What are H and I for?

Good morning!
It's Carissa here and I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

 Over on the ABC Christmas Challenge Blog we

have two wonderful new themes to choose from...or combine...this month:

'H is for Home'

 

and

 

'I is for Informal'

 

(But don't forget the Christmas theme!)

As you can see below, I went for the Informal theme. I opted to use this sweet image from LOTV, coloured it up and simply matted it before placing it atop a store purchased card blank with a bold pattern.  How easy is that?

 

 

 

 We have some generous sponsors for this challenge

 

Craftyribbons
 

Visit our blog http://blog.craftyribbons.com 

Inspiration Blog http://craftyribbonsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/

 

and 

Sponsor
Wild Rose Studio

One lucky entrant will win this lovely Snowman Family Stamp Set and a Birds and Berries 6x6 Paper Pack. 

Thanks so much Dulcie and Matthew, owners of the Wild Rose Studio

 

Now its your turn. I hope you'll join us!

U for Under the Pile

Good Morning, I hope your week is off to a great start. Its hard to believe that we are already almost half way through October, the big day is inching closing and closer. To help you get prepared, we have another great theme starting today over on the ABC Christmas Challenge Blog.

 

U for Under the Pile

(we want to see some of the oldest creative goodies in your stash)

 

 

I can't claim that this was a hard one for me. Most of my stash is more than a year old at this point. This adorable little Edwin stamp that I think is about 2 years old now has been coloured up to match a card blank that I assembled using some scraps from an old Basic Grey Christmas collection. Only a few simple embellishments were added keeping the card nice and flat for the holiday mail.

 

We do hope that you will play along.

 

Our generous sponsor this time is Bugaboo Stamps

One lucky Random winner will win 7 Digi images for their choice

 

Happy Crafting!

Rip it Up

Where oh where has the summer gone. I can't believe that it is the last day of August already which means that we are now less than 4 months to Christmas.

 

Over on the ABC Christmas Challenge blog we have another new challenge starting today. The theme this time around is

 

R for Rip it Up

 

 

For my  card, I decided to dig into the inks and play.

 

 

I started by embossing the snowflake design and then rubbing on Distress inks in various shades of teal and purple. After tearing off the edge of the matted piece I played around with some embellishment and finally came across these old acrylic snowflakes so I pulled out the alcohol inks and dabbed them up to match with the background.

 

A few simple gems and a sentiment finish the whole thing off nicely.

 

I hope that you will join in on the fun.

 

Our generous sponsor for this challenge is

http://www.digistampboutique.co.uk/catalog/

http://digistampboutique.blogspot.co.uk/

and they have provided a £10.00 Voucher for one lucky participant.

 

Happy Crafting!

B for Baubles

Good morning all, I am here to tell you about the new challenge theme starting over on the ABC Christmas Challenge

Our challenge theme for this fortnight is

B for Baubles

and we have been generously sponsored by

Bugaboo Stamps

One lucky Random winner will win 7 Digi images for their choice

 For my card I opted to use this adorable image from

Kraftin' Kimmie. 

She was coloured up in some rather non-traditional Christmas colours and I have paired the image with some old papers that were found in my stash. A snowflake, a few flowers and some sparkle and bling finish it all off.

This challenge closes on Tuesday February 2nd at 6pm (GMT).

So now it's over to you...

We look forward to seeing all your fabulous Christmas Creations!

Happy Crafting!

F for Frosty

Good evening, I am running a little late today as the internet was not working properly last night so I could not schedule a post in advance.

 

Today over on the ABC Christmas Challenge we have a new theme that started today.

 

F for Frosty

 

 

I always think that Icy/Frosty themes are a perfect excuse to get inky and just play.  I've pulled out some of my favorite snowy themed stamps and I've done just that.

 

The card base is one that I picked up at a local stamp shop.  I've stamped the main background with a large stamp from Hero Arts before embossing and inking with Distress inks. The larger snowflake is also Hero Arts and it has been trimmed with a touch of stickles and a fancy gem from my stash to add a bit of icy sparkle.  

 

 

We have been generously sponsored by

Sweet Stamp Store

Prize - a $10.00 Gift Certificate for Sweet Stamp Store

SweetStamps.com manufactures artistic rubber stamps on cling cushion for use with acrylic blocks. We carry a variety of stamping and paper crafting goodies like our own Shades dye inks, metal embossing plates, embossing folders, cutting & embossing dies (Our very own SweetCuts Dies, Cheery Lynn, Marianne, Joy! and Nellie's), fine detail embossing powders, specialty cardstock and vellum along with supplies for parchment crafting. 

 

I hope that you will join in the fun. Can't wait to see what you created.

C for Colourful Christmas

Good Morning.  I hope you are all staying warm and having a great week. I am back today to share my card for the ABC Christmas Challenge. The theme this time is

 

C for Colourful

 

 

This cutie from Kraftin' Kimmie stamps was begging to be used for this challenge. I love colouring her up, the brighter the better. I have paper pieced the gift wrap for that cheery package that she is standing on and matched the image with some Basic Grey papers from my stash.

 

We have generously been sponsored for this challenge by

Meljen's Designs

Who are offering one lucky participant 4 Images of the winners choice.

Meljen's Designs is a lovely stamp company owned and illustrated by Melissa

Jenkins. She illustrates whimsical rubber and digital images inspired by her kids and family. Meljen's Designs has a new challenge every Thursday, and a Guest Designer each month at the Meljen's Designs Blog. Please visit the adorable line of Meljen's Designs stamps at our store HERE to browse all of Melissa's lovely designs! You can also see Melissa's exclusive rubber stamps at her corner of Whimsy Stamps, too!  Don't forget to join Meljen's Designs on Facebook HERE to take advantage of special sales and promotions that are just for her facebook fans!

 

Be sure to stop by our challenge blog to see the rest of the DT inspiration cards and then I hope that you will join us with your own bright and happy cards.

 

Y for Your Family

Good Morning, I can't believe that we are only a few weeks away now from Christmas.  How is your shopping coming along.?  If you are still working franticly to finish off a few last minute Christmas cards then you will need to pop on over to the ABC Christmas Challenge where we are starting with a new theme today.

 

Y for Your Family

The challenge is to make a card for a specific member of your family.

 

 

I have coloured up this little Magnolia sweetie to match a card base that I assembled with some of the scraps that were on my desk. The papers are bold and busy so I have added only a dimensional poinsettia sticker to embellish and a simple sentiment indicating who the card is for finished it all off.

 

I hope that you will join us for the challenge.

 

We are generously sponsored for this time around by Fred She Said who are offering a $10 gift voucher for one lucky participant.

Happy Crafting!

A Very Merry Christmas

Good evening, we are getting close to that magical time of the year and we have another great theme for you over on the ABC Christmas Challenge Blog.

This fortnight our theme is

V for Very Merry Christmas

 

 

I was having some play time with my Tim Holtz products the other week and this Santa image was one of the end results.  I liked it so I have matted it all up and added a few embellishments and a

Very Merry sentiment to create a vintage card. I think that I may have to go back and hit the poinsettia with with some distress ink and a dauber to age it a bit, it just seems a little too new.

 

I hope that you will stop by and join us for the challenge.

We are being sponsored this challenge by:

Sweet Stamp Store

 who have offered up a $10.00 Gift Certificate for the Sweet Stamp Store
 

Remember, you MUST use the words "Very Merry Christmas to qualify for the challenge.

If you don't have one our teammate Samantha has created some for you and they are available on the main challenge blog.

Good Morning, I am back today to tell you about the wonderful new challenge theme that we have for you over on the ABC Christmas Challenge blog. The theme this time around is

 

S for Something Festive

 

We are joined by a new sponsor for this challenge.

Freckled Fawn has generously provided a $15 gift card for one lucky participant.

 

Freckled Fawn also generously provided some of our Design Team with some wonderful embellishments to use for this challenge.

 

 

When I first saw the embellishments that had been provided I wondered how I would create a festive Christmas Card, none of the embellishments were typically seasonal.

 

For my image I opted to colour up this sweet image from LOTV as I felt that it would go with the washi tape and I picked colours for my image from the cute little arrows. The row of bling and the rub on numbers were additional elements from our sponsor.

 

When my card was finished I realized that you don't need traditional seasonal embellishments for a Christmas Card after all.

 

What's Your Number

Good evening. Didn't get a post up this morning but I am here tonight to tell you about the new ABC Christmas Challenge that started today. The theme this go around is

 

N for Numbers

 

We have a fabulous new sponsor for this challenge , the winner will receive two free digis of their choice from Wendy's Etsy shop

All Dressed Up

 

My card for this challenge came together quite easily given that I don't seem to have many numbers in my stash. These cute little LOTV bears we're sitting there all coloured up just waiting to be made into a card. I dug around a bit and came up with a number sticker that I have matted on a diecut to give it a bit more punch. From there it was just a matter of digging through my stash to find some papers to pull it all together.

 

The end result is a little more bold than what I had imagined when colouring this image but I think it adds to the fun.

I hope you will join us and share your numbered creations. You never know, I just may need to go stock up after I've been inspired.

L for Little Gifts

Good Morning! I don't seem to be around much on my blog these days, I am busy trying out some new activities. I've taken up Pilates and I have been busy knitting up a storm having gotten back into that the other year.

 

I don't plan to give up my paper crafts though and I hope to be blogging more again soon.  I'm back today to tell you about the new ABC Christmas Challenge that starts today. It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the year but this time around we have reached the letter L and our them is

 

L for Little Gifts.

 

 

This time around I have borrowed/stolen an idea from my mom and created a little gift bag made from a paper lunch sack. The front of the bag has been embellished using a gorgeous snowflake stamp from Hero Arts. I've stamped it using Distress Inks and then embossed it with holographic embossing powder to give it lots of sparkle.

 

On the back of the gift bag I have added a little sentiment just to keep it from being too plain. Nice and simple and the perfect thing to tuck a little gift into come the holidays.

 

I do hope that you are now thinking about joining us for our challenge.

This time around we have generously be sponsored by

 

Freckled Fawn

 

 

 

who have provided a $15 gift card for one lucky participant.

 

What are you waiting for, go create!

K for Kiss

My second post for tonight is for the new ABC Christmas Challenge. Our theme for this challenge is

"K for Kiss"

Use a sentiment with "kiss" included or an image of  "kissing". 

 

For my card I have used this cute Deer Duo image from Bugaboo Stamps. It has been coloured using some fun bright colours to pair with these wonderful papers that were in my stash from MME.  As the image is so large I have kept the layout really simple adding only a simple Kiss sentiment as embellishment.

Be sure to stop by and show us your own "Kiss" creations. We have a fantastic sponsor for this challenge:  

The Prize is 3 Digital Images

 

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

Jolly Old Elf

Good morning, I am a day late with this post but I can finally get to the computer. I am here to tell you about the new ABC Christmas Challenge that started yesterday. Our theme this time is

 

J for Jolly Old Elf

For my card I have opted to use a favorite image from Kraftin Kimmie. I had decided that I wanted to create a card in a more clean and simple style so I turned to Alice's Little Wonderland for inspiration. I've stamped the image directly on my card and coloured with Copics before adding some washi layers and a little sentiment. I think it turned out okay and the best part is that it can go in the mail. I don't think that it will replace my usual style but I do think you will see a few more cards done like this from time to time.

Now it is your turn. We have generously been sponsored by Wild Orchid Crafts

 

who have offered one lucky winner a £10 gift voucher.

What are you waiting for?

B for Bare Essentials

Good Morning!  It is so cold here, they are predicting temperatures of -30C again for today so bundle up and stay warm.  

 

I had a wonderful time playing in my craft room this weekend and I have a new card this morning for new challenge starting over at ABC Christmas Challenge. The theme this go round is

 

B for Bare Essentials

(we want to see just the bare minimum of embellishments on your creations)

 

Care2stamp is our wonderful sponsor joining us this week and they are offering

a fabulous prize of a $15 Gift code to spend in the shop.

 

 

CAS is not my usual style and I often have difficulties with it but thanks to some bold pattern paper and this wonderful image from Kraftin Kimmie I have been able to pull it off this time around.

No embellishments means that this card is ready for the mail. I may even have to try this again!

 

I hope that you will join in on the fun, it is never too early to start getting ready for the holidays.

Winter Wishes for a Friend

Hello there, it has been quite some time since my last post.  I know that I had mentioned that I had the good intentions of getting back to some more regular blogging but that all went awry when I decided to try turning curling into a full contact sport (full contact with the ice that is) and I messed up my wrist and hand pretty good. After giving it lots of rest I am back on the mend and I am happy to be getting back into my craft room.

 

Today marks the start of a new ABC Christmas Challenge and this time it is my turn to host. 

The theme that has been chosen is

W for Winter Wishes

which means that you need to use a winter wishes sentiment on your creation.

 

 

Stamp and Create.com

And an awesome prize of 

And

Saturated Canary

 Prize is 2 Digi images from her lovely Etsy Shop.

 

 

For my card I've used one of Krista's older images that were sold through Sugar Nellie, I think that this might be the first time that I have coloured her up but she has been in my stash for a while now. I have matched her to some fun holiday papers from MME and added some simple embellishments as accents. To finish it all of I have added a little holiday sentiment and this card is now all ready to pop in the mail for the holidays.  

 

I hope that you will join us with your own gorgeous creations.  I do look forward to seeing what make.

Happy Crafting!

A Bear and a Sketch

Good Morning, it is the middle of the week and that means that we are slowly getting closer to the weekend. It also means that today it is time to start a new ABC Christmas Challenge. Our theme this go around is

S for Stockings or a Sketch
(if you choose sketch just find one and create a Christmas project with it)

For this challenge we are proudly sponsored by the lovely Meljen :-)

Meljen's Designs

 

Meljen will give one lucky entrant 4 fabulous images of the winners choice!

 

For my card I have coloured up this sweet little image of James Bear, he is one of my favs and I while I was colouring one image I figured I might as well colour another so you will be seeing this image again sometime soon.

 

The sketch that I have followed is from Sunday Sketch & Stamp.

 

Its a great one with lots of layers. As there is so much going on with all the pattern from the papers, I have added only a sentiment to finish it off. Easy as pie and this card is all ready to be popped in the mail come the holidays.


I would also like to enter my card in the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - Christmas
Cute Card Thursday - Hip to Be Square

 

P is for Penguins

Hi there! I didn't make it back to post a card this weekend but I did get a few made that I will be sharing with you tonight. The first is for the ABC Christmas Challenge where we have a new challenge that started yesterday. The theme this time around is 

Things that Start With P

 

We have two wonderful sponsors for this challenge:

Stamp and Create.com

 

 

and 

 

 Lili of the Valley

 

 

 

 

For my card I have chosen one of the older stamps in my collection for . This adorable little penguin pair from Motivet which I believe is still available as a digi. I've coloured them up to match with some fun winter papers that I have had in my stash for quite a while now. I've even added a few polka dots to their scarves to jazz them up a bit. After assembling my card, I dug through my stash again to find some embellishments and was able to come up with some pearls and a poinsettia that matched.

What do you have in your collection that starts with P? I hope that you will join us and show us what you find.