NitWits Deer Grandson

Hello...

Just a quick post today as I'm busy answering the door every 5 minutes to strange children and giving them sweets! This sounds wrong on so many levels!

It's another Christmas card - I'm averaging 2 each night so I'm well on track to complete my orders by the end of November. This one is made using the super cute NitWits Deer Friends range...

I've kept it unfussy - it's for a friend's 9 year old grandson so sparkle and glitz are definitely not required.

It has been entered into the current challenges at...

ABC Christmas Challenge - V is for Vixen (use a reindeer)
Make it Monday - anything goes
Aud Sentiments Challenges - use a Christmas sentiment

Happy Halloween folks!

Sharon
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Exciting News !

I had some exciting news yesterday! I've been asked to join the design team at Totally Papercrafts, a weekly challenge blog held each Friday with prizes from some fabulous sponsors...

I'm really excited (and a bit nervous to be honest!). I've never done anything like this and I'm having the usual worries about  my cards being right and doing challenges out of my comfort zone but hopefully this opportunity will encourage me to be more adventurous!

Watch this space!

Sharon

Twine Tree

Another Christmas card done, inspired by today's challenges at Less Is More..

For our recipe this week, we'd like to see

String or Twine

And also by the challenge at Allsorts Challenge blog:

********Treemendous********

Not possessing any of the two tone bakers twine stuff, I improvised by using some embroidery thread from my cross stitching days. To make the tree, I pricked holes in the card in a triangular pattern and threaded beads as I sewed.

I added some patterned paper down the side and finished off with more thread and a snowflake and button.

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Poinsettia

Christmas card production is now well underway - I've got all my orders in now and I have about five weeks to finish them so you may be seeing a few over the coming weeks. I was also delighted for this card here to be a Top 3 winner at Creative Inspirations - I regularly enter their challenges and was pleased to see their current challenge is Anything Goes! 

I've also entered today's card into the poinsettia challenge at Perfect Sentiments. They are such lovely flowers and the digi image used looks great against the white embossed background. To add a bit of sparkle, I've used tiny yellow gems for the middle bit.

Thanks for taking the time to look

Sharon
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Sapphire Anniversary

Today's card was a first for me - I've never been asked to make a sapphire anniversary card before (45 year anniversary for those like me who didn't know).

After googling shop cards to see what sort of stuff was available to buy in the shops (not a lot actually) I knew I wanted something with just touches of blue rather than full in your face blue. I bought this cute Memory Box 'Sofia Heart' die a few months ago at a craft fair that I thought would look nice with tiny blue bling attached to each of the stars...

The background was embossed with swirls and matted onto blue card and the font for those who need to know these things is Papyrus. I've also added ribbons to separate the embossed areas.

I've entered this card into the current challenges at:

My Time To Craft - Congratulations 
The ABC Challenge - X for Xtra Special


Happy Crafting folks

Sharon
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White Trees At Night

Yesterday's tree card has really got me in the mood for making Christmas cards now. I'd better get on with it as I have about 50 to do!

Keeping on the tree theme from the challenge at Less Is More, I attempted something a bit more masculine - in my world this means using blue!

I hand cut very simple pine trees, used torn edges for the landscape and punched the stars in the sky. It almost seems too simple. I've added some fine white glitter along the torn edges but it's hard to photo well.

Thanks for looking

Sharon
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Primative Tree

It's Saturday therefore there's a Less Is More challenge beckoning...

For our theme this week we have chosen

TREES

It doesn't matter what kind of trees, but we would like to see a little more than just leaves!

 

I was torn between going the Autumn route or the Christmas route but having started my Christmas shopping this week, this theme won. 

I've used some lovely off-white textured card for the base - I do hope I can get some more of this as I'm down to my last few sheets. The 'tree' is made from lengths of brown ribbon and the hearts are punched - two stuck together to give more depth and given a coat of clear nail varnish to give them a dull sheen which can't be seen very well in this light.

I've finished off with a computer printed greeting and a textured gold star

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Autumn Hues

My task today was to make a 50th Birthday card for a friend's Nanna that was sparkly but not overly pink - so what better than to use than the colours outside during the season of her birthday. I've kept it fairly simple, arranging punched flowers around a die-cut oval with colour co-ordinating gems on each flower...

I've punched the flowers from some Woodware 'Woodland Beauty' papers I got free with a recent magazine - I think plain coloured paper would have looked too flat against the white background.

I've entered this into the current 'Autumn/Fall Colours' challenges at Creative Inspirations Challenge blog, at  Divas By Design and at Seize The Birthday  

'til later

Sharon
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Hello My Pretty

Halloween is nearly upon us and a few of my favourite challenges are using this, or similar spooky themes this week.

I've been wanting to use this digi image for ages - I found it when I was browsing colouring pages websites a few months ago and knew it would be ideal for Halloween.

I printed the image straight on to the card, coloured it with pro-markers and used Holiday Springs BTN font for the greeting. The feet made me think of the Wizard of Oz wicked witch prompting the greeting!

I've entered this into the challenges at:

Less is More - One Layer week witches and wizards
Moving Along With The Times - Spooktastic Times
Paper Crafting Journey - Halloween Colours
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Halloween

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Christmas Heart

Nice to be back in my craft room this weekend after a lovely two weeks lazing on a sunbed in Turkey! 

To get back into the swing of things I've headed straight to this week's challenge at Less Is More...

White Christmas

For our challenge this week, we have chosen to add another parameter to our colour challenge and that is that the submissions must be Christmas related cards.

The colour is 

WHITE on WHITE

 

I love the look of white on white - makes CAS cards look even cleaner.

 

 

I've used punched snowflakes to form a heart and added gems for a bit of bling. The hammered card adds texture and I've printed the greeting on the computer using a light grey Copperplate Gothic font.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Sharon

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Karate Kid

Today's card was a request from a work colleague for something for her soon to be teenage daughter with a Karate theme and pink... just the normal run of the mill order! This is what  I came up with...

Not my usual style but it ticks all the boxes! I found the image on the Internet, coloured it with pro markers and used papers from my stash. I'm pleased with the cuteness of it and it'll certainly stand out as it's a large 8x8 inch square base card.

I've entered this card into today's challenges at:

Charisma Cardz - your number's up (use a number)
Cute Card Thursday - hip to be square (square card and patterned paper)
Paper Crafting Journey - use flowers
Seize the Birthday - monochrome

Thanks for looking

Sharon
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Minnie Mouse

A quick post tonight - X Factor is about to start!

Today's card was requested by a work colleague who wanted something Minnie Mouse related...

I found the image on the Internet, coloured it with pro markers and found some wonderful coordinating patterned paper for the side bits.

I've entered this into challenges at:

Jellypark - all about the kids
Creative Corner - child's play
CCEE Stampers - birthday card


Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Autumn Thanks

It's colour week at Less is More and this is the challenge provided by Chrissie and Jen...

Sinister isn't she -  I'm not keen on that look in her eye!

Immediately the colours made be think of Autumn and leaves. I pulled out all suitable colours from  my snippets box and came across some lovely darkish green wet effect transparent film that I thought would look good with a leafy theme. The leaf itself is a digi image I came across on a kid's colouring website, printed on some rust  toned paper. And this is what I came up with...

I made it into a 'thanks' card 'cos that is the only work I could think of that fitted! I'm undecided about the result but I guess that's what challenges are about - a crafty learning curve.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of the weekend

Sharon
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Stewie

I get asked to make the craziest cards - usually the person wants a card with a special hobby or team or character. This is the first time I have been asked to make a Family Guy themed card!

The character is the baby of the family - Stewie Griffin and I've kept the layout simple so the image is the star. I found the images on a colouring pages website - a great source of free digi images. I've coloured it with promarkers and added strips of multi-coloured polka dot paper along the top and bottom.

This card has been entered into challenges at:

Seize The Birthday - anything goes/birthdays
Creative Moments - anything goes/ birthdays
Stampin' Royalty - use patterned paper

Happy crafting

Sharon
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The New Away Strip

Football fever has started in the UK this last weekend with the transfer deadline looming - well at least Sky TV managed to get a full day's programming out of it! My friend's teenage son is football daft - supports our local team (Sunderland) and goes to all the matches. Each year I try to do her a footy related card for him - this effort is a the new away shirt with his name and age on the back.

I used a t-shirt template I found on a fashion website for the main part of the shirt and the side stripes are hand cut.

The name is done using peel-offs coloured black and the numbers are die-cut.

I've entered this into the current challenges at:

The Pink Elephant - use numbers
My Time to Craft - sports

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Shopping Queen

Today's card is for a work colleague's gran who loves to shop! I've had this Jolly Nation decoupage figure for absolutely ages and it seemed ideal for this occasion. The background paper is also ancient - an old Dovecraft pack called Glamour Prints - the handbags fit perfectly with the shopping theme.

I've entered this card into the following challenges:

Eclectic Ellapu - an oldie's birthday
Seize the Birthday - anything goes
Lacy Sunshine - girls girls girls

Thanks for lookin'

Sharon
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DIY Washi Tape

Its recipe week at Less is More and this week's challenge is...

For our recipe this week we want you to use or make

WASHI TAPE

You can use the shop bought type or you can make your own one way or another. We know you will be inventive if you don't have any in your stash...

I must admit I've never quite got washi tape - I mean it's just patterned sellotape isn't it! So when I saw this challenge I knew I'd have to make some of the stuff - there's many a website shows you how to do this. I used a mixture of patterned paper napkins and transparent paper with double-sided tape to make mine...

I could get addicted to this! I just love the way you can overlap yet still see through to the pattern below. There's some gorgeous paper napkins out there just waiting to be used in this way.

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Back To School

Although I think schools in the US go back to school mid August, in England it's not until the first week in September. Hence a request for a card for a little girl who has just left her childminder to start school.

 The cute digi image came from the usual place - The Digistamp Boutique and the pencil backing paper came free with a magazine. I've coloured the image with promarkers and printed the greeting on the computer.

I've entered this card into this week's challenges at :

Simon Says Stamp - back to school
Whoopsi Daisy - back to school
Scrappy Mom's Stamps - back to school


Sharon
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Mellow Yellow Flower Card

Today's card was made using a colour that I don't normally use - bright yellow. I've been sorting all my scraps into colours and found this lovely yellow gingham paper. The ribbon and flowers I've had for years...the greeting was done on the computer and the middle of the flowers is coloured card candi

I've entered this into the current challenges at 

Dream Valley Challenges - monochrome
Gingerloft Challenges - bright sunshine yellow
CAS On Sunday - floral fantasy - use a flower

I love the CAS layout of this card - I can see me making it in a whole range of colours.

Thanks for looking

Sharon
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Heart Wreath

Today's card is one I didn't want to post until today as it's for a wedding that took place yesterday! I used a wonderful digi from the Digistamp Boutique - one of my favourite places for digis - enlarged and coloured with promarkers. The finished card is 8ins x 8ins - a size I love using.

The heart shaped wreath is made from loads of punched leaves - and I mean loads - about 50! I've done the greeting in a banner style and added some flat backed pearls for a bit of bling.

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Polkadoodles - With a Heart
Totally Gorjuss - die-cuts or punches 

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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