Author: lavenderhousecreations

lavenderhousecreations

snow happy

This card is inspired by two challenges, one at As You See It, and the other at Double D. One is a colour challenge and the other is about Santa’s and or Snowmen. A fellow stamper suggested I add this card to the following challenge: Neglected Stuff (12/25) Challenge.

Using a very old die set acquired via Hunky Dory many years ago, and a tree die set almost as old by Crafters
Companion, I proceeded to cut the pieces I needed. I used a Kokorosa die to create the snow hills. Sentiment is from Colorado Craft Company and heat set in black. My background was created by initially spraying Distress Ink and then sponging some extra over the top, after which I splattered it with Picket Fence paper splatter. When dry I added the rest playing with placement before gluing. I used a sparkle pen on the snow hills and lost shadow ink on the snowman for some additional definition.

Not a difficult card to make although I managed to get ink everywhere. I quite like that my sky looks as if a blizzard is happening. So another card for my 2026 stash, as I’m basically done for this year. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Christmas Sparkle

Our last cardz4galz challenge of 2025, as chosen by Dawn, is Christmas sparkle. Although the photo doesn’t show it clearly, my card is full of sparkle as I used sparkle pens by Sakura as well as a shimmer spray over the entire card.

To make this card I die cut, using Hero Arts infinity dies, a circle in a piece that could be used as a stencil. Following an idea seen on Pinterest, I used some fine tip brush pens by Sakura and flicked colour through the stencil. I added the hanging cord by hand using a glitter pen and other glitter pens over the brush strokes. The sentiment is from a set from Woodware.

I kept this design CAS as I felt the glitter was enough. Now it’s your turn and we hope you find the time to add your own designs to our gallery. We know the season is a busy one for everyone and hope that you have the Merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year too.

lavenderhousecreations

pet wagon

Sketch #566

Well here I am again being sidetracked by making another card, which came about because I wanted to use the dies before I put them away.

CAS Colours & Sketches are encouraging us to take either a colour challenge or a sketch challenge from 2025 and turn it into a seasonal card. My card is using Sketch #566 and I followed the orientation and shape of the sketch while changing what needed to be changed to give it a more seasonal look. The plaid paper is from the inside of a store bought envelope, the background oval (cut using Hero Arts infinity dies) is using a scrap piece from my stash. I jazzed it up slightly by adding dots of sparkle gold, but it doesn’t show much on the photo. It looks far better in real life. My little wagon and animals are all Gummiapan dies and my sentiment comes from a set by Crafters Companion. I love the font in this set and have used another of the stamps on the inside of the card. I used both alcohol markers and glitter pens to colour in the animals and wagon.

Although I don’t need any more Christmas cards now, I have several already completed for 2026 and this one will go into that stash. Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you and any comments you leave.

lavenderhousecreations

just for you

I’m supposed to be cleaning up my craft room and cataloguing my new stuff, but in the process I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked. The latest challenge, AAA Card Challenge #305: Anything CAS Goes, optional twist: white on white and I do enjoy making white on white cards.

The die I’ve used is new and is from Crafters Companion. It comes in two halves with two stamps. I cut it using some scrap water colour CS. The popped up background piece was cut using an unbranded set, also fairly new to me. Using my smaller Misti I stamped the words and when the ink was dry I added the top and bottom parts of the heart. My embellishments are from Trinity Stamps and are clear, but they are designed to pick up colour from anywhere. In this case it is from the overhead light and on the photo they are reflecting the light and look more golden. In front of my computer screen it is all white so they look shiny white.

I guess now I’ve actually used this new die, I can put it away properly haha. As I have several new ones not even opened, I’m pretty sure I shall get sidetracked again. Hubby just came into my craft room, picked up the card and said how he liked it. Then he asked me if I could add the cuts to a coloured background, which was another idea I already had in my head.

I’m off to put away a bit more stuff before I stop for the day. I did all my embossing folders yesterday. They are now all labeled and numbered so I can find them more easily.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Christmas stocking

Well here we are with the last challenge of the season for Double Trouble and the recipe this time is: 3 -Something from your stash, 2 – Anything from your stash and 1 – everything from your stash. Twisted Sister says add a ribbon, twine or cord to your project but it is optional and Thing 2 says follow the TSOT #685 sketch and get additional entries to win. However you do need to be careful not to backlink when you join the challenge.

My card has 3 layers including the stocking but not including the actual note card, 2 tiny gems on the sentiment although there are more on the PP and my one is the sentiment, but could also be the stocking. I did add a twine bow to my stocking. I didn’t really interpret the sketch in my opinion, but others may think differently.

The stocking die comes from The Netherlands and is by Marianne Design. The twine is from my stash and is a challenge to use as the threads unravel too easily. The glitter CS and PP are from Michaels and I added Stickles to the stocking to define the toe, heal and top a bit more. Sentiment is from an MFT set and I used another one on the inside from the same set. While making this card I also made another stocking which is ready to use on another project.

Thanks for stopping by, you are appreciated. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and above all have fun in your craft room.

lavenderhousecreations

So sorry

This is the second sympathy card I’ve made recently and came about because someone passed away in our close knit community and two of our neighbours are affected. It is a sad loss and of course harder somehow because of the time of year.

I’ve never contributed to this website: Challenge #836 – Sad Songs (Say So Much) but the challenge is about sympathy so I am adding it there.

To make it, I used an unbranded die set and cut the layers and on the topmost layer I used an old Tim Holtz set. I backed this with a scrap piece of shimmery lavender paper. Then I used another unbranded poppy die cut once in white and a second time in the lavender. I cut some of the flowers so I could add the colour over the white base.

The ribbon is so old I have no idea where I got it from and the sentiment is from an MFT set I think. Embellishments from my stash.

Normally I share Christmas cards with these two families, but now I’m not sure that I should do so. They are struggling to come to terms with their loss and it feels intrusive to give them a seasonal card.

Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated.

lavenderhousecreations

flurries

My second card for today and this one is intended for the challenge at https://aaacards.blogspot.com/ which is a sketch CAS design.

I wanted to use a new folder by Catherine Pooler/Sizzix so I cut a piece of CS from some shimmer white and embossed it. I then added this layer to the card front using the same CS. The bigger snowflake is from Hero Arts and the other two are from GKD cut from silver CS. I added them as you see and placed some Trinity Stamps silver embellishments into their centers. I heat embossed the sentiment in silver and this came from a Crafters Companion set.

A truly simple card to make and for a change even the die cutting was quick and easy to get out of the dies. It does look a lot prettier in reality than in the photo.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

all wrapped up

It has been so busy recently that I’ve not had a lot of time to create or to enter my usual challenges. Today I rectified this by making two cards. This one is for Double D and fits their current Christmas Wrappings Challenge.

I’ve had this die from Kokorosa for a while now and I’ve not used it often. It works perfectly for a challenge such as this. I die cut two, one from silver and one from sparkly gold and fit them together. Using some old PP from a few years ago I added the ribbon strips and cut the piece down slightly smaller than the card front before adhering it. The snowflake is from Hero Arts, the tag is from a gifted set but so long ago I don’t have the information on it, the foliage is from a set by Waffle Flower, the heart is from a small set by Mariannedesign.nl and the stamps are from a set by GKD.

I’m quite happy with how this one turned out and it helped me use up some old PP. I’d say this is a perfect challenge for this time of year.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave for me.

lavenderhousecreations

butterfly sympathy

As You See It – Challenge #362 – Bits and Pieces has a sketch challenge as the latest theme and unfortunately, we’ve had a recent death in our neighborhood, which affects two families. It is a close knit community so I decided to make a card today for the widow, and used the sketch as a guide to my design. I shall do the other one later.

My card uses StampinUP DSP and the butterfly is also from them. The sentiment is from GKD, The piece holding the butterfly is from an unbranded die set and the tiny gems are from Trinity Stamps.

Once I had the papers cut it was easy to put together and I like the monochromatic look that was the result. The photo doesn’t really do it justice.

It has been quite a week, I caught a cold, which settled into a bad cough, leaving me feeling a bit like a space cadet. Our friends were coming to help with the Christmas decor as they do each year, and I let them know that they might prefer not to come, just in case. They came anyway, and the house has been transformed into a magical wonderland. It always amazes me how Dale makes it come together, after seeing the mess of boxes and supplies everywhere for a few days. Before I realized I wasn’t 100% I had managed to put together several meals that would keep until they were here making it easier to handle the few days of their visit. I had also put the tree together with the exception of some beads which I had trouble with. Dale soon sorted that issue. The guys did the finishing touches to the outside, repairing a broken snowman and figuring out an issue we had with another set of lights. I helped as much as possible inside, but the bulk of it was done by Dale and her imagination.

Today is the party for my yoga group, and fortunately, I’m well enough and no longer contagious, to be able to host it. We’ve had a few cancellations due to others coming down with this cold. It is certainly going around at the moment. I finished the cake this morning and will put the table together soon so all will be ready and I can relax for a short time before.

Thanks for stopping by, you are appreciated, as are any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Stack the holidays

Sue J has chosen the theme, Cute Christmas for our new challenge at cardz4galz and this is my idea. Using some different coloured CS and a 3D EF from SSS, I created several background pieces so I could make more than one card using this YNS stamp and die set. I stamped the critters several times and coloured each one using combinations of alcohol pens, pencils and a little glitter here and there. After die cutting I set them aside to begin the assembly of each card. For this one I took scrap DPS and using a die set called Essential Modern Ovals I cut one and using different PP I did enough to use on the 4 cards. The sentiment was stamped and cut using one of these ovals as well. Except for the texture this card is basically flat so should go through the post without issues. At the moment Canada Post is back on strike, so if I manage to actually mail Christmas cards this year, it will be a miracle. That said I’m hopeful and preparing them just in case.

It is hard to believe we are close the end of another year and trust that you’ve all had some good times through 2025. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery, and above all, we want you to have fun.