Snowy MacSnowface

I made this advent calendar for my young niece and nephew to help them count down to Christmas and my sister has christened him Snowy MacSnowface!  His nose moves round to count down the days, it's held in place with a chunky brad.

 It's made from a very sturdy MDF blank that I bought at the SECC in October, from a company specialising in laser cuts.
I painted it with Imagination Crafts Starlight paints, which are made with crushed gilding flakes and have the loveliest shimmer, and dabbed on some Imagination Crafts Sparkle Medium in some areas for extra bling.  I also added a stenciled design to the hat with Sparkle Medium which hasn't shown up very well in the photos.
I used an Xcut die set to make the numerals and stuck on a blue gem to mark each day.  I then gave the whole piece a coat of varnish to seal the numbers in place and to help protect them as the nose passes over the top of them.  The final touch was to add some red ribbon as a hat band.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges -

Craft For The Craic - Anything But a Card
Crafty Boots - Christmas
Sparkles Christmas - Anything But a Card
Daring Cardmakers - Decorate It

An Autumnal Thank You

I made this card with some of the new goodies that I got at the Hobbycraft show at the SECC last month; I had such a spend up, I'd saved up all year and it was great to have a big splurge, and I'm loving having new toys to play with.
The stamps used here aren't new, and neither is the embossing folder, but the dies, waxes, paint and embossing powders are.

To make the topper, I heat embossed the Woodware stamp with bronze embossing powder, and went round the image with two shades of grey coloured pencil to make it pop.  I then used to Stampendous Embossing Enamels round the edges of the topper, Shabby White and Aged Bronze, for a distressed look.  To colour the berries, I painted on Imagination Crafts Starlights Paint in Red, then once it had dried, I covered each one with Glossy Accents.  This gives the berries an enameled look that hasn't been captured in the photos.
The background was created by embossing a piece of kraft card with an Embossalicious folder, then applying Imagination Crafts Alchemy Waxes in three colours to it; I used Copper, Bronze and Coral.
The sentiment was stamped with a Personal Impressions stamp and I used copper and red mirri for the matting and layering.
To embellish, I used a Tonic die set to make some leafy die cuts from kraft, which I inked with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.  The final touch was to add a few gems.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Crafty Cardmakers - #177 - Embossing
Sparkle 'n' Sprinkle -  Anything Goes with Loose Product
The Crazy Challenge - #235 - Thank You
Fashionable Stamping - #117 - Tis the Season - Autumn
Pile It On - #121 - Thank You
Crafty Calendar - Autumn Colours
Creative Corner - Thank You
The Stamping Boutique - Fall Colours

Woodland Stag

I've been having fun with my Imagination Crafts Starlight paints again, creating a background for this gorgeous stag die cut, which is also from Imagination Crafts.  It's one of my favourite Christmas dies and it cuts like a dream, I've used textured gold card today.

 To create the background, I used three colours of Starlight paint, Amethyst, Cyclamen, and Gold, which I blobbed onto a craft mat, spritzed with water and swirled my card through.  The photo doesn't do it justice, you just can't capture the sparkle of the crushed gilding flakes in these paints in a photo.  I got a nice, large A4 sheet made so I've got some left over for other projects.
I kept the rest of the card simple to showcase the large topper, layering up some pretty Lili of the Valley Woodland Wishes papers, and adding some lace, ribbon with a matching double bow, some large plum coloured pearls, and some gold gems to the snowflakes.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Merry Christmas Challenge - #3 - Use a Die Cut
Crafting From The Heart - #132 - Anything Goes
Glitter 'n' Sparkle - #210 - Anything Goes
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Christmas Critters
Simply Papercraft - #38 - Anything Goes

Magi by Starlight

I had my Starlight paints out to create the background for this card, it sparkles so much more in reality than the camera can capture.
I splodged Amethyst, Cyclamen and Antique Gold  Starlight paints, from Imagination Crafts, onto a craft mat and moved them around with a piece of kitchen towel, then spritzed with water and swirled a sheet of Sheena Stamping Card through the paint a few times to pick it up.  Once dry you have the most beautiful shimmery, sparkly, swirly backing paper.

 The design on the front of the card was made with a Create a Card die from Crafter's Companion, which I borrowed from my friend, Donna.  It's huge and embosses beautiful detail into the design which hasn't been captured at all well in the photos.
I decided to add no embellishment at all to this one, leaving the lovely die cut and sparkly paints to speak for themselves, simply matting the image onto black card and lilac and soft gold satin board.

 I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Brown Sugar - #204 - Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #112 - Anything Goes
Simply Create Too - #112 - Christmas in July
Crafty Gals Corner - #77 - Sparkle and Shine
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Make Your Own Background
The Glory of Christmas - #87 - Stars / Anything Christmas Goes

Roses and Ribbon

A fresh floral card today, made with die cuts and stencils, in my favourite colour combo of pink and green.

 I started by creating the circular focal element, using Distress Inks in Twisted Citron and Picked Raspberry, and a couple of Imagination Crafts stencils.  Once the ink was down, I flicked water at it for a soft splotchy effect, once this was dry I stamped my sentiment with a stamp from a Buzz Craft set.
I covered my card blank with bright pink card, stuck my stenciled piece to this, then made a panel from white card, die cut a circle from the centre, added a ribbon border, and adhered this to the card with foam tape for dimension.
The roses and butterfly were made with my Xcut Rose Flourish die set, and I finished my card with some white pearls.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Allsorts - #359 - Ribbons and Roses
Fussy and Fancy - #161 - Pink and Green
Cut it Up - #94 - Spring Flowers
Crafty Boots - Use a Sentiment
Cupcake Inspirations - #356 - Colour Combo

More Inky Fun

Another inky card using Imagination Crafts products again today, this time I've gone for cool colours in contrast to yesterday's red and pink tones.

 I created the background for the topper with Wilted Violet and Blueprint Plan Distress Inks, which I flicked with water after applying to Sheena Stamping Card for a textured look.  I then used an Imagination Crafts stamp to stamp the dahlia image in black ink over the top.
I made my own backing paper using the aforementioned Distress Inks and an Imagination Crafts stencil, using a little Blue Sapphire Sparkle Medium to do a bit of foiling on top of the inking for some shimmer.  The foiling hasn't shown up very well in the photos, it looks much better in reality.
The only embellishment I added  was some black organza ribbon and a bow, I didn't want to overpower the striking image and pretty stencil.

 I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Allsorts  #358 - Purple Passion
Brown Sugar - #193 - Anything Goes
Crafting With Friends - #18 - Anything Goes
Creative Corner - Flower Power

Really Reasonable Ribbon - #138 - Flowers
The Stamping Boutique - Flowers
Simply Papercraft - #27 - Anything Goes

Roses are Red

A very simple, inky card today, made with an Imagination Crafts stamp and a stencil from them too.  The card is 5x7, showing just how large the gorgeous rose stamp is.

 I created the background using Distress Inks in Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry, and an Imagination Crafts stencil, then a little Fired Brick Distress Ink round the edges.  I then stamped the rose image over the top in more Fired Brick ink, swirling the ink into the stamp for a textured effect.
The sentiment was stamped with a Papermania stamp onto a piece of card that I'd inked to match the topper, I raised it up on foam pads for a bit of dimension.
A trio of red gems finish my card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Crafty Boots - Use a Sentiment
Crafting From the Heart - #107 - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - #307 - Anything Goes
Dream Valley - #129 - Anything Goes
AAA Cards - #62 - Anything Goes
CAS on Sunday - #80 - Flowers
Brown Sugar - #193 - Anything Goes
Creative Corner - Flower Power

Fun with Foiling

We all got inky fingers on our Monday night crafty get together this week as we got our Imagination Crafts goodies out to play!

 I heat embossed an Imagination Crafts stamp in gold then used Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold and Abandoned Coral Distress Inks, along with an Imagination Crafts mask and a Clarity dusting brush to create a background.  I used my finger to apply some Welsh Gold Sparkle Medium to the seed heads to add a highlight and a bit of texture.
For the bottom layer, I used the same inks, mask and brush, but I did a bit of foiling with Welsh Gold Sparkle Medium over the inked background.
Three orange gems finish my card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -

Craft Your Passion - #303 - Anything Goes
Love to Create - #6 - Anything Mixed Media Goes
That's Crafty - Stencils and Masks
Crafting With Friends - #16 - Anything Goes
Simply Papercraft - #28 - Anything Goes
As You Like It - Your Favourite Style of Embossing and Why - I love heat embossing, it never loses it's magic, I love watching the powder change from dull to shiny metal, it's like alchemy!
Through the Purple Haze - #97 - Add Some Warm Colours
Crafting By Designs - Monochrome