Anything goes at Colour Crazy Challenge

Good morning folks, it's time for a new challenge over at Colour Crazy Craft Challenge and it's a nice easy theme again .... Anything Goes. We've got a lovely prize from our sponsor Crafty Ribbons and you can use any medium you want to enter, as long as you include a hand coloured image.

I have to confess that I'm a bit of a ribbon addict and have loads of goodies from our lovely sponsor Crafty Ribbons. I've used some lovely pale blue organza ribbon on this card with  supercute image from the Polkadoodles Winnie Winterland collection and lots of Polkadoodles die cuts. The image was coloured with Lyra pencils and I added lots of glamour dust for a little frosty sparkle. I've used some of my favourite dies from Polkadoodles and added some little flowers from one of the Design Sheets from Winnie Winterland.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Christmas at Sweet Stampin: anything goes for Christmas

Incy Wincy: no words

Lemon Shortbread: Anything goes

Paper Shelter: punches/dies

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything goes at Polkadoodles

Good morning my lovelies, our theme at Polkadoodles Challenge is Anything Goes so it's easy peasy to be in with a chance to win a lovely prize from Polkadoodles!

The DT were challenged to use the theme holidays/summer fun so I've used this cute image from Work and Play 4, she's called Swimming Girl and you can get her as a digistamp here. I've coloured her with Lyra pencils and used PanPastels to create the background. 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Corrosive Challenge: anything goes

CRAFT;  Anything goes

Crafting with an attitude: Anything goes

Crafty Friends: Anything goes

Creative Fingers: Anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Summer Day from Chocolate Baroque

Good morning my lovelies, my project today features stamps and stencils from Chocolate Baroque. I really enjoyed making this as I love colouring but I also love playing with paint and stencils too.

To make Summer Day I began by stamping Summer Fayre on to kraft card and colouring her with Lyra pencils. I dry brushed around the image with white gesso and also applied gesso to a piece of corrugated card. Once the gesso was dry I applied different shades of green acrylic paint through the Useful Leaves stencil to create the background, this is definitely a useful stencil but so pretty too. I added the lettering using the Seasonal Journey stencil and a little red acrylic paint. To finish the wall hanging I added some ribbon, gingham trim and little paper poppy.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Crafting by Designs: recycle, reuse, repurpose

Creatalicious: Anything goes/summer

Creative Fingers: Anything goes

Daisy Chain: Floral

Really Reasonable Ribbon: anything goes with ribbon

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything Goes or Christmas at Polkadoodles

Good morning my lovelies, work has been so busy lately I've been very quiet on the blogging front but today I have two posts to share. This project is for our 'Anything goes' or Christmas challenge over at Polkadoodles. 

Did you see Nikky on Create and Craft on Monday? She was demoing the gorgeous Regal Peacock stamps and also Winnie Winterland. My project today features one of the adorable digi stamps from Winnie Winterland. This image is called Skating Around and you can find it here as a digi stamp or you can treat yourself to the complete collection here.

I've altered an old clock to make a shaker decoration. Once I'd removed the clocks innards (sounds painful lol) I added a layer of one of the beautiful papers in the Winnie Winterland Collection and then some layers of torn, glittered paper hills. I coloured the image with Lyra pencils and cut it out and layered it up on 3d foam. I added some faux snow and replaced the glass of the clock with some strong acetate.

To decorate the outside of the clock I applied some white crackle paint and then made lots of flowers using Polkadoodles Flowers 1 , Flowers 2 and Flower Flourish dies and foamiran. All the dies are selling like hot cakes but you can find what's left here.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Deep Ocean: Christmas in July

Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas

Sparkles Forum Christmas: Christmas ornament

Unicorn Challenge: Christmas in July

Whoopsi Daisy: Christmas in July

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything Goes at Polkadoodles

Hello folks, I'm running late today as usual work is getting in the way of crafting which definitely isn't good! Today's card is my project for our Anything Goes challenge at Polkadoodles. If you have a min pop over to the challenge blog as my teamies have got loads of inspiration for you and of course there's a fab prize from Polkadoodles for our lucky challenge winner too.

 I've made a card using one of the images from Winnie Sugar Sprinkles Springtime , this one is called Sharing is Caring and you can find the digi image here or get the full collection here. I coloured Winnie with lyra pencils and added a sentiment and papers from the DaisyDays CD. 

I layered Winne up on the lovely muted yellow paper and took the coordinating floral sheet and cut it up to layer flowers and butterflies around Winne. The sentiment is also from Daisy Days. I just added a few little pearls for a finishing touch.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments: Summer and a sentiment

Crafty Catz: anything goes/summertime

Fussy and Fancy: flowers

Little Miss Muffet: Anything goes

Pause Dream Enjoy: anything goes/ colour it

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Not a fairy in sight

Good morning folks, today I'm sharing another sample from the Chocolate Baroque Spring Fairies Collection but there isn't a fairy in sight on this one!

I've used a little MDF heart. I gave it  a coat of white gesso and once that was dry I applied distress ink in Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass to create the background. I stamped the flowers along the left side of the heart and coloured with pencils. I stamped the clouds from Fantasy Castles in the sky with Black Stazon and added a little white gesso. This is where I should have stopped as it looked lovely but no, I had to carry on and added some grey paint which to be honest doesn't look as nice. I stamped the little scroll around the edges with Versamark and embossed with Gold. I added a little acetate butterfly, again embossed with Gold embossing powder and glittered on the back.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Crafting from the Heart: Anything goes

Creative Fingers: anything goes

Fussy and Fancy: Flowers

Simply Papercraft: anything goes

Through the Purple Haze: anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Spring Fairy Concertina Frame

Good morning my lovelies, today I'm sharing another project made using the beautiful Spring Fairy Collection stamps from Chocolate Baroque. These stamps are so lovely I wanted to show them off so I made a little concertina frame card (I'm not really sure what they are called but I do love making them lol) 

I won't go into detail describing each panel or you'd fall asleep but the backgrounds are all made using distress inks and overstamped with some of the worker stamps from the Spring Fairy Collection, I've also added the Large Crackle Background and the hilly treescape from Magical Landscapes into the mix for my background stamping. 

The focal images are all coloured with Lyra pencils and all the edges have been given a bit of distressing with my craft knife and a shimmer of gilding wax. 

I've added a couple of butterflies to the inside, these were stamped on acetate with Versamark and embossed with Gold embossing powder before being glittered on the back. I used gold vellum to create the concertina frame effect but you can't see it on the photos so you'll have to use your imagination lol. I've also added a little tag stamped with the pretty little primula stamp

I really enjoyed making this project, I love fairies so mixing them up with colouring and inky fun is a lovely way to pass the time. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

A Inky Mess: Anything goes mixed media

Artistic Stampers: Floral Fantasy

Colouring in Scrapland: anything goes

Country View Crafts: flower power

Let's Craft and Create: make your own background

Stamping Sensations: Butterflies/Fairies/Fantasy

World Wide Open Design Team Challenge: Anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Welcome to Fairyland

Good morning folks, today I'm sharing one of the samples I made for Lesley's Spring Fairy shows on Hochanda. I love all the gorgeous stamps in the Chocolate Baroque range but I have to confess that the fairy stamps are a particular favourite so I really enjoyed making this project.

I began with some corrugated card, misted with water to remove the top laer and then applied white gesso roughly to the surface. Once that was dry I dripped acrylic paint in shades of blue and green here and there. To make the scene I stamped the two castles with black Stazon (the top one is from Magical Landscapes and the bottom one from Fantasy Castles). Next I painted in the background quite loosely using watered down acrylic paint, blotting the sky with a tissue to life some paint and create a cloudy effect. To make the waterfall I just continued straight down where the stamped image ends and added a mix of blue and green paint. Once that was all dry I added detail to the scene with coloured pencils and used a white pen to add detail to the waterfall. 

Next I stamped the fairy (from May Fairy and Pegasus (from April Fairy) and glittered the wings with some glamour dust. I glued the scene to the card and added some ribbon and embellishments to finish off. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations: Anything goes

Craft Rocket: Fantasy

Moving along with the times: Fairies

The Corrosive Challenge: Anything goes

The Mixed Media World: Anything Mixed Media

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything Goes at Eclectic Ellapu

Good morning my lovelies, can you believe it's May 1st already and a bank holiday here in the UK so of course rain is forecast lol. We've got a new challenge starting at Eclectic Ellapu and our theme this time around is 'Anything Goes'. My lovely teamies have got load of inspiration so if you've got time, pop over to the challenge blog and have a peek.

For my DT project I've made a page for my art journal using some old favourite stamps. I began by spritzing the card with glimmer mists. Once that was dry I added a little stencilling and a dusting of glamour dust for a little more fairy sparkle. I stamped the images which are some of my oldest wood mounted stamps from Stamps Happen using black ink and coloured them with Lyra pencils. I added some more sparkly by highlighting the stars with a silver Graph'It shake pen,

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Fussy and Fancy: anything goes

Incy Wincy: so so cute

Moving along with the times: Fairies

Simon Says Stamp: anything goes

Simply Papercraft: anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything Goes at Polkadoodles

Good morning folks, well it's nearly the weekend thank goodness and the weather is definitely feeling a little more like Spring! My project today is for our 'Anything Goes' challenge over at Polkadoodles where there is lots of inspiration from my lovely teamies and a fabulous prize up for grabs too!

 I've used one of the gorgeous Winnie Sugar Blossom stamps (you can preorder them here) and lots of lovely Polkadoodles dies (Elegant Lamplight and Gate, Flowers 1, Flower Branch Doublet Die Set, Bubblicious Frames for the roof and Versatile Door/Window/Flap die)

I began my using lilac and white paint and pva glue to create a crackle background. I made the roof with the Bubblicious Frame die, I love this one, it's so pretty! I just cut the die out twice using white card and trimmed one edge off each before inking them up and sticking them on as you can see in the pic below. The flowers were made using Nikky's dies and foamiran

Here's another pic, I've coloured up the beautiful Winnie with my Lyra pencils and used Polkadoodles dies to create the door and the fence around the little house. Hmmmm now I think I should have added the bird house to the top above the door - why do you only see these things later lol?

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

CRAFT: Create your own embellishments

Creative Knockouts: Anything goes

Deep Ocean: flowers everywhere

Inky Chicks: flowers

Simon Says Stamp: Anything goes

Southern Girls: Use a die cut

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Spring Bird Daffodil from Chocolate Baroque

Good morning my lovelies, it's my turn to share a project over on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog today so I've got a bright and cheerful daffodil to remind us that Spring is nearly here.

The focal image is from Spring Bird Daffodil, coloured with Lyra Pencils and distressed with Gathered Twigs distress ink. The background was made with more distress inks,glimmer mists, a little stencilling and one of the smaller stamps from the same set, again coloured with lyra pencils.

I used one of the smaller stamps with Gathered Twigs ink around the edges and added some seam binding ribbon dyed with more distress ink, a little lace and a paper daffodil. As a finishing touch I made some raindrops here and there on the background with dots of glossy accents, dragged into a drop shape with a cocktail stick. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Fussy and Fancy: Springtime

Ooh La La: Spring is in the air

Stamping Sensations: Close to nature

The Ribbon Girls: any image plus ribbon

Through the purple haze: Anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes at We Love 2 Create

Good morning my lovelies, it feels much more like winter than spring here this morning but hopefully Spring isn't too far away. We've got a new challenge and a DT call over at We Love 2 Create so as well as a fab prize of crafty goodies up for grabs there's a chance to join our friendly little band of crafters too!! Pop over and find out all the details here

PanPastels are perfect for quick scenic cards and to make this one I began by blending in shade of Yellow Green PanPastel with Colourless Blender to create the hills and then used shades of blue for the sky. I stamped in the images and added a little colour with more PanPastels and Lyra Pencils. The butterflies were stamped and embossed on acetate. All the stamps used are from Chocolate Baroque. 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments: Easter or Spring with a sentiment

Fussy and Fancy: Springtime

Inky Chicks: Flowers

Ooh La La: Spring is in the air

Shopping our stash: luck of the Irish (mostly green)

Simon Says Stamp: bit o' green

Simply Create Too: lots of green

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

PanPastel Ultramarine Blue	Ultramarine Blue Tint	White Fine Pearl Medium for Pan Pastels	Bright Yellow Green Pan Pastel
Bright Yellow Green Shade	Diarylide Yellow PanPastel	Pan Pastel Colourless Blender

Spring Bird Crocus from Chocolate Baroque

Good morning folks, it's my turn to share some artwork over on the Chocolate Baroque DT Blog and this one features Spring Bird Crocus which was recently on the Chocoalte Baroque Hochanda. I've used the beautifully detailed little bird stamp to make this project

For this first project I began by applying texture paste through a woodgrain stencil onto a little MDF bird house blank. Once that was dry I added some colour with acrylic paint, shimmer spray and distress ink

I stamped the bird and coloured the image with pencils before cutting out and layering the image up over some scraps of hessian, lace and ribbon from my stash. I topped the birdhouse with some raffia and a little wooden button. Here's a closer pic of the image:

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Addicted to stamps and more: Make your mark

CRAFT: Easter or spring

Craft Rocket: no patterned paper

Frilly and Funkie: Spring

Stamps & Stencils: Birds

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Spring Colours or Easter at Eclectic Ellapu

Hello my lovelies, how's your week going? I can't believe it's already 1st March, it only seems like 2 minutes since Christmas but hopefully March means longer days and warmer weather. It also means a new challenge over at Eclectic Ellapu where our theme this month is 'Spring Colours or Easter'.

I've made a card featuring a Spring scene using lots of different stamps. I began by stamping the dog (from Sheena Douglass) and masking with masking tissue. Then I used  a Clarity Stencil and some glimmer mists to create the blue sky and green hills. The clouds were made using a sponge and acrylic paint/ I stamped in the trees (from Chocolate Baroque). The foliage and mushrooms were stamped using Lavinia stamps and Memento inks. I coloured the dog with Lyra pencils and added some grass to bring the scene together. I used Gathered Twigs distress ink around the edges.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything goes

Crafty Cardmakers: go green

Paper Minutes: Spring

Paper Shelter: Animal Magic

The Crazy Challenge: We love animals

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Some of my favourite things

Hello there my lovelies, I'm back at work this morning after a long weekend off work but before I go I just wanted to share a project made using lots of my favourite things. The challenge over at IndigoBlu is 'Love is all you need' so I've used some of my favourite Indigo Blu stamps to make this little canvas. I've also used lots of embellies from Craft Box too,  Anna from Craft Box has a very special box of goodies on Hochanda today so if you have time do check it out.

I began by misting my canvas with mica sprays in shades of pink, once that was dry I used IndigoBlu fine texture paste to stencil in the chicken wire and left it to dry. I added some stamping using Memento Lilac Posies ink and the dinkie script stamp from the last IndigoBlu ODS. I filled some of the little shapes on the background with deeper pink mica spray and then added sparkly mod podge to others. I added a few blobs of sparkly ModPodge here and there too. I sprayed some Foamiran Flowers made using Sizzix Tattered Florals with mica sprays, this was a bit of an experiment and they took ages to dry but have a pretty subtle effect

I glued on the flowers, some lace, ribbon and pearl trim, adding some leaves that I'd painted with gold acrylic paint and dusted with glitter. I used stamps from IndigoBlu's Mr Darcy stamps and coloured with pencils before cutting out and layering on my project. I added some gilding flackes and a little more pink mica spray/ To finish off I've added some large hat pins decorated with Craft Box beads and a little cameo, also from Craft Box.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers: add some texture

Dream Valley: add some metal

IndigoBlu: love is all you need

In the pink: Dies or punches plus pink

Lost Coast Designs: Lovers plus rubber stamps

Sweet Stampin: flowers

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything goes at Eclectic Ellapu

Good morning folks, it's our first challenge of 2017 at Eclectic Ellapu and our theme is 'Anything Goes' . My teamies have lots of lovely projects to inspire you so if you have time pop over and have a look.

I began by stamping the focal images (from Winter Fairies stamp set from Chocolate Baroque) and masking them with masking fluid. I stencilled the stars using a sparkly stencil paste and then stamped the trees and foliage along the bottom with versamark. I embossed with a clear sparkle embossing powder so that I could use a resist technque for the background.

I used a turquoise and a blue mica spray to create the background, adding a little depth with a spray made using Chipped Sapphire distress reinker and water.

Once the background was dry I removed the masking fluid and coloured the images with pencils.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps: Baby it's cold outside

Artistic inspirations: Anything goes

Colouring in Scrapland: Anything goes

Fussy and Fancy: Angels/Fairies/Winter

HeARTful stamping: Rubber stamping, anything goes

Thanks for popping by today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Chocolate Baroque on Hochanda!

Hello there crafty friends, I'm so excited as our lovely Lesley from Chocolate Baroque is on Hochanda launching some stunning new stamps and even better, they are the One Day Special today so they are available at a great price and are exclusive to Hochanda for 10 days! We've all been busy bees making lots of samples for the shows and I know Lesley has some stunning demos lined up so book your place on the sofa! I'll have to hide at work and watch on my phone (shhhhhh don't tell lol)

The DT will all be sharing lots of samples over on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog over the next few weeks so it's well worth a visit. This is one of my projects for the show, a little bendy card made using lots of the new stamps. Anyone who knows me will tell  you that I love to create scenic cards to these new stamps are going to be favourites with me!

I stamped the images on the card blank, coloured with Lyra Pencils and cut around the images on the two side panels so they would fold in to create the image. I just added a stamped sentiment and a little bit of ribbon to close the card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Come and Get It: 3 or more layers

Get Creative: Anything goes

Love to Scrap: Anything goes

Making Memories: Anything goes

Simply Papercraft: Anything goes

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Anything Creative/Mixed Media goes at We Love 2 Create

Good morning my lovelies, how's your weekend going? I'm getting a bit fed up of cold weather and dull days so hopefully Spring won't be too long before it arrives. I bought a few daffodils yesterday and they always cheer me up with their lovely sunny little faces :-)
Anyway today's project is my make for our new challenge over at We Love 2 Create where our theme is 'Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes' so it's a nice, easy one to join in. Our lucky winner will receive some gorgeous crafty goodies from our sponsors Premium Craft Brands too!

I've made a card using an old favourite stamp from Prima. I coloured the background with pearlescent blue and green panpastels and then stencilled with Maimeri Light Modelling Paste. Once that was dry I highlighted it with pewter PanPastel and splattered over a little black ink here and there. I coloured the image using my PanPastels and Sofft tools and added some details with Lyra Pencils. 

I didn't want to add lots of embellies so I just added some black/white layers and stamped the sentiment in the corners. 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Brown Sugar: Anything goes

Creates and Makes: anything goes

Creative Fingers: Anything goes

Creative Moments: anything goes

Little Miss Muffet: anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Metallic PanPastel Set	PanPastel - Sofft Knives and Covers	Pan Pastel pearlescent green	Pearlescent Blue	Pan Pastel, White (fine) Pearlescent
Pan Pastel Colourless Blender	Burnt Sienna Tint	Burnt Sienna	Permanent Red Shade	Permanent Red Tint Pan Pastel
Pan Pastel pearlescent orange	Orange Pan Pastel	Pan Pastel pearlescent yellow