B is For............Bird, Blue Bloom and Butterfly

Hello and welcome! It's time for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and this time around it's my turn to host. For my optional theme I selected "I Spy Something Beginning with B". Lots of favorites beginning with a "B" so I hope you will join us and there is always the "Anything Goes" option. We have 2 prizes of coordinating stamps and dies to give away.

I have two projects to share today:

A couple of weeks ago I made this card using a new to me stamp set by Stampin Up and today I am sharing an Artist Trading Card (ATC) I made using the same products but a bit differently. 

B is for Bird on a Branch

I used a mix of red, orange, yellow and brown Distress inks for this card. A white pencil was used on the bird's and dragonfly's wings. I used the Direct to Paper technique around the edges of the ATC but a couple words got lost from the ink so I cut those out from white cardstock. The background was stenciled using Aall and Create's stencil Tulips (the same one I used on the card I made previously).

Related Products: 

  

I am entering this ATC here:

• ATC Around the World - Any ATC Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Birds, Bees and Butterflies
• Tag-Along (and ATC's) - Any tags or ATC opt. Travel

B is for Blue, Blossom and Butterfly

For the above card I used washi tape to mask off the edges then using the "smooshing technique inked up the background with Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide ink. Stamping on the background was done with Aall and Create's set Foliage #496 (retired) and Sent with Love #831 (retired). The rose (also from set #831) was stamped on a separate piece of cardstock which was also inked using the smooshing technique, and then fussy cut. The butterfly is part of the Aall and Create set Spread Your Wings #729 (retired).

For a little more interest I added a piece of cheesecloth behind the rose and used a Wink of Stella clear glitter brush all over the rose but it's not showing in the picture. 

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I am sharing the rose card with these challengese:

• Beautiful Blossoms - Flowers
• Creative Artiste Challenge - Anything Mixed Media Goes
• The Flower Challenge - Add Embellishments (cheese cloth)
• Triple B - Blooms, Butterflies or Birds

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Seaside

Hello everyone, it's the start of a new theme at Allsorts challenge and Christine is hosting this time around. Her theme for the next two week is Seaside. Of course the Anything Goes option is there too if the theme isn't for you. We have prizes from  Grafton Crafts.

I've been so busy preparing for a 3 week visit from overseas, meaning working ahead on projects and blog posts. My visit arrives this evening and unfortunately I have also somehow injured my shoulder and been dealing with some intense pain for over a week now. The nights of course are the worst but it limited the work I could do to prepare for the visit, thankfully the rest of the house has been very helpful!

Anyway, I thought I'd make an easy card for this challenge and use a Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin card kit which I found at a thrift store over a year ago. I had forgotten about it until it "fell into my hands" during my decluttering mission and I thought it would make a quick and easy card. But my original idea seemed nothing like my style so instead I ended up just using the boat and wheel from the kit. This meant I had to have my husband help with the 3D embossing folder which I think was my first time using although I purchased it some time ago. I love the extra texture from these embossing folders but they are so hard to run through the Big Shot machine!!! I didn't even want to try with my shoulder injury. The embossing folder is by Spellbinders.

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The red frame came from my box of extra die cuts, this particular one was done using Penny Black's Polaroid die. Skyblue cardstock was placed behind the polaroid die cut and then I added some cheesecloth and the wheel along with a strip of indigo blue cardstock and the boat. Sentiment is from a set by Hero Arts. The card base is actually another part of the Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin kit. 

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

When I get a chance I will try linking up here:

• Can You Handle The Pressure? - Embossing Folders
• Cut It Up - Masculine
• Craft Rocket Challenges - No Designer Papers
• Creative Knockouts - Summer Fun
• Everybody-Art-Challenge - Maritime
• Little Red Wagon - Embossing
• Neglected Stuff Challenge - Something Neglected 
• The Paper Funday - Embossing

Thanks so much for visiting. Hope you're having a great weekend. 

If you like this post then I invite you to subscribe to receive post updates sent directly to your inbox. Simply add your email address below to be added to the list. 

Season's Delights

Happy Saturday! I'm hosting this week at Allsorts challenge and hope you'll join in the fun! For my optional theme I selected "Season's Delights", meaning I would like to see something that brings you joy this season, so many options.... summer flowers, travel, summer treats and many more. I cannot wait to see what you'll share this time and remember there is also the Anything Goes option if my theme isn't for you. Oh, and since we're in the midst of summer this challenge and the next will each run for two weeks.

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I recently decided that I needed this beach scene stamp by Penny Black (Paradise) so treated myself to it for my birthday this month :) I used Letraset Aquamarkers and Distress markers for coloring directly onto the rubber and then stamped with the help of my stamp platform and used a waterbrush to add more color to the stamped image.

The girl in the foreground is a real oldie from Stampin Up (Summer by the Sea). I thought she would fit really well into this scene. To add more interest I used my MFT cloud stencil and stamped some birds from a retired Hero Arts stamp kit. The sentiment was part of the same stamp kit by Hero Arts.

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I plan to share with these challenges:

• Craft Rocket Challenges - Summertime
• Everybody-Art-Challenge - Stamping
• Fab n Funky - Seaside
• Inspiration Station - see photo below (I was inspired by the beach scene)

• Just Us Girls Use a Stencil (I used a cloud stencil)
• My Time to Craft - Summertime 
• Shopping Our Stash - Summer
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Add a sentiment
• TIME OUT Challenges - On Vacation
• We Love Stamping - Sun, Sea and Sand
• Word Art Wednesdays - AG

Below is my first attempt of my DT card. There was a mistake which I hadn't noticed until I uploaded it to the blog a couple of days ago so yesterday I decided to start over and made the card above.

I wasn't going to post this one at all but my dear husband (who is way more artistic than I will ever be!!) decided to fix my mistake so here it is. 

Very similar to the card above, same Penny Black stamp and the girl on the foreground is from the retired SU set Seaside Sketches. Here I also stamped some clouds which are part of a Hero Arts stamp kit. Sentiment is the same one as above by Hero Arts. 

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The prizes for this challenge are 3 dies from Tonic Studios. Hope to see you at the challenge blog!

April Showers bring May Flowers

Hello everyone, it's time for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and this week Brenda is hosting with the optional theme of "April Showers bring May Flowers" and we can't wait to see what you'll create. 

I went with "showers" as the focus but there are flowers included here too. The silhouette stamps (girl and duck) are from a retired Stampin Up set (Million Dollar Moments).The flowers are from Lavinia stamps (Lavender). On the background I used a stencil also from Lavinia. Sentiment is part of this Penny Black sentiment set.

Related Products:

I embellished with some sheer polka dot ribbon, die cut flowers and dew drops. The patterned paper I used behind the image panel is ancient, from my early scrapbooking days circa 2002 when my papercrafting adventures began :)

As a reminder, prizes come from WOWVOW, Oakwood Direct and Craft Stash, these will be split between challenges 726, 727 and 728 with winners announced on May 26th. There is another set of prizes for our birthday challenge on May 20th (challenge729) so lots of chances to win this month!

I plan on sharing with these challenges:

• Cut It Up - Ribbons or Bows
• Krafty Chicks - Use Stamps
• Addicted to Stamps and More - Dies and Stencils
• Crazy is our fame - STENCILS are our game! - Stencils
• Dream Valley Challenges - Feminine

 >>>>>>>>>International Scrapbook Day Sale at Scrapbook.com/Ad

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

The Four Seasons Challenge: Fall for October

October has arrived (how is that possible??), and with the first day of October also comes the start of a new challenge at Four Seasons challenge. We're still celebrating the beautiful fall season so anything Fall goes but we do have a fabulous optional mood board for your inspiration. 

Lots of great options here if you like to use it, I've had several ideas in my head just by looking at the mood board but went with the first idea inspired by the spooky tree on the bottom left.

Here is my card:

I started out by making the background scene using a circle mask to mask the moon and my new Lavinia Hills masks for some hills. I kept the background colors in a monochromatic dark blue shades using Chipped Sapphire ink and then I added a small amount of Black Soot  to the edges. '

After removing the moon mask I stamped Lavinia's Moon stamp right onto the circle using Antique Linen ink. Then stamped Lavinia's Seasonal Tree on the right side, turned the tree around and stamped just a few branches on the left side. 

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The cute image I'm sure some of you will recognize as Stampin' Up's Halloween Hedgehogs. I have to mention Stampin Up's Halloween and  their Holiday Hedgehogs were the stamps that got me hooked to stamping and cardmaking in the first place, well before I discovered Penny Black hedgehogs so these hold a special place in my heart even though I don't use them much.

I colored with distress inks (didn't have the specific shade of purple I was looking for so I mixed a blue with a purple  (so easy to do with distress inks to make a custom color!) I fussy cut the image before adhering to the card and then used a clear Sakura Stardust glitter gel pen to add some sparkle and shine. It's not showing up well in the photo below but you can see the sparkle and shine in the first picture above.

The sentiment is part of the same stamp set (Halloween Hedgehogs) but I only used part of it cut apart to make it fit on the card. I will stamp the rest of it inside the card which will say ... "to wish you happy trick or treating". 

Thanks so much for visiting! You can check out what the rest of the Four Seasons team made here and then hopefully you'll join us too. The challenge runs until October 25th. 

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

       >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spooktacular Savings at Scrapbook.com/Ad

I'm planning to link up with these blogs:

Crafty Calendar - Halloween // Crafting Happiness Challenges - Trees // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges - AG // International Art & Soul - Trees // Colour Crazy Challenge - Coloring // Crafty Catz - AG Opt. Blue (I used navy) // Krafty Chicks - AG // Moving along with the Times - Trees // 

Always AG:

A Place To Start - AG // Taylor Made Cards 4 U // 613 Avenue Create opt. twist watercolor // Creative Moments // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends 

Link Parties:

Dare to Share //  Sunday Showcase - First Sunday with Ada and Mireille  //  Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri //  Random-osity Good, Random, Fun //  Travel Tuesday. // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Spread the Kindness Linkup @ Shelbee on the Edge // Wonderful Wednesday // My Corner Of The World //Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life //  Funtastic Friday //   Link Up On The Edge

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday: November Challenge - Partnering with Double Trouble Challenge (optional)

Hello and welcome to Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge. Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out the new theme and maybe you'll decide to join in too! For the first 10 days of this month Ellibelle's Crafty Challenge is partnering with Double Trouble challenge for a fun optional   collaboration! More details below :)

As always, thank you so much for joining in the previous month, there were some fabulous entries, so be sure to scroll down to see if you are in my top 3!

This Month's Theme

For the month of November I picked the theme of.................

 Dies Cuts and Punches

(manual or electronic made die cuts and any type of punches)

Remember, my theme is optional for your inspiration. You can find the linky tool at the very end of this post and anyone is welcome to share their crafty makes!

And now until November 14th for some EXTRA Optional FUN: Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday is partnering with Double Trouble Challenge. 

To play along with Double Trouble, simply follow Thing 1 Trouble Maker's theme  and you may also choose Thing 3 Twisted Sister's Optional theme. And don't forget to link up here too!

Please note:

Double Trouble challenge runs until November 11th, but Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday still runs until the end of the month as usual! 

And here is my card:

A Tall Card and a Die for Thing 1,  Teddy Bears and Toys from Santa for Thing 3 and a Die for Thing 2 (Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday)! 

I know tall/ long cards (or slimline as they are now called) are so popular nowadays, but have to admit they aren't my favorite cards to make. But then I decided on making a "mini tall card" which measures  3.5" x6 " and I actually enjoyed working with this size :-) 

Using Washi tape from my stash, I masked off the edges then used distress ink to ink up the card. With the washi tape still in place I used the Circle Explosion stencil to add to the background, then removed the washi tape.

This vintage Santa image is from the old and retired Stampin Up set Old Fashioned Christmas, stamped with Memento Tuxedo ink and colored with  Copic markers. I fussy cut the image using my Cutterbee scissors before adding to the card. 

The sentiment is one of my favorites from the Penny Black Christmas set Season's Gifts. 

The string or baubles at the top was done with an old Whimsy Stamps die using brushed gold cardstock. 

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Stickles Glitter in Frosted Lace was applied to Santa's fur trim. 

Linking up here:

Themes: Die Cut Divas - Slimline // Bastel-Traum - Christmas // Country View Crafts' Challenge - Christmas Gifting // Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog - AG Christmas // Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Christmas // Sparkles Forum Christmas - Presents // 

Always AG and Link Parties: 

Taylor Made Cards 4 U // Crafter's Castle // 613 Avenue Create opt. twist watercolor // Crafty Creations // Creative Moments // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // 

Dare to Share //  Sunday Showcase (first Sunday) // Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri  // Hello Monday // Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Shelbee on the Edge Spread the Kindness //  Effortlessly Sophisticated // Wonderful Wednesday // Classy Flamingos // Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life   

>>>>>>>>Ad: Scrapbook.com Holiday Cardmaking Sale Going On Now!

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

Last Month's Top Picks

I will continue to add my favorites to the dedicated Pinterest board, but going forward I will once again showcase the top pick's creations with links to their individual blogs, which will be removed at the start of each new month's challenge to remain in compliance with GDPR.

Selecting just three is never easy but something that needs to be done and here they are from last month's theme of Any Holidays/Celebratons or Anything Goes. They are listed in the order of entry.

No. 9 Amy

No. 38 Liliane

No. 43 Darlene

Congratulations ladies, well deserved recognition! Your Top Pick logo is below, feel free to post it to your own blogs!

To play along this month simply use the linky tool below.

A few things to remember:

• You may follow the theme or anything crafty goes.

• You may combine with any other challenges.

• You may use any brand of stamps/digis/products (no company restriction).
• No more than 3 entries per person please - no worries if you end up with more.
• Please do include a link back here to my blog in your blog post.

             

Encouragement Card with a Butterfly on an Inky Background

Hello and welcome! 

It's vacation time for my hubby and since we aren't going anywhere we are doing some home updates. We did go to Chicago for an overnight stay last week and I wanted to share some pictures but I didn't get a chance to look through them all, hopefully once things slow down. 

We finally got our kitchen painted!! Many years ago I wanted a sort of lighter terracotta tone, but it turned out to be very orange-y (I have no idea if they had mixed it wrong or if it just showed up differently than it did on the sample card but we stuck with it for several years!) Now it's a pretty white-ish shade (Bohemian Lace by Sherwin Williams).  It needed several coats of primer but I am sooooo glad I don't have to see the orange paint any longer!! Now I just need to plan another day to re-paint the kitchen cabinets. Wish I could just replace them (because they are really old) but that's not possible. They are an antique white right now and I want them in a very light gray.  But before I do more painting, we'll have the bathroom re-tiling scheduled for next week (we had to hire someone for that job), something else that's way overdue!! And then some plumbing work done too. Fun times :) 

But I did take a break from most work yesterday because it was my birthday :-) Originally I wanted to be gone somewhere on a vacation during my birthday, but my son wanted to get a summer job before he starts college, and hubby and my daughter didn't really feel like going anyway. 

Well, I'm not here to talk about work, instead I'd like to show you my card for this week's Allsorts challenge. Brenda is hosting this week and she would like to see something Feminine. We have Pearlywinks  giving away a £15 voucher to their shop and then we have a second prize of 3 craft stencils. Hope you'll join us for your chance to win!

This card was made with some ink remnants when I made another card (I will share that one tomorrow). 

