DT card

ABC Christmas Challenge – ‘W’ and ‘X’

Hello there. I am hosting the new challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge for the letters ‘W’ and ‘X’. The theme chosen for these letters are ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Xtra Special’.

I have a prize on offer for the winner – chosen by a random generator – so every entry has a chance to win:

Thirsty Brush and Co – stamp and die set – Home For Christmas

You can enter as many times as you like – as long as you follow the winter/Christmas holidays or festivals – and you have followed the theme for the current letters.

Here are my cards:

Both of these cards are a combination of ink-blending, die-cutting and adding glittery stuff, with the second card also including some Copic colouring.

The Winter Wonderland card is utilising the new die set from Tim Holtz – Colorize Holiday Village – but changing the colour of my village to two shades of red instead of brown – I wanted a brighter look to the card. I did have to watch YouTube to figure out what to glue where – and in what order!

I added some mountains behind the village and an ink blended sky – which actually came about quite by mistake……. I did the ink blending, then used a Lawn Fawn stencil and some glitter paste to try and create some stars – but when I took the stencil up it moved and scraped along the sky. I tried to take the glitter paste up with a spatula – but it just swept the glitter across the sky………my idea of a happy accident. A very glittery sky now, with the distress inks showing some of the stars anyway. Oh yeah!

The Xtra Special card was also ink blending, but with Distress Oxides – two red colours and Wilted Violet along the edges to darken them. I liked the look of the violet so much, I used that as the main colour for my characters. Purple penguin and bird anyone!

I decided to add some white acrylic splatter to the background, and then also added some white gel pen into the areas which I thought looked a little open.

There is some glitter and sparkle on this card too – once I have the stuff out then I’m gonna use ’em! Nuvo drops on all the itsy bitsy tiny tree lights, sparkle pen on the other baubles and the snow on the lodge – oh, and the pompoms on the hats too.

I hope you can come and join us – it’s getting closer to the time when we have to think about what Christmas cards we have and also think about sending them cards out…….I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Winter wonderland card:

Aud Sentiments – anything goes with a sentiment

Christmas 24 Challenge – Christmas Landscape

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Xtra Special Card:

Jingle Belles Rock – Christmas and Creatures

Color Crazy Challenge – week 43 – anything goes colouring

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with critters

Crafty Animals Challenge – anything goes with animals

Christmas Cards All Year Round – for or with family or friends

Alphabet Challenge – Old Folk

Hi there. A new challenge has begun at The Alphabet Challenge. We have reached the letter ‘O’ – and Dawn has chosen the theme of ‘Old Folk’.

Here is my card:

Aren’t these couple of ladies looking like they’re having fun? The image is from Jan’s Digis, manipulated a little in ‘Word’, adding the sentiment – playing with the layout and layering options – then printed, coloured with Copics, and die cut with MFT ‘Wonky Squares’ – just for a little more craziness…….

When I saw this digi stamp months ago, it reminded me of my bestie. We have always said we would be old and grey and still partying…..just like these two ladies here.

Just to say – we are already grey – though the hairdressers we have do a marvellous job :) :)……….and the ‘old’ bit? Well – it’s a frame of mind and not birth years I find….though sometimes I definitely feel older than my years.

Anyhoo – I hope you can come and join us for this challenge – I can hardly wait to see your creations using this theme – I am sure there are going to be some laughs along the way……………. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge – birthday cake or cupcakes

Crafty Sentiments Designs – anything goes

Colour Crazy Challenge week 41 – anything goes colouring

Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge – anything goes colouring

Cardz 4 Galz Fall/Autumn

Hello. A new challenge is beginning at Cardz 4 Galz, and this time the theme is ‘Fall/Autumn‘ – but not Halloween……….!

Here is my card:

The background is embossing paste through a Catherine Pooler stencil, one I created previously – so I’m not sure which paste I used – but it does look golden and metallic!

For the the leaves, I used Concord & 9th ‘Thankful leaves‘ stamp and die set, and Concord & 9th card-stock.

The two leaves are using purple and orange, and for each leaf I inlaid the cut-out pieces to create reverse coloured leaves – if you see what I mean. Purple leaf with orange inlaid pieces, and orange leaf with purple inlaid pieces. These leaves came together quite easily, it was the placement of the leaves and sentiment which took me a little while to sort out…….

The sentiment banner is from a Concord & 9th ‘Everyday Bouquet‘ die set, and once die cut, I used my Misti ‘Cut-Align’ to just cut a tiny little piece off of each side – even the ends – so that it layered nicely.

I use the cut-align tool quite a bit when I have sentiments and die-cut banners for which I don’t have one slightly smaller – it is a great tool for that kind of thing.

Once I had placed the leaves and banner, I thought the card needed just a little more – just a little – so I die-cut the sprig from the ‘Everyday Bouquet’ die set and added as you see.

And there’s more – I added some clear cabochons. To me, these represent the rain which will fall in Autumn – well – that’s how my mind works sometimes…..

I hope you can come and join us with your fall /autumn themed cards – I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash – Autumn/Fall

Use Your Stuff – Autumn/Fall

Stamplorations stencil Challenge – use a stencil

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – layer it up

Ephemera Christmas

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

This card is completely outside of my comfort zone….I have been so loving the kits and packets of die-cut Christmas ephemera from Craft Box UK and 14 Craft Bar – that I bought them without knowing what the heck I was going to do with them!

I don’t use ephemera like this, I don’t know what to layer with what – but I had a good time making this card. I just dumped the three packets in front of me and played. I actually made three cards – but this one I particularly like with the deer and her baby.

The wood effect behind the deer is actually part of the packaging for one set – I liked the neutral distressed look to highlight the two deer – and then the sentiment and branches and mistletoe and pine cones – I just had fun placing them.

I hope you can come and join us for this challenge. I can’t see to see what you create. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges

Krafty Chicks – Christmas

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Crimbo Crackers – anything goes Christmas

Moving Along With The Times – animals and/or birds

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Alphabet Challenge – Navy Blue

Hello there. The new challenge at The Alphabet Challenge is ‘N’ for Navy Blue – the creation must have navy blue as the dominant colour. Debbie is the host this time round. Here is my card:

I decided to play with my alcohol inks for this card and create the background panel. I don’t have much luck when I combine colours, so I thought just using the one colour – Denim – would be perfect for my limited skills.

I think I did about 4 or 5 layers to this – waiting for the drying in-between – it took me a while because I had to watch a Tim Holtz video again on the difference between using alcohol itself and blending solution – and even now I couldn’t tell you the difference – it may sink in at some point -no pun intended.

Once I ad created the background panel and it was drying, I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Crocus flowers three times for each one – then stuck them together for dimension. Three layers to each flower – which actually came together quite easily, despite the numerous gaps and holes in the die cut.

On the off-cut from the panel, I die cut the sentiment, then backed it with a white layer.

I wanted a frame around the panel, so I cut a piece of card slightly smaller than the card base, and die-cut a rectangle for the window, and assembling all as you see.

I hope you can come and join us for our ‘Navy Blue’ challenge – I look forward to seeing you there. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Fab’N’Funky Challenge – birthday

Through The Craft Room Door – anything goes

Crafty Friends Challenge – use more than one die

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – anything goes

Crafters Castle Challenge – anything goes

Arty Divas Challenge – anything goes

Cardz 4 Galz ‘Retro’

Hello once again. A new challenge has started at Cardz 4 Galz, and this time the theme – chosen by Dawn – is ‘RETRO’.

The main aim of our challenge to create cards or other paper-craft items for the girls in our lives. Some of the entries to our more recent challenges have not fulfilled this requirement – unfortunately – and we have not been able to comment on those entries. Please be sure to read the rules before entering.

Here is my card:

I should let you know – I had to contact the rest of the Design Team about this challenge – I have no idea what ‘retro’ means, especially when it comes to card making.

Here are the explanations I was given:

Retro is old but not old enough to be called vintage or antique. Think back to fashions, toys or sweets from your childhood. Or design styles and icons from the 60’s 70’s 80’s etc. Kind of a modern vintage…………

I have given it a go with this card.

The background is a Uniko stamp set called ‘Mid Century Modern 2‘ and I feel has a vibe to match in with the explanantion I was given above.

I stamped twice – side-by-side – in Concord & 9th pink ink, then clear heat embossed. I’m not sure why the embossing was uneven – maybe the powder is off or I didn;t get full coverage – but I quite like the effect actually. I little more interest.

I then used the Uniko ‘Big and Bold Happy’, stamped in grey ink, then used the matching die to cut it out, and using the saem ink of the ‘everything’ word from the same stamp set.

I like the mix of grey and pink, and think the whole card is ‘girlie’ but bold with it – maybe a little like me! :)

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

I shall be entering the following challenges:

A Bit More Time To Craft – anything goes

Crafty Friends Challenge – use more than one die

Inkspirational – angle it

A Perfect Time To Craft – anything goes

A B C Christmas Challenge ‘U’ and ‘V’….

Hello everyone. A new challenge has begun at ABC Christmas Challenge. Julie is the host for this month’s letters – ‘U’ for Up In The Air, and ‘V’ for Vixen. Julie has also provided a prize for the winner – so please head on over and join us.

These are my cards:

The Penguin swinging in the air on a string of lights is a digital image from Whimsy Stamps, printed, then coloured with Copics.

I had a play with using the ‘N’ greys in Copics, and had even more playtime with the lights. I had a go at trying to create a glow around the lights – following (kinda) instructions from a Kit and Clowder class last year.

I used three colours of red and three yellows – then went around the outside of the colours with the colour-less blender to give an impression of a glow:

The sentiment is from Avery Elle ‘Bring On The Joy’, the striped frame is using a Hero Arts die set, and I think the striped paper is from Stampin Up – though I may be wrong.

For the second card – the reindeer card – I used a digital stamp from Bugaboo, printed then coloured with Copics, adding glossy accents to the eyes.

Using the same striped paper, I also cut a green layer from Altenew gradient card-stock. I thought it looked a little plain, so I searched through the Color My Life app for ‘holly’ and came across a stamp set from Clearly Besotted which had this holly stamp and die.

I stamped four times, coloured with Copics, die-cut, then stuck down in the top corners as you see, also adding Spectrum Noir clear sparkle to the berries.

Two cards made using digital images – I am finding these quite easy to use, and at a fraction of the cost of polymer or rubber stamps – I tend to look for these now when a theme comes up for my DT cards and when I can’t find anything in my stash to match, or which inspires me.

I hope you can come and join us, getting your Christmas stash well on the way, maybe winning the prize from Julie – but I would also love to see your creations in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Reindeer card:

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes colouring

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with critters

Merry Little Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas

Penguin card:

Creative Fingers Challenge – anything goes

Crafty Animals Challenge – anything goes with animals

Christmas Blog Challenge – Christmas and Penguins

SPREAD THE MERRY LITTLE LOVE AND GRAB A BADGE!

Let’s Hang Out…..

Hello there. A new challenge is beginning at The Alphabet Challenge. We have reached the letter ‘M’ and Meg has chosen the theme of anything beginning with the letter ‘M’ – here is my card:

I think my ‘M’ is quite obvious – using these Clearly Besotted Monkeys on my slimline card.

The monkeys themselves were stamped with Gina K amalgam ink, then coloured with Copics. I knew I wanted a three window slimline card – so I could get as many og these little monkeys in at once, and then turned to thinking about the background of those circles.

I thought about ink blending, then remembered this scene stamp – also from Clearly Besotted, so I stamped it twice, then coloured with Copics, then die-cutting with a stitched circle in a different area of each scene I had stamped for some variety behind each monkey.

The third circle is using a branch from the same stamp set so I could have the monkey swinging from it, again coloured with Copics.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set – using some stamp surgery to cut it apart – something I actually don’t have a problem with – though the first few times I did that I was a little nervous – not any more!

I hope you can come and join us with your ‘M’ themed creations, and I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafty Calendar Challenge – anything goes

Crafters Castle Challenge – anything goes

Creative Fingers Challenge – anything goes

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes colouring

Christmas Cardinals

Hello there. A new challenge is beginning at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge – the theme is – as always – anything goes as long as it’s Christmas or festive related. Here is my card:

I decided to use a pre-coloured image from Jan’s Digis. I don’t think I’ve used a pre-coloured image before, and it took a lot of research to enable me to manipulate the images, background and sentiment – layering them, bringing some to the front, some to the back, then getting mixed up in what the heck I was doing!

It must have took me longer to do all that than if I’d coloured the image myself – but I like what I managed to achieve here.

The sentiment is also from Jan’s digis, and I decided to add a blue background – again using ‘Word’ manipulation – but leaving the bottom open – just like snow.

It definitely took me more than 2 hours, but once I had printed and die-cut the rectangle – I was away.

I added some coloured layers as you see – and I also added some glitter pen to the snow, and created some glittery snow drifts on the bottom.

I hope doing things like this gets easier…………

I was going to leave the card at that, but I felt it needed a little more, so I used Stampin Up ‘Poinsettia Petals‘ to add a poinsettia and some leaves, then some clear Stickles to the centre. The ink must not have been dry, so the stickles took on the red colour – quite liking that effect.

Anyhoo – I hope you can come and join us. I’m looking forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Trimmies Craft Challenge – Christmas

12 Months of Christmas Challenge – Christmas and a sentiment

Jan’s Digi’s Challenge – anything goes

Watercooler Challenge – occasions

Make My Monday Challenge – Christmas

May your Day Be As bright As You

Hello there. A new challenge has begun at Cardz 4 Galz – and this time we want to see your buttons and/or bows. Here is my card:

I seem to have gone a little bit ‘girly’ here – but I’m liking the colour combination, if I do say so myself!

I first die-cut the pink spotty bow from Clearly Besotted pattenred paper, using the Spellbindwers die set, but keeping the bow solid and not using the lattice layer. I put the layers together with a pink and glittery brad from my stash.

The teal paper is cut from Stampin Up paper, and the stripe using the same Clearly Besotted paper.

The shape behind the bow is from a Sue Wilson collection, using only two of the 7 dies from that set – not too intricate behind the bow, and layered with 3D foam pads to the card base.

The sentiment is from Craft Box UK (I think) a page of strip sentiments, cut to fit.

I hope you can come and join us and show us your buttons and/or bow creations. The Design Team has some great makes to share – and quite a varied collection. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

A Bit More Time To Craft – anything goes

Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper Challenge – anything goes with patterned papers

Arty Divas – anything goes

loopyloocards

loopyloocards

DT card

ABC Christmas Challenge – ‘W’ and ‘X’

Alphabet Challenge – Old Folk

Cardz 4 Galz Fall/Autumn

Ephemera Christmas

Alphabet Challenge – Navy Blue

Cardz 4 Galz ‘Retro’

A B C Christmas Challenge ‘U’ and ‘V’….

Let’s Hang Out…..

Christmas Cardinals

May your Day Be As bright As You