Pinch and a punch for the 1st of the month .......

Happy Tuesday .......

And welcome to a very wet and windy October!!
Our little island has been well and truly battered with the weather today. 

A new month means it's time for new Blog Challenges.  It's also the first month on a new Design Team for me ..... whoo hoo!!!
This is my first post as a member of the CAS Mix Up Challenge Design Team ..... yeah!!!

I love CAS cards, and I love Mixed Media, so to mix them both together is definitley my idea of fun.

This fun challenge has been running for nearly four years now I think, and I've loved playing along when I've had the chance.  To be joining such a fabulous, talented DT is a real pleasure. Thank you so much for having me!

OK ..... on to October's challenge.
Bonnie is our host this month. and the theme is all about ....... Foiling

There's lots of ways of doing this ...... special foiling machines, simple double-sided tape, various glues and gels, you can even stick foils to alcohol inks.
Check out the challenge post on the CAS Mix Up Blog for links to some great video tutorials.

One fun way of adding foil to your cards is to use stencil paste and a laminator .......

I'm not sure whether this technique works with all stencil pastes but, I do know it works brilliantly with the pastes from Sweet Poppy Stencils.

I laid the stencil slightly off the edge of a piece of white card and applied Glossy White Stencil paste through the design. I did leave this to dry overnight.

I took a piece of rainbow coloured foil, cut it down to size and placed it over the stenciled design.
I sandwiched this between two pieces of copier paper and then ran it through my laminator, on a hot setting.   I love the results ......

There were a couple of spots where the foil didn't quite stick properly but hey! that's what tiny gems are for ......

A simple sentiment adds the finishing touch

So that's Foiling ...... check!  Stamping (my sentiments) ..... check! And the 'my choice' element is stenciling ...... check!

Don't forget to check out the inspiration from rest of the CAS Mix Up Design Team,  then why not join in the fun.  Happy foiling!

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm expecting the rest of the week to fly by ..... I've too much to do, but hopefully enough time to do it in.  Fingers crossed this weather calms down.
Hubby and I are off to Santorini at the weekend .....  and I've got a 'to do' list that seems to be getting longer as we speak!  I suppose if I hadn't have spent the weekend shopping and lunching out I might be a little less busy ...... but hey! a girl's gotta have some fun, especially as hubby was across in the UK on a 'lads weekend'.
Lunch was deee - licious ......

and we only had the one cocktail!

It's a quiet night in tonight, we were out again last night, with both kids this time, at an Austrian and German Wine Masterclass which was fun.  13 wines, taster size glasses, with complimentary food ....... although I didn't drink the last one.  I'm not a dessert wine fan!

My wine adventure started out, all those years ago, with German wines.  White, nicely chilled but always a little on the sweet side.  How they've changed ..... along with my tastes.  Time to add some German wines to our collection I think.

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Simple Strips Background sentiment stamps (Taylored Expressions) 
Inks: Delicata Golden Glitz (for the sentiment)
Others: Teardrop Background Stencil, Glossy White Stencil Paste (Sweet Poppy Stencils); Rainbow Foil (Prima)

I guess it had to happen at some point ........... only 145 days to go!!

Happy Friday folks! ......

Welcome to August!

As always, the beginning of a new month means new blog challenges.  And, as it's the first Friday of the month, that means it's the new Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge.

The theme is Anything Goes ...... as long as there's actual rubber stamping on there somewhere. 
(NO Digi images please!)

I've got a little festive idea for you today.  Oh yes it's started ........ the Christmas countdown.
It had to start sometime, and seeing as I've been full of the Christmas spirit all week creating samples for the Sweet Poppy Stencil shows on Hochanda today, I thought I'd share one of them with you.

Very CAS ..... using stamps, dies and stencils.

I used one of the large Back Plate stencils along with the Glossy White stencil paste onto a piece of white cardstock.  I sprinkled the Crystalina Glitter over the top whilst the paste was still wet.

Once the paste was dry I used the Sweet Poppy Nesting Bauble Dies to cut the two smallest sizes of bauble, inking around the edges lightly with some Distress Inks

I created another bauble using one of the stamps from the new Sweet Poppy Christmas Blessings set

Stamped and heat embossed on plain white cardstock, once in gold and once in silver.  I then used punches to cut around the different circles ...... the outer one from the gold version and the centre from the silver one. I used a foam pad to layer them together, to add a bit of dimension.

I used a piece of acetate to smoosh some Stormy Sky Distress Ink onto a piece of white card, cut to fit the front of my cardblank (finished size is 7x5 inches)  I added some gold and silver ink splatters, and then I attached the baubles over the top.

I used a Stardust Gel Pen to add the hanging chain detail, and then finished off with a die cut holly leaf.
You can see this, and more on the Sweet Poppy Stencil shows on Hochanda today at 10am and 3pm.

As with all the Craft Stamper challenges there'll be two winners.
The Design Winner ....... chosen by the DT.
They get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine, a winner's profile and an invitation to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge.

We'll also have a Challenge Winner ..... randomly chosen, and this month their prize is ....... FOUR mini stamps, designed by Seth Apter for PaperArtsy (ooooh!!)

You can enter the challenge up to THREE times.  Each entry must have it's own blog post that includes a link to the Craft Stamper challenge.
Entries/blog posts must include ONE PROJECT ONLY!   A set of cards, or a set of ATC's etc., counts as more than one project, and won't be eligible to win the prizes.

Happy Stamping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your, and have a great weekend.
I'll be back later with another blog challenge for you but for now, I'm off to grab a coffee and get ready to watch Lucy and Sweet Poppy Stencils on the TV.  The first show is at 10am this morning with another one at 3pm.

Cheerio for now ......

Products used:
Stamps: Christmas Blessings Clear stamp set (Sweet Poppy)
Inks: Distress Inks - Stromy Sky, Festive Berries, Peeled Paint; Versamark,
Stencils: Knit & Stitch Back Plate Stencil (Sweet Poppy)
Other: Glossy White Stencil Paste; Crystalina Glitter, Nesting Bauble Dies & Holly Trio Dies (Sweet Poppy); Gold and Silver embossing powders (WOW!); circle punches; Stardust Gel Pen

Good Friends are like Stars ......

Happy Thursday ......

It is Thursday isn't it?
Hubby had the day off on Monday, then he worked from home on Tuesday, and now I've no idea what day of the week it is!!!

We had a fabulous weekend though.  We had some friends over for a few days and even though we hadn't seen each other for about seven years, we immediately picked up just where we left off.

The weather was glorious so we spent four days out and about.  We went from North to South with everything in between.  Lots of good food and nice wine, barbeques with the family ...... and the hot tub got used for the first time this year ......

Just look at that sky .....

We even saw seals in the south of the island .......

enjoying the sun down on the rocks at the Sound.

It all went by so quickly ....... hopefully we won't leave it as long next time!!

As you can imagine there wasn't a lot of time spent in the craft room over the weekend.  Luckily most of the 'To Do' list for last week had already been done.

Here's a few more of my Sweet Poppy Stencil makes that will be on their way to Lucy very soon.
It's all about Elephants today ....... using one of the fabulous Sweet Poppy Stencil designs
You do get two elephants on the stencil, a large one and a really cute small one.
For this design I've used the large one and turned the stencil over to get the elephant facing the opposite way.

I stenciled the elephants onto a piece of white cardstock using Distress Oxide inks .....

I then stamped the sentiment underneath and fussy cut around the top edges of the elephants

I found a piece of card in my stash that reminded me of a galaxy sky.  I think it's been done using the Distress Oxide Sprays onto black card ....... not sure what mix of colours exactly though.  Probably pink, blue, a touch of purple and some splatters of white ink in there too

It made the perfect backdrop for my elephant friends ...... especially with that sentiment.

Here's the cute little one, stenciled across a piece of white cardstock to make a baby card .....

Distress Oxide ink again ......

And a simple sentiment stamped and heat embossed underneath .....

And I added two scalloped borders top and bottom,, cut from white cardstock and coloured with the same Distress Oxide ink

Finally the large elephant again ...... I found a piece of cardstock in my stash, perfect colour for what I wanted but unfortunately not quite big enough to fit the whole of the elephant on.

Not a problem ..... you know how I like to sometimes use only part of a design.
I stenciled the elephant onto the bottom using Black ink

 and then added some foliage to the top using one of my favourite Sweet Poppy Designs ......

I stenciled some leaves in black ink and then used the Pearlescent Paste for the last one, and added some Ultra-fine Glass Micro Beads over the top ....... these add great texture.

I also used the same stencil to add some extra detail down the side .....

And finished with a sentiment .......

Lucy will be on our screens on April 19th ........ watch this space for details of times.

EDITED ....... thanks to the tip off from the lovely Darnell (Thanks hun .... mwah!)
I'm entering the first card and the last card into the latest Twofer Challenge

As you can see the theme is Zoo Animals ..... so I guess these fit the bill

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
It's the craft room for me today ...... I've a workshop to prep.

Cheerio until next time .....

Products used:
Stamps: Life is a Journey clear stamp set; Cheers clear stamp set (both by Sweet Poppy)
Inks: Distress Oxide Inks - Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean; Versafine Clair - Nocture
Others: Elephant Stencil, Leafy Flowers stencil (SweetPoppy); Pearlescent White Stencil paste, Ultra-Fine Glass Micro Beads (SweetPoppy); Background cards from my stash, Versamark ink; Silver Embossing Powder (WOW!)