Krafty Christmas!

Well, I managed to make a few Christmas cards at last! At Stamp Magic in October, I loved the cards being demonstrated by Deby from Inkylicious, using kraft card and white pigment ink to create a faux parchment effect. Naturally I had to buy the necessary supplies to have a go at making my own!

I won't go into details of how they are done, as Deby has a brilliant tutorial on her blog, which you will find here. These are the cards I've made so far.

1. Stencils and all stamps: Inkylicious. Border punch: Martha Stewart. DP: Be Creative

2. Stencils and Winter Cabin stamp: Inkylicious. Sentiment: Stamps by Chloe. Corner punch: Fiskars

3. Stencils, Trees & deer stamps: Inkylicious. Sentiment: Stamps By Chloe. Corner stamp: Magazine Freeie (Simply Cards & Papercraft). Border punch: X-Cut. DP: Grafix

4, Winter Cabin stamp: Inkylicious. Tiny snowflake (part of larger stamp) & sentiment: Stamps By Chloe. Corner punch: Dovecraft. Mountain & valley stencil: Inkylicious. Oval stencil cut with Spellbinders die.

5. Winter Cabin stamp, branch stamp & mountain & valley stencil: Inkylicious. Sentiment Stamps by Chloe. DP: Grafix. Circle stencil cut with Spellbinders die.

6. Winter Cabin & branch stamps: Inkylicious. Sentiment: Stamps by Chloe. Oval stencil cut with Spellbinders die.

7, Winter Cabin stamp, branch stamp, bauble stencil & mountain & valley stencil: Inkylicious. Sentiment: Stamps by Chloe. Deer & trees diecuts (cut from a larger die): Frantic Stamper. DP: Be Creative.

For all cards I used ColorBox Frost White pigment ink, Memento die ink and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen.

Until I saw Deby's cards, I wasn't really a fan of kraft card, but I really like the effect with this technique. It's also easy to do. I'm definitely a fan of that! Thanks for looking!

Winter Wonderland

No, we haven't had any snow yet, although the weather forecast is saying we might get a bit this coming week! In case the post title has misled you, let me hasten to explain that

* * * * * WINTER WONDERLAND * * * * *

is our December Challenge theme at Stamping Sensations!

We have a cracker of a prize for you this month! Once again we are sponsored by Chloe of Chloe's Creative Cards (Stamps by Chloe), who has generously donated a bumper bundle of her gorgeous stamps and accessories, and our lucky winner will also receive a bonus prize of beautiful ribbons from Crafty Ribbons.

I like this month's theme so much that I've made two cards for it! 

The first one uses a stamp from Chloe's "Snowflake Cluster" set for the background, along with a sentiment from her "Christmas Mini Messages" set.  Country Landscape die is by Memory Box, Santa's sleigh stamp by Crafty Individuals, and the snowflake die, which is by X-Cut, was a magazine freebie. The snow is made with Fluffy Puffy Stuff (love the name!) from Inkylicious, to which I've added some glitter. The background snowflakes are also glittered.

My second card is an easel card. All stamps are by Inkylicious. The tree scene (Treescape 1) in the oval is, I think, my new favourite stamp! It reminds me very much of the countryside around where I live, and it could be used to create a scene for any time of year, as it wouldn't be difficult to add some greenery to the bare branches for spring and summer, or suitable colours for autumn. However, it certainly makes a gorgeous winter scene too. 

I used my ink dusters to colour the sky, having masked off the lower part of the picture, and a moon, and added a touch of glitter glue on the snowy fields.

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The deer and rabbit were stamped and cut out, and mounted with foam pads, as was the sentiment. The oval was cut with a Spellbinders die, and I cut out the sentiment panel by hand, having first punched out the little snowflakes with a Fiskars corner punch. Background papers were a freebie from Making Cards Magazine.

Here's a side view.

I think the tree scene will be featuring on many of my Christmas cards this year. And probably some spring, summer and autumn ones too!

Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing lots of  lovely Winter Wonderland scenes. Last month we had a phenomenal number of entries, over 300! Can we better that this month, I wonder?! If you should need any inspiration, have a look at the DT's stunning examples on the Challenge Blog. My terrific teamies have really outdone themselves this time, and I know they would really appreciate it if you were to visit their individual blogs too.

Thanks for looking!

March Challenge

Spring is on the way, so for our March challenge at Stamping Sensations we'd love to see your interpretation of

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Lots of scope in this one, I think. Anything that's outdoor-related (eg. fields, flowers, trees, seaside, gardens, mountains, children playing or any outdoor activity to name just a few ideas) should fit the bill. Here's my take on the theme.

The gorgeous Summer Poppy Meadow by Crafty Individuals  (our fantastic sponsor this month) came to mind immediately. I coloured it with watercolour pencils, but then went over the foreground poppies with Promarkers to make them stand out. A black Sakura Glaze pen highlighted the centres.

To make the background, I stamped a Crafty Individuals poppy (a freebie with an order) randomly, and then clear-embossed it to act as a resist while I sponged all over with VersaMagic ink. On top of that I stamped my favourite flourish (Crafty Individuals CI-182) .I cut black middles for some Prima flowers to echo the poppies, and finished the design with a Fiskars border punch, sentiment from Crafty Individuals CI-209 and ribbon from my stash.

Crafty Individuals is one of my favourite stamp companies. Not only do they have such wonderful stamp designs, but also gorgeous background paper books, masks, dies and other accessories, and their service is second to none. Do have a look at their newly revamped website. Jean and Malcolm, the owners, have a fabulous prize for this month's winner. Who wouldn't like this superb set of stamps?! Something for every occasion there.

Last month's theme really caught people's imagination (we had 159 entries!) and I have a feeling this one will do the same. Don't forget to check out my lovely teamies' inspirational samples on the Challenge Blog!

Flower Pounding

There are many examples of flower pounding about on the 'net, and they're all beautiful! I've been meaning to have a go at it for ages and never got round to it, but when I found out it could be done with the Cuttlebug, I was determined to try it! I won't go into all the details as there are lots of tutorials available, including a good one here (google Cuttlebug & flower pounding for more), but I found I got the best results using a good quality watercolour paper. Thinner papers didn't work so well.

One of the great things about the technique is that it is so quick and easy! Since moving to our new house, we haven't had chance to do much with the garden yet, but there are plenty of wild flowers growing in it! I wouldn't dream of picking wild flowers in the wild, as it were, but I think it's ok if they're from your own garden. Most people would call them weeds there, I guess! Anyway, before I picked them, I photographed them, so that I could use the photos on my cards along with the pounded papers. Here are the results.

Ivy Leaved Toadflax

Red Campion

Cow Parsley

Common Wood Sorrel

Buttercups

(This pic was of a nearby field, though the flowers I used were from the garden. We haven't got that many!)

And my favourite, Germander Speedwell

Supplies used on the cards: The pounded papers for backgrounds, Nestabilities frames and labels, Fiskars border punch, small butterfly punch by Martha Stewart, medium butterfly punch unknown, large butterfly Memory Box dies (two dies), bee stamp by Hobby Art, sentiments by Hobby Art, Paula Pascual, Paper Artsy, and Inkylicious (part of stamp), Prima flowers, ribbons and rainbow paper from my stash.

Can't wait to do some more, but after weeks of gorgeous weather, it's now windy, grey, cold and very wet, so I'll have to wait until the flowers dry up a bit!  We've had some lovely evening walks while the weather's been good. About a week ago we went across the fields opposite our house, and came across these characters, sitting outside the entrance to their den.

There were five altogether, some obviously young ones, and three disappeared down the hole as we approached, but these two seemed unconcerned and stayed there for a while, watching us watching them, until they too went down into the den. We used to get urban foxes in our garden at the old house, but I've never seen more than one at a time before. It was amazing to see a whole family of them together like this! The wonders of living in the countryside. We're loving it more and more. However, there are downsides. A few minutes ago the power suddenly went off. We get occasional power cuts for no apparent reason. Oh no, I thought, I'll have lost all that post I've just spent ages typing in! Fortunately Mr. Blogger had kindly saved it for me, so here it is!

Stampalot December Challenge

Here we are with the first Sunday in December, and so it's time for the last Stampalot Challenge of the year. This month we're playing Bingo and here's your Bingo Card!

The idea is to select one line (in any direction) from the grid and use those items on your creation and tell us in your post which line you have followed.


For a change, I decided to make a criss-cross card, and I've followed the bottom line : Punch - Tags - Ribbon.

The papers are part of a freebie from Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine. I've used a Fiskars border punch, an unidentified large snowflake and tiny Tonic Studios snowflake punches. The sentiment was also a freebie, from Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine, and I've stamped it on a Nestie Ribbon Tag.

This just happens to be the first Christmas card I've made this year! And so far, the only one! We're still busy sorting out the new house, but slowly getting organised.

Anyway, I'm sure you want to know all about this month's prize! Well, it's a cracker! Who wouldn't want to find these goodies in their Christmas stocking? Janice & Andy have really surpassed themselves this time.

To be in with a chance of winning, just get playing Bingo, and if you need any inspiration, pop over to the Challenge Blog and have a look at the gorgeous creations the DT have made for you. I look forward to seeing yours!