HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL

 

Bauble in box

 Hi Everyone, I hope you're all finished with your Christmas preparations and able to enjoy a tot of mulled wine, or something stronger? 

My post today was a little unexpected, a neighbour came and asked me if I would make a bauble and box, as I had done for her other great grandson. (I can't find the photos or post of it) she has had a new great grandson, named Lorenzo, an Italian name, although, she says, he's from a very Welsh family. 

So out with my Silhouette, cutting the box the same as this one. I used green card and cut paper from a pad, years old. I cut and glued it all together, then realised I had put the paper on upside down! Thankfully, I had just one more piece of the same paper from the pad. All glued and the box was finished.

Two Welsh flags were printed, also requested, and die cut, so I could stick them together to be seen from any angle. I filled the bauble with faux snow and hung, with fishing line, the flag, so it moved when it shook, with the snow. Next, with my Silhouette, I cut assorted snowflakes from permanent vinyl in white and his name and the year in gold vinyl.  I then closed the bauble and added the snowflakes, name, and year. I'm happy to say she was very pleased with it. 

green card - StellaWeds, Amazon

 box pattern - Simply Crafty SVG's

paper -  patterned Heltz Cuppleditch (years old pad)

paper - snowflake Dovecraft (years old pad)

cutting machine - Silhouette 2

vinyl - Oracle 651

 

the lid, with gold pen surrounding the image.

 it's mostly white, so difficult to see.

  

 

the sides, they matched with the cutting, 

I added snowflake paper to the lid, as it was difficult to match the bottom paper.

 

the bauble in the box, 

where I had also added a shape to hold the bauble in place. 

 

the bauble

WIinter Foliage WLSC

 

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for We Love Stamping. This month we would love to see Winter foliage/flowers/trees etc.

 

I have some lovely Christmas stamps, but not so much foliage to put together. So my foliage, is fruit too. I went with the sentiment and stamped a pudding first, then masked it and added the strip of foliage, next I decided to add more, by adding the fruit, and berries. They were all stamped in gold embossing powder, to go with the bright in the sentiment.  Then coloured with DI's. A plain and simple card, that took me ages to think of. I've taken the photo, so you can see the shine and detail of the card.

All stamps - Magazine freebies 

inks - Distress Inks

embossing powder - Altenew Antique Gold.

 

   These are the wonderful prizes this month.

2 prizes from AALL and Create of coordinating stencil and stamp and A5 stamp set

Don't forget, we will now require At least one stamped element on entries. Those of you like us, who love to stamp, we would still love you to enter your fully stamped entry.

Candy Cane gifts

 Hi Everyone my post today is a candy cane gift, I give out to assistants, who serve me and anyone else I think deserves a little gift, when I am out.

I cased a candy cane holder from here, mine are not as beautiful, but, so quick and easy and appreciated already, by a few recipients. I took the measurements into Silhouette, but they can be just be cut and scored on a board. The next batch will be much better, as I now know my failings on these. The canes were peppermint, something different, hence the colour in them. The tags were print and cut, as were the holders in Silhouette.

Here is a tag I made for presents, again so easy, so many more to make though, the free pattern is from Dreaming Tree.

 

Now a few photos taken on the hop recently

 

a squirrel eating the mushrooms that popped up in the lawn

 

a Green Woodpecker, looking for ants?

 

frost on the hydrangea

 

frost on the rose

 

frost on the Sedum

and a frosty morning in the garden.

Hope it's not too cold where you are, and you are keeping up or finished with all your Christmas projects etc. Thankfully mine are all done, now sit back and relax? Maybe!

Quick Christmas card

 Hi Everyone, I don't know about you, but the last few weeks have been the most hectic, for a long time, I didn't have time for myself. Today I can breathe whew! I've caught up with a lot of you already, I will try to get to you all more frequently now, well I hope to.

I made Christmas cards without taking photos before they were given out, even bought duplicate presents and had to change them! I've even lost my big scissors, while wrapping presents! They have been given to someone and I don't know who, as the family were down, and they may be in theirs, so I asked them to pay me 10p each, in case they were in their parcels. Yep! I am superstitious about scissors as a gift, being cutting ties. I certainly don't want that. Talk about my brain in a muddle. 

So I took time out today, to do a blog post, and it's only scheduled one day ahead, as it's nearly evening when doing it. Cor! I am good.

 My card today is one I did for mass production, I did 40 of them. The piccies are of the process, yes I could have used more colour, but I needed them to be quick, so thought a little colour to highlight the Nativity scene would be enough. I always thought my digital work was quick, but this card has changed my mind, it only took two minutes, literally, to make each one.  That is until I added the star, but even that, after I had die cut each one, it was quick. OK! I haven't included choosing the stamps and inks and die cutting. I know, you Gals, knew that all along, didn't you?

Anyhow, here's the process, skip to the end if you don't want to see it made. 

nativity and star stamps - magazine freebies

sentiment stamp - Card Making Magic

die - so old I don't know who made it, but it's black.

inks - Stazon & Papermania and Distress Oxide

 

 

 

 

 It didn't matter if I had either ink was left on the stamps, as they were in the correct place.

 

 the finished card

I hope you made it to the end, and you have a record of your cards, as I haven't. I hope you all have a great week, with time to yourself.

Christmas Card TMR

 Hi Everyone, my DT post today is for 

I had the perfect images, I thought, for a gardener masculine Christmas card. I stamped the spade and then masked it to add the Robin, both embossed. Then I coloured them with DI's. I cut them out twice with a die, then stamped and embossed the sentiment in silver on each layer. I attached the robin layer, then 3D'd the frame layer, I decided to add a leaf die, again coloured with DI's. 

stamps - Magazine freebies by the RSPCA

inks - Distress Ink, fired brick, spiced marmalade, tea dye, brushed corduroy, vintage ink, weathered wood, tumbled glass, pine needles, peeled paint, mown lawn

frame die - Card Making Magic

leaf die - Magazine freebie

 

 I haven't entered a challenge in an age, but thought I would today.

Moving Along With The Times #161 Winter Animals  - Robin

Paper Funday Challenge #60 Bird - Robin

Winter Foliage WLSC

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for We Love Stamping. This month we would love to see Winter foliage/flowers/trees etc.

 

I was lucky enough for my monthly subscription magazine to come through, as I was about to make this card, and the perfect stamps were in it. With a couple of others, I had already in my stash. I decided to follow this sketch. Freshly Made Sketches #477

I had a square piece of card in my bits box, so stamped along the centre with the long garland, then stamped the other side, next I stamped the Christmas rose in each corner. The stamps were coloured with DI's. It was layered it onto red card, I stamped the sentiment and a little holly, which was also layered with the red card. All then layered onto the base square card.

Main foliage stamps - Magazine Freebies, Simply Cards & Papercraft

small holly stamp - Stampendous

sentiment stamp - Card Making Magic

inks - Distress Inks, mowed lawn, forest moss, crushed olive, pine needles, tea dye, vintage photo, candied apple, fired brick. 

red card - Hobbycraft

   These are the wonderful prizes this month.

2 prizes from AALL and Create of coordinating stencil and stamp and A5 stamp set

 

Don't forget, we will now require At least one stamped element on entries. Those of you like us, who love to stamp, we would still love you to enter your fully stamped entry.

You can check our rules here.

Cat Christmas CCC

   Hi Everyone, my DT cards today is for -

Critter Crazy

 Anything Goes but they MUST feature a critter as the main focus 

Whether Furry, Feathered, Fantasy, Fairytale, 

Scaly, or Insect, there must be a critter...

An old image that came to light when I was searching for something in my files and thought this purrfect, for not only the challenge, but for the kiddies present money to be sent in. 

I cut and printed it to size a 6x6 card, on the Silhouette, I then added 3d glaze to the cats eyes and nose and sparkle pen to the baubles. I 3D'd the cat, attaching the bottom to the frame, and pads to the top part. Next I die cut a piece of matching paper, I thought a little sparkly ribbon to make it like a parcel.  A simple card, but I think they'll like it. 

cat image - Laurie Furnell 2005 (OMG I've had it that long?)

paper - Lidl

 ribbon - stash

die - Sue Wilson Noble die

sparkle pen - Spectrum Noir

glaze - Nuvo Crystal GLaze

here you can see, the layers 3D'd and the glaze on the eyes and nose. I'm not sure if you can make out the sparkle pen on the baubles.
 

I hope to see you at the challenge with your animals?

Maths!

 Hi Everyone, well what a time I've had the last couple of weeks, with one thing and another I haven't had time to myself. Meaning not much time on my 'puter. Still short of time, I thought I had better post something of what I've been doing, although another quick card. It was my SiL's Grandsons birthday, and with everything going on, I had forgotten it, another one!

 

Anyhow, I knew I had this file, It has saved my life a few times. So used it again with a quote I saw on the web. I print and cut the sentiment with a layer of the background card, that I thought represented the + sign, and cut the numbers. It was just layer the pieces together and do a quick insert, using a stamp and a piece of the card. Simple, then into the envelope and delivered to his Grandmother, for his visit to her the next day. Whew. Another panic over. 

 

number SVG file - Get Silvered

Patterned card -  Craft Sensations

Silhouette

insert stamp - Woodware, 

a stamp set I won at The Playground, Thanks Di and Sarn.

 

 

the insert, using the same card and the stamp.

 

 

 

Due to our BiL's funeral, it will be family time and visits over the next few days so, I won't be visiting, and I don't know if I can catch up either.  Hope you are all OK and not so rushed as I have been over the last few weeks. Take care.

Christmas Gnome WLSC

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for We Love Stamping. This month we would love to see all sorts of Christmas Characters, from Gnomes to Robins, Santa to Angels, and so many more familiar to us at this time of year.

 

I don't have many Christmas Characters in my stamps, but I do have this Gnome and I love him. He has a home too. I stamped the Gnome, then masked him and added his home, I masked that too and added the trees. They were coloured with DI's with some grey squiggles for snow shadows. 

After some thinking that it was too CAS, I decided to do a faraway scene, by stamping the trees and adding a few white highlights to the trees, and colouring the sky. I made a mess of the part, where I added the fading sun. So added a circle, after I had coloured it and stamped the top of the tree onto it. Only then did I die cut the images. I then layered it onto a die cut burgundy colour paper, to make it all as "warm" as the sentiment, then added it all to the base card. I then decided it needed a little sparkle with a snow writer.

gnome & house - Apple Blossom Stamps, a magazine freebie

all trees and sentiment - magazine freebies 

inks - Distress Inks, many colours

glitter dimensional snow writer - DecorArt 

dies - Sue Wilson Noble square dies

burgundy paper - Lidl

 

These are the wonderful prizes this month.

 Three prizes, two dies from Sizzix and stamp from Craft Stash 

 

Don't forget, we will now require At least one stamped element on entries. Those of you like us, who love to stamp, we would still love you to enter your fully stamped entry.

 

 

Monster birthday

 Hi Everyone, hope you're all well, and getting used to darker nights.

My card today was for my Niece's Grandson, who is 4 this week, how time flies. I didn't know what to do for him, so decided on this friendly monster digital stamp, which I coloured in Photoshop, to match the colourful paper from a digital kit I chose. I took the oval, monster, greeting, a star shape from the same digi kit as the paper, onto which I added the greeting and age, into Silhouette to print and cut them, using 3 layers of each. 

Next, I added a stitched border to the background paper and printed it out to size. All the layers were glued together, then attached to the background paper, which was attached to the base card. I then added 3d glaze to the number, sparkle pen to the parcel ribbon and the buttons on the bottom.

Time has been of the essence these last few weeks, so a card that could be put together quickly without much thought was good for me. I find digital kits so handy to do this.  What is your quickest way to make a card?

paper, stars, stitched border - NibblesScribbles 2011

monster - Kate Hadfield Monster Birthday digi stamp

Tie Birthday

 Hi Everyone, I hope you're all well. In my New Home card, I mentioned my 90 year old BiL had fallen and was in hospital, thank you so much for your many good wishes for him. I'm afraid he died just a week after they moved in to their new bungalow. My SiL is stoic and coping, she has her incredible family around her. Who have been as wonderful to her, as she is and always has been to them.

Now on to why you're here, my card for today was for a friend's grandson, his birthday, that with everything going on I had forgotten about. So a quick one needed to get into the post. I did a "tie" search in my files, goodness knows why I thought ties. Anyhow, I found some paper, printed it out and cut and layered it onto orange paper. Added both to the base card, found a die cut sentiment, layered it onto silver mirror card and fussy cut around it. Card done and in the post, just in time.

tie paper - Sissix from 2016

sentiment die - I've had an age, sorry no label

orange paper - Lidl

boy on left page of insert - Paper Garden Products

 this is the insert, I also did in Photoshop, the blur is me fading out my greeting to him. I took the photos when I finished them, written and ready to post.

Nothing was stirring WLSC

Hi Everyone, my DT card today is for We Love Stamping.

 

There are some changes to our requirements for entries, we are a stamping challenge, but, it has been decided, as there are so many new techniques and products, we want to make it, so you can enter your different designs.

Starting with this challenge, we will now require At least one stamped element on entries. Those of you like us, who love to stamp, we would still love you to enter your fully stamped entry.

 

This month we would love to see all sorts of Christmas Characters, from Gnomes to Robins, Santa to Angels, and so many more that are familiar to us at this time of year.

A famous Christmas poem jumped into my head, when I saw the challenge theme. I went looking for a mouse in my stash and there wasn't one! So a shopping trip was made. I saw this little mouse on the web and just had to have him, to suit the poem I had to use, for some reason.

Anyhow, I stamped the mouse, made a mask for him, and using ripped paper and DO's, added the sky, then moved the paper and carried on adding "layers" of snow. I stamped the zzzz, then decided he needed more mushrooms, so stamped and coloured those. I didn't have a stamp of the poem, so I created it in Photoshop and printed it out and fussy cut it. 

 

My thoughts were going everywhere and didn't think it looked finished, so I added a die cut frame, then added the layers to 3D pads and attached it to the base card. The poem was added after I cut it out and inked around it. Next I decided a couple of snowflakes could be added, so splotted some white pen. That wasn't enough, and a couple of die cut snowflakes were also added. Certainly a very different card to what I had envisioned originally, but I'm happy with it.

mouse and zzz stamp - Colorado Craft Company

mushrooms - Magazine freebie

inks - Distress & Oxide inks

snowflakes - unbranded 

white pen - Posca

 

These are the wonderful prizes this month.

 Three prizes, two dies from Sizzix and stamp from Craft Stash 

 

Don't forget, we will now require At least one stamped element on entries. Those of you like us, who love to stamp, we would still love you to enter your fully stamped entry.