Day 17 ..... the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop

Happy Thursday ......

We're over half way through May already ..... doesn't time fly!  That also means we're half way through our month long Things With Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties over on the STAMPlorations Blogs.  Have you played along yet?

All through May, the STAMPlorations girls are showcasing projects with the theme ..... Things With Wings 
Today we have a reminder for you from the CAS Card Challenge girls .......  pretty Clean and Simple designs featuring of course, Things With Wings.

Here's a really quick and easy design using one of my favourite techniques ..... inlaid die cutting/hidden sentiment .....

I stamped my butterflies onto a piece of white cardstock using Distress Oxide inks ...... I love how these inks stamp, they pick up all the detail, great coverage too!

This is one of the images from the STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies set.

Using the CUTplorations 'happy' word die, I cut the sentiment across the butterflies.  I also cut it from plain white card and a co-ordinating purple card.
The plain white one was inlaid back into the stamped card along with all the bits you would normally throw away, from the word cut out of the stamped card (the little bits inside the p's)

Next I layered the purple happy on top of the white one, followed by the one cut across the buttlerflies as the top layer.
This completes the stamped images again and also adds a touch of dimension

A few dots of  Nuvo Crystal Drops here and there add the finishing touch.

Check out the STAMPlorations Blog for all the details of the hop, how to play along and link your projects, and of course lots more amazing inspiration from the rest of the DT girls.  Don't forget there are prizes along the way too!

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
It's been lovely here .... we've got blue skies and the sun is shining.  Lets hope it lasts, because this time next week final preparations will be underway for the start of this years Isle Of Man TT
Yes there's only 8 days to go before the excitement begins!

Cheerio until next time .....

Day 15 of the STAMPlorations Things With Wings Blog Hop .....

Happy Tuesday ......

I hope your week is off to a great start .
It's time for a quick reminder of this months STAMPlorations Things with Wings Blog Hop and Linky Parties.

The STAMPlorations girls have all got together for a month long celebration of Spring and Things with Wings.

Today its the turn of the TAGplorations team.  To play along here you need to create a project that is a tag or, has a tag/s on it. Don't forget the Things With Wings part either.

I've gone for butterflies today ....... on a simple tag

I cut the tag from smooth watercolour card, using the largest size of the TAGplorations Manila Tags Nesting dies

I then applied various colours of Distress Inks (blues and pink shades) to the back of the ARTplorations Shower of Flutters stencil, spritzed over the ink with water and then laid the stencil, ink side down, onto the tag

I gave the stencil a quick press down using a paper towel ....... this also mops up any excess ink and water ....... and then gently lifted the stencil off the tag, leaving the butterflies in this pretty watercolour effect behind

Once it was dry, I stamped the words over the top using Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink   I left my tag to dry naturally but, you could use a heat tool to speed things up if you don't like waiting 

I also heat embossed the sentiment with a clear powder ..... this makes the ink colour a little more intense.  This fab sentiment is called All Your Heart from the STAMPlorations Say it Big series

A few ink splatters here and there, and a couple of shimmery sequins and a few dots of glitter glue adds some sparkle to the tag ......

And to finish off, I inked around the edges with a little Wilted Violet Distress Oxide and added a bow from ribbon dyed using the same inks I'd used to colour the butterflies.

Hop over to the STAMPlorations Blog for more Things With Wings inspiration and all the details on how to play along and join in with the Linky party ..... there's prizes up for grabs!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off back to the craft room, finding room to put my new goodies that came home with me from the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight last weekend.
What a fab day we had ...... we laughed and chatted all day.  It was so nice to catch up with everyone, some I only see once a year at this event!  I even managed to find time to shop ......

Now I need to find time to play with it all.

Cheerio until next time ......

It's a busy day today ......

Happy weekend folks ......

And if you're a Uniko Stamps fan ..... Happy New Release Day!!!
Yes!  all the brand new products that we've been teasing you with all week are now available to buy ..... yeah!!
You can find them all on the Uniko website or ...... if you're off to Port Sunlight today for the Happy Stampers Festival and you want to get your hands on them straight away, then you'll find them all on the Uniko stand at the show.

This is actually a scheduled post as I'm currently on the boat, on my way to Port Sunlight ..... I hope!
Fingers crossed the weather's good ...... I don't like it when it's bumpy!!
We should be well into our journey by the time this goes live ....... a little group of six craftaholics, that have all been up since the crack of dawn, armed with shopping lists galore and money to spend.  Probably full of coffee and a bacon sandwich at this time, discussing who's buying what, who we want to see first,  and what time to stop for lunch!  It's going to be a great day ..... we've been looking forward to this for months!

But .... even though I'm off on a jolly, the show must go on as they say.  As it's Release Day, me and the rest of the Design Team have been busy creating more inspiration for you using the brand new stamps, stencils and dies.

So grab a cuppa ..... there's a lot to look at.  Here we go .....
All the way back to the beginning of the week with the gorgeous Nature's Treasures II stencil and that fab little stamp set ..... Simply Said Blocks II

How perfectly do they go together!  I love this new stencil, the leaves are so pretty .....

I've simply stenciled with two shades of green Distress ink, using both sizes of leaves and added one of the Simply Said II sentiments ...... easy!

A few sequins and some dots of glitter glue add a touch of sparkle.

Next up the cute Bee Happy stamp set and the Honeycomb stencil

You don't always have to use the whole of the stencil.  Here I've just added part of the design to the bottom of my card.

Distress inks again to add the colour.  A fancy die cut edge to the top part, and a few of those cute buzzy bees .....

A simple sentiment keeps the CAS design

Now for two of my favourite favourites (I know I shouldn't really say that but ....... these are gorgeous!) ........  Just Because and the Large French Script

Again, they work so beautifully together.
I stamped the script onto a square piece of card using a grey Versafine ink, and then brushed around the edges with Spun Sugar, and I think it was Victorian Velvet Distress inks.

Using the MISTI, I stamped the pretty silhouette image over the top

A few drops of water onto the Distress ink, and a few black ink splatters here and there adds a bit more interest to the background.

I then cut the square into four and mounted it onto a couple of layers of white cardstock before attaching it to the front of a 6x6 card.  And look ..... there's one of those fab sentiments again ..... told you this was a really useful set!

Still with me? ...... great.  

Next up two gorgeous stencil designs ....... Party Confetti and the pretty Stylised Flower

Another card using only part of the stencil .......

And Simply Said II again .... don't they look fab stamped in a coloured ink ......

Of course a party wouldn't be the same without a balloon or two!

Not only have I not used all of the stencil on the next card ..... I haven't used the whole die either

I've die cut my aperture off the edge of the card and placed the stenciled design underneath

A  few ink splatters, some sequins, and a bit of coordinating thread ..... held in place by one of the sentiment from the original Simply Said Blocks

On to the Designer Dies now ...... these match previously released Uniko stamp sets ........ Originally Organic Additions ...... 

A pretty, CAS design using one of the stamps and then I created an aperture using one of the matching dies

Part of the sentiment is stamped on the inside of my card ......

And I used one of the cute little blooms to embellish the heart wreath ...... there's matching dies for the all flowers

Here's a look at the card closed ......

Finally ...... (congratulations by the way if you're still with me) ..... we have the Explosion! Dies

I think these are fab!

I used the Explosion Additions stamps on the background and added some ink splatters .....

Stamped and heat embossed the WOW! then used the matching die to cut it out ........

And attached it to the card using a piece of folded acetate ..... this acts a bit like a spring and allows the word to move.

Phew!  Well .... that's it.  The brand new Uniko release ..... what's on your shopping list?

If you're still deciding which to go for, check out the rest of the DT Blogs for more great inspiration

Bev

Carol

Deborah

 Izzy

Jane 

Julie

Linda (that's me!)

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke

And don't forget to stop by the Uniko Blog too ..... you might find a few surprises!

Thanks for popping by ...... hope you have a fabulous weekend.

If you're popping along to Port Sunlight have a great day ..... spend lots, get loads of lovely new stash and I'll see you there!

Cheerio until next time .......

Smile ...... it's Friday!

Good morning!

Happy end of the week folks ...... hasn't it soon come around!

It's time for a quick reminder about this month's Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge ... have you played along yet? Don't worry, there's still time.
And if you're looking for a little inspiration, how about giving this technique a try .....

Faux bleaching, using Distress Oxide inks and water ......... the technique  I used on last weekend's workshop.  I love how this has turned out.

I stamped around the edges of a piece of watercolour card using stamps from Altenew's Beautiful Day and a Versamark ink pad, and then heat embossed with a WOW! Fine Detail White embossing powder.

Starting from the edges and working into the middle of the card, I applied Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink over the white embossing.

I built up the colour around the edges keeping the center of the card quite pale ...... drawing your eye into the middle
I did the same again this time with Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide over the top to add some darker shading to the edges
The embossing acts as a resist to the ink so the more ink you apply and the darker the colour gets, the more the white will show through.
Once you're happy with the colour take a clean paper towel and just polish over the top of your embossing to remove any excess ink and the white will pop even more

Then, simply taking a paint brush and some clean water I painted the flowers where I wanted to 'bleach' out the colour.
The Oxide inks react so well with water ....... when you simply paint over the top with a little bit of water and then let it dry, you get a pretty chalky finish to the ink (see the leaves)
If you apply a little more water, let it sit for a few seconds and then dab it away using a paper towel the effect is a little more dramatic (see the flowers)
Depending on what sort of cardstock you've used, the effects will be slightly different, and of course will determine how much water you can actually use.  Watercolour card is perfect, mixed media cardstock will all work well as it can take a lot of water ..... just  play around with what you've got in your stash.

I added a sentiment onto the center of the card and finished off with some glitter glue and a few sequins. And then I also did a panel for the inside of the card .....

Same stamps, same colours, same techniques. 

Our challenge sponsor this month is the fabulous Skull and Cross Buns

And the prize for our challenge winner (randomly chosen) is two super cute stamp sets ....

Don't forget ....... we also have a Design Winner, chosen by the DT.  If you fancy having your project in the Craft Stamper magazine, being a Guest Designer on a future challenge and having a Winners Profile on the CS Blog, then why not give it a go.  The theme is Anything Goes, as long as there's rubber stamping on your project somewhere ...... easy!

Happy stamping!

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

I've got a great one coming up .......  Port Sunlight tomorrow with the crafty girls ..... looking forward to that

Early night tonight .... we're on the 7.30am boat tomorrow so I'll have to be up at some unearthly hour.  Better get my bag sorted today!  If you're going along to the show I'll see you there!

Cheerio until next time .....