Blue and Silver

The challenge at CAS Christmas this month is Blue and Silver. 

I only wish that the taking of the pic of this card was a quick as it was to make. I have had a pig of a job trying to get a photo that didn't have a real icy blue tinge on it.

However, several hours after the first pic attempt I have finally got a reasonable one!

I took some fern and pine needle stamps, inked them in Versa Summer Sky and just stamped randomly at the bottom and sides of the card.

The 'Snowberry' is from an old Elusive Images (Chocolate Baroque) set  and heat embossed in silver.
Some of the berries are simple outlines so I added some silver Nuvo Crystal drops to the larger ones.

The die is a new purchase (a bargain!) and I silver embossed that too after cutting out.

So into the stash for Christmas - not a bad idea to try and do a couple of cards each month -  I doubt if I will stick to it but will try!

We have had some snow showers today, although nothing has stuck but boy is it cold! So perhaps the blue/silver combo is just right for today!
Hope you are warm wherever you are!

Joining in at
SSS (Wednesday) - CAS
A2S+M - CAS
ABC Christmas - B for Berries
Christmas @Sweet Stampin - Anything Christmas
Craft Rocket - Winter

Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

Our challenge at Stamping Sensations is 'Fabulously Feminine'.

I was sent this Stampin Bella stamped image by one of my friends after drooling over it - see -  if you annoy someone enough they give in to shut you up! 😂😂

 Showing no shame either I also copied the same colour scheme!

 Seriously tho' I really do love it so thank you (you know who you are x).

I used Promarkers to colour - Poppy and Ruby for the jacket,  Apricot and Honeycomb for her skirt.
I had some tiny black gems so they doubled as buttons.

I fussy cut her out (not a job I am going to repeat!) and popped her onto a Sun Ray embossed background which I thought was perfect for the sentiment using foam pads so she stood out.

We have an amazing prize this month - please visit the challenge blog to check out what it is, and
PLEASE read and follow our rules before linking up.
If you don't follow our rules the DT can't comment on your entry and then you can't be in with a chance of winning!

Sharing at
Cardz 4 Galz - Dimensional Element
I love Promarkers - A/goes
Crafty Creations - A/goes

CAS Mix up - Mid month reminder

It's middle of the month and time for a reminder for the CAS Mix Up challenge.
Was so proud to have been asked to be guest designer this month and I have enjoyed revisiting the long forgotten technique of Bokeh. (be warned - there are more made yet to share!)

For my mid month post I have gone for coloured Bokeh instead of the usual white on a darker inked background as I did for my first post here

I used a stencil I made myself from acetate and circle dies and selected 3 shades of ink in soft pastel colours.
Inking then commenced!
When done I cut it out with a wavy stitched die.

The sentiment is a Technique Tuesday die and stamp and I finished my card front with a flower die before layering it onto the base card.

 Still time to have a go and join us - and lots of inspiration to be had over at the blog!

I am sharing this with -
Alphabet Challenge-  Use stitching (my frame die)
Crafty Calendar - Make it Flowery
CAS on Friday - Flowers
HLS January - A/G with Dies
Crafters Castle - A/G + Fun Technique

Happy Thoughts

A simple and quick CAS card to share today but the pic quality is not the best as once again it is a grey damp and windy day!

I promised myself that I would try to enter the new challenge at CAS Stencils this month.

This brand new challenge is all about playing with stencils and learning how to use stencils with different techniques and different products.
It aims to make us stretch our stencils and if like me you don't own many this can only be a good thing as it will give me the opportunity to try what few I have in different ways.

The first challenge is the basic 'Sponging' technique and my other 2 choices are Stamping and Die Cutting.
I sponged my little circle stencil (a magazine freebie I only bought the magazine as it had 4 free stencils! ) with Squeezed Lemonade DI.  As it is only small I had to move it around to re position a few times.

I then stamped the SU black grid and the tiny splats which had been stamped once on scrap paper before stamping onto the card so they weren't too harsh.

The black butterfly was die cut from some black pearlised card and the sentiment is from Technique Tuesday.
Matted onto black card before popping onto the card base.

Joining in at
Creatilicious - Something New (and that's my stencil!)
Crafty Catz - A/Goes
Cardz 4 Galz - New Stash

Thanks for looking today. Enjoy your weekend. x

A Commission!

Over the last couple of years I have rarely made any commissioned cards due to lack of time but a few months ago a close friend asked me to make her a baby card.
Her daughter had given up all hope of ever becoming a Mum so it was much excitement and trepidation all round when they got the news that she was expecting -  not least because in the normal course of things she was considered 'past the age' !!!
(In her 40's! -positively ancient 😲😲!!)

Baby Zach entered the world yesterday so I now can share the card.

I opted for a relatively simple card using an old image from Sugar Nellie - I have had this for a long time and it is one of my favourites - not least because I am pretty useless at shading and this stamp already has it.

Pearlised card used for it all - the embossed background was a piece I had cut out at some time and never used so I just tidied up the edges.
The oval (another odd piece of card!) is of course a Spellbinders die, and I inked the edges in Tumbled Glass DI.
Baby was coloured with Promarkers

The sentiment and the corners also inked were cut from some snippets of pearlised card.
The lace, ribbon and heart charm all from my stash.
Oh and here's Zach!

 Popping over to the Playground to see what everyone has been up to.

Also joining in at  
TIOT - Something Old (Image)/New (Baby!)
PB&M- New beginnings
Fab n Funky - New Beginnings
Cupcake Insp - New

We are having 2 new external doors fitted today - woke up to thick frost this morning - the poor workmen are frozen.... me - I'm tucked away in the Craftie Space at the top of the house with the heating on!! 
Oh and here's Zach!

Have a good day whatever you're doing! x

A new challenge year at Stamping Sensations!

It's time for our first challenge of 2019 at Stamping Sensations and this month we have a terrific prize for someone - full details at the bottom of the post!

Our first theme this year is   'FABULOUSLY FEMININE - suitable for a lady'.  
Lots of scope for you to create something pretty!

So here we are -

Quite a change for me to do 'frilly'! Just lately I have been leaning towards more CAS cards simply because they don't cost as much to post!

Lots of coloured card in this craftie space and immediately someone says 'girly', I reach for Pink! The next sheet in the pile was a scrummy dark chocolate brown colour and they looked OK together!
I stamped and clear embossed the flower (SU) onto the pink background card.
Then stamped it twice more onto white card and once again on the scrap of pink left over from the base, using a brown ink.
Assembled it all onto another scrap of pink card before layering it.
Finished with a large brown bow and a couple of pearlies!

Now about our prize - just in case you didn't get enough crafty stash over Christmas we're giving someone the opportunity this month to win a STAMP BUNDLE!

Ten stamps (yes I did say TEN) go to the person our Design Team vote as their winner this month - how can you resist?? 😍😍

Please follow our challenge rules and make stamping the focal point of your project! Look forward to visiting you to see what you make!

Joining in at
Simply Create Too - A/Goes
Creations in Pink - A/Goes
ABMTTC - A/Goes
CDTCB - Open Challenge #1
Craft-Dee Bowz - A/Goes

Guest Designer at CAS Mix Up!

Super excited to have been invited to be the Guest Designer over at CAS Mix Up this month after winning the November challenge, although I did have to think a bit as the technique is one I haven't done for a long time!

But as I started to do my Bokeh background I wondered why I had hadn't done these backgrounds on more things!
Bokeh is a simple technique really - so there is no excuse for me not doing it more often! And you can use a variety of mediums to create the effect.

I used Distress Inks in shades of Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon and Stormy Sky for my background and a White pigment ink for the circles.

Originally I was going to make my own circle stencil but then I remembered I had this one by Inkylicious called 'Bubbles'.

I had no idea what I was going to do until I finished the background and then the card just came together.

The colours which are amongst my fave DI's just reminded me of the sea so Miss Mermaid seemed to be appropriate!
She is from a freebie stamp set which I have had for ages and never used.

I stamped her sat on her rocks twice onto white card and fussy cut. I had to extend the rocks as they weren't big enough to cover the whole of the card base!
I coloured her with the same Distress Inks mixed with a bit of Golden Malachite and Tropic Blue Cosmic Shimmer Powders - her tail is lovely and shimmery! 

Popped her rock seat on small foam pads, slid the background in behind then sat her back on top.
Finished off with a couple of Dew Drops and a sentiment from the same set which I rather liked.

There it is - my GD card - Bokeh, Stamping and my choice was watercolouring!
There are plenty of Bokeh tutorials on You Tube if you've never tried it - and it would be lovely if you could join in - you can see some wonderful examples from the talented lot on the Mix Up DT over on the blog.
Happy Crafting and Happy New Year!x

Santa has been!

Happy Day after Christmas!
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day - I did - lots of lovely crafty stash from hubby... who proved that whilst I was muttering about  'Mmmmm that's a nice stamp - would really like it '  he was listening!
So I plan to spend the next couple of days playing about with the new stuff - be rude not to show how much I am enjoying the presents now wouldn't it???😊😊
Unsurprisingly though, today I am going to share a card made for sending next year - another one inspired by a Pinterest trawl.
(I actually don't know how many hours I spend looking at other peoples stuff instead of making myself!)

This card all made with little snippets of card laying about from the big Christmas card make, .

Have now had a BIG clean up on the desk and I was surprised to actually SEE the craft mat - been a long time since I have made it's acquaintance!

Used a 'snow' embossing folder on the card base and die cut 2 small circles.
On the smaller circle I brushed over some Peeled Paint DI then had a little bit of splattering fun with Festive Berries DO.

The holly flourish die I have had for a while, and the larger holly leaves and berries was a purchase earlier this year. Both again cut from tiny bits of card. The larger die cuts out the leaves and berries separately - trying to find 3 tiny berry circles amongst all the mess on the desk was fun (not 😕)

After painting all the die cuts I used some Glossy Accents on the all berries and sprinkled a little glamour dust onto the berry trio.
The sentiment was coloured with Festive Berries and also given a dose of glossy accents.

Am paying a visit into the Playground - (hoping that there's some Mince Pies left), although I will have to be well wrapped up as I am still suffering with that nasty cough!


Enjoy the rest of the Festive holidays everyone! x

Santa is on his way

I love this Santa stamp!
Sadly he doesn;t belong to me so when I got an opportunity last year to steal him for an hour from a crafting buddy I stamped him rather a lot.... brought lots of him home.... and promptly forgot about him. 😧😧

So there I was putting away the Christmas stash for another year and he was there looking at me from the drawer.
He was still smiling so maybe he isn't too annoyed - and hopefully he will still come and visit me in a couple of days.

Coloured him lightly and popped him behind a die cut frame then added a few holly bough die cuts.

Gave him a bit of sparkle and finished card - unfortunately he will have to go back in the drawer now till next year!!

I have been quite poorly this week with what I can only describe as what started off as a cold but quickly developed into the worst cough in the universe. 😷
I ventured out to do some food shopping on Thursday and it only served to make me worse. I have been indoors ever since.
I am hoping that by Monday I at least start to feel a bit better - otherwise it will be Christmas Day in my PJ's on the sofa wrapped in a blanket feeling very sorry for myself!

If this is your last visit to me before the Big Day, I wish you all a happy Christmas surrounded by those you love. xx

Joining in at
MMM - CAS Christmas
Use Your Stuff - Christmas
LRW - All things Christmas
Dies R Us - Christmas
TIOT -  Santa

Mid Month at Stamping Sensations

Not long to go before 25th and it is time for our mid month reminder at Stamping Sensations. If you're needing last minute reasonably quick cards here's one! Our theme is 'GLITTER AND SPARKLE'.

I am STILL trying to use up the coloured card mountain - barely a dent sadly..... but I AM trying!

Navy blue card this time -

Stamped and embossed the snowflakes then die cut the oval aperture.
Took a scrap of glitter card and die cut a smaller oval, then put it on small foam pads behind the big oval.
I stamped and embossed the tree on the base card then simply layered it all up.
Added a teeny sparkly at the top of the tree and job done! Quite pleased as it looks very effective and didn't take long to do.

Be Creative are our sponsors this month so make sure your entry has stamping as the focal point to be in with a chance to win, pop over and link up and good luck!

Last Minute cards

I for the first time in a long time am not panicking that I haven't made enough cards!
I am just using up stuff out on my desk and have made another for next year's stash.

This was seriously one of the quickest cards EVER!

A couple of (very) old tree stamps stamped and heat embossed onto a scrap of linen card.

Some Stormy Sky DI and a penny to create the sky!

A sentiment stamped inked in Versafine Majestic Blue.
Some Stckles sparingly used for a teeny shimmer of snowdust
All layered onto a base card and done!

Joining in over at
Allsorts - Trees
HIMCR - Keep It Simple with Xmas
HLS CAS - CAS Emboss
Fashionable Stamping - Winter

Well the snow I was looking forward to didn't materialise at all - so contented myself with making snowy scenes instead!
Hope all is well in your part of blogland and thanks for stopping by. x

Is the snow coming?

We may have a light dusting of snow at the weekend.... it probably won't last but I confess to liking to look out at the snow covered fields!
So my share is a card featuring snowflakes today (in anticipation!😀😀)

I have had this snowflake background stamp for several years. I have no idea of the manufacturer as it is another I removed from the wood block as my stamp collection grew and I needed more storage space!

The stamp is only about 3" x 2" so I had to randomly stamp a couple of times to cover the card front then heat embossed in white.

I brushed over Tumbled Glass DI and then 'polished' the card front with a paper towel to remove any excess ink from the top of the snowflakes.

I cut the card with a wavy stitched die then mounted it onto base card.

The snowflake was cut from some left over blue sparkly paper which matches the DI and I added a blue pearl in the centre. Finished by stamping the sentiment and heat embossing onto a scrap of vellum.

Joining in at
Cute Card Thursday - Embossing
Back 2 Basics - Resist technique
C@SS - Anything Christmas
HTSB - Tic/Tac/Toe (Snow, Blue, Emboss)
City Crafter - Snowflakes
CAS Mix Up -Emboss Resist/Stamping/Die cutting

And armed with my little bits of leftovers I am popping over to the Playground to see Miss Di, Parsnip and the gummy fur ball Dudley (he's losing his baby teeth!) - he's been the doggy parlour too so he smells nice!
Hope you are all safe and warm in your part of blogland and thanks for visiting. x

Poinsettia and Pixie Powders

It's a horrible day here! The wind is howling so a perfect day to sit in the craftie space - like I needed an excuse.
This card was inspired by a lady called Holly Brown who made several cards like this in different colours.
I have much neglected the Pixie Powders and the Brushos of late in my desire to make quick  CAS cards but to be honest, this card was really just as quick as many of the others I have made.

I have the Powders and Brushos still out on the desk so am going to do a few more in different colours and then do some for Birthdays instead of Christmas using different flowers. 

I only have 3 Poinsettia stamps. One is for layering/die cutting and not suitable and the other is a PB Watercolour one - again no good for this!
This one is from PB's Wonder Collection and was a challenge win some time ago! I teamed it up with a Holly stamp from Woodware's 'Christmas Greenery' set.

Stamped, embossed then masked the Poinsettia then stamped and embossed the holly.
I used 'Midnight Blue' Pixie Powder on watercolour card.
I am still perfecting using powders -but think this one turned out OK, although I usually am too heavy handed when sprinkling the powder.
The sentiment stamping was a disaster hence the addition! 

Sharing over at
Alphabet - S for Seasons Greetings
Just add Ink - 'I'nky Techniques
Allsorts - Christmas Flowers
Beccy's Place - December
The Flower Challenge - Use an Older stamp

Thanks for looking and I appreciate any comments you leave.
Hope you are warm and dry in your part of blogland! x

Stars

Doing some more Christmas cards as although I think I have enough for myself this year, I decided that it wouldn't do any harm to keep making whilst I have all the Christmas stash out - (any excuse not to tidy up this mess of a craft room  😛😛)

Finished this one today for the challenge over at CAS Christmas which (would you believe) is Stars!
OK so there's only ONE star on here but it IS a very sparkly one!

This was a CASE of one I made last year - and the year before- and probably the year before that!  I like the simple design and the bonus is it doesn't take very long.

Used the 'Snow' embossing folder on an odd piece of card and layered it onto mirri card (which as we all know is an absolute PIG to photograph)
The branch and the star simply cut from glitter card. A little bit of red cord wrapped round the branch and stuck to the star.

Finished with a Penny Black sentiment inked in Silver metallic ink.

Also sharing over at
Country View Challenges - Christmas


The weather here has been very wet and the forecast is for dry but very cold. Can cope tih cold but I hate wet! So maybe I might go for a walk tomorrow to blow away the cobwebs..... and not have to tidy the craft room! Have a great day whatever you're doing and thanks for visiting! x

Stamping Sensations December Challenge

The brand new challenge at Stamping Sensations this month is 'GLITTER AND SPARKLE'!

Be Creative are our sponsors this month so make sure your entry has stamping as the focal point to be in with a chance to win!
I have used their embossing powders on this card.

I had a bit of a brainstorm with this - halfway through I was thinking why oh why did I use vellum?!!
Seemed like a good idea before I started......

Vellum on a white base card.
Stamps used are 'Twiggy Trees' by Inkylicious.
Embossed 6 in silver and one smaller one in gold.

Stamped the sentiment in Smokey Grey Versafine ink and clear embossed.

Added lots of stickles drops to the sky.

Overall am quite pleased with the way it turned out - It IS really sparkly in real life and didn't take too long to do, although I had to use a sticky sheet specifically for vellum to attach to the card in an attempt to get it to lay flat as the vellum had warped a little with the heat gun!

Please go over to the blog and see what my teamies have done too - we love visitors!

Have a great day whatever you're doing. x
Linking up at -
PB& More -  Trad Xmas Colours (Gold and Silver)
Crazy4Challenges - Tree
CAS on Friday - Christmas
Fussy & Fancy - Winter/Christmas
Back 2 Basics - Stamping on Vellum
That's Crafty - Winter Wonderland

Crafty time!

I am doing a little happy dance as although I have a few things to do this week, most are in the house so I can pop in and out of the craftie space and make messy to my hearts content and up to now next week is the same too!
Spent yesterday finishing a baby card (can't show yet!), and writing some of my Christmas cards - (that's a bit of a fib really - I print labels and just add a couple of kisses if the recipient warrants it! But I DO write the envelopes!)
So here's another Christmas card from me today to share

I love Pink.... bet you didn't know that did you??😄😄
For some reason I like to make Pink Christmas cards and here's another.
A few snippets used here so am away to the Playground to check out what has been going on!

The trees are silver embossed and the pink is of course Spun Sugar DI.

I had some silver pearlised card left over from another card so die cut two snowflakes and layered them together.

The silver ribbon was used on a card I received last year - there wasn't a lot of it but I managed to make it stretch just enough!

The sentiment was stamped in Silver ink and a sparkly gem added to the middle of the snowflakes.

The pic quality is really poor - but then so is the light here at the mo!
Joining in at
Crazy 4 CAS - Fave colour (Pink!)
MMM - Non Trad Christmas colour
TIOT - Winter Wonderland
Beccy's Place - X for Xmas

Thanks for visiting today - hope all is well in your part of blogland. xx

Brrr......!!

My goodness it has gone cold here! We even had a few sleety snowflakey things drop for 10 minutes or so a little earlier. Didn't amount to much but it is definitely a sign that Winter is here.
So I have a wintry scene card to share -

Just got out the inks and a scrap circle lying on the desk was put to good use as it made me a big moon mask!
I used Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio for the background. This is one of my fave colour combos when using inks and I wasn't sure if it would give me the cold effect I wanted but I think it's not too bad.

The trees were a mixture of stamps, all white embossed and the reindeer was done the same.
I added a little bit of Stickles along the base of the trees and on little deer's feet (doesn't show very well in the pic!)

The sentiment is from SU and sadly I didn't manage a crisp impression and you can just see a little bit of powder round some of it - but think that it proves that is is hand made as it's not perfect! (My excuse anyway!)

Linking up at -
Holly and Ivy - A/Christmas
SSS Wednesday - Baby It's Cold Outside
Ally's Angels - Winter
Fab n Funky - Christmas


Thanks for coming along to visit me. Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

November Mid Month reminder

It's the middle of November and time for a little reminder about our challenge this month at Stamping Sensations.
We are 'GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS' (as if we needed reminding that it's almost upon us!!)

I have made a card which is similar to one that I posted a couple of weeks back in a different colour combo - (it's HERE if you want a peek)- I can take no credit for the idea (acknowledgement is on the other post)  but hope that it will inspire you to make something and join in with us this month.

This really IS a CAS Card and I made several of these in different colours using coloured cardstock.
The inked panel is not difficult to make - just watercolour card stamped and some distress ink used to colour the background. I used Versafine Majestic Blue for the trees and Chipped Sapphire for the background.

As with the other one, I used some liquid pearls and glam dust to imitate snow falling- it really does sparkle!

Hope you will join us - to be in with a chance of winning a great prize from SWEDISH HOUSE CRAFTS simply link up your creation with your stamping as the focal point.
And if you're all 'Christmassed Out' and are still needing some inspiration my teamies have lots of lovely cards to give you some ideas! 

Linking up at
Allsorts - CAS Christmas
MTTC - Let it Snow
Sweet Stampin - Sparkle and Glitz
CMHCD #319 - Blues

More Christmas!

Got on and made a couple more cards of the same design, using up some scraps on the way. Have done this card in a couple of different colours and will share more later.

My favourite linen textured card was used for all the pieces.

I started by stamping the trees on the panel using Olive Archival Ink.

The stamp is old and at some point I've taken it off the wood backing so have no idea which company but they may be Hero Arts?

I then dusted some Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn over the tree line and stamped the sentiment in the same Olive ink.
The circle is coloured with Festive Berries and simply glued over the panel. 
A Holly die inked and stuck on, some cord and a few pearls and done.

I am sharing this make over at  Double Trouble -  Challenge 14. 
This is the first time I have seen this challenge and was intrigued by it!
Surprisingly I have managed to do all 3 things with this card - create a Christmas project, use the Tic Tac Toe board for TSOT (link below) and also have an optional twist of 'something hanging'.

Also joining in at
TSOT - Red/Trees/Circle
ABC Christmas - W-wishes/X-Xmas
A2S+M - Holiday
C/mas at Sweet Stampin - Christmas
Holly + Ivy - Christmas


An acknowledgement of inspiration is needed to Pinterest and Birgit for the concept behind this card. We have a lovely day here - blue skies and really mild for this time of the year. I hope the sun is shining where you are and thanks for looking!.x

Poppies

A simple CAS card on this Remembrance Day.

 

White Linen card base, some snippets of the same card to create the layers.

Prim Poppy die, (more snippets) and the negative image used to sponge the shadow on the smallest layer.

Poppy coloured with Distress Inks then the heads covered in Glossy Accents.

A few black shiny faceted gems and a simple sentiment.

Allsorts - Poppies/Red
Snippets Playground #339