Christmas In-colours

Good Morning and a happy Saturday to you! Today's my last time as hostess at 52 CCT for a while and the theme is pick a previous theme.

  I have chosen to o Christmas Ornaments, as I haven't made an ornament card in a while.  keeping with my current contemporary mood I chosen non-trad colours

I used Mosaic Madness for the centres of the ornaments, which of course are from Ornament Keepsakes. The embossing folder is a generic snowflake and the die cut sentiment is from Memory Box.  Really, really pleased with the way this one turned out!

Gorgeous Grunge Birthday

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends in blogland- hope you enjoy the holiday weekend! It is also the last challenge for November 2013 at CAS Colours and Sketches - a sketch challenge, a classic

and I've given it a contemporary twist. and a bit of a rotation, as my horizontal panel is the widest.

The sentiment, from Delightful Dozen, takes centre stage in my red and aqua colour combo. The horizontal panel is stamped, using Gorgeous Grunge and the vertical is washi tape.  I've added a button and bow combo in the corner too.

Moon and Stars

I spent much of Sunday going through all the Christmas cards I've made this year as my husband and Mum both want cards to send to family and friends.  I must admit quite a few made it to the recycling pile - I just wasn't happy with them for all sorts of reasons. It's funny how you can like something you've made and then completely go off it. Well, I hope I won't go off this card (with only 4 weeks to go I doubt I'll have time!)
I was inspired by two challenges.  The first is Cupcake Inspirations where they have these fabulous cupcakes

Don't they look amazing?? Then, the challenge at Make My Mondayis for contemporary Christmas cards-just the sort I'm really getting into.
Here is my card

 As you can see I've taken the moon and stars theme from the cake, using gold glitter card, and combined it with some Gorgeous Grunge stamping (my fave set at the moment) A die cut 'Christmas' from Memory Box and some silver and midnight cs complete the project.
Thanks for looking!

Tinsel Tree

When I was thinking of my challenges, back in late Summer, I was really excited by this one - it was the first one I came up with and I was so pleased with myself. Now, in wet and windy November, I couldn't get an idea going....typical!

 I thought I wanted to do a silhouette, and I have, kind of, just not as 'silhouetted' as I first thought.

I masked off the 'moon' on my block, added inks and spritzed before printing onto the white CS. There is lots of shimmer that you can't see as I dusted the whole scene with silver mica powder, after stamping the tree image. I added the 'tinsel' with a white gel pen and mounted the scene on black cs.  I had just the right DP (I thought) until closer inspection revealed that the stripes were brown, not black, so I remedied that with my black Promarker pen and a ruler! Finally, I used another piece of DP, already printed with a kind of watercolour-spritzed effect for the base layer and added white glitter chipboard letters to make my sentiment.
Just thought I'd also share with you news of my lucky win at Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge.  A couple of weeks ago I won a voucher-look at my new stash! Thank you to Hazel, who runs these weekly challenges, and the lovely lady at Foil Play who helped me with my order. I was well chuffed all round!

Bouquet Of Leaves

The new colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches, chosen by our hostess for November, Lizy, is another cracker of a combination

Perfect for Christmas cards, male or female occasion, anything you like. I'm not sure I need any more Christmas cards and in my normal way, decided to make something everyone else was making weeks ago - Autumn leaves. Lucky for me, the challenge at The Paper Players is CAS- with leaves.

I love kraft on kraft, so that's where I started, using my French Foliage stamp set. Then I stamped the leaves and cut them out, securing my 'bouquet' with a green ribbon bow. I made the tag by stamping with some text and then overstamping the sentiment from Whacky Wishes.

I do know that the green DP is not strictly Old Olive, but we don't restrict our challenge to Stampin' Up shades, so you'll have to forgive me this one! (I just loved this paper so much)
Finally, I stamped inside to complete the sentiment and decided to add a few more windswept leaves.

I do hope you'll give this challenge a try, there's more inspiration from the team over at the blog.

Baby Blue

A new challenge at The male Room this week.  This challenge blog is for the men and boys in our lives and this time the theme is all cute and cuddly as we ask for cards for little boys and babies.  I took the easy route and went for a new baby boy card

I was going to use my Easy Events stamped duck image, but then realised that I always use this for new baby cards- time to try something different.  I have stamped a running bunny image, a Maya Road stamp, but mostly this card is focused on the colour, baby blue of course, with two matching DPs and a stitched border ribbon.

Reindeer Recipe

It's my third week hosting the challenges for November at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and this time I've chosen a recipe for a card.

As you can see I've been kind to myself(!) and asked for a one-layer card. Here's mine

The hint of colour is Wisteria Wonder, can you see that Dasher is heat embossed in gold? I've made this card for my Dutch family, and I used a torn mask over the sentiment to give the impression of a layer, which isn't really there!  The bling is on Dasher's antlers and matches the colour. Once I had the idea it was a very quick card to make - might make some more for other family members! 

Check out the variety of cards this recipe produces over at the challenge blog!

Owl Cupcake Inspiration

This is a happy card today!  I have used the sketch from CAS Colours and Sketches -it was designed by our hostess for this month Lizy, and it's a cracking good one!

I have also used the photo  and colour cuefrom Cupcake Inspirations, who could resist these fabby cakes?

 So here's my card

I used the Owl Punch, the polka dot ribbon and some DP from Stampin' Up.  I die cut a branch, using a tree, which I trimmed. I gave the owls stick-on googly eyes and I made the embellishments from extra bits cut out from the punch. Hope they make you smile!

Dreamy Colour challenge

The colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches, which I admit is about to close-in one day's time, is a lovely dreamy, romantic combination.

I must apologise to my fellow DT members over at CC&S because, although my card was posted on the challenge I have not got around to posting it on here until now, mostly because I've not been feeling too well. Better late than never

It's not that special, just sponged ink through a mask, the image is from Wetlands, and some layered cardstock on a Naturals White card base, but is is a card that I will be sending as I think it's simplicity is sometimes what you need (thinking of male work colleague here!)
I will try to be more timely this week!

Christmas in Black and White

The colour challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown is all my fault, I'm afraid. I thought it would be interesting to take the colour out of Christmas and go black and white, with a grey in the mix (not silver!). I am not quite sure what this will throw up but for me it demanded a very contemporary card

I used Gorgeous Grunge and Off The Grid, my two fave stamps at the moment. The die cut words are from Memory Box. Although they don't go together, I really do love Christmas and so it works for me. I've added a few gems for Christmas glitz too.

Star light Star Bright

Sometimes you see something and you just want to try it out right there and then.  I saw this technique, for 'painting' with mica powder in a magazine and just had to do it.  The challenge at Less Is More helped too, as I think the metallic shininess (is that a word?) of the mica powder is always set of best by black. The challenge is black with a splash of colour/s and this fabulous firework photograph was my starting point.

I don't have any firework stamps, but I did find something else from the night sky in my stash - a star stamp.  Embossed in silver and painted with mica powder these stars were perfect for the effect I was looking to create. You add a small amount of water into some powder and paint it on with a fine brush.

When it dries the pigment is fixed, so no smudgy messes.

I cut them out by hand and love the way they stand out on the black card stock, slightly curling in the points. The sentiment is from Merry and Type and I've added a double scored border. 

Poppies for Remembrance

One of the important dates in the UK in November is Remembrance day- the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and I am always touched by the way that our whole school of 1000 observes the 2 minute silence at the eleventh hour - no mean feat for today's teenagers! To mark the date the challenge at The Male Room is Remembrance - I've not made a card for this theme before, and I have kept my card very clean and simple, using some special poppy stickers, layered up with a large black gem in the centre

Faux Frame Winter Card

Today there is a brand new technique challenge over at Technique Time Tuesday and it's a real good one! Faux frame is a sponging technique which uses nesting die shapes to create the illusion of a frame.  There's a full 'how to' tutorial on the blog and I think it would be a great technique for Christmas cards, if you still have lots of those to make.
For my DT sample I have made a wintery theme card, using a colour palette of Soft Suede, Sky Blue and Very Vanilla.

The stamp set is Simply Sketched. I stamped the foliage and added liquid pearls to the berries. I have used the blue ribbon as borders as well as adding the bow and the bird image from the stamp set was supplemented by some grasses from the Wetlands stamps. The sentiment is from Blooming Marvellous. If I glittered this up I guess I could use it for a Christmas card (as it is a happy day!) but I think I'm going to use it for a winter birthday card.
Here is a close up of the 'frame'

I see there is a frame challenge for November at Heck Of A Challenge - In The Frame, so I will enter my card over there,
Do have a look at the other creations from the DT at TTT, and check out the tutorial. I look forward to seeing everyone's beautiful faux frame projects.

Feminine Fall Card

I needed to make a birthday card for my mother-in-law and the challenge photo at Cupcake Inspirations gave me a great idea..

Don't they look delicious? Love those autumnal colours too and I must admit I usually use them for cards for men, so I challenged myself to make a card with a more feminine touch.

I love the pinks and oranges along with the brown and gold. I've used a few stamps, the small leaf is from Autumn Days, the sentiment is from Simply Sketched and of course my current top pick, Off The Grid is in there too, this time embossed in gold.The leaf is like faux cloisonne and I've matted it onto brown CS and fussy cut it out before using foam pads to add dimension. The papers are both from SU. This is the second card I made, you can see both cards in this pic below

For mre my first attempt, on the left, wasn't feminine enough but I love the rich fabric brad next to the sentiment and this time I've embossed in copper.  I'm sure this one will find a good home too.
As I've made birthday cards I'm also going to enter them in the current challenge at Seize The Birthday, as I haven't played along there for a while.

November Sketch

Welcome to November, a month when, in the UK the nights draw in, the weather becomes colder and we light up the skies with bonfires and fireworks.  This November it is my honour and pleasure to be the hostess at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and I have chosen the  challenges for the next 5 Saturdays.  As ever the first challenge is a sketch

And here is my card

Whoops, I didn't stick very closely to the sketch and I designed it! That's the lovely thing about sketches, they are a starting point and, as long as you can see all the elements it's OK in my book to play around a little.
The Christmas pudding topper I made myself, stamping and colouring the image onto mount board before cutting out and finishing with Glossy Accents. The slanted panels are some DPs, and I've used red washi tape to give the lacy edges. Further bling was added with the silver edges and gems on the sentiment banner so I'm going to enter this into the 'Bling It Up' challenge at Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge, haven't played along there for a while -shame on me.
Do have a look at the creations from the other ladies at 52 CCT, they always amaze me with their ideas!

Steampunk and Penguin

Yes, I admit it, until today I was a Steampunk virgin - I'd never attempted this style of card-making before, and I had not really thought about giving it a go.  That was until I read Suzi's midweek motivation at Make My Monday challenge blog.  She made a gorgeous card, but it was the definitions of the style that really helped to inspire me to create my first Steampunk card....

...and I had so much fun!  The words 'whimsey' and 'romance' were really helpful' There's a lot of sponging and I used two Distress ink colours, Scattered Straw and China Blue, and a combination of stamp images, including a freebie from a magazine (the globe, clockfaces and cogs), Gorgeous Grunge, Zoo Review, and a Papermanai Urban Stamps set with images of London (forget the name, sorry).
The butterfly die cut is also a freebie, and the Victoriana tag and washi tape I bought in Ikea!. Here's a closer view

Can you see the gems on the penguin's crown?. I love the layers in this card, I think next time I should try to experiment with more colours and I am definitely going to look out for more stamps in the Steampunk style, although perhaps the secret is in combining different images in a quirky way.

Best thing is I had a ball making this!