Blue Monday?

Hello lovely people,

Apparently today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, also known as 'Blue Monday.'  Well, I had a very busy day in work but overall not particularly depressing ... especially since I had an e-mail saying my new Maja DPs are on the way to me from the fabulous Live and Love Crafts!

I thought I would share something blue with you but hopefully it won't depress you!  I made this card for the lovely Lisa's birthday :-)

I got the gorgeous deep MS edge punch for Christmas and cut away part of the front of the card then punched the edge so some of the inside of the card was visible.  The photo above is the card laying flat and below you can see it popping open a little.

I don't usually decorate the inside of my cards but in this design the inside is very much part of the overall design so I added a panel directly under the image panel for a greeting and popped a bit of seam binding underneath.

You may just be able to see that I curved the greeting a little by popping some foam pads under the centre.

I think this sweet image from LOTV makes a lovely winter birthday card although I am quite glad we don't have any snow yet this year!  I added a little sprinkling of Frantage round the edge and some liquid pearls to the snow.

Card recipe;

Image: Snow Queen - LOTV

DP: Vintage Frost Basics - Maja Design

Punch: Fans and flourishes - Martha Stewart
Dies: Precious stars - Memory Box
Sentiment: Mini clear stamp sent - Kaisercraft
Frantage: Shabby White - Stampendous
Seam binding / twine: from The Ribbon Girl
Button: from stash

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Hair: E40/41/42/43

Dress / shoes: B91/93/95/97

Soles of shoes: W4/5/6/7

Socks / fur: W00/0/1/2 (&B91 on socks)

Crown / stars: YR30/Y21/Y23

Ground: W00/0/1/2

This was a card I was really pleased with (even though it's not pink!) and will definitely be doing this style again :-)  It also has lots of my fave things on it - stitching, Frantage, seam binding, twine and a LOTV image...I was quite sad to part with this one!

I hope you all had a completely uneventful and non-depressing Blue Monday!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  LOTV (anything goes)
2.  A Little Bit Crafty (celebrate)
3.  Divas by Design (use ribbons)
4.  Sweet Stampin' (your fave style - pretty and girly)

Crafty Little Fairies - anything goes

Hello lovely people,

Christmas is so very nearly here but there's still time for one last challenge at Crafty Little Fairies and all the pink and blue fairies are joining in this time with our theme of...

ANYTHING GOES

We are lucky enough to have TWO sponsors this week;

Delicious Doodles

Hobbycutz

Now, I am very happy to report that I finished all my Christmas cards and they were all posted on Monday :-)  However, I have a habit of buying lots of Christmas stamps and not getting round to using them all, and this year was no different with a gorgeous James bear stamp from LOTV un-inked.  Well, that just wouldn't do so here he is...

It is a bit of a 'greatest hits' card for me with my fave Maja Design papers, my fave snowflake dies and some seam binding tied with twine but it all just works for me :-)
James is in his favourite blue scarf and hat and there is a touch of sparkle from some Stardust Stickles on the snow.

Card recipe;

Image: James - Santa stop here - LOTV

DP: vintage frost basics - Maja Designs

Dies: small snowflake set from Impression Obsession

Seam binding: Limoges blue - The Ribbon Girl

Button twine: Ivory - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: handwritten Christmas sentiments - Pink Petticoat

Copic colours;

Fur: E40/41/42/43

Hat  /scarf: B91/93/95/97 & T0/1 on furry bits

Mallet / signpost: E44/47/49

Sign: T8/9/10/100 (hat) & YR18/27 (nose) & T0/1/2

Ground: T0/1/2

This challenge will run for 2 weeks to give all of us Fairies a chance to rest our wings over Christmas and we will be back with a new challenge on 2nd January 2014!  There are so many gorgeous cards to inspire you over at Crafty Little Fairies and I hope you find some time over the festive period to join in :-)

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;

1.  Inky Chicks (Christmas)

2.  As You Like It (fave Christmas stamp - well, for now it is because I am so happy I finally got to use him!)

3.  Papertake Weekly (last Christmas)

4.  Top Tip Tuesday (snowflakes)

5.  ABC (blue, bows and bling)

A pink Christmas

Hello lovely people,

This weekend is a fairly quiet one at home for me so I have been doing a spot of Christmas shopping and making some more Christmas cards.  The one I have to share with you today is a simple design that I can make several of fairly quickly and easily.

I recently bought some fantastic spotty card from Anna Marie Designs in 12 gorgeous colours but no surprises which colour I reached for first!

Yes, it's James bear again but he is showing his feminine side in pink today!  I coloured him a little paler than previously and added Stardust Stickles to the snowflakes and the snow on the ground.

There are some gorgeous snowflake border dies out there but I don't have any of them so I used my favourite snowflake die set to make my own!
I also sponged some white acrylic paint round the edge of the DP to add to the snowy feel and love how it turned out.

Card recipe;

Image: James bear in the snow - LOTV

DP: Dottie Card (set 1) - Anna Marie Designs

Dies: Impression Obsession small snowflake set

Sentiment: Handwritten Christmas Sentiments - Pink Petticoat

Copic colours;

James bear: E40/41/42

Scarf / hat: R81/83/85

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  LOTV (pink and white)
2.  As You Like It (spots or stripes - spots for me - I just think they look super stylish!)
3.  A Gem of a Challenge (sparkles)

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, thanks for visiting me and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,
Kat xx

So cosy

Hello lovely people,

I am very much enjoying this Thursday for two reasons; firstly because I have the day off work (and Friday too!) and secondly because it is time for a new challenge at In The Pink.  Pink always makes me happy :-)

So, our theme this week is...

