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Monday, 9 January 2017

For a 'Special Aunt'

Over the weekend I had the absolute pleasure celebrating
a huge milestone birthday for my husband's Aunt.
She has turned '90' and is still so full of life laughing and living.
I may add that her sister who is 93 is doing the same!
It was a huge family get together and was such a happy
day with the weather  - just perfect.
 
 
Of course I had to make a special card and went with
soft colours and the beautiful stamp set from Altenew
Beautiful Day. I hope I did it justice.
 I chose the top left inspiration photo
(Double D Challenge below)
 as my feature point being floral. The colour of my flower
is not the same as the photograph but the smaller flowers
do have a touch of apricot blending in.
My new stamp positioning  tool came in so handy
as I stamped the images all at once.
I did stamp a second one and die cut it to
add on top for dimension.
I inked up my rose with various coloured inks
and touching it up with metallic water colour paints
which has given it a lovely sheen.
The centre of the flower has been dotted with
a white uniball.
Sentiment is also from this stamp set.
Added a piece of mulberry paper to the side
some pearls and corner rounded to finish.

I am going to join in the Birthday Celebrations over at
Double D Challenges for their  Anniversary Celebration



and Seize the Birthday
for their Anything Goes Birthday



That's it for this time round.
Thanks for dropping in.
I love reading your comments by the way!

Saturday, 7 January 2017

It's all about the 'NEW'

 
'HAPPY NEW YEAR' My crafty friends.
Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas/New Year break
and ready to get creative once more.
***
 I am Hosting the first Challenge for 2017 over at
Just Us Girls and it is our 'Word Week'
For this I chose 'NEW'  which can mean so many different things!
New beginnings, new house, new baby,
 new craft products (I am sure we all have them)
or go with a new technique. Your choice!
I went with the 'new products' I received recently.
***
A Big Welcome to our first Guest for 2017
Shawna Standish from The Grand Stampede
 
 
My card is fairly cas choosing a 'recently new'
stencil and sentiment stamps.
The stencil is ARTplorations Happy Flowers
and sentiments STAMPlorations Floral Bliss
Card base is Tangarine cs
My focal point has been cut with a stitched die
from white cs. I inked my stencil image with
Tim Holtz Mowed Lawn and
SU Calypso Coral and touches of Iridescent Medium.
I sponged the background of the flowers with
a wet baby wipe dipped in left over Calypso Coral.
Finished with some pearls to match.
 


Check out what 'New' inspiration
we created for you Here and then
pop your 'new' project in. You could be our Chic of the Week
and in the running for Guest Designer in March.

Thanks for dropping by







Friday, 6 January 2017

My First Posting as Guest for the CAS Challenge over at STAMPlorations.

 
I am over the moon excited to be posting here as a
Guest Designer for the CAS Challenge over at STAMPlorations.
 
 
 
 
 Pop over to our Blog for Details Here.
 
I started my card with basic grey card stock.
For my focal point I cut white card stock with a
stitched die. Then the fun part started.
The background has been stamped randomly with
stamps from Scribbly Splattery Grunge - I so love this stamp set
as you can do so much with it.
I then stamped the French Marigold on white c/s 
with Zing Charcoal  embossing powder colouring it with
metallic watercolour paints in various colours
and fussy cut.
(you can see the shimmer on my card)
I popped it for dimension and finished off with
my sentiment from Noteworthy.
 
Here are the STAMPlorations stamps I used on my card.
 
FrenchMarigoldLARGESheryRuss_Scribbly Splattery Grunge-previewNoteworthy-preview
 
 If you like STAMPlorations products
(including the above stamps)
 and wish to purchase them from their shop.
Simply enter the code STAMPGIRLINA
 (not case sensitive) at checkout
 for a 20% discount.
This code cannot be combined with any other offer code
 and is valid from 1st January 2017.
What a great incentive for the  New Year. Thanks to Shery!!
***
Hope you will pop over and join us in  this month's challenge.
Looking forward to seeing your creations there.
 
Thank so much for popping in today.
Love reading your comments.
 
 
 


Thursday, 22 December 2016

Flowers Bloom!

I have moved on from Christmas card making
to join in at 2 sites.
The ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop at STAMPlorations
is coming to a close.
 
 
So I thought I would play over there one more time
. You can find all the details Here
and Here
I do love playing around with stencils
as I have said before and had some time on my hands
so decided to get creative (sort of)
The other challenge I am playing in is
at CAS Mix Up Blog which includes
Stamping Sponging + Your Choice
Details are Here
 
 
 
My card includes sponging using the Faux Mother of Pearl
technique following Loll's  link Here stamping
 and texture pasting through a stencil.
 
(Showing the Mother of Pearl effect)
 
I started off with the M of P technique
using SU Champagne Mist on Glad Wrap.
I then inked up Tim Holtz Abandoned Coral/Peacock Feathers
and sponged my cs.
I blotted that with a baby wipe to lift some of the colour
and also flicked some water droplets.
My stencil stamping and sentiment are
from STAMPlorations -
I used white texture paste on my stencil
and like how it got a softer look  after it dried.
Finishing my card with a sentiment to suit the stencil.
 
This will be my last posting before Christmas
so would like to wish you all a
Merry Christmas and Thank You for
all your kind comments throughout the year.

 
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, 21 December 2016

Exciting News!

 
I have been holding on to some  'Exciting News'
for such a long time and I can now tell you all
I have been invited to be a Guest Designer
for the CAS Card Challenges
over at STAMPlorations.
 
 
 
As part of the Application we were asked to use 'Purple'
and I made 3 cas cards
Now of course I fell over with excitement
as you all know it is my 'favourite colour'
 
Here are the cards I submitted.
Water coloured background
 
A bit of sponging and a Tim Holtz die
 
An old favourite SU stamp here.
 
Congratulations to my fellow Team Mate over at
Just Us Girls - Chris who was also chosen to be
Guest Designer for the Theme & Sketch Team.
 
I am so looking forward to being part of the
Great Designers over there for the next 3 months in 2017.
A big Thank You to Shery for this great experience.
 
 
 
 

Monday, 19 December 2016

A Merry Christmas for STAMPlorations.

I am killing 2 birds with the one stone here
entering my card in the Sketch & Theme Challenge
and the CAS Challenge
over at the STAMPlorations Blog
 
 
Just by chance my card is CAS and Red & Green.
For the Sketch & Theme challenge I went with the Sketch.
As I am way behind with my Christmas card making
these challenges were perfect for me to play in.
 
I used basic white card stock
cut an angle with a stitched die with DP
cut a cream piece to break it up from the white.
Added a 'Merry' die from Memory Box 
and a snowflake die from Spellbinders
stamped Christmas and finished with a few gems.
 
That's it for today.
Thanks for dropping in.
Love to read your kind comments.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Sunday, 18 December 2016

It's a 'Stencilathon' at STAMPlorations

 
It's all about 'STENCILS' over at STAMPlorations
with great prizes and discounts on their stencils.
Better go over Here and check what the blog hop is all about!
 

 
I just love playing around with different techniques
using stencils as there are so many fabulous ones to choose from
 especially Here
I recently received some great stencils/stamps to play with
and had to try them out.
I will also pop this over to the CAS for the December Challenge
 Check it out Here
 
and Here

 
I had no idea where I was going with my card but knew
I wanted to use the bright colours from Colour Throwdown
You can find all the details Here
 
 
I started adding ink to my
2 ARTplorations stencils
Retro Circle & Square Dance
with the colours above using
Tim Holtz - Festive Berries
SU - Melon Mambo
and Versacolor - Lime
This cs was cut with a stitched die.
I then inked up my new STAMPlorations stamps -
Scribbly Splatter Grunge (love it)
and Bloom Happy for the Sentiment
cut out from the matching die and popped.
Added a few circles from the rubber end of a pencil
with the 3 colours from above.
A little bit of spritzing finished my card off nicely.
 
Thanks so much for dropping in.
I really love reading your comments.
 


Saturday, 17 December 2016

Hugs & Happy Thoughts

 
It's our last Challenge for the Year at Just Us Girls
and Hosting is the Lovely Lisa for our
Colour Challenge with yet another
Gorgeous Combination. 

  
 
I thought it time I got out my
Tim Holtz Thinlits dies again as they are
fabulous and you can do so much with them.
***
Starting off my card with White Gold Metallic Paper.
I have fairly stained fingers after inking up
my background by spritzing Tim Holtz
Seedless Preserves & Stormy Sky dropping
a small amount of PearlX Aztec gold
 then smooching onto card stock.
I framed that then added the
cut Thinlits die, deciding not to pop it.
Corner rounded those and added my sentiment
from Altenew - Beautiful Day.
My butterfly is cut from a Kaisercraft Die
which I played around with ink wise. I had
already made 2 others but found they were too dark.
Used the same inks as above but then painted it
with Twinkling H2O's for a nice sheen.
Added gold pearls to complete my card.


Pop over and check out what our
December Guest Teresa and my
Amazingly Talented Team Mates have created Here.
Join us and you could be our
Chic of the Week going on to be our
Guest in February.
***
In case you don't get back again -
I would like to wish you  a
Very 'MERRY CHRISTMAS'
*** 
I am sure I will be blogging again
before the 'Big C Day' so
Cherrio for now
 
 

Thursday, 15 December 2016

A simple Merry Christmas Wish for STAMPlorations

It's time to play over at STAMPlorations
for their CAS December challenge.
The optional colour twist is Red & Green.
Check it out Here
I love inking up watercolour paper
with distress inks and that is what I have done here
using Tim Holtz Festive Berries & Mowed Lawn.
I also added a few drops of Champagne Mist from SU.
My Poinsettia is from Spellbinders and
branch behind it is Tim Holtz Holiday Greens.
These were both touched up with Wink of Stella.
I mounted this on top after cutting my card stock
with a stitched edged die.
Sentiment is from Gina K Designs.
Finished off with some gold pearls. 

I am running way behind with my
Christmas card making so cas is the way
I have been heading recently.
Lucky I only have last minute cards
to post to my Aussie Friends.

I am going to pop this over to my friends at
Crafting with Dragonflies
for their last challenge for 2016 Here
and Here


I plan to have a huge tidy up in my craft room
as soon as my Christmas cards are done and posted.
Ready for a New Year of Crafting Creations.

Till next time - Cherrio from

Monday, 12 December 2016

'Joy' to the World

It's the last challenge for the year over at
Crafty Cardmakers and Kim is Hosting
Unfortunately I didn't have anything
quirky or unusual so went for
non traditional Christmas Colours
which are my favourite kind.
 
 
Here are the products I used -
Basic white/coloured card stock
Spellbinders Circles
White Sparkle Medium on background
TCW Stencil
Glitter Paper
Scrap DP to die cut Trees
Sentiment is unknown.
Punched  glitter stars and tiny circles.
***
This is my last post as a Designer at
Crafty Cardmakers as I
have decided to step down.
I have enjoyed my time with the Lovely Ladies
and I know the new Designers will too.
A special Thank You to Lin for giving me
the opportunity to be part of her Team.
 
 

Saturday, 10 December 2016

It's 'Trend Week' at Just Us Girls

Hello to all my Blogger friends. It's that time of the month for
'Trend Week' at Just Us Girls 
and Judy is this weeks Host choosing Jars.
 
 
 
Now I did have a few concerns with this one. I knew
I had a small mason jar stamp but then found a
die which luckily arrived in my mailbox in time to use
for my card.  My first attempt was a shaker - wrong choice
it landed - you know where. My second attempt I wasn't
completely satisfied with either until after I made the
third one (which is above)
***
Here is how I made it -
Starting with basic white card stock I then got out
a stencil adding texture paste and inking slightly after it dried.
Added a few strips of DP to the bottom then attached my popped
mason jar which I covered with a floral vellum.
My leaves are from Kaisercraft and Marianne Designs.
Flowers are  Martha Stewart.
Filled in the centre of the flowers and
added my heat embossed  Hello sentiment
from Inspired by Stamping.
*** 
 
Won't go into too much detail -  
I added buttons to the top of the die and they looked
so bright - added some vellum (click)  over the top so now
it doesn't look so bad. Thought it would make a nice
birthday card for a sewing friend.
***
Hope you have been over to Our Blog and checked out
what December's Guest - Teresa made and
the Talented Team.
Hope you are encouraged to play with us this week.
If so you could be our Chic of the Week
and be our Guest in February.
 
Till next time - Cherrio from
 


Sunday, 4 December 2016

Another CAS Celebration card

I have made another card for the
Birthday Celebration Challenge
 
 
 
Congratulations on your 4th Year Celebrations.
  
As the heading says - CAS
Starting with basic coloured card stock I added
some colour blending with
Tim Holtz Distress Inks on my white card base
 adding other colours through a
TCW Stencil. I then cut it on an angle
as I like to change it up a bit every now and then.
Decided not to pop it this time so went on
to add my sentiments
Celebrate - CAS-ual Fridays
and the smaller one - Pink & Maine.
I would have like to use a Congratulations stamp but
didn't have one big enough.
Added some gems to add a touch more colour.

This is popping over to the latest challenge over at
Addicted to Stamps & More for their

Details are Here
 
Thanks for dropping in today.
Love reading your comments.