A Forest Gathering With Lavinia.

It's been a while but I'm back!
Thought I'd share a couple of cards made for this month's challenge,
"Forest Gathering" 
 with Lavinia Stamps. 
For my first card I used my 
Distress oxide inks and a bit of masking to create the background
 then used the following stamps to 
create the scene:-
Midnight meandering,
Tree root,
Christmas tree group,
Mini leaf 1,
Tree branch.

For my second card I used some of the same stamps along with the following:- 

Tree Scene, 

Spanish Moss,

Fairy Chain,

For both of my cards I used 

Multifarious card.

 If you've never joined the challenge before, why not give it a go, just ink up your Lavinia stamps and follow the theme! You could end up winning a £40 voucher, now that's better than a poke in the eye!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie x

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

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

A Place To Escape To

Once upon a time, long long ago there was a fairy by the name of  Rue . Rue liked nothing more than to escape to the edge of the forest where she knew that the Spanish vines hung low enough for her to reach and she would while away the hours swinging from them, trying to pluck a Mini Leaf  from high above her as she breathed in the smell of the sweet Meadow Grass  brushed by her toes. She loved this spot and as she gazed into the distance at the Trees in the distance  she would loose herself in her magical world!

Moments like these stick with us forever, scents that remind us of places, come back to us like Birds on the wing

I lost myself there for the moment, escaped to my happy place, playing with the

 Oxide Inks and my Lavinia Stamps.

If you'd like to conjure up

 A Place To Escape To,

 come and join us in this month's challenge at

 Lavinia stamps, you could be in with the a chance to win a £40 voucher to spend! Just ink up your Lavinia Stamps, you've nothing to loose!

I'm using these cards to enter the following challenges:-
Always fun challenges, 95, Monsters or fairies,
Alphabet challenge, W is for wings,
Fab n funky, Fantasy figures.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Flowers and Foliage

The April Lavinia Challenge is up and running and this month the theme is

Flowers and Foliage.

There are so many gorgeous stamps to choose from but after much umming and ahhing my

Lavinia stamps of choice were

for my first card:-

Honeysuckle and Background script. 

I used Distress Oxide Inks to add colour to  my background before I stamped and coloured my image.

For my second card I used the following stamps:-

Star Blossom,

Willow Leaf and

Forest Spruce, which I stamped from the bottom, it makes great grass! 

I then stamped one of the Woodland Hares 

using Onyx Black Versafine ink.

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

CC208, Bunnies, Chicks or Eggs,

IWD, Nature's beauty,

D2BA, Pastel Shades,

AYLI, Favourite flowers, Honeysuckle,

 I just love the scent, takes me back to my childhood garden!

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning a £40 voucher to spend at Lavinia, all you need to do is ink up your Lavinia stamps and join us using this months theme!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Lavinia At The Nec

If you're lucky enough to be visiting the NEC this weekend, be sure to check out the Lavinia Stamps stand, there are some new releases especially for you! 

I have to say that I have a new favourite Fairy

"Josie"

Isn't she gorgeous, I just love the way this stamp conjures up the illusion of movement, it even comes complete with some seeds to catch the wind! With all that blowing Josie managed to blow away the storm clouds that I created using Oxide ink.

On my first card I stamped Josie and "Whimsical Whisps" onto a "SceneScape"

 For my last card I again used a SceneScape stamping 

Small Celestial Tree twice with each inking. I then inked a little mound and stamped "Jaylar" I just love the delicate wing tendrils on these new fairies! 

If, like me, you're unable to visit the NEC, grab yourself a coffee and watch Hochanda  on Saturday 17th March at 2pm where you will be in for a treat, Amanda Branston will be doing a few Demos!

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

Stemplegarten 71, Fantasy,

Get Creative, Mythological.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x   

Off Cuts And Toadstalls and Mushrooms.

I've not made any cards for a while so when I went out to the Crafty Cabin to make my DT card I'd forgotten that last time I crafted I hadn't managed to finish tidying my work space. I set about putting away some stamps, placing my ink pads back on the shelf and throwing away the trimmings where I'd been testing out my new paper trimmer and I found a small piece of a SceneScape that I'd saved from when I managed to drop an ink pad onto a finished card, I cut off the spoiled piece as I felt that I couldn't waste it all, it cried out to be used so I looked through my stamps and came across Sebastian and Jasmine's houses,  forgive me, as they come in a set I'm not sure which one is which but I stamped this beauty off the edge and added more stamping using Willow leaf and FernHeads, I then stamped my little friend  the Snail before adding some twinkle in the form of stickles.

The Theme at Lavinia this month is 

"Mushrooms and Toadstalls"

I liked the tiny card so much that I searched around my bench for more off cuts and came across a small off cut from where I'd been playing with "Oxide inks",if you've never given them a go, I urge you to give them a try, it's very addictive!  I stamped "Night watch", over the edge of my card and added more stamping, Willow Leaf, "Sacred Spells"  and "Slender Mushrooms"

The Theme at Lavinia this month is 

"Mushrooms and Toadstalls"

if you fancy joining us in the challenge, maybe you could win yourself a £40 Lavinia Voucher. All you need to do is ink up your Lavinia Stamps and follow the challenge theme.

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

"Patties 144", lots of green,

"Star Stampz" Lots of green,

"Pause Dream Enjoy", Stamped image,

"Dream Valley 173", Wings.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Autumn Equinox

The September's  challenge at Lavinia has begun and the theme this time is 

"Autumn Equinox" 

didn't see that one coming, did you? Summer breeze would have been preferable but alas, 2017 is racing!

If you fancy being in with the chance of winning £40 to spend on some new stamps, just Ink up your Lavinia stamps and join us in the challenge this month!

Two very similar cards from me this time, in fact the 

Oxide ink backgrounds  started off as one piece of card, I just love playing with these beauties, you never know what you're going to end up with when you lay down the colours on your blending mat. Have to say that the new Multifarious card works like a dream with the inks, I can't quite explain what it is but if you try it yourself you'll see the difference it makes. There's only one ink to use on our beautiful fairies and that's Versafine, it picks up every beautiful detail!  I used the following stamps on these two:-

Dragonfly keepers,

Seed heads,

Oak leaf branch,

Fern heads,

Fern heads singles,

Sacred spells.

All of these stamps were from the new collection as seen on Hochanda.

I used Wink of stella on the wings to add a beautiful sparkly shimmer

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

CACB, Mixed Media,

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x