ABC Christmas Challenge - Y & Z are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Helene is the host, and the themes are:

'Y is for Yummy'

&

'Z is for Zebra'

(Stripes and/or Black & White)

The prize for the lucky winner is these Chocolate Baroque and Woodware stamps:

For my 'Y is for Yummy' card, I used a Christmas Pudding stamp from Personal Impressions, stamping it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of pudding-covered paper from the 'Peppermint Forest' pad by Craftwork Cards, trimming them into squares. I distressed all of the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted the pudding image onto a snippet of kraft card, then the paper squares onto some pink card before adding it to a kraft card blank.

For my 'Z is for Zebra' card, I went with the 'Stripes' option, choosing a piece of silver stripey paper from the 'Silent Night' pad by First Edition for my background, and matted it onto some silver mirror card. I took one of the 'plainish' pieces of paper from the same pad, and stamped the largest snowflake from a Stampendous set called 'Delicate Snowflakes' onto it using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic silver embossing powder from WOW. Using the matching die, I cut out the snowflake, then added it onto the stripey background using some 3D foam pads.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Addicted to CAS - Metallic (Second card only)
• Allsorts - Anything Goes (First card only)
• CAS on Friday - (Second card only)
• Christmas Kickstart - Anything Christmassy (First card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Creative Inspirations - 'Tis the Season (First card only)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Dies (Second card only)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - H & I are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! I'm the host, and the themes are:

'H is for Houses'

&

'I is for Indoors'

Here's the prize on offer for the lucky winner:

For my 'H is for Houses' card, I picked a Penny Black stamp called 'Warm Reception', which I stamped on to a kraft card blank using Versamark Ink along with a sentiment from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp, then heat embossed it all in white. 

The image on my 'I is for Indoors' card is a Lili of the Valley pre-coloured die cut image (from the Christmas Cuties' set). I paired it with some papers from the 'Jingle All the Way' pad by First Edition & 'Vintage Christmas' pad by Craftwork Cards...distressing all of the egdes and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Alphabet Challenge - A is for Adorable (Second card only)
• Aud Sentiments - Embossing & Sentiment (First card only)
• Christmas with the Cuties - Something Pre-coloured (Second card only)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped (Optional 'CAS') (First card only)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Carolers

I have a Christmas card to share today, featuring one of my oldest (and most favourite) Penny Black stamp, called 'Carolers'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used lots of snippets of paper from the 'Jingle All the Way' pad by First Edition, distressing the edges a little and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Carolling Chicks' set by Stamping Bella.

Challenges for this card:

• Always Fun - Layers
• Christmas with the Cuties - Festive Furries or Feathers
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - At Least Three Layers
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Winter Wonderland - Christmas Birds

ABC Christmas Challenge - J & K are for?

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Dorte is the host, and the themes are:

'J is for Jewels'

&

'K is for Kids'

There's a fab prize on offer from Dorte for the lucky winner of this challenge:

I picked a Woodware stamp called 'Trio of Trees' for my 'J is for Jewels' card. I stamped it on a kraft card blank, using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it gold, along with the sentiment from the set. I paper pieced the trees, stamping and embossing in gold on to snippets of green card. I then added lots of adhesive 'jewels' to decorate the trees.

On my 'K is for Kids' card, I used one of the Lili of the Valley 'Christmas Kids' pre-coloured die cuts...trimming it down into a circle shape using one of my Nesties. I paired it with some vintage-y papers from the 'Jingle All the Way' pad by First Edition...distressing the edges a little and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The snowflake was cut using a Memory Box die, and is held in place using an old BasicGrey brad.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Christmas Craft Creations - No Stamping (Second card only)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Use Patterned Papers (Second card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Embellish It (First card only)
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Penny Black Calendar

I'll warn you upfront...today's post has rather a lot of photos! Every year I decorate a couple of the 'Create a Calendar' blank calendars to give as Christmas gifts. This one is for my Aunt. I always use Penny Black images, combining them with papers from many different companies...these are always a great way of using up lots of snippets! I make the panel for each month A5 sized, so that they can easily be recycled into cards once the year has passed.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critters - Anything Goes
• As You Like It (Favourite Person to Create For (Family or Friends - Family, as they always appreciate the effort that has gone into making the items)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampers - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - N & O are for?

We have another fun ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Samantha is the host, and the themes are:

'N is for No Fuss'

&

'O is for Over the Top'

There's a little prize from Samantha for the lucky winner.

For my 'N is for No Fuss' card, I stamped a Penny Black image ('What a Snow!') on to a kraft card blank and coloured it using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Tattered Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

Over the recent years, my Christmas cards have definitely become more CAS (quick to make, easy to mass produce, cheap to post!), but I do sometimes like to make a more layered card with lots of pretty papers and some embellishments. I used another Penny Black image ('Angel Cat') on my 'O is for Over the Top' card, stamping it on to watercolour paper, and colouring it using watercolour pencils...adding some shine to the halo & star with a silver gel pen, and some sparkle to his wings with some 'Diamond' Stickles. I paired it with papers from the 'Silent Night' pad by First Edition...distressing the edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted all of the layers on to some icy blue glitter card...cutting a snowflake out of the offcuts using a Cuttlebug die. I added a diamante to the centre of the snowflake, and some lacy silver ribbon for a little extra texture.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Allsorts - So Cute
• Christmas with the Cuties - Two or More Patterned Papers (Second card only)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Optional 'Snowflakes') (Second card only)
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Cutie Pie - Layer it Up! (Second card only)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Colour on Kraft (First card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Snowy

I have another Christmas card to share today...featuring an old favourite stamp of mine...'Snowy' by Penny Black. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, and then again on to a snippet of spotty paper (from the 'Animal Antics' pad by First Edition). I added a little bit of colour and shading on both using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I simply popped him on my card blank using 3D foam pads above a Lili of the Valley sentiment.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes or Christmas (Animals)
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Cutie Pie - Gorgeous Greens
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Goes

Wise Words

Today's card features a stamp I picked up in a charity shop by Rachelle Anne Miller for Crafter's Companion called 'Wise Words'. I stamped the owls on to watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I paired the image with papers from the 'Animal Antics' pad by First Edition...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Animals, Birds & Butterflies
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

My Favourite Five Christmas Cards

As has become traditional, I'm sharing my favourite five Christmas cards of the year this evening...I made 96 this year, so I had quite a few to choose from! For additional information on any of the cards, click on the image to go to the original post.

The first one is from January, and features a cute Penny Black snowman...I love the soft pastel colours on this one.

My second card was an experiment in heat embossing using a couple of different powders using a beautiful Indigo Blu image that I picked up in the bargain bin.

My next card features a similar layout to the first, but this time a cute Lili of the Valley image and stamped snow.

I made rather a lot of CAS cards this year (cheap to post!), and these were among the simplest to make...a technique I will definitely be revisiting next year!

My final card is also my most recent one...and features lots of my favourite things...a Penny Black image, pretty papers, faux stitching...

One more thing before I go...I always share a photo of my Christmas cake on Christmas Eve too...so here it is:

Have a lovely Christmas everyone!

PBSC December - Anything Goes (Optional 'Sparkle & Shine')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or
'Sparkle & Shine'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I'd been rifling through my Penny Black stamps for images for another couple of projects, and came across this swet Christmas image called 'Welcome Party' that I couldn't remember using this year (in fact a quick search on my blog shows that I last used it in May 2017!), so thought I'd ink t up for this challenge. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Silent Night' pad by First Edition...distressing all of the edges, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted a couple of layers on to some silver glitter card for some sparkle & shine, and added a sentiment from the 'Tattered Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafters Cafe - Holidays or Something Beginning with C
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Pretty Pastel Christmas
• Sparkles Forum - Glitter & Sparkle
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampers - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Pile It On! Challenge - Land Animals

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...the theme is:

'Land Animals'

We are sponsored for this challenge by A Day for Daisies

Prize - $8 Gift Certificate!

I went BIG for my land animal, and picked a cute Lili of the Valley elephant image called 'Blowing Bubbles' that I picked up in a charity shop a week ago to make a birthday card for a little girl. I coloured the image in pastel shades using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle to the bubbles using a Wink of Stella pen. The papers are a mixture of American Crafts (pink & yellow from the 'Star Shine' pad) and First Edition (blue from the 'Silent Night' pad). I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Land Animals
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
• Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional Something New - the elephant stamp is new)
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Party Time!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (The elephant stamp is new)
• Stamping Sensations - Fabulously Feminine
• Sweet Stampin' - Spots and Dots

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Cozy Winter Owl

I have another simple Christmas card to share today. This one features a cute little owl digi image from Meljens called 'Cozy Winter Owl', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I added some sparkle to the snow on the branch using a Wink of Stella pen, and a sentiment from a stamp set by Lili of the Valley. The backing paper is from the 'Silent Night' pad by First Edition...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Christmas
• Alphabet Challenge - O is for Owls
• Crafting form the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Digi Do
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Animal Antics
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes