Tuesday Throwdown #215: Opposites Attract

Last day of September, folks! Let's end the month with a celebration of colour with Tuesday Throwdown. The theme of this week's challenge is "Opposites Attract". We want you to use colours that lie opposite to each other on the colour wheel.

Our sponsor this week is Craft Classes Online and the winner will win a spot at one of their awesome classes. I decided to try something CAS with red and green without it being about Christmas ... and that was the real challenge for me!

Plain white background (eeek!). The greeting is from CBS Say It In Style.
TO finish I added tint bling and ribbon in a simple knot.

For the flowers and leaves I used CBS Simply Quilled and stitched
the stem instead of stamping. I also die cut the flowers and popped
a couple up on foam tape.

A simpler stalk on the inside.

Challenges for this card:

Crafty Sentiments: Bingo Rubber stamp - Die cut - Ribbon

Crafting From The Heart #38: AG

Eureka Stamps #108: Use Bling

Love To Create: Ribbon

Simon Says Stamp Monday: Finishing Touch - bling

Seize The Birthday: AG Birthday - no topping
TIME OUT #15: Stamping + Twist - Apples - no twist

Now it's your turn to create a project based on this week's theme: "Opposites Attract". For ideas and inspiration, take a peek at what the rest of the DT members have made. Remember to link up your project at the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog by 3pm Pacific / 11pm UK by Monday, October 6th. And the most important requirement: Have Fun!

Thanks for stopping by today and I wish y'all a beautiful Tuesday.

Beijinhos!

52 {C}CT September Stash Challenge

We've reached the end of September, folks! How scary is that?! With  a little under three months for Christmas - let the panic begin!

Before we sink into manic mayhem, let's just take a quiet moment and look at this card I made for the Stash Challenge over at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. The brief this week is: Diamonds and Pearls ... for that elegant extravagance befitting Christmas.

I decided on a clean and simple design using traditional Christmas red & green combo with pearls, rhinestones and Stardust Stickles for that mandatory festive sparkle. The stamps are from Clearly Besotted's new Christmas Sparkle set.

I made a window card,  framed with Spellbinders Eyelet Circle. I dotted the card base with
Stardust Stickles and finished off with a big red bow.

All around the frame I adhered flat-back pearls. 

On the inside I stamped the tree and decorated it with clear rhinestones and more
Stickles!

Parading my tree at these challenges:

Sister Act Card #76: AG Cards Only
Brown Sugar #113: AG
Word Art Wednesday #151: AG Inspirational
ABC Christmas: S for Something Festive
Completely Christmas #31: AG Christmas
Dream It Up: Christmas & Holidays
CHNC September Extra: AG Christmas

Now it's your turn to create a festive card based on this week's Stash challenge. In order to be considered for Top Honour and Honourable Mentions, your new card must follow the challenge sketch and you must link it to the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Challenge Blog by 6pm UK / 1pm EST on Friday, 3rd October. And here's the most important rule: Have Fun!

For ideas and inspiration, visit the rest of the 52 {C}CT crew:
Danielle * Deborah * Fabiola * Gill * Jacqueline * Louise * Patricia * Ruth

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see y'all in blogland. Have a sparkly Saturday, friends!

Beijinhos

Boo!

Hello, friends! Summer is officially over and it's time to start planning autumn events. And speaking of plans ... two of mine have come to fruition today: Tuesday Morning Sketches and Clearly Besotted Challenges. It's been months since I played these challenges, and not for want of trying! So let's not waste anymore time with idle tittle tattle. Here's my Halloween card:

Couldn't find the "right" patterned paper so I made my own by stamping the argyle
design from Clearly Besotted's Background Builder III stamped with VersaColor Heliotrope.
The Happy Halloween is from CB All Occasion Sentiments.

I'm using CB's Boo To You set. I stamped the pumpkin with TH Rusty Hinge,
VersaFine Black Onyx  for the faces and the Trick & Treat.

A little peek-a-boo!

A few challenges for this card:

Tuesday Morning Sketches #268: Sketch

Clearly Besotted Challenges #13: Autumn / Halloween
PDE Linky Party: Stitching
Die Cutting Diva #184: Fall Is Here
Scrapper's Delights #32: AG + Twist No DP

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're enjoying Autumn. Back to work now...sigh...

Beijinhos!

Christmas Card Club #20: Winter Wonderland

Goood morning, friends, and welcome to another show and tell by the Christmas Card Club. Our lovely Christine of Christine's Cards and Crafts has picked a fabulously festive theme for us: "Winter Wonderland".

With so many options swimming in my head: snow flakes, cute winter animals, maybe penguins, a pretty snowy village or landscape, I simply couldn't decide. So I packed my bags and headed North to the land of endless winter nights, to be awed by the wonder and magic of the Northern Lights.

A festive sleigh under the entrancing and phenomenal dancing luminescence of the Aurora Borealis is my idea of a Winter Wonderland. Here's my card:

I created the background by streaking and blending several TH Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Crushed Concord, Festive Raspberry, Stormy Sky, Black Soot, Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean.  The Lights do not have prescribed patterns and they dance randomly in the night sky exposing shades of so many colours. So in blending the colours, you want to let hints of several colours come through in the dark sky. I've added some stars using a silver Sharpie.

Here is a close-up of the sleigh from Chocolate Baroque's Santa Baby. I stamped it directly onto the background with VersaFine Black Onyx, paper pieced the body of the sleigh and coloured the presents with Promarkers. I added some a few bling and chucked a load of shimmery fibre to create the snowy ground. The greeting, stamped with VersaFine Majestic Blue, is from Chocolate Baroque's Christmas Magic. This is not an easy card to photograph - the glare from the snow and the dark sky do not do this card justice. Trust me - it looks good IRL... much to my surprise! 

Here's the inside of the card with  the perfect sentiment from the Chocolate Baroque's Christmas Magic stamped with VersaFine Majestic Blue and a few snowflakes from Chocolate Baroque's Holly Bells stamp set stamped with VersaMagic Aspen Mist.  

Let's send off the sleigh to these challenges:

CHNC Extra September: AG Christmas

Crafting At The Weekend #5: AG

Sisterhood Of Snarky Stampers #17: D is for Distressing - a truck load of Distress Inks to create the bg

Festive 48: AG Christmas

Addicted To Stamps And More #113: Holidays

I Love Promarkers #237: Feeling Distressed - Distress Inks to create bg, Promarkers on the presents

Christmas Card Challenges #43: Photo Inspiration / AG Christmas

And here's a list of the rest of the Christmas Card Club girls. I must warn you - they are exceedingly talented, so be prepared for a creative explosion of epic proportions!

Karen P ... Maureen ... Margaret ... Carol ... Lizzie ... Hazel ... Karen B ... Sue P ... Sylvie ...
Sue J ... Zoë ... Christine ... Mary ... Lorraine ... Rita ... Rachel ... Valery ... GranMargaret ... Kate

Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Beijinhos

52 {C}CT September Theme Challenge

Well well, it's the third week of September, folks. We're getting ever closer to Christmas. Over at the 52 {C}CT grotto we're celebrating a Nordic Christmas. That's our theme for this week.

Admittedly, after I picked the theme there was a brief moment of excitement and then ... cold sweat and a resounding "What were you thinking?!" I found myself flipping through Ikea's 2013 Christmas catalogue for inspiration.

To spare you the humiliation (of being outed as a flatpack junkie and a hoarder), nip over to  the 52 {C}CT blog where I've included some tips on how to achieve the Nordic or Scandinavian look for your Christmas creations.

Here's my offering for this week's challenge using Chocolate Baroque stamps:

The patterned paper is from Papermania's "Home For Christmas" 6x6 pad.
I did some stitching. The greeting is from CB Warm Christmas Greetings, 
heat embossed in white. 

Here's a close-up of the tree from CB Holly Bells.
 I heat embossed it in white on kraft CS and fussy cut it.
I added some Stickles for some subtle glitter and finished
it off with some red & white twine and one red bling in 
the starat the top of the tree.

A few challenges for this card:

CHNC Extra September: AG Christmas
Addicted To Stamps #113: Holidays
Word Art Wednesday #150: AG Uplifting
Christmas Card Challenge #42: Colour / AG Christmas

Now it's your turn to create a festive card based on this week's Theme challenge. In order to be considered for Top Honour and Honourable Mentions, your new card must follow the challenge sketch and you must link it to the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown Challenge Blog by 6pm UK / 1pm EST on Friday, 26th September. And here's the most important rule: Have Fun!

For ideas and inspiration, visit the rest of the 52 {C}CT crew:
Danielle * Deborah * Fabiola * Gill * Jacqueline * Louise * Patricia * Ruth

Thank you stopping by today and have a lovely weekend, friends!

Beijinhos

Polkadoodles #38: Sketch

It's Polkadoodles Day, friends! Are you ready for another challenge. The challenge for the next two weeks will be based on a sketch. You can flip it, rotate it or use it as it is as long as the basic sketch is recognisable you're good to go.

This week I'm playing with the Work & Play 5 Festive Hollybobs Collection. You can purchase it as a CD or instant Download. Nikky alos has loads of clear stamps from the Hollybobs Collection.

Here's my card:

Everything you see on this card in from the Hollybobs Collection, except for the
bits of ribbon, glitter and bling.

On the inside I used one of the elements from the Sentiments sheet, also from the
Hollybobs Collection.

Just a few challenges for this card:

Addicted To Stamps #113: Holiday
Dream It Up: Christmas & Holidays
Crafty Little Fairies: Sparkle & Bling
Crafty Girls #27: AG
CHNC Extra September: AG Christmas

Now it's over to you, my friends. Create a project based on the Sketch and link it up over at Polka Doodles Challenge blog by Noon (UK Time) September 19th. The winner will receive 4 Digi Downloads from the Polkadoodles store. The identity of the lucky randomly chosen winner will be announced on Friday, October 3rd, along with the DT's Top 3 entries.

Thank you for stopping by today and happy crafting!

Beijinhos

Tuesday Throwdown #213: Bows And Butterflies

Good morning, friends! As promised yesterday, I bring you a non-Christmas card... finally! This is my offering for this week's Tuesday Throwdown - the theme: Bows an Butterflies. Our sponsor for this challenge is the über talented Deedee Anderson of Deedee's Digis. Her online store is jam packed with the most  adorable digis.

I picked the "Loads of Love" sheet for my project. This image reminds me of those times when we need to put on our big girl panties and deal with it!

The floral paper is from the Spring Feast 8x8 pad by First Edition. I tied some twine and let
loose a few butterflies by Clearly Besotted. The sentiment is from Deedee's Loads Of Love sheet. 

I just had to stamp those butterflies on the inside too.

The bloomers are getting an airing at these challenges:

Stamps + Fun = Creativity #216: Butterflies

Love To Scrap #38: AG

Eureka Stamps #105: Use Floral

Digi Makeover #158: CAS

Craft y Bloggers Network September: AG

Crafting From The Heart #36: AG

Inkspirational #65: Word Prompt - Flight

Now it's your turn to create a project based on this week's theme: "Bows and Butterflies". For ideas and inspiration, take a peek at what the rest of the DT members have made. Remember to link up your project at the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog by 3pm PST / 11pm GMT by Monday, September 22nd. And the most important requirement: Have Fun!

Thanks for stopping by today and I wish y'all a beautiful Tuesday.

Beijinhos!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Actually, I should say "Baby, it's WET outside!" Urgh.... It's raining ... And so ends Summer.

Hello friends! Here's a card I meant to share with you last week... but that never happened! So here it is, albeit a few days late. I've been playing with Chocolate Baroque's Snowy Penguins clear stamp set ... those pingus are seriously adorable!

Here's an easy card to make. You can prepare the various components in advance and put them all together. Perfect for mass production. It's not bulky which makes it great for mailing. Leave out the bling and it's flat as a pancake - ready to fly across oceans.

Start by heat embossing the snowflakes from the Snowy Penguins set with Stampendous Detail White Opaque Embossing Powder.

Ink the background in shades of blue with TH Distress Inks in Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans and Tumbled Glass.

Stamp the sentiment in the sky with VersaFine Majestic Blue.

Next, stamp the penguins and Mr Snowman on bleed-proof white card stock, colour and fussy cut the images. I coloured with Graph'It markers: Antartic, Cool Grey 0, Fresh Mint, Neutral Grey 0, Neutral Grey 1, Coral, Lipstick, Ruby

Take another piece of white card, run it through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and cut humped pieces that look like snow dunes. Lightly ink the edges in pale blue VersaMagic Aspen Mist and Sea Breeze.

To assemble the card: adhere the snow dunes on the inked background, followed by the penguins and snowman. I used foam tape for dimension. You can kick it up a notch by adding some sparkle and glitter.

How about we take these guys to a few challenges:

CHNC September Extra: AG Christmas
Completely Christmas #29: AG Christmas
Christmas Card Challenge #42: Colour Challenge
Festive 48: AG Christmas
CHNC #194: Silent Night
Stamping Sensation September: Things with Wings - penguins
Robyn's Fetish #229: Use Embossing Folder - Swiss Dots
Crafting When We Can #78: Christmas Come Early

Also, there's a colour Challenge on at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and the colours are suspiciously similar to the ones I've used today. Hope you'll be inspired to play along!

Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see ya tomorrow with a non-Christmas creation (I heard that sigh of relief! LOL).

Beijinhos!