IndigoBlu - Demo Inspiration - Winter Blues

Good morning! :)

This month's IndigoBlu Challenge theme is...Winter Blues.

A gorgeous colour way for this time of year, and this little collection of trees from Anna Marie Designs is a lovely touch, even if you're not one for a big tree or lots of decorations.

The trees are coated in IndigoBlu gesso ... Grandma's Teacup & Park Lane...then embossed using the Twinkle Star stamp.

The base also had a coat of Park Lane, and a smidging of Fine texture paste added to resemble snow. 

I'm entering this into

Craft Stamper - Take a Technique - Sharing the Season

That's Crafty - Season's Greetings

Country View - Create a Scene 

Fairy Tale - Something Metal 

The prize on offer this month is: 

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

There’s also the Winner’s Badge, and one for the Top 3, to display proudly on your blog, and the WINNER of the challenge will also be invited to do a GUEST SPOT on a future Challenge Launch post. That’s right, your work will be on the Challenge Blog alongside the Design Team!

Also the Top Three each month (chosen by our lovely DT) will all be invited to do an inspiration piece to be included on the new reminder post that now goes live mid challenge. So, if you’d like a chance to be featured on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog get those stamps out and get creating!

Thank you for visiting...

hope you have a lovely weekend.
Happy Crafting
Lydia xx

Countdown to Christmas!

Well...December is here and the countdown to Christmas has begun! Eeek!
What better way to keep check of how few days left to panic could there be, than a IndigoBlu'd Advent Calendar :) 

With design in hand, off went my better half...out to that man cave of his...and returned later with the base and frame for my calendar...bless him :* 

So, with IndigoBlu 

Black Gesso... Cottage Garden Acrylic paint,... Mega flake,... Christmas Compendium papers... stamps ...and a smidging of texture paste here and there later...

We're good to go!!! 

I'm entering this into:

Fussy & Fancy - Words

Crafting By Design - Get Ready for Christmas
Emerald Creek Dares - Bringing bits of Cheer

Thanks for your visit

Happy counting down &

Happy Crafting x

Lydia xx

Sleigh Bells Ring....

Well, here we are in the last full week of November!! Eeek!! 

Anyone ready for December??!!  I'm so not...but I at least have a decorated sleigh! :)

The sleigh is from Tando Creative...'flat packed' and made from chipboard, and then I've altered it... inspired by the ultra talented, Mr Andy Skinner.

I have used many DecoArt Media Line paints, Crackle Glaze, Crackle Paint, Texture Paste,

Weathered Wood,

Tando Creative Sleigh, Merry Christmas, Stockings and stars...

IndigoBlu Script stamp,  Ruby Slippers paint...

Archival Sepia Ink pad...

I had hours of fun with this project...thanks for taking a peek :) 

I'm entering this into:

Anything But Cute - It's Ornamental 

Mixed Media World - Anything goes

Happy Crafting

Lydia xx

"If You Don't Change It, It'll Stay The Same......."

Wow! It's a breezy day out there thanks to 'Barney's' visit! Who names these storms...and why do I automatically think of a purple dinosaur?? Haha

Anyway, here in the warm, I thought I'd share with you a Christmas lantern that I had a great time altering. It's inspiration came from a fantabulous weekend retreat in Coventry, with Andy Skinner/Michelle Webb and Tando Creations.

This started off life as a nice, cream coloured lantern from B&M. But...Pah...I don't want nice and clean...I wanted wicked and rusty!! :) 

Before I got my hands on it ....

...And after!!!

Along the way I gesso'd it...

...added some texture paste...

...some DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic paint...

... and ...

DecoArt Dazzling Metallics 

----

 I also used 'Merry Christmas' wording and a 'Christmas stocking' from
Tando Creative x

Well...hope you like it. I thoroughly enjoyed making it :)

I'm entering this into:

Our Creative Corner - Topsy Turvy  - I made something new into something old, instead of the norm... something old into something new!!

SanDee & Amelie - Steampunk Winter Special 

Mixed Media World - Anything Goes 

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes

Anything But Cute - It's Ornamental

Thanks for visiting

Happy Crafting

Lydia xx

Time Flies - IndigoBlu Demonstrator Inspiration

Time Flies......but we still remember them.

This month's IndigoBlu Challenge theme is 'Time Flies'

November is here...and as it's Remembrance Sunday this coming weekend, I thought it fitting to make something with that in mind. 

Poppies are also one of my favourite flowers, and as IndigoBlu have quite a few stamp designs with Poppies, the tough bit was choosing which one to use! I settled with 'Poppy Meadow' ...a beautiful set of stamps.
The background: Mdf clock cog,
1) Coat with IndigoBlu Black Gesso,
2) Using Slap It On to adhere, cover with a sheet of paper from our 12 x 12  Vintage Memories Mixed Media Paper set . 3) Swipe over with a wash of watered down Hot Cocoa, and leave it to dry, thoroughly.
4) Using Ink Splats - go around the edge using Archival Sepia and Archival Black inks.
5) Stamp the poppy onto IndigoBlu smooth cardstock...colour and cut out.
6) Add the Poppy to the clock background. Also the wording and soldier.
7) Using an image from Industrial Lamps - stamp onto the base and add some yellow and orange distress ink colours.
8) Add the mechanism and hands x

The fabulous winner’s prize this month is your choice of IndigoBlu stamps.  As always, you have 3 options to choose from:

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

There’s also the Winner’s Badge, and one for the Top 3, to display proudly on your blog, and the WINNER of the challenge will also be invited to do a GUEST SPOT on a future Challenge Launch post. That’s right, your work will be on the Challenge Blog alongside the Design Team!

Also the Top Three each month (chosen by our lovely DT) will all be invited to do an inspiration piece to be included on the new reminder post that now goes live mid challenge. So, if you’d like a chance to be featured on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog get those stamps out and get creating!

I am entering this into:

Altered Eclectics - Mixed Media - Anything Goes

Fussy and Fancy - Flowers 

Happy Crafting

Lydia xx

They're Coming Out To....Play!!!

🎃 Hello!!🎃

It's that time of year where all things spooky come out....and this crypt is no exception!! 😱

I'm not a great fan of the Trick or Treat side of Halloween...but it's always a fun time to create. So as we approach the bewitching hour, I'm posting my entry into the

DecoArt Haunts Challenge.

Being totally honest...I'm fairly new to the DecoArt range of products, and only have a few paint colours, and gesso, so I was a bit limited! I will just have to do some shopping in Coventry next weekend!! ;)

 So... armed (bones...armed....see what I did there?!! haha) with a deep framed canvas...I began!

The canvas was painted to within an inch of it's life (on the 'other' side) with black gesso...then randomly 'splodged' with texture paste. I then added some chipped plastic type pieces (tech term!)  to the paste and left it to dry. Once dried I added some cobweb in places for some texture, and painted over everything once again with black gesso.
I painted the skeletons with Titan Buff & Raw Umber... mixed both together for a paler brown...to dirty them up a bit, and drew on some cracks.

The base has had Raw Umber, Prussian Blue & Pyrrole Red paint added for soil and muck...some greenery for bushes and grass...and some plastic pumpkins for effect. The pumpkins had a coat of Pyrrole Red and Raw Umber mix ...and the spiders too! 

The fencing is...sorry...WAS... a Tattered Lace dainty fence...now it's a broken, rusty old bit of fencing, (thanks to Raw Umber and Patina Antiquing Cream...oh and a pair of trusty scissors!!) which I don't think is going to do the best job in the world of holding these crazy bits of bone in their holding!!! Eeeeek!!! 

And there we are!! :)
Not as detailed as I'd have liked, but think I need to invest in some more DecoArt Media yummyness!!  x

Happy Halloween!!

I'm also entering this into ...

That's Crafty! - Haunted Halloween

Mixed Media World - Anything Goes - On Wood ...I have used a deep wood framed canvas x

That Craft Place - Anything goes - Mixed Media

Eclectic Ellapu - Halloween/Dark/Horror

Altered Eclectics - Altered Art - Anything Goes

Happy Crafting

Lydia xx

  

IndigoBlu Demo Inspiration - Autumn Days....

Hello!!
Woah...where did October appear from??  

One minute it was summer holidays...I must have blinked...and here we are in Autumn!
But Autumn (so long as it isn't wet, yukky and miserable like today!!) has got to be THE nicest season EVER!!
It's beautiful...and so full of colour.

Which leads me on to my inspiration piece for the IndigoBlu Challenge today...
... Autumn Days ...

I think I have just found a new addiction!! Art Journalling!!!

This is my VERY FIRST art journal page!!!!

This started as a blank double page, in a journal that I have been wanting to 'play in' for ages.

Using IndigoBlu Black Gesso as a base...a couple of paint brushes...and IndigoBlu Cottage Garden Artist Quality Acrylic Paint...I hand painted this...can you spot my little bunny?  :)

I have used the following IndigoBlu products to create this page:

Poppy Meadow - The beautiful sentiment

Nature II - The birds & the squirrel

Black GeeSoo Good Gesso

Cottage Garden Artist Quality Acrylic Paint:

Hot Cocoa

Postbox Red

Banana Custard

Burning Bonfire

Emerald City

&
Miss Moneypenny

-----

Other products:
Black Archival ink pad

White Charcoal Pencil

What is your take on Autumn? We would love to see! :)

The fabulous winner’s prize this month is your choice of IndigoBlu stamps.  As always, you have 3 options to choose from:

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

There’s also the Winner’s Badge, and one for the Top 3, to display proudly on your blog, and the WINNER of the challenge will also be invited to do a GUEST SPOT on a future Challenge Launch post. That’s right, your work will be on the Challenge Blog alongside the Design Team!

Also the Top Three each month (chosen by our lovely DT) will all be invited to do an inspiration piece to be included on the new reminder post that now goes live mid challenge. So, if you’d like a chance to be featured on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog get those stamps out and get creating!

You’ll find all the information on how to enter the challenge,  the rules (don’t worry, there’s not that many) and get to meet the Design Team in the tabs above. 

I'm entering this into:

Craft Stamper - Technique - Paint

Mixed Media World - Anything Goes with Autumn Colours

Fussy & Fancy - Autumn Colours

Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Words

Good Luck...and 

Happy Crafting 

Lydia xx

Frame It - IndigoBlu Demonstrator Inspiration...

Hi all
Well, Summer seems to have turned it's back on us, and September snuck in whilst no one was watching!! The nights are drawing in and Autumn is just around the corner....but I do love this time of year...it's so colourful and has that healthy kind of start to your day!
It also means more 'stay in and craft' time :)

This month, the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog theme is 'Frame It' .....
Frame an image...frame a sentiment...decorate a frame...or frame a frame...how ever you want to frame it, is ok with us! :)

I have used the totally gorgeous Giant Poppy as my focal image, using our IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist Quality Paints to hand paint both the Poppy and the background.
Rob has been back in his shed, and made me a frame from MDF (bless his cottons :) ) ...that has a covering of Texture Paste...dried... a coat of Black GeeSso Good - Gesso...and Vodka Martini! ;)

If you get a chance, nip across to the blog and see what the Challenge team have created...there is so much fabulous work over there as always x

--------------------
We would love for you to join in...and don't forget.....

The fabulous winner’s prize this month is your choice of IndigoBlu stamps.  As always, you have 3 options to choose from:

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

There’s also the Winner’s Badge, and one for the Top 3, to display proudly on your blog, and the WINNER of the challenge will also be invited to do a GUEST SPOT on a future Challenge Launch post. That’s right, your work will be on the Challenge Blog alongside the Design Team!

Also the Top Three each month (chosen by our lovely DT) will all be invited to do an inspiration piece to be included on the new reminder post that now goes live mid challenge. So, if you’d like a chance to be featured on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog get those stamps out and get creating!

To all those with children returning to school this week... I wish them all a great new term x

Happy Crafting...

Lydia xx

Precious Metal ...IndigoBlu Demonstrator Inspiration

Morning all :)
Well, here we are in sunny August...minus the sun!!! It's more like winter out there today!
Never mind...hopefully my Demonstrator project for this month's  IndigoBlu Challenge, will bring a little ray of sunshine x

This was a metal pot that I bought from good old Lidl. I introduced it to some IndigoBlu Gee-Sso Good Gesso...some English Cottage Artist Acrylic paints, Flitterglu and Mega Flake...and this is the result!
Perfect for my ever growing collection of brushes :)

Nip across to the blog for some wonderful inspiration from the design team...and all the info on the FABULOUS prizes on offer!!!

Until next time...
Happy Crafting

Lydia x

Flutterby - IndigoBlu Demonstrator Inspiration ...

Morning! :)

Here we are...one week into JULY!!! Shock - horror!!!! Where did half the year go to??

In Craft-land it's that time of year, when the 'man in the red suit' starts to creep up on us!! But before that, lets appreciate the summer for a while...and what better way than with some beautiful butterflies!

......... IndigoBlu Challenge ........
The challenge this month is Flutterby - and for my Demonstrator Inspiration piece, I made something that was more of a challenge to photograph than make!! Haha

I absolutely love working with acetate...but it's very difficult to lose the reflections and glare.
Hopefully you'll see the effects and beautiful shimmer going on in this card.

The black base card has been stamped with the Crackleglaze background, using Townhouse Teal and Aladdin - English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint

I have used Magicals - from Lindy's Stamp Gang on the Big Butterfly wings...along with Mega Flake.
The Dinky Butterfly on the acetate has been stamped using our 'Flinky' technique...and painted with our wonderful paints.

The fabulous winner’s prize this month is your choice of IndigoBlu stamps.  As always, you have 3 options to choose from:

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

There’s also the Winner’s Badge, and one for the Top 3, to display proudly on your blog, and the WINNER of the challenge will also be invited to do a GUEST SPOT on a future Challenge Launch post. That’s right, your work will be on the Challenge Blog alongside the Design Team!

Don't forget to check out the Challenge DT's wonderful work for this challenge on the blog too xx

Take care
Happy Crafting

Lydia xx

A Sign of Summer....

Wow! Another gorgeous day out there!!! The sun was desperately trying to barge its way through the curtains first thing this morning! It's lovely and cool in my craft room though...so there I will stay! No arguments from me! lol The only problem I face... is the window... and sometimes the wildlife out there can be a lovely time waster!  This week, as well as all of the birds, the butterflies and bees are darting around...a few of them bumping into the window!! Ouch!!! 

With Summer and butterflies in mind, this is a card I made using the adorable 'Big Butterfly' stamp from IndigoBlu. One of my (many) favourites...and it looks all the more stunning with that touch of Mega Flake!

I made a batch of these as Thank You cards...very quick...very clean...and very simple!

IndigoBlu - Big Butterfly - 

IndigoBlu - Butterfly Collector - (little butterfly)

I am entering this into the challenge at Everybody Art - CAS
IndigoBlu Challenge - Flutterby 

Happy Crafting

Lydia x

Golfing...off to a Tee...

Hi all :)
Well...here we are in summer!!! I thought I'd tell you, just in case you're in one of the many areas in the UK that has had copious amounts of rain today!!  Down here in the South we were quite lucky, only having rain this morning, but sunshine to dry washing outdoors this afternoon!! Whoop!! :)
But hey...a good day for crafting, if you're stuck inside!!! ;)

Today I'm sharing with you a project that I made for Father's Day. 

An mdf frame ...
IndigoBlu English Cottage Paints
Texture Paste
IndigoBlu Fairway to Heaven stamp
IndigoBlu Tree from Nature 1
Ice Resin
Dad Lettering
And erm... two of Rob's Tees...and a golf ball!!! ;)

I'm entering this into this month's Craft Stamper Challenge ...
The theme is TEXTURE

Anything but Cute - Make it Masculine

Happy Crafting
Lydia xx

A Pocketful of Posies...or....

...A Tinful of Poppies!!! :)

Morning!!
Here we are in June already....another 6 months and it'll be ....cold!!!! Lol
But, for now it's that midway inspiration point for the IndigoBlu Challenge!
The demonstrators have given you a bit of inspiration ...and a gentle reminder that you have 16 days left to enter!! ;) 

I have used some of the BRAND NEW releases to make my project...as always when we release newbies, my challenge is which one to use first!! 

Don't forget that there are awesome prizes up for grabs too!! x

The fabulous winner’s prize this month is your choice of IndigoBlu stamps.  As always, you have 3 options to choose from:

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

Happy Crafting

Lydia xx

IndigoBlu meets Stick It!

I was going to say 'Good Morning'...but it seems that as I've had a lovely time playing...I missed that part of the day!! :) But...I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that's what happens when you get engrossed in your crafting! ;)

I was recently given a few sheets of the 'much talked about' Stick It - to 'play' with...by the lovely David and Brenda at Craft Obsessions...via the just as lovely Kay at IndigoBlu. These double sided adhesive sheets have been designed by the fantabulous crafter Ken Oliver. He designed them with the thought of making intricate die cuts easier to stick...and he soooo succeeded!! The sheets are just fabulous for that....BUT.....you know me...so let's find another use for them too :)

The dies that I used for this project aren't too intricate, so I used the good old gluing method to attach them to my card. Hmmm....defeat the object you say? Well...this is why. I wanted my die cut to match my background colours...and my background colours were......PAINT! I also wanted sparkle...so I needed to adhere that on too! Soooooo.....

I painted my background with IndigoBlu English Cottage Artists Acrylic Paint...and then dried it. I then covered the area I needed with a sheet of Stick It....and cut my shape out.

Carefully peeled the adhesive backing sheet off...

...and covered in ultra fine glitter!

The result....glittery die cuts to match my background :)

Thank you to the lovely David and Brenda at Craft Obsessions...I shall be creating again soon!! :)

Lydia xx

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