A bit of Christmas - 4 Christmas cards

 Hi there.   Over the last few days I've made some Christmas cards for a few challenges and some just for fun.  

First up is a  card I made for Let's Squash It challenge.  The challenge is Not Paper, Not Card.

I took a piece of vellum and used a Christmas word folder.  I wrapped it around some dark red card stock.  I used a lighter red card and some dark green card together with a Hero Arts Poinsettia stamp and matching die cut to make my flower.  I layered the red panel onto some dark green then onto my white card, 

Second one was for the challenge at Christmas Kickstart.  Jo and Gail provided a beautiful photo inspiration. 

I took my inspiration from the brightly coloured tree.  

My tree came from a magazine freebie stamp set.  I took some patterned paper to add to my mini slimline and stamped the tree.  Then I took some Nuvo drops and 3D Liquid pearls and added lots of blobs and dots.  I gold embossed the sentiment from the stamp set. 

My next two cards were just for fun. 

la

Playing with my setncil again.  This time I blended my desert scene and stamped the Bethlehem stamp (from a NZ company Montarga Stamps) - It went a bit wonky but I was happy with the results.  Add the sentiment along the bottom.  I used pencils to colour in the rest of the stencil and added Wink of Stella all over.  

And finally using a fun fold I used recently. 

I made the cuts on my card and then added my patterned papers.  I used three different sheets of paper. Two for the backgrounds and the other one to cut out Father Christmas.  I then used a die to cut out the big Christmas and stamped the little Merry. 

thanks for getting to here... I know it's a big post.   

Things here in NZ have taken a turn for the worst.  We've got a case of Covid in the community so the whole country has gone into Level 4 lockdown.  Here in Auckland and in the Coromadal Peninsula,  it's for 7 days - rest of the country it's for 3 days.   The case has no links to the border or managed isolation so we are just waiting to see if there are more.  So working from home for the next week.  

Take care out there people.  

Christmas In July

Its the last day for our Christmas in July challenge at Die Cut Divas.   Our fabulous sponsor is the Frantic Stamper Inc

They have an amazing array of stamps, dies and embossing folders.

So here is my card to share today

No stamping in this one at all.  Just two embossing folders and a die cut.   Great for those quick and easy card you often need when it comes round to Christmas time.

A big thanks to the Frantic Stamper for sponsoring us this month.

Christmas Card Sneak Peeks

Hi there.... a couple of sneak peeks....

For StampNation our latest Christmas Card challenge is underway... so here's a little peek

Members can view & play along with the challenge HERE! 
Not a member.... head over to StampNation and join the fun.

And coming up on Die Cut Divas in a few days - a sneak peek 

I hope to see you back in a few days.

Playing with Poinsettias

Today I got to spend some time playing with Hero Arts Poinsettia and some cheap shimmery watercolour paints I picked up for $4.99 the other day.  They are such pretty soft colours.  There are 28 colours in the set (See it HERE)

My first card started out life as an ATC that I thought would look good on a card.  I made the card a smaller one.. 3.5" by 4.5".

I used some Close to My Heart watercolour paper for the ATC panel and white embossed the poinsettia.  I did a wet on wet paint technique by wetting the image before adding the paint.   The sentiment is from another Hero Arts set.    I dragged some of the paint out around the flower.
Entering this into the Challenge at Hero Arts 

My second card is a full size A5 size and uses the same technique for colouring the Poinsettia.

I started by stamping the Stampin'Up text in 2nd generation using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  Once the flower was coloured I masked it and sponged Tumbled Glass distress ink all over the card.  I then added watered down Golden Glitz ink and some of the pink paint.   The sentiment is from a set in the SOA Candy Cane Lane collection.

and for my last card I chose a different colour for the flower

I started by stamping the poinsettia in a light grey Altenew ink.  I used cream and fawn colours.  I added a pale grey Copic marker round the outside and then around some of the petals.  The sentiment is another one from SOA Candy Cane Lane  collection.

Today is hubby's birthday - the big six-0!  We had a great party last night - catching up with a lot of old friends and relatives.

thanks for stopping by.  Hope you are having a great weekend.

Marathon card making weekend....

WARNING - PHOTO HEAVY POST 

Well my marathon card making weekend is coming to an end... hubby will be home in a couple of hours... it's going to take that long to tidy up the dining room and table

I've had a great weekend - even managed a few chores... this morning washed all the floors and went out to get meat from the butchery.    And a total of 10 cards made since Friday evening.  '

Today I've been on a Christmas card blitz.  Started by using MISTI to stamp a pile of SOA Peppermint Stick backgrounds in lots of colours.  Then with help of MISTI again did a few panels for the fronts

All the stamps and the die are from the SOA Candy Cane Lane Collection.

And did you know you can use the Peppermint stick background to make a plaid!  Well you can...

The blue ink went down first and then I turned the card 90 degrees and stamped in the red.  I die cut it with the little scallop die from one of the earlier SOA collections.  My mini perfect layers made it easy to add a little white mat around it.   Clear embossed and die cut the deer's head.  Cut the Merry in a few colours before deciding on the white one.

I also stamped some envelopes with some SOA goodies for my Christmas cards


My final two Christmas cards were both inspired by cards made by Gayatri Murali over at Winnie and Walter's rerun challenge.  I have the stamp set being highlighted and Gayatri's cards got my creative juices going.

I used the bigger of the pennants to make my pretty pastel trees.  Paired them with a sentiment from the SOA collection.  I embossed it so love the bold black against the soft pastels.  Entered into the challenge at Winnie and Walter.

and for my second one I went monochromatic

Used the smaller pennant and stamped it in the three greens from one of the Altenew inks sets.  Added some tiny die cut gold stars and some sequins from Lucy's Little Things.  The sentiment is made up of three from the Hero Arts Peace stamp and die set.  I used a Lil' Inkers die to cut the panel and to emboss the card base.   This one is going into the challenge at Winnie and Walter as well.
I am also entering it into the Geometric challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

Whew!!!  If you made it this far... Thank You.    Despite all of this creativity my mind is still churning with lots ideas for cards and I could keep going for ages... but reality sets in when I realise I have to clean up and get ready for work tomorrow.    Thanks for stopping by. 

It's Offical.... I'm a Guest Designer over at StampNation!!!!

Yep, little old me.  I was very excited to be asked to guest design for October to December.... starting with Word Card Making Day this coming weekend.  So look out for some inspiration from me for the challenges during the day (or should that be weekend!)

Anyway to celebrate I have started by using some the the Stamp of Approval Candy Cane Lane collection.

This one uses the Peppermint Stick background stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz and clear embossed.  I used this with my Sizzix Flip Card die to make the base.  I then stamped and embossed the deer (Hip Holiday) before die cutting with the matching die set (Hip Holiday dies).  I used the Merry die (Merry Labels Die) to cut some of the stripy background. Off set it with some black card so it would pop a bit more and added the Christmas (Merry and Bright Boughs) sentiment.

and a second card I did and posted at StampNation

I used a piece of the golden stamped background from the first card to added down the side of my card and then used a few of the leaves, candy canes and peppermint lollies  and little bitty bits from the Candy Cane Lane stamp and matching die sets and the Hip Holiday stamp set which is where the sentiment came from.  A thin piece of gold mirror card finished it off before matting onto the red card and then the white base.

I'm having such fun with this Collection and if you set a chance to purchase it over at cpstampofapproval.com   I can recommend it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can share my excitement with me for the next few months.

I've been busy...

Can't believe it's been a week since I last posted.... but I have been busy.  I took my Christmas cards to work on Friday and sold 10 cards... which meant I was short again... so decided I need to do some mass production.

My first set was three similar cards that I did for a swap on Flickr.  Each was similar but slightly different.

I used a die and stamp set I got with a magazine... I just love my freebies!

My next set was again with the same freebies - a gorgeous wreath of holly leaves which I embossed in Platinum powder and some added ribbon.  I did 7 of these changing up the ribbons.

Simple but elegant and really quick to make.

And finally a set of tags my hubby requested me to make for him

Using a real mixture of stamps.  Tags are cut with a CAS-ual Fridays die.

I also managed to get most of my overseas cards addressed and off to the post.  Now I have a few more cards to make as I still have the family cards to send but only three left!  So more mass production need this weekend.

Hope you are not getting too stressed with Christmas preparation.  I'm getting excited as my Mum and Dad arrive on the 19th for a month and on the 20th my daughter and her hubby arrive for a 2 week stay... so full house at our place.  Going to be fun.

The weekend's Christmas cards......

On Saturday I spent a few hours stamping with my group of friends... 5 hours of fun and chatting. 

I looked through Pinterest to get some ideas for Christmas cards and took some ideas with me.  I managed a few cards

 

I made my own PP with A Hero Arts music background stamped with Memento brown ink onto some kraft card.  I then overstamped with the Hero Arts layered Christmas tree in various green inks.  The die cut sentiment is from Couture Creations

 

 

This is the first of some poinsettia card I did.  Using a Spellbinders Poinsettia die, a MFT doily cut from some gold paper (thanks to Janet who bought a roll of this beautiful gold wrapping paper)  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  A few Pretty Pink Posh sequins to finish. 

second Poinsettia card - Kiwi stamp Poinsettia embossed onto Vellum and fussy cut.  Once again, using a Hero Arts sentiment. 

I did one other card but it's for Deborah's November CCC and has only just headed overseas to it's recipient. Once I know Oreet has recieved it, I will share.

Thanks for stopping by.  

Vellum Poinsettia

I saw a beautiful card on Facebook from Deasy (see here) and decided I wanted to try something like it....

I stamped my Kiwi Stamps  Poinsettia in Versamark on vellum and embossed with some Red Tinsel powder and heat set.  I then fussy cut and added to a striped card from Close to my Heart.  The sentiment is from Stamp-it!

I've entered this into the Stripes challenge at City Crafter Challenge

I also did a CASE of Deasy card.

My splatters are gesso watered down.  Sentiment is from Winnie & Walter and was white embossed. 

Happy Halloween to everyone.  I only had a couple of lots of Trick and Treaters tonight.... so lots of chocolate and black jelly beans for me!

A Very Trendy Holiday 2.0

Over at StampNation there is an online class called A Very Trendy Holiday 2.0.  The class includes over 50 very trendy samples and 18 video tutorials teaching you step-by-step how to make these super snazzy projects.  I'm about half way through the class and I'm having fun trying out some of the samples. 

The first session is all about Geometrics.

My first card inspired by Maureen Merritt used some of the chevron's from a Winnie & Walter set.  I put three together onto the block and stamped in green and red Memento inks.  The sentiment is part of a Hero Arts one.    Sequins are very on trendy at the moment so added a few. 

Second card also used a geometric idea.  This one was CASE'd from a card by Gayatri Murali. I used a pennant from a Winnie & Walter set for my trees and a star from the same set stamped in Delicate Golden Glitz ink.  Add some gold sequins and gems.

And for my third card I CASE'd Virginia Lu.  She had used a stencil for her Nordic background but I used a stamp.

I coloured the stamp,  from Simon Says Stamp, with Distress markers and spritzed with water.  I also added some gold stamped sequins.  The sentiment is from Kaisercraft, white embossed. 

I'm slowly working my way through the class... I really want to try every single technique.

Thanks for taking the time to visit me.  I really appreciate the time you have taken out of your day. 

Poinsettia fun

I've been having fun with my new Poinsettia stamp and my patterned papers.  Here are a few more I've done.

I used some cream shimmer card bases and embossed the Poinsettia with Liquid Platinum powder.  I fussy cut them out.  Then using the shimmer bases, Patterned Paper and a variety of sentiments, I made this set of cards.   All nice and CAS.  Just love this stamp.

And one final card today.... I have an Indian friend at work so I made her a Diwali card.

Using yellow and orange distress inks.  The stamps were stamps with Spiced Marmalade distress ink. The Hero Arts sentiment is stamped in red ink and the die cut letters are from a Mama Elephant set.  Finished with some sequins.   This card was inspired by my friend Isha.    Happy Diwali to all my Indian friends. 

World Card Making Day

4th October is World Card Making Day.  That was yesterday in my part of the world and I had the pleasure of spending some time crafting with a friend.

This is Suna getting on with her cards.

I managed to get 3 Christmas cards done and finish off a card in a box.

This is for friend's birthday.  Another friend got me to make this.

For my next two cards use a Hero Arts Holly stamp

 The first one was inked with HA Green Hills ink and Golden Glitz ink and for the second one I used Peeled Paint for the Holly and once again stamped the outline in the gold ink.  I used Shabby Shutters to sponge the edges.  The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.

And my final card is one I CASE'd from a magazine that came with the Bo Bunny papers and stamps.

Didn't quite come out as well as I hoped as I over distressed the centre piece.

And today I managed to get some more cards done... some for my DT work and a couple more.  So all in all, a great weekend crafting for me.   Hope you weekend was as much fun as mine. 

Embossed Christmas Cards

I here today to share a couple of embossed Christmas cards.  I got  a pair of Couture Creations embossing folders cheaply and a tree die as well.  I used some dark green card for the base on both cards.

First up I used the Holly background folder and then added the tree cut from gold foil card.  I added lots of gems to add some bling.    I added this to the challenge at Crafting When We Can ~ Make it Sparkle.  

For my second card, I embossed the green card.  Then I rubbed some white chalk over the card.  I had bought a $2 pack of white children's chalks just a week ago and was very impressed on how this turned out.  I stamped the Kaisercraft sentiment in white ink and once it had dried, I sprayed the card with some cheap hairspray to set the ink.  I rubbed a little gold ink on the star.  

Our weekend went well.   Our friend's service was very special as he was one very special man.  He was interned on Sunday at the cemetery near where he grew up.  The day was stunning, and it was a very moving grave side service.   Farewell my friend... RIP.

 

A very productive Saturday

I've had a lovely weekend.... even though Hubby was away all weekend!  He was on a "Boys" weekend away with his rugby mates. They went to Rotorua for the weekend, leaving lunch time Friday and returning around 3.30pm today.   I did not missed him!  Well sort of.  I did enjoy having some ME time.  I arranged for a friend, Suna, to come around on Saturday afternoon to craft with me.  She arrived with her Fiskars AdvantEdge punch and a Spellbinders Christmas die

We had fun cutting out edgings and trees.  I cut three trees ~ two in green foil and one in silver and then cut the ornaments in the red foil.  All up I made 5 cards.... 4 Christmas ones and one birthday.

I added the green foil tree to a white card and added the sentiment from a Kaisercraft set.  Then I let loose with coloured gems....

My next card used the silver foil tree

 

I added a silver embossed sentiment.  Not sure if I need to add some gems.  What do you think?

and here's is my ornament card.

Another CAS card with the ornaments taking centre stage.  I added the PP to the bottom of the card and used a piece of printed ribbon as my sentiment.  My strings are Peelcraft stickers.  Added the gems and it was all done. 

I'll share my other cards on my Flickr page and here later in the week.  My Die Cut Divas sample will be up tomorrow as we start an new month....

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope I didn't bore you with all my cards.... I just love sharing my creations and I appreciate those of you who take the time to comment.  I do appreciate it.  

And a final little note..... Alexandra is having a giveaway on her blog art scrap & more.

 

Wouldn't you just love to win this lot!   Do go a visit her and join her giveaway