Vintage Joy at Christmas

We have just spent a long weekend at our son's in Bury St Edmunds and we had a lovely, if very cold time! It wasn't cold in his lovely little bungalow however, but outside it was decidedly parky!
We went to the Christmas Market, which was bustling and I just had to pay a visit to the Stamp Hut, where I bought a few bits and bobs. Among other things, I bought some embossing paste so I'll be having a try out with that soon.
On Saturday evening we went to a concert of Christmas Music in which David was singing and that was great fun. It was just a pity that our DIL Nina couldn't be there, but she has been down at her mother's this week visiting the hospital whilst her mum had a hip replacement operation. All is well there, her mum is home and Nina is now back in Bury.
On to this card... another week and the challenge from My Time to Craft has come round again. The theme this week is Vintage. I chose a Vintage image from Stampn' Up, but decided not to do any distressing.
The sentiment is also from the same SU set. The navy, starry paper is a digi, but I can't remember the source.
I have had real difficulty in getting my mojo up and running since returning home, I just hope inspiration strikes soon.
Christmas Card Challenges - Sketch
Keep it Simple - Joy
Crafty Catz - Christmas
Allsorts - Monochrome
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes

An Award from Lyn and Diane

I was lucky enough to be given this award twice, once from Spyder (Lyn) and once from Diane, thank you so much ladies. So I think I'll combine the two together and comply with the terms of the award just once. For this I have to tell you 8 things about myself and then pass the award on to 8 other bloggers.
Here goes.

1. I passed A Level Art
2. I just visited my first form teacher from my grammar school who first taught me in 1956, she remembered so many things it truly astonished me and she still doesn't need to wear glasses!!
3. I wear varifocal specs.
4. I am intensely proud of my family.
5. My husband buys me roses every week.
6. I love cruising holidays.
7. My son is a doctor.
8. My daughter gained a 1st class honours degree at university

So now I need to pass it on to 8 other bloggers, so in no particular order I would like to give it to Val, Mandi,  Anne,  Lorraine, Paula, Sylvie, Anne, and Cardarian.

One Layer Wednesday 30

The challenge at One Layer Wednesday this week is to take inspiration from this site. The card I chose to emulate is this one.

I used a clear stamp from Papermania, which had a little sentiment underneath, which I decided to cut off and used a different sentiment (but also Papermania) instead.
Three reindeer, simply stamped with Olive Green Stazon.

We are going to see my BIL today and then on to see our son, who will be singing in a concert with his new choir this weekend. Should be fun!
I'd better get ready.

WOYWW

A bit messy today, on my desk you can see my old ice cream tub into which I throw my dirty stamps to await cleaning. Beside it you can see my new Stampin' Up set which arrived yesterday and I have been trying to make some cards for chaps... always a tricky proposition I find.

Here are a couple of them. The set is called Studio Sketches and I think they're great.

The other thing I thought I would show you is a really useful box which I use to keep my sets of clear stamps in.
It has a flap at one end so that I can get out a set without taking the whole box out of the cupboard.





My daughter-in-law is coming over at lunchtime today. She is staying for a week down in Worthing at her mother's, who had a second hip replacement operation  the day before yesterday. All seems to be OK at the moment. So Nina is going to pop over to see us and also visit a rather fine lingerie shop not far from here.
Pop over to Julia's the WOYWW Queen and see the work desks of the world. The link is on my sidebar.

A Treat for Daisy

Here we have a treat bag filled with Reindeer Drop(ping)s... a little treat for my Granddaughter Daisy!
She loves chocolate and like her mother, can sniff it out from 50 paces. This is a little something for her Christmas stocking.
The bag is made from a cello' card bag and the tag is made from Nesties Labels 17. The tree is from an All Night Media stamp and the reindeer is a digi from the Little Paper Shop.
The sentiment is from a very old cheapy set of clear stamps which were about 99p, sadly I don't remember the make.
The Challenge over at the Creative Card Crew is for a treat bag or box, so do join in the fun and show us your creations, we'd love to see them.
Have A CREATIVE DAY!

