Enjoy the ride

Although it looks like an inky background it is actually a piece of designer paper, stamped the wording, stamped and fussy cut the motorbike (Red Lead Designs stamp) added a bit of torn map paper and the stamped tyre tracks.  I'd like to enter these challenges

Allsorts challenge - From Boys to Men

and

Addicted to CAS - Masculine

Brrrrrr...........

Well I don't know about anywhere else but the change in the weather here is a shock to the system, I have had to put on a jumper and I very nearly turned on the heating !  In line with the weather I've been playing about with the stamps that are with Creative Stamping magazine this month and on a very autumnal scheme.

Had to use this cute little bird somewhere. I love the blackberry stamps too and I always enjoy making a wreath card.

It was the hedgehog stamp that I first noticed on the stamp set but you can hardly see him on here hiding in the pile of leaves, he does show up better in real life!

This is my favourite of the three although my red squirrel seems to have become more of a ginger squirrel on here ! 

Not made these cards for any reason or challenge, just enjoying my stress free playtime

Inspired by a song

Time for a new challenge on Try It On Tuesday and this time the challenge is "Inspired By A Song", the design team have some lovely art to share with you so do pop over and have a look.
My card started out as something different but seemed to have a mind of its own! Background is a mix of Dylusion spray and one of my home made ones that has quite a lot of lustre to it, think it was made with Luna Light paint.  The flowers are Woodware Fancy Flowers,stamped onto painted paper and fussy cut. The butterflies and bees are both Crafty Individuals, wording computer generated.

Whoops!  I forgot to mention the song title which is the hymn All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small.  It started out as going to be a song about sunshine but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Quick Christmas card

I thought I had missed Maureen's Rudolph challenge for July but then I got an email from a fellow blogger to tell me it was running a week late.  I have been quite busy the last few days but tonight I just found time to make a very quick CAS card.  I still had the ink sprays out from earlier cards so got messy again with them.  I had enough inky card to make four of these which I will put together later. Just mounted the panel on some gold card, the die cuts were already in my Christmas die cuts box so just a case of assembling them.  

Funny Fungi

The months are flying past and its time for the August challenge at Stamping Sensations.  We have a new sponsor this month Rubber Dance Stamps  and I have used one of their stamps , Funny Fungi for the main stamping on my card (the small fairies and toadstools are by Inkylicious)  I made the background with brusho colours , stamped the Fungi with black ink and then bleached them out (first time I had used bleach on Brusho and was happy it worked so well)  painted them with Brilliant watercolours. The challenge this month is an Anything Goes one but as we are a stamping challenge your entry MUST have stamping as the main focus to be considered for the lovely prize of a £25 voucher for Rubber Dance shop.

Something beginning with B

I was very happy to be asked to be a guest designer on Penny Black And More

challenge.  The challenge is for something beginning with B so for my card I have used one of my favourite stamps "Botanical notes" there is also B for butterfly and B for Blue.  The background paper is from a Tim Holtz Wallflower pad.

Krafty Christmas

Time for the August challenge at Sparkles Christmas and this month Caz has chosen the challenge to use Kraft card. Now I have to say I am not a fan of Kraft card but when I do use it ,it has to be with red!  So my card is almost self explanitary, Big star is a Sue Wilson die, small stars are punched,Christmas word  I picked up in a sale bin, think its a Sheena Douglas. Hope you will join us in our challenge and add to your Christmas card stash.

Just a note

Searching for some Christmas papers I found a couple of sheets of this ,I think it was by Craftwork Cards and given to me by a friend.  I coloured in the flowers with zig watercolour pens and made a couple of note cards

The Just a note stamp is a free one from Crafty Individuals, never used before but now I've found it will be using it again as I love the font. There is still a week to go on Try It On Tuesday challenge which is to use book paper/magazine paper etc.

Have Cake !

