Busy Day at the Christmas Fayre.

I spent the whole day at Auryn's School today, helping out with the Christmas fayre & had a ton of fun along the way! LOL. Only someone who has been involved in a fundraiser will know how much of a giggle we had ... & it's not a case of being in the clique - Auryn goes on the school bus, so I don't know any of the other parents at all - and don't see too much of the teachers either. But I have said I'll get more involved ... same as I was when the older boys were at infant school *smiles*
Anyway, These are a couple of the card sets that I put together ... made the cards a while ago - & over the last couple days, I made the envelopes, tags & boxes ... think I'm probably gonna package more cards this way in the future rather than doing individual ones in cello bags ... what d'ya think?? I have others to show but not until next week after Di has revealed the sketch! .
& here's a li'l photo of Auryn with the great man himself ... he was soooo excited to meet Santa ... especially having discovered Santa's footprints in his classroom this morning! LOL
Today, I am thankful for:

• Making new friends. It's been a long time since I have been around other 'mummies' ... hadn't realised how much I missed it.
• Auryn's Teachers. He has settled sooooo well at school & is totally happy there - the teacher's & helpers care about their kids - & it shows!
• Darent Valley Hospital. Maybe not the best healthcare in the world but my stepfather was admitted today & is already feeling happier that they will find what ails him ... & then fix it! & that's good enough for me!
  

Back tomorrow - I have new SU! goodies!!!

All Spruced Up!

Here's the rest of the cards & tags I made on my playdate with Mad Mumma. It is exactly the same image as yesterday's post (felt like I stamped 100 of these! LOL), using a whole bunch of left over A Muse notecards. These were just sooooo quick to put together & assuming I get the copyright stamp in time, I'll be donating them to DS4's school Christmas Fayre on December 5th ... go me! LOL
Another bunch of those manilla tags - great for Xmas gifts & plenty of space on the back to add a personal message.
It's nearly end of the month ... if you aren't already following this blog, sign up now for a chance to win goodies! The link is up near the top right of the page! Oh! & I'm giving a li'l RAK for Mad Mumma's followers too, so why not pop on over there as well.

Mad Mumma's Workshop

I made this li'l Christmas set with goodies from Mad Mumma's SU! starter kit for a workshop next Friday. Really quick & easy to put together! The tag is a manilla luggage label ... I have a ton of these! LOL. The design isn't really mine I guess as it is very similar to one of the ideas on the leaflet that comes with the kit.
I entered a bit of a stampin' frenzy really & made, over the course of a couple of evenings, a total of 24 cards & 6 gift tags. All from the same stamp set (Fast & Fun Notes) using the Spot On jumbo roller stamp. I tell you, I'm loving the roller stamp ... makes backgrounds & borders fun & super-quick!
If you want to know more about this li'l project, find it at Mad Mumma Stampin'.

CCAYR October Challenge

I have been saying since the beginning of the month that I will definitely join in with Christmas Cards All Year Round's monthly challenges ... so rather than waiting until I have all 5 cards (which was the original plan) I am going to blog them as I go. The first card is from the first challenge: to use Deanne's sketch. Lots of scraps of HOTP papers & embellies with a tiny scrap of felt fusion. Technically, I guess it also qualifies for the bling challenge (more on that one later)

The next card is for the colour challenge: to use non-traditional colours & that was super-easy with the scraps I have left (yes, still!) from the Fancy Pants Holly Jolly range. I've added a scrap of lace & some of those yummy Artful Collage primas (did I mention I love them??) along with a couple more HOTP embellies & a snowflake brad.
The third & final card for this post is for the bling challenge: to use bling & winter papers. Yet more HOTP paper scraps & artwork plus a couple of snowflakes (no idea where they came from) The bling is provided by the glittery ribbon & some spica pen highlights (which don't show up well on the piccie) on the tag text & the torn paper edge near the bottom ... I guess you'll have to trust me on it!
Hoping to get the last two cards for this challenge blogged tomorrow before I go away ... so much still to do!

APAAT Card Recipe Challenge #1

Sarah set the first Recipe Challenge last Wednesday & here's my card for it. Easing us in gently, the first recipe was:
~Patterned Paper
~Cardstock
~ANY embellishments you like but must be 5 or more
~Include a heart somewhere on your page/card. {this is included in the 5 embellies}

You might have noticed that I'm a bit of an embellishment junkie, so this was a breeze! Yup! a total of 16 embellies!! I used Fancy Pants Holly Jolly papers & die cuts - the printed paper flowers are Prima Artfull Collage ... I luuuurve them!

Fab's Big Christmas Challenge!

I totally missed Fab's Christmas Challenge last month ... 7 cards for July & the deadline for August is today - so another 8 due! So to stay at 'nutter' level - that's 15 Christmas cards ... go on, count them ... a total of 16!!!! (yup! mis-counted & made an extra one! LOL)
I'm not totally sure that they count as technically these are new year/happy winter cards ... I have a lot of friends who do not celebrate Christmas as such ... but it's still nice to let them know I'm thinking of them.
All these cards are based on this sketch by Di Hickman, the same one I used for my thank you cards last month too. Really great for whipping up a batch of cards quickly!! It works really well with the smaller 4.25" square cards, so your supplies go a really long way too!
More cards coming later this month!!

The Elusive Christmas Card

I didn't get the DT spot on Christmas Cards All Year 'Round ... Deanne had a bunch of entries from talented crafters not already on her Sketch DTs & decided to go with 3 of these new designers instead ... which is fair enough really! LOL. I will definitely apply again for the January team tho' .
In the meantime, here is the final card: the one that I sent to Deanne as my DT entry.
These cards will make another appearance, hopefully before September 24th. I am waaaay behind on Fab's Christmas Card challenge - totally missed last month, so this month I am determined to have made & displayed here a total of 15 Christmas/New Year cards: 7 for July & 8 for August - just in time to start over for September's challenge ... 9 cards by 24th October!
Hmmmmmm better get a move on then!

Christmas Cards ... All Year 'Round??

Yesterday, I mentioned Deanne's new Christmas Card challenge blog & I just had to submit for the DT. Of late, I'm finding that I just don't make time for any personal projects so the only crafting I'm doing is for various DTs ... & I'm loving it! LOL
I'd love a place on this DT - Deanne is offering just what I need right now ... A chance to create Christmas cards using my own stash. The last thing I need is more stash & I'm all about using what I have right now ... and making the most of my scraps - perfect!
Anyway, the deal was to create a card using the blog banner as inspiration. I guess you all know that I don't do things by halves, so I have e-mailed my submission in (containing one, newly created card) & these are the other four, also inspired by the blog banner (which is lovely! LOL)
In case you were wondering how my 'creative process' works ... this is the gist of it:
The inspiration for the first card was the colours (the buttons are a blue, which doesn't seem to have photographed particularly well!) taken from the banner - & the 'tree' theme. The second uses the same basic colour scheme & a simplified version of the banner's layout. Both cards were created from various HOTP Personal Shopper scraps that I might not necessarily have put together otherwise (the blue papers I would probably have used for 'icy pastel' cards).
The third card loosely uses not the colours themselves but a version of them (pink/burgundy replacing the red & a brighter lime green) & making the stripes (from the banner's border) the focal point.
The final card replicates most of the banner's elements, much in the same way as you might with a sketch. I have used the same bright papers ... so more funky than the banner, which is soft & pretty IYGWIM? I have sanded the edges of all the elements on this one & replaced the tree trunks with buttons. For cards #3 & #4 I used Fancy Pants Holly Jolly - I have tons of scraps left over from cards & layouts, so you could be seeing them again! LOL. I'm finding the Scrapworks Rub Ons invaluable too - I have sooooo many6 colours that, so far, I seem to have the right ones for every project I do!
I'm not sure that I can share the card I submitted - but Deanne is going to make her decision real quick - so I'll be able to share by the end of the week - one way or t'other! LOL In the meantime, you seriously need to check out Christmas Cards All Year 'Round, bookmark it, add it to your reader or subscribe to posts ... or all of those options & get ready for October ... I think it's gonna be a whole lotta fun!

Di's Sept #2 Sketch

Back to Christmas Cards with this week's sketch from Di Hickman. I've been really slack at posting projects just lately ... but if you take a look at my Etsy store, its not because I haven't been crafting. I'm back to scheduled posting ... it's the only thing that works for me! LOL
I have been struggling to keep up of late, so if you are waiting for me to e-mail you, send you stuff or whatever ... please bear with me, I haven't forgotten about you & I'll get to it as soon as I can.

So, back to Di's sketch. The top card is the one I submitted & used up the couple of Noteworthy scraps I had left from my last layout. The one below is all scraps again, this time Cloud 9 Design's Cocoa Mint, from a layout I did a couple weeks back - love these colours & have enough scrap for a few more cards yet!
The rub ons are Scrapworks ... on offer in the webstore right now at 25% off - I really like this font & if your letters aren't straight, it looks deliberate! LOL. Talking about the webshop, I know some of my International visitors are disappointed that they can't buy from us ... Good News! Although I had trouble setting that up thru the store (don't ask, it's a long & tedious story!) I can do it thru the Etsy store. So if you see anything there, we can post it to Etsy as a special order, converting the cost to US $ ... cool huh?

Di's July #4 Sketch

I have been a v. bad DT member this past week - although I made my card on time for Di's #4 sketch, I didn't e-mail it & neither did I blog it ... until now. The piccie isn't all that good either but this is all set to be the last naff image I post (all will be revealed shortly! LOL) All the supplies are from HOTP Kits ... so that's a bit more of my stash used up!!

Anyway, it's a fab sketch & the next one (which I have e-mailed in on time!) isn't due to go live until Wednesday ... so why not have a go!

Fab's June Christmas Cards

Here's my entry for Fab's Big Christmas Challenge - this month's nutter level is to make 6 cards - before 25th July, when the next month's challenge will start.
So I'm still on a mission to use my stash ... & I'm still on the HOTP personal shopper Cardmaker's kits ... Ooooooooh it's gonna be a long, long time 'til I use all these up! LOL. I have made 42 cards from 1 kit before - & I have at least 18 month's worth (plus a few ex-display from the store - in varying states of use) so I guess I better start making a whole bunch of cards! LOL
Anyway, these 6 were a good start I think. You might notice a few poinsettias here & there - gotta say I love flowers on my cards just as much, if not more than layouts!
The next 40 days event is coming up later - be sure to check back!!

Arty Girlz #42

OK! This is my last post for tonight (yup! I do realise that it is, in fact, tomorrow! LOL) This is my take on the Arty Girlz challenge this week, which was (unusually) a sketch. I'm also going to count this card towards Fab's Big Christmas Challenge ... but I guess I'll get the others made before I link it all up! LOL. It's my own fault for going for the nutter option ... I could just do the one card! LOL.
This is another 'use my stash' card - still working my way thru all that HOTP - but I gotta say, we're not even making a dent in the pile just yet!!! Got a loooooong way to go!

Fab's Big Christmas Challenge ... May

Fab's challenge for May - at 'Nutter' level is to create five Christmas cards & as I'm proud to own that title (& a couple of others beside), that's just what I've done. I've used Cosmo Cricket 'Be Good' range (last winter's release) as I had some bits left over from a previous project - & you know I'm all about using your scraps! Lots of ink too - these papers are great for a vintage, aged, distressed kinda look.
In the first card, I've used alphabutton fashions. I'd already used the 'Y' (& here comes the clever bit), so used the negative & matted it onto 'peppermint' paper to make a new one. I raised the 'J' & 'Y' on foam tape & embellished each letter with vintage Trim-Trimeree
For the next one, I matted one of the 'just your 'holiday' type' stickers, threaded with trim & layered it over a scrap of patterned paper. The letters are from the 'storytime' cigar box (watch out for the altered box later this week!)
More 'storytime' chipboard on this one - and yep! I did get the sewing machine out! LOL. My mum told me this evening that you can use it to sew fabric too - like to make clothes & stuff!! Gotta wonder what she'll come up with next ... I guess she'll be telling me you can use an iron for smoothing stuff other than paper & ribbons or something - what's that about???
Anyway, the li'l gift there is a chipboard buckle, backed with paper & a ric rac faux bow attached.
Card #4 is a li'l winter forest. Just triangular scraps on a pyramid card (I cut mine from a standard card blank).
This last card also doubles for the ongoing recycling challenge at Arty Girlz - those li'l tags inside the stocking ... they are the paper names from the barcode strips. I hand cut the stocking & raised it on foam tape. I used a black sharpie to add the dots around the edge of the sticker - a regular pen will work but sharpies dry quicker!

Fab's April Christmas Cards

I actually made these cards a couple of weeks ago for Fab's challenge - but

I've been such a bad blogger of late that I hadn't got them posted. Anyway, you might remember I had been posting a lot of stuff made with Luxe Designs ... & these cards were made with some of the scraps. Certainly not your traditional crimbo cards but I do like to do something a li'l bit different. The papers, rubs & ribbons are all Luxe, gems & sentiment stamp by A Muse, Sizzix tree die & SU! snowflake punch.
There's still a bunch of A Muse goodies on sale at 75% off - check 'em out before they are gone!
& I haven't forgotten about posting my scraproom pics - the week has just got away from me a bit. I'm having a bit of a break next week ... so I'm hoping to catch up a bit then too!