WLS July#2 - summertime

Good Morning everyone

Time for some mid month inspiration for We Love Stamping where the theme this month is 

SUMMERTIME

Or we also have the anything goes option as long as you use stamps

Here in England we have alot of old houses and stately homes run by the national trust or English Heritage and lots of people like to visit them for a day out in the summer as they often also have very large gardens to explore as well as enjoy the historic house, some even like to take a picnic and make a day of it.  So my card today is loosely based on this summer outing.

Ive used window/door stamp set from Katzelkraft stamped in grey and die cut into an arch to give the feel of an oldie worldie home, looking at it from the garden through the flowers.  All stamped in grey with soft watercolour colouring onto cream linen card.  I think it ended up with the vibe of the end of a long hot summer when everything feels tardy and bleached out😁

Approx size 5x7"

I stamped the window onto cream linen card in grey versafine clair ink and die cut into an arch.  I added some text stamping in grey around the panel to add texture and feel of stone walls and then softly watercoloured with distress inks.  Lightly inked the edges in grey and matted onto cardbase die cut from more cream linen.

I then stamped the flowers in grey, watercoloured with distress inks, cut out and got arranging.  To make the flowers look more natural I cut the heads of some and glued back on the stems at different angles so that they weren't all facing the same way.  Stamped the quote onto more cream linen and added among the flowers.

Just a close up of the flowers, i added shape to the heads and adhered with pinflair glue gel for dimension which also made it easier to tuck the quote inbetween them.

Version 2 using a different door stamp from the set

Items Used:

Katzelkraft stamps 'les portes'

Katzelkraft stamps 'carpe diem quotes'

aall&create stamps #851 'rise & shine'

Distress Inks - cracked pistachio, evergreen bough, shaded lilac, iced spruce, dried marigold, wild honey, ripe persimmon, 

Versafine Clair Ink 'Morning mist'

Crealies XL arch dies

CraftUk Ltd cream linen card

We have this lovely prize from Lavinia for the lucky winner so hop over to We Love Stamping to join in with your stamped makes and be in with a chance of winning

I hope you are all coping ok with the heat here in the UK, just not use to it are we, my MS hates it so Im hibernating in front of the fans.  The farms are getting desperate for some rain now, I expect when it does start raining it won't know when to stop!  Keep cool everyone and carry on crafting. Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://thesisterhoodofcrafters.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-flowers-challenge.html

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https://beautifulblossomschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/beautiful-blossoms-challenge-anything.html

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https://neglectedstuff.blogspot.com/2026/07/neglected-july-2026-challenge.html - haven't used all 3 sets of stamps for years

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https://mixitupchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/miucb-84-anything-goes-optional-shape.html

 

WLS July#1 - Summertime

Good Morning everyone

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

SUMMERTIME

So anything that makes you think of summer.  For my first card this month Ive gone with some lovely juicy oranges and paired this studio light stamp with full on fruity paper from carta bella

White Card size 5.5x6.5"

I first stamped the orange branch onto white card and again onto an orange and lilac paper from the pad.  On the white version I coloured the leaves and branch with alcohol markers and then cut out the oranges and flowers from the paper and paper pieced onto the main image.  I die cut this into shape and matted onto a larger die cut from dark green pearlescent card, in between the white and green layer i added a little tab of the lilac paper die cut using the smallest die in the nesting set, cut it in half and adhered behind the white layer, just to add some interest, to this i added 3 orange glitter gems.

I matted the background paper onto the green pearl card and added to the card front - as the card is 6.5" wide and the paper is 6" it was slightly too narrow so i cut it down the middle and covered the gap with a strip of the orange paper which matches the oranges.

Just a close up of the oranges, i added a little white pen highlight to the oranges and flowers.  I know that orange blossom is usually white but the palest paper in the pad was this lilac one.  It is funny, as most of you know I hate colouring in especially when its really small and fiddly like this as i just can't stay in the lines yet i can cut out using scissors no problem and find that relaxing. 

Items Used:

Studio Light stamp set #427 'lemon squeezy' 

Clearly besotted 'seasonal sentiments' stamp set

Carta Bella Paper pad 'fruit stand'

Alcohol markers

Sizzix framelits die set 658204

CraftUk Ltd smooth white card

Green pearl card

Papermania Orange glitter dots

 

We have a lovely prize from Lavinia for the lucky winner so hop over to We Love Stamping to join in and be in with a chance of winning

Id love to enter the following:

https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/06/ellibelles-garden-party-no-16-anything.html

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https://thefourseasonschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/summer-season-july-2026.html

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https://shoppingourstash.blogspot.com/2026/06/sos577-youre-so-sweet.html

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https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/crafty-catz-challenge-717-anything-goes.html

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https://creativefriday.blogspot.com/2026/07/creative-friday-415-neu.html - new - my paper pad is new and first time using

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https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2026/07/atg-love-those-pretty-papers-july-2026.html

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June WLS #2 - Sports and hobbies

 Good Morning everyone

Time for some mid month inspiration for We Love Stamping Where the theme is 

SPORTS & HOBBIES

Once again I've gone down the hobbies route and this time a masculine card.  The men in my family have hobbies including wood and metal work and one brother likes nothing better than tinkering with engines and building things out of metal - he's made some amazing sculptures over the years out of scrap metal, nuts, bolts, cogs and old cutlery and dad can fix pretty much anything which is very useful! This card is ideal for both my dad and brother.  The stamping is the background.

Card size 6x6"

See last photo for how i made my stamped cog background. 

I then die cut the offset scalloped edge die from the front of the card - with the spine at the top so tent fold.  I then die cut the cog background to fit and a matt of black card, adhering to the front ensuring that the scalloped edge lined up each time.

As you cut a piece off the front of the card you can see inside of the card so to this i added more black card and cog design so that when the card is closed it is part of the design - photos below show this better.

I inked up a scrap of white card with the same blue and green distress inks used for the background and then die cut my alphas to spell 'Mr Fix It' matted onto white and then black card.  Cogs die cut from snippets of silver and blue mirror card and the screwdriver and spanners die cut from dark green mirror card scraps and then all arranged in a cascade down the front of the card, some flat and some with glue gel.

Showing the card stood up open, the point at the front holds it up nicely. 

Showing it side on

And from the opposite side.  

and onto my stamped background

My stamped cog background

I started with A4 white cardstock and this cog stamp. This is an A7 (4.1x2.9") stamp so i stamped it multiple times in black rotating it as i went so they weren't all facing the same way.  Once the black was completely dry i then over stamped the same cog stamp with distress inks salty ocean and evergreen bough, this added some nice colour to the background and broke up all the black.

Items Used:

aall&create stamp set #664 'Multilayered cogs'

MFT scalloped edge die

Cheerylynn cog dies

Tool dies (?brand)

Alpha dies (?brand)

Distress Inks 'salty ocean' 'evergreen bough'

Versafine Clair black ink

Black and white cardstock

We have these stamps from Visible Image as the prize this month so do hop over to We Love Stamping to join in, we do also have the anything goes option if sports and hobbies not for you but it must include stamping.

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Id love to enter the following:

https://pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/pinspirational-challenge-338-june-blue.html

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https://craftingacutabove.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-challenge-and-july-anniversary-news.html

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https://dragonflydreamschallenges.blogspot.com/2026/06/june-challenge-masculine.html

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https://girlzandtheartofletters.blogspot.com/2026/06/challenge-29-de-letter-van-c-van.html -

  C for COGS

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https://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/sweet-stampin-something-for-boys.html

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https://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/06/crafty-calendar-june-challenge-all.html

 

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 May#2 - All creatures great and small

 Good Morning everyone

Time for some midway inspiration for We Love Stamping where the theme is 

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

I went with one of the smallest creatures (mouse) last time so this time its one of the largest creatures and this fabulous whale stamp from aall&create, this is another one thats been neglected for a while too so good to get it out.  I have teamed it up with one of my brusho/pixie powder backgrounds - I have a draw full of backgrounds as I often have sessions making them when i don't feel like properly crafting... plus I make such a mess using brushos that its good to get lots made at once and then one lot of clean up!

Card Size approx 5x7" die cut from navy blue cardstock, I felt the rounded corners on this die set picked up on the curve of the whale nicely. I die cut my brusho & pixie powder background to fit the card front, then stamped the whale stamp with blue versaclair ink and then used a circle embossing folder - this to pick up on bubbles in the water. I then lightly inked over the top with chipped sapphire distress ink to just help the embossing stand out a little bit more - not too heavy as i still wanted it to be in the background.  I used posca paint pens on the background stamping to add a little bit extra colour, using yellow and white on some of the hexagons.

I then stamped the whale onto a pinky patterned paper which is not a very realistic colour I know but a nice contrast to the background!  I added some white pen highlights, curved her body and adhered into place with glue gel.

I then die cut some seaweed bits from green holographic card off cuts that were on my desk.  Sentiments stamped onto white with the same blue ink and adhered into place - these sentiments come from a ZinskiArt mermaid set but fit well i feel.

You can make out the mica of the pixie powders in the background better here and the holographic seaweed, both shimmer & dance when the light hits them like the sparkle of sunshine on the water.

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and version 2 which is more muted

Made almost the same way as the first one but this time i started with a background made using oxide inks so very muted.  I die cut an old tim holtz holey die into the background and matted onto silver holographic cardstock.  The whale was stamped onto card that had been sprayed with blue & purple ink and bright pink mica spray.

Hard to really show off the holographic but you can make it out more on the bottom of the photo, with the matt finish of the oxide background it really shimmers and dances - i went with this to give the effect of bubbles in the water

Items Used:

aall&create stamp #390 'sea life'

Funky Fossil 'ZinskiArt' stamp set 'Making waves'

Funky Fossil stamp set 'weird fish'

Sizzix circle embossing folder (very old!)

? Nesting dies

Dawn Bibby die set DBC0371 'Into the deep' embellishment set

Brusho Powders

Cosmic shimmer pixie powder

Chipped Sapphire distress ink

Distress Oxide - shaded lilac, cracked pistachio, tumbled glass & iced spruce

Versafine Clair ink 'Medieval blue'

Silver & green holographic card from Aldi

Navy cardstock

We have these lovely stamps from aall&create as the prize this month so hop over to We love stamping to join in, as well as the all creatures great and small theme we always have the anything goes option as long as you include stamping.

Id love to enter card one into the following:

https://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2026/05/challenge-136-not-square.html

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https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2026/05/critter-crazy-challenges-110-anything.html

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https://craftyanimals.blogspot.com/2026/05/challenge-105.html

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https://creativefriday.blogspot.com/2026/05/creative-friday-411-jedes-tier-ist.html - all animals permitted

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