Dictionary Challenge - N

I seem to have mislaid a week somewhere. Perhaps due to being laid low with flu I miscalculated how many days were left to complete this fortnight's challenge on the Craft Barn blog. The letter is 'N' and having recently completed my 'N' ATCs last month I was stuck for ideas. A search through the dictionary gave me 'Nosegay' and reminded me of a very old stamp I have by a company called JoRoCo. I initially had ideas of making my own nosegay with die cut flowers but I am still exhausted by the smallest activity and so a readymade bunch of blooms seemed perfect. The stamp is quite small which I felt was in keeping with the definition so I added some patterned paper, deckle edged frames and some embossing. this rose folder by Crafts Too has a slit in the top so you can emboss a long strip and the patterns match up so the join is seamless (why don't other companies think of these things?). The main image is stamped in grey and the stems etc were outlined and coloured with marker pens. I added Glossy Accents to the centres for added texture.
I am very sorry I haven't been able to visit you all this time but I will try and make amends.

Memory Box Challenge - July

I've been suffering from a bad bout of flu which has left me trying to catch up with various challenges. This month's challenge on the Memory Box blog is to use the above sketch. I decided to give it a quarter turn and came up with this card:

I used some old, uninspiring patterned paper and added a Memory Box stencil (starry, starry night) with Victorian velvet DI. I shaded the edges with chalk and laid them out according to the sketch. The die cut is of course my favourite Chloe stem. the sentiment is from a Kaiserkraft set.

UK Stampers ATC Swap - T for Ticket

For my final ATC this month I have used a Brusho background overstamped with a Tim Holtz ticket stamp and sentiment. I used a ticket punch to cut the corners.

UK Stampers ATC Swap - T for Teacup

My second ATC this month is T for Teacup.  The gingham tablecloth is a Kaiserkraft stamp and the teacups are from a Dovecraft set called Tea Party. The lettering was done with the aid of a stencil.

Crafty Individuals/ UK Stampers ATC Swap - T for Together

This month's ATC swap uses the letter 'T'. I used this beautiful Crafty Individuals stamp (CI 283) on a background made with spray inks and stencils. To me it captures the essence of childhood friendships and endless summers.

I am also entering this into the Crafty Individuals Challenge the theme of which is 'Mini Masterpieces'.

Layering Stamps

There is a current trend for layering stamps and having a weakness for anything floral I fell in love with a set of  stamps by Altenew called Beautiful Day. There are lots of beautiful samples online but trying to achieve that look is not as easy as it looks - it takes practice and perseverance to align the stamps correctly. I was having a play and was quite pleased with the results so I cut the practice piece into 2 and turned them into cards. The flowers are stamped with wild honey, spiced marmalade and barn door DIs and outlined with Impress poppy red. The leaves are Versafine spanish moss and olympia green. Using DIs meant that I could spritz the flowers with water so that the colours mixed a little and gave a sort of watercoloured effect. After cutting the piece into 2 I ran it through my ribbler to corrugate it. I haven't used this little gadget for years and I'd forgotten what a great effect it gives. The sentiment is from a Paula Pascual set.

Hanging Braskets!

It's been a turbulent week with a lot going on in the UK. A few days ago whilst driving down my high street I came across these which raised a smile so I thought I would share them with you.

They are hanging braskets and have been put up by a local WI group to showcase sustainable gardening and to highlight the fact that you can grow something anywhere (and I guess in anything). The pics are not great because trying to stand in the middle of the road on a busy Saturday is not a great idea but hopefully they will make you smile too.

July