City Crafter Challenge Blog - Garden Bilss

This week at City Crafter , Kirsty wants us to be inspired by things we see in the garden. For my DT card I used three stamps from a Woodware set and stamped them along the length of the card base. ( there was a bit of a gap on the left-hand side , so I stamped the edge of one o the stamps again). I coloured with alcohol markers and added some gltter and shine - gel pen on the falling snow, stickles on the snow and enamel accents on the snowdrops. The sentiment is by Crafty Impressions.

Our Guest Designer this week is Nicolette, and if you enter a project this week you could win a small gift (see below), and become our Special Guest Star for January.

I'd like to enter:
Creative with Stamps  use a bird stamp
Come and Get it  baby it's cold outside
Always Use Rubber things with wings
My Time to Craft  no layers
Holly Jolly  Christmas card

Silly Christmas

Here's a silly Christmas card I made because I really wanted to use the Beast Friends set from My Favorite Things. I wanted this set as soon as I saw it but then, before I'd had chance to use it,I saw so many wonderful cards using it that I just couldn't think of anything original to do.

So, I decided to team the yeti up with this skiing Santa from Gerda Steiner Designs. The banner is from another GSD set and the sentiment , not very convincingly stamped on the banner, is from MFT unicorn set. I added clear glitter to the fur and hair.

I'd like to enter:
CAS on Sunday  Christmas
Christmas Cards all Year Round  santa
Allsorts Christmas

The Bear Went Over the Mountain .....

... to deliver his Christmas presents.

Here I used a set by Reverse Confetti and sentiments by Avery Elle. I coloured with shimmery watercolours : Twinkling H2Os and Pearl Ex paints.

I'd like to enter:
Make My Monday  cas Christmas
Dream Valley  winter animals
Deep Ocean inspired by a song (bear went over the mountain)
Water Cooler masculine

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Gold Finger

I chose this week's challenge at City Crafter  and it is to use a gold medium - something that could stain your fingers gold - not just gold card.

For my DT card I die-cut a poinsettia and then rubbed it over with very pale gold gilding wax - I know it's hard to see on the photo. The flower middle  and the sentiment were coloured with a gold marker pen. I stamped the background words (a Darkroom Door stamp) in clear ink and then covered it in gold PearlX powder. I crimped some gold mirror card and added gold ribbbon and a bell.

Our Guest Designer this week is the talented Lenet Mos , so I hope you will come over to City Crafter and see what she and the rest of the DT have made and enter your own project . 

I'd like to enter:
Winter Wonderland poinsettias
52CCT old-fashioned Christmas 
Crafty Friends  use flowers 

Haircuts

Here's a scrapbook page I made for these challenges:
Picture This 


Scrap Our Stash 

I used the space background and the red and white on the hat inspired my choice of paper for the stars.

Joy!

I had a rummage through my bag of leftovers and scraps to see if I could make something for the challenge at Shopping our Stash. I found a die-cut (Silhouette) bauble with the middle missing and a scrap of card with a background I made with metallic marker pens and water, Also some sentiments - I chose the Joy one because it went with the challenge at Fusion .

I stamped a reindeer ( old magazine freebie) onto the background, put it behind the bauble and trimmed it. I used patterned paper from an Authentique pad and smudged white ink and embosing powder on the edges. I added twine and a bell.

As well as Shopping our Stash and Fusion, I'd like to enter:
Just Add Ink   die cut and designer paper
Crafters Cafe Christmas

Some Layouts

Here I used a digital version of Prima Doodle-deux , that I 'print and cut' on my Silhouette. Then I stamped dotted circles over the flowers and doodles stalks and frames. I cut out the title on the Silhouette and stamped the butterfly and the circle around the letter n.  I'd like to enter this at Lasting Memories - Circles.

All the papers here are from My Mind's Eye Indie chic and the letter, number and word stickers are from Basic Grey Persimmon.  I used the sketch from Sketches in Thyme  and I'd also like to enter Archi- scraps 'something at an angle'.

Inkspirational Challenges - Chill

Our new challenge at Inkspirational is Chill.

 For my DT card I used a stamp from Stampin Bella - it's just part of the stamp - I masked her legs off!  I wanted this to be a winter card, but the woman was wearing a Tshirt, so I transformed it into a stripey jumper.  (You can see a card I made with the undoctored image here) . Then I stamped the sentiment which is from a Paper Smooches Christmas set.

Our Guest Designer is Teresa and I hope you will come over to Inkspirational to see what she and the rest of the DT have made, and enter your own chilly project.

I'd like to enter:
Watercooler Challenge  all about tea or coffee
Stampin Royalty  photo
Let's craft and Create  winter

The Little Drummer Boy

Anyone whose child has ever been given a drum for Christmas may wonder why I've used the sentiment 'Peace on Earth'!  Well, it's in tribute to a Christmas classic hit  The Little Drummer Boy/ Peace on Earth, by David Bowie and Bing Crosby.

My 'drummer boy' is a My Favorite Things stamp and the trees and sentiment are by Neat and Tangled. The base card is embossed with a folder from Taylored Expressions.

Parupapumpum, rupapumpum......

I'd like to enter:
Seven Hills Craft Christmas song
Deep Ocean  Inspired by a song
Sparkles Forum  Christmas is coming
ABC Challlenge 3 trees
Double D Challenges trad Christmas colours

Little Things

I made this card for Less is More - One-layer-card - books challenge.

The Alice stamp is from an unmounted set, don't remember the brand,  The mushrooms and caterpillar are from a Paper Artsy set and the sentiment is from a different Paper Artsy set. I coloured in with markers and a white gel pen.

BTW - the book is Alice in Wonderland - just in case you couldn't tell!

Pia's Christmas Kit - Snowman

Here's the final card from my card kit swap with Nonni and Pia.

Funnily, of all the cards I made this is the one that reminds me the most of Pia, who put the kit together - I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the cute image with the traditional colour scheme, and the use of die-cuts (but Pia uses die-cuts far more cleverly!).

This kit was the last of the three Christmas kits we made and I can't wait to see what Pia and Nonni did with the kit  and I hope you will go and look too,  I'm hoping I can persuade them to do another round of card kits in the new year.

I'd like to enter:
Sparkles Forum  holly

Pia's Christmas Kit - Kitschy Deer Head

Here's another card from my card kit swap with Nonni and Pia. 

The items from the kit are the wreath , deerhead, embossed background and die cut 'christmas'. When I was thinking of what to do with these items I saw the inspirational photo at Time Out and got inspired!

I painted the deer head with 'blush' acrylic paint and added lots of fine clear glitter,  I coloured the wreath with a very pale gold gilding wax. The stamped 'hugs' is by Avery Elle.  I think this has quite a 'Disney' look that I quite like for a change!

I'd like to enter:
Time Out  photo
Cardz 4 Galz contemporary Christmas
Eclectic Ellapu  let sparks fly

Pia's Christmas Kit - Brusho Background

Here's another card from my card kit swap with Nonni and Pia. 

This was the last card I made and some of the elements were torn off a previous attempt that I really was not happy with .

The deer, trees and merry are fron the kit, The background is Brushos and starch  and I added a stamped sentiment (Mama Elephant) and punched snowflakes.

I'd like to enter:
Try it on Tuesday trees
Happy Little Stampers Christmas  watercolour

Pia's Christmas Kit - Black and White

Here's my first card from the kit swap with Nonni and Pia .

This is a bendy (or flexi) card that I cut out on the Silhouette and embossed with a folder. The sledge silhouette and Dymo sentiment are from the kit and I used a Memory Box die for the houses and trees.

I'd like to enter:
Love to Scrap  fancy my fold
Let's Create winter

Card Kit Swap - Pia's Christmas Kit

Time to reveal the results of another card kit swap with Pia and Nonni. 

Here's the wonderful kit Pia sent us:

Unfortunately, the kit coincided with a great big crafter's block I suffered from recently. Whenever I found time to craft, my ideas were lacking and I hated most of what I made! During this time I managed to wreck some of my favourite items from the kit - some patterned music paper and a dry embossed panel of trees,  I think I've got my mojo back now though.

Anyway, I will blog each card separately so I can link to some challenges when I get back from work.

I hope you'll go and see how Pia and Nonni used the same kit.

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Beach Colours for Christmas

Stella has chosen this week's challenge at City Crafter  and she wants us to use 2 elements from this photo:

For my DT card I chose a colour and the wood. I used polar bear stamps from Avery Elle and a sentiment from Neat and Tangled. 

Our Guest Designer once again is the talented Danielle , so I hope you will come over to City Crafter and see what she and the rest of the DT have made and enter your own project inspired by the photo. 

I'd like to enter:
Crafty Creations animals
Alphabet Challenge  stars
Allsorts feature a creature
Crafty Purple Frog the magic of Christmas - good luck with your new challenge blog

Triangles

Here's a layout  made recently at Scrapbags retreat, using a sketch . The triangles make it perfect for the challenge at Lasting Memories - in fact, I think one of the DT has used the same sketch.

The photos were taken when I visited Finland - I am the shorter woman and the other person is my friend  and fellow crafter, Nonni .

Telescope

Another 'simple' card that took several attempts! I tried this on several dark background colours but thought it looked best on navy,  I stamped and embossed the stars (Concord and 9th) and sentiment (wish by Concord and 9th and 'upon a star' part of a Sarah Hurley stamp). Then I added a telescope cut from a Miss Kate Cuttables svg.

I'd like to enter:

Male Room  science
Where Creativity Meets C9 sparkle and shine
Just Us Girls  metallics

Happy Christmas Coach

I was inspired by the challenge at Casology  to make a Christmas card for the manager of my son's football team.

I used two stamps from My Favorite Things - Polar Bear Pals , stamped and masked and coloured in the team colours, The sentiment is of unknown brand and I cut the letters coach out on the Silhouette.

Inside I stamped 'from our family to yours' just so the rest of the family don't feel ignored - his son is my son's friend!

As well as Casology, I'd like to enter:
Stamping Sensations - Christmas Greetings
Crafty Creations  animals
Crafty Addicts  winter blues
Moving Along with the Times  die cut letters

Don't Drink and Cycle

Don't drink and cycle, folks...also, don't drink and craft.....

Last weekend my daughter asked me (on Friday night) to make a birthday card for her friend. She needed it the following morning when she would leave the kids with me so she could go out with the friend. (What a full service I provide!).

The ideas my daughter gave me...bikes, dogs, yoga, Prosecco.  I didn't have time to incorporate all these ideas(!) so I decided to cut out a bike and a bottle on the Silhouette and put the bottle on the back rack of the bike. Being Friday night, I'd had a couple of glasses of wine before I started making the card and when I got up on Saturday morning to do the finishing touches, I realised I'd accidentally stuck the bottle to the saddle!

Ok it was a stupid idea to stick the bottle on the rack but on the saddle looked even sillier! So, I tried to rescue it by adding two glasses onto the rack. Okay..it's just a card- not real life!

Anyway - the patterned paper is from a Prima pad, the sentiment is Personal Impressions and the flowers were all punched.

I'd like to enter:
Deep Ocean  Die Cuts and Punches
Naughty or Nice punches (flowers)
Pinspirational  the patterned paper has 'postcard' and post marks on it,
Aud Sentiments  anything goes

CAS Coffee

At the Scrapbags Retreat recently, we were given a kit (Teresa Collins) and challenged to make a layout and a card.

For my card, I used a journalling card from the kit as a background and added this image by Stamping Bella, using a combination of stamping and fussy-cutting . I paper-pieced the leggings and stool. The sentiment is by Waffle Flower.

I'd like to enter:
Addicted to Stamps  cas
Dragonfly Journeys coffee therapy
Give a Crafter a Cookie  coffee or tea

Monster Thanks

For this card I used my new stamps from Gerda Steiner Designs - the two monsters and the banner , which I coloured with markers. 'Sending and You' are by Avery Elle and I designed and cut the 'monster' word on the Silhouette.

Then I spent a considerable amount of time searching all my stamp sets to find one that said the word 'thanks' (rather than thank you.) . I bet you're wondering why I didn't plan it all out before I started stamping. Quite! Anyway, I eventually found one in a Wplus 9 set.

I'd like to enter:
Addicted to CAS monster
Less is more purple and gold
Tuesday Throwdown all about the words
Shopping Our Stash  a thank you card
AAA Cards thanks

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Ebony and Ivory

Kirsty has chosen our new challenge at City Crafter  and it is : Ebony and Ivory  - Create a project that includes piano, piano keys, keyboard, musical notes or music related items.

I've had a lot going on at home and work lately and I lost my mojo for a bit. This card was my FOURTH attempt to make a card for the theme! The first two cards were more piano-related  but I just didn't like my end result, The third card was a previous version of this design but I like this one better,

I used an old-fashioned record-player stamp from Neat and Tangled, combined with a graphic equaliser stamp by Indigo Blu,which I heat embossed. The larger sentiment was from the Neat and Tangled set and the smaller one is Avery Elle (from a Christmas set!) .

This week, Danielle  is our guest designer. I hope you'll visit us all at City Crafter, see what Danielle and the DT have made, and enter your own music-related project.

I'd like to enter:

Little Tangles  cas

Crafty Friends for someone special 

Craft Stamper  ag

Retro French

Here's a card I made in response to some challenge themes.

The woman with the dog (Joanna Sheen) was stamped and masked and I stamped the building (from the same set) behind her, I did some paper-piecing using a Basic Grey pad from my paper mountain .The sentiment is by Clearly Besotted.

I'd like to enter:
Shopping Our Stash building
Always Use Rubber destinations
Make My Monday get well
Aloha Friday fall colours
Crafty Calendar  autumn colours

Inkspirational - Photo Challenge - Fireworks

Our new challenge at Inkspirational is to be inspired by the photo below. 

For my DT project I made a scrapbook layout. I designed and created the 'fireworks' and title on the Silhouette Cameo. If you zoom in you may be able to see that the title is very glittery!

Jenny is our Guest Designer for this challenge, so I hope you will come over to Inkspirational and see what she, and the rest of the DT have made, and enter your own creation.

I'd like to enter:
Creatalicious anything but a card
Crafty gals Corner  anything but a card
Cute Card Thursday  anything but a card

Some Scrapbook Layouts part 2

The second layout used the tic tac toe board, also from The Studio Challenges .The line was wood, washi tape and flair.
 

Some Scrapbook Layouts part 1

I had a lovely weekend at Scrapbags retreat and am posting some layouts I made.

The first one, of my parent's wedding, used the retreat kit ( Teresa Collins). I used this sketch from The Studio Challenges:

City Crafter Challenge Blog - I See a Star

I chose this week's challenge at City Crafter,and I'd like you to enter projects with a star or stars on them.

For my DT card I used a digital stamp of a seal (? sea lion?) by Mo Manning. I coloured it and masked it and created a sky using distress ink and pearly water.  The star is a Craft Stamper freebie stamp and the sentiment is by Little Claire. 

Our Guest Designer this week is Charlotte E ,so please do come over to the challenge blog and see what she and the rest of the DT have made, and enter your own starry project. 

I'd like to enter:

Country View stars 

Jingle Belles animals 

Winter Wonderland frosty

Allsorts Christmas

Moving Along with the Times  cute animal