Thanks Sew Much

A second card for the Less is More challenge this week, where the theme is 'Homespun'.  This time I decided to add real stitching.

I've had some Bazzill stitching templates for a long time, but can't remember the last time I used one of them.  I chose a flourish pattern, which I sewed with embroidery thread.  The border was punched with a Martha Stewart punch, which I thought looked like broderie anglaise, keeping the Homespun theme.  The sentiment was from a set of stamps that came as a free gift with a magazine.  I stamped it using a Versafine 'Onyx' inkpad, then added some faux stitching with a fine purple pen. The stitched panel and sentiment are both raised up on foam tape.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Less is More - Weeks 255 & 256 ~ Homespun

Canine Thank You

Another 'thank you' card.  This one is for my six year old great-nephew who adores dogs!  

The image is a pre-coloured digi stamp I was lucky enough to win as a prize recently from Beccy's Place and is part of a set of dog stamps and sentiments.  The embossing folder is 'Pawprint Lattice' by Sue Wilson.  I've no idea of the make of the paw print border punch as there is no name of it.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Beccy's Place December Challenge

Thank You

I made a start on my Thank You cards today.  This is the first one, using a new die a crafty friend gave me for Christmas.  My patterned paper snippets are stored by colour in a folder, but I seldom remember to use them.  So that's one of my New Year resolutions - to use them!

This patterned paper was a snippet from a scrapbook layout I made over ten years ago - so I thought it was about time I used it!  The new die is Memory Box 'Chloe Stem' which I used to die cut the blue pattered paper and yellow card.  I added a tiny yellow butterfly for added interest, with a trail of tiny white pearls to show the flight path.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #45 ~ Butterflies + X is for Xanthine

If you don't know what Xanthine means, click on the link above to find out!)

Beccy's Place December Challenge

Favourite Christmas present!

I hope you all had a good Christmas.  Welcome to my new follower, Lia of  'Lia's Design and so'. I hope you visit again soon.

Before I post a photo of my card, I want to share one of my favourite Christmas presents this year.  My six year old great-nephew altered some slippers for my husband and me.  He had some help sticking the felt shapes and beads to the slippers, but it was his design and he cut all the shapes himself.

The Less is More theme this time is 'Homespun', so I decided to go with a sewing themed card.

The embossing folder I used is an 8 x 8 Embossalicious folder - 'Button Box'.  The sewing machine is one of the dies from the Spellbinder set 'Sewing Elements', die cut from silver mirror card.  The buttons are die cut from the same set of dies and mounted onto blue card, which I had added faux stitching to around the edge.  I used a silver sentiment to match the silver sewing machine.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Less is More - Weeks 255 & 256 ~ Homespun

Snowmen Place Names

Final Christmas crafting for this year..... place names for the table on Christmas Day, filled with chocolate coins.

The boxes were made using a WRMK Candy Box Punch Board.  I cut rectangles of blue card measuring 7" x 5 3/4", so I could get two boxes from each sheet of A4 card.  After cutting and scoring each piece of card, the card was embossed using a Sizzix A4 embossing folder 'Dots'.  The snowman is the same as the one on my card HERE, but I've made it much smaller.  The circles are 1 1/2" and 1" and I've used thin rik rac for the scarf.  The black dots are from a sheet of peeloff. (For anyone who uses the SU Owl Builder Punch, these dots are the perfect size for pupils in the eyes, much less fiddly than glueing on tiny punched dots!)  The mouth was drawn using the inside of the smallest die in the SB 'Standard Circles Small' set.  I cut an orange triangle nose and die cut a tag for the name. I tied the ends together using white ribbon. 

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Weeks 208 and 209 ~ Use snippets

Beccy's Place December Challenge

Let it Snow!

Another Christmas card today.

All the stamps are Lavinia stamps, stamped with Versafine 'Onyx'.  I used an Adirondack 'Denim' ink pad to ink the sky and snow drifts, masking out the moon with a circle of card.  Glamour Dust was added to the top of the snow drifts for a bit of sparkle and I used a clear Wink of Stella glitter brush over the wings.  The scene is attached to a dark blue card blank.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Lavinia Stamps December Challenge ~ Let it Snow!

Country View Challenge #34 ~ Create a Scene

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge ~ Tree

Butterfly Challenge #44 ~ All kinds Of Fairies

Addicted to Stamps Challenge # 116 ~ Winter

Penny Black and More December Challenge ~ Anything Goes with a Stamp
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ~ Just a Pinch (of glitter)

Pretty In Pink

Today's box pop-up card was for a special six year old who celebrated her birthday yesterday.

