Tangled Tinsel

There really is nothing worse than getting your tinsel in a tangle. Well, apart from the fairy lights having a loose connection. And not leaving a mince pie out for the big fella.

Be prepared for the festive season with a side splitting selection of Christmas quips by going to the Dr Digi store and purchasing Christmas Sentiments Sheet 01 - and all 14 sentiments can be yours!

Sentiment has been printed directly on to the card stock, made the bottom fancy and added stickles around the edges.  Half pearls from my stash along with the tiny tinsel and very glittery snowflake - which along with the tinsel are left over tree decoration January sale bargains from a number of years ago!

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Quirky Crafts:  Christmas In July
Crafty Calendar:  Christmas In July
Crafty Hazelnut:  Christmas - Include a Sentiment
Christmas Stampin' All Year:  Snow or Glitter
Kitty Bee Designs:  Christmas In July

Crimbo Crackers Challenge 37 - No Stamped Images

It's time for another Crimbo Crackers challenge and the theme this fortnight is:

No Stamped Images

If you want more details about the chalelnge, please pop over to Crimbo Crackers!

I've used a felt Christmas Tree decoration that I bought from Tesco in the same - just snipped off the ribbon loop on his body!

The printed papers are from Prima 6x6 North Country Collection and I've used an X Cut fancy die for the shapes plus brown card from my stash.  I've had the paper pad for quite some time and it is really pretty - so that probably explains why I have so much of it left!

The thin chocolate brown organza ribbon is also from my stash and I've added some doodling around the edges of the card and die cut.

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

ABC Christmas Challenge:  Bingo (Ribbon, Animal, Die Cuts)

Going Grey With Scrap Creations:  Favourite Embellishment (Christmas decorations in the sale that I can use on my cards!)

Use It Tuesdays:  Die Cuts / Punches and Horded Supplies (paper pad I've had for ages along with the ribbon)

Ohh La La Creations:  Four Legged Friends (I know he only has 2 but in real life there are 4!)

Use Your Stuff:  Four Legged Friends

Papers:  Prima 6x6 North Country pad

Embellishment:  Tesco's Christmas Tree decoration

Dies:  X Cut fancy die

Everything else:  My stash

Fetch A Sketch Challenge 38

It's time for a new Fetch A Sketch challenge!  And here is the sketch for this fortnight:

We are sponsored by My Creative Classroom who are offering a lucky winner a place in an online class!

We've also got a Guest Designer for the challenge too, but you'll have to pop over to Fetch A Sketch to see who it is!

I've kept my card quite simple and I've managed to use up another of the Christmas tree decorations that I seem to have collected (you can never have enough pretty sparkly things that are intended for Christmas decorations but would look even better on cards!), although I have a feeling that these were generously donated by Lynsey!

I've glittered the edge of my card base and then added an acetate panel that I'd embossed with a snowflake Cuttlebug folder after cutting it out with an X Cut fancy die.  Bit of a nightmare to get it to stick to the card blank but I was determined it was going to.  And it did!

I've added the peel off sentiment - I know!  But it was the best thing I had as stamping looked terrible and actually, I think the peel off doesn't look too bad!  Just have to think of how to use the other million that I have hehehe!  Anyway, the sentiment has been added to an offcut of vellum.

Good luck with the challenge!

I'd like to enter the following:

Eclectic Ellapu:  Celebration with Sparkle
The Crafty Pad:  Add Some Glitter
Allsorts:  Bring On The Bling
Unstampabelles:  Monochromatic
Less Is More:  Glitz and Glamour

Christmas Tree decoration:  Donated by Lynsey
Dies:  Cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder, X Cut fancy die
Everything else:  My stash

Scraps and More Bling

Yep, another Christmas card and another of the Christmas decoration stars which were a donation from Lynsey! I've used up some of the offcuts I have from making my own card blanks and have cut them into squares, rounded the edges, inked them and then embossed them with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. I have a huge pile of these offcuts and keep thinking that I will have a marathon stamping session and get them all used up (plus use the stamps that rarely see the light of day!) but that's not yet happened!

I've strung seed beads, sequins and various silver and clear beads onto some craft wire and secured the corners with some silver brads. The wire has been doubled so when there is movement of the beads it doesn't look too bare.

This fits the following challenges:

Card Cupids: Monochromatic
Christmas Inspirations: Monochromatic
Jingle Belles Rock: Holiday Leftovers - Use Your Scraps
Crafty Pad: Lots of Texture
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge: Spots or Dots
Christmas Stampin': Metal
Winter Wonderland: No Red and Green

• Embellishment: Donation from Lynsey
• Everything else: My stash
  

Christmas Bling in Silver

Ah yes! Another Christmas card and another made with more of the Christmas tree decorations that was in the box given to me by Lynsey. My ever faithful helper (husband) snipped off the hanger loop at the top of the star as it didn't look right on the card.

I found some sort of silverish linen effect paper in my stash which I've cut up and dotted liquid pearls around the edge so that it fits the Sweet Sketch Wednesday sketch (below). I intentionally left the middle panel bare as the pearlescent paper I had just didn't quite sit right with everything else.

I've wound some thin silver craft wire around two brads and across the card three times, threading various beads and sequins from my stash onto it.

Glue was not dry when I took the photo hence it is lying flat as I didn't trust myself to take the picture quick enough!

The card also fits the following challenges:

Moving Along With The Times: Christmas in July
ABC Christmas: N for No Nonsense (no patterned papers)
Little Red Wagon: Christmas in July
The Paper Variety: Christmas in July
Celebrate The Occasion: Christmas in July (no red)
Shopping Our Stash: RAK
Tuesday Throwdown: Christmas in July

• Decoration: Donation from Lynsey
• Everything else: My stash
  

And More Decorations!

At risk of saying that I've made another Christmas card with more Christmas tree decoration, well, I have and here it is! Over on Jingle Belles Rock this week, the challenge is a double one as it uses the sketch from Sketchy Thursday, so one card equals two challenges!


And Sketchy Thursday is one challenge I'd not come across before.... Fatal as you know I'll be back as I do like sketches! Anyway, I've used some very lovely felt off white card as my card base, added a 4.5x6.5 sheet of sparkly card (Dovecraft Noel cardstock) - another of the bargains I bought in the January sales! The tree decoration is from Tesco's (on the 3 for 2 offer so I bought 3 different packs - seemed rude not to!) and the organza burgundy ribbon is from my stash. I've added a few gems to the top of the card. For closure. Cos it needed it.

So there you have it. I need to get out more and stop using Christmas tree decorations on my cards. Is it just me who gets excited when in a shop and realising that the decorations are flat and light enough to be added to cards? Ah, it is just me. Ah well!

• Backing paper: Dovecraft 4.5x6.5 Noel pack
• Embellishment: Tesco's Christmas tree decoration
• Everything else: My stash
  

No Red She Said!

Sometimes there are challenges that I really like. Really really like as I know EXACTLY what I'm going to make and I feel so satisfied when it turns out just how I imagined! Well, this one is a bit of a re-run from a few weeks ago - see here - but the opportunity was too good to miss!

It's for the Jingle Belles Rock challenge which is:

No Red She Said!

So, after lovin' the sketch from a few weeks ago (and the fact I got an honourable mention for it on the blog!) I went with the theme again. This time I've used one of the shocking purple tree ornaments (Sainsbury's) from the same pack and layered it with another of the heavily glittered silver ornaments (Matalan). And of course, both packs were in the January sales!

The left over gem from the reverse of the silver snowflake has been added to the top left of the card along with a few other gems from my stash.

The backing paper is Bazzil swiss dots coloured stuff that I bought almost 2 years ago (shocking I know!) Bit of corner rounding, inking and that is it! Someone somewhere will want a purple Christmas card I hope!

• Embellishments: Christmas tree ornaments
• Backing paper: Bazzil swiss dots
  

Christmas Decorations

I'm getting withdrawal symptoms as it is a week or two since I entered a Christmas challenge, plus I bought some fantastic bargains in the sales - all of which feature on this card! There is a great simple but strangely complicated (because it has to work just right!) sketch on Jingle Belles Rock this week.

I've used papers from the Dovecraft Let It Snow 12x12 stack and no, I cut into the sheet fine! I normally cannot bring myself to cut a part from such a large sheet but this time, I was ok! I bought the pad half price - £7.50 from Boundary Mill in the sales. Plus the 6x4 version too! This sheet is glittered although my very bad and blurred photo does not do the paper justice.

I've used two Christmas tree decorations too, which, yes you've guessed, I bought in the sales! The bottom one came in as part of a pack of 8 - 2 of each colour in equally vibrant pink, green and yellow from Sainsbury's. The top star with gem was from Matalan. And I am now quite sparkly myself!

The gem taken from the underside of the silver star has been added along with a few other gems to the top left of the cad. Waste not want not!

Ah, and here is the sketch!I think I'll be using this sketch again as I'm now in the mood for more Christmas cards! It won't last long, so don't worry!

• Paper: 12x12 Dovecraft Let It Snow stack
• Embellishments: Christmas tree decorations from Sainsbury's and Matalan
• Everything else: My stash
  

Polkadoodle Challenge 45 - Gift Box

It's Friday so that can only mean another Polkadoodle challenge! I'm hosting the challenge this week and the theme is:

Gift Boxes

This can be for Christmas, or any other occasion as long as it is a gift box. The challenge is open until Sunday 22 November at 12noon GMT and please remember the 10 rule challenge!
I've used the template from Paper Boutique Vol 2 - Creative Christmas to make these little takeout gift boxes and then printed some of the papers from the same cd on the other side of the card.


They are really quick and easy to make! I know these look a little unfinished, and that's because they are! My intention is to use them at the table for our Christmas dinner, but as I don't know how many people will be there I've only made the 4 (just in case we end up staying at home and catering for ourselves!)

If I remember, I'll take a photo of the finished boxes closer to Christmas. But don't hold me to it as there are a lot of sleeps between now and then and I am likely to forget!

Before I go, I need to warn you of something big happening next week for the Polkadoodle challenge that you will NOT want to miss! We are hosting a blog hop with lots of prizes along the way - so if you've not got any Polkadoodle stash yet then this could be your chance to win some! More details are on next week's post so make sure you tune back in next Friday at 9am!

If you can't wait until then to win some Polkadoodle stash, then pop over to the website where you will find lots of goodies at great prices and the best bit is free postage and packing to anywhere in the whole wide world! Minimum spend to qualify is £5 but that won't be difficult!

We are still on the lookout for Design Team members - closing date for applications is 14 November - go to the challenge blog for more details of how to apply!

• Template and papers: Paper Boutique Vol 2 - Creative Christmas
  

Frosty Doorhanger

I've had this door hanger kit for a while and have been wanting to make it but not yet had the chance. The ABC Christmas challenge currently is:

Frosty with the added option of Snow

So I think my double sided door hanger fits with the challenge! This is a digital door hanger which I got as a freebie from Alison Sloan but you can also buy it from CraftsUPrint. I've printed the sheet twice so I could layer up some of the elements onto 240gsm ivory linen card and added an extra layer in between for additional stability.

The snowman and little boy are layered and I've added glitter glue to the bottom of the snowman, so it looks like glistening snow! A little bit of glitzy gold ribbon and the door hanger is finished!

• Door hanger kit: Alison Sloan
• Ribbon & glitter glue: My stash
  

Santa's Little Angel

There is a new Christmas challenge blog out there - and because we have so much snow it seemed only fitting that I joined in! It is called ABC Christmas Challenges and is a sister site to the established ABC Challenges. And this is their first challenge which is:

A is for Angels

I was a bit stumped with this as could not think of what to make and then I realised I'd downloaded this lovely shabby chic door hanger with an angel on - perfect! It was designed by Alison Sloan via this link. I printed it onto cream textured card twice so I could layer up some of the stars and the angels to give more depth.

I've then inked the edges, doodled a line around the edge and added some card candy, ribbon and two red star charms. I also downloaded the little boy door hanger too which is just as cute!

I do like Alison's style and kits and I know that she will have more on offer in the very near future - she also has more of these door hangers available to buy via Crafts U Print.

• Door Hanger kit: Alison Sloan digital download
• Card Candy: Craftwork Cards
• Everything else: My stash
  

Samuel's Christmas Angel

I found a kids crafty challenge blog called Little Hands Do Crafts and their first ever challenge is:

Something Christmassy

And Samuel has made this wonderful angel! Made using a rolled up sheet of card with coloured squares of sticky paper and gold doily wings (remember when you were younger everything was made with doilies!)

He's added finger prints too! He's drawn a happy smiley face because she has managed to stand up long enough for the photo - her skirt is not quite level and she has a tendency to fall over. So she lives on the top of a church candle. For stability purposes!

He's quite excited by the challenge but I have a feeling that he's not quite understood my explanation of it.....

Can't wait to see what the next challenge will be!

A Six Year Old and Pins

Here is what you get when you give a six year old some pins, sequins and a polystyrene ball!

A Christmas bauble!!

How fab is this?! Some of the pins have dropped out but it looks really good (especially when I don't use the flash!) and it has pride of place on our Christmas tree.

Get Funky Challenge 5 - Deck The Halls

It's the first of the month so it is the start of a brand new Get Funky Challenge! Last month the challenge was set by Enfys - go to Get Funky to see if you won! The Design Team enjoyed visiting your blogs to see your creations - thank you for entering!

For December, the challenge has been set by the wonderful Kath and it is:

Deck The Halls

You can interpret this however you wish, however the only rule is that you must use one element of Funky Hand somewhere in your creation. If you don't yet have anything from Anice, click here to go to the website to have a look - there are lots of items to buy which won't break the bank!

I've made 3 Wise Kings which double up as table decorations. I used a previous issue of Crafts Beautiful for the inspiration but used my own templates. The printed papers including the main body of each King are from Funky Daze and I've simply snipped away and inked with a bit of doodling here and there.

They were surprisingly easy and quick to make once I'd made the templates. The wobbly eyes, brads and card for beards and mustaches are from my stash.

I'm sorry that you will need to tilt your head (or monitor) to view the next two pictures. Mr Blogger WILL NOT comply and insert them the right way. Despite resizing them, cropping them and renaming them he still won't be nice. So sorry but this is the only way!

To stand the Kings up, I cut down two empty toilet roll inserts and stuck them to the back - makes them quite sturdy!

Hope you like my interpretation of the challenge - go to Get Funky to see the rest of the Design Team and what they created and also to enter for December.

The challenge remains open until 31 December and the winner will be announced just before the new challenge on 1 January. Good luck and we look forward to viewing your creations!

• Printed papers: Funky Daze
• Templates: Mine but inspiration from a back issue of Crafts Beautiful
• Everything else: My stash
  
  

Polkadoodle Challenge 25 - Decorations

It's Friday again and another Polkadoodle Challenge! The weeks seem to be flying by and it really is not that long to Christmas. I've made a good start on the cards and to complement them, Nikky has asked the Design Team this week to make:

A Christmas Decoration

So here is my sample! Of course I've not made the candle, but I have made the base thing around it!

The cuff around the base of the candle is made from a fairly sturdy part sheet of acetate and I've used double sided tape to hold it all together. The freeze around the bottom is one of the decorative strips from the Christmas download and all the trees are from it too.

I've simply selected random trees from the tree paper, enlarged them and printed them out. They are attached to the base with thin acetate and either glued or stuck with double sided tape.

I've slightly creased the acetate strips to give them a 'boingy' feel to them.

Go and have a look at the other samples made by the Design Team - there are some really clever creations this week. You have until Sunday 15 November at 12noon GMT to enter this challenge and Challenge 24 from last week is still open until Sunday 8 November so you still have time to enter that one too!

Good luck and we can't wait to see what you make!

• All papers: Polkadoodle Christmas download
• Everything else: My stash