Butterfly among the Poinsettias

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 179 has just gone live and Melissa has chosen Poinsettia as our theme for the month of December.

To add interest I thought I'd make a spinning poinsettia card - well it seemed like a good idea at the time!

I found this cute poinsettia paper among my (many) Christmas paper pads and cut a background panel and cut a channel in this for the spinning mechanism to work.  I then cut and layered a poinsettia for my spinning element (Spellbinders Floral Stag, Spellbinders Delivering Joy, Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia) from some special glossy, red glitter card stock I've been saving for years now.  

I was underwhelmed to say the least - the poinsettia was a bit lost on the background paper!  I tried cutting a few more poinsettias (I only had enough of that glossy card stock for 1 more poinsettia so I used plain red and winked them) and randomly added them to the panel.  I was a little happier but still not loving it!  Here it is in motion!

And then I thought ... wouldn't a Butterfly (Justine Hovey Butterfly Mix) make more sense flitting about among those poinsettias and I already had a few of these left over from an earlier project!  Much happier!

Here it is in action

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

Snippets Playground Challenge #520 - Snippets of that red glossy glitter cardstock and gold below;

Simons Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Simon Says Anything Goes;

A Cut Above December Challenge - Anything Goes with a Die Cut;

ABC Christmas Challenge - W is for Wings;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog - Anything Christmas Goes;

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge for December - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Snow Business

 

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 178 has just gone live and it was my turn to choose the theme and I chose Festive Wear for the month of November - mostly because I was itching to use this NBUS die set (Papertrey Ink Build-A-Hat)!

I found this sheet of grey plaid among my many Christmas paper pads and teamed it with some snippets of greys left over from cutting card bases.  

I used the smaller snowflake from the Build-A-Hat set to spell out "SNOW" (MB Vintage Varsity Alphabet) and a Craft Emotions Lower Case Alphabet die to spell out "business"!

I do hope you are inspired by the rest of the Design Team at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge and can join us with some festive wear of your own - not long now till Christmas!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #80 - NBUS "Christmas" sentiment;

Snippets Playground Challenge #518 (see below);

Jingle Belles - Dashing Through the Snow;

Merry Little Christmas #65 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Kraft Chicks Challenge Week 5 October - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Non-traditional Christmas Colours

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 177 has just gone live and Helen has chosen Non-Traditional Colours as our challenge theme for the month of October!  When it comes to making up Christmas cards I often get inspiration from the many DP pads I have trouble parting with,  so that was where I headed first ... and this sheet of pink and black DP caught my eye!  

The gift images and all the sparkly silver accents inspired me further (particularly the black spotted presents) and I remembered this very old Sizzix Regular die (Gift 2) which is a large present with a wonderful big bow on it  and I made that up this spotted present with a big sparkly silver bow.  The bow and present are all one large piece (the Sizzix Original dies were not known for their fine detail were they) so I had to remove the present from the bow - following the curve of the "ribbon" and snipping at the bottom, and cutting it again from silver.

As well as the bow, I cut a little tag (Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh) and a large "Christmas" sentiment from a NBUS set (Sizzix Holiday Words by Tim Holtz) from silver glitter card stock and the design came together pretty quickly (for once)!   I went over all that silver glitter with Glossy Accents so it wouldn’t shed!

Here's a closeup of all the sparkle

I do hope you are inspired by the rest of the Design Team at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge and can join us with a non-traditional colour combo card of your own - not long now till Christmas!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #79 - NBUS "Christmas" sentiment;

Simon Says StampWednesday Challenge - Think Pink; 

Word Power October Challenge;

Merry Little Christmas #64 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

 

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 175 has just gone live and Debs has chosen Add Some Holly as our theme for the month of September!  

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Sparkling Trees

 

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 175 has just gone live and Debbie has chosen Include a Tree as our theme for the month of August!  These days, I always try to use at least one the many NBUS  (Never Before Used Schtuff or Stash) items that I haven't yet had time or opportunity to use!   For this project, I included two trees from a Charlie & Paulchen set  - Winterliche Bäume which translates to Wintry Trees!  

Wintry trees calls for sparkle and since I still had some of the white glitter card stock on my desk from last month's Christmas Sparkles Challenge, that's what I used!  

The falling snow background was created by using another NBUS set (Snowbanks by Justine Hovey) to cut a black panel which I laid on a white card base.  The snowbank (also from the Snowbank set) was also cut from glitter card stock, as was this "sparkle" sentiment (Creative Craft Sparkle and Shine set)!

I do hope you can join us at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge and are inspired by the rest of the Design Team!  It's never easy making Christmas cards in the summer heat but given how fast this year is disappearing, December will be upon us before we know it!!!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #77 - NBUS Snowbanks set and Winterliche Bäume set;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #63 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Darnell's IDEAS - anything goes week;

Krafty Chicks Challenge #779 - Anything Goes week;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #188 - Anything Christmas Goes

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

fa la la la la

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 174 has just gone live and Sue has chosen Sparkle and Bling as our theme for the month of July!  These days, I always try to use at least one the many NBUS  (Never Before Used Schtuff or Stash) items that I haven't yet had time or opportunity to use!  So my mind went straight to which of my NBUS items could I make sparkle ... and my eye fell on this Gummiapan Candy Cane Set.   Well, that was in May - then came June (which you can read about here if you're interested) but basically my son and his fiancée were indecisive about their wedding invitations, and then it was a race to get them finished!  The month of June disappeared, it's now days till the end of the month and I'm still trying to make a Christmas card that Sparkles! 

Monsieur Mojo was, as usual nowhere to be found, so I pushed on with my original idea to make up some sparkling candy canes!  Now I know I have some red glitter card stock somewhere around here, but do you think I could find it ... never mind, red mirror card will suffice!  Fortunately, I found some white glitter card stock for the overlay to which I added double sided tape before cutting because I didn't want to risk wet adhesive on mirror card ... it didn't stick very well to the glossy surface of the mirror card but never mind glossy accents will keep it all together and the white glitter will still sparkle through!   

And then I had no idea how to continue!  Well the canes needed a few hours to dry so I went to bed to "sleep on it"!  The next morning while playing around with the canes, I noticed that if I attached the little bow that came with the set to the right facing cane, it resembled an "f"  and if I turned the other can upside down well it resembled an "l" ... and finally an idea began to take hold!   I tried various ornament dies but all I could see was "fo lo lo lo lo" so instead opted for a plain "a" (MFT lower case alphabet)!  And eventually with the help of yet another NBUS item (Studio Light Nested Slimline dies) I had something I could photograph!

Now you're probably thinking there's shine but where's the sparkle?   There is some sparkle (though I wish I'd been able to find that red glitter card stock) and eventually I managed to capture some of it on the terrace in the afternoon sun!   

I also realised when this card was finished, that the little bow could transform the "l" into a "t", now that could be be "sweet" don't you think?!  

I do hope you can join us at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge and are inspired by the rest of the Design Team!  It's never easy making Christmas cards in the summer heat but given how fast this year is disappearing, December will be upon us before we know it!!!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #76 - NBUS Candy Cane set and Nested Slimline dies;

Everybody Art Challenge #582 - Christmas in June;

Festive Friday Challenge - Christmas theme;

Girls Creative Christmas Challenge #131 - Anything Christmas Goes; 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Merry Forest

 

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 173 has just gone live and Melanie has chosen Include the word Merry as our theme for the month of June!

I don't think I'll ever get to the bottom of my NBUS (mainly because I keep adding to it) but it's fun to try!  I was playing with this 3D embossing folder (Sizzix Trees by Kathrin Breen) last month!  The first time I cracked the card stock so I remembered the trick of dampening the card stock slightly before embossing and that worked!  

Since the prompt for Sparkles was to use the word Merry, I thought I'd use this rather elegant Merry Christmas die I ordered from Gummiapan late last year.  However because it's so wide the orientation really needs to be landscape and as I wanted to use it with this embossed panel, I thought about leaving the "Christmas" off after fiddling a bit I tried the sentiment diagonally and this is what I came up with!    

I added a tree (Yvonne Creations Family Christmas Window) to the lower right corner because it was a little too plain! And then went over everything with the Wink of Stella Pen to make it sparkle! 

I know it seems strange to make Christmas cards in June but this year is flying by and it will be December in no time!  So I hope to see your "Merry" Creations in the gallery over at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge!

 I am grateful for and would like to enter the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #75 - NBUS embossing folder, Merry Christmas Text die;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #62 - Anything Christmas Goes;

As You Like It Challenge - My Favourite Type of Embossing is definitely dry embossing!

A Cut Above June Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Spotted Stocking

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 171 has just gone live and Caz has chosen Christmas Stocking as the theme for the month of May!

Finally, a chance to break out this this Woodware stamp set (Big Bubble Stocking) I ordered a while ago!  I cut bubbles (Woodware Big Bubbles and Woodware Bubbles) from a piece of patterned paper as well as snippets of red and green.  I think there must be another die that I should have bought because there were a lot of smaller bubbles needed to complete the stocking and I needed to pull out many other sets to try and find the right sized bubbles - time consuming and fiddly (ugh)!

Anyway not being a quitter, I finally finished the card and added this small "joy" sentiment (Reverse Confetti).  Glossy Accents helped complete the "bubble" look I was after.  The holly leaves were paper-pieced from a co-ordinating piece of patterned paper.

I'd like join the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #74 - NBUS Woodware Big Bubble Stocking, Woodware Bubbles, Woodware Big Bubbles;

Darnell's IDEAS Week 4 Anything Goes;

Inkspirational Challenge #340 - Seasonal;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #61 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #183 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will try to find you!

Kate

Winter Wreath of Joy

I just had to have this die set (Sizzix Festive Wreath) when I saw it - there were so many useful elements I thought it was great value!  However as is often the case, when it arrived it was a little bit bigger than I had anticipated and so it fell into that black hole that is my NBUS pile and I soon forgot about it! 

  Thankfully, Dawn has chosen Christmas Foliage as the theme for the month of April at  Sparkles Christmas Challenge 171, so I was inspired to dig a little deeper in my NBUS pile and found it!

Once I had constructed the layered elements and arranged them satisfactorily on my wreath I added a single word sentiment (from an old Reverse Confetti set I think) in red to pick up the red berries (both glossily accented) and added them to a red card base!

I'd like join the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #73 - NBUS Wreath die set;

The 12 Months of Christmas Challenge #121 - Anything Goes Christmas Optional Twist Vintage;

ABC Christmas Challenge - F is for Focal Sentiment;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #61 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Girls Creative Christmas Challenge #118 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #84 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Ellibelle's Corner April Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Sparkling Deer

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 170 has just gone live and Billie has chosen Christmas Critters as the theme for the month of March!

One of the most useful items I bought last year was this 3D-embossing folder (Sizzix 663613 Folk Art Pattern) the has added gorgeous texture and interest without detracting from the elegance of my Christmas Critter (Poppy Stamps Nordic Deer).   

Actually this is a redo of a previous design with much cooler stash than I had at the time - the deer, the banner (Spellbinders Make it Merry Sentiments Dies) and the "Sparkle" (Creative Craft Sparkle and Shine sentiment die).   

The banner die was another really useful item - it's a four die set with interchangeable sentiments.  So you can have a plain banner or any of the 3 sentiments included in the set - Jingle All the Way and Make it Merry are the other sentiments.   What I really love about this die set is the ridge that forms a border around the banner when the sentiment die is inserted ... also no poking required!

I cut the banner and lace collar from this lovely gold glitter paper I saved from a Christmas Cracker.

And once I'd cut and assembled the deer, I sprinkled glitter onto wet glossy accents for some real sparkle.  I did the same for the stacked "sparkle" sentiment.

I'd like join the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #72 - NBUS Nordic embossing folder, sentiment banner, "sparkle" sentiment;

Snippets Challenge #500 - Sneaking in with my gold snippets and hoping the Christmas theme, sparkle and touches of gold are celebratory enough

Crafty Animals Challenge #92 - Use an animal on your creation;

ABC Christmas Challenge - C and D - D is for die cuts;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #61 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will try to find you!

Kate

Christmas Tea

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 169 has just gone live and Melissa has chosen Christmas Tea as the theme for the month of February!

Julie Tilman gifted this digital stamp set to her Verve fans many (many) years ago!  Most of the sentiments in the set refer to coffee, but I figured this one could just as easily be referring to tea if I added a pair of tea cups (Marianne Designs LR0462).   The font looked a little Art Deco so I used a retro die (Memory Box Matinee Rectangles) to cut it out.  

To make the cups of tea look more realistic, I cut the cups from white and pink patterned paper with the intention of removing the tops of the pink cups (the rim and "inside").  There is an embossed edge for the curve of the rim goes but no cut lines so I carefully placed my pink die cuts over the upside down dies - lining up the embossed curve with the top of the die!   Then I just adhered the pink cup bases onto the white die cuts.  Obviously tea isn't white so I coloured the "contents of the cup" with an alcohol marker.  

While I don't think a sprig of holly would add much to the flavour of the tea, it definitely made my cuppas look more festive - I'm a firm believer that you can make anything look festive by adding a sprig of holly!

I added a little background greenery (Tim Holtz Winter Foliage) and the sentiment panel was mounted with foam tape.

I recently bought my first Wink of Stella Pen and once the card was assembled, I thought I'd add some sparkle to the holly leaves.  Unfortunately I discovered the hard way that when the pen is primed for its first use, quite a lot of glitter comes out and it's gold, not clear!  I was a little annoyed with myself for not trying it out first and ruining my carefully blended holly leaves but since there's no point crying over spilt glitter, I thought I'd embrace the gold look and went around the rims and handles with the "gold" wink of Stella too.

Here's a closeup of the cups

 

I'd like join the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #70 - NBUS My Cup to Yours Digital set from Verve;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #60 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Love those Pretty Papers Challenge Feb 2025 Challenge - Anything goes with patterned papers;

Krafty Chicks Challenge #753 - Anything Goes;

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Cosy and Warm Christmas

 

Happy New Year!  I hope Santa was good to everyone and you enjoyed your Christmas break in the company of your loved ones.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 168 has just gone live and it was my turn to choose the theme this month and I have chosen

Cozy and Warm

which gave me the perfect opportunity to use this cute fireplace die (Poppy Stamps Whittle Fireplace) that I've been wanting to break open for over 2 years now!  The sweet "whittle" mouse was included with the set which gave me the idea to use this sentiment (WMS 'Twas the Night Before Christmas).   The stockings (Poppy Stamps Whittle Stocking) were bought at the same time (because they're perfect together) and are also NBUS.

The fireplace body was cut from Kraft card stock and coloured with alcohol markers, the mantel was cut from brown card stock as was the fireplace "grill".  The flame and mouse were cut from white and coloured with alcohol markers.  The stocking bodies were cut from some snippets of tartan and the fur trims were cut from white felt.  All die cut pieces were stacked at least twice - it makes such a difference to the finished card!

The sentiment wasn't a good fit for any of my labels and was going to use the partial cut technique when I had the idea to use another snippet of tartan to fill in the blank lower third of the label.  I'm quite happy how it turned out and I think I'll use this solution again!

I'd like to enter the following wonderful challenges

NBUS Challenge #70 - NBUS Whittle Fireplace and Whittle Stocking;

Day of the Month Club Challenge #70 - National Sock (hopefully stocking counts) Day;

Allsorts Challenge Weeks 812-13 - Use Your Dies;

Papercraft Challenges #113 - Under the Mistletoe (Christmas related);

Peace on Earth Challenge #78 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge;

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Sleigh Bells Ring

 Sparkles Christmas Challenge #167 has just gone live and this month we're challenging you to 

feature a Christmas Carol or Song

Winter Wonderland is one of my favourite Christmas songs and this sentiment (from WMS Compliments of the Season) featuring the opening line was a great starting point!  It also gave me an opportunity to break open this wonderful sleigh die set  (Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh) that I purchased in the Summer and I'm smitten!  The sleigh came together so quickly and I mounted it on foam tape and was able to cut the presents from some candy striped DP and the foliage from various green snippets and tuck these under the sleigh and I added the poinsettia to the back of the sleigh! 

I had already stamped the sentiment on the blank panel without properly considering the orientation of the sleigh and the problem with stamping directly on the panel is you can't change your mind later!  I added some crystal gems off to the right of the panel to try and balance it a little better but I'm more than a little annoyed with myself!

I'd like to enter this card in the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #69 - NBUS Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh;

52 Weeks to Christmas Challenge - Red and Green Christmas;

The Four Season December Challenge had this wonderful inspiration;

Twofer (and Threefer, Fourfer, Fiverfer and Sixfer);

I couldn't resist making a few more cards while I had this die set out and this time opted for pink!

This time I centred the sentiment and was much happier!  I stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink (using a stamping platform).

I had snippets of pink patterned papers that had patterns small enough to pass for wrapping paper and used these to cut the four presents loaded on the sleigh (and some white snippets).  I also found a snippet of gold glitter card that was (almost) the perfect size for the sleigh trims and blades for all four cards (I did need to cut into a larger snippet for the last trim)!

 

I'd like to enter this design into the following wonderful challenges

Snippets Playground Challenge #494 - Snippets shown;

Traumfabrik Challenge #134 - Christmas Again;

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #605 - Use dies or Punches;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #59 - Anything Christmas Goes;

The 12 Months of Christmas Challenge #117 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #77 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Krafty Chicks Challenge #744 - All Occasions;

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Sparkles Snowflakes

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #164 has just gone live and the theme this month is

Snowflakes

I love Snowflakes and have loads of them!  However my addiction to new Christmas related stash, meant I couldn't resist this gorgeous Diamond Snowflake from Poppy Stamps on a recent spree!  

This is a two-die set and there are a lot of options but I liked it because I could finally do something I've been wanting to try for years - create a scene within a snowflake aperture - all my other snowflakes were too small or had narrow centres.

 

I cut into this glittered pink snowflake panel to create my aperture using the detailed overlay die from the set.    I then added a white frame using the second die in the set.  The left over bits of the snowflakes weren't wasted as you will see shortly!  Underneath I placed a scene I had stamped using Waltzing Mouse Stamps Alpine Village.  The Alpine Christmas set has some lovely sentiments but stamping wasn't an option on this glittered panel so I went with a die cut sentiment instead (another recently acquired and NBUS set - Avery Elle Let it Snow) cut from pink foil.  There wasn't really enough room on the panel for this large sentiment but I managed to squeeze it in by placing it at a jaunty angle.

Twofer

I assembled a snowflake from the bits left over from my first card and made that the focal element of my second card - a spinner card!  Even though it was the second design, I actually finished it first because I had to wait for that sentiment die to arrive before I could finish the first card whereas I could stamp on this panel!  Once I stamped this simple sentiment (also from WMS Alpine Christmas) to the base of the panel, I cut a track for the spinning snowflake and mounted the panel with a double stack of foam tape.  I filled in the rest of the panel with pink snowflakes cut from snippets of pink that were lying around on my work area from previous projects.  I couldn't resist adding more sparkle with these clear water droplet gems - this card is definitely being hand-delivered!

And here it is action!

My team mates at the Sparkle Christmas Challenge have some wonderful Snowflake inspiration for you as well as all our participants in the gallery so be sure to call by there as well!  

I'd like to enter the following wonderful challenges

NBUS Challenge #68 - the snowflake die is NBUS;

Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge #450 - For my 2nd Card, love that pink snowflake in the  inspiration pic;

Festive Friday Challenge - Themes of Christmas and Snowflakes;

Inkspirational Challenge # 327 - Seasonal;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #59 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Krafty Chicks Challenge #740 - Anything Goes;

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The Sparkles Christmas Challenge #165 has just gone live and the theme this month is

Use the Word 'Christmas' on your creation!

I don't want to panic anyone but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - as of today you have 2 months to start getting your Christmas cards done if you haven't been making them throughout the year.  I thrive on last minute stress - just kidding!  I am ever so grateful to Caz and the design team at Sparkles and all the design teams who have made making Christmas cards throughout the year - for their inspiration, hard work and for showing me what I absolutely must add to my burgeoning Christmas craft stash!

   

I visited my son in Scotland during August and while there was able to "shop" for stash that is difficult to find in Europe post-Brexit and yes much of it was Christmas related so watch this space!  I also picked up some (as many as I could find) craft magazines and this die was a freebie with one of them!  

The two dies in the set pack a lot of punch and don't need much IMO, so all I did was add a little Distress Ink to the base layer and stack the sentiment layer - easy peasy lemon squeezy (or lime squeezy in this case)!  I think this die will lend itself to doing something like I did last month so will try it again if I find an appropriate tartan panel in my stash!

  If after visiting the Sparkles Challenge Blog you're still in need of inspiration, you can see all my Christmas cards and how I made them by hitting the "Christmas" Label (just below the archive list) or click here!

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

NBUS Challenge #67

Word Power Challenge #10 - Make the sentiment the focus;

My Time to Craft Christmas Challenge #96 - Christmas Trees;

Merry Little Christmas #58 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #71 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Girlz Creative Christmas challenge #92 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Kraft Chicks Challenge #735 - Week 4 All Occasions;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

 

Focus on the Sentiment

 

The Sparkles Christmas Challenge #164 has just gone live and the theme this month is

Sentiment as the Focus

I used this sentiment die (LDRS Christmas Wishes) as the focus for this card.  I lined up the sentiment die on this tartan panel (I used a tartan because I wanted something with a definite pattern).  I then stacked the die cut so it would be more stable and layered it on a gold mirror card shadow.  Then I covered the hole left from die cutting the sentiment in step 1, carefully lining up the pattern.  I tried adding a few small die cut Christmas around the sentiment but wasn't happy with any of them and ended up only adding these small golden dots left over from a previous project.

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

Allsorts Challenge Week 796 - Getting Sentimental;

Merry Little Christmas #57 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #71 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Outlaws Festive Friday Challenge 2 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Kraft Chicks Challenge #731 - Week 5 Anything Goes;

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate