Ornamental

I’m playing again at the Lost Coast Designs Christmas in July challenge and this time I’ve combined with the current challenge at Retro Rubber where we have a sketch to play with and Die Cut Divas who are also focusing on Christmas in July.

I thought it might be fun to put the Bubbles Border stamp to a different use and decided to use it as a pattern on some Christmas ornaments. The dies are really light bulbs but I figured if I only used the solid layer, they’d double up as teardrop ornaments. 

A combination of gold embossing, red watercolour paint, Wink of Stella, Glossy Accents and some tiny nail art gems makes for richly textured and opulent little baubles! I stamped and gold embossed the border and then die cut the parts of the pattern that seemed to fit best. I got six out of the border so I have another three to play with another time.

The square elements of the sketch are hand drawn with a copper gel pen, the ornaments are raised just a tiny bit with some card scraps and I tied some crochet thread through the hanger of each. I did stamp the sentiment directly on the card base but I managed to then drop the stamp back onto it so rather than start the card again, I stamped onto a slightly modified die cut and used that. I added a couple of decorative score lines to add a bit of interest to the white space of the sketch and gently rounded both corners (yes both, unusual for me!).

Stamps:
Bubbles Border (Lost Coast Designs, I’ve had mine since 2011)
Branch of pine small and Sentiment (Lesia Zgharda)

Paper: Bristol board

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Pine Needles)

Other:
String of lights dies (MFT)
Detail gold embossing powder
Watercolour (Winsor & Newton)
Wink of Stella (clear)
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Nail art gems
Crochet thread
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by! Links to all the challenges if you would like to play along with any of them:

Scrappy snowflakes

The challenge on Sundays at Splitcoast Stampers is always a “featured stamper” one — the idea is to have a look at the chosen stamper’s gallery and pick a card for inspiration to make your own. I don’t often get to play along but things worked out this weekend and I decided to combine and make a second card for the “snow day” theme at Christmas Kickstart.

Maja was the chosen stamper this week. Her “scrappy” style couldn’t be much more different to my usual but I couldn’t resist having a go, perhaps because it was well outside my comfort zone and that’s what makes a challenge a challenge, right?

I made the background paper with ink and some faint snowflakes (stamped with acrylic paint). The edges are sponged with a darker grey with the hanging stars at the top stamped in the same ink. The ground is swiped direct to paper with a Distress pad. 

The embellishments are very much based on the inspiration card I chose from Maja’s gallery although mine are made from layers of kraft cardstock (hers are wooden shapes).The punched circle was covered with double sided tape and very fine glitter burnished on there. The wee bear is stamped, he had a touch of pencil colouring before being fussy cut and finally there’s a sprinkle of Enamel Accents dots.

Stamps:
Polar Bear Pals (MFT)
Magazine cover mount from Craft Stamper (Nov 2012!)
Grunge Flakes (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)

Paper:
Bristol board
Kraft

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Iced Spruce, Walnut Stain)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Charcoal, Soft Granite)

Other:
Coloured pencils
White acrylic paint
Gauze
White crochet thread
Star punch (Fiskars)
Circle punch (Fiskars)
Snowflake die (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)
Glamour Dust by Deco Art (Crystal)
White Enamel Accents by Ranger

Thanks for stopping by! There’s still a week or more to play at Christmas Kickstart if you’re trying to build up a bit of a buffer ahead of time!

Happy New Home!

The Die Cut Divas challenge this month is all about celebrations, so I decided to concentrate on die cutting and embossing for a card to celebrate a move to a new home when my hubby asked if I could make something for him to give to friends.

Last time I made a new home card, I observed I didn’t have anything like a pot plant which would have filled a space in the layout. I fixed that by picking up a couple of MFT die sets from someone having a crafty de-stash on eBay and I’ve used several of them here. I used Copics to colour the pots (I went with traditional terracotta) and the foliage and then added a little sparkle with a Spica glitter pen. I thought a white embossed brick wall might make it look like a whitewashed conservatory. The sentiment is computer generated and cut with a stitched rectangle die to make “shelves” for the pots.

Supplies:
Potted Plants and Plants & Pots die sets (MFT)
Brickwork 3D embossing folder (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Copic markers
Spica glitter pen (green)
White paint pen (Posca)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Bristol board

What are you celebrating? Whatever it is, if you use a die or an embossing folder, why not share with the Die Cut Divas here

Pink Christmas

It might seem odd that my first card of 2026 is a Christmas card but I’m going to make a determined effort to play along with Christmas Kickstart this year so I hope I’m starting as I mean to go on. Jo’s guest elf this month is the lovely Chris Lawler who has chosen a colour theme — pink! Not a colour I naturally gravitate to but I did my best to embrace it!

The Christmas wording dies got their first outing here so I’m playing at Die Cut Divas too where the theme is New. Although I’ve had them a while this is the first time I’ve even opened the packaging so I hope that counts! I used them to cut hot pink glitter card to stick to an inky background then stood my fussy cut bear on top of the wording, I hope she's light enough on her feet not to squash it! 

I sprinkled a few tiny die cut stars and some white pen dots around the place, mounted with a broad border and called it done. The confetti die used for the stars is ancient (I’ve had it at least ten years) but very useful! The bear’s raised paw has a couple of layers of cardstock scraps behind it so it’s a got just a wee bit of dimension.

Stamps:
Polar Bear Pals (MFT)

Paper:
Pink glitter card 
Bristol board 

Ink: 
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Rosebud)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Picked Raspberry)
Adirondack by Ranger (Raspberry)

Other:
Stylish Script Christmas Wishes dies  (Lisa Horton for Creative Expressions)
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Copic markers
Posca paint pen (white)

Thanks for stopping by!

Stripy scarves!

Kathy has set our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — she wants to see spots and/or stripes. Mr Mojo has taken a holiday and I was feeling distinctly uninspired so went searching for extra inspiration (I often find that figuring out a way to combine a couple of challenges helps get things moving). 

I haven’t played in Jo’s Christmas Kickstarter for ages but I always look to see what the month’s challenge is. This time around it’s all wrapped up with scarves. That combined with the stripes theme in my head to steer me to use these adorable bears with their striped scarves. 

The bears are stamped and masked, edges of the card covered with low tack tape before blending in some blue Distress inks. A little Copic colouring and just a few dimensional paint dots along with a sentiment finish off a simple one layer creation.

The rest of the team have created a lovely spring vibe with their creations, it’s just me reflecting the weather outside the window at the moment! Do check out the DCM blog for a breath of something warmer (link from the graphic below) and why not get the stash of Christmas cards under way with a visit to Christmas Kickstart too?

Stamps:
Polar Bear Pals (MFT)
Sparkle All the Way (Crafter's Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch)

Other:
Copic Markers
Pearl pen by Viva Decor ((Ice White)
Corner Chomper 

Creature comforts

It's my turn to set the challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week. As we’re approaching winter, I thought we could dress up some of our furry or feathery friends to help them stay warm and cosy.

I’ve seen this set of polar bears around and admired cards made with them for some time now so when I saw somebody having a crafty clear out on a well known auction site, I put in a bid and got them!

The little bear was stamped and masked, then the bigger one stamped behind him. I used grey ink for a softer outline and watercoloured them, then used a fineline marker to fill in eyes and noses. I gave the scarves fringes too, just because I could. A little flurry of enamel accent dots gives them a snow shower to enjoy.

Stamps:
Polar Bear Pals (MFT)

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Soft Granite)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Watercolour paints (Winsor and Newton)
Enamel Accents by Ranger
Fineline marker
Stitched Rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)

Thanks for dropping by!