A rainbow of colour ........

Happy Wednesday .........

How are you? 

It's all good here at the moment ........ fingers crossed!

Our latest lockdown restrictions were all lifted on Monday (yeah!)  A new exit plan for opening our borders was published yesterday (whoo hoo!!) ....... roll on the end of June!  We've booked a family holiday Staycation, and a long weekend away in the van.  And ..... we're off out this evening for the first time in what feels like FOREVER!!  It's nice to be getting back to normality!  

I say fingers crossed because, I've just heard on the local news that there are new unexplained cases of the virus on the island that have been detected overnight ........ lets hope that further investigation doesn't bring bad news!! 

Anyway, the reason I'm here is  .......... I'm playing along with the CAS Christmas Challenge again ....... sneaking in another festive card before the deadline.

The theme is ...... Rainbow.  Not something I would normally think of for festive designs but ..... it works

Who doesn't love pretty fairy lights, and these would brighten up any Christmas tree!

I stamped and heat embossed the fairy lights onto a piece of white cardstock, and then coloured them using ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers and a waterbrush

I added a touch of fine crystal glitter to each of the bulbs for a little added sparkle,

 and used a silver gel pen and my waterbrush to colour the tops

I used a fancy stitched edge die to add extra detail to the bottom, and trimmed my stamped image to match 

A simple sentiment, stamped underneath and heat embossed, adds the finishing touch.

I've enjoyed creating the rainbow designs for this challenge but, I think I'm still more of a traditional girl when it comes to my festive cards!

Speaking of rainbows, here's a colourful idea for this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

It's not the usual form of paper piecing but I think it would pass.  

I haven't actually stamped an image and paper pieced it, instead I've cut the petals from an old book page and then pieced them together to make my flower ...... could be a daisy, or a sunflower maybe.

I took an old book page and coloured it using various colours of acrylic paints.  

I used my finger to smoosh small patches of colour but you could use a brush ........ I've done a few too many workshops with the lovely Tracy Scott I think, she loves to finger paint!  It's such an easy way of applying colour, and you don't have to be too careful either for this technique. 

I stamped on top of the painted page using a few background stamps to add some more detail and interest ...... another technique picked up from Tracy

I then cut myself a template for the petal shape ...... you could cut your petals freehand if you prefer. 

I concertina folded my painted book page to fit my petal template, drew around it across the width of the paper and then cut out the petals. 

I arranged the petal shapes to form the flower on the edge of a piece of black cardstock.  Once I was happy I glued each one into place, trimming off any excess.

For the centre of the flower I cut a circle from another book page and glued it over the top. 

I added some white gel pen around the edges of the petals to make them stand out,  and finished with a few splatters of white paint

A simple heat embossed sentiment was all it needed on the bottom 

Both challenges close on April 24th so there's still a little time left if you fancy playing along.

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

Cheerio until next time .......
 

Products used:

CAS Christmas card

Stamps: Outline Christmas Bulbs (Simon Says Stamps); Sentiment was a freebie I think

Inks: Versamark ink;

Other: Metallic Platinum Embossing Powder (WOW!); ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers; Quickie Glue Pen; Fine Crystal Glitter, Silver Sparkle Gel Pen; Fancy Stitched Edge die (not sure of the make)

CAS Mix Up card

Stamps: Various background stamps from my stash; Sweet Daisy stamp set (Julie Hickey Designs) - for the sentiment

Inks: Versamark ink;

Other: Old book pages; PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints - various colours; White embossing powder (WOW!); White gel pen

Pages 5 ..... 6 .... AND 7!

Happy Tuesday ......

Hope you're enjoying your evening.  Just had dinner which was delicious, even if I do say so myself, so hubby and I are chillin now ..... he's going after bad guys on his latest computer game so I thought I'd spend time with my blog buddies .....  we're also finishing off the bottle of red we opened ..... or is this the second one. It's been a long day!

It's also been a busy few days in the old craft room .... DT stuff to do, I've been playing around with a canvas, more about that later, and I've even found time to mess around in my journal.
Pages 5, 6 and 7 are done and number 8 has been started. Still not caught up completely but it's fun trying .....  we'll get there!

Page 5 ....... the prompt for the day was 'pinkish' ..... think I covered that one

Quite a simple page.
I painted both sides of my journal page spread using the same colours (PaperArtsy paints again) ........ this makes things easier I think.
I then used the Wendy Vecchi Heart stencil ....... both the outside piece, to ink the heart in the centre (I used Worn Lipstick Distress Ink for this) and also kept the stencil in place whilst I stamped the script onto the heart to give it a bit more interest.

I then covered up the heart in the centre with the inny part of the stencil whilst I added some detail to the background

 The words were stamped and heat embossed in white .....

And I finished off by 'splatting' distress stain straight from the bottle on the journal page .... love doing this!

Page 6 ..... the other half of the pink spread

Back to using old book pages again (something else I love doing!).

Stamped my blooms onto the book pages and fussy cut them ..... love these flowers from PaperArtsy!

I also used more of the stamps from the set to add some detail to the background

The large word is also on the set too ..... perfect finishing touch!

Pages 7 and 8 were coloured together, this time using Brushos

Before I started with any colour I used my stamps first, directly onto the journal page, with a Versamark ink and then heat embossed the images with a white detail powder (page 8 isn't quite finished so you'll have to wait a little longer to see that one)

I then sprayed the right hand side of the journal with water, sprinkled shades of blue Brusho on the top and then closed the book and let the pigment and water do it's thing.
This was repeated a few times until I got the colour and the coverage I wanted ..... mopping up any excess in between with a piece of kitchen roll.
Love how the white embossing acts as a resist to the colour ......

The paint brushes are a stencil, with white embossing paste, applied once the Brusho background was dry

And then I finished off with some more of those Distress Stain splatters ......

Hmmm ...... what shall I try next?!?

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your evening.
Apparently we've been forecast snow for the end of the week. On high ground that is, with a chance of it falling lower.
Not only that, the ferries may be cancelled again tomorrow due to bad weather ....... gales I think, so things could get a little exciting here towards the end of the week.  If the boats don't go then everyone will be panic buying again ..... the supermarket shelves will be empty.  Time to stock up on the essentials I think .... more wine?

Cheerio until next time .....

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

A touch of red ........

Good Morning!  Happy Wednesday!

It's the 21st of the month, it's 10 o'clock and it's the launch of the first new challenge of the year over at IndigoBlu.

We had some fabulous entries at the end of last year,  for the Glamour & glitz challenge. Congratulations to Shelagh, our first winner of the year ...... enjoy your prize!

Our first challenge of 2015 is all about ......

 A Touch of Red

Perfect for all those Valentine cards maybe, that we're going to need in February.

I'm still not back in the full swing of things with my DT work but, you know me, a touch of red is one of my favourite colour ways ...... I love to team it up with black and white.   And, there's a perfect stamp in the brand new IndigoBlu/Limor Webber collection that's just been released at CHA ....... so I couldn't resist having a play for this challenge ......

Looking at the Challenge Blog this morning, a few of the DT have had the same idea ...... we've used the same stamp but that's great because each design is so different.  Just shows how colour can change things so easily.

I've gone for a bit of a layered look and added in some old book pages for the background.

I stuck the pages onto a piece of white card using IndigoBlu's Slap It On ....... I coated the white card, put the book pages on the top, then sealed them with another layer of Slap It On.

Once it was all dry, I added a touch of colour around the edge using Distress ink

I then stamped the Limor Splattered Heart in the centre and embossed with a Clear, fine detail powder

I stamped and embossed the image again onto a piece of white card, and cut out the centre heart.

I painted it using the English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint, in the gorgeous Ruby Slippers, and then shaped it a little using a large embossing tool

This was then attached over the original image using foam pads to add dimension.

To finish off I did a bit of mat and layering with some red, black and white card and then added a few more splatters to the design using the Ruby Slippers paint 

I didn't think it needed any words on the front, but I did, as always, add a little something to the inside

A bit of torn book page, applied as before, and inked around the edge.  And finished off by using just part of  Limor's Heart stamp to add the splatters.

Hope you like it ..... now it's your turn.
You can find more inspiration over on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog ..... the DT have been busy with lots of ideas to get you started.
You have until 8pm on 20th February to get your entries in ...... so get those stamps out and start creating.  Have fun!

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

Cheerio until next time

Happy stamping!

LindyLou

xx