Creative juices are flowing!

I have completed a few more tasks on my Christmas To Do List, so as a reward, I have been able to spend some time crafting ;-)

I have taken the opportunity to do some more Christmas cards, as well as fitting in a few challenges!

Red Square Card, patterned paper, spellbinders die Fleur De Lis, magnolia coloured by hand using water colour pencils, kindy glitz & bling added

I love the crispness of the Fleur De Lis die - it does take a bit of coaxing to get it back out though ;-)

This card fits these challenges:

BizzyBecs creatalicious challenges #4 - Christmas, snowflakes & sparkle

justmagnolia - Christmas

MagnoliaDownUnder - Bedazzled

Crafting Mojo has returned!

I have been struggling of late to get my crafting mojo moving!

Over the weekend, I went searching for inspiration in all the blogs I follow, and guess what ....... I found it!

This card came together in stages - I think I must have had several ideas in the back of my mind.  I am a bit out of my comfort zone with this one - a few too many embellishments for my usual style, but I just had to find a way to use the lovely paper and leaves I won from CreataliciousChallenges#1.

I have also been intending to submit a card for Stamping Vacation for so long!  Now that it is a weekly challenge, hopefully I will be able to participate more often! 

The three I picked for this card were:

2 - Red, cream, brown

4 - metal (brads)

5 - Leaf

Paper flowers highlighted with buttons cut from old clothes.  I had to cut the shank off to make them lay flat.

Metal brads used to highlight smaller flowers.

Magnolia image, Tilda, hand coloured with watercolour pencils and highlighted with kindy glitz.

This cards meets several challenges, which are listed below.

Roses on Paper Challenge #22  - orange, brown & green + sketch from Just Magnolia

Just Magnolia sketch 26 (minus strips)

CBI#51 - fall colours using cuttlebug (spellbinder nesties)

Stampin for the Weekend - Orange, brown & leafy green

Saturday Challenge - Autumn colours

Stamping Vacation - Pick 3

Stamp Something - brown + something

It is so nice to be crafting again!  Now I just need to get my sewing machine back out (it was packed away for a party !!) and finish off my sewing challenge from CraftMad

Magnolia Down Under #18 - Christmas in July

Over on MagnoliaDownUnder the current challenge is Christmas in July.

My first thought was 'great', I don't have any Christmas Magnolia images!

I eventually found an image that could be used, so with a burst of relief, here is my Magnolia Christmas in July card.

off white square cardstock used as a base, Christmas DP as background. Tilda watercoloured and highlighted with chalks & kindy glitz. Embellished with organza ribbon with sparkles and paper flowers with bling. Gold Stickers Merry Christmas mounted with 3D foam tape.

Red panel embossed with Cuttlebug using Snowflakes embossing folder, spellbinder dies used to cut out oval panels.

Layout came from JustMagnoliaSketch#13

I am really pleased with the way this card turned out - I think it is a 'fun' Christmas Card - Now I have to decide who is special enough to get it ;-)

Just Magnolia #14 - Buttons

Over on JustMagnolia the current challenge is to use buttons.

I have some lovely new magnolia images to colour in and just love Tilda carrying a basket & bottle of wine - those that know me, know I enjoy a glass of wine or two!

White square cardstock was stamped with swirls in two corners, DP layered across middle with ribbon embellishment. Tilda watercoloured and highlighted with kindy glitz, layered on ovals cut with Cuttlebug using spellbinder dies. Bling added to swirls and buttons added to the opposite corners.

Layout was inspired by an old Just Magnolia Sketch (#3). I am enjoying my water colouring, but I really need to update my glasses and get some nice fine brushes!

Just Magnolia #13

Over on JustMagnolia a lovely sketch has been presented.

Items used: white square card base, bazzil bling, layered DP, ribbon. Cuttlebug was used to emboss the side panel. magnolia image was water coloured and highlighted with Kindy Glitz. Paper flowers x 3.

I like this layout and will use it again.

The three flowers also fit the CuteDaisyMay challenge of three of a kind!

Magnolia Challenges

Over on Just_Magnolia there is a sketch challenge, and on Magnolia_Down_Under there is a colour challenge (brown, blue & cream/white) - a match made in heaven as far as I am concerned!

here is the sketch

so here is my card - I made the centre panel an oval instead of a circle because I did not use a square card. I will most probably use this sketch again, but this time use a square card the way it was intended.

SU Choc Chip cardstock was used as a base, patterned paper used as background, cream & white paper flowers highlighted with bling, oval nesties used with cuttlebug for front panel. Tilda image watercoloured and highlighted with chalks & kindy glitz.

Wasn't too sure on what type of card this could be, so it became a 'just because' card - I think it would suit any purpose.

my challenge card - 4 challenges

I have certainly been inspired to mix it up this week and have put together one card for FOUR challenges. I didn't set out to do it this way, it just happened.

Layout came from Stamp_Something, using the one colour came from Cute_Daisy_May, main theme is from Just_Magnolia, and the finishing touches of pearls are from ABC

Image stamped on white bazzil and coloured in with watercolour pencils, highlighted with chalks & kindyglitz & pearls. Stamped image was layered on SU Brocade Blue??, sentiment tag highlighted with pearls and rub-on sentiment, image & tag were attached using mounting dots. Butterfly rub-on was placed on white cardstock, cut out and attached using mounting tape and highlighted with kindy glitz. Blue ribbon attached with white brads, placed across middle, silver stickers placed in each corner and highlighted with a pearl.

I enjoyed putting this one together - as I said above, I did not start out to combine challenges.

I did start with the Magnolia challenge of animal & insects (butterfly), I coloured in the Magnolia image and decided to stick with blues, and realised it would fit the Daisy May challenge. I decided to use the layout from Stamp Something, then I was on a roll! The idea of using pearls instead of my usual bling to highlight came as I was putting the finishing touches on the card, thus fitting the ABC challenge.

It almost became a challenge to see how many challenges I could submit this card to LOL

anyone know of any more it would fit? LOL

Just Magnolia Challenge 5

the Just_Magnolia challenge this week is in the form of a sketch. You can rotate the sketch and resize the elements, as long as you follow the original sketch so your entry qualifies for the prize draw. The winner will be chosen by Random Generator next week so to be in the running all you need to do is ensure you have at least one Magnolia image on your card and link your card (not your blog) in Mr Linky and have your card posted by 10 pm UK time on the 21st May. I have been having so much fun colouring in my magnolia images and I thought the sketch looked great, so I just had to participate.

A square white card was used as the base card. Bazzil Dotted Swiss used as the background, patterned paper was layered on Bazzil (Forget Me Not). patterned paper squares & Bazzil were cut using spellbinders through the Cuttlebug. Magnolia Tilda image was coloured in using watercolour pencils & highlighted with chalks & kindy glitz, then layered on Bazzil Forget Me Not. All elements were attached with mouting dots. Corner embellishment was made by layering paper, organza & paper flowers attached with green brad. Corners were highlighted with Green Brads and final touch of rub-on sentiment added on the side.

I was determined to follow the sketch as faithfully as I could. The only alteration I made was to use one big flower embellishment on the top corner, rather than 3 - I thought it looked a bit crowded with the three flowers there.

I am very pleased with the way this card came together - I will most probably use this layout again.

Supplies used: Background is Bazzil Dotted Swiss, Grape Jelly??, Bazzil Forget Me Not??, Patterned paper, square white card. All of the cardstock & patterned papers (including square white card) were from Blue_Edge_Crafts