Christmas Love Dragons

🎄🎄🎄 Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄🎄🎄

I am scheduling this post as today I would like to show you the Christmas card I made for my husband …I never publish it until after he has had chance to open it on Christmas Day 😀

Back in September I made him a wedding anniversary card using the gorgeous Lee Holland cuddling “Love Dragons” image (post here); so when I saw the same dragons wearing Santa hats I just had to have that image for his Christmas card 😍

I coloured my image with Promarkers and drew “scales” with fine liner pens, then embellished the hats with holographic glitter, and created snowflakes with my Posca pen. I then matted and layered with my papers, ribbons, die cut and stamped sentiments, and die cut and punched snowflakes. I have to 'fess up that the teeny snowflakes were prompted by one of them needing to cover a smudge with my Posca pen .. but after so many hours creating the card I just had to rescue it!! 

My thanks also need to go to Alyce at Kit & Clowder for her fab colouring class which covered colouring LH dragons and drawing scales .. I think I still have some way to go but I love colouring them nonetheless!

Stamps: Lee Holland Christmas Dragon Couple; sentiments - Me To You;

Media: Promarkers;

Papers: LotV Nitwits ‘Twas The Night;

Tools: Tattered Lace die - Merry Christmas; Cuttlebug Cut ‘n’ Emboss - Ice Crystal; Martha Stewart snowflake punch;

Gems and glitter from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Christmas Sentiment and why (2nd entry)

(I actually have several, but I always think Merry Christmas hits the spot, and this ornate Tattered Lace die never disappoints. Also I love making cards with the sentiment “For My Wonderful Husband” 😍)

Christmas With the Cuties #56 - ‘Twas the Challenge Before Christmas

( I have chosen theme #55 - Make A Card for Someone Special)

Crafter’s Cafe # 280 - Use Some of your Favourites (2nd entry)

(I have used.a Lee Holland dragon image, and my favourite Christmas sentiment die).

Crafty Calendar (December) - Christmas (3rd entry) - TOP 3

 Creative Moments #229 - Anything Goes

Cutie Pie Challenge #166 - Cute and Cuddly Christmas

DRU #183 - Anything Goes using a brand of die DRU sells (2nd entry)

(I have used Tattered Lace)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2151 - Anything Goes

Passion for Markers #621 - Mega Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes (2nd entry) 

Uniko Challenge #68 - Celebrate with option of Reds and Greens (3rd entry)

I hope you are all enjoying time with your loved ones - I will be spending the day quietly with my husband, hopefully enjoying a lovely turkey dinner and chilling in front of the TV. Hope you all have a wonderful time whatever you’re doing. I will be taking a break from cardmaking and blogging over Christmas and look forward to seeing you on 1 January with my DT card for the first Allsorts challenge of 2022.

Until then - wishing you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas, and hope you stay safe in these uncertain times.

Thanks for visiting,

Hugs,

Believe In the Magic

Hi everyone,

I needed to post the “Four Seasons” bookmarks  that I had made as a small Christmas gift to a good friend, and I decided that I needed a mini gift card to write a message in to accompany them in their padded envelope… so here it is.

This card is just 4” square. .. I have never made such a dinky card before and I rather liked working in such a small space.  I sponged a circle with Distress Oxide inks working inwards from darkest colour to the lightest, then bleached out some colour with spattered water droplets. I stamped my tree and fairy using Versafine Clair, and added some stars as if she is sprinkling stardust over the tree … which in my imagination results in the creation of a silver holographic star on top of the tree. I added a few more stars around the edge using Brilliance pearlescent ink, stamped my sentiment and finished off with some Sakura Stardust pen highlights and a few gems. Fairly quick by my standards, but I’m pleased with how it turned out. 

