Things with Wings Blog Hop and Linky Party

Hello again .....

I said it was going to be a busy month ..... what with new releases, the usual Blog challenges, a workshop, trip across to the UK for my favourite craft show and of course we've got the Isle of Man TT in a little over 3 weeks.   Get all that over with, and we're off on holiday again!

But first it's time to get this month's Blog challenges underway.
This is going to be fun. We're starting May with the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties
All of the STAMPlorations girls are joining forces for ONE, month long Blog Hop.  That's 31 days of Blog hopping fun, celebrating Spring and Anything with Wings!

Why not join in the fun, it's easy ....... create a winged-themed project and link it up to one, or all of the STAMPlorations challenges.
All the challenges are back to their usual launch dates, it's just we'll all have the same theme .... Things with Wings
The TAGplorations team are getting things started,  and to play along here you need to create a tag, or a project with a tag (or tags) on it somewhere, and don't forget those 'wings'

I put my tag on a card ....... a simple tag, cut from plain white cardstock using the CUTplorations Manila Tag Nesting Dies.
I then coloured the tag using Distress Oxide inks ....... swiped directly onto the tag then blended with a baby wipe, before stamping with the STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves using the same colours of Oxide inks, to create the look of layers.

I added some splatters to the background and used the edge of an old credit card to put a little more detail on there with some lines of white paint

The birds were cut from a snippet of coloured card from my scrap box, using the CUTplorations For the Birds dies  and again from plain white cardstock.

I cut the branch off the coloured version leaving just the birds, and I coloured just the branch on the white one.
I brushed around the edges of the birds with a little Vintage Photo Distress ink to give them a bit more definition, before layering them onto the white die cut, sitting them back on their branch.

The sentiment is from the co-ordinating For the Birds stamp set 

Now it's your turn .... what will you create?
If you link up a project you'll be in with a chance of winning some fab prizes ......

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

You can link up as many projects as you like, just remember to follow the rules for each challenge. And make sure that each entry has it's own Blog post. You don't have to use STAMPlorations products by the way ..... but it would be great if you did!

Happy hopping!

We're definitely celebrating Spring here at the moment, the weather has been beautiful for the last few days and we've been making the most of it.  Well we did get some new garden furniture at the weekend so it would have been a shame not to use it ........

It's been BBQ every evening ......... it's great, hubby won't let me near to do any cooking, all I have to do is brush it clean when he's finished ....... pity it doesn't work like that in the kitchen!

I did do this though ........

Spicy bourbon marinated beef rib ..... slow cooked on a low heat. Yum!!!

There's no cooking for me tonight either ....... we're on the leftovers this evening, after a nice G&T in the garden I think ......

Lauren brought us this back from her trip to the Lake District ..... Grasmere Gingerbread (possibly THE best gingerbread in the world!) and a new gin to try ...... cheers!

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

Cheerio until next time ....

Warmest Wishes ......

Happy Tuesday .......

How is everyone? Staying warm I hope.
It's getting a little chilly again here ...... we're bracing ourselves for a bit of cold snap, according to the weather forecast anyway.  We've got gales and wintry showers to look forward to for the next few days.  We've had the hail sleet and snow already .... and it's freezing out!

It's nice and warm in the craft room though ........ I've got another busy week what with DT stuff, birthday cards (it's Lauren's birthday tomorrow), and all the packing.  It's a good excuse for another clear out I think.

 In between all that lot, it's also time for a little reminder of January's TAGplorations Challenge.

The theme for January is appropriately ......... All about Winter, with the optional twist of using texture paste.

My tag has been cut from plain white cardstock, using the largest die from the CUTplorations Manila Tags Nesting Dies

I then used the ARTplorations Coffee Cup stencil, along with white texture paste, to add the outline of my design.

Whilst the paste was wet I sprinkled fine crystal glitter over the swirls of steam .....

and once the rest of the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil back over the texture paste and added colour to the cup and saucer outline with Distress Ink

I then stamped a little design onto the cup with a cute little snowflake stamp from my stash, and heat embossed in white before adding a wash of the Distress Ink colour to the cup itself, and a touch of brown for the coffee

A few splatters of gold and silver ink onto the background ......

and a little touch of enamel accents onto the coffee adds a bit more texture.

Check out the STAMPlorations blog for the challenge guidelines and details of the prizes on offer. You'll also find lots of fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on there too.

Mmmm ..... I think it's time for a nice hot coffee.

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Happy New Year! ......

Happy Tuesday ......

And welcome to 2018!

I hope you all had fabulous Christmas and New Year celebrations
Some of you may be having a touch of deja vu right now ..... thinking that you've already seen this post ...... well, you might have!  I'm not quite sure what happened ...... but somehow this got published a few days ago ..... before I'd even finished writing the post!!!!

Anyhow ...... we're all sorted now.
It's time to get January's challenges underway, and the first one up for me is the TAGplorations challenge for STAMPlorations.
We're starting the year with the perfect theme ..... All About Winter ..... brrrrr! 

There's a fun optional twist too ...... use texture paste.

My tag is cut from a piece of cardstock using the CUTplorations Luggage Tag Nesting Dies.
The card has been coloured with Distress Oxide ink using the 'smooshing' technique ....... swipe the ink onto a craft sheet, spritz with water then smoosh the card through the ink.

I then used a stencil and white texture paste to add the snow.

The cute little mittens are from the STAMPlorations Warm Hands, Warm Hearts set.   I've simply stamped them onto a piece of coloured card from my stash, heat embossed them in white and fussy cut them.
There are actually matching dies available for this stamp set, if you don't like fussy cutting.

I stamped the sentiment, from the same stamp set, onto a strip of white card and added it to the bottom of my tag.

Speaking of Winter ..... STAMPbaby #2 came into the world on December 20.  Shery gave birth to her second beautiful baby girl.  Huge Congratulations to the Russ family xx

There's prizes up for grabs for the challenge winners ...... $10 Gift Certificate for the winner and  $5 GCs for the 2 Top Picks.
You can enter the challenge as many times as you like (only one entry per blog post) and your projects must include a tag. 
You don't have to use STAMPlorations products but it would be nice if you did.  And ..... if we get over 50 entries then 1 lucky entry will be randomly chosen to win their choice of CUTplorations dies, to the value of $20!
Happy stamping!

There's also a great STAMPlorations New Year's Sale going on until January 15th.  20% off Stamps, Dies, and Stencils.  Check out the website for full details.

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

I think the festive season has taken its toll on me a little.  I managed to avoid all the various colds and flu that have been around before, and during the festivities, which was good considering everyone around me had some sort of lergy! 
But yesterday one finally caught up with me.  Sore throat, aching limbs, no patience, and no appetite (that isn't necessarily a bad thing considering what I've eaten over the last week or so!). The hangover didn't help either ..... too much of the bubbly stuff on New Year's Eve was to blame for that!
 
So ...... it's my turn to feel sorry for myself.   Today has been spent curled up on the sofa in front of the TV with lots of hot drinks.  At least hubby is off work to look after me

Cheerio until next time ......

TAG! You're it ......

Happy Tuesday ........

It's the 5th of December, and it's time for a festive tag for this months TAGplorations Challenge.

The theme this month is All About Christmas ...... with an optional twist of ....... Glitter!  A touch of sparkle is perfect for the festive season. 

I've used Kraft card (again!) for the base of my tag, cut using the CUTplorations Tags #1 Nesting dies. 
I edged the tag with a little bit of Pocket Fence Distress Ink and sprinkled a touch of Chunky White Embossing Powder

The word 'Merry' is from the Merry Christmas Phrase Die, cut from Kraft card, covered with Versamark ink and then heat embossed using red and sparkly green embossing powders.

The present is cut from snippets of leftover card using the Gift Builder #2 die and then layered

The pretty bow has an extra layer of plain white cardstock to add a little dimension

Now I just need to find a gift for this to go on!

Why not join in the fun and create your own Christmas tags.
You can enter as many projects as you want, just remember only 1 project per blog post please.
Your entry doesn't have to be a tag, it can be anything you like but it must feature a TAG ....... a card with a tag on it perhaps, or a journal/scrapbook page featuring a tag. 
You don't have to use STAMPlorations products either ....... although it's great if you do!

There's been a little change to the challenge prizes this month, just for December.
To be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is .....

• comment on the December TAGplorations challenge post AND the posts on the Design Team's Blogs for a chance to win a $15 Gift Certificate to spend in the STAMPlorations store
• also,one randomly drawn player from all the challenge entries will win a $20 Gift Certificate
• and 1 player, again randomly drawn from all the entries, will win their choice of a set of CUTplorations Tag Dies from the store

TAG! .... now it's your turn

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

Oh .... almost forgot ..... there's a mega Holiday Sale on at the STAMPlorations store.

A massive 30% off Stamps, Stencils and Dies (terms apply)
Just use code ..... HOLIDAY2017 at the checkout ...... see the website for full details.

Cheerio until next time ......