Christmas Sparkle

.... Good afternoon! I've made my first Christmas card of the year. Last year, I was so behind making Christmas cards, that I've decided to get a wiggle on and start now. Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Delightful Decorations; Waltzingmouse Stamps -Teeny Trees; Uniko - Simply Said Christmas; Mama Elephant - Easy Xmas Greetings

Inks: Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Soft Stone, Stormy Sky; Versafine Clair - Morning Mist

Accessories: White & Grey Card; Kaisercraft DP - Glisten; SU Punch - Delightful Decorations; WRMK Floss - Snowflake

I'm submitting this card to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT24-01 - for the sketch layout, Just Us Girls - JUGS#709 - where the word is 'sparkle', and to Cupcake Inspirations Challenge - CIC#585 - for the colours.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has lots of stash, so this year I've decided to revisit some of my old stuff - there's nothing new on this card!! I used the sparkly silver dot design paper for the background, and layered it onto a grey mat. I stamped this lovely ornament in bright yellow ink and used the matching punch to cut it out, along with three white ones which I layered together to give some dimension. I stamped a simple greeting on grey card, and adhered the strip to the panel. I found some silver floss in my stash and used this the 'hang' the ornament on the card.

Inside the card, I cut another grey mat layer and on the white panel I stamped some fun Christmas greetings and I added some dotty circles too.

That's all for today. See you soon.

52CCT - Sketch ....

... Morning! I don't want to worry anyone, but there are only 16 Saturdays until Christmas! Today is the start of our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Thowdown - 52CCT35-16. Our host this month is Fabiola and she has a super sketch to inspire you. I've gone for an ultra clean and simple look for my cards - yes, I made three!!!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Delightful Decorations, Christmas Messages, December Wonder; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: SU - Real Red, Crushed Curry, Dapper Denim; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crushed Curry, Dapper Denim; SU DP - Real Red; SU Punch - Ornament; Iridescent Embossing Powder

I like the sketch - it can be simple or dressed up, but I decided to let the pretty Christmas ornaments shine! I was inspired to use primary colours by the challenge at Inkspirational - INK#116 and I'm playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#209 where the theme is CAS.

To create the centre ornaments which have some sparkle, I first inked with Versamark and then the colour, stamped the image and heat embossed with iridescent embossing powder - I do love this look. For the remaining ornaments I simply stamped the coloured image. I used the matching punch to cut out the ornaments. I used the MISTI to stamp the sentiment - it makes stamping multiple images so easy - they are all perfectly lined up! I adhered the two plain ornaments flat to the card and used dimensional gel to attached the sparkly ornament. On the inside I cut mat layers to match the ink used and on the white panel added a greeting and some snowflakes.

I think I might make some more cards based on this design - it's quick, it's easy and it'll mail easily too. Here's a photo of all the cards together:

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the design team. You've got plenty of time to play along, deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Friday 9th September (7.00pm EDT). That's all for now - see you tomorrow!

ASM - Holiday ....

.... Hello and Good Evening!  It's time for our Holiday challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  You can make any kind of papercraft project - ATC, tag, card, scrapbook layout, etc but you must base it on Holidays.  Now this can be any holiday - Valentine, Easter, St Patrick's Day, Halloween, Christmas or even a National Holiday, oh yes, it might even by an actual holiday!  I've made a really clean and simple Christmas card - I always need lots of Christmas cards:

Stamps: Winnie & Walter - Happy Christmas; Stampin' Up! - Delightful Decorations
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Gumball Green, Certainly Celery, Real Red; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Gingerbread; SU Punch - Christmas Decoration; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder

I've used the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#136 and the colours are from this week's Merry Monday Challenge - MM#169.  I cut a stripe of design paper which included all the colours - red, dark green and light green - and adhered it to the card.  I stamped a simple sentiment above the line and finished the front with a gold Christmas bauble (left over from a previous card) and a sparkly Christmas poinsettia.  On the inside I cut mat layer of design paper and on the white panel stamped a Christmas wreath with a greeting inside.

Our sponsor this week is STAMPlorations and the winner of the challenge will receive a $10 gift certificate.  Don't forget to visit our blog to see what the rest of the team have made based on our holiday theme.  Have fun!

52CCT - Sketch ....

.... Morning all!  I finally managed to get into my craft room yesterday afternoon to make today's card.  As it's the first Saturday of the month, that means it's our sketch challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  Our host this month is Julie and she's got a really nice sketch for us - you can flip or rotate the sketch and add any embellishments you like.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Delightful Decorations; Winnie & Walter - Winter Wonderland
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black, Olympia Green, Crimson Red; Versamark
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dual Stitched Squares #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Christmas paper (FOC with Simply Cards & Papercraft); Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder; SU Punch - Christmas Ornament; Martha Stewart - Christmas Ornaments Border Punch

I used some lovely vintage style papers as the basis of my design - great colours and I think the snippet of Christmas newspaper is super.  I stamped the Christmas bauble in Versmark and embossed with Gold Tinsel powder - it has a lovely shimmer - and cut it out with the matching punch.  Sadly, both the punch and stamp set are discontinued.  On the inside of the card I cut a mat layer of design paper and added a greeting to the white panel.

Don't forget to visit our blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team.  Have fun!

TMR - Time ....

.... Hello!  Can you believe how fast time is passing at the moment?  It's already time for our new challenge at The Male Room.  For the next couple of weeks we'd like to see your masculine styled projects with the theme of TIME.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Aurora Wings Digi - Steampunk Owl; PTI - Hands of Time; Uniko Studio - Time, Extra Time;p Stampin' Up! - Circle Circus, Delightful Decorations
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Grey Flannel; SU - Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Crushed Curry; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Spellbinders - Circles Sm (S4-116) #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crushed Curry; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

The inspiration for this card comes from a few places.  The phrase "time flies" suggested a bird and I found this super steampunk owl.  And then there's the opening credits for Dr Who, I absolutely love them with the cogs, roman numerals and the whole theme of time!  I've added a link at the end of this post to the credits.

I started off by drawing a pencil line down the centre of the card and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the dotty circles.  Most of the images are second generation with just a few using the first impression.  Then I randomly stamped clock faces, roman numerals and yellow dotty circles. I coloured the owl with Copic markers and fussy cut it out.  I stamped the main clock face on white card, coloured it to match the owl and cut it out with a circle die.  I stamped the hands in Versafine and embossed with clear powder.  I adhered the clock flat to the card base and attached the owl with dimensional tape.  The sentiment was made from a couple of stamps - I used the large fancy word "Time" from the Papertrey set and finished it off with the rest of the phrase from my Uniko set.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of yellow card and stamped some circles on the white card.

For more inspiration using our Time theme - check out the blog and see what the rest of the team have made.  Now, as promised here's the link to the opening credits for Dr Who - enjoy!  See you soon.

52CCT - Stash challenge ...

.....  Good morning!!  For our last challenge in February at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, Jacqueline has come up with a stash challenge - we must use metallic papers on our card.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Delightful Decorations, Contempo Christmas, Christmas Messages
Inks: Versamark; Real Red
Accessories: SU Card - Basic Black; White Lustre Card; Red Metallic Card; Red Satin Card; SU Punch - Christmas Ornament; Lakeland Christmas Banner; Clear Embossing Powder

I've used a number of challenges to make this card.  The layout is based on this week's CAS(E) this Sketch - CTS#65, the theme of bauble is from the inspiration photo at Festive Friday - FFC#25 and the colour is from Jingle Belles - JB:14:04 where the ladies want us to feature RED.  I made the card base from black card, cut a mat panel in bright red mirri card and a white panel.  I used red satin card for two ornaments; I stamped them both with Versamark, heat embossed with clear powder and then punched them out.  One of the baubles is a little distressed, which I rather like as you can still see the satin finish.  I stamped the centre ornament on white card.  I attached string to the back and adhered them with dimensional tape.  I ran the black strings over the white card, taped them in place and then used dimensional tape to attach the white panel.  So this card has some depth!!  I finished the front with a simple banner sentiment on red mirri card.  On the inside I cut a white panel, added a couple of ornaments and a simple verse.

For more inspiration with metallic papers, check out the cards from the rest of the Design Team.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what you make.  Last week's Christmas Landscape challenge was fab - so many lovely cards!  See you soon!