Text

 Our Try It On Tuesday challenge for the next 2 weeks is 'ADD SOME TEXT'

I made a few cards like this several years ago with different coloured backgrounds when I was looking to add a few cards to my own stash box. An added bonus was that they were quick and easy to do!

I tried dark blue and silver, plum coloured card with gold, red card with black etc but by far the one I liked the best was the one done on a black background with gold.  

As I am trying to keep on an even keel and not get stressed I decided to re-do something from the past rather than sitting looking at a blank desk wondering what to do!

Plain black card gold heat embossed with a text stamp (that old I have no idea where it came from) and a dandelion die (or is it a Cornflower??) -I think it's a Sizzix one cos it's that rusty brown colour.

I added a heart shaped word die to this one, cut twice, once in white then in gold mirri card and fussy cut the word.

Hope you will join us this over the next 2 weeks and please stop by the challenge blog and see what the rest of the team have done this time round!.

Thanks for looking today. x

It's Cold Outside

First challenge of 2026 at Try It On Tuesday.
Our theme this fortnight is 'It's Cold Outside'.⛄

I always think of blue shades whenever anyone mentions cold so did something relatively quick, simple and of course blue!
Some ink blending and stamps from Lavinia, Inkylicious and Card-io.

I hope you will find time to join us this challenge!

Feeling a bit more upbeat the last couple of weeks. 
We had a wonderful time away over Christmas - and another couple of places I wanted to visit ticked off my bucket list. 

Budapest is a beautiful city, Salzburg was stunning and Vienna was simply magical. I felt like I was in a fairy tale and had to keep pinching myself!

So with Canada and Alaska done, 3 of my 5 European cities done it's time to look forward to the next big adventure which will take place in a few months time round a big birthday.... (21 again before anyone asks...).

Happy New Year to everyone.

 

 

Santa

Our last challenge of 2025 at TRY IT ON TUESDAY is called 'All About Santa'

This was one of the quickest cards to come together and is a complete change to my usual Christmas cards.

I had a roll of corrugated cardboard bought for a group project and despite the group using it I still have lots left so here it was used as a backing for my Santa. 

I spattered it liberally with a white Posca pen before sticking it to the base card.

The Santa image was part of a pad of vintage Christmas papers. 

I distressed the edges, used some Antique Linen DI and matted it onto a piece of dark red card, before adding a few more spatters around Santa's face.

A couple of dies, a scrap piece of ribbon and an off cut from another vintage paper to make the tag before finishing with the fabric flower.

Thanks for looking and I hope your Christmas preparations are going well.

The TIOT team is back on 6th January with a brand new challenge so I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and may 2026 be a good year for us all. x

Snowflakes

Snowflakes is the challenge for the next two weeks at TRY IT ON TUESDAY.

I re-visited an old (and sometimes messy) technique of Stencil Monoprint. I made several cards like this some time back and I enjoyed doing them again.
You get a different result each time from the same stencil!

I used Chipped Sapphire Oxide. Swiped over the stencil, sprayed it with water then pressed it onto some watercolour paper. 
I really like the artsy imperfect images.

When dry I stamped the sentiment in dark grey and then overstamped and white heat embossed.

I love the snow - there is nothing better than bright blue skies and a white snow blanket everywhere - as long as you're inside with a mug of hot chocolate looking out that is......  🍵 

Get Ready For Christmas

Time for our next challenge at Try It On Tuesday and this time we're kick starting Christmas preparations.

I had some wooden circles left from a previous (and very old) project so I made a couple of 'baubles' by simple stamping and colouring, highlighting the edges with either a Posca pen or a little bit of white embossing.

The backs of the wooden circles were simply stamped with a Christmas Greeting.

The pics aren't the best as I am having difficulty holding camera/phone steady at the mo. It's only temporary but certainly ain't good for trying to get clear images!

Hope you can join us this challenge - looking forward to seeing your creations and thanks for looking today. x 

Halloween

Our new challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY is 'Halloween'.

