Trees

Here is yet another Christmas card to add to my pile... I really hope I will be prepared this time! We will be off on a cruise for 10 days in December to celebrate our Sapphire Anniversary, so I really need to be ready with cards etc in good time! There will be no hope of last minute mailing once we get home!

This is for a couple of challenges!

It's based on the sketch from Freshly made Sketches

With the colours from CAS on Friday/Sunday!

Copper, Black &White.

I used Tim Holtz trees embossed in Copper and cut out.

The white strip is dry embossed with a folder from Sheena Douglass and I can't remember the make of the little JOY die.

Welcome baby

I decided on a baby card for the sketch at The Paper Players this week!

I used some Pink Petticoat paper for the background with dies from Simon Says Stamp (frames) Paper Smooches (Welcome) and Memory Box (elephant). I simply added a googly eye to him!

Done!

Masculine

I always find it difficult to make cards for chaps,so here is one which I hope might do.

It's for a few challenges!

   

Here are the logos.

Paper Players, The Male Room and CAS Colours and Sketches

It's sports related, it has hexagons, and follows the sketch, so I guess that's it!

The sentiment was computer generated and the images consist of simple inlaid die cuts.

Today we are awaiting the arrival of my BIL and his wife who will be visiting for a week to escape  the turmoil of their house renovations... I believe it's rather like trying to live on a building site for them at the moment!

Tweet

 This little cutie is from such a fun stamp set by Paper Smooches! Almost all the birdie images bring a smile to my face. This one is for the challenge at Addicted to CAS! I guess you couldn't get much more CAS than this! It's quite a sweet thank you image!

It's also for Addicted to Stamps and More - Clean and Simple

The other day I was trying out  the speed limiter on my new car and was feeling very pleased that I had managed to set it at 40 mph. Sadly I had failed to press the button to actually put it into operation and I hadn't noticed that my speed had exceeded the proscribed limit, unfortunately for me a speed cop didn't miss it ! I'm going on a naughty girls speed awareness course next month! 

A second Guest Designer card for CAS Mix Up

There's still time to join in with the challenge at CAS MIX UP which this time is to ink up your stamps with Markers.

For this second card I used a stamp which I've had for quite some time and absolutely love... from Unity. It's useful for lots of different techniques from emboss resist and alcohol lifting,  to silhouettes, gilding and heat embossing.

I again used Stampin' Up markers to colour both the stamp and the sentiment, therefore making sure that the colour of the image and the sentiment matched perfectly.  I went over the petals with a itlle clear Wink of Stella to add a touch of twinkle. Once stamped the image was cut out with a Framelits die, extending it just slightly to fit the image.

Freebies

A bumper pack of freebies arrived in this month's edition of Simply Cards and Papercraft.  Here I used the tree stamps and dies plus a simple sentiment and a tiny robin which I managed to cut out even though it is tiny1

I cut the aperture from a Peek a Boo square stitched die from MFT, but elongated it a little to make a rectangle. The back panel was embossed with an EF from Sheena Douglass

I used the sketch idea from Freshly Made Sketches.

The simplicity appeals to me!

Twofer

Here are a couple of cards for Darnell's Twofer Challenge, which this time is leaves!

I chose to use a sycamore leaf die for both cards, adding smaller one for the first card, both cut from gold card and coloured with dye ink then sprayed with hair spray to fix.

I used the sketch from CASe this Sketch

I used a square stitched die to cut the aperture... extending it slightly to make more of a rectangular shape and adding a little burlap in the space. The sentiment is a die from Clearly Besotted.

For the second card I did a partial diecut with the die, adding an embossed image and a a completely cut out leaf popped onto dimensional pads.

I chose the Big Hugs sentiment die for the challenge at CASology which is heal.

I went out and bought a rug runner this morning to cover the splodges on the carpet in my craft room where I knocked off a pot of black ink . I was trying some acrylic pouring. Now I just need to do something about the splats on the ceiling! (Fortunately the ink washed out of my sweater!)

Bravo

Some weeks ago I took my gorgeous granddaughter Daisy for her tap exam.

I watched the pre-exam practice and was really impressed with how well she was dancing in her set of 4 girls. The icing on the cake came when she returned to her dance school after the summer break to be told that she had gained a distinction in her exam.

This is the card I made to congratulate her.

The image was downloaded from the internet and the sentiment made from a die from Cutplorations, cut in three layers with her name added using the computer. The peekaboo frame was from a die by MFT. The front panel was cut with a stitched square die also from MFT, but extended a little to fit the front of my card.

Bravo daisy!

It's for the CAS challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More

Here's that sketchy elephant  from Stampers Anonymous again. This time I paired it with a simple die cut Birthday sentiment from Papertrey Ink. Sadly I don't remember the make of the 'wish' die. 

Just us Girls is asking for Hand Drawn elements, so this was hand drawn... albeit not by me!

I did think about using a stamp which I drew and which was on the front of Craft Stamper Magazine as their 'FREE' stamp, but I feel it's a little passe now!

Peace

I really hope to be ahead of the game by the time December arrives and have all my Christmas cards made written and sent! We will be off on a cruise to the Canaries in December to celebrate our Sapphire Wedding Anniversary, so I hope to have everything done before we leave!

Here is another card. This is for the challenge at CAS Christmas  where the challenge is Wreath!

I die cut all the elements for this card, layering the word to make it stand out a little. It is simplicity itself.

The sentiment is from Sizzix and the wreath from Memory Box. 

Most magical time!

This Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers this time has the twist TREE!

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Here I used stamps from HLS Christmas Joy set, coloured with alcohol markers and cut out. The window was cut with a MFT Peek a Boo die and the cut out piece embossed with a Sheena Douglass EF and popped back into the space.

I just love the fonts of the sentiment!

I'm hoping that this year I will have made enough Christmas cards ahead of time to avoid the desperate rush when December arrives!

Wild Thing

For the CAS Challenge at Happy Little Stampers this time the theme is WILD!

I decided to make a simple one layer card using a Stampers Anonymous stamp and a sentiment from Clearly Besotted (I think). I love this really strong image of what is one of my favourite creatures. I don't think it needs anything more!

As the elephant is not supposed to forget, this sentiment seems somewhat of an oxymoron!

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Guest Spot

I was  very kindly asked by Bonnie and Loll if I would do a Guest Designer spot on their  CAS Mix Up Challenge. I was fortunate enough to be a Top Pick in one of their challenges... hence the invitation.

As you may see the challenge is to use markers to ink up stamps. You can get some great results with this technique and use different colours on one stamp. The other good thing is that you can ink up a sentiment in exactly the right colour to match with those used on the image.

My card uses stamps from Hero Arts, inked with Stampin' Up Markers. I did have to huff over the stamps a bit I had used several pens for each stamp and the first ones used had a little time to dry out. Bonnie gave me the tip of using my MISTI which would have meant that I could have added the colours one at a time, stamping each time with the stamp in the exact same spot and alleviating the need for huffing!

Here is the link to the challenge CAS MIX UP Ink with Markers

The 'outside in' frame was made with SSS stitched squares and the sentiment is from Lili of the Valley. So my three criteria are stamping, die cutting and inking with markers... with a little fussy cutting thrown in for good measure.

The joy of these challenges, put together by Bonnie and Loll, is that they stimulate loads of different techniques with links to lots of examples of how they can be done if you are unsure!

It's great fun, so do join in!