Just had another play with this Penny Black stamp, I don't know why the sequins look pink on here as they are really a sort of yellow/peach colour.  I have spent two afternoons and evenings sorting out the enormous stack of  craft magazines that had accumulated in the corner of this room. I think it must be a couple of years since I made any attempt to sort it out! I do subscribe to two magazines but think I will cancel at least one of them ,the last few issues have been quite disappointing. Anyhow I have ended up with just one basket of them now (plus a pile of articles I've torn out for future ideas,mostly techniques that I'd like to try, just need to find a home for them now) We had a lovely downpour last night and through the night and then again this morning and late afternoon,everything feels much fresher now. Anyhow I'd like to enter my card into a couple of challenges which are

Cardz4galz - Food and/or drink

and

Always Happy Birthday - Birthday/ cake

Book Paper

Its time for a new challenge at Try It On Tuesday and this time we are asking you to use book paper on your project.  For my page I have used a piece of inky card layered with music and patterned tissue, I added torn strips of print from an old book and then layered a piece of Idealogy Collage paper over the top and added a couple of chit chat stickers. For more inspiration take a visit to Try It On Tuesday challenge blog to see what the design team has to show you,look forward to seeing your entries.

A Perfect Gentleman

A very quick collage card using Graphic 45 Perfect Gentleman papers.  I have hoarded and stroked Graphic 45 papers for a few years now but the time has come for them to get used !  As I have a big concertina file full of them including every tiny scrap saved it will take some time to even slim the file down a bit but making a start with this card.

Cardz4guyz Challenge - Men's Fashion

Flowers all over

Still playing with Brusho paints and getting messy,  I stamped and embossed the Hero Arts stamp and embossed in gold, sprinked patches of  Rose Pink and Emerald Green Brusho and liberally sprayed with water allowing the paint to flow and cover the entire image. After that dried I painted the flowers and leaves with the same Brusho colours. My very ancient Krylon gold pen finally expired but I found another gold leaf pen to edge the piece with,background is another piece coloured with the same brusho colours. I'm feeling quite liberated just enjoying what I'm making at the moment and revisiting old techniques. I'd like to enter a couple of challenges

Allsorts Challenge - Flowers All Over

and

Ellibelles Corner Challenge - also Flowers all over

Planes,Trains and Automobiles

Ages since I've made a collage style card as they seem to have rather gone out of favour but on mission to regain my pleasure in crafting I've had a go at making one.  Looking through challenges I saw that Frilly and Funky have a challenge for Planes,Trains and Automobiles and that their style is vintage or shabby chic and that is what kick started this piece, not sure if it meets their criteria but I'll enter it anyway.

Also like to enter these challenges too

The Male Room  -  Include an unexpected item ( The Panama Jack clothing tag in the R.H corner)

Watercooler Challenge - Masculine   

and

Stinkininker challenge - planes,trains and automobiles

   

                                           

                                                   

More Crafty Individuals

Another card for our July challenge at Stamping Sensations  In My Garden theme, this month we are being sponsored by Crafty Individuals and as I have lots of their stamps it was hard to choose which to use. I have used the acrylic block stamping technique for the background and them simply stamped over it with black Versafine ink, added a little colour to a couple of the flowers and the dragon fly and some punched butterflies from a left over bit of the oxide ink back ground piece, there is still plenty of time to enter our challenge so hope to see you there.

Words

The challenge at Try It On Tuesday is to Add A Quote and there is still a week to enter .  After I had made my DT card last week I thought that I do not use my quotation stamps nearly enough so last night I made a batch of Brusho backgrounds and tonight I have been stamping and adding quotes to some of the pieces.

For this one I have stamped the Crafty Individuals Baroque background, the quotation is from an old set of Elusive Image (now Chocolate Baroque) stamps and the butterflies are also Elusive images stamped onto an extra piece, of inky paper and fussy cut

For my second card I have used Inkylicious Ballerina stamp, added a bit of glitter to her Tutu and a quote from a very old Chapel Road stamp set, a few punched glitter stars added.

Used the gorgeous Visible Image butterfly for this one, quote from Artistic Stamper and foliage from Inkylicious

This is my least favourite but maybe it will grow on me ! its a Woodware stamp and an Elusive image butterfly, I have tried to add a bit of colour to the plants but think I would stamp it in another colour another time.

I have been really struggling with crafting for some time now and have even considered giving it up but I've made a few decisions as I have realised I was feeling pressured to produce cards for my charity ,making cards I knew would sell rather than just making what I really like, so I am putting that on hold for the time being.  The above cards were my first just for fun play and I have enjoyed making them .