Kool Kitty Musings

Wonderful Woodgrains

This week over on the DCM blog it's my turn to set the dare, and honestly I really thought I would be back in a working office/craft room by now but it looks like another coat of paint is going to be required after the 3rd coat!

So instead, I'm card-less this week for my Wonderful Woodgrains challenge, where you need to feature woodgrain either as a texture (dry embossing, heat embossing, texture paste with a stencil) or as a pattern/stamped detail. Hey you could even feature wood veneer paper and the real thing.

I thought with no new card to share I should go back in the archives and have a Throwback moment from a card I made this week in 2013 - incidentally featuring the old wall colour of my craft room. ;)

Cardstock, stamps, embossing plate: PTI

This card just has me itching to crack out that woodgrain texture plate again - it's so nice, and spritzing your cardstock with water first makes the impressions even deeper.

Anyway, whatever you're up to this weekend, have a nice one!

I will once again be on a ladder with a paint brush! Will it ever end??

2013 creativity in review

Well, we're on the brink of a new year and I always think it's nice to look back at the crafty accomplishments of the outgoing year.

Here's a little slideshow of the cards I made in 2013:

There were also some scrappy projects in 2013 - although they weren't numerous they were made with a lot of love. :)

The Christening gift for my lovely little Goddaughter:

The hodge podge heritage book with photos from my paternal grandmother's line:

And the wedding album made as a 1st anniversary gift:

And as for 2014, well I have a couple of crafty goals. Apart from the 52 Cards 2014 challenge and my cards for The Daring Cardmakers, I'd really like to get back into regular scrapping. I think the only way I can accomplish this going forward is with a project life style approach and doing a month in review. I quite like the idea of recording the little things and not worrying too much about gaps in quiet months where there are no major events to record. I've got some page protectors and Simple Stories Daily Grind on its way to me, as well as a desk calendar for 2014 that will nicely get upcycled into my album... but I really feel the need for a new dedicated album for this venture and I'm torn between a lovely Simple Stories leather album or one of the new WRMK leather albums (the colours of mint, coral and grey are seriously calling to me!) - I am really disappointed with my American Crafts fabric albums I bought a few years ago - they have all faded on the spine in my bookshelf, which says a lot about the production quality - you'd think with it being about preserving memories they'd use fade resistant dyes... anyway, my Making Memories albums have not suffered the same fate, nor have the leather MM albums I have. Leather is the way to go. ;o)

I suppose I'd best make my mind up before the tempting sales end!

52 Cards challenge 2014 - Week 1

Good morning everyone!

We'll be seeing in the New Year very soon and I hope you'll join me again for another 52 weeks packed full of cardmaking fun!

It's a bit strange that week 1 kicks off in 2013, but just think of it as your extra creative thinking time!

For those of you new to the 52 Cards challenge, here's a little intro.

What is it?
A no-stress challenge aimed at getting you to make at least one card a week in 2014.
Each week I will post prompts here on my blog - these will either be:

• 3 elements randomly picked from the prompt jar
• Photo inspiration from Pinterest, etc. (that you can interpret in any way that you like: colours, layout, design elements, product - it's up to you!)
• Design elements or themes
• A sketch or existing card design that you can use as a blueprint for your own interpretation
• A colour challenge

All you need to do is use the prompts as inspiration to create a card - if you can't include all the elements of a prompt, don't worry - there are no rules, the aim is simply to get creating!

Where are the prompts?
All prompts past and present can be found here on my blog or by clicking on the 52-card challenge tag over there on the left.

When are they posted?
The prompts go live every Monday morning at around 8.30 a.m UK time. Due to work hours I schedule the blog post for challenge prompts so it's available at the same time and same place each week. And time permitting I will include a card with my own interpretation of the prompt. :)

Where can I share my cards?
If you're a member of UK Scrappers then you can share your cards via the dedicated threads for this challenge, which are located in the main part of the Card Forum here. If you're not on UK Scrappers, then it'd be lovely if you left a link to your card here on my blog via the comments bit for the relevant prompt. I love seeing how people interpret these prompts as no two cards are ever the same!

What about those Christmas Crackers?
For last year's challenge I introduced a new element to help spread the Christmas cardmaking cheer over the year - I can personally attest to how successful this approach can be, and how stress-free my December was on this front, so stress-free was I that I almost forgot I actually needed to write and send those cards I'd spent all year making!

So as an added push for those that want to get ahead with their Christmas cards, make an extra card a week using the prompt as inspiration for a Christmas card as well. If that sounds like too much work, no problem! This is meant to be a stress-free challenge. Join in as and how you like, one week you may want to just make a card for the original prompt, another week just a Christmas card, or some weeks you just won't have time to make either! There will be a separate thread in the card forum on UK Scrappers for you to share your (hopefully) 52 Christmas Cracker cards! So if you are ultra-productive there is a chance you could make at least 104 cards in 2014!

I will be posting any cards I make for the Christmas Crackers separately later in the week!

And for those who get behind or worry that they've missed too many weeks, nonsense! Just dive right back in at any time, you can make something from a past prompt or pop back in with the current prompt - please don't think you have to give up just because crafting and cardmaking has had to take a back seat in your life. ;)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Now, on with the first prompt of the year!

I'm sure, like me, if you received crafty presents from Father Christmas this year you have been itching to get playing with your goodies. I was very lucky and received some rather nice items from my wishlist. I also gave myself some extra little crafty presents while shopping for others. Oops!

So get out those new items you have been looking at oh so longingly while making merry with family and friends, and get making your first card!

Here's a photo of the lovely new items that made it to my desk for this week:

And here's the card I made for a very special birthday girl:

Paper: Crate Paper
Ephemera: Crate Paper
3D stickers: Crate Paper
Dies: Sizzix, MFT, PTI
Stamps: WPlus9
Alpha stickers: Making Memories
Enamel dots: Teresa Collins
Other: Sewing machine, Stickles

I used a mixture of Crate Paper 6x6 pads and elements for this card as they all had aqua and pink tones as well as neutral shades to them - so there are items from Flea Market, Fourteen, Party Day all combined here. There's even a touch of gold on that vellum tag from the Flea Market ephemera pack.

Now that I've shared my creation, I'm very eager to see what has made it to your desk this week!

Happy crafting in 2014!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 52

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has followed, joined in, and (hopefully) kept up with the 52 Cards Challenge this year. :)

There have been some truly lovely creations shared and I really hope you will be playing along with me again in 2014! ;)

But first it's time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

And I thought I'd sneak in my favourite Christmas card of the year:

I think it comes down to the colours and snowflakes in this one, plus a bit of bling. ;) Grey was my neutral shade of choice in 2013 and I don't think I'll be seeing the end of aqua and red!

Until next Monday!

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 52

Well we have finally reached the end of the road for the 52 cards challenge 2013!

As you can tell with my delayed post, I have been rather busy and don't have a new card to share today.

BUT....

Should you have time on your hands and fancy getting crafty, then this week's prompt is to use your favourite card(s) from the past 51 weeks as inspiration to create this week's finale piece! They don't have to be cards from the challenge - just any card you've made. You can use them as a sketch, or CASE them...

Alternatively, like me you can go back through your cards and share your favourite(s) from the year. :)

So I've whittled it down to this card being my favourite from 2013:

It's the card where I really got to have fun with that DIY chalkboard effect and uses one of my favourite Crate Paper releases from the year, the Fourteen papers.

I'll pop back tomorrow to share my favourite Christmas card... it may take me some time to flick through them all! ;o)

Star of wonder, star of light....

Well, this Friday's challenge on the Daring Cardmakers' blog marks our last one of 2013 until we're back in January! Wow, the year has certainly flown by.

This week we're challenging you to feature any source of light associated with Christmas on your cards.

So stars, fairy lights, candles, all sorts...

I went with the star option as there was a technique I recently saw that I was looking forward to trying out: a 3D star.

As shown in this handy tutorial photo from happylifecraftywife.com, it's very simple but very effective:

And luckily for me, I had some handy star dies on hand. Always helps!

Here's my festive red star:

Paper: Crate Paper
Dies: PTI, Marianne
Sentiment: Crate Paper
Other: Stickles, twine, 3D foam

I thought the spotty paper had that bokeh look to it that so many gorgeous Christmas tree photos have.

A very simple card but one that will definitely stand out on the mantelpiece. :)

I hope you manage some crafting before Christmas kicks in!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 51

And here's my quick little card for this week's time-saving prompt!

I used the die-cut from the previous card to make this one with a different take on the look:

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9
Other: 3D foam, 3D paint, pattern wheel

I must say I think the greetings in the Pretty Patches: Tree stamp set are just lovely for the front and inside of the card - which is nice as you don't have to pull out different sentiment sets to create one card. All done with this little set. :)

Right well, I rather suspect next week's Christmas Cracker will be a tad delayed, what with it being Christmas day - we shall see! ;)

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 51

Morning folks - I'll be brief today as I know this week is going to be a busy one for many!

And this week's prompt reflects that, it's entitled:

Make it quick!

I don't think I need to explain why, if you have some remaining cards to make, then now's the time.

Here's the one I made using my new WPlus9 stash:

Paper: October Afternoon, Crate Paper
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9
Other: 3D foam, 3D paint

It really doesn't take much to make a detailed card like this in a short amount of time. I think once you have the idea in your head of how you want it to look you can zoom right along. :) I simply wanted to have a Christmas tree aperture and some stamping - and ta-da!

While I had this set out and that tree die-cut going spare I decided to quickly make the Christmas cracker card to go with it, but I'll share that later this week. :)

Ahh a Christmas tradition...

I'm sure everyone has certain movies that they have to watch at Christmas, year in year out... where it wouldn't be quite so Christmassy without them...

Well this week on the DCM blog Beckie has challenged us to include a quote from a Christmas movie on our cards. It looks like Elf was a real hit!

I already knew it was going to be Elf as it's not every day I can wheel out this particular stamp I've used:

Paper: October Afternoon, Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Stamps: PTI, WPlus9
Dies: PTI, WPlus9Other: Stickles

I know it's a very plain card - but I just loved the snowman from Elf and this jolly fellow here does look like he is singing... a la Babe... La-la-laaa la-la-laaa...

But alas, I didn't have a stamp for the best quote from Elf:

But never mind, you can see that and many other wonderful quotes on the fab cards from the design team this week!

I am now itching to watch a Christmas movie.... but which one?

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 50

Well here's my second personalised card for this week's prompt.

It's another Christmas number - this time to wish a certain little chap a very merry first Christmas. :)

Paper and Chipboard: MME
Dies: MFT, PTI, Memory Box, Spellbinders
Stamps: PTI
Other: 3D foam, glitter card, Stickles, baker's twine

I thought when it's a first Christmas you can definitely go all out on the colours and glitter! Very zingy!

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 50

It's week 50!

Just 3 more prompts left this year!

I'm sure everyone is really busy with Christmas activities, etc. but I hope you'll still be able to join in with these last few prompts or any others from the past 49 weeks! ;o)

This week our theme is "Making it personal!".

I want to see you make a personalised card, whether for someone you name on the card or a relative or special friend. Otherwise you can incorporate elements that symbolise this individual and your relationship with them. So if you share a private joke or some special memory why not incorporate it on your card?

My first card this week is for my very special Goddaughter. I hope she'll like it! :)

Paper: Crate Paper
Elements: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Dies: PTI, Memory Box
Other: 3D foam, twine, Stickles

Once again I put Crate Paper Bundled Up to work - the ephemera pack is still yielding lots of nice bits and pieces including this sweet little snow angel die cut. :)

No Christmas card is truly complete without a bit of Stickles action it has to be said.

Happy crafting!

December colours

Well, the time has come for our final colour challenge of 2013 on the DCM blog! Yikes, where has that time gone eh?

Zuz chose this beautiful palette of blues and greys mixed with a little spring green.

