June WLS #1 - Sports & Hobbies

Good Morning everyone

Its a new month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping where the theme for June is

SPORTS & HOBBIES

Although I come from a family big into playing and watching sports and before my MS I was fairly sporty myself I have absolutely no sport themed stamps and I wasn't going to buy new just for this challenge, so Ive gone down the hobbies root,  and what better hobby to start with than arts and crafts! 

Black DL card (approx 4x8.25")  I first stamped all the art elements onto white watercolour paper, coloured with derwent inktense pencils and cut out once dry.  I worked out what size i wanted my panels and cut white linen card to size and stamped the sentiment towards the top in black.  I matted this onto rainbow printed cardstock which i tore the edges to show the white core to help lift the colour and add some 'crafty' interest!  Now i say i matted it - its actually 2 strips adhered either side and i flipped them - so the rainbow of colours runs opposite ways up and down - just for a fun element.  I then adhered this to the card front with foam tape.

I then got arranging all the art products which did take a few attempts until i was happy with them.  Some I adhered flat and others with glue gel. 

Just a close up - on the paint pallet I purposedly added some of the paint colours over the edge to make it look like a well used set - these art supplies are well loved!  I used a silver paint pen on the 'ferrule' (metal parts) of the paint brushes and added white gel pen highlights. 

Items Used:

(creative expressions) Jane Davenport stamp set CEJDCS023 'HeArt Supplies'

Creative Craft stamp set 'craftiness sentiments' (company closed)

Derwent Inktense pencils

CraftUk Ltd white linen cardstock

Black cardstock

Rainbow printed card from Lidl

White gel pen

We have this fabulous prize from Visible image for the lucky winners so hop over to We Love Stamping to join in with your stamped creations

Thank you all for stopping by once again.   I finally have my check up apt for my eyes on the 22nd June - so ive come to the conclusion, any time frame they give you you need to double!  Then after that waiting for the next round of lasers...its a bit like how long is a piece of string with the nhs these days...but good news my mojo is slowly returning, nearly 2 months with no crafting is unheard of for me so I was beginning to worry😓     I hope you all have a good month of June, not sure where the sun has gone as y/day was so windy they had to cancel the Royal Cornwall show which is sad as its the biggest date in the calendar for Cornwall and lots of farmers spend months prepping for it.  Big hugs Emma

Id Love to enter the following:

https://colorfuloptions.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026.html - rainbow option

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https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-2026-challenge-88-anything-goes.html - stripes option

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https://paper-rocks-scissors.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-17-challenge.html - used paper and scissors to cut out all the images

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https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/crafty-catz-challenge-715.html

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https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-324.html

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WLS Jan #2 - Carrot fever

Good Morning all

Time for the mid way post for We Love Stamping where the theme for January is 

SOMETHING NEW

Just remember to include stamping

Ive gone with another new stamp set, when I saw it in the sale I knew it would be perfect for my dads birthday card in December, he is always battling the wildlife in his vegetable garden especially the pesky rabbits.  There are several different rabbit stamps in this set so i decided to use them all on one card and make a kind of story scene

DL card (4x8") I folded the front in half and back on itself.  This first image shows the front and part of the back

On all the panels i used printed paper to build a field scene with a blue purple paper for the sky and a greeny one for the grass, this green one i tore the top edge and inked to give a bumpy grass like texture and layered them up.

I stamped the rabbits onto white, added a little colour with alcohol markers and cut out....of course the wild rabbits aren't white but i kept mine white to stand out against the background and save on colouring in! I stamped lots of carrots from both this set of stamps but also some smaller ones i had from an aall&create set 

On the front left panel I added the one running rabbit 

The back panel, I added the rabbit pulling his carrots out, adding lots of extra carrots flying through the air as he is working that fast😂 🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕

Then to the right the rabbit catching them & hugging the precious perfect carrot

On the hidden panel which you see on opening the card up I added the 2 smaller rabbits, one with his head in the ground looking for where the carrots are and one having a little snooze after eating the carrots when he should be on look out duty!

I computer printed my sentiment/quotes to match my little story, cut them out, inked the edges with a black pen and adhered into place.

Glossy accents added to the eyes and 2 orange enamel dots to the corners to finish.

Items Used:

Creative Expressions stamp set #UMSDB179 'No bunny like you'

patterned paper

CraftUK ltd smooth white A3 card

Distress ink evergreen bough, faded jeans, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon,

Alcohol markers - grey & pink

We have these fabulous prizes this month for the lucky winner

3 random tonic dies & for overseas winners we now have a fabulous gift voucher from whimsy stamps

So hop over to We Love Stamping to join in and be in with a chance of winning - just remember to include stamping 

January is a funny month isn't it.....Ive felt like im swimming in treacle and getting nowhere fast!  I hope you all have a good week ahead.  Big hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/01/ellibelles-garden-party-no-11-anything.html

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https://crafterscafeblogchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/01/326-one-for-boys-optional-anything-goes.html

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https://secretstamper.com/2026/01/creative-creases-january-2-through-february-5/#more-48648

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https://craftyanimals.blogspot.com/2026/01/challenge-101.html

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WLS Nov#1 - Merry Christmas

Good Morning everyone

Its the first Sunday of a new month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping and the theme for this month is 

Christmas 

So a good excuse to crack on with your Christmas cards - get creative with your stamping

Today im sharing a batch of Christmas cards made using a stencil and stamp set that I bought in the craftstash closing down sale.  You get a stencil for the word merry and then tiny stamps to fill in the letters, I also used these filler stamps for my backgrounds.  I used what versafine clair inks I have hence it being mainly teal and pink combo....but then anyone who follows me will know I quite often use less traditional colours for Christmas....

DL(4x8") pearl teal card base.  I first stencilled onto white linen card the word 'merry' with tumbled glass distress ink.  I then used the stamps in the set to build up the foliage and flowers all using versafine clair inks.  Once dry i die cut with DL dies which have little holes around the edges and matted onto teal pearl card.

I die cut a larger panel from white linen card and using the same stamps as in the alphas I built up a background, focusing the stamping around the edges.  Once dry I inked around the outside edge with tumbled glass DI.  This I adhered flat to my card front and then added the Merry topper with foam tape for a little dimension.

I die cut the word 'Christmas' from pinky purple mirror card and adhered under the Merry.  Touches of glitter glue added to give a little festive sparkle.

After finishing I felt the letters weren't standing out enough so I put the 'Merry' Stencil back in place and drew around them with a teal fineliner pen and then used a grey alcohol marker for a drop shadow which made a big difference - I should have taken a before photo to show the massive improvement such a little detail makes but didn't think of that at the time!  

Version 2 - the same but different.  I made 12 in all and all slightly different with how the backgrounds ended up stamped.  On this one I had a couple of inky marks on the topper where I didn't want them, so covered them up by stamping little stamps from the set to hide😁

Items Used:

Apple blossom stamp & stencil set 'merry' (STOBXM220042)

DL eyelet nesting dies (brand unknown)

Versafine Clair inks 'warm breeze, purple delight, glamourous, green oasis'

Tim Holtz distress Ink 'tumbled glass'

Grey promarker

CraftUk Ltd white linen 300gsm card

Craft Consortium pink mirror card

Teal cardstock

We have a prize of these lovely stamps from stamp addicts for the lucky winners so to be in with a chance of winning hop over to We Love Stamping to join in

I hope you all have a good month of November - scary how the weeks are passing.  Emmax

 

Alice is 10 - cats & books

Good Morning everyone

My middle niece Alice is 10 this month.  She loves reading and cats so ive combined the two with these fab katzelkraft stamps and made a tri fold card which contains 2 bookmarks to Alice to use

The front of the card.  Its A4 folded 3 times so each section is 4x8.25" .  I stamped the cat images onto white card and coloured with alcohol markers.  I stamped the sentiment and then lightly stenciled on pawprints with cracked pistachio oxide ink, I then die cut into a panel and matted onto rainbow printed cardstock. 

I founded a printed paper in my stash that had a subtle blue pattern, matted onto blue holographic and then the card front.  I tied a double bow from the 2 ribbons ive used on the bookmarks.

I used blue holographic for my mat layer as when the light hits it it is rainbow colours to tie in with the image and every girl loves a bit of sparkle.

Showing the card opened up.  I made the bookmarks the same way as the front topper, this rainbow card is double sided so looks as great on the back of the bookmark as the front.  

I made pockets for the bookmarks using the same paper as the background and adding foam to the sides and bottom, leaving the top unstuck so the bookmark can slide in and out

So that when the bookmarks are removed it still looks good I stamped the cats a 2nd time, coloured in with alcohol markers and cut out, I adhered them to the pockets to line up with the bookmarks.

I doodled a line under the books with fineliner and shaded with grey alcohol marker to 'ground' the books and stop them floating in mid air

and the bookmarks front and back.  This rainbow card came in a pack from Lidl and is nice and stiff so ideal for bookmarks, I haven't laminated them as you know how childrens tastes change yearly but I know Alice will enjoy these bookmarks for as long as they do last.  I added stamped cats and pawprints to the back of the bookmarks for a little interest.  Punched a hole at the top and threaded with ribbons.  

Items Used:

Katzelkraft cat stamp set

Creative craft stamps 'fur babies'

Clearly besotted birthday stamp 'something to say'

DL stitched edge dies

Pawprint stencil

Oxide ink 'cracked pistachio'

Alcohol markers

Rainbow cardstock from Lidl

Blue holographic card 

Thank you all for stopping by.  Emma

Id love to enter the following:

https://craftyanimals.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-97.html

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https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2025/08/ccc-101-return-to-regular-theme-of.html

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https://girlzcreativefunartofscrap.blogspot.com/2025/07/challenge-12-new-challengeblog.html

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https://dragonflydreamschallenges.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-challenge-lots-of-layers.html

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https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-829.html

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https://showusyourpussies.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-114.html

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https://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2025/08/challenge-128-animals.html

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Hollyhocks for mum

Good Morning everyone

Today Im sharing the card I made for my mum for Mothering Sunday.  I used metallic flakes, printed acetate and my very old well loved hollyhock die to make a DL card for her.  Nightmare to take photos of though with all the shimmer and shine!

DL (8x4") white linen cardbase which i lightly inked the edged with cracked pistachio and tumbled glass distress inks.  I die cut a lacy panel from white linen card and added to the front.

I adhered a sheet of double side adhesive to white card and on the other side rubbed in the metallic flakes and then die cut them with the hollyhock die.  I die cut foliage from pale blue and pearl teal cardstock.

I have packs of 'clear prints' from stamperia which is very very heavy weight acetate with beautiful printed images, so I die cut a jar from one fo them.  Now this acetate is so thick the die doesn't cut right through but enough that i could then finish cutting it with scissors and get a clean edge.  I added this to the card front with pinflair glue gel and then got arranging the flowers and foliage. 

I added a torn scrap of green paper under the jar to 'ground' it

Side view of the dimension.  I added curve to the hollyhocks with a ball tool

The acetate jar has a lovely shine which adds interest and another texture.  I debated where to put a sentiment but decided against it, I know mum will have this on display for months so doesn't really need a sentiment on the front. 

Here you can really see the colours better, the metallic fakes really are shimmery and gorgeous but I do so hate them! lol

No matter how hard I try every time Ive used guilding flakes or metallic flakes they go everywhere and stick to everything - for weeks afterwards they turn up somewhere, for days the cats had red speckled fur - one even had a red sparkly nose for a few days,  the hoover has a lovely coating of them where they stuck to the warmth of the outside plastic areas.  So I did use the whole pot up in one go adding to adhesive sheets to get it over with - I still have them to use.  I was give the pot as a Christmas present and the effect if beautiful with the different colours in them but yep a product I still Hate to use😒

Items Used

Cosmic shimmer metallic flakes

Stamperia clear prints

Impression Obsession hollyhock die

Jar & foliage dies

Various printed papers 

Distress Inks - tumbled glass, cracked pistachio

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

Id love to enter the following

https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2025/03/ellibelles-garden-party-no-1-anything.html

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https://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/mttc-556-theme-is-celebrate-someone.html

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https://beautifulblossomschallenge.blogspot.com/2025/03/beautiful-blossoms-challenge-anything.html #2

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https://dragonflydreamschallenges.blogspot.com/2025/03/march-challenge-gardening.html

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