All Hallow's Eve

 I'm a little bit behind with posting this month but the theme for the October Lavinia Challenge is :-

"All Hallow's Eve"

I thought I'd make some ATC's for this one and had fun playing around with my Distress Oxides to create my backgrounds before inking up my stamps.

Here's a list of what I used to create the first one:-

Multifarious card,

Drake,

Bat colony,

Fairy web,

Stones.

Dragon Stone castle,

Spanish Moss,

Fairy Buttercups.

Willow,

Witches Cat.

If you fancy being in with the chance of winning a £40 voucher to spend on more lovely Lavinia stamps, just check out the theme this time and Ink up your Lavinia stamps.

And whilst you're here, I thought you might like to see this card using one of the wonderful recent release stamps

Sirlus, I've stamped him splashing in the waves created with Faded jeans Oxide inks,

White Jelly roll, 

Spiced Marmalade,

along with the stamps that I used to create the ATC's above.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

If You Go Down To The Woods

If you go down to the woods today you just might see one of the Lavinia Fairies swinging from a vine or possibly hear a Reindeer calling for a mate. 

With such a gorgeous selection of Lavinia Stamps it does't take much to fire up the imagination and just imagine, you could actually end up winning £40 to spend on more stamps to add to your collection!

So the theme for this month's Lavinia Challenge is

"If You Go Down To The Woods"

Here are my dt samples for this month.

I used a selection of Distress Oxide inks to create my background on Multifarious card and created the scene using the following stamps:-

Reindeer, Fairy Fir Tree, Tree Branch, Mini Leaf,  

Slender Mushrooms and Spanish Moss. 

For my second card I used  Rue,  Willow Arch, along with many of the stamps from the first card. 

I'm using these cards for the following challenges:-

IWD, Things with wings,

Animal friends, 78, Deer,

Crafters Cafe 226, Mythical.

We hope you join us in the challenge this time,

thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

It's Almost Time!

Put the Kettle on, make yourself a drink and settle yourself on the Sofa to watch Lavinia Stamps on Hochanda.

At 11am and 3pm today Jo Rice  will be demoing some of the wonderful new stamps that have been released today. 

So hit the record button so you can revisit her handy hints and tips on how to recreate her work.

If you keep your eyes open, you might even catch a glimpse of some of these cards. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Calling All Lavinia Lovers!

Can you believe our luck, On Thursday the 22nd of August, there will be 10 new Magical stamps being released at Lavinia Stamps!  

 I shared a sneaky peak of some of the wonderful new releases last week and today I'd like to share a few more,

some of which you might actually see if you tune in to Hochanda  at  11am and again at 3pm on the very same day!

So don't forget to watch as Jo Rice makes her screen debut for Lavinia Stamps!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Julie.x

A Sneaky Peak

Thought I'd take the opportunity to give you a 

Lavinia Stamps

sneaky peak ! 

 Being lucky enough to be part of the Lavinia design team means that I get to play with the new stamps prior to the release date which will be on the 22nd August.

I just teamed them up with some of my other 

Lavinia stamps.

The last two cards here are both tiny pieces of artwork made using up snippets of card left overs, I just couldn't resist it!

I'm using these cards for the following challenges:-

 Pinspirational 245, photograph,

Incy Wincy, Fantasy,

Stamping sensations, Things with wings.

Thanks for stopping by, 

Julie.

Create Your Own Dream With Lavia Stamps

 It was so very hot last week that when it came to creating my dt cards for this month's 

"Create your own dream"

 theme at Lavinia Stamps challenge, all I could think was how I dreamt to find a nice cool place to sit and relax, hence my colour choices. 

The watery background for my first card happened purely by accident, watch this space because I love the effect it gives! I used distress oxide inks sweeping the colours, Broken china and faded jeans  from opposite colours of the Multifarious card using mini smoothies until the colour eventually met in the middle. I then used my water spray bottle to mist the card then left it as I searched around for my versafine ink. Suddenly realising I'd not dried my card I rolled my entire kitchen roll across the card noticing how the scene looked like the sun was glistening on the water and feeling slightly dissapointed that I'd stamped my moon before I'd set to work with the oxides, never mind, it's not too in your face after I'd set to work stamping vines to add to my cool scene. 

I stamped my midnight meandering bunnies then grounded them by masking the area and adding Peeled paint then stamping my hideaway using Spanish moss, Willow and Climbing Ivy using first and second generation stamping to create depth. I then stamped the Bulrushes, just over the edge of my card. I stamped Dreams and delights onto card, trimmed out just what I wanted then wet the end of the card rolling the end tightly and gluing it into place.

For my second card I added a circular mask before this time using the Faded jeans, spraying my card lightly , dabbing lightly then sprinkling with Ultra marine Brushos. Once dry I stamped my Fairy chain, small celestrial tree and some Spanish moss.

If you fancy being in with the chance of winning a £40 voucher to add to your collection of Lavinia stamps, just follow the challenge guidelines and join us in 

this month's theme.

I am entering the following challenges:-

CCK August, Four legged friend,

CCC120, Summer,

JFF, At the shoreline.

Thanks for stopping by,

 Julie.x

Looks Like A Challenge.

It's time for the July Challenge at Lavinia Stamps and the theme this month is

"Midnight Blue and Orange."

For my first little card I stamped the "moon" then inked the background masking the moon area and then added colour to wherehthe masked moon had been masked. The "Background script" was stamped 3rd generation before creating the scene using the

 "Witches Cat" and "Field Grass." Highlights were added using a white gel pen.

For my second card I was tight for time but luckily I have a supply of "Scene scapes" for such an occasion. I just inked my ground and added some orange to the moon using a "smoothie". I then used the following stamps to create my scene.

 "Fairy Foragers."

"Dragonfly Keeper,"

"Valko,"

"Celestial Tree."

I added sparkle to the fairies' wings using "Wink of Stella."

I'm using these cards in the following challenges:-

Show us your cats 44, Furrything goes.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Bright And Beautiful

The New Lavinia Challenge is under way and If you'd like to be in with the chance of winning a £40 voucher,why not ink up your Lavinia stamps and come and join us! 

The theme this time is,

Make it bright

For my first DT card I inked up my background and stamped the beautiful "Seeing is believing"as my focal image, stamping "Willow" from above her then stamped a selection of "Fir trees" below.

For my second card I masked and inked my background to create a sunset then stamped  the "Witches cat" and "Birds", then framed the focal area using the following stamps:-

Meadow grass, Willow, and Field grass.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Indra

If you watched Lavinia stamps on Hochanda the other week you just might have seen these cards. 

For my first shown here I stamped the gorgeous Indra onto my fabric using black Versafine ink, ironed it to set the ink and dropped the feed dogs on my sewing machine and did free motion embroidery around the stamped image.

I then stamped the sentiment and stitched it inside my card.

For my second card I stamped Idira onto pearlescent card and embossed it and fussy cut the wings. I Shaped them slightly over the back of my scissors added glue to just the body and placed it onto another stamped image.

For the final card I created the background using

 Distress Oxide inks, stamped the image using Versafine, masked the image then randomly stamped the sentiment using oxide inks. In some places the text looked a little heavy so I lifted some using a baby wipe.

I'm using this card for the following challenges:-

PC 36, Women and girls,

TIOT, With wings,

MMM95, With wings,

Allsorts 517, Feminine.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie. x

Hochanda Samples.

Tomorrow at 11am and 3pm the lovely Amanda will be on Hochanda doing what she does best, creating some magic with Lavinia stamps!

 If you keep an eye out you just might see some of my creations among the samples.

This time I have created some samples using free motion machine embroidery to colour in the stamped image.

On some I have got plain inky.

On others I got a little experimental and stamped through baby wipes  to lift ink from my background .

I'm entering the following chalenges with these cards:-

Crafty Cardmakers 232, Mythical creatures,

Allsorts515, B,B,B.

