Merry Christmas

Here is a card for the reminder post for the challenge at Christmas Craft Creations where I am doing a Guest Designer spot. The theme is Fun Folds

I kinda made this one up!

I just fancied something a little different. I made  gatefold cards for my daughter's wedding invitations, and they fastened with a ribbon, this one fastens by the fact that I made a double edge so that the right hand flap slots into the left hand edge.

I simply cut a second scalloped strip which I aligned and adhered behind the front one, leaving a gap for the right flap to slot into.

The little fox is from Create a Smile, the sentiment from Poppy Stamps and the tiny sprig of holly an old favourite stamp by Stampendous.

Merry Christmas

Recently I was lucky enough to have one of my cards selected as the winner at Christmas Craft Creations and was invited to be a Guest Designer for their current challenge!

As you can see the card is a little different from my usual makes and that is because this challenge is to make a Fun Fold Card!

This one is a centre step card and the problem came with working out some measurements which would fit UK  cardstock sizes and have the correct dimensions to fold properly.

This is what I came up with. (Sadly not exactly to scale)

The measurements down the centre are the distances between each fold.

The solid lines are cut lines and the dotted lines are fold lines.

These cute polar bears are from MFT and I added a bunch of die cuts to complete the picture!

Just Us Girls 

 

Merry Christmas to You - Guest Designer at Christmas Craft Creations

Guest Designer

I love making Christmas cards and for several months I was a designer at Christmas Craft Creations. During that period we were asked if any of us (designers) would like to design a sketch for a future challenge. From those submitted, this one, drawn by yours truly, was selected as the winner. Since then I have since stepped down from the team, but Charlotte (Lady Joyful) graciously asked if I would like to be the Guest designer for this particular challenge. Thank you so much Charlotte,  I am delighted to do so.

Of course much licence may be taken with the shapes etc, but the overall look of the sketch should be recognisable.

Recently there was a sale of dies at an online craft store and I bought a bunch of them... not that I needed any more. However I couldn't resist these stylistic mountains and trees from Poppy Stamps. The sentiment is from Memory Box. The top half of the backdrop was dry embossed with a snow embossing folder from Sheena Douglass, which sadly is no longer available. I decided to put a little Memory Box glittery star in the sky, but that was sheer indulgence on my part!
DO join in the fun... it's so good to have all your Christmas cards prepared in advance, avoiding the mad scramble at the last moment.

 

Jingle Bells

This card is my last contribution as a member of the Design Team at Christmas Craft Creations. I have been actively participating in many Design teams, consistently now, for ten plus years or so  and  thought that I would have a complete break for a while. I thought that maybe I would have  a little more time to join in with selective challenges which get my creative juices flowing. I shall look forward to joining in with the challenges at CCC as a participant in future!

The theme this time is to use the colours Blue and Silver!

All of my cards are simple in style and this one involved merely die cutting and dry embossing.

The jingle bell dies are from Memory Box. I use an embossing tool on the back of them once cut, to give the impression of roundness and add them using dimensional pads, so as to retain some of the shape, even when mailing! The cord they are on is from a thread die, also from Memory Box which also came with a needle die, but I haven't used that half as much!

The embossing on the backdrop is from a Couture Creations EF.

The sentiment is from a fab die from Stamplorations. This was stacked and also mounted with dimensional pads.

I am looking forward to some spring weather soon, we seem to have had an inordinate amount of rain of late!

Take care and stay safe everyone!

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!

Winter Blues

For this card I used a piece of navy card onto which I had heat embossed a snowflake design with white embossing powder. I cut the gnome's hat and clothes from this and added a white beard and white nose. I played with the idea of a blue nose and a patterned nose or even a red one but decided to keep it white, but it is stacked, so that it is slightly raised from the rest of the die cut pieces. The gnome is from SSS, the aperture tree die from Memory Box and I can't remember the make of the sentiment.

The theme at Christmas Craft Creations this time is Winter Blues... so I just went with the colour rather than any other interpretation!

I hope that everyone is staying safe, these are such difficult times, but hopefully the advent of the vaccine will gradually start to get things back to normal!

Take Care.

 

Merry Christmas

The challenge at Christmas Craft Creations this time is to make anything but a card!

My first thought was to make something that I knew I would have a use for... a bottle tag! 

I cut the tag (I think it was from MFT, but I have had it for a long time and may well now be discontinued) and stamped with a Memory Box Mistletoe stamp and heat embossed in gold. I used Distress Oxide inks as paints to colour the leaves and berries. I stamped a little Pumice Stone and Bundled Sage ink onto a glass mat (which I used as a palette) and using a water brush, layered the colour. When dry, I added some Nuvo Crystal Glaze to add dimension and shine. 

The sentiment is from the same Memory Box stamp set.
By today, our new kitchen should have been almost complete, but because of lockdown its installation has been postponed until February! At least I'll still have a kitchen for Christmas!

 

WOYWW #595

This is the view of my other desk just after my Zoom meeting last night! (Hence the glass of wine)

To the right of the computer is my SIlhouette Portrait Machine, on the shelves are a load of Stampin' Up stamp sets, plates for my die cutting machines, lots of card, the top shelf has coloured card in colour families. The drawers have more dies, cello envelopes, and other bits and pieces. I can't quite get my knees under the desk because of another set of drawers, I think I really need a sort out!

This is my latest DT card for  Christmas Craft Creations, it's on the post before this if you fancy seeing the links to join in!

Yesterday I discovered a load of comments from WOYWWers in my junk folder. I think I managed to get around to everyone last week, but if I don't manage it, I at least like to visit those who visited me, so if I missed any of you I'm really sorry, I usually go by my email notifications rather than looking back at my post!

DO join in with Julia over on her Stamping Ground to take a snoop around the craft desks of the world.

Have a good day everyone!

 

Ho Ho Ho

I haven't done much card making for challenges recently, partly due to the fact that I have been doing quite a bit of sewing and partly because I really don't get on with this new version of Blogger! I have had quite a lot of commision cards to make, but I don't often put those on my blog.

This one is my DT card for the challenge at Christmas Craft Creations, where the theme is to make a shaped card. I saw this little chap in the store on the Silhouette site when I was looking for something else and thought he was kinda cute. Once cut out he looked rather flat and so I added some shading the different parts of him, to give him a little more appeal! There was a gap at the top left of the card base which I thought was the perfect place for a 'Ho Ho Ho' so I made those and cut them with my Portrait. The joy of making sentiments using an electronic cutter, is that you can choose the font you think looks most suitable. I usually try to weld the letters together so that adhering them to the card is a much more simple process!

The Holly and the Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

 Make My Monday -Christmas in September

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Goes

I hope that everyone is staying safe; these are such strange times. Take care everyone!

 

A Christmas Creature

How is everyone getting on with the latest version of Blogger?

I couldn't believe what I was seeing the first time I came across it and felt totally at sea. I'm sure it's supposed to be 'New' and 'Improved', but so far I don't see any advantages and am having difficulty finding my way around. It seems totally unintuitive.

This  is my DT card for the latest challenge at Christmas Craft Creations where the theme is Animals.

For my card I used a Penny Black image coloured with alcohol pens and using a computer generated sentiment, as I fancied the reindeer saying this and didn't have a rubber stamp with those words... plus I could choose a cool font (Are you Serious)

To me the present version of Blogger, particularly in the Design part, looks like a draft version and rather unpolished/unfinished. Maybe it's just me!

Will I get around to liking this new version of Blogger?  .... I'm not holding my breath!

 

Naughty or nice?

This is my DT card for the challenge at Christmas Craft Creations, which this time is to include a Christmas Character

I have had these stamps from MFT for longer than I have owned the matching dies... I must say that to use them is such an improvement on my cutting out skills! Santa was coloured with alcohol pens and given all white accessories... trees etc. He is a cutie isn't he!

