Merry Christmas

 I'm dreaming of a White Christmas always comes to mind when I use this favourite Crafty Individuals image and this morning we woke to a full covering of snow!  Although it has snowed most of the day, I'm not sure it will last as it's quite wet.

I just want to say Thank You to all who have visited here over the years, I really do appreciate it,  and to Wish You a Very Merry and Safe Christmas.

Take care and stay safe,

Avril xx

Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

 

I know, something you don't expect to see here is a cutie card but the current challenge at Stamping Sensations is Anything with Wings - so a good excuse to get ahead and make a card for DD's Goddaughter's birthday, which is New Years Eve.

A very old Lily of the Valley fairy, stamped and coloured with Promarkers and although you can't tell, there's lots of DecoArt Glamour Dust everywhere.  The little flowers are the Tiny tattered florals, again with lots of sparkle.

The rest of the DT have more wonderful inspiration for you, so please pop over to the main blog, where you will find all the challenge details, and don't forget, one lucky random winner could receive this fabulous prize from Craftstash

Thanks for calling, have a great day.

Avril xx

The current challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas Sparkle and who doesn't like a bit of sparkle at Christmas.

I couldn't resist the new Poinsettia 3D Embossing folder from Tim Holtz as I've seen some fabulous cards using it, but I opted for a fairly simple version - swiping the flat surface of the folder with Speckled egg DI and using linen card.  I used a red and green gilding wax, rubbed with my finger to colour the flowers and leaves and added gold fine glitter to the centre and for some for some extra sparkle, my base lay.er was white glitter card.  A difficult card to photograph with the shine from the waxes and glitter.

You still have another week to enter the challenge and all the details can be found here

Thanks for calling in,

Avril xx

Ready for Christmas

 Relief!  the cards are written and off in the post.  Every year I plan to start making early, but as usual end up doing them all over a couple of weeks.  It's a good job I don't mind batch making.

This is one batch using up some very old papers, some stamping and masking of this vintage Santa and a batch of die cut festive greens.  I didn't plan on adding the pearls, but these ended up being hand delivered, so postage wasn't a problem.

I am going to enter this at Allsorts -  It's Got to Be Christmas

  and another entry for We Love Chocolate Baroque - Anything goes 

  and Country View Challenges - Anything Christmas

Well, now that the Christmas cards are sorted, I'll be able to do some catching up.

Avril xx

Christmas Sparkle at Try it on Tuesday

 Our last challenge of this year at Try it on Tuesday is Christmas Sparkle, well who doesn't like sparkle at Christmas!

I've used a very old Artistic Outpost stamp from the Snowy Woods set and just added a little colour to Santa's clothes. lots of sparkly glitter card die cuts and an embossed background, very sparkly, but as usual these don't always show in photographs.

The rest of the DT have been very creative in their 'sparkles' to please pop over to the main blog to see and you'll also find all the challenge details.

I am entering this at We Love Chocolate Baroque - Anything Goes

                                 Country View Challenges - Anything Christmas

Full of busy here, but at least the Christmas cards are all done and just need posting.  I've also been making some bits and bobs for the nursery - less than a month to go before 'they' arrive, exciting times ahead.

Have a great day,

Avril xx

Anything With Wings at Stamping Sensations

The new challenge at Stamping Sensations this month is Anything with Wings lots of choice there as long as the main stamping follows the theme.

I needed a male birthday card and decided to do humorous with the Crazy Birds .  My background used the AALL & Create Circled Numbers stamp which was heat embossed in white and then colouring with various watercolours and letting them blend before adding my fussy cut birds,  the sentiment is from an Art Impressions set.

We have a fabulous prize from Craft Stash this month

The rest of the DT have some fabulous inspiration for you, so please pop over to the main blog for all the details.

Avril xxx

Winter Wonderland at Try it on Tuesday

 

The new challenge at Try it on Tuesday this fortnight is Winter Wonderland.   I've used the snowy cabin from Artistic Outpost Mid Winter set, along with one of my favourite Santa's to create my scene, some masking and inking and a couple of tiny trees and a freebie magazine sentiment.

The rest of the DT have some fabulous inspiration, so please pop over to the main blog for all the details.

I am entering this at Allsorts where they want to see Santa, Elves or Angels/ option Christmas, I think I've got that covered here, and at We Love Chocolate Baroque where the theme is Christmas.

I'm also entering at Christmas 24 challenge - Santa

Well that's another for the box, I'm getting there slowly.

Have a great day,

Avril xx

Mid Month Inspiration at Stamping Sensations

The theme at Stamping Sensations this month is Garlands, Wreaths and Christmas Flowers, great for making a start with those Christmas cards.

I've used my neglected Thinlits Poinsettia - neglected because I was never happy with my positioning of the stamp and die, but after watching a Tim Holtz 'live' earlier in the year and he explained (in case you didn't see it) - cutting the die first, placing the 'waste' die cut in the stamp platform, lining up the stamp in the cut out, then, after closing the lid to adhere the stamp, placing the die cut back into the waste for stamping - yay! perfect placing.

I've used the TH Linen background stamp, inked up with gold pigment ink and then heat embossed with gold EP - very sparkly, the greeting was stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with WOW Red Glitz EP.  I've used a piece of gold handmade paper and mounted the Poinsettia on 3D foam pads.

The DT have some fabulous inspirations for this theme, so please pop over to the main blog and you'll also find all the challenge details there.

Avril xx

Traditional Christmas Colours at Try it on Tuesday

 

The new challenge at try it on Tuesday is Traditional Christmas Colours - a good way to make a start on the Christmas cards.

I've used one of my favourite Santa's from Tim Holtz, he looks such a happy fellow! matting and layering with some 'freebie' papers and a pine cone die cut.  Well - that's a start anyway.

The rest of the Design Team have some great inspirations, so please pop over to the main blog where you will find all the challenge details.

Avril xx

Garlands, Wreaths and Christmas Flowers at Stamping Sensations

 

It's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations and this month we'd like to see either Garlands, Wreaths and/or Christmas Flowers, so lots of scope and a chance to get ahead with the Christmas cards.

We've got Chocolate Baroque as our sponsors this month and they are offering this fabulous stamp plate as a prize.

I've used a very old Lili of the Valley stamp for my card,  I also stamped extra baubles with gold and heat embossed before adding colour with Twinkling H2O's, adding these with 3D foam pads.  I then matted onto some red mirri card, but this proved to be a nightmare to photograph! and the grey skies we've had didn't help no matter how hard I tried!!  Getting the baubles to sparkle only resulted in a pink card!

The rest of the DT have some fabulous inspiration for you, so please pop over to the main blog, where you will also find all the challenge details.

Avril xx

Beware!

 

Beware - tonight's  the night for witches and wizards to be out and about, so take care!

This poor witch obviously didn't take care  and I'm not sure how she ended up like this!

The challenge at Tag Tuesday is Halloween and I made this tag with some die cuts, which were kindly gifted from my crafty friend, to attach to some Halloween goodies for the children next door, which means I can join in the fun at Tag Tuesday.

Avril xx

Embossed at Try it on Tuesday

Embossed is the new challenge at Try it on Tuesday, this could be dry embossing, heat embossing or textured embossing, so lots of choice there.

I've altered a gift box and as it was already black, I decided just to add a central piece.  I used the Tim Holtz rose 3D embossing folder on a slightly marbled effect black card and then used gold rubbing wax to highlight the flower. and the edge of the cut panel.

So all I have to do now is fill it with goodies for Christmas.

The Design team have created some great projects for your inspiration, so please pop over to the main blog where you will also find all the challenge details.

Thanks for calling in,

Avril xx

Autumn Glory Mid month

 Good morning, it's time for some mid inspiration for this month's Stamping Sensations challenge  - Autumn Glory.

I've used an an old favourite - an image from Artistic Outpost's Serenity set.  I made an inky background and stamped second generation leaves in autumn shades.  The sentiment is from a magazine freebie set.

Some die cut leaves and little autumn gatherings from a recent walk to complete.

There's some lovely inspiration on the challenge blog, so please pop over and as long as you use stamping as your main focal point, why not join in, as always there's some fabulous prizes to be won.

Thanks for calling in,

Avril xx

Halloween Time for Try it on Tuesday

We're all getting ready for that Spooky time of the year at Try it on Tuesday with our latest challenge of Halloween.  As always, you can make any kind of project as long as it follows the theme.

I made a card for DD's Goddaughter and as she's only 5, I didn't want it too spooky.  I found these words on Pinterest and they seemed perfect for Old Witch Mary tending her tangled vines with her broom.

The DT have been having fun with this challenge, so please pop over to the main blog to see what they have been up to, and you will also find all the challenge details.

Thanks for calling in and beware, you never know who's about!

Avril xx

Autumn Glory at Stamping Sensations

 

Good morning I've some exciting news to share - I was asked to join the Design Team at Stamping Sensations, which is one of my favourite challenge blogs, so of course I said 'yes'!

The challenge this month is Autumn Glory and we have two sponsors this month  Stamp Addicts who are offering a £25 voucher and also our own  DT Dora who designs some wonderful images.  

Dora kindly gave the Design Team the option of using one of her images.  I chose this gorgeous flower, which I printed off and watercoloured.  I kept the colours muted as I wanted the look of fading summer blooms against the vibrant emerging Autumn colours.

My autumn background is a mixture of Distress inks, some script stamping along with a floral background stamp.  

It's a fabulous Design Team so please pop over the blog and check out their creations.

Avril xx

Decide Your Future

The current theme at Tag Tuesday  is Book Print, and I'd already found this quote a while back, so a great opportunity to use it and a recent EBay find, this is such a cute stamp, although not my usual

I've added stencilling to a mop up tag, fussy cut the image and added the quote "The only person who can decide your future is you"  I think this little sweetie is in for a glorious future.

A couple of days ago the postie brought me a rather large envelope with lovely gifts inside from my fellow Teamie at TioT and good blogging friend Valerie,  they really brightened my day, so Thank You Valerie, I look forward to using them.

Thanks for calling in.

Avril xx

Autumn Colours at Try it on Tuesday

The weather has really changed in my part of the world and I think Autumn has definitely arrived, which fits in nicely with our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday  which is Autumn Colours.

I inked up a few sheets of watercolour paper with various DIs and die cut the skeleton leaves, one of the pieces I didn't use was stamped with an old IndigoBlu crackle stamp, torn and added to in inked journal page before layering my leaves which had also been stamped with the crackle and heat embossed with clear and then bronze EP.  The verse was a freebie from a craft magazine.

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.

As there's lots of layers and embossing, I'm also linking this to Art Journal Journey where Jo has chosen the theme of Texture this month.

Thanks for calling in,

Avril xx 

Sneaking a Peek

 Hello,  as you may know DD is expecting twins and with twins, there's lots of extra scans and photos, so rather than her keep these in an envelope or folder I thought I'd do a little Album.  It's made from envelopes, a tutorial I saw some time ago on YouTube.

I had some scraps and half used papers left over from my first attempts at card making,  so with some careful piecing and a little ribbon to hide the shortages, it doesn't look too bad.  There's quite a few pages and pockets and photo mats, so I'll just show a few.  I found this verse on the internet and printed it out.

As I've used scraps, this also ties in with our theme at Try it on Tuesday Use Your Scraps and you still have a week to enter, so come and join us,  you'll find all the details on the main blog.                          

Avril xx                                                                                                                                                      

Birthdays are Wonderful!

Hi, It's Allsorts Belated  Birthday Celebrations this week, the challenge has been running for 11 years!  Although I'm not a regular - I don't seem to enter many challenges lately - I didn't want to miss joining in with their theme  'I Love.....

I do love flowers,  I love embossing, I love this TH embossing folder and my new love, this AALL & Create background stamp and I love making inky backgrounds, so lots of I Loves.

A short post as the family have been over for lunch and coffees, before our area is put under new restrictions following a spike in Covid19 cases.  As part of the new restrictions we are not to socialise with other households, so we made the most of today.  As a family we have all been so careful, so it's very frustrating that due to the reckless actions of some irresponsible folk in the area, these measures need to be put in place.

Whatever you're doing, stay safe, Avril xx

Use Your Scraps at Try it on Tuesday

 Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Use Your Scraps, yes, something we all have.

I have a box full of scraps of fabric and lace which hardly get used - and although the piece of lace I've used was only a small square, I've made it look more by cutting around the flower design to make the pieces. 

My page was gessoed with a rough brush and then blue and brown Distress sprays added and wiped back with a baby wipe,  with some background stamping in Potting Soil Archival.   I've also made a frame from a scrap of bandage for my butterfly lady image and stamped a Tim Holtz quote on a scrap of velum and heat set with clear EP for a little more definition.

The rest of the DT have been using their scraps in very ingenious  ways so please pop over to the blog, where you will also find all the challenge details.

I quite like the look of this romantic journal page, so you might see more lace/fabric scraps making their appearance and using scraps up always makes me feel good.

As there's different textures on this page I am joining in over at Art Journal Journey where Jo has chosen this month's theme of Texture.

Thanks for calling in, have a great day,
Avril xx

Rambling Flowers

Hello, I'm still around - I don't know where the time has gone but I just don't seem to have any 'me' time at the moment, although I have managed some crafting time.

I've got a box full of backgrounds, this one was from a shaving foam session and I've stamped the AALL & Create Passion flower and also fussy cut a second flower head for extra dimension, added with 3D foam pads, and a little sprinkle of black glitter on the centers, nice and easy.  I really must get my act together!!

I am going to enter this at We Love Chocolate Baroque's new challenge -  Wings with an Anything Goes option.  There's also a weekly Give Away in September, so pop over to the blog for all the details.








Thanks for calling in, I do appreciate it.
Avril xx 

Neat & Tidy

The new challenge at Try it on Tuesday this fortnight is Neat and Tidy, not something I do very often!

I had to make a Sympathy card a few weeks ago, something I normally buy, but as I didn't really want to go into the local supermarket to shop for a card, I decided on something very simple and plain.  I've used white linen card and cut a stitched oblong panel from the same card.  The sentiment was stamped in Violet Blue Archival ink and I've lightly watercoloured some Tim Holtz Wildflower stems.

The Design Team have some great inspiration for you, so please pop over to the main blog, where you will also find all the challenge details.

It's been two weeks since I was last here! the internet went down and we had to wait for a replacement router and then DD moved house last week, so I was called into service - she's beginning to find bending difficult - well I suppose with twins she's allowed!

Take care and have a great week,
Avril xx

Splash & Splatter

It's time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and this fortnight we're asking you to Splash and Splatter, in other words - have fun!

I've used a sprayed background and added inky splats in pink and black before stamping my image.  The flower was stamped again on watercolour card and fussy cut, and both flowers were colours with Picked Raspberry DI.  I added tiny seed beads to the flower center.

The rest of the DT have some fabulous projects to show, so please pop over to the main blog where you will also find all the challenge details.

Avril xx

Birthday Flowers

It was DDs birthday a couple of weeks ago and this is the card I made, which matches, to some extent, the gift tag I made recently.
I've used the Tim Holtz Bouquet stencil, some stenciling, stamping and shading  in Iced Spruce DI and then highlighted the textured flowers with Aquamarine Treasure Gold before adding the AALL & Create stamped background as a focal piece to display the flowers.

We've just had a lovely lunch with DD and SIL and we saw the latest scan photos, you can see their little features on the 4D pictures - amazing  - and last week I felt a tiny kick - such a wonderful feeling.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Avril xx

Christmas at Tag Tuesday

I've been such an infrequent blogger lately, from thinking 'lockdown' would give me loads of extra crafting time, I seem to have lost the 'plot'.  I really must get back on track - before my life changes forever - from thinking I wasn't going to be a 'granny'  ---  DD is going to have TWINS!!!  They're due at the start of January - or maybe earlier, depending on how things progress. DD has been furloughed so there's been lots of social distance visiting, hence lack of crafting time.

Anyhow the theme at Tag Tuesday is Christmas and, as I missed the last challenge, it gave me the 'nudge' to get the Christmas box out and have a rummage.  I've used some of the bits and pieces left over from last year, and there's quite a lot of bits, so it might be an easy way to get an early start just in case things get hectic!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, it's certainly hot here.
Avril xx

Words/or Numbers

Words/ or Numbers is the new challenge at Try it on Tuesday - you can choose to use one or both.

