The Last Christmas card, 2014

Oh please let it be the last ....... LOL.
This was for my work colleague, she loves pink and purple and so her card features this colour scheme.  I gave all the office cards out on Friday and she loved it :-)

I used the snowflakes from Visible Image again, masking off the purple and slightly overlapping the pink.  Then I die-cut to make a panel, using a Nestie deckled edge rectangle.  This was attached to the card and I made an interrupted frame for the sentiment.  I found some purple ribbon to match the snowflake and tied it around the whole card.  Some tiny crystals at the corners and it was finished.

I am pleased with this one, will definitely use the basic idea again, the deckled edges on the panel really set off the image.

Buy it - Try it: The Horse and the Bee

Sounds like it could be a children's story doesn't it?  LOL.  But no, these are actually the Christmas cards requested by my colleague for her daughters - if you'll recall, last year her DD2 married a man named Bee, so she wanted to give her a themed card and of course she couldn't leave out her DD1, who is into horses.  I did think it was a one-off, but she asked me if I could do another two this year:-)

This is what I came up with, first the Bee:

The hive is a Memory Box die, the holly is done with a Martha Stewart punch and the background stamp is by Phil Martin.  The sentiment is computer generated, font is MacHumaine, I die-cut it with a Dienamics banner.

Second, the Horse:

The horse is a Die-versions die, the branch and baubles are from Memory Box and I used Stik It adhesive sheet for the bauble overlays, made it so much easier!  I used a Stampin Up punch for the sentiment tag.

The baubles, branch, horse and hive are all new, so it's a BITI extravaganza today LOL.  My colleague was very pleased with them :-)

I will definitely be using the branch to hang things from again, it looks really effective.  When I first saw this die, I didn't really think it looked like anything much, but Helen over at Fiddlefart used it to such great effect, I just had to buy it!

Out of the Drawer: Last minute Anniversary card

As we were going to bed on Monday evening, DH whispered those words every wife loves to hear ......
"It's my folks' wedding anniversary this week and I need to post the card tomorrow"
He then promptly went to sleep, whilst I lay wide awake!!!  I knew I didn't have an anniversary card in my box, so was still turning over ideas in my head until I finally (much, much later!) fell asleep. 
So I got up early the next morning and in the shower, I remembered a heart die and thought it would fit on one of my previously half-prepped card bases.

This is what I came up with in the end and even managed to take a photo before DH left for work with it.

It's a double OotD really - the card base, comprising the scalloped blank, the patterned paper mat and the turquoise die-cut mat was made ages ago at a crop and stashed in the drawer.  I think the paper is from a 6" paper pad and the mat was a Marianne die.  The heart die (Robert Adams) was bought at the Make it show last year on a vague "it'll come in useful" whim, but has not been christened until now!  I have to say, it cuts beautifully. 

So, early on Tuesday morning, I embossed some cardstock with a dotty embossing folder and punched a circle to frame the heart, stuck it to the die-cut mat.  Then I die-cut the heart - after a frantic search for a suitably-coloured cardstock - and attached to the circle.  The sentiment banner is done with a Dienamics die and a peel-off, no way was I going to risk messing up stamping a sentiment!  The banner was attached to the heart and then I stuck down the flowers using Cosmic Shimmer glue, leaving about five minutes for it to set before DH was due to leave!  I only had time to take one photo, luckily it's a reasonable one :-)

I do hope they like it ...... LOL.

Buy It - Try It : Less is More challenge - Snow

I haven't entered the LIM challenge for ages, but this weeks prompt for a one layer card is anything to do with snow....... I can do that :-)  It just so happens that I have these new snowflake stamps from Visible Image, so this counts as a BITI as well.

I stamped the pink snowflake, then stamped again on scrap paper and cut it out to use as a mask.  The snowflakes were then stamped in purple and the sentiment (Stampin Up) went over everything in a much darker shade of purple.  I wanted a frame to connect the elements and was stuck for a bit as I didn't have a pen which was a dark enough purple.  Then inspiration struck and I scored a frame using my Hougie board.  It's a a little imperfect down the right hand side, but not too bad.

I should use both masking and scoring techniques more often, it always amazes me how good they look, whenever I re-discover them :-)

Buy it - Try it: Zentangle Baubles

Two BITI posts in a row!  Well, I have bought an awful lot lately :-)  Something to do with the festive season, perhaps......  This card also fits in very nicely with week 51 of the 52 cards challenge, a colour prompt.

The baubles are from Personal Impressions, I stamped and embossed in black, then coloured with Kuretake pens.  Then I cut out the baubles, attached to a holly paper matted card blank, added faux nailheads to 'hang' the baubles, and stamped the sentiment. 

I think I can use the stamp to better effect, but for a first go, it's not too shabby :-)

Buy it - Try it: White Christmas trees

During Blogtoberfest, I had a theme called Buy it Use it, but have decided to rechristen it as Buy it - Try it.  I like the sound of it better and also BITI is much easier to say than BIUI :-)

I bought this zentangle Christmas tree from Personal Impressions a few weeks ago, so it still counts as new!  I also bought some zentangle baubles at the same time, they'll be coming up soon :-)  The tree was stamped and embossed in white, then shades of red and green distress ink were applied over the embossing.  I added photo corners (Martha Stewart punch) for a bit of pop.

This is the blue version.  I have left it quite simple, just rounding two opposite corners.

I do like this technique, funny how things come around again as I remember doing it several years ago and all of a sudden it's trendy again!

I am entering the red/green card into the Craft Stamper Take it Make it challenge for December.

Pin-spiration - three layer Christmas card

So, at the time of year when I most need to craft, my mojo is steadfastly refusing to co-operate!  What else to do but search my Pinterest boards for inspiration :-)

Today's Pin-spired card has three layers, two die-cuts over patterned paper.  The original Pin is here, and this is my version of it.

I haven't done the ribbon as per the original, I don't think it needs it.  Both the sentiment and the village dies are from Memory Box and the paper is from Craft Creations.

I am very pleased with this one, I think it's one of my favourites so far this year.