Lavinia Stamps "Fip" and the raven

I've used the leaf from the Lavinia Stamps "Nature & Nurture" sticker stencil for the background of this card with assorted colours of Ranger Archival Inks.

I used Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink to stamp the Lavinia  "Fip" figure, the "Raven" and the "Paint Splatters".

I used a gold gel pen to outline some of the dots on the Lavinia Stamps "White Orbs" stencil, colouring some in gold and some in a rusty glittery orange colour.  I used a "Wink of Stella" on the wings of "Fip" and touches of white gel pen too.

Lavinia Stamps Abstract Fish (Sticker Stencil 10)

 

I've had a play session creating the abstract looking tag using a Lavinia Stamps vase stencil.

I used one of the Lavinia Stamps vase sticker stencils from set 10, on it's side for this tag, using Distress Oxide Inks for the colour.  I used Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon and Abandoned Coral for the three vase/fish.  Then lay the Lavinia Stamps "Nimbus" stencil over the top and used "Festive Berries" Distress Oxide ink through the stencil.

I used a black Posca Pen to colour the surrounding background area.  They used a gold cloured gel pen to draw circles over the background.  I filled some of them with the gold gel pen and some of them I added a "Wink of Stella" to add a gold glittery look.

I used a couple of Van Goch Pastel Pencils for shading on the vase/fish with touches of gold gel pen on the base/tail.  I then used a white and black Posca Pen to create the eye.

Lavinia Stamps "Forest Leaf" in Autumn Card

For this card, I used three shades of Elements Inks on a piece of white card for the background colour, using Sundance, Russet Orange and Paprika shades of ink.

I then used the "Russet Orange" again through the Lavinia "Floral Stencil" giving a very subtle pattern in the background.

Next, using Versafine Clair "Pinecone" dark brown ink, I stamped the Lavinia Stamps "Forest Leaf" stamp.  Around the edge of the stamped image, I used Versafine Clair "Portobello" a mid brown coloured ink to stamp the Lavinia "Mystic Swirl.  I then used Versafine Clair "Strawberry" red ink to multi stamp the Lavinia "Winter Spice" verse.  

I inked the edges of the card using Versafine Clair "Acorn" and "Pinecone".  Using the "Pinecone" ink again to stamp the Lavinia sentiment, which is part of the "Words from the heart" stamp set.

I added some white paint splatters to the surface and then added extra colour to the leaves of the "Floral Leaf" stamped image using Derwent Inktense pencils.  Finally, I used a 2B pencil to add some depth to the underside of the leaves and added some touches of gold gel pen to the background and the leaves.

Funky Fossil Designs "Celestial" Card

I made this card using some older stamps from Funky Fossil Designs.  It was nice to reacquaint myself with them.

I started with a 6x6" piece of white card.  In the middle of the card, using Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink, I stamped the lightbulb, which is part of the Funky Fossil Designs "Celestial" stamp set.  

I then stamped the feathers, which are part of the Funky Fossil Designs "Magical" stamp set, stamped in Versafine Clair "Medieval Blue" ink.

In the background, I randomly applied three shades of Distress Oxide Inks with a paint brush.  The colours I used are Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage and Wilted Violet.  I Inked the edges of the card with the Wilted Violet too.

Next, using Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink, I stamped the hanging jewels, which are also part of the Funky Fossil Designs stamp set called "Celestial". I coloured the jewels with Posca Pens.

I then coloured the bulb and the feathers using Derwent Inktense pencils, applied with a paint brush.  Finally, I added touches of a gold gel pen to the feathers and a white gel pen for the highlights.

52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge - Week 18

This is a weekly challenge. I provide you with a prompt/theme each Sunday morning through out the year.  The challenge is very relaxed.  You can do as much or as little as you like.  You can create cards, tags, Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) or index cards, the choice is yours. You just go with what ever is in your head at the time.  You can stamp, get inky, use patterned papers, texture, embellish it is all down to you.

There is a dedicated private Facebook Group, with a lovely bunch of people who are already sharing their makes from previous challenges.  You can find the group by clicking this link.  I'd love you to join in.

The Crafting Niche 52 Week Mini Art Card/Tag Challenge 2024:

The prompt for Week 18 is "Weather"

*****

This is the tag that I have made for the Week 18.

I've used three colours of Dylusion spray inks for the background colour, using Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime and Bubble Gum.

I've used Distress Glaze over "Crushed Grape" Dylusion ink through the Tim Holtz "Rays - THS003" stencil.

On the computer, I printed "Here Comes The Sun" in red, cutting it down and sticking into position on to the rays.

