StarryNight Sky with Lavinia

The first challenge of 2017 is up and running over on Lavinia Stamps.  The theme for this one is Starry Night Sky

I stamped all the images with Archival black ink onto Satin Art Card by Inkylicious and of course all are Lavinia Stamps,  then I added the colour, a mix of Distress Inks and Adirondacks apllied with a colour box stylus. Silly me didn't leave enough space for stamped stars, so I used tiny confetti stars.  

Thanks for looking.

xx

Let It Snow with Lavinia Stamps

Novembers challenge over on Lavinia Stamps is Let It Snow.  Well usually that wouldn't be hard to do would it, but I don't have many of Lavinia's Christmas stamps, and the ones I do have don't include snow.....  Anyway, as any crafter will do, I improvised with white embossing powder.

I started by making the hills with a torn strip of paper as a mask and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and blended it with a shaving brush, I wanted the hills to be very subtle.  Then I added the same colour to the sky, I then used Dusty Concord DI to add the purple, taking it into the blue of the sky a little too.  All the black stamping was done with Versafine. Then I stamped with Versamark and white embossing glitter by WOW and gave it a blast with the heat gun.  I used a Versamark pen to add the snow to the castle, tree and holly leaves and heat embossed with the same white embossing glitter.  I used Glamour dust for the fairy's wings, though it's not showing up on the picture.  Lastly I sponged the Distressed Condord DI around the edges to frame it all.

Thanks for looking xx

Blue & Purple with Lavinia

This months challenge over on Lavinia Stamps is all about Blue & Purple.

I started by creating my background with Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord, placing the mask for the moon first.  Once I was happy with that I got my stamps out (I really need some sentiment stamps by Lavinia... lol)  I stamped mushrooms with the same inks and also the leaves.  Then I used black to stamp the other images.

Thanks for looking xx

Lavinia Stamps - No Black (28th August)

This months challenge over on Lavia Stamps is 'No Black', now I always do silhouettes with black, so this was a nice change for me, I used brown to stamp my main images and purple, green and blue for the others.  I used Distress Inks to colour the background and finished of with some glitter, more than I would usually use..... lol. 

Pretty Bubbles.......

I'm getting quite addicted to this Art Journal malarky....lol

I used Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral) for the background then sprayed water through a stencil and splashed water to remove some colour.  Stenciled with the same DI colours.  The bubbles (a big lopsided....) were stamped with Sheena stamps and coloured with Gellatos. The smaller bubbles were stamped with Lavinia stamps and round the edges with a stamp from Paper Artsy. I finished off stamping the words, using stamps by Dyan Reavely and colours in some of the bubbles round the edges with gold and white pens.
Inspiration for this is from Marta Lapkowska.

Thanks for looking.

xx

More Brushos

All of these cards follow the same technique, I've just used different stamps.  I sprinkled a small amount of the Brusho powder in just one spot, then spritzed it with water then used my TH Spritzer to blow some of the colour around, before letting it dry.  Once dry I added the next colour and carried on till I'd used all the colours.

 Stamps from Lavinia Stamps, coloured with Brushos.  The colours I used are Purple, Cobalt Blue, Gamboge, Leaf Green and Rose Red.

 Stamps from Inkylicious, the butterfly is also coloured with Brushos.  The colours used are Sea Green, Orange, Rose Red, Cobalt Blue and Gamboge.

Stamps again from Inkylicious, colours used are Purple, Lime Green, Gamboge, Vermillion and Turquoise.

Thanks for looking xx

Spring Blooms at Lavinia

I made this tag for the present challenge over on Lavinia Stamps where the theme is 'Spring Blooms".

For the background I pressed 3 Distress Ink pads onto my craft mat, spritzed with water then places the tag onto it, lifting and repeating till I was happy with the effect, think this is called 'smooshoing'.  Colours used were Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade.  Once this was try, I stamped the flowers with Versfine and coloured them with Mowed Lawn and Ripe Persimmon DI's.  I also sponged some Ripe Persimmon around the edges, then added the pearl dots round the flowers using a Pearl wand by Pinflair, which are available in my online shop, Opal Crafts.  I've tried another brand of these pearls but I find I get a rounder finish with the Pinflair ones.  Finished of with an organza ribbon bow.

Thanks for looking.

xx

Glitter It! with Lavinia

This months challenge over on Lavinia Stamps is Glitter It!  Well you can't have fairies without glitter can you..... lol.

I started of by making the background with Aquatints from the Bright & Beautiful set. Then simply stamped up with various Lavinia stamps, added some white spots to the flowers and finished off with lots of glitter.

Thanks for looking. xx

Fairies from Lavinia

I've been playing with Aquatints, which is what I made the background with.  All the stamps are from Lavinia.  I used a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen over the top of the leaves.  Since I don't do much colouring now, I bought the pack of clear sparkle pens rather than the coloured sets.

Lavinia Stamps

The challenges have just started up again at Lavinia Stamps, but this time it's through Facebook instead of their challenge blog.

The coloured cardstock was a piece of waste which I used to smooch through Distress Inks in the colours, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed.  I simply pressed the ink pads onto my craft mat, gave them a spritz of water, then pressed the piece of card into it.  I like the end result, so kept it for future use.  All I did was stamp the flowers in black, the bubbles in Picked Raspberry, added some sparkle then cut the piece into 3 equal sized pieces. 

Thanks for looking.

xx

Just a Bit Left Over....

I had this piece of coloured up card left over from my daughters card, so thought it was too good to waste.  So I got my Lavinia stamps out and came up with this.

Happy Birthday to my Daughter!

Today is my Daughter, Becky's 24th birthday, oh it doesn't seem 5 minutes since I had her........

I got my Pan Pastels out for this one, the first time I've actually used them for a card, I've only messed around with them, think I been a bit scared of them...... I don't know why, because they're easier to use than inks!.....lol.  First I used the negative of the moon mask, and sponged on some of the yellow Pastel, then I swapped over and used the positive of the mask and added the rest of the colours, blending them in to each other.  I then removed the mask and blended some pink over it to 'soften' the sun.  Before stamping, I set the Pastels with some cheap hairspray.  Once it had dried I started with the stamping.  I used a mix of stamps from Inkylicious - cat, butterflies and grasses, Lavinia - the stars, and the tree bough is a Stampscape stamp, I added a sprinkling of glitter to the stars to give it that magical feel.  The text border was done on the computer.

Pan Pastel colours I used are -Bright Yell. Green Tint, Bright Yell. Green Shade, Orange Tint, Magenta Tint, Magenta Shade and Phthalo Blue Tint.

Thanks for looking.

xx

That's Crafty - ATC's

The challenge over on That's Crafty is 'ATC's'.  I used to make loads of these for swaps, years ago and not made one for such a long time.  So here's what I came up with.

For the first one, I blended just one Distress Ink, Abandoned Coral and gave it the 'Ombre' look.  Then first I stamped the lantern in Black Versafine, stamps from Lavinia Stamps, then stamped over this with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I've seen a similar technique done by Eileen Godwin, but she used a stencil and texture paste for the white image.

For the second one, I blended two Distress Inks, Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord, stamped the skyline with black Versafine, the stars and heart were stamped with the Dusty Concord.  Once the inks were dry, I highlighted parts with a white pen and added 'New York'.  All stamps used are from a Tim Holtz set called City Central.  I just love New York, so if I get the chance I do something New York themed..... lol.

For the third ATC, I used stamps from Altenew, Peony Bouquet, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I used Distress Inks to add colour, Abandoned Coral and Peeled Paint.  I didn't realise till I'd finished this one, I'd used the same colour as the first one..... lol.

Thanks for looking.

xx

I Won!!!!!

.... the last challenge at Lavinia Stamps, how thrilled was I.  My prize was a £40 voucher to spend in their store.  I finally got time to play with some of the stamps.

