Quick Cuttlebug Christmas cards

Well I don't know about everyone else, but I'm just starting to feel a bit of pressure now to get on a bit faster with my Christmas cards. Generally each make takes me at least 2 1/2 hours, so Ithought I'd better pull my finger out and make a few more quickly. So I pulled out my new Cuttlebug embossing folders and got going. The results are "quick" for me though still probably painfully slow by most standards LOL ... last night I managed to make 4 cards + toppers for 2 more in under 3 hours.

The Christmas trees have been embossed onto pearlised card using the Cuttlebug folder, and decorated with Papermania gems + an individual gem from my local craft shop. Flowers are from the Prima gold Christmas bubble, rub on greetings and ribbon from my stash.

The winter scene has been embossed using the "Winter House" folder onto dark blue pearlised card, (doesn't look as dull in real life as in the photo LOL!) then glittered with peewee glitter. Blue buttons are by Doodlebug, white button and ribbons from my stash.

New blog challenge and fantastic candy

The Sarah Kay and Tilda & Co Challenges are merging, and are being replaced by a fantastic new challenge blog starting this Sunday - Magnolia v Stampavie. To celebrate the launch of this new blog, each DT memeber is giving away some yummy candy including Sarah Kay and Rachelle Anne Miller Christmas stamps - fab! I suggest you pop over to the new blog homepage to check out the challenge and look at the rules for the candy ... I am entering for Martine's candy, though they are all well worth a look.

A li'l bits & pieces challenge ... dotting the "i"s.

I'm part of a small group of crafting buddies who set each other a monthly challenge ... we all wait with baited breath for the dreaded envelope to land on our doormats, and then we have to conjure up a creation with the contents! This month I got a wee kit containing the following:

• 1 small square card with matching envelope
• 1 piece of brightly coloured (!) flowered paper
• 1 jewel gem
• 1 gold photo clip
• 1 length of white organza ribbon edged with gold (not in the photo as I temporarily lost it ... but luckily found it before making the card LOL!!)
• A pack of epoxy bubble stickers.

The deal is that we have to use at least something of each element..... well! Here is what I made ... I couldn't envisage using a stamped image with this little lot, so I went down the fabric flower route. This is truly very different for me! I covered most of the front of the card with papermill black/gold lustre cardstock with punched corners, cut a band of the paper and punched it with my Papermania multishaper punch, fixed the making Memories, WH Smith and Prima flowers together with a Doodlebug sparkly brad, cut out a paper flower to lodge under an epoxy sticker, cut a sentiment from my Cuttlebug "Everyday Greetings" cut'n'emboss set (and used the gem to dot the "i"), and finished off with a couple of green swirls cut with my new shapeabilities. perhaps it's not my best effort but 'tis done now LOL!

Now I noticed that Poppicrafts has also got a li'l blog competition which incorporates both no images plus has to consist of the colours black, pink, green and/or white. I think this card is a pretty good fit ... if you think you can see a bit of purple on there, it's just a trick of the light ROFL!!
Thanks for looking!

Elisabeth Bell blog candy giveaway

Elisabeth Bell is celebrating the fact that her image "Summer Sundae" won the Zhibit Summer Art Exhibition, by giving away to two extremely lucky people a personalised print from one of her collections. To be in with a chance of scooping this fantastic prize, you should pop over to her beautiful blog here and leave a comment - before November 2nd.

BasicGrey and shades of sepia

I needed to make an image wallet for friend, and was inspired by my new Penny Black "vintage" stamp called "Rain or Shine Friends". As luck would have it, when I rooted around in my stash, the paper that came to hand to best fit with this theme was a BasicGrey sheet from the "sugared" collection; so I'm entering it for this week's BasicGrey Challenge #8 which is shapes - I have used offset rectangles for my image and matting, plus squares on the inside covers. I am also entering this one for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge DT call - I know it will be up against a lot of awesome talent, but fingers and toes crossed!!

I decided to try something new so did my best to create a sepia coloured image, using a Marvey brushstroke pen watered down to form different shades, and I stamped the image with brown Stazon rather than black. The paper with hearts on is BasicGrey "sugared" and the other front cover paper is by DCWV - I have done some faux stitching to compliment the vintage feel, and slightly ditressed the edges of the DCWV paper. Inside I have used more of the BasicGrey paper and a beautiful "friendship" paper that was hiding in my stash. Lace is from Hobbycraft, flowers by Prima and tiny pearl gems on the umbrella from Create & Craft.

Fantastic blog candy

Rach is offering a stunning stash of blog candy to a lucky winner, including a fabulous WOJ stamp, BasicGrey papers and more ..... I suggest you pop over to admire her brilliant blog and leave a comment while you are there ... but be quick, it ends tomorrow (October 28th).

One stamp, two ways (part 2)

The second card I made yesterday evening was for the Sketch Saturday Challenge #22 - the first time I have entered this one. It is a relatively simple sketch which I really like as it doesn't look too fussy.

I used: main image Penny Black "Let It Snow" coloured with watercolour pencils and Cosmic Shimeers, decorated with white peewee glitter and Glossy Accents; background papers from Forever Friends "Christmas Snow" pack; sentiment from "Make Your Mark" stamped on to a slider I diecut using my Cuttlebug; button by Doodlebug; ribbon from my stash.

One stamp, two ways (part 1)

I have loved the Penny Black stamp "Let It Snow" for quite a while, so when I heard it may be getting discontinued I just had to order it to be on the safe side! So I sat down yesterday to press on with the Chrimbo cards, and brought the little fella out to play.

First of all, I completed a card for this week's Friday Sketchers #25 . This was a great sketch to work with, and I had a fun time looking out various co-ordinating papers and ribbons. Looking at it today I'm thinking maybe it looks a bit busy, but hey - making it was great fun!

I used: main image Penny Black "Let It Snow" coloured wtih watercolour pencils and Cosmic Shimmers, decorated with white peewee glitter (on the snowflakes) and Glossy Accents (on the puddle); sentiment is Penny Black "A Wish..."; background papers by Reminisce; buttons by Doodlebug; wide ribbons from local market; Dovecraft snowflake brad.

Fab new challenge + CCT

My friend Sharon is part of the DT for a fab new challenge blog called One Stop Crafts Challenge which launches today .... so I was eager to support her and it by having a go. Sharon is hosting the first challenge which is a brilliant sketch (I wish I had enough imagination to come up wtih original sketches!!). Sketches are brilliant at this time of year, so those Christmas cards can keep on coming!!

This sketch particularly suited me, cos I had got some Papermania tinsel trims (both bought and free with the latest "Creativity" magazine) and I had been wondering what I could do with them ... well they seemed to wrap nicely around the card at an angle in line with the sketch, and co-ordinated with trees on the stamped image and papers.

I am also entering this card for this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge #33, as the theme is The Stars At Night .... so with black and silver plus stars on the paper and the tree, I reckon that qualifies.

I used: main image is from Stampendous Simply Clear "Christmas Holly" set, inked with Brilliance "Starlight Black" and embossed with holographic powder; background papers, adhesive stones and sparkly trims all by Papermania; tiny peel off from my stash.

Sketch Something

This week's Stamp Something Challenge is Sketch Something - use the fabulous sketch by Katharina - and even better, there is a wonderful WOJ stamp up for grabs as a prize - so I suggest you pop over there to take a look.

I wanted to make a card for my dear friend Steph, as she has been selected to go out to the Sudan to help the government there set up a new Trading Standards department - what an achievement! I already had to hand a wonderful Penny Black image gifted from my friend Samantha, which brought to mind the fact that Steph's truly flying high with this amazing opportunity. So I just laid out the card in line with the sketch - its a bit simpler than my usual style of cards, but I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing (I tend to get flower withdrawal symptoms LOL!) Anyhow, here's the finished result.

I used: Penny Black image "Frequent Flyer" coloured with watercolour pencils and glittered wtih a Stickle (though that doesn't show up on the photo very well); papers by Melissa Frances; pink pearlised card embossed with Cuttlebug swirls and flowers; sentiment diecut with Cuttlebug; Doodlebug sugar coated brads; ribbon from my stash.

Sarah Kay Treats .... and a cupcake

Until yesterday I had only ever made one Sarah Kay card with a swapped image from Cathy, but I loved the image so much I bought my first Sarah Kay stamp on my outing to Port Sunlight craft fair, and was raring to go with it ....

This week's Sarah Kay Challenge #16 is Treat Yourself .... make something that ties in with your favourite treats eg. chocolates, cakes etc. Now I love chocs and cakes as much as the next woman, but my imagination and talent failed me when it came to making stuff like dinky boxes and bags to pop treats into. So ..... I took my mind off in a different direction - I needed to make another image wallet for a friend .... and what is more of a "treat" for us crafters than getting an image wallet through the post (all the joy of the stamp without the credit card bill LOL!!) So that is what I have made!



I also used the sketch from this week's Cupcake Craft Challenge #10, which I thought seemed particularly apt seeing as we're talking about edible treats :-) Unfortunately my eyesight must be going, cos it is only now as I load the pic that I have noticed where the sentiment should go - oops!! My excuse is that I was distracted by the logo LOL!! Well anyway - I did my best !

I used: stamp by Sarah Kay; background/inner papers by BasicGrey "Two Scoops"; flowers by Cardology and Prima; pearl brad and flower gem by Papermania; peeloff greeting, buttons and ribbon from my stash.

Happy Autumn Award

I was really chuffed this morning to spot that Helen had given me this award - it's really touching cos I so love her blog even though it is fairly new, and the style of her cards ... if you haven't visited yet get over there and I'm sure you'll agree.



The rules of the award are to pass it on to 6 crafting friends ... where to start?? There are so many blogs I love, but I've decided to pass it on to the following:
Emma
Sharon
Jo
Dawny
Beth
Bev

Happy autumn ladies, and happy crafting!

Basic Grey meets Friday Sketchers (again)

For my second image wallet of the weekend I decided to use my favourite BasicGrey "Two Scoops" papers, and hoped I could co-ordinate them nicely with this week's sketch for Friday Sketchers #24. This week's BasicGrey Challenge #7 is stitching, so I had a go with faux stitching on my background square. This is my Docrafts monthly image swap wallet, so I hope my partner likes it.




I used: main image is Penny Black "Tender Hug" coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated wtih Papermania gems; sentiment is diecut from Cuttlebug "Forever Friends" cut'n'emboss folder; papers are basicGrey "Two Scoops"; pearlised lemon cardstock embossed wtih Cuttlebug "Floral Fantasy" folder; flowers by Prima; buttons, ribbons and dragonfly brad from my stash.

A Spoon Full of Sugar makes a Cupcake!

This weekend I have found myself with a bit of a backlog of image wallets I need to make for various friends/reasons, so I thought I would try to tie one or two in to this week's challenges.

First up, I loved the sketch for this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge, so have used it for my first wallet.

I am also entering this one for this week's Cupcake Crafts #9 which is Turn Up the Heat - you can use any heat tool/technique or hot colours. I took the opportunity of heat embossing both on the main image and the sentiment, plus the sun is obviously a form of heat itself LOL! It's quite a while since I made an oriental card so I enjoyed doing something a bit different.

I used: main image is Hobby Arts "Oriental Sunset", stamped with Brilliance "lightning black" ink (black with a hint of gold) and clear embossed. Sun and blossoms are coloured with Cosmic Shimmers and the sun is decoupaged. Sentiment is Hero Arts "happiness wish" embossed in gold. Background paper is DCWV "Far East" stack; flower is Prima; dragonfly brads, peeloffs and shimmery ribbon from my stash. The wallet is made from Papermill black cardstock with a gold shimmer finish, and the central band is also papermill black cardstock with a shimmery "animal skin" finish.

Basic Grey meets Friday Sketchers

I always take a look at what's going on over on the Basic Grey Challenge blog as I love BG papers; so I was really keen to join in this week with the theme of Colour Combo. Now I must admit that I struggled a bit with this; because although I have quite a few BG papers, they mostly don't fall into any of the three colour themes allowed. Anyhow I decided to make the best of it, and went for green + red/maroon. In this case I think it is definitely maroon ... there is also some blue in there, but would beg that you overlook that!

I also incorporated this week's sketch from Friday Sketchers #23, as I thought (hoped!) it would work with the co-ordinating designs on the double-sided paper.

So .. here we are with another Christmas card. I've brought out my trusty "That Santa" stamp (Rubber Stampede, "Santa Collage"), and used a Stampendous Perfectly Clear sentiment stamp. The paper is BasicGrey "Figgy Pudding", snowflakes are cut from glitter card with my Cuttlebug, ribbon is from Sir Stampalot, and gems are by Papermania. it's kinda different for me, so I hope you like it!

Spoon Full of Sugar meets ABC ... for a friend

Today I have got a day's holiday from work, so it's a good opportunity to sit down and make my October Docrafts friendship card. This fits very well with the fact that this week's Stamp Something Challenge is for a friend.

Also, this week's challenge over at a Spoon Full of Sugar is pink and green, which is one of my favourite colour combos so I just had to incorporate it into my card ... and on Saturday I bought some fabulous Melissa Frances papers in those very colours. Also this week's ABC Challenge is L is for Lace, which I thought suited this card very well and allowed me to use some of the lovely lace gifted to me by Cathy.

