What a Hoot!

More playing today and my 2nd Christmas card of the year!

The lovely papers are from a Xmas stack by DCWV which has been in my stash for a long time and the cute ice skater is a digi image called "Ice Skating Hoot" from Pink Gem Designs.   He was coloured with Promarkers, before being cut out and mounted onto foam pads.  The addition of some fancy snowflakes and a dash of pink Stickles for his bobble hat give a touch of Christmas sparkle.

This week Winter Wonderland's Challenge is "Red and Green Must Not Be Seen" so Pink and Purple fit the bill.   Coincidentally, one of the challenge sponsors this week is Pink Gem Designs which I didn't know when I made the card ... isn't that a hoot LOL?
Crafts 4 Eternity are looking for "Wonderful Wings" and there's no doubt that Ice Skating Hoot has wings ... reckon they'll come in handy if the ice melts!

Back To Blogland

YOWZA!
Where did 2012 go in such a hurry?
It's been such a long time since any crafty blogging has happened here ... so thank you to all the faithful followers who haven't jumped ship during my absence. 
It's fair to say that 2012 was a barren year for activity here at MCC,  although 'real life' was anything but ... being pretty hectic at times and frequently verging on chaotic!  My biggest problem was finding the time and enthusiasm to deal with it all effectively following my surgery. 

The intention for 2013 is to be more organised in all areas of my life and hopefully my mind will follow suit ... so fingers crossed I'll be able to do all the things I want to do, both crafty and otherwise and still have enough time and energy to share snippets of it all with everyone.

But  ... before that and to kick things off, allow me to share just a few of my 2012 cards that didn't get an airing. 
If you have any questions about techniques or supplies used, then leave a message and I'll do my best to answer your query.

Babies

(Kanban Kit)

(Stamping and Embossing)

(Stamping and Embossing)

(Stamping, Inking and Mirri Card)

(Inside View)

(Digital Stamping and Promarkers)

(Digital Image and Stamping)

(Inside View)

Birthdays

(Digital Image and Computer Sentiment)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit with Butterfly Embellishment)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit and 3D Elements)

(Kanban Kit and Diamante Ribbon Buckle)

(Kanban Kit, Pearls and Glitter Paper)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit and Cupcake Wrapper Decoration)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit, Mirri Card and Ribbon)

(Inside View)

(Doodling and Stickles)

(Inside View)

(Easel Card and Diecutting)

(Recycling)

(inside View)

(Digital Stamp, Paper Roses and Ribbon)

Other Occasions

(Embossing and Stickles)

(Inside View)

(Kanban Kit with Black and Gold)

(Inside View)

Bunnies and Blog Hop

You can't have Easter without having bunnies and these little cuties from LOTV obviously love cupcakes ... well ... thinking about it ... who doesn't? 

They were coloured with Promarkers and cut out with Nestabilities Labels Four before being added as a topper to a 5" x 5" easel card, already decorated with gorgeous Easter papers from Paper Cellar.  A strip of multicoloured ribbon, a couple of pink pearls and some paper flowers with Stickle centres add some dimension and sparkle.

The 'stop' is provided by using a slim strip of paper, matted onto silver mirri and adhered to the base with foam pads to raise it.  The greeting is a simple silver peel off on a punched circle of paper which is attached to a silver daisy flower with silicon glue.

The card does fold flat enough to fit into an envelope although it would require a 'large' stamp for posting because of the 3D elements.

There are a gazillion Easter themed challenges on the go right now but I have chosen just a couple to play along with ...
C4E - #66 Bunnies and Chicks PLUS Blog Hop

Card Makin Mamas - #42 Easter
Crafty Sentiments - Bunnies
Incy Wincy Designs - #140 Easter 
Now I'm hippitty- hopping back over to join in the Crafts 4 Eternity blog hop. Have a super Saturday ... wherever you are and whatever you are doing. 

Meet Dudley

WELL!  This week has been a totally different story weatherwise, with hailstones, high winds, lashing rain and even snow! ... so no 'Al Fresco' crafting at all.  Much safer to stay snuggled in the craft room surrounded by loads'a' luvverly stash to keep me warm.

This cute little chap is called Dudley and he and the oversized button are Pollycraft images, (actually they're both freebies from ages ago).  This card was supposed to be my entry for their 'Chocklit Challenge - 133' ... but I missed the deadline.  Whoops!  However, I reckon he's still cute enough to be worth showing and fortunately for me, Papertake Weekly Challenge is 'Anything Goes' with the option of monotone, so my Dudley card in shades of brown should qualify as a valid entry.

 

He's been coloured with Promarkers before being cut out with deckle edged scissors and glittered up with green stickles, likewise the button.  The papers are 6" x 6" Papermania - Simply Elegant, which I've had for a very long time and only recently rediscovered while looking for something else ... a very common occurrence amongst crafters.  Strips were cut from 2 complementary sheets, matted onto dark brown card and attached to the front of the card blank and then Dino was added with foam pads to give him a little lift.

Inside, is simply decorated with a a strip of patterned paper, matted onto brown and finished with a stamped greeting.
I'd also like to enter my Dudley card into the following challenges ...
Just Keep On Creating - #1 Anything Goes
Papercraft Star - #91 Anything Goes
Make It Monday - #83 Anything Goes

Spring Has Sprung!

We have been enjoying some beautiful sunny weather for the last week or so, which is not unusual for March EVEN here in Fife! It has been unseasonally warm, with temperatures up in the high teens and even tickling the twenties so it's been
March Madness INDEED!
Taking advantage of this, I decided to indulge in a couple of hours worth of 'Al Fresco' creativity,  armed with my trusty Promarkers and a selection of stamped images.
Using one of the completed LOTV cuties, I created this pretty easel card for a lovely fellow crafting friend whose birthday is today ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE xx

Once coloured, she was cut out using Nestabilities Labels One, (as were the other topper layers), and once assembled together,  the whole thing was adhered with foam pads to the folded front panel which had been previously decorated with embossed mirri card.

A touch of stickles provide plenty of sparkle to her outfit and paper roses dabbed with pearlescent ink and finished off with a ribbon bow are a perfect embellishment for the corner.

On the base I used the negative section previously cut with the nestabilities and added some pretty patterned paper behind ... waste not want not! ... before using a white gel pen to add some 'faux stitching' around the edge.   The greeting was stamped in black onto a smaller matching shape which was also outlined with 'faux stitching'.  Two simple flat backed pearl beads are all that's needed to keep the folded front panel supported.
The flowers made this card a bit bulky for an envelope so I made a box instead and as it was hand delivered this morning, (along with a wee surprise gift), postage costs were not an issue.
Talking of postage ... with the impending huge price hike on stamps due next week, (1st class jumps from 46p to 60p!), I will be bulk buying as many as I can reasonably afford in an effort to postpone the pain.  Like many others there will be a serious culling of the Christmas card list later this year too ... a sad but necessary evil.
I will be entering this card into
Week 4 - LOTV National Craft Month Competition.
Tomorrow marks the last day of the school term and hopefully we can look forward to continued lovely weather. Wishful thinking?  Well ... possibly ...  but on the other hand,  maybe Spring really has sprung!

Bah Humbug! Challenge 27

Sometimes I just wish the world would slow down a wee bit ... or at least wait for me to catch up lol!  It's been another busy week with lots happening and I thought that as the schools are on holiday there would be a little more R+R time ... but I was mistaken.  It seems Time and Bah! Humbug! wait for no one so there was  nothing else for it but to knuckle down and get busy with our latest challenge and this week we're creating with 'critters' ... specifically Mice.

I started with a 6" x 6" card blank and decorated it with a small panel of the most gorgeous double-sided paper from g.c.d studios paper stack Joyful Peace  ... which was very difficult to cut into let me tell you!  It's just too fabulous for words but fortunately there are 4 sheets of 12 different designs so I still have plenty left to stroke lol!  Some red funky fibres add some decoration and make a nice change from ribbon.

I stamped the cute mouse holding a heart twice and coloured with Promarkers, before adding a foil snowflake and some gold stickles to the hearts.  The sentiment was then stamped and matted onto gold mirri card before attaching with foam pads between these two happy chappies.  
All the products used here were purchases made from Kitty Krafts where Louise and Ross welcomed me with open arms, as always.  They then plied me with coffee and the most amazing Coffee Tower cream cake before letting me loose on their stock - which is extensive in anyone's crafty eyes.  Whilst I don't manage to visit them as often as I'd like ... I ALWAYS make sure it's worth making the 60'ish mile round trip ... and this week's visit was no exception so their stock is now minus several gorgeous items - because I have them lol!
Humbugger Ann and our Guest Designers Abi and Kathy K. have been busy wee critters over at Humbug Hall and have some super-dooper cute cards to show you so please do yourself a favour and go for a peek ... then if you have some wee meeces who'd like to come out and play with ours, why not join in with our challenge?
Am off to try to catch up with my tail ... which I've been chasing all week ... so see you all soon.

Birthday Princess

At the Sugar Bowl this week, there is a sketch to follow and, as always, a fabulous prize is up for grabs for one lucky winner.
My entry uses the Sugar Nellie Manga Princess image, stamped in black onto white card and her hair and skin were coloured with Promarkers.   Her dress and tiara were paper-pieced using pretty My Mind's Eye paper with a subtle floral pattern.  

The petticoat was also paper-pieced but with white card which was sparkled up using Cotton Candy Stickles and the image was then mounted onto blue paper with foam pads for dimension before being cut around with decorative scissors.

The floral backing paper is a 6" x 6" sheet from the same MME pad, adhered to a cream tent fold card blank.   Aqua Stickles were rubbed over the embossed circle which had been cut with wavy-edged scissors to match the lower panel, before I added a rub-on greeting and placed a holographic 3D butterfly to hover daintily over the edge of the image. 

The inside was simply decorated with the leftover strips matted onto card leaving a narrow border. 
Hopefully the Birthday Princess for whom this card is intended will forgive me for neglecting to add any ribbons or bows, which was the Sugar Bowl optional theme, but I kind've ran out of room.

Bah! Humbug! 42

Okay - Hands Up - Who stole the week?  
Sheeesh ... Fridays seem to come around so quickly these days.   But the good thing is that  
Friday = Bah! Humbug! Challenge Day - YAHAY!
This week the team are looking for Presents.   
Now when I say that I don't mean literally ... we don't want you to send us presents ... EEEK! ... How outrageous would that be?   Such bad manners!  Shameless!  Unthinkable!    No, no, NO!   
What I ACTUALLY mean is that we'd like you to follow our theme of Presents on your projects.  YES!  That's what I mean ... well ... I think it is  LOL!
Easel cards have exploded into the crafty community and are now a firm favourite with crafters worldwide because they are so easy to make.  

The cute teddy is a from a Kanban stamp set which I bought at Kitty Krafts when I visited and this is it's first outing.  Isn't he adorable?
He was coloured with Promarkers and then cut out before adding Star Dust Stickles to the furry trim and Black Stickles to his nose.  Click the Pic for a close up.

I'd originally planned to create my trio of gifts from patterned papers but I discovered a stash of square fabric samples which were much more 'touchy-feely' and made a really good alternative.  I added ribbons, bows and a pretty star embellishment before arranging them on some gold mirri card and sitting ted on top.  I then cut around the outline, leaving a narrow border and used foam pads to adhere it to the base card, which had already been decorated with snowflake paper matted onto blue textured card. 

The greeting is another Kanban stamp, which was cut around and mounted onto layers of red mirri card cut with Nestabilities, pink glitter card and blue card cut with deckle edged scissors, all raised up with silicon glue to create the stop strip.
My fellow Humbuggers and Guest Designer Jenny also have some fabulous present projects to show you so pop over and take a peek, before hurrying off to make your own.  Don't forget to come back though and leave us a link so we can come and admire your gift ideas.  
OH and if anyone is feeling particularly generous and should want my address then ..... tee hee hee xxx ... just kidding!

A Fairy Happy Birthday

It's been a while since I showcased any of my recent cards ... partly because I haven't felt up to it following a rather nasty flareup of HS and the inevitable 'dice'n'slice' (yowch!) ... and partly because Mr. Blogger has been a wee bit temperamental and I haven't had the energy or inclination to do battle.  However, I'm feeling better today and have even managed to drive myself to the surgery this morning so things are on the up'n'up.
This card was completed more than a week ago for submission to the Sugar Bowl Challenge 44 - a sketch by Lilian with the optional theme of 'A Birthday Card'.   As you see,  I have done a step card but hopefully you can still recognise the sketch layout.

The image is Sugar Nellie -Woodland Fairy which has been coloured with Promarkers and sparkled up with Diamond Stickles.   The patterned papers are all from DCWV Spring Glitter Stack although to be honest,  they are more like cardstock than paper,  and as a bonus, they're beautifully glittered too.  You may need to click the photos to get a better idea of how sparkly they really are.

I have used some coordinating textured card to mat it onto and a strip was also cut with zig-zag scissors before decorating with pretty non fray ribbon and a prima flower.  The image was cut with Labels Four Nestablilities and then mounted with silicon glue across the ribbon.   The final finishing touch was the addition of some pretty graduated 3D butterflies, one for each level. 
Flutter By Wednesday Challenge 124 are looking for some 'Sparkle and Shine' and as the papers, butterflies and fairy all sparkle with glittery gorgeousness,  I reckon I'm safe there.  Coincidently A Spoonful of Sugar have that as their theme this week too ... and Hazel let me know that  Moving Along With The Times are looking for Fairies or Fantasy ... so it's sparkles all round!
I'll be back later with some more cards which have been patiently waiting for their 5 seconds in the spotlight but I really must go and see what the postie delivered this morning.  Enjoy the rest of your day, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.