The CAS Mix Up challenge ..........

Happy Monday! .........

Welcome to a new week .... and a busy one at that!

Time for a quick reminder about this months CAS Mix Up Challenge.

It's a Mixed Media challenge this month which means you need to include some stamping on your card,  you must follow the challenge theme which for August is ........ Emboss Resist, and you must also include one other Mixed Media element ......... you can find a list of ideas for that on the CAS Mix Up Blog

 

The theme this month was chosen by our host Nancy, and is a really fun technique to try.

If you're not familiar with it and haven't tried this before, then check out the links on the CAS mix Up Blog post ..... there's a few different ways you can do this.

For this card I started by masking off the bottom section of my card front.  I then stamped the pretty floral design across the top using Versafine ink.  I then sprinkled on some white embossing powder and heat set. 

With the bottom part of my card still covered,  I blended Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink over the top of the heat embossing ....... I think this is my new favourite shade of blue!

Once I was happy with the colour, I gently buffed over the top of the embossing with a paper towel to remove any excess the ink from the design.  The embossing powder had resisted the Distress ink so the white  came through nice and bright again.

For a little bit of added interest I splattered the card with a little bit of clean water.  I let it sit for a few seconds to react with the Distress Ink then I mopped up the excess with a paper towel, leaving this pretty speckled look ...... I never get tired of doing this.  It's such a simple technique that works so well, every time.

I added part of my sentiment stamped and die cut on the top, finishing it off with some stamping underneath and a few little gemstones for a touch of added sparkle!

Here's another one I did using the same Emboss Resist technique, only this time I used watercolour paints over the top 

I heat embossed the flower first, then blended the watercolour paints over the top

The embossing did take on a little bit of the colour from the paints so it's not quite as white as I would have liked but, it still looks pretty

To keep it CAS I added a sentiment strip over the bottom edge and a few pretty gemstones

I do hope you give this technique a go. 

Happy stamping! 

Well the weather forecast here for yesterday was spot on ........ the heatwave definitely broke last night!  

At around 4am we had the most spectacular thunderstorm that lasted for the best part of an hour ..... and Lauren slept through it all!  Alex on the other hand ended up in our room!  

The lightening woke me up first before the huge crash of thunder, right over the top of us ..... boy was it loud, and scary!!  

And the rain ........ the gutters on the house just couldn't handle the amount of water coming down and there was literally a waterfall coming off the roof!  

We did get up to check around the house ..... and the van!  Thankfully no damage was done, apart from a couple of mains switches had tripped off, which meant some of the house was in darkness but, other than that everything was OK ..... thank goodness.  And things are a little cooler today which is great, I've still lots to do before we go away.

  

We're off in the van again on Wednesday, for our longest trip so far.  We're away for 17 nights this time,  starting with a music festival ...... should be fun!   

It's not just a pleasure trip though, it's business too.  Turns out that hubby needs to work for some of the time, including a day, or possibly more, in London.  Fingers crossed it stays nice and cool for that!

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

Cheerio until next time .........   

Supplies

Card 1

Stamps: Vines & Roses (Tim Holtz - CMS298); Opposites Attract (The Greetery) for the sentiment

Inks: Versamark ink; Distress Ink - Uncharted Mariner; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: White Embossing Powder (WOW!); Oppostie Attracts Die (The Greetery); Self- adhesvie gemstones

Card 2

Stamps: Be Happy stamp set (Julie Hickey Designs)

Inks: Versamark ink; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: White Embossing Powder (WOW!); Altenew Watercolour Paints; Self-adhesive gemstones

Welcome to July! ........

Happy Friday ......

I hope you've had a lovely week.  We're sadly coming to the end of our Scottish motorhome adventure.  Just one more night, then it's time to catch the ferry back to the Isle of Man, and start planning for the next trip ...... six and a bit weeks and counting!

Can you believe we're in July already ........ half way through 2022!!!!  My goodness ...... it'll be Christmas before we know it ....... just saying!

A new month means a new CAS Mix Up Challenge.  

I'm hosting this month, and it's the turn of the Watercolour Challenge, with an added little twist ......

 I would like you to use 'Things with Wings' on your cards, as well as using the watercolour element of the challenge 

Things with Wings could be anything from birds, butterflies, bees, to fairies or even aeroplanes. As long as it's got wings you'll be fine.  Keep your cards CAS (Clean and Simple) and remember to use watercolouring on there too.

Here's a couple of ideas for you, both using very easy watercolouring techniques .......

Choose your image and stamp using a water reactive coloured ink.  Distress Oxides for example, are perfect for this, they stamp beautifully and react so well with water.  

Use a wet paintbrush to gently pull some of the colour out from the outline, trying to keeping as much of the stamped detail as possible.

I used Distess Oxides for my card, stamped onto watercolour card ........ Scattered Straw, Picked Raspberry and Dried Marigold  

I then used a wet paintbrush to gently move the ink ...... I found the more water on your brush the more the colour seemed to move, so don't have the brush too wet.

  

If you would rather add more colour over the top of your stamped image instead of taking colour from the outline, let your stamping dry,  smoosh the inkpad onto a craft mat, spritz with water and then use a paintbrush to watercolour your stamped image ..... hope that makes sense!

