Make My Monday - Stamp with anything other than a stamp.

Here's an unusual challenge at Make My Monday  - stamp with anything other than a stamp. If you're stuck for ideas, go and visit our challenge blog, where the DT have come up with some fabulous creations.

I decided to make a scrapbook page using my 8-year-old son's latest school photo . (What is going on with his collar?) He looks so grown-up in it that I was reminded of the quote that I have used :
"A child will hold your hand only for a short while, but will hold your heart forever.".

As I had to print the quote, I needed to use paint or ink for the handprint that would leave the text still legible. I used Paper Artsy Fresco translucent paint, painted it onto his hand and pressed it into place. (He enjoyed it, honestly!) . I also stamped with some bubble-wrap in the top left corner.

I hope this has given you some ideas and that you'll join us at Make My Monday. 

I'd like to enter:
Off the Rails  mood board - yellow and the bubble wrap
Sparkles Forum  anything but a card

Empty Box Project #30 and #31- Bet you thought I'd given up!

Sorry for the poor lighting - don't see much daylight at this time of year! 

So I bet you thought I'd given up on my Empty Box Project!  A full two months after my last Empty Box Project post, I give you this, using a magazine freebie of cupcakes and a Clearly Besotted sentiment (not free and not from the Empty Box!) .

It's not that I haven't been working on the project, it's just that it has become obvious why the stamps were unused in the first place! My promise was to 'use it or lose it' and so I actually have disposed of quite a lot of stamps. I want that box empty by the end of the year, so just one month left!

Here's another card I made, a couple of weeks ago, using an empty box magazine freebie. It's okay, but I probably won't use it , or the other stamps in the set, again. There are some nice sentiments though.

I'd like to enter my cupcake card into:

Come and Get it  ag with sentiment

Retro Rubber anything goes 

Silent Night

Here's a card using all the old masking tricks with a punched out circle and torn paper hills. The rabbit (or is it a hare?) is a Personal Impressions stamp. The sentiment was designed by me, using a font on my pc. Then I cut it , and Santa's sleigh ride,  on my Silhouette cutting machine.

I'd like to enter:
52 CCT  sponging
Fan-tastic Tuesday  make a scene
Fairytale Challenge  Christmas no red and green
Pink Gem song - silent night
Glory of Christmas  outdoor scene 

Silver and Pink

Here's a one-layer-card using a big word stamp from Paperartsy.  The Santa silhouette is by Crafty Impressions and the two star stamps are by ...who knows? I'm just grateful I could find them, as I'm always losing these tiny stamps! I coloured in with a pink Promarker and a silver gel pen.

I'd like to enter:
One Layer Christmas  silhouette
Addicted to Stamps  make your mark
Christmas Stampin All Year Long  Christmas gift
Just us Girls photo
Uniko  cas Christmas
 

Golden Branch

What a shame I can't capture the sparkle and shimmer of this card in the photograph!

I used a Paper Artsy stamp and coloured it with markers. I paper-pieced some of the flower-heads ( same paper as the mount) and added Glossy Accents. Other flowers heads were covered with glitter glue or liquid pearl in gold. I stamped the base card with a Darkroom Door Christmas words and numbers stamp and stamped the sentiment.

I'd like to enter:
Mod Squad  Christmas floral
Sir Stampalot  festive flowers and foliage
Winter Wonderland  sparkle and bling
Sweet Stampin  sparkle and shine

Shopping in The Snow

I've used this vintage photo a lot over the years, and always thought of it as a Christmas shopper, but now I realise that all her packages are wrapped. I suppose she must be shopping in those department stores where they offer to gift-wrap for you! The snow in the picture is not the cold, wet snow that turns into dirty slush and ruins your shoes. Who'd want to go shopping in that?

The photo is from Joanna Sheen Fashion CD. I used a snowfall embossing folder, snowflake punch and the sentiment and building are die-cuts.

I'd like to enter:
CD Sunday - sprinkle of snowflakes
Tuesday Throwdown shopping spree
Cardz for Gals fashion chic
Suzy Bees Bloomin Challenge  die cut

Snowglobe Mice

Jingle Belles  have challenged us to make a card from our leftover bits and pieces. I made this last weekend at my lovely local crop. The snowglobe digi (Dearie Dolls?) was one I must have printed out at some time and not used - I coloured it with markers and white gel pen. The paper and sentiment were leftovers from two different scrapbooking kits.

As well as Jingle Belles, I'd like to enter:
Cardz4Guys fun in the snow
Sparkles Christmas  Christmas decorations

City Crafter Challenge Blog - The Snow Queen

I have chosen this week's theme at CCCB  and it's to use this photo as inspiration:

As you can see, I've made quite a literal interpretation, depicting the (young) Snow Queen herself. She is a digital stamp (coloured with Promarkers) from the Paper Shelter called 'Frost Girl' - I think she's supposed to be tip-toeing but I tilted her and sat her in a die-cut sleigh that I tripled embossed and then stamped a pattern into. I stamped the trees, dry embossed falling snow, die-cut antlers and added lots of glitter. 

I hope you'll visit us at City Crafter  and see what the DT, and our Special Guest Star, Marcia , have done .... and enter my challenge!

I'd like to enter:
Fairy tale Challenge  Christmas no red and green
My Time to Craft  let it snow
Ooh La La  let it snow
Fan- tastic Tuesday  make a scene
Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge  embossing ( dry embossed snow, heat embossed sleigh) 

Make My Monday - Oh Christmas Tree

Here's my DT card for Make My Monday, where our challenge is 'Oh Christmas Tree'.

When I look at this card now, it makes me think of biscuits!

I  die-cut the tree and sentiment on the Silhouette and added a big button as a bauble, I don't know why!

I hope you will join in our easy and fun challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Shabby Tea Room  Oh Christmas Tree
Christmas Cards All Year Round   Oh Christmas Tree
Gem of a Challenge  Christmas song - Oh Christmas Tree
Christmas Card Challenges  anything goes
Alphabet Challenge Tis the Season

Acetate Panel Christmas Card

closed 

How clever of me to make a card that's impossible to photograph well! 

I decided to make this A Day For Daises digistamp into a feline high-wire act by printing it onto acetate and colouring it with Sharpies.  The small sentiment is a Mama Elephant stamp and the large one is a ready-made die-cut and glittered sentiment from a scrapbook range. 

I'd like to enter:

52CCT - Family and friends 

Sparkles Forum  Christmas Decorations

Cute Card Thursday light 

Moving Along with the Times   My favourite things - whiskers on kittens - loving this theme, 2nd entry! 

Penguin and Mustard

One of my favourite things to do with digital images is to play with the size and crop them to give them a different look. This Bugaboo image is of a penguin on skates, but I cropped him to focus on his face and scarf.  I coloured him with Promarkers and added a stamped sentiment.

I'd like to enter:
Crafting when we Can  animals
The Glory of Christmas  CAS
That's Crafty  black and white with a hint (hope this isn't more of a nod than a hint!)
Inky Chicks  silent night
Addicted to Stamps anything goes 

Inkspirational Challenge - Photo Inkspiration

Close up for glitter purposes.

Our new challenge at Inkspirational is to be inspired by this photo:

For my DT card I was inspired by the mittens to create the scene of Santa's washing line. The clothes are from a Woodware set and the washing line pole is by Inky Doodles. I used Promarkers and Frantage embossing powder and glitter shavings. I hand drew the washing line string which sounds very easy but actually took me several attempts to get the clothes and string in the right places!

I wanted to add a little reindeer embellishment but I wanted it to be a similar style to the reindeers in the photo. I have loads of reindeer cutting files, dies and stamps but none seemed quite right, so I took a cutting file of a deer and (electronically)  welded some antlers on it!

Please join in our challenge at Inkspirational , but not until after you've checked out the work of our DT and our Guest Designer, Asha. 

I'd like to enter:
Merry Monday  use a reindeer
Try it on Tuesday  create a scene
Creative Card Crew  sprinkle
Moving Along with the Times  My favourite things - snowflakes and warm woollen mittens
Addicted to Stamps anything goes

City Crafter - Colour Inspiration

Here's my DT card for CCCB - blue, white, grey and a touch of silver. I used an Avery Elle set and I curved the sentiment on the acrylic block to create some hills for them to sledge on. 

I hope you'll join us at City Crafter . Our wonderful special Guest Star, Marcia Hill  is still with us, so please check out what she, and the DT have made.

I'd like to enter:
Animal Friends animal with scarf
Sweet Stampin  wrap up warm
The Paper Girls winter sports
Incy Wincy   critters 

Make my Monday - Architecture

Here's my DT card for Make My Monday  where the challenge is 'Architecture'. This is an old UM stamp, brand unknown, of a castle and I made a background using inks and a masked moon stamp. It wasn't supposed to be a spooky castle, but I fear it might look a bit eerie!

Please join in our challenge at Make My Monday. 

I'd like to enter:
Try it on Tuesday  create a scene

Purple and Green

52CCT are having a DT call where you have to enter 3 out of 4 challenges. This reminds me of the first time I applied for a DT (my beloved Inkspirational) , where we had to enter four special challenges. This one is my second entry for 52CCT and I know I'll have fun with this whatever the outcome.

So this very clean and simple one-layer card was not that simple for me, of course! This was my second attempt, the first one having a big black smudge down one side. The image is an old stamp, Woodware I think, the small sentiment is Mama Elephant and the big sentiment is a wood- backed one with no brand.

I'd also like to enter:
Glory of Christmas - CAS
Alphabet Challenge -  tis the season
Penny Black and More  anything Christmas 
Fab n Funky  CAS

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Die it

Our new challenge at City Crafter is to create a project using no stamping or designer paper.

This was actually my second attempt at my DT card , my first, failed attempt, is here.

I'd like to acknowledge that I took some inspiration for this card from a card by Jennifer McGuire (of whom I am a bit of a fan), but I used different materials and techniques and added my own twists.

In Silhouette Studio software, I welded a frame and some fir trees together, cut it out and made a window with snowfall acetate. I masked the moon and made an inky sky. Then I added a die-cut stag and sentiment.

I hope you will visit us at City Crafter, see the work of our DT and our Special Guest Star , Marcia Hill ...and join in the challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Crafting with Dragonflies  let it snow
Cute as a Button  winter
Natalie and Amy winter scenes
Crafty Catz  winter
Fab n Funky die cuts

Reindeer Wreath

Last night I was tidying up the stuff I used over the weekend and made this card.

First, the kraft cardstock that I'd used for a get well card.  Then a different reindeer from the Sizzix set. The sentiment is another from the Avery Elle set.

But my favourite part of this card is the wreath , a Penny Black stamp which is super-versatile and that I've used a lot over the last few years to create different looks . (Here's another example). This time I stamped it in red and added Liquid Pearls in white, red and gold.

I'd like to enter:
One Layer Christmas  reindeer
That Craft Place kraft
GlitternSparkle red
Penny Black at Allsorts  Christmas
Christmas Card Challenges anything goes

Make My Monday - Many Thanks

Our challenge this week at Make My Monday  is 'Many Thanks'. I know they have Thanksgiving celebrations coming up in Canada and the US, but we don't have this holiday in the UK, so I made a general 'thank you' card.

I used a set of new (to me) Stampendous stamps, which has two vases and several bunches of flower heads, so you do some simple masking to put them together. I coloured them with Promarkers and added a sentiment from Stampin Up.

I hope you'll visit us at Make my Monday, see what the DT has made and join in the challenge.

I'd like to enter:
SSS Weds  thanks
Naughty or Nice  monochromatic thanks
Simply Create Too give thanks
Mod Squad give thanks
Crafty Cardmakers thank you 

Good Luck with the Op

This is supposed to be a play on words - op/hop. It's for my best friend, who's having an operation on her foot on Tuesday and so will then be hopping for a few weeks! I hope she gets the pun!

I'd like to enter:
Crafting when we Can  pink and lime
Just us Girls stripes
That Craft Place  kraft

Oh What Fun!

I made this card using the sketch at 52CCT.

I used a Hero Arts reindeer stamp and die, and cut the other elements on my Silhouette. The sentiment is Avery Elle.

As well as 52CCT, I'd like to enter:
Country View Challenges colour blue
Crafty Catz winter
Hero Arts 
Suzy Bee's Bloomin Challenge blue and white

Walking the Dogs

Here's a colourful birthday card that I made for my dog-loving child-minder. I used a stamp from My Favorite Things , a scrap of patterned paper and a Clearly Besotted sentiment.

I'd like to enter:
Get Creative birthday
Artistic Inspirations  birthday
Seize the Birthday anything goes
Crafters Cafe  inspired by a song (walking the dog by Rufus Thomas/ Aerosmith )

Chillax

Here are two cards I made using the Magenta polar bear stamp. I made the sentiment on my computer and cut it on the Silhouette.

The top card was stamped in Dusty Concord Distress Ink and I added glitter to the snow.

The other card was stamped in Seedless Preserve Distress Ink and I added Glossy Accents to the snow. In retrospect, I think I should have placed the sentiment a little higher up on the second card.

I'd like to enter:
Time Out :  Christmas pink or purple
Stamp Ink Paper  cas Christmas
A Gem of a Challenge  Christmas Critters

Inkspirational Challenge - Anything Goes with Silver

For my DT project at Inkspirational I used a Bugaboo image, coloured in with red, grey and silver Promarkers, a LOTV silver-embossed sentiment and a dry embossed panel of silver mirror card.

I hope you'll join in with our challenge, but first, please visit to see the fabulous DT projects and especially our Guest Designer , Kathi . 

I'd like to enter :
Aloha Friday  perfect pair
Casual Chic  precious metals
Unicorn Challenge Christmas is coming
ABC Christmas challenge very cute
Catch the Bug anything goes

Card for Fliss

This is a card I made for my MMM teammie, Fliss's birthday, which is today. Hopefully she has received this by now (or will get it when she gets home).

I stamped Hero Arts painted canvass background and stamped the Paper Artsy flower-ish things on top. Then I paper-pieced the flower heads , using some paper I'd done some kind of background technique on  a while back (I think it was an inky resist with some text stamping).

Happy Birthday Fliss.

I'd like to enter:
Less is more  paper-piecing
Brown Sugar flowers

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Getting Ready for Christmas

Our new challenge at City Crafter is 'Getting Ready for Christmas' - make a card or any project for Christmas.

For my card I used an image of a glass dome containing baubles , by Paper Artsy. The grey-looking baubles are actually silver and sparkly in real life!  The bunting is from a Poppy Stamps set and the sentiment is a Pink Paislee stamp, heat embossed in silver, I also used Promarkers, patterned paper, embossed mirror card and a sparkly button-y thing. 

I hope you will visit us at City Crafter, see the work of our DT and our Special Guest Star , Marcia Hill ...and join in the challenge.
I'd like to enter:
Try it on Tuesday  layers
Crafty Creations colourful
Winter Wonderland  anything goes
Allsorts Christmas
Sparkles Christmas  Christmas decorations 

Make My Monday - Shabby Chic

Our new challenge at Make My Monday  is 'shabby Chic'. The vintage style birds are from Papermania 'Christmas Past' CD.  The smaller panel is a leftover from a background-making session I had a few months ago and the panel behind that is patterned paper with a sheen, I sprayed the base card with Distress Ink spray.

I hope you'll come and see what the DT have made and join in our challenge.

I'd like to enter:
CD Sunday  beginning with H - holly
Crafting When We Can  distress it
Crazy Challenge vintage
Ruby's Rainbow birds of a feather
Suzy Bees Bloomin Challenge  shabby chic

Cute Angel

Here's a Pure Innocence angel image, coloured with Promarkers and glitter. I paper pieced the dress from subtly patterned paper, then used a Hero Arts stamp and gold mica powder to add the pattern. I dry embossed gold mirror card and also vellum. I hope you like it!

I'd like to enter:
Fab n Funky  Christmas
The Glory of Christmas Glitter and shine
Ooh Lala   embossing
Crafting By Designs  angels
ABC Christmas  very cute