Spring Greens ......

Hello again .....

It's time to launch this month's STAMPlorations CAS Challenge .......

As always the challenge has an optional colour twist ....... and this month it's

SPRING GREEN

You don't have to use the colour to enter the challenge .... just make sure your design is CAS.

Full challenge details can be found on the STAMPlorations Blog along with all the rules and guidelines.

So ..... green ...... hmmmm ........ had to be leaves for me.  Well ....  they will be on the trees soon

I used one of my favourtie stamp sets from STAMPlorations ..... the Trendy Leaves.

I cut myself a little rectangle mask from a Post It note, and then inked through with various shades of Distress Ink ...... I think they were Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters and the Twisted Citron.

Each time I inked the rectangle, with the mask still in place, I splattered it with water and then stamped over the top using one of the leaves stamps using the same shade of Distress Ink

I stamped the words (STAMPlorations Noteworthy) ...... off to the side

and then I stamped the leaves again onto a piece of white card using  Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, fussy cut around them and attached then onto the front of my card using foam pads to add dimension.

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

I do love these leaves ..... and I think the inside would make a great outside too!!

Now it's your turn ...... if you need some more inspiration pop over to the STAMPlorations blog and see what the rest of Design Team have come up with .... you won't be disappointed.  We've got a fab Guest Designer this month too ...... the lovely Mac Mable.  Please pop over and say Hi! there too.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off now to tidy the old craft room ..... today's session is over.  We're off out for tea tonight then it's onto a birthday bash ...... so it could end up being a late one.

Cheerio until next time .....

Linda

xx

Just the one layer

Hi folks,
Wasn't sure where to start this morning, no urgent items on the 'To Do' list, nothing that needs to go in the post as soon as, and no rushing around like a headless chicken - absolute bliss! 
So it was breakfast in bed, followed by a second cup of coffee, a good old catch up with emails and stuff, my morning chat with Lauren, and now I'm ready to start the day (a little later than usual)
  
Yesterday afternoon was spent catching up with Blog challenges - well making a start at least.  I did manage to get one finished though .....
It's everybody's favourite week over at Less is More.
Yes, it's the
                        ONE LAYER CARD
with the focus this week being on
                              FOLIAGE

In some cases a One Layer card can be harder to do than one that's mat and layered to the hilt, and embellished with everything you can think of.  It can take a bit of planning before you start - how to create the 'layered' look, and add a bit of depth (masks/stencils come in handy here, and use of inks)  What needs to be done first to get the right look. And of course no embellies! (Oh no!)  On the other hand, this style can be so quick and easy to do, but still have that Wow! factor.

This weeks effort is somewhere in between.  It took me a little while to decide on the design, mainly because I couldn't find a stamp I was happy with.  Then of course, what colours to use.  I think I'm still a little bit in my pink phase - a least one shade seems to sneak into whatever I'm doing.

This time it was Spun Sugar, teamed with Tumbled Glass and a little bit of Milled Lavender.  The Distress Inks were brushed onto the card through a mask/stencil I'd made using a Nestabilities die.
My foliage stamp is from a Hero Arts clear set called Delicate Leaf Clusters (one of my favourites), and the sentiment is from Share Laughter (also by Hero Arts).  Both were just stamped in black Versafine ink - simples! 
Obviously you could choose any colour combinations for the inked panel, I always tend to use three.  And your panel could also be any shape you like.

I must admit I quite like the one layer weeks, they make a refreshing change.   The CAS designs are always elegant and make great cards for any occasion.  Why not pop over the LIM site and take a look at the inspiration from Chrissie and Mandi and the fabulous entries that are already on there - make a cuppa first though, there's quite a few!

Thanks for popping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with a card that's definitely NOT one layer - it's one of those rare offerings from me - one for the guys!

Have a great day, and ooh ..... don't forget the girls from Stamp Addicts, Sarah and Vicky, are back on C& C this afternoon - 4pm and 6pm - with their Birthday Bonanza show.

See you later

Linda

x 

Happy Monday!

Hi guys,
Hope you all had a good weekend and managed to enjoy some of the glorious weather that was around.
Saturday was gorgeous here. It did get off to a grey start but once the sun came out it was beautiful.  Just as well, because we were at a BBQ/Lobster Party in the afternoon.  Stephen was put in charge of cooking the lobsters, and I somehow managed to end up as Sous-Chef.
Lots of beer and wine, two small gas stoves, two rather large pans of boiling water, one mean looking meat cleaver and 50 (yes, I said 50!!) LIVE lobsters.  What could possibly go wrong!

Well actually, nothing! Surprisingly.
We made a great team.   (How is it that men like to cook outdoors, but when it comes to cooking in the kitchen that's our job!?)   We managed to cook, serve, and everyone managed to eat, 37 of the lobsters ....

 - as well as 2 large legs of lamb plus all the usual salads, bread, desserts etc., that you get at a BBQ - nom! nom! nom!  The remaining lobsters were cooked yesterday (Sunday) and then Steve and Sarah, who hosted the BBQ, did a take-out service for those that wanted it.  So it was lobster and salmon again for tea.  I don't want to see another plate of seafood until at least November!!!

Even though we had a busy weekend I did manage to spend some time in the old craft room.  I've been playing with paint and inks, masks and Gesso, Flitter Glu and Flakes, Fran-tage embossing powders - I've had a ball!  And what's really good is, the end result is for ME!!

I've been making so many projects recently, for other people, using the dress form, some of which I really didn't want to give away (is that naughty of me?), that I thought it was time I made one for myself.  So here it is .....

..... it's an 8x8 canvas, and there's just about everything on there.  It looks like I'm still in my pink phase too. 
I didn't really have a plan when I started out, except that I knew I was going to use a dress form somewhere on there, and there had to be lots of texture too (Ooh!  Now why is that I wonder?  Maybe I'll say more later ...... !?!??)
Most of the inspiration for this came from Hels Sheridan.  I love reading her blog, there's so much inspriation and loads of ideas on there, she's such a talented lady.   If you're not already a fan pop over and take at look - you don't know what you're missing.

Right how did this come together .......
I started by randomly painting the canvas with pastel shades of acrylic paint.  I just kept adding paint until I was happy with the look.   Once it was all dry I used one of the Prima masks and inked through it with Worn Lipstick Distress ink.  I then used another mask, this time with Gesso to add a bit of texture. (Love this stuff - note to self .... Need a new BIGGER pot!) 
The new Fran-tage Embossing Enamels have been sat on my window ledge for goodness knows how long so I thought it was time I gave them a go.  I used them with a stamp and Versamark ink, just like you would any other embossing powder, and, you can just about see, I also added some to the edges of the piece of corrugated  card, just by sprinkling it on where I wanted it and then heated from underneath so as not to blow it all away.  I used the Shabby Pink, but there's lots of fab colours available.

There's a little bit of gilded crackle (an Indigo Blu stamp), and I've edged the whole of the canvas with Flitter Glu and flakes (Manchester Tart),  again to add a different texture.
The dress form is a Tim Holtz rubber stamp, stamped directly onto the canvas and then just the top half stamped again onto a piece of card, this time in Worn Lipstick DI.  It's then been cut out and attached over the top.
She's been dressed with a little more of the Fran-tage, ribbon flowers and some tulle.  Her wings are an Indigo Blu butterfly stamp done in two layers, one card, one acetate.

I stamped one of my favourite Tim Holtz sayings, cut it out and layered it using the Spellbinders Labels 18 dies.  You can see the black layer has also been put through an embossing folder and then sanded back, more texture.
Also the large paper flower in the corner has been Fran-taged (I'm hooked on this stuff now).  It was stamped, completely covered in Versamark then 2 layers of the Embossing Enamel.  A smaller rose has been added to the centre.

To finish it all off, I used some more paper flowers (Prima), vintage seam binding, some decorative pins, a couple of  metal charms, a few Chit Chat words, and finally, I covered the sides with strips of inked and distressed scrapbooking papers.  I said there was a bit of everything on here.  And the best bit is, it can stay on my craft room wall, for now. Yeah!!

Phew, that was a long one for first post of the week.  I'm hoping to be back later with another one.
I'm off across to the UK tomorrow evening so I need to get a few things done before then.

Thanks for popping by today.
I notice that I've got a couple of new followers again over the weekend.  Hello and Welcome to Shelagh and Brenda.  It's lovely to have you along and I really appreciate you taking the time to read my posts.  It's so nice to know there's someone out there.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll see you all again later.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Fifty Shades of ....... PINK!

Well not quite fifty, but I've used a few ........

Hi everyone,
It's time for my IN THE PINK  entry.  This is a brand new fortnightly blog challenge and is hosted by two very talented ladies Christine and Sylvia (AKA  Posh Priscilla and Pretty Patricia - the 2 PP's).  Check out the Blog here, you'll find some great inspiration from the ladies themselves, and there's already loads of fabulous entries too. Lots of Pink lovers out there.

It's the first challenge and it's basically anything goes .... but it has to be PINK!

Well, mine is certainly that .....  it may be a little OTT even for me!  I think I've just about thrown everything on there, and most of it is in fact, pink.

As you can see the dress form has come out (again!), and I've dressed her up this time in some white tulle, Tim Holtz fabric flowers from his Lavish Trim pack and the new range of Prima papers - Rondelle.  This paper pad is absolutely gorgeous, there's a bit of everything in there - florals, dots, flourishes, script and it's all shades of pinks, peaches, creams, teamed up with the black. Just stunning!
Anyway, back to the card.
The background is spritzed with Distress inks - Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick with a touch of Perfect Pearls.  I've used a leafy mask and inked through with Black Soot DI.  I've also used the same mask on the paper, only this time I used a spatula and put white Gesso through to add a little bit of texture.  
The whole thing is finsihed off  with ribbon, vintage seam binding, a few gems and a large paper flower - all pink of course.  The sentiments are from Tim Holtz and are stamped on pieces of the same background card.
I'm afraid if you're not a Pink lover then this card isn't for you!

While we're on the subject of Pink here's a couple of projects I did for Kay to display on the Indigo Blu stand at Donnington Park this weekend.

 

These are a little bit PINK too.  If you want more details, and a closer look pop over to the Indigo Blu Blog, I've done a full post with details of what I've used etc.,  and you'll also find out what's in the box - any ideas?

Well, that's me done for today.   It's back to a Christmas theme again tomorrow, I've made my first Christmas card (my own that is).  It's for the Penny Black Saturday challenge, I can't Blog it today as it's not quite finished yet. Tomorrow - I promise.

Enjoy the rest of Thursday.

Thanks for popping by.

Linda

x