The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Hello.  Welcome.  Happy Easter to all who partake thereof, and a Happy Day to everyone.  Hope the Easter Bunny has been good to you and your basket overfloweth with eggs of many sizes.  Especially chocolate ones.  Big, chocolate ones.  Hugz

Decided to have another play with the retiform technique.  Really quite intrigued with the result and, for someone who doesn't really like fiddle, the masking and inking and masking and stamping is really quite relaxing and enjoyable.   I decided to go blue.  I like blue.  Also I keep coming across the autism awareness blog hop and they like blue as well.

So I masked off my sections and used Salty Ocean distress.  Remembered to do the edges this time as well LOL.  I liked the shape of the center section and still thinking Autism blog hop I wondered if I had any light bulb images. 

Yes!!  Stampers Anonymous Industrial Blueprints.  Actually, I thought these were perfect for what I understand Autism to be.  The lightbulb, the cogs, the lock and the key.   This is a fun technique and makes an interesting one layer card.  

Thanks for dropping by.  Go gentle with those eggs now.  Hugz

Joining the fun at
The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Retiform
The Light It Up Blue For Autism Blog Hop
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge- Pastels 
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday March 
Papertake Weekly - Take Your Pick pastels

Horses and Potatoes

Hello. Welcome.  Just a quick post cos we have guests tonight and I am suppose to be rustling up a dinner to delight.  Haven't even started the cake yet!!!   Naughty little crafter LOL.  Over at STAMPlorations the March CASEplorations playground is still open so I thought I'd have a play and cased Vicki's card.  

I started with a piece of yellow card and used Wild Honey distress straight off the pad.  Too many lines!!  But no, I like it.  Then I cut three Cheery Lynn Tiny Bubble Borders.  

I added the bubble border die cuts to two shades of green card.  Then I didn't like the contrast so I hit the whole lot with Cracked Pistachio distress.  I stamped the flower from STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches, fussy cut and watercoloured.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set stamped on whitish cotton.  I frayed the edges.  The butterfly is one of Cheery Lynn Mini Dimensional Butterflies.  

Joining the fun at
STAMPlorations March CASEplorations
Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 178 - Back to Nature
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Happy Birthday 
STAMPlorations Anything Goes Challenge
Scribble and Scrap Challenge 41 - Anything Goes 

Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you are having a sunny Easter weekend.  Hugz

Scattered Love

Hello.  Welcome.  I have been a participant over at The Card Chain Challenge for over a year and enjoying every minute.  If you would like to get some snail mail every month then get yourself over to The Society of Stampaholics and sign up.  April is still open.  Usually Deborah would have posted the reveal on the 1st but she's got back problems.  Hugz and best wishes Deborah.  Hope you are feeling better soon.  Here's the card I sent to Carol for March CCC.  

I used Unity Stamp Co. Nancy Girl and Sizzix Friends die.  Maybe you are looking at this and thinking I cut the word friends and then stamped and fussy cut Nancy girl and added her afterwards.  Now why didn't I do that!!!!   Only Carol and I know that I stamped Nancy Girl, did some tricksy mixy with the cutting plates to die cut the friends around her, then even more fiddle and phaff with my Simon Says Stamp stitched dies, to get that lovely stitchy detail, without giving Nancy a leg-o-ectomy.  Only I know that this took a few attempts.  Don't worry, at no time did Nancy lose her legs.  Looking at it now I am wondering why I didn't make life easy, but where's the fun in that.  I think the patterned papers are MME and Crate Paper.  Nancy and her cats were coloured with watercolour pencil and my trusty waterbrush.  

Joining the fun at
Unity Stamp Co. Friends With Flair
Scribble and Scrap Challenge 41 - Anything Goes

The full reveal for all the CCC cards exchanged in March can be viewed HERE (soon)
You can still join the fun and sign up for the April CCC HERE

Thanks for dropping by.  Hugz

Tiger Lily Butterfly

Hello.  Welcome.  Over at The Craft Barn the weekly challenge is Retiform.  So glad Jane picked this theme.  I had seen Dawn's card and really wanted to try out this technique but probably wouldn't have found the time without this extra little incentive. 

I started with a pale grey base and decided to use Watering Can archival.  I masked off and sponged on the ink.  Forgot to do the edges!!!

Really like the dimension this technique gives.  I masked off again and stamped the tiger and happy birthday from Mark's Finest Papers Tiger set.  Love that tiger.  The 'leaves' around the tiger are actually part of a Sweet Pea stamp, a girl hair!!  Kaisercraft butterfly collage cos it was on my desk from last night.  A variety of PaperArtsy text and postage related stamps.  It was fun to do and I really want to try again with different stamp and colours.

Joining the fun at
The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Retiform
Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge 255 - Happy Birthday and include a butterfly
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Happy Birthday
Fashionable Stamping Challenge 94 - Favourite Go To Stamp
Crafting Musketeers Challenge 24 - It's a Man's World 

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you have a lovely sunny Easter weekend.  Hugz

Flights Of NBUS

Hello.  Welcome.  Darnell's NBUS challenge is over yet NBUS persists.  I have finally used my Sizzix Fanciful Flight die.  And a couple of new Kaisercraft stamps.  A veritable NBUS party.  

I cut my butterfly from blue card and colourful handmade paper.  I used the same blue card for my base card and tinted with Festive Berries distress ink.  I cut a panel from pale blue paper, stamped with various Kaisercraft stamps using pale blue ink and punched the corners using Fiskars Bugs punch.  The happy birthday is part of a Mark's Finest Papers stamp, from the tiger set. 

Joining the fun at
Speedy Fox And Friends Challenge 255 - Butterflies and Birthdays
Butterfly Challenge - Butterflies and Corners
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Happy Birthday
Scribble and Scrap Challenge 41 - Anything Goes 
Die Cut Divas - In The Garden 

Thanks for dropping by.  Hugz

The Travellers Return

Hello.  Welcome.  Well, here I am, back in Norwayland, after a brief but fun visit to the UK.  It turned into a bit of a gourmet tour.  No complaints there.  But where did all this laundry come from??  I thought it was under control before I left but now there's a mountain here.  Ah well, let's craft LOL

Home in time to sneak an entry in over at Scraps of Life for Rudolf Days.  I made a small one layer card using a NBUS stamp that came free with a magazine.  I used my watercolour pencils and my water brush.  Over at OLCC they wanted circles so I hope the moon, pom pom and berries fit LOL.  

Joining the fun at
March Rudolph Day
NBUS Challenge #4
OLCC #6 - Circles
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes 

Thanks for dropping by.  Hugz

Altered Cards

Hello.  Welcome.  Here we are back with the altered playing cards.  Claudine has posted the final cards this week.  Can you believe it!!  OK,  I still have 8 blank cards, but I am so pleased and amazed that I have managed to do this challenge.  I hope to get the last 6 done next week when I return from my little week away, but here's two I managed to do before leaving home.  You can find Claudine's week 27 cards HERE.

I only had black and brown archival so I decided to use some of the backgrounds I made last week using reinkers and didn't use.  I picked caramel and green.  The green was a bit patchy but you can see the gold spritz.

I stamped using various PaperArtsy LP stamps.  I used the large oak leaf, black archival and Simon Says Stamp clear embossing powder (NBUS).  I used the postage collage stamp and Vintage Photo distress embossing powder (NBUS).

I stamped the eyes postage stamp and script stamp on grey paper.  The heart was stamped on book paper.  The sentiment is a Unity Stamp.   I added some washi tape, thanks Shery, and inked the edges.

I stamped more LP postage stamps and the large oak leaf on grey paper.  The sentiment is from Do crafts and more washi tape

The pair.  Only 6 to go to complete my deck!

Joining the fun at
Claudine's Altered Playing Card Challenge Week 27
NBUS Challenge 4
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -Anything Goes
Ett Trykk Vi Jubilerer Utfordring 27
The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Inky Background

Thanks for dropping by.  Hugz