizes up for grabs, special offers in store, a Flash Sale EVERY Monday during June and, Freebie days EVERY week ..... told you we were celebrating!

The prizes are ......

• For the Link up CASE project ....... $50 Gift Certificate each to 5 randomly drawn players
• For commenting on the Blog posts .......  $25 Gift Certificate each for 5 randomly drawn commenters
• The Wishlist Linky Party ......  5 randomly drawn participants will each win products, upto the value of $25, from their wishlists

 All you have to do to join in is ......

• visit and comment on the designers blogs
• CASE one, or more, of the STAMPgirls designs and join the linky party
• link up your STAMPlorations Wishlist (check out here for all the details)

** CASEing, commenting and linking up to the Wishlist Linky party ends on July 3rd**

Winners will be announced on July 10th

As I said we're celebrating, with something a little bit special.  If you've been following the STAMPlorations blog you'll already know that each day in June, Shery is showcasing one of the STAMPgirls ..... today it's my turn!!

I've been having fun recently with the Faux Bleaching Technique using Distress Oxides and water.  I love how these inks react with even the smallest amount of water, and the colours are amazing.  If you haven't already tried this technique, why not give it a go ....... feel free to CASE

Simply stamp your favourite floral image onto a piece of white card, heat emboss in white, then add your colours over the top ..... easy.  Rub away any ink left on the embossed lines to make your images really pop

I've used the gorgeous Blossom Sprays #1 .... it's such a pretty design.
I applied two colours of Distress Oxide ink over the top of the embossed flowers, blending them together in the centre (Twisted Citron and Squeezed Lemonade)
Once I was happy with the coverage I took a paintbrush and some clean water and 'painted' some of the flowers and the leaves.  The water reacts with the ink and can then be removed with a paper towel giving this bleached look ....

A few splatters of water and a sentiment finishes the card ..... with a few sequins for added sparkle

Same stamp ..... same technique ..... but different colours (Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch)

This time, instead of a stamped sentiment I used one of the CUTplorations thin metal dies and inlaid it into the stamped panel,

 
layering it with two cut from white cardstock to add dimension

I'm so happy, and very proud to have been a part of such a wonderful Design Team ....... I say 'have been'  because this is my last STAMPlorations post (sigh) 
After a little over two and a half years being part of the STAMP family, on both the CAS Card team and the TAG team, I've made the hard decision to step down at the end of this month.

It's been an amazing journey.  A BIG Thank You to Shery for having me on the team and giving me the chance to be part of such a talented DT ..... I'm going to miss you all but, I will still be following all the blogs (you don't get rid of me that easy!) and you know I love my STAMPlorations products!
Here's some of my favourite makes from my time here ......

Another beautiful floral image ....... Blossom Sprays #2 and the pretty split colouring technique

Masculine designs ..... always difficult to create I find, not with STAMPlorations products though ...... Good Books and Coffee did the job perfectly.

And finally, florals again ...... this time a tag using the Blossom Sprays #1.  How different does it look when coloured in.

Well that's it from me.  I hope you've enjoyed reading my posts as much as I've enjoyed writing them and I hope you feel inspired to join in with our birthday celebrations.

I'd like to wish Shery, and the team, many, many more years of success, and hope that STAMPlorations continues to go from strength to strength.

Don't forget, CASE any of the above designs or your favourite design from one of the other STAMP girls and link it up here to be in with a chance of winning one of the fabulous prizes.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to make a start on the packing now .... only two more sleeps!

Cheerio until next time ......

Day 17 ..... the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop

Happy Thursday ......

We're over half way through May already ..... doesn't time fly!  That also means we're half way through our month long Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties over on the STAMPlorations Blogs.  Have you played along yet?

All through May, the STAMPlorations girls are showcasing projects with the theme ..... Things With Wings 
Today we have a reminder for you from the CAS Card Challenge girls .......  pretty Clean and Simple designs featuring of course, Things With Wings.

Here's a really quick and easy design using one of my favourite techniques ..... inlaid die cutting/hidden sentiment .....

I stamped my butterflies onto a piece of white cardstock using Distress Oxide inks ...... I love how these inks stamp, they pick up all the detail, great coverage too!

This is one of the images from the STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies set.

Using the CUTplorations 'happy' word die, I cut the sentiment across the butterflies.  I also cut it from plain white card and a co-ordinating purple card.
The plain white one was inlaid back into the stamped card along with all the bits you would normally throw away, from the word cut out of the stamped card (the little bits inside the p's)

Next I layered the purple happy on top of the white one, followed by the one cut across the buttlerflies as the top layer.
This completes the stamped images again and also adds a touch of dimension

A few dots of  Nuvo Crystal Drops here and there add the finishing touch.

Check out the STAMPlorations Blog for all the details of the hop, how to play along and link your projects, and of course lots more amazing inspiration from the rest of the DT girls.  Don't forget there are prizes along the way too!

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
It's been lovely here .... we've got blue skies and the sun is shining.  Lets hope it lasts, because this time next week final preparations will be underway for the start of this years Isle Of Man TT
Yes there's only 8 days to go before the excitement begins!

Cheerio until next time .....

Day 15 of the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop .....

Happy Tuesday ......

I hope your week is off to a great start .
It's time for a quick reminder of this months STAMPlorations Things with Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties.

The STAMPlorations girls have all got together for a month long celebration of Spring and Things with Wings.

Today its the turn of the TAGplorations team.  To play along here you need to create a project that is a tag or, has a tag/s on it. Don't forget the Things With Wings part either.

I've gone for butterflies today ....... on a simple tag

I cut the tag from smooth watercolour card, using the largest size of the TAGplorations Manila Tags Nesting dies

I then applied various colours of Distress Inks (blues and pink shades) to the back of the ARTplorations Shower of Flutters stencil, spritzed over the ink with water and then laid the stencil, ink side down, onto the tag

I gave the stencil a quick press down using a paper towel ....... this also mops up any excess ink and water ....... and then gently lifted the stencil off the tag, leaving the butterflies in this pretty watercolour effect behind

Once it was dry, I stamped the words over the top using Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink   I left my tag to dry naturally but, you could use a heat tool to speed things up if you don't like waiting 

I also heat embossed the sentiment with a clear powder ..... this makes the ink colour a little more intense.  This fab sentiment is called All Your Heart from the STAMPlorations Say it Big series

A few ink splatters here and there, and a couple of shimmery sequins and a few dots of glitter glue adds some sparkle to the tag ......

And to finish off, I inked around the edges with a little Wilted Violet Distress Oxide and added a bow from ribbon dyed using the same inks I'd used to colour the butterflies.

Hop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more Things With Wings inspiration and all the details on how to play along and join in with the Linky party ..... there's prizes up for grabs!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off back to the craft room, finding room to put my new goodies that came home with me from the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight last weekend.
What a fab day we had ...... we laughed and chatted all day.  It was so nice to catch up with everyone, some I only see once a year at this event!  I even managed to find time to shop ......

Now I need to find time to play with it all.

Cheerio until next time ......

STAMPlorations CAS Card challenge is joining in with the Blog Hop ....

Hello again ......

How's your Thursday going?
It's time for the STAMPlorations CAS girls to join in the fun for the Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party

All the STAMPlorations teams are joining together for a month long Blog Hop ..... that's 31 days filled with winged-themed spring projects.  All five challenges will have the same theme for the month of May ...... Things With Wings and you can play along as many times as you like.

It's the turn of CAS today .......

I've used one of the birds from the Fowl Play stamp set, from the Bees Knees range, along with the balloons from Balloons and Banners, and one of the sentiments from Birds of Paradise ..... all of which are available on the STAMPlorations website

I stamped the bird onto a piece of white cardstock along with the balloons making sure they overlapped the beak ......

I stamped the bird again onto a separate piece of card, coloured him, and the balloons on the card, using Distress Inks and then fussy cut around the body of the bird before attaching it over the stamped image .....

This cuts out the need to fussy cut the legs!!! and also makes it look like he's holding the balloons in his beak
You can see I also stamped the wing again, fussy cut it and attached it using a foam pad for dimension.

The sentiment was stamped in the same colours of Distress that I'd used for the balloons ....

and I added another little bird on the inside .....

Hop along and join in the fun ....... there's prizes to be won

•  a $15 Gift Certificate for the winner, voted by the DT
•  and two randomly chosen winners of a $5 Gift Certificate each

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
We're off out this evening.  We're off to the Villa to see the Magic of Motown with some friends.  It should be a fun night!

There may be a little Dancing in the Street going on ..... everything will be Signed, Sealed, Delivered and there Ain't No Mountain High Enough!  
Sorry ...... I love Motown!!  Takes me back to when I used to go night clubbing.

Cheerio until next time ......