Black Friday Bargains

Hello
A day late but there is still plenty of time to grab a bargain at That’s Crafty where there is a Black Friday event and not only that, also come Monday, Cyber Monday.  So plenty of opportunities to find a bargain or two!
If you sign up to the That’s Crafty newsletter then that is one way to be kept up-to-date on such events and also on new stock items.
Happy Shopping!
Lynne

A Scandalous Beauty (Published – The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
I know, I really should be sharing Christmas projects but I drafted this post as far back as August, anyway, now and then it does good to take a break from Christmas.
This post is all about the final feature I wanted to share with you from the Oct/Nov/Dec issue of Stampington & co’s The Stampers’ Sampler (see HERE and HERE for the previous posts I shared). Three cards make up the feature but I am only sharing two cards.
I actually made the first card some time ago when I was on the Dezinaworld DT (unfortunately June had to disband the team). She always had the most amazing images to play with.
The cards I am sharing all feature a Dezinaworld image of a femme, printed onto a transparency.Each image was layered onto text,  layered behind a Crafty Individuals die-cut frame and for each card I painted the cardstock with Gesso and emulsion paint.
The stamps used are available from Oxford Impressions at Austen Gallery site – Scandalous Beauty stamp plate.
If you have a copy of The Stampers’ Sampler you can see that they included a detail photograph which highlights the layers and depth achieved, sorry but I don’t have such a photograph and don’t want to share the one from the magazine. The second card … The photograph above is more true to the colour.
I mentioned Scandalous Beauty but I also used (always using this stamp) the damask stamp from French Script.If I have not caught up with you I will do so very soon, due to various reasons I have fallen slightly behind with Blog visits this past week. In the meantime many thanks for your visit.
Wishes
Lynne

Holly

Hello Everyone
Once the festivities are over and we start a brand New Year I say, never again will I leave it until the last few months, I must start in January and then there will be no rush but here I am, once again facing the fact that we are nearing the end of November and I am still making cards.  Thank goodness I am not making all my cards this year! However the cards I am sharing in this post are not recent makes but decided to share them as they were made as Oxford Impressions DT samples.
I’ve spoken before how I didn’t exactly embrace Christmas cardmaking mainly due to my lack of supplies.  Now, once I actually get motivated I find it is much easier as I have so many beautiful stamps to reach for.  My absolute favourites are Oxford Impressions.  If you are interested the following Christmas/Winter themes are:-
Winter Snow
Season of Giving
Christmas Wishes
St Nicholas
They can be purchased direct from Oxford Impressions and you can also source some of them from That’s Crafty.It doesn’t appear to be but the background is layers of different media such as Gesso, dissolved walnut ink crystals, walunt ink stain in a beautiful plum colour and Caran d’ache watersoluble crayons (Neocolor II) applied to watercolour paper with the Gesso creating a lovely resist. This is time consuming as I don’t use a heat gun for this process but find that if I work on  large panels it means I have some to hand when I want to get down to making a card.
I wanted a shabby distressed appearance and of course the texture of the watercolour paper instantly brings that when stamping and by using Distress Ink and smudging it whilst it was still wet, it brought the lovely weathered appearance I wanted, what I didn’t want to achieve was a perfectly stamped background of holly.
Various textures from different found papers and a scrap of Tissue Tape embellish the corner of the tag.I do so like  a tag on card (hmmm, words I seem to have said very recently!).  The pearls add some pop to the holly.The sentiment layered onto glitter cardstock.  I am not a fan of glitter cardstock however I do like touches of it here and there, especially for creating a mat for a sentiment on Christmas cards as it adds some subtle sparkle around the edge of the sentiment.This will now  become a photo heavy post as it makes sense to share this card in the same post, it really is a variation on a theme to the first offering.Starting with the same background, this time I used the Elegant Swirls Mask/Stencil set from Crafty Individuals to create the background. Oxford Impressions postal marks are such favourites of mine. It doesn’t trouble me that the cities are not relevant to the person who receives the card, I like that they bring another stamped element and interest to cards, tags or whatever it might be. So those cards are the first of my Christmas offerings for this week but no doubt I will be sharing some more Christmas themed samples before the month of November closes.
Many thanks for your visit to this post.
Wishes
Lynne

