Day 21 - The Daily Marker Thirty Day Colouring Challenge #thedailymarker30day

This is my make for Day 21 of "The Daily Marker Thirty Day Colouring Challenge".

I have used a "Stamps Happen Inc" stamped image called "Christmas Squares" stamped in Versafine ink.  I have coloured the image with Promarker Pens.

Lavinia Stamps Design Team Samples for Hochanda TV Tuesday 23rd April 2019 (Set 2 - 2)

Lavinia Stamps will be featured on Hochanda TV on Tuesday 23rd April 2019 at 11am and 3pm.  This is a Design Team sample I have made for the show.

For this sample, I stamped the "Indra" butterfly in Versafine Clair "Charming Pink".  I then masked the background off and coloured circles, using three shades of Distress Inks:  Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Faded Jeans.

For the script in some of the circles, I used the Lavinia Stamp called "Sacred Spells".  In other circles, I have used the following pound stamps:  "Christopher the Caterpillar", "Mini Toadstool", "Mini Slender Mushrooms"and "Mini Single Flower".  I then stamped the sentiment called "Let Your Sprit Take Flight" . All of these were stamped in Versafine Clair "Fantasia".

I then returned to the butterfly and started to colour it in two shades of Promarker pens:  Magenta and Amethyst.  I used a Signo Pen to create the silver glitter look and a Sakura pen for some of the purple areas.  I also used Liquid Pearls in a shade of "Blackberry" for the raised dots.

Lavinia Stamps Design Team Samples for Hochanda TV Arpil 23rd 2019 (Set 2 - 1)

Lavinia Stamps will be appearing on Hochanda TV on Tuesday 23rd April 2019 at 11am and 3pm.  This is a Design Team sample I have made for the show.

For this sample, I created a background of Distress Oxides Inks using shades of:  Squeezed Lemonade, Scattered Straw and Dried Marigold.

I stamped the beautiful Lavinia Stamps butterfly called "Indra" and the sentiment  called "Let Your Spririt Take Flight" in a Versafine Clair ink called "Fantasia".  I then coloured the butterfly with Promarker pens in the following shades:  Bluebell, Magenta, Cyan and Leaf Green.

Next I moved onto the flowers at the base of the card.  I stamped the "Fairy Buds" (the tall flowers), in two shades of Versafine Clair ink:  Verdant Green and Charming Pink.  I then stamped the "Dandelions" in Versafine Clair "Fantastia" shade of ink.  

Finally, I added some dots of Liquid Pearls to the Fairy Buds and to Indra.  I also added a touch of glitter to the trail of flight from the butterfly using the "Brusho Sprinkle It - Iridescent Gold"

Design Team Make for "My Time To Craft" Challenge #392 "Raining Cats and Dogs"

It's time for another challenge theme on the "My Time To Craft Challenge Blog".  If you have a spare minute, please pop over and take a look at the fab samples my Design Team colleagues have made and maybe take part yourself.

Challenge #392 has a theme of "Raining Cats and Dogs"

For my card, I have used stamps that came free with Creative Stamping magazine, issue 68.  

I stamped the dog, bunting and sentiment in Versafine ink.  I coloured the dog and bunting with Promarker pens and gave the background a water colour wash of blue and grey.

Bubble Gazing Card using Lavinia Stamps

On the sixth attempt I actually managed to complete a project today.  My mind just wouldn't concentrate and five projects ended up in the bin. I think this may have been due to it being Hochanda Day - with my Design Team samples being shown on TV.  Still I got there in the end with this card.

I started off with a blue and yellow background created by using Distress Oxides in "Mustard Seed", "Cracked Pistachio" and "Salty Ocean".

I then used Memento Luxe ink in a shade called "Wedding Dress" through a multi size circle stencil to create the bubbles.  I then masked a circle area and inked the big blue moon/bubble using a Distress Ink in the shade of "Blueprint Sketch".

I then set about stamping the "Sacred Spells" sentiment , "Spotty Toadstools", "Jasmin & Seb's House", "Star Gazing", "Moon Pods" and "Pound Stamps".  I stamped in Versafine "Stormy Grey" ink and various shades of Versafine Clair ink.  

I coloured some of the areas using Promarkers.  I added a sparkle using a silver glitter Signo Pen.  I added white dots to the toadstools with a white Signo Pen and I used Liquid Pearls on the moon pods.

The Fairy Inn Tag #laviniastamps

I had a play with the Lavinia Stamps "Fairy Inn" today and made this tag.

I created the top third of the tag, by making a sky area with Distress Oxides in the shades of:  Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood and Spun Sugar.

Using one of the stamps from the Lavinia Stamps "Tree Scene" set, I bent the stamp on my stamping platform, to get a tree line as if it were at the top of a hill and stamped in Versafine "Stormy Grey" ink.

I then coloured the middle third of the tag in various shades of Distress Oxides:   Twisted Citron, Bundled Sage and Crushed Olive.Then the final lower section, I painted in Weathered Wood and "Hickory Smoke" Distress Oxides.

On a plain piece of white card, I stamped the Lavinia Stamps "Fairy Inn" image and coloured it with Promarkers.  I attached it to the tag with foam pads to create the impression of 3-D.

I then stamped the "Birds" in Versafine "Stormy Grey" ink and the "Mini Flowers" on the grass, stamped in Versafine Clair "Summertime" shade of ink.  Finally I added some twinkle with a Silver Glitter Signo Pen.

New Home Card #laviniastamps

For this "New Home" cad, I created a background using Distress Oxide ink pads in the following shades:  Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Salty Ocean, Twisted Citron and finally Antique Linen.

I then stamped the trees in the background using Lavinia Stamps "Single Skeleton Tree", "Fern Leaf" and the "Birds".  I then stamped the "Bella's House" three times on plain card (all of these were stamped in different shades of Versafine Ink).  Using Distress Inks, I masked off the bottom area of the card to create a landscape.

I coloured the houses in with Promarkers, cut them out and then positioned onto the card, sticking the central one with foam pads so that it was elevated.  I added touches of silver glitter to areas on the houses and the trees using a Signo Pen.  

Finally, I added a Papertrey Ink stamped sentiment from their "Love Lives Here" stamp set, stamped in Versafine "Black Onyx".  I punched a small grey coloured heart and stuck it above the chimney of the central house to replicate smoke.

3rd Birthday Card - Stamper Anonymous - On The Farm

Our little Grand Son Jacob, is celebrating his 3rd Birthday.  Jakie is our little star.  He was born with Downs Syndrome and had a very difficult first year, mostly spent in hospital.  He is a little behind other children of the same age but he is the most loving little fella you could wish to meet.

In making this card I wanted to make him laugh, so I positioned the farm animal on top of each other.  The animal stamps are part of a set by Stampers Anonymous and is called "On The Farm CMS303".  I stamped the animals in different shades of Versafine ink and coloured with Promarkers.

Using a wash of Distress Oxide paints, I created the background colour.  When dry, I stamped the line of trees using a Lavinia Stamp called "Trees" stamped in Versafine "Smokey Grey" ink.

The grass tufts and orange flowers are stamps from a Papertrey Ink stamp set called "Love Lives Here", stamped in Versafine Clair ink.

Finally, I stamped the sentiment at the top of the card.  The "3rd" was part of a free set of stamps from a magazine.  The "Happy Birthday" stamps I have had for years and don't recall who made them.

Lavinia Stamps February 2019 Monthly Challenge #1

Every month, Lavinia Stamps has a monthly challenge.  As part of the the Design Team, we are asked to produce some samples to promote the challenge and inspire crafters to take part.  This is my make for the February Challenge on a theme of "A Place To Escape To".

I had an idea in my head of the sort of piece I wanted to make for this challenge, so I routed through my Lavinia stash, pulling out the stamps I thought I could use and then started putting it together.

I started by making the background, using the following Distress Oxides:  Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass and Twisted Citron.

I then started stamping the images.  Starting with "Sacred Spells" in Versafine "Stormy Grey" shade of ink.  I then stamped the red "Spotty Toadstool", "Jasmin & Sebastian House", "Fairy Orbs", "Small Pixies", Hedgehog from the "Wallace Family" and finally the butterfly from "Fairy Bugs" all stamped in Versafine "Black Onyx" ink. I then coloured the images with Promarkers.

Using an assortment of Lavinia "Pound Stamps", I stamped the red and green leaves, the orange flowers on the grass and also the stars around the Pixies in Memento Inks.

#laviniastamps 

Week 4 - 52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge 2019

The week 4 prompt is "Friendship".

For my tag I started by stamping a section of the large butteryfly from the Stampers Anonymous set called "Perspective" in Versafine Clair "Monarch" shade of ink and also the Papertrey Ink Sentiment from their "We Go Together" set.  I then painted the background of the tag in a Distress Oxide called "Picked Raspberry".

I coloured the butterfly image using  Promarkers.  Using a Visible Image stencil called "Two Tone" I made dots across the surface using a Distress Ink in "Carved Pumpkin" shade.  Using the Stampers Anonymous stamp set called "Ornate Trims", I stamped the decorative edge in Versafine Clair "Monarch" ink shade.

I also made this tag, using an off-cut of patterned paper, using the Stampin' Up set called "Lovely Friends" I stamped the sentiment in Versafine "Vintage Sepia" ink.  Next I inked the edges of the tag to give it a more vintage feel.

I then stamped flowers from the Hobby Art stamp set called "Janies Collection - Wild Roses".  I cut the flowers out and inked them

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Would you like to join in with this challenge?  It's really relaxed and you work at your own pace.  For more information, have a look here.

There is also a Facebook Group for the challenge, where you can share images of your creations and chat to others who are taking part.  We'd love you to be part of our friendly group.  Sam x

Engagement Congratulations Card

I've been going through my magazines today.  Pulling articles out for keeping and putting the rest in the recycling.  While doing that, I came across a number of freebies, so with some of them, I made this card.

The trellis background, the birds and the sentiment were all free with issue 186 of Simply Cards and Papercraft.  The trellis was a stencil which I put Distress Inks through.  

I stamped the birds onto the trellis and also onto a piece of plain card.  On the trellis piece of card, I coloured the branch that the birds are sitting on in a brown Promarker.

Returning to the stamped image of the birds on the plain piece of card, I coloured the birds using a moist paint brush and water colour pencils.  I then cut the bodies and heads of the birds out (I didn't cut the branch or the bird feet).  I then went around the edges of the cut out birds with a black felt pen.  Using foam pads to elevate the image, I stuck the birds on top of the earlier stamped bird image on the trellis to provide a puffed up 3D body effect.

I then punched a little heart and added it above the birds and mounted the image onto the same pinky/red background, trimming to size.

I found an embossing folder which came free with and earlier issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft (issue 170) and ran it through the Big Shot and trimmed to size.  I mounted the bird image onto the embossed background. Digging around my pre cut die cut box, I found the two green foliage pieces that I thought would work and added these to each side of the card.

Week 2 - 52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge 2019

The prompt for Week 2 of the challenge is "New".

This could be new stash, baby, home, year, shoes, phone, diary the choice is endless.  I opted for "New Year, New Diet" for my Week 2 tag.

I used one of the free stamps in issue 66 of Creative Stamping magazine for the main image, stamped in Versafine "Black Onyx" ink and coloured with Promarkers.

I gave the background a wash using a paintbrush and colour from a water colour pencil.  Once dry, I randomly stamped the tape measure (which came in the same set as the main image), in Versafine "Stormy Grey" ink.  I filled in the area with silver dots using a Signo pen.  I then inked the edges and surface of the tag using two shades of Colorbox ink.

Finally, using a ProvoCraft rolling alphabet stamp I stamped the words "New Year and New Diet" . I cut the words down and gave the surface a rub with ink, then drew a box around each word before positioning them raised on the tag using foam pads.

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You can join in with this challenge at any time, it doesn't have to be at the beginning of the year.  You can find info about the challenge here.

Why not join the challenge Facebook Group.  Here you can upload your challenge images to the weekly albums and chat to others taking part about crafty things.  It's a really friendly group and the challenge is very relaxed.  You do what you can, when you can.  There is never any pressure to keep up.  The more the merrier. Sam x

Design Team Make - 30th November 2018 (CAS one layer) My Time To Craft Challenge

It's time for another "My Time To Craft Challenge".  The prompt for this challenge is "Clean & Simple - one layer". Please do pop over and check out the other fab makes by the other Design Team members.

For my Design Team make for this challenge, I used a sentiment stamp from Visible Image called "She Smiled" and a butterfly stamp from IndigoBlu called "Flutterby".  I also used a Stampin' Up stamp set called "Gorgeous Grunge" for the background speckles.  All these were stamped in Versafine Clair Ink in the "Fantasia" shade.

I coloured part of the butterfly with an "Amethyst" coloured Promarker and a gold metallic pen.

You're Amazing - Visible Image Card

I took advantage of the 50% off Black Friday offer at Visible Image.  My order arrived late morning and I have wasted no time in trying out some of my new goodies!

I have used three Visible Image products to create this card. This bird is from the "Life is beautiful" set, the sentiment is from the "One of a kind" set and the background is a stencil called "Meshing around".

I stamped the bird in two shades of Versafine Clair ink "Green Oasis" and "Paradise".  The un-inked area of the bird, I painted using a Distress Ink in the shade of "Lucky Clover".  I then created a mask and positioned it on top of the main image using a repo adhesive.

For the stencilled background I used two shades of Distress inks "Wilted Violet" for the inner shade which was covered with "Chipped Saphire" on the outer areas.

The sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair "Green Oasis".  I added extra colour to the bird using a grey Promarker and also some shimmer using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

Artist Trading Coin using Indigoblu "Bumble Bee"

I absolutely love the Indigoblu "Bumble Bee" stamp and decided to make this Artist Trading Coin.

I had a section of patterned paper with a bee design on it.  I smeared some Gesson over the surface and left to dry.  I then stamped the Bee image, using Versafine Ink, onto the Gesso surface.  Die cut the circle and then inked the edges of the disc.

On a separate piece of card, I stamped the Bee again and cut the shape out, with the exception of the tricky legs.  I coloured the body of the Bee with a gold coloured Promarker.  I coloured the wings with a Sakura Jelly Roll pen, which added a shimmer look to the wings.  I added a clear sticky pad below the wing to give the look that the wings are lifted.  The body of the Bee I stuck flat to the disc.  Finally, I added some tiny sticky Adornit letters to spell the words "Bee Happy".

Restful Christmas Card (Penny Black)

A few months ago, I watched a tutorial on how to use a Penny Black Slapstick stamp called "Restful".  I tried to source this stamp in the UK, but it seemed to be sold out, so I ordered it from America.  It arrived and has sat on my desk for a couple of weeks.  Today I decided to try the technique out.

Although I have a lot of crafting stash, I didn't have many of the exact products used in the tutorial, so I improvised with what I had.

This photo is my second attempt at the card.  The first one went wrong because I did not follow my instincts and the result ended in the bin - so lesson learnt!

For my version, I have used the following items:  Versafine "Vintage Sepia", various shades of Memento and Cats Eyes inks.  Versamark clear ink pad, clear embossing powder, Distress Inks, Signo Pen, Gesso for the snow flakes.

Design Team Make - 19th October 2018 (Halloween) My Time To Craft Challenge Blog

The prompt for the "My Time To Craft Challenge Blog" this time is "Halloween/Cats".  

For my card, I used two shades of Distress Oxides (Antique Linen and Hickory Smoke) to create a mottled background base colour.

I then lay a skull stencil (produced by "Creative Expressions") and applied a Distress Ink using the shade of "Dusty Concord".

I used two dies from my stash (I had purchased second hand, so I don't know who makes them) to cut the cob webs and the spider.

The hat, skull and sentiment banner are all from the same red rubber stamp set which I've had for years, unfortunately I don't recall who made them.  I added some touches of red Promarker and red self adhesive gems for the eyes.

Giant Cake Birthday Card (Art Impressions Girlfriends Stamp)

Something a bit different from me this afternoon, with this Birthday Card.  I've used the Art Impressions "Girlfriends - Giant Cake" stamp, coloured with Promarkers.

The sentiment is by Papertrey Ink and is part of their "Stylish Sentiments" stamp set.  Stamped in Versafine Ink.

Carousel 5th Birthday Card (Stampin' Up)

Today, I've been playing with a stamp set I've had for about a year and never used before. It's the Stampin' Up "Carousel Birthday" set.

I started by stamping the big wheel stamp in a Versamakr ink and then sprinkling with Wow embossing powder and then heat set it.  I used Brusho in two shades to create the land/sky background.

On a separate sheet, I stamped the tents in various shades of Versafine Clair Ink, colouring sections with Promarkers.

I die cut a circle and #5 and added them to the centre of the big wheel.  I also die cut the clouds using a Stampin' Up die from a set called "Up and Away".

Finally, I added the "Happy Birthday" sentiment to the top of the card.

Willow The Witch through the willow arch Halloween Card (Lavinia Stamps)

Today I have continued to play with Lavinia Stamps, with another entry for the Lavinia October Monthly Creative Challenge.

For this card, I started with a Distress Ink background.  All stamp used are Lavinia Stamps stamped in various shades of Versafine Ink.  

I started with the path (LAV246), then Willow the Witch and her cauldron (LAV194).  I then stamped the Willow Arch (LAV513) and then the Twisted Willow arch supports ((LAV514) which I coloured with a Promarker.

Inside the arch I used Spanish Moss Foliage (LAV505) trailing from the arch.  I then stamped the bats (LAV167). I used a couple of the pound stamps for the stars and the toadstools.

I added some stars to the sky using a white Signo Pen and finally added some shimmer to areas using a Sakura Jellyroll pen.