Merry Christmas to You

Good morning and a very merry Christmas to you! I hope that you have had a wonderful Christmas and that you are now able to relax a little for Boxing Day (or beyond that as it is here in Australia :-0 ) Here in Melbourne we had a hot Christmas - both Christmas Eve and Day were around 35 degrees and the relief of the cool change came through overnight with some much needed rain and we are still enjoying the cooler temperature :-)

This last design of card is on it's way (or hopefully arrived) to some special friends this year :-)

My Christmas was quite busy - up early Christmas Eve to do some food shopping (like many of you!) and it was good to beat the rush :-) Then lots of phone calls and some Skype with family and headed to the Church for 10:45pm where I was leading a choir to sing at Midnight Mass and Carols beforehand….it was a little tricky to hear the piano beside me over the industrial size fans (as it was about 30 degrees inside still) but I was told it was "amazing" - which is not something we've been before really :-)  We only started in time for last Christmas and with singing throughout the year we have improved some :-) It's not a formal choir - a lot more relaxed as we are just ordinary people, all of us - we sing a mix of new and old hoping that that others can join in and there were certainly a number of "new" in the pre Mass Carols this year - which was  lovely to be able to do :-)

Later versions had a red base and a different greeting :-)

Christmas Day was another early morning with some food prep and quick walk for Sally before we both headed over to see our very good friend Katerina and her lovely family who have so generously hosted us for Christmas for several years now. Sally spent a good amount of time smooching them all (before the Christmas Crackers sent her into hiding for a while!) and the decision was made - they have been too long without a "Sally" of their own!! Fantastic news my friends :-)

I have a couple more different cards to make and my Pear Pizazz ink pad needed refilling - and being a little rushed and tired I reached for the bottle and filled it up only to find as I stamped that I had added Wild Wasabi instead!!! Oh no!! But I have a solution in case you might make the same mistake - the ink washes out in water! So I put on some gloves and washed the ink pad under the tap till it was all clean.

And then put my glasses on before refilling with the right ink :-) All fixed - phew!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Simon Says Pets for PCCCS #175

Good morning and a very Happy Christmas Eve to you!! I hope you are ready for Christmas?
Yesterday, I took Santa's "mischievous little helper" (she refused to wear the hat :-0) with me as we went out to make a few deliveries including to the team who have been keeping her on all her feet this year. And we came home to see Santa had visited US - Love that :-)

And it is also time for another challenge from The Paper Craft Crew! This week it is a Two Week challenge to allow you some time over the Holidays to join in :-) And so we have a fun Tic Tac Toe combination for you. The design team have created a beautiful array of cards to inspire you so I hope you have a moment to pop on over to take a look.

Here are the Challenge details:

For my card, I chose the Right Hand side or it could also be for a diagonal - such a fun challenge :-)

As mentioned, we were visiting a few places including the vet clinic (and yes, the nurses did love her costume - tick :-0)  and so I made several of these cards to give them and some of our Doggie friend families too. These cute stamped animal images are from Simon Says Stamps and this was my first attempt at colouring with Copics so please bear with me -  I might need a few more browns and greys to do the best job of pets in future…!  I took my colouring cues from the lovely Jodene from Just Add Ink - you can see her much superior work here

Card Stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Bermuda Bay, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer

Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost (retired)
Stamps: Furry Christmas (Simon Says Stamps), Many Merry Messages (Retired)
Inks: Momento Tuxedo black, Copics
Accessories: Sleigh Ride Edgelits, On Film Framelits (Retired), Striped Ribbon Pack, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over and see what the rest of the team at The Paper Craft Crew have made to inspire you.
A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time during the year to leave me comments - all are so very much appreciated!! And I wish you and your families a wonderfully Happy and safe Christmas - full of peace, love, joy and relaxing.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

More Gift Card Holders and a Card

This week at Just Add Ink we have a fun and very well timed challenge to make a Gift  Card Holder. You can see the original post here (or just scroll down, it's the next one). I'm sure I won't be the only one giving more than one of these this Christmas so here is another one that has found it's way into the post - a little busier than my usual style but the recipient will enjoy I hope :-)

This one is of the same design -a slim box using the Envelope Punch Board - and more detailed instructions can be found in the original post as to how to score it.

And here is a matching card to go with it - several of these have gone out to family this year :-)

It uses some of the left over DSP and another stamped poinsettia. All very easy - just takes a little time to stamp and punch but is worth it, I think :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Designer Series Paper: Season of Cheer
Inks: Real Red, Garden Green, Versamark
Stamps: Reason For the Season
Access: Big shot, Gently Falling EF, Festive Flower Punch, Triple Banner Punch, Home for Christmas Enamel Dots, Gold Cording Trim, Gold EP

Thanks for stopping by today - I am making my way through the list of Christmas cards and things to do like many of you! And will be back with at least one more post for those looking for last minute ideas :-) And I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and maybe you too might like to join us in sharing your gift card holders this Christmas :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Gift Card Holder - JAI #293

Welcome to Friday and the countdown is on - only 1week to go until Christmas and all the joy and busyness that brings :-) Here in Melbourne, it's mighty hot too - 37 degrees Celsius today and possibly nudging 40 tomorrow... Our friends in South Australia have it hotter though so we can't complain too much. The only ice/and or snow we will be seeing this Christmas will be the soft serve confectionary type :-0

Over at Just Add Ink we have a fabulous new challenge for you! Kim has suggested that we Just Add…A Gift Card Holder. Such a fun idea and so useful too as they are such popular gifts for all occasions but especially in the holiday season.  This will be our last challenge of the year and lasts for TWO WEEKS- closing DEC 30, so hopefully you can take some time to join us and share what you are creating to hold your Gift Cards this Christmas. 

I find Visa gift cards are great for sending overseas  - especially as I am not always sure whether the Store cards are accepted in some places or not :-) They are a little larger than the ordinary card size as they come enclosed with the instructions….so I decided to make a slim box for this one using the Envelope Punch Board. 

I scored this pretty DSP as if was using a 10x14cm (4x6 1/2") envelope and before I rotated the DSP, made a second score line about 1/2 a cm after the initial score all the way around. And I rounded all the corners as it gives a neat and even finish. Then it was just a case of putting it together and decorating using the star framelits and the now retired, Bright & Beautiful stamp set.

From the back - the gold bow covers the ribbon join :-)

Card stock: Pool Party, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Season of Cheer, Gold Fancy Foil Vellum

Stamps: Bright & Beautiful (retired), Reason For the Season,

Accessories: Big shot, Star Framelits, Gold EP, Pool Party EP, Snowflake Elements, Triple Banner Punch, Ornate Tag Topper Punch, Gold Cording Trim, Organza Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see what our fabulous design team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you create to hold your Gift Cards this year!

I will be back before Christmas but in case I miss you, I hope you have a wonderfully happy and safe Christmas and I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave comments here over the year - they all are so very much appreciated :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Merry Inspiration - JAI #292

Welcome to Friday - and so that means it's only 2 weeks to Christmas!! Hasn't it come around so quickly this year?! I have finally got most of the shopping done ready for wrapping and posting but I have a lot of cards yet to make!! 

Does this sound familiar? Then you are going to really enjoy this week's challenge at Just Add Ink!! The lovely Nikki has given us these fabulous photos to use as inspiration and the Team have all created a wide variety of wonderful projects to inspire you so I hope you can pop on over and take a look.

Here are the photos:

And here's my card:

Yes, there is a little ornament as well!! With these fabulous inspiration challenges you can take whatever inspires you and see where that leads - for me, several of the silver of the ornaments in the photos caught my eye and reminded me of the Peaceful Pines stamp set and matching Framelits - so I made a little ornament to go with the card :-) 

And if you are thinking this card looks a little familiar you are right - the tree design is based on a card I made a few challenges ago that you can see here . It seemed a great way of incorporating the different colours in the photos :-)  Here, the tree is quite busy so the background has been kept very CAS - vellum, some scattered star sequins and you may just catch a glimpse of the wonderful Wink of Stella clear glitter that's added to the greeting (a sneak peek item from the upcoming Occasions catalogue!). Next time I make this card I will add a few more layers to the "merry" to give it some more dimension I think too.

