Roses card

Hello Lovelies - how are you? I hope you are okay. I had a different kind of day yesterday. Took the girls swimming and then we went to see my mum and dad and afterwards I took Lucy and Penny to their ballet exam lesson. Whilst there I got a text from my mum saying that she had taken my dad to hospital. We went there to see him and it sounds as though he had some sort of cardiac problem - anyway - they've kept him in overnight and we'll have to wait and see how he is later today. He was fine when we left him and my mum stayed with me overnight. Its all a bit worrying.

Me and the girls are off to the Crafting event at Bolton today - my mum was supposed to be coming too but with things the way they are she doesn't feel up to it. Anyway - I hope we have some fun - I'm hoping we get the chance to do a few make and takes. The girls will love that!

Todays card is one I have made for my friend Rose who has a birthday tomorrow.

I made the topper up first by using ripe persimmon DI on a piece of card then stamping the silhouette stamp in black archival. Next I faux bleached the moon - that didn't work brilliantly so I then added some extra while with a white pen! Next I made the background using fossilised amber and ripe persimmon and tone on tone stencilling with a TH flourish stencil. Then I used a sheena stencil with black soot to add more detail and finally used my black soot distress marker and tool to get some splatters on there.

Such a cute image - I just know my friend Rose will like it!

I would like to enter this into the littleclairesdesigns monthly-blog-challenge-57-outdoors

I hope you all have a good day and thanks for dropping by!

Big Huggles!

Rachel xx

Bottle Bottom Blues!

Hello there! Don't worry - i haven't turned to the bottle quite yet - I was trying to think of a title for my canvas and this one wouldn't go away - so I'm stuck with it!!! So I've been making a canvas for the latest paperartsy challenge. It started life as a tag and developed from there!

Here's the tag - I used lots of fesco paints and an old hot picks stamp plus a variety of jofy stamps for the flowers and foliage.

The canvas idea developed largely after watching the demo from Leandra on painting the bottles - I decided I wanted to follow her technique with one of the little bitty TH bottles - so I did - 

I also created the canvas using grungepaste and stencils then more fresco paint plus some lovely bits that the wonderful Alison Bomber (Butterfly) sent me along with the tags she made at Ally Pally whilst demoing for paperartsy. - thanks again Alison!

I was hoping you could maybe think the large canvas circles looked a bit like bottle bottom stains .... no? Oh well!!! Nevermind!

I'd like to enter this into paperartsy topic-10-bottles-challenge.

We had another good day yesterday - I went to physio for my back - she says I have an irritated disc - thats mostly down to poor posture! Anyway - she has given me some exercises to do and I go again next week. She manipulated my back - which made three large cracking  noises - and although its not right its definitely feeling better. Its also good to know that i can do lots to help myself! So hopefully it will be controllable.

We did some other bits and bats - including painting the salt dough - 

olives, bread and pizza all for the greek play that the girls are in! 

I hope you have a great Saturday!

Big Hugs

Rachel xx

Indigo blu - dramatic eye

Hello my lovelies! How are you this morning? I hope you are doing well! My girls and i had a fun day yesterday - we went shopping for sandals then had lunch at pizza express and finally we had fun at home making props for the play from salt dough and then doing some face painting! We have the summer fair coming up again and thats one of my jobs! Anyway - it was a good day - here's hoping today will be as much fun!

I have been playing with another new stamp from Indigo blu that i got at happy stampers in Port Sunlight. Here's my make.

I created the background first using distress inks - fossilised amber, ripe persimmon and abandoned coral, I also used a stencil from crafters workshop and some limor circle stamps plus another stamp. 

I stamped the eye in black archival plus the sentiment (CB). Finally I used walnut stain around the edges.  A beautiful stamp - love it!!!

Have a great friday and I'll see you around again soon!

Hugs

Rachel xx

time for some journalling

Hello there - how are you? Hope you are doing good - we're enjoying half term and will hopefully continue to do so! I made a card on Tuesday night that I was going to blog today - but I'm not so sure about it - I'll decide what I'm going to do with it soon! So I thought I would catch up with showing you a couple of journal pages that I did for the journal Art 15 group that I belong to on facebook.  The prompt for the first one was doodling - we were encouraged to include some doodling or zentangle on our pages:

I wanted some white space in this set of pages - I find it quite intimidating and wanted to see if I could incorporate some. The doodles are all mine apart from the girl which is a stamp from Lavinia. 

The next page is from this last week - the prompt was something old - my distress inks, something new - fish stencil from clarity, something borrowed (the stick stamp used at bottom is actually a violin handle from a violin stamp I borrowed from my mum a wee while ago), something blue - thats clear I think!!!!

I do enjoy journalling and look forward to the new prompt every Thursday - I wonder what todays prompt will be?

I hope you have enjoyed your visit - thanks for any comments you choose to leave! Big hugs rachel x

colour challenge at chocolate baroque

Hello lovelies! How are you? We are good and enjoying the half term! I had a day yesterday whilst the girls went to jujitsu and we are doing that again today - I had a run in the morning and did a bit of gardening later before my mum and dad came up - it was lovely to see them - I actually cooked a meal too - and baked a cake - so thats all good. Today I think I will swim unless its dry them I'll run again!

Have you seen the new colour challenge over at chocolate baroque? Here's the banner and picture:



Such lush colours - here's my interpretation of it -

well the colours don't look much like it - but trust me in real life they do! The Ophelia stamp was stamped and masked and then I used evergreen bough to do an all over background. Then I overstamped in evergreen bough using some of the flowers from the sunny sunflowers stamp set. 

I also stamped some leaves in purple (seedless preserves). And added some picked raspberry through a stencil. Finally I unmasked the image and coloured it in using distress pens - picked raspberry, seedless preserves, faded jeans and also a spectrum noir skin tone pencil. Finally I stamped the chocolate baroque stamp 'Let the adventure begin'.

I would like to enter this into the chocolatebaroquechallenge eleven.

Hope you have a great wednesday!

Big hugs rachel xx

Eroded metallic, spring colours and vintage garden!

Hello Lovelies! How are you? I hope you are good and thanks for your comments on yesterdays post. Did you have a good bank holiday Monday? We did - it went away in a flash though! I feel like time just disappears these days! Don't know where! We went to my friend Julias house - she still teaches at the school I used to teach at - in chemistry! She's on her own - her children have grown up and flown the nest -   we have decided to spend a week together in Cornwall during the school holidays - she is so good with Lucy and penny I am sure we'll have fun!!! Anyway - we managed to get the cottage booked today - its near Falmouth - and looks just perfect! Here's hoping!

Today I would like to share with you the card I've made for another chemistry teacher - our old boss - and the lady I run most often with! I've made it with a few challenges in mind including compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-29: Eroded metallic which is sponsored this time by inspirationemporium. You will need to look at book to see the technique but it was lots of fun!!!

Here's what I did:

I started using the eroded metallics technique on a piece of hard board then cut the watering can using an eileen hull die. I filled it with garden greens, and other Tim flowers made using the new dies and the floral stamps. I have used distress inks in the colouring of the flowers - including the lovely new twisted citron! Its lush!!!

I also used a Tim butterfly from the butterfly duo and embossing folder and used the Tim stamp 'remember the now'.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-29 eroded metallics

vintagejourney spring-colours

mixedmediamc mixed-media-monthly-challenge-12-may flowers

anythingbutcutechallenge-1-may-vintage-garden

Hope you have a good day!

Big hugs

Rachel x

Welcome Tripp!

Hello Lovelies! Well as you all imagined Windermere was cold yesterday - but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined - the swim was short and invigorating - I found it very tricky and can't see me joining in any of the race swims any time soon - but I have my new wetsuit - and am looking forward to a swim at fellfoot park once the girls go back to school. I need to figure out where to put my car keys though!!!! Any ideas????

On Friday Shauns' sister Jane gave birth to a baby boy - she's called him Tripp Edwin Golder. I know not where Tripp comes from - the Edwin was her and Shauns dads name. Its nice that she has remembered her dad. Anyway - here's the card and tag I have made to send to her.

Both were done using ideas from the Marjie Kemper course I have been doing - I've only done two lessons so far and am enjoying it so very much!!! These include the Tim Holtz baby blueprint stamps and the techniques of using household objects to create the funky circles and lines in acrylic paint.

I hope Jane likes these! I love them!!!! I'd like to enter these into the following challenges:

welove2create.challenge-11-anything-creativemixed

Have a great bank holiday Monday whatever you do. Me and the girls are off to visit my friend Julia - we're hoping to book a holiday to Cornwall in the summer holidays - then we'll have lunch at Bella Italia - I have vouchers to use!

Big hugs

Rachel xx

Gifts at Christmas Card Club

Hello there! I hope you are well and happy and enjoying the bank holiday weekend! I've scheduled this post - when it goes live I may well be swimming in Lake Windermere!!! I'm going for a try before you buy wetsuit session! The idea is wild swimming - I'll let you know how it goes! Nice idea anyway!!! Well it floats my boat!

The theme from the lovely Zoe at Christmas card club this fortnight is gifts. Well I have taken the theme rather literally and made three money holders/gift cards!

All the stamps are from the lovely Mr holtz and of course my course from Marjie kemper is showing through here!!!

The distress palette is weathered wood, faded jeans and tumbled glass. Very pleased with these!

Thanks Zoe for your inspired choice!!!

I'd like to enter this into pinkleart sunday-stamper-week-357-all-kinds-of everything

Hope you have a great Sunday!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Clarity Cumbria - May meet!

hello lovelies - well I hope its been a beautiful day where you are ... its been glorious here and after dropping my munchkins at my mums I headed to Lindale to join the lovely Jo Rice for Mays' Clarity Cumbria. The lovely ladies and 1 gent had a great day - we did three makes - the first was a card with inside gift.

We started by masking off three pieces of card and blending the distress inks - I chose mermaid lagoon, cracked pistachio and fossilised amber. Then spritzed with water and mounted on black card.

Then I stamped the shepherds purse stamp and highlighted parts with snowflake fresco paint.

I mounted two on the cards to go inside (these were notelets - the gift) and then repeated the process with the pocket bands. Added the ribbon and butterflies and that was the first piece complete.

Next we made a card using more stamps from the shepherds purse set.

we stamped and coloured the lower layer in the form of  a wreath. The top layer was stamped on to vellum and we added clear embossing powder and heat set it. Then we cut out the shepherds purse and added it to the bottom layer with the twine. Then stamped and added the sentiment.

The final one was a quickie.

I enjoyed all of the cards!!! I enjoyed the whole day!!! Thanks ladies!!!! Thanks Jo for a fabulous day as always!

hugs rachel xx

A pocketful of posies .... and a puss!

Hello Lovelies! Well I've taken your advice and am resting up today - my back does feel better although there's still a niggle so I'm going to leave all exercise off the agenda for the next couple of days - in the hope that things feel better in the end! Thankyou for a reality check - I sometimes get lost in stuff!

I have a tag to share with you today - its using one of the new Indigo blu stamps - its a stunner of a stamp and i just had to combine it with some older stamps and stencils to create a floral background to go with their new challenge which is called a pocketful of posies.

Here's the whole thing - I started by stamping the image in versamark and adding black wow powders then heat setting. Next I worked with distress inks to build up the colour in the tag - I used mustard seed, ripe persimmon and dried marigold.

I added more interest and layers using the floral stencil - sorry can't remember the make - then added asome background stamping of indigo blu flowers in ripe persimmon.

I added the indigo blu friends stamp in black archival then darkened the edges with black soot distress ink and added the orange bow.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

indigoblublogchallenge-28-pocketful-of-posies

thatcraftplaceblog-challenge-tags

I'm off to gerdening club now - then i have tidying to do this afternoon and a walk this evening before heading out to the cinema to catch Far from the madding crowd. Looking forward to that one!

Enjoy your day - whatever you do!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Pink and blue at Lavinia

Hello there one and all! I hope you are okay? I've had a good day so far but my back is threatening to cause a wobbler at present - it was awful yesterday - but I swam today and it seems much less painful - so maybe I'll swim again tomorrow instead of running - unless i wake up in the morning completely pain free that is!!!

Today I have a card to show you again influenced by the online class I am doing hosted by Marije Kemper - its wonderful and I will hopefully get to do another session tonight before i go for my upstairs crafting session which tonight will involve another card and the start of my next journal page. Anyway here's the card:

I built up the background in dsitress using picked raspberry, spun sugar, salty ocean and faded jeans. Then I applied layering stencils from Tim Holtz over the top and also stamped using lavinia stamps in the same colours. Finally I added the stamping in black  - all lavinia stamps and created the hill for the hares to box on!

I think it works well - very pleased with this one!

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

laviniastamps-challenge-5 - pink or blue or both

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Thursday - I'm off shortly to collect the girls and take them dancing - then onto Brownies!!! Big Hugs Rachel x

First play with sheenas victorian florals and coffee pot make

Hello lovelies ....how are you today? I hope you are well and good - if not sending you gentle hugs xx. Its an okay day here weatherwise - a bit more wind and rain than I was expecting but better than Monday and Tuesday, I got a nice 5 and 1/2 mile run in this morning then after a bit of shopping and cleaning I  worked in the garden. We have a party at Rainbows this evening and then ts time for drama rehersal. The girls are in a greek play based on the wooden horse of troy. Its very funny and I'm hoping it goes down well! Then tonight I'm hoping to get into my attic to make my christmas card club makes for Sunday! We'll see how that all goes!

Today I would like to share with you my first make using sheenas victorian florals. For this one I used the anemone set of dies and stamps.

The sentiment stamp is an old one - also from sheena. I created the background using aquatints from spectrum noir.

I cut and embossed the flowers using coordinations card stock then overstamped in hydrangea archival ink using the stamps.

I think they work brilliantly and look forward to using them again soon.

Here's the card we made at coffeepot this week - it was an exercise in masking - the stamps are from hobby art. Not sure about the sentiment stamp though. All colouring was done by painting with distress inks.

So there we have it! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I look forward to reading any comments you choose to leave! Big hugs!

Rachel x

Playing with chocolate baroque sewing stamps

Hello lovelies! How are you? I'm good and managed to run without getting soaked today! Every little helps! I'm hoping the weather is going to be much better tomorrow!

I have a card to share with you today that I made using stamps from the new chocolate baroque sewing stamps - they are a gorgeous set - I really enjoyed playing with these - especially after having watched the first lesson in my craftsy course by Marje Kemper. Such a wonderful teacher.

I used abandoned coral, frayed burlap and brushed corduroy distress inks to create the background and also some TH layering stencils and some of the smaller stamps from the sets,

The bodices and lace and pincushions were stamped separately and fussy cut before being added. I used distress markers to colour these in mowed lawn, peacock feathers and abandoned coral plus distress inks in AC and frayed burlap. The sentiment stamp is also chocolate baroque.

I enjoyed playing with these stamps and look forward to using them again soon! The card is for my swap partner in the current Joanna sheen card swap.

Big hugs to you and thanks for any comments you choose to leave. I'm off to see the English National Opera do Pirates of Penzance tonight - its live but in the cinema - looking forward to it!

Catch you later.

Hugs

Rachel xx

A wall hanging - spring music...

Hello lovelies - did you have a good day? I hope so! Its been very wet here - another soggy run done!!! I didn't last very long either! Rubbish - but hey! I went to coffee pot after my run - Diana was running things today - we did masking - I'll show you my card later in the week.

Today I want to share with you a wall hanging I made for the crafty Individuals challenge. The theme is Music. I added to my collection whilst at Port Sunlight and I have used 4 stamps to make this hanging - three of them new ones.

I used the very small set of square canvasses from Claritystamp and first painted them with smurf blue fresco paint from paperartsy.

Once Dry I stamped each piece with a background music stamp from Crafty Individuals. Then I used an extra stamp on each canvas. A floral one on top...

A birdie collage stamp from Crafty Individuals in the middle ...

and finally another CI floral stamp on the bottom. All colouring for the stamped images was done using distress markers.  Finally I added lace on the top and bottom canvasses and some words on the middle one.

I hope you like my wall hanging!

I would like to enter this into craftyindividualsblog-may-its-music-to-my ears

Thanks for looking and I'll be popping around to see what you've been up to later - first I'm heading into the attic for more playtime! 

Hugs

Rachel x

An outdoor weekend and a clock - clarity style.

Hello lovelies! Hope you're having a great weekend - we've had lots of fun - a successful brownie camp including pond dipping, feeding robins by hand, campfire songs and smores .... here's a picture of mine and penny's tent:



we actually got some sleep!!!! Brilliant!

This afternoon it was a school event for PTA - we did a sponsored walk. It was great fun despite being very muddy!!!





I think the children all enjoyed it and hopefully we will have made a few pounds too!

Onto my clock for the clarity challenge:

Its a small clock - only around 6 inches in diameter, It came in a kit from imagination crafts. I have used a clarity stencil and paper artsy grunge paste then covered the whole thing in black gesso once dry.

Then I added empire gold gilding wax to the raised areas before applying various colours of alcohol ink.

Finally I used another stencil to add the numbers using acrylic paint - not sure about those but I couldn't think of another way of getting the numbers on there.

Anyway, I would like to enter this into the challenge at claritystampchallenge-27 clocks.. 

and also welove2create challenge-10-anything-creativemixed media

Enjoy your evening!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Tims Tag May

Hello lovely people - how are you? I know I've been a bit quiet - a whole 36 hours without a blog post. But life's been pretty hectic. All good hectic - a great 8 mile run and a night out at an operatic evening in my village institute - and all the usual paraphanalia!  Plus I've been applying for a few design teams - there's some great calls out there just now - fingers crossed I fall lucky with one of them!!!

Today I have my tims tag for May to share with you - I followed all of the steps that Tim did - I chose the photobooth picture as it reminds me of pictures of my mum when she was young.... what do you think mum? I also used the ephemera that seemed appropriate and chose the colour orange as an overall theme - unfortunately I didn't have tims flowers and used the bitty blossoms instead.

I wasn't so sure about this tag when I first saw it - but I absolutely loved making it - thanks Tim for a a real eye opener!!!

I used a different stencil to Tim - I have the one that Tim used but I wanted something more feminine!

I love these little flowers!

I've ringed a couple of dates - May13th - my sisters birthday and June 16th - my nanas birthday!

I would like to enter this into the timholtz12-tags-of-2015-may.

Hope you all have a good weekend! We're off to brownie camp tomorrow - hope the weather is kind! Then we have a sponsored walk on Sunday - busy busy!!!

Have fun!

Big hugs

Rachel xx