Let's December Daily - Preparations 3

I'm up on the Let's December Daily blog again today sharing the last of my album preparations before it all starts in earnest. Eeek! Only 2 days to go!

Here's a sneak peek of what you can see over there:

The beginnings of my journal cards

The beginnings of my number cards

My master planning sheet and a weather chart

Hope you'll hop over and join us! Here's the link - Let's December Daily

Thanks for your time today. And keep crafting!

Uniko Countdown To Christmas Blog Hop

Are you excited? Yes, today really is an opportunity to win Uniko goodies. All the DT are hosting a blog hop to celebrate the November release.

So let's get to it. Here are my sample cards to showcase this fabulous release:

I'm kicking off with a combination of two sets from the new release and one older set all in my most favourite colours and with bling and sparkle too! Yahoo!

All the stamped images have been coated with Wink of Stella, so in real life are just dazzling.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Jingle Bells, Labeled Christmas, Background Builders Vines Winter Additions
Inks: Memento, grape jelly, lilac posies
Pen: Sakura Gelly Roll, silver
Embellishments: glitter paper & sequins from my stash; Wink of Stella, clear 

My next card is all about what we all wish for at Christmas - a stack of presents to open!
 

I used gold embossing powder for the solid bows and sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Essentially Christmas
Inks: SU, cherry cobbler; Versamark
Embossing: Personal Impressions, mirror gold
Dies: Lawn Fawn, large stitched square stackables 

And for my last card I inked up that I Love Coffee stamp set. I'm loving how easy it is to adapt this set to fit in with any theme, but then that's one of the many fabulous features of Uniko stamps - their wonderful versatility.

I masked off a strip on the base card before stamping the background border and then popped up the other elements with foam pads to add dimension.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, I Love Coffee, Stunning Snowflakes
Inks: SU, early espresso, coastal cabana

OK cards shared, now the bit you're waiting for. Here's how to win the entire November release:

Simply visit & comment along the hop by midnight Saturday 5th December, to be in the chance of winning  the ENTIRE release! The WINNER will be announced Sunday 6th December.

And here's the blog hop order:

Beverley

Deborah

Jane (that's me)

Nicki

Sarah G

Sarah P

I'm popping my last card into the challenge at ATCAS where they are celebrating their third birthday and want to see dimension.

 

Great fun having you visit my blog today, thank you.  And keep crafting!

Uniko Challenge 27 Reminder

A busy couple of days for Uniko ahead. First up I'm here with a gentle nudge to remind you about the current challenge - Christmas with the optional twist of CAS. And then tomorrow I'll be back with the November release bloghop and the chance to win the entire release.

So a fairly CAS Christmas card to share today using the fabulous Background builders Christmas set and some traditional colours.

Just a little bit of razzle dazzle is added with that holographic card on three sides and to round it all off three red pearls - love those threes!

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko, Background Builders Christmas

Inks: SU, cherry cobbler, garden green

Dies: Xcut, stars

Pen: Sakura, gelly roll clear star

Embellishments: Habico, opulent asst. pearls

 
Now be sure to get crafting and enter Uniko's last challenge for 2015!

Thanks for dropping by today. I really appreciate it. And keep crafting!

CAS Colours & Sketches #152

The last of November's challenges at CAS Colours & Sketches begins today. Woo, the end of November is approaching so fast!

I love the simplicity of Louise's sketch and tried to honour this with my card.

I chose clean bright colours and die cut two circles from patterned paper. I picked out the red and die cut the thanks.  Then I felt it needed just a little something to ground it and tried the splatter stamp from SU Gorgeous Grunge but wasn't pleased with the result. So I opted for the grungy lines instead and think that is just enough to help the flow of the sentiment across the card.

I then rounded the corners of both the circle panel and card base to echo the curved lines of the circles.

Supplies:
Stmaps: SU, Gorgeous Grunge
Inks: SU, sahara sand
Paper: SU, Fresh Prints
Dies: Lawn Fawn, Scripty Thanks; Spellbinders, standard circles small
Punch: Xcut, corner rounder

It's over to you now, how will you interpret the sketch? Remember to visit the CAS Colours & Sketches blog to be amazed by the rest of the DT creations and then get busy. 

Thanks for dropping by today, I love that you found time to look at my blog.  And keep crafting! 

The Male Room Challenge #24

We all need to say thank you at some point and why shouldn't a fella get a card? Well that's what we think at The Male Room and the challenge starting today is all about that.

And I came across this fabulous die lurking in my box the other day so I fancied a bit of a shaker for my sample card.

I stamped the little mole and coloured him and was lucky enough to find a piece of matching cardstock - when will I learn to do it the other way round! Such a cute little image and I thought I'd put him on top of the die cut, but it turned out I preferred him peeping out - well he is mole.

I confess to actually glueing some of the sequins in place to keep them where I wanted them, but most are still free to move around.

Supplies:
Stamp: Create A smile, Poppin Over
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black
Dies: Clearly Besotted, Thanks
Promarkers: terracotta, mustard, raw sienna, cool grey 1
Embellishments: Sequins from my stash

So how will you say thanks to that kind helpful fella in your life? Well of course you'll make a card! Go see what the rest of The Male Room DT have created to help you get started.

Thanks - there's that word again - for visiting my blog today, you made my day.  And keep crafting!

AAA Cards Challenge #53 Anything Goes

A chance to do your own thing at AAA Cards as the theme is Anything Goes!