Halloween is definitely not my thing  - think that's cos when I was growing up it only consisted of 'Duck Apple' 
(where apples were floated in a bowl of water and you had to bite into one with your hands behind your back)
or  'Toffee Top' 
(Nan would coat apples with toffee and they'd be hung from a string in a doorway and you had to bite into one to get it - again with your hands behind your back - getting toffee out of your hair was not a lot of fun!) and not a lot else, unlike now where there are costumes, house decorations and every shop seems to sell something spooky related.

I opted for an ink blended background and a couple of Lavinia stamps. The tiny cute spider is from Card-io.

There's a bit of sparkle on the flourish which doesn't show very well.

Hope you will join us this time and please have a look at the rest of the DT makes. 

Thank you for all your good wishes. Some days are good, others not so but am hanging in there and trying to keep myself motivated with different things! x

Autumn at Try It On Tuesday

Our new challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY is called 'Autumn Colours'
Despite the mess left at the back of my garden from next doors magnificent Oak tree I find Autumn to be one of the most serene times of the year. The colours are simply beautiful and do much to soothe a troubled soul.
Here's my card

Used a 3D embossing folder from Tim Holtz, 

I swiped it over with a Versamark pad after embossing and added some copper embossing powder.

Some ink blending using Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Crackling Campfire and Rusty Hinge.

I have struggled to take a good pic that will show off the copper embossing which is disappointing! At a time when I am finding fault with so many things I was actually reasonably OK with this make and the effect made by the embossing powder!

Thanks for looking today and hope you will join us. x

Animals

Try It On Tuesday's next challenge is 'Animals - Real or Imaginary'.

I am still struggling a bit so this is the best effort!
(Pic ain't the best either!)
Inky background at top, some old Crafty Individuals stamps with the giraffe being fussy cut and an odd scrap of striped paper.

Hope you can find time to join in at the challenge blog this fortnight and thanks for taking the time to pop in and see me. xx

Pretty Papers

We have a new challenge today at Try It On Tuesday with the title of 'Pretty Papers'.
A challenge it was for me too! 

Aside from the other stuff going on in my head at the moment I had such a terrible job trying to find papers. In a mass clear out a couple of years ago I got rid of all those papers I had coveted, bought and never used and left myself with only a few (still never used either!) so I was a little bit bothered as to what I could do.

I remembered some time back (and I MEAN some time back) there had been a freebie with one of the Cardmaking mags so a delve into a box and found them at the bottom - a little bit tattered as all kinds of stuff had been dumped on top of them but pretty papers nevertheless.
I got out the lace box too.
I chopped off part of the front of the card and simply edged it with lace.

If I'd have been on top of things I probably would have stitched this card as I always think stitching looks good on a vintagey card. Maybe next time.

Thank you again for looking and for any comments you leave.
I hope all is well in your part of blogland. x 

Children

Try It On Tuesday's challenge for the next two weeks is called 'Children'. 

I've used one of my fave Andy Skinner stamps onto a smooshed background made up of Picked Raspberry and Fossilized Amber. 

Hope you will go over to the challenge blog and join us. 

Thanks for looking today - for some time I have been only able to blog infrequently and have not been to visit any of my followers. 
With lots of support I am, (I think!) getting back on track but it is going to be a long process. 
One of these days I will be back to normal!
But I want to thank everyone that still comes and visits me - I DO read all the comments and appreciate them all.  x

Circles

 Try It On Tuesdays challenge is back and this time we have a theme of  'Going round in Circles'.

Have you ever had an idea that looked so much better in your head? This was one of them!

To be honest I was lucky that I even had an idea as they are very very few and far between at the moment.

So here's my interpretation of 'circles' and whilst I am not completely happy with it I hope you will join our challenge this time round (no pun intended!) and maybe go and visit the rest of the DT and see their makes.
Thanks for visiting me - I appreciate it. x

Summer at Try It On Tuesday

Our challenge for the next two weeks at Try It On Tuesday is called 'Summer'.
This is a wide ranging theme and can be anything that you relate to summertime - holidays, travel,or even bikinis!

In the absence of Mojo (and not motivated enough to sit in the craftie space for long as whenever I do I end up staring at all the stash and just feeling completely overwhelmed and devoid of ideas!), I went back to an old design.

I really like Cardio stamps as you can create scenes with little effort really which is good for me at the moment.

For a change I used some pastels for the sky and sea instead of my normal inks- the effect is quite nice I think as it's a softer look.

Thanks for looking today and hope you will join in with us this time - you have two weeks! Please go over to the challenge blog too and see what the rest of the team have done - all visits are very much appreciated.

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

Try It On Tuesday

Am back this challenge over at Try It On Tuesday where our theme is 'Make It Magical'

This is one of my favourite Lavinia stamps and I waited a long time to bring her home with me - so she's well loved.

Other stamps are also (obviously) from Lavinia.
Background done with Chipped Sapphire and Wilted Violet Oxides for sky and then a liberal splashing of water and Hickory Smoke Oxide for the landscape.

I used some white Pan Pastel round the moon and highlighted the branches and other stamped images with a white gel pen.

She does have some sparkle on her wings but the pic doesn't capture it and I may yet still add a few dotty sparkles from the heart shaped corner stamp.

For lots of reasons I am not able to be crafting as much as I used to but I do hope to continue with the DT when I can.
Please go visit the rest of the DT at their own blogs when you have time.  

Thanks for looking today and for any comments you might leave. I appreciate them all. x 

Simple!

 Try It On Tuesday's challenge this fortnight is called 'KEEP IT SIMPLE'.

I re-visited a technique which I really enjoy doing - Print Making with Die Cuts.
I have used this die for this technique several times and it never fails!  This little cone flower is one of my fave dies. It is an old one but think it is from Sizzix.
I used watercolour card painted it up and began pressing the die cut across a background piece.
This method gives some lovely artsy ethereal backgrounds - and seeing as how I am terrible at watercolouring is a cheats way of doing it!

It's also means you can do quick cards, leaving a large amount of white space but still have a bright focal point!
I used some textured hammered cardstock for the base card.
Thanks for stopping by.

This is a scheduled post as I am currently having my trip of a life time so forgive me for
1. Not commenting on your blogs for this challenge and
2. Being absent for the next few weeks!
See you all soon! x

Deep in the Forest

 Challenge time again at Try It On Tuesday - and our theme this fortnight is DEEP IN THE FOREST'

At twilight, Briana was making her way home when she wandered from her usual path and went deeper into the forest.
As it got darker she used her magic to light her candle (no matches!) to try and find her way back. to the path.
She walked through a carpet of lavender and saw a silhouette of a bunny ahead.
Briana was friends with all creatures and she thought maybe bunny was lost too so she headed towards him.

As she got closer she saw something looming in the darkness and suddenly there in front of her was a very old tree, so old that some of it's roots had burst through the forest floor and pushed the ground round it into a little hill.
The tree had a door and a window and there was a light inside.
Briana couldn't decide whether to knock and disturb the occupant and explain that she was lost and she had used the last of her magic for that day lighting the candle.

BUT - What if there was a Troll inside? Briana was taught never to go near trolls as they were monstrous creatures.
What though if there was a friendly Hobbit living there?  Hobbits were happy go lucky beings who would be kind to a stranger.
Briana stood and thought - Knock on the door and hope it was a Hobbit? Or try and find her way vback to the path on her own and not risk the chance of it being a Troll's house?
What do you think she did?
😊😊😊
Thanks for looking today!
Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

Oh So Sweet

We have a new challenge starting today at Try it on Tuesday and it's called Oh So Sweet.

I have had a change from cards for this challenge- I saw these on Pinterest and thought they were really cute so wanted to try making one - my two friends came for a crafty day so we sat and had fun together.

The terracotta pot is just over 4" high bought for next to nothing at a local small plant nursery.

We thought hard about what to use for the inside to give us something to work on - none of us like touching floral oasis😱 so some polystyrene packaging (salvaged from a friend's new kitchen installation) was cut up (cue lots of mess!) and glued inside the pot virtually to the top.

The bunny's bum was made up using two fur pom poms (from Temu) stitched together and we cut out pieces of felt for his feet.

Once bunny was in position digging up his carrots the artificial flowers and carrots were added.

Using the polystyrene meant we could push the stems in with just a dab of glue on the bottom of each stem.
Some silk flowers were put on the top to fill in any spaces.

The little heart sign was glued to a piece of dowel and the whole thing measures about 10" high.

Really enjoyed doing this with lots of laughs along the way and we each have a really sweet and cute little Easter/Spring decoration for our homes!

Thanks for looking and any comments you may leave.
Hope to see you over at the challenge blog with your cute and sweet creations too! x

Rainbow Colours

 April has come round so quickly!  Anyway here's our latest challenge at Try It On Tuesday and it's called 'Rainbow Colours'.

Normally I go for bold brash colours but recently we had a really soft dreamy hazy rainbow after heavy rain so I modelled the colours of this card on that!
Inks are all Oxides - Spun Sugar, Lucky Clover, Squeezed Lemonade, Salty Ocean.

Stamped the image in Smokey Grey and coloured with Mondeluz Aquarelle pencils. I love these pencils (which were a present from my other half!) as they seem to do exactly what I want wet or dry!

I added a few grungy second/third generation stamps randomly across the background and using the same ink colours as the background lightly brushed over a stencil just to try and give some depth and interest.

I thought about going over the flowers with some glossy accents - I may yet do that - can't make my mind up! (I used to be indecisive - now I am not so sure😂)

My free time has been at a premium - we are getting ready to embark on our Once in a Lifetime trip next month (sooooo excited!) and I'm currently leading a W.I.  Community Poppy Appeal here in our village as we want to make some fabulous displays this November and turn our village red for Remembrance Day. It's going very well so far with many people busy knitting or making crochet poppies!

Our target is 1,500 by the end of August - we've been going 3 weeks and have around 300 so far!
I'm not thinking about how long it's going to take to make them into displays either!)

Really hope you will pop over to the blog and see what the rest of the team have come up with and as always I am keeping my fingers crossed you'll be able to join in with us this challenge!
Happy Crafting! x

Spring

It's half way through our SPRING FLING challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY and I needed a quick make for a friend, so I did this in super quick time!

Altenew's Flowery Field 3D embossing folder and simply coloured with Oxides applied with a finger dauber. (I didn't trust myself to just try rubbing an ink pad over the embossed bits!)

I originally was going to stamp and ink a background before using the folder but thought I would just have a trial run on a piece of white card first.

I liked it with the stark white so left this one but I did make a background and it's waiting for me to paint the embossed flowers.

I don't have a lot of 3D folders but I've decided they're great when you need something done in a hurry!
Thanks for looking! x

Spring Fling

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another challenge at TRY IT ON TUESDAY.
Spring is the name of the game this time - SPRING FLING - is the title for the next 2 weeks so please join us and show off your Spring themed projects.

My Altenew stamps have been getting used a bit more than usual over the last couple of challenges! And here's another!

I love this stamp set called (unsurprisingly) Under the Cherry Blossom Tree.

Nothing shouts Spring more to me than a Cherry Blossom in flower.
When I was a child we had a huge tree in our garden and I waited patiently for the flowers to bloom.... more often than not the spring wind blew the petals off and I remember my Mum complaining bitterly about how much mess it made!
I didn't care - the carpet of pink petals was just as pretty underneath my feet!

The little blue bird of happiness has since received a coat of glossy accents since I took this pic

I added a pale ink blended edge and found a Chinese script stamp which was free in a mag eons ago.
Thanks for looking, hope you will pop over to the BLOG and see what the rest of the DT have made.
Have a great day whatever you're doing. x

For a Lady

 

Having used this Altenew stamp for the  TRY IT ON TUESDAY  challenge  'FOR A LADY'  I used it again before it went back in it's storage box!

The background was stamped with Versfaine Clair Charming Pink.

Stamped and gold embossed the focal flower  and coloured with Distress Oxides.

I don't own a die for this stamp set so it had to be fussy cut - each time I decide to fussy cut something half way through I wish I hadn't started - and think I should have bought the darn matching die!

Popped it all up on foam pads to give it a bit of dimension.

Another relatively simple and plain card which will go into my Birthday Box to be used later in the year.

Thanks for dropping in! x