Seek Stillness

Hello
Over at the That’s Crafty blog today, it is my turn to share a D.T. project. As always, sharing only a peek of the project here, a project featuring one of my most favourite stamps, it is just so beautiful.

All the details are at, That’s Crafty if you would like to see the complete project.
Wishes
Lynne

Thinking Outside The Cardboard Box (Greencraft)

Hello
In the Autumn 2017 issue of Greencraft magazine, one of the articles I had published is a trio of notebooks.
Greencraft magazine is as you’d might guess, a publication focusing on re-cycling, re-using, re-purposing, a Green life.  One of the items that I re-cycle the most is cardboard, of any nature whether mailing boxes or cardboard food packaging.

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish in Antarctic was used on the corrugated cardboard which I reclaimed from a mailing box. I intentionally aimed for a distressed appearance although it is easy to achieve the corrugation without a distressed effect if that is what you prefer.

I wanted a simple aesthetic to the notebooks, stamping PaperArtsy ESN onto brown paper, re-cycled brown packing paper.

There is a slight variation to each notebook, with this cover wrapping around to the front with the button serving the purpose of wrapping the cord around to close the notebook.

Just to show that the inside of the journals is also “Green” – re-cycled brown packing paper.  You can see, I like to layer various lengths, with town edges, it brings a nice textural quality.

This is the inside of the Story of Me journal, again, re-cycled brown packing paper.

It’s not only fun, it is rewarding to take items that are found and what many would place in the re-cycle bin, transforming into the simplest of notebooks/journals.  I like them for lists, etc, everyday type of note making and once filled, they can then be disposed of but at least in the meantime, I’ve had some crafting fun making something with a purpose and the paper and cardboard packing box has not immediately made a journey to the re-cycle bin.
Hope you are all having a lovely start to this new month.
Wishes
Lynne

Be Brave

Hello Everyone
My first post for September at That’s Crafty is this notebook.
As soon as I saw StencilGirl Becoming, I knew I had to make a wee notebook featuring the words.All details can be viewed HERE.
I am absent at the moment but hope to be back to normal as soon as. In the meantime, many thanks for any of you who take the time out of your day to visit here, it is always greatly appreciated.
Wishes
Lynne

Embrace Me (Somerset Studio Gallery)

Hello Everyone
A very quick scheduled post to share today featuring one card.
This card is published in the Summer issue of Somerset Studio Gallery (I am sure it was submitted to Take Ten). It was made as a Valentine’s Day card but it could also be an anniversary card. The stamps and image are from Darkroom Door, the image is from Love Letters Montage sheet.
This card actually came about when I received the Floral Texture Stamp.  With a pink chalk ink I stamped the Texture Stamp onto the top and bottom edges of a white scallop edged cardbase to create a decorative border, the Texture Stamps are fabulous. Layering one of the Love Letters images onto shabbily painted corrugated cardboard along with scraps of floral fabric and raspberry velvet ribbon, topped with the stamped word, embrace which is one of the many, many words/sentiments to be found on the Love Word Block stamp – incredibly useful stamps.So there we have it, a quick card and a quick post. Another time I will share with you art journal style panels which were also published in this issue of Somerset Studio Gallery.
Many thanks for your visit.
Wishes
Lynne

An Expression of Love

Hello Everyone
I have this post scheduled to appear in April so yes, Valentine’s Day is well and truly over and done with for another year but I decided anyway that I would share this trio of cards which feature the Darkroom Door Word Block Love.
There isn’t much to say about each card which were simply made with two of them featuring the stamp as a background, stamped onto book text painted with a mix of Gesso and Fresco Vintage Lace then for each card I selected a particular word/sentiment.This Word Block might be labelled Love, but as you can see, there is such a great variety of words/sentiments on this Word Block which can be used beyond cards for romance such as:- Live, Laugh, Love or Happiness, what about Elegance or the one I particularly like which is Moments.Hand-cut corrugated hearts painted with Gesso are the focals for each cardwith lace, pearls and stained seam binding.  The cards came about after I made a card in a similar style to send to my sister and brother-in-law for their anniversary last year.  I then continued to make the ones above with Valentine’s Day 2015 in my mind, submitting them to Stampington’s Take Ten,  (with them actually appearing in The Stampers’ Sampler).  I have to pinch myself whenever a submission makes it to the pages of any of their publications.
Wishes
Lynne

They Sing Their Song Of Springtime (The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
A wee while ago I shared with you two cards which had been featured in The Stampers’ Sampler (Oct/Nov/Dec issue).  I thought I would now share with you the other two cards.
Just to outline that all four cards had the common theme of using RedLead Paperworks Bird Defined, using this particular stamp for the VOAT (Variation On A Theme) category in the sister publication, Take Ten (sometimes they will publish submissions in a different publication).  I also had the same elements running throughout:- neutral colour palette with a hint of duck egg blue, stamping onto vintage French book text which had been prepared with Gesso.
I love mica tiles especially when it is a theme relating to the natural world.  A simple bit of tile can bring such depth to whatever it is layered onto and even though on this card I used quite a decent size piece of tile, I keep even the tiniest fragments because there is always a place for the littlest of shards.With the theme being birds I liked the notion of gathering little bits of this and that, as though the bird has had a busy day gathering items to take back add to a nest.
The duck egg blue paint was used to liven up the neutrals and for some reason, I cannot help but think of Springtime when I see this colour.  The colour appears in the form of paint, dotty ribbon and a flat back pearl.

Another Bird Defined card
This card is what the Bird Defined stamp looks like when stamped as a whole.  In my eyes this is a  brilliantly designed stamp because there is a decent sized bird which looks beautiful as a stand alone stamped image, then moving down there is the word bird and beyond that the actual definition.  It is actually three stamps for the price of one! (BTW, I am not on commission lol)The text peeks through the Gesso, this is why it has to be one of my all time favourite surfaces.A sweet spotty feather adorns this card. Just to say that looking at this photograph you can see that I utilise everything, that is a piece of the book page, the margin, which was surplus to requirements when applying the Gesso in preparation of stamping the bird.If birds are a favourite theme for you then please take a look at RedLead’s on-line store as they have some beautiful birds, feathers, nests and also words and sentiments relating to this particular theme and not forgetting their wonderful range of nature inspired stencils.
Already I have noticed, if I am awake during the very early hours of the morning, that the birds are sweetly singing away, as though without a care in the world, telling all who hear them that Spring has arrived.  Although some could argue that those little feathered ones are far too optimistic and they need to be keeping a keener eye on the weather forecast!
Thank You, always, for your visit to my Blog, which is greatly appreciated.  I am so lucky to have such loyal friends who take the time to visit and comment.
Wishes
Lynne

They Sing The Sweetest Songs (The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
A RedLead stamp I have become very fond of is the sweet, Bird Defined. The bird is not only really sweet, it is also a generous size.
A few months ago it came into my head that I would like to create a few cards with this stamp for Stampington & co’s Take Ten. In actual fact they were published in the sister publication, The Stampers’ Sampler (Oct/Nov/Dec).
I am sharing two of the four cards. All of the cards feature Bird Defined and Bird Poetry which can be purchased direct from RedLead.
The cards were created with a cohesive look not only featuring the same stamps but the same colours and items gathered to adorn each card and with vintage French book text used as the stamping surface, after a wash of Gesso.A teeny tag.  I wanted to include a dash of colour and it was by chance that I spied this piece of ribbon which worked well with the paint colour used on the corrugated cardboard.

The Sweetest Songs
The merest hint of blue paint along the top edge of the card.
Another wee tag adorns this card along with a gathering of painted burlap, twill ribbon along with a button and twineBeing published is something I never take for granted. I am well aware that when I sit making a card(s) or any nature of artwork that all I can do is enjoy the process, beyond that it is simply outwith my control what will catch their eye at Stampington & co. I am so happy that they liked all four of the cards because I so enjoyed creating this little collection. It is never a chore to work with beautiful stamps.
Thank You for your visit to this blog post. Your visits are something else I never take for granted. I know how lucky I am to have you take the time to stop by and say hello.
Wishes
Lynne

A Merry Moncrieff Christmas (published – The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
Stamping never fails to provide me with surprises but not too often can I say that they are surreal.  However to open the pages of the Autumn issue of The Stampers’ Sampler and to see a feature with the title A Merry Moncrieff Christmas well I’d say that is definitely a surreal moment!
(The first two pages of the feature)I have to tell you that I am sure my cheeks were a deep shade of pink but I quickly recovered to simply enjoy the moment and the absolute honour of them collating submissions for their Happy Holiday Challenge into one feature.
I am sharing only one of the submissions from this feature (another time I will share some other submissions which made it into print in this issue but did not form part of this feature), a wall hanging featuring beautiful Oxford Impressions stamps. This is one of my favourite Oxford Impressions Christmas stamps. In fact I am willing myself to step away from this stamp for Christmas 2014 because I have used it so much since I received the Season for Giving stamp plate.
This wall hanging had lots of texture and layers from a doily which I gilded with waxes, muslin, old book text, wax paper which again received the gilded treatment,lace and corrugated cardboard packaging.  In fact I got to the point where I was using corrugated cardboard so much, making an appearance on almost everything, that I have consciously not used it for weeks, even months.  LOL I am sitting here searching my brain, wondering if I have made use of it without realising it but no, nothing is coming to mind!A sweet button on top of a bark star. Apologies if I am sharing too many Christmas/Holiday projects but that is what is dominating my crafty life at the moment but I will try and sneak in a few non-festive blog posts here and there.
If you are in the middle of Christmas preparations, creating cards/gifts then I hope you are doing well and on track. I still have a dozen or so cards to make and a few gifts. Just so glad that I started the first batch of cards back in August otherwise I would be in a right pickle!
As always, thank you for your visit to this post.
Wishes
Lynne

The Mischief Maker (Published in Somerset Holidays & Celebrations)

Hello Everyone
Let me stay with Halloween for the time being to share with you  the amazing news of my Halloween article in the 2014 edition of Somerset Holidays & Celebrations.
I cannot begin to express how shocked I was when the Editor contacted me several months ago to say they wanted to publish a wall hanging as an article and for me to write the article.  Now, writing articles is extremely new to me, there have been two previous occasions for Sew Somerset and there is no doubt it filled me with trepidation at the prospect of writing this article  yet what a thrill to know they liked it so much, that is always the biggest surprise to me!
In the article I write about my childhood memories of Halloween as a child growing up in Scotland and also what inspired this wall hanging.
This photograph is deceiving as the wall hanging does not look exceptionally large, it looks as though it is a card, but it was about 12″ in length, approximately.
Also in this publication, in the Gallery section, a Valentine’s card and three Crafty Individuals pieces, two wall hangings and a hanging canvas.
For me, it is the greatest honour to be published by Stampington & co and something I never take for granted. Something else I don’t take for granted is your loyalty to my Blog and also your continuous support.
Wishes
Lynne

Adopt The Pace Of Nature

Hello Everyone
Towards the end of April I shared with you the first of my samples for Darkroom Door featuring the stunning new Feathers stamp set.
This post sees me once again inking up the beautiful Feathers stamp set, or at least one of the feathers from the set.This time I added hints of  colour which I randomly applied to the Gesso painted corrugated panel and also a hint of salmon pink in the form of the torn piece of fabric tied into a shabby bow.As with my first sample I once again stamped onto muslin. Darkroom Door have many beautiful  quotes/sentiments/words included on several of their stamp sets. This is one I seem to be reaching for time and again at the moment.  On the first Feathers sample I only used part of the quote, this is it in its entirety.  Believe it or not, the quote was stamped onto Moose Poo paper! Blame my lovely friend Darlene, she was the one who sent me the paper pad all the way from Canada.  It is really great paper for nature themed artwork, I’ve nearly used all the pad. Already I have shared two samples using this set and there are still more to come, that is how much I am enjoying inking up the beautiful stamps.  I realised that one of the reasons I am so taken with this set is the adequate size of the feathers, most times feather stamps are on the small side to be the focal of a project.
Have a great week.
Wishes
Lynne