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!

Bah! Humbug! 41

Sorry I'm a bit late this week but things have been rather hectic with a horse emergency over the last couple of days.  However ... things have quietened down now, the panic is over and tears have been kissed away,  so on with the show.
For this week's Elegance Challenge at Bah! Humbug! I decided to keep it simple with a black and white colour combination and some embossed stamping.   

The gorgeous silhouette birds are Inkadinkadoo stamps, which I think are beautifully elegant and they work wonderfully when teamed with the fabulous Peace stamp from Clarity Stamps.     

Everything was stamped with black ink and then embossed with holographic powder for a lovely touch of shine.   

A little bit of black card for matting and trios of adhesive gems are all the extra touches that are needed.

 

Further examples of elegance can be found by my teamies and our Guest Designer Jenny at Bah! Humbug! so pop over there and take a looksee.
I am heading off to Dundee now with Naomi for some bowling coaching, so catch you all later.  It's all go y'know!

Bah! Humbug! 40

Hmmmm ... not sure whether it was my fault or Mr. Blogger but my 'scheduled' post was in 'draft' hence it is so late ... apologies for that.  But not to worry - am here now.
The theme at Bah! Humbug! this week had me in a bit of a 'dither' as I very rarely use vellum in my cardmaking.  Not because I don't like it ... and not because I don't have any.  Just because I never quite know what to DO with it.
However, I bit the bullet, dug out some gorgeous foiled vellum and had a wee play which resulted in this vellum tree easel card.

The gold dotty vellum was embossed with the Papermania Swirly Tree and then cut out before being matted onto gold mirri card, which was also cut around leaving a border.  I then added a few amber coloured stars for decoration and set it aside to dry while I made an 8" x 8" easel card blank.   

I had some lovely pearlescent card already picked out which proved perfect for embossing with the Cuttlebug Trees and Snowflakes that I wanted for the decorative strips and it has just a hint of sparkle to catch the light.  Luvverly!

Some luxury gold wire ribbon provides a bow for the top panel and the off cuts of vellum and gold mirri were cut with Nestabilities Stars to fill the space that was not embossed with the trees.   

The final panel was made up using the text vellum matted onto gold mirri and held on with small brads.  I also added some glue where I knew it would be hidden by the tree just to be doubly secure.
So despite my initial reservations, I'm actually quite happy with the final result and would not be embarrassed to send it to someone special this Christmas.
My fellow teamies and our Guest Designer Jenny have also been busy 'pootling' with their vellum, so hop over and see what they've been up to at Bah! Humbug! 
Meanwhile ... I am off to enter my card at  We Are In 2 Crafting ... Are You? because it fits their Christmas themed October Challenge with a recipe of

3 snowflakes (at least) - embossed snowflakes ...  

2 papers - 2 different vellum ...  

1 ribbon - gold wire ribbon

Happy Birthday Dad

It's my dad's birthday today and I decided to make a stepper card for him ... just to be a little bit different from all the other cards dropping through his door.
The majority of the papers were in my K. & Co. drawer and all were matted onto gold mirri card before being added to the seperate panels.   

The lovely foiled paper is from a pack called "Vennaissance" by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and I cut one of the foiled oval figures to mat it up with offcuts from the other papers to create a focal panel, before adding the greeting.  The lovely wide green and gold ribbon was perfect for a nice big bow to decorate the back panel.  

The scalloped border across the front is also K. & Co. from a 12" x 12" pad of double-sided papers and some dark green adhesive pearls add just enough decoration without being OTT.  There are a couple of challenges this week which suit this card so I may as well join in.  Well ... you never know when lady luck is going to knock at the door ... rata..tat..tat.
Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight Challenge - Fancy Folds 
Crazy 4 Challenges 58 - Birthday
Anything Goes Challenge 20 - Ribbons

Bah! Humbug! 39

I missed last week's Bah! Humbug! Challenge as I wasn't feeling too great ... okay I was feeling sorry for myself and a wee bit bleurgh ... but my fellow 'Humbuggers' were very understanding and let me have the week off - thanks ladies mwah xx.
Didn't want to push my luck with them though, so made a little bit of an effort this week for the 'Cutie' Challenge.  (Emphasis on the 'LITTLE')
I have a gazillion different cuties in my stash so was a little spoiled for choice to be honest.  However I opted for these cute Forever Friends characters for 2 reasons.
* They were close at hand - didn't have to go delving 
AND 
* They are stickers - no effort required at all. 
PEEL AND PLACE ... job done!

The red foiled card is from Kanban and already beautifully embossed, so nothing to do there.  It was a left over strip from a previous project but was a smidgen too narrow, so to make it fit a DL card blank, I matted it onto gold mirri.  Clever huh?  The stickers were then popped onto scraps of gold mirri and cut around to give them a wee border before popping them, across the front with silicon glue, varying the height slightly.   

Then I grabbed some Star Dust Stickles and 'sparkled up' the letters, added the sentiment and ... FINALLY came the hard part - waiting for it all to dry!  
I have also 'sparkled up' their furry hat trims since taking these photos so they're even cuter.
Ann, Irene and our Guest Designer Jenny have put far more effort into their gorgeous Cute Creations, so you must visit and drool.  We also named the winner to last week's prize draw so pop over to see if it was you ... but if it wasn't,  don't despair.  We still have one more Monthly Prize to award in November and there may be a couple of random spot prizes making their way to surprise winners before 2010 closes.  There'll also be the winner of our Loyalty Prize Draw to announce in December for those who have managed to complete 30 of our 2010 challenges.  So all still very exciting!

Now I wonder if Mr. Blogger has reduced my followers list to a decent size yet so I can go visiting.   The thumbnails were absolutely humungous this morning (maybe been taking growth hormone?) so I could only see about 4 posts before the page ran out.  NOT good.

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.