I just thought I'd give a shout out about this whole week's shenanigans over at the Stampendous and STAEDTLER.

Both companies have teamed up this week to provide a wealth of inspiration for your hungry crafty eyes and to celebrate this creative endeavour they are hosting a fun blog hop.

Needless to say there will be some amazing prizes to win as well so... get hopping!

For more details head over to the Stampendous blog HERE.

Big hugs

Hello Crafty Friends!

This week in Stampendous world we're all about teapots. You can check some truly gorgeous inspiration projects on the blog here.

When I first saw these cuuuuute teapot stamps I squealed with joy. I adore vintage teapots and tea cups, all the fine china designs which make the experience of 'cream tea' so quintessentially English... Whether it's the Afternoon Tea at the Savoy, cream tea at Bettys Tea Rooms or simply a girls' afternoon in in your own garden, the whole experience has got something really magical about it...

I just 'happen' to have a small collection of vintage teapots and tea cups which became the theme behind this project. And I also happen to have beautiful teatime themed napkins, which I just HAD to include. Mix it all with a touch of Fran-tage... pure delight my friends! So today I'd like to share my Teatime Reflections layout.




Above, metal ornate corners from Happy Daze shop were embossed with Shabby White enamel. Below, the gold embossed flower Ruffled Bloom was decorated with gems from Create & Craft and Champagne & Lavender glass glitters. On both photos you can also see some of my napkin art.


If you'd like to see the full tutorial for this scrapbook page, click on the picture below.


Thank you so much for popping in today and for all your heart-warming comments. I really appreciate them all!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Big hugs



Challenges for this project:
Country View Crafts #3 - How does your garden grow
Live and Love Crafts #11 - 50 shades of Lilac
Simon Says Stamp & Show - A little paper
Sion Says Stamp - Flower Power
Our Creative Corner #1 - Anything Goes

First of all I'd like to say a big thank you for all your beautiful comments on my Garden Journal project. I always love reading your thoughts. And a big welcome to my new followers and subscribers - I hope you will enjoy sharing this creative journey with me.

Today I am playing with Becky Higgins' Project Life. Project Life is all about celebrating your every day stuff so I decided to scrap about the thing that 'happens' to me every day....(except the weekends! lol) - my job.

One of the cool things about Project Life is that it's a great way to get into scrapbooking, if you've never tried it before. The page protectors used for this type of scrapbooking have separate little compartments that you can fill in with photos or simple journaling cards. They also come in various layouts/designs, allowing youto mix the pages to your heart's content. So if you feel a bit 'intimidated' by the big 12"x12" format, this post is for you!



One of the things I love about crafting is that it's a way of recharging my batteries after a challenging day. Crafting helps me 'leave' my work behind, if you know what I mean. So you might say that scrapping about my work would defeat the object lol :).

That's why in my page I wanted to focus on the 'little' things I enjoy about my work place, like beautiful aubretias trailing down the wall nearby, sipping coffee from my 'Best Wife in the World' mug (given to me by my hubby, just to clarify!) or shopping in the new Polish deli shop at lunch time. But most importantly - all the lovely people I work with whose optimism and sense of humour really brighten my days :).






I stamped the word 'office'  in Google colours and added a 'Google maps' pin to my photo.

As you can see, these Elements stamps are just perfect for everyday life scrapbooking, especially documenting your office/working endeavours. Their vintage look adds a really quirky contrast against their modern 'equivalents' :).

Thank you for popping in here today and I hope you enjoyed reading about this project. As always, I'd love to know what  you think!

Happy crafting!

Big crafty hugs

 

Challenges for this project:
Live and Love Crafts May - Lilac/Purple
Whimsy Stamps Challenge #59 - Anything goes
Our Creative Corner May - Anything goes

Re-edited - yay! My garden journal is one of the Spotlights at City Crafter Challenge Blog!

Happy (Inter)National Scrapbooking Day to all my crafty friends! I hope I'll get a chance to celebrate it with some crafting but first I'd like to share what I have been up to this week.

Before I tell you about my new project, here's heads up that a new Fashionable Stamping Challenge is officially open! And the theme this fortnight could not be better as this time Anything goes! All the Fashionettes have prepared a real eye candy inspiration for you so be sure to check all the beautiful samples.

Those who know me personally would certify that my garden has always been a kind of a project that gets put off forever... But not this year! We've finally got our new patio sorted and we're now ready to plan & plant the borders. Yay! It only took us 6 years to gear up for it so not too long really lol :).

No surprises then that I wanted to seize the opportunity to 'document' how our garden grows. That's why I started my very own garden journal, where I can clip plant labels, photos and play with creative journaling at the same time.

In keeping with the 'nature friendly theme' I've decided to up-cycle an old diary for that purpose. To kick start my creative gardening adventure I decorated the cover using my old time fave technique - decoupaging with napkins. This technique was perfect for this project as my cover was quite squishy and leather like, so covering it with paper would not be as successful.

