4th Christmas card of the week!

What has happened this week that I have only made Christmas cards???! I'm not sure. Anyway, this weeks CMLI sketchie was set by Karen and the theme was 'trees'. The first image I had with a tree in it was this cute digi from Pollycraft and so I had to use it. I will enter the card into this weeks Pollycraft (Christmas), Passion for Promarkers (animal crackers) and CES (blues) challenges.

Christmas Chester #2

This is my second card using my new Chester Christmas images and I have followed the sketch of this weeks Willow Sketchie challenge. I will also enter the card into this weeks I love Promarkers (anything goes), Digi Doodle Shops Best (anything goes), Passion for Promarkers (animal crackers), Die Cut Dreams (animal antics), and Pollycraft Monday (Christmas) challenges.

Christmas Chester #1

When these Chester images were released by Pollycraft on Monday I just had to get them. I love Chester but had resisted the urge to buy more digis until I had used all the ones I have bought in the past up until Monday, but with these the temptation was just too great! This is my first card and I have followed the sketch of this weeks Cute Card Thursday challenge. I will also enter the card into this weeks I love Promarkers (anything goes), Digi Doodle Shops Best (anything goes), Passion for Promarkers (animal crackers), Die Cut Dreams (animal antics), and Pollycraft Monday (Christmas) challenges.

Polar Bear Easel Card

I have been busy the last few nights making this Christmas card. I was inspired by Deb's themed challenge on CMLI this week to use up lots of offcuts of papers to make the backing paper here. I saw the idea in a magazine about this time last year and have used it once before, now that I have a Cuttlebug. The embossing works well to bring the papers together and stop them looking like a load of scraps!

The image is a freebie from Stampfairy (which I think is about a year old). It's been a while since I made an Easel card and so I quite enjoyed this one. I went for a rectangle rather than a square, for a change. I will also enter this card into this weeks Pollycraft challenge (Christmas), Passion for Promarkers (Oscar is coloured with PMs) (animals), I love Promarkers (anything goes), Digi Doodle Shops Best (anything goes), ABC Christmas challenge (O is for older image) and Stampfairy challenge (Christmas and Easel card).

Christmas in July

This weeks I love Promarkers (woo hooo I won last week!!) challenge is 'Christmas in July'. A number of challenges this week have been Christmas themed and it has really given me the shake up to try and get started on my Christmas cards in earnest soon. I have made this card with a Christmas stamp I got over a year ago but still love. I will enter this card into this weeks Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge (sketch- woo hoo, I made the top 3 last week!), Die Cut Dreams challenge (animals) and ABC Christmas challenge (O is for Older image).

Special Birthday

This week the CMLI challenge has been running for a whole year and so they are having a special challenge. There is no sketch but the theme is birthday cards. I decided to try and make a bit of a special card and so have gone for a shaker card, which I haven't made in a while. I have also gone to town and used some new papers and a Tilda image I was given for my birthday. The sketch is this weeks Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge. I will also enter the card into this weeks Digi Doodle Shops Best (make your own flowers- my flower is made of die cut hearts with a popper fastener off an old jumper in the middle and then a pearly flat stone on top to finish!) and Cute Card Thursday challenge (circles).

New Job

I got this image from Digistamp Boutique a while ago and have never got round to using it until today. I don't have anyone I know who is about to start a new job, but just was in the mood for making this card. I will enter it into this weeks Passion for Promarkers challenge (gingham), Digistamp Boutique July competition and I love Promarkers challenge (recipe- 1 ribbon, 2 designer papers and 2 brads).

CAS Christmas

I have been playing with CAS cards this last week and have tested out making one layer cards with digistamps. This one is a Christmas card using a Stampfairy image. I have added the image to the inside of the card too. I usually neglect the insides of my cards and probably this doesn't give them a good overall professional finish, but for this one I have paid more attention. On the front of the card I added glitter to the image and a cut up white pompom to Santa's hat for a bit of texture and interest.

I will enter the card into this weeks Stampfairy challenge (new technique- one layer cards with a digi image (I know I entered another card this week, which I also made yesterday with this technique and so if it is no longer a 'new' technique since it is my second card then I apologise and delete my entry, but since I made the two at the same time almost I kind of think they are both cards made with a technique new to me...)), CES (Christmas- Wow I won last weeks first birthday CES challenge!!!!) and abc Christmas (n is for no nonsense).

60th Celebrations!

Today my parents had a joint party to celebrate their 60th birthdays. Mum will be 60 on Monday and Dad was 60 in February, but he was in New Zealand at the time and so didn't have a big celebration. I wanted to make them a card for the day. Last week I have been testing out CAS cards and one layer cards. I decided to try a bit of a new twist on this and use a digi image on a one layer card for the first time. This is the card I made last night. I will enter it into this weeks Stampfairy challenge (new techinque- one layer digi card).

And in case anyone is wondering, the party today went well despite the rain. (It was a BBQ and so the rain pretty much dampened spirits a bit but it brightened up after about 4pm.)

LIM Attempt 1!

This is my first ever attempt at the Less is More challenge. This weeks theme is a one layer card and something with legs. I made a CAS Lofty card at the weekend, which nearly fit the bill, but I had decoupaged Lofty and so it wasn't one layer. I quite liked the design and so have done another- this time using my printer to make the border and sentiment directly onto the base card. I then stamped and coloured the image on the base card (a VERY scary prospect!) to make it a one layer card. I need a few of these type of cards to give to my flatmates at the end of August and I think they will like the London Lofty to remind them of their time they spend in the UK. I will be trying out the printing onto my base card again in the near future- it worked well (apart from maybe not quite centralised).

Hippo Hugs

I just love this image (and quite a lot of the others by Meljen's Designs (lol!)) and thought it would be Ok for an anniversary card for my parents. I really hope they don't look at my blog, but I have a feeling that they've forgotten about it at the moment. Anyway, I have followed the sketch from this weeks CMLI challenge, set by Lauren, which had the theme of shabby chic. I'm always at a loss as to what this is exactly. I see a lot of the other cards have lots of stitching on them, but after doing a lot of sewing last week by hand on a card I decided to go for the faux option this time. I have also got out my DI and distressed the edges after ripping them. For some reason my printer was having a weird turn too, by printing in pink even though I selected black cartridge only. I think the pink is OK on this card though, luckily!

This card also follows the recipe from this weeks CES challenge (1 image, 2 ribbons (lace and twine) and 3 designer papers) and the theme of this weeks Cute Card Thursday challenge (lace).

CES Candy

To celebrate Crafty Emma's Store being 1 Year Old (Wow hasn't the year flown by!), Emma is offering candy! Well worth checking out!

CAS Lofty

This weeks I love Promarkers challenge is 'clean and simple'. I had an idea of making a Lofty card with my English Lofty so that I can give it to one of my flatmates in September as a way of saying goodbye. I'm not one for CAS cards normally, but I'm quite pleased with the way this has turned out.

N is for no Nonsense

This weeks ABC Christmas challenge is 'N is for no Nonsense' so that the cards have to be plain with no designer papers. I decided to experiment with a really simple design using an embossed panel of snowflakes. The wooden snowflake embellisment is one I bought last weekend on holiday.

Celebrations!

This week is the 100th week of the Pollycraft challenge! Their theme is celebrations with an optional extra of stars and stripes. I found this material whilst I was away on holiday in Devon last weekend and it is perfect for this challenge- star and stripes in the colours blue, white and red. I guess it should be for a 4th July card, but I'm too late for that and wouldn't have anyone to send it to anyway. For this card I have used a Pollycraft Swings and Slides image. For some reason I really wanted stitching on this card and since I don't have a sewing machine I spent quite a few nights this week stitching it by hand (OK, I'm slow and I only had an hour or less each night to do it!). I hope it is worth the effort.

I will also enter the card into this weeks Do it With Digis challenge (spots and/or stripes) when blogger allows me!

A BIG thankyou to Katie, who sent me this lovely 'handmade by' stamp for my birthday. I have been using it today for the first time.