Christmas Card Club - "Gnomes, Pixies or Elves"

Good morning all and a Happy New Year.

Can't believe how long it is since my last post...my computer went haywire with a Windows update and took forever to make it usable again...by which time I was way behind with all my Christmas preparations! However Santa did bring a new Surface Pro so I now have back up.

Our first challenge of the year at the Christmas Card club has been set by the lovely Margaret and she's asked to see "Gnomes, Pixies or Elves". This year we have decided that Anything Goes is acceptable if you don't have anything suitable to use for the challenge theme, so this week I have gone with that.

A dozen very simple cards...one layer, no insert. I found these little 33/4" cards when I was making last minute cards in December so I thought I'd use some more of them up.

Snowman and snowflake stamps are from Anita, sentiment is from Woodware and I've used one from Clearly Besotted inside.

Having somewhat lost my mojo of late I have to say I quite enjoyed the forage into the craftroom to make these. I do need to have a good sort out though!

If you'd like to see what the other girls made you'll find their links on my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club - "Non Traditional Colours"

Good morning all. I can't believe how quick the nights have come in this year and will be glad when the clocks change at the end of the month!

Finally got my computer up and running again so touch wood it stays that way! I've also started a new blog for photography....I've recently started a year long online course to learn how to use the controls on my camera (amongst other things), so this will chart my progress and I'll also be posting my holiday photographs too. My first post goes live this morning if you'd care to take a look.

I'm playing catch up at the Christmas Card Club again...sorry ladies and promise I'll get round you all in the next day or so to leave my comments,

Two weeks ago Val (aka Mrs A) asked us to "Make it Round", here is my card.

Don't know why navy always looks black in a photo! Using a new die from Crafters Companion, a nesties die from Spellbinders and a sentiment from Clearly Besotted. Not sure about these new dies from CC, they're a bit fiddly to use and line up although they do make nice cards.

This week it was my turn to set the theme and I asked for "Non Traditional Colours".

Kraft and white is one of my favourite non traditional colour combos. Using dies from Wplus9 and Spellbinders and a Typografia Christmas stamp from STAMPlorations...a quick and easy card ready for posting! Think I need a new pot of  white EP...mine is looking a bit yellow!

If you'd like to see what the other girls have made you'll find their links on my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club - "Magical and Mystical"

Good morning all.
Huge apologies for not being around, I'll catch up with you all soon hopefully.

Wedding is all over...it went really well and we had a lovely day. Hubby and I are off this week to drive the North Coast 500,looking forward to some time away from home after all the wedding prep and building works of the last few months.

I'm late, I'm late.....

This should have been posted yesterday (and two weeks ago) but my computer packed in straight after the wedding and isn't fixed yet. What a struggle to use DD's laptop which doesn't take a memory card to upload photos from my camera!

I've got two cards to share today... Rachel set us the theme of  "Magical and Mystical" for our latest challenge. I struggled a little with this as my mojo has gone astray and I was short on time to get inky...this is what I came up with.

Combining old with new....backing card from Kanban and new dies from Crafter's Companion and a sentiment from Penny Black.

Two weeks ago Christine set us the theme of "The True Meaning of Christmas", I'm playing catch up so here is my card.

Same card from Kanban used with a stencil from STAMPlorations and a sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

If you'd like to see what the other girl's have made you'll find their links on my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club - "North Star"

Good morning all.

Spending the weekend gutting and sorting my craft room... finally - we've only been here 6 months! Having worked in it for 6 months though it needed more thought regarding layout and organisation, I'm also being ruthless with stuff that doesn't get used and using up stash instead of buying new stuff...we'll see how long that lasts🙄

Maureen has asked to see the "North Star" today in our little Christmas Card Club. I had a set of dies lying on my desk which were a magazine freebie last year which were perfect for the job.

The dies were by Crafter's Companion and it was a two part die...I wasn't quite sure how they were meant to be used as there a solid outline and the filigree one isn't edged (which I hadn't realised before using it).

The first card is simply matted and layered in gold and ivory with the filigree being cut and embossed into the top layer. Sentiment from Clearly Besotted is heat embossed with detail gold EP.

Using the leftover bits from the first card I cut the filigree from the solid die and layered two together. Loving these Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle nesting dies from STAMPlorations, I used two for my mats, embossing the smaller one with a stars EF from Crafts Too (I think). Sentiment is from Clearly Besotted and dies are from Spellbinders.

If you'd like to see what the other girls have done you'll find the list in my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club "Star of Wonder"

Good morning all. Hope you're well.
(Note to self when scheduling posts...get the date right!!!)

Had a very busy week cleaning up behind all the workmen, ironing and hanging curtains etc. The house is now beginning to look like a home...thank goodness! Planning a little me time this week to catch up with everyone and relax a little before the final move takes place.

Don't know where the last fortnight went to but it's time once again for the Christmas Card Club to strut their stuff. Zoe has given us the theme of "Star of Wonder".

I remembered about 8pm last night that this was due, so it was a mad scramble through what little stash I have at home to come up with something relevant. Luckily this stamp from The Artistic Stamper was lurking in my box and the greeting came from Clearly Besotted. Dies from Wplus9. Finished with a wee gem from my stash. The mat is actually plum coloured to match the ink but looks rather black!

If you'd like to check out how the rest of the girls did you'll find their links on my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club "2 or more patterned papers"

Good morning all.

Yesterday was spent sanding paint work in my new craft room, this morning I ache in places I didn't know existed!! I think we're ready to decorate it now though, just need to wash it down today to get rid of the dust. This is how it looks at the moment:

....and this is the view from the  window, there was actually a deer standing on the grassy patch in the distance when I took this yesterday.

Today it's time for another Christmas Card Club outing and this week GranMargaret asked for "2 or more patterned papers". I've cheated slightly and counted my decoupage as one of the papers, hope no one minds!

Please excuse the photo...my camera developed a fault when we were away so I had to use my phone for this! Decoupage from Joanna Sheen; dies from Spellbinders and Wplus9. Sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Candy winners...your prizes will hopefully be posted on Tuesday when I get up to the High Street again, sorry for the delay.

Eclectic Ellapu "Thinking of You"

Good morning all.

Arrived home safe and sound on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully we'd organised wheelchair assist for all the airports so I didn't overdo things and it also took all the hassle out of the transfers.

Another new month and time for our second challenge at Eclectic Ellapu. Vickie set the theme for the Pink Team this month and chose "Thinking of You"

Poppie stamp set from Clearly Besotted, sentiment from Happy Little Stampers. Dies from Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team, you won't be disappointed. 

Challenges entered:

Happy Birthday Brother

Good morning all.

I've got a few posts scheduled for this week...I'll try to catch up with you all in the next few days once we're settled back home and sorted out.

This is the card I made my brother...he supports Newcastle Falcons so it is designed loosely using their strip colours!

Sentiments from Whimsy stamps. Brother was a magazine freebie. Stripes from Clearly Besotted. Mat dies from Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn. Sequins from my stash,

Rudolph Day 2

Good morning all.

We've finally been cleared to fly so will arrive home on Sunday, thank goodness common sense eventually prevailed!

Yesterday was Rudolph Day so I'm going to join Maureen in sharing a Christmas card.

Another decoupage sheet from Joanna Sheen, die cut with a Spellbinders die and mounted onto a die from Wplus9. Sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Challenges entered:

HLS Christmas Challenge February "Tic Tac Toe"

Good evening all.

We should have reached the north of South Island today and have 5 nights to relax and chill out before we head back over to Wellington on the ferry on Tuesday.

Another month has passed and it's time for the second Christmas challenge of the year at Happy Little Stampers. We do hope you'll join us getting those pesky Christmas makes out of the way early this year. The theme this month is:

This challenge is sponsored by



Winner will receive a $15 discount from HLS.

I choose the top line for my car, although it also fits column one too:

I used the script stamp from the Thinking of You set and heat embossed with gold EP onto a piece of card which had been smooshed with distress paints, then added a couple of accent stamps before die cutting with a die from Spellbinders. This was mounted onto the Wplus9 die with foam tape after positioning the gold thread. Background is a Spellbinders pierced die cut from the same smooshed cardstock. Tree stamp and die are from Clearly Besotted, this has also been heat embossed with gold EP. Sentiment from Mixed Christmas Sentiments set.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 

First Christmas

Good morning all.

It's been a wild and wicked night here, the forecast is sunny today but to stay windy....better keep the hatches battened down!

I've finally made something I can share with you....I've been beavering away in the craft room getting ahead of myself. I'm down to my last 8 Christmas cards and I need an Anniversary card and December will be done and I can then make a start on next year's DT commitments which are due whilst I'm away. Also been called up for Jury service mid December which is also going to put a spanner in the works!!

I sorted all my Christmas cards yesterday to see what sort I still needed to make...this was top of the list to do for my nephew and his family. Penguin die from Marianne Design; accessories from the Tim Holz Crazy Birds set (coloured with promarkers); holly sprig from Poppy Stamps; snow landscape dies from Lawn Fawn; other dies all from Spellbinders. Background has been stamped with snowflakes from STAMPlorations with versamark, then inked with DI. Sentiment stamp from Clearly Besotted, googly eyes from my stash.

Challenges entered:

A Snowflakes Promise - anything Christmas goes

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

CHNC - red and green must be seen

ABC Christmas - w for wild thing

I Love Promarkers - traditional Christmas

Simon Says Stamp - Christmas

Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas

Inky Chicks - Christmas

Pile it On - any holiday/celebration

A Gem of a Challenge - Christmas critters

Jingle all the Way

Good morning all.

Gosh it didn't half rain here at teatime yesterday...just as they'd forecast, the rest of the day wasn't too bad. Managed a visit to the craft room too so not a bad day all told.

I enjoyed making this tag.

On Tuesday I'd smooshed a pile of tags with distress paint and left them to dry overnight, this was one of them. I used distress inks in matching colours to the paints to add more colour around the edges.  Houses are from a Clearly Besotted Die; sentiment is from Happy Little Stampers; all other stamps and dies are from Lawn Fawn; ribbon from my stash.

Challenges entered:

Loll's 12 Tags of Christmas

ABC Christmas - W for wild thing

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas

The Sisterhood of Crafters - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Crafty Addicts - use a die cut

One Crazy Stamper - Christmas/winter

Where the HeART is - anything goes/winter blues
Craft Stamper - take it make it November

Sister

Good morning all.

Yesterday was mostly wild and wicked, although quite mild...today is forecast rain and more rain, then rain again!! Hubby is away today so hoping I have the house to myself so I can have a messy play this afternoon.

Sharing today the card I made for my little sister.

Decoupaged image is a Meadow Cottage Bears from Crafter's Companion. Background is a Die'sire Create a Card die. Sister die is from Clearly Besotted. All other dies are from Spellbinders. Sentiment was computer generated. Bows and dotty paper from my stash.

Challenges entered:

The Corrosive Challenge - add a sentiment

The Ribbon Girls - anything goes

Allsorts - ribbons and bows

Bloggers - Happy Birthday

Simply Papercraft - anything goes

Seize the Birthday - anything birthday

Unstampabelles - anything goes, twist use flowers

Artistic Inspirations - anything goes feminine

Get Creative - birthdays

Where the HeART is - anything goes

Happy Birthday to you

Good morning all.

Well yesterday was a bit of a washout and today isn't looking much better! I'm off to the hairdresser's later, then getting my nails done. Hope it fairs up so I can walk there and back....I need the exercise!

Sharing another birthday card today.

The lovely Becca is hosting a Birthday Bash Link-up to which everyone is invited, here is the mood board to get your creative juices going. She has some fabulous prizes on offer!

I was inspired by the bird and the colours to create my card.

This is a real snippet buster....all the card was in the bit box! Die is my favourite from Wplus9, the sun also comes from the same set. Embossing folder is from Crafter's Companion which I sprayed with distress spray...this was a piece made for another project which didn't work. The Tim Holz Crazy Bird from Stampendous and Clearly Besotted sentiment are stamped onto some of the leftover bits from my very first gelli plate play.

Challenges entered:

Becca's Birthday Bash - mood board

Bloggers - the letter B (bird, blue, birthday)

Fussy and Fancy - things with wings

Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes

Creative Artiste - anything mixed media with texture and spray mists

plus colour palette

Seize the Birthday - anything goes

Southern Girls - get messy with ink and paint
Dream Valley - embossing wet/dry
Not Just Card - anything goes
One Crazy Stamper - anything goes

Christmas Card Club "Christmas Trees"

Good morning all.

We had a lovely run over Dartmoor yesterday to visit my cousin and Friday was spent on a boat trip down the Dart to Dartmouth, followed by a steam train ride. Today we're going to Paignton for lunch...weather forecast isn't great so think it will be a lazy afternoon.

Another fortnight flown by and it's time for the Christmas Card Club girls to strut their stuff. Margaret choose a theme of "Christmas Trees" for us all to interpret. Here is mine:

My very modern tree is an ARTploration stencil from STAMPlorations. I've inked with various shades of DI then dry embossed it to give some dimension. Sentiment is from Clearly Besotted. Die from Wplus9. Sequins from my stash.

Challenges entered:

Mixed Media Card Challenge - blue

Polka Doodles - add some embossing

Simply Create Too - get ahead for Christmas

4 Crafty Chicks - Christmas in July

Creative Moments - anything goes/mono

Eclectic Ellapu "Travel"

Good morning all.

Saturday evening saw Mum and new baby blue lighted to hospital with baby suspected to have a punctured lung.... a not uncommon problem in premature babies (and possibly occurred as he was born so fast) but none of the Dr's had picked it up before they dispensed them off to the local maternity unit on Saturday morning. Thankfully he's on the mend and is hopefully now out of high dependency.

Monday's funeral was a very "happy" sad occasion and it was lovely to see the extended family again.

Another new month and so it's time for another new challenge at Eclectic Ellapu. It was my turn to set the challenge for the Pink Team and I chose "Travel".

This was Gary's birthday card. I had planned to go with a motorbike theme until his travel plans changed! World stencil is from Suzicraft, I used texture paste and covered it with white EP before drying and heat embossing. Card was then inked with salty ocean DI. Sentiments from Stampers Anonymous and Technique Tuesday. Dies from Whimsy Stamps and Clearly Besotted.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see how my teamies have interpreted the challenge, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Cards 4 Guyz - something beginning with B (birthday, blue, black)

Die Cuttin Divas - anything goes

Crafting From The Heart - anything goes

Craft your Passion - anything goes

Not Just Cards - anything goes

Oh La La Creations - happy birthday

Allsorts - blue as the ocean

Creative Corner - happy birthday

Country View Crafts - on your travels

Happy Birthday Son

Good morning all.

I think summer is forecast for the rest of this week...looking forward to a little warmth and sunshine!

It's going to be a busy week....Gary leaves on Thursday for his trip to Iceland and his motor bike is only just ready to go on the road!! We're a bit concerned he hasn't had much road practice yet but there again he hasn't had time to learn any bad habits either. He has his birthday next week so that has to be sorted before he goes and younger son has his birthday on Friday so there will be lots of celebrations before the week's out.

Today I'm sharing the card I've made for Mark.

After die cutting a panel with a nestie square I used texture paste to emboss the Texture Distress Grid stencil from Memory Box. Once dry I masked the edges and using stamps from STAMPloration's Celebrate Artsy set I stamped over the paste. Stamps were inked with DI and sprayed with water. Happy die from Whimsy Stamps is cut three times, birthday die is from Clearly Besotted. A pearl, some sequins and black soot splashes finish the card.

Challenges entered:

Pretty Pink Posh Water Colour Bloghop - use water colours

Happy Little Stampers CAS - sprays/mists

My Time to Craft - male

Crafts 4 Eternity - birthday

Simply Create Too - male

Virginia's View - ombre/mono

Moving along with the Times - happy birthday

Mema's Crafts - twist male

Addicted to Stamps - make your mark

Simon Says Stamp - for a man

Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - rainbow