Whiff Of Joy Advent Calendar

Fancy some fun for the next 24 days?? Well there's plenty at the Whiff Of Joy blog in this lovely December giveaway.

Here's a message from the organiser Jacqui

"Well I cannot believe we are here a few moments away from the 1st of December and the start of the Festive, Fun, Fantastic, Fabulous Whiff of Joy Advent Calendar event. The First Window will open at 00:01 GMT, we have special gifts everyday and hopefully lots of fun for everyone, so please come and join us, a new window will be opened everyday each one a new surprise and it can be found here http://katharina1704.blogspot.com/ (Katharinas Fabulous Blog). Looking forward to seeing you all.Hope you all have a peaceful night lots of Hugs Jacqui x"

Go on . . . . . pop across & join in the fun . . . . . you have to be in it to win it !!

Sketch Saturday

This is the first time I've taken part in the Sketch Saturday challenge & really enjoyed using this sketch.

I've used one of the adorable Hanglar & Stanglar images that Bernie sent me & coloured her with SU inks.

The flowers are from Cuddly buddly the brads & charm are from my stash.

The card stock & papers are all SU & the sentiment has been stamped with SU Rose Red on to vellum & attached with 2 small Papermania brads.

When I'd finished the card it still looked a little bare so I stamped the corner flourishes (attaching the stamps to an acrylic ruler as I've lost my tiny acrylic block under the mess that's my craft table lol!!) using Stayzon.

ABC Challenge - S is for Snow

Another great challenge from ABC that gave me a chance to add another Christmas card to my collection.

I've used another of my WOJ stamps Charlie & Snowman & coloured Charlie using my SU ink pads & the snowman with Sparkles glitter glue.

The DP is Dovecraft Winter Wonderland, the tag has been made using a tag from the Brenda Pinnick Christmas set & a sticker from the same set. The snowballs & snowman peg are from my stash. The glitter ribbon is from my local haberdasher.

Whiff Of Joy - Challenge 10 - Anything but a card

This weeks challenge at WOJ is to make anything but a card & what goo timing it was for me. I was preparing the Christmas activity for my daughters Brownie group & had decided to make candles with them tonight (if you smell burning coming from the Leeds direction tonight, it's me lol!!)
I've use one of my favorite WOJ stamps coloured using Whispers. I was amazed at how easy the candles are to do & hopefully won't have too much trouble tonight.

My Loveley Win

I entered Bernies blog candy a couple of weeks ago & because she had so many entries she very generously drew out 2 other prize winners to receive a 'little' prize. I was one of them & look what I got. This is Bernies idea of a little prize & BOY was I excited when it arrived.

OK . . . . . I had 3 very confused children & a VERY bewildered husband when I was babbling excitedly about Hanglar & Stanglar (the children were more interested in the chocolate lol!!) but I know most of you will appreciate what these little babies mean to us in the UK. It's always the case that we want what we can't have !!!

Thankyou so much Bernie & as you can see I've already started using them. The images are a lovely size & great to colour.

Nearly Missed It !!!!!!

Debbie is offering this fab candy & yes!!, your eyes do not deceive you, they are copics!!

One lucky person will be drawn at 5pm tonight so you'll have to get your skates on to enter.

The True Spirit Of Christmas

Shaz at Funky Fairy Inspirations is collecting donations to buy Christmas presents for the children on the cancer ward at St James' Hospital in Leeds in memory of her son Daniel who died last year.

Monies from all downloads purchased between now & Sunday will go towards buying these presents or you can just make a donation.

Please pop across & read what she has to say.

One Stop Craft Challenge - Pretty Petals

I've just come across this new challenge blog One Stop Craft Challenge which is in it's 4th weeks. This weeks challenge is pretty petals.

All types of crafts and techniques are welcome, the more variation the better as long as somewhere on your creation there are 'pretty petals'.

I've stuck to a card, a wedding card, plain & simple for a change.

The DP is from my stash & I haven't a clue where it's from. The vellum is from Handy Hippo & the lace is from Click-on-Crafts. The stamped image is from a set I won as blog candy from Jennifer back in July & I've stamped it on pink Stardream & embossed with black opaque.

Like I said, plain & simple.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 36 - Green & Red

This weeks challenge at Cute Card Thursday is to make a card using Red & Green.

I've used this cute Santa stamp from Cuddly Buddly & the sentiment stamp, which I've embossed, is from there as well. I'd like to think I'm on the 'nice' list, which one are you on lol!!

I've used Papermania Traditional Papers & I've tried to mirror the loop along the top with some silver wire & hung some charms from it. The middle on says 'made with a smile'.

I've kept this card fairly simple, hope you like it.

Whiff Of Joy Challenge 8 - Boys Christmas

The challenge this week at Whiff of Joy is to create a boys Christmas card but don't use the colour BLUE. I only have one boy Whiff of Joy stamp & that's Charlie with his snowman but isn't he the cutest.

I've coloured him using Whispers & the DP is Papermania Traditional Christmas. I've mounted a Brenda Pinnick frame over the top of Charlie & embellished that with some opaque snowflakes & then Quickutz snowflakes cut from glitter card on top with red swarski crystals in the middle.

The white Christmas trees are from Madabout Cards & the words are taken from the cuttlebug embossing folder. I've finished off with a Christmas tree charm tied with embroidery cotton.

I realised afterwards that the frame would have gone through my cuttlebug as the more I look at it the plainer it looks but I wasn't going to start dismantling the card lol!! . . . . . maybe next time.

I've given Charlie some snowballs to throw when he's finished building his snowman.

Cute Card Thursday - Angels & Fairies

I was going to use some really cute die cut fairies with fimo heads that I bought from Madabout cards last year but I've put them in a safe place in my craft room & can't find them!! so I've used this really cute image from Cuddly Buddly.

The papers are once again from the Brenda Pinnick Christmas kit & the ribbon is from Click-on-Crafts. I've mounted the image on gold pearlescent card & vellum & the sentiment is from Elzybells.

I've used the layout from Friday Sketchers but I'm going to try & make another card for that challenge.

Whiff of Joy - Challenge 6 - Burgundy (Red) & Green

Well, we're certainly at the right time of year for this colour combination. Don't you just love Christmassy colours?

I've used my Whiff of Joy Charlotte stamp again as I coloured a few in the other day & just by coincidence had given her a burgundy dress.

The DP is Brenda Pinnicks & so is the 'Decorate the tree' bauble. The spacer was bought from Marlene & the ribbon is from my stash. I've stamped & gold heat embossed the Cuddly Buddly sentiment.

There are a few things about this card I'm not happy with. I broke the golden rule of 'don't stick things down before you're fully satisfied with the LO'. I've already started another card with more of the lovely Brenda Pinnick set, there is so much in this kit I think it will take me a good few Christmas' to use it all, so I may be back with another card for this challenge.

Friday Sketchers - Sketch 25

Here is my card for this weeks Friday Sketchers . I've used two of the stamps I bought from Elzybells last week. Isn't this mouse stamp just the cutest!!! & I just had to have the sentiment stamp to go with it.

The DP is from the Brenda Pinnick TSV from QVC last Christmas.

I've coloured the image with Whispers Brush Pens & the fur is Stickles. The ribbon is from a box of chocolates & the gold Christmas tree charm is from my stash.

Whiff of Joy Challenge 5

This weeks challege at Whiff of Joy is a sketch by Heather which was great to follow.

I've used the Whiff of Joy Charlotte decorating the Christmas tree which is a gorgeous stamp & so easy to colour. I've used inks for the first time, the tree, stool & Charlottes hair are all coloured with SU inks, the skin tones are Ranger Distress ink & the rest is coloured with Whispers pens. I've added Stickles to the tree & star & Anitas 3D Gloss paint to the baubles to give them a 3D effect.

The papers are Papermania Naughty & Nice & the charm was bought from Marlene. The sentiment & little pink Christmas tree are from the Brenda Pinnicks Christmas TSV from last year. Everything else is from my stash.

Elzybells Birthday Celebrations

After seeing some beautiful cards on Shary's blog using Elzybells stamps I popped across to have a look & found that they are having a birthday celebration & are offering free worldwide postage & a daily draw.

Well . . . . . . . . it would have been rude not to join in the celebrations wouldn't it lol!!!. I couldn't resist & placed an order for 5 of the stamps. That was on Thurs afternoon & my lovely postman dropped them through my letter box yesterday morning. How's about that for a speedy turnaround !!!

They also have a reward scheme where you get a sticker for every £5 you spend. This goes on a reward card & when it's full you get £10 to spend in the shop. How clever is that!!

All in all a great company so although I haven't had chance to play with my new stamps yet I just wanted to share this with you.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 33 - The Stars at Night

Well I had great fun making this card. After seeing lots of fab stitching on so many cards I've been very close (a few times) to buying a Janome Mini sewing machine but just couldn't justify the £50. Then I remembered I bought a sewing machine years & years ago so set to in the loft (which is also where I have my craft area) to try & find it. Buried under loads of boxes for electrical goods we've bought over the last few years was a very old & very dusty Janome sewing machine!!. It's certainly not mini & weighs an absolute ton but it works & better still I remembered how to thread it so after working out the different stitches I put it to use on my card for this weeks Cute Card Thursday challenge & this week where they would like to see some stars.

I've used a downloaded image from Cuddly Buddly called Giggles Nativity which have to be some of the cutest nativity images available.

I've had a go at stitching round the image . . . now please don't look closely LOL!! I'm working on the basis that it's a childs nativity scene so should look as though a childs had hold of a sewing machine!!!

I've made s shooting star type bead thingy & attached a Cuddly Buddly sentiment stamp.

The DP is Papermania christmas paper.

I really enjoyed making this card although it brought back painful memories of managing to sew through my index finger in a sewing lesson in high school lol!!!

Thank you

What a lovely surprise to get this award from Steph & Alex. Thank you so much, it means alot, especially as I've found it difficult fitting in blogging around work & card orders. I would like to pass this on to

Janet
Debs
Kerry
Vicki
Stacey
Karen

these ladies have all been blogging friends right from day ones of me setting up my blog as they were my Docraft buddies.
Hi to you all!!
Hugs

Friday Sketchers - Sketch 24

Another great blog if you enjoy following sketches is Friday Sketchers. This weeks sketch was so easy to follow I managed to do it from memory so I will be definately using it again. There are some great stamps donated by this weeks sponsor Unik Hobby so why don't you pop over & have a look.
Don't you just love this cute little chap, how many boys does he remind you of? This is Charlie & he is available from Whiff of Joy (for those of you who have been on the moon for the last few months lol!!!)
I've coloured him using Whispers Brush Pens & the snowman is filled in with Sparkles glitter glue & they are standing on Anita's 3D Paint. The paper is from Sandylion & I found it yesterday at my local craft shop Click-on-Crafts the snowflakes were also from there & are sold by the metre. The ribbon across the card I picked up from Wilkinsons today, they have a great selection of Christmas ribbons & all just £1.50 a roll. The cardstock at the back of Charlie has been run through the cuttlebug using the snowflake folder.
I've already coloured another 3 Charlies ready to redo this design but I think I might add something to the bottom right corner as I think it looks a bit bare.
Thanks for looking

Whiff Of Joy

This weeks challenge at Whiff Of Joy is a sketch, which as I've already said, I will be using time & time again.

I absolutely love this image & if you still haven't bought any of the Whiff of Joy stamps take my word for it, they are a joy (parden the pun) to use. They stamp so clearly & have so much detail.

The DP is from a Brenda Pinnick Christmas kit from last year. The poinsetta is from Papermania & the ribbon is from my stash.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 31 - Buttons & Bows

Well, I liked the layout of this weeks Whiff Of Joy Challenge Sketch so much that I've used it on my Cute Card Thursday card for this week. This is a layout I'll definately be using again as it's ideal for using all those strips of DP we all keep (go on, own up, you know I mean YOU!! lol!!)

The challenge this week was to have buttons & bows on your card. Well, I found the button part easy & made a bow from green ribbon but just couldn't decide where to stick it (now now ladies!!!) then I realised that the cute little girl in my Sarah Kay image has a lovely bow in her hair. Hope that's allowed!!

The DP is Papermania & the cardstock is Bazzill. The crochet flower I've made with my own fair hands & the button, ribbon, charm & pearls are from my stash.

I'm on a roll !!!!

Well I think my MOJO might be back thanks to SU lol!!! I went to my craft room to have a bit of a tidy & couldn't resist making a few cards, actually 4 in total.

The Happy Birthday card is stamped using SU Close To Cocoa & is from a See D set. The DP is SU Close To Cocoa Prints Designer Series which is retired so only available while stocks last. The ribbon, flower & brad are from my stash.

The From Me To You card is stamped using SU Old Olive & is again from the See D set, this is then mounted on a piece of SU Rose Red cardstock. The DP is SU Old Olive Prints Designer Series & is also retired. The ribbon is Dovecraft & the blong is Papermania.

Can you tell I'm loving my SU bits & pieces lol!!! If you have any queries on Stampin Up products visit Julies blog.

Don't Faint !!!!

I've actually made a card !!!! (Well I've made a few cards this week but they were for orders & I used my old faithfull designs so they didn't take much brain power.)

I went to my friend Jules, who is also my local Stampin Up Demonstrator, to collect my Stampers 10 order & the new Stampin Up catalogue (you really have to get one!!! & you can get it from Jules)

While I was there, drinking tea & munching on the Danish pastries I'd brought to spoil her diet lol!! she pinned me down & MADE me make a card (well actually she said would you like to make a card & I said yes lol!!) and the result is this creation.

The Stampin Up products are really fab & great quality & if you like you cards to colour co-ordinate then these are the products to use as the card, stamp pads, ribbons etc all co-ordinate.

I'm going to be ordering the stamp set I've used here which is the True Friend set & the card ribbon & stamp pad used are all in chocolate chip colour.

Jules is the most organised person I've met & really gives 100% to her Stampin Up customers. If you have any questions about Stampin Up drop her an email.