Believe in the Magic...

 Good morning, it's a chilly one today! Have to say I prefer cold and sunny to wet and miserable, I hate it when it's dark all day, I can understand why so many people struggle during the winter months.

There's a new challenge starting today over at Fab'n' Funky, Pat  has chosen the lovely theme of Snowmen, perfect for this time of year! 

Back in the summer I treated myself to this beautiful bauble stencil from Sweet Poppy, it was on my wish list for ages and I saw it at the only craft fair I've managed to get to this year. The snowman is a tiny wooden stamp, I've had him for years and he makes an appearance every Christmas, he's so cute and happy and he fits perfectly inside the bauble! I stamped and white embossed the tiny snowflakes above him. The sentiment is also embossed. 

Please pop over to Fab'n' Funky to see the lovely creations from my teamies, then why not dig out your own favourite snowfolk  digis,  stamps and dies and create something fabulous to share with us.

Thanks for stopping by

Chris

x

Challenge entries :

stencilfun. November (atg option)

hollyandivy #153

craftingfromtheheart #8

peaceonearthchristmas #52

inkspirational #303

christmasbingo #4 B- Free/Stamped Image/Ink Blending

Beccy' s 11th Annual Christmas Challenge- S for Snowman

You're invited...

 ...to Sweet Stampin's 14th Birthday Celebrations! Yes, Sweet Stampin' Challenge is 14 years old today! You're all invited to join in with the celebrations- just create something with a birthday theme, make sure there is stamping included and click here to join the party!

This is the card I made for my 17 year old niece- who loves pink and girly...and chocolate cake! The image is a Krista Smith digi, coloured with markers. I masked strips of the panel  and applied Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Ink  to create the pink triangles, then added the dots through a stencil.

Thanks for visiting- hope to see you at the party!

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

polkadoodle #47

kraftychicks #691

alohafriday #4

craftygalscorner #249

Double D- stripes or dots

crafterscafe #303

creationsinpink #64

Celebrate the season

 Good morning- once again Friday is upon us so it's time for a new challenge at Crafty Catz.

 the days are just flying by now - in just 4 weeks time it will be Christmas Eve so the optional theme I chose for this week is Christmas or Winter.

Our lovely sponsor for this challenge is

Hetty Clare Art

Prize 2 images from store

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HettyClare

Who kindly gave the DT some sweet images to use.

My circle card features an adorable mouse couple who are celebrating in style with a glass or two of bubbly, they're mega excited as it's a white Christmas and they haven't seen one of those for a while! 

Image coloured with copics, DP is from The Works, die cut foliage  and a bow. I bought a bag of fake snow from Ebay, this was the first time I used it on a card, has a nice snowy texture...and a mind of it's own (a little goes a long way!)

Lots of lovely inspiration from the rest of the Crafty Catz ladies to be seen here, so please pop over for a visit. I know it's a busy time of year but if you can find the time to join in we'd be delighted to see you.

Thanks for visiting my blog today, hope your day is a happy one.

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

ilovepromarkers #547

classicdesign #11

craftinghappiness #149

pearlysparkles #90

digichoosday #46

cutiepie #188

It's getting closer...

 Good morning, I'm here today with a reminder that our November challenge at 

Stamping Sensations

is over half way through. The theme for this month is

 Getting Ready For Christmas. 

our sponsor this time is 

PENNY BLACK

To make my card I die cut a square of white cardstock and stamped the little dog using a PB wood backed stamp I've had for years, coloured him with Copic markers. I die cut a circle aperture, first cutting around the dog's head.  I used a  Christmas tree mask and green Distress Ink to create the border, the stamped the little holly sprigs.

 Using the same colour ink I sponged another offcut of white card , then stamped and embossed the sentiment (another PB wood mounted stamp). I placed a piece of snow printed acetate in the aperture over the sentiment using foam tape for a little dimension. (Not sure if I'm making any sense here....) 

Another Christmas card done!

Please check out the main challenge blog for details of how to enter and the lovely prize on offer.

Thanks for stopping by,

have a good day

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

MTCC #521

CRAFT #698

MAWTT #160

Critter Crazy #80

allsorts #755

PBSC- Anything Goes

welovestamping November Challenge

A cup of Christmas cheer!

 Good morning, another Christmas card from me today! This is my DT card for this week's challenge at Crafty Catz,

 the optional twist this time is to use 3 of your favourite colours. 

We are sponsored for this challenge by the fabulous

DR DIGI'S HOUSE OF STAMPS

I made a stepper card featuring handsome Derek Dunderton with his favourite drink- a cup of tea!  

The digi is available HERE.

I used my favourite festive colours of red, green and white and my Copic markers to colour. This card is for my brother- his  bottomless capacity for drinking tea is legendary! 

I am not exaggerating.

There's plenty more inspiration over at Crafty Catz, so why not grab yourself a cuppa and head on over for a visit. 

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Weekend.

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

thepapershelter #576

PFM#716

unicorn #93

PIP #2345

christmasbingo #4 G red/die cut/fancy fold

Creative Creases #70

Blue hues at Fab'n' Funky

 Good morning, time for a new challenge at Fab'n' Funky-

 Buffy is hosting this fortnight, her chosen theme is 

ALL BLUE HUES, lots of different shades of blue on your projects.

I used a mixture of Card-io stamps to create the wreath and little scene on my card, stamping the images in various shades of blue Versafine ink and adding touches of white embossing powder to give a snowy effect. The background is stencilled using blue Distress inks. 

There are some beautiful creations from my lovely teamies over at the challenge blog, plenty of ideas to inspire you, so please hop over for a visit, I'm looking forward to seeing what you create for this lovely theme so please don't be shy, you have two weeks to join in!

Thanks for stopping by

Chris

x

Challenge entries

Cardz4guyz #335

hollyandivy #152

TIOT Baby it's cold outside

dreamvalley #305

useyourstuff #479

daisychain #80

FQCCCB #2

avenue613- Embossing

Red poppies

 Good morning, it's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin', the theme for this fortnight is

 'Use Red'

As it's Remembrance Day it seemed appropriate to use  a poppy image, a lovely digi from Morgan's Artworld. As usual  I've used my Copic markers to colour.

To make the background panel I used a Lavinia stencil and red Pan Pastels, fading the colour towards the top of the panel, the sentiment is stamped and embossed with black EP.

There's more inspiration over at Sweet Stampin' from the rest of the team so please do take a look! It would be great to see your take on the theme too, so why not play along- hope to see you there!

Thanks for visiting

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

ellibelle November Wednesday Challenge

simonsaysstamp Wednesday Challenge

stencilfun November Challenge

beautifulblossoms #10 Anything Goes

colorfuloptions November Challenge

morgansartworld #11

tripleb November Challenge

Make it sparkle...

 Good morning, a new challenge starts today over at Crafty Catz,

our sponsor this week is

 Last Minute Manda 

and

 the optional twist is 

Make it Sparkle,

I made a simple layered card featuring a cute sponsor image from the Pipsqueak Little Snowman set.

I've used my Copic markers to colour, and added loads of white glitter to Pipsqueak's hat, a touch of red glitter on the snowman's stars. I've added some artificial snow which has a sparkle too. The DP is matted onto red glitter cardstock. 

It's been a busy week here- we're replacing the internal doors in our bungalow, so chaos everywhere. I never imagined it would entail so much upheaval! Marvin has been so good....interesting items belonging to the carpenter all around the house... so far he's only nicked one thingy (not sure what it was) and he gave it back without any teeth marks in it... 

Thanks for visiting

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

kraftychicks #689

abcchristmas -X hugs and kisses

crittercrazy #80

christmas-craft-creations

Get ready for Christmas

 Good morning,  first Sunday of the month and time for a new challenge at 

Stamping Sensations.

The theme is GET READY FOR CHRISTMAS

This month we are sponsored by Penny Black

with 2 fabulous prizes to be won.

My card features a beautiful Penny Black stamp called Leaping Deer(3057K),  it's a wood backed stamp I've had for many years, it remains a firm favourite and gets used every year, usually for Christmas cards but not exclusively.

I used a combination of Lavinia and Card-io stamps to create the wreath and on the background which is Distress Ink spattered with white paint. I've added tiny amounts of glamour dust to the wreath and gel pens to colour the holly berries.

From this month the entry rules at Stamping Sensations have been relaxed a little to make it more inclusive, you can now enter our challenges as long as there is at least one stamped element on your card. Please check out the Challenge blog for a full explanation.

Thanks for visiting 

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

PBSC November Challenge

creativeinspiration #8

kraftychicks #688

MAWTT #160

thesisterhoodofcrafters -get inky

Beccy's November Challenge. Day 4 D-deer, Distress Ink

craftyanimals #78

Double d

November Challenge at Crafty Calendar

 Good morning, it's time for our November Challenge over at

  Crafty Calendar.

This month we are sponsored by the fabulous

POLKADOODLES

and our theme is 'Anything Goes'

I've been making quite a lot of Christmas cards lately and fancied a break from them, I had this cute little image, Maddie Twirling Curls, that I won in a challenge some time ago and never got around to using, so I coloured her up with my Copics using my favourite blue/brown colour combo, and used my dies and scraps of DP  to cut my background panels.

Unfortunately I can't find the image in the shop so cannot add a link. I should have checked before I made the card! 

Please hop over to Crafty Calendar Challenges to check out the fabulous inspiration from my lovely teamies, then why not play along? We'd love to see you there!

Thanks for visiting

have a good weekend- hope the weather is kind to you!

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

digichoosday #43

aperfecttimetocraft #11

polkadoodle #43

worldwidecrafters #10

Christmas Skates

 Good morning, it's time once again  for a new challenge at Crafty Catz- this week we're sponsored by 

                                                    Jan’s Digital Stamps

the optional twist, chosen by Rhoda, our host for this week, is

Show some flowers.

I have used  Christmas Skates a beautiful image, courtesy of our generous sponsor. I've used Copic markers to colour, papers are from The Works, die cut foliage and sentiment . The poinsettia is cut from the same paper pad - I used a gel pen to add a little sparkle to the flower and white glitter to add 'frost' to the foliage- neither of which show in the photo.

There's plenty more inspiration from the lovely ladies at Crafty Catz So please do head on over to take a look, then it's your turn to inspire us with your own fabulous creations.

Thanks for visiting,

hope your weekend is a pleasant one.

Chris

x 

Challenge entries:

asyoulikeit - I like both but tend to steer towards the traditional reds and greens.

CRAFT #696

hollyandivy #151

jansdigistamps # October Challenge

christmasbingo #4 - G- red/die cuts/free

classicdesign #10

sheepski #80

crafterscafe #302

pearlysparkles #90

A bit fishy...

 Good morning, the 1st of November, I'm sure that each year time flies by faster than it did the year before...probably a sign of my advanced age. 

My card today is for our new challenge at Fab'n' Funky, hosted this week by our lovely Sue. The theme she has chosen is 

MASCULINE.

I used a fun Mo Manning image, it was a  Patreon  freebie, don't think it's in the shop. I've coloured the Red Herring with markers and used a stencil for the background. The sentiment is composed with die cut letters (a Tim Holtz Sizzix strip die I've had for years.) This card was made for a good friend- he loves reading and detective novels.

As always there's some wonderful inspiration to be enjoyed over at Fab'n' Funky so please do stop by to see what my lovely teamies have created.

Thanks for visiting today

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

digichoosday. #42

mmmchallenge #212

crittercrazy #80

seizethebirthday #272