A snippety nativity

Hello, crafting friends!

 

With all the focus on my daughter's wedding this year, normal crafting patterns have gone out of the window, but I realise that my task from now on is to enlarge my festive card stash!

 

This card was made using the plain side of Funky Fossil's Arched Window stencil, masked at the bottom to shorten it - and at the sides to prevent ink from smudging onto the card base (why do I always imagine I can skip that step?!) I also made a star mask with a sticky note and a star stamp and positioned it before blending brown, yellow and blue inks into the stencil.

 

The sentiment is from The Best Gift of All by Reverse Confetti and was stamped in crisp black ink in the centre of the ink blend. I had planned to leave the star uncoloured when I removed its mask but it didn't look right so I coloured it with a coloured pencil and embellished it with a clear gem.

 

And now for the fun bit: the idea for this card came when I was making another card using The Greetery's Slim Alphabet dies. while clearing the left overs away, I noticed that the inside of an 'O' and a 'K' turned onto its side looked a bit like a manger. I coloured them and trimmed the 'K' slightly and I think it works quite well - what do you think?

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Addicted to Stamps and More where the theme is Die Cuts and/or Stencils, and I've used both; Little Red Wagon where we are to choose to make a Christmas or a New Year project; Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge, where the optional theme is twinkle; and The Snippets Playground, where I hope my alphabet offcuts will be enough to count as snippets!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The wedding was a bohemian affair with wild flowers in jam jars, hay bales to sit on and dogs mingling with the guests, but there was a very fancy photographer there - which is just as well because I was too busy to take any photos! But here is a snap I took of my beautiful daughter before the wedding, with her hair and make up freshly done, in her wedding gown, casually sitting on the door step stroking Eva!!!

 

No harm done thank goodness, but this is typical - she is not one for wearing clothes that need to be worn with care and it didn't take long for those elegant ballet slippers to be kicked off either I can tell you! (She is rather like her fluffy sister in that respect!) I'll be posting more wedding-related stuff this week so do come back and share it with me :)

Sending hugs,

Double stenciled gift

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Happy Saturday and welcome to another fun challenge at Addicted to CAS - and our last challenge of the year! Raga is in charge of the code word this time and if you're anything like me and have heaps more festive cards to make, you'll be glad to see the word she has chosen!

 

Just the thing to get a bit of inspiration going!

 

I started by sponging a pale turquoise ink into the arch from Funky Fossil's Arched Window stencil turned on its side. Next, the present from Stampin' Up's retired Holiday Haul was stamped in red ink and covered with a mask made from a sticky note. I added a sentiment from Clearly Besotted's Sing It's Christmas in dark brown ink.

 

 

To create the patterned background, I replaced the Arched Window stencil and added Funky Fossil's Snow Flurry stencil over the top and sponged the same turquoise ink into that. When I removed both stencils and the mask over the gift, I was left with a pattern that looks as if it's behind the present and the sentiment :) I added a gem to make the gift look special :)

So now it's your turn! Do hop over to the Addicted to  CAS challenge blog to drool over the beautiful samples my teamies have made to inspire you. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and you can use it to share your own creation with us. Don't forget we are a clean and simple challenge so we love seeing lots of lovely clear space on cards, but above all have fun!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge where Anything Stenciled Goes.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Are you wondering what's in that gift? Perhaps it's an unusual pair of earrings...

 

... like these, modeled by the handsome Murph!

Sending hugs,

Peace and joy... possibly

Hello, crafting friends!

 

It's time for another fun challenge at Addicted to CAS and the talented Toni has come up with the cue word this time:

 

 

I might be a dog person but I love cats too and I had an idea for a festive card especially made for a friend who is owned by a beautiful black feline called The Lady Dora.

 

I created a background for my cat by sponging blue ink into the Arched Window stencil by Funky Fossil. After clapping wet hands over it to create falling snow, I added smaller dots with a white Posca acrylic paint pen once it had dried. To create the window sill, I just masked of a small area under the window and sponged pale brown ink into it.

 

I used Funky Fossil's Cat Silhouettes stencil for the cat, choosing one of the images and drawing round the inside of the stencil with a black fineliner pen. The cat was coloured with alcohol markers to look like Dora - her ladyship has trainer socks on her front paws and knee highs on her back legs! I fussy cut my cat and set her on the window sill so she could complain about the birds!

For a bit of balance, I thought I'd decorate the window. This graphic leafy image comes from Uniko's Peace and Joy and I liked the way it sort of echoed the shape of the arched window. I added a red enamel dot and stamped a sentiment from the same set to finish the card. (The sentiment made me smile as it would probably be the last think on The Lady Dora's mind while watching those birds!!)

So now it's your turn! Do hop over to the Addicted to CAS challenge site and admire all the amazing inspiration from my team mates. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and can use it to upload your own creation. Have fun!

 

CHALLENGES

I'm joining in with Jingle Belles' Frosty The Stencil challenge; also at Peace on Earth where I was inspired by the snowy window on the mood board; Addicted to Styamps and More have an Any Occasion theme going so I'm linking up there too.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I thought you might like to see a photo of The Lady Dora:

She is telling me she requires stroking and I'm afraid I've fallen rather short of her expectations. She is prepared to let me off this time however, as she rather enjoyed the Sheba I served at breakfast, but she hopes I will pull my socks up in the future. Indeed, she hopes she will not have to speak to me about my behaviour again.

Sending hugs,

Simply thank you

Hello, crafting friends!

Welcome back to CAS Colours and Sketches where we have a brand new hostess (hello Samantha!) and a gorgeous colour combination for you to play with.

Reflecting the Pantone colours of the year, these are bang on trend, so I've used them to give some of my older stamp sets a fresh new twist!

To start my simple one layer card, I sponged yellow ink into Funky Fossil's Arched Window stencil, holding it upside down to make a tag shape at the top of a card base. Next came the sentiment, from the retired Letterpress Winter by Stampin' Up, positioned in my stamping platform and stamped in the darker grey.

I masked off the sentiment and used the lighter grey to stamp the flower and a leaf from Uniko's You Are Yes You above it. Coloured pencils were used to colour the petals and as a finishing touch, I added a shadow to one side of the tag to give it a bit more dimension, and a couple of clear dots.

Are you ready to join in with this week's challenge? As always, there is some wonderful inspiration over at the challenge blog where my team mates have pulled out all  the stops. You'll find the Linky Tool there too and will be able to link up your own creation. Don't forget to keep it clean and simple!

CHALLENGES

Normally, I look for a sketch or photo inspiration to get me started with a card but today I was inspired by the arched window stencil which made me think of a tag! I'm joining in with AAA cards' Up To One Third challenge and choosing not to go with the optional twist this time.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The weekend just gone has been the May Day holiday weekend across the UK and we celebrated with a lovely long walk in the sunshine in a local woods famous for its bluebells. We were all - even Eva - quite tired by the end of it. 

Most of the weekend was warm and dry but on Monday strong winds and showers made our walks much brisker and my crafting more extensive! There has been some damage in the garden which has saddened me - watching everything come out has been so rewarding. But the plants have time to grow back so all is not lost.

Hope you've enjoyed your weekend too. Sending hugs,

The happiness of having pets

Hello, crafting friends!

I have had SO much fun crafting this afternoon! I took out my NBUS Let's Stay Home stamp set by Sugarpea and thought I'd make a quick card with it. And, what seems like hours later, I have made a card ;)

Just look at that pure little puss cat asleep on the chair. We always used to say that a house was not a home if it didn't have at least one cat curled up on a chair - and then we got a dog, but that's another story! What took the time with this card was creating the scene for the little kitty. I had the urge to do some paperpiecing so I spent a long time finding suitable bits of designer paper for the chair and cushions. I really, really want a yellow dotty chair like that now!

I stamped the cat, shaded her with a very pale blue alcohol marker and fussy cut her before settling her in the chair. The window has been made by inking part of Funky Fossil's Arched Window stencil. The rug was stamped, coloured and masked so that I could ink in a floor and I added floorboards with a fineliner pen; I stamped the table from the set and added a pot plant to it. The window was masked off so that I could 'paint' the walls a cheerful pale yellow. The final touches were a book left on the floor and a sentiment from Uniko's Simply Said Blocks.

CHALLENGES

I'm joining in at Time Out Challenges where the theme is Pets and also with Seize the Birthday where it's a birthday theme with the optional Topping of Furry Friends; I'm also linking up at Addicted to Stamps and More where there's an Any Occasion challenge, and NBUS, the place to share your Never Before Used Schtuff!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Today's card made me smile because it reminded me of a thing that our cat Tuppence (sadly no longer with us) used to do. You'd be sitting somewhere and would just get up to get something, and when you returned a minute later, Tuppence would be curled up in your chair. The hilarious thing was she would appear to be so deeply asleep that you almost doubted that you had been sitting there at all!!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend! Sending hugs,

A bit of caterwauling

Hello, crafting friends!

Caterwauling is not a new technique, just a word that means, according to the Oxford Dictionary, 'a shrill howling or wailing noise like that of a cat'. 

These little angels don't look as if they're capable of such a racket do they, but I'm inclined to think their singing is a tad imperfect! They come from Clearly Besotted's Sing it's Christmas and I've stamped them in neutral ink and then coloured them using coloured pencils.

I thought I'd put them in church, so I positioned the Arched Window stencil by Funky Fossil over a card panel and sponged blue ink through it. To create the falling snow, I wet my hands and clapped above the window a few times. Once the panel was dry, I trimmed it with a stitched rectangle die by Heffy Doodle.

Finally, I added one of the sentiments from Sing It's Christmas, attached the cats to the bottom of the window and embellished with a tiny punched star. I suspect a silent night is what many of the congregation are hoping for!!

CHALLENGES

I've been wanting to join in at The Paper Players this week where LeAnne's theme is to use a feline on our cards so I'm hoping I can just squeak in; I'm joining in at Watercooler Wednesday too, where Marsha is hosting the Occasions challenge. I'm also linking up with some Christmas challenges: the new-to-me Christmas 24 challenge, where the theme is Cute Animals (It's run by my friend Jacqueline, so do go and check it out and show her some love!); the Christmas Crafts All Year Round Challenge, where the theme is Something Beginning With C or D; and The Ruldolph Day challenge where we make Christmas cards on the 25th of every month.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Would you believe that after announcing that Mr Mojo had come back with a vengeance, he thumbed his nose at me and went AWOL for the last couple of days! I made a real effort to make something but only succeeded in making a mess! Eventually I gave up and did some gardening instead as it's still unseasonably warm here.

I was of course aided eagerly by my fluffy little helper who took all my prunings from the tarpaulin where I'd neatly placed them and examined them before spreading them around the garden.

Sending hugs,

Checked circles and peonies

Hello, crafting friends!

It's the start of another weekend and I'm hoping for a calm, uneventful one, with plenty of time in the Craft Square Metre! I have a pretty floral birthday card to show you today.

To get this card started, I cut three circles in a card panel using three different sizes of circle punch. Then, laying it against the card base, I lightly traced around each circle with  a pencil as a guide and masked off the edge of each. Blue ink was sponged through Funky Fossil's Arched Window stencil on each circle to create a checked pattern.

Once the masks were removed, I gently removed the pencil with an eraser and glued the panel over the stencilling. The peonies are from Clearly Besotted's On Your Day, stamped, coloured with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and fussy cut.

I layered my flowers over the circles, popping the top ones up with dimensionals. The birthday sentiment was made from WPlus9's Silver Bells and the word 'Birthday' from MFT's From Me To You and I finished the card with green sequins.

CHALLENGES

Circles is the theme at the Flower Challenge this month - and I couldn't miss their 4th birthday celebrations could I?! Congratulations ladies! I'm also joining in at Seize The Birthday, where the optional topping is Texture but I'm sticking with Anything Goes; and Allsorts where it's Celebration Time this week; and a last minute entry to We Love Chocolate Baroque where Anything Goes (thanks for suggesting Brenda!)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The crafty reorganisation has gone well I think. My aim was to have everything to hand but, because it's in the living room, either hidden or arranged in a way that is pleasing to the eye. OH did notice it but his only comment was 'That's colourful!' so I'm taking that as a sign of approval!

Here's a photo. My beloved Spectrum Noir markers and Stampin' Up inks and card stock are out on display (with room to spare to expand my collections!) Stamp sets, embellishments and other colouring media hidden away in boxes and baskets. 

Hope you have some fun crafty time this weekend! Sending hugs,