Queen Bee

Hello Everyone
At the beginning of the month my lovely friend Darlene (Dar’s Blog) celebrated her birthday but it was months and months ago I made her card.  I made it such a long time ago all because of an Oxford Impressions stamp plate I received to play with.  A bee in particular caught my attention, you see, Darlene’s daughter keeps bees (of course, that isn’t the correct terminology!) so I thought it would be a nice idea to incorporate the bees into her card and I had the perfect focal stamp to use on the card to ensure there was to be no doubt that Darlene was to the Queen Bee on her birthday!
Oxford Impressions (Austen Gallery)
French Script
With Love (also available from That’s Crafty)
I didn’t manage to photograph the background but I can tell you I used emulsion, Gesso and Paper Artsy Fresco paints and stamped with Distress Inks and Versafine Toffee.
It isn’t often I work with lavender/lilacs but with the bee theme I wanted a colour palette that brings to mind honey, in particular lavender honey and I also wanted a dreamy, muted appearance for this card.
This gorgeous stamp is from French Script.  Stamping with chalk ink onto the painted surface and slightly smudging the ink created the appearance I was aiming for.   The stamped lace  beneath the focal is also from the French Script plate.  Can you see the bees I stamped in the background, very subtle but they bring dimension and extra pattern to the focal.
I do like a tag on a card! Crowns were stamped onto the painted tag, to signify the Queen Bee.The stamped wreath tops the tag.  This stamp is also from the With Love set.   Thank you for visiting this first post of a brand new week. As always there will be a mix of themes to share but of course there will have to be a scattering of Christmas projects amongst it all.
Have a creative week.
Wishes
Lynne

London Gents

Hello Everyone
Sunday rolls around once more and so time for my DT post for That’s Crafty.
Moving away from Christmas themed artwork, this week it is a masculine themed sample I share at the That’s Crafty Blog.
It was tricky selecting the sneaky peek portion of this sample as there is so much taking place but this gives you a flavour of the project.The project with instructions can be viewed at the That’s Crafty Blog.
Thank you for your visit today and this past week.
Wishes
Lynne

The Voice Of An Angel

Hello Everyone
This post is to share a sample I created for Crafty Individuals some weeks ago using a lovely Elements set, CI-396.
I have already shared some other samples using this set and still have another to share with you another day but for today it is this hanging I made with the choir girl/angel taking centre stage. Some of my favourite things make up this hanging:- Gesso, tag, corrugated cardboard, found papers and fragments of lace.
For the tag, I played up the texture of the shipping tag (I purchased a bundle of buff tags for next to nothing) with Gesso then stamped the girl with a hint of sparkle in the form of highlights from a Sakura Stardust pen (available from That’s Crafty).I really like when pretty is toned down with natural colours and elements and always like a mix of textures side by side – a piece cut from a vintage doily sits against the painted corrugated cardboard which has been liberally sprinkled with sparkle, scraps of found paper and with pearly stick pins tucked behind the tag and embellished with a metal snowflake dry brushed with Gesso and a touch of sparkle.At the other side of the tag, peeking beneath the tulle is the Crafty Individuals music sheet stamp, stamped onto found paper it brings some interest to this side of the tag without being too intrusive.This little element was cut from a vintage doily, it reminds me of a snowflake. Thank you for your visit today. You surely deserve an apology if you are a friend of my Blog, visiting and commenting with every post as it seems as though I am bombarding you with Christmas/winter themed DT samples, so thank you for staying with me and I will try as often as possible to share non-Christmas related artwork as I did with the previous post.
This is a scheduled post which I have edited to add that I have fallen slightly behind with visiting your Blogs but I will try and catch-up with you over the coming days.
Wishes
Lynne

Elegance (Published – The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
When the July/Aug/Sept issue of The Stampers’ Sampler was published back in July I was thrilled to see not only the Farm Fresh (see HERE) but also another collection of cards which I had submitted to Take Ten, were published as a feature style article in The Stampers’ Sampler, excited not only for being published but the collection of cards feature possibly one of my all time favourite Oxford Impressions stamp plate, Dressforms & Corsetry.
I won’t bore you with all the cards that were included in this article but here are someYou know how I love all my little details and fragments of this and that and so it touched me that they recognised this with the words included in their intro to the feature.
Here is such a detail of a fragment of stamped found paper which is tissue thin and a scrap of stained seam binding attached to a dressmaker safety pin.A beautiful feather stitch stamp creates a border.This is why I adore stamp plates, I can select a theme and stamp up all the elements I wish to create stamped embellishments such as the word sew , here stamped onto vintage dressmaker tissue and simply attaching a dressmaker snap to this fragment to bring a detail to the card.The final card I will share is this one which is possibly the most elegant of dressforms from the Dressform & Corsetry set One of the details on the card is where I stamped onto pretty fabric which brings texture and also a subtle touch of colour to the card. Thank You for your visit to this post. I have many Christmas/winter related samples to share with you so it is nice to break up the posts to share some different themes every now and again.
Wishes
Lynne

Fir Trees & Snowflakes

Hello Everyone
Let me stay with the theme of Christmas for this scheduled post where I thought I would share another a decoration using one of the images from Nicecrane’s Vintage Women’s Christmas. I have been playing with the images in the hope of making a little bit of a dent into my Christmas To Do List.
This sweet and rather mischievous looking child inspired me to make a wall hanging instead of a card.I really should have focused on making another card but for some reason as I gathered all the pieces to make a card, it morphed into this hanging which would look pretty hanging from a door handle. I wanted a rustic appearance yet still to have a pretty look to it.  The lace ruffle and fragment of vintage lace at the bottom of the panel softens it to bring that pretty touch.
If you wish to join me as I share with you some of the details on this panel such as this bark star which I applied wax to bring some shimmer to it, topped with a vintage button.The stamps are all from Oxford Impressions.
I know they can barely be seen but that is almost their appeal to me, when something is peeking out beneath a layer and makes you want to lean in and take time for a closer look.Found papers are brought to life after I’d applied different mediums to the pieces, catching the light beautifully.Thank You for your visit to this post as your visits are always appreciated. I still have lots of Christmas samples to share with you but my  next post will see me take a mini break from this theme.
Wishes
Lynne

Wish Upon A Star

Hello Everyone
Sunday is time for when I share my peek at my DT post for That’s Crafty.
This week is a practical item for Christmas or I suppose it could be suitable for someone celebrating their birthday either on Christmas Day or the month of DecemberI’ve been playing with some, what are, new brands for me, Martha Stewart, Clear Scraps and Maimeri.
Thank you for your visit to this sneaky peek and a big thank you to those of you who take the trouble to visit and comment at the That’s Crafty Blog.
Wishes
Lynne

She Dreams of Christmas

Hello Everyone
Let me squeeze in a post. Not so long ago I shared a Christmas card featuring a beautiful image from Nicecrane’s Vintage Women’s Christmas. Spending time using those images to create Christmas cards has been a pleasure as they are such gorgeous images.
I rarely use pattern papers, not because I don’t like pattern papers, I do and I especially love to see others use them but for some reason and I haven’t figured it out yet, I tend to back away from using them.  For the Christmas cards that I am making this year, although I like using glass glitter/vintage mica flakes with a stencil and texture paste I also wanted another design, something else that would provide shimmer and texture on the card which is why I have been using gilding waxes.
This is an 8″x8″ card.Different waxes were used on the background, obviously after I had laid down the snowflakes which is a Clear Scraps Nordic Snowflakes stencil available from That’s Crafty which I used it with modeling paste.
In fact there is very little the wax hasn’t come into contact with!  Applied to this starburst wooden embellishment and the flat back pearl sticker and also the found paper, doily and the painted corrugated cardboard!For me, the tones in this image are so appealing but I did feel that sparkle was in order so I reached for some beautiful vintage style mica flakes.  A fragment of stained lace was a perfect colour to match this card.It will come as no surprise that any stamps which make an appearance on this card are from Oxford Impressions.
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit this post. There will be more Vintage Women’s Christmas to share very soon so I do hope you like what I am creating with the Nicecrane images.
Edit:- This was a drafted post but I wanted to add a Thank You for the comments I am catching-up on reading for the past couple of Blog posts. I have been a wee bit absent from being on-line the past couple of days and not managed to visit my favourite Blogs but I will catch-up with you very soon if I haven’t managed to do so this evening.
Wishes
Lynne