US Postage Stamp Day

 I noticed that the day of the month card club are celebrating national US postage stamp day so I thought it was an opportunity to share this card.

The lovely Cat very kindly sent me some die cuts using the Waffle Flower postage stamp die and I used one of them to make this birthday card for my granddaughters 9th birthday.

I started by using some narrow post it tape to mask the different elements, unfortunately I forgot the edges! I used a blending brush to ink the background and the Concord & 9th sweet bee stamps, stencils and dies to create the elements.

I decorated the envelope and insert and finished it off with a couple of little hearts. I was quite pleased, hope you like it too.

It is very hot here today so I am staying indoors. I don't handle the heat very well, but I don't have to worry as rain and cooler weather will be back tomorrow.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping July Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder for the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where we love to see you using your stamps. 

This year the design team will all be selecting a monthly option to reflect their own individual style of crafting or favourite themes. On the remaining months we will continue as before with a general theme along with an anything goes option, as previously.

Faith has chosen our theme this month:

**Sun, Sea and Sand**

or Anything Goes

I don't often create scenes on my cards but that has changed this month as this is my second beach scene. This stamp (at ease 30-844 by Penny Black) was a gift that I was delighted to receive.

I stamped and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder and then painted it with my Zig clean colour real brush pens. I hope that my background looks like sand and grass. I realised I couldn't have the sea in the background as the hut is facing the sea.

I added a tiny bit of glass bead gel again to give a little sparkle and interest. You can just see it on the close up.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are 2 prizes of watercolour mediums and dies from Highlight Crafts. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 31st July

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I am also sharing this at:

Penny Black Saturday Cahllenge - Anything Goes (Thanks Jenny)

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

Circles and Flowers

Hello

When I saw this weeks Allsorts Challenge had the theme of circles, I thought I would quickly post this card that I made a few weeks ago and haven't yet shared.

I was busy shopping with my birthday money a few months ago and saw this Altenew floral halos stamp and die set in the sale. I thought it had loads of possibilities so I bought it. I purchased the Honey Bee Sandie's Garden 3d embossing folder at the same time and put them together to create this card.

I used pearlescent vellum in the embossing folder and was pleased that it embossed without cracking. Not wanting to cover up too much of it I used the circles and flower spray from the Altenew set.  I coloured the flowers with watercolour felt pens and die cut the greeting. I have to say that those circle stamps are quite hard to use as they are just circles so they go out of shape very very easily. The only way to use them is to fit them into the matching die before stamping, which worked, but then it was still quite hard to line up the die accurately when it came to cutting them. For a moment I wondered why I had bought them!

Despite all that, I was quite pleased with the finished card. I added a few gems for a bit of sparkle.

I am sharing this at:

Allsorts week 789 - Circles

Can you handle the pressure - Anything goes

Inspirational Challenge 370 - Feature products from 2 or more companies

NBUS #64 - The stamp set and embossing folder are NBUS

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping July Challenge

Today is the first Sunday of the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping. 

Each month a member of the design team will be selecting a theme to reflect their own individual style of crafting or favourite themes. On the remaining months we will continue as before with a general theme along with an anything goes option, as previously.

Faith has chosen our theme this month:

**Sun, Sea and Sand**

or Anything Goes

I took a piece of watercolour card and stamped and heat embossed the beach image that was part of the free gift from Creative Stamping magazine issue72. I then got my Zig clean colour real brush pens out and painted it. The sentiment, sun, starfish and sign are all part of the same set.

When I was happy with the colouring, and it had dried I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment. I then added some Golden glass bead gel to the sea, hoping it would add some sparkle, which it does when the light catches it. I wanted to give the impression of a sparkly sea. You can see it on the close up.

I know have 2 tubs of glass bead gel. I first bought the one by Galleria, but the beads are larger than those in the Golden gel. This makes a difference when you are using it with stencils. I love the effect so intend to use it some more. I think it also works well for this lovely summers day at the seaside. Hope you agree. I have been to the seaside this week. Unfortunately it didn't look like this! It was windy and cold, but thankfully, it didn't rain. Today (Sat 6th July) is a different story as it has rained all morning, but at least we are now home. I hope to catch up with my commenting this weekend.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are 2 prizes of paper pads and stamps from Craft Stash. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 31st July

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I am also sharing this at:

The Four Seasons Challenge July - Summer

Tic Tac Toe #251 - Left hand vertical row - sparkle, beach, border

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

June Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Today is 2nd of the month so time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 32 card makers took part and I sent my card to Linda in Michigan.

From all the options this month I used the themes of summer and friendship and foil from the product options.

I was a bit short on time this month so I had a look through my unused bits and pieces and chose this alcohol inked background. You can't see it in the photo, but there are a few foiled areas that add a tiny bit of shine and interest. They didn't turn out very well so it is only a tiny bit! Sorry about the poor photo.

I decided that die cuts would be the quickest way to a complete card, so I found this leaf coverplate frame by Altenew. It is an imperial A2 coverplate and my panel was metric A6 so I cut off the frame at the bottom. It then fitted nicely. I found a scrap of shiny gold metallic card for the sentiment and added it under the leaves.

