Joy to the World - Christmas 2023

Hello everyone. I'm back with another Christmas card. I created this background by inking up my embossing folder before inserting the cardstock and running it through my die cuting machine. After adhering the panel to a white card base, I added this heat-embossed sentiment strip and a die cut snowflake (both from my UFO box) and finished off with a few shimmery gold embellishments.

I'm linking up my card at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - J for Joy

Can you handle the pressure - AG with EFs
(optional: Turkey/Thanksgiving)

Peace on Earth - #52 AG Christmas
(optional: mood board)

Allsorts - #755 Christmas time

Christmas Kickstart - #80 It's Christmas, Jim,
but not as we know it!

More stencilling - Christmas 2023

I created two more cards using the stencilled panels I had created last year. For these, I used the ink that was left on my blending brushes after stencilling each of the panels from my previous post for a softer look.

To add a little more contrast and interest, I cut down the panels and added a mat of black cardstock. I did the same thing with my black and dark grey sentiments.

I'm linking up my cards at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - P for Pastel

Stencil Fun - AG with stencils (optional: Leaves)

The Holly and Ivy - #152 AG Christmas

HLS Stencil - AG with a stencil

Art Impressions - #364 Making spirits bright

Easy stencilling - Christmas 2023

Hello everyone. I'm racing to get this post up before getting to work, since Beccy has announced another race. I was sleeping through the last one. But this time I'm ready!

I created these panels last year as I was visiting my sister (who owns this SSS layering stencil). I finished the card off with 2 stamped and die-cut sentiments (SSS)  from my UFO box and added some gold/silver thread behind the gold/silver embossed sentiment.

I'm linking up my card at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - F for foliage

Layered poinsettias, same but different - Christmas 2023

Hello again. For these cards I used my NBUS Poinsettia layering stamp set (Hunkydory).

On the first card, I stamped and gold heat-embossed the greeting in the bottom right corner, but decided I liked in better in the top right. That way, I ended up with 2 same but different cards, just perfect for the extra challenge prompt at Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards challenge.

I'm linking up my cards at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - Same but different

D for Deer - Christmas 2023

Hello everyone. Here's another Christmas card using elements from my UFO box.

I used watercolours for the tree, while my MFT reindeer was coloured in using Copics. The band of gold glitter paper was also from my scraps.

I'm linking up my card at:

Beccy's Month of Christmas Cards - D for Deer

ATSM - #456 Make your mark

Less is More - #496 Anything CAS goes

Christmas 2023 - E for evergreen

For this card, I used elements from my UFO box as well as a gel print I created recently, using distress oxide inks.

I'm linking up my card at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - E for Evergreen

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Jingle Belles - Hard Candy Christmas
(favourite holiday food)

SSS Wednesday - Thinking of you

Caffeinated Christmas - Coffee + holly

Use your stuff - #496 Anything goes

Christmas 2023 - C for cups

This card was so much fun to make. I placee a cardstock square in my Misty, stamped this oldie but goldie cup (Verve) 4 times using CP Cranberry Fizz ink, rotating my card panel, and then placed the stamp straight up and repeated the process. To fill up the corners, I used another stamp of the set to stamp the wisps of steam in CP Black Jack ink. 

For the sentiment, I die cut a circle from a snippet of gold card and heat-embossed this oh so fitting and fun sentiment (Caffeinated Christmas by Becca Cruger for STAMPlorations) in white embossing powder, and adhered my card to a 10 x 10 cm card. 

To bring everything together, I coloured in the caps of the cups using a gold gel pen.

I'm linking up my card at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - C for Cups

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 

The Holly and Ivy - #151 AG Christmas

Jingle Belles - Hard Candy Christmas (favourite holiday food)

B for Bauble Christmas card

Hello everyone. I'm back with another Christmas card. This one was also started last month for Pink Christmas.

I used a NBUS die (Snowy bauble, Gemini by Crafter's Companion) to die cut the bauble/ornament from my huge stash of Core'dinations cardstock and put a pink snippet behind it. I also used a snippet of pink to create a mat for my sentiment strip. The sentiment came from my UFO box. I'm trying to use both my NBUS stash and my previously created elements.

I'm linking up my card at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - B for Bauble

NBUS - #56 AG with NBUS

HLS - Anything goes with dies

HLS Christmas - Anything Christmas goes

Die Cut Divas - All about the holidays

Holly Jolly

Hello everyone. I still have a lot of Christmas cards to make before the end of this month, so Beccy's annual Month of Holiday Cards challenge is a great incentive to get going.

This card was actually started last month, for the Pink Christmas prompt at Jingle Belles, but I did not have enough time to turn all of my ideas into cards.

I simply combined some toppers/ephemera pieces, added a mat using a snippet of green cardstock and finished off with a pink bow.

I'm sending my card off to play at:

Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards - A for Animals

Snippets Playground - #466 Always AG with snippets

October Card Chain Challenge reveal

Hello everyone. It's the 2nd of the month, so it's time to show all of the Card Chain Challenge cards that were exchanged this past month. 

This month, my card went to Robyn in Australia.
I thought she might appreciated a Spring-themed card as she is heading towards summer now.
I used the Sketch and Friendship options.

