Quick catch up before I'm off on my travels again .........

Happy Tuesday!

Well .... we survived another TT fortnight ...... just!!  
We had a fabulous week last week ........ not much time spent in the old craft room though, I'm afraid!
Hubby took the week off work and we had a ball!  The weather was glorious, and we were out and about every day .......  it felt as though we were actually on holiday.

Here's a quick catch up on race week ........
Tuesday evening saw the Red Arrows fly in over Douglas Bay .......

Always fun to watch ....... especially sat up on the terrace with a nice bottle of red ..... cheers!

We saw quite a bit of the racing ...... down at Bray Hill, up at the Creg and two days on the park at the Grandstand.  We got a lovely spot ........ well Lauren and her boyfriend did!  They did the early starts, we joined them later.  We were right by the roadside, just down from the start line and the pit lane .....

And ...... close enough to get to the enclosure when the winners came in ......

Here's John McGuinness, the winner of the Senior Race on Friday, closely followed by the number 2 James Hillier ........ it suddenly got very noisy down there!!!

And of course here's Guy Martin ....... he had a good race, unfortunately he finished 4th though (sigh!)

Never mind ..... only 347 days until it all starts again!!

I did manage to spend some time in the old craft room yesterday ..... I've got birthday cards to make, Father's Day to sort out, as well as catching up with some Blog Challenges.

It's One Layer Week over at Less is More ...... you all know how I love those!!, and the theme this week is ......

Home

Very CAS, lots of white space.  

The words are from Inkylicious, and the cute little cottage is by Clarity

I added a touch of colour and shading using my Spectrum Noir Pencils and I finished off with a little heart at the end of the sentiment, coloured and then Wink of Stella'd ........

One layer ..... and only one attempt, almost unheard of!

That's it from me today...... busy week ahead.  We're going away on Friday ........ a nice family trip over to the Cotswolds ...... I can't wait!  Lots to do before then though ..... including going to a craft workshop this afternoon.  

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

A quick reminder ...... Take a Technique

Happy Friday folks!

It's the weekend again ...... yeah!!  And it really does start today!
The skies are blue, the sun is shining, it's Senior Race Day at this years Isle of Man TT and ..... it's a Bank Holiday over here ..... what could be better!

But, before I head off out to grab a spot over by the Grandstand, I've got a little reminder for you of the current Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge.
It's the turn of Take a Technique and this month we'd like to see ......

Texture

on your projects ........ and a little rubber stamping too don't forget!

There's loads of ways to add texture to your projects ..... embossing folders, use textured cardstock, add ribbons and lace. or use texture paste like I've done for my DT inspiration piece today .....

Another home decor piece for you ...... a CAS design that could go in any room.

Adding texture doesn't always mean using layer upon layer, it can be really quick and easy to achieve.  I've used  a 6x6 inch canvas board, which in itself is textured ......

I gave it a good coat of black gesso and then dry brushed around the edges with some white acrylic paint.

I then used a pretty stencil and some white texture paste to add my floral design ......

I love black and white, a great combination and always looks good.

I finished off the flowers with nice large co-ordinating gemstones ...

and I mounted the canvas onto a larger board (12x12 inch) ...... a neat trick I learned from the very talented Barbara Gray from Clarity.  I added some rubber stamping ..... not much but it is there......

Just a simple word .... I chose Bloom from one of the JOFY stamp sets, but it could be anything you like.  

I stamped the word onto some white card, cut around it and just slipped it under the bottom edge of the black canvas .... simple but effective.

Hope you like it ...... now its your turn.  

There's a fab prize up for grabs from this months sponsor ....

A voucher to spend (who wanted want that!) .......

And ...... don't forget there's the Design Winner too ...... their winning design published in the Craft Stamper Magazine ..... ooh!  A Guest Designer spot on a future challlenge ..... ooooh! AND a winner's profile on the Craft Stamper Blog ...... oooooh!!!  All this could be yours ...... all you have to do is get your entry in ..... have fun and good luck!

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

I'm off now to pick my spot for the day, down at the TT Grandstand.   The fortnight didn't get off to the best of starts weather wise, but it's sunshine all the way to the finish line!  It's been a great race week ...... lets hope it's a great Senior Race Day ..... can Ian Hutchinson make it 4 TT wins this year or is 2015 going to be Guy Martin's year .... fingers crossed!  Come on Guy!!!!!  (he's my favourite by the way!)

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

!!! Exciting News !!!!

Hello there ...... Happy Tuesday!

