Let's Squash It! Challenge #27 - Snowflakes and Stars

Hi everyone, I'm over on the blog at Squash It! today. Hey, we're just one sleep away from the big day, so I'm not sure anyone is cardmaking right now, but if you are here's a little gentle encouragement to join our final challenge of 2022.

For all of December we've been playing Snowflakes and Stars...

For my card, I grabbed a little pinch of inspiration from our lovely GD, Linda's card and created a colour-washed background, which I embossed with Sizzix /Tim Holtz Folder Simple Snowflakes.

I cut three stars of differing sizes and embossed and debossed with pretty EFs from my collection. I then added sentiments from Waffle Flower Labelmaker Holiday Sentiments. This is a great little set and helps you make a heap of sentiment strips very easily.

The Squashiteers will be back in the New Year to announce the winners of this challenge and to say some heartfelt 'thank yous' as we take a pause with this challenge. 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #69 - Reminder

 

It's time for our reminder post over at Christmas Kickstart and the theme for this month is a nice easy one as we play...

For my final card of 2022, I dug out a favourite, fun stamp set from Hobby Art and got colouring.

I made the sentiment on my PC; surely only a cold heart could turn away these three little chaps!

Please don't forget that Rudolph has a rather fab Random Raffle Prize on offer for this challenge.

 

All participants who follow the challenge guidelines will go into Rudolph's draw to win this cute prize, so 'link 'em up and let's see those December makes! 

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #224 - N is for Naughty or Nice

It's time for our longer, festive challenge over at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers as we play N is for Naughty or Nice. As you can see, Edna's got both options covered!

I decided to go with a fab stamp from Stamplorations and a computer generated phrase. 

I loved using this stamp to create the background - the coffee pots are gorgeous, aren't they. 

I was trying for a retro look, but I'm not quite sure my colour palette really works for that, still it was fun doing all that colouring with my Promarkers. 

The Sistahs, and GDT, Sara, have rocked this challenge, so please come and get naughty or nice with us!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #27 - Snowflakes and Stars

 

It's December and we're Squashing it one last time for 2022, and in fact for a little while as Gail and I have decided to 'press pause' on Let's Squash It! due to life outside Blogland getting in the way.  Thanks so much to everyone who has played along and supported this challenge - we've had a blast and we hope you have too.

However, let's still have some December fun and we've got a lovely theme with which to see out the year: Snowflakes and Stars! Poetic, huh! We'd like to see either or both on your cards - the choice is yours.

Here's the card I made for the theme.

I used this lovely EF by Tim Holtz to create a simple background and then added stars and a sentiment. I used water colour card and the texture is lovely.

Gail and I are delighted to be joined by our reining empress and dear stamping buddy, Linda, for this challenge. Head on over to see her gorgeous card!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #69 - If It's Christmassy, Link It Up!

A very happy December to you all... Are you ready for the final Christmas Kickstart Challenge of 2022?

It's that time of year again. All the elves have gone home and it's just Rudolph and me pottering around Kickstart HQ and doing those last minute festive jobs.

This is our final challenge for 2022 and it's our traditional nice and easy, anything goes challenge...

Challenge #69 - If It's Christmassy, Link It Up!

Just link up any Christmas cards you want to. Yes, it's as simple as that! 

Here's what I made for this challenge...

I love this sweet Anita Jerman cat, and had such fun putting this card together. I stencilled a watercoloured background with embossing paste and added a cute sentiment. Do you like the little pom-pom on his hat?

I was on a bit of a roll with festive felines, so I made this card. The image is by Little Claire Designs, which appears to have closed. The sentiment is a fav which appears to have been retired in the MFT store. I think this link takes you to a site where they still have sets available. 

Rudolph is in dah house with his final Random Raffle Prize of the year.

 

So please drop by and join the fun!

Card Chain Challenge November 2022 Reveal

Hi there, it's the November 2022 Reveal over at Card Chain Challenge!

A total of 29 players bring our number of cards exchanged thus far by CCC participants to a rather awesome 3,827. 

 

All the cards exchanged this month used at least one of the following options:

Colour Palette Option

(Exact matching is not required.)

Sketch Option

 

(Orient as desired.)

Theme Options: Scraps / Silhouettes / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Stencils / Doodles

I sent this card to Joanne in California...

I completely LOVED the colour palette and decided to make my own stencils to get the random, balloony shapes I wanted. I stamped in brown using this gorgeous set from Rubber Dance Art Stamps, and then added a cute little die cut.

I received this beautiful card from Tina in Slovenia. Thanks, Tina, I love it!

Why not make 2023 the year that YOU come and join in the fun at Card Chain Challenge. Our sign ups run in advance, from the 7th of the preceding month to the 6th of the exchange month. We'd love you to come and play along!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #223 - Q is for Queen

 

Edna's looking very regal today (and possibly a bit chilly too) as she dons a crown to help the Sisterhood play Q is for Queen!

To be honest, I had a little trouble getting rolling with this theme, but once I spotted a gorgeous Hero Arts background everything clicked.

I inked a piece of water colour card in Distress ink and then spritzed the stamp with water and pressed it onto the card. I left it there for a minute or two so that the water soaked in. The effect looks really good and, surprisingly, there's a lovely texture too. A VLVS image, a Unity Sentiment, a tiny Unity Grab Bag crown and I was done!

I'm delighted that my special blogging buddy Gail is our queen for this challenge. Please come over and see what Queen Gail and the team have created! 

Let's Squash It! Challenge #26 - Let's make a Christmas Card

 

Hi there, I'm over on the Squashy blog today to share a little inspiration for our current challenge! We've gone super-easy this month and would just like to see you use an EF to create a gorgeous Christmas card.

Our guest this month is the lovely Cat from Cat Luvs Paper. 

You can see her beautiful guest creation by clicking here. 

For some reason I decided to de-boss the inky, water-coloured background for my card. I used watercolour card, which takes embossing so beautifully. I wanted to fill the little 'wells' made by the de-bossed Christmas Trees with plenty of ink so there was a good depth of colour. Seems to have worked ok and was a quick and simple make. I used that fabulous 'Noel' die cut again, sent to me by my sweet buddy, Greta. 

Embossing Folder - Darice Trees

The cards in the Squashy Gallery for this theme look fabulous. I really think embossing seems to especially suit cards made for the festive season. You have until the end of November to play along with this challenge and Cat, Gail and I all hope you'll come and join the festive fun! 

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #222 - J is for Juvenile.

Hi there, we're playing J is for Juvenile over at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers!

The team really went to town on this fun challenge and I know you'll love what they've made.

I couldn't resist making this card. I remembered seeing this idea as an illustration somewhere and just knew I wanted to recreate it! 

The cat is from MFT and the whisks are from a cute Jane's Doodles set. I had to do quite a lot of masking for this card - not all of it worked, but I can live with that! 

Please come and join the fun...

Card Chain Challenge Reveal October 2022

It's the second of the month and that means it's time for another CCC Reveal post!

We had 32 participants who exchanged cards across the globe during October, meaning that CCC players have now sent an amazing 3,798 little pieces of fabulous, folded art flying around the world! Isn't that awesome?

 

All the cards exchanged this month used at least one of the following options:

Colour Palette Option

(Exact matching is not required.)

Sketch Option

 

(Orient as desired.)

Theme Options: Fantasy Folk / Mythical Beasts / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Wax / Use a Brush

My recipient for this month was the lovely Hilary in UK. This little card is surprisingly pretty IRL. The sentiment is a real oldie from Simon Says Stamp and the stencil is missing it's label, so I'm of no help to you guys at all when it comes to listing my supplies for this card! 

My sender this month is Linda in Michigan and her beautiful card arrived a couple of days ago. 

You can see the whole gorgeous Reveal by clicking here. 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #68 - Trees, Trees, Trees!

 

This month at Christmas Kickstart I'm delighted to be joined by The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers AKA the best girl gang in the world! And, naturally, mascot Edna is on hand to get the party started for us. Nice hat, Edna.

We have a great theme for you...

#68 - Trees, Trees, Trees!

For the whole of November we'd like to see twigs, branches, logs, a tree, two trees, a wood, a forest or perhaps an indoor scene with a Christmas Tree - the choice is yours!

Here's what I created for the challenge...

I love this little grumpy cat from Stamping Bella and thought he'd pair beautifully with the Dear Santa... Gummiapan stamp. I found the tree in my stash and can only assume it was a gift from a crafting buddy as I know I don't have any tree dies like this one. Thankyou to that kind person!

My second card for this challenge found me stepping out of my comfort zone to use a combo of embossing folder, dies and stamps. The gorgeous 'Noel' die was a gift from the very lovely Greta in Oregon, USA. Thankyou so much, Greta, it's a beautiful die to work with! The frost is Wow embossing powder, but I don't think they have this particular powder in stock anymore.

Rudolph is in dah house with his penultimate Rudolph's Random Raffle of 2022 and anyone who links to the gallery (and follows the rules) has a chance of winning this cute penguin stamp.

 

We all hope that you come on over and join the fun!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #221 - H is for Halloween

 

It's Spooky Season over at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers as we play H is for Halloween. The team had great fun with this challenge, but Edna probably isn't such a fan.

I inked up my favourite Gerder Steiner bat and created a natty batty background for him to fly across. I never tire of this little guy - I think it's his expression that does it!

Wanna see what the sistahs and our fabulous guest star, Fran, have created? Then please fly on over and take a look... 

Cat Lover's Blog Hop 2022

The end of October beckons and this can only mean one thing: Janis's Cat Lovers Hop!

I do not know how Janis pulls this one together each year, but I'm sooooooooo glad she does. Well done, Janis, you are amazing!

I'm in full-on Christmas card mode right now so here's what I made...

Don't you just love this little kitty from Oddball Christmas Pets by Stampingbella! So cute and great fun to colour. The sentiment is from The Ink Road and the embossing folder is an eBay find.

I need very little excuse to re-share this pic of my hubby and the late, great Mr Custard.

These two were such an item and this photo sums up their relationship perfectly. 

I'm going to grab a coffee and take a look at all the fabulous entries over at My Peaceful Garden as I do love a little kitty cardmaking fun!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #25 - Reminder

 

This month we're all about Trees and Leaves at Let's Squash It! and we're delighted to have the very talented Joanne with us as our guest.

For my second card for this challenge I made this...

The gorgeous EF is a Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades folder by Tim Holtz called Acorns. 

The sentiment is from Hero Arts set Zen Messages. This particular set is currently sold out, but there are plenty of other sets in the HA messages series that would look great on this or a similar card.

You still have until the end of the month to play along with this challenge and it would be great to see more cards in the gallery. I think this theme would work well for Halloween and Christmas cards, so why not come and join the fun?

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Reminder post for Challenge #67

It's Reminder time over at Christmas Kickstart and this month we have a fabulous guest and a fabulous theme as we play...

in the company of the lovely Janet from Swanlady - Impressions.

Janet created a gorgeous card to kickstart our challenge, which you can see by clicking here. 

For my inspired by card I hunted through my stash and found a Woodware Poinsettia background to work with. Janet's cards are beautifully CAS and I loved how she had so much white space on each design. I 'borrowed' the black sentiment on a white space and surrounded the central design with the background. The card just didn't look right until I stamped, coloured, fussy cut and added two additional poinsettias to soften the centre of the card. Again, I was inspired to do this because of the dimension Janet had achieved with her cards. 

This is so different to my usual style, but I enjoyed the challenge of working with a stamp set that wouldn't otherwise have seen the light of day. 

There are currently twenty-three amazing cards in the gallery. If you haven't got a poinsettia stamp then any Christmas florals will be just fine and Janet and I look forward to seeing yet more beautiful flowery creations before the challenge closes at the end of the month.