Of Grace & Elegance

Hello Everyone
Another recent drafted post was of a tote bag I made for my friend Jack’s birthday. On the bag I used Crafty Individuals  CI-345, well at the same time as making the bag I also made a card for Jack using this stamp (her card is the second card).I treated the stamp in the same was as I did for Jack’s bag, preparing fabric before stamping and gently painting. A little flower made from stained seam binding and pearl embellish the corner along with a scrap of lace.
A closer look at the stamped image. I tore the right side edge on both cards to create a wee bit of interest.Jack is a bird enthusiast so this stamp was ideal for her. In fact a few of my friends have a passion for bird watching and when this stamp arrived I couldn’t help but think of them. Thank You for visiting and I hope that I can catch-up with your Blogs over the coming days.
Wishes
Lynne

Time For New Rubber

Hello Everyone
If you are a fan of Crafty Individuals stamps then you will be interested to know that there are six new releases. and
CI-349 – an Elements set with images of birds and sentiments such as Funky Bird, Kooky Bird, Strut Your Stuff, and more CI-350 is a very pretty set of 3 lace borders. You will probably have guessed that this will be my favourite to play with! CI-351 – Another Elements set with a variety of Paisley inspired stamps. There are two larger sized stamps and lots of smaller elements.CI-352 is a large clock face and two clock hands. This particular clock face has images of birds. CI-353 has cogs and wheels in the centre of the clock face. Perfect for steampunk inspired artwork.and finally CI-354, beautiful vintage inspired clock face.At the time of writing I cannot tell you when those will be for sale on the Crafty Individuals website. If you have not already signed up for the Crafty Individuals newsletter then it is worthwhile doing so to be kept up-to-date with new stamps (and products), workshop dates and also at times there are special offers/discounts.
I hope that it won’t be too long before I ink up these stamps and have fun playing with them. When I do I will share with you but I still have Crafty Individuals artwork made many weeks ago so need to catch-up with those first.
One last note …. Thank You for all of you who have joined in with the Mini Blog Candy I have up for grabs. The numbers have been higher than I expected so a big thank you!
Wishes
Lynne

Soaring High On A Summer’s Day

Hello Everyone
Do you ever re-cycle a former piece of artwork? This canvas which uses Crafty Individuals CI-347 uses a re-cycled canvas that I posted here during the early days of my Blog.
CI-347 is a versatile stamp in the sense that you can use it as a whole or select a particular butterfly.The canvas was painted before applying a paper napkin/serviette and as it dried I distressed it and as the design of the paper napkin has a bit of a Cath Kidston appearance teaming it with the bunting and polka dot ribbon seemed apt. The chipboard bunting can be purchased at the Crafty Individuals on-line store. Inked up with Pearlescent Poppy it adds a pretty shimmer to the butterfly. Polka dot ribbon was formed into a bow with a row of pearls layered over a scallop edge.
As this is a scheduled post it remains to be seen whether it will be a summer’s day as our weather has been very unpredictable so today could either be scorching sunshine or squelching rain! With Wimbledon underway there is a great possibility it will be squelching rain.
Wishes and many thanks for visiting.
Lynne

Summer In The City (Mini Blog Candy) – Now Closed

This post will stay at the top of the page until Mini Blog Candy closes on 7th July 2012.
Please scroll down for new posts.

Hello Everyone
Sorry for the delay in posting this, I had hoped to have it on my Blog on Friday.
It has been a wee while since I last held a Giveaway so with that in mind and the fact that when I was absent from Blogland you continued to visit, I wanted to say Thank You with some mini Blog Candy.
This little Giveaway is for a Crafty Individuals stamp CI-343 and lace (also trims and velvet style ribbon).The lace is in  summery colours with a scattering of elegant black. It isn’t in the photograph but I will also include white/cream lace.The closing date will be:- 7th July, 2012 – A winner will be randomly selected so please check back on that date to see if you are the winner.
There are no rules but as this mini blog candy is a way of saying Thank You it is only open to Friends and Followers of Adorn. I say Friends because I know not all of you are Followers (wordpress doesn’t have the most friendly way of Following!) but I know who you all are.
Posting on my Blog is only a small part of what Blogging is all about, what makes it fun is the connection with other bloggers. So thank you to all of you who make Blogging such a fulfilling part of my crafting life.
Wishes
Lynne

In Nature’s Beauty and Elegance

Hello Everyone
This is a scheduled post for  a project made using one of Crafty Individuals newest releases, CI-345.This stamp, as you can see, has an air of elegance to it with the pretty lapwing collaged with a vase of roses and decorative elements.
I knew I had to use this stamp for my friend Jack’s birthday as she is a bird enthusiast.  I reached for a blank canvas tote to alter. I really do find these indispensible and have decorated quite a few over the years, I actually have a few myself that I make use of.A panel of pretty fabric covers the front of the bag before adding some luxurious trim. For the stamp I prepared some fabric before stamping as  I wanted just a little hint of colour to the stamped image ( water soluble crayons).
No doubt I am repeating myself but it is testimony to the quality of Crafty Individuals stamps that time and time again the stamped impression is always so clear. To embellish of course some lace and a button. Remember, there is still time to enter the Summer Ball challenge theme at Crafty Individuals challenge.
A little addition to this drafted post is to say Thank You for the lovely comments left for me to read and know that your visits mean so much to me.
Wishes
Lynne

One In A Million

Hello Everyone
A few days late but nevertheless I thought today I would share the card I made for my Dad for Father’s Day. Along with Le Jardin set of stamps I was lucky enough to also receive  Oxford Impressions’ The Family Man, couldn’t be more perfect for a Father’s Day card.  This is such a great set of stamps (I know, I say that about all the O.I. sets!) but as well as wonderful vintage men there are ever useful images of watch face, key, words and sentiment, advertisements, etc.
As with the Le Jardin card (Sunday’s post) I decided on the larger card base of 8″x8″.Something was astray with my camera and light as the colours in the detailed photographs are the true colours and not the colours in the main image.
At 44 years of age it has been many a year since I last sat on my Dad’s knees (his knees probably couldn’t stand it!!!) but I was drawn to the stamp with the man holding the little girl on his knees.  The tag was in my stash (some I’d stained some time ago with tea and coffee, along with the crochet coaster, gauze and fabric strip) and so all I needed to do was stamp the main image and add Father and Memories.I knew this sentiment had to be part of the card, over-stamping it onto a dyed tag with stamped clocks. Seam binding had been dyed (and in my stash) with homemade spray colour to create a shabby bow and to edge the bottom of the card, Father was repeatedly stamped onto dyed cotton. I know we all say this but my Dad is One in a Million.
Wishes and thank you for visiting…. oops, I nearly forgot to add that I plan on having a wee Giveaway very soon, aiming for the end of this week so I hope you will join me for that.
Lynne

Le Jardin (FSC#24)

Hello Everyone
I am so happy to be back with  my FSC DT sisters for this fortnight’s Fashionable Stamping Challenge with the theme of nature. We are a challenge site that embraces all types of artwork whether cards, tags, altered art, etc but please include stamping on your entry.  As always there is a prize so definitely worthwhile entering. Please visit the challenge site for all rules of entry and to view my wonderful DT sisters inspirational Nature inspired artwork.
For some time I have had my eyes on the beautiful Le Jardin set by Oxford Impressions and so when the set arrived in the post from Suzanne I was keen to ink up the stamps.
Size:- 8″x8“A total of seven stamps were used from the Le Jardin set.
Having a batch of stained tags in my stash saved time and I like the appearance of the tea/coffee stained tags juxtaposed against the pretty background paper and lace.
The largest tag hangs from a beautiful piece of driftwood which my lovely friend Dorthe sent to me.The flowers were tinted with Distress Markers (first use of the markers lovely Debbie sent to me for my birthday). I cut a flower from a piece of trim to adorn her hair.A smaller size tag which is embellished with a fabric bloom. I used Distress Stain to colour match to the lace and vintage playing card (it was pure luck as I only own one Distress Stain!)Whether it be an entry inspired by the garden or animals, have fun with this challenge.
Thank you for visiting this post. Have a lovely Sunday.
Wishes
Lynne

A Renaissance Man (Take Ten Winter Issue)

Hello Everyone
Last month I shared cards that were published in the December issue of Take Ten, in that same issue I had another Feature style article, what they titled Antiqued Cards in 10. Can you believe I’ve had this post drafted since January!  I have re-drafted it as I wanted to add a Thank You for the lovely comments on the birthday cards/gifts I received and all your lovely wishes in general.
Last year when I was making cards for friends using what was then a recent purchase of da Vinci stamps (Stampington & co) I enjoyed making them so much that I continued to make more to submit to Take Ten’s Feeling Themeless category.  I was over the moon to see the cards as a feature and they wrote a wonderful intro outlining how I save time by preparing the watercolour paper in advance.
The Natural WorldClassical BeautyThe Dragonfly Aside from the watercolour paper and tissue paper which were prepared in advance (I always do batches of things like this to have to hand) each of these cards were all made within ten minutes.
Thank you for taking the time to visit this post and hope to catch-up with you soon.
Wishes
Lynne

Catching-Up

Hello Everyone
Recently I shared one of the Oxford Impressions cards that I was delighted to see published in the pages of Stampington & co’s Catch-up Issue 2012, I also had some Stampsmith cards printed and would like to share two of them in this post.
Both cards were submitted to Take Ten so you will appreciate they were quick cards to make.
The first uses a cute stamp from Thank Heaven for Little Girls#2 and a sentiment stamp from Say It With Flair.This card features a beautiful Flapper from Flappers #1.
Thank you for taking the time to visit this post.
Wishes
Lynne

More Birthday Goodies

Hello Everyone
When sharing gifts  it can be  tricky as the last thing I want is for people to think I am bragging, “look at what I got”!  If someone goes to so much trouble to make a card or gift or to send a gift of crafting goodies, then it is only right that their generosity is recognised and if it is a piece of their art, to share with others their creativity but you might be relieved to know that this is the final post where I share the birthday treats that I received for my birthday back in May.
I also want to say Thank You to everyone who left birthday wishes in a comment for me to catch-up on here at my Blog or to send me an e-card or e-mail …. you all brought a lot of happiness my way.
From Penny (A Penny For Your Thoughts) a very personal and unique gift but first I will share the beautiful card Penny sent to me. This child definitely has the eyes of a wise old soul.Now for the gift …. a hand-carved stamp depicting the name of my Blog! Is that not such a special gift to receive. Penny stamped it onto a tag for me and presented it in a muslin bag.
Penny, what can I say, for my birthday last year the Fair Maid of Perth artwork you gifted to me left me speechless so not quite sure where this gift leaves me!!! Thank you for such an original gift and a gift that I will gain so much pleasure from inking up.
Wishes
Lynne