Merry Christmas...

Well I had a big plan for today's post...

A plan for a super duper sh-amazing new card to to say a HUGE Merry Christmas... and wow you all...

And then... without thinking... I tidied everything away for Christmas.... and so that plan was quickly thwarted....

And so instead... I will just say... in the largest text that Blogger will allow me...

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

TO YOU AND YOURS...
&
MAY YOUR PRESENTS BE MANY... 
AND CRAFTY!

And hopefully I may have a nice sh-amazing surprise for you for the New Year!!!

Half Full meets Hometown Greetings

Picture the scene... you have 10 minutes(ish) left of class time to make a 30 minute (ish) card...

This is what the lovely Denise made... and I liked it so much I had to then make one of my own....

Christmas Around the World Papers... still on Sale... but only for another week...

House border die cuts care of Hometown Greetings... silver embossed greeting care of Half Full... and moon and stars care of Card Front Builder dies...

Though I did have to add a few Clear Glimmer trees and snowman... and of course draw on my snowman with a Basic Black marker pen to finish him off... though looking at the close up... he does look like he is wearing sunglasses! Or should they be called moonglasses....

And an admittance... for the last week my head has been bursting into the "Let It Snow" song at any opportunity... just can't get it out of my head... must be all this christmas stuff I am surrounded by...

Though today I had a bit of time off off... as the Proclaimers "I'm Gonna Be (walk 500 miles)" song took over instead... care of friends (and blog reader) breaking down miles from anywhere in Scotland... thanks for the break to the song in my head Andrea & Andrew! And so glad that you got on your way (relatively) quickly!!! Hope the new car behaves for the rest of the week!

And an update on my special cards for 5 special young adults... I am waiting for photos to be sent from the last family... and then I am done and can share... patience is a virtue so I am told....

Christmas Around the World papers... on Free Paper Promotion from today...

And another laugh at my expense for you!!

So introducing the Christmas Around the World papers... which are on the 4 for 3 Paper Promotion from today - click here for the details on the October promotional offers...

Love these papers... but I did not feel that way when I first saw them... then someone somewhere shared photos of each sheet... and I was hooked... not only are there 2 snowflakey patterns for background like this... but there are lots and lots of images to cut out and use... and a good bit of tartan... but more on all those another day!!

So back to the card... hope you like my shooting stars around the moon!! Not intentional... but even my adhesive remover (retired sadly!) couldn't get rid of them...

And why... because instead of throwing glitter all over the glued surfaces of my card... my absent mind tipped a whole pot of white embossing powder all over it!! Gritty snow eat your heart out!! 

It was everywhere... so I brushed it all off as well as I could... applied a bit more glue for good measure... and threw glitter over... so now that was all over! As the brushing off of the embossing powder obviously spread a thin layer of glue over every surface of the card!!

My trusty adhesive remover did remove most of the glittery mess... but these shooting stars (streaks!) were left. No time for a remake... so here you have it! Warts (or streaks) and all... 

Some of you will remember this card... 

This is the same card remade with papers instead of the Baby Wipe Smooshed background... so most of the card decoration details can be found here... 

Apart from 4 extra details...

(1) a Silver Glimmer moon (as previously promised!)

(2) Night of Navy marker pen (thin end) window panes...

(3) glue (and then just glitter!!) to the stars and snowline

(4) marker pen coloring of the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer snowman's hat, face and buttons!! Worked fine on the Glimmer Paper.. who knew... 

Hearts Come Home... a bit of Bright & Sparkle!

As per an individual request... I have added something bright and something sparkly to one of the Hearts Come Home cards I shared a few weeks back...

So... take this card... add an extra 1 3/4" Circle punched Silver Glimmer moon and a bright Real Red house to make it pop... and she is very happy now!

And of course a quick change to the sentiment to sum it all up!

Favourite Embellishing & Packaging from the new Autumn Winter Catalogue....

Mmmm... this was a harder part of the question I was posed... so limiting myself to no more than 10... oh so very hard!!

So not in any particular order! Click on the picture or title for all the details...

Foil Snowflakes... just simple gorgeous and a lovely BIG size....

Live in the UK?... get some for free with my Launch Offer until 15 September... unless SU! run out of stock in which case I will have to arrange an alternative...mmm....

Treat Tubes... don't delay to purchase these... I have a feeling !! And I have pre-ordered as many as I could!!!

Mini Pizza Boxes... again don't delay! Already out of stock in some SU! territories... and I forgot to pre-order as many as I could!!!

Winter Wonder embossing folder aka The Very Big Snowflake... can't believe how well this embossed on Thick Whisper White... not a crease in sight with NO messing... love it when that happens... and again get one for free with my Launch Offer till 15 September...

Stitched Felt Embellishments... oh my these are so lovely in the flesh... who needs more to finish a traditional christmas themed project off...

And I bet a lot of you won't have spotted these...

Black Rhinestone Jewels... use for eyes, snowflake centres, flower centres etc etc when you don't want clear or pearls!! I can't tell you how many times in the past I have had to get a black Sharpie marker out on my jewels!!

Champagne Foil... so beautiful... so so subtle... but has to be seen in the flesh really!

Jute Twine... can't wait to wrap all my christmas presents in this... and do a rope trick maybe!!

Merry Little Christmas Memories & More... what a treat! Photo Pocket scrapbooking, cards, tags, home decor.... anything you want to decorate really simply... best Christmas themed cards we have ever had in my humble opinion... can't wait to get busy with these...

Quilt Top Embossing Folder... simply beautiful!

Live in the UK... don't forget to check out my Launch Special Offers...only available until 15th September...

And if you want to see the stamps & bundles I pre-ordered... then just click here... call it the Top 5... for now!

The Simplest of Them All... Hearts & Hometown #8

Finishing off the series (as made so far) with the simplest of them all.... definitely one for the glitter and shine lovers!

But before I start...  please think "Get Better Quick" vibes for my son today!! Yes it is finally Knee Op Day... we have had to wait a long time for this cruciate ligament repair! 11 months since it was damaged... Just hope everything has healed and he is walking normally by the time he goes to uni in 4 weeks time... how much nagging will there be about his physio programme....

So back to the card... die cut house panel in Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper... harder to cut through than standard card but worth it! 

I place the die cut face down over the up turned glimmer paper ... roll through twice... then I turn over the paper and the die intact and roll through twice again... as I do find that the turnover does make a big difference to the standard of the cut...

Note that the Glimmer panel is narrower than the Night of Navy panel...

Glimmer panel stuck in place... 

Smoke trails stamped in Whisper White craft ink... 

Greeting white embossed to finish...

Joy to the World... Hearts & Hometown #7

Decided I should keep my makes using the Hearts Come Home and Hometown Greetings dies altogether on the blog after all... so another CAS card for you today...

White emboss resist sleigh & smoke then Night of Navy brayered night sky

Straightforward die cut front white panel with Smoky Slate stamped and hand cut house added... note that the front panel is the same width as my night sky panel...

Night of Navy stamped greeting... oh I do like a large greeting!

Finished off with plenty of Dazzling Diamonds glitter over Tombow glue on the roofs, trees, snowman and horizon...

Simples...

And a little tip for you... the white embossed smoke trail & Santa's sleigh were simply positioned by laying the die cut houses temporarily over the white panel for my night sky, stamping the trail & sleigh in Versamark... then heating to melt. Finished off with plenty of Sponge Brayer action. 

I do find that the Sponge Brayers give me an easier and neater (as less hard lines/streaks)  finish than the old rubber version... though I do have to brayer over more times to build up the depth of colour as in this case... 

Tri Fold Hometown Greetings card #6

Remember this Tri Fold card from 2 years ago... Well I had to make another with my new -very favourite- Hometown Greetings houses dies didn't I!! 

Front layer finished off with silver foil behind the church and house to the right... though that was a bit tricker than first envisaged!!

A just Score, Fold, Cut and Go card... tutorial here if you fancy a go... Though I did pop this one onto a Night of Navy card blank I happened to have laying around...

And did I share the Hearts Come Home & Hometown Greetings video with you!? Well just in case I didn't... here you go... click on the pic...

Now I might just have something different for you tomorrow!! Though I do still have more Hearts Come Home projects to come at some point as I had such a good creating session with them!! Think I made 10 designs in total with a few more ready to assemble... 

Simply Coloured Hearts Come Home!! #5

Now this is one of the simpler ones with Hearts Come Home and Hometown Greetings... but one that had my ladies jumping for glee looking at the display from across the room!

Die cut houses border quickly watercoloured with a blender pen and ink... Spot the details...

The Smoky Slate roof on the white house...

The pop of the red doors (by marker direct for those)...

And the texture on the tree... which unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of... but I used short strokes of my blender pen with Garden Green ink to get a layered effect going down the tree... looks quite lifelike!

Popped onto a Night of Navy mat and finished off with a Whisper White smoke trail and a Tombow and Dazzling Diamonds glitter snow line underneath

And an admittance... this card will have to be made again... as I had a major boob... the house on the right was supposed to be the same Smoky Slate as the house on the left ... but
(a) I picked up my Aquapainter by mistake and
(b) I was using the scrap paper that I had been sponging lots of Pear Pizzazz on for my Dino Rama scene...
(c) I didn't realise until just now

So the house ended up as a funny shade of green grey! Good job it really doesn't take very long to make..

Hearts Come Home & Hometown Greetings #3

Keeping to my Night of Navy & White theme....

Two of the three house lined border dies in the set used here... both panels cut centrally and then hand cut to the end

Glimmer trees die cut using the same border dies and added...and small glimmer pieces stuck behind the windows for a bit of extra shine...

Nightsky panel achieved using the Baby Wipe Swoosh (or Swipe) technique and then die cut using the Card Front Builder dies... I used this die twice across the top - starting at the right hand side so that I didn't end up with 2 moons!!

There is a small starry die in the Hometown Greetings set that can be used... but I was feeling lazy and the other dies were still out!

Finished off with a white embossed greeting...

And the one thing I would do different next time... put a piece of silver glimmer behind the moon aperture to get that "by the light of the silvery moon" effect....

And some simple instructions for anyone not familiar with the Baby Wipe Swoosh technique...

(1) Grab a Baby Wipe and an ink pad...

(2) Press the top of the closed ink pad so that ink transfers onto the inside of the lid...

(3) Open up the ink pad and dab your baby wipe onto the lid to pick up the ink...

(4) Swoosh (swipe or wipe!) your baby wipe across your piece of card... 

(5) Swoosh & build up colour & texture until you are happy...

Hearts Come Home & Hometown Greetings available from 1st September... but Card Front Builder dies and co-ordinating Carols of Christmas available now... in wood or clear mount

Hearts Come Home & Hometown Greetings #2

STOP PRESS... The Clearance Rack has just been updated!! Click here to go straight there... and remember you can add anything else to your order whilst you are there...

And a quick Tip: Select NEWEST in the SORT BY drop down field at the right hand side... then all the newly added items pop to the top of the list...

Back to today's card ... Bit of a series coming your way with these... as I have just had a few hours to "play"... and I am loving what these Hearts Come Home and Hometown Greetings dies do... from a super simple card to something more fancy...

There again the architectural element of this bundle is right up my hometown street!!!

Front die cut Glimmer panel... Middle die cut Smoky Slate panel with a stamped Smoky Slate house covering the Slate house to the right... 

2" Circle punched moon in the Back Night of Navy panel... with Santa and his sleigh stamped in black . Finished off with white embossed wording... and a Night of Navy Crinkled Seam Binding ribbon & bow 

And seeing as it Tuesday Tips day! A quick tip about the glimmer panel... I hand cut the top curve to the left... that way I could see my Slate snowman and the curve was in a downwards direction instead of an upwards!