Fragile @ That’s Crafty!

Hello
On Sunday, I shared a new D.T. project for That’s Crafty, on their Blog, HERE.
This is just a snippet of the collage.
As always, there is much to view over at the blog, with each D.T. member having their own style and working with a range of products available from That’s Crafty online store.
Thank you for your visit.
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

Dreamy Butterfly Days

Hello Everyone
Have you noticed that Crafty Individuals have a Anything Goes challenge theme for the month of May? You are welcome to enter so long as your artwork contains at least one Crafty Individuals product.
At the time of working on a sample for Crafty Individuals, I worked on another Mixed Media panel, at the same time but with different colour palette (first sample HERE).  I get wearied creating duplicates, maybe that is why I tend to drag my heels when it comes to Christmas cardmaking but I have a fondness for creating variations on a theme, in fact I really like those times when I can make a trio or more.
A 4.5″ x 9″ white/greyboard Alterables panel from That’s Crafty is the substrate for this mixed media piece.  One of my favourite substrates as it can take a fair bit of abuse from various media, water, heat….As with the previous CI panel, one of their images is the focal.  Those pretty paper butterflies were a gift from my dear friend Dorthe.  They are actually cupcake sleeves, just needed to snip away to remove the butterflies!.
Scraps of tea stained lace and the edge of a frail and faded pressed flower, the lace rose was added to the centre of the pressed flower.Dinky Stencils appear in the form of Harlequin (also available directly from That’s Crafty)and Dream which can be found HERE from That’s Crafty, I also used the beautiful Flight of Butterflies,  all stencilled with Grungepaste.
The fact they are dinky makes them a breeze for adding the merest hint of stencilling.
CI-451 is a recently released Elements set.  On this panel I partially inked the border to randomly stamp on the panel, really just to create pattern and texture.Those little dots, they are Infusions!  I liked the pattern they created.The stencilled butterflies, such a beautiful stencil design.There is still time to enter the challenge. The Top 5 selected will win a Crafty Individuals stamp of their choice and not only that, all entrants are entitled to a discount code to use at the Crafty Individuals website. All details can be found HERE.
Wishes
Lynne

Enchanted Beauty

Hello Everyone
When Crafty Individuals recently released new stamps, the first I inked up was CI-451 Inky Border. Alongside a That’s Crafty white/greyboard panel, a couple of their Dinky Stencils (some Dinky Stencils are now being stocked at Crafty Individuals), PaperArtsy Infusions and some other bits ‘n’ pieces, I made this Mixed Media panel.
I’ve no doubt that some of you will have a Crafty Individuals Image Book amongst your stash. It was one of those books I dipped into for the image on this panel.A shabby grouping is the focal on this panel.I am sure it was lovely Alison Hall who sent me the fabric flower die cut.  For it to tie in with the colours, I dipped a brush into Infusions to stain the white fabric.  A rhinestone adds some old style glamour.  Infusions also stained the seam binding and lace scraps.Now, I know this flower has seen better days but for some reason I’d held onto it, for a very long time.  It made me think that she has possibly kept such a flower, dusty with age and crumbling to the touch but on sight it makes her heart swell with bittersweet memories.Detail photographs of the stamping on the background with Dinky Stencil, selecting the word Enchanted.The Infusions can bring such a dreamy air to a project
and I like when it pools around stencilled areas.
A reminder that the May Challenge of Anything Goes is underway at the Crafty Individuals challenge blog. Details for entering your artwork can be seen HERE.
Many thanks for your visit.
Wishes
Lynne

Women of Strength (Somerset Studio Gallery)

Hello Everyone
Back in December this canvas was published in Somerset Studio Gallery’s Winter issue. This, if my memory serves me well, I actually submitted to The Stampers’ Sampler, quite a wee while ago, certainly not last year or the year before that!  So, last December, there I was looking at Somerset Studio Gallery, knowing I had an article and Spotlight, etc etc and as I turn a page my eye catches a canvas I created for Redlead Paperworks.  Then my eye travels above the canvas and I see a piece of art and I say to myself that it looks similar to one I made some time ago.  It was mine!!!! I actually had to do a double-take LOL.
This hanging canvas was actually titled Women of Strength and with today being International Women’s Day I thought it apt to pause and give thought to women of strength, past and present, whether women in history who helped pave the way for a brighter future for all women or women in our own lives, our mothers, sisters, friends, Aunts, etc.All the stamps on this canvas are from The Stampsmith which I received when I was on their DT but which became much loved by me, in fact it wasn’t so long ago that a stamp from this collection made an appearance HERE.
The tags are the focal on this canvas, all stained with fruit tea with just a hint of paint scrubbed onto the tags, here and there.The trimmings were also stained with tea.  I suppose this hanging canvas perfectly displays the way I love to incorporate textures, as the actual canvas had texture paste applied and also how I love to gather fragments and find a home for them on a project.  Some of the items I gathered:- a dried and faded petal from a hydrangea (one of my favourite flowers) and I see a scrap of gold embossed paper peeking from the side and no doubt I cut into a piece of lace to adorn her head.
This is also to celebrate you because I know, from the personal stories you share, that you are all Women of Strength!
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

Amongst The Flowers (Guest Artist for Altered Pages)

Hello Everyone
It was such a lovely surprise to be invited by  Altered Pages  to be their Guest Designer.
From the outset I knew that I would work with fabric and Lesley Riley’s TAP but it was such a difficult choice selecting which collage image sheet to work with.   However I had to go with the Flower Maidens image sheet as it is brimming with stunning images and one of my all time favourites is the one I eventually decided to feature as the focal on my fabric wall hanging.Whether a collage image or rubber stamp, she has long been a favourite of mine, I like the dreamy quality to it.Last year my lovely friend Dorthe gifted me trims which she had stained with berries. There was one piece in particular which I was saving for a rainy day, waiting for the perfect project to use it. It appears to be a piece cut from a vintage linen tablecloth, trimmed with crochet lace which Dorthe had stained a lovely deep berry colour.  I noticed when I printed the image onto TAP that the colours of some of the flowers would match perfectly with the stained linen.  What made the linen all the lovelier to work with as a base for the wall hanging, there were pretty stitched elements which you can see peeking at the right side of the photograph above.
I was keen to add flowers somewhere onto the hanging but somehow fabric flowers weren’t working and paper flowers didn’t look right either, not for the feeling I wanted to exude, so I delved into my stash of pressed flowers, selecting what are favourites of mine.  A few scattered down the side creates a pretty border and adds another texture to the panel.  I  favour rugged textures, such as the burlap (and the corrugated cardboard) against soft, feminine textures, in this instance the flower petals.One of my favourite trims at the moment is this creamy, rose lace.Initially I planned on stamping a sentiment relating to nature but my eyes happened to fall on a rubber stamp depicting one word, Moments. In my eyes, perfect, reminding the viewer that we should all take the time to savour moments throughout our day.It was fun creating this wall hanging with an Altered Pages image and an honour to be their Guest Artist.
I know you are all such busy people but if you would like to visit Altered Pages to read my short post, then that would be lovely.
Thank You for your visit.
Wishes
Lynne

Let’s Walk Through The Streets Of Paris

Hello Everyone
New stamps, aren’t those such sweet words!
This is a post which I should have shared before now, doesn’t a week pass by far too quickly.
At the time of drafting this post I had received two of the brand new Texture Stamps from Darkroom Door. Since that package I went on to receive more of their new stamps, more news of that in posts to follow.
For this post I am focusing on French Script Texture Stamp however there are six stamps to choose from this new collection of Texture Stamps, the other I received was the beautiful Floral, I would say that Rachel knows me very well already to have selected those stamps for me!
I was so keen to play with the stamps that I set about making this quick card featuring French Script Texture Stamp.
To create a collage style card I also used a word from the Paris Wordstrips and image from the Paris Montage collection. A full supply list and instructions can be viewed HERE, at the Darkroom Door Blog.A fragile blossom.I am also sneaking in another card in this post which was made more than one month ago for my sister and brother-in-law for their anniversary.
My sister doesn’t favour vintage so I opted to make a card with very little fussiness to it.
The details for this card can be viewed at the Darkroom Door Blog .
Thank You for your visit to this post.
Have a great week,
Wishes
Lynne

The Birds Sing Their Sweetest Song (Published in Take Ten)

Hello Everyone
Love has been the predominant theme on many of my Blog posts of late so to mix things up a little I am sharing some non-Valentine cards.
I find there is something so relaxing about making cards that include little bits and pieces.  To have even one card in print is a thrill for me so imagine my delight when four cards  I submitted to Stampington & co’s Take Ten were grouped  as a feature style article titled “Bits & Pieces”.
On all four cards I used the beautiful Oxford Impressions’ The Bird’s Nest stamp plate.  This plate is so well thought out as it includes everything from musical notes to little impressions of birds feet, a stunning cage, sentiments, etc.
All stamps are from this stamp plate including any text.  I stamped text onto found papers and then tore into pieces to use as embellishment style pieces on particular cards, such as below the eggs on the first card. A cute speckled feather, scrap of lace and cotton string adorn the card.As I wanted the cards to work as a set I repeated my colour choice of cobalt blue and sepia throughout. Embellishments were kept to a minimum so as not to detract from the beauty of the stamps and any bits ‘n’ pieces I used had a sense of nature to them such as the burlap and faded hydrangea blossom. This birdcage is glorious. The fourth card sees a beautiful sentiment as the focal. The Bird’s Nest is a stamp plate which continues to be available. At the time of drafting this post I sourced that it is available (and in stock) from That’s Crafty in the U.K.  I also want to add that included in a recent kind comment on this recent post it was stated that Soul of the Rose had been discontinued.  That is not the case. Soul of the Rose continues to be available directly from Oxford Impressions and is also sold at The Craft Barn (U.K.) but appears to be out of stock at the moment.
So here we are on the last day of January. Thank You for your visits and wonderful comments this past month especially as I have been bombarding you with lots of Valentine projects.  February will see me share my team sample for the forthcoming Crafty Individuals Challenge, yes, the wait is nearly over for a new challenge theme at the C.I. Challenge.  February will also see me return with a few more Valentine projects but not too many.
Thank You for taking the time to visit today.
Wishes
Lynne

Sepia Dreams (in Take Ten)

Hello Everyone
Taking a break from Halloween to share cards that are on the pretty side.  I was thrilled when I received a complimentary issue of Take Ten  (Autumn) to notice two Spotlights. One page of Spotlights featured The Stampsmith’s Serena #1 and #2.  I was so pleased to see those cards had made their way into print and also so quickly as it wasn’t too long ago that I submitted them.
The cards are also doubling up as my DT samples for The Stampsmith this week.
Stamps
Serena #1
Serena #2
They are VOAT cards where I used lilac, cream and sepia and also touches such as handmade papers, waxy papers, pressed flowers, etc. Due to copyright I probably cannot share it here but I was so pleased with Take Ten’s  description of what they called my “Sepia Dream” cards.
Thank You for visiting today. This week I have fallen behind with visits to Blogs but slowly I am making my way, catching up on what you have been creating.
Have a lovely weekend.
Wishes
Lynne