Time Out DT #43 Mid Challenge Reminder, Hero Arts Holiday Challenge, WOW! – November, SSS Monday 2/11

We’re mid way through our lovely Christmas themed challenge at Time Out … with the optional twist of using pink or purple … and after last week’s pink extravaganza, this time I went with a little understated purple …

I ombré sponged Chipped Sapphire and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink over a white card panel (Seedless Preserves isn’t in my stash … yet!) and added some Perfect Pearls splatters over it.  The nativity image is from Hero Arts Greatest Gift (partly masked off), double heat embossed in white to give it some glossy dimension.  I trimmed the panel to size, popped it up on the cardbase on craft foam, added a single gem to the star and stamped the Uniko sentiment in Brilliance Starlight Black.    Voilà … the reason for the season …

We’d love for you to play along with us at Time Out … you can use any colours in your Christmas card … but if you do use the pink or purple twist, you’ll be in with a random chance of winning a self selected stamp set from our sponsor, Uniko … and there are such yummy ones to choose from!  As usual, our overall winner, as chosen by the DT, will be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge!  There’s plenty of inspiration over at the Time Out blog, from our talented Guest Designer Suchi from Suchi’s Cardstock … from our own fabulous Design Team … and from some of the Design Team over at Uniko … so you’re in for a treat!   Also, if you comment on the Uniko blog here and on the blogs of the Uniko DT who have played along with us, you could win their stamp of the week … Label Love!  Hope to see you in the gallery!

I’m joining in with …

Hero Arts Holiday Challenge – Christmas

WOW! Embossing Powder – Anything Goes

SSS Monday – So Glossy

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

A Blog Named Hero 20/8, Freshly Made Sketches #200, Hero Arts 17/8, Little Tangles #59, Winnie & Walter JITW

Hello again … hope your Sunday has been (or is turning out to be) simply splendid!  As mentioned earlier, I’m popping back with this evening (quickly … it’s late!) to share the second card I made yesterday …

I sponged Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Chipped Sapphire) over a white card panel, used Jennifer McGuire‘s tip of brushing over the still damp ink with Perfect Pearls to create a faux metallic look, and then did some double partial die cutting.  First came the Winnie & Walter ‘Happy’, where I left the ‘p’ and ‘y’ attached to the panel, and second was the Hero Arts Triangle Background.  Neat & Tangled‘s Across The Card sentiment was stamped onto a slip of  spare card, clear embossed and then trimmed down to fit into the top row of triangles.  The finished panel was popped up on foam dots on the base … and I was done!

My card was inspired by these challenges …

A Blog Named Hero – As Clean And Simple As Can Be … I’m thinking it’s crisp and clean … and that there’s lots of ‘white’ (or metallic) space.  If it isn’t CAS enough though, ladies, please feel free to delete!

Freshly Made Sketches – see below for the sketch … this is my first time playing … and they’re celebrating their 200th challenge … where have I been??

Hero Arts – Makeover (give a past project a new look) … I CASEd a set of cards made during one of my Winnie & Walter Leading Lady weeks in May (see below), changing the white space for ink sponged space, adding the metallic sheen, die cutting the lower section of the card panel and making the sentiment into a banner.

Little Tangles – Happy Birthday … to celebrate Neat and Tangled’s birthday last week … congratulations on three fabulous years, Danielle!

Winnie & Walter – Join In To Win … Julie and Shay’s ongoing challenge using their wonderful goodies.

That’s it for my weekend!  Thanks so much for coming by … your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

My original card set …

                   

Muse #108, Hero Arts – Spring, A Blog Named Hero – 11 March, A2Z Scrapbooking – March, SSS Monday – 9 March

Hello my friends!  After a marathon weekend catch up session to enjoy and be inspired by what everyone’s been doing for the last week, I managed to squeeze in a little card making time …

I used a Hero Arts stencil and a couple of Distress Inks to sponge the background onto a white card panel, which was then edged with black and adhered to the card base.  A separate panel was stamped randomly with images from Papertrey‘s Doodlie Do and one bloom was coloured with the same Distress Inks as the background … and Wink Of Stella’d.   I split and trimmed the floral panel to size, and used it as a guide to stamp the sentiment (also Doodlie Do) direct onto the stencilling.  The panel was then popped up on foam tape.  It’s a bit busier than my usual style, but I rather like it … and I’ll bet if all the white space was squashed together, it’d make up a good chunk of the card!!

I’m playing along with

Muse … rushing in at the last minute but I really wanted to play … my lovely and ultra talented friend, Michele (I Card Everyone) has made a gorgeous card to inspire us … check it out below … you’ll see what I mean!

