Mask it !

It's time for the next challenge over at The Fashionable Stamping Challenge and the theme this time has been chosen by the lovely Claire. The challenge for you is to use a masking technique.

I made this card for one of my niece's whose birthday was at the beginning of December. She absolutely adores the colour purple so I wanted to balance the neutral with different shades of the colour. I started with the background, which is also where I did my masking. The stamps I've used are by Artistic Outpost and I used the masking technique on the hot air balloons. I stamped the larger one first, masked it off and then stamped the smaller one.

The main image is a gorgeous Crafty Individuals stamp that I spotted at our local garden centre, who have just started stocking CI stamps (I may have to visit more often!) I painted the small pansy on the image using Distress Markers and the rest of the flowers have been cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Flower Garland die. The crocheted lace is from Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique and the gem clip is a Tim Holtz. Not much to say about this card, but I absolutely loved it and it came together so quickly !

I hope you get chance to join us for this challenge and make sure you hop over to the main blog to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous work.

Christmas tag !

I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks to go to the big day, where has the time gone ! I'm nearly there with everything, just the last bit of wrapping to do !

So, today is the next challenge over at The Frilly and Funkie challenge and this time it's the turn of the lovely Terry to set the challenge and here's what Terry has to say:

In the Holiday spirit, show us a tag or tags celebrating Christmas or Winter. 

I decided to make a bottle tag for this challenge. I've got a couple of Christmas gifts in the bottle form so thought it would be great to do a tag for them. I've used quite thick white card stock and punched a circle in one end and rounded the corners of with a corner punch. I've used Bundled Sage and Forest Moss DI and stamped using Olive Archival ink. The stamp sets I've used are Artistic Outpost Midwinter and Sleigh Ride.

The text is from an Indigo Blu set and I've cut it out using a Nestability. The holly and fern are cut from green cardstock using the Tim Holtz Festive Greenery. I've then used my melting pot and dipped the leaves into the UTEE. The berries are made from little red beads and the croecheted lace is from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the gold ribbon from my stash.

I hope you get chance to join us for this challenge and make sure you hop over to the main blog to check out the fabulou work by the rest of the DT.

In the Bleak Mid Winter

The current challenge over at The Stamp Man is The Bleak Mid Winter and here is my DT post for the challenge.

I've used lots of Distress Ink for this card, and the stamps are from the Tim Holtz stamps sets Mini Holidays, Reindeer Flight and the ticket is from the Odds and Ends set. The reindeer has been cut out using a circle Nestability and the scalloped Nestability has been embossed and then covered with glitter EP.

The background has been stamped using second generation stamping for both the trees and the snowflakes. The border is made using the Tim Holtz On the Edge Die, Snow Flurries. I've cut it from Grunge Paper and then covered it with Distress Stains in Faded Jeans and Brushed Pewter. The snowflake is wooden and I've covered it with the glitter EP.

I'm almost at the end of my Christmas cards now, and I have to admit I am looking forward to doing something different ! 

I hope you get chance to join us for this challenge.

Pocket full of Posies

We've flown through another month which means that it's time for the next challenge over at The Vintage Stamping Challenge. We're also changing the day that the new challenges are launched. Instead of being the first day of the month, it will be the first Monday of the month. For this month's challenge the lovely Claire has picked a Pocket full of Posies. This could be just flowers, a lady carrying flowers or even just flowers on a dress, the choice is yours.

This is a card I made for an order some little time ago. The main image was stamped with black Archival ink and then I painted the flowers using Distress Markers and cut it out using a Nestability. I've used Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon DI's.

The flower is made using the Tim Holtz Tattered Flower die and is cut from Crinoline. I've dyed the crinoline using DI's and added an Ideaology brad to the centre. The butterfly is made using the Tim Holtz Mini Butterfly die and the swirl is also a Tim Holtz die.

I have to say it was nice to make something other than Christmas !

Make sure you hop over to the main blog to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous work. 

To die for !

Here we are again on Sunday and also it's time for the next challenge over at The Fashionable Stamping Challenge. This time the lovely Joanna has chosen To Die For ! So, as long as you include some die cutting on your project and, of course, some stamping, then why not join us !

This is a project that I've had on the go for several weeks, trying to work on it in between making Christmas, New Home and Birthday cards ! The base structure is a Kaisercraft kit and is MDF that I had great pleasure in using a hammer and some wood to put it together ! Once assembled I gave it 3 coats of white matt emulsion and when it was dry I painted it with black acrylic paint. Then, I used Paper Artsy Fresco Gold paint which, because it is translucent,  lets some of the black show through. All of the numbers were painted with black acrylic paint and then with the gold paint. The boxes have been covered with an assortment of papers and I've swiped black acrylic paint around the edges. There was one extra box so I covered that with paper and added some lace around the top and stuck the large Christmas tree to the top.

I punched the holes in the front of the boxes and dyed some thread with Fired Brick Distress Stains and threaded it through the hole. The little Christmas trees and the wreath are Tim Holtz and I've sprayed them to turn them green. I've then stuck little gems to th trees and I've changed the colours of the jingle bells using an Alcohol Ink pen and attached them using some more dyed thread.

The letters are cut using the Tim Holtz WordPlay die and I've cover Grunge Paper with Basic Grey paper before cutting the letters. The holly on the top on the letter 'n' is made using the Festive foliage die so is the miseltoe. The pince cones are cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Pine Cone die from Kraft card that I've used some Vintage Photo DI over. The sentiment is from an Artistic Outpost stamp set and I absolutely love it ! The basket was made using the the same die using the fir part of the die and I've cut it from Grunge Paper that I've blended DI over.

I've cover the sides of the box with Basic Grey paper that I've blended DI around the edge to age it.

I'm so pleased I got this finished in time and we're now enjoying the Lindt chocolates that are hidded in each box !

Make sure you hop over to the main blog and check out the rest of the DT's fabulous work.

I'm also entering this project into the following challenges:

• The Artistic Stamper - Home for Christmas 
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes 
• Totally Papercrafts - Anything Christmassy but a card