The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #9 - Christmas Bunnies.

A bunny is for Christmas not just Easter... Well, no, a bunny is for life, but it's a fun way to cue in the new challenge over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge which is:

Christmas Bunnies

So break out your bunny stamps and come and play along! 

I surprised myself by finding two Christmas bunny images in my stash, otherwise I was going to 'adapt' an Easter/Spring bunny.

This little cutie comes from Purple Onion Designs and is the work of the very talented Stacey Yacula. The sentiment is also from POD. The background was created by sponging Versamark through a stencil and then heat embossing. It looks lovely, but was a bit of a faff to do!

My second card for the challenge features a sweet little Lawn Fawn rabbit out on his sledge.

My final card features some stenciling and is very, very different to my usual style.

I layered up two stencils and got all inky with my Distress Oxides. The rabbit/hare stencil is from fellow crafter Sarah G. She has an online store where you can buy her gorgeous stencils, stamps, cards and gifts, and I love just about every single thing she has for sale there!

Finally, let's wish Elf Gail (AKA Iona Bunny) a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She has a rabbit-related giveaway on her post.  

Please join Gail and myself as we celebrate all things leporid (bunny) in this new, fun challenge!

Naughty or Nice Challenge #45 - Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We're Walking in a Winter Wonderland for Challenge #45 over at Naughty or Nice this month!
The gang are asking to see Winter Scenes for November. We don't mind whether your scene is a Winter's Day around the fire or a cold, snowy walk through crisp, bright snow: the choice is yours!

I broke out some sweet POD stamps (unused for way too long!) to create my scene, plus a Hero Arts favourite for the trees.

This card required three separate layers of masking, but other than that was very easy to make. I added some sweet little gems to the tiny tree to look like baubles. Sadly, the colours haven't photographed very clearly and are much more vivid IRL.

Stroll on over to join The Troublemakers by clicking here for this fun challenge.

Naughty or Nice Challenge #21 - Monochromatic with a thanks twist.

Do you love monochrome as much as I love monochrome?
If the answer is 'yes' then why not join in the fun as this month's challenge over at Naughty or Nice.

The Troublemakers would like to see marvellous monochromatic cards... With a 'thanks' twist.

My card is only a little bit naughty. I had such fun pulling together all the different elements for this one and hope it shows in the finished result.

Unfortunately, the picture is slightly washed-out due to the poor light levels today. 

The quote is attributed to Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. For me, Disraeli has always had one of the more interesting hair styles of British political history but that's a whole other blogpost! Having said that I still can't help but wonder just how did he manage to create that kiss-curl without the benefit of modern styling products?

Anyhoo, as soon as I saw his quote I knew I'd partner it with the lovely 'Crown' from AI for a super fun thank you card. 

The gorgeous stamp in the background is from Purple Onion Designs. It's a beauty but not one I've found easy to use due to it's dimensions. However, I think it works perfectly for this card and looks lovely heat embossed in white and then sponged with Distress Inks.

My fellow Troublemakers also had plenty of fun with their monochromatic-marvels so why not take a look and join in our challenge for November...

A tale of five bunnies...

 

The first two bunnies went astray in the post on their way to Norway when I sent them to Gail for the January Card Chain Challenge. As this was the first time Gail had joined the CCC I decided to send her a replacement card. Gail blogs as 'Ionabunny' so I had a hunch she likes rabbits... and I only needed a teeny weeny excuse to get stamping and masking again with this adorable POD stamp!
On the day this card went into the post the original card made it to Gail. Now this card has also arrived in Norway and she is the proud owner of five bunnies.

Happy crafting everyone!

January Card Chain Challenge Reveal!

Happy Saturday Bloggers! Its a chilly day in the UK. I'd like to crank the central heating up but we've just had the bill for the previous quarter (eeeeeeeeeeeeek) so perhaps I'll just put on another jumper instead.

The lovely Deborah has re-started her Card Chain Challenges - yippee. I've taken part in quite a few of these challenges in the past and have to say that I always enjoy them. The challenge starts as most challenges do when you choose from a colour palette, a sketch or a theme. Then Deborah's own signature twist kicks in, and you send the card to the person above you in the link-up list.

I love chatting with the other participants AND receiving a lovely handmade card through the post. I've made some long term blogging friends through Deborah's CCC and always enjoy the thrill of opening a card from far away.

In the January Challenge I sent this card to Gail in Norway:

I positively swooned when I opened the envelope to discover this beautiful card from Pat in Virginia. Just take a close look at that embossing, totally flawless or what!

All of the January CCC cards are revealed here on Deborah's Blog.

Deborah has just opened the sign-up for her February Challenge so why not head on over and join the chain yourself?

Happy crafting everyone!

Happy 2014

Oh my, I really do have some serious stamp love going on for this little Purple Onion Designs bunny!

 

Inspired by the LIM Challenge #153 Winter Blues I've created a little Happy 2014 card for my parents (yes, I know I'm a little late!).

I generated the 'Happy' and '2014' on my computer and merged the images to get them aligned as I wanted, then I did a little paper piecing. I coloured the bunny with Promarkers. A few pink stripes just HAD to appear as the card looked a bit plain in just blue and white alone.

I needed a second card, but didn't have enough blue spotty paper so decided to create a green version!

 

Finally, I'd like to share the beautiful card that my Mom made for me and Hubby.

 

Beautifully decoupaged and a sweet and simple design, she is such a talented lady.

Happy crafting everyone!