Amongst the bluebells.

Good morning,  1st March- meteorological spring has arrived, so this month's theme challenge at Stamping Sensations is a great choice- SPRING, or of course there's the option of Anything Goes. 

There are some lovely prizes of Sweet Poppy Stamps and Stencil.

I used a mixture of old and new Lavinia Stamps to create my card, The catkins and fairy are new, the rabbit, robins, bluebells and grass are older. I've also used a couple of stencils to add some colour to the background. 

Thanks for visiting today, please check out the main challenge blog for details of how to enter and some lovely inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

avenue613 March Challenge

creativecrafters #97

Blossom

 Good morning,  I 'm not sure where the time went since I last posted- and that one was scheduled, but here I am again with my card for this fortnight's ANYTHING GOES challenge at Crafty Catz.

Many years ago I was on the Design Team for Delicious Doodles, sadly one of the many Challenge Blogs that have now disappeared, this lovely image is one that I coloured at the time and never got around to using so now I have! Image coloured with Copic markers, various papers from stash matted onto blue card- I printed the butterfly again to finish, coloured and fussy cut it (doesn't quite match the colours on main image as I had to try and guess which I had used). 

I followed this sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday

We had a wonderful taste of spring here on Wednesday- the sun shone all day and it was so warm and lovely- absolutely no rain at all - even saw a butterfly in the garden- spring is definitely around the corner.

Please pop over and check out the challenge blog to see what the rest of the ladies have created.

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

cardz4galz. #270

paperfunday #84

addictedtostamps #511

PFM #826

classicdesign #2

crafterscafe #327

sweetsketchwednesday Feb challenge

Dies or Punches at Fab'n' Funky

 Last but not least, my third creation for today is my DT make for this fortnight's challenge at

Fab'n' Funky

the theme this fortnight is 

DIE CUTS OR PUNCHES

chosen by our lovely Pat K.

This is the card I made for my nephew's 21st birthday, I used die cuts from various companies, red, white and black cardstock and a piece of diamond patterned design paper.

As always there's more to see over at Fab'n' Funky, some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team.

Many thanks for those of you visiting my blog, please scroll down for my earlier posts today.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

acutabove February Challenge

mmmchallenge #271

Guest Design for I Spy with my Little Eye

 I was delighted to be invited by the lovely Ellie of Ellibelle's Corner to Guest Design for the for her February Challenge at I Spy with My Little Eye, thank you Ellie!

The theme is SOMETHING YOU LOVE.

I thought for a while and decided I would make a page for my art journal, something I love doing but don't get around to often enough, and I would combine techniques that I really enjoy doing. I also love stories of magic and fantasy so that decided a theme for my page.

I started with a previously made background that had been stencilled and smooshed with inks and brushos in shades of brown and bronze, cut an arch shaped aperture from a square of it and stamped it with a Lavinia vine stamp in various shades of green. I cut a smaller arch from the remainder of the original background (it was just big enough!) and added some stencilling and more ink to darken it. I used my copic markers to colour the beautiful fae image, a Morgan's Artworld digi, added a little stencilling and inserted it behind the arched 'window'. The sentiment strips are stamped and gold embossed using stamps from various companies.

I took my time creating this page, but am happy to say I really enjoyed the time spent.

I hope you can find the time to join in with this lovely theme, just click the link above to hop over to the Challenge Blog.

Chris

x

Thanks for visiting

challenge entries:

craftingfromtheart. February Challenge

sparkles #197

welove2create #1

HQFCB #2

Outlaws-anythingbutacard Feb Challenge

aperfecttimetocraft. Feb Challenge

creativeinspiration Feb challenge

ilovepromarkers #601

More of my favourites...

 Good morning, this is the first of 3 posts today, all of them scheduled as I'm going to be in London for the day- dinner and theatre with my lovely daughter, a delayed birthday treat. 

This card is a reminder for our February Challenge at Stamping Sensations, the theme is Favourite Stamps or Anything Goes. Once again I'm using Lavinia Stamps, this time to make a CAS Christmas card. The stamps I have used are Fir Cone Branch, Mini Holly ,Thistlewhisk and Pipspell (without his lantern). I coloured with pencils and a white gel pen, Posca marker for the snow. 

Please check out the Challenge blog for details of how to join in, some great inspiration from the rest of the team and the lovely prizes on offer.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

craftyanimals #102

crittercrazy #107

thefourseasons Feb. Challenge

aplacetostart. February Challenge

hollyandivy #198

POE #106

Thoughts of spring...

 Good morning, it's Saturday and the end of another wet week in February! To be fair there has been a few breaks in the rain (it soon comes back though) and I've managed to get out and walk for a while without getting soaked and such a bonus when the Marvin isn't caked in mud after every outing- not that it bothers him in the slightest, even being hosed down twice a day doesn't phase him!

My card today is for our new challenge at Sweet Stampin',

 the theme for this fortnight is NO DESIGN PAPER.

 I made this card with thoughts of spring in mind, hopefully to cheer up a lovely teamie who has just undergone surgery. The focal image is from Mo Manning and I've coloured her up with my markers. The corners are stencilled using Distress Oxides and a pretty stencil (Imagination Crafts, I think).

That's it from me for today, please remember to check out the beautiful inspiration creations from the rest of the Sweeties.

Thanks for visiting and have a good weekend

Chris

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Challenge Entries:

alphabetchallenge -Uplifting (I hope so anyway!)

digichoosday #2

addictedtostamps #510

stencilfun Feb. Challenge

PFM #824

mirtillamente #52

Hearts & hugs

 Good morning, here's my DT make for our new 'Anything Goes' Challenge  starting today over at 

Crafty Catz.

I made a fairly CAS card using a heart shaped mask (Visible Image) and a stencil (A&C). I unearthed the cute House Mouse stamp from where it had been languishing in my drawer full of older wood backed stamps, stamped him and coloured with Copics. I thought he needed something to catch so I used some tiny heart shaped stamps to make butterflies, drew their little bodies with a fineline  pen and added dots to their wings. A stamped sentiment to finish. Going to send this to my youngest granddaughter - she's a huge fan of hearts and butterflies- all her drawings are peppered with them!

(She's rather keen on hugs too!!)

Thanks for visiting- don't forget to check out the Challenge blog to see what the rest of the team have created!

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

welovestamping Feb Challenge

cardz4galz. #269

CRAFT #773

craftygalscorner #274

addictedtostamps #510

stencilfun. Feb. Challenge

HMFMC #458

cupcakeinspirations #634