Snow and Ice

Over at CAS Christmas the latest challenge is 'Sparkle and Shine'.
Well, I mean who doesn't love a bit of glittery stuff? Having found the glitter card, I sat and looked at it for a while then I remembered I had bought a Hot Off the Press die last year in a clearance sale and never used it because when it came it was far bigger than I expected! (Note to self - read descriptions and take note of sizes!) It's not massive but at the time it didn't suit me!
Anyway, I used it finally today.

I die cut the skates in silver glitter card then die cut again in bright white Centura Pearl card and pieced the white inside the silver.

The branch is an old Spellbinders one which is probably one of my most used.

Cut the branch from some silver sheen card which isn't as reflective as mirri card and I like it better - I think it looks like the branch has been embossed.

Die cut a couple of snowflakes and then assembled it, using a snowflake embossing folder for the background..

Quite pleased with the result - it really is sparkly and shiny - and I am thinking how nice it would be to be near an icy lake with sparkly skates on - cos after a very dull morning the skies have cleared and it is very warm here at the moment!

Thanks for looking. x
Sharing over at
NBUS #42 - (cos this is the first time for my dies)
Peace On Earth - A/Goes
CHNC - A/Goes with option of the letter 'S'
Sparkles Forum Christmas - A/Goes
A2S+M - Christmas

August CAS Christmas

This months challenge at CAS Christmas has the theme of 'Pine'.

Dipping into the Christmas boxes I came across a Uniko stamp set which fitted the theme.

The pine branches stamped with Memento Cottage Ivy ink then a bit of shadow stamping added to puff it out a bit.

I don't have a lot of brown inks (which shall no doubt be rectified very soon 😉) but I had Memento Rich Cocoa which actually looked OK for the pine cones!

Again some shadow stamping before I fussy cut the pine cones.

A liberal spattering with a white Posca pen and a sentiment from Penny Black.

Thanks for looking and I hope the sun is shining where you are! x

Sharing over at -
HLS Christmas- A/Goes
SSS - Christmas
Krafty Chicks - CAS

Christmas in July

I've managed to ignore the roasting temperatures and pretend that it's cold and snowy whilst doing this month's card for CAS Christmas!

The challenge theme is 'Santa'.

I have just 3 Santa stamps and this is one of them - it was a freebie many moons ago and I think it's likely this is the first time it's seen ink.
Santa and his reindeer actually have a large moon round them but I didn't want the moon that big so carefully removed the ink before stamping.
Ink blended background using a coin for my moon mask.                           
The snow drifts were done using a mask and Shaded Lilac ink.

Other stamps are Lavinia (Bunny), Inkylicious (Large Tree) and Cardio (small trees and twigs).
Sentiment is another mag freebie.

Another card for the Christmas Box!

There's a few other Christmas themed challenges about so am linking up at -

HLS CAS - Christmas
MIUCB - A/Goes option of CAS
Sweet Stampers - Christmas In July
ABC Christmas - O is for Old (my Santa and sentiment stamps)

Thanks for looking! x

      

CAS Christmas - June

I was happy to see that CAS Christmas has also re-started this month after the CAS challenges extended break. It really helps me with the Christmas card stash!

The challenge this time is 'Wreath'.
To make my card I drew a circle with a green watercolour pencil then used a very small ferny branch stamp inked in Versamagic Aloe Vera, over-stamping it lots of times round the pencil drawn circle.

I had another tiny pine branch stamp and added a few random stampings in Sage Green to try and give some variety - Looking back maybe I should have alternated them round the circle as they don't show up too well in the pic but too late now! 
Both of these tiny stamps were free in a magazine some time ago - and as is usual this is the first time they've seen ink.

The candle was a bit of an experiment which didn't turn out too bad. Nuvo Crystal Drops filled in a hand drawn candle - and in real life it actually looks like wax - so a plus!

Red Nuvo used to create a few berries and some gold glitter for the candle flame with an SU sentiment to finish.

I used some ivory hammered cardstock for this make and to be honest it really doesn't photograph very well but thanks for looking.
I'll be back in a couple of days as I have been having a fun time  making messy with pastes and stencils which are our current CAS Mix Up challenge! (If you scroll down you'll see what I have done so far!)
Hope all is well in your part of blogland. x

First Christmas Card 2022!

Last year I joined in at CAS Christmas for almost every month apart from one so am trying to have another go this year. Seems quite weird making Christmas cards so early but last year playing along every month helped me a bit so there was not as mad a rush at the end which was just as well considering the house situation!
I also have not yet re-packed  the few Christmas stamps I'd got out so it made sense to use them!

The first challenge of the year is 'Silver and Gold'.

I took a circle stencil/mask and lightly inked the outside in Hickory Smoke then tore some paper to make 'snow drifts' inside the circle and inked.

The stamps are all from Lavinia and Inkylicious.
The embossing was a bit tricky!

I did all the silver stamping and embossing first, then embossed the gold tree. Used an embossing pen to dab onto the berries and gold embossed.
I was a little apprehensive in case I overheated the silver and made it dull but thankfully it all turned out OK and it really is shiny in real life!

The sentiment stamp was a freebie in a craft mag last year - was quite disappointed with it as it didn't give a crisp impression but you can make out the words 'Winter Greetings' when you have hold of it so overall am quite happy with the way the card looks.
One down - lots to go!
Peace On Earth have a Christmas theme of  'Anything Goes', so am popping this into their gallery too and Country View Challenges January challenge is 'A Year to Sparkle and Shine'.

November CAS Christmas

 It's time for the last challenge of the year over at CAS Christmas. Strange really as although I think for me the last couple of months have gone by slowly, but when I look back the year has gone!
This month's challenge is 'Christmas Critters'.

I don't have a lot of 'cute' stamps but I have one set from Penny Black called 'Holly Days' and I used one from that set for this make.

I ink blended my panel in shades of blue using a mask for the bottom. 

I transferred the mask to the base card and lightly inked along it to continue the hill.

Stamped our happy little soul and watercoloured him. Used a dot stencil and some sparkle paste for the 'snow'!
He makes me smile as he looks so pleased that the sparkly stuff is falling from the sky!

Anyway another one for the Christmas stash which I should really now get round to sorting out and writing!

I managed to take part in all but one of the challenges this year and have enjoyed the different themes, so thanks to the ladies over at CAS Christmas!

I'll be back in a few days with my mid month DT card for CAS Mix Up - but until then thanks for visiting and for any comments you leave. x

Unmotivated!

I broke my New Year resolution to myself last month by failing to enter the CAS Christmas challenge - it was the first month I have missed this year.

I am finding it very difficult to become motivated or interested in doing much, although things are starting to move a little on the house front although an actual move is unlikely to take place for a few weeks yet.

I was determined to make something for CAS Christmas and not miss another month but found myself staring vacantly at card and ink!
In the end I did a simple remake of a card I made a couple of years ago - altering the colours to comply with the challenge theme of Gray and Red.

Another thing about this house we're in is it is simply impossible to get a decent photo of ANYTHING!

Am disappointed because after stamping my foliage in Smokey Gray ink and my flower heads in Memento Rocket Red, I took out the Nuvo Gloss Drops and painstakingly applied tiny red drops to all the flower heads. - It simply does not show either gloss or dimension on the pic - but it looks OK in real life.

And as I am struggling to come up with anything at the mo, this is the best I can do and I'll just have to accept it!

The sentiment is one of my favourites at Christmas and is from Stampin' Up I thought about altering it to say 'May your season be blessed with a new house'!!

I apologise again for my sporadic (sometimes non existent) visits to you all -fingers crossed for something approaching normality soon!

Thanks for looking! x

Making Do for CAS Christmas!

 At the beginning of the year when I made the (now rash) promise of joining CAS Christmas' challenge every month, I didn't know that space and supplies would be at a premium.

I spent a little while searching for my Kraft card without success  - undeterred though, I decided the best thing I could do when living in a cardboard box filled house was to take a pair of scissors to one of them!

I chopped a square(ish) piece and ripped it a bit   (I can't wait to be doing that to them all I can tell you 😈)

The stamps are all from a never before used Creative Expressions set called 'Inky Christmas'. I just chose two of the smaller bauble stamps and a grungy spotty stamp, stamped the cardboard and heat embossed in white, with a bit of random embossing elsewhere.

This is definitely NOT one of my better efforts  -   hey ho 🙅....... and I doubt if it will stay on the white textured card base but the cardboard from the box was simply too thick to make a card with (or even cover the front of a card blank).  I think it will look so much better on a Kraft one. If it doesn't then it will find it's way out with the rest of the cardboard.....💣
Still, am content because I have kept my word to make a card every month for the challenge!

CAS Christmas - July

 Even though at the moment my life outside the craft room can be only described as 'madly chaotic' - (nothing sinister - more of that will be shared in due course!) - I yesterday found time to continue with my quest to participate in every month's challenge at CAS Christmas.

The challenge this month is 'Poinsettia'.

The die was a present from a friend and it is such a pretty one.

Cut the petals twice then watercoloured one green and one red then layered them - VERY fiddly to do but was happy with the result!.

I fiddled and faffed about for ages in deciding on a background and then just did a little watercolouring with no rhyme or reason!

It didn't look too bad and I added a little bit of stamping with a small berry stamp from an old Choc Baroque set to give it some interest.
The 'Joy' sentiment is from SU.

Sharing over at
Shopping Our Stash - Christmas in July
Dragonfly Dreams - Christmas in July
Addicted 2 CAS - Christmas

Thank you for looking and for leaving any comments, I really appreciate it. x

Snow - (bird) Men?

 Well it's the 6th month of the year and I am still keeping my promise to make at least one card for CAS Christmas.
This month's challenge though had me a little stumped - a simple enough theme you would think until I realised that amongst this stamp mountain I possess I own precisely ONE snowman stamp 😦
What to do????

I remembered that when this stamp from Crafty Individuals (CI- 569) was released despite it being called 'Seagulls of Seaton Carew', I immediately thought of snowmen! Maybe it was the scarves and the bobble hat?

Stamped and heat embossed in white and chopped off their legs!

Stamped, coloured and paper pieced the scarves,  bobble hat and googly eye and just popped them onto a white snowy background. I added a row of die cut white trees behind them.
(I think if I did this again I might make their black beaks orange like carrots)

In my head they looked like they were lost or simply couldn't make their minds up which way to go so the addition of the sign with a couple of choices -

Do we behave and go home?
Or do we go and find adventure?

Big choices for 2 (legless) Snow (Men)......😄
Sharing over at
Fezziwigs - Cold and Frosty
Krafty Chicks - Christmas
A2S+M - Christmas

Thanks for looking today - have a lovely day whatever you're doing! x

Holly-Days

 CAS Christmas has a 'Foliage with Berries' theme for their May challenge.

I used a much neglected die and cut out several leaves and berries, then watercoloured.

Some Mowed Lawn DI gently brushed through a stencil as I thought the plain white card background was a little stark.

I added some Glossy Accents to the berries and a few red ink spatters!

The sentiment is from PB.
Another Christmas card done!

It is ridiculously cold here considering it's supposed to be Spring.

Although today we do have some blue skies after yesterdays heavy rain and hailstones it is definitely not warm!

Sharing my make over at
Holly+Ivy - Anything Xmas

CAS Christmas April Challenge

It seems even weirder now to be making Christmas cards when we have blue skies and sunshine BUT - having ventured outside it is really cold so it feels more like Winter!
This month's challenge at CAS Christmas is RAINBOW
Here's my card which I am hoping is CAS enough 

I am still trying to keep using all the coloured cardstock that I have so black for this one which is normally used for layering!
For a long time I have tried to achieve a decent attempt at a night sky reminiscent of the Northern Lights.
(I have a burning ambition to actually see the lights for real and it is number 1 on my wish list.)

I used sooooo many inks for this sky but you know, I was really happy with it!

Flicked some white Posca pen across it to give a 'starry' effect.

I cut out two rows of trees, one in black and another in watercolour card.

I tried to watercolour the trees in the same colours as the sky immediately above them!
I offset the black trees behind to give a little 'shadow'.

The sentiment is one of my fave Christmas dies.

I am feeling very pleased  as it is now month 4 and I have kept my promise to take part in CAS Christmas every month!
(But I keep reminding myself it's only a quarter of the way through the year!!!)
Wishing you all a Happy Easter weekend. x

Sharing at
Jingle Belles - Dies

CAS Christmas - March

CAS Mix Up's little sister blog CAS Christmas is also celebrating a birthday this month - and there are some great prizes on both blogs so come along and help us celebrate!

The Christmas challenge theme is Kraft, Red and White and it gave me an opportunity to use a die set bought last year and simply put away in the Xmas Die Folder!
Added a bit of interest to the plain white background with a 'snow' embossing folder and a few red mirri card punched out stars.

I don't use Kraft card nearly enough so made a couple of other cards whilst the challenge is running which I will share at some point. It also means I have more Christmas cards ready too which can only be a good thing!

Sharing over at
HLS (CAS) - 3 of a kind
A2S+M - Dies +/or Stencils
Holly and Ivy - A/Goes

Dogs and Cats

I am continuing with my promise to myself to try and take part in the Christmas Challenge at Mix Up's sister blog CAS Christmas.

 The challenge this month is 'Dogs and/or Cats'. 
I don't have many domestic animal themed stamps - but one of my friends was having a little clear out and a set of Penny Black 'Holly Jolly Critter' stamps came my way.

I stamped and watercoloured the little doggy then masked him before inking up and lightly spritzing an Inkylicious 'Twiggy Tree'.

I added a heat embossed gold star to the top and watercoloured the sky, adding some shading beneath the tree and the doggy.
A little spattering with a white Posca pen and a bit of glitter on the fur of the hat and job done.

Another card for the stash!

I know several people who have already had their first dose of vaccine which is great news.
Current calculations put mine due April with the second dose July.
Seems  little way off yet but you know now I am looking back it seems the last year has flown! (Despite being stuck at home for almost all of it!) 

I hope you are all staying warm and safe and thanks for looking today. x
Also linking to
ABC Christmas - D for Diamond (Glitter)
Fezziwigs - Glitter/Red/Gold

CAS Christmas!

Just when you thought it was time to forget about Christmas here's another Christmas card!
Once again this year I am going to try and take part in  the monthly challenges at  CAS Mix Up's  sister blog CAS Christmas.    (My DT card for Mix Up is the post below this one!)

This month's challenge prompt was Silhouette.

My bauble stencil is one bought from Inkylicious a long time ago.
I used Scattered Straw and  Speckled Egg for the background, with a little inking of Squeezed Lemonade to highlight the stars.

The Nativity scene stamp was part of the Sentimentally Yours set by Phil Martin and was a magazine freebie - I used it a lot this year.

I added a small piece of cord to the top and I lightly inked the edges of the white card before matting it onto black. The sentiment is from Penny Black.

Another card for the 2021 pile and a nice quick make!

We've had quite a bit of snow here over the last few days - and it is really cold.
In between the snow falling we have seen some stunning blue skies and if it wasn't for the white stuff on the ground from inside you would think it was summer!

I hope you're safe and warm wherever you are in the world and thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today. x

Non Traditional Christmas

Finally it has stopped raining and we had an overnight frost which gave way to a bright sky. Some clouds about but hopefully it will stay dry even if it's cold!

The November challenge over at CAS Christmas is 'Non Traditional Colours'.
It gave me an opportunity to get out the pile of rarely used coloured cardstock.

This colour is called Amethyst - I like it but have never used it before (a bit like a lot of the colours I have!)
I tried a few things (inspired by the use of coloured card on Pinterest) but in the end opted for embossing a stamp (SU's Bright and Beautiful) and simply using clear embossing powder.

I was pleasantly surprised at just how effective it looked!

The sentiment is embossed in Platinum.

A really plain and simple make and I have lots of coloured card so will try a few more I think.

Linking up with
TIOT - Embossing
ABC Xmas - 'X' for Xtra Special

Hope the sun is shining where you are - we go back into full lockdown tomorrow so am hoping that the blue skies stay with us for a while as looking out on wet grey weather only makes you more fed up! x

Brusho Christmas

 I sometimes look at my craft stash and think 'It's a long time since I used that'.... and so it is with my Brushos.
I don't use them enough - probably because I am not very good with them!

This card was inspired by a technique I saw a while ago and I stored it up to try it.... long forgotten but it just for some reason popped into my head when I saw the challenge at my Cas Mix Up's sister blog-  CAS Christmas this month was 'Christmas Tree'.

The technique is to simply 'ink' your stamp liberally with water, stamp onto watercolour card and sprinkle the Brushos on the wet impression, allowing each impression to dry before repeating.

I struggle so much with Brushos and also the 'move the colour around with a brush' thing that everyone I know seems to be so good at so there were several failed attempts before I managed to achieve something which I call 'passable'!
I was also limited as I only have a 12 colour starter pack so the colour options were not many - I used Emerald Green and Ultramarine.

Once dry I just dotted a white gel pen randomly before adding the sentiment.
As I said, this for me is a passable effort - I doubt if I am ever going to become expert.
I am struggling a little lately - my problems are compounded by the fact that no matter how much I try the face mask just makes me panic after 5 minutes. So for me now it's simply out in the car to somewhere flat so I can just walk - a visit to the shops are no longer an option. The weather here tho' has not been the best for walking which probably explains the 'restlessness' I am experiencing and my complete lack of any inspiration or motivation!

Stay safe wherever you are in the world. x
Linking up at
Sweet Stampin' - A/thing but a Birthday Card
Time Out - Season
CRAFT- Christmas

Perspective (or lack of it)

We are being treated to a damp day so after getting a little wet on the morning walk the rest of the day is being spent holed up on the top floor!
I have had this image rattling round in my head for a while now after seeing a spring card made with Alexander Renke papers (and probably dies).
As it would be easier to plait fog than get my hands on anything Alexander Renke in my part of the world without having to rob a bank beforehand I set about trying to put my own slant and create something with stamps and the dies I have.
Which is where the perspective comes in - 

Yes I know that deer are slightly bigger than Holly berries.... but I didn't have any tiny berries or big deer!
(Just pretend that the deer is a long way away in the distance........)

Random colouring of a leaf stamp with my Arteza pens, spritzing then stamped on the bottom of a circle with the top bit run through a snow E/F.
Die cut and watercoloured the holly and deer and added the sentiment from Penny Black inked in Walnut Stain.

It was really fiddly chopping up the berries and re-positioning them and it almost became one of those jobs I hadn't wished I'd started!

Am sharing over at CAS Christmas in their 'Winter Berries' challenge.

Some restrictions here have been eased slightly but things definitely cannot be described as 'getting back to normal'. For now I am staying put!!

Thanks for stopping by. Take Care. xx

Christmas Song

It is like a warm sunny summer's day here today so it seems even more strange than usual to be sharing a Christmas Card!
CAS Christmas this month has the challenge of 'Christmas Song'.

This card shape is a bit of a change for me - I found two of these at the back of a drawer so thought I should use them.

The crown stamp is very old and very neglected! Stamped and gold embossed then layered each onto a piece of gold glitter card. I didn't like them just added onto the card base so put another layer of white card on glitter card - and stuck the 3 crowns on - happier now!

I made a second card whilst the stamp was out - using up odd bits of card - I have a feeling I made something like these once before some time back!
Anyway it's 2 more for the Christmas box, so have achieved something!

I'll be back later with my reminder post for CAS Stencil but am popping outside with my cuppa to enjoy the sunshine for an hour.

Hope the sun is shining where you are too. x

Sparkly Flower

(My reminder post for CAS Stencil is below this one - Please scroll down the page!)

The sun is shining here today for a change! We have lovely blue skies, although it is still a bit chilly we managed to get out for an hour and a walk - it was lovely and peaceful and we were able to not dwell on the current situation all over the world for a short time and just enjoy the fresh air.

I am keeping my promise to myself to enter the challenge at CAS Christmas each month (listen to me - it's only March!!! Call back in October and we'll see how I've done then!) - this month the challenge is 'Winter Flower'.

It's also their SECOND BIRTHDAY so Happy Birthday to everyone at CAS Christmas!

I used a Penny Black poinsettia stamp, stamping first on gold glitter paper then embossing.

I stamped the flower again on some vellum and heat embossed, and used the stem from another set for the stalk and the leaf.

Fussy cut and then added some sequins for the centre.

I managed to find enough hammered textured card to make this card. I think I am going to have to buy some more as I am beginning to like it a lot better than plain white!

The card is quite sparkly but delicate in real life and another Christmas card for the box!
Sharing over at
ABC Christmas - E=Embossing/G=Gold