ALL ABOUT THE GLITTER....

We have a great challenge for you over at Try Stampin on Tuesday for our Technique Challenge - Glitter, Glitter Glitter. Who doesn't love it - especially at Christmas time?

Kaylin has done a fab tutorial for you on adding glitter to your card - My way however was slightly different - mainly because I didn't have the paper she had.  In my cupboard though, hidden at the back and not used for years I found some Stampin Up Heat and Stick powder.  I must admit it's been so long since I used it I had to go on to you tube and find out how.  And now when I realise how easy it is I'm surprised it lay in the cupboard so long.

I used some of the gorgeous papers from Kaisercraft Wonderland and the trees and house are all from Hero Arts Winter Scene stamp set.  The greeting is also from Kaisercraft.

To make my snow glisten I first used a Versamark pad all over the paper.  You then add the heat and stick powder and heat it up until it glistens - but don't over heat it or it will lose its stickiness.  Then add your glitter or dazzling diamonds and I just reheated it gently again to make sure it sticks.

I hope you are inspired to get the glitter out - I'm looking forward to seeing what you do.


 

TRY STAMPIN' ON TUESDAY - DOUBLE TROUBLE BLOG - TIC TAC TOE

We are joining forces at Try Stampin' on Tuesday with Double Trouble challenge blog - this time it's a Tic Tac Toe challenge - I love these - they offer so many possibilities.




They've also given another twist - include anything on your project that hangs - stockings, garland, ornaments, lights, candles, etc. 


I chose to do a Diorama card for mine.  This is something I haven't done before. I chose to do the bottom line of Stamping, Red and Plaid.

The reindeer, dove and little Christmas stocking were all from the same little die set I had in my stash.  The plaid paper is from current Stampin Up DSP and the sentiment is from an old SU set Winter Post.  The beauty of this little card is that it still folds flat so you can post it!








 

WALKING IN A .....

Winter Wonderland. It's rare really in the UK that we get snow at Christmas time - Easter is sometimes when it usually comes but on the rare occasions it does it is magical.  We spent a Christmas in Houston when we lived there in 2004 - took the children to the cinema to see Polar Express in the usual Houston warmth of a Christmas Eve.  Can you imagine our delight and astonishment when we came out of the cinema and it was snowing!!!!  It was truly magical and one of our best Christmases ever.

My card today is a one layer card for Addicted to CAS challenge - I used sponging to create the snow effect and masked off the moon to give it a wintery glow.  I hope there is enough white space for the challenge!  The stamps I've used are from a set from Little Hero which is called Winter Scene.  There is a touch of glitter just to make it sparkle a little. 

I have a lot of Christmas cards to send out for my Joy of Sets members all over the world so one layer cards are just what I need to save a little on postage. This is going to be one of my favourites I think.


A big thank you to CAS Colours and Sketches who chose my little robin card this week as one of their winners.

 

FA LA LA LA LA

The challenge over at CASE this Sketch #CTS295is the following 



I had some cute little robin stamps that I hadn't used much and thought they would look good as a CAS card.  This card is seriously CAS for me and I find it quite scary!  I'm always a bit unsure as I often see CAS cards with lots of product on them and I always think they have to be lots of white space.

I used some Stampin Up Real Red ink and some of their retired Baker's Twine with Real Red card stock as the base!  Gulp - that's it!

 

ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS

Another Christmas card from me today for a number of challenges listed below.

I started off with a piece of white card stock and masked off some snowflakes from Stampin Up's Seasonal Thinlets.  To get the large border I actually used the thinlets themselves.  I then used two Tim Holtz Distress Inks for the background - Tumbled Glass and Weathered Wood.  I then used the actual cut outs of the snowflakes, put them back over the masked image and reinked to make the snowflakes pop.

The tree is from Stampin Up Winter Woods and was also masked .  The deer and the sentiment is from Hero Arts Winter Scene.  I embossed the sentiment in white embossing powder and added some embossed snowflakes.  There is Wink of Stella on the tree to make it shine.


