Bunnies and Blooms

Hi everyone, here I am today with another 2 Easter cards … I just seem unable to stop playing with my daffodil stamps right now as they really lift my spirits! I set out to make one with my gel press but after several failed attempts, when I eventually got a print I was happy with there was enough ink left on the gel plate to take a second paler print … so I made another similar card in paler colours with a few tweaks to make it different.

Here’s the first one.

I brayered two colours of Elements ink onto my gel press and spattered with some watered down Elements, then took the prints on 5.5” squares of white stamping card. I stamped my daffodils onto the circle then stamped again onto separate card, coloured with Zig pens and Wink of Stella, then fussy cut out. I masked the circle and added a little background stamping in 2nd generation blue then attached the coloured flowers. Finally I added the bunnies which I highlighted with white pens, added the sentiment, doodled round the circles with fine liner and matted onto coordinating card stock and a 6” card blank. 

Here's an angled pic to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Visible Image Golden Daffodils, Where Flowers Bloom; Lavinia Wild Hares Set (Large); sentiment - See-D;

Media: Lavinia Elements Ink (Blue Lagoon, Sahara); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Blue Belle); Kuretake Clean Colour Zig Watercolour pens; Wink of Stella; gel pen (white); fine liner pen (blue);

Tools: Lavinia Roland gel press.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #15 - Anything Floral Goes (5th entry)

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (March) - Mad March Hare (hares, rabbits or Easter) (2nd entry)

Crafting Happiness #168 - Bunnies

Craftlandia #18 - Easter

Creatalicious #275 - Anything Goes with option Easter (3rd entry)

Double Trouble #162 - Spring Florals (4th entry)

Papercraft Challenge #104 - Easter - TOP 3

Shopping Our Stash #518 - Spring Has Sprung (2nd entry)

Simply Create Too #198 - Bunnies and Blooms

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - Bunnies and/or Chicks

... and the second one.

This one is the second generation print from the gel press, so I coloured the flowers in paler shades. 

Stamps: Visible Image Golden Daffodils, Sketched Tulips; Lavinia Lupin; sentiment - See-D;

Media: As above.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (March) - Mad March Hare (hares, rabbits or Easter) (3rd entry)

Crafty Gals’ Corner #253 - Anything Goes

Love to Scrap #166 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Mix It Up #70 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Paper Funday #63 - Anything Goes (3rd entry) - TOP 3

Sheepski #84 - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #641/642 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter whatever you're doing. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Golden Daffodils

Hi everyone, I love daffodils in spring, and this year I made my first daffodil card on St. David’s Day. A mere week later and here I am again with another one … they are so bright and cheerful they really make me smile! I also felt encouraged to have another go with my new circular gel press as my first attempt last week worked out much better than I have ever managed to achieve with my old square one.

I brayered two colours of Elements ink onto my gel plate, spattered with water and took a print on a 5 1/2” square of stamping card. I stamped the focal daffodil then stamped it again onto separate card along with two smaller flower heads, coloured with Zig markers then fussy cut and added Wink of Stella to the flower heads. I masked the inked circle and added some background circle stamping using Versamark heat embossed with ultra fine white embossing powder, then attached the flowers. I stamped and heat embossed the Easter sentiment on black card, cut out and attached, then added some doodling round the circle with a black fine liner. Finally I matted the finished panel onto aqua pearlescent linen card stock and a 6” card blank.

Here is an angled shot to try to capture the sparkle on the flowers.

Stamps: Visible Image Golden Daffodils, The Butterfly Effect; Penny Black Happy Easter (2855D);

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Lagoon, Bermuda); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Versamark; WOW white ultra fine embossing powder; Kuretake Zig watercolour brush pens; Wink of Stella;

Tools: Lavinia Roland gel press.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Allsorts #770 - Spring

As You Like It - Favourite Monochrome or Colourful (and why) - TOP 3

(I love colourful makes as they make me feel cheerful!)

Beautiful Blossoms #14 - Anything Floral Goes (6th entry)

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (March) - Mad March Hare (hares, rabbits or Easter)

C.R.A.F.T. #711 - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #667 - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers #273 - Anything Goes

Double D - First Signs of Spring

Dragonfly Dreams (March) - Circles - TOP 3

Dream Valley #311 - Add Some Sparkle

Krafty Chicks #706 - Stamps

Simon Says (Monday) - Bright and Cheerful

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Add a Sentiment

Stamping Sensations (March) - Spring

Try It On Tuesday - Spring - TOP 5

Word Art Wednesday #637/638 - Anything Goes

On that cheerful note I’ll wish everyone a happy weekend.  Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye...

Hi everyone, my lovely blogging friend Ellie has exciting news today, as she is launching a new monthly challenge on her blog Ellibelle's Corner, entitled I Spy With My Little Eye...

.. and my exciting news is that she asked me to be her Guest Designer for the first challenge - woo hoo!! Thanks Ellie!!

