Fab's Big Christmas Card Challenge

The theme this week on Fab's Big Christmas Card Challenge is Poinsettia and optional white space. Inspired by Fab's gorgeous card I had a play last night and came up with this

I used a poinsettia topper (already decoupaged I have to confess) from a kit by Anna Griffin that I've had for years and added a little glitter. I then stamped the greeting (from the same kit) onto some wide satin ribbon (which I think was wrapped around the kit when it arrived) and then I attached to the card and  added the topper.

It was such a quick card to make but will be great for using up the decoupaged toppers from the kit. I don't know if any of you have this kit, it was from QVC - I've made loads of cards from it but the box is always full. Its like magic, I just can' t use it up

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Cute digi freebie from Instyle Stamps

I've just stumbled on Instyle stamps while having a quick coffee and a little blog hop before work and they have a fab freebie offer here. You can choose between these two little darlings

Aren't they both adorable?

Claire xx

Valentine Cutie Tag

There is a lovely little Valentine Cutie over on Digital Two For Tuesday and Cora has set the challenge of using her to make a tag so here is my effort

A very quick and simple tag, made using a resist technique background (stamp from Elusive Images just for a change), pewter EP and a selection of red/pink inks and GMs from my stash. Valentine Cutie is coloured with promarkers and mounted on 3d foam pads onto a border of 3 layers of lace. A little lace bow and tag to finish off.

I'm also entering her into the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers which this week is 'Have a heart'

Tuesday Taggers - Love is in the air, with a fab prize from The Craft Emporium

Lots to Do - Love is in the Air

And last but not least, Cynthia's challenge on Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog which is Have a Heart - inspired by Valentines Day and also 'Wear Red Day'

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Read me a bedtime story

Have you seen the gorgeous colouring pages from Elizabeth O Dulemba? There are some real cuties have a look here . I've used the 'Reading Fairy' to make this card

I've coloured the fairy and her books with various shades of promarkers and highlighted her wings with sakura stardust. The bps and chipboard stickers are from DCWV 'Once upon a time' and have been hoarded for so long but I thought the chipboard stickers were perfect with this little fairy. I've added a brown floradoodle flower with a pink glittery button and a scrap of brown thread and finished the card off with some brown velvet ribbon and some little pearls coloured with 'blossom' promarker

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:

I love Promarkers - Sketch and 'pink and brown'

C.R.A.F.T. challenge which is digi colouring

Stamp Something which is 'Something Cute'

Tanda Teaser which is 'Quick and cute'

and Paper  Jewels which is 'Cute and Girly'

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Friends

I've made this card for my friends birthday on 17th of this month, she is a lovely lady and usually has a holiday somewhere warm and sunny at this time of year but she has recently lost her father so can't go. I hope the bright colours of this card will cheer her up.

I've used a  gorgeous image from Digital Two for Tuesday coloured with promarkers and mounted it with foam pads on to a background tag made using Kaleidacolour inks and my trusty brayer. I've added some 'waves' to the sea using a versamark pen and Seafoam white EP - I'm really pleased with the effect of that. The base card has been inked with the same inks as has the paper border then I've added some orange ribbon and braid. The sentiment is a stamp i've had for years ( ? from DCWV), stamped in blue dye ink and then I've attached some tiny seashells. I've used this weeks sketch from Paper Sundaes. I'm also going to enter this card in to this weeks Paperplay challenge which is a birthday card for someone special.

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Snowmen....

Is the theme for this weeks challenge from Bah Humbug this week so here is my snowman to add to the gang

All made with bits and bobs from my scrap box, I think the stamp may be a See D's one, he has been stamped onto pearlescent card and coloured with promarkers. I think the bps and border were from a cd that came with a magazine. Isn't it strange that how ever much you use, your scrap box never seems to look any emptier? I wish my bank account was the same lol

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

All white ....

The challenge on the Joanna Sheen Forum this month is to make an all white card. I've really had to rack my brains for this one, I wanted lots of texture and dimension and  I came up with loads of bits and pieces but it just wouldn't come together because the Peacock Lady which I'd stamped onto vellum seemed to disappear. Fortunately I came across this fantastic tutorial on Gingersnap Creations so I used some braid to add dimension to her coat and it looks loads better. I also added a clear fb gem to her little bag

I started off by making an 8x8 linen base card and scoring a frame on it using my score board. Following the sketch which is this weeks Corrosive Challenge,  I then created a border out of three layers of cotton lace, some white braid and a crystal bead - this months Spicy Supplies challenge from Gingersnap Creations is to use lace and braid. I added some paper flowers from my stash with stamens (?) made using frills of paper, and some vellum leaves made with my cuttlebug. Finally an oval creative acrylic tag stamped with 'My soulmate' in Seafoam EP and tied with more braid and white ribbon for this weeks Quixotic Challenge which is 'Tag it'

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Do you believe in fairies?

I'm totally addicted to fairy stamps, and the stamps I've used for this card from Graphicus are some of my favourites. I just couldn't resist the challenge from Quixotic Challenges which this week is 'I Believe in Fairies' and came up with this card. The sentiment is from Crafters Companion and fits the challenge perfectly.

I had to take part in this weeks Challenge from the Lots to Do team which is backgrounds as I just love making allsorts of inky messy backgrounds - this card has two. Inside the aperture is a background made using the 'caught in crystal' technique. Behind the acetate I used starbust stains (I can't remember which colours as I made the sheet a while ago but they are purple and teal colours), glitter, tiny little stars, a little mica powder and lots of floor polish lol. I've stamped the Graphicus fairy castle onto the acetate background using black stazon. The outer background is made using tapestry card which I've inked with versamagic Eggplant ink and then added some fusible webbing. I always have a bit of a battle with this stuff but I love the effect especially with this EP - which is Cosmic Shimmer Arctic Black. I'm not sure where that name comes from because it is actually mauve with a teal shimmer - love it!!

The fairy is stamped onto  some scraps of fantasy film. I've used two freebie stamps from Craft Stamper magazine - the key is stamped onto grungeboard and triple embossed with silver EP and the fairyland ticket has been stamped onto a scrap of card from the main background. I was struggling to fit all these bits and bobs onto the card until I saw a gorgeous sketch from Pretty in Ink which I have loosely followed . Instead of the border at the bottom of the sketch. I've put a little stamped unicorn on to a penny slider mechanism so that the unicorn tumbles across the bottom of the card. I'm also going to enter this card into the challenge at Floral Fantasies which is 'Moving' to celebrate the fact that Sir Stampalot are moving to new premises in Peterborough - they have a fabby prize and a blog hop too so its well worth a look.

The colour scheme also fits the challenge at Macabre Monday which is Purple Haze

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Wings of Hope

This is my first card with the beautiful Wings of Hope digistamp which is being sold to raise money for people in Haiti. It is a really lovely image and I have so enjoyed using it

I've used promarkers to colour the horse and highlighted with lots of sakura clear stardust. The BP is from Kanban I think and i've used one of Joanna Sheen's lovely doily stamps, stamped onto pastel blue vellum and embossed with 'Icicle Tex' EP. The sentiment is made using a scrap of vellum through my cuttlebug, and I've used some ribbons from my stash to finish off.

I've made this card for my friends daughters 9th birthday and I'm also entering it into the following challenges:

Magical Crafts which is 'Something for the kids'

Digital Tuesday which is 'All about animals'

Crafty Cardmakers challenge  which is Digital Delights

ABC Challenge which is 'N is for New' and

Truly Scrumptious which is a lovely sketch

I'm sure I'll be making lots more cards with this gorgoeus digistamp

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Tilda returns

I really didn't get Tilda when she first became so popular but after a while I had to try and now I am a real convert. I've only got a few Tilda stamps but every few weeks I can't resist getting them out and having a play. I just loved the colours on this weeks challenge from the One Stop Craft Challenge - Apple Green, Chocolate and Clotted Cream and thought they would be perfect for a little Tilda card. I'm also entering it in this weeks challenge from Flutter by Wednesday which is an open challenge but as always including either butterflies, angels or fairies.

