Merry Christmas Everybody

If you are reading this, then the world didn't end on 21/12/2012!  I'm glad it didn't as it was my birthday and I had a lovely day with friends and family. I received lots of fabulous handmade cards and good wishes from my crafty friends and I thank you all for making my day extra special.
I did make Christmas cards for some of my crafty friends, but for those I didn't - and as an extra for those I did - I've made this Christmas card to show my appreciation to you all for following my blog and taking the time to leave lovely comments. I'm grateful for every one, thank you very much.

I layered a paper I created in MCS on silver mirri and matted onto an 8" x 8" card blank.

I used the Tree Trio stamps from Visible Image and embossed them with Snowflake embossing powder.

The sentiment stamp is also from Visible Image and the ribbon is from my stash.

Have a wonderful Christmas everybody and a fantastic New Year!

Love and hugs,

Andrée xx

 

DCC & Friends # 5 Midway Inspiration

It's time for some mid-way inspiration at DCC & Friends. Our theme this month is "Christmas Time" and the challenge is sponsored by the fabulous Visible Image who will be sending £35 worth of stamps to the very lucky winner.
I have made my DT card using the Visible Image Tree Trio set of stamps and I'd like to enter this card in the Visible Image Christmas Challenge.

I started by using Distress Ink Antique Linen around the edges of an 8" x 8" card blank and then matting and layering gold mirri, blue Papermania textured card and a paper from MCS Quintessential Country Garden to which I added snowflakes before printing. I also wrapped lace, threaded with a chipboard sentiment, around the layers before attaching to the card.

I stamped the largest of the trees in blue ink and double embossed it. I then used DI Antique Linen to colour tint the card before matting onto gold mirri and using foam pads to attach to the card.

I stamped the smallest tree four times in a vertical line and double embossed them. I coloured the card with DI, cut off one tree, and raised the panel on foam pads.

I cut out the remaining small tree and fixed it at an angle in a bottom corner then finished the card with gold candi.
 
Please visit the Visible Image online shop to see their range of fabulous stamps and for your associated stamping needs. And please check out the DCC& Friends challenge blog for a full list of rules and to submit your entry. We look forward to seeing your "Christmas Time" crafty creations. You have until the end of the year.

PapercraftJunkies # 6

Welcome to our last challenge of the year at PapercraftJunkies. Thank you to all who took part in Denyse's Embellish It! challenge. The standard of entries was very high and Denyse will be announcing the winners in a few days time.
There are lots of fabulous digi images in the PapercraftJunkies shop where there is a terrific sale on at the moment and even a freebie section. There have been lots of recent additions to the shop including some fantastic background scenes.
Challenge # 6 is hosted by the lovely Dawn and the theme she has chosen is "Bingo Board". That means you follow either a line across, down or diagonally to include three elements.  Or you could use everything for a full house!  You will find the board further down this post.

For my card I went down the left hand side and used Ribbon, Flowers and Buttons.

I used a paper from MCS Quintessential Country Garden and matted it onto silver mirri board. Before attaching to the 8" x 8" card blank I wrapped a turquoise ribbon around it. I also inked the edges of the blank with Distress Ink Salty Ocean.

I used the fantastic Flower Heart digi and changed the colour of the outline drawing to blue using MCS. I then coloured the flowers, vines and leaves with Promarkers and matted it onto silver mirri.
This image will look wonderful coloured with reds for Valentine's Day.

The paper flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I tied a bow with the ribbon and found some flower and heart buttons in my stash which matched the card perfectly.

Here is the board for you to play along with.

Head over to the Challenge Blog where you can see the fabulous projects our Design Team have been busy creating to hopefully inspire you for this challenge.
There are fabulous digi prizes and badges up for grabs for the lucky winners. The challenge winner will win 4 PapercraftJunkies digi images from the shop if they've used a PCJ image on their entry, otherwise, the winner can choose 3 PCJ digi images. They will also receive the code for a winners badge.
Also, 3 favourites will be chosen to receive one of the fabulous blog badges as shown in the side bar where you'll find a full breakdown of the prizes and rules too. You have until 9:59 am on December 31^st 2013 to enter your crafty creations, we can't wait to see what you make.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year. We hope to see you all in 2013!

Papermania Christmas

I thought I'd share one of my favourite Christmas cards that I've made this year. I also thought it would be perfect to enter into the current challenge at That Craft Place where the theme is No Squares Allowed.

I fell in love with the fantastical fantasy artwork on the Papermania Enchanted DVD as soon as I saw it. The Christmas images are beautiful and I simply adore this one. I die cut the image, gold mirri and white Centura Pearl with Spellbinders Scalloped Circles then matted the image onto the gold mirri and folded the largest circle in half to create the base.

I glittered the edges of the fairy's holly leaf wings and spot glittered the rest of the image. I made three stick pins with gold wire and beads from my stash and fixed them with Pinflair, then added a bow.

The sentiment is from the DVD, I think the font is wonderful. I printed it out and matted it onto gold mirri. I finished off the card with red gems.
I'm not sure who's going to receive this one for Christmas.

DCC & Friends #5

Welcome to my third post of the day and to Challenge #5  at DCC & Friends. Thank you to those who took part in our Autumn challenge, the lucky winners will be announced soon. This challenge will run until the end of the year - it's not that far away now! The theme this month is "Christmas Time", how very appropriate, and our sponsor is the fabulous Visible Image who will be sending £35 worth of stamps to the very lucky winner. See below for a photo of the prize and a list of the stamps.

I have made my DT card using the Visible Image Tree Trio set of stamps. I'm not really much of a stamper (I love my digis too much) so I had a play around with these lovely stamps using some different types of card and inks before coming up with the idea for this card. I hope you like what I've done.

I covered the front of an 8" x 8" card blank with white Centura Pearl and some green ribbon. I stamped a cluster of the trees onto Centura Pearl card with Evergreen Bough Distress Ink using a couple of masks. I stamped the large tree separately and cut that out leaving a white border. I wrapped some small baubles on a string around it and mounted it onto the topper with foam pads. I was aiming for a scene of trees on a snowy hillside and I just loved the faded effect created by using my combination of card and ink.

I matted the topper and the sentiment - also from Visible Image - onto green Papermania textured card. The leaf flourish dies are from Cheery Lynn. I coloured them black to match the sentiment, cut them up and tucked the ends behind the topper.

I stamped the smallest tree three times as before, and cut them out. I mounted them on foam pads and finished the card with a bow.
I'd like to enter this card in the Visible Image Christmas challenge

This is the fabulous collection of stamps from our sponsor Visible Image for the lucky winner.

 

They are: Live Well, Calligraphy Corner, Corset, Blow Out the Candles, Happy Birthday, However you spend it, Bronte Border, Good Luck Cat Set, Live Your Dreams and Large Butterfly.
 Please visit the Visible Image online shop to see their range of fabulous stamps and for your associated stamping needs. And please check out the DCC& Friends challenge blog for a full list of rules and to submit your entry. We look forward to seeing your "Christmas Time" crafty creations.

PapercraftJunkies #5

Welcome to my second challenge post of today and to PapercraftJunkies challenge #5. The lovely Denyse is hosting this fortnight's challenge and the theme she has chosen is "Embellish it". That means your crafty project can be any theme but it has to have at least one handmade embellishment on it. There are fabulous digi prizes and badges up for grabs for the lucky winners, and a bigger prize if you use a PapercraftJunkies digi on your project. There are lots of fabulous digi images in the PapercraftJunkies shop where there is a terrific sale on at the moment and even a freebie section.

I got the inspiration for my DT card from the beautiful Doodle Christmas Tree digi that Tracey designed. I love the scrolls that the tree is made from and wanted to create a similar effect from wire. You get a ready coloured digi and a black and white outline digi for this image making it super value.

I used a 6" x 6" card blank and covered it with gold mirri matted with a red Papermania textured card. I printed the coloured tree digi onto green card and matted it onto gold mirri. I used a white pen to add highlights to the scrolls and decorated the tree with some red and green gems.

To create my embellishments I used some gold wire and red and green beads from my stash. I wound the wire around my Papermania bow maker, threading it with the beads at intervals. I tucked the ends of the wire embellishments behind the sentiment and secured with Pinflair. I finished the card with some more red and green gems in the top corners.

Head on over to the PapercraftJunkies challenge blog for more inspiration from the other DT members and a full breakdown of the prizes and rules. You have until 9:59 am on December 15th to enter your crafty creations, we can't wait to see what you make.

Let It Snow

Welcome to Challenge #11 at Emma's Cards and thank you to all who entered the previous challenge. The entries were fantastic and the lucky winners will be announced in a few days time. The theme for this month is "Let it Snow" and is being sponsored by Visible Image who are offering a bumper bundle of stamps worth £35 as the first prize. See below for a photo of the prize and a list of the stamps.
If you take a look at the challenge blog you will see the fabulous cards that the other DT members have made to inspire you. Here is my card for your inspiration.

I inked the edges of an 8" x 8" card blank with Festive Berries Distress Ink and layered with a white card I'd embossed with a small Sheena Douglass Ivy Leaf embossing folder. I lightly wiped over this with Mowed Lawn DI. The holly wreath was created by using a Sheena Douglass holly stamp set and coloured using Promarkers. I cut out the leaves, shaped them and positioned with Pinflair to give some depth and dimension.

The poinsettias are a Marianne die that were coloured with Promarkers and the sentiment sash is a strip I cut from a backing paper I made in MCS for another card.

I spot glittered the leaves and flowers and finished the wreath with a triple bow using ribbons from my stash.

This is the fabulous collection of stamps from our sponsor Visible Image for the lucky winner.

They are: Live Well, Calligraphy Corner, Corset, Blow Out the Candles, Happy Birthday, However you spend it, Bronte Border, Good Luck Cat Set, Live Your Dreams and Large Butterfly.
So, to be in with a chance of owning all of these wonderful stamps, you'd better get making. We can't wait to see your creations over at Emma's Cards, remember that your entry doesn't have to be a card, just a crafty make that fits the theme "Let it Snow". You have until the end of the year!