Happy New Year to everyone - and a Thank You card

 

Here's my last card to blog for 2010, a Thank You card.  I'd like to say something clever  about 2010 but I'm all out of clever sayings, so I will just remind you that our Challenge at Phindy's Place is now open to all-comers and the Thank You Challenge runs for two weeks, until 7 January.  Oh, and I'd also like to wish everyone a healthy, happy New Year!  I've stuck with a caramel and chocolate colourscheme for my card, do you think I've overindulged on the choccies over Christmas LOL?

The image is part of It's All Yours, a fun image from Phindy.  I've coloured it with Copics and mounted it onto a  gold pearlised circle that is stitched to a bronze pearlised square.  The DP is from a Bearly Mine CD called Designer Extreme Vol III and the sentiment is Craftwork Cards.  The circle and the DP are stitched on my sewing machine.  I should tell you that my hamster is far lower than I intended; I stamped Thank You onto the circle so that it was the centre of the card and all the stitching was shown off.  But the Versafine ink didn't set on the cardstock and when I stitched it the sentiment smudged under the sewing machine.  Grr!  Oh well, at least it was able to be rescued with a change of plan.

My card is for the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Thank You

Papertake Weekly - be thankful

CD Sunday Challenge - in stitches

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Thank you

Woodware Challenge - anything goes

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Thank You

A Neglected Stamp for One Layer Wednesday

Here's a quick card that took a lot of agonizing before I put ink to card!  One Layer Wednesday this week is really paring it down:  One image stamp and a maximum of two ink colours.  I inked a rectangle masked off with Post Its, using Worn Lipstick Distrss Ink.  The seed head is an Artemio clear stamp that I bought becuase I loved the set and it was very good value.  Shamefully this is the first time I've inked any of them!

Confession:  now I've photographed it I expect I'll add in another stamp and put a sentiment on it before I send it.  Sorry OLW!

That post- Christmas feeling...

This House Mouse stamp sums up that "Why did I have that second helping of..." Christmas feeling!  I'm sure I can't be the only one who feels a bit like this....  LOL!
I've coloured him with Copics and Glossy Accents for the chocolate icing.  I used my new Nestie Labels die to cut an aperture behind him.  The DP is Basic Grey Cupcake, the gems and ribbon are from stash and I used my new inverse corner punch, though I've just noticed it's not lined up perfectly on the layers - drat!

My card is for the following challenges:
Simon Says Challenge - time to party/celebrate - I reckon this little chap has done plenty of partying!
House Mouse Challenge - aperture
Crazy Challenge - punch it
Paper Sundaes - cut it out
My Time To Craft - brand, spanking new - new Nesties and new punch used
Anything Goes Challenge - letter C - is for cake!
Freshly Brewed Challenge  - celebrate

Teacup Pansies

I escaped to my craft room for an hour this morning, in between all the bouts of sickness from various family members:).  I made a card using the Cute Card Thursday sketch, with Fred, She Said's Teacup Pansy image coloured in with Copics and Stickles.  The background is pearlised lilac card, cut with a Marianne Creatables die and run through an embossing folder, then Inked with Distress Ink.  I've embossed a border around the large square of pearlised card too, it shows up better in real life!  All the DP is Artylicious from CDs, the thread is hand dyed.
My card is for the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Lisa's sketch
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs - distressing
Simon Says - anything goes
Paper Sundaes - cut it out

Phindy's Place Challenge #36 - Give Thanks With Scraps

Welcome to the latest Phindy's Place Challenge, it's Christmas Eve and I'm sure you're all rushed off your feet, but don't worry you have two weeks to enter our challenge, to give the DT a bit of well-earned time off!

We have made a few changes to the challenge, to shake things up a bit!  We have decided to open the challenge to all-comers and you will no longer need to use a Phindy's Place image to enter. However, what we love best of all is to see your projects that use Phindy's Place images! If you enter using a Phindy's Place image, you will get two entries to the draw to win a gift certificate. To do this, enter your project as usual to Inklinkz. Then, make a further entry (you won't be able to link to the same blog entry) and, this time, leave your name with "Phindy image" added.

The winner of the Challenge will be chosen by Random.org and will receive an $8 Gift Certificate to the Phindy's Place store. As it says above, entrants using a Phindy's Place image will get a second entry to the draw. The Pick of the Week wins a 20% off voucher for the Phindy's Place store. Don't forget that once a month we will choose an overall winner from the weekly winners and they will be offered a Guest position on the DT - and of course a free image from Phindy's Place to use for that week's challenge!

OK now on to the Challenge... This week we are making "Thank You" cards and projects, everyone needs Thank You cards after Christmas! There is an additional, optional challenge to use up your scraps. 

My project is a Thank You tag.  This has been a sad week for crafting in the UK, Graphicus, a big and much loved retailer and wholesaler has gone into liquidation.  I decided to print off some of the lovely tags on their Essence of Nature CD and based my Thank You on this.  The gold embossed sentiment is Elusive Images and my Flower Top Fairy Rose image, from Phindy's Place is printed twice: the second print is onto vellum and I've used the wings from this, lightly coloured and glued down to the fairy's body but left free of the tag above her.  I've added lots of Stickles to the fairy and the tag.  

You're probably wondering where the scraps are...  OK I got a bit carried away with my tag and realised I'd neglected the scrap part LOL!  So I went to my ribbon bag and pulled out some little lengths that weren't enough to make a bow for a card and threaded them through the scallops at the bottom.  Sorted!

My project is for the following challenges:

Simon Says - anything goes

Paper Sundaes - cut it out

Papertake Weekly -  anything goes

Cupcake Crafts - thank you

CDSunday - tag it

Stamp Something - with a tag or pocket

Paperplay Challenges - anything but a card

Winter Wonderland - Thank You

Baubles and bling!

Yesterday we put the Christmas tree up, it never goes up until after DS's birthday on the 18th.  In celebration I managed to finish this superbly blingy card using one of Fred, She Said's Christmas Ornament digis, you can buy them here.  I coloured this a few days ago and was really chuffed with the "shine" I got on it with my Copics.  I added some Stickles and some gems to it as well as Glossy Accents on the holly berries and then combined it with one of the last sheets from my Basic Grey Jovial pad, I LOVED this DP!  I finished it off with gold mirri card and Martha Stewart lattice punch, some blue snowflakes with gems and a Craftwork Cards sentiment.  What do you mean I can't have blue snowflakes?  I think it's cole enough for blue snowflakes LOL!
This card is for the following challenges:
Create4Fun - Anne-Marije's sketch
Corrosive Challenge - non traditional Christmas
Copic Creations - sparkle
Digital Tuesday - sparkling digi
Digis with Attitude - anything Christmas

Last minute card

A quick, clean and simple card for one of DH's friends - last minute  - but I'm quite pleased with it.  Art Impressions stamp, Distress Inked background and used my Swirls embossing folder twice on the card.
Card is for the following challenges:
Cards for Men - Christmas
Allsorts - anything goes
Fussy & Fancy Friday - show us some snow
Stamptacular Sunday - Tree-mendous

Snow - and sickness

I have no cards to blog today, I caught a truly vile sickness bug on Thu/Fri that was like the definition of seasickness: one minute you're afraid you're dying, the next minute you're afraid you're not!  DH photographed and uploaded my challenge card yesterday.  Not only that but he's been looking after the horses for me.  Yes, I know I'm very lucky, no, sadly he has no brothers LOL!  These photos were taken this morning and here is Barney anxiously waiting for his breakfast.

Jack doesn't look quite so patient with this whole camera lark

 

Hmm... I spy breakfast...

 

And finally, in the afternoon, the birthday boy finally stirred from his slumbers to open his presents...

Happy birthday Will!

Phindy's Place Challenge #35 - All Creatures Great and Small

Good Morning and welcome to a new Phindy's Place Friday Challenge.  This week our theme is All Creatures Great and Small, which is a great excuse to use one of Phindy's many fabulous animal images.  I've chosen a stunning new image called Peace and Cheer and had fun blinging it up with Stickles and silver embossing powder in addition to the Copics I used to colour it, the background uses Distress Inks.

I've based my card on this week's Sunday Sketchers Challenge and I'm entering it for the following challenges:
Sunday Sketchers Challenge - sketch
Simon Says - silver, blue, white
Dutch Dare Challenges - Winter
Copic Creations - sparkle
Digital Tuesday - sparkling Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenges - non traditional Christmas

Dream Big!

