Black CAS Card.....

Today's card has been inspired by 

The CAS Mix Up Challenge which is Stamping + Smooshing + a choice

.....Mine is Die Cutting....

The smooshing technique I have used is Alcohol Inks using red, orange and gold.

The orange doesn't show up in the photos...Sorry x

The die cut is a Poppy Stamps die that cuts the petals and centre out separately......

So the flower ends up being quite dimensional 

I enjoyed adding the black acrylic paint lines 

and the gold paint to the edges of the Poppy.

The background has been stamped 

and heat embossed with gold embossing powder, just like the sentiment.

 The gold Alcohol ink is fabulous in real life.

There are a few links to videos for the smooshing techniques on 

The CAS-Mix Up challeng blog....I used the acetate smooshing one.

There is a little more detail of the colours and smooshing  in this photo 

before I cut into it....Don't you just hate doing that?

Another fun technique and I enjoyed making a black CAS card.

The photos really do not do the poppy justice as the smooshing 

and AI's look gorgeous x

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs x

Challenges that I will be linking my card up to.....

The CAS Mix Up Challenge which is Stamping + Smooshing + a choice

.....Mine is Die Cutting..and heat embossing......

They are also celebrating their First Birthday!!!!! 

Poppy Stamps - Go For Gold Challenge 
Update...I was lucky to get a win for this card....Thank you very much

AAA Cards - CAS using Die Cuts
Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS Challenge
Happy Little Stampers - CAS Challenge - Die Cuts
Update....Thrilled to have been chosen as a favourite with this card...Thank you x
Happy Little Stampers - Die Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

Love and Laughter...

Today's card is a CAS card.....

I stamped the large leaves with white gesso and then did a little blending on the card.

The gesso acted as a resist.

I then stamped the large leaf off set, which gave me the white surround.

I used a couple more foliage stamps in shades of grey.

I splattered, just a little with white acrylic ink.

I finished with stamping the sentiment onto vellum 

and heat embossing with platinum embossing powder.

I used mixed media card to give a little more texture.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs x

I am linking up my card to ,,,,,,,

CASology Challenge - Foliage 
CAS-ual Fridays - Off The Edge
Stamplorations - CAS challenge - Anything goes (not going with the option of blue)

SPRING........

Today's card is a CAS Water Colour Card.....

I used a stencil for the water-colouring of the flowers

and used Lindy's Magical powders to water-colour with.

 As water-colouring is new to me 

I felt the stencil helped me with the confidence to give it a try.

The Lindy's magical powders played really well together.

Some have the mica in them, which adds a beautiful twinkle to the card.

After the card was dry, my intention was to 

stamp over the water-colouring with the co-coordinating stamp....

I had used the stencil the other way around so I couldn't!

However...I felt the card was quite loose (for me) so I was happy x

I lightly water-coloured the background with grey 

and splattered with pink magicals.

The sentiment is stamped in graduating tones of green with the help of the Misti.

The die cut rectangle has been popped up onto foam.

The inspiration to make the card came from the... 

The CAS Water-colour Challenge, which is Spring
I am thrilled to have been given an outstanding design shout out for this card-Thank you x

and The Rubber Dance Challenge - Everything Spring

Crafty Hugs x

I would also like to pop my card into the following fun challenges...

Penny B Saturday Challenge - Bright and cheerful Colours
The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy Thoughts........

Another fun couple of days creating a mixed media tag....

The inspiration for the colours is from The Rubber Dance Colour Challenge

 The background has been stenciled, stamped and splattered.

The main flowers have been stamped and smooshed with stains.

Instead of spraying with my trusty sprays, I poured some of the stains out,

 onto my craft mat, smooshed and played.

The flowers have been fussy cut.

The circles behind the flowers have been stamped and then die cut.

I finished off with hi-lighting with a white pen 

and stamping and embossing the sentiment.

I had so much fun creating this tag and lets just say it wasn't my first attempt!

The black splats did migrate, so that's something else I have learnt.

Learning all the time and loving it!

The stencil in the background and the sentiment stamp is from Stamplorations.

I have used The Textured Flowers and 

Round in Circles Stamp sets from Rubber Dance.

Thank you so much for finding time to stop by...

Crafty Hugs x

Challenges I would like to link up to...

 The Rubber Dance Colour Challenge - Magenta, Yellow and Turquoise Colours

You do not have to use their products to join in x
Thank you for The Shout Out x

Stamplorations - Mixed Media Challenge - Anything goes but you must use a stencil

I have used The Leaf Prints 2 Stencil but you can use any make of Stencil to Join in

Stamplorations - Cutplorations - Inspiration Photo - Garden Party

My Tag is all Flowery and Summery ...Thank You for the Win x

To join in you must use at least one of Stamplorations many products 

but you can use any brand of die cut

Infusions Fun ........

Fun Fortnight playing with PaperArtsy Infusions powders...

PaperArtsy's topic this past fortnight has been 'Paint With Infusions'

I have always enjoyed playing with other pigment powders 

but I wanted to try The Infusions. 

I bought a few and have had so much fun trying them out.

I was inspired right from the start, from the first post with 

Shari Caroll using glazing mediums.

I will show you some of my efforts first.....

I used the Flower Head stencil, with the infusions powders, 

that where activated using clear gel.

Once the gel was dry I used different colours of Infusions, 

with lots of water for the background.

Gel was also used, in places through a circle stencil.

I added some micro beads and  more infusions which produced some fun results

as the colour seeped through the beads.

Inspired by Clare Messenger

I used the circle stencil and clear gel again in some places to act as a resist.

I loved how the powders gathered around some of the edges.

I used acrylic paints and infusions for the flower heads.

Inspired by Kay Carley and Debs Wainwright 

Using  much less water to activate the infusions gave a very different look.

Clear gel again through the flower head stencil, micro beads 

and then painted over with acrylic snowflake paint, 

which gave a fun and different look to them.

Stencil....

With the stencil kept on, I activated the powders with water..

.The photo on the right.

Using the stencil I flipped it over to achieve the result on the left.

The photo on the right....Powder over the stencil, take it off and then lightly spray with water.

The photo on the left....Use Versamark to stamp the image, dust with the powders

and then lightly spray with water.

inspired by  Kim Dellow 

I have used the infusions through the stencil on the photo on the left,

 which was then activated with clear gel, which also seals in the powders.

After it dries sprinkle the infusions on the background and activate with water.

Swatches showing some of the gorgeous Infusions.

You get different results with different card,

 varying amounts of water, gel and glazes.

I wondered if I needed anymore pigment powders and I have concluded I do!!!

The infusions are different in that the walnut in them re-acts so differently

 every time and you can have so many creative,

 often surprising and fabulous results....

Such fun colours and an explosion of colour before your very eyes.

I have had lots of fun and learnt lots along the way.

I am going to do more layouts and pop them all into one book.

Thank you for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs x

I will be linking my layouts into the Paper Artsy Challenge - 

Topic 3 - 'Paint With Infusions'

I have used Are You Cerise, Sleight Blue and Golden Sands Infusions 

for my experimental pieces x

http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2017/02/2017-topic-3-paints-with-infusions.html

Wishing You .......

I have had a fun day crafting today, so this is my card ....

I have used the Poinsettia die cut that I didn't use at Christmas 

and hoped I could use it for a generic 'flower' card?

I have inlaid the die cut.

The colour was inspired by Simply Less is More colour challenge of Mainly Teal

and 

the technique of Smooshing by The CAS Mix Up challenge of 

Stamping and Smooshing and my 'one other' is die cutting.

They are also celebrating their 1st Birthday.....xxxxx

Happy Birthday and Thank you for the continued great challenges of 

CAS, Mixed Media and learning new techniques x

I sprayed several teal colours of inks onto my craft mat and smooshed away.

The sentiments have been stamped and heat embossed with 

platinum embossing powder.

I initially stamped in black ink, which was a little heavy, 

so with the help of the glorious

Misti I over-stamped with versamark and the embossing powder.

I hope the Poinsettia die has worked as a 'flower' die?

Thank you so much for stopping by.

I wanted to say a Big Thank you to Hazel of My Card Attic for helping me 

with advice on my new photo box and the workings of Photo Shop.

It was so nice to be able to photograph my card, this time of night with no hassle

....Thank you Hazel, you have been so kind and generous  x

Crafty Hugs x

Challenges I would like to play along with.....

Simply Less is More colour challenge of Mainly Teal

The CAS Mix Up challenge of Stamping and Smooshing 

and my 'one other' is die cutting.

Happy Little Stampers - Watercolour Challenge - Anything goes with a twist of Smoosh

Happy Little Stampers  - CAS Challenge is to Use Die Cuts

The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes

Nuts & Bolts.....

Today's CAS card.....

I was inspired by The Simply Less is More Sketch Challenge

It is the last challenge of their 4 weeks of Birthday Fun.

I used a square instead of the circle as I felt it worked better 

with my theme of Nuts and Bolts......

The line of nuts and bolts have been stamped the full length of the card.

The square has been stamped with shades of grey ink 

using  seven individual stamps.

I have used three different company stamps for this card....

Clearly Besotted, Deep Red and De Stempelwinkel.

I don't normally mention the makes 

but I think the photos look like it is patterned paper/card.

Even my DH thought it was paper/card when I showed him.

The sentiment was stamped with my trusty Misti in two shades of grey.

I finished off with adding glossy accents in some places 

and raising the square up with foam.

Thank you for stopping by it really is appreciated.

Crafty Hugs x

Challenges I am linking up to.....

The Simply Less is More Sketch Challenge

Thrilled to have been showcased with this card....Thank you x