Reminder Time at Christmas Kickstart Challenge

It's Reminder time at Christmas Kickstart and we're playing with a fun theme...

Our elfin inspiration for this month comes from the very lovely Gail over at Crafty Nomad.

Here's what Gail made for the challenge:

I just love this card and MUST add that fun image to My Wish List. I like that Gail made a shaped card and I admire her positioning of the snowman/cat combo, which is perfect inside the double frame.

I don't have too many shaped-dies, but I wanted to make my Inspired by... card a shaped card, so here's the result!

I tried to capture the double-border of Gail's card by using Distress Inks and layering to get a similar effect. I wasn't going to add a sentiment, but my gnome looked lonely without one.

The stamp is from Two Jays Stamp Company and is called Gnomes. The sentiment is from Merry Gnomes by Janes Doodles. I'm linking my gnome to the very talented Die Cut Divas as their current theme is shaped cards. 

I used the same stamp combo for this card:

Just gotta love a ginger gnome!

Rudolph has done us proud with a gorgeous little stamp set as his Random Challenge Prize for August. 

There are currently #35 gorgeous cards in our gallery for this challenge - Christmas cardmaking has begun big time across Cardland, so why not join the fun and come play along!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #23 - Don't Be So Square

There's a fun new challenge over at Let's Squash It! where we're asking you join us in making shaped cards as we play...

Gail and I are joined by our July Empress, Emma from Trenouths Crafty Creations and I know you'll love the card she's made for this challenge.

I knew I wanted to make a star shaped card, but unfortunately my star dies are very small. However, I'm quite pleased with the end result even if it is tiny!

I decided to emboss the MFT patterned paper using a new to me EF from Cuttlebug and Kirsty Allsop called Swiggles. I don't think it's available anymore, which is a pity as it's really sweet. The sentiment is from Beary Special Birthday by MFT and the little chef is from a magazine freebie called Here Come the Girls. 

I'm going to link up at Die Cut Divas who are also playing shaped cards. Such gorgeous cards from the DT - go take a look!

Emma and Gail have created two beautiful cards for this challenge, which I know you'll want to see, so don't be square and come and play along!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - L is for Lindsey

As many of you will now know the Sisterhood are missing a very special lady as our dear friend Lindsey passed away towards the end of last month. We're struggling to come to terms with her loss and our hearts go out to Lindsey's husband, Burke, and to her family and friends as they miss her too.

In tribute to Lindsey the Sisterhood have created some beautiful cards, inspired by things that she loved, and also by the colour palette she'd chosen for a Color Hues Challenge. The Color Hues gals have been joined by Lindsey's teamies from Seize the Birthday for their own special challenge.

Lindsey was so loved by the stamping community and over the years graced many teams with her creativity, wit and warmth. I first got to know her when we rocked-up as newbies on the Naughty or Nice Challenges team in 2016. After a few months we were running the challenge together and emailing frequently.

Before taking very early retirement, Lindsey was a school librarian. In 2016 I was working as a librarian in a primary school and we quickly bonded over having experienced many of the same ups and downs in our careers. We also shared a love of books and often passed recommendations to one another. Our cats Duncan and Custard also chatted about their love of laps and warm blankets! 

Making this card has not been easy, however I knew which set I wanted to use quite quickly. Lindsey loved a glass of wine and a cheeky cocktail or two and so this idea came together.

The stamps are from Martini Time from MFT and the background was created with a cute Funky Fossil stencil.

When I was stamping the card I couldn't decide whether to put the sentiment directly on the card or raise it up on a banner. I decided to stamp it directly onto the background and then, if it didn't look right (I had a hunch it wouldn't) I could 'hide' it under a die cut banner. This is what happened when I stamped onto the card...

Somehow, I missed the 'i' off martini. 

Lindsey, would have enjoyed this and we'd have had a good chuckle over the error. 

Thank you for being my friend, Lindsey, and please know that you will always be the vodka to my martin.

Card Chain Challenge Reveal - July 2022

 

It's Reveal time again over at The Card Chain Challenge.

For this month we had 26 lovely participants who traded cards across the globe.

 

All the cards exchanged this month used at least one of the following options:

Colour Palette Option

(Exact matching is not required.)

(We thought we'd capitalise on the end of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee and July 4th Celebrations in the USA.)

Sketch Option

 

 

(Orient as desired.)

Theme Options: Birds / Wheels / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Something a friend sent you / Stitches

Joanne in Connecticut was my sender and just look at what I received! What a great way to use the colour combo.

 

I sent this card to Tina in Slovenia.  

I can't give you too many details about this make as the bird stamp was bought second hand and in unnamed packaging, and the friend die-cut came from another crafter. I'm pretty sure the bird is from Simply Graphic, but I can't get the site to open up properly today to share a product link. I loved creating the background with a single stack of birds just repeated across the card. 

If you'd like to join in the fun why not sign up for the Card Chain Challenge???  All sign ups run in advance, from the 7th of the preceding month to the 6th of the exchange month. You make and send a card and receive a beautiful card from the person ahead of you in the chain. Be warned, it's addictive! 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #65 - Never in a Nativity

 

I'm delighted to be joined again at Christmas Kickstart by my crafting partner in crime Gail from Craftynomad.

Our theme this month (chosen by Gail) is:

Challenge #65 - Never in a Nativity 

We'd like to see Christmassy things that you wouldn't find in a Nativity Scene such as reindeer, pine trees, elves, Santa, snowflakes, trolls, penguins, aliens....

Feel free to interpret this one however you like - if things get a little quirky, all the better!

I made this card featuring a little penguin in his woolly pully - unlikely to appear at a Nativity. I love this cute little guy from Jane's Doodles in his little Simon Says Stamp frame. 

My second card features another critter in a Christmas jumper. 

I've used Hero Arts products on this one which I think are no longer available.

Rudolph is on the blog with a stamp from Woodware - what a fun prize for his Random Raffle!

 

Gail and I very much hope you'll come and play along with our challenge.

Let's Squash It! Challenge #22 - Keep it CAS

 

It's the final call over at Let's squash It! for our CAS Challenge. Even though I'm still on the Covid sick list I felt well enough to do a little cardmaking this morning and this was the result.

I really do love the EF I used for this card: Distressed Lines by Creative Expressions which I combined with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp and a watercolour background and some cute shapes from my scraps box.

There's still a week left to play along in this challenge, and Gail, our lovely guest Carol and I hope all you'll come and join the fun.