Only 351 days to go ......

Happy Friday folks ......

This is a scheduled post ..... I thought it a good idea just in case last night's summer!!!!! party went on into the early hours.  A few too many glasses of the bubbly stuff means there's a good chance I'm feeling a little delicate this morning. Either that, or we stayed up to watch 'the results' coming in. Fingers crossed the UK got the right result ....... and that's all I'm saying with regards to the general election!
As for Summer ........ are they having a laugh!! Yesterday's weather was dreadful ..... it rained nearly all day.  I feel so sorry for all the TT visitors, especially those camping! The racing was delayed for three hours in the morning before being cancelled completely for the day yet again!

But enough about the weather ......... It's time for a quick reminder about this month's Craft Stamper Challenge ....... have you played along yet?

As always the theme is Anything Goes ..... as long as there's actual rubber stamping on there somewhere ..... no Digi's please.

Our sponsor this month is our very own Just Jolande .......

and there's a fabulous prize for the challenge winner ..... a gorgeous stamp set .....

and a fab stencil .....

Don't forget there's also the Design Winner .... chosen by the DT.  They also get a great prize .....

• their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine
• they will be invited to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge ... .and
• they get a Winner's profile published on the Craft Stamper Blog 

Need a touch of inspiration ...... what about a bit of Spotlighting ......

This was so easy to do ..... I simply stamped the image onto a piece of grey cardstock ..... I saw someone on Pinterest  using grey card to stamp on and I thought it looked really cool .... something different. I also stamped the same image onto a piece of white and then die cut the part I wanted to highlight.

The pretty image is a recent release from Carabelle Studios ..... La Femme aux Papillons
I coloured in the die cut piece using ZIG markers and a water brush ....

And then the circle was placed over the top of the stamped image on the grey card using foam pads to add dimension ...... I love how the coloured piece just pops!

A simple sentiment on the front and a few dots of sparkly glitter ......

and I stamped the image again to decorate the inside ......

adding a little colour to just the butterflies this time .....

Here's another idea for using the same technique .......

Happy stamping folks!!

Today sees the final day of this year's Isle of Man TT (weather permitting that is) ...... only 351 days to go though until it all starts again!
There's a full day of racing scheduled with the big one of the day being the Poker Stars Senior Race. It's also a Bank Holiday on the island so everyone gets the chance to watch ..... well nearly everyone!
We'll be there ..... assuming it's not raining of course.  Can Hutchy win again .... let's hope so!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.  Let's hope the sun shines.

EDITED ......
Hello again ..... after the lovely comment from Nancy and the nudge about this month's CAS Watercolour challenge I'd like to link up my lady with the butterflies and play along (Thanks Nancy xx)
The theme is Summer ..... she fits in perfectly I think

Cheerio until next time .....

Monday again! .......

Happy Monday folks ........

Welcome to the beginning of a new week.

We had a lovely weekend ...... a great barbeque yesterday, the first one at the new house so it was kind of a house warming I suppose.  Good food, great wine in the company of family and friends .... the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Even better when it's the other half that was doing the cooking!
And we rounded off the day with a friendly poker game .... always fun but it didn't end well for me this time .... enough said!

Saturday was workshop day ...... another fun session with my lovely crafty buddies.
This week we played around with Spotlight Stamping and a little bit of Split Colouring ..... another clever technique I came across on Jennifer McGuire's Blog.

This is a great way to get 2 for 1 cards, and I think works so well with pretty floral designs.

See what I mean ..... 2 for 1!
Simply stamp the image onto white card and colour it in completely.  Stamp the same image again onto a piece of coloured cardstock and emboss with clear powder.
The MISTI is fab for doing this as your image needs to be in the same place on both pieces of card.

I used my current favourite stamp  ....... again! ..... Hello Lovely from Concord and 9th, and coloured it with ZIG Clean Colour Brush Markers.

You then cut both pieces, in the same place and then mix and match the two halves to create 2 lovely cards .... both the same, but different

Add a simple message strip using some of the coloured card, or go bold and use black

If you don't like using coloured card then how about keeping things just on the white ....

Really simple ... just stamp with black ink, colour half the image or thereabouts, then split into two with a sentiment strip.

I do think this would also work with background stamps, stamped onto white and coloured card and then pieced together as above ..... think I'll give that a try!
And of course this would work with almost any stamped image that needs colouring in.  Check through your stash and see which ones you could use.

Onto the Spotlighting ..... love doing this technique.  Some of the ladies had already tried this out but it was new to some.

Sorry .... same stamp again.  You'll be thinking I haven't got any more stamps soon.  Don't worry I'm sure another favourite will be along shortly!

This time we stamped the image twice onto white card ..... then cut out sections from one of them that we wanted to highlight, added some colour and then attached over the top of the other one.

I used dies to cut circles but punches work just as well and it doesn't have to be circles .... try cutting squares, or ovals

A simple sentiment .....

and a few sparkly sequins finish off the front of the card, and part of the image stamped off the edge gives the finishing touch to the inside

We stamped the images twice but a quicker way of doing this technique is to stamp the image onto your piece of card, die cut (or punch) the bit you want in the spotlight, colour it in and then put the piece back in place ....... or use foam pads if you want to give it a bit of dimension.
Why not give it go!

I've got a busy week coming up .... lots still to do in the old craft room, and coffee and cake out with the ladies one day .... yum!

The countdown is on too  ..... only 5 days to go before this year's TT gets underway.  It also means that our holiday isn't that far away ....... Ahoy there matey!  Once the TT's over we're off on our annual family getaway ....... not Bourton this year ..... the Norfolk Broads here we come

Can't wait!

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

Cheerio until next time