i needed a birthday card but i wanted to step outside of my comfort zone for a bit of a surprise.
i usually paint images for focal points but this time i cut the memory box verona bouquet from watercolour paper and sponged with distress inks. i also used distress ink for the magenta stencil background and stamped a clearly besotted sentiment.
thanks for popping by.
i was so excited to have won the Stamping Sensations Challenge for November and receive an invitation to be a guest designer this month.
i couldn’t have wished for a better theme – cold and frosty colours of blues, purples, silver and white. since i LOVE the cool colour palette, i got a bit carried away and made two cards, both painted with twinkling H2Os, using four different blues and one purple.
the first card features an older Marianne Design Stamp, Snoesjes Freezing Cold and the second is a Magenta ‘Snow Bird‘ with an Impression Obsession sentiment.
here is the prize on offer from sizzix. to play along, just be sure your card’s focal point is hand stamped. for all the rules and to see what the design team has created, click here to visit the blog.
thanks for popping by.
since it’s the first sunday in july, it’s time for a new theme at the penny black and more challenge: this month we’re creating ‘for the boys.’
i painted this cute image from the penny black clear set, ‘a bear of all trades’ with twinkling H2Os and added one of the sentiments from the same set; the background was made by stamping a magenta stencil with distress inks.
i hope you’ll come and play along – remember, you can use any company’s stamp for your focal point, just no digis please; a future guest designer will be selected from those who use a PB image and as always, you’ll love the prizes to be won from: Penny Black, Marianne Design, Stamp Addicts, Sizzix.
visit the blog for some creative inspiration by my teamies.
i’d like to submit this card to these challenges:
Allsorts: A Question of Sport
Simon Says Monday: Stencil It
thanks for popping by.
Cutting paper and fussy cutting images are tasks that I usually avoid because of the strain and subsequent pain in my hands so I was eager to test the scissors Tonic Studios USA sent to me.
For the past couple of weeks, I cut a variety of materials with each of the scissors as listed below.
Spring-Cut Multi-Purpose Scissors 10″
I like these scissors! The blades are sharp, they fit comfortably in my hand and I love the spring action – it makes them easy to operate and they are perfect for when a longer scissor blade is needed. The locking mechanism opens effortlessly with my thumbnail and just as easily locks back in place. The protective blade cover is also easy to remove and replace.
Spring-Cut Fine Tip Detail Scissors 6.5″
I like these scissors too! Like the larger scissors, they fit comfortably in my hand and the spring action is easy to operate so cutting is more enjoyable and less painful. I stamped the azaleas below twice on 140 lb. hot press watercolour paper, painted with sennelier watercolour paints, cut the leaves and attached them to the card base; then I cut the petals and adhered them. I also used these to cut the 90 lb. cold press watercolour paper flowers and the heavyweight printed cardstock that I stamped the flowers on. These will be my go to scissors for fussy cutting. The locking mechanism easily opens and locks back in place and the protective blade cover is easy to remove and replace.
140 lb. hot press watercolour paper flowers
90 lb. cold press watercolour paper flowers
170 gsm heavyweight printed cardstock flowers
Decoupage Scissors
Because of the smaller size, these required more finger grip strength and dexterity than I have. Both the 140 lb. hot press and 90 lb. cold press watercolour paper flowers were difficult to cut through. Although they worked best when i cut the doodle flowers above from the 170 gsm heavyweight printed cardstock, I preferred the 6.5″ spring cut detail scissors.
Tim Holtz 7″ Non-Stick Titanium Scissors
I was pleasantly surprised with these scissors because I really like the spring action of the others. The blades are very sharp, the handles are comfortable and these scissors are especially useful when cutting double sided adhesive sheets and foam tape. In addition to the materials listed above, I also fussy cut some shapes from a cardboard box with ease. The blade cover snaps in place but i could only remove it with the use of a rubber gripper.
Try before you buy! My local stamp store owner lets me test a product to see if it suits my hands; she has opened brand new products for me to try but sometimes there’s a model that is used for classes anyway.
Thanks to Tonic Studios for allowing me the opportunity to discover useable products that make my paper crafting time more enjoyable and thank you for popping by.
i’m still progressing with my new knee, which has to be a priority, although spending almost three hours daily on rehab doesn’t leave me a lot of time to create.
so i really enjoyed losing myself in painting this sweet image from impression obsession: Eskimo Kisses F6884 for the impression obsession challenge – love is in the air! i watercoloured the image with twinkling H2Os, created the background with magenta nuance powders and added stickles to the hats and the snow heart.
thanks for popping by.
i was curious about the CAS Mix Up Challenge because, to me, mixed media is a collage with layers of, obviously, different media; then i realized i’ve made cards like this before.
i’m playing along with this month’s theme of stamping + ghosting + your choice from a list of mixed media techniques and products.
my choices were gesso, stencilling and nuance powders.
i started by creating all the backgrounds with magenta’s nuance powders and watercolour paper and adding the butterflies with gesso and a magenta stencil. then i randomly stamped magenta silhouette leaves all over the background. i stamped the sentiment, also magenta, die cut it and layered it four times.
thanks for popping by.
i created this little cork board reminder for someone special who needed a gentle reminder to keep going regardless of how long it takes.
the sentiment is a magenta stamp i purchased when i won a gift certificate to the store and, for the first time, i used the magenta nuance powders to create the background. so much fun! the pom pom ribbon was also purchased with a gift certificate i won for the ribbon girl.
i think i’ll make myself one of these for those times when i need to create more slowly because of my health issues. thanks for popping by.
i was inspired by Magenta Designer Mariëtte and her stencilling with gesso technique on this card so i played with stencils today – something different for me.
i watercoloured the memory box die cut leaves with ‘pretty peridot’ twinkling H2Os. after the gesso dried, which didn’t take long because of the small design, i painted yellow twinkling H2Os onto the cold press watercolour paper, then sponged dried marigold distress ink on top, splattered with both pretty peridot twinks and some water. to finish it off, i sponged shabby shutters distress ink through the diamond stencil.
i’d like to submit this card to these challenges:
Memory Box Challenge #15- Yellow Challenge
Simon Says Stamp: Work it Wednesday July 2016! use august birthstone peridot
4CC #312 – LEAVES
i ordered this beautiful Magenta Wild Rose stamp when it was released this spring but it’s been waiting for me to watercolour; being the caregiver of a family member and my own health issues has meant i create when i can and i really appreciate when i get to do so.
i enjoyed losing myself in watercolouring with twinkling H2Os and matted the image since i didn’t feel like it needed anything else; clean and simple.
i’d like to enter this card into these challenges:
Simon Says: Fabulous Florals
Paper Creator – Keep It Simple
Just Add Ink #323…. Just Add F
Just Us Girls #355 – Word Week; watercolouring
thanks for popping by.
I’m playing along with this month’s magenta challenge: 2 products of your choice from Magenta, 1 tree pattern (bark, branch etc.).
i used the Christmas Holly Birds stamp, watercoloured with twinkling H2Os and i added a magenta peel off gold sticker in the corner. while i was colouring this image, Ellie Knol – DT Magenta, posted an easy christmas card on the magenta blog using this same stamp; how striking to not colour it.
i was lucky enough to win a $25.00 certificate to the store last month and i must say how impressed i am with their fast shipping; no, i didn’t waste any time going shopping – thank you magenta!
thanks for popping by.
edit: in answer to anne’s question, i used the Sizzix 656644 Texture Fades Embossing Folders Tim Holtz 2PK – Bricked & Woodgrain Set and coloured it with distress ink.
as i mentioned yesterday, i was so challenged by this month’s magenta challenge that i wanted to create another project. i love watercolouring images, so using one colour is really outside my comfort zone but i think i’m getting the hang of it.
the challenge is to create a project using:
1 Magenta stamp, 1 or more other Magenta product(s), and 1 colour (other neutrals allowed).
magenta products used:
the seam binding was dyed green with twinkling H2Os and i made an embellishment to finish it off.
thanks for popping by.
i was really challenged by this month’s magenta challenge to create a project using:
1 Magenta stamp, 1 or more other Magenta product(s), 1 colour (other neutrals allowed).
i used a magenta poinsettia stamp, heat embossed in white on magenta turquoise paper and again on the blue stripes of the reverse side to paper piece; the little dots in the corner were sponged on with a new magenta stencil.
thanks for popping by.
i’m sharing another CAS card as i’m just making the deadline for the magenta september challenge and the autumn theme. our leaves are starting to change colour and i’m so looking forward to the full range of colours and the cooler temps.
i used distress inks to ink the Magenta Clover Silhouette stamp and spritzed with water before stamping onto watercolour paper; i sponged the edges of the card with the same inks and the splatters were made with a yellow twinkling H2O. the left strip was also sponged and stamped with the Magenta Script stamp.
thanks for popping by.
i’m playing along with the Magenta Challenge and the august theme of anything goes. i’m not very happy with my inked up stencil designs yet, so i went back to my comfort zone and coloured an image.
i watercoloured this magenta bunny with twinkling H2Os and i did use the magenta dots stencil on the red cardstock and added a magenta peel off sentiment sticker; i used the magenta markers to change it and the little snowflakes from silver to red.