I love making box pop-up cards and decided to make this one very pink!  I used two different embossing folders - Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' for the flaps and Papermania 'Check Mate' for long panels.  The Papermania one has little hearts on, although they are difficult to see in the photo.  The 'Forever Friends' stickers were attached to snippets of acetate.  I added two punched scalloped hearts to each side flap and finished off with a small pink pearl in the middle of the paler pink heart on each side.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Weeks 208 and 209 ~ Use snippets

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Weeks 342/343 ~ Anything but Christmas

Beccy's Place December Challenge

Ruby Wedding Anniversary

Tomorrow, two of our oldest friends will be celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary.  I've known them both since we were children, how time flies!  Here is the card I made for them.

The heart die cut is Memory Box 'Heart of Hearts'.  First, I used the die to die cut a white piece of card, which I then matted and layered on red card, using Memory Box Stitched dies.  I used the die again on a snippet of red card and used the tiny heart-shaped waste as an embellishment.  The sentiment is raised up on foam tape. I'm not sure of the name of the A4 embossing folder I used, as I've thrown the packaging away. :-(  As all the red card I used was snippets, I'll be sharing my card over in the Playground when the gates open in the morning. 

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Weeks 208 and 209 ~ Use snippets

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Weeks 342/343 ~ Anything but Christmas

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge ~ Die Crazy

Beccy's Place December Challenge

Happy Snowman

I went to my local monthly crop and craft day last Saturday.  As I've made all my Christmas cards for this year, I  started making my cards for Christmas 2016 - polishing my halo here!  I've made a few more this week.  I saw the design for this snowman HERE and couldn't resist his cheeky smile.  I designed my card with a similar snowman, but my snowman is smaller, using  1 1/2" and 2" circle punches.

I used a tiny circle punch to punch out the buttons from a snippet of black card.  The mouth was drawn using a 5p coin. (Edited to add - a US dime coin is the same size as a UK 5p coin.) I layered the snowman and sentiment on blue die cuts using Memory Box Stitched Rectangles.  The sentiment and snowman's head are attached with  foam pads to give a bit of dimension.  A tiny triangle of orange card and a snippet of ribbon finished off the snowman. The embossing folder I used is Sue Wilson's 'Frosty Swirls'. As I used snippets, I'll be sharing my card over in the Playground.

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 207 ~ Use snippets

Retirement

So much for planning to have a crafty weekend! I didn't get time to make a single card as we made a last minute decision to go down to the coast for the weekend, so I'm really behind with cards that are needed this month.  We had a lovely weekend, if a little windy! Today's card is a CAS retirement card needed for a friend for tomorrow. 

The corner die cut was using one of the Memory Box 'Distress Windham Collage' dies.  The main die cut is Memory Box 'Kensington Branch', which I cut out in green and blue.  I snipped off the blue butterflies and attached them over the green die cut.  

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Less is More - Week 253 Colour ~ Green and Blue

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 206 ~ Used green and blue snippets

Golfing

I'm not sure where the last week went, but I finally made it back into my craft room last night to make a card for a friend's birthday - which is today!  I need to catch up with my blog visiting this weekend too. 

The image is a Papermania stamp, coloured with Promarkers. I've matted and layered the image and sentiment using Memory Box Stitched dies.  The embossing folder is Darice 'Argyle Background'.  Card Candi finished off my card.  Except for the base card, everything else was snippets, so I'll be off to share my card in the Playground.

Watching the Snow Fall

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American blogging friends.

The Lavinia Stamps challenge this month is 'Christmas'.  I haven't made an easel card for ages, so I decided to use one of my favourite Lavinia dies, a recent birthday present, for this easel card.

The Lavinia die is 'Star Gazing'.  The white background behind the die is embossed with a snowflake embossing folder, although it doesn't show up very well in the photos.  The papers are from a Lili of the Valley 'Frosty Christmas' paper pad.  I attached two snowflake brads to the sentiment panel, which is raised up on foam tape.  A punched snowflake was added to the top right hand corner with tiny foam pads.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Lavinia Stamps Challenge # 11 ~ Christmas

Country View November Challenge #33 - The Colour Blue
The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge ~ Snowflakes

Beccy's Place ~ A Month of Holiday Cards

Cuttlebug Mania ~ Embossing

Deep Ocean Challenge ~117 ~ White and other colour
Merry Monday Challenge #181 ~ Blue, White & Texture

Cute Little Owls

Welcome to my new follower, Viv of 'Viv's Visuals'.  I hope you come back to visit again soon.

