Yes I know, before you all start, it looks pink, but it's NOT, it's purple and shades of.

This weeks Lotstodo theme is a canvas, so here is mine. I swished over the canvas with raspberry and twilight adirondack inks and left it overnight to thoroughly dry. I added the image and the scroll, which are both rub ons. Stamped some dots and the script in wild plum, stamped the word cherish in black archival ink and inked the edges with royal purple stazon. Added a few gems and bow to finish.

This has now turned into a swap, but my swap partner, Andrea, will have to wait til I get back off my hols!!!!

Blue Board Book

Ok so you've already seen the front cover


These are some of the elements I used on the inside


These are a couple of the double page spreads


All the pages very plain and easy going. I could have done lots more to them but sometimes less is more and I like to keep it simple

Won't show you any more as it's not fair on the person who is going to get it. All I will say is that it's VERY blue!!!!!

Lotstodo - Create a piece using a machine

Hilda over on Lotstodo is hosting a board book swap (decorated children's hard back book). I chose the theme and I chose 'blue' because I wanted to challenge myself and move out of my comfort zone. Challenge myself I did!!!!!

The letters are made from the swirls grungeboard and were cut on the Cricut machine.

Away for a While

I'm off on my hols tomorrow and won't be back until Sunday 08 March

Please continue to visit my blog as I have items scheduled, although I won't be able to publish any comments until I get back and obviously I won't be visiting your blogs until I get back and have recovered from the jet lag - lol

If you are involved in any swaps and/or need to send me anything, please continue to do so as the house will still be occupied, but again I won't be able to acknowledge anything until I get back

Have fun, keep crafty and take care - Sam xxxx

Messin with AI's

Couldn't resist having a play. Just made a few backgrounds with my AI's-lights and then stamped a few images. Everything really is packed away now!!!!

Chris's Birthday

It's my friend Chris's birthday today. I made her this frame from pieces of cardboard Maz gave me. I used juniper acrylic paint to cover it and then spritzed it with a perfect pearls, gum arabic and water mixture to give it a bit of a shine. I distressed each of the tags added stamping, embellishments, crackle glaze to them, rolled the string in walnut stain distress ink, added a few washers to the edges of the frame which I coloured with alcohol inks and stamped the phrase 'where has the time gone?' a couple of times on the frame - I'm sure she'll thank me for that!!!!!

Hope she likes it

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS - xxxxx

I am also submitting this piece for this weeks Tuesday Taggers, as Zoe who belongs to the Lotstodo Forum, has become a DT member and this week is her first week so I wanted to support her. The theme is 'time'.

New Distress Inks

I ordered a couple of T!m's new colours and guess what....... they arrived today. So although I've packed eveything away, I just had to have a play with them and they are fab. The colours are sort of 'bright'. I inked up 3 tags in rusty hinge and crushed olive and did different things with them. On the left - I just covered the tag with rusty hinge using cut n dry and then used the crushed olive directly onto the paper. The middle one I inked with the 2 colours using cut n dry and then threw water over it to give a water mark look (the colours show up the best on this one) and the right one is spritzed with water and a bit of perfect pearls and gum arabic mixture.


I did 5 in total and just stamped a few flourishes and a quote on the middle one, added fibres and they are good to go. The 4th one I embossed with white powder.


I now know that I NEED more colours!!!!!!

House Swap - Lotstodo

After my last batch of cards, I cleared the table and put 'everything' away. I knew I'd have to sit on my hands this weekend, but alas, it didn't last, everything came out again. Lesley over on the Lotstodo forum is hosting a house swap, no theme. I just couldn't resist, so here they are.

Love is in the Air - Lotstodo

As it's getting close to valentines day, the love theme was inevitable!!! So here is mine for this weeks Lotstodo challenge.

Corrugated painted with red pepper acrylic, decorative stamping around 2 edges. Images placed behind a felt film strip, flowers added middle and top left. Words printed from computer and mounted onto black card, a piece of ric rac added.

Burn this is for you - hope you like it

Vintage Cards - Last Ones

I made some more vintage cards but this is the last set as I am bored of these now, but I needed to make some to replenish the stocks!!!!

Recipe Swap

Ang over on Lotstodo is hosting a recipe swap. The ingredients were:

Atc, Postcard and Tag
Colours : Green, Blue and Yellow - any combination
Textured
Bling and sparkle
Theme : Floral

After asking to be a maybe due to time restraints and my forthcoming holiday, I was on a roll and did 2 sets!!!

Top Set - Atc covered in texture paste, a flower head stamped into it whilst still wet. Painted with lettuce dabber flowers outlined with stream. Blue stickles added to the centres for the bling. Postcard covered in texture paste and smoothed out although not very well as it is rippled, but it does give a great effect. Coloured with green colorbox chalk inks. Image added, stamping in black stazon, lime green stickles to outline the image. Tag is painted with dabbers. Images stamped in olive green stazon, 3 gems for the bling. Rock candy crackle paste used over the flower heads.

Bottom set - Tag inked in distressed shabby shutters, pine needles, peeled paint. Water thrown on and heat dried to give a watermark look. Image stamped in olive green stazon and some around the edges in cactus green stazon. Crackle paint added to the heads on the main image, glossy accents applied to the stems. Gems added to the other 3 flower heads. Fibres added. Postcard done in the same way but with faded jeans, weathered wood and broken china distress inks. Some of the watermarks have been accented with glossy accents for a raised effect. Image stamped with pine needles and shabby shutters and spritzed before stamping. Gems added to the flourish and faded jeans crackle paint added to the bottom. Atc same background and colours as the tag but instead of throwing water on, it was spritzed and dried. Image stamped in oliver green and hydrangea blue stazon, flourish with gems added. Crackle glaze on the middle of the flower and some of the petals have been glossy accented.

Vintage Cards

A few more cards, no sentiments until I know what I need them for!!!

Some cards and a Plaque

Thought I'd try something vintage for a bit of a change, don't really know if I've pulled it off as everything vintage I try comes out somewhat distressed, but hey ho, never mind!!! So the top left is a piece of thick card covered with texture paste and coated in various mediums - gesso, paint dabbers sandal, black, gold, silver, pearl, white, hazelnut and espresso and then I experimented on each corner. All with crackle paint, one brushed pewter, one antique bronze, one tarnished brass and one rock candy. Added lace, flowers, gem and a charm on a chain.

The other 5 are cards. I used vintage images, lace, various embellishments, vintage papers and run some pieces through the big shot and sanded them.

Happy Birthday Hilda

Remember the background from earlier, well this is what I did with it.


I made this frame from pieces of sturdy card that Maz gave me. I glued strips around the edges, painted the whole thing black and when dry spritzed with a mixture of gum arabic, perfect pearls and water. I then made 3 black and white atc's to fit into the frame.

These are what I made for Hilda as it's her birthday today - hope she likes them

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HILDA - xxxxx

Lotstodo - Backgrounds

This is a background that I recently created which I am using for this weeks Lotstodo challenge. I simply cut a piece of corrugated, ripped some of the top layer and painted it with silver, copper, black and gold acrylic dabbers. Once dry I used the PA plate 2 backgrounds script stamp and black stazon

Collage Stamping

I am hosting a stamping collage swap over on Lotstodo using a mixture of different pieces, ie an atc, a postcard, a 4 x 4, a tag and an arch. The idea is to create a background and stamp an image, then mask the images off as you go along to create a collage effect. I have used crackle paste in the face of the heart on the postcard, on the top left hand corner of the atc and over the whole of the 4 x 4 (that's why it's curled!!!). I've used crackle accents on the word imagine on the arch and glossy accents over the diagonal lines on the tag. All the backgrounds were created using distress inks.

Moody Blues - ATC Swap

This months UKStampers atc theme is 'moody blues'. Top left has gems as flower centres, top right has crackle glaze over the face and the script is embossed, bottom has glossy accents over stamp, face and butterfly with crackle paint across the top. All the backgrounds were created using broken china, faded jeans and weathered wood distressed inks. They were all edged with ultra marine stazon.