'Just For Fun': Christmas 2009

Showing posts with label Christmas 2009. Show all posts

Friday, 24 July 2009

Joy...

This is another of my samples for the Joanna Sheen Christmas Messy Rabbit collection. I love this card as I had so much fun (and a lot of hair tearing out) cutting the tags and letters on my Cricut machine.

I love the way you can cut things just a tad smaller - my tags are in three sizes as one is patterned paper, one silver mirri card and one white base card and for the reverse one white, one silver and one white card base tag. How tricky would it be to do that by hand?

I matted and layered each one enclosing a card hinge between the two white base card layers so that the card would fold up to go in a C5 envelope.

The tags are around A5 size so the letters are huge and I ran them through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder to add some texture.

In the 'O' is the Messy Rabbit angel - so adorable - a lovely stamp. The star is one of the smaller stamps in the collection and I added a gem brad to the centre of this.

This is the card when folded up. I decorated the back too, but forgot to take a photo before posting the card. Silly me, but on the back were two plain white panels edged with peel offs and in the central panel I had printed one verse of the carol 'Joy to the World'.

Having just completed the blog hop at the Cuttlebug Spot I would love to enter this card into their challenge. Like Aymee I love shaped cards.

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Christmas in July - Part 2...

Another of my sample cards for Joanna Sheen. I think the way Linda Hill, the Messy Rabbit artist, has managed to capture the way one of the rabbits is looking out for his mum or posing for a photo is so cute.

This a a large 8 x 8 card with a scene of the shepherds looking up to the sky as a focal point. The background was created using blotchy blue and white card (it sort of resembles a cloudy sky) and two shades of sandy coloured paper.

I planned the layout on scrap paper first sketching the landscape behind the shepherds. Then using my sketch as a guide I was able to cut the sandy coloured paper in the right shapes to represent sand dunes in the distance. The star and Bethlehem were stamped seperately and attached to the scenery.

As the card is perfect for the Cupcake Craft Challenge which is to create a Christmas Card I am also entering my card for that.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog and for the lovely comments I receive. I do appreciate them all.

Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Christmas in July...

Well it certainly feels like Christmas to me as I have been busy working on samples for the new Joanna Sheen range of stamps. The stamps are part of the Messy Rabbit range and are based on Messy and co in Nativity outfits. How cute is that?

The whole set was absolutely wonderful to work with and I will be showing the other cards I made as the week goes on.

I think this card has got to be my favourite, but then again I'm not sure!! It's a criss cross card and features the Messy Rabbit Kings on the front bearing their gifts.

Yet again coloured with Promarkers - oh I just love these pens. It took me a while to get the right ink and card etc, but oh wow once I did I can't stop colouring. The first flap opens to reveal the three gifts and the words 'The First Noel' which are all part of this stamp collection.

Then on opening the second flap the stable is revealed with Messy Rabbits Mary and Joseph and even Messy Baby Jesus. The star is part of the stamp collection too. I drew (well it is only straight lines) and created the stable myself using with some wood effect card.

It wasn't very hard to create the stable. However, I do really like the backing paper pads that Linda Hill, the Messy Rabbit, artist has created. There is one called Nativity which includes a stable scene and many other great backgrounds to use with the Messy Rabbit characters.

Today's card is also my entry for the challenge at Cute Card Thursday where they are also celebrating Christmas in July. Hmmmmmm only just had my birthday, but there is always space for more presents!!!

A Promarker airbrush thingie would be good!!!

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Emma by Jane Austen...

I've made this card for the Cinema Saturday challenge which is a new challenge to me, but a very interesting one. Do check it out - masses of fun info and links about films. Each week the team focus on one movie and base their cards/artwork on that. This week the film is Emma by Jane Austen which is my favourite Jane Austen work.

Apparently prior to starting the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine [Emma] whom no-one but myself will much like." Well I love the character of Emma and I love Mr Knightley even more - drool.

The idea of the film theme is to use it as a starting point so the work you do can be anything that is inspired by the film. It may be a design of paper that is reminiscent of that era or anything that you feel fits. For my card I used an image from Joanna Sheen's Cardmaker's Year CD, which I thought could almost be a picture of Emma and one of her friends in church. I've softened the whole look of the card by overlaying the patterned paper with vellum.

Another part of the challenge was...

"THE REQUIREMENT THIS WEEK:

We thought that for this week - it would be interesting to use some dots in our cards. So we are asking that in your cards you use some dots: either in the designer paper, brads, stickles, paper piercing, embellsishments ---anything at all. Dot it up :) "

For this part of the challenge I did some paper piercing on the vellum at each side of the sentiment. I thought paper piercing fit in with the era well.

As the challenge at Papertake Weekly was to make a matching set I decided to make a gift tag in the same theme to go with this card. It was also and ideal way to use up the small toppers that on Joanna Sheen's CD.

Materials used:

Joannna Sheen 'Cardmaker's Year' CD
matt photo paper, cream card and pergamano vellum
gold brads and sentiment peel offs

Sunday, 11 January 2009

Exciting News...

It's only 50 something weeks to Christmas!!! No far more exciting than that - well it is for me anyway...

I am officially on the design team at http://cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/.

I am so proud and honoured to be asked to be a member of this team. I was lucky enough to find the Cuttlebug Challenge site when it first began and have been overwhelmed by the amazing tutorials and the way there is always something new happening. So many ideas and inspiration. It really means a lot to me to be on the team.

To celebrate my excitement I am offering some blog candy - not a massive prize, but one I'm sure would be appreciated by any cuttlebug fan out there. It's a brand new 'Treetops' cutting and embossing folder - the same as the one I used to make my all white card above and that I have used on so many things this Christmas.

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning this folder please leave a message here and let your friends know by putting a link on your blog. If you haven't got a blog that's fine leave a message and just tell your friends anyway.

Now there is a little twist to this candy!!! Next, Wednesday, 14th January, will be my first official challenge (am I nervous - lol?) and I would love this challenge to be really, really well supported so ...

Take a look at http://cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/ on the 14th and enter the new challenge which will be set that day - don't panic you'll have until the following week to complete your card and I'm not giving the game away, but it is a really good, fun challenge.

On Wednesday, 21st January, I will put all the names from the comments left here and the names of people entering the challenge (so some of you will have two chances) into a hat and draw out one lucky winner.

The winner will be announced that day and the prize posted out ASAP.

The Cuttlebug Challenge team are from all around the world so I will post the prize out to anywhere. Good luck everyone.

Friday, 9 January 2009

White...

Apologies to all those who don't want to see Christmas cards for some time, but the thing is the cuttlebug folders I ordered from America didn't arrive till Christmas Eve so ...

Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - to be truthful I just love making Christmas cards and in the words of Slade 'I wish it could be Christmas every day! - errrrrrrrr that might be taking it too far but you know what I mean!

The challenge this week at http://cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/ is go with WHITE, which is not as easy as it first sounds. There are some absolutely amazing cards on display by the design team so do go and take a look if you have time.

My card uses the 'snow dots' folder on vellum to make a frame for the Christmas sentiment. I must be honest here and say that I saw another blogger using this folder to create a distressed frame last week and I just though the frame was such a wonderful idea I had to give it a try. I have tried to refind the blog, but I can't so I can't give you the link to look at her card. So sorry!

I haven't used my Cuttlebug on vellum before, but wow I love the softness it gives and the way you can put stamped images underneath, etc. I shall be doing more in the near future.