Late for Rudolph Day

 Phew, I almost missed this month's Rudolph Day. My Christmas card making isn't coming along too well this year - it's hard to start thinking about next Christmas when i feel I never got the chance to celebrate the last one properly! 

I've used another of the Forever Friends die cut decoupage sheets  along with backgrounds from thee kit, a felt snowflake border from my stash, a doiley  and a printed banner which was a gift from a friend. 

I am sharing this with

Rudolph Days at ScrappyMo's 

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - anything goes/stars  

Christmas crafts all year round - something beginning with E or F (felt & Forever Friends)

Lighthouse on the rocks

 Today is a first outing for a set of stamps I won in a recent challenge at Allsorts. It's a Hunkydory set from the For The Love of Stamps range, called Lighthouse Harbour (which is strange as there's no harbour in it!). I do think lighthouses are great images to use on masculine cards. Not sure what that says about the symbolism in my subconscious! On the other hand, I've met a lot of light house keepers and they have all been male - by the time equal opportunities for women became firmly established here in the UK, many lighthouses were becoming fully automated and no longer needed keepers, so women missed their chance of the job. 

I cut scrap paper into a cloud shape and used it as a mask to sponge blue ink lightly over the background. Then I stamped the image twice onto separate card, coloured it with Promarkers and cut it out, using just the rocks of the second image. I layered them onto the background, using 3D adhesive for the rocks to make them appear to be in the foreground. I stamped and die cut the sentiment and then added a few gulls flying around the tower. 

I am sharing this with 

Addicted to Stamps and More - Make Your Mark  

Cardz 4 Guyz - By the water  

Allsorts Challenge - anything goes 

Dragonflies and Music

 Considering that dragonflies are my very favourite crafting theme, I seem to have featured them on far too few of my recent makes. In fact a quick scroll through my recent posts shows only one dragonfly themed make this year so far. I'd better bring all my lovely dragonfly stamps into action to put that right! 

The stamp I have used here is a very old (about 20 years?) unmounted stamp, which I have stamped onto blue cloud effect paper and roughly torn.  I can't remember where the stamp came from - possibly Crafty Individuals? I've added a similar sized piece of torn sheet music and made a bright blue brusho background to display the image on. The letters are chipboard ones from my stash and it is finished with a scattering of enamel dots. 

I am sharing this with 

We love Chocolate Baroque - I love....  dragonflies, music, stamping, making backgrounds 

Retro Rubber - Anything goes 

Beary Merry Christmas

I used a set of Forever Friends die cut decoupage and papers for this card. 

Not really my "thing" but still a fun way to make a quick card. And I do like stripy paper to give skinny cards an even skinnier look. I added a little wooden Santa, some sparkle mesh ribbon and a couple of gems. Job done - and as my Christmas card box isn't filling up at my normal two-cards-a-week rate this year, a much needed quickie to bulk it out. 

I am sharing this with 

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - anything goes/ a song or carol (Oh Christmas Tree) 

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Slimline Cards  

Sunset Stag

 

A very CAS  Christmas card today. I punched a circle from masking paper and attached it to the card, then used a finger dauber to blend red distress ink over it, moving horizontally all the time to give a sunset sky effect. I added a stamped sentiment, then die cut the stag and positioned him so that his magnificent horns stand out against the setting sun. The tiniest red gem I could find gives him a subtle hint of "Rudolph". 

I am sharing this with 

Less is More - CAS  inking 

Make my Monday - Clean and Simple 

CAS Christmas - kraft, red and white  

Sparkles Christmas - CAS 

L is for Layers - Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

 It's over a year since I left the design team over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, but it's a bit like the Hotel California - you can check out any time but you can never leave! So here I am, as current Queen of Snark, with my guest post for the latest challenge, L is for Layers. 

A card with lots of layers would have been just too obvious wouldn't it? So I thought of something else with lots of layers.... 

An Onion!

I backed a piece of white card with double sided adhesive sheet then placed a whole set of nesting dies on it and cut them all in one go. Then starting at the centre I stuck them to my card, leaving off the outer ring which I coloured with a marker and pencils to give an onion skin effect before adding it. Then I covered the whole thing with a sheet of clean paper to protect it from my messy old plates and ran it through the die cutting machine to flatten the surface. I gave it added onionyness by running a very pale green pencil lightly around the joins of the rings. 

I printed the sentiment onto separate paper, then scribbled over it with a marker to make it onion-coloured. I had planned to cut neat rectangles, but the scribbled areas actually reminded me of bits of torn onion skin so I cut them out as they were and added them to the card. 

What to layers say to you? how about sharing your own ideas over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers?  Who knows, I could be handing over my crown to you next! 

Chilli Chef

 It was Mark's birthday yesterday and this is the card I made for him,  combining two of his passions, chillies and cooking. 

It's a large 20cm square card  made using a background, sentiment and pyramage that I downloaded from Crafts U Print layered with matching red, black and green card. The chillis in the corners are 3-d decoupage. Simple to make but very striking and perfect for him. 

I am sharing this with CD Sunday Plus - anything goes