I'm including this in the following challenges:

 Addicted to Stamps their challenge is Anything Goes 
Watercooler Wednesday - Anything Goes
Make My Monday - Stencil
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Embossing
52 Christmas Card Countdown - Masking

FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES #360

I found another new challenge blog on my travels around blogland - new to me as it's been going a long time - Freshly Made Sketches I'm guessing is all about sketches but they ask for Clean cards so that took a little bit of research.  





I chose to use those lovely candles from Stampin Up Merry Patterns again - and grabbed two colours from my stash of SU inks - which turned out to be Lemon Lime Twist and Rich Razzleberry - slight alternative reds and greens for Christmas.  I loved how they looked together on the candles.  I cut out a second stamping of the Rich Razzleberry ones and added them with dimensionals.  I added some holly die cut leaves and very nearly distressed them and added ink to the edges but then I re-read the rules.  I added some Wink of Stella to them instead to make them stand out.

That was nearly going to be my card but it seemed a bit bare, even with the stitched framelits.  So hunting in my DSP stash I found this paper - I couldn't believe my luck that it had the exact colours I'd just used.  Paper like this is normally too busy for me but I like the splodges that it gives.  The little greeting is from an old set from Inkadinkadoo and I liked the fact that it had a holly motif in with the greeting.






 

INSPIRED BY....

On my Facebook Group recently one of our members posted a lovely card which used some fab papers that really caught my eye. Turns out they were called Festive Chalkboard by Craftwork Cards and I was lucky enough to be able to find a pack.

They arrived today and whilst I was drooling over them, the challenge over at Inspired By popped into my feed and this is their image this week - 







Well the flask on the far left is almost the exact copy of one of the papers so that became my inspiration for my card.

I wanted to use the Little Robin stamp again from Wild Rose so I decided to do a Gatefold Card with the robin front and center.   I used some Night of Navy cardstock for the base and the checked patterns of the new papers.  The sentiment comes from Stampin Up Warmth and Wonder.

I coloured him in with SU Watercolour Pencils and added some Frosted Lace stickles to his hat and his pom pom.  The inside stamp was a free one from a magazine with all the little robins.  

            

WHEN THE RED RED ROBIN.....

Look at this cute little robin - I love him - I've found I don't have an awful lot of stamps that I can actually colour in and saw this Little Robin from Wild Rose Studios and thought he would fit the bill.

I'm using him for the challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches #295 this week which is the following sketch



I used some SU colours to colour in my robin - an old SU colour called Real Rust, Cherry Cobbler for his hat, Soft Suede and Going Gray.  I used a Wink of Stella for all the white parts so that they shine a little bit.  The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Merry Patterns.  I used grey card stock and added some red and grey ribbon to the background.

As this is a CAS card I stopped myself from adding any extra bits and left him alone.  I think he will be making some more appearances though!


 

SOMETHING OLD - SOMETHING NEW

My card today mixed something old with something new.  My favourite all time Christmas stamp is this lovely old image of Santa called Santa Collage from Rubber Stampede - I've had it for over 15 years and I'm always looking for new ways of adding him to a Christmas card.

I've combined it here with some of the new papers from Kaisercraft Wonderland set.  I love the colours in these papers - which is unusual for me as I'm normally a traditional red/green girl but the blues are lovely.  I've used some SU Crumb Cake for the base and for the Santa.  He was stamped with Versamark and I used some silver embossing powder.  Rounded the edges and added some Crumb Cake ink to the card and the base to distress it a little.

The papers are from Kaisercraft and I just adore those little reindeers!  I aded a Die Cut of a reindeer in silver paper and tucked it beneath the Santa.  The snowflakes inked in Crumb Cake are from SU Colourful Seasons.  The sentiment is from the Kaisercraft Wonderland pack.  


I love how this card turned out.  I'm going to add it to the following Challenges

Watercooler Wednesday - Holidays 
Cards In Envy - Favourite Holiday Card 
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - For the kid in all of us!





 

A NOT SO CAS AUTUMN CARD

From a CAS Autumn card to a not so CAS Autumn card - this one is for the Global Design Project#GDP161- who have given us colours to work with - specifically Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive.  These colours scream Autumn and I was determined not to do another Christmas card.



I actually decided to get out Jar of Love and make a wreath - I've never made one before so thought it was about time.   I used the Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie for the flowers and also stamped these colours off just to give a variety of shades for the flowers.  The little leaves were cut out with a non SU framelit in Old Olive card stock.

I've added some Old Olive Baker's Twine and some non SU gold rhinestones to some of the flowers.  A touch of Wink of Stella on the bow and some of the flowers also gives it a lovely shine.  The thanks sentiment is from Jar of Love.

Some of the flowers were added with dimensionals to give it some depth.  My little tip for this wreath was to use one of the Stitched Framelits underneath as a guide.  I'm going to have another go at this and try and make a Christmas version.





 

A CAS AUTUMN CARD

Autumn is my most favourite time of the year - I love the crisp mornings, the gorgeous colours of the trees, the provender Mother Nature provides that I can forage and turn into goodies for the winter months ahead.

I'm lucky enough to have an Iron Age Hill Fort just ten minutes down the road from where I live and it's a favourite place to walk my dogs.  This is a picture of my Welsh Springer Tegan enjoying her walk against that gorgeous backdrop of the trees.  She's recently had surgery and is recovering very well = it's so nice to see her out and about again.

My card today is for Addicted to CAS #147 which has given us the prompt word of Foliage.

I was inspired by a card I found by Jan Clothier - I used some old SU ink colours for my card - More Mustand, Real Rust ( a great favourite) and Rose Red.  I masked off a strip and sponged the colours.  I used SU Colourful Seasons and Seasonal Layers thinlets - I used Early Espresso to ink the stamps and cut the smaller leaf out of cardstock.  The sentiment is from an old SU set Yay You and is just right for this card as I got my inspiration from Jan.  I don't know her but I have seen her work around blogland.

            

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - SKETCH SC301

Another Sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments for you this week. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with this one.




I started out thinking about those circles and I had one example of the Swirly Bird cut out from Stampin Up in my stash that I decided I wanted to use and everything else followed on from there. This was in Dapper Denim.

I decided to keep my background card plain and use some of the new DSP from Stampin Up with the lovely circles on it in keeping with the circle cut out.  I stamped the image of the Dandelion from Dandelion Wishes in Fresh Fig and cut it out with a stitched framelit and layered it with dimensionals.  The sentiment is non SU.  I added a strip of the DSP at the top together with another piece of the Dapper Denim and added some faux stitching as well as around the card.  I finished it off with some gems.



 

TRY STAMPING ON TUESDAY #TSOT382 - SKETCH

A sketch today to play with for Try Stamping On Tuesday  #TSOT382 with the added challenge of adding Die Cuts.





I've used an old SU set here called A Nice Cuppa and added the die cuts of the teapot and the milk jug.  I cut a little bit off the jug to turn it into a mug.  I've used some of the new DSP papers from SU called Share What You Love.  There is another little piece of the paper just behind the teapot where the cut outs are - can you see it peeping through?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all do with this sketch.










 

CHRISTMAS TAG CARD

The challenge over at Less is More this week is to use Tags - whether they are stand alone tags or on a card.

I've opted to go with a Christmas card and used Stampin Up's retired set Merry Little Labels for the tag.  I love anything with reindeer and love how this little stamp has the deer tucked inbetween those trees.  I simply embossed it with White Embossing Powder onto Night of Navy card stock - added a white eyelet and some blue thread to make the tag and popped it up on dimensionals.

The background dots, to represent snow, is a retired SU embossing folder - the snowflakes are from the Seasonal Layer thinlets and they are covered with Dazzling Diamonds to make them shine.  The little cut out deer is not SU - I found it for 99p in our local craft store - isn't he gorgeous?  He had to make an appearance on this card too.

