New Beginnings at Sweet Stampin'

Today  I have my last card as Guest Designer for Sweet Stampin'.  Thanks ladies, it's been a real pleasure being your guest - hope you'll have me "over" again some time.
The challenge theme, to suit this time of the year, is "New Beginnings".  You could make it a New Year project, something to celebrate a new house, new car or like me a new baby.  I'm sure you can think of more New Beginnings, and they all count :-)

My son's friends have added another little girl to their family, congratulations Sepida and Richard on the arrival of your "Lilly-Rose" and to Ella-Jade on being a big sister :-)  Addicted to Stamps has Something New as its challenge theme this time too, so I'm entering there.
I've used another Digistamp Boutique image, actually it's a composition using three of the images in the Baby Animals collection, they're so darling!  As this card is "from all of us" I thought a little group was the way to go image wise, lol.  I've coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils, I love the soft effect and while I am less proficient with pencils than Copics, I love putting in "extra" effort for special cards... even if the recipient can't tell, I know that there is extra love in my pencilled cards :-)  To enter the Digistamp Boutique challenge  all you have to do is use a Digistamp Boutique image, too easy! ... I've used three DSB images, but I'll only enter once, lol.
The papers are from Kaisercrafts Lullaby collection Kaisercraft and from my stash.  The pink cardstock is American Crafts. All my layers popped up on foam dots, per usual! The flowers are from my stash, and I got my lovely pink Card Candi from Crafts 4 You.  I've used some on the front and one piece as the centre of the flower on the inside of the card, I love how the little spots tie in with the spotty paper and the spots on the flowers.
I followed the sketch from the Gem of a challenge, gem of a sketch if you ask me!!  

The sentiment is computer generated; Welcome Lilly-Rose, With Love from all of us.  I'll have the second part on my freebies page as soon as I can.  The current Cutie Pie Challenge is to Use a Sentiment, so I'm entering there.
The inside of the card is finished, as usual, with papers from the front.  My "so sweet" paper is just about gone, I'll have to try and get more though it came in a pack so I might just try and make some up in Photoshop...wish me luck!

Digi Stamps 4 Joy challenge is "Anything (something old something new) Goes".  My papers are "old" and the images are new, so I'm entering there.  Simon Says Challenge, Bearly Mine Challenges, Charisma Cardz, Stampin' for the Weekend and The Secret Crafter all have Anything Goes challenges running, so I'll be entering there too!

Well I think that's about it for my New Beginnings card, do pop over to the Sweet Stampin' blog and check out the rest of the Team's inspiration, yummy.  There's plenty of scope in this challenge, so I look forward to visiting you when you enter it :-)  Until next time, hope you have a lovely New Year, Happy Crafting, Donna... and her little friends :-)  

Last Christmas.....

Last Christmas cards for 2011 that is!!  
As promised this is my last post for Christmas cards I made for 2011... any Christmas posts you see from here on in are for early 2012 cards, lol.

 All of today's cards use Digistamp Boutique images from the Cute Santa Collection ... how aptly named.  They're really great images for these quick cards.  Digistamp Boutique monthly challenge is to use a DSB image, as I've said before; no challenge at all... I'm in!  My Time to Craft has Winter Pals as its theme, these little guys are clearly pals, so I'm in there too! 
The first card uses Kraft card, paper from Kaisercrafts "Tis the Season collection... you can't see the lovely red foil spots :-( and textured red and green cardstock.  The image is coloured with Copics with gloss on Rudolf's nose and Stickles on Santa's fur trim.  Ribbon is from a Christmas pack I bought in Spotlight.  The image mat is cut using Nestabilities Labels Twelve. The inside was finished very simply... I don't have a photo of it as I literally finished the card, took one pic and handed it over :-)  

The Santa in the second card is coloured with Prismacolor Pencils, which seemed to suit the paper better; he has gloss added to his boots and Stickles to his fur trim.  I used paper from Basic Grey's Jovial collection and the textured red and green cardstock again, and buttons from my stash.  The image panel is cut using Nestabilities Standard Circles, the red mat is cut using a  Nellie Snellen die (MFD 020).  Pollycraft  has "Punch It" as their challenge this time around, I've used a die on each of these cards, so I'm entering there.  Crazy 4 Challenges has It's Santa... I've got Santas aplenty, so I'm in :-)  The inside was finished with offcuts from the front, isn't it always?

Cupcake Inspirations has this Photo as inspiration for their challenge, I love the traditional colours so it was easy for me to make cards using them :-)

The final card in today's trilogy uses paper from my stash, the image panel is cut using Nestabilties Standard Circles and the mat with Nestabilites Lacey Circles.  The cord is from my stash, as are the little red gems.
The image is coloured with Copics, with Stickles on the snowballs and gloss on Santa's boots and belt.
One Stop Craft Challenge has Winter Wishes as their theme, Digital Tuesday has Winter Wonderland and Crafty Calendar has Cold and Frosty; I'm sure at least one of these cards fits at least one of these, so I'm entering there. 
Bizzy Becs and Paper Play Challenges both have Christmas challenges, The Secret Crafter, Charisma Cardz Anything Goes (who are offering more yummy DSB images as a prize!!) and Simon Says Challenge all have Anything Goes challenges; I'm absolutely sure that ALL of these fit ALL of these so I'm in there too!
The inside of the card is embarrassingly simple... still a bit better than leaving it completely blank, I suppose.  I used Fiskars Apron Lace punch, I think it suits the Lacey Circles really well.
I only realised when putting these photos up, that not one of these cards has a sentiment of any kind on!  That's probably why they were so quick, sometimes I spend ages "making" a sentiment on the computer, or doctoring it after stamping it badly. lol.
Anyway, that's the end of the story...for today!  I'll be back on Saturday with my last Guest Spot for Sweet Stampin' and Sunday for Here Come The Boys  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Santa's Turn To Party

I have another Christmas card to show today.... only one more post after this and I'll be done with Christmas 2011 - PROMISE!  I made this one for the staff of one of the swimming pool companies we work with, it is really appropriate for Christmas in Australia, and particularly so for our industry I feel :-)

The image is Santi Beaches (I love clever names!) and he's a digi from Dude Time Doodles.  He looks well relaxed, doesn't he?  He's finished with all that present giving (much of it at our house, I might add!) and is ready to Par-Tay!!!  Totally Papercrafts challenge is "Time To Party" and Crafty Emma's is Party Party Party, so I'm entering there.
I coloured the image with Copics, adding high gloss to Santa's sunnies and his lovely cocktail.  Crazy 4 Challenges has "It's Santa" for their challenge, so I'm entering there too.  I cut  the image panel with Nestabilities Labels 4, Pollycraft has Punch It as its theme, so I'm entering there.  The papers are from Kaisercrafts "Tis the Season collection, the glittery green card and the cord are from my stash (handy hint: melt the ends to stop them fraying...but don't set fire to them, hmmm, the voice of experience, lol).  I made the sentiment on the computer.  Cutie Pie Challenge is to Use a Sentiment, I have so I'm in.
The inside of the card is finished with papers from the front... isn't it always?! lol.
Bizzy Becs and Paper Play Challenges have Christmas challenges running Digi Stamps 4 Joy has "Christmas but no animals" - even though this Santa is a party animal, I'm entering there, lol.  Papertake Weekly "Last" Christmas - as in their last Christmas themed challenge for the year and Charisma Cardz Anything Goes so I'm in there too.
Before I finish this post I thought I'd share one of the ideas I use to ensure my digis are scaled correctly to fit the Nesties I want to use.  In this case, the Labels Four set. I scanned all the dies in each of the sets I have, saved them as .png files in a folder named for that set.  I then open the one I want, add it to my Word document (position it so that it's readily moved around) then add my digi image (which I have also saved as .png files with transparent backgrounds, though you can do it with .jpg files).  Once the two files (Nestie and image) are open, I resize the image (make sure you don't resize the Nestie!) until it fits inside the Nestie, or it has the "bits" hanging over the edge that I want like Santi has in this case.  All that's left to do is delete the picture of the Nestie from the document and print the image.  You know it will fit inside the Nestie, and you know you've left enough room on the page for the Nestie.  I use the same principle for adding sentiments to Nesties.
Well, that's it for today.  I'll be back in a day or so with the very last of my 2011 Christmas cards, until then Happy Crafting, Donna.

Witching You a Happy Birthday

While I've still got a few Christmas cards left to show for this year, I thought I'd mix it up a bit today with a birthday card I made for my sister Fiona who loves Witches, purple and butterflies in equal measure!

The oh-so-not-scary witch is L'il Haunts Lylah from Tickled Pink Stamps, how awesome is she?...my sis is going to LOVE her!!  I've given her green eyes, like my sister, and pink hair which is not like my sister...any more!! (yup, she did have pink hair - though not quite this pink - at one stage, orange at another even blue/black at another - she's the "out there" one, I am the conservative one, lol)  
Tickled Pink Stamps challenge this time around  is to use one of their previous challenges, I've gone for challenge #6 which is Birthday Wishes.... I've got a Birthday Witch, but I know it counts :-) but I could equally have gone for #21 which is Use Three Designer Papers.  Totally Gorjuss challenge is to make a card For Someone Special, my sister is certainly special to me so I'm entering there.  The Crafty Pad wants us to make Anything but Christmas, birthdays (even those on the 21st December) are NOT Christmas, so I'm in.
I've used the sketch from Sketch Saturday, I do like a nice sketch :-)  I've flipped it and used rectangles instead of circles, and tweaked the dimensions to accommodate the quite-tall Lylah (definitely NOT like my sister, she's a shorty like me...even shorter in fact, YAY!) but that's about as adventurous as I got; why mess with perfection? lol.
The image is coloured with Copics, Creatalicious Challenges  has Purple Green Pink and White as their current challenge theme, this ticks all the boxes (though admittedly there aint much green...it is there!) so I'm entering.  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Magic Happens collection.  The foil stars tie in beautifully with the micro corrugated purple foil card I used for matting. it's quite "blingy" IRL.  The gems at the top are Pebbles from the Boo collection, the ribbon is from my stash.  Simon Says Challenge has a Bingo challenge; I'm using the  ribbon/twine, gems, glitter/sparkle line hoping my very shiny foil bits are glittery enough!
I made the sentiment on my trusty laptop, I'll have it on my freebies page if you want to grab it... I've got a few waiting to get posted on there, I will get around to it, hopefully this side of Christmas :-)  Cutie Pie Challenge is to Use a sentiment, never a problem for me, so I'm in there too.
As usual I used some offcuts from the front to finish off the inside of my card, Fiona loves butterflies so I took the opportunity to add a gorgeous little butterfly I got in a pack from Lincraft, can't remember the brand, sorry.  It's mulberry paper with glitter on the wings, stamens for antenna and a wood bead for a body, so sweeeet!
Sundays with Chrissy, Bearly Mine Challenges and Charisma Cardz all have Anything Goes challenges on at the moment, so I'm entering there.
That's it for today, I have another card that my mum "made" for my sister, (well she did glue some of the bits on, lol).  I'll post that at a later date, there'll be a time, I'm sure when I'll be cardless and grateful to post even a simple card like that is :-)  In the meantime I'll be back in a day or so (that would be BEFORE Christmas, I hope!) with some more of my Christmas cards (not many left now, I promise). Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna (and Lylah)

Take It Easel at Christmas

I made the card I have to show you today for my blog friend and Here Come The Boys challenge host Woo.  I still have a couple of Christmas cards left to show you, but it will be over soon, I promise!  Well for this year anyway, lol.

The photo was a little dark, but as the card left for England some time ago I can't very well take any more pics... I've upped the exposure in Photoshop to lighten it but that has "flattened" it a bit :-( oh well, you get that!
Obviously it's an easel card, I just like them and as Some Odd Girl has Easel cards as their theme I've entered there.  Totally Gorjuss has For Someone Special as it's theme this time, Woo's pretty special - a thoroughly nice person - and so I've chosen this card to enter there. 
The little bear (is he not the cutest?) is Louie, he comes in various guises from Digistamp Boutique.  To enter their challenge all you have to do is use one of their images, no problem at all with images like this available, so I'm in there too.  Ready Teddy Go has Anything Goes for their challenge, as long as you use a bear; I have, I'm in!  Crazy 4 Challenges has "It's Santa", I think Louie with his little Santa hat fits the bill nicely.
The image is coloured with Prismacolor pencils, I don't have a huge range which makes shading a bit more of a challenge than Copics, but I love the soft finish, and am prepared to spend the extra time for my "special" cards, for "special" people :-) There's Sparkly Fluff on his fur trim, and Stickles on the snow too.
I've used paper from my stash, it's a shame you can't really see the glitter on the green mats, it gave it a nice lift.  The white background is embossed with Cuttlebug's Ice Crystals folder with some very light inking around the edge to soften it.  Addicted to Stamps has Snowflakes as its theme, so I'm entering there.
The sentiment is computer generated, I'll have a copy of it for you on my freebie page (eventually, can't find it on my computer!) if you'd like to grab it.  It simply says Seasons Greetings from Our House to Yours.
I cut the red mat behind the image with Nestabilities Lacey Circles die and the image panel cut and embossed with Standard Circles Nesties, the sentiment panel is mounted on a mat cut with a Scalloped Circle Nesties. The red strip used as a stopper for the easel is punched with Fiskars Apron Lace punch, it matches the Lacey Circles nicely. Pollycraft has Punch It as it's theme, so I'm entering their challenge.

Cupcake Inspirations has this Photo Inspiration, the lovely Traditional colours of Christmas always inspire me - even though I try to be all modern and aqua my natural choice is the red and green, lol.  Paper Crafting Journey  Bizzy Becs,  Copic Oz, and Paper Play Challenges all have Christmas challenges running, so I'm entering there too.
The charm is from my stash...though Woo has sent me a ton of charms, well not literally a "ton", who could afford the post, lol, this isn't one of them!  I got it years ago to decorate a fabergé egg (which I will put pics up of one day) and ended up using gold trim instead.  I do that sort of thing a lot, so I have a VAST stash of "bits". 
Well, that's it for today, I'll be back with yet more Christmas cards in a few days - but at least I do have a couple of birthday cards and a baby card finished and ready to post-up as well; I tell ya, I's been busy!
I've just got to wrap ALL the presents I've bought, finish making the seven dozen truffles (I decorate them to look like little Christmas puddings) I've half done - yeah, I've been told, once again I've mixed up my aspirations with my abilities! do the final accounts for the couple of businesses I do paperwork for (we're all having a couple of weeks off, yay!), do the food shopping for Christmas (yup, at our house this year), take the trailer to the panel beaters - a drunk driver smashed into it when my hubby was working two weeks ago - his reading was .19 at 1pm...must have had a very early start :-O , and fit in some overdue spring cleaning by Sunday.  Oh well, there's time for resting when you're DEAD, lol.
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna...and Louie of course!

Bling, Bling; who's calling?

Over at Sweet Stampin' Challenge today we want you to show us your Sparkle, your Bling, your Glitter, your Gleam, your Shine... you get it right?!  I've made a Christmas card for my Guest Spot, and I do believe that one can never overbling a Christmas card!  this one could take your eye out, lol.

Now, not a lot of that blingyness is showing up in the photo (what's new), so I've taken a few close ups that at least hint at it :-)
The challenge is being sponsored by Di's Digi Downloads, and so I thought why not use one of Di's fabby images for my card?  Its' called "Christmas for Big and Small" and it's being sitting quietly waiting on my cyber shelf since I bought it last year, all we had to do was wait for Christmas!
I've coloured the image with Copics, the scarf was a bit bright with the BG's I used so I desaturated it by going over it with a Toner grey, worked a treat!  The papers are from Kaisercrafts Carnival Christmas and my stash; how yummy is that teal foil... it's corrugated as well as shiny, so bling and texture, what more could a girl ask for? Bearly Mine Challenges and Lexis Creations both have "Untraditional Christmas" as their challenge themes, I'm entering there and hoping the little bit of red I've used doesn't disqualify me, but do "get it" if it does, lol.  Papertake Weekly has I'm Dreaming of a "whatever colour" Christmas, in my case it's a teal Christmas.
I used the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday, always a good source of nice sketches.  The sentiment is from Bizzy Becs, it was a freebie but I don't know if it is still available at all.  Cutie Pie Challenge is to use a sentiment, easy peasy, I'm in.
My little guys look like they're having fun in the snow, which fits Pollycraft's theme of Christmas Fun and Crafty Calendar's of Cold and Frosty and Digital Tuesday's which is Winter Wonderland. 

Cupcake Craft Challenges has  "Don't look at the light: Sparkle, shines, gleams or glints" as it's challenge (cool name, guys) and Stamptacular Sunday Challenge hasChristmas Glitz… glitter bling and sparkle and lots of it!  This really fits the bill, so I'm entering there.

The Pink Elephant has Snowflakes and Sparkle as their theme, I have snowflakes that sparkle, lol, punched with Martha Stewart's Glacier Snowflake and heat embossed with iridescent Sparkle embossing powder.  Crafty Creations has Embossing and Glitter for it's challenge, so I'm entering there too.The centres are soooo sparkly IRL, they're Sparklets from Kaisercraft.

The inside of the card is finished simply, the sentiment is from Tickled Pink Stamps, stamped with Kaisercraft ink and embossed with Iridescent Sparkle.

Copic Oz, Paper Play Challenges , Paper Crafting Journey and Divas by Design all have Christmas challenges running, so I'll be entering there too.

Well, that's it once again for my contribution to the Sweet Stampin' challenge inspiration, do pop over to the blog and check out the rest of the DT's lovely makes: Now your Christmas card making is finished like mine (hahahahahahahaha) you can create your own bit of glittery goodness and be in with the chance to win $10 worth of your own Di's Digi Downloads, come to think of it, you don't even have to be finished with your Christmas cards - like I said, one can never have too much bling on a Christmas card :-)

I've still got a couple of cards that I haven't put a post up for yet, I'll do that over the "holiday" period and hope you get time to pop back and check them out -  I do love your visits :-) Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna