Snowdude Thanks

I needed a wee thank you card for a Christmas pressie, so got out my snow dudes from Paper Smooches
... oh, I won last week's challenge with Greg's Christmas card
yippee!

I've made quite a few Christmas cards this year using this paper stack ... I've had it in my stash for a few years now and I'm sick of looking at it ;)

Snowmen coloured with pencils, popped up on dimensionals and some glitter added to the snowlady's hat.

Sketch flipped from Monday Lunchtime #295
Paper Smooches SPARKS - anything goes
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Extra - December
Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas
Cute Card Thursday #301 - anything goes

Merry Christmas!

It's been a brrr chilly, windy, snow-showery kinda day ... just right for Christmas Eve! And as per usual, the last card made at the very last minute is for Greg!

I masked off my little dude's arms so I could draw them in myself - I'd said to Greg that I wish I'd drawn them longer, but he said it would only have looked silly. Hahaha.

Anyway, I hope you made it to Santa's 'nice' list and in the words of the Big Man himself .... "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Layout from Paper Smooches SPARKS designer drafts

CraftyHazelnuts Christmas Extra - December

Simon Says Wednesday - bling it on 

Crafty Hands #4 - season's greetings / winter theme

Totally Gorjuss #215 - quick Christmas

Lexi's Creations #195 - snow

Papertake Weekly - pick of the year - I chose 'Baby it's cold outside'
The Cutie Pie challenge #60 - cute with only snowmen allowed

High Hopes Challenge #199

Time for a new challenge at High Hopes ... a nice easy one to take us through the Christmas holiday:
Anything High Hopes Goes
(this challenge will run through to 6 January)

My card was part of a last minute request for some personalised Christmas cards for teachers, and with the clock ticking on they had to be CAS!  I've used Snowy Holding Sign - coloured with promarkers and lots of sparkle added to the red bits on his jumper and hat.  Gold peel off letters and sentiment to finish.  My borders round the edges are doodled to match the markings on the signpost.

Other Challenges
Simon Says Wednesday challenge - Let it Snow
Crafty Little Fairies - Let it Snow
Cute Card Thursday #299 - Christmas Catch Up
CAS-ual Friday CFC123 - Let it Snow
Crafty Hands #4 - Season's Greetings/Winter
Layout from Sweet Sunday #199

Snowy Tags

Just a quickie post tonight ... I had a wee day off work and had a crafting marathon to get my own Christmas cards made, my Mum's birthday card (sorry can't share here!!) and a Christening card.  Phew!  Oh and I put the finishing touches to these little dudes too .... Snowy Tag from High Hopes.
Coloured with pencils and a sparkly silver gel pen, and a wee bit of red stickles to finish.
Ready for bed now!!

Dream Valley #71 - anything but a card
CRAFT Challenge #236 - Christmas
Try it On Tuesday - handmade gift or tag
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - December
Creatalicious #57 - Christmas Time
Stamping Sensations December - free and easy

Cheerful Snowy

It's been such a dark dreary day today, this little dude couldn't help but cheer you up!  I think this snowman stamp from High Hopes (Snowy Portrait) is my favourite :)
Dead easy to colour too ... I've added some glitter to his hat band and scarf, as every Christmas card needs a bit of sparkle!

Layout from Deconstructed Sketch #129
Everybody Art #256 - winter
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Crafty Hands #4 - Season's Greetings / Winter
A Little Bit Crafty - Christmas Cheer
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - November
Stamping Sensations November challenge - free and easy
My Mum's Craft Shop #12 - Winter / Christmas
Penny Black and More December - traditional Christmas colours

High Hopes challenge #197

Our new challenge at High Hopes is
Santa Claus is coming to town
Use any of your High Hopes Santa images and play along to win a new stamp of your choice

My card uses Road Trippin' Santa - coloured with pencils and white flower soft added to his outfit.
Silver peel off sentiment from stash.

Other challenges
Charisma Cardz #46 - Christmas
Crafty Catz #209 - Santa Claus is coming to town
Totally Papercrafts ~195 - Ho, Ho, Holidays
Pile it On #48 - P is for ... pom poms
Sketchy Colors #189 - red and green
The ABC Challenge - A is for Almost Christmas

High Hopes challenge #196

Our new challenge at High Hopes is a photo inspiration ... colours red, green, light blue /teal.

Play along with your High Hopes stamps to win a new one of your choice.

This card is for my doggy-lovin friend, so I know she'll love this image - Dogs Trio Block.  Coloured with pencils and added flowersoft, glitter and gloss.
Bold Merry Christmas sentiment, also from High Hopes.

Other Challenges:

Layout from Simon Says Wednesday challenge
Creative Card Crew #50 - sweet treats
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Christmas Countdown
Stampin' for the Weekend - feeling Festive
Crafts 4 Eternity R#151 - glitter and sparkle
Totally Papercrafts #194 - add a bow
Charisma Cardz #46 - Christmas
Stamping Sensations November challenge - Christmas
A Little Bit Crafty November challenge - sparkle and shine
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - November

Pink Xmas

I think this Memory Box die is my favourite Xmas die of the season!  I love the simplicity of it, matched with this super old DP from my stash.  The snowflake is also an oldie Marianne Design die and the sentiment is from an old Stampin' Up set.

I also made a wee matching tag, using dies from Taylored Expressions.


Oldie but a Goodie - CAS Christmas
ABC Christmas - W for Winter Wishes
CASual Friday CFC121 - 8 of something (I used 8 x bling)
Crafty Catz #208 - tag
Simply Create Too #51 - snow
Allsorts #234 - bring on the bling
Stamping Sensations November - Christmas
Curtain Call - CAS Christmas

High Hopes challenge #195

Our new challenge at High Hopes this week is
Circles
You could have a circular card, circles on your DP or circular die cuts ... what ever you want, just as long as you use a High Hopes image.

My card uses Elegant Santa and Holly Jolly sentiment - coloured with promarkers.  I've added lots of glitter to my snowflake, holly berries, and jingle bell ... I thought I had some of these wee jingle bells in my Xmas stash, but the pixies have made off with them, I'll probably find them about Easter time LOL

Other Challenges
Layout inspired by Crazy 4 Challenges C4C212
ABC Xmas - W for Winter Wishes
C is for Challenge #10 - winter is coming
Cards 4 Men #23 - Merry Christmas
Stamping Sensations November challenge - Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - November

High Hopes challenge #194

This week's challenge at High Hopes is
Anything Christmas
just be sure to use your High Hopes stamps for the chance to win a new one of your choice!

My card uses Three Kings image and We Three Kings sentiment.
Coloured with pencils and lots of glitter added to their crowns and gifts.  I found these gold stars when I was 'tidying' my stash, I may have gotten a bit carried away though. Ha.

Other Challenges:
Cards 4 Men #23 - Merry Christmas
Challenges 4 Everybody #33 - anything goes
Sweet Stampin' - Christmas is coming
Sister Act #32 - anything goes
Totally Papercrafts #192 - use glitter
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra - November

High Hopes Challenge #193

Sorry I've been MIA all week - I've a stinkin' head cold and have misplaced my mojo :(

Anyway, our new challenge at High Hopes is
Fancy Folds
Play along with your High Hopes stamps to win a new one of your choice :)

I used my 'fancy folds' to make a corner bookmark ... you'll find a simple tutorial on SCS here.
My image is Snowy Tag - I just masked off his shoulders, coloured with copics and added some red glitter for a bit of bling.  A nice easy wee giftie to put in with someone's Christmas card :)

Other Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - anything goes (optional Christmas)
Allsorts #231 - Christmas Cheer
Totally Gorjuss #208 - anything goes with snow
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - November
Charisma Cardz #43 - anything but a card

High Hopes Challenge #192

It's Snowing
is our new challenge at High Hopes - use your High Hopes snowmen or add snow to an image to play along and win a new HH stamp of your choice :)

My image is Snowy's Cup - coloured with copics and lots of glitter added for some bling.  Holly Jolly sentiment.  I rediscovered some old goodies when I was on the hunt for some missing stash ... my wee silver candy cane charm and this fabulous hairy twine (there's a bit of sparkle on it but doesn't really show up in pic)

Oldie but a Goodie - charming
Simon Says Monday - anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra October
Tuesday Throwdown #171 - witch or candy
Sister Act #30 - anything goes

High Hopes challenge #191

Time for a new challenge over at High Hopes, and this week it's
Embossing
Play along with your High Hopes stamps for the chance to win a new one of your choice.

My card uses Candy Cane Penguin and Small Open Holly - coloured with copics and lots of glitter added to his hat, heart, skates, holly berries and the baubles on the Christmas tree.


Other Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - oh Christmas Tree
Let's Craft and Create #81 - trim the tree
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge extra - October
Allsorts #229 - ribbons and bows
Christmas Stampin all year long #38 - Christmas candy
Polkadoodles #42 - Christmas is coming
Cute Card Thursday #291 - candyman
Moving along with the times - Christmas cuties

High Hopes challenge #189

Our new challenge this week at High Hopes is...
make a box.
Not something I normally make, so I turned to Splitcoaststampers and tried my hand at a little milk carton box.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out - though a decent scoring board would have made it much easier than trying to match up dimensions on my ancient wooden scoring board!  I've temporarily closed my carton with a paperclip so you can see the shape, but didn't want to seal it properly until I'd something to put in it!!

My image is Motorin' By Santa - coloured with pencils and lots of glitter added to the fur on his hat/jacket/trousers.

ETA - just found this joke that I had to share ...
What type of motorbike does Santa drive?
A Holly Davidson
Hahahahaha!  Def one for the Christmas Cracker!

Other Challenges:
Simon Says Wednesday challenge - go dotty
Crafty Catz #201 - anything goes
Sparkles Christmas Challenge CH#33 - anything but a card
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra Challenge - October

High Hopes Challenge #188

Wow, can you believe it's October already, where has this year gone?!!

Our new challenge at High Hopes this week is a sketch, perfect if you're a sketch junkie like me!

Pop over to High Hopes blog for lots of inspiration and then play along with your High Hopes stamps to win a new one of your choice.

I was a bit 'creative' with Anna's sketch ... sorry Anna!!!  For the one of the back panels I used my Memory Box snowflake die, and the other side is a couple of die cut trees (think these were Marianne designs).  My images are Snow Couple Block and Sm. Open Holly - coloured with copics and glitter added to Mrs Snowy's hat.

Other ChallengesI
Totally Gorjuss - traditional Christmas colours
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #144 - use 3 main colours
Simon Says Wednesday challenge - anything goes
Creative Inspirations #233 - your favourite stamp Brand (mine's High Hopes)
Sweet Stampin - things with wings

My Best for Him

Ack, I couldn't get a decent pic of this wee card ... the DP is more of a sage green than the sludge grey that's showing here!!  I've been humming this carol since I stamped that sentiment Haha

Image is an oldie from High Hopes: My Best for Him and Pa rum pa pum pum sentiment.  Coloured with pencils. I rediscovered a stash of gold stars, got a bit carried away with them I think!!

By the way, did you see that High Hopes are having a Guest DT call - the term runs from October to January, but you'll have to leave your name in the linky before Monday night ... Tick Tock, get a move on!!

• Layout from Christmas Stampin all Year Long #35
• Winter Wonderland - photo inspiration (nativity)
• Creative Card Crew #45 - Christmas
• Creative Inspirations #233 - your favourite stamp brand 
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes

High Hopes Challenge #187

It's punches and dies this week at High Hopes, so a nice easy one!  Play along with your High Hopes stamps to win a new one of your choice :)

My card uses Downhill Snowy - you'll see from the link that the snowy image goes downhill, but I wanted him to go horizontal, so I just stamped him and then cut him out.  Popped up on dimensionals and glitter added to his hat and skis, and also to the little windows in the house border (I'm lovin this border die from Memory Box!)
Sentiment also from High Hopes - Warm Winter Wishes

Other challenges:
Merry Monday Christmas Card Club - snowmen
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #143 - stamp, stamp, stamp
Christmas Stampin All Year Long #34 - anything Christmas
Bunny Zoe's September challenge - something blue
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra challenge - September

High Hopes Challenge #185

This week's challenge at High Hopes is an easy one for some of you ....
Buttons and Bows
but when you're button-challenged like me it's a toughie!!  I've no idea why I find them such a difficult embellishment to use, so I was delighted to find this wee santa hat button in my stash that was a great match to my image ... Elegant Santa.

I didn't want to add even more height to my card (the button's quite bulky) and only had a smidgen of this ribbon left, so I just folded over the wee leftover bit to make a loop and then stuck the button down in the middle to give a bow effect.

I added some of this fluffy fibre stuff that I bought a year or two ago at the Belfast Craft Show to Santa's hat.  Wow, that stuff is magnetised to everything ... hands, face, jeans, papers, probably even the dog!
Red glitter added to the holly berries and clear sparkle to his bauble.  Memory Box border die.

Other Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Child's Play
Totally Gorjuss #200 - anything goes
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas challenge #141 - at least 3 layers
Stamping Sensations September challenge - photo inspiration - I used the greens and red theme
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas extra - September

High Hopes Challenge #182

Time for a new challenge over at High Hopes and this week it's a colour theme ...
Red and Green
Now that just screams Christmas to me ...or maybe I'm just wanting to use my new HH stamps ;)
Oh and the lucky winners of some new stamps from the Christmas Fun hop are up on the blog now too - enjoy your new goodies!

This image is Making Friends and the sentiment Work of Art from High Hopes.
Coloured with Promarkers; clear gloss added to his nose and boots; orange glitter on carrot; fine flowersoft to Snowy's hat.

I've been a good girl again and used up some of these fabulous sparkly borders that have been in my stash for a couple of years :)




Other Challenges:
Layout from Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #275
Moxie Fab World Holiday Card Challenge
Pile it On #32 - outdoors
Winter Wonderland - cute Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - August

Xmas Card #13

I hope you enjoyed the High Hopes blog hop (if you haven't hopped yet, you only have a couple of hours left!), to see the full release go to the High Hopes stamps catalogue and type HOTP (hot off the press) in the search box.

This cutie is Penguin Block - coloured with copics and some sparkle added to their hats.  I rediscovered my snowball ribbon in my stash, lovin it :)

Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday #107 - embossing
ABC Christmas challenge : P is for Penguins
Creative Inspirations #226 - something old (my ribbon and embossing folder) and something new (my new penguin stamp)
Penny's Challenge #139 - dry embossing
WinterWonderland - cute Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra August

We had a great week showcasing Northern Ireland to the world with the Police and Fire Games in town, and then on their last night what do we do? A full scale riot in the middle of Belfast!  Talk about letting yourself down a bucket full and all the hard work of thousands of people forgotten in the name of the few!  This pic did make me laugh though ... you just couldn't make it up!