Botanical Prints for the CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

Happy Friday ......

How are you? ...... I hope you've had a good week.

Welcome to October ......... only 84 days until Christmas (just saying!)

I have started to think about the festive season, and I must confess ...... the shopping has started!

Well, you know what it's like, you see things when you're out and about, and I do have an extra one to spoil buy for this year.  

Arthur isn't really going to understand the whole Santa thing this year, and he may be the smallest member of the family now but, no doubt he will have the largest pile of presents under the tree!!!

Anyway, enough about the C word ..... it's the first of October so that means there's brand new CAS Mix Up Challenge ...... yeah!!!

Bonnie is our host this month and she's chosen a real fun challenge for us.

  

It's a Mixed Media month, and the challenge is to use actual leaves or flowers etc. from your garden to create your Botanical Prints ....... cool or what!

There's a few ways to do this.  Ink up your leaves etc. with paints or ink pads and then use them to stamp with.  Use them as stencils with spray inks, or on your gelli plates.  Or, you can even run them through your die cutting machines sandwiched between watercolour paper.  This is really cool, I've never tried it but, I have seen it done.  

If you're not sure which way to go then check out the CAS Mix Up Blog.  Along with all the gorgeous inspiration from the DT you'll find links to some great video techniques for this challenge.

As it's a Mixed Media month remember to include some rubber stamping on your card, and at least one other Mixed Media element. 

OK,  here's one way of using leaves .......

I used Distress Ink, directly from the ink pad onto the leaves and then I used the leaves as a stamp.

I placed the inked up leaves onto a piece of white cardstock and then I covered the leaves with a piece of copier paper and applied a little bit of pressure to transfer the image. 

I love the detail on the leaves ..........

And I think I have a new favourite Distress colour ....... Salvaged Patina, I love it!!!!!! 

I repeated the process twice and then stamped my sentiment over the top using a black ink.

I added a few splatters of gold ink to the background ......

Now you know me, I don't like to waste anything, especially ink.  

I noticed that there was still a little bit of colour left on my leaves after I'd used them to print so, I spritzed with a little water, grabbed another piece of white card and used them again .......

I love the different look to the leaves, more of a watercolour feel I think ......

The paler leaves in the background are the ink that was left on from my first card ...... 

The second, deeper image in the front was done by inking up the leaves again, although not using as much ink as I did on the first card, spritzed with a little water and then repeated the technique.

I stamped and heat embossed half of my sentiment directly onto the card, stamped the other half onto a scrap of cardstock that I'd coloured using the same Distress Ink.  I cut this down and attached with foam pads, adding some rainbow mettalic thread underneath to add a bit more interest to the design.

The final touch was a few splatters of gold here and there, done using a technique I picked up from Tracy Scott

You know how I love to splatter well, these were done with water and gold embossing powder. 

Simply splatter the water onto the card, sprinkle with embossing powder and heat set.  It gives a bit of a different look to the splatters and a touch of texture too.

Now its your turn ..... pop into the garden and see what you can find to create your Botanical Prints.

See you in the gallery!

We have a great Guest Designer for this month ....... Izzy (Izzy Scrap) is joing the Mix Up Design Team so be sure to pop by and say Hello!

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

It's World Cardmaking Day tomorrow (Saturday 2nd October), and the lovely Sharon Everett from The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin  has gathered together some favourite faces from the craft world to celebrate, with a whole day of online videos and tutorials.  

It's all going on on Facebook ......... click HERE if you want to check out the details.   

Jo Firth-Young (JOFY), Tracy Scott and Julie Hickey are three of the names who will be live during the day.  The lovely Eileen Godwin will also be joining in the fun, along with a whole host of others. 

Sharon gets everything underway at 10am (UK time), and the last demo is around 8pm I think so, it's going to be a busy day. 

I'm off to get my craft desk clear and some supplies ready to use, so I can join in the fun.  Maybe I'll see you there! 

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: Sentiment Collection (Penny Black) - card 1; Happy Happy Happy (Lawn Fawn) - card 2

Inks: Distress Ink - Salvaged Patina; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark; Delicata - Golden Glitz (for the splatters - card 1)

Other: Leaves from the garden; Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Metallic thread

More splatters for the CAS Mix Up Challenge ........

Happy Friday ........

I hope you're week's been a good one.  

We've reached the half way mark on the CAS Mix Up Challenge so here's a little reminder of this month's theme.

It's a Mixed Media challenge for January.  Hilary is our host and the theme is ...... Splatters

Remember to include some rubber stamping on your project, and at least one other Mixed Media element (you'll find a helpful list on the challenge blog) and of course follow the theme.

I do love to splatter on my projects, using inks, or paints, and I usually use an old paint brush. But, not everyone is comfortable splattering ink all over their beautiful finished cards ..... it can be a bit hit and miss as to where the splatters end up!  My advice is just go for it ....... the more you do it the more confident you get.  It's also a great way to cover up mistakes!!!

Something else I like to do is use Distress Stains to create my splatters ....... you know the ones, the little bottles with the foam tops.  

I simply turn the bottle upside down and 'splat' (technical term there) the ink down onto my card.  

I stamped the flowers using a black ink, across the bottom of a piece of card, and then used the stains over the top for a really quick and easy way to add the colour to the flower heads ......

Depending on how hard you splat the foam down onto the card will determine the size of the ink splatter ...... the harder you splat the larger the spread.

I watercoloured the stems and leaves using a little of the Distress Stain with a waterbrush to control where the colour went this time

I added a few co-ordinating gemstones for a little sparkle, and finished with a sentiment strip across the bottom

The challenge is open until January 24th so there's still plenty of time to get splattering and play along.

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

We've got lockdown birthday celebrations this weekend.  

It's Lauren's birthday on Sunday, so we've ordered a special take away from our favourite restaurant for tomorrow night (they don't deliver on Sundays), and we're having a family and friends video call ...... a socially distanced, lockdown birthday party ..... should be fun! 

Cheerio until next time ....... stay safe!

Products used:

Stamps: Ranunculus Field (Stampendous); Happy Birthday sentiment from my stash

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Delicata - Golden Glitz; Distress Stains - Picked Rapsberry, Squeezed Lemondade, Dusty Concord, Mowed Lawn

Others: Small coloured gemstones

Happy Birthday Lauren .........

Happy Wednesday to you ......

It's a special day today ...... it's Lauren's birthday! Is it really 26 years ...... how time flies.

Luckily I managed to find time to make her a birthday card ...... using a stamp I bought especially for the occasion!

The pretty lady is from Penny Black, and she's simply been stamped in black Versafine ink and then watercoloured using Distress Inks .......

I then stamped the daughter definition from Visible Image, across the bottom.  I used Gold Shimmer Delicata ink to stamp with and then added gold embossing powder just over the word daughter to make it stand out a little (not sure this really comes across well in the photo)

A few gold and silver ink splatters onto the background ......

Some sparkly sequins and a sentiment .......

And of course a little something on the inside ......

Same image, second generation stamping and of course those gold and silver splatters .....

Happy Birthday sweetheart ...... I think she'll be more interested with what's inside the card to be honest ..... a little bit of cash to spend on herself!

As this month's CAS Watercolour challenge has a Birthday theme, I thought I'd play along

Loll and the team have some gorgeous inspiration pieces on there and the gallery looks amazing .... why not join in the fun.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
As it's Lauren's birthday we're off out for a nice family lunch ......

We're off to Enzo's ..... Lauren hasn't been before so she's in for a treat.
It's a lovely little Italian restaurant, only 5 minutes walk from where we live.  The food is amazing, and I'm afraid Dry January has been put on hold for 24 hours ...... sigh! (and it was going so well) 

I was planning on having just one glass of wine at lunch time today (well it is Lauren's birthday) but ........ I actually gave in to temptation last night!!  Hubby opened a rather nice bottle of  Chianti and after the busy day I'd had, I couldn't resist.  I only had one glass though, plus a small top up.  It's not a completely dry January now ........ more like a bit damp!

Cheerio until next time ......

A fabulous work of art ........ then it's back to Bourton we go

Happy Friday ......

Just a quick post this morning to say .... Cheerio!
I'm off to the UK later to spend a nice relaxing week (as if that's going to happen ...... when do the Walmsley's ever do relaxing!) in the lovely Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water.  This will be our home again for the next 7 days ......

 ...... the picturesque Fairlie Cottage on the banks of the River Windrush ........ apparently, they say that this is the most photographed cottage in Bourton ..... the last time we were there, every morning when you opened the curtains there was always someone taking a picture so they could just be right!! It is a pretty cottage though .,.... especially when the roses are in full bloom.

Anyway ... I have a plane to catch so must get on.

I'm playing along with this week's Less is More Challenge .... well, it is One Layer Week after all!

The theme this week is ......

SPLATTERS

You all know how I like to splatter ink here and there ...... so I just couldn't resist this one.

Distress Stain splatters ..... straight from the bottle .... love doing this and the results are always great.

I cut a mask the size of my sentiment (Stampin Up! Work of Art stamp set) and placed it onto my card.  I then took the bottles of Distress Stain .... Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron and Squeezed Lemonade..... and literally splat them straight down onto the card, over the edges of the mask

This is so much fun to do .... no two splats are ever going to be the same, and, depending on how hard you hit the bottle onto the card, it will vary the size of the splatters.  The harder you hit the card with the bottle, the bigger the 'splat'

Once the mask was removed I stamped my sentiment in the middle, and then using a fine liner I drew around where the mask had been

And I had to splatter the inside too ......

Well that's it from me this week ...... I'm off to throw the last few bits into the suitcase and then we're on our way!

I'm not taking any craft stash with me either ..... so it really is a break.  I am taking my laptop though so I'll be able to keep an eye on things.  And my note book is coming with me too, so I can jot down ideas and plan stuff.  I'm looking forward to a really lazy week.

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

Cheerio until next time ......