Let it Snow

Thank you to all my blogging friends who sent me a beautiful Christmas card.  Does anyone else display all the hand crafted cards they receive separately from the shop bought ones?

A Christmas card today to join in with a few current challenges before they close.

 I used a Poppystamps 'Let it Snow Channel' die in the middle of  piece of white card.  Then I die cut two rows of snowflakes with a Poppystamps 'Snowflake Channel' die at the top and the bottom of the white card.  I added two strips of matt silver paper with attached tiny, white pearls along them.  A tiny, clear gem was placed in the middle of the snowflake 'O'. The white card was then attached to a navy blue card blank. 

I am joining in the following challenges:

Poppystamps Challenge #63 ~ Merry Craftmas!

Winter Wonderland End of Year Anything Christmas Goes Challenge

Through the Purple Haze Challenge #162 ~ Let it Snow

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #410 - Happy Holidays!

Dream Valley Challenge # 215 ~ Christmas

Die Cut Divas Challenge ~ Get Ready for Winter/Christmas

HLS December Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #470 ~ Anything Christmas Goes
Allsorts Challenge - Week 551/2 ~ Anything Goes

Thank You Card

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas.  If Christmas was a difficult time for you this year, I hope it was of some comfort to know that friends were thinking of you.

We were invited to stay with my niece and her family in Devon over the festive period and it was lovely to spend time with other family members too on Christmas Day.  My niece's husband is an amazing chef and we certainly didn't go hungry!

I'm sharing a card today which thought I'd already posted on my blog until I found it in my drafts folder.

    I won the Ferns and Seeds embossing folders over in the Allsorts Challenge earlier this year and I used one of them on my card. The sentiment is die cut with one of the Sizzix 'Fancy Frames' dies, which was the other part of the Allsorts prize.  The sunflowers were made with punches.

Merry Christmas to you all!

This will be my last post before Christmas Day, so I'm sharing my favourite Christmas card of 2019 again to wish all visitors to my blog a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas.

Owl Birthday Card

My granddaughter has just celebrated her 10th birthday and this is the card I made for her.

The card shape was made with a Sizzix 'Owl Label Fold-a-Long' set of dies using bright pink cardstock.  I used dotty patterned paper from an old Papermania paper pad, matt silver card for the beak and pupils and matt silver paper to back the pink wings and top of the head.

This photo shows the card open.  The inside panels are embossed with a Crafts Too 'Feathers' e/f using matt silver paper.  The sentiment is computer generated.  The patterned paper and silver card and silver paper were all snippets, so I'll be sharing my card over in The Playground.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #368 ~ Use Snippets

Allsorts Challenge - Week 551/2 ~ Anything Goes

Inkspirational Challenge #202 ~ No Stamping

Crafty Animals Challenge #33 ~ Anything Goes + Include an Animal

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper December Challenge

HLS December Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Stampin' Up Workshop

Last Sunday I went to a Stampin' Up workshop.   These are the cards I made..... I love crafting with friends!

The stamp set we used was called 'Sip Sip Hooray' and the lovely thing about the workshop is that we all came home with a set of the stamps we used.  I'm sure the stamps will be useful for several different occasions. 

Help!!

I have been using the same photo editing software for nearly 20 years.  After a recent computer update, it would appear that my editing software will no longer work!   My computer has a very basic photo editing software installed and I've no idea if I can add my watermark, but I've used it to crop these photos so I can add them to my blog.  So now I'm on the lookout for a replacement photo editing software that's easy to use and will do everything I could do on my old software.  I'm wondering if Paintshop Pro would be a suitable replacement, but any advice would be appreciated. 

Edited to add: Thank you for all the advice.  I've ordered Photoshop Elements 2020.  Wish me luck working out how to use it!

Edited again to add: My new software in now installed on my laptop.  I've managed to add my watermark to the photos. Whoo hoo!  Just need to find out what else I can do with my new software. 😊

One last Christmas card, although I miscalculated how many I've already made this year, so I have a little pile of cards ready for Christmas 2020!

I saw the video for making a Double Tower card HERE and couldn't wait to try out this 'new to me' fold.  It's surprisingly easy to make.  In the video the folded card measured 7" x 5".  I wanted to make a smaller version, so changed the base card to 8" x 6" so the folded card measures 6" x 4".  The image is from the Stampin' Up 'Snowman Season' set of stamps and I covered the snowman with clear glitter pen and a touch of orange for the nose.  The sentiment is from the SU 'Christmas Gleaming' stamps and I used Memory Box 'Stitched Circle Layers' dies for matting and layering. The papers are also from SU.

This photo show the card from a different angle.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Memory Box Challenge #56 ~ Holiday Cards

Allsorts Challenge - Week 550 ~ Inspired by a Song (Frosty the Snowman)

Addicted to Stamps Challenge # 180 ~ Cold and Frosty

Stamping Sensations December Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Crafthazelnut's Christmas Challenge #468 ~ Anything Christmas Goes + Optional use the word Merry

Sweet Stampin' Challenge ~ Christmas

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper December Challenge

Winter Wonderland Challenge ~ Anything Christmas Goes

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge ~ Anything Christmas

Try in on Tuesday ~ Christmas is Coming
Tales From the Craft Room Challenge #11 ~ It's Christmas!

Christmas Milk Cartons

My hubby and I stayed up late yesterday evening to watch the results of the UK General Election come in.  It was the perfect opportunity to set up a craft table in front of the television for some Christmas crafting.  It also made sure I stayed awake!  I found a few templates to make mini milk cartons, so adapted one to make them the size I wanted for little chocolate gift boxes for the table on Christmas Day.  I was able to make two boxes from one A4 sheet of card.

I bought a pack of A4 kraft card several months ago, but realised when I got home that it was too thin for card blanks.  However, it was perfect for these little milk cartons.  I delved into my snippets box of patterned Christmas paper and cut out the 4cm squares and layered them on red squares, also cut from snippets.  I bought the tiny silver bulldog clips ages ago in a sale and I knew they would be useful one day!  

We stayed up until 4am, so I managed to make 15 little boxes.  I won't need them all for Christmas Day, but will use the others when I go out with friends for a Christmas meal soon.  

Scrappymo has an extra Rudolph Days Challenges this year for those crafters who have joined in with all her challenges this year, so I'll be sharing these boxes over on her blog.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Rudolph Days Extra Challenge

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #367 ~ Use Snippets

Crimbo Crackers Challenge #199 ~ Gift Boxes

The Male Room Challenge #126 ~ A Box or Bag

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #410 ~ Happy Holidays!

Try It On Tuesday Challenge ~ Christmas is Coming

Make My Monday Challenge # 111 ~ Anything Christmas

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper December 2019 Challenge

New Home

The Crafty Calendar Challenge begins today with the theme 'Anything But Christmas, But Add A Ribbon'.   Our generous sponsors for the challenge are Oddball Arts and Crafty Ribbons.

Oddball Arts kindly gave the DT digi stamps to work with and I chose to use the lovely 'Whimsical Mushroom Home'.  I coloured the image with Promarkers and the sentiment is computer generated. I used Memory Box 'Stitched Square Layers' dies for matting and layering the image.  I embossed the top half of the background and added dotty patterned paper to the bottom half.  I wanted to add a strip of the spotty ribbon across the middle of the 6" square card, but I only had a strip about 4" long.  I cut it in half and attached it just to the sides and layered the image, on foam tape, over the gap to add dimension.

The Crafty Calendar Challenge ends on the 28th December and there are lots of DT cards for inspiration over on the blog.  

The DT will choose their Top 3 and there are prizes for the randomly chosen winners from:

Oddball Arts

and Crafty Ribbons

I am joining in the following challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge - Week 24 ~ Anything Goes 

I Love Promarkers #Challenge 399 ~ Anything Goes + Optional Theme - Circles

A Perfect Time To Craft Challenge for December, #12-2019~ Anything Goes

Card for a Golfer

I'm back after a surprise trip to the Christmas markets in Berlin with my hubby and daughter.  What a wonderful city, with so many things to see and do - and the Christmas markets being an added bonus.

I made this birthday card for a friend who celebrated his birthday this week.  He is a keen golfer, so this is the theme of his card.

I used the Tonic 'Golf Ball Tee & Turf' set of dies and layered them on blue and grey stitched mats.  I embossed just the bottom half of the background with a spotty embossing folder to match the pattern on the golf ball.  The matted image is raised up on foam tape over the strip of ribbon.  The sentiments are computer generated.  All the coloured card was snippets, so I'll be off the share my card in the Playground.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #366 ~ Use Snippets

A Perfect Time To Craft Challenge for December, #12-2019 ~ Anything Goes

Joy, Hope and Wonder

One final Christmas card, before I start on the other cards I need to make.  This time it's a stepper card for a Christmas card swap which will be going to someone who loves cats.

The image is a one from Little Claire's Designs, stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and coloured with Promarkers.  I've added Glossy Accents to the bauble and die cut the image with a Memory Box 'Stitched Rectange Layers' die.  I made the card base with a Presscut 'Centre Stepper Card' die.   The patterned paper is from an old paper pad I bought in a closing down sale several years ago.  A computer generated sentiment and two red and silver Card Candi finished off my card.  

I am joining in the following challenges:
Beccy's Place Month of Holiday Cards Challenge!
Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #110 ~ Get Ready for Christmas
Crimbo Crackers Challenge #198 ~ Animals
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November 2019 Challenge
Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Animals

Snowman Stepper Card

Another Christmas card to share today.
 

The image is an old Anita's wood mounted stamp.  I love using this stamp for football fans at Christmas, as it's so easy to dress the snowman in football colours.  I made four of this stepper design today, all in blue and white.  The image is stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and coloured with Promarkers.  The blue card is pearlised and has a lovely sheen. I finished off my card with some punched snowflakes and a Christmas sentiment.  I missed a lot of Beccy's earlier letter prompts, so I'm backtracking and it's B for Berries, C for Carrot, H for Hat and Holly, M for Mittens. 😉

I am joining in the following challenges:
Beccy's Place Month of Holiday Cards Challenge!
I Love Promarkers Challenge #398 ~ Anything Goes (without the optional theme)
Little Red Wagon Challenge #525 ~ Snow Much Fun!
Country View November Challenge ~ Hand Stamped
SheepSki Designs Challenge #32 ~ Christmas is Coming
Unicorn Challenge Challenge #49 ~ Christmas/Winter
Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #246 ~ No Patterned Paper
Addicted to Stamps Challenge #179 ~ Anything Goes
Crafty Friends Challenge #123 ~ Christmas
Double D Challenge ~ What is YOUR Christmas Style? (I specially like to make cards with fun images and fancy folds)

Stitched Christmas Tree

A second post today to join in with a few challenges.  Please scroll down to see my earlier post.

I made a dozen of these cross stitch tags earlier in the year and have finally got round to making them into cards. 

I started with a kraft card blank and added a layer of white card, embossed with a Crafter's Companion 'Snowflakes' e/f.  The tag is MFT 'Cross-Stitch Tag' die and I used crochet cotton for the tree.  The sentiment is a gold peel off.  I added some red and gold twine at the top of the tag.

I reversed the colours at the top of the tag on half the cards.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Beccy's Place Month of Holiday Cards Challenge! ~ X for 'X Stitch'

Tales from the Craft Room Door Challenge #10 ~ Tags and Trimmings

 The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge ~ Trees~Trees~ and more Trees

Creatalicious Challenge #175 ~ Anything Goes - with optional stitching (real or faux)

Singing Snowmen

Another Christmas card to share today.

The image is a pre-coloured digi stamp from the 'Snowman Digital Stamps' set from Beccy's Place and the sentiment is computer generated.   Orange and green card was used for matting and layering.  I used a Couture Creation 'Music of the Heart' e/f for the embossed panel down the side.  MFT 'Musical Notes' die cuts finished off my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:
Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Challenge! ~ W for 'Wish' you a Merry Christmas

Try it on Tuesday Challenge Inspired by a Song or Christmas Carol (We Wish You a Merry Christmas)
Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #246 ~ No Patterned Paper

Crafty Friends Challenge #123 ~ Christmas

Little Red Wagon Challenge #525 ~ Snow Much Fun!

Christmas is only a month away!!

It's November 25th - just a month left until Christmas Day!! 

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday at a Stampin' Up workshop.  We each made up to five cards and two Christmas decorations - I put on the finishing touches to mine at home yesterday evening.

The stamped images are from the Stampin' Up 'Snowman Season' set of stamps and the papers are from the 'Let it Snow' set.  

I am joining in the following challenges:

Beccy's Place Month of Holiday Cards Challenge! ~ V for Violet and Vermilion

Rudolph Days November Challenge 
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #465

Chill of Winter......

Welcome to my new follower, Beccy of Beccy's Place.  If you haven't heard of Beccy's Place, you're in for a treat if you pop over to her blog.  Not only can you purchase fabulous digi stamps, there are also freebie digi stamps too.  If you are a fan of different folds like me, you will be spoilt for choice as her blog has a section with so many different folds to try, with clear tutorials.  

My card today uses one of the stamps from Beccy's set of 'Snowman Digital Stamps'.  The sentiment is from the same set.   I used the outline digi stamp and coloured it with Promarkers.  I covered the white part of the snowman with a clear glitter brush to add some sparkle, which shows up more IRL.  The background was embossed, although I don't know the brand as there is nothing marked on the e/f folder.  The poinsettia was die cut with the smallest die from a Spellbinders set of dies 'Layered Poinsettia' and I added tiny yellow circles, which were waste from another die cut.  A strip of festive ribbon finished off my card.

I am joining in the following challenge:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Challenge ~ S for Snowman

Alphabet Challenge ~ R is for Ribbon
Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #368 ~ Holiday
Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #233 ~ Icy Cold
Daisy Chain Challenge #36 ~ Christmas/Winter
SheepSki Designs Challenge #32 ~ Christmas is Coming

It started off as a Twofer.........

I have been making quite a few non-Christmas cards over the last few weeks, so I'm back on the Christmas cards to join in a few challenges.

The theme for the Twofer Challenge this month is 'Holiday Greenery'.  Two cards, with different designs, using the same stamp, die or stencil.  Just for this month they can be for the same occasion. 

I chose to use a tree stamp from the Stampin' Up 'Perfectly Plaid' set of stamps on both my cards, which I stamped in Versafine ' Crimson Red'. 

I am joining in the Twofer Challenge with this pair of cards.

For my first card I covered the top half of the card blank with dark green card and added a strip of plaid patterned paper across the middle, before attaching three of the stamped trees.  The sentiment is also a stamp from the 'Perfectly Plaid' set of cards.  

On this card I cut off the tree trunk and cut the tree in half down the middle so I could use the pieces as corner embellishment.  The oval die cuts are all from the Memory Box 'Stitched Oval Layers' set of dies.

Rather than waste a spare stamped tree I had, I made a Threefer.

A quick CAS card with the stamped tree layered on Memory Box ' Stitched Square Layers' die cuts, three added pearls and a stamped sentiment. 

I'm joining in Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Challenge with my three cards.   (I think I can only link up one as they are all on the same post.)  It's up to the letter R, so R for Red. 

Happy Birthday

A quick and easy card I made for a friend's birthday. 

As my friend enjoys gardening, I went with a floral theme.  The patterned paper is from an old paper pad.  I layered the sentiment die cut onto stitched circle die cuts and added a punched flower in the middle.

I am joining in the following challenges:

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge #231 ~ Flora and/or Fauna OR Pocket 

HLS November Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Craft Rocket Challenge Challenge #65 ~ Happy Birthday

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November Challenge

Alphabet Challenge ~ Q is for Quick and Easy

Southern Girls Challenge ~ Anything Goes

40th Birthday

It was my birthday last Monday and my hubby organised a surprise trip for us to London for a few days.  The evening included a visit to the theatre to see The Mousetrap.  It's the world's longest running play, which was first performed in 1952.  The performance we saw was number 28,038!   We visited the Saatchi Gallery where there is a fascinating Tutankhamun exhibition and we also had a tour around the Royal Albert Hall.  It was a packed few days, so I have a lot of blog visiting to catch up on!

I'm sharing a card today which I made recently for my son's birthday.  He supports a team which plays in blue and white quarters, so I've tried to reflect this in the design.

The card shape was made with a die from the Spellbinders  'Happy Days' set.  The blue card is pearlised and embossed with a Crafts Too 'Football' embossing folder.  The numbers are dies from The Works and layered on Spellbinder die cut circles. 

I kept the blue and white quarters theme on the steps.  The footballs are peeloffs, attached to white card and fussy cut.

I am joining in the following challenges:
The Male Room Challenge Challenge #124 ~  Hobbies
Craft Rocket Challenge #65 ~ Happy Birthday
HLS November Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Begin with a 8" x 8" piece of patterned paper...........

Lest we forget

Welcome to my new follower, Carolyn of Carolyn's Crafty Blog.  Please pop over to her blog to see all her beautiful creations.

I joined in a challenge recently to make as many card designs as possible using one 8" x 8" piece of patterned paper.   We were in our caravan last week and looking at the weather forecast, I thought this would be the perfect time to make cards for the challenge.  I had a few ideas in mind, but used a 8" x 8" piece of scrap paper divided into 1" squares to draw a sketch of all the different shapes I needed to cut, using up the whole sheet.

I took the sheet of 8" x 8" patterned paper with me to the caravan, together lot of green and yellow snippets. I couldn't believe how many shades of yellow and green snippets I had!   It took a while to make sure I had all the same shade of each colour, but I wanted to avoid using whole sheets.  These are the seventeen cards I managed to make.  I used the coloured card for matting and layering, a few dies and punches and some Nuvo drops and tiny pearls.  The sentiments were stamped with Versafine 'Onyx Black' and all the cards were 4" x 4" or 5" x 5".

The patterned paper is from an old Papermania paper pad.  It had tiny flowers on and the paper could be used in any direction.

This is the sketch I drew to make sure there were no pieces of patterned paper left over which I couldn't use.  I numbered the shapes so I knew which ones were for which card and made a few notes on the sketch of how I thought I could use them.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Challenge #365 ~ Use snippets

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November Challenge