You haven't forgotten .... have you

Happy Friday everyone,

I hope you've had a good week.  Mine's been a little on the busy side but it's all been worth it.  I'm currently across in the UK on a Craft Retreat, hosted by the lovely Kay Halliwell-Sutton down at IndigoBlu HQ. It's 3 whole days of non-stop creativity ...... getting inky and messy using the fabulous IndigoBlu products.

So, while I'm away busy enjoying myself ...... a little reminder for you that the current Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge is still under way.
The challenge this month is Monoprinting using an Acrylic Block.  You've got until midnight on March 26th to get your entries in ..... and you could be the winner of the fabulous set of Limited Edition paints by Jo Firth-Young.  The colours are gorgeous and they've been designed especially to compliment her fantastic stamp range from PaperArtsy.  Go on .... you've got to be in it to win it!

Here's a little something to maybe inspire you to give this technique a go .....

Most rubber stampers will have an acrylic block of one size or another in their stash and using it to take prints from is just another way of making your stash go further ...... no need to rush out and buy a Gelli Plate.

I started by applying acrylic paint directly onto the block (mine's about 6 inches square) ...... you can see I used a few different colours, and added in some white to lighten it .....

I spread out the ink using a brayer, then placed a piece of white cardstock over the top, and these are the prints that came off .....

Simple .... but so effective.

I cut a tag shape from one of the pieces and then used a stencil to add a bit more interest and texture (Wendy Vecchi's Brick Wall)

Then I also did some stamping in places, first with Black Archival ink (IndigoBlu Script stamp) and then  using the IndigoBlu Flitter Glu and Mega Flakes (Autumn Blaze) with the gorgeous Vintage Flourish stamp

I also stamped onto some black card and used this to trim the top of my tag.

The pretty little butterflies were stamped onto some of the monoprinted card then cut out and added to the tag for dimension.  This pretty little stamp was actually one of the FREE stamps you get with your Craft Stamper magazine.  I'm not sure which issue it was but, this is one of those stamps that never gets put away in my craft room ...... I love it!!

I stamped it on a piece of acetate too and added this over one of the butterflies.

The words are from the Dylusions stamp set Quintessential Quotes which I've just stamped and then cut into pieces and placed onto the tag.

You don't have to use all your mono-prints just for backgrounds.  Stamp onto them and cut out the images to use as embellishments.  Use them with your dies and punches too .... create your own custom made accents for all your projects ...... Have fun!
Pop over to the Craft Stamper Blog today and you'll find more fabulous inspiration pieces from the rest of the DT, using this technique .

Don't foregt you have until Wednesday March 26th to get your entries in, so get printing!

Thanks for popping by today.  Have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time ......

Linda

xx

This could all go horribly wrong .......

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post as I try out an app on the iPad, supposedly to make blogging easier on this thing! You know me and technology though .... not the perfect match, but hey! let's give it a go.

I've just downloaded Blogsy and had a quick read through the destructions ...... looks simple enough (famous last words!) so I thought I'd give it a try. You never know, if it works you may hear from me occasionally over the weekend ...... I can keep you up to date on what's happening on the retreat then.

Look .... I'm all packed, well nearly. Just a few bits and bobs left to throw in at the last minute, which is good really as there's not a lot of room left ....... And I need to leave space for shopping!

Fingers crossed this post appears and doesn't completely mess up my blog ..... Otherwise I will be in trouble!

See you again soon ...... I hope!!

Linda

xx

Posted with Blogsy

24 hours from Retford .....

Happy Wednesday folks,

Well the printer is printing again ...... thank goodness!  The plumber's been to look at the washing machine .... I can still use it (phew!) and the new part it needs has been ordered - yeah!!  And, it's just one more sleep before I'm off to the UK ........ whoo hoo!!!!

Before I go off on my jollies though I've got this weeks festive make for the Merry Monday Card Challenge.

I got another Honorable Mention for my Country Charm entry last week which I'm thrilled about as I was out of my comfort zone a little there ......  thank you all for your lovely comments too!

for Challenge #98

This week we have a bit of a  colour challenge ......

Hmmmm ........ brown, green and gold, with white or cream .... it made me think vintage maybe,  or a distressed look possibly.  Anyway, here's what I've come up with ......

The brown looks almost black on this picture ..... trust me, it's a nice shade of chocolate brown .... honest!  and the gold bit hasn't come up very well either (I'll put that down to bad lighting!)

I've used one of my all time favourite Christmas stamps ..... Santa Collage, and he's been stamped using Vintage Sepia Versafine ink onto some cream cardstock.  I then cut him out in the shape of a tag and inked around the edge using Tea Dye distress ink ....

His glasses have been highlighted using a Sakura Stardust Gel pen.

I created the background card by first applying some distress inks (Tea Dye & Vintage Photo) directly onto my glass cutting mat, spritzed them with water, then smooshed (technical term there) a piece of cream cardstock through the inks until it was all covered.  Left it to dry, then stamped the pretty snowflakes using Tea Dye Distress ink

The Fran-tage has been out again (to be honest..... it never gets put away!), this time I've used the Shabby White Embossing Powder, you can see there's little bits of gold in there as well as some of the chunky stuff.

