Snowman Thanks

I had a lovely surprise today to receive this super cute MFT snow globe die set from a crafty friend :)   So of course I had to have a wee play this evening and thought the first card I made should be for her.  I'm hoping she doesn't read my blog!!

They're a wee bit fiddly to use, but I recon if you did a mass die cut of loads of snowmen, loads of arms, etc they'd be great for batch making as they're quick enough to put together.

We're expecting a visit from Storm Dylan tonight, though I think after all the excitement about our 'hurricane' non-event a month or two ago we're all just a bit yeah yeah whatever ;)

• Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday - December
• CASology #280 - kindness
• Tuesday Morning Sketches #424 - anything goes

Naughty or Nice reminder - seeing double

We've gone festive over at Naughty or Nice and all you have to do is make a holiday card with a sentiment.  There's a prize up for grabs from Bugaboo - hope you'll play along too.

It's my last Christmas card of the season (hopefully!) and, as usual, it's Greg's one!  I've used little Snowy again - it definitely makes it easier for next year that I know everyone got this image and I'll know not to use it again for their cards.

I masked off Snowy and then stamped it again to make a 'Mrs'.  Awwwww ;)

Coloured with watercolour pencils and then I added some sparkle to their hats and scarves, and then clear gloss and glitter to the trims.  My pretty Stampin' Up DPs and fabric embellishments were from a candy win.  Little silver stars from stash.

• That's Crafty - tis the season
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - Christmas
• Pixies Sippets Playground #311/312
• Word Art Wednesday #312/313 - aything goes
• Happy Little Stampers December anything goes with dies
• Cute Card Thursday #505 - festive colours

Decapitated Santas and a Weirdo ;)

Brrr and Brrr again!  We'd a fall of snow on Friday which Rubydoo LOVES!  Personally I can't see the attraction of sticking my head in the snow!!  It sticks to her like snowballs, so it's no fun for either of us trying to dry her off every time she comes in!

It's been such a cold day (due to go to minus 9 tonight) that it most definitely was not an outdoor day for me, but I'd loads still to make for Christmas so I was more than happy to stay indoors nice and toasty.

First up is a few of the cards I've made for my workmates - super CAS and kinda all the same but a bit different and all really quick to make as it's the same basic recpie.  I fell in love with Sarah's Santa from Swedish House Crafts on this fab card, and of course, accidentally went shopping myself ;)  Thanks Sarah for the early Christmas pressie from me to me!! :)

For my snowy effect on the coloured card, I splattered the BG with white paint and then added extra snow with white enamel dots.  There's lots of sparkle on these cards - on some I've coloured Santa's beard with my clear sparkle pen, on others I've added clear gloss and glitter to the hat/bauble, and on them all, a big sparkly red nose!.

• Cuttlebug Mania - let it snow
• Word Art Wednesday #312/313 - anything goes
• AAA #105 - sparkle
• Addicted to CAS #126 - sparkle
• Penny Black and More December - CAS

I feel like I've been making Christmas cards for weeks, so it was a nice change to some more of my new Gummiapan stamps from Swedish House Crafts.  Don't ya love him!!
I added googly eyes, and clear gloss to his teeth, eyes and balloon.  Little silver stars fom stash.  My lovely Stampin Up gingham DP was a recent candy win :)

• Die Cuttin Divas #346 - choice of sketch - I used June's 
• Happy Little Stampers December - anything goes with dies
• Sugar Pea Designs SPDMIU38 - anything goes
• Addicted to Stamps #271 - anything goes

Snowy and Watson

Just a quickie post tonight - Blue Planet the all time best programme EVER is on telly.  Nature really is amazing!

Anyway, first up is my December calendar page using little Snowy again.  The little stack of snowballs is an oldie from Stampin Up.  I inked in some snow drifts but it doesn't show up great in my pic.  Little red stars from stash, I used one for the 25th too.

• Simon Says Stamp Monday - star
• Word Art Wednesday #310/311 - anything goes
• Crafty Catz #395 - anything goes
• Penny Black Saturday December - winter

I was on the High Hopes Stamps DT for a few years, so it was a pleasure to see that Donna is this week's featured stamper over at Splitcoast.  I was inspired by this card - it's always good to get good old Watson out for an inking! 

I added some sparkle to my flower and clear gloss to his nose, and then just a few enamel dots to finish.

• Crafty Cardmakers #201 - animal magic
• Penny's challenge #357 - anything goes
• 
  

Naughty or Nice - Season's Greetings

Ooops just a bit late for the  start of the new Naughty or Nice challenge!  Bad me!  Amyway, this month's challenge is a nice easy one for this time of year - to make a holiday card with a sentiment.  There's a prize up for grabs too from the fab Bugaboo!  Hope you'll play along too :)

My card is for a doggy-loving friend for Christmas.

I've used an oldie from LOTV and added some stencilling on the background.  Clear gloss and glitter added to his party hat, and my new sparkle pen over the green pressie and holly.

• My general card design was inspired by Cornelia's lovely card over at Muse Christmas Visions #90
• As You Like It - favourite animal - well you only have to look at my blog too see my favourite animal is our wee Ruby!
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
• Crafty Creations #355 - anything goes
• Fab'n Funky #373 - Christmas

Santa and a Get Well Doggy

Christmas is ripping towards us at breakneck speed!  I bought my first Christmas pressie today, need to get a move on with the rest!!  Wouldn't it be great if the adults could write a letter to Santa too and just have the requested items delivered!  Though I guess that's also known as Amazon LOL ;)

This card was inspired by Susan's fab card over at Less is more.  I've used last year's stamps from MFT - coloured with watercolour pencils and Santa fussy cut and popped up on foam pads.

• Less is More #355
• Addicted to Stamps #268 - holiday
• As you like it - fave Christmas colour - I'm a traditional girl at Christmas and love all the reds, blues and greens.
• Moving along with the Times #58 - trees
• CRAFT #442 - Christmas

This one's for my stash. I used an old mini embossing folder and I've just noticed that I missed a bit down the left hand side.  But sure if I hadn't told you, you maybe wouldn't have noticed ;)

Image is an oldie from Penny Black, coloured with watercolour pencils and clear gloss added to the little bee's wings.

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - furry friends
• Craftaholics #45 - masculine
• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch club #359
• Word Art Wednesday #308/309 - anything goes

Naughty or Nice Wintery Scenes

We're making Wintery scenes at Naughty or Nice this month, hope you'll play along too!  Pop over to the blog to upload your card and to see what the Troublemakers have been up to!

I make no apologies for using my Snowy again!  Lovin him!
I couldn't get my snowdrifts inked up right - this is effort #3 and still doesn't look great.  I think I should have been braver and added more ink!  I'll have to go Googling and find a tutorial!  Don't know why I bothered as I managed to cover most of it up anyway ;)
I did give myself bonus points though for using my ooold tree die from Marianne Design that I just had to have (and have hardly used!)
Clear gloss and glitter added to his hat, and white and blue splatters for added effect. I fussy cut my snowman, then popped up on foam pads.

• Cardz 4 Guyz #182 - Oh Christmas Tree!
• Cuttlebug Mania - masculine
• CAS mix up November - stamping + glitter + glossy accents
• Happy Little Stampers November anything goes with dies
• Daisy Chain #14 - Christmas/Winter
• 613 Avenue Create - 203 - anything goes / 3D

A Naughty or Nice Snowdude

I'm sure you're all well into your Christmas cards by now, so you'll be glad to hear we're making winter scenes this month over at Naughty or Nice - hope you'll play along too :)

I see the weather men are predicting a hard winter for us this year, hopefully its just them getting a bit excitable as they're prone to do!  Though there was definitely a real nip in the air today, I was out at a funeral this morning and we were foundered!
'foundered' is a great word that we use all the time in Northern Ireland, basically just means you were really cold! 

My card's so hot off the press, the glue's not even dry yet ;)
I don't have any boozy snowmen (unfotunately! - I've a few friends who would appreciate one!) so I took the easy option and got my Penny Black Snowy inky again and Row of Pine Trees (from Eat Cake Graphics)
A wee easy peasy lemon squeezy card!  Just how I like them ;)

• AAA Cards #102 - ink blending
• Tuesday Throwdown #367 - watercolour
• Through the Craft room Door - anything goes
• Word Art Wednesday #306/307 - anything goes

Blue Snowy

I can't believe I haven't posted here for nearly a whole week!  I'm struggling with my mojo, but I need to give myself a shake and get on with my Christmas stash.

This one stars Snowy again, I'm lovin this Penny Black dude!

Coloured with watercolour pencils and sparkle added to his hat, clear gloss to his nose and glitter to his buttons.
My fancy snowflake is a newbie from Memory Box, bit of a faff though to poke out all those wee bits!   I've also rediscovered my old snowflake embossing folder :)

• ABC Christmas - U for Unlimited
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - monochrome
• Layout from Sketch Saturday #486
• Hazel's Christmas Card challenge #356 - traditional Christmas colours
• Cute Card Thursday #500 - snowflakes
• Happy Little Stampers October - anything goes with dies

Friends and family ... look away now!

I haven't made a card all week, I've had a real stinker of a cold, so this is me getting inky today thanks to some new goodies delivered by my Postie this morning :)

I've jumped on the 'Snowy' bandwagon for my Christmas cards this year .... Normally I make a rake of cards and then it's a mad last minute panic to get my own made so I'm getting ahead of the game this year.  I've loved the Penny Black snowman cards I've seen, so probably all the cards I'll be sending from me this year will be a variation on this snowman / background theme.

Coloured with watercolour pencils; sparkle added to the pink bits on his hat/scarf/snowflake and then clear gloss and lots of glitter to his hat.  Snowy popped up on foam pads.

• Layout from CAS(e) this sketch #243
• Penny Black and More October - close to nature
• Happy Little Stampers October Christmas challenge - silhouette
• ABC Christmas - U for Unlimited
• Word Art Wednesday #304/305 - anything goes

A Three-fer

Ack I'm stuffed with the cold, and the weather was a bit icky, all dark and mizzly, so it was a good excuse to not go too far and get crafty.  I wanted to have a play with some of the MFT challenges for WCMD anyway!

Card 1 is for their 1st challenge - colours of the rainbow.
My image is from High Hopes, not sure about the sentiment.  All coloured with watercolour pencils and clear gloss added to the sentiment and to the duck's (goose?) beak and legs.  My cloud panel is popped up on foam pads.

Other challenges:

• Just Us Girls #414 - light (as in light as air)
• Crafting by Design October - anything goes

Card 2 is for their challenge: By the Numbers
I've used this stamp from Woodware - paper pieced the numbers and popped the holly up on foam pads.  Clear gloss and glitter added to the berries.
Nice and easy and I love how it turned out :)

Other challenges:

• ABC Xmas: U for Unlimited and V for Vibrant
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Christmas

And finally, card 3 is for Make and Mail
It's for a friend in work so I'll be posting it tomorrow.
Not sure of the make of this stamp, maybe Cornish Heritage Farm ... it was one of the first stamps I ever bought and is possibly one of the most inked :)


Other challenges:

• Layout from AAA Cards #100
• The Flower Challenge #13  

Santa's been framed ;)

It's reminder time over at Naughty or Nice for this month's challenge of 'framed'










There's some vouchers for Bugaboo up for grabs this month, so play along and add your links over at the blog.

I've gone all Christmassy with mine :)  I've used an oldie Santa and porthole frame from MFT.  I popped the frame up on dimensionals and then tucked Santa's feet under and then popped his hat up on dimensionals too. I always think the more sparkle the better on a Christmas card, so I added glitter to his hat and went over his red suit with my clear sparkle pen. Oh and clear gloss to his boots, gloves and belt.  Little silver stars from stash.  And die cut sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

• Love to Scrap #101 - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - clean and simple
• Word Art Wednesday #300/301 - anything goes
• CRAFT #433 - Christmas
• Penny Black and More September - Get ready for Christmas

Christmas Chicks

Just a wee quickie this evening - I'm hoping to get a few Christmas cards made this month to avoid the usual last minute rush.   My other new Christmas stamp is still on the missing list, I'd have thought it should have turned up by now.  Maybe I need to have a proper tidy up ;)

This one's from Whipper Snapper - coloured with watercolour pencils and then fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals.  Sentiment from Happy Little Stampers.  Clear gloss and glitter added to the hat / earmuffs, and clear gloss to their beaks.  Silver stars from Stash.
My doodled border is inspired by one I'd saved in Pinterest, but for some reason my crappy computer is refusing to open it so I can't give credit where it's due.

• Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge - sparkle
• Simon Says Stamp - Stampember Stamp it
• AAA Cards #98 - all creatures great or small
• Inky Chicks #87 - stars
• Penny Black and More September - Christmas

Daily Marker 30 day colouring challenge

SC647 Not a creature stirred

Here's the new sketch from Splitcoaststampers -  I flipped it so it fitted my image better and used a snowflake instead of panel #5.  If you'd like to play along, please link your card over at Splitcoaststampers

For my card I used this cutie from Eat Cake Graphics:
Not a creature stirring (scene)

Coloured with watercolour pencils and clear gloss added to the candy canes.  Bonus extra points for using up this oldie DP that's been on the go for a few years now!

• Christmas at Sweet Stampin May - anything Christmas
• That's Crafty challenge - feline fine
• Die cuttin Divas #319 - anything goes

SC645 Winter Chicks

So this is the new sketch from Splitcoaststampers, those swirls had me stumped for a while!  If you'd like to play along, you can link your card here.

I obviously had my wonky eyes in when I took this pic, it's straight in real life LOL.

For my card I've used a newbie Whipper Snapper stamp and those swirls became snowflakes!
Coloured with watercolour pencils and sparkle added to the fur on her hat and to their combs.
And I went over the blue scarf, ear muffs and the rest of her wooly hat with my clear glitter pen ... I reckon the more sparkle on a Christmas card the better!
Sentiment from Happy Little Stampers - I masked it off so I could stamp it on 2 lines.

• Happy Little Stampers May Christmas challenge - masking
• Sparkles Christmas challenge #76 - snowflakes
• Crafting when we can #144 - bright and colourful
• Dream Valley #156 - things with wings
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - sparkle

Some NBUS goodies

One of you lot led me astray recently and tempted me to go shopping at Whipper Snapper ;)  I bought this cuuuuute zebra, the sentiment and another Christmas one, total $21 + postage and then our lovely Customs nabbed it and charged me another £13 to get it back.  Ouch!  That's me done with crafty shopping for a while, especially after my splurge in the LOTV sale too ;)

I've coloured my zebra with watercolour pencils, went over the blue on the umbrella with my clear glitter pen and then clear gloss over the pink bit and his hooves.  I also added some faint clouds in the BG but they don't show up well in my pic.

• General card theme inspired by Tracey's card over at the Muse challenge #215
• Seize the Birthday - animals
• Sweet Stampers #7 - dots / stripes
• Always Fun #5 - for a female
• Word Art Wednesday #282/283 - anything goes

This is one of my new purchases from Lili of the Valley - I love these James bear stamps :)

Coloured with watercolour pencils.  Clear glitter added to his hat and silver glitter to the star.

I misjudged my layout so added the little white banner to the bottom to balance it out again.

Sentiment from Happy Little Stampers.

• Layout from Sketch Saturday #463
• Crafty Catz #370 - use mirror card
• Happy Little Stampers May Xmas challenge - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - going dotty
• As you like it - favourite die - mine's this Die-namics frame, I love how the embroidered stitched edge gives an extra bit of interest

SC643 Penguin Fun

When I first saw this week's sketch at Splitcoaststampers, I was a bit stumped as all I could think of was rolling hills! I'm looking foward to seeing everyone else's creations!  Hope you'll play along too, link your card Here.

The sun is still shining, so of course I'm making Christmas cards ;)
I've used this oldie stamp from High Hopes - coloured with watercolour pencils, fussy cut and then popped up on dimensionals.   Glitter added to the trim on his hat, and my clear glitter pen over the green scarf and gloves. Sentiment from Happy Little Stampers.
Oh, and my stars are all there totally intentionally, there's actually no Oops marks that need covering for a change!

• Christmas at Sweet Stampin April - anything Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge #331 - add some stars
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - the great outdoors
• Crafty Animals #2 - anything goes
• Crafty hazelnuts Christmas challenge extra - May

Easter's over ...

Well that's Easter over for another year, so what else would be next on my list but Christmas cards? hahaha  I'm still determined not to have the usual last minute rush, but then I say that every year and it's yet to happen ;)

My first card uses this oldie from Penny Black and the lovely sentiment from Happy Little Stampers.  Not sure what colour my stars look here, but they're gold in real life ;)  I love the simplicity of this one, might make a few more as they're nice and quick.

• Happy Little Stampers April Christmas challenge - anything goes
• AAA cards #88 - stencil
• Sweet Stampin Christmas April - any Xmas
• CAS on Sunday #106 - use a stencil

I've a load of cream card in my stash so thought I'd use a bit up, though I think I prefer white cardstock so dear knows when the rest will get used ;)

I found this shiny silver/cream DP in my stash, and added a strip of embossed silver card.  Images from MFT - coloured with watercolour pencils and sparkle added to the antlers, red star and Santa's hat.  Silver stars from stash.

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch club #328
• Cards 4 Guys #165 - animal antics
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas card extra April

SC640 Snowman tag

So here's this week's new sketch over at Splitcoast ... if you'd like to play along please link your card here.

For my card I've used Snowman (assembled) from Eat Cake Graphics and my sentiment is from Happy Little Stampers. I covered my snowman with my clear glitter pen for lots of sparkle and added a few clear gems to the centre of my snowflakes.

I haven't used my eyelets for aaages, and was delighted to find one in the stash that matched my DP perfectly :)

I used an old Paper Smooches die to add my stitched hill, and then promptly covered most of it up with my snowdude.  White enamel accents for falling snow.

• ABC Christmas - I for Informal
• Tuesday Throwdown #338 - something clear (clear glitter and clear gems)
• Always Fun #1 - anything goes
• Merry Monday #243 - create a scene
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin April - anything goes
• As You Like It - card base size - I usually use A6 sized cards simply because I buy A4 white cardstock and it's more economical to make 2 cards from one sheet!  
• Happy Little Stampers April Christmas challenge - anything goes

Splitcoaststampers Sketch #632

So this is the new layout for this week's Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge - click here to play along :)

I've gone all Christmassy with my DT card - it's certainly cold enough here!

I've used some oooooold and much unloved DP, but it actually looks OK with the simple white colours.  My snowman is from Eat Cake Graphics:
Snowman (assembled)
Coloured with watercolour pencils and sparkle added to his hat band and scarf.  I also added some sparkle and bling to my Paper Smooches snowflake dies.
Sentiment from Happy Little Stampers.

• Christmas at Sweet Stampin Feb - anything goes
• Happy Little Stampers - anything goes with HLS stamps (my sentiment)
• Merry Monday #235 - snowmen
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - use your favourite tool - mine most definitely is my Cuttlebug machine! 
• Colour theme from Cupcake Inspirations #394 - red, white and black