As mentioned above, the challenge will start on the 3rd Wednesday of each month and will end on the Sunday before the next challenge at 23.59 US Central Time … so that’s Sunday April 16th. Here’s a link to the first challenge and the theme is ..

I Spy With My Little Eye ... a Spring or Easter Critter

Here is my card for this challenge.

One of the things I love about Ellie's style of crafting is her use of adorable Penny Black stamps - both recent and vintage. I myself have a good collection of vintage wooden PB stamps all the way back to when I first started crafting in 2005, but since coming back to crafting in 2021 after a few years away they have been rather sadly neglected. I think this is partly because my confidence in colouring with alcohol markers was low on my return, and I kind of got out of the habit. Easter is a time though when I do tend to turn to these cute critter images, so this challenge was the perfect opportunity!! I have to say this duckling really is one of my favourites … he looks so daffy, the expression on his face is priceless somehow!

I cut a frame of pearlescent white card using my stitched square dies, then embossed with a floral folder I recently picked up in the charity shop. I stamped my image onto a square of Neenah card stock and coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers, then lightly inked grass and sky with Distress Oxide inks. I gently blended DOX inks in co-ordinating colours over the embossed frame using teeny stencil brushes, then attached my image panel behind the aperture.  I stamped my Easter greeting direct onto the image panel, and the springtime sentiment onto a snippet of white pearlescent card which I then cut out with a stitched square die and edged with pink DOX. I assembled the card by adding two colours of twine with the bow secured with a sparkly brad, and the sentiment popped up on foam tape. Lastly I added a bit of sparkle to the duck's flowers with my Spectrum Noir sparkle pen - here is a closeup to capture the twinkle.

Stamps: Penny Black Duckling (3347H), Spring Magic (2852C), Happy Easter (2855D);

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Bundled Sage, Tumbled Glass); Memento ink (black); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen (clear);

Tools: Hunkydory Duo-Stitched Squares; Die’sire Embossalicious Floral Frenzy embossing folder;

Twine and brad from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Easter Critters (and why) - TOP 3

(I would normally say bunnies, but there is something just so adorable about this duckling holding his bunch of Easter flowers - he is my favourite!)

Beyond the Blue #81 - Blooms

Can You Handle the Pressure? - Anything Goes Embossing - TOP 3

Crafty Animals #70 - Anything Goes with an Animal - TOP PICK

Crafty Calendar (March) - Buttons/Bows

Crafty Catz #628 - Anything Goes with option Spring

Creative Inspirations (March) - Spring Blooms (2nd entry)

Critter Crazy Challenges #72 - Anything Goes With a Featured Critter

Cutie Pie #180 - Beginning With B (Blooms)

Dream Valley #289 - Things With Wings (2nd entry)

Happy Little Stampers: Dies (March) - Anything Goes With Dies

I ❤️ Promarkers #530 - Anything Goes with option Add a Flower

Make My Monday #196 - Spring Colours

Passion For Markers #681 - Colours of Spring - TOP 5

Penny Black Saturday (March) - Anything Goes with option Easter

Simply Create Too #188 - Spring Colours

Stamping Sensations (March) - Anything Stamped with option Wings and Tails (3rd entry)

Triple B (March) - Birds, Blooms and/or Butterflies (3rd entry)

We Love Stamping (March) - Anything Stamped with option Spring Is In the Air

Word Art Wednesday #587/588 - Anything Goes

Please do pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creations, and link up your spring/Easter critter makes here.

That's all from me for today - take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

You're the Bestest!

I recently spotted that this month's We love Stamping challenge theme is "Stamp of the Moment", and that was what inspired today's card using this adorable Penny Black kitty stamp called "you're the Bestest!". 

So why is this my stamp of the moment?? Well there are three reasons ... he is one of my all time favourite Penny Black stamps as there is something just so joyful about him; secondly he is obviously perfect for spring and Easter cards right now; and thirdly (and critically) ... last week I thought I had lost him!!! I was looking for him to make an Easter card and couldn't find him anywhere - I turned out every box of wooden stamps I've got, and no joy! Only later did I realise my mistake, which is doubtless due to the fact  I only came back to crafting last summer so haven't inked up this little guy for a long time ... I have him not as a traditional wood mounted stamp but as a cling ... and I found him nestling in one of my boxes of unmounted stamps completely by chance! How happy was I?? So I just had to ink him up and here is the result.

I stamped my image and coloured with Promarkers and Flexmarkers, then softened the sky by dabbing with rubbing alcohol and a cotton bud. I die cut my image using a stitched square, and sponged Distress Oxide ink round the edges.  I layered up some gingham paper that I had edged with some faux stitching using my pokey tool and a black fine liner, with some green and yellow card, then decorated with jute and green ribbons. I matted my image panel onto the gingham paper then finished off by decorating with a stamped sentiment,  die cut and punched butterflies and a trio of sparkly gems.

The large butterfly is very sparkly and the small butterflies are gold mirror card which looks very dark in the main photo ... here is an angled pic.

Stamps: Penny Black "You're the Bestest!"; sentiment - unknown;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Mowed Lawn);

Tools: Magnolia Doohickey Butterfly Dreams die; X-Cut small butterflies punch; stitched square die from Amazon;

Paper, ribbons and gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter: 

Country View Challenges (April) - Spring Is Coming (3rd entry)

Double D Challenge- Easter

Dragonfly Dreams (April) - Spring/Easter

Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday (April) - Animals of Any Kind

Passion For Markers #635 - Animal Magic

Penny Black Saturday Challenge (April) - Anything Goes option Easter (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Easter/Spring (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (April) - I Love …

(Penny Black stamps, spring, daffodils)

 Try It on Tuesday - Spring Colours (2nd entry) - TOP 5

We love Stamping (April) - Stamp of the Moment

It's been a pretty busy crafty week with posts coming along like buses ... I'll be back tomorrow with my card for the new Allsorts challenge.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Happy Easter :-)

Oh bliss! I've had an extra day off from work today for Easter, so I've had chance to potter about and catch up with one or two things. Didn't have time for any crafting, but here is my last Easter teddy card which I made at the weekend. Unfortunately I didn't manage to make enough Easter cards to send to all my friends as I have been working late recently, but even so I'm quite pleased with the value I got out of this free decoupage pack ... I think I'm all teddied-out now lol!

Image: Forever Friends decoupage pack;

Sentiment: Penny Black;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby  House; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Martha Stewart edge punch; Cuttlebug "daisy pattern" embossing folder; Leone Em "ash Famiily" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Creative Inspirations #157 - Easter

My Mum's #51 - Easter Creations / Animals

Hooked on Craft #19 - Easter
Forever Friends (April) - Embossing

Fab 'n' Funky - Emboss It!

Craft Your Passion #104 - Dots & Stripes

Simon Says - Use Your Favourite Tool (Cuttlebug)

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Divas By Design #29 - Anything Goes

Hopefully I'll get a bit of time to craft tomorrow .. if not I'll be back on Saturday with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge :-)

Cutie with cupcakes :-)

I'm still patiently working my way through my free decoupage kit for Easter ... I'm determined to get some good value from a magazine gift for once instead of letting it all go to waste lol!

Here's an adorable Forever Friends teddy peeking at some  Easter cupcakes ... I can't quite decide but they look to me like chocolate cornflake "bird's nest" cakes - yummy!! I so remember these from when I was little and indeed I could scoff one right now :-)

Making this card gave me opportunity to use up some more of my yummy "Me To You" Easter papers ... I even cut out some little eggs from the paper and decoupaged them along with the teddy image! Here's the result.

Image: Forever Friends decoupage kit;

Sentiment: Penny Black;

Papers: Papermania "Me To You - Spring Chic";

Supplies: gems and ribbon from my stash.

Challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge #176 - Easter

Craft Your Days Away #42 - Easter

Crafty Cardmakers #65 - Easter

Totally Papercrafts #110 - Easter

Charisma #12 - Easter
Paper Sundaes #114 - Happy Easter

Crafty Pad #164 - It's Egg-Tastic!

Simply Create Too #10 - Eggs &/or Bunnies

Simon Says - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Sketch 'n' Stash #84 - Sketch (rotated)

I still have enough decoupage cut out to make two more cards ... I'll have to get a wriggle on though if I'm to get them done, dusted and posted in time for Easter; and I think I'll be ready for a change by then!

 

Hot cross teddy!

Hi there. It's been such a long time since I did any regular crafting that I thought I would try something a little bit different in an attempt to get my mojo back.

In a recent craft magazine the free gift was an Easter-themed decoupage pack of Forever Friends images. (I'm afraid I can't remember which magazine and the pack doesn't say on it!!) I don't normally do decoupage, but these images were so sweet I thought it would be a shame to completely waste them, and here's the result of my first attempt.

I have to confess that I started this card thinking it would be quick, but it took me hugely longer than I originally anticipated - decoupage is clearly not a quick option lol!

Image: Forever Friends decoupage;

Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Easter";

Paper: Forever Friends "Springtime";

Supplies: Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from Hobbycraft; lace from John Lewis; gems from The Hobby House;

Tools: Marianne D doily die; Cheery Lynn "Art Deco" corners; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

By The Cute & Girly (March) - In The Kitchen

Forever Friends - 3D and/or Decoupage

MAWTT #142 - Cute & Cuddly
Scrapbook Sisters #77 - Easter

Top Tip Tuesday #73 - Easter &/or Animals

Penny's Paper Crafty #76 - Easter

Paperplay #13 - Easter
Paper Shelter #57 - Easter 
Try It On Tuesday - Easter
Crafty Boots - Easter
Cute Card Thursday #210 - Happy Easter
Sentimental Sundays #95 - Easter or Spring

Creative Card Crew #7 - Spring

Sparkles #30 - Spring

Marianne's Design Divas - Spring into Spring

Truly Scrumptious #77 - Use Lace

Totally Gorjuss #124 - Spots & Stripes

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting - I'll be back on Saturday with a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge.