Friends like a Fruitcake?

They said on the radio this morning that it's Blue Monday (Christmas has gone, not pay day yet) so I thought why not make a blue card to cheer you all up and have a GIVEAWAY too!! 

The card is my entry for the Less is More Challenge week 207 where the theme is FRIENDS. I've used some new stamps from Oak House Studio - the Square Grid inked with the new Triple Sky Blues Pigment ink pad which works great on linen card.   I love the blues in this ink pad but a word of warning - do remember which way round your stamp is!!  The Friends like Fruitcake stamp is inked with just the darker blue of the three.  I hope it makes you smile!!  I've also linked up to the Uniko Challenge where the theme is Love and Friendship and Inspirational Challenges where the theme is Ombre.

Whilst I was rummaging in my stamp box I realised I had 2 sets of these stamps and as it is 5 years since I started this blog, I thought I'd have a GIVEAWAY as a thank you for visiting my blog.

So please leave a comment on this post and/or any of my future posts for a chance to win.    I'll leave the Giveaway open for a month so your last chance to enter will be February 16th.  

Good Luck.

Vintage Journey - IKB

As I have a little time at the moment I thought I'd make a card for  the Vintage Journey Challenge where the theme is to use a Portrait.  I couldn't think of a personal one to use so went with this famous portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. 

He's a hero in our house as my husband is a Railway Engineer and both my daughters were given Brunel awards at school for doing well in Maths and Physics.  One year an actor came into school to do the assembly and sang a song about IKB hence the title!!

The challenge is based on Tim Holtz style so I've done a swooshy mix of Pine Needles, Iced Spruce, Broken China and Salty Ocean for the background and mopped up the excess with the seam binding.   The stamps are from Tim's Steampunk set plus the Checker Plate from Kaisercraft to carry on the metallic theme.  The frame and gears were painted with black acrylic and Silver Dabber and to finish I've just added the Discoveries Word Band.

Not very good daylight this morning to take a photo but I hope you like what you see.  Thanks for popping by and for leaving a comment - they are always very much appreciated.

Tim's Tag - January 2015

I'm having trouble getting started this year but thought I'd have a go at Tim Holtz's first tag for 2015.  The tag and all the instructions can be found HERE - as ever I have very few of the products he used so I've improvised.

I do have some tissue wrap but it's obviously in a safe place as I can't find it.....so I've used some script vellum for the base and coloured it with Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers Stains, mixed with Picket Fence Paint and sprayed with Walnut Tree re-inker.

I've added the Chit Chat stickers and covered with Glue and Seal. 

The numbers are Vinyl Thickers covered with Gold Dabber and with some Gold Stickles added to the 5.

I've added some Snowcap Dabber and more Gold Stickles to the background and finished with dyed seam binding and a bell off a Lindt Reindeer that was on my table......so I'm ringing in the New Year!!




I'm not sure I like the end result but I do enjoy the challenge of finding an alternative if I haven't got what Tim used.  Having rummaged around in my boxes I've decided I really don't NEED any more stash but then I've seen some of the CHA peaks.....oh dear....

Anyway thanks for popping by and please leave a comment - they are very much appreciated!!

Happy New Year

Well I hope you've all had a good Christmas and got lots of new crafting goodies to play with - I did although I've not had time to play with them yet.  But it's time to celebrate so I got out my Firework stamps, some inks and sparkly powder.

Wherever you are I wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and lots of creativity in 2015!!

Elaine xx

Christmas Harmony

Well it's the last two words for The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics Challenge and we have a choice of HARMONY and/or FAITH.  I've chosen to do Harmony and used a quote from Zooey Deschanel - not profound, but allows me to make my postcard Christmassy!

The background is a mix of Mowed Lawn and Bundled Sage Distress Stains, edged with Gold Acrylic paint and stamped with the Deck the Halls stamps from Oak House Studio.  The holly leaves are also Oak House Studio stamps, embossed with gold, painted with Emerald Acrylic Ink and hung in a bough.  I've just added some gems for holly berries and the quote printed out as usual.

My next job is to create an album for them all but before I do that I thought I'd take a photo so you can see all 25 together.

It's been a great year -  fun creating my postcards and inspiring to visit everyone else's blogs and read other quotes and lyrics.  If you've visited my blog during the year  thank you so much. If you've left a comment then an even bigger THANK YOU.   I'm looking forward to seeing what The Craft Barn have planned for us in 2015.

Merry Christmas to one and all!!

Artistic Ventures

Here's my next postcard for The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics Challenge where the words this fortnight are HEART and/or RISK.   After a day or two of looking I found this quote by Matt Smith which I thought was so true but have struggled to create something to illustrate it.

In the end I've delved through my half made box of 'artistic ventures' and chose this piece.  I've used a set of Firework stamps from Oak House Studio, inked in various pigment inks and clear embossed.  It's then coloured with Chipped Sapphire Distress Stain to make the fireworks pop and finished with the printed quote.

I can't believe we have only one more pair of words to do but I'm looking forward to what the Craft Barn's Challenge will be next year.   Many thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments.

Oak House Studio 2014

Lynnda at Oak House Studio asked me to write a post featuring one of my favourite projects to end the year but to be honest I can't just pick one - the stamps lend themselves to lots of different styles so here are a few:

I started the year doing  Wedding Samples using watercolour paper sprayed with Ink in a Bottle and the Rose stamps.

I like the different looks you can achieve with few supplies.

This is my No 1 favourite ......I think.

Using the Circles and Flowers and Kiss Stamping - great fun!   It's bright, colourful and with lots of interest.

 

An inky Under the Sea journal page with the Mountain Ash and Oak used as seaweed etc.  My favourite colours - blues, greens and a pop of orange from the Shells and Sealife stamps.

 

And lastly, a Christmas one which was really fun to do using the Block Frame stamp as a window  looking in to see a Christmas scene.   So that's my 2014 round-up - thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments over the year - it makes blogging all worthwhile!!

Merry Christmas

Elaine xx