ABC Christmas Challenge - E is for...

We've reached the letter E over on the ABC Christmas Challenge...and our theme for you this fortnight, has been chosen by the lovely Cathy, which is:

'E is for Elf'

Well...if you don't have an elf...we don't mind if you use a gnome or pixie or other fairy folk on your projects...just as long as it's Christmassy! lol

Cathy's 'extra' is to use the colours Red & Green on your creations.

For my card, I've used an elf image by Magnolia (kindly sent to me by my ABC Challenge DT buddy Vicky), which I've watercoloured, and then cut out. I've perched her on some fabulous red pom-pom trim, sent to me by my lovely new DT buddy Lacey...who is also sponsoring this challenge...and has donated a fabby WOJ Gnome stamp from her Stamp & Create Store as a prize for the lucky winner. The papers are all My Mind's Eye - the striped and plain ones, are from the '29th Street Market' collection, and the spotty one is from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad. I used my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder for the embossing, lightly sanding the surface to reveal the white core. The sentiment stamp is by Paper MakeUp, and the cute little stocking charm is also form Lacey.

For my card, I followed the sketch from the Just Christmas & Birthdays Challenge...although I did cheat a little, so that my little elf could sit on the pom-poms! lol

For inspiration, make sure you visit the ABC Christmas Challenge...including gorgeous cards from our lovely new design team members!

Caroling Chooks

Woo-hoo I finally made a card last night! I hadn't crafted for over a week...and I think I'd forgotten how to do it...it took me ages to make this...and it's so simple! lol
I followed the sketch from the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge, to make a card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, where the theme this week is 'Christmas for the guys'. I followed the Stampavie & More colour theme of 'Brown & One Other Colour' challenge (in my case blue), and I'm also entering this for the 'Animal Antics' challenge over at Simon Says Stamp. I've used 'Carolers' (of course by Penny Black), and paper by My Mind's Eye...ok so it's not overly festive but it is from a Christmas pack! lol I distressed the edges using inks and my distressing tool, added some faux-stitching and a few snowflakes cut using a Cuttlebug die.

Cute & Fuzzy Christmas

This is the last of the cards I made during my very productive half-term break last week. I won't have much to show you this week...I spent nearly all weekend trying to catch up with all of the work I should have been doing while I was crafting up a storm! lol
This card uses the sketch from the Just Christmas & Birthdays Challenge...and I'm also entering it for the 'Cute & Fuzzy' challenge over at Stamp Something. I've gone for another 'all white' embossed background...using my 'Swiss Dots' and Snowflakes' Cuttlebug folders. The image is from the 'Christmas Critters' set by Penny Black...I highlighted the candlelight and gold lantern using a Sakura Stardust pen...and added some 'Polar White' Flowersoft on the ground beneath the mice to look like snow...it's the first time Ive used it, and I really like the effect...so no doubt you'll be seeing it lots! lol The sentiment stamp is also Penny Black, and the ribbon is by Anita's.

Shabby Dandelion

I haven't joined in with the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge for a while...but I fell for their sketch this week, so I just had to have a play. I've made a lot of Christmas cards lately...and there are a lot of birthdays coming up next month, so I've used it to make a birthday card this time. The image is from the 'Daisy & Dandelion Birthday' set...I think it's Dandelion, but it doesn't say on the packaging. I used my favourite papers...'29th Street Market' by My Mind's Eye...apologies to my regular visitors...I know I use them a lot...but this time I have an excuse...the Stamp Something Challenge is asking us to use our favourite colours or papers this week...so I just had to! I've also gone a bit 'Shabby'...roughing up the edges with some ink and my distressing tool...so I'm also entering this card for this week's Everybody Art Challenge. I made the 'lollipop' flowers using my Nesties, added some faux-stitching around the edges of the papers, and the sentiment is a Hero Arts stamp.

Joy

Here's the final card I made during my craft marathon yesterday...and yes...it's yet another Christmas card! This time I've managed to combine a couple of the Christmas challenges: the sketch from Just Christmas & Birthday Cards; the 'Christmas Present' theme (I hope that they do mean 'present' as in 'modern'...and not literally 'presents' lol!) of the Winter Wonderland Challenge. It was also supposed to be for the 'No Stamping' challenge of Christmas Stampin' All Year Long too, but naughty Mr Blogger didn't publish my scheduled post in time!
My whole card has been 'Cuttlebugged'...I used the 'Snowflakes' folder for the embossing and 'Winter' and 'Olivia' alphabet dies for the shapes and sentiment.

Just Christmas & Birthdays #34

I'm afraid I've made yet another Christmas card...this time using the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge sketch, which I rotated to fit the image ('Welcome Party' by Penny Black). The papers are all by Doodlebug, the sentiment is from a little set by Studio G, and I added a little bit of faux-stitching with a white gel pen.

Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge #32

I've just managed to get my Christmas card for this week done in time to enter for the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge. I loved the simplicity of this week's sketch...plenty of room for extra embellishments. I've used a Penny Black image ('Aiming to please'), which was sent to me in a swap by my lovely friend Pauline, together with 'Figgy Pudding' papers by BasicGrey. The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the smaller stars were cut using Nesties, and the larger one is a sticker from the 'Figgy Pudding' collection pack.

Just Christmas & Birthdays meets Creative Inspirations

I loved the simplicity of the sketch for this week's Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge, and decided to keep my card simple, with an embossed white background, so I'm also entering this card for the Creative Inspirations 'Embossing' challenge. I used a Penny Black stamp (from the 'Christmas Critters' set), and used the Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder to emboss the white card, leaving a strip across the middle for the sentiment (stamp by Studio G), and then simply added a few adhesive gems.

Just Christmas & Birthdays Challenge #29

I've used this week's Just Christmas & Birthday Cards sketch for a quick birthday card, using one of the cupcakes from the Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' set, for the three images. The sentiment is also from that set, the paper is by BasicGrey ('Blush'), and the flowers (in place of the stars on the sketch) and ribbon are from Poppicrafts.

Just Christmas & Birthday Cards meets the One Stop Craft Challenge

I've made a Birthday card using this week's Just Christmas & Birthday Card Challenge sketch. I usually make square cards, but have used a lovely Penny Black image ('Daisy Chain'), sent to me by my lovely friend Carol on a DL card. The backing papers are by Sandy Lion, and I've torn the one across the centre, so I'm also entering this card for the One Stop Craft Challenge where the theme is 'Torn' this week. I've used some tiny Prima flowers, held on with teeny brads from Poppicrafts in the corners, a sentiment from the CCSR set by Papermania.

Just Christmas & Birthdays meets the Creative Card Crew

I've been meaning to join in with the Creative Card Crew Challenges since they started a few weeks ago...but with so many challenges...and so little craft time...I haven't managed it until now. Their theme of 'Warm Colours' is perfect for a Christmas card, and I've followed the sketch from the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge for this card. The papers are all from the 'Festive' range by My Mind's Eye, the image is a stamp by Hero Arts ('Winter Pup'), and the sentiment is a stamp by Three Bugs in a Rug.

ETA - Ooops...just read the rules for the Creative Card Crew challenges...and we're not allowed to combine...doh! Note to self - read the rules before you make the card next time! lol

Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge #23

I'm cutting it fine again for this week's Christmas card, using the sketch from the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge...although I did rotate it...and resize it...but I think you can still see the basic sketch. I've used one of my favourite Penny Black stamps ('Bedecked Antlers'), and some of the 'Rose Tinted Christmas' papers by DCWV, for a non-traditional feel. The snowflakes were cut using a die from the Cuttlebug 'Winter' set, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts.

Just Christmas & Birthdays #21

I just realised that I hadn't made a Christmas card this week...it was one of my New Year's resolutions to make at least one each week, and so far I've managed to stick to it. So I've used this week's sketch from the Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge to make a quick card...just got it uploaded in time! The image I've used ('Pringle' by Sugar Nellie) isn't really a Christmas one, but I had it already coloured...and he does have a present! The paper is from the 'Figgy Pudding' range by BasicGrey, the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die.

Three Challenges in One...Again!

I'd love to have the time to make a separate card for every challenge, but only having the time to craft at the weekends, means that I always end up combining. This card is for 3 challenges: I've used the sketch for this week's Just Christmas & Birthday Cards challenge; which fitted perfectly with the BasicGrey Challenge theme of 'Pockets'; and as it looks the bunnies are magically appearing (a stretch...I know! lol), I'm also entering this for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge which is 'Animal Magic'.
The images I've used are from the Penny Black stamp 'Bunny Friends' - I masked of most of the stamp, so that I could used these smaller images. All of the papers are from the BasicGrey 'Blush' range, the flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts, and Sarah's Cards Ltd, the lace raffia is from Hobbycraft, and all the brads are by Papermania.
Here's a view of the card with the tab in the pocket:


And with the tab removed:

I thought the raffia kind of looks like the bunnies are talking over a picket fence.

Just Christmas & Birthdays meets Colour Create

I'm back for more! lol I thought I might have a go at a Christmas card as well with this week's Just Christmas & Birthdays sketch, but this time I've combined it with the colour combination, of 'Red, White & Blue', for this week's Colour Create challenge (so no extra on this one). I've used my Sugar Nellie Snowman, and very carefully (still getting used to using a craft knife! lol) cut him out, so that I could mount him on a circle. I don't have suitable Christmas papers with me, so have embossed plain cardstock with the Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder - I've also used 'Swiss Dots' on the light blue and white pieces. The sentiment is from a set by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the snowflakes were cut using one of the dies from the Cuttlebug 'Winter' set.

Just Christmas & Birthdays #19

I've used this week's Just Christmas & Birthdays sketch for a boys birthday card...I'm ahead with my Christmas cards, but I may come back and make one, as I really like this sketch. For my image, I've used 'Birthday Dog' by Penny Black...this was one of my first PB stamps, but I still love him! The papers are by BasicGrey (from the 'Blush' range), and I've embossed the plain one with the Cuttlebug 'Spot & Dots' folder. The sentiment is from a set by Hero Arts, the ribbon is from Hobbycraft, and I added a few Papermania brads to fill up some of the blank space at the top of the card.

Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge #16

Phew...only just managed to get my card in for this week's challenge and nearly broke my New Year's resolution of making at least one Christmas card each week too!
The image I've used is one of my favourite Penny Black stamps - 'Wishes for Kisses'. The papers are by DCWV ('Christmas Wishes' stack), the sentiment is by Studio G, and the snowball trim is from Tescos - I think it's meant for wrapping presents.