Warmest Wishes ......

Happy Tuesday .......

How is everyone? Staying warm I hope.
It's getting a little chilly again here ...... we're bracing ourselves for a bit of cold snap, according to the weather forecast anyway.  We've got gales and wintry showers to look forward to for the next few days.  We've had the hail sleet and snow already .... and it's freezing out!

It's nice and warm in the craft room though ........ I've got another busy week what with DT stuff, birthday cards (it's Lauren's birthday tomorrow), and all the packing.  It's a good excuse for another clear out I think.

 In between all that lot, it's also time for a little reminder of January's TAGplorations Challenge.

The theme for January is appropriately ......... All about Winter, with the optional twist of using texture paste.

My tag has been cut from plain white cardstock, using the largest die from the CUTplorations Manila Tags Nesting Dies

I then used the ARTplorations Coffee Cup stencil, along with white texture paste, to add the outline of my design.

Whilst the paste was wet I sprinkled fine crystal glitter over the swirls of steam .....

and once the rest of the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil back over the texture paste and added colour to the cup and saucer outline with Distress Ink

I then stamped a little design onto the cup with a cute little snowflake stamp from my stash, and heat embossed in white before adding a wash of the Distress Ink colour to the cup itself, and a touch of brown for the coffee

A few splatters of gold and silver ink onto the background ......

and a little touch of enamel accents onto the coffee adds a bit more texture.

Check out the STAMPlorations blog for the challenge guidelines and details of the prizes on offer. You'll also find lots of fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on there too.

Mmmm ..... I think it's time for a nice hot coffee.

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Craft Stamper Challenge ........

Happy Friday folks .......

Boy am I ready for the weekend .... it's been busy, busy, busy all week, but ..... I can see light at the end of the tunnel.  January's list is almost done .....  then it's on to February!

Before I start thinking of Valentines and birthdays though, it's time for a little inspiration for this month's Craft Stamper Challenge.

Did you notice the slight change this month? 
The Design Team has grown a little.  We've got some fabulous new designers on board, some of which you will have met last week for the challenge launch, and some will be making their debut today, for the inspiration post. Please pop by their blogs and say Hello.

As always the challenge theme is Anything Goes, as long as there's actual rubber stamping on your project somewhere.  You can create cards, journal pages, scrapbook layouts or even 3D pieces .... the choice is yours.

I've got a card for you ..... one for the birthday box I think

I've used one of the stamps from a JOFY Christmas set (JOFY57)  ...... not all Christmas stamps are just for the festive period.

This particular stamp I think can be used for so many occasions.

I stamped the whole design onto a piece of white cardstock and added some colour using Distress Inks mixed with a little water.
I stamped it again onto a seperate piece of card, heat embossed just the stars in gold, coloured them with a red Distress Ink and fussy cut.

I then used the same colours of Distress inks to create my splattered background ...... I smooshed the ink pads onto a craft mat, spritzed with water, and then using an old paintbrush I simply splattered the ink over the white card to fill in the background .... so much fun!

I added in a little gold and silver along the way too, until I was happy with the effect.

Once it was all dry, I stamped part of my greeting using Versamark ink, and then heat embossed in gold .......

I added the rest on a small banner cut from a scrap of co-ordinating card ....

A little matting and layering frames the whole design, and I finished off by adding the extra stars using foam pads, to add a bit of dimension

I continued the design onto the inside of the card too ......

Same colours, and a little more splattering ....

As always there are two prizes up for grabs.  One is the Design Winner, chosen by the DT, from all the eligible challenge entries,  and one is from our sponsor.  This month it's the fabulous ...... Visible Image

"Visible Image design exciting and different stamps and stencils! Our sets include arty images and brilliant background elements, and some really inspiring quotes. Our clear photopolymer stamps are very deeply etched, and our stencils are gorgeously thick for creating divine texture!

The winner of this prize ...... these two A5 stamp sheets from the Visible Image range ..... will be randomly chosen from all the entries that follow the challenge guidelines. 

Please read and follow all the guidelines, your project will NOT be a winner of either kind if it doesn't follow the guidelines!  You'll find them on the sidebar on the Craft Stamper Blog ..... there's not that many.

Now it's over to you ...... happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.
It's back to the craft room for me, I've a workshop to prepare for tomorrow.

Cheerio until next time ....

Time for some ATCs .......

Happy Wednesday .....

Stop the week ...... I want to get off!!
Talk about busy ....... I'm taking multi-tasking to another level ....... and I haven't even started packing anything up for the move yet!!  We've just had the 6th February confirmed as the big day so there's plenty of time ..... eeek!!!!!
We'll get there though, we always do!

Anyhow ..... one of the jobs on the To Do List today is the Happy Little Stampers ATC challenge

So .... what is an ATC?  Well ...... if you don't already know, an Artist Trading Card (ATC) is

•  a little piece of artwork that measure's 2.5 x 3.5 inches (approx 64 x 89mm) 
•  they can be traded for other ATC's,  but not sold
•  be flat enough to fit into a plastic trading card sleeve
•  and they must have the artists details on the back and be signed and dated

They're fun to make too!

January's theme is all about ..... Trees
Here's what I came up with ........

PaperArtsy stamps ....... EKD01 and  EKD02

(love these little hedgehogs)

 Distress Oxide were used for the backgrounds ....... smooshed onto white cardstock

And then a little extra colour added using ZIG Clean Colour Markers

The sentiments are from the same stamp sets as the trees and birds apart from this one ....

 ....... this is part of a larger stamp by Inkylicious, I just inked the bit I needed
I then cut each of the sentiments into separate words and attached them to the ATC's, and to finish off I added a few dots of Liquid Pearls to some of the branches

I like to do sets of ATC's .... usually three but you can do as many as you like.
There's a prize for the challenge winner .... a $20 Gift Certificate to spend in the HLS store and something new for 2018 is .... if the winner has used HLS stamps on their project then the prize is DOUBLED ..... that's $40 to spend!  But .... you have to be in it to win it!

Check out the HLS Blog for more details and you'll also find lots of inspiration on there from the rest of the Design Team.

Happy stamping!

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

Cheerio until next time .....

How does your garden grow ......

Happy weekend .......

Well .... that's the first week of 2018 over .... it wasn't so bad.
Back to normal now though .... the tree and all the decorations are down and put away for another year, and the house is nearly tidy but hey! ..... I'm not too bothered about all that, seeing as we're moving again at the beginning of February! I'll be starting to pack boxes again soon ...... whoopee!!
There's never a dull moment at the Walmsley's ....... life is always an adventure.

I've got another Blog challenge for you this evening .... it's the turn of the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media challenge

As you can see, the theme is ...... GARDEN
Now I'm not much of a gardener myself ...... I can't even keep a cactus alive!  But .....I do love a nice garden, that's why I usually pay someone else to look after it.
For the last three years we haven't actually had a garden as such because we've been in the centre of Douglas .... we have had the rather large square outside though which has been lovely .... all the benefits, none of the work.
When we move though, that will change.  There's a huge garden at the new place, with a patio area to put garden furniture, and I think it gets the sun all afternoon.  Better start looking for that gardener!

Anyway ..... back to the challenge.  One of the lovely things from a garden are the beautiful blooms that grow ......

I used the large bloom from the HLS Especially for You set, stamped it a few times onto white cardstock and then fussy cut the flowers, before colouring each one using ZIG Markers

The background is the faux wood grain technique.  There's a great step by step tutorial over on the Snippets Blog by Karen Dunbrook.  Check it out and give this a go ..... it's so much fun.

It's a really easy technique to do and depending on what colour of Distress Ink you use, you will get a different looks ..... I've used Weather Wood on mine.

Simply apply PVA glue onto a piece of white cardstock.  Don't cover the card completely, and apply the glue in lines, down the card.  This gives the best wood effect when the ink is applied.
When the glue is dry, turn the card over and score down the card at quarter or half inch intervals, depending on the size of your finished card (I think mine are quarter inch)

Turn back to the glue side of the card and apply Distress Ink ...... rub the ink directly from the pad down the cardstock.  You will begin to see where the glue was ...... continue applying the ink until you get the finish you are looking for.  I used just the one colour here, but you can use as many as you like .... depends on the look you want.

I attached the flowers over the top .... some flat and some with foam pads for dimension ....

A simple stamped sentiment ......

and a few dots of glossy accents finish everything off.

I also added a couple of the flowers to the inside of the card ......

How will you interpret the challenge theme? I can't wait to see.

There's a prize for the challenge winner ..... a $20 Gift Certificate to spend in the HLS store and .... if the winner (randomly chosen) has used HLS stamps on their winning project then the prize will be doubled!!
You might want to check out the HLS store ...... Kylie has been busy designing and there's some fabulous new stamp sets available for pre-order.  There's an amazing offer on them too .... if you order all six sets then there's 20% off the price! 

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your weekend.
I'm off to grab a take away, put my feet up, and catch up on some TV.  No G&T tonight though, not even a small glass of wine ..... I've decided I'm having a dry January.
So far it's been sparkling water with my lunch out yesterday, and then just a Fever Tree Aromatic tonic with ice and pink grapefruit when we popped into the Prospect.
Hubby is trying too ..... although he's going for more of a damp January rather than dry ..... no will power!!

Cheerio until next time ......

Just when you thought Christmas was over .......

Hello again, happy Thursday evening .......

I've spent most of the day packing away the Christmas decorations .... there's glitter everywhere .... again!  I'm still working on the tree ...... did I really hang soooo many baubles on there!

Anyway ..... just when you were maybe thinking of putting all those Christmas stamps and festive craft stash away ...... don't do it!!! 
January's Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge gets underway today ..... Ho! Ho! Ho! (Sorry)

As you can see the theme is still Anything Goes ..... with an optional twist of ...... CAS (Clean and Simple)

Here's one of my favourite little snowmen ...... and you couldn't get more CAS. 
(I do love black and white with just a hint of colour)

He's been stamped in black Versafine ink, and then just his hat and scarf coloured ..... oh and his nose!

The sentiment has been heat embossed in gold underneath ......

And then a few dots of white enamel accents have been added here and there, to give the look of falling snow.

As with all the HLS challenges there's a prize for the winner ...... a $20 Gift Certificate to spend in the HLS store.  And guess what ..... it the winner has used HLS products on their winning project then the prize will be DOUBLED!! ....... WOW!

Happy Stamping folks.

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

I'm off to finish taking the tree down ..... I've had enough now, I just want everything put away and the house tidy again.

Cheerio until next time ......