It's the little things ........

Happy Monday evening ........

What happened to the weekend?  Mine seems to have gone by way too quickly ......  one good thing though, the boxes are piling up nicely, and we've already had one car load go to the re-cycling centre! Yes, the packing is well under way .... I've even made a start on the old craft room today.  That's going to take a while so we'll say no more about it!

It's time to get the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media challenge underway this evening.  This month the theme is ......

I quite like tearing paper and card, depends on the project of course but it does give a nice sort of shabby chic look to your designs. Add a bit of ink to the torn edges and you get a nice worn look.

For my inspiration piece this month I've made a little fridge magnet from a tiny 4 inch by 4 inch canvas that I found in my box of  UFO's (unfinished objects!)

The canvas had previously been coloured using Brushos and I wasn't that happy with the result so .... I covered the canvas with a scrap of decorative paper, tore the edges a little and pulled them back so that the colour underneath just peeps through ...... adds that little bit of extra interest.

I then stamped the pretty butterfly from the HLS Especially For You stamp set directly onto the paper and then again onto scraps of coloured card from my stash.  These were then fussy cut and over laid onto the canvas ....... stamping the butterflies onto the paper first means that you have the antenna already there ....... no need to spend time fussy cutting around them ..... way to fiddly.

I added a few rub ons around the edges to add a bit more detail .......

And splattered a little bit of black paint here and there ......

To finish off I stamped the words onto a piece of vellum and heat embossed them in white.  I then tore around the edge and attached it to the front of my canvas

A piece of magnetic sheet glued to the back and you're good to go .... a cute little fridge magnet!

Don't forget the challenge is sponsored by the Happy Little Stampers store

And the winner will receive a $15 discount to spend in the shop .

Check out the HLS Blog for all the challenge details.  You'll also find more inspiration on there from the rest of the Design Team.

Happy stamping!

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Welcome to the weekend .....

Happy Saturday evening ......

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.
Only 5 days to go until we get the keys to the new house so we thought we'd better make a start on the packing and the clearing out today ........ the boxes are starting to pile up!
We've also been out ordering new furniture ....... a new bed for the little man's/guest room, and ....... we ordered the new dining table!  Yes ....  we decided to go for it.  It's going to look soooo nice.

It's also time for another Blog Challenge.  Are you feeling a little festive?  Well I've got just the challenge for you .... this month's Christmas Challenge from Happy Little Stampers gets underway today.  The theme is Anything Goes with the optional twist of using ......

HOLLY ..... very festive! 

I've gone for CAS again ....... great when you've got lots of cards to make

The holly sprigs are from the HLS Christmas Joy set  ....... stamped and heat embossed with a gold powder, and then coloured using Zig Clean Colour Pens

I've fussy cut around the holly and then layered them onto the sentiment ......

From the same stamp set, embossed in gold again for a classic look, and then die cut

A touch of glitter glue to the berries and we're done ...... another Christmas card for the festive box.

As always the challenge is sponsored by the Happy Little Stampers Store .......

and the winner receives a $15 discount to spend in the shop.

Happy stamping!

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Smile ........ it's the Craft Stamper challenge

Good morning ....... Happy Friday!

It's the first Friday of the month, so that means the launch of February's Craft Stamper Challenge.

Just like last month there's no challenge theme ....... Anything Goes from now on.  All we ask is that there is actual rubber stamping somewhere on your projects ..... easy!

Our sponsor for February is the fabulous Seven Hills Crafts (they're one of my favourite places to shop online!)

And our challenge winner will receive a fantastic £25 voucher to spend in the store!

Don't forget there's a design winner too .... chosen by the DT.  They will have their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine, be invited to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge and have a winners profile on the CS Blog!! So get out those stamps and get creating!

Here's a little fun design for you ....... great for teenagers, or guys!  
Lots of repeat stamping of the cute little smiley face from Visible Image ..... made a little easier by using my MISTI!

I've simply stamped the image using black Versafine ink and then coloured the faces with a little bit of Mustard Seed Distress Ink .....

I stamped the face again onto a separate piece of card, coloured him and fussy cut around it before attaching it onto the front of my card using foam pads for dimension

I also gave it a coat of Glossy Accents to make it stand out from the rest  ....... love the shine!

There's another little smile on the inside too ......

I just love this sentiment from Woodware ......

This was actually our son's birthday card.  Chris is now old enough to know better ...... he's 27 ..... boy that makes me feel old!!! ....... but he still gets away with things .... funny that!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.
Mine's going to be spent emptying cupboards and packing boxes ........ oh joy!   Time for a clear out I think.

Cheerio until next time ......

Happy Little Stampers ..... CAS Challenge

Hello again .........

The start of a new month is always fun ......... lots of new challenge themes.  I've got another CAS one for you this evening and there's colour involved again.

It's time to launch this month's HLS CAS Challenge, and the theme for February is .......

BLUE

As with all Happy Little Stampers Challenges ...... it's sponsored by the HLS Store .....

and the winner will receive a $15 discount voucher to spend on HLS goodies.

What are you waiting for ... get stamping!

I've been playing with my Brushos and a little bit of white embossing ..... I love this look.

I stamped the flowers (from the HLS Doodled Flowers) using Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Fine Detail White Embossing Powder. I did a little bit of masking along the way to build up the design

I then sprinkled over the top with a blue Brusho pigment powder .... sorry I didn't check which shade it was but I think it might have been Ultra Marine Blue, because of the purple shades in there.  Yes it was just the one pot of Brusho that I used ..... I love how there's different shades in each colour and depending on how much water you spritz depends on how the colours mix ...... gorgeous!

I used the same Brusho ..... this time I actually mixed the pigment with water, and applied it with a paint brush to add more colour to the centre flower.
A few sequins added to the centres of the flowers give the design a touch of sparkle and a simple embossed greeting finishes off the card nicely.

Now it's your turn ..... can't wait to see what you all come up with.

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

Cheerio until next time .....

One week to go .......

Happy Thursday .......

This time next week we will have the keys to our new home ...... fingers crossed.  And everything will start getting a little crazy around here ..... crazier than normal that is!
Before all that though there's a whole load of new challenges to get underway ..... I love the beginning of a new month.

We're starting February with the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge ...... it's the usual Anything CAS Goes theme, with an optional colour twist.  This month it's  .....

HOT PINK!
(one of my favourites!)

Here's a really easy CAS design that can be used with any colour at all and will look fabulous every time. And it's a great way of using up all those small pieces of cardstock we have lying around.

My finished card measures 7 inches by 5 but you can easily change the size to whatever is your preferred card size.

I simply took a strip of white cardstcok ..... an cut off from another project ...... and stamped the pretty STAMPlorations Daisy Row from the Artsy Borders range across the card using Versamark ink.  I then heat embossed using a fine detail white embossing powder

I then swiped a Picked Raspberry Distress Ink pad onto my craft sheet, spritzed with water and then smooshed the card through the ink to add the colour onto the background ......

Using a paintbrush I picked up a little more of the colour and painted over the petals to make them stand out more from the background colour.

A layer of black card underneath to give a small border along one edge, a simple sentiment stamped above and the finishing touch ...... a pretty little matching gemstone.

Check out all the challenge details on the STAMPlorations Blog where you'll also find lots more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team ........ Happy stamping!

Don't forget it you love the STAMPlorations range of products and you place an order, use my special code to get a 20% discount ...... on all stamps, stencils and dies!

use code ....... STAMPGIRLLINDA

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

Cheerio until next time