Altered beer-mat

First of all, thank you all for the lovely comments you have beeen leaving me recently. I have been on holiday and for the past 10 days have had no internet connections,  the joys of having a family who love to off road landrovers.  I was pleased I left a couple of things on scheduled posts. I will be catching up with you all soon, my craftroom is out of bounds till all the washing and ironing have been  done and put away.

This is my piece for the current  Try it on Tuesdays challenge, which is to alter anything. There is a voucher for the Craft Barn up for grabs, so pop over and get the details.
So, how did I alter this beermat. First of all out came my colour tester pots of matt emulsion paints. Blue for the base, let it dry. A covering of diluted PVA glue, I leave this until it is  tacky. Last of all a covering of   magnolia. a colour most of us will have heard about. I always love to see the crackles appearing when this dries out. The Daisies are Joanna Sheene's coloured with acrylic paints. I think I will be coating this with clear varnish, so I can use it as a  coffee cup coaster on my desk.
Thankyou for stopping by, I appreciate you visiting me.

Girls day out.

This week at Try it on Tuesdays our challenge is the 'Wild card'  and Janet has chosen the theme.
'Hang it Up',   make a hanging of any sort. Please pop over and see what my super team mates have been making and join in the fun.
The stamps I used for this piece were  Elusive Images and Darkroom door. One of the layers I put through a script embossing folder. The trimmings came from my stash.
Guess the colours for shading- tea dye od course, together with vintage photo.  The girls were coloured with cosmic shimmer watercolours.

This hanging will also fit the current challenge over at Creative Craft Challenges which is Anything but a card.

Thankyou for taking time to stop by, I realy appreciate you calling.

Meggy

Week 29 over at Just for Fun and a new theme. this time the colours of 'Black, White and Silver'.
My own faithful friend is Meggy,  a lovely old Border collie who is now nearly 10 years old..
The image is a Joanna Sheen stamp  designed by by Jayne Netley Maythew., edged with Black Soot distress ink. The  silver layer,  is miri board,  I used a brick embossing folder  then sanded the suface to take a bit of the shine away.
Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate you calling.

Lizzie

As you can see I am still reaching for my favourite colours of DI to shade and stamp my backgrounds, tea dye and antique linen. The stamps I used for the layers are  Artistic outpost and  a grungy brick stamp, I think is a Tim Holtz.
Lizzie is the Sugar Nellie  Goth Girl stamp, coloured with cosmic shimmer watercolours.
She is off to meet her teen age friends for the day, mum won the argument about her wearing all black.
Realy that was me,  as I was the one  with the the paintbrush.

The Randon Redhead challenge this month over at Gingersnap Creations is GC115-A Tribute to the Teens.
So Lizzie is off  visit there.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

Willow and her Alter ego.

Fairies or Angels is this weeks theme over at Make my Mondays.  Now this is well out of my comfort zone, but  I do like  the challenge to see what I can make.
The base card was given the distress ink treatment with dusky concorde. Lavender papers for the layers, one I edged with a Martha Stewart butterfly edger punch.  Willow the name of the fairy is an Inca stamp, she has never been out of the drawer in years. I used cosmic shimmer watercolour paints on the fairy image.
Now the flower.  Its made using the Alterations shabby floral die cut,  a tip I had at a Craft retreat earlier this year was to carefully run the edges of gauzy material through a candle flame, it realy curls the edges.

So, as mentioned in the title here  is Willow's Alter ego. The  voluptuous Arabella.

 This is just for fun and  you may see her again nearer Christmas spreading her magic.I used a stencil on the base card with vintage photo distress inks and a piece of home made paper for the image, which is a Mo Manning stamp, again, water colour painted.

Challenge No2 over at Fashionable Stamping  is Handmade Flowers, so Willow will be flying over there as well.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

A visit from Santa

Well me making a Christmas card this early in the year is nothing short of miraculous.
However when I saw that  the new  challenge theme over at Sugar Creek Hollow was to make a Vintage Christmas card, I had to give it a go.
The  paper layers  are Graphics45 on to a cream base  card,  For one layer I used a Martha Stewart branch punch , but its sort of blended in. The image is a Paper Artsy stamp,  I think he looks real jolly  Santa.
All the shading was done with vintage photo distress inks.

The Secret Crafters Saturday challenge No 147 is Christmas is Coming, so He will be making an appearance over there as well.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look I realy appreciate your comments.

Imagine

The new challenge theme this week over at TioT's  is  'Anything Goes'.
Pop over here ,see what my team mates have been making  and please  join us this week.

I decided to make an ATC. The  background is a variety of stamps,  shaded with  mustard seed, wild honey and barn door distress inks, I then  embossed the swirls. The image is a Stampotique angel, with a bit of cosmic shimmer to colour her wings.
 I will also be joining in the  ATC challenge, where the 8th Challenge is  'Anything goes/ Wings., all the information is here.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

Less is More

The new challenge over at Less is More for week 28 is a One Layer Card, Chrissie and Mandy are saying we can use 'Ink'.
Well out came some  favourite distress inks vintage photo, shabby shutters and broken china. I used these to create the background using a home made rectangular mask. The stamps I used are Crafty Individuals.
I don't often us words these days as I am continuing making my sets of notelets, but this phrase seemed to suit the  image,  'Fill each day with joy'.
Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

Summer friends.

Oh! I sure had fun with this one.  The new Spicy Supply Challenge over at Gingersnap Creations
GC114 is - Baby wipes. To use them in some way on your work.
So first of all , the wipes I had currently in use were only good for the bin. So I left a few out to dry a bit, searched out some old ink pads that were destined for the bin , but hadn't found the way to it yet.
Can you tell I wasn't sure what I was doing at this stage, it was all experiments.
I spritzed the pads with water then blotted them on the wipes. The result  didn't look so bad and I left them to dry.
Two small pieces I used as layers  using Alterations dies  to cut out the heart and some flowers.
The image is a Crafty Individuals stamp coloured with cosmic shimmer watercolour paint.

This will also I think fit the new Stampman challenge  Challenge 29 .  Anything goes with summer colours

Thankyou for stopping by I realy appreciate your comments.

ABC...123

I would have loved to colour this image, but for  this weeks challenge over at Just for Fun the theme  is Black and White.
For the base I used a number mask and black soot distress ink, some places it is lighter than others, I had taken the mask off the card before I realised.  The young girl  image with her school slate is a Personal Impressions stamp.. The branch border is made with a Martha Stewart punch.
I had a good rummage in my button box  to find the button, its tied with string.
Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

Birds on a Branch.

Birds or Bugs is the theme   for  the  challenge this week  over at Make my Monday.

For the base layers of this card I used papers by 7Gypsies, the birds I thought would be just right for the background.. The little birds on the branch are a Crafty Individuals stamp. Coloured with cosmic shimmer watercolour paint . The shading is once again distress inks, shabby shutters and tumbled  glass.
I used a Martha Stewart punch for the branch strip.
Sir Stampalot's challenge for August is 'What ever you Fancy' so these little birds will I hope fit in this challenge as well.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look I realy appreciate your comments.

Listen to the trees

Well, I do think trees creak and groan when its windy, so you could say they 'whisper in the wind '., Thats why I chose this title for my tag,

This weeks  challenge at Try it on Tuesdays is to make a   Tag   and the theme is Trees.
Pop over and see the super examples made by my fellow team mates.

The background is stamped with some Crafty Individual and Elusive Images stamps.
The large tree is  from an embossing folder which I cut out. The tree picture is also by Crafty Individuals.
For the shading  I used distress inks tumbled glass, shabby shutters and walnut stain.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

The bike.

Another card using  my Darkroom Door set of stamps, this time I have kept to a Neutral Colour theme so I can enter it in the latest Sugar Creek Hollow challenge.
All the paper layers  came from my stash, as did the lace, ribbon and wooden  leaf.
 I used a tea dye distress ink on the edges, the image  was stamped with  Adirondak-Expresso.

This is also my second entry to the new  Fashionable Stamping Challenge blog's first challenge theme which is Anything Goes.
Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

Black and White

Another card challenge with a colour theme , this time Black and White only, over at The Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge
I used a Darkroom Door stamp for the image, I love the bike propped up outside the Cafe.
 The sentiment is from Inkylicious.  I embossed  the black strip with a brickwall folder, the branch  strip was made with a Martha Stewart punch.
Thankyou for stopping by I realy appreciate your comments.

Less is More

Week 27 over at Less is More  is a Colour challenge. Mandi and Chrissie want us to use our own Countries' flag as a colour theme.  So here is my  'red, white and blue' the colours of the Union Jack.
A layer of red corogated card, then a blue layer [ it looks darker on the photo].
Then out came, yet again my favourite rose stamp which I coloured with red and blue cosmic shimmer watercolours.
Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate the comments you leave.

All white.

The  challenge for week 27 over at Just for Fun is 'White on White'.

I decided  to make an ATC  this took me ages to think of white only and not to reach for a stamp or ink..
 Its amazing how tonal white can be. 
The base layer, plain white card was embossed with swirls .
I then found a small piece of a white pearl paper, that got embossed [ script]  as well.
The wood  fancy circle I covered with white embossing powder.
To finish I added card candy, a tassel  and ribbon,  all white of course.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate the comments you leave.

Washing Day.

I think this little cat is trying to keep a low profile in case he ends up in Ella's wash tub.
I used  stamps from the Adorables Range called Wash Day Wishes for this card. The colouring is mainly cosmic shimmer  watercolour paints, some promarkers  and for the shading my favourite tea dye and antique linen distress inks.  I  used distress stickles for the foam on the tub.
This week the GC113 Chestnut theme challenge over at Gingersnap Creations  is - Babes and Tots.
So I hope this little one will fit the theme.

Also  at Craft us Crazy Challenge 14  for August is Anything Goes.

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.

Butterflies

Another card made with my own backing paper, left over from the card I made yesterday.  Thought I would show you a piece before it all gets used up.

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This is a real change of colours for me, using an orange base card and a torn piece of antique gold paper. I layered   the patterned paper ,  adding three stamped,  then embossed  butterflies.
So Caz, if you read this I did find a butterfly stamp, but who's it is. I have no idea. The butterflies were coloured with cosmic shimmer watercolour paint the while still a bit damp I brushed them with a bit of mica powder. The shading is done with tea dye and  wild honey distress inks.

The  theme for this months challenges over  at Make My Monday is  Things with Wings.
All the details can be found here.
This week the challenge is to add butterflies or dragonflies to your project.
Also at Crafty Cardmakers the current challenge No 50 is Flutterbies, so I'm sure this fits the theme over there as well.

Thankyou for stopping by I realy appreciate your comments.

Home made background paper.

 I realy enjoy making my own background papers,  its amazing the results you can get with a few stamps and an assortment of colours. For this paper I  used four  shades of  my brown distress inks. The  stamps used were Creative expressions - Wild Flowers

The main image which I embossed,  also came from this set. Shading on the edges was done with tea dye distress inks.
I am hoping this card will fit these challenge themes -
 The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge  - Monochromatic
Sugar Creek Hollow -Make your own designer paper
Fashioanable Stamping an exciting new challenge blog, who's first theme is Anything Goes.

Thankyou for stopping by, I realy appreciate your comments.

A day at the Seaside

Card Week at Tuesday Taggers and theme is to  be inpired by the   'Beach'.
Pop over here to see the super examples done by my fellow team-mates.
My thinking for this card was to create a scene using some Elusive Images stamps [now Chocolate Baroque]. Colouring  and shading with cosmic shimmer watercolour paints.
 I then remembered I had this super bathing belle by Crafty Individuals, with the words we all know well,-
I do like to be beside the seaside,
I do like to be beside the sea.
So at this stage I decided enough was enough, add the seagulls who always seem to be around when eating the sandwiches  and layer it up.
Another seaside theme this card will fit  is here at  the Craftroom Challenge blog  'Summer Holidays'

Thankyou for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate your comments.