The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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

There is also a Design Team call, which finishes on 5th November so if you’re interested, and able to commit to making a Christmas themed card every two weeks, and commenting to entries to the challenge – please put your creation into the specific link on the blog main page.

So – back to the current challenge. Here is my card:

I am totally channeling Amy R at Prairie Paper and Ink for this card. I loved the way she embossed, then inked the edges of the bases of the cards.

I started with a dark blue piece of card, then clear heat embossed some Tim Holtz ‘Doily’ stamps, and filled in the gaps with some snow flake stamps from Concord and 9th.

I did the stamping and heat embossing separately for each of the larger images, but did 2 or 3 together on the smaller images – being careful not to heat too much and ruining the images already done.

When that had cooled down completely, I blended some Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink around the edges.
I must say, this card has shine upon shine upon shine, which I tried to capture in the photographs.

I hope you can come and join us in the challenge, and I hope that you consider joining our Design Team……….I hope to see you there.

xx

Challenges I shall be entering:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Christmas

Christmas at Sweet Stampin’ – atg Christmas with option of stars

Always Fun Challenges – monochrome

What’s up chicken butt?

Hi there. I have a clean and simple card to share today – though it did take me a little while to colour – trying to use what I learnt on my Copic class the other week – but not over-thinking.

I actually bought this stamp at the pop-up shop during the break in colouring, and have been waiting for an opportunity to ‘crack it open‘ – as they say……….and then the CASology challenge came up with the code word of ‘feather’ ………

After stamping in Gina K amalgam ink, I coloured with Copics. I actually used some of the colour ideas given for the Copic class. I even ‘grounded’ my image – can you see? That is something I hadn’t done before the class…………..maybe the grey is too light – I’ll keep trying……

Challenges I shall be entering:

CASology – feather

QKR Stampede – anything goes

Pink Gem Challenge – Anything goes

Stamplorations CAS Challenge – atg CAS with option of orange

One Word Sentiment

Hello there. There is anew challenge beginning at The Alphabet Challenge’ and this time the letter is ‘O’, and we want ‘One Word Sentiments‘. Here is my card:

This a new stamp set to me, and I couldn’t wait to colour it, especially after doing the first class (out of four) of a Copic colouring course.

I usually struggle with doing an image and sentiment on the same layer – usually smudge it, sometimes even colour outside the lines, but basically it is usually the last thing I do on the card which ruins it – or means I have to cover things up somehow.

For this card – it all went according to plan. No smudges, no outside line colouring – it just happened. Yay!

The background behaved too – trying a little blue for the sky, and a little green for the grass – I can see the main monkey is hanging from the tree, but still some green behind him/her…..

I hope you can come and join us – it would be great to see your creations using a one word sentiment. The Design Team have some fabulous cards and ideas………..I hope to see you there.

XX

Challenges I shall be entering:

Addicted to CAS – CAS creature

Crafty Card Makers – add a critter

Polkadoodles – anything goes

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes

Shades of Brown

Hello again. I am hosting the new challenge at Cardz4Galz, and chosen the theme of ‘Shades of Brown‘. I thought this would incite some creative juice production to make a girlie kinda card using this theme. Here is my card:

I started by stamping the Altenew ‘Engraved Flowers’ onto a dark brown card-stock, and heat embossed in white. I stamped out all the images, but only used the two you see above.

I then took that same dark brown card and a lighter brown card and dry embossed with a Sue Wilson embossing folder for some added background detail – but not too much, as I wanted this card to be quite simple.

The sentiment is also from the same stamp set, again heat embossed in white.

I hope you can pop along to our challenge blog and have a look at what the rest of the Design Team have made, and take the plunge and join us by entering. I look forward to seeing your ‘shade of brown’ creations in our gallery.

XX

Chllanges I shall be entering:

A bit more time to craft – anything goes

Brown sugar challenge – anything goes

Winter Wonderland

I have a card to share today, made for entering a few challenges. I have been making cards the past few weeks, but mainly to fulfill my Design Team obligations.

I haven’t made many other cards, as losing my dad just over a month ago, and then the funeral happening last week – I’ve struggled to get my head around things a little………

I’ve been spending a little time just going through my stash, cataloging what I have – isn’t it amazing what products we have and never used? The stamp I used for this card was one of my ‘finds’!

Here is my card:

I used Distress Oxides to blend the background – I think it was Squeezed Lemonade and Barn Door – then splattered some white gouache for a little snow effect.

Once that had dried, I stamped the image from Woodware’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ in a brown Altenew ink, then clear heat embossed it for some shine, and doing the same with the sentiment which is from the same stamp set.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas

Color Throwdown – red, yellow, brown

Crafty Friends Challenge – atg Christmas

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – atg Christmas

Vrooming by to say….

Hello there. A new challenge has started at The ABC Christmas Challenge. This time the letters are ‘U’ for up-cycle, and ‘V’ for Velocity.

Here is my card for Velocity:

This stamp set was bought at the ‘pop-up-shop’ whilst attending my first Copic Colouring lesson last Saturday with Faye Wynn-Jones. I knew the letters for this challenge and so I thought this image fit perfectly.

I started by stamping then colouring the image, and using my Scan’n’cut to cut around the outline.

The background is Distress Oxide blending with a Heffy Doodle stencil, and not being too ‘blendy’ with the blues to make quite a stormy sky, adding white gouache and sparkle splatters. I also used the blue colours to just darken the edge of the silver glitter ‘road’ a little.

The puffs of snow and the Christmas hat is from MFT ‘Ready, Set, Snow’ stamp set – the little Christmas hat just about fitting onto the cycle helmet – I didn’t want to leave the helmet off and mask around it to add the hat – it’s dangerous riding a bike without a helmet!

The larger part of the sentiment is from the Gerda Steiner stamp set, and the smaller part is a freebie from Heffy Doodle with one of their orders.

I hope you can come and join us this month, and create a Christmas card with the challenge theme. The Design Team has some wonderful inspiration too – I hope ou can pop along and have a look – and then join us.I

I look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery.

xx

I shall also be entering the following challenges:

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Always Fun Challenges – anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – let’s get ready for Christmas

Crafty Sentiments Designs – anything goes

Merry ‘tweet’mas

Hi everyone. Today is the start of a new challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. As always, the theme is Christmas anything goes.

For my card, I took the opportunity to use one if the new stamps I bought at a craft show near Coventry the other week:

I loved this simple stamp when I saw it, and decided all it needed was some Copic colouring. It’s also a tall and skinny card, managing to create it using an A4 sheet of card, without going into my 12×12 inch stash.

I used a selection of brown Copics, wanting the deer to be darker than the birds, which I wanted darker than the antlers – just so they stood out.

Of course – they are all robins, with their little red breasts.

I hope you are able to come along and join us in this challenge – I look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery – and don;t forget – making Christmas cards is almost a ‘must’ at this point in the year…….no pressure!!

Also – I’m struggling with photographing my cards in the darker days – have a light box, have a light stand – but just can’t seem to get the lighting quite right. I seem to have done better with this photo – but I think it’s a work in progress………if you have any suggestions, hints, tips – feel free to either leave a comment on my blog – or send me an email….. xx

Challenges I shall be entering:

Trimmies Craft Challenge – animals

Clean and Simple on Sunday – CAS animals

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge – anything goes

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes colouring

Pretty Bows

Hello there. There is a new challenge beginning at Cardz 4 Galz, and the theme this time is ‘Pretty Bows’. We would love to see your paper-crafting related projects with this theme.

We are also have a Design Team call – so if you can create a card every two weeks following a set theme, be able to comment on your allocated numbers in the entries – I usually comment more – and host a challenge or two, picking the spotlight winners – then please come along and submit your entry for consideration. I’m looking forward to seeing what you create, and looking forward to greeting a new teamie…… xxxx

Back to the current challenge. Here is my card:

I began with a lilac card layer using Sue Wilson Stitched Squares, cut a smaller square with one of the layers, and then die cut one of the verso layers from the tonic die set. The bows in this verso layer can be lifted for added dimension, as you can see from the close photo.

After cutting a couple more layers from the Tonic set, I created a lattice bow using the Spellbinders tiered Mulitloop Bows die set, using a gem brad to put the layers of the bow together, and added to the card as you see.

I decided not to put a sentiment on this card, and will instead use a verse or poem in the middle instead, as I feel this could be quite a generic card.

I hope you can visit the Cardz 4 Galz challenge and see the creations from the Design Team – and I also hope you can come and join us – I look froward to seeing what you create.

XX

Grey Bouquet

Hi again. I have a card to share today:

I used the Altenew ‘Hand Picked Bouquet‘ stamp set and a black ink for the outline, with three grey inks for the layering flowers.

The small leaves I coloured with Copics, the larger leaves I stamped the second layer only with a minty Altenew ink, then coloured that same area with the same Copic used on the small leaves.

The sentiment is also from Altenew.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Just Us Girls – white, shades of grey, mint green

Watercooler Challenge – occasions

Aud Sentiments Challenge – atg with sentiment

Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – atg

Welcome to the Neighbourhood

Hello there. I know I’ve been absent for a little while. I lost my dad towards the end of August, and I have also had a week away on holiday in Turkey. I managed to schedule my Design team posts, but very little else.

I’m also what they call flexibly retired – which means I am only working two days a week now…….hopefully more time for crafting – as well as other things.

I have a Copic colouring class this coming Saturday with Faye-Wynn Jones – soooo looking forward to that. I have the three day Craftaganza in November with Crafters Companion, and a three day weekend with ‘the girls‘ in a holiday park in November too.

The builders have finished the bathroom, the decorator has finished the painting and decorating……….it has been full-on, I’ll tell you…..

This morning I created a card for the current challenge at Color Throwdown:

This is a fairly new stamp company based in the UK, Picture This – Creative Endeavours – and I have several set of their stamps, but haven’t found time to play with them until today, I thought I should, especially as I bought more when I went to the crafting Live show in Coventry last Sunday – courtesy of Thirsty Brush and Co and winning a couple of tickets on Instagram – bought more goodies……I am sure you will see them – gradually!

I saw the colours for this challenge, and thought of this set of houses…..

I stamped the image first, then again alongside – can you see where I did that? I don’t think I did too badly! The outlines are heat embossed in black, then I took the three other colours from the challenge and played with water-colouring the houses with my Zigs. The aqua is actually the Catherine Pooler ‘Aquatini‘, but the grey and cobalt blue are Zigs.

I did quite a rough water-colour technique, as I didn’t want the houses too perfect, or too neat and tidy, as I feel the stamp is quite sketchy. A little bit of a deeper colour to some areas, but generally played around.

The sentiment is from Concord and 9th ‘City Scapes‘ – the ‘welcome‘ die cut three times and layered, and the rest stamped onto the card itself.

Challengesd I shall be entering:

Color Throwdown – cobalt blue, aqua, grey, black