Live your life in Colour ......

Happy Friday .......

It's the weekend ..... whoo hoo!!!  It's going to be a good one too.  I'm off to the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight tomorrow ........ keep your fingers crossed for good weather, and a calm sea!

Before all that though let's get in the weekend mood with this month's Craft Stamper Challenge

As always the theme is Anything Goes, as long as there's some rubber stamping on your project somewhere .... it couldn't be simpler.

There's prizes up for grabs too.  Our sponsor this month is ....... Imagine Design Create

and the challenge winner (randomly chosen) will receive 3 of their fabulous stamp sets ....  see below

We also have a Design Winner, chosen by the DT, and their prize will be .......

• their winning project published in the Craft Stamper Magazine
• they will be invited to be a Guest Designer on a future CS TIMI Challenge
• and they'll have a Winner's Profile published on the CS Blog!

What are you waiting for!

I spotted this stamp on the Inkylicious website and I just couldn't resist ..... I love it!!!

I stamped the image onto some white cardstock and then used Pebeo Drawing Gum Masking Fluid to cover the zebras. You could cut yourself masks for each one but the fluid was quicker.
Once it was dry ..... it didn't take long ...... I used various colours of Distress Ink to create the background.

I simply brushed a different colour of ink over the top of each zebra, building up the depth of colour gradually.
Once I was happy with the colours I rubbed away the masking fluid and voila! ....... black and white zebras against a coloured background ...... love them!

I then added colour to just one of them using Picked Raspberry Distress, and splattered a little of the ink onto the background  ........ doesn't he look pleased to be pink!

The fabulous sentiment comes with the stamp and is so true ...... why not fill your life with colour, it's fun!

There's more colour on the inside of the card ......

A repeat of the Distress inks from the front ...... simply brushed onto the white card

and of course one of the zebras had to make an appearance .......

Now it's over to you.
Check out the Craft Stamper Blog for all the challenge details and more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.
If you're off to Port Sunlight tomorrow have a fabulous day .... spend loads!  I'll see you there ... hopefully!

Cheerio until next time .....

Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge .......

Hello again ......

How's your day been?
I had a lovely stroll into town this afternoon ...... a quick look around the shops, managed to pick up a couple of things, and then had a nice coffee and catch up with a friend. I don't need to cook either tonight, we're off to Curry Night at Chris's place which is always good.

It's time to get the second challenge for today underway and we're feeling a little festive for this one ....... it's the Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge ..... Ho! Ho! Ho! (sorry!)

It's the regular Anything Goes theme ..... with the optional twist this month of using a mask, or two!

I love this little Christmas Tree from the HLS Christmas Joy stamp set ....... simple to cut out which makes it easy when you need to make a mask.

I made myself a mask to create the hillside from a simple piece of white copier paper.  With this in place I stamped the trees along the edge ......

I started in the centre ..... stamped the tree and made a couple of masks from Post-It notes.  I covered the stamped tree and continued along the whole of the card, masking the trees as I went along.
I coloured them with ZIG Clean Color Brush Pens and added a touch of glitter to define the top of the hills

I stamped the tree again on a separate piece of card ..... coloured it and fussy cut around it, and then attached it over the centre tree using foam pads

A few dots of glitter glue give a touch of sparkle on the tree, and a simple stamped and embossed greeting adds the finishing touch.

Have you made a start on your Christmas cards yet?

As always the challenge is sponsored by the Happy Little Stamper Store

  
and the challenge winner will receive a Gift Certificate to spend on their next visit.

Thanks for popping by  .... again!  Happy stamping!

Cheerio until next time .....

STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge .....

Happy Thursday ........

This is the first of two posts today ..... it's a busy day in the old craft room!

First up it's this month's STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge

As you can see, the theme is Anything Goes as long as it's Clean And Simple, and there's always an optional colour twist ...... for May it's Feminine Colours.  What will you choose?

I've gone for pink .... you don't get more girlie than that! and I've put the pretty tulips in the spotlight.

I've used the STAMPlorations  SKETCHED Tulips ...... I love tulips don't you and they look so pretty in pink.

I stamped the full image onto a piece of white cardstock and then again, this time just the flower heads, onto a scrap piece and die cut them using a circle die ......

I coloured the tulips using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Markers and blended the colour with a water brush

I added a die cut stitched frame over the top and then attached the whole thing over the original stamped image matching up the two images

A simple sentiment (STAMPlorations Fond Expressions 2) stamped using Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink ...... these inks are perfect for stamping with, lovely crisp,clean images

I finished off by adding a strip of cardstock coloured with the same Distress Oxide, and then splattered with a little water, to the bottom of the flowers to ground them .......

and added the tulips to the inside of the card .......

colouring just the one bloom

There's prizes up for grabs for the challenge winner so why not join in the fun.  Full details can be found on the STAMPlorations blog along with more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm dashing into town for a little retail therapy and a quick coffee then I'll be back later with more challenge fun.

Cheerio until next time ....

Fun with Brushos .......

Happy Wednesday .......

Middle of the week already ...... and hardly anything done!  OK .... a few things have been crossed off the list, but it doesn't seem to be getting any shorter!

Last weekend I ran a workshop for my lovely group of crafty ladies.  Hubby was away on a 'lads weekend' so there was no rush to get things finished ..... we had a great time, lots of fun and there was chocolate ....... and cake of course!

We spent the day playing with Brushos ..... those little pots of magic as I like to call them. We'd all used them before .... some of us love them, some not so much!  But I think everyone was happy with their results at the end of the day.

Here's a little bit of what we got up to .......

We used different types of cardstock to create pretty backgrounds ..... watercolour card, both textured and smooth.   My favourite 'Ink Me' cardstock that I use for everything, and mixed media card.  It was nice to see how the Brusho reacted differently on each.

We then used some of the background sheets to create quick and easy cards ....... using pretty silhouette florals, always a winner.  I also did a bit of inlaid die cutting for the sentiment

A little bit of white heat embossing looks lovely ....

Again a really simple design .... use your favourite colours of Brusho, spritz with water and watch the colours blend

Make sure that the card is completely dry before embossing, and always use an anti static bag first

And you know me .... I don't like to throw anything away.  Use the small, cut off pieces to create matching tags ..... so cute!!

We then used the Brushos to paint with .......

Stamped and embossed the flowers first then coloured the background.  I like to choose the colours for the flowers and then use the same for the background.
I sprinkled the Brusho onto the flowers and then spritzed, quite heavily, with water to spread the colour over the whole of the background.

I repeated this a few times, always starting with the colour on the flowers and spritzing it over the whole card, mopping up any excess in between.
Once I was happy with the background I then used the same Brusho colours to make the flowers more intense.  Simply mix the powder with water and use as a paint

I also added in a touch of green for the leaves .....

I love how the white embossing acts as a resist to the Brusho keeping the stamped image clean.

Another thing I like to do is use a Glazing Medium to spread the colour ........

Simply sprinkle the Brusho onto a piece of card, fill a paintbrush with the glazing medium and use to spread the colour .....
I used a right old mix here but I love how it turned out

More white embossing over the top and the job's done!

I'm not always happy with the results I get using Brushos .... they can be a little unpredictable shall we say, when spritzing with water ..... no two pieces will ever be the same no matter how hard you try.  I don't throw any pieces away though .... they'll always come in for something.
Use them with punches or dies, or simply stamp onto them and fussy cut your images, it's a great way of adding colour to flowers, or butterflies  .... whatever you like really.

Here's a couple more ideas for you ......

Pretty little butterflies, die cut and then stamped and heat embossed .......

Or simple florals ..... die cut and layered

Have fun with your Brushos, they really are little pots of magic!

Thanks for popping by.
The sun is shining again here so I think it's time to make the most of it and have lunch outside.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ......

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge ......

Happy Tuesday ..........

And welcome to May.  I'm still trying to figure out what happened to April!!!
We had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend though ..... for once the weather was gorgeous, and it still is. Lets hope it lasts ...... until after this weekend at least ..... I'm on the boat across to the UK on Saturday and I don't want a bumpy ride!!!

Anyway .... enough of all that for now.  It's time to launch this months Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge.
As always we're sponsored by the HLS store, and the challenge winner will receive a $20 Gift Certificate to spend in the shop.

Well the sun may be shining outside but .... this month's challenge theme is all about RAIN

I've gone for a RAINbow ...... well, you don't get rainbows without a little rain.

Clean and simple as always .... starting by stamping the cloud from the HLS Rainy Days stamp set onto a piece of white card, and coloured in the sun using a ZIG Clean Color Brush pen.

I then die cut the rainbow from the white card so that it was over the edge of the cloud, and then again from various coloured cardstock.  The coloured pieces were then inlaid into the white card to create a pretty coloured rainbow

I added the sentiment underneath ......

and gave the inside a touch of colour too .....

I used different colours of Memento ink pads to ink up the HAPPY ..... simple yet effective, keeping the Birthday black

The words are from the HLS Bold Birthday Sentiments which if you like this set then grab it quick! It's being discontinued but ...... the good news is it's currently in the HLS Sale, with 50% off .... bargain!

It's a busy week this week .... all the new monthly challenges starting, DT stuff to do and I want to make time to have a play in my journal.  I mentioned I'm off on a jolly at the weekend too.
I'm only away for the day though.  It's the Happy Stampers Festival over in Port Sunlight on the Wirral and there's a whole group of us catching the early morning ferry (when I say early morning .... I mean EARLY!!!  I'll be up, whether I'll be human is another matter.  The make-up may have to go on once we're on the boat .... another reason I'm hoping it's not bumpy!!!)
It's the first time I've been off the island this year so I can't wait.  Happy Stampers is my favourite craft show ..... lots of great retailers there (my shopping list is growing daily) plus lots of good friends from the UK too so it's nice to catch up with everyone.
If any of you are popping along I'll see you there!

Thanks for stopping by ..... have fun with the challenge and enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time