Another Christmas card today.

 For this card I used a Sizzix Circle Flip-Its #2 set of dies.  The paper was from a paper stack I bought recently in a craft shop closing down sale.  I always find it sad when craft shops close, there's nothing like browsing around a craft shop and this shop was one I frequently visited and bought from. For the snowflake, I punched the shape out of red card, then die cut a circle around the snowflake shape, using the negative effect.  All the dies I used were from the same set.

The next two photos show the card open, from different angles.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:
The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge ~ Snowflakes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November challenge
CHNC challenge 256: things with wings
Beccy's Place ~ A Month of Holiday Cards

Crazy Robin

So, we've come to the last Rudolph Days Challenge for 2015.  The November challenge is open from 25th November until 30th November, so just a few days to get your entries in to have a chance to win a fabulous die.   Thanks to Mo for running the challenge all year.  It's certainly made me start my cards early and make them throughout the year.

I used a Presscut Step Card die with Lili of the Valley patterned paper panels.  The image is one of the Crazy Bird stamps I was lucky enough to win in the Playground earlier in the year, coloured with Promarkers.  I went over the white on the hat with a Wink of Stella Glitter pen.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Rudolph Days November Challenge ~ Make a Christmas Card 
Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 204 ~ Used red snippets 
CHNC challenge 256: things with wings
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper November challenge
Beccy's Place ~ A Month of Holiday Cards


A second card today using the same embossing folder I used here, 'Frosty Ice Border' by Sheena Douglass, but this time I turned it round to make a portrait card.

First I covered the front of the base card in the same card as I used for the tree.  The tree is die cut using a Memory Box 'Frosted Christmas Tree' with white glitter added along the embossed part.  The glitter actually look whiter IRL.  The centre of the embossing folder is plain, but I wanted to give it some texture, so I added tiny punched snowflakes.  

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Memory Box Challenge #6 ~ Glitter!

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge ~ Snowflakes
Cuttlebug Mania ~ Embossing
Deep Ocean Challenge ~117 ~ White and other colour

Santa is a Gashead

Before I go any further, I'd better explain what a Gashead is.

The name comes from when Bristol Rovers football club's old ground was next to a gasworks and the deep smell of the gas often wafted across the pitch during matches. This led to the team becoming known as The Gas and the fans as Gasheads, names that are still used today.  Rovers play in blue and white quartered shirts and every good Rovers fan knows that Santa is a Gashead and his favourite oufit is really blue and white.  I've made a few of these cards to send to Rovers fans.

I first saw this Cheery Lynn's 'Santa's Laundry' die on Di's blog over in the Playground HERE last year.  I resisted temptation then, but decided as it was still one of my favourite Christmas dies a year later, I would add it to my collection.  I've CASE'd Di's card, with the twist of the colour of the outfit.  The trees are die cut with a Poppystamp 'Snow Flocked Tree' die with glamour dust added them, as well as the snow drift, to make them sparkle.  I added tiny white dots to the blue background for the snowflakes.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 204 ~ Used blue and white snippets 
Country View November Challenge #33 ~ The Colour Blue

Deep Ocean Challenge #117 ~ White and one other colour

I also made a few cards with Santa's traditional red and white outfit.

Beautiful Blue

Two birthday cards to make today for my brother and sister-in-law.  Both will be sent to Ireland, so I needed the designs to be flat for posting.

The first is a 50th birthday card for my sister-in-law.

I've had the pearlised, lightly embossed blue card for a couple of years.  It really the most beautiful shade of blue and I decided I've been stroking it long enough and it needed to be used!   I cut off about 4cms from the right hand side of the front of the base card.  The border is cut with a Memory Box 'Kensington Border' die and attached to the inside of the card.  I added a thin strip of the blue card to the outside.  I had a snippet of embossed card left from the card I made in my last post, so attached this to the main part of the front of the card.  The Stitched Hexagons are by Memory Box - a birthday present from last week.

