Hellebores

Hello

It's been another week of life getting in the way of art. I had a lot of prep to do for the craft night at Chertsey Museum. The ladies made really great frames for mirrors or photos. The die cutting in advance paid off as there wasn't much queuing for equipment on the night.

I have managed to make cards for Mothering Sunday in the UK. A friend gave me a lovely hellebore stamp by Sheena and I tried to combine it with the moodboard colours and easel card challenge with Isa on Facebook.

As they say 'That's All Folks' for this week anyway.

Hope you have a lovely week. thank you for stopping by xx

Dimension without layers II

Hello

I thought I'd have another go at the techniques shared on Isa's dimension without layers workshop. I chose a totally different subject (no bugs or beetles) and also used mainly watercolour pencils and Posca paint pens.

It was quite a few nights of relaxing colouring in.

I can't find a way of stopping my phone camera from 'optimising' images. In reality there's a little more contrast. I shouldn't be so lazy and get the actual camera out! 

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are always welcome xx

Flamingorgeous

Hello

A quick and cheery post today with this colourful flamingo from Pink Ink.

Coloured with watercolour pencil and distress oxide inks.You can just about see the sparkles, not easy to photograph in artificial light. Spring is just around the corner so hopefully not long now until there's a bit of sunshine to craft by.

I hope your day is full of warmth and cheer xxx

Sail away

Hello

It seems like it's been a long winter and at last there are a few signs of spring around the corner. This week I needed a bit of relaxing time and what better than some colouring in with my new Koh-i-Noor watercolour pencils, purchased recently in Prague. 

The boat and hare are from Lavinia and the wreath is mostly using Card-io stamps with distress oxide inks. It also fits the brief for the colour challenge with Isa.C Art&Craft.

I feel more relaxed already thinking about drifting off in the moonlight.

Have a lovely weekend. Thank you for stopping by xxx

More Christmas critters

Hello

I'm sharing a couple more samples for the up coming Christmas card making night at Chertsey Museum that I mentioned in the last post.

Over the years I have tried different styles and designs but realise that as long as there's opportunity for lots of sparkle everyone will be happy.

 

Now it's time to think about making some Christmas cards for myself. I usually make about 80 so I'd better get cracking! 

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are always appreciated. Have a lovely day xx

Cute critters for Christmas

Hello

I only seem to have time for crafting or blogging, not both. Today I'm going to try and make time for a bit of each. 

I've been making samples for a Christmas card making night in a few weeks time at Chertsey Museum. It's become an annual thing, but of course we couldn't do it last year. There will be fewer places this year to help with distancing and I've been warned the doors will be open...but hardened crafters won't feel the cold when the glitter is out!

 

I try to come up with ideas that don't need a lot of crafting expertise, take about half an hour a card, I have the equipment for and won't cost the museum too much in consumables. Over the years I realise that cute and sparkly is a definite favourite.

As I have an abundance of stamps from magazines this style is something we have done before, and there is plenty of scope for individual variation. I hate going to a class where you have to copy the tutor exactly, no creativity in that. 

I've used Giogiocraft stencils for the backgrounds.

 

If you live near Chertsey Museum it's worth a visit. They have a nationally important costume collection and frequently change the history exhibitions so there's always a reason to revisit.

I'm off to make more samples. Thank you for stopping by xx

Home sweet home

Hello
Hope you are doing OK and keeping physically and mentally safe and well in these strange times. I find crafting helps clear my mind and also gets me standing up and moving around....so more crafting I think!

I've joined #craftingwithgiogio on Instagram to shake things up a bit and do something different. Having said that for the 3rd April prompt, home sweet home, I've gone back to some old favourite stamps.

These chaps always make me smile.

Take care and thanks for stopping by xxx

Faith in humanity

Hello
Hope you are all bearing up wherever you are in the world in these very strange times. I'm sure like everyone, I've had my ups and downs, but crafting really is a great distraction.

I've been continuing to try new things as the novelty, and the extra concentration it takes, really make time pass quickly. I tried Dina Wakley's faces tutorial but I'm not ready to share those just yet!

So here is this week's attempt at journalling with a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi.

 You must not lose faith in humanity. 

Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty

the ocean does not become dirty.

Mahatma Gandhi

Deciding I needed a few tips I've ordered myself a magazine on lettering and some pens.

I'm off now to reconnect with some blogs that I had lost touch with. Take care and thank you for stopping by xxx

These boots were made for walking

Hello
With activities somewhat restricted at present everyone is looking for ways to keep sane. Fortunately enoying the great outdoors is still allowed, no mass rambles of course, but there are lots of places to explore where you can keep your social distance.

This is a card made using the stamps from the latest Creative Stamping issue 82.

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you all the very best in these strange times xxx

Lioning Around

Hello
I've had to do a bit of enforced relaxation recently due to a bout of shingles. You'd think that would mean an opportunity to craft but sadly all I have managed so far is a bit of colouring in! Still it has meant that finally I have used the lovely Lion with Bird stamp from Stampendous. Perfect for this sort of situation as it took AGES to colour in and I made a batch of 6!

I added a little decoupage mindful that most will need to be posted, but you could really go to town and layer it up.

