Grey at Last and a card!

Hello and thank you so much for visiting me!  Sorry, again, that I haven't been around for the last month or so - I had a birthday - 61, Yay! along with various medical appointments and other stuff so behind with crafting again!  I owe friends thank you cards, birthday cards etc. which I am late with as well as comments on blogs and emails not to mention posts!  Please forgive me!  One day I will get on top of things - how long have I been saying that?  One thing I have managed is to grow the dye out of my hair so I am my natural grey.  I was supposed to be charting the process here and on Facebook but didn't manage that so here I am with my new look.

I am so happy that I took the plunge and went natural - I have been dyeing my hair red (from brown) since I was fifteen!  Anyway, enough about me - here is the card I made for Darren for our anniversary last month:

I began with making the background with Distress Oxides, water and watercolour card - I was so pleased how it turned out - then I stamped the gorgeous image from So Suzy Stamps in Black Versafine with my Misti so I could stamp it several times to get a good silhouette impression.  The sentiments were stamped from various sets on inked snippets of card, cut out, edged with a black alcohol marker then added to the panel.  I edged the panel with Distress Oxides, glued it to a black card base then added Glossy Accents to the little heart. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - use Snippets.
That's Crafty - Animal Magic.
Time Out Challenges -  Word Challenge - as below. My husband makes me very happy and I am grateful for that.  The word 'happy' is also on the card.



Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge - Stamp it On.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thank you again for visiting me - have a wonderful week!  Take care!  Christine xxx

Under The Sea!

Hello!  Thank you so much for visiting me - I appreciate it lots.  My card today is one I made for my fabulous big Brother's birthday which was on Saturday.

My idea was for an underwater scene down by the sea bed.  The background is mostly done with various blue Distress Inks and an ink blending tool.  I used the side of the tool rather than using it flat to get the effect I wanted then also did the same with some plain water too.  The sand colour is actually done with light brown Brusho which I sprinkled on a tile, added water, then used a blending tool to apply in the same way - I didn't have the correct colour of Distress Ink. The netting is from a very cheap pack of three colours that I have had for years - I pulled some of the threads out to make it look less perfect - I could have roughed it up more but only just thought of that!  The gorgeous seahourse and star fish die cuts were gifted to me by my  lovely friend Anne, the sentiment is cut from a scrap of white card using a die by Presscut and the real little shells I bought in a pack years ago and they are glued on with Pinflair Glue Gel.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Artistic Stamper - Distress It.
Simon Say's Stamps Monday Challenge - Wild Things.
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets.
Time Out Challenges 'Home Sweet Home' Photo Challenge.  Here is the photo to inspire us:

I used the picture on the wall as my inspiration as well as the overall colour scheme.

Thank you again for visiting me and have a fabulous week.

Take care - Christine

Stand Out In The Crowd!

Hello and thank you so much for visiting me - I really appreciate it!  A couple of days ago it was my lovely friend Anne's birthday.  Many of you will already know Anne and her awesome work and will know what a kind and lovely lady she is.  Here is the card I made her:

The background is a piece of watercolour card inked with Picked Raspberry and Ripe Persimmon Distress Inks.  Then I added droplets of water, sprayed with Glimmer Mist then, when dry, stencilled with the same inks through some dry wall tape.  I stamped the cool flowers from AAL & Create #44 designed by Tracy Evans (which I bought with a voucher I won from That's Crafty in a previous challenge - thank you so much) in Black Versafine then stamped the smaller flower heads again on old book pages and cut out.  The taller flower heads were stamped on some snippets of green inked card and cut out then I paper pieced them all onto the inked panel after inking the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.  The sentiment is stamped on a snippet of white card inked with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink, stamped in Black Versafine using a Clarity Stamp alphabet set then I cut it out and edged each piece with black alcohol marker.  The little butterflies are cut with Sizzix Decorative Strip Die Butterfly Frenzy, again with old book paper then edged with Black Soot Distress Ink which I brought in further to darken the butterflies up a bit to match the flowers.  I added Magenta and Orange Peel Stickles to the green flower and Magenta Stickles to the butterflies attaching the panel to a black card base with glue to finish.  I love these quirky flowers!

I would like to enter the following challenges:

That's Crafty - Close to Nature.
Country View - In The Summer Garden.
The Artistic Stamper - Distress It.
Butterfly Challenge - Spin The Wheel With The Letter 'O' - I have used Orange, Old Rose and Oval (the tall flowers are oval shaped - I hope that counts!).
Allsorts - Flowers All Over.

Thank you again for visiting me and I hope you have had a lovely weekend - I did!  I got back this evening after spending a few days with my daughter and my granddaughters - I had a lovely time with my three gorgeous girls!

Take care.  Christine xxx

Dragonflies!

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog - it makes me so happy when you do!  I have a card for you today that I made a while ago but didn't get round to blogging.

The background was made by putting a selection of Distress Oxide Inks on my craft sheet, spritzing with water then dipping watercolour colour card into it.  I wanted a delicate summery look so I left it quite pale.  When dry, I used more Distress Oxides to stamp the foliage from HobbyArt Orla The Owl stamp set, in second, third and even fourth generation ink.  Sorry I can't remember the colours of inks I used.  The Bulrushes from Darkroom Door Wildflowers 2 stamp set and the dragonflies from a Cardio stamp set were stamped using black Versafine then the panel edged with, I think, Black Soot Distress Oxide and attached to a black card base.  Finally lots of Stickles of course to the dragonflies and Bulrushes for sparkle.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Penny Black Allsorts - Things with Wings.
Artistic Stamper - Distress It.
That's Crafty - Close to Nature.
Country View - In the Summer Garden.  I wish I had a river going through my garden!  We did have a beautiful dragonfly yesterday though!
Stamping Sensations - In My Garden.
Simon's Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Fun in the Sun.

I hope you have had a fab weekend.  I am going to my daughter's on Wednesday for a few days so lots of Granddaughter cuddles!  I am really looking forward to it.

Take care.  Christine xxx

Roger's Birthday Card!

Hello and thank you so much for visiting me.  I appreciate it sooooo much.  It was my fabulous
Father-in-Law's birthday last week - he loves gardening - here is the card I made for him.

The shed and the carrots are from a Joanna Sheen Messy Rabbit stamp set from years ago.  The shed is stamped on kraft card, embossed with Vintage Sepia Versafine and clear powder then coloured with Spectum Noir coloured pencils.  The carrots were stamped and coloured the same way but directly onto white card and I used Flower Soft as the earth - another very old product but it was just what I needed.  The sun rays are a Tim Holtz stencil with two shades of Distress Ink and the sentiment is white embossing powder on kraft card and the little bird was one from my bits box coloured with Promarkers.  I made a kraft card base to match.  I am pleased to say Roger liked the card!

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Allsorts - In My Garden
That's Crafty - Close to Nature.
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Spippets - mine are the card for the shed, sign and sentiment.
Country View - In The Summer Garden.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Fun in the Sun.

Thank you again for visiting me and I hope your week is fabulous!

Take care. Christine xxx

Pink and Purple Snowflakes!

Hello again!  My second blog post in the same day - a Christmas card this time.

This is such a quick Christmas card and a technique I have seen everywhere and have never tried before.  I inked up one side of the Sheena Douglas Snowflake embossing folder with
Picked Raspberry and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Inks, spritzed with water then pressed a piece of watercolour card into it then left it to dry.  It didn't come out perfect but gave a lovely watercolour effect.  I trimmed the piece then edged it with both of the oxide colours then glued to a 5 x 7 inch pink card base.  The Stamplorations sentiment was die cut in both white and pink card - the two glued together to give a drop shadow then attached to the snowflake panel.  For sparkle, I used a glue pen to add glitter to the snowflakes then Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen to the sentiment and finally a few white pearls for a bit of extra embellishment. There is lots of sparkle in real life!   I really like this technique so will be trying it again with more of my folders. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

ScrappyMo's Rudolph Day's Challenge - Anything Christmas
Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Non Traditional Colours.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Country View Challenges - The Written Word.

Thank you so very much for visiting me - I really appreciate it!  Enjoy your weekend!

Take care - Christine xxx

Columbo Dragonlies!

Hi there and thank you so much for visiting me today - I appreciate it loads and loads!  I am celebrating the fabulous Stamplorations 5th birthday celebrations by joining in with the CASE the STAMPgirls and link up

I am casing a fabulous card by Harriet - its the second one down on her blog post with the three dragonflies.  Although I have cased it - mine is totally different. ' Why is the blog post called Colombo Dragonflies?' you ask!  Well, its because the book pages I used for the dragonflies come from a very old and falling to bits edition of a Columbo novel.  I adore the shabby detective - I seem to remember the book was a Christmas one.

I used Stamplorations  largest of the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies for the white mat and cut my Kraft card base to suit.  The Stamplorations two part Dragonflies were cut with the book pages and Kraft card and the little flowers were cut using a die that came free with a magazine.  The sentiment is from a Kay Carling Paperartsy stamp set EKC06 and is embossed with Versamark and White detail powder on Kraft card.  Everything glued together and it was finished.  A very simple summer card with no summer colours just the Kraft and white and I love how it turned out!

I would like to enter the following additional challenges:

Country View Crafts - The Written Word.
Cuttlebugmania - Summer Is Magic - All my Diecutting is done using my Big Shot.
That's Crafty - A Summer's Day.
Stamplorations Anything Goes Challenge - Use Stamplorations products on your project.

Just to let you know that following Darren's visit to the consultant following the operation for his collapsed lung, the news is good and not so good!  Everything is healed fine and the consultant is pleased with his recovery from the operation.  Unfortunately, Darren is still getting lots of pain which should not be there.  The pain has absolutely no explanation so it is looking like it may be connected to his ongoing neurological problem where he has constant head pain and sensitivity to any sound along with lots of other symptoms.  We will be contacting his neurologist to see what he thinks!  Its fabulous his lung is all fixed though.

Thank you again for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!  I will be doing another blog post later this evening - don't be too shocked!  I had a sudden burst of inspiration today along with enough energy to make two cards to catch some challenges - I am very pleased with myself!!!

Take care - Christine! xxx