Fa La La

I came across this holly die in my stash and I have absolutely no recollection of buying it, or receiving it as a gift or freebie. It looks like a large holly spray but in fact is lots of smaller components and I thought that this portion fitted quite well with this sentiment, which is from Penny Black! I cut it from Glittery gold card and it looks really great IRL. As this die is so fiddly I put some double sided sheet on the back of the card before cutting it so that it make adhering it to the card a much simpler operation!

It's my DT card for Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge

Recently I have been spending more time on sewing projects and have just completed a little dress for my younger granddaughter, needless to say her cousin now wants me to make one for her too! I have also managed to make a number of sets of scrubs for my son's surgery and a few dresses for myself, the latter using fabric which has been in the loft for years!

https://thedoctorfamily.com/the-covid-19-interview-experiences-from-the-front-line

Speaking of scrubs... my son, a GP,  has just created a Podcast website and proposes to produce interviews with other medics on subject pertinent to family health. His first one is linked here. I should be really interested to hear anyone's reactions to it!

At least we have had some wonderful weather, which has added to the enjoyment of our daily constitutional walks.

Stay safe everyone.

Party time!

What is a party without presents?

Here I paper pieced a stamp from SU which has been in my stash for many years and is a favourite of mine. Paper piecing is something I haven't done for quite a while and is something I should try to remember to do more often!

It's is my DT card for Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge!

I have continued my reconnection with sewing... something I went back to when there was a recent nationwide call for scrubs for NHS workers. Having made a few sets which I have sent to my GP son's practice, I think I may actually try to make something for myself too... I need a few larger clothes after weeks and weeks of lockdown, when one of our secret pleasures was daily preprandials then wine with our meals!

Cheers... and stay safe!

Be merry

I guess Christmas does seem a long time away, but getting cards done in plenty of time does save a lot of frustration by the time November arrives and posting deadlines are approaching.

Here is my DT card for the challenge at Happy Little Stampers

As ever it is anything Goes but you may choose to do the optional extra which this time is 'Ornaments'.

Last year my daughter treated me to a Wreath Making session at a florist in Bath. We had great fun and I put my 'ornament' on my front door with pride. Here is a card version of a wreath  'ornament'.

I don't remember the make of this die, I think it may be an Alexandra Renke, but I'm not too sure I think the sentiment is Penny Black... I can't find the packaging!

Take Care and stay safe!

Smile

I think this frog is a real cutie., I got him from a download of colouring page images, free for personal use. He's simply coloured with alcohol pens and popped onto dimensional pads. I have three large 'smile ' word dies and I think this one is from Creative Cuts.

I love the flow of this one!The challenge this time at Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge is SMILE!

We could all do with a smile at this present time... so consider this one for you!

Wish I was there!

I think that many of us have had this thought recently. 

We haven't seen our grandchildren for weeks.. apart from Facetime chats, but it's not the same as having a cuddle. It's a difficult time for everyone and I hope that we all emerge at the other end with smiles on our faces. In many instances communities have become supportive of each other which is positive indeed.

This card will be on its way to our grandkids very soon!

The challenge at Just US Girls is for Feathers

It's also the theme at Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge which is quite a coincidence!

 

Stay safe everyone!

Festive animals

The Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers as ever this time is Anything Goes but with the optional twist of Festive Animals.

This is actually the third card I made for my DT sample for this challenge, my mojo has been missing for a while and I just wasn't satisfied with anything I produced, however I think this little guy is cute and does look rather festive... but is he an animal I ask myself? He belongs in the animal kingdom I guess. He is from Poppy Stamps and I believe that the sentiment is a freebie from Altenew.

I hope everyone is faring well during this unprecedented time, it is good to hear of neighbours helping one another, I know of several groups which have been set up, including one in our close... so look out for each other and stay safe!

Keeping in shape

Those of you who know me of old probably know that I have a bit of a thing for chickens... especially Penny Black ones and here are the girls doing their daily exercise. I was asked to make this card by a friend for a friend of hers. It's simply coloured with alcohol markers and mounted on a pierced rectangle. I just use any of my pierced dies for this which is closest to the size I need and I either extend them or reduce the size accordingly.

