A Country Craft Christmas

Good evening to you all. We had our first snowfall today, it didn't amount to much but I was not happy to see it. Who wants to go outside in the cold? Not me. Lucky thing that there is a great sketch over on the Whiff of Joy challenge. It was the perfect reason to stay warm and create another Christmas card.

I have decided that this card will be for my neighbours. It has that country craft feeling that I know she likes. I have once again used Henry and Friend on Candy Cane and colored these cuties with my Copics. I knew that I wanted to use Kraft paper but it was looking a little flat so I have stamped the Hero Arts starry sky background with versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. All the edges have been inked with Vintage photo distress ink. The patterned papers are from 7 Gypsies and K and Company. The large red flower has been handmade and there is even some cross stitch to add to the country charm.

This card will also be entered into the following challenges:

One Stop Crafts - Christmas Cuties

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes

Die Cut Dreams Christmas - Use a die cut

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

This little snowman from Stamp Fairy is all ready for it. Shovel in hand, he is all set for a day in a winter wonderland of the fresh white stuff. I have coloured him with my copics and shaded the background with Prismas. I then applied a good dose of stickles to the snow for some holiday sparkle.

This wasn't my original card idea but when it dawned on me that I could set this cutie in his very own land of snow I decided I would have a try at making my very first shaker card. I had purchased some little shaker box pouches a few weeks ago from my local scrapbook store and they had been sitting on my desk waiting for just the right image. I have used tinsel glitter from Martha Steward to create the snow.

The card has been put together usingpaper from a K and Company stack that I picked up yesterday. A few punches and a simple sentiment were all that were needed to finish it off. I can almost hear him singing now... Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

This card will be entered into the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - snow and snowflakes

Papertake Weekly - cut it out

ABC Challenge - Ice and Snow

Simon Says Stamp - Let it snow

Thankful for You

Good morning to you all and Happy Tuesday. The sun is shining here and I am on the mend, it is a wonderful day. Wild Rose Studios is holding their first blog hop and they have a little sketch challenge going for us to participate in the event. I have taken this opportunity to make a thank you card to send to someone special for their well wishes.

This image is from Lili of the Valley as I don't currently own any of the Wild Rose Studios stamps but they are cute so that may need to change soon. I coloured little Rosie Posy with my copics a while back now and have been trying to figure out what to do with her. The sketch for this challenge was the perfect solution. I have chosen one of the Prima flower papers for the background of my card and made the matting using several colours of distress inks. If you look closely at the mat, you will see a ghost image that was made by stamping the distress inked paper with a Hero Arts background stamp that had been misted with water. I love this technique as it is so subtle that it just adds a little texture. I have made a little banner for my sentiment and finished off the card with just one glittery flower as embellishment.

I hope that you will take a few minutes and participate in the blog hop, they have some great prizes to be won and the DT has made some lovely cards to inspire you.

I will also be entering this card into the following challenges:

Stamp Something - Thankful

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything goes

7 Kids College Fund - Give thanks

Penguin's Present

I have been out of commission for the last few days but I am back now with a card that I want to share with you.

My card uses this adorable little penguin with gift available from Mo's Digital Pencil. I knew when I first saw this little guy that he was going to need to become part of my collection. I have coloured him using my Copics and punched him out with a Spellbinders label die. I have inked the background with antique linen distress ink for contrast.

The card has been put together following the themes of three different challenges. At Stamp, Scrap, Doodle the challenge is to make a card with no flowers, as the challenge at Anything Goes this week is let it snow, this snowflake paper from MME is the perfect choice and works wonderfully with the colours I have used on the image. A scrap of Basic Grey damask paper added the perfect contrast to balance the blue. I have stamped and embossed my sentiment and finished the card with minimal embellishment to keep it simple. The challenge at DP2 was to use three punches. I have punched and layered a scalloped circle and several snowflake to create an embellishment and topped it with a little snowflake button for some sparkle.

I want to thank you for stopping by. I hope that you too will have a chance to try some of these challenges. Happy crafting and have a great day. 



X is for Xmas at ABC Christmas

Hello and happy Wednesday!  You have all been very busy, there were so many beautiful cards for the Winter Wonderland challenge. It is time for another challenge on the ABC Christmas Challenge blog. This week it is Lacey's turn to host and she has chosen the theme X is for Xmas with the optional extra of flowers. This is an easy one to help you along and build up your stash. We want to see all of your gorgeous Christmas creations.

My new Christmas Magnolias arrived in the mail last week so of course I had to ink them up right away. I have masked the lovely Sitting Angel Tilda on the Peppermint candy cane. Isn't she just darling? She has been coloured with Copics and I have added a generous dose of Stickles and Glossy Accents to the candy cane to give it some sparkle and shine. I have used my distress inks to soften the background and added a few tiny snowflakes and some pearls for a little added touch.

For the card, I have again used paper from the Countdown to Christmas collection from MME, it is so sparkly and yummy that it is hard to resist. This has been layered with a doily from the dollar store, some spellbinders snowflakes and of course completed with some flowers from my stash.

Our challenge this time has been generously sponsered by Wild Orchid Crafts. As you can see from the photo below they have provided some gorgeous candy for one  randomly selected, lucky participant, it could be you.

Be sure to stop by the ABC Christmas Challenge blog, the design team has created some gorgeous Christmas creations to inspire you. Now what are you waiting for? Go get crafting!

This card will also be entered into the following challenges:

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine
Creative Inspirations Challenge - Christmas
Lili of the Valley Challenge - Anything Goes
Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Glittery Christmas
The Stamp Man Challenge - Christmas

Wishing You a Mousey Christmas

This week the challenge over at the Whiff of Joy blog is to create a Christmas card.

I have opted to use the adorable Henry and Friend on a Candy Cane. I coloured these little guys between visitors on Halloween and had almost forgotten about them. When I stumbled across the completed image yesterday, I knew that I had to put them on a card.

For my card base, I have used Prism cardstock and designer papers from Basic Grey. The image has been cut out using a Spellbinders die and popped up for dimension with pop dots. The green strip behind my image has been embossed for added texture using one of the new Basic Grey embossing folders from Sizzix, they are gorgeous and I had a hard time picking just one.

I want to thank you for visiting today. I hope that you will pop back on Wednesday when the DT at ABC Christmas will have another great challenge for you to participate in. I look forward to seeing you soon.

This card will also be entered into the following challenges:

The ABC Challenge - H is for Holidays
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

Bringing Gifts

I have come to the realization that if I want to take photos for my blog I am going to have to do it on the weekends as it is now dark when I leave in the morning and dark again when I get home. I wanted to remind you that you still have just under three days to participate in the Winter Wonderland challenge over on the ABC Christmas challenge blog. I have been making some new cards and I have another wintry card to share with you today.

This is another of the adorable digital images that are available from Cuddly Buddly stamps.Isn't he just the sweetest little bunny that you have seen? I have used my Copics to colour this little cutie with his gifts in tow and added some flowersoft to mimic the look of fresh snow.

I have kept my card mostly white with a hint of icy winter blue. My background papers have been made using my snowflake embossing folder from cuttlebug. I have used my Martha Stewart punches to add some layers of lace to the bottom of my card and also some punched snowflake embellishments. Lastly, I have finished my card with a white poinsettia and some pearls and ribbon that pick up the touch of blue that I used as an accent.

I hope that you will choose to play along with us. We would love to see your winter wonderland creations.

I will be entering my card into the following challenges:

A Spoonful of Sugar - snow/snowflakes

Crafty Cardmakers - dry embossing

Anything Goes - emboss it

Stamps and Fun - Christmas

Cuddly Buddly Challenge - Cozy Christmas

W is for Winter Wonderland ... my first DT post

Hi all, I am glad that you stopped by today. this is my first official post as part of the design team over on the ABC Christmas Challenge Blog and we have a wonderful challenge for you today.

This weeks challenge chosen by Annie is Winter Wonderland with an optional theme of white. You can of course use colour for your image and a little for your matting but we want to see a snow white winter wonderland come to life on your creations.

For this challenge we have been sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and one lucky challenge participant will receive a $15 gift certificate spend at the store. Who wouldn't love the chance to do a little Christmas shopping for themselves as we gear up for all of the holiday rush?

For my card I have chosen to use this adorable digi image from Cuddly Buddly. I have coloured it using my Copics and added a generous dose of stickles to give it the glisten of fresh fallen snow. I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to make an all white card, it was a great opportunity to pull out my embossing folders which never seem to get enough use. As you can see, my glittery paper which looked white on it's own has taken on a pink sparkle when placed with the true bright white of my stamping cardstock. A sparkly white ribbon and some punched snowflakes and pearls have finished off my card.

I will be entering this card in the following challenges;

Stamp Artic - Glitter/Christmas
Bah Humbug - presents
Die Cuts Dreams Christmas - Christmas Digi
A Spoonful of Sugar - Embellish
City Crafter - Digi
Totally Papercrafts - Bling it on
Simon Says Stamp - All white
Stamp and Create - tis the Season

Our DT and  Guest designers have made some wonderful winter creations to inspire you so be sure to pop on over to the ABC Christmas Challenge blog and check them out.

Fairy Wishes

Hello, I have a card to share with you today.

I have coloured this wonderful fairy image from Lily of the Valley with Copics and given her wings a generous helping of stickles. This because, all fairies should sparkle don't you agree?

Once again my background paper is handmade using the same emboss resist technique that I used for my card last week. This time I have inked it up using barn door and shabby shutters distress ink. I was going for a Christmas feel, funny that this card didn't turn out Christmas at all. I have then cut and reassembled the paper following a great sketch over on the Truly Scrumptious blog. The other part of this challenge calls for pearls, petals and pins so I have applied a small dose of each of these to embellish and finish off my card.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you will join me again Wednesday morning when I will share with you my first card for the ABC Christmas Challenge.

This card will also be entered in the following challenges;

Simon Says Challenge - Punches and Diecuts
Secret Crafter - Anything that Flies
ABC Challenge - G is for Glitter