House Mouse Christmas

This is the last post from me for the year, with a favourite character, those pesky little mice LOL! I have a soft spot for these illustrations because they are so cute and have so much expression.

Oops a wonky photo ...hic.... I must have had a bit of Baileys when I photographed this one..mmm a little merry.....

Glamour dust and dimensional glue for the 'icing' on the gingerbread house, and coloured with polychromos pencil crayons.

the easel is held up by a tag, onto which I adhered a mini wooden rolling pin - this card was for a lady who was always baking ;)

and the inside.... 

Happy New Year to all my blog readers. I hope that 2015 is truly a good year for everyone and brings you all health and happiness.

 I will be back next week with a variety of cards I didn't get the chance to post this month so pop back for more.

Penny Black Hedgehogs Christmas

Almost there, one more card to post after this one.  So I tried mirror stamping with this one and it worked well but it was fiddly.  The wreath was fiddly too, but happy with it after I added the pearls and ribbon.

So it's official, I am addicted to die cutting. Saying that, I still love colouring and decoupage so I guess I will continue to mix the two until another bright idea comes along LOL!

For those crafters who have known me for a while, you guys know how long I have had this stamp, and how often it makes an appearance..... so no surprise then that this little hedgehog appeared again this year!

The wreath was made with inspiration from KittieKraft and using circle dies, Martha Stewart pine branch punch and Martha Stewart leaf punch, glue and STACKS of patience.. 

The centre of the card - I didn't add pearls as this makes the front of the card bend and distort - wonder if we can get small card candi somewhere?????????? there's an idea!

Baby's First Christmas - Memory Box stocking die

Well I loved making these cards, especially after purchasing that little stocking die, it is so cute. The die has a stocking shape (die cut in pink in the picture) and the top bit cut in white glitter card.  The bit that doesn't come with the die is the white toe piece, which I cut using a small spellbinder oval and part of the memory box die, where the toe part would be.

The border behind the stocking is also memory box, the snowflakes from Marianne D, the holly leaves are cut from a Cheery Lynn Holly Flourish die and the labels / ovals from Spellbinders.

Lots of photos in this post, as I did a girly pink and a blue boy version.

The light isn't great in some of these photos, in part because I was trying to get things done and photographed them on a dull day :(

That teeny tiny holly piece is so sweet when inked with memento green inks and a dauber and finished off with red pearl 'berries'.

another Stampendous Christmas card - Traditional red and green

Yep, another Stampendous card to share, this one is made with traditional red, green and gold colours and finely wired ribbon which is easy to crinkle.

You can find details about the stamp HERE.

The digi papers are from M R Designs, available here. I did crop and join them for the landscape size, as opposed to printing them square, and you can crop and join using MS Word.

The holly die is from Cheery Lynn.

Sentiment added to the inside - here you can see the gorgeous design of the papers.

Am keeping my rambling to a minimum today as I have a couple more cards to post from my Christmas cards for 2014, plus a few more after that!

Stampendous Ice Blue Christmas Snowy Scene

Another blue and white card to share, this one with a tattered, distressed look and LOADS of glitter!

The stamp is a stampendous one, details HERE and available from a number of craft stockists.

This is a highly detailed stamp, so use smooth good quality card and good ink.

Used pumice stone shade Distress ink to give the edge a little colour and that aged feel.

The poinsettia's are from Spellbinder range of dies

Some light shading with blue and brown polychromos pencil crayons and ultra fine Glamour dust was added to bring the image to life and make it feel more 'frosty'.

... and here are a couple of photos of the same version of this card, embellished a little more, personalised for the customer, oh and the box decorated too:

All Things Christmas

Before it's too late and the year is over, I am going to post a few of my Christmas projects from the last few weeks, as well as other bits and bobs.  Please be patient while I do this, the blog was neglected again, but that was so I could keep up with work and card orders. Hope you enjoy the selection of cards, there are some recognizable dies used and some a little different than my usual ones ;)

First up is my favourite Christmas card of 2014, and surprisingly it's not a stamped one! Yep it's decoupage and foiled as well, so just a bit of sparkle and not to OTT.

I love what the angel means at Christmas time and this image says it all.

This card is an easel shape, but with the fold at the short side of the card, making it a tall easel.

The decoupage isn't in the arched window shape, I used Go Kreate window dies for that.

Love this Sizzix embossing folder, but can't remember what it's called.

A memory box frosty border and scallop border die from spellbinders was used.

You can see the gorgeous foiled detail on the image from the photo above. And below, a close up of the embossing and the sentiment - stamp found on eBay

Here's a great example of the partial embossing and how effective and useful it is when you have a crisp embossed design.

If you like this angel image, it's a 2014 design from Craft Creations - I have used it a lot already and it's going to be a firm favourite in years to come!

It seems like everyone has been so sick with flu symptoms and bugs, so the frosty week we are having this week is good for killing those little nasties. I didn't escape it either this year, twice in 6 weeks and it seemed to last longer than ever - bleuh :( Anyway if you have been sick or are sick at the moment, hang in there xx

It's going to be a bright and shiny new year soon, too, and that means the days are getting shorter already and warm weather will be on the way, so snuggle up for just a while longer and hope we get through the rest of the winter with not too much bad weather.

Hugs to all who visit, and remember you can leave a comment or ask anything even if you don't have a blog - use the Anonymous option when posting your comment and remember to type your name in the message box. All comments are moderated by me to prevent spammers posting nonsense, so if you don't want you comment published, just tell me in the message.

LOTV Rocking Horse Baby Boy card

Another baby blue card today, this time for a new baby boy.

I used a LOTV stamp you can find the stamp HERE.

While we are on the subject of LOTV stamps, there is a new release coming this month and I cant wait as there are some new baby and wedding stamps, so I am watching the sneak previews like a hawk LOL

Used stripy papers from Craft creations and that Papermania Boofle patchwork embossing folder again - I WISH they would re release it as other crafters who don't have one will snap it up, it's one of the best designed folders EVER!!

Some other photos to show the layering and dies.. not happy how dark the horse came up in the photos :( sometimes the camera does that!?

I love the star theme for boy's cards, a good way or dressing up without flowers, if you're stuck for dressing up your masculine cards ;)

Decoupage Christening Card using a Joanna sheen CD

Happy Sunday everyone. Time to post this as I am having a lazy Sunday morning - yep no work until later on today;)

This is a Christening card changed slightly from the first time I used the image - it's from a Joanna Sheen CD and is good for boys or girls.

Used Spellbinder dies and tags for the frame and the sentiment - kept this one quite clean and simple.

I boxed this one as well and added a small cross charm to the box.

CraftyCutting Altered Cardboard Christmas Tree

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, especially after this little project was completed and I realised how soon we will start opening advent calendars!

This post is a little earlier than planned, since my altered cardboard tree is going to be at the Creative Crafts Show in Belfast, on the CraftyCutting stand. Pop along and have a nosey, as there are lots of design team projects which you can see for yourself and versatile products too.

Lots of photos again. The weather has been overcast of late, so trying to take photos of gold foiled, dark green papers was difficult, a couple taken with light in the evening but most in the day time.

The cardboard trees were covered with 12 x 12 papers - I needed the whole 12'' for the height of the tree + a bit more to finish the bottom, as the tree is just over 12'' high.

Using a crop a dile to make holes to thread the tinsel is the easiest way to secure it, randomly threading the thin tinsel through the holes.

After covering the two tree pieces on both sides, and the two star pieces on both sides, the covered sections are a teeny bit thicker, but this holds them together well, just be patient when sliding the shapes onto each other.

The 24 mini envelopes are held with tiny pegs and contain 24 advent things to do, which involve the whole family :)

Here's a snippet of number 24!!

Trying to capture the foiled papers - these were from Craft Creations

If you would like to have a go at decorating your own tree, you can purchase one here.

With all the gorgeous Christmas wrapping papers you can get, you can have loads of fun and get the whole family involved:

* Punch out the tree from your pack

* Using a pencil, use the tree shape to trace out the shape on the back of some pretty paper

* Cut out your tree shape

* Glue the paper to the card

* Do this for both sides of the two tree sections

*Push the two together, and your tree is all ready

*Cover or paint your star and add this to the tree

They make great table centre pieces and you can make up your own use for them, hang gold chocolate coins, trinket parcel boxes or add your own themes for playing charades perhaps.

That's all for today, happy crafting everyone - hope this one gets your Christmas Crafting going :)