The sentiment was computer generated and I decided to make the background black and have the text in white, I think it makes a change.. and no need for extra mounting to make it stand out!

The challenge this time at Happy Little Stampers CAS is Feathers

Well there are quite a few of these lasses!

For some reason, since we have been confined to quarters, I seem to have been in my craft room far less, I think mojo has been somewhat lacking, something I hope to remedy really soon! It actually needs a good sorting out, maybe that is what is putting me off!

Warm Wishes

The Christmas challenge at HLS this month is as ever Anything Goes but with the optional addition of a Beverage.

For this card I began with a kraft card base and used diecuts in white with tiny coloured accents (the centre of the heart and the liquid in the cup)!

The sentiment is from Cutplorations and the other die cuts from Memory Box.  The 'steam' is actually a die cut from a needle and thread set, but I think it works quite well chopped up and used as vapour!

This makes me think that maybe I haven't used kraft card for too long a time, I rather like it!

DO join us for this challenge, it makes such a difference to have a supply of Christmas greetings to hand when December comes around!

9 Geese a-layiig

I love these Penny Black creatures. Isn't this goose jushis iine is for the challenge at HLS Christmas where the theme could include Christmas Wings, although as ever Anything Goes!

This is simplicity itself, I did add a panel to the front of the card as I used Copic pens to colour the image,  and even though it is only a small amount, it would show through to the inside of the card. This young lady makes me smile just to look at her!

It's such a great idea to spread the making of Christmas cards throughout the whole year to save the mad scramble to get enough done at the last moment.

So why not join us!

You may have noticed the typo in the title.... the wrong number and a spelling error... I didn't notice until after I had created the permalink for the Happy Little Stampers blog, so if I alter it now the permalink won't work...  So I'll apologise right now... SORRY!

Positive

The challenge at HLS CAS this time has the word POSITIVE as the inspiration!

This time I decided to do both Positive and Negative. I used a stamp from Hero Arts, which I  stamped and heat embossed in black on white card and stamped and heat embossed in white on black  card, then I cut each piece and half and put halves of each colour together. I used a twinkly black embossing powder on the white card. The sentiment too is a mix of black and white and I distressed the edges slightly. The joy of this technique is that you end up with two cards.

The challenge may spark a totally different meaning of POSITIVE for you, why don't you join us!

Joyful

I thought that this last year I was well ahead with Christmas card makes, but what with the ones that I sold at my choir to raise choir funds, requests from friends for sets of cards and ones for personal use, I had to start on a last minute production line once more. This year I will try to do better.

This is a very small card, about 10.5 cms square with which I used inlaid dies. Firstly I coloured a piece of card with Brusho and mica powder and  spritzed with water. When dry, I die cut the pieces and also cut a set from plain white card. The joy of this technique is that you end up with a positive and a negative so making two cards instead of one. The tiny tree is layered several times, so as it wouldn't sit neatly overlapping the plaque I die cut a space in the SSS die-cut for it to sit in.

It's such a good idea to join in with Christmas challenges throughout the year, so that you have a ready supply when required, so do join us at Happy Little Stampers!

Totally excited

Those of you who are not new to my blog probably know of my penchant for chickens... in many forms and particularly those from Penny Black!

Here is a one layer card, coloured with watercolour pencils and a little water, (so as not to show through on the inside of the card). The sentiment, which also happens to be the name of the stamp, was done on the computer. I always try to match the font I use to the stamp... for style and weight of line etc. I think this one... Kristen ITC works quite well here.

The challenge at Happy Little Stampers CAS is for something with wings. So it doesn't have to be a one layer card, just something with lots of white space and .... wings of some sort!

Do come and join in the fun!

Candy Cane

Here is a digi image from Dustin Pike. I've had it for quite a while and it took a bit of searching through the files on my computer to find it, as I couldn't remember what heading I had filed it under. Anyway all's well that ends well and here it is coloured with alcohol pens and simply mounted onto the deep red card base. I double stacked the sentiment, as the card seemed rather flimsy!

It's my DT card for the challenge at Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.

Hopefully I am ahead of the game this year as far as Christmas card production goes... I haven't actually done a count, maybe I should and hope that suppositions are correct!!

Frozen

When I saw the topic for this month's Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge, I immediately thought of the film FROZEN

I don't know if any stamps are available, but I thought that OLAF should be fairly easy to draw, (even though I'm no great artist) so I looked at some of the images of him online and drew this little chap. I shaded him with  Copics and gently twinkled most of him with Glamour Dust and used Wink of Stella on the rest of him. The sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

I think my grandkids would quite like this card!

Stella Christmas

The images from Bugaboo always bring a smile to my face. For this one I simply coloured with Copics and added a little Fun Flock to the edges of her dress and cap. Although this sentiment was part of the download, I decided to write it myself rather than use the one provided as I didn't think think that the weight of the type or the font itself matched the image too well. I used DJB Baby Bump instead and split the sentence into two parts to arrange around the figure.

It's my DT card for Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge

I'm not sure if it's actually Bah Humbug, but she looks a little grumpy!

DO join in the fun!

'Tis the season

Here is  my DT card for the CAS Challenge at Happy Little Stampers!

For this I dug out my Penny Black die which begins with the prompt words from the challenge. In fact there are a few fa la las  on the end of the die cut but I didn't think that the whole thing fitted so well into my SSS 'Bough of Holly', so I cut them off.

I added a little dry embossed panel of snow from Sheena Douglass ,behind the aperture and popped just the edges of the die cut onto the front panel so that it appears to float.

I have done quite well with making Christmas cards throughout the year this time and hopefully there won't be such a frantic scramble to make more at the last moment... fingers crossed.

Optional Twinkle

It was quite difficult for me to get a decent picture of the twinkle on this card. As you can see I didn't quite manage it. I used a bunch of glittery embossing powders on my black, die-cut snowflake... Gold Tinsel, Metallic Brass and a final sprinkling of  Gold Glamour dust. The sentiment die is from Sizzix. I dry embossed a stitched frame border with an MFT die.

The challenge at Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge as ever is Anything Goes but with the option of Twinkle!

Do come and join in the fun!

Adventure

The challenge at Happy Little Stampers CAS is ADVENTURE

For me adventure does not entail scaling mountains, exploring jungles or trekking over the tundra, but rather visiting places of interest. I have been fortunate to visit quite a few, often from the comfort of a cruise ship. Here is one such case. I have visited Russia, albeit briefly and not actually to the Kremlin, but I enjoyed every moment.

I don't remember where I got these stamps from but they are grey rubber and have been in my stash for a very long time. I knew they would come in handy one day! In fact they give a really good impression. I simply embossed in WOW pale gold EP. I cut an aperture with a SSS Stitched rectangle die. I think that this set must be my most used go to set ever and it still cuts beautifully after quite a few years.

Do join in the fun, crafting is an adventure after all!

Little Elf

Sometime ago I entered a challenge to make a Christmas card with an elf! I knew I had an image somewhere... just one... and eventually found it. However when looking for something else a short time afterwards I came across this little chap... in fact he has two brothers (from Hero Arts) plus a die to accompany him. I had no recollection of purchasing them, but was pleased to find them in my stash. So here he's coloured with Copics and mounted on dimensional pads.

We used to have a pop up elf, you pressed a button and one of those criss cross extending mechanisms made him shoot up and a voice said "Have you been good?" in a very American accent. It made me smile every time and once the decorations came out each year I would put it in the downstairs loo, so that any visitors could have  a chuckle too! Hence the sentiment I added here which I did on the computer as I didn't have a stamp!

He is kinda cute isn't he!

It's my DT card for Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge

You could of course do an Anything Goes card... but if you have an elf we'd love to see him/her!

Pink & Grey

The colour combination for the challenge at Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge is Pink & Grey!

I love this mix and in fact it was the exact thing I chose for the very first challenge at "Less is More" when I created that challenge way back in 2011.

Here I chose to use dies by Alexandra Renke and coloured the cherry blossom with watercolours. The sentiment is by Altenew. The plain grey panel looked a little flat so I embossed it with a texture plate from Papertrey Ink. It's really quite a subtle effect, but I rather like it.

Colour challenges are fun... and this is such a lovely combo, so why not join in with your CAS creation!