A scribbly bird...

.....for my weekly That's Crafty make...

...full details are on the That's Crafty blog as usual.

Donna xx

Another little look....

....at the new dies and stamps that Sheena Douglass will be launching on Create and Craft tomorrow live from the CHA. I've used one of the scenic stamps along with the tree stamp and matching die for this sample.....

And for this one one of the frame stamp and die combinations along with the bird stamp, Cut the frame twice on this one so I could off-set it and give it a slight shadow effect....

I've used dies before to cut craft foam in order to create a home made stamp but when I tried it with these I also discovered that got enough of an embossed effect that it was picked up when you apply ink.......makes a fab silhouette stamp.  I love to get more than one use from my crafting stuff. Not a proper sample card here but a technique board, you get the idea though (did the same thing to get the branch and leaves).....

Make sure you tune in to watch the show :) 

Donna xx

Jolly Robin....

....here's my weekly Saturday make for That's Crafty.....

..as usual all the details are on the That's Crafty blog.

Donna xx

It's the 25th.....

....so that must mean it's Christmas! What do you mean it's only July?! Well over at the That's Crafty Challenge the theme is "The 'C' Word......anything to do with Christmas" So here's a little chap that definitely seems to be ready for Christmas, he's even got the decorations up!

I stamped this Santa Owl from Stampendous onto a small square of card and then blended a little Distress Ink around him in shades of green.  Then using a Holly stamp from the Sleigh Bells plate by Oxford Impressions I added a bit of foliage around the edge to frame him.  Then using the little bulb stamp from the Christmas Wish stamp set, also by Oxford Impressions, I gave him some fairy lights to decorate his little corner......each time I stamped the bulb I inked the bulb part with a different colour of distress ink and the top part with black memento. I liked the way you could see through the bulbs once stamped, made them look more glass like. Then I coloured our festive feathered friend with Distress Inks by putting the colour onto my craft mat and picking up the colour with a damp brush like watercolour.

Make sure you pop over and join in the challenge, there's a chance to win £20!

See you again soon
Donna xx

New Stamps....

....and some fun  in my mini moleskine journal.  I had some Viva Las Vegastamps this month from That's Crafty to play with and got them inky first off by using them on these journal pages.......

....full details of stamps, paints etc that I used can be found on the That's Crafty blog.
Donna xx

Tag time again.....

....I'm picking the challenge this week over at TagAlong and I've picked the theme of Natures Glories.......well its nice and simple and just about everyone loves something about nature!  I've used some Sheena Douglass stamps on my tag including her cute little baby birds from her last stamp release.......just loved those bird stamps. So here are my little 3 cuties on a branch or......wait....a swing!!! Lol!

Do pop over to TagAlong and join in the fun :)
Donna xx

Time for another challenge....

....on the That's Crafty Challenge Blog. I've made an ATC using a lovely zentangle style owl from Lost Coast designs because the theme for the next 2 weeks is 'The Birds'.

Made a background for my little feathery friend by blending Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn distress ink onto an atc blank, then splashed with a few water droplets for a faux bleached look and then added a little background stamping with Kaisercrafts grid stamp. 

I stamped the owl onto some white card, cut him out and coloured him with Ripe Persimmon and Mustard Seed distress ink using some cut 'n' dry foam. Then I added a tiny bit of text paper to the coloured atc and glued the owl in place above the text paper. Then simply added a few little words from the Tim Holtz chit chat sticker pack.

Don't forget to pop over and join in the fun of the challenge.

Donna xx

More birds and....

....a cool use of your Gelli Plate. Here's another of my samples for today's launch of the bird stamps by Sheena Douglass.

So background for this was just distress ink and a bit of faux bleaching and then I simply stamped, coloured and cut out elements from the new bird stamps and from the Always Floral set.  

However the bird on the stamp sheet faces right and I wanted another one to face in the opposite direction. Now I know you can use a brayer to get a reverse image but my gelli plate was sitting on the side so I thought I'd use that.  Firstly I inked up my stamp with Memento and stamped it onto my gelli plate.....

Then I laid on a piece of card and pressed firmly and then peeled off the card and hey presto I had my reversed image......

As you can see from the picture below there is a slight difference in quality of line but not enough to be worried about and by the time its all coloured you can't really tell the difference at all. 

See you again soon,

Donna xx

Another little birdy number...

....featuring the new Sheena Douglass bird stamps which will be launched on Create and Craft on Friday with shows at 11am, 4pm and 7pm........

....it started out as a plain wooden screen which I painted with gesso. Then when that was dry I lightly painted it with a couple of colours of Silks, now the Silks do dry quite quickly but before they were completely dry I used a slightly dry baby wipe to wipe off some of the colour to let some of the gesso show through. I used elements from the Ageing Beautifully set and the big swirl stamp from Flying Colours to add some more interest to the background before adding the birds and flowers.  I stamped these onto tissue, coloured with Spectrum Noirs, lightly painted the reverse with white acrylic and then glued in place.

I'll be back tomorrow with another little peek at one of the sample I've made for the shows.

Donna xx

Do you like bird stamps???

.....Well Sheena's got two fabulous new stamp sheets out at the end of this week.  Some great birds.....I'm totally in love with the 'chicks' stamp.....and some great words and quotations as well. Here's an oval MDF hanging I've created as a sample for the shows on Friday 6th June on Create and Craft.

The plaque was painted with distress paints and stamped with the crackle stamp from the Ageing Beautifully set.  I stamped the birds, branches, flowers and leaves onto Neenah card and coloured with a mixture of Spectrum Noirs and Promarkers before adding some extra depth of colour with Spectrum Noir pencils.Then it was just a case of stamping the quotation and then gluing everything in place. 

Don't forget to tune in to the shows on Create and Craft this coming Friday at 11am, 4pm and 7pm......if Sheena's around there's bound to be lots of lovely dems and tips and my fellow Inkoids have created some gorgeous samples so make a date in you diary!!!

Donna xx

Time for my....

.....second piece for May's Country View Challenge where the theme is Nature's Glories. I was having a bit of a rummage through my craft stuff the other week and came across a mini moleskine sketchbook and decided to turn it into a little quote journal. So here's the first pages with a lovely 'Nature' quote....

Started off by getting some colour onto the pages by using the double page spread to clean off my gelli plate. Then I added some distress ink .... mustard seed and ripe persimmon......to increase the depth of colour. The I sponged a bit of rusty hinge distress through a mask to add another layer of colour. Then a few circles using lid off a distress paint that was handy and a bit of stamping round the edge added another layer and som more interest.

Then I stamped the lovely feathered bird by Lost Coast designs ( love this stamp!), added some flowers (Sheena Douglas) and a border and some leaves (Dylusions) before using some alphabet stamps to add the quote.

Donna xx 

My second piece.....

.....for the challenge over at Country View Crafts where the theme is 'New Beginnings'. So if you saw my first piece you'll know that I decided to use quotes that went with the theme.....when I read this I thought it summed up the challenges that a new beginning brings, the learning of new things, taking that first step and then as it says taking flight.......

Started off by colouring up a tag with Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy and Pumice Stone distress inks, then stamped some wood texture on using a Kaisercraft stamp. Then I stamped the bird and the eggs (Invoke Arts) used a damp paintbrush to lift a little of the colour off the surface of the tag to lighten the breast of the bird and the eggs. Stamped the words, cut them out and glued them in place. Then embellished it with a little greenery cut with the Spring Greenery die.

Thanks for popping by
Donna xx

Something bright and cheery....

.....for my weekly piece for That's Crafty......a journal page featuring a cute little Lost Coast stamp I had as part of my DT package....

Pop over to the blog for a step by step and list of what I used.
Donna xx

Time for this weeks...

....piece for the That's Crafty blog, pop over to the blog for full details but here's a little look at this weeks offering.....

Donna xx

A Wise Old Owl....

....for my weekly That's Crafty piece, full details of stamps used etc are on the That's Crafty blog but here's a quick pic........

Have a lovely weekend :)

Donna xx

Halloween with a Christmas twist.....

.....is the theme chosen by Carol for us at Sunday Postcard Art this week. When I was over at Mandy's on Wednesday I borrowed one of her stamps to use for my entry this week. I figured I could easily adapt the hat that the Raven was wearing to give it a Christmassy feel!

Donna xx

Mornin' all.........

......a little heads up post today. Sheena will be on Create and Craft again this Saturday (12th) with some lovely stamps. Here's one of the samples I've created using the cutest stamp of a blue tit..........

......all the colouring of the bird, branch and background etc was done with Spectrum Noir pens and then the main panel was edged with some distress inks.  Stamped and embossed the spruce branch onto the base card for added texture.

Don't forget to tune in for some great dems from Sheena.

Donna xx

A little birdhouse.....

.....a sample for Sheena's show on Create and Craft on Monday (9th). The birdhouse is a little Tando kit which I painted, inked and stamped before putting together. I used a cake pillar as the stand, this was also given the paint and ink treatment. I stamped the robins and multiple holly leaves from The Christmas Visitors stamp sheet, coloured them with watercolours and H2O's and then cut them all out. The snow I made by mixing light modelling paste with white acrylic which I then spread over the base and birdhouse. Once everything was dry I used some Stickles glitter glue to add some icy sparkle!

Donna xx

Time for another tag challenge...

....well it's time for another challenge on Tag Along and this week the theme is 'Birds'. Simple little tag from me using some stamps from Crafty Individuals and a sentiment off a Sam Poole plate from Creative Expressions. The background is made using a mixture of cosmic shimmer sprays with a little over stamping, the birds I stamped on white cad and then coloured with promarkers before cutting them out and gluing to tag.

Donna xx