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,

Red, Gold and Green

Good morning everyone, all my Christmas cards are finished and either posted (though God knows when/if they will arrive), hand delivered or waiting for me to see the recipients over the next couple of days; so today I’d like to share an ATC I made for the Visible Image December swap over on FB. The theme this month was traditional Christmas colours, and the rules are that only VI stamps, stencils and dies can be used.

I cut a piece of stamping card 3.25” x 2.25” and stamped/ heat embossed the tree and Christmas  numbering. I then created the background by sprinkling on brusho ink and spritzing with water. I then applied red and gold gems to represent tree baubles, edged the panel with gold Posca pen and matted onto standard ATC size card … that’s it!

Stamps: Visible Image Christmas Tree, Distressed Christmas;

Media: Brusho ink (Vermilion); Versafine Clair (Shady Lane); Versamark; gold and clear embossing powders;

Gems from my stash.

Challenges I would like to enter:

ATC’s With a Heart - Christmas - TOP 3

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #625 - Anything Christmas Goes

Creative Moments #241 - Christmas/Winter Celebrations

Dream Valley #284 - Christmas (2nd entry) - WINNER

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #130 - Anything Christmas Goes

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2251 - Anything Goes

Simon Says (Monday) - Party Time

Sisterhood of Crafters - Traditional Christmas Colours (Red and Green)

Winter Wonderland (December) - Anything Christmas Goes

Word Art Wednesday #575/576 - Anything Goes - TOP 3

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well, and you’re not getting too stressed! Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #707

Hi everyone, this week it's my turn to host and choose the theme for the new Allsorts Challenge, which is

*** Anything Goes with option O Christmas Tree! ***

If you are lucky enough to have completed your Christmas makes you can go with the A/G option, or if like me you are still making a few last minute cards I hope you will be inspired to join us!

This week we have 2 lovely Christmassy prizes that have been donated by one of our regular entrants (who wishes to remain anonymous) - so a big thankyou from the team! They are this beautiful stamp set and cute Woodware stamp.

Here's my card for this week - it is the special A5 Christmas card I made for my husband’s aunt. 

I’m still enjoying making snowy scenes with my various Lavinia fir tree stamps, and now I also have a Visible Image Santa’s sleigh and reindeer I’m all set to create the sky on Christmas Eve!

I cut a rectangle of stamping card and created my background by blending Distress Oxide inks through a large oval stencil while using masks for the moon and hills. I stamped trees within the oval using a reverse oval mask, and a mixture of 1st/2nd generation stamping; then stamped further trees and branches to frame the scene, and the Santa sleigh. I highlighted everything with my Sakura Stardust pen and Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen, then stamped two lanterns and created a halo of light round each one with a yellow Posca sparkle pen.  Finally I stamped my sentiment, edged the finished piece with black and matted onto purple glitter card and my card blank before adding my Posca pen “snowflakes”.   

Here’s an angled pic which attempts to show the sparkle (it is VERY sparkly!!)

I also stamped the envelope to co-ordinate using some of the same stamps plus additional stars and moon from the Visible Image set.

... and the back ...

Stamps: Lavinia Christmas Tree Group, Fir Tree 1, Red Pine (Small), Fairy Fir Tree (Small), Fern Branch, Small Lanterns, Bird Collection; Visible Image Christmas Eve (sleigh, stars, moon); Uniko Christmas Wishes (sentiment);

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserve, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight, Morning Mist, Medieval Blue); Posca pen (white); Posca sparkle pen (yellow), Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen (clear).

Tools: Press to Impress oval stencil, Lavinia moon mask.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Alphabet Challenge - S is for Snow - TOP 3

As You Like It - Anything Goes for Christmas

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

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (December) - Holiday

Scribbles #115 - Not a Creature Was Stirring …

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #157 - Something Seasonal (5th entry)

Sheepski #69 - ‘Tis the Season (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Ice Cold

Stamping Sensations (December) - Anything Stamped with option Winter Wonderland  (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #573/574 - Anything Goes (5th 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. I'll be back on the Allsorts challenge blog on Friday with my winner and top 5! Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Contemporary Christmas Trees

Hi there, today I would like to share a Christmas card I made in contemporary colours as part of a last minute batch for neighbours and/or my husband’s workmates. This one was actually inspired by a shop bought card I received!

I stamped a row of foreground Christmas trees using Warm Breeze, Charming Pink and Verdant Versafine Clair, with background trees stamped with 2nd generation Morning Mist.  I “grounded” the trees by scribbling a line with my Quickie glue pen and then applying holographic glitter, and blinged it up a bit more with my Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen. I stamped the sentiment, edged the panel with black pen and matted onto a large snippet of coloured card stock (I used various snippets for the other cards in the batch). Finally I added a co-ordinating sparkly gem and Posca pen “snowflakes”. Here is an angled pic to show the sparkly snow.

Stamps: Lavinia Fir Tree 1; Uniko Christmas Wishes;

Media: Versafine Clair (Warm Breeze, Charming Pink, Verdant, Morning Mist, Nocturne); holographic glitter; Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Anything Goes for Christmas (3rd entry) - TOP 3

C.R.A.F.T. #661 - Christmas - The Last Stretch (2nd entry)

Crafty Catz #618 - Anything Goes with option Last Minute Christmas (2nd entry)

Dream Valley #284 - Christmas

Krafty Chicks #641 - Christmas (2nd entry) - TOP PICK

Scribbles #114 - The Most TREE-mendous Time of Year - TOP 3

Snippets Playground #443 - Anything Goes With Snippets

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Add Some Sparkle (4th entry)

Sparkles Christmas #143 - Non-traditional Christmas Colours - SPOTLIGHT WINNER

Word Art Wednesday #573/574 - Anything Goes (4th entry)

Here is a picture of the whole batch. I was really pleased with how efficient these were to produce!

All of these cards will be hand delivered - all my posted cards were sent well over a week ago, though who knows when/whether they will arrive?? We have hardly received any though the letterbox so far this year ... even on non-strike days the postman often doesn't call, and I can't help but speculate that with the cost of living, cost of postage and postal turmoil many people aren't bothering or are really scaling back this year. Such a shame as I personally get a lot of pleasure both from making/sending and receiving them. 

Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm in the vicious wintry weather conditions we’re experiencing here in the UK. Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Red, red robin

Hi everyone, today I'd like to share a Christmas card that I made using some of my newish Visible Image Christmas stamps. 

This started out as an individual card, but I found it to be pretty straightforward to stamp in batch using my stamping platform, so I ended up making 4 very similar ones.

I cut a square of stamping card and stamped my robin, then branch and berries. I masked the robin and branch so I could stamp the background script, then removed the mask and coloured the robin, branch and holly with Distress Ink and Oxide. I stamped the sentiment, matted the image panel onto red cardstock, then finished with white Posca pen spatters for snow, glitter brush pen on the robin's tummy, a teeny heart gem, and Glossy Accents on the berries.

Here is an angled picture to show the dimension on the berries… it should show the robin’s sparkly tummy, but sadly the photo doesn’t show that up very ell !

Stamps: Visible Image Christmas Robin, Distressed Christmas;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink (Barn Door); Distress Ink (Vintage Photo): Versafine Clair (Pinecone, Nocturne, Morning Mist); Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen; Glossy Accents.

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Anything Goes for Christmas (2nd entry)

The Card Concept #185 - Christmas Greetings + Inspiration Photo (2nd entry)

(I was inspired by the green/white/red/brown colour combo)

Christmas Kickstart #69 - Anything Christmas Goes

Classic Design Challenge #12 2022 - Anything Goes

C.R.A.F.T. #661 - Christmas - The Last Stretch - WINNER

Crafting Happiness #137 - Christmas - TOP PICK

Crafty Catz #618 - Anything Goes with option Last Minute Christmas - TOP 3

Crafty Friends #162 - Traditional Christmas Colours

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge #624 - Anything Christmas Goes

Creative Inspirations (December) - Festive Foliage - WINNER

Incy Wincy (December) - Christmas (2nd entry)

Krafty Chicks #641 - Christmas

Let's Craft and Create #190 - Anything Goes with option Inspired by a Song

(When the Red, Red Robin)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #157 - Something Seasonal (4th entry)

Moving Along With the Times #149 - Christmas 

Peace On Earth #29 - Anything Christmas Goes

Shopping Our Stash #485 - Holly and Ivy

Simon Says (Monday) - Holiday Cheer (4th entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Add Some Sparkle (3rd entry)

(Sparkly gem and robin’s sparkly white tummy)

Sweet Stampin’ - Christmas Creations

Taylormadecards4u (December) - Christmas

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

Word Art Wednesday #573/574 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Here is a picture that shows the mini batch I made ... love getting the most out of my stamps and out of a particular crafting session. I feel as if I'm on the home stretch with the Christmas cards now!

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

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #706

Hi everyone, the weekend is here already, which means another weekly Allsorts Challenge. This week Lolo has chosen the theme and it is

*** Anything Goes with option Let it Snow ***

So we would love to see all your entries so long as they follow our simple rules, but would particularly enjoy seeing your snowy scenes .. and with Christmas just around the corner what's not to like about that?

This week we have 2 great prizes on offer from Oakwood Direct 

They are this lovely Stampendous stamp set and a stencil:

(Stencil designs will vary)

Here's what I made for this week.

I decided it was about time some of my older LotV stamps saw ink again, so I reached out the cute “Snow Family” and went for a vintage sepia look… I actually CASE’d one of my old cards from back in 2013 here.!!

I coloured the image with Promarkers and Flexmarkers then added holographic glitter to the snowy ground and the snow children’s hats, and Liquid Pearls to the snowflakes. I die cut the coloured image with my stitched dies and edged it with Distress Ink in keeping with the overall vintage colour scheme. I layered up my image with kraft coloured snowflake papers and dark brown cardstock, with pearlescent white die-cut snowflake borders and brown gingham ribbon. Finally I added two LotV grungy Christmas sentiments stamped onto snippets of kraft card. 

here is an angled pic to show the sparkle.

Stamps: LotV Snow Family, Christmas Grungy Sentiments;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo); Memento ink; Versafine Clair (Pinecone); holographic glitter; Liquid Pearls;

Papers: LotV. Krafty Christmas;

Tools:  Memory Box die “Frostyville Border”; stitched square dies from Amazon.

Challenges I would like to enter:

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

Creatalicious #248 - Anything Goes with option Christmas in Non-Traditional Colours

Creative Knockouts #482 - Snow Much Fun (2nd entry)

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #157 - Something Seasonal (3rd entry)

Passion For Markers #670 - Use Die Cuts

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies #2249 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Holiday Cheer (3rd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Add Some Sparkle (2nd entry)

Stamping Sensations (December) - Anything Stamped with option Winter Wonderland  (2nd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #573/574 - 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,

Christmas Card Day

Good morning everyone. I discovered this week that today (December 9th) is Christmas Card Day … who knew?? Armed with that knowledge I just HAD to post a Christmas card today … it would be rude not to!! 🤣🤣

I created a Lavinia Christmas snowy scene with a mixture of old and new stamps, specifically so that I could practice colouring my squirrel! I'm not really there yet, but practice will hopefully make perfect in the long run!!

I created my landscape with Distress Oxides, hill and circle masks, then stamped my trees, moon wording and sentiment using various shades of Versafine Clair, and 1st/2nd/3rd generation stamping. I stamped my squirrel several times, building up the colour and then coloured his face and tummy with white Posca pen. As always I added a lot of sparkle - this time I edged the snowy hills with Quickie glue pen and holographic glitter (VERY sparkly!!) , and I highlighted the trees with Sakura Stardust pen. I also added a sparkly colour wash to the snow with my new Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen, and drew some tufts of grass with a fine liner pen.  I finished off with some white Posca pen snow spatters before edging the finished piece with black marker pen and matting onto silver mirror card and my card blank.

Stamps: Lavinia Red Squirrel, Red Pine (Small), Fairy Fir Tree 2, Fairy Fir Tree (Small), Christmas Tree Group, Skeleton Tree Scene, Cedar, Winter Magic; sentiment - Piink Gem Designs;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Stormy Sky, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Twilight, Pinecone, Morning Mist); Versafine (Vintage Sepia); Spectrum  Noir Harmony die ink (Bordeaux); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen (clear); Posca pen (white).

Challenges I would like to enter:

As You Like It - Anything Goes for Christmas

Country View Challenges (December) - Christmas (3rd entry)

Creative Knockouts #482 - Snow Much Fun

Day of the Month Card Club #46 - Christmas Card Day - WINNER

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #157 - Something Seasonal (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Monday) - Holiday Cheer (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Add Some Sparkle

Stamping Sensations (December) - Anything Stamped with option Winter Wonderland

Try It On Tuesday - Winter Wonderland - TOP 5

Word Art Wednesday #573/574 - Anything Goes

I’m finally starting to see the end in sight now for my Christmas card makes … I’ve posted all that require posting, and just need to make my husband’s card and some batch makes for the neighbours and husband’s workmates. Just need to finish off my Christmas shopping now!! 

Thanks for taking the time to visit today.

Hugs,

Retro Rubber Challenge #197 - Guest DT spot

Hi everyone, today I'm delighted to say that I was asked to be a Guest Designer on Retro Rubber Challenge - the challenge that ❤️‘s old stamps!!

For this fortnightly challenge we have a fab inspiration picture for you.

Here's what I made.

I don't have any stamps of winter beverages or candy canes, so I decided to go with the holly, berries, pinecones, and the word "Believe" - as luck would have it I have a stamp in my stash in an almost identical font!!

I stamped a circle of pinecones, holly, cedar, berries and Pipin the hare directly onto a kraft card blank using my stamping platform and 1st/2nd generation stamping for the holly. I stamped my "Believe" sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed with white tinsel embossing powder, then the Christmas words in black ... I had to do some masking as the "believe" sentiment actually says "Believe in the Magic of Your Dreams". I stamped my lanterns and created the light + halo with a Posca sparkle pen, then finished by highlighting the pinecones and Pipin with white Posca pen, and the holly with Sakura sparkle pens. 

The idea of Retro Rubber challenge is to use stamps more than a year old and to say how old they are ... all the stamps on this card are just over a year old (bought for Christmas cards in 2021) apart from the Cedar (brown heads and berries) and small lanterns.

Stamps: Lavinia Mini Pine Cone, Mini Holly, Cedar, Pipin Mini, Small Lanterns; Crafter's Companion Enchanted Dreams (white sentiment); Uniko Festive Sentiments (black words);

Media: Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Shady Lane, Tulip Red); Versafine (Vintag Sepia); Posca sparkle pen (yellow); Posca pen (white); Sakura Stardust pens (red, clear).

Challenges I would like to enter:

The Card Concept #185 - Christmas Greetings + Inspiration Photo

(I was inspired by the wreath and the colour scheme)

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

Incy Wincy (December) - Christmas

Little Red Wagon #682 - Glitz, Glitter, Gleam, Glow! (2nd entry) - FEATURED

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity #157 - Something Seasonal

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2249 - Anything Goes

Sheepski #69 - ‘Tis the Season
Simon Says (Monday) - Holiday Cheer

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

Winter Wonderland (December) - Anything Christmas Goes

I'd like to thank Jane at RRCB for asking me to do this GDT spot, and I hope you can join us this fortnight. Don't forget to visit the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog to see more fab inspiration from the regular team.

Hugs,

Allsorts Challenge #705

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

*** It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas ***

So if you haven't finished your Christmas cards yet (has anyone??), now's the time to push on with them and enter for a chance to win one of this week's 2 great prizes - 2 sets of Card-io stamps.

  

Here's what I made this week.

I am currently going through a phase of either trying new techniques or revisiting old ones and some rarely (or in some cases never) used stash. I really like White On White (WoW) cards but haven't made one for a long time; however I have seen a few recently and that inspired me to have a root in my stash to see what I could find in the way of suitable dies and embossing folders.

My start point was a 6" square panel embossed with a Crafter's Companion frame embossing folder - I've had this for years and am ashamed to say I don't think I've ever used it before! I then built up a little scene with die cut trees, cute reindeer (another one that has been hiding in my box since the day he was bought!!) and snowflakes plus a large "statement" greeting, all cut from a mixture of white pearlescent card and glitter card. I also embossed my pearlescent white tree to make it look as if snow was falling on it. When the scene was assembled I dotted around some white Posca pen "snowflakes", and edged the panel with silver Posca pen before matting directly onto my card blank.

I do find WoW cards very difficult to photograph - in real life this one is bright white and very sparkly!! Here is an angled pic ...

Stamps: None

Media: None

Papers: Crafter's Companion Centura Pearl card - Snow White with a hint of silver; white glitter card;

Tools: Dies - Tattered Lace "Cute Reindeer", Marianne Design "Christmas Fir Tree", Joy! Crafts "Winter Wishes" (small snowflakes), Tattered Lace "Merry Christmas"; Embossing folders - Crafter's Companion "Festive Frame"; Cuttlebug "Snowflakes".

Challenges I would like to enter:

Colourful Options (December) - Winter White

Country View Challenges (December) - Christmas

Creative Knockouts #481 - Winter Wonderland

Double Trouble #127 - Kaleidoscope of Colour

(I have also used the Twisted Sister option - predominantly white)

Fab ‘n’ Funky #562 - Die Cuts  and Embossing Only (No Stamped Image) - TOP 3

Little Red Wagon #682 - Glitz, Glitter, Gleam, Glow!

Simon Says (Monday) - Freezing Cold Moodboard

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Anything Goes

Try It On Tuesday - Winter Wonderland

Word Art Wednesday #571/572 - Anything Goes (5th 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,