Art Deco Christmas

 I'm not going to lie - I struggled with Time Out's 'vintage' theme. I googled  - a lot! Thank goodness my grandson had an extra long nap :o) Eventually I decided on something a bit different - maybe not what you would typically think of as vintage, but I hope it works.

I went for an Art Deco pattern and colour palette, with this stitched, cover plate die. I also mounted it on gold, glitter paper for a touch of decadence.
I think the 'sending' font has that Art Deco vibe too - I'm just annoyed I didn't attach it further up! Oh well.

Time Out Challenges

• spellbinders - stitched fanfare with various threads
• spellbinders - sending you stamps and dies
• gold glitter paper

 

It's time to get SPOOKY

Hello.
Well, it may be autumn here, but no-one has told the weather! Here in Yorkshire, I haven't even got my big coat out yet ;o)
Halloween is fast approaching though - so here's another ghostly greeting.

The trickiest part of this card was those damn letters. They nearly went out the window! I die cut them in black foam with some ds tape stuck on it. Then attempted to stick the orange die cuts on top. They stuck to my fingers, the end of a pen, my craft knife... anywhere but where I wanted them. I am so annoyed that I couldn't get them to line up perfectly. Ah well..

Four Seasons Challenge

Anything Goes - FALL

• my favorite things - ghostly greetings
• neat and tangled journalling alpha dies
• distress inks - shaded lilac, dusty concord, hickory smokoe
• my favorite things - grassy edges stencil
• copics

If you've got it, haunt it.

 It's spooky season! Time to let those ghosts out...

I inked up my card panel with some clouds at the bottom, and a circle die-cut, to mask a moon. Then I used a star stencil with some embossing paste over the top.
My ghosts were a bit lost on the background, so I die cut them from black card, and just offset it a little, so they stand out better. 

I completely forgot to leave a space free for the sentiment, so I had to get creative.
I ended up covering those inky clouds with some vellum, and the heat embossed sentiment.
How on earth do you attach vellum?? I used a few glue dots, but they don't keep the vellum as flat as i would like, and they do show through.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge

• my favorite things - ghostly greetings
• distress ink - salvaged patina (it's a pale greeny colour, I don't know why it looks blue on the photos)
• cloud stencil - but I ended up covering those clouds up :o)
• spellbinders - all the stars stencil, with white embossing paste
• time for tea designs - ocean waves die (because I don't have a cloud die)
• versamark and white embossing powder
• copics

Fa La La La La, La La La Woof

Hello.
I'm so behind on my Christmas cards this year! This is my first. Eek!
How are you getting on with yours?
I usually make all mine different, but I can see that this year I might have to pick one design and get a production line going.

This was a simple make though. The dogs (all one stamp) were stamped onto a card panel and coloured with Copics. There is a faint little, blue dot background around them, but the camera hasn't really picked it up. I was too scared to make it more bold, in case I totally messed up after all that colouring.

Did you know that the 1st class postage has gone up? £1.25 now! So, I will also be cutting back on the layers and embellies for those that have to be sent out.

Challenge

Less Is More

• clearly besotted - howl it's christmas
• copics
• lawn fawn stitched rectangle die

Hello Harvest Moon

I'm obsessed with the moon, and we've seen some amazing super moons this year. Not least of all, was this weekend's brilliant, harvest moon. Did you see it?
It's no surprise then, that when I saw this week's sketch, at the freshly made challenge, I instantly thought of the moon.

I used a die cut circle to mask my 'moon' and distress inked the night sky.
Then I added my fall gnome and his harvest, coloured with copics, and popped up on foam pads. 

(This little set was a bargain in the Spellbinders sale, and I'm hoping to use the gnome on some Christmas cards).

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

• spellbinders - fall gnomes
• circle die
• copics 
• distress ink - salty ocean, stormy sky, faded jeans

Just a Little Note to Say Hi

Hello.
I managed to carve out some free time in my craft room this morning, and made this card to play along with the Inkspirational challenge, where they would like to see a CAS style.

I die cut the rainbow and coloured it with Copics  - choosing those colours took me the longest time!
Then I stamped and fussy cut the bears and popped them up with foam pads. 
At the last minute I added some sequins - I know - it's supposed to be CAS -  but they were calling to me from inside a drawer!

Inkspirational Challenge

• the stamp market - bear hugs / rainbows and greetings / little rainbow die
• copics

It's the Little Things

Thank you to everyone here and on Insta, that sent their ideas for getting back into the craft room. The general consensus seemed to be, just relax, go with the flow, don't put yourself under any pressure and do what you love.

I love die cutting and creating simple scenes, with little critters. So, that had me reaching for my Clearly Besotted stash.

I fussy cut these cute critters, and popped them up with foam pads against some die cut pumpkins.

I almost added an inky background, but, as this is for the Less Is More Challenge, I stopped myself just in time ;o)

Challenge

Less Is  More #492  Celebrate

• clearly besotted - ring around autumn
• spellbinders pumpkin from holiday haul
• lawn fawn - stitched rectangle
• copics

Wild and Free

Oh, to be on the open road.
That's where my SIL and BIL are right now. Travelling their way around France and having a wonderful adventure. It was a no brainer to ink up this camper van for my BIL's birthday.

This is one of those sets that I struggle to stamp. The ink just pools on the stamp. I've tried the eraser tip, and the versamark tip, but if you have any other ideas let me know. I won't even go into how tricky it is to line up. But I almost got it right :-)
The van is layered 3 times for some extra depth, the sentiment is white heat embossed and I added some little details with a white gel pen.

Challenge

Addicted to Stamps and More

the greetery - christmas care a van

sentiment from the stamp market - rainbows and greetings

inks - versacolor cyan, canary

pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

1, 2, 3, and I'm back in the room

Hello.
How is everyone? I'm finally back in my craft room after 5 long months.
Moving house is HARD. All in all, it took us almost a year from start to finish. So, if anyone is going through the process, hang on in there.

I've totally forgotten what to do. What size to make my cards, how to ink, how to post!! So, it's back to the basics for me. And...  what have I missed? What's in? What's out? Let me know.

I kept things simple here for a masculine, remembrance day card. 

I used die cut strips of card and layered the sentiment 3 times for some added depth.

I know the photo is a bit dark. Bare with me, as I test every room in the house, and a multitude of backgrounds to try and get a decent shot.

Challenge

Allsorts

Masculine with the option of Anything Goes

• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle / perfect sentiments
• my favorite things - in and out stitch rectangles

Happy Birthday To Moo

Hello.
I'm so glad to see the designers at the Less Is More Challenge, back from their winter break. It's lovely to see their inspiration each fortnight, and I'm determined to up my CAS game :-)

It's is my first time using this balloon die, from The Greetery and I think it's going to be a really useful, little element. Today I teamed it up with this cute cow - floating over to say Happy Birthday.

Challenge

Less Is More

the greetery - balloon die

my favourite things - party animals

copics

Welcome to The World

Hello.

Eek! It's been over a month since I last posted. Finding time to craft seems to be getting harder these days. Also, I don't want to jinx it, but we may have just sold our house. So it won't be long before I start to box up my craft room.

In the meantime, here is a baby card I made for my daughter's friend. Isn't this just the cutest name ?

I used the sweet, animal alpha set from clearly besotted, and fussy cut them, so I could overlap them a little and pop them up with foam tape.

I didn't want to use a girlie pink, so instead I went for a more rose pink and red combo with my copic markers.

Challenge

Allsorts     w772/773

Anything Goes with option of  "In The Spring Garden"

(This time I'm just playing along with the anything goes theme)

clearly besotted - as cute as abc
sentiment from mft stamps
pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitched rectangle die