Butterfly and Bulbs!

Hello and thank you visiting me.  I have a card today which I made for my Brother in Law last month. He is an electrician so thought this was appropriate!

I used the awesome butterfly from Aall and Create stamp set No 322, stamped in black Versafine Clair and embossed with clear powder.  The colouring is done with Sentimentally Yours watercolour pens then, when dry, I added Glossy Accents to the light bulbs.  I was going to add a sentiment to the card front but decided I liked it just as it is.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Blog: Something beginning with 'B'. 

Darnell's NBUS Challenge  Never Before Used Schtuff - Its the first outing of this awesome stamp set.

Thank you again for visiting me.

Take care and stay safe!  Christine xxxxxxx

Fab Son!

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog.  Today's card is one I actually made for my son's birthday back in May.  I am pleased to say he loved it!

Unfortunately the photograph doesn't really do it justice.  The background is really black and embossed with a jungle leaf folder by Sheena Douglas I believe.  The gorgeous lion is by Crafty Individuals which I stamped on a snippet of white card in Versafine Clair Nocturne and embossed with clear powder then coloured with Sentimentally Yours Watercolour Pens..  The background mat is inked with Distress Oxides and the sentiment strip is a snippet inked with the same colours then I cut the letters out of a snippet of black card using a die set from The Works.  I really wish the photo had come out better, I don't seem to be able to do very well with my photo's at the mo.  The colours of the lion are so bright and the image beautifully clear in real life.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets.

Stamping Sensations - All Creatures Great and Small.

Darnell's NBUS - Never Before Used Schtuff.  Mine is the lovely Lion.

Thank you again for visiting me.  Not much news here. still staying safely indoors!

Take care and stay safe. Christine xxx

What's Good For Your Soul!

Hello and thank you so much for visiting me!  I have a cute card today using some fabulous quirky stamps from Aall and Create.  There is a whole set of these gorgeous little characters and this is the first time I have used them.  Its a birthday card for a friend of mine who, luckily, doesn't know about my blog as her birthday isn't until next week.

Firstly I inked the background with Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Fossilised Amber Distress Oxides then I laid a stencil by Aall and Create - No. 95, over the background and sprayed with water, dabbed with kitchen roll and removed the stencil which left a lovely ghost image where the inks lift with the water.  I stamped the girls and flowers on snippets of white card, embossed with clear powder, then fussy cut out and coloured with a mixture of Phil Martin's watercolour pens and Promarkers.  I stamped the grass from another set several times across the bottom and coloured in then added the fussy cut images along with the sentiment, again from Aall and Create.  The stamp set Nos are 255.

297 and 359 all designed by the fabulous Janet Klein - the stencil too. 

I am not very good at colouring in but these quirky images are such fun that I really enjoyed it and have several more of these girls and some cool birds Janet designed too, so will be making more of these fun cards.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets - My girls, flowers and words are all snippets.

Penny Black and More - Favourite Stamps - These cute girl stamps are my favourites at the moment.

Stamping Sensations - Make it Colourful.

Time Out Challenges - Proust Quote.

NBUS - Never Before Used Schtuff - All the Stamps and the Stencil are used for the first time.

Thank you again for visiting me, I wonder if you are venturing out to the shops or back to work now lockdowns are easing everywhere?  We are staying firmly indoors and away from everyone/  Way too scared to venture into the wider world just yet.  Mind you, with both our medical conditions, we can't go out much anyway so really is no hardship there although miss seeing family and friends.

Take care and stay safe.  Hugs Christine xxx

1st Birthday Card

Hello and thank you so much for visiting.  My card today is one I made for a little boy across the road who was one year old on Saturday.  His Mum and Dad have been so kind to us during this Covid 19 nightmare. Picking up our prescriptions and odd bits of shopping and surprising us with lovely cakes and treats and last weekend a yummy steak pie!  All homemade!  People are just so kind.

I stamped the gorgeous image from a fab stamp set by Clearly Besotted called Balloon Bunch Buddies.  The set contains the balloon and lots of different cuties to float on it and some little sentiments too.  I embossed the image in clear powder then watercoloured the background using Distress Oxides and water.  The image is coloured using Promarkers with a little white Posca Pen on the balloon with a die cut number 1.  The sentiment is from a Stamplorations clear set Party Time and I added 2 colours of little die cut stars using a die from Mama Elephant.  The main and yellow panels are cut with a Stamplorations die set but I can't remember what it is called. 

I would like to enter the following challenges.

Time Out Challenges - Free - I think I would feel very free floating from a balloon!
Pixie's Snippets Playground - I used snippets for my sentiment, number and stars.
Darnell's NBUS Challenge - My Never Before Used Schtuff is the stamp set I used for my main image.

Thank you again for visiting me.  I hope you are all coping ok with everything that is going on in these strange times.  Take care and stay safe!  Christine xxx

Twofer Card Challenge 27

Hello and thank you for stopping by my blog.  Its nearly a month since I last posted and that was the last Twofer Challenge.  So here I am with Darnell's fabulous May Twofer Challenge which this time is Flowers. 

Here are my two cards - the stamped images used on both are three quirky flowers from Aall & Create stamp set Thankful Petals designed by the fabulous Tracy Evans.  I used them traditionally as flowers on the right hand card and changed them into rocks on the left hand card to make a nice pile high enough for Lavinia Stamps Pipin to sit upon and gaze into the sky.

For the first one I stamped the flowers on a piece of yellow card in  Nocturne , Versafine Clair
then stamped just the flower heads again on snippets of patterned paper, cut out and adhered to the stamped heads.  The foliage is from a Hobby Art set and is stamped in black and green ink using 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation ink for depth.  The butterflies are cut from a snippet of same patterned paper using a Sizzix die, glued on then I added some glitter for sparkle and adhered panel to a black card base.  The sentiment is from another Tracy Evans stamp set and I stamped it on calico.

I made an inky background for this one using Distress Oxides.  I stamped the flower heads only on top of one another in coffee Archival ink then coloured in with Phill Martin watercolour pens.  Pippin the hare by Lavinia Stamps is stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne and the foliage, which is also Lavinia Stamps, was stamped in Versafine Clair Monarch.  I inked around a mask to create the spotlight/moon and added glitter for sparkle.  The sentiment is a Sizzix die and the card base is purple.

I would also like to enter the fabulous Di's Pixies Snippets Playground  - I have used lots of Snippets on the first card and the word 'hello' on the second.

Thank you again for visiting me.  I hope you are keeping well and staying safe in these very strange times.  Take care! Christine xxx

Twofer Card Challenge 26!

Hello there!  A very quick post tonight as I made these cards specially for Darnell's fantastic
Twofer Card Challenge which I haven't entered for ages, and I really can't spend long on the computer tonight, so sorry.

Here are my two cards both made with Lawn Fawn Stitched Umbrella die.

The one on the right, used as intended, on an inked background embossed with a waterfall embossing folder, which I think looks like rain, then glittered for added sparkle.

With the one on the left I cut the umbrella out of Kraft card and embossed it with a basket weave embossing folder and trimmed the point off the umbrella off so it looked like a basket.  I then filled it with flowers and leaves which I die cut using a couple of different sets of  Sizzix dies.

I would also like to enter Di's fabulous Snippets Playground - Just about everything on both  of these  is die cut from snippets of card from my bits box.

Thank you so much for visiting me and please take care and stay safe!  Christine xxx

Butterfly!

Hello there and thank you for visiting me!  Sorry I haven't been around for ages - its so good to be back! 

I made this card using the fabulous AALL and Create stamps designed by the wonderful 

Tracy Evans - stamp numbers 267 and 304.  I also used stencil number 39 and Distress Oxides in the backgrounds.  The Butterfly and the large word are stamped again on scraps of white card, embossed with clear powder and coloured with Phill Martin's Watercolour Blending Brush Pens.  The colours are really vivid in real life and the pens make watercolouring an absolute breeze!  The pen nib is covered with glossy accents and shines beautifully as  does the embossing.  I used a watercolour pencil to add shading to the background circles and added white paint splatters to the whole card along with purple ink around the edge.  I used a lot of Tracy Evan's techniques - she is so inspiring!

I would like to enter the following blog challenges:

Pixies Snippets Playground - Use Snippets - mine are the card used for the butterfly and the word 'butterfly'.

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Anything with Wings.

Craft Stamper Take it Make it Challenge - Anything Goes.
Butterfly Challenge - I have Ultra pink. unbleached silk and a butterfly on my card.

Thank you again for visiting me, I  really appreciate it especially as I haven't been around much.

Take care and have a great weekend.  Christine xxx