Colour Create #86 - Silver, Blue and White

Its time for the last Colour Create Challenge of the year and this one is perfect for Christmas - Silver, Blue and White. Here is the lovely inspiration pic, chosen by Sharon:

I decided to go Christmassy again as I have had heaps of cards to make for the ladies at work.

I have to apologise about the quality of this photo - the ink is much clear IRL, but no matter how I positioned my lights, I couldn't get a better picture. Anyhow, I edged my white base with my Apron Lace border punch and then punched two snowflakes down the right hand side. I used some blue and white Christmas paper and placed this behind the punched out snowflakes and then added a layer of white on the inside to cover the paper.  I stamped my sentiment with some silver ink and tied some white ribbon around the bottom. Finally I added a row of blue pearls above my ribbon.

On the inside, I stamped my sentiment again with some silver ink and then adhered the two snowflakes cut out of the card front to the corners.

Now make sure you hop on over to the Colour Create blog. Our sponsor this week is Michelle's Scrapbooking and the winner will receive a $30 gift voucher to spend!

Supplies
Stamps: Snowflake Serenade (PTI)
Cardstock: Stampers Select White (PTI); Blue and White DP
Ink: Silver pigment ink
Accessories: Snowflake punch (Martha Stewart); blue pearl strip (Kaisercraft); white grosgrain ribbon; Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars)

Ribbon Carousel Challenge - RCC32

I have another challenge card to show today - this time for RCC32 using inspiration photos:

I just love these Christmassy colours and I thought this would be the perfect chance to try a technique I saw here. Here is my card:

I used Kraft for my base and my  main layer. I stamped my Joy sentiment from Wings of Joy in Versamark ink and then embossed with white powder. I then coloured the inside of the image with my Copic markers. This is so effective and I will be using this technique again! I applied a white Kaisercraft rubon along the bottom and then looped some Pure Poppy ribbon above this, sewing a white button on one side.

On the inside, I applied another strip of the same rubon and then cross stitched a border above using some red thread.  Finally I stamped my sentiment from Wings of Joy in Versamark ink and then embossed again with white powder.

Such a simple card to make, but I love the effect it creates!

Supplies
Stamps: Wings of Joy (TE)
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Copic Markers; Pure Poppy twill ribbon (PTI); white embossing powder (SU); white button; white rubon (Kaisercraft)

Simon Says - Christmas Photomontage Inspiration Challenge

Back again,
I have been busy finishing off last minute cards for Christmas and needed some inspiration. As soon as I saw Simon Says Stamp Inspiration Pic for their latest challenge I was ready to go:

I was inspired by the wintery look of these photos - now even though we live in sunny Australia where there is no snow at Christmas, being born in England, I still remember those lovely white Christmases I used to have as a child. Here is my card:

I used Spring Rain cardstock for my base and then die cut some squares from snowflake paper which were then matted on some Stampers Select White card. I stamped my sentiment from Holiday Button Bits in Night of Navy ink and then cut this into a banner. My image from Holiday Button Bits was stamped twice, coloured with copics and then the snowman's head was cut from the second piece and adhered on top of my button. I used some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to create the snow and also finish off his hat. This was then die cut with a circle nestie and matted on some blue card die cut using my Blossom 3 die. To finish off the front, some white ribbon was adhered and then my image layered on top of this.

On the inside, I used another sentiment from Holiday Button Bits and then finished off with some more DP layered on a scalloped cardstock strip.

Just a couple of Christmas cards to go and then I am finished for the year!!



Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Cardstock: Spring Rain, Stampers Select White (PTI); Snowflake DP
Ink: Night of Navy (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Scallop Border punch (SU); Circle and Blossom 3 nesties (Spellbinders); Quickie glue pen; blue button; Copics; Fresh Snow taffeta ribbon (PTI)

Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #14

Hi!

One day of school to go for the year and then 5 1/2 weeks holiday!! With all the crazy rushing around in the last couple of weeks for work and kids' dancing rehearsals, I will be so glad for a holiday and a chance to enjoy spending time with the kids just relaxing!

Anyway onto to my creation.  I have made a card to enter into the latest Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #14 which has a fabulous pinboard to draw inspiration from:

I have been loving the different Nordic backgrounds that are out in the stamping world and that is my take on the gorgeous pics above. Now I don't own any of those wonderful stamps, but I thought I might have a go at creating something similar with my Background Basics: Botanicals set.

I used some Stampers Select White card for my base and another piece for my main layer. I alternated two different stamps for my background using Cherry Cobbler ink and Kraft ink. I stamped my sentiment from Snow Swirled in Cherry Cobbler ink and then ran my main layer through my Cuttlebug with my Linen Impression Plate.  Some Kraft seam binding was tied around the middle and a Scarlet Jewel button sewn to the centre of my bow. Finally I rounded the corners on both the base and my top layer before adhering together.

On the inside I used the same stamps again to create my bottom border and another sentiment from Snow Swirled.

So a very simple card, but I love the two colours together and will definately have to play around with this background set a little more!

Supplies

Stamps: Background Basics: Botanicals (PTI); Snow Swirled (SU)

Cardstock: Stampers Select White (PTI)

Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Crumb Cake (SU)

Accessories: Linen impression plate, Scarlet Jewel button (PTI); Crumb Cake seam binding (SU)

Colour Create #85 - Red, Green and White

Sorry I haven't been here much on the blog in the last couple of weeks - just taking a little time to catch up on preparations for Christmas, but I am glad to be back!! This week is time again for another Colour Create challenge and we are going traditional with Sylvia's choice of colours - red, green and white with the option of adding snowflakes:

Here is my take on these colours:

I chose to work with a Lili of the Valley image - Christmas Baubles which hasn't seen ink yet. I coloured the image with Copics and stamped my sentiment from Taylored Expressions' Wings of Joy in Always Artichoke ink. The border along the bottom was cut with my Apron Lace border punch from Real Red cardstock and then cut in half.  Finally the main layer was then matted on some more Real Red card and added to the Kraft base.

I added the snowflakes from Wings of Joy along the bottom of the inside layer in Tuxedo Black ink and coloured in with Copics. The sentiment was stamped in Always Artichoke ink.

Take a look over at Colour Create for more inspiration from the fabulous Design Team and link up your card for your chance to win this fortnight's prize. Details of the prize can be found on the Colour Create blog.

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Baubles (LOTV); Wings of Joy (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI); Whisper White, Real Red (SU)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Always Artichoke (SU)
Accessories: Copics; Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars)

CSAYL - Inspiration Pic

This week is the final challenge for CSAYL for the year. It has been great as a member of the DT with all the other fantastic designers and to be able to create all the cards I need for Christmas plus more!!

Our sponsor this week is Kenny K and there will be 3 winners. The first will receive 3 free digis, the second will win 2 free digis and the third will be win 1 free digi!!

We have a gorgeous inspiration pic for you to work with this week:

I chose to work with the new sleigh digi for my card. This is such a fabulous image and I had so many wonderful ideas in my head but for some reason I had trouble carrying that out on my card. Anyway, here is my creation:

I used New Leaf cardstock for my base, cutting the front a little shorter than the back. I then edged a piece of white card with my Upper Crest border punch, stamped my Merry Christmas sentiment in New Leaf ink, added some silver rhinestones and adhered this to the bottom of my New Leaf front base.

My sleigh image was printed onto  more white cardstock and then coloured in with Copics. Finally some glitter was added to the sleigh and the ground. This layer was adhered to the front of my base, leaving a little strip of New Leaf base showing through. I finished off the front by adhering two pieces of ribbon to the joins and some more glitter to the edges of the card.

Very simple card, but I am just not that happy about it - I think I envisioned just using the green and silver from the inspiration photo, but I needed to add more colour to my sleigh image so this didn't happen.

Anyway, hop on over to the CSAYL blog for your chance to win this week's fabulous prize! I hope on your journey with us throughout the year you have been able to get a great start on your Christmas cards too!!

