Playing along...

Hi, folks! It's a chilly and frosty start to the day here in the UK, so what better than a little time in a cosy craft room!

I wanted to play along with the current challenge over at Inkspirational as I love an excuse to do a little paper piecing. 

I had a really good idea of how I wanted this card to look, but it hasn't quite worked out as I'd expected. Perhaps I shouldn't have used Distress Oxide to ink the base card? Perhaps I'm actually just fussing over nothing?

The cute cup image is from the lovely Jane's Doodles set I have open on my desk at the moment. I love the size of her new sets and they are so much fun to colour. 

I'm also linking this card over at ABC Christmas Challenge where 'A is for Anything Christmas'.

Have a crafty day!

Something Old, Something New...

Lauren and Stef have a new challenge...

and are playing 'Something Old, Something New'. They'd like to see you create a Christmas card using something brand new and something older. 

I'm currently loving my NEW Jane's Doodles sets from Creative Expressions. These stamps are a great size and stamp so beautifully. I inked up this cute little mug image from the set Holiday Cheers and let it take centre stage. My OLD for this challenge is a stamp from a much loved set Puffy Holiday Greetings by Mama Elephant. That quick and easy smooshy background was created with Distress Inks. 

I'm doubling-up on the challenges with this card as I'm also joining the fun at Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge #25.

 

Have a fun Wednesday, Folks!

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! 

Wrapping It Up with the Jingle Belles

I'm just squeaking-in with a few hours to spare over at Jingle Belles where Lauren and Stef are playing with wrapping paper! What a fab theme, and perfect timing too as I'd collected this cute little squad of penguins from some off-cuts of Christmas wrapping paper.

Aren't they adorable? I have enough for at least another two cards. 

I created a background with a Newton's Nook stencil called Petite Snow and the sentiment comes from Cool Penguins by Mama Elephant. The gorgeous gold patterns on the card base are provided by Darkroom Door Background stamp Abstract Triangles. 

This was such a fun make and a big thank you to The Jingle Belles for giving me a nudge to make something with these cute critters!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #82 - Reminder

 

Welcome friends, I hope that January is treating you well.

It's Reminder time at Christmas Kickstart, and our fabulous elf, Linda from Scrappin, Stampin, and Singin' has kindly created yet another gorgeous card that you can see on the reminder post. I KNOW you are going to love her card. 

Our theme is  - The Midas Touch

Here's another peek at Linda's first card...

And here's my Inspired by... creation: 

I wanted to include a bell or bells, couldn't find a single bell in my stash. I made do with a sweet robin in a beenie from  My Favorite Things Winter Songbird, Winter Wreath and a Winter Wreath Die and quite like the end result. I loved that Linda had a darker background for her card, so I went with kraft and I tried to echo her music paper by stamping a lovely Hero Arts script stamp in Distress ink.

My second card uses my favourite Santa image from My Favorite things Jingle All the Way and MFT Circle Frame. 

I really hope you'll come and join Linda and me for this fun challenge. Also, don't forget that Rudolph has a Random Raffle Prize on offer for one lucky winner. 

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #246 - N is for New

 

We're celebrating all things NEW over at the Sisterhood with our January Challenge! 

New Year, new techniques, new crafting goodies... If it's new then link it up!

Just before we get going, did you notice that Sister Lee has worked her magic again for our challenge graphic? Our NEW Edna is in a Barbie box. So clever!

My NEW creation uses a fun Mary Engelbreit image and sentiment, one of my Gel Prints, a new-to-me Sheena Douglas die cut - Make Time, and some gorgeous golden numbers by Mama Elephant. 

This is the first time I've inked-up this Mary Engelbriet set, and it was great fun to work with! You can buy these stamps from Rubber Moon, and I'd probably buy more if they weren't so difficult to purchase for a UK-based crafter. Thanks to Sister Chris for helping me get my hands on the one's I have!

In addition, I'm linking my card to The current ANYTHING GOES Challenge at The Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. They have a few changes taking place and their challenge has gone monthly. Also, they have a few changes to their rules: 

• You can enter the challenge 2 times using any named brand of rubber or clear stamps and can combine your entry with a maximum of 5 other challenges (total 6 challenge links).
  
• If you use Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda stamps on your project you can enter the challenge as many times as you want and link up to as many other challenges as you want. Remember to mention in your post which Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda stamps you have used.

This is a great site with an amazing DT and a store chock full of fabulous stamps, so why not head on over and check it out!

Meanwhile, back to The Sisterhood who are ready and waiting for you to come and play along! Our challenges are now monthly to give you guys plenty of time to join the fun.

December 2023 - Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Happy New Year to all my wonderful crafting buddies! I hope the festive season treated you well and that 2024 is off to a good start!

It's our first Reveal time of 2024 over at The Card Chain Challenge. BTW, this is the year we should hit an amazing 5,000 cards sent and received around the world... Gail and I have plans to celebrate this milestone. 

For our December Challenge Gail created a festive, but fiendish Tic-Tac-Tic-Tac-Toe...

I went straight down the middle with my five in a row, and here's what I made:

I used the gorgeous bear from Hey Winter from Sugar Pea Designs, and then got busy copying maps from Google. I sent my card to Alice in Finland and my sender for this month was Barbara in Switzerland.

I love how the daisies 'pop' against the black. Thanks, Barbara!

Our January sign up is still open, so why not make this the year that YOU come along and play at Card Chain Challenge. Send a card, receive a card... Everybody wins!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #82 - The Midas Touch

Happy New Year!

Welcome, welcome, welcome! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and that you're ready for another year of crafting and creating. Did Santa bring you new crafting goodies? He was VERY kind to me this year!

I'm so happy to be kicking off a brand new year of Christmas card making over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge with my dear blogging friend, the very talented Linda W.

Our theme is:

Challenge #82 - The Midas Touch

We'd like to see some gold on your cards for this challenge. Not necessarily a whole card dripping with gold, but more like an accent, a 'pop', a touch of gold. You will LOVE what Linda has created for our challenge together, so please head on over and take a look!

This is my card for the challenge. I used this sweet stamp from Crafters Companion called True Friends, which was a gift from my crafting bud, Gail. It isn't a Christmas set, but I gave the girl long sleeves, warm tights and added a Wintery night sky to give things a festive feel.

This is a rather minimal interpretation of our theme, so please feel free to go for a bigger pop, touch or splash of gold on your cards if you wish.

My second card is a total, 100% CASE of a card I received a few years back from my VERY talented Sistah Toni. I had so much fun making this homage to Toni's original creation using a Christmas Darkroom Door image and super cute POD pup. Thanks for giving me the thumbs-up to share it here, Toni, and for wanting to pass along the inspiration. 

As always, our favourite deer, Rudolph, is on hand with a great Random Raffle Prize to Kickstart the prize giving for 2024. He believes you can never have enough beautiful sentiment stamps and I have to say I agree!

      

Please come and join Linda and me as we play The Midas Touch! 

Happy New Year!

 

See you all very soon for more crafting fun!