Take a Tag

I really must be getting old... the weeks are flying by and it's already time for another challenge from My Time to Craft. Here is my DT card and the theme is entitled Tag Along.
I made the tag, carefully shaping the top, which I then promptly covered with the bow... Hey Ho!
I haven't really done much collage stamping so I thought I would give it a try. I found it a little more difficult than the demonstrators in the videos I watched on You Tube made it appear, but after a couple of abortive attempts I came up with this. I understand now the purpose and order of using inks in gradually deepening tones, and have used a whole bunch of stamps to get the finished effect.
I started with a Stampabilities music manuscript stamp, then the side panel with the stars on, then the Hero Arts  flower, finally adding the Artemio Christmas foliage stamps and the Papermania sentiment in the deepest shade. After I'd done that lot I distressed the edges with Distress Ink.
The background paper is from Papermania and the leaves are from X Cut punches.
Job Done!
Do join us in this challenge and let's see your fab creations.

Not a card

I love messing about with templates and this was no exception!
I don't actually remember where I looked for this one, but it appealed immediately.
After printing and cutting out the template, I decorated the cracker with my SU  Baroque Border Stampin' Around Wheel, heat embossing the design in gold.
I added a Vintage label punched out with my Scallop Circle Punch. I thought that these might make good Christmas Day place markers... with a small gift inside!
Catch the Bug - Christmas Challenge
Our Creative Corner - 3D challenge
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - A time for giving
Winter Wonderland - Make  decoration

Not a good day for your birthday

Tomorrow is my son's mother-in-law's birthday and she is going into hospital for replacement hip surgery... not the best way to spend one's birthday, but no doubt she will be so relieved to get it done as she has been in considerable pain since her  hip began to disintegrate!
She loves butterflies and so here is another card with a butterfly for her.
Hero Arts French Script stamp
Stampin' Up butterfly,
Personal Impressions sentiment.
I doodled the butterfly's trail.
I find it very difficult to photograph cards with a lot of white, which is rather a shame as I make quite a lot of them! I'm sorry this is such a rubbish picture, but I hope you can see it clearly enough.
I'll be wishing her luck as well as a happy birthday tomorrow!
Alphabet Challenge - D - Doodling

Color Dare

This is a stamp from a Stampin' Up set, Polka Dot Punches, which I was given for my last birthday.. I really ought to get the punch which goes with this stamp to save myself all that cutting out!
I love them and have used one this time for the challenge from The Color Dare . (It was the winner)
The specified colours are Pacific Point, Melon Mambo and Blushing Bride.
I actually don't have these exact colours, some are on my wishlist with my SU rep Victoria, but I looked in my catalogue and matched the colours as closely as I could.
Clean and Simple, and I find the result rather pleasing! I hope you think so too!
We had a lovely progressive supper last night with our neighbours, but today I feel rather tired... I don't usually go to bed so late!
Sentimental Sundays - Thank You

Colour Challenge

I had to do a little approximation with this card as I didn't have the Stampin' Up colours exactly. I matched the shades from my catalogue with the colours of inks and papers I have in my stash and I think that they are pretty close.
The colours in question are Pear Pizzazz, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.
The challenge is from Colour Throwdown.
For this card I used Darkroom Door stamps with a Hero Arts sentiment.
It is heavily distressed and now I have rather ink-stained fingers which won't look too good for my dinner party tonight unless I get scrubbing!
A Spoonful of Sugar - Distressing

Lavender and Lace

I really like this Stampin' Up stamp and punch set, I wish I'd ordered the other set with this shape of bauble in it  in time for Christmas. I had great difficulty in finding an ink and card which would give the depth of colour I wanted, in the end I used Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender, with my Paper Mill matt finish card.
Having chosen my ink and found a suitable match for the matting paper, I then couldn't find a ribbon to match, so I coloured some ivory satin ribbon with a Copic Marker... I think it works really well.