I've used a butterfly backing paper from Artylicious Butterfly Bliss cd which I've distressed with some walnut ink and then added some dots of Cosmic shimmer Twinkles in Autumn to highlight the butterflies (they look black on the pic but this glitter glue is a gorgeous colour, one of my favourites). I've also punched some flowers using the same paper and a Woodware Dahlia punch and added more Autumn twinkles and a little gem in the centre. Tilda is coloured with promarkers and sat on a frame made using a Joanna Sheen stamp embossed in Palm Green EP onto brown pearlised card, the background is a scrap of cuttlebugged card coloured with pastel green chalk. Finished off with some brown textured ribbon from Elusive images.

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Between

I just love this cute little girl, 'Between' is a fabulous  freebie from Mo Manning and I'd already started making this card using the faux wood BP so I had to enter it into this weeks challenge on  Mo's Challenge blog. which is 'wood'.

The image is coloured with promarkers and i've had a go at giving 'between' some auburn hair to go with those lovely freckles. I cut a circular aperture using my cricut in the green wood card (from Kanban I think) and used a pretty rose BP from my scrap box. I added 'between' so it looks like she is gazing out of a window daydreaming and then just finished the card off with some paperflowers from my stash

Thanks for looking and sorry the pic is a bit blurry

Claire xx

Four seasons ....

Is the theme for this weeks challenge on the Rainbow Lady Challenge blog. I was tempted to do yet another Christmas card but decided to make an Autumn themed card

It was really tricky to get a pic of this card as the fram is made from gold mirri stamped with various leaf stamps and embossed in brown, gold and copper EPs. The tree is stamped on acetate and then glittered with green gold and copper glitters so its really sparkly 'in the flesh'

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Bah Humbug - Holly Challenge

Another Christmas card, I'll soon be making them for 2011 at this rate. This weeks challenge from the gang at Bah Humbug is 'Holly'. I've used one of my favourite stamps from Elusive images to make this card, coloured with inktense pencils and added a little red sakura glaze pen to the berries and some crushed glass glitter to the leaves to look a little frosty but that doesn't show up too well on the scan.

The green BP is from my stash as is the ribbon, the holly bp is from Joanna Sheen's Christmas paper pad. I've used a red base card and some gold mirri for matting and layering

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Messy Valentine Card

I've had a go at another easel card for my hubby's Valentine Card but this time I've used a heart shape - thanks to Vix who has a great tutorial on her blog for the idea for this.

I cut the heart shapes on my cricut and used Joanna Sheen's Messy Rabbit stamps coloured with promarkers. Instead of a sentiment I have used an image from The Graphics Fairy which is a certificate from the Bank of True Love which I have rolled up and attached with a gold ring made from grungeboard (the pattern on the grungeboard matches the pattern on OH's wedding ring)

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Paperplay challenge which this week is 'Love notes'

Crafty Calendar challenge where the theme this month is Love/Friendship with the optiona extra of hearts

Stamp Something who have a challenge this week of 'Love somethings'

Stampin for the Weekend who have a Valentines themed challenge

Pile it on where the challenge is 'To the one I love'

Papertake weekly challenge which is 'Love actually' this week and last but not least

This weeks Tanda Teaser which is 'For a Loved One'

Thanks for looking

Claire xx

Digital Two for Tuesday

More lovely free images from Digital Two for Tuesday again this week. I've made a very simple card using the little boy with a flower

I've used a BP from an artylicious CD and highlighted it with a clear stardust pen. The little boy is coloured with promarkers and matted onto a scrap of silver mirri. The card is finished off with a little teal organza ribbon

Thanks for looking

Claire xx