I love this time of year; food, decorating, music, movies and shopping – but only cause I’m organised and plan my trips to the shops early to avoid the crowds. I’ve made a decision this year to walk around with a smile on my face rather than that harried look I see most people with – it’s a time of year to be enjoyed not a chore. You’d be surprise the looks I get from people when I smile at them, most smile back and I hope that I change their outlook for the day.

So all that shopping I’ve been doing means I need tags for my presents.

I made this guy using a new set I got in the mail from the UK from Apple Blossom called ‘Christmas Gnomes’. This is the most adorable stamp set and I see it becoming a staple for future Christmas cards.

Isn’t he adorable?

I stamped and water coloured him, then added him to a grey piece of card stock, added some Christmas washi tape and ribbon to attach him to my gift and I was done.

I’m entering this tag over at The Cats Pajamas Tuesday Challenge #341 Tag It and Little Red Wagon Challenge #422 Holiday Tags & Gift Card Holders.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Today I was feeling Christmassy as we decorated our home. We played Christmas movies while we decorated and  I then finished writing my cards and realised that I’d miscalculated how many I needed and had come up short; so off to the craft room I sprang.

This first card I made with a background piece using my alcohol inks (citrus and clover), then stamped the Linear Baubles from Stamp-It in Stazon and added some twine red bows for the finishing touch.

I’m really please how the background turned out and am getting better at letting the ink just do its thing. I’m entering this card over on the Less Is More 357 Red and Green challenge.

The next card I made to send to my brother over in Holland and hope it’s not too girly. I stamped the branches from the Outline Holiday Cone set by The Ton in Catherine Pooler Design inks in Garden Party, Grass Skirt and Lime Rickey. The baubles were die cut in shiny gold card stock and the sentiment from the Mistletoe Kisses set by The Ton was stamped in Black Jack on the angled vellum piece.

I’m entering this card over at CASology 277 Round and The Male Room 74 – Use Vellum. The vellum really softens the overall look of the card.

I’m sure I’ll find that I’ve missed people on my card list and will be making more cards but until then, thanks for looking and have a great day.

Today we got to 36 degrees Celsius, yesterday it was 40. We’re into our 2nd week of high 30’s and it’s not even summer – what’s a gal to do? Craft of course!

I started writing my Christmas cards yesterday, need to get my US/Canadian cards into the mail if they’re to make it on time and I’m still a few cards short.

So off to some challenges I go for inspiration.

Up first is a card I’m entering over at Sunday Stamps which is a sketch challenge and SU! Only Challenges which is to create a card celebrating a winter holiday. I’m hoping thinking about winter will make me feel cooler on this hot day.

My card uses all Stampin Up products. The sleigh is from a set called Cozy Christmas and the sentiment is from Greetings from Santa. I gold embossed the sleigh and white embossed the sentiment. I then sponged the whisper white panel with lemon lime twist ink and splattered it with some water to simulate snow. the close up shows the sentiment a little bit better.

Next up is a card for my daughter’s teacher. Miss K wanted me to make a shaker card, so I die cut the Stampin Up detailed Santa thinlit out of silver glitter paper, popped it up and filled it with green and blue sequins.

I’m entering this card into the current Merry Mondays Challenge which is a colour theme and for Less Is More which is all about letting it shine.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

I can’t believe that it is 4 weeks until Christmas and I’ve only made 17 cards for my own stash, so I’ve decided today that I had better get crafty. I did some calculations and need about another 43 cards – eeeeek!

My first card I made today I’ll be giving to my hubby for his birthday in December. The current challenge over at CASology inspired my design.

I used a stamp set from Unity CO Stamps called ‘Keep calm, have a beer’. I stamped the first image and then used a mirror stamp from So Suzy Stamps to create the second mug. I coloured them in with my SU Blends in daffodil delight and then used some puff paint for the foam tops. I created the sentiment on my computer and added it to a black base.

My next two cards have added to my Christmas card stash so now I’m down to 41 needed!

I’m entering this card over at The Card Concept (I was inspired by the colours), CAS-ual Fridays , Freshly Made Sketches. and Just Us Girls (I was inspired by the colours).

I created this card with the Painted Harvest set from Stampin Up stamped in Sweet sugarplum, Rose red and Bermuda bay inks. Nice and simple yet I think pretty.

The final card I created based on a tutorial I had seen over on Pinterest (sorry can’t remember who was the originator). I’m entering it for the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I created my own tree stamps using a die and some fun foam.

I stamped them three times using inks from Stampin Up in Lemon lime twist, Tranquil tide and Old olive. I used some Wink of Stella to give it that bit of sparkle and the sentiment is from The Ton set called ‘Mistletoe Kisses’. I used water-colour paper for the stamping which allowed the inks to blend when lightly spritzed with water.

I’m off to make some more Christmas cards. Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Last night I had some girlfriends over for a card making class, which is a usual monthly event and the theme was Christmas.  Not only did they get 6 cards each made but we had a great catch-up too.

Card 1:

• SU Wonderland & Merriest Wishes stamp sets
• SU Island Indigo ink
• SU Island Indigo & Whisper White cardstock
• Misc star die, vellum with gold splatters (home-made)

Card 2: this doubles as a desktop calendar

• SU Coffee Cafe stamp set
• SU Coffee Cafe DSP
• SU Early Espresso, Crumb Cake & Whisper White cardstock
• SU twine
• Misc 2018 calendar, gold paper & peg

Card 3: this is an interactive card, when you pull the tab another image is revealed.

• SU Thoughtful Branches, Santa’s List & Merriest wishes stamp sets
• SU Old Olive, Mossy Meadow & Whisper White cardstock
• SU Old Olive, Mossy Meadow & Basic Black inks
• SU Blends Cherry Cobbler light
• SU twine & crumb cake ribbon

A great way to spend an evening, chin wagging and crafting!

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Not long ago I came across Katzelkraft and their irreverent images. I’ve got the cat set KTZ152 and the jungle animals set KTZ168. 

They are super fun and I’m loving how snarky you can make them with a computer generated sentiment.

I’m entering this card into the current challenge over at Less is More #355 Susan’s CASE and Merry Monday #266 (Santa Claus).

I coloured my Santa cat with my Prisma pencils and added a hat I’d had ready in my stash that is from a Tim Holtz set called ‘Crazy things”, there’s a bit of puff paint on the hat to simulate the white fluffy trim. The sentiment I printed on my PC using a font called ‘Dancing Jungle’.

Not your traditional Santa card but I know exactly the friend this is being sent to.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

I was able to make a card this morning before I started work – a perk when I’m able to work from home!

Today I made a card that fits 3 challenges:

• Just Us Girls #420 Color Wash
• Sketch Saturday #490
• Paper Players #371

Now I must admit that I’m not really feeling the warm and cozy for The Paper Players challenge as we’re having a week of hot weather here as we’re heading into summer but I never can say no to a good cup of java!

My twist on the sketch was using the coffee steam as the long vertical panel which I stamped in gold to suit the JUGS color theme and this next picture might show the turquoise, brown and gold colours better. I paper pieced the DSP for the coffee mug and coloured the coffee with the baked brown sugar ink.

Ingredients:

• Stamps – SSS ‘what’s brewing’ and YNS ‘thanks a latte’
• Inks – SU baked brown sugar, CPD black jack and Brilliance galaxy gold
• Misc – SU DSP coffee break and a doily

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

I have had one super crazy busy week and really needed to get my craft on and was fortunate that Miss K went to visit her friend today so found myself with plenty of ‘me’ time to play.

I made a card for WWC145 – Judy’s Masculine “Anything Goes” Challenge  This was a fabulous challenge to participate in, as I struggle making masculine cards and needed some inspiration.

My card is a hybrid digital/stamped card. I used an old Stampin Up digital image ‘Extreme surfboard’ that I printed onto a card piece I’d sponged with Stampin Up soft sky and island indigo inks, then added some water drops to simulate the look of the surf. The sentiment is from Altenew ‘Birthday bash’ and the black and white DSP is a left-over piece I had lying around.

My next card is inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches #313 – A Sketch by Karren and uses a stamp set (best in you) and inks (melon ice, lime rickey, grass skirt, tiara, tiki torch, orange twist and black jack) from Catherine Pooler Designs.

My next card is inspired by three challenges:

• MFT Sketch Challenge
• Tic Tac Toe Challenge
• Addicted to CAS challenge

I followed the Bow/Elegant/Heat Emboss line of the Tic Tac Toe challenge and I really like how this card came out. The bow is made using the Stampin Up Bow maker punch with some white glimmer paper. The aqua piece was sponged with Ranger Peacock feathers distress oxide ink over the heat embossed snow flake from Kanban. I used Stampin Up iridescent ice embossing powder, the close up really shows how much it sparkles.

My last card for this long Sunday post is all about circles and I’m entering it into the current Seize the Birthday challenge. I think it might also suit the AAA Cards Celebrate challenge.

I ended up making 2 cards using this design, 1 for a birthday and 1 for Christmas.

I used products from Stampin Up for both cards. Card 1 – Pool party cardstock and ink, Sycamore Street DSP and enamel dots. The sentiment is from Mama Elephant ‘make a wish’. Card 2 – Pear pizzaz cardstock and ink, Season of cheer DSP & Brights enamel dots with the sentiment from The Ton ‘mistletoe kisses’

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

I like to make handmade Christmas gifts for work colleagues and was motivated by the challenges over at CAS-ual Fridays CFC186 Anything But a Card and Scor-Pal #43 More than one score gift packaging. Now I know the Scor-Pal challenge is for gift packaging but I could always use my creation as a gift topper!

To make my ornament, I stamped the large ornament 20 times as you need 4 to make each bauble shape. I then did the same with the small ornament. I had to die cute each ornament – which was running them through my BigShot 40 times!

I make each bauble shape you score down the center of 3 of them, saving 1 to be the base and then you glue them together.  I did this 10 times and then made the center piece by scoring a rectangle strip and joining it to make a pinwheel shape.

I cut a large circle to use as the base to hold all the bauble shapes and glued them on using my hot glue gun. I added the satin ribbon to hang the ornament and filled in the gaps with bits of tulle.

It’s quite time-consuming but you sort of get on a roll with doing each part on its own and I think the final outcome is certainly worth it.

Ingredients:

• Stamps & Dies– Stampin Up Ornament Keepsakes
• Inks – Stampin Up Marina Mist
• Cardstock – Stampin Up Whisper White
• Misc. – white ribbon, white tulle & clear button

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

My card today was a super simple and quick card to make. I used some copper embossing powder on the corner of the card base, added a wreath and some twine as a ribbon and it was done – see – easy!

I’m entering this card for 3 challenges -> CASology #274 Tiny, Paper Craft Crew #267 Tic Tac Toe Challenge (I chose the top row for my card) and Freshly Made Sketches #312

Ingredients: all Stampin Up

• Copper embossing powder
• Whisper White cardstock
• Boxwood wreath embellishment
• Red & white twine (misc)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.