Silent Night, Holy Night

How often does that happen, you make a card using a particular card and then get hooked and make more in the same way. For me it's meant the rediscovery of some ancient, treasured DPs that really needed to come out of their packet and be used. Today, I've used a DP for the challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown

In my head the paper was for Silent Night, but when I found it it featured the words from another carol, We Three Kings. It still fitted and my inspiration was still Silent night so I used it anyway.

I cut out the paper, die cut the row of houses in black cardstock to create the silhouette and then used gold mirri card behind some of the tiny doors and windows

The gold card adds sparkle and shimmer. Then I added some very small punched stars, also made from the mirri card, you can see them better on the photo below. I used a light shade of purple for the mat which I think really brings out the colours in the paper. The mat was layered up on foam on the card front.

Then I got carried away and continued decorating the inside of my card with more paper and more 

stars plus a sentiment from an old set, I think it's called Wonderous Gift.

I do hope you are inspired by Jane's theme. I am also entering this card in this week's challenge at Crafty Haselnuts Christmas Challenge where the theme is Christmas a Music. The Silent Night challenge is great for that one too, it's  a chance to use papers, images, stamped or digital with perhaps a leaning towards the real meaning of Christmas. Looking forward to seeing the gallery this week

Oh Little Town

Happy Saturday! Being on the DT at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown means that you have to love Christmas, or more exactly, Christmas cards, because we make them all year round! Today I struggled, but I am very pleased with my efforts. The challenge this week is based on a technique-inlaid dies. I had to ask a friend about this as I wasn't sure. But basically you need several die cuts of your design and you inlay the colours into the negative of your die cut shape.

Now, I wasn't sure of this at all, but here is my best shot.....

I used a Tim Holtz die called Townscape. I cut it out of black card stock. I also punched out the starry night sky. I cut out all the houses and then I mounted this card onto silver card stock. I put some double sided tape behind the cut out houses. I used the die to cut five more Townscapes in different coloured card (using up scraps, I like that) and cut out individual houses. I pushed these shapes into the black die negative, but I forgot that using the double sided tape would also make the window and door apertures sticky. Silly Girl. So out comes the glitter.

Finally I added a ripped piece of white card to look like snow. This is my favourite way to make snow on a card, it always looks so effective.

I love the way this card looks, it reminds me of the carol Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem. Trying out a new technique is great fun, why not have a go, or may be you do this all the time and are an expert. Either way we'd love to see what you can create.

New Home Colour Challenge

My daughter is just finished her second year at Loughborough University and it's that time of year when students move out of their old house/halls and into new digs so a New Home card was called for. Luckily this coincided nicely with the new colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches

I used the cloud embossing folder and a single house cut out from a row of houses from a Tim Holtz die. The DP is from Stampin' Up and I stamped the greeting using an alphabet set and my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig (such a useful bit of kit!). The two little punched hearts come from the Owl Punch.

Steampunk and Penguin

Yes, I admit it, until today I was a Steampunk virgin - I'd never attempted this style of card-making before, and I had not really thought about giving it a go.  That was until I read Suzi's midweek motivation at Make My Monday challenge blog.  She made a gorgeous card, but it was the definitions of the style that really helped to inspire me to create my first Steampunk card....

...and I had so much fun!  The words 'whimsey' and 'romance' were really helpful' There's a lot of sponging and I used two Distress ink colours, Scattered Straw and China Blue, and a combination of stamp images, including a freebie from a magazine (the globe, clockfaces and cogs), Gorgeous Grunge, Zoo Review, and a Papermanai Urban Stamps set with images of London (forget the name, sorry).
The butterfly die cut is also a freebie, and the Victoriana tag and washi tape I bought in Ikea!. Here's a closer view

Can you see the gems on the penguin's crown?. I love the layers in this card, I think next time I should try to experiment with more colours and I am definitely going to look out for more stamps in the Steampunk style, although perhaps the secret is in combining different images in a quirky way.

Best thing is I had a ball making this!

White on White for Christmas

White on white, love making them, hate photographing them! I know I've said it before but there are so many shades of white! This is the challenge at Less Is More with the added requirement that it must be for Christmas. I've made two versions of the card, in both cases I've made a tent fold card base and used a large sentiment stamp as the focal point and and embossed border to add texture and interest.

The sentiment is LOVE & JOY - I so much like this for Christmas, for me that's what the holiday is all about. Which card counts depends on whether silver embossing is allowed on a white on white card, for purists I suspect not and so I made this version, where I heat embossed with White Tinsel embossing powder. I off set the sentiment to leave 'white space'

I would be interested to hear what you think...is silver OK?  It is only a sentiment after all..  I know my card will be in fantastic company, I've checked out some of the other cards already! Thanks for the challenge.

Little Row of Houses

I am a bit of a fan of colour challenges as I find they really focus the mind (and my mind needs a lot of focus these days -too much time wasted I fear!) Last week I found the Colour Throwdown challenge and I'm back for another go with these fantastic colours. I think the photo also inspired me to think about home/houses.

I used aTim Holtz die cut which has only had one outing before today.  It's a sweet row of little houses, just perfect for paper piecing with various colours.

I sponged the card blank with Luck Limeade ink and cut the base row of houses from the same colour cardstock. I added some houses, 2 in Marina Mist, 1 in Pacific Point, and 2 in the So Saffron, adding two stick on brads and some punched flowers.  The sentiment is from a freebie magazine set, which is quite old now. Want a closer look?

I don't use this long, thin card format very often, but I think it goes with this die cut very well.  I will be showing you another 'long thin one' later in the week!

Tilted Christmas

It's another Christmas card from me for today's challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches. It's the turn of the sketch this week and Karen has devised a deliciously simple one for us, which I must admit had me stumped for a while.  See what you think

It's so clean and simple, just the two tilted panels. Actually, I'm very happy with the outcome once I got ver my initial block

I knew I wanted to use the blue glittery washi tape (another Walmart bargain!) so I started with that.  I could have left the blue card plain, but decided to stamp and heat emboss the snowflakes instead. The embossing folder is fro Tim Holtz.  Just a few gems here and there and it was actually finished quite quickly.
Have a look at the other cards from my DT friends, there's lots of different ideas and I do hope that you give this sketch a go.  Happy crafting!

New Home

Another first, this time the first new house card I've made, prompted by next door being up for sale, so I guess we will be getting new neighbours shortly and saying goodbye to the 'old' ones! This is also for the colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches wherewe have the combination of Real Red, Soft Suede and River Rock .If you don't have the exact Stampin' Up colours use the nearest to these;

I used a Tim Holtz die cut, in the three shades and then paper pieced them together to make the row of houses. The letters are chipboard, coloured with Soft Suede, and I've added two red brads,

I like the very modern feel of the large lettering and the little row of houses are so sweet. I hope I am just in time to squeeze this card into the challenge at Cas-ual Fridays, where they are asking for projects with chipboard.

Traditional and not so Traditional

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The new stamp set I have just got my hands on from SU after my party last week lends itself to the traditional Christmas card and this particular design has been in my mind since I saw the set in the Ideas Book.  I love green and red as a Christmas combo and what can be more traditional than Christmas stockings.  I have popped up  one to add dimension and there are three little brads to act as pins.  The sentiment is from Sassy Salutations This is my card for St Luke's Charity Challenge -the final challenge. Sadly the challenge is ending but I've loved doing every one and sending some of my cards in to be sold to raise well deserved and much needed funds

Using the same stamp I them went for a more contemporary Christmas, this time for the Less Is More challenge.  It's a colour challenge this week and the colour is ....pink! I think many people will think of birthdays and flowers but I wanted to be a little bit different and so I thought'Christmas' and 'stocking' and here's my card

I used a white card blank and stamped the  stocking from SUs Open Sleigh set.  I stamped it again on some textured white, (can you see the texture in this photo?) and cut it out, popping it up with dimensionals.

 A small bit of matching pink bling acts as the pin to hold it up. I embossed the Christmas words using a Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder.  There lots of lovely white space on this card and with that little touch of pink I think it is probably more LIM than CAS.  Hope you like it!