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, 

CAS Christmas Card Challenge .......

Hello there, happy Tuesday .........

Guess what!  I've got my festive hat on again for this month's CAS Christmas Challenge ..... Falalalala lalalala! (are you singing along now?)

It's all about Foliage and Berries this month, and so tempted as I was to go all traditional in festive greens and reds, I decided to have a change ...... what do you think?

I do love simple black stamping onto Kraft card, and this pretty stamp from Simon Says has so much detail in there

It's from a stamp set called Joyful Season, and I think it was in the SSS December Kit of the Month last year.

I covered  a strip across the centre of my card with a piece of low tack masking tape, and stamped the image top and bottom using a black ink.  

I removed the tape, and stamped my sentiment in centre, and then added strips of narrow double sided tape along the edges of the foliage and covered these with gold gilding flakes .......

It's a quick and easy way of adding that foiled look ....... no need for laminators or special gels or glue, and it also gave a nice finished look to the edge of the stamping.

I did add a touch of colour to the berries with some Distress Ink ......

 

and finished off with a few splatters of white paint.

Not the traditional Christmas colours but, I like it!

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

I've spent most of this weekend getting to know my birthday present ....... from last year!!!  

Yes hubby finally got around to buying me a new phone ...... about time!

To be fair it's not his fault that I've waited so long.  Since my birthday 2020 we've been in and out of lockdown, the shops haven't really been open that much, and I didn't want to order one online (I couldn't decide which one I wanted to be honest!)   And lets face it, I've spent more time using my laptop recently than I have my phone!

I'm still getting used to the new one ....... it's bigger for a start, and I have to remember that it has a new ringtone ...... there's been quite a bit of 'Mum, your phones ringing again' this weekend.  Me and new technology don't always get off to a great start!  I haven't played with the camera on it yet which could be fun,  apparently it has 3!!!   And, I also have to remember NOT to put this one in my back pocket, and then go to the loo!!!! 

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Stamps: Joyful Season (Simon Says Stamp)

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Ink - Festive Berries

Other: Narrow double sided tape (from my stash); Gold Gilding Flakes - (IndigoBlu); Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint - Snowflake (PaperArtsy)

A rainbow of colour ........

Happy Wednesday .........

How are you? 

It's all good here at the moment ........ fingers crossed!

Our latest lockdown restrictions were all lifted on Monday (yeah!)  A new exit plan for opening our borders was published yesterday (whoo hoo!!) ....... roll on the end of June!  We've booked a family holiday Staycation, and a long weekend away in the van.  And ..... we're off out this evening for the first time in what feels like FOREVER!!  It's nice to be getting back to normality!  

I say fingers crossed because, I've just heard on the local news that there are new unexplained cases of the virus on the island that have been detected overnight ........ lets hope that further investigation doesn't bring bad news!! 

Anyway, the reason I'm here is  .......... I'm playing along with the CAS Christmas Challenge again ....... sneaking in another festive card before the deadline.

The theme is ...... Rainbow.  Not something I would normally think of for festive designs but ..... it works

Who doesn't love pretty fairy lights, and these would brighten up any Christmas tree!

I stamped and heat embossed the fairy lights onto a piece of white cardstock, and then coloured them using ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers and a waterbrush

I added a touch of fine crystal glitter to each of the bulbs for a little added sparkle,

 and used a silver gel pen and my waterbrush to colour the tops

I used a fancy stitched edge die to add extra detail to the bottom, and trimmed my stamped image to match 

A simple sentiment, stamped underneath and heat embossed, adds the finishing touch.

I've enjoyed creating the rainbow designs for this challenge but, I think I'm still more of a traditional girl when it comes to my festive cards!

Speaking of rainbows, here's a colourful idea for this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

It's not the usual form of paper piecing but I think it would pass.  

I haven't actually stamped an image and paper pieced it, instead I've cut the petals from an old book page and then pieced them together to make my flower ...... could be a daisy, or a sunflower maybe.

I took an old book page and coloured it using various colours of acrylic paints.  

I used my finger to smoosh small patches of colour but you could use a brush ........ I've done a few too many workshops with the lovely Tracy Scott I think, she loves to finger paint!  It's such an easy way of applying colour, and you don't have to be too careful either for this technique. 

I stamped on top of the painted page using a few background stamps to add some more detail and interest ...... another technique picked up from Tracy

I then cut myself a template for the petal shape ...... you could cut your petals freehand if you prefer. 

I concertina folded my painted book page to fit my petal template, drew around it across the width of the paper and then cut out the petals. 

I arranged the petal shapes to form the flower on the edge of a piece of black cardstock.  Once I was happy I glued each one into place, trimming off any excess.

For the centre of the flower I cut a circle from another book page and glued it over the top. 

I added some white gel pen around the edges of the petals to make them stand out,  and finished with a few splatters of white paint

A simple heat embossed sentiment was all it needed on the bottom 

Both challenges close on April 24th so there's still a little time left if you fancy playing along.

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

Cheerio until next time .......
 

Products used:

CAS Christmas card

Stamps: Outline Christmas Bulbs (Simon Says Stamps); Sentiment was a freebie I think

Inks: Versamark ink;

Other: Metallic Platinum Embossing Powder (WOW!); ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers; Quickie Glue Pen; Fine Crystal Glitter, Silver Sparkle Gel Pen; Fancy Stitched Edge die (not sure of the make)

CAS Mix Up card

Stamps: Various background stamps from my stash; Sweet Daisy stamp set (Julie Hickey Designs) - for the sentiment

Inks: Versamark ink;

Other: Old book pages; PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints - various colours; White embossing powder (WOW!); White gel pen

Along the Edge for AAA Cards ........

Happy Monday ......

I hope you all had a nice weekend and that you're looking forward to the Easter break coming up ..... a nice long weekend.  Who am I kidding ........ every weekend is a long weekend at the moment.  In fact, during this lockdown I'm never entirely sure what day of the week it is ..... I thought it was Tuesday today!  We'll blame that on the clocks going forward shall we ....... hahaha!

I'm playing along with the latest CAS challenge at AAA Cards ....... 

My spring cleaning phase continues ...... in the craft room this time.  I took on the task of sorting through all of my rubber stamps (again!!) and came across a Simon Says stamp set that I thought was perfect for this challenge theme .....

I opted not to use the twist and kept to just rubber stamping.

I simply stamped the images in black ink, and then used a water brush and ZIG markers to add the colour ......

I kept the sentiment simple, and finished off with a few sparkly gems ......

As it's the first time I've used this pretty stamp set I'm also linking up to the NBUS Challenge #24

I'm ashamed to say that I came across quite a few pretty stamp sets that have yet to see an ink pad ...... I must do something about that soon!

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

It was vaccine day for hubby and I today ...... whoo hoo!  Our first dose all done, we were in and out in no time, and I didn't feel a thing!

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

Products used:

Stamps: Stronger Together (Simon Says Stamp)

Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; 

Other: ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers; Small self adhesive gems

Perfectly CAS Challenge ......

Happy Thursday evening ......

How's your week going?  It's flown by here, although I don't seem to have done much!
I did spend two days obsessing over another jigsaw puzzle until I got it finished! It had far too many pieces that all looked the same.
I've got a nice new vaccum cleaner to play with ........ oh no! I think I have lockdown fever.  I'm getting excited about housework!
Oooh! and I dyed my hair.  Cutting is what it really needs ....... I look like something from the eighties when big hair was in, but since the hairdressers are not allowed to open yet, I don't mind doing the colour but I'm not going in with the scissors!   

It's time for another Blog Challenge ........ this month's Perfectly CAS (using one third or less) Challenge

Is Clean and Simple (CAS) your go to style ....... or do stay well clear of all that white space?
Me ..... I love it, although CAS designs are not always that easy to create.
Keeping to the one third rule does help though ........

Imagine your card is divided into sections like in the diagram above ...... three across and three down.
Simply choose one set of three and keep your design in your chosen section ...... does that make sense?
Stick to one main focal point, minimal layers and embellishments, lots of white space and you're good to go.

This month's theme is ....... Animals.
I couldn't decide on just one so, I used a stamp that has a whole bunch of different ones on there ..... how cute are these guys!

I lined everything up on my MISTI and stamped the image and sentiments all in one go ...... what did we ever do without a MISTI!
I heat embossed everything with a clear, fine detail embossing powder, and then I used ZIG markers to add the colour ..... easy!

Doing the heat embossing makes it a little easier when colouring in the images ....... helps to stop the ink from going outside the lines!

Keeping to just one third of the available card space, or there abouts, means that the finished card is Perfectly CAS!

Go on, play along.  I'd love to see you in the gallery.

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day.
Hubby and I are about to settle down and watch another of our lockdown obsessions ...... the TV drama series The 100.

We've binge watched the first three series on Amazon, only 3 more to go!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Critter Crowd (Simon Says Stamp)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne
Others: Clear Embossing Powder (WOW!), ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers

CAS Mix Up Challenge .......

Hi there .......

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month ........ welcome to April folks!
I hope everyone is managing to stay safe and well.

If you could do with something to take your mind off things for a little while then, why not join in with this months CAS Mix Up Challenge ........

Loll is our Challenge Host this month and she would like us to use Bleaching on our projects.

There's a few ways of doing this technique ....... using simple household bleach, which we all probably have lots of at the moment.  I must admit it's not one of my favourite products ..... I don't like the smell!  It does give some great effects though, depending on how you use it, and your cardstock can also make a big difference.
Check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for some great video links using this technique.

Another way is faux bleaching, which is what I've used here.  I've created that bleached out look using Distress Inks and water.

I love this stamp from Simon Says Stamp ...... it's called Flora Background and it was part of their STAMPtember release last year, and would you believe, it's the first time it's been inked!!!

I stamped the design onto a piece of watercolour card and heat embossed in gold

I then blended a couple of shades of Distress Ink over the top of the whole piece of card.  I went with blue but you could use whatever colour you like ....... the darker the colour, the more of a contrast there will be.

To create the bleached effect I simply took a paintbrush and some clean water and painted over the petals.  The water reacts with the Distress Ink and you can dab away the colour using a paper towel ...... the more water you use, the more colour you can 'bleach' away

It looks so pretty.

I cut down the design to fit the front of my card blank, added a die cut frame and stamped a sentiment underneath .....

Now you know me, I don't like to waste anything so .........

 ...... this was one of the pieces I cut off,  way too pretty to throw away so, I made it into a matching tag!

One of the ways of using actual bleach, is to stamp onto black or dark coloured cardstock and then use the bleach as you would a paint to colour in the image.  This then bleaches the colour out of the cardstock.
I did try this but I think the bleach I have in the cupboard has been there forever, and it just didn't do anything so, I took a white watercolour pencil and coloured in the image instead .......

I think it looks a little like the bleach effect ...... what do you think?

See you in the gallery!

EDITED
Oh My!  I can't believe I missed this!! ...... thanks for the heads up Loll!
I'm so excited to see the fabulous NBUS Challenge is up and running again, with it's own special website ......

I'm ashamed to say I have a whole box of NBUS ...... Never Before Used Schtuff, but now I have a reason to use it, and the time to play.  Hopefully this will help to get my mojo back too!

Because the stamp I've used on the above designs has never been used before, I'm linking up to this month's challenge. 

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

Things are still a little crazy around here ...... I just can't seem to settle down at anything.  Sleep patterns are all over the place too.  I think everyone's the same.
There was so much that I was going to do ...... things around the house, catch up on stuff in the craft room like all those online classes I've subscribed too but, it's just not happening. 
I have cleaned  a couple of cupboards out, and sorted through the freezer.  I even tried moving the furniture in my craft room and clearing my desks to see if that would help with the old mojo ..... now I just can't find anything ...... well apart from the new stuff that's arrived this week (ooops!)

I also treated myself to a gorgeous new Archer & Olive journal ....... not sure what I'm going to do in there but, it's noce to look at!!

Oh well ...... time for a glass of wine I think ...... well it is Wednesday!

Stay safe everyone.

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

Produsts used:
Stamps: Flora Background (Simon Says Stamp); Sprinkles & Smiles (Penny Black) - sentiment
Inks: Versamark; Distress Inks - Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
Others: Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); Paintbrush; Clean Water; Stitched Rectangle Frame Die