Bah! Humbug! Day...

Friday again and so much on at the moment on top of feeling quite over worked, tired and very much under the weather, but no way could I let my dear friend and partner in crime Max down by missing one of our challenges.

This week our theme is 'Sleigh Bells Ring', which sets me off singing 'Sleigh bells ring - are you listening?'  Love that Christmas song, but unfortunately it's one of those that once in your head continues for the rest of the day.  Eeek sorry in advance if that happens to you.

My card is quite an easy one using a fab stamp by Hampton Arts that I've had a long, long  time.  Oh I love this stamp - so little to colour and yet so effective and so well drawn.  Just look at those expressive eyes!

The papers were in a magazine and my favourite part is the bell, which actually rings and was originally around the neck of a delicious chocolate bunny.

My card is also for the following challenges...

• Your Next Stamp - I did start with this sketch but lost the oval along the way and completely forgot the brads in the top left corner.  Great sketch though and will be using again soon.
• Crafting for all Seasons - a new challenge with the theme of anything goes
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge - recycle (my bell)
• Crafty Hazel's - Let's see some scallops

Have a good weekend all.

Love and hugs

Ann xxx

oh my goodness...

This card nearly sent me insane yesterday.  Oh so many things went wrong along the way and what seemed like a good idea was a nightmare to actually create.  All I wanted to do was create a turning circle with Santa flying through the sky outside a window - it all proved a bit too much for my over worked brain!

Although in my defence I must say that the circle does turn, by pushing the part on the outside on the window on the right hand side and Santa does fly through the sky twice alongside a message saying 'Santa Claus is coming to town.'

Here's a list of things that either proved incredibly fiddly or difficult or both...

• Had to print the sky background three times - once for bottom half of window, once for top and once for turning circle so why did my printer decide to do the circle a different colour to the rest which meant I had to start again?
• Clear rubber Santa stamp would not stamp well on the card I had printed on.
• Had to reprint the circle with a Santa sleigh image but couldn't find a really good digi.
• It took 9 attempts to get the both the sentiment and the sleighs the right way up and travelling correctly - by that time I was knee deep in paper and ready to cry.

Things that did make me happy...

•  planning the design in Serif Craft Artist and then printing out the parts needed worked well
• the curtain pole - a kebab stick cut down with beads on the end.  I knew that awful necklace bought at Primark would be useful one day.

So by now you've probably guessed that our theme this week at Bah! Humbug! is kinetic cards - cards that have moving parts or rock or even explode into action.  Wowza, I bet we're going to be blown away by everyone's designs.  I'm 100% sure that everyone will do a better job than me as I really don't like my card.  I learnt a great deal while making it though and it's definitely one of those 'can do better next time' cards that we all need to do from time to time.

Hugs and Smiles

Ann xxx

Blatant copying!!!

Sometimes you see a card with such a clever technique on it that you can't help but have a go yourself.  Recently I saw a stunning card by Sylvie at Gibmiss where she had used lots of different sized flowers and linked them together across an aperture.  I thought this was a really wonderful idea and just couldn't resist doing my own version.  Thank you so much for the inspiration, Sylvie.

My flowers were cut out of gold mirri card in three sizes using my Cricut machine.  The card is 6.5" by 6.5" which will give you an idea of the size of the aperture.  It took a lot of flowers and a lot of patience too, but I do love the effect.  I matted the heart piece onto white vellum using foam tape to give depth to the design and then matted it onto gold mirri.  A sentiment peel off and gold brads in the corners finish the design.

Do check out Sylvie's fabulous card which is a white on white stunner - just beautiful.

My card is for the following challenges...

• Fab n Funky Challenges - Make your own blooms
• Papertake Weekly - Bloom and Grow
• Paper Pretties - Use flowers on your card

Will be back with my Bah! Humbug! challenge card tomorrow.  This week is quite a tester - it certainly tested me to the limit.

Hugs and Smiles

Ann xxx