Paix, Amour, La Mort, Métal

 Hello!

I'm a little (really, a lot!) late with my post as I got distracted.  Which happens a lot with me!
I was supposed to post this on the 13th, but I got distracted while watching the news of the terrible attacks in Paris.  I know there are attacks in different parts of the world every day, but we pretty much got to see this one play out on our screens as well as it being a bit closer to home.
I was also particularly shocked by the attack at the concert where the Eagles of Death Metal were playing, where so many young people were killed, hurt and mentally scarred.  They are a band I am a fan of and I am someone who loves going to rock concerts, so I felt a sort of affinity with them, if you know what I mean.
I've gotten to the stage where I just don't want to watch the news any more - it's just too sad.

Moving on to a lighter note.....

We have a challenge running at the moment on the Alphabet Challenge Blog and there are still a few days left to enter!  The challenge is up to T and the theme is...

T for Tis The Season!

Here's what I made

I made an extra large christmas card for my niece and nephew using an A3 piece of card.  I gave the card an inch wide spine and trimmed the rest to make a square card and made an enclosed aperture.  I used some Magnolia Doohickeys - the houses and Santa's Sleigh which I cut 6 of and stuck 2 sets of 3 together to make it really sturdy so as I could make the sleigh 3D by using another piece of card for the base of the sleigh.

I used snow-tex all around the inside edges of the aperture to give a really lovely texture and look.

 The papers I used are First Edition, Nordic Christmas.  I used my Stampin' Up! scallop edge punch to make the edge around the aperture and finished off the corners with a bit of red card die cut with a spellbinders scallop circle die and quartered.  Lot's of pearls and diamantes finish that off.  I used an X-Cut "Merry Christmas" die that was bling'd up a bit as well as an alphabet die set for the names.

The images are also both Magnolias.  I used Copics to colour them - skin; E21,13,00,0000,R20. Hair;E37,33,31,30. Clothes;R39,29,24.B95,93,91.YG97,95,93,91. Box;E27,25,23.

The inside has the same basic ingredients as the front.  For the corners of the back of the enclosed aperture I used 4 die-cut scalloped circles which I scored into quarters, then cut one of the scored lines from the edge to the centre of the circle and then overlapped two of the quarters to make a corner.  These also hide the hole that is left after making the aperture.

My sentiment insert was created by stamping the mini Magnolia stamp onto some card and then drawing a square (using a ruler) slightly askew, as if she is holding the card and then covering the square with a post-it note and stamping Magnolia snow flakes in different colours of ink around the edges.  The Sentiment stamp is also by Magnolia.

Here is a pic to show the spine of the card and how wide it has to be to accomodate the enclosed aperture.  You can also see some of the little wooden pieces that I stuck on the inside of the card and along the spine.

Obviously the card is too thick for a conventional envelope so I compromised and used a pizza box that I had received some papers in in the post and covered it with Christmas paper.  I didn't take a photo of that though.

So that's it, I hope you are able to join us at the Alphabet Challenge Blog for the last few days of the challenge!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

All Sorts Challenge Blog; At least 3 die cuts
Bunny Zoe's Crafts; Sparkle
Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog; Festive Fun
A Gem of a Challenge; Inspired by a Christmas song - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Incy Wincy Designs; Tic Tac Toe - Pearls/Free/Use a die
Moving Along With The Times; My Favourite Things - Brown paper packages tied up with strings
My Time to Craft; Let it snow
Papertake Weekly; Let it snow
Quirky Crafts; Anything Christmas
Whimsy Stamps; Anything goes - Holidays

Thanks for looking!
 

Christmas Cutie!

 Hi everyone!

I hope you're all well today?
I have been kept busy at work, this is a particularly busy week for me but it's OK, next week will be quieter.  I've been doing the 5-2 diet and today is one of my fasting days so it's good to be kept busy and then I don't notice that I'm hungry! lol!

We have a new challenge up today at the Creative Card Crew.
Our sponsor for this fortnight is Whiff Of Joy

 They are offering a rubber stamp to one lucky winner!

The challenge we have for you this time is a scary one!  We want you to make items with a theme of...

Christmas!

It scares me anyway!  It seems like no time at all since last Christmas and there's less time til next Christmas than there has been since the last!

But I knuckled down and this is what I did..

The image is Harry Hugging A Christmas Bauble by Whiff of Joy.  I coloured him with the following copics: E29,27,25,23,21,13,00,0000. R59,39,37,24. YG07,05,03. N5,3. Blender.  I used a metallic gold gellyroll pen on the hanger and other um, gold bits!
Again, I wasn't overly happy with my colouring on this one, I guess I just need to get back to practising again!

The papers are Helz Cuppleditch "Santa's Workshop" by Trimcraft.  The sentiment is also by Whiff of Joy from the Seasons Greetings set.  The ribbon came from Next and the kraft card, tag, pearls and button are from my stash.  The string on the tag is reused after I kept it from some clothes tags.  I used Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle to cut out the image.

The inside is much of the same with another sentiment from the same stamp set.

Please take a look at what the rest of the DT have done over at the Creative Card Crew blog and have a go at entering too!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Bearly Mine Challenges; Lets go digital
Crafty Ribbons; Anything goes with ribbon
Creative Fingers Challenge Blog; Anything goes
Delightful Challenges; Add ribbon
My Time To Craft; Use kraft
Sentimental Sundays; Christmas in July
Southern Girls Challenge Blog; Christmas is a coming
The Corrosive Challenge Blog; Christmas in July

Thanks for looking!
 

First Christmas

Hello to everyone on this blustery Christmas Eve-Eve!
I hope you're all well and are ready for an even blusterier Christmas Eve!  That's what we're supposed to be getting anyway.
I was up until 4:30 this morning wrapping my presents - they cost a fortune, took ages to wrap nearly breaking my back in the process and now that it's all done it looks like nothing!  Ah well, at least it's all done now.

We have our last challenge of the year for you up today on Seems A Little Sketchy and our sponsor for this challenge - which lasts 3 weeks this time - is Di's Digi Downloads

 
Here's is the lovely festive sketch we have for you this time:

And here's what I did:

The image is a Bauble Baby by Mo's Digital Pencil and I coloured him with the following copics: Skin: E21,13,00,0000,R20. Hair: E29,37,35. Clothes: B95,93,91. G16,14,12. C3,1. Holly: YG97,95,93. R29. Bauble: BG13,11,10.  And I used a gold gelly roll metallic pen also.

My papers are Santa's Workshop by Helz Cuppleditch and some of the little accessories match the papers too.  I used a Magnolia Doo Hickey for the swirl and Spellbinders Circle and Big Scallop Circles for the image.  I edged the image with a nice bobble-y ribbon by docrafts.  The bells, twine and nail heads are from my stash.  The sentiment in the bauble was computer generated and the font is Santa's Sleigh.  The other sentiment is a Wild Rose Studio stamp.

The inside is a lot more basic than the front!  The Merry Christmas die cut is by Couture Creations, Intricutz dies.

So that's my last Seems A Little Sketchy card of the year, if you get some crafting time over the holidays, please join us and make sure you check out the rest of the DT's work for some fab inspiration!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday; Celebrations
Dream Valley Challenges; Christmas
Here Come The Boys; Anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey; Christmas
Papertake Weekly; Christmas
Sentimental Sundays; Christmas
Southern Girls Challenge Blog; Christmas
Sweetpea Stampers Challenge Blog; Christmas
The Squirrel And The Fox; Christmas
Mo's Digital Challenge; Your favourite Mo card (this is a new one but I think it's my favourite so I hope it still counts!)

Thanks for looking!
 

An Emo Christmas

Good morning everyone, I hope you're all well?

I was just writing up the midway reminder post for PunkYouGirl when I counted up how many days there are until Christmas and I was shocked to see that there are only 9 days left, single digits!  Even more shocking is the fact that I am fairly well organised this year!  There's a first time for everything!  Although I know I'm probably speaking too soon and there'll be a mad panic over something that I've forgotten!

As I said, it's the midway reminder today at PunkYouGirl for our current challenge of...

Black Christmas!

We are being sponsored this month by the fabulous Teri from Delicious Doodles so I got another chance to work with her gorgeous images, only this time it's her darker images!

Here's what I did:

The image is An Emo Christmas by Delicious Doodles and I coloured her (to match the colour scheme on the challenge blog!) with the following copics: Skin: E21,13,00,0000,R20. Clothes: 100,C8,6,4,3,1, RV09,06,04,02, Eyes; G16,14,12.
I then fussy-cut the image out.

The papers I have used are from the Christmas multi stack by DCWV.  I used a Dymo label maker for the sentiment using some black tape.  I have lot's of fun with the label maker and hope to use it on a lot more cards!  I didn't add anything more to the card as the papers are quite busy and the colours are strong so I didn't think it needed anything else.

The inside uses the same papers and basic layout, and more label maker sentiments.

So please take a look at the rest of the inspiration from the fabulous design team at PunkYouGirl and have a wee go at our alternative festive challenge!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Crafts 4 Eternity; Christmas Chaos
Crafty Boots; Christmas
Creative Belli Blog; Candy
Cute Card Thursday; Christmas catch up
Dream Valley Challenges; Christmas
Just For Fun; Merry Christmas
Left Of Centre; Holidays
One Stitch At A Time; Anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey; It's Christmas time
Ruby's Rainbow; Christmas
Sentimental Sundays; Non traditional xmas colours
Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog; Last minute Christmas
Totally Papercrafts; Non traditional Christmas colours

Thanks for looking!
 

She Might Get A Little Cold!

Morning all!

I hope you're all fine and dandy?!  I went to visit my friend last night as I finally got around to sorting out her card and present!  Little Leah Rose is the cutest wee baby!  I could just snuggle her all night, although I think she got a little fed up of my snuggles and wanted food!  It's hard work being a baby!

We have another new challenge today at the Creative Card Crew, and speaking of babies I want to send out big congratulations to our DT buddy Yvonne on the birth of her beautiful daughter!

We are being sponsored by the fabulous Delicious Doodles (twice in two days - lucky me!)

Our challenge for you for this fortnight is...

Holly or Poinsettia!

A lovely festive challenge and I can't wait to see what everyone does!

Here's mine:

The image is Holly Fairy by Delicious Doodles and I coloured her with the following copics:  Skin; E21,13,00,0000,R20. Wings & Hair; E29,09,R59,39,37,00. Wings & Holly leaves; YG97,95,93,91. the rest of the wings; R22,21,20. Holly berries; R29. Background; E37,35,33,31,blender.

The papers are by Prima from the North Country collection.  I used a few Spellbinders dies for the main image - Circle, scalloped circle and inverted scalloped circle.  I used a Joanna Sheen Holly Berry die for the holly in the corner which I also glittered, glossy accented and gemed to death!
The sentiment is by Circa Design called Merry Little.  The ribbon is from my stash.

The inside matches the front except I didn't ruche the ribbon so it wouldn't interfere with closing the card.  This sentiment is by LOTV

So please join the Creative Card Crew for this festive challenge and go have a look at what the rest of the DT have done!
 
I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Bunny Zoe's Challenge; Wings
CRAFT Challenge; Christmas
Crafty Catz Challenge; Use 2 or more dies
Delicious Doodles; Christmas
Divas By Design; Feeling festive
Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog; Make it sparkle Christmas challenge
One Stitch At A Time; Seeing red
Stamping for the weekend; Use some red
Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog; Ribbons
The ABC Challenge Blog; A for Almost Christmas
The Ribbon Girl; Ho ho ho Christmas challenge

Thanks for looking!
 

Penguin Party!

Hello everyone!
I hope you're all keeping well?
I've been busy doing this and that and not really noticing what's being done - do you ever have days like that?

We have a new challenge for you today at Seems A Little Sketchy and our fab sponsor for this fortnight are Delicious Doodles!

Here's the sketch we would like you to follow this time, remember you can rotate or flip it as long as we can see the layout in your work.

So I seem to have had a thing for black and white this year, I've done a lot of cards in that theme and this one seemed to want to go along with that theme too!  Here's what I did...

The DT got to work with some of Teri's fab images from Delicious Doodles and I chose this one so I didn't even have to do any colouring!  It was a good thing as I'm back at physio for my shoulders so the pain is actually even worse from doing the exercises, hopefully it'll get me back to my old self though.
I love the sketchy look of this image!

The papers are Pink Petticoat; Large Nordic snowflakes and Pinstripes, printed in black.  The dies I have used are Joy Crafts/Noor Designs Winter wishes border and large snowflake.  The sentiment is from the Seasons Greetings set by Whiff of Joy and I used the matching fancy shape die to cut it out.  The ribbon, photo corners, Swarovski (the large one in the centre of the snowflake) and gems are from my stash.

The inside matches the front using the same set of sentiment stamps, just not cut out this time.

I hope you can join us with this fab sketch, check out the rest of the DT's fab work at Seems A Little Sketchy!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Bearly Mine Challenges; Christmas Sentiment
Bunny Zoe's Challenge; Wings
CRAFT Challenge; Christmas
Craft Your Passion; Let it snow
Crafty Catz Challenge; 2 or more dies
Crafty Ribbons Challenge; Spots or stripes
Creative Inspirations; Contemporary Christmas colours
Delightful Challenges; You're a gem
Fab n Funky Challenges; A touch of frost
Incy Wincy Designs Challenge; Let it snow
Just For Fun; Christmas
Kaboodles Doodles; Non traditional Christmas colours
My Time To Craft Challenge; Cute & cuddly Christmas animals
Patties Creations Challenge; Christmas
The ABC Challenge Blog; A for almost Christmas

Thanks for looking!
 

