Wednesday 31 December 2014

What a Snow!

I have another Christmas card to share today, using another new stamp...'What a Snow!' by Penny Black, which I coloured using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle to the snowy ground with some Stickles. The papers are from the 'Bundled Up' pad by Crate Paper...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Lili of the Valley.


Challenges for this card:
I failed to notice that yesterday's post was my 2000th on my blog...ooops! I had promised some candy to make up for missing my blog's 6th birthday (back in September) when I passed that milestone...so I shall get some sorted soon! I shall also have something non-Christmassy for you tomorrow!

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Winter White

I have another card using some new goodies to show you today...this time the new item is a die...'Woodland Tree Silhouette' by Memory Box. I used a couple of other dies...'Picket fence' by Dienamics and 'Elegant Reindeer' by Die'sires to create a wintery scene. For the background, I embossed the card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder, and hand cut a couple of simple shapes for the ground.


Challenges for this card:

Monday 29 December 2014

Hide-Out!

I've used another new stamp on today's card...it's called 'Hide-out!'...of course by Penny Black. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, to match the 'Vintage Charm' papers by My Mind's Eye...then inked around the edges of everything using 'Old Paper' Distress Ink. I distressed the edges a little, then used my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen to add some faux stitching. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual, the twine is from The Ribbon Girls, and the pearls are from Hobbycraft.


Challenges for this card:

Sunday 28 December 2014

Me To You...

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time...and that Santa was good to you? I was a very lucky girl, and received some lovely new crafty goodies...and had a little play yesterday. They were mostly Christmas related...but, as I like to make Christmas cards all year round, that's not a problem! On today's card, I've used new papers (from the 'Silent Night' pad by First Edition) & a cute new stamp (simply called 'Presents' from the Me To You range of Christmas Characters). I coloured the image using watercolour pencils...adding some Stickles to the snowy ground for a touch of sparkle. I distressed the edges of papers, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The snowflake is a Memory Box die, and is held in place with a gem brad from Craft Obsessions...the adhesive pearls are from Hobbycraft.


Challenges for this card:
Time to start a new tally chart for 2015's Christmas cards!

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Favourite Five Christmas Cards of 2014


My lovely bloggy buddy Debby is encouraging us to share our favourite five Christmas cards of the year again. I love doing this...there's wonderful inspiration to be had from browsing everyone's favourite creations! I went back through all of this year's cards...and here's my selection (click any of the photos to go to the original post for full details of products/techniques):

I'm calling this one 'Watery Snowflake Swirl'...I experimented with stamping with water on a very inky background...and love the effect it created:


My second card was also a bit of an experiment...and was probably the quickest card I made all year! Simply a thumbprint with a little doodling to make this reindeer:


The next one is a bit more 'me' with a cute Penny Black image, pretty papers, some distressing and stitching:


And another Penny Black card...this time in a more CAS style...just love the colours on this one...and of course the cute little snowman:


My final card is a really recent one...and again is not my typical style...for a start the only stamped element is the sentiment! I've been slowly accumulating a collection of dies and used lots of them to create this scene:


If you want to join Debby and share your favourite Christmas cards from the year, you can find her post here.

Before I go, I'd just like to wish all of my lovely blog visitors a very Merry Christmas!


ABC Christmas Challenge - Z is for...

We have one last ABC Christmas Challenge this year...Carissa is the host, and the theme is:

'Z is for Zebra'
Use stripes!

We are sponsored for this challenge by Bugaboo Stamps:
Prize - 7 Digi Stamps!

I picked some stripey papers from the 'Merry Little Christmas' pad by My Mind's Eye...and combined them with a Penny Black stamp...'Wishes for Kisses'...one of my favourite Christmas stamps, which I coloured using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle with some Stickles. I distressed all of the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from a Lili of the Valley set, the snowflake is a Memory Box die, the gem brad is from Craft Obsessions, and the pearls are from Hobbycraft.


I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:


For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Saturday 20 December 2014

Winter Wonderland

I have a winter wonderland themed card to share today, made using lots of die cuts. I used lots of plain-ish papers from a mixture of BasicGrey pads (the browns, greens & white) and and Echo Park (the blue one). The trees are a Marianne Designs die, the fence is by Die-namics, and the reindeer is by Die-sires. I embossed the blue background using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder to look like a snowy sky, and inked over the edges of everything using 'Picket Fence' Distress Ink. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Bubble Tree' set by Woodware, and I couldn't resist adding a red pearl for Rudolph's red nose!


Challenges for this card:

Friday 19 December 2014

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I have another Christmas card to share today...not many left to do now! This one was inspired by the 'One Layer Card with Snow' theme of this week's Less is More Challenge. I stamped various snowflakes (stamps by Hero Arts, Papermania & Prima) in Versamark Ink, then heat embossed them in white. The sentiment stamp is by Penny Black.


Challenges for this card:

Thursday 18 December 2014

Simple Notecards & Box

I have another post from my drafts folder for you today...this is a set of simple notecards that I made a as birthday gift a couple of months ago. I used papers from the 'Recollections' pad by Michaels (the green & brown ones) and the 'Indie Chic' pad by My Mind's Eye (the pink & orange ones)...inking around the edges using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiments are from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual.





I made a matching little box & tag to present them in:


Challenges for these notecards:


Monday 15 December 2014

A herd of reindeer...

I have a set of simple Christmas cards to share today featuring a reindeer die cut (a Die-sires die from Crafter's Companion) and a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'Very Merry Christmas' set). Despite making Christmas cards all year, I found myself a little short on cards, so set up a little production line to make a batch of quick cards.


I inked the antlers of all the reindeer with 'Picket Fence', and then around his body using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Inks, before adding a little red pearl for his red nose, and mounting the reindeer on to the cards using 3D foam pads.


Challenges for these cards:


Sunday 14 December 2014

Bicycle Notecards

I've been super busy the last couple of weeks...it's been exam and Christmas concert season...so I've not had that much time for crafting or blogging...so am posting a project that has been in my drafts folder for a couple of months, that I never got round to blogging. I found a few others too that have been there for much longer than that and forgotten about, so I'll blog those soon too as a change from the last-minute Christmas things I'm making. Today's project is a set of bicycle themed notecards...made using Hero Arts & Hobbycraft bike stamps, simply stamped on to 4x4 card blanks in brown ink, together with a Papermania sentiment stamp.


Challenges for these cards:

Wednesday 10 December 2014

ABC Christmas Challenge - Y is for...

We have a brand new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Lols is hosting and the theme is:

'Y is for Your Family'
Create a personalised card/tag

We are sponsored for this challenge by Fred She Said:
Prize - $10 Gift Certificate!

I made a set of personalised gift tags for family and friends. I used the reindeer stamps and co-ordinating dies from the 'Holiday Cheer' Framelits set by Sizzix/Hero Arts. I stamped the reindeer on to kraft card. in black and red...cutting out the jumpers from the red version and layering them over the top of the black ones. I made the background for each tag from plain-ish papers from the 'Winter Wishes' collection by Echo Park, and the 'Eskimo Kisses' collection by BasicGrey. I embossed the blue paper using a couple of Cuttlebug snowflake folders, and the trees (cut using another of the dies from the Framelits set) using my trusty 'Swiss Dots' folder...then I sanded over the top to reveal the white core. The 'snowy' ground is simply a piece of torn white card. I added the names using a set of alphabet stamps by Clear stamps, then added some twine (from Lakeland) to tie each tag on to each gift.


I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:


For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Sunday 7 December 2014

Pile It On! Challenge - Anything Christmas

It's time for the final Pile It On! Challenge of the year. and as usual both design teams are joining together to bring you a month long challenge. We know that it's a busy time of year for everyone, so we have a super easy theme for you:

'Anything Christmas!'

I went down the quick and easy route, picking a pre-coloured Lili of the Valley card topper...simply adding a touch of sparkle with a clear Sakura 'Stardust' pen. The papers are a mixture of different brands...Crate Paper 'Bundled Up' (the red & green papers), Prima Marketing 'All About Me' (the blue paper) and Echo Park 'tis the Season' (the snowflake paper). I inked the edges using a little Pumice Stone' Distress Ink to make them 'match' a little better, then distressed the edges and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. 


Here are the challenges I've piled on:


For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Saturday 6 December 2014

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Snowflakes

It's the first Saturday of the month...so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...and this month the theme is:

'Snowflakes' 

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

Prize - a $20 voucher

I picked an older Penny Black stamp called 'XMouse Ornament' for my card...colouring him using watercolour pencils, and adding a Lili of the Valley sentiment. The snowflake papers are from the 'Merry Little Christmas' pad by My Mind's Eye...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The snowflake is a Memory Box die...held in place with a gem brad from Craft Obsessions.



I'm also entering this treat bag into the following challenges:
For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thursday 4 December 2014

Crafty Little Fairies Challenge - Holly and/or Ivy

We have a new Crafty Little Fairies Challenge starting today...and sadly, this will be our last challenge, as we will be hanging up our fairy wings in the New Year...but we have a nice and easy seasonal theme for you for our final challenge:

'Holly and/or Ivy'

And, as usual we have wonderful prizes on offer from our lovely sponsors:

The Ribbon Girl (prize = £10 voucher)

Marianne Design (prize = to be confirmed)

Delicious Doodles (prize = 4 digis of winner's choice)

Hobbycutz (prize = £7.50 voucher)

I picked some holly patterned paper...from a pad that came free with a magazine...and a Penny Black stamp called 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges of the papers a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.


I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Crafty Little Fairies Challenge.

Monday 1 December 2014

...and Little Snowy

I couldn't resist inking up another of my Penny Black snowmen stamps...this one is from the 'Jolly Friends' set. For the background I used papers from the 'Merry Little Christmas' pad by My Mind's Eye, and some Papermania Washi tape. The tree is a Marianne Designs die cut...cut from some of the paper, and layered on to another cut from kraft for the trunk. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Merriest Wishes' set by Hero Arts.


Challenges for this card: