High Hopes: Snowman Pile

Our new challenge at High Hopes is to use a
Decorative Edge
Play along with your High Hopes stamps for the chance to win a new one of your choice.

My card uses Snowman Pile from the latest release.  I hadn't used my watercolour pencils in such a long time and they take a bit of getting used to again!
My fancy border is an old Martha Stewart Drippy Goo border punch - I added clear gloss and glitter to my border and to the pile of snow at the bottom of the image.  Paper Smooches snowflake dies.

• Layout from Sweet Sunday #242 
• Polkadoodles #42 - Christmas fun
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Card Extra - October
• Crafty Little Fairies - October - only one DP

Love Bunny

It's been a yeuchy dark gloomy day .. I know our clocks only went back an hour but I think I've had the kitchen light on since lunch time :(

This card was inspired by this week's Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast ... HERE's Annette's original.
I've used all old stash on my card ... Paper Smooches bunny, heart and sentiment; CC Designs fence die; Martha Stewart grass punch; and some pink card candy from my stash.  I had a go at using white chalk on my blue BP for clouds - think it looks OK but doesn't really show up much on my pic.  Clear gloss added to my bunny's eyes and teeth, and the little heart popped up on dimensionals.  Other than that, nice and simple, and I love how it turned out :)

• Sister Act #80- anything goes
• Simply Create Too #73 - shop in your craft room
• As you like it - favourite style - definitely cute for me, I can't imagine using this little bunny on an elegant card ;)
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - anything goes
• Party Time Tuesdays #186 - anything goes
• Bunny Zoe's Crafts October - animals

Snowy Santa

A while ago I had the bright idea of putting all my Christmas sentiment stamps together, thinking it would be handy to have them all in one place.  Now, can someone please tell me WHERE I put them, it's driving me crazy trying to find them! Grrr!

This Santa is from High Hopes latest release ... Santa's Gift.  Coloured with pencils and lots of sparkle added to his fur trims.  I also used some of my old snowball ribbon that I kept forgetting to use up last year! - and because I had a bit of a sticky situation when my glue blobbed out from behind the ribbon, I just fired on some more glue and then added more white flowersoft ... love how it turned out just like a wee snowdrift :)

• Layout from CAS Colours and Sketches #97 - though I had to move my panel to show off my ribbon!
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - anything goes
• As you like it - cute or elegant - I don't really do 'elegant' cards, most of mine are cute and quite a few use my favourite sweet images from High Hopes!
• Colour/gingham theme from Christmas Stampin all year long #34
• Allsorts #282 - Christmas
• Completely Christmas #35 - anything goes + sentiment
• Crafty Little Fairies October - only 1 DP
• Penny Black and More October - get ahead for Christmas
• Sparkles Christmas challenge CH#45 - for a child
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - October

Orange bats?

As per usual, Halloween is almost upon us and I still haven't got my cards all made!

This one's just a quickie using a super-old cuttlebug embossing folder - though it annoys me as the embossing doesn't go all the way to the bottom.  I tried to hide this by stretching my sentiment all the way across the card.  Stamps are also last year's stash from The Alley Way Stamps. Bats popped up on dimensionals and clear gloss added to their eyes.

• Colours inspired by the photo over at TAWS Be Inspired #58 
• Dream Valley #93 - Halloween
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - anything goes
• Creative Inspirations #286 - Happy Halloween
• Cute Card Thursday #344 - trick or treat
• Layout from CAS(e) This Sketch #97
• Simply Create #73 - shopin your craft room

High Hopes: Baby's First Christmas

Oh Brrrr.  It's been a wild old day - the end of Hurricane Gonzales hit today so we had lots of mad heavy showers and such a cold wind that would cut you in two!  Def an evening for the cosy slippers .... though Ruby's giving me that look expectantly waiting for her walk :(

Our new challenge at High Hopes is to
Go Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
Play along with your High Hopes stamps for the chance to win a new one of your choice.

If you're not sure how to check your breasts, check out this link

My card uses some stamps from the latest release ... Rocking Baby and Baby's First Christmas sentiment.  Coloured with copics / promarkers and some flower soft added to her hat.  I'm determined not to buy any new Xmas DP this year, so this is some really old stuff from my stash.

Other Challenges:

• Christmas Stampin all Year Long #33 - anything goes / use your imagination
• Polkadoodles #42 - Christmas fun
• Layout from Sketch Saturday #332
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin October - snowflakes
• Merry Monday #131 - non traditional colours
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - anything goes
• Oldie but a Goodie - Christmas

Anyone for a Knickerbocker Glory?

I'm not normally a big lover of ice cream, but throw in some fresh cream, jelly and a bit of fruit and I'm all yours!  This is a new stamp maker to me ... Molly Blooms - think I might have to get some more, they're really cute :)

I've had these tiny scraps of DP in my stash for aaaages, just waiting for the right image to come along!
Ice cream coloured with copics, and sparkle and clear gloss added for a bit of sparkle and shine.

• Layout from Deconstructed Challenge DS173
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - O is for ... old stash
• Party Time Tuesdays PTT#185 - anything goes
• Crafty Girls #29 - anything goes

Betty's Birthday card

Here's another personalised birthday card ... funny how you seem to get a rush of them at once!
This one is for Greg's sister.  I kinda misjudged the size of my sentiment and the width of my wee girl's hair though!  It needed a bit of blinging up when I was finished so I added some bunting and loads of stickles :)

Image from Tiddly Inks - coloured with copics and popped up on dimensionals.

• Layout based on sketch from Sugar Sketch Challenge #13
• Seize the Birthday - anything goes birthday
• Crafting when we can #80 - personalised card
• Pile it on #41 - 2 or more die cuts
• Papertake Weekly - super fly

30th Birthday card

Yeuch, it's a horrible draughty dark evening here, with horizontal rain ... definitely a night for the old PJs and the heating on!

This card is for a colleague in work.  Hope the monster image is OK .. I'll have to get some more grown up male images!  I don't do digis, so I'll have to start keeping my eyes open for some good stamps.
Monster is from Whipper Snapper, and alpa set from Sara Hurley.

• Colour theme from Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - black, slate, orange, apple and lavender
• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club MFTWSC198
• Creative Card Crew #72 - black cardstock (on my base layer)
• Crafting When We Can #80 - personalised card
• Party Time Tuesday #185 - anything goes

High Hopes - Angel Trio

Everyone's favourite challenge this week at High Hopes ...
Anything High Hopes Goes!
Play along with your High Hopes stamps for the chance to win a new one of your choice :)

My card uses this sweet Angel Trio stamp from our latest release.  Coloured with copics ... don't ya love it when you find a marker in your stash that matches your DP perfectly :)
I added clear gloss and a sprinkle of glitter for their wings, and then extra highlights in red and green stickles, so it's nice and sparkly but still flat for postage.
Paper Smooches snowflakes dies, and Simon Says sentiment dies.

Other challenges...
Pile it On #41 - 2 or more die cuts
Christmas at Sweet Stampin - snowflakes
Crafty Girls #28 - anything goes
CRAFT challenge #280 - Christmas
Penny Black and More October - get ahead for Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra challenge - October

Baby Bear

I was merrily working away on this card for the Paper Smooches photo challenge, and when I was almost finished I realised that not only had I missed the colours in the pic but I'd also forgotten to use a Paper Smooches image!  Doh!  Blame it on Monday-itis!

My wee bear is from Elzybells which unfortunately closed a few years ago; sentiment from The Alley Way Stamps, and Paper Smooches dies.  I've also added some pale blue chalk to the sky but it's not showing up in my pic.  The dark nights are upon us, it's already dark here by 7 :(

Bunny Zoe's Crafts October challenge - animals
A Gem of a Challenge #130 - create a scene
As you like it - favourite fibre - mine's baker's twine, I like all the different colours available and that it doesn't add too much bulk to your card
Crafty Girls #28 - anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - October
Papertake Weekly - anything goes

New Home #2

Quickie post now, it's movie night and Greg's getting impatient!  Tonight's viewing is Argo - gets good reviews and sure a movie's always worth a look if the lovely Ben Affleck's in it ;)

It's another Two-Fer tonight, just adding to my New Home stash! I've used an oldie from a much loved Stampin' Up set.  Added a gem to the flower and to the hearts, and clear gloss to the windows.  Coloured my scalloped edge and flower to match my hearts.  Sky and grass chalked in.  Silver peel off sentiment - I didn't have enough room for it, so had to add it as a separate strip.

Layout from Sketch Saturday #331 - though I've just noticed my darker panel should have went all the way to the edge.
Whimsy Stamps challenge #76 - anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned paper challenge - October
Oldie but a Goodie - 1 image, 2 DPs. 3 finishing touches (my wee banners)
Papertake Weekly - anything goes

New Home #1

I had happy mail today when the postie delivered a lovely MME paper pad that I won from Stacey's blog. It's been calling to me all day to have a wee play, shame housework has to get in the way!  :)

I was asked recently for a new home card and used this older set from Simon Says Stamp - Where the heart is.  I paper pieced all elements on my wee house, and then I took a deep breath and stamped my sentiment directly onto my card ... and made an absolute hash of it.  Arragh!  So I just stamped it out again and stuck another over the top.  Looks OK, but just not how I imagined it!

Layout from the Deconstructed Sketch #172
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Create Something Catchy #8 - one card, one stampset
Sister Act #78 - anything goes

High Hopes: Just Hanging Out

Our new challenge at High Hopes is
Fall or Halloween
Play along with your High Hopes stamps to win a new one of you choice :)

My card uses this cute little vampire Just Hanging Out from our new release, along with Bat.  Both coloured with copics and popped up on dimensionals.  I chalked some grey clouds and added my embossed moon.  CC Designs die cut fence and MS grass punch.

Other challenges ...
A Little Bit Crafty - Boo
Crafting when we can #79 - no designer papers
The Sketchy Challenge #79 - sketch +/or Halloween theme
Crazy 4 Challenges #256 - colour theme
CRAFT #279 - embossing
Divas by Design - spooky creations

Birthday Tag card

I've been going through my paper stacks and trying to use up some of the oldies.  I thought this looked kinda Autumnal, perfect for this time of year.

I've used my only Tiddly Inks stamp - coloured with pencils.  Clear gloss and glitter added to the balloons, bows on her shoes and to the scallops on the edge of the tag.  I also had a play with my new Creative Expressions bow die - I added an extra shim and it cut much better this time.  MFT Peek-a-boo dots die.  I wasn't going to add a sentiment but then I managed to make a dirty mark on my tag, so added my Happy Birthday as a final finishing touch.

Layout from Retro Sketches #135 - I used sketch #13
Simon Says Stamp Monday - finishing touches
Die Cuttin Divas #185 - anything goes
Cute Card Thursday #341 - spots and dots
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper challenge - October
Sweet Stampin - Autumn
613 Avenue Create #92 - anything goes

Two for the price of one!

While I had this stamp out I thought I'd make another card for my stash.  I've coloured him again with pencils and added some glitter to the wee bee.  I've also chalked my sky the same shade as the bluey strip at the top, but it doesn't really show up in my photo.  We're back to the dark evenings and crappy pics again!

Layout from Mojo Monday #365, though I went with a normal size card instead of tall and skinny
Simon Says Stamp Monday - finishing touches - mine just needed a few bits of bling to finish it
Crafty Girls #28 - anything goes
Seize the Birthday - pennants and/or banners
Crafts 4 Eternity R#196 - 3 of the same letter - bee, banners, birthday, bling

Card for Uncle Derek

Happy Saturday!  It's been a lovely sunny day today, after an solid day's rain yesterday.  Can't complain really as we had the driest September since records began - though with the calendar moving into October the weather has caught up and there's a definite nip in the air in the evening now.  Though I'm glad I got my garden all sorted last weekend and all my winter potting done as we're due another days rain tomorrow.

I managed to get a wee sit down and a play with my crafty stash, for World Cardmaking Day :)
This card is for my uncle - I've used this Penny Black image  coloured with pencils and some sparkle added to the bee's wings.  I chalked in some clouds and added a wee star die border from Taylored Expressions.

Layout from Papertake Weekly's sketchie free for all - I based my card on #30
Crafty Cardmakers #124 - Triple B - blue, birthday, bee
Crafty Little Fairies - October - only 1 DP
Cute Card Thursday #341 - spots and dots
Crafty Catz #249 - all sentimental
Sister Act #77 - anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper challenge - October

90th Birthday Card

I was very lucky recently and won a voucher for Crafty Devils from the Allsorts challenge, so I thought I'd buy a 'grown up' stamp for a change instead of my usual cutesy style.  This lovely flower is from the Papermania Botanicals range - Wild Rose.  And I also treated myself to this pretty Creative Expressions bow die - it would have needed a few more passes through my cuttlebug (plus my plates are a bit warped) - the central bow should have a fancy cut out pattern but I didn't have enough of this scrap DP left to try again!

My flowers are popped up on dimensionals and another layer on the butterfly part of the image as I'd originally coloured it blue and then decided it should be pink :)  My sparkly peel offs were originally silver, but I gave them a bit of a colour with a pink copic.

Layout from Papertake Weekly - sketchie free for all so I chose #26
Crafty Catz - Happy Birthday to Crafty Catz
Sister Act #76 - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday - finishing touches (my butterflies)
Die Cuttin Divas #185 - anything goes
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge #197 - at least 3 patterned DPs
Sparkles monthly challenge #60 - things with wings