October Journal Page

I am very lucky.  We live in a very beautiful part of the country (Scotland)  and each month I have tried to depict the changes I have seen in the fields and woods surrounding our house.  The idea is to make a memory book of the changing seasons.  The month of October is a big card in the annual change.  We see the foliage on the native broad-leaf woodland change colour and, in some cases disappear altogether, and due to the reducing canopy, we  notice the abundance of roe deer in the wood - all preparing for the annual rut.  Fungi has been very common this year due to the damp, warm autumn.

This is an A4 spread on two A5 pages, hence the centre fold.  I have used stamps from Impression Obsession and Chocolate Baroque (trees), Stampin' USA (leaves), Lavinia Stamps (shrubs), roe deer (Penny Black), fungi (Chocolate Baroque).  I have used various Distress Inks and dye based inks from Stampin' Up.

I should like to enter this layout in the Craft a Scene challenge "Trees".  Thank you for visiting my blog and for your encouraging comments.  I do appreciate them all.

Last Enchantment Altered Book Page - The Oak Tree Roots

This page came about as I came across a delightful German fairy tale book called The Story of the Root Children by Sybille Von Olfers.  The Root Children live underground in the roots of tall trees and are woken up each Spring by Mother Earth. They set about making new clothes for the flowers and painting the beetles and ladybirds in their bright colours.  They spend all summer dancing and playing in the fields before returning to their underground homes at the onset of winter.

The oak tree is a new stamp from Sheena Douglass, as is the word stamp and saying on the bottom of the page.  The tree roots are a texture stamp from Lavinia Stamps.  The page has been coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils and the oak tree foliage is Aged Green embossing enamel by Stampendous.  The two smiling children in their earth bed were drawn by yours truly.

Thank you for visiting and do feel free to leave a comment.  I appreciate every one.

Last Enchantment Altered Book Page - Dancing Unicorns

These pages are dedicated to the legend of the Moon Dancing unicorns as told by Meredith Ann Pierce in Birth of the Firebringer.  Each month the unicorns gathered at dusk to dance in a Circle under the full, dusky moon.

The unicorns are from Chocolate Baroque stamps and have been stamped in Black Archival Ink and then covered with Glossy Accents and glitter.  The foliage stamps are from Clarity and Lavinia Stamps.  The background has been made by masking and sponging with various Distress Inks.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate them all.

Postcard Travels with Roland Poland - Week 18 New Zealand

Having apologised to Axel Skislope for his heavy handed use of salt, Roland Poland is reunited with Xui.  Axel was delighted to wave goodbye to our canine warrior who had more than doubled his salt bill in one week!  They fly immediately to New Zealand where Xui is a VIP guest on The Lord of the Rings Tour.

He writes to his half-brother Malcom,

Hi Malcolm,
Found our ideal retirement home.  It is a Hobbit House
where everything is just the right size.
And guess what? -
There is a convenient tree right by the front door.  Does
life get any better than that!
RP

Here is the page I made in his travel book

My postcard uses a stamp from Lavinia Stamps and is coloured with Stampin' Up markers.  The travel book uses images of Fijordland National Park, a portrait of Maori Hinepare and a lovely set of stamps of dogs and the alphabet from NZ Postal Service.
Thank you for visiting and do please leave a comment. I recommend that you  visit the other travellers in Darcy's Postcard Challenge (see link in sidebar), you will be amazed at the wonderful artwork.

CD Sunday Challenge - A Song in My Heart

What a lovely challenge this week. I have enjoyed making this as I have been able to delve into my friend Jen's box of stamps. The swan is by Clarity and has been coloured with Promarkers. The music stamp is by Kaisercrafts and the hearts are from Lavinia Stamps. The backing paper is from the Floral Fantasy CD by Artylicious.

Thank you for visiting and do feel free to leave a comment - they are always appreciated.

DragonsDream TIO #73 My Townscape Triptych

Never done a triptych before, especially not one in a hurry! I am off to London tomorrow for the Alexandra Palace craft show. So excited!

It was also difficult to photograph all three tags together as it has been a very dark and dismal day here in the Highlands.

I have used Sir Tim's Townscape die as my starting point and then stamped a Crafty Individuals street coloured with copics. The iron railings and gate are by the Unmounted Stamp Company and the trees are Clarity and Stampin Up. The gate sentiment is PaperArtsy. Bench and flowers are by Lavinia Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by and do feel free to leave a comment as they are much appreciated.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge #136 - Highland Fling

I have tried to convey the majesty and ethereal quality of the Highlands on a damp winter's day when you can't tell where the mountains end and the clouds begin.The stamps on the picture are by Lavinia and the thistle stamp is by Elusive Images. The backing paper is from Crafty Ann.

Thank you for visiting and please feel free to leave a comment - all are appreciated.

Creating Rainbows August Card Swap

This month's theme was to 'Create a Scene'. As some of you may know, I really enjoy making a picture from scratch. This card was for my Rainbow friend Elizabeth and I know she is a hard act to follow - check out her blog - she does some lovely work!

I didn't intend to make an oriental card but it seemed to take on a really oriental feel as it began to emerge.

The stamps for the main image are all by Lavinia Stamps and the scene is mainly created using Memento Desert Sand and London Fog (love these colours), DI Stormy Sky and SU Sage Shadow.

The tall trees on the brown backing card are gold embossed and are by Elusive Images.

I hope you like this card. I really enjoyed making it as it is the first time I had used some of these Lavinia stamps.

Thanks for dropping by and feel free to leave a comment, I do appreciate them.

Bah! Humbug! #28 - Christmas Scene

For this week's make I decided to make a scene from scratch and started with a piece of 160gsm white paper 4.25 x3.5 inches.

I masked the moon and stamped the cottages and masked them. Tore a post it note to the shape of the horizon that fitted with the cottages and then sponged around the moon with pale yellow and then sponged the sky with SU Nearly Navy. I re-used the post it note to form banks of snow in the foreground and very lightly sponged them with the Nearly Navy. After that I added the trees, bushes and deer and highlighted some areas with white gel pen and clear Sakura Stardust pen. Stars were put in the sky with white gel pen.

When the mask on the cottages was removed I added some thin black detail to take off the whiteness and also sponged some yellow and navy on the moon when the mask was removed. The sentiment embossed directly onto the base card is by Elusive Images.

I am very lucky living where I do, I see sights similar to this every night from my lounge window. I hope you like my scene, I always love making pictures like this - that's what got me into rubber stamping as I can't draw for toffee! Please feel free to add a comment, they are always appreciated.

CD Sunday Challenge - Just for You

Thought I would have a change from pretty cards and do a slightly sinister one for a change.
The image is from Baby Love CD from Joanna Sheen. I embossed the card behind the image with black and mounted it onto a piece I had stamped with the spiders web from Lavinia Stamps. The final layer is stamped with a crackle stamp from Judikins. I have used DI Shabby Shutters and Old Paper.

Hope you like it - I had fun making it! Please feel free to leave a comment, they are most appreciated.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge #21 - Acetate

I love using acetate and particularly enjoy painting it. Photographing it is another matter and I apologise for the picture quality.

My stamp is from the Winter Collage collection from I Brake For Stamps and is a fallow deer. I have painted him and his decorative borders in reinkers and Diamond Glaze and mounted it onto scrunched up foil to give depth and reflection, (too much when taking the photo!) I cut an aperture and stamped the Lavinia Stamps trailing vine around the edges. The sentiment is by Elusive Images.

Thanks for stopping by and looking, please feel free to leave a comment.

Dragonsdream Tag It On #38 - Along the River

I am absolutely delighted and honoured to host this week's challenge and hope that you will all join in and give your interpretations of Along the River. This could be anything in, on, under or above the water including things you may see along the riverbank.

My tag recalls the many happy hours as a child and also as a parent with my daughter spent feeding the swans and ducks on our local river.

I brayered the water with Memento London Fog and sponged the sky with SU Bordering Blue. The trees (Crafty Individuals) on the far riverbank were stamped in several shades of green and the riverside sponged in Memento Desert Sand through a mask.

The foreground swans,fence, bullrushes and grasses (Creative Expressions) were stamped using Marvy Markers and the trailing willow (Lavinia Stamps) stamped in Memento Bamboo Leaves.

Thank you for dropping by and please feel free to leave a comment and I hope you join in the fun!