For my project I used some really gorgeous Stampendous stamps from the new April release. I had a real trouble deciding which ones to choose as this release is full of real gems. But I finally decided on the Jumbo Cling Peruvian Lily set which I stamped onto the front cover with clear embossing ink. Then I heat embossed them with Detail Gold Embossing Powder from Stampendous.


To add dimension to my flowers I stamped the lilies again onto white card, heat embossed them with Black Detail Powder and cut them out. All my colouring was done with Inktense pencils.

Then I layered all my embellishments and lace. I also added fabric flowers from Prima and wooden embellishments from Crafty Emblies, which altered with Shabby Blue and Shabby Pink embossing enamels. To do that you simply swipe the Boss Gloss over, sprinkle the powders, tap off the excess and heat with the heat gun.


I also added one of my shabby enamelled flowers. To adhere my embellishments I used Beacon's 3in1 Advanced Craft Glue.

I decorate the flower centres with gems, Champagne and Fuchsia crushed glass glitter, sprinkled over Beacon's 3in1 adhesive.


Now, my garden journal could not be left without a proper country cottage bunting :). So I stamped in black the word 'garden' onto white vellum with Stampendous Big Top Type clear stamps and cut out the flags. Then I stamped the word 'journal' directly onto the journal cover with Vintage Lowercase clear stamps.


To finish my cover I added final touches with embossing the edges with Shabby Blue enamel.

I've also prepared a full step-by-step tutorial on this project which you will soon be able to see on Stampendous blog. In case you're worried you might miss it, just subscribe to the updates here :).

Over to you now - share your lovely stamped projects with us here.

Thank you so much for visiting today and for your lovely comments. Have a fabulous crafty weekend!

Big hugs



Challenges for this project:
Country View Crafts Challenge #3 - How does your garden grow
Top Tip Tuesday #100 - Moving parts (bunting flags)
Sugar Creek Hollow #60 - Spring Flowers
Our Creative Corner #1 - Anything goes
Whimsy Stamps Challenges #24 - Pretty in pink
City Crafter Challenge Blog #157 - Spring has sprung (inspiration photo below)












The Shabby Tea Room #164 - Beautiful Spring (inspiration photo below)









Creative Cauldron supplies for UK crafters:

Guess what? The Spring is finally here! I can't believe  it's almost the end of April and the trees are only starting to grow leaves.

But I am really excited - we've just had a new patio done in our garden and I can't wait to start planting colourful flowers and shrubs. And then enjoy lovely warm evenings in the garden... I might be getting slightly carried away, you can never rely on the English weather. And if last year is anything to go by, we won't get to spend much time outside in the summer...

I am sharing a scrapbook page again :). Some of you might remember this project from Create and Craft TV - I made this page for Stampendous demos back in February.

And today I'd also like to share a couple of tips with you. First, how to use Stampendous Fran-tage 'blinkies' to embellish your layouts and second, printing your photos on a transparency for a cool 3D effect.

For my layout I stamped several images from the cling Jumbo Spring Bouquet, Violets and Single Butterfly sets. Some were heat embossed with the Gold Detail Embossing Powder and Aged Rose Embossing Enamel. After colouring the images with Inktense pencils I fussy cut them along the flowers from my K&Co patterned papers.

 

I wanted my photo to have a 3D look, as if 'blending' me and my sweet niece amongst all the flowers. To achieve that I printed the photo onto a printable acetate. Printing on transparencies has endless possibilities - just remember to print on the correct, rough side though lol :). I then matted my photo with a patterned paper before adhering it to the page on raised foam pads.


On my layout you can see a few different ways of using Fran-tage products for scrapbooking. Fran-tage beauties do not have to be limited to the encrusted jewel technique. On my page I incorporated them in the following ways:
1. Using Leaf Green Colour Fragments and double sided sticky tape I created a border around one of the paper panels.
2. Next I swiped Boss Gloss sparingly over the green colour fragments and heat embossed it with Aged Rose Embossing Enamel.
3. I sprinkled layers of Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter and Rose Colour Fragments over Beacon's 3in1 Adhesive  to create a frame for the photo and decorative corners.


Thank you for visiting today and I look forward to seeing what you have been up to lately!

Big hugs



Challenges for this project:
Live & Love Crafts April - Bingo (pink, two designer papers, pearls)
Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Colour
Country View Crafts Challenge #2 - Butterflies

No need to adjust your monitors! Yes, I do have a new (blog) look. A girl needs a change sometimes :).

I've been a bit MIA lately, struck with all kinds of disasters (some of my own doing so I can't blame anyone...shish...) and my mojo has deserted me, too. But I hope to get back into my normal productive mode really soon.

For now, I just wanted to let you know about this awesome Blog Hop at Stampendous! We've teamed up with Becky Higgins to play with Project Life which is all about scrapping your 'every day life' moments. My PL page protectors have only just arrived so I didn't get a chance to join the Inspiration Hop. But I really can't wait to play with the new stuff!

