Oranges and Lemons...

Thursday has rolled round again and it's time for a new challenge over on the Cute Card Thursday Blog.  This week our theme is 'Oranges and Lemons' and our prize is sponsored by Whimsy Stamps.

This week I made two cards for my DT project, I've put both into the same pic as I couldn't decide which one to put on the CCT blog to share this week. Which one is your favourite, if you have one ?

I used my new PaperArtsy JOFY stamps on both cards, I've been wanting to get these beauties inky since I got them a couple of weeks ago. 

For the one on the left I used one of my favourite techniques on the base card, dragging a couple of Distress Inks direct to paper, mingling the two colours where they meet.  I stamped the pretty vase and flowers image onto white cardstock then brushed on Squeezed Lemonade DI to colour the background.  Using my Promarker pens I coloured the image and added Glossy Accents on the vase and parts of the flowers. 

I then used a set of Marianne's Craftables dies to cut a background layer from yellow cardstock, the image layer and a lacy layer from orange cardstock to overlay the yellow background.

For the right hand card I added a plain strip of orange cardstock down the centre of the basecard, used a Penny Black dotty die to cut a layer from yellow card.  I then stamped the image onto another piece of yellow card and coloured the image with my Promarker pens and added Glossy Accents on the top half of the flowers.  The Happy Birthday sentiment is from a set by Stampin'Up!

You can see the fabulous creations from the rest of the DT by visiting the CCT Blog, I hope you'll be inspired to submit an entry this week.

Have a great day !

Good Luck Charms

Happy Thursday Bloggers, thanks for dropping by today.  The new challenge starting over on the Cute Card Thursday Blog has the theme 'Good Luck Charms' and our prize sponsor this week is Whiff of Joy Stamps.

Here's my DT card for this week.

 

 

My interpretation of the theme was to add a charm to my design.  I used some very pretty magazine freebie papers and cut layers using a set of SU! Framelits dies.  I added faux stitching around the edges of the top two layers to highlight them.  The pretty swirl was cut using a Memory Box die and the metal charm and Bakers' Twine were in my stash.  I used the bird and branch stamp from SU! and stamped using SU! Midnight Muse ink before cutting out with the matching punch. 

 

It's quite a simple design and I haven't added a sentiment to the front so the card could be used for many occasions.

 

Do hop over to the CCT blog to check out the creations from the rest of the Design Team, you're sure to be inspired.

 



Have a great day, whatever you have planned.

Imagining Shades of Grey

Goooood Morning Folks, the sun is still shining on me here in Cornwall and it's so lovely to wake up to warm sunny mornings.  Breakfast in the fresh air just starts the day off in the perfect way.

I've a CAS style card to share with you today and it gave me the opportunity to ink up a couple of new stamps acquired at the Newbury Race Course Art Stamps Show last sunday.

I'm entering my card for this week's challenge over on the Simply Less is More Blog which has the theme 'Shades of Grey'.

Whilst I haven't used 50 shades on my design, I have used the two different shades of grey ink that I own - Memento London Fog and SU! Basic Grey. 

I used two of the stamp sets I bought from Visible Images - I just love this fabulous bird and the 'splats'.  I firstly stamped the sentiment using Basic Grey ink then added the bird image and splats using London Fog.

That's it, clean and simple and a design that showcases these fabulous stamps.

Have a great day and stay cool if the temperature is rising wherever you are in the world.  Thanks for dropping by to check out my latest project.

My Clever Dad

Today I'm sharing pix of my Dad's latest sewing/quilting project.  He's taken to the sewing machine like a 'duck to water' he really has.  There's no stopping him now I tell ya !

He'd bought some pretty fabrics and decided to make a set of arm covers and a matching chair back cover for his favourite chair. 

Here's the covers folded to show the lovely quilting he stitched and both of the lovely fabrics.

He made the covers reversible so if he feels like a different look he can just turn them over. 

Smart and Stripey

 

Fresh and Floral

 

I'm so proud of my clever Dad, he's still keen to learn and try new things all the time, despite being 87 years young next birthday !  He's my Hero and inspiration.

On another note, recently I was lucky enough to win a prize for a comment I left on my lovely pal Katie's Blog.  I won a £10 voucher to spend in The Ribbon Girl online Store.  I chose some very pretty lace and ribbons and my parcel arrived today.

Beautifully packaged

 

 

Lovely Lace & Ribbon

 



 

 

I'm going to have lots of fun using these pretties, THANK YOU so much Katie.

 

Hoping there will be some of my projects to share with you rest of the week, but it's going to be a very short week for me as I'll be leaving my stash once again on Thursday to take my Dad home after his current stay with me.  I'm going to miss him so much.

 

Have a great day.





A Wonderful Weekend

Phew !  it's another hot day today down here in Cornwall, how's the weather where you are ?  If it's hot hot hot, hope you're managing to stay cool.  As I write this post, there's a gentle humming of the sewing machine drifting through from the sewing room/dining room as my Dad is busy finishing off his latest project.  I'll share pix of his makes in a later post - he's such a star I tell ya !

Warning !  this is a long and picture heavy post !

