Winter Blues ❄️

Hi everyone, well here we are in December already! Are you ready for Christmas? I’m certainly not, but for me that’s not unusual! Today I would like to share a small batch of simple Christmas cards I made whose design was inspired by  a Tracy Dutton tutorial for a tag.

For each of the above cards I cut a stitched square of white stamping card, and masked the edges to form a smaller central square. I blended Dark Denim Elements ink from one corner and Blue Atoll Elements from the other, then darkened the top edges by blending Paris Dusk Memento ink. With the masks still in place, I stamped a selection of Lavinia Large Snowflakes and Small Snowflakes with Versamark then heat embossed white. I filled in the gaps  by stamping further small snowflakes in Twilight and Bali Blue VFC, then spattered the inked background with water and dabbed to create a mottled effect.  I removed the masks then stamped Lavinia Snowflakes the teeny ones) in the corners. Finally I added a stamped sentiment to each card using Twilight VFC, them matted each finished panel onto a b,use border and 6” square card blank.

Here are the cards in close up.

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

Stamps: Lavinia Large Snowflakes, Small Snowflakes, Snowflakes; Uniko Christmas Wishes (cards 1 & 2); Hero Arts Winter’s Butterfly (card 3);

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Dark Denim, Blue Atoll); Versafine Clair (Twilight, Bali Blue); Versamark; WOW Opaque White Ultra fine embossing powder;

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched square dies.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Card 1

CAS on Friday #323 - Christmas

Christmas (or not) BINGO Challenge #16 - Use 3 lines from BINGO column (3rd entry)

(Column I: Winter / Free / Snowflakes)

Merry Little Christmas #65 - Anything Christmas Goes (5th entry)

Word Art Wednesday #726/727 - Anything Goes (6th entry)

Card 2

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Stamps (4th entry)

A Place to Start (December) - Winter Things

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Tic Tac Toe #284 - Tic Tac Toe

(Navy / Free / Holiday Sentiment)

Try It On Tuesday - Snowflakes 

Card 3

Alphabet Challenge - Q is for Quote

C.R.A.F.T. #769 - Christmas (2nd entry)

Die Cut Divas (December) - Christmas/Winter

Four Seasons (December) - Winter

Jingle Belles - Banner Holiday

(I was inspired by the snowflakes, watercolour vibe and swirly text)

Peace On Earth #100 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Batch Cooking!

Hi everyone, I have been playing with various Christmas combos using my Christmas bauble stencils and new-ish winter cabin stamps. They are ideal for batch cardmaking, so I have made a few more ‘similar but different’ cards to recent makes - here’s a selection.

I have found that my Card-io bauble stencil is a bit big, so I have made a few one layer cards as the stencil fills a 6” square.

For the above card I scored a 30cm x 15cm piece of Pink Frog super smooth card to make a card base that I could stamp and colour onto directly. I stamped the winter cabin and a couple of extra trees in Morning Mist VFC, then created the bauble shape and Northern lights sky by blending Versacolor inks through the bauble stencil with a dry baby wipe - I think this one is much more vibrant than my previous efforts with these inks. I outlined the bauble with fine white Posca and Sakura Stardust pens and added blue shadow, then stamped the little deer.  I coloured the cabin with white Posca pen and Stickles glitter glue, then stamped the sentiment and added white Posca snow. 

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (medium), Stag/Deer set 1; Card-io Small Pine Trees; Visible Image Poinsettia Grunge (sentiment); 

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturnal, Morning Mist, Medieval Blue); Versacolor (Atlantic, Peony, Canary, Green Tea); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Posca pen (white); Stickles (Stardust);

Tools: Card-io stencil - Vintage Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #128 - Anything Goes Christmas (4th entry)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Stamps (3rd entry)

CAS on Friday #323 - Christmas

C.R.A.F.T. #769 - Christmas

DL.Art (November) - Anything Goes

Dream Factory #145 - Anything Christmassy Goes (3rd entry)

Just Us Girls #803 - Anything Goes + a Stencil

Merry Little Christmas #65 - Anything Christmas Goes (4th entry)

Paper Funday #82 - Anything Goes with option Merry and Bright (4th entry)

For this one I decided to have a go at an OLC with my large bauble stencil on kraft card, as I have previously made a few kraft cards with my smaller bauble stencil. I created the bauble by blending Brilliance Moonlight White ink through the stencil, then stamped everything using Pinecone VFC apart from the background wording which I stamped using Portobello. I coloured the cabin with white Posca pen and Stickles, shaded the bauble with Portobello VFC, and coloured the sentiment with a Sakura Stardust pen to add sparkle.

