Christmas Crackers

Here's the first of my cards for today, did make two last night but had to wait for the glitter glue to dry! I would like to enter this one into the Sketch Saturday Week 126. For some reason I struggled a bit with this sketch, and not sure if I'm particularly happy with it....

Might need a bit more sparkle....

It's Christmas - not!

I have now resigned myself to the fact that Christmas is now only two short months away, so I may as well make Christmas cards for as many challenges as I can find. I figure that way, if I'm following a sketch or a colour scheme, I won't be spending quite so long staring at my Christmas stash, not knowing where to start!

I've made this card just now during baby's nap time (really must get him up...) and it follows the sketch for the Clean & Simple Challenge 113 and also the 365 Cards - Stampin' Saturday, which was to use stamps on a card and a matching envelope. I got slightly carried away with my envelope and it looks more impressive than the card!

The snowflake stamps and the sentiment come from a set of Personal Impressions clear stamps, and the flourish on the envelope comes from a set of Anna Griffin stamps. I've used a Brilliance Dew Drop ink pad in poppy and some Bazzill Card Stock. I did also use some ultra fine clear embossing powder on the three snowflakes on the card, and as I still have no heat gun, I did it in a teeny tiny frying pan on the gas hob! I used my Nestie Labels 1 too.

New baby blues/greys/black/white

Had one of my random moments this evening whilst looking at various challenge blogs, and even as I made the card, I was thinking "what am I doing?". I have random moments a lot in everyday life too....

The blogs I was looking at were as follows:

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - Monochrome
Polka Doodles Weekly Challenge - New Baby
365 Cards - 5 elements
Anything Goes - Black & White

Now, here's the random bit, when you think of new baby cards do you think of black and white? Not very often I suspect! Well here's one I made earlier....

I actually think it looks quite cool, it seems like everyone I know is pregnant so I'm sure it will come in handy, and to be perfectly truthful I have printed off another Fifi Giraffe so if I need it to be pink, it can be done!

I have used the Friday Freebie from SJ's Little Musings and coloured it in with blue and grey promarkers, I had some aluminium art metal which I've cut with a Nestie Label 1 and then embossed with some swirls (bit hazardous - cut my fingers twice). I made up the sentiment on the computer along with the background paper, and the flower is from the Sunbonnet Girls download, which I use incessantly, but I have changed the colour from blue gingham to grey.

I'm not sure if the card works for a couple of the challenges - not sure if I have to use a Polka Doodles image in theirs. Also in the 365 Cards I have to use 5 elements including the background paper, and by my reckoning it fits:

1. Background paper - 1 layer (although before I printed it off I did add the black border and dotted line)
2. Aluminium Nestie
3. Fifi Giraffe
4. Sentiment
5. Flower

Hope you have a great weekend! x

Spyder's October Digi Challenge

I've been messing about with my idea for Spyder's Challenge for the last few weeks, I knew which images I wanted to use, and had them printed off and coloured nearly 3 weeks ago! I also knew I wanted to make a stepper card, but every attempt was a disaster, I kept scoring my lines wonky and then it wouldn't stand up straight. Not a good look.

However today I bought some templates from the Cardmaking Downloads site, and hey presto, success at last! So then I just had to assemble the card as I had imagined, although I have my reservations about the pink flower, that may have to go.

The images used are from Spyder's store, and I printed them straight off onto an A4 sheet, I've only used 3 out of the 8 images, and the size of this card is about A6.

What's everyone's opinion on the pink flower? Bit garish?

Wow! Check out Pollycraft's candy!

Pollycraft are giving away a HUGE amount of Candy to mark their 1000th follower (plus a few), the link is on my sidebar or here. You've got until 20th November x

Tag, you're it!

Having not had much sleep last night (baby decided to party between 4a.m and 6a.m) rather than be sensible and have a nap this afternoon when he does, I decide to play a bit more with my Cuttlebug and Nesties! Good plan, until I fall asleep in my tea later on.

However, I have made a gift tag for when we go to the Halloween party, mind you, haven't bought the present yet. It also means I can enter another couple of challenges, and why not?! Who needs sleep? It's vastly overrated.

Here is my tag, of course it's not tag shaped, had to use my Nesties labels instead. Got to get my money's worth out of them after all.

I have used images from the Polka Doodles "Sundae of Seasons" CD, tinted the background of the spooky house with green chalk and dusted some orange chalk over the windows to give them a spooky glow. Used some garish green and purple ribbon too, which is a bit of a relief, because it was too bright to use on anything else! I stamped the background of the purple card with an Anna Griffin flourish stamp and some Brilliance "Ivy" pearlescent ink.

I am entering this into the Polka Doodles Challenge - something spooky and also the Pollycraft Monday Challenge which this week is to use purple, green and one other. I suppose my one other is orange, or is it black? Is black classed as a colour? Anyway, better go and wake him up or he'll never sleep tonight!

Fan-tastic?!

Oh, I'm on a roll tonight! Got to get this card posted tomorrow, for a birthday on Tuesday - only found out today, so not my fault! It just so happens to fit in with the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, which has an oriental theme this week. I got the digi image from Mami Doodles, and she is adorable!

I've coloured her in with promarkers and layered two images on top of one another, the paper is from a Kate Knight 6x6 pad which was also a freebie with a card mag, never found a use for it until now! The fan I made using an off cut of the background paper, which I'm quite chuffed with, took me back to my childhood! The font is a series of jpeg images which I got free from a scrapbook download site here, and then you have to arrange them individually to form your words. Add a bit of ribbon and a couple of flowers, et voila.

Again, not to sure how it'll cope with posting, may have to use a bit of tissue paper or bubble wrap...