Joyful tree

Hello, crafting friends!

 

There's a new board at Tic Tac Toe Challenge today and I've had the privilege of putting it together!

 

 

I do hope you'll find some ideas to inspire you here - especially if (like me) you have lots more festive cards to make! I've come up with a CAS design using a layered tree die  - not sure who makes this but any tree die would work.

 

I cut the layers from offcuts of white card and sponged them with inks in three shades of green. To these I added white kraft ink to the edges, glued them together and decorated the tree with gold glitter glue 'lights'.

 

For the background, I masked off a crisp diagonal on the front of a thick card base and used Salty Ocean distress oxide ink and a sponge dauber above it to create an organic shape representing an evening sky. I dotted this liberally with my Posca white acrylic paint pen to conjure up a nice wintery snow storm. The tree was glued to the background and a sparkly punched star added to its top. The card was finished with a sentiment from Hobbycraft, die cut from a tiny snippet of red card.

 

Okay, it's over to you! First, hop over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge blog and check out the beautiful cards the design team have made to inspire you; Next, choose a column, row or diagonal from the board and use the ideas to create your own card; Finally, use the blue Linky button at the bottom of the challenge post to link up your creation with us - we can't wait to see what you make!

 

CHALLENGES

I'm off to the Snippets Playground with this snippety card; I'm also linking up at Inkspirational where the challenge is Layer It and I'm hoping my layered tree die cut counts :)

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I am delighted that one of our favourite walks has become available again after the farmer has moved his livestock.  The golden girls are fans because there are different terrains: a wooded area for hunting squirrels, a lane for sniffing in the hedgerows, fields for playing chase and having zoomies in, AND (drum roll!) not only a river to swim in, but also a stream to splash about in chasing sticks! Pupperino Paradise! I am keen because there is often a lot of mud around at this time of year and the rivers and stream come in very handy to turn a duo of muddy vagabonds into a pair of demure blonde princesses, albeit rather damp ones! 

 

Here's an exhausted Lulu, arranged on a sofa, having been dried off and plied with Choice Viands! Look at the crossed paws!! A princess indeed!

Sending hugs,

Christmas in the pink!

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I got to have a teeny bit of crafty fun today and made a fun and super quick Christmas card! Come and see:

 

It's always fun to think outside the colour box for festive cards isn't it, so I thought I'd go for a pink snow scene :) I made a stencil out of an offcut of thick vellum, cut with a rectangle aperture and then fortified with masking tape. This was positioned over the front of a thick card base and taped into place. Over that, I placed Uniko's Tiger Print stencil and sponged into it with Spun Sugar distress oxide ink. This produced a graphic snowdrift effect which practically made me jump up and down with happiness!! At the top I sponged solid pink for a sky before removing the stencils.

 

The trees are just one little die from Tonic Studios' Staggered Stage Winter Village, a die set I was lucky enough to win at The Snippets Playground. I gathered together a bunch of pink snippets of card and cut lots of the trees out. These were arranged at the top of my 'hill' at different levels and I popped one of them up and finished with a single clear gem...

 

 

and a die cut sentiment from Hobbycraft. This was an impulse purchase while I was browsing for something else and it has had a lot of use. You can't beat a bricks and mortar store!

Here are the pink snippets I used. I may make a whole bunch of these in different colours - that would certainly use up a few of those small snippets!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at The Snippets Playground (thanks again for that amazing die set ladies - I'm getting lots of use out of it!) Stephanie and Lauren at Jingle Belles are doing their breast cancer research challenge again this year and you can help by entering a pink Christmas card as they are donating for each one entered. Carol and the team at ABC Christmas are challenging us with U is for Unusual Colours (as well as V is for Velvet) so I'm linking up there too.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I am giving away a golden retriever called Mucky McRoll-A-Lot. Any takers?

I had climbed to the top of a hill and was dreamily enjoying the view while the dogs (as I thought) scampered about. Young Madam WAS scampering about, however Senior Madam had discovered a pile of fox poo and was busy rolling it all over herself. We returned home in short order, I keeping a terse silence; Lulu looking smug while sniggering to herself; and Eva wagging away and congratulating herself on a job well done.

Sending hugs (and reaching for the brandy),

Singing under the mistletoe arches

Hello, crafting friends!

 

If you were here yesterday, you'll know that I have developed a mad passion for a new stencil set! I've already used it for an autumn birthday card HERE, and today it's taking an outing as it was intended - on a Christmas card!

 

I'm using the Mistletoe Arches stencil set from The Greetery and this time I wondered if I could stencil the arch using coloured pencils. I can tell you that it IS possible but NOT recommended; the the pencils need to be sharp but they wear down really quickly in the stencil. It also takes a lot longer than using ink and dauber! I do quite like the look though.

 

The stencil set includes an arch and I used it to sponge in a pale blue background in the centre of the leafy arch. I layered over a die cut musical stave and notes, added a die cut 'joy' above it and a stamped sentiment under it following the curve of the stave. These new dies and sentiment stamps are going to get loads of use - I love the movement they create on a card front.

 

Snippets were used in the making of this card and I have a tip for you:

 

You can die cut bits from the centre of panels you want to use for matting and when you place the smaller panel on top, no-one would ever know! Double the snippets! Cunning eh?!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking up with Rudolph Days where we make a Christmas card on the 25th of each month; I'm also joining in with the Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge where Anything Stenciled Goes; The theme at Addicted to Stamps and More has come round to Die Cuts and/or Stencils so I shall link up there; I'm off to The Snippets Playground too where we share cards made with snippets; The Noted die set and the curved song title sentiment set are being aired for the first time so I shall nip over to Darnell's NBUS challenge to share them there!

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I am lavishing attention on this beautiful lady this week.

 

Shhhh! Don't tell Eva!

Sending hugs,

Star of wonder

Hello, crafting friends!

 

I looked at the calendar today and realised that it was the 27th of September already and I hadn't made my usual Christmas card on the 25th! I do this each month to help get a good stash together ready for posting out at the end of November. Anyone that knows me is probably sniggering at this so moving swiftly on...!

 

Here's this month's effort: On an offcut of navy card, I stamped a skyline of houses and trees with versamark ink and heat embossed in white. The stamp is an old magazine freebie. I used white acrylic paint to create a snowy foreground under the skyline, then diluted the paint, daubed in a shadow behind the trees and buildings, then splattered above them with ink to create a snowy/starry sky. 

 

When my scene was dry, I used a handheld punch to punch a 'star' in the sky, then mounted the panel onto a slightly larger piece of silver card. I finished the card with a die cut sentiment from Hobbycraft, trimmed and glued to the corner, before attaching the scene to the front of a 4" square card base.

 

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge where Anything Goes with the option of using Metallics; also Retro Rubber where I've chosen the bottom row of the Tic Tac Toe board Stars/Die Cut or Punch/Blue - don't know how old the stamp is but Ancient probably covers it!! I'm also joining in at ABC Christmas where S is for Snow and T is for Trees and I've incorporated both on my card! And last but not least I'm entering the Rudolph Day challenge - create a Christmas card each month, and link up between 25th and the end of the month.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

I was SO proud of my Eva this week. We were walking in the fields behind our house and were startled by a deer leaping out in front of us. Eva's eyes were on stalks of course and she immediately gave chase. The deer squeezed through a tiny gap in the hedge and shot across the road (not a main one but busy enough.) My heart was in my mouth but I gave our emergency recall command 'Eva, STOP!!!' and guess what? She did. She remembered that command that we practised over and over again when she was a puppy but that I confess we have not used in training for a long time. So, so proud of my girl and gave her chicken jelly later!

Here she is gazing adoringly at me (but only because I am The Mistress of the Chicken Jelly!)

Sending hugs,

Little gifts

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Christmas is over of course, and we are embarking on a shiny new year, but I hope you will indulge me today as I share a little gift set I made to thank a crafty friend for her kindness over the past year:

 

I made a gift bag out of a couple of sheets of A4 card stock and some coordinating ribbon. Sorry, I didn't take measurements as I was working to a time schedule but I will make another one later on in the year perhaps!

 

The tag was made with one of Waffleflower's stitched circle dies, stamped with fir branches and berries from The Greetery's Boughs and Branches and finished with a Merry Christmas die cut from Hobbycraft. 

Inside the bag I put a some bulbs in a pretty planter and a small jar of bath salts that I decorated with those same stamps from The Greetery. I really enjoyed using this colour palette (Stampin' Up's Melon Mambo and Shaded Spruce) and loved the way the berries popped when I added a dot of opaque acrylic paint with a Posca pen.

A circle punch turned out to be exactly the right size to decorate the lid!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The decorations are down in our house! Christmas decorations and lights after new year make me think of someone coming back from a party in the cold light of day and looking very seedy! What do you think? Are you a 'take them down the day after Christmas' person? Or a 'Leave them up all year' type?

Sending hugs,

Bottled Up for Christmas

Hello, crafting friends!

It's Tuesday and time for a new month of fun challenges at CAS Colours and Sketches! M friend Joanne is stepping up to host throughout November and boy has she got some great colours and sketches to inspire you with! Here's the colour palette she's starting with:

If you're up to your ears in Christmas card designs, you may find it very helpful - I certainly have!

I started by masking off the bottom of a card panel and sponging a neutral ink above it to ground my focal images. The darker green ink was used to stamp the two layers of a holly spray from Budding Beauties Winter by the Greetery, and I added the berries in red.  The bottle is from Bottled Up also by the Greetery. It has three layers and I used the lighter green to stamp all three which gives a very subtle texture. 

Once my bottle of holly was stamped I used one of Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside Border dies to cut a curve from the side of the card panel. I mounted this onto a card base and finished the card with a die cut sentiment and some highlights to my foliage with a Posca white acrylic paint pen.

And now it's over to you! Check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team at the CAS Colours and Sketches challenge site, and you can share your own creation there too via the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post. Have fun - and don't forget to keep your card nice and clean and simple with lots of nice clear space!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with Addicted to Stamps and More where there's a Christmas challenge; also Just Us Girls where Bobby has chosen Leaves as her wild card theme - and I'm hoping my holly leaves won't disrupt the autumnal gallery too much! I'm also playing along at Allsorts where Lorraine's challenge is to Add a Sentiment.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Just as the clocks went back in the UK this weekend, the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped and next morning we found lots of broken branches, leaves everywhere and sadly a few trees down too. Never mind 'sweater weather', it's coat weather and I would recommend hard hats too!

Sending hugs,

All is bright

Hello, crafting friends!

Clean and simple stamping has always been my favourite card-making style but just lately I find myself inclining towards bright colour and maximalism. It's much harder but kind of fun!

This card is very frugal! I didn't have any circle stamps so I used the rims of glasses to stamp them; I didn't have the right coloured card stock either so I swiped ink over the edges of the card base; and I used up snippets of card stock for the ribbons and the sentiment. 

The circles were stamped onto a panel first and I added the birds from Stampin' Up's Quite Curvy. I stamped and cut out the ribbons from WPlus9's Silver Bells, and drew lines with matching coloured pencils to look as if the circles are hanging from ribbon too. A grey pencil was used to create the board effect on the background and I coloured the birds with pencils too as well as their circle perches.

To frame the hanging circles, I stamped the fir branch from Uniko's Winter Foliage several times. The same ink was swiped over the card base to add depth. I finished the card with a Hobbycraft die cut sentiment cut out of a snippet of pink card stock, and a sprinkling of blue sequins.

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with the Kickstart Christmas challenge where there's a fabulous inspiration photo (I used the circles tied up with ribbon from the top of the photo, the bright colours and the fir branches); I'm also joining in with the Christmas Card Throwdown where the theme this week is Birds; I'm playing along at the Rudolph Day challenge too - the goal is to make a festive card at the end of each month, starting on the 25yth. Edited to add: There's no Rudolph Day challenge this month as Maureen and her family are ill. I know you will join me in sending love and get well wishes.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Sometimes, after a morning of romping about with friends, tucking into a bowlful of meaty chunks, tearing up tissues and rummaging through the laundry basket...

... it's good to find a sheltered spot in the garden and zzzzzzz

Sending hugs,

The holly and the berries

Hello, crafting friends!

Since it's the 25th of the month, I've been thinking about that other 25th that happens later in the year! Come and see:

This fabulous stamp is Framed Holly by Uniko and is just the thing for quick cards. I stamped it in red ink, coloured the leaves with coloured pencils, trimmed the image and mounted it on a red card base.

To finish the card, I added a label-style die-cut sentiment from Hobbyycraft and embellished with red liquid enamel.

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up with The Rainbow Card Challenge where the colour theme is Charmingly Cherry; I've not used this stamp or the die before so I shall share my card at NBUS Challenge; I'm also playing along with Merry Little Christmas and Christmas Craft Creations where both have Anything Goes challenges; I'm joining in at Rudolph Day too where the challenge is to make Christmas cards on the 25th of each month.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Do you remember me telling you about the little robin fledgling? Well it turns out there are three of them careering about in the garden now! Here's one cheeky little chap!

One of them gave me a scare the other day. The paddling pool was out so Eva could cool down and one of the fledglings flew clumsily across it to the flower bed the other side, completely missed and landed IN the pool where it flapped about desperately. I raced outside, scooped the bird out of the water and set it down on the flower bed where it sat looking a bit shell shocked. To avoid any future accidents, I emptied the paddling pool and when I checked on the little bird, he'd gone and I could hear lots of rustling in the back of the border so I assumed he'd forgotten all about it and cracked on with life!

Sending hugs,

Sledging through the snow

Hello, crafting friends!

Despite all the sunshine and spring flowers around here, I've imagined a snowy scene today!

This pair of cuties from Avery Elle's Polar Playtime are certainly enjoying the sub zero temperatures as they zoom down that icy slope on their dangerous-looking sledge! I coloured them with alcohol markers and cut the image out.

The background I made for them started with a watercolour sky. Once that had dried, I masked off the foreground and stencilled in some pine trees, using green ink and a stencil made with a tree from Tim Holtz Woodlands die set. I used opaque white acrylic paint and a paint brush to add a snowy slope and some falling snow. The card was finished with a die cut sentiment that I found at Hobbycraft.

CHALLENGES

The Kickstart Christmas challenge has a Sleigh Me theme so I shall link this card up there; I'm also joining in with 52 Christmas Card Throwdown where they want us to use Stamping on our cards; I'm also linking up with Rudolph Day at Scrappymo's where we make a festive card on the 25th of each month.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

As I was walking with Eva through the fields at the back of our house yesterday, I was reminded of snowy days. There's a small but quite steep slope that leads down into a lower field and I saw some small children rolling down it, squealing with laughter. When it snows, lots of little children go sledding there. Teenagers go to a different place that they call Death Hill. As far as I know, no-one has met their death there but I suppose there wouldn't be quite the same appeal for the teens if it was called 'Gentle Incline' or 'Totally Safe, Risk-Assessed Slope'!

Sending hugs,