52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Guest Designer ☃️

Hi everyone, I was delighted to be invited to do a guest designer spot for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge - I’m always behind with my Christmas makes so it is great to have a reason to get busy at the start of the year.

The 4th Saturday of January is a technique challenge, and this time it is

*** Easel Card***

There is lots of inspiration from the Design Team over on the challenge blog, so please do pop over to have a look and link up your entries here.

I hadn’t made an easel card for a very long time, so I decided to throw myself right into it and really ‘go retro’ with old and neglected stamps, designer papers, dies and even an embossing folder! Here it is. 

I created a 6” square easel base card using two pieces of Pink Frog 30cm x 15cm super smooth card, then cut 2 large stitched squares of snowflake designer paper and attached them to the base and the standing up part of the card base. I cut two rectangles of white card, embossed with a snowflake embossing folder, then lightly shaded with a pink/lilac ink. I attached 2 layers of ribbon to the wider embossed panel, matted onto silver glitter card and attached to the front of the card; then I wrapped one layer of ribbon round the narrower embossed panel,  matted onto silver glitter card as above, attached a sentiment panel heat embossed onto a die cut rectangle, and also attached a die cut snowflake border. This finished panel was attached to the card base to form a ledge to prop up the easel.

I die cut a smaller stitched square of stamping card, stamped the focal image and coloured using Zig pens and Spectrum sparkle pen with white Posca accents, then matted and attached to the card front with foam tape. I finished off by attaching a variety of die cut snowflakes in silver and white.

Stamps: LotV James and Snowman; Uniko Christmas Sentiments;

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne); Spectrum Nir Harmony dye ink (Pale Fig); Kuretake Zig Clean Color watercolour pens; Versamark; WOW Opaque White ultra fine embossing powder; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white);

Papers: LotV Frozen Snowflakes; Pink Frog silver glitter card;

Tools: Hunky Dory Duo- Stitched square and rectangle dies; Memory Box Frostyville Border; various snowflake dies including Joy! crafts Winter Wishes, Whimsy Stamps Winter Jewel 1; Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #130 - Anything Goes Christmas with option Snow People

ABC Christmas - A and B are for …

(B is for blue, bear)

Alphabet Challenge - T is for Texture

As You Like It - Favourite Occasion (and why) - WINNER

(It just has to be Christmas … I love making Christmas cards!)

Can You Handle the Pressure? - Anything Goes with an embossing folder

Christmas Crafts All Year Round (January) - A and B

(B is for blue, bear)

C.R.A.F.T. #772 - Christmas

Crafty Animals #101 - Use an Animal

Crafty Gals’ Corner #273 - Anything Goes with option Snowman - TOP 3

Creative Aunts #109 - Snowmen and Glitter

Creative Creases #111 - Use a Fun Fold

Daisy Chain #103 - Use Dies

Four Seasons (January) - Winter (3rd entry)

Love Those Pretty Papers (January) - Anything Goes with paper + option Snowman

Make My Monday #269 - Use Paper with Pattern

Merry Little Christmas #66 - Anything Christmas Goes

Moving Along With the Times #185 - Use Stencils and/or Dies (2nd entry)

Neglected Stuff (January) - Use Your Neglected Stash

(Pretty much EVERYTHING on this card is neglected stash!)

Outlawz Christmas (January) - Anything Christmas Goes - TOP 3

Peace On Earth #104 - Anything Goes Christmas with optional Mood Board - TOP 3

Pearly Sparkles #115 - Use Patterned Paper

{PIN}spirational #333 - Blue and Purple

 

Sparkles #196 - Snowflakes - SPOTLIGHT WINNER

Word Art Wednesday #736/737 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

I’d like to thank Andreja and the Design Team over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown for inviting me to be a guest designer this time.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

C.R.A.F.T. #699 G.D.T. - Christmas Present

Hi everyone, it’s Thursday so it's time for a new C.R.A.F.T. Challenge  and my fourth GDT card for November. This week's challenge is 

*** Christmas Present ***

This week’s fabulous sponsor for the Challenge is 

The Paper Shelter

The prize is 3 images from their shop.

Here is my GDT card for this week.

When I sat down to make this card I discovered that I don’t own many stamps with images of Christmas presents and some of those I do would be beyond my current confidence level for colouring. I decided to turn to an old LotV stamp of James the Bear .. he is so adorable and always fun to colour, and this also gave me the opportunity to play with some gorgeous old designer papers which rarely see the light of day nowadays.

