Christmas Carrot

linda20 Comments

christmas card with bunny and carrot in red, green and beige

i created this card for my daughter to send to her friends and vets who take care of her bunnies – i kept it clean and simple and resisted adding glitter because i didn’t want any transferring to bunnies or other pets. i coloured with distress inks, added my favorite things die-namics let it snowflakes and i’m submitting it to these challenges:

no matter which – christmas ends dec 16
addicted to stamps and more – bingo; i used red, green and dies ends dec 18
jingle belles – anything holiday goes ends dec 21
the cupcake craftroom – anything goes ends dec 30
unique crafters – all about christmas ends dec 31
the cutie pie – cute christmas ends jan 5
sweet stampin’ christmas – anything goes ends jan 6
joanna sheen – with love at christmas ends jan 10

thanks for popping by.

White And Gold

linda12 Comments

christmas card in gold and white with gold glittered poinsettia
the really reasonable ribbon challenge of ‘white on white plus one other colour and ribbon’ was a real challenge; i struggle with white on white so i added a lot of gold, including a gold ribbon that is attached like a gift wrapped present just behind the poinsettia. i was excited to have recently won a RRR challenge prize of a gift certificate so i was able to find a nice assortment of ribbons to play with and i was very pleased with the customer service – just in case you *need* some ribbons. i’m also submitting this to the jingle belles anything christmas goes prompt. thanks for popping by.

A Candle For My Son 2012

linda9 Comments

i know for many it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but it isn’t for those of us who lost a child; every day is difficult and the holidays are just more difficult. it’s ironic that i make christmas cards year round, but then wish the holiday would just not take place. at 7 pm this evening, i’ll be lighting a candle to honour and remember my son and around the globe family and friends will create a virtual wave of candle light for one hour to honour and remember children who have died at any age from any cause.

and, as always, i’ll take one day at a time and escape momentarily into my card making world. thanks for popping by.

The Compassionate Friends

Penny Black And More December – It’s Your Choice

linda10 Comments

christmas card in green and white with three ornaments dangling from two die cut snowflakes
it’s the first sunday of the month and time for a new penny black and more challenge; this month it’s your choice! for my DT card, i chose to heat emboss the ornaments from a bright tomorrow, colour with distress inks, cut out and pop them on foam squares; they’re hanging from my favorite things die-namics let it snowflakes. i also added stickles to the ornament tops. the rest of the design team have created a variety of beautiful inspirational projects, which you can find on the blog and i’d love for you to play along too. there are some fabulous prizes and remember, you can use any company’s image, just no digis please.

i’m also submitting this to the jingle belles – anything (holiday) goes theme. thanks for popping by.

Reindeer Christmas Tag

linda11 Comments

christmas tag with reindeer and snowflakes in the background in blues, green and rust colours
the november bo bunny challenge is to create a tag; i sure have made a lot of tags lately but they’re so much fun. for this challenge, i spent hours stamping, embossing, distressing and then tossing everything. i went on a hunt for papers to start over with and i found this reindeer in the bo bunny blitzen paper pad. i added a red pearl and stickles to the greenery so in the end it was a ten minute project and my third entry to sandra’s rudolph day challenge. thanks for popping by.

Inspired By A Sketch

linda9 Comments

clean and simple christmas card in reds and greens with tree, merry christmas circle sentiment and celebrate the wonder sentiment
this week Penny Black designer Jill Foster is showcasing christmas cards at the Penny Black blog – one cute and one elegant, along with sketches and i followed the day 1 sketch for my card. i coloured the tree with distress ink, added seed beads, stickles to the star and popped the die cut circle on top of the sentiment circle after sponging the edges. i traced the ‘celebrate’ sentiment with a stardust glitter pen. i’m submitting this to the holiday greenery theme at the papercraft star challenge and it’s my second card for sandra’s rudolph day challenge. thanks for popping by.

Christmas Bird

linda7 Comments

christmas card with blue bird on a purple ornament
it’s the last rudolph day challenge of 2012; wow, already?! sandra (stamping for pleasure) encourages everyone to make a christmas card(s) on the 25th of every month so you won’t panic when it’s time to mail out those cards. i followed the sketch at your next stamp challenge this week and coloured with distress inks as usual, added stickles to the hat and ornament, dew drops and twine. thanks for popping by.

A Jar Of Gingerbreads

linda17 Comments

tag in red, green and brown with jar of gingerbread cookies, a season's greetings sentiment with a red check bow at the top with a white snowflake sponged brown on the edges and red gem in the middle
welcome to my new followers! thank you for taking an interest in my creations.

i made this tag with materials created by Clare from the Molly Blooms Christmas Carnival magazine and Card Making Kit that i was lucky to have won recently; the image is coloured with distress inks and layered up with papers and ribbon from the kit. i sponged the edges and added a ‘my favorite things’ die cut snowflake and dew drop. i thought the gingerbread cookies suited the last jingle belles prompt for this year (already?!), which is ‘christmas feast’.

i’m also submitting this to these challenges:
really reasonable ribbon – anything but a card ends november 28
stamping sensations – traditional christmas ends november 28
addicted to stamps – tags ends november 24
pan pastel – red and green ends november 23
whimsy stamps inspirations challenge – traditional christmas colouring ends december 1

thanks for popping by.

Basic Shapes

linda11 Comments

christmas card in blue, green and white with white and blue poinsettia and glitter
i made this shaped card for my dad; i’m very lucky not to be constrained by the stereotypical masculine cards because the men that i create for like anything i make, including items with ribbon and glitter on them. i’m submitting this to the anything goes theme at the basic grey challenge, the shaped card theme at marianne’s design divas and the shaped theme at christmas cards all year ’round. thanks for popping by and thank you to linda duke for the inspiration.

Penny Black And More Any Die Will Do

linda14 Comments

pink and green birthday card with penny black mimi image
it’s the first sunday of november and time for a fun new penny black and more challenge; this month’s theme is ‘any die will do’ so for my DT card i used spellbinders edgeabilities and oval and my favorite things banner. this sweet penny black image, a gift from my friend, anne, is coloured with distress inks and i used a Flonz sentiment from a set. i hope you play along for some fabulous prizes plus a chance to be a guest designer; remember you can use any image, just no digis. the rest of the design team’s beautiful creations and all the challenge rules are here. thanks for popping by.

Polar Bear Snow Globe

linda14 Comments

polar bear in snow globe with merry christmas sentiment
it’s been a whirlwind two weeks with out of town conferences and volunteer work, but things are starting to settle down and it felt so good to have a bit of crafting time; now i have to get caught up on some commenting and blog viewing. i made this CAS card for: the jingle belles who are celebrating all living creatures, sandra’s rudolph day challenge and the circle theme at christmas stampin all year long. thanks for popping by.

Halloween Inchie

linda23 Comments

halloween card with turtle carrying a pumpkin
i love this cute penny black inchie image for halloween cards and, as usual, i coloured with distress ink pads and sponged the edge, stamped the cobwebs and die cut with what is possibly my favourite spellbinders die. i’m submitting this little card to these challenges:

papercraft star a halloween pumpkin ends october 23
card crafter’s circle halloween ends october 25
sweet stampin’ halloween ends october 25
no matter which halloween ends october 25
the cutie pie halloween ends october 26
pan pastel animal ends october 27
without words things that go bump in dark colours ends october 29
really reasonable ribbon halloween ends october 29
heck of a challenge ends october 30

thanks for popping by.