Hopefully you will be able to tune into the show!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Buds And Blossoms.

Sometimes a perfectly placed, outstandingly drawn, stamped image speaks louder than a page full of images and if you want an outstandingly drawn image you need go no further than Lavinia Stamps, Tracey Dutton is an extremely talented artist!

If you have any Lavinia Stamps, you'll know exactly what I mean and if you have any Bud or Blossom stamps you might like to join us for 

this month's challenge!

For my first card I used the  

Moon Pods, stamping them onto a background created my dabbing my oxide ink pads onto an acrylic block, spraying it with water then placing it onto multifarious card. I then added additional colour to the images using a damp brush and oxide ink. I doodled a frame around the inked area and highlighted areas of the pods using a white gel pen.

My second card was created by stamping Hanging Lantern and adding a hint of colour to each bud using a damp brush into a sprinkling of Emerald Green Brushos. I then placed a Fairy Forager , stamped Dreams  then doodled a frame.

Don't forget to join us in the challenge if you fancy being in with the chance of winning a £40 voucher!

I'm using these cards for the following challenge:-

TT428, Pastel shades.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

White Rabbit.

It's the first day of March and time for a new challenge theme at Lavinia Stamps. This time the theme is

Pink, Purple and Blue

For my first card I created my background using distress Oxide inks, spraying with water to create an almost chalky effect background. After leaving this to dry I stamped Dream Catchers  I'm sorry that I didn't keep a record of which inks I used, I did add some highlights though using a white gel pen.  

For my second card I again used oxide inks to create my backround but this time I sprinkled the card with Emerald green Brushos before drying it with my heat tool.  I then stamped Indra using Versafine  then painted it with Ultra Marine Brushos  which I sprinkled onto my mat picking up the colour using a damp brush. I then stamped the 

Wild vines using Versafine Clair around the edges of my card.  I wish the gorgeous sparkle showed up in my photo, I used the Violet from the Brushos SprinkleIt collection by adding a small amount into a pot, adding water then painting it onto the wings, it truly does create a beautiful glittery shimmer to the wings.

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a £40 voucher to spend at Lavinia, just ink up your Lavinia stamps and follow this month's theme.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Hochanda Samples

Did you watch the show today? If you did you may have caught a glimpse of these among the  samples.

I stamped Sebastian onto some cotton fabric using versafine ink then added a touch of colour using fabric paints.

I stamped the sentiment then made the notebook cover with the help of my sewing machine.

For this card I created the background using distress Oxides and a sprinkling of Brusho powders. After die cutting the frame I used the Mini Leaf to stamp around the frame then stamped the focal area using Faith and  Luna Buds.

I couldn't quite squeeze the sentiment onto the heart so decided that shrink plastic was the way to go. After painting the heart I stamped Winifred before framing her with Stars. I added sparkle to her wings with Wink of stella.

I had lots of fun with my oxide inks and brushos again to create this backround. I used a piece of ripped paper to mask the sky then brushed on the grass. I randomly stamped the sentiment using second generation stamping before stamping the lovely trees with versafine.  When I had finished I decided that I wanted to echo the sentiment by going around the pinky cloud areas using a gel pen, adding a silvery sparkle edge.

I'm entering the following challenges:-
Craft challenge 502, Fantasy,
Paper Shelter 371, Things that fly.

I Hope you join Hochanda again at 4pm today where you can pick up more hints and tips from Amanda!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

To Tickle The Taste Buds!

It's not long to go until the lovely Amanda does her stuff and shows off a selection of the beautiful 

Lavinia stamps live on Hochanda

So thought I'd try to tempt the taste buds and give a little preview of  a few of my sample for tomorrow's show.

Four very different examples each using 

different techniques.

Stamping onto fabric as well as card!
These were all made using the
stamps featured in the show!

I will add more details on how I created these samples tomorrow.

Join Lavinia stamps tomorrow,

 Thursday 21st February at Noon and again at 4pm on Hochanda.

Hope I've tempted you enough to come and join us, Thanks for stopping by, 

Julie.x