Winter Blues

Welcome to December, I hope that everyone is staying safe and able to enjoy the days leading up to the big day! My header for December is the American Christmas bird, the Cardinal! I made a pumpkin bird feeder after Thanksgiving and have had many different "visitors" stop by for a taste! 

The Christmas Craft Creations Challenge theme for December is Winter Blues. I chose several blue glitters to "color" my background. It was hard to capture the actual sparkle of this card, but I can assure you in real life it really is sparkly!

I began with layering a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Super Adhesive Sheet to white cardstock. After removing the protective backing, I placed a die cut snowflake border to the top of the exposed adhesive. 

The seven different Sparkle N Sprinkle glitters, listed below. were applied starting at the bottom with Blue Lightening, then progressively getting lighter up to the almost white Olaf White glitter as the background of the snowflakes. 

The Sweet Cuts Classy Deer die was run through my big shot over another piece of Super Adhesive Sheet layered to light blue cardstock. The protective backing was removed and Marine Blue was applied to the exposed adhesive.

The sentiment (Prickly Pear Christmas Tree) was stamped on white cardstock in Versafine Clair Twilight ink and before it dried, Sparkle embossing powder was applied and heat set.

I used the Lawn Fawn (Just for You labels) die to cut out the sentiment, I cut it half way and then moved the die cut along, as the die cut was too long for the sentiment.

I had an extra snowflake lying on my desk.  Versamark was applied and was heat embossed with Bracing Blue. The snowflake and sentiment were attached with mounting tape as was the glittered deer to finish off my card for today.

 

Below are the products that I used on my card today. 

Prickly Pear Christmas Tree Set

Versafine Clair Twilight

Versamark

Bracing Blue

Sparkle Embossing Powder

Lawn Fawn (Just for You labels) die

Memory Box Lindeman Snowflake die

Sweet Cuts Classy Deer die

Snowflake border die

Super Adhesive Sheet

Glitters: Marine Blue (deer)

Background glitters: Blue Lightning, Rapture Blue, Ocean, 

  Waterfall, Princess Elsa Frost, Waterscape, Olaf White

Hope I've given you some inspiration to color, without inks? Would love to see you join in the Challenge over at Christmas Craft Creations with your Winter Blues?

I'd like to join in the following Challenges with my card today:

Holly and the Ivy Christmas Challenge #85: Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge #12: Anything Goes

World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #11: Anything Goes

52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge: Snowflakes (June)

Crafty Calendar Challenge: Christmas

Crazy 4 Challenges: C4C564

DRU Challenge #158: Christmas (Sweet Cuts Deer)

My Time to Craft Challenge #446: Christmas Animals

The Sisterhood of Crafters: Anything Goes Christmas/Winter

Penguin Bookmark

Hello there and thanks for visiting my blog today! 

My November header is the culprit to the many rutted trees in my backyard 😭. I have been spending lots of time out in the yard this Fall planting new trees to replenish the many that have fallen, or have had to be taken down,  over the past few years. They had small tender trunks and when the side gates got blown open a week ago, this guy decided it would be a good idea to come in and rub his antlers over six of them. He definitely killed three of them, but I hope that the other three may survive. I was devastated! Then after closing the gates and putting up tree guards around everything that could be a potential patient, I went out the next morning and found this - lying outside one of the gates! He is huge! 

Anyway, on to my card:

 ,,,, or should I say anything but a card, as that is the theme over at Christmas Craft Creations for the month of November. 

So, I chose to make a corner bookmark. 

Starting with a piece of navy cardstock 4" x 4", using my scoring mat, I marked the 2" mark on three of the sides. Lining the marks up and scoring and folding the two diagonals in towards each other, making the back of the bookmark.

I then chose my patterned paper and cut it to fit the inside of the back and taped it into position. A square piece of navy card 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" was cut diagonally, then taped over the two triangles to create the pocket for the bookmark. I traced around the bookmark on to the back of another piece of the same designer paper.

I cut out the DP on the inside of the lines, so that there would be a little navy blue border when this was taped down to the front.

To decorate I decided on the cute couple of penguins from Hampton Art (SC0665) which were stamped on to white cardstock with Versafine Claire Twilight ink and then sprinkled with Sparkle embossing powder.

They were colored with Copics and then die cut with the coordinating die.

For the back of the bookmark, I used the sentiment and snowflakes from another penguin set from Hampton Art (SC0714) and arranged this in my stamping platform and stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with Detail White embossing powder.

I then cut off the tip of the top corner to allow me to pass a tassel through on a needle.

I then took a little piece of wire and slipped it through the tassel, so the tassel would not slip out.

The penguin couple were then taped to the front, holding hands!

That finishes my project for today. This was fun to do, and a little bit different from the traditional bookmark. I hope I have given you some inspiration to pop over with anything but a card for our November challenge at Christmas Craft Creations. We'd love you to pop over and see what the other designers have come up with.

Below are the products that I used in my project today:

Penguin Stamp and Die Set (Hampton Art SC0665)

Penguin Stamp and Die Set (Hampton Art SC0714)

Versafine Claire Twilight

Sparkle Embossing Powder

Copics

Versamark Ink

White Detail Embossing Powder

Tassel 

I'd like to play along in the following challenges:

The Holly and the Ivy Challenge #83: Anything Goes

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge: November

Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #135: Christmas/Winter

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #28: Anything Christmas Goes

Pearly Sparkles Challenge #57: Christmas/Winter Critters

Hope to see your project over on the challenge blog!

Till next time,

Shona

Pink and Brown Birthday Wishes

 Hi there,

My card today was inspired by the Fab'n' Funky Challenges, which is celebrating it's 500th challenge with a special blog hop. I needed a card for a very good friend and I had recently picked up a fun little stamp set from Stampin' Up called "From All of Us" and since there are five critters in the image and five in our family, I thought it quite fitting! My friend loves pinks and browns, so I chose to use different shades of both in my project.

I began by stamping the image with Versafine Claire Morning Mist, using the stamp platform.

Next I colored in the image using a variety of shades of pinks and browns.

Once colored, I put it back in the stamp platform and restamped it with the Morning Mist and then applied Sparkle embossing powder to give the outline a nice crisp look and a bit of a sparkle!

Next I created a little cross-stitch frame out of pink cardstock and taped it down a wee bit wonky.

"from all of us", from the same set was stamped in the bottom corner, and the Birthday Wishes (bitty Birthday Wishes) was stamped in the top left hand corner. This was then foam mounted on to a piece of brown and white dotted designer paper. Nuvo drops were applied to the left hand side of the card and some brown and pink baker's twine was tied in a bow in the top right corner.

That finished off my card for today!

Here are a list of the ingredients used for my project:

From All of Us (Stampin’ Up)

Bitty Birthday Wishes (My Favorite Things)

Versafine Claire Morning Mist

Various Brown and Pink Copics

Sparkle embossing powder

Cross Stitch Nesting Rectangles (Tutti Designs)

Nuvo Jewel Drops Strawberry Coulis

Nuvo Crystal Drops Dark Walnut Bubblegum Blush

Brown and Pink Bakers Twine

I'd like to join in the following challenges with my card:

Fab'n' Funky Challenge #500: Your 2 favorite colors and tell us why

Creations in Pink: Anything Goes mainly pink

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #44: Include a critter

Hope you've enjoyed my share today.

Till next time,

Shona

Deck the Halls!

 Welcome to my blog for October! This year is just moving at lightning speed, isn't it? I've been spending many hours with my bees this year! It has been a hard year for a lot of my beekeeping friends. At the beginning of the season there was an unusual increase in the amount of swarming and now we are combatting the Varroa mite! I am treating one of my hives for the second time right now - hoping that I can get both of them through the winter. My header for this month is one of my foraging girls out searching for some food to bring home. Asters and Goldenrod are the main sources for the bees right now.

The October theme for Christmas Craft Creations is music! You are all bound to have something music-related in your stash? Why don't you come join in the fun? For my card this month, I made some home-made sheet music and my stamp is the Rubbernecker Caroling Penguins.

Such a cheery bunch, aren't they?

I began by stamping the image with Nocturne Versafine Clair ink using my stamping platform. I had recently acquired the Nuvo Brush Script markers, so decided to give them a go. They were fun to use, putting a little on my easy clean mat and then using a waterbrush to apply to the image. The colored image was then put back in the stamp platform and was inked again with the same ink and heat embossed with Sparkle embossing powder before being die cut with the coordinating die.

Nuvo Glitter Accents Fresh Snowfall was added to the pompom of the tall penguins hat for a little dimension and sparkle.

On to my sheet music! I just ran off a freebie sheet on my printer and then antiqued it with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink using one of my blending brushes.

Next, the holly sprigs were cut from green cardstock using the Winterland Holly die from CottageCutz.

The sheet music was layered to green cardstock. The penguins were attached with tape and foam tape and the holly sprigs were attached likewise. Red berries were die cut from red cardstock and attached to the holly sprigs with some Best Glue Ever.

The card front was layered to a red card base and and I stamped my inside sentiment (also Rubbernecker stamps) on to white cardstock. 

To finish I added some Winter Cranberry Glitter Accents to the berries.

This was a lot of fun to make. I really hope you've been inspired to join along in the CCC Challenge 

Below is the list of products that I used in my card today:

Caroling Penguins (Rubbernecker)

Caroling Penguins die (Rubbernecker)

Seasons of Gladness (Rubbernecker)

Versafine Clair Nocturne ink

Nuvo Brush Script markers

Sparkle embossing powder (EP107)

Winterland Holly die (Cottage Cutz)

Printed Sheet music

Frayed burlap Distress Ink

Scraperfect Best Glue Ever

Nuvo Glitter Accents Winter Cranberry

Nuvo Glitter Accents Fresh Snowfall

I'd like to join in the following challenges:

The Holly and the Ivy Challenge #81: Anything goes

Winter Wonderland Challenge Blog - Penguins

Krafty Chicks Challenge #528: Christmas

Crimbo Crackers #217: Anything Goes

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #43

Look forward to seeing you join in our Christmas Craft Creations Challenge Blog with your music themed creations!

Till next time, stay safe!

Shona

Warmest Snowman Wishes

 Hi there, and welcome to September!

Isn't it crazy how quickly the summer just passed by? We're enjoying a little cooler weather now - though today we are back up at 86 degrees - we'll soon be able to open the windows! The butterflies are slowing down, not that they were very profuse at all this year. However, I started tagging my Monarchs that I have reared this summer and they will be heading to Mexico shortly. I've had many more Black Swallowtails this year, but if I didn't catch them as eggs, I'm afraid they got parasitized as caterpillars. The last four of the chrysalises bore Parasitoid Wasps instead of beautiful butterflies 😢.

My header for September is the last hatched one that dodged the bullet! Mother Nature can be so cruel. It also makes me feel better about bringing in the Monarchs as soon as I see the egg being laid.

So anyway, on to my card for the Christmas Craft Creations design team, where this month we were to asked to create a shaped card.

As you can see, I went with a snowglobe shape. I had received the stamp set as a freebie with a magazine and it came with an embossing folder. 

After fussy cutting the snowglobe I then traced it on to a piece of folded cardstock for the backing of the card and die cut the middle.

Next I colored the base of the snowglobe using a sponge with Memento inks - Desert Sand and Peanut Brittle.

The scene was then stamped on to the top of the folded piece of cardstock, using the stamp platform. 

The scene was colored in with Stampin' Up pencils. After which I heat embossed the image with Sparkle embossing powder.

The snowglobe frame was also embossed with Sparkle embossing powder before being stuck down over the image.

Some Nuvo Glitter Accents Fresh Snowfall was added to the tree branches and the ground for a more snowy effect. and that finished up my card for today.

Here is a list of the products used in my card today:

Beautiful moments: Embossing Folder & Stamp Collection

 (freebie from magazine)

Versafine Clair Nocturne ink

Stampin’ Up watercolor pencils

Memento ink: Peanut Brittle, Desert Sand

Nuvo Glitter Accents: Fresh Snowfall

Tonic Circle Layering Basics die set

Hope you've enjoyed stopping by today. Check out the work of the other designers over on the Challenge blog for more inspiration and to join in with your "shaped card"!

Till next time, stay safe!

Shona

Sprinkled With Love

 Hi there, and welcome to August!

Isn't it just crazy how quickly time is going by, even though we aren't able to do anything of much!

I've been spending the majority of my time in my own garden, weeding and mulching and with my bees and now finally the Monarchs are here - much later than last year! For August my header is the Passion Flower and for the first year I've got fruit growing! I am hoping that the little green fruits will ripen - apparently they take 70 to 80 days to mature, so if the summer stays through September, I should be good.  

So on to my card, which is for the August challenge over at Christmas Crafts Creations and this month we want to see Animals! I hope you take a look at the inspiration from the Design Team.

I'm sure you all have something you can use to join in the fun with us. Remember to include the Challenge badge when you do!

My good camera broke two weeks ago and so I had to take my card process photos with my phone and now I am having a heck of a time trying to download them to this post, so I'm afraid I am not going to be able to do my usual step by step tutorial, but the good thing is, that it happens to be quite simple.

I stamped the little image and sentiment, both from the Inky Antics Cocoa and Cinnamon Baking set, with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink, using the stamp platform. 

I colored the sweet little pup using my old Stampin' Up Watercolor pencils. The image was die cut with Tutti Dotted Nesting Squares. Keeping the dot (sprinkles) going - I found some freebie designer paper that I had received with a magazine and used that as the background layer. Layered to red card stock and then to a white base, the pup was popped up with mounting foam and then I gave the icing, his nose and his hat some sparkle using Fresh Snowfall Nuvo Glitter Accents. You can't see it very well in the photo, I know, but it looks cute IRL!

A little red and green "baker's" twine was tied around the card to finish it off. I hope you you like my little card and that you will come join us this month.

Here is a list of the products that I used:

Inky Antics: Cocoa and Cinnamon Baking

Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink

Tutti Designs Dotted Nesting Squares

Sparkle embossing powder (EP107)

SU Watercolor Pencils

Nuvo Glitter Accents Fresh Snowfall

Magazine Freebie DP

Foam Mounting Squares

Green and Red Bakers Twine

I'd like to Join in the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #41: Use a dog

Christmas with the Cuties #40: Christmas Animals

Holly and the Ivy Challenge Blog #76: AG

Crimbo Crackers: Challenge 213: Anything Goes

Till next time, stay safe!

Shona