'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

Guest DT at Little Miss Muffet

A few weeks ago one of my cards (this one if you're interested!) got "Spotlighted" at Little Miss Muffet Challenges; the lovely Faye contacted me and asked if I would like to have a Guest spot on their DT.... would I????? Errr, YESSSS PLEEEAASE!!  So here's my offering for their challenge starting today, the theme is Blue and Green

Now, I was always taught "Blue and Green should never be seen, without a colour in between", well I'm thinking... bunkum!  Here I have those two colours up close and personal and she's looking prett-tty swish :-)  Of course having a lovely little image like Katie (one of the gorgeous Polka Dot Pals, available here) did help, quite a bit :-) Little Red Wagon has Girl Power for their challenge, Fab'n'funky Challenges has For the Kids while Send a Smile for Kids has Anything Goes For Kids so I'm enterng those... oh, an Crafty Little Fairies has Cute and Cuddly so I'm entering there too :-) 
I used Copics from the Blue, Blue/Green and Green families and some Prismacolor pencils, which I especially like the look of on the linen textured paper I used for the image. I made an easel card, they are my favourite fold after all :-) Though I do have a few "favourite folds", lol

Papertake Weekly have their regular "Sketchie Free For All" challenge, yay!!, Sketch #51 really lent itself to the idea I wanted to use of having the image "sticking up" over the edge of the fold (instead of covering the whole front with a square. It looks pretty much as I was hoping it would.
The papers are all from (ANCIENT) Die Cuts With A View Mat Stacks, Far East and All Glittered Up (I think) They're very glittery IRL.  I cut a circle of the blue and green then cut a frame with black cardstock from my stash, using Lifestyle Crafts circle dies - a great set for this sort of job as there are 20+ in the set so you can make very narrow frames easily, here I've used about 3 sizes apart so you can get MUCH narrower frames than this.  

I managed to get some glue on the black when I was sticking the silver cord (bought for egg decorating 11 years ago!) around the edge so I added some Gloss squiggles to disguise it, I'm really happy with the result; it helps tie the frame in with the pattern on the DP
I merged Katie with one of the stools from LMM's Tea Party Table and Chairs Combo pack, especially easy to do with Little Miss Muffet digis as they're in .png background (meaning they already have a clear background perfect for layering) Sadly I can't find the combo pack on the website any more, but Katie is still easy to merge with any background.  I had put her originally on some digital paper, but I managed to drop a Copic on it so I had to fussy cut her and mount her on foam dots on the DP circle.   The sentiment is from Create With TLC, I think it was a freebie... Paulette is very generous with her sentiments so it's highly likely :-)  I added a couple of star stickers, again from ancient stash.

The silver lace was a gift from one of my Mum and Dad's Malaysian holidays, the rhinestone button isn't - a button that is - it's a slider with a glittery cachou thingy stuck inside, which was silver, I coloured it with a Copic to make it green (I have some green ones but  they're too Christmas Green, if you know what I mean)  I added a couple of tiny silver "pearls", what is a pearl that's not pearly called??
Top Tip Tuesday, Tuesday Throwdown, Crafty Calendar, Simon Says Challenge, Crafty Girls Challenge and Cute Card Thursday all have Anything Goes Challenges running so I'm entering there.
Anyway that's (finally!) it for today's card.  I'd like to thank Faye again for the opportunity to be a part of their fabulous DT - make sure you check out the challenge blog so you can see just what I mean by "fabulous".  I hope you get a chance to enter the challenge too, fly in the face of those Blue and Green should never be seen-ers, lol. 

I'm off to get dinner ready, Thursday is a super busy day for me, we have the kids over for dinner and quite often (like tonight) my parents as well; my DIL brings the twins over about 4 o'clock and life as we know it ceases from that moment, lol. 
They're growing up so fast, we put a little sandbox in for them last week (just a planter filled with white sand and some toys, but they love it) so now we have mayhem inside and out, lol. I thought I'd share this pic of Grandad watching "them" in my laundry last week, Emily got his attention while Nathan (in the background) got into the cupboard and took the lid off the disinfectant!!!  I swear they're in cahoots!  Time to put locks on methinks.  I do my shopping on Thursdays too, so enough from me!
I'll be back on Saturday with my regular DT card for Di's Digis.  Until then Happy Crafting, Donna

GDT for Little Miss Muffet, and never a dull moment

A couple of weeks ago the lovely Faye from the Little Miss Muffet Challenge offered me the opportunity to be Guest Designer for the challenge starting today... of course I jumped at the chance :-) It's an Anything Goes theme... Here's my offering

 I took the opportunity to make a birthday card for my niece's little boy... he turns 3 the same day as my darling twinnies turn 1, so I know I'll probably run out of time if I leave it until closer - 28th March will creep up on me, I'm sure :-) 
I used the adorable William With Blocks image, one of the Polka Dot Pals available here; the great thing is (apart from the obvious cuteness!) that it is actually a set of images; there's William with blocks, without blocks and the blocks without William :-)  I made my own little scene up by adding some of the blocks to the picture of William, easily done in Microsoft Word with a little cropping.  I coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils, adding some Stickles to the star on his shirt.
The red glittery cardstock I used for the mats is from my stash, I added some Red Stickles to a wooden "3" also from my stash... I can't believe how well they match!  Clear It Out has a Birthday theme and want to see Bling from our Stash... I'm in! and Divas by Design has Make It Sparkle, so I'm  in there too.
The stripy paper is from Kaisercraft and the one with balloons is from a Merci pad.  My Mums Craft Shop has a Spots and/or Stripes challenge, so I'm entering there.  The blocks spelling Nic's name are from a discount store pack designed for necklace making.

I used the sketch from Sketch and Stash this time around, I do like a nice straightforward sketch :-) I just realised I took the horizontal element right across my card - hope it's close enough!  I used the sketch for the inside too - nothin' new in that!  
Crafty Creations and Delightful Challenges want us to Keep It Simple; you don't get much more simple than this little card so I'm entering there.  Colour Me Copic, Through the Craftroom Door and Tuesday Throwdown all have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering there too.
Well that's it for my card today, thanks again to Faye for having me as your guest :-) Pop over to the Challenge Blog and check out the fab makes - you won't be disappointed.
It was just as well I got my card done early as I had a little mishap with our new under-construction swimming pool - or as my son Chris now calls it "the Crime Scene"; it is half finished (as in the sand is halfway up the outside and the water is half way up the inside) so on Monday evening I thought I would step from the solid ground over the excavation onto the edge of the pool to shine a torch in so we could get a preview of what it's going to look like when the underwater light is fitted - shouldn't have been a problem, we've been in the industry for over 20 years and in my younger days I helped my hubby install literally hundreds of pools requiring stepping onto edge beams from solid ground thousands of times..... of course the primary thing to note here is "in my YOUNGER days"! 

Hubby and Rocky at "The Crime Scene"

I have arthritis now, and it does restrict some of my movement, particularly my hips. I didn't allow for it, failed to bridge the gap, one leg went into the excavation and my momentum carried me over the edge beam into the pool - I was so glad it had water in as I landed head first and would have done some serious damage falling six feet and landing on my head!  As it was I did do some damage.  I was in serious pain in my hip, and ended up in hospital for a couple of days after an X-ray showed a fracture to the neck of my femur.  I thought it unlikely that it was a fracture as I could put some weight on it the next day but had to have a CT scan to check, which failed to confirm either way but showed something else so I had an MRI.  The conclusion is that my arthritis has progressed much more quickly than I thought, knees and spine are Severe and the hip has End Stage OA meaning the only thing left is a hip replacement.  I am technically too young to have one, they are designed for the activity level of a seventy to eighty year old and the concern is that the pain-free me will wear it out too quickly, but the Orthopedic Surgeon says we should start planning for it now and try everything to delay it - including, ironically I think you'll agree, Hydrotherapy!!!  Actually, it was one of the reasons we put a pool in again (after removing our last one 13 years ago!) I find the treadmill and other weight bearing exercises very uncomfortable but swimming is much less so, so good exercise.
So as the title of my post says, there's never a dull moment here - sometimes I long for "boring" lol
I came home from hospital last night, good pain meds, physio and crutches for a few weeks - that's going to slow me down in the help-to-landscape-the-pool-area department!!  We were trying to get it all finished for my hubby's 60th in April, mmmm, we'll see.
I'm trying desperately to get to my DT card for Di's Digis, so hopefully I'll be back with that on Saturday (if not I'll drag one of my drafts out)  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Make a Wish

Another easel card today, I do like my easels!  To mix it up a bit, this one is a circular one.  Long post and lots of pics today (I know, not unusual!)  

I cut all the circles for this card freehand, using a pair of compasses... how "old school" of me, lol, except for the image panel which was cut using Scalloped Circle Nestabilities,  The Crafty Pad has To Die For as its challenge so I'm in!  The Secret Crafter has Circle Cards and Moving Along With The Times has Anything but Square for their challenges, so I'm definitely in there.

I've used the sketch Sketch and Stash this time, "converting" it to a circle format, but all the elements of the sketch are there -promise!

I've used a digi image from Pollycraft... unfortunately they're no longer in business, you can get some of their images from Little Miss Muffet Stamps but sadly not this one, which was among the first I bought several years ago(edited to add: this image now available at LMM!!)... this is Fairy Clover "Butterfly Wishes".  Flutterby Wednesday has reopened (yay), the theme this time is Friendship, so I hope this qualifies... I've used plenty of  "fairy" AND "butterfly" (smiles sweetly) The (final, sad face) Creatalicious Challenges theme is Fantasy, so I'm entering there, and 2 Sisters Challenge theme is "In the Garden"... I like to think there are fairies at the bottom of MY garden, so in there as well.

I've coloured with Prisamcolor pencils... well technically I've coloured with watercolour pencils THEN Prismacolors; I coloured the image originally ages ago - before I even had any Prismacolors, and was going to ditch it when I had a bit of a clear out last week, then I started fiddling with it trying to "fix" it up, I spent so long on it in the end I was determined to use it - it's not the best colouring but I am happy with the card overall.  I added oodles of Stickles to Clover and her little butterfly friend, she's a fairy after all so it's practically compulsory :-)

The papers are digital;  from the Fairytale Too pack by Nitwit Collections  gorgeous IRL. Most of the paper's covered on the front, but you can see it a bit better on the inside.  Fab'n'funky Challenges wants us to Use Leaves this time, as well as the leaves on the floral paper I have used leaves on my little flower arrangement that acts as a stopper for the easel, so I'm entering there.

Sassy Cheryls Tuesday Challenge theme is Happy Birthday, the sentiment - which I cut from one of the tags in Kaisercrafts Magic Happens pad is perfect for a birthday so I'm entering there.  

The filigree metal corners were a gift from my blog friend Woo last Christmas, I hope she likes how I used them ;-) Allsorts Challenges want us so use metal, so I'm in.  The white string pearls have been in my stash for at least 13 years!  I used them a lot when I was egg decorating and have reels of them in a few colours, the lilac pearls and the Little Birdie butterflies are from my stash too, so, once again, I'm entering Lisa's Waste Not Wednesdays challenge to use up our stash... if only I didn't keep adding to it I'd be doing really well :-)  Cupcake Craftroom has Fresh and Summery (with the option of lilac and lime) this time around, I definitely have the lilac!  

The Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is Lets Hear it for the Girls, now I'm not sure if "fairies" equals "girls" in this scenario, but I'm entering there, so we'll soon find out :-) Stampin' for the Weekend  has a Monochrome challenge, we'll see if my card counts as monochromatic too... I understand completely if it doesn't, but there is an awful lot of purple and not much of anything else, so I think it might.  I'm sure I'll be alright in the Bearly Mine Challenges, Craft Your Days Away (another 'final' challenge, sob), Divas by Design and Paper Crafting Journey challenges as they're all Anything Goes!

Well, if you've made it this far... WELL DONE YOU!  I know there's been even more than usual pics in this post, but I have been playing around in my My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking programme that I treated myself too (exactly WHEN I think I'm going to get time to do all this scrapbooking beats me, lol) and thought I'd have a little go at something I've been admiring on Vicky's blog for a while... a compilation of photos... what a great way of getting "detail" shots in, don't you think?  This was my first effort, but I see lots of potential!

Anyway, that's it (hooray I hear you say) for today's card, which is of course so much prettier in real life.  I'll be back in a day or so; it's Father's Day here next week, so that's my card making themes sorted for the next couple of projects.  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna