Wintry Village

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 184 has just gone live and Debs has chosen "Monochrome Winter Wishes" as our theme for July - how can we be half way through 2026?!!

Monochrome provided the perfect opportunity to break open this NBUS set of elegant townhouses (the Greetery Market Place Mini)!  As I write this we're in the middle of a heatwave so a wintry village (especially one as pretty as this) looks pretty inviting and reminds me that Winter will return and probably with a vengeance!

I wanted my houses to look a little like gingerbread houses so I cut them from Kraft for the house bodies and an off-white for the trimmings.  

There is a detail insert die and a background die for each house so I cut a plain house from Kraft, and another from vellum and then cut another Kraft house with the detail die .  To darken the colour of the houses and add a little depth, I used Gathered Twigs DI (they were cut from the same Kraft I used on the background and card base). 

To give the house "trimmings" a sandstone appearance I added Antique Linen DI.

The trees, wreaths and string of lights were "winked" so they would sparkle (though that's not obvious from the photo).  I'm still in two minds whether to cut them from copper so I might try making up another at a later date - it's too hot to think straight at the moment!  Ditto for the sentiment - obviously it needs a sentiment and "Let it Snow" is the obvious choice and I have a NBUS hot foil set just for this purpose but the thought of getting out the hot foil paraphernalia is not something I can even contemplate in this heat so I'll put that idea on "ice" for the moment!

The background was embossed with a snow embossing folder (no idea of the name of it sorry) and I went over the raised area with a white pigment ink - I also spattered some white acrylic over the scene so the houses would also have a little snowfall.

I hope you can find time to join us this month at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge and take some of the hassle out of November/December!

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

NBUS Challenge #88 - NBUS Houses;

The Outlawz July Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas goes;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #69 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #114 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Alphabet Challenge Blog - E is for Embossing (wet or dry) and I used an Snowy Embossing Folder;

Little Red Wagon Challenge #865 - I See (vellum windows on my townhouses)'

Thank God It's Friday Challenge #583 - Pop it Up (dimensionals, layered die cuts etc.);

52 Christmas Card Throwdown June Technique Challenge - Use an Embossing Folder;

ABC Christmas Challenge - L is for "Let it Snow"!

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 should be able to find you!

Kate 

Twisting by the Pool

Challenge #316 at Time Out has just gone live and this fortnight we have a

Photo Inspiration Challenge

Our lovely team member Carol shared this photo with us last Summer - here's a closer look!

Challenge 316 is being sponsored by Lawn Fawn and they are very kindly offering our top pick as chosen by the design team a $25 store credit!

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

When I first saw this photo, the pitch of the roof reminded of this beach hut die (Mes Ptits Ciseaux Cabanes).  Obviously I was inspired by the navy and white striped cushion in the photo to make the beach hut up in navy and white pinstripe!  I used an old stamp to create a pin-striped background (WMS Pinstripe Mini - love the distressed look of this stamp)!

And how could I not be inspired by that pink striped towel - I found a scrap of patterned paper that was just big enough to cut a "towel" (Slimline Sentiments Blanket).

The loopy "aloha" sentiment (Lawn Fawn Scripty Aloha) fitted perfectly on the "towel" and was inspired by the painted toenails.  I went over the stacked sentiment with wink of Stella and then added glossy accents - love the sparkly effect of wink of Stella with the Glossy Accents!

I chose this background panel because it reminded me of the water in the pool and the surfboard by the beach hut door was inspired by the inflatable lilo in the pool.

Best of all, just about everything was cut from snippets so it cost me virtually nothing!

 

This photo really worked some magic on my flagging mojo, but if you're still stuck for ideas, you can see how my talented team mates were inspired by this photo over on the Time Out Blog!  I do 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

Snippets Playground Challenge #535 - loads of snippets used;

Inkspirational Challenge #370 - Leftovers;

Shopping Our Stash SOS#576 - Summertime;

Double D Challenge DD 6/26 - Tropical;

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #640 - Something Beginning with B (Beach Hut);

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

Girls Just Want to Have Sun

 

Time Out Challenge #315 has just gone live and it's another Pick 2 Challenge!

The concept of a Pick 2 Challenge is simple - we give you 6 word prompts to choose from and you use at least 2 to inspire your creation!  To be clear, you can pick more than 2 if you like - all 6 if you really want a challenge but just make sure to pick at least 2!

The Word Prompts for this challenge are

Summer, Vacation, Camping, Water, Sun and Ice Cream

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 #315 is generously being sponsored by Newton's Nook and our Top Pick as chosen by the design team 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 Sherri of Sherrisonline, our winner of Challenge #310!  Be sure to check out the Time Out Blog to see how how Sherri and my talented team mates were inspired by these six words!

Finally, I had a reason to pull out this Beach Bag die set (PTI)!  I raided my paper pads and found this pretty design which gave me ideas for colours and then I raided my snippets boxes for suitable bits to make the bag and everything it holds! 

As the bag is actually a gift card holder, I just popped all the beach items into the bag rather than gluing them down - I did make sure they were packed in tightly so they won't come adrift in the post (I hope)!

It seemed a shame to have them partially obscured and now the card is interactive and a little more special!

I especially loved the sunglasses - I cut the base layer from grey vellum so you could see through them to the little crossed temples behind - so cute!

In fact, I couldn't resist making a few more of this design (especially as I had 3 other sheets of this lovely paper)!

The sentiment "GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE SUN" is from the Poppystamps Whittle Sea Life Sentiments stamp set!

So I incorporated Sun, Summer and Water into my design!  How do our 6 words inspire you?  I can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

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

NBUS Challenge #87 - NBUS Beachbag;

Snippets Playground Challenge #534 - loads of snippets used;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment;

Four Seasons June Challenge- Anything Goes Summer;

Double D Challenges - Add a bow (there's a tiny bow on the hat);

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