A Matching Set

Hi everyone, as regular visitors to my blog will know, I have made a number of Christmas cards this year featuring variations on a design using a stencilled bauble and stamped winter cabin.  One of the stencils I have been using is by Card-io, and I mentioned previously that it is really big! That being the case I decided to use it for an 8” square card - a larger card for my husband’s aunt who is his closest family member. I also rang the changes by colouring the sky with Elements inks - here it is.

I cut a 6 3/4” square of stamping card, positioned the bauble stencil, then stamped the winter cabin in the centre, and stamped a couple of additional small trees to fill out the scene. I masked the cabin and created the sky and bauble shape by blending Lavinia Elements inks and Memento ink through the bauble stencil, with torn paper to mask the snow line. I removed the masks and coloured the cabin and added accents to the fence and trees with white Posca pen, I also smudged some Posca pen above the chimney to create smoke. I stamped the stag in the corner and two teeny deer, and created snowdrifts inside the bauble by blending more Elements ink with torn paper. I stamped background foliage and wording using a mixture of Twilight and Morning Mist VFC, and coloured the foliage berries with a pink Wink of Stella pen. I outlined the bauble with Sakura Stardust pen to add sparkle, added Stickles to the cabin roof and snowdrifts, and created faux snow spatter with my Posca pen. Finally I stamped the sentiment, then matted onto a dark blue card border and 8” square card blank.

Here’s an angled pic to show the sparkle.

As this was for a family member I also decorated the envelope to match.

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (medium), Winter Cabin (small) - on envelope, Stag/Deer set 1; Card-io Pine Forest; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE23 Winter Delights; AALL & Create #806 Fallen Leaves; Uniko Christmas Wishes;

Media: Lavinia Elements inks (Pink Elephant, Della Blue, Dark Denim); Memento ink (Paris Dusk); Versafine Clair (Twilight, Nocturne, Morning Mist, Medieval Blue); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Wink of Stella (pink); Posca pen (white); Stickles (Stardust);

Tools: Card-io stencil Vintage Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Pick a Previous Theme Challenge - WINNER

(I picked December - Winter Scene)

Addicted to Stamps and More #507 - Christmas (3rd entry)

Craftlandia #25 - Snowflakes

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

Creatalicious #296 - Anything Goes with option Winter Animals - TOP 3

Creative Crafting Uncles #72 - Christmas and/or Happy New Year (2nd entry)

FarmQuest Country Christmas #27 - Anything Country Christmas Goes

FarmQuest General Store #35 - Anything Farm and/or Country Goes

Inkspirational #357 - Cold - TOP PICK

Little Red Wagon #838 - Christmas Card (2nd entry)

Papercraft Challenges #125 - Festive Sparkle (2nd entry)

Peace On Earth #102 - Anything Christmas Goes

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

Sweet Stampin’ - It’s Christmas! (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #730/733 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Christmas is now nearly upon us … I just have my husband’s card left to make, as I always make it just a couple of days before the big day! I’ve gotten quite behind with my Christmas preparations generally this year, as I have not been too well and suffered quite a bit of pain over the past 4 or 5 weeks which somewhat put me off my stride. However I’ve finally managed to catch up on my housework and got the tree up, so things are finally falling into place.

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) - TOP 5 

Just Us Girls #803 - Anything Goes + a Stencil - SHOUT OUT

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 - TOP PICK

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) - HONOURABLE ADDICT

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 - TOP PICK

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,

Cabin Fever!

Hi everyone, I’m still playing with all sorts of Christmas combos using my recently acquired Christmas stamps, stencil and inks - here are a couple of cards I made with my winter cabins.

I blended Morning Mist VFC around a circle mask, then stamped a twiggy wreath in 1st and second generation Nocturne. I stamped the cabin scene in Morning Mist, masked, then created the sky using blended Versacolor inks I added some inky snowdrifts and a wee faun to the foreground, then added Posca highlights and snow, and Stickles and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen for sparkle. I stamped the sentiment then edged the finished piece in black and matted onto silver mirror card and a card blank.

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (small), Stag/Deer set 1; Card-io Oriental Blossom;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Blue Belle); Versacolor (Atlantic, Peony, Canary, Green Tea); Posca pen (white); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Stickles (Stardust).

Challenges I would like to enter:

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards 2025 - Day 7: F is for Fir Trees

C.R.A.F.T. #767 - Christmas (2nd entry)

Craft Rocket #131 - Christmas/Winter

Creative Artiste #121 - Anything Mixed Media Goes

Creative Inspirations (November) - Wrapped Up in Winter

Creative Moments #276 - Add Some Sparkle

FarmQuest Country Christmas #26 - Anything Farm or Country Christmas Goes

FarmQuest General Store #34 - Anything Farm or Country Goes

The Holly and Ivy #195 - Anything Christmas Goes

Just Us Girls #800 - Anything Goes

Merry Little Christmas #65 - Anything Christmas Goes

Mix It Up #80 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Moving Along with the Times #183 - Winter Wonderland (2nd entry)

Paper Funday #82 - Anything Goes with option Merry and Bright

Peace On Earth #99 - Anything Christmas Goes

My second card today is a simple one layer card which features the larger cabin inside a bauble, but this time I tried a different colouring technique for the sky.

I created a card blank suitable for stamping onto directly by simply scoring a 30cm x 15cm piece of Pink Frog super smooth card. I stamped the cabin using Morning Mist VFC and extended the scene with a few small Card-io trees, then masked the cabin and snow line, and created the sky by blending Distress Oxide inks and Memento, working outwards from light to dark. I also blended ink to define the bottom of the bauble and created snowdrifts with torn paper. I painted the cabin roof and added accents to the scene plus snowfall with white Posca pen, then outlined the bauble with a Sakura Stardust pen. I stamped the pine branches and sentiment, then added Stickles and Spectrum Noir sparkle pen for sparkle. This card is much sparklier than the picture suggests! 

Stamps: Inkylicious Winter Cabin (medium), Stag/Deer set 1; Card-io Small Pine Trees; AALL & Create #806 Fallen Leaves; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE18 Decorations;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist); Memento (Paris Dusk); Posca pen (white); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Stickles (Stardust);

Tools: Card-io stencil - Vintage Bauble.

 

Challenges I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas (October) - U is for Uncluttered (2nd entry)

Addicted to Stamps and More #505 - Diecuts and/or Stencils - TOP ADDICT

Aud Sentiments #331 - Glitter and/or Christmas plus a sentiment

Crafter’s Cafe #324 - Anything Goes with option Christmas (4th entry) - TOP 3

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils are our Game (November) - Use a Stencil

Daisy Chain #102 - Christmas/Winter

Fab ‘n’ Funky #625 - Clean and Simple

Girlz Creative Christmas #149 - Anything Christmas Goes

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

Outlawz Festive Friday (November) - Christmas

Outlawz Monthly (November) - Project entered into Outlawz challenges

Simply Clean & Simple (November) - Holidays/Winter

Tic Tac Toe #283 - Tic Tac Toe

(Ornament / Free / Snow)

Unicorn #115 - Christmas/Winter

That’s all for today. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

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) - TOP PICK

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)  - TOP 3

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) - TOP 5

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,

Pine Forest Bauble 🌲

Hi everyone, yesterday afternoon I managed to my first crafting session in three weeks, as I have been completely preoccupied with booking, taking, and sorting myself out after, a last minute holiday. Having never even heard of it until a few weeks ago, we booked a getaway in Pula in Croatia after seeing it feature in a programme on TV. I’ll include a few holiday pics at the end of this post , but first … a card!

Today’s card is closely based on a YouTube tutorial by Heidi the Yorkshire Crafter, but as usual with a few adjustments and twists of my own. The basic premise was an ink blended night sky and tree scene in a bauble using Tracy Evans stamps and stencils. I used an elliptical rather than round bauble stencil (as that’s all I’ve got!) so I changed the card shape from rectangular to square, and as I didn’t have the exact tree by Tracy I substituted with several pine trees by Card-io. My ink colours were similar but not quite the same, and I added a little background stamping around the bauble, primarily to cover a faint smudge on the white card! 🤣

I cut a stitched square of white stamping card from a mid sized snippet, and taped down my bauble stencil and a hill mask. I then blended various shades of blue Distress Oxide to form the sky working outwards from light to dark, and lightly inked in the snowdrift. I then added some blended Twilight VFC at the edges of the sky to make it pop, and lightly blended my palest shade around the bottom edge of the bauble to define it. With the hill mask in place I stamped a few small background trees in 1st and 2nd generation VFC, then added a foreground tree using Twilight. I stamped the teeny mouse from Tracy Evans set TE?? in Nocturne, then grounded the mouse and tree and added a couple more snowdrifts using torn paper and blended Twilight VFC. I added a shadow effect around the bauble by placing the stencil inner on top of the bauble and lightly blending Black Soot DOX around it. 

In her tutorial Heidi created a silver glitter card bauble top by drawing round the stencil and cutting out - but me and craft knives don’t really mix, so I coloured the bauble top with silver Posca pen and blue fine liners, and drew a bauble string. I added some Posca snow to the trees and spatter to the scene, then when dry I stamped the sentiment and a couple of Christmas numbers  in 2nd generation, which I also decorated with Posca snow. I matted the finished piece onto a border of charcoal glitter card (my last large snippet!) and onto a 6” square card blank. 

Stamps: Card-io Pine Forest; Tracy Evans Boutique Designs TE22 Christmas Wishes, TE32 Alpha Florals;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight, Morning Mist); Posca pen (white);

Tools: Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched square die; Tracy Evans Snippet Stencil SS006 Bauble.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #126 - Anything Christmas Goes

ABC Christmas - T is for Trees

Addicted to Stamps & More #502 - Christmas

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (September) - Use a Stencil (2nd entry) - WINNER

Creative Moments #274 - Trees

The Holly and Ivy #192 - Anything Christmas Goes - WINNER

Merry Little Christmas #64 - Anything Christmas Goes - TOP PICK

Peace On Earth #96 - Anything Christmas Goes

Rudolph Days (September) - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground #515 - Use Snippets

As mentioned above, we got back at the end of last week from a last minute holiday to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so my previous couple of posts were scheduled while we were away. We had 10 days in Croatia, staying in Pula which is primarily noted for its Roman ruins including an amphitheatre which is fundamentally a smaller version of the Colosseum, and a 2000 year old Roman temple. It was really interesting to see the monuments, and we also had a lovely day trip to the pretty coastal resort of Rovinj plus a visit to  Pula’s amazing Aquarium and turtle rescue centre. We were a bit concerned just before we went by the weather forecast which predicted 4 days of rain, but in the event it only rained for one afternoon and evening - phew!

Here are a few pics from our break.

View from hotel balcony

Pula amphitheatre

Roman arch

Temple of Augustus

Roman Temple and medieval Town Hall

Pula by night

Rovinj

Having had a few days of running around madly getting ready after our last minute booking, and a few days of the obligatory washing and ironing after our return, things are finally settling back down to normal so I guess it’s now time to really start gearing up with the Christmas makes - happy Rudolph Day!

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,