And for me it was a chance to make another Christmas card for my stash. I used that cute little owl and decked him out in gold to match both the AAA Cards graphic and my December Daily colours.

I die cut a square aperture and popped a piece of pattrnd paper behind it. Then I die cut a smaller square and stamped the owl. I kept him in shades of grey as I wanted the blinged up gold on his scarf to take centre stage.

Three little hearts also sparkled up in gold stickles were the final finishing touch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Lawn Fawn, Winter Owl
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black
Paper: Kaisercraft, A Touch of Gold
Promarkers: Cool grey 1 & 4
Dies: Spellbinders, classic square large
Embellishments: Stickles, golden rod

How is your Christmas card stash growing? This could be the chance to add to it or maybe you'll do something completely different. Whichever you choose, be sure to link up with us at AAA Cards.

And talking of linking up don't forget if you're doing, or might be doing, or just curious about, a daily December album there's a wealth of ideas and inspiration to be found at Let's December Daily.

Thanks for looking.  And keep crafting!

Let's December Daily - Preparations 2

Today at Let's December Daily I'm sharing a bit more of my album preparations. So I'm giving you a couple of peeps here on my blog.

I'm showing how I've decorated my album cover and why it's less rather than more!

And also how I've created a title page.

Hope I've got you wanting to know more. So pop on over to Let's December Daily for all the details. While you're there why not sign up to follow us? We're a friendly sociable bunch and would love to have you join us.

Thanks for your time today, I do appreciate it.  And keep crafting!

Uniko Challenge #27

The last challenge for 2015 starts today at Uniko. And of course the theme is Christmas but with an optional twist of making it CAS.

Well I'm not sure if my card is strictly CAS, but I have used some of my all time favourite colours so it makes me smile. And I absolutely adore this stamp set.

I created the background by applying the ink pad directly to my heat mat and spritzing it with water before using a speedball roller to spread it randomly over the card. I'm quite taken with the subtle cloudy effect this produces. The snowflakes and tiny baubles were stamped in the same colour but look like a deeper shade as the ink has not been diluted.

And did I enjoy colouring the large doily? You bet I did! Reminded me of all those adult colouring patterns that the shops are full of at the moment - now there's a great diy idea for a Christmas present.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Decorative Doilies, Flower Power #9, Rustic Christmas, Big & Bold Snow, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: Adirondack, pool; SU, rich razzleberry
Pens: Promarker, soft green; SU, stampin'write rich razzleberry; Sakura, gelly roll
Embellishments: Papermania, adhesive shimmer dots

This month we have Shona and Jen joining us as Guest Designers and of course the rest of the multi talented Uniko DT have also made cards for you to use as starting points. See them all here.

And as always the lovely generous Bev is giving away awesome prizes - check them out here. So what have you got to lose? Enjoy the crafting and maybe win a prize!

So pleased you dropped by my blog today. Thank you! How about coming back this evening when my next Let's December Daily post goes live?

And keep crafting!

CAS Colours & Sketches #151

Some beautiful chilly Winter colours for this week's CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. How will you use them?

Well I admit the metallic silver had me stumped for a while as I don't have any metallic inkpads and only gold embossing powder. So I decided to use some sparkly silver holographic card for this element of the challenge.

My starting point for this card was a fellow teammie at Uniko - Sarah G - with her card here. I used the same stamp set as her, but changed it up by using a trio of Christmas baubles - as you know I'm a bit of a fan of threes!

My baubles are all stamped off onto scrap paper before stamping onto my card. I love how this gives a more subtle, shady effect. I really liked the angle of Sarah's sentiment banner and so I added it to both ends of my banner.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Background Builders Round In Circles, Balloon Bash, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: SU, lost lagoon, wateremlon wonder; Memento, tuxedo black
Card: Silver holographic card from my stash
Embellishments: Papermania adhesive stones  

It's so good to get inspiration from other crafters and I know you'll love what the rest of the CAS Colours & Sketches DT have made to get you thinking. Go check it out!

Thanks for looking at my blog today, I love that you did! And keep crafting! 

Tuesday Talk

After all the rush of last week's posts suddenly my week feels a little bare, so I went looking for a challenge to play along with . It's one layer week over at Less is More and their theme is SANTA. Perfect!

So out came my Uniko Jolly Christmas Santa. Once I'd stamped and coloured him I wanted to turn him into a tree ornament. So I stamped some spruce twigs from Uniko Jingle Bells, added a few fir cones from Uniko Background Builders Vines Winter Additions and hand drew a line for him to hang on.

I then finished off with a sentiment to match that jolly little Santa.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Jolly Christmas, Jingle Bells, Background Builders Vines Winter Additions
Inks: SU, old olive, baked brown sugar; Memento, tuxedo black
Promarkers: poppy, cool grey 5

Thanks for dropping by today - it will soon be Christmas mayhem! Have you decided to keep a daily album this year? Why not pop over to Let's December Daily to see how our album preparations are progressing? 

And keep crafting!

Let's December Daily - Preparations 1

Today will see my first post and introduction to my 2015 December album over at Let's December Daily.

I'm going to give you a little taster here, but you'll need to pop on over there and take a look for the full deal. And while you're there check out the other DT posts from the last few days and be inspired to play along.

I'll be revealing my supplies and how I'm storing them. This is just a tiny corner of the full pic!

Another mini pic of some of my gatherings

Hope that's got you interested enough to take a look - here.

Linking up with us and displaying our badge on your blogs would be just tremendous - we all like to know we're loved!

Thanks for all your support. And keep crafting! And Let's December Daily together!