I'm usually a more traditional girl but ...........

Happy Monday .........

 

Have you had a nice weekend? 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Just seven more sleeps to go until the big day ...... Ho! Ho! Ho!  Things are about to get a little crazy around here!   

The last of my Christmas cards are done (phew!).  One of the jobs on the list for today was to get them in the post so, it's now fingers crossed that they all get there in time!  I can't believe I'm so late!!

Now, you know me, I'm quite the traditional girl when it comes to Christmas cards ......... snowmen, snowflakes, baubles,  and Christmas trees (lots of trees!!).  

Pretty poinsettias, a Christmas wreath, and I do love my festive reds and greens.  So, when I saw the theme for the final challenge this year, over at the Color Hues Challenge Blog, I thought I'd give it a try.

What do you think? ........ I kinda like it

Pink and Silver ...... definitely not my go to Christmas colours but, it works.

The embossing folder I used is the pretty 3D Holiday Floral Swag from Spellbinders ...... I love it!!

I simply ran it through the Big Shot, using white cardstock, then blended Distress Inks over the design (Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry),

fading out the colour where my sentiment was to go.

I heat embossed the sentiment in silver and added a few dots of white Enamel Accents

To finish off, and give the card a more snowy look, I splattered with a little bit of white paint

Here's another version of the same card but, just a little bit different .......

This time it was Spun Sugar Distress and Worn Lipstick, going a little more red instead of pink

and I changed the sentiment ever so slightly ........ 

I think I prefer the sentiment this way.

Anyhow, Pink and Silver is now definitely on my festive combo list!

And, as it's the first time I've used this embossing folder I'm also hooking up to Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff!) Challenge

Thanks for popping ..... enjoy the rest of your day.

I'm off to put my feet up for five minutes with a cuppa and a festive mince pie ...... yum!

And, just in case I don't get chance to blog again before the big day ............  

Have a Wonderful Christmas!

Cheerio until next time ......

Red and gold for Color Hues ......

Happy Wednesday .........

I hope you're enjoying your week.

We should have been going across to the UK today, starting our trip around some lovely Christmas Markets but, this cold I've got had other plans ........ yes, I'm still sneezing for England!  So, we've decided to cancel the trip (sigh!)

Hubby started with the same thing over the weekend and we've both been really bad ..... this thing is brutal!  I am starting to feel a little better today but hubby is about 24hours behind me so he's still quite bad.  We thought that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to set off in the van, so, we moved the ferry to early next year (we still haven't been on the new boat yet!!!) and cancelled all the campsite bookings.  We're disappointed but, it was the right decision.  There's always next year! 

So, today I'm playing along with the latest Color Hues Challenge.

Challenge #76 is all about Red and Metallic Gold ...... one of my favourite colour combinations, especially for Christmas cards (yes, I'm still making mine)

I used the pretty stamp set ....... Slimline Poinsettias from the Big & Bold range by the Colarado Craft Company.  

I stamped one of the images onto red cardstock and heat embossed with WOW's Metallic Gold Embossing Powder

  

I added a few gold ink splatters around the edges ......

and finished off with a sentiment and a little gold thread tied around the bottom ..... very festive!

Another one for the Christmas box!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.

Lauren is currently putting up her Christmas tree so the dining room is beginning to look festive (sorry if it's still too early for some you!) 

And of course because we haven't gone away, maybe by the end of this week I'll have the tree in the lounge done.

Cheerio until next time ........

Pastel colours for Christmas .......

Happy Sunday .........

How is everyone?  I hope you're all enjoying your weekend.  The weather here is not very nice at all today but, it is November so I suppose its to be expected.

Speaking of November, I can't believe that we're heading for the middle of the month already ........ how did that happen!!!?  Christmas is only six weeks away (eeek!!) and all I've done so far is order the turkey, the wine.  I do have lots of lists though, and we are off to the Christmas markets soon so I'm sure that we'll be full of the festive spirit by then. 

I've also made a start on my Christmas cards ..... finally!  Last weekend was one of our crafty get togethers so it was the perfect opportunity.  More about those later.

Today, I'm playing along with the Color Hues Challenge

As you can see, the colours for this challenge are Light Blue & Purple ..... such a pretty combo.  And as I'm now in Christmas card mode then it had to be festive

I blended the blue and purple inks around the edges of my card ....... Tumbled Glass and Villainous Potion Distress Oxides, then splattered water over the top and let it sit for a few seconds, before mopping up the excess with a paper towel.

An old and simple technique that I never get tired of using!

I then stamped and heat embossed my sentiment across the centre of the card ...... Merry embossed in WOW's Gold Sparkle Embossing Powder

and then the extra words simply stamped using Versafine Clair Monarch (purple) ink

I stamped a few tiny accents around the sentiment using the Blue Oxide Ink, and finished off with dots of fine crystal glitter here and there for a little added sparkle.

I love large word stamps and this set was from Simon Says Stamp, last year I think.  It's called Holiday Sparkle Greetings ...... 4 large words (perfect for DL cards), along with lots of cute little accent stamps to create backgrounds and add sparkle. I believe there's also a matching set of dies which I don't have, maybe I'll have to  change that at some point!

As it's the first time this stamp set has been used (shame on me!), I'm also linking up to the NBUS Challenge

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

I'm off now to decorate a Christmas tree ........ too early??   

We're away in a little over a weeks time, and we don't get home until December 5th, so I don't really want to leave them until then.

So, everywhere's been cleaned, furniture moved, and then last night all the decorations came out (the house looks like the day we moved in, there's boxes everywhere!) 

The first tree is up, the lights are on, and the angel is on the top.  Time to get those baubles out!

'Alexa, get the Christmas music on'

Cheerio until next time, 

Two-fer Tuesday .........

Happy Tuesday ........

I do hope your week has got off to a great start.  

It's school half-term here this week so we've got Alex at home ........ life with a 13 year old, ohhhh I remember it well!!!

I've got a two-fer for you today ....... two cards, and two challenges. 

First up ....... Simply Less is More. 

It's the dreaded One Layer Card challenge (always fun to do), and the theme is Hello Sunshine

(I remember what that is I think!)

I started by stenciling the sunshine (Julie Hickey Designs) on the top corner of a piece of white cardstock, blending shades of yellow Distress Oxide ink from the centre of the sun outwards.

Next, I stamped the flip-flops (Newton's Nook) ...... stamped the right one first and made a mask to cover it, then stamped the left overlapping it just a little bit.

Coloured them using ZIG Clean Colour Brush Markers.

I finished off  the card with a heat embossed sentiment. That's the One Layer done!

Next up is the Color Hues Challenge

For this challenge the colour combination is ....... Yellow & Kraft

The yellow part was still out on my desk ....... the Distress Oxide inks, and the Kraft bit was easy, always happy to add in a little kraft card

I smooshed a little Distress ink onto a piece of white cardstock using a piece of acetate to create a background.

Next, I used the Etched Layered Daisy Stem die from Simon Says stamp, cutting the flower heads from white cardstock, and the stem from Kraft.

I used two shades of yellow Distress Oxide Ink (Scattered Straw and Squeezed Lemonade) direct from the ink pad to colour the daisy heads and layered them together.

I attached the stems onto the card, added the pretty layered daisy heads, and finished off with a few splatters of Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink (hope this can be classed as a shade of Kraft), and a tiny tag for my sentiment

Both challenges are open for another few days if you fancy playing along.

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ......

Coral and Blue for the Color Hues Challenge .......

Happy Friday the 13th .........

The weekend is almost here ... yeah!!  Not that we've anything planned, it's very quiet around here at the moment.

today I'm playing along with another Blog Challenge, on the last minute again! (I think it closes today so I'd better get a move on) 

It's the Color Hues Challenge, and it's a colour combination that I don't use very often but, I must admit I quite like it

What do you think? ......

I used Distress Oxide Inks ...... Prize Ribbon (blue) and Abandoned Coral,

The stamps I used are Background Blocks Layered Modern Floral from Uniko ....... a really cute little two step stamping set, that looks great whatever colours you use.

I used a piece of low tack masking tape across the bottom of the card to give me the diagonal edge while I stamped the flowers and leaves. 

I did attach a thin strip of blue card along the edge though, just to give it a more finished look.

I used the blue Distress Oxide to colour the die cut 'happy' and stamped the rest of my sentiment underneath with the coral oxide ...... I do like this colour combo.

Whilst I was in the craft room, I noticed that the pretty Darcy Bouquet Embossing Folder from Simon Says Stamp was still out on my desk.  Hmmm ..... I wonder what that would look like if I used blue cardstock for the background, and tried out the matching dies with some coral card .....

Not bad!

The detail on this embossing folder is gorgeous, and the dies were easy enough to use.

I slightly off set a  couple of the die cut flower heads to add a bit more depth, and then attached my sentiment banner over the top.

Pretty navy pearls finish everything off nicely!

Thanks for popping by, I've enjoyed my time in the craft room this week.  Lets hope it continues.

Have a lovely weekend.

I think on Sunday it's just 10 weeks to Christmas ..... eeek!!  I think I might have to start on some more Christmas cards next week.

Cheerio until next time ......

Cream and Gold for the Color Hues challenge ......

Happy Monday! .......

I hope you all had a good weekend ..... mine went just a little too fast!

The little man was here for a while.  We've had a lovely new bed delivered (it's soooo comfy!), and we were out on Friday evening. 

Because of the new bed, rooms needed re-arranging (always love moving furniture ...... not!!) 

We decided to put some of the garden furniture away for the winter (sigh!), which meant the garage had to have a tidy (now we just have a load of stuff to be taken to the tip and recycling centre ..... one of the jobs for this week!).  

And it didn't stop there ..... I made a start in the conservatory, it's all been cleaned and the furniture moved ready for .... wait for it ...... the Christmas tree!!  Productive or what!

I also spent some time in the craft room, supposedly tidying up but, as it was World Cardmaking Day on Saturday it would have been rude not to join in the fun now wouldn't it.

I'm playing along with the Color Hues Challenge again .......  this time they want us to use hues of Gold and Cream.

I do love this combination, especially with a touch of black so as they class this as a neutral my card fits the bill perfectly!

I simply stamped my image onto a piece of cream cardstock using Versafine ink, and then heat embossed with a gold EP

It's a fabulous stamp, the whole card stamped in one go ...... easy!  

I can't believe it's been sat in my box of NBUS (Never Before Used Stuff!) and I've not used this before.

Just think of all the possibilities for colouring it in.  For this challenge though, I've left it as it is, apart from the leaves ......

I coloured in all the leaves using a gold polychromo pencil, and then went over the top with a gold shimmer pen ...... so pretty!

The stamp is a beautiful frame for a simple sentiment ......... 

The only other thing I added was a few sparkly sequins here and there still in the gold and cream hues

As it's the stamps first outing, I'm also linking up to the latest NBUS Challenge

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely week.

I'll be in the craft room, I've got some DT stuff to do and I'm going to try and spend some time on my journals I think.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:

Stamps: Delectable (Border Background by UNITY), kisses & wishes (Penny Black - sentiment)

Inks: Versamark ink, Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Gold Polychromo Pencil (Faber Castel), Gold Sparkle pen (Crafter's Companion)