I used: image by Rachael Ann Miller from my friend Uma; sentiment by Hero Arts; papers by Melissa Frances; flowers by Prima; Doodlebug sugar coated brads; swirly shapes diecut using Spellbinders shapeabilities; lace gifted from my friend Cathy; pearl gem and dragonfly brads from my stash.

Sunlight .... in the rain

Just got back from my visit to the craft fair at Port Sunlight - miserable grey and drizzly day outside, but hot and steaming in the hall as frenzied crafters dashed from stall to stall LOL!!

As usual I saw more than enough goodies to spend my cash on, and could have bought twice as much stuff as I did, but here is what I came home with ...

There is always a frenzy around the Simply Stamps stall which is awash with Penny Black stamps - many current stamps in the "bargain bin" with 1/3 to 1/2 off, so it's be rude not to buy them really! (My friend Lil was with me, and she is also a terrible one for encouraging me LOL!!) My haul includes 2 discontinued PB stamps ("Cake Dance" and "Ode to Joy") which I had rung the owner about beforehand and he had brought to the show for me - they are a great supplier of rarer stamps so if you fancy any I would recommend giving them a call.

I also got my hands on two of THAT SANTA stamp .. I think this is only because the owner has had her shop packed up from last year and so still had some left over supplies ... I'm going to resell these to a couple of crafting friends.

The funny looking Spellbinders packet is a set of their new range shapeabilities - swirls - which I have been inspired to try by seeing other bloggers using swirly diecuts on their cards - I also got a swirly stamp I have been fancying from Crafty Individuals, so my cards may go swirl mad over the next few months LOL! last but not least I bought my first Sarah Kay as I have loved palying with the images sent to me by Cathy.

Last but not least I also visited the nearby Church hall, where a local retailer exhibits on craft fair day. There I nabbed some gorgeous papers inc. Melissa Frances and Basic Grey.

In the midst of all this activity I also managed to meet and say hello to Dawny P who was demo'ing on a stall - lovely to meet you Dawny!! :-)

All in all a pretty successful day methinks!

Starlight .. starbright .... my first shaker card.

Today I am visiting the Happy Stampers North West craft show at Port Sunlight, which is a fabulous twice-yearly stampfest plus everything else card-related. This will be my third time at the show, but the first time I have plucked up courage to enter a card into the festival competition.

The theme is "Starlight, starbright", and entrants can interpret this any way they want. The rules are just that the card must contain mostly stamped elements, and must not be bigger than 6" square.

Having recently bought the Penny Black "Cat on the moon" stamp on my craft weekend away at Penrith Crafts, I felt inspired to create a card around the theme of wishing on a star. I used:

• main image is PB "Cat on the moon", coloured with USArtQuest pearlescent paints and Cosmic Shimmers (twinklier than it looks in the pic - the moon is really quite silver LOL!)


• I created my first ever shaker card using tiny iridescent stars and small silver stars confetti from my local market, and silver star holographic card for the frame.


• The frame is matted onto gorgeous midnight blue and silver handmade paper which I was lucky enough to win on my craft weekend from Penrith Crafts, and then matted onto subbtle blue starred paper from Paper Adventures.


• The sentiment around the edge is "make a wish" from the PB transparent set "Party Critters", embossed in silver.


• I punched the corners with a X-Cut corner punch, and decorated the background paper with tiny blue and silver Paermania star gems.

There are bound to be loads of brilliant entries for this competition, so all I can do now is keep my fingers crossed and hope that my wish (to win or even be commended) comes true!!

In the nick of time .... Penny Black Challenge #17

Until last night I hadn't managed to do any crafting for a week as I had a busy weekend and then have had a difficult and stressful past few days ... but last night I sat myself down for a sesh and managed to produce a couple of cards. One of them has to stay secret until tomorrow as it is for a craft show competition, but the other is a "just in time" entry for Penny Black Challenge #17, which this week is a sketch.

This was a great sketch to work with, and I followed my favourite theory of the moment which is to try to get some Christmas cards done (Yikes, it's mid October alread!!).

I used: main image is PB "Let it Snow" (which I rushed to buy last week as it is supposedly being discontinued ... what's all that about ??), matted and layered using nesties, coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with Stickles and glossy accents; sentiment is from the PB transparent set "Christmas Critters"; papers are The Paper Company Studio "Snowflake Flurry" and "Snowflake Stripe"; flower is by Cardology (from the fabulous Penrith Crafts); snowflake brads are by Dovecraft and ribbon is from my stash. I also used my Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder to emboss the white glitter card behind the image.