SMASH*ing the Art of Yarn

Just a quick post today, sharing the latest finished page in my SMASH* Book.  As I was clearing out some paper rubbish for recycling, I found a newsletter from the lush 'Spin a Yarn' shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon and there were so many fabby pix on it, I just had to sit right down and SMASH* them all !!  A perfect recycling project I think.

Hope you like today's project, thanks for dropping by, let me know what you think of it if you have time. 

Celebrate with Edwin

Don't know about you, but I've given up all hope of us getting a Summer here in the Southwest of the UK.  I don't think we'll get much opportunity to fire up the BBQ this year so might as well leave it stored away in the shed !  Nothing for it but to stay indoors and craft then ha...ha... !  

Anyway, enough gloom, I've managed to finish my entry for this week's Less is More challenge which asks us to use paper piecing in our Clean and Simple (CAS) designs. 

I haven't used this Magnolia Edwin stamp for a very long time, it was one of the first Magnolia's I ever bought, but isn't he fantastic for a 'Celebration' card.  I love it when I 'rediscover' some of my older stamps and bring them out to play again.  I've also entered this card for the June challenge on Craftbubble's 'Craft Mad and Loving It' group which has the theme 'open a bottle and celebrate' - perfick !

Using a Nellie's die I cut out the fancy heart  from cardstock to match the colour I used for Edwin's bow tie and attached to a kraft basecard.  I stamped the image on white card and again on striped paper,  coloured the image with Copics then cut it out.  I then cut out just his suit from the image stamped on paper and glued it to the coloured image to give him a smart pinstripe suit. 

There's a little Stardust Stickles on the champagne glasses and bottle top and Glossy Accents on the bottle.  The sentiment is from Stampin Up! and I stamped it using Memento Paris Dusk ink onto the base card.

That's it from me for today, thanks for dropping by - have an awesome day whatever you have planned !

Patriotic Celebration

Today sees the start of a new challenge on the Cute Card Thursday blog, this week we'd like you to be patriotic with your designs and our prize sponsor is Tiddlyinks.

What with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for our Queen Elizabeth 2 and hosting the 2012 Olympic Games in the UK this year, there is a certain amount of patriotic fever about the country and there's  lots of red, white and blue products around.  I've taken advantage of this as the papers I've used on my card were magazine freebies and just perfect for my DT project this week.

I haven't inked up this cute stamp from Kanban for some time so thought it was about time it came out to play again, coloured in red, white and blue using my Copic pens.  The row of flag bunting was created using a stamp by The Artistic Stamper and Memento Paris Dusk ink, I added the touches of red with a Copic. Although the colours aren't true to the Union Jack Flag, I thought little pop of red would lift the image and bring it to life a little.  The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley which I stamped using Rhubarb Stalk and Paris Dusk Memento. 

In creating the complete card I also used Stampin Up! stamps, punches and cardstock and a Nellie's Choice die.  I also added Glossy Accents on the balloons, parcel ribbon and her pretty little red shoes.  You can see this a little more clearly in the close up shot here.

Ok, it's over to you now, let us see your take on the Patriotic theme this week - I can't wait to see how you interpret it !

Have a great day, thanks for popping in to see my project today. 

Cherish Yesterday, Live for Today........

It's wednesday again, so we've got a new challenge starting over on the I Love Promarkers blog.  The theme is 'Anything Goes' this week and the prize is sponsored by Digi Doodle Shop. 

This lovely Rose Corner image is from DDS and I coloured it with my Promarkers before cutting it out.  The layers under the image were cut using a set of nestie dies, the larger one cut from a piece of Nitwits paper and the green background is also Nitwits. 

I stamped this lovely sentiment from a set by Dark Room Door, using Rich Cocoa Memento ink, on to the top layer then brushed Tattered Rose Distress Ink around the edges to soften them a little. 

The pretty green gingham ribbon was from my stash, as were the green gems. 

Do pop by the ILPM blog to check out the rest of the Design Team's creations, we'd love to see an entry from you this week.

Have a great day, whatever you have planned and thanks for calling in to see my project today I really appreciate you taking the time to visit.

Oh I do Like to Be Beside The Seaside.....

I don't often post twice in one day, but I have recently found the Pan Pastel Challenge and as I've been playing with my PPs recently, I thought I'd enter this card for their 'Anything Goes' theme this week..

Previously I've played around with masks and mostly making backgrounds using PPs, this is something of an experiment, using finer tipped tools to do more precise colouring.  I think it's worked OK, what do you think ?

I stamped the Michael Powell image and coloured using the very tip of a Sofft Tool and the smaller tools which look like eyeshadow applicators.  I think the very 'loose' style of colouring suits this image and PP's are great for this. 

Now I plan to try the technique with the other Michael Powell stamps I have, so there may well be more Pan Pastel projects to share with you at a later date.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing my Design Team card for the I Love Promarkers Challenge with you, but for now I'm signing off - ta tah  !

The Fabric of my Life

You've guessed it !  I've been SMASH*ing again !  Well, I had started this page a few days ago, but only just got it finished. 

During a recent trip to my local Art Shop in Kelly Bray, I spotted a 12 x 12 sheet of sticky-backed fabric in a sort of patchwork design.  I thought it would be perfect for SMASH*ing pages and the idea for my Fabric page was born.

The background was created using a strip of the sticky- back fabric, then a strip of lace, then washi tape, a length of seam binding I dyed with Alcohol Inks, a floral strip printed from a NitWit Collections paper kit and finally the bottom strip from a sheet of A4 freebie papers by NitWit that I got in a magazine.  It looks realistically like cotton tape and was just the right width to finish my page. 

I've had the felt embellishments in my sash for a while, not knowing what best to do with them other than use them on a Scrapbook layout !  Various flowers from my stash and a crocheted flower I made a while ago, a lovely purple paperclip I got from Staples stationery store and a piece of printed cotton tape all added to the finished design. 

I stamped 'hand crafted' on the litttle fabric tag using a stamp from a set by Stampin Up!, the buttons were altered using Alcohol Inks and I did the little bit of knitting using cocktail sticks as they were just the right size and scale.  I hand wrote the page title which was one of the first elements I added over the background design.

I was thinking of doing a little scrap of x-stitching to add to the design and I may still do this at a later date.   Always difficult to know when a piece is actually finished !! 

Which Way To The Beach ?

I've got another couple of batch-make cards to share with you today.  I do love this technique using a Distress Ink pad.  Quick and easy to do if you need cards in a hurry or have to make a large number of cards.

For this batch of Clean and Simple (CAS) cards I've used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, applying the ink pad direct to the base card using gentle pressure.  I then overstamped the inked square using  an image from a set of Inkadinkado stamps with black Memento ink.  The sentiment is by Hero Arts and I lined it up so that it gives the impression of a wave rolling gently on to the beach close to the grasses and sand on the main stamped image.  The tiny butterfly was from the same set of Inkadinkado stamps.

This batch of cards also features the DI inkpad 'direct to paper' technique and another set of stamps by Inkadinkado. 

I've used one of the new limited edition Distress Ink colours this time.  Peacock Feathers is a lovely rich turquoise and for this technique the more patchy and uneven the stamped square is the better. 

Again I've overstamped the DI square using black Memento ink and a fish image from the stamp set.  It isn't showing up on the photograph, but I added touches of Stardust Stickles on the fish scales and the air bubbles so they have a subtle sparkle.

The sentiment I've used is from a set of stamps by Stampendous and could be appropriate for many occasions.

Using good quality deckle edge C6 cards with the CAS style of design creates an elegant card, whatever the image you choose to design with. 

Getting Arty with my Journal

I'm really getting into my Art Journal, couldn't wait to create another page after my little flurry of three pages a few days ago.

This page is quite 'busy' but I had great fun building up all the elements.  I used stamps from Dark Room Door, Artistic Stamper, Chocolate Baroque and Hero Arts Clings.

That's it from me for today - have a great day !

Rare and Exotic Plant Life

I've been playing with my SMASH* Book again and completed this page with a couple of photographs I took during the couple of days we spent with my Dad, Bruv and family in Porthleven, Cornwall.

I had started the page with the image top left - it was in a leaflet from one of our local DIY Stores and this is the sort of effect I'd like to create in my garden.  I clipped it out of the leaflet and put it into my book, stamped a few images and sentiments on the page and added text using Tim Holtz words.

Found a couple of embellishments in my stash as I was sorting through and thought they were the perfect finishing touch to this page.

Thanks for dropping by to check today's project, hope you've enjoyed your visit.

Here Comes Summer ......

Well it hasn't come to Cornwall yet !  but 'Here comes Summer' is this week's challenge theme over on Cute Card Thursday.  Our prize sponsor this week is Whimsy Stamps.

For my DT card I chose a set of magazine freebie stamps by Whimsy as they are just perfect for this theme.  My Dad bought the magazine and I borrowed his stamps, but I might just have to get myself a copy of the magazine !

I coloured the image using Copics and used papers from NitWits; cardstock, Sizzlets butterfly dies and circle punch from Stampin Up!; nesties and dies from Memory Box and Mariannes; Martha Stewart 'Punch all over the page' punch for the border on the right; flower design lace from my stash, Glossy Accents and Stardust Stickles. 

I hope my card has brought a little sunshine into your day, thanks for dropping by today.

Thoughts from the 1950's

The theme for this week's I Love Promarkers Challenge is The 1950's and the prize is sponsored by Letraset. 

When I set out to design my DT card I searched through my stamp stash to try and find an image appropriate for the 1950's theme and I began thinking about what this decade meant to me.  I started school in the 50's and when I came across this set of vintage image stamps from Hampton Art Graphic 45 I got the idea for my card. 

I've used muted vintage colours for all the elements of the design, stamped the images using Rich Cocoa Memento ink before cutting out the main image using a set of nesties.  The numbers and letter blocks were also from the same set of stamps and I popped up the blocks using PinFlair glue to give them a little extra dimension.  The bp is by NitWit and was a magazine freebie.  The layer under the image was embossed using a cloud embossing folder and a scrap of SU! cardstock. 

Well, this is my take on the theme for this week, my fellow DT members have interpretted it in different and great ways, check them out on the ILPM blog.  It would be great to see what you make of the theme, add your link on the blog and we'll visit and check it out. 

Thanks for visiting today, leave me a comment letting me know what you think of my design if you have the time to spare - I love receiving feedback !

Featured Flower

Happy Tuesday people, I guess many of us are enduring yet another week of the British Summer - when will the rain stop eh ?  Soon I hope.

As promised in my last post, today I'm sharing a CAS style card I made recently. 

The image is a Craft Stamper freebie which I stamped over patterned paper before cutting out.  The debossed line design was creating using my Hougie Board and the flower attached in the centre square before attaching to a very slightly larger square of SU! Peach Parfait cardstock.  I added this simple sentiment from a set of stamps by Stampendous which would be appropriate for many occasions. 

That's it Folks Clean and Simple and quick today - hope you like it.

Whoo... Hoooo... I won !

I'm late posting on my blog today - in fact the day is almost over !  We've had reasonably nice weather with sunshine for some of the time but it has turned cold again this evening and we actually have the central heating on - in June ? yeah ! brrrr.... !  In fact, the rain is currently 'lashing down' - Oh Joy !

Now to the reason for the title of this post, I found out a couple of days ago that I've won this awesome Candy (check it out) from Jennie The Artistic Stamper's Blog, how fabulous is that?  I can't wait for Mr Postie to drop all this gorgeousness through my letterbox !!  Thanks so much for the chance to win Jennie.

I did manage to complete a card from start to finish today, in between cooking yummy meals for my Dad - who's staying with me for a few weeks - and my OH.  Got to spoil our Menfolk one day a year after all LOL  Today's creation is my DT card for the I Love Promarkers Challenge and I'll be sharing it with you on wednesday when the new challenge starts.

I've also completed a couple more pages in my SMASH* Book, so at least I can share these with you today.

Here you go then

On this page I've included lots of mementos and journalled notes from time spent having fun with friends, some of it crafting some of it just 'hanging out'.

The second page includes more mementos of time spent with friends.  I hope my pal Linda doesn't mind, but I've included the front of the card she sent to me for my birthday this year.  It's perfect for the theme of my 'doing fun stuff with friends' pages.  The 'washing line' was actually the advertising 'blurb' included with my subscription gift from Craft Stamper Magazine and I chopped it about a bit and rearranged some of the elements.



Tomorrow I'll be sharing a Clean and Simple (CAS) card I made recently. 

Thanks for calling in to check today's crafting Stuff.

Trying something new....

I'm now back home after having a lovely couple of days with my Dad and Bruv and his family in Porthleven - it's a lovely part of Cornwall.  The weather wasn't too kind so we had to shelter in the pub for quite a lot of the time heee...heee... ! 

I've been wanting to try Art Journalling for some time and, after acquiring a new spiral bound mixed media book in black this week, I decided to dive right in and have a go at a couple of pages. 

So, with a black page as my base what did I do first? Yes, I painted it white using Gesso !  Here's my first page on  the left.

I spritzed some Twilight Black and Midnight Gold Cosmic Shimmer Glimmer Mists on to the white base.  I then used various images, stamps and handwritten elements to create my design.  I coloured the compass using Pan Pastels and added some Stickles on the fish.





After finishing this page I couldn't wait to do another one, so...

For this page I used some Grungeboard letters and numbers, coloured them with Pan Pastels then spritzed the Cosmic Shimmers to seal the pastels. 

The background on the final page was coloured using Pan Pastels with images stamped using Versamark then other colours of PP's added. 

Something new and different for me and I've really enjoyed the experience.  I think I may well be hooked on Art Journalling now !

I've also recently started my first SMASH* Book and completed two more pages - but I'll share these with you another day.

I do hope that your weather is better than it is here, we've just turned the central heating on as it's so cold !!  British Summer ? Bah Humbug !!  Bring on the heatwave I say. 

Punch Drunk !

Thursday has rolled around sooo quickly this week, I guess part of the reason may be that I've had a lovely crafting pal Kathy visiting for the past three days.  We squeezed in a little stash shopping at a couple of my local shops, managing to find a couple of 'got to have' items each.  We also played with our latest new toys - Pan Pastels - we are both loving them and had great fun trying out different techniques with them.  I'll have projects to share with you at a later date which were created using the PPs.

Anyway I digress, as it IS thursday there's a new Cute Card Thursday Challenge starting today and the theme this week is 'Punch Drunk'.  We'd love to see your entries and ask you to use punched elements in your design. 

Our prize sponsor for this challenge is Whiff of Joy Stamps and I had intended to use a WoJ stamp on my DT card, but as my craftroom still looks like an A Bomb went off in there, I couldn't actually get to my stock of WoJ stamps without wearing a hard hat and erecting scaffolding !

Instead I decided to use this cute image from a set of stamps by Docrafts from their 'Wellington' range, which I acquired recently but hadn't inked up so far.  I've kept the design fairly clean and simple (CAS) and used a Martha Stewart lacy border punch and a Nellie Snellen punch and emboss flower punch set.

The Hero Arts sentiment was cut out using a Stamping Up! punch.  I coloured the image with my Copic pens and used a sheet of background paper from a Papermania 6x6 pack, the flowers were punched from another design in this pack.  The only other materials used were some scraps of SU! cardstock and PinFlair glue.

I managed to use a few different punches in my design - it's now over to you to see what you can do with your own punches - have fun !

With a Cherry on the Top !!

Happy wednesday folks, hope you get a share of any sunshine that happens to wander into the UK today !  Not a lot of it to go around right now and I feel sorry for anyone holidaying here this so-called Summer. 

As it's wednesday, a new challenge starts on the I Love Promarkers blog, this week our theme is 'Tutti Frutti' - interpret this how you will.   The Prize Sponsor this week is Joanna Sheen. 

I've gone with a fruity design for my DT card, bunches of cherries and a cupcake with a cherry on the top (hence my title for today's post).  Sorry I can't tell you who the images are by as I found them in my box of ready stamped images while looking for something appropriate for this week's challenge.  If anyone recognises them and knows the stamp manufacters' name, please do let me know.  The bp has tiny cherries in the design and was a magazine freebie.

I coloured the images with my Promarkers before cutting out and attaching over a layer cut with a nestie die.  I left the die in place whilst adding some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink using an Inkyliscous Duster Brush.  I then stamped a small flourish around the edges with the same DI and also the sentiment, before adding over a slightly larger layer cut with another of the nestie dies.  A little Stickles on the ribbons of the images and around the edges of the image layer, faux stitching drawn around the edges of the bp and I called it a finished card !

Thanks for popping by today, have a great one.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Monday everyone.  Today I'm sharing the card I made for my Niece and her Hubby who are celebrating their second wedding anniversary.  The weather currently couldn't be more different to that on their wedding day, which was a blazing hot and sunny day. Hope it warms up soon or I'm going to have to turn on the central heating brrrrrr......

I was playing with a recently acquired set of stamps from Inkadinkado and some SU! cardstock.  I stamped the images direct to the base card using Rich Cocoa Memento ink, then using  TH Distress Markers added green on the grasses and created the effect of sand between the two lower stamped images.  I also added touches of white pen to highlight parts of the images.  The flocks of birds are from an Inkyliscious set and the sentiment is from a set of stamps from the 'Wellington' range by DoCrafts, which I thought was a great sentiment for an anniversary card.  I also used a set of nesties to cut the two shaped mats in the centre.  The gems were from my stash.

Thanks for dropping by, hope you've enjoyed your visit.

Make and Take in Bodmin !

Just a quick post from me today, I'm busy gathering all the bits and pieces from my stash and assembling in what will become the temporary craft room (in the conservatory) for the next couple of days during the 'Royal' visit from the Purple Princess - whoo.... hoooo ! can't wait Kathy. 

As I promised, here's a pic of the fruits of my labour from the workshop and make & takes at the ArtStamps show in Bodmin yesterday.

I did add a few extra bits to the canvas and the Ecoboard brooch after I got home - gem bodies on the butterflies, Stickles and Glossy Accents mostly. 

The canvas was almost completed to my own satisfaction at the workshop, but I knew I just needed to add a few extra touches using my own stash!  

Having a SMASH*ing time !

I've had a great day today visiting the Art Stamps show in Bodmin, Cornwall with five crafting pals There weren't a huge number of stalls but the ones that were there were packed full of fabulous goodies. 

We all did a couple of 'make and takes' - one of them was with Stampin Up! where we made a fancy fold card, in the other we made a brooch from Ecoboard. 

I also signed up for was what described as a 'Scrapbooking Workshop', which actually turned out to be a decorated canvas session.  It was tremendous and messy fun and I'm pleased with the finished result, although want to add a few final touches using some of my own stash now I've got it home. 

I'll take some pics of today's projects and post them up on here tomorrow.

This week I ventured into the world of SMASH* Books, staring my very first pages in the SB I've had for a while.  I'm already hooked and everywhere I look I see things I want to add to a page or start a new page with.  So, here are my first five pages, lots of stuff from my recent vacation in the USA:

I'm loving how the pages just grow organically and constantly change as I find more interesting things to add.  I've started a couple more pages but I won't bore you with any more today, I'll save them for another day!

Hope you're having a great weekend - the weather is freezing here, hoping it warms up a bit soon as my Dad, Bruv and family are down in Cornwall for a week's holiday and we are planning to join them for a couple of days during the week.

Water...Water.....

Happy Thursday to you, hope you're having a great day.  There's a new challenge starting today over on the Cute Card Thursday blog with the theme "Water, Water" - interpret this how you will.  Our prize sponsor this week is Love to Stamp.

I selected a stamp from Sugar Nellie for my card as I thought this little cutie sitting in her boat was perfect for the theme.  I coloured the image with Copics and added Glossy Accents on the crescent moon and star, on the water and her sweet little hat.  The background papers were a digi download from Chocolate Baroque ages ago, I do love turquoise and dark brown together. 

The bunting was cut using a set of Whimsy dies from SU! cardstock and a scrap of the bp.  I added the image layer over another piece of the cardstock, and used more with an SU! scalloped punch to create a layer for under the LOTV sentiment.  The scrap of webbing in the bottom right corner was in my ribbon bag and I used some natural twine to string up the bunting. 

I decided on a simple layout as there is quite a lot going on in the image and I didn't want to draw the eye away from it by adding lots of embellies.

Hope you've enjoyed today's project, do check the fabulous creations from the rest of the DT over on the CCT blog they are such a talented bunch, it's a real pleasure to work with them.

For a Little Girl

Today's card is my DT card for this week's I Love Promarkers Challenge - we want you to make a card "For a Little Girl" and our prize sponsor is Lili of the Valley fancy having £10 to spend in the LOTV shop? then get your entries in for the challenge, you might just be the lucky winner !

For my card I've used this adorable LOTV stamp, isn't she just the cutest thing, playing with her teddy in the garden?  I've coloured her with Promarkers. of course. before cutting out with an oval nestie and layering over a scalloped oval cut with another nestie die from pale pink cardstock.  The lacy layer under the image was cut using a die from the Spellbinders Persion Accents set, as was the darker pink layer under the flower.  You can just see the dark pink border under the image layer, this was cut using a Marianne's border die, and I added a piece of bright green ribbon along the top edge of it to continue the green highlight of the grass in the image. 

The pink flower has been in my stash for a very long time and I thought it was about time it was used up !  Finally, the LOTV sentiment was stamped in Cottage Green Memento and added over the scalloped circle layer cut using a punch from SU!.  The bp was a magazine freebie which I thought was really pretty.  Just a few touches of Grapefruit Stickles on the flowers and it was finished.

This is the card I'll be sending to my Bruv's Granddaughter as it's her birthday later this month.

Look what I found on my bird table when I got up this morning - well, it was raining 'cats and dogs' LOL !

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you back again real soon.