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),

Big card for a big birthday

Hello, crafting friends!

 

One of my neighbours was having a big birthday so we all clubbed together for a gift and I was so excited to be asked to make a card for us all to sign to go with it. Come and see:

 

The card is a sheet of thick white A4 card, scored and folded in half, so it is twice the size of the cards I'm used to making - and that was a lot of fun! I cut a card panel with a large stitched rectangle die by Christina Griffiths and sponged in an inky background. I clapped wet hands over this to create movement and  texture and left it to dry.

 

To build up a background for my toadstool and leaf scene, I used inks and daubers and three stencils: Berry Branch by the Greetery and Uniko's Tiger Print and Natures Tresure. The leaves, from Fall Foliage by Reverse Confetti, were left overs from another project and the mushrooms are gorgeous textured die cuts from the Greetery's Toadstool Garden, coloured with ink and daubers. Everything was glued in place, the panel attached to the card front and, to finish, I stamped a sentiment from Uniko's Birthday Sentiments.

 

 

I made a little gift bag too, out of some Stampin' Up designer paper I've had for many a year! I added a tag cut with an arch die, and sponged and stenciled using the same elements as the card.

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Happy Little Stampers Birthday challenge where Anything Birthday Goes; Ellie has chosen the theme of The Great Outdoors at Allsorts this week, so I'm joining in there too; I'm also playing along at November's Stencil Fun Challenge where Leaves are the optional theme.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

The clocks have gone back here which means the evenings are drawing in earlier and I'm finding it really hard to adjust to the dark this year. Anyone else? Off to make a hot water bottle and curl up with a rug over my knees...!

Sending hugs,

Just keep swimming

Hello, crafting friends!

 

After a long walk on Saturday morning with Eva and her spaniel pal, I thought the rest of the morning would be good for ignoring the chores and instead having a catch up with some challenges that have caught my eye this week! Please don't judge! 

 

So this card was started by cutting a panel and taping an arch die cut upside down onto it. I then positioned Uniko's Tiger Print stencil over the top of that and sponged blue ink into it. The stencil was taken away but before removing the arch mask, I sponged more blue ink over the top of the stenciling. I wanted it to look like swirling ocean waves.

 

In the upside down arch shape, I coloured a sky and sea with more sponged ink and some coloured pencils. I stamped a fish from Clearly Besotted's Under the Sea on a snippet of white paper, coloured it with coloured pencils and fussy cut it. The sentiment is from MFT's You're Fin-tastic, stamped in dark blue ink and heat embossed and the fish was popped up on a dimensional pad next to it. The panel was glued onto a yellow mat, attached to a card base and the card finished with some lovely shiny enamel dots for a bit of extra detail :)

CHALLENGES

Jen Mitchell's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches intrigued me and I had to join in there; The inspiration photo at Inspired By dictated the theme, along with Allsorts where Brenda's challenge is All (Real) Creatures Great and Small; I'm also playing along with Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge where Anything Goes.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

When Eva found out the title of this post, she assured me that she has every intention of keeping on swimming!

 

I think she's enjoying her summer!

Sending hugs,

A swoosh of bright paint

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Happy Saturday and welcome to another fun challenge at Addicted to CAS! Ceal has chosen the Code Word for this challenge and what a fun theme it is:

 

This is a great code word for creating happy mail for your crafty pals but, as usual, could be adapted to almost any kind of card.

 

My mind immediately went to a paint brush die from a set of tool dies, DIY Tools by Sweet Dixie. I teamed it with my Uniko Tiger Print stencil, which happened to be out on my desk and which I saw could look like a brush stroke! I masked off the bits I didn't want and blended pink inks into the bits I did.

The paintbrush was coloured with inks and markers and finished with some lovely glossy Crystal Effects, then glued to the brushstroke. To finish off, I mixed my own sentiment from Clearly Besotted and Greetery sets.

 

Are you ready to make your own card inspired by the word Craft? Do hop over to the Addicted to CAS challenge site and check out all the wonderful inspiration my team mates have made. You'll find the Linky Tool at the bottom of the post and you can use it to link up your own creation. Don't forget to keep your card clean and simple with lots of nice clear space - and have fun!!

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Happy Little Stampers Stencil challenge.

 

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My little Eva is fond of giving herself a colour makeover. Sometimes she is a pale golden retriever...

... but sometimes she likes to dress up as a black lab!!

Sending hugs,

Tigers and roses

Hello, crafting friends!

 

The band Guns and Roses really missed a trick I think... Tigers and Roses has a much nicer ring to it! Well perhaps not - as you were then. Anyway, I had a little idea today and snatched a minute to see how it would look. Come and see:

 

I spotted a little bundle of Altenew promotional goodies on ebay the other day and it was such a bargain, and contained the kind of layering die I've been wanting to try, so I couldn't resist. One of the other items was a rose layering stamp and die set and I gave the stamps a go here.

 

I stamped the red ink off to create the paler base layer of my rose then added darker detail layers - quite a fun look I thought. I created a mask with a sticky note and covered up the rose so I could add a few of the layered leaf.

 

The idea I'd had was to use a tiger print stencil from Uniko to create a sort of flowing background for a floral. I do love the movement it gives to what felt like quite a static image. I finished the card off with a blocky sentiment, also from Uniko.

CHALLENGES

Allsorts has a theme of Anything Goes with optional Roses (and I think I'm going to be a regular visitor over the next fortnight!!); I'm also linking up at Less is More where it's a One Layer Challenge and they team want to see Favourite Flowers; I used the colour palette from Color My Heart Color Dare's change 510, choosing Sapphire/Pine/Candy Apple; the stencil and the rose stamp are getting their first airing so I'm also sharing at Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

My young canine boarder is obsessed with Eva and copies everything she does. She is a bit nervous of water though and just watches Eva swimming from the river bank. But yesterday she stepped on a bit of what she thought was bank but turned out to be just reeds... and FELL IN!!

 

It wasn't a problem as I was right there to haul her out - but... it turned out that she didn't want to be hauled out! After the first shock she started swimming and obviously loved it. She does prefer not to go out of her depth now but has turned into a fully fledged water baby!

Sending hugs,