Just For You

Hello, I realise that I have been absent in blogland for several weeks, but I am glad to report that I have finally got some time back and am able to return. My husband managed to break his elbow before Christmas, which was very traumatic for us both and meant I had to step up to the challenge of supporting him and taking on all his household chores. I have to say that it has definitely made me appreciate just how much he does, and it has also made me admire people who live on their own even more. Thankfully he is now on the mend and I am getting a bit more time for my hobby again. I hope to be able to visit you all more now too.

I recently found a number of foiled pieces that hadn't been made into cards, so decided to put that right. Here are 2 of them. This little basket of flowers is a hotfoil stamp by Couture Creations. After foiling I cut it out with a circle die and matted it onto a circle of metallic card. The white panel was diecut and embossed with a stitched square die. The sentiment, by Uniko, is stamped and clear heat embossed.

You can see the shine on the picture below:

The second card is made in exactly the same way, but I didn't have a piece of the blue glittery card big enough for a full mat so I just placed strips at the edge. I think it works.

I am sharing the first card at:

CAS on Friday #326 - Monochrome

I am sharing the second card at:

Inkspirational challenge 359 - shades of blue

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

Card Chain Challenge December Reveal

Happy New Year, it will take me a while to get used to it being 2026, but as today is 2nd of January it is time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month (December) 20 card makers took part and I sent my card to Patricia in Texas. I signed up behind Patricia when I realised she has sent to me twice and I have never sent a card to her. Time to change that.

Our options this month were to use something NBUS, our 3 favourite colours and an animal, flower or fruit. I decided to get my December card made early and as luck would have it, I had just taken delivery of several dies and stamps from The Greetery.

Here is my card:

My favourite colour is green, so I have included various shades and also a touch of red and gold, just to help the green shine!

In order to soften the glare of the white card in the middle, I created a mask with one of the smaller dies from the set and lightly inked the area with wintergreen ink by Catherine Pooler. I then used an ALL & Create stencil to add some interest. The flower die is a paperwhite and the Greetings die is by A Pocket Full of Happiness. I cut the filigree border and the flower centres from mat gold card. I used the stencil to decorate the insert and the envelope. I also have the bitty holiday botanicals stamp and stencil set, so I was able to add a small paperwhite to the insert.

I was pleased with this one. I hope Patricia was too. It did take it's time to find Pat in Texas, but I am pleased to say that it arrived before the end of the month, although not in time for Christmas.

I was very lucky to receive this gorgeous card from Daja in Germany. My picture doesn't do it justice as it is an easel card and has some lovely shine on it. She also very generously enclosed some little gifts. Thanks Daja.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here.

Life has been chaotic here recently so my time in blogland has been severely restricted. I hope that will change soon.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

Craftlandia 25

Today is the 22nd of December so time for the final Craftlandia Challenge of the year. It is also my final challenge as a member of the design team. I am finding it hard to believe that I joined the team 2 years ago. Doesn't time fly?

This time our theme is:

SNOWFLAKES

and our sponsor is:

Conjurer Of Dreams

Prize: 4 sets of your choice

That is a very easy theme for this time of year, so I hope you can find time to join us. I suspect that most of the Christmas preparations are done now, so plenty of time!

I thought these snowflake images were so wonderful that I didn't want to cover them up, hence my simple design. I printed the image onto glossy photo paper and then found 2 matching colours from my supply of Adorable Scorable coated card from Hunky Dory. I die cut a strip of the same card as the base and heat embossed the sentiment (Uniko) in white. I have used a snowflake stencil by Clarity for the insert and the envelope. I made it larger than my normal cards, just to help showcase the snowflakes. It is 7x5.

I liked the images we were given so much that I made another card from a second image. I made it in exactly the same way but heat embossed the sentiment directly onto the panel this time.

You can see that the card is glossy on the upright photos as there are reflections showing.

You can find all the details and the linky over on Mia's blog here.

I have enjoyed being part of the Craftlandia family for the last couple of years. It has helped me get out of my comfort zone and use digital images more. Guess what? They really aren't as scary as I thought they would be! Thanks Mia.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping December Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder for the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where we love to see you using your stamps. 

Anesha has chosen our theme again this month:

**Red and Green**

OR

**Anything Goes**

Sadly this is my last post as a member of the We Love Stamping Design Team. After more than 4 years, I have decided that it is time to step back to give myself more time to explore other things. I shall still be making cards of course, but not as a member of a design team. I hope that it means I shall have more opportunity to take part in different challenges. It has been just a great journey and a lovely team to work with. Thanks Brenda for all your support and work in keeping the challenge going.

 

Back in the summer I bought a stamp, die and stencil set from The Greetery called bitty botanicals, well, they brought out another set called bitty holiday botanicals and I liked the original set so much I bought the Christmas one too. You can find the cards I made with the first set I bought here.

I used Catherine Pooler deck the halls dark green ink to stamp the little plants and cranberry fizz ink to stencil in the flowers and berries. I then used one of the stencils to add a little bit of colour to the background using melon ice ink. It is a lovely yellow/green colour. The triangular leaf pattern is created with a die. I used some pale green faux glitter paper, but unfortunately the photos don't show the glittery element. The tiny red flowers on the intersections are part of the die set and were cut with a red mat metallic paper. The sentiment is from a stamp set by Heffy Doodle. You can see on the insert that I have used the stencil that matches the die to add the border leaf decoration.

I did really enjoy making this and used the set again to make batches of Christmas cards. I also have the die that cuts out the individual little plants and here is a card I made using it. As you can see, I also used the cut out bits from the die. If you look carefully you can see the glitter effect on the paper.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month there are is  a stamp and die from Visible Image, plus a surprise second prize of an A4 stamp set. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose a top three for special mention.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is ensure stamping (including digi) is seen somewhere on your card front, it no longer needs to be the main focus. Please also mention the products used. It would be great if you could join in with our theme, but anythings goes is always an option if you are out of ideas. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 31st December.

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I am not sure if I will be able to post again before the New Year as there are a few challenges happening in my life at the moment. I know you will understand as we all go through challenging times.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

Mica Powder and Stencils

Hello

I am just popping in quickly with a couple of stencilled cards. I bought this set of stencils by Uniko recently and have been meaning to use them. So when I saw that the group of cardmakers were using mica powders with stencils, I thought I would give it a go as I haven't used my perfect pearls for a very long time.

I made 2 cards in 2 colourways. I hope you like them.

Using Catherine Pooler inks in spruce, polished and seafoam with silver perfect pearls added over the seafoam ink. You can see the shine in the standing photo.

This rime I used seafoam, rose petals and shea butter, with gold perfect pearls over the shea butter. See the shine below. The tiny heart covers up an ink spot! I was pleased with the colour match.

I am way behind with my cards. I still have around 20 to make and that's despite the fact that I am not sending so many this year.

I am sharing these at:

Christmas Kickstarter #105 - if it's Christmassy link it up. Card 1

Stencil Fun December Challenge - Winter related. Card 2

Group of Cardmakers - Stencilling with mica powders. Card 2

Addicted to Stamps & More - Christmas Card 1

Inkspirationa Challenge #356 - Use Stencils. Card 2

NBUS #81 - The stencils are NBUS

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.