Card Lovers Hop 2020 - Card #3

 

It's the final day of Janis's 2020 Cat Lovers Hop and I'm sure you've all enjoyed it as much as I have! Thank you so much, Janis, I love all the fun and feline frolics that you inspire each year!

My kitty card for today is a remake of one I made a year ago. I've made this for my friend Jill who loves both cats and the colour turquoise. I know she'll love this Katzelkraft cat, even though he's not as cute as her cats ginger, smush-faced Rupert and smokey Bill.

The sun is shining this afternoon here in the UK, so I think I'll take a short walk and then be back in time to see if Boris is going to put the country into Lockdown again. Stay safe, peeps. 

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #172 - X is for fauX

 

We're playing X is for fauX for the next two weeks at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers and I've gone with a faux metallic look for my card.

Yes, my embossing folder fixation continues unabated, but can you blame me with a folder as gorgeous as this one??? It's a 6cm x 6cm folder from Crafters Companion called Reindeer Parade from their Nordic Christmas Range and the little die cut at the centre is from Simon Says Stamp.

I used Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Polish to get the metallic finish and found it quite easy to work with  once I adopted a less is more approach! 

The sistahs have created some fabulous cards, so please head over and join the fun!

Cat Lovers Hop 2020 - Card #2

 

I'm back again with my second card for Janis's Cat Lovers Hop! 

This was another simple and quick card. I like to have a few of these on hand as they can be sent as they are or have a little extra work done to suit the occasion. 

The kitty if from Jane's Doodles set Cats and the sentiment is from Smile.

I'm hoping to squeeze in one more card before the end of the hop as I LOVE making cat cards.

Happy crafting!

Cat Lovers Hop 2020

 

It's Cat Lovers Hop time and once again Janis has worked her magic with a raft of fabulous sponsors and heaps of fun on offer over at her blog! Thank you, Janis, you are amazing!

I'm planning to play more than once, so hopefully this is card #1 for the hop!

Don't you just love the expression on this kitty's face? He's from AALL and Create, but I don't think he's currently available. 

I've made this card for a male friend, so left in fairly plain and simple.

Have a happy day!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #41 - Festive Florals

This year is certainly flying by and I can't believe we've reached Challenge #41 at Christmas Kickstart.

We're in great company as we welcome our new elf, Arlene Rose, to provide the inspiration for our challenge. 

Our theme is Festive Florals, and I have to admit that I thought I'd feel waaaaaay out of my comfort zone for this one. I rarely use floral images as I'm not great at colouring the flowers and foliage, or designing an attractive layout. However, I got around this problem with this gorgeous stamp set from Mama Elephant called Pine and Posy.

A little gold embossing, an embossing folder and a sweet die cut = job done!

My second card also features images from the same set. 

Do you like the subtle embossed background? I made a DIY embossing folder from cardboard to achieve the look I wanted.

As always, Rudolph has been shopping and has got a lovely prize for this challenge: 

Remember, everyone who enters goes 'into the hat' for Rudolph's Random Raffle, so why not come and join the fun!

Seize the Birthday!

 

I noticed that Challenge #202 at Seize the Birthday has 'Texture' as the toppings! 

Since joining forces with Gail to start our new venture (Let's Squash It!), I'm all about the texture you get from embossing folders and knew I wanted to play along.

I created a base by embossing plain, white card with Distressed Lines by Creative Expression and then stencilled a small background panel in Victorian Velvet Distress Ink. I love this stencil from MFT (Moroccan Mosaics) and have to stop myself using it on everything I make. The image is Cup of Java from Penny Black. 

Thanks for dropping by!

The Squirrels are Coming...

It's been a day of sunshine and showers here in the UK. I made use of the extra hour to do a few jobs and then settled down for as little crafting.

There were two challenges I wanted to enter:

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #431 - Happy Fall Y'All

and

Lost Coast Portal To Creativity - Furry Friends Challenge

Here's what I made:

Can you tell I had heaps of fun creating this little piece of lovely, whimsical nonsense? 

I used Basic Grey/Hero Arts Cling stamp Graphic Leaves and Distress Inks to create an Autumnal background, then fussy cut the squirrels and acorns from Bear Hugs (Jane's Doodles) and added the sentiment from Riley & Co. Funny Bones. You'll have to trust me that the gold embossing looks lovely IRL! 

Have a good Sunday!

A Pink Pig in a Cosy Sweater!

Hi there, happy Sunday!

I'm playing along at two fun challenges with today's card: 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and Jingle Belles: I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas.

Isn't this little pig from Art Specially just adorable? He was so much fun to colour and fussy cut.

Have a safe and crafty day.

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #171 - H is for Pink Halloween

Don't you just love our spooky Edna? Another fabooooless graphic heralds a new challenge from The Sisterhood. 

It's October, and on our calendars that's always a month circled in pink by the sistahs as we put out our annual reminder about Breast Cancer Awareness.

Remember, girls, YOU are very precious and special and should look after yourselves with as much care as you look after the people you love.

Here's what I made for the challenge:

Don't you just love this little crew of trolls? Clearly Besotted outdid themselves with this stamp set! (Psssst, it's currently on sale here in the UK.)

I'm also linking this to The Lost Coast where they are celebrating a whole 31 Days of Halloween. The inspiration over there is amazing and well worth a look! 

Back at The Sisterhood all our cards are 'in the pink' for our challenge and we'd like yours to be too, so please head on over and join the fun as you'll love what the spooky sistahs have created.

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #40 - Pink Christmas

I can't quite believe that we've reached a milestone over at Christmas Kickstart: Challenge #40. 

I'm just so grateful to everyone who plays along and makes it so much fun.

We have a new elf and I'm delighted to say it's the very talented cardmaker and cross-stitcher: Pops Moffat! 

We've decided to offer a picture challenge for our theme and would like you to use either or both photographs for your inspiration for:

Challenge #40 - Pink Christmas

You'll love what Pops has created for the challenge, so please head on over and take a look.

Here are my cards:

I've had the idea for this card in my head for ages as I love this sweet duo from Simon Says Stamp.

My next card is a remake of one from Challenge #38 where the theme was White on White and the lovely Linda was our elf.

This card looks lovely IRL, but I can see some touching-up is required on the gold embossing - isn't it funny how the camera never misses a thing! Luckily, I've got a lovely gold gel pen that should do the trick.

I'm going to link-up over at Jingle Belles where Stef and Lauren are also Dreaming of a Pink Christmas!

Pink is a great colour, but we're all about pink because of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Check those boobies, ladies.

The adorable Rudolph is In Dah House again at Christmas Kickstart with another lovely Random Raffle prize:

Cute, huh? To be in with a chance to win this sweet prize please come and play along! Psssst, you can enter up to THREE times.

Let's Squash It! - Challenge #1

Hi crafty peeps, there's a brand new challenge in town and it's all about using your embossing folders!

So, I had a message from my partner in craft, Gail, suggesting that we start a challenge blog all about embossing folders. I had a little think and realised I don't have that many embossing folders as I'm not sure how to use them. On the other hand, Gail, it turns out has a huge collection and a possible embossing folder addiction. A new challenge was born!

For our first theme Gail has chosen:

Obviously, you can use a bulldozer, but I prefer my noble and rather ancient Cuttlebug. I recommend the use of any well known brand of die cutting and embossing machine rather than heavy construction equipment, large mallets or tucking your embossing folder under the mattress when taking part in this challenge!

Here's my first card for our new venture:

The silver panel actually looks really pretty, but looks darker in the photograph. The folder is by We R Memory Keepers and is available here. The card was very simple to assemble as I was lucky enough to have a small piece of silver metallic cardstock. If you haven't got any metallic card, you can take a look at Gail's Masterclass for turning kitchen foil into a shimmery, metallic background.

My second card is probably not quite what Gail meant when she asked for Geometric and Metallic, but I couldn't resist using up some pretty scraps that I had. 

The cardstock is a little piece of gorgeous Bazzil Basics turquoise and the silver mirror card is left over from card#1. I'm loving the Echo Park Quilted Star embossing folder as a background for the Simon Says Stamp Sending Words and Smiles die cut.

I'm going to link-up this little card over at Seize the Birthday as Challenge #201 has scraps as a topping and my pal Lindsey is the hostess!

We're all about fun at Let's Squash It!, so please expect tips, hints and a little bit of craziness as we embark on our embossing folder journey! The challenge will launch on the 10th of each month and run until the final day of that same month. There will be prizes, top picks and guests - so please hurry over and join the embossing folder fun!

We're gonna have us an embossing folder par-tey.

Jolly the elf!

It's a rainy old day today, so I decided to make a card to pass the time. I found this cute little Stamping Bella elf and couldn't resist playing along at Christmas Kickstart as we need a few additional entries!

Jolly the elf has a lovely cup of Hot Chocolate and looks very pleased about it too!

It's an Anything Goes challenge over at Crimbo Crackers, so I'm linking-up there.

There's still time to join the fun at Christmas Kickstart for this challenge and there's a sweet prize on offer too, so why not come and play along?

Stay safe, and happy crafting everyone.

Getting my Tag On with The ModSquad

The ModSquad are inviting us to 'Get Your Tag On!' for their current challenge, so who am I to refuse?

My good crafting buddy Gail has provided the inspiration for this this challenge, and I loved that she used blue for her card, so I followed suit for my make.

The sentiment and images are all from Waffle Flower. I even dyed the lace and ribbon (and myself) with the same blue Versafine ink.

Have a happy day, crafters, and keep safe.

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #170 - C is for Chalkboard

Greeting Snarkfans, it's a wet and gloomy morning here in the UK - I'll be crafting with the lights on today and no mistake!

We're all about chalkboard today at the Sisterhood. This isn't a technique I'd tried before and I have to be honest I wasn't sure about how to do chalkboard. A little Googling and I felt ready to make an attempt!

This is actually my second card as I wasn't overly happy with my first make:

I love this sweet little set from My Favorite Things. 

Here's my first attempt:

The Sistahs tell me it's fine, but I'm just not sure. That's a great stamp from AALL and Create, but maybe it was better before the butterflies landed? 

The Sisterhood have created some fabulous and hilarious cards for this theme, so if you want to see how it SHOULD be done, you need to head here.