Purple note

And so it's back to work again. Sigh. I wish weekends could last forever. One day I hope I will be able to work part time. How wonderful would that be? Much more time in the crafting room...

Today's card is inspired by the Colour Me...! challenge and the sketch over at My Favourite Things. I'm also linking up at the Dragonfly Dreams challenge where the theme is to use your favourite colour (I guess you can figure out my favourite from the card, hehe), That Craftplace where the theme is monochromatic and Inkspirational Challenges where the theme is "Note".

I had a great time making the ombre watercolour background for the journal card, which I die cut with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling card die. I stamped the feathers in Versamark and heat embossed in white. To finish off the sentiment, I added a big piece of bling.

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card Purple Grape and Lilac, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper

Stamps: Stampin' Up Four Feathers, Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Dusty Concord

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card die, Art Deco adhesive gems

Love Ya

This card is for all of you. All you wonderful people who visit my blog. We just passed 10,000 views the other day, all in less than a year!! So thank you for visiting, and I hope you will come back again. Make yourself at home, and don't be a stranger, feel free toleave a comment to let me know you passed by. I will try my best to repay the favour. Or just hang around, no need to talk if you don't want to. I'm happy to make you a cup of tea, or coffee. Maybe something chocolate-y to go with that?

This card was inspired by the current Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketch. I'm also entering over at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is Old and New as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where the theme is Something New. My old is the red card stock and the stamps, whereas the new is the black and white digi papers. I haven't used digi papers before, but I realised I don't have any black and white crafting papers, so I had to turn to the interwebs for them.

Card: Stampin' Up Real Red, Coloured 240 gsm kraft card black, Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum

Stamps: Stampin' Up Just Sayin', Gorgeous Grunge

Ink: Stampin' Up Real Red, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Papers: Digipapers from http://freescrapbookingsupplies.blogspot.de/ and http://meinlilapark.blogspot.ch/

Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Stampin' Up Basic Pearls

Happy Birthday sprinkles

Wow it's been a bit windy around here. The howling wind woke me up several times. And we are only experiencing fractions of the wind speeds up north. I can't even imagine what it must be like. I'm hoping everyone is all right up there while I'm warm and cosy in my craft room.

This card is inspired by the photo over at Fusion Card Challenges as well as the photo at Cure for the Monday Blues. I was inspired by the chalkboard look in the fusion photo, the pink and gold as well as the birthday theme. The Cure for the Monday Blues photo inspired me with it's cupcake theme and the star shaped sprinkles. The layout was inspired by the sketch over at CAS(E) this sketch. I'm also linking up at Stampin' Royalty where the theme is birthday and at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is something new (this is my first ever shaker card).

I was inspired by Taheerah's beautiful shaker card over at Cure for the Monday Blues. I have never made a shaker card before, so I thought this was the perfect time to try. I started by stamping the Tim Holtz cupcake stamp in Versamark and heat embossed using white powder. I added some pink, yellow and orange Tim Holtz stickles to the image. Then I made the shaker from two layers of heavy cardstock and attached a clear window that I cut from a leftover piece of a chocolate egg box. I covered the frame with some bright pink cardstock which I heat embossed using Holographic embossing powder. I filled the shaker with gold sequins and die cut stars in bright colours. For the final touch I die cut a star from mirri card.

Card: Leonardo stationery 300 gsm cardstock, Stampin' Up Blushing Bride, coloured 240 gsm kraft card Pink Raspberry, Black, leftover scraps of coloured cardstock for die cutting, mirri card

Stamps: Tim Holtz Birthday Blueprint

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark

Other: Papermania embossing powder Seafoam White and Holographic, gold sequins from my stash, Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling card die, Xcut star dies, Tim Holtz distress stickles Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmelade

Sympathy card

I made this sympathy card a while ago, but I thought it's appropriate to publish now as it's quite wintery - those intricate flowers almost look like snowflake, don't they?

I don't usually stock sympathy cards, they just seem too depressing. But then all of a sudden you need one right then and there... This card is very quick and simple to create, just some kraft cardstock with white, heat embossed florals from Stampin' Up Mixed Bunch. I printed the sentiment onto vellum, and matted everything onto black cardstock. With a different colour choice for the sentiment and matting cardstock, this could almost be a Christmas card or wintery birthday card as well.

I'm entering the card in the following challenges:
CCEE Stampers - Sympathy card
ABC Challenge - A is for Anything Goes
Card and Scrap - Use a stamp
LadyBug Crafts - Say it with flowers
Clear it Out - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Keep it Simple

Card: Leonardo Stationery 300 gsm white card, coloured 240 gsm kraft card black, kraft card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Mixed bunch
Inks: Tsukineko Versamark
Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder

Rocky and Bullwinkle

I was going to post this yesterday but life interfered. I left work really early to have some crafting time but there was a massive accident on the A14, and I had to make my way home by alternative routes, which of course were totally blocked up. In the end it took me an hour and a half instead of 35 minutes to get home. Sigh. So I didn't quite manage to finish the card yesterday. But it's all done and dusted now, and that's all that matters.

The day after I published my wintery Lawn Fawn card, the Lawnscaping challenge published the inspiration photo below. I immediately wanted to create something similar for the challenge using the photo, so I played some more with the lovely Critters in the Arctic and Joy to the Woods stamp sets. I'm also entering the card over at Daring Cardmakers where the challenge is to be inspired by another card you have made and over at STAMPlorations where the January challenge theme is Stamps and Inks. Last but not least I'm linking up at Love to Create where Anything goes.

I started by stamping and colouring Moose, Squirrel and their Robin friend. I die cut them, and the snowy hills and the journalling card. I used Versamark to ink the snowy hills and added Holographic embossing powder to them. It doesn't show very well on the photo but it's really nice and sparkly. I stamped snowflakes onto the background using Versamark and embossed them using holographic embossing powder, before inking with distress ink. For the background, I used the hardwood stamp and then embossed the sentiment in white.

Card: Hobbycraft 160 gsm cream card, kraft card

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods, Critters in the Arctic, Stampin' Up Hardwood

Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders, Joy to the Woods, Critters in the Arctic, Stitched Journaling Card

Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress inks Chipped Sapphire, Broken China, Dusty Concord, Stampin' Up Crumb Cake

Colouring: Copics E09, E29, E34, E39, R24, R46

Other: Papermania Holographic embossing powder

Holly Jolly Challenge - Out of this world

Is it just me, or does that Santa remind you of the
 gun-crazy alien Santas in Doctor Who?

So we just made it through Christmas and New Year. Any sane person would lay off the Christmas crafting for a while, right? Wrong!! You have just endured the craziness of Christmas, and it did get hectic again this year, despite your best intentions. So why not make it a little bit easier on you this year, and start with your Christmas cards super early? Come on, it's just one little card!!

The first Holly Jolly Christmas challenge of 2015 kicks off today. You have two weeks to link up with us, and our theme this time is Ornaments. Remember, it doesn't have to be a card, it could be a Christmas ornament or any other inspiration you get from the word ornament. We have plenty of sponsors for our first challenge, which of course means plenty of great prizes to be won too. Our sponsors this round are Bugaboo Digi Stamps, Eureka Stamps, Dr Digi's House of Stamps and Stamp and Create.

I love the quirky images over at Dr Digi. Seems like the digi stamp world is saturated with cute girls with huge eyes, and that really isn't my style. But I absolutely adore this Merry Alien from Dr Digi, giving me a chance to make a very different Christmas card. Pop over to see what other fun images they have on offer. I made the background using my much beloved galaxy technique. It's always fun to dig out the acrylics and get messy. I have linked to some instruction videos in my post here. I coloured the alien using Copics, and made the orb in his hand into a earth christmas ornament. I wrote part of the sentiment using a white gel pen, and die cut the word "earth". To finish off, I added some adhesive gems to make stars in the sky. I also printed a sentiment inside the cards, and added another Merry Alien. This card was so much fun to make, maybe I'll make all my Christmas cards out of this world this year!

I'm linking up with the following challenges:

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - Y is for Yucky (although I personally think the little merry alien is rather cute, but in theory someone could think grey aliens are yucky. Maybe that's good enough for the Sisters?)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes 

Sparkles Christmas Challenges - A Christmas Critter with a Splash of Glitter (An alien is a critter of kinds, right?)

Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Goes

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes 

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card Black, Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Daler&Rowney watercolour 300 gsm paper
Stamps: Dr Digi X files X Mas digi stamp
Colouring: Copics C1, C3, C5, R24, R46, YG11, Stampin' Write markers Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Signo White Gel Pen
Other: Red and white bakes twine from my stash, Ice Stickles Crystal Ice and Mint Ice, Stampin' Up Basic Rhinestones

Light winter

Sunday is my crafting time. I love getting into my craft room first thing in the morning. Usually it's been cleaned during the weekend so it's a clean table and a clean slate. I am all for a creative mess but sometimes you need to clean everything out to clear your mind and get creative again. 

This card was brewing in my mind for a few days after I saw several inspirational challenges. Then it all came out today in one go. Quick and easy, and I think it turned out really nice. The card was heavily inspired by the Winter Wonder image over at Curtain Call and the cue card over at CASology, which was Light. The snowflake ornament was inspired by the image over at the Friday Mashup where the challenge is to use a snowflake or create a winter theme card, or both. I loosely used the sketch over at Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I'm also linking up over at Just us Girls where the theme is Winter and Frosted Designs where the theme is "White as a snowflake".

I started by die cutting the snow using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside borders and cut the whole scene using the Stitched Journaling Card. Then I stamped and die cut the tree from the Joy to the Woods set. The bunny from the Critters in the Arctic was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white, as was the bird from Joy to the Woods. The sky looked a bit empty so I stamped a few snow flakes and heat embossed in glittery embossing powder. They don't show very well in the main picture, they show a bit better in the picture below. I stamped the sentiment from the Stampin' Up set Good Greetings. I used watercolour paper for the card base, as my white cardstock seemed too white, and cream cardstock made it all look too bland. I do love the texture of the watercolour paper, it adds a really great extra touch.

I created the snowflake ornament by die cutting all the snowflakes using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes die. I heat embossed each snowflake using a clear, glittery embossing powder. I assembled the snowflake flower using glue dots, and added a pearl to the centre.

Card: Daler & Rowney 300 gsm watercolour paper, Hobbycraft 160 gsm cream card, coloured 240 gsm kraft card beige
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Joy to the Woods, Critters in the Arctic, Stampin' Up Good Greetings
Ink: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Tsukineko Versamark
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes, Stitched Journaling Card, Stitched Hillside Borders, Joy to the Woods, Critters in the Arctic
Other: Papermania embossing powder white and holographic, Stampin' Up basic pearls