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Bright Red Poinsettia

Hi there. I hope you are doing well. I have managed to craft some more and created a CAS simple card for some challenges.

I used the Uniko ‘Season of Beauty’ poinsettia stamp, only using some of the layers. I fuirst stamped the flower itself in Rockin’ Red by catherine Pooler – realising after the first stamp I needed ti re-ink the pad. So this is actaully the second stamping…….

I then took the outline layer and one of the inner layers and heat embossed in gold. I used a green for the little dots in the centre of the flower, and stamped a sentiment from the same stamp set in Altenew Obsidian ink.

I took a little while to decide on the base card, and my eye turned to black, to tie-in the sentiment. My thoughts then turned to a strip of gold card, but I knew that Bev from Uniko designed a lot of the strip stamps to build backgrounds – of which I have a few :) – and found this stripy strip stamp so I heat embossed that in gold along the bottom – then went for the top too.

I’m trying to get my head around indoor photographs with my cards – lighting, angle etc. I may even try some kind of decoration around the cards at some point – only time will tell!

I shall be entering the following challenges:

CAS Colours and Sketches – cherry cobbler, metallic gold, shaded spruce

Daring Cardmakers – 3 elements from photo inspiration – stripes, red, joy

Time Out Challenges – merry and cheerful

Uniko December Challenge – Christmas with option of trees

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas with option of candy cane

Snowy Bountiful Branch

Hello again. I have a card here which is made for the new challenge beginning at The Alphabet Challenge . The theme this time is ‘Snow’. I have gone for a muted, almost romantic look:

I first took a piece of mixed media paper, and ink blended some Distress Oxides with my blending brushes – I wanted an uneven edge to the blending, almost a blurring effect, and wanted to use colours which the red and greens of the branch would work with.

Once blended – and made sure it was dry – I then stamped the Altenew ‘Bountiful Branch‘ in all it’s glory. I had forgotten how beautiful this stamp set was – I may make more cards from this!

I then took some white gouache and splattered it all over to create the illusion of snow – I never know when to stop, and I never know which brush to use, how much water etc…….but just go with it.

The sentiment is from Gin K Designs.

I decided to off-set the main image as you see it laid out here – I just fancied it. No other particular reason…………

I hope you can come and join us in creating something for this challenge and theme – I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers – no patterned papers

Crafty Sentiments – atg

A Bit More Time To Craft – atg

The Merry Little Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas

Ho Ho Ho Rudolph

Hello there everyone. There is a new challenge beginning at Cardz 4 Galz, and this time the theme is – Cute Christmas. We would love to see your creations following this theme, and I see the Design Team had some fabulous inspiration.
Here is my cute Christmas card featuring the red nosed reindeer:

I bought the Simon Says Stamp November card kit of the month, and within that kit was this fabulous circle die from CZ design – I have been wanting to create something with this little charmer, and the theme for this challenge set me off to play.

I like the look of Kraft card for a clean and simple look, so used this for the deer – as you see. I then wanted a little bling – who doesn’t – so I used Pink Frog Crafts non-shed glitter card – now this card is a dream to die cut, and being non-shed – a win-win situation.

The sentiment is from Uniko, and because I heat embossed it twice, it lost a little bit of the detail in the letters, but you can certainly still see what it says – and being me it was the last thing I did on the card!

The eyes are Nuvo crystal drops, and the nose is a little red pom-pom which came with the card kit.

I hope you can come along and play with us for this challenge – I look forward to seeing what you create.

xx

I shall also be entering the following challenges:

AAA Cards – CAS made in minutes

Give a Crafter a Cookie – photo inspiration (browns and Christmas)

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas

Snowy scene and zig zags

Hi again. There is a new challenge starting at ABC Christmas Challenge. The letters are ‘Y’ for Yuletide, and ‘Z’ for Zig Zags. We would like to see your Christmas related creations using one or both of these themes. Here is my take on the zig zag theme:

This isn’t the card I started out making, but I am pleased with the result, and the simplicity.

I used MFT ‘Snowy Scene Builder‘ for – well – the scene! This die set includes the two hills, the house, trees, and even the clouds. The cloud die I cut in half and used a piece either end of the card.

The house die I placed all the windows and the door back in – paper piecing I suppose – and die cut extra trees for a full treeline.

The zig zag paper background works quite well, I think, quite muted, but certainly adding interest to the card – which is why I kept the rest of the scene white.

The sentiment is from Uniko – quite a bold but open sentiment – and I tried to match one of the brown colours of the background paper with an Altenew ink.

I also took the Spectrum Noir glitter pen and added some to the roof of the house, the hills, and even the clouds – but that may be difficult to see.

I hope you can come and join us, and I look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery.

xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Just Us Girls – anything goes

Aud Sentiments – Christmas or Winter sentiment

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas

Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper Challenge – atg with patterned paper

Let it snow, deer…..

Hello again. There is a new challenge beginning at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and the theme is – anything goes as long as it’s Christmas….

Here is my design Team card:

And another variation:

I was fortunate enough to win this brilliant die from Poppy Stamps over on Instagram – and just had this idea in my head from the get-go.

I die cut the image from a gorgeous white glittery card – possibly Stampin’ Up but not sure – then die cut it again out of white. This is the die that broke my Gemini Junior…..well, this is the die which made me realise the Junior wasn’t working properly – but it worked and cut beautifully in the original Gemini………I’m just missing my smaller machine.

The deer on second card is stamped from Stampin’ Up ‘Merry Patterns‘ then cut out using my Scan’n’cut and a little white border. Then, using the same outline, I cut it again out of Kraft card stock, but this one cut to size, and another cut out of white to enable a little border.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted, heat embossed twice using Creative Expressions gold embossing powder. I like embossing twice as it gives a smooth and shiny result – thank goodness for a Misti to enable correct positioning…..

I hope you can come and join us in this new challenge – I look forward to seeing your creations.

xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers – natural, gold, white

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas

Always Fun Challenges – atg

Wishing you the best birthday ever

I have a card I made during what seemed like a crafting marathon yesterday:

I used the colours from CAS Colours and Sketches, and the stamp set from Concord and 9th called ‘Kindness Blooms‘. This stamp set is two turnabouts in one, which is actually quite easy to get your head around.

The first smaller flowers were stamped and turned twice, then I took the acetate with the flowers to see where they would go – and then stamped them and then the leaves. If it sounds a little confusing – here is a link to the YouTube video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUn2FXEEL-I , and another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ5WbLyvkfY

I also added some extra small flowers to fill the gaps, and even took the second leaf layer – the sprig looking thingy – and stamped that in some spaces too.

The sentiment is from Gina K , as is the circular stamp stamped using Rich Razzleberry – which fit just absolutely perfectly within a Stampin’ Up stitched circle die.

I stamped some extra leaf clusters, and shoved them under the circle. Well – I placed them gently, actually, but I like the word ‘shove’ today!

I shall be entering the following challenges:

CAS Colours and Sketches – Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride

Pink Gem Challenge – atg

Addicted To stamps – atg

QKR Stampede – atg

Warm Winter Wishes and cutting machine heartbreak!

Hello there. I have managed to get some time in my craft room – working less seems to be completely the opposite to what I thought would happen……..I find other things to do except crafting – but at least I’m keeping busy in some way!

Here is a card for a few challenges:

My photography and lighting skills seem to have taken a holiday – I just can’t get it right at the moment. I’ve tried to capture the shine on the snowflakes using the Crafters Companion Midas Platinum ink pad – and it’s very, very shiny in real life – and also tried to capture the shine on the word ‘warm:

I began by using Narwhal card stock from Lawn Fawn, and stamped the little snowflakes from Concord and 9th ‘Warm Wishes Turnabout‘ stamp set, using the Platinum ink pad.

I then found an orange piece of water-colour card I had done, and die-cut the ‘warm‘ word from that, thinking the colour orange would be so applicable, then I tried to cut the word another few times to add some dimension…….but…………

…… my Gemini Junior packed in! Gave up the ghost! No pressure to cut! Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch – even though I added ALL of the plates – including the cutting plate, plastic shim, magnetic shim, metal shim – and even the rubber mat. It would go through the machine but no pressure…………. :(

I’m sooooo glad I have another 6 machines!!!!! :) :)

I went to my local Crafters Companion store in Chesterfield – they couldn’t suggest anything except contacting the main Customer Service, but the machine is probably out of warranty………..hmmm……..didn’t expect the machine to pack in after one year……we’ll see what they say…….

So – back to my trusted Sizzix Big Shot……………..I’m sure it’s been missing me……………..

After cutting three more words, I stacked them then added to the snowflake background, and even added some glossy accents for some additional shine.

The remainder of the sentiment and curved banner is from the same stamp and die set.

I’ll let you know the outcome from Crafters Companion, but for this card, here are the challenges I shall be entering:

Tuesday Taggers – cold, cold, cold

Color Throwdown – Turquoise, orange, grey/silver

Just Us Girls – photo inspiration

Craft Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas – option of something beginning with ‘R’ not followed

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Getting Ready For Christmas

Hi there. After quite a few days without posting, I have a couple of cards for you today. There is a new challenge starting at Cardz 4 Galz and this time the theme is ‘Get Ready For Christmas’. I am sure a lot of you are making lots of Christmas cards at the moment, and it would be great if you were to join us in our challenge.

Here is my card:

After I had stamped and die cut the Christmas tree, I stamped and die cut the poinsettias and leaves and arranged them all as you see. I wanted to add some ‘girlie’ pearls to the tree, and found some pink and green gems in my stash – goodness knows where they came from, or who made them, but I added quite a few. They are so tiny I thought I could get away with it……

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, and I think the font is simple enough against the trees and flowers on the bottom of the card.

As I stamped and cut two trees, I went ahead and made another card with a completely different layout:

This time just the tree, but with a larger sentiment – same stamp set – stamped and heat embossed using a green Wow! sparkly embossing powder.

The two cards together:

I hope to see you in our gallery, and I look forward to seeing what you create.

xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

AAA Cards – CAS one image, with option of shimmer

Twofer Card Challenge – Christmas Greenery – can both be Christmas this time

Addicted to Stamps – anything goes stamping

Christmas at Sweet Stampin‘ – Christmas and Trees

Google eye, wobble action, Santa

Hello there, I’ve been playing with things I have had for absolutely ages, ready for the new challenge which has begun at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge.

There isn’t a particular theme – anything Christmas related is absolutely fine by us, including boxes, tags, cards, scrapbook pages -= as long as it’s Christmas – you’re good to go,

Here is my DT card:

It looks fairly straight-forward doesn’t it? Well – there are hidden gems for this guys……….

I started by die-cutting the elements from MFT ‘Christmas Crew Santa‘ out of shiny red, white glitter, silver glitter, black glitter, and gold card stock, then adhering them to a blush card which I had cut to size – as per MFT web-site.

Once I had stuck most of my elements down – I had a sudden thought about his eyes………..so I went and searched for my google eye stuff, decided which size to go for – and there we are.

Wait – I haven’t finished yet……………I then decided I wanted him to move on the card to make the eyes go all jiggy………..so I added an action wobbler to the back of him:

So I can’t show a video of the movement – I’m sure you all know what the action wobbler does – but I did take a picture with the card rotated 90 degrees – to show some movement:

The hardest part of this wobbler was to decide where to put it on the Santa – so I more towards the top, behind his hat.

I hope you can come and join us for this challenge, and continue to build your Christmas card stash………….there’s some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. I also see there were quite a few entries to apply for joining our DT – good luck to everyone, and I hope to get to know you better.

xx

Challenges I shall be entering:

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge – ATG with option of Christmas

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – ATG Christmas

Christmas Crafts All Year Round – Stockings or Christmas Clothing (hat)

Brown Sugar Challenge – ATG

Rose Gold and Snow Flakes

Hello there. There is a new challenge beginning at The Alphabet Challenge. The letter this time is ‘Q’ – and we want to see your Quick and simple cards…

Here is my card:

Once I had got my head around the die cutting INTO the card – then I was away…….isn’t it funny how some things just confuse you sometimes? I really couldn’t sort out what this die-cut did – so I cut it out – then it was like ‘Hey Presto‘ – I got it! Now I understand! Blimey – what an eejit! :)

It’s not as though I don’t have these kind of dies, and not as though I haven’t used them before – but for some reason……I didn’t get it……weird, huh?

Anyhoo – very quick (in the end!) and very simple. I used some rose gold non-shed glimmer card from Pink Frog Crafts, used a layer on the card base, die cut the snowflakes…………..all done.

I used a straight-forward and simple sentiment, to suit the CAS card

I hope you can come and join us by entering your ‘quick and simple’ creations – I look forward to seeing you in our gallery.

xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Watercooler challenges – feminine

Rainbow Card Challenge – metallic

Happy Little Stampers November CAS challenge – CAS ’tis the season

Stamplorations – November CAS challenge – CAS option shades of brown (not taken the option)