CAS Watercolour challenge .....

Happy Thursday ......

It's been a busy week so far in the craft room ..... I've had birthday cards to make, presents to wrap along with all the regular stuff! It's been fun.

I'm playing along with this month's CAS Watercolour Challenge today.  The prompt for September is ...... Tree

Here's what I came up with ......

I found this piece of watercolour card in my bits box and I thought it would make a nice watercolour background for my tree ....... I think the colours are perfect for this time of year

It's been coloured using PaperArtsy Infusions ....... the Sunset Beach colour.  If you're not familiar with Infusions they're a little bit like Brushos in that they're pigment powders that you can sprinkle onto cardstock, spritz with water and just let them do their thing. But ..... they also have Walnut Stain crystals in them, which take a little longer to dissolve in the water, so you can get this lovely vintage look to the colour

I stamped the tree (SU Hopeful Thoughts) and heat embossed with my current favourite Rose Gold embossing powder from WOW!

And added the sentiment alongside ......

You can see how some of the walnut stain crystals haven't dissolved fully, giving this speckled look to the background ..... I love it!
In fact, I loved it so much I made some more ......

You might just see a few more designs shortly using these.

I mentioned I'd had birthday cards to make .... well, it's that time of year again when this little man gets a another year older .....

He's eight tomorrow ....... can you believe it!  We're all off out to his favourite Italian restaurant to celebrate tomorrow, then he's having a LaserBlast party with his pals at the weekend.
He's all excited today though because he's getting a new bedroom.  He stayed over with us last night because I was there yesterday helping to clear out his old bed,  clean the carpets, move the furniture round, put new curtains up.  His new bed is being delivered as we speak, so all his other presents are stuff for his new room ...... it's going to look so cool.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day. 
Me ..... I'm cleaning the hot tub (yeah!)  The wind blew the top open while I was out yesterday and now it's full of leaves (oops!)  Thank goodness it wasn't full of water ..... luckily, we had emptied it the day before ready for the big clean, so it's not that bad.
Time for a coffee first though. 

Cheerio until next time ......

Follow your Dreams for the Craft Stamper Challenge .....

Whoo Hoo!!!  it's Friday ......

I hope you've had a good week.
I had all sorts planned for this week but, has anything got done ...... no!!!  I've been enjoying what's left of the summer.  It's not quite as warm as it has been but hey! the sun's still shining.

As it's the first Friday in September that means there's a new Craft Stamper Challenge.
It's the usual Anything Goes theme ....... but remember, you MUST include some actual rubber stamping on your projects .... no digi images please.

The project is up to you ..... cards, tags, journal pages.  Canvases, home decor or even an ATC maybe.  The choice is all yours.

I've got a tag for you this month, using a recent Stampin Up! purchase ....... Follow Your Dreams, with the coordinating set of dies

I coloured a piece of white cardstock using Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints, and a damp baby wipe to spread the colours (Sky, Candy Floss and Smurf)
I then cut it down to size to create my tag.

Using the pretty dream catcher from the stamp set I added a touch of detail here and there onto the background, before following with a stencil and some crackle texture paste

 and then splatters of black and white paint ........

I stamped the dream catcher again onto a piece of card coloured using the Candy Floss paint, heat embossed with the WOW Rose Gold embossing powder ...... this is such a nice colour .... and then used the matching die to cut it out

Some of the feathers have been stamped and die cut, and some (the smaller ones) are actually cut from one of the dies from the set

I added my sentiment across the bottom ..... heat embossed again with the rose gold.  I think this is my new favourite embossing powder .... for now anyway!

Added a couple more feathers and a little matching thread .....

and a few coordinating ribbons to finish it off

As always there's prizes up for grabs ......

This month the Challenge Winner, randomly chosen from all the eligible entries, will win this fabulous set of 10 Ecoline Brush Pens ...... just look at those colours!!

And our Design Winner, chosen by the DT, will get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine along with a Winner's profile, and a Guest Designer Spot on the blog .... how cool is that!

Speaking of the magazine, the latest edition hits the shelves today ........ have you got yours?
Check out the Craft Stamper website for all the details on how to get your hands on a copy

This month, as always, it's crammed with amazing art work, brilliant techniques and lots of fabulous ideas.  I'm in there this month too ..... as part of the Uniko Design Team.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a fabulous weekend.
Hubby's got the day off today so we may just pop out somewhere nice for lunch.

Cheerio until next time ......

Sparkly ATCs for Happy Little Stampers ......

Happy weekend ......

It's been a busy day today ..... I've been having fun with a workshop.  Eight lovely ladies playing with stencils, inks and rubber stamps ........ it's always fun when we get together.   There was also tea and cakes involved too .... yum!   More about all that some other time though.

It's time to launch the latest Happy Little Stampers ATC Challenge ..... and as you can see this month it's all about Sparkle.  

There's nothing that sparkles quite like a diamond ...... so that's my take on this month's theme
(one this size would be nice!)

I started out by splattering a piece of white cardstock with gold and silver metallic inks ..... I used the Delicata re-inkers for this.  I poured a tiny bit of the ink onto my craft sheet, and spritzed it with water.  I then picked up the ink with an old paint brush and splattered over the card .... great fun!

Once it was dry, I cut the card into three pieces, slightly smaller than ATC size as I wanted to add a layer of coloured card behind them.  I added a little colour to them by inking around the edges using a turquoise ink to match my layering card.

I stamped a sentiment onto each one using black Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder

The large diamond, which is from an Stampin Up! set, was then stamped a few times onto white card and then heat embossed in silver before fussy cutting each one.

They were then covered with Glossy Accents and sprinkled with various amounts of crystal glitter over the top to add the sparkle

I added a few dots of glitter glue here and there onto the backgrounds ....

and a few gemstones for added sparkle

A girl can never have too much sparkle ..... or diamonds for that matter!

As with all the HLS challenges there's a prize for the winner.  A $20 Gift Certificate to spend in the HLS store which of course will be doubled if the winning ATC has been created using HLS stamps.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your weekend.
It's time to put my feet up ..... and relax!  There's a glass in the kitchen filled with a nice chilled gin and tonic and it has my name written all over it!!

Cheers folks!

PS ..... if you're a Happy Little Stampers fan and you're looking for some new stamps then we've got something special for you coming up .... watch this space!

Happy 1st Birthday CAS Watercolour challenge ......

Happy Wednesday ......

Middle of the week again .... and I'm playing catch up!  I spent most of this morning on the internet trying to get concert tickets ...... as if I've nothing better to do!!
The island has gone crazy because .....  are you ready for this ...... Gary Barlow is coming across to do two nights at the Villa Marina.  When ...... TT Practice Week next year ..... that's when!!!
Lauren wants tickets, my brother wants tickets ....... I wouldn't mind a ticket but .... I'm not paying £172.50 ..... each! ...... I don't like him that much!!
Tickets officially go on sale on Friday this week but I managed to get priority booking through Amazon. which started at 10am this morning.  I needn't have bothered!!
There was I all logged on and ready to go at 10am ..... by 4 mins past it was impossible to get tickets except the VIP ones of course.  I was curious to see if any of these were actually available so I put 4 into my basket.  Oh yes they were available ....... I could have had four seats, four rows from the front with an aisle seat, for a little over £700!!!!! including booking fees ...... no thank you.  Hubby would have had something to say if I'd have made that booking.  Never mind, I'll try again on Friday.

Anyway .... the real reason for today's post is, I'm joining in the fun with this month's CAS Watercolour Challenge and their 1st Birthday Celebrations

Whoop! Whoop! ladies ...... congratulations on a whole year of fun challenges.

This month the theme is Fall Leaves ......

We have a few of those in the square outside the house after ex-Hurricane Ophelia's visit on Monday .... there's hardly any left on the trees!

Here's my card ......

CAS with some watercoloured, die cut autumn leaves.

I smooshed various colours of Distress ink onto a piece of watercoloured card then spritzed with water to blend the inks together.
I then die cut the leaves and stamped onto each one to add a touch of detail

The sentiment is from a Stampin Up! set called Colorful Seasons, and has been heat embossed with a copper coloured powder

I couldn't resist splattering some more ink onto the background ...... I mixed each of the colours I'd used for the leaves with a little water, and then used an old paintbrush to flick the ink onto the card

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to do what I should have been doing this morning ...... prepping for a workshop on Saturday.

Cheerio until next time

Let's get the November challenges started ......

Happy Wednesday to you .......

I hope you're enjoying your week.

Yes, it's challenge time again ..... I love the beginning of a new month, it's always so busy with lots of fun challenges getting underway.  That means it's busy in the old craft room too!!

I'm getting November's challenges started with the Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge.  It's all about Metal this month ..... faux or otherwise!
You could use metallic inks or paint ...... embossing powders in gorgeous metallic shades.  Metal foil with punches or dies, or simply metal embellishments to name a few.

As always the challenge is sponsored by the Happy Little Stampers Store

And the challenge winner will receive a $15 discount to spend in the shop.

I've gone for the metal embellishment option, still keeping things CAS though .....

I started by stamping the snowflakes across a piece of white cardstock, using a blue (second generation stamping) and a grey ink

I then die cut the words from the stamped card, and again from a piece of coloured card from my stash

I'm not entirely sure what it was coloured with .... I think it was Starlight Paint, smooshed over white cardstock.  Its pretty though ..... it's got this gorgeous metallic sheen to it when it catches the light ..... the perfect frosty look.

I inlaid the blue die cut into the stamped piece of card and then attached the whole thing onto the front of a 7x5 cardblank.

I added a touch of fine crystal glitter to the grey snowflakes ......

attached my little metal snowflake .......

and  added more of the design to the inside ..... along with a HLS festive greeting (Mixed Christmas Sentiments)

Now it's over to you ...... Happy  Stamping!

If you need more inspiration on using metal on your cards check out the HLS Blog today ..... the Design Team have been having fun.

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

Cheerio until next time