I honestly couldn’t have found an easier card to make for a speed challenge than this one. I had it completed in 5 minutes and without any mishaps during the creation. It isn’t often that I enter more than one card to the same challenge but I am doing so for this one at As You See It.

Using some StampinUp paper scraps and a new die set from Scrapbook.com I cut the 3 trees all at the same time by layering the scraps together. It needed two passes but they cut well. After playing around just a little with placement, I added some thin foam tape to the backs and added them to the card front. The sentiment stamp, from YNS, was already in my Misti, as I’ve been using it a lot recently and I just added it as you see and the card was finished. I like the simplicity of this card, not only in the end result but in how quick it was to make so I am doing a few more with different papers.

Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated.

Challenge #337 – Turbo Trees is the new challenge at As You See It and this is my take on the challenge. These speed challenges get my heart racing at times and this one almost gave me a heart attack, but I had the presence of mind to turn off the clock during the mishap. I was adding the dies to the gray CS so I could cut out the shape, when the entire sheet flew out of my hands and under my desk. It was so far back that I couldn’t reach it with my foot. I turned off the timer so I could go crawling about to retrieve it and as soon as it was safely in my hands turned the clock back on again. If that is cheating, so be it, but for sure had I not done this, I would have banged my head or worse in my panic. Not only that, getting down on my knees is a challenge at the best of times these days. So there is your chuckle for today. The rest of the card went mostly to plan although gluing the gold frame oval was a bit fraught and I didn’t get it quite right. I used a YNS background stamp on white CS and then took 2 small tree dies from a StampinUp set to die cut the trees. I added foam tape to one. Once the background PP was glued to the panel I added the oval and frame before adding the trees and the sentiment. Oval dies and sentiment stamp are from Hero Arts. I managed to colour a few of the gold embossed decorations using Sakura pens.

I completed the card with 54 seconds to spare. I may add a bit more colour, when I’m not worrying about the time involved.

We are still experiencing the left over effects of the cyclone bomb from the other day. No wind at our home, although we can see it on the ocean below and a lot of rain again. Apparently the ski hills are open with a lot of snow, but for now we just have the rain. At least the ferries are running again.

Thanks for spending time with me today, it is appreciated.

CAS Colours and Sketches has the following challenge – Challenge #549 – Sketch and using up some scraps I made this card to fit the challenge.

Using an EF from SSS, I got the band across the card and then I die cut the marquee flakes. They needed a hint of colour so I placed them on an ink pad and gently pressed to add the ink. After that I used a sparkle spray so they twinkle. The sentiment was also cut from scraps, using a Scrapbook.com die set. Quick, easy and CAS gives me a pretty card.

It does look better in reality than on the photo. And for anyone watching the news about my part of the world, the wind storm only affected us minimally thank goodness. Power outages everywhere and in some places a lot of damage, but we were fine and the wind wasn’t so bad for where we live. Thanks for spending time with me today, I appreciate your time.

AAA Card Challenge #278: Sketch is the current challenge and I created this card to enter. A CAS snow rabbit stamped three times and then gently coloured using a couple of gray pencils, I also used a white Sakura pen on the snow and tail along with some glitter. An Ohuhu alcohol ink pen for his nose and cheek. The stamp set used is from Colorado Crafts and the sentiment is from the same set.

The sketch uses square shapes, and I see other designs went with this particular theme and only one DT just used inked images. When thinking about it I decided to add hand drawn lines around my images deliberately squiggly lines but I’m not sure I like the result. I shall post it here, but I feel the one without lines is the best for the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by, your time is always appreciated.

Challenge #329 – Word Prompt – Santa is the current challenge at Inkspirational. I figured since all I’m making is Christmas cards I may as well enter one or two into various challenges just for the fun of it.

Sometime ago I watched Natasha Foote do some acetate cards with rub on transfers and I decided to give this a go with the rub on’s I have. Mine are fairly small so I added quite a few to my Hero Arts folded acetate cards. I double checked the sentiment area to ensure I didn’t cover them too much. I’ve made quite a few using this technique and they are quick and fairly easy. If you are in a hurry and behind on the Christmas makes like I am, this is a good way to make a few at a time. My sentiment is a 2 piece die from Scrapbook.com and I added it to a glitter CS from the same company. To ensure the glue marks don’t show on the underside I die cut several white pieces and added them to the back side and then to the inside of the card so I have somewhere to write a message.

Although I’m still creating my Christmas cards, at the moment I may not be able to mail them. Canada Post is on strike and of course they choose the busiest time to maximize disruption. I live in hope and am getting them ready just in case they go back to work.

Thanks for spending time with me today, it is appreciated as are any comments you may leave.

Seize the Birthday #295-Focal One is the current challenge and to make my challenge entry, I used an Altenew set called Inspirational Quotes. For the sentiment I used a Crafters Companion Gemini foiling die. Instead of foiling I used it to press the words into some metallic CS cutting around the whole thing before adding foam tape. I also used an EF by Crafters Companion called Ornate Lace, and by accident, ended up with the debossed side. I’ve since marked the folder so that I don’t make this error again. That said I like the result and I wasn’t about to begin the stamping and colouring process again. Colouring was done with Inktense pencils and a little water. I’m not sure what flowers these are but they remind me of my peonies although the leaves are clearly not a peony leaf.

We spent a little bit of time bringing down the boxes of Christmas decor as our outside helper was here, and he helped my hubby to bring down two of the bigger heavier items that I cannot manage. I shall begin to do the decor slowly over the next few days and for the high stuff, a couple of younger and agile friends are coming over, and they will help me with that part. Neither my hubby nor I can handle the ladders safely anymore so having help is a must. Thanks to the friend who helped me set it up after we moved here, a lot of items are done in such a way that they only need placing and tweaking, so it should be easier than it used to be when I did it in our last home.

Thanks for stopping by, your time is appreciated, as are any comments you leave me.

Color Hues #99 Pink and Aqua is the current challenge and I chose to make this card. I started it this afternoon, but didn’t have time to finish it. As I can’t sleep at the moment, I decided to have a go at finishing and posting it.

Having seen something along the lines of this design, I CASE’d it and came up with this. The original was done in black and white, but I can’t attribute it to anyone as there is no description attached to the photo I saw. The card is 6×6″ and I reduced each layer by 1/4″ using an aqua blue and a very soft pink parchment. The pink layer was embossed using an SSS EF. I guessed the size of the strips and added the pink parchment on top after it was embossed.

The little snowman is from a GKD set and I coloured him with water colour pencils and used foam tape to pop him up. The lampposts are from YNS, my poinsettias are from Creative Expressions and the sentiment is from Spellbinders. Ribbon from my stash. I had intended to add the ribbon behind all the layers, but forgot so I had to get creative to add it behind the strips before they were glued in place. I have a weird die set I’ve had forever, and hardly ever used, to create a kind of buckle for the ribbon bow. I cut 2 and offset slightly so both colours show. I shall have to make an envelope or a box for this one, but it will be given to someone rather than mailed.

I’m quite happy with the end result, although as always, I can see ways to improve it if I choose to do another one. Thanks for spending time with me and I appreciate all comments that you may make.

The Inkspirational challenge this week is Challenge #328 – Designer’s Choice – Layer It. I’ve been working on a series of cards for my yoga/coffee group and this is one of them. Although they are all similar in design the unbranded stamp set has different frogs and different poses so I got creative with them.

I used paper from different sources and the ones used here are from StampinUP and some scraps of holographic and green CS. As well as the yoga stamp set, I used a sentiment, mat and Santa hat from Hero Arts and dies are from StampinUP, HeroArts infinity dies and Dee’s Distinctively for the snow on the tree.

I cut my circles, inking the larger one to get a pink edge that ties in with the PP. After stamping, masking and colouring the frog I masked him again so I could stencil in the snow flake background. After putting the circles together I scored a line so I could bend it around the back of the card. (next time I will use thinner CS). I added the hat after it was all put together. There are a lot of layers here and it was time consuming to create but I managed to get 11 done over a few days. Colouring was done with Inktense and other watercolour pencils.

Thanks for stopping by, your time is always appreciated.