The 'Merry Christmas' has been stamped using the IndigoBlu Flitter Glu then I've used the Chariot of Fire Mega Flakes  (gold) over the top .....

A pretty satin bow finishes everything off, then I've mat and layered using brown and green cardstock ..... inside and out of course .....

Well that's another one for the Christmas card box, and it's the last project to come out of the old craft room this week ..... phew!  Everything on the list is DONE!! 


I'm off now to double check my suitcase and make sure I've got everything.  Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for popping by.

Cheerio until next time ......

Linda

xx

Spring is in the air ......

Happy Tuesday,

I'm afraid my blog posts are going to be a bit short and sweet this week ..... only 2 more sleeps to go then I'm off on my travels with the first trip of the year across to the UK ...... I can't wait.  Lot's to do before I go though. 

I've been running around all over the place for the last few days ...... in between trying to get all the jobs done in the old craft room, I was trying to get the household stuff in order too.  And on top of all that ..... anything that could go wrong ....... did go wrong.

First off Saturday morning I flooded the utility room floor ...... opened the washing machine door to load it up and what came out .... you guessed it ....... COLD WATER!!!!!  Not a great start ..... now I have a washing machine that refills itself once the cycle has finished ..... and I'm waiting for the plumber to get back to me to let me know when he can fix it!!  

Then ...... my printer ran out of ink ..... well one colour of ink or so it said!!  Of course, I hadn't got a replacement cartridge .... that would have been too easy.   Off we go to get a new one ..... OMG!!! The price of printer cartridges is EXTORTIONATE!  I needed a small mortage.  So ..... hubby being the careful one with the pennies (???!??) said  'just get the one you need, and we'll look on the internet ..... we'll find them cheaper elsewhere'  Good idea I thought ..... so off we went.
Got home, loaded the new cartridge, switched the printer on ..... two more cartridges were LOW but ok for now (so the printer told me).  Went to print off my stuff ........ arrrgggghhhh!!!  wouldn't let me print as it was out of Magneta ink.  I wish it would make it's mind up.  Well, you can imagine my reaction ..... I almost needed a new printer.
Hubby got straight on the internet, ordered me a full set of new cartridges ...... way cheaper than PC World I might add and they should be here tomorrow ..... fingers crossed.  I need to print some photos to take with me.

Anyway ..... enough of all that.  I did manage to get my Less Is More card done over the weekend - eventually!
It only took me 4 attempts ........ why, I hear you ask, there's nothing to it ......

It's One Layer Week ..... that's why ..... always fun!  And this week the subject is

SPRING FLOWERS

I went for Tulips in the end ...... from the Penny Black 'T' for Transparent set  'enjoy' (30-024)

I love this little set of stamps, the flowers are so pretty and you also get a delicate butterfly on there and birds too.

I just inked up my tulips using Memento Dew Drop ink pads - Rose Bud and New Sprout, and the words are stamped in GreyArchival ..... not as harsh as black

I still felt as though it was missing something, so I took the complimenting Rose Bud Fireworks Spray ink, and added a few drips around the words ...... all done!

Thanks for popping by today.  I've got the house to myself this morning .... peace and quiet!  No time for relaxing though .... there's DT stuff to do, blog posts to write, ironing waiting to be done and then there's the packing.  That's Tuesday sorted.

Cheerio until next time ......

Linda

xx

Country charm .... ???

Happy Saturday evening,

It's time to get all festive again with my Merry Monday make for the latest challenge. 

The theme for this week is ......

This was a tough one for me ..... I don't do country charm I'm afraid, Kraft card is about as rustic as I get ..... and the sewing machine well, that hasn't seen the light of day for a while!!! (hubby will tell you ...... it's in the cupboard, along with the ice cream maker, bought on a whim and never used ...... well actually the ice cream maker did get used on occasion ..... it just took up too much space in the freezer!!!  And the sewing machine will get used - eventually!! ..... but I digress)

Anyhow......  this is the best I could come up with for this week

I've got the button part of the challenge on there ...... a  pretty little wooden snowflake tied with white thread

  
(I have this thing about 'naked' buttons ..... I have to tie thread or ribbon through the holes)

The stitching part was done by hand .... with a white gel pen!

The pretty snowflake flourish was one of the first rubber stamps I bought many moons ago, and is from Inkadinkadoo I think, the sentiment is by Butterfly Kisses.  Both have been stamped onto Kraft cardstock using Versamark ink then embossed using a white embossing powder.
I also added a few more snowflakes to the design, just with the Versamark ink this time.

A touch of Fran-tage Chunky White Embossing Powder sprinkled around the card (I'd addicted to this stuff at the moment!), and some tiny red gems finish it all off

As always ..... I've done the inside to match .......

('Christmas Greetings' is by Clarity Stamps)

I've a busy week coming up next week.  Early Thursday morning I'm flying across to the UK on the first trip of the year - yeah!!  Only 5 more sleeps then it's off down to Nottingham, for the IndigoBlu Retreat.  Three days of getting inky and messy with my craft buddies and the lovely, very talented Kay Halliwell-Sutton .... I cannot wait!!  Don't worry I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Thanks for popping by today ..... enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cheerio until next time .....

Linda

xx