Have you entered the Craft Stamper challenge yet? .......

Happy Friday,

Another weekend just around the corner and it's looking like it's going to be a nice one too.  The sun is still shining over here and the temperatures are actually warming up a little (oops! maybe I shouldn't have said that!) Anyway ..... whatever you've got planned for the next couple of days, enjoy it!

First though .... have you entered this month's Craft Stamper Take It Make It challenge yet?  If not there's still plenty of time.  There's fab prizes up for grabs ...... one from this month's sponsor .......

 A fabulous €20 (EUROS) voucher to spend in the store

And then there's the Design Winner chosen by the DT.  They will get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine ....  be invited to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge and get a Winner's Profile published on the blog!

Need a little more inspiration ...... here's a little something from me, and you can also find lots more on the Craft Stamper Blog today

I'm ticking off more than one job on the 'To Do' list today ........ there's quite a few birthdays in March that I need cards for so this is another one done!

Spring is on it's way .... the crocus and daffodils are starting to bloom so I thought I'd go all floral.

The background is the Stampin Up! Hardwood simply stamped onto a piece of white card using the Wendy Vecchi Hydrangea Archival ink  ..... love this shade!!

I then stamped various flowers from the Doodle Buds stamp set by WPLUS9 onto white card, coloured them using Distress Inks and then fussy cut around them

The butterfly is by Prima ..... one of the gorgeous stamps from the Finnabair range, stamped first directly onto the Woodgrain background and then again onto white card, coloured, cut out and layered over the top.  Doing it this way avoids having to cut around those fiddly antennae

I arranged my flowers on the front of the card using foam pads to attach some to add a bit of dimension ......

and finished off with a sentiment from the Happy Little Stampers Fun Birthday Sentiments

There's a little something on the inside too ......

Now it's your turn.
Your entry can be anything you like, as long as there's rubber stamping on there.
Remember ....... one entry per blog post please.   Link back to your actual challenge entry post, not just your blog, and include a link to the Craft Stamper Challenge Blog.  Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ..... have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend.
I'm off now to quickly tidy up the old craft room ...... I've got a crafty buddy coming round this morning and I need to get my things ready .... need to get out of my PJ's too!!!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

A little reminder about the Craft Stamper challenge ...... Text Me

Good morning ...... Happy Friday!

Another week has whooshed by ........ and it's Valentine's weekend ...... the day for LOVVVVE! (yeah right!)  

It's also time to remind you about this month's Craft Stamper Challenge ...... Text Me!

It's a Take a Technique month and we want you to use TEXT on your projects.
When we say 'Text' ....... think backgrounds.  Text or script stamps ....... torn book pages ..... dictionaries ..... pages from magazines.  It can be any language and any style but NO single words please ...... phrases or sentiments don't count!! And don't forget to include some stamping on your project too!

The challenge this month is sponsored by A Sprinkle of Imagination

And the challenge winner (randomly chosen) will receive a £25 gift voucher to spend in the store.

Not only that A Sprinkle of Imagination have kindly offered 10% off all purchases from the shop, for the duration of the challenge, to all blog readers ....... isn't that nice!!
All you have to do is use code CSBlog10% at the checkout when you place an order.   The offer runs from the 5th - 25th of February with  a £5 minimum spend ....... excluding p&p.

Don't forget there's also the Design Winner, chosen by the DT and they will get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine, be invited for a Guest Designer spot on a future challenge and have a Winner's Profile published on the Craft Stamper Blog!  Not bad eh!!

I've got a canvas for you today using torn strips from old book pages added to the background, and I've also stamped onto painted pages, and then cut out my images ......

I painted a small white canvas using PaperArtsy Fresco Finish acrylic paints ...... Mermaid, Guacamole and just a few brush strokes of Candy Floss

These paints are fab to use and they blend so well .....

Next I added a few torn pieces of an old book page to the canvas and then used texture paste through a stencil over the top ..... making sure that I could still see some of the text through

Once that was dry I washed over the top of the paste and the book page using the same paints as before.  I added a bit more water to the paint over the text so that the words still showed through.

Using Ranger's Glue & Seal I glued another book page onto a piece of white card to give it a little bit more strength, and then added some colour to it using the same shades of paint I'd used on the canvas.
I then stamped my flowers, and embossed them with a clear powder.

The stems were stamped directly onto the canvas and again embossed with the clear powder, before adding a touch of colour using the paints again.
Each one of the flowers was then fussy cut and attached onto the canvas.
The words (from JOFY 09) were stamped along 2 of the edges and embossed .....

And to finish off I added some white paint splashes here and there and used a credit card with the paint to add the lines around the edge

The whole thing was mounted onto a larger canvas, which has been painted using the same paints as before ...... Mermaid and a touch of Candy Floss.  And the final little touch was to add another 'text' flower to the bottom

Pop over to the Craft Stamper Blog for more inspiration for this months challenge, then get creating ...... you have to be in it to win it!!

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

Mwah!!

xx

After a day with my crafty buddies tomorrow, Hubby and I are off out for our romantic Valentine's meal ....... he's taking me to my favourite restaurant.   We're going tomorrow, because would you believe that they're not open on Sunday ....... only in the Isle of Man!!  Never mind I'm sure it'll be fabulous ...... and it does mean that we can look after the little man on Sunday whilst the youngsters go out with their better halves ........ awww young love!!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

It's the 3rd day of December .......

and it's raining cats and dogs!!!

Happy Thursday .....

I thought we'd have a break from all the festive stuff ....... at least for part of this blog post anyway.

It's challenge time ....... and seeing as I missed out on last weeks Less is More (too much to do and not enough week to do it in!!) I'm making sure the same doesn't happen this week.

It's a Recipe week and they would like us to use .....

FRUIT!

I had the pear-fect little stamp set sat on my desk so this was an easy one ......

The stamps are from Wplus9 ...... they're called Punny Pears and they are soooo cute!!!

Pear-fectly CAS (sorry!) .... lots of white space.
I coloured the pear using Distress Inks ..... I made a mask from a post-it note, used the outside of it and then brushed the ink onto the pear.

I added the words ....  which also come on the stamp set

 and then flicked some of the same coloured Distress Ink onto the background

And of course there had to be something on the inside too

Just pear-fect!!

OK .... enough of the non-festive stuff ...... it's time to decorate the tree this evening.  It's up and in place, and the angel is on the top but that's as far as I've got ......

I've tested the lights and they're OK .... so far! Now I need to get all the decorations out ........ and remember where I've put the new ones ...... and transform this into something beautiful, festive and sparkly.

So ..... it'll be something quick for dinner, get the little man in bed and then it's me and Mr Buble for the rest of the evening ...... getting into the Christmas spirit! Ho! Ho! Ho!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx