I love Magnolias

Our next door neighbours have the most beautiful Magnolia tree. There are many around our area, but their's is just perfect. Luckily it's in the front garden and I get to enjoy it every time I leave the house.

So anyway, when I saw The Ton's new stamp set, Magnificent Magnolia's, I just had to have it, despite owning several other Magnolia stamps.

I have attempted to make a faux watercolour card, using Copic Markers. This is my 6th attempt, because I was not happy with the colours. I'm still not satisfied, but practise makes better!

Many of my copic markers are starting to go dry and unfortunately I invested more in markers than refills. This will obviously have to change!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:-

More Penny Black Blossoms & Exciting News

Hello again:)  I hope you're enjoying a lazy Sunday, wherever you may be. We are recovering here today as the temperatures soared to 42C yesterday!

I'm very excited to announce I'll be joining the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Design Team.
They are definitely my favourite stamp company, so I'm excited to have even more reason to use and maybe even buy some more!

Here is my second card That I mentioned in yesterday's post.

I used the same method as the previous cards, but this time I used Distress Markers. The blossom stamp is from Penny Black and the sentiment is from Stamplorations.

I am entering the following challenges:-

Anything Goes

Something new - new (to me) stamps 

Penny Black Blossoms

It's been so long since my last post, that I can't think of a fun intro. So I'll just say Happy New Year! I hope 2018 is a kind and exciting year to you all!

I am sharing a card I made last week when I was attempting to get back into crafting after the silly season. Actually I made 2 versions and this is the first...

Sadly I had a request for sympathy and get well cards and I realised I need to replenish my stocks as well, so you may see me posting a few of these in the next few months.

This is a beautiful stamp from Penny Black called 'Spring Blossoms'. I used Zig Markers, colouring directly on to the stamp, spritzing with water and the stamping. I then used a wet brush to add some more detail.  I think the sentiment is from Altenew and the dies are from STAMPlorations and Memory Box.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:-
                                         
                                             

                                      Penny Black Saturday Challenge -  Anything Goes

Something New - All new to me products used

Something New - All new to me products used

Another Winter Wonderland

I am so in love with the Penny Black Stamp I used in the following card and I know it will be used frequently.

I used Penny Black  'Dressed in Snow' and added another tree in the background using a stamp from 'Prancers'.
The deer and the birds are made with IO dies - I layered a black and white deer to make it stand out. The sentiment and the snowman are from Papertrey Ink 'In the Meadow' - I white embossed the snowman on black card.  The snow in the foreground was laid on thick and adhered with a tacky glue to give it a textured look. To finish I added some snow to the trees with gel pen and layered with the striped paper and white backing card.

I'm entering the following challenges:-

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Winter or Christmas

Christmas/Winter Holidays

I was inspired by the texture

Challenge me a Christmas Card

Hi there. Today I'm delighted to be joining my friend Michelle Lupton,of 'Handmade by Michelle'  to make a card for her 'Challenge Me a  Christmas card' series. 

Last year Michelle asked her Facebook friends to set her a challenge to make a Christmas card with a specific theme, or technique, or product to use. She had so much fun last year, that she's doing it again  this year and has asked some of her crafty friends to collaborate with her. 

Our specific theme today is 'A Year of Travel'. When I got this theme from Michelle, I thought "ok, that is a challenge" and it definitely wasn't what I was expecting! However, if it wasn't challenging, it wouldn't be a challenge and we can interpret it any way we like.  So this is my take on it.... 

To begin I sponged distress inks on to watercolour paper and spritzed. When dry,  I stamped the the world map several times,  gold embossed and then die cut the baubles (christmas ornaments).  I chose the 'Passport Stamps' embossing folder
for the the background as I thought it fitted the theme. To finish I stamped and die cut the sentiment and assembled it all, adding the red bows for a more 'Christmas-y' feel.

This card is for my daughter, who is jetting off on her first solo overseas holiday in January!
Here is the inside of the card

And then, because I embraced the theme I couldn't stop at one ...

I couldn't get a good pic of this one - it's red not orange! The die cut and embossing folder are from Kaisercraft.

Thanks so much Michelle, for asking me to join in this fun challenge. If you haven't seen Michelle's card yet, then you should check it out here.

I'm entering the following challenges:-

Clean & Layered

Guest Designing for Craft Stamper

I'm very excited to be a guest designer this month for the Craft Stamper Take it, Make it challenge.
I was awarded this guest spot after winning the October challenge.

This challenge is always 'Anything Goes', so long as there is some stamping in the project and there is a wonderful prize for a random winner as well a chance to be chosen designer winner and get published. So go on - give it a go! You can find all the details here.

Here is my card...

I began by stamping Penny Black's 'Restful'.  I used archival grey ink for the foreground and black for the background -  my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform made it easy to do this. Next I added some pine trees in background using stamps from Penny Black 'Prancers'.  I sponged the background with distress inks and went over this with a damp brush , also adding the Tumbled Glass shading to the snow. The snow flakes, from Kaisercraft 'Christmas Winter Frosted Snowflakes' were stamped with  white ink and white embossed and the sentiment stamped in black. . The deer is also from Kaisecraft,from a die/stamp set called 'Traditional Christmas'. I added some snow with a white gel pen and sponged the edges of the panel with Antique Linen for a more vintage look. Finally I decided to add some more critters, so I stamped the rabbit and squirrel from Papertrey Ink 'In the Meadow'. The panel was then mounted on a black base card.


Thanks so much for visiting and I always love to read your comments. You can see more inspiration from the Design Team over at the Craft Stamper blog. 

Non Traditional Christmas Colours

Hello there. Has anyone else suddenly gone in to panic mode? I can't believe how fast December is going and I just realised I need to make some lists to make sure I'm ready for the big day. We're spending Christmas at our beach house, so I'm also thinking about all the crockery/glasses etc I will need to transport there. It will be easier in future years - the first time is the trickiest.

Today I'm sharing a card I made whilst I was in relaxation mode a couple of weeks ago at our beach house.

SSS Monday Icy Inspiration