SWEET STAMPIN - THANK YOU CARDS

Our challenge over at Sweet Stampin is a timely one.  Something that should be in high demand after Christmas giving is a Thank You card - I do wonder though how many still send them?  It's not something I ever receive for gifts I send but my children (I say children they are 28 and 25 still send them out to relatives).  It's so lovely to receive one and it doesn't have to be in recognition of a gift.  

My card today uses a set from Card-io Majestix Stamps called Golden Daffodils together with a butterfly from one of their other sets Oriental Blossom together with the Thankful Thoughts set from Stampin Up.  I am Welsh and the daffodil is the National Flower of Wales so I can see lots of use for this little set.

This is a nice simple one layer card which is great for posting - I send a lot of RAK cards in my Joy of Sets group so one layers are always more economical to send and I know just the person to send this one to.  I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Mustard Seed and Bundled Sage - I added some ribbon from my stash which is the perfect colour combination together with some coloured pearls. 

 

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - DESIGNER'S CHOICE #SUOC239

We have free rein over at Stampin Up Only #SUOC239, challenge this week - and I've chosen to use SU Waterfront. As I've just started to cut up the lovely DSP Perennial Essence I used this as a background for my card and also for my choice of inks.  

I used Blackberry Bliss for the mountains and Old Olive for the trees and the grass.  Basic Gray was used for the little house and some  retired Cameo Coral ink for the background.   The sentiment is from the same set and was stamped in Blackberry Bliss - I used a stitched framelit to cut it out and layered it onto some more of the DSP.  A heart gem was added together with some Wink of Stella on the mountains. I used a piece of Blackberry Bliss as the main cardstock.

 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS - #HSSCC330

Welcome back to another year of challenges with Hand Stamped Sentiments - our first one for 2020 is a colour challenge: 

I've used some new Tim Holtz Sizzix dies for the flowers on my card.  I layered them onto some of the gorgeous SU DSP Perennial Essence - I have had it a while and just couldn't bear to cut it - you know how it is.  Once you cut into it initially you soon get over the trauma and enjoy using it! lol!  I used the same paper to cut out the flowers and leaves.  The Friends sentiment is from SU Waterfront - the Happy Birthday is from a retired set Fresh Fruit.  I added a few sequins just to finish it off.

I look forward to seeing what you all do and whether you are using new crafting goodies you got for Christmas 


 

JOY OF SETS TIC TAC TOE - JANUARY 2020 #JOSTTT013

Happy New Year everyone - it's the start of a brand new year for Joy of Sets Tic Tac Toe as we celebrate our first birthday. And what a year it was - thank you to all of you who joined in with us and joined us as Guest Designers.  To celebrate our 1st Anniversary I'm delighted to say that Visible Image Stamps have kindly offered to donate a £25 gift voucher.

Our grid for this month has been chosen by one of our new Design Team Members Libby Fens.  Libby is on a few Design Teams so I'm sure you have seen and enjoyed her work around blogland.

I chose the middle line Red, Hearts, Ribbon.  My card uses an old stamp set from Clearly Beloved called Spring Tulips together with a stamp set I was gifted by one of my Joy of Sets members!  Clearing away my Christmas stamps and getting ready for spring.  A bit early I  know but I can hope!  I started off by stamping the jug with the hearts and then masking it off.  I then added the CB tulips and coloured them in using Tim Holtz distress inks and a blender pen.  I used Distress Inks for the background taking care not to colour over the jar of flowers.  I layered this onto a piece of DSP from SU called Perennial Essence.  I love this paper and it was really hard to cut into it - you all know that feeling?!  I added some SU pink satin ribbon, the sentiment from the stamp set and a glitter heart to finish off the card.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020

Happy New Year Everyone - I can't believe we are going into another decade - it doesn't feel like 20 years since the whole Millennium fuss was happening! Christmas may be over but at Sparkles Christmas Challenge we can still play with all our Christmas crafting goodies.

Our theme for this month is For A Child.  I've used the lovely little penguin from a Clearly Besotted stamp set called Let It Snow.  I stamped the penguin first and made a mask and then repeat stamped all his little friends.  I coloured in their beaks with an orange marker pen.  I used some of the sparkly red paper for the background and for the little guy's hat which was made with a die cut from the same set.  I added a glitter jewel for the top of his hat.

           

CHRISTMAS BONUS

I had a nice start to my Christmas Festivities by finding out I had been published in a UK Craft Magazine - Craft Stamper.

My card used the Winter Woods stamp set from SU with the trees embossed in white embossing powder onto Soft Suede card stock.  I added white ink at the bottom for the snow drifts and the same for the snow. 

I'm adding this into the following challenges:

 Merry Little Christmas Challenge which is Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - Anything Goes

Inkspirational - Christmas Tree

Sunday Stamps - Neutrals

Watercooler Wednesday - Anything Goes

Christmas Challenge Blog - Anything Goes



I was also thrilled to see I had been featured in Try it On Tuesday's spotlight for the year 2018/2019 for my Tim Holtz Bird Talk card - what a lot of work for the Design Team that must have been and such a lovely idea.

 

SWEET STAMPIN - MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR -

Wow - can you believe we are entering another decade? I can't even think where the last two went!  It must be an age thing!  I still think I'm in the 1980's lol!  Our last challenge for 2019 over at Sweet Stampin is Let's Party like it's 2020!  I used an old set from SU called Happy Hour for my card.

I used some Tim Holtz Oxide Ink in Salty Ocean for the glasses and added some white sparkling paper for the drinks.  You have to have sparkle at New Year.  I used some layered tag thinlets for the papers and a small one for the sentiment.  The touch of holly gives it a festive feel - I think our New Year this year will be quiet affair of just hubby and I and we will try to stay up to see in 2020.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and every good wish for 2020.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

It's only two weeks away! Christmas that is! And to be honest I'm all ready for it - Christmas food such as Cake and Pudding and Mincemeat made and being fed with Brandy ready for the big day - presents are bought, yet to be wrapped, cards have been made and sent, house is decorated so what's left - I know - make more cards!  

I'm joining in with two challenges with this card - the Library Challenge is fast becoming a favourite as it really is a challenge - I'm sure I have that annual somewhere in the attic that they shop for this month's inspiration!



I'm also joining in with Sweet Stampin Christmas challenge which is critters.
Merry Little Christmas - which is Anything Goes 

I've used a cute set I found at the bottom of my stash - I'm not sure where it came from or its name but it has some lovely animal images which work well with the sentiment in the set.  I started off my card by using Waterfront stamp set by SU for the snow and the trees.  I used a die cut to cut out the two green trees - they are actually in manuscript paper as the Rupert annual started me off singing that theme song!  Ahh - I couldn't get it out of my head!

I coloured in the little reindeer with Tri Spectrum Noir pens and added some Tri Spectrum glitter in Harvest Moon which shows up really dark.  I then added some shiny red gems and added the sentiment at the bottom.


 

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT CHRISTMAS

The Challenge over at As You See It is asking us to show, on a card or project, what brings us Joy about the Festive Season.  There are many things I love about it and most of all it's a time of nostalgia - my mum is no longer with us and she made Christmas magical for my childhood.  Not in buying loads of presents but in the things she did, how she made our home feel, what she baked and these are the things I remember about Christmas and have carried on with my own children and, now they are grown, they are continuing our traditions also

 I'm very much a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas so for my card today I've gone outside my comfort zone and done a purple card!!!

I've used the Christmas Backgrounds stamp set from Visible Image and silver embossed it on purple card stock.  I then fussy cut out all the words from the large stamp which meant the most to me at this time of the year.  I added them to the holly background which was gifted to me by one of my Joy of Sets members so I'm not sure where it came from.  I added some bright red jewels for the holly berries and to give the card a touch of red.





 

TRY STAMPIN ON TUESDAY - #438

Our Sketch challenge today at Try Stampin on Tuesday #438 has the added option of Birthday Fun in honour of Kaylin who runs this blog and it's her birthday in December.  I added the birthday option just to have a break from cards - and also so it can be sent off to a certain someone for her birthday!

I used a couple of retired SU sets for this - the background used Timeless Textures and the sun burst from Amazing You.  The fruit is from Fresh Fruit.  I then added washi tape on top of the stamping.  I stamped the pears in More Mustard and Tangerine Tango and went over them with a Spectrum Noir glitter pen in Harvest Moon.  

 

STAMPIN UP ONLY CHALLENGE - CASE THE CATALOGUE #SUO238

Welcome back to another Stampin Up Only Challenge.  Our Challenge for this #SUO238 is to CASE this project from page 6 of the Autumn/Winter SU Catalogue. Well I have to admit this one threw me this month - it took me ages to come up with something.  I decided to do a gift box rather than a card.  I've used some retired SU Christmas papers here and the wonderful Merry Little Labels - retired also but still a firm favourite of mine. I'm glad I purchased the matching punch at the time also.

