Thursday 31 December 2015

Stampin' Up - Lovely as a Tree

Hello bloggers!

It's the last day of the year already, where did 2015 go?? I've had a very eventful year, two new jobs, an operation on my back and a new puppy, phew! I'm hoping 2016 will be a bit calmer...

Anyway, back to the crafty stuff, I've always loved the Stampin' Up set called Lovely as a tree and wondered if I could burn it onto this super piece of sycamore. I had to make my own tip from very fine wire because the branches of these little trees are tiny! I'm very pleased with the result and my husband said he would like it on his desk, praise indeed!!!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2016. Thank you for visiting, big hug! Xxxx

 

Tuesday 29 December 2015

A little bit addicted....

Loving this pyrography lark more and more!

I've used a Penny Black flower and a Hero Arts butterfly on this piece, great fun!


Here's what it looked like before I added colour...
 
Thank you for visiting and your kind, encouraging comments! Xxx

 

Monday 28 December 2015

A collection of Designs By Ryn

Hello,

I'm so enjoying my Fire Writer, I'm sure I will run out of wood to play with soon! Really I'm just practicing at the moment, working out which temperature settings give which tones of burn and I will be playing with different tips next. So here are a few of my practice pieces, not perfect obviously as I'm making mistakes and learning as I go, but I did have fun making them! I used rubber stamps and a stencil from Designs by Ryn for all of these pieces.

Betta Fish
Large Seahorse and Leafy Branch
Anemone Stencil
All these stamps and the stencil are available from www.designsbyryn.com
Thank you for visiting! Xxx

 

Saturday 26 December 2015

Burning Tim Holtz!

Merry Christmas bloggers!

My husband bought me a Fire Writer for Christmas, so obviously I had to have a play today. I love the butterfly from Tim Holtz and wanted to see if I could burn it onto a Sycamore coaster. I coloured the burnt image with watered-down acrylic paint. So relaxing!

I'm very excited about using my stamps in a new way, I think my family will be getting lots of wooden presents in future haha!

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a happy and healthy 2016. Many thanks for visiting! Xxx

 

Sunday 13 December 2015

Burning Designs by Ryn!!

Hello bloggers!

In amongst working, clearing up after my mad pup who still isn't house-trained and trying to get ready for Christmas, I have been burning a little wood!

The coaster features Ryn's lovely Flowing Branches stencil, which Ryn is very kindly giving away as a FREE GIFT with every order placed in December!! You can find the stencil on her website HERE. The owl was a freebie stamp with a Craft Stamper magazine a few months ago.

The next project is a tiny trinket box which I bought from The Range for the huge sum of £1.50!! Not really meant for Pyrography as the wood is very soft and results in uneven burning, however I had fun with it! I've used Ryn's Circle Cluster stamp set on the box, I stamped the circles with a pale pigment ink and was pleased to have found an ink that didn't bleed across the wood. I then just burnt over the stamped image and waxed the box afterwards.

Hope you are all finding time for, and enjoying, your craft. Many thanks for visiting, wishing you a very merry Christmas and a fabulously crafty, happy and healthy 2016! Xxxxxx

 

Wednesday 2 December 2015

My last project for Lavinia Stamps...

Hello bloggers!

You may have noticed that I'm not doing much crafting recently, I've been so busy with projects in the home and my card-making mojo has taken a hike... For these reasons I've decided to leave the Lavinia Stamps design team. I've had a lovely couple of years making cards with the beautiful Lavinia stamps, many thanks to Tracey Dutton and Eileen Godwin for having me on the team!

So, this is my last make for the team! This month's challenge is 'Let it snow'...

I think 'Faye' fairy has got to be my all-time favourite Lavinia stamp!

The winner of the challenge will receive a £40 voucher to spend in the Lavinia online store! Please have a read of the rules and how to enter by email if you don't have a blog. You can enter by clicking HERE. You can also see all the fabulous projects by the rest of the design team there too!

Well, many thanks for visiting my last Lavinia project, hope you like it! Xxxx

 

Monday 23 November 2015

Pyrography and Designs by Ryn

Hello bloggers!

I seem to have lost my card-making mojo lately... but I'm loving Pyrography (wood burning) now! I've only got a very basic Pyrography tool (at the moment!! ;) ) so I can't vary the colour of the burn, however I've tried to vary the tones on this door hanger by making some of the beautiful Celtic stars from Designs By Ryn solid, and left some just with an outline. A few Swarovski crystals add a bit of Christmas sparkle!

Thank you for visiting! Xxx

 

 

Wednesday 11 November 2015

That's Crafty Challenge

Hello peeps!

I've decided to play along with the latest That's Crafty Challenge, which is 'Tag, you're it!'

I've used Carabelle Studio stamps that I bought from That's Crafty, I love their online shop and I'd really love to visit their 'bricks and mortar' shop one day...

Thank you for visiting, lovely peeps! Xxx

 

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Clean And Simple!

Hello bloggers!

I've been inspired by the fabulous work of Hermine Koster recently, and I love her work with Carabelle Studio stamps especially. Here I've combined a Carabelle Studio stamp that features stitching with sixties-style ladies that remind me of Simplicity sewing patterns (can't remember the make of stamp, sorry!)

Thanks for visiting! Xxx

 

Monday 2 November 2015

Lavinia Challenge time!

Hello Bloggers!

Can't believe it's November already... Must be time for another Lavinia Stamps challenge! This month we want to see your Christmas designs please.

I made this card by pressing a Distress Ink pad onto an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then plonking it onto the card, easy. The lovely tree is, of course, from Lavinia Stamps.

The prize as always is £40 to spend in the store. You can enter the challenge HERE, either via your blog or by email. Have fun!

Thanks for visiting xx

 

Friday 30 October 2015

Designs by Ryn and Carabelle Studio

Hello again!

As soon as I saw this Carabelle Studio tap stamp, I knew I had to use it with the beautiful water droplets from Designs by Ryn!

The background is made with Bister and the droplets have a layer of Glossy Accents on them, to add shine.

Thank you for visiting! Xxx

 

Thursday 29 October 2015

Stampotique Designers Challenge

Hello bloggers,

Since my fab day with Kate Crane on Sunday, I've gone a bit Stampotique mad! I've decided to enter my latest make in this week's Stampotique Challenge, the theme is Scary Confusion! I think these little monsters are a bit confused that no one is answering them...

Thanks for visiting! Xxx

 

Monday 26 October 2015

Kate Crane workshop!

Hello bloggers!

I had a wonderful day yesterday at The Artistic Stamper, at a workshop with Kate Crane. What a lovely lady Kate is! We made some lovely backgrounds on which to mount Kate's own Stampotique designs. Here are the results of my day...

I couldn't believe how quickly the day went, it was fabulous! If you get the chance to go to one of Kate's classes at The Artistic Stamper, I can thoroughly recommend it! The lunch that Jennie and Mal laid on for us was delicious too! :) Xxxx

 

Saturday 17 October 2015

Stampin' Up - Everything Eleanor.

Hello lovelies!

Just thought I'd share this simple, elegant card with you. I made this for my mum and dad's wedding anniversary. I used the Everything Eleanor set (available through my website shop by clicking on the SU icon on the right). Just love that flourish! The sentiment is from Lavinia Stamps.

Thanks for visiting! Xxx

 

Friday 2 October 2015

Lavinia Challenge time!

Hello!

It's a new month and a new Lavinia challenge! This month we would love to see a project with lots of 'Glitter and Sparkle'!! Here's my inspiration for you...

This card used another piece of my favourite watercolour and salt background. I used the beautiful Dandelion stamp from Lavinia Stamps and embossed with Silver embossing tinsel, sparkly! I added a few Swarovski crystals, et voila!

The prize in the draw is a fab £40 to spend in the Lavinia Stamps online shop. We just want you to use Lavinia stamps in your project, and make it sparkle! You don't need to have a blog to enter, you can email a photo via the challenge blog HERE! Good luck!

Thank you for visiting! Xxx

 

Saturday 19 September 2015

Streamer tailed Hummingbird

Hello,
I'm still playing with all the lovely Hummingbird stamps from Designs by Ryn, and my new stamp set from Tim Holtz. I saw a photo of a hummingbird on Pinterest that had a gold throat, quite the most beautiful bird I've ever seen! I wanted to make a card with a hummer like that, so here it is!
Hope you like it and thank you for visiting! Xx

Thursday 17 September 2015

Beautiful hummingbirds by Designs by Ryn!

Hello!

I had some 'happy post' today, a set of Tim Holtz Classic stamps and I LOVE them! They are very architectural and suit neutral tones so I wanted to add a splash of colour onto the card. What better way to add colour than with one of Ryn's beautiful Hummingbirds? You can see them all on her website by clicking HERE.

I made the background using the acrylic block method - basically inking either a block or a craft sheet with Distress Ink, spritzing with water and then laying your card down in the ink. I stamped the Striped Reed stamps in Versafine onyx black ink, along with the ancient column from the TH set. I also stamped the wordy stamp from my new TH stamp in the darker of the two Distress Inks that I used to make the background. I stamped the hummer onto watercolour paper and painted with Inktense pencils. As Inktense pencils create a permanent dye when dry, I was able to paint over the hummer with a Wink of Stellar to give a beautiful shimmer to the bird. I hope you can see a little of this pretty shimmer in the close-up photo!

Thank you for visiting! Xxx

 

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Designs by Ryn and Carabelle.

Hello blog friends!

This girly make has been half-made for weeks and today I finally finished it. I started this by stamping the Carabelle lady and making a mask to cover her. The background was then made by swiping Tumbled Glass Distress Ink across the card, then I used Broken China Distress Ink through the beautiful Ginko leaf stencil from Designs by Ryn. I outlined part of the leaves with a silver glitter gelli-roll pen. After removing the mask I coloured the lady with Distress Inks.

I then stamped African Daisy from Designs by Ryn on watercolour paper and painted with Tombow pens and water. The hibiscus leaves are also from Ryn. The centres of the Daisies are tiny black beads.

Thank you for visiting! Xx