10 week till Christmas challenge - 4 cards

I have been playing catch up (and I'm still not there!), so these 4 cards span 2 different weeks.

This first card is for Week 4 (7 weeks till Christmas), 3rd card :

The challenge was for letters or numbers stamped in the background. I don't know how clearly you can see the letters in the background (the card has come out a bit pale in the picture).
I have used Distress Inks - weathered wood and milled lavendar.
The stamps are from Inkadinkadoo and Elusive Images.



Next I moved onto Week 5 (6 weeks till Christmas) Card 1:

This was a sketch as seen below


I went for a more unusual colour scheme (as you can see), using the beautiful cream and black paper by Kaiserkraft.
The funky Christmas trees and background swirls are by PaperArtsy, and have been stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder. I have added some texture and sparkle by colouring in bits of the trees with black stickles and Rock Candy, both by Ranger.
The words are stamps by Francoise Read.


Card 2 of week 5 was dry embossed background. The snowflake embossing and die cuts are from Cuttlebug, and the white snowflake stamp is from Stampington&Co. and have been embossed with white embossing powder.

Finally the challnege for the 3rd card for week 5 was unusual colours for Christmas. The tree is from Katzelkraft, and has been stamped with white paint (adirondak dabber). The swirls in the background is also from Katzelkraft. The die cut snowflakes are cuttlebug, and the papers are Bazzil.

Thank you for looking, and for your comments, they are most appreciated.

Gingerbread House Cake

It was our good friend Emily's birthday yesterday. As she loves gingerbread, I decided to make her a gingerbread house for her birthday. It was great fun, and very frustrating to make!

Front

Back

7 weeks till Christmas - Card 1 and 2

Well, having just put our house on the market, and now having little time for anything other than cleaning and tidying, I have fallen behind. Never mind, I'll catch up... I hope :)
2 cards for last week's challenge. ..

The first is the sketch

I have used Adirondak espresso and Distress Antique Linen with cream card as my colours.


The second is a "shaker" card. This was a bit of a challenge! I loved making the frame, which is by Crafty Individuals. I painted it with Gesso to create a key, then used the Viva Terra paint, which I stamped into, to create texture. I rubbed Viva precious metal gold paint into the writing grooves, and painted over all of it with Adirondak Bottle Green dabber paint. This technique is one of many I learnt on the ArtsyCraft weekend.
The WinterWonderland stamp is byKatzelkraft, the swirls on the right corner are Crafty Individuals, the lamp and trees are by Mariette Verhees and the Rejoice is by Hero Arts.


Thank you for looking, I hope you like them

7 weeks till Christmas - Special K

I started this week off by doing the Special K challenge first instead of last. I was intrigued by the technique - bleach.
We were to spray bleach onto coloured card to create a dappled effect. I did the red card in the background.
The bird stamp is from Inkadinkadoo, as are the swirls around the edges. The bird is then coloured with Adirondak Red Pepper ink.The words are Francoise Read.

Thank you for looking, and for your kind comments.

8 weeks till Christmas - Special K

Last week's Special K card is finally done.
The spec was for a background made of tissue paper, then coloured.
I made my background with kitchen towel, painted with Adirondak Red Pepper and Gold acrylic paint. I then stuck it to a piece of card. When it was dry I cut it in half and used the crop-a-dile to make holes for the ribbon.
The background card has been smeared with embossing ink, and embossed with gold.
The NOEL (from KatzelKraft) is stamped and then embossed in gold detail embossing powder.
The stamped swirls on the sides are from Basic Grey.

8 weeks till Christmas - WEEK 3 - Card 2 and 3

I have been busy again today - 2 more cards for the 10 weeks till Christmas Challenge.

The first card's challenge was "a card with stars".
I have made a more modern card, using the luscious SEI Winter Song papers, cuttlebug for the circle and stars, and PaperArtsy stamps for the trees. I coloured the trees with Pearlescent watercolours, so the shine beautifully (well, not in a photo lol!).
The words are Francoise Read.



The second card is "white with a touch of gold".
I have used an embossed frame that I bought at the Craft Barn. (I can't remember what it is called.)
The candle stamp is Mariette Verhees, and embossed with gold embossing powder. The words are Francoise Read and also embossed.
All the edges and the snowflake are done with gold Krylon pen

8 weeks till Christmas - WEEK 3 - Card 1

The final card I made this weekend was the first for this week's quota (I am catching up!)
I flipped the sketch on its side and made a simple card with one of my favourite Christmas stamps - he has such a lovely face..

Thank you for looking

9 weeks till Christmas - WEEK 2 - Special K

The Special K challenge - the soot technique. I am still using the wonderful Katzelkraft Wonderland sheet of stamps.
This was quite fun, you stamp onto glossy card with versamark. Then heat set very well, finally burn the glossy surface with the flame of a candle. It turns all black, but when you wipe the soot off you get the lovely smokey contrast.

9 weeks till Christmas - WEEK 2 - Card 2 and Card 3

I have been working hard this weekend to catch up with the challenge, and I have finished 2 more cards for last week.

First up is the pop-up card, with the pop-up inside. The stamps are from Katzelkraft and Basic Grey. The lovely papers are SEI Wintersong, and what you can't really see is the glitter, foil and velvet on the papers - SO yummy!

Second is the blue and silver card, still with the beautiful KatzelKraft Wonderland sheet. The white card has been embossed with the cuttlebug, and I have used Distress Ink Faded Jeans