Here's a close up to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Fir Tree 1, Stars 1 Mini; Fairy and sentiment from Crafter’s Companion “Fairy Kisses” set;

Media:Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean Tumbled Glass); Versafine Clair - Twilight; Brilliance Pearlescent ink - ?; Sakura Gelly roll pen - Stardust;

Holographic star peel off and gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Crafty Calendar (December) - Christmas (2nd entry)

Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Cold As Ice (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Bling It On (2nd entry)

Sparkles Christmas #131 - Non-Traditional Colours

Stamping Sensations (December) - Choose A Theme and Stamp It (3rd entry)

(I have chosen Christmas magic)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

We Love Stamping (December) - Anything Stamped with option of CAS (2nd entry)

(I have chosen Anything Goes)

I still have one special card to make for my husband but I never publish that before he has opened it on Christmas Day, so what with all the preps required this week, this is probably my last published make before the big day. So I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas - hope you all stay safe, and  that we can look forward to a better 2022.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #655/6

Good morning everyone,

It's Saturday so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Lolo has chosen the theme and it is

Anything Winter

Due to the Christmas break this will be a two week challenge and the last challenge for 2021 - due to the New Year the challenge will close at 12 noon (GMT) on Thursday 30 December  and the winner will be announced later that day. We will be back with the first challenge of next year on Saturday 1 January 2022. 😀

This week we have A whopping THREE great prizes on offer … in no particular order:

1. Tonic Studios - Autumn Dream die set

2. Bee Crafty - BEAUtanicals Wildflower 3 stamp

3. Ruth Hamilton Design - 3 images of the winner’s choice.

Here's my card for this week.

I actually made this card about a month ago in my first flush of enthusiasm for Lavinia stamps, before the Christmas panic set in!! I created my hills and moon with home made paper masks (before my Lavinia acetate masks arrived!) and blending distress oxide inks. I then stamped my trees and border branches, embossing  some of my branches with white detail EP, and highlighted the scene with my trusty Sakura sparkle pen.

Stamps: Lavinia Small Fairy Fir Tree 2, Fir Cone Branch, Fern Branch, Stars 1 Mini; sentiment - Stampendous;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress oxide inks (Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass); Versafine Clair (Twilight), Versamark, Heat It Up Detail White embossing powder.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #26 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Christmas Craft Creations (December) - Make A Scene (2nd entry)

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #57 - If It's Christmassy - Link It up (2nd entry)

Crafts Galore Encore #94 - Anything Goes (3rd entry) - DT FAVOURITE

Crafty Creations #428 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Creative Inspirations (December) - Christmas Time  (3rd entry)

Creative Knockouts #432 - ‘Tis the Season

Ellibelle’s Crafty Wednesday (December) - Baby It’s Cold Outside!  (2nd entry) - TOP 3

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2150 - Anything Goes (2nd entry) - HONORARY MENTION

Simon Says (Monday) - Cold As Ice (2nd entry)

Hope you can join us, and I look forward to seeing your entries - don’t forget you have almost TWO WEEKS to enter this time.  Also don’t  forget to visit the challenge blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. 

Merry Christmas from Allsorts challenge, and we’ll be back for a year of new challenges on 1 January 2022! 

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Wish Upon A Star

In recent years I have had just two “special” (ie. larger) Christmas cards to make - one for my husband and one for his aunt. Today I’d like to show you the card I have made for his aunt - she is elderly so I have made her a traditional card combining my Lavinia stamps in a fairly classic  design along with traditional papers and embellishments. 

The overall card blank is 8” square, so I cut a 6” square piece of stamping card, and sponged a large circle onto it using distress oxide ink and a home made circle mask, then stamped my wording round the sides of the circle. I stamped my reindeer in the middle, then created a wreath of fir comes, holly and berries. I stamped my North Star just where the reindeer could gaze upon it, and sponged the edges of the panel with distress ink. I “grounded” the reindeer and highlighted him and the fir cones and holly with my Sakura stardust pen .. the card is actually extremely sparkly but as ever the photo doesn’t really capture that, so I have taken another photo at an angle which shows the sparkle a bit better.

. I then matted and layered the finished panel onto my backing card and tartan patterned paper which I thought complemented the reindeer scene perfectly.  I finished the card off with a die cut poinsettia and holly flourish, and my sentiment stamped onto a distressed piece of card stock and popped up on foam tape.

Stamps: Lavinia Reindeer (large), Fir Cone Branch, Mini Holly, Mini Berries, North Star Mini, Stars 1 Mini, Winter Magic; sentiment - Pink Gem;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink  (Iced Spruce, Barn Door); Distress Ink (Antique Linen); Versafine  (Onyx, Sepia); Versafine Clair (Rainforest); Brilliance pigment ink (Galaxy Gold);

Papers: LotV Nitwits ‘Twas the Night;

Tools: Dies - Marianne Design LR0122 Poinsettas, Cheery Lynn Designs Holly Flourish.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Christmas Sentiment and Why

(I have several, but one of my favourites is “with love at Christmas” as it conveys the love that has gone into making and sending the card)

Addicted to Stamps and More #420 - Die Cuts and Stencils

C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas - The Last Stretch

Crafter’s Cafe #280 - Use Some of Your Favourites

( I have used my favourite new Lavinia stamps and distress oxide inks)

Creative Inspirations (December) - Christmas Time (2nd entry)

DRU #183 - Anything Goes using a brand of dies DRU sells

(I have used a Cheery Lynn die)

My TIme to Craft #472 - Christmas Animals (2nd entry)

Sheepski Designs #57 - Embellish It (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Bling It On

Uniko Challenge #68 - Celebrate with Option of Reds and Greens (2nd entry)

This is my final Christmas card for posting in 2021 … just my husband’s to make now and a handful for the neighbours!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Magic of Christmas

I’m now onto my final push of quick batch Christmas makes, and today I would like to share a few from a batch of cards I made inspired by a Jo Rice Youtube tutorial here.. 

I used the idea of creating a scene across 2 layers of card, and incorporated Jo’s brilliant  tip of outlining card panels with a pen rather than matting them onto coloured card, though as I don’t have any Sharpies I experimented with the pens I do have and ended up using the chisel tip of a Promarker. 

Card 1:

I cut my card panels and placed the layers onto the base card as per Jo’s tutorial, and used my Lavinia acetate masks and Distress Oxide ink to make my hills and moon. I then diverged from the tutorial by using the reindeer and tree as my focal images; and I made things a bit more difficult for myself by stamping the tree across 2 card layers which meant I had to stamp it twice … once on each layer. On most of the cards in this batch I stamped first with the top layer in position and then again with it removed .. but my learning point for next time is that a better image is obtained by stamping on the lower layer of card first then placing the upper layer in place and stamping again.  

I used my Sakura sparkle pen to highlight the moon, snowdrifts and tree branches, added stars using twinkly pearlescent lavender ink, then assembled the cards before adding snowflakes with my Posca pen. On these cards I added the snowflakes as dots, applying different pressure to get different size flakes. I have now given up on the flicking technique, as however careful I was the paint flew everywhere and I had to be quick to wipe it off all my craft equipment and (more importantly!) dining furniture!! 

Card 2:

Card 3:

Stamps: Lavinia “Reindeer (large)”, “Fairy Fir Tree 2”, “Stars 1 Mini”; LotV "Grungy Christmas Sentiments" (Card 1); Penny Black "a wish..." (3502F)  (Card 2); Penny Black "joy hope" (3898F) (Card 3);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Shaded Lilac); Versafine Onyx, Brilliance pigment ink - Pearlescent Lavender; Sakura Gelly Roll pen - Stardust; Posca pen - white;

Tools: Lavinia acetate masks - hills and moons.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Card 1: 

Christmas Craft Creations (December) - Make A Scene

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #572 - Anything Christmas Goes with option Quick and Easy (2nd entry)

Creative Inspirations (December) - Christmas Time

Ellibelle’s Crafty Corner (December) - Baby It’s Cold Outside!

Krafty Chicks #589 - Christmas

Pixie's Snippets Playground #418 - Chrstmas/New Year and use Snippets

(I used snippets left over from cutting 5" square panels fom my stamping cardstock, to make the smaller front panels on all the cards in this batch).

Simon Says (Monday) - Cold As Ice

Simon Says (Wednesday)  - Cold As Ice

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #131 - Non-Traditional Colours (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (December) - Choose a Theme and Stamp It (2nd entry)

(I have chosen Christmas)

Card 2:

A Gem of a Challenge #25 - Anything Goes

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #57 - If It's Christmassy - Link It up

Country View Challenges (December) - Anything Christmas Goes (5th entry)

Crafty Catz#576 - Anything Goes - option Christmas

Creatalicious #224 - Anything Goes with option of Christmas (3rd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (December) - Anything Goes

My TIme to Craft #472 - Christmas Animals

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #250 - Anything Goes

We Love Stamping (December) - Anything Goes with option of CAS

(I have chosen Anything Goes)

Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Card 3:

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafter’s Castle #48 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Crafts Galore Encore #94 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Creations #428 - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes

Creative Moments #228 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley #260 - Christmas (3rd entry)

Paper Funday #36 - Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Phew! I think that's me done for today ... hope you're all keeping well and not scrambling too much to get Christmas "done".

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #654

Hi everyone,

The weeks are now flying by as we get into December and Christmas approaches .. hope your Christmas preparations are on track. I managed to post all my Christmas cards yesterday but I still need to make a couple of special ones plus a batch for the neighbours and my husband’s workmates .. so no pressure!!

Anyhoo, it’s Saturday already so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Ellie has chosen the theme and it is

Wings and / or Tails

... so we would like to see one or more creatures on your make that have wings and / or tails … could include angels, fairies, butterflies, animals with tails, birds or whatever you can think of!!

This week we have two great prizes on offer that tie in beautifully with our theme - 2 winners will each win one of the following Woodware Stamps.

Here's my card for this week.

When I saw this theme the first thing that sprung into my mind was dragons!! … or more specifically, Lee Holland dragons. I’m not a big user of digis but I do love this range, even though I’m still not very confident with my marker colouring so wouldn’t yet tackle some of the more complex images. As I’m still in Christmas card mode and Lee has had a sale on Christmas images this week 😍 I nipped online and ordered 3, and here’s the result with one of them - I just love this baby dragon celebrating by scoffing Christmas pud and mince pies! His wings are fairly teeny tiny though, so I’m not confident he could fly away when weighted down by all that Christmas pud .. though he could of course set light to it!! 😀🔥

I coloured my image with Promarkers and Flexmarkers, and mounted it simply. I try to keep my cards flatter for postage nowadays but I couldn’t resist adding a small holly die cut and some pearls for festive berries, plus a sprinkling of glamour dust to represent snow underfoot. 

Stamps: Lee Holland “Dragon with Christmas pudding” (digi); sentiment - LotV set 5 “Circular Sentiments - Christmas";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Glamour dust;

Papers: LotV Nitwits "'Twas the Night";

Tools: Tattered Lace holly die;

Gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like it - Favourite Christmas Embellishment and Why

(As I mentioned in my previous entry I love everything sparkly ... so you can't go wrong with Glamour Dust in my world)

Country View Challenges (December) - Anything Christmas Goes (4th entry)

Crafter's Cafe #279 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafty Calendar (December) - Christmas (2nd entry)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #572 - Anything Christmas Goes with option Quick and Easy

I ♥ Promarkers #449 - Anything Goes with option Christmas

Passion For Markers #621 - Anything Goes

Sheepski Designs #57 - Embellish It

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Uniko Studio #68 - Celebrate with option of reds and greens

Hope you can make time in this busy pre-Christmas period to join us, and I look forward to seeing your entries this week. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Cold and Snowy Christmas Night

Hi everyone , hope you are well, warm and dry in the awful weather we're having again with Storm Barra. Today I would like to share my latest Christmas card using Lavinia stamps. 

I am still experimenting with placing my limited selection of tree stamps in snowy landscapes … for this one I tried a larger moon mask than previously, and experimented with using different colour inks for background and foreground stamping to create more depth. I also had another practice at snow splattering with my white Posca pen … my technique is getting a bit better but it still really needs practice! Also I had a bit of an accident with my sentiment - I was a bit tired of using the same Chrimbo sentiments so fished another one out of my stash which is a mounted rubber stamp ... and despite carefully cleaning the edges of the stamp after inking it deposited an ink splodge on my snow (grrr!!)!! Hence the perhaps strangely placed mini pine cone, and another at the other side to balance it out!! 

Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Tree 1”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree”, “Small Fairy Fir Tree 2”, "Mini Pine Cone",“Winter Magic”; sentiment - Crafter's Companion "Beary Merry Christmas";

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks - Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky; Versafine Clair Twilight and Morning Mist; Sakura Gelly roll pen - Stardust; white Posca pen;

Tools: Lavinia moon and hill acetate masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Christmas Embellishment and Why

( I love all sparkly things, but particularly my new Sakura sparkle pen which is brilliant for embellishing moons, trees and snowdrifts)

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Country View Challenge (December) - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Crafter’s Castle #48 - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar (December) - Christmas

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #571 - Anything Christmas Goes

Creatalicious #224 - Anything Goes with option of Christmas (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Happy Holidays / Christmas (3rd entry)

Stamping Sensations (December) - Choose a Theme and Stamp It

(I have chosen Christmas)

Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas Goes

Hope your Christmas preparations are on track … I’m getting in pretty well with the cards now, though I’ve hardly done any Christmas shopping yet. I feel a quick online blitz coming on! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #653

Good morning peeps,

It's Saturday so it's time for another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Lynn has chosen the theme and it is

Include a die

This week we have 2 great prizes on offer:

Firstly: a Tattered Lace "Floral Edges" cut & emboss die

and secondly,  Ruth Hamilton Design

is offering 3 images of the winner's choice.

Here's my card for this week.

I decided to make a die cut the focal point of my card, and by happy coincidence given our prizes, it is a Tattered Lace die. I’m still very much embroiled in the Christmas card scramble, though over the past 3 weeks I’ve made nearly 30 cards so I am getting there!!

I cut a mask using my largest circle die (the only one the sentiment die would fit within!!) and used it to sponge Distress Oxide both outside and within the circle. I then masked off the circle and stamped my background sentiment all over the card - this was quite tricky as my ink was a pale colour and each stamping needed 2, 3 or even 4 impressions .. would have been impossible without my stamp positioner! I then stamped my pine cone wreath and holly, decorated them with my Sakura sparkle pens, and cut and attached my sentiment die. Lastly I stamped and heat embossed some teeny stars .. they are a pearlised embossing powder but sadly hardly show up on camera. This card has a much more traditional look than most of what I have made recently, but I think I like it for a change. 

As often is the case, the card is a lot more sparkly than photos suggest .. I have taken another angled shot to try to capture it a bit better.

Stamps: Lavinia “Fir Cone Branch”, “Mini Holly”, “Stars 1 Mini”, “Winter Magic”;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink - Iced Spruce, Speckled Egg; Versafine - Sepia; Versafine Clair - Rainforest; Versacolor - Cement; Heat It Up EP - Silver Pearl; Sakura Gelly roll sparkle pens - Stardust and red

Tools: Tattered  Lace Die - “Merry Christmas”.

I did actually make this card as part of a batch as it does seem quicker for Christmas makes .. originally 3 but one got spoilt. Here is the other one I finished .. not the same, but too similar to really warrant a separate post.

All stamps and supplies as per first card, with the addition of “Mini berries” stamp. Also I had to trim my die cut flourishes a bit as with the stamped berries my aperture was smaller 😀

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge (December) - Anything Goes

Country View Challenges (December) - Christmas Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Crafter’s Cafe #279 - Anything Goes

Do-All Kreatives #60 - The Scent of Christmas is in the air (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #260 - Christmas (2nd entry)

DRU #182 - Anything Goes with die brands sold by DRU

(I used a Tattered Lace die)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #541 - Anything Christmas

Simon Says (Monday) - Sparkle Mode (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Happy Holidays / Christmas (2nd entry)

TFJB Challenge (December) - Yuletide Delights

Hope you can join us this week, and I look forward to seeing your entries. Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see more fab inspiration from the rest of the team. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,