I've been waiting for a sunny day to take photos but have given up so they have a slightly pink tinge to them.

I'm off to catch up on other people's blogs. Thank you for stopping by xxx

Materials used:

Stampendous: lion with bird

Giogiocraft stencils

Archival ink

Distress ink

watercolour pencils

Pizza Poses

Hello
Here's another card made with the fun frog yoga set by Stampendous.You can see a couple more here if you missed them.

 Hope you have a great day. Thanks for taking a look xx

Materials used:

Stampendous: frog yoga

Giogiocraft stencils

Distress ink

Archival ink 

watercolour pencils

In the Zone

Hi there
Today I bring you a couple of cards made with a fun set of stamps I was given as a present. The sentiments are perfect for this time of year when people might be struggling with resolutions!

The frogs were stamped and masked off before the background was stencilled in.

I hope your resolutions are going well...me?...my resolution is not to make any!

Thank you for stopping by. Your interest and support is always greatly appreciated xx

Materials used:

Stampendous: frog yoga

Giogiocraft stencils

Distress ink

Archival ink 

watercolour pencils

Home Sweet Home

Hello
Friends moving house is always a great opportunity for me to use one of my favourite stencils. The background is made using a technique adapted from the 2017 Clarity calendar where good quality watercolour paper is sprinkled with Brusho and made wet. The stencil is placed on top and then more watercolour paper and a few sheets of copy paper placed over it. The sandwich is embossed through a die cutting machine to give a positive and negative image.

I've added additional detail with watercolour pencils to make it a bit more lively.

I hope it will be part of years of happy times in the new home.

Wishing you a lovely day wherever you are xxx

Any Dream Will Do

Hello
Today is a happy bonus crafting day (aka a bank holiday)! I've had a little play with my new mandala stencils and also a lovely set of feather stamps I've had nearly a couple of years but not used yet. I know shame on me!

I started by stencilling Distress Oxide ink through the Taormina stencil, then overlaying a circles stencil and lifting some of the ink with a baby wipe. I then added some outlining and pencil shading to the dreamcatcher. The feathers were stamped and coloured in pencil, before finishing off with a sentiment and sequin flowers.

Wishing you a great day...and sweet dreams tonight. xxx

Materials used:

GioGioCraft stencil: mini Taormina

small circles stencil

Aladine: clear plumes

Stamps Away: with love

Distress Oxide ink

Archival ink

watercolour pencil

gel pen 

sequins

Whale of a Time

Hello
A return to a magazine stamp set, this time from Papercraft Essentials. I stamped the image twice and decoupaged the clouds, whale and foreground waves. The background is Distress Ink through a stencil.

Hope you have a whale of a day. Thank you for stopping by xx

Materials used:

Papercraft Essentials issue 160

Clarity stencil: clouds

Distress Ink: weathered wood

Archival Ink: jet black

foam pads

watercolour pencils

Someone Special

Hello
A quick make using stamps I picked up in France on holiday last year. It's taken me a whole year to open the packet and made me resolve to not buy anything new until I have used what is already in my stash at least once...let's see how long that lasts!

The birds are coloured with watercolour pencil and the hearts are decoupaged from Distress Oxide mop up papers.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by xx

Materials used:

Aladine: clear oiseaux

Dovecraft clear stamp: someone special

Archival ink: jet black

watercolour pencil

Distres Oxide ink

No prob-lllama

Hello
A warm welcome and thank you for stopping by my blog. Here's another quick make using the stamps from Creative Stamping 57. The background paper is from the packaging that came with a set of GiogioCraft stencils, with a little extra shading in yellow around the llama and to ground the feet.

Hope you have a lovely day xx

Materials used:

Creative Stamping issue 57

GiogioCraft background paper

Distress Oxides

Archival ink

watercolour pencil

white gel pen

New Home

Hello there
A super quickie this afternoon as I'm very excited to be packing to go to Ministry of Mixology in Coventry tomorrow for a weekend of messy, mixed media fun. As one of our party has just moved house I thought a card is in order.

I've used another of my Brusho backgrounds using a Clarity stencil and the technique on the 2017 Clarity calendar. The sentiment inside is from Woodware and reads 'wishing you love and laughter.' Sometimes CAS is just what's needed.

Hope you have a great weekend ahead. Thanks for stopping by. xxx

Snowy Sentiments

Hello
It's a grey day in this part of the world and the temperature has definitely dropped.

I like to make my Christmas cards as a little bit of love goes into each one, but being realistic they have to be designs you can mass produce.

Here's the third of my designs for this year...

I'm really impressed with the quality of the Find It dies and the snowman is a cheeky little chap, so I made as many cards as possible of one design before getting bored. I'm sure he'll be out again next year in a different guise!

The project is live on the The Craft Barn blog today so do have a look for all of the details of how to make it.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a lovely day. I'm off for a play in my craft room! xx

Gifted

Hello
I've been off on my travels for a while and so didn't get to share this with you when it went live last week on The Craft Barn blog. The last couple of weeks of August and the beginning of September see a rush of birthdays for me...something must have been going on around Christmas and New Year! Here's a simple idea to jazz up a boring gift card and make it a little more personal.

For full details of how to make it have a look at The Craft Barn blog as it's still available.