Sympathy Card and a New Crochet Project

 Hello friends.

A lovely neighbour passed away recently, after losing her fight with cancer. She loved her beautiful garden, and I created an appropriate card to give to her husband.

I used some gorgeous stamps by Tracy Evans, with Distress inks.

And here is the start of a new crochet blanket I started recently. It's grown a bit since this photo was taken though 😁

I'm following a pattern by Zooty Owl. Here's a link if you're interested. I'm using some of my leftover yarn balls. It's a great way to use up scraps. I've got a lot of those! 😂

Thanks for dropping by,

Alison xox

Wedding Card

 Hello friends.

A neighbour recently asked me to make a wedding card for a Hindu couple. I decided to keep it simple, using some sari inspired colours and paisley pattern. The patterned papers are by Basic Grey.

My neighbour was delighted with the card, and I hope the happy couple will be too.

Alison xox

28 Hearts Week Two

 Hello friends.

Today I have my second week of heart art to share with you.

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

This is an art journal page that I'm linking to Vicki's Keeping It Light theme at Art Journal Journey. 'Light as a feather'.

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

A card made with Tracy Evans' new stamp designs for Valentine's Day.

I'll have some more heart art to share with you next week.

Thanks for visiting, have a wonderful weekend,

Alison xox

Christmas Card Time

 Hello again all!

It's that time of year again! I've been making a start on my Christmas cards.

Here's what I've made so far...

The Madonna and Child image is an old Artistic Stamper stamp, no longer available. I used water-soluble crayons to add colour. 

The holly is hand-drawn over watercolour on one, and on the bottom one I painted the holly, then added sketchy black pen outlines. Lots of splatters on all of them naturally. 

I made a few of each of these 3 designs.

And here are some baubles that I painted with watercolour, then added paint pen doodled designs, and black pen outlines on some.

I made some with warm colours too. I spent a fun evening doodling in front of the TV.

Wishing you all a happy weekend. Thanks for dropping in.

Alison

Rachel Greig's Artful August Challenge

 Hi Everyone.

I've found another Instagram challenge, to keep me arting after ICAD finished. Rachel Greig's Artful August Challenge has daily prompts, but you can choose what you want to make. I'm going to try and do daily 15 minute art journal pages. I quite like the time limit, and it means I can create something even when I don't have a lot of time. I've also created a junk journal just for the challenge, using a cardboard packaging cover, adding my pages with pamphlet stitch.

Rachel's prompt for Day 1 is Leaves. Here's my 15 minute page. I used collage, acrylic paint, black india ink, Stabilo Woodys, and book page text.

I'm linking my page to Neet's Type theme at Art Journal Journey.

Before I go, here are photos of my complete set of ICADs for Daisy Yellow's 2021 challenge.

June...

July...

Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a happy August and new week.

Alison xox

Mixed Media Master Sheet

 Hello All.

Mixed media master sheet is the class by Wendy Solganik aka Willa Wanders on her Fodder Challenge course.

Here's my master sheet...

I cut it up and made some cards with 3 of the pieces. The plants and flowers were hand-drawn by me.

And I created an art journal page for Alison's Summer Countryside theme at Art Journal Journey with another piece...

I still have a couple of pieces left 😁

Thanks for visiting me here today,

Hugs,

Alison xox

TIOT - For The Man In Your Life

 Hi Everyone!

I'm thrilled to be the guest designer at Try It On Tuesday today! Their new theme for the next two weeks is 'For The Man In Your Life'.

I made a card for the challenge, using Crafty Individuals stamps and Ranger Distress Oxide inks.

Be sure to go and check out the amazing inspiration from the TIOT Gang HERE! I hope you'll be inspired to join in with the challenge.

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xox

TIOT - Butterflies

 Hello All!

Thank you so much for all the lovely birthday messages! I really appreciated them!

The weather hasn't improved much today, and I've managed to get a few projects made. I'm sharing one today, which is a card for the new Butterflies theme at Try It On Tuesday.

It's not often that I do clean and simple. I used stamps by Crafty Individuals. 

The beautiful butterfly collage is stamped and clear embossed onto white card, then matted onto black card, then adhered to an A6 white card blank. 

I stamped the butterflies again on a scrap of white card, coloured them with Distress Oxide ink, cut them out, applied glue to the bodies, then adhered them to the image. They can flap their wings if they wish ;-)

I finished with a stamped CI birthday message.

I hope you're all having a good week so far.

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xox

Birthdays

 It's my birthday today, and I share it with my good crafty friend Hazel. 

Here's the card I made for Hazel. I used an Aall and Create stamp set by Tracy Evans, with Distress Oxide ink sprays.

Another one of my crafty friends Becky, had her birthday yesterday. I used another Aall and Create Tracy Evans stamp set with Distress Oxide ink sprays for her card.

I'm off to cuddle up with Hubby, and watch a film.

Thanks for visiting,

Alison xox

100 Days of Stamp Carving - 78-84, and a Surprise for Sheila

 Hello Everyone!

I'm back today with my next instalment of my hand-carved stamps. It's getting close to the end now, less than 20 to go!

Some more mark-making stamps, another leaf and face, and a stylised tulip to add to the collection. I love them all!

I also recently carved a stamp for my lovely blog friend Sheila of Orange Esmeralda, who expressed an interest in one of my stamps. I carved another design on the reverse of the stamp. Since I used an eraser, there was plenty of thickness to do this. 

I can show them to you now, since the package arrived safely with Sheila yesterday.

I didn't want Sheila's Teddy friends to miss out, so I crocheted them all a little flower brooch.

And I made a special card to send to Sheila too, using some of my hand-made washi tapes.

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend,

Thanks for dropping by,

Alison xox

Some Cards For Men

 Hello All!

I used to struggle with making cards for my male friends and family members, but these days I just grab some of PaperArtsy's Ink and the Dog stamps. They have some really great images. Here are a few cards I recently had to make.

I used Distress Oxide Sprays for some of the cards, washi tapes, and some gold trim that I've had for a very long time. There are some gold ink splatters on the card below, although it's not very visible.

This next card is a re-purposed one with gold trim and a birthday message added. It was originally a Father's Day card. That rugby team stamp is very handy for the rugby fans in my family.

I'm saving the next card for Hubby's birthday next month. It's ok, he never looks at my blog 😀

Thanks for dropping by today,

Big hugs,

Alison xox

Cards for Mothers and Daughters

 Hello All.

I have a couple of cards to share with you today, the first is a Mother's Day card. I used the same techniques as on this art journal page a few days ago, with watercolour paint and a black pen sketched flower.

And the second is a new job card for my daughter. Beth has taken a secondment post for a year, on a government based project for sustainable aerospace. I'm very proud of my talented girl! She's very excited by the nature of the project.

I sketched the plane, created a stencil, and after stencilling with black paint on a mono-printed background, I used a white paint pen to add details. I finished with some suitable Tim Holtz phrase stickers.

Thanks for dropping by today,

Alison xox

And Finally ... Week 52!

 Hello All! 

I have my final collaged index cards for 366 Somethings 2020 to show you today. I'm really going to miss doing these, but it's time for a rest.

Here are the final 9 cards...

I love my Christmas Day card, number 360, the words were so appropriate. Also 363 and 366 are favourites this week.

For now all of my cards are in two boxes. I can't decide what to do with them. Perhaps I'll put them all into a big scrapbook. It'll be interesting to look back at them, and to see how they progressed.

Thank you all for visiting and commenting on these ICADs, and on all of my posts this year. I've really appreciated your generous support dear friends.

Wishing you all a happy, creative, safe and healthy 2021!

Alison xox