STITCHING (real or faux)

This was right up my street of course as I very rarely make a card without stitching, all done by hand.  If you want to see my little tutorial on how I do my stitching then check it out here.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Saturated Canary images that came on a CD ROM with Digital Crafting Essentials magazine.  This image was my favourite not least because of the lovely hair!
I had a go at leaving white highlights in the hair to increase the contrast and add more shine and think it turned out pretty well.

I have tied the satin ribbon with button twine as this worked so well on a previous card and added some pretty flowers.  I thought a little sprinkling of Frantage would add to the snowy feel and managed not to make too much mess this time!

Card recipe;

Image: Saturated Canary (with magazine)

DP: Maja Designs Vintage Spring Basics

Dies: Marianne Design stitch border, Memory Box cherry blossom (flower centres)

Frantage: Shabby White from Live and Love Crafts

Flowers: from Wild Orchid Crafts

Ribbon: from stash

Twine: from The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11 & R30

Hair: E55/23/25

Jacket: W00/1/3/4

Leg warmers / bow/ scarf: RV91/93/95

Shoes: W3/4/5

Snow: W00/1/blender

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  Papertake Weekly (snow and ice)
2.  Divas by Design (something snowy)
3.  A Little Bit Crafty (sparkle and shine - the Frantage is more sparkly IRL!)

The rest of the Pink Ladies have been busy creating some lovely stitched creations for your inspiration so do pop over to In The Pink to see them.

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments you leave...oh and don't forget to enter my little giveaway; the post is at the top of my blog :-D

Hugs,
Kat xx

The return of James Bear

Hello lovely people,

I hope you have been having a lovely weekend and not getting too spooked!  We went to a Halloween Party last night and the costumes were wonderful; even Otto the dog had a little skeleton outfit on!

This is Dr Hubby, and if you don't recognise the costume it is the eponymous 'superhero' from the film Kick-Ass!

I went for a more traditional Halloween costume...

Back to business though and it's on with the Christmas cards for me, using the fab new sketch from the Papertake Weekly Challenge for inspiration this time;

So, I am absolutely loving this James Bear stamp and thought he would look fab teamed with some frosty colours and snowflakes.  I have gone for several layers as usual and distressed them with a Tim Holtz distressing tool before inking them just a touch and stitching them.

I have coloured James pretty much the same as my last card using him but with a different colour hat and scarf!  I also gave the snow some Liquid Pearls treatment :-)

The snowflakes are a new die for me and wow, they are just gorgeous - so detailed and elegant :-)  I have to say that the Impression Obsession dies are always such good quality, cut beautifully and look fabulous.

Card recipe;

Image: James Bear in the snow - LOTV

DP: Vintage Spring Basics - Maja Designs

Lace - Venice Petit - Live and Love Crafts (but I can't see it in the shop anymore)

Dies: Small snowflake set - Impression Obsession (available from Dies to Die For)

Sentiment: Handwritten Christmas Sentiments - Pink Petticoat
Pearls: from The Hobby House

Copic colours;

Fur: E40/41/42/43

Scarf / hat: T0/3 & B91/93/95

'White' bit of hat: T0/1/2/blender

Ground: T0/1/3/blender

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  Papertake Weekly (sketch)
2.  The Hobby House (pearls)
3.  Top Tip Tuesday (seasons - mine is winter of course!)
4.  Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)
5.  Totally Gorjuss (anything goes with snow)

Thanks for visiting and I wish you all a good week :-)

Hugs,
Kat xx

Krafty James

Hello lovely people,

If you read my last post you will know that I have not got very far with my Christmas cards yet so yep, it's another one today!  At least I can put in more hours of crafting in the evening thanks to my new daylight lamp :-)  It was a bit bigger than I thought it would be but the light is fantastic and yes, I don't know how I have managed without one for so long!

Since it is Thursday it's time for a new challenge at Crafty Little Fairies and our theme this week is...

Anything goes

Our sponsor this week is Hot Shot Craft with a £10 voucher...
AND a second lucky winner will get a LOTV stamp kindly donated by our very own Squirrel :-)

I am now the proud owner of a couple of LOTV James bear stamps and a lovely paper pad from LOTV so couldn't wait to have a play and this is what I came up with...

The panel with the border is supposed to be at a jaunty angle but I am wondering if I should have made it even more angled so it doesn't look like I just stuck it a bit wonky by accident!

When colouring animals I have often ended up with quite a 'blended' look so this time I challenged myself to get more of a furry texture on James and hey, I'm quite happy with the result :-)

Card recipe;

Image: James Bear in the Snow - LOTV

DP: Krafty Christmas - LOTV

Twine: Ivory button twine - Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: Happy Circular Sentiments - LOTV

Fancy edge: Double dot scallop punch - Martha Stewart

Copic colours;

James bear: E40/41/42/43

Scarf ' hat: R27/29/59

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  LOTV (anything goes)
2.  Totally Gorjuss (string)
3.  The Ribbon Girl (brown)

The rest of the Fairies have created an array of beautiful cards to inspire you so do head over to Crafty Little Fairies to check them out :-)

Thanks for visiting,

Hugs,
Kat xx