MFT Birds of a Feather Congratulations you two card

Hello everyone and welcome back to the challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More. This time we have our Clean and Simple week which means we are looking for lots of white space with minimal embellishments.

Here is my card

I used my new  My Favorite Things Birds of a Feather die set and the Rectangle Peekaboo Window to create the front and added an inked sky behind the lovebirds.

I made this as an anniversary card but as it just says Congratulations, it could be used for a wedding, engagement, or even first new home together if I put a nest or birdhouse on the inside.

Sadly, Bobby has decided to step down from the team this year and I will miss seeing her gorgeous cards in the gallery, but we are pleased to welcome Izzy, and you can see her card and inspiration from the rest of the team over on the ASTM blog.

I'd like to play along with

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Anniversaries

Die Cut Divas - something new (bird dies)

Papercraft Challenge #14 - new beginnings

Dies R Us Challenge #113 - anything new (bird dies)

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Clearly Besotted Merry Little Christmas reindeer Christmas card

Hello everyone and welcome to another year of Christmas challenges over at Happy Little Stampers. 

Our challenge is an anything goes as long as it's Christmas challenge, but each month we have an optional twist to make it more fun and this time the twist is reindeer. I came up with this card

I used Clearly Besotted Birch Background 2 stamp to create the background and added a glitter snowbank. The cute reindeer is from CB Merry Little Christmas stamp set, and the bird and sentiment are from Papertrey Ink.

 To finish off I used red Nuvo Drops to give the reindeer a shiny red nose!

We have lots of inspiration over on the Happy Little Stampers blog and, if you decide to join us, you can link up your card there.

I'd like to play along at

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #182 - snow much fun.

Cute n Crafty Christmas Challenge #3 - Christmas/winter

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #96 - add some sparkle

Dotty Pudding Christmas Challenge #1 - Rudolph and Friends



Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Papertrey Ink Holiday Greens Christmas card

Hello and welcome to a new year of challenges over at ABC Christmas Challenges.

Crafters probably split into 2 camps - the first one spends the end of November and December frantically making Christmas cards in a rush, and then puts everything Christmas away until next November. The others swear that won't happen next time and vow to make Christmas cards throughout the year so they can have a more relaxed run-up to Christmas. I'm definitely in the second camp. I love to make a handmade card for family and friends but my life is far to busy to able to make enough at the end of the year without driving myself crazy! I've found that joining in Christmas challenges is a great way of motivating myself to keep it up and I'm so grateful come the end of the year to have a pleasing pile of cards ready to post out. I started off last year making 2 of each card whilst I had my craft materials out, and that really made my pile grow. What about you - are you going to start off the new year with us and join in all the fun?

our themes this time are 

A for Anything Goes

and/or 

B for Berries

and there are prizes from Helen for the winners

I went with B for Berries and came up with this card 

I used Papertrey Ink Holiday greens and stamped foliage down the side of the card before cutting a panel from it with a wonky stitched rectangle. The berries are from the same set and I covered them with Nuvo Crystal Glaze.

The sentiments and bow are from PTI Merry Kiss-mass.


We are sad to be losing Lisa from the Design Team this year but I wish her lots of luck for the future and I hope you will join with us in welcoming some great new designers to the team. You can see them and lots of inspiration from the rest of the team over on our blog.

I'd like to play along with

Penny Black and More December Challenge - traditional colours

Fashionable Stamping Challenges #142 - winter

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Top 10 Christmas cards from 2018

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the twixt Christmas and New Year lull if you are lucky enough to get one. This is our first day of downtime when we have no visitors and are not visiting anyone else, so I am having a pyjama day and taking some time to go through my lovely gifts and send some thank you cards.

I have also been looking back at the blog and have selected my favourite Christmas cards of 2018:-

I really love the simplicity of this Nativity scene and used plain black card to enhance the silhouette design. I paper pieced the halo and then added gilding flakes to the background to give a gorgeous golden glow. I also love that pretty sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

You can find the original post here.

I used the Crafter's Companion Christmas Deer die for this card, but I snipped off the deer and just used the trees to frame the picture. The cute little girl on her toboggan is from the MFT Dashing By stamp set.

You can find the original post here.

If I had to pick only one Christmas card that I made this year, I think it would be this one. I thoroughly enjoyed playing with those adorable Clearly Besotted robins and I really like the frames within a frame look. I have a few old PTI background stamps that are smallish strips which are easy to repeat stamp to make a background of any size. This star one and the polka dots are so useful.

You can find the original post here.

I liked this card because I used the non-Christmas Harvest Mouse stamps from MFT to stretch my stash a bit. I used the reverse stamping technique to create mice that could face each other, and added Christmas presents to their hands to hide the apples they are holding.

You will find the original post here.

If you need quick, easy to replicate cards, this one could fit the bill. The So Many Snowmen stamp from Mama Elephant leaves a big smile on my face, and the large stamp is quickly coloured because most of it needs to be left white. A quick trim across the top was all that was needed before it could be attached to the card.

You can find the original post here.

I'm a big fan of monochrome cards and this design appeals to the CAS side of my soul. This lovely ribbon tree stamp from Woodware has been in my stash for a very long time and I never tire of inking it up.

You can find the original post here.

This is another Clearly Besotted card using a frame die from MFT, but this time I used the cute Christmas Pudding stamp and die set. I love Nuvo Drops but I usually make the drops on a non-stick mat and glue them to my card once they are dry so I can select ones with a good shape and similar size. I was really brave here and went directly to the card for the berries on the holly sprigs.

You can find the original post here.

I love how the cut and emboss folder from John Lockwood frames the little woodland and deer scene on this card. The birch trees are from Clearly Besotted and the deer which I fussy cut are from Mama Elephant.

You can find the original post here.

This is another card that was quick to put together and would be good for mass producing. The elf is from the MFT Santa's Elves and I fussy cut it before discovering that I also had the dies tucked away in my stash - a clear sign that I need to spend some time sorting through and organising my supplies! 

You can find the original post here.

Finally, this is a card made with elements my kind Teamie Stephanie sent me. That cool Santa trying to look incognito in his shades while keeping a beady eye on us, coupled with that sentiment, really cracks me up! 

You can find the original post here.

Well, that concludes my look back at 2018 and I wonder what styles and techniques will inspire us all next year.

I would like to thank you for your visits and the lovely, encouraging comments you leave. I've made so many wonderful bloggy friends over the years and I really value the support and inspiration you give. Who knows what next year has in store for us, but I wish you all a healthy, happy and creative 2019.

Hugs

Carol x

Top 10 favourite cards from 2018

Hello everyone,

I do hope that you have had a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it, or at least had some time off with family and friends over the holiday period. Last Christmas for us was very chaotic as my husband had just had the second of two hip replacement operations and we had celebrated the birth of our first grandchild, Alice, just a few weeks before. This year has been a good year for us with my husband making a great recovery and we have been lucky enough to spend lots of time getting to know Alice who has brought lots of sunshine into our lives.

The period after Christmas always sees me looking back at my year, and here on the blog, I like to look over the cards I made and pick out my favourites.

The first post looks at my Top Ten picks of general cards in no particular order:-

I loved the colours in this card that I made with the Bloom stamp and dies from Neat and Tangled. I really like how the flowers frame the sentiment, and I always like to have a few thank you cards ready in my stash.

You can see the original post on how I made this card here.

I love to see kraft cards in blogland but I don't make many of them myself. I  made this one for a wedding and I really like the dusky pink of the autumn rose ink alongside the cream and kraft colours. Paper piecing the heart shape was a labour of love but I like the finished effect.

You can find the original post here.

I'm very partial to Penny Black critter stamps and this little hedgie from the Hugs stamp set is so cute. I masked over him to add the grass and the sentiment is from a favourite Paper Smooches set.

You can see the original post here.

I don't make many cards that are suitable for men but I really enjoyed putting this CAS card together. You actually build the burger with whatever layers you choose from the Papertrey Ink King of the Grill stamp set and I embossed the top part of the bun with clear e/p to make it look like a glazed bun. 

You can find the original post here.

I didn't use my Silhouette Cameo much this year but my neglected friend didn't hold a grudge and came to my rescue when I wanted to make a wedding card for an art deco themed wedding we attended. I created the background fan on the Cameo and the stamps came from a variety of Papertrey Ink stamps.

The original post can be found here.

I'm still in the very early stages of learning how to use watercolours, but I was really pleased with how this one turned out. It's the first time I've managed to add a reasonable background colour and I cheated by sponging the blue ink on before colouring the pretty Penny Black flowers with Zig watercolour pens. I need lots more practice before I could achieve a similar effect with watercolour.

The original post can be found here.

I received the Lawn Fawn pop up box dies for Christmas last year but I didn't get round to using it until November! Truth be told, I was a bit daunted by it but I actually had a ball putting everything together and adding bits and pieces from lots of stamp sets to finish it off.

You can find the original post here.

I had the Seaside Gulls stamp set from My Favorite things in my stash for far too long before I inked it up and made this CAS card. I've used an inked cloudy background many times this year and I masked off a circle for this one. That sentiment just makes me smile!!!

You can find the post for this card here.

Balloons and stars in bright colours make me happy and I made this card for the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge 6th Birthday celebrations. The balloons weren't stamped though - they were sponged through a Neat and Tangled balloon stencil. After putting the completed panel onto the base card, I thought it was too plain, so I added wonky layers behind it to finish it off.

You can find the original post here.



My eldest son experienced his first Father's Day this year, but as little Alice was not yet up to getting him a card, I created this one for her to give to him. I used the cute Clearly Besotted Love You Tons stamp set and experimented with making thin frames from my nested rectangle dies.

You can find the original post here.

Well, that's my little roundup, and I'll be back soon with a selection of my favourite Christmas cards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Happy Christmas

Hello everyone,

Just a quick post to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, if you celebrate it, and I hope you have a healthy, happy and peaceful 2019. I hope once the festivities have passed, you manage to get in some crafty downtime. I'm certainly looking forward to some lol!!

Hugs
Carol x

Altenew Happy Blooms get well card

Hello there and welcome to the last Addicted to Stamps and More of this year. To round the year off we are asking you to make your mark and join in with us.

in case you are new to us, for the make your mark challenges

" your entry MUST contain the use of anything that can make a mark - Stampin' Write, Copics, Promarkers, Painting, Chalks, Watercolours, Sponges, Stencils, Masks etc etc"

I have run out of get well cards, and now that the winter weather is with us, I want to replenish my stock so I came up with this card.

I used the Altenew Happy Blooms stamps and dies and coloured them with Copic markers. 

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, and I also used their Canvas Impression Plate to add some texture.

As usual, the Design Team have lots of inspiration to show you over on the ATSM Blog, and you can link up your entries to the gallery over there.

I would like to play along at



Altenew 2018 Year in Review Challenge - I was inspired by the pink flower for February

AAA Cards Challenge #130 - three of something

Craft Stamper Create it Make it December challenge - anything goes

Stamplorations Challenge December - stamp and big words

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x