I stamped the image with Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers, with a little Spectrum Noir sparkle pen on the fur of James’s hat. I die cut my image using a stitched notch square die plus a matching larger die cut in lilac linen card stock and matted them, then cut a panel of pearlescent white card and dry embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. I cut a square of designer paper and matted the embossed panel and image onto it, with sparkly lilac twine wrapped round the centre. I die cut some snowflakes in white pearl and silver mirri card, attached them and added a gem to each centre. Finally I stamped the sentiment in blue using an fab sentiment set I was lucky enough to win over at Snippets Playground, and matted the finished piece onto lilac card stock and my card blank.

Stamps: LotV James Snowman; Woodware Christmas Sparkle (sentiment);

Media: Promarkers, Memento ink (black); Versafine Clair (Medieval Blue); Spectrum Noir sparkle pen (clear); Posca pen (white);

Papers: LotV - Frozen Snowflakes;

Tools: Joy! Crafts "Winter Wishes" dies (snowflakes); Whimsy Stamps "Winter’s Jewel 1" dies (snowflakes); unbranded "Stitched Notch Square" dies; Crafts Too "Snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #106  - Cosy Christmas

Allsorts #755 - Christmas Time (2nd entry)

As You Like It - Favourite Christmas Critter (and why) (3rd entry)

(I just love James the bear … he is probably my favourite ever Christmas critter as he is so cute!)

Beccy’s Month of Holiday Cards - Day 23 - CASE Yourself

(Today’s card is pretty similar in layout to this one I made in 2014 and posted here)

Christmas Craft Creations (November) - Add a Hat

Crafty Gals’ Corner #249 - Spots and/or Stripes

Creative Inspirations (November) - Contemporary Christmas Colours (3rd entry)

Double Trouble #154 - Keep Calm and Stitch On

Passion for Markers #717 - Winter

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Make It Sparkle

Try It On Tuesday - Baby It’s Cold Outside (4th entry)

We Love Stamping (November) - Christmas Characters (3rd entry)

We hope you can join in with the challenge this week - please do pop over to the C.RA.F.T. Challenge blog to see the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team and to link up your entry.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

C.R.A.F.T. #697 G.D.T. - For Children

Hi everyone, another week has flown by, so it's time for a new C.R.A.F.T. Challenge and my second GDT card. This week's challenge is 

*** For Children ***

This week's fabulous sponsor is 

All Dressed Up

The prize is 2 digi images from their shop.

Here is my GDT card for this week.

I very rarely have to make cards for children, so I had to get my thinking cap on for this one. In the end I plumped for this adorable old Lili of the Valley stamp of a teddy peeking out of a gift box .. it just struck me as very cute for a little girl. I coloured the image with Promarkers and Flexmarkers and highlighted the flowers on the gift box with sparkly Sakura Stardust pens. I cut the image out with a stitched notched square die, then cut a larger notched square from a snippet of pink card stock for matting. I also used up a couple of large snippets of old but well-loved LotV papers for my background, matted onto a stitched square of pink card stock, and I finshed off with a Penny Black sentiment.

Here's an angled pic to show the sparkle on the box.

Stamps: LotV Patchwork Teddy; Penny Black Salutations;

Media: Promarkers & Flexmarkers; Memento ink (black); Versafine Clair (Paradise); Sakura Stardust pens (pink, green, turquoise, purple); 

Papers: LotV Nitwits "Bonnets and Bowties"; 

Tools: Stitched notched square die and Stitched Notched rectangle die (unbranded); Hunkydory Moonstone Duo-Stitched Square die.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #456 - Make Your Mark (2nd entry)

Creations In Pink #63 - Anything Goes in Mainly Pink

Happy Little Stampers: Birthday (November) - Birthday

I ❤️ Promarkers #546 - Anything Goes with option In the Pink

Let's Craft and Create #201 - Stitched Up (Real or Faux)

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2344 - Anything Goes

Passion for Markers #715 - Favourite Stamp

(I don’t really have a particular favourite, but adore this one as it is so cute and also very easy to colour which is important for me as I have lost my confidence colouring with markers)

A Perfect Time to Craft (November) - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground #466 - Use Snippets

(all the pieces of card and papers on this were snippets from my box)

Word Art Wednesday #621/622 - Anything Goes

We hope you can join in with the challenge this week - please do pop over to the C.RA.F.T. Challenge blog to see the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team and to link up your entry.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Day of the Month Card Club Challenge #48 GDT - National Umbrella Day ☂️

Hi everyone,

I'm delighted to have been asked to be Guest Designer again for the Day of the Month Card Club February Challenge as a result of being voted the winner in December.

This month our theme is

☂️☂️☂️ National Umbrella Day ☂️☂️☂️

February 10th is National Umbrella Day, which honours one of the world’s most useful inventions, the umbrella! Not only does the umbrella help keep us dry from the rain, but it also protects us from the heat of the sun and can be used as a fashion accessory. While the umbrella is primarily practical, it can also be decorative…  think cocktails!!  🍹 Umbrellas have also found their way into the worlds of art and music - Rihanna’s single “Umbrella” was one of the most played singles in the UK in the 2000’s; and they play a vital role in some movies too, e.g. Singing in the Rain in 1952 and Mary Poppins in 1964. 

Interesting Umbrella Facts:

The word umbrella comes from the Latin word umbra, meaning shade or shadow. Brolly is a slang word for umbrella, often used in Britain, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Bumbershoot is a fanciful Americanism for an umbrella from the late 19th century.

The basic umbrella was invented over four thousand years ago. There is evidence of umbrellas in the ancient art and artifacts of Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China.

One of the first umbrella shops opened in 1830 at 53 New Oxford Street in London, England. The shop, operated by James Smith and Sons, still operates regular hours at the same location today. 

In 1928, Hans Haupt’s pocket umbrellas appeared. Then, in 1969, Bradford E. Phillips, the owner of the American brand Totes, obtained a patent for the first “working folding umbrella.”

So now you know … here’s my GDT card.☔️

To fulfil this challenge I dug out a really old wooden Me to You "Tatty Teddy" stamp which I think is really cute, and which features the all-important umbrella!. I stamped it onto a square of stamping card using Memento ink, then masked it so I could create a green landscape and cloudy sky by blending Distress Oxide inks using hill and cloud stencils. I then removed the mask and coloured the image with Promarkers and Flexmarkers, and added a computer generated sentiment. I thought the landscape looked a little bare so I added a few Lavinia flowers in the corner with second generation stamping plus a little bird. I die cut the image panel and a linen card stock mat using my stitched square dies, then matted everything onto my base card. To finish I created some "falling rain" using a ruler and Sakura Stardust pen - here's an angled picture to show the sparkle a bit better.

Stamps: Me to You "Tatty Teddy" - "A Gift Inside";  Lavinia Wild Poppies, Field Grass, Bird Collection;

Media: background - Distress Oxide inks (Bundled Sage, Rustic Wilderness, Stormy Sky); teddy - Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Memento ink (black); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Charming Pink, Shady Lane); Sakura Stardust pen (clear);

Tools: Lavinia hill masks; home-made cloud stencil.

Challenges I would like to enter: 

A Gem of a Challenge #3 2023 - Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge #2 2023 - Anything Goes

Crafty Animals #69 - Anything Goes With an Animal - TOP PICK

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

Krafty Chicks #649 - Stamp Act

Let’s Craft and Create #192 - Anything Goes with option Use a Sentiment

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2305 - Anything Goes

We Love Stamping (February) - Anything Goes with option Add a Stencil

Word Art Wednesday #581/582 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Worldwide Open Design Team Challenge #1 2023 - Anything Goes

I hope you can play along with the challenge this month - please link up your entries here.

Don't forget to visit the Day of the Month Card Club February Challenge to see more fab inspiration from the Design Team, who I would like to thank for asking me to be Guest Designer again this month.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Rudolph Day

Hi everyone, today is the first Rudolph Day of 2023… 25th of every month where we are encouraged to get ahead with a Christmas card so that we don’t get into a last minute panic come December!

Back in October I had a colouring session one day with the adorable LotV James the Bear image holding a Christmas tree .. he is one of my favourites and I coloured 4 images while I had my pens on the table. This is the last card made with those images 🎄🎄

I stamped and coloured James with my Promarkers and Flexmarkers, then added white gel pen highlights, and holographic glitter to the ground and his hat using a Quickie Glue pen. I cut the stamped card into a square and added a stamped sentiment, then matted simply onto red card stock and designer paper with a few pearls to finish. 

Stamps: LotV James Christmas Tree; Uniko Christmas Wishes;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Memento ink (black); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); holographic glitter; white gel pen;

Papers: LotV;

Other: pearls from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

12 Months of Christmas #96 - Anything Christmas Goes

ABC Christmas - B is for Bear

Christmas Crafts All Year Round (January) - One of Something or a Tree

Merry Little Christmas #48 - Anything Christmas Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2303 - Anything Goes - HONORARY MENTION

Rudolph Days (January) - Anything Christmas Goes

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Sparkles Christmas #144 - Sparkle and Glitter Accents (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (January) - Add Some Sparkle (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #579/580 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

That's all for today - take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Getting ready for Christmas

… that’s what James the Bear is doing as he puts up the Christmas tree. He is such a darling image, looking so festive in his Santa hat … maybe he is preparing for the teddies’ Christmas party?

I stamped my image and coloured him with Promarkers and Flexmarkers, then die cut him out using a stitched square die. I stamped the sentiment, then matted my image onto a slightly larger die cut of red linen card stock, then onto a background paper and a red cardstock border. I finished off with Quickie glue pen and holographic glitter on the ground and James’s hat, a teeny red heart gem and a gingham bow.

Stamps: LotV James Christmas Tree; Uniko Christmas Wishes;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Memento Ink (black); Versafine Clair (Nocturne); holographic glitter;

Papers: LotV;

Tools: Stitched square dies from Amazon.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #625 - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Festive Fridays - Christmas  - WINNER

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2251 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Papercraft Challenges #89 - Decking the Halls - TOP 3

Passion For Markers #670 - Use Die Cuts (2nd entry)

Scribbles #115 - Not a Creature Was Stirring (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Party Time (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Party!

Winter Wonderland (December) - Anything Christmas Goes (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #575/576 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

That’s all from me for today … take care and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #698

Good morning everyone, and welcome to this week's Allsorts Challenge. This week it is my turn to host the challenge, and I have chosen the theme

*** Add A Sentiment ***

A very easy theme I hope you'll agree, so I'm looking forward to seeing lots of entries!

This week's prize has been provided by Oakwood Direct 

and is a Polkadoodles sentiment stamp set and co-ordinating paper pad.

Here's my card for this week.

I decided to go for a CAS card so that I could showcase this BIG Christmas sentiment, which is from a set I chose as part of the fantastic £100 store voucher I won from Uniko earlier in the year.  I also had another colouring session with my favourite LotV James the Bear.

I simply cut a piece of stamping white card, stamped my image and coloured with Promarkers & Flexmarkers, added glitter and Stickles, and stamped my sentiment. I then matted simply onto festive red and green card. 

Stamps: LotV - James Christmas Tree; Uniko Festive Sentiments;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers, holographic glitter; crystal Stickles.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Favourite Traditional or Contemporary Christmas (and Why)

(I love both, but I particularly favour contemporary styles such as this CAS cute bear)

Happy Little Stampers; Christmas (October) - Anything Christmas Goes

Krafty Chicks #633 - Christmas

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2241 - Anything Goes

Passion For Markers #662 - Anything Goes

Retro Rubber #193 - Anything Goes - TOP PICK

(James the Bear is several years old)

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #125 - Anything Christmas Goes

The Most Magical Time of the Year #1 - The Most Magical Time of the Year

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes - WINNER, TOP 3

Word Art Wednesday #565/566 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

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,

James the Bear … and All the Fun of the Fair

Hi everyone,

One afternoon this week I didn’t feel like unpacking all my craft supplies, so I just stamped a few images and had a bit of a colouring session with my Promarkers. As I need to get ahead with some Christmas cards I used one of my favourite old Christmas images - James Christmas Tree by LotV. This adorable little bear always makes me smile ! 😀 I then had another session where I made up my images into 4 cards, so they will be appearing at intervals over the coming weeks - here’s my first effort.

Stamps: LotV  - James Christmas Tree; sentiment - Elzybells;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; holographic glitter; Stickles;

Papers: LotV  “‘Twas the Night”;

Tools: stitched square dies from Amazon.

I decorated James's hat with holographic glitter and applied Stickles to the snow both underfoot and flakes - here's angled pic to show that a bit better.

Challenges I would like to enter:

A Gem of a Challenge #21 2022 - Anything Goes

Christmas Craft Creations (September) - Ribbon or Twine

Crafty Animals #66 - Anything Goes With Animals

Hero Arts (October) - Merry Everything

I ❤️ Promarkers #520 - Anything Goes (2nd entry) - WINNER

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2240 - Anything Goes 

Simon Says (Monday) - Stitch It

Sweet Stampin’ - Anything but a Birthday Card

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #125 - Anything Christmas Goes - TOP 5

Word Art Wednesday #563/564 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to pay a visit to the Stamping Together Craft Fair in Port Sunlight … I always used to visit this festival back in the day, but as I only came back to crafting during the pandemic after  over 5 years of almost complete inactivity, this was my first craft fair for a very long time! I was amazed by how busy it was … the fair isn’t as big as it used to be but there were still a number of great stands and it was absolutely thronged!! I spent most of my time endlessly debating with myself what to buy from the Stamper’s Grove stand which was an absolute paradise of all things Lavinia and Visible Image, not to mention ink pads, brushos … where to start?? I also got chance to say hello to the lovely Jo Rice and Sarah Anderson who were demonstrating Lavinia, and were very helpful in showing me some of the many similar colours of brushos to help me decide.

Here’s a pic of my haul … I think I was pretty restrained all things considered … I know I definitely could have bought a LOT more ☺️ However I focussed on getting a few autumn themed items as I didn’t really have any, a couple of Hallowe’en stamps (even though I don’t really do Hallowe’en .. but there are so many challenges to enter!), a couple of Tim Holtz ephemera to inspire future ATC’s, and some more brushos as I am really loving those vibrant colours!!

That’s all for today … chores beckon, and I also need to find time to start playing with my new stash 😀

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,