thanks for popping by.
my daughter has been visiting and had a lot of fun with a stencil from magenta’s new release; since she doesn’t have a blog, i’m posting them here so she can submit them to the magenta challenge anything goes theme for august. i love these! my card did not turn out very well so i’ll have to start over and post later. 
she used a foam blending tool and distress inks to create this set of one-layer cards. 
thanks for popping by.
this month’s magenta challenge is to use your favourite stamp, but i have too many favourites, so i stamped this quote and played with some of my new stash from their latest release – fun!
i used the new diamond stencil as a stamp and then sponged distress ink through the butterflies stencil and around the edges. i usually lose myself in watercolouring images, but every now and then it’s fun to just get inky and create backgrounds.
thanks for popping by.
i’m playing along with kathy racoosin’s 30 day colouring challenge to spend at least 5 minutes a day doing what makes you happy – colouring! i only joined in a couple of times during the first challenge due to time constraints and my RA flare ups so i’m hoping to participate more this time around. i may not complete a card a day, though; i may just share some colouring of an image.
this was a quick and easy card since the image is so small; i watercoloured with watercolour paints and had to photograph it with my iPad since my camera batteries needed recharging, again.
i’m also playing along with magenta’s june challenge and summertime theme.
thanks for popping by.
i created this card for the june magenta challenge: school’s out so i thought the magenta thank you sentiment would be appropriate, along with the apple themed papers that i’ve had in my stash for quite some time. the darker apples in the bottom row are pink foil, although the shine doesn’t show in this photo.
the card measures 4 1/4″ square and it’ll be added to my stash. thanks for popping by.
oh my goodness, it felt so good to have some creating time. i sponged distress inks through the magenta stencil, splattered and lightly sponged around the image panel and card panel. the DP had red leaves printed across the bottom so i sponged through a different image from the same stencil to create the bottom border. i’m so used to watercolouring images that i was surprised by how much faster this was. i’m submitting this card to magenta’s may challenge theme of anything goes! and also to A Little Bit Crafty – Flower Power.
thanks for popping by.
this month’s magenta challenge is anything goes so i decided to make a christmas card; i watercoloured the robins and sky with twinkling H2Os, added a ribbon and i have another CAS card for my stash. i’m also submitting this card to these challenges:
rudolph day – to make christmas cards on the 25th of every month
emma’s crafty challenge – birds
one crazy stamper – christmas
addicted to stamps and more – CAS
get inky! – song about the birds and the bees
thanks for popping by.
a warm welcome to a new follower! thank you for taking an interest in my creations. the august magenta challenge theme is a garden party colour combo based on some beautiful garden photos. i water coloured the magenta wildflowers image with twinkling H2Os and added stickles to all the flower centres; the sentiment and tag are from flourishes.
i’m also submitting this card to these challenges:
one crazy stamper – birthday
crafty ribbons challenge 56 – anything goes with ribbon
southern girls – things that begin with F – flowers
ladybug crafts – something floral
stempelsonnen – anything goes
thanks for popping by.
i’ve been playing along with magenta’s 20th anniversary monthly challenges and created this for the december theme of My Most Cherished Memory (of the last 20 years). choosing one memory was very difficult; art was a big part of my childhood, as it was for both of my children, although it stayed with them well into adulthood. when i returned to my childhood love of colouring, my children encouraged me so i have a lot of memories surrounding art – this will stay on the mini easel on my desk.
i love creating my own backgrounds with watercolour paper and distress inks and stains; you can find some beautiful backgrounds and a tutorial at shirley’s blog, paper creations by shirley. thanks for popping by.
welcome to my new followers; thanks for taking an interest in what i create.
i’ve been playing along with magenta’s 20th anniversary monthly challenges this year; some of them have been quite challenging and this month is one of those – make a creation with twenty embellishments. it took me a while to come up with an idea, but i used 20 seed beads on the magenta holly image that i coloured with coloured pencils. i followed this tutorial on the magenta blog to make this bottle tag.
i’m also submitting it to these challenges:
jingle belles – anything (holidays) goes ends dec 21
holly jolly christmas – vintage christmas ends dec 23
unique crafters – all about christmas ends dec 31
sweet stampin’ christmas – anything goes ends jan 6
thanks for popping by.
i’ve been playing along with magenta’s 20th anniversary monthly challenges all year; i was so busy following the sketch that i forgot to add a sentiment – oops. i coloured the magenta candle with distress inks, added stickles and popped it with foam squares. i’m also submitting this to the traditional christmas theme at stamping sensations. thanks for popping by.
welcome to my new followers! i appreciate your taking an interest in what i do.
i’ve been playing along with magenta’s 20th anniversary monthly challenges all year and this month’s theme is vintage, which i keep saying i can’t do but it’s fun trying. i stamped the magenta flower twice, heat embossed it and sponged it a bit and layered it. i’ve had this memory box corner die for a while, but just couldn’t find a way to fit it onto a card until now and i’m glad i have it. the edges are all distressed and sponged and i added some lace, although i feel like i should’ve added more – can vintage be CAS?
i’m also submitting it to these challenges:
the brand new vintage stamping challenge sponsored by flonzcraft – anything goes ends October 31
sweet stampin’ – vintage ends October 5
card crafter’s circle – vintage ends October 4
thanks for popping by.
magenta’s 20th anniversary july challenge is ‘acrostic with magenta.’ i printed mine on magenta paper, matted with magenta papers and distressed the flowers, leaves and edges; this was such a fun project to create – english was always my favourite subject. i admit to not being able to live by this philosophy, especially this week – you know the ones where anything and everything goes wrong? bleh. thanks for popping by.
i’ve been playing along with the magenta monthly challenges in celebration of their 20th year and the june challenge is to use the colours of their logo. i stamped this magenta image on blue vellum, heat embossed and coloured with distress inks, which is what i enjoy doing most when i create; even if it’s just a little bit while i’m waiting for my RA flareup to disappear, so i’m also submitting this to the stampalot challenge ‘what’s your crafty passion’ theme. i couldn’t get a photo to show the embossed detail, which looks so much better in real life. thanks for popping by.
i’ve had this magenta bird stamp for a while, so it’s about time i got around to inking it up; it’s coloured with marvy markers, sponged with distress ink and die cut and popped on foam tape. i love this embossing folder from my friend, anne, which i sanded after embossing. i’m submitting this card to these challenges: paper and such design blog – our feathered friends, pixie dust challenge bird theme and crafty catz – embossing. thanks for popping by.
i really struggle with monochromatic cards, but i’ve been playing the monthly magenta challenges in celebration of their 20th anniversary year and the may challenge is to create a monochromatic card in magenta (pink). i heat embossed the image in white, coloured with distress ink pads and sponged around the image, which is popped on foam tape. thanks for popping by.
i created this clean and simple card for the march magenta 20th anniversary challenge to use magenta stamps for the background; it looks wonky, but it’s straight. i’m still waiting for my computer’s techie people to fix my photo editing problem – i’ve been patient, but i might just have to purchase a program and send them the bill. lol. anyway, thanks for popping by.
we all have grumpy days and this is what i feel like after finding out that not everything i backed up on my old computer was saved, so i have to start over with a number of tasks. the image is coloured with distress inks and pink flower soft was added to the bunny slippers. i’m submitting this to the allsorts’ free and easy challenge and the crafter’s companion anything goes challenge. thanks for popping by.
i’m back! my computer had a melt down, although i’ve been blaming my ISP all week, which asked me to monitor my connection. i was convinced it couldn’t be the computer because it’s less than three years old, but some would say i’m lucky for it to have lasted that long. my new computer is up and running so i can post again and catch up over the next couple days. anyway, this month’s challenge is to use your first magenta stamp, so here it is – a dogwood; i get a lot of comments about my ‘soft’ cards and it’s the soft look of this stamp that appealed to me. the card looks crooked, but it’s straight; i’m also still getting used to my new camera. thanks for popping by.
i’ve been busy all week organizing my craft space – still a work in progress, but i took a break and made my first card this year for the sketch challenge at le style magenta. i used their papers to make the flower, butterflies and background. i’m also submitting it to the open theme at the flutterby wednesday challenge. thanks for popping by.
at least the cooler weather that i’ve been waiting for is finally here, but it’s dull today and hard to get a better pic. since the magenta sketch challenge deadline is midnight, i raced against the clock to get this finished; look, i didn’t even have time to add any stickles. lol. i stamped and cut out the flower three times, watercoloured with distress inks, attached them to black glossy paper, and literally followed the sketch. thanks for popping by.
i missed being creative this past week, but we were out of town enjoying a change of scenery and visiting family. it was relaxing to be unplugged, but it’s always good to be home. i had a couple of nice surprises waiting for me – i found out i was a top pick for two challenges and this magenta stamp that i won a couple of weeks ago arrived. this photo inspired me to ink up my new stamp and make this CAS card for the splitcoaststampers inspiration challenge because i think my mojo is still on vacation. :) thanks for popping by.
snailzpace.com 