Little Fighter

Hello Friends

I bought my latest issue of Craft Stamper magazine today and it came with this lovely flourish stamp that I used on the bottom of my card. The other stamp is one of new favourite Unity Stamps thay I have not yet used I thought it would go well with the flourish stamp. It is from the Another Reason To Say Thank You stamp set.

 I stamped everything with VersaMark ink on to some teal card and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Then I punched some little butterflies and glued them on. Finally I distressed the edges and mounted it to a white card base. I really like the way it turned out I hope you like it too :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Mandi xox

Dragonflies & Stars

Hello Friends

I am back with another Brusho paint card. I have been playing around with these paints now for a couple of days now and I love love love the effects you get with them.  I used the purple and turquoise colours on this card and some white embossing powder.

I used the What lies within KOM 11/14. This stamp set has this lovely fairy and sentiment in it. I have not got a chance to use it yet. So today was the first time I got to ink her up. 

 Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. 


Mandi xox

Reason To Say Thank You

Hello Friends

Greetings from Scotland :) It's lovely being home the weather is so mild compared to New York I love it!!   I visited a craft shop not far from my Mum's house called Craft World! I was like a kid in a sweetie shop.  I saw lots of new things I wanted to buy. I managed to resist though and only bought a few things. I have wanted to try Brusho paints for so long now and I saw them in the shop so I grabbed a few to try. 

If you are not aware of Brusho they are powdered paints that are highly pigmented. I sprinkled some on to wet paper and just dried and sprayed until I was happy with the out come. It is almost like marble when it is dry and you never get the same pattern twice. It really is a great medium to work with. They are very easy to work with I really love the look you get with them. You can find out more about them here.

I heat embossed the flower from the Bloom & Simplify stamp kit with white embossing powder. Once it was dry I defined the colour a little more with the paint of the petals then used my white paint pen to highlight. The sentiment is from the Another Reason To Say Thank You stamp kit.   The paint colour of the Brusho I used on my card is called Sea Green.

I love the way my card turned out I hope you like it too :)  I really like the look of Brusho paints they leave such a unique background on your paper.  

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Mandi xox

She Flies

Hello Friends

Happy Friday :)   I was feeling a bit emotional last night so I wanted to make something. I love to craft my emotions it really is my therapy. I always feel better after I make something. I wanted to make a tag that represented right where I am at in my life ready to take dive into the unknown. It is scary and it takes a lot of faith to do that but I am so ready for a change.

 This stamp is called She Leaped how appropriate right?? I heat embossed it with white embossing powder then I used my water colour paints to colour it.  The sentiment is from another stamp set called With Her Own Wings. Once it was dry I added some coloured sewing floss and some tiny punched butterflies to embellish.

 My husband and I leave for Scotland on Monday. I have a job interview and It will also be great to spend time with my family. I never get to go home around this time of year so it will be really nice to spend Easter at home. It is my husbands last day at his job today too. He has been offered job in Maine so you can see we have some big decisions to make in the next few weeks. So if you are the praying kind please keep us in your prayers. What ever happens it is our time to to FLY we just don't know where to :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Mandi xox

PS I may do a wee craft/souvenir giveaway from Scotland. Let me know if that would be something you might like :)


Challenges
Simon Says Stamp Wed
Friends With Flair

Alfie

Hello Friends

Meet Alfie :) is he not the cutest wee mouse you have ever seen??  As soon as I saw this wee mouse on the Unity Stamp Company blog I fell in love with him. If you know my blog you know I love my Unity Stamps.  They have sorts of wonderful stamps and this is my new favourite. I got this stamp a few weeks ago but this is the first time I have inked him up today.

I heat embossed him with black embossing powder and then water coloured him with my peerless water colour paints.  When it was dry I backed him on to some black and pink card. I then dry embossed some turquoise card with a hearts embossing folder and then tied some black jute around it. Finally I mounted it on to a black card base.

I made this card to fit into a few challenges today.
Virginia's View Embossing Challenge.
Simon Says Stamp - Monday Animal Challenge.
Craft Stamper - Take It Make It - Anything Goes

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.

Mandi xox

Time Out Challenges - Guest Designer Week 2

Hello My Crafty Friends

I hope you are all having a good week so far!! I am back again with my second post as a guest designer for the TIME OUT challenge.  Look at all of these pretty colours in the inspiration photo have you entered yet?? If not you have some time left to get crafty.

I got out my distress inks to make this card. I love to get messy with them they make me so happy ha! First I heat embossed this lovely floral stamp called Untamed Beauty from Unity with white embossing powder.

Then I got out my Picked Raspberry and Salty Ocean distress inks. I like to swipe the colours on to my craft sheet and pick up the colours from there.  I misted my card with a little water first then applied the inks and built up layers of colour until I was happy with it. When it was dry I added a couple of gem stones.

Finally I mounted this on to a white card base using some foam squares. I had previously scored lines down the card using my scoreboard to mimic the white wood paneling in the picture. It was so bright outside when I took the photo that you can barely see the lines but you can make it out a little.

This is such a fun challenge to take part in come and join in if you can.  Thanks so much to the ladies at TIME OUT for having me join in the fun as a guest designer I really enjoyed it.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today :)

Mandi xox

Bottles of Blossoms

Hello Friends

I wanted to make a card for this months Be Inspired Challenge over at the Unity blog. These are the lovely colours for this month. They are so pretty I love them.  I used the colours as inspiration as well as the bottles of flowers in the photo.

I bought this stamp a long time ago and I have never used it so I got it out to play with it. You can find it here it is called Bottled Blossoms. I thought it was perfect for my card.  I heat embossed it with white embossing powder on to kraft. Then I paper pieced the bottles and the flowers with the same embossing technique. I made a card base from some lovely American Craft yellow hearts card and then tied some twine to finish.

I really love the end result I hope you do too :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Mandi xox

Challenges
Friends With Flair
Virginias View Ch 13 All things Embossed
Craft Stamper - March  - Anything Goes

Glow In The Dark Stars

 Hello Friends

I was experimenting with some new embossing powders that I bought months ago and have not got around to using. This one is a glow in the dark one.  How fun is that?

I thought this was the perfect stamp to use from Unity See Stars.  I used a stencil by Heidi Swapp called Confetti to create the stars. I stamped with Versamark ink then sprinkled the Glow in the dark embossing powder over it and heat embossed it.

I then used my black soot distress ink to create the background. I stamped the sentiment separately and used the same technique. I strung some silver and white twine and then mounted the sentiment with some foam squares. To finish off the card I added some star shaped gem stones.

It was really difficult to get a good picture in the dark. This give you an idea of the result you get. It really does glow in the dark really well. It is something different and quite unique don't you think? I need to experiment with it some more.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today :)

Mandi xox

Mother's Day Wishes

Happy Friday I hope you all had a good week.  I was at the craft store yesterday and saw this lovely paper stack called Butterfly Garden. Oh my goodness the papers are so lovely delicate and floral. I have probably walked past this paper stack a thousand times and just never noticed it. It has lots of butterfly papers too so I just had to buy this since I don't really own anything quite like it.

  I needed to make a Mother's Day card for my mum and I kept putting off so I was inspired to make the card with these new papers. I kind of threw this together late last night.  The background paper on the card is a very delicate aged pink with little touches of gold but it is not getting picked up in the picture. The photo does not do it any justice really go and see this stack for yourself if you like the look of it.

I used the True Wishes stamp and the sentiment is from the Mother's Day Daisies stamp set both from Unity. I stamped and heat embossed them with white embossing powder on to vellum then just backed it on to some layered card then some lace. I tied some twine before I stuck it to the background. Finally I added some little gold hearts just to finish it off. 

I need to go and get this in the mail now :) Mother's Day is next weekend in Scotland.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. 

Mandi xoxo

Challenges

Wow Embossing Powder- Spring

Simon Says Stamp Wed  - Girly

Craft Stamper March  - Anything Goes

Virginia's View Ch13  - All Things Embossed

Time Out Guest Designer

Hello Friends

I am excited to be joining the lovely ladies over at the Time Out Challenges blog today. This is my prize for winning the hearts blog challenge a few weeks ago. I get to be a guest designer YAY!! Thank you so much for such a great prize.

 This is also their first birthday woo hoo ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY ~  Time Out Challenges!!!

Today they have a new challenge which is inspired by this photo.

 Look at all of those lovely colours!!I wanted to keep my card really simple and let the colours speak for themselves.

I had the perfect stamps in mind for my card. This little row of  Heart Strings from Unity. I just bought them recently so this was a great time to use them.  I coloured them with my distress inks Picked Raspberry & Salty Ocean. Then I stamped the birthday sentiment from the Sweet Elle stamp set underneath using VersaFine ink.

Next I added some green sequins. It looked a little flat still so I got out my Stickles and applied some sparkle to the hearts and the sequins. I think the sequins now take on the look of enamel dots thanks to the glue. I love happy accidents like that don't you?  I then mounted it on to black card and then a polka dot card base that I made from Recollections card that I got at Michaels. Finally I tied some black twine to finish off my card.

I love the way all of the colours come together. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. If you have some time come and join in this fun challenge.

Mandi xox

Happy Birthday Panda

Hello Friends

I got some new Unity stamps in the mail over weekend. I get so excited when I see that brown envelope arrive at my house, I am like a kid at Christmas ha! One of my new stamp sets are these little pandas how cute are they?? They came just in time as I needed to make my nephew a birthday card. He loves animals so this Plenty of Pandas stamp set was perfect for his card.

This is such a simple and easy card to make. I just stamped the panda and the sentiment from the Sweet Elle stamp set  in Versafine black onyx ink. Then I used a balloon stamp I have from Fiskars called Birthday Bash.  This set comes with numbers so I could put his age in the balloon. I painted the balloon in light blue with my water colour paints. Next I strung a little row of sequin stars along the top with silver floss. It looked a little too clean for me so I threw some paint splatters on the card.

I absolutely love the way it turned out. I hope he likes his card. He asked to go the zoo for his birthday so he will see real life pandas when he visits. They actually have a panda web cam there here is the link if you want to have a look at some real life pandas :)  Edinburgh Zoo Panda Cam.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.

Mandi xox

Challenges
Sister Act Ch 95 - Anything goes
Craft Your Passion Ch 251  - Anything goes