Simon Says Stamp Merry & Bright Christmas card and Spellbinders foiled Peace on Earth Christmas card

Good morning everyone and welcome to another challenge over at ABC Christmas Challenges.

We have 3 themes for you to choose from or combine this time and they are

E for Embossing

F for Fussy and Fancy and/or 

G for Glitter

I have a little gift for the randomly selected winner

My first card is for embossing? and glitter

I had a few problems along the way when making this card, but I persisted and think I got away with it in the end. Feel free to skip the next bit if you don't want to hear how it twice nearly ended up in the bin!

I started by stamping a number of snowflake stamps from different sets with versamark ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder so it would form a resist for my inking. I then blended blue inks over the top and wiped off the excess ink from the snowflakes. Here I hit problem number one - the embossing was discoloured by the ink and the snowflakes looked very grubby. I decided to try the old technique of lifting off the embossing by putting some paper over and ironing on the top. This worked well and I now had whiteish snowflakes .... apart from where the iron got too hot and left a few darker marks. Not ready to admit defeat, I continued with the design and added the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp which covered the main browny mark, and then die-cut some snowflakes to add on top. Problem number two then showed up when the added snowflakes (cut from the same card I used for the base) looked much whiter and really out of place. As I had glued them down and was in danger of ruining the card if I tried to remove them, I decided to die-cut the snowflakes again from some vellum. I added some glue to the vellum snowflakes, sprinkled on some glitter, and when they were dry, I glued them over the top of the very white snowflakes to tone them down.

I'm not sure if this card now qualifies as embossed, but embossing happened and I'm not going through all that again lol!!!

My second card is for Fussy and fancy.

I used foiling on this card, which in my mind equals fancy. I foiled a lovely gold indented frame on the satin finish base card and then  die-cut a stitched rectangle from the same card. On this, I foiled the Peace on Earth sentiment using a Spellbinders hot foil stamp which includes those fussy flourishes. I finished off by adding some holly and berry sprigs to add a pop of colour, and used clear Nuvo Drops to give shine and dimension to the berries.

You'll find lots of inspiration over on the ABC Christmas Challenges blog, and I hope to see you in the gallery.

I'd like to play along at

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge - anything Christmas goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - anything Christmas goes

Thanks for stopping b

y,

Hugs

Carol x

Simon Says Stamp and Apple Blossom Holly Christmas card and Altenew Warm Heart Christmas card

 

Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge at ABC Christmas Challenges which will run from the 1st to 30th September. We had so many gorgeous entries last month so if you entered last time, I encourage you to pop over to the blog to see if you were a winner.

Our lovely host this time is Wei and she is kindly offering a prize for the winner.

We have two themes for you this month and they are 

S for Stencil

and/or 

T for Two.

I came up with these cards:-

S for stencil

For this card I used a snowfall stencil from Simon Says Stamp and inked through it with white ink onto a red die-cut square card. Once the ink was dry, I sprayed it several times with Crafter's Companion Spray and Sparkle and although my photography was not up to showing it, the panel looks really sparkly irl.

For the holly sprigs, I smooshed some card with several shades of green ink and then die-cut them with a die from Apple Blossom. I layered them onto a second white layer, offset them slightly, shaped them a little, and glued them in the corner. The bow is from PTI and the sentiment is from SSS. I added a few Nuvo Drop berries to finish the card off.

This is my T for Two card

I embossed some navy satin white core card with a snowflake embossing folder and then sanded back the surface to show the snowflakes in white. I cut a snowbank from some card, applied double-sided adhesive tape, and then stuck on some faux snow. The penguins from Altenew are called Warm Heart, and I shaded them with some grey Copics before placing them on an oval of white card which I shaded as well. I finished off with the die-cut sentiment from PTI which I stacked three times to help it stand out.

If you need some festive inspiration, you will find lots of it from my lovely teammates over on the ABC Christmas Challenges Blog.

I'd like to play along at

Christmas with the Cuties #52 - anything Christmas goes without the option

Christmas Card Throwdown August - Stencil

Papertrey Ink and Mama Elephant Christmas cards

Hello everyone and welcome to a new month at ABC Christmas Challenges.

Can you believe we're halfway through the year already!!!

Our June Challenge  is

L for Letters 

and/or

M for Mistletoe

Our lovely host, Helen has a great prize for the winner

My first card is L for Letters

For this card I used the Mama Elephant Botanic Envelope die, cut from Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel card. I stamped, coloured, and die cut the berries from PTI Holiday Greens and added foliage cuts from various sets. The sentiments were embossed, and the bow was stamped, coloured with Copics, and die-cut to finish the image off.

 M for Mistletoe

The second card is very simple and I just used the mistletoe stamp from the PTI Merry Kissmas stamp set. I repeatedly stamped the mistletoe to create the background panel and added little pearls for the berries. 

 The shaped label is from an old Spellbinders Label die set and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp. I recently came across a few very old SB label die sets that had languished underneath some storage bags at the back of a cupboard and it felt like Christmas to be reunited with them again lol! I know -  I lead a sad life!  I'd forgotten how nicely the Spellbinder dies emboss the edges of the cut, and these dies will be getting a lot of use in the future to make up for my neglect.

I'd like to play along at

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - L is for Letter

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - anything Christmas goes.

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics - red and green

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #35 - anything Christmas goes

Our re-roofing work continues and at last we have some gorgeous weather so the chaps can have a good run at it. Fingers crossed the sun hangs around a while longer so the work can be completed!

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Spellbinder Glimmer Sweet Blooms Border foiled birthday card

Hello again friends. Can you believe that another two weeks have whisked by and it's time for another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More?

This time it's Make Your Mark, so we would like to see some colouring with your medium of choice. I went with Copic markers and had a play with my foiling machine for this card that winged its way to one of my friends.

I foiled the Spellbinders Glimmer Sweet Blooms Border plate with gold foil onto white card and you can see the lovely shine on the foil in this first picture. I then coloured with Copics and fussy cut the shape out to create a border for my card.

I cut the pink card with a pierced square die and embossed it with an old Cuttlebug embossing folder. The flower border was raised on foam and the happy birthday die finished it off.

                                   

We're currently having our house re-roofed and ever since they put the scaffolding up last week, it hasn't stopped raining! We foolishly thought the end of May would be good weather for the job lol. On Friday, the heavy winds blew back the tarpaulin they put over the area they had stripped and it was a very strange experience seeing the rain pour down the INSIDE of the bedroom window!! Fingers crossed that the weather clears up so they can work this week.

I'd like to play along at

Crafting Happiness Challenge #97 Colour it.

Make my Monday Challenge #149 - floral birthday

Dare2bArtzy May - flowers

Double D Challenge - flowers of the month

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

 

PTI Bold Borders: Flurries, and PTI Snow globe and MFT Sweet Holiday Penguins Christmas cards

 

Hello friends and welcome to another challenge over at ABC Christmas Challenges. We had some great entries last month and if you want to see if you were a winner, hop over to the blog.

Our host this month is the talented Dorte and she has a prize for the lucky winner

Our themes this time are 

J - Jewels

and/or

K - Kids

This is my J for jewels card

I pulled my Brushos out to create the background on watercolour paper, and added the Papertrey Ink Bold Borders Flurries frame which I stacked a couple of times. To finish off, I added the sentiment which is from Simon Says Stamp, and is also stacked, and then added blue jewels to the snowflake centres.

Here is my K is for Kids card

I had great fun with this shaker card using the Papertrey Ink Snow Globe dies, My Favorite Things Sweet Holiday Penguins, and a Clearly Besotted tree. I inked the tree, the cloudy sky, and used Copics and glitter on the penguins. The snow is from a glitter shaker pot that I picked up at Hobbycraft, but I wish I had chosen something else because it was full of static, even though I used an anti-static bag on the acetate.

As always, my talented teamies have great things to show you over on the blog, and I hope you will join in with us this time.

I'd like to play along at

CRAFT challenge #596 - Christmas

Christmas Craft Creations April - no stamping

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #93 - anything Christmas goes

12 months of Christmas #77 - anything goes - no option

Christmas 24 Challenge #33 - use glitter

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Simon Says Stamp So Beautiful general card

 

Hello and welcome to the new ATSM Make Your Mark Challenge.

For my contribution this time I used my NBUS Simon Says Stamp So Beautiful stamp.

I stamped the image and then lightly blended some blue ink all over the card, going a bit heavier at the top. I coloured the blooms with Copic markers and added some shading with Polychromo pencils.

I cut the image out with a stitched rectangle die and matted it onto black card. The sentiment is from an older Hero Arts stamp set and I heat embossed that in white. The card was for my daughter's birthday and the birthday sentiment went inside. Everything was mounted onto a fancy-shaped 6 x 6 card and I'm really sad that I only have a few of them left. I picked them up from the Craftwork Cards stand at the Harrogate stamp show several years ago and I haven't seen them on sale anywhere since. If you know where I could get some more, do please let me know. 

My talented Design Teamies have some great inspiration for you over on the ATSM Blog and you can play along with us over there too.

I'd like to play along at 

The Cats Pajamas March Challenge - florals

A Blog Named Hero March Challenge - florals

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge March - flowers

Stamps fun creativity ~385 - flowers

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Penny Black Bountiful Berries and Simon Says Stamp Christmas card

 

Hello friends and welcome to another Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.

 

As always, we are are an anything goes Christmas challenge but each month we invite you to have some fun with our optional twist and this time that is 'berries'.

I came up with this card

I used my new Penny Black Bountiful Berries die and cut it from watercolour paper. I then coloured the branch and berries with Zig Clean Colour Brush Pens, and when it was dry, I added Nuvo Crystal Glaze to the berries to add some shine.

The background panel is cut from white card with a My Favourite Things Blueprints 33 die. I blended various blue Distress Oxide inks onto it and added the white sentiment from Simon Says Stamp.

The team has a lot to show you over on the blog and it would be great if you decide to join us. 

I'd like to play along at

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #87 - anything Christmas goes

Christmas 24 Challenge #27 - anything goes

Dies R Us Challenge #162 - anything goes

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Altenew Peace on Earth Christmas card

Hello everyone and welcome to Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.

You can enter any Christmas project but why not play along with our fun twist, which this time is Ornaments.

I came up with this card

I used the Altenew Peace on Earth stamp and die set for this card. I started by smooshing a few colours of blue oxide ink and when it was dry, I stamped the earth ornament and embossed it with white e/p before die cutting it.

The sentiments come from the same set and I stencilled some dots on the panel with a Simon Says Stamp stencil. I inked the edge of the background mat with the same ink as the sentiment so it would match.

As I have so much time at home at the moment, I'm trying to get motivated to get all my Christmas cards made early, but I have to say I'm just not feeling it! I am feeling pleased that I have this one to add to the pile though - do feel free to join us.

Thanks for stopping by and stay safe.

Hugs
Carol x

Stamps by Chloe and John Next Door Christmas card

Hello everyone,

This is my card for the new ABC Christmas Challenge. The themes this month are

E for embossing,
F for freebie
and G for gold.

I went for E for embossing

and used white embossing powder for the Stamps by Chloe snowflakes wreath, and a John Next Door cut and emboss folder for the background. The e/f actually cuts a circle scene from the centre, but I found that I had a circle die of the same size and was able to raise my snowflake panel over it. The die-cut sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp and I substituted a little heart for the dot over the i.

I am hosting the challenge this month and have a little prize for the winner.

I do hope you will visit to see all the wonderful inspiration from the team and you have until 31st March to join us.

I'd like to play along at

Crafty Gals Corner #204 - add a heart

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' February Challenge - feature a sentiment

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #66 - anything Christmas goes

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Simon Says Stamp Birthday Borders CAS birthday card

Hello friends and welcome to Clean and Simple Week at Addicted to Stamps and More.

I went with a simple birthday card

I used the Birthday Borders stamp set from Simon Says Stamp and stamped the candles with Picked Raspberry DI ink. I double stamped the flames with orange and red ink and then went over them with some glue and added the glitter.

Sadly the sentiment is a bit near the bone for me lol! I finished off by adding the little hearts and I covered them with a glaze pen.

I'd like to play along at

Creative Knockouts Challenge #335 Birthday wishes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #256 - all about occasions

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Woodware Into the Woods sympathy card

Hello everyone and welcome to another challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More. I hope you had a good Bank Holiday weekend if you are in the UK. They reckon it was a record for sunshine and heat, and it certainly felt like it! It was good to catch up with friends and family and I always try to make the most of it because it's the last BH until Christmas. A scary thought!

Anyway, our challenge this time is the ever-popular 'anything goes', so you can pull out anything you fancy and go to town. Sadly, I had need of a sympathy card, so I came up with this one

I blended distress oxide inks and then stamped the Woodware Into the Woods silhouette stamp on top of it. I cut the panel with one of the MFT Blueprints 33 dies.

The stacked die-cut sentiment is from Simpon Says Stamp, and the stamped one is from Clearly Besotted. I finished off by adding splatters in the same colours. I'm sorry the lighting on the photo isn't very good today!


The DT has lots to inspire you over on the blog and I hope you will decide to join us this time.

I'd like to play along at

Try it on Tuesday: in my garden

Die Cuttin' Divas #435 - thinking of you

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge S is for sending sympathy


Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x