Lili of the Valley A Snowy Hug Christmas Card

 

Hi everyone 😊

Just sharing another Christmas Card that I made using a Lili of the Valley Simply Print image called 'A Snowy Hug':

This is also my card for the following Challenge:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #93 - If it's Christmassy, link it up

I love this cute image - it is just sooooo adorable!    I layered the image onto burgundy then black cardstock.  I added some Tombow Mono Aqua Glue to the hats and snow then sprinkled on some Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina Glitter so it looks fluffy AND sparkly.  I diecut a heart from burgundy cardstock using my Big Shot and Memory Box Mini Heart Collection die set.  This die set is old - from 2014 - but is very well loved and used because it has so many different styles and sizes of hearts.  I added some Wink of Stella Clear Glitter brush to the heart because you can't have enough sparkle on a Christmas card 😉

All the designer papers are by My Mind's Eye - Comfort and Joy - from 2016 so long retired.  

The black cardstock on the side panel was punched with a Fiskars Scallop Border punch - then I added the Burgundy Grosgrain Ribbon.   I added some Fray Stop to the cut edges as this ribbon frays terribly.  I glued on a diecut Silver Glitter Cardstock Snowflake then added a Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestone to the centre.  I don't know what die I used because I have a container full of diecut and punched snowflakes.  I always diecut and punch extras so I have plenty on hand for my Christmas cards.  

The side panel was popped up on scraps of black cardstock as was the main panel.

The black cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" and the burgundy to 1/16" using my We R Memory Keepers Perfect Layers Guides.

The sentiment is by Penny Black from their Holiday Snippets set.   I have also had this set for years and it has so many different sizes and styles of sentiments.  Very practical and versatile!   I stamped it using Versafine Onyx Black ink then diecut it using a Lawn Fawn Slide on Over die which was just the perfect size for the sentiment.   Even though this die is technically made for interactive cards, it is very useful for very small sentiments.   I added a Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestone to each side.  

Once I had finished the card front, I glued it to a Uniquely Creative Square Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi glue leaving a 1/16" border.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Holiday Snippets 30-307

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye Comfort and Joy 6" x 6" pad (2016 and retired)

Accessories:  Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina Glitter, We R Memory Keepers Perfect Layers Guides, Burgundy Grosgrain Ribbon, Fray Stop, Tombow Mono Multi and Mono Aqua Glue, Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush, Kaisercraft Silver Rhinestones SB700, Big Shot, Cardstock - Burgundy, White, Black (Anko - KMart), scraps of black for dimension, Uniquely Creative White Card Base

Punches:  Fiskars Scallop Border

Dies:  Memory Box Mini Heart Collection #98763 (2014 and retired), Lawn Fawn Slide-on-Over LF1202, Snowflakes

Lili of the Valley A Snowy Hug Christmas card!

Hi everyone

Just sharing another make from this Christmas season which I gave to my husband:

My husband doesn't mind cute and cuddly critters so it makes it a whole lot easier to make cards for him.

This is also my entry for the following Challenges:

Winter Wonderland - Anything Goes Christmas

Splitcoaststampers - Free for all Friday - F4A407 - Merry December - Happy ??? - Make a card to celebrate your favourite holiday in December.  It could be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day...you decide but make sure you tell them what you are celebrating.  Just for fun (optional, in no way mandatory), add sparkle to your card.  I am (obviously) celebrating Christmas and I have loads of sparkle on my card - even on the plaid designer paper.

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round - December - Anything Goes as long as it is holiday-related

The image is a Lili of the Valley Simply Print image called "A Snowy Hug" which you can find at this link HERE.   I bought a bunch of their Simply Print images a little while ago and they print beautifully with no pixelation even on the largest size - plus I love that the images come in several sizes to suit your needs. Note that I have no connection to the company - just happy to tell you my experience of how well the images print.   I printed the penguins onto smooth white cardstock with my Canon Pixma MG2965 wireless printer.  This is my first wireless printer and boy, it is so nice to not have to fiddle with cords + I can print from my mobile phone just by using the Canon App.  Printers sure have come a long way in recent years and mine is so much faster than my old one.  Anyway, I am digressing.....back to my card......

I diecut the image using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Square dies.  All the designer papers are by My Mind's Eye - Comfort and Joy from 2016.  I really love how the dotted paper matches the image so well and echoes the snow on the main panel.

The black dotted paper on the side panel was punched using a Fiskars Threading Water border punch which I love to use for masculine cards.  I tied on the ribbon, add Fray Stop to the cut ends then popped the panel up on dimensionals.  I used a Kaisercraft Mini Snowflakes die set to diecut the white star from white glitter cardstock then glued the star onto the knot using Fabric Glue.  Note that this die set comes with a bunch of different sized and shaped snowflakes plus stars.  This has been my go-to set for snowflakes and stars this Christmas season and I can't recommend it enough!

Here is a close-up of that sweet image where hopefully you see the fluffiness and sparkle:

The sentiment is by Penny Black from their Holiday Snippets set which has tons of small sentiments that are perfect for adding to a card when you don't have much room for one.  I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black and diecut it using a Lawn Fawn Slide-on-over die which was the perfect size.  I added a Couture Creations burgundy gemstone either side of the sentiment then glued it down using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

All the layers were trimmed to a 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.

I glued the card front down to a white card base using Tombow Mono Multi glue which gave me a little bit of wriggle-time to get perfect placement with just a small white border showing.

Lastly, I added some Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with a little bit of white glitter to the penguin's hats and the snow on the ground using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  I usually squirt a bit of the glue onto a scrap piece of cardstock then use an old small round paintbrush to spread it exactly where I want it.

I thought about adding some diecut snowflakes around the image but decided to leave things as they were so the card didn't look too fussy for a guy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Holiday Snippets 30-307 clear set

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye Comfort and Joy 6" x 6" pad (2016)

Accessories:  Lili of the Valley (UK) Simple Print image 'A Snowy Hug', printer, Big Shot, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock, fine white glitter, burgundy grosgrain ribbon, Fray Stop, Perfect Layers Tools, Tombow Mono Multi + Mono Aqua glue, Fabric glue, dimensionals, Couture Creations self-adhesive burgundy rhinestones, cardstock: smooth white, white card base, white glitter

Dies;  Lifestyle Nesting Squares, Lawn Fawn Slide-on-over LF1202, Kaisercraft Mini Snowflakes set DD446

Punches:  Fiskars Threading Water border

Lili of the Valley James Bear in the Snow Christmas Card

Hi everyone

Just stopping in to share a Christmas card that I made for my daughter which I started on the 23rd and finished Christmas Eve morning:

This is also my card for the following Challenges:

Winter Wonderland - Anything Goes Christmas

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - December - Always Anything Goes and you may enter any creation on which patterned paper/card has been used.  The idea of the challenge is to use up any of those papers we have been "collecting".  My designer papers are from 2011 so I think that I am....ahem... 'well-qualified' for the challenge!

Splitcoaststampers - Free for all Friday - F4A407 - Merry December - Happy ??? - Make a card to celebrate your favorite holiday in December. It could be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day...you decide but make sure you tell them what you are celebrating.  Just for fun (optional, in no way mandatory), add sparkle to your card.  I am (obviously) celebrating Christmas and I have loads of sparkle on my card.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use it - WT667 - Colouring is a perfect way to relax and get rid of all that stress, so take out your favorite colouring mediums....markers, coloured pencils, watercolours, chalks...anything you can use to color.  To make this a little more challenging, you must use at least two different colouring mediums on your card or project.  I used watercolour pencils, Tombow pens and chalks.

The image is by Lili of the Valley (UK) and is called 'James Bear in the Snow' which I bought as an unmounted rubber stamp quite some years ago.  Although you can't get the rubber stamp any longer, you can purchase it from LOTV as a digi image or a pre-coloured printable image.

I stamped the image with Ranger Archival Potting Soil ink and coloured it with a mix of Faber-Castell + Lyra watercolour pencils and Tombow pens.  I paper-pieced the scarf and hat using Bo Bunny Snowfall designer paper from their 6" x 6" pad and added a small amount of shading using a grey Tombow pen.  After fussy-cutting the scarf and hat, I went around the edges with a Pitt Artist Walnut Brown pen to hide any imperfections in my cutting.  I lightly coloured around the image using Kaisercraft blue chalk. The image and teal circle layers were diecut using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies.

The designer paper on the card base is also from the Bo Bunny Snowfall collection and is a 12" x 12" sheet called Blizzard.  This collection is from 2011 and is therefore long-retired yet it still remains one of my most favourite all-time releases.  The touches of glitter are so gorgeous!  The teal cardstock on the card base was trimmed to a 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.  I glued the finished card to a white card base using Tombow Mono Multi glue which gave me enough wriggle-time to get the card exactly where I wanted leaving a very small white border.