I made the background by putting some Adirondack Inks, Purple Twilight and Pink Sherbet, onto a stamping block, spritzed it with some water, and used it like a stamp onto some cardstock.  When that was dry, I splashed it with water and dabbed it with some tissue to get the white patches.  I stamped the images with Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder, I then painted the images with the same inks and added some sparkle to the loopy bits..... lol.

Thanks for looking.

xx

No one likes to make Sympathy cards.......

My sister in law lost her father in law earlier today, so I felt the need to make a couple of cards.  He was a lovely man, who along with his wife, always made us feel welcome whenever we visited my sister in law.  We have daughters the same age, so we saw a lot of her in laws when they were young. So here's the cards, one for my sister in law and one for her mother in law.

For the background panel, I applied 2 shades of Adirondack inks - Stonewashed and Cloudy Blue to an acylic block, spritzed with water and stamped it onto my cardstock. Then stamped image with Majestic Blue, Versafine and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  This stamp is from Lavinia Stamps and the sentiment is by Personal Impressions.

The background panel on this one was made by blending Seedless Preserve Distress ink to the cardstock with a duster brush.  I then stamped the image, stamp from Inkylicious, in Versamark Imprerial Purple, and heat embosed with clear embossing powder.  I used the same ink to ink up a scrap of card which I also heat embossed with clear embossing powder, then cut out the sentiment with a die.

I think sympathy cards should be 'clean' looking and simple, but that's just me..

Thanks for looking.

xxx

First Christmas card for 2016!

This is my first Christmas card for next year...... can't beat starting early...... lol.  Ok, I'll admit, I make them all year round.

I started with a 'shaving foam' background which I'd done a while ago.  I added hills with Stormy Sky distress ink, and added the stamping using stamps from Lavinia of course.  Finished off with some sparkle.  The sentiment was computer generated and then foiled.

I'd like to enter this into the present challenges at Lavinia Stamps (31.12.15)
and That's Crafty (8.1.16)

Glitter & Gems

I've been playing with Aquatints, and came up with this background, completely by accident.  I wasn't happy with how I did it at first, so though well before I put it in the bin, I'd have a play around with it.  So all I did was splash more Aquatints and water to it, and this was the result, love the marble effect that happened.  The stamp is from Lavinia Stamps, which I stamped with black Versafine, then heat embossed with Crystal Print Magic ( from DMD), the photo doesn't show the sparkle though, anyway I added gems to it, cut the icicles with a Marianne die, snowflake with a Spellbinders die and added glitter to them.  The sentiment was cut with Tim Holtz dies.

I'd like to enter this into the present challenges at - 

Lavinia - Glitter & Gems.

World Wide Open - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking.

xx

Lavinia Stamps & Bokeh

It's a while since I've entered the challenge over on Lavinia Stamps, so thought I've enter this month.  Their challenge theme is 'Hot Bright Colours'.

I used Distress Inks in the following colours for the background, Abandoned Coral, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry.  All stamps are of course from Lavinia.

Lavinia Challenge

The theme for Junes challenge over on Lavinia Stamps is 'Any Colours You Like', this is my entry for this challenge.

I used the bubble stencil from Clarity Stamps along with 2 colours of Distress Inks, Tumbled Glass and Tea Dye, which were applied with sponges.  All black stamping was done with Versafine.  I've left the sentiment off till I need to use the card.

It's All About Pink!

I used a technique from the Craft Stamper mag for the background on this card.  I've since found out its called the Retiform Techinique.  (thanks Kathy)

I used 2 shades of Adirondack pinks, Shell Pink and Raspberry.  The stamps were freebies in a craft mag a while ago and are of course by Lavinia Stamps.  I added some glitter to her wings and around the edges, thought it doesn't show too good in the photo.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges.

Lavinia Stamps - 31st May

Craft Stamper - 27th May
Crafty Cardmakers - 15th May