I fancied adding a little bling to the baubles and began with some diamanté adhesive gems, but they didn't look too good with the lace, so I switched them for my favourite pearls!

Paper Cutz - Christmas Bling

Bah  Humbug - Lavender

Wags and Whiskers  - Lavender and Lace
Fussy and Fancy Friday - Non Trad Christmas Colours

We Three

This is the type of card which leaves me feeling most satisfied after completion. Clean cut and simple! I love the images which are a mix of Darkroom Door and Artemio (left hand image). They were stamped whilst the card was still in the die after embossing, so that the blank border was retained. The sentiment is from a Personal Impressions clear set... first inking since purchase at the NEC... reduced from £5.99 to £2.99... what a bargain!
I took the inspiration for this card from Susan on her Simplicity blog and cased this card from hers.
We are having a progressive supper this evening, starting at our house for drinks and the first course, then moving across the road for the main course and then on to the next door house for dessert and cheese!
It works really well. As neighbours we get on well and it means we have a super meal, only having to prepare one course apiece!
Just Us Girls - Colour Challenge Dark Red, White, Black and Yellow
Daring Cardmakers - We Three

If only he could wobble!

Looks like winter's coming... on this card at least!
The challenge from One Stop Cards and Crafts is Snow people....you  can't say we're not politically correct!
The challenge has been set by Sharon, who hasn't been too well this week so do send her a big hug. It is sponsored by Robyn's Fetish and this is one of their images. It reminds me of when my son was small and we were living in the USA, he had some toys called Weebles and they wobbled but didn't fall down. I would love to make this image wobble and have played around a little but haven't come up with a practical solution as yet. If anyone can't think of a way of doing it I would love to hear it!
The background was made with my splodge Rollagraph wheel using the emboss resist technique, and I used SU Bashful blue ink over the top of the clear embossing.
Both the snowman (which I coloured with a mix of Promarkers and Copics) and the snowflakes are mounted on pop dots.
The sentiment is from Stampin' Up.
I belong to a Stampin' Up club and was lucky enough to win £45 worth of stamps and punches from Victoria my Stampin' Up demonstrator, I've been drooling over the catalogue and can't wait to choose my gift.. how cool is that!!! If you need any Stampin' Up products, (and who doesn't) I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear from you!
Stampin' for the weekend - Winter
ABC Challenge -  H - Holidays
Paper play - Let it Snow
Delightful Challenges - Baby it's cold outside
Totally Papercrafts - Snowflakes & Snow

Monochrome

Bugaboo stamps have a 50% reduction in the price of their Digi Stamps for the whole of November. I bought a few more today, this being one of them. I was laughing out loud at some of them, they really strike a chord. The sentiment on this one is typical of me, being a real squirrel, I keep all sorts of rubbish, but we recently cleared out the loft and got rid of oodles of stuff... however, we haven't needed anything I tossed... yet!
I thought this image perfect for a moving house card... having a clear out is inevitable before moving! I even added the key to the new house!
The paper is from Pink Petticoat with the edges distressed with Old Paper Distress Ink.
A Spoonful of Sugar - Distressing
Everybody Art - Monochromatic Brown
Stampavie - Monochromatic
Artful Inkables - Sentiment and Corners
Cupcake Craft - House Warming

Winter Woodland

I learned this technique some weeks ago from a Canadian Crafter's blog.
The card blank is masked and the colour added to the central section. I used Peeled Paint and Dusty Concord Distress inks plus Bashful Blue Stampin' Up ink applied with sponges.
The trees in the distance were then stamped with SU Mellow Moss and the nearer ones with second impression of Stazon Olive green. I then removed the masking paper and stamped the trees in the foreground using Olive Green Stazon directly after inking.
The sentiment is from Hero Arts.
I am getting braver with one layer cards... I used my Lego stamp positioner to ensure the sentiment was stamped straight... although one tree looks as though it's been in a bit of a gale!
Creative Inspirations - Winter Woodland
Keep it Simple - Wonderland  (Winning card)
Fresh Brewed - Show off your style (Clean & Simple, one layer)
Scrapbook Sisters - Christmas Tree
Crazy 4 Challenges - Christmas

One Layer Wednesday - Cake wrecks

The inspiration for the One Layer Wednesday challenge over at Simplicity blog is from a website called Cake Wrecks. Apparently, during the week the cakes are a little wonky but at the weekend they are masterpieces and this is the one I used as the inspiration for this card.

How anyone could make anything quite as intricate as this is truly astonishing!
Several stamps have seen the light of day for the first time today, some I've had for ages and not used and some brand new!

WOYWW

My desk this week is a little neglected. On Monday I went to my daughter's and yesterday we went Christmas shopping in the factory outlet at Swindon. In previous years I have done really well in finding presents there and this time was no exception... but more of that later.
The things on my desk are just not quite right.. unfinished... don't quite  know what to do next with them. The mojo has departed somewhat. I think that the problem might be a surfeit of new stash in that I don't know where to start and what to use first!
I'm really pleased with one thing which I bought recently...these A4 plastic boxes for card and paper storage! I can see at a glance what colour each contains.

Just next to this unit is a drawer containing my Stampin' Up stamps... I really do love them and they seem perfect for my preferred style of card... clean and simple!

 I hope you all have a great WOYWW, sadly I only managed to visit about half of the desks last week , but I will try harder!
Join us via our illustrious leader Julia, whose link is on my sidebar and take a snoop around the workdesks of the world!

Window fun!

Another challenge from MTTC, this one entitled Window Fun... my how the weeks fly by, I can't believe it's Tuesday again already!
For this challenge I used the technique where an image is stamped, cut into quarters and then the pieces spread out to represent the panes of glass in a window.
The images are from Darkroom Door and the sentiment from Hero Arts.
There are lots of different ways of interpreting this challenge as you may see from the fabulous examples from the Design Team and we would love to see your personal take on it, so do join in and share your creation with us.
I have been staying with my daughter once more babysitting my granddaughter... she's certainly a little character and brought a smile to many a face as we were shopping in town, singing Incy Wincy spider and Twinkle, twinkle little star (very loudly) in several of the shops.
Today my daughter and I will be going to do a little Christmas shopping in the factory outlet in Swindon, whilst Daisy is at Nursery. I have managed to get lots of presents there in previous years, so I hope that today I will be just as lucky!

Happy Birthday James

A member of my choir asked for a card for his son. He gave me a great list of possible things to include on it and I managed to get several in!
These are his name and age this birthday, a book, a cat and the colours of the football team he supports. I didn't think that was too bad going!
In order to include a book I used a digi image from Fred She Said and masked out the apple which was sitting on top of it, before printing it out. I then stamped the Penny Black Pussy cat to appear as though he was sitting on the book. I think it worked out quite well. The paper is from Cuddly Buddly and the sentiment was generated on the computer and mounted on a Spellbinder tag.
We went to our club at the Solent Hotel last night for a South African Wine Dinner with our neighbours. The food was superb and the wine simply delicious... I am feeling a little jaded now however, and we have a concert to sing this evening with our choir, I might just get my head down for 40 winks!
Alphabet Challenge - C Cats
Penny Black - Favourite things (I love pussy cats)

Pop Ups

The theme this week over at One Stop Cards and Crafts is Pop Ups, chosen by my teamie Janet!
There must be loads of methods of making a card pop up in some way or other and you can see quite a few different ones if you 'pop' over to the challenge blog and see what the rest of the Design Team have come up with. I'm sure you'll be inspired. There are lots of tutorials to help you on the web and Splitcoast Stampers is an excellent place to look for help.
This is a slider card, and the image from Digi Doodles Shop Best, pops up when the tag with the ribbon is pulled, revealing the sentiment beneath.

