The Perfectly CAS Challenge .........

Happy Saturday evening ......

I hope you're having a good weekend.

It's time to launch the last Perfectly CAS (using one third or less) Challenge of the year .........

As you can see the theme for this challenge is ..... Celebrate.  Something we're all doing a little of that at the moment I think.

I'm still making Christmas cards ...... well not right now I'm not because we're away for the weekend, but I shall be back in the craft room on Monday morning.
Thankfully there's only a few more to do,   and I must admit CAS is the way to go when making cards on the last minute!

This little guy is one of the designs from Stamping Bella, called One Sip Too Many Gnome ..... remind you of anyone?!   I just couldn't resist him ..... he goes so well with the sentiment!

I simply stamped him onto white card, coloured him using ZIG Markers and then used the matching die to cut out the image

I cut the beautiful bow again and layered it over the top using foam pads to add some dimension.

I gave the bow the Wink of Stella treatment, and added a touch of sparkle to the gnome's Santa hat .... awwww, he looks so peaceful!

Check out more CAS designs using the one third rule, from the rest of the Design Team and I look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Happy stamping!

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

We're actually out celebrating this evening, with my big brother and his wife.  It's Liz's birthday tomorrow so I might just end up having one sip too many!

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

Products used:
Stamps: One Sip Too Many Gnome (Stamping Bella); Sentiment (Magenta)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne;
Others: One Sip Too Many Matching Die (Stamping Bella); ZIG Clean Colour Brush Markers; Clear Wink of Stella pen; Fine Crystal Glitter

Uniko are having a Christmas Party ......

Happy Saturday ......

Welcome to the weekend.
Are you all ready for Christmas?  Or is this the weekend when you put on your Santa hat and get everything done?
Whatever you're up to, pop over to the Uniko Studio Blog today and join us for a Christmas Party!

Bev and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are having a little festive celebration sharing a few last minute ideas for using all those gorgeous Uniko Christmas products.

So ..... you've made your Christmas cards, done the gift tags, how about making your own gift wrap.

I bought a really inexpensive roll of plain brown (kraft) paper (you'll find loads on Amazon and eBay) and then I've used my Uniko stamps to decorate it.

Pretty holly leaves with festive red berries ...... I used Versafine Clair inks and they stamped beautifully on the brown paper, nice crisp images

I used an old paint brush to splatter white ink over the top, and really make the design pop.

I also found some plain white twill ribbon ...... again really cheap to buy and looks fab hand stamped with a Christmas greeting (unfortunately the one I've used is from a retired Uniko stamp set but I'm sure you have lots of festive sentiments that would do the job just as well)

To finish off I made a matching gift tag using the same sentiment stamp .....

and the matching designer dies for the holly leaves .....

Why not join in the party and share your Christmas cards, gift tags or anything else festive that you've created using your Uniko stash.  It could be the Clear Stamps,  the Stencils or Designer Dies, even one of the fab Uniko Digital images.  You could win one of these fab PRIZES! 

FIRST PRIZE ........ £25 eGift Certificate

SECOND & THIRD PRIZE .......... Winners Choice of £10 In-Stock Clear Stamp Set

There's a few Party Rules to follow to be eligible to win one of the three prizes on offer .......

*  The party is open to everyone, everywhere in the world
*  Anything Christmas Goes (cards, tags, home decor, journals etc)
*  Your entry MUST include at least ONE Uniko product (clear stamp, stencil, die or digital freebie) as the main focus of your project
*  You can join in as many times as you like, as long as you follow the rules!
*  The party Link up will CLOSE at 8pm on 31st December 2019
*  WINNERS will be announced on the Uniko Blog on 6th January 2020
*  The first prize winner will be chosen from a vote by the Uniko Brand Ambassadors ..... second and third prize winners will be chosen randomly from all the entries that have adhered to the rules.

Follow the links below for more fabulous festive ideas ......... Enjoy the party!

Bev

Carol 

Hannelie

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

                                Linda (that would be me!)

Rahmat

Sarah P

Thanks for popping by ..... have a great weekend!

Cheerio until next time .....

Products used:
Stamps: Winter Foliage Clear Stamps (Uniko); 
Inks: Versafine Clair inks - Green Oasis, Tulip Red; Distress Archival ink - Barn Door (on the ribbon)
Other: Plain Brown paper; white twill ribbon; Winter Foliage Designer Dies (Uniko); Glitter card; Red Glitter glue; White acrylic paint

The party season has well and truly started .......

Happy Wednesday .......

Can someone put the brakes on please ..... this week is going too fast!!!

The festive frenzy has started!  It was Christmas party after Christmas party all last weekend!  Friday afternoon for hubby, although to be fair he was home early ..... surprisingly!  Saturday we were both out on hubby's works do ..... always a memorable night!  I did say I wasn't staying late as I was out again on Sunday but, too much champagne and far too many cocktails later ..... we rolled in at 2am! All I'm saying is, I was very quiet at the Christmas lunch with the crafty girls on Sunday!

It's been full steam ahead this week, making Christmas cards ...... and I'm still not done yet!  Next year I AM starting in January!!
I'm onto batch making now ....... nice and easy, quick, clean and simple ..... well almost!

I really enjoyed playing with my Distress Oxide sprays and the emboss resist technique for my inpiration piece for this months Craft Stamper Blog Challenge, so I decided to do a few more.  Slightly different from the original but ..... all the same techniques.

I stamped my snowflakes onto some teal coloured cardstock and then heat embossed them with clear powder

I then used the Oxide Sprays over the top ......

Once everything was dry I placed a piece of copier paper over the heat embossing and used a hot, dry iron to remove the embossing powder, and any of the oxide spray still sat on the top. 
I love the effect you get.  Because of the ink used to stamp the snowflakes (I used Versamark) you get this nice dark image left behind that really pops from the background.

I added some ink splatters, a festvie sentiment and a few shiny gems.

I love the turquoise/teal colour but you could use any colour of cardstock and Oxide Sprays.
You can even do it on white card ..... heat emboss in clear onto the white card, and then use the Oxide Sprays to add the colour.  Doing it this way, the snowflakes would be white once you removed the embossing powder with the iron ..... cool eh!  I must give this a go if I get the chance!

If you haven't seen the original card check it out here

We're off out again this evening, just hubby and I tonight, for a quiet dinner at our favourite place. Then we're off to the UK tomorrow to see family and friends before Christmas.  If I ever get the suitcase packed that is!
Fingers crossed the weather's OK, it's been a little bit wet and windy here the last couple of days, with flight delays and cancelled boats.   We're not sailing over this time though.  We're flying into Liverpool and hiring a car instead ........ no where near as bumpy a crossing (I hope!) 

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

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Swirly Snowflakes (Tim Holtz); Poinsettia Wreath (The Ton) - for the sentiment
Inks: Versamark; 
Others: Distress Oxide Sprays - Broken China, Salty Ocean; Clear Embossing Powder, White Embossing Powder (WOW!); Gold and Silver ink

It's Friday ..... it's the first one of the month ...... it's The Craft Stamper Challenge!!

Happy Friday ....

The weekend is almost here.  I hope you've had a good week.

It's time to get the final Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge of 2019 underway.
Why not take a break from all the festive preparation, and play along.  Go on .... spend some time with your craft stash!
If you're like me, you're still making your Christmas cards ..... oh yes, I'm not done yet!

This design was inspired by the lovely Jennifer McGuire, using the Distress Oxide Spray Resist technique, and then finishing with an iron!

I love the Oxide Sprays ....... I'm hoping Santa brings me the final set of 12 (hint! hint!)
I really like how they work on coloured cardstock, and this technique is so much fun to do.

I used the gorgeous large snowflake from the Colorado Craft Company and heat embossed it with a clear powder onto a piece of teal coloured cardstock.
I then used the Oxide Sprays, spritzing gently down the card and over the top of the embossing.
I used a couple of different colours, allowing each layer to dry before adding a different colour.

Once it was all dry, I place a piece of copier paper over the clear embossed snowflake and used a hot iron over the top, to remove the embossing powder.  I love the effect that this gives.
The heat from the iron melts the embossing powder and it's soaked up into the copier paper, along with any of the Oxide Spray that may be sat on top of the embossing,  leaving this beautifully smooth image behind.

I added some fine crystal glitter onto the snowflake ........ well it is Christmas! and then heat embossed my sentiment on the top with a white embossing powder .....

I finished off with a few splatters of gold and silver ink onto the background, and added a few sparkly gems.

The theme for the challenge is Anything Goes ...... cards, journal pages, 3D projects, scrapbook layouts, whatever you like.  Just make sure there's actual rubber stamping on your project somewhere.  No Digi images please, new original work only, and ..... please keep to the one project per blog post, a set of something such as cards or ATCs count as more than one.

You can enter the challenge up to three times, just make sure that each entry has it's own blog post, and don't forget to include a link back to the Craft Stamper challenge.

As always there's two prizes up for grabs ....... 

• the Design Winner, chosen by the DT.  They will get their winning project published in the Craft Stamper Magazine, a winners profile, and an invitation to be a Guest Designer on a future challenge.
• the Challenge Winner, randomly chosen.  They will receive this months fabulous prize .... a set of Jane Davenport Brights Watercolour Paints.

Happy stamping folks!

The Christmas spirit has finally found its way here ..... Ho! Ho! Ho!  and the house is looking more like Santa's grotto each day.
The trees are finally up ....... both of them!  It took me a while but, we got there in the end!

Most of the Christmas shopping is done, and the party season starts this weekend!
We even watched our first Christmas movie last night .....

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day, and have a great weekend.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Winter Wishes Snowflake (Colorado Craft Company);  Merry Christmas (Simon Says Stamp)
Inks: Versamark ink; Distress Oxide Sprays - Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon; Delicata - Golden Glitz, Silver Shimmer (for the splatters)
Others: Clear Embossing Powder,  White embossing powder (WOW!); Quickie Glue Pen, Fine Crystal Glitter; Clear crystal Gems

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge ........

Happy Monday evening ........

And welcome to December!!!
The advent calendar is out ...... the decorations are starting to appear ..... and I have a date with Mr Buble later as I finish decorating the tree!

Looking at the calendar, this month is going to be crazy!  This week alone we have three Christmas parties ...... and then next weekend hubby and I are away ...... and the weekend after that of course it's full steam ahead with all the shopping, cooking and preparations for the big day. 

There's always time for a blog challenge though.   How about joining in with the last of this years Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenges.
We've got the perfect theme this month ..... Frozen.  

It's actually a bit of a sad one for me this ..... it's my final HLS DT post (sigh!) 
After a fab four and a half years,  I've made the tough decision to stand down from the Design Team.

I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Kylie, for giving me the opportunity to be part of such a fabulous DT.  You've all been amazing ........ it's been an absolute honour to work alongside such a talented bunch!

So .... Frozen.  Your first thoughts might be the Disney film .... would you believe I haven't acutally seen it! Well, I've seen it, sort of.  I just haven't heard it!
It was on the big TV screens in a well know electrical store when hubby was looking to buy a new TV.  He was off with the salesman somewhere and I was keeping an eye on the little man who was with us. 
Hubby took a while .... going all technical with the sales guy, but that was OK because Alex was quite happy watching the movie, fascinated that it was on so many screens at the same time ..... even though there was no actual sound ..... apart from the song that is!
Anyway .... the challenge theme isn't necessarily about the film ..... it can be anything, as long as its Frozen.

As I'm still making my Christmas cards (I must get some in the post this week!) I've gone for Snow!

I've used this new to me Stampotique Snowman ...... how cute is this little guy!

I've added a touch of colour using ZIG markers and given him a little sparkle with some fine crystal glitter.
I kept the sentiment small .......

and added some pretty snowflakes ......

Well ..... that's it from me.
Thank you to everyone that's played along with the HLS CAS challenges this year, I hope you've had as much fun as we have.

I hope I've given you lots of inspiration during my time on the DT, and hopefully we'll see each other again when I'm playing along each month.

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day and have a fabulous Christmas!
I'm off to finish decorating the tree ....... I do love this time of year!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Chilly (Stampotique); Swirly Snowflakes (Tim Holtz CMS319); Small snowflakes are from an old Stampin Up set ..... I think!; Sentiment - from Poinsettia Wreath (The Ton)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Delicata - Golden Glitz and Silver Shimmer; Versamark
Other: Fine Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!);  Quickie Glue Pen; Fine Crystal Glitter; ZIG Markers