Christmas Card Club #25: Silver Bells / All I Want For Christmas

Woohoo! The countdown to Christmas has begun. I can't believe the big day is so close. Today is a special day for a couple of reasons:

1. Advent Sunday - I'm a sucker for traditions, celebrations and feast days

2. André (our oldest furbaby) is 14 years old today. He was named after the saint of the day - Santandre (St Andrew). A special shout out to my friends in Scotland.

I also received some special candy from a very special person.... more on that later.

So, we're putting up the tree after Mass today, but first we will have a special lunch for André. Peanut and Richard Parker will take the tree down... we'll put it back up ... and so on until Jan 6th. It's another time-honoured Martins tradition!

But first let me show you a card I made for the Christmas Card Club. It's my turn to choose a theme and, in keeping with my personal tradition, I managed to confuse and confound everyone with not one but two themes. So sorry ladies!

And so, I hang my head in shame and introduce my card for these themes: "Silver Bells" and / or "All I Want For Christmas". I couldn't make my mind up about anything with this card... so I mixed up my stamps and came up with this.

The background CS is a very pale silvery grey. For the little falling hearts
I used a Fiskers punch and silver mirri. The corner die is by WIld Rose
Studio with lashings of Stardust Stickles. The greeting is from Seasons Of Love by 
Waltzing Mouse Stamps, stamped with Versacolor Silver.

The bells are from Chocolate Baroque's A Child I Born, stamped with VersaColor Silver
and heat embossed with Stampendous Stardust Transparent. I coloured the
leaves with green Caran d'Ache pencils. And in keeping with the theme(s)
I tied 3 silver bells with some silver thread.

On the inside I stamped a greeting from Clearly Besotted's Most Wonderful
 and added a little silver heart.

Here's a list of the über-talented ladies from the Christmas Card Club who, despite my best efforts to thwart their well laid plans, have managed to create spectacular works of art. Swing by their blog and you'll see what I mean!

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

A few challenges for this card:

Completely Christmas #40: AG Christmas w/ Twist: Something Starting With S - silver, sparkle
My Perfect Life Festive 48: AG Christmas Week 47
ABC Christmas: X for X'mas Music - Silver Bells 
Winter Wonderland: Dies and Punches - oval die and heart punch
Uniko Studio #16: AG
Christmas Card Challenges #53: AG Christmas
Crafting When We Can #83: CAS

And now for the special news I mentioned earlier. Check this out:

A very special lady (with a true heart of gold!) sent me this blog candy! I am so honoured to have found her in  blogland and to be following her delightful and wholesome crafty creations. She also has a very special name so close to my heart since ... forever. She is Snoopy of Snoopy's Homemade Fun.

That box she sent has the prettiest flowers, ribbons, stamp pads and a bunch of Copic markers!!! If that weren't enough.... she also sent a 12" cutting mat!

I am grateful beyond words... so much so, I'm still lovingly caressing and admiring the contents. Haven't used them yet... but I will. I just need a few more days basking in their glory!

THANK YOU, Snoopy. Unbeknownst to you, a life long wish has come true. When I was a child I wanted Snoopy to send me one of those letters he used to type on hid kennel. Almost 50 years later... I finally got that letter (and soooo much more) from "Snoopy". You see, along with the stuff are a couple of handwritten notes to treasure! Wishes do come true, folks. It's just a question of time... and faith! :)

Have a blessed Advent Sunday, friends. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Thank you so much for stopping by today.

I'll leave you with the original version of "Silver Bells" sung by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the movie "The Lemon Drop Kid". There are so many beautiful versions but there's something endearing about Bob Hope's rendition.

Beijinhos & abraços!

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge #5

Good morning, friends! How are we this cold and frosty morning? Can't think of better weather to stay home and indulge in a little therapeutic crafting.

A new Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge has started and we're on week #2 of this monthly meet-up. If you haven't played yet, now's the time to do so. The colours are super gorgeous and will work for any occasion. You can use any medium to create your projects: paints, inks, pencils, pens, stains, etc., as long as you keep to the colours from the colour swatch.

You don't have to use Chocolate Baroque stamps to play along but if you do you will be entered into a random draw to win £15 to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. All participants will have a chance to be on the Design Team's Top Three list and proudly display winner's badge on their blog.

I made a general card, perfect for a friend who needs a hug and a reminder that she is not alone.

I stamped this gorgeous image from Chocolate Baroque's Briar Rose sheet with Versafine Black Onyx onto a piece of watercolour paper. Then I used Caran d'Ache Suprasoft pencils and a fine tip Koi Water Brush. I also did a water wash for the background with Windsor and Newton Cobalt Turquoise Light.

To finish, I added some Liquid Pearl drops in on the in Petal Pink on the flowers and a couple of deep turquoise sequins in the middle of the flowers. Finally, a few little White Opal drops in the background.

On the inside, I stamped a sentiment from the Words of Comfort sheet with VersaFine Smokey Grey.

Here are the stamp sheets I used for this project. You can get them over at Chocolate Baroque's online store.

The challenge will close at 12.00 p.m. (UK) on Tuesday 16th December 2014, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday 25th December 2014. What a lovely Christmas gift that would be! I hope you'll play along and run the risk of winning £15 to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. Are you game?

Speaking of game, I'm taking this card to the following challenges:

Party Time Tuesday #191: AG
Wonderful Wednesday: AG
Word Art Wednesday #160: AG Inspirational
Inspiration Destination #9: AG
Through The Purple Haze #69: AG
Avenue 613 Create #99: AG

Thank you so much for stopping by. Looking forward to seeing your projects over at the challenge blog. Have a wonderful Wednesday, chums!

Beijinhos!

Chocolate Baroque: Fruitful Birthday

Good morning, friends! Today I want to share with you a card project featuring the cherries from the new Mellow Fruitfulness A5 sheet. These colours are my current favourite combo of warm orange and yellow with a sprinkling of olive green and a pop of red. Leaves from last month's Autumn Poppy A4 sheet is making a guest appearance too, stamped in the background. I've fussy cut the leafy border from the new Autumn Edges A5 sheet and finished the project with a greeting  from the Birthday Words A5 set.

Here's a closer look at the card. The background is a blend of various Distress Inks and I used alcohol markers to colours the images. Check out the deliciously ripe gloss of the cherries!  And to make sure you don't miss it, I've fussy cut the image and mounted it on foam tape.

1. Start by blending ink for the background: Wild Honey, Mustard Sees, Squeezed Lemonade

2. Stamp the leaves from Autumn Poppy with Rusty Hinge

3. Stamp the leafy border from Autumn Edges on bleed proof paper and colour with Military, Lime, Pistachio. Fussy cut and adhere in a row on card front.

4. Stamp cherries from on bleed proof paper and colour with Ruby, Tomato, Coral and the leaves with Sequoia, Forest, Normandy. Fussy cut and adhere to card front with foam tape. Add Glossy Accent to the cherries. Tie baker's twine into a bow and adhere to the image.

5. Stamp greeting from Birthday Words with VersaFine Olympic Green. Add a few pale green bling to finish.

TH Distress Inks: Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Mustard Sees, Squeezed Lemonade.
Graph'It markers: Military, Lime, Pistachio, Sequoia, Forest, Normandy, Ruby, Tomato, Coral


Here's the inside of the card. The sentiment is from  Birthday Words, stamped with VersaFine Olympic Green. I stamped the leafy branch with TH Crushed Olive.

How about a few challenges for this card.

Crafting For All Seasons #90: Birthdays
Fab N Funky: Birthday Celebrations
All Sorts #286: No Patterned Paper Allowed
Brown Sugar #121: Use 2 or More Colours
Delightful Challenge: Add A Gem
Sweet Stampin: "Birthday"

That's all from me today! Thank you so much for stopping by.  It's cold, grey and sunless here. No wonder I keep making cards with warm tones. Wrap up warm and craft on, friends!

Beijinhos!

Magic Mushrooms!

Helloo my friends! On this cold, wet and dark evening, allow me to share this warm card I made for my friend's birthday. I didn't stamp the greeting in front because she likes to frame her cards. And for a fun twist, I stamped a flying bat instead a bird. A little nod to Halloween! :)

I've used several stamps by Chocolate Baroque, TH Distress Inks and Graph'It markers. Here's how I created the card-front:

1. Punch a little circle to make a mask for the moon / sun. Blend the following TH Distress Ink for the sky: Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Wild Honey and Mustard Seed.  For the ground, blend these inks: Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage and Old Paper. Peel off the mask.

2. Stamp the mushrooms from Chocolate Baroque's new Autumn Edges A5 sheet onto bleed-free card and colour with alcohol markers. I used Graph'It markers: Powder, Silk, Princess Rose, Azalea, Fuchsia, Cranberry, Cherry, Burgundy, Pink Grey 3,  4, Warm Grey 0, 2, 4, Neutral Grey 0, 1, 2, Olive, Military, Anise. Fussy cut

3. Stamp the grassy image from Chocolate Baroque's Wild Meadow A4 sheet with Versafine Black Onyx on the prepared background. Stamp the bat from Witching Time A5 sheet with Versafine Black Onyx on the moon / sun.

4. Adhere the fussy cut row of mushrooms on the card.

5. Matt on red cardstock and adhere to card base. As easy as that!

Let's take a closer look at the image:

And on the inside I stamped a sentiment from Chocolate Baroque's Birthday Words
A5 sheet:

These are the Chocolate Baroque stamps I used:

And finally, a few challenges for the mushrooms:

Everybody Art Challenge #301: Circle on the Card - moon / sun
Party Time Tuesday #190: AG
{PIN}spirational Challenge #128: Photo Inspiration
Word Art Wednesday #159: AG Inspirational
Addicted To Stamps #122: Make Your Mark
Loves Rubber Stamps #127: Things With Wings
Crafter's Café #91: AG
Wonderful Wednesday #19: AG

That's all from me today. Swing by the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog
for more gorgeous projects. Thank you for stopping by and I'll see y'all soon with a festive make. Until then, stay warm... and dry!

Beijinhos

Christmas Card Club #24: Teabag Fold / Origami

Honetly, I cannot believe it's time for another Christmas Card congregation. But here we are and the theme this fortnight is Teabag Fold / Origami. Our lovely Karen Pettit of Stamping In Pink decided that we should flex our fingers and get creative at the same time.

And that's what I did. The main character on my card project is a wreath made from 8 pieces of 2" squares, each painstakingly folded and assembled in a circle.

Since there's a quite a bit of action with the folding, I kept the rest of the card simple bit some unknown green patterned paper for the background and dotted the corners with Ivy Green LP. The wreath is framed with Spellbinders's Square Fleur de Lis diecut and dotted with some Gold LP on it. The greeting from CBS Sweet Little Sentiments, stamped on a piece of velum with Brilliance Graphite Black. I finished the card with a red bow.

Here's a close-up of the wreath. I cut up an 8" square patterned paper from Dovecrafts's Vintage Christmas into 2" squares and got 16 bits from the sheet. Then I inked the edges with TH Peeled Paint and folded each piece. Next, I assembled 8 pieces into a circle by tucking one edge into the other, holding down with a little dot of fast-drying glue. Finally, I glitzed up the edges with Stardust Stickles and finished with some Ruby Red LP.  I made 2 wreaths from one 8" square patterned paper.

You can see that the wreath is quite dimensional but it obediently squishes down when stuffed into an envelope, which makes it perfect for mailing. Thank you Karen for this wonderful challenge. It really made me think and do a little research. It's always nice to learn a new skill, allowing me to add "can fold itty bitty bits of paper" on my CV!

I can't remember where I found this folding technique on the net. But as soon as I find it again I'll add the link so you can have a go at making these cute little wreaths.

EDIT: 
* Found it!!! Check out this awesome tutorial to make this Paper Fold Christmas Wreath. *

In the meantime, here's a list of the rest of the Christmas Card Club girls. I have a feeling these ladies have something crafty up their sleeves. Why don't you swing by and see what they're up to.

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

Hanging my wreath at these challenges:

CHNC #203: Go Green - green bg paper, green LPs

CHNC Extra November: AG Christmas
Christmas Card Challenges #51: Colour Combo / AG Christmas
My Perfect Life Festive 48 #45: AG Christmas
Festive Friday #44: Photo Inspiration
Crafty Calendar November: It's All About Christmas
Creative Corner: Let It Sparkle

Have a blessed Sunday, folks. Looks like we might have some sun today. But it's early days yet and anything could happen. Stay warm and dry!

Beijinhos!

Polkadoodles #46: Clean And Simple

Woohoo....It's Friday and time for a new Polka Doodles challenge. And for the anti-Woohoo news: it's a CAS challenge. I was reminded repeatedly that the project should be simple, lots of white space, not over-embellished and definitely NO CHOCOLATES. So I made this:

I used Libby the gypsy girl from the Fredericka Mini CD collection and dressed her up in Christmassy colours with the help of Graph'It markers. You can also download Libby as a single digistamp.

The sentiment is from Gingerbread Twist. I wanted to make a Christmas card with a twist and the "Naughty or Nice?"  seemed an appropriate greeting, given my fertile imagination! I think this card will do nicely for a certain bachelor friend of the family. If Libby were to turn up at his door on Christmas eve, that will be his holiday wish sorted! LOL.

As promised, no chocolates BUT while no one was looking little gold choc wrapper landed in her basket. Some gold stitching, 3 eyelets, (quite) a few Liquid Pearl droplets and it's done.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Hair: Warm Greys 08, 06, 04

Skin: Cotton, Flannel, Nude, Skin, Light Caramel, Peach

Red: Ruby, Lipstick, Tomato, Coral

Green: Amazon, Sequoia, Forest, Normandy

White: Neutral Greys 01, 02, 03 

Basket: Cacao, Sienna, Cognac

And on the inside I used the flower and sentiment from A Home For Christmas CD Collection:

Libby's taking her basket of festive cheer to these challenges:

Brown Sugar #120: AG
Sister Act #83: AG Card Only
Delightful Challenges: Happy Holidays
C.R.A.F.T. #285: Christmas
Ruby's Rainbow: Non Traditional Christmas
CHNC #202: Keep It Flat
CHNC Extra November: AG Christmas

Now it's over to you, my friends. Create a project and link it up over at Polka Doodles Challenge blog by Noon (UK Time) November 20th. The winner will receive a fabulous bundle of digis from the Polkadoodles store.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. It's almost the weekend... plenty of time for crafting ahead! And again I say "Woohoo"!

Beijinhos!

Chocolate Baroque: Follow Your Passion

Hello, my friends. I want to share with you a card that I made using Chocolate Baroque's new November release stamps. You can see the original post over at the Design Team Blog. Here I want to tell you about the products and tools used in creating this card.

This stamp of three trees in three seasons is from the brand new Autumn Edges A5 sheet, which is perfect for the reflection technique.

Here's what I did:

1. Stamp the trees using VersaMark and heat set with Stampendous Fine Detail Black EP.

2. Ink the tree stamp again, this time with *VersaFine Smokey Grey. Using a stamp-positioner, stamp onto the imaging sheet. The imaging sheet is now a "stamp" with the reflection of the original stamp. Quickly match up the tree bases on inked surface of the imaging sheet to the stamp tree bases on the card and press down firmly. Work fast before the ink dries on the imaging sheet so that you get a good clear reflection. Heat set. To avoid messy smudging, use water-proof ink (such as VersaFine) because the background will be created with water-based Distressed Inks.

(* Late Edit: I received several emails regarding my choice of VersaFine Smokey Grey for the reflection. Here's why:  I wanted the reflection to be just a little lighter than the trees. As seen in the water it should be just a touch "weaker" than the trees on the ground. It made sense to me at the time. What do you think?)

3. I wanted to keep this card light and went for pales shades for the sky with TH Distress Inks: Milled Lavender, Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick and a hint of Dusty Concord at the corners. Apply little dots of White Opal Liquid Pearls on the sky.

4. For the river bank I used TH Antique Linen, Crushed Olive and a touch of Peeled Paint. For subtle shimmer I traced a very thin line of Gold Liquid Pearls to create the water margin.

5. For the water I blended TH Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean very very lightly. I traced a thin broken line of Baby Blue Liquid Pearls close to the water margin and similar littles lines with Opal White Liquid Pearls to create movement in the water.

6. The sentiment is from Butterfly Dreams A4 sheet, stamped with VersaFine Majestic Blue.

Here's a close-up of the image. Hopefully you can see some of the details. There's lots of shimmer and texture in real life which don't come through in the photo. But it's really pretty.

A few challenges for this card:

Addicted To Stamps #121: AG
Inspiration Destination #7: AG
Wonderful Wednesday: AG
Word Art Wednesday #158: AG Inspirational
Crafter's Café #90: Friendship

I hope you give it a go because it's one of those cards that you can dress up or down to good effect. It's a simple card, although it looks "complicated"... and you should know by now I don't do complicated ... not so close to Christmas anyways!

Thanks for stopping by on this cold and wet day. I hope the sun is shining where you are. See ya tomorrow!

Beijinhos

Tuesday Throwdown # 221: Swirls And Pearls

Hello friends! Time for a new challenge over at Tuesday Throwdown. The theme this week is "Swirls and Pearls" and the good folks over at Sweet & Sassy have given the design team a few super-cute images to play with. Being a dog lover I couldn't resist this adorable little Christmas Puppy. You simply must check out more of Sweet & Sassy's sweet digis on their online store.

I had planned on making a shaker card, but then I forgot to put in the "shakes" before adhering the frame. But if asked I will say this card turned out exactly as planned ... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The front of the card is a piece of acetate. On the inside is the image of
the Christmas Puppy. I stamped the swirls in the bg with CBS and
VersaMagic Sea Breeze. Then I added a few pearls to the swirls.
For the snowy ground, I drew wavy lines with Baby Blue Liquid Pearls
and Stardust Stickles. 

Here's a close-up of the adorable Christmas Puppy.  I coloured him
with Graph'It markers. The greeting is from CBS Merry Little Christmas.
Sorry about the reflection - acetate is not easy to photograph.  

A couple of swirly accents on the inside and another greeting from
CBS Merry Little Christmas.

Parading the little pup at these challenges:

Craft Your Passion #239: Somethings Beginning With B - boot
Cutie Pie Challenge #81: Festive Furry Friends
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round November: No Patterned Papers
Christmas Card Challenges #50: Faith Based / AG Christmas
Completely Christmas #37: AG Christmas + Twist: Let's See Some Blue
Crafty Sentiments: AG
Partytime Tuesday #189: AG

Now it's your turn to create a project based on this week's theme: "Swirls And  Pearls". 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  Monday, November 17th. And the most important requirement: Have Fun!

Thanks for stopping by today. It's getting rather chilly... the cold snap is getting to my bones. Urgh! Wrap up warm and stay dry y'all.

Beijinhos!