I is for Illuminate

Here with my postcard for The Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge where the letter is I.   There are quite a lot of I words but few that I had a stamp or idea for.  So I've chosen ILLUMINATE so think lights and illuminated letters.

The background is a mix of Colour Chemistry Spray Inks - Citrus Yellow, Pumpkin Pie, Jubilee Red and a bit of Precious Purple (indigo) to create an intense colour scheme as my H and J pages are paler ones.   The stamps are Punky Flowers from Chocolate Baroque and Mini Calligraphy Set from The Artistic Stamper - I've embossed both in gold to represent illuminated manuscripts of old.  I've just used various markers to add more depth of colour, the letter I Thicker  and the torn dictionary definition.

I've lost track of how many we have left - 2 or 3 - but I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone's end of year photos.   Thanks for visiting and for commenting!!

Elaine xx

PS. I'm also linking to the Craft Stamper Challenge this month where Anything Goes as long as there is some stamping !!

Red Pelargoniums

Well it's wet and wintry outside so I thought I would stay in and make a card for the Less is More Challenge week 263 - it's a ONE LAYER week and the theme is STEMS.

I decided to use this Pelargonium stamp from Chocolate Baroque's Flora and Fauna set - I've just stamped with Onyx Black Versafine and then coloured with markers and a water brush.  It wasn't until I tried to colour it I realised how many stems this does have!!  The sentiment is from Oak House Studio's Friendly Words set inked with Vermillion Archival.

Hope you like and thanks for popping by.....you are always welcome!!

Steampunk Sparrow

Here's my card for the Less is More Challenge  week 236 where it's ONE LAYER cards and THE EYES HAVE IT.  I know I must be mad but I love one layer cards as they are indeed a challenge.

I have no face or eye stamps but then realised it would be good opportunity to use my new Deep Red Rubber stamp - the Steampunk Sparrow.   He's just inked with Onyx Black Versafine and coloured with Tombow markers.  I masked him off and created a panel using the cog stamps from Chocolate Baroque's Punky Flowers set.   I drew a couple of lines and finished with the Oak House Studio sentiment.

I'm also entering this into:
Happy Little Stampers Challenge - CAS and MASKING
The Craft Barn's weekly challenge - COLOURING
The Craft Stamper - Make It Take It - PENS and PENCILS

Hope you like and thanks for visiting - you're always welcome!!

Elaine xx

March, Yellow and a Rabbit

Here's my next page for The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge where for March the words are YELLOW and RABBIT.

Yellow is fine, but I was struggling with the Rabbit part.  I decided it was time for a new stamp but Mr Google wasn't helping.  I'm not keen on cute/cartoon images of which there are hundreds but I did in the end find this Deep Red Rubber Bunny Rabbit stamp - very realistic and I'm sure will come in useful for Easter too!!  

The background is a blend of Oak House Studio Pigment Inks - Green as Grass, Lemon Yellow, Golden Yellow, Tangerine and some Green Oak for the catkins.  The stamps are from Chocolate Baroque's Spring Foliage set and I've used Potting Soil and Emerald Green Archival.  The grass is the edge of an Oak Tree stamp and I've just finished with the calendar for March.

I think my rabbit looks quite content in his glade and it was fun to do.  Thanks for visiting and for your comments - they are much appreciated.

Spring is in the Air

Back again and guess what I still feel ill.  I realise this is getting repetitive but I've now got a stinking cold which I reckon is good news.   I have made the effort this morning to make a card for the latest Less is More Challenge where the theme this week is GREEN & YELLOW.

Luckily the challenge requires simple designs so here it is.  I've just used a old Crocus stamp from Chocolate Baroque, stamped onto lemon card with Green as Grass Pigment Ink and clear embossed.  I've then painted with some Oak House Studio Acrylic Ink - Citrine and Peridot.  These inks flow beautifully and it was easy to get the striations on the crocus leaves.  One word of advice - don't paint and sneeze at the same time otherwise you go over the lines...lol.   Anyway the card is finished with a Hero Arts Sentiment and then mounted on green card.

Hope you like and thanks for looking.  If you leave a comment, many thanks.  My computer has died so if I don't get it sorted I might not be able to visit you......watch this space!!

PS. Computer now working and whilst my card looks like I've used orange, the Citrine is a really bright yellow!!

 

Bombers' Moon

Well another 2 weeks has gone by and the new words on The Craft Barn Quotes and Lyrics Challenge are SENSATION and/or MOON.  Lots of good sensation quotes but no images popped into my head so I've chosen Moon and these lyrics from Bombers' Moon by Mike Harding.

For those that don't know Mike Harding aka The Rochdale Cowboy is a folk singer, writer, comedian etc who had TV series in the late 1970s.  His father was a Navigator in the RAF and was killed in WWII.  I thought the words were very poignant as we  are so close to Remembrance Day.

I've used the Poppy stamp from Chocolate Baroque's  Flora and Fauna set, inked with Onyx Black Versafine, clear embossed and then coloured with markers.  I've then masked the flowers with a circle to create the moon and blended over with Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks.  The lyrics were just printed off the computer.

Thanks for looking and for your comments.  I'll leave you with a photo I took of the poppies at the Tower of London - this was late September, all the grass has now been covered with the 888,000+ poppies and the last one will be planted on the 11/11.

Journal52 catch-up!

I'm behind again with my Journal52 pages - it's a challenge on Facebook where each week there is a theme/idea to work with.   Week 15 is Party Animals and Week 16 is Recycled Art.

The top page is my recycled paper bag - my DH nearly got it in the recycling bin but I saved it, used the main image and added some Tim Holtz blueprint stamps to carry on the woodland theme.

The second one is my Party Animal.....well Owl really.  My most used Chocolate Baroque stamp which happened to be in proportion to the party/clown hat stamp from Paperartsy.  With the addition of the Oak House Studio Union Jack stamp and some hand cut bunting,  I decided to go for a party to celebrate St George's Day.....Enjoy!

Less is More - Three Crocus

Here again with a card for the Less is More challenge week 164 where the recipe is THREES.

I've used a Crocus Corner from an Elusive Images/Chocolate Baroque set - I used this set for my spring flowers a couple of weeks ago and everyone said they loved the corner so I thought I'd use three of them.   I've stamped with Jet Black Archival and then coloured with a mix of Stardust pens and Tombow Markers.   The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

The other part of the challenge is to comment on at least three other creations.  Like everyone, we all lead busy lives and I can't comment on every entry but I always try to comment on the Design Teams blogs (as they have spent their time organising the challenge) and after that, I comment on those blogs that catch my eye with interesting thumbnails!! 

Lets face it, we all like to receive nice comments so I'm off to take a look what everyone else has created.  If you visit and leave me a comment - thank you so much!!

Purple Crocus

Well it's a lovely day here and I actually got some gardening done this morning. I have 5 purple crocus out so that was my inspiration for this card for the Less is More Challenge week 162 - a One Layer card with SPRING FLOWERS.

I've used an old Crocus Set from Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) inked with Lavender Brilliance - coloured with Tombow markers and glittery Sakura pens.  Its very glitzy in real life but today the camera is lying, so much so you can hardly read the sentiment but it says You make my Heart  Happy (Hero Arts).

This challenge has reminded once again that I still haven't treated myself to a nice daffodil stamp....so I'm going to check out everyone else's cards to try and find one!  Thanks for looking!!

Tim's Tag - March 2014

Well another month and another improvisation session to create Tim Holtz's Tag for March 2014.

I started this month with just the tag really, none of the correct stamps or extras.  Instead of the nest, I've used the Beech Tree stamp (Oak House Studio) inked with Vintage Photo and smudged a bit.  The feather stamp is from a Chocolate Baroque set and the egg is done using a hand cut paper mask inked with Broken China and then splodged with Walnut Stain using an acrylic block. 

I've blended Bundled Sage on the background, added some Broken China through the Faded Dot stencil and edged the tag with Walnut Stain.  I've added some Birds on a Wire (Tim Holtz stamp) with Jet Black Archival, handwritten the figs and finished with seam binding, paper string and a label stamped with a Hero Arts alphabet.

Talking of nature, this is a photo I woke up to the other morning.

Students get a bad press, dossing in bed till lunchtime etc but my daughter is studying Zoology down in Cornwall and they had a 5.30am wake up call the other morning to go study some birds!!  Now that is cute!

Love on the Farm

Here's my postcard for The Craft Barn Quotes and Lyrics Challenge where the words are Marriage and/or Age.   Well I've been searching for quotes and lyrics but nothing inspired me till I found these lyrics on marriage from 'Love on a Farmboy's Wages' by XTC (early 1980s). 

