Charming Christmas

It is the last Saturday in June and so my last week as hostess at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and I'm leaving you with a stash challenge. I often browse the packets of charms available in the craft stores but never too sure how to use them, so this was initially a challenge to myself (and a chance to see what the rest of you can create to give me some ideas for the future!)

I've used two charms, the bird and the birdhouse, and I had the

Idea of the bird decorating his home for the Christmas season. I used an aspen tree stencil  and I've added some Dazzling Details frost. I stamped and embossed the banner, before fussy cutting it out.
Here are some close ups of those little charms....

Pretty Poppy Paper

At CAS Colours and Sketches we do insist on stamping, that and a clean and simple style to your cards. This time I will admit my stamping is minimal and centre stage is taken by a piece of DP. When it is as beautiful as this DP I make no apology. This paper makes a beautiful card with minimal embellishment. The challenge is a sketch challenge and this time we would like to see shaped cards- no squares or rectangles!

I have used the Top Note die, to make the shaped card base and some freehand cutting to allow layering.

The green card stock is textured and I've used the tag top punch to form the mat for the sentiment, from Simply Sketched. Inside the card I have stamped the poppy from the same set, in Lucky Limeade, to carry the poppy theme through, you can just about see it in this photo.

Travel Happy

At The Male Room we usually have a theme challenge for you. Today we have a sketch for a change

I'm not sure where I got the inspiration for my card, but my hubby travels a lot, for business and pleasure and I guess I must have been thinking of him!

 I have tweaked it a bit, my squares overlap, and I've used the two halves of a sentiment stamped to make the horizontal rectangles. The three images are World Map, which I borrowed, and a couple of magazine freebies. Kraft, cream and Chocolate Chip keep it fairly monochrome. The postmark was added as a finishing touch.

Mystical Reindeer

Had to say a very sad farewell this week to our beautiful mare, Rio. We had had her for 12 years and this was her forever home, she had a rapid onset type of bone cancer in her front leg and we lost her very quickly, only a few short weeks.

I've not felt much like crafting, so I'm glad I made this card a couple of weeks ago to share with you and friends from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.Thetheme for this week's challenge is

I made a screen card, trying to create a moonlit scene where the deer would appear almost magically and disappear again.

I used Kraft cardstock to make a base ( I just folded an A4 sheet into quarters lengthwise), cut out the top of a punch to form the legs and added Hardwood stamped background panels. I used the colours from the photo inspiration at CSAYL, the ink was Indigo Island and the flourish is from Open Sleigh. The actual reindeer image is one I bought from a craft shop in The Netherlands. I have finished of the card with antique pearl brads, pearls, punched stems from the Bird Punch and some red gem berries. The top is made using a border punch. This is my second screen card, they are rather fun to make. I am going to enter the challenge atCompletely Christmas again this week. Why don't you?

Do have a look at the cards from the rest of the very talented DT.

Sherbet Birds

OK so it's another colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches and we have three subtle colours for you to try out

Don't they look great together? They remind me of sherbet sweets, yumm.
Last week I posted a card using a stamping through an aperture technique which I really like and I've revisited that technique for today's card.

I think it has worked even better this time. I put the three colours onto an acrylic block, spritzed with water and printed the background. Then I stamped the birds from Wetlands once the background was dry. This time I stamped the image again on plian cardstock and die cut a circle aperture. Then it was a case of matching up the two images.
I wanted to keep this very CAS so I only added a sentiment, stamped in the Coastal Cabana using a sentiment from the same stamp set as the birds. Finally, I added a Wisteria Wonder mat. I am going to enter this card in the Anything Goes challenge out today at Seize The Birthday.

I do hope you like it and are inspired to try out these colours. They dont have to be exact Stampin Up shades, just the closest you have to them. Do have a look at the other cards on the challenge blog too, have a happy crafting time!

Buttons and Bows

Good morning! There's a new colour challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and this time, as hostess, I get to choose the colours! I am going with strawberries as my inspiration, red, dark green and light green, with a metallic of choice on the side.I've also chosen a traditional theme for my card, the wreath
After printing the background I stamped my wreath image, from Woodware Stamps, and then added tiny red buttons for the berries.

To add the required metallic element I have tied little silver bows and added two sentiment banners, using peel off stickers, which are, in my opinion, just right for the contempo style of this card

Do have a look at the cards from the rest of the team at 52 CCT and then link up your Christmas creation. I had a lovely surprise yesterday, as my Flonz stamps arrived from New Zealand.  They were a prize from Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge a few weeks back, lucky me! Can't wait to test drive them. I am linking this card up to the challenge this week too, as Hazel wants cards with silver or gold on them. Why not link yours?

Red White and Blue

We have a sketch challenge this week at CAS Colours & Sketches and it's an intriguing one, I rather like it and am really pleased with my card, although it took me a while to think Clean and Simple. See what you think

There are lots of ways to go with this one, I was trying to create a card for a teenager. I found a charity in the UK to send cards to sick children. All kids love getting post don't they and this is the reason behind Post Pals, 'putting a smile on a sick child's face'. Handcrafted cards are very welcome so I thought I'd send one.

My colours are inspired by the challenge at The Paper Players, a fabulously patriotic red, white and blue combo. I was going to make a Fathers' Day card at first, these colours would be great for that too. Unfortunately, I was too late Linking  up there, just too disorganised, but I still think the colours are great. Instead I am going to enter the challenges at Make My Monday with this card, as I think it's definitely a male card and at since this is very CAS, at Addicted To Stamps and More too.

Enough jabbering, here's my card

I used an old roller stamp which I once ordered by accident, can't remember having used it before and rolled out the three colours (yes, the white is stamped using Adirondack Snow Cap ink, which you can see in real life, if you look closely). The die cut is new, I cut out two in the red and blue and used the blue to form a shadow to the red one. Finally I die cut a few stars 

I love the way this looks in real life and if it brings a smile to someone's face all the better! Better get down to the post office and send it off.

A Nice Pear for Dad

A traditional male challenge at The Male Room this week: Fathers' Day, which is on Sunday, here in the UK in case you've forgotten. Actually I've spent most of the afternoon helping my son create a card for my other half, but I did find time to make this one, using a technique which I wanted to try out and entering a couple of  challenges at the same time.
I was intrigued by the challenge at Cas-ual Fridays- create a card for a male without using Kraft (easy!) and including a ribbon of some kind (which breaks all the rules for man cards having no fussy/frilly bits!). So I just had to try it. This is my card

The stamping is done by printing a background, stamping the image and then overlaying a top piece of card with an aperture cut out over the image stamped again and lining them up. This way there is no overhang, the image edges are crisp. I decided to offset my image this time.

For the ribbon I used a piece of striped DP (which you can see I used inside my card too) and overlaid a piece of Old Olive spotted and scalloped ribbon. The sentiment is from Best Dad Ever.
The second challenge is Make My Monday where they also want cards for males.

The card will be for my father, he lives in the next-door county to us- Worcestershire, and the emblem is a pear so it is quite fitting, green is also his favourite colour

Geometric Flowers Part 2

Just a quick post to share my geometric flower thank you cards. I made the first one for the challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches and realised that I could probably 'mass produce' these as Thank you cards for my work colleagues.

 
I had fun choosing the colours and it wasn't as quick as I thought it would be but now I have six cards ready for the end of term, only another 4 or 5 needed (2 for men, so I'll have to do something different for them). Hats off to those crafters who produce wedding stationery, invites or cards in large numbers, this was enough for me in one go!

A gift of a Sketch

I am quite excited about June as I get to be hostess at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.
As always we start with a sketch and, although I didn't have it in mind when I designed it, this sketch reminds me of a gift, beautifully wrapped beneath the Christmas tree.

So, this is my card, a gift in pale blue and silver. I've used two ribbons, glitter paper, an antique pearl brad, a tag and some freebie DP. I heat embossed the stamping on the tag to help match the colour on the paper. I have tweaked the sketch a little, which you are welcome to do too. For a start I've used a square, then my shape has slipped down and become a tag, switching places with the bow. Finally, I put my sentiment on the tag after agonising whether or not to put it exactly in accordance with the sketch.

I managed to take the pics outside so the colours are quite true.

I am going to enter my card in the Anything Goes challenge at Completely Christmas, unfortunately I forgot to enter for the last couple of weeks, just too much going on, but it's a great challenge blog for anyone making Christmas cards. I'm also going to enter the Ribbons and Bows challenge at CSAYL, as I think it would fit perfectly, and craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge for June.

Please do visit the challenge blog and see the marvellous creations that my fellow DT members have come up with and please add yours, I can't wait to see them all...Christmas in June....Bring it on!

Geometric Flower

This bright, cheerful colour combo is from this week's challenge at CASColours and Sketches and I owe my card to a crafter I have never met! A friend was lucky enough to go to an SU event recently and was given a swap from a fellow SU Demonstrator. I always love to see these samples and this particular one really stood out, so simple and eye catching. I have unashamedly cased her card, changing only the colours and sentiment

Only a little bit of stamping, just the tiny sentiment, apart from that I used squares and rounded two opposing corners on each one, alternating the colours. I hope you like it as much as I fell in love with the original.