CAS Stencil Challenge ......

Happy Monday evening ........

I hope your week has got off to a good start.  It's going to be a busy one here .... lots going on in the craft room.  At least it's nice and cosy in there ....... although it's not as cold here in this part of the world as it is in some.  Stay safe and warm if you're in the artic blast!!

We're at the beginning of a new month so, that means new Blog Challenges.
Thank you to everyone that played along with the first CAS Stencil Challenge in January.  We had some amazing entries.  It was great to see you all having fun with your stencils.
Check out the January's Top Picks post if you played along ..... you might just be on there!

OK ..... time for February's CAS Stencil Challenge
This month the challenge is hosted by the lovely Nancy, and the theme is ...... Powdered Inks.

Now these can be things like ..... Brushos, Color Bursts, Infusions.  Magicals, Bisters, or Pixie Powders.  Little pots of magic as I like to call them.  Just add water and watch the magic appear.
They're great to use with stencils too.
If you've never used powdered inks before don't worry ...... check out this month's CAS Stencil Challenge post and follow the links to some great videos ....... and have fun!

Now for a little inspiration from me ...... and as it's February, it's time for Valentine's

I used Brusho's as my powdered inks, and a Tim Holtz stencil to create my background.
I sprinkled a tiny amount of the powders directly onto my stencil, spritzed with a little water to activate the colours and then laid the stencil on top of a piece of watercolour cardstock.
A quick press down with a paper towel and voila! ..... when I lifted off the stencil I had this pretty piece of cardstock .....

So easy to do, but so effective .... and you'll never get two backgrounds the same .....

A nice large sentiment stamped on the top .....

And I used a Stardust Gel Pen to highlight some of the hearts ..... just a little shimmer here and there when the light catches

And of course that all important Valentine's greeting

Another way of doing it is to simply place your stencil over your cardstock as you would normally, sprinkle a tiny amount of powdered ink through the design and spritz with a little water.  Quickly, and carefully lift off the stencil to reveal your design ........

You may not always get a nice crisp finish to your designs.  If you spritz with too much water then it  can sometimes bleed underneath the stencil, but I quite like that ..... it looks a bit arty I think

When I took the stencil off this one there was quite a bit of water/ink sat in places.  Now you know me,  I don't like to waste any of my precious colour so, I took a piece of scrap card that was on my desk and placed it over the top of the design ....... and look .... I got a background to use on another  project .....

A little Brusho goes a long way .......

Now it's your turn ..... time to have for some inky fun with your stencils.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results.
You'll find more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on the CAS Stencil Challenge Blog

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Happy Bird-day Chris .........

Happy Thursday .......

Is it really only Thursday ...... it's been a lonnnnng week!!  But, we're almost there ..... the weekend that is!!
I think our weekend officially starts this evening ...... hubby's got the day off tomorrow, and it's Chris's birthday today.  No doubt there will be much celebrating going on later ..... I do know he's off out this evening.  I think I'll sit this one out and leave it to the boys ...... we can do our family celebrations tomorrow evening.

I have made him a birthday card though ........

Cute or what!

I made it with this month's Twofer Card Challenge in mind ........ another one that I'm sneaking in just before the deadline. 

Two different designs for

two different occasions,

using the same stamp, die or stencil

An ostrich is a bird ...... right?

This little guy has simply been stamped onto a piece of white card using a Black Versafine ink ..... just look at that face!
Not sure if you can see it but, I've just added a tiny bit of blue ink to his eyes .....

The sentiment is from a Penny Black set and I've stamped it in two halves ..... using stencil tape to cover the bits that I didn't need.  The first half on the front ......

and the second on the inside .....

I added a few splatters of gold and black ink to finish off.

Now for the Twofer ......
Using the same stamp .... which by the way is from Katzelkraft, if you were wondering ..... I decided on a Valentine's design.  Well, it'll be here before we know it!

This time, the cute little ostrich has been stamped repeatedly around the edges of a piece of white card

I stamped in the gaps using a sentiment from Tim Holtz's Crazy Talk and some sweet little hearts from MFT's Valentine Wishes 
The hearts have been given a brush of sparkle ....

And I added a nice glittery one, along with my stamped greeting

OK, OK ..... I confess ...... the glittery heart was to hide a smudge that somehow appeared when I'd nearly finished the card ..... ooops!  You would never know would you!

So, that's it ...... my Twofer. 
Birthday and Valentines

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your day.
It's time to tidy the craft room today ..... it could take a while.  Think I'll have a coffee first!

Cheerio until next time .....

 

Mwah!! X Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello there .....

Just let me fight my way through the pile of mail that's dropped through the letter box, not to mention all the flowers that have arrived this morning.  No wait a minute ..... I'm awake now ..... must have been dreaming (haha!)

Actually ....... I did get, not one, but two Valentine's this morning ..... lucky me!!!

One from hubby ...... thank you sweetheart!  And a rather nice surprise when one dropped through the letterbox all the way from the US, from my lovely blog buddy Darnell .....

Thank you so much hun ...... mwah! mwah! mwah!  I'm impressed that you managed to get it here on the actual day .......

So a lovely start to Valentine's Day 2015 for me ...... I hope yours is going the same way.

Here's the card I couldn't share with you the other day ........

Hubby's Valentine's card ....... all hand made with love, for the special man in my life! (It's CAS I know but I spent precious time on it!!)
Unlike mine ....... which was actually chosen by a work colleague!!!! Yes...... hubby confessed .... that he didn't go out and choose it himself!
At lunchtime yesterday, Jason announced to the office that he was popping into town to get his girlfriend a Valentines card ...... someone else in the office chirped up "get me one while you're going" ...... and hubby did the same!
So .....thank you Jason .... it's a lovely card.  And thank you darling ..... I love you too!   It's the thought that counts so I'm told!!!

Thanks for popping by today ...... have a love filled Valentines Day, and remember ....

Anyone can catch your eye ......

But it takes someone special

To capture your heart

xxx

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

It's Sketch week .......

Morning!

Happy Friday folks ....... it's the weekend (finally!)  The other half has had a couple of days off work this week so we're off out for a drive this afternoon.  That means that I've got to get a wriggle on this morning and get some work done!!

The old craft room is still full of Design Team stuff  but I can see light at the end of the tunnel, just a few more samples to do then they can all be packed in a box and put in the hands of Mr Royal Mail .... the dealine will be met!

In between all that though I've made time to enter my favourite Blog Challenges.  First up is Less is More .....

It's Sketch week

and we have a fabulous design to follow from the lovely Jen

The idea is to follow the layout, but we don't have to stick to the star shape, it can be anything we like.

Here's mine for this week ....

Earlier this week, my postie brought me this gorgeous new stamp set from the Valentine's promotion from Stampin Up!, and I couldn't wait to give it it's first inking.

Typically LIM style, CAS with loads of white space.  You can see I'm still using my trusty colour combo, only this time I've gone for red and white, with a touch of black!

How sweet is this little Eiffel Tower ........ although it was the sentiment that I really bought the set for .....

awwwww ...... how romantic!

I've even done the inside ..... in fact I've used all the stamps that come in the set ...... now that doesn't happen very often

Well that's another Valentine's card done .....  just got my weekly Christmas card to do now.

Thanks for popping by today.  I'll be back later (yes 2 posts in one day .... whatever next!) with my Tim Tag for January - whoo hoo!  I've finally got it done.

See you then

Linda

xx

A piece of My Heart ......

Happy Wednesday!

Finally ...... a spare 5 minutes to sit down and blog.   It's coffee and cake time while I catch up with you guys - the last of the Christmas cake is about to disappear!

This week is flying by again.  As well as all the usual stuff,  there was a birthday on Monday - all sorted.  Chris went back to Uni on Tuesday, so that meant an expensive shopping trip on Monday afternoon.  I have another birthday on Friday (Lauren's this time) and I haven't even started the cards yet!  And then hubby has organised another poker night round at ours this evening ....... cards all day and cards in the evening!  Better get some tidying up done though, I've still got stuff everywhere.

I've been so busy the last couple of days that I forgot my little old Blog's birthday (shame on me!).  Yes,  Life in the Craft Lane was 2 yesterday ...... Happy Birthday Blog!
It still amazes me that so many of you enjoy reading my crafty ramblings, and other stuff.  I really do appreciate you all taking the time to visit and leave such lovely comments.

I've squeezed in a little Blog Challenge entry again for this week's  Less is More challenge.
It's everyone's favourite this week ..... ONE LAYER CARDS (eekk!!)  and the theme is .....

Hearts

Here's my take on the challenge ......

I haven't done cute for a while, and this little stamp caught my eye (Lauren's already claimed the card to send as her Valentine's)

Both the image and the sentiment are from a Penny Black 'T' for Transparent set called Piece of My Heart which I've had for ages.  I've just stamped them using Black Versafine ink then coloured the hearts with Barn Door Distress ink and a waterbrush.

I'm definitley in a 'touch of red' phase I think, which all started at the weekend when I made my ATC's for the next swap over on Julie's Blog .........

Oh well, I suppose the coffee break is over.  I really should be back in the old craft room making those birthday cards for Friday ........ I'll be in BIG trouble if they're not there first thing.

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

See you again soon

Linda

xx