Off I went rifling through my cardstock stockpile to find some matching shades as I already had an idea in mind for what I wanted to created.

And here it is!

Cardstock: PTI, Bazzill Cardshoppe, Bazzill basics
Stamps: MFT, PTI
Dies: PTI, MFT
Enamel dots: Teresa Collins
Other: 3D foam, glitter card

To create the background I marked on my card blank where my greeting panel would go and then inked up one of the stamps from MFT LJD Darling Dots with dark grey ink and then created the background so that the dots wouldn't appear behind the die cut greeting once finally affixed in place. Very simple, but rather effective. Ad a bit of blingy glitter cardstock and some coordinating enamel dots and it's good to go! :)

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 49

And for a break from Christmas decorations - here's my Christmas cracker card for the stitched border challenge. It was back to that Crate Bundled Up stockpile I went, love that stuff!

Paper and ephemera: Crate Paper
Other: 3D foam

I just love the artwork style in all the imagery - vintage yet contemporary plus I will never ever get enough of red and white diagonal stripes at Christmas time! Throw in a bit of aqua and I'm blissfully happy. ;o)

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 49

Morning everyone!

Well we might as well start the countdown to the end of this year's challenge now that we're in December. :)

This week I've been inspired by some of the lovely stitched layered borders I've received in my stash as part of the Crate Paper ephemera packs.

They take all the guess work out of creating your own, but I suspect it wouldn't be too difficult to stitch together some die-cut scraps of papers, etc.

So, I'd love to see whether you can replicate a stitched border or even a stitched bit of bunting or the like.

Here's the first card I made using one of these borders from the Crate Paper Flea Market ephemera pack:

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse, PTI
Dies: PTI, Spellbinders
Border: Crate Paper
Other: Distress glitter, button

I'm sure it'd be very easy to replicate this look, I just need to give it a go once my stash of ready-made ones runs out! hehe

Happy crafting!

All that glitters...

Must be gold right?

Well, it's definitely gold in the spotlight over on the DCM blog this week as Leo has challenged us to go for gold and only use it against white!

Well, alas I no longer have a supply of gold bits and bobs in my stash arsenal as I got rid of so much of the QVC stuff I thought I'd never use... hm that was well thought out eh? And with it went my gold mirror card.

So last weekend I was shopping with ma and popped into Hobbycraft hoping they'd have just one sheet of gold glitter card in a light gold not a full on 24 carat gold.

They did! And low and behold it was on the 75 p shelf with all the other gold glitter card - 75 pence for a sheet of glitter card, I thought that was OK.

Not so! At the till it came up as £2.45, so I was quite happy to leave that sheet of gold card with them and think of an alternative. Well there was nothing else for it, I'd have to make my own gold glitter card and thankfully I still had a pot of rather dark gold glitter from a different QVC purchase!

I knew what I had in mind, so off I sent in search of the cut file in the Silhouette store and I was off. Here's the final result:

Embossing folder: Cuttlebug
Snowflake die: Wplus9
Be Merry frame: KI Memories for Silhouette
Other: gold glitter

Here you can see a bit more of a twinkle when the sun caught it, but for more twinkly definition, behold:

Don't forget to check out the other gleaming projects from the design team over on the DCM blog. Lots of lovely inspiration to be had!

Well, I think this weekend I definitely need to get my Christmas cards in order and determine which ones are going where. Things were all a bit last minute last year what with being on holiday in Florida, but having made a card a week for Christmas so far this year it's a bit of a shock to realise it's now time to get writing them!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 48

Well here I am back sharing my next card using this week's star resurrection craft tool - my Craft Robo - with the aid of Silhouette Studio.

Here's one of the first things I cut on it once I'd switched it on, a snowflake from the default library items. There are other craft resurrection items in this project too - the American Crafts background papers!

Paper: American Crafts
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9, PTI
Trim: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Stickles, Craft Robo

The card blank is an old one by DCWV - I have loads of these fold-over-style cards from them so am trying to chip away at the stockpile. I love how the reds pop against the white and snazzy teal and brown shades. Also that WPlus9 stamp set with the banner is just lovely. I managed to cut out the oval with the original oval from PTI's limitless layers oval set, it only just fit, so might use some of the layers from this die set next time. :)

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 48

Goodness me, there aren't many weeks left to go with this challenge, hard to imagine we've reached week 48! Eek!

This week's prompt is all about resurrecting a tool you've not used in some time!

Hm, I'm sure you're wondering what inspired this one?

Well, my ancient Craft Robo is now not only cutting, but I've managed to get that print and cut feature to work on it. So it's been dusted off and put through its paces.

Alas I think I will need to get the Silhouette blade to use with it as I can't get it to cut through Bazzill Cardshoppe after 2 cuts, and struggled to get it cut all the way through after 6, so I wonder if the other blade will handle it better. :)

But in the meantime, here's the first of my cards for this week:

Paper: Crate Paper
Dies: MFT
Punch: Martha Stewart
Other: Craft Robo, pattern wheel

ETA: Ooops! Guess who's had an embarrassing Ponglish moment? The greeting should have read Gratulacje, not Kongratulacje (as is also being used by quite a few UK Poles...) - if only I'd triple checked as it would have been easier to fit on the card too!

I needed to keep this card relatively flat as it's heading over the Poland - my cousin and his wife just announced the lovely news that they are expecting a baby in June so after making that wedding album this summer, I wanted to use the same papers and tones for this card. I spotted the 6x6 pad of Fourteen in Hobbycraft at the weekend and well, I sort of couldn't resist that purchase! Oops!

A tangled web we weave indeed

Well, it's definitely come around quick!

We have a lovely new dare over on the DCM blog - courtesy of Miri this week. :)

She's challenged us to feature some kind of weaving on our cards.

I was feeling much too ambitious and got it into my head that I might try and recreate this on a card:

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Well, it was definitely not the one to try for a beginner! Or to cut from thick scrapbooking paper. I got in a right muddle and now the two cut-outs are residing in my Alex drawer waiting to be tackled again at some point.

So, I took my original idea and turned it around to feature weaving behind a heart aperture instead. I thought the clean and simple route was the best way to show off the weaving (wonky as it is - thank you cutterpede trimmer for no longer cutting a straight strip of paper!) and lots of rustic white to make the colours pop:

Paper: Echo Park
Dies: PTI
Stamp: PTI

Very simple indeed, but I like it. :)

Hope you have fun weaving away - there are some great ideas from the design team to get you started, go check them out!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 47

I'm just popping in to quickly share my Christmas cracker card for this week's prompt jar elements of:

• Holiday
• Die Cuts
• Glitter

And it was another Crate Bundled up wonder I made for this one:

Paper and die cuts: Crate Paper
Other: glitter card

Now if this card doesn't scream glitter I don't know what will. :) The greeting from this one was one of the cut outs from the tag paper:

I was a bit disappointed that the elements didn't line up perfectly on this double sided sheet so that you could potentially use either side of a cut out element on your project, the designs were sadly an eighth of an inch out! Oh well, I cut them out based on my favourites and that Let it snow greeting was a favourite!

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 47

Well, it's been a while since we had a few elements from the prompt jar, as my inspiration and mojo was running a bit low this past weekend I thought this might provide the solution!

This week you need to feature the following 3 on your card:

Here's my first card:

Paper and tags: Crate paper Bundled Up
Stamps: WPlus9, PTI
Dies: Quickutz, MFT
Other: Stickles, 3D foam

Although not obvious in the photo I Stickled the "Snowman" text with diamond Stickles and added red Stickles to the heart.

I love how compact that "Season's Greetings" stamp from WPlus9 is, first just perfectly into the Quickutz speech bubble.

Hope you have fun creating with these elements!

It's a Funky Friday over on the DCM blog!

This week we have a lovely set of projects to share using two new Christmas collections from Funky Hand.

First up there's Sleigh Ride:

Lots of lovely bright colours plus a nice selection of chevron designs, just what I like!

The other collection is called Silent Night and features more muted, traditional cozy shades:

So the challenge for the design team was to create two projects using these collection, one a Christmas card and the other something else. :)

First up my Christmas card - all the papers are from the Sleigh Ride collection including the white and red papers:

Paper: Funky Hand
Dies: Memory Box, PTI
Stamp: PTI
Enamel dot: Prima

And my "other" is a little rustic gift tag:

Paper: Funky Handy
Stamp: PTI
Dies: PTI
Other: button, twine, ribbon, Distress Stickles

Don't forget to check out the fabulous variety of projects the design team came up with - lots of pretties!

Happy weekend!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 46

So here are my next cards featuring digi elements.

This time I wanted to include some images rather than just a greeting and I had it in my head to create a little aperture window, one way or another. ;o)

Here they are in more detail:

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Digit elements: Pink Petticoat
Dies: Memory Box, Sizzix, Spellbinders
Other: pearl, Promarkers, Stickles

Then I decided to try a different aperture using Spellbinders heirloom ornament dies:

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Digit elements: Pink Petticoat
Dies: Memory, Spellbinders
Other: Promarkers, Stickles

Can't beat a bit of Stickles on a wintry card!

And last but not least, this was the first one I tried and I think it needs something adding.

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Digit elements: Pink Petticoat
Dies: Memory, Spellbinders
Other: Promarkers

That should bring my Christmas card tally up a few points! :)

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 46

Good morning!

This week's prompt comes at the request of a number of people who have been playing along with the 52 Cards Challenge this year.

I'm not a big user of digital elements, in fact I can't be too bothered with the faff of going through things on my PC and waiting for the printer to deliver them ready to craft with.

But this week I want to see you featuring some kind of digital element on your card.

As warned last week, I'm going to be in Christmas card mode for much of the rest of this year, so here's my hybrid card combining traditional scrapbooking media with a digital greeting printed and die cut.

Paper and cut-outs: Crate Paper Bundled Up
Die: MFT
Digi greeting: Pink Petticoat
Other: 3D foam

I rather love these ephemera cut-outs from Crate, very useful for building up layers without all the bulk of chipboard. And they come with some lovely vintage-style glittering too. :)

I have another batch of cards to share for my Christmas Crackers later this week, but in the meantime happy digi crafting!

Oh what an occasion...

This week over on the DCM blog we've been challenged to create a card for an occasion other than Birthdays or Christmas.

Gosh! The default themes for many a cardmaker right?

Well, it was quite a welcome challenge as it meant I could get a certain card ticked off my list.

Namely, a name day card for an upcoming... name day! And naturally since it's a Polish name day, the greeting's in Polish too. ;o)

Paper: Fancy Pants, MME
Dies: PTI, Sizzix, MFT
Brad: Crate Paper
Other: Pattern wheel

I love this paper design by Fancy Pants, not only do you get a lovely navy floral pattern on one side, but peach and cream stripes on the other! Perfect! And now that I have my Big Shot I've finally managed to cut those Basic Grey Sizzlit leaves out in one go. A perfect mirror of the leaves in the paper design.

Happy weekend crafting!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 45

Well, it's time to share my chipboard-toting Christmas card for this week. :)

And yep, out came the Bundled Up layered stickers to play first:

I had to use that Father Christmas one for sure! How jolly is he eh?

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Dies: Spellbinders, MFT
Impression plate: PTI
Other: Distress Stickles

I'm really looking forward to playing with more stash from the Bundled Up line, it's so lovely. :)

And speaking of jolly - here are some recent pics of Christmas-related items that have tempted.

The giant snowmen were back in John Lewis.

But alas the only baubles that tempted were these retro style ones:

They're not a patch on the original (now vintage) Polish baubles we have of the same style design. No one seems to make anything as beautiful now.

Thank heavens for the patriotic wonder of Fenwick, however we did show a lot of restraint this year, although even Fenwick didn't have as many of the beautiful baubles we've seen in the past.

Good job we nipped into Homesense just as they were closing and purchased a fair few things for the table and to wrap with. Meri-Meri gorgeous stuff galore that Ma picked up including some fab giftboxes, almost all just over half RRP:

Ma also got a set of 8 AC cards for me to assemble for her. :)

And I couldn't resist popping into TK Maxx again for my own nefarious needs and left (as predicted) with yet more Meri Meri stuff, including a 12 days of Christmas cupcake set:

I really do need to keep my distance from this shop!

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 45

Morning folks - we have just 8 more prompts remaining in this year's 52 Cards challenge! Eek!

They've certainly flown by this year!

While I was packing away my new Christmas stash delivery I had to reorganise some of my 12x12 shelf space and have now grouped together all my chipboard element sheets in one handy place, rather than with the specific collections they were in.

But before I put them away all together, I thought they'd make a great theme for this week's prompt.

So, in week 45 your card needs to feature a chipboard embellishment of some kind.

If you've not got any of the ready printed/decorated variety, then please feel free to go all DIY on us and create your own from scratch. :)

But here's mine using some elements from this old Cosmo Cricket set I had knocking about:

Mr Squirrel has found a new home:

Paper: Fancy Pants, Hambly Screen Prints
Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket
Stamp: PTI
Die: MFT
Other: pearls, 3D foam

I've still got the other half of that bunting to use on a card plus a few more characters from this set, so perhaps a companion card is begging to be created with more of that new Fancy Pants background paper. ;o)

Happy rummaging through your chipboard stash!

A little late posting...

But here's my card for our first challenge of our 8th year over on the DCM blog.

Miri picked a lovely colour palette for us to work with, since it's the first challenge of a new month:

Well, I am definitely swaying towards Christmas cards right now so I tried my hand at a festive number with these shades:

Paper: KI Memories, MME
Stamps: WPlus9, PTI
Dies: PTI, Marianne
Other: pearls, sewing machine, 3D foam, Stickles

It's a bit hard to tell, but the main pinecone and branches have had some Platinum Stickles applied. I also tried out my WPlus mini pinecone and branch stamps to do the border - they are really lovely to use. :)

And speaking of Christmas stuff... I am about to get further in the spirit. I was out for a festive crafty night with Becky last night and managed to make quite a few snowman inspired items, including this poor fellow who hasn't travelled home too well:

and today I am planning on tucking into my lovely delivery of Crate Paper's Bundled Up stash:

Yay indeed!

And before too much time passes, I'll quickly share some pics from this year's Halloween/birthday celebrations for a certain young lady.

I was crafting away on Wednesday night to get some treat bags made:

Eyeballs, pumpkins, brains... what's not to love?

I also cased a fab card I'd seen by Jess Witty earlier this year that had stuck in my head as a great Halloween number:

All to wish the gruesome twosome, and ok Lola, a happy Halloween:

We had a lovely afternoon out at a spooky cooking class, which included eyeball lemonade - quite tasty actually!

Followed by a lovely meal at the diner afterwards:

And back home for trick or treating (in the rain!), but alas Lola was not really rocking her stylish witches' hat by that time!

It looks like that Halloween weather is sticking around, the skies are gloomy outside and I really need to crack on with some card projects - looks like photography will be via desk lamp this week since all the lights are on right now as is!

52 Christmas Crackers 2013 - Week 44

Well, better late than never, here's my Christmas cracker card for this week's prompt.

Using that same piece of MME paper for the background, I thought the doily pattern also passed as a snowflake design. ;o)

A very simple card as the majority of the elements are all stamped.

Paper: MME
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9, MFT
Other: Stickles, 3D foam

I have found my perfect ink cube for snowmen showing up on white card and not looking too dirty - Versacolor Vanilla pigment ink. I tell you, that ink drawer of mine is full for a reason! And if you tilt into the edges of the stamp before lifting off from the paper you get a gradient of shading on the impression. Most handy!

I really enjoyed playing with my various WPlus9 purchases making this card. Now I'm going to have to add some more items to my wish list - or just wait patiently until the December release - as I was lucky enough to win a $10 store credit with the recent Monday Mood Board challenge. :) What a lovely surprise eh?

Right, now that I've got all my crafty duties out of the way for the evening it's time to get that bath running!

52 Cards challenge 2013 - Week 44

Morning everyone!

Monday's rolled around awful quick again.

Now that the clocks have changed I always feel like it's time to ramp up Christmas card production so it's likely that most of my cards for the rest of this year will be of a festive nature. ;o)

But not quite yet!

For this week's prompt I want you to use the same patterned paper to create both a non-festive card and your Christmas cracker card for the week. :)

Paper: MME
Dies: Cheery Lynn, WPlus9
Stamps: WPlus9
Other: 3D foam, liquid pearls, Stickles

Lots and lots of pinks in this one, mainly because I'd already stamped those Fresh Cut Floral flowers a while ago and needed to get them onto a card. How can you go wrong with pink?

Things were looking a little bland until I remembered my stash of Liquid Pearls and added a little colour to the doily.

I'll be back later this week to share my seasonal creation!

Still going through my holiday pics...

But in the meantime I have managed a little crafting this weekend, even though I need to put everything I've unpacked away.

But first, here's my card for the current challenge over on the CAS-ual Fridays blog.

In my little scraps bowl on my desk I had one lonely kraft pocket left just waiting for the right project. And as British Summer Time officially came to an end this morning and we're now well in dark autumnal mode, it's time to ramp up Christmas card production a little. So I made a Christmas card featuring a tag that can be pulled out to reveal a gift card, etc. I've also realised with the clocks changing that all photography needs to be done before 2 p.m. these days as the light is just too gloomy later in the day. :(

Paper: Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Crate Paper
Dies: PTI, MFT
Stamps: PTI
Other: pompom trim

The whole tag front has an aperture cut with the scallop heart and that tag pulls right out. With all the grey and red I thought a bit of extra colour was required, so got out the mistletoe dies from PTI and some scrap green cardstock.

Right, I suppose I'd best get on with the unpacking!

A spooky birthday celebration!

This week's Birthday celebrations on the Daring Cardmakers blog are taking a rather frightful turn!

With Halloween just around the corner this week's dare is a frightfully fiendish one!

The Design Team was lucky enough to be provided with some great Halloween elements from Tando Creative.

And luckily for this dare, I already had a Halloween birthday girl in mind!

Here's my spooky creation:

Chipboard elements: Tando Creative
Paper: Pink Petticoat, PTI, KI Memories
Stickers: KI Memories, American Crafts, Making Memories, Doodlebug
Die: MFT
Stamp: PTI
Other: Googly eyes, Stickles, Sharpies

I painted the skeleton with some paint from a Dulux apple blossom white tester pot, very handy as it gave him ghoulish appearance. The cobwebs and bats were coloured in using a black Sharpie and then I use Black Stickles over the entire front of the cobwebs (hard to see in the photo) and around the eye area of the bats before also adding some googly eyes. The Pumpkin was also coloured in with an orange Sharpie and I added orange Stickles. A lot of the letter stickers are old ones (like the white Making Memories velour stickers!), some pre-glittered and some not, I went to town with the Stickles again on those!

And as the card is for a 10th birthday, there are 10 spooky wishes inside:

I hope the birthday girl likes it! Apparently the handmade felt spider card from last year will be difficult to beat!

Happy spooky crafting!

Don't forget, we are also rounding off our celebrations with a birthday blog hop!

We'd love you to join in! This is a chance for everyone - even if you don't join in with the challenge - to win one of our special birthday "presents", you can find out more on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

To join in with the Blog Hop it's simple; start your journey on the Daring Cardmakers Blog then just click the link above each of this week's cards (including our lovely Guest Designers) to visit all of our blogs - leave a quick comment on each, then pop back to the Daring Cardmakers blog and leave a comment letting us know you have joined in the Birthday Hop. 

You'll need to complete your journey around our blogs by Midnight (UK time) on Thursday 31st October.

Happy hopping!