Baby it's cold out here

Good morning, another week has just flown past...indeed another month has flown past... November tomorrow, hard to believe the mild weather we've been enjoying here! I've been trying to motivate myself to get cracking with the Christmas cards so this week's challenge theme, 'Baby it's cold outside' at Delicious Doodles was a great one for me!  I chose to use  Penguin Cuddles, I coloured it with copics (love colouring these gorgeous images!). I matted it onto several layers of DP, distressed the edges and added a bit of faux stitching. A doily (it's meant to be white :( ) and a die cut snowflake and poinsettia complete the design. Hooray, another Christmas card made!
Please take the time to visit the Challenge blog there is some wonderful inspiration from the rest of the team and we'd love to have you join us this week, you can use any image you like it doesn't have to be a fabulous Delicious Doodles one! :)
Chris
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Challenges entered
fabnfunky Christmas
thepapershelter Christmas
craftycardmakers die cuts or punches
useyourstuff doily
jinglebelles Christmas with a creature!
stempelsonne winter
outlawzchallenges friday-coloring Christmas

Falling leaves

 

Good afternoon! I really shouldn't be sitting here at the computer, I should be at the optician's collecting my new specs... boring! I'll do it later!

I wanted to share this card I made using my lovely Lavinia stamps - oh no! just seen their new dies!!! something else I really 'need'!!!

I thought I'd have a go at making a shaker card so the leaves could actually 'fall'. Hmmm, not too sure about this, I found it quite fiddly but not unhappy with finished result! My background panel was inked with shades of orange, yellow and red distress ink - which I remembered to dry before stamping  with the lovely vine leaf stamp (my favourite!) this was embossed with gold and copper coloured powder. The little fairy was embossed with black. I punched some small leaves and added some tiny sequins. I kept the rest of the design very simple, just adding some die cut leaves and a tiny bow.

Thanks for visiting, I'd better go to the optician's now!!!

Chris

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laviniastamps Autumn colours

cards and more leaves

lovetocreate fall colours

stampandcreate Fall/Autumn

glitter n sparkle use orange

 

 

 

It's snow again!

Good evening, I've had a busy, but lovely weekend! Two small granddaughters arrived  yesterday afternoon, after a visit to the library and the park we took them out to dinner as it's Ruby's birthday on Tuesday, I never fail to be amazed at how much those girlies can eat and there's not an ounce of fat on either of them! After our meal we settled down to watch Strictly...Ruby couldn't keep her eyes open, but Olivia is 'never tired' :) Still they didn't wake me until nearly 8 am so I can't complain. They were collected at lunch time to go to the farm to pick pumpkins to carve for lanterns, so I had some time for a bit of relaxing crafting, there's certainly nothing relaxing about trying to make anything when they're around....they can't wait to get their hands on my stash!!!
Anyhow I had time to make this little card for this week's Less is More challenge - Little creatures.
It really is a quick and simple card, I stamped and masked the mouse, stamped and embossed the letters and hand wrote 'let it'. The mouse is coloured with polychromos, the snowflake is die cut with one tiny gem in the middle. I managed not to add anything else but it was hard.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Chris
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Challenges:
LIM #194
digistamps4joy -animals
allsorts embossing

This'll scare you!!!

Or maybe it won't! This week's challenge theme at Sweet Stampin' is 'Halloween'. I made this card using the cute (and not scary) Count Draclewis from Prairie Fairy. he's coloured with copics, cut out and mounted in front of his 'coffin' which I hand cut (not having a coffin die:) it's embossed and then studded with nail heads (which I bought at a bargain price at the Ladybugs Crafts Ink closing down sale). The cobwebs are Memory Box die cuts (love this die!) I chalked the edges of the black cardstock to make it look dusty. The little spiders are doodled using a white gel pen.
 Our generous sponsor this week is Crafty Devils (how apt!!!) who are giving a £15 voucher to the lucky winner, so what are you waiting for, get stamping and join in!
Have a lovely weekend.
Chris
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Challenges
fairytale challenge Happy Halloween
alohafriday dies or punches
stempelsonne #126 Autumn/ Halloween
thestampingboutique trick or treat
A little bit crafty -Boo
cuteasabutton Halloween
liastampz Halloween
lilredwagon spooky
themaleroom Halloween
thepapershelter monsters or mythical

Snow

Good morning, the weekend is nearly here....another week closer to Christmas and I'm starting to wish I'd made more Christmas cards than I have ...Oh well there's always M&S!
On the subject of Christmas this week's challenge at Delicious Doodles is to make a Christmas gift, so after I'd finished panicking I remembered the wooden 'words' I bought at a craft show whilst on holiday. I should have thought to take a photo before I altered it, but I didn't! It was just plain wood. I painted it with acrylic paints, white first then kind of streaky blue over the top. I randomly stamped and heat embossed some white snowflakes and white frontage. The little scene in the 'O' is a Delicious Doodles image, A Robin's Christmas, which has been lightly coloured and glittered.

 The die cut trees are Memory Box. I added some die cut snowflakes and 'snow' to the base. I was planning to give this to my lovely friend but may have to hide it as my son's fiancée has taken a shine to it!
Sorry about the dodgy photos, the colours haven't come out at all well, the 'snow' is white really!
Thanks for visiting!
Chris
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Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin' Snowflakes
fabnfunky Christmas
nutcrafters winter weather
inkychicks Christmas
dreamvalley anything but a card
sparklensprinkle anything goes
pileiton 2 or more die cuts

It's only words....

 

...and words are all I have to take your heart awayyyyy... ok enough, I can't help it if I can't get the Beegees song out of my head! It's all the fault of the latest challenge at

Southern Girls - the theme is 'words', so we're looking for lots of words/ sentiments on your creations!
For my card I used the cute Amalias Joy Banner digi stamp from Dilly Beans , coloured with  copics and matted onto 2 layers of DP. I enlarged the image and used just the banner part to make the little corner banner. I added a holly spray die cut, twine and button to finish.

 We have 3 fabulous sponsors for this challenge,

Dilly Beans

 

Marianne Design

 

artfullcrafts

 

and there are some wonderful creations from the rest of Team Trace, so please take the time to visit the Challenge Blog.

We would love to see your wordy creations this month!

 

Chris

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Challenges entered

craftingforallseasons buttons and bows

deepocean Christmas in October

inkychicks Christmas

craftybloggersnetwork Christmas

wedodoobadoo Christmas

Ladybugs Crafts Ink Sale extended

Good morning, a quick post from me with an update on the Closing Down Sale at

Ladybugs Crafts Ink.. Because Kerry, very sadly, was out of the country due to a bereavement, she has extended the sale until the 28th October, when LCI will definitely be closing it's doors for good....so it's your last chance to stock up on these gorgeous stamps! Although some have sold out (hardly surprising...cling stamps for only £1 each!!!) there are still plenty to choose from and they would make fabulous Christmas gifts for a crafty friend (or yourself!!!). There's also a big discount on ribbon and embellishments, so don't miss out. Just click here to take a look before it's too late!
The winners of the last challenge at Ladybugs Crafts Ink TLT Challenge will also be announced on 28 October.
Chris
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Ruby Slippers

 

I can't remember the last time I made a card for the Less is More challenge! The theme this week is to make a one layer card featuring two of something. Today I had a little time to play and dug out these stamps... I've had them for months but just haven't got around to showing them an ink pad until now!

I inked up the stamps with versamark and heat embossed them in black. I then masked off the shoes and used red distress ink through a MB designer stencil. The shoes are coloured with copics,  copiously glittered and glossy accented, the cogs are coloured with a gold gel pen! I love these shoes!
Sooo tempting to add more 'stuff' to this card...I'm out of the habit of CAS!
Thanks for visiting!
Chris
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I'd like to enter these challenges
LIM One Layer, 2 of something
avenue613 anything goes with optional CAS
CAS on Sunday Emboss it
addictedtocas stencil

Autumn elf

Good morning. A really quick post from me to tell you about the latest challenge at Sweet Stampin'.
I'm still at Mum's, brothers are due back sometime today, and I'm busy looking after Mum and preparing a meal for the returning travellers! It'll be great to get back home -there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed:)- but I'll miss being with my lovely Mum!
Anyway, enough waffle, the challenge theme is (you've guessed it) Autumn. I used a fabulous Aurora Wings image, coloured with copics , glossy accents on the berries. The background paper is stamped using distress inks and a Lavinia stamp. The die cut leaf and orange looking mat are cut from a piece of packaging(too lovely to throw away!) which is actually a lovely metallic bronze colour, didn't photograph at all well! Added a couple of skeleton leaves, a bow and a brad.
Hope you'll be tempted to join us with your own beautiful Autumnal creations, there's a lovely prize of a £10 voucher from our generous sponsor Bunny Zoe.
Have a great weekend!
Chris
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Challenges
brownsugar Autumn/Fall
alohafriday  Fall colours
wagsnwhiskers Fall colours
rubysrainbow autumn leaves
scrap-creations Fall

Cute Halloween

Good morning! It's ages since I've had time to post a card! Been looking after my lovely Mum while my brothers, who care for her normally, are away on a much deserved holiday. I was a bit apprehensive as she is now immobile and totally dependant on whoever is caring for her, but we've been fine! She is the most amazing woman, her strength of personality and her optimism are inspirational, and she has kept her wonderful sense of humour!

Anyways, back to this weeks challenge at Delicious Doodles, the theme this week is 'Cute Halloween'. I decided to make a treat bag, so of course I had to make two (next year it will be 3 when 3rd granddaughter is big enough to want one!). I covered some plain kraft bags with brightly coloured and embossed cardstock, matted onto black cs. Printed out my two images

Halloweenie-Ghostie

 

 and Halloweenie-Witchypoo

 

 and coloured them with copics, then attached them to the bags. The spider web die cuts are Memory Box, the eyes on the ghostie bag are hand cut. The spider and 'Boo' letters are from Hobbycutz. I tied some ribbon and tulle around the handles to finish. All that remains now is to fill them with treats :). I think the girls will like them (they'll definitely like the treats!)

 

There are loads more of these cute Halloweenie images available in the Shop, so why not pop over and have a look, they're perfect for kids makes!

We'd love to have you join us this week so just click here to add your creation!

Thanks for visiting!

Chris

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Challenges:

charismacardz anything but a card

crafterscafe die cuts

craftingforallseasons too cute to spook

divasbydesign spooky

fabnfunky Halloween

a little bit crafty boo

bearlymine Halloween

craftysentiments bingo :top row