Mondays playtime and an altered item

Goodly morning to you lovely bloggers! How are you today? I hope you are well and happy and if not here's a hug! Thanks also for your continued support with my crafty journey - I really do appreciate it!

Today I have two things to share with you - the first is a card which is a take on the second day with Hels on my recent weekend retreat. I did this card with my ladies on Monday and they really enjoyed the techniques and their results:

So to make the back ground we stuck punched strips onto thick card, added texture paste, covered with acrylic paint and then sprayed with cosmic shimmer spray paint before cutting into 4 equal size pieces. The flowers were threaded together and sprayed and the sentiment stamped and added.

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

LOTVideastoinspire: Name that tune - Bobby Bare - the diet song

Sunday stamperpinkleart - diamonds

The second piece I want to show you is a practical one - an MDF 'box' to hold remote controls - I've decorated it using the chocolate baroque Mackintosh Beauties stamp set.

The images were painted with luminartes primary elements - the colour scheme was chosen to reflect that in the Our creative corner challenge - plum, blue and brown. The stamping is in brown (sepia) and although the roses look pink they are as plum as I could get them - honestly!!!!!

I'd like to enter this into the challenge at ourcreativecorner6Our Creative Corner - 3 colours.

Thanks for looking - I hope you have a great valentines day - remember the card that I made for Shaun to give me - well neither of us know where it is - so I've given him my Crafty Individuals one - I love this too! Lol!!! I hope he hasn't managed to lose that - not seen it yet!!!!!

Big Hugs to you!

Rachel xx

Steampunk Owl

Hello Lovelies - well wasn't it horrid yesterday? What a contrast from earlier in the week. I couldn't get out for a run - the wind was ripping right through me! Thats my excuse anyway!

Today I want to show you the result of more gelli plate playtime - and also playtime with the fabulous steampunk birds from Chocolate Baroque. I've used the owl today.

So to make this card I first used the gelli plate to create the background - I overprinted using reds and green acrylic paint  and a clock stencil and another stencil from that special touch plus the sequin waste. Once dry I added the TH clock diecut then the stamped and coloured steampunk owl. Finally I added the cogs and key plus the basal button and the time flies sentiment.

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

Country view Craftscountryviewchallenges: Painty Pleasures

sss monsimonsaysstampblog - love of stamps

Thanks for dropping by today and for any comments you chose to leave. Big Hugs to you!

Rachel xx

Love at Creative Inspirations

Hello there lovelies. I do hope you are well and if you're down south you're managing to keep dry. Big Hugs to you.

I'm here today with news of the new challenge at Creative Inspirations. The theme of this week's challenge is Love!

This week's prize is from CRIMSON CLOUD and is 3 DIE-CUT PACKS OF THE WINNER'S CHOICE!

I made my card using one of the beautiful postcards that you always get when you place an order with Crafty Individuals - they're beautiful images - usually very vintage and I thought I might just turn one into a card.

I have diecut the postcard into a heart shape and edged with lace then mounted onto some kanban card and added a lacy heart that I got from That Craft Place. The leaves and flowers were from my stash. A very quick card today - different from my usual cards but I quite like it.

Big Hugs to you and thanks for dropping by!

Rachel xx

New home commission

Good morning all. Did you have the blue skies we got yesterday? I hope so - it was so uplifting to see the sun! It made my run fabulous and the rest of the day flowed from there - my ladies loved my project - I'll show you what we did later in the week. My afternoon visiting my friend was very positive too. She's had a good experience with this mastectomy and is pleased with the rebuild the surgeons have done. Its very good to see her so happy and I hope this continues for a long long time.

Onto todays card - this is a commission I made for a friend last week - her father and step mum were moving onto a houseboat - called the Seahorse - she wanted something with a seahorse theme and this is what I came up with.

I used the Karen  Burniston flip accordion album diefrom sizzix  for the card shape and decorated it using card I had coloured with distress inks then embossed using sheena douglass embossing folder from the last release. Then I swept cactus green staz-on over the top. The seahorses are from a sheena douglass stamp - I used my brayer to reverse the orientation of the second seahorse. The charms are all from That Craft Place. 

I stamped the wording on the front but had to use the computed for the central sentiment. The ribbon and lace came from my mums stash - thanks mum - especially for the lace which I know is your favourite xxx

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

CYPCcraftyourpassionchallenges - something new (from 30th Dec) - I've used this sheena folder for the first time

Pan pastelpanpasteluk: AG

allsorts CBallsortschallenge: colours beginning with B - Blue

Penny'spennyschallenges - something old (ribbon) something new (sheena folder)

Thankyou for dropping by today and for any comments you choose to leave! Big Hugs! Rachel xx

Have a heart at Indigo Blu

Good morning to you all - and thanks for your comments on yesterdays post - it really does make my day! Isn't this weather awful - I hope it stops raining and blowing quite so hard soon - I really feel for those you you down south - the pictures from the southwest have been appalling - my heart goes out to all those of you that have been affected.

Today I've made a card for the Indigo blu monthly challenge 'Have a Heart'. I used the bloomin' marvellous stamp set and this is what I made:

I started off by making the background paper - stamped the leaf and flower images in versa mark and heat set with clear embossing powder. Then I added distress inks bundled sage, victorian velvet and frayed burlap then cut the card to size - 6 and 1/2 inches square. The ribbon came from That Craft Place. The heart I coloured with distress paints - bundled sage, frayed burlap, victorian velvet and also one of the metallics that I have just got. I swished them onto my craft mat, misted with water and swooshed the heart into the mat. Once dry I stamped the sentiment over. Then I die cut a small heart and added that to the large one and added the sentiment there too. Finally I made the flower from the flower images left over on the background paper I made. I cut them out and layered them up and added the button.

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

FSCfashionablestampingchallenges: Build it up

Alicraft:ali-craft Valentines

sweet stampin sweetstampinchallengeblog- sentiments focus

totally gorgeusstotallygorjuss - sentiments focus

Indigo Blu -indigoblublogchallenge from the heart

CVCcountryviewchallenges: Painty pleasures

Thanks for dropping by today - I hope you have a great Monday - I'm off for a run this morning then working with my ladies on another card - then I'm visiting my friend this afternoon who just had her second mastectomy. She's doing well and it will be good to see her. Big Hugs to you!

Rachel xx

Favourite technique at Craft a scene - week 2

Hello there and Happy Sunday to you! I hope you are well and happy and coping in this wild weather. The winds have been really bad up here this weekend. Still rather appropriately we went to the swimming pool in Kendal - had a great swim - I managed 24 lengths this week and my breathing just seemed to click - much much better I think!

Its the second Sunday of the month so its my second chance to tell you about the current challenge over at Craft a scene - the theme for february is to use your favourite technique to create a scene. I chose the technique of acetate overlay - and I've done the same again this week.

I used some of the sheena oriental stamps to create the main background scene - painting with distress inks. Then on the overlay I added the branches of the cherry blossom in versamark, heat set with black wow powders and painted on the reverse with silkies from Imagination Crafts. 

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Kraftyhandskraftyhandschallenge: Spring Flowers

Twisted Tuesdaytwistedtuesdaychallenges - sky plus something that flies

Polkadoodles:polkadoodle AG

PTWpapertakeweekly: AG

fashionablestampingchallenges - build it up

Thanks for dropping by today and for any comments you choose to leave! Big Hugs and hope to see you again soon! 

Rachel xx

playing with my gelli plate

Good morning to you! How are you today? I hope you are fine and happy and if not sending you hugs! Thanks for all your lovely feedback about the last two makes - you're very kind and I so enjoyed the weekend - if you ever get chance to do a course with Hels - go for it - you won't be disappointed!

I've been playing with my gelliplate again and todays card is a result of that play:

To make the background I used red, white and brown acrylic paints and printed multilayers using the gelli plate and a mask  from That Special touch. Once dry I stamped over it in versamark using a script stamp from crafty individuals and heat set with white wow embossing powders. Then I stamped the CI ducks and fussy cut them and added them to the card. Finally I stamped the CI sentiment and added the white felt hearts to the card and mounted it all up. I love the result! Hope you do too!

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

Simon says stampsimonsaysstampblog: Have a heart

The male roomthemaleroomchallengeblog: Valentine

CFAScraftingforallseasons: Romance

Brendas 5th anniversary challenge stamping-fantasies- I have used my CI script stamp which really is the one that I always tend to reach for - love it!

Simon says stamp Monday Challengesimonsaysstampblog - Love notes

Pan pastel panpasteluk- use a stencil

Crafty Individuals craftyindividualsblog- a fine romance

countryviewchallenges - painty pleasuresl

I hope you have a good Saturday - big hugs to you and thanks for dropping by!

Rachel xx