Boo! To You (The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello
Squeezing in another Halloween post!
This trio of cards were made last year, submitted for The Stampers’ Sampler annual Frightful & Delightful Challenge Call. So pleased that the trio made it to print.
All stamps are Oxford Impressions and you will find, if not all, then nearly all of the stamps at That’s Crafty.A grungy layered appearance was what I was aiming for with it being all about the stamps, embellishments were kept to a minimum.All the papers were either kraft or re-cycled kraft/brown paper packaging,  with paint and coffee and tea altering the colour.The actual background has layers of stamping, where I even stamped with Distress Ink (which is rare for me), misting with water and allowing the ink to bleed.This card is lighter with orange tones instead of the mahogany above.The owl is suspended on invisible thread, you can just about make out the thread.  When the card is displayed it creates a sense of movement on the owl, purely for a bit of fun!Large stamped pumpkins make up one of the stamped layers in the background along with a huddle of fussy cut pumpkins.The final card.Lots of splatters bring a nice distressed quality to the card and also to the cardstock which had been stained in preparation of a stamping surface.   I rarely colour in stamped images, all the colour laid down prior to stamping.The invisible thread makes another appearance, to allow the moon to dangle.
Thank you for your visit!
Wishes
Lynne

Honey, It’s Bath Time! (published Willow & Sage)

Hello Everyone
Earlier this year, a wonderful and completely unexpected opportunity came my way from Stampington & Co which resulted in me being published in Willow & Sage.
Willow & Sage is a magazine I haven’t mentioned before because it specialises in handmade bath and beauty products, something I would love to dabble in one of those days but at the moment, it is an area I haven’t dipped into and therefore, have never submitted to this title. That’s one of the reasons that the opportunity was such a bolt out of the blue for me.
My article in the Summer issue is all about packaging. With bath products in mind, with ingredients of honey or lavender, I set about creating a set with peat pots which would contain bath bombs and a soap bar wrap, all of which would be tucked inside a kraft bag.
I am sure you understand that I do not feel comfortable sharing instructions, what with them being published in Willow and Sage but I will share some photos.
A bath bomb would nestle comfortably in the peat pot, amongst the scrunched raffia.Throughout, the colour palette is that of lavender and the natural colours of burlap, jute and the peat pots.A little stamped tag.  You can probably guess what the tag is made from!A soap bar wrap, with the same supplies as those on the peat pots other than switching the style of the burlap flower.
The gift bag.  Apologies for the strange angle of the photograph and it also does not show that the gift bag is a decent size, after all it had to house all of the above.Thank you to Natalie Way and Christen Hammons for this wonderful opportunity and to Catherine Moore from Character Constructions and Suzanne Melvin from Oxford Impressions, whose stamps I used.
Thank you so much to you, for taking the time to visit this post.
Wishes
Lynne

She Gathers Honey (The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
In the Apr/May/June issue of The Stampers’ Sampler I have a variety of pieces published, some I’ve shared already.  I also  had this trio of cards, featuring Oxford Impressions beautiful Bee Happy stamp set.  This trio was made on the back of some samples I made for Suzanne at the time of their release, so they are definitely not recent!  To see the trio of cards published made me smile because it is such a lovely stamp set and I so enjoyed working on the cards.
The colours were selected to represent lavender and honey even though I didn’t use a lavender stamp!  I wanted a collection of textures:- kraft cardstock, tissue paper, pressed flowers, lace, raffia, wood……Along with the maiden from the Bee Happy set and lots of other supporting stamps, I also dipped into other Oxford Impressions sets, something I love to do with O.I. stamps is mix ‘n’ match. The stamped flowers bring a delicate colour to balance the kraft and also to tell the story of the bees and honey.No extra colour was added to the flower, simply worked with the wet ink from stamping the flower .A flutter of pressed petals bring a little something extra to the background.A little stamped element layered to the background panel.As tends to be the case with me, a cluster of this and that, most often, whatever might be lying around from previous projects.
The lilac panel was Kraft painted with PaperArtsy Frescos.  
The second card.The maiden, stamped onto tissue paper.  A cluster formed from a stamped postal mark, paper flower with wooden button and a scrap of polka dot fabric, adhered to a scrap of vintage crochet lace.Different flowers but stamped in the same way as card number one.Bees buzzing amongst the blooms.A sweet sentiment.The final card with the ink of the stamped flowers allowed to bleed. Many thanks for your visit to this blog post.
Have a great week. I certainly hope to be sharing another blog post soon.  I have a few drafted, trying to catch-up with items I would normally have shared by now.
Wishes
Lynne

Woolen Mittens On A Snowy Morning

Hello Everyone
If any of you joined in my recent Giveaway then it probably meant that the Oxford Impressions Woolen Mittens stamp set caught your eye. It is a gorgeous stamp set, brimming over with nostalgic images for this time of the year, although there are stamps that I will be inking up beyond Christmas.
One of the stamps which particularly caught my eye is the stamp with one simple word, snow. Sometimes this is the way of it for me, it can be the smaller, what some would say, slightly insignificant stamps that catch my eye in a set.
It has a gorgeous naive style to it, as though a child has written the word.  For some reason it brought to mind name labels, when a child writes their name on a fabric label to ensure that everyone knows that item belongs to them!
A wee cluster dangles from the mini pompom trim.On both sides of the mitten I stencilled my absolute favourite stencil, a Dinky Stencil from That’s Crafty.  I have been working with this stencil practically non-stop for festive cards/gifts.  It can be found HERE and you will definitely see it turning up again.
This mitten was a gift which I sent along with this card featuring stamps again from Woolen Mittens.
I opted for the softest of pinks and browns, with watercolour paper panels painted with various PaperArtsy Frescos.
A little cut out from a vintage doily which has a slightly snowflake design to it, with the mittens dangling freelyand simply embellished with stained ricrac and a MOP button.I’ve surprised myself at how many Christmas/festive posts I’ve been sharing and still have to share especially as I am not something who gets terribly excited about Christmas. Just goes to show!
Many thanks for your visit.
Wishes
Lynne

Hear The Owl Hooting

Hello Everyone
Recently I shared with you a Halloween card featuring Oxford Impressions stamps, in particular the 2015 Halloween release, Jack o’lantern. At the time of making that card I also made another with the same colours and along the same style. 
Jackie would rather stay indoors on Halloween, reading by the flickering light of the carved lantern, munching away on candy treats but her pet owl, Owlie is desperate for some Halloween fun and mischief.   Jackie dons a battered old hat in the hope of at least looking as though she has made some attempt at dressing up for Halloween, picking up the lantern to light their way as they walk through the field of pumpkins in search of opportunities to shout “Boo”.  Stained piece of bunting with a stamped pumpkin.I so love the font of this stamp.Tucked behind the main tag on the card isa wee tag featuring a stamped Halloween poem.Thank You for visiting this scheduled blog post and I have to apologise for not having stopped by your own blogs. I hope to catch-up with you soon.
Wishes
Lynne

A Hint of Wicked In Their Eyes

Hello Everyone
I have a Halloween offering to share with you, a card featuring Oxford Impressions Jack o’lantern stamp set.
For me, I like a neutral, tea/coffee stained colour palette for Halloween as it works perfectly for the vintage style I prefer but I decided that for this card I was going to take a deep breath and add a dash of orange! I know, what came over me I don’t know but as you can imagine, I toned it down with walnut ink crystals to bring it to a tone more suited for me.
Now, I mentioned the Jack o’lantern stamp set, this is the most recent addition to Oxford Impressions Halloween themed sets. Suzanne really does have such an extensive range of Halloween stamp sets ranging from the Too Cute to Spook side of Halloween to the slightly more macabre, as seen in the Danse Macabre set, with everything in-between.Taking watercolour paper, a shipping tag and fabric and trims along with a wooden frame, I set about staining all, firstly with dissolved walnut ink crystals then adding the orange before toning it all down.
For the background panel, I stamped the pumpkin, Trick or Treat and that lovely branch and on the shipping tag I stamped the focal image of the girls with spider’s web repeatedly stamped around them.
The painted wooden frame highlights the sentiment.  I am sure those girls are harmless as they set out to Trick or Treat with their pet bat, Batholomew but there is something rather intense to their gaze so maybe they have a wee touch of wickedness, with the elder sister leading her younger sister into all sorts of Halloween mischief.There seemed to be so much time until Halloween yet all of sudden it feels as though time is running away.  Another day I will share another Jack o’lantern card which I made at the same time as this one. In the meantime, many thanks for your visit and I do appreciate that not everyone embraces Halloween, for whatever reason. I hope I cause no offence to any of you during the times I share anything related to this occasion.
(Selected Oxford Impressions Halloween themed stamp sets can be purchased from That’s Crafty in the U.K. HERE.)
Wishes
Lynne

The Mermaid and the Seahorse

Hello Everyone
A wee while ago I received the most beautiful stamp set from Oxford Impressions, Mystical Mermaids. (also available from That’s Crafty) So far I have only shared one piece of artwork, at the That’s Crafty blog.
As soon as I saw the Calico Craft Parts shell (in the largest size) I knew it was the perfect substrate for a Mystical Mermaid.  I had never made a purchase from Calico Craft Parts before so wasn’t sure what to expect regarding quality of the pieces.  I am not affiliated with Calico Craft Parts in any way but I have to say that the MDF was a joy to work on.  On the shell, there is a lovely, not quite sure how to describe other than an etched design into the shell which even with the application of paint, you can still see that outline.  I didn’t use Gesso to prep the surface, I simply dived right in and applied the paints.There she rests, perched upon a starfish as she ponders life at the bottom of the ocean, with the sway of the coral around her.  Her hair glistens from the fish scales which become trapped within the tangle of the waves of her hair.Three or so paint colours were applied onto the shell, a mixture of Frescos and also Martha Stewart metallic acrylics with a hint of mica flakes for added shimmer.The seahorse is her friend and confidant.  The time whiles away as she shares her secrets, her fears and her hopes to the seahorse.A jumble of sea related items including stamped shells, all resting on a piece of driftwood.
Thank you for visiting this blog post.  I always read comments left, so thank you.
Wishes
Lynne

The Keeper of Bees

Hello Everyone
Recently I shared with you a canvas panel I had made featuring the beautiful Oxford Impressions Be Happy stamps.  Since I worked on that panel I have managed to dip into this stamp set once again, this time to make a card.
If you rise early in the morning you might catch a glimpse of her but don’t expect for her to strike up a conversation with you, she simply wants to claim the morning as her own.Her daily stroll is familiar, always taking the route alongside the riverbank where she will pause to take in each flower’s unique scent and gather the blossoms.  She will often be found crafting a new floral crown.  This very morning she was seen with roses in her hair.Many in the village whisper to each other that she converses with the bees.  Should we tell them that their whispers carry truth?  They gently buzz around her, settling amongst the flowers in her hair or gathering nectar from the freshly picked blossoms overflowing in abundance in her arms.
She walks with an aimless approach, with the jingle and jangle of the bee charms which always adorn her neck but do not be fooled, she has a mission. Further down the riverbank is her destination, to the bees dwelling house.  This is where she will reap the rewards for being a friend to the bees as she settles down her basket to gather the honey they willingly gift to her.
Thank You for taking the time to visit this scheduled post.  I will hopefully catch-up with you very soon to see what beautiful art you have been creating.
Wishes
Lynne

She Sits Amongst The Flowers and Bees

Hello Everyone
Earlier in the year Oxford Impressions released a stamp set called Bee Happy. Most of you will know by now that I have had a love affair with Oxford Impressions for some time, in fact I fell in love with the stamps before I managed to get my first set so for me it is always exciting when a new set is released. However, again, as many of you know, there was a long time when I was unable to craft and when I did many any crafting it was at a minimum, I am still trying to find my feet again. Suzanne was extremely understanding, with no pressure and no expectations to create to a deadline, knowing that when I could, I would create something. The something, my first completed project (I am still playing with this set) is this canvas panel.I will share the only embellishment, for want of a better word before sharing an abundance of detail photographs. A stamp bee nestles inside a distressed wooden frame. I only used four stamps from this gorgeous stamp  set but, as you can see, that wonderful flower was stamped many, many times …. I think my poor hands are still in trauma from all that fussy cutting!Silicone Glue and Gel Medium were my friends for the dimension I wanted to achieve however instead of detailing all that I used or the inspiration, beyond the actual stamps themselves, I decided to fill this blog post with detail photographs showing you the canvas panel from different angles so you hopefully get a sense of the dimension and depth achieved.I will say that I deliberately opted not to ink all of the fussy cut edges of the flowers because I didn’t want a heavy or too vintage a feeling so I lightly and randomly inked here and there but as you can see, much of the white areas of the edges were left….. it is difficult to step away from the sponge and ink because I would normally, if anything, over-ink!One flower stamp but I created a little variation by cutting into it in various ways.I did consider solely working with honey tones as I am a wee bit partial to monochrome but it didn’t take me long to make the decision to be inspired by lavender honey.Bee Happy is available directly from Oxford Impressions . I don’t know if it is available within the U.K. but if you have your eye on this stamp set then it might be worth your while keeping a check on availability, if any at That’s Crafty as Laura does stock several Oxford Impressions sets.
Many thanks for taking the time to visit this post.
Wishes
Lynne

Permission To Steal My Heart

Hello Everyone
With Valentine’s Day starting to occupy stampers minds I thought I would share with you a card which I made some months ago, when I first received Oxford Impressions Waiting For Mr Darcy.
This is a quick scheduled post. Behind the scenes I am trying to organise blog posts … my great intention was to do so before the end of 2014 but, the same old story, time passing by far too quickly!Peeking through the layers of paint are fragments of book text with some shabby stamping in the form of the damask stamp from French Script (again, Oxford Impressions) which I partially inked up before randomly stamping to create pattern and texture to the background. You can see that I didn’t colour in any of the images.  They would look stunning but for me it isn’t something I tend to do.Laid down, beneath the paint are torn pieces of pattern paper in a pattern which suited the stamps.Thank You for your visit to this post.
Wishes
Lynne