It's a Wrap!

 

I need very little persuasion to break out my gorgeous pillow box die from Lawn Fawn, so when I spotted the new challenge at LCD I knew I was going to play along.

The great thing about this box is that it's a perfect size for earrings in tissue paper, a handful of wrapped sweets or a gift card. 

Here's the front. I loved using that huge Colorado Craft Company snowflake across the whole die cut.

And here's the reverse - how neat and tidy it looks.

Don't you love the drama of kraft and black together? 

There's still a couple of days to play along with this challenge as it doesn't end until November 30th.

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #199 - Y is for Yuletide

 

Do we have the best Graphics Goddess or what? Yes, it's official The Sisterhood and Queen Justene are playing Y is for Yuletide, and doing it in fabulously snarky style! 

For my card I combined a festive Gelli Press print, a VLVS image and a fun, boozy MFT sentiment.  

The hat comes from Santa in this Mama Elephant set.

I'm also going to share this card - it's a commission, and therefore not snarky, but I thought I'd drop it into this post as I'm quite pleased with the background.

I hope you'll drop by and take a peek at the fabulous cards created by Justene and my teamies.

Let's Squash It! Challenge #14 - Stencil and Emboss

 

I'm on the blog over at Let's Squash It! today to remind all you good people that there's still time to play along with our current, fun challenge!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to play around with this theme for our Technique Time post.

Here's one of the pieces that I produced by combining a Funky Fossil stencil and an EF from Creative Expressions called Distressed Lines. 

After having already done the creative 'stuff' it only took a few minutes and this sweet die set from Simon Says Stamp to produce this card.

We've got sixteen gorgeous cards in the linky gallery thus far, but would love to see yours there too, so why not come and join the party!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #56 - Reminder

 

It's mid-month time for the current challenge over at Christmas Kickstart!

We're in good company this month as we have Queen of the Snippets lovely Di from Pixie's Crafty Playground. If you're not sure what a 'snippet' is just take a look the picture below...

Challenge #56 - Christmas Snippets

Yes, we're playing with those pieces of design paper that we all hoard, but never know what to do with... Until now!

Here's what Di used to create her adorable card.

I love that Di decided to use her snippets to paper piece her card, and so couldn't resist giving this fun technique a whirl myself. Here are my snippets all laid out and ready to go.

Love this set from Jane's Doodles and that little gingerbread guy always makes me smile.

My second card makes use of this gorgeous set from our sponsor for this challenge. I created some little flags from sentiment banner dies. 

Rudolph is delighted that his Random Raffle for this challenge has been sponsored by Sarah and James.

 

They are generously offering a £10.00 voucher for their lovely online store; you really do need to take a look at what they have on offer AND they are offering 10% off for anyone playing in this challenge! There's a Dala Horse Bundle that is calling to me very loudly... Even more so now that it's reduced in price!

We hope you'll come and play along before this challenge ends on November 30th! 

And, BTW, Di has a new challenge just opened at Pixie's Crafty Workshop so why not play there too?

Seize the Beverage!

 Hi there, happy Monday to you all!

My Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers teamie, Jules, has just chosen her first 'Toppings' theme over at her new DT gig with Seize the Birthday!  She's made me sooooooooo proud by picking 'Beverages' as her topping of choice. Naturally, I just had to play along.

I still had this VLVS gal on my desk after making this card, so I inked her up and gave her a beer and sentiment from the Brings on the Beers set by Visible Image. It was easy to snuggle that bottle into her hand by cutting and colouring a second arm!

The background is another of my Gel prints. This time it was made with a picture from Vogue Magazine. I think it was the third pull and I love how it left plenty of space for the wording and the image.

The DT have created some fabulous cards for this fun challenge, so why not head on over and join the fun!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #198 - N is for Naughty

 

Well, well, just look at our Edna... They always say to watch the quiet ones!

The team that brought you R is for Rude now bring you N is for Naughty!

We'd like to see your best NAUGHTY creations for the next two weeks and trust me, the sistahs have really gone to town on this theme as their creations are hilarious!

My offering is best described as fun but tame.

Another gel print, a little printing and a fun VLVS image and my card was done.

I'm delighted to add this card over at Lost Coast designs as their current challenge is Art Dolls and Divas.

If you do nothing else today please head on over to The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers to see the naughtiness created by our guest and my teamies. Be warned, do not drink your coffee while viewing the cards or there may be a beverage spitting situation! You have been warned!

Art Dolls and Divas

 

Now here's a great challenge that nobody seems to have noticed... Or are we all busy making Christmas cards???

The fabulously talented crew over at Lost Coast Designs are playing with Art Dolls and Divas until November 14th. The DT are putting their hearts and souls into this challenge and there are some amazing creations to see over on the blog.

I decided to go the 'diva' route with this gorgeous stamp from VLVS. I'm not sure where I found the wording, but it's a fun phrase and I knew I wanted to pair it with this image. This card is for my cousin's birthday; she has my quirky sense of humour so I think she'll like it!

I can't help thinking it needs something bottom left - possibly this?

There are still two days to play along at Lost Coast, so why not head on over and take a look? There are prizes if they get enough entries!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #14 - Stencil and Emboss

 Hi there, it's time for a new challenge over at Let's Squash It!

Can you believe that we're reached Challenge #14? 

For the rest of this month we're inviting you to combine two of my favourite crafting techniques to stencil and emboss your cards! 

I have to admit that I found this challenge rather tricky at first, but then I had a lightbulb moment and came up with this little card:

For me, the key to mixing these techniques is simplicity - don't go with a fussy stencil and try to use an EF that has wider raised areas such as you have on this gorgeous folder from Gemini called Set in Stone. 

If you want to take a look at how I arrived at this card you can click and take a look at my technique time post.

We have a fabulous guest and she has totally rocked the challenge, so please come on over and join the fun! 

You're my Snow Buddy!

 Hello to all you lovely people out there in Cardland.

I had such a fun time playing with my BB MFT stamps the other day that I thought I'd whip up another card in the same style. I used the same cardmaking ingredients, but changed the Santa image for this cute little girl and her pup.

My SoSS teamie, Lindsey, created this adorable card for Happy Little Stampers, so I thought I'd follow her lead and play along. HLS November Challenge is:

The DT cards for this challenge are adorable and the gallery is filling up with some beautiful makes. 

I'm also playing at the rather fabulous CAS Christmas Card Challenge as their last theme of 2021 is Christmas Critters.

They have some beautiful cards to see over there too, so it's time to grab a cuppa and go enjoy some blog visiting! 

Have a happy day!

Playing in Pixie's Crafty Playground

Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a good day.

I'm hiding in my craft room while hubby decorates the lounge. My job is to stay out of the way and provide coffee and snacks as required. 

I'm lucky to have the lovely Diane from Pixie's Crafty Workshop acting as the elfin inspiration over at Christmas Kickstart during November. 

As many of you will know Di is the queen of snippets and runs a very successful challenge called Pixie's Snippets Playground, where she helps us make use of those pretty off-cuts and leftovers of design paper. She's now reached an impressive Challenge #415 and I thought I'd rummage in my snippets box and play along!

I found this gorgeous little piece of dark blue paper with snowflakes on it and knew immediately that it would look great as part of a window card.

I've always loved this Birdie Brown Santa from MFT Jingle all the way and when I read that Yoshi is no longer designing for My Favorite Things I bagged a few of her stamp sets that I hadn't already purchased.

Isn't that sentiment fun?

Big congratulations to Di for reaching Challenge #415, and thank you for being my elf at Christmas Kickstart. This is already proving to be a popular challenge and if you've not already seen Di's cute creation please head over and take a look. 

Right, now I think it's time for more snacks for the worker...

Card Chain Challenge - October 2021 Reveal

We have such a lovely Reveal on offer over at Card Chain Challenge this month.

We had 27 participants who exchanged cards, which brings our total number of cards exchanged thus far to 3,461. 

 

All the cards exchanged this month used at least one of the following options:

Colour Palette Option

(Exact matching is not required.)

Sketch Option

 

Theme Options: Transport / Shoes / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Brads / Faux Stained Glass

I sent my card to fellow Brit Brenda, so it only had a short trip across the country to reach her. 

I broke out some watercolour card and stamped in blue Versafine so that I could heat emboss and then watercolour with Distress Inks. I really love these stamps from Impression Obsession. I can't find this quote in the store, so I guess it must be unavailable now.

I was delighted to receive this cheery, little beauty from Lia in the Netherlands.

Why not join our chain of friendship and fun? There's still a few days in which to sign up for our November Challenge. 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #56 - Christmas Snippets

Over at Christmas Kickstart we have a new challenge and a new elf. I know many of you will recognise the lovely Di from Pixie's Crafty Playground. 

Confession #1 - I'm a bit of a latecomer to Di's fabulously fun challenge Pixie's Snippets Playground, but having discovered it I've become a regular visitor as it's so inspiring! We all hoard those lovely little pieces of design paper, but sometimes we just end up with a big box of scraps and tiny off cuts. Never fear, Di is the Queen of 'Snippets' as she calls these tiny paper treasures  and she has an endless supply of fabulous ideas to help incorporate them into our cards.

 

Our challenge for November is:

Challenge #56 - Christmas Snippets

I must own-up (confession #2) and admit that I saw Di's card just before I'd started making mine. Paper piecing is something I really enjoy, so a little bit sneaked onto my card.

Here's what I made for the challenge using products from the fabulous StickerKitten who have very kindly agreed to provide the Rudolph's Random Raffle prize for this challenge.

This is from their adorably cute set Alpaca Wishes. The stamps are just part of a range of beautiful, modern crafting products which I love and I think you will too!

Please come on over and see what Di has created for this challenge! We both hope you'll play along.