Phew!!! What a busy few days we've had ...... but, before I go into all that, I've some exciting news to share with you.
I've been invited to join the Design Team for the Happy Little Stampers ..... whoo hoo!!!

I'm so excited ........ you know me I love my blog challenges and I can't wait to start working alongside such a talented bunch! I've been asked to join the DT for the CAS Challenge ... right up my street.  Wait till you meet the rest of the team .... talented or what!!!

You'll find me on the Blog challenge next month with my first DT piece ..... can't wait!!

If you haven't heard of Happy Little Stampers (HLS) before ..... where have you been!!!!  They host fun monthly challenges ..... CAS (Clean and Simple) ..... there's a Sketch challenge ...... and starting in July there's a brand new Christmas Card Challenge.  They also have a fab HLS Forum too ..... a real craft community where you can get inspiration from, view great tutorials and even chat in real time to other crafters.  Check out the Blog .... you'll find all the details there.
In fact ..... why not pop over and take a look at this month's challenges ...... there's CAS

I must get playing along with this one ...... I love using sprays and mists!

And there's the HLS Sketch challenge ........

Here's the one for this month .....

I decided to play along with this one ..... here's my take on the sketch .......

I've gone all festive ...... the reason being that this was also going to be entered into the Merry Monday Christmas Card challenge (last week!)  They wanted to see Sparkle. Unfortunately because of the busy weekend we've had I didn't actually get around to entering it in time (sigh!!)  Oh well .... at least the cards not wasted.

Those well loved, and well used Clarity Christmas Trees have made their 2015 debut .... stamped in black Versafine ink, either side of a piece of white cardstock.
I then stamped my little robins, again one either side, and drew in a string of Christmas lights to join them together

The actual 'lights' are just dots of coloured glitter glue

I added a festive greeting underneath, coloured the birds using Spectrum Noir pencils

and added a touch of fine crystal glitter to the trees to give the sparkle ......

A little bit more of the design finishes off the inside ......

As I've said we've had a busy few days.  My brother's over visiting from the UK so, we've been out and about watching the TT and soaking up all the atmosphere.  The weather has been glorious the last few days, which means there's been plenty of racing going so we've just made the most of it.

We've also had our first BBQ of the year, first one in the new house in fact ......

Had to be a cheeky bottle of red in there somewhere!!

Then on Sunday we went to a birthday BBQ ..... and look who we took with us

Meet 'Snapper' the salmon ..... all dressed up and ready to go!  Oh my ...... was she good!  I didn't give her the name by the way ..... not guilty!!! That was down to this little chap .......

We've walked from one end of the prom to the other .... stopping off here and there on the way (hic!) Even ended up in the Bushey's beer tent ...... G&T in a plastic glass .... what's all that about!!!?  Never mind .... the Bellini cocktails later made up for it!

But enough of all that ..... we're off out again today.  We're heading up to the Creg Ny Baa I think, to watch todays race ..... lets hope the weather holds because we've also got the Red Arrows flying in this evening to do one of their fabulous air displays.  We'll be watching from the terrace so hopefully I'll get some good pictures to share.

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Take a Technique ....... add a bit of Texture

Happy Friday folks,

Things are gearing up for a nice busy weekend over here ...... the TT Race Week starts tomorrow, my brother arrives on the island on Sunday, and we're off to a birthday bash BBQ ..... weekend sorted!
Before all that though there's still a list of crafty stuff to be done.

It's the first Friday of the month ..... a brand new Craft Stamper magazine hits the shelves (have you got your copy yet ..... you'll love the projects in this months issue!)

That means there's also a brand new Take It Make It Challenge ........ and this month it's the turn of Take a Technique .......

We want to see some Texture on your projects

There's lots of ways to add texture .... it could be texture paste or embossing paste, or use a technique such as embossing either with an embossing folder or use embossing powder.  Use textured card or paper, add stitching or fabric (lace, ribbon etc.) ...... basically anything to give your project that 'touchy feely' style.  Don't forget to include some stamping on there too!!

My texture is on a wall plaque.
I've used Grunge Paste through a stencil and also some paper flowers covered in Gesso, and then the whole thing has been painted over ..... creating lots of gorgeous, different textures. I was inspired by a project I did on a recent workshop run by a friend of mine ..... thanks Jill!  This is what I was playing around with last weekend on our crafty get together ..... and I couldn't share it earlier.  I told you you wouldn't have to wait long!!

It started out as a plain paper mache hanging board from PaperArtsy.  I arranged a few paper flowers on there and added in some punched foliage.  You don't need to worry too much about the colour of your flowers or whether they all co-ordinate ..... what you're really looking for is the shape and the texture of them.  I layered some on top of each other to add a bit more more depth too.
Once I was happy with them I then stuck them into place using a wet glue.

Next came the texture paste ..... I filled in more space around the edges using a brick wall stencil and the Grunge Paste. Once all this was dry I covered the whole thing with Black Gesso, making sure to cover the flowers completely ..... I told you you didn't need to worry about the colours!  Once the Gesso was dry I painted over the top using Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylic paints ..... I love these, they cover so well.

My final colour was Inky Pool .... but I've also used some purple shades and a touch of turquoise on there too.  Just keep painting over the top until you're happy with the colour.
Some of my gesso wasn't quite dry when I started with the paint, especially around the flowers, so there's also a touch of the black in there too

Once the paint was dry (it doesn't take that long .... you could use a heat tool if you can't wait), I rubbed over the textured bits using a touch of White Fire Treasure Gold to bring out some of the detail

See the depth created by layering up the paper flowers ...... nice!

The splatters are from some watered down silver paint and just a touch of white (everything is getting the splatter treatment at the moment .... I love it!!! It's great for covering up mistakes too!)

I then stamped my words onto a piece of white card, embossed using a clear powder (more texture) and then added some colour using Distress inks

You can see there's a little bit more stamping in the background .... the pretty little Wendy Vecchi flower, to add a bit more detail .....

I attached this onto the handing board and finished off  with a pretty painted wooden button

I hope you like it, and feel inspired to give the challenge a go.

Here's where the idea came from ...... it doesn't have to be a wall plaque this technique works fab on cards to ..... this is what I made on the workshop

Now it's your turn ..... remember there's fab prizes up for grabs.
This month our sponsor is Rubber Dance Art Stamps 

And the prize is ......

And there's the Design Winner ..... chosen by the DT.  They get their project published in the Craft Stamper magazine (a two-page spread no less!), they get a Guest Designer spot on a future challenge and a Winner's Profile on the Blog ..... fancy all that ..... then have fun and get stamping!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your Friday and have a fab weekend!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Two legs or four .......

Hmmmmm ......

Happy Thursday folks,
A bit late in the day but ....... better late than never eh!

The reason I'm blogging at this time is we've been out and about catching up with one of the TT Practice Sessions.
It's been such a nice day, it was a shame not to take advantage of the sunshine ....... so I put a picnic tea together and off we went with a group from hubby's office.

We picked our spot on the TT course, out at Gorse Lea on the way to Peel ....... not a bad little spot at all ..... great view of the bikes ...... really up close and personal!

A little on the noisy side at times .... they don't half go by at some speed and we were right by the side of the road ......

Look at them take that bend ..... some of the riders reach speeds of up to 150 mph round there .... scary or what!!!

The little man was out there with us of course ..... he's becoming the BI (Business Intelligence) Office mascot I think .....

Here he is waiting for the race to start ........ picked his spot right next to Laura!

Anyway .... enough about the TT .... it's not even race week yet!!

The real reason for tonight's blog post is this week's Less is More Challenge.
I couldn't miss joining in again this week could I ........ well ...... it would have been rude not to ..... I'm thrilled to say I was ShowCASed again for Week 224! (Happy dancing again in the old craft room!)

Because May was a 5 Saturday month we got a Lucky Dip week ..... and the theme is ......

2 or 4 Legs

I've gone for the 2 option ....... and I've been dying to use this stamp set.  

There's been sooooo many fab projects using these little guys, some of you might just be sick of seeing them.  But .... this is the first one to appear here so ..... be nice, he looks a little on the nervous side ........

You guessed it ..... Tim's Bird Crazy.  This has been one popular stamp set .... sold out everywhere!  I love it!!!

I stamped my little guy and coloured him using Distress Inks .....

I added my sentiment (Penny Black's new T for Transparent set ..... Sprinkles and Smiles) and then gave him a nice party balloon to hold ......

...... die cut from a leftover piece of Brusho coloured cardstock ...... matches perfectly I think

I finished off by adding a few tiny splatters of ink here and there .....

What do you think .... perfect card for a guy's birthday?  I hope so .... because that's what it's being used for at the weekend!!!

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

It's time for me to put my feet up and have a nice cheeky glass of something chilled ....... cheers!

QUICK EDIT  ...... Me again!!  Thanks for the tip off from the lovely Sarah (aka Sazzle Dazzle) ..... I'm also entering this card into the latest challenge over at AAA Cards.

The challenge is Cards for the Guys ..... always a tricky one but I think my little birdie fits the bill! Thanks Sarah x  

Cheerio until next time .....

Linda

xx