ABC Christmas Challenge - M is for...

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

'M is for Magical'

(Either feature some magical creatures or a magical sentiment)

We are sponsored for this challenge by Shape EZ

Prize - 2 Templates of the winner's choice!

I picked a sentiment including the word 'magic' (from a set by Three Bugs in a Rug) and a cute Lili of the Valley stamp simply called 'Santa'...I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, and added some sparkle to the snow with some Stickles. The 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.

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

• Allsorts - Use a Stamp
• Completely Christmas - Make it Square
• Fussy & Fancy - Distressed
• Sketchy Colors - Sketch
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Christmas Animals
• That Craft Place - Layers
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Top Tip Tuesday - Name that Tune ('Santa Claus is Coming to Town')

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

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Stitching

This week at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long, our challenge theme is:

'Stitching'

(Real or faux)

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

Prize: $15 Gift Certificate to spend at Fred, She Said!

I've used a cute image from Fred, She Said on my card called 'Hat Tippin' Snowman'...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Blitzen' pad by Bo Bunny...I distressed the edges a little, then used my CutterBee Bug to pierce some holes before drawing on the faux stitching with a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the snoeflake was cut using my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die.

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

• Crazy Challenge - Spots or Stripes (I chose stripes)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to Christmas Staampin' All Year Long.

ABC Christmas Challenge - F is for...

It's my turn to host the ABC Christmas Challenge this week...and I've picked a nice easy theme this time:

'F is for Furry and/or Feathered Friends'

Basically...feature an animal or bird on your Christmas project :0)

We have two amazing sponsors for this challenge:

Firstly, we welcome a brand new sponsor to our challenge:

Lili of the Valley

The prize from Lili of the Valley is a £10 gift voucher to spend in their online store!

Our second sponsor is one of our regulars:

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

I got a bit carried away, and made two cards this week...the first one uses 'Christmas Bunnies - Robin' by Lili of the Valley. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added some Diamond Stickles to the snow and the fur trim on the bunny's hat. The sparkly papers are from the 'Believe' pad by My Mind's Eye...I distressed the edges, and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The snowflakes were cut using Cuttlebug and Marianne Designs dies, and the buttons are from a pack from the 'Neighbourwood' collection.

Challenges for this card:

• Card Makin' Mamas - Buttons
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Buttons
• Friday Sketch - Sketch
• Papertake Weekly - Bingo (Die cuts-Free-Glitter) 
• Shopping Our Stash - Buttons and/or Bows
• Stamptacular Sunday - Cute as a Button (I've used 2 buttons)

The image on my second card is 'Winter Birds - Snowman' by Bugaboo Stamps, and is again coloured using watercolour pencils with Diamond Stickles on the snow. I used more My Mind's Eye papers...this time from the 'Countdown to Christmas' pad...doodling borders using a black gel pen. The snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die...then coated with more Stickles. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Three Bugs in a Rug, the glittery brads are by American Crafts, and the gingham ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - Christmas Animals
• Crimbo Crackers - Cute
• Gem of a Challenge - Sketch
• Incy Wincy - Things with Wings
• Kaboodles Doodles - Cute
• Pink Elephant - Get Krafty

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Par Avion

This is the first of three Christmas cards that I'll be blogging this week...I've used a Penny Black stamp ('Par Avion') on this one that always makes me smile :0)
I coloured the chickens using watercolour pencils, and added a sentiment from a set by Three Bugs in a Rug.

Challenges for this card:

• Cute Card - You're Having a Laugh (Well...the PB chickens always make me smile)
• Less is More - One Layer Cards with Birds
• Paper Sundaes - Pick your favourite challenge (I picked #37 - Things with wings)

Just Cute Bears - Guest Designer

This is my last card as a guest designer for the Just Cute Bears Challenge...but I will be back with them again next week...as the lovely Ali has asked me to join their design team...yippee!

There's a fab sketch by Jane for this week's challenge...and I've used it to make a Christmas card...using a lovely Penny Black bear image called 'Aiming to Please'. The sparkly papers are from the 'Wonderful Winter' collection by My Mind's Eye, the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the snowflake brads are by Woodware...they were plain white, but I turned them sparkly with some holographic embossing powder.


Don't forget to go and take a peek at the inspirational cards from the Just Cute Bears design team.

Naughty or Nice?

There's a fab sketch for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...which I've used to decorate the front of a plain notebook that I bought from the Craft Barn. This was one of the projects on the course I won at My Creative Classroom...it's supposed to be a gift...but I'm keeping this one to use to keep track of all of the Christmas cards and presents I'm making this year...well I wouldn't want to forget anyone! lol
I thought that this little mouse image (from the 'Christmas Critters' set) was just perfect, and I've combined him with some My Mind's Eye papers ('Festive Frost'). The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug...and yes, I know it's the wrong shape...but this book is for all of the people who've been 'nice' this year! lol
I'm also entering this for the A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge, which has a colour theme of 'Brown with either Blue or Pink' this week.

My Favourite Things...

There's a fab sketch for this week's Inspirational Card Sketches Challenge...which I combined with the themes of a few other challenges: Daring Cardmakers and Cuttlebug Challenges 'My Favourite Things (I'll put a list at the end of this post); Our Creative Corner's 'Favourite Holiday Book/Movie' (in my case it's 'The Snowman'); and Papertake Weekly's 'Spots 'n' Stripes' challenge. I used 'Snowy' by Penny Black, watercolouring him to match the My Mind's Eye '29th Street Market' papers...and I couldn't resist adding some glitter to the fur on his hat. I used my 'Swiss Dots' folder on the reverse of the paper for the strip along the top. The ribbon is from Poppicrafts, the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die.


My Favourite Things:

1. Christmas Cards
2. Sketch Challenges
   
3. Penny Black stamps (especially 'Snowy')
4. My Mind's Eye '29th Street Market' papers
5. Ribbon
6. Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder
7. Nesties - what would we do without them???
   
8. Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' die
9. Stickles Glitter Glue
10. Three Bugs in a Rug Christmas sentiment stamp - I've used these loads this year!
    

Magical Christmas

I've used this fortnight's Sugar Bowl Challenge sketch to make a Christmas card...using 'Little Star'. I watercoloured her to match the BasicGrey 'Figgy Pudding' papers. The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, the snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die, and the lace is from Hobbycraft.

Christmas Pringle

There's another fab sketch over at the Sugar Bowl Challenge...coupled with a 'Christmas' theme...how could I resist??? I decided to use 'Pringle'...and some gorgeous BasicGrey 'Figgy Pudding' papers. The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die.

Beary Christmas!

This card uses the Carol's Sketch Fun Challenge sketch...and the
Lili of the Valley Challenge 'Child's Christmas Card' theme. I love this little bear...he just looks sooooo cuddly!
I've kept the card quite simple, as it's for a child...didn't want to add anything that could fall, or be pulled off! The paper is from the DCWV 'Text' stack, the gold panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Snow Dots' folder, and the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug.

Christmas Bunnies

I told you that you'd be seeing this Lili of the Valley stamp again soon...it's just so adorable! I followed the Sketch Saturday Challenge sketch, but had to rotate it to fit it the image. I'm also entering this card for the Stampavie & More 'Christmas' challenge, and the Everybody Art 'Shapes/Punches' challenge. The papers are 'Figgy Pudding' by BasicGrey, the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, the ribbon is from Poppicrafts, and the snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die.

Guest Designer - Winter Wonderland Challenge

This is the second of my two weeks as a guest designer for the Winter Wonderland Challenge...where the theme is:

'Gingerbread'

I have to say, I found this challenge really tough...and was even debating whether to bake some real gingerbread, instead of making a card! lol
With no suitable stamps, I resorted to Google Images to find an outline drawing of a gingerbread man, which I printed on to some brown card. Once I'd cut him out, I inked around the edges with a dark brown chalk inkpad to add definition. I added a face and some buttons using some white Woodware 'Fluffy Stuff' to look like icing. The papers are a mixture of Cosmo Cricket ('Be Good') and My Mind's Eye ('Festive'), the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft.

Make sure you stop by the Winter Wonderland Challenge, to check out the fabulous creations by the design team. I've had great fun these past two weeks...thanks girls for having me in your team! :0)

Carol Singers

It's the first Mojo Monday sketch of the month, which means it's contest time...I haven't joined in for a while, so I just had to have a little play. I've combined it with the Creative Inspirations 'Christmas in October' challenge. I used an image from the Penny Black 'Christmas Critters' set, and more of the My Mind's Eye '29th Street Market' papers...not strictly Chrismassy, but the colours were just right. I embossed the reverse of a couple of pieces using my Cuttlebug 'Snow Dots' and 'Snowflakes' folders, added a sentiment by Three Bugs in a Rug, and some Papermania brads.

Wishes for Kisses

I think that teal and silver is becoming my favourite colour combo for Christmas cards this year...this snowflake paper by My Mind's Eye (from the 'Festive Frost' pack) is just so beautiful. I followed the sketch from this week's Get Sketchy Challenge...and distressed the edges of all my paper s using my distressing tool for the 'Bonus Challenge'. I used my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder on some silver card...I really love the way the embossing stands out on metallics. The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, I used a 'Deckled Edge Rectangle' Nestie to cut out my image ('Wishes for Kisses' by Penny Black), added some faux stitching with a white gel pen and a few adhesive gems.

Welcome Party!

There's another of Dawny's fab sketches for this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge...and I've combined it with the 'Non-Traditional Colours' challenge of Christmas Stampin' All Year Long. The image is 'Welcome Party' by Penny Black, and the wonderfully bright papers are from the 'Rose Tinted Christmas' stack by DCWV. I embossed the blue strip of card with my 'Snow Dots' folder, the sentiment is a stamp by Three Bugs in a Rug, and I added a few snowflakes cut using a Cuttlebug die, decorated with clear adhesive gems in the corners.

Hot Chocolate

This is yet another of my cards from the weekend...I really crafted up a storm! lol This one is for: the Sketch & Stash Challenge...my 'new' item is the Whiff of Joy image ('Willow with Hot Chocolate') I was sent in a swap recently; the Winter Wonderland 'Hot Chocolate' challenge; Our Creative Corner's colour combination of 'Pink, Hot Pink, Brown & White'; which is perfect for the 'One for the Girls' challenge of the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge. The papers are by BasicGrey ('Bittersweet' and 'Blush')...not really very festive...but they were the right colours! lol The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug...the one I had that was vaguely suitable, and the flowers are from Poppicrafts.