Clean and Simple Christmas

I hope all your Christmas preparations are now underway. I for one am looking forward to the end of term on Friday when we can relax as a family at home.

At Addicted to Stamps and More it is the turn of the A Team and the theme is CAS.

 The prize is a 15$ gift certificate courtesy of Happy Little Stampers

For my card I used a Woodware stamp to stamp the trees onto patterned paper and then paper pieced them onto the stamped image on the card.

I hope you can find some time to craft in this busy season and join us!

Challenges I am entering:

The Crafty Addicts - Anything Goes / Christmas Colours

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Anything Goes With A Die

We've reached the final month of 2016 at Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With a Die Challenge. Of course I had to make a Christmas card as its nearly the last chance before I pack away the Christmas crafting stash.

I used a Die-namites die for the wreath adding gems and gingham ribbon. With all the festive preparations to get on with it had to be something quick and simple!

I hope you will join us for this end of year challenge and may I take this chance to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Challenges I am entering with my card:

Crafty Ribbons - Anything Goes

Through the Purple Haze - Winter / Christmas Colours

Crafting By Designs - Holiday Challenge

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas

Crafty Hazlenuts Christmas Extra - Anything Christmas

Dies R Us Challenge - Christmas

Beginning to Feel Like Christmas

We are experiencing a cold snap here in the South of England although no snow as yet. So I have been busy in the craft room where its warm and cosy.

At Addicted to Stamps and More this week the challenge is Make Your Mark - which can be anything as long as you use pens, paints, pencils etc.

This is my card for the Design Team

I used a stamp set from and Promarkers to colour the image of the couple in the snow. The holly leaves were from the same set and I cut them out and used foam to give some dimension. I used my Cricut machine to cut the sentiment.  

It makes me feel very festive this scene! Looking forward to seeing your take on this week's challenge!

New stamps from Little Claire Designs

Just recently the hedgehog was nominated as Britain's favourite animal so it was a delight when I was asked to make some card samples for LC Designs using these fabulous new stamps.

Pop over to their page for more new products and ideas.

Photo Inspired Tag

So in less than 6 weeks it will be Christmas! I am so busy with cardmaking my craft room looks like Santa's grotto, although I hope he is better organised than me!

At Addicted to Stamps and More this week it is Photo Inspiration week.

So here is my take on the photo

I used a die cut tag as the base which I embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. The stamp was from a recent magazine and I coloured it using Promarkers and a gold pen. I cut the poinsettias and sparkling gold accents using a die. Its quite different for me but I actually love it!

So what will you be inspired to make????

November Anything Goes With A Die

Brr! Its getting cold here on the South Coast of England. So I was inspired to make this frosty winter forest scene.

I used a die from my stash to create this and paper pieced some of the elements.

Don't forget to come and add your creations to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With A Die for a chance to win!

Challenges I am entering:

Critters and Creatures - Anything Goes

Watercolour Christmas

At Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge this month the theme is Watercolour.

I had a dig around in my stash and found some water soluble crayons to use for the watercolouring effect.

I used a stamp set which came free with one of my craft magazines. The ink I used was a black Perfect Medium which I then added Ebony WOW! Embossing Powder on top.

I hope you will pop over and share your creations with us!

Holiday Time!

With Halloween out the way its time to start thinking about the Christmas holidays (although we still have a week of half term left!)

At Addicted To Stamps and More the theme is Holiday of any sort - Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving - its up to you.

The sponsor is Sami Stamps who are offering a $12 certificate as the prize!

I was inspired by watching on Card -i-o on Create and Craft to make this stamp using a very old set of stamps that I had.

If you are not familiar with their stamps they are individual peg stamps which you use to build up the picture. For my wreath I used Distress Inks for different elements of the picture.

I do hope you will come and join in the challenge - its a perfect excuse to make some Christmas cards!

Other challenges I am entering:

Craft-Dee Bowz - Anything with a handmade bow

The Merry Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas

CAS on Sunday - CAS Flowers

Christmas Card Maker Of 2016!!

I can't contain my excitement any longer...............I won! The competition was organised by Papercrafter Magazine. I got the news a couple of weeks ago but had to keep it a secret!

I was so excited when the £500 of Tattered Lace prizes AND a Sizzix Express machine was delivered to my door!

This is the card I entered 

I used a beautiful digital stamp from Lili of The Valley. For the instructions and full article see this month's edition of PaperCrafter Magazine.

Autumn Leaves

Its the turn of Team A at Addicted to Stamps and More this week to set the challenge. Its an easy one - ANYTHING GOES!

As we are well into Autumn now I decided to make a card titled "Autumn Blessings"

I used a stamp set from Crafters Companion to stamp the leaves using Distress Ink colours. I used a water brush to draw out the colour. Using a foam applicator I applied Distress Ink colours to the edge of the card.  I wrapped ribbon around the card before applying the stamped and die cut sentiment. Finally I mounted the finished piece onto a kraft card blank.

I hope you can come over and join in!

I am entering the following challenges:

The Crafty Addicts - Autumn Colours

Lets Craft and Create - Fall / Halloween

To Die For!

I have said it lots of times but I LOVE Halloween! I love the season with its colours, warming food and ghost stories too.

So for October's Anything Goes With A Die Challenge it had to be a Halloween card.

I used my Cricut Explore to cut the images and Black Distress Ink and a branch stencil to add detail.

I'm looking forward to seeing your creations!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

A Gem of A challenge - Halloween

Crafty Calendar Challenge - Halloween

Country View Challenges - Spooky

Crafty Creations - Halloween

Christmas SnowGlobe

Say hello to October! The leaves are turning and the craft room is beginning to look like Santa's grotto with glitter and sparkle everywhere!

Its also time for another challenge at Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge. This month we want to see EMBOSSING in your creation - heat embossing, embossing folders. The choice is yours!

For my card I used a new stamp set from HunkyDory. I stamped and embossed the snowglobe using WOW!Embossing Silver Powder.  I then used Distress Ink in Chipped Sapphire to give it some colour.

The background was created by stamping the snowflakes and embossing with white powder then going over them with Distress ink to make them stand out.  

It makes me feel festive already!!

I am entering my card into the following challenges :

WOW! Embossing Powder - Anything Goes

A Snowflakes Promise - Anything Goes (Christmas)

Dream Valley Challenges - Embossing

Clean and Simple

Are you one of those people that have boxes of stamps in your craft room? One of my boxes is filled with Crafty Individuals stamps! This was one of the first companies that I began to stamp with way back when.

The September challenge is Clean and Simple, so I decided to join in the challenge with this card.

I used the ......stamp to create the base image before stamping it again onto red card and paper piecing the hearts. I then added the sentiment with a set of alphabet stamps from my stash.

Clean and Simple!

The Craft Artist Guru Returns!

And that's not me, but the lovely Michelle Jackson Mogford ! Known for her expertise and quirky style Michelle has produced some stunning new digital kits for Serif CraftArtist.

I was honoured to be asked to create some samples with the new kits and now after lots of secret squirrel emails I can finally share the results.

The kits are : La Senora Mexican, Sunflowers and Stars, Bizarre and Fantastic, Lilies and Light and are available on the Daisytrail website.

Make Your Mark

Another week and another challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  This week the challenge is Make Your Mark.  Your entry MUST contain the use of anything that can make a mark - Stampin' Write, Copics, Promarkers, Painting, Chalks, Watercolours, Sponges, Stencils, Masks etc etc

The Sponsor is Happy Little Stampers who are giving away a $15 gift voucher.

For my card I used Spectrum Noir Aqua Tints to create the background. They make a beautiful wash of colour. The stamps I used are from HunkyDory. I stamped them with archival black ink. I have also highlighted some areas with a white gel pen, but not sure you can see that in the photo.

I hope you will come over and join in the challenge too! 

Enjoy The Journey

We are now into our September Challenge at Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with a Die. As usual its anything - as long as it has a die!!

For my project I used a Creatives die set from Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine, using my Sizzix machine. The accessories I stamped and coloured with markers and the bunting I stamped a stamp onto patterned paper.

So dust off those dies and join us!

Challenges I am entering:

Craftyhazlenuts Patterned Paper Challenge

Lets Craft and Create - Spots / stripes

Inspired By A Photo

The next challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More is to produce a piece of work inspired by this photo :

Our sponsor for this challenge is :

For my card I created a background on watercolour card using imk sprays and Distress Inks. Using a stencil I marked circles with an Embossing Pen before adding WOW! Embossing Gold Powder.

The butterflies were stamped onto watercolour card and then coloured with Distress Crayons. I sprayed them with Glimmer Angels Gloss spray to merge the colours. The sentiment is from an early edition of Craft Stamper Magazine.

I hope my card and that of the other designers at Addicted to Stamps and More have inspired you to have a go too!

I am also entering my card into the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

WOW! Embossing Powder - Anything Goes

Craft Stamper - Take A Stamp

Santa Claus is coming to town

So that was summer - school holidays are over and I always feel quite nostalgic that its another year nearly gone.

What better way to cheer myself up then some Christmas crafting!

The Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge this month is :

I chose to use this stamp by Crafty Individuals for this which is  - Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

I stamped the image and coloured it using Spectrum Noir pencils. I used Distress Inks to age the panel. I stamped the holly leaves again using Distress Inks and water to pull out the colour.

Here are some song titles to inspire you!

White Christmas

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Jingle Bells

Santa Claus is coming to Town

Jingle Bell Rock

Deck the Halls

All I want for Christmas is You

Winter Wonderland

Joy to the World

Frosty the Snowman

Silver Bells

We always love to see your creations and there is a prize too!

Other challenges I am entering :

Crafty Hazlenut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

Paper Creator's Crafts - Christmas

12 Months of Christmas - Anything Goes / Nature of Christmas

Happy Holidays

I think my mojo must have taken a holiday this week, as I have made my card for this week's challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More so many times!  The theme is HOLIDAY and can be any holiday theme. So in the end I went with this little Easter card.

Its a simple little card I made by using the stamp and colouring with Pastel Promarkers. I added a little button, flowers and ribbon to decorate.

Do come and join us - there is a $15 voucher from Happy Little Stampers up for grabs!

I'm an Addict!!

Of the crafting kind I hasten to add!! I was honoured to be asked to join the Addicted to Stamps and More Design Team.

For my first challenge it is Anything Goes and is sponsored by A Day For Daisies.

The prize is a $12.00 gift certificate for the store so don't forget to join us!

I have been dying to create a card like this, so here is the end result.

I used Gelatos (on sale at Hobbycraft this week!) to create the background, using water and watercolour card. The sentiment was diecut using my Cricut machine. Simple but I really like this style.

I look forward to seeing your creations!

Paper Creator's Crafts - Keep it Simple

In The Pink - Anything Goes

Anything Goes with a Die

As its supposed to be summer here in the UK I decided to make a tropical themed card for this month's Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With A Die.  Unfortunately the weather is anything but tropical with rain and wind!

For my card I used a flamingo die that came with one of my craft magazines. I die cut them from card and coloured them with Promarkers. I diecut a circle in the centre of the card and backed it with acetate, before using a background paper inside too.

The flowers are from a set by Creative Stamping magazine. I stamped and coloured them with Promarkers and a gold pen. The leaves were diecut with my Cricut machine.

Unfortunately the picture shows a mark on the acetate which was a bit disappointing, but otherwise I love this card!

Don't forget to join us at the challenge!

Challenges I am entering :

Crafty Sentiment Designs - Use Dies

Passion For Promarkers - Square Card

Country View Crafts - Hot Summer Days

Its Snowing at Happy Little Stampers

Yes you heard right! - this month at Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge we want to see SNOWFLAKES.

This is the card I have created for the challenge :

I used a free stamp from one of my craft magazines to stamp the snowflakes. I used a Versamark inkpad on kraft card and then embossed with WOW! Embossing Powder Super Fine White. This is a great powder as it captures the detail.  To finish I wrapped bakers twine around the card and hung a silver snowflake charm from it. The sentiment I stamped and then die cut on my Sizzix Big Shot.

I hope you like it - it made me feel quite Christmassy making this!!

I can't wait to see your snowflake inspired designs too.

Other challenges I am entering:

Sweet Stamping Christmas - Anything Christmas

Artistic Stampers - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazlenuts Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas

WOW Embossing Powder - Anything Goes

Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes

Unfortunately this will be my last month as a DT member for Crafting By Designs. I have loved my time with this super group of crafters, but other commitments have to take precedence I'm afraid.

As August is a busy time for most the theme is all encompassing - Anything Goes!

The sponsor is :

I chose to use the Wedding Cake digi but as a Birthday cake instead.

I printed the image a couple of times before decoupaging and colouring in. I die cut the banner and stars using a free die from Die Cutting Essentials magazine.

I look forward to seeing your creations over at the blog too!

Down on the Farm

Well I've had a much needed holiday and can't wait to get crafting again.We have been to the beautiful island of Jersey and recharged our batteries!  Although I think I may have left my crafty mojo there!

So back to normality!

This week at Crafting By Designs the theme is Farm Life.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Stamping Boutique who are offering 3 digital stamps as the prize!

I chose to use the stamp Farm Morning.

I coloured the digi stamp with Spectrum Noir Pencils which made a change from pens. The paper is printed from Serif Craft Artist and the banners were from a Docrafts kit.  I stamped a tag and attached it with twine for a rustic feel.

Show us your farm creations to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

Challenges I am entering:

The Crafty Addicts - Anything Goes

Getting Ready for Christmas

At Crafting By Designs its that time of the month when once again we invite you to Get Ready for Christmas.

Our sponsor this week is Beccy's Place

I chose to use The Christmas Star Cottage digital stamp.

I used Promarkers to colour in the cottage and glitter on the star. I die cut the image using a Spellbinders Scalloped Circle Die. To finish I added the ribbon, sentiment and floral embellishments. 

Its the perfect excuse to get those cards ready for Christmas and join in our challenge at the same time!

Challenges I am entering :

Challenge Up Your Life - Christmas in July

Hiding In My Craft Room -  Christmas in July

My Time To Craft - Christmas in July