Christmas Kickstart Challenge #84 - Get Your Grinch On!

It's the first Tuesday of a new month and so we have a brand new elf over at Christmas Kickstart. I know you are going to love the work of the very talented Meghan Kennihan from Made by Meghan K. 

Meghan and I are taking our cue from the approach of Spring and St. Patrick's Day on March 17th, but as always it's got a Christmas twist...

Challenge #84 - Get Your Grinch On!

We'd to see the colour GREEN taking centre stage on your Christmas cards for this month and you will LOVE Meghan's creation for this challenge.. 

I had so much fun making my card, and decided to employ a technique I always enjoy: paper - piecing! 

I stamped their jumpers on some teeny, tiny pieces of leftover papers!

I'm linking this card to Snippets Playground Challenge #475 because, well: SNIPPETS! 

For my second card I got busy with this sweet stamp from WPlus9 (sadly, no longer available) and a very large die cut.

Rudolph has a lovely prize for one lucky, Random Raffle Winner. 

Please head on over to Christmas Kickstart and play along!

Happy Birthday to you, CAS Christmas!

 

So here's a card that proved VERY tricky to photograph!

I couldn't resist joining the fun over at CAS Christmas Challenge as I LOVE kraft, red and white as a Christmas colour combo.  I kept it all very simple, and almost single layer, by adding a smidgen of coloured paper and that sweet Wplus9 image. The sentiment comes from the same set, and the snow comes curtesy of a background stamp from MFT I'd forgotten I had! 

The colours are Waaaaaaaaaaaaay off in this photoghraph, and the shading on the girl's hair and hat has disappeared completely, but hopefully you can get the drift!

Edited to add: Here's the same card under different lighting.

I'm sending BIG congratulations to the gang over at CAS Christmas Card Challenge as they are celebrating their third birthday! They are such a talented bunch and, as always, the inspiration on offer is gorgeous. There are some lovely prizes on offer too, so why not head over, wish them a happy birthday and play along!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #44 - Peace on Earth

Well, well, well, we've reached the penultimate Christmas Kickstart challenge of 2020.

I'm delighted to be joined by the one and only Shirley Bee for this challenge. 

Shirley will be a very familiar face to many of you out there in Blogland as she is a regular contributor to Craft Stamper Magazine and also designs her own range of stamps (The Bees Knees) over at Stamplorations.

Our theme for this challenge is one which seems especially apt as this strange and difficult year draws to a close:

Challenge #44 - Peace on Earth

For some reason my cards for this one just haven't gone the way I was hoping they would.

Out of the cards I made for this challenge I'm happiest with this card created by painting stripes on watercolour paper. The wording is from a WPlus9 set called Script Peace. It's lovely, and priced very reasonably too.

I'm entering this card over at Lost Coast Challenges where their current theme is Winter Blues.

My next card uses one of Shirley's Bees Knees sets: Houses. 

And finally a kraft angel, which incidentally is Rudolph's Random Raffle prize for this challenge and the current theme over at Time Out Challenges.

I hope you'll find time to come and play along in this challenge. 

Christmas in July

Thankfully, Christmas in July is the new theme over at Lost Coast Designs and not the latest shock/surprise from 2020!

My card is a sweet and simple combo of a cute snowman from Paper Smooches plus a snowflake and sentiment from WPlus9. Simples!

Turns out that it's Christmas in July at Shopping Our Stash too.

Happy Christmas... in July, everyone.

The Card Chain Challenge May 2019 Reveal

It's another lovely Reveal over at The Card Chain Challenge!

This month we offered players a bright and cheery colour combo and a fun sketch:

and further options of insects, food, friendship or metal charms.

I sent my card to Dawn in NZ and opted for insects as I thought she'd like the butterflies from this Wplus9 set I was lucky enough to win from the lovely Donna a little while ago.

I was lucky enough to receive this stunning card from Joanne, who pulled in the insect theme and the sketch too.

The June sign-up is running for a few more days, so why not come and play along in this ever-so slightly addictive challenge.

April Card Chain Challenge Reveal

As it's the second day of the month, that can only mean one thing: Card Chain Challenge Reveal time!

Deborah picked-out some gorgeous colours for us:

Plus a great sketch too:

Turns out I don't have any navy ink (surprising, I know) neither do I have any sky blue card (even more surprising considering how much card I possess!) but I muddled through and made this card to send to the lovely Jerrie in Wisconsin, USA.

I used one of my most favourite flower images on this card ( from Wplus9) and then echoed Deborah's sketch by die-cutting the sentiment across the image.

This was sooooooooo difficult to photograph, but luckily the 'hugs' sentiment is much more obvious IRL as it is covered in oodles of Wink of Stella!

My sender for this month is the lovely Dawn; a long-term blogging buddy and one of the CCC most devoted players!

You can see the full reveal in all it's glory by clicking here AND you can sign up for the May Challenge by clicking here. We'd love to see a few additional crafters join our dedicated band of regular players, so why not play along and become a link in our chain!

Celebrating Friendship

I made this birthday card for a friend and thought I'd share it ahead of her birthday on Friday. No challenge, no theme, no bloghop... Just feeling blessed, and celebrating friendship.

Creative With Stamps Challenge #6 - Autumn Colors Photo/Color Inspiration Reminder

It's mid-month reminder time over at Creative With Stamps!

I'm going to be honest and admit I've struggled with these colours. Yes, they are beautiful but I've found them tricky to combine in a harmonious manner which doesn't look slightly forced. Because of this I decided to 'cherry pick' just four of the colours and to use them in a very CAS way to create this simple 'thank you' card.

The pretty stamps are from WPlus9. I stamped in Distress Inks and coloured some card in the same colours to enable me to do some layering. The white an clear sequins just finish the card nicely.

My talented teamies fared much better with this challenge than myself. You can head over here to see their gorgeous and inspirational creations!

We also have some great sponsors and prizes at CWS so here are all the details to tempt you just that little bit more!

Sponsors:

3 Digital Stamps from QKR Stampede

(for CWS Challenge Winner)

Shop: http://www.qkrstampede.com/

Blog: http://www.qkrstampede.blogspot.com/

&

a $15 Gift Certificate from STAMPLORATIONS

or 

Choice of any 2 ARTplorations Stencils

(for RANDOM Winner)

Shop: http://stamplorations.auctivacommerce.com/

Blog: http://stamplorations.blogspot.com/

Creative with Stamps Challenge #3 - Manly Cards

It's time to celebrate the guys in our lives over at Creative with Stamps this month!

Monika, Lillian and the team have created a selection of great inspiration for those oh, so hard to make masculine cards!

To be honest I'm not sure how 'butch' and manly my card actually looks. I used a supposedly masculine colour palette plus design paper from the Teresa Collins He Said range but at a push I'd say the card is still fairly unisex!

The sweet dog, and his airborne bone are by Katzelkraft and the sentiment is from MFT's adorable set Birthday Bears. The balloon is by WPlus9 (Party Animal).

Want to get some great inspiration AND check-out our sponsors? Then head over to Creative with Stamps for all the information about this super fun challenge!

House of Cards September Challenge - Stitch it up!

We've a brand new challenge over at HOC and it's all about sewing... Faux, hand or machine sewn its all good and we're looking forward to seeing some bewitching stitching on your creations this month!

As you can see I went the machine stitched route for my simple little card with my current favourite flower image from Wplus9. I appear to have set myself a mini-challenge to see how many different ways I can use this pretty stamp! It really is so versitile. The beautiful sentiment is from Reverse Confetti purchased from Make the Day Special.

I was trying for a feminine and fairly homespun look with this card and am pleased with how pretty the white embossing looks against the kraft cardstock. I coloured with my water brush and Distress Inks.

Yet again the HOC girls have created some beautiful projects so why not head on over, take a look and join in...

Naughty or Nice Challenge #19: Ribbons and Bows

It's all about ribbons and bibbons and bows this month over at Naughty or Nice Challenges!

We thought it would be fun to pull out one of our favorite embellishments and feature it on our cards. You can go big and tie it up with a huge bow or go small and just add a bit of ribbon as an embellishment or a flag. 

Once again, I've worked with this gorgeous Wplus9 stamp called Botanical Bunch: isn't it a beauty? I love how many different card styles it's possible to achieve with this stamp. This look is fairly sophisticated and was great fun to make as its so different from my usual style. I've another card using this stamp on my workdesk but I'll leave it a few days before sharing it.

I wasn't sure if I had any ribbons for this challenge and was amazed, when I opened my ribbon tin, at just how many ribbons and lengths of lace I actually possess. The design was already in my head and all the elements chosen before I even put ink to paper and so the card was finished in record time.

My fellow Troublemakers have worked their usual creative magic, so why not drop by over at the NON blog and take a look at how they have interpreted this theme.

Experimenting...

With water colouring a heat embossed image using Distress Inks.

I bought this beautiful image, called Botanical Bunch is from Wplus9, as I felt I needed some slightly more 'grown-up' stamps in my collection. I've been playing with it alot recently so please forgive me if it pops-up again in the not too distant future.

Have a happy day!