I then used four shades of Posca pens, using red, orange, yellow and white colours to draw on dots of colour on the lighter rays.

I then added gold dots using a metalic gold gel pen.  

I inked the edges of the tag using "Tulip Red" Versafine Clair Ink.

I mounted the tag on to a piece of black card and then drew around the tag using a metalic gold pen.

Tiffany Johnson Creative #100daysartplay Challenge - Day 43

It's Day 43 of Tiffany Johnson Creative #100daysartplay Challnege.  As it is Sunday, there is a new theme, this week is all about stamps and stamping.

I started with a square piece of card.  Using a black fine liner pen, I drew a square.  Then within that square, I drew four more squares.

I painted each of the four boxes a different colour using Prima "Tropicals" water colour paints.

Once the paint was dry, which was almost immediately I used Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink to stamp each of the Lavinia Stamps animals.  The stamps I have used are "Mooch" the cat, the "Snail Set", the "Large Owls" and one of the hares from the "Whimsical Hares" stamp set.

I outlined the stamping using a white Uniball Signo pen.  I added a touch of colour to the snail shell using  pastel pencils as the orange was a bit too strong on the shell area.

I decided that I would doodle in the background of each of the boxes.  I used a gold gel pen to create dots in the hare box.  I used a black fine liner pen to add squiggly horizontal lines with dots in the Mooch box.  In the snail box I drew lots of circles with the fine liner, then filled in the gaps between the circles using the same pen.  Finally, behind the owl, I used a black fine liner pen to draw broken vertical lines with green dots of gel pen between the breaks in the lines.

Tiffany Johnson Creative #100daysartplay Challenge - Day 40

Today is Day 40 of the Tiffany Johnson Creative #100daysartplay Challenge.  This week is all about using charcoal and pastels.

I had an off cut of white card measuring 95mm square, so decided to use that as the base. I coloured it using Van Goch Pastel Pencils, blending the colours together, by rubbing my finger tip across the surface.  The colours I used were Blue, Mauve, Pink and Green.  

I then used "Della Blue" Elements Ink through the Funky Fossil Designs "Shoal of fish stencil".  While the ink was out, I inked the edges of the card using a finger dabber.

I mounted the card on to a piece of dark blue paper and then on to a card blank.

On an off cut of white card, using "Della Blue "Elements Ink again, I stamped the "Swim your own way" sentiment, which is part of a stamp set called "Wierd Fish" by Funky Fossil Designs. I cut the sentiment up into words and glued them in to position using wet glue. 

Finally, using a silver glitter and a white gel pen, I added extra dots around the shoal of fish.

52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge 2024 - Week 13

The challenge for 2024 is weekly.  I will provide you with a prompt/theme each Sunday morning through out the year.  The challenge is very relaxed.  You can do as much or as little as you like.  You can create cards, tags, Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) or index cards, the choice is yours. You just go with what ever is in your head at the time.  You can stamp, get inky, use patterned papers, texture, embellish it is all down to you.

There is a dedicated private Facebook Group, with a lovely bunch of people who are already sharing their makes from previous challenges.  You can find the group by clicking this link.  I'd love you to join in.

The Crafting Niche 52 Week Mini Art Card/Tag Challenge 2024:

The prompt for Week 13 is "On The Water"

*****

This is the tag that I have made for the Week 13.

For my tag, I have used a Stampin' Up stamp set that I have had in my stash for a while, called "Moon Lake".  I used the bird and the little island with the boat and tree from the stamp set, stamping both in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink.

I used some of my Stampscape stamps on this tag too, using the "Small Isle" stamped in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink and the "Reeds" stamped in Versafine Clair "Shady Lane" green ink in both first and second generation stamping.

I then coloured in the water area, using "Tumbled Glass" Distress Oxide Ink.

For the sky I used a mix of Distress Oxide Inks using "Tumbled Glass", "Lost Shadow" and "Weathered Wood".

I then moved on to the boat using two shades of brown Distress Oxide Inks:  Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap, I used the same shades to colour the bird too.

For the tree canopy I used three shades of green Distress Oxide Inks:  Crushed Olive, Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness, using "Frayed Burlap" for the tree trunk.

For the sand around the boat I used "Mustard Seed" Distress Oxide Inks.

Other mediums I used on this tag were Posca Pens, gel pens and a 2B pencil too.

Tiffany Johnson Creative #100daysartplay challenge - Day 2

It is Day 2 of Tiffany Johnson Creative #100daysartplay challenge.  Once again it is using sprays, this time I have used the "wax relief" technique.

I used a Brusho "Wax Resist" crayon to draw the scrolls and dots freehand.

At the top I used Dylusions "Squeezed Orange" spray ink.  On the lower section, I used Dylusions "Ground Coffee" Spray ink.

Once dry, I trimmed the card down and started to decorate, loosely based in the style of one of my favourite artists "Klimt".  I used a gold gel pen, a black Sharpie and a black fine liner.

I mounted the card on to a piece of black paper and then on to a white card blank.

Finally, I used Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink to stamp the Simon Says Stamp sentiment, which is part of their "Tiny Words - Birthday" stamp set.

Lavina Stamps "Robin" card

I came across a tag I had made last year, which was inspired by a tutorial by Emma-Jo of Lavinia Stamps, so decided to make a card loosely based on that.

I masked off the edges of the card using a low tack tape, then used five shades of Elements Inks for the background colours:  Sundance, Confetti, Violet Chalk, Della Blue and Dark Denim.

I used the "Dark Denim" Elements Ink through the Lavinia Stamps "Ivy Stencil. Then splattered water droplets from a fan shaped paint brush to give a more textured background. I blotted then wafted my heat gun over the surface to ensure it was dry before stamping.

Retaining the masked edges, I stamped the Lavinia Stamps "Fern Branches" off the edge of the card using Versfine Clair "Nocturne" black ink.

Using Versafine Clair "Warm Breeze" ink, I stmaped the Lavinia Stamps "Holly" leaves around the base of the card.

I then used Versafine Clair "Pinecone" dark brown ink to stamp the birds, which are part of the Lavinia Stamps "Bird Collection set", adding red Posca Pen to the breast area.

I used a white Unibal Signo Pen to draw on the snow on the branches,  A gold shimmer gel pen around the holly leaves.  A red Posca Pen for the holly berries and a yellow sparkle Posca pen for little glimmery sparkly dots across the surface of the card, which sadly don't really show up too well in the photograph.

Day 20 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" Challenge

 

This is my Day 20 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

On a plain white tag, I used Versafine Clair "Glamorous" pink ink to stamp the Funky Fossil Designs "Fa La La" stamp.  I used the same ink to edge the tag too.

I used a selection of colours of Paper Artsy Fresco Finish "Chalk Arcylic" paints to paint the squares and rectangles to create the impression of gifts.  I used gel and Poscal Pens to decorated the gift shapes and then mounted the tag on to a piece of purple card.

Day 15 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge

It's Day 15 of Karen Telfer's '24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.  Today it's about heat embossing on black card.

For my tag, I have used a Christmas tree stamp from the Pink Ink Designs "Beary Christmas" stamp set.  The sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp set called "Tiny words -  Christmas".  For  both stamps I used a Wow! clear ink pad to stamp the images and then coated with Wow! Rich Gold super fine embossing powder and heat set.

I coloured the baubles on the Christmas tree using red and orange glitter gel pens.

I used a metalic gold gel pen to add a wavy edge to the black tag and added gold snowflakes using the gel pen too.  I then mounted the tag on to a piece of red card.

Sweet Poppy Stencils "Small Bell" Christmas Card

 

More play with Sweet Poppy Stencils making this Christmas card.

I've used Versafine Clair "Chianti" dark red ink through the Sweet Poppy "Small Bell" stencil. 

I then masked off the edges of the card, using low tack tape.

Next I used "Shadow Grey" Ranger Archival ink through the Sweet Poppy "Holly Back Plate" stencil, lightly adding ink around the edge of the masking tape, to give a subtle line of colour.  I then removed the masking tape.

Finally, I used Versafine Clair "Chianti" dark red ink again to stamp the sentiment, which is part of Simon Says Stamp "Tiny Words - Christmas" stamp set.  Then added some touches of gold gel pen to areas of the holly to give a lovely shimmer.

Day 6 of Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge.

I'm playing catch up again after being away for a few days.  This is my Day 6 tag for the Karen Telfer's "24 Days of Tags 2023" challenge with a brief of "gel plate" background.

Rather than just make one background, I made half a dozen as they're always handy to have in my stash for later use. Above are the six backgrounds I made.

I used Paperartsy chalk paints on my gel plate and a fern and an olive branch picked from the garden for the foliage pattern.  In the background I have used the Lavinia Stamps "Cryptic" stencil, then taken a press.

I used a Sweet Poppy Stencils sentiment from their "Festive Phrases" stamp set, stamped in Wow! Bright White embossing powder and heat set.

I mounted the tag on to a white background and then went around the edge of the tag and some foliage using a silver glitter gel pen.

Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous Stencil Play Tag

I really enjoyed playing with my Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous stencils yesterday, so I decided to have another play this morning, making this Christmas gift tag.

I started with a cream coloured tag as the base,  Using a blending brush I added random colour using "Orange Blossom" Archival Ink.  I then used the same ink through the Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous "Flourish Layering Stencil".

In the areas where there was less pattern, I use "Coffee" Archival Ink through the Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous "Chevron Shifter Layering Stencil".

I then moved on to the third stencil, using "Red Geranium" Archival Ink through the Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous "Tiny Poinsettia Stencil" leaving some of the flourish in sight.

In the middle of the tag, I used Versafine Clair "Chianti" dark red ink to stamp the seniment, which is part of the Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous cling stamp set called "Cozy Christmas CMS444".

I inked the edges of the tag using "Red Geranium" Archival Ink and then stuck the tag on to a deep red piece of card and cut to size.  Around the edge of the coloured area I used a gold sparkle pen -after all, it's always good to sparkle a little at Christmas!

Finally, I added gold gel pen dots to the middle of the flowers and added some dots across the surface of the tag too, before threading the tag with gold coloured ribbon.

Lavinia Stamps "Luna Lights" Panel Card

Here's another card, where I have masked off an area to ink and stamp within.

For this card, I used four shades of Distress Inks:  Spun Sugar, Tea Dye, Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke, all blended with a brush between two lines of masking tape.

I stamped the Lavinia Stamps "Luna Lights" in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink.  I then went over areas with a gold gel pen and then a gold shimmer gel pen.  Sadly it doesn't show up too much in the photograph.

Finally, I used a greeting from the "Heartfelt Verst" stamp set, also stamped in Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink.

Lavinia Stamps "Wild Poppies" Sympathy Card

A quick sympathy card from me today.

Using low tack tape, I masked off a vertical striped area for me to work within, to ensure I didn't get any ink where I didn't want it.

I used "Chrome Yellow" Ranger Archival ink with a blending brush to fill the stripe.

I lay the Lavinia Stamps "Elegance" stencil over the top of the card, securing with a piece of tape.  I then used "Orange Blossom" Ranger Archival Ink through the stencil, again applied with a blending brush.

Using Versafine Clair "Nocturne" black ink, I stamped the tall Lavinia "Garden Poppies" and then the "Wild Poppies" below them.

While the black ink was out, I stamped the sentiment, which is part of a Simon Says Stamp set called "Tiny Words".  

To ground the poppies, I used a black pastel pencil.  I then added a few touches of white gel pen to the poppies too.

 

Lavinia Stamps "Starr" & "Wild Pine" card

While tidying my card and papers, I came across a Lavinia Stamps "Live the dream" Scenescapes paper.  As it was starting to look a bit tatty - it's been hanging around a while, I decided to put it to use.

I started by stamping the Lavinia Stamps "Small Pine Trees" using Versafine Clair "Warm Breeze" ink.

I then stamped the Lavinia "Wild Pine" tree in Versafine Clair "Medieval Blue" ink

Next I stamped the Lavinia "Starr" fairy using Versafine Clair "Twilight" dark blue ink.

I used one of the Lavinia "Hill Masks" to create more landscapes using Versafine Clair "Monarch" purple Ink, "Warm Breeze" turquoise ink and inking the edges of the card using "Monarch" purple ink and Chianti" dark red ink.

I then started filling in areas with colour.  I used a selection of gel pens and Posca Pens until I was happy with the finished scene.

Lavinia Stamps "Winter Whispers release" Christmas Joy Tree Card

This is my tenth make using the new Lavinia Stamps "Winter Whispers" release of stamps.  I can't believe I've made so many since Friday tea time!

I started off with a 6x6" white piece of card and masked off the edges. I lay the Lavinia Stamps "Feather Leaf Stencil" over the top and applied "Shadow Grey" Ranger Archival Ink through the stencil using a blending brush.  I deliberately made the central area lighter as I didn't want the pattern to detract from the lovely design of the tree. I then removed the masking.

Using Versafine Clair "Medieval Blue" ink, I stamped the new "Christmas Joy" tree and one of sentiments from the "Christmas Greetings" stamp set.

I used a pastel pencil to ground the tree.  I then used a selection of colours of gel pens to colour the baubles on the tree.

Lavinia Stamps "Winter Whispers" Wild Pine Noel Card

 

Here's a very quick CAS Christmas card to make.

I used Versafine Clair "Medieval Blue" ink to stamp the new Lavinia Stamps "Wild Pine" tree and the "Noel" sentiiment, which is part of their "Seasonal Words" stamp set.

I then used a selection of gel and Posca Pens to decorate it, creating the look of coloured baubles. I used a purple pastel pencil to ground the tree.