The brown paper was stamped with the gold leaves using my Rollagraph wheel, after masking the edges so as to leave a border matching that at the bottom. The green DP is from My Mind's Eye and the sentiment is from Stampin' Up. The corners are my old favourites from Cuttlebug.
Since making the last one of this type of card, I have acquired a Fiskars trimmer which allows me to cut within a piece of card and I found this much easier than using a craft knife and ruler.
Stamp Something  - November Digi Day

Remembrance

When I saw the challenge at Daring Cardmakers, I just had to make a card for it.. I don't suppose it will be sent to anyone, but I think my husband and I will display it ourselves to remember all the brave men and women who have given their lives in the service of their country, that we might be free.

Something old, something new!

This is a technique I haven't tried before, it's called a Raised Frame card and I 'borrowed' the idea from Stamp TV.
The 'old' thing is my Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing  folder and the 'new' element is the SU stamps, which were inked for the first time today.
The blue is a little tricky, but if you look incredibly closely, you might just see a little 'blue' twinkling in the Stickles, which I added to the snowflake.
The tiny bit of DP visible is Bits of Ivory from Cuddly Buddly.
The challenge is from Creative Belli.
We had a great time in London on Wednesday and saw none of the violence which erupted that day.
Oliver was outstanding and the the meal at Bel Canto was brilliant. The singers were superb!
We arrived home around midnight, tired but contented after a great day out!
ABC Challenge -  H - Holidays
Christmas Card Challenge - Picture Inspiration (red & White)
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

Rustic Rooster

At my choir I was asked for more cards for men. It's always the same isn't it... we never have enough. I thought that this rooster was a great image for chaps. Here I have used my choir colours (I don't know if that was a sub-conscious choice), the ladies wear red and the chaps wear black and white plus a red cummerbund. I mounted the piece of vellum onto a white backing and attached the two with brads. I'm using my new deckle dies which I bought at the NEC and I love them!

Here is a second card using the same set of images! Finding a sentiment to match in with the script on this little background stamp was tricky. I settled for a computer generated one in the end and this is the closest I could find in my font file!
Dutch Dare - Clean and Simple
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

WOYWW

Good morning WOYWWers!
I've been saving this picture to show you today!
This is the haul I bought at the NEC last week. I went a little mad... but it was all totally necessary you understand.
There certainly some very good prices to be had, but it just costs so much money to save some!
I went with two friends, whom I met for the first time on Thursday...Val and Anne, and here we all are in Birmingham.

Actually at the moment my workdesk is my dining room table as I'm in the process of recovering a pelmet for my daughter. She is moving her daughter into a new room prior to the arrival of the new baby in January and so a few alterations are necessary. She is keeping the same curtains, as they were quite expensive and are only a couple of years old, but by changing  just the pelmet with some coordinating fabric and matching it with the wallpaper it should look great. I have managed to match the pattern fairly accurately on the fabric which is a great relief. (Zoom in and see if you can see the join!) I have covered the original with several layers of white material in order to make a suitable base lining for the light coloured fabric.  All  I have to do now is to stick this down and then stitch on the backing.

We will be off to London shortly,  to see a matinee performance of Oliver followed by dinner at a restaurant called Bel Canto, where the waiting staff are opera singers and serenade you as they serve the meal. Should be fun!
If you'd like to see work desks around the world, pop over to Julia's, the link is on my sidebar, and have yourself a good old snoop.

Birdhouse

I love fiddling around with templates and this was no exception. It's a little birdhouse tree decoration for my granddaughter. As it's merely card, I'm not sure how long it will last in the the hands of a 2 and a half year old, but hopefully it will make it onto the tree.
I embossed the cut-out template with a Tim Holtz tree bark embossing folder and made the roof and the floor from Nesties.
I think I may make one for our tree too!
Bunny Zoe Crafts - Anything for Christmas, but not a card
Crafty Cardmakers - Dry Embossing
Craft your passion - 2 of anything (2 stamped bows)
Bah Humbug - Fancy Folds
Keep it Simple - Shape Up

Thanks so much!

I've just realised that the leaf doesn't come from the same tree as the acorn... but I like the image from Mel Jennings anyway! It's my DT card for the Creative Card Crew this week. The theme is Giving Thanks, but as we don't have the celebration of Thanksgiving in the UK, I just did a regular thank you card.
I love this backing paper which I found in the drawer, but couldn't find the source... It's a digi but I couldn't  find the file on my computer... very strange! I added a little faux stitching and coloured a few adhesive pearls with a Copic marker to balance the sentiment  which is from Hero Arts.My daughter just called to say that her
28 month old daughter had done something to her computer which caused all the keys to perform their secondary function, unless she held down the Fn key. Guess what! I sorted it out for her!
Granny triumphs again!
(Actually I looked online for a solution and got one first hit!)

Rhapsody of roses

I've had this set of Penny Black clear stamps for quite some time but used it infrequently. However, I thought of it immediately when I saw the theme of the current challenge, Rhapsody of |roses, from My Time to Craft.
I distressed and inked the edges to give it a vintage feel, but I'm not brilliant at this kind of look.
The paper is from My Mind's Eye and the scalloped edge was made with  an EK Success border punch.
My friend asked if I would like to go for  a 'Health Walk'with her today. I think it's an organised walk which would have been great of it wasn't blowing a hoolie today. I think the clap of thunder settled it. Maybe next time!
DO join in with our challenge at MTTC we'd love to see your creations!
Kaboodle Doodles - Vintage

Stamp TV Sketch

I like to watch the technique videos by Gina K at Stamp TV. Today I saw one not for a technique but for a sketch. This is my interpretation of it. I don't often use hectic backing papers, but I  just fancied this black and white one from Paper Cellar today.
The image and sentiment are from Stampin' Up and the die cutting is Nesties and Cuttlebug.
I enjoyed making this one... but now it's time for a G&T!

Snowman

Yet another clean and simple card, this time a little snowman from Hampton Art Stamps. It is coloured with Copics and mounted on a Cuttlebug embossed square, with a very simple greeting added.
When I  went to the NEC last week I bought something very fundamental... a set of Spellbinders small square dies, to complement the large ones which were probably my first Nestie purchase... now I wonder how I did without them for all this time.
I don't think I understood all the descriptions... large, small, petite, classic, big, mega, grand, standard.... you need an O level in understanding the descriptive terms!
The Paper Players - Snowman
ABC Christmas Challenge - White
Christmas Card Challenge #49 - Picture inspiration

OSCC Blog Hop Candy Winner

The winner of my candy giveaway from our recent Blog Hop is Gina G.
Congratulations Gina, if you send me an email with your contact details, I'll get the goodies sent in your direction!
Enjoy!

Robin Redbreast

I bought this image some time ago and didn't actually get my head around the best way to use it. Here I have used several inks to colour the various parts of the stamp.
The shape of the robin's red breast was made using a Cat's Eye ink pad... a great help for getting the curve of colour.
The legs and beak were inked with Whisper Pens and the main body of the bird and the branch again used Cat's Eyes inks.
Simply mounted on Nesties... it's a clean and simple Christmas card.
Craft Your Days Away - White
Alphabet challenge - B Bird
The Stamp Man - Christmas
AiFactory - Something in the garden
Simon Says Stamp - All White
ABC Christmas Challenge - W Winter Wonderland White

Blogger Templates

Flutterbies

My son's MIL is to have surgery to replace her disintegrating hip very shortly... I don't think it can come soon enough for her as she is in incredible pain.
She loves butterflies and whenever I make a card for her I like to try to include at least one. This one has heaps... they may join the ones she will most  probably have in her tummy immediately prior to the operation.
All the butterflies are twinkled... it's all over me too, I couldn't decide which additional butterfly to put on the card and so glittered loads of them before deciding on this one.
The sentiment is from Hero Arts.
I hope for 2 things... that she likes the card and makes a speedy and successful recovery!
Paper Cutz - Get well with wings

Fantastic giveaway!

Give Away

How do you fancy winning a set of 48 Prismacolor art markers, (worth £129), the ink is formulated to give the richest color saturation with silky smooooooth coverage. The duality of the thick and skinny tips let you change it up whenever the mood strikes. They are an alcohol, dye-based ink that’s non toxic and blendable, and they'll work in conjunction with your copics or promarkers, and come in a snazzy little carry case!

All you have to do is leave a comment at Simply Create, sign up as a follower and if you shout about the giveaway on your blog then they'll add an extra entry into the hat for you. The draw will be held at the Pink Ladies Crafty Get Together on Sunday 14th November during lunch and will be drawn by the first pink lady who walks through the door on the day!!!!


So what are you waiting for?????

Bird or leaf?

I was messing around for ages trying to make this bird from the leaf/bird die from Paper Artsy!
I used some Distress Ink to colour him whilst still in the die and masking his tummy with another die-cut. Ink kept seeping under the die and looking very messy and I had lots of attempts to get it right. This was the best of the bunch. The trees/leaves and sentiment are from Stampin' Up and the background paper embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.
Clean & Simple - Sketch
Daring Cardmakers - Topaz
Alphabet Challenge -  B Birds
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes (birthday sentiment)
2 Sisters - Birthday

Grasses

I made this card with a selection of stamps from  Penny Black clear set, which I bought really cheaply at my local Paper Mill shop last weekend.
I used a variety of shades of ink for stamping, beginning with the lightest shade for the distance and finishing with the strongest shade in the foreground.
I find it rather pleasing.
I've had one of those days today, where every bright idea I had didn't quite come off which has left me feeling rather frustrated... maybe something will go right soon!
Dutch Dare - Clean & Simple
Crazy 4 Challenges - Square cards
Our Creative Corner - Attitude of Gratitude
Little Red Wagon - Use the colour red

Another new purchase

This elegant creature was stamped with my new purchase from Penny Black... part of my haul from the NEC on Thursday. It's for Itzuvit's 'Embossing' challenge from One Stop Cards and Crafts this week. The embossing here was made with a Tim Holtz tree bark  folder on some rather grainy brown card.

The stamp itself doesn't have a sentiment, so I began by adding one which was a partially masked clear stamp from Papermania. In fact the stamp didn't have the umlaut, but there was a tiny dash of ink from where the stamp was masked, so I added the umlaut with the tip of an embossing tool to disguise it. I then realised however that it was over the wrong letter... it should be over the 'e'. So that went in the bin and I started again deciding to choose a different stamp altogether for the sentiment. I should have tried to get them side by side for a spot the difference test!

Thank you everyone who entered the Blog Hop last week, it was lovely to be visited by so many lovely people... the results of all the winners and  DT's candy draws will be announced later today. So do check back on the challenge blog for details.

Any kind of embossing will qualify for this challenge, so triple embossing, dry embossing, heat embossing, brass templates, scored lines and shapes, any of these will be great. So do join in and let's see your creations!
Crafty Ann's Challenge - Christmas card ... non-traditional colours

One Layer Christmas card

Here is another one layer card and I must admit that I am getting braver at stamping directly onto the card. For this I used a couple of the things I bought at the NEC, where I went yesterday with Val, who is a teamie on the DT at One Stop Cards and Crafts and Anne who is a teamie at Cooking it up with Katie.
We had a great day and I really enjoyed myself. It was great to meet friends I feel I know, for the first time.
I used one of  my new Nesties deckled rectangles to make a mask for the front of the card and punched some snowflakes out of paper which I gently attached to the card with a tiny amount of  glue runner adhesive. I then stippled the surface of the card with two shades of Stampin' Up ink, using a sponge.
I was quite pleased with the effect when the mask and the snowflakes punchies were removed.
The sentiment, also a purchase yesterday, was stamped in the darker shade of blue.
So this is my One Layer Wednesday 27 card.
ABC Christmas Challenge - Winter Wonderland
Crafty Calendar - Winter Wonderland with snowflakes
No Time to Stamp - Clean & Simple