MFT Sketch Challenge #6

Hello again inkers,

I did some very quick colouring last night for MFT's latest sketch challenge but, oh dear, note to self: check it in the daylight before posting. One of these poor elves looks like he has acne the blending's so bad! 

 

I used the long retired Santa's Elves with the Lined by Hand Background and some pretty Christmas papers. Nothing wrong with pink and green elves for a change! 

My other card is for Lavinia Stamp's Creative Challenge which is to use Spring colours. All the pink blossoms come out at spring in Australia as well as our purple Rhododendron so I've incorporated those colours instead of the usual yellows and greens associated with the season. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

CAS Cat

Hello again,

This week's AAA Cards challenge intrigued me - it's a very simple version of Tic Tac Toe using the central theme of silhouettes with one of the other prompts. I chose pets: 

 

This is a simplified version of a couple of cards I made for last months's Lavinia Stamps creative challenge. I also tried to make it a little more masculine by using a masculine font for the sentiment and sticking to neutral colours. Having said that I asked my husband if he thought it was a masculine card - to which he replied a resounding no! I'm still going to enter it into Addicted to CAS's masculine challenge though.  I'm sure there are plenty of men out there who love cats...I just need to find one to send it to!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Pink Profusion

Hello inkers,

There's a profusion of pink around blogland this month for obvious reasons so I've taken that as my cue for both these cards. The first is for Lavinia Stamp's Creative Challenge where the theme is 'what brings you to my humble abode?' Lots of Lavinia products on it including Zen Houses coloured with pencils:

 

The second is a very simple card for MFT's sketch challenge featuring some copic coloured cupcakes and an embossed Garden Flourish background.  I've used the pink hues from the Colorful Options mood board and one of my cupcakes features a sparkly heart which is the topping over at Seize the Birthday. 

I'm afraid Valentines Day is a very underwhelming affair in our household - a card and a box of half-price Maltesers is about as romantic as it gets and both myself and the big bloke woke up and forgot it was Valentines Day! 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Lavinia Stamps for Addicted to CAS

Hello again,

Very quick post as I'm tired and just a little bit grumpy. This one is for Lavinia Stamps Creative Challenge which has a theme of 'blue hues.' Addicted to CAS happens to have 'blue' as their cue word as well:

 

I used an acetate block to create the background with a trio of blue mists that have been sat in my stash for years and amazingly aren't clogged. It was meant to be a one layer but as usual I got more ink over the card than I did anywhere else. I added the little LS butterfly and coloured the blooms and butterfly with Copics. No sentiment - I'll add one when I'm ready to send it!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Playing With Lavinia Stamps...Again

Hello inkers,

The heat in Sydney is absolutely blistering today at 38C and the humidity is almost unbearable. So, what better way to cool down but playing along with Lavinia Stamps December Creative Challenge which themed 'snow is falling.'

 

              

 

We had family arrive from the UK last weekend which meant I could put an order in directly from Lavinia Stamps and have them bring it over to me. I loved this tag that Tracey made so I CASEd it using some of my new stamps and tools. I've been hankering after the stencil brushes for ages and they are worth every penny!

The first card isn't just for the LS challenge, I'm also linking over to Addicted to CAS where the theme is 'brrr' and to Time Out's photo inspiration challenge that features lots of snow.  I used a mini Pipin the hare and blended a selection of inks for the background , added some pretty foliage, some sparkle and a scattering of snowflakes using a Posca pen (yet another great tip from the LV videos).

If you're in Australia, hope these cards cool you down!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Lavinia Stamps - November Creative Challenge

Hello inkers,

Time for a new Lavinia Stamps challenge with a 'Time to Sparkle' theme:

I've used the dramatic hues over at Sunday Stamps to colour in these Zen Houses with Copics. I used my gelli plate for the background and added some sparkling snow using Kindyglitz. Sparkle never seems to show up in photos but I can tell you it's positively twinkling!

Happy stamping!

Claire

 

Lavinia Stamps September Creative Challenge

Hello again,

I completely forgot to post this one which I did for Lavinia Stamp's September challenge.  I posted it on the last day of the challenge and it was a combo of Time Out's 'inspired by words' and Lavinia's Autumn themed challenge:

 

I made the background using my Gelli plate - it's something I'm still getting used to. My clean and simple nature means that a lot of my backgrounds get thrown in the bin as I just don't know what to do with them. I could never be a mixed media artist! 

No sentiment on yet - I'll add that when I find a reason to send it! 

Enjoy your weekend and happy stamping!

Claire

Autumn Hues

Hello folks!

It's that time of year - the leaves are turning, the temperature is getting crisp and the nights are drawing in. Except they're not - Down Under the very opposite is happening having just gone into Spring! That hasn't stopped me from making a few Autumnal themed cards though:

 

There's quite a few Autumnal challenges in the world of ink at the moment - AAA Cards 'anything goes with the optional twist of Autumn colours', Time Out's 'inspired by words' and CAS on Friday's theme of 'leaves.'

I made a very CAS card using a tiny maple stamp with a trio of maple leaves from Lavinia Stamps and each cluster has been stamped in a different coloured ink. The sentiment's from PTI and I dotted some gold pen around the wreath so it's actually quite sparkly IRL.  Who knew I had so many autumnal hues in my ink stash? 

Thanks for popping by,

Claire

Playing with Lavinia Stamps

Hello again!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a craft show where my once local craft store had a stand - unfortunately they closed the shop a few years ago which is probably a good thing for my wallet but not for my stash! I bought quite a few bits and pieces from the Lavinia Stamps  range and I've been watching lots of their tutorials - I really enjoy them as they're in real time rather than sped up which makes it so much easier to learn a new technique:

These two cards have both been entered into their monthly creative challenge, the theme being 'Summer Moon.

The cards that the Lavinia DT produce are like small works of art - I'm amazed at what they come up with but I've realised I find it easier to work on a smaller scale rather than cover an entire card front.

I'm adding the second card to Time Out's 'seeing stars' themed challenge (I added several using a white Posca pen.)

I didn't bother with sentiments - I'll add them another day when I decide who I'm sending them to!

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Sketch Challenge - #700!

Hello folks,

So I'm in the throes of Covid unfortunately - I've managed to avoid it for the last couple of years so can't really complain, but it's definitely taken more of a toll than it did first time round. 

In between resting, Netflix and not much else I've managed to make a couple of simple cards. The first is for MFT's whopping 700th sketch challenge and colour challenge #237:

Lots of MFT products on this one - Hanging with my Gnomies, Drawn by Hand Background Stamp, Small Brick Wall Stencil,  Essential Sentiments and a Stitched Rectangle Frame to finish it off. 

 

The card above is my second one for Time Out's 'magical' challenge using Lavinia Stamps sweet fairy, Pan. I love doing these ink splattered backgrounds on my gel plate - they're so random and I'm never quite sure how they're going to turn out. The purples/blues worked well - the greens and yellows not so much and the background looked like a sheet of mouldy paper!

Time for a rest...again!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Time to be Magical

Hello folks!

My Gelli plate has been out again, this time to create a background for Time Out's 'magical' challenge:

 

I've been watching lots of Lavinia Stamp's YouTube tutorials recently and used this one for some background inspiration. I didn't have Brushos so used Twinkling H2O's which has given a very different look to the one in the video. 

I used Olivia (small) and the foliage is Technique Tuesday with a sentiment from Poppy Stamps.  

Thanks for popping by!

Claire

AAA Card Challenge - Colourful Ink Blending

Hello again!

Playing along with AAA Cards for this one - they have an ink blending challenge happening so it was the perfect excuse to crack open some new Lavinia Stamps images. I've always loved their stamps but never actually bought any - my local craft shop stocked them but closed down a few years ago. Then lo and behold they opened a pop up shop recently in their old premises so what could I do? It would have been rude not to buy anything....

I blended 3 colours - Bundled Sage, Antique Linen and Faded jeans. As I always do when ink blending, I stuffed it up so my one layer card became a panel. I stamped the sweet, fairy image over the top and then added a tiny Altenew sentiment.  I'm happy with how it turned out but you must check out the Lavinia Stamps website and see what the DT can do - they create such amazing, whimsical scenes using nothing but stamps and ink!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire