It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas!

Hello to you, crafty friends.

Apologies for such a long hiatus from my blogging activities - the return to school in September was it's usual madness and things weren't great for me in terms of the workload that I was expected to clear during the day, which in turn was impacting on my work/life balance. Soooo, after much soul searching, I applied for a new job and was successfully appointed! It is with huge sadness and much regret that I am leaving the school after nearly 8½ years, and I will be joining my new team next week.

It might take me a wee while to find my feet in my new job, and that very precious work/life balance, but I'm hoping to be able to rejoin the Design Teams I was previously with and I thank them all for their patience throughout 2017 where I appear to have been such a "flaky" teamie!

So, without further ado, it's new challenge time over at All Dressed Up and, as usual, our theme is Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image.  Wendy has plenty of gorgeous images available in the All Dressed Up Etsy Store. Haven't got any All Dressed Up images? Wendy has very generously provided some freebies here - please send your friends over to ADU for the freebies though, to make sure they're available for other crafters to share!



Here is my inspiration for you using one of Wendy's newly released images Christmas Hair Do:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base card - is Centura Pearl Snow White Silver which I have cut, scored and folded following this tutorial to make a Triangle Tri-fold card
  
• Design paper - is from the long-since-retired Party Paws collection by Crafter's Companion. This gorgeous foiled paper was in a pack of papers and die-cut toppers which I found in my stash 😳
• Image - is by the oh-so-talented Wendy who is the artist behind All Dressed Up. This image is called Christmas Hair Do and I brought her to life with my Spectrum Noir Marker Pens (but sadly forgot to record the colours I used) and highlighted bits with my Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen. I then die cut this cutie using my largest Die'sire Essentials Hearts Die
• Ribbon - is from my stash

I hope you'll come over to All Dressed Up and join in with this challenge. Don't forget that our Dressy teamies over on the All Dressed Up Facebook Page run their own challenge and you can enter both challenges with the same project. Why not play along and increase your chances of winning some of Wendy's gorgeous digis?

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

• November Challenge - Christmas/Winter Theme at I'm a Crafter's Companion Facebook Page
• November Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes at Sweet Stampin' Christmas
• Challenge 46 - Anything Goes at A Snowflake's Promise
• November Challenge - Winter is Coming! at Colouring in Scrapland

I'll be back next week - in the meantime, take care!

Hugs, 

Helen x

The Christmas Tree Fairy

Good afternoon my crafty buddies and we're into our first December weekend - eeeek!!!!!

I must confess that I shared this cutie on Facebook yesterday, but didn't get a chance to blog her as I was on transportation duties for the Bambinos. 

The gorgeous girlie on this card was "behind" the first door in the Kit and Clowder Facebook Group Annual Advent Calendar and our very own "Dressy Artist" Wendy Burns was sponsoring this door and this cutie was the freebie on offer for Day 1. The Dressy Girls were asked to share their inspiration using her with the K&C Facebook Group and also the All Dressed Up Facebook Group.

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - Black card which has been cut, scored and folded to make a 17 x 10 cm (approx) card
• Image - is Christmas Tree Fairy available from the All Dressed Up Esty Store and she has been created by Wendy, the artist behind ADU. I have coloured this cutie in monochrome using a free technique class which Alyce Keegan (the maestro behind Kit and Clowder) gave as a bonus to all members of the November Markers Colouring Class - you can still join this class up to 14th December, so if you fancy having a go at monochrome, why not sign up to the classes? I used my Spectrum Noir Markers together with my Blender Pen and my Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Here's a closer look:

I hope that you'll head over to the All Dressed Up Store and treat yourself to this cutie, even though she is no longer free. Don't forget to the share your creations using her over at All Dressed Up Challenges where it's always Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image (our current challenge ends on 14th December) and/or the All Dressed Up Monthly Facebook Challenge with an All Dressed Up image and the new theme for the month of December is "Sparkle".

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

• December Challenge - Anything Goes with the Bonus Theme of Clean and Simple at Spectrum Noir Facebook Monthly Challenge

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

And Now For Something Completely Different !

And readers of a certain age may well, like me, be humming the theme tune to Monty Python's Flying Circus at this point!

Good evening my crafty friends and hope that this post finds you well.

It's the second showcase of this month's New Release images at All Dressed Up and this time Wendy has outdone herself with 4 fantastic images just begging to go on your Christmas projects! If you missed the first DT showcase of the new images then click here to see the wonderful inspiration we have lined up for you.

I'm thrilled to share Christmas Snow Globe (top left), Christmas Tree Fairy (top right), My First Christmas (bottom left) and the sensational Party Season (bottom right) and just click on the image name to be taken straight to it in the shop. I can tell you that a high number of the DT girls were falling over themselves to play with the gorgeous party girlies first 😉 !!!!!!

I was asked to showcase Christmas Snow Globe and I thought I could do a shaker card but I didn't want to detract from the pretty card Nancy did. Then I thought I could do a rocker card but that didn't look like it was going to work out properly. So then Mr Mojo went into complete overdrive and I found myself unwittingly heading towards my Shrinkles Plastic and this Tree Ornament was the result:

My ornament recipe is as follows:

• Base - is a sheet of Shrinkles Plastic cut to around 13 x 14 cm which I had calculated using my Shrinkles Magic Ruler (my tutorial is here which gives some tips on how to make and use it) would leave me with a finished project size of 4.5 x 5 cm once the plastic had shrunk in the oven
  
• Image - is Christmas Snow Globe by Wendy at All Dressed Up Digital Stamps which I printed out at about 12cm and then I used masking tape to fasten my square of plastic over the printed image. I then used my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours to bring this fawn and her clearing to life, using several techniques in the November 2016 Monthly Markers Colouring Class at Kit and Clowder. I cut a narrow border around the snowglobe, punched a hole in the top to hang it and then "cooked" my plastic in the oven to shrink it as per the manufacturer's instructions
• Fawn - EB2, EB3, EB5, True Black
• Flower Spray - CR8, CR11, DG4
• Trees - DG2, CG4, DG3, DG4, TN4, TN7, TN9 
• Snow - IG1, TB1, TB4
• Snowflakes - TB1 and Glitter Embossing Powder
• Star - LY3
• Outlines - True Black
• Ribbon - is from my stash

I hope I have inspired by to head over to the shop and treat yourself to a new Christmas-y image. Don't forget that once you've coloured your image up you can enter it into the Celebrations with an All Dressed Up Image Challenge over on the All Dressed Up Facebook Page (until 30th November 2016) and/or enter it into the current Blog challenge, Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image (running until 14th December 2016).

Can't wait to see your creations with these fabulous foursome!

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

• Week 390 - O Christmas Tree  at Allsorts Challenge Blog
• CHNC 308 - Cute or Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas at Crafty HazelNuts Christmas Challenge
• Poinsettias or Snow is Falling at Winter Wonderland - I think I can possibly claim both with the floral arrangement on the fawn's head and the softly falling snowflakes (embossed with glitter) coming down !

Hope you have a great week.

Hugs, Helen x

Snow fun!

Well, hello again friends! As promised earlier, here's another missive from me!

This time I'm bringing you the newest challenge from All Dressed Up and, as usual, our theme is Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image. 

Don't have any ADU images? Don't panic, you can find plenty in Wendy's Esty Shop and there are even a few freebies over on the Blog so you can "try before you buy" 😉!!!! Our Random Winner of this challenge gets 3 of Wendy's gorgeous images to play with, the DT will be choosing their Top 3 and you could even be in the running to be a future Guest Designer with us!

Wendy has once again let all the DT girls loose in the shop and choose their own image to play with, and here's my inspiration card for you:

I wanted to create a Christmas card for one of my brothers and his family, but good old Mr Mojo pulled a flanker on me and decided to throw a sickie at creation time. I really was unsure as to how this card would turn out, but I'm actually pretty chuffed with it!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is black card stock which has been cut, scored and folded to make a 19cm x 10cm card base
  
• Image - is of course by Wendy at All Dressed Up Stamps and these cuties are called Christmas Penguins (this link will take you straight to them in the store 😊!). I have brought this slipping, sliding trio to life using my Spectrum Noir Markers in the listed colours before cutting my card to an 18cm x 9cm rectangle and doodling a border around the edge with my silver gel pen.
• Fur - IG3, IG5, IG7, IG9
• Beaks & Flippers - FS5, CR1, OR3, TN4, TN8
• Large Penguin's Hat & Scarf - TB2, TB3, Silver Gel Pen
• Middle Penguin's Hat & Scarf - GT1, GT2
• Small Penguin's Ear Muffs & Scarf - HB1, HB2, Silver Gel Pen
• Snow - IG1, IG2, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

I hope I've inspired you to come over to the All Dressed Up Blog and play along with us in our Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image this month, but if you're in need of further inspiration please go over there and check out the other wonderful creations by my very talented teamies! This challenge will end on 14th December 2016.

Don't forget the Facebook Dressy Girls have their own challenge of Celebrations running until 30th November 2016. So have a look at Wendy's New Release as any of these images would be perfect to use  - why not combine your entries to both challenges for more chances of winning 😉!!!!!!

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

• Challenge #2 - All That Glitters at Daisy Chain Challenge

I hope you have a wonderful evening - take care!

Hugs, Helen x

Let there be Light!

Hello there crafty friends!

Hope you're all well today. I finally seem to be getting rid of this stinking cold, but am still coughing and spluttering when I laugh. So what did PapaMia choose to watch last night, but an episode of It'll be Alright on the Night!!!!! Love 'im :oD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's new challenge time at Incy Wincy Designs and this time we'd like you to Alter Something. Grab a box, tin, anything you can alter (but no cards this time please!), alter it and show us the results! We're also introducing Maria Giselle who is the newest member of our DT - please head over to her blog to say "Hi"!

As usual, we'll be rewarding two lucky crafters for their hard work. 

Our first sponsor is Lizzy from Oddball Art and our second sponsor is Jodie from Bugaboo Stamps. Both ladies are very kindly offering our 2 lucky prize winners a pack of digital images from their respective stores!

They have also kindly given the DT some images to play with and, today, I'm showcasing an image from Bugaboo Stamps and an empty mustard jar!

There seem to be quite a few "glasses" around in some of the shops around us that are made from jars, and Mason or Kilner jars are enjoying a huge revival now too, so I thought I would have a play and see what I could do with a jar from our recycling "bottles box" and I've made a tealight holder! You could even use a summery design, fix some wire around the neck of the jar and hang it from a tree or hook to use on summer evenings.... Or how pretty these would look in wedding colours on tables ... Ooops - looks like Mr Mojo is running away with ideas again ;o) !!!!!

My project recipe is as follows:

• Jar - empty (!), clean and dry with the label removed. To do this try putting the jar in your sink and covering it with warm water. Leave it for a few hours and hopefully the label will float off. If the label is reluctant to part company from the glass, you may need to pull the label off and then scrub any glue/paper remnants from the surface of the jar.
• Image - is Christmas Words - Noel by Jodie at Bugaboo Stamps. I carefully measured the size of my jar, and then resized the image in my word processing package to suit. I printed my image onto a piece of white tissue paper which I had stuck onto a piece of card (carrier) with low tack tape. My tissue paper has a glossy side and a matt side - I printed onto the matt side and used the Draft Setting on my inkjet printer. I coloured the image using my Spectrum Noir Pens in TB3, TB4, and TB8, although in hindsight the colours haven't come out strongly. I then die cut both the tissue paper and carrier card using my second largest Sizzix Framelits Ovals die. I then drew and cut a straight line under the image to flatten to die cut and to make it easier to get the image onto the jar.
• Papers - are one of the co-ordinating papers from the (sadly no longer available) Nordic Christmas CD-Rom by Crafter's Companion. I printed these out onto another piece of tissue paper and then tore these into roughly 2cm squares.
  

I used regular PVA Glue and a paintbrush to put a layer of glue onto my jar and I then carefully smoothed my "Noel" die cut over the glue. Once it was in place, I then smeared another layer of glue over the top to seal it (a bit like decopatch-ing really!). I think I might have used a bit too much glue as the colours on the image smeared, so I went over them again once the glue was dry. I affixed the squares of Design Paper in exactly the same way, making sure they overlapped.

Once all the glue had dried, I embellished the design by glueing some silver glitter to the top of the letter "L" and also added a small Gem to the centre of the snowflake on the letter "O". Some fine silver cord wound around the neck of the jar and tied in a bow completes the project.

I hope I have inspired you to have a root around your recycling box and Alter Something but if you're short on ideas, why not pop over to Incy Wincy Designs and have a peek at the fabulous creations by my talented teamies. Then come back and link up your altered items to be in with a chance of winning one of our prizes or being a DT Top Pick! We'll be back with our next challenge on Monday 20th June 2016.

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

• Snowflakes Challenge at Winter Wonderland
• June Challenge - Anything Goes at Craftyhazelnuts Christmas Challenge Extra
• Challenge 119 - Altered at Card and Scrap
• June Challenge - Anything Goes at Altered Eclectics
• Challenge #165 - Monochrome at Crafty Cardmakers
• Challenge 64 - Upcycling at Quick Quotes
• Challenge #40 - Bingo at Get Creative Challenges - I am claiming the top left to bottom right diagonal of Glitter, Printed Paper, Blue
• Week 21, U is for Utilise at The Pencil Case

That's it from me for today - I hope you manage to enjoy some sunshine and warm weather before the forecast thunder storms strike! 

Take care,

Hugs, Helen x

Frosty the Snowlady .....

Yup, I'm bursting into song again ... but I don't think my new title will beat the original! ;)

Good morning crafty friends and hope this post finds you fine and dandy. Well, the weather did it's usual thing for a Bank Holiday in the UK didn't it. On the plus side, Saturday and Sunday were fine and dry here so I got quite a bit of washing done and even managed to wash my car ... I won't be parking under a certain tree at the gym again! I'll leave that one to your imagination .... :oD !!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I'm a little late bringing you this post  as I got carried away over the weekend (apologies) as yesterday saw the start of our new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs and this one is right up my street as we're looking for your Clean and Simple creations.

This challenge is being kindly sponsored by Rick St Dennis who is offering a prize of 2 digital images to our lucky prize winner. Rick's Zibbet shop features his cute, fashion, whimsical and unusual images ... there's bound to be at least a couple of images there to suit everyone's tastes! 

Rick was kind enough to let each DT member choose an image to showcase for this challenge, so here's my card for you featuring one of Rick's images:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a pre-made A6 card base in white card. I've embossed the card base and coloured it whilst embossing by applying my pearlescent blue Brilliance ink pad to the screen printed side of my (now retired) Sheena Festive Embossing Folder "Ornamental Snowflake" before running the card sandwich through my machine.
  
• Image - is Mrs Frosty Digi Stamp by Rick St Dennis which I've coloured using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours (the artist shaded areas make it really easy to colour!), before die cutting it with my largest Die'sire Essentials Rectangles die. A slick of Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen gives a frosty feel to the scene.
• Snow - IG1, IG2, IG3
• Hat & Lacy Collar - IB1, IB2, IB3, BT9
• Rose - TN3, EB3, EB8, DG2, DG3
• Carrot - OR1, OR2
• "Arms" (Sticks) - TN3, EB3, EB8
• Sentiment - comes from a set which was included with the Winter 2014 edition of the Crafter's Inspiration Magazine which I stamped using the pearlescent blue Brilliance ink.

I hope that I have inspired you to keep it Clean and Simple and share your creations with us at Incy Wincy Designs this time. However, if you're in need of further inspiration, please head over to the blog and check out the other great projects by my teamies. We'll be back with our next challenge on Monday 16th May 2016.

Don't forget that we've still got a DT Call on - all the details are on this post. Ever wanted to join a Design Team but nervous of taking that first step? Don't worry, we are a very easy going but incredibly supportive team. Go on, drop us an email - YOU could be the very person we're looking for!

I have been inspired by and would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• I is for Ink at ABC Christmas Challenge
• Week #410 - Pick any Sketch (215-396) at Sketch Saturday - I've chosen Sketch #381 
• E is for Embossing at The Alphabet Challenge

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

• #302 - Bright Christmas at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges
• Challenge 105 - Snowmen at Chrimbo Crackers - hope that a Snowlady counts ;o)!
• Challenge 423 - No Patterned Papers at Cute Card Thursday
• Weather Related Challenge at StarStampz
• Challenge #83 - Stamp or Digi Only (Christmas Themed) at The Glory of Christmas
• CHNC Challenge 279 - Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge

Whatever you're up to this week, I hope you manage to squeeze in some crafty time! Take care.

Hugs, Helen x

All Aboard!

Good evening crafty friends!

I hope, like me, that you've been enjoying some very seasonal spring-like weather. My poor washing machine is in a state of shock as I've been doing so much laundry!

It's new challenge time at Incy Wincy Designs and this time we'd like you to be Inspired by a Song, Book or Movie. So, make sure your creation represents your favourite and don't forget to tell us what it is!!!

We've got 2 lovely sponsors lined up for you with 2 great prizes and, I have to say, most of the DT will be showcasing both sponsors because (like me) they simply couldn't choose which sponsor's images to use :oD!!!!!!!

Our first sponsor is the lovely Sami from Sami Stamps who is offering a prize pack to our first random winner.

Our second sponsor is new to us here at Incy Wincy, but has been around blogland for a while - welcome to Nikki from Melonheadz Illustrating. Nikki is offering our second random winner a bundle from her store

For this card, I have been inspired by youngest Bambino and my favourite Christmas film of all time .... The Polar Express. Both before Christmas and during the holidays it's our "snuggle up together" film! And like The Polar Express, this card keeps on surprising as it's a "Never-ending" card:

First side:

Second side:

Third side:

Fourth side:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is white cardstock which I've cut, scored and folded, using my Ultimate Pro following this tutorial which I found on SplitCoast Stampers. I will say that the written instructions once the 2 layers are stuck together are exceedingly difficult to follow, however once I'd watched the video the folds made complete sense!
• Papers - are from the Nordic Christmas CD-Rom, which I believe is out of stock or has been retired at Crafter's Companion. I've cut the papers to size for each panel of the card following the tutorial.
• Images - are from the North Pole Express Set by Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating. I wanted to use the whole set so that my never-ending card told the story of the film, so the children on side 2 are three separate images which I've put together; on side 3 I've put the elf and present together, and also Santa and his sack. These images are all pre-coloured and are also .png files, which means they have no background so can be layered onto something else straightaway. Because I wanted a small white border around each image, I have printed these separately to my papers and then fussy cut each image out.
• Sentiments - the "Believe" sentiment is by Paulette at Create with TLC and was a goodie from the 2011 Christmas Club. The lower sentiment is computer generated using a free downloadable front called Scriptina.

So there you have it, my card inspired by my favourite film. Soon, I will be bringing you a card featuring an image by our other sponsor which has been inspired by one our my favourite songs. 

In the meantime though, do head over to Incy Wincy Designs to see how my very talented teamies have been Inspired by a Song, Book or Movie and then come back and show us your projects. Just don't forget to tell us which Song, Book or Movie you've been inspired by ... otherwise you won't be able to qualify for one of our prizes :o(

We've also got a DT Call on at the moment too - all the details are on this post. Don't forget that you don't have to have had DT experience (we all started somewhere!) we'd rather that you are a fun person who enjoys crafting!

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

• April Challenge - Travelling/Transport at Bunny Zoe's Crafts - this project is based on a journey to the North Pole to see Santa on a train called The Polar Express
• Challenge #102 - Fancy Folds at The Paper Girls Challenge - my fancy fold has been created by cleverly glueing 4 six inch by 3 inch pieces of card together so that unfolding the card never ends!
• H is for Hat (Christmas of course!) at ABC Christmas Challenge - Santa and his elf are "rocking" their hats!
• Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas at Crafty Hazel Nuts Christmas Extra Challenge
• CHNC #278 - Use a Sentiment at Crafty Hazel Nuts Christmas Challenge
• Challenge #01 at Classic Design Team Open Challenge Second Entry

Whatever you're up to this evening, have fun!

Hugs, Helen x

Polar Bears are a Girl's best friend ... obviously!!!!!!!

Good morning my crafty friends!

If you celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We went into town and purchased (from the same department store) 2 new frying pans, a kitchen timer and voile/net curtains .... boy, we sure know how to live on what's supposed to be the most loved up day of the year!!!!! :D

Anyway, it's new challenge time at Feeling Sketchy and we've got another great sketch for you, courtesy of Michelle.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Nikky and the team at Polkadoodles who are offering the lucky winner of this challenge a prize pack. Even if you're not lucky enough to win the prize for this challenge, make sure you go to Digi Choosday Blog where Nikky regularly offers discount codes to the Polkadoodles Store, as well as the special offers that are already in place! Hands up - who likes a discount to get new crafty stash!!!!!!!!!

Here's the sketch we'd like you to follow for Challenge #139:

and here's my card using the sketch and featuring a gorgeous image from Polkadoodles:

I must confess that I found this card rather a challenge, as it's quite a lot fussier than my normal card making style. However, I'm pretty pleased with it!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - is a 14.8 cm square, pre-made card base in white
• Design Papers - are from the Nordic Christmas CD-Rom by Crafter's Companion, which doesn't seem to be available any longer :o(   I've used a red snowflake paper on the front of the card, and I ran my paper back through my printer to print the brown chequered paper on the reverse as this paper matches the background on my button. I've used Kraft card for matting and layering.
  
• Image - is the uber-cute Polar Family - Octavia Frosted Winter by Nikky at Polkadoodles. I've brought this lovely family to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens and Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen before hand cutting the image out and attaching it to my card. Unfortunately, I didn't keep a note of all the colours I used - sorry!
• Tag - is embossed from Kraft card using my Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats Ultimate Pro Embossing Board and I then cut this out by hand, and re-embossed the edges to give definition. The bow is made from jute twine I have in my stash, and tied using my Ultimate Pro. A faux button made from an embellishment I found on the Nordic Christmas CD-Rom which I then cut using the heart shaped die from my Die'sire Essentials Button Box die set (also no longer available). I cut out 3 further heart shapes, glued them all together ensuring my printed heart was on the top, and then covered the white edges using my EB7 Spectrum Noir Pen.
• Sentiment and Snowflake - are both dies available in Sara's Signature - Festive Wonder Collection and are both cut from Centura Pearl Snow White Silver card. I cut the words away from the initial letters of "Merry Christmas" to follow the sketch.

I hope you'll come over Feeling Sketchy and check out the amazing creations by my talented team mates. Then don't forget to come back and show us your cards or scrapbook pages following our sketch. We'll be back with our new challenge on 1st March 2016.

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

• Add a Button (or Buttons) at CD Sunday
• Trend Week #330 - Add a Tag to your card/project at Just us Girls Challenge
• Challenge #121 - Anything Goes with an optional twist of "Add a Tag" at Digistamps4Joy
• Have a Heart Challenge at Winter Wonderland - my faux button is heart shaped and there is heart on the button too!
• Challenge #120 - Die Cuts at Addicted to Stamps
• Challenge #101 - Homemade Embellishments at Pile it On Challenges - my faux button is homemade!
• B is for B - you pick! at ABC Challenge - B is for Brown, Button, Bow and Bears!
• Challenge #311 - Use Red as your Main Colour at Crafty Catz Challenge

We're on half term now here at Casa Mia, and I'll be waiting in for my gas man to service our boiler. Gives me some crafting time me thinks!

Whatever you're up to today, have fun!

Hugs, Helen x

Winter Wonderland

Good evening my crafty friends - hope you are all well!

Well it's the weekend, and I am running rather late with this card, which is my DT inspiration for the current challenge at Incy Wincy Designs which is Winter Wonderland.

We've been sponsored by the lovely team at Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet who have kindly let us have some images to showcase and our lucky prize winner this week will also get some Stitchy Bear goodies!!!!!!!

Here is my card featuring a gorgeous image by Stitchy Bear Stamps:

I don't think I've ever done a white/silver monochrome card before (not sure I can truly call it "white on white"!) but I'm really pleased with the result, and the image made that so easy to do!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a pre-made A5 card blank in white which I've embossed using a Sheena Douglass Embossing Folder called Ornamental Snowflake - unfortunately this doesn't appear to be on sale any more which is a shame is the snowflakes are simply beautiful! I've "swiped" my Silver Versa Color Ink Pad over the embossed part of the snowflakes, just to give them a bit of sheen and definition.
• Frame - is the largest Die'sire Decorative Noveau Stamping Frame die which I've cut from Snow White Silver Centura Pearl card, and then run back through my Big Shot using the embossing mat to highlight parts of the die.
  
• Image - is by Stitchy Bear Stamps at Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet and it's called Sunday School. I've simply printed this onto Neenah Crest Solar White card, die cut it using the internal part of the Die'sire Decorative Noveau Stamping Frame die, and then I highlighted all the snowy areas of the image using my Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear Overlay pen. Click on the image to enlarge it and check out that super sparkle!
• Sentiment - is from the set which came with Crafter's Inspiration Magazine - Issue 8, and I've stamped this directly onto the card using Silver Versa Color Ink Pad.

I'm really quite pleased with this card, and I think it'll be perfect for my Mother-in-Law! Apologies for the not very white photos ... penalty of trying to get photos under electric lights! Might try again in the daylight tomorrow :o/ !

I hope I've inspired you to have a go with this challenge but if not, head over to Incy Wincy Designs and have a look at the other Winter Wonderland projects created by my very talented teamies. There's still plenty of time to join in with this challenge as it ends on Sunday 6th December 2015.

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

• Monthly Stamp Challenge #63 - Christmas in White at Little Claires
• Challenge #73 - Outdoor Scene at The Glory of Christmas Challenge
• Challenge 115 - Brrr It's Cold Outside at Crafting for all Seasons
• Challenge 11 - Winter/Christmas Themed at A Snowflake's Promise

Hope you have a lovely weekend - I'm off to colour next week's DT piece in the hope that I won't be late :o)

Hugs,

Helen x

Deck the Halls!

Good morning crafty friends ... can you believe it's December already!!!!! Youngest Bambino was very excited to be able to open her advent calendar this morning .... it's been sat on the mantlepiece for a week now (you can tell she's a teen can't you!).

It's been quite a busy time at Casa Mia. Saturday saw the Christmas Fayre at our church and I took along some of my cards. I sold about 6 (the same as last year) but had taken quite a few more. I think people came along for coffee/mulled wine and a mince pie, bought a raffle ticket or two and then disappeared as I didn't see many people going out with bags and even the cake stall had to reduce their goodies to half price! Not sure whether it's worth the effort of doing it next year .... will have to ponder. Last night saw eldest Bambino and her fledging band taking to the stage at a venue in town. It was organised by her college and was a showcase for the bands that all the BTEC level 3 music students have formed. Each group took to the stage and performed a 20 minute set of 4 numbers. Most of the audience was fellow students and press-ganged parents but the show was great. Unfortunately, I think my age was showing this morning as my legs were aching first thing from having been stood around for 4 hours last night! I filmed Bambino's group and showed it to Papa Mia when we got in - to be honest, we're totally amazed at how good she and her bandmates were, especially as they've been together for less than 3 months!  Anyway, enough waffle from Casa Mia ;o)

It's new challenge time at Feeling Sketchy and we're being sponsored this time by Deedee and the team at Deedee's Digis and here's a word or two from Deedee about her images:

Deedee's Digis offers wholesome digital "stamps" and printable digital papers that are the original creations of Deedee Anderson. All of our sets include both outline and pre-colored images, in both JPG and PNG formats. Our products are offered in high 300dpi resolution so that they are fully resizable to meet your crafting needs. We are a Christ-centered company, and you will find that many of our sets include KJV Scripture verses, in addition to encouraging sentiments of all sorts. We feel very blessed to be part of such a talented community of paper crafters, and thank you for allowing us to sponsor this challenge!

Our prize for this challenge is a $15.00 gift code to the store :)

You may or may not be aware that Deedee's Digis will be closing it's doors on 31st December 2015. As a result of this, all the digis in the store (apart from the sale items) have whopping 75% off their prices!!! And if you need any inspiration for using Deedee's pretty digis, check out the Deedee's Digis "blog" where the DT are regularly posting.

So, back to our challenge and here's your inspiration sketch, as drawn by Michelle:

And here's my inspiration for you using this sketch (rotated clockwise by 90º) and a digi set from Deedee's Digis:

Now, I have to confess to having cheated a bit this time as when I was creating for this challenge all my craft stuff was (and still is!) in the boot of my car as a result of Saturday's Fayre!!!!!! So, I have digitally created a card topper, which I will print out and attach to a DL sized card base.

I used the beautiful Ornamental (Icy) set (which has the baubles both coloured and as line art, 4 sentiments and 2 papers) by Deedee at Deedee's Digis to make this creation using my word processing package. 

• I started out with a rectangular shape which was correctly sized for my topper and then inserted each of the 5 pre-coloured digis from the set into my "picture". I resized them and rearranged them until I was satisfied with the layout. 
• I then inserted one of the papers from the set into my "picture" and cropped this until it was the right size and then moved this into place. 
• I brought some of the images into the foreground and then added a shadow to each image. 
• Finally, I inserted a narrow line from the top of the bauble hooks up to the paper to make it look like the baubles are hanging from a decorative strip. 
• My last task was to put a colour border around my rectangle to tone in with the teal green colour of the paper.

I hope I've inspired you to have a go with our sketch and make either a card or a layout for this challenge. If you're in need of any further inspiration, please go over to the Feeling Sketchy blog and check out the other wonderful creations from my clever teamies! We'll be back with our final challenge of the year on 15th December 2015.

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

• Challenge #35 - Christmas - non-traditional colours at Scribbles Design Challenge
• Use a Digi at Melonheadz Friends

Hope you have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x

Christmas Cactus

Hi folks! Hope you're all well!

It's Monday again, and that means it's time for a new challenge over at Incy Wincy Designs and this week we're playing Tic Tac Toe. Here's the board which our teamie Karen has created especially for this challenge:

We're being sponsored this week by the lovely Laurie at Doodle Pantry and she's offering a super prize pack to this week's random winner!

Doodle Pantry takes pride in creating a diverse selection of doodling styles, like realistic or whimsical, and all of which are family and kid friendly illustrations.  We hope you enjoy our wide variety of styles for every family occasion!


Laurie also very kindly gave each DT member their choice of image from the store to showcase for this challenge, so here's my card featuring one of Laurie's pretty Christmas images and sentiments:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a premade A5 card blank in white
• Paper - is Kraft cardstock into which I've die cut an aperture in the centre with my second
  
  largest Die'sire Essentials Scalloped Ovals die.
• Image - is the Purple Christmas Cactus without greenery from the set Christmas Cactus at Doodle Pantry. I've kept this card really simple, and just fussy cut the cactus.
• Sentiment - is one from the Christmas Cactus set too.
• Twine - from my stash

I'm in the process of making a set of these cards using 4 different sentiments from the Christmas Cactus set and as the collection also includes papers, the cactus in 3 colourways (with and without greenery) plus line art so you can colour your own Christmas Cactus this set really is great value for money!

I hope you'll come over to Incy Wincy Designs and see the other wonderful creations by my clever teamies. Then don't forget to come back and play Tic Tac Toe with us - this challenge ends on Sunday 29th November 2015. 

Don't forget that we're still holding a DT call - all the details are on this post and if you fancy joining us, please just drop us an email to let us know that you're interested!!!!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to post this now as we've been having very unstable and highly intermittent internet access for the last 3 days now ... so infuriating, but Papa Mia's on the case if it wobbles again this evening!

Hope you have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x