I've no newly completed cards to blog today, it has been such a busy week!  I made this card at a workshop with Sarah Anderson, at The Stamp Attic, in the Autumn but never got round to blogging it.  That warm gold is great to look at today, it's grey and rainy/sleeting, ugh.
The main image is Stampington, the stitching stamp and sentiment are Wendy Vecchi.   The background was made by spraying Distress Ink sprays and I've paper pieced the wings and the bodice, painting them with acrylic paint.  There's some random machine stitching and that's about it.  If you ever get the chance to take a class with Sarah, be sure to jump at it, it was a really fun day and we all created lots and learnt lots.
I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
Totally Papercrafts - paper piecing
Gingerloft Challenge - distressing
Charisma Cardz - New Year celebrations - what a great New Year sentiment!

A Christmas Candle

 

My poor neglected blog!  It has been mad busy for a few days here, culminating in a 9hr drive yesterday to get DS home from University.  We'd planned to collect him yesterday but since the weather forecast for Thursday/Friday is doom, gloom and much snow, and his last lectures were cancelled, we dropped everything and drove to deepest Wales yesterday.  It was a very pretty journey, with snow clinging on from the last fall as well as frozen ice sculptures from all the waterfalls.  If we get what is forecast, I'm so happy not to have been trying to get through the Brecon Beacons!

I've a candle to show you that I made at Stamp Attic's club Christmas evening.  I used a PSX stamp that belongs to Wendy, the shop's owner, she kindly made all the things available for everyone to make a candle.  Can't mention the evening without mentioning Helga's home made chocolates, they were bliss in a mouthful.

Candle has image stamped onto tissue paper, some colour applied from behind the image, Stickles added after heating.  I like the yellow windows in the church but I'm now regretting the red-light district I added to this lovely winter scene.  Mmm.. think before you colour in future!:)

I'm entering my candle for:

Paper Sundaes - anything but a square or rectangle

Totally Gorjuss - snow

Fussy & Fancy - anything but a card

Charisma Cardz - Christmas gift

Red robin and holly - totally traditional!

I managed to get hold of the discontinued Cuttlebug holly folder on Ebay and made a very traditional card with it.  The decoupage is a Joanna Sheen from the Times Gone By CD.  I haven't used the whole of it, there is a cottage and a winter scene behind the full decoupage sheet.  The embossed holly is on gold pearlescent cardstock, I've used Distress Ink sponged on the leaves and Stickles for the berries, there are Stickles on the decoupage leaves too.  Sentiment is Craftwork Cards, swirl stamp is Personal Impressions.
This card is for the following challenges:
CD Sunday - Christmas sparkle
Allsorts - last minute Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenges - little red robin

Phindy's Place Challenge #34 - Winter

Good Morning and welcome to a new Phindy's Place Challenge, this week we have the fun challenge of Winter - which can be Christmas but doesn't have to be - as long as you use a Phindy's Place image!  We've had far more snow and ice than is usual for England at this time of year and I've been busy making icy, snowy Christmas card.  Today I've used Winter Walk, an image that works for all kinds of occasions, not just as a Christmas card (think engagement, Thinking of You...) but I've tried to use a warmer colour palette.  Maybe the weather will follow suit!

Colouring is Copics and some Distress Ink in Pumice Stone, Liquid Pearls were added for snow.  I've followed the Inspirational Card Sketch for this week, the sentiment is Impression Obsession and I've stitched across the My Mind's Eye DP, which has been maturing in my stash!
I'm entering the following challenges:

Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch
Simon Says - Christmas but no red or green
Papertake Weekly - red and green must not be seen
A Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas Card
Digital Tuesday - baby it's cold outside
Sassy Studio Designs - non traditonal Christmas colours
Inktegrity Challenges - non traditional Christmas colours
Christmas Card Challenges - monochrome

Feel Better Soon

Here's a departure from all the Christmas cards I've been making; I've sent 4 Get Well Soon cards this week and thought I'd better add to the stocks!  Mind you this is a special one, I went a bit mad with the paper piecing, the quilt is all paper pieced as are most of the other details.   The image is from Phindy's Place, called Feel Better Soon and the DP is Papermania Henbury Lane.  I've used this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems for my card. 

Home for Christmas

I'm getting to the end of my cards from my Phindy's Place colouring marathon at the weekend!  This image is called Cosy Cottage and was so much fun to colour, I didn't want to add a lot of embellies to it as the image is the star of the card.  I coloured using Copics, lots of Glossy Accents on the windows and Glamour Dust sparkle everywhere that is snowy.  I wasn't sure how to make my fir trees look snowy until I checked out Tammy's blog here.  When I grow up I want to be able to colour like Tammy!  The DP is My Mind's Eye, leaf is cut using a Woodware punch and the sentiment is Craftwork Cards.

My card is for the following challenges:
Sketch & Stash - sketch
Stamps R Us - holiday card
Ooh la la - Christmas song
Digital Tuesday - baby it's cold outside
Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas card

Top Tip Tuesday Challenge - use ribbon & a Christmas Wreath tutorial

 It's time for a new Top Tip Tuesday Challenge - phew - what a lot of entries we had to the anything goes challenge last week!  This week there is a fab tutorial from Leanne on making a Christmas Wreath, and the challenge is to use ribbon in your project.

Do check out the tutorial and I can't wait to see all the be-ribboned projects!

Clean & Simple Christmas trees

 Here are some more clean & simple Christmas cards that I've made.  Sorry for the poor photos, I'm not quite sure what I was doing with the angle here!  Each card has an area masked off with Post-its to stay white and I've brushed Distress Inks onto the background, then overstamped with an Artemio clear stamp set I bought last year.  The sentiments are a clear stamp set from Kaisercraft.

 The cards are for the following challenges:
Raise the Bar -trees
Alphabet Challenge - F is for foliage
AiFactory Challenges - winter

A Papertake Puppy Pile

Here's another card from my weekend of Phindy's Place cardmaking, this is a new image called Puppy Pile., which made the perfect Christmas card for my Mum.  I carried on using up my Basic Grey Jovial pad and based my card on Dawn's great sketch at Papertake Weekly.  I've printed and coloured the image twice to decoupage the puppies . The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards and the border is made with a Martha Stewart punch given to me by my blogging friend Val.

 

My card is for the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - sketch

Delightful Sketches - new beginnings - what could be more delightful than new puppies?

Creative Cottage - untraditional Christmas

Christmas Blues

 

I'm continuing to play with my Phindy's Place images and this is yet another favourite of mine, it's called Holiday Wreath and I think it's just stunning.  Yet again I've used the sketch from Simon Says, though I've changed it around a little this time; the lovely Lols is trying to get their number of entries this week to over 500!  So I'm doing my bit :).
I've coloured my digi with Copics and decoupaged it on top of a piece of cardstock that I've decorated with spray inks and white embossed swirls stamped on it.  Makes a very chilly looking background!  I was sticking to self-made papers, so I embossed white pearlescent cardstock with my Scor-Pal for the background and stuck a seed bead on each junction.  Snowflake is made with a Woodware punch, sentiment is Craftwork cards inside a Nestie circle.
I'm entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Challenge - sketch
Saturday Challenge - Christmas
Winter Wonderland - penguins and polar bears
Totally Papercrafts - Xmas punches (snowflake)
Cute Card Thursday - the blues
Digital Tuesday - animals at Christmas
Sew Many Cards - snowflakes

Sweet Stampin' - create your own background paper

Christmas Colt

Yesterday I was looking through my digis and decided to have a Phindy's Place weekend, I have so many gorgeous images to choose from and I settled down and printed a few off.  Here's the first card I've made:  Christmas Colt was a favourite image of mine last Christmas (he's available as a non-Christmassy version too) and I was surprised to realise that I've not used him yet this year.  He is a Phindy's Place image, you can buy him here.  Isn't he adorable!
I based my card on the sketch at Simon Says Challenge, coloured him with Copics and with Distress Inks for the background, adding some snow with a Viva pen.  The DP is Basic Grey Jovial, sadly I'm coming to the end of this lovely pad of paper:(.  Embellies are velvet ric-rac, Craftwork Cards candy and sentiment and Prima flowers.
My card is for the following challenges:
Simon Says - sketch
Rainbow Lady - Christmas animals
Digital Tuesday -animals at Christmas time
Pile it on - feathers 'n'n fur
Stamp Something - Christmas colour combo
Dutch Dare - Christmas card, tag or ornament
 Fairy Fun Fridays - use a star - my colt has a star on his face!
Ellephantastic - red and green
Stempel-traume - red and green
Stamp and Create - 'tis the season

Phindy's Place Challenge #33 - Frugal freebie

  Good morning and welcome to a very chilly Friday.  It's time for this week's Phindy's Place Challenge and this week we are challenging you to make a frugal project using a freebie.  Phindy has very generously offered many freebie over on her Papercraftplanet group and I have used the one she released to celebrate 1,000 members to the group.  You could use a different freebie such as free DP downloads or a freebie sentiment.  After all, if you can't find the right one then computer generated is free!  Just be sure to use a Phnidy image!

My card is based on this week's Simon Says Challenge sketch.  For the month of December their prize is a massive $50 to spend in store.  How generous is that!
My freebie card consists of Join the Party, a great digi for lots of occasions, I've added a Craftwork Cards stamped sentiment.  It's coloured with Copics and lots of Glossy Accents on the martini glass, I hope you can see the sheen, this is a dreadful day to try to take photos:(. The edges of the image and the DP are distressed, I've also inked the background.   The glitter glue was a freebie with a magazine, the DP was a magazine freebie from last year and the flowers are Prima ones from winning the Somino Says Challenge a year ago, so a sort-of freebie!  I hopw you dig out some freebies to use with your Phindy's Place images and join us!
My card is for the following challenges:
Simon Says - sketch
Woodware USA - anything goes
Whoopsy Daisy Challenge - girly
Tuesday Throwdown - embellish it
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes
Paper Cupcakes - anything goes

Blog Candy Winner

Thanks to everyone who joined in with my two year Blogaversary!  The winner is number 25 - that's Leanne!
Congratulations Leanne, please get in touch and let me have your address so I can post your goodies:).
You have a week to claim your candy, if I don't hear from you by then I'll draw again.

Time for some candy - now closed

I meant to mark the second anniversary of starting my blog in September, but with all the other things happening I totally forgot.  I've remembered and hope that this will bring a bit of cheer to a dark and depressing time of year for someone.
There is a brand new, unopened Artylicious CD Rom called Filigree Fusion, a brand-new unmounted rubber stamp from Elusive Images called Stitched Flowers, which has some great faux stitching on it, a new Distress Ink pad and a brand new Marianne Creatables 3 piece floral die.
What do you have to do? Easy...
1. Leave a link to your blog on the Inklinkz on this posting
2. Put a photo of my candy, linking to my blog, on the sidebar of your blog or in a posting on your blog.
3. You don't need to be a follower - unless you'd like to that is, but if I have more than 200 followers then I will add to the candy.  Edited to add:  Now I have over 200 followers, I have added 2 reels of ribbon, some coloured bells and clear bubble stick-ons.

Candy closes on 1 December, good luck!

Edited to add:  If you are a crafter who doesn't have a blog, please link to my blog and put your email address in the details, also let me know in the comments what you have done.  Thanks!

O Christmas Tree

This week One Layer Wednesday have a Back to the Beginning theme - what first got you into cardmaking?  For me the very first inspiration and stamps came from watching the talented Tracey Dutton of Lavinia Designs, brayering and using silhouettes to make a landscape.  Reader I fell in love!  I came away with tree stamps, more trees, a mare and foal and Adirondack ink pads.  She had no matting, layering, embellies, just beautiful scenes.  Nearly 3 years down the line I'm still not happy with my brayering but I have found the wonderful Inkylicious duster brushes which give me the effect I love.

So...  I brushed a blue/green background onto my card, masking off a margin.  I stamped Tim Holtz trees in Versafine Olympia Green, stamping off onto scrap for the distant trees.  Greeting is from Papermania.  It needed a bit more and I gave the trees some Stickles decorations.  Hooray, DH has asked for a dozen of these for his work cards!

I am entering the following challenges with my card:
One Layer Wednesday - back to the beginning
Totally Gorjuss - O Christmas tree
The Stamp Man - anything by Tim

In the bleak midwinter

OK the title of my favourite Christmas carol probably isn't too popular with the poor people stranded in snow up and down the country!  We had a tiny amount of snow and have no problems, apart from having to carry water up to the horses as the supply has frozen. 
This card is something of a departure for me; as a die hard stamper I've bought several CDs lately for the backing papers.  This one, Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kincade, is quite pricy to treat as just a backing paper source as it's a triple CD (though great value as a papercraft CD!).  So, for once, I have printed off an image and here's my first attempt at a simple image card.  I've printed it onto acetate (another first) and backed it with pearlised white card.  I used sticky dots in the corners to attach the acetate to the card and didn't like the show through, so I coveed one corner with punched snowflkaes and stamped a Christmas tree for the other corner.  The remaining dots show more in the photo than in real life.  I've lightly stamped text onto the card and added a check ribbon.  The tree and the text are both Atremio clear stamps.

My card is for the following challenges:

Stamp Insanity -try something new (images, acetate)
CD Sunday - white Christmas
Christmas Stampin' - anything goes
Ooh la la - Christmas song
Paper Playtime - Christmas carol
My Time to Craft - vintage card

Today is the last chance to join in my blog candy giveaway - please do enter if you haven't already:)