Dear Santa

Well, I know it's far from perfect but I am quite proud of the experimental stencilling I did here, using an Alte New grid stencil and two colours of ink . The girl is a My Favorite Things stamp, coloured with Promarkers , with some gold gel pen spots on the dress. Not sure who made the sentiment.

I'd like to enter:
Winter Wonderland red and green
Make My Monday  happy Christmas
Watercooler Challenges  anything goes
Fab n Funky  Christmas

City Crafter Challenge Blog - I believe in Santa Claus

This week at City Crafter,, Kirsty wants us to be inspired by the Kenny and Dolly album, Once upon a Christmas :

For my DT project I took inspiration from the album cover , which I think is quite kitsch.  I made a retro-style card, using stamps from various old magazine freebie kits. 

We look forward to seeing your projects for this challenge and I hope you'll go over to the blog and see what the rest of the DT have made.

I'd like to enter

Dragonfly Journeys Christmas tree

Always Fun  anything goes 

Polars Apart

I always enjoy seeing those 'one stamp, two ways' articles, so here I've done one myself, using this bear stamp from Hobby Art.

For the first card I stamped and embossed him in gold , masked him and used a Tim Holtz stencil . I coloured him with Zig Clean Colour markers and decided not to use a sentiment . (I think it's pretty clear that it's a Christmas card!) 

For the second card I wanted to do some paper-piecing with some scraps from a Cosmo Cricket set - my first instinct was to paper-piece the scarf but I decided to paper-piece the bear and colur the scarf with Promarkers.

I'd like to enter:

First card (red and green) 

Retro Rubber  don't know how old stamp is but I definitely used it on cards two years ago

Winter Wonderland  red and green

Moving Along with the Times  Christmas animals 

Second Card (paper-pieced) 

The Holly and Ivy  anything goes 

Come and Get It  animals 

Freezer Tree

I followed a tutorial on using freezer paper as a mask . When I peeled the mask away I was unimpressed with what I'd created but I really liked the effect of the spray inks on the freezer paper mask - so I decided to use this on my card.

The Christmas tree is a Sizzix die.The background is a Darkroom Door stamp, coloured with Pearl X gold mica powder .I was then going to do my usual and stick it all on a white card base, but I remembered the challenge at Try it on Tuesday, to use no white, and made a green base instead. Then it occurred to me that black isn't really a colour!

I'd like to enter:
Jingle Belles  gold.metal
Try it On Tuesday no white
Crafty Gals Corner  dies
Allsorts song Oh Christmas Tree
Challenge up your Life  trees

Bauble Scene

Here I used a bauble stamp from Paper Artsy. I stamped a scene inside one of them using a post-it note moon ( are Post-its the best craft supply ever?), Distress Ink and stamps from Newton's Nook.

I'd like to enter:
Mod Squad  build a scene
Watercooler Wednesday  Christmas

Plain Polar Bear

Good morning crafters! I'm ploughing on with the Christmas cards and this one uses a polar bear from For the Love of Stamps and a sentiment from Hero Arts and a star stamp (?) and nothing else.

I'd like to enter:
Dragonfly Dreams  winter
Tic Tac Toe masculine, cas, blue
Stempelgarten Christmas

Penguin Joy

For this card I used a penguin stamp from Flora and Fauna. (It comes from a set that I find quite challenging as the stamps are very small and don't seem to really work together.)

The 'joy' stamp is by Paper Artsy , the 'christmas' from Avery Elle and I added glitter pen to the sentiment and knitwear.

I'd like to enter:
The Paper Players  warm and cozy
Cards in Envy only paper

Puppy Christmas

My daughter and her partner recently got a puppy, so I made this Christmas card for them.

The image is a Gerda Steiner stamp, coloured with Promarkers and the sentiment is Hero Arts.

I'd like to enter:
Passion for Promarkers  Christmas
Casology cheer
Fairytale Challenge  Christmas animals
Addicted to Stamps cas

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Autumn Colours

This week at City Crafter, Lucille wants us to use autumn colours.

For my DT project I made a layout using lots of old scrapbooking papers and stash items. I used the sketch at Scrappy Friends :

We look forward to seeing your projects for this challenge and I hope you'll go over to the blog and see what the rest of the DT have made.

I'd also like to enter :
Scrappy Friends  pumpkins/family 
Crafty Cardmakers  anything but a card. 

Skater Bunny

Here's another bunny card, this time using a new stamp by My Favorite Things. The snowflakes are by Uniko and the sentiment is Avery Elle.

I'd like to enter:
Inkspire Me  colour
Come and Get It  winter sports
Stamping Sensations  one layer card
Merry Christmas  animals
Casology  sharp (blades on the skates)

Inkspirational Challenges - Designer's Choice - Neutral Christmas Card

Our new challenge at Inkspirational is Yvonne's choice 'Christmas card in neutral colours. 

For my DT card I used a die-cut I created on the Silhouette- I cut it out of kraft card and then embossed it with holographic powder. 

I hope you'll go over to the Inkspirational blog and see what the rest of the DT , and our Guest Designer, Heidi , have made, then join in the challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Crafting with Dragonflies  Christmas card in non trad colours
Watercooler Wednesday masculine 
Fab n Funky  masculine touch 
Just add Ink  r for reindeer 

The Christmas Bunny

Here I used a digi from Samis Stamps, coloured with Promarkers. The papers are very old magazine freebies. I paper-pieced his scarf and added clear Nuvo drops and then threw fine glitter over the top. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

I'd like to enter:
Male Room  paper-piecing
Aud Sentiments  anything goes
Addicted to Stamps  holiday

Bear in a Car

Here's a Christmas card I made to join in some challenges.

I used a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches - here it is:

I did change it a little , so I hope you can still see the sketch. I sort of turned it upside down so the mountains are the scallops above the horizontal band , rather than below. I also shifted the sentiment down. 

The bear and mountains stamps are Reverse Confetti. The stripes are Inky Doodles and the sentiment is Hero Arts. I coloured everything with Promarkers and added glitter pen to the mountain peaks and the gifts. 

I'd also like to enter:

Shopping Our Stash  transportation 

Cutie Pie  bear hugs 

Animal Friends  Christmas 

Christmas at Sweet Stampin

Thanks to Melissa at Tuesday Morning Sketches for picking this card.

City Crafter Challenge Blog - For the Boys

This week, at City Crafter , Amy wants us to make a card for the boys/men in our lives.

By the power of masking, I created a scene using stamps ( fence, boys and treehouse) from Molly Bloom. I coloured it using Promarkers ...then messed up the background! After all that masking and colouring, I wasn't ready to ditch it, so I cut around the scene and stuck it onto patterned paper. Save!

We look forward to seeing your projects for this challenge and I hope you'll go over to the blog and see what the rest of the DT have made.

I'd like to enter:
Addicted to Stamps - use more than one stamp

Pro-Am Showdown #16 - Candle Birthday Card

Here's another one for my self-imposed challenge, Pro-Am Showdown , where I CASE a mass-produced card to make my own, amateur version.

Here is the card I'm casing:

the commercially produced card

I liked the line of candles and that some of them were cut out, with the pattern beneath. I also liked the glittery gold flames.

I cut the candles out of the pink cardstock, using a Silhouette . I backed them with some spotty paper and cut the numbers from the same paper. Then I cut the flames and number outline from gold glitter paper.

I'd like to enter:
Dragonfly Journeys glamorous gold
QKR Stampede touch of gold
Watercooler Challenges birthdays
Sisterhood of Crafters sparkle

Autumnal Thank You

I thought I was done with autumnal cards and had moved on to Christmas, but while I was shopping for some new Christmas stamps (as obviously I've run out since last year!) , I couldn't resist popping this Stamping Bella one into my cart.

I'd like to enter:
Little Red Wagon harvest
Allsorts  colours of autumn
Double D mood board
Cardz4Galz thanks
4 Crafty Chicks  thanks
Crafty Cardmakers  thank you
Come and Get it  thank you
My Time to Craft paper-piecing
Cupcake Inspirations  fall

Snowman in a Jar

Here's a Christmas card using a Clearly Besotted jam jar and Mama Elephant sentiments. Inside the jar I stamped a snowman and fence by Hero Arts. I used scrap paper as a mask to ink the snowbank and sky and added falling snow with a gel pen.

I'd like to enter:
Casology  tiny - the stamps inside the jar are tiny
Simon Says Stamp  snow white
Naughty or Nice  winter wonderland

Christmas Conga

I do love a bit of paper-piecing -here I paper-pieced some of the girl's dresses. This is a digi from A Day for Daisies with a sentiment by Hero Arts.

I'd like to enter:
Get Creative  holidays
My Time to Craft paper-piecing
Addicted to Stamps  make your mark
The Holly and Ivy 

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Love and Peace, Man

It's my turn to choose the challenge at City Crafter, and I've chosen 'Love and Peace, Man' - use either the word 'peace' or the word 'love' on your card. 

As you can see, I've used both for my simple Christmas card. Using the Silhouette digital cutter, I  cut the card base, using a reindeer image that I'd previously digitally traced. (I've got the 'positive' cut to use on another card. ) Then I backed the aperture with red glitter paper. The sentiment is Hero Arts. 

I hope you'll join in our challenge at City Crafter. 

I'd like to enter:

Merry Monday  kraft and red 

Cards Und More  red

HLS Cas Christmas