Hello, photo tent :)

Hey!

I hope the last few days have been as fun and fabulous for you as they have for us here! We've had a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day (yes, Diva - we have Boxing Day here too!) spent with our families along with some scrummy food, drink and giggles along the way :)

It's business as usual now on the blogeroo though, so without further ado, a card:

Can you tell that I've been a good girl this year? Santa My gorgeous guy presented me with a photo tent complete with daylight lamps on Christmas Day (along with some other beautiful gifts - I felt spoilt rotten!) This piccy was actually taken at night time, so no more having to grumble about running out of daylight hours - score! I've still got a bit of tweaking and practice to go with it, but I'm really happy with this first result :) Any tips you have about using these babies would be much appreciated!

This card for the Runway Inspired Challenge #2; it's inspired by this piccy:

I was totally smitten with those shoes and the gorgeous green bag (no surprises there!) so that dictated my colour scheme and polka dot stamping. The line across the bottom of my card is inspired by the runway, and the use of modern basics for my stamping is inspired by the cool pattern on the dress. Phew! That's a lot of inspiration from one pic!

Right then, I'd better dash as project-tidy-up needs to commence here in Sheffield...

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Hello}
Stamps: Modern Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Fern, Buttercup (a muse ink)/London Fog (Memento)
Cardstock: Simply Chartreuse, White (Papertrey Ink)

Christmas, Matisse Styleeee

Hey!

Happy Christmas Eve! Are you all ready for the big day? We're just about to load the car up and head off my guy's parents for the big dinner day and then we'll be heading to my folks for Boxing Day (which is also my mum's birthday!)

But before I dash I wanted to share just a couple more cards and wish you all a very merry Christmas! :)

These card designs use both the negative and positive of a die-cut snowflake and also fit the current Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.

First up, the positive shape:

Next, the use of the negative shape:

This design was for cards to be hand-delivered. No way was I trusting Royal Mail with the amount of fragile dimension on this design!

Although Henri Matisse was famous for 'drawing with scissors' when implementing the idea of positive and negative space, I bet if he had a die cutting machine, he'd have used it! *wink*

Wishing you all a very happy holidays!

Catch ya later! (after the turkey - ha!)






Card Deets
{It's Christmas/Christmas Greetings}
Stamps: Teeny Trees, Frame-It (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: London Fog (Memento)
Cardstock: White, White Shimmer (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Cuttlebug and Snowflake Die (Provocraft)/Bling (Craft Stash!)

Modern basics does holly...

Hey!

Can you believe how close we are to Christmas?! How did it sneak up on us so fast?! I hope your preparations are going well; I'm amazed at how organised I've been this year: the cards are sent, the presents are wrapped and a couple have already been hand-delivered for the special day! All I've gotta do is sit and wait....I like that! :)

Anyways I'm zooming by with yet another Christmas card (what else?!)

Still stickin' to the traditional colour combo I love so much, and still giving it a modern-kinda twist with Modern Basics posing as holly :)

Again, as I've dabbled with this fabulous colour combo, I'm entering this card into the current JUGS challenge too:



I'll be back again before the big day with a few more Christmas cards to share but if you don't pop back before Christmas I'd like to wish you all a fabulous Christmas!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{Happy Happy Happy Holidays}
Stamps: Modern Basics, Stocking Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)/Fern (a muse)
Cardstock: White, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Twine (Papertrey Ink)/Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars)/Cuttlebug, Swiss Dot Embossing Folder (Provocraft)/Chompy! (Corner Chomper)/Gems (Stash!)

A modern take on a traditional colour combo...

Hey!

Hoooooooray for the first official day of the holidays! :) I've already been a busy bee as I've finished the rest of my Christmas wrapping (still gotta make some tags as I'm not sure the Post-It notes with names scrawled on will suffice!), took my final trip to the post-office (although it was a soggy walk, the complimentary mince pies on the counter were much appreciated!)

Anyways, onto the cards I have to share. Now I'm a total sucker for the tradition colours of Christmas (any excuse to indulge in my favourite colour *wink*) However, I'm also a sucker for modern design so here's a couple of cards to prove that a traditional colour combo doesn't have to lead to a traditional design:

Getting my dollar's worth with Modern Basics by now creating a wreath! This was easy-peasy to stamp: lightly trace a circle and follow by stamping leaves in two shades of green and add berries and a bow to finish!

Next up, a spot of masking:

Remember the tree from this card? Well using the same mask I created this one simply substituting chevrons for my yummy Classic Fabric Design Hero Arts stamp.

***Edited to add: someone in a previous post asked me what I used as my mask as they find it hard to get good, clean lines with this technique. I usually use a Post-It note, but for this larger shape used regular cheap copier paper (the thinner the better!) and don't' be afraid to add a lot of pressure to that stamp to make sure you get fabulous coverage. Hope that helps!***

These cards could totally qualify for our new challenge on A Passion for Papertrey - I'm dreaming of a GREEN Christmas (yes, this is a challenge I demanded! LOL!) So if you've put a spot of gorgeous green on your own Christmas cards and used at least one PTI product, then share the inspiration with us!

This gorgeous colour combo is also the focal point of the current Just Us Girls Challenge so I'm entering these cards over there too (not sure if that second one of mine will count with it's yellow star though!)


Right I'm now off to tidy up Santa's Grotto my crafting space! I've gotta clear some room to make some tags but I'll be back again this week to share a few more Christmas cards with ya (if you're not sick of 'em already!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{Happy Holidays Wreath}
Stamps: Modern Basics, Stocking Prints, Holiday Tree (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)/ Fern (AMuse Ink)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Ribbon (Craft Supply)

{Happy Holidays Tree}
Stamps: Classic Fabric Design (Hero Arts)/Stocking Prints, Around and About Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Fern, Buttercup (AMuse Ink)/Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)

Thank You (for the holidays!) :)

Hey!

WA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! School's finished for Christmas!!!! I think I'm still a little high on a sugar-rush after joining in the festivities with my students in true style by eating waaaaaaaaaay too many sweeties so excuse my over-use of capitals and exclamation marks in this post!!! :)

Now before I settle in under my snuggly blanket with my G&T, I just had to play along with the fabulous new Runway Inspired Challenge. It's led by one seriously fabulous (and super sweet) gal, Jennifer Rzasa and boy, oh boy, has she got one jaw-droppingly talented DT! Some of my most admired stampers feature on it!

The deal of the challenge this week is to be inspired by this runway pic from the Versace Spring 2012 collection:

I was taken with that gorgeous shade of yellow, the detail on that dress (that I would love to own myself!), the illuminated runway and the circular element at in the background.

Here's what a quickly whipped up, totally inspired and itching to play along!

It's a super small 3x3 card...I'm thinking I need to do something differently with it but time is against me, (my daylight has gone for today *sniff* however, I'm sat with fingers crossed that Santa brings me a photo tent complete with daylight lamps for future photography sessions *wink*)

Thanks so much for stopping by this li'l hyperactive corner of Blogland today! I'm off now to get that much-deserved G&T :)

Have a super duper weekend (and if like me, you too have finished work for the year I hope you kick off your holidays in style!)

Catch ya later!








Card Deets
{Thank You}
Stamps: Dainty Doilies 2 Small,Teeny Trees (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Buttercup (a.muse)/London Fog (Memento)

A Modern Christmas Tree...

Hey!

Happy Monday! I'm on the official countdown now for the Christmas holidays: T-minus 10 working days and counting *wink*!

During the past weekend I had the chance to play with some new juicy A Muse inks and inked like mad to whip out some much needed cards for Christmas. Whilst I was at it, I couldn't resist playing along with the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge too:



This fun tic-tac-toe challenge led me pick a line of Green, Kraft and Chevrons (what else?!) and I got busy:

I opted for a super-modern Christmas tree using a simple masking technique with my trendy (and much neglected!) Background Basics: Chevrons set. I love that this card is postage friendly too, meaning no bulky envelopes or higher rates of postage to say "Happy Holidays" to family and friends :)

This is just one design of a few I have to share with ya...turns out that by simply playing with some fabulous new ink helps my mojo no end! However I must get back to whipping out and actually sending a few more Christmas cards before I start showing 'em on here!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Happy Holidays}
Stamps: Background Basics: Chevrons, Stocking Prints - Sentiment (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Fern, Buttercup (A Muse)/Cocoa (Memento)
Accessories: Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Cuttlebug (Provocraft)

I'm dreaming of a white (and red!) Christmas...

Hey!

Happy Weekend :)

I'm popping in today to share a card with some felt-a-licious lovin' on it:

I've been spending the last week rooting through my supplies for inspiration for my Christmas cards. I've gotta say it's been like a treasure hunt; I'd forgotten all about this sweet stocking die I had and couldn't resist make a sweet felt stocking for a card :)

This card is also for our new challenge on A Passion for Papertrey. We wanna see your holiday creations that feature a red and white colour scheme (personally, I'd love to have thrown some green in the mix, but I can always place this card in green envie, or write inside it using green ink, right?! *wink*)

So if you've got a spare moment, why not join in the inky fun with us?

I'm leavin' ya now to go make some more Christmas cards; turns out I've not really made that many so far and have soooooo many more to make than I originally thought...how the heck did December crept around so quickly?

Thank you so much for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your weekend whatever you're doing!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{Deck the Halls}
Stamps: Stocking Prints (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Stocking Die, Bakers Twine (Papertrey Ink)/Felt (Craft Supply)/Cuttlebug