Pine Cones and Holly Frame

Hi all.  This stamp set from Spellbinders called Pine Cones and Holly Frame is a recent addition as I thought it would make quite quick cards used in different ways, and for its first outing I have stamped it with Versafine Smokey Gray ink and coloured using a set of Staedler Watercolour Brush Pens.  I added it to a 5" x 7" card but as I didn't have to add a sentiment beneath it looked out of proportion so cut a piece off so now it is 5" x 6".    

I am entering the following challenges with the above card:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Dec. '24 Winter/Anything Goes.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - Dec. '24 Anything Goes/Winter.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 8912/3 Use Your Dies/Anything Goes.
NBUS Challenge - Dec. '24 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I also made two other versions using green card and heat embossing with WOW Metallic Rich Gold Embossing Powder, and both are on white 6"x 4" cards and on the lefthand one I fussy cut around the edge and added to the white card with a white embossed background made using a very old Cuttlebug Embossing Folder called Holly Ribbons which surprisingly is still available, and on the righthand one I added it just as it is with two  sprigs of holly also on green card with the gold embossing.

I am entering the following challenge with the second card:

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes/Poinsettias.

 

 

I am entering the following challenge with the third card:

 

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge - No. 78 Anything Goes.

 

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

Winter Postage Collage

Hi all.  I have made a couple of cards using a Globleland Postage Collage die which came in a set with a stencil and some stamps, but used on its own here.  I used an upcycled card front which had a pretty winter scene on it, and I cut the die from kraft card.

There are some inner stitched mats but I opted to cut using just the outer die for the background frame and I also cut the scene from this as well and cut into six pieces, and then cut each piece down a little smaller on all sides to fit inside the outer frame.  I then added the sentiment using Versamark and heat embossed it with WOW Metallic Copper Embossing Powder.  The white card measures 5" x 7".

With This first card I am entering the following challenges:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - No. 93 If It's Chrismassy Link it Up.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge - Dec. '24 Pick a Previous Colour Challenge

(I chose Oct. '24 Challenge - Shades of Brown).

Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 78 Anything Christmas Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 811 Lots of White/Anything Goes.

The second card done in the same way was cut from Silver card and the paper was a piece from an old paper pad I have had for some years.  I finished this card with a Silver embossed sentiment and I added an upcycled snowflake taken from another old card and I partially coloured it with a red alcohol pen and used a Clear Wink of Stella Pen over this and also over the black and white snowflake covered paper.  I then mounted it onto a piece of red card before adding it on to another 5" x 7" card.

** Before I sent it I managed to remove the central snowflake without damaging the paper as I decided it looked better with just the pretty snowflake paper on its own.

Thank you for joining me here today and I'll see you again soon.

French Braid and Holly

Hi everyone.  I'm sure you must be getting a bit bored with my French Braid die, very similarly used as here and here, but I did decide to turn it to a landscape format to give it a slightly different look and I used a holly stamp from a Creative Stamping Magazine with stamps from Highlight Crafts and this is being used for the first time here, and it did have a little robin too, but in this instance I decided to lose the bird and just have the holly branch.   I don't have many Christmas papers and for this I decided to use a couple from a freebie set found at Craftworld which may originally have been downloadable with a Die Cutting Essentials Magazine I think quite a while ago, and I haven't used any of the material until now.  I also used a holly embossing folder which came with a recent kit from John Next Door and used on this card here.

I started with the embossing folder using a piece of white card and I managed to extend it to fit a 5" x 7" base card, and I decided to leave it white.  I then cut the French Braid die using a snippet of dark green card for the backing for the braid and then cut the braid frame from another green snippet and stuck it together, and then cut the two different papers using the frame die.  I changed the configuration a little from previous card alternating the green and white spot with the patterned holly.  I then moved on to the holly and stamped it onto a snippet of white card using Versafine Olympia Green ink and coloured with alcohol markers, and I managed to fussy cut it out...a bit time consuming and in the process a couple of leaf stems were cut accidentally but I managed to stick them back in the right places afterwards...lol.  The tiny little bits of the bird that remained I covered with Tipp-Ex and then put some lines back in with a fine Micron Pen.  Luckily I did manage to fairly well cover the two little white areas with the alcohol pens.  I finished by adhering the holly onto the French Braid and added the embossed background and this to the card base, and finished with a sentiment stamped onto another snippet of white card using Versafine Satin Red ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and cut into a fishtail banner shape.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge - Where we use our snippets of paper and card etc.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Dec. '24 Winter/Anything Goes.

Stamping Sensations Challenge - Dec. '24 Anything Goes/Winter.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 810 It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas/Anything Goes.

ABC Christmas Challenge Dec. '24 'Y' and 'Z' Your Favourite Colours/Zoo Animals (my favourite colours for Christmas cards are green and red).

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge - No. 77 Anything Christmas Goes.

NBUS Challenge - No. 69 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Tone on Tone Anniversary

Hi everyone.  This is the last anniversary card I need this year and I decided to make it using this month's technique from the Group of Seven Cardmakers which is Textured Backgrounds using Die Cuts and I decided to keep it mostly white on white.  I used a very old set of Nellie Snellen dies and another Nellie Snellen set, also ancient which are scalloped circles, and I did emboss the four plain hearts in each of the corners using a Leonie Pujol Embossing Folder called Dotty Heart.  

I decided to add the die cuts straight onto the card front as I needed the full space in order to fit the hearts onto this 6" square card.  I wanted to make the four central hearts look like a flower and the scalloped circle used for the sentiment to be the centre of the flower, and also added the four smaller hearts which were embossed with the Dotty Heart EF.  I also looked through my container with some useful bits of throwaway pieces out of dies, and I found these red hearts so decided to use these to embellish the card for a bit of added colour, and used a Versafine Satin Red ink for the sentiment and also added a smaller heart next to that.  

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.  

I am entering the following challenges:

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes Embossing/Winter Fun.

Allsorts Challenge - Week 810 Anything Goes/It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.

Love to Craft Challenge - No. 83 Anything Goes.

Mix It Up Challenge - No. 74 Anything Goes/Paper Piecing.

Diamond Stair Stepper Card

Hi all.  I have something a bit different for me today and I started this ages ago as a birthday card and I never finished it, and when I came across it again sitting under a lot of other things I thought I would carry on and finish it.  I had got as far as making the base red card and each of the different sized squares which sit point upwards, and I thought I would finish it as a Christmas card instead.  I used some digital papers from a set which I downloaded as freebies ages ago, and I thought the holly and the green and white spotted papers went well together and would look fine on the red base card.  I also used a holly stamp from the John Next Door Box Kit Magazine No. 10, the first time I have used any of the stamps from that kit, and the Mistletoe stamp and embossing folder used here.  

I saw this shaped card used on several sites and it was so long ago that I can't remember whose exactly but I think it may have been a Stamping Up video, but I have measured the piece of card which is 11" long by 5 1/2" wide, and it is creased at 3", 6", 7 1/2",  9" and 10", and the toppers are 2 1/2", 2 3/4" and 3" square.  I ended up using a couple of toppers from papers which came with a Crafter's Inspiration Magazine No. 6 from which I used the Mistletoe EF.   I picked a sentiment and the candles with holly and to make them a bit more interesting I embossed them using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.   I added the sentiment on the front panel and decided to add some holly from a set as mentioned above, and it is a silhouette stamp so stamped with some distress inks straight to stamp and cut out putting the the two pieces together.  I then added the candles on the middle one and I embossed a piece of green card to fit on the largest panel inside which I will put the sentiment.  I then stamped the mistletoe in Olympia Green Versafine Ink and cut it out and added it to the green panel and then onto the red.  I have a close up of this panel as it is the main one.  It looks a bit strange as I had to put the other two sections forward to see it better.

I decided to cut two small strips about 1" each which have a valley, then a mountain and then another valley fold at 1/4" intervals, and when creased the outer two pieces are stuck to the front and back of each of the first and middle steppers which keep the steps from opening out too much, so the card takes up less space when stood up and keeps the diamonds more upright so they stand equally apart.  I did find a video by Sam Calcott, but I had already used another, but she explains how to make it really well, and you will find it here.  I'm not sure whether her measurements for this card are the same as mine but it looks much the same.   I finished by adding some gloss on the holly and mistletoe berries.  

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon. 

I am entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 59 Anything Christmas Goes.

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge - No. 76 Anything Goes/Inspiration Board.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Nov. 23rd Anything Goes/Winter Fun.

Rudolph Days Challenge - Nov. '24 Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 808 Ribbon or Twine/Anything Goes.

Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge - Nov.'24 Anything Goes using Pretty Papers.

I am also entering Darnell's I.D.E.A.S.. a challenge she has set herself but has said that anyone can join in.

This is Week 4: Anything Goes.  

French Braid and Mistletoe

Hi everybody.  I have another card using the Spellbinders French Braid die set, and a leaf and berries embossing folder from Crafter's Inspiration Magazine No. 6, and a mistletoe stamp from Creative Stamping Magazine No. 138 a fairly recent one and using this stamp for the first time. 

I started with a snippet of white card which I used to emboss the mistletoe as the background for the card, and then I used some snippets of gold mirri and green plaid paper some of which I used on this card here, plus some striped pieces which I didn't use last time to make the braided topper.  After I had stuck the pieces in place I decided to cut it down a bit as this EF is only 6" x 4" and the proportions of the French Braid Topper were a bit too big.  I then stamped the mistletoe using some Versafine Olympia Green ink and coloured it with a couple of different green alcohol pens, and I searched out a Tattered Lace Bow which came with a wreath die which I got with a magazine several years ago, and I cut it twice from another white snippet to make it more substantial, and coloured it with a couple of red alcohol pens.  I finished by mounting the pieces onto a 7" x 5" card, and I stupidly took the photo without the sentiment, which I have now added using a die and another snippet of gold card.  I also added some Clear Wink of Stella onto the bow, and some Glossy Accents on the mistletoe berries.  

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 59 Anything Christmas Goes.

Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 75 Anything Christmas Goes.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Nov. 9th - Anything Goes/Coffee, Cocoa, Warm Drinks.

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 493 Where we use our snippets of card and paper etc.

NBUS Challenge - No. 68 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but says anyone can join in.  This is Week 2: Dies.

Glittered Poppy Heart

Hi all.  I have something different today, for me anyway, as I used some glitter on this Indigoblu Poppy Heart stamped on acetate.  This Painting on Acetate technique is being used this time over at the Group of Seven Cardmakers, and so I thought I would go out of my comfort zone and give it a try.  I have made the photo larger than normal as it was a really dull day and I had to take the photo so the card could be posted, and making it larger does make the detail better I think.

I found a piece of embossable acetate and using my stamp positioner and Black Stazon Ink I stamped the poppy heart onto it and then heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I went through my cupboards and found some freebie packets of glitter which came with a plastic tray eons ago and which have never been used, and now is it's their time to shine..lol.  I used my Pinflair Bookbinding Glue which I do use as my go to glue, and started with one of the flowers and a pink and purple colour of glitter on the reverse side from the heat embossing which will be the front when mounted on the card.  I thought I would leave it until it was dry to check that the glue would go clear, which it did, and so I carried on, bit by bit filling in all the flowers using the purple near the centres and the pink over the rest, and then added some green on the leaves.  I decided to colour the little flowers and a couple of poppy seed heads and also the centres of the poppies with alcohol pens.  The blue flowers show up well, but the centres of the poppies and the two poppy heads which are in an orangy brown colour do not show up clearly in the photo.  The glitter is not in pots but in little plastic bags which once opened are difficult to close again, and my patience level with the glitter had definitely been reached, and I felt three opened bags with glitter leaking everywhere was probably sufficient..lol.  

I cut a piece of white card to fit this 5" x 7" card blank and cut the heart aperture using the largest die from a set by Sweet Dixie, and also stamped the sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then fixed the glittered piece behind it using red double sided tape around the edge of the aperture and cut off the excess to make it neater and put the card together.

I needed an anniversary card and this is a very pretty stamp which I haven't used for a very long time, but perhaps a more simple design might have been better, but contrary to everything I have said, I was pleased with the result which does look much better in real life, and I am glad I gave this technique a try.  Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 805 Magic of the Season/Anything Goes.

We Love Stamping Challenge - Nov. '24 Christmas/Anything Goes.

Stamping Sensations Challenge - Nov. '24 Anything Goes/Make it Magical.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 480 Die Cuts and/or Stencils ( I have a die cut aperture..hope this fulfils the theme).

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - No. 22 Anything Floral Goes/Optional Mood Board.

Triple B Challenge - Nov. '24 Birds, Butterflies and Blooms (one, two or all three...mine is Blooms.

NBUS Challenge - No. 68 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff...i.e. the glitter.

I am also joining in with Darnell's I.D.E.A.S., a challenge she has set herself but says anyone can join in.  This Weeks is November Week 1: Ink/Colour Mediums.