ATSM Challenge #73 - HOLIDAY

Hi everyone! Welcome to hump day! Not long until the weekend again. 

Over at Addicted to Stamps and More, we have a brand new challenge and a brand new theme this week.

We used to be up to our 'Colour' round but I made the decision to scrap the colours and go with a theme instead. So, now we would like you to come up with something that depicts

HOLIDAYS

This could mean the holidays that everyone all over the world celebrate like Christmas or Easter for example. This theme could inspire you to use a favourite holiday destination as the basis of your project. You may even choose to create about a public or National holiday that you celebrate in your part of the world.

Our wonderful sponsor this week is 

I have two cards to share with you today both using Christmas as a theme.

Here is my 1st card -

I have used this gorgeous image from our sponsor called 'Let it Snow'. I printed Mr Snowman onto blender paper and then coloured him with my Spectrum Noir markers. I cut him out and then prepared the rest of my card. 

In my desk I found rulers that I had bought about 10 years ago and had pretty much forgotten them. They are by Fiskars and have those different funny edges on them (I'm sure this isn't the technical name for them!!). So, I used one to tear my cardstock along to give the effect of snow banks. I added stickles to the edges and put it aside to let it dry.

The background paper is from my Winter Frost DSP stack and the Frostyville Border is one of the dies that my beautiful crafty partner in crime, Phillipa, sent me some time ago. The sentiment was inked with pool party and is from the Greetings of the Season set (SU).

Once my stickled snow banks were dry, I used heaps of dimensionals to pop up just about every layer.

Now I look at my creation, I really should have added a touch of snow to the trees. Nevermind, lets imagine that it was shaken off somehow ;)

I would love to enter this card into the following challenges -

Spectrum Noir - Christmas/Winter

Come and Get it Challenge - Anything Goes but must use a digi

Glitter n Sparkle Challenge - Show us some Snow

Now onto my second card -

I have bought the new Thinlits Card Circle die. This was a bit fiddly cutting the DSP to fit in with the panels but it all worked out in the end.

I've used the Festive Flurry bundle and a never before inked set called 25 and Counting. This has long been retired but I always wanted it and when I saw it on ebay for a great price, I couldn't resist. I've had it for months though. It will be perfect to create an advent calendar!

This turned out very pretty. I love the Island Indigo and the silver together.

I would love to enter this card into the following challenges -

Festive Friday have their last challenge for the year and you can choose from their previous challenges. I chose this one -

Stampin' Royalty have a photo for inspiration. I took the colours for my inspiration - (I must have missed this challenge by a whisker!)

And over at Make My Monday they would like to see Contemporary Christmas Creations.

That's it for me today (well, you never know with me... I may be back).

Pop on over to the challenge blog. There are amazing cards over there for inspiration.

Thanks so much for looking xx

Christmas Tree with Bling

Hi there everyone. Happy Sunday!

Just a quick post from me today to share with you a card that we will make on Thursday's card making class.

I went with very non-traditional colours as one of the ladies really likes pink so I am hoping she will love this card. Keeping it very CAS also allows the pink to dominate the card but not overpower it.

Here is my card -

I have seen a few of these folded Christmas Trees on Pinterest and thought I would give it a go. They are very easy to make. You start by cutting out a circle, cut it in half and then fold it to create the tree shape. 

The DSP I have used on my card is retired but I still like it! The sentiment was inked with Rose Red and is from my Express Yourself set. 

I die cut the star (out of silver glimmer paper) and banner using the dies that are included with the new Thinlits Circle Card dies. I didn't have any 'Christmas' sentiments that would fit into this banner so I adapted. I think 'Celebrate' is most appropriate.

The finishing touch was stickles on the tree.

I would love to enter this card into the following challenges -

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes with optional twist

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATCAS #27

Woo hoo, it's Saturday! Yay.

This can only mean one thing.... a brand new challenge starting over at Addicted to CAS.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Anniversary Challenge. Celebrating our First Anniversary was SO much fun. Thanks also to our sponsors and my Design Team over there. They are a crazy bunch but I guess someone has to put up with them... ;)

Onto our new challenge! Here is our code word chosen by the wonderfully talented Vicki.

I decided to use a very cute image from our sponsor called - Kitten Have a Ball

Here is my DT card -

Isn't this little critter just adorable? I printed the image with my own computer generated sentiment directly onto blender paper so I could colour in with my Spectrum Noir's.

Here are the pens that I have used -

Cat - EB1, EB2, EB3, CR3

Ball - BT1 BT2, BT3, BT4

Shadow - BGR1

Our sponsor for this challenge is 

who are offering 5 images of your choice from their store!

And now it's over to you! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks so much for looking xx

IBS Blog Hop - Summer Flowers

Hi there! 

Just a quick post for me today.

I ordered a couple of beautiful sets from Inspired by Stamping and would like to share one of them with you.

I've also been wanting to try the Alcohol Ink technique (that I did on glossy cardstock) on Vellum. So, I dotted my transparency sheet with a few drops of ink, misted them with alcohol blender and pressed my sheet of vellum on top of it. 

Here is my card using this technique -

Once I had the vellum 'coloured' I stamped these gorgeous flowers and leaves with versamark and then heat embossed with white powder.

This is definitely one of those cards that look so much nicer in real life because the colours are so lovely.

I have used Wisteria Wonder and Whisper White for my cardstock. One panel of Wisteria Wonder was embossed with a honeycomb folder. The silver ribbon and bow was a pain to attach but I won this battle!

I am entering this card into the IBS Blog Hop Challenge

I was also inspired by a couple of the WHW Tutorials that the wonderful DT over there put together each week.

The first was Leah's card made with these flowers (I just used alcohol ink instead) and then Colleen's card showing us how to create these bows. Thank you, ladies!!

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATSM Challenge #72

Good morning!! We have a new challenge for you starting today over at Addicted to Stamps and More.

This week's challenge is to MAKE YOUR MARK.

That's right - get out your markers, crayons, pencils, watercolours... anything to Make your Mark.

Here is my DT card -

Ages and ages ago, I did one of those online classes which was all about die-cutting. You may remember my Partial Die Cutting card that I made? 

I was going back over the class notes and printed out the PDF's that came with the course. I saw an idea which is how I came about the side hand panel.

I have die cut with my puffy cloud's to create the aperture. Two left over clouds were popped on top.

I used a retired Stampin' Up set that I really should use more often - Up, Up and Away. I fussy cut the balloons and popped them up with dimensionals.

I have used my markers directly onto my stamps. LOVE the versatility of markers.

Now, you should pop on over to the challenge blog and give the DT some love and say hi.

See you there!

Thanks for looking xx

Joy Christmas Card

Hi everyone. Hope you are well.

I'm steadily getting the Christmas card list crossed off. Here is another one that I have made.

I have this new 'Joy' die from Memory Box that I hadn't used and wanted to use it more for an aperture rather than using the die cut word itself.

Here is my card -

I love the white space on this card. The designer paper is soft enough not to overpower anything either. I used a sentiment from my 'Express Yourself' set which I heat embossed with white powder. I used my Itty Bitty Banner dies and used glossy accents to attach them to a Frosted Finishes Embellishment. The white panel has been popped up with dimensionals.

This card was made for these challenges -

Less Is More - use Designer Paper in a CAS way

Robyn's Fetish Challenge Blog - Use Metal (real or faux) - my second entry

Dream Valley Challenges - CAS - my second entry

Thanks so much for looking xx

Copper Leaf

Good morning everyone! 

A few weeks ago, I received the blog candy that has been donated for the current challenge at ATCAS from our wonderful friend, Loll.  Little did I know but that sneaky, but oh so generous, woman sent me some sheets of her copper metal that she uses on her cards from time to time.

We were talking yesterday about the copper. I hadn't had an opportunity to use it (and my goodness it is sharp!).  So, I was asking all the right questions about how to use it, can you stamp on it etc etc. Loll gave me some great ideas.

I decided that today was the day to pop it through the Big Shot and see what the results were.

Holy Cow! I think it looks amazing, but you can be the judge of that ;)

Here is my card -

Look at those colours!!! I am blessed to have exceptional natural lighting where I craft and I must say that for once, the photo has done my card complete justice. I used a sheet that Loll had already heated for me and the colours that were produced were just perfect for an Autumn leaf.

I nearly squealed with delight when I saw the current challenge at

and also these other wonderful challenges -

Robins Fetish Challenge blog - Challenge #186 - Use Metal (real or faux)

Dream Valley Challenges - Challenge #70 - CAS

Make it Monday - Anything Goes

I have used a woodgrain folder on the Whisper White panel. I haven't added a sentiment to the inside yet until I decide who the recipient will be.

So a big thanks to Loll for sending me these copper sheets!

Thanks so much for looking xx

Christmas Grunge - Take 2 - One Layer

And now it's Sunday! Hi there everyone. Have you enjoyed your weekend? More Christmas cards have been crossed off the list for me. 

It's become dark and stormy here right now. Nothing new - we've had at least 2 storms a day for nearly a week. We had hail yesterday morning around 6am which was a nice wake up call (not). It didn't last very long which was good. In some parts of QLD there have been photos of hail stones the size of tennis balls!!

I made a very quick and easy card today. One Layer stamping is fun and creates such a nice CAS feel.

Here is my card -

Yesterday I made a card using my Grunge set and I really liked it. So, today I used the same stamps and added another for interest.

I used my markers directly onto the pine cone stamp (from Special Season set) - Chocolate Chip and Garden Green were the colours. The Grunge stamp was inked with Chocolate Chip and the sentiment (from Greetings of the Season) with Real Red. 

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

52CC Throwdown has a recipe for us. 

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

and last but not least over at Stampin' Royalty I will enter my second card for their challenge to use no embellishments on your holiday cards.

I hope you have a lovely rest of your weekend.

Thanks so much for looking xx

PS - Here is a picture of the hail stones that were shown on last night's news.

Gorgeous Grunge Christmas Style

Hey there everyone. Enjoying your Saturday so far?

There are a number of challenges that I saw on my blog roll that provided me with inspiration for this card.

Firstly, here is my card -

Let me just clarify the colours I have used on this card in case they seem darker like they do to me - The bottom panel is Chocolate Chip cardstock and the Grunge stamp was inked with Chocolate Chip.

This card was made for the following challenges -

I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp for my stripes and Chipboard Hearts that I covered with Glimmer Paper.

Curtain Call and Cas-ual Fridays have teamed up this week with this wonderful photo for inspiration.

The JUGS girls may be looking for my 'Kraft' component. My chipboard hearts are Kraft but I covered them... I hope I still qualify :)

I wrote and addressed a heap of Christmas Cards last night and have made a few more so the list is getting smaller! Yay!

I was a little anxious about adding hearts or stars to my card but I like the look of the hearts. I really do like the Grunge stamp too. It all comes down to your imagination! The sentiment is from my Greetings of the Season set and inked with Real Red. 

Thanks so much for looking xx

Festive Flurry 3D

Happy Friday everyone!

I have a card to share with you today that I was inspired to make thanks to the following challenges -

and

over at Stampin' Royalty you CANNOT use any embellishments on your project.

Here is my card -

I'm loving these colours for Christmas and they seem very popular with a lot of challenges. 

This time, I have added a bit more dimension with my Festive Flurry stamps/dies by scoring the middle flurry, cutting out a bit of the middle and folding it to be more 3D. I had actually made one with the biggest stamp and then worked my way down but it was simply too big to pop on a card. It will make a wonderful decoration, though.

I still had some scraps of my glitter paper cut on an angle so I added one to this card.

I had a big day with the dog today - swimming and fishing down at the beach. Then I put together a heap of Christmas cards while he laid at my feet because he was exhausted. 

Thanks so much for looking xx

TAWS #41

Yep, another post for me! It has been stinking hot here today. So much so, that I had a little nana nap this afternoon which is very unusual for me. I brought up an extra fan to keep me and the animals a bit cooler. Now, we have a storm heading our way. At least the temperature should drop a little.

I have made a card this afternoon (after my nap) for the challenge over at

and for another entry over at Spectrum Noir as their theme is Christmas/Winter

My new printer arrived yesterday so I was able to grab some freebies from TAWS to work with. As I am still in need of lots of Christmas cards, I chose the image called 'Trees'.

Here is my card -

I have printed the digital stamp onto blender paper, coloured the trees with my Spectrum Noir pens, cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals. The photo inspired me to use polka dots.

UPDATED: Thanks to the amazing Loll, I have been steered towards these challenges too!

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge

One more Christmas card done, tonnes to go!!

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATSM Challenge #71 - ANYTHING GOES!

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday which means a brand new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More! has just begun.

We have your favourite happening right now - ANYTHING GOES!!!

Here is my DT card -

I have used a digi stamp from our amazing sponsor at Sami Stamps. This cutie is called "Winter Cocoa".  I used an 'outside the box' tutorial so her scarf would 'flutter' outside the circle. You can see my Pin of this tutorial over at Pinterest under my board called Techniques.


I have coloured with with my Spectrum Noir's - Here is the list -

Face: FS1, TN1, TN2, CR3
Scarf/Mittens: PP1, PP2, PP3
Coat: TB1, TB2, TB3
Hair: TN1, TN2, EB2
Coffee Mug: BT1, BT2, BT3
Blender Pen

I actually love making Christmas Cards that depict the cooler weather. It's extremely hot here at Christmas and it is certainly on my bucket list to see a White Christmas. 

I love these colours for Christmas, too. 

Our sponsor, as I mentioned, is the fabulous

Our Top Addict will win a $12 voucher to spend at the store!!


I would also like to enter my card into the following challenges -

Sami Stamps - CAS
Spectrum Noir - Christmas/Winter


Thanks so much for looking xx

Supplies Used:

• Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White (SU)
• Stamps: Greetings of the Season (SU)
• Ink: Pool Party (SU)
• Dies: Framelits Circle Collection (SU)
• Spectrum Noir markers

ATCAS 1 year Anniversary

Hi everyone! Today is very special for me because over at Addicted to CAS we are celebrating our 1 year Anniversary!

Thank you to my whole Design Team, sponsors and followers for allowing all of this to happen!!

Here is the code word for you today as chosen by your hostess Marie!

Here is my DT card -

I have used my Hearts A Flutter framelits to cut and aperture and then backed it with Cherry Cobbler cardstock. The strip down the side is from the Season of Style DSP stack. I cut a banner and used my Express Yourself stamps for the sentiment.

Very simple!!

We have a crazy amount of prizes over at the challenge blog which our CAS Perfectionist will be taking home!

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Thanks for looking xx

Miss you!

Hi again! Another post from me today as I have tried out a new technique and wanted to share.

There are a couple of challenges that I wanted to participate in as well. 

Firstly over at

Cuttlebug Mania - the theme is Autumn

and over at Casology, the cue word is 'Brown'

Here is my card -

I started with a Crumbcake base and then cut strips of different 'earthy' colours and glued them directly to the base. I used my Framelits Circle Collection to die cut a circle to mount my leaf onto.

The leaft is a die from Impression Obession. I have dropped spots of alcohol inks onto a transparency sheet, misted with alcohol blender fluid and then pressed glossy coated cardstock on top. It created this beautiful colour changing leaf. I have shaped the leaf with my stylus and using the glossy cardstock gives it an amazing shine!

I have been very inspired by Kittie and her tutorials are just awesome. You will find the tutorial for my Autumn leaf HERE

I have stamped the sentiment using Cajun Craze ink.

I will be sending this to my son as I miss him very much. After a great phone conversation today, I had to make him a card.

That's it (I think) for me today. 

Thanks so much for looking xx

Supplies Used:

• Cardstock - Crumbcake, Cajun Craze, Whisper White (all SU) and another colour from my stash
• Stamps - Express Yourself (SU)
• Ink - Cajun Craze (marker
• Alcohol Inks - Adirondack (Cranberry, Butterscotch, Lettuce and Rust)
• Dies - Framelit Circle Collection (SU), Leaves (Impression Obsession)

ATSM #70

Good morning!!

Over at Addicted to Stamps and More! we have a photo to inspire you for this challenge!

Lots of options with this photo! 

Here is my DT card -

I have used my new Thinlits Label Card die. These flip cards are quite cool. I'm not sure I have got my head around them yet but I will keep practising. I actually thought I had ordered the circle die but no, I ordered the label one. Nevermind, this die is still cool. I have used the Winter Frost DSP stack to decorate and a strip of Silver Glimmer Paper.

We are being sponsored this week by

and you will have the chance to win 5 images from the store!

Pop on over to the challenge blog and check out the rest of the DT.

Thanks so much for looking xx

Merry Monday #82 - Colour with a twist

Hi there! How are we all today? Right now it is blowing a gale where I live! I am so over this wind!! Hopefully things are a bit calmer in your part of the world.

Today I have made a card for a challenge over at Merry Monday. It has been many moons since I have joined in the fun over there. From memory, Merry Monday was one of the very first challenges that I ever participated in. It's nice to be back over there.

It was the colour combo on offer that was so attractive to me. 

Here is my card -

These colours are just perfect for these Festive Flurry stamps and dies. It's nice to create Christmas cards with non-traditional colours.

My contribution to the circle part of my card are the small jewels with the sentiment.

That's it for me today! Just a quickie.

Updated to add to Hazels Christmas Challenge HERE

Thanks so much for looking xx

Supplies Used:

• Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White (SU)
• DSP: Winter Frost DSP stack (SU)
• Ink: Real Red, Pool Party (SU)
• Stamps: Festive Flurry, Special Season (SU)
• Accessories: Frosted Finishes Embellishments, Basic Jewels, Red Glimmer Paper, Dimensionals

Window Christmas Wreath

Hi there! Hope you are well and enjoying your Monday.

Just a quick shout out to my good friend, Sandie. She is off to hospital today for a couple of weeks and I would like to wish her all the best. Take care, my friend.

Today I am going to share with you a card that I made on the spur of the moment. I have started to address my Christmas cards and get them sorted. Problem is that I am a little behind and really need to get to doing some more.

I seem a bit addicted to creating Wreath's at the moment....

Here is my card -

I had to improvise a little to create this wreath. Due to going on a window, I couldn't use my Twig Wreath die as it would have been too big. So I used two circle dies to create a base to work with.

I decided to pop a little cat in the window which is from a new set that I bought a week or so ago. I have a gorgeous kitty called Gadget who is a Siamese so I tried to replicate him a little. 

I would also like to enter this card into the following challenges -

(my third entry at Inkspirational. Talk about being inspired!!!)

and over at

this will be my second entry.

Updated to add to Hazel's Christmas Challenge HERE

Thanks so much for looking xx

Stamplorations!

Hi there, everyone. What a beautiful Saturday it is in my part of the world. You would think I wouldn't be crafting but outside enjoying this amazing weather. BUT - it's way too hot, lol. I considered going down to the local pool for a swim but the most important things always come first, hey? ;)

Today I am going to share two cards with you that I have made specifically for the challenge over at

I love this challenge because I have NEVER used sequins on a card. I actually didn't even realise that I had some to use! But, there they were down in a bottom drawer stashed away.

Here are my cards -

I have used a new stamp set on this card called Flowering Flourishes. I thought that the Wisteria Wonder and Black colours were perfect. I have hand drawn the border.

This card looks nicer in real life. The colours on the card aren't quite true on my monitor. This, too, is a new stamp set called Special Season. The Christmas Tree has been embossed with gold powder. I thought the one little sequin at the top of the tree was enough for this card. The cardstock is Island Indigo, as is the ink for the sentiment.

That's it for me today. Everything used on my cards is from Stampin' Up (except my forgotten sequins).

Thanks for looking xx

Another Christmas Card Challenge!!

Hi there everyone! I am back again to share with you a card for a challenge over at Nonni's blog. 

You may already now about the first challenge - Stamp a Merry Christmas. It is still going right up until the 24th December.

This challenge has Nonni asking us to use our Scraps or old stash to create a Christmas Card.

The card that I have made was made completely from scraps - except for the card base!!

Here is my card -

You can see how easy it would be to make something like this entirely out of scraps!! Can you see my tiny berries? They were cut from scraps of red glitter paper.

This is my first card that I used my new Impression Obsession dies for (you may have seen my second card that I blogged a few days ago). I have only been able to show you now, though. 

Lots of fiddling again with all these little pieces but the end result is so fun.

So, pop on over to Nonni's blog to join in the fun!! She has two challenges now that will be running up until the 24th December and there are also prizes to be won!

I would also like to enter this card into the following challenges -

Stampin' Royalty - Anything Goes (my second card)

(This is also my second card at Inkspirational)


Update! Thanks to my good friend, Loll, I will be entering my card into this challenge too!





Updated to be entered in Hazel's Christmas Challenge HERE

Thanks so much for looking xx

Supplies Used:

• Cardstock: Garden Green, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Old Olive, Crumbcake (SU)
• Stamps: Greetings of the Season (SU)
• Ink: Real Red (SU)
• Embossing Folder: Holiday Frame (SU)
• Punch: 1" square (to create the banner)
• Dies: Pine Sprig Cluster, Twig Wreath (both Impression Obsession)
• Accessories: Glossy Accents, Paper Piercer and Mat (SU), Stylus (SU), Red glitter paper, Dimensionals