Christmas Box

This is my first proper DT entry for the Totally Papercrafts blog, and this week the theme is to create something for Christmas, but not a card.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Wild Rose Studio.

I have made a pizza box from a sheet of SU! Cherry Cobbler cardstock and decorated with papers from a Milton & Co paper pack that came free with a magazine ages ago, matted with SU! Cookie Crumb card.  I've inked all the edges with Walnut DI, then made a ribbon slide to keep the box closed.  I like to make my closure this way, it can easily be slid off and any join is hidden under the 'plate' that the embellishments are fixed on.  I hope I've explained that ok.  I've taken the pictures under my daylight lamp so the colours are looking washed out again - not sure how to fix it.

Here's a close up view of the embellishment, all cut with various Marianne dies.  The 'plate' that everything is fixed on is cut from the Cookie Crumb with the embossed areas inked with Walnut DI then fixed to the ribbon with red line tape.  I've cut the poinsettia and holly leaves from SU! Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke and again inked the embossed areas.  The ribbon is looking a bit pink in the picture, it's not quite that colour in real life, and is recycled from a box of chocs.  I finished with a little tag that I can write the recipient's name on, little red gems, and a sprinkling of hearts from my die cut waste jar.

This is the list of Marianne dies I used:
base plate - LR0240
poinsettia - LR0122
mini poinsettia (on front edge of the box) - LR0142
holly spray - LR0244

I'd also like to enter my box into the Corrosive challenge where it's an anything goes week, Creative Inspirations for traditional Christmas colours,  and the Crafty Catz challenge to recycle/upcycle something - the ribbon.

Let it Snow!

Our theme this week on Cute Card Thursday is snowflakes, and our sponsor is the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop . 

I've used the Marianne stamp that is free with issue #88 of the Papercraft Essentials magazine and a piece of the freebie paper that comes with it too.  In addition I stamped the snowflake border from the set in Lavender pearlescent Brilliance ink and added a couple of subtle snowflakes to the image layer with matching chalk ink.  I've coloured Ice Skating Don with my Copic pens and added the chalk inked embossed stitched edge to tie it in with the pretty kraft mat, mind you I've covered most of it up!  The snowflakes are all various Marianne dies and I created a flower embellishment too.  The text is an old Serendipity Cling stamp, inked up with the Lavender Brilliance.  I'll list the Marianne dies I used in just a bit, first here's the other challenges that I'd like to enter with my card: Stamp with Fun have a winter theme, and the Totally Stampalicious theme is Let It Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

These are the Marianne dies I used on this card:
snowflakes - LR0123, LR0124, CR1226, CR1227
frame and flower - CR1202
skeleton leaves and spray - LR0228

Sorry to be MIA for a few days.  I had to do quite a bit of travelling what with Mark's van being in the garage to fix the missing wheel, but at least I had a lovely time visiting my friend Wynneth.  It has taken me a while to get my breath back, but hopefully I'll be able to get back to crafting and sharing my creations with you again very soon.

Gentlemen's Card

The current theme on the Marianne Design Divas challenge blog is to create something for a gentleman using your Marianne Design products.  After seeing a few twisted easel cards on blogs, I thought I'd have a go at making one - easier than it is to photograph one!  I just took a small square cream card and scored the top half diagonally from the bottom left corner on the card spine to the top right corner then folded it in to create this version.  I've used paper from the Eline's Warm Winter Wishes pack and used one of the tags to create the stop to keep the card open.  I was careful to make sure that everything would still fit in the envelope when the card was closed - the star is fixed with a brad so you can turn it to fit in the envelope.

Here's the base of the card so you can see the stop I created.  I've inked the edges of my paper and card with Walnut Distress ink and used it to stamp the holly spray in the corners.  I've embellished with various Marianne dies - list in a bit.

And this is the easel part of the card.  I stamped the reindeer with the same DI and fussy cut him out, stamped the mistletoe on to the star, and diecut the trees, finishing off with cream pearls made with my Wacco pearl maker pen.  All the stamps are on the Eline's Winter Huis clear stamp sheet.  I had to take the picture with the daylight lamp again as the light is dreadful here in Cornwall, along with the weather, the colours are a little washed out.  Anyway, here's the list of Marianne dies I used:

trees -LR0136
star - CR1226
mini poinsettia - LR0142
fronds - LR0107
swirl - LR0116

I'm also entering my card for the Christmas Stamping All Year challenge to use lots of dies, the One Stop Craft challenge for a Vintage Christmas, and the Dutch Dare card challenge for fancy folds.

I am sat here a nervous wreck at the moment.  Hubby got a call out a few hours ago, unfortunately he's had an accident .. .. he's ok, the van isn't though having lost a wheel.  He rang to say the police were with him as he was blocking the road and they felt he might cause another accident .. .. anyway, it seems unlikely that he will make it back here tonight and he doesn't want me to drive out to get him as the weather is so bad.  Normally Mathew would help out and bring Mark back here, but he's a tree surgeon and back on standby to clear any fallen trees from the roads .. .. he worked well after dark yesterday and no doubt will be called out again tonight/tomorrow. Fortunately the dogs are here with me, but that means I will have to get soaking wet taking them out for wees etc this evening and in the morning .. .. .. not something I'm looking forward to.  The internet connection keeps disappearing today but I saw the BT van 100 yards up the road at one of the junction boxes so I guess they are working on a fault somewhere, hopefully by now it is fixed and I might get around to visiting you.

Happy Holidays

Today I have a little card to share with you that is also being shown in the Marianne Design card gallery, along with a couple of others.  And I am excited to tell you that my Fantasy Christmas card won 2nd prize in the Marianne Design challenge blog! I have made this card for my granddaughter who told me back in the summer that she likes owls.  Hopefully she is going to spend Christmas with us so I am looking forward to taking her to the Screech Owl Sanctuary near here.  The cute owl image is by Eline Pellinkof for Marianne Designs, coloured with my Copics then cut to fit the centre of the square doily die and with the edges inked with red chalk ink.

I've used a small square scallop card for my base and added a piece of paper from the Scandinavian Winter paper bloc matted with a soft red cardstock, and I inked the edges of the paper first with red chalk ink to take off the white edge.  The text is from Eline's Winter Huis stamp sheet and to finish off I've added the green holly boughs, red stickles for berries, and a little star charm tied onto fine red ribbon.

Marianne dies on this card include: square doily - LR0169, and holly branches - LR0244.

Just a couple of challenges for this card: Crafty Creations challenge is for Christmas, and at the Creative Card Crew it's anything goes.

Girls only allowed!

This week on Cute Card Thursday we are going all girlie!  Our sponsor for this challenge is Heather's Hobbie Heaven. I have inked up one of my old Sarah Kay stamps, coloured her with Copics then added a light dusting of loose sparkly glitter for snow, although I haven't necessarily made a Christmas card.  Seeing her in close up I am not happy with those boots, but my poor E43 has all but run out so I must order a refill or blending between E44 and E42 will get rather difficult!  For the creamy tones I've used E30, 31 & E55, the Winter hare is R0000 & R000, and her quilted jacket is R20, 32, 35 & 37.  The fence she is sat on I coloured with BG90, 93 & 96.

My greeting is from a Marianne Christmas set but could be used at any time, I am thinking this would make a pretty Winter birthday card.  The papers are also by Marianne, matted with SU! Soft Suede card and with the edges of both layers inked with Victorian Velvet DI (not showing up on the SS card).  To embellish I've added a bow tied with crochet ribbon and cut various Marianne dies, list below, finally finishing off with cream pearls made with my Wacco pearl maker pen.

Marianne dies for this card:
rosebud corner - LR0215
mini poinsettias - LR0142
sprays - LR0192

I'd like to enter my card into the Crafty Catz challenge for sparkle, and the Papertake challenge for ribbon and pearls.

LIM Hardware

I wasn't sure about this week's hardware challenge on the Less Is More blog, then I found the bells! A light bulb moment as I knew the Jingle Bells text was on the Eline's Winter Huis set from Marianne Design.  I took one of my C6 Kraft cards, although in the picture it looks grey as well as out of focus - my daylight lamp must need dusting as well as my specs .. .. .. I've done the embossed stitching around the edge of the card and my text piece then inked with Walnut DI.  I mounted the text with 3d pads for a little dimension, and also the Snowflake, added the bells and the ribbon, then to balance things I stuck 3 tiny star gems in the bottom right corner of the text. Ta dah!

That's it folks!  I'll try and do a little blog visiting later on.  At the moment Jason is playing some war beat 'em up game and I've already been told off for killing off half the regiment when uploading my picture!

My Fantasy Christmas Scene

When you are battling with the after effects of a migraine, the brain can do strange things .. .. and here is the result!  A fantasy Christmas card in blue and red created at the last minute for the Marianne Design blog challenge to make a DL card - not a size I use that often so a little lateral thinking was required .. .. get it .. .. lateral = DL/sideways  .. .. ok! You also had to use a stamp or picture from Marianne, I have chosen the cute little bird stamps from Eline's Merry Little Christmas set and coloured them with my Copics before fussy cutting them.  I've just learnt that fussy cutting means just that, fussy cutting around the image - I like that term!

Here's the full card, taken with my daylight lamp again as it's been dull in Cornwall all day.  The background paper from the Scandinavian Winter bloc is matted with dark red card then I've added a little faux stitching around the edge.  I cut the trees from another pattern in the block and stamped the stars with red Brilliance before fussy cutting them out (they come on the set with the birds) and adding tiny blue gems.  The text is from Eline's Winter House stamp set and I've stamped it in red Brilliance on to the little tag which has been inked in blue Brilliance first.  I've also cut the ivy leaves and inked them in blue too, and the fence from blue card inked with red chalk ink.  So here's the list of Marianne products I've used:

Scandinavian Winter paper bloc, stamps from Eline's Winter House and Eline's Merry Little Christmas.  Fence - LR0205, Ivy - LR0206, text tag - LR0240, Trees - CR1227.

Divas by Design challenge is an anything goes theme so I'm entering with them at the last minute too!

CAS Black and White

Fabulous news yesterday .. .. I've been asked to join the DT on the Totally Papercrafts Challenge blog!  So, I thought it was only right that I make a card for this week's challenge, although I'm not sure if I can enter it or not .. .. .. The theme is for a CAS style in black and white.  Mmmmm - I was going to give this one a miss but thought surely I could come up with something easy, especially as I'm not feeling 100% at the moment. Well after a few false starts and changes of direction I created this card - I've deliberately omitted a sentiment so I can use it for anything, plus it keeps things a little simpler.  I had to have a play with my new crafty goodies, they are older Marianne dies designed by Anja van Laar, and if you haven't seen her blog do take a look .. .. after several visits I've got more of her dies on my list for Santa!  The musical score is a stamp from the Marianne Christmas set designed by Eline Pellinkhof called Eline's Winter Huis, and she also has a fabulous inspirational blog here.  Apart from a few sparkly gems in the centre of the flowers that's it for this card, hopefully it fits the bill .. .. I sat on my hands and avoided adding faux stitching on the white layers and also from cutting out any more pretty twiddly bits!

The Marianne dies I used are:
square lacy black doily - LR0169
flower from - LR0169 (small black) and LR0168 (large white)
sprays - LR0192

Totally Gorjuss want something plain and simple this week so hopefully they will like this card - it's a lot simpler than some I've been making!

Christmas morning

I'm back! not exactly in one piece but managing to crawl by, but at least I can move faster than my computer!  Struggling with the DIY has taken it's toll and I've b****d up my neck again.  So yesterday I was in pain, and a pain to be with .. .. not a good day.  Today I am going to take things easy and maybe craft a little if it's possible.  I do have this card to share with you, it's been one of those that's been made in stages over several days. The darling image is by LOTV and coloured a while ago with my Copics, added sparkle with loose glitter on teddy's hat and a Stardust pen on the stars, and unusually for me I cut it out with a Nestie label die - don't use them much.  I had to draw around the die and cut out the mat by hand as the next die up gave too much of a gap.

The background papers are from Marianne's Scandinavian Winter paper bloc and I've added white faux stitches around the edges.  For embellishments I've cut out various Marianne dies - list in a minute - and added the red gems.  The big ones are from a jar I recently unpacked and wondered if I would ever find a use for such big ones!  Anyway, I hope it has worked.  Here's the list of dies:

snowflakes - LR0123 & LR0125
woven heart - CR1228
mini poinsettias - LR0142
fronds - LR0192 (large) & LR0107 (small)

The Stamptacular Sunday blog challenge is a recipe to include ribbon or twine, pearls or gems, dies or punches on your creation - I have ribbon, gems and diecuts so I can enter, and Dies to Die for have a Christmas theme challenge so I fit their bill too!

I've lots of catching up to do as I didn't have the computer on yesterday so fingers crossed things speed up a bit later in the day.

Put your feet up!

That's just how I am feeling today! But chance would be a fine thing .. ..

Skip this next para if you just want to go to the card details, but if you want my latest saga, read on. Yesterday was yet another disaster on the DIY front with the mosaic tiles .. .. it has taken Jason all week to carefully re-lay them, and then the 'proper' grout, as supplied, did exactly the same as the previous one .. .. the tiles are ruined .. .. again!  So, they are all going to have to come off which is going to be harder as we aren't doing it today so they will be set to the wall and the grout rock hard  .. .. poor Jason needs to get away from it all at least on his birthday.  I have decided we need to go for plain black glass or ceramic then salvage the pretty glass tiles from the duff lots and create our own bespoke design .. .. But that wasn't the worst of it .. .. the big mirror is finally on the wall, but of course the wall isn't straight all the way around .. .. never mind, I'll buy a big vase and stick it in the corner where the mirror doesn't reach the edge!  Then, the sink went in, Jason went up into the loft to switch on the hot water whilst I waited in the bathroom for leaks .. .. none!  So we heaved a sigh of relief and exhaustion, and sat down to relax.  Then, at 10pm Mark went to let the dogs out via the conservatory to find we had a paddling pool!  Ankle deep in water that was coming from the laundry where the plumber hadn't put a stop on the hot water pipe put in for the sink that didn't go in .. .. a lot of mopping up to do, but fortunately there is a drain in the conservatory so it didn't take too long with Jason mopping and Mark bailing water out the doorway with a dustpan! So it's skirting boards off and fingers crossed the walls will dry out.  Fortunately I didn't have much craft stuff on the floor so although things feel damp, I am hopefull that not too much is damaged.

Anyway, the postman came with my crafty goodies at lunch time, a few of the older Marianne dies I've had my eye on for a while together with a bloc of paper, and that was much bigger than I was expecting!  I've not had a chance to play and had finished this card just before they arrived, so nothing new on this one.  The image is by LOTV and coloured with my Copics.  The background pp is a couple of pieces of Papermania from several years back, stuck together so they would make a piece big enough for my card.  The mats are kraft edged with Walnut DI and there's a scrap of grossgrain ribbon hiding the joins.  To make the lace mat big enough for my image I had to cut 2 pieces and join them together, quite easy to do with this die pattern.  The text is on that Marianne sheet I've had on my desk, and the snowflakes are all her dies - list in a minute.  To finish I've added the amber pearls made with my Wacco pearl maker pen.

The list of dies:
the lace mat - CR1202
snowflake at the top - CR1225
snowflake behind the text - LR0124
the 3 snowflakes the same - CR1227 with LR0124 behind
the small kraft snowflake - LR0123

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge this week is to use old stuff, my image stamp is from last year, the paper is a couple of years old at least and so are some of the snowflake dies - and that Wacco pearl maker pen is at least 2 years old .. .. it just keeps going!  The Jingle Belles challenge is for food, hope a couple of mince pies and a mug of something warming will count!  And Lili's Little Fairies also have a food challenge so I can enter with them too.  Now, I am going to put my feet up!

bottle tag

Tomorrow it's my eldest son's birthday and as he's not really one for cards so instead I've made a bottle tag to fit over his favourite tipple!  He is spending the day with the 'boys' - they are going fishing!  Hopefully for a couple of lovely big trout for the freezer and for me to cook up over Christmas, hence the theme for my tag.  I made it up as I went along, first deciding which size of Nestie circle would fit over the neck of the bottle and then taking it from there.  The base is SU! Crumb Cake card and the paper is very old from my stash, a sheet with fishing things on it but so subtle it hardly shows up.

I've stamped the hooks, fishing rods and text with brown Momento ink - they are a mix of stamps I've collected over several years and all together in a box so I couldn't say who they are by, but I'm pretty sure the quotation text and hooks are on a Papermania clear set.

Here's another view, the leaping salmon is a wooden button I've had years, the little butterflies are the smallest in the Nellie's Choice stamp and emboss set with amber pearls down the body made with my Wacco pearl maker pen, and the fly is made by my DH then fixed onto a little tag to safely hide the lethal hook before fixing to the base with a brad.  I couldn't resist prettifying just a little so settled with a double green bow tied from plain silk ribbon and a selection of Marianne diecuts:

daisy - LR0106
fronds - LR0107
skeleton leaf - LR0228
decorative spray - LR0157

The Addicted to Stamps challenge is for tags, while Oldie but a Goodie want anything but Christmas plus of course something over 6 months old - most of the bits on this tag are! 

I am expecting a nice little delivery in the post today so will have new things to play with tomorrow whilst the boys are fishing.  Today I have to finish hemming the second bedroom curtain - did the first yesterday.  They need shortening by quite a bit and being a silk fabric I'm doing it by hand - might see if there are any crafty programs on the tv to watch as I stitch.  My biggest problem is threading the very tiny eye in the fine silk needle .. .. it's more by guesswork than actually being able to see where the thread is going! 

Last night I tried to catch up with the lovely friends who have left me comments over the past couple of days, but I keep getting error messages when I click on the comment box .. .. and then the internet reboots itself and I have to start all over again.  I am not totally convinced that the problem is the internet .. .. I might have picked up 'something' and need to get my machine de-bugged.  So, if I am missing for a few days you will know why.

Starry, starry night

Our challenge this week on Cute Card Thursday is titled 'Starry, Starry Night' - for you to interpret as you will.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Whimsy Stamps.

I've had this LOTV stamp for a while but never got around to inking her up, but I knew she would be perfect for this challenge, a little girl watching the star in the night sky with her kitty, watching and waiting!  She's coloured with my Copics and a sprinkling of glitter, for the snow I used a white marker pen, then I've embossed the edge and inked with Sahara Sand chalk ink, it's a little softer finish than using DI.

And here's the card.  My background paper is from Marianne's Warm Winter Wishes bloc, this has been my favourite pattern and I've only one sheet of it left now.  I've added a length of cream cotton lace and diecut the frame and embellishments from SU! Crumb Cake and Riding Hood Red cardstock along with a little cream textured card from my stash.  After embossing by hand I've inked all the raised areas with the chalk ink and then finished off with amber pearls made with my pearl maker pen.  Here's the list of Marianne dies I used on this card:

frame - LR0234 Petra's square frames
snowflake - CR1225
mini poinsettias - LR0142
holly leaves - LR0244

I've just ordered a couple of replacement 'B' plates for my CB so hopefully when they arrive I might be able to emboss again - mind you it doesn't seem to take long before they go bendy. At the moment I am cutting on my 'C' plate with a bendy 'B' plate on top so only getting a good cut in the middle, and embossing between the 'A' and 'C' plates with my silicone mat, but it doesn't give me a sharp impression.  Do the Grand Calibur plates bend the same? I am still wavering about buying a new machine .. .. Santa could bring me quite a stash of new dies for the price of a new gadget .. .. .. ..

Anyway, I digress, I'm linking my card up with the Fussy and Fancy Friday blog where the challenge is for pearls and flowers, the My Time to Craft blog with a vintage challenge (I think this is a vintage look), and the Creative Stamp Friends who would like to see your favourite colours - at the moment mine is definitely this warm red mixed with kraft and cream. By the Cute And Girly's monthly challenge is twinkle, twinkle little star so I'll enter my card with them too.

It's not all my mess .. .. and WOYWW

I missed joining in with Julia's what's on your workdesk Wednesday last week, if you want to join in go to Julia's blog here.  I am all at sixes and sevens, trying to do too many things at once and not getting anything finished, consequently the whole house is a bit of a mess!

This is the dining room table that I've taken over, although with all my diecutting equipment still in the conservatory plus the drawers and cupboard with the crafty stuff in there, I'm constantly back and forth.  Here though is where I do my colouring in - with my Copics you can see in 4 empty laundry tab boxes with the colour chart I created.  There's a take-away box with loose glitter, and a cd case with a set of Marianne dies that don't fit in the plastic folders I use for the majority of them.  And then there's my floor lamp with the daylight bulb that let's me see to colour at night.  Some of my recently finished makes are on the sideboard waiting for the insides to be done, nothing fancy, just a text and maybe a little spray of something.  You can see the new set of Marianne clear stamps that I've been playing with, there's a lovely little holly spary corner that I've used quite often and the little deer looks cute too.  The far side of the table is hubby's mess .. .. although as he's away until the weekend I'm encroaching on his half!  Don't look at the state of the room - but if you do you can see the doorway that's been knocked through to give access to the new part of the bungalow.  Eventually we will get around to decorating in this room, but that's a long way off yet.  On the table there's a simple little C6 card I've just finished for hubby to give to one of the farmers that let him shoot on their land - I make him half a dozen each year and they tend to be simple traditional styles.  I've not had any feedback so don't know what happens to them .. .. anyway, here's the card.

The image is an old Elusive Images stamp that I coloured with a mix of Copics and pencils, it's been finished a while and you could see it on my earlier WOYWW posts.  I thought it was about time I did something with it and since I've unpacked the box with old Christmas papers, I found a plain Papermania one that matched the ivy leaves and stamped the little holly spray in the corners, you can still see it at the top.  The image I matted with cream card as my base is cream, then matted the paper with kraft to tie things together.  It looked a bit plain so I used up some snips from other projects that were hanging about on the desk.  The little strip of lace at the bottom, the flourish at the top along with the little flower are all from Marianne dies: flourish and flower from Petra's Square frames LR0234,  lace trim from CR1202.

All being well, I'll get around to catching up with you this evening, usually the internet get's a bit easier after 11pm!

Winter Wishes

Not sure if I'm very, very late posting this card for Tuesday, or perhaps it should be early for Wednesday .. .. either way, here I am with a cutie from LOTV, coloured with my Copics plus added sparkle.  Pictures taken under my daylight lamp again so the sparkle does show up quite well, and as I'm predominantly blue I can enter the Charisma Cardz challenge - feeling blue.  Winter Wonderland and Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge are both to create for men or boys whilst the Allsorts challenge is to be young at heart.

My background paper is an old piece from my stash, I think Papermania, matted with blue card with the edges inked in dark blue chalk ink stitching added with a white marker pen.  I've diecut the pretty mat and inked the embossed areas, then embellished with the trees, snowflakes and a little text greeting, all by Marianne. Finally, a scattering of white pearls made with my Wacco pearl maker pen finished things off - perhaps not as fussy as some I've made recently, but I think better than yesterday's effort!

Marianne dies I used:
circular mat - LR0141
trees - LR0136
snowflakes - LR0123, LR0124, CR1227
mat behind text - CR1201 (the largest flower)

Well, I'll soon be off to bed - it's been another hassle day on the DIY front, but at least hubby is almost back to normal and able to go to work.  The only downside is that he's in the Plymouth area for the rest of the week so will be staying up there to save on the travelling time each day.  Still, it means I can stay up late and browse the internet for a while without disturbing him .. .. .. hopefully catch up with you all over the next couple of days then!

Let it snow

I finally finished this card! what a day of ups and downs it's been. Hubby is sick so in bed, Jason has had nothing but hassle with DIY and I had to spend a while desperately trying to clean sticky stuff off one of the new mosaic tile sheets (baby wipes did the trick in the end), and because hubby is only able to get out of bed to dash to the loo .. .. I've had to walk the dogs too! oh and look after Mum as usual, do laundry, cook, clean .. .. .. can you hear the violins!

So by the time I'd finished it was dark and I had to take the pictures using my daylight lamp, which actually brings out the shimmer of the cardstock quite well.  The stamp is another new one from Nellie Snellen, coloured with my Copics then lots of frosting and snowflakes added with my white pearl maker pen.

I didn't have enough of the pretty embossed white card to mat my paper so have used a plain pearl white paper, as the card is years old I doubt I can get any more.  The background paper is a piece from Marianne's Scandinavian paper bloc with Snowcap dabber on the edges.  I cut a mat for my image and 3d mounted it to the base.  That's as far as I'd got over the weekend, so this afternoon I've been trying to add the embellishments but I guess my mind hasn't really been on the job and it's looking a bit disjointed to me, I'd have liked to link up at least down one side but flowers and leaves didn't feel right for a card with a little boy on it.  And anyway, by the time I had cut the 3 main snowflakes, I had so little card left to play with I was cutting and piecing together the spray and hid all the joins with a little snowflake. I was going to add a circular sentiment to hide the join but didn't have enough card to make a mat for the one I had in mind so instead had to go with the snowflake and add a little text at the top.  I chose to use the spray as it has embossed blobs on the ends which match in with the blobs on some of the snowflakes .. .. well that was my idea anyway! All the diecuts are by Marianne, here's the list:

square mat for image - LR0234
icicle border - LR0135
snowflakes - CR1225, CR1226, LR0123, LR0125
spray - LR0228

The title of the For Fun Challenge is Brrrr! it's hot or maybe cold! I've gone cold with my snowy card, and the Dream Valley challenge is an anything goes one for this week so I can enter with them too.  Both Everybody Art and the Fairy Tale challenge blogs have an embossing challenge, and as all my diecuts are embossed I am hoping I'm ok to join in their challenges.

The Nativity

This little chap is one of the Lili of the Valley Nativity stamps, coloured with my Copics.  At the moment my crafty routine is to sit at the dining room table one evening and colour 2 or 3 images, then I have to clear the pens away so I can spend the next couple of evenings putting things together.  I can manage to diecut in the conservatory for a few hours in the afternoon but this time of year with no heating out there it gets pretty cold, especially once it gets dark outside.  So, despite making a mental note to write down the pens I've used .. .. I forgot!  I've used kraft card as my base and mat, as well as for several of the diecuts.  I found a scrap of soft red card that matched the Marianne Warm Winter Wishes paper to make the rest of the cuts and weave the heart together.  The text is from a Marianne set of stamps too - just about all the extras on this card are, except the buttons threaded with twine, the tiny pearls and the little red heart is a very old punch!

I've inked all my edges and the embossed parts of the diecuts with Walnut DI, and there's a little sparkle on the stars and halo in the image.

Marianne dies I used are:
Snowflakes - CR1225 & CR1227
Woven Scandinavian heart - CR1228
Bird on heart - LR0205
Bird and ivy - LR0206
Fronds - LR0245
Mini Poinsettia - LR0142
Red sprays - LR0228

Thank goodness for 'anything goes' challenges!  I'm linking up with Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog, One Stop Craft, Crafty Catz and Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.

Look at what's coming soon!

Open publication - Free publishing

">

Open publication - Free publishing

I'd like to say a big hello! and welcome! to my new followers - it's lovely you could join me.  I've not got a card to share with you today - but have one almost done so maybe by tomorrow .. .. .. we'll see.  I did want to let you see a sneaky peak at the new products that Marianne will be bringing out very soon .. .. those little love hearts are sure to be a hit what with Valentine's day not that far off - well we crafters have to think ahead! And the ability to cut out the pieces to make a little owl decoration - great if you are a patchworker.  And on the second page those big fancy edge dies to cut big circles, and other things, well I'm definately going to have to try out those!

If the link doesn't work then go to Marianne's own web site here and take a look.  And, a couple more of my cards made it into the gallery too!  I've not sent in any more as I like to keep them 100% Marianne, so although I'm using her products on just about every card I make, quite often the image is from another manufacturer.

I do have a query .. .. my old Cuttlebug is hanging on in there but has certainly failed the MOT, so it's time for a new machine and Father Christmas has hinted that I might just get lucky!  So ladies, and any gentlemen reading, what gadget would you recommend for cutting my Marianne dies?  And crucially, for embossing them - at the moment I'm having to go over all the embossing the old fashioned way by hand and it's taking up a lot of my time.  Either leave me your suggestions in the comments or email me at anniejuk@yahoo.com

Well I have to get motivated - still in my dressing gown and new Yak boots - a pressie from hubby to keep my feet warm, they work!

Snowflakes are Winter's Kisses

This little lass is one of the new Christmas stamps from Nellie's Choice, coloured with my Copics and with a sprinkling of frost.  I've cut her out with a blossom Nestie for a change, and cut a mat from some pearl card I found when unpacking boxes - it has embossed blobs on it that could be snow, well that's what I thought anyway.  The piece of background paper is from my stash, not sure when and where I got it so it's probably years old, and I've added the frosting around the edge before matting onto a piece of the pearl card.  I wrapped a piece of lace along the bottom before 3d mounting my image, then went and cut the embellishments from the left over pearl card - they are all Marianne dies so I'll list them in a tick.  The text is a magazine freebie stamp, also from years ago - I'm unpacking all sorts of things I'd forgotten about!  To finish I've added pearls to the centre of the flower, the bottom snowflake and the flourish.

Marianne dies I used:
Snowflakes - LR0124 (flake top left hidden behind text), LR0125 (2 flakes layered top right), and CR1227 for bottom left snowflake
Mistletoe flower and sprays - LR0189
Flower stamens - LR0122
Cut Leaves - LR0156
Flourish - LR0141

I'm going to enter my card into the Paperplay challenge for snowflakes, Divas by Design who's theme is 'let's get cute', Totally Papercrafts who'd like to see cute and girly, and the Penny Black and More monthly challenge to use diecuts as well as some stamping.

I'll probably not be around blogging over the weekend as we've had some hiccups with the tiling.  After thinking we were almost done, the grout for the mosaic lifted the finish on some of the metal tiles .. .. so they have all had to come off!  Jason and I managed to get that done last night and the replacements arrived this morning, complete with the grout from the supplier - as a particular grout wasn't specified when we ordered at least they have replaced free of charge + grout.  So Jason is busy making good the wall and hopefully will get tiling again .. .. .. the big mirror should arrive today for the alcove wall so once we have a couple of strong able bodied men about the place that can go in, then the sink can be plumbed in and the finishing touches can begin .. .. I might even get a bath in about a week's time!

CCT Sketch

This week on Cute Card Thursday Deb has designed a simple sketch for our challenge, you can choose to keep it CAS or add more or less of what takes your fancy .. .. I went for it rather!  Our sponsor this week is Whiff of Joy!

If you are a regular reader of my blog you may have noticed that it's been years since I used a Magnolia stamp, and I went and sold all my Tildas and Edwins but kept back the little extras and a few stamps that I knew would see ink again.  So today's card sees three of them being dusted off and inked up.  The image in my circle is cut from the Winter scene, and then there is Santa and the log I've sat him on.  They are old Magnolias but I think classics that will stand the test of time.  All my colouring is done with Copics with added sparkle from loose glitter and a glue pen - I'm avoiding Stickles with Copics especially where red is in the mix!  The papers I've used are from Marianne's Warm Winter Wishes bloc and I've inked the edges with Sahara Sand chalk ink as it's quite subtle and I've also used it to ink my diecuts.  On the Christmas trees I've added a snow effect with a Snowcap Dabber, and went over the log a little too, before finishing off with white snow created with my Wacco pearl maker pen.  I've used 3d foam pads on each layer and for the trees, log and Santa to give dimension and added interest, especially as I've avoided embellishing at the top of the card so you can see my pretty square kraft mat, and also see that I did follow the sketch!

The Marianne dies I used are:

Craftable CR1202 - rectangle cut twice then one piece cut again and layered to make the square (the join is hidden).
Circle mat for image - LRO141 double circle (this is the smaller one)
Christmas Trees - LRO136

I'm going to enter my card into the Papertake Weekly challenge as it's an anything goes week with the option of making a Christmas card, and the Sweet Stampin' challenge for glitter (Santa has a very sparkly beard and there's glitter on the snow but it's not showing up very well).  Crafty Creations challenge is for no flowers, so it's one for them too.

Marianne Shaped Card

This card is my second entry for the Marianne Design Divas challenge to create a shaped card .. .. just in case my first card, wasn't quite shapely enough!  To get my shape I fiddled about a bit with the measurements as I wanted the card to fold flat and fit in a square envelope to post.  So, starting with a piece of Cookie Crumb SU! A4 cardstock, I lined it it on my Scorepal so that the long edge was evenly spaced across the top - worked out that I was on the quarter inch at the left hand edge.  I scored at 3", 4.5", 7.5" and 9" then folded to get the shape you can see in the picture.  Once I knew how wide the card was going to be when closed I cut it so it was square.

The papers are from Marianne's Warm Winter Wishes bloc and I've inked the edges, as well as the edges of the diecuts, with Walnut DI.  The cream lacy border on the back panels is a Martha Stewart punch, other than that the dies are all by Marianne - list at the end.  I've got a little stamping on this card, the text greeting from the Marianne Stamp Fairy Christmas greeting set, and Eline's Owls clear stamp set EC0141.  I've coloured the owl and the little heart that comes with the set using my Copics before cutting them out to fix to the little tag I have on the front panel.  There's a tiny scrap of lace, little ribbon bow, the pearl button at the top of the tag, two tiny hearts from waste cutting something else, and the pearls all over the place made with my Wacco pearl maker pen, the rest of the card embellishments are all diecuts:

Bird and Ivy - LRO206
Scandinavian woven hearts - CR1228
Christmas tree - LRO136
Mini poinsettia - LRO142
Skeleton leaves - LRO128
Spray - LRO157

The Cupcake challenge is to get krafty this week - I have lots of kraft coloured card elements on my creation.  The Cutie Pie challenge is for distressing and I've got lots of inked edges so hope that counts. Totally Gorjuss just want anything with a button (big pearl one at the top of my tag), and Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas challenge this time is to use 3 different patterned papers: I have the red flower on the back panels, the kraft coloured one on the sides and the tag, and a different red on the front.

Marianne Tag Card

My regular blog follwers will have noticed my recent crafty obsession with Marianne's diecuts, and today's card I made for the Marianne Design Challenge blog.  However, it's in Dutch and the translation button doesn't seem to want to work for me so I've had to guess a bit as to the exact nature of the challnge theme!  I think it's for a tag card where the tag is enclosed and pulls out, rather than just being stuck on the front as an embellishment - so that's what I've made and aplogies if I've got it wrong.  I've used a square kraft card as my base but diagonally cut the front then stuck the cut off piece on the back to create a pocket for my tag.  The papers are all from Marianne's Scandinavian Winter block and I've inked the edges of the papers, the card, and the embossed areas of the diecuts with Walnut DI.  I'll give you a list of the dies I used at the end of my post. To finish off I've scattered about some little blue pearls on my front flap (plus a tiny one in the centre of the poinsettia inside).

On the inside I stamped a little text on my postcard tag (from a clear set I got at my local craft store last year) and one of the greetings from Marianne's Stamp Fairy Christmas greetings on the kraft circle, and of course there's already a greeting on the patterned paper.

The circles are cut from LRO141 - double frame, and Nestabilities
Skeleton leaf on front of card from LRO128 - flower fantasy
Large Poinsettia from LRO122 - poinsettia straight
Holly from LRO244 - holly branches
Small Poinsettia from LRO142 - poinsettia miniature

Although the card looks busy, it does in fact fit a regular square envelope as most of the diecuts are glued flat, just the poinsettia on the front that is 3d mounted on foam squares so that will squash down to fit.  Dsepite there not being any stamped image to colour, I had fun making this card - although a slight misshap cutting the red circles and covering up a little white edge with a Copic brown pen on the inside circle led to bleed through on the front .. .. hidden by those holly sprays I hope!

I'm also going to enter my card into the Christmas Stampin' All Year Round challenge as it's an anything goes theme, and the Fussy and Fancy Friday challenge for pearls and flowers.

LIM in the pink

What a busy weekend, and what dreadful weather!  On Saturday afternoon it was blue sky, hailstones and thunder - all at the same time!  Yesterday the family came to visit and we enjoyed a roast with a homemade apple crumble, delicious if I do say so myself!  I haven't had much time to craft and my 'fancy' card is still a work in progress .. .. but I have put together a card for this week's Less Is More colour pink challenge.  I emptied out another storage box of craft stuff from the loft and discovered my pearl paper and card, the pale pink is left over card from when I did my son's wedding invitations, so pleasant memories making this little number.  I've cut and embossed the fancy edge with Marianne die LRO201, although you can't see the embossing very well in the picture.  The heart I cut from Marianne craftable CR1225 with the inner heart embossed with a CB rose folder.  Then simply finished off with the ribbon and text by Lili of the Valley stamped in grey ink.  Inside I've added a pearl paper insert edged with a Martha Stewart lace punch and stamped a greeting and a heart design in the matching grey ink.

The Fab 'n' Funky challenge is for diecuts or punches so I can enter with them too.

Christmas Notes

I have very exciting news to share with you - I just saw two of my cards on the first page of Marianne's card gallery here - at the moment they are the middle two on the second row from the top.  I often take a look at the gallery for inspiration as there are some stunning works of art on show.

It's been a bit of a stop and start craft day today as I've been grouting in the bathroom and pottering about the house.  I was hoping to have several little bits and pieces finished from ideas in my head, but this is as far as I got - a little notebook with a new cover created from left-overs.  I stuck a piece of Marianne's Warm Winter Wishes paper to the cover then trimmed it, inked the edges with Walnut Stain DI and then went around with Platinum Stickles.  I made a little tag from a scrap of kraft card and a different pp from the same pack, then glued an oddment of lace across the bottom, glued the big cream satin bow that's been sat on my desk for a week or so to the top, then 3d mounted the tag onto the notebook cover. I cut one of my favourite Marianne snowflakes from cream textured card and gave that a distress ink touch before 3d fixing it to the tag, plus adding the little star to the middle that came from my bit jar - it's actually the waste from a Marianne border die.  I stamped the text, also by Marianne, onto yet another piece of pp from the pack then did the same distress ink touch, a couple of mats in kraft and cream, also inked, and a touch of Stickles on the snowflakes - there you have it!

The Cutie Pie challenge is to distress, hopefully they will be happy with a distressed note book rather than a card.  I will try and finish up the other projects in my head to share with you in a day or two, but with family visiting this weekend I'm going to have my hands full!

CCT angels or fairies

This week on Cute Card Thursday we would like to see angels or fairies on your card and our sponsor for this challenge is Little Darlings Stamps.  I am temporarily off fairies - gosh! I hear you say .. .. well, I'm sure it will be a temporary dislike!  Unfortunately I've not got many angel stamps of my own so when you do see an angel on one of my cards it's most likely an image I've stamped up when visiting my friends.  But, this little LOTV Angel Gabriel I do have - I think I have all the LOTV Nativity stamps and get them inky every year. They remind me of watching the school Nativity plays, firstly with my own children many years ago and now with my grandsons - who usually end up being shepherds.  I coloured the image with my Copics, but have no idea why I chose the B0 shades and then that bright pink RV00, R81 & R83, and the slightly less vibrant yellows YR30, 31 & 21 with a touch of E55 for shading.  The little lamb is E30, 31 and the E55, then to finish I've shaded with cool greys.

Of course, when it came to making up the card I had no patterned paper that would match - I do have a lot of the aqua card so no problems for mats, so I simply put a piece of white card through the swiss dots CB embossing folder and used that as my background - and it does mean I can enter the card into Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge for no patterned papers.  I cut a strip of Marianne icicles border LRO135 to fit across the top and added Frosted Lace Stickles for sparkle.  To embellish I stamped and cut out the little text from a mini HOTP stamp set, diecut pieces of Marianne LRO245 (twigs but I call them fronds) and punched out the bright pink poinsettia flowers with Nellie's Choice mini punch and emboss set.  Even more Frosted Lace Stickles on the fronds and the Marianne snowflakes, CR1226, then a final sprinkling of little gems finished things off.  I'm also going to enter the ABC Christmas challenge for V= vibrant colours - well that pink certainly fits the bill!

Sorry I'm late sharing my card with you today, there was a minor hiccup with the car which meant I got to go shopping with Jason in his sporty little Brabas Smart number .. .. I can just about manage to get in and out of it by myself, but getting the Tesco's shop in was another matter and I ended up with the overspill from the boot with 2 bags at my feet and another on my lap so I couldn't see out the window on the way back!  And it wasn't that big a shop .. ..!