Christmas and Best Wishes

Beccy's Place Month of Holiday Cards Challenge begin on 1st November.  As it's already November in Australia I'm linking up my first card.

  

We came home today from just over a week in our little caravan, which is now closed up for the winter.  As usual, I took some crafty things with me to the caravan in case of bad weather.  I'm really behind with my Christmas cards this year, so I decided to batch make some cards and I made 30 of this design to help get me back on track, putting the finishing touches on tonight.

 

I went through my green snippets drawer and took out every piece of green card which was at least 6" x 4".  I trimmed the green card to make a mat big enough to just leave a small white border of the card blank.  I used a MFT 'Christmas Tree Window' die in a piece of white card to create a tree shaped aperture.  I used the die again with gold glitter card to die cut just the star and inlaid it into the card.  The sentiment is a stamp from the Stampin' Up 'Greatest Part of Christmas', stamped with Versafine 'Onyx Black'.  

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Beccy's Place Month of Holiday Cards Challenge ~ A for Aperture

Allsorts Challenge #700 ~ Let's Celebrate - Any Special Occasion

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge # 559 ~ Seasons Greetings

My second card is one I made following a sketch.

The patterned paper, flower die, enamel dots, stamp and embossing folder were all from one of  Lisa Horton's box kits.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Dream Valley Challenge # 281 - Dies and/or Punches

Shutter card

The Allsorts Challenge are celebrating their 700th Challenge this week, so help them celebrate by sharing a card in the challenge made for any special occasion.

Yesterday my great nephew became a teenager and this is the card I made for him.  I usually try to make a fancy fold card as he likes to try and work out how I made it.  I won a shutter card kit recently and as I'd never made one before,  I used the kit as a template so I could get the measurements for this card.

The papers are from a paper pad from The Range.

It turned out to be the perfect choice of papers, as my great nephew spent his birthday with a few friends at Exmoor Zoological and Conservation Centre.

This is a little video showing how the card opens and closes.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 700 ~ Let's Celebrate - Any Special Occasion

Krafty Chicks Challenge #635 ~ All Occasions

AAA Birthday Card Challenge #42 ~ A Favourite Technique (Making Fancy Fold Cards)

To make sure I don't forget how to make this style of card, I made a second one which I'll probably keep as a sample.

A Few Cards.....

I have a few cards in my draft folder which I haven't had time to post on my blog, so here are some of them. The papers and embellishment were from Lisa Horton's Box Kits.

I followed a sketch for this card.

I also using a Lisa Horton's 'Pretty Leaves' embossing folder on this one.

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A Joy Fold card.

 

 

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I made this card after watching a video on the Nifty Noodles Crafting Facebook page demonstrating this fold.

 

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The last one is a Triple Reveal Card.

I used the 'Pretty Leaves' embossing folder again on the front of this card.

This is the inside of the card.

Poinsettias

The Rudolph Days October Challenge begins today and runs until the end of the month.

I used a new corner die from Tim Holtz 'Mixed Media Christmas' set, a set I bought ages ago in the Sizzix 70% off sale, but never got round to using.... until now.  I thought the die would be good for making a quick Christmas card, but how wrong was I! I was going to make the card just in red and white, but the holly leaves didn't look right in red, so I used the die again with snippets of green card and inlaid the holly leaves. The sentiment is a SU stamp, stamped with Versafine Clair 'Green Oasis.  I think I might try making this design again with black or navy blue instead of the red to see if it looks okay without having to inlay any of the little pieces.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Rudolph Days October Challenge 

The Holly and Ivy Challenge # 126 - Anything Christmas Goes

NBUS Challenge #43 ~ Use Never-Before-Used-Schtuff

Owl

A card today which I made for a recent card swap.

I used an MFT 'Cross-Stitch Tag' die, chopping off the top to make a rectangle.  The owl was stitched with crochet cotton.  I embossed the background with a Creative Expressions 'Linear Leaves' embossing folder.  The die cut on the right is a Memory Box 'Fairytale Flower' one.  It was a little to long, so I snipped of the bottom.  The sentiment attached with foam pads.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Week 699 ~ Colours of Autumn

We Love 2 Create - Week 10 ~ Anything Mixed Media Goes

My Time To Craft Challenge #493 ~ Theme of Wings

Sparkles Monthly Challenge #157 ~ Owls

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #184 ~ Die-Cut, Layers, Autumn Colours

Halloween

I can't believe that it's ten days since I last posted on my blog.  My hubby and I spent a lovely few days in London last week.  The main reason for going was to see the ABBA Voyage concert, which was absolutely amazing and mind-blowing.  If you get a chance to see it, I can highly recommend it.

Two cards today to join in with a few challenges.

The image is from Beccy's Place and is a freebie this month.  You can find it here.  There is also a pre-coloured version, but I decided to colour mine with Promarkers.  The patterned paper is from a My Mind's Eye 'Something Wicked' paper pad I won over in The Playground. 

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Beccy's Place October Challenge

Country View Challenge October Challenge ~ Halloween or Harvest

Crafting Uncles Challenge #34 ~ Halloween

Mirtillamente Challenge #14 ~ All About Halloween

SheepSki Designs Challenge #67 ~ Autumn Things incl Halloween

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge ~ Anything Halloween Goes

My second card is a masculine card I can post on my blog now that I know it has been received.

  I used a new Gemini stamp & die set 'Wishing you a happy BIRTHDAY'.  The BIRTHDAY was die cut straight into a card blank.  The patterned paper and red card was from my snippets drawer, so I'll be sharing my card over in the Playground.  I punched a small red circle and added a white star brad to finish off my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Week 698 ~ Add a Sentiment

Snippets Playground Challenge #439 ~ Use Snippets

HLS October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

NBUS Challenge #43 ~ Use Never-Before-Used-Schtuff (Die and Stamp set)

Finally, a few photos of our trip to London last week.   (No photos of the Abba Voyage concert as cameras were banned.)

Canal at Little Venice where we went on a canal boat ride to Camden Market.

Camden Market.

Tower Bridge.

Walking over the glass floor of Tower Bridge.

Tower of London.

HMS Belfast

London Eye
 

Elizabeth Tower, housing Big Ben.

Family Celebrations

We had two special family events this week. 

First it was my great niece's birthday.

My great niece loves wolves, so this Lavina 'Maka' stamp was perfect for her card.  I made moon and mountains masks from scrap paper to ink the background.  All the other stamps I used were also from Lavinia and I painted the tree with a little brown Distress Ink mixed with a little water.  I layered the finished scene on a black mat.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card. 

Alphabet Challenge ~ N is for Nature

Krafty Chicks Challenge #632 ~ Stamp Act

HLS October Birthday Challenge

Critter Crazy Challenge #67 ~ Anything Goes with a Critter

Night Owl-Create-Beauty Challenge #17 ~ It runs, flies, crawls and crawls

It was my brother and sister-in-law's 30th Wedding Anniversary this week and this is the card I made for them.  I was pleased how a Golden Wedding Anniversary card I made HERE turned out, so I decided to use the same cross stitch die for this card.

The heart is a Marianne Designs 'Cross Stitch Heart' die cut.  The background was embossed with an Xcut 'Small Polka Hearts' embossing folder.  I added a strip of patterned cream ribbon, layered on a pink mat and raised up the heart on foam pads.  Two cream pearl hearts finished off my card.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge #697 ~ A/G with option of Monochromatic

Cut It Up Challenge #262 ~ BIG!

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Stitch it

Creations in Pink Challenge # 50 ~ Anything Goes in MAINLY Pink

Photo heavy....

I saw a challenge on the Creative Minds - Kind Hearts Facebook page recently to use one 12 x 12 sheet of patterned paper to make several cards, using a template to cut sixteen squares and rectangles of various sizes.  I decided to use a sheet of double-sided paper from a paper pad from The Range and these are the designs I came up with.  The patterned paper had small red and black hearts on one side and black with white flecks on the other, so I decided to stick with a black, white and red theme for all my cards.   I followed the template,  just cutting one of the larger rectangles in half diagonally to use on one of the cards.  I used plain white, red and black card, a few dies, embossing folders and punches, a couple of sentiment stamps and some red and black pearls to make my cards.  As almost all of the plain card was snippets, I'll be sharing one of my cards over in The Playground.

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Snippets Playground Challenge #438 ~ Use snippets

Bizzy Bec's October Challenge ~ Anything Goes

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #558 ~ Embossing Wet or Dry

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

 The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge ~ Use HAPPY in your sentiment

 

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

HLS October Birthday Challenge

I am joining in the following challenges with this card:

The Flower Challenge #73 ~ Use a Sentiment

Twofer

A One Layer CAS to share today.  

I started by masking off a panel and used Distress Ink and a Lavinia 'Laurel' stencil.  The images are from Stampin' Up 'Dragonfly Garden' set of stamps.  I painted them with the same Distress Ink used in the panel, mixed with a little water.  The sentiment is a Woodware stamp.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Inkspirational Challenge #275 ~ Technique - Use Stencils

A second card to share today, which I made for a friend's daughter a while ago and forgot to post on my blog.  I know the birthday girl loves sunflowers and music, so I incorporated both in my card.

The image is a VERY old wooden Butterfly Kisses stamp, coloured with Promarkers.  The embossing was done with a Crafts-Too 'Music Notes' embossing folder.  The Joy Fold card is kept closed with a flower brad.

I added a flower inside, made with punches.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon Challenge # 673 ~ Birthday

I Love Promarkers Challenge #519 ~ Anything Goes without the option

The Flower Challenge #73 ~ Use a Sentiment & 6th Birthday