Phoenix Inspirations

Today is a very special day for me. Five years ago I set up The Male Room - a challenge blog strictly for male orientated cards. Sadly though I had to give it up a while ago as I was going through some personal problems. But the team did not give up and the challenges still happen every two weeks and they have just gone from strength to strength. Please do go and visit  The Male Room The best thing is though Jane asked me to contribute a card to celebrate the five year anniversary - I couldn't say no could I? Here is my card I have used my Waterfront set again to create a sunset scene. Lots of masking with post it notes and sponging with yellows, oranges and reds. The birds are from High Tide but make a lovely addition to the scene. The Happy Birthday image is from You're Inspiring. So as you know I'm staying with my daughter in Hereford - haven't got to the outdoor gym yet - maybe tomorrow! I did however fit in a trip to Hobbycraft where I ...

On the card I have made for you today I have combined two stamp sets - High Tide and Jar of Love I created my background scene with the lighthouse and made a section of beach in the foreground by using a torn post it note and a sponge. The Crumb Cake ink was sponged over the post it note and then a mask was made to add the grass. I cut out a jar and added some water to it using the sea stamp and sponging Pool Party ink over it. The little fishy was stamped inside the jar and the handle was heat embossed with silver embossing powder. It was attached to the card using Dimensionals. Thanks for looking today - hope you like my seaside card. See you soon - J xx

Another challenge card today and I'm in time for this one!!! It's for  CAS(E) this Sketch! here is my card I've used Fabulous Flamingo and she is standing on a beach made from a stamp in the  High Tide set. It's almost a one layer card, my scene is stamped on to a panel of Whisper White card stock. It was sponged with Soft Sky ink for the background and then attached to the card blank. My lovely flamingo is stamped in Powder Pink, Flirty Flamingo and Smoky Slate - doesn't she look lovely? I've had a very lazy day today. I took mum into hospital this morning as she was having a small operation. I came home while she had it and spent the afternoon with my feet up catching up on video-d programs! Very lazy I know but I enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon - J xx

I love getting involved in crafty swaps and recently I took part in a tag swap. The theme was monochrome - I chose blue and my High Tide stamp set. I stamped and inked my scene before cutting the tag shapes . To make the tag shape I used the Scallop Top Tag Punch and added bakers twine. This is winging it's way to my swap partener but before I packed it up take a look at who looked it over  I think she gave it her seal of approval!! All products used above are available in my shop - details in the top tab. Thank you for stopping by today - see you soon xx

This is a card I made made for my son's birthday - it was last week so if he sees this it won't spoil it for him! I've used High Tide but this time created a sunset to go with it - take a look Post it notes are a huge asset to my crafting - I would be lost without them and used them on this card. They are great for masking off the sea, creating the setting sun and also making sure that there is a clear distinction between sky and sea. Well today's the day - my starter kit is out for delivery so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it comes today so that I've got all weekend to play with it! Can you tell I'm excited yet?! As soon as I get my kit it well be official so I will be making a few changes to my blog appearance - nothing major i hope! Please do pop by again - I love having you here - see you soon xx

I am just loving creating with the High Tide set at the moment. It has lots of lovely images that work with out the focal lighthouse. Take a look at the card I have made for you today My beach scene was created by stamping the sandy bits in Crumb Cake ink. I then added my tufts of grass. I reckon it's Marram Grass - you know it's the really tough stuff and can't be pulled up but if you look inside the blades it's all spongy! Anyway - after I had stamped the grass I added the sea. This was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. Blue ink was then sponged over it. The sky was sponged with a pale blue ink (Soft Sky) and the birds were again stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in white. This card is being entered in to the challenge over on Make My Monday where the challenge is 'At the Beach' Thank you for stopping by to take a look - it's lovely to see you here. xx

Is it me but has it been a bit hot lately?! It's been too hot for me to craft I know that. My craft room is in the garage and it gets full sun all day and by golly it gets like an oven in there! I have a day off work tomorrow but I think I'm going to get up early and hope that it's a bit cooler in there in the morning! The card I have to show to you today is another using High Tide - take a look It's a centre step card made with Crumb Cake card stock. The scene was stamped on to Whisper White card stock and the lighthouse and sentiment were stamped separately and added 'off the edge'. This was so I could enter it in to the challenge over in The Male Room Here's a view from the side And when it's flat Thank you for looking today - hope you like my card. See you soon x

High Tide is fast becoming one of favourite sets. I love creating scenes - of an artistic nature!!!! and this set makes it so easy. Take a look at my card So this time when I stamped the sea I did it with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. This gives the sea lots of foamy waves! The seagulls were also heat embossed this time with white embossing powder. Lots of foliage was stamped in the foreground along with a few colourful flowers to finish off the seaside scene. I'm so glad you stopped by today - I hope to see you here again soon x

High Tide is a fabulous new set from Stampin' Up. It has loads of potential but here is a basic step by step tutorial to create a lovely seaside scene. Firstly take a piece of white card stock - mine is 6" x 6" square but any largish square is fine. Next take the sandy stamp and ink it up. I used Crumb Cake but any pale beige colour will work. Stamp the image at the bottom of the card stock to create a sandy bank. Make sure that the notch is uppermost at the left hand side of the card stock - this is where the lighthouse will sit. The image can be stamped multiple times to create the land turning it upside down to fill the gaps. Next take the more solid lighthouse image and stamp in a pale colour. Again I have used Crumb Cake. It's quite easy to line up the images although you may find a stamp positioner helps with this. Now take the second lighthouse image and over stamp the first with a darker colour - I used Brocade Blue (a very old SU colour!!!). ...

I sort of have a new stamp set. Sort of because my order was mixed up and until mine is replaced I'm using one belonging to my Stampin' Up demonstrator. The stamp set is High Tide and I'm sure I shall be using it a lot in the future. So I couldn't wait to start using it and late last night came up with this card for this week's challenge over on Freshly Made Sketches Here is my card This is such a lovely set to use and easy although a stamp positioner may be useful when stamping the lighthouse - I had to practise that bit a lot before I was confident enough to try it on my card! Thanks for stopping by today - see you soon x