ARTplorations Stencil Blog Hop - Day 1

It's party time at STAMPlorations, and you're invited!  We're having a stencil blog hop using ARTplorations stencils, and you can win prizes by commenting on the participating blog posts.

Here's my card for the first day of the hop.  Gold pearl Cosmic Shimmer texture paste through the Holly Background stencil, some festive baker's twine, mounted onto champagne card, and I didn't feel a sentiment would enhance it, so I didn't add one.  Pretty obvious that it's a Christmas card anyway.

So here's how to play along.  Comment on this and every other stop on the hop each day, and enter the flash linky party (details below) for maximum chances to win.  You can see all today's stops here on the STAMPlorations blog.

Prizes:

• FIVE (5) winners will receive their choice of ARTplorations stencil (standard size - 5x7). Winners will be randomly drawn from all comments left on the designers' blogs.
• ONE (1) winner will receive a $15 gift certificate OR her choice of 2 ARTplorations stencils (standard size - 5x7). Winners will be randomly drawn from comments left on the STAMPlorations blog.

Extra prizes for those who participate in the Flash Stencil Project Linky Party and link up by December 13: 

• TWO (2) winners whose projects feature stencils (any brand) will each receive their choice of one (1) ARTplorations stencil (standard size - 5x7)
• ONE (1) winner whose project features an ARTplorations stencil will receive her choice of three (3) ARTplorations stencils (standard size - 5x7) OR a $15 gift certificate to the shop.

Merry Monday Guest Designer

Merry Monday to you!  I'm thrilled to be Guest Designer today over at Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge.  The theme this week is to make a Christmas card with Candy Cane(s) on it.

I have to confess, I had a little panic when I saw this, because I didn't think I had any candy cane stamps.  Fortunately, after scouring my index catalogue and then rummaging in my many boxes of Christmas cards, I found this old PSX stamp among my stash.   Don't you just love the look on his face?  I think he's pretty happy that he's got the only candy cane in the house ;)

I sloshed some Distress Inks on the background for the sky, and splattered some water for snow, then coloured his scarf and the candy cane.  A little slosh of grey and a sentiment to ground him (even though he's got wings), and some stitching at the top, and mounted him onto red card.

Pop on over to the Merry Monday blog to see what the Design Team have created, play along, and you'll have added to your Christmas card stash - never a bad thing!

Thanks for having me, girls!

Craft Stamper - Sharing The Season

Welcome to another Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge!  This month we want you to share the season where you live.  Cold and snowy?  Hot and sunny?  Whatever your season is, we want to see it!  And don't forget about the Christmas season (how could we, Christmas has been in some shops since September!).

I've had this holly sprite stamp for years and years (Stamps Happen, almost certainly discontinued).  After stamping it onto white card,  I sprinkled Brusho powders over it and spritzed, then moved some of the colour around the image with a paintbrush.

This month's challenge is sponsored by Polka Doodles and one lucky randomly drawn winner will get a £25 voucher to spend in their online store!

The winner selected by the Design Team will get their project published in Craft Stamper magazine (so hold on to it), a winner's profile in the magazine, and a guest designer spot in a future challenge.

Pop on over to the Craft Stamper blog for lots of lovely inspiration from the Design Team.  We can't wait to see what you will create!

Seize The Birthday using Holiday stamps

Welcome to another Seize The Birthday!  Your challenge today is to use Holiday stamps for a birthday card.  I used two images from the Tim Holtz set Halftone Christmas.  The halftone tree became a pennant shape, and the snowflake became a starburst.  I stamped the pennants using Distress Inks and because the alignment wasn't perfect, I drew a scribbly string - scribbles hide a multitude of sins!  Added a die-cut 'happy' from Winnie & Walter, and 'birthday' from STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders: Happy.

Our Surprise Party Guest for the next two months is the very talented Tanja from Little Art Cottage.  Pop on over to the Seize The Birthday blog for Tanja's card, and the Design Team's cards.

Fancy being creative with your Holiday stamps?  Come and join us - and if you don't want to follow the theme, you can join in anyway as long as it's a birthday project.

An Un-traditional Christmas Tree

I'm over at STAMPlorations today with a Christmas tree card made with non-Christmas stamps.  All the details of which stamps I used are on the blog.

I'm entering this into The Challenge - Make a Non-Traditional Christmas Card

Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes

and AAA Cards - Anything Goes

I'm off to see what other non-Christmas stamps I can use...

The Mixed Media Card Challenge - Celebrate with Vellum

It's a new month, and a new challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge.  Our theme for December is celebrate, and the optional element is vellum.

I made a similar card recently using the same image here, but I liked it so much I wanted to make another one in a slightly different colour scheme.

I stamped the image on Mixed Media paper, coloured it with Distress Inks, and distressed the edges.   I added wedding ribbon to the car with brads. On the designer paper I brushed some Antique Linen Distress Paint then applied a painted stencil to the top left corner.

The die-cut leaf sprig was sponged with Walnut Stain, and the little flower arrangement is made up of a fabric flower, some scrunched up fabric, some stamens and - did you spot them? - two vellum leaves.  Once everything was fixed in place I went round the borders of the designer paper with a Stardust Gelli Roll pen.

Pop on over to the Mixed Media Card Challenge blog for more lovely inspiration from the Design Team, and add your creation to the gallery.

CASEplorations with Amy Tsuruta

We're back with another CASEplorations, this month with the very talented and coffee-loving Amy Tsuruta of Tsuruta Designs.  Here's Amy's card that we're CASEing:

Amy Tsuruta

What are the elements to CASE?  Colour scheme, white embossing, hot drinks theme, grid layout, popped-up panel, sentiment banner....

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do love my tea.  And at this time of year, I love a warming drop of Glühwein!  So, I've gone for the hot drinks theme, a nice ruby colour for the Glühwein, some icy blue sky and snowflakes as a nod to the blue in Amy's colour scheme, and a sentiment.  Because I wanted to alter the sentiment, I didn't put it on a banner.  I scribbled a border and added a slosh of colour to ground the cup.  It's not spilled Glühwein - I never spill it ;)

How will you interpret Amy's card?   Pop on over to the STAMPlorations blog for more CASE-ing of Amy's card, and add your creation to the CASE playground for a chance to win prizes.