Deepti's had her baby!!!!!

Hello there .....

Yes our lovely teamie Deepti has finally popped!!!
Siddharth Malik, her beautiful baby boy, came into the world on Friday January 29th weighing 7.3lbs!  And to celebrate Shery and the STAMPlorations girls have all got together and we're having a Blog Hop .... whoo hoo!!!
You'll find all the details on the STAMPlorations Blog Hop post along with pictures and links to everyone's cards. Why not join in the fun!

Congratulations Deepti ..... hope you and the little one are doing great.

I kept things pretty clean and simple ..... and of course, blue for a boy!

I used the ARTplorations Stencil - Clouds to create the background for my die cut greeting.

I masked off a section on a piece of white card and then used Stormy Sky Distress ink over the cloud stencils (you get both the cut out stencil and all the individual clouds in the pack which is great!)
I then removed the masking tape and doodled a faux stitching border around the edge.

The words were cut using my Cricut machine and then layered using coloured card

A bit more doodling on the letters and a couple of birds flying in the sky add some more interest

And a Tim Holtz sentiment finishes everything off nicely

I've added a few more clouds to the inside too ......

I'm sure if you're a follower of Deepti, and there's a lot of us out there, you'd like to join in and send lots of love and best wishes to her and her new family.  You can do so by joining in with the Blog Hop ..... there's a link on the STAMPlorations Blog where you can post your baby card.  It will remain open for two weeks so you've got plenty of time to join in.

Happy Hopping!

Thanks for popping by ........ it's such an exciting day!!!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Well and truly Distressed ....... I'm talking about the inks!!

Happy Monday!

And welcome to February ...... Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

I hope you all had a good weekend ..... thankfully no more of you lovely followers have disappeared over the last couple of days .... maybe the worst is over!

I've got another busy week ahead .... well its the start of a new month so that means new Blog Challenges will be set and of course Barbara is back on the telly at the weekend with new products from Clarity ..... so lots to get through

Before I head off to the old craft room and attempt to wake up the mojo,  I thought I'd share a little bit of the weekend with you.
I had a lovely day on Saturday with a fab bunch of crafty ladies ...... 10 of them .... sat round my dining table, having fun getting to grips with all things Distress .... inks that is!

We inked, we blended ... we splattered (although some were not too keen on splashing water and ink around ....... some  needed a little coaxing, but ..... we got there in the end!)
One of the examples shows just how pretty a few water splatters can look ......

We did the faux mother of pearl technique ... introduced to me by my good friend Loll (Stamping With Loll)  If you haven't tried this then give it a go ..... the results are stunning, and it's really easy to do. Check out Loll's tutorial on YouTube

Depending on the colours of inks you use .... it looks different every time.  Bold and bright ....

Love the shimmer .....

Or soft and pastel ....... this was the favourite I think ....

We played with stencils and Distress inks, spritzed through with pearl misters and plain old water to get different looks,  and we also used them to create backgrounds, building up the layered look

Using the same colours of ink all the way through ..... and adding in some stamping (and a bit more splattering!)

We even coloured the flowers using Distress ......

We finished off the day with a quick faux bleaching technique, using water again.

Simply stamped and embossed an image onto an inked background and then used clean water applied with a brush, and then dabbed over with some kitchen towel to remove the colour in places

They all went away with 3 cards ........ well nearly 3 cards, the last one wasn't quite finished, but looking at Facebook they're all having fun finishing them off at home, and using up all the backgrounds they made practicing each technique, to make some stunning cards.
They also put together a little tag book ..... a reminder of the techniques we covered, the colours we used etc. this was mine.  The techniques on one side ....... and notes made on the other.

We seemed to cover a lot, but we've only touched the surface on what you can do with Distress Inks. My advice is to just play with them ......  and see what you can do.

Oh well must dash ..... the old craft room is calling.  You'll probably hear quite a bit from me this week ....... there's a lot going on!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.  I hear that Storm Henry is on his way, it's supposed to hit our little island this afternoon. Strong winds .... which means no ferries and possible flight disruptions amongst other things..... fabulous!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Where have all the followers gone .......

Happy Friday ......

It's the weekend again ....... it's going to be a busy one.  And guess what .... the sun is shining!  It's still blowing a hoolie out there but at least it's not piddling it down.

I've been in the old craft room most of the week but unfortunately I can't share any of what I've been doing just yet ..... you'll have to be patient I'm afraid.

I will give you a little sneaky peek at what the girls will be doing tomorrow though .... close your eyes now if you're one of the 10 and you want it to be a surprise! (although there are already some snippets on the Facebook page .... The Craft Lane so if you've already seen those you'll have an idea already!!)

We're going to be playing with Distress Inks, making backgrounds, and using them to add colour to stamped images. Creating layers with stamps and stencils, spritzing with water .....

Blending colours, using them direct onto card for intense colour, bringing a little bit of pearlescent paint into the mix to create the faux mother of pearl look ..... and we may even get around to the bleaching technique.

It should be a fun day ....... and I'm sure there'll be cake in there somewhere too!!

Remember I introduced Rio the other day and said that Lauren was going to look for some friends for her well quick update for you ......... there is a litter of new born rats longtails over at the pet shop in Peel (oh joy!) They'll be ready in a few weeks so they're going back next week to choose a pair (eeek!)  That'll be three of the darn things .... not sure if they're all coming here to live (they'll need a bigger cage!) or whether they'll all go back to Robbie's (he's already got one).  I'll keep you posted on that!

One other quick thing before I go ........ it seems that Google is doing it's "thing" that I mentioned a little while ago.  I seem to have lost a few followers over the last couple of days.  Well, at least I think it's the Google thing .... I hope it is and it's not just that everyone has decided they no longer want to follow my blog (sad face!) ..... was it something I said!?
Only joking ...... it's happening all over blogland.

So ..... if you're not receiving updates from me and you used to, then you might want to join as a new follower again ...... I'd love it if you did!
You'll need a Google account or if you don't want to bother with all of that, you can follow me via email,  or on bloglovin ..... you'll find sign up boxes on the left hand side of this post.
Please come back .... I miss you!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend, whatever you're up to.
I'm off into town ..... Post Office run then I'm meeting a friend for coffee.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx   

We've got a visitor ......

Happy Wednesday to you,

Middle of a busy week again ...... and the old craft room is slowly disappearing under various piles of unfinished pieces of art work for one thing or another, and prep stuff for a workshop at the weekend. I've got ten ladies coming for an afternoon of playing with Distress Inks ..... things could get messy!!

Anyhow ..... deadlines are looming so no time for hanging around ....... although the old mojo isn't playing ball ..... typical!!

I thought I'd start with something simple.  It's Recipe Week over at Less is More and the ingredient we need to use this week is a .......

SILHOUETTE

I can do that ...... or so I thought!  
We still have to follow the CAS rules ... and include lots of white space.  Finally I came up with this

You guessed it Distress inks for the background panel (multi tasking there ..... two birds with one stone and all that!) ..... first masking off the edges of my piece of card

Love this mix of colours .... reminds me of a summer sunset.  Not that we'll be seeing those anytime soon!  It's been bucketing it down again over here and very windy too. The prom looked a little worse for wear yesterday.  Storm Jonas is definitely leaving his mark.  At least we haven't had the snow though ..... not yet anyway!!!
Wasn't it strange seeing the US, especially NewYork with virtually deserted streets .... no hustle and bustle.   I must say though if we'd had that much snow I'd be one of those out in it I think!!

Where was I?! ...... oh yes ...... my silhouette is an old Penny Black stamp ...... simply stamped using Black Versafine ink ..... looks fab against the inky background I think

I finished off with some words, again from Penny Black ......

And added another tree to the inside ...... job done!

Right .... what's next on the list?   Challenge stuff .... DT samples for next weekend (hint! hint! ..... wonder what they can be!!!??) ..... finish off the workshop prep .... or ... time for me to start on that journal of mine.  Hmmmm ....... choices, choices.  I'd better make a start on with something though .... I'm out for coffee later so nothing will get done this afternoon, then I think we're going out for dinner.

We've had a new addition to the household over the weekend ...... don't panic it's not another little one!  Well actually .... it is only a little one ....... though this ones got four legs and a rather long tail!!!

It wasn't my first choice I can tell you but being the animal lover that I am, what could I do when Lauren told me she was all lonely now that she was on her own over at Robbie's (Lauren's boyfriend) ...... he spends more time at ours than he does at his place.
Soooooo ....... meet Rio ......

Yes, she's a rat .... ooops! I should really say she's a 'long tail' as that's what they're known as in the Isle of Man.  Apparently it's bad luck to say the 'r' word!

I've told them as long as she stays in her cage, well away from me, and I don't have to feed her or clean it out, then we'll get on just fine!!
She's only staying for a short while ..... I hope think, just until they find her a couple of new friends which they've gone to do this morning .......... The things I do!!!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx 

Bloom .......

Happy Thursday folks ......

As always, this week is whooshing by!! We've another busy weekend coming up too .... another birthday celebration!!!

It's time to remind you of the new CAS Card Challenge over at STAMPlorations.  It's nice and straightforward, as the name suggests ...... with a little optional twist ......

You can find all the challenge details/rules over on the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge Blog and there's also a whole lot of fabulous inspiration on there from the rest of the DT.
We've already had some great entries but you've still got lots of time to join in the fun before the challenge closes.

So .... what is CAS for you?
I like lots of white space, with one main focal image.  I still like to add in a little bit of my grungy side too.  Now that can be Distress Inks for the background maybe, smooshed or otherwise ....... a little bit of ink of paint here and there for added interest ...... or just some simple paint splatters in the background like I've used on my inspiration piece for you today ......

How pretty is this stamp ..... it's from the Friends and Flowers set by the lovely Deepti.

I've simply stamped the image onto a piece of white cardstock and coloured it using Distress Inks ..... Dusty Concord for the unbrella, Picked Raspberry for the flowers and Mowed Lawn for the leaves

I stamped the flower part again and fussy cut around the open blooms and attached them over the top of the original image using foam pads to add a bit of dimension

The white spots I added using a white gel pen and the splatters are with Distress ink and I also edged around the panel using a SILVER leafing pen ..... there's my optional twist!!!

Then sentiment is from the Subway Art Builders set - Dare  .......

and I finished off the whole thing by adding a little something to the inside .....

Simply stamped this time, and coloured, and a few added ink splatters too.

Now it's your turn ...... lets see your CAS cards.  You've got until the end of the month to link up your entries, and you can enter up to 3 cards into the challenge, with or without the twist, using STAMPlorations products or not ...... although it would be nice if you did use them!
For all the challenge rules  and guidelines CLICK HERE

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx