'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Last month I had a win over at the Little Miss Muffet Challenge Blog and the delightful Kathie asked if I would like to be part of their "Customer Appreciation Day" today... of course I said "Yes please!"

I got to use an image that is brand spanking new, and even though it's called Spooky Park Scene" I thought I could use it for an (always-needed) Christmas card; I just knew it would be perfect for a moonlit scene to go with a line from the Christmas poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas", I decided to make a pull-tab card so the "Miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer" would magically "appear"

I extended the lines of the snowy hills a little and added one to the front.  

I used one of the uber-talented Jennifer McGuire tutorials to learn how to make a Hidden Slider card (here's a link, the card structure starts at about the 4-minute mark - I just used a ruler and scalpel as I don't have the slot dies) and cut hidden bits and the "covering" snow hill out of scraps by hand to make sure it was big enough to conceal the sleigh and reindeer until you pull the tab.

Getting an image with a sleigh and 8 reindeer was, well impossible! I ended up grabbing a free coloured image from the web that had three reindeer and by copying and pasting added the extra reindeer using Photoshop.  Here they are peeking from behind their hill :-)

I used different inks, pigment, dye and alcohol to colour the night sky then flicked watery white acrylic paint on for snow. I coloured the moon with Copics then put a coat of Viva Pearl (Creme) on it and a thin coat of Viva Pearl Ice White.  The stars are Swarovski crystals.  I coloured the rest of the image with Copics, added Jo Sonja Texture Paste to the snow and then heat embossed it with white glitter EP (homemade using Clear EP and fine white glitter)  Of course it ALL looks so much more glittery in real life!

I cut the little Christmas trees from a border die that I've had for SO long, and that I can't remember (and didn't write on the storage box for) the name of... any ideas please let me know :-) that got the coloured with Copic, texture paste snow and glitter treatment.
The snowflake (I don't have the maker of that noted either, sorry) and the holly (Cottage Cutz Winterland Holly) were embossed the glitter and the red Candi centre is from my stash
I stamped the sentiment (from Kaisercraft) on the pull out tab using my fabulous fool-proof Press to Impress stamping platform... and STILL managed to get it crooked!! (I DID stamp it after the card was assembled, so not the platform's fault, lol)
That's about it for my pull-tab card.  This wasn't the first one I've done, but the first one I've blogged... the other will make an appearance from my Drafts Folder one day :-)  In the meantime I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges;

Sweet Stampin' Christmas in August

Christmas with the Cuties Add Some Sparkle

Merry Christmas Challenge Anything Christmas

Sweet Stampin' Christmas Anything Christmas

Hiding in my Craft Room Super Scraps Saturday

Pixies Snippets Playground Snippets

The Paper Shelter Punches and/or Dies

Aud Sentiments Anything Goes + a Sentiment

Send a Smile for Kids, Through the Craftroom Door, Digi Choosday, Crafty  Creations, 4 Crafty Chicks, Creative Fingers, Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends, Polkadoodles, A Perfect Time to Craft, Creatalicious Challenges, and Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge all have Anything Goes themes

Do pop over to the Little Miss Muffet Challenge Blog and check out the new images on show in their Customer Appreciation Day, I enjoyed being part of it, I'm sure you will too.  Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Flying Pigs

The card I have today is one of my older ones from my drafts folder, it was made for my hubby (I know, I only showed you last year's a few weeks ago... this is from the year before!)  He has a wicked sense of humour, so it's another tongue in cheek job. When anyone asked how old he was he (EVERY birthday!) answers 29, so I thought I'd have a little joke about it

I think I may have mentioned before that my hubby loves pigs... or at least he did until the inevitable avalanche that comes when you announce that you like something makes you yell "ENOUGH already", he still gets them from me though, hehe.
This image is called Cincinnati, from the sadly now defunct Paper Pretties.  I thought that when reading the first part of the (computer generated) sentiment and seeing the flying pig he would immediately think that I had put the obvious "yeah, and pigs fly" on the inside as the retort... but clearly we have been together a LONG time because he basically guessed that I had put an equally unlikely flying-pig assertion on the inside, as sadly Stefan doesn't look good for 29 - though not at all bad for 62, as he was on this day

I coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils and added Stickles to the clouds.  The image panel and mat were cut and embossed with Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 12.
The papers are Kaisercraft Fine and Sunny, with the stripy paper on the banners also from Kaisercraft... but as they came out of my snippets folder I can't remember which pad.
A long time ago I melted (a LOT of) pony beads in the oven to make the little "cabochons", or flatbacks or pearly thingys :-)  like I said I have a LOT - but still I could only find three exactly the same translucent red, so the one on the inside is a bit of an odd man out... the inside's not finished exactly the same as the front (didn't have enough of me snippets for a start, lol) so I think it's okay.  Of course all the layers are popped up on varying thicknesses of foam dots to give it dimension.
Well, that's it!  I'm going to enter this card in the following challenges

Moving Along With The Times For the Boys

Sasayaki Glitter Male Project

As You Like It Fur or Feathers and Why: I like "fur", love most animals... my pig here is HAIRY rather than furry, but I hope that doesn't get held against him... he's still cute:-)  I don't like birds as pets much - probably exacerbated by inheriting my Mum's budgie that drives me crazy with his squawking!  Nice to look at in the garden, but fur beats feathers in an "As You Like It" kinda way

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge Use Patterned Paper

Pixies Snippets Playground Snippets

Tuesday Throwdown, The Paper Shelter, Little Miss Muffet, Through the Craftroom Door, Digi Choosday, Crafty  Creations, Creative Fingers, Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends, Polkadoodles,  A Perfect Time to Craft, Create and Inspire, Creatalicious Challenges, Crafting With Attitude and Corrosive Challenge all have Anything Goes

I will be back on 16th (I'd like to say I'll be back with a card from my Drafts before that, but I know me, lol) with a GD card.  Until then Happy Crafting, Donna