Friday 29 January 2021

Merry Christmas


As I was glancing through my list of challenges which I like to enter I spotted the one from 
Christmas 24 which is 


I love this concept and like to make them whenever I think about it!
This one was made completely with dies. I stacked two layers for the wreath, before twinkling with a little Glamour Dust. The sentiment was about 4 or 5 layers, which I left un-twinkled so as to stand out from its backdrop.
The frame was made by dry embossing a square, stitched die on the card front. You can scarcely see them but there are some tiny, tiny gems on the sentiment, at the ends of the swirls. 
Stay safe everyone!



 

Many Thanks

Here is a one layer card made with the challenges at AAA cards  in mind.

One layers are quite daunting to many, but with the advent of stamping platforms, lots of problems with poor impressions from stamps have been eradicated. Previously if a stamp had failed to give a complete image, the card had to be re-thought, re-vamped or even tossed. But now that there are second chances to stamp in exactly the same place, many first time poor impressions can be remedied.... as here! The flower heads (from Darkroom Door) were not cleanly stamped on the first try. The card, from Paper Mill Direct, has a linen texture and so there were tiny gaps in the ink impression. These were easily covered by second or third attempts. The same was the case for the sentiment. It's from a little set I got in Michael's on one our trips to the US some time ago. It says Art then a C in a circle. The set came with a little tag die too!.
For the background I made a stencil from Vellum, using a Sizzix die and brushed some Shabby Shutters Distress Oxide ink through it.
I am due to have my Covid vaccine tomorrow, Let's hope they have the supplies!
Stay safe everyone!


 

Thursday 28 January 2021

Let it snow


Here is a card which I made this morning with a couple of challenges in mind!
I saw this photo inspiration at Just Us Girls
and
12 Months of Christmas - Clean & Simple
Stay safe everyone!





 

Wednesday 27 January 2021

Merry Christmas Gnome.



 I love these cute gnomes by Simon Says Stamp. I have a couple of different sized dies plus a cutting file for my Silhouette which is rather similar.  This time I cut him from polka dot paper. It's a way of using my papers which I rarely use for backing any more! The beard was put through an embossing folder after cutting, to give it a more shaggy appearance. I echoed the dots with an embossing folder for the backdrop and added a little bit of ribbon coloured with a marker to tone in with it. It was a ribbon from inside a sweater (which really irritate me as they are forever popping out on show).
The sentiment is from Hero Arts, stamped using Distress Oxide ink, again to match. I love the way the oxides can be used for stamping as compared to regular Distress Inks.
This is my DT card for Christmas Craft Creations challenge
It's also for the challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More - Christmas



I hope that everyone is keeping safe, hopefully we'll be getting our jabs soon and that thereafter, things will start to ease. If everyone had stuck to the guidelines, we probably wouldn't be in quite the position we are now, but we must just try our best!

Sunday 10 January 2021

Thank you

At this time of year there are often lots of thank you cards needed in appreciation of gifts from friends  and family. As a child I was brought up to always remember that special thank you. Often the giving gives as much pleasure as receiving. For the latter to be acknowledged makes it all that bit more special!
This simple card was made with two particular challenges in mind.
...with a layout from the sketch at

CASe this sketch

This Memory Box  butterfly die is new to me, I think it's a little different the usual ones in my stash and I rather like it! I coloured it with a few Distress Oxide inks and added a few white splatters of Dr Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White. I think that my technique for adding this medium in splatters needs a little refining!
The dry embossing is from a Cuttlebug border EF.
Hopefully we should be getting the Covid vaccine reasonably soon as we are in the 75 years +  category. I think that until everyone had been vaccinated then problems with the virus will continue!
DO stay safe everyone!