Rudolph Days - October Guest Designer

Hi everyone, it’s the 25th of the month again which means it’s time for a new Rudolph Days Challenge - a monthly week long challenge where Anything Christmas Goes to encourage us to get ahead with our Christmas makes. 

I’m thrilled to be a guest designer this month, and it gave me opportunity to play with some more of my new goodies from the Port Sunlight craft fair.

Here’s my card for the challenge.

One of the stalls I visited at Port Sunlight was Card-io, where I was transfixed by the sample Christmas cards with multi coloured Aurora skies, and I watched a really great demo. Despite already having plenty of coloured inks I was tempted to buy some teeny cube Versacolor ink pads so I could try to replicate a similar effect using a couple of my new Inkylicious and Card-io stamps and stencils along with a few existing stamps.

I cut a 6” square of white stamping card and placed my stencil for positioning, then stamped the focal log cabin in the centre and extended the scene on one side with a Card-io small tree. I masked the cabin and the bottom half of the bauble, then created the sky by blending Versacolor inks with a dry wipe - a new technique for me! I also blended a little round the bottom edges of the stencil to define the bauble shape, blended silver ink through the top of the stencil for the hanger, then outlined the bauble first with a fine white Posca then with a sparkly Stardust pen. I have to confess this stencil is a bit big - I thought it would fit a standard 6” square card but it’s actually a tight fit, so I ended up making a 7” card.

 I blended a couple of inky snowdrifts then coloured the cabin roof, fence and trees with white Posca pen. I added a couple of teeny stamped deer to the scene, then framed it with multiple 1st/2nd generation stamping of a gorgeous new branch stamp I acquired called ‘Cherry Blossom’, and a few 2nd generation snowflakes. I added some shadow to the bauble with Memento ink, stamped the sentiment and matted onto a blue border and card blank before finally adding a liberal helping of Stickles for sparkle!

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (medium), Stag/Deer set 1; Card-io Oriental Blossom, Pine Forest; Visible Image Let It Snow; Uniko Christmas Wishes;

Media:  Versafine Clair (Morning Mist, Arctic, Blue Belle); Versacolor (Atlantic, Peony, Canary, Green Tea); Memento (Paris Dusk); Brilliance ink (Platinum planet); 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 #127 - Anything Goes Christmas with option Snowfall (4th entry)

Christmas Kickstart #103 - Snow Alert! (3rd entry)

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils are our Game (October) - Use a Stencil (2nd entry)

FarmQuest Country Christmas #25 - Anything Country Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

FarmQuest General Store #33 - Anything Farm and/or Country Goes (3rd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #194 - Anything Christmas Goes (3rd entry)

Jingle Belles - Dashing Through the Snow

NBUS #79 - Use Your Never-Before-Used Schtuff

(The bauble stencil, all stamps used inside the bauble, trailing branches, and ink pads used to colour the sky)

Sparkles Christmas #177 - Non-traditional Christmas Colours (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #722723 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Please do pop over to the main challenge blog for more inspiration and to link up your entries.

I’d like to thank Helen for asking me to be a guest designer this month. 

Take care and thanks for visiting - and Happy Rudolph Day!

Hugs,

Getting Krafty

Hi everyone, well I enjoyed making my kraft Christmas card so much yesterday morning, that later on in the afternoon I sat down and made a little batch of 3 - similar but each one a bit different. Although I won’t be posting any more of these after today, I can foresee making quite a few more in a similar design.

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

I cut a 13.5cm square of kraft card, and created the bauble by blending Brilliant Moonlight white ink inside the bauble stencil, then edging with a fine white Posca pen. I stamped the cabin using Pinecone VFC then coloured it with a white Posca pen, adding a few more snowdrifts inside the bauble and some faux snow spatter. I masked the bauble and added a shadow with Pinecone VFC, then added various background stamping to each card using a mixture of Pinecone and Portobello.  I stamped the sentiments in Pinecone onto separate snippets of white card,cut out and attached. I edged the finished panels  with brown marker pen then matted each one onto a white pearlescent card border and a kraft card blank. Finally I added some Stickles for sparkle.

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (small), Stag/Deer set 1 (card 1); Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE11 Background Elements (cards 2 & 3), TE18 Decorations, TE21 Holly and Berries (1), TE22 Christmas Wishes (1 & 3), TE23 Winter Delights (1); AALL & Create #806 Fallen Leaves (2); Card-io Cherry Blossom (3);

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

Tools: Tracy Evans snippet Stencil SS6 Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Card 1

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays (October 2025) - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

FarmQuest Country Christmas #25 - Anything Country Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #722/723 - Anything Goes

Card 2

Crafter’s Cafe #324 - Anything Goes with option Christmas (2nd entry) 

DL.Art Thankful Thursday #382 - Anything Goes

FarmQuest General Store #33 - Anything Farm and/or Country Goes (2nd entry)

The Holly and Ivy #194 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Night Owls #54 - Neutral Colours + 1 Colour of Your Choice

 Card 3

Christmas Kickstart #103 - Snow Alert! (2nd entry)

Peace on Earth #98 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Sparkles Christmas #177 - Non-traditional Christmas Colours (2nd entry)

That’s all for now.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Winter Cabin

Hi everyone, I had a trip on Saturday to the Stamperama craft fair at Port Sunlight, where a few things fell into my basket as I wandered around the various stalls filled with crafting delights. Here is my first share, using one of several Inkylicious stamps I purchased on the day, paired with some of my existing Tracy Evans stamp and stencil.

I cut a 13.5cm square of kraft card, and created the bauble by blending Brilliant Moonlight white ink inside the bauble stencil, then edging with a fine white Posca pen. I stamped the cabin using Pinecone VFC then coloured it with a white Posca pen, adding a few more snowdrifts inside the bauble and some faux snow spatter. I masked the bauble and added a shadow with Pinecone VFC, then stamped background text with Portobello. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto a snippet of brown card, cut out and attached. I edged the finished piece with brown marker pen then matted onto a white pearlescent card border and a kraft card blank. Finally I added some Stickles for sparkle, which unfortunately doesn’t show up at all in the photo.

Edited: I realised after I had published this and linked it up everywhere that I had forgotten to draw a bauble string - doh! So here’s a pic with a string!

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

Media: Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Portobello); Brilliance ink (Moonlight White); Versamark; WOW Opaque White ultra fine embossing powder; Posca pen (white);

Tools: Tracy Evans snippet Stencil SS6 Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #127 - Anything Goes Christmas with option Snowfall (3rd entry)

BYSHC Falling for the Holidays (October 2025) - Anything Christmas Goes

Christmas Kickstart #103 - Snow Alert!

Crafter’s Cafe #324 - Anything Goes with option Christmas

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (October) - Use a Stencil

FarmQuest Country Christmas #25 - Anything Country Christmas Goes

FarmQuest General Store #33 - Anything Farm and/or Country Goes

Girlz & the Art of Letters #12 - L is for …

(Log cabin)

The Holly and Ivy #194 - Anything Christmas Goes

Inkspirational #352 - Seasonal (3rd entry)

Path of Positivity #134 - Anything Goes Positive with option Unexpected Colours for a Holiday 

(My teeny background text is about the beauty of winter)

Peace on Earth #98 - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Get Ready For Christmas

Sparkles Christmas #177 - Non-traditional Christmas Colours

I bought a couple of these cabin stamps and another larger bauble stencil, so I dare say there will be a few variations on this theme coming along in the near future!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

The Witching Hour 🦇

Hi everyone, well here we go again - having just finished the last page of my 2025 Lavinia calendar I’ve dived straight in and made a start on my 2026 one! Similarly to last year I’ve started with the month we are currently in, so I can make a scene that will be topical for current challenges. I mentioned in a previous post that I was very lucky recently to win a challenge over at Country View Crafts FB page, so I chose the blank calendar as part of my winnings. However I also selected a new witch stamp (Faba) and the spooky Hill House, with the primary objective of being able to make a Hallowe’en calendar page that is different from what I made for this year. Here it is.

…and a closeup view.

I cut a piece of stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm (I’m still not stamping directly onto the calendar page!) and started by stamping and masking the moon, then created the sky with blended Elements and Distress inks. I created some landscaping using a Mini Hill mask and blended Nocturne VFC, then stamped Faba, Hill House and the Fairy Path (which I masked then later coloured with Zig pens), then added more landscaping to ground the house. I stamped the Pixie Lanterns then coloured them plus Faba’s dress and the house windows with Wink of Stella coloured pens. I used Berry Branch stamp to create a fork of lightning over the house using Versamark embossed white, and coloured with white Posca pen (thanks to Jo Rice for this idea!). I then added some background wording, and foreground foliage. I stamped a couple of small dwellings on the left to balance things up, a large owl in flight over the moon and a few bats flitting around the house. Finally I added white Posca highlights and lots of sparkle to the moon with my Spectrum Noir sparkle pen. After I’d finished I decided it needed something else, so I added a tree on the right. I then realised that meant I had used 13 stamps on this project - spooky! 

This really is an uber sparkly project, so here is an angled pic.

Stamps: Lavinia Faba, Hill House, Fairy Path, Small Dwellings, Pixie Lanterns, Spring Trees, Berry Branch, Brodwin and Maylin, Moon, Field Grass, Bats, Slender Mushrooms Mini, Witching Hour;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Dark Denim); Tim Holtz Distress inks (Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight, Morning Mist); Versamark; WOW Opaque Bright White ultra fine embossing powder; Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Wink of Stella pens (blue, gold); Sakura Stardust pen (yellow); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Alphabet Challenge - N is for Night

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (October) - Heavenly Bodies (3rd entry)

C.R.A.F.T. #766 - Hallowe’en

Craft Rocket #130 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

Crafty Calendar (October) - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Crafty Gals #271 - Fill in the Blank - Spooky … (2nd entry)

(House on the hill)

Creatalicious #294 - Anything Goes with option Fall Colours or Hallowe’en

Creative Crafting Uncles #70 - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Creative Inspirations (October) - Autumn/Something Spooky! (2nd entry)

Creative Moments #275 - Things With Wings

Daisy Chain #101 - Autumn and/or Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

DL.Art Thankful Thursday #381 - Anything Goes with option Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Dream Factory #144 - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Hand Stamped Sentiments #474 - Inspiration Photo

(I was inspired by the spooky house)

Heart’s Quest Fantasy Challenge #10 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy (2nd entry)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #209 - Spooky Fun (2nd entry)

Inkspirational #352 - Seasonal (2nd entry)

Lavinia Creative Challenge (October) - All Hallows’ Eve (2nd entry)

LeighSB Designs Hallowe’en Blog Hop 2025 - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (October) - Anything but a Card (2nd entry)

Outlawz Festive Friday (October) - Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

Paper Funday #81 - Anything Goes with option Cute or Creepy (2nd entry)

Papercraft #123 - Spooky Delights

Shopping Our Stash #558 - Hey Ghoulfriend (Hallowe’en) (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Add Some Text

Two Old Bats Hallowe’en Challenge (October) - Anything Goes Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Unicorn #114 - Autumn and/or Hallowe’en (3rd entry)

I don’t generally do Hallowe’en, but that’s 2 Hallowe’en themed projects in a row - I think that’s me all spooked out now!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

I Spy With My Little Eye #31

Hi everyone, October is flying by, it’s the third Wednesday of the month and it’s time once more for another I Spy With My Little Eye... challenge over at Ellibelle's Corner. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last time - please do check over on Ellie’s blog to see if you are one of our top picks. 

I chose the challenge theme this month, and it is

I Spy With My Little Eye 

*** Something Spooky ***

We look forward to seeing your Hallowe’en and other scary makes!   Please don’t forget to pop over to Ellie's blog to see her fab creation and link up your entries here.

Here’s my card for the challenge.

I die cut a square of stamping card using AALL & Create Papyrus Essence die set, and created a background by blending Green Parrot, Flying Fig and Violet Chalk Elements inks onto it. I stamped the moon using 2nd generation Monarch VFC, then stamped Hattie the witch using Nocturne. I added some grounding landscape using blended Nocturne VFC with torn paper, then stamped the cauldron and rising mist. I stamped Textures 2 around the edges to create depth, then added some 1st and 2nd generation foliage. I coloured Hattie’s dress and the mist with purple Sakura Stardust pen to add some sparkle, and also added sparkle to the moon with Spectrum Noir sparkle pen; then I decided it needed something more so added the spooky house. I stamped some bats flying in the sky, and added white Posca highlights to the various elements. Finally I stamped, cut up and attached the sentiment, and matted onto black cardstock also die cut with the same set. Idiot that I am, I couldn’t leave it alone, and decided last minute to add the mini cat. He turned into a bit of a blob, so I did my best to define him with white Posca outlining - not ideal but it is what is now! When will I ever learn, eh?

Here’s an angled picture to show the sparkle.

Stamps: Lavinia Hattie, Hill House, Willow the Witch (cauldron), Magical Mist, Moon, Texture 2, Dill, Bats, Mini Jinx, Believe In Magic;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Green Parrot, Flying Fig, Violet Chalk); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Monarch); Sakura Stardust pens (purple, yellow); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white);

Tools: AALL & Create dies Papyrus Essence.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Cardz 4 Galz #260 - Purple and Green

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (October) - Heavenly Bodies (2nd entry)

Craft Rocket #130 - Autumn/Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Crafty Calendar (October) - Hallowe’en

Crafty Gals #271 - Fill in the Blank - Spooky …

(Hallowe’en nights)

Creative Crafting Uncles #70 - Hallowe’en 

Creative Inspirations (October) - Autumn/Something Spooky! 

Daisy Chain #101 - Autumn and/or Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Die Cut Divas (October) - Anything Goes with a die

DL.Art Thankful Thursday #381 - Anything Goes with option Hallowe’en

Double D - Hallowe’en Colours

Dream Factory #144 - Hallowe’en

Four Seasons (October) - Anything Goes Fall (2nd entry)

Heart’s Quest Fantasy Challenge #10 2025 - Anything Goes Fantasy

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #209 - Spooky Fun

Inkspirational #352 - Seasonal

Lavinia Creative Challenge (October) - All Hallows’ Eve

LeighSB Designs Hallowe’en Blog Hop 2025 - Hallowe’en

Outlawz Festive Friday (October) - Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

Paper Funday #81 - Anything Goes with option Cute or Creepy

Shopping Our Stash #558 - Hey Ghoulfriend (Hallowe’en)

Sweet Stampin’ - Inspired by a Book/Song/Film

(Hocus Pocus)

Two Old Bats Hallowe’en Challenge (October) - Anything Goes Hallowe’en

Unicorn #114 - Autumn and/or Hallowe’en (2nd entry)

The I Spy Challenge will end on the Sunday before the next challenge starts at 23:59 US Central Time - so this time that is Sunday November 16th, and the next challenge will begin on Wednesday November 19th.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Gorgeous Gus 🦉

Hi everyone, I’m feeling really excited today, as I have finally completed the last outstanding page on my Lavinia 2025 calendar - November. As regular visitors to my blog will know, I started work on this calendar in October last year, and by the time the New Year rolled round I had completed 5 of the 12 pages, though not in order (I completed them as the fancy took me!) Anyway I have been gradually tackling the rest since then, and at last it is finished!

I wanted to make a late autumnal scene: originally I intended to do a stag in an autumnal forest but somehow I just couldn’t visualise it, so I decided to make a scene instead featuring Gus the gorgeous owl, partly because my husband loves owls - so here it is.

I cut a piece of card 19.5cm x 14.5cm and stamped Gus, then masked his feet and stamped the vine branch. I masked both owl and tree and also used a circle mask, then blended Sahara and Russet Orange Elements inks over the background. I removed the masks then coloured Gus and the branch with Zig pens. I stamped some background autumn wording over the sun, cedar branches hanging in the top corner, toadstools in the bottom right corner and fallen leaves, which I also coloured with my Zigs. I added a little bird sitting on the branch then added white Posca highlights and edged the whole scene with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to add some depth, before attaching the finished panel onto my calendar page. Finally I decided to take a chance and add some Glossy Accents to Gus’s eyes, as my Glossy Accents has weirdly gone a bit discoloured - luckily he didn’t end up looking like he’d got cataracts!

Stamps: Lavinia Gus, Vine Branch, Elfin Cap Cluster, Cedar, Oak Leaf Flourish, Bird Collection, Slender Mushrooms Mini, Winter Spice;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Sahara, Russet Orange); Tim Holtz Distress ink (Vintage Photo); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Sand Dune); Kuretake Zig Clean Color Watercolour pens; Sakura Stardust pen (yellow); Posca pen (white); Glossy Accents. 

Challenges I would like to enter:

Classic Design Challenge #9 2025 - Anything Goes with option Trees and/or Leaves (3rd entry)

Country View Crafts FB Challenge (October) - Heavenly Bodies

Craft Rocket #130 - Autumn/Hallowe’en

Crafty Catz #702 - Anything Goes 

Creative Moments #275 - Things With Wings

Daisy Chain #101 - Autumn and/or Hallowe’en

Fab ‘n’ Funky #623 - Colours of Autumn

Four Seasons (October) - Anything Goes Fall

Girlz Rebel #45 - Mushrooms

Let’s Craft and Create #224 - Things With Wings 

Love to Craft #88 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Love to Scrap #175 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Mix It Up #79 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Outlawz Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone (October) - Anything but a Card

Papercraft #122 - Amazing Autumn (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Bright and Colourful

Sisterhood of Crafters - Anything Fall

Triple B (October) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms

Unicorn #114 - Autumn and/or Hallowe’en 

Word Art Wednesday #720/721 - Anything Goes

Now that I have finally completed this mega project, I thought I’d like to have a little recap of the whole calendar in date (rather than creation) order - if you click on the links they will take you to my original posts with full details of how I made each page. 

January

February

March

April

May

 June

July

August

September

October

November (this post)

December

This has been the biggest crafting project I have ever done by a country mile - I reckon over the year it has probably taken 40+ hours. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, though I thought after all that effort I couldn’t commit to doing it again for 2026.  However I was lucky enough to win a challenge prize from Country View Crafts, so guess what I picked?? I just couldn’t help myself, and my 2026 calendar dropped through the letterbox on Monday! cycle begins again ….

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,