Cas Mix Up Challenge

Hello and welcome to March!
Happy St David's Day to those who celebrate, my thoughts are with everyone in Wales (and the rest of the UK) who have lost their homes due to the awful floods.
I just wish the rain would stop.

So of course it's the start of a new challenge at the
CAS Mix Up 

We are also celebrating our 4th Birthday!!!
And there are prizes to be won...

$25 Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp for Challenge Winner

$25 Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp for one random draw of all entries
(must follow rules to be eligible for prizes)
 
Jenny is hosting a fabulous challenge for us- Use Acrylic Paint
She has also provided us with some terrific video tutorial links explaining various processes and ideas.
Now I confess that I craft when inspiration takes me and like to get ahead with DT work if I can so I hadn't watched those videos when I made my cards but you know me... I just like to go with whatever is inside my head

I stamped some bare winter trees in versafine black ink onto cardstock and then using 2 shades of green acrylic paint and a fan brush, I randomly pounced the paint over the trees

I tell 'ya... Anyone can do this and you don't even need a paint brush, you could do this with a sponge. The result really pleased me and the technique means I can use a winter stamp for all seasons which is an added bonus

The acrylic paint adds texture when it's undiluted and of course you could use any colour.
So there you have it, my clean and simple acrylic paint card

I can't wait to see what you all come up with... Check out the super cards from the team and our lovely Guest Designer

Happy crafting - Happy Spring!

~ Ros ~

A Little Bird Told Me

Hello there... So lovely to have you visit!

It's stopped raining, well for now at least - it's probably only temporarily and in part due to the high winds but it's such a relief. The cats and I have been couped up, only venturing out for necessities, me not the cats! 

I spent a whole afternoon clearing things in my craft room... Actually I was looking for something and 5 hours later having forgotten what it was I was looking for, I had 5 bin bags of stuff to dispose of. I've still a way to go before everything is streamlined but it's looking better.

 

Last week was a busy one for celebrations,  DH's birthday, my friend Greta's birthday, Valentine's Day and also my SIL's birthday. I'm so glad I had a lot of AI pieces to help me along and today I have the card I made for my SIL to share with you

 There is no sentiment on this but I did add one before sending it... "A little bird told me"

It was a piece that I'd done using the AI lift technique with some sparkle here and there

 

 

The dies I used were a mix, the side pieces are in fact the little trees I used Here (trimmed down) and the branch is a Memory Box one, cut twice and pieced together. The birds are from a wreath die that I use in different ways all the time, though I can't remember where it's from.

 

 

I'm going to take advantage of the dry weather and go shopping so I'll say bye bye for now 

Enjoy your weekend

~ Ros ~

CAS Stencil Challenge

Hello...

The CAS Stencil challenge this month is to use foil

To be honest I'd decided to give this one a miss - I didn't have a laminator and really didn't want to spray my stencils with the adhesive I have, even though I know some of you have had fabulous results. The thing is I really do like the look of foiling....

Well as it happened, some of my GF's gave me money for my birthday last month so I thought what the heck! I bought an inexpensive laminator (£15) together with Deco paste and using a little heart stencil, I made an anniversary card for friends of ours

Oh my..... It's like when you use embossing powder for the first time... Magic! But more shiny

I cut leaf stems from AI pieces added two vellum banners which I'd stamped and clear embossed, plus a little fussy cut butterfly recycled  from a shop bought birthday card- He blends perfectly

I have to say I'm really happy with the result and my new toy.

Thanks for popping in and have a great day!

~ Ros ~

Valentines Cards

Happy Monday!

Just a quick post...

I kinda breezed over Valentine's Day whilst you were all busy making and sharing your beauties

I usually only make a couple of cards, one for my husband

 

and one for Mikey

Both quick and simple 

But I wanted to share the lovely and unusual card from my husband ...

It's kind of an origami pop up that folds flat into the box

I haven't seen one like it before and maybe one day I'll fathom out the 'how to' 

Have a great day

~ Ros ~

 

CAS mix Up Reminder

Hi there!

Well that's Valentine's Day over for another year... I hope you had a good one.

I'm popping in with a reminder for the challenge at the CAS Mix Up

My one layered card couldn't be any simpler

This time I used a corner frame die as a stencil and moved it along, lining up the diamond shapes to make it a little larger.

I used 3 different distress Oxides to sponge over the stencil, Twisted Citron, Squeezed Lemonade and Faded Jeans

A stamped embossed sentiment and a stamped and clear embossed image from Clearly Besotted and that's it... Told you it was simple

Thanks to Joanna for a great challenge 

Have a great day

~ Ros ~

Birthday Boy

Hello! How are you?

Yesterday was DH's birthday and I'd arranged a special lunch for us in the city. The weather was cold but sunny and Mikey was ready to take us to the train station... However, DH was not feeling well so I had to cancel our plans. Unfortunately the restaurant required a 24 hr notice in order to give a refund and they were not willing to reschedule so that was that. 

At least he's feeling better today and is up and about.

 I thought I'd share the card I made for him

The tree die was a gift from my blog friend Loll and I used a piece of AI background to create a scenic look with mountains and maybe a little lake in little lower triangle .. That piece just seemed to pull it all together

I cut the 'birthday' word twice, once in black to offset the AI one and give it some shadow 

He was really pleased with it, though it seemed he was more overjoyed with one he was emailed from the football club he supports

 

Yep, this one had him smiling from ear to ear Lol! I'm going to print it and frame it for him.

I'm off to catch up on your blogs and see hat I've missed - Have a lovely day 

~ Ros ~