Christmas

ABC Christmas Challenge – N and O

Hello there. I am hosting the new challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge. We have reached the letters ‘N’ and ‘O’ and the themes for those letters are:

‘N’ for No Layers – card base only, no added layers, and/or ‘O’ is for Ornaments.

Here are my cards:

The ‘No layers’ card was created by using layering stencils from Pinkfresh Studio called ‘Winter Foliage’. I first stamped the image then used the stencils to colour in the images, and added some gold dots to the berries. I also went in with the gold marker and added some extra gold dots in the more open spaces.

The sentiment was heat embossed.

The ‘O is for Ornament’ card was created using a foil plate from Hero Arts – silver onto black card stock, adding a foiled sentiment in the centre, and even though I tried to restrain myself with the silver gems – I couldn’t resists just filling in the centre of the bauble with them……..

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas/Festive creations using one or both of our themes. I even have a couple of stamp sets up for grabs to a random winner – so everyone is in with a chance of winning these:

I shall be entering the following challenges:

One layer card:

Inkspirational – Christmas In July

Craft Rocket – Christmas in July

Aud Sentiments – stencils and/or Christmas in July and a sentiment

Sparkles Forum Christmas Challenge – Christmas and include gold

Get Creative – Christmas in July

Bauble card:

A Perfect Time To Craft – anything goes

12 Months Of Christmas – anything goes Christmas

Dragonfly Dreams – Christmas in July

The Crafty Addicts – anything goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Believe In The Magic Raccoon

Hello. I was proud to be the winner for the Christmas Craft Creations May 2023 challenge, and therefore offered a Guest design Team spot for July.

The July theme is ‘anything goes Christmas’.

Here is my card:

The background was created using a Simon Says Stamp embossing folder and some light blue card stock. I cut that down slightly and adhered with 3D foam to the card base.

I die cut the ‘Christmas Bandit‘ from Spellbinders layered together – fiddly but I persevered – and added some red glitter foam and silver glitter card for the hat.

I used another Spellbinder die set for the cloche, the frame itself from silver glitter card, and I die cut it again to get the white inner piece, and dry embossed that with another Simon Says Stamp embossing folder. I created a hill by cutting some glitter card to size.

The sentiment is a silver foiled strip, and I chose that sentiment because who doesn’t want to believe in the magic of a Christmas raccoon…….?

I hope you can come and join the team with your Christmas creations. xx

I shall be entering th3e folloowing challenges:

Inkspirational – Christmas in July

My Time To Craft Christmas – Christmas and Christmas animals

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Country View Challenge – 4 legged friends

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Ho Ho Ho

Hello once again. A new challenge has started at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas’. Here is my card:

The snowflake background was created using a Simon Says Stamp embossing folder with blue card, then swiping some white pigment over the top for highlights.

I cut this down slightly and adhered to a white card base.

Now onto the construction of the main image – lots of die cutting and layering, using different combinations of red and gold card stock.

I added some silver glitter foam die cuts to the hat and the cuff of Santa.

I hope you can come and join us with your festive creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Most Magical Time of the Year – anything goes Christmas or Halloween

Die Cut Divas – die cuts and critters

12 Months of Christmas – Christmas – option inspired by Christmas Song

Inkspirational – emboss your background

Sparkles Forum – no stamping allowed

Christmas Fireplace

A new challenge has started at ABC Christmas Challenge. Having reached the letters ‘L’ and ‘M’, we want to see your Christmas/Festive makes with ‘L for lots of layers‘ or ‘M for Mice’. Here is my card:

It is very obvious I went with the ‘lots of layers’ theme to create this card.

The background panel is dry embossed using a Simon Says Stamp embossing folder.

The main image and additions are all from Spellbinders. This is another card where I had to watch a YouTube video to see how everything came together, and from that video made the decisions for each colour.

I wanted the stockings hanging on the mantle to be a pop of colour, and added them with gold string through their loops, but didn’t glue them down, so they move around when the card is picked up.

The die cutting, layering and fiddly assembly mood seems to be staying with me……

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas/festive creations following our two themes. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – Christmas anything goes

Inkspirational – seasonal

Peace On Earth – Christmas anything goes

Craft Rocket – use dies

12 Months Of Christmas – Christmas – option not taken

Merry and Bright Lantern

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge has started their next challenge. Our theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas/festive’. Here is my card:

The background panel is dry embossed using a very old We R Memory Keepers embossing folder, I then layered that with a gold panel – gutting the centre by die cutting the gold label die, to which I also added a white dry embossed layer.

The images and florals are all from Spellbinders, another mega die-cutting session, then layered together. I first adhered the lantern, then played with placement of all the images until I was happy, and adhered them with a mixture of 3d Foam and wet glue.

I then added some gold gems to the centre of the poinsettias, and a foiled sentiment.

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas/festive creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Inkspirational – seasonal

Peace On Earth – anything goes Christmas

Creative Inspiration – anything goes

Most Magical Time Of The Year – anything goes Christmas or Halloween

12 Months of Christmas – Christmas – option inspired by Christmas song not taken

Triple B – birds and/or butterflies and/or blooms

A Cozy Christmas

The new challenge at Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge has started. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas/festive’. Here is my card:

I wanted to try and create a one layer card for this challenge. I don’t do many of those as I find them quite difficult.

I used a Kraft card base, and stamped multiple images, in reds and greens, and tried to fill the card base up.

It took a little planning, but I’m quite pleased with how effective it turned out. It seemed to take me longer to do this than when I do lots of die-cutting, I don’t know why…

I hope you can come and join us with your Christmas/festive creations. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge – Christmas

Crafty Catz – anything goes

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

‘Tis The Season…..

The new Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge has now gone live, and the theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas/Festive‘. Here is my card:

I had quite a bit of messy fun creating this card – ink smooshing, die cutting, ink blending – and I like the outcome.

The background panel is a piece of ink smooshed card stock, with pink and blue Distress Inks, and when that was dry I used a Pinkfresh Studio background die.

I adhered that whole panel to the card base, then turned to the die cutting…….

The two critters are from Tim Holtz, and each piece die cut pout of an ink blended or smooshed panel. If I didn’t have the colour I wanted, I created one.

Before adding each layer, I did some more ink blending on them to make them different. All the brown pieces are from the same panel, but I ink blended a darker brown on them to create different shades – the antlers for instance.

The sentiment is also from Tim Holtz, stamped onto the same brown smooshed panel, cut out, then ink blending.

I adhered all of them with 3D foam.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Jingle Belles – Christmas and card stock – no patterned paper

Creative Fingers – anything goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with animal as main focus

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

My Time To Craft Christmas – Christmas and something beginning with ‘R’ (red, reindeer)

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

White and Gold Christmas

A new challenge has started at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas’. Here is my card:

The three circle dies are from a kit through Scrapbook and Cards. I found out about these kits from another online card making course. The kits ship every two months, and combines a stamp set, die set, and a class with different people/companies. I believe the next one is with Gina K – but I haven’t received that yet – it takes a little more time to get to me here in the UK.

This die set was from LDRS Creative and I decided to make baubles.

I first created the dotty background with a Spellbinders stencil and gold paste. I left that to dry for 24 hours – just in case – and prepared the ‘baubles’.

I die cut the base circle from Spellbinders gold card stock, die cut the main decorative circle from white card stock, then layered. I used another die set for the bauble topper – adding with 3D foam.

Onto the slimline card base I added a gold base layer – I ‘gutted’ this layer to preserve some of that fabulous card stock – layered with the gold dotty panel, then added the baubles.

The sentiment was die cut from the same gold with a white shadow layer.

I decided to add some matt gold gems – kinda hard to stop when you get started.

I hope you can come and join us with your festive/Christmas makes. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Cut It Up – anything goes with a die cut

Creative Fingers – anything goes

Most Magical Time Of The Year – anything goes Christmas or Halloween

Creative Knockouts – celebrations

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

ABC Christmas Challenge – A and B

Hello once again. The ABC Christmas Challenge is at the beginning of the alphabet again. Helen is hosting this time round, and we want to see your ‘A for Anything goes’ and ‘B for Bears’ Christmas creations. Here are my cards:

A is for Anything Goes
B is for Bear

As you can see – two very different styles of cards.

The first CAS card is using s Clearly Besotted image, stamping, colouring with Copics, then using an oval to die cut, layering that white oval with black, then adding a foiled sentiment.

The second definitely not CAS card took a little more preparation.

I sprayed some Tim Holtz mica spray onto some Distress Heavystock card, splattered with white acrylic paint and set aside to dry.

I then totally channeled Tim Holtz from one of his YouTube videos, and die cut the bear from white and grey wood grain card stock, layered together, then added a pink scarf using a previously created ink smooshed panel.

The trees were die cut from a panel of card onto which I had glued some tissue paper, added water, added Brushos, then when dry added some gold wax. The die cutting of the trees flattened the ridges on the trees – but if you add the wax prior to die cutting then the detail is still there.

I snipped and placed the trees, added the bear, added some white glitter drops for the snow on the ground, then added the sentiment – die cutting the ‘board’ from the same white and grey card stock, and adding the letters in a haphazard fashion – I struggle with straight when I do a sentiment like this, so I went overboard with the higgledy-piggledy.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

CAS card:

Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Creative Knockouts – anything goes

Crafting Happiness – celebrations

Ellibelle’s Corner – anything goes

Bear card:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with critter as main focus

The Four seasons Challenge – anything goes winter

Challenge Up Your Life – ice, ice, baby

Most Magical Time Of The Year – anything goes Christmas or Halloween

The Alphabet Challenge – R for Reduce

Hello once again. The Alphabet Challenge has started a new challenge, and as we have reached the letter ‘R’, Veronika has chosen the theme of ‘Reduce – make it clean and simple‘. Here is my card:

I used a frame from my stash – I forget the maker – and stuck a piece of patterned paper onto the back – then trimmed around the frame.

I stuck this down onto the card base with a strong glue.

I think the tree was a pre-cut piece from a kit, to which I added three gold strings, and then placed some gold facetted gems on top of the ‘loops’ of the string, adding a larger gem onto the top of the tree.

I’m looking forward to seeing your CAS cards in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

TTCRD – anything goes

Lil Red Wagon – glitter, glitz, gleam, glow

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – anything goes

Fab’N’Funky Challenge – die cuts or embossing – no stamped image

Love To Craft – anything goes