The sentiment is from Penny Black from their Holiday Snippets set which has tons of very small sentiments that are easy to add to a card when you don't have alot of room for one. It was stamped using Versamagic Ocean Depth chalk ink and diecut using a Lawn Fawn Slide-on-Over die for the sentiment as it was the perfect size.  I added a blue Couture Creations gemstone either side of the sentiment.

The snowflakes were diecut from white glitter cardstock using a Kaisercraft Mini Snowflakes die set which has 8 different-sized snowflakes and two different-sized 8-pointed stars.  I added a blue Couture Creations gemstone to the snowflake centres.  I glued just the centres of the snowflakes down using Tombow Mono Multi glue and bent the arms up a little to give the snowflakes some dimension.

I tied on a teal organza ribbon from my stash, added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying then added a diecut star using teal glitter cardstock from the Kaisercraft Mini Snowflakes die/star set and glued it on using Fabric Glue.

I glued some Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with a little bit of white glitter to the teddy bear's hat plus the snow on the ground using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  The falling snow around the bear is Nuvo Glitter drops in White Blizzard which gave the snow a lovely sparkle and added a bit of dimension.

Here is a close-up of the sweet little teddy bear:

Lastly, I used a Pitt Artist Walnut Brown pen to go over the eyes and nose to darken them up a little then used a white gel pen to add some highlights.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lili of the Valley - James Bear in the Snow unmounted rubber (retired*) - *available as a digi image or precoloured printable image from LOTV.  Sentiment from Penny Black - Holiday Snippets 30-307 clear set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Potting Soil, Versamagic Ocean Depth chalk

Designer Paper:  Bo Bunny Snowfall 12" x 12" Blizzard + 6" x 6" paper pad (retired)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Faber-Castell + Lyra watercolour pencils, Tombow pens, Kaisercraft blue chalk, Tombow Mono Multi + Aqua glue, Fabric Glue, Perfect Layers Tools, teal organza ribbon (stash), Fray Stop, Couture Creations self-adhesive gemstones, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with white glitter, Nuvo Glitter Drops - White Blizzard, Pitt Artist pen - Walnut Brown, Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen, cardstock:  teal, white card base, teal glitter, white glitter

Dies:  Kaisercraft Mini Snowflakes DD446, Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Lawn Fawn Slide-on-over LF1202

The More the Merrier Shaker card

Hi blogging friends

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.  We had Christmas Day at home for the first time in the 25 years that we have been married - which was absolutely wonderful!  We had my Mum, my brother plus his wife and their daughter over for lunch and it was such a lovely and relaxing day.  Boxing Day we always stay at home and just relax and play with our new toys.  You won't find me at the Boxing Day Sales - the last thing I want to do is drive to somewhere crowded, fight for a parking spot and go shopping - I just don't understand all the hype about it as the shops have sales throughout the year anyway!  Each to his own I suppose.......

Today I am sharing the Christmas card that I made for my 11 yo DD which I couldn't share here on my blog until it had been opened on Christmas Day:

I haven't made a Shaker card for ages but as I have seen alot of them around Blog-land recently, I thought I would make one as they are really fun.  I used a Large Round Shaker Card Pouch which comes in a pack of 10 by Impression Obsession.  You can get many different sizes and shapes of pouches but I only have the circles.  They are really cool because you just peel off the adhesive and stick it down - although I did actually add some Stampin' Up Fuse Fast adhesive which is super-strong as I was a little afraid the adhesive on the pouch wasn't really strong enough. The shadow at the top part of the pouch from taking the photo out in the sun looks a little odd but if you look at the IO website, you will get a better idea of what the pouch looks like.

The main image is from the Stampin' Up set - The More the Merrier - which I bought second-hand on EBay a few months ago as it is retired.  I fell in love with this image when I saw a card on Splitcoastampers made with these snowmen.  If you are a regular reader of my blog you will already know that I am crazy for any stamps that have a snowman on it!  It must be genetic because my DD is nuts for snowmen too!

I stamped the image onto Ranger Watercolour cardstock and coloured it with a variety of mediums:  Tombow pens plus Lyra and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils using a paintbrush.   I stamped a couple of snowflakes from the Stampendous set - Winter Warm above the snowmen using Soft Sky ink then chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky.  I had meant to add glitter to the snowmen's hats and scarves but only remembered about 5 seconds after I attached the pouch to the image.....oops.....sigh...... :-( 

I added Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter to the ground for the snow and to the cuffs and pom-poms on the Snowmen's hats using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  You can see a bit more detail in this close-up:

I added sequins, stars, glitter and gemstones from my stash in various colours for the Shaker contents and then diecut the burgundy and blue cardstock circles and attached them over the top of the Shaker pouch using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

The designer paper, twine, tag and large brad are from My Mind's Eye - Winter Wonderland which has been a favourite of mine this Christmas season.  The blue and burgundy cardstock layers on the card base were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.  I then popped this up on thick doublesided tape on my white cardstock base. 

The next card I am sharing is the amazing Christmas card that my 11 yo daughter made for me:

My daughter and I had a good laugh when we opened our cards because we both used the same image AND made a Shaker card!  This was my DD's first-ever Shaker card too.  Such a funny coincidence!  And this is the handmade felt snowman that my daughter gave me:

SQUEE!  Isn't my snowman just soooo adorable??!!  My DD didn't use a pattern and designed it all herself and it stands about 15cm - 6 inches high.  Oh my gosh, I ♥love♥ it so much!

And now here are some gorgeous handmade cards that we have received this Christmas season:

From my Stampin' Up Demonstrator

From my beautiful friend Y who first introduced me to cardmaking

From my SCS friend Sabrina in Ireland

From my blogging friend Shaz

An Easel card from our dearest friend C

In an era where alot of people use Social Media to send their Christmas greetings, we feel very blessed to receive such beautiful handmade cards in the mail.  

Lastly, as I haven't shared photos of Ruby for a while, I thought I would post some photos of her playing around her little carpeted scratching post and tunnel:

Of course, having the sun come through the window makes you sleepy so once Ruby had a bit of play, it was time to catch up on some zzzzzzzzzs!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up The More the Merrier (retired), Stampendous Winter Warm SSC262 clear set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, Stampin' Up Soft Sky dye

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles and Nesting Scalloped Circles

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland (2012) 6" x 6" pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, twine + tag + brad - MME Winter Wonderland set, Fray Stop, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Tombow Mono Multi + Mono Aqua glue, SU Fuse Fast adhesive, X-Press it thick doublesided tape, Impression Obsession Large Round Shaker Pouch SHP02, Kaisercraft blue chalk, #2 round paintbrush, Faber-Castell + Lyra watercolour pencils, Tombow Pens, Perfect Layers Tools, assorted sequins + gems, Ranger Distress Watercolour cardstock, other cardstock - burgundy, blue, white

Stampendous Snow Bears on Ice Circle card

Hi blogging friends 

Today I am sharing a Christmas card which I made for my dearest friend C who lives on the other side of Australia.  C is the kindest and most generous friend you could ever know - and has been an amazing support to our family since our loved one was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness in February 2012.  C is also a very talented cardmaker so I love our long chats on the phone about cardmaking.  Now that C has the card in her hot little hands, I can share it here:

The main image is by Stampendous - Snow Bears on Ice - which I have had forever and as far as I know, is retired - and was stamped using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto Ranger Distress watercolour cardstock and coloured with a variety of mediums:  Tombow pens, Ranger Distress Markers and Faber-Castell watercolour pencils.  I used a tiny round 5/0 paintbrush to dot white acrylic paint on the scarves.  I coloured around the image with blue chalk.

I went over the red hats using a Wink of Stella red glitter pen and added Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue underneath the skates.  I also added Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina glitter to the cuff and pom-pom on the hat using Tombow Mono Aqua glue.  

Here is a close-up:

It is a bit hard to see the sparkle as the weather was very dreary on the day I took the photo.  An hour later, the card was in the post so I didn't have much choice!
 
The snowflakes are by My Favorite Things from their Snowflakes Trio die set.  I glued down just the centres and bent the snowflake arms (is that what they are called??) up a little to give them some dimension against the white cardstock, then added red rhinestones to the centres.

The sentiment is from Elzybells (who are no longer in business) and I added a green rhinestone to each end. 

The white cardstock base was originally a square pre-folded card and was diecut using a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die but I moved the die up a little so that I still had a small fold at the top.  I dry-embossed the circle cardstock base using my Big Shot and Cart-Us Snowflakes embossing folder, then all I had to do was layer the main image panel on.  All the circle/scalloped circle diecuts are from the Lifestyle Nesting Circle/Scalloped Circles sets.  I really love these sets because you get oodles of dies in them - from tiny circles to really large circles that are big enough to make a circle card:  great value in my opinion.  

I really should make more circle cards - they are a fun change from the regular square or rectangular cards.

Lastly, I used my Bow Easy to tie a double-bow out of my Doodlebug twine and glued it on using Glossy Accents.  I put some weight on it whilst it dried to hold it firmly.  As always, I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.

Challenges:

I am popping my card into the following Challenge - 

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - December - Anything Goes

This will be my last post before Christmas.  I have one more Christmas card to share but as that person won't be opening it until Christmas Day, I can't share yet - plus they read my blog so sharing it beforehand would spoil the surprise. 

Merry Christmas and a happy 2015 to you all - and thanks so much for your support, comments and emails throughout this year.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Snow Bears on Ice D144 wood-mount (retired), sentiment from Elzybells Mini Messages 20-054 clear set (retired)

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles and Nesting Scalloped Circles, My Favorite Things Die-namics Snowflakes Trio

Accessories:  Big Shot, Tombow pens, Ranger Distress Markers, Faber-Castell watercolour pencils, #2 and 5/0 round paintbrush, Stampin' Up Dazzling Details glitter glue, Wink of Stella red glitter pen, JoSonja white acrylic paint, Stampendous Cotton White Fun flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Tombow Mono Aqua and Mono Multi glue, Kaisercraft blue chalk, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Doodlebug Ladybug twine, green and red rhinestones from stash, Ranger Distress watercolour cardstock, other cardstock - white, green, red

More Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins

Hi blogging friends

I am still playing with my Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin stamp and die set and thought I would make another Christmas card - this time for my husband.  I am so lucky that my husband doesn't mind cute images - he is such a great encourager for my cardmaking and I feel so blessed :-)  This card is also my entry for the Crafty Catz Challenge #256 of Winter.

If you missed my last post using this stamp/die set, you can see it HERE.  I decided to go with the same layout, twine, papers and dies to make the whole process quicker and will probably make a few more cards in similar fashion - although I always make a few little changes to make the cards a bit different.  You know, I hadn't even thought about the fact that there are no penguins in the Arctic until my blogging friend Jackie pointed it out!  Maybe the set should be renamed "Antarctic Penguins" instead!

I love how this stamp set has lots of little images (as well as lots of penguins in different poses) and the matching dies saves alot of time fussy-cutting.

To do the background, I used a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die to diecut the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland snowflake designer paper and Ranger watercolour cardstock - then used one of my WPlus9 Landscape border dies (which comes in a set of 3) to cut the designer paper where I wanted the edge of the horizon to be then adhered the designer paper to the watercolour cardstock circle.  I scribbled Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Markers on an acrylic block, added some water and painted the watercolour paper to look like the sea.

I stamped all the images using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto watercolour cardstock and coloured them with various Distress Markers and Tombow Pens, then diecut each piece.  

I used a Red Wink of Stella glitter pen on the red Santa hat, skates and berries on the mistletoe and Clear Wink of Stella on the floating pieces of ice, leaves on the mistletoe and the green hat.  I added Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina glitter to the pompom and cuff of both hats.  I also added white dots to the green hat with a white gel pen and Glossy Accents to the nose on each penguin.  I lightly chalked in the cheeks using pink I-Kandee Pearlescent chalk.  Here is a little close-up so you can see the detail:

The floating pieces of ice were glued on using Tombow Mono Multi glue and the penguins and mistletoe were popped up on dimensionals.

The scalloped circle main image panel is a gorgeous die by Spellbinders from their Majestic Circles die set.  

The snowflakes are dies from the Poppystamps Christmas Baubles die set.  I glued down the centres then bent the arms up a little and added red and teal Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel dots to the centres.  You probably can't tell from the photo but these enamel dots are very glittery and are absolutely gorgeous!  

I was so annoyed with myself because I had coloured the hats and added the Fun Flock and put them aside to dry.  I had already attached the penguins and decided to glue on the diecut snowflakes totally forgetting about the hats.  When I went to glue on the Santa hat, I realised that it was covering part of the snowflake so tried to remove the snowflake but of course, it was stuck fast.  If I had my time over, I would have moved the snowflake down a little so it wasn't partly hidden - oh well - just one of those little irritating things...... Here is an even closer view of the main image:

A few months ago, I decided to upgrade my Digital Camera and it takes fantastic close-up photos.  It's a Nikon Coolpix L320 and takes 16.1 megapixel photos.  My husband had bought a second-hand Nikon Coolpix L310 which was the previous model to this one so I tried it out and was really impressed with how easy it was to use and the quality of the photographs was much better compared to my old camera.  So I bought the latest model and really love it and it didn't cost an arm and a leg which was great.  I have found that I don't have to fiddle as much with my photo editing programs to get the colours true to real life compared to my old camera - and most of the time, I don't need to do very much at all.  With my old camera, I would often spend quite a bit of time editing and but sometimes, no matter how much I fiddled, I couldn't get my photo to look like my card did in real-life which would frustrate me no end!  By the way, I use a mix of Google Picasa and GIMP for photo editing - both free programs.  I am no expert on cameras and I am sure there are more amazing ones around but thought I would share my experience in case it is helpful to someone.  Anyway, I am digressing.......back to my card......

The twine and designer paper on the card base are by My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland which was released in 2012.  The sentiment was also trimmed from one of the designer paper sheets; I layered it onto teal cardstock and trimmed it to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools then popped it up on dimensionals.  

The teal cardstock base and burgundy cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.

As always, I added Fray stop to the cut ends of the twine to stop them from fraying and unravelling.

As I type this, I am at the hospital in the City with my loved one waiting for an appointment - just routine.  We have just been to one appointment but there is a 3 hour gap between appointments so we are hanging around.  We are coming back in again tomorrow for another 2 appointments - again just routine - and then another one early next week - but fingers-crossed, that will be the last of the hospital appointments in the City for the year.  I am using the hospital computer and the colours look super-bright compared to my home laptop - in fact, my card colours look too bright and the sea looks like there are brown patches in amongst the teal!  Gee, I hope it doesn't look like that for all of my blog readers and that it is just this computer (?!). Thanks for visiting my blog today - hope to see you again very soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye (MME) Winter Wonderland (2012) 6" x 6" pad

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Spellbinders Majestic Circles, Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins, Poppystamps Christmas Baubles (snowflakes), WPlus9 Landscape Borders die set

Accessories:  Big Shot, Ranger Watercolour cardstock, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape, Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel Dots (by Helz Cuppleditch), Twine from MME Winter Wonderland twine set WW1068, Perfect Layers Tools, Glossy Accents, Distress Markers - Evergreen Bough + Peacock Feathers + Festive Berries, Tombow Pens, #2 round paintbrush, Cardstock - burgundy and teal, Wink of Stella glitter pens - red and clear, I-Kandee Pearlescent chalk, Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen

Mama Elephant Arctic Penguin Christmas card

Hi blogging friends  

When Mama Elephant released their Arctic Penguin stamp set recently, I couldn't help myself and just HAD to get the set - those little penguins had captured my heart!  I love how the set has alot of penguins in different poses PLUS it has tons of little extras like the Santa hat, winter hat, present, cup, mistletoe, 2 sizes of floating ice and a few other little images.  Cute, cute, CUTE LOL!  I also bought the matching die set which makes putting together a little scene nice and quick.  And here is my card:

To do the background, I used a Lifestyle Nesting Circle die to diecut the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland snowflake designer paper and Ranger watercolour cardstock - then used one of my WPlus9 Landscape border dies (which comes in a set of 3) to cut the designer paper where I wanted the edge of the horizon to be then adhered the designer paper to the watercolour cardstock circle (I hope that makes sense!).  I scribbled Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Markers on an acrylic block, added some water and painted the watercolour paper to look like the sea.

I stamped all the images using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto watercolour cardstock and coloured them with various Distress Markers and Tombow Pens, then diecut each piece.  

I used a Red Wink of Stella glitter pen on the Santa hat, skates and top of the present and Clear Wink of Stella on the floating ice and green part of the present.  I added Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with Crystalina glitter to the pompom and cuff of the hat.  I added Glossy Accents to the penguin's nose.  Here is a little close-up so you can see the detail a bit better - the photo is a little dull as it is very stormy here today and I had try and take photos inbetween squalls:

The floating ice was glued on using Tombow Mono Multi glue and the penguin and present were popped up on dimensionals.

The scalloped circle main image panel is a gorgeous die by Spellbinders from their Majestic Circles die set.  

The snowflakes are dies from the Poppystamps Christmas Baubles die set.  I glued down the centres then bent the arms up a little and added red and teal Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel dots to the centres which I bought 2 weeks ago at Scrappy Hollow in Croydon, Victoria.  You probably can't tell from the photo but these enamel dots are very glittery and are absolutely gorgeous!  There are quite a few colours and sizes in the set which makes it good value for money.

The twine, chipboard sentiment and large brad plus the designer paper on the card base are all by My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland which was released in 2012.  Here is a close-up of that gorgeous brad:

Gosh, I love the colours in the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland set - right up my alley and so perfect for cool, winter/Christmas scenes.  Yes, I know it is summer at Christmas where I live but I am just crazy for snowmen, snowflakes and snowy scenes.  I have never felt very attracted to images of Santa on a surfboard or Santa wearing shorts for Christmas cards - they just don't appeal to me - and I am blissfully singing "Winter Wonderland" or "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" no matter how hot it is!  I just bought some more of this MME range online from Scrap Therapy in Queensland, Australia as I was getting a bit low - they have great customer service - prompt and the goods are really well-packaged for the postal service (I have no connection to the company other than being a regular customer).  

The teal card base and burgundy cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" and 1/16" respectively using my Perfect Layers Tools.

As always, I added Fray stop to the cut ends of the twine to stop them from fraying and unravelling.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following Challenges:

Splitcoaststampers - Free for All Friday F4A248 - Grab and Go - grab the most recent thing you have purchased and haven't used and use it.

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - November - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer Paper:  My Mind's Eye (MME) Winter Wonderland (2012) 6" x 6" pad

Dies:  Lifestyle Nesting Circles, Spellbinders Majestic Circles, Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins, Poppystamps Christmas Baubles (snowflakes), WPlus9 Landscape Borders die set

Accessories:  Big Shot, Ranger Watercolour cardstock, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape, Fun Fair Glitter Colours Adhesive Enamel Dots (by Helz Cuppleditch), Brad from MME Winter Wonderland Decorative Brads set WW1063, Chipboard sentiment from MME Winter Wonderland Decorative Buttons set WW1064, Twine from MME Winter Wonderland twine set WW1068, Perfect Layers Tools, Glossy Accents, Distress Markers - Evergreen Bough + Peacock Feathers + Festive Berries, Tombow Pens, #2 round paintbrush, Cardstock - burgundy and teal, Wink of Stella glitter pens - red and clear

LOTV James Little Star Teddy Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Today I am sharing the Christmas card that I gave to my daughter.  On the 23rd December, I had the image coloured but my mind went blank when I was trying to think of a layout for it!  It all finally came together on Christmas Eve and I finished it at 3pm - whew!   I am also sharing the beautiful Christmas card and tag that my daughter gave to me which you will find towards the end of my post.

The main image is by Lili of the Valley - James - Little Star - and was stamped onto watercolour paper using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and coloured with Tombow pens and watercolour pencils.  I adore the LOTV teddy bears - they are so cute!!   I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky and brown/green chalk for the ground.  I added some Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter to the teddy's hat using Designer Dries Clear adhesive.

I added Kindyglitz Crystlina glitter glue to the edges of the yellow star to make it sparkle a little.  Here is a wee close-up so you can see the fluffy glitter on his hat and the sparkliness on the star:

The designer paper is an older one from 2010 by Kaisercraft - Be Merry.  I love dotty paper and found a whole pile of this particular one in a stock clearance box last year. 

The red and green cardstock layers were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.  The large star was diecut using a Joy! Crafts Christmas Stars die and the smaller stars were punched using a Carl CP-2 Star punch.  All the stars are up on dimensionals.  I punched the white cardstock base bottom with an EK Success Scalloped Scallops edge punch.

Lastly, I tied on the Christmas Candy - Trendy Twine and added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Splitcoaststampers - December Fan Club Challenge - Time to Decorate
Note:  you have to be a (paid) Fan Club Member to play this challenge

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #156 - Last minute cards or any not shown already 

Craftyhazelnuts's Christmas Challenge Extra - which is Anything Goes every month

*******************************

And now here is the card and tag my daughter gave to me:

Aren't they gorgeous?!!  My daughter used the Kaisercraft Santa's List range which I really love - such pretty colours.

On my next post, I will be sharing the Christmas card that I gave to my husband.  Thanks for stopping by to have a peek at my blog!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lili of the Valley (UK) James - Little Star ST082

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black

Designer paper:  Kaisercraft Be Merry 12" x 12" (from 2010), red glitter cardstock, green glitter cardstock

Accessories:  Tombow Pens, Faber-Castell + Lyra + Albrecht-Durer watercolour pencils, paintbrush, dimensionals, Joy! Crafts Christmas Star die, Big Shot, Lifestyle Nesting Circle + Nesting Scallop Circle dies, Perfect Layers Tools, Designer Dries Clear adhesive, Trendy Twine - Candy Cane (red, green and white), Kaisercraft chalks, Stampendous Cotton White fun flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, cardstock:  green, red, Paper Mill white

Punches:  EK Success Scalloped Scallops edge, Carl CP-2 Star

Penny Black After You Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

And a special welcome to my newest follower on BlogLovin'!  Thank you for taking an interest in my craft.  

Today I am sharing another Penny Black Christmas card.  Yes, I do freely admit that I am a little obsessed with the Margaret Sherry Penny Black animals - I still love them as much today as when I first saw them about 10 years ago.  And I don't think that they go out of style - they are timeless in my humble opinion.  I picked up this particular stamp - After you - at the last Craft Show that I went to in October.  
Now that my wonderful friend C (hi C - ) has the card in her hot little hands, I can share it here on my blog:
 

I stamped the image with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto watercolour paper and coloured it with a variety of mediums:  Tombow pens plus several brands of watercolour pencils.  I chalked around the image with blue chalk for the sky and added Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine glitter for the snow.  I added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the envelopes that the hedgehogs are holding.

The designer paper is by Kaisercraft - Santa's List which was released a few months back.  This is the first year that I have barely bought any Christmas papers as I have been "shopping my stash of papers" this year which was my 2013 Resolution.  Mind you, I do have plenty of Christmas papers in my stash already and I am not likely to run out any day soon so it's not like I need any LOL! 

I used my Perfect Layers Tools to trim the borders:  1/8" for the base and 1/16" for the layers.

The sentiment panel was diecut using my Big Shot and one of my Spellbinder Tags Trio dies.  I inked around the panel with Tea Leaves chalk ink.

The snowflake was diecut from white glitter cardstock and I only glued the centre down and bent up the points a little to give it some dimension.

The red and white twine I originally bought (several years ago now) from Sharon Johnson's online store (in the USA) and it is still available.  It is called Holiday Twisted Rope and comes in 2 colourways:  red/green and red/white - and you can find it HERE.  I have never seen it anywhere else - but if you do find it at a store in Australia, could you let me know?  I will say that although I love this rope and it is beautiful and soft, it does unravel easily and fray really badly and you must knot it at the end before you trim it as I have done on my card or you will WISH that you had (don't ask me how I know!).  It is also quite bulky on a layered card so it makes your card quite thick.

****************************

On a personal note, school finishes for the year for my 10 year old daughter today which is fantastic and now we have about 5 weeks break.  YAY!  We aren't going away on holidays so I will still be blogging inbetween a few hospital appointments for my loved one.  Birthdays in my extended family start from the 4th of January so I'll have to put away my Christmas hat very soon and put on my Birthday hat instead or the cards won't arrive until after their birthday!

I do still have some Christmas cards that I am just putting the finishing touches on to share on my blog - and some I can't share till they are opened on Christmas Day because the recipients read my blog - so I will share them post-Christmas (hope that's OK?). 

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black After You 4093K wood-mount, Sentiment Penny Black from Christmas Friends 30-084 clear set

Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black ink, Versamagic Tea Leaves chalk

Designer paper:  Kaisercraft Santa's List 6-1/2" x 6-1/2" pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Crafter's Companion Embossalicious Holly embossing folder, Spellbinders Tags Trio die set, Snowflake - Impression Obsession DIE100-F, 140lb watercolour paper, Tombow Pens, Faber-Castell + Albrecht Durer + Lyra watercolour pencils, paintbrush, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Tombow Mono Multi glue, Kaisercraft blue chalk, Kaisercraft rhinestones SB711 red + SB709 mint green, dimensionals, Perfect Layers Tools, red/white holiday twisted rope, cardstock - red, green, white, white glitter