I hope everyone is keeping well, these are such strange times. I should have been taking my granddaughter on a cruise to Spain and Portugal with a visit to Guernsey en route, but sadly that was not to be and was cancelled. I have re-booked for next year, but it all seems a little odd! 

We were due to be going to St David's to sing in the cathedral with a group in August, but I still don't know what will be happening then! Our choir has been having Zoom rehearsals, but it's not the same as singing together. We've also had an Zoomed online Wine Tasting evening, and a Quiz, via the same platform, both of which were great fun. It is nice to see your friends and family even if it's only on a screen!

We have each been recording ourselves singing some Brahms, and sending the videos to our accompanist, who will be putting us all together to make a virtual choir. I can't wait to see how that one turns out!

Stay safe everyone!

Joy

For some weeks my attention has been turned to sewing rather than card making. After getting out my machine to make lots of scrubs, I made a little dress for my 3 year old granddaughter and this was swiftly followed by a request from my 11 year old granddaughter for something for her. I couldn't make anything for her without making something for her brother and so it went on!  I managed to get these things done just before my machine developed a problem and had to be taken into the shop for repair.  I think it may prove rather expensive, but hope that it can be fixed as the cost of new ones rather took me by surprise.

Anyway back to card making!

This one is for the challenge at Christmas Craft Creations where the theme this month is Christmas trees.

This card was made with simple masking, some distress inks and an old stamp from Memory Box. I added a die cut deer from Sizzix and an equally simple sentiment. Black seemed a little harsh for the silhouette and the sentiment, so I used a deep grey instead!

DO join in the fun!

Noel

Sometimes I try new techniques or products and discover that my efforts look dreadful! However, I don't always just bin the results, I feel that somehow they may come in useful. Once upon a time I think I tried to do the technique where you dip a piece of string into some acrylic paint, drop it onto a piece of card, cover with another piece of card, then drag it out between the two! Well the result looked evil, but I kept the card nevertheless.

Here is that piece of card which I decided to cut the pine branches from!

The corner which is missing, was the part of the card from which I cut the sentiment... I wanted it to match the white of the berries. You can see that the overall effect of the acrylics is awful, but I think that the branches look really good!

It's my DT card for  Christmas Craft Creations where the theme is to use a die cut!

I have been fascinated by die cutting from the first time I saw it demonstrated many years ago and my shelf is groaning with the weight of my supplies... I think all the magnetic sheets have a lot to do with that however!

Do join in the fun and get all the pressure of making last minute Christmas cards off your shoulders!

Stay Safe everyone!

Christmas Craft Creations

I have recently joined the Design Team at 

Christmas Craft  Creations.

I really enjoy making Christmas cards and it's great not to have the mad dash just before mailing deadlines, making last minute cards when December arrives.

This is my first creation for them!

The theme is to Use a Stamp

I used a bunch of stamps in fact. Santa is from MFT, the tree from an Impression Obsession stamp which has 5 trees on it and the sentiment from Mama Elephant. I divided 

the front panel into two with a double pierced die and embossed the top half with an EF called Snow, from Sheena Douglass. I love this folder and have tried several times to get one for a friend, but it seems to be discontinued.

I do hope you'll join in with this fun challenge!

Christmas Kickstart 

Create  a scene

CAS Christmas - Santa Claus is coming to town or Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ... (because of the sentiment)


Merry Little Christmas - Anything Goes

Rudolph

I wanted to use this little MFT image of Rudolph, but couldn't work out where I wanted to put him. I tried him beside a Christmas tree, overlooking mountains, standing with Santa, but in the end I decided to try to make him fly. To give this impression I cut the roof off a die cut house and added it to the bottom of an embossed black square and added Rudolph as though he was leading the other reindeer (out of the picture) on their merry way! Not sure if it was successful, but I think he looks cute!

Just Us Girls

Christmas Kickstart

Create a Scene

Addicted to Stamps and More

Christmas Craft Creations

CAS Christmas Card Challenge

(Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Addicted to CAS Animal