Lavinia Stamps Challenge #12 - Let It Snow

Hi Everyone

Oh my goodness, can anyone tell me where November went?  It is frightening!

This month the Challenge over at Lavinia Stamps is Let It Snow which you can see here .  Why not  come over and join us and you could win a huge £40 worth of stamps just by entering.

REMEMBER - you do not need a blog to enter- you can e-mail your entry here.

These are my samples for the challenge.

For the tag I first of all stamped the white Zen Snowflakes, which can be found here with Versamark then I used Distress Inks Wilted violet, blueprint sketch and mermaid lagoon.  I stamped more Zen Snowflakes using black ink and then stamped the lovely Fairy Thistles on the tag and then again on a piece of white card which I cut out and put over the first impression, having first splashed with a little watered down white gesso.  I finished with some gems and white Tulle.

For the card I created a scene with stormy sky and weathered wood distress inks having first masked off for the moon.  I stamped the image Victorian Christmas and flicked some more white gesso over the image to create the illusion of snow and then put on white gesso at the bottom.  I followed this with some matting and layering and a snowflake corner die cut.

Hope you like my samples.  Thanks for looking.  Kx

Glitter & Gems - Lavinia Stamps Challenge

Hi Everyone

A very big welcome to my new members, I am so pleased you have taken the trouble to join my blog.

Don't you just love Autumn? The beautiful colours of the trees and the nice weather we are having so far but shhhh don't speak too soon.

This month the Challenge over at Lavinia Stamps is Glitter and Gems which you can see here .  I hope you have all seen the new stamps which can be seen here.  Maybe you have already bought some?  If so come over and join us and you could win a huge £40 worth of stamps just by entering.

REMEMBER - you do not need a blog to enter - you can e-mail your entry here

Again this month I have used the lovely Mushroom Dwelling and fairy buttercups and also used the very popular Fairy Couple.  I created the background using Distress Inks, a stencil and water.

My second sample has a background made using Brushos and the picture is  Make A Wish.

I hope you can see that I added glitter to her wings and gems on her hair.

Have a good month and good luck to everyone entering the Challenge.  Kx

Have you Seen ...?

... the new release from Lavinia Stamps?  There are some great new stamps which can be seen here.  There are also some fantastic sentiments in a lovely font.  Today is the start of the new Challenge which you can see here over at Lavinia Stamps.  Remember you have a chance to win a huge £40 worth of stamps just by entering.

IMPORTANT - you do not need a blog to enter - you can e-mail your entry here

Here are my samples for this month - HOT, BRIGHT COLOURS - Simple!

For this tag I used Brushos for the background and used two of the new stamps Make A Wish and Fairy Buttercups.

For this card I used the Bleeding Tissue technique which you can see behind the die and the rabbits.  I love these rabbits - I wanted to give the impression of peeking in at them with this card.  The rabbits are called Midnight Meandering and I used the Fairy Buttercups again and also Willow.  The words Best Wishes are part of the new release.

I hope you can join us.

Thanks for looking.  Kx

Retirement Card

Hi

Hope you are having a great August.

We have a colleague who is retiring this week and I have made this card for him.

I have used a JOFY stamp - this is a mini stamp, about the size of a credit card but just perfect for this retirement card and coloured with Copics.  I have used an embossing folder which I thought looked a bit like waves.

Hope you like it. Kx

Lavinia Stamps Challenge - Anything but a Card

Hi Everyone

First of all, congratulations to Barbara Cleggett who won the July Challenge - a very worthy winner. Remember the prize is £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps and you can enter here.

For anyone who has not entered yet - why are you waiting?  This month you do not have to be a card maker - in fact you need to make anything but a card - an exciting challenge.

Here is my sample this month - a canvas.

I used acrylic paints for the background and modelling paste through a couple of stencils to add some interest to the corners.  For the main image I have used the beautiful Mushroom Dwelling.  This stamp is new to me and I have to say it is a dream to use and colour - I love, love, love it!  I also used the very versatile stamps - willow and zen leaves.

Hope you join the challenge and good luck! Kx

Lavinia Stamps Challenge - Flowers

Hi Everyone

I hope it is a lovely day wherever you are.  Welcome to another new month and a new Challenge over at Lavinia Stamps.  Remember by entering the Challenge you stand a chance of winning a huge £40 worth of gorgeous Lavinia Stamps and this month's challenge is Flowers.

For this card I used Brushos as the base and stenciled with Distress Inks dusty inks and added some black soot.  I used the lovely Fairy pods and used a white pen to bring out some definition.

For this card I stamped and embossed the new Background script stamp for the back ground and used different colour Brushos to make the backgrounds for the dandelions.  Simple but very effective.

Hope you have a good month and thanks for looking. Kx

June Lavinia Stamps Challenge - Any Colour

Hi Everyone and welcome to my new followers.  I really appreciate your support.

First of all a big well done to Clare, a very worthy winner in the May Lavinia Stamps Challenge.

This month's Challenge is Any Colour so come on everyone get your stamps out and enter.  We had a record number of entries in May so let's see if we can get even more in June.  Remember there is a huge prize of £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps.

My samples for this month:

This is a canvas sheet which I have mounted on to card.  I used the bleeding tissue technique in green and orange and stencilled in yellow.  The Lavinia Stamps I have used the beautiful fairy "Sky" and for the border I used Zen leaves and the sentiment is Have a Fairy Happy Birthday.

 



 

For my second sample I have used very watered down distress inks for the background on watercolour paper having previously put some gesso in the middle for extra texture.  This technique was shown to me by my best mate Eileen Godwin.  The Lavinia Stamp I used for this one was Zen thistle.  I added some Treasure Gold but this does not show up very well.

 

Hope you like my makes and join the challenge this month.  Thanks for looking.  Kx

May Lavinia Stamps Challenge - Pink or Blue

Hi Everyone, does anyone else wonder where April went?  I hope you managed to get a chance to join in the April Challenge - a very worthy winner for a really great challenge.  Another month and another challenge over at Lavinia Stamps and this month it is pink or blue so I do hope you will be able to join in.  Remember you do not have to have a blog as we accept e-mail entries.  The prize for the winner is £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps.

This month I have one blue one and one pink one to show you:

For this one I have used the Zen butterfly and yes it is one of my favourites.  The background is made with Brushos and it looked a bit like a butterfly so I felt it was crying out for a butterfly stamp.  I also used the flowers from Leaf Trail.

For this card I used distress ink Picked Raspberry which I put on with a brush and then used a stencil to add the pink bubbles.  I used my very favourite fairy stamp Giselle and added some Stickles to her wings.  I used the bottom of Creeping vine and zen leaf to decorate the  bottom and the top.

Hope you will be able to join us for this month's challenge.  Good luck and have a great Bank Holiday weekend.  Kx

Beside the Sea

Hi All

Thought I would share a special card I made for the MD for his 50th Birthday.  Every year I make one with a boating theme for him and this year was no different.  I wanted the overall card to have a feel of the sea and sand and I think I achieved this.  He was really pleased with it.

I really like the gull - all the dies are Marianne Creatables apart from the Spellbinders circular ones. 

Have a good week.

Kx

Lavinia Stamps April Challenge - Lemon & Lime

Hi Everyone and I hope you are all looking forward to a lovely Easter Weekend.

It's another month and another challenge over at Lavinia Stamps and this month it is Lemon and Lime.  Lovely colour combinations so get out your colours and have a go - you could win a huge £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps.  You do not need a blog as it is also open to entry by e-mail.

Here are my samples for the month:

 

 

For the first one I used the bleeding art tissue technique on a canvas.  I used a stencil to give some background interest then stamped straight on the canvas with several Lavinia Stamps.  I stamped the Zen butterfly on a separate piece of card, coloured it then added it to the canvas with sticky pads to give it a raised effect.

 

For the second one I used brushos - Lemon and Emerald Green and stamped on Zen maple leaf.  I stamped another one on card and cut out a few to add and topped them off with gems.

 

The pictures do not really do them justice but I hope you like them. 

 

Thanks for looking.  Kx

Lavinia Stamps Challenge - March 2015 - Add some Gems

Hi Everyone and welcome to my blog.

March is on its way and up until two minutes ago I was thinking that spring was well and truly on its way but now .. it is pouring with rain!  Hope it is much brighter as you read this though. 

A new month and a new challenge and this month it is ADD SOME GEMS!  Remember there is a huge prize of £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps and you do not even have to have a blog to enter as e-mail entries are accepted.  Pop over here and have a look.

Here are my samples for the month:

This card was made using the fabulous Brushos (also available from Lavinia Stamps) and they are incredibly easy to use.  They make stunning backgrounds.  I used the lovely stamp Sky and added some glitter to the wings and some gemstones in the corner before mounting on a die cut using a colour which picks out a colour in the background.

For my second sample I decided to make a New Home card using the Zen large mushroom house which I coloured and used lots of dies I have had for a very long time.

I added some gems to the insects and in the middle of the two round windows to complete the card.  This mushroom is just perfect for a new home card. 

Don't forget to join the challenge as March is a bit longer than February you have more time to enter!

Have fun crafting.  Kx

Sweet Poppy Stencil Heart Anniversary Card

Hi Everyone and I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Today I am showing an Anniversary Card I made for my Mum.  I have used a Sweet Poppy Stencil which I first coloured with Distress Inks then used the Transluscent paste which I topped off with micro beads.  Once dry the colours were beautiful.

Unfortunately you cannot see the beads from the picture but they did make the card look lovely and just made you want to touch!

Hope you like it. Kx

MDF Coasters and JOFY stamps

Hi Everyone

Hope you are enjoying the weekend.  I thought I would post my coasters today as I made them just after Christmas but have not got around to posting them!  I spent a day crafting with my best mate Eileen Godwin who passed on her expertise for making these.  I used JOFY stamps and coloured them in with Distress inks.  I did spray them after they were dry with two coats of Spray and Shine which protects them from spoiling and gives them a nice shine.

The MDF Coasters can be purchased from Oyster Stamps. 

Thanks for looking. Kx

Lavinia Stamps Challenge #2 Bright & Beautiful

Hi Everyone and welcome to my blog.  Firstly, many congratulations to Barry who won the first Lavinia Stamps Challenge of 2015.  Barry is now the lucky winner of £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps and you could be a winner too.  All you have to do is join in the Challenge and you do not even have to have a blog as you can enter by e-mail.  So do join us and you too could be a winner.  Just pop over to the blog here

Here are my samples for this month:

For this one I made a pop up box card and used the digital stamp Lady of the Rose Garden for the flaps and the three zen flowers with a grass die cut behind them, all these are coloured with my trusty copics.

I used Distress inks to colour this one and a couple of stencils for the background.  I used the Fairy words for the background as they are great to use in this way.  I embossed the words in silver to make them stand out a bit without overpowering the image used on the tag - Flower Fairy - a very versatile stamp.  I popped a bright pink bow on the top to add some extra "brightness".

Hope you have a good week and I will see you soon. Kx

Journal Cover

Hi Everyone

I posted this on Facebook as part of the #ArtChain Challenge as it is one of my favourite pieces of work.  Well outside my comfort zone but I was absolutely thrilled with the result.  It is inspired by Finnibair and I was helped to put it together with my best friend Eileen.

As usual, the photo does not do it justice as it does not show the colours very well.

I hope you like it.

Have a good week.

Kx

Happy New Year and a new Lavinia Stamps Challenge!

Dear All

A very happy New Year to everyone.  I hope that 2015 will be very kind to you. 

This month's challenge is "Anything Goes" so get out your Lavinia Stamps and show us your wonderful creations.  Remember you have a chance to win £40 worth of Lavinia Stamps.

Don't forget, anyone can join in, you don't have to have a blog as e-mail entries are accepted.  Pop over to the Lavinia Stamps Challenge Blog and have a go.

Here are my samples this month:

For this one I embossed the tag then used the distress inks for the background.  I used the lovely Lavinia Stamps - Zen leaves and hanging lanterns (used upside down and glossed).  I coloured these in with copics and used a white gel pen to highlight the lanterns.  I also used one of the small butterflies to create a "meadow scene".

 



 

For this card I used two of the background papers which are just fantastic to make a quick card.  I used the "purple papers" and the Scenescape Watermist.  I used one of my favourite Lavinia stamps - Moon Fairy - it is so beautiful which I painted and covered in glitter for the wings.  With a a couple of die cuts and some flowers the card is done - all in my favourite colour!

 

Hope you like them.

 

Kx