Believe ......

Happy Sunday!

It's a bit wet and wild again over here this morning ..... I hope it's not like this next weekend, me and the girls on the ferry (hopefully) !!!!

I was on Grandma duties last night .... we had the little man overnight ...... so I've been up since the crack of dawn this morning.   Alex still hasn't discovered the beauty of a lie-in on a Sunday morning .... unfortunately!  Never mind .... at least it gave me the chance to finish this week's festive make for the latest Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge ...... yes I was actually in the old craft room before 8am ....... it wasn't even daylight!!!!

This week it's all about using Greens, Pine Cones and the word 'Believe'

I love the inspiration photo ..... what a beautiful, festive decoration ...... but I must admit this was a tough one for me.   Mr Mojo is on his way back ...... albeit kicking and screaming!!!  In the end, this is what I came up with ......

I know ...... not very traditional.  My greens are white, and the colour isn't even the traditional Christmas 'green' .... but it is green!

I used Cracked Pistachio Distress Spray for the background, along with Dylusions White Linen and a hint of Perfect Pearls in there to give the shimmer.

I masked of the bottom of a piece of white cardstock, and then spritzed each of the inks .... the green, the white and finally the Perfect Pearls.  I then covered the card with a piece of cling film, scrunching it in places, and left it to dry.
Once the ink was dry I removed the cling film leaving this gorgeous, shimmery background.

The mica from the Perfect Pearls settles in the creases of the cling film and dries giving that frosty looking effect .... cool eh!!
(Sorry for the picture quality ..... I still haven't found a good place to take my photos, plus the lighting this morning is dreadful ..... I will get there, just bear with me!!)

I stamped the pine branch from the Stampin Up set Ornamental Pine ...... using Versamark ink and embossed with a white powder.

Using the pine cone from the same set, I stamped it a couple of times, in different shades of Brown Archival ink, onto the coloured background.  I then stamped and fussy cut another pine cone from plain white card stock and attached it onto my card using foam pads to add a little dimension

To finish off, I stamped the required word across the bottom (also from Stampin Up!) ...... (this is what I need to do this afternoon!)

and I added a little decoration to the inside

Well ...... that's my 'To Do' list done for today.
There's a major football match going on at lunchtime which I shall be watching ....... my Chelsea boys are taking on Crystal Palace .... at home .... and if we win .... the title is ours!!!!!  If that's the case ...... you can guarantee there will be much merriment going on .....with just the odd glass of something bubbly!  Come on Chelsea!!

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

I've a busy week coming up ...... out tomorrow, coffee on Tuesday, a crafty session on Friday and then a day out next Saturday ..... it's Port Sunlight .... whoo hoo!!!!  Fingers crossed the weather gets a little nicer ..... I don't like the sea when it's bumpy!!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Craft Stamper ....... Take a technique

Good morning!

Happy Friday the 13th ...... you're not superstitious are you!  Fingers crossed, but everything's going OK this morning ........ lets hope I don't regret saying that!

It's the second Friday of the month so that means I have a little reminder for you of the latest Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge.
It's all about Take a Technique this month ...... Stencilling!  We want you to use a stencil in some way, somewhere on your project.  Don't forget to include some rubber stamping on there too!

I actually did a 2 for 1 thing last week ...... I needed a gift tag to go on a house warming gift and I used a stencil for my background on there so ...... ta dahhh!!  two jobs crossed off the old 'To Do' list with one little project! It's so nice when a plan comes together.

I used the Wendy Vecchi Brick Wall stencil for the background ...... first with a bit of white ink (I love the look of white on Kraft card, don't you!)  then I went back over the top in places with a touch of Grunge Paste to add a bit of texture.

The houses are from the Stampin Up set Holiday Home ..... and have been stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with a fine white powder

I did a bit of masking here and there to stamp the houses across the tag, and finished off by adding a single house using foam pads for dimension.

I found the perfect piece of ribbon in my stash which I attached across the bottom and you can just see I finished off the whole thing with a little bit of faux stitching, a piece of natural ribbon and of course a key!

For the back of the tag I added more of the brick wall using shades of Distress inks

And another of those cute little houses ...... stamped and embossed again, coloured using Distress ink and then cut out and attached to the tag

Here it is on the gift all ready to go last weekend ......

Don't worry ..... I was given permission to blog it by the recipients!!

Now it's over to you ...... remember there's two great prizes up for grabs.
The first is from this month's sponsor ...... the winner (chosen at random) will receive 2 stamp plates (winner's own choice) from the fabulous Paperbabe stamps.

The second prize is our Design Winner .... chosen by the DT!  They will get their winning project published in Craft Stamper magazine (oooh!) ...... be invited to do a Guest Spot for a future Blog Challenge (ooooh!) AND will also feature in their very own Winner's Profile Blog post (whoo hoo!!!)

Go on ... give it a go.  You have to be in it to win it!!  Check out all the rules and guidelines over n the Craft Stamper blog ...... and see more fabulous inspiration pieces from the rest of the DT today over on the blog.

Happy stamping ...... and stenciling!!

Thanks for popping by .... have a great Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx