OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Hello.
I am that person who has had their Christmas tree up for the last 2 weeks.
And this year, I've gone retro, with lots of brightly coloured lights.
So, when I came to make this card I reached for a rainbow of inks.

I love this big sentiment, it was an absolute bargain that I picked up at The Works a few months ago.
(Christmas Vellum Pad - £1.50 for 12 assorted sheets)
The only slight problem is that some of the sentiments are a little close together, so cutting them out with a die can be tricky.
 Also, I wasn't sure how to stick it to the card without the adhesive being seen.
In the end I went for good old Pritt Stick.

Inspired By Challenge

I was inspired by the colourful trees

mft - oh christmas tree

altenew inks - lime, velvet, sea breeze, turquoise, honey drizzle, fresh leaf, dark chocolate

the works christmas vellum pad sentiment.

CUTE BEAR WISHES

Hello.
One good thing about moving you craft room, is that you unearth all sorts of thing that have been consigned to the bottom of boxes and forgotten about.
I've just re-discovered a large box of designer paper pads.
When did patterned paper go out of fashion?
I've added a panel to this card, but at this rate it's gonna take me about 10 years to use it all up!!

I stamped the simple wreath,
and then masked off the bottom so I could pop in my favourite bear.

Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Christmas or Winter/Festive

sugarpea designs, hey winter - coloured with copics

wplus9, heartfelt holidays stamped in distress ink cracked pistachio and festive berries

WINTER FLOWERS

Hello.
This stamped and coloured panel has been sitting on my desk for weeks.
I just thought it was a bit flat.
So, today I went to town on it with a white gel pen - and couldn't stop!   :o)

When I finally put the white pen down, I added a plain sentiment and blue frame.

Challenge

Inkspirational

simon says stamp winter flowers, coloured with copics
mft - snow globe sentiments, scallop edge rectangle die

HAPPY ROBINS

Hello.
I've been stretching my stash today and using these non Christmassy Happy Birds
for a holiday card.
With a patch of deep red I've, hopefully, transformed them into robins.

To keep things simple I've opted for no shading, just adding a few highlights with a white gel pen, and a grey shadow.
Also, the birds have been stamped rather than my usual die-cutting to keep the card postage friendly.

Challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

wplus9 -  happy birds
small leaf and sentiment - lawn fawn, winter sparrows
red dots - winnie and walter, big bang confetti, stamped in distress ink festive berries

copics

HELLO DEER

Hello.
I dug deep into my stash for this card,
and came up with this neglected deer.

Despite the simple look of this card, it does have a few easy techniques in there:

stamping and heat embossing for the snow,
paper-piecing on the reindeer,
and an inlaid die (yes, I forgot to use blue background in the e,y and a !)

Challenge

Inspired By...

Hero Arts Reindeer
Mft Merry Christmas Die
Winnie & Walter Big Bang Confetti
Wow White Embossing Powder
Copics

BOKEH CHRISTMAS

Hello.
I had fun today playing with my inks,
trying to create a bokeh effect.

I started by inking up a piece of card with Distress Ink tumbled glass, then I used small round stamps to add some different blues.
The white and silver didn't stamp too well, so for them, I created a stencil using a hole punch.

My first attempt was the 'sweet winter wishes' one.
It didn't really turn out like I wanted - I kept adding too many dots   :-)
For the second card I reined it in a bit, and I think the effect looks better.
IRL the silver adds a lovely shimmer.

Challenge

Less Is More - 

Sentiment - mft snow globe sentiments
circle stamps - winnie & walter, big bang confetti

MERRY AND BRIGHT

Hello.
I am soooo behind with my Christmas cards this year.
I honestly don't know where the time has gone.
Here's a very quick and simple one, to add to the pile.

The hardest thing about this card was stepping away
and forcing myself not to add anything else to it   :-)

Inspired By

I was inspired by the colours, and the bold sentiment

mft - stitched alpha dies

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

Yes, there is a doctor in the house.
We've always called her the doctor, but now it's official
Our daughter, Maria, a cardiac physiologist at Leeds Hospital,
has just completed her PhD.
We are all so proud of her.

The freebie image from MFT stamps was just perfect for her card and
I  managed to add a little echo graph to her clipboard.
The background is embossed with white powder and then inked with distress blue ink.

Challenge
Watercooler Wednesday

Occasion - Graduation

mft stamps - free image, coloured with copics and stitched square die
congrats from lawn fawn, penelope's blossoms
distress ink - tumbled glass

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Yay! I'm back.
I've had a disaster of a month with technology.
First my phone died, and the stupid backup didn't work, so I've been starting from scratch with a phone my dd donated (far better then the one that I had though, so a bonus there) 
Then my computer failed to re-start after an update. All my photos/programmes/favourites etc gone for good 😢
Anyhoo, new laptop now, so fingers crossed it will be ok.
Just getting to grips with it all.
Technology is great when its working ok, isn't it?

Here's a little cross-stitch card I made for Halloween.

This was a nice little project to sit and do whilst watching the TV.
I adapted the pattern from a fabulous free sampler at The World In Stitches

Challenge

Anything Goes

Mama Elephant Pegworks Die
Embroidery thread

NOTE
This new laptop seems to have a really bright monitor, so all my previous cards look a little washed out and not as bright as they really are.
It's just dawned on me that everyone will see the colours according to their own settings. 
If you leave a comment would you let me know if the colours show up ok for you.

xxx

FLOWER HUGS

Hello.
It's no secret that flowers are my nemesis.
But I do love them.

Here I've tried something different - to avoid colouring them  :o)
I have stamped and embossed these blooms and leaves onto coloured card.

I've used a touch of copic marker, in similar colours to my card, for a little bit of shading.
Then I simply layered up the blooms around my sentiment.

Inspired By Challenge

• mft - brilliant blooms
• neat and tangled - journaling alphas
• wow - white embossing powder  

HAVE A COOL YULE

Hello.

Nope...    still not tired of these bear stamps :o)
(Is it possible, do you think, to use the same stamp for ALL your cards?)

I masked off a rectangle on my card base, and inked it up with some distress ink - fading it out towards the bottom.
My next step is usually to drop or smudge the sentiment, but I avoided that by using my stamping platform for a nice, crisp image.

The bear was coloured with copics and popped up on foam tape, and I added some white pen 'snow' and a few crystals for a bit of bling :o)

Challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

• sugarpea designs - hey winter coloured with copics
• stampendous sentiment - yule penguins
• distress ink - tumbled glass
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