Make My Monday - Sketch

This week we have a sketch challenge at Make My Monday , and I created the sketch (it's the first one I've done!):

For my DT card I cut the house and the circular mat on the Silhouette, and dry embossed the roof. The sentiment is stickers. 

I hope you will have a go at using this sketch ... but not till you visited the Make My Monday  blog to see what the DT have done. See you there! 

I'd like to enter:

Love to Scrap  new beginnings

Get Creative something new 

Crafty Cardmakers new 

Classy Cards n Such  bright colours 

Crafting When we can something new  

Red Glitter Tree

glitter shot!

Here's a one-layer card I made using the sketch from 52CCT. 

The tree is an old favourite from Denami and for the other stamps I used two different sets from Papermania, and the New Year sentiment by Mama Elephant. I went over the lines of the tree with a glue pen and added glitter.

As well as 52 CCT , I'd like to enter:
AAA Cards glitter
Christmas Card Challenges anything goes
ABC Christmas Challenge  anything goes
QKR Stampede clean and simple

Hola Ombre!

I did some background sponging and then realised I'd accidentally gone ombre!
I added random spots using a stencil I cut on my electronic cutting machine. The second layer is sponged the same as the first, but on cream slightly glossy card - it's amazing how much lighter it is.

I used Paper Artsy stylised flower stamps, a Clearly Besotted sentiment, Glossy Accents and glitter.

I'd like to enter:
Time Out  birthday/ sponging
Mod Squad ombre
Moving Along with the Times  spots and dots
Sweet Stampin  flowers
Crafty Catz flowers

All Pink

One of my favourite challenges, Shopping Our Stash , are having a monochromatic challenge, and using pink in honour of their DT member, Leslie, who recently passed away.

I used the watering can and banner stamps from a Craft Asylum set, the sentiment is by Mama Elephant and the papers are from my paper mountain. I paper-pieced a little on the image, added a frame of dots, some liquid pearls and glossy accents to the heart on the can.

As well as Shopping Our Stash, I'd like to enter:
Eureka birthday cards
Ooh La La   girlie
Seize the Birthday ag
Penny Black at Allsorts   one for the girls

City Crafter Challenge Blog- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

I chose this week's challenge at CCCB  - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

For my DT card I die-cut a cloud out of scrapbook paper and added fake scrabble letters, covered in Glossy Accents. For the little hands I used a digital die-cutting file to cut a stencil and then inked through it with aqua ink. I was really pleased with the detail. 

I hope you will join in our challenge to make a project celebrating a beginning or ending, We are joined by our Guest Designer, Bea , so please do come over and see what she, and the DT have made. 

I'd like to enter:

Allsorts what's new?

Come and get it  something new 

Love to Scrap  new beginnings

Casology -simple 

Simon Says Stamp something new  

Blue Winter Trees

Well, I'm back at work after a two week break ( hence the shadowy photo of a card that is bright and sparkly in real life). I feel really tired! Obviously I got used to not working.  (And eating chocolate and drinking wine. It was hard work dragging the extra 7 pounds up the station steps today.) Anyway, I made this last night when I had some energy.

The trees are three stamps from a Memory Box set I got just before Christmas and the sentiment is by Little Claire.

I'd like to enter:
Classy Cards n Such  winter blues
Jingle Belles something old (glitter paper), something new (stamps)
Artistic Inspirations  winter blues

Make My Monday - Iris Folding

We have something a bit different for you at Make My Monday  this week - Iris Folding. I have tried this before many years ago and although I have seen stunning effects achieved, I don't really enjoy following the patterns.

So for my DT project I cheated and went freestyle - with limited succcess. I think the folded bit looks okay but oh, it's bulky at the back!

Well, a challenge is all about having a go and I had a go and I think you can do better than me. There is a link to some patterns on our challenge blog. I hope you'll come and see some better samples from the DT and join in with your own iris folding project.

The Amazing Stripe-Man ( Conquering Paper Mountain #1)

Let me introduce the Amazing Stripe-Man . His special power is the ability to keep his stripes perfectly straight, no matter how much his cape billows. He's flown in today to get me started on conquering my paper mountain, which is my project for 2016.

Okay, this has only used up two sheets of my 13 inch pile, but it's a start! This is the pad I used:

The superhero image is from A Day for Daisies and the sentiment, which I chopped up, is from a Hero Arts set I got for Christmas.

I'd like to enter:
Friday Mash up  superheroes
A Day for Daisies  anything goes
That Craft Place  anything goes
Glitternsparkle  anything goes
Come and Get it  something new - my sentiment stamp and my new project for 2016

Inkspirational Challenge - Thank You with Something New

Our new challenge at Inkspirational is to make a thank you card using something new.

My new thing is the girl stamp, which is from a set by Personal Impressions/ Lindsay Mason. I bought these just before Christmas.  As she is hugging ('feeling') a heart, I thought it's be fun to team it with the Clearly Besotted sentiment 'Heartfelt Thanks'.

On this card I used two of my favourite 'techniques'. First I cropped the stamped image - she is full length, but I cut her off at the thighs. The other is paper-piecing, which I did on the heart.

At Inkspirational this challenge we are joined by an amazing Guest Designer, Maaike , so I hope you'll come over and see what she, and the DT have made, and join in the challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Just Us Girls  thank you
Natalie and Amy  thank you
Crafter's Cafe  square cards
Sweet Stampin  something new
Allsorts what's new ?

Conquering Paper Mountain - My Project for 2016

Happy New Year and welcome to Paper Mountain.

Paper Mountain is a pile of all my 8 x 8 and 6 x 6 patterned paper pads ( not including any A4 or 12 x 12 - those are another story!)  and the mountain reaches:

13 inches (33 cm) high!

In my defence, I will say that the majority of these pads were actually free gifts with magazines. Many are untouched, complete pads, others are partly used. 

My project for 2016 is to reduce this pile as much as possible. To do this I will either:

Discard - there are actually some patterns in there that I do not like and will never use. Why am I hanging onto them? I will either pass them on or recycle them. 

Use - here is the challenge! I already use patterned paper on cards but for most it doesn't use much. I expect to make mini- books etc and any ideas are welcome. 

Although the main aim is to reduce the pile as much as possible, I feel I need some goal to aim for. Working on the basis of using one pad a month, I took away the top 12 pads and measured again. The mountain now measured 10.5 inches (27cm) . So that is the maximum my mountain should measure at the end of the year. Wish me luck!

(If you'd like to see my annual projects for previous years:

2015 - Empty Box Project here  and here  where I emptied a box of unused stamps.

2014- Festive 48 here and here   where I made a Christmas card every week.)