Apologies for the 'radio silence' over the weekend, I've been away for a wonderful crafting playtime with my lovely pal Kathy.  I travelled on the train up to her's on Friday afternoon and we hit the ground running as I was seated at her table of craftiness - mug of coffee in hand - within 5 minutes of arriving !  Kathy suggested that I not bring any of my own stash with me and I have to say it was very liberating having to use her stash and made me approach my projects differently than if I'd been able to reach for my own things.

She had a couple of projects in mind for us to work on over the weekend, a wooden mirror frame to alter/decorate and a small art journal (mine to start brand new and hers to add to as she'd started it previously).  We also squeezed in some extras, which was great fun.

Here's a pic of stage one of my mirror frame - unfinished wood which I painted with acrylic paints, adding gel medium to some of the colours.

Using Kathy's stamps, inks and paints etc, here's my finished mirror

We had a play with alcohol inks and glossy cardstock, first trying the 'blow' technique with a can of compressed air, then with a straw

 

Straw

 

A selection of the finished pieces, upper left is AI applied using a Tim Holtz applicator and 'pouncing technique.  Upper right I overstamped a design using black Archival Ink.

 



 

 

We then moved on to working on our journals, I started to decorate the front cover, first using a mask and Distress Paints, then overstamped with a chicken wire stamp and Memento Rich Cocoa ink.

 

I decorated a double page spread using spray inks and metallic acrylic paint - I'm not sure of the manufacturers of all the stamps I used as they were Kathy's and I failed to write down any details - doh !

 



 

then it was back to alcohol inks used with glass slides and cases, to create pendants

Kathy and I modelling our new 'jewellery'

 



Saturday evening finished off with a yummy curry at Kathy and Steve's fav local curry house - The Raj Mahal - and we were all so worn out that it was an early night for us, especially as there was an early start in prospect for sunday morning.

On sunday we were joined by another crafting pal and the three of us headed to the Art Stamps Show at Newbury Racecourse where we met up with two more crafting pals.  It was sooooooo hot there and was quite poorly attended, but I dread to think how hot it could have been had there been crowds !  It was nice to be able to wander around and see all the goodies on display without having to elbow your way in, but not good for the exhibitors as they have to cover their costs at the very least and hopefully make some profit.   My train journey home sunday evening was very hot and the train crowded, but it was on time and I was home just after 10pm.

In my keenness to play with my new goodies, I forgot to take pix before unwrapping and removing them from their packaging - sorry !  I picked up a few embossing folders, three Christmas-themed and a lovely one with feathers.  Memory Box dies, some of which were on sale and the cute turtles were just £2 each.

I couldn't resist acquiring a few more stamps and these two from Visible Image (who are about to appear on Create and Craft TV) just 'called' to me.  I love the Little Claire Designs Christmas sentiments set and just couldn't resist the Christmas Beach Huts and all the mini stamps.  I've wanted a 'chicken wire' stamp for a while, so picked this one up from the IndigoBlu stand and finally there was no way I could have left the show without the really cute birdhouse and birds from Hobby Art.

Well, I think that's quite enough for today's post, I'll be back soon with more projects to share (hopefully).  Thanks for visiting today.

Edited:
Thanks for the stamp details Kathy x

A Batch in Black

Morning Folks, just a quick 'drive by' post from me today as I'm due to leave for the railway station in about 5 minutes to catch a train to Bristol.  I'm spending the weekend with my crafting pal Kathy and on sunday we are heading out to Newbury Racecourse for the Art Stamp Show where we'll be meeting up with other crafting pals.  A great weekend in prospect for me then !  Lots of getting inky and creative.

Before I go I thought I'd share a little batch of Christmas cards I created recently for a challenge over on the Craftbubble Craft Mad and Loving It group. The theme was to make a batch of Christmas cards with a black theme.

I decided to dig out some of my Inkadinkado festive stamps and make a batch using different stamps in the sets.  Here's what I came up with.

That's it from me for today, have a great weekend whatever you plan to do.

Stars and Stripes

Happy Fourth of July to all those who are celebrating Independence Day, hope you have a wonderful day.

As it's Thursday there's a new challenge starting today over on the Cute Card Thursday Blog.  Our theme this week is (very aptly) Stars and/or Stripes - interpret this how you will - and this week's prize sponsor is Bunny Zoe Crafts.

Here's my DT card

I just had to use one of my latest JOFY from PaperArtsy stamps for my design - I'm still in love with all these fabulous images ! 

The starry layer was created using a Cuttlebug embossing folder with a piece of SU! cardstock.  The stripey/chevron layer is a scrap I found in my bits drawer and I think it's from the Docrafts Happy Days paper pad but can't be absolutely certain. 

The sentiment is from a set of SU! stamps which I stamped onto a scrap of white card then cut out using a pennant die from the 'Hearts a Flutter' die set also from SU!.  I coloured the white card with a Copic pen to match the colour scheme of the rest of the design.

I coloured the image using my Copics, colouring the flag red to give a pop of colour in the scene.  A scrap of natural twine tied in a reef knot at the bottom added a finishing 'nautical' touch to the card design.

This will be a great 'guys' card to have in my stock.

Do hop over to the CCT blog and check out all the awesome creations from the rest of the DT.  Thanks for visiting here today, hope you enjoyed my latest project.