ABC Christmas Challenge - Y & Z are for?

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! I'm the host, and the themes are:

'Y is for Yummy'

(show us some food)

&

'Z is for Zigzags'

Here's the prize on offer for the lucky winner:

For my 'Y is for Yummy' card, I went with lots of Christmas puddings! The main image is a Personal Impressions stamp, which I stamped on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the Woodware 'Foxy Christmas' set, then coloured using watercolour pencils. I paired it with some paper from the 'Peppermint Forest' pad by Craftwork Cards, distressing the edges a little and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

On my 'Z is for Zigzags' card, I used the fox from the 'Foxy Christmas' Woodware Stamps set...stamping him on to watercolour paper, and colouring him using watercolour pencils. I found a sparkly sheet of zigzag paper in a pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx) called 'Simply Stated'. I distressed the edges a little, then matted everything on to some red card.

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

• Allsorts - Hand Stamped or Digital Image
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Stitching (First card only)
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Sparkle Mode (Second card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

Carol Singing Critters

I have a Christmas card to share today that features all of the critters from the 'Carol Singing' set by Lili of the Valley. I stamped them all, with a little bit of masking, on to some watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment from the 'Carolling Chicks' set by Stamping Bella, then distressed the edges a little before matting on to some red card. I added a few strips of musical washi tape across the centre of a kraft A5 card blank, then added the image on top using some 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Winter
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Christmas Delight
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Music

Furry Friends

Today's card features a couple of items from Funky Fossil...the four pups from the 'Furry Friends' set and the 'Dog Bones' stencil. I stamped the dogs on to snippets of kraft card, colored them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I made the background by blending white ink through the stencil on to more kraft card, then cut it into squares, inking around the edges with more white ink. I added one of the pups to each of the squares using 3D foam pads along with a sentiment from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches. 

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - Animals
• Alphabet Challenge - Q is for Quadruple
• Crafter's Cafe - Male
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Happy Birthday

Reindeer in the Snow

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features no stamping, but lots of dies. I started by making the snowy background, by blending white ink through my 'Falling Snow' stencil (from Funky Fossil), on to some kraft card. I cut a couple of mountain ranges using Happy Little Stampers dies, and a snow drift using one of my 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies (by Lawn Fawn). I added a little shading along the bottoms of the mountains with some 'Pumice Stone' Distress Ink...although it doesn't show up very well in the photo. I added a few deer, cut from some more kraft card using dies from the 'Winter Wonderland' set by Tim Holtz/Sizzix...inking around the edges of those with some more Pumice Stone ink, and a large gold star, cut using one of the dies from the 'Snowy Stars' set (also by Tim Holtz/Sizzix).

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Dies or Stencils (It's dies for me - I love how they can turn snippets of plain card into allsorts of things)
• Happy Little Stampers (Stencils) - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Die cuts for Winter/Christmas
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Triple Threat
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Holly Jolly Christmas

Today's card features a lovely holly stamp by Woodware Stamps called  'Holly Spray'. I stamped it around the edge of a square of black card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder by WOW. I added one of the sentiments from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil in the centre, again embossing it in gold, then used Cosmic Shimmers pigments (in 'Bright Holly' & 'Christmas Red') to watercolour the holly. I matted the panel on to gold mirror card, then on to a white card blank.

It's super sparkly and shiny in real life...so a real pain to get a decent photo of, but here's another angle:

Challenges for this card:

• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + a Sentiment
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes

PBSC November - Anything Goes (Optional 'Not a Card')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or

'Not a Card'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

This time, I made a set of Christmas gift tags, using a selection of smaller critters and snowmen from the 'Snow Much Fun', 'Jolly Friends', 'Holly-Jolly', 'Christmas Hugs', 'Joy to the World', 'Wintertime Cheer' and 'Snowfield Friends' sets. I stamped them on to snippets of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the tops of the images. For the background, I used a Funky Fossil stencil called 'Snow is Falling', blending Versamark Ink through it on to some kraft tags, then embossed them using 'Diamond White' embossing glitter by WOW. I added the coloured critters to the bottom of their tags, and some red and white baker's twine to attach them to their gifts.

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

• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Cutie Pie - Anything Cute
• Little Red Wagon - No Patterned Paper
• Moving Along with the Times - Anything but a Card
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make Your Own Background
• Stamping Sensations - Christmas
• We Love Stamping - Christmas

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

A Wish & a Kiss

I have another Christmas card to share today...featuring a cute Penny Black duck stamp called 'A Wish and a Kiss' that was an absolute bargain in a charity shop - 5 stamps for £1! I stamped him on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Bauble Owl' set by Woodware Stamps, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a pad from The Works...it doesn't seem to have a name, but the papers are A5 and lovely and thick. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampers - Christmas
• Sweet Stampin' - Use Red
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Little Christmas Owl

Today's card features a teeny tiny owl from a set of clear Christmas stamps that I picked up in a charity shop a few months ago...it's unlabelled, but Google seems to confirm my suspicions that it's by Kanban. I stamped him on to a kraft card blank, along with a little sentiment from the same set, then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - One Inchie
• CAS Christmas - Christmas Critters
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Colour on Kraft Card
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Christmas
• We Love Stamping - Christmas

Cascading Snowflakes

I have a set of colourful Christmas cards to share today featuring a new (to me) die by Crafter's Companion called 'Cascading Snowflakes'. I used the die to cut panels down the sides of some snippets of card, then layered them over co-ordinating card balnks. I added sentiments (using stamps from a Christmas Tree set by Paper Artsy), embossing them in white.

Challenges for these cards:

• Allsorts - Christmas
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Wonderful Winter/Feeling Festive
• Creative Knockouts - Snow Much Fun
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Big Butterfly Notecards

I have another set of simple one layer notecards to share today. These ones feature the 'Big Butterfly' stamp by Indigo Blu. I stamped it on to kraft card blanks using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed the butterflies using WOW Vintage Amethyst, Midnight, Silent Night and Vintage Peacock embossing glitters. The sentiments are from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascal.

Challenges for these cards:

• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Sparkle & Shine')
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

Red, Green & Gold Christmas

 I've used some more of the stamps I got with my AAA Cards Challenge prize on today's cards. These sentiments are from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil. I stamped them on to snippets of green and red card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder form WOW. For the backgrounds of the cards, I embossed some snippets of gold mirror card using a couple of embossing folers I picked up in a charity shop. They aren't labelled, but a little bit of Googling revealed that the holly one is a Sheena Douglas folder (simply called 'Holly'), and the snowflake one is called 'Sparkling SNowflakes' by Crafter's Companion. I matted these on to matching green and red card balnks.

Here are some close-ups:

Challenges for these cards:

• Aud Sentiments - Christmas & a Sentiment
• Christmas Kickstart - Snippets
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Just Us Girls - Merry (Just the red card)
• Stamping Sensations - Christmas
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• We Love Stamping - Christmas

Furry Friends

I was one of the lucky winners of the AAA Cards Challenge 200th Challenge Celebration recently, and my wonderful prize was a gift certificate for Funky Fossil. One the things I got with my prize was the 'Furry Friends' stamp set that I've used on this set of cards. I stamped the dogs on to watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I stamped some paw prints using a stamp from the 'I Love My Dog' set by Hero Arts, in 'Ground Espresso' Distress Ink along the bottom of the cards, along with the sentiments that came with the 'Furry Friends', then added the dogs on top using 3D foam pads.

Challenges for these cards:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• AAA Cards - Sketch (I flipped the sketch on a couple of the cards - I hope that's ok?)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (CAS ) - Loveable Pets

PBSC November - Anything Goes (Optional 'Not a Card')

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

'Anything Goes'
or
'Not a Card'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used one of the 'Jazzy Cats' stamps to decorate a bookmark made from a snippet of kraft card. I stamped and masked him over and over until he filled the entire piece of card, then coloured all of the cats using watercolour pencils.

I hunted for a book with a cat on the cover, but despite my extensive collection, was unable to locate one, so here it is being modelled by my current read:

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

• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - All Creatures Great & Small
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

Burst into Bloom Notecards

I have another set of simple notecards to share today...these ones feature the 'Burst into Bloom' stamp from Woodware Stamps. I stamped it directly on to kraft card blanks, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. The sentiments are from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image.

Challenges for these cards:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Flowers

ABC Christmas Challenge - W & X are for?

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Lynda is the host, and the themes are:

'W is for Whimsical'

&

'X is for Xerox'

There's a fab little prize from Lynda for the lucky winner:

On my 'Whimsical' card, I used a whimsical Christmas tree stamp from a set by Paper Artsy...colouring the flowers in pastel shades using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment (from the 'Winter Blessings' set by Crafter's Companion), and doodled a simple border using a black gel pen, before adding the panel to a pastel pink card blank.

For the 'Xerox' theme, I used a (very) simple design, and made several copies of the same card. These are one layer cards, with a heat embossed image...the stamp is 'Holly Jolly Christmas Tree' by Crafter's Companion. I stamped it using white pigment ink, then heat embossed it in white to get a really crisp image.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Any Holiday Occasion
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge. We're also having a DT Call on this challenge, so you'll find all of the information on that over there too.

Sketched Flowers in Blue

Today's card features one of my favourite stamps...'Sketched Flowers' by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped it on to some patterned paper from the 'Refreshing Basics' pad from The Works, along with on of the sentiments from the same set. I coloured the flowers in various shades of blue using watercolour pencils, then doodled a simple border using a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Add a Sentiment
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes