Friday 1 December 2017

Born to Ballet Card

So on Black Friday Visible Image had the most amazing sale and anyone that knows me knows that my favourite combination is a sale, craft supplies and Visible Image so of course I had to put in an order ( well, actually two. Naughty me!).

One of the sets I bought was Born to Perform. I don't know anyone that does ballet, but my youngest daughter dances with our local street dance group and often takes part in stage shows so the sentiments in this set will be really useful to me as I document her performances in my scrap book. 



To create this card I first made a background with picked raspberry and spiced marmalade distress oxide. Then I applied a deeper layer of picked raspberry distress ink through the strobe stencil ( also by Visible Image). I stamped the ballerina in the centre, and used the stars from the set with versamark ink and wow embossing glitter. I also embossed the sentiment. To finish I dotted prefect pearls around and sprinkled ultra fine glitter on them, and added a thick layer of distress stickles over her skirt, which I sprinkled with coarser glitter to create a super sparkly ruffled look. 

I am entering this in the following challenges:


Creative Artiste December Challenge DT Post

It's time for the final challenge of the year over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge blog and this month we are sponsored by Scrapmatts.


My project this month is a scrapbook layout marking a very momentous day this year- my youngest daughters first day at secondary school.  I started by inking and stamping a 12x12 piece of cardstock.  I kept humming Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd as I was created so I just had to add some brick work in with a stencil and texture paste, which I them coloured with distress ink and gelatos. I had some school themed stickers in my stash which helped add the finishing touches too. 



Challenges:


I hope you will join us this month. As long as your project is mixed media anything goes so get creative and have fun!


Lynda
xxx

Crafts Galore Encore December Challenge DT Post

Finally it's December and we can no longer deny that Christmas is coming! So of course this months project for the new Anything Goes challenge at Crafts Galore Encore just had to be a festive one. 

This month we are kindly sponsored by Fred She Said and the prize is a $10 coupon to spend online. 


I have used Emma the Skating Elf. I used my copics to create a little scene around her, and added plenty of glittery snow of course. I teamed her with some snowflake papers from my stash, a hunkydory sentiment topper and some punched snowflakes and peel off trees. 


I hope you will join us this month. 

I am entering this in the following challenges:



Thanks for stopping by and merry Christmas to you all!

Lynda
 xxx

Thursday 23 November 2017

Unicorns- A new Release from Julia Spiri


I am so excited to be sharing today's new release from Julia Spiri. I love all things magical, and especially unicorns and boy has she drawn some beautiful ones for you to enjoy. 

The first is simply called The Unicorn and you can find it here. I coloured her in copics with wink of stella over the top, and gave even more sparkle by creating a dotty background using up my scraps of glitter paper and some snazzy ribbon. 



Challenges:

The second image has yet to be named but you can find it in the shop here. There will be a game over on the Facebook page giving you the opportunity to name it so pop across and play along. 

This is such a tender image that I wanted to give my card a soft magical feel. I created a shaker card and put them amid a flower meadow- so sweet!

Challenges:


My team mates creations are also stunning so pop across to the blog to check them out as they are amazing inspiration. 

Thanks for stopping by

Lynda 
x

Sunday 5 November 2017

Dare to Swim

So it seems yesterday turned out to be a real Visible Image kind of day. I just can't help it- I get my box of their stamps out and can't stop playing with them! Yesterday I shared my skull card, today I am sharing a mixed media card I created using their Fibres Stencil, and stamps from the Dare to Swim set. I just love those wibbly jellyfish!


The background was created with Distress Oxides, which I then went through the stencil with distress ink on top. The images are all stamped direct to the card and heat embossed with glttery powder and painted in twinkling H2O paints. I also added nuvo drops and perfect pears for extra sparkle. 

Challenges:



Saturday 4 November 2017

Skull Card

This week I have taken delivery of some awesome new stamps and stencils from Visible Image. If you're a regular reader of my blog you will know what a huge fan I am of their stamps, but now they have branched into stencils too I am really looking forward to taking my projects to another level and playing with them.
Today I have had a go with Skull Shadow, teamed with a sentiment from Tomorrow Doesn't Exist, exploring my dark side in a message from the grave type way. I really think they just work together so well!

I must confess, this project was a bit of a happy accident. I had some old distress crackle paint that I attempted painting through the stencil over a card coloured with distress oxides. It didn't crackle right as was a bit gloopy so I tried heat setting it as an experiment. It bubbled and crackled away, and then the magic happened and some amazing texture was the result. 

I reapplied the mask to protect the inked area, then used gilding polish in black and purple to add depth and emphasised the edges with a charcoal pencil to finish it off. 


It just goes to show- there are no mistakes in crafting. This could so easily have ended up in the bin but with a bit of patience and reworking it turned out better than I could have imagined!

Challenges:


Thanks for popping by. I'll be back with another project very soon!

Lynda 
xx







Friday 3 November 2017

Creative Artiste Mixed Media Blog November Challenge

It's the first Friday of the month which can only mean one thing- a brand new challenge over at Creative Artiste- yippee!!

This month we are kindly sponsored by Lindy's Stamp Gang.



My project to inspire is a box canvas, featuring multiple layers of paper, paint, texture paste, Lindy's embossing powder,  and, well, anything I could throw at it to be honest! I wanted to create something with a romantic shabby feel, so added hearts, die cuts and flowers to soften the grungy inky look. The stamp is a Prima Doll by Julie Nuttall. 


I hope you will join us this month and play along. 

I am entering this in the following challenges:


Have a lovely crafty weekend!

Lynda 
xx


Face It - Mixed Media Journal Page

Good morning! It's Friday, and what a long week it has been here. Lots of fun too but a working week caring for four 2yr olds has well and truly kept me on my toes, and so last night I felt the urge to indulge myself for a bit and relax with my inks and stamps, and this journal page was the result. 

I had the idea of trying to combine two stamp sets from Visible Image , Face It and Capture The Moment, to create the focal point for my piece, firstly stamping the face, masking off one eye, and then stamping the camera and embossing it to give it a shiny look. Using the Face Shape and Mask stencil set, I coloured the face area with a light coating of Spun Sugar distress ink. I then inked up the background in a combination of Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac and Salty Ocean distress ink. I bleached out some stripy circles using a mask and wet wipe. 

The hair was initially stamped using Grunge Flourish, another Visible Image stamp, which I believe is now retired. Then I used a silver and black marker to create extra depth and texture, and finished her off by colouring the eyes, mouth and also the camera with Zig watercolour pens. 



The flashes were stamped using Rays of Light stamps and Wow glitter embossing powder. I think this is one of my most used stamp sets- they are perfect for backgrounds. 

The sentiment was also embossed to make it pop, and I finished off with my silver marker and a star mask from Scrapmatts

Right, now it''s time for me to go and stalk the postman. There just may be a little order of new stamps about to land on my doormat which will be perfect timing for a weekends entertainment! 

Have a good weekend!

Lynda 
xx






Wednesday 1 November 2017

Crafts Galore Encore November Challenge DT Post

The weather is turning colder and as much as I adore Autumn and could live in the season forever, Winter will soon be upon us, and of course Christmas. So my DT project this month for Crafts Galore Encore's Anything Goes November challenge was made with that in mind. This month we are kindly sponsored by Lemon Shortbread  and I have chosen to work with Winter Hood. The image was coloured with Spectrum Noir pencils and a background created with watercolour paints and an acrylic paint pen. I teamed her up with some vintage paper and an embossed piece of cardstock, which I highlighted with Pebeo gilding wax. I created a flower to add a splash of colour by stamping and embossing a poinsettia stamp from Visible Image and the sentiment is from Hunkydory.  



I am entering this in the following challenges:





Thank you for stopping by. Do join in the challenge if you can as we love to see your creations. 

Lynda
xxx

Saturday 21 October 2017

Glimmer of Light Tag

My entire family is out today, leaving me home alone with just my 3 dogs for company. They are fast asleep in an effort to avoid being dragged out for walkies while Storm Brian whirls around outside, so I have listened to them and decided to stay cosy inside and hit the craft table. 

My first project of the afternoon is a tag. I'm not convinced we won't be plunged into darkness later as the power is flickering in the wind, so it seems appropriate!

To create my tag I first coloured it with musterd seed and spiced marmalade distress stain. When dry I went over with some Ranger Distress Crackle Paint, also in mustard seed. It's gone a bit gloopy with age, but that actually gave it wonderful added texture. 

I wanted to create a dark and light contrast, and found an old mask in my supplies that would work. I used archival ink to black out the areas, then stamped and heat embossed the lightbulb from the Visible Image Glimmer of Light set. To give it a glass appearance I then went over in glossy accents. 

The wasp and sentiment are also from the Glimmer of Light stamp collection. I stamped the wasp onto heat resistant acetate and heat embossed then coloured the clear areas with my alcohol markers. The sentiment was stamped on another piece of coloured card, highlighted with a white pen and layered onto black card to make it pop.



Challenges:


Thursday 19 October 2017

Lulu Cat Girl- Julia Spiri New Release

I'm really excited to be sharing Julia Spiri's newest release image today. She's such a cutie and I love steampunk images! Her name is Lulu and you can find her here in the Etsy store. She also has a super adorable pal called Nessie, so do take a look. 

To create my card I printed Lulu on stamping card and coloured with copics and promarkers before die cutting around her. Being a steampunk image I wanted to create a shabby feel, so I embossed and distressed a mat to mount her on using Core- dinations cardstock. The papers are from a 12x12 pad called Steampunk Botanica by Recollections. I die cut some cogs and gave them a rusty look with Pebeo gilding polish. 


Do pop by the Julia Spiri blog and see what my team mates have created- their work is incredible!

You can also follow Julia on her Facebook page here.

I am entering this in the following challenges:



Thanks for popping by

Lynda
xxx

18th Birthday Card featuring Saturated Canary- Peace Out

I forgot to share this card last week as we were rather caught up in birthday celebrations. My eldest daughter turned 18! Still can't quite believe it, but she's finally an adult , and one who has never been afraid to be true to herself, and I wanted a card that reflects that. She's had a fair selection of hair colours over the last few years, but my favourite was bright pink so I chose to colour the digi Peace Out by Saturated Canary in vibrant magentas. A while ago I spied a book of graffiti art in the charity shop and thought some of the images would make amazing backgrounds for cards, and the colours in this page worked perfectly with the digi stamp. 

I mat and layered it onto some bright pink paper from my stash, which I jazzed up with stamps from Visible Image. The sentiment is their too and seemed appropriate as she starts to carve her own mark on the world. 



Challenges:


Wednesday 18 October 2017

Colours of The Wind

I honestly don't think I will ever tire of Autumn. I just love it. The smells, the incredible colours and textures, kicking up leaves with the kids ( and getting paid for the pleasure- I really do have THE best job in the world as a childminder!), the cosy nights and candles and not to mention the comfort food. Seriously- what's not to love?! I will never understand those that don't like it. My love for the season has become more than just about the things I mention though. It holds the most painful time in my life in it's grasp as I lost my Dad one glorious Autumn day seven years ago, yet somehow,weirdly,  that doesn't detract from the way I feel about it, instead it enhances it, as every day it reminds me of him and the larger than life, colourful character he was, and for that I offer it my gratitude always. 

Tonight I felt like celebrating all things Autumnal and created this card. The background was made with Ranger Alcohol Inks, which I went on to stamp over in Versafine ink and heat emboss with copper powder using my Colours of the Wind stamp set from Visible Image. I think the set is now retired but if you've not heard f them check out their other stamps as they are so different!


Challenges: 





Saturday 14 October 2017

A Very Crafty Saturday

Wow what a crazy busy week it's been. As well as working and all the usual running around us Mum's have to do, we've also had my eldest daughter's 18th birthday thrown in the mix yesterday.  I still can't quite believe she's no longer that cute little baby I struggled to evict from my belly, but instead an incredibly independent young adult with the world at her feet. While she is super independent, and organised all her own celebrations , which included a night in town with her mates, it didn't stop this mummy worrying and not getting quite as much sleep as I would normally enjoy while she was dancing the night away. So when I woke at 5am this morning, and having checked she'd arrived home safely, I hit the craft table as I couldn't get back to sleep. And there I stayed most of the day, finally relaxing,  while she slept off her rum and cokes!

And this is the result. It's been a while since I've played with my favourite Visible Image stamps, and once that box was open I was on a roll and couldn't stop as you can see! 


The snowflakes card was created with an aquatints background, splattered with water. I heat embossed various stamps from the Enchanted Snowflakes set, and added the Snowflakes and Butterflies verse.


The background on this card was created on my gelli plate using a stencil. Once dry I overstamped with Flower Inkognito in distress inks, heat embossed Create With Your Soul sentiment in the centre and added dragonflies from the Live In The Moment set, which I then coloured with Twinkling H20 paints. 



This was a background I made a while ago with Aquatint inks. It suddenly occurred to me that the sound waves from the Music Speaks set would work perfectly against it. I stamped and heat embossed the guitarist and sentiment from the Rock Out set and added glittered heat embossed stars from Universal. Simple yet quite effective I thought. 


Finally I had a play with Sleigh Silhouette, creating a background with distress inks and glitter. I used a pain pen to add snow for extra dimension. Christmas is coming- yippee!!!

I had such a lovely time just indulging myself, lost in my own little world. Definitely the stuff  the best Saturdays are made of. 

It's a good job I have had such a good session today as no time tomorrow. I'm off for afternoon tea at a local hotel with my friend. Stamps may make the perfect Saturday but girly  gossip and cake make for a pretty good Sunday too!

Thanks for popping by

Lynda
xx

Friday 6 October 2017

Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog October DT Post

It's October, which means Halloween is coming, and along with it all things magical. So what better month to share a little wizard inspired project I have made on as my DT piece for this month's Anything Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog. This month we are kindly being sponsored by Deco Art so do enter if you can for the chance to win this amazing  prize.



So, on to my project. My 11yr old daughter is Harry Potter mad. So much so that we have just decorated her room to fit the theme. She also love collecting sticks, and a while ago she created her own wand with one of her woodland findings and a hot glue gun. When I took delivery of my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform recently I had the idea that the cardboard sleeve it cam in would make a great picture frame, and so I decided to alter it to work with Emma's wand and create a piece of artwork for her room from it. 

I started by using a star stencil and texture paste around the edge, which I then paintedover with black Gesso.




As her wand was black I needed to create a light area to mount it on. Distress oxides work so well on black so I started by adding a variety of colours on to my craft mat, spritzing, pressing a stamping block in to it and then transferring to the inside of my frame. 


Once I was happy with the effect, I added more depth of colour with Dylusions spray inks and Cosmic Shimmer inks until I was happy that the wand would stand out against it. 


I highlighted the stars and frame with Deco Art gilding waxes and added more stars through the stencil inside the area in the wax.

Emma wanted the spell included, which I cut from silver card on my cameo and mounted under the wand. 


I am so thrilled with how this turned out. Not bad for a recycled cardboard box and a stick eh?! It looks great hanging in her Harry Potter bedroom so she's a very happy Potter head right now and I have scored some good mummy points too. Result!

Challenges I am entering: 




Thank you for stopping by. 

Lynda 
xxx










Sunday 1 October 2017

October Anything Goes at Crafts Galore Encore DT Post

October's challenge over at Crafts Galore Encore is, as always,Anything Goes and this months sponsor is the fabulous Rick St Dennis

For my project I chose to work with the image Hexology. It's perfect to go in my daughters Harry Potter themed bedroom. I coloured it with Spectrum Noir pencils, and created the bluey/purple background with carefully place distress inks. It is mounted in a black box frame from IKEA , and for extra interest I added a few bats and cobwebs, and a stamped potion bottle by Sheena Douglass. 




We love to see your entries so do keep them coming in. 



Thanks for popping by.

Lynda 
xxx

Thursday 28 September 2017

Julia Spiri New Release DT Post - The Flower Dress

How I have missed working with Julia Spiris delightful images while we took a Summer break. The good news is, she is back, and feeling energised and inspired and has created two fabulous new release images for you to enjoy. I have worked with The Flower Dress, which was coloured with watercolour pens. I had a little go at creating my own scene around her too. What do you think?



The other new release is called The Butterfly Dress and you can find that here. Do pop across to the Julia Spiri blog or Facebook page to see what the rest of my team mates have created to inspire you. They are all amazing!

Challenges I am entering: 


Thanks for popping by to see my work.

Lynda 
xx

Friday 1 September 2017

Crafts Galore Encore September Challenge DT Post

September already, and I am starting to think Christmas thoughts with my project for this months Anything Goes challenge over at Crafts Galore Encore. This month our kind sponsors are Fabrika Fantasy. They have some beautiful digi stamps in the store, across many themes, but I couldn't resist this cheeky little duo ( find them here) . There is a pre coloured version included, but I wanted to colour my own (of course!), using my trusty Copic markers.  I teamed the image up with some festive papers from my stash that came with a magazine a while ago. A die cut snowman and some snowflakes helped to complete that wintry feel. 





We love to see your creation so do pop by if you can and join the fun for the chance to win a prize.

I am entering this in the following challenges:


Thanks for stopping by

Lynda 
xxx


Creative Artiste Mixed Media September Challenge (DT Post)

I can't quite believe here we are in September already, but the calendar definitely say we are, which means that it's time for a new Anything Goes challenge over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog. This month we are kindly being sponsored by Scrapmatts, an Australian store with a wealth of amazing goodies. Well worth checking out. 

I chose to focus on a little home decor project for my piece and created a shabby chic key and post rack for my hallway. I used Americana chalk paint over the exposed areas, and Scrapmatts chipboard key, which I then distressed by dry brushing white acrylic paint across and stamping in a vintage script stamp with Archival ink. I had some co ordinating papers in my stash to make the backing and sides look pretty, and I edged these with Distress Ink. 





I am entering this in the following challenges:




We would love to see your mixed media entries, so do join the challenge if you can. 

Thanks for popping by.

Lynda 
xx



Sunday 6 August 2017

Mermaid using Lavinia Stamps

I have had the BEST time today getting inky and indulging myself for a few hours with my trusty Lavinia stamps. Last night I created a few distress oxide backgrounds and I decided this one needed a pretty mermaid so I set to work this afternoon and this little scene soon emerged. 


My new stamping platform proved really useful for arranging my layout and meant I was able to accurately over stamp my mermaids tail in versamark and then emboss with some wow glitter powders. It really brought her to life!



The details were coloured with Twinkling H20's and nuvo drops added for dimension and I gave the orbs a glassy look with Glossy Accents.



What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Challenges:


Saturday 5 August 2017

Sparkle In The Rain

I have been so busy lately that I've had little time for crafting sadly. My mum has decided to give up crafting- boo!!! I have spent the last week or so desperately trying to re home a large portion of her stash and recoup her  some pennies for it. I cannot tell you how much it's pained me to see it first go from her craft room to my house, then from my little crafty space to other peoples homes, but I am glad to know it will all by loved by it's new owners and used, rather than sitting gathering dust at mums. As you can imagine, that's eaten huge amounts of my time between working and caring for my family and dogs too, but I am pleased to say I am winning the battle, which thrills me, no least because it's given me space at my table for a little creative play of my own. 

It's my birthday next weekend and mum knew I was coveting the Tim Holtz stamping platform ( who isn't?!), and she kindly sent me one and let me open it early. Pure torture as I unwrapped it and then got too swamped to use it! I've rectified that though at last, and here is the first card I have made using it.


I love this stamp set from Visible Image and when I played with my new distress oxides to create some backgrounds, this one just screamed rainy day, making this the perfect set to dig out and use. Once I had stamped my main image I used a mask and star stencil from Scrapmatts, along with some clear texture paste and glitter over the top. Then I used my platform to stamp the sentiment, embossing the word 'sparkle' with wow embossing glitters, layered in different colours. Some sparkly puddles finished the card off nicely.


Challenges:


Thanks for popping by
xx