Curly Christmas

See...I told you I had more Christmas cards to share! These two were really simply to make...I embossed my Woodware 'Curly Christmas' stamp in gold on black card...then used Cosmic Shimmer pigments mixed with water to colour them in. I matted the panels on to gold card, then on to black card blanks.

They're really shimmery in real life...

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N Funky - Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes

Rainbow Chevrons

I thought I'd give you a little break from Christmas cards (I have do have a couple more ready to blog though...so the festive posts will return shortly!) and show you this pair of cards that I made over the Christmas break. I received some Prima water-soluble oil pastels for Christmas, and I used them on these cards to create a rainbow effect. I started by stamping a Hero Arts background stamp 'Chevrons') in Versamark Ink on white card, then heat embossed it using white powder. I scribbled with my pastels over the top of the embossing using a rainbow of colours, then blended them together using a paintbrush and some water. To create the cards, I trimmed my coloured piece in half vertically, then matted them on to some snippets of black card. They weren't quite long enough for a standard A6 card, so I cut across each piece to stretch them over the full length of the cards...it left a handy space for stamping a sentiment (these are from the 'Handwritten Borders' set by Simon Says Stamp).

It was a really bright day when I took the above photo, so here's a better look at one of the cards:

Challenges for these cards:

• Artistic Impressions - Anything Goes (With a Twist of Thank You)
• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Trio of Trees

I have another Christmas tree card to share today...this one uses a Woodware stamp called 'Trio of Trees' that I picked up in the post-Christmas sales. This is a simple one layer card...I coloured the trees using watercolour pencils, then added some 'Tiara' Stickles to the ornaments on the trees, a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) and a doodled border.

Challenges for this card:

• ABC Challenge - Z is for Zero (No Embellishments)
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Any Holiday (Christmas)
• Jingle Belles - Christmas Trees
• Merry Monday - One Layer Cards
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas
• Simply Create Too - Something New (New stamp)
• Winter Wonderland - Something New

Pile It On! Challenge - Black, White & a Pop of Colour

We have another fun Pile t On! Challenge starting today...and the theme is:

'Black, White & a Pop of Colour'

I picked a much neglected Hero Arts stamp to use on my card...it's called 'Flourish Tree with Stars'...and stamped it in Versamark ink on black card along with a sentiment from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then heat embossed them in white. For my 'pop' of colour, I painted the stars and little circles using Cosmic Shimmer pigments mixed with  little water. I the doodled a simple border using a white gel pen. 

The camera kind of washed out my 'pop' of colour...but the colours I used were red:

...and green:

The red & green are also nice and shimmery in real life too!

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Black, White & a Pop of Colour
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Use a Sentiment
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crazy 4 Challenges - Add Some 'Pop' (A 'pop' of colour)
• Creative Knockouts - Embossed Delight
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - Christmas Trees
• Moving Along with the Times - Embossing

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

Birthday Whoot

I have a really simple card to share today using a cute little owl stamp that I picked up in the post-Christmas sale at Sir Stampalot called 'Birthday Whoot' by Art Impresions. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut him out. I added a few strips of bunting washi tape (by Dovecraft) across my card blank, then added my owl popped up on 3D foam pads. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Handwritten Borders' set by Simon Says Stamp.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafting When We Can - Something New (The image stamp & washi tape are new)
• Creative Corner - Feathers
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday (Topping - CAS)
• Simply Create Too - Party Time
• Sweet Stampin' - Things with Wings

ABC Christmas Challenge - B is for...

We have a new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Carissa the host, and the theme is:

'B is for Baubles'

We are sponsored for this challenge by Bugaboo Stamps:

Prize - 7 digis of the winner's choice!

I've used a cute Bugaboo Stamps image called 'Christmas Mouse Ornaments'...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I used snippets of papers (from the 'Countdown to Christmas' pad by My Mind's Eye) to create a 'patchwork' background...distressing the edges, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. Finally, I added a stamped sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) on a little banner.

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

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Cute or Anything Goes
• Holly Jolly Christmas - Use Designer Paper
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Stampavie & More - Patchwork
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Anything Goes
• That Craft Place - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Smooshed Sparkly Snowflakes

I have a couple more cards made using the 'smooshing' technique. I liked the colours on this blue inky butterfly card that I bloggged last week so much, that I 'smooshed' a couple more pieces of watercolour paper in the inks before I cleaned everything up. I stamped and embossed some Hero Arts snowflakes in white on one of the pieces, and created these two cards:

I simply trimmed a couple of squares from the sheet, matted them on to plain white card, and added a Lili of the Valley sentiment. I also spritzed the blue panels with a spray made from silver Cosmic Shimmer pigment mixed in water...they're really sparkly in real life, but despite taking the below photo in bright sunlight, I couldn't really get it to show up on camera.

Challenges for this card:

• CAS on Sunday - Winter
• Clear it Out - Winter & Snowflakes
• Come & Get It - Embossing
• Creatalicious - Snowflakes
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Embossing
• Sparkles Forum - Monochrome Blues
• The Stamping Boutique - Winter

Penny Black Saturday Challenge Reminder - Anything Goes

I'm back with another card for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge, where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

1-2-3 Stitch!:

Prize - a $20 voucher

There are a few changes happening at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge...including a mini makeover...so please take a few moments to stop be there and check them out.

I've used another new stamp on my card...this cutie is called 'Bun Bun'. I coloured her using watercolour pencils, and paired her with some pretty 'Spring-like' papers from the 'Now & Then' pad by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges of the papers, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and  black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts, and the adhesive pearls are from Hobbycraft.

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

• Cheerful Sketches - January Sketch
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Something New (The image stamp)
• Shopping Our Stash - Something New
• Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Something Old & Something New (Old - papers; New - image stamp)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Penny Black Calendar 2016

I have a Penny Black calendar to share today...every year I decorate a few of the Paper Mill 'Create a Calendar' blanks for Christmas gifts...this is the one that I made for my Mum. This calendar is one of the A4 size ones...and I mounted each month on to kraft card cut to A6, so that once the calendar is finished it can be recycled into a set of simple cards. The images are all by Penny Black...I kept the layout very simple with a little doodling, and the papers are a real mixture (American Crafts, Bo Bunny, Crate Paper, Dovecraft, My Mind's Eye & Studio Calico). Apologies for the rather dark photos...these were taken on Boxing Day when the weather was dull and grey :0(

Challenges for this calendar:

• As You Like It - Favourite Paper or Non-Paper (Definitely paper...the possibilities are endless...and so is my stash ;0))
• C.R.A.F.T. - Not a Card
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes with a Twist of New Beginnings
• Inky Chicks - Anything Goes
• Inky Impressions - All Things New (New Year)
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Inky Butterflies

I have a couple of inky cards to share today...made using the 'smooshing' technique that's the theme of this month's Happy Little Stampers CAS Challange. It's not something I'd tried before, before it looked like fun...so I got out my Distress Inks and had a play. I started by stamping one of the butterflies from my Penny Black 'Social Butterfly' set on to watercolour paper using Versark ink, along with a Hero Arts sentiment stamp, then heat embossed them in white. I used a couple of different colour combinations...greeny blues (Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon & Peacock Feathers) and orangey yellows (Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade & Picked Raspberry)...pressing the inkpads onto a  craft mat and spritzing with a little water before 'smooshing' my embossed images into the colours a few times. I dried each layer using my heat gun before adding the next, and finally splattered some water over the top, leaving it a little while before sponging off so as to remove some of the colour underneath, leaving little faded spots.

Here are some close-ups of the two cards:

Challenges for these cards:

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafting for All Seasons - Monochrome
• Fab 'N Funky - Something New ('Smooshing' technique)
• Happy Little Stampers CASE the Designer - CASE Kylie's Card (The yellow/orange card)
• Happy Little Stampers CAS - Ink Smooshing
• Moving Along with the Times - Spots & Dots
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New ('Smooshing' technique)
• Sparkle 'N Sprinkle - Anything Goes with Loose Glitter or Embossing Powder
• Wags 'N Whiskers - Anything Goes

Pile It On! - Something Beginning with...

We have a brand new Pile It On! Challenge starting today...and the theme is:

'Use something beginning with the initial of your first name'

We're changing things up over at Pile It On! and from today, our challenges our challenging to every other Sunday...so you have twice as long to join in the fun!

My first name begins with an 'H' so I picked a cute Penny Black hedgehog stamp to use on my card...this little guy is called 'To cake moment'. I simply coloured him using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut him out. He looked a little bit swamped on even my little A6 sized card, so I cut a smaller panel to mat him on, and pierced some holes (another 'H') around the edges using my CutterBee Bug. I added a sentiment (pieced from one that says 'seize the cupcake' from the Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' set) stamped on to a die cut speech bubble (cut using a die from a Sizzix Thinlits set for Craft Asylum).

Here are the challenges I've piled on::

• Pile It On! - Use Something Beginning with the Initial of your First Name (Hedgehog & Holes)
• Addicted to CAS - Cake
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Fantasy Stampers - Birthday
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes with a Die

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - A is for...

It's time for not just a new ABC Christmas Challenge...but the start of a brand new alphabet! That's right...we're starting our seventh (!!!) trip through the alphabet...and we have a nice & easy theme for you:

'A is for Anything Goes!'

(Well, anything Christmas, that is!)

Our sponsor for this challenge is Sami Stamps:

Prize - $12 Gift Certificate!

I had another play with the oil pastels that I received for Christmas...and cased this card by Kristina Werner. However, things didn't go entirely to plan...and despite carefully ensuring that all of the edges of my masking tape were firmly secured, my watercolours seeped underneath it, so that when I removed the tape once the paint had dried, instead of the crisp straight lines that Kristina had...my trees all had fluffy edges! Nevermind...I actually kind of like how they turned out, although I had to trim one of the pieces down, as the paint had leaked too much. I doodled on some decorations...adding a touch of gold using some Cosmic Shimmer pigment mixed with water. I added a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then matted them on to gold & green.

Here are some close-ups of the two cards:

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• That Craft Place - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Irises

I have a pair of cards to share today...made using my new Prima oil pastels, and a much neglected Penny Black stamp simply called 'Irises'. I coloured directly on to the stamp with the pastels, then spritzed over the stamp with water to blend the colours together before stamping. The colours are quite pigmented, so I was able to get two really clear impressions from the one 'inking'. I then stamped a music background stamp (by BasicGrey & Hero Arts) inked with 'Old Paper' Distress Ink over the top...I only inked the edges of the stamp, so that it didn't go too much over the flowers. I blended some more 'Old Paper' over the whole thing, and some 'Dusty Concord' around the edges, before distressing the edges a little. I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen, and a die cut sentiment (the 'hello' is from a Craft Asylum set of Sizzix Thinlits, and the 'thanks' is from the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet set.

Challenges for these cards:

• Allsorts - What's New? (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• Artistic Stamper - Anything Goes
• Come & Get It - Something New (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• Crafty Friends - Use Something New (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Snippets (I cut the sentiments from snippets)
• Sweet Stampin' - Something New (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes with a Die