The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #276 - X is for Xmas in July

It's July... And that can only mean one thing: Christmas cards! The year has tipped balance and we are in the downhill sleigh ride towards the Festive Season. Edna has wrapped the gifts and decorated the tree, whilst also taking time to inflate a flamingo and head to the beach! She's got it all covered.

Yes, the Sistahs, and our fabulous Queen, are all about putting the X in Xmas, and we'd love you to come and join the fun. 

I was in the mood for a pink creation so I grabbed a Newton's Nook stencil set,  a Reverse Confeffi stamp AND a little MFT snark. This is so pretty IRL, but the camera has done something odd with the colours so they appear less harmonious. 

We look forward to seeing what YOU create for our challenge, so please come and play along!

And it's not just The Sisterhood who are celebrating Christmas in July as our friends over at The Lost Coast Portal to Creativity are getting their Christmas on too! 

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #103 - Snow Alert!

Anyone got SNOW yet, or are we still shoveling leaves from our driveways? 

I'm delighted to have the very lovely Loll as my guest/Elf over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge this month. Loll is one talented lady and you are going to love her work... I know I do!

Loll has chosen a fun theme for October:

Challenge #103 - Snow Alert!

Nice choice, Loll, and there's plenty of scope for everyone to play this challenge their own way!

Here's my first snow-themed creation:

I was in the mood for a little monochrome with which to wish someone a very beary Christmas. This little chap is from the retired Pinkfresh set Christmas Wishes. The snow is glitter card and the moon is silver metallic card - neither are showing up that well in the picture. 

Card number #2 is a little different and was soooo quick and easy to make. The beautiful snowflakes are from Simply Graphic and the embossing folder is Kaisercraft Snowflakes. 

I really hope you'll come and play along with Loll and me over at The Christmas Kickstart as we're both really excited to see what you create!

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge #100 - Reminder

 

It's REMINDER time over at The Christmas Kickstart Challenge! 

We're celebrating a milestone challenge in the very good company of my dear friend, Gail from CraftyNomad.

We're playing...

Challenge #100 - Merry go round

Here's Gail's card from the launch post...

I have to say that the more I look at this card the more I love it! The pup is Taco John from LCD, and I love that Gail added a Santa hat at a jaunty angle for extra festive fun. Just look  how Gail created a stripey background and nestled John in amongst a bevvy of baubles. Nice!

Gail's attention to detail is top notch as she has then stamped Ho, Ho, Ho into each bauble. I love the tone-on-tone look of the baubles and so grabbed that look as the inspiration for my card!

I used Wow! Confetti Circle stencil set for my circle and spots, and then added a tone-on-tone snowflake and greeting using (now retired) Snowflake Season from Reverse Confetti. 

My second card involved playing around with the same products to create a different look. 

Rudolph has done us proud for this celebration challenge and he's offering a prize for not one but two lucky randomly drawn winners.

Lovely!

 

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

Christmas Kickstart Reminder - Challenge #91

This month we are joined at Christmas Kickstart by the lovely Faith from Daffodil Cards. She's a total sweetheart and I'm so enjoying getting to know her as the month progresses. 

 

Faith chose a colour theme for us to play with and I'm sure you'll all agree the colours are gorgeous. I'm so grateful that Faith found time to make a second card for our challenge and you can see it over on the CKC blog here. 

Here's the card Faith made for our challenge launch:

I really love how she played with our colour palette and so I decided to break-out the same gnome set (a magazine freebie?) for my 'Inspired by' card. This is what I made:

I wanted the little gnome to be holding the Reverse Confetti die, so I added some hands and arms. Not sure it quite works, but it was fun to do. 

Rudolph's Random Raffle Prize for October is adorable:

 

Faith and I are both loving seeing your creations this month and very much hope you'll come and join the fun! 

Jingle Belles: Bling on the Holidays

 

It's currently all about the BLING over at Jingle Belles!

I started off with a piece of green cardstock, and got busy with a stencil, Versamark and gorgeous Wow Glitter embossing powder. However, the green just looked too flat. I rummaged in my stash and found this gorgeous inky, red watercoloured card and repeated the process. The glitter on this card is a thing of beauty. I die cut a Reverse Confetti Peace die, mounted the panel on some leftover card and thus my festival of sparkle was complete.

I'm also linking this card over at Addicted to Stamps and More where they are playing:

 

I was thrilled to find I was their Top Addict for Challenge #462 with this little mouse card.

Thanks so much, guys. 

Here's one last look at my card for today...

It's so difficult to photograph anything sparkly, isn't it. You'll just have to believe me that this is totally blingtastic... as are my face, hands, hair and navy blue hoodie!

Happy crafting, everyone!

House of Cards Blog Hop!

The fabulous House of Cards Challenge Blog has now reached it's fifth term.  Mynn and the gang are saying a fond farewell to some of the Design Team and a big thank you to the girls who are staying on.

Sadly, I'm one of the girls saying 'farewell, and thank you' as I'm feeling the pressure of my DT commitments right now. I'm so sad to be stepping down as I've loved being a HOC girl and have thoroughly enjoyed creating with such a friendly and supportive challenge team. Thank you guys, I'm sending a huge MWAH! to you all.

The HOC Blog Hop will run from Wednesday 1st June until Wednesday 15th June. Any card style is welcome and here's a gorgeous inspiration photograph to get those creative cogs turning!

Who wouldn't want to sit down at this beautiful table!

As you can see, I decided to use the fabulous colours as the starting point for my card which combines Art Impressions images with a stunning Reverse Confetti sentiment.

Anyhooo, let's get back to the Hop... There are prizes and sponsors galore so make sure you leave a comment at each person's blog along the way because the prizes are hidden and the DT will be making random draws from the blogs where they are hiding! After you're done, make a creation to share with us for another chance to win!

Here are all of the fabulous sponsors.

The HOC team will be using a variety of products

from these amazing companies!

A Day For Daisies

Prize: 3 Digital Images

Reverse Confetti

Prize: $25 Gift Certificate

Great Impressions

Prize: Prize Package

MHKDesigns

Prize: Any three products of your choice!

And now, here's your hop order:

HOC Blog | Mynn | Sue T. | Cohenna | Donna | Dotty Jo | Em | Emily 
Heather | Jane | Judy | Karen | Katarzyna Ewa  | Katy | Leslie | Linda

Merethe | Merlina | Michele | Paula | Rocky | Rosi | Ruza

Shawna | Shirley | Steph | Sue N. | Susan | Tina | Toni

Now get to hoppin'!  Hopefully you arrived here from Donna's Blog so your next stop is Em's Blog.  Don't forget to link-up a project on the HOC blog after completing the hop for an extra chance to win a mystery prize from one of our fabulous sponsors, too!  

Happy hopping everyone!

Cupcakes and Candy... Don't mind if I do!

The Seize the Birthday gang have got great toppings on offer for their current challenge: Cupcakes and Candy!

I broke-out a selection of 'oldie-but-goodie' stamps to create this card. The sentiment is from The Reverse Confetti set 'In a Big Way' and the cakes are from Hero Arts, A Muse and Savvy Stamps.

The outside of the card may look fairly grown-up but the inside is just out-and-out fun!

I haven't used this little cutie from Eat Cake Graphics in ages! Isn't she a sweetheart? 

I've made this card for my cousin's wife, Sandra, and will write my greeting on the circular panel. I think Sandra will enjoy this card as she often posts on FB about her visits to the local pâtisserie since moving to France a few years ago.

House of Cards September Challenge - Stitch it up!

We've a brand new challenge over at HOC and it's all about sewing... Faux, hand or machine sewn its all good and we're looking forward to seeing some bewitching stitching on your creations this month!

As you can see I went the machine stitched route for my simple little card with my current favourite flower image from Wplus9. I appear to have set myself a mini-challenge to see how many different ways I can use this pretty stamp! It really is so versitile. The beautiful sentiment is from Reverse Confetti purchased from Make the Day Special.

I was trying for a feminine and fairly homespun look with this card and am pleased with how pretty the white embossing looks against the kraft cardstock. I coloured with my water brush and Distress Inks.

Yet again the HOC girls have created some beautiful projects so why not head on over, take a look and join in...