July WLS #1 - sun, sea & sand

Good Morning everyone

Gosh the months are flying by, its time for a new challenge We Love Stamping with the theme this month chosen by me is

SUN, SEA &/OR SAND

So plenty of options there but if thats not for you we always have the anything goes option as long as you use stamping

I dug out a very old chocolate baroque stamp set with these fab seagulls which is very apt as as the seagulls which nest on my roof spend most of their time sat on the washing line posts in the garden.  In the heat the chicks have fallen off the roof so inhabiting the back garden so its a no go zone for now unless you like being dive bombed😁

6x4.5" card.  I first stamped the seagull image onto white card and then the poem beside it using dark blue ink.  I die cut into a fancy rectangle, this is a very old spellbinders die but i thought the edge had a bit of a rope effect look to it.  I then watercoloured the scene with distress inks.  Once dry i stencilled on the sun with lemonade distress oxide ink, keeping it soft around the poem.  I stamped the seagulls a 2nd time, watercoloured and cut out the posts and seagulls and decoupaged onto the base image with pinflair glue gel for a little dimension.  Added a few white gel pen highlights.

Then adhered to a kraft card base card, I went with kraft card as once again felt it picked up on the theme. 

The poem reads

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be dented; and all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, and the flung spray and the blown spune, and the sea-gulls crying.

Items Used:

Chocolate Baroque stamp set 'seashell collage'

Spellbinders die set S5-217 'Valiant honor'

Sheena Douglass 8x8 stencil 'sunrays'

Distress Inks  tumbled glass, salty ocean, chipped sapphire, vintage photo, wild honey, aged mahogany

Distress Oxide 'squeezed lemonade'

Kraft card

This month we have these beautiful set from Lisa Horton as the prize so do hop over to We Love Stamping to join in and be in with a chance of winning

Thank you all for stopping by once again. I hope you all have a good week whatever you get upto.  Emma

Id love to enter the following:

https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2025/07/july-2025-challenge.html

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https://thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/07/summer-season-july-2025.html

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https://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/2025/06/add-some-text.html

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https://craftyanimals.blogspot.com/2025/07/challenge-96.html

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Sun, Sea, Sand #2

Good Morning everyone

Mid way though July so time for another sun, sea, sand inspired make at We Love Stamping

or you can always go with the anything goes option as long as some stamping is involved 

This time ive just gone with the sea

Ive used this lovely printed acetate from Stamperia for my card front, so it gives a lovely glossy finish with its sea print.

I stamped the aall&create whale scene onto white card with greeny blue ombre ink pad and die cut into spellbinders labels 4 shape.  I added stencilling to the background with pale oxide inks & stamped some bubbles.

I stamped the whale again onto more white card this time with a dark blue ink, watercoloured with pink and peach distress inks so that it contrasts with all the green//blue, cut out just the whale and decoupaged onto the base image with glue gel.

I stamped some shells with the same pink, peach & lilac inks, cut out and arranged onto the card front along with some real shells ive collected over the years.  Stamped sentiment and some stickles glitter glue details to finish.

This is really thick weight acetate so I just used it as the card front and used plain white card for the back, i scored a flap at the top of the white card to which i attached the acetate.  I rounded the corners with my corner chomper which easily cuts through the thick acetate & 300gsm cardstock together - the rounded corners pick up on the rounded edge of the die cut

This months prizes that you could win 

Items Used:

aall&create stamp 'sea life'

Chocolate baroque stamp set 'seashell collage'

Visible image stamp set 'swim deep'

Lavinia stencil

Stamperia acetate - clear prints (SBA415) 'Vagabond in Japan'

Distress Inks ' picked raspberry, shaded lilac, 

Kailiedacolor ombre inkpad 'Caribbean sea'

Thank you for popping by once again.  Its scary how fast the weeks are passing and that next week the schools break up.  Emmax

Id love to enter:

https://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/2024/07/inkspirational-challenge-320-designers.html  - Ive used stamps from aall&create, chocolate baroque & visible image

https://starstampz.blogspot.com/2024/07/challenge-60-anything-goesin-or-beside.html

 

Seahorses

Good Morning everyone

Still on my mission to use up paper scraps from the water themed 'feeling fresh' paper pad from the works.  Here i went for a floating element of adding the strips of paper to acetate and die cutting into a circle.

6x6" card.  I die cut a square and mounted onto blue card and then the base having stamped the sentiment with dark blue ink.  I added my floating circle to the bottom right corner adding foam tape just behind where the paper is.  I stamped the seahorse onto a scrap of previously inked with brusho's card and cut out, gently curved and added to the circle with glue gel.  All the extra stamped starfish & shells were left over from previous projects and lots of yellow/orange gems to finish - again i was using up random left over gems.   The acetate sheet that the gems were on is now in my acetate stash for a future project.

Just a close up, i used white and yellow posca pens to add more detail.

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Version 2 & 3, I decided to mount my paper strips onto silver mirror card instead of acetate

6x6" scalloped base card.  Square die cut layered onto silver mirror card so that the mirror shines through the eyelet holes in the frame.  Again seahorse and fish were stamped onto an off cut of card that had been coloured with brushos & pixie powders.  I used another off cut of the papers for a strip across the middle of the card

and version 3

The same but different - more vibrant this time and i added my circle with the strips at a diagonal for a change.  Sea la vie sentiment & fish stamp is from a pink ink stamp set 'diver mouse'

Items Used:

Lavinia stamps 'Sebastian seahorse'

Pink Ink stamps 'diver mouse' wee folk series

Pink ink ' sea turtle' stamp set 

Chocolate baroque stamps 'seashell collage'

Sentiment stamps ' old magazine freebie

Tattered lace square eyelet dies

The works paper pad 'feeling fresh'

Acetate

Silver mirror card

CraftUk Ltd White linen card

Blue card

Thank you all for stopping by once again.

Id love to enter the following:

https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/2022/07/creatures-inunder-sea.html

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https://pixiessnippetsplayground.blogspot.com/2022/06/challenge-431.html - all the patterned paper is snippets and the coloured card i stamped my seahorses on were off cuts from previous projects.

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http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2022/07/anything-goes-challenge-5th-july-2022.html

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Twist n pop - under the sea

Good Morning everyone

Today im sharing my 2nd twist and pop card that I made for my sister in laws birthday.  I went with a seaside/ocean theme this time, teaming stamps up with a lovely Kaisercraft paper pad.  I was lucky enough last year to win a challenge and a voucher for Visible Image stamps so i bought the fab 'dare to swim' set.

Card size 6x5"  The front of the card, just using a paper and elements from the paper pad matted onto navy cardstock

And here it opens up.  I cut panels from the paper pad to fit the pop up sections and the top & bottom of the card and then i stamped onto them using the little fish in blue and bubbles with silver paint, inked the edges and attached to the card.  To the top and bottom i added paper ribbons that came in the paper pad and then a die cut white circle to the bottom for the greeting.

I then stamped the jellyfish and sea weed from the set, along with some shells, starfish & small seahorse using other stamps from my stash, i then coloured them all in and cut them out and got arranging.

I added touches of glitter glue to the little circles on the jellyfish

The little seahorse is hiding among the seaweed

Just showing how it all folds up - very clever.  I used instructions from here which were easy to follow and fit an A4 sheet. 

and a little 5x5" card made with all the left overs with a lovely paper from the kaisercraft paper pad

Items Used:

Visible Image swim deep stamp set

Chocolate baroque seashell collage stamp set

Craft stamper freebies - seahorse & starfish stamps

Kaisercraft paper pad - Coastal Escape

Payper Box navy cardstock

CraftUk ltd white cardstock

Ranger stickles diamond, fruit punch

Thank you all for stopping by once again. I hope you enjoyed your bank holiday monday and the rest of the week.   Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2021/06/miucb-50-anything-goes-stamping.html

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http://ttcrd.blogspot.com/2021/06/anything-goes-challenge-june-1st-2021.html

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https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2021/06/challenge-51-sponsored-by-beccys-place.html

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Under the Sea

Good Morning everyone

Today is another little mixed media picture with my 2nd favourite theme of under the sea, think my 1st favourite has to be animals but then i guess my favourite theme is just anything nature😁.

Approx size 6x12" Frame is from poundland, I cut a piece of white card to fit and got started on my background (see last photos for full details) I then stamped the seahorses & shells onto pixie powdered cardstock and cut them out, i stamped the starfish onto red inked cardstock and cut out. I added glossy accents to the starfish and shells. 

Then i got arranging them, this is something i do bit by bit and can take days to all come together to my liking. I will glue a few on let completely dry and then add some more.  I use glue gel so i have time to move them and remove if need be.  A habit from my painting days...can just hear my art teacher saying stand back and look and look some more😁, thats also why i rarely make a card in a day - all that thinking time slows me down😄 - and i never start a card/project until i have an idea 😁

A close up of the seahorses, I did add touches of glitter glue

I added some netting and a little bottle to which id added a little blue alcohol ink to give it a more vintage feel.  Shells collected over the years from beaches here in Cornwall and in Brittany, france. 

I added little chit chat stickers saying 'Amazing, Magic & Beautiful' - which nature is and covered them with glossy accents to give them an enamelled look

and onto the background...

Onto white card i added die cut seahorses, fish and splats - as it will be covered up you can use up any colour card scraps for the die cuts.  I then added texture paste through diamond & dotty stencils.  Once it was all dry i gave a coat of white gesso, this helps make the die cuts look part of the background and then i added brushos in blues and greens.  Once dry i added some torn pieces of script tissue paper with decoupage medium. I then dry bushed on a very light layer of white gesso to the whole panel.

I stencilled some bubbles (see below) and then coated the whole lot in a glossy spray vanish to give a shiny water feel.

My bubbles, I added glossy accents over them after id spray vanished the panel so that they really stand out.  See below for how too for simple bubbles if you don't have a stamp

Circle stencil, soft 'B' pencil (i used 6B), charcoal pencil(optional), white gel pen, paper stump or cotton bud, Ranger glossy accents

1. draw through the stencil with a soft leaded pencil

2. Using a paper stump (or cotton bud) blend the pencil around the whole circle

3. Add charcoal pencil to the bottom edge.  If you don't have a charcoal pencil you can just add more of the soft pencil

4. Blend with the stump into the middle but avoid the top edge where you want it lighter.

5. Add a white gel pen highlight to the top right edge (this doesn't show well on the white but if you look at my finished project you can see that with a coloured background it stands out)

6. Add glossy accents to finish.

7. This shows that once you get the gist of it don't draw the original outline to hard so that its less obvious when you finish. 

Items Used:

Lavinia Sabastian seahorse stamp

Chocolate Baroque seashell collage stamps

Craft stamper seahorse & starfish stamps

Joy crafts seahorse die

Fish die

splat die

Tim holtz chit chat stickers

Stencils - circles, diamond, dotty, 

Sand texture paste

Brusho's seagreen, turquoise, lime, colbalt blue, lemon, gambage, scarlet

Pixie powders red & gold

Mini bottle, net, shells

Ranger diamond stickles & glossy accents

Thank you all for stopping by and thank you to you all who sent me a beautiful birthday card, i had a quiet but lovely day with my parents and lots of craft gifts to feed my craft addiction😁  I hope its a good week for you all. Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.com/2020/08/august-2020-i-do-like-to-be-beside.html

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https://creativfusion.blogspot.com/2020/08/challenge-20-anything-goes.html

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https://creativeartistemixedmedia.blogspot.com/2020/08/welcome-to-creative-artiste-challenge-63.html

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Magical Seahorse

Good Morning everyone, i hope you are keeping cool.

Today im sharing a second seahorse card i made for a friends birthday.  Again lots of inks, stamps and stencils in use. 

A5 white cardblank which i rounded the corners on. I cut a piece of white card smaller than my cardbase to work on.  I first added colour to the panel with oxide inks in tones of green, blue & violet.  I then built up with stencils and shell stamps in the same inks. I added glossy accents to some of the circle stenciling to act as bubbles.  I inked around the outside edge in distress inks sapphire & black soot.

 I then die cut 2 ovals into the middle, I added 2mm foam tape to the back of the main outside panel, 1mm tape to the largest oval frame and then i adhered the middle oval back into place flat. So its like steps going inwards, just to act as a frame and draw the eye into the beautiful seahorse. 

I stamped the seahorse onto card inked with yellow/orange oxide inks and cut around him, i gently added some shape to his body and glued him in place with glue gel. 

I then die cut the swirly waves and fish from scraps of previously inked card and arranged them around my seahorse.  

Chit chat stickers to finish.

A close up of the top half, you can see the oval die cuts better here.  

Close up on the bottom.  I used the swirls on the spine of the seahorse to stamp the seaweed along the bottom and added in some doodled seaweed with a black fineliner pen too.  The chit chat stickers read 'embrace & cherish magical world' - words close to my heart, take time to see the magic in nature everyday.  I doodle around them with a white gel pen. 

Items Used:

Lavinia Stamps - sebastian seahorse

Chocolate Baroque seashell collage stamps

Circles & mini dots stencils

Waves & fish dies

Distress Oxide inks, wilted violet, twisted citron, salty ocean, 

cracked pistachio, squeeshed lemonade, 

Purple wink of stella pen

Tim Holtz Chit chat stickers

Thank you for all stopping by once again.  I hope you all have a good week. Emma

Id love to enter the following:

http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/06/challenge-400-oh-i-do-like-to-be-beside.html

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Swim Free Seahorse

Good Morning everyone.

Today im sharing the card project i made for my sister in laws birthday, as they live near the sea I had the idea that she can frame it with a box frame and add some of those lovely Cornish seashells she's collected.  Its 8x8" in size.  My first outing for the beautiful Lavinia Sebastian seahorse stamp - I love him. 

8x8 cardbase.  Right quite alot of layers went into the background. 

1. I first heat embossed the shells with clear embossing powder on a piece of white card.  

2.I then stamped the water drops with blue colbalt arcival ink and added glossy accents to them. 

3. I then coloured the panel with green, purple & blue aquatints using wet into wet, so i brushed the panel with plain water and then dropped the aquatints onto it so that they merge together, the shells & water drops resist the inks to stay white.  Once dry i splashed water on top and dabbed dry with a tissue.

4. Once dry i stenciled over the top with large and small circles for a bubble effect using oxide inks in green, purple & blue. 

5. I stamped some fragments of a text stamp & a swirl in soft grey ink.  I removed any ink on the shells with a soft cloth. 

6.  I stamped the 'swirly fronds' along the spine of the seahorse along the bottom to act like seaweed.  I also added in some more with a black fineliner pen. 

7. I inked around the outside edge with chipped sapphire & black soot inks.

When it was completely dry i die cut an oval big enough for the seahorse to the right side.  I attached the panel to the base card, using 3d foam tape behind the main panel and adhered the oval back into place flat so its a little recess.  I did this so it really draws the eye into the seahorse. 

I stamped the seahorse in black archival ink onto a piece of card inked with yellowy oxide inks and cut around him.  I stamped the small seahorses, painted them a yellow/orange and fussy cut out.  I added more detail to the little seahorses with a black fine liner pen along their backs.  I gently curved the seahorses before attaching into place with dimensional glue gel. 

On a scrap of card inked with green oxide inks i stamped the saying and cut out.  I thought it the perfect sentiment as my SIL is a graphic designer & artist and also loves her colour. 

Close up on Sebastian the seahorse, i added a touch of diamond glitter glue to all the seahorses for some bling.

Another close up, you can see the stamped and doodled 'seaweed'

I have mixed alot of different stamps and love the outcome but still keeping the beautiful seahorse as the focus point. I just needed to be patient on building up the background so it came together over a few craft sessions.  I think i shall do myself one for my own wall and add some of my collection of Cornish Seashells. 

Items used:

Sebastian seahorse - Lavinia Stamps  

Small Seahorse - Craft stamper magazine freebie

Seashell stamps - Chocolate Baroque 'seashell collage'

Waterdrop stamp - Designs by Ryn 

Dictionary stamp - Stampin up

Swirl stamp - Inkadinkado 98980 'Gem stone flowers'

'Life is A Canvas' saying - BeeCrafty Stamps

XL Stitched Oval Dies

Stencils - small & large circles

Spectrum Noir aquatints

Distress Inks & Distress Oxide inks

Thank you all for stopping by and all your comments last week.  I hope this week is a good one for you. Emma

Id Love to enter the following:

http://craftstamper.blogspot.com/2019/06/take-it-make-it-challenge-june.html

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https://theartisticstampercreativeteam.blogspot.com/2019/06/junes-creative-challenge-by-seaside.html

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https://laviniaworldchallenges.blogspot.com/2019/06/challenge-2.html

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http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/2019/06/challenge-443-something-new.html   My something new is the seahorse stamp

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http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/06/june-show-your-true-colours.html