Secret Garden

Hi everyone, this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge is Secret Garden; and as I needed to make a male birthday card for a friend I couldn’t resist bringing Herbalum Bob out to play again, watering his pots! This one is not dissimilar to some previous makes, but this time I also took the opportunity to create my first card with both of my new-ish large tree stamps framing the scene - they were part of what I chose with some previous winnings, but I had only inked up one of them until now. I decided to make a 7” square card which is a bit bigger than my usual, as these tree images are quite big. 

Firstly I created the background landscape by blending Elements inks using acetate Mini Hill and Circle masks, then I stamped the 2 trees. I stamped the wheelbarrow and used masks to fill it with pots and foliage, then stamped Herbalum Bob at the right height so he could water the plants! I coloured the tree trunks with Zig pens, then stamped leaves in 2 shades of green. I added bluebells in the bottom right corner, then stamped the sign and stamped again onto separate card, shaded with a Zig pen then fussy cut and attached on top of the stamped image. I stamped some ducks flying across the sun and a little birdie sitting on the sign. I added white shading and Posca accents to the silhouettes, then created the greeting panel by stamping the secret garden sign onto separate card with the text masked, colouring with Zig pen, then stamping the birthday greeting. I fussy cut the greeting and attached, then matted the finished piece onto brown card stock and a 7” square card blank.

Here is an angled picture to show the sparkle of the watering can spray!

Stamps: Lavinia Tree of Courage, Tree of Hope, Herbalum Bob, Wheelbarrow, Flower Pots, Dill, Bluebells, Field Grass, Grass, Wild Foliage, Ducks, Bird Collection, Secret Garden Sign, Heartfelt Verses;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Pine, Olive, Blue Lagoon, Lemon Drop; Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Morning Mist, Avocado, Shady Lane, Hawthorne Rose, Lilac Bloom, Blue Belle, Very Peri; Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Posca pen (white); Stabilo pencil (white);

Tools: Lavinia acetate Mini Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

AAA Birthday #73 - Anything Birthday Goes

C.R.A.F.T. - Birthday (16th Birthday Challenge)

Crafty Catz #693 - Anything Goes with option May Flowers

Creative Inspirations (May) - The Great Outdoors

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #3 - Anything In or From a Garden

FarmQuest General Store #28 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

Four Seasons (May) - Spring

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #5 2025 - Birthdays

Heart’s Quest Fantasy Challenge #5 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy

Lavinia Creative Challenge (May) - Secret Garden

Love to Craft #86 - Anything Goes

Love to Scrap #173 - Anything Goes

Mix It Up #77 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Beautiful Blooms

Triple B (May) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms

Try It On Tuesday - Deep In the Forest

Word Art Wednesday  #698/699 - Anything Goes

I think I’ve been a little inspired by the nice weather we’ve been having, and the lovely spring flowers I’ve seen on a couple of recent country walks.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Creative Artiste #115 Guest Designer

Hi everyone, I was really thrilled and excited to be asked to be a guest designer for this month’s Creative Artiste Challenge, where the theme is always

*** Anything Mixed Media Goes ***

There’s lots of inspiration on the challenge blog from the talented design team, so please do pop over to have a look.

I really wouldn’t describe myself as a mixed media crafter as my efforts are mostly confined to cardmaking and ATC’s, I don’t do any journaling, altered art etc., plus I’m not massively adventurous when it comes to using different colouring media. That is mainly because I know that each time you start to dabble with a new medium it becomes the new favourite and opens up a whole new money pit, plus I’m already running out of space to store my current stash! Anyway, I have done my best to use multiple media on this card, and here it is.

The original inspiration for this card came from the current challenge in the Tracy Evans FB group, which is to flood the group with projects featuring the colour purple to support the sister of a group member who is going through some very difficult medical treatment. 💜

I stamped the focal flower onto a snippet of white stamping card using Wilted Violet and Villainous Potion Distress Oxides, then lightly blended out the colour using a fine paintbrush and water. I added definition to the flowers by shading with watercolour pencils and a white Stabilo pencil, then added a little depth by outlining some of the petals with a grey Inktense pencil and blending out. I die cut using a stitched rectangle and set aside.

I then die cut a a larger stitched rectangle from a larger snippet and created a smooshed background with Distress Oxides. I added some 2nd generation background letter stamping using Lilac Bloom and Very Peri VFC, and some random script text using Versamark heat embossed white. I placed the flower panel so I could stamp the bird across it and the background, then added a little background stamping to the flower panel along with a li’l insect coloured with my gold Wink of Stella pen, added white Posca accents  and blended more DOX round the edges. Finally I assembled the card, added a white heat embossed sentiment stamped onto a snippet of black card, and added some teeny heart gems to the flower centres.

Stamps: AALL & Create #985 Flower Smudge, #831 Sent With Love, #756 Miniatures; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE4 New Beginnings, TE11 Background Elements, TE16 Artsy Alphas/Numbers;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides inks (Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac, Blueprint Sketch; Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Lilac Bloom, Very Peri); watercolour pencils; Inktense pencil (grey);  Stabilo pencil (white);  Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (gold);

Tools: Hunky Dory Moonstone Duo-Stitched rectangle dies;

Other: silver heart gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #28 - Anything Floral Goes (3rd entry)

Cardz 4 Galz - Flowers

Craft Rocket #125 - Flowers

Die Cut Divas (May) - Watercolour

Make My Monday #250 - Things With Wings

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Snippets Playground #505 - Use Snippets

Tracy Evans FB Challenge (April/May) - The Colour Purple

We Love 2 Create #5 2025 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes

Word Art Wednesday #696/697 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

I’d like to say a big thanks to Andree for inviting me to be a guest designer at Creative Artiste Challenge this month.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Take a Moment…

Hi everyone, here I am with another entry for the Lavinia Dreamatorium Challenge - I was away for most of last week, so I’m just scraping in before tonight’s deadline by the skin of my teeth! I have used Pris on the swing again, but this time I have placed her inside a simple wreath sitting on a different Scenescape card from my first entry.

I created a circle on my Scenescape card by blending Green Parrot Elements ink around a circle mask, then I created a wreath in 2 shades of green Versafine Clair using Wild Foliage. I stamped Pris on the swing inside the circle and created a moon by blending Dark Denim Elements around a smaller circle mask and edging with clear Stardust pen.I added further foliage stamping in the corners, highlighted Pris with white Stabilo pencil and Posca, then added some sentiment stickers. Finally I matted the finished piece onto a black border and 7” square card blank - job done! This was a really quick and easy card, but I’m pleased with how it turned out primarily due to the fabulous Scenescape background.

Stamps: Lavinia Pris, Swing, Wild Foliage, Silkweed Hops;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Green Parrot, Dark Denim); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Avocado, Shady Lane, Lilac Bloom, Bali Blue); Posca pen (white); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Stabilo pencil (white);

Papers: Lavinia Scenescapes - Sea Breeze;

Other: Lavinia Sentiment Stickers 6.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Ally’s Angels #93 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Classic Design Challenge #4 2025 - Anything Goes

Creative Crafters #87 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

DL.Art (April) - Anything Goes

Fab ‘n’ Funky #615 - Use Your Favourite Colours (2nd entry)

(I love blue and green)

Gem of a Challenge #5 - Anything Goes

Lavinia Dreamatorium Creative Challenge - Use only Dreamatorium Collection stamps (3rd entry)

Little Red Wagon #805 - Use That Stash

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday #696/697 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Although I have found it a bit challenging making different cards using only the new Dreamatorium collection stamps that I have to hand, it has been interesting to discover the different looks that can be achieved with just a few stamps by pairing them with different backgrounds, stencils etc. I must admit though, I’m looking forward to getting back in the harness with the rest of my Lavinia stash!

That’s all from me for today. After that last minute rush I think I do indeed need to “take a moment”! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Once Upon a Time … 📚

Hi everyone, as I mentioned previously, having managed to create one entry for the Lavinia Dreamatorium Challenge (here) I was determined to create another one, and as I don’t have many of the larger focal stamps from the new collection my mind turned again to doing something a bit different. This time I decided to make a bookmark so I could easily fill the space with shelves and my one set of book stamps from the new collection. I bought a pack of pre-cut watercolour card bookmarks when I visited the shop, so I thought it was the right time to open the packaging!