I've used on of my Tyvek backgrounds that had some random script stamping already, and stamped the poppy image, then added fussy cut flower heads.  I cut a circle mask,  and inked around it with Wilted Violet DI to highlight the flowers. 

The Design Team have some fabulous inspiration for you, so please head over to the main blog, where you will also find all the challenge details.

Just a short post as it's DD's birthday and we're celebrating here as she's busy packing everything into boxes ready for a new house move.

Have a great day and thanks for calling in.

Avril xx

Summer Time

It's time for a new challenge at Try it on Tuesday and this time we're asking you show us what Summer Time means to you.

I've used some magazine freebie stamps from last year to create a little scene, The beach looks deserted and peaceful, so somebody is taking notice of social distancing!!

The Design Team have some great interpretations of Summer Time, so please pop over to the main blog, where you will also find all the challenge details.

I am going to add this to Art Journal Journey and Erika's theme of When it's Hot.

Avril xx

Birthday Tag

Some play time today and trying to get my act together, I've made a tag for Tag Tuesday, where the current challenge is 'Add a Sentiment'.  It's also a way of getting organised, it's DD's birthday in a few weeks, so I'll attach a pocket at the back of this tag to hold money.
I used Bundled Sage, Squeezed Lemonade and Ice spruce Oxide inks on the background, along with stenciling and stamping in Ice Spruce.  The sentiment is a really old one that I found in a drawer during a recent 'tidy'.

I am also entering at Allsorts - Something beginning with B - Bloom and Bow

Have a great weekend,
Avril x

Use Book Pages at Try it on Tuesday

The new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is to Use Book Pages. 

I've used my new ALL & Create stunning 'Bird of Paradise' image, along with some of the words from the set to create my page.  The gessoed background was stamped with Circled numbers in Versamark and heat embossed with White before spraying with  inks and dabbing with a Baby wipe to move the colour and then adding my fussy cut image.  I've torn 'instructions' from a very old gardening book to complete the page.

The rest of the Design Team have some great inspiration for using book pages, so please pop over to the main blog, where you will find all the challenge details.

As my page features a plant that requires heat/hot countries and is native in South Africa, I am entering at Art Journal Journey  where Erika has chosen WHEN  IT'S  HOT as this months theme.

I'can't believe it's two weeks since I last blogged,  I don't know where the time has gone and what little time I've had in the craft room I've been playing with my new goodies, which on the good side has given my mojo a bit of a boost.

Hope to catch up with you soon,
Avril xx

We're Creating a Scene at Try it on Tuesday

The new challenge this fortnight at Try it on Tuesday is Create a Scene.

I've been doing some reorganising while my inspiration is on walkabout and was feeling a bit guilty for the lack of inking with some of my older stamps, so this was the perfect opportunity.  I've used a very old Hampton Art Stamp, there's actually has a black border around the image, which I masked off so she could be sitting in a peaceful countryside, of course dressed like that, she's just taking a break from the party she's hosting in the Manor House!  A few extra lines added to my arched window and we have the corner of a building surrounded by trees and foliage and inked rolling hills.

We'd love to see your choice of scene, so please pop over to the main blog where you will find all the challenge details and see some fabulous inspiration from the DT.

Have a great day,
Avril x

  

Summer Time

The last week we have seen a lot of grey skies so I thought I'd create my own Summer Time and join in over at Art Journal Journey where the theme this month is 'A Stitch in Time' chosen by Halle, a great theme as you can use either time related or stitching or both.  I've used 'Summer Time' and some faux stitching.

My image was coloured with Distress Crayons and then I used Scattered Straw and Tumbled Glass Distress spray inks to colour the background, as shown by Tim in one of his recent Saturday videos.
I used some little alphabet peg stamps on my 'label' with faux stitching.

I can't say I've been very productive/creative lately, and I've been a terrible blogger, I really must give myself a good talking to - I've just had a little spend - an early birthday present to myself, so I'm hoping that when they arrive Mr Mojo might make an appearance too.

Have a great day whatever you're doing.
Avril xx

Dance for Tag Tuesday

The theme this fortnight at Tag Tuesday is Dance - Dancing - Dancers  and as I only have one Dancing Lady, she gets another airing.

My background was made with Alcohol inks in water and I've added some colourful stencilling along with a  magazine 'freebie' sentiment which was masked and stamped in two parts.

Thanks for calling in,

Avril xx

Make it Masculine for Try it on Tuesday

The new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Make it Masculine.

For my card I've used some magazine 'freebie' stamps, I often think these would be useful, buy the magazine and the stamps remain un inked!  The background was made with In the Navy Infusions and Prussian Blue Brushos.  The boots were fussy cut and coloured before adding.

The rest of the Design Team have some fabulous inspiration, so please pop over to the main blog for all the details.

I'm trying out the 'new' blogger with this post - slightly different - they've moved icons around, but the one thing I do like is when you press publish - you get the option to confirm you want to publish -  I don't know about you, but I have been know to press publish instead of preview or save before, and then it's a panic to retrieve it.  It says you can revert back to Legacy Blogger, but I don't know if that's an option after the change over date?

Thanks for calling in,

Avril xx

Be Patient

Another page for Mia's theme over at Art Journal Journey which this month is Flowers.

I was quite reluctant to visit garden centres when they first re-opened after lockdown, but this week I felt they would be much quieter,  so on Wednesday we had our first venture out - I was worried I was becoming agoraphobic!  So, after a busy few days I now have pots and baskets full of plants just waiting to bloom, I just have to be patient - so my journal page  reflects my feelings.

It looks like this lovely weather is set to stay with us for a few more days, so enjoy the weekend.
Avril xx

Cut It Out!

Our new challenge at Try it on Tuesday is Cut It Out - whether you use a die cut, pop outs or fussy cutting is up to you.

I've used another of my Tyvek sprayed and mop up backgrounds which has some lovely gold splatters, and I've stamped some script with Watering Can Archival in places.  My circle is a Die cut as well as the leaves, the Tim Holtz Flower Garden bloom was fussy cut, as was the butterfly, which had been stamped on an off-cut of the Tyvek and because the wings are 'free' I backed it with another off-cut of Tyvek.

I am joining in with the challenge at Stamping Sensations Say it With Flowers.

Thanks for calling in,
Avril xx

Cattitude!

Well, for a change I'm not dashing in last minute at Tag Tuesday.  The theme this fortnight is Animals,  so an opportunity to use this crazy cat.  I came across this quote recently - somewhere? and although my cat doesn't look rebellious, he certainly looks as if he's in the sulks!  After making a messy background with sprays and inks I added the fussy cut cat.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend and stay safe.
Avril xx

Fragrance of Flowers

The current theme at Art Journal Journey is Flowers chosen by Mia, and who doesn't love flowers.

I stamped the Fritillary onto a roughly gessoed page and added Distress spray inks in Chipped Sapphire and Victorian Velvet and moved them round with a damp tissue, some stencilling in Faded Jeans and Vic Velvet along with some background stamping with Watering Can Archival, before adding some hand drawn doodling.  The sentiment is a favourite from PaperArtsy.

Thanks for calling in,
Avril xx

Blooming

I don't know about you, but I love making backgrounds - but they often sit around in the 'box' for months before I use them.  This is a shaving foam background made ages ago on a 'play day'  with my crafty friend, I think this one was Oxide sprays with the foam, quite subtle compared with some of them!

I've stamped the AALL & Create Blooming Field spray directly onto the background, we had made some A4 sheets of backgrounds - just as well as these are large stamps.  The colouring was done with Distress crayons and inks.  I don't know if it's the yellow background, but the flower colours do look more vibrant in real life.  A simple sentiment and a flat card for posting as I don't thin k I'll be seeing anyone soon.

I am entering this at Stamping Sensations - Say it With Flowers

Thanks for calling in, stay safe,
Avril xx

The Dressmaker

The current theme at Tag Tuesday is Haberdashery, and as I missed last week, I couldn't miss again!

I've used various Crafty Individuals images, including a sewing machine - and them decided to place my dressform on the other side to the original plan covering it up, but it all adds to the background.

It's a while since these stamps and die cut got an 'airing', thanks for the theme.

Have a great weekend,
Avril xx