ROBINS AND MICE OR BOBBY AND PIPSPELL

I'm loving playing with some new stamps from Lavinia - and why I hadn't spotted this gorgeous robin stamp Bobby before now I'll never know.  

I used some watercolour paper to create this scene - masked off to circles just with some paper and used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Stormy Weather, Chipped Sapphire, and Dusty Concord to create my sky.  I added the Tree Branch from Lavinia and some branch leaves in Iced Spruce and Brilliance White ink.  I stamped the robin on the branch and coloured him in with Prismacolor pencils. 

I used some Pastels to add some colour to the mouse.  The lanterns were coloured in with Mont Martre glitter pens. I added the gorgeous Winter Magic stamp in Versafine Twilight and added some star stamps in the white ink.

I'm adding this to the following:

Inspire Create - Christmas 

Peace on Earth - Christmas mood board - trees 

Rudolph Days - Christmas 

Alphabet - N is for night 

Creative Moments - things with wings 

Outlawz Festive - Christmas 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS #504 - ANY OCCASION

Welcome back to another challenge from ATSM and we would like to see your Any Occasion projects.  

I'm showing a tag recently created when I couldn't sleep.  Crafting really helps when those nights strike and it's so peaceful in the craft room I can lose myself for hours.

The background of the tag was already made - it features the mosaic stencil from Tim Holtz which is one of my favourites.  It's hard to see as I've covered it nearly completely but I can see snippets of it.  One of the things I've really got to try and learn to do is to leave some white space or open space.  I'm trying to remember this but I always seem to forget lol!

I added some extra background stamping with stamps by Alison Bomber. The leaves were in my stash from a previous play with Tim Holtz Leaf Fragments dies.  I added some extra pieces of Ideaology as I wanted this dapper Paperdoll man by Tim to have something to sit on.  I'm learning to try and tell a  story as I've seen Alison do - so he is waiting to open his parcel which he has signed for and marked as received.  The Ideaology pieces show a registered letter and signatures and I added extra stamping with the signature and a stamp from Alison with Albin Foertl's name.  The sentiment is from Tim Holtz and I white embossed it on to some black card - his surprise will be whatever is in his letter!  Extra stamps were from Creative Expressions. 

I love the way Alison says she can't use a sewing machine - neither can I and I'd love to be able to add all those threads I see around craft land - but like Alison I resort to a pen around the edges.

I think this tag would look great on a present as the gift would be the surprise. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon - not a card 

Ellibelle - Wednesday - AG 

Paper Funday - AG 

We love 2 Create - AG 

AUTUMN BLESSINGS

I've torn myself away from the Christmas projects I've been making to refocus on Autumn - time enough for Christmas but I always get impatient!

I have this leaf mask by Lavinia Stamps that I haven't used much - I tried doing a press on the gel press of it but wasn't overly impressed with what I got.  I used it anyway and put the mask on top and used some Tim Holtz Distress Inks to add some extra details. 

I added some extra Lavinia silhouette stamps to add to the scene.  The sentiment is from Altenew 

I'm adding this into the following:

Unicorn Challenge - Autumn 

Double Trouble - 3 colours of autumn, 2 images - 1 stencil 

Outlawz - October Poem 

Inkspirational - seasonal

TGIF - seasonal autumn 

Just us girls - moodboard 

GEL PRESS FOLIAGE

The challenge over at The Paper Players is Clean and Simple Foliage.  I don't really do CAS as I love to throw everything at my projects lol!  But.... in my stash I found some fern prints I had done over the summer with the gel press and some Tim Holtz paint.  I wasn't sure what to do with them and thought they would be perfect for this CAS challenge.  I've used both the positive and the negative of the gell prints and layered them on alternate colours.  I haven't made them into cards as I'm going to frame them.  The sentiment is from Tracy Evans 

I'm adding them into the following

Paper Players - CAS Foliage 

The outlawz challenge - not a card - these will be added to a frame 

Simply CAS - AG 

Crafty Chicks - CAS 

Ellibelle Garden Party 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - CAS 

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

I'm playing with another Tim Holtz stamp set Watercolor Trees - inspired by the sketch at Sunday Stamps.

I used Peeled Paint Distress Oxide for the middle tree for its base and spritzed the stamp with water to give a watery effect.  I used Twisted Citron for the other two trees.  For the layering I  used Versafine Shady Lane and Tulip Red for the decorations.  I used Versafine Portobello for the pots and left them without colouring them.  I added the sentiment twice as per the carol to fit in with Sweet Stampin Challenge.  A touch of Wow metallic silver sparkle along the edge finished off the card. 

I had to be firm with myself to leave this card somewhat CAS and not fill in all that background!! 

I'm adding this into the following

Sunday Stamps - Sketch 

Peace on Earth - mood board - christmas trees 

Allsorts - Traditional Christmas Colours 

Inspired by Song - Christmas Carol 

Mr Frostie Tag

I've recently treated myself to Tim Holtz Mr Frostie stamp set - I spotted it last year but it sold out really quickly.  I've been having loads of fun playing with this set some examples of which are on my Instagram account and others will be in DT challenges later on.  Today though I had a play with Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge to use more than one stencil.

Easily done for me.  I started off my background by using a snowflake stencil I had in my stash.  I then added some Tim Holtz Speckled Egg embossing powder.  I then added a layer of Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide and cleaned it off the embossed pieces.  A spritz of water over the top gave the speckled effect.

I then used a Tim Holtz stencil which is quite old called Dot Fade - it's number is THS006 so shows you how long I've had it.  I used some Cosmic Shimmer Sparkle Texture Paste over the top just using my fingers to push it into the tiny holes.##I cut out a Tim Holtz Die Cut Flurry with some sparkly paper and just added half of it to the tag.  Mr Frostie was stamped and cut out and added with dimensionals.  I used the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons in Frozen Fog and Juniper Berry for the snowman.  I love these colours and wish they were in inks as well as the crayons.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment three times and added the two to the top and an extra one to the snowman.

I'm adding this into the following:

Simon Says Stamp monday - use more than one stencil 

Simon Says Stamp Wed - Christmas 

Neglected Stuff - My Tim Holtz embossing powder - eek I always forget it and go for white 

We love 2 create - AG 

Inkspirational - seasonal 

12 months of Christmas - snowfall 

AUTUMN TAG

It's been one of those sleepless nights so the best thing to do is craft.  I wanted to make a tag to play along with Tag-along challenge and their theme is Autumn.  Right up my street. 

I dug out some old Visible Image stamps I haven't used for a while - Nuts About Squirrels and Totally Toadstools.  I think that toadstool is one of my favourite fungi stamps!  

I created my background using Salvaged Patina Distress Oxides and Frayed Burlap with a touch of Black Soot and Walnut Stain around the edges.  I then stamped the larger toadstool and coloured it in.  I then masked it off and added some extra mushrooms around the base.  I stamped the log and added the small squirrel and an extra squirrel on top of the toadstool.  I included some of the lovely acorns at the top of the tag.

Extra stamping came from Tracy Evans with the ants (yuk I hate them but thought they would go well here ) and some background word stamping.  The Sentiment came from Waffle Flower - Fall Greetings set.

I'm adding this into the following:

Tag Along - Autumn 

Creative Fingers - AG 

Outlawz Festive Friday - Autumn 

Craft Rockets - Autumn 

Ellibelle - From the Garden 

Critter Crazy - AG 

Stamping Sensations - Autumn

MEADOW CARD

I was just having a play on a scrap piece of watercolour paper - creating some little squares of three different Distress Ink - Iced Spruce, Frayed Burlap and Rusty Hinge for an autumnal feel.  I then added some stamping in the squares from Alison Bomber. I added a leaf made from a book page with Tim Holtz Leaf Fragments die.  I stamped the word meadow on to some calico.  The sentiment is from an Altenew set called Autumn Bounty.  The background is a leaf stencil by Creative Expressions. 

I'm adding this into the following:

CardzforGuys - Autumn 

Unicorn Challenge - Autumn 

Inspire Create - Autumn 

Stamping Sensations - Autumn 

We love Stamping - Autumn 

Outlawz - October Poem 

Craft Rocket - Autumn 

ADDICTED TO STAMPS #503 - BIRTHDAYS

Welcome back to another Birthday challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  I've used a gorgeous stamp by Tim Holtz together with the co-ordinating stencil which came in the mini pack.  

I started off by smooshing some Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide onto the cardstock together with a touch of Iced Spruce.  I then used the stencil and the same Fossilized Amber to create the background.  The flower was stamped and embossed once the background was all dry and I used Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils to colour it in. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp set Wild Birthday which I was gifted by SSS.

I'm adding this into the following:

Hearts Quest - Birthday 

DD Triple - Blossom 

Lets Create - AG 

Krafty Chicks - Birthday 

We love stamping - AG 

THE HOLLY AND IVY - #193 ANYTHING GOES

Welcome back to another challenge at Holly & Ivy.  I've used an old Tim Holtz holly stamp for my border on my card - using the watercolour technique.  Ink the stamp up with Distress Ink and then spritz with a touch of water before adding it to the card stock.  I used Festive Berries and Peeled Paint. It gives this lovely watercolour feel.  The sentiment was embossed in Green SU embossing powder and coloured in with the same Distress Ink of Festive Berries. 

INSPIRATION STATION CHALLENGE - #78

I hope you are inspired by our image above for your dose of Inspiration Station this month.  Don't forget to tell us what elements you chose from our above picture for your project.  

I realised I didn't have any pumpkin stamps in my stash and treated myself to two new sets.  The one I used for this card is by Altenew called Autumn Bounty.  Although it is more geared to the American market as it has a lot about Thanksgiving on it which we don't celebrate here in the UK I fell in love with the pumpkin image and the set also has a lot of other sentiments and words I can use.

I started off my card by using some masking tape around the outside of the front of the card and used an old stencil with some Tim Holtz Distress Oxides to create the background leaves.  I then stamped the image and coloured it in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils. The colours are a lot richer than they appear here in the picture. I used one of the word stamps from the set.

CREATIVE ARTISTE MIXED MEDIA #120

Welcome back to another Mixed Media challenge at Creative Artiste.  Now what do we mean by Mixed Media - it seems to have different meanings for different crafters and artists.  On our challenge group we would like to see you use at least three different types of medium - paints - be they oils, acrylics, watercolours, distress paint, - papers - such as old book pages, magazine images, designer series paper, handmade backgrounds, gesso, texture paste, die cuts, foliage, the list is endless.  We would love you to challenge yourselves out of your comfort zone and join in with us with more mixed media elements.

My piece uses some old packaging from a cat food box - when you tear away the paper you get this lovely ribbed cardboard which is a great basis for some mixed media play.  I covered it in gesso and then also some crackle paint in places. I also used some Tim Holtz Distress Paint to add extra colour to the background.  The paper leaves are from Tim Holtz die cuts and I've used old book pages and some gel prints to cut them out. Adding extra ephemera pieces created from stamps by Tracy Evans adds to the interest including sentiments from some of Tracy's older stamps.  I've added the sentiments to some burlap and tucked some dried poppy and flower seeds behind it.  This burlap is great as it comes pre-glued.  My piece measures approx 6" x 7" and will make a great piece of Autumn decor for my home. 

I'm adding this into the following:

Inspired By - Autumn/Fall 

Just Us Girls - Leaves 

Creative Inspiration - AG

MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES - SENTIMENT AS FOCAL POINT

Welcome back to another monthly challenge from Moving Along with the Times - our challenge to you this month if to use a sentiment as the focal point.  I loved this challenge as it made me look through my stamps and remind myself of what I have and I found this.

The sentiment is from a Visible Image stamp set called Express Yourself.  I used a background I had made with the gel press which was a very faint image and added extra stamping with a crackle stamp by Alison Bomber.  I also stamped her blackberry stamps at the top and bottom leaving the middle ground for the sentiment.  I added a Tim Holtz Transparent Wing.  I used Tim Holtz Watercolour pencils for the colouring. 

THE MALE ROOM - #203 - FOR A BABY BOY

A card for the little men in our lives this month for our challenge at The Male Room this month.  Baby cards are not really ones I seem to make so I had to put my thinking head on for this one.  I found an old Stampin Up set in the back of the cupboard which had this cute image of the kangaroo and the baby koala inside.

I had some cute baby papers which I had used for a scrapbook page recently of my little grandson so they were perfect to use on this card.  The Baby Boy banner card was part of the set and I stamped the words from the Stampin Up set inside.  I used the same background paper to stamp the image and then coloured it in with Tim Holtz Watercolour Pencils. 

PEARLY SPARKLES - PUMPKINS AND/OR AUTUMN LEAVES

Welcome back to another challenge at Pearly Sparkles.  Can you believe I don't have any pumpkin stamps!  I even had a look through what may be out there to buy but they all seemed to be hallowe'en type ones and not just autumnal pumpkins.  If anyone knows of any I'd love to have a heads up.

So my card focused on Autumn leaves.  Autumn is my favourite season and it's all just starting to happen slowly in my part of Wales.  My chutney has already been made and the sloe gin is next on the menu.  I digress.  Back to my card!  I started off with a very old embossing folder - I've added a picture below.  I can't even make out the name on it but if you have something similar in your stash this idea may work for you too.

I started off by inking up the leaves around the oval in Distress Inks in Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Gathered Twigs and a touch of Spiced Marmalade.  I spritzed it with some water then ran it through the Big Shot and I love how it came out.

Previously I've been playing with Tim Holtz Leaf Fragments dies even before he did a You Tube of them lol!  I used various inks to create the leaves and I also used book pages but they just didn't seem to quite fit this theme. I took three of the leaves and added them to the centre of the image.  The sentiments are from two separate Tracy Evans sets for Aallandcreate.

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE #502 CHRISTMAS

Welcome back to another Christmas challenge from ATSM - hopefully you are well on the way to having a good stash of Christmas cards ready for the season.

My card today features one of the delightful stamps by Alison Bomber.  This is one of my favourite carols and I'm so pleased to have it on a stamp.  

I chose to do some purples with this card - not a colour I often use but I thought it went with the bleak winter colours.  I used Dusty Concord Distress Oxide for the border.  I then used a variety of Tim Holtz stamps from his Winter Watercolour collection.  Some of them were water coloured - that is I stamped them and then added a spritz of water - it softens the stamped image.  I added some in Evergreen Bough Distress and the purple is Versafine Twilight.  I added some splatters of white for snow.  

I'm adding this into the following:

Girlz Creative Christmas - AG 

Creative Fingers - AG 

Outlawz Festive - Christmas 

Cardz for Galz - Green and Purple 

Little Red Wagon - Holidays 

12 months of Christmas - AG 

Merry Little Christmas - AG 

Stamping Sensations - AG 

Dream Factory - mainly purple 

THE HOLLY AND IVY #192

Welcome back to another Holly & Ivy Christmas challenge.  If you've been playing along with us all year you will have made a great start to your Christmas cards.

I had been playing with some water colouring and I didn't want to waste the inks I had remaining so mopped them up onto a piece of cardstock.  I then decided to add some extra interest with a snowflake stencil and some Distress Spritz in Broken China.  Eek it made it very bright and as you may know I don't always do bright colours. 

I toned it down with a touch of Antique Linen and then decided to embrace the bold colours with a sparkling snowflake.  This is a Tim Holtz die.  The sentiment is an old one from my stash.  I added some extra sparkle and quite liked how this turned out in the end. 

CHRISTMAS ANGEL

I'm playing along with a couple of challenges today which inspired by tag.  Things with Wings by Tag Along and Simon Says Stamp Monday use metal.

It's been a while since I inked this angel stamp by Tim Holtz from his Mini Holidays 4 set.  The background had previously been made with a gel press and some Unchartered Mariner Distress Ink.  I stamped the angel and embossed it in silver.

I added some extra stamping of the music score in Versafine Clair Twilight.  I white embossed the star from the same set and added a metal snowflake Tim Holtz ephemera piece to the top of the tag.  The words were cut out from an old dictionary I use.  I added lots more silver around the edges - Wow Metallic Silver Sparkle. 

I'm adding this into the following

TAG Along - things with wings 

Simon Says Stamp Monday - Metal 

CRAFT challenge - Christmas 

Aud Sentiments - Tag 

AUTUMN LEAVES

I don't think I'm alone in loving Autumn - it's gorgeous colour changes to the leaves and the light at this time of year - though as we speak I'm not really enjoying the storms roaring through Wales at the moment.  We have a rather large sycamore tree near our house and, with all the weight of its leaves still intact and the intense rain it could be a disaster for the tree were it to loose it's roots.  Fingers crossed it stays put.

I couldn't settle to creating anything whilst sitting at my desk wanting to play and saw the challenge from Allsorts regarding leaves and trees and that was my motivation to get out some stamps. 

My background started out with an ink smooshing session and I used a Tim Holtz stencil to lift off some of the colour - you can just see the white squiggles it left behind.  I added the Hazel tree from Lavinia stamps.  The leaves were from a die cut session I did recently after watching an Alison Bomber video.  The dies are from Tim Holtz.  I added some pieces of ephemera and the sentiment is from Visible Image.  The birds are from Waffle Flower.

I'm adding this into the following:

Allsorts - leaves trees 

Creative Crafters - AG 

We Love2Create - AG 

Avenue613 - Leaves 

Sunday Stamps - use 3 colours russet, brown, grey/blue birds 

Inkspirational - Trees 

Sweet Stampin - Use Die Cuts 

Snarky Stampers - Autumn /fall 

Creative Fingers - AG 

Creative Moments - Trees 

Inspired by - Leaves 

Simon Says Stamp Wed - Layer it up - Tim Holtz ephemera 

Crafty Gals Corner - Fall.... leaves 

Ellibelle's Garden - from the garden