More Christmas Cards

 Thought you might like to see a few more of the Christmas cards I have been making.

For the little angel from Crafty Individuals, top left, I coloured her with Pro Markers and used a fine glitter on her wings, then made some faux metal and put it through an embossing folder and then the Alterations Baroque die. The Three Kings by Elusive Images, kindly lent to me by Alison, were also coloured with Pro Markers. For the little angel bottom left I alcohol-inked some card stock and cut the border strip with a Cuttlebug die.

I made the Easel card using a wooden reindeer from the Altered Element and Nestie and Alterations dies. For the Elusive Images scene, kindly lent to me by Alison again, I used Pro Markers and cut off the greeting from the bottom, and used the Following Yonder Star from the Three Kings set, on an Alterations die. The edging on the left was again the Cuttlebug die.The card bottom left was made with the Crafty Individuals Partridge in a Pear Tree, coloured with Pro Markers and the edges corner-rounded and inked. The partridge bottom right of the card is from the Creative Expressions set. The card bottom right uses the same stamp sets but on shrink plastic, but I have used the remains of the paper cut from the edges of the bracket shaped card to make a pretty shape across the middle of the card.

The top two cards are again the Pear Tree sets on shrink, and the one on the right has a border strip across the middle which was part of the lower piece of card used to cover the bracket shaped card, with another, co-ordinating, piece for the top half. For the card bottom left I used the waste card from cutting out some reindeer, i.e. the negative, and bottom right I have used the Three Kings, this time on shrink plastic.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree Card

This is another Christmas card I've made, using the Partridge in a Pear Tree set from Crafty Individuals. Love this image! I coloured it in with Pro Markers - I've never really been a 'colouring in' crafter but I am really hooked on Pro Markers although still learning.

Wanted to show you this card as I used a bit of my 'Faux German Scrap' - self adhesive lace sprinkled with The Stamp Man Moonglow two-tone embossing powder then heated. I really didn't intend to waste this on cards, I intended to use it only on gifts, but I am dreadful for using things just because they are on the table in front of me!

Little Christmas Gift Box with Art Mould Frame

I haven't blogged for a while so I thought I'd show you a little something whilst I'm finishing off some other items to go with it. I am really pleased with this Krafty Lady Frame Art Mould I bought when I went to the Stamp Bug a few weeks ago and have made up several already, for bigger projects. Set on the diagonal, it was the perfect size for a little papier mache box from the Altered Element:-

The image in the centre is from the new Crafty Individuals Christmas Miniatures book, which as usual is gorgeous, and I filled it in with glossy accents. I made up the frame with friendly plastic. I maybe haven't shown the mould in its best light as it is very detailed, but I have lost some of the detail as I wanted to use some little bits of Angelina Jolie film, which of course fuses rather than melts. I decided I liked the slightly grungy but very shimmery effect, though.

Reindeer Christmas Cards

I had a lovely day with Alison on Tuesday and we were both making Christmas cards. As you can see I am having a bit of a reindeer craze, as I just got the Tim die, which I've now passed on to Alison:-

Some of the reindeer I have been cutting in mountboard and then triple embossing with a two tone plum embossing powder, from the Stamp Man Moonglow range. I had a thought the other day that if I use it to emboss the sticky side of some white adhesive lace it might make a sort of faux German scrap border, so I used this for the card top right. However, I mainly made this for using around boxes etc, so it will pop up again soon. As you can see, I have also used the negative of the paper I cut some of the dies out of, as it seemed a shame to waste it.

Advent Calendar

Over on the Altered Element Blog I have an advent calendar project which I made for my November guest spot. Sadly since I made it, Lynne has announced her decision to close. I feel so sad as she has been the most wonderful person imaginable to work for, and has managed to source the kind of goodies I had only dreamed of, and some I didn't know I wanted but now know exist. Where will we go now? I will let Lynne make the announcement in her own words here, but suffice it to say I hope very much that there are happier times ahead for her.

If you would like to know how I made this, pop over to the shop blog, but sadly as Lynne is not currently re-stocking, the Twiddleybitz calendar is no longer on the website. I hope it will give you a few ideas though, and is such a fun project to make!

Hand Decorated Ribbons with Mannequin Tags

Over on Gingersnap Creations Blogspot, the challenge is Sewing Notions. Not sure if we use the word Notions in this way in the UK so I checked, and it means the sewing bits and pieces such as zips, buttons, ribbons, poppers, etc. I've probably added to the language barrier now, as it is probably just me who says 'Poppers' - I think they are snaps in the US!

I think I have mentioned before on my blog that a sewing theme always appeals to me as it is genuinely nostalgic for me as my Mum has always sewn, on her old Singer sewing machine and by hand. Consequently I found it hard to narrow down my ideas for once, but plumped for something I felt might be a suitable Christmas gift for my crafting friends. I wanted to colour and rubber stamp some plain ribbons, and wrap them around mountboard mannequins to give the effect of bought 'carded ribbons', with a sewing theme.

First of all, I cut out mannequin shapes on mountboard and coloured them with Pro Markers. I then stamped them with images from the Creative Expressions Vintage Sewing stamp set, which you can get from the Altered Element. I then used circle punches to make shrink plastic buttons, coloured and stamped in the same way.

I then coloured the ribbons with Pro Markers (love how well these colour ribbon!), and stamped some of the text and images onto them.

Finally I wrapped the ribbons around the matching mannequins and fastened them with pins, which had been topped with co-ordinating beads.

Haute Couture Canvas - Gingersnaps Challenge

I made this little canvas for the Gingersnap Creations Blogspot challenge for this week, which is Haute Couture. I thought this new Crafty Individuals stamp, depicting two elegantly dressed ladies with a vintage Millinery advertisement fitted the bill. I added their scroll stamp and some little flowers to the corners, and some Deko Ice from the Altered Element, which I coloured orange to match the rest of the project. I used a vintage rose coloured braid around the edge, letting it sit slightly above the edge so it framed the image from the front.