Blue Christmas

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all keeping well?  I have another song title for my post but again, it's a fitting one!  I was in Dublin again last night at a concert by The Darkness, another one of my favourite bands and definitely one of my favourite live bands, if not my absolute favourite!  I have seen them so many times and have never been disappointed.  Last night was the first time we were seated at one of their concerts and we were on the front row of the balcony so had a fantastic view and got to see all the funny things they do that I would've missed if I was on the floor (cos I'm a shortie!) and Justin Hawkins is such a fantastic singer as well as athlete/comedian/fashionista! lol!  I love that band!

Anyway, A new challenge has started again today at Seems A Little Sketchy and we have 2 sponsors in the form of Kenny K

Who are offering 3 digi's of winners choice

And Whoopsi Daisy

Who are offering 2 sheet's of winners choice.

Here's the sketch we are using this time

And here's what I did

I rotated the sketch and I used a Whoopsi Daisy image which I coloured with the following copics: BG01,000,0000,B39,37,34.E49,47,44.Y17.R02.

The papers are DCWV The Winter Matstack.  I used some new stuff that I recently got after a bit of a wait - my parcel got lost in the post and when I got in contact with the shop they said they would resend but the glue was out of stock so I had to wait until it arrived again, I was chomping at the bit to get using it!  I stamped some snowflakes along the top of the card and on the strip using flitter glu then I used "Manchester Tart" Megaflakes and a "scoochie" sponge to tidy it all up to make gilded snowflakes!  All the materials are available at Indigo Blu.  I can't wait to use it again sometime - it's lovely and messy! lol!
The twine, charm and gems are all from my stash and the sentiments were computer generated using the font simply named "Christmas".

The inside has been done to compliment the front.

And that's my card!  I hope you can join us at Seems A Little Sketchy, pop over to check out the fab inspiration for the rest of the lovely DT!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Allsorts; Bring on the bling
Charisma Cardz; Christmas
Crafty Creations Challenges; Ready for the holidays
Moving Along With The Times; Music inspired - Blue Christmas by Elvis
Paper Crafting Journey; Bling it up
The Paper Shelter; Christmas is coming
Sentimental Sundays; Winter wonderland
Stampin' For The Weekend; Feeling festive

Thanks for looking!
 

Expect The Unexpected

Hey everyone!

Going by my title, I should've expected the unexpected when my scheduled post didn't post last Friday!  I've only just noticed that it didn't and it has disappeared from my list of posts.  I don't know if I'm to blame or if it's another blogger glitch, I've been hearing of a few people having diffs but it might've been (in other words, probably was!) my error.

I wanted to tell you about a lovely crafter I met last Friday night at my sisters party, she makes and sells the most beautiful wee stuffed hearts and keyrings and christmas decorations as well as some other bits and bobs, it's always so nice to meet other crafters (and she was so lovely!) and to find one so close to home is a bonus!  Here's a link to Angel A's facebook page and etsy store - give her facebook page a like as she giving her 100th follower a wee prize!

Now back to the post that should've been!  We have a new challenge at PunkYouGirl and the theme for this month, set by our lovely Mo, is...

 Angels & Demons!

What a fab challenge and I must tell you, I was really challenged with this one!  My mind just wouldn't get into gear for it at all!
We have a sponsor free challenge this month, so it's just for fun and the DT were free to use whatever we wanted!  Here's what I did...

I used The Octopode Factory's Angel which I added a little tail to for a bit demontion (it's not a word!) I coloured her with the following copics: Skin; E21,13,00,0000,R27,20. Hair & wings; 100,C10,8,6. Dress & tail; R59,29,27. Background; C4,3,2,1.

The papers are by Pink Petticoat and are printed in Jet Black.  I mounted on a lovely red card and I cut the Spellbinder scalloped circle in the red and the print which I love!

If you take a closer look at the papers you'll see why you should "Expect the unexpected"!  Cos when you open the card I don't think you'd ever expect it to be like this!

Just for a bit of fun I made the inside a cutsie Christmas card - see, you didn't expect that! lol!

So pop over to the PunkYouGirl blog to check out what the rest of my talented teamies did and have a go yourself - and remember to check the blog again for the midway reminder to see what team 1 did!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

All Sorts; Christmas cheer
Dream Valley Challenges; Humour
A Gem Of A Challenge; Christmas is coming
One Stitch At A Time; Use a digi
Papertake Weekly; Anything goes with option of Christmas
Quirky Crafts Challenge; Make us laugh
Stampin For The Weekend; Spooky
The Ribbon Girl; Stripes
Twisted Tuesday Challenge; Free for all

Thanks for looking!