Some of the original stamped detail will disappear a little, but this gives more of a watercoloured effect I think

I stamped a sentiment underneath my butterflies, and finished off with a few ink splatters from the same colours of Oxides, over the butterflies

This next technique is really quick and easy to do .......

I stamped the butterflies all over a piece of white watercolour cardstock using Versamark Ink, and then sprinkled them with white embossing powder and heat set.

Once the embossing powder had cooled I then spritzed the cardstock with water and used Altenew Watercolour Paints to add the colour.

I spritzed the paints with water before I started, to get them into a liquid, and then used a paintbrush to pick up the colour and drop it onto the wet watercolour cardstock.  The water on the card helps to move the colour around but I did sprtiz again to make sure the colours blended together nicely

Repeat the process until you're happy with the depth of colour.   Use a paper towel to mop up any excess ink and water, this will also clean off your heat embossing, letting your stamped images show through.  

I prefer to leave this to air dry but you could use a heat tool, just be careful not to over heat the embossing.

The sentiment was added in two parts ...... one stamped and die cut (I do love the font on this stamp set from The Greetery!) and the second part simply stamped on a snippet of card and attached underneath

Check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for more inspiration for this months challenge from the rest of the Design Team.  There's also links to some videos using watercolour techniques.

Happy stamping!

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

We've started our journey back to the Isle of Man today .... sigh!  

We had three lovely nights on Bunree Campsite. although the weather wasn't great.  I will share some pictures with you later.  

We really liked the site though, in fact we've already booked for next April.  I'm always ready for a trip to Scotland!

Tonight we're on a campsite called King Robert the Bruce's Cave Campsite in Kirkpatrick Flemming, not far from Lockerbie. Just the one night, then tomorrow we finish our drive to Heysham to catch the afternoon ferry back to the island.  Time to go home!

Cheerio until next time ........

Card 1

Supplies

Stamps: Watercolor stamp set CMS 217 (Tim Holtz); Tiny Words (Simon Says Stamps) for the sentiment 

Inks: Distress Oxides -  Scattered Straw, Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold; Versafine Clair - Nocturne (for the sentiment)

Other: Watercolour cardstock

Card 2

Supplies

Stamps: Antique Engravings (Hero Arts): Opposites Attract Sentiments (The Greetery)

Inks/Paints: Versamark ink; Versafine Clair - Nocturne for the sentiment

Other: White Embossing Powder (WOW!); Opposites Atttract Matching Sentiment Dies (The Greetery)

A quick and easy birthday card .........

Happy Friday ....... I think it's still Friday, but not for much longer

Can you believe it's the weekend already. 

The schools have finished today for the Easter break, so the little man will be around for the next couple of weeks.  He's only got one more term to do at junior school and then it's secondary school in September ...... now where has that time gone!!!!

It's still slow going in the craft room but, as I'm sat here chatting to you I've just noticed that my lap top is covered in paint/ink splatters ...... ooops!  So I have actually done something in there this week ..... not a lot though!  

I have got a birthday card to share with you though, one of those 'suitable for a guy' creations that we all love to make ........

Hubby and I got invited to a birthday BBQ last weekend so it had to be something quick.  

I must confess I did go on to Pinterest for a little bit of 'masculine' inspiration, and Tim Holtz seemed to be a popular choice so, out came my Stampers Anonymous box and the Wine Blueprint set ..... perfect for the job. 

Totally inspired by the cards on Pinterest ....... what did we do before Pinterest!!! I CASE'd this design that really caught my eye (I'm so sorry but, I didn't make a note of the original designer, and now I can't find it again! ....... Thank you!)

I smooshed Antique Linen Distress ink onto a piece of white cardstock, followed by a bit of layered stenciling with the same colour of ink, applied with a stencil brush.  

I added a bit of stamping on there using Aged Mahogany Distress ink and finished the background with a little touch of the same ink brushed around the edges, and a few ink splatters here and there.

(I'd forgotten how much fun creating layered distress backgrounds was)

I stamped the wine glass directly onto the background and added my sentiment above ....... I do love this stamp!

I then stamped the wine glass again, this time onto a piece of white card.  I added a touch of colour using my Karin Brush Markers,  then I fussy cut the glass and attached it over the stamped image.  

Because I'd stamped the image onto the background first, all of the finer details around the glass were already there ..... perfect!

The BBQ was fun and I think John liked his card ..... I hope so anyway!  

Thanks for popping by ...... I know it's late and its way passed by bedtime so I'll say goodnight to you. 

Have a lovely weekend.  

Cheerio until next time ........

Supplies

Stamps: Wine Blueprint (Tim Holtz); Uncorked (MFT) - for the sentiment; the wine rings are from a stamp set from Stamps by Me 

Inks: Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Aged Mahogany; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Stencils - Numbers, Distressed Harlequin (Tim Holtz); Karin Brush Markers

5 weeks today .........

Happy Friday ........

Yes, 5 weeks today and it will be Christmas Eve.  5 weeks!!!!!!!!!

I'm no where near organised yet ..... how about you?   It's a very slow process this year ...... I've still got all my cards to make!

I am playing along with the last CAS Christmas Card Challenge for 2021 so here's one more at least for the festive box

The theme is Christmas Critters, so out came the Penny Black stamps where I found this little cutie ..... 

His Christmas list looks a little bit like mine!

I stamped the sentiment first, just slightly off centre, using a red ink.  

I do love large Christmas sentiments, and this one is a real favourite ....... I love the different fonts.

I added a touch of sparkle to the word 'Christmas' using a glue pen and fine crystal glitter ..... not sure it comes across well in the photo but trust me, it looks so pretty when the light catches.

 I stamped my little critter off to the side and watercoloured him using Distress inks

I felt it needed a little something extra so, to finish off I added a few gold ink splatters ..... perfect!

I must say I am tempted to start decorating the Christmas trees ......... I helped Lauren with the one where she works yesterday so that kind of got me in the mood! 

We've nothing planned this weekend so maybe I'll start gathering all the boxes together, and then I can make a start.  Now where did I put all those new baubles!!!!!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time ....... 

Products used:

Stamps: Chrsitmas Time 3 for the sentiment (Tim Holtz); Christmas Critters (Penny Black)

Inks: Versafine ink - Crimson Red; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Inks to watercolour - Vintage Photo, Antique Linen; Delicata - Golden Glitz for the splatters

Other: Quickie Glue Pen; Fine Crystal Glitter

CAS Mix Up reminder .......

Happy Tuesday .........

It's a busy week this week.  

We're half way through June already so that means it's time to remind you about this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge.

Our host this month is Viv, and the theme for the challenge is all about ......... Flight

One of the first things I thought of was wings ......... you definitely need those to fly.   Birds have them, so do bees, dragonflies or even fairies.  Or maybe, you're dreaming of holiday ........ so it could even be an aeroplane!  No foreign travel on the horizon for me so,  in the end I decided on a butterfly

I stamped the image onto a piece of watercolour cardstock, going off the edge a little so that it didn't take up too much of my 'white' space

I sprinkled a couple of Brusho pigment colours over the top (a red and a yellow shade) ....... you only need the tiniest amounts of these fabulous powders, they are so full of colour.  I then spritzed over the top with water to activate and move the colour around the butterfly.  As you can see I wasn't particularly careful, I wanted the colour to spread outside the stamped image.

 I did use a paintbrush to help blend the colours and create areas of shading.

The sentiment is a pre-printed sticker from one of Tim Holtz's Idea-ology Sticker books ...... so useful to have in your craft stash.  I simply attached it using some foam tape.

I finished off with a few simple highlights on the butterfly using a gold gel pen (not sure that these show up on the photos), and edged around the panel with a gold paint pen.

The challenge is open until June 24th so there's still time to play along.  And, if you need some more inspiration then check out what the rest of the Design Team have created over on the CAS Mix Up Blog.

Happy stamping!

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

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: Perspective  (Tim Holtz)

Inks: Black Archival Ink;

Others: Brusho Pigment Powders - Rose Red, Yellow;  Metallic Sticker Book (Tim Holtz) for the sentiment, Gold sparkle gel pen

Ink, stamp, repeat ...... ink, stamp, repeat ........

Happy Friday evening ........

I hope you've had a good week.  

The weekend is just around the corner .... have you got anything nice planned? 

There's not much in the diary, so I think it's going to be a quiet one here.

It's time for a new challenge over at Perfectly CAS, and the prompt for this one is ..... Repeat Stamping

This is a nice and easy one ..... simply pick your favourite stamp, ink it up and stamp away.  Remember to keep to the challenge rules though ......

• keep your cards CAS (clean and simple)
• follow the challenge theme
• and only use one third, or less, of your card space.

I've gone for a rainbow of colour but, your repeat stamping could all be in the same colour, or maybe  different shades of one colour ....... the choice is all yours.

I'm loving rainbow colours at the moment and the Distress Oxide inks are perfect for stamping with ...... nice bright shades, great coverage, and they layer beautifully over the top of each other 

I stamped the butterfly down the centre of my card, changing the position of the stamp each time to add a bit of movement to the design.

I used a black ink for the sentiment and stamped it in the centre, over the top of the butterflies 

A really quick and easy, CAS, one layer card.

Here's another option ....... how about some birthday candles

Again, stamped using various colours of Distress Oxide inks ........

and this time I used two sentiment stamps for my greeting .......

and added the flame to just one of the candles 

Check out the Perfectly CAS Challenge Blog for more fabulous repeat stamping ideas.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day, and have a lovely weekend. 

I'm hoping for some nice weather then we can spend some time in the garden.

Cheerio until next time ........

Products used:

Butterfly card

Stamps: Tim Holtz Watercolor stamp set (Stampers Anonymous); Better With Age sentiments (Penny Black)

Inks: Distress Oxide Inks - Candid Apples, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Birthday Candles

Stamps: BIG & BOLD Wish (Uniko); Better With Age sentiments (Penny Black); Happy Birthday from a Happy Little Stampers stamp set which I think is now retired

Inks:  Distress Oxide Inks - as above; Versafine Clair - Nocturne