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (medium), Stag/Deer set 1; Tracy Evans Boutique Design TE23 Winter Delights, TE22 Christmas Wishes; Lavinia Seasonal Words;

Media: Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Portobello); Brilliance ink  (Moonlight White); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Card-io stencil - Vintage Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite : Gold, Silver or Glitter (and why)

(I love a bit of glitter on Christmas cards as I think I’m addicted to sparkle!)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards 2025 - Day 29

Crafty Gals’ Corner #272 - ‘Tis the Season (3rd entry)

Daisy Chain #102 - Christmas/Winter (3rd entry)

Everybody Art #589 - Bling/Glitter (2nd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #196 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Krafty Chicks #796 - Masculine

Moving Along With the Times #183 - Winter Wonderland (4th entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Unicorn #115 - Christmas/Winter (3rd entry)

This one is another variation on some previous cards I made with a smaller bauble stencil. The method was very similar to card 2 except that I die cut a panel of kraft card to stamp on, then matted onto white pearlescent card and a kraft card blank. I also tried a different method of shadowing the bauble, using a brown Inktense pencil.

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (small); Tracy Evans Boutique Design TE23 Winter Delights, TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE18 Decorations;

Media: Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Portobello); Brilliance ink  (Moonlight White); Sakura Stardust pens (clear, red); Posca pen (white); Inktense pencil (Bark);

Tools: Tracy Evans Snippet Stencil SS6 Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps & More #506 - Make Your Mark  (3rd entry)

Christmas (or not) BINGO Challenge #16 - Use 3 items from BINGO card column (2nd entry)

(Column N: Christmas / Free / Masking & Stencilling)

Craft Rocket #131 - Christmas/Winter (3rd entry)

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (November) - Use a Stencil (3rd entry) - TOP 3

Fab ‘n’ Funky #626 - All That Glitters (2nd entry)

Heart’s Quest #20 - Anything With a Heart Goes

Word Art Wednesday #726/727 - Anything Goes (5th entry)

Well I think I can truly say I’m all baubled out now! I’ll be back soon with another little batch of Christmas cards - but no baubles or winter cabins in sight lol!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Bauble Lanterns

Hi everyone, today I would like to share another Christmas card featuring the gorgeous baubles from Lavinia’s latest collection - Faelight Chronicles. 

I cut a square of white stamping card, and stamped the baubles at various heights. I masked each one with masking sheet then created the background by blending Dark Denim and Della Blue Elements, darkened at the edges with Paris Dusk Memento ink. I spattered it with water and allowed to dry, then stamped the berry branch, holly and mini holly to frame the baubles, and coloured the berries with red Signo pen and Sakura Stardust pen. I removed the bauble masks and coloured them with Zig pens and watered down gold Posca pen, then stamped the bauble chains. I stamped the sentiment then added white Posca accents to the leaves and snow. Finally I edged the piece with blue marker pen and matted onto gold satin mirror card and a card blank.

Stamps: Lavinia Bauble Lantern, Glimmer Orbs, Berry Branch, Holly, Mini Holly, Christmas Greetings, Seasonal Words;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Dark Denim, Della Blue); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Rain Forest, Medieval Blue); Memento dye ink (Paris Dusk); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Posca pens (white, gold); Sakura Stardust pens (red, clear); Signo pen (red).

Challenges I would like to enter: 

12 Months of Christmas #128 - Anything Goes Christmas (3rd entry)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Stamps (2nd entry)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards 2025 - Day 26: W is for Water-activated Inks

Crafty Gals’ Corner #272 - ‘Tis the Season (2nd entry)

Creatalicious #295 - Anything Goes with option Christmas in Traditional Colours (2nd entry)

Dream Factory #145 - Anything Christmassy Goes (2nd entry)

Girlz Rebel #46 - Something Beginning With ‘B’ (3rd entry)

(Baubles)

Hand Stamped Sentiments #477 - Mood Board

(Red bauble)

Inkspirational #355 - Mood Board

(Red bauble and holly)

Merry Little Christmas #65 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Paper Funday #82 - Anything Goes with option Merry and Bright (3rd entry)

Rudolph Days (November) - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Masculine (2nd entry)

Unicorn #115 - Christmas/Winter (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #726/727 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

It’s the first frosty morning of the year here today, so Christmas is definitely on its way! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Simon Says (Monday) Guest Designer Week 4 - A Matching Set

Hi everyone,

It’s my 4th and final week as Guest Designer for the  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. I can’t believe that’s come around already - time really does fly when you are enjoying yourself!

This week the theme is

*** A Matching Set ***

So think card + matching envelope or tag, a set of cards or notelets, or maybe a set of ATC’s - the possibilities are endless!

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz  on the challenge blog post!  You can enter 5 times so that's 5 possible chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance - good luck everyone!

For my final guest spot, I really wanted to showcase Lavinia Stamps products, as they are my favourite brand based here in the UK and Simon Says Stamp is their major US stockist. In fact the lovely folks at Lavinia were delighted that I have this opportunity and want to showcase their products for SSS shoppers; so with that in mind I had a complete ‘pile on’ of their latest release of magical Christmas stamps along with a selection of their older stamps, inks and a couple of mask stencils!

Here's my project for this week (links to my supplies are below the description).

I decided to make a Christmas card with matching envelope. First, the card …

Firstly I cut a 7 1/4” square of white stamping card, so I would have plenty of space to develop my scene. I started by stamping Lavinia Wishing Post in the centre with the word ‘Christmas’ added from Mailbox Names, then stamped the Meadow Cottage and Woodland Cottages in the top left corner, applying paper masks as I went along. 

Next I placed an acetate hill mask to form the horizon and a circle mask for the moon, and created the sky by blending Lavinia Elements inks. With the masks still in place, I stamped a variety of Small Pine Trees behind the cottages using Rainforest Versafine Clair, and a Christmas Tree Group to the right, using Morning Mist VFC to give an impression of depth. I stamped The adorable mouse Pipspell, the little mouse from Tilly and Tango hanging from the post box, and Olivia the fairy looking on whilst holding the orb branch Everlight 2 - I masked off the dandelion clock that Olivia usually holds in her outstretched hand. I then stamped Starpine and Sugar Pine Cones in the top right corner using Shady Lane and Pinecone VFC and a mixture of 1st and 2nd generation stamping. 

I removed the masks and started to colour the scene - I used various shades of watered down Lavinia Elements and Vintage Photo Distress inks to colour the cottages, post box and pinecones, and Sakura Stardust pens to colour the orbs and fairy wings with a touch of gold Posca pen for the orb hangers. I blended some more Elements inks in Della Blue using a hill mask to form snowdrifts, and stamped/masked a couple of fallen Glimmer Orbs (baubles) which I also coloured with Sakura Stardust pens. 

To fill out the scene I stamped some Starpine and Winter Foliage around Olivia’s feet using Shady Lane and Rain Forest VFC, and a gate and fence using Acorn VFC with a little robin perched on top. I added white Posca snowfall to all the roofs, trees and foliage, and painted on Stickles glitter glue with a fine brush to add sparkle. When dry I matted the piece onto navy blue and pink card stock and an 8” square card blank.

To finish I stamped the sentiment onto separate card using Medieval Blue VFC, coloured with a clear Sakura Stardust pen, then cut out and attached. I cut out a teeny rectangle of white card to be an envelope, hand addressed it to Santa Claus at the North Pole, and attached it in the mouse’s paw. Finally I added some faux snow spatter with a white Posca pen.

Here’s the matching envelope.

I stamped several of the focal images from the card, moving the hanging pine cones and foliage over to the left so as not to cover where a stamp would go (though I don’t anticipate posting this card!). The main difference from the card is that I did not use any water-reactive media for colouring on the envelope - just Sakura pens and some permanent ink pencils.

Lastly, a couple of angled pictures to show the sparkle.

Here are links to what I used.

Stamps: all by Lavinia, including Wishing Post, Mailbox Names, Pipspell, Everlight 2, Glimmer Orbs, Starpine, Sugar Pine Cone, Winter Foliage, Olivia Small, Tilly and Tango, Meadow Cottage, Woodland Cottages, Gate and Fence, Small Pine Trees, Christmas Tree Group;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Della Blue, Dark Denim, Blue Lagoon, Pink Elephant, Green Parrot, Russet Orange, Violet Chalk, Truffle); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Rain Forest, Shady Lane, Avocado, Morning Mist, Pinecone, Acorn, Medieval Blue); Sakura Stardust Galaxy gel pens and Meteor gel pens (pink, turquoise, orange, yellow, purple);  Sakura Stardust Clear glitter pen; Posca pens (white, gold); Ranger Stickles glitter glue (Stardust);

Tools: Lavinia Acetate Hill Masks and Acetate Circle Masks.

Don’t forget to visit the challenge blog to see the amazing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

You have until Monday 8am Ohio time (EST), 1pm UK time (GMT), 2 pm CET to join in.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #128 - Anything Goes Christmas (2nd entry)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Stamps

ABC Christmas - W is for Wings  (2nd entry)

Addicted to Stamps & More #506 - Make Your Mark  (2nd entry)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards 2025 - Day 24 

Christmas (or not) BINGO Challenge #16 - Use 3 items from BINGO card column

(Column N: Christmas / Free / Masking & Stencilling)

Country View FB Challenge (November) - Use Glitter

C.RA.F.T. #768 - Christmas

Craft Rocket #131 - Christmas/Winter (2nd entry)

Crafty Animals #100 - Include an Animal (2nd entry)

Daisy Chain #102 - Christmas/Winter (2nd entry)

Dragonfly Dreams (November) - Feminine (3rd entry)

Everybody Art #589 - Bling/Glitter

Fab ‘n’ Funky #626 - All That Glitters

Girlz Creative Christmas #152 - Use an Image

Heart’s Quest Celebrations of Love #11 2025 - Christmas

Heart’s Quest Fantasy #11 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy (2nd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #196 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (November) - Snow Flurry (2nd entry)

Moving Along With the Times #183 - Winter Wonderland (3rd entry)

Outlawz Festive Friday (November) - Christmas (3rd entry)

Outlawz Monthly Challenges (November) - Projects entered into Outlawz Challenges

Peace On Earth #100 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Get Ready for Christmas (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #726/727 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

 

I think this project must have taken me about 9 hours in total as I was being so careful not to mess it up, but I must admit I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

So that’s all from me in the Simon Says (Monday) designer spotlight this time. I’d just like to say a huge thanks to Lols and all at  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for the opportunity.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

CAS Traditional Christmas

Hi everyone, today I would like to share a quick traditional Christmas card. As I mentioned I previous post I very recently acquired a couple of new sets of Craft Addictions UK dies - one of them is the wavy double stitch squares, which I absolutely adore and think is going to be incredibly useful. I die cut one out to have a look at, and immediately thought of making a CAS holly wreath - here it is.

I die cut my wavy stitched square, and created a circle by softly blending Pine Elements ink around a circle mask. I then stamped Lavinia holly to make a wreath, interspersed with 2nd generation Mini Holly and then added Mini berries. I coloured the berries with red Signo pen topped with red Sakura Stardust pen, then added fine white Posca highlights to the leaves. I stamped a Uniko sentiment inside the wreath, then matted the finished panel onto a 6” square card blank - job done! 

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Stamps: Lavinia Holly, Mini Holly, Mini Berries; Uniko Christmas Wishes;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Pine); Versafine Clair (Rainforest, Strawberry, Nocturne); Signo pen (red); Sakura Stardust pen (red); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Craft Addictions UK Wavy Double Stitch Square dies; Lavinia acetate circle mask.

Challenges I would like to enter: 

ABC Christmas - X is for X-Stitch (or any stitching)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards 2025 - Day 21: CASE Yourself

(My holly and berry wreath is along the same lines as a previous card here)

Crafty Gals’ Corner #272 - ‘Tis the Season

Creatalicious #295 - Anything Goes with option Christmas in Traditional Colours

The Holly and Ivy #196 - Anything Christmas Goes

Krafty Chicks #795 - CAS

Outlawz Twisted Thursdays (November) - All About Words (3rd entry)

Paper Funday #82 - Anything Goes with option Merry and Bright (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Masculine

Simply Clean and Simple (November) - Holidays/Winter (2nd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Get Ready For Christmas (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #726/727 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

The Christmas card pile is gradually getting bigger now, though I can feel a few batch makes coming on! 

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,