THANK YOU

Well all my Christmas cards have been posted or given out and all the birthdays, until the latter end of January, have been made, and where needs be, sent. My son and granddaughters are coming for a sleepover on Monday, which will be nice, then the spare bed that is in my craft room will have to be taken up. The first week in January, weather permitting and the workmen can get here, I am having my bathroom pulled out and a shower cubicle and new bathroom fittings installed. All the new equipment, fittings etc are being delivered on 3rd January, hopefully, and will need to be stored in my craft/spare room. So no more crafting until that's finished :-(
So I would like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has visited by blog and to those who have taken the trouble to leave the lovely comments. They are much appreciated, finally to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR xx

Finger on the button

This is for my granddaughter's birthday which is the end of this month when she will become a teenager. Lovely!

As the young people of today are forever texting or whatever on their phones I thought this LOTV stamp fit the bill perfectly. I stamped and embossed the image then coloured with copics and cut out using a spellbinders die.

I took a selection of LOTV papers which I cut to various sizes and mounted each one onto brown card. I used the same card and a larger die to cut the mount for the image. Using my Robert Addams alphabet and numeric dies I cut the words and the thirteen in the same brown card. A brown faux pearl in three corners just adds a bit of decoration. A grown up card for a grown up girl.

Birthday boy

I quickly rustled up this card for my friend Kim's eldest grandson who was twelve on Tuesday. The skateboarder is a topper from my stash. I used a selection of papers, again from my stash.
The sentiment is LOTV. I just added a few small peel off stars to the markers.

Snowstorm

Here is the snowstorm card I promised my granddaughter. I have done one of my favourite backgrounds, as before distressing in iced spruce and stormy sky. Then stamping with the fir trees, second generation stamping. The large snow laden tree in the foreground was edged with Stickles glitter glue. I cannot remember the names of any of the stamps used but the image was embossed then coloured with copics. I stuck it onto an empty tape reel then fixed it to the card and filled with white glitter. Stuck acetate over the top then fixed a decorative top to hide the reel. The top and greeting was cut from the same background which was from my stash. I cut out some glitter snowflakes which I fixed to the decorative top and over the snowflakes on the greeting. She loved it!

When Santa got stuck in the chimney.........

This card is for my very good friend's gt.grand children. I thought Woodware's Santa stamp On the chimney top was ideal for two toddlers under the age of four! I covered a card with spotty paper from stash which I distressed with stormy sky. Stamped and embossed the image then coloured with copics and cut out. Mounted this onto the card then got some white sparkly card which I tore along the top and stuck at the bottom of the card, covering the chimney so it looks like a snowy roof. The footprints were a freebie stamp. I stamped the 'stop here' sign and stuck just under the 'snow'. I have added some Stickles glitter glue to the top of the chimney, the roof and the sign. For Santa's fur on his outfit I used white Liquid Appliqué which I then heated. Lastly I stamped and embossed the 'Ho,Ho,Ho' in the sky.

Spotlight Card

It is my big brother's 75th birthday on New Years  eve so I always send his birthday with his Christmas card and then I know he has it in time for his birthday.  As he is ship mad, especially tall ships I thought this Stampendous Navigateur stamp fit the bill. I stamped and embossed the     Image twice. One of them I distressed with a variety of colours, yellow, blue, green and beige by just using squares of 'cut'n'dry and just randomly dabbed onto card. The second card was left uncoloured and I selected an area to punch out. This was edged in blue ink and matched precisely to cover the corresponding area on the coloured card. Thus this then becomes a 'spotlight' card, and, of course, you have the scrap from the punched one that you could make another card from - nothing wasted. The background was from a decoupage sheet of a map of the world which I cut selected pieces out, and lightly distressed edges with stormy sky distress ink. The embellishments are wooden shapes that I have coloured with Versafine and embossed. The 75th and Happy Birthday are All Occasion dies by Robert Addams.    

Christmas Angels

I decided to do an easel card for my best friend. I used this cute LOTV stamp of angels paying homage to the Holy child. I embossed the image then coloured with copics, adding a little glitter to the Angels wings and the stars. I had the blue Craft Creations Christmas paper in my stash which I used for the whole card. I cut the image and the darker blue mount using spellbinders nestie. Out of the same dark blue card I cut the snowflake border and the large snowflake using Joy dies. I also cut a holly swirl from the same card using a Cheery Lynn die. The snowflake border acted as the raised edge for the easel to rest against. I then cut another large snowflake, the holly swirl and the Merry Christmas, also by Cheery Lynn, from white glitter card. One I placed at the top left corner of the image and the other, plus the swirls, I overlaid with the blue ones and mounted on the front of the card. Merry Christmas mounted on the blue placed at the bottom. I added Christmas sentiments inside.

Christmas Date

Here I have used the lovely background stamp by Stampendous Christmas sentiments which I have embossed in gold, then distress lightly with scattered straw.
I found some red poinsettia paper in my stash which I mounted onto card. The Christmas sentiments I mounted onto dark green card.
On the main image I used the striking Woodware stamp Christmas Date which I embossed then distressed in the scattered straw. I used copics to colour the 25 and the holly. For the berries I used Gloss-Gel. I cut around the edges then mounted onto the same dark green card as before.

Hopping by.....

I thought this cute stamp would be perfect as a get well card. It is  Woodware Hoppy frog and he has such a happy grin on his face he would cheer anyone up.
I stamped and embossed him then coloured with copic pens
Mounted onto dark brown then beige card. Fixed a pair of wiggly eyes for fun. This is for my lovely daughter in law who had a freak accident nearly two weeks ago. A piece of broken wine glass flew up and sliced her ankle, hospital tried to steristrip it, then stapled it but each time it just flew open again. After five days it was unbearably painful, swollen and infected.  Hospital gave her an ex ray and lo and behold there is a piece of glass embedded in her foot. Painkillers and antibiotics later she is now awaiting surgery. Poor love laughingly said she wouldn't now be able to wear her Louboutin shoes for Christmas she will be wearing flip-flops instead. Have to see if we can get her a sparkly pair!

White embossing

This is a card I made when at a class at Davina's, taught by our talented Kim. Firstly I stamped and white embossed the trees in the foreground. I punched a circle from a post-it note and placed in the sky for the moon. Next I sponged the sky in iced spruce and stormy sky distress inks, removed the 'moon' and very lightly stroked the sponge across to take out some of the brightness. I tore up some pieces of scrap paper and laid them randomly across the bottom half of the card and lightly sponged from the edge of the scrap paper outwards in the iced spruce. This gave the impression of snow drifts. I next took a stamp of pine trees, inked up with same colour and after first stamping on scrap paper, placed on card at various levels along the 'drifts'. A clear sparkle gelly roll pen along the branches and on the edges of the 'drifts' adds the effect of frost. A peel off greeting to finish.

No apologises

I make no apologises for using my favourite stamp from Stampendous Snowbird it is lovely. In this case I stamped and painted with distress inks barn door and rusty hinge. Once dried I then cut it out. I dry embossed a crafts too folder onto white card blanking a section part way up from the bottom. I dabbed over the snowflakes with a little silver metallic paste. I then scored a line each side of the area left blank. Here I stamped a greeting before fixing the Robin in place using Woodware silicone glue which I swear by.

Birthday girl

This is a very hastily card made for my lovely daughter-in-law's youngest daughter. 

The ever faithful LOTV topper with a bit of added glitter given to the edge of the mirror, bows on the shoes and spots on the dress just give a bit of sparkle. Papers from stash added to one of the lovely patterned Woodware cards. Lace trim, faux pearls and sentiment to finish.

Rudolph

This is another of the cards I made for my friend to give to her friend!

First I must apologise to Kim for borrowing her inspiration on making a shaker card. I hope she forgives me because my granddaughter now wants one! Typical! 

For this card I used Hobby Art's Santa's Reindeer 

I stamped out the reindeers, Robin  and log and after colouring cut them out. I tore some scrap paper to use for 'drifts', positioned them on 8 x 8 card and sponged with distress ink iced spruce enhancing the sky with a touch of stormy sky. The snow laden fir tree I inked with the iced spruce and using second generation stamping stamped at various heights to give the illusion of distance. Aged white Frantage was used on the front of the card. I cut a piece of circular white card to fit an empty double sided tape reel. On this I stamped the trees and fence from the stamp set and added white glitter to the top of the fence and in the foreground. Next I stuck the log with the Robin perched on in front of the fence. I glued the reel to the front of the card and cut a piece of blue snowflake paper large enough to cover a piece of acetate. White glitter was sprinkled over the little scene and the acetate stuck over the top. This was left to dry overnight. 'Rudolph' was fixed to the edge of the 'window', the other reindeer to the side. Message edged with the iced spruce and snowflake embellishments plus a touch of glossy accents to the red nose to finish. When shaken it makes a lovely little 'snowstorm'.

They all come at once

I hardly made any cards in October as I was sorting out my craft room. It's amazing just how long it takes as you don't realise how much you have accumulated till you start. However it is now done so I'm making up for lost time. Just four days after my granddaughters birthday it's my grandsons birthday (her brother in law). For this card I used Kim's Coppice from Woodware. I first stamped the image twice using second generation stamping. I then stamped again, slightly off centre of the first images and added the sentiment in the corner. I then embossed the entire panel. The background card onto which I mounted the image has been stamped with leaves and the sentiment using Versamark and blasted with a heat gun. I then sponged the card using distress inks. After a few moments I buffed the card so the images would show clearly. I then re-stamped the leaves and sentiment again using darker distress ink.
I originally started this post in November, it is now December. I have been that busy, like fellow crafter, with Christmas cards, I also have six birthdays in December. Just as well I enjoy it😉