The finished box measures 3" x 4.5" and is great for table favours or nestled in the tree with some goodies inside.  There are hundred's of box ideas on You Tube but I was inspired by Crafty Caroline for this one as it was just the right size.  She is no longer an SU demo but her videos are lovely.  Here are the dimensions for the box - 

Box - card stock measures 8 1/2 inches by 7 inches.

score on all four sides at 7/8 inch and 2 inches.

Wrap - card stock measures 9 1/4 inches by 4 5/8 inch.

Score at 2 1/2 inches, 3 11/16 inch, 6 3/4 inch and 7 7/8 inch.

 

JOY OF SETS TIC TAC TOE #JOSTTT012

Wow - we are at number 12 in our Joy of Sets challenge - what a great year it has been. I want to thank all my Design Team members who have been with me all year and provided you all with some fabulous inspiration.  Our Challenge this month has been chosen by all of us - we all had a square each and I hope you enjoy joining in with us - hopefully you will be able to set aside a few moments to craft during this busy month.

My card uses the gorgeous set form Sunny Studios called Holiday Style - those bells really shine and they are just inks - greys and blacks. The bells are three step stamping and it is magical once you add the last black ink to see how they shine.  The Christmas branch is also from the same set and has been stamped in SU Old Olive, with some darker green down the middle of the branch and a touch of Tim Holtz Forest Moss sponged over the top.  I added some red and white ribbon to the bells and some red rhinestones.   The sentiment is from the same set.

Joy of Sets is my Facebook Group with members all over the world - we offer challenges, RAK's, birthday RAK's, swaps and all manner of fun things to get you crafting.  Why not come and join our group in the New Year?  

I would like to wish everyone who has joined in with us a Very Merry Christmas and see you all in 2020.


I'm also adding this into the Time Out Challenge ~150 - Merry and Cheerful
Christmas At Sweet Stampin - Trees

 

A GENTLE CHRISTMAS CARD

Mindful that Christmas can also be a sad time for lots of people my card today is slightly more thoughtful with mellow colours. I followed the sketch for Global Design Project #GDP218




I used Crumb Cake card stock as my base and used the retired SU sweater embossing folder to give a cosy feel to the card.  I added a strip of the wood paper and used the lovely trees from SU Waterfront stamped in Basic Grey.  I then used a stitched framelit to cut them out and sponged the edges.  I added some holly and some ribbon.  The sentiment is from Winter Woods. 

             

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS #SC329

Our sketch challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments #SC329 could be quite a classic CAS card but I chose to do a Christmas card - no surprise there then!  And so wanted to add a bit more bling to it.

I have some gorgeous gold and brown papers that I bought from a local craft shop called Merry Christmas from Craft Sensations.  I used these for the background and the strip of paper.  The snowflake is from Kaiser Craft Winter Wonderland and it was embossed in white embossing powder layered on to a stitched circle of gold glitter paper.  I added a gold snowflake.  The sentiment is from a very old set from Inkadinkadoo.  I embossed it in gold embossing powder and added the gold strips that I edged the backing paper with. 

 I also actually stamped inside this card.  The sentiment is from Kaiser Craft too and the deer and the trees are from an old stamp set from Hero Arts.

 

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - WINTER WONDERLAND - DECEMBER #107

Our final challenge for this year at Sparkles Christmas Challenge is Winter Wonderland. I have loved being part of this Design Team and it's great to have at least twelve cards already made for Christmas.  

I decided to use an old stamp set I found in my stash - I can't remember where I got it from but it has a snow globe, two sentiments and three images to go inside the globe.  I chose to use the deer.  I first embossed the snow globe with silver embossing powder.  I then stamped the image inside and coloured it with some Derwent Metallic Pencils.  I used Tim Holtz Chipped Sapphire for the sky.  I added some extra snow with a white gel pen.  The deer have been covered in Glossy Accents to give that glass shimmer.  The sentiment is from another winter set I have.  I popped it up on dimensionals and added some silver ribbon.  I then added it all onto a piece of white card stock which had been embossed with a snow flake design. I added some Spectrum Noir glitter pen to the inside of the globe and to some of the snowflakes.

It just remains for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  Thank you for playing along with us this year - I hope you've enjoyed making Christmas cards all year round as I have.