Dear Santa - Christmas at ABNH week 4

Our Christmas event at A Blog Named Hero is coming to an end this week!  This week, out theme is Christmas quickies - quick projects that you can get done in a short amount of time (because we always seem to run out of time close to Christmas!

I made 2 cards that took me less than 10 mins to make - it would take me less than 5 mins to make each one in a production line.  I used stamps from Hero Arts and paper and a stamp from Lawn Fawn.  On the first card, I used wood veneer from Simon Says Stamp for the tree trunk and the star (but decided not to do that on both cards, as the fussy cutting took a bit too much time!)

I decided that the 2nd card needed some bling, so I added some red Hero Arts gems and gold Stickles to the star. 

Create with 8 at CASual Fridays

This week's challenge at CASual Fridays is to Create with 8 - make a card with 8 of anything.  I recently a  Pieced Chevrons die from Lil' Inker designs, that is meant to cover a card front.  I just used all the little bits in the middle of the die (8 parallelograms and 8 diamonds), coloured them with Copics (B00 and BG10) and added some white gel pen.  A sentiment embossed in silver finished the card.

 I hope you're having a lovely day :)

Enjoy your day

A fun, colourful card today.  I used Lawn Fawn's "Quinn's ABCs" stamps and dies, "Interlocking Backdrops" and the hearts are from "Blue Skies".  I coloured the letters using Copics, and then they're covered in Zig Wink of Stella. There's also a spot of Glossy Accents on the hearts.

 I hope you're enjoying your day!! Thanks for visiting :)

Lawn Fawn balloon

I love this Lawn Fawn balloon!  I love the whole "Blue Skies" set, actually!  For this card, I used "Blue Skies", as well as the sun from "Sunny Skies", and the hexagon and stripy chevron pattern from Interlocking Backdrops".

 Thanks for visiting - have a great day :)

Christmas card with some weaving

The challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers is "Let's weave".  This is what I came up with, using a Papertrey Ink die and matching stamp.

I made the weaved piece with some scraps of ribbon I've had sitting around for AGES (see, never throwing stuff out pays off!).  I originally had it in mind for a different card, but I couldn't get it to work, and this card evolved.  Pretty happy with the result, even if I do say so myself!

Thanks for visiting :)

Happy birthday, Jacqui!

It is my sister Jacqui's birthday tomorrow, and I've already made her one card, but that's for my parents to give to her!  I was stumped for ideas this morning, so I went to my notebook where I keep a list of current challenges in blogland that I hope to find time to participate in.  I chose 2 today - Freshly Made Sketches #113, and Keep It Simple #27 Color Combo.

 I used a Hero Arts Happy Birthday from "Essential Messages", Lawn Fawn "Quinn's ABC" stamps and dies, and the flower and leaves are from a discontinued Stampin' Up set.
The Copics I used are B00, B05, BG10, BG18, R32, RV09 and BV17.  I finished with a touch of clear  Wink of Stella.

Thanks for visiting, have a great day (especially Jacqui!)

Retro sketches meets Lawn Fawn

I recently ordered some Lawn Fawn goodies, and the lovelies at Lawn Fawn included a little thank-you gift in my order!  I got a couple of pieces of patterned paper (which I will use another time) and a cute little "love" flair-buttony-thingy!  As soon as I saw this week's Retro Sketches challenge, I knew I would be using my flair!

How cute is that flair!?!  The patterned papers are all from Lawn Fawn's "Peace, Love, Joy" 6x6 paper pack, and the stamps are from the matching stamp set.  The twine is from Doodle Twine, the punch I used on the edges is a Stampin' Up postage stamp puch (I just used the edge). 

I stamped and white embossed the "joy" on the middle panel, then clear embossed the little leaves above and below the word.  They didn't show up as much as I wanted, so I very lightly sponged some white ink around them.

I hope you're having a fabulous weekend - thanks for visiting :)

Some fun die cuts for Christmas

I bought a pack of Christmassy die cuts at Kaiser Craft a couple of months ago - and I'm loving them!  They're great for a focal point on a card, great for layering, fun and colourful!

The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Annabelle Stamps: Holly Branch.

 I'm playing along with Just Us Girls Challenge - I focussed on the colour scheme (red, pink, aqua & green), the trees in the background, and the patterns (dots and stripes).  I'm also playing along with Lawnscaping - Polka Dots, and Annabelle Stamps "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".  

Thanks for visiting - have a great day! 

Retro sketches, and another card with no stamps!!

I know!  No stamps?! I must be sick!  (actually, I am, but that's not the reason for this card!)

I went to a craft market last weekend, where I caught up with the lovely Iwona Palamountain (aka Chupa).  She has a whole bunch of cards for sale, but also had some kits with 6x6 paper and a variety of embellishments for sale.  I bought a couple to make some cheerful (and quick!) Christmas cards. I also used an embellishment from Kaiser Craft on this card.

 I love the mixture of non-traditional colours on these Christmas embellishments - I always seem to gravitate to reds and greens, so it's nice to make something for Christmas with other colours now and then.

 I followed the sketch from Retro Sketches this week. 

Thanks for visiting - have a lovely day :)

Faux Letterpress with dies

In today's Online Card Class (Last day! *sniff*), Jennifer McGuire used a technique that I've seen a few people do now (including Linda Trace HERE) - use a die as a stamp.  Jennifer took it further by also embossing with the die, to create a faux letterpress effect.  I don't have a heap of Christmassy dies, so this die has been getting quite a workout lately!

This technique worked really well with this Memory Box Swirl Ornament die - I used Hero Arts Raspberry Jam mid tone shadow ink.  I used 2 rubber mats from Papertrey Ink to allow the die to emboss rather than cut the watercolour paper as it went through my Big Shot. The card base is stamped with the "Vines" stamp from Cover A Card, in the same HA Raspberry Jam ink.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts "Very Merry Christmas" stamped in my new favourite black ink, Hero Hues Black.

I'll be submitting this card to Festive Friday's last challenge of the year - why, oh why have I only discovered this challenge blog this week?!?!? Oh well. I'll be all prepared NEXT year!!! LOL!

Thanks for visiting :)

AEI♥U challenge

Avery Elle has a challenge this month on their AEI♥U challenge blog - it is to create ANY project you wish!!
I've been wanting to break out my new Avery Elle stamps, so this was the PERFECT opportunity! I used stamps from "Fanfare" and "Oh Happy Day".  I used Hero Arts Shadow inks in Soft Pool and Cornflower, and Stampin' Up inks in Wild Wasabi, Bermuda Bay and Bashful Blue. The sentiment is stamped in Hero Arts Hero Hues black (why, oh WHY has it taken me so long to buy this black ink?  It is perfect!)

I'm also entering this card into CASual Fridays "Create with 8", as my sentiment has 8 letters  ;)

Thanks for visiting - have a great day :)

CASE study challenge

This is my 4th post for today (phew!! Sorry for overwhelming you!)  If you're looking for my post for A Blog Named Hero, please click HERE.

I've missed a few CASE study challenges lately, so I'm making up for lost time. The inspiration card  by Keisha Campbell (that I've copied below) has chevrons, a die-cut background, a sentiment on a banner, and leaves and flowers behind the sentiment. My card doesn't look a heap like the inspiration photo, but it incorporates all those elements (but has holly berries instead of flowers.)

Thanks for visiting - have a great day! :)

Glassy Christmas bauble

This is my 3rd post for today - for my A Blog Named Hero post, please click HERE.

The Online Card Class today was all about making masculine and feminine versions of a card - you can see my masculine card HERE, and here's the feminine version:

 I could have been content just having the glittery "Swirl Ornament" die from Memory Box, cut from Stampin' Up Glimmer paper, sitting on top of the "Classic Ornament" in plain white, but I wanted to add some detail, without drawing attention away from the bauble, and without making the card too fussy - so out came good old Glossy Accents!  It makes the bauble look like glass!
It's a bit hard to see, but the card base is subtly-textured white cardstock - I think it's called "hammered" cardstock, and it's lovely and thick, as well as having a gorgeous texture.  I recently replenished my stock at Doggetts :)
The "Woodland Branch" die looked a bit out of place in white, so I cut a kraft version and dabbed on some Distress Paint in Picket Fence (this is the first time I've used any Distress Paint, and I love it!)  Also being used for the first time (because it arrived in the mail this morning!) is the "Stitched Mats: Rectangles" die set from Lil' Inker Designs - LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I think this set is going to be well loved! 
The sentiment stamp is from A Muse Artstamps, stamped in Smokey Grey Versafine Ink.

 Thanks for visiting - have a great day :)

Masculine Christmas card

This is my 2nd post for today - for my A Blog Named Hero post, please click HERE.

Today in the Online Card Class, the emphasis wasw on creating designs that can be modified to create both masculine and feminine loooking Christmas cards. I used some of Debby Hughes' ideas, and came up with this masculine card (I'll post the feminine version later).

 I used two dies - Memory Box Classic Ornament and Woodland Branch dies, as well as a very old Merry Christmas stamp from Artee Stamps, and a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Forest Branches.  The patterned paper is a 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye called Lost and Found Christmas. I aslo used some Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress inks, and Versafine Vintage Sepia for the sentiment.

I'll be back shortly with the feminine version ;)

Dear Santa - Christmas at ABNH week 3

Phew!  Christmas is really creeping up - only 5 weeks to go!

Week 3 of A Blog Named Hero's Christmas event is all about decor.  I don't really make papercrafted decor items for around the house, except for at Christmastime!  I decided to go all out and make something I've never tried before - a Kusudama ball.

Kusudama flowers are origami flowers made by folding a square of paper for each petal.  You can stop at 5 petals to make 1 flower, but the ball that I made has 12 flowers in it - that's 60 petals!  That's a lot of folding!

I started out by using patterned paper from Lawn Fawn and American Crafts - Amy Tangerine.  However, after making a few flowers this way, I decided to use thinner paper, as the thicker paper was a little too hard to fold the muliple times necessary for each petal.  I then moved on to normal printer paper, but I stamped on the edges to make it more pretty!! I used Hero Arts, CAS-ual Fridays, Neat and Tangled, Avery Elle and Simon Says Stamp stamps on the petals.

 The petals all start out as a square of paper:

They get folded into petals, then 5 petals are glued together:
(you can find a photo tutorial on folding the petals HERE)

12 flowers all folded and ready to assemble - I was a bit worried about glueing them all together, but that bit turned out to be really easy!