Hero Arts Spring Challenge – Nature … I used a Hero Arts stencil rather than a stamp … hope that’s ok … if not, feel free to delete!

A Blog Named Hero – Bright and Bold … it’s a while since I joined in … think sunny yellows count!

A2Z Scrapbooking – Colour It In … again, hope it’s ok to have used a Hero Arts stencil and not a stamp … delete if it’s not!

SSS Monday – B is for … blooms on my floral panel!

Hope you got chance to enjoy some time in your crafty space this weekend!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

  Michele’s stunning card                            

Time Out DT #18 (Home Sweet Home), Just Us Girls #265 (Wreaths), Hero Arts Holiday Challenge (White Out), A2Z Scrapbooking – November (Anything Goes), Simply Create Too #73 (Shop In Your Craft Room)

Today sees the start of the new challenge at Time Out … this fortnight, we have a delicious Home Sweet Home theme, which means there’s another fabulous inspiration photo for you to wrap your creativity around …

How’s that for warm, cosy, Christmassy?  I was inspired by the planted pine cones on the box table … and by the wreath hanging on the ladder in the right corner … and made this …

On a white card panel, I offset an MFT circle die and drew round it in pencil, then stamped the pine branches from Waltzing Mouse Stamps over it, using two inks to get a little variation in tone … Memento’s Olive Grove and Teal Zeal.  The pine cones were embossed in brown (which has a little shimmer in it that you can just see on the top one), I added some white gel pen to give them dimension and finished the wreath with some red bling berries (which aren’t usually seen on pine trees … although we have one that has them … albeit different from these!)  The simple and lovely sentiment is from Hero Arts.  The eagle eyed among you will have spotted some DP here (courtesy of Darnell, one of my fellow BABES … thanks, my friend!) … I adhered a piece of it to the card base to add contrast, before popping up the panel on foam dots.  DP for the second time in a week … will the sky tumble, d’you think???

What do you think of when you see the inspiration photo?  There’s so much to explore here … why not take some time to have fun with it and play along?  All the details are over at Time Out, along with a whole host of fabulous cards from the talented Design Team and Guest Designer this fortnight, Toni from Frankie Helps Craft.  Look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

My card is also heading over to …

Just Us Girls – Wreaths

Hero Arts Holiday Challenge – White Out (a mostly white card … sigh!)

A2Z Scrapbooking – Anything Goes (as long as it’s Hero Arts!)

Simply Create Too – Shop In Your Craft Room (oh, to have a craft room!  I shopped in my little craft corner … nothing NBUS at all … the details are above!)

Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

          

Muse #91 (Michele Ferguson), Less Is More #196 (Colours – Non Traditional Christmas), Hero Arts Holiday Challenge (Anything Goes), A2Z Scrapbooking – November (Anything Goes), SSS Wednesday 29/10 (Anything Goes)

If you’ve been visiting for a while, you’ll know I don’t really do DP … in fact, it’s probably only been used about three times this year!  Today, however, I’ve pushed the boat out … my delightful and super talented friend, Michele (I Card Everyone) is GD at Muse this week and has challenged us to make three Christmas cards with just one sheet of DP … hmmmm!  You’ll see Michele’s gorgeous trio when you scroll down (and when you visit her blog, you really don’t want to miss that!) … these are mine …

and here’s Michele’s inspiration … gorgeous or what?

Here are mine taken individually, so you can see them better … and I can link them here and there (I hope!).

Here, I used a Bethleham border die from Taylored Expressions (courtesy of Ardyth … one of the BABES … thanks, my friend!), embossed the SSS sentiment in white onto it, and popped it up on foam dots on a panel of DP.  The large SSS star was white embossed on the DP and filled with WOS.  I masked the card base and sponged a black border before popping the scene up onto it on foam dots.

Here I used my newly aquired SSS Nativity stamps and dies.  I cut the barn die three times, stacked them together, adhered the DP behind and fixed the panel to the card base.  The Holy Family was stamped, die cut and coloured with Promarkers, with a touch of WOS added to the infant Jesus, and was then popped up in the barn.  The sentiment is a blend of SSS (Christmas) and Papertrey (Joy) … I added a gem to the dot and some WOS to the lettering.

As well as linking these two cards up to Muse, I’m also playing along with …

Less Is More – Non Traditional Christmas Colours (no red or green)

SSS Wednesday – Anything Goes (second and third entry)

For this final card, I trimmed the DP, stamped the Hero Arts nativity and added WOS to the star and to the halo around the infant Jesus.  Again, the base was masked and the black border was sponged on, I popped up the nativity panel onto it and added the Hero Arts sentiment.

In addition to Muse, this card is heading to …

Less Is More – Non Traditional Christmas Colours (not red or green)

Hero Arts Holiday Challenge – Anything Goes

A2Z Scrapbooking – Anything Goes (as long as it’s HA)

SSS Wednesday – Anything Goes (fourth entry)

Goodness, that was a full post!  I’m really hoping to link all these up from here … the last time I did a multiple card post for the same challenges, it didn’t work very well at all and needed to be undone so that each card could linked individually.  Fingers crossed!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                 

Make It Monday #172 (Rainbow Medallions), A Blog Named Hero #48 (Sheet Cake), Addicted to CAS #43 (Celebrate), Hero Arts #Summer (One Layer Card), SSS Wednesday 16/7 (Spots and Dots)

The renovation’s taken up most waking hours this week (and some that should’ve been sleeping hours!), and this afternoon was the first time for a while I’ve had chance to get near my craft desk.  So I had a happy play for a while and came up with a few cards … this is the first …

I made a top fold base card and die cut a circle out of it.  Using one end of Papertrey’s Sketched Shapes banner, I stamped the rainbow colours around the circle, having already marked up in pencil 16 ‘spokes’ and a larger circle (thanks for the tip, Bobby!), so that the medallion would end up evenly spaced.  A circle of card was covered with adhesive and fixed to the inside of the card, and I slotted the circular sentiment panel into the space on the front.  All the pencil was rubbed out, the edges of the card were sponged with black ink (I masked it first!) and the Hero Arts sentiment  was stamped below the medallion.  As this card could work for a guy or girl, it’s left without bling for now … it may or may not be added later.  I rather like it as is … and there seems to be a touch of dimension even though it’s a flat one layer card!

I’m playing along with these challenges …

Make It Monday – Rainbow Medallions (great video from Dawn)

A Blog Named Hero – Sheet Cake (a one layer card)

Addicted to CAS  – Celebrate (Congratulations to Kylie and the team, celebrating 600+ followers!)

Hero Arts – One Layer Challenge (yep!)

SSS Wednesday – Spots and Dots (big spot sentiment panel and little dots around the edge!)

I’ll be back in a short while with the next card … there are a few challenges closing their doors shortly that I’d like to join in with, so need to get a move on!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                  

Time Out #9 (Fun In The Sun), Hero Arts #Summer (One Layer Card), SSS Wednesday 9/7 (Let’s Be Clear) STAMPlorations #July (Stamps and Glitter)

The weather here so far this summer hasn’t been what it usually is … we’ve had a lot more cloudy, cooler days and thunder storms … and yesterday it rained … ALL day.  So I made my own sunshine …

The sun and rays are from Avery Elle, stamped in Hero Arts and Memento inks … with the lighter yellow covered with Stickles.  I stamped the HA sentiment, coated the ‘dazzling’ in Wink of Stella and added a scattering of sequins and gems.  Here’s a close up of all the shimmer … mmm, isn’t that better …. much warmer!

I’m playing along with …

Time Out – Fun In The Sun

Hero Arts – One Layer Card

SSS Wednesday – Let’s Be Clear (Stickles, Wink of Stella, gems)

ETA:  Thanks to my friend Maria, who suggested it, I’m also linking up with STAMPlorations – Stamps and Glitter

Hope your week is starting out splendidly sunshiny!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

Time Out #3 (Happy Birthday), Cure For The Monday Blues #14 (Neutral’s Nook), A Blog Named Hero #42 (Layer Cake), Hero Arts Spring Sketch Challenge, Make The Day Special #1 (Anything Goes)

Finally, I tied Monsieur Mojo down for a short while so he could help me with this …

… and I’m hoping he’ll be less flighty in future!  I was also inspired by a number of challenges that just happened to slot together well.  At Time Out, it’s theme week and we’re using Happy Birthday with an optional twist of masculine.  Taheerah’s Cure For The Monday Blues inspiration picture is, as usual, stunning (check it out at the bottom) … I was struck by the striped mug, the triangle patterned napkin (?) and the doughnuts … and I also picked out the black frames.  We’re using layers or dimension at A Blog Named Hero‘s Layer Cake and my layout comes from Hero Arts’ Spring Sketch … I used Sketch 3.  Finally, I’m joining in with the first challenge at Make The Day Special, where Anything Goes, using at least one product from the store.

I stamped Hero Art’s Zig Zag background in black onto white card, sliced off a 3cm strip to use as the border panel and added a thin black border to the right side of it.  The strip was popped up on foam dots onto a white panel and the Avery Elle sentiment (Handwritten Notes, from MTDS) was stamped in black.  I added the wooden star embellishment to the side of the sentiment … it’s about the same colour as those yummy looking doughnuts … and popped a pewter-ish coloured brad (legs cut off) into the middle of it.  The white panel was mounted onto a slightly larger black panel and the whole thing was adhered to the base card.

I’m delighted to say a warm hello (albeit rather late as I’ve not been posting) to a few new friends and followers …non blogging card makers Sally and Denise, and bloggers, Deborah from Deborah’s Gems, Brenda from Friends Craftin With Friends and Christine from Poppaea Cards.  If you haven’t explored these fun, fabulous and inspiring blogs already, do pop over for a meander … and take a drink along … you may be a while!  You may also want to check out  Waltzingmouse Fanatics … Deborah is co-owner of this new-ish fortnightly challenge dedicated to Waltzingmouse Stamps (I know, you guessed that from the name, didn’t you?).  You’re all very welcome, ladies, and thank you 🙂

You may recall I’m Guest Designing with the awesome team at Addicted to CAS this month … so here’s a little reminder if you’re thinking of playing along with the latest challenge.  The Code Word is Far Away (so many possibilities), there’s lots of amazing inspiration from the DT and in the gallery … and more importantly, there are still days to go before Mr Linky closes the door!

Assuming Monsieur Mojo decides to be less capricious over the coming days, I should be back later in the week with a little something … it’s been waaaayyy too long … and I’ve missed you!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

                   

Less is More #161 (Yellow & Green), Hero Arts Birthday (Floral)

I don’t often use just yellow and green … and wasn’t going to this time, till I had one of Bev‘s pings and this arrived …

The colour palette comes from the lovely ladies at Less is More this week … deliciously spring-like isn’t it?  I’m also playing at the Hero Arts Birthday Challenge … there are five categories, mine is the floral one.

I stamped the Waltzingmouse Simple Sprig leaves direct onto the card base.  The flowers (reminiscent of Charles Rennie Mackintosh) were stamped, trimmed out and had Wink of Stella liberally added … in the centres I dipped the brush into the yellow ink before applying it on top of the yellow stamping, to add a bit more dimension.  I popped the flowers up on foam dots and added the Hero Arts sentiment, which was also Wink of Stella’d.

There’s another card to post, then I’ll be having a happy meander around blogland … see you there!  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂

         

Muse #55 (Marion Vagg), Hero Arts Birthday Challenge (Rainbow), SSS Monday 17/2 (A Cameo Appearance), Winnie & Walter 17/2 (February), A Blog Named Hero #38 (ROYGBIV)

Don’t you think there’s something so happy about rainbows … the blend of colours, their ethereal nature, the thought of sunshine after a storm … maybe even finding what’s hidden at the end of one!  Here’s a happy rainbow card … with sparkle, sans gold …

         

Marion has given us a stunning rainbow card as our inspiration at Muse this week (see below), and at Hero Arts, there’s a birthday challenge with five categories, one of which is a rainbow (yay!).  My Winnie & Walter diamonds are making their debut, so I’m playing at their February Linky Party … and as it’s a Cameo Appearance for them, I’m joining in at Simon Says Stamp Monday.  ETA:  I’m also linking to A Blog Named Hero, where the there’s a ROYGBIV theme … perfect!

I used a border stamp from The Alley Way Stamps to create the rainbow panel using Memento inks, and added a strip of black card to the top and bottom edges.  The Hero Arts sentiment and the W&W diamonds were stamped and clear embossed … and because it needed a touch of sparkle, I covered the ‘Dazzling Day’ and diamonds with black Stickles (in an almost-but-not-quite-Ardyth-esque sort of a way!).   The rainbow panel’s popped up on foam dots.

I was so delighted to find that my last week’s Muse card got a Featured Member spot … thank you so much to everyone who voted for it … the news put a smile all over my face 🙂   Thanks too for all the lovely comments afterwards … that kept the smile where it was!

Have you noticed (unless it’s just me) … this weekend, someone, somewhere, pressed the fast-forward button … a few minutes ago it was Saturday morning and now it’s Sunday evening … how did that happen?  If anyone finds the pause button, please let me know … or press it!  Meantime, I’m off for an inspiring wander around the blogosphere.  Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy!  Anita 🙂