The Last Rudolph day of 2015 and Merry Monday

Amazing - can you believe that it is only one month till Christmas? Are you ready - I'm very definitely not! Anyway here is this month's Rudolph Card for the challenge at ScrappyMo's.

And by a sheer fluke it also fills the bill at Merry Monday where the theme is blue, white and texture. The snow is embossing paste and there is a lot of dimensional snow underneath the houses, although it doesn't show very well in the photo. I hope the pop of red is allowed! Im also popping over to the Snippets Playground to see how the rehearsals are going! I imagine chaos is reigning there as Miss Di is not mobile enough to keep everyone in check.
 

2nd NBUS and Merry Monday

If you read my previous post you will know that I made a card for Less is More then decided that it wasn't suitable. However it did use a stamp that I hadn't used so I'm using it as my second entry to Darnell's NBUS challenge and also to Merry Monday where the theme is still holly.

The green card was out of the snippets box so I'm also heading over to the Playground where Sarn is on prefect duty this week!
 

Christmas Wreath

TIt's a long time since I entered the Merry Monday challenge. This week they are asking for"holly" and it just so happened that I had made this card last week for another challenge, but had missed the deadline.

 I used the new SU stamp Peaceful Wreath and coloured it with copics. The corner of the green mat was embossed with a Tattered Lace embossing folder. As snippets were used I'm going to visit the Playground for the second time this week! Just seen that Happy Little Stampers challenge is also asking for holly.

Merry Monday - Red and White

It's a very long time since I joined in at Merry Monday, but this week an idea popped into my head while I was lying awake unable to sleep, and no I didn't leap out of bed to try it out, I waited till I had time to play during the day.

And this is what I made. Embossed snowflakes from a retired SU embossing folder and a die cut made from a Sue Wilson die that I bought last Christmas and never used , so Yay I've used some NBUS! The red holographic card was out of my ever increasing snippets box so a trip to the Playground is called for. And as luck would have it Crafty Hazelnut's challenge this week is "Snow" so I shall join in there and at her Extra Challenge which is always "Anything Goes"
 

A Quartet of Challenges!

I'm sorry the picture looks a bit blurry to me and definitely wonky, I must check the settings on my camera, or maybe it's the photographer!!

I've made this Christmas card to fit four, yes four challenges!
Merry Monday are asking for trees,

Darnell is running her NBUS challenge again and the stamp I used and paper pieced from Simon Says Stamp had never seen ink!

Pixies Snippets Playground  always wants to see snippets used and my little bits of paper are all snippets as is the gold glitter card used fro the star and small"sequins". I did try real ones but didn't like them!

And last but by no means least Rudolph Day over at Scrappymo's.


 

Sparkly Grunge or Grungy Sparkle? on Merry Monday #83

Merry Monday this week has this lovely inspiration picture and the theme is to use stripes. red, chocolate and stars or hearts.

 

 Red and chocolate and stripes I could do but no Christmas hearts and horrors no Christmas star either. I'm still waiting for the large stamp from Stampin' Up to come - apparently it will be delivered Monday - it's been out of stock for some time - but that is too late for the challenge. So I had a rummage and found a sheet of freebie stamps from a magazine and one of them was a star. It had a sort of sketchy, grungy look to the edge so my mind went to the Gorgeous Grunge stamps from SU which still hadn't seen any ink.

 

 So this is what I eventually came up with. It looked better in my mind than it does in reality! The grungy stripes were stamped in red and chocolate and the star in red. The bow is from a memory box die. Then I decided there was too much white space so I added the three small stars, then some red glitter glue to the edge of the large star!  Still not entirely happy with it and the photo is not the best either! the windowsill was the only place I could find to take it as everywhere else was covered in things from the hall  as I've had the decorators in. Slowly putting everything back in its rightful place now.

Merry Monday #82, Dynamic Duos and a Sweet Polar Bear!

Merry Monday want red,aqua,white and circles(!!) and Dynamic Duos want Real Red and Bermuda Bay.  I wanted to ink up this sweet polar bear stamp from Little Claire Designs so thought just colouring the scarves in these bright colours would work quite well. The stamp also has the star in it but I had to lose that when I cut the circle, so added a sparkly die cut one instead. Hope that doesn't break the DD rules! I did manage to get plenty of circles in though - even making the card base a scalloped circle! The sentiment is also from Little Claire - but a different set and not sure which one now!

 

 I'm also linking this to Pixies Snippets Playground as the star and Bermuda Bay mats were left over from this card.

Merry Monday #81 - Santa

This week's theme at Merry Monday is to use Santa himself on your cards.  I used a stamp from Habico (NBUS) inked in Cherry Cobbler, some scraps of red for the scallop borders and mats, a Sizzix holly embossing folder, and finished it with cherry cobbler seam binding. Then I decided it needed a bit more so added a Frosted Finishes embellishment from Stampin' Up! And here is the inside

The stamp is Penny Black which I have just acquired as I thought it was perfect for the insides of cards.

I Saw Three Ships......

Merry Monday is asking for a carol themed card this week. So here is mine using a brand new stamp set (NBUS!) from Little Claire Designs.

 

 I stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, then added just a little bit of colour to the boats using my markers. The paper was an old piece of, I think, Papermania and the ribbon came out of my scraps box.

Merry Monday Snowflakes

It's been a while since I entered the Merry Monday challenge and when I sat down to make a card for it this was not what I intended! This one sort of came out of nowhere!  But I kind of like it!! As well as snowflakes you had to use blue, silver/grey and white.

I used the Festive Flurry stamp set which had only just arrived. I wasn't going to buy it as I have two previous snowflake sets but then when I saw what other people were making with it I succumbed - again!! It's a very simple card - I stamped the largest snowflake in the centre with Versamark and embossed it with Pool Party. I used the second smallest for the corners and embossed in silver. Then stamped the smallest twice and embossed one in Pool Party and one in Silver. The Pool Party one I fussy cut down so just the middle was used and layered them up in the middle. Finally I added one of the Frosted Finished embellishments for a bit of sparkle. I was surprised at how weighty these are but it still stuck down well.

 

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Merry Monday Snowman

Rumour has it that it's not long till Christmas - so time to make a real start on those Christmas cards. I have played on and off with the Merry Monday challenge during the year so have got a few made already!  This week the theme is to use a snowman and it just so happens that I had some new Lili of the Valley stamps on my desk and this snowman was among them.

 

 I coloured him with copics then looked for a sketch to follow to make him into a card. Papertake Weekly challenge had just the sketch. After I'd finished the bottom strip just didn't look right so I added the white die cut border that was sitting in my snippets box. I'm still not entirely happy with it though, so just might have to change it a bit! Meanwile I;m entering it into the following challenges:

Merry Monday

Papertake Weekly

Rudolph Day at Stamping for Pleasure - my first trip here

Pixie's Playground

Merry Monday#69

Last month the Merry Monday challenge lasted for a whole month and I managed to miss it. So this week made my card for it in plenty of time but I'm only just managing to post it in time. Another great sketch to follow and I think it will be one I use again. The circle images are from some Kanban topper sheets that I've had for a couple of years. They seem to last for ever!

The paper is again very old - in fact I think it when I first started making cards but never found the colours in the pad very easy to use. They never seemed to be just the right shade of green or red!

 

 



Merry Monday #68 - Gold Snowflake

I decided it was time for some glitter for this week's Merry Monday challenge.

I used a stamp set that had never been used before (NBUS as per Darnell) and stamped and embossed in gold.  I should have made the Merry Christmas pennant a bit narrower I think so the underneath one's would show a bit more.

Recipe:

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Champagne glimmer paper
Stamp Set: Snowflake Soiree, Greetings of the Season
Ink: Versamark
Other: Gold embossing powder, snowflake vellum(non-SU from stash)

Merry Monday

I had an idea of what I was going to do for this week's Merry Monday challenge when I went into my craft room. And this is nothing like it!

 

 It came  together really quickly after I'd picked the papers out. I like the vintagey colours of these papers that have been in my stash for a couple of years now. I think they were Papermania ones. The topper was again left over from previous Christmases.  I think it took me a lot longer to tie a decent bow than it did to make the card!

Merry Monday 66

I haven't managed to join in the Merry Monday  challenge for a few weeks now but managed to come up with an idea and actually make it this week!

 

 I didn't want to use just designer paper for my flags and all my tree stamps were too wide. Then I find this pretty Lili of the Valley stamp I boughtlast year. The embossed flags are a Sizzix embossing folder which I bought from the US from a certain well known auction site. I had seen it used here but couldn't find anywhwere to buy it in the UK. The sentiment is a very old Kodomo stamp.

Merry Monday and Blog Refresh

Hello all. I have spent the last couple of days giving my blog a small makeover. I've decided to go for a nice clean look! Onto the card and this is my entry to this week's Merry Monday sketch challenge.

I am also on a mission to use up some of my very old stash - bought when I first started making cards. Like a lot of people I bought things that I thought would be useful to build up my supplies and some of it came in very large kits!

 

 This is using up some decoupage and Christmas papers . I've also used a number of snippets for the sentiment and tags, so I'm off to play in the Playgound as well!

Edited: just too late again so will have to take it tomorrow to the palyground!

Merry Monday Snowmen

Hello from a snowy Hampshire! When I started playing with these snowmen for the Merry Monday challenge I didn't expect to be posting them while it actually snowed! But it is and looks like it is here for the day and tomorrow too. I decided to use two stamps that I've had in my stash and have never seen an inkpad.

The one with the holly leaves is a Kodomo stamp that I bough when I first started cardmaking! I stamped it in London Fog so the outline wouldn't be so harsh but not sure it works too well. The paper is from a pad that I think was a freebie with a magazine some time ago, but I've managed to hide most of the holly leaf pattern! The holly border I cut out of some scrap dark green card with a Spellbinders die.The second one is a Kanban stamp. The background gave me a chance to play with my latest acquisition - gilding wax! I think it will become a new best friend for adding some bling to cards. I found the embossed piece of card in my scraps box and rubbed first the red wax over half and then the pewter over the other half and blended them in the middle. It doesn't show up to well in the photo but it has added a lovely metallic sheen. As they have both used scraps I was also  going to take them to Pixie's Playground but I've realise I'm just too late!!

Merry Monday Sketch

The Merry Monday challenge is a sketch this week. This is what I have made using some retired DSP and a retired stamp Pines and Poinsettias - one which I didn't use enough. Still not sure whether I like the finished card though!

Merry Monday - Tic Tac Toe

The challenge this week at Merry Monday is Tic Tac Toe. I chose to use the top three.

 

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder mounted on red. A piece of shimmery ribbon and a few very small pearls completed it.

Christmas Geese

I love these geese which are part of a stamp set called The Magic of Christmas from Little Claire and thought they were just perfect for the challenge at Merry Monday, which is birds, and then realised it would also fit in well with the sketch challenge at Make it Monday.

 And I've finished it just in time! Phew!