Mid Month Reminder Penny Black And More

linda11 Comments

card with two bunnies in clay pots and a bird on the handle of a shovel with a thank you sentiment
my daughter asked me to make a thank you card for her vet who provided excellent care for one of her bunnies, pictured below; the little spotted bunny is recuperating from a tooth abscess. this is my mid month post for our animal magic theme at penny black and more; i inked up this penny black peek-a-bunny stamp, coloured with distress ink pads and popped the image panel on foam squares. there are some wonderful prizes and a chance to be a guest designer and remember – you can use any company stamp, just no digis. i’m also submitting this card to the cupcake craft – two’s company challenge.  thanks for popping by.

two bunnies being cozy
close up of two bunnies being cozy

Molly Blooms’ Amazing Magazine

linda7 Comments

i am so excited to share that i won blog candy from clare, the creator of molly blooms stamps; the limited edition Molly Blooms Christmas Carnival magazine and card making kit just arrived in the mail! the package includes the full colour magazine, christmas projects with instructions and patterns, a limited edition clear stamp set, papers, buttons, twine and ribbon. ooh, i can’t wait to play – thank you clare! visit her blog for some beautiful creations.

molly blooms christmas carnival magazine
molly blooms christmas stamps

thanks for popping by.

Animal Magic At Penny Black And More

linda12 Comments

card with mouse witch, two bats, one ghost and trick or treat sentiment
it’s the first sunday of the month and this is my DT card for the penny black and more challenge – our theme this month is animal magic, which explains how a mouse could trick or treat. i coloured with distress ink pads, cut him out and popped him with foam squares; i used coloured pencils on the bats and added flower soft to the broom. i’d love to see you play along – you can find the rest of the DT’s inspirational cards and all the rules on the blog. thanks for popping by.

Poinsettia Card For Papercraft Cafe

linda9 Comments

christmas card in red and green with red poinsettia and merry christmas circular sentiment
when i started designing my october DT card for papercraft cafe, my local stamp store, i thought that this new penny black winter magic stamp set was perfect for those 3″ x 3″ cards i love to make, but then i found the tuesday morning sketches blog. this little stamp can be the focal point of any size card; and, because of the sentiment, it still looks ok if you accidentally photograph the card upside down. (not shown, lol) i stamped the poinsettia twice on watercolour paper and just sponged with distress inks, cut some of the leaves away and layered it. thanks for popping by.

Trying Vintage

linda16 Comments

card in vintage style with dogwood flower in neutrals
welcome to my new followers! i appreciate your taking an interest in what i do.

i’ve been playing along with magenta’s 20th anniversary monthly challenges all year and this month’s theme is vintage, which i keep saying i can’t do but it’s fun trying. i stamped the magenta flower twice, heat embossed it and sponged it a bit and layered it. i’ve had this memory box corner die for a while, but just couldn’t find a way to fit it onto a card until now and i’m glad i have it. the edges are all distressed and sponged and i added some lace, although i feel like i should’ve added more – can vintage be CAS?

i’m also submitting it to these challenges:
the brand new vintage stamping challenge sponsored by flonzcraft – anything goes ends October 31
sweet stampin’  – vintage ends October 5
card crafter’s circle – vintage ends October 4

thanks for popping by.

Same But Different Snowman Stamp

linda10 Comments

winter snowman card with positive and negative stamp, twine and two red mitten buttons
this week the paper players are playing tic-tac-toe, so i chose christmas, red and blue and buttons. i realize that my card uses the same positive/negative concept and layout as paper players DT member amy white’s card, but i’m case-ing my own snowman stamp card, posted on september 19. i coloured with watercolour pencils and added the shank buttons to some twine. thanks for popping by.

Edited: LeAnne, the snowman is part of the stampendous winter family stamp set.

Pumpkin George

linda8 Comments

card with george dressed up in pumpkin outfit with a spider
i created this card for the first Without Words challenge, which is an autumn theme this month. i love the cooler temperatures and rich colours of the fall season and pumpkins popping up everywhere, so i went with molly blooms’ pumpkin george stamp. i coloured with distress ink pads, sponged the edges of the kraft mat and popped it on with foam squares. thanks for popping by.

Holiday Bunny

linda12 Comments

card with bunny pulling sled holding reindeer on brown with white polka dot paper and red check paper trim; also a making spirits bright sentiment
i made this card for the sketch saturday challenge, and the jingle belles’ dashing through the snow theme. i coloured everything with distress ink pads, added stickles for the snow on the ground and flower soft for the tails and hat trim. i was inspired by stephanie’s card to use the red check with the kraft since i bought the simple stories handmade holidays paper during my last trip to my local stamp store. thanks stephanie and thanks for popping by.

An Easy Christmas Tag

linda9 Comments

very easy christmas tag in green and red with merry christmas sentiment
i made what i’m calling a QAE (quick and easy) tag for sandra’s rudolph day challenge to create christmas cards on the 25th of every month. CAS refers to the layout, but it’s not always QAE if you spend a lot of time colouring images like i normally do. this time, i just stamped the sentiment on a pre-made tag from echo park, layered it up, rounded the corners and added a ribbon. thanks for popping by.

A Banner Day

linda7 Comments

blue card with it's your special day sentiment on a circle and a banner at the top
making a clean and simple card using banners for the paper players challenge was definitely a challenge, so i really enjoyed making this card – besides, it went together quickly since i didn’t colour anything. i used the whimsy circle pennants dies for the banner, a penny black sentiment popped on foam squares and punched stars. i cut the banner behind the circle by hand.

i’m also entering this into the anything goes theme at the whimsy stamps challenge. thanks for popping by.

Snowman Stamp

linda8 Comments

three inch christmas card in red and blue with snowman and snowflakes
i didn’t think i’d get to play along with the current jingle belles ‘going postal’ theme; another RA flare up this week, but i’m just in time for today’s deadline. this little 3 inch card took as long to make as any other size! i coloured the snowman with twinkling h20s and watercolour pencils, popped the image panel on foam tape and added some tiny punched snowflakes. thanks for popping by.

Another Early Christmas Make

linda9 Comments

christmas card with three hedgies running along carrying a string of jingle bells on and red and brown plaid background with red card stock and gold bow
this is my second DT card for this month’s Penny Black and More Challenge to create an early christmas project. i coloured the best day ever image with distress ink pads, sponged the edges and added stickles. i swiped an ink pad over the embossed panel, which ended up being a bit uneven, but i think it adds to the distressed style. one more card done; how about you – have you started making your christmas cards? if not, come and play!

i’m also playing along with these challenges:
cute card thursday – christmas in september
sparkle creations – animal prints
christmas crafting! – traditional christmas colours
pin and tack – anything goes
bunny zoes – distressing

thanks for popping by.

More Thank You Cards

linda6 Comments

thank you card with acorn and oak leaf on a circle against a strip of orange and gold paper on a white card stock base
i needed some more thank you cards, so i used the bobunny acorn stamp again, but this time i made a CAS card; actually i made eight of them since they’re all going to different people. instead of colouring with distress inks, i stamped on gold paper and punched the oak leaf out of orange paper and sponged the edges of both. thanks for popping by.

Thankful

linda6 Comments

card with pumpkin, acorns, oak leaves and thankful sentiment
when i dropped my DT store samples off at papercraft cafe, i found the bobunny apple cider collection and marie, the owner and enabler that she is, showed me the matching stamp set, which i had to have – i love the text and geometric designs. i coloured everything with distress inks, fussy cut the pumpkin and acorns and punched the tiny leaves from the bobunny forever fall collection. i’m submitting this to the bobunny challenge, a sketch by designer Juliana. thanks for popping by.

Penny Black And More September – Christmas Wish

linda18 Comments

christmas card with teddy in blue pyjamas decorating a tree; background papers are blue diagonal stripes with white and red plus a die cut strand of blue glitter jingle bells

this is my DT card for the September Penny Black and More Challenge – we’re getting ready for Christmas. i coloured this cute teddy with distress inks and used memory box dies: the jingle bells on blue glitter paper and the ticket. the sentiment is from the same stamp set. i’m submitting my card to the following challenges:

heck of a challenge – anything goes ends sept 30
no matter which challenges – die cuts and/or punches ends sept 30
the squirrel and the fox – one for the men ends sept 5

i’d love to see you play along – for inspiration, check out the other DT members’ beautiful Christmas creations at the blog here; there are some fabulous prizes to be won from sponsors Penny Black, Stampalot, Art of Craft, Pretty Little Ribbons. thanks for popping by.