Not so Frosty Hugs

 Sparkles Christmas Challenge 182 has just gone live and Caz has chosen Snowman (men or person/s) as our theme for March!

Finally, I had an excuse to use this NBUS snowman that came in the 2024 Advent Calendar from Gummiapan ... and this lovely Holly frame that came in the 2025 Advent Calendar!

The frame was cut twice and stacked.  I embossed one of the frame negatives with an unbranded embossing folder for a snowy background.

The snowman's body was cut three times for strength and dimension.  When I cut the first one, I placed a little sellotape behind the snowman to keep the bits in place (nose, eyes and buttons), then I coloured these bits and the arms with alcohol markers - I didn't need to be too careful because I cut another snowman (sans bits) and added this over the top!  On the 3rd snowman I removed the arms so they seemed to be further back than the body.

Once I'd cut the snowman's man (from black cardstock) I went over with glossy accents and added this sprig of holly!  I also added glossy accents to the buttons.

After agonising over a sentiment for way too long, I remembered that Olaf the snowman liked warm hugs and so I used this unconventional seasons greeting (Spellbinders Vivid Script) instead of something more traditional!  I also added glossy accents to this sentiment!

Don't forget to check out all the great snowman inspiration on the Sparkles Christmas Challenges Blog and I look forward to seeing your snowmen in the gallery!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge #84 - NBUS Snowman and Holly Frame;

Jingle Bells Fa La La La La Challenge - inspired by a Christmas song (Frosty the Snowman);

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #631 - use Dies and/or Punches;

Alphabet Challenge - V is for Volume - (i.e. dimension ... a fair bit of stacking and foam tape in this design);

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Hello Lovely

 Challenge #307 at Time Out has just gone live and this fortnight we have a

Photo Inspiration Challenge

The inspiration for this challenge is actually the prize on offer - here's a closer look!

Kim Heggins of Running Stitch Design is sponsoring this special challenge and is offering this lovely bag as a prize for our Top Pick as chosen by the Design Team (inside USA only - thank you for understanding).   Many of you will remember Kim as a former Design Team member at Time Out!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is the very talented Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone our winner from Challenge #302 - do pop over there for some lovely inspiration!   You can check out how Michele and my talented team mates were inspired by this lovely bag over on the Time Out Blog!

I was fortunate to find snippets of a purple polka dot DP and striped vellum in my snippets boxes and the canopy and the chassis of this gorgeous NBUS Spellbinders Flower Cart gave me the perfect image to use them!  

The cart's wood grain trimmings reminded me I had this NBUS 

wood grain 

frame set (Hero Arts Infinity Wood Frame) - and I love the bursting out of the frame effect!  

Some more snippets of green, pink, purple and yellow and I had some flowers for my cart and I used Distress Ink to give them some depth! From snippets of silver I was able to cut a bucket to sit between the wheels and another larger bucket for the inside!

I finally got to break open the Glimmer Machine I bought before Christmas 2024 and created a few sentiments.   It's still a learning curve for me but this "hello lovely" sentiment (Spellbinders GLP-379) didn't turn out too badly and nestled nicely on the cart without obscuring too much of the pretty striped vellum!  

  

How does Kim's bag inspire you - I hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us this fortnight!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #83 - NBUS Flower Cart, Glimmer Machine, Spellbinders GLP-379, Woodgrain Frame;

Moving Along With The Times Challenge #186 - Floral;

Neglected Stuff Challenge January - the Glimmer Machine and Woodgrain Frame;

Inkspirational Challenge #361 - Inspired by the bouquets in this Visual Prompt;

Love Those Pretty Papers February Challenge - Polkadots;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Celebration Cupcakes

 

Time Out Challenge #306 has just gone live and it's a Pick 2 Challenge - our first for 2026!  

The six Word Prompts for this challenge are

Sparkle, Red, Heart, Pink, Aperture, Twine

You can interpret these words any way you like but please explain if it isn't obvious and please remember we only allow a total of 5 challenges - ours plus 4 others!  I hope you enjoy our challenge and that you can take a little Time Out and join us for some fun!  

Challenge #306 is generously being sponsored by Lawn Fawn and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $25 credit to their store!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is Jenn Borgenson of StampinAngelJenn of  our winner of Challenge #301!  Be sure to check out the Time Out Blog to see how how Jenn and my talented team mates were inspired by these six words!

 This Cupcake set has been in my NBUS pile for a while now (bought July 2023).  At the time I was delighted to find a UK company that stocked The Greetery products and shipped to Europe (even then many of the US companies had stopped shipping internationally) and placed a large order!  Most of it had been used but the labels set (Sweet Fancy Labels and matching die), the double frame (Window Dressing) and the cupcake set (Hey Cupcake) were still waiting - I bought all three set with the express purpose of using them together!

When I saw aperture as one of the prompts for this fortnight's challenge at Time Out, I immediately reached for these sets and set about planning to use as many of the other prompts as possible - pink patterned cupcake cases and icing, red toppings - one of them being this heart petalled flower, and some sparkle by using glitter card stock and winking (had to admit defeat on the twine)! 

Here's an attempt at capturing some of the sparkle and you can see the heart shaped petals of the red flower up close (after winking I went over the red items with glossy accents)!

We'd love to see how these words inspire your design, hope you can come play cards with us this fortnight!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #83 - NBUS Greetery Hey Cupcake die set, The Greetery Sweet Fancy Labels Stamp set and matching die, The Greetery Window Dressing Dotted Scallops;

Neglected Stuff Challenge January - All the NBUS items mentioned above have been waiting to be used since July 2023;

Snippets Playground Challenge #525 - loads of snippets here but in particular small bits of glitter card stock;

Krafty Chicks Challenge #806 - Birthday Week;

Die Cut Divas February Challenge - Use Pink and/or Red;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate