Life is Beautiful

Hello and thanks for popping in today, well here in the N.E. the weather wasn't as good as expected this Bank Holiday, but it did give me a couple of hours to start to 'tidy' my craft room - that was until I  came across this little greyboard heart that I'd started ages ago.  It had been painted with PaperArtsy paints and Crackle Glaze and then sat in a drawer waiting to be embellished.
I used DecoArt Crackle paste through a Flourish stencil, and when dry this was covered with Pumice stone DI to highlight the cracks.  My little roses were made with the Tiny Florals die and sprayed with various Distress inks.  The little sentiment was a 'freebie' from Crafty Individuals,  stamped with Potting Soil and heat embossed with Clear EP.  I used a white gel pen to highlight the word Beautiful.  My lovely linen ribbon was bought in a little haberdashery on a day out a couple of weeks ago, I only got a couple of meters as I have a box full of pretty ribbons that I never use - wish I'd bought more of this one though!
I am entering this at:
  Love to Create - Challenge 11 Anything Mixed Media
  Mixed Media Mojo - Flowers
  Anything But Cute - Celebrate Your Style

By the was, the tidy up will be for another day now!

Avril xx

Uncomplicated

Hello, my post on the Artistic Outpost blog this week features those sweet kids from the Harvest set of rubber stamps.    For all the details, please pop over to the AO blog, and don't forget, you still have a few more days left if you want to enter the AO Show us Your Art challenge this month.
Thanks for popping in today, I do appreciate it.
Avril xx

Music Time at TioT

Hello and thanks for visiting,  today sees the start of a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and this fortnight it's ' I can hear Music', as usual, it's up to you what you create as long as you follow the theme.
I've used a piece of vintage music score paper, torn and  distressed with Vintage Photo DI,   and   matted onto black cardstock.  The sentiment is IndigoBlu, from the Music Hall set which  was stamped and heat embossed with Clear EP.  My Wildflower die cuts were cut from black and then stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Clear EP a couple of times which gives an enameled look.

The rest of the Design team have some wonderful inspiration so please pop over to the main blog
here.

That's all for now, have a great day,
Avril xx

Life is Better with Ice Cream

Hello,  it's my turn to post over on the Artistic Outpost blog and I'm featuring the Ice Cream 
Shoppe  and Grunge Elements from the New Releases and if you would like to see what I used, please pop over to the AO Blog for all the details.
The May Show us your Art challenge still has a couple of weeks left to run, so why not check out the details and show us what you create with Artistic Outpost stamps.
Have a great day,
Avril xx

Remember there's Spots, Dots and Blots at TioT

Hello, just a little reminder for the current challenge over at TioT and as you can see there's lots of blots on this page.  My little Colourful Journal has been a little neglected of late, so TioT's theme was the perfect prompt to do a page.                                                                                                           

I've used Yellow Brushos and some old Dylusions spray called Vanilla Custard, all stamping was done in Black Archival ink, the sentiment and butterfly were also heat embossed with Clear EP.

This really is the perfect challenge to have some messy inky fun, so why not join us.  You will find all the details here.                                                                                                                                           Thanks for visiting, I do appreciate it.                                                                                                      

Avril xx                                                                                                                                                    

Hmm...Quite Bright!

Hello and thanks for popping in,  I've just bought a couple of Wendy Vecchi stencils, so of course I had to have a little play, I've used Checkmate with  Rangers Transparent Gloss paste.  When dry I spritzed with Dylusions Dirty Martini, this is the first time I've used this - quite bright for me.
I let it soak into the card  in places and love how it's seeped under the embossing in places. I stamped some script with Frayed burlap DI before spritzing with Vintage photo and then when that was dry some Dylusions White Linen. The flowers were made with Tattered florals using a pink cardstock and then tinted with Aged mahogany DI.

I am entering this at:
  Mixed Media Mojo - Flowers
  Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Flower Power
  The Sisterhood of Crafters - No Designer Papers
  Simon Says Work it Wednesday - Flowers
 

I'm off to do some blog visiting myself now, so thanks for visiting,
Avril xx

Plant Seeds

Hello, it's my turn to post on the Artistic Outpost Blog and this time I'm featuring my handsome farmer boy from the Harvest set along with the Seed Packet background.
If you'd like to know more, please pop over to the AO blog for all the details and while you're there, you might want to browse through and see some fabulous inspirational pieces from the rest of the Design team.
There's also the  details of this months Show Us Your Art challenge where you have the chance to win a $15 online voucher to purchase Artistic Outpost rubber stamps.
Thanks for visiting, I do appreciate it.
Avril xx

Spots , splashes and Dots

Hello, it's time for another challenge at Try it on Tuesday and this time it's 'Spots, Splashes and Dots'
My flower, from the Tim Holtz Flower Garden set was stamped onto water colour paper with black Archival ink and heat set with clear EP and coloured with Distress inks, I also used a very watery wash to shade the background.  The base layer is wrinkle free distress, some watery splashes and stenciled dots.  (My card looks very dark in the photo, but then I do think purple is hard to photograph.)
The rest of the DT have some wonderful inspiration for you, so please pop over to the main blog, where you will also find all the challenge details.

Thanks for your visit,
Avril xx

Blots and Splashes at FSC

Hello, it's time for another challenge at Fashionable Stamping  and our theme this month is 'Blots and Splashes'  -   time for some fun.
We have Flonzcraft as our sponsor and they are offering one lucky random winner a $20 spend in their online store.
I used Frayed Burlap  DI and a script stamp from Inkylicious from my base layer with some inky 'splats' using a stamp from Artistic Outpost's Grunge Elements.  The top layer is the Papillion script from Tim  Holtz, stamped with Victorian Velvet DI, then heat set with Clear EP.  This was shaded with Milled  lavender, Frayed Burlap and Iced Spruce DIs, before 'splashing'  with some white Gesso.  To 'pretty' this up I added some Tiny Tattered Florals and a piece of Mixed Media die cut.  Beauty was cut from a TH sentiment.
It would be lovely if you could join us for this challenge, but remember, we are a stamping challenge and the stamping must follow the theme.  The rest of the DT have some wonderful inspiration for you, so please pop over to the main blog for all the details.

I am entering this at:
Love to Create - Anything Mixed Media - Challenge 10
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
Penny Black and More - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting, I do appreciate it.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Avril xx

Happiness

Hello, and thanks for popping in, it's my turn to post over on the Artistic Outpost blog and this time I'm featuring this gorgeous stamp from the Harvest set.  On this card I've teamed these sweet children with words from the Think and Wonder set of stamps and if you'd like to find out more, please pop over to the
AO Blog

Have a great day,
Avril xx

Butterfly

Hello, well I hope you've all enjoyed the Bank Holiday and the weather didn't spoil your plans too much.
On a little tidy up I came across this panel in the bits box, too good to lie in there!  Stamped a TH butterfly, coloured with Abandoned coral and Peacock feathers and some Rock Candy distress paint, highlighted it with some  gilding wax to match the gold embossed stenciling.  The metal words were silver, so used Versamark  heat set with Gold EP before adding some treasure gold in Aquamarine to tone them down.  Don;'t you just love it when you use something from the bits box - no matter how small!
Think I need to have another rummage and see what else I can use up.

I am entering this at:
  Love to Create - Challenge 9 - Anything Goes Mixed Media
  Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting,
Avril xx