Christmas in March

Here is my Christmas card for March-

Can't quite believe I'm still managing this- though I suppose 3 months isn't many is it?

It's another really quick and simple card which is great for me when I do need to make 20 Christmas cards in one night- hopefully not this year though!

Both the backing paper and topper came from a Papermania 12x12 paper pack that I had completely forgotten I had! The topper was from a sheet that had 9 different squares on it so 9 cards in an instant!

I started with a 6x6 card blank, added the cut down backing paper, mounted the topper onto red mirror card and added that to the opposite corner to the corner detail on the backing paper. Done!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Pink Elephant 'anything goes' 2.3
Crafty Cardmakers 'stripes' 8.3
Craft your Passion 'anything goes' 1.3
Clear it out 'animals and stripes' 3.3
Cute Card Thursday 'fancy corners' 4.3
Crafty Hazlenut's Extra 'anything goes' 31.3
Crafty Hazlenut's Xmas 'cut it up' 6.3
That Craft Place 'anything goes' 14.3
Crafts Galore Encore 'anything goes' 31.3
Christmas Card Challenges 'winter hues' 7.3

Christmas in February

I've made it to month 2 in the one Christmas card per month challenge!

Here it is-

It was a really quick & simple card to make (my favourite kind)!

I started with a 6x6 card blank and a sheet of Craftwork Cards Christmas 8x8 paper. The deer is part of the paper design so I made sure that when I trimmed the paper down to fit the card, I kept him in tact. I simply added the message topper and paper bow (both from the same Craftwork Cards set) to the opposite corner and then used some red stickles glitter glue onto the baubles that are hanging from his antlers.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Christmas Card Challenges 'anything xmas' 14.2
Crafty Hazlenut Christmas 'decorated corner' 13.2
Creative Card Crew 'glitter' 15.2
Crafty Hazlenut Christmas Extra 'anything goes' 28.2

you can leave your hat on!

I'm still trying hard with my Christmas Card challenge and here is my second one of this month. It was really quick and simple to make.

I started with a 6x6 white card blank. I took a piece of Dovecraft 6x6 Christmas paper and trimmed it to fit the card base leaving a small white border. I layered it using double sided tape. I then added a chipboard topper that has been in my stash for ages and finished the card with the peel-off message and peel-off stars. Done!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Crafting Musketeers 'hats' 29.1

Paper Shelter 'all wrapped up' 27.1

Cute Card Thursday 'colourful' 28.1

Daring Cardmakers 'hats' 30.1

Catch the Bug 'photo inspiration' (the robin with the hat on) 31.1

Crafty Hazlenut 'joy to the world' (there is nothing more joyful than building a snowman in my opinion!) 30.1

Back to crafting- finally!

I haven't posted (or crafted for that matter) for about 6 months as work has been manic! Things have finally slowed down a bit so I'm back to crafting, posting & challenges- yay!

Thankfully, lots of the challenge blogs I take part in have 'anything goes' challenges at the moment which is great as a starter for me again.

I am posting a Christmas card that I made for someone at work-

It was a quick & simple card to make perfect as I was last minute (surprise surprise!).

I started with a 6x6 white card blank that I covered using Craftwork Cards paper from one of their recent Christmas packs that include papers & sentiments. After attaching the backing paper to the card using double sided tape, I used a Sheena Douglass stencil and gold Buff It paste to add extra detail to the background. I took one of the message toppers from the Craftwork Cards kit that matched the backing paper. I wanted to create a gold mirror border for the topper (to match the stencilled design) but didn't have the right shape so I used one of my die-cut shapes to firstly cut the topper and then to make a mat to match. I used foam pads to mount the message topper to add a little extra height and interest.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

CRAFT challenges 'anything goes' 31/12

Christmas Card Challenges 'anything goes' 3/1

Crafty Hazlenut 'anything goes' 2/1

Crafty Hazlenut Extra 'anything goes' 31/12

Creative Card Crew 'anything goes' 4/1

Creative Inspirations 'christmas' 6/1

Papertake weekly 'anything goes' 6/1

Penny's papercrafting challenges 'anything goes' 6/1

That Craft Place 'anything goes' 3/1

Paper Shelter 'anything goes' 6/1

Christmas Post

This is my second card of the weekend, and another Christmas card. I think that makes about 5 so far this year!

It was an incredibly quick card to make that I put together while I was waiting for some paint to dry on another project. It uses Craftwork Cards 'Christmas Post' products.

I started with an 8x8 white card base, adding a dark red mat from cardstock. I then added the paper layer which was just trimmed down slightly to fit. I then added the message and card candi from the embellishment pack and then a paper bow from the co-ordinating set.

The paper already has lots of detail so I felt that it didn't need too much messing about with.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Cards Galore Encore 'bling' 28/2
Crafty Hazlenuts Christmas 'stripes &/or spots' 7/2
Crafty Hazlenuts Christmas Extra 'anything goes' 28/2
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges 'spots & dots' 4/2
Craft Your Passion 'spots & stripes' 3/2
Paper Shelter 'all wrapped up' 4/2
Christmas Card Challenge 'anything goes' 9/2

Christmas Camper

I was having a look round the Polkadoodles website a few days ago when I spotted a brilliant digi stamp of a Christmas Campervan. It's basically a vw camper with a Christmas tree on top. It's great. It was only something daft like £2 so I ordered it and being a digi, it arrived instantly. This is the first card I've made using it and I absolutely love it!

I started by printing the digi image twice onto a normal sheet of copier paper. I then decided which pieces I wanted to paper piece and used low tack tape to attach my chosen papers onto the print out. I then put the paper (with patterned paper on top) back into the printer and printed again so that the design was on the patterned paper. I did this for the tree, the body of the camper & the windows. I cut out the pieces and laid them onto a plain version printed on thin card.

I used my Promarkers to colour the parts of the design that were not to be paper pieced and then used small amounts of glue to attach the paper pieces. I carefully trimmed out the design leaving a small white border.

I then chose a 12x12 DCWV patterned paper that graduates from dark to light- I think it's perfect as the bottom looks like snow for the camper to sit on. I cut it down to mat onto the 8x8 card base and attached with double sided tape. I then used a double layer of foam pads to attach the camper van. The finishing touches were to add the 3 die-cut snowflakes (with a single layer of 3d foam) to the card, embellishing them with large gems. I then added the peel off message and then used Stickles glitter glue to highlight the fairy lights on the tree.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Polkadoodles 'anything goes' 2/2
Digi Choosday 'anything goes' 30/1
Crafting for all Seasons 'for the girls' 3/2

Christmas sparkle

I've managed to make another Christmas card today. That makes 3 so far for January- it won't last!

Here it is...

I started with a 6x6 white card blank and to make sure my topper matched perfectly colour-wise, I cut down another card blank to make the layer (I'd saved one that I'd messed up the embossing on ages ago so I used the back of that). I chose my stencil (Imagination Crafts) and used double sided tape to stop it moving. I firstly, inked the branch using 'gathered twigs' distress ink and then used an embossing pen to ink the snowflakes. I used 4 different shades of blue mica powders (also Imagination Crafts) to colour them. I also used the mica powders to dust all over the background.

Finishing touches were to add the gems and then mount it onto a blue mirror card mat and then onto the card. I will probably add a message before I send it though. Unfortunately, the beautiful shine of the mica doesn't show up very well on the photo but this one does show the blingyness (good word!) of the gems I've used...

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Hazlenut's Christmas 'shades of blue' 24/1
Paper Shelter 'winter blues' 21/1
Crafters Cafe 'bling' 22/1
Christmas Cards '1 layer' 26/1
Imagination Crafts 'anything goes' 31/1

winter wonderland

This card uses another topper that I coloured a while ago but ran out of time to make into a card. I've finally got round to using it, and it means that I've made 2 Christmas cards so far in January!!!

I coloured the topper using both Spectrum Noirs & Promarkers and then used a Kanban mat as a stencil to cut it into the decorative shape. I added a, hand cut, blue mirror card mat and a larger mat cut from Dovecraft 'Merry & Bright' snowman paper. To add extra detail to the 6x6 elegant edge Craftwork Cards card blank, I ran it through my grand callibur with a snowflake mask, and then gently rubbed on some pale blue chalk with my finger.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Christmas Card Challenges 'anything goes with option of polka dots' 19/1
Catch the Bug 'winter wonderland' 18/1
Crafty-Hazlenut's Christmas Challenge 'winter weather' 17/1
Cute Card Thursday 'cold & frosty' 15/1
Creatalicious Challenges 'turquoise winter' 13/2

Christmas 2014!

As I mentioned, in a previous post, my New Year's Resolution is to keep making Christmas cards all year round (so I don't have to try and make 14 in one night!). My plan is to try and make 2 a month and, so far, I'm on track- I've made one and we're only a few days into January! I'm really pleased with it too...

Pretty much everything on this card is brand new or something that I've had for a while but not used yet.

I started with the Stag design which is a Sweet Poppy metal stencil. It is a beautiful design with so much detail to it. I simply inked the design onto the kraft card using a stencil brush & Brilliance 'Pearlescent Crimson' ink pad. I then edged the design with the same ink pad before mounting it onto green mirror board.

I wanted a tartan background to match the Scottish theme of the stag but I didn't have anything in the colour scheme I needed so I decided to make my own. I took a piece of 8x8 kraft card and masked stripes with low tack tape. I inked the remaining kraft card with the 'pearlescent crimson' ink used for the stag. I carefully removed the tape and then re-attached it to the card the opposite way (to create stripes in both horizontal & vertical) and inked again. I then repeated this process but using Brilliance 'pearlescent olive' ink. The olive colour seemed to take a while to dry so I carefully removed the tape and left it for a few minutes to dry. I then trimmed the kraft card slightly so it would fit onto an 8x8 card.

To finish the card,  I wrapped some 'metallic copper' raffia around my background 3 times before I attached it to my 8x8 base card and then attached the topper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Christmas Card Challenges 'anything goes' 5/1
Craft Your Passion 'new' 6/1
Crafters Cafe 'animals' 8/1
Pink Elephant 'anything goes' 5/1
Crafty Hazlenut Extra 'anything xmas' 31/1

Hogwarts Acceptance Letter

Happy Christmas Eve!!!

Another non-card making post today as thankfully my Christmas related cards are all done. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for presents! I never really feel in a Christmas present sorting mood until work had finished for the holidays so that never leaves me much time. 

Luckily a trip to the shops yesterday was very fruitful, last night I finished making my own version of Mrs Weasley's clock (for a Harry Potter loving friend) and the sewing machine is now busy making a Hogwarts Acceptance Letter for the same friend- hope she loves them as much as I do!

I used a blank 12x12 piece of mdf, painted it matt black and then used Indigo Blu Flitter Glu and foil to do the numbers, distressed edges and the hands. I then printed small pictures of each member of the family and glued those to the hands. 

It's not quite as magical as Mrs Weasley's but it really works!

This is my other creation, a Harry Potter Hogwarts Acceptance Letter, word by word true to the original in the Philosophers Stone but personalised for my friend. I plan to frame it so she can hang it somewhere in her home. 

I tried a practice run a while ago and it worked really well.

Merry Christmas!

I am entering the clock into a new challenge blog I have just found:-
Crafting for all Seasons 'anything but a card'

It's nearly here...

The Christmas holidays have finally arrived (YAY!) and I've already made myself a new years resolution! The Christmas crafting goodies will not be going away this year as I plan to make Christmas cards all year round (trying to make 14 cards in one night after a long day at work including a nativity play was not a great idea!)

I haven't been able to post as much as I would like during November & December but I hope to make up for it now. Today's post is of 3 different advent calendars I've made- 2 using a 'House of Zandra' template I modified and 1 using a fab-u-lous wooden tree from the MDF man!

For the first two, I used the House of Zandra 'crafty drawers' template but made 2 of each piece so that rather than having 12 drawers, I had 24 (enough for a proper advent calendar). For the first one, I made half of the pieces in red card & half in green so that I could mix & match when I put the drawers together. The second one was made completely in lilac. It was a really easy template to use and rather than cutting all the pieces by hand, I measured each of the template pieces and then used my paper trimmer (I may spend some time making up all of the shapes into my Cricut craft room to make it even quicker next time). I put all of the pieces together with super sticky tape arranging the drawers into a red, green, red patten for the first one. I then used some 12x12 paper to decorate each panel before adding the mirror card numbers (cut using my cricut) & the decorations (Dawn Bibby stocking peel-offs using the waste to fill in and add the colour, peel-off snowflakes & mirror card snowflakes cut using the cricut).

The tree came about after I spotted the small star shaped pots in my local Carole's Crafts shop- they were having a 50% off everything sale so the pack of 24 pots was only £2.50 (bargain!). I have had them since the start of the year and wanted to make some kind of advent calendar with them. I was originally planning to mount them onto a circular shape to make a wreath but when I saw the 3d wooden tree from The MDF Man at the Lincoln Sincerely Yours show I knew it was perfect. I had taken the pots with me hoping to find a wooden circle but this was even better- the mdf tree was just £4 too!

I painted the pieces of the tree with a flat green paint and then sponged it with a metallic green paint over the top to add texture. I then attached the pots to the tree with a hot glue gun, putting 3 on each side (I did this with the tree put together to make sure that I didn't get any pots too close together). I then used the lids of the pots as a template to draw the star shape onto 3 different patterned papers to insert into the lids so that the goodies inside can't be seen. I used peel-off numbers in black to number each pot. I then finished the tree by simply adding some red mirror card candi as decorations.

I am entering the advent calendars into a new challenge blog I have just found:-
Crafting for all Seasons 'anything but a card'

winter cheer

Here's another SWALK card made using the digi stamps from the Crafters Companion cd-rom. I coloured this one a while ago so the hair isn't quite as good as it could be but I'm really happy with how the card turned out. Considering I coloured the image a while ago, it all matches really well.

I coloured the digi image with Spectrum Noirs & Promarkers and highlighted aspects such as the bow on the basket with stickles and the pearl necklace with perfect pearls. I used a Kanban mat as a stencil to cut the topper into an unusual shape and then added a pre-cut gold mirror card mat. The backing paper is from a new Papermania 6x6 paper pack and the tartan pattern matched perfectly so I just trimmed it down slightly and matted it onto a 6x6 card blank. I attached the topper and then used another paper sheet from the same 6x6 pad to cut out the poinsettia, stars & holly images that I decoupaged onto the card. I used a little more stickles and perfect pearls to add a highlight, including the freehand squiggles at the bottom.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Creative Inspirations 'traditional christmas colours'
Creative Card Crew 'holly or poinsettia'
Songbird Challenges 'merry christmas'
Stampin' for the Weekend 'red'
Totally Gorjuss 'special Christmas'

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I've been busy colouring this week, using some images from a cd-rom that I've had for a while but have recently re-discovered. I love it when you've forgotten exactly why you bought something and then look through it again and get that whole "ooooooo" again!

Anyway, this is another Christmas card using the Crafters Companion SWALK images.

I started by printing the image at the 4 to a page size, and then coloured it with a mix of promarkers & spectrum noirs. I used a Sakura glitter pen to highlight the snowflakes and then 'white opal' perfect pearls for the small snow blobs. I'm not yet an owner of any die-cutting shapes so I had to cut these out by hand- I used some Kanban mats as the stencil for the patterned paper and coloured image. I didn't have a stencil for the mirror layer so I used the same stencil as the topper and then just cut a little away from the pencil line to create the mat. The tree design paper is from a Dovecraft 'Merry & Bright' 6x6 paper pad which was a bargain last January! The card blank is from Craftwork Cards and already has the fancy edge that matches my chosen mat shape. To add a little extra interest to the plain white base card, I used a snowflake mask and 'picked raspberry' distress ink to stencil the snowflake design.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Polkadoodles 'xmas'
Papertake Weekly 'oh Christmas Tree'
Creative Inspirations 'anything goes'
Graph'It 'alternative xmas colours'
Crafty Catz 'spots & stripes'

snowflake kisses

This is my most recent card, and the start of a bit of a SWALK marathon. Last Christmas, I bought a Crafters Companion triple cd-rom featuring the SWALK images as digis to colour myself and 'Pawfect Pals' themed toppers. This is one of the digi designs that I have coloured myself.

I coloured my digi image with both Spectrum Noirs & Promarkers and added the snow using 'white opal' perfect pearls. I used a Kanban mat as a template to cut the topper into the decorative shape and then mounted it onto a purple mirror card mat that I also hand cut. I cut a larger mat (again using a Kanban mat as a stencil) from a pre-glittered DCWV paper. I wanted to layer the 3 parts onto a Craftwork Cards card blank that has the same shape to the edge as my toppers but I found that it looked a little plain. I therefore, decided to stamp some small snowflakes using a Versamark ink and to use a mix of lilac & blue mica powders to dust over the ink. This has given the base card a subtle sheen.

I also rubbed the versamark ink onto the edge of the card and dusted this with the lilac mica powders too.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Graph'It 'xmas blues & purples'
Daring Cardmakers 'digital'

Blue Christmas

Last Christmas, I got a bargain paper pack from Dovecraft called 'Merry & Bright'- all of the papers are pink & turquoise with Christmas prints- I love them! This is the first card I've really made using them though...

I started by colouring the 'Dressy Ebony' digi stamp from The Greeting Farm which is one of the Twilight themed images I got last week (she is very much Alice). I coloured her using a range of spectrum noirs (skin & hair) and Promarkers (clothes). I added glitter to her shoes, dress & hair flower. I carefully trimmed the image leaving a small white border. I used a Kanban mat as a template to cut out the pink snowflake paper to mat the character onto and then mounted that onto a snowflake embossed turquoise mirror card (new from Creata). I chose a piece of 'Merry & Bright' paper from the 8x8 pack and trimmed it slightly to mat onto the 8x8 square card. I then used 3 chipboard trees (that have been in my stash for years) to pick out the design of the backing paper.

I am much happier with the way my hair turned out on this image too

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Crafting Muskateers 'Christmas'
The Greeting Farm 'Christmas'
Songbird 'Blue Hawaii'

Spot & Stripe Christmas

The second card I made this weekend was a Christmas one using Papermania 'festive spots & stripes' and a pre-coloured 'Lili of the Valley' topper.

I started with a 6x6 white card blank, to which I attached a pre-cut patterned paper shape from the 'spots & stripes' range. I then took a Lili of the Valley topper and mounted it onto red mirror card. I then added stitching detail to both the topper and the patterned paper shape using a black promarker. I mounted the topper onto the card with double sided tape. The topper had a bow design on the 'tree' so I decided to add a real ribbon to it instead and then added the buttons to the right edge of the card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
The Pink Elephant 'dots & stripes'
The Paper Shelter 'stitching'
Cute Card Thursday 'ribbons'
Totally Gorjuss 'traditional christmas colours'

Krafty Christmas

I went to my local 'The Range' store last weekend to look at (and buy obviously) the new ranges from DoCrafts- I always know that I'm going to love their stuff. This is the first card I've made using my purchases from the 'Forever Friends Kraft Christmas' range.

This card took minutes to make in reality but I'm really happy with it. I started with a 6x6 white card blank which I mounted a dark blue stripe paper from the 'Ultimate Paper & Die-Cut Pack' onto. I then cut a piece of kraft card to a 12cm square and embossed it with a snowflake design. The embossing didn't come out as much as I would have liked so I carefully sanded it back and then rubbed it with a white ink to make the snowflakes stand out more. The topper came straight from the die-cut pack and I mounted that onto the card too. I finished the card by adding the 'Midnight Blue' Stickles dots into the opposite corners. This isn't a colour combo I've really used before but I'm loving it and can see I'll be using it more often.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Crafty Cardmakers 'snow & ice'

Here Come the Boys 'Blue Christmas in September'

Cutie Pie Challenge Blog 'Cute Christmas in September'

Creative Inspirations 'favourite colour combo'

Work in Progress

It's amazing how 6 weeks off work seems to mean less crafting than when I'm at work 5 days a week and only have Sundays to play! But, I'm back at work now and so today has been a crafty day. Yesterday I decided to tidy my craft room (normally that ends in disaster but this time it worked out quite well) and I now have a 'Work in Progress' box for storing my printed digis that need colouring (rather than a table covered in things and no room to work!). I'm trying to colour at least 1 image per week and this is today's. As you'll see from the last photo, it's ridiculous how many colours I need to finish an image (+ flock & puffy white paint for snow!)

Winter Wishes

This is the first Christmas card I've made in 2013 and even though I absolutely love winter time, it does feel a bit odd making Christmas cards in the middle of summer! I'm really happy with this card though- it's a bit different to my usual style...

I started with the beautiful 'Lily of the Valley' topper and worked the rest of my card around it. It's a very simple topper with limited colours so I chose to go for the icy blues & greys colour scheme. I chose 2 matching DCWV papers that both had a hint of glitter and then 3 shades of cardstock from DCWV pastel mat-stack. I also used some Bazzil Bling silver cardstock to mount the topper onto.

I worked exclusively with odd cm sized squares so started by cutting all of my different cardstock. The striped square is cut to 19cm and used to mat the 8x8 base card. The paisley design card is cut to 15cm, plain blue to 11cm and plain grey to 9cm. I edged all of the card pieces with my black promarker to make them stand out from each other. The silver Bazzil Bling mat was cut to 13cm square.

I laid out all of my cardstock pieces onto my base card but I felt that the topper needed some more interest to it so I tried something that I've not done before and after a bit of trial and error, it worked quite well. I used the grand callibur to emboss a swirly snowflake design onto the topper above the penguin image. I then wanted to repeat this at the bottom of the card so I repeated the process. This meant that my original embossing got a bit squashed by the rollers as it went through the second time and lost its definition. Turns out that I needed to leave the bit that I'd already embossed hanging out of the mat so that it didn't squash that bit. I carefully lined up the embossing and tried it again and it thankfully worked pretty well. To add a bit of extra definition to the embossing, I gently edged it with some silver gilding wax using exactly the same method I use for distress inks but on paper rather than my ink blending mat.

I attached all of the layers to my base card and then used 2 different xcut snowflake punches with the darkest blue DCWV cardstock to punch some snowflakes to add as the finishing touch to the card.

This card definitely has more layers than my usual style but I think it's still quite simple thanks to the clean lines of the layers. Embossing onto toppers is definitely something I'll be trying again (now I know how to do it properly!).

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Paper Shelter 'punches & dies'

Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges 'dry embossing'

Lili's Little Fairies 'Christmas in August'

Cute Card Thursday 'Die-ing to punch'

Here Come the Boys 'Only Squares'

Craftwork Cards Jan 2013 challenge- Let It Snow!

So, this is my first challenge entry and it is for the Craftwork Cards blog- Craftwork Cards 'Let it Snow' challenge. The rules are that you have to stick to the theme and use mostly craftwork cards products- not too tricky for my first go I thought.

So here's my first entry-

I took my inspiration from the challenge theme but also from a commercially bought card that I was sent over Christmas. I was initially worried that I wouldn't have enough Craftwork Cards products to complete the challenge but then remembered that I had some lovely stamps that I hadn't had a chance to use yet- they were perfect.

I started by choosing which Card Candi I wanted to use as I knew this would affect the colour scheme that I was working with. I wanted to go for something a bit unusual so chose a chevron stripe card candi in pink, green & blue. I matched these card candi colours to my distress inks, choosing 'Stormy Sky', 'Shabby Shutters' & 'Spun Sugar'.

I used the 3 distress ink colours with some small snowflake craftwork cards stamps (designed to fit the top of plain card candi) to stamp the background of a 6x6 scalloped card blank. I had used my old 'Stormy Sky' inkpad to create a faded look. I then used my new 'Stormy Sky' inkpad to stamp the 2 large snowflake images both laying slightly off the edge of the card.

I then used my Quickie Glue Pen to go over the stamped design and glittered it with a silver holographic glitter- I tried to make sure that I could still see the stamped outline. I then added the card candi to the spaces in the stamp.

I finished the card off with the 'Let It Snow' message that is another Craftwork Cards stamp that I again inked with the 'Stormy Sky' distress ink. Being a Craftwork Cards stamp, it again had a perfect space for me to add another card candi as the o of snow.

It's a very simple card and is exactly my style- a good starter for my first challenge I think.