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Hard to believe there's only 4 short months left until Christmas ... in fact, only 119 sleeps until generous jolly Santa makes his annual visit! Hope you've been good this year so that all your Christmas dreams come true!
Our Bah! Humbug! Challenge this week is to use CHARMS and I dug deep into my stash and found a teeny weeny tree charm tucked away in an embellishment box.
That set the theme and was perfect to go with one of the gorgeous black felt trees I recently 'inherited' from my friend Isa ... who's moving to a new flat next month and offered me first dibs on her craft stash! She didn't need to ask twice and I took it all for a bargain basement price.
Some dots of Icicle Stickles make pretty tree decorations and add a wee touch of sparkle. I had some embossed black card and a square of foiled card decorated with swirls and snowflakes left over from another project, so simply married them together. The charm is hung from some sparkly black and silver twine and a silver embellished greeting finishes the front.
Ann and Irene have their own 'charming' projects to show you so pop over to Bah! Humbug! and take a peek!
Coincidently, both Rainbow Lady's Challenge and Creative Card Crew have 'Sparkle and Shine' as their theme this week, so I'm hoping this card has enough of both to qualify.
Hope you all enjoy a Wonderful Weekend ... wherever you are and whatever you are doing xxx
... is the name of this pretty little Sugar Nellie stamp I used for my card. Isn't she sweet?
She was stamped onto linen effect card with black Memento ink and then heat embossed with holographic embossing powder before colouring with Promarkers and adding Stickles for extra sparkle.
The background papers are from a DCWV pad which has been in my stash for a very long time and never lets me down if I'm in a hurry or struggling to decide on colour choices. Sadly there are only a few sheets which remain untouched now, but I really can't complain as it has served me well being one of the very first items I ever bought from QVC - believe it or not, that was several years ago.
Silver mirri card was embossed with snowflakes in the cuttlebug and then cut in half to provide the panels which sit behind the main image and a snowflake border punch helps to decorate the white spaces.
I only own 2 of the Sugar Nellie Christmas range at the moment, but there are 4 new Christmas Mangas due for release very soon and IF Mr. Random Selector thingy is feeling really kind and chooses my entry number, then I could be the lucky winner of all of them AND a set of Spellbinders. Isn't that a fabby prize?
If you fancy having a go yourself then you'll need to be quick and head over to Sugar Bowl Challenge 41 and get your entry in before midnight. YES - Thats midnight tonight!
Just follow Marlene's cool sketch with the optional theme of using 'Something Old or Something New'. My papers definitely qualify as old so perfect for this challenge extra.
Summer holidays are officially over now as the schools started back a couple of days ago. Just a shame that we didn't actually enjoy much sunshine during the 6 1/2 weeks of holidays, although I believe much, much, MUCH nicer weather was enjoyed 'darn sarrf' ... especially 'sarrf' of London!
Anyway just in case you hadn't realised, this means that Christmas is creeping ever closer and will catch you out if you're not careful!
So thank goodness for Bah! Humbug! Challenges because without them my 2010 Christmas Card supply, and that of many other cardmakers, would probably be non-existent. This year I should have a fairly healthy stockpile of special cards ready and waiting to send to some ... if not all ... the special people in my life.
The Bah! Humbug! theme this week is Winter Wonderland and I had hoped to spend a little more time than I actually managed, attempting something mind-blowingly fantastic to wow you with. However ... best laid plans and all that jazz! I'm afraid you'll just have to wait until another time for the 'mind-blowingly fantastic whatever it is that hasn't happened yet' project LOL!
My trusty and reliable Cuttlebug was combined with Spellbinder Nested Pine Trees and a couple of, (oh so popular), embossing folders, and that helped to make this card a little more interesting than it might otherwise have been, although I must confess I lurrrrrrve the linen effect card blank.
Adhesive gems and silver peel off letters for the greeting are the final finishing touch along with a couple of fancy snowflakes popped into the corners.
I'm swithering whether to add Stickles to the white trees - what do you think?
My fellow 'Bah Humbuggers' Ann and Irene have been much more industrious AND ... dare I say adventurous? ... yes I dare! ... so you absolutely MUST pay them a visit. And just in case anyone missed our exciting Bah Humbug Claim to Fame this week, just CLICK HERE
A classic black and white combination was the simple recipe for my Bah! Humbug! Challenge offering this week. It is one of my favourite choices when it comes to quick and easy cards because there's ALWAYS black and white card within easy reach of any crafter.
I stamped these lovely Debbie Moore fanfare angels and Noel text silhouette stamps with black ink onto white linen effect card.
They were heat embossed with black embossing powder and then sprayed with Crafter's Companion Irridescent Sparkle. I really like the sparkle finish but wish I knew how to stop the nozzle clogging up as it's very tiresome having to continually rinse it.
Anyway, while that was drying, I punched 2 strips of snowflakes from sheets of white and black embossed card using the Martha Stewart border punch - part of a recent QVC TSV which was simply too good a bargain to pass up.
A panel of black embossed card was placed to the left of a DL landscape card blank and the white snowflake strip was glued on top vertically using a glue pen, which is pefect for getting to all the fiddly bits. The black snowflake strip was placed horizontally across the middle of the card before adding the stamped image which had been matted onto black card.
Lines were scored horizontally above and below the image up to the edge of the pretty black embossed card for additional detail.
Check out what Ann and Irene have been busy with over at Bah! Humbug! and then have a look to see who the random lucky winner of the stamp set is from last week's draw.
If you own a Christmas Fairy or Angel image that would like to spread it's wings with our challenge, then please don't be shy as we welcome all ages and abilities at Bah! Humbug! This card is eligible for the following challenges so I'm entering them all ... coooooo I must be feeling reckless.
Flutter By Wednesdays 117 - Open Challenge
ABC Christmas - 'Q' for Quick and Easy
Fab'n'Funky 35 - Favourite Colours
Our Creative Corner - Embossable
There was a recent new addition to our family at the beginning of the month when a beautiful 8lb baby girl Maisy was born to our nephew Stuart and his wife Tricia. Welcome to our world Maisy xxx
I wanted to test my new baby stamp from the LOTV Set 3 - Occasions collection as it was a fairly recent purchase and waiting to be inked up. She was coloured with Promarkers and her blankie was highlighted with Diamond Stickles for added sparkle. I then used Labels One Nestabilities to mount the image onto a card decorated with scrapbooking papers.
A few Stickles Cotton Candy dots provide some background interest over some soft pink chalk with simple embellishments of buttons and pink ribbon.
I made an easel card, (which are still holding their popularity in the craft world), and the layout follows LOTV's sketch Challenge 59.
Their young son Oliver now has the very important job of being 'Big Brother' to his wee sister and as such needs recognition, so I have made this card using the really cool Scooter Boy stamp from Sugar Nellie.
He is also coloured using Promarkers and I couldn't resist adding Diamond Stickles to his cool bike.
Selecting Challenge 36 Sketch for the layout design means I am able to enter the Sugar Bowl Do It Yourself Challenge 40.
Inside, some peel offs and stamps provide a greeting when matted onto coloured card and patterned paper.
Both cards and gifts are now winging their way to Aberdeen and we are all looking forward to meeting Maisy for the first time ... hopefully in the not too distant future.
The theme 'Through The Window' this week at Bah! Humbug! has almost driven me to distraction. Entirely my own fault though because I had, what I thought, was a brilliant idea and knew exactly what I would be doing for this challenge. However, because I'd left it until the 11th hour to put my plan into action, when it all went horribly wrong, (as it inevitably does when you're in a rush), I had already run out of time so had to resort to a quick card instead. Consequently, I'm not happy with the result ... BUT on a positive note, I have learned a valuable lesson and hopefully won't be so tardy in future!
Anyway, enough of my mishaps ... here's what I DID eventually do.
I traced around the edge of a Square Nestability die onto the inside front of the base card and then cut along the lines at the top and bottom with a craft knife and metal ruler. I then cut down the centre and folded back the panels to create a window which opens.
Using the Cuttlebug to cut the largest Labels One Nestability from gold mirri card and cutting the same sized window as the base card, from the centre, gave me a frame. After trimming a decorative edge with scissors, the frame was placed over the original opening and glued into place.
Metallic snowflakes, adhesive gems and a holly sticker were used to decorate around the frame and a greeting sticker was matted to gold mirri and added below the window.
When the window is fully opened it reveals a snowy scene and a cute Forever Friends character clutching a bunch of flowers ... ahhhhh how sweet. I couldn't resist adding some Star Dust Stickles to the snowy tree for some sparkle but I'm afraid it isn't showing in the photo.
Ann and Irene have their own lovely ideas to show you for this week's Bah! Humbug! Challenge, so don't forget to check them out and if you need any further encouragement to join in with us, then there's a super stamp set up for grabs this week because it's our 1st challenge of the month. Ooooooooooo you lucky ducks! There's nothing to lose ... so c'mon over and have a go!
Naomi has enjoyed a wonderful 15th birthday today ... with lots of gorgeous cards and gifts, (which means she has a long list of thank you calls to make over the next few days) ... topped off this evening with a super meal at her favourite local eatery, The Wok N Spice. We always get a warm welcome from Jon, Isa and the staff and they made sure our little family group were well fed and watered.
The beautiful birthday cake was a melt-in-the-mouth heavenly chocolate delight. Trust me when I say it was beyond delicious!
Mega-huge thanks must go to Susan Clunie for being an absolute star at the eleventh hour and producing such a fantastic creation ... complete with ultra-cute sugar paste horse, (that Naomi wants to keep as a memento).
We're taking Cally a slice when we go to visit her tomorrow morning as she was released from hospital today following her surgery. Looking forward to seeing her again.
Think I'm going to catch up on some missed tv programmes before having an earlyish night. Sweet dreams all xxx
One of Naomi's young horse riding pals had a nasty fall yesterday morning as they were preparing to go riding. Naomi phoned whilst I was food shopping and when I arrived at the farm 5 minutes later, having abandoned the trolley at Customer Services, it was immediately obvious that she needed to go to hospital.
Unfortunately the news for Cally is not too good as x-rays revealed her arm is badly broken in 2 places and will require surgery. She is to be admitted to hospital today and her parents have said they will keep us updated with any news. Obviously we hope the surgery is successful and wish her a speedy recovery but it will be several months before she will be back in the saddle. Incidently, they were really impressed with how calmly Naomi had dealt with the whole situation today - managing to deal with 2 horses as well as reassure and calm her injured friend without a hint of panic. What a star!
I made a card for Cally using this sweet image and sentiments from LOTV Stamp Set 3- Occasions following Bev's sketch for LOTV Challenge 58.
I coloured with Promarkers and then matted onto several layers of coloured card, leaving a narrow border each time. The beautiful background card with glossy daisies is from DCWV Glitter Stack and my flower embellishments were created from scraps of paper using a daisy punch before being glittered up with Star Dust Stickles. A hint of Star Dust Stickles was also added to the cute image as it looked a bit flat being surrounded by all that sparkle.
For the inside decoration, I punched another daisy from a panel of blue striped card and matted it onto deep pink cardstock. Then I ran some pretty blue non-fray ribbon down the sides before adding another glittery flower with a button centre in the corner and stamping the LOTV sentiment.
We hope to visit Cally when she comes home after her surgery but in the meantime we will be sending special thoughts to her and her anxious parents ... especially for tomorrow.