I'm not sure I've quite captured the scene but it's supposed to be an idyllic country setting with a colourful sunrise and a cornfield - done with Distress Inks.  I've stamped and embossed Tim Holtz's Sunrays using Sunflower Brilliance and lots of vegetation from Chocolate Baroque and Crafty Individuals stamped with Thyme and Pearlescent Ivy Brilliance. 

If I have time, I may have another go at this to see if I can improve the perspectives.  Meantime, I'm off to see what everyone else has created.  Thanks for looking and for your comments - they are very much appreciated!!

Rainbow Trees

Here again with a quick card for the Less is More Challenge where this week the theme is RAINBOWS.  It's the Less is More Challenge's 3rd Birthday so congratulations to Chrissie and everyone else involved - thanks for the challenge and for all the inspiration every week.

My card is fairly basic - a line of Cog Trees from the Punky Flowers set from Chocolate Baroque inked in a range of rainbow pigment ink pads from Oak House Studio.  The Warm Wishes stamp is from Hero Arts.   Simple but colourful I hope you agree.

Thanks for looking and for all your wonderful comments!!

Craft Barn Dictionary Challenge 2013

Well it's nearly the end of the year with the last 2 letters of the alphabet for The Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge. So here they are, I and  X, plus a few photos showing all my ATCS and album.

For I, I've clear embossed the Ideogram (kanji symbol for happiness) and then inked the ATC with Dusty Concord and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks representing Indigo and Iodine.  I've chosen to do ILLUMINATION with the light bulb flowers stamp from Chocolate Baroque embossed in gold (think illuminated letter!) and coloured. As always, it's finished with the torn dictionary definition and alcohol inked Thicker.

For X,  I've chosen to do XMAS ...well it is Christmas and to be honest there were few words to do!   The background is a mix of Barn Door and Aged Mahogany Distress inks overstamped with the Christmas Words Block stamp from Darkroom Door in Vermillion Archival.   The holly and hellebore are the Christmas Corner stamp from Oak House Studio embossed in gold, coloured with metallic markers and with red beads for berries.  I've added some tinsel, the torn dictionary definition and the alcohol inked Thicker with a touch of glitter as it's Christmas!!

Here's a photo of all 26 ATCs together.

I've mounted them on 8 x 8 black card and added other torn words from my dictionary along the edge.  These are words that either mean something to me or secondary words that I've illustrated on my ATCs.  I've also included my take on the challenge so that in 10 years time I'll remember why I did what I did!!

I've thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and surprised myself by creating every single one on time.  Thanks must go to The Craft Barn for all their hard work and the design team for their inspiration.  Thanks also to everyone who has visited my blog over the year and left such encouraging comments.  I'm now looking forward to seeing everyone else's end of year posts and finding out what The Craft Barn have in store for us in the new year.

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Creating in 2014!!
 

Rusty Owl

Here's a quick card for the Less is More challenge week 136 where the colours to use are Dark Green and Rust.

The Owl stamp is a favourite of mine from Chocolate Baroque and the colour scheme made me choose to use it yet again! I've inked him with Brilliance Pearlescent Rust and matted him on some dark green card. He's just added to the linen card base with some dark green ribbon and a sentiment also inked with Pearlescent Rust. Simples!!

Many thanks for looking!

Orange Owl

Here's my 17th ATC for The Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary Challenge where the letter is O. Another week where there are a lot of Os but not many stood out for me.

I created an Oblong ATC from linen card, blended with Ochre Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink and stamped the Ivy Corner from Oak House Studio with Thyme Brilliance. I cut an Oval from Orange card and stamped the Owl on this from Chocolate Baroque's Birds of a Feather set - it's inked with Onyx Black Versafine and clear embossed to enhance the image. It's funny because I was actually doing Ornithology, but the only bird that would fit the oval sensibly was the owl....oh yes, that begins with O too!! So I went back to my dictionary and tore out the Owl definition and added the alcohol inked vinyl Thicker.

Unfortunately little other crafting has got done this week - no idea where the time goes - but I have made another ATC for A and Z for my cover which I'll show you another time. Meanwhile, thanks for looking and I'm off to see what everyone else has been doing!!

Shades of Grey

Haven't had chance to enter many challenges recently but thought I ought to get Mr Mojo started again!  This card is for the Less is More Challenge week 127 where the theme is SHADES OF GREY.

Well I haven't used 50 shades - just 3!  The flower stamp is from the Punky Flowers set by Chocolate Baroque - I inked it with Starlight Silver Brilliance but it didn't look nice so I inked it again with Memento London Fog.   The sentiment is from Hero Arts - I chose Stazon Smokey Grey but it seemed too dark against the flower so I used London Fog again.  Funny as one looks to have a blue tinge in real life and the other green.

Anyway I hope you like - grey wouldn't be my first choice of colour but it does lend itself to sympathy style cards I think!!  Thanks for looking.

U for Undergrowth

Here's my next ATC for The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge where the letter is U.

Well I looked through my dictionary and only wrote down 3 words - Ultraviolet, Undergrowth and Underwater.  I didn't want to do Ultraviolet as I did violet for V and so checked Wikipedia for other colours starting with U.  I discounted Ultramarine and Ube (a medium lavender) and so decided to go down the green Undergrowth route with a little Umber!!

The background is Old Paper and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink misted with Bundled Sage and mopped up with the ATC - I've blended on a little Vintage Photo too.   I've used stamps from Chocolate Baroque's Spring Foliage set and the fern and dragonfly from Crafty Individuals (CI - 207) inked with Pearlescent Ivy and Thyme Brilliance. And yes, hiding in the undergrowth are hares (free with Craft Stamper magazine) inked with Dark Brown Fluid Chalk Ink.  My initial idea was dark undergrowth but I used Brilliance which shines, so I also added some Aqua Stardust pen to the dragonflies to make them a little irridescent too.   My ATC is just finished with the dictionary definition and the alcohol inked vinyl Thicker.

Nearly at the halfway stage and I can see this challenge getting trickier - trying to vary the designs and getting a good mix of colours.  I think next time is week 13 so I intend laying all my ATCs out and taking a photo.  I ought to think about creating an album too!!

Thanks for stopping by to look and for your comments.  I'm off to browse everyone else's creations!

White Willow

Here's my next ATC for The Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge - the letter is W and we have to use CIRCLES.

Well this one made me think as not many of the words I found in my dictionary seemed to go together and I'm still not sure the circles fit!!  Anyway I've chosen WILLOW.  For the background I've clear embossed the Circles stamp from Tim Holtz and then watercoloured my ATC with Walnut Stain Distress (keep the woody theme).  I only have the re-inker so added extra to make some of the circles really dark.  I've stamped the pussywillow from Chocolate Baroque's Spring Foliage set in  Cocoa Bean Brilliance and finished with the dictionary definition and White vinyl Thicker.

Now the sticks are in fact White Willow.  We visited the Willow Farm in the Somerset Levels last year and I picked up some samples of the willow (for scrapbooking purposes!). Apparently you get natural, green and white Willow using various processes and that gives the patterning on willow baskets etc.  I've just woven a little thread to tie it together.

So another educational week and I'm now off to see what everyone else has created.  If you are reading this, then thanks for looking!!

Lime and Black

Here's my card for the Less is More Challenge week 114 where the colour theme is LIME and BLACK.

I had the pleasure of visiting The Craft Barn in it's new premises on Saturday and I spotted some Cosmic Shimmer Golden Lime Embossing Powder so I thought it would be rude not to use it for this challenge.   The Calla Lily stamp is an Elusive Images/Chocolate Baroque stamp and the sentiment is from Hero Arts - I embossed both onto black gloss card to make the lime powder pop. 

The pearlescence in the powder also left a golden sheen on the card - it looks lovely in real life but was very difficult to photo.  I apologise.....my own fault for using a two-tone powder and gloss card.....maybe I should have added some mirri card as well to make it even more difficult!!

Anyway I hope you like my card.  Thanks for looking and for your comments - they are as ever much appreciated!

Spring Twinchie

Here's my twinchie for the Show us Your Twinchie Challenge for April where the theme is SPRING.

What can be more spring-like than the Crocus - mine flowered one day and then got covered in snow the next!!  However this one should last!   It's an Elusive Images/Chocolate Baroque stamp which I've embossed with Golden Lime embossing powder and then watercoloured with Inktense Pencils.  I've added a little Sakura Stardust to the flower and edged the twinchie with Treasure Gold to add to the shine.

Hope you like and thanks for looking!