 

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS COLOURS - RED, GREEN, GOLD

The challenge over at Allsorts Challenge blog is Traditional Christmas colours - my favourites!  Red, Green and Gold is what they want to see.

I've used the lovely candles again from a retired set by Stampin Up called Merry Patterns.  I gold embossed the candles, then inked them with Real Red and Old Olive and used a stitched framelit to cut them out.  I added the sentiments in Gold Embossing powder and some gold thread behind the  image.  A touch of non SU glitter embellishments finishes this off.


























 

IT'S HIGH TIDE... I MADE SOMETHING OTHER THAN A CHRISTMAS CARD!

I must admit I have a weakness for Christmas cards so once the season is nearly here I'm off making loads of them.  However, not everyone wants to see Christmas cards in October so I've forced myself out of the Christmas grotto and on to something else for the Watercooler Wednesday Masculine Challenge - the hint was in my title - I've gone with Stampin Up's High Tide.

I did lots of sponging for the background for the Lighthouse scene using all Stampin Up's colours.

I used a retired dots embossing folder and folded down the top right hand corner of the card.  The birds were continued on the inside which shows up.

and the inside of the card was also stamped and sponged.

I think this set makes great masculine cards and I love this style.


 

CHRISTMAS REINDEER

I found a different style of card on my travels round blogland and You Tube. It seems this style of card was popular a few years ago - so I thought I'd have another go at trying it out and I love it - I've done a few so far with different themes. I think it's known as an envelope card but I'm not sure.

I've done mine as Christmas cards as Christmas is on my mind at the moment and it's my most favourite type of card to make.

The papers I've used for my card are from Marianne Designs called Artic Winter - probably a few years old now.  The Reindeer is from Stampin Up' Merry Patterns - now retired.  I sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla cardstock with More Mustard (an old SU colour) and Early Espresso to give it a soft vintage look. I stamped the deer in Early Espresso and then coloured in his sweater with More Mustard and Night of Navy marker pens and then added some glitter.  

The little snowflake was made using SU Seasonal Thinlets and the dazzling embellishments in that gorgeous gold are non SU.  The Merry Christmas sentiment is also from an old Set and I've added a touch of More Mustard twine.

I'm adding this into the challenge over at Cards In Envy - they ask for your favourite Holiday cards - in the UK we don't know Christmas as the holidays and Hallowe'en is not considered a holiday over here and we don't have Thanksgiving - holidays to us are vacations to the US.

Here's another similar card but this was done with one of my favourite retired SU Sets for Christmas, Winter Post.   I sponged the background and did some reflection inking for the trees from Winter Woods and the skaters.  The papers are Artic Winter again and this time a slightly larger snowflake.  I can see I will be making a few more of these type of cards.

 

CLEAN AND SIMPLE CHRISTMAS CANDLES

The challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches #294 this week is their Colour challenge and I loved this colours together.  I knew straight away what set I wanted to use and it was Stampin Up's retired Merry Patterns and those gorgeous candles.  When I first got this set I wasn't really that fussed on them but as soon as I started using them I fell in love with them.  I thought they would be lovely for this challenge and give an alternative Christmas colour.




I used Very Vanilla for my card and card base and layered it with some Soft Suede cardstock.  The candles were inked with the soft suede and then I used the Berry Burst for some of them.  The others were inked with an old SU colour Regal Rose as I don't have Blushing Bride but I think it's very similar.  I then simply added the sentiment in Soft Suede.

To stop the card being too flat - I re-inked another of the Regal Rose candles and then cut them out and placed them individually on some dimensionals to give the card a bit of depth.

A touch of Wink of Stella on the flames to make them glitter and the card is finished.

I adore these colours together and will be trying out some more cards.


I'm also including this in the challenge for Addicted to Stamps which is asking for a CAS card.