Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge : May

Here is my entry for the Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge for May.

The verse this month is :

May brings flocks of pretty lambs

Skipping by their fleecy dams

I remembered I had a stamp of a lamb which was a freebie with a magazine. Amazing, I found it! Then I remembered a Hobby Art set that a friend gave to me as she had a duplicate. It is the same set that Claire used on her canvas this month, I recognise those sheep. 

I used distress inks for the background and for some of the stamping, removed the ink from the sheep in the distance with a water brush and coloured the fences and lamb with inktense pencils.

Stamps used:

Card-io Oriental Blossom (branches and leaves).

Hobby Art CS083D Farmhouse Scene-it (sheep, wildflowers and fences)

Rural Springtime from Creative Stamping Magazine issue 23 (lamb)

Next month we will be half way through the challenge and half way through the year, how scary is that!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : P

My first post of 2017 is the final page for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary project and the letter is P. I chose poppy and just used lots of poppy stamps all over the page, I guess it sort of works. I was thinking of choosing page as my word, highlighting the word and leaving the page blank but that would be a bit of a cheat wouldn't it!

Recipe:
Rubbernecker Red Poppy Stamp coloured with TH distress markers (candied apple, abandoned coral, ground espresso and black soot) and stamped directly onto the page.
A selection of poppy stamps from Hobby Art CS044D Poppy Scene-it set stamped with black archival ink and coloured with inktense pencils.

I have really enjoyed this project and am proud of myself for completing it. My thanks to all of you who have left comments, it means a lot. Thanks also to Jane and Mickie at the Craft Barn for running the challenge for us and I wish you all a very Happy 2017. x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : M

The penultimate letter for the Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary challenge is the letter M. Only one more letter and the project will be complete. I have loved doing this challenge. For "M" I have chosen Medieval and used two Medieval panel stamps on my page.

Here is my entry:

This was another opportunity to use a set of stamps that I have had for years from a company called Past Times Stamps. The designs are by Joanna Sheen.
I used inktense pencils and water coloured the images as usual.

I had to take the photo indoors this time as I missed the daylight, been busy with jobs today preparing for my Christmas get-way.
OK, thats me done for a now. I am off to Cornwall tomorrow to visit my Mum for Christmas.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Stay safe and be happy x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : I

I is for Imago.
Definition : Final and perfect stage of insect e.g. butterfly.

This is my entry for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge letter I.

Stamps used:
Kaisercraft : Butterflies
Hobby Art : Ann's Collection - Just for You

Just a quick post this time as I am running late and wanted to catch the deadline. The next letter in the series has already been posted on the Craft Barn blog and I really want to complete this project. My goodness, where does all the time go!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : U

I chose Umbrella for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge this time for no reason other than I just love that Tim Holtz Umbrella Man image and wanted to use him. Here is my entry:

Stamps used:

Tim Holtz : Lif's Possibilities

Hunkydory : Brighten Your Day

Happy Days x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : V

Oh where did that fortnight go! Fortunately the clocks went back today so I got that extra hour to finish off my Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge page for the letter V. Here it is;

I chose vacation for my "V"word and used my Travel Labels Tim Holtz stamp set adding a vintage suitcase image to complete the theme. All coloured with inktense pencils and watercoloured.

Enjoy the extra hour.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : X

Well, this was a challenge as the letter X in my pocket Oxford dictionary only has 6 definitions and not only that, I also have the letter Y on the same page and we have not had that letter yet. So, I chose X as in Roman numerals and kept the design simple.

My entry for this fortnight's Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary Challenge :

I started by using a clock stencil from Indigo Blu and a fine black pen to get the layout positioned across the pages. I drew the outline numerals for 2016 and filled them in with a red inktense pencil and added water. The page needed something else so I stamped the flower to fill up the space and water coloured it with the same red inktense pencil.

Job done. I have resisted peeking to see what everyone else chose to do for this letter so I'm off to have a look now.

Thanks for dropping by and I really appreciate the comments you make on my work, thank you so much.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : O

It was Sunday morning and I spotted the next letter for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge was the letter O. I really only had Sunday to complete my page as I will be away next weekend and I didn't want to miss the deadline for any of these challenges. Thumbing through the pages of the dictionary I came across ornithology, a perfect word to showcase some of my Tim Holtz stamps.

Stamps used :
Nature Walk CMS181 from Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection.
Coloured with inktense watercolour pencils and a bit of tumbled glass distress ink for the egg.

This is a simple and quick one but I do like those TH stamps so a great opportunity to use them.

A big thank you to all of you who comment on my pages, I really do appreciate it and it encourages me to carry on. I really am enjoying this project.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : H

H is for Holly. That is the word I have chose for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge this time.

H was one of the easier letters, so many possibilities.
The stamp is from Woodware and it has been coloured with inktense watercolour pencils as usual but with some Wink of Stella on top. The sparkle is subtle so does not photograph well.

Hope those of you in the UK are enjoying the August Bank Holiday if you have the day off. I am off out now for a wander in the sunshine.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : Z

The alpha dictionary challenge this time is Z with a pearl. Just a little pearly twist this time, hmmm, well I didn't want to just stick a pearl somewhere on the page because the dictionary pages are so flimsy so I had no choice, I had to draw one.

I chose Zircon for my Z word and thanks to a bit of brainstorming with my pal over lunch in the office, I have opted for jewellery theme. Zircon is a gemstone (not to be confused with cubic zirconia which is a man-made crystal), often used to simulate diamond but comes in many colours, the most popular for jewellery being blue.

I used only one stamp on this page, the gemstone from a Lynne Perrella set. I drew the beads for the necklace and the shell with the pearl inside. Actually it looks a bit fat, more like a flower, it is a bit puffy. Ha! It was good fun to do and I probably should have drawn it in pencil first but you live and learn! From a distance the page looks a bit like a face, actually, the more I look at the page the more I am thinking this is not my best effort so will try to do better next time.

Have fun everyone,

Catch you later. x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : C

I am still managing to keep up with the alpha/dictionary challenge at the Craft Barn even though each two weeks seem to fly by.
For the letter "C" I chose Circus. The circus reminds me of childhood summers and one in particular when my Gran took me to one which was closed. I never got to see a show, I'm not even sure I particularly would have wanted to. Here is my offering:

The stamps I used were from an Andy Skinner set and the images water coloured with inktense pencils as usual.

I hope to write more next time but for now, have fun in the sun.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : N

Here is my offering for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge. The letter this time is N so I chose Nautical, another one of my favourite themes - oh, I know, I have loads of favourites.

Stamps used : Kanban
Watercoloured with Inktense pencils.

There are other nautical theme words beginning with N, like navigate and navy but I chose nautical because it is more generic and for practical reasons, it appears in a good position on the dictionary page.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
Sea Fever : John Masefield

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : W

I am feeling quite pleased with myself for managing to keep up with my Alpha/Dictionary project, "W" got finished this morning just in time. I've also now realised that it would have been better to stick to one style for the whole project but having never done this before, it's a learning curve. I reckon stamped images and watercolour pencils work for me on these flimsy pages so that is what I have used for this one.

My entry for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge : W

I chose Wizard because I have a lovely set of Artistic Outpost stamps with Wizard of Oz images and hadn't used them, not until now.

I have some catching up to do so see what everyone else has picked for "W" and what amazing art is on the Craft Barn blog so signing off and wishing you all a great weekend.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : S

I chose SHORE as my word for the letter S for the Alpha/Dictionary Challenge at the Craft Barn. The twist with this letter is to include a shell. I like seaside images so I was thinking about what you find on the shoreline and of course, a great excuse to include beach huts. I love beach huts so they just had to be on my page.

Cockle shell stamp from Marianne Designs : Beach PA4007

Vintage photo image from Marianne Designs sheet of vintage beach photos.

Beach huts and focal image of girl with parasol : Craft Individuals.

All the stamped images are coloured with Inktense water colour pencils. The definition and the edges of the shell panels are highlighted with the blue pencil and softened with water.

I'm glad I now have a seaside page in my book, it makes me happy.

JOFY Masterboard Project

Inspired by Jo Firth-Young's masterboard makes on the PaperArtsy blog, this is the project that I was working on last weekend. For details of Jo's masterboard technique, see the tutorial here and for her inspirational makes look here.

My masterboard started as an A4 piece of white stamping card and I used, mainly JOFY set 24 with one element from JOFY 13 and the leaf from JOFY 09. The flowers are stamped in black archival ink and the little twiggy things stamped in green. The stars are stamped onto a book page and stuck to the card then coloured with inktense pencils. When the colouring was finished I quite liked the pencil effect but brightened it by using a water brush. Here are the before and after masterboards.

I made a book cover by cutting two panels and mounting them front and back on this long slim book.

There was plenty left for two 6 x 6 cards. Both inspired by Jo's examples but not exactly the same.

The colouring took a long time but I did enjoy this project and I have a few bits left that will probably make their way on to an ATC at a later date. I missed the deadline to link this up on the PaperArtsy blog, nothing new there, I guess the work deadlines have to take priority.

Happy JOFY Christmas

So many ideas in my head for Christmas cards this year and here is a relatively easy make using PaperArtsy JOFY 19 only, no mixing in anything else from any other stamp plates.

For the background I stamped the stars in black archival ink on Kraft paper and stuck it on a white C6 card. The panel uses two of the images stamped and coloured with Inktense pencils. I used exactly the same colours as on the packet that the stamp set came in, what a cheat, but it got me in the mood to do other things.

Here is another thing. I wanted to use my new Jofy JM30 to make a little Christmas card but .... it turned into a birthday card.

The frame and panel were cut from white cardstock using a Spellbinders die, The presents stamped and coloured with Promarkers and some glossy accents added to the green dots. As before, I was looking at the packaging on the stamp and all the JOFY stamps have this really nice faded dot pattern around the edges so I thought I'd have a go add adding that to the frame. I used Festive Berries distress ink through a stencil and then drew around the edges with pastel blue Promarker. To finish it off I added a Happy Birthday sentiment from an old Papermania set and doodled around the edges.

Now I'm off to browse what others having been doing because I need a bit more inspiration right now.

I am 1

It is one whole year since my first blog post and I would like to thank all of you who have encouraged me along the way. I've learned so much from the blog challenges and from following the inspirational crafts people and artists over the past year. Thank you all so much.

I will start year two with my entry for this month's Twinchie challenge which is #4 Florals.
My 2 inch square piece is (predictably) a daisy from Paperartsy's JOFY 13. The background is stamped using a Judikins cube in shades of green and the flower stamped on white cardstock and coloured with inktense pencils then softened with a water brush, cut out and mounted on the background.

Happy Tuesday everyone and thank you for dropping by.

More Flowers

I was chuffed to bits to win the February challenge on the Show us your Twinchies blog, now I get to proudly display a winners badge. I really enjoy the twinchie challenges because the design team show such a variety of examples for each theme and the entries by others are so creative. There is plenty of time to think about the themes and to produce the artwork as well which is great if you are at work all week and have limited time. Go check it out, these twinchies are addictive and fun.

So, on to the March theme where Challenge 3 is 'Flower or Flowers'.
I seem incapable of using anything other than JOFY stamps recently, I love them so here is another one using  parts of the stamp set JOFY 11 and JOFY 9.

 

The 2 inch square background is kraft card that has been embossed, a scrap from a previous project. For the background I used randomly sponged distress inks and stamped the flowers and word in black archival ink. I used Inktense pencils to colour the flowers and painted over them with water to intensify the colours. Simple but bright and happy which was the effect I was after.