The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #114 - Reindeer Games!

 

Over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge I'm so happy to be playing again with the lovely Loll from Stamping With Loll and I know you'll LOVE the card she's made to get our crafting party started.

Loll has picked such a fun theme for our September challenge...

Challenge #114 - Reindeer Games

We would like to see reindeer this month, please, and LOTS of them! 

Here's what I made:

I'm so glad I bought these little reindeer dudes from Mama Elephant as they are so, so cute. And here's my second card using the same 'sentiment' - just proves that context is everything! No points for spotting a fun Art Impressions gal against that lovely Simon Says Stamp Christmas Tree background. Sadly, both sets appear to be discontinued.

Rudolph is especially pleased with the theme this month, and is offering a fun prize for his Random Raffle!

Loll and I can't wait to see what you guys get up to when you play those Reindeer Games!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #92 - Reminder

 

We're all about Wise Men Three for this month over at Christmas Kickstart where we're joined by my partner in crafting shenanigans Gail from CraftyNomad.   

Gail created this showstopper of a card for our challenge launch. 

I was immediately reminded of stained glass windows when I first saw Gail's card. The colours and shapes made me think particularly of the glass of Coventry Cathedral. This set me thinking about stained glass and how, when I worked in a primary school, we used to decorate the windows to look like church windows. We used paint mixed with washing-up liquid to make it glossy and easier to use on glass and the smell was horrible... That's how I arrived at this card:

The Three Kings image is one I removed from a wood block. The block wasn't balanced very well and I couldn't get a good print with the image in situ. Sadly, I'm not sure of the brand as the block has gone AWOL. I went bold and bright for the colours just like Gail did on her card.

My second card continues the theme of Christmas in a primary school as I used these delightful images by AI called Jingle Tots Nativity Set. I think I snaffled the last set of these cuties (and at a lower price too!), but you can still buy them as individual wood blocks here. 

Working with these images again took me back to my days in Education, and The Nativity play which was put on each year with the youngest children in the school taking the parts. The 'scenery' is a die cut from MFT Little Town of Bethlehem. I'm also sharing this card over at Die Cut Divas (Thanks for the 'nudge', Linda).

Rudolph is itching to give away this fun stamp set this month, so please read the Challenge Guidelines to be in with a chance to win!

Gail and I both hope you'll come and join the fun!

Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog #55 - Anything Goes

 

Hi everyone, and welcome to my very first DT outing with the fabulous crew over at The Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog.  A big thank you to blog owner Leslie for inviting me to join the fun! This is a great little challenge with a very talented DT, plus links to a heap of other challenges run by the same team. 

Every challenge is an Anything Goes Christmas Challenge and the team hosts six challenges per year, with each challenge lasting approximately six weeks.

I had great fun playing with this little hoo from AI called Beanie Hoot set. Since taking early ill-health retirement I'm tending to buy older/reduced stamps and did a little happy dance when I spotted this cute guy on sale. The papers are Carta Bella - Snow Much Fun. 

Please head on over and take a look at all of the gorgeous DT makes - there's so much festive eye candy awaiting you there!

The Sistahs are Back in Town!

Edna and the sisterhood are back from an extended break and are getting ready to be super snarky in 2024 to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

Our final challenge for 2023 is a special one, as we remember 

our much loved sistah JESSI.  

Jessi was a founding member of the sisterhood, and it was a joy to get to know her, along with the other sistahs when I joined the gang in 2016. Sadly, the world lost this creative and beautiful soul in December 2018. 

We'd love you to help us celebrate Jessi by creating a project inspired by her art. You can find some crafty inspiration on her blog HERE.

I've always liked this card Jessi made; you can find it by visiting Jessi's blog here. 

And here's my Inspired by Jessi creation. 

I haven't used Art Impressions Giant Cake Set for a while, so it was fun to get this one inked up once again. 

The Sisterhood very much hope you'll come play along and help us remember our sweet, funny and much-missed buddy, Jessi. Also, the sistahs have a new teamie... I wonder who it can be??!!

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Hocus Pocus one last time...

Hi guys, I've been having such a blast playing with the Penny Black Spooky set I bought recently on eBay. Isn't this guy so much fun! I'm so sorry I cant find a store to link to that still sells this set.

I'm going to link this little chap at the following challenges:

There's so much spooky fun on offer at LCD for the whole of October!

I don't think this little vampire will be scaring anyone at AI Challenge #362, 

but I'll link him anyway!

What a great little challenge this is! Please check out 

Challenge #12 - Anything CAT Goes or Meow-O-Ween

And another fab, feline-themed challenge - Show Us Your Pussycats

CHALLENGE #93 FURRYTHING GOES-MEOW-LOWEEN

All this and it's only Tuesday! Have a good one, Peeps!

The Cat Lovers Christmas Challenge - Day #3

 

I'm just dropping by to share this card I created for The Cat Lovers Christmas Challenge where we are remembering our dear friend Janis Woolbright.  

Our sponsor being showcased on the blog today is Art Impressions and I'm a BIG fan. It wasn't difficult to find a stamp from my collection to use for the challenge as I have quite a few in my stash!

Ever feel like you may be looking at your future self? I do love this adorable image and what a lovely Christmas morning this would be! This fun stamp comes from a set called Crazy Cat Lady and Art Impressions have kindly offered it as one of their prizes for our challenge.

I'm also linking this card to the current AI Challenge Christmas Come Early - which has been scheduled to coincide with our Cat Lovers Christmas Challenge. 

To find out all the details of how to sign up for the Cat Lovers Challenge please head to Day #1 here. Did I mention there are prizes?

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #228 - E is for Expletives

 

We're getting all sweary over at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for this fortnight.

I knew immediately the image and wording I was going to use as I've had this card in my head for a little while. I really do love this gal from the Thin Enough Set from AI Impressions. 

I do hope you'll come and play along - there may be some expletives if you don't, Ha ha! 

I'm also linking this card at Lost Coast Portal to Creativity as they are currently playing Make It Funny for Challenge #161. This is such a great challenge blog AND a fabulous store which deserves so much more attention then it seems to get, so why not head over and take a look?

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #127 - B is for Birthday

 

The Sisterhood are playing B is for Birthday for the next two weeks and we'd love you to come and play along!

I'm still enjoying playing with those rather fabulous Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz cats, but this time I paired the kitty with a sentiment from an AI set called Never Too Old Laugh Lines. 

The background is one of my Gell prints that I made a while back. 

The sistahs have created some fabulous cards, so please come and take a look!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #110 - F is for F Words

 

There's another fab challenge just starting over at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where we're playing with the letter 'F'. The choice of your 'F Word' is all yours... I went for Feline, and possibly another starting with F!

The cat image is one of the smaller stamps from this set by Art Impressions and the sentiment comes from The Ink Road. 

I've modelled the kitty on the late, great Mr. C. I really do miss my special boy.

The sisters, and our queen, have really nailed this theme so please head on over and come and join the fun!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge # 62 - Mini-Slimline

 

This month at Christmas Kickstart I'm delighted to be joined by my friend Arlene from A Bit of This and That!                             

Arlene has guested before at Christmas Kickstart and she's chosen another fun theme of 'Mini-Slimline' for us to play with!

 

You can see what Arlene made for this challenge by heading over to Christmas Kickstart by clicking here. This isn't a format I'd tried before and so Arlene kindly sent me some slimline die cuts to get me started. Thanks so much, Arlene, you're a star!

The slimline sizing was just perfect to make this simple little card using am image and sentiment from Colorado Craft Company called Christmas Tree Cat. 

For my next card I thought I'd try a landscape slimline. I'm not sure I quite nailed the design with this one, but the little mouse from Art Impressions makes me smile.

I hope you come and join Arlene and me over at Christmas Kickstart! 

Let's Squash It! Challenge #10 - Geometric and Repeating Patterns

This month we're all about Geometry and Repeating Patterns over at Let's Squash It! 

I've really enjoyed creating cards for this challenge as there's something just so satisfying about geometric designs. Looks like quite a few of you agree as we've got some gorgeous cards in the challenge gallery!

For my card I created a very quick and easy background using Distress Oxides, my Gel press and a favourite We R Memory Keepers EF. Don't you love the colours, I know I do!

 

The little kitty stack is from Art Impressions. I always enjoy colouring cats and giving them all their own individual little looks. I'm quite pleased with this little card; that oh, so simple geometric background really makes it!

Our challenge is open until April 30th and we'd love you to come and join the fun!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #206 - S is for Sister Chris and Stamplorations

For our new challenge, the Sisterhood are celebrating the sensation that is our beloved Sister Chris and her new snarky stamp sets made in collaboration with Stamplorations! Try saying that quickly, I dare you!

As you can see from our fabulous graphic, Sister Chris bears an uncanny resemblance to our mascot, Edna.

Yes, our sister has designed her first stamps sets and they are oh, soooo snarky and wonderful. The Sisterhood got to play with the sets ahead of the launch - how lucky are we! I just can't get enough of the new sayings/sentiments and would certainly pack both sets in my desert island emergency stamping kit! 

So, what have I made? 

Here's my first card. I loved this card Sister Barb created for Challenge #205 and just had to CASE it big time. I used one of the fabulous sentiments from Hot Mess to accompany this fun gal from AI and the background is one of my Gelli plate prints.

I also made this card below using another sentiment from the same set. I got the idea of using a Katzelkraft cat after seeing this card made by Sister Lindsey.

The other set that Chris has made is called Some Snark. This set has been created to accompany Retro Fashionistas ATC - Ephemera and Retro People ATC - Ephemera.

Stamplorations currently has a nice PRE-RELEASE SALE for these sets

Buy Some Snark together with Hot Mess at 25% off 

and receive a pack each of Retro Fashionistas ATC ($7 value) and Retro People ATC ($7 value) free!

This offer is available for shipping within the US only.

My final card teams a Technique Junkies cat (Coffee Kitty) with another sentiment from Hot Mess. I think this is a great double act!

For the next two weeks the sistahs would like to see Chris's new stamp sets on your cards OR cards made using products from Stamplorations. Hope to see you in the gallery!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #203 - J is for Judgemental

That expression... All this time Edna has been silently judging us!!

Hi there, the sistahs are playing J is for Judgemental for the next two weeks and will be picky and hyper-critical if you don't come and join in!

I love Art Impressions images and knew immediately which gal I'd pair with these words. This is Housework Set and you get some great sentiments along with the fun images. 

We have a fab queen and some totally brilliant snark from the rest of the gang, so please come take a look and join the fun!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #54 - Reminder

September is flying by so fast that I 've been caught on the hop a little with this reminder post!

This month our lovely elf is Anesha from Crafting Queen!

I really love the card Anesha made to inspire us for this challenge. I would have loved to have made a shaped card myself but I just don't have any unusual shaped dies and so sadly I abandoned the idea.

  

Instead I took my inspiration from the snowman's hat and scarf and grabbed this as the colour combo for my card. I always love traditional red and green on a Christmas card, don't you?

This little cutie is Reindeer Games from Art Impressions. Unfortunately, I can't find a link to an 'in stock' set anywhere.  The papers are some Tim Holtz leftovers. 

As always, Rudolph has been shopping and has this cute sentiment on offer as his Random Raffle Prize for this challenge.

I do hope you'll come over and play along in this challenge - turns out it's 100 days to Christmas today!