Spruced Up Again

 

When I made up a card using this Divided Fir tree from Gummiapan a few weeks ago, I cut and coloured a few others at the same time!  I was going to try mounting it on a piece of patterned paper to change it up a bit but after trying out several options returned to the plain white embossed background.  I did however want to add more red and cut a whole lot of hearts and stuck them on the tree (I bought a cheap border die from Action and I knew it would come in handy for just this purpose).  I die cut the Joy (WPlus9) from red card stock as well (lots of snippets of this red lying about on my work area) and added glossy accents to all the hearts and sentiment for some shine. 

I mounted it on a red base but wasn't 100% happy with it.  I tried these photo corners  (Tim Holtz Movers and Shakers ATC) in silver which seemed like a good idea at the time but then I needed to tie in the silver on the corners with the rest of the card and added a silver heart hanging from the J - this area needed something anyway.  It's really too busy now but I'm sure one of my friends will appreciate it!  I added glossy accents to the silver (I had to - this glitter card stock was shedding badly) - some imps seem to have hidden all my silver things - first my silver embossing powder and now all my silver card stock and this glitter card stock was all I could find!  

Here are the challenges I'm entering - please click on the subtitle (not the photo) to follow the challenge links!

Colour Throwdown Challenge #621 
 you see now why I used silver!

Just Add Ink Challenge #533 - Another reason I added "S" for Silver

TGIF Challenge #292

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Pixie's Snippet Challenge #391 

Jingle Belles Challenge - inspired by this banner

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!

Hugs and stay safe,

Kate

Frosty Hugs

I wasn't going to add arms to this snowman but he looked odd without them - it's an old Waltzing Mouse stamp set (Sewing Box Christmas) which has cut files but no matching dies.  I cut the snowman and some arms with my Cameo but the thought of stamping onto such a small space made me nervous.  Probably why I've not used this particular stamp from the set until now!  However, I shouldn't have worried - as always Waltzing Mouse Stamps never disappoint and stamped beautifully.  I stamped him again and fussy cut the inner snowman for a bit of dimension.  Once I had assembled the snowman with his open arms, I knew immediately what I wanted for a sentiment.  The thing I've missed most about this pandemic (or damn epic as Darnell refers to it) is being able to give my friends hugs!  Even if we meet, we have to maintain that 2m distance!   The "Hugs" and sending sentiments actually came from the matching WMS set ( Sewing Box Hugs).

I coloured his hat in red rather than the traditional black and framed him in red to lift the image - I also wanted to mimic the ribbon in the inspiration photo (see below).  Once I added the snowflakes to the card, I had all the little spots from the centres left over and added them to the night sky!  I glossily accented the top hat, and later added glossy accents to the body as well and sprinkled glitter while it was wet.  Here's a closeup of the snowman.

Here's my initial inspiration for this card, the wooden background, the snowman, the red ribbon and the snowflakes.  Click on the link in the subtitle to see how others were inspired!

Inspired By Challenge #IB152

and other Challenges which either inspired me or coincided

Always Fun Challenge # 190 - Inspired by a Movie
1969 Children's Classic Film Frosty the Snowman

Cardz4Galz Challenge #135 Cute Christmas

Just Add Ink Challenge #533 

November 52CCT Challenge 

Inkspirational Challenge #226

SOS Challenge #434 - Let it Snow 

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!

Hugs and stay safe,

Kate

'Twas the Night

 

A couple of challenges caught my fancy this week!  I thought I'd combine a few into this A5 sized Christmas card.  It didn't start out as an A5 card, but I underestimated and it wouldn't fit in a 5 x 7" envelope so I thought what the hell, I'll mat it on an A5 card front!

I placed a sheet of acetate directly beneath the frame and then used foam tape to attach it to the poem -  I wanted the top layer floating over the text. I was going to add a few of these snowflakes but after cutting out the house (SugarCuts Home Sweet Home) I had all the little "windows" left over and used them instead!

Here are the challenges - click on the subtitle to follow the link to the challenges!

The Library Challenge #73

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #43

Colour Hues Challenge #6

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #434 - Let it Snow

Christmas Card Throwdown November Challenge

Inspirational Challenge #226 - Frame it

I'm also entering the Scrappy Mo's November Rudolph Days Challenge 

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!
Hugs and stay safe,

Kate

Get Well Sara

One of Simon's therapists has Covid-19 - fortunately she hadn't been near Simon after she was in contact with the person who gave it to her so we're still safe (well as safe as any of us are)!  But Simon is quite worried about her, having heard so many awful things about the disease so I made a card for him to send her.  

I used the gorgeous colour combination from Just Us Girls Challenge # 563  again (loved it so much) and made an easel card.  I adhered a piece of tissue paper to a piece of purple card stock because I wanted a softer shade before I ran it through this spotty embossing folder.  A couple of doilies, a few green leaves and a Get Well Label and it was all ready for this mug I made earlier in the day.  

I love how the mug turned out - it looks like the night sky!  To make it I first added WOW! Blueberry Cheesecake embossing powder but I wanted a deeper, more vibrant blue so I added two coats of another embossing powder (Sternenstaub Galaxis) and it was precisely the colour I wanted.  After that I added two coats of embossing enamel.  I took a photo of the mug during construction earlier in the day because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to capture the sparkle under artificial light (not that there was much sun around today).  The lighter finer areas are where the Blueberry Cheesecake came through and I think it looks a bit like the Milky Way!

Here's the graphic for the Just Us Girls Challenge

Other Challenges I'm entering are (click on the text under the photo for the link)

Double D Challenges Winter Blues

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #503 - Handstamped or Die Cut Sentiment

Arty Divas Challenge #31 - Anything Goes

The Unicorn Challenge #60 - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!

Hugs,

Kate

English Rose

When I saw the colour challenge at Just Us Girls I just had to play along - love it!  I wanted something elegant and something that I haven't used before and decided on this embossing folder from Sizzix which I bought years ago (over 5 to be precise 🤦‍♀️)!  

I didn't want to hide too much of the detail, so I went with this simple single stem rose.  The sentiment is from a Waltzing Mouse Stamps set Big Day Today.  I love how the script echoes the swirls on the embossing folder.

Here's the colour inspiration at Just Us Girls Challenge #563 - gorgeous isn't it!  

Make My Monday Challenge #136 has a Thankful prompt

TGIF Challenge #291 also has the following graphic

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #503 is a hand stamped or die cut sentiment

Little Red Wagon Challenge #576 is to Say It Loud (hope my sentiment is Loud Enough) and there is also word art in the embossing folder!

and NBUS Challenge #20 because the embossing folder was NBUS!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!
Hugs and stay safe!

Kate

All Spruced Up

 

I bought this Gummiapan Divided Fir die late last year and I've been looking at it for weeks now, wondering how best to use it.  Then I found this perfect inspiration photo at Inspired By Challenges.  I "coloured" each of the segments with various Distress Inks using a craft mat and a spritz bottle.  From the bottom I used Ground Coffee, Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Mermaid Lagoon, Broken China and Salty Ocean.

I wanted to keep it simple so I just embossed a white background with this spotty embossing folder - I think it resembles snow.  There's no name on it and the packaging is long gone so I'm not sure what it's called.  The sentiment is from Action stamped in Memento Ladybird.

I wanted to enter the Let's Squash It Challenge #2 which has the following prompt

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge also has the prompt Embossing (Wet or Dry), so I'm entering there as well (by the skin of my teeth)

Fan'n'Funky Challenges has the prompt Hand Stamped or Die Cut Sentiment - mine is both!

CAS Christmas wants us to use non-traditional colours

Jingle Belles wants us to be inspired by their banner which is why I added the sentiment in red and hung the little heart underneath it

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge has the prompt Christmas.

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #517 is to add something stating with "R" (Red - another reason I chose red)!

I'm also entering the NBUS Challenge #20 because the Fir die was used for the first time!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!

Hugs and stay safe,

Kate

Seeing Stars Again

 This Starry Wreath Die arrived this week, just in time to enter  Twofer Card Challenge #33 - the last challenge for 2020.

By the time I had assembled the shaker element of the first card, it was looking so festive, I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than a simple "2021".  I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be glad to say goodbye to 2020!  The wreath and numbers were cut from a brilliant white holographic card stock - not easy to capture in a photograph.  I filled the shaker with pale blue sequins and clear glass seed beads.

The wreath that I removed from the first card became the focal point of the second card - now that's what I call a twofer!

Not everything went to plan on this second card though!  I specifically cut a silver wreath so I could emboss the sentiment in silver but I could not find my silver embossing powder anywhere!  I have many, many, embossing powders - several black, several gold, several white, pinks, blues, greens but just the one silver and it was nowhere to be found!  I don't even have a silver ink pad, and the best I could come up with was this Brilliance Pearlescent Blue which is a better match in real life than it appears in this photograph.  

I would like this second card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which has the prompt Christmas.

Timeout Challenge #175 has the prompt quick and because this card came together in minutes (once I gave up looking for the silver embossing powder), I'm entering there.

I specifically chose this blue card stock because of this mood board at Double D Challenges (I'll definitely be back again for this one - I have loads of other ideas)

Finally as this die is brand spanking new, I'm entering the NBUS Challenge #20

It's been a busy week, we had the First Holy Communion in our parish last Saturday and today.  Only 6 children made it last Saturday, and as there were so few, I thought it would be nice to make them a card.  It was to have been 9 making it today, but in the end 13 children celebrated their First Holy Communion today.  Over 60 were signed up, but the majority are postponing until next spring.  It was so odd seeing the girls all dressed up in white with veils and masks.  I wanted to sing for them today, but I think that will be my last until Christmas (I hope) - there's just too much COVID around now!  Here's the card I made for them.  The wheat die is also a NBUS I bought at a recent craft fair.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit.  If you leave a comment, I'll know where to find you and can return the favour!

Hugs and stay safe,

Kate