After the inky background was dry, I simply stamped the butterfly from this Tim Holtz set onto it using Blueprint Sketch Distress ink. The borders on both sides is from an older Stampin UP set called Butterfly Basics. (It's a truly beautiful set and anything but basic!) Sentiment and lacy butterfly on the bottom portion of the inked background are also part of this set. 

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I decided the card could use some embossing and this was done with an old Cuttlebug embossing folders, in fact it was already embossed in my box of folders, so I just had to adhere the image/sentiment panel onto it. This particular one is really old, probably one from when embossing folders were first introduced, but there are plenty of option available at Scrapbook.com and of course Amazon. They really are such a great tool especially for CAS style cards, I wish I'd use them more often, but somehow I always forget about them!

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A few sticky back pearls finish off the card. 

Thanks so much for visiting!!

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I'm linking up here:

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes Option // Krafty Chicks - CAS // Paper Shelter - Girly // Simon Says Stamp - Embossing  // Sisterhood of Crafters - Embossing // The Three Muses - Butterfly // Crafty Sentiment Designs - Anything Goes // 

Always Anything Goes and Link Parties:

Crafty Creations // Creative Moments // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // 

Dare to Share //   Inspire Me Monday // Hello Monday // Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Shelbee on the Edge Spread the Kindness //  Effortlessly Sophisticated // Wonderful Wednesday // Welcome Wednesdays // Classy Flamingos // Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life

Beach Themed Masculine Card with Summer by the Sea from Stampin Up

Hello and welcome! 

It's Saturday already and I'm am back today with a new card to share for the new theme at Allsorts challenge! Lorraine (Lolo) is hosting this week and she picked the theme of "Masculine". Our prize comes from Helping Hands Craft and hope you can join us for your chance to win!

I shared a Christmas card on Wednesday but my brain is definitely in Summer mode and I made a beach themed card today using an oldie from Stampin Up as my focal point and I build up the scene using stamps from more recent years by Hero Arts.

 

I started by stamping the boy on Bristol Vellum paper, then stamped again on a post it note, fussy cut this to use a a mask. As mentioned this set is long retired from Stampin Up, but it's usually found on eBay or Etsy, it's called Summer by the Sea.

Next I build the ocean scene (with the post it mask in place) using Color Layering Waves from Hero Arts. 

Next I stamped the boat silhouette from the Hero Arts set Color Layering Sea and Sky also from Hero Arts using Versafine Onyx ink, placed a small die cut circle over the boat and inked up the sky portion using Tumbled Glass Distress ink. 

The silhouette birds are also part of Hero Arts Color Layering Sea and Sky, and the "sandy feet" sentiment is part of the Color Layering Waves set. 

I stamped the boy once again, this time on some tropical themed patterned paper to paper piece his shirt. 

I also used a stamp from Stampin Up's set Itty Bitty Backgrounds (this is another oldie) on the sand for a sandy texture. 

Hero Arts Color Layering Waves

Color Layering Sea and Sky

A closer view below...

I colored the rest of the boy using Zig Clean Color markers with my Zig Detailer brush and a couple of Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for the hair. 

Thanks so much for visiting!!

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

You may also like:

• Summer Scene
• Summer by the Sea
• Season's - What's Your Favorite?

I'm linking up here:

Inspiration Station No.9 - Sun, Sea, Sand // A Gem of a Challenge  - AG // Catch The Bug - AG // Challenge Up Your Life - Beach Time // Crafter's Castle - AG // Crafty Calendar - AG // Craft Rocket Challenges - Summer // Cute Card Thursday - AG // Crafty Gals Corner  - For the Boys // Creative Moments - AG // Fab n Funky - AG // The Paper Funday - Summer Fun // Beyond The Blue - AG // Crafty Catz - AG // 

Always Anything Goes and Link Parties:

Crafty Creations // Creative Moments // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // 

Dare to Share //   Inspire Me Monday // Hello Monday // Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Shelbee on the Edge Spread the Kindness //  Effortlessly Sophisticated // Wonderful Wednesday // Welcome Wednesdays // Classy Flamingos // Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life