We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Good morning my crafty buddies! I would like to warmly welcome my newest followers Carole, Helen and Liz to my madcap world - hope you enjoy my creations ladies!

Wow! Can you believe that it's the 1st of November already? That's means Christmas is next month .... eeeeek!!!!!! In the last couple of weeks, I've reached 100 followers and over 60,000 page views ... double eeeeek!!!!! Sooooo, I thought I might offer a little bit of candy to at least one of my lucky followers. Watch this space, as I'll have a dig through my stash and see what goodies I have to share ;o)

Back to this morning though, and it's new challenge time over at Feeling Sketchy.


Our new challenge is being sponsored by the lovely Jodie at Bugaboo Digital Stamps who is offering the lucky winner of this challenge a prize pack. And don't forget that even if you're not picked as our winner, everyone's a winner thanks to Jodie's generosity on Freebie Friday's and she also has regular sales and discounts on New Release Tuesday's. Please head over to Bugaboo Digital Stamps, take a peek at the wide variety of digis on offer, and why not let one or two drop into your virtual basket ;o)!

Here's the sketch we'd like you to take inspiration from, courtesy of our designer Michelle:

and here's my "take" on it:

I think this is a great sketch for making quick and easy cards, particularly if you need a card in a hurry or "batch making" Christmas cards - two squares of papers cut down, one sentiment and "ta daa", you've got a nice card! Or, of course, you can dress the sketch up to make a very special card.

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a pre-made 12.5cm square base in cream card
• Design Papers - are both from the Nordic Christmas CD-Rom, now sadly retired :o( There are a few other items still available in the Nordic Christmas Collection ....
  
• Sentiment and Image - are a cling stamp which was a cover freebie on the Christmas 2016 Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine ... perfect timing! I stamped this using Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black then brought the poinsettia to life using my Spectrum Noir Markers in the listed colours before fussy cutting it out and adhering it to my card.
• Poinsettia Bracts - DR6, DR7, Silver Gel Pen
• Leaves - DG2, DG3, DG4
• Swirls - Silver Gel Pen
• Outline - IG1

I hope I've inspired you to come along and join in with this sketch but if you're in need of further inspiration, please head over to Feeling Sketchy and check out the other wonderful creations by my very talented teamies. Don't forget to then come back and share your creation with us! We'll be back with our new challenge on 15th November 2016.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Challenge #5 - Anything Christmas Goes at The Merry Christmas Challenge
• Week 46 - Anything Goes at Weekly Christmas Card Challenges
• Let's Mark a Start on Christmas at Allsorts Challenge Blog
• CHNC 305 - Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas at CraftyHazelNut's Christmas Challenge
• Challenge #367 - Make the Sentiment the Focal Point at Just us Girls
• Inspired by a Book, Film or a Song at Sweet Stampin' - of course I've been inspired by the traditional Christmas song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"!

Whatever you're up to this week, I hope you have fun!

Hugs, Helen x

A Golden Time!

Hello all!

Hope you've had a good start to the week. Yesterday was "back to school" day for us at Casa Mia - not too many poorly peeps for the first day back, so I managed to get some admin bits and bobs tied up! 

Although I made this card last month, somehow I just didn't get around to blogging it and as a few challenges have popped up in my blogger feed I thought now would be a great time to air this beauty!

A good friend asked me to make a card celebrating her parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary, and gave me free rein to do what I wanted .... eeeeeek!!!!!!!! This was the result ... a double gatefold card:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is Snow White Gold Centura Pearl which I have cut, scored and folded to make a Double Gatefold Card using this tutorial at SplitCoast Stampers. I had to tweak the measurements slightly as an A4 sheet of card is fractionally smaller than 30cm in length, but I forgot to make a note of all the measurements - doh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Backing Paper - is a design called Tpl Gold Foil Paper 21 Gold (from the That Photo Life Gold Papers Kit) by Marisa Lerin at Pixel Scrapper Digital Scrapbooking, which I've used on the outside of the card to back my Centura Pearl and also on the inside of the card

• Images - are from freebie stamp set which came with a Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine some time ago. I've stamped these onto Neenah Solar White cardstock using VersaMark Ink and then given them a liberal coating of gold embossing powder which I then heated. Once dry and cool, I fussy cut around the images and attached them to the front panels of my card with foam pads.

• Sentiment - is another stamp from the Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine set, which I've stamped directly onto the rear panel using gold ink

• Ribbon - is from my stash and I've attached this to the outside of the rear panel of the card, and then threaded it behind the stem of the champagne flute so that it stays in place when the card is open.

Sorry this post is very "photo heavy", but I wanted to show you all the golden elements that went into this card ;o)!

I would like to enter this project into the following challenges:

• Challenge #161 - Shaped Cards at Crafty Cardmakers
• Challenge 420 -Something Shiny at Cute Card Thursday - my gold ribbon and embossing are the shiny elements on this card
• April Challenge - Shaped Cards at Sasayaki Glitter Challenge
• Week 15 - Emboss It at Digi Choosday Crafting Challenge

That's it from me for today. I've got a few errands to run now, and then I might get to "play" a little later on. Whatever you're up to today, I hope you get some crafty time.

Hugs, 

Helen x

Thinking of You

Good Evening All,

This is another non-DT post from me ... and I'm using up some stash too! It's the beginning of March, and I'm still managing (in some form or another) to keep up with my resolution ... :oD

Here's a card I've made, having been inspired by a Freebie sentiment:

• Base Card - a pre-made A6 card blank in cream
• Design Papers - are from a set by Erica Zane called Grow and you can get this mini pack from Sweet Shoppe Designs. I've used Papers 2, 3 and 4 from the pack for this card.
• Image -a cover freebie cling stamp from Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine. It came from a set called "The Floral Collection". I inked it up using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad and brought the flowers and leaves to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:


• Flowers - GB1, GB3, GB4, GB5
• Leaves - BT2, BT4, BT5, BT9
• Sprays - Versamark Pen and Gold Embossing Powder
• Outline - GG1
• Sentiment - is called "Thinking of You"  and it was a freebie at Beccy's Place last week. I love the wording of the Irish Blessing behind the main part of the sentiment and it is very reminiscent of a version that I have sung on many occasions at Guide events ... yes, another favourite vesper!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• AC157 - Sketch Challenge at Annabelle Stamps - I've rotated the sketch through 180°
• Challenge 55 - Blue and Yellow at Little Miss Muffet
• Inspiration Challenge Group - Photo Inspiration at Crafter's Digital Art Center
• Challenge #50 - Un-Inked Stamp at Use It Tuesday - not only has my image stamp never been inked up before, it's also been sat in my craft drawer since spring 2012 when it was a magazine cover gift, so I'm using my stash too! The card blank I've used was in a pack that I bought nearly 2 years ago, when I first started making cards.

Hope you've had a good weekend.

Hugs, Helen x