Big yellow truck and a snow dude

Ha, I remember the good old days when I used to come up with witty post titles, now it's just straight in with no messing about ;)

I've been struggling with my mojo recently but Marina's lovely book cover over at the Library Challenge #45 was just what I needed to get me going again.

I've used my old truck set from Stampin Up - I remember when I bought this I wasn't sure if I'd ever use it or not, but it's turned out to be one of my most inked stamps!
Coloured with polychromos, clear gloss added to the windows and chrome work, and then popped up on foam pads.  I've also used a little plane die from Gummiapan that I bought in the sale ages ago and hadn't tried till now.

• Word Art Wednesday #410/411 - anything goes
• Crafty Catz #480 - anything goes

And here's this season's snow dude again - coloured with polychromos, sparkle added to his scarf and pocket, clear gloss/glitter to his nose, and then popped up on foam pads.

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch challenge #460
• Cute Card Thursday #605 - sparkles
• CHNC #461 - Christmas + make your own background

Apologies for the rubbish photos, we're back into the dark nights again :(  It always takes me a week or two to adjust to the clock change!  We'd the most gorgeous sunny autumn day - we were down in our local park this morning and it looked like the world and his wife had the same idea!  I don't think I've ever seen it so busy!

Sparkly Skeleton

We'd a gorgeous autumnal day today, dry and sunny with a wee nip in the air.  Perfect weather for getting a few buckets of leaves swept up and dead stuff pruned.  It's not too often the weekend co-ordinates with the weather and the inclination to get busy ;)

So this is probably the only Halloween card I'll make (for my nephew and niece).  I'm gutted that we don't really send Halloween cards here as I love to make them!
My stamps here are from Eat Cake Graphics, sentiment from a Stampin Up set and my tree die was a win ages ago from Taylored Expressions and rarely used.  I fussy cut my skeleton, popped him up on foam pads and added loads of glitter to his bones.

• Your Next Stamp #125 - trick or treat
• Stamping Sensations October - trees, leaves, autumn
• Crafty Cardmakers #243 - sparkle
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Halloween

Double Christmas

I actually have a decent stash of Christmas cards this year for the first time ever!!  Hopefully there's not going to be the usual last minute rush!

This first card uses an oldie from High Hopes that I haven't inked up for a while.  Coloured with polychromos; glitter added to his hat and skis; sparkle added to the green bits in his hat/scarf; gloss to his nose and glasses.  I added a little hint of purple to my shaded sky to pull in the colours of my snowdude.

• ABC Christmas - V is for Velocity
• Just Us Girls #510 - purple, navy, green
• CAS on Friday #166 - big sentiment

This old DP set is from Stampin'Up and I find it so difficult to use, I never really love any cards I've made with it!! 

My image is a real old-oldie from Elzybells - I know I used it in 2010 and don't think he's seen ink since.  Unfortunately Elzybell's is long closed, they had some fab stamps ;(

I added some black glittery cardstock and some silver stars and that's it really!

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch #459
• Christmas Kickstart #21 - woodland creatures

Some personalised cards - Betty, Derek, etc

I've been busy this weekend with a load of personalised card requests, so apologies for the long post tonight!

This first one is for my  Sister in Law - I usually make her something floral so thought I'd make something daft for a change!
Kitty from Penny Black - coloured with polychromos and clear gloss added to their beaks and his nose + tongue.  Snazzy rainbow DP is some super-old stuff I had in my love-don't-want-to-use pile!

• Less is More #406 - rainbow challenge
• CASology #353 - feather
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This one was a request from a work colleague for her friend.  This one's an oldie from Lili of the Valley - I added some sparkle to the blooms and to the '80'

• As You Like It - fave stitching style - mine's most definitely these stitched dies, I love how it frames your image with zero hassle! 
• The Flower challenge #37 - CAS

This one's another work request, this time for one of our client's, hope she likes her big sparkly age! 

Again another oldie Penny Black - I added some shimmer to the kitty's apron and hat and lots of glitter to the icing.  The card candy in the left corner are the wee snips from the numbers.

• Addicted to Stamps #362 - make your mark
• Daisy Chain Challenge #35 - I chose the Pink option
• Penny Black and More October - pretty in pink
• Layout from Stick it Down October

And this one's the card I sent to my Uncle - not entering it into any challenges as I 100% copied it from the Stampendous blog, but just wanted to post it to have a record of what I sent him!

Ryan's birthday card

Happy World Card Making Day!  I'd a busy old day today so was looking forward to getting crafty this evening, only to discover my mojo had upped and left!   No time to be wasted hanging about waiting on him though, I've a few cards needing to be made.

So this one's for my nephew, I can hardly believe he's turning 16!!!  I remade this one about 20 times before I was happy-ish with it - you should see the scene of devastation on my kitchen table, scraps, dies, discarded bits and pieces and the rest!
I've used my MFT shark and porthole die; the sentiment bit in the middle is an older Gummiapan stamp.  Shark coloured with polychromos and popped up on foam pads.  Silver stars and a googly eye to finish.

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #457
• Simon Says Stamp - World Card Making Day
• Creative Inspirations #October - masculine
• Sweet Stampers #36 - use a sentiment

Baby boy and an Elf

So this is my first effort on colouring a darker skin tone.  I'm not sure what that says about ethnic diversity in Northern Ireland, but we're definitely a gazillion times better than we used to be!!

Image from Stamping Bella - coloured with polychromos and sparkle added to his little flower hat;  Clear gloss added to the bigger heart.  And that's it really! Nice and simple.

• Allsorts #539 - boys to men
• Less is More #405 - sparkle and gloss
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes

This one followed the MFT Sketch challenge but, not for the first time, I've missed the deadline.

This DP is from a never ending Christmas pack that I bought a few years back, I'm kinda looking forward to it running out!

MFT Elf; Paper Smooches snowflake dies.

• Word Art Wednesday #405-407 - anything goes
•  Simon Says Stamp Monday - get ready for Christmas