September Rudolph Day

It's hard to believe this is the ninth Rudolph Day of the year!  My card uses a lovely cross stitch from one of my upcycled Christmas cards a friend sent me last year.  I'm also entering this card into the current challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown which is 'Real Stitching' and I'm popping across to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop with my snippets.

Card blank: 5" x 5" dark red hammer
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large and Classic Scalloped Circles Large
Punch: Woodware squared corner
Embossing: Kars tan embossing mat
Other: Upcycled cross stitch Christmas card
Snippets: Dark red hammer card, gold swirl paper

I trimmed a piece of gold swirl paper slightly smaller than the card blank, punched the corners and attached it to the card.  I made a frame with the circle and scalloped circle dies and attached this to the cross stitched candle.   I then attached the topper to the card with foam tape - simple!

Kath x

Butterflies and Knots

A big 'thank you' to Mrs A for inviting me to be her Guest Designer again on the Butterfly Challenge.  I chose the letter K (for Kath) which Mrs A says is 'K for Knot'.  I took the inspiration for this card from Becky's New Year's Resolution - her scrap cards are fabulous and a great way of using snippets too!

Card blank: 7" x 7" white silk 
Die: Memory Box 'Pippi Butterfly'
Punch: Woodware Super Duper Square punch
Card: Black matt
Paper: BoBunny Isabella paper stack (magazine freebie)
Other: Pink and grey ribbon, Sakura Micron pen

I punched nine squares from various papers from the BoBunny paper pack and drew two squiggly lines around the edge of each square with the Sakura pen.  I attached a piece of ribbon around the two plain squares and knotted a smaller piece of ribbon around each one.   I attached the squares to the black card using Collall All Purpose glue, as this allowed me to move the squares to make a close fit, and then attached this square to the card front.  I backed two small pieces of paper with white card (to give it some strength) before die-cutting two butterflies and attaching them to the card.

Mrs A has set a great challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's cards over the next two weeks!

Kath x

Fashion Girl

The current Cuttlebug Mania challenge is 'Wheels'.  I don't have any suitable stamps or dies, but I found this pre-coloured topper which had been a freebie with Making Cards magazine and thought it would be perfect for my card.    I'm also entering the Seize the Birthday 'Anything Goes' challenge and I'm popping across to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop as I've used snippets on my card.

Card blank: 7" x 7" white silk
Image: 'Fashion Girl' pre-coloured topper from Making Cards (magazine freebie)
Stamp: Hot off the Press
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities A2 Matting Basics B and Spellbinders Borderabilities A2 Curved Borders One
Embossing: Kars tan embossing mat
Ink: Memento Gray Flannel
Paper: Lili of the Valley NitWits 'Perfect Pair' (magazine freebie)
Snippets: Dark grey mirri card, pink glittered paper

I covered the card front with the white heart paper and then used the plain die from the Borderabilities set to die-cut the edge of the green paper.   As the die didn't cut the paper as wide as I needed, I used a craft knife to follow the line of the border and then attached this to the card front.  I used the plain and scalloped Borderabilities dies to cut a snippet of pink glittered paper - again this wasn't as wide as I needed so I cut it in the middle as the topper would cover the gap - this was then attached to the card covering the join between the two papers.

I used the Matting Basics dies for both the topper and the sentiment.  I die-cut and embossed the topper and grey mirri card, the topper was layered onto the mirri before being attached to the card front.   I stamped the sentiment onto a corner of the topper sheet of paper before die-cutting and embossing it.  This was then layered onto an embossed die-cut of grey mirri card and attached to the card front with silicone glue to give depth.

Kath x

A Country Christmas

The current challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round is 'A Country Christmas'.  I always like red and kraft for 'country style' cards and have used several magazine freebies and upcycled twine for my card.  I'm also entering Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge where 'Anything Goes'.

Card blank: 6" x 6" kraft
Stamp: Hot off the Press (magazine freebie)
Die: Nordic Christmas (magazine freebie)
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia
Card: Red card
Paper: BoBunny papers (magazine freebie)
Other: Upcycled red twine (from a packet of biscuits!)

I trimmed the paper to size, layered it onto red card and stamped the sentiment in the bottom corner.   I die-cut the heart from a sheet of patterned paper from the same pack and fastened the twine behind the heart before attaching it to the square.   The end of the twin was fastened behind the patterned square before I attached it to the card blank.  To finish, I attached a small twine bow to the heart.

Kath x

Pillar Candles Trio

I bought the Pillar Candles Trio die in a bundle of pre-loved dies earlier this year - this is its first outing so I'm entering Darnell's NBUS Challenge again.  I've used colours from the current 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown challenge which is 'Red, white and any colour but green' (I've chosen gold) and as the paper and card were from my snippets drawer I'm paying my last visit to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.   I was about to publish this post when I saw that the new ABC Christmas Challenge is 'S for Silent', which is no sentiments or text, so I'm also entering that challenge.

Card blank: 6" x 6" white hammer
Dies: Memory Box 'Pillar Candle Trio' and 'Mini Holly Leaves'
Snippets: Red & gold paper, white card, gold mirri card

I layered a piece of paper onto gold mirri card and attached it to the front of my card.  The Pillar Candles Trio was die-cut from red paper and gold mirri card and the Mini Holly Berries from gold mirri card.  The candles were attached to a snippet of white card, this was trimmed to size, layered onto gold mirri card and attached to the card front with Pinflair glue.  To finish I attached holly to the bottom of the candles.

Kath x

Oh! Christmas Tree

I've made this card for Sparkles Christmas Challenge 'Oh! Christmas Tree' and have used the current sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches.  I've had the Christmas tree die for a while but have never used it so I'm entering Darnell's NBUS Challenge.  The paper and card are from my snippets drawer, so I'm also popping over to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Card blank: 6" x 4" white silk 
Stamp: Hot off the Press (magazine freebie)
Die: Marianne Design Creatables 'Christmas Tree' and Snowflake (magazine freebie)
Ink: Versafine Majestic Blue
Snippets: White pearl card, tree paper, blue gem

I trimmed the tree paper to size, stamped the sentiment along the bottom and attached it to the front of the card blank.  I die-cut two Christmas trees and one snowflake and attached them to the card following the sketch.  The bottom tree was attached directly onto the card and I used Pinflair glue on the second tree to give a little dimension.  The snowflake was attached by the centre only and to finish I added a blue gem.

Kath x

Stitched Butterfly

The current Butterfly Challenge is 'Y for Yarn' and I've used embroidery thread for my stitched butterfly.  The paper, card and thread are from my snippets drawer, so I'm also popping into the playground Pixie's Crafty Workshop.  I'm also entering Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge.

Card blank: 6" x 6" white hammer
Stamp: Woodware 'Going to Seed'
Dies:  Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large and Classic Scalloped Circles Large
Embossing: Clear embossing powder, Kars tan embossing mat
Ink: Versafine Imperial Purple
Card:  Dark purple card
Other: Stitching Cards stitched butterfly pattern, pricking tool and mat, lilac gems
Snippets: White card, striped paper, embroidery thread

I layered the paper onto purple card and attached it to the card front.  I attached the butterfly pattern onto a snippet of white card and pierced it.  I then stitched it with lilac embroidery thread following the stitching instructions provided with the pattern.  The butterfly was then die-cut, embossed, layered onto an embossed scallop circle of purple card and attached to the card front.   I stamped the sentiment onto another snippet of white card and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  This was die-cut and attached to the card in the same manner as the butterfly, although I used foam tape to give some dimension.   To finish I added small lilac gems to the butterfly body and antennae.

Kath x

Merry Christmas to You & Yours

The current challenge at Winter Wonderland is 'Add a Sentiment' and I've used one of my favourite stamps to make this card using the colours for the current Less is More challenge which is 'Green and Gold'.   The card and paper are from my snippets drawer, so I'm also popping across to the playground to see Sarn in the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Card blank: 6" x 6" pearl 
Stamp: Inkadinkado ' Merry Christmas to You & Yours'
Die: Spellbinders  Nestabilities 'Wonky Rectangles'
Embossing: Clear embossing powder, Kars tan embossing mat
Ink: Versafine Olympia Green
Colouring: Gold gel pen
Snippets: Gold mirri and white pearl card, green/gold star paper

I layered a strip of paper onto gold mirri card and before attaching it to the card blank I scored down the edge to make a flat spine, which is a great idea I saw on Jane's blog.  I then attached the strip to the card front.  The sentiment was stamped and embossed onto white card.  This was die-cut and embossed before being layered onto a larger wonky rectangle and attached to the card front.   To finish I used a gold gel pen to colour the stars.

Kath x

A for Archway

The latest Butterfly Challenge is 'A for Archway' and as I've used snippets of paper and mirri card I'm also paying a visit to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Card blank: 5" x 5" white silk 
Image: Lili of the Valley 'Pretty Bouquet' pre-coloured topper
Die: Tattered Lace Floral Arch
Punch: Woodware butterfly
Other: Wink of Stella
Snippets: Purple floral card, dark blue mirri card

I trimmed the floral paper and attached it to the card front, leaving a small border around the edge.  I trimmed the pre-coloured LOTV topper and attached it to the card.  The floral die cut was trimmed to remove the doves from the top and a few flowers from the bottom so it fitted around the topper - I then attached this by the inside flowers only.  I punched three small butterflies from dark blue mirri card and attached them to the floral arch.  To finish, I added a Wink of Stella to highlight the cute image.

Kath x