The next photo shows the card open.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Less is More challenge # 251 ~ Theme - Numbers

Country View November Challenge #33 ~ The Colour Blue

Butterfly Challenge #43 ~ Butterflies + Q is for Quadruple (four butterflies)

CASology -Week173 ~ Pretty

Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 204 ~ Use snippets 

My second card is for my brother.  As he lives near the sea, I decided on a nautical theme.  I had some of the blue card left, I used it on this card as well.

The backing paper is by Anna Marie Designs.  The Little Claire 'Silhouette Lighthouse' stamp is stamped in Versafine 'Onyx'. I used Memory Box 'Stitched Square' dies to mat and layer the image and the waves were die cut with a Memory Box 'Oceana Border' die.  A punched anchor and sea shell finished off my card.  

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge -Week 338 ~ At least three die cuts (two stitched square and the wave)

Butterfly Thank You Card

The Butterfly Challenge this fortnight is "Butterflies + Q is for Quadruple", so I've included four decorative butterfly corners on my card.

The embossing folder is Spellbinders 'Dainty Dots'.  The corners are Nellie's D. Dies.  They came in a set of two, for matting and layering. The butterfly in the centre is a Spellbinders 'Les Papillions Two' die.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #43 ~ Butterflies + Q is for Quadruple

Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 203 ~ Used purple snippets

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Thanks/Thank You

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Thanks/Thanksgiving

SOS #228 ~Thanks
Deep Ocean Challenge #117 ~ White and one other colour

White Christmas

I love white on white cards, but have never attempted to make one before.  The embossing folder and sentiment stamp were presents I received recently and seemed perfect for a white on white card.

 The embossing folder is 'Frosty Ice Border' by Sheena Douglass and the sentiment stamp, is part of a Visible Image set of stamps. The Christmas Tree is die cut with a Poppystamp 'Snow Flocked Tree' die and is attached with foam pads to raise it up.  I love this die because it embosses as well as cuts and I've added some 'Glamour Dust' to the embossed part.  'Glamour Dust' was also added to the punched snowflakes, the punched star on the top of  the tree and all around the edge of the card.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Poppystamps Challenge #14 - Home For The Holidays

Little Claire's Monthly Stamp Challenge # 63 - Christmas in White Theme

Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 203 ~ Used white snippets

CHNC challenge extra for November 2015
The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge ~ World Record - well it might be a World Record if we get a White Christmas where I live.  I don't recall it snowing on Christmas Day before.  :-)
Beccy's Place ~ A Month of Holiday Cards

Back Home.....

I've been AWOL for a few days, enjoying an end of summer season break in our caravan in North Devon.  No time for crafting for a week, so I'm trying to get creative again this weekend.  I'm so behind with my blog visiting too, so that's another job for the next few days.

I missed last week's Less is More challenge, but this week it's back to a One Layer card, with the theme of 'Santa'.  

I wasn't sure what Santa stamps I had, so my first job was to go through all my stamps.  I must find a way of organising them! I found NBUS Papermania Christmas set of stamps, which I think I bought some years ago in a January sale, which included all these stamps.  The image is stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and coloured with Promarkers.  The white trim on Santa clothes is covered using a white Wink of Stella glitter brush.  The sentiments are stamped with Versafine 'Onyx'.  I added just one clear gem to the star on the sentiment.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:
Less is More - Week 250 ~ One Layer - Santa
Penny Black and More Challenge ~ Anything Christmas
CHNC challenge extra for November 2015
Beccy's Place ~ A Month of Holiday Cards

The Butterfly Challenge finishes in a couple of days, with the theme 'Butterflies + Z is for Zig Zags'.  I knew which embossing folder I wanted to use and I've finally had time to make a card.  

The embossing folder is 'Chevron' by Couture Creations.  The sentiment is layered using Spellbinder Nestabilities,  the yellow die cut was using one of the 'Square Swatches' set.  I added a strip of yellow card to the plain part of the embossed card and attached three punched butterflies, coloured with a white Wink of Stella glitter brush to add a little sparkle.  Four green pearls were added between the butterflies.  Apart from the base card, the green, yellow and white card I used were all snippets, so I'll be popping over to the Playground to share my card.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #42 ~ Butterflies + Z is for Zig Zags
Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 203 ~ Use Snippets
Cuttlebug Mania Challenge ~ Thanks/Thank You

It was my birthday on Wednesday and I had a lovely selection of new crafty goodies from family and friends.

I had a lovely day and we were blessed with perfect weather for a walk along the best beach in the UK.  It looks so different at this time of year.  We had to share the beach with a dozen or so other walkers, a couple of dogs and a party of surfers, but there was plenty of room for us all! 

It's about two and a half miles long and we walked the entire length and back, stopping for lunch overlooking the beach.  The day was finished off with a trip to the theatre to see an excellent production of Ghost the Musical.  

Paper Pieced Flower

The Less is More Challenge this week is paper piecing ....which I find so much harder than even a one layer!  Firstly, it took me ages to find a suitable stamp, but eventually I decided on a Personal Expressions Zendoodles stamp 'Flower'.

The patterned paper I used for the petals, flower centre, leaves and stem were from my box of oddments.  The green Promarker I used is a pretty good match IRL, but looks totally different in the photo - so frustrating! 

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Less is More Lucky Dip Challenge - Week 248 ~ Paper Piecing

White Poppies

A birthday card for a friend this week.  I know she won't look at my blog, so it's safe to post it on here. :-)

The panel on the left was die cut with a Poppy Stamps 'Trudeau Border' die and tiny white pearls added to the centre of each flower shape.  The flowers are die cut from a snippet of white linen card with Memory Box 'Row of Poppies'.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 201 ~ Use snippets
Country View November Challenge #33 ~ The Colour Blue

Christmas Scene

Another Christmas card - not many more to make now!  

The stamps I used were all by Card-io.  The people were from the set 'Christmas Scenery 3' and the trees from the set 'Woodland Walk' and were all stamped with a Versafine 'Onyx' ink pad.   I used Adirondack inks, 'Denim' and 'Sunshine Yellow' for the sun and snow drifts.  Two Memory Box Stitched Rectangle dies were used to make a white frame and a larger one to die cut the yellow mat.  'Glamour Dust' glitter was added to the snow drifts for a little sparkle and also to the punched snowflake, which I attached with foam pads.  The embossing folder is by Sue Wilson 'Frosted Stripes'.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Lisa B Designs Monthly Challenge ~ Stamped Christmas Scenes

Memory Box Challenge #6 ~ Glitter!

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 201 ~ Used white and yellow snippets
City Crafter Challenge Blog Week 286 ~ Getting Ready for Christmas!
Penny Black and More November Challenge ~ Anything Christmas
Allsorts Challenge - Week 335 ~ Christmas
CHNC Challenge Extra for November 2015
Beccy's Place ~ A Month of Holiday Cards

Butterflies

Welcome to my two new followers, Sylvia-Anne of Poppy's Papercraft Patch and Jo of A Little Piece of Me...my Crafting Corner. I hope you visit again soon.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share an idea at the bottom of this post that I saw recently. 

The Butterfly Challenge this fortnight is 'Butterflies + N is for Numbers'.

The embossing folder I used for the background is by x-Cut.  I punched a white butterfly strip using a Martha Stewart Double Edge Monarch Butterflies Punch. The sentiment was layered using Memory Box Stitched Circle dies. White pearls in the corners finished off my card.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #41 ~ Butterflies + N is for Numbers

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 201 ~ Used white snippets

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has an embossing folder addiction!  I can take no credit for this idea of organising my embossing folders, I saw the idea HERE on Enfys' blog 'Going Buggy', and thought it was too good not to share. 

I started by die cutting a pile of tags with a red Sizzix die. 

Then I embossed each tag with a different embossing folder, labelling the tag and embossing folder with the same letter and number.

I organised my folders by size, giving each size a different letter and put the tags on split rings.

Several of my embossing folders have big designs/frames, so I embossed larger pieces of card to show the whole design and put these on a separate ring.

My embossing folders are stored in boxes by size and each set in numerical order.  It's now much easier to find the one I need. 

Stunning Sunflower

This birthday card is for my friend Kangaruth.  It will be a scheduled post, so she doesn't see it before her birthday.  I've known Ruth for many years, when she first became my teaching assistant.  Our class was called 'Sunflower Class',  so we often use sunflowers when we are crafting.

I've used my favourite sunflower die by Cheery Lynn.  I punched the leaf and added the veins be hand with an embossing tool.  The frame was created using two of the Lil' Inker Dual Stitched Squares.  The embossing folder is Spellbinders, 'Dainty Dots'.  I love this embossing folder as the design is so delicate.

I would like to enter my card for the following challenges:
Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge #208 - Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 200 ~ Used yellow and green snippets