I stencilled lightly over the whole bookmark using the Red Brick stencil and Soft Cygnet Elements ink, then blended a little Truffle Elements around the edges to add depth. The background colour is actually a lot warmer than the photo suggests, I couldn’t capture it with my camera for some reason!  I stamped various shelves in Pinecone Versafine Clair and books in Nocturne, then added a couple of hanging lightbulbs plus foliage in shades of green. I coloured the books and lightbulbs using Zig pens and added some twinkle to the lightbulbs with Wink of Stella. I added white accents and a selection of appropriate sentiment stickers, then finished by matting onto brown card stock, and adding a punched hole and ribbon. 

Stamps: Lavinia Book of Lost Words, Bookshelf, Hobbits Door Accessories, Silkweed Hops, Wild Foliage, Light Bulbs; 

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Soft Cygnet, Truffle); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Avocado, Shady Lane); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Wink of Stella (clear); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Lavinia stencil - Red Brick;

Other: Lavinia Sentiment Stickers 6; ribbon from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #491 - Make Your Mark (2nd entry)

Ally’s Angels #93 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (April) - Use a Stencil (2nd entry)

Creative Crafters #87 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Creative Crafting Uncles #64 - Anything but a Card

Daisy Chain #95 - Not Square

Just Us Girls #772 - Stencil Week

Lavinia Dreamatorium Creative Challenge - Use only Dreamatorium Collection stamps (2nd entry)

Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (April) - Anything but a Card

Paper Funday #75 - Anything Goes with option Things Beginning with “B” (3rd entry)

(Bookmark, books, bricks, bulbs, blue, brown)

Word Art Wednesday #696/697 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

That’s all for today. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

In the Spring Meadow 🐝

Hi everyone, I went out for a country walk with my dear husband at the weekend, and we saw our first coloured butterflies of the year along with lots of beautiful bumble bees in the spring meadows, so I felt inspired to make another spring card for this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge. I also tried a technique I had seen demonstrated at the Dreamatorium by Jo Rice, to make clouds in the sky using ripped cotton wool pads on the gel press (tutorial here). Here’s the result.

I brayered Blue Lagoon and Green Parrot Elements ink onto my Roland gel press, spritzed lightly with water, then placed some ripped pieces of flat cotton wool pads on top. I dabbed the cotton wool with my fingers then lifted off to lift some of the blue ink, before taking a print directly onto my base card. I masked the circle and stamped my flowers and grasses in various shades of Versafine Clair, then added Bumble and Hum. I coloured the flower tips with white Posca pen, and the bees with gold Wink of Stella and Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen on the wings. Finally I added a little doodling around the circle with a black fineliner, and a stamped sentiment.

I also blended a couple of soft inky lines across the “clouds” as I felt they looked a bit stark … Jo’s definitely had a softer more wispy look. Still, practice makes perfect as they say, so I’m sure I’ll give it another go in the future. 

Here’s an angled picture to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Wild Summer Flower, Wild Poppies, Field Grass, Bumble and Hum, Heartfelt Verses;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Blue Lagoon, Green Parrot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Shady Lane, Avocado, Sand Dune, Blue Belle; Wink of Stella (gold); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear);  Posca pen (white); 

Tools: Lavinia Roland gel press.

Challenges I would like to enter:

613 Avenue Create (April) - Anything Goes with option Splash of Colour

Addicted to Stamps and More #491 - Make Your Mark

Beautiful Blossoms #28 - Anything Floral Goes (2nd entry)

Creative Moments #269 - CAS

Do All Kreatives #100 - Spring Birthday (2nd entry)

Dream Factory #138 - Magnolia (use flowers)

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #2 - Anything In or From a Garden (2nd entry)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #615 - Use Your Favourite Colours

(I love blue and green)

FarmQuest #70 - Ladybugs or Other Insects - TOP 3

FarmQuest General Store #27 - Anything Farm or Country Goes (2nd entry)

Four Seasons (April) - Anything Goes Spring (3rd entry)

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #4 2025 - Birthdays (3rd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (April) - The Joys of Spring (3rd entry)

Let’s Craft and Create #218 - Anything Goes with option Add Flowers (2nd entry)

Make My Monday #250 - Things With Wings

Simon Says (Monday) - Blooming Blooms

Triple B (April) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms (3rd entry)

We Love 2 Create #4 2025 - Anything Mixed Media/Papercrafting Goes (2nd entry) - WINNER

Word Art Wednesday #696/697 - Anything Goes

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Dreamatorium Challenge

Hi everyone, following from my recent visit to the new Lavinia Dreamatorium for the opening weekend, I was keen to dream up a creation (or hopefully more than one!) for the special Dreamatorium celebration challenge which is taking place until the end of April, with the lovely team at Lavinia offering some very generous prizes. Entries must use ONLY  stamps from the new Dreamatorium collection so this was quite a challenge for me, as I bought a moderate selection of the new stamps and will normally combine them with my existing stamps. However I do love a challenge, so I started thinking about what other permitted Lavinia supplies I could bring into play to fill the space on my card. I decided to use a few new stamps along with a sticker stencil and a sticker sentiment, and I also used one of the Scenescape cards I treated myself to in the shop. Here’s the result.

I created the dome using a sticker stencil -  first I created the base using blended Black Soot Distress Oxide, then I created the dome using Dark Denim Elements ink. The dome stencil is pretty big, so I shortened it so it would fit onto the 15cm square Scenescape card - this was pretty straightforward as the dome stencil has straight sides so is easy to align with the inked base. I stamped the pixie, swing, foliage and bottles inside the dome with the mask still in place, then removed it and stamped the hanging lightbulbs. I edged the dome with clear Stardust pen and added white Posca highlights, coloured the lightbulbs with Stardust pens, then added liquid to the bottles using coloured Wink of Stella pens. Finally I added a sentiment sticker and matted the finished piece onto a black border and 7” card blank.

Here’s an angled picture to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Pris, Swing, Silkweed Hops, Wild Foliage, Tonic of Health, Light Bulbs;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Black Soot); Lavinia Elements ink (Dark Denim); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Avocado, Shady Lane, Rainforest); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Sakura Stardust pens (yellow, clear); Wink of Stella (blue, pink, gold); Posca pen (white, yellow);

Papers: Lavinia Seascapes - Tranquility;

Tools: Lavinia Sticker stencils set 9;

Other: Lavinia Sentiment Stickers 6.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Alphabet Challenge - A is for Alphabet (choose a letter)

(D is for Dreamatorium, Dream and Dome)

Addicted to Stamps and More #490 - Die Cuts and/or Stencils

Ally’s Angels #93 - Anything Goes  

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (April) - Use a Stencil

Creative Crafters #87 - Anything Goes 

Heart’s Quest Fantasy Challenge #4 2025 - Anything Fantasy Goes

Lavinia Dreamatorium Creative Challenge - Use only Dreamatorium Collection stamps

NBUS #73 - Use Your Never-Before- Used Schtuff

(3 of the new Lavinia stamps, pink & blue Wink of Stella pens, Scenescape card & sentiment sticker)

Path of Positivity #130 - Anything Goes Positive

We Love 2 Create #4 2025 - Anything Mixed Media / Papercrafting Goes

Word Art Wednesday #694/695 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Bluebells and Bunny

Hi everyone, today’s card is a fairly simple one I made for this month’s Lavinia Creative Challenge - “The Joys of Spring”. I love bluebells so I decided to incorporate some into a little scene, along with a cute bunny being as it is nearly Easter!

I took a pre-cut 30cm x 15cm piece of  Pink Frog super smooth card, and scored it to make a one-layer card suitable for blending inks directly onto the card base. I masked the card so that I could create an inked vertical panel blending Elements inks and using my acetate Mini Hill and Circle masks. I then removed the masks and stamped my scene using various shades of Versafine Clair. I highlighted the bird and bunny with white Stabilo pencil, and added white Posca accents here and there. I also outlined the sun with Stardus pen and highlighted it with Wink of Stella to add a little sparkle. Finally I stamped the sentiment directly into the card base.

Stamps: Lavinia Bluebells, Trees, Grass, Gate and Fence, Wild Hares (large), Bird Collection, Birds, The World Is Full of Beauty;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Blue Lagoon, Pixie Green, Lemon Drop); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Blue Belle, Very Peri, Medieval Blue, Shady Lane, Portobello); Sakura Stardust pen (yellow); Stabilo pencil (white); Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (clear);

Tools: Lavinia acetate Mini Hill and Circle masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms #28 - Anything Floral Goes

Creative Aunts #100 - Spring

Double D - Springtime Flowers (2nd entry)

Ellibelle’s Garden Party #2 - Anything In or From a Garden

Fab ‘n’ Funky #614 - Think Spring (2nd entry)

FarmQuest General Store #27 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

Four Seasons (April) - Spring (2nd entry)

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #4 2025 - Spring Season (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (April) - The Joys of Spring (2nd entry)

Let’s Craft and Create #218 - Anything Goes with option Add Flowers

Moving Along With the Times #177 - Spring Flowers (2nd entry)

Outlawz Festive Friday (April) - Bunnies/Birds

Paper Funday #75 - Anything Goes with option Things Beginning With “B” (2nd entry)

(Bluebells, birds, bunny)

Shopping Our Stash #545 - Hippity Hop

Triple B (April) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Oh So Sweet

Word Art Wednesday #694/695 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Hope everyone is having a lovely Easter weekend, whatever you’re doing.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #25

Hi everyone, it’s the third Wednesday in the month again, which means that it’s time for another I Spy With My Little Eye... challenge over at Ellibelle's Corner.  Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last time - please do check over on Ellie’s blog to see if you are one of our top picks. 

I chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** April Showers / May Flowers ***

Please do pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

This month we are delighted to again welcome two guest designers - Carrianne and Lia - so please click on their names to visit their blogs and see their fabulous creations.

Here’s my card for the challenge. I decided to go with a floral theme, and that I would allude to the concept of April showers with the wellingtons! It also gave me opportunity to play with my lovely Tracy Evans primula stamp which I bought a while ago but haven’t inked up until now, as I was inspired by the primulas currently in our front garden. 

I have a confession to make … only after I made this card and posted it did I realise that although the background, shading and details are different, the basic concept of wellies and primula is the same as Ellie’s “I Spy” card from last month… I have had an incredibly busy and quite stressful few weeks so the memory of Ellie’s lovely card from last month had completely gone from my mind … (it may also be an age thing as my memory isn’t the best!). Sadly I didn’t have time to make another one but Ellie was lovely about it when I told her of my mistake .. so let’s just say this is a tribute to her gorgeous card.

I created a smooshed ink background on white card with Distress Oxide inks, then stamped the background leaf on the left using 2nd generation and a mixture of Avocado and Shady Lane VFC. I stamped the wellingtons onto separate card, shaded with DOX then fussy cut and set aside. I stamped the primula twice onto card snippets and coloured with Zig pens, topped with Wink of Stella on the flowers, then fussy cut out. I added a little more background stamping on the right in Bali Blue, then attached the wellingtons and flowers. I added a couple more background stamped words, a little bee and hare, then stamped the main sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached. I edged the finished piece with black marker pen then matted onto yellow card stock and card blank.

I  actually made a bit of an oopsie with this card … I decided last minute to add some shadow shading underneath the wellies with a grey Zig pen, blended out with a water brush. Unfortunately the brush was sparkly (no, I don’t know why!!) so my shadow ended up sparkly which I don’t think happens in nature! ☺️ I got so distracted by this sparkly shadow that I then forgot to “ground “ my bunny, which I only realised after I had photographed the card… I’ve rectified that now!

Stamps: Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE31 Nature’s Beauty, TE32 Alpha Florals; AALL & Create #370 The Great Outdoors, #449 Through the Meadows, #756 Miniatures; Lavinia Heartfelt Verses;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Twisted Citron, Salvaged Patina, Tumbled Glass,Bundled Sage); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Avocado, Shady Lane, Bali Blue); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Stabilo pencil (white); Posca pen (white); Wink of Stella (clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Cute or Floral (and why)

(I just love flowers, especially in springtime as they really lift my mood)

Craft Rocket #124 - Layer It Up

Double D - Springtime Flowers

Four Seasons (April) - Spring

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #4 2025 - Spring Season

Fab ‘n’ Funky #614 - Think Spring

Moving Along With the Times #177 - Spring Flowers

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2515 - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground #504 - Use Snippets

(I used snippets for the base layer, stamped wellies and primula, sentiment & yellow mat)

Word Art Wednesday #694/695 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

The I Spy Challenge will end on the Sunday before the next challenge starts at 23:59 US Central Time - so this time that is Sunday May 18th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday May 21st.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,