The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #110 - Season's Tweetings - Reminder

 
We're in great company over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge as we welcome back Joanne from Ambrosia and Iron as our guest elf for May. 

Challenge #110 - Season's Tweetings

We're all about our feathered friends this month and Joanne has very kindly created a second card for our challenge. Don't you just LOVE her penguin card, I know I do!

Here's Joanne's first card for our challenge. I had both of her cards saved on my PC by the time I came to make my 'Inspired by' creation, so they merged in my head a bit!

I made this card using Joanne's idea of a snowy, coloured background, but went with the darker colouring of her second card. I was going to use her big sentiment style, but after I'd made the card I decided I liked it as it is. I might add something top left as now I'm looking at the card again it looks a little empty. I always enjoy colouring the AALL and Create Owls.

For my second card I did go with a Joanne-esque big sentiment:

I think the Penny Black Twelve Days of Christmas set is so comical. It's quite an oldie now, but I was thrilled to snag it on eBay a couple of months ago - and at a good price too. I asked my hubby if he got the 'joke' of this card and he asked if they were burglar hens. I'm taking that as a no.

As always, Rudolph has a lovely Random Raffle Prize on offer. 

Isn't this a gorgeous set! Please remember to read the Challenge Guidelines before signing-up to play if you're new to Christmas Kickstart.

Joanne and I can't wait to see what you create for this fun theme!

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #109 - Brimming with Style

 

Hi there, I hope you all had a good Easter. Hey, turns out it's time for a brand new challenge over at The Christmas Kickstart where I'm tickled pink to welcome back my dear friend Gail from Crafty Nomad.

This month our challenge is:

Challenge #109 - Brimming with Style

We'd love to see hats, or people and/or critters in hats, please. You can ink-up your favourite behatted stamp images OR why not add a hat to a none-hat-wearing image or die cut to make things extra festive!

Gail has created the cutest card to get the party started, so why not head on over to the CKC blog and take a look!

Here's what I made. I've had this cute stamp set for a while and decided now was this little guy's moment to shine! Isn't he fun!

This little snow dude is from the Snow Good set by AALL and Create and the lovely big die cut is Jolly Dies by Concord and 9th.

My second card was so much fun to make. I die cut Grand Whittle Pig and then modified another die-cut to make him a hat. I then added a pom pom and placed him in the 'O' of Penny Black's Immense Noel.

Rudolph has a lovely prize on offer again this month. 

Gail and I can't wait to see your creations for this challenge, so please come and join the fun!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #94 - Bring the Baubles

 

It's 2025,  and a new Christmas Kickstart Challenge is calling. I'm delighted to be kicking-off  another year of Christmas cardmaking with the very talented Julia Aston as our first elf of the New Year! 

Our theme is:

Challenge #94 - Bring the Baubles

We want to see baubles/ornaments on your cards for the whole of January and you will LOVE Julia's sweet inspiration card, so please drop by and take a look!

Here's what I made:

It took three attempts to get something that felt right for this one. I kept changing my mind on the size/style of the bauble. I'm glad I finally settled on this sweet ornament from the Sizzix set Funky Baubles. I think it works well in combination with one of my my fave die cuts Noel from Penny Black.

Rudolph has a lovely prize for our first challenge of 2025!

 

Guest Elf Julia and I can't wait to see what you create!

With a Cherry on Top!

I had the chance to sit down and make a card this morning! Oh, the joy and relaxation of colouring, stamping, cutting...

And this is what I made:

I needed a little inspiration to get the creative cogs turning and was delighted to find this challenge over at AAA Birthday Game #65 - Background Focus. 

I knew which stamp would be perfect for this challenge: Darkroom Door Word Block Stamp -  Birthday and I stamped in two different Altenew inks to add a little interest. The tiny Penny Black mice were a joy to colour, and I love how they are bustling along to bring the fun.

My card is rectangular in shape, so I'm linking-up at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where their Anything Goes Challenge has an Anything but a Square option. Nice!

Take care and Happy Tuesday to you all. 

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #254 - A is for Autumn

 

The Sisterhood played S is for Summer last month, so naturally it's now time to play A is for Autumn. Autumn, Fall or 'Spider Season' can be such a beautiful time of the year and I decided to ink up this gorgeous Spellbinder embossing folder to try and capture some of the colour palette of the season. 

The cute little eight-legged guys are from a Penny Black stamp I found on an Etsy site a while back. 

My fabulous sistahs, and our wonderful guests, have created some awesome autumnal magic to inspire you all, so please come and play along. 

Reminder for Christmas Kickstart Challenge #88

Over at Christmas Kickstart we're in the company of lovely Leslie from Running With Scissors. Thanks for being our elf, Leslie. 

There are some gorgeous cards in the linky gallery and we'd both like to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has played along thus far. 

Our theme for July is

Festive Frames

We'd like to see a FRAME on your Christmas card!

 Here's a little reminder of the beautiful card Leslie has created for our challenge...

There's so much inspiration on offer here! Leslie has used a PB stamp, so I decided to ink-up these adorable PB mice. I also decided to steal Leslie's wide frame and faux stitching, and where she added a 'pop' of design paper with that pretty ric-rac die, I put a design paper panel behind the mice. This was so much fun to do, thanks for letting me CaSE your card, Leslie!

I thought I'd link my card to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge 'Anything Goes' option as I've not had the opportunity to play long there for a little while. 

Finally, don't forget that Rudolph has a sweet little prize on offer this month for his Random Raffle Draw. 

Leslie and I can't wait to see what you create, so please hurry on over and join the fun!

Jingle Belles: Cookie Inspired Christmas

Jingle Belles Lauren and Stef, have another fun theme on offer! They'd like us to take our inspiration from this gorgeous picture by Kristens.cookies. 

Seriously, those cookies are just too pretty to eat! 

I was inspired by the idea of festive edibles, and made sure I chose a design paper that picked-up the gorgeous colours of the picture. 

I'm so enjoying working with this Penny Black Noel die at the moment. 

I was browsing eBay recently and spotted Cookie Cutter Christmas by Stampin' Up! on offer for a good price. Click, click, click and it was mine. Isn't this little guy fun!

I'm sharing this card over at ABC Christmas Challenge, where I'm playing G is for Gingerbread and I'm squeeeeezing it at Penny Black Saturday Challenge, where it would appear I'm completely ignoring the Easter option, and playing Anything Goes. 

Thanks for dropping by! 

Reminder - Christmas Kickstart Challenge #84

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly we reach the middle of a Challenge. Can you believe we are already half-way through?

For the whole of March we're playing: 

Get Your Grinch On!

with the lovely Meghan from Made by Meghan K. 

Here's what Meghan made for our challenge:

I was completely blown away by Meghan's card, but wasn't sure in which direction to go for my 'Inspired by...' creation. Some of this was to do with my lack of St Patrick's Day stash. Eventually, the lightbulb moment happened and I decided to borrow 'the sketch' and some of the design elements from Meghan's card. Not everything went to plan, but I think it worked out ok in the end!

I used this adorable stamp: Doggo and Mousy Winter walk POD for my focal point, and Corner Sentiments Holiday Avery Elle for the sentiment. The papers are from MFT Holly Jolly 6 x 6 paper pad.

I love the fact that we have some toads/frogs in the gallery for this challenge. I'd already thought about inking-up this adorable little guy, but couldn't work out how to use him until I remembered this big Noel die. I thought it would be fun to have him jumping across the 'O' and leaving his Santa hat behind. I coloured with my pencils for a change as I wanted him to look bright and bold. 

I doubt that the All Night Media Flying Frog is still available anywhere. I do love this versatile die: Penny Black Creative Dies Noel and how well it works for a slimline format.

I'm going to link-up the little frog over at Christmas Craft Creations where their current theme is DP. 

Finally, don't forget that Rudolph has a gorgeous stamp prize for his Random Raffle, so please come and join Meghan and me and Get Your Grinch On! 

Penny Black Fun!

Hi there, today I'm playing along at The Penny Black Saturday Challenge! They have an Anything Goes/Something New Challenge on offer and my card features a new-to-me image from the set Happy Critters which I bought here a few weeks ago. 

Aren't the cats adorable? The background is embossed in white with a balloon stamp from Unity. I decided not to add a sentiment and placed the column of kitties centre-stage. 

There are some fun cards in the gallery , so why not head over and take a look!