Rose easel

I've had this set of stamps from Oak House studio for a couple of years now and this is the first time I've even cut into the stamp sheet, in order to use this large rose stamp and matching border and sentiment.

I used a stitched square die to cut the background papers using sheets from a very old magazine freebie set. Then I went around the "stitching" with a very fine black liner to make it look more realistic. I used the same effect on the oval die cut I used for the rose, cutting around the large leaf  and slipping it to the back of the die before cutting so that it appears to overlap the edge.

I am sharing this with

Fab 'n' Funky - add pearls/gems 
Little Red Wagon - Sew/stitch it 
Just us Girls -  pink, dark pink, green 

Festive Robins

This cute little robin trio stamp was a magazine freebie years and years ago.

Today I've coloured it with pencils and added  a star brad for them to wish upon and a suitable sentiment.

I am sharing this with

Christmas Kickstart - Things with wings 

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - anything goes/use a diecut

Anything Goes at CD Sundays

It's time for our latest Anything Goes challenge at CD Sundays.  We'd love to see what you've made incorporating something printed out from a craft CD!

This time I've used the La Pashe CD "Something for Everyone"

I was tickled pink to find that my random Candi mixture box contained a few pieces of newsprint Candi, perfect for with this fun decoupage!

Bold and bright

The other day I saw a photo of a really stunning new variety of osteospermum that I really wanted to try to recreate by means of colouring, so  today I dug out a  huge daisy stamp  and had a play.

Here's my card

I coloured it with Promarkers, using each pen in brisk strokes in one direction only to try to keep the colours from blending - exactly the opposite of what I usually aim to do.

This is the flower that inspired me:

I am scharing this with

Addicted to CAS - Daisy 


Sweet Stampin'  - You've got to have friends 

Passion for Promarkers - Colours of Summer 

An Impossible Card

I think this is only the second time I've mad an Impossible Card. They fascinate me - despite having a very mathematical mind and knowing how they work, they still look completely impossible when they are finished!

The background is made on watercolour card with red and green distress inks which are much darker than they appear on the photo - I think it must be the contrast with the black, making them look almost pink and yellow. . I stamped the moth images onto part of it - they are beautiful old stamps from The Stamp Man, I kept the leaflet that came with them and it is dated 2003. I've just checked their website and they don't seem to stock Aspects of Design, which was their own range, any more so this stamp set is probably no longer available, a pity as it is gorgeous.

I stamped random tiny dragonflies over the rest of the inked card to use as a background.

I am sharing this with The Butterfly Challenge where I am claiming all 7 elements - BINGO!

CAS Christmas mid month post

I am Guest Designer at CAS Christmas this month and it's time for the mid month reminder.  The theme is Snowflake 

and here is my reminder card for you.

I masked off the card to leave a strip which I sponged with pink and blue distress inks, then stamped the big, bold snowflakes and sentiments using a bargain stamp set that I bought in Poundland. Some branches have a good range of craft supplies, and  they appear to be from discontinued Dovecraft ranges that have been rebranded with the store's own craft brand; well worth looking out for if you aren't concerned about being at the cutting edge of crafting fashion!

The challenge closes on July 24th so hurry, you only have a week left to play!

Spice it up!

Mark's chillis are starting to form now, after a disappointing start, so here is a card that celebrates all things chilli.

I've made a one layer card, stamped with red and green chillies from Rubber Dance and finished with a sentiment from the same set stamped boldly over the top of them.

I am sharing this with

Addicted to CAS - heat 


Allsorts Challenge - Clean and Simple 

Watercooler Wednesday - Masculine anything goes