I used one of the papers, some ephemera pieces and a border die that were part of my NBUS Crafter's Inspiration card kit/magazine by Crafter's Companion that I snagged in a sale some months ago.
The purple cardstock is from my stash. I blended some distress ink over the white parts of the ephemera so that the colour would better match the paper and my cream card and envelope.

I'm also linking up my card at:

NBUS #56 - Anything goes with NBUS

Pink Christmas 2023 - 4

Hello everyone. I'm back with one more batch of Pink Christmas cards to celebrate Pink Christmas for the Cure at Jingle Belles. I actually have more cards in the works but did not have enough time to finish them up. At least I'm making great progress on building my Christmas card stash, and about time too!

I created the backgrounds for these cards about a month ago, after seeing Jennifer McGuire's video on creating simple mixed media backgrounds.

I used 2 sheets of A4 cardstock to create my inky background using Distress Oxide inks, using colours that I knew would work for the annual October challenge prompt at Jingle Belles. Next, I cut up the cardstock panels to create 8 panels measuring 4 x 5 1/4 inch and taped them together at the back before continuing with my stamping and sparkly gold stencilling. I'm hoping to turn the remaining 4 panels into cards very soon.

I decided the panels did not need any additions other than a sentiment. I used elements from my UFO box, except for the 2 small black on white sentiment strips.

I love how these turned out. At first I felt a little disappointed because they did not turn out the way Jennifer's did, but now, a month later, I am totally in love. This is how I roll. I also know I will be revisiting this technique again (and again), using other colours (or maybe not 😁).

I'm linking up my cards at:

Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas for the Cure

HLS Christmas - Anything Christmas goes

Allsorts - #750 AG with the option of texture

ABC Christmas - U is for Use it up

Pink Christmas 2023 - 3

For this batch of pink Christmas cards, I was inspired by the masking and blending technique that Lesley of Heffy Doodle showed during last month's Stress Free Cardmaking Summit.
While Lesley used white (masked) trees and blended green ink over it, I decided to use my NBUS dove stamp (Peace on Earth set, Uniko) after seeing Bev, the owner and designer of Uniko, use this stamp set in a recent video. I used Catherine Pooler inks and my blending brushes to do my ink blending.

I also decided to pop up a single bird over my masked sentiment strip for some added interest.

I'm linking up my cards at:

Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas for the Cure

SSS Wednesday - Christmas

HLS Christmas - Anything Christmas goes

NBUS #55 - AG with NBUS

Pink Christmas 2023 - 2

Here's my second batch of pink Christmas cards.

At the recent Stress Free Cardmaking Summit, there were several presentations about using your patterned papers and ephemera. I took this inspiration and combined it with a fun 'Stack, cut and shuffle' technique I saw on YouTube last week. 

I used snippets of PP left over from some Christmas cards I created last year and combined it with an abandoned embossed card front from my UFO box and these fun tags from a paper pack I bought when I was in the Netherlands a year ago (thinking it would be great for this year's Pink Christmas challenge LOL).

It was really fun to use PPs in this way, and such an easy technique too!

I'm linking up my cards at:

Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas for the Cure

SSS Wednesday - Christmas

Pink Christmas 2023 - 1

Hello everyone. I'm back with some Christmas card creations for my favourite prompt of the year: Pink Christmas at Jingle Belles, where Lauren and Stephanie will donate $2 to the The Breast Cancer Research Foundation in the US for each card that is being linked up this fortnight.
I also happen to simply love using non-traditional colours on my Christmas, including pink!

These two cards were inspired by Natasha Foote's presentation at the recent Stress Free Cardmaking Summit. 

I used Distress Oxides to blend my background.
The Christmas tree is an old Marianne Design die, while the Xmas die is brand new, part of the Festive Animal Antics Collection, designed by Katie Skilton. I will confess that I could not resist buying the entire bundle when it was on offer. I'm hoping to create and share some cards using this collection soon.

I'm linking up my cards at:

Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas for the Cure

SSS Wednesday - Christmas

HLS Christmas - Anything Christmas goes

HLS Dies - Anything goes with dies

Card Chain Challenge August and July

Hello everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful summer or maybe you're still enjoying the last of it lik I'm doing here in Greece.

It's the second of the month, which means it's time to reveal all of the cards that were exchanged last month for the Card Chain Challenge. 

This month, my card went to Patricia in Texas

I went with the CAS theme and also loosely followed the colours and sketch. I stamped the ladybird on my cardbase as well as on a scrap of white cardstock and coloured it in using Chameleon fineliners and a black Sakura Micron pen. I fussy cut only the body of the ladybird and mounted it on top of the stamped image on my card using foam tape for some added interest and dimension.

I'm also linking up my card at 

LIM - Anything goes

SSS Wednesday - Anything goes

I also realised that I never got around to posting my card for the July reveal. Last month, my card went to Viv in the UK.

I used a previously Brusho stencilled panel that had colours loosely matching the CCC colour prompt and also had the circles. It reminded me somewhat of a dream catcher, so I pulled out my new Dream stamp and heat embossed in onto vellum and then fussy cut it. I stamped the 'BIG' sentiment underneath in black and finished off with some rhinestones in matching colours.