I wasn't terribly happy with it so I added some cosmic shimmer spray to the upper part of the card. This doesn't show at all on the photos I am afraid. I still wasn't that happy with it so I added a few red flowers for a bit of contrast and interest. I used another stylised flower die on the insert and stamped the envelope with a flower too.

I am not quite sure what is wrong with this card, but it still doesn't feel right to me. I think perhaps the sentiment is too much. Anyway, I had no time to change anything about it, so off it went to Linda.

I was very lucky to receive this gorgeous card from Chris in Ilinois. Isn't it great? Thanks Chris.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

Craftlandia Challenge 19

Welcome to Craftlandia challenge 19 run by the wonderful Mia of Craftartista.

Our theme this time is:

Sun and Seashells

or 

Anything Goes

Our very generous sponsor is:

Conjurer of Dreams

The prize is 4 digital sets of your choice.

That is a very special prize so please head over to the Etsy store to see the range

of digital designs that Kim (the owner) has in the store.

My card uses one of our sponsors images of a beautiful blue sea and beach full of shells.

I didn't want to detract from the amazing image so I printed it onto glossy photo paper, trimmed it a little, edged it in black and mounted it on a glossy paper panel that I had cut with my Altenew dotted scales debossing cover die. I edged this with black glossy card too. The sentiment (from Heffy Doodle) was heat embossed in white onto the same glossy black card. 

I can just imagine gazing into the sea whilst sitting on that beach admiring all those very special seashells. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to happen as we don't have any beaches like that around here, but I am pleased to say that we have now had a couple of warm sunny days, hooray. We have had a long of cold winds and rain. 

One bonus is that if the weather is bad, it can mean more crafting time so please head over to Mia's blog to check out the rest of the DT inspiration and join us for Craftlandia 19.

I am also sharing this at:

The day of the month card club - National seashell day

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping June Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder for the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. It is a very special challenge this month as we are celebrating 15 years of this special stamping challenge.  This means that there are some very special prizes on offer.

Brenda has chosen our theme this month:

**Fabulous Florals **

or anything goes

I think I told you that I got a stampwheel for my birthday didn't I? Well, one of the first things I tried it with was my favourite turnabout stamp from Concord & 9th. Of course once I was on a roll I didn't just do 1 card, but 7. I really enjoyed doing all the stamping, but turning them all into cards took ages. I have decided to share them all with you here.

They are all 4inch square and use Catherine Pooler inks. I mixed up the backgrounds a little.

The mats were inked with one of the CP colours.

The inserts were stamped with leafy wreath from Stamps by Chloe.

The backgrounds are made with various coverplates

The sentiments are a mixture of hotfoiling, BetterPress and die cuts.

The edges were inked with one of the colours

I conclude that the Stampwheel is excellent for turnabout stamps. It remains a challenge to get them lined up properly, but once you have you can just keep on going!

Don't you just love all the colours? Which is your favourite?

Both my daughters gave me very special birthday presents this year so I made these into a set of notecards and gave them to my younger daughter as a special thank you for her special gift. I made another set with different turnabouts for my elder daughter. Perhaps I will share them soon.

Don't forget we are celebrating 15 years this month so do go and check out the special prizes on the challenge blog. The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

Here is a glimpse of the fantastic prizes on offer:

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 3rd July.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

I thought I would leave you with a picture of my very verdant looking garden. All the rain has definitely made it grow. I managed to catch it when the sun shone for a few minutes. I am very pleased with how it is looking at the moment. The roses smell amazing too, they will be gone soon, so I need to appreciate them while they last. In a few days all the while petals will be covering everything. June is definitely a special time in my garden.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

May Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Today is 2nd of the month so time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 31 card makers took part and I sent my card to Viv in the UK.

From all the options this month I have used the colours, the theme option of friendship and the technique option of stencils.

I started by ink blending CP be mine and grape crush onto a panel of coated card (Papermill Direct). I really like how this card takes ink. Once I was happy with my panel I foiled the oval dots in gold (Spellbinders) and then the flower (PinkFresh Studio). You will be fed up with seeing this flower soon as this is the 4th card I have made with it. I was pleased with how the foiling took on top of the ink. I used the matching stencils to add more colour to the flower and then wondered if I could lift ink off with some water. The answer was, yes, you can. I just wish that I had thought of it before I used the stencils, but never mind. That's a lesson learned for next time. I used the stamp and grape crush ink for the insert and envelope.

The sentiment is from the matching stamp set and I heat embossed it in gold onto the same card, cut it with an oval die and matted it onto another oval that I had coloured with grape crush. I did the same with the main panel after cutting it with one of my Lisa Horton dies. I am very pleased that I have discovered a better way to keep my panel unmarked when it goes through my die cutting machine. I have quite a supply of thin acetate sheets that I used to used for presentations (before the days of powerpoint). The acetate is better than copy paper for protecting the card. My plates are very messy.

I finished it off with a few little gold gems.

I was very lucky to receive these gorgeous cards from Dagmara in Poland. Aren't they gorgeous? The Zebras relate to a very rare condition that she suffers from that I have been learning about. It is such a challenge and a constant worry for her. I am so pleased that she is able to get so much pleasure from card making and she is a stunning colourist as you can tell from the photo of her cards. Thanks for signing up behind me Dagmara. I have learnt a lot from you.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.