Bah Humbug Challenge 16 - The man himself - Santa Claus

This week's challenge over at Humbugger Hall is Santa Claus.  As I saw that my friend Anne used the same Santa Claus image that I had in mind so then had to go hunting round for something suitable.

When I came across this stamp I thought what better than one Santa Claus - well, yes, four Santa Claus'!!!  lol  This stamp is from Crafty Individuals and features four images of the man himself in different poses - mind you I think they are four different people posing..................  I stamped using Memento ink and then coloured using Promarkers which was quite difficult as the stamp is quite dense in colour.  I then cut the image into four and backed with red mirri and then white card.  I edged a piece of red mirri using my MS snowflake punch.  The sentiment is from a clear stamp set but I don't know where it comes from.  It has been stamped onto white card and matted onto red mirri.  The stars are the waste from the MS snowflake edger punch.  The backing papers are from the Papermania Classic Christmas set.  The photo corners are an EK Success punch; the large snowflake is also a MS punch.  I decided on an easel card but cut it off centre so one side was for the main image and the other for the sentiment.  I also made the two stoppers at different levels to give more interest.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has had an eggstremely good Easter!!!  lol

Less is More - Week 12 Off Centre

The challenge over at LIMette Lodge is Off Centre. 

All the stamps Ive used are from Stampin Up sets - the first was En Francais which is a large text stamp.  I inked this up with Versamark and stamped and clear embossed it onto white card.  I then inked over the card using Spun Sugar and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks.  I then placed a sheet of copy paper over the top and ironed over it to remove the embossing powder.  I then inked up parts of the same stamp with Distress Ink and added touches to the top left and bottom right.  I inked the edges of the card and then attached it to a square card blank.  The flowers are from Vintage Vogue and I used Distress Inks to stamp them as they are silhouette stamps.  I cut these out and placed them on the card using silicone glue and added some Stickles to the centre.  When I went to stamp the sentiment it smudged - not what you want when working directly onto your nearly finished card!!!  The only way out of it was to computer generate another sentiment and print it out onto some left over decorated card.  It still isn't very crisp so I might have another go...........

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Easter to everyone in blogland.

Do It With Digis - Fairies, Pixies and Elves

The latest challenge over at Do it with Digis is Fairies, Pixies and Elves.  I had to hunt around all my digi images to come up with something nice for this card and I found a lovely mushroom house and a baby which I think looks remarkably like a pixie.  Unfortunately I don't know where either of them came from and I do wish that artists would actually include their name on the downloadable images.

I first copied and pasted the two images into Word and then printed them out.  I have used a set of nesties to die cut the image leaving the little pixie outside the frame.  I left the images inside the die and sponged some Shabby Shutters Distress Ink around the edge.  This was then coloured in using Promarkers and matted onto the larger size die cut.  I printed out the mushroom house again and cut out the image leaving the negative space which I then sprayed Crafters Companion Spray and Sparkle Iridescent through.  Unfortunately when I looked at the photo this spray doesn't show up very well at all which is a shame.  The backing papers and border strip are from NitWit Collections Cotton Candy Kisses which was a free giveaway with a magazine and I joined the two pieces with a border strip of bazzill card punched with Martha Stewart Wild Flowers deep edger punch.  I added a button and ribbon bow.  The sentiment comes from Crafts4fun.nl and I used my Stampin Up oval and scalloped oval punches.

Less is More - Week 11 Acetate

This week the LIMettes have been challenged to make a CAS card incorporating acetate.  There are some great DT cards on their blog so pop over to have a look.

For my card I have stamped a butterfly from an Elusive Images set called Patchwork Butterfly (they are now Chocolate Baroque) onto the acetate using Versamark ink and then heat embossed the image using detail silver e/p.  On the back I have used alcohol inks to add the colour and then cut out the butterfly.  The flower stamp is by Hero Arts and called Real Dill.  The sentiment is from a Stampin Up set called Flight of the Butterfly.  I then used silicone glue to add some dimension to the butterfly.

Thanks for dropping by.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge 15 - Christmas Stockings

This week's challenge over at Humbug Hall is Christmas Stockings.  I'm afraid that I'm siding with Max on this one - sorry Ann!!!  lol

I have used an image from a stamp set by Debbi Moore Designs and thought it would be something my DH would be delighted to see in his stocking this year.......... She's been coloured with Promarkers and I've added Stickles to her "furry" bits - hmm, that sounds a bit rude!!!  I used nesties labels to die cut the image and mat.  The backing paper and border of stockings is from the Papermania Classic Christmas pad.  The sentiment is computer generated and die cut using Fancy Labels 2 which is a lovely set.  I've added some gems to finish off.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tissue Box Cover

Hi Folks

Just a quick post today as we're up to our eyes at the moment as we're having a new conservatory built - really glad we've got good weather for the guys!

We've recently redecorated our main guest bedroom and I was having difficulty finding a nice box of tissues to match the colour theme.  Then I saw the technique for this lovely tissue box cover over at Splitcoaststampers which is a wonderful resource for all us crafters.

I cut out all the card to size and prescored it but instead of making up the box at this stage and then adding extra layers, I decided to decorate the whole box and lid.  For this I have used the stamp plate Meadow Breeze from Inkylicious which is a really handy set of stamps.  I used Distress Inks to stamp - Mustard Seed, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Old Paper - and then used Mustard Seed and a blending tool to ink and soften all the edges.  Whilst it was still in it's "unmade" state I used a Quickie Glue Pen and Glamour Dust to add a bit of glitz.  For the opening in the lid I used one of the small oval nesties and then created a collar to go over the top using the scalloped oval nestie and a labels die for the inside.  This was put through my die cutting machine in a universal floral embossing folder and I then sponged it with more Mustard Seed Distress Ink before glueing it to the top of the box.

Thanks for dropping by.

St Luke's Charity Challenge - Say it with Flowers

This is the first challenge from a brand new blog called St Luke's Charity Cards.  St Luke's is a hospice which cares for people aged 18 and above throughout Sheffield who have incurable illnesses. Their aim is always to control the patients symptoms, alleviate pain, and give them the best possible quality of life – all free of charge. It costs £6 million per annum to keep St Luke's open, and government funding, via NHS trusts only provides one third of the funds required, which means the Hospice has to raise a staggering £4 million each year to provide this vital end-of-life care.

They have been very kind with their first challenge which is "Say it with Flowers".  I have been making sample cards for our club night tonight and have used used my Stampin Up One of a Kind stamp set.  On a blank piece of white card I have stamped the flowers and then decoupaged them.  I also stamped single flowers to make the background.  I have used backing paper from my stash and also for the piece representing the ground.  In the top corners I have used my Martha Stewart deep corner punch - Wild Flowers.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set which says "for you" (unfortunately it isn't clear in the photo) cut out using the SU oval and scalloped oval punches and set upon a nestie die cut.  I then added some Stickles glue to the centre of the flowers and added stems using Promarkers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bah Humbug Challenge 14 - Candy Canes

I must admit to having a mini panic when I saw that this week's challenge over at Bah Humbug was Candy Canes............ now this is something I absolutely knew I didn't have as I have always thought it was an American thing and not really my scene.

Anyway, I took up the challenge and started to trawl the internet and came upon this piece of clupart which was a gingerbread man swinging on a candy cane.  I printed the image out and coloured in with Promarkers and then cut out using nesties and matted onto green card.  The backing paper is another piece of clipart which I took into My Craft Studio to tile to make a background.  The base card was a 5" x 7" blank which I put through my die cut machine with a Go Kreate XL Frilly Frame and the backing paper was cut out using the next size die down.  The sentiment is computer generated and mat and layered using my Stampin Up punches.  I added some ribbon to finish off.

Thanks for looking.

Less is More - Week 10 challenge - one layer sentiment focus

This week over at Less is More the challenge is to design a card with one layer with a sentiment focus.

I've just bought a set of the Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2 and thought I'd use one of them to emboss a frame on the front of my card which I then coloured through the die using Distress Inks.  The sentiment is from the Stampin Up set called Wonderful Words which I find myself going back to time and again.  I used Versamark to stamp the sentiment and embossed with WOW silver glitter e/p.  I then added some roses and the leaves were punched out using a Nellie Snellen two part punch.

Thanks for dropping by.

Do it with Digi's - digital background with Tilda or Edwin

The latest challenge over at Do it with Digi's is to use a digital background with Tilda or Edwin.  My first task was to find a digital background as this wasn't something I had used before.  After a bit of a search round I found some lovely backgrounds at a place called "Make it Crafty" in Australia.

I decided to use this lovely background of a tree branch with blossom and two birds and a swing.  I printed this out and coloured with Promarkers and then used the image of Tilda with large ribbon which was also coloured with Promarkers.  I cut her out and used silicone to place her on the seat of the swing.  The main image was cut out using nesties.  The backing paper was from my stash and I have used Klever Konstruction plastic flowers and a matching bow.  The sentiment was computer generated and I used Stampin Up punches to cut it out.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bah Humbug Challenge 13 - Cards that make you giggle plus a little bit of tartan

This week's challenge over at Bah Humbug is cards that make you giggle and possibly using a little bit of tartan.

I decided to use this great digi image and sentiment from Prairie Fairy Designs of Gilly caroling.   I printed her out and coloured with Promarkers and added a little glitter here and there.  The tartan frame and paper were a digi download ages ago and I can't remember where from unfortunately.  I decided to make a double easel card using a 5" x 7" card with a wider area for the sentiment.  I used matching tartan paper inside the card and then punched out matching card circles and added buttons for the "stops".

Thanks for looking.

Less is More - Colour Challenge "A Touch of Red"

This week's challenge over at Less is More is A Touch of Red.

I am in the middle of doing samples for our next craft club night where we are having a Stampin Up evening so thought this was an ideal opportunity to not only make a sample but to do it on the lines of the LIM challenge.


I have taken a blank DL card and stamped the flower from A Touch of Nature stamp set using Memento ink.  I then stamped it again on a piece of post-it note, to create a mask, and cut out the image.  I then cut an aperture in a sheet of copy paper using a nestie and attached it to my card, centering it over the flower over which I had placed the mask.  I then inked up the French text background stamp with Memento ink and stamped through the aperture.  I coloured the flower with Promarkers.  The sentiment is from the Wonderful Words stamp set.  To finish off I punched the four edges of the card using my Martha Stewart corner punch.

Thanks for stopping by.