Supplies
Stamps: Sleigh digi (Kenny K); Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Cardstock: New Leaf, Stampers Select White (PTI)
Ink: New Leaf (PTI)
Accessories: Upper Crest border punch (Fiskars); Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU); silver rhinestones (Kaisercraft); Copics; green ribbon; glue pen

CSAYL -Never Seen Ink

Its time for CSAYL's 2nd last challenge for the year! This week we have to make a creation using a set that hasn't seen ink before. I found this hard as just about every set has been inked up at least once but I decided to go with Papertrey Ink's Tiny Treats: Christmas as this is relatively new for me.

I was having some friends over for a cardmaking night this weekend, so I thought this set would be perfect for some pillow boxes as teacher gifts. I used the Stampin' Up pillow box die to cut my template and some Deck The Halls - 3 Bugs In A Rug DP. I punched out my image layer using my curly label punch and stamped my image and sentiment, before adding some glitter around the edges. This was matted on a coloured layer which was hand cut using the top layer as a guide.  Here are the 3 pillow boxes below:

There are some fabulous creations over at the CSAYL blog so be sure to have a look and enter the challenge. The top 10 faves will be posted on the blog at the end of the week!

Supplies
Stamps: Tiny Treats: Christmas (PTI)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler (SU); Deck The Halls DP (3 Bugs in a Rug)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive (SU)
Accessories: Curly Label Punch, Pillow Box die, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, dimensionals (SU)

CSAYL - It's My FAVE!

Only three more challenges to go over at CSAYL for the year!! This week, the challenge is to use your favourite sketch for your card or creation. The sponsor of the challenge is Pink Cat Studio  and the winner will receive 5 free digis!!

I chose to work with Santa for this challenge and I chose the current sketch over at AnnaBelle Stamps blog:

I printed my digi image onto white cardstock and coloured it in with my Copic markers. Some glitter was added to Santa's trim and some blue pearls added for bling and I matted this on some Spring Rain cardstock. My background layer was created with my Guidelines II stamp set using three motifs with Bashful Blue, Night of Navy and Riding Hood Red inks and this was then matted onto more Spring Rain card and some navy ribbon tied around the centre. Both layers were then matted onto my card base.

Again, I have kept the inside very simple. I stamped my sentiment from Stampin Up's Short and Sweet set in Night of Navy ink and the matching snowflakes in Bashful Blue ink. Some more blue pearls were added to the snowflake centres and the layer matted on some Spring Rain cardstock.

Join in this challenge over at CSAYL for your chance to win the 5 free digis and also get your Christmas card stash started if you haven't already!!

Supplies
Stamps: Santa digi (PCS); Guidelines II (PTI); Short and Sweet (SU)
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Guidelines Grid cardstock, Spring Rain (PTI)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red (SU)
Accessories: navy ribbon, blue pearls (Kaisercraft); Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU); Copic markers

CSAYL - Jingle All The Way

Hi!

Welcome to our latest CSAYL challenge! This week, we are being sponsored by Creations By AR. 

They have a wonderful collection of downloadable templates perfect for all your packaging needs. The winner of this week's challenge will receive 2 free templates. For this week, we have been challenged to use a bell on our creations. I chose to work with the Brownie Box template.

To create my package, I first printed the template onto a sheet of white cardstock. I then used a background stamp for my pink diamond and stamped the centre image in gold which was clear embossed.  After scoring and cutting my template, I adhered my box together and used some gold ribbon to tie it at the top. Finally, I stamped my bell image onto some coaster board, coloured it with copics and cut it out, covering it with Glossy Accents. The sentiment on the tag was stamped in Melon Mambo ink and then both tied to the gold bow with some pink crochet twine.

This package was sooooo easy to create and is very cute IRL!! Check out the rest of the teams creations over at CSAYL and make sure you join in the challenge - there are only 3 left for the year after this week!


Supplies
Stamps: Background Basics: Botanicals, Holiday Button Bits, Tiny Treats: Christmas (PTI)
Cardstock: Stampers Select White (PTI)
Ink: Blushing Bride, Melon Mambo (SU); Gold pigment ink
Accessories: Brownie Box template (Creations by AR); clear embossing powder (SU); cropadile; Tiny Tags die set (Cuttlebug); Copics; Glossy Accents (Ranger); pink crochet twine; gold ribbon; coaster board (PTI)

CSAYL - SPAR-KA-LAY!

Hi again,
This week's challenge at CSAYL is sponsored by the wonderful Bugaboo Digi Stamps! 

The challenge is to add as much sparkle as you can to your card - glitter, stickles, bling - as long as its sparkly! I chose to work with the image - Ted Christmas Ornaments digi. I also decided to enter this into the  CR84FN40 Challenge - the colours are gorgeous!!

I printed my image onto some rustic cream cardstock and coloured him in with Copics. I added some sparkle to my image by using glitter on his hat. The bottom edge of my main panel was run through my Cuttlebug with my Swiss Dots folder and then adhered to a layer of Kraft cardstock. Some Pure Poppy twill ribbon was tied just above the dotted section. I stamped my sentiment on a tag that was die cut with my Tiny Tags die using Chocolate Chip ink. This was attached to my ribbon with some linen thread. The edges of my cream layer were also dipped in glitter after adding some glue with my two way pen. To finish off the bling, I added some silver rhinestones above the ribbon before adhering to my Pure Poppy base.

Now let's see what sparkly creations you can create - simply link your card or project to the CSAYL blog this week. Check out the rest of the design team's creations for some inspiration too!

Supplies
Stamps: Ted Christmas Ornaments digi (Bugaboo Stamps); Holiday Button Bits (PTI)
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Kraft, Rustic Cream (PTI)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories: Pure Poppy twill ribbon (PTI); Swiss Dots embossing folder, Tiny Tags die set (Cuttlebug); silver rhinestones (Kaisercraft); Dazzling Diamonds glitter, two way glue pen (SU)

CSAYL - Seeing Spots

We have a fun challenge for you over at CSAYL - this week its time to add polka dots to your creation! I LOVE polka dots - I think they are fun but classy at the same time, so I really enjoyed working on this week's challenge card. This week's challenge is sponsored by the wonderful Paper Makeup Stamps and the winner will receive a $15 gift voucher to spend in their store!

I chose to work with a sentiment as my focus on this card and used the All I Want For Christmas Is You sentiment:

I used Rustic Cream card for my base and my main layer. I lightly drew a grid along the bottom of my top layer in pencil and then used this to stamp my individual polka dot from PTI's Round and Round anniversary set along the grid in Real Red ink. The top layer was then run through my Cuttlebug with my Argyle impression plate. I printed my sentiment onto some more Rustic Cream card and die cut it with my Mat Stack 1 die, using Kraft ink to stamp the border from the Mat Stack 1 Collection stamp set around the edge. All edges of my card were inked with my Chamomile tea dye ink. Some blue ribbon was looped above the polka dots and then my die cut was popped up on dimensionals on top of this. I added a couple of strips of pearls above my ribbon and also some punched snowflakes using Rustic Cream and Real Red card.

 I drew another grid on my inide layer and stamped my polka dots around all the edges. A smaller piece of Rustic Cream was layered on top and my sentiment from Wings of Joy stamped in Bashful Blue ink. Finally I added another strip of blue pearls along the bottom.

I really enjoyed making this card - I have noticed that my style has been evolving into clean and simple, but somethimes its just nice to add a slight vintage look and lots of layers!! Now be sure to check out all the team's cards over at CSAYL and link up your creation for your chance to win the $15 voucher!!

Supplies
Stamps: All I Want For Christmas Is You (Paper Makeup Stamps); Wings of Joy (TE); Round and Round, Mat Stack 1 Collection (PTI)
Cardstock: Rustic Cream (PTI); Real Red (SU)
Ink: Real Red, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake (SU); Chamomile Tea Dye ink (PTI)

Accessories: Mat Stack 1 die, Argyle impression Plate (PTI); blue pearls (Kaisercraft); Snowflake punch (Martha Stewart); blue ribbon, dimensionals