Card stock: Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Vellum, Silver Foil

Ink: Pool Party

Stamps: Peaceful Pines

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pines Framelits, Star Framelits, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Metallic Sequins, Silver Cording Trim. Wink of Stella (clear)

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop by Just Add Ink to see all the wonderful inspiration from our wonderful Team this week. And I look forward to seeing what you will create using these gorgeous photos too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Rose Sympathy PCCCS #173

Welcome to Wednesday and a lovely day it has been too after a hot few days it has been lovely to return to temperatures within the "twenties" centigrade. The garden is growing well - both cucumber and tomatoes are fruiting a regular supply and as salad is the order of the day this hot summer it is a wonderful thing to be able to pick as you need from the garden.

And after an extra week to allow for the Thanksgiving holiday for those in the USA it's time for a new challenge at The Paper Craft Crew. This week we have a sketch for you and the Team have provided a fabulous array of creations to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

Sadly, I am in need of a sympathy card for good friend whose mother has recently died. The good news for me is that this wonderful new stamp set Rose Wonder ( a sneak peek from the upcoming Occasions Catalogue) arrived just in time. So I used the Rose for the circle element of the sketch and the leaves for the hexagon. The greeting and it's fancy frame also come as part of this soon to be popular set :-)

The rose image is stamped onto water colour paper and coloured using an Aqua Painter before being cut out close to the lines which are then completely covered by the white die cut frame. A little black glimmer paper peeping behind the greeting and banner, some scattered rhinestones and this first rose card is complete. It won't be long until the next rose card joins it thats for sure :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Water colour paper, Black Glimmer

Inks: Pacific Point, Pear Pizzaz, Black Archival

Stamps: Rose Wonder

Accessories: Big Shot, Rose Garden Thinlits, Triple Banner Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Snail, Fine Tip Glue Pen.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to stop by The Paper Craft Crew and see the variety of cards the Team have made to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this sketch too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add C JAI #291

This Friday marks 3 weeks's until Christmas!! Wow, that has come around so fast this year don't you think?! Are you ready for Christmas?

If you're like me, and not quite ready yet then this weeks challenge at Just Add Ink is one that you will enjoy :-) The lovely Tina has suggested that we Just Add anything " C."  Now of course that doesn't mean you need to limit yourself to Christmas or a card - we would love to see what the letter "C" inspires you to create! Our wonderful Team have made really amazing projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and take a look.

For this challenge I decided to make something that's maybe a little old school but still fun  - and make some Christmas Candles - these are ones that I will use as gifts this year but you could make something for your home or friends as well :-)

The white candles came from my local Reject Shop although this simple stamping would look great on coloured candles too. I decided to keep it really simple and only stamp a greeting for each candle and then add some ribbon and other details.
To do this, first stamp and / or emboss your image onto one layer of tissue paper. (Tissue Paper is available in most Newsagents and  $2 Shops - and in many colours. Just get the same colour as your candle :-) Then to add to the candle, place the tissue paper image where you want it and hold it tight with a layer of baking paper wrapped around the candle tightly and use enough so you can hold it using the baking paper like a handle. Then use your heat tool to lightly melt the candle - just until the paper disappears. Be careful to stop heating as soon as the Tissue paper disappears or else you may end up with bubbles in your candle. I used 5-8 second bursts and unwrapped the baking paper to see how it was going - a bit like checking the oven on a cake :-)

Then you can add whatever decorations you like - just remember paper decorations will need to be removed as the candle burns down so you don't have a fire situation :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Garden Green, Gold Foil
Ink: Real Red, Garden Green, Versamark
Stamps: Reason for the Season
Accessories: Festive Flower Punch, Brights Candy Dots, Gold EP, Gold Cording trim, Gold Satin Ribbon, Striped Ribbon
Non SU: White Pillar Candles (The Reject Shop), Tissue Paper ($2 Shop), Baking Paper

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to stop by Just Add Ink and see all the wonderful creations the team have made to inspire you and I so look forward to seeing what you will create with this very fun theme!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan