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 Jan#1 - anything but square

Good Morning everyone

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.  Mine didn't go quite to plan - I had an emergency tooth extraction Christmas eve which did not go smoothly - I will be having nightmares about it for years to come I think!  So I didn't get to eat much, although I did go over to family for Christmas day but came home early.  The swelling is finally subsiding and my dislocated jaw settling down😀... 

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Time for the first challenge post of the year for We Love Stamping where the theme picked by me is for ANYTHING BUT SQUARE - So any other shaped card or you can always use the anything goes as long as stamping involved.

This should be an easy one for me as i make alot of shaped cards using my nesting dies but my mojo always goes on holiday this time of year.  I use it up getting all Christmas and we have alot of December and early Jan birthdays made so its off on its annual holiday! 

Looking for inspiration in my stamps I found this old Chocolate Baroque set with spring flowers which seemed ideal.  So ive made a little snowdrop card.

Card size approx 3.5x5"  I die cut my card base using crealies stitched arch die from white card.  I stamped the front with the snowdrop stamp in a peeled paint distress ink, the word 'spring' with marigold DI and a stamp saying 'beautiful beginnings' in shaded lilac DI using multi-generation ink for them all.  Splatters added with the same DI.  I inked the outside edge with 'green oasis' versafine clair ink

I stamped the snowdrops with 'green oasis' versaclair ink onto a smaller white arch die cut and added a little colour with the same distress inks used for the background.  I matted this onto a larger arch die cut from lilac glitter card and added to the card front with foam tape, adding a little strip of the glitter card across the front too. 

I love seeing the snowdrops appearing from the brown winter earth, the first signs that life is awakening once again. We are lucky in Cornwall that Spring does start early and the first bulbs are well on their way to showing their cheery heads.

Items Used:

Chocolate Baroque stamps 'spring is in the air'

aall&create stamps #455 'seasons' #748 'add a motto' 

Crealies arched dies

Distress Inks 'peeled paint, dried marigold, shaded lilac, vintage photo'

These are the lovely prizes you could win from aall&create

So do hop over to we love stamping to join in and see what the rest of the DT came up with. 

I look forward to sharing another year of crafting with you all.  Big hugs Emmaxx

Id love to enter the following:

https://beautifulblossomschallenge.blogspot.com/2024/12/beautiful-blossoms-challenge-anything.html

https://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.com/2025/01/january-2025-crafts-galore-encore.html

https://dd-tripleb.blogspot.com/2025/01/triple-b-january-2025-challenge.html

https://colorfuloptions.blogspot.com/2025/01/january-2025.html

 

WLS Dec - Winter

Good Morning everyone

Scarily its the first of December today and the first sunday in the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping

The theme this month is WINTER, or there is always the anything goes option as long as we see stamping in action

Card size approx 5x7" made from navy blue card. I took white pearl card and stenciled with oxide inks in tumbled glass, shaded lilac & cracked pistachio through lavinia 'pods' stencil.  I then over stamped with grey & blue inks winter words.  I then die cut this into 3 arches of descending sizes - missing out one die inbetween so its wider frames.   The i carefully put all 3 into a snow embossing folder, keeping them lined up so that the embossing matches.

I glued the smallest layer flat in the middle, the next size up on 2mm foam tape and the largest outside with 4mm foam tape (2mm doubled up) - its actually easier to line up starting with the outside one.  Hopefully once in place all the stenciling, stamping and embossing line up.

I them stamped the majestic stag stamp onto white card with versaClair medieval blue ink and added a little soft colour by watercolouring with distress inks - lemonade, honey, vintage photo & walnut stain - I liked the contrast of these colours against the cool background.  Cut him out, adhered into place with glue gel.

Sadly doesn't show in the photo but the pearl of the cardstock still shimmers through the oxide inks.  Of course as its a snowly theme i did add just a little bit of stickles glitter glue to some of the embossed snowflakes for a little sparkle.  

You can see the snow embossing a bit better here.  

I should have taken a photo of the insert as i used another inkylicious stamp which reads 'Winter waves a magic wand over the world and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful' 

My parents are lucky to have alot of fallow deer roaming their fields - although mum doesn't see why they need to eat half her garden...every so often im lucky to see one when im over there

After making a big effort this year to make more postal friendly flat Christmas cards, Im very happy to make one with as much foam tape and glue gel s i wanted😁

Items Used:

Inkylicious stamps 'forest stag' 'sofly sofly' 'winter beauty'

aall&create stamps 'seasons'

Lavinia stencil 'pods'

Crafters companion 8x8 snowfall embossing folder

Distress Oxide inks - tumbled glass, cracked pistachio, shaded lilac, lemonade, honey, vintage photo & walnut stain

Versafine clair ink  - medieval blue, morning mist

Archival inks - colbalt, petunia, library green

White pearl & navy card

Rangers stickles 'twinkle'

These lovely stamp sets for the lucky winner

So do hop over to We Love Stamping to see what the rest of the design team have come up with for the Winter theme and to join in.

I gave mum her advent calendar y/day and she loved it as did dad and my brother was impressed so thats a real compliment! 

I hope you all have a good week and start to December.  Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com/2024/11/just-us-girls-755-stencil-week.html

https://craftygalscornerchallenges.blogspot.com/2024/11/challenge-261-anything-goes-woptional.html

https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2024/11/i-spy-with-my-little-eye-something-for.html

https://creativefriday.blogspot.com/2024/11/creative-friday-373-x-beliebiges-tier.html

https://theoutlawzchallenges-friday.blogspot.com/2024/11/festive-friday-challenge-1-november-to.html

https://cyhtp.blogspot.com/2024/11/anything-goes-embossing-with-twist-of.html - ive used a snowfall embossing folder

 

WLS June Mid month

Good Morning all.

Its half way though June and time for more inspiration over at We Love Stamping - still plenty of time for you to join in and a chance to win lots of lovely prizes to help celebrate their 15th birthday.  The theme is fabulous florals or you can use the anything goes option

Ive used my well loved crealies XL arch dies to make my card blank for burnt orange cardstock.  I stamped the image twice and die cut the base layer into an arch and stencilled on umbrellas with gloss paste. Once dry I inked the edges with tumbled glass and salty ocean distress inks.  I took a stencil with a sun like circular swirl and inked through with yellow distress inks and then added diamond stickles over the top to give the effect of the shining sun.  

I then watercoloured the 2nd flowers with distress inks and cut out just the flower heads and decoupaged with glue gel onto the base image.  I then matted this onto a larger white arch and then the base card.

In my stash i found these bees left over from previous project which were the ideal finishing touch.

You can just make out the stencilling here, the umbrellas are a soft mint colour and the glittering circular sun

Items Used:

aall&create stamp set #529 'in the wild'

Chocolate baroque stamps 'honey bee'

Funky fossil umbrella stencil

Circular sun stencil

Cosmic shimmer glossy glaze 'spring mint'

Distress Inks - squeezed lemonade, wild honey, ripe persimmon, vintage photo, cracked pistachio, evergreen bough, tumbled glass, salty ocean

Ranger stickles 'diamond'

Thank you for popping by and don't forget to hop over to https://www.welovestamping.co.uk/ to join in with your floral or anything goes cards and be in with a chance of winning lots of stamps. Emmax

Id love to enter the following

https://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2024/06/challenge-115-no-design-paper.html

https://timeoutchallenges.blogspot.com/2024/06/challenge-265-ibw-there-are-always.html - inspired by flowers

https://stencilfun.blogspot.com/2024/06/june-stencil-fun-challenge.html - anything goes option

https://beautifulblossomschallenge.blogspot.com/2024/06/beautiful-blossoms-challenge-anything.html

https://dragonflydreamschallenges.blogspot.com/2024/06/june-challenge-tag-youre-it-or-shaped.html

 

National look alike day

Good Morning everyone

Today im honoured to be a guest designer for Day of the month card club

and the theme is 'National look alike day'

https://dayofthemonthcardclub.blogspot.com/2024/04/challenge-62-national-look-alike-day.html

So we are looking for 2 of anything i.e 2 flowers, 2 birds, 2 frames.  Now this one really got me thinking and i just kept coming back to the idea of twins so i dug out my old Carabelle Stamps SA60158 'Zinouk du jardin'    a fab old door stamp by Katzelkraft and some cherry blossom to give the feel of stepping out of the grey of winter and into the cheerful blossoming of spring. 

Approx card size 5x7"   I first stamped Zinouk twice onto white card and watercoloured with my inktense pencils and then cut her out. I gave them matching outfits so that they definitely look alike

I die cut white card into an arch card base, then used 2 smaller arch dies to cut a frame from white, from the middle piece of the frame i stamped the old doorway in soft grey ink and gave it a very light watercolour wash.  I stamped some twigs around the edge and some text in the background - all in grey. I then lightly inked the edges with a light brushing of black soot distress ink - I also did that to the edges of my base card. 

I added the white arch frame with 3d foam and then adhered the topper scene in flat.  I then added the 2 Zinouk's with glue gel so that they are 'stood' on the frame.  I stamped & coloured some cherry blossom, cut out and attached with glue gel and a stamped sentiment to finish.

Just a close up - i added a little touch of glitter to their earrings for a subtle bit of bling. The sentiment stamp is an old magazine freebie

Items Used:

Carabelle Stamps SA60158 'Zinouk du jardin'

Katzelkraft stamps 'les portes'

Katkin krafts stamps (background text) (cherry blossom) 'love nest'

aall&create stamps #851 'rise & shine'  

Sentiment stamp - old magazine freebie

Derwent inktense pencils

Distress inks - black soot, vintage photo, cracked pistachio, shaded lilac

Ranger stickles 'diamond'

Thank you all for stopping by, please do hop over to day of the month card club to join in and see everyone comes up with for National look a like day .  I hope you all have a fabulous week whatever you get upto, I shall be doing lots of crafting with my nieces as its the Easter holidays. Emmax

 

Christmas in July

Good Morning everyone

I bought these fab Katzelkraft door stamps and the 3d tree embossing folder in a recent sale and they sat together on my desk for a couple of weeks when i thought about making a Christmas card with them both so this is the end result.  I used my crealies arch dies for the shaped card and ivory gold pearl cardstock instead of white so it all has a lovely golden shimmer.

Approx size:6x4.5"    I first die cut my base card from the ivory gold pearl cardstock and then a smaller layer to be embossed and then from the offcuts i could cut the panel that i stamped the image onto.  

For the tree embossed panel, i inked the embossing folder with evergreen bough oxide ink and ran thought my big shot.  Using oxide ink with pearl cardstock works well as it dulls down the pearl finish so where the trees are embossed and not inked they really shimmer and shine in the light.  Once the inked dried i glued flat to the front of the cardbase.

I stamped the image with fallenleaves ink so softer on the pearl than black would be and then simply watercoloured with distress inks, for the foliage i used distress ink evergreen bough so it tied in with the embossed panel.  I stamped the sentiment and added red stickles glitter glue to the red berries on the foliage to give a real Christmassy feel.  I then attached to the base card with foam tape for a bit of dimension.  

Version 2 using window stamp in the set

Im hoping at this angle you can make out the lovely gold shimmer of the pearl cardstock, in real life that and the red glitter really are lovely

and version 3 using another stamp in the set

The dimension of the embossed trees is lovely with this folder.  These cards have a bit more of a vintage feel than my usual style, not quite so bright in colours.  Something a bit different for Christmas.

Items Used:

Katzelkraft stamps 'les portes'

Sizzix embossing folder by Kathrin Breen '665254'

Ivory gold pearl cardstock

Distress oxide ink 'evergreen bough'

Distress inks 'evergreen bough, shaded violet, vintage photo, walnut stain, fired brick, rustic wilderness, peacock feathers'

Rangers stickles 'christmas red'

Thank you all for stopping by.  Hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2023/07/week-736.html - embossing folders

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http://inkspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/2023/07/inkspirational-challenge-293-word.html

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https://mostmagicaltimeoftheyear.blogspot.com/2023/07/challenge-10-most-magical-anything.html

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http://craftrocketchallenges.blogspot.com/2023/07/challenge-105-christmas-in-july.html

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http://12monthsofchristmaslinkup.blogspot.com/2023/07/challenge-102-anything-goes-christmas.html

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https://peaceonearthchristmas.blogspot.com/2023/07/peace-on-earth-challenge-43.html

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