On that note, are YOU ready to HOP?? Until Sunday night you can comment on the blogs of the participating Design Team Members and Stampendous blog here. Each comment counts as one entry to win the Project Life/Stampendous prize package!

The prize includes 12 assorted Project Life Page Protectors, and BRAND NEW (available on the website from Monday) Stampendous Vintage Alphabet Upper Case and Lower Case Perfectly Clear Stamp Sets. These stamps are perfect for journalling titles. This prize is a $50 retail value and Stampendous is giving away 3 of them! How cool is that?! So get hopping and commenting!

Now leave a comment below THIS POST then HOP on over to these other blogs and leave a comment there as well. The names of the winners will be announced on Stampendous blog on Monday.

Janelle Stollfus

Kristine Fossmeyer

Leadonna Kimmel

Kristine Reynolds

Cyndi Bundy

Tobi Crawford

Jamie Martin

And have you joined our April Micro Glitter Challenge yet? You can link up your glittered creations HERE!

Good luck in the hop and big hugs

Guess what? The sun is finally shining and who knows, maybe Spring is finally on its way? But if Mother Nature is still unsure whether it's time then I hope this project will make it absolutely clear - yes, it IS time! LOL.

And it's also time for another Fashionable Stamping Challenge :). This fortnight we are challenging ourselves and you lovely stampers with  (Art) Journaling! But we could not let this challenge go without some inspiration from a professional Art Journaling artist so we have a very special guest playing with us - the one and only - Kate Crane from The Kathryn Wheel. How exciting is that?

I am a big fan of Kate's art and I love her Art Journaling DVDs. So what a better way to join this challenge than with a project inspired by Kate's all year long challenge of journalled calendars - here you can link up your April pages.

For almost a year now I've been trying to make a journalled calendar to keep track of all important dates, anniversaries, birthdays etc. But so far I only made June, July and October ha ha ha! It will probably be another year before I finish it (and that's quite optimistic). But since my dear friend Ruby recently told me to get on with the calendar, I decided to....errr...get on with it! :).

Without further ado, here's my April page.





Challenges for this project:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything goes
Sunday Stamper #252 - Squares
Pan Pastel UK #14 - Use a stamped image
The Kathryn's Wheel - April calendar
Blogger's Challenge - Backgrounds
Inspiration Journal - Masks and Stencils

Ahoy my stamping Friends! I hope you are all well and enjoying your Spring/Easter break. Time for another Stampendoulicious inspiration.

The project I'm sharing today is not perhaps immediately Spring related when you first come to think of it. But somehow it makes me want to wake up from my winter sleep, take a deep breath and fill my lungs with fresh sea air, have the wind blowing in 'my' sails, then explore and live life to the full! And if that's not a Spring-like feeling, then I don't know what is :).

You know that feeling of seeing something that ignites your creative flair, makes you visualise your next project, its theme, colour palette, textures...?

That's exactly how I felt when came across this photo of  a ship in a bottle. I actually have one at home myself but when you get used to things around you, after a while you just stop 'seeing' them. Do you know what I mean?


I used the Faux Airbrushing technique to create a 'cloud' of water bubbles that feature all over my canvas, in the background, sides and on the main foreground panel. For my bubbles I used a combination of Faded Jeans, Broken China, Shaded Lilac and Pumice Stone distress inks. I had a great time playing with this technique and I am sure I will play with it again quite soon! :).

The small bubbles were made with touches of Glossy Accents.


The stamps I used are Cling Navigateur, 'diamond like' border from Perfectly Clear Air Travel, beautiful sentiment Better Travel (all from Stampendous) and the bunting was a free stamp from July 2012 issue of the Craft Stamper.

I also couldn't leave my project without a touch of Frantage and I really pushed the boat out this time lol :). The main panel was sprinkled with Shabby White Embossing Enamel and the edges of the canvas embossed with Shabby Blue and Aged Marine Embossing Enamels. To add texture of golden sands and blue waves sparkling in the sun I added layers of Champagne, Steel Blue and Royal Blue crushed glass glitters and Powder Blue Colour Fragments.
The sentiment was heat embossed with Black Detail embossing powder onto acetate.


Thank you so much for popping in - I hope you like this instalment of my Stampendoulicious inspiration. I'm off to see what you have been up to and catch up on leaving some love :). And if you'd like to let me know you've visited - it would just make my day! :)

Big Easter hugs to all



Challenges for this project:
Simon Says Challenge - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Quotable
Crafty Emblies - Anything goes
Craft Stamper Challenge - Faux Airbrushing
2 Sisters Challenge blog #137 - Sparkle N Shine
Totally Gorjuss #177 - Something Blue
Creative Corner Challenges #12 - Anything goes
Hotshot Craft Challenge #15 - Anything but a card
Tuesday Throwdown #140 - Something dimensional
WordArt Wednesday #73 - Anything goes