On the 11th day of December .......

a flurry of snowflakes! Don't panic ...... they're not real ones!

Happy Friday to you,

We've a busy weekend coming up ....... the festive season starts NOW!!!

Before we hit the Christmas spirit though ........ it's party time this weekend ...... it's time for a little reminder about the latest Craft Stamper challenge ..... the last one for 2015!!

This month it's the turn of Take a Technique ....... but, as it's nearly Christmas we thought we'd have a nice easy theme for you instead of a specific technique ......

Sharing the Season

(Ho! Ho! Ho!)

We'd like to see your seasonal projects ..... that could be a Christmas design or just a wintry/icy theme.  Or, if you're lucky enough to live somewhere where it's not quite so cold .... and wet .... why not share your seasonal designs too.

I'm keeping with the Christmas theme ........ with an icy/snowy feel

The background was created using Distress Spray Stains in various shades of blue, spritzed onto a piece of white cardstock.  I then sprayed with Perfect Pearls over the top and let the colours blend together with the shimmer spray.  I scrunched a piece of cling film over the top and left the card to dry overnight.

The result is this gorgeous icy look to the card ...... you can see where the mica has settled in the creases of the cling film ....  so pretty!

I then stamped the sentiment using a black ink and embossed it with a clear powder

This always makes me smile .... I'm more a red girl myself but hey .... it;s Christmas!

I then stamped a few snowflakes over the card and embossed them with a white, fine detail powder

and added a few smaller flakes using one of the blue Distress inks

The large snowflake has been die cut using the Tim Holtz Layered Snowflake die, from plain white cardstock then each one has been given a rough coat of texture paste

While the paste was still wet I sprinkled on some white glitter to add a touch of sparkle and then left them to dry.  They were then layered together and attached to the front of the card, and a simple white pearl adds the finishing touch

Inside there's a few more snowflakes ......

and a touch of colour 

Our sponsor this month is the fabulous Polka Doodles ...... and the challenge winner (randomly chosen) will receive a £25 voucher to spend in the shop!

And don't forget, there's also the Design Winner, chosen by the DT.  They will have their winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine, be a Guest Designer on a future challenge and have a Winners Profile on the Craft Stamper Blog!!

So .... get those entries in .... the next winner could be you!!

I'm also linking this up to the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge, where the theme is ...

Anything Goes 

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a fabulous weekend whatever you have planned.

I'm off now to order the turkey for the big day ........ then I might just wrap a few Christmas presents I think.  Well .... it is only 2 weeks away ...... Ho! Ho! Ho!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

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

Done in the nick of time

Hello again,

Well I made it, with time to spare too.  Here's this weeks Less is More Challenge entry.  I'll have to keep this quick, as I still have to get it all uploaded and the clock is ticking.

It's  Week 91 and we have a Sketch to follow ......

As usual Chrissie has come up with some fabulous inspiration cards, and there's loads of stunning entries for this week.  Here's my version ........

Finally, another Christmas Card - whoo hoo!!  Could this be the start of my festive phase, I certainly hope so.  This makes a grand total to date of 5, or is it 6? not sure on that one.  It's not many anyway.

I've been trying to use up bits and pieces from the old Bit Box this week.  It's overflowing with stuff at the moment, you know what it's like, don't want to throw anything away in case we need it!   I'm not doing too bad, this is the second project today that I've managed to complete without cutting into new sheets of cardstock.
I had a good old rummage around and manage to find a big(ish) piece of card coloured using my favourite cling-film technique.  I got the background panel out of it and all three squares.
The snowflakes are stamped with the brand new SU stamp set - Snowflake Soiree from the latest Seasonal Catalogue,  the sentiment is an old Butterfly Kisses stamp (I think).
I added a bit of glitter to the large snowflakes, and white pearls in the centres.  They don't look that sparkley in the photos,  but trust me, in the light they shimmer and sparkle nicely.

The little metal charm was a late add-on.  While I was taking the picture I noticed a tiny spot of  ink on the card - that'll teach me for rushing at the last minute!  I really didn't have the time to start again, so, on went the snowflake to cover it up.  I hope it's not too much, we are supposed to leave plenty of white space, and embellies to a minimum.  I think it looks ok, doesn't  it?

On that note, I'll say Cheerio.  I've got the house to myself tonight.  Chris is off to work soon, and Stephen is going out on someone's Leaving Do from work (that's going to get messy no doubt!)  He won't be home until the early hours of the morning.  
So, it's a nice pasta dish for tea, a glass of red, possibly two, and a good old catch up with the soaps I think.

Thanks for popping by.  Enjoy your evening.

Linda

x

Where did the weekend go?

Morning everyone,

Just a quick post to let you know that I am still here.
I hope you all had a lovely weekend, I certainly did. Lots of good food, good friends, loads of laughs and craft!  What more could I ask for.  Just wish it had been longer. 
I even got to see my grandson, Alex, which was a lovely surprise.  I didn't think I would see him this visit with it being such a short one, but Lauren brought him round to Stephen's Mum's before we left for the flight home.  He's sooo cute! and growing fast.

I met up with some friends for a meal out on Friday night, one of them being Sally, my Stampin' Up demonstrator across in the UK.  It was her birthday a couple of weeks ago and although I sent her present in time, her birthday card was a little late (oops!)  She was very understanding though and when it did finally arrive, I'm glad to say that she liked it.
Included in her birthday present was a little something handmade, you've already seen this, if not it's here .    In this post you'll find all the details of the techniques I used to do the background etc., so I won't repeat it all again. 
I wanted to make her card, gift tag etc., all co-ordinating.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the gift tag (silly me) but here's the card I made for her......

I used all the same stamps as on the doorhanger (some of my favourties from Tim Holtz) only this time I added a little SU touch (well, it would have been rude not to!)  The flowers are from the Vintage Vogue stamp set, along with the Flower Accent stamp. 
There's even a little butterfly on there from the Chocolate Baroque Patchwork Butterfly set.

As you can see above, the envelope was decorated, and I did a little stamping on the inside too ....

I'm going to hide all my dress form stamps and dies for a while now, as I seem to be using nothing else lately. It'll give me an excuse to go through all my stamps and see what hasn't had an outing for a while.

I'll be back later with some pics of what we got up to on Maria's workshop at the weekend - I said they would be fabulous designs, and I wasn't wrong.

See you later

Linda

x  

Do you ever get the feeling you've been here before!

Good morning - well actually it's nearly afternoon,
That's the story of my week so far.  Here we are again, Wednesday already and I've hardly done a thing.  I'm still playing catch up with last weeks 'To Do' list, but I'm getting there - slowly!

It looks like summer is back here on the island- for now at least!  The last couple of days have been really nice with sunshine all day (not that I've seen much of it).  Today isn't quite as sunny but it is nice and warm. At least I'll get the washing dry.  I do hope it's nice where you are and that you're getting the chance to make the most of it.

First job of the week was to finish a birthday card.  It's a little late I know (birthday was Saturday) but I did send a gift and it arrived in time.  Sally won't hold it against me I'm sure, she knows her card is to follow.  I did send a little hand-made something as part of her gift - a door hanger for her Craft Room.

I got the idea for this from an article in this months Craft Stamper Magazine.  The colours I've used are similar but I used different stamps, mainly because at the time I didn't have the fabulous Patchwork Butterfly stamps from Chocolate Baroque.  Notice how I said 'at the time'.  Yes, you've guessed it, they've somehow found their way into my stash (naughty me!).  Well, you can never have enough butterflies, and the large one on this set is just gorgeous.  Can I just say how quick they were in arriving too.  I ordered them about 3.30pm on the 11th and they arrived in the morning post on the 12th - can't ask for more than that can you.

Back to the door hanger.  The stamps I used were all from Mr Holtz, except the butterfly wings which were from a large Hero Arts collage stamp.
I made the background by spritzing plain white card with Distress Ink (from the re-inkers) mixed with a little water (Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint).  Then I spritzed Perfect Pearls over the top and covered the card with cling film, wrinkled it up a little, and left it to dry.  Peel off the cling film once it's dried and you'll find that the perfect pearls has gathered in the creases giving a marbling or mother of pearl look to the card.  I like to cover a few full sheets of card when  I'm doing this technique and then I have a stash to use when I like.
I then stamped the images using black Versafine, the large flourish and the numbers are from TH Stampers Anonymous Fairytale Frenzy (CMS058), and the dress form is from Haberdashery (CMS105).  The dress form has been stamped again onto textured cardstock, cut out and decoupaged over the top. The butterfly wings have been added along with some ribbon trim around the bottom.  The wording was just done on the computer, cut out, inked and doodled around the edge

You can also see a close up of how the perfect pearls turned out - pretty or what!

I decorated the back too.......

...... using the same flourish stamp and added one of Tim's sayings (Stuff to Say CMS110).  Final thing, I added some ink splats using the Picket Fence Distress Stain, and literally splat the bottle straight onto the card - great fun!
I can't share the card with you yet as I haven't sent it, but I will say that it matches the door hanger.

Well, at least I've made a start on this week's blogging.  I'll be back later on with some Blog challenge entries.  You'll be sick of me before today is through.
I'm going to try and enjoy a little of this nice weather and have lunch outside I think - after I've put more washing out!  What a glamorous life I lead.

Bye for now

Linda

x