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

Brilliant Baubles

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 181 has just gone live and Dawn has chosen Baubles as our theme for February.

I love anything Nordic from Poppy Stamps - they assemble quickly and look amazing and the their Layered Ornaments are no exception!   I found a pretty paper pad (Walking in a Winter Wonderland by Craft Sensations) and chose this glittered starry paper as the base for my Nordic bauble and teamed it with some silver mirri card.

The hardest part about the design of this card was what to do for a background - I wanted to give the impression that these baubles were hanging on a tree but didn't have a suitable foliage background stamp or embossing folder.  I was about to give up when I remembered a technique I haven't used for a while.  I call it faux embossing - using the same coloured die cuts on a panel so that it resembles an embossed background.  

I cut loads of foliage (Sizzix Winter Foliage) from white card stock and placed the pieces randomly on a white background, going off the edges of the panel and trimming afterwards.   

The looped strings (PoppyStamps Little Bow and String) were laid flat on the card and the baubles were mounted on foam tape.  To support the sentiment banner (Spellbinders Handmade Sentiments) I used small pieces of foam tape on either side of the middle bauble.

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

NBUS Challenge #83 - NBUS Ornament and Bow and String Dies;

Kraft Chicks Week 5 - Anything Goes;

ABC Christmas Challenge - A is for Anything Christmas Goes;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #66 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Alphabet Challenge Blog - T is for Texture;

Papercraft Challenge #126 - 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

Clever Cogs

A new challenge has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and we would like to see how you are inspired by Your Favourite Card Making Technique!

Challenge #305 is generously being sponsored by Top Flight Stamps 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 the very talented Gundi of Papierelle our winner from Challenge #300!   You can check out how Gundi and my talented team mates were inspired by their favourite card making techniques over on the Time Out Blog!

If you've ever scrolled to the very bottom of my blog you may have come across my (verbose) About Me entry squirrelled away at the bottom of the left hand column describing my crafting journey and how I love to "move it" - that is to make interactive cards not to exercise!  So when I had to make a card inspired by my favourite card-making technique, it was really just a matter of how not what!  

As is usually the case, I first examined my ever increasing pile of NBUS stash and these gears (included in the Gummuiapan 2024 Christmas Advent Calendar) seemed like a great idea for a masculine card and I desperately needed ideas for my son's fast approaching 30th birthday!   Then I found this witty sentiment on the Gummiapan FB page and it went from being a great idea to being the perfect idea for my son  (he really is a "clever cogs" or at least a "clever clogs" as the expression goes) and I could imagine the cogs turning and this clever sentiment popping out the side!  

In the end I also used some other gears (Sizzix Mini Gears Movers and Shapers) which weren't as elegant but meshed better and these were the only two that actually moved - the other gears are just there for show!

Since my son was turning 30, I thought it only fitting that I place "30" (Gummiapan Numbers Set) on one of the gears that actually turned and placed the "30" so that it was straight when the sentiment was revealed and therefore at a 90° angle when the sentiment was hidden (if that makes sense) - I hoped that as the 30 wasn't straight, it would be obvious that it needed to be turned.  He was staying here on the morning of his birthday so I was able to straighten the crooked cog and watch his surprise as the little "clever cogs" sentiment popped out the side.  It wasn't perfect but it worked well enough.  

To give the gears an aged patina I cut them from black cardstock (stacked 3 high) and went over them gilding wax using a finger dauber and I did the same with the sentiment (Poppy Stamps Happy Birthday Script)!

To add interest to the background panel I second-generation stamped a blueprint for a bicyclette hirondelle (Stampers Anonymous Steampunk CMS107) - an NBUS set still in its original packaging that I had completely forgotten I owned and came across accidentally while looking for a different rubber stamp.  

The  computer generated sentiment (Freaking Awesome Font) was printed and cut with a fishtail tag (Love2Craft Multi Frame Die Set)!  

I punched a hole in the front panel using a 1cm punch (my circle dies were all too large) and stacked a few circles which acted as a spindle connecting the gear on the lower right corner of the panel to the fishtail banner underneath.  It was important to make sure the stacked circles moved comfortably within the punched hole so I shaved them a little with a file.  It was also important to make sure the gear was only attached to the spindle of stacked circles so it moved freely on the panel.  Then I needed to work out where to punch a tiny hole to attach the other moving gear to the panel with a brad ... the hole in the gear was too big so I so I had to add a false bottom and punched a hole in that for the brad!  

You can see why I only ended up making just two of the gears movable!  Note to self ... next time don't overcomplicate the design and just make one of the gears moveable!  

Finally I added the panel to the card base with foam tape so there was room for the swing out sentiment to move underneath being careful not to impede the movement.

We'd love to see how your favourite card making technique inspires you and 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 #82 - NBUS Gears, Happy Birthday sentiment and background stamp set;

Neglected Stuff Challenge January - this background stamp set has been neglected since it was bought at a craft fair in 2011 I think;

Shopping Our Stash SOS#305- Something old (background stamp set, Sizzix Gears) and new (Gummiapan Gears, Birthday Sentiment);

The Male Room Challenge #206 - Add a tag (the swing out sentiment is on a fishtail tag);

Allsorts Challenge #841 - For the Boys (or Men);

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

Sparkling Doughnuts

Time Out Challenges is ringing in the the New Year with a theme challenge - All that Glitters!

Challenge #304 is generously being sponsored by Gina K. 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 Heather of Heather's Pages our winner from Challenge #299!   You can check out how Heather and my talented team mates have interpreted thour theme over on the Time Out Blog!

As I planned this card, I thought I could use the theme to make a  make a birthday card for my son who was due to arrive in a few days.  Glittered doughnuts surely wouldn't be too feminine would they - and these doughnuts (MFT Time to Make the Donuts ) had been top of my NBUS list for ages!  But as the project progressed, I realised it wouldn't work for a man and certainly not for my number crunching, bicycle peddling, super fit son!  So I just went with a general birthday card for my stash instead!

As the saying goes - All that Glitters is not Gold - so I tried to avoid gold but after a botched attempt at using a sparkling embossing powder (it was unreadable) I ended up using a sparkling gold embossing powder (WOW!) instead on this cute sentiment (Lawn Fawn A little Sparkle).

The doughnut box was cut using rectangles (WMS Stitched rectangles) but these dies have a double stitch line so I get a nice stitched edge around the passpartout.  

The doughnuts were cut from Kraft and various glittered cardstocks for the Icing.  After going around the edges of the doughnuts bases with some Gathered Twig Distress Ink and adding the icing on top, I coated the icing with Glossy Accents so they would shine - just like the icing on doughnuts!

How does our All that Glitters theme inspire you?  We hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us - we'd love to see your creations in our gallery!

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

NBUS Challenge 82 - NBUS doughnut set;

Inkspirational Challenge #358 - Shine/Shiny (the icing on my donuts);

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

Birds and Birches

 

Happy New Year, I hope Santa was good to you!  Let's hope 2026 doesn't rush by as quickly as 2025 did!

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 180 has just gone live and Billie has chosen Animals and Trees as our theme to start the new year.

I chose this old Impression Obsession set for my Birds and Birch Trees with a little foliage (Sizzix Winter Foliage) to break up the white.  The snow bank (Simon Says Stamp Wavy Scalloped Stitches) was the perfect spot for a sentiment (WMS Flourishes).

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

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - B is for Birds and Birch Trees;

Peace on Earth - Anything Christmas Goes;

Inkspirational Challenges - Cold (see badge below);

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment;

Cut it Up Challenge #346 - Anything Goes with Diecuts;

Four Seasons January 2026 - Winter;

Little Red Wagon Challenge #839 - Use the Force (Stamping and Die cutting);

Crafty Animals Challenge #101 - Use any Animals (I used birds);

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Anything Christmas;

 

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