Birthday Fairies

Just a quick mid-week blog from me. It's my daughters birthday next week and I'm grabbing this opportunity, whilst she is on a sleepover at nannies house, to make her card well in advance.

I am enjoying my long awaited half-term but I fear that the list of need to do is outweighing the want to do list! Although I have booked myself an appointment at a spa on Friday, every girl needs a pampering once in a while......surely?

So trying to claw back some time I decided to make my daughters card this months lavinia challenge entry. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone.

 

I would like to enter the above card into the following challenge http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-10-autumn-colours/

 

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog, I look forward to hearing your comments.

 

Crafty hugs,

Clare x x x x

 

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Like a bat out of hell!

 

Hello fellow bloggers I'm back with my Bee Crafty spot for the week and I'm using what has turned out to be a very versatile stamp indeed.

 

For this card I have used:

All Hallows' bat stamp

All Hallows' Happy Halloween stamp

Distress inks

Silver embossing powder

Glossy accents

Clear embossing powder

White fine line pen

 

 

To make this card I started off with stamping a black bat in the centre of the card. I then stamped the bat randomly using pumice stone, weathered wood and another grey ink pad from my stash. After that I added some doodles to my black bat using a white fine line pen. I then proceeded to stamp using the wavy edge of the bat wings to create a border. I stamped the sentiment in black and added some clear embossing powder. Using the same technique I stamped around the edge of a black piece of card using a watermark ink and embossed with silver embossing powder. After I assembled the card I applied glossy accents to the black, doodled bat for a bit of dimension.

 

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at my blog, I love hearing your thoughts and comments. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend whatever you may be doing.

 

Happy crafting,

Clare x x x x

 

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Christmas frame - Oak House Studios

 

Hi blog land, today I am feeling somewhat euphoric as I start half term holidays which means I have some extra crafty time to play. I thought I would start by sharing what I made for the Oak House Studios frames and borders challenge.

There is still time to get your craftiness in action and submit your entry for this months challenge. Remember you are in with a chance of winning one of five prizes and all you have to do is create something using one of Oak House Studios fantastic products.

 

For my final bit of inspiration I have used the Oak House Studios extremely versatile Block frame stamp.

 

 

For this card I have used:

Block frame stamp

Big christmas collection (Holly & berries)

Deck the halls stamp set

Spring green colour chemistry ink pad

Forest green colour chemistry ink pad

Valentine colour chemistry ink pad

Gold detail embossing powder

 

First of all I stamped and heat embossed the frame and the sentiment with Oak House Studio's gold detail embossing powder. After that, out came the trusty post it notes to carefully mask off the small rectangles and stamp in the hollow ivy leaves. A few more sticky notes later I masked the frame and stamped the solid ivy leaves around the outside of the frame.

 

 

 

I look forward each month to see what everyone else has been making. There has been some super cards made already this month so come on, what are you waiting for? Get your entries in while there is still time!

 

Happy crafting,

Clare x x x

 

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Gone fishing!

Hi it's Clare again and my weekly turn for Bee Crafty. I have brought with me a little bit of moonlit fishing! With the nights drawing in and getting darker I found myself making a little moonlit scene which I complimented with Bee Crafty's banksy inspired fishing boy.

 

 

For this card I used:

Inspired by banksy fishing boy stamp

Wordage Dreams come true stamp

Distress inks

Liquid pearls

 

 

 

To make this card I brushed in my background using tumbled glass, chipped sapphire, seedless preserves and pumice stone distress inks. I stamped the fishing boy and sentiment with black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Finally I added my favourite Liquid pearls around the outside.

 

That's me until next week when I shall be celebrating the fact that I am on holiday and I can spend lots of crafty time with my daughter Sophie, yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

Crafty hugs,

Clare x x x

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Oak House Studio - Gingham Frame

It's Clare again this time with a frame. I wanted to showcase some of Oak House Studios fabulous ink pad colours. The rich creamy colour lifts off the pad and kisses the the card perfectly. Although this is a christmas themed card I have chosen quite contempary colours, all considered.

 

For this card I used:

Gingham border stamp

Christmas baubles from the Big Christmas Collection

Deck the halls stamp set

Orchid colour chemistry ink pad

Sea blue colour chemistry ink pad

Dusky pink colour chemistry ink pad

Purple colour chemistry ink pad

 

 

 

I started off by stamping a whole square of card with colour chemistry orchid ink pad and then put through my die cutting machine to make a frame, setting aside the centre piece to stamp my sentiment. After that I smudged a little purple around the edge of the frame. On a separate piece of card I stamped the baubles in sea blue, orchid and dusky pink ink pads and added a handrawn piece of string so they appear to hang. With the spare piece of gingham which was from the centre of the frame I cut another square and stamped on my sentiment and then gently sponged the purple ink pad around the outside and added some faux stitching with my black pen. Once the card was assembled I added some glossy accents to the baubles and a little sprinkle of glitter.

 

 

I hope that I'm not scaring you with christmas cards already but pop on over to Oak House Studios online store to have a look at the many lovely christmas stamps. They really are quite versatile with some of them being very generic so you can use them all year round.

 

Don't forget to submit your entries for the challenge. Remember you only have to use one of the Oak House Studios products to be in with a chance to win a prize.

 

Happy crafting,

 

Clare x x x

 

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Stamping with bleach

It's Clare here and I'm here today for my Bee Crafty spot and I have had a go at stamping with bleach. It's a technique I've never tried before but it is one that I am certainly going to do again.

 

For this card I used:

Beautanicals dandelion stamp

Da Vinci script stamp

Wordage live with no excuses stamp large

Liquid pearls

Distress inks

Clear embossing powder

Household thick bleach

 

 

To make this card I masked off part of the card to leave a white area and blended on my distress inks dried marigold, wild honey and barn door. With the da Vinci script stamp I rolled a wad of kitchen roll and put it into an old plastic tub and poured on my bleach. I dabbed the stamp onto the wad and stamped over the blended ink with the mask still in place. I waited for the bleach to react and then stamped on my dandelion in black and again stamped the floating seeds, masking off the main dandelion so that I didn't get a second image. I stamped the sentiment and then added my liquid pearls.

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I love to hear your comments and thoughts.

 

Happy crafting,

 

Clare x x x x

 

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One Stamp Table Namelets

It's Clare here and it's time again for another Oak House Studios 'One Stamp Project'. Lynnda asked us to think outside the box to use the fabulous Christmas Corner Stamp. I had to think a bit about this one, think what was special to me on the big day? So my favourite part of christmas has to be sitting around the table with the ones I love the most, feasting on our delicious turkey and all the trimmings so what better way to compliment the table by using the christmas corner stamp to create my own place settings.

 

 

To make these I used:

Christmas corner stamp

Citrus green ink in a bottle

Forest ink pad

Jubilee red ink in a bottle

Valentine ink pad

Clear embossing powder

 

After stamping and heat embossing with clear Oak House Studio embossing powder I carefully painted the foliage with citrus ink, to deepen the leaves I rubbed my forest green ink pad onto my craft mat and lifted some of the colour with my inky brush to change the leaves into a deeper colour green. Again with the flowers I painted with jubilee red and deepened the colour with my Valentine ink pad.

 

 

I know that for this event Lynnda will be all out creating many wonderful projects using this 'One Stamp' so follow the blog and leave a comment or three to be in with a chance of a fabulous prize.

 

Happy crafting,

Clare x x x

 

 

 

 

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A little bit Batty!

It's Clare again with a little bit of Halloween for Bee Crafty. It's been great seeing Bev crafting on the British Craft Network this week if you haven't had a chance click on the highlighted link an have a little look at the non stop demos. It's fab you can actually watch techniques rather then being interrupted by the sales jabber.

 

 

For this card I used:

All Hallows' bat stamp

All Hallows' Happy Halloween stamp

Beautanicals branches stamps

Beautanical cow parsley stamp

Distress Inks

Liquid pearls

 

I'm not really a Halloween sort of person but I saw this bat and I loved him. I brushed on my background using seedless preserves, mustard seed, vintage photo and pumice stone. The bat and the sentiment have both been heat embossed with black EP. The foliage has just been stamped in black ink. I added liquid pearls to the moon and gently rubbed a little treasured gold wax around the edge of the card

 

 

That's me now till next week. Happy crafting everyone.

 

Big hugs,

Clare x x x

 

 

 

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