Wishing you a Merry Christmas

 Hi there and welcome back and to another new month! Can you believe it is March already? I certainly can't!

My header for March is one of my bees down on the moss in the stream. These little ladies work tirelessly from morning till night as soon as it's warm enough for them. They got good two days lately and I got in to see how they were doing and even saw eggs, so feeling excited that they got through the winter!

My card today is for the Holly and Ivy Challenge, which is always an anything goes theme. I hope I will inspire you to play along!

These happy little "chappies", from the Stampin Up set Warm and Toasty are singing in the sled! They are on a wobble - so it's a more interactive card!

I started with a piece of music designer paper on top of the red cardstock base. A piece of double sided tape was applied to white cardstock and then after removing the protective backing, Twinkling Clouds flocking was then applied.

Our little friends were stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and were heat embossed with Clear Detail. They were colored with Copics and then die cut with the Tonic circle die. 

Our little group got tucked under the snowdrift with the wobble, to give the effect of them sledding! The 

The sentiment from an old Sparkle 'n Sprinkle set was added - I thought the music notes added the right tone!!! I stamped the sentiment directly on top of the flocking with the Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.

A red and white  bakers twine finished off my card today. I hope you will join in with the challenge this month and get ahead of your Christmas cards for this year!

Thanks again for stopping by!

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

A MUSICAL HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hi there, I'm back to share a card that I made last week for my daughter, Gillian's birthday. She's the singing and ringing member of the family - pretty much her life is music. Right now she is on a two-week East Coast tour with her Handbell Choir from College. Here is the link to the itinerary for those of you in warmer climates. It may be that she will be at a venue near you - and if you like handbells - you'll love the concert!  Anyway, back to the card, which of course, had to have music incorporated into it!

Over the holidays, while I was making my MIL's birthday card - I broke my Big Shot!  Total crisis! Amazon Prime came to the rescue and two days later a Big Kick was delivered!  I've had fun getting to know my new friend. This card uses the Sizzix Movers and Shapers XL Die - Square Stand-Up. 

Gillian's favorite color is purple, so I used a purple card base and then distressed the music sheet paper with Memento Lulu Lavender before layering to the base.

I stamped the music label from Sparkle N Sprinkle's Set 424 in Versamark and heat embossed with Concord. The set coordinates with SB Labels Thirteen and that is what I used to cut and emboss the image and the layer with. The sentiment was stamped on glossy white and was cut and embossed with SB Classic Ovals Large. Lulu Lavender was sponged over the sentiment before the die was removed. I attached the sentiment with a wobble to add some movement.

I tied a bow at the side of the top flap with lavender satin ribbon before adding the stamped pieces with dimensional dots. A little note charm was tied to the bow to finish off the card.

Hope you've enjoyed my quick share today. I'd like to enter this card in the Scrapy Land Challenge #9 - Use a die that Scrapy Land sells.

Hugs,

Shona

Double Z-Fold Card

Today I am sharing a birthday card that I made yesterday.  My good friend, Donna Ellis, forwarded some card ideas including this Double Z-Fold card, which immediately caught my attention!  The tutorial, by Beate Johns, is very easy to follow and I can just tell you that you'll be seeing a few more of these types of cards coming from me!

I needed a birthday card for a special family friend, Nathan.  He's the kids' old Choir Director, so it had to be music-related.  I recently picked up the Sissix Sizzlits Sheet Music Decorative Strip and so I decided to incorporate that into my card.  After die cutting, I placed it along a strip of Sparkle N Sprinkle's 2 1/2" Tear-ific Tape (SAT11) and then I applied Fantasy Gold Glitter (G1001).  That became the border along the top of the card.

I made my own music note out of the brown background card  and covered the stem in Versamark and then heat embossed with Sparkle embossing powder (EP107).  The sentiments are both from Set 416 - Happy Birthday and were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Detail Gold embossing powder (EP168).  The little notes are from Set 175 - Music, which are also embossed with Gold Detail.  I cut out the saying with Spellbinders Lacey Circles and applied Versamark and heat embossed with Sparkle again.

Here is the end result:

You have to give this a try - it really is much easier than it looks!  For any of the fine products used in this card just pop on over to Sparkle N Sprinkle!   Thanks for stopping by.