More Christmas cards

I make slightly less fussy cards for other family members, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles and batch make these too.
The problem is I usually make too many and then can't remember who I've sent what to from one Christmas to the next. I really must get more organised.

Panels made using Cuttlebug EF.
Poinsettia dies from Spellbinders.
Snowflake dies from The Works
Branches punch.
Sentiments by Dovecrafts

Thanks for popping in x

Some of this years Christmas cards

I always make batches of Christmas cards, I find it easier and I'm less likely to run out of inspiration and good ideas.
These are the cards I've made for close family members ( parents, in laws and kids).

In green

Dark blue.

Light blue

 Purple

Papers are from a CD by Elusive Images ( now Chocolate Baroque) called Artilicious Christmas Greetings.
Dies are
Poinsettia...Spellbinders
Holly Stems...Marianne Designs
Fir tree branches...Joanna Sheen
Snow Flakes...The Works.
Small branches are a punch.
 Sentiment stamp is by Creative Expressions

Thanks for popping in x

Less is More #382

Hello there,

I'm back today to share my card for the latest challenge at Less is More.
It's theme time and the theme is Tags. We can make just a tag or incorporate a tag onto a card.
This is my entry,

I started by gluing a scrap of background paper onto some card to give it some strength, then, when dry, cutting it with a tag die.
I made the circular eyelet thingy using the middle of a flower die and a spring loaded punch.
The Christmas tree is cut from Green Glitter Card.
The sentiment is stamped in clear ink and heat embossed in white powder.
Finished off with a bit of Bakers Twine.

Dies,
Tag- Die-namics, Tree- Simply Graphic.
BG Paper- Papermania, Little Red Robin pad.
Sentiment Stamp-Waltzing Mouse


Thanks for popping in x

Simply Less is More #381

Hello there,

It's Lucky Dip time at Simply Less is More and this time we have been asked to case a DT card.

This is my take on the design,

I must admit this design looked better in my head than real life but I'm relatively pleased with it.

Dies are from, Marianne Designs,Sweet Dixie, & Nellie Snellen.
 Merry stamp is part of a set from  Waltzing Mouse.
I've added a smattering of tiny red gems.

We are decorating our hall, stairs and landing and it's taking forever. Almost finished and, hopefully I can get some more crafting in.
Thanks for popping in X

Simply Less is More # 191

Hello There,
Well it`s a good week for me this week over at the Simply Less is More Challenge. It`s recipe week and we are asked to make a card using MOSTLY WORDS.
I had decided to make my batches of  Christmas cards for friends and neighbours over the weekend, keeping them simple and using text as the main focal point. Basically all I`ve had to do is put this card together. Simples!

Cuttlebug Snowflake EF on panel.
Words PC generated and cut out with a SB nestie oval die.
Snowflakes, lge Crafters Companion die, two smaller ones punched from pale blue glitter card.
Finished off with a small gem in centre of larger snowflake.

Time permitting I`ll be back during the week but don`t hold your breath. Enjoy whats left of the week end,
Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 188

Hello there,
First let say a very warm welcome to my latest follower Jane. Thank you for choosing my little blog to follow.

It`s a colour challenge over at Simply Less is More and this weeks colours are;

                          

CHOCOLATE MINT

                         
Mmmm lovely colours but how to use them on a card was a tad baffling. So...when you run out of ideas, make a Christmas card.

I`ve also got a bit greedy and have plain and milk chocolate.
I used dark chocolate card for the base, made a panel from white linen card and rounded one corner.
The tag is made from an offcut of white linen card using a Die-Namics tag die.
I made the banner from Pink Petticoat 
Swiss Dots DP in milk chocolate using the corner of a square nestie to make the fishtail.
I stamped the sentiment, Papermania`s Joyeaux Noel set, in Versacolour Brown ink onto pale green vellum and embossed with clear EP before wrapping it around the tag.
I punched a snowflake from pale green glitter card ( think it should`ve been a bit bigger now) punched a hole in the top of the tag and tied some green twine to it and there you have it.
Definitely a non traditional Christmas card is ever there was one.

There is mention on more than one of the design teams blogs of chocolate goodies like Aero and After Eights which is far too tempting for a chocoholic like me so I`m off to see what I can find in the treat tin.

Edited to add; I got so carried away thinking about chocolate that I forgot to thank the girls for showcasing my sketch week card. So sorry, I`m chuffed to bits.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 186

Hi there,
Wow two weeks on the trot, this has to be good. This week at Simply Less is More we have a sketch,

I do love a sketch and this is such a nice simple one.

I`ve gone with Chrissies idea and decided to make a start on my Christmas cards.
I`ve used 6x6 white linen card for the base.
The panel is also linen card which I`ve inked in various shades of blue ink for the sky.
The die cut is Memory Box  and I`ve added some glamour dust along the top and a tiny bit of yellow glitter in the windows.
I stamped a star that went horribly wrong so I`ve had to use a clear gem one over the top. Not too happy about that.
The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with a nestie labels 4 die.

I`ve enjoyed this so much I`m thinking of doing another one, just can`t make up my mind which image to use.


Thanks for popping in... Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 146

Hello All!
I hope I find you well and warm. I`m slipping back into being a bad blogger again, I`m sorry to say.I haven`t set foot in my caft room for two weeks. I do have a good excuse though as I`ve been decorating daughters bedroom in between work and Christmas shopping, and then there`s the catch up with the rest of the house work. Why is it that when you decorate one room, the whole house is a tip?
Anyway it`s done now and I couldn`t wait to get crafty again. The theme for this weeks Simply Less is More challenge is to use designer paper in a CAS way. Here is my entry,

Apologies for the rubbish pic, it`s a bit blurred, I think I was still half asleep when I took it.
I made a panel card, cutting a rectangle out with a nestie die and placed some Papermania DP behind.
The poinsettia is made using a Spellbinder die set and some yellow flat back pearls.
I haven`t bothered with a sentiment as the DP says it all.

I have lots of cards made up ready to post, I hope that things have settled down enough to get some time on the PC.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 142

Happy sunday afternoon all!

I`m back today with my entry for this weeks Simply Less is More challenge. It`s theme week and we are to make a CaS card using trees.I`m not sure if mine is quite CaS enough, I seem to have got a bt carried away, sorry.

I made a panel and cut out a large circle using a SB circle die and backed it with some two tone sparkly paper..
The tree is made from lots and lots of punched fern leaves from white glitter card and arranged in a tree shape.
I added a star from silver glitter paper.
The sentiment is Waltzing Mouse Say it loud Winter Holiday set embossed in silver EP.

Short and sweet again I`m afraid as I`m busy busy as usual. Hopefully I`ll get round to visit some of you later.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

First Christmas card for 2013

Good evening all.
I really haven`t had a great deal of time or mojo just lately but for some reason I`ve had an urge to make a Christmas card.I treat myself to even more new dies and found a couple of hours yesterday to play with them. Here is what I came up with,

I`ve used some of my treasured Papermania Silent Night collection papers for the background.
The sentiment is Inkadinkado cut out with a fancy label die from Caroles Crafts.
The Poinsettia is Spellbinders.
The Holly Leaf flourish Is Marianne Designs
The Ivy Leaves and the Pine Leaves are from Joanna Sheen and are fabulous dies, very much like Memory Box.
I`ve added some flat back pearls for berries and some glittered red stamen under the flower.
I used glittery stuff ( cough, a technical term lol) on the flower and some of the leaves but now I`m not sure about it.

I`m really going to try and get some more crafting time in and to catch up with you all.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Jingle Bells

Good Morning All!

Another quickie.

These cards were inspired by Jen from her DT card for Less is More last week.

All much of a muchness ( similar Darnell lol).
The bells are from a local haberdashery store.
I embossed the panels using 2x candy Cane folder and 2x Snowflakes folder matted onto matching coloured card. The bells are tied with either Twine or gold cord.
The sentiment is by Creative Expressions.
Nice and simple but I like `em.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Simply Less is More # 96

Good morning all!

I hope you are all well and managing to keep warm.
A quick post from me today as I`ve loads to do. The run up to Christmas is manic in the shop so I`m doing almost full time hours now which doesn`t leave much time for crafting let alone housework.

Anyway...The challenge this week at Simply Less is More is a colour challenge and in true festive spirit ( and to help with those last minute christmas cards) the colours are, RED & GREEN.

I made the first card on thursday but didn`t post it so thought I`d cheat a bit but now I`m not sure about the inky background. What do you think?

I like the card but I think the inking is too yellow. So.. I made another one...

But now I`m not sure about this one. Should have stuck to the original design I think.

Stamp...Holly Swirl by Inkadinkado
Inks.......Memento Dandelion, Versacolor Fresh Green, Evergreen. TH DI Shabby Shutters, Antique Linen
Clear embossing ink and dark green EP.
Sentiments...Chocolate Baroque Deck the Halls set and Creative Expressions
Red gems from stash

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Deck the Halls

Good Morning All!

I`m in Christmas mode now. I`ve got most of my presents bought and am now frantically making cards.
Here is one I made over the week end.

I stamped and heat embossed the image from Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) onto the base card.
Masked a rectangle with post its and inked the background with Antique Linen DI, Versacolor Sandstone and a litle bit of Versacolor pink.
I added some various sized red gems for the berries then made a frame using SB Rectangle Dies.
The sentiment is from the same stamp set, stamped and heat embossed.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Less is More # 88

Hello and a happy saturday to you all.

The first saturday of the month is a colour challenge at Simply Less is More and this weeks colour is
                                                           Silver
My first thought was Christmas so thats what I`ve gone with. I do, however, have another idea so I might be back with a second post sometime this week.

I made a 5x5 square card and then cut another square slightly smaller for my panel.
I used Papermania Silent Night stamp set for the sentiment and two different sets from Inkadinkado for the snowflakes.
 I made up my own sparkly embossing powder by mixing some detail silver EP with a small amount of silver glitter and embossed the stamping.

A close up of the sparkly silver. It looks much better IRL.
I added some clear gems and thats it.
I think I might have been better matting the panel onto some silver mirri card, what do you think?


It`s been a mega busy week at work so I haven`t had much spare time this week but I do have a couple of cards to show you later in the week.
I did want to let you know how we got on at last weeks MacMillan fundraiser though. Altogether the school raised a massive £ 474. I am over the moon and so grateful to the staff and parents for making this a wonderful event. The money is to be shared equally between Macmillan and Candlelighters. Yippee!

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Last Christmas card for 2011

Hello All!
I hope I find you well and coping with the stress of Christmas preparations. I have a card to share that I suddenly realised I hadn`t posted yet. This is for my managers baby daughter ( and my neighbours grandaughter).

Cerynn is nearly 15 months old and she is gorgeous. I just couldn`t resist making her a special card.
I`ve used a Mo Manning image called Kai in the Snow, coloured with promarkers.
The papers are Me to You and I`ve added Glamour dust, some punched glitter snowflakes and some tiny clear gems around the image. I`ve also raked out my peel offs and added some corners, it seemed a shame not to use them.

Now I`m sure by now you all think I`m a moaning hypochrondriac ( I enjoy ill health, my mother would say lol) and I have to admit I do go on a bit and I know I have a lot to be thankful for but...I have an infected chilblain on my left big toe!!! Don`t ask me how I got chilblains in the first place `cos I don`t know, it hasn`t been that cold really but I have...and it hurts. It`s under the toe aswell so I can`t walk very well and my whole foot has swollen up now. It was hurting over the weekend and by the end of my shift on monday I could barely walk but after a visit to the practice nurse at my GP surgery I was given a course of anti biotics, some anti bacterial cream and some pain killers it seems to be easing a bit.
The good news is that I have the rest of the week off work although I do enjoy the atmosphere on the run up to Christmas. The bad news is that all my craft stuff is in the loft and I can`t get up there. Ho Hum.

Anyway, I doubt I`ll be posting again before Christmas so I`d like to take this opportunity to wish you all
                                                       A Very Merry Christmas
                                     and a Happy New Year.

Jules crafty snippets #39

Hi all!
I hope your week is going well. It seems Autumn is back after our mini indian summer. Not too bad here today though, just a bit cloudy but definitely cooler than last week.
I had to go to the doctors yesterday for some blood tests which meant a full fast from 10`o`clock the night before. Golly I always knew I liked my coffee but having to go without was terrible. Having the bloods done was no problem, although I do have a decent bruise to show off with, but the caffeine withdrawal was awful lol. It is now confirmed that I do not function without coffee.
Anyway, enough of the waffle. We are on week 39 at Jules Crafty Snippets Challenge and I`m still in Christmas mode. Here is my snippet make,

I had to use a full sheet of card, trimmed down to 15cm x 15cm for the base card but all the punched fern leaves are from my card snippet box.
It was so easy to make, I don`t know why I haven`t done this before and, at last, one that I`m really pleased with. The hardest part is all the punching lol.
Once the wreath was made I just finished it off with a gold bow ( another snippet) and some tiny red gems.
The sentiment is from Papermanias Silent Night Collection stamped in clear embossing and embossed in red EP. And thats it. I might make another of these but put a sentiment in the centre of the wreath next time. What do you think?

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Jules Crafty Snippets #38

Good Evening All!
I`m still in Christmas mode with two cards for this weeks Jules Crafty Snippets.
First can I just tell you about a lovely surprise I had. I mentioned in an earlier post that one of our work colleagues, John, had died and then a week last friday, we had the confirmation that another colleague Karen had been diagnosed with MS. The atmosphere at work was very sombre and I came home on the friday evening feeling very sad. I checked the post and there was an envelope addressed to me. Inside was a fabulous set of stamps and a beautiful card with a  note from my  lovely blog friend, Tara. She did that just to cheer me up.I can`t begin to tell you how moved and emotional I was, especially as she wasn`t too well herself.
So, in honour of the fabulous Tara, here is what I`ve done with just one of the stamps.

,

The first one is a more traditional Christmas card, well it`s green!!!
The stripey paper is one of Glenda Waterworths but I can`t remember which CD it`s from and I`m not sure where the spotty paper is from. Sorry I`m not much help am I ?
The stamp is by Clear Stamps and is stamped in Versacolor Evergreen.
I`ve added a few red gems to the tree for sparkle.

This one is a little on the pink side. I may have gone a bit overboard.
Main paper is Pink Petticoat and the strip is from an Artilicious CD from Elusive Images.
I`ve added a ribbon to this one and a few extra gems for even more sparkle.
Now I know Tara has this stamp too so I can`t wait to see what she does with it.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Less is More #34 Sketch

Hello Everyone.
I would like to start by saying that I take my hat (if I was wearing one) off to Mandi and Chrissie for the commenting on last weeks challenge at Less is More. How they managed to get round everyone and every single entry is beyond me but they did it. Which is more than I did. The sheer amount of entries was overwhelming so for those of you that I didn`t get around to, I`m sorry. Well done ladies.
Now I`d like to welcome my 2 new followers Qi and Avril. Thank you for joining my little blog :)
And now onto this weeks challenge. We have been given a sketch to follow,

Nice easy one this. Here is my first card,

Not a great piccy, sorry.
I used the resist technique by stamping the snowflakes (Inkadinkado) in clear embossing ink and clear EP then inked over it with Versa color Cyan, baby Blue, Mint and Heliotrope. The sentiment ( Creative Expressions) is stamped in Cyan and I`ve added a few tiny clear gems to the centre of some of the snowflakes.

My second card is done the same as the first, this time using Deck the Halls set from Elusive Images (now chocolate baroque) and inked in Versa color Evergreen and Memento Lady Bug.The sentiment is from the same set.
I`ve deviated very slightly from the sketch as my shape is more rectangle. I cut them out with nestie rectangle dies and raised them on foam pads.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Less is More # 33 snowflake

Hi All!
Yet another entry for this weeks 1000 entry challenge at Less is More this time I`ve used a huge snowflake.

 A really simple card. Baby Blue pearlescent card base.
Snowflake punched out in blue glitter card. I made a square of white card matted onto the blue card and matted again onto white, raised with foam pads. The snowflake is also raised with foam pads and I`ve punched some tiny snowflakes in white paper dotted about on the main one and added some tiny blue gems.
No sentiment because I didn`t think it needed one.
The snowflake punch is a huge 3" and, in my opinion, too big for anything other than a main image. If anyone has any ideas how I can use as an embellishment please let me know `cos I haven`t a clue lol.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx

Less is More 1000 entries challenge

Hi Again,
Second post today, please scroll down for my Snippet post.
Card no 5 for this weeks Less is More Challenge. The entries are mounting but it would be lovely to see some more new faces among us.
Anyway here is my latest offering,

I cut an aperture out of a piece of white card with a nestie circle and used some Papermania Silent Night DP behind it. IRL it`s a rich red with gold dots foiled onto it but I don`t think it`s very clear in the piccy. I`ve matted that onto some matching plain rich red from the same pad and raised it with foam pads.
I`ve added a ribbon and a bow so it looks more like a bauble.
The sentiment is by Creative Expressions, stamped and embossed in Gold EP.

I`m still hoping to do some more CaS cards this week so keep looking and thank you all so much for the comments I`ve recieved so far. I know how difficult it is with so many entries and I`m really grateful. You make my day.

Thanks for popping in...Lynne xxx