52CCT - Pick a Previous ....

... Good morning! We have an extra Saturday this month, which means that we have our Pick a Previous challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT43-16. Kaja has requested that we Pick a Previous Sketch and you can select from all the previous ones - check out the tab on our blog. I have to admit that I didn't go very far back in the archives, in fact, I decided to play with this October's sketch again. Last time I went ultra clean and simple, but this time I've gone for layers, here's my card:

Stamps: Hero Arts - Dimensional Layering Bird CL906
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Cherry Cobbler, Island Indigo, Peekaboo Peach, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - Cross Stitched Ovals Stax #4 & #5; Hero Arts - Dimensional Bird Dies DI153
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SUDP - Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler

I had lots of fun making this card. The multi-step bird is really easy to stamp (especially if you have a MISTI). Once I finished stamping the various layers I cut it out with the matching die. I did the same for the branch and feet. I cut a large panel of dark teal paper slightly smaller then the card and adhered it to the base. I die cut an oval mat in dark cherry and a smaller one from white card. I adhered the bird to the white oval, added some berries to the branch and attached the finished oval to the card. I finished off with a simple sentiment in bold black. On the inside I cut a mat layer of teal design paper and on the white panel I simply added a Christmas flower.

This week the Merry Monday challenge - MM#219 wants us to use bird(s) on our card, so it was the perfect opportunity to play with this set. I used the bold, rich colours from this week's Colour Throwdown - CTD#416.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. This is the last week of our DT Call too - remember you must have done at least 3 of the 5 challenges this month, so if you've only done 2 so far - this is your last chance to complete the third challenge.

We have a less than fun start to the day planned. It's time for us all to have our Flu vaccinations! Hope you all have a super day :)

Uniko - colours reminder ....

.... Good morning! Have you played along with our colour challenge over at Uniko - USC#37? If not, there's plenty of time and we have a really fun colour challenge - RAINBOW!!! Bright or pastel - your choice. Here's the card I made to remind you about this month's challenge:

Stamps: Uniko - Marvellous Mehndi, All Occasion Sentiments #6
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vellum; Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder; Zig Colouring Pens

I had so much fun making this card. It's absolutely clean and simple and very elegant too. I used vellum to make the front panel of the card. I used my antistatic buddy all over the vellum and then stamped, using my MISTI, the mandala image and sentiment in Versamark ink. I heat embossed them both with gold tinsel powder - it has a really pretty shimmer. On a piece of white I then stamped the mandala again - this is where the MISTI really comes into its own - perfect placement of the image. I used my new Zig pens to rainbow colour the mandala. And that's it - very clean and simple.

You can see just how bright the rainbow colours are on the inside of the card and how the vellum softens them down! As I used my new Zig markers on this card, I'm also going to submit to Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#217. And over at Less is More - LIM#299, the team want us to use vellum or acetate! Here's one more photo of the card where you can clearly see that the front panel is just a piece of vellum:

Do visit the blog to see more rainbow inspiration from the rest of the team.  Oh yes, we have prizes too:

THE PRIZES

• The DT will choose a winner who will get a £15 gift voucher and opportunity to Guest Design.
• The DT choose a Top 3 who will each get 100 Loyalty Rewards Points added to their Uniko customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who use A UNIKO stamp. This winner will get 200 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko customer account.

You've got plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 11th November (7.00pm EDT).

That's all for now! See you soon.

Halloween greetings ....

... Hello! I hope you're all keeping well. Autumn has most definitely arrived - leaves are blowing all over the place around here and it's quite cold. I can't think of a better reason to play in my craft room! I've made a clean and simple Halloween card today:

Stamps: Impression Obsession - Mr P Umpkin, Bump in the Night; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Crazy Talk
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - Cross Stitched Ovals Stax #4 & #5; Lil Inkers - Stitched Panels
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Pumpkin Pie; SUDP - Halloween Night, Pumpkin Pie; Copics; Zig Pens; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gems

I used the sketch from, a new to me challenge, Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#138, the colours from Colour Q - cQc#365 and the theme of Halloween from Left of Centre - LOC#153.

I made the horizontal panel from some orange card and some design paper. I used stitch edge dies to give the detail. I stamps Mr P Umpkin on some white card in Versafine ink as it's waterproof. I used my new Zig pens to paint the image (I used some grey Copics on the legs and hat), they are really vibrant. I added some sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush and then I fussy cut it out. The oval frame, which started out white and I coloured with a black Copic, was left over from another card. I stamped a simple sentiment and finished off the front with some frosted gems. On the inside I cut a mat layer of orange design paper and on the white panel stamped a sentiment and another Halloween monster. I used the Zig pens to add some colour.

I've posted all my Halloween cards for this year, so this one is the start of next year's collection! That's all for today. Do stop by tomorrow to see my reminder card for our Uniko colour challenge. See you soon!

TMR - Colours ...

... Good morning! We had so many fabulous projects submitted for our Halloween challenge at The Male Room - thank you all! And today sees the start of our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#47. We have a colour challenge for you ORANGE, YELLOW AND BLUE - you can make them as bright or pale as you want, you can add neutrals of black, white, cream, grey, brown, gold or silver but NO OTHER COLOURS!!! Here's my card:

Stamps: Carabelle - Metre Steampunk, Etiquettes Grunge; Visible Image - Glimmer of Light; Stampin' Up! - It's a Celebration
Inks: SU - Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card

I've made a one layer card with a freeform, collage look. I've based the design on this week's sketch at The Paper Players - PP#318. although I flipped the sketch vertically. I'm also playing along with AAA Cards - AAA#76 as they want to see masculine cards.

I used some new stamps from Carabelle Studio which I found at my local craft shop. They're fantastic and work perfectly for masculine style projects. I started with the metric measure in yellow, then the grunge labels in orange, the sentiment in blue and finished with the light buld for that glimmer of light. On the inside I simply stamped another of the label stamps. It was really quick and easy to make this one!

For more inspiration using these colours on your masculine projects, do visit our blog to see more from the Design Team. Have fun!

Coffee and ....

.... Morning! I found another couple of coffee themed challenges this week over at CASology - CAS#220 and also at Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#99. Now, as a coffee lover with lots of stamp sets featuring coffee, I just had to play along. I used the colours from this week's Colour Throwdown - CTD#415. Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - We Go Together, Coffee Set
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso, Rose Red, Bermuda Bay
Dies: WMS - We Go Together
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; SU DP - Early Espresso; Copics; Cuttlebug EF - Spots 'n' Dots; SU Marker - Early Espresso; Wink of Stella - Clear

I made the card from dark brown card and cut a panel of cream card slightly smaller than the base. I embossed this panel with spots and dots - kind of like doughnuts!!! I stamped the cup of coffee on white card and on cream card. On the white card I coloured the cup band with Copics, stamped on a flower and then fussy cut it out. I also cut out the cup lid. I stamped the doughnuts on cream card and on white card. I coloured the frosting with Copics and stamped on different types of sprinkles. I fussy cut the frosting and adhered them to the doughnuts. I used a marker to colour all the cut edges. I created the sentiment panel by stamping the words on cream card and matting on brown design paper. I cut another panel of cream card for the inside, completed the sentiment and added another doughnut. I added sparkle to the doughnut frosting with a clear Wink of Stella brush!

I've been tidying up my craft room and came across these super sets from Waltzingmouse. Now, while Waltzingmouse Stamps has sadly closed up shop, Claire Brennan, who designed these stamps, is now working over at Gina K and you can get both We Go Together and Coffee Set over there! Claire has created some new sets for Gina K - and I think they're going into a shopping basket soon!

I hope you're all having a good weekend. We had an "at home" day yesterday - I was crafting, Jonathan edited some photos and Kat got her homework done. And today, we're all off to a photo shoot with one of our favourite models - the fabulous Miss Miller. It should be a fun shoot as it's costume themed and we'll get to see some of Diane's wonderful tattoos! Here are couple of photos of Miss Miller from our January shoot! They're the only ones I've edited so far!!

Whatever your plans are today - have fun and be safe!

52CCT - Technique & DT Call ....

.... Morning! It's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (52CCT42-16) and we have a really fun technique for you. Kaja has picked EMBOSSING - you can you dry embossing or heat embossing. I've used both on my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Cabin Plaid Background, Tis The Season, Folk Art Christmas Additions
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fruitcake; Versafine - Onyx Black; Delicata - Golden Glitz; Versamark
Dies: WMS - Folk Art Christmas
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Cherry Cobbler; Cuttlebug EF - Snowflakes; Embossing Powder - Silver, Gold Tinsel

I've used one of my all time favourite stamps on this card - the plaid background from Waltzingmouse Stamps - sadly this is no longer available. I used a Kaleidacolor inkpad to give this wonderful ombre festive background. I dry embossed a scrap of white card with some snowflakes and then cut them to size. I added a touch of gold to the embossed snowflakes. I stamped the bell in Versamark and added silver and gold tinsel powder and heat embossed - I love the shimmer this gives. I cut the bell out with the co-ordinating die. I finsihed the front with a bold Christmas sentiment from Waltzingmouse. This set, Tis The Season, is available from Gina K Designs as Claire Brennan now designs for Gina. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark red design paper and on the white panel added a greeting and a gold bell.

I'm playing along with Merry Monday - MM#218 where they want to see plaids. And also with Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#259 as I used their sketch for the layout.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. Just a reminder that we are having a DT Call - do check the blog for full details. That's all for now!

Uniko - colours .....

.... Hello! It's time for our new challenge at Uniko. We've got a colour challenge for you this month and it's a fun one - we want to see RAINBOW colours on your cards. I've made a one layer birthday card for my Mum. It was her birthday on 18th October, so hopefully she'll have received the card by now. But I'm still safe sharing it here, even if she hasn't got it. Mum is not tech savvy!!! Here's the card I made for her:

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Gerbera, Simply Said Birthday
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - London Fog; Kaleidacolor - Pastel
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Real Red; Staedtler - Aquarell Pencils; Clear Embossing Powder

I was watching one of Jennifer MacGuire's videos the other day and decided to have a go at the technique she showed - sentiment backgrounds. I stamped the large gerbera daisy in the centre of the card and heat embossed the iamge with clear powder. I decided to colour the image with water colour pencils for a slightly softer look. I started with red in the centre and then went out either side with the colours of the rainbow. I used a water brush to pull out the colours. I stamped the main birthday greeting in black and then repeated the words "on your birthday" using a soft grey ink. Having a MISTI stamper made the process of repeat stamping so quick. On the inside I cut a mat layer of bright red design paper. Red is Mum's favourite colour. On the white panel I stamped the solid gerbera daisy using pastel rainbow inks and finished with a simple greeting.

I took a close-up photo of the gerbera daisy - it's so pretty. I wish they came like this in real life!!

I'm submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#75 where they have a photo inspiration. Love the rainbow coloured pinwheel - obviously my inspiration are the rainbow colours. For more rainbow inspiration cards do visit our blog to see more from the Design Team. We have a Guest Designer with us this month - Hannelie - who is someone I've admired for a long while, and she's a whizz with CAS cards.

That's all for now!