Flower Power ......

Happy Friday folks ........

It's almost the weekend ..... are you doing anything nice?
Will you be spending time in your crafty space perhaps...... creating your entry for this month's Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge?  If so then you may be looking for a little inspiration.

It's the turn of Take a Technique this month and it's all about using FLOWERS ....... stamped ones, paper ones, even real ones.
Cover your project with flowers,  or create something flower shaped.  Keep it CAS or go flower crazy it's up to you.

Here's a simple idea using flowers made from die cuts

These are actually cut using one of the dies from the Sizzix Thinlits ........ Scribbles and Splats by Tim Holtz ...... I think it makes a perfect flower

The scribbly outline has been cut from plain white card, and they've then been attached onto a piece of coloured card which I found in my stash and fussy cut.
I've been playing with the new Ken Oliver Liquid Metals ....... little bottles of liquid colour that when spritzed with water give this fabulous shimmery finish

I used the Precious Alloys set .... Metallic Amethyst and Metallic Jade.  Just a drop of each onto my craft sheet, spritzed with water and then I smooshed a piece of card through the colour .... simple!
Each flower has been cut using the same die, I've just trimmed two of them down slightly before attaching them to the coloured card

For the background I used a stencil and Distress Ink (Milled Lavender) and added a few random splatters of ink here and there before attaching the blooms in the centre

I stamped some leaves ..... Uniko's Nature's Treasures II ......... fussy cut them and attached them with the flowers to create a little posy design .......

and finished off with one of the sayings from the Tim Holtz Perspective stamp set (one of my favourite sets ..... it's been well used this week!)

As always, there's a little something on the inside too ......

The challenge sponsor this month is ...... Craft Stamper (Traplet)

 and there's a HUGE prize up for grabs ......... ALL SIX of the Kate Crane Journaling DVD's (wish I could enter!!)

The winner will be randomly chosen from all the eligible entries in the challenge so make sure you follow all the rules and requirements.  Check out the Craft Stamper Blog for full details.

Don't forget .... we also have the Design Winner, chosen by the DT.  They will get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine, a Guest Designer spot on a future challenge and a Winners profile on the Blog ...... get those entries in!!!

Thanks for popping by .... have a great Friday and enjoy the weekend.
Mine started last night so I'm suffering a bit this morning ....... late night birthday karaoke with wine and bubbly, not good when you have to be up early the morning after!  It wasn't me doing the singing though (thankfully) .... hubby did enough of that for the two of us!
Time for a coffee I think ..... a strong one!

EDITED
Told you I wasn't 100% this morning ....... and you all know how I don't like missing out on a challenge!
Well .... I've had my coffee, a quick trip around the shops and lunch out so and I'm feeling much better now.  And thanks to the gentle nudge from my lovely friend Loll (glad someone's on the ball!) I'm entering this card into April's CAS Mix Up challenge.

Stamping .... check!
Stenciling ...... check!
And my choice of mixed media ...... Ken Oliver's Liquid Metals/or die cuts ..... check!!

Thank you so much for the heads up Loll.  An early night for me tonight I think .... busy day tomorrow.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

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

White space ..... but not WHITE space

Happy Thursday .......

How are you today?  It's another busy one here in the old craft room .... I've got two posts for you today!
I'll be back later with the start of another challenge for the month of April but first a little 'Me' time.
I'm playing along with this weeks Less is More challenge ....... yeah!!!   Missed the last two .... not a happy bunny!

It's a Colour Challenge this week ....... and the focus is on WHITE SPACE, or rather NOT WHITE SPACE!!!

Leaving white space on a card can sometimes be a problem ...... the Clean and Simple style requires a lot of white space ..... that means an area of the card that has no image, no layers and no embellishment ..... not as easy as you may think!
Me .... I love this style, but sometimes my designs don't end up as CAS as I would have liked!!!

The challenge this week is to still have the 'white' space however, it has to be coloured ..... I can do that ......

I love this colour from Stampin Up! ..... Mint Macaron and I really like the white embossing on the top.
I simply cut a piece of the SU cardstock to fit the front of my card blank.  Stamped the beautiful butterfly from the Tim Holtz stamp set Perspective and embossed it using a fine detail white embossing powder

Then using the Stampin Up! ink pad in the Mint Macaron shade, I stamped the words along the bottom, from the All Occasions Sentiments set by Uniko (who, it just so happens, are this months sponsors for Less is More)

I also used the ink pad to add a touch more colour to the butterfly.  I swiped some of the ink onto my craft sheet and instead of spritzing with water, I used Perfect Pearls instead and it gave this gorgeous shimmery wash to the butterfly

Me being me though, couldn't stop there (this is what I mean when I say my designs don't end up as CAS as they should be!) Because there was ink left on my craft sheet I just had to get my brush and add a few splatters here and there didn't I!!!

That beautiful butterfly also makes an appearance on the inside

This time .... stamped using the Mint Macaron ink and colour washed with the shimmery mix ..... so pretty when the light catches it ...... not sure the photo has captured it though.

Oh well .... I'd better get a move on .... the list is long today.  I'll be back later with another challenge for you ..... see you then.

Thanks for popping by ....

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Things with Wings ........

Happy Wednesday ......

This week is flying by.  Touch wood, fingers crossed and all that ........ everything is going according to plan, but I probably shouldn't have said that.

It's time to launch another challenge over on the Happy Little Stampers Blog .... this time it's the turn of the Mixed Media Challenge.  We've got a great theme for you for April ..... it's all about ..... WINGS

Birds. butterflies, dragonflies, moths.  Angels or fairies or anything else you can come up with that's got wings.

Now I love butterflies and I do like to make home decor projects so ...... I've got a little altered frame for you, to hopefully inspire you to join in the fun.  Don't forget, there's prizes up for grabs .... but more about that later.

This frame has been lying around the old craft room for a while.  I found it in one of my tidying sessions ...... and it looked a whole lot different than it does now.

I took the whole thing to pieces, ripped out what was in there and started again! It's amazing what a sanding block and a coat of gesso can cover up!!

The frame itself  was decorated using texture paste through various stencils, and then the whole thing was given a couple of coats of black gesso

Once this was dry I then dry brushed over the top with a silver metallic paint, to bring out all the detail of the texture paste

I covered the backboard of the frame with some old book pages and then stamped the beautiful butterfly from Tim Holtz over the top.

A touch of colour was added using Distress Inks and a little water, being careful not to wet the book pages too much

A bit of dimension was needed so ...... I covered a piece of Clearly for Art Modelling Film with another book page and then stamped the butterfly onto it.  Coloured it using the Distress Inks again and then fussy cut around it.

If you've never used Clearly for Art before, it's a bit like a cross between thick acetate and shrink plastic .... only it doesn't shrink!  When you heat it you can mold and shape it whilst it's warm and then as it cools it will hold the shape.  The good thing is, if you don't like the result .... heat it again and re-shape it ..... cool or what!!

I added a little heat to my butterfly, just to raise the wings a little.

A simple saying finishes everything off nicely ......

To make the words stand out against the text of the book page, I painted over where I wanted to stamp with a little bit of watered down, white gesso, stamped the words over the top and then added just a touch of colour.

Well ..... there you have it ..... and it really was simple to make.  

Are you ready to enter the challenge, or would you like some more inspiration?  

Pop over to the Happy Little Stampers Blog .... there you'll find some fabulous projects from the rest of the Design Team, along with all the details of this months challenge.

As always the challenge is sponsored by the HLS store

And because April is HLS's birthday month the prizes are ......

a $30 gift certificate for the challenge winner (nice!)

and then

a $10 gift certificate for each of our favourites (yeah!)

Get those entries in .... you never know it could be you!

Happy Birthday Happy Little Stampers!!

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

I'm off to grab a glass of something chilled, put my feet up and relax with Dr McDreamy.  Yes I'm watching Grey's Anatomy again!

Cheerio until next time

xx

Festive Die Cuts .........

Happy Monday ......

It's the start of a brand new week ..... although it's a bit late in the day I know.
It's been a busy old day ..... trying to get back to normal (whatever that is!!) after hubby's week off work.
I've been catching up with things like housework, paperwork, the mountain of washing that appeared when Lauren and the little man came home from their holidays.  Speaking of the little man ..... he's still on school holiday so I'm on Grandma duty too,  and of course there's this month's Design Team projects to get done.  The beginning of the month is always a busy time ...... blog challenges etc.,  but hey! I wouldn't have it any other way.

Speaking of challenges .... it's time to launch this months Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge
Our theme for April is ....... Die Cut/s

We all love them ..... whether it's the thin metal dies or the chunky Bigz versions.  We've all got lots of them, and if you're anything like me they don't always get used!!  Well ..... now's your chance. Have a look through your collection and see what festive designs are in there ..... or why not use a non-Christmas die and make it festive.

I've got a nice, easy CAS design for you this month ..... using a die by Penny Black called joyful
This one is a Christmas design .....  a pretty poinsettia ..... but I suppose it could be any number of flowers really depending on what colours you used.

I cut the die twice, from plain white cardstock, coloured the pieces using Distress Inks, then layered them together to give a bit of depth

I stamped the pretty text from the HLS Thinking of You set onto a piece of white card using a Gold ink to create a bit of a background for my poinsettia

I attached the bloom over the top and added a nice festive sentiment (HLS  Mixed Christmas Sentiments)

And then to finish off I sprinkled on some Fran-tage Chunky White Embossing Enamel to give the look of falling snow ..... love this stuff on Christmas cards.

Now it's over to you ..... what will you create?

If you need some more inspiration pop over to the HLS Blog, there'll you'll find some fabulous designs from the rest of the DT as well as our Guest Designer for this challenge, the lovey Christine from Splitcoast Stampers

Don't forget it's also Birthday Month for Happy Little Stampers and we're celebrating for the whole of April ........ watch out for prizes and giveaways!
As always the challenge is sponsored by the HLS store .....

And this month the challenge winner will receive a nice $30 Gift Certificate to spend in the store

and

there's also a $10 Gift Certificate for each of the challenge Favourites.

What are you waiting for .... get those entries in.

Happy stamping!

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

I'm off now to watch some of my latest addiction ..... Grey's Anatomy.

We've only just started watching it ...... right from the start of Season 1 so there's a lot of catching up to do.  They're on Season 12 or something like that ....... and we're only just part way through Season two!!!  All that Dr McDreamy to watch (sigh!)

Cheerio until next time .......

xx