Thursday, 9 October 2025

Mirror Mirror

 

Challenge #295 at Time Out has just gone live and this fortnight we have another

Photo Inspiration Challenge


Our team mate Jenny snapped this fabulous pic of an antique store on one of her shopping expeditions - here's a closer look at this fabulous source of inspiration!


Challenge 299 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 and the Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge and speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is  xxx - our winner from Challenge #294!  You can see how xxx was inspired by our photo as well as my talented team mates over on the Time Out Blog!  I do hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us this fortnight!

I was immediately inspired by the frames and I was reminded how last year I realised one of my old Spellbinders oval dies can look very much like an antique frame.  Initially, I resisted the urge to make a mirror though many of the frames in the pic are mirrors!  However, as I had no suitable artwork ideas for the frame (other than the one I made last year) I looked for the shiniest mirror card I could find and went looking for a sentiment!  

Yes, obvious though it seems with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight vision, the "mirror mirror" idea did not dawn on me immediately!  I think it hit me when I started to consider how I would do the wall behind the mirror!   "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?" - although in this case, the inside will read - "who's the handsomest one of all" because it's for my son!

I probably didn't need the "mirror mirror" sentiment - it's pretty obviously a mirror and it's very obviously a wall (Brickwork embossing folder by Tim Holtz)!  However, I thought it would remove any doubt if I made up a sentiment (using MS Word and the Decotech DL font) and cut with one of my favourite little frame dies (from Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles).

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

NBUS Challenge #79 - NBUS sentiment set;

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

Wednesday, 1 October 2025

Non-traditional Christmas Colours


Sparkles Christmas Challenge 177 has just gone live and Helen has chosen Non-Traditional Colours as our challenge theme for the month of October!  When it comes to making up Christmas cards I often get inspiration from the many DP pads I have trouble parting with,  so that was where I headed first ... and this sheet of pink and black DP caught my eye!  

The gift images and all the sparkly silver accents inspired me further (particularly the black spotted presents) and I remembered this very old Sizzix Regular die (Gift 2) which is a large present with a wonderful big bow on it  and I made that up this spotted present with a big sparkly silver bow.  The bow and present are all one large piece (the Sizzix Original dies were not known for their fine detail were they) so I had to remove the present from the bow - following the curve of the "ribbon" and snipping at the bottom, and cutting it again from silver.

As well as the bow, I cut a little tag (Spellbinders Delivering Joy Sleigh) and a large "Christmas" sentiment from a NBUS set (Sizzix Holiday Words by Tim Holtz) from silver glitter card stock and the design came together pretty quickly (for once)!   I went over all that silver glitter with Glossy Accents so it wouldn’t shed!

Here's a closeup of all the sparkle


do hope you are inspired by the rest of the Design Team at the Sparkles Christmas Challenge and can join us with a non-traditional colour combo card of your own - not long now till Christmas!

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

NBUS Challenge #79 - NBUS "Christmas" sentiment;
Merry Little Christmas #64 - Anything Christmas 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 should be able to find you!


Kate