A Peacful New Year to You All ....

Whatever you're doing tonight, I hope you all have a safe and peaceful New Year!

This is one of the cards I've made today - I used a Sizzlit die and some red snowflake paper.  A very simple design but I like it!

Some challenges for my card:

Winter Wonderland - 'red and white'

Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - 'use a sentiment'

Less is More - 'just one word'

Happy New Year and I'll be back in the next couple of days with a brand new challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox and the January club stamps from Little Claire!

Silhouette Cats

Here's a very simple card made with one of the Little Claire stamp sets called "Silhouette Cats" - it's one of their older sets but it's new to me as I've not worked with these particular stamps before.

My card was made using Cool Peri Adirondack ink which I applied with some Cut and Dry foam over the stamped image - I put a mask over the lamp to create the white circle.  Very simple but I was pleased with the result!

A few challenges for this card:

The Poodles Parlour - song titles ("Cool for Cats" from Squeeze)

Anything Goes Challenge Blog - blue plus one other colour

Samuel Taylor Crafts - 'anything goes'

A Little Thank You

I hope everyone is still enjoying the Christmas break!  I've been busy sorting out my crafting stuff but have still had time to make some cards.

This card was made using a Pink Gem stamp called 'Sitting Chloe' - it's one of the latest ones I bought and I really like it.  The papers are from a pack I bought a while ago from the Clas Ohlson shop in Liverpool - I hadn't realised they sell craft stuff but they actually have quite a nice little selection!

Some challenges for my card:

Winter Wonderland - 'thank you with a recipe' (3 papers, 3 flowers, ribbon and an image)

Paper Creations Ink - 'something old, something new' (new stamp and old papers!)

I Love Promarkers - 'anything goes'

Stampin for the Weekend - 'anything goes'

DYSU - 'stripes'

Blog Candy Winner!

I've just used the random.org number generator thingie to choose the winner of my blog candy from the post on 17 December for the Craft Your Passion Holiday Havoc Blog Hop.  I can't work out how to copy and print the result I'm afraid but .......

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ......  Doreen!

 

Please e-mail me (address in my profile details at the side of this page) with your postal address and I'll get the candy posted out to you.

Happy Christmas!!

Happy Christmas to everyone - hope you're having a fabulous day whatever you're doing!!

This is my last card for Christmas 2011 and is the card I made for my Mum and Dad.  I found an odd piece of kraft card when I was sorting out my 'bit box' a couple of days ago - I've got lots of kraft paper but this is card stock - so decided to have a go at stamping on it.  The stamp is a new one from Lili of the Valley called 'Christmas Baubles' and the paper is from Craft Creations.

Just spotted a few more Christmas challenges for this one:

Crafty Hazlenut's Christmas Challenge - end of year candy!

Papertake Weekly - 'last Christmas .... card of the year'

Crafty Purple Frog - 'Happy Christmas'
Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog - Christmas

Fairy Lights

Here's my card for the latest Nutcrafters Challenge which is 'Happy New Year'.  I've used the 'Fairy Lights stamp' which is a really sweet little stamp.  The paper I've used is from Making Memories and I also used some lace, some adhesive gems and computer generated sentiments.

Some challenges for this card:

Nutcrafters - 'Happy New Year'

Crafters Companion Monthly Challenge - 'new beginnings'

Corrosive Challenge Blog - 'anything but Christmas'

The Crafty Pad - 'anything but Christmas'

And Some More Christmas Cards!

I've almost finished making my cards for Christmas (still a few more to go!) and here are two that I made yesterday.  They were made using a Lace template in my Cuttlebug - so much easier (and more accurate!) that cutting the templates by hand!

The first one uses blue and silver - Craft Creations paper and a circular sentiment from Craftwork Cards.

Next, the same card using a red and green colour scheme:

Craft Creations paper again and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards too.

Some challenges for these cards:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - 'anything goes for Christmas'

Divas by Design - 'Merry Christmas'

Charisma Cardz - 'last minute Christmas'

Saturday Challenge - 'celebration'

Southern Girls Challenge - 'let's celebrate'

Paper Sundaes - 'celebrate'

Craft Your Passion Challenges "Holiday Havoc 2011" Blog Hop!!

Welcome to Craft Your Passion Challenges "Holiday Havoc 2011" Blog Hop!!

We are very excited about holidays and wanted to add to the chaos and havoc.  What better way to do that, than to have a BLOG HOP!!!

If you have hopped over from Joanna L, then you are in the right place. If you just happened to stop by and would like to join our hop from the beginning, please go to Craft Your Passion Challenges and follow along for a chance to win some AMAZING blog candy along the way and PRIZES at the end.

All Craft Your Passion DT members are going to be playing along in the hop with some very special guest designers.

Each designer along the way is featuring a project that showcases a digital image from at least one of our amazing Blog Hop Sponsors.

What’s more exciting is you can participate too by creating a project and linking it up over at Craft Your Passion Challenges for a chance to win one of several prizes.

But, there’s a twist. Be sure to visit all the stops and leave a comment (we will be checking). Once you have finished the hop, we would like you to create a HOLIDAY project using at least one digital stamp and enter it with our Linky tool.

While you are hopping, be sure to check out the blog candy the designers have to offer you. You don't want to miss out on any of it!

And here's my card for the Blog Hop:

The image I've used is from Bugaboo Stamps and is called 'Merry Christmoose'

I also have some blog candy to give away - the winner will be drawn at random from everyone who leaves a comment on this post by the closing date of the Blog Hop.

Next stop by Natali's blog here, to see what she has in store for you today.

Remember, once you have hopped to all the stops and left your comments (we will be checking), it's your turn to show us your "Holiday Havoc" project.

Make sure to include a digital stamp somewhere on your project, and link up your project over at Craft Your Passion Challenges by Midnight CST December 23 to be eligible for the prizes. Winners will be announced on our Monday, December 26th Challenge post.

Last Little Claire Classes of 2011

Last Saturday was our Little Claire 'Speedcrafting Day' - our challenge was "how many cards can you make in an hour?"  The answer, for all the ladies who came along to the classes was five!

We used a range of Little Claire die cuts - some from the Cutie Patootie sheet and also some from the Red Gingham Christmas sheet. 

The first card (above) used a Cutie Patootie image plus one of the Little Beauties tag sentiments and some little self adhesive gems.

Next another two cards from the Cutie Patootie sheet:

The second card (above) also uses some of the Glitter Sparkle Sheet one the main image plus another of the little tag sentiments.

And then we also made two last minute Christmas cards:



I'll be teaching lots more classes in the New Year - details are on the side bar of my blog and also on the Little Claire website.

A few challenges for these cards:

Charisma Cardz - 'last minute Christmas' (final two cards)

Cute Card Thursday - 'stripes' (second to last card)

Chocolate, Coffee, Cards - 'tag you're it' (first and third cards)

I've Been Published - Creative Cardmaking Magazine!

I'm very excited to say that I'm in print again!  If you've seen the most recent issue of 'Creative Cardmaking' magazine, you may have spotted the article about the Little Claire 'Cutie Patootie' stamps which includes my tag card. 

The card is a variation of the card I made when the stamp range first came out - the difference on this card is that I've paper pieced the Bert and Mary.  On Bert I paper pieced his hat and waistcoat and on Mary, her hat and pinafore.

As before, I've used one of the Little Claire pre-cut and pre-scored tag cards, some lace, Card Candi and some white ribbon.  The two tag sentiments are part of the 'Little Beauties' sentiment set which is also from Little Claire.

You can see the other cards in the magazine article, made by my fellow Design Team members, here on the Little Claire website.

Some challenges for my card:

Totally Papercrafts - 'anything but Christmas'

The Crafty Pad - 'send someone a smle, no birthdays or Christmas'

Corrosive Challenge Blog - 'anything except Christmas'

The Cutie Pie Challenge Blog - 'use a sentiment'

Shopping Our Stash - 'tag it'

Let it Snow ....

It feels cold enough to snow here but I'm hoping it won't - it's beautiful to look at but a repeat of the weather we had last winter wouldn't be fun at all! 

Here's another of my Christmas cards, this time made with a Nutcrafters stamp called "Snowfall".  I've used some Craft Creation paper and another of the little sentiments from Craftwork Cards plus some blue card and Card Candi.

Some challenges for my card:

Nutcrafters - 'winter wonderland'

ABC Christmas Challenge - 'yipee it's almost Christmas!'

Crafty Purple Frog - 'it's cold outside'

For Fun Challenges - 'anything Christmas goes'

I Love Promarkers - 'blue and white'

Crafts and Me Challenges - 'Christmas'

Divas by Design - 'Merry Christmas'

DYSU Challenge - 'something old' (my stamp!)

Three Little Angels

I'm still working on the Christmas cards!  This one was made using the 'Three Little Angels' stamp from Lili of the Valley and I decided to try a pink colour scheme for a change.  Now I've decided I really like pink for Christmas cards!

I've used some paper from Craft Creations, a sentiment from Craftwork Cards and also some of their silver Card Candi.  The ribbon is from my stash - not sure where it was from originally.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Lili of the Valley - 'pink, white and silver'

Dream Valley - 'Christmas'

Papertake Weekly - 'favourite Christmas colour'

Still Making Christmas Cards!

Yes, I'm still making Christmas cards!

This card was made using the Little Claire 'Poinsettia Corner' stamp which I really like - it's a beautiful design and doesn't take too long to colour!  I've used some Craft Creations paper plus a little bit of gold paper to layer it and then a peel off greeting to finish the card.  Very simple but I don't think you need to add much with a beautiful image like this.

Some challenges for this card:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - 'traditional Christmas'

Allsorts Challenge Blog - 'use two colours'

One Stop Craft Challenge - 'traditional Christmas colours'

Dream Valley Challenges - 'Christmas'

Paper Sundaes - 'anything Christmas'

New Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox - Christmas!

There's a new challenge today at The Squirrel and the Fox - this time we want to see all your Christmas creations!  Have a look here for all the details and to see the cards created by fellow Design Team members.

This challenge is sponsored by Make it Crafty and the prize is an AU$15 voucher to spend in the online store!

For my card I've used the 'Sweet Angel' digi stamp which I think is gorgeous!  The image is so beautiful that I've kept the rest of my card very simple - just a little bit of ribbon, some Card Candi and two peel off greetings.

A couple of challenges for my card:

Sweet Stampin' - 'things with wings'

Cute Card Thursday - 'anything goes'

New Little Claire Challenge - Family Christmas

Another new challenge has just been launched on the Little Claire blog and this month our theme is 'Family Christmas' - have a look here to see all the details plus cards from the Design Team and details of last month's winners.

My card for the challenge was made using one of the stamps from the 'Delivering Christmas Wishes' - the words come from the same set.  I've used two different papers from Craft Creations, some green card, Card Candi and some nail head gems.

We're looking forward to seeing all your creations and the prize this month is £10 to spend on the Little Claire website!

Some challenges for my card:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - 'traditional Christmas'

Pollycraft Monday - 'Christmas Fun'

Stampin for the Weekend - 'Christmas'

Joanna Sheen Blog Challenge - 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'

One Stop Craft Challenge - 'traditional Christmas colours'

Star of Wonder

Still working on my Christmas cards!  Here's one I made today using the Little Claire stamp "Star of Wonder".  It's one of my favourite Chrimstas stamps and it's very useful for making lots of cards because there's so little colouring on it!  I've also used some Craft Creations snowflake paper and some punched snowflakes plus a die cut greeting from Craftwork Cards.

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Winter Wonderland - 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow'

Oldie But A Goodie - 'Christmas - no red or green'

One Stop Craft Challenge - 'Let is Snow'

Crafty Sentiment Designs - 'snowflakes'

Crafts and Me - 'winter - snow or snowflakes'

Moving Along With the Times - 'last minute Christmas'



Daydream Believer ....

Here's a couple of cards made with a new stamp from Lili of the Valley called 'Daydream'.  I've used two contrasting colour schemes but kept the cards simple because there's a lot of detail on the stamp.  This first one uses kraft and pink gingham paper with a peel off greeting and some Card Candi.

And the second one uses some purple paper, faux stitching round the image panel and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards.

I'd like to enter the cards in the following challenges:

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards Challenge - 'celebrate'

Divas by Design - 'anything goes'

Lili of the Valley Challenge Blog - 'anything but a Christmas card'

Allsorts Challenge Blog - 'going round in circles' (first card)

Introducing Henny Penny ..... and a Competition!

There's a brand new Tuesday Bargain on the Little Claire website today - there are lots of goodies in the pack including a brand new stamp 'Henny Penny'. 

You'll also receive everything you need to make this card that I've put together using the stamp (including the scalloped and plain circles!) plus full instructions.  I've stamped and coloured the main part of the image and then paper pieced the cushion on to kraft paper and red gingham paper.

And here's another card made with the stamp but using a different colour scheme:

You can find full details of the Tuesday Bargain here on the website - the RRP is £15.99 and the special offer price is £10.00. 

I've also just launched a competiton on the Little Claire blog and would like to see any cards or other projects that you've made using Little Claire stamps.  Have a look at my blog post here for more details and please e-mail photos of any projects you've made to me at helen@littleclaire.co.uk - you might see yourself featured on the Little Claire blog!

Finally, a few challenges for my first card:

Creative Craft Challenges - 'real or faux stitching'
Papertake Weekly - 'anything goes'

Keep Warm and Carry On ....

December's club stamp from Little Claire Designs is now on the website together with lots of cards from the Design Team.  Click here for more details and also to find out how the club works.

My first card (above) is one of the project cards for this month - if you're a club member you'll get full instructions plus a kit with all you need to make the card.  I used red gingham and kraft paper to make a patchwork design for the background which I thought went well with the stamp.  I love the little circular sentiment you get with the set.  For my card I stamped it once on to white card and then just the centre on to kraft paper and put them together.

And this is my second card:

For this one I used a blue colour scheme again with some kraft paper.

I'd like to enter the cards in the following challenges: Samuel Taylor's Blog Challenge - 'anything goes' (the first card), Divas by Design - 'anything goes' (first card again) and Charisma Cardz - 'spots' (second card).

Little George

Another Christmas card today - this time made with the very cute 'Little George' from Little Claire - isn't he cute?!  I've used some HOTP papers that came free with a magazine recently - they're beautiful colours.  I've also used some green card and Card Candi coloured with Promarkers.

A few challenges for this card:

The Poodles Parlour - 'Christmas'

Totally Papercrafts - 'Christmas'

Craft Your Passion - 'tis the season'

Ice Skating Chloe

Here's a card I made yesterday using 'Ice Skating Chloe' from Pink Gem - a really sweet little character!

I've used a card from Craftwork Cards (with some additional dry embossing down the side), some paper from Craft Creations and also some silver paper.  I finished it with some Card Candi and a strip of silver embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

Some challenges for this card:

Crafters Companion - 'let it snow, let it snow, let it snow'

Papertake Weekly - 'Christmas crackers'

Charisma Cardz - 'snowflakes'

Paper Sundaes - 'winter wonderland'

Cutie Pie Challenge - 'pastel Christmas'

New Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox - Jacaranda

This is my card for the brand new challenge on The Squirrel and the Fox Blog.  For all the details and to see the gorgeous cards made by my fellow Design Team members, please click here.

This time, our challenge is to take your inspiration from this beautiful photo:

It's a photo of a jacaranda tree in Sydney and was taken by Tracey - isn't it amazing?!

Our challenge is sponsored by Jen's Digis and the prize is $5 to spend in her store.

Jen supplied the cute little digi that some of the Design Team (including me!) have used on their cards.

My card also uses some paper from Craft Creations and an X-Cut flower shaped cutting die that seemed perfect for this challenge!

I'd like to enter my card in a couple of challenges - 'anything goes' at I Love Promarkers and 'free for all' at Creative Craft Challenges.

More Little Claire Class Cards!

Over the past two weekends I've been doing a Little Claire class using the Red Gingham 'Swirly Whirlies' - a gorgeous new collection of six stamps featuring various animals plus a beautiful poppy design.  There's also a matching set of six circular sentiment stamps.  The sentiments are also available as die cuts if you prefer as are the main designs.  You can find the stamps here on the website.

We made six cards in the class - one using each of the different stamps.  The first one (above) uses the little owl family with some Glitter Sparkle over the top of the stamped image.

Next a card using Little Tammy, the very cute little dog.  This one also uses one of the sentiment stamps.

Next we have the cats, with a little bit of decoupage:

Then Little Harry the hedgehog with a little bit of faux stitching:

Next the tortoise with some Glossy Accents on his shell:



And finally, the beautiful poppies:

A few challenges for these cards:

Creative Craft Challenges - 'free for all' (the poppy card)

Passion for Promarkers - 'swirls and sparkle' (the owl card)

Dream Valley Challenges - 'stitching' (the hedgehog card)

I Love Promarkers - 'anything goes' (the poppy card)

Totally Gorjuss - 'sparkle' (the owl card)

Sweet Stampin Challgenges - 'dies and punches' (the poppy card)

I'll be back tomorrow with my card for the brand new Squirrel and the Fox challenge!

We Three Kings ....

This is one of my favourite Christmas stamps from Little Claire - really simple and great for batch card making.  You can see it here on the website - the words are actually separate from the image but it's easy to line them up on an acrylic block so they stamp together.  I stamped the image and words in black and at the same time, put some Versamark on the star.  I then embossed the star with silver detail embossing powder and added some embossed lines round the edges of the card with my score board.

A few challenges for this card:

Crafty Hazelnut's Challenge - 'Christmas music' (I was thinking of the song "We three kings of Orient are")

Creative Craft Challenges - 'minamalistic'

Less is More - 'silhouettes'

Allsorts Challenge Blog - 'one layer card'

Paper Creations Ink - 'Christmas theme'

Another Little Claire Class ...

Over the last two weeks I've taught another Little Claire class called "One Stamp, Five Ways" using the beautiful and very versatile 'Single Flower' stamp.  The first of the cards (above) was a very simple single layer card - we used embossing boards to add embossed lines at the top and bottom of the card and used a Promarker to add lines between the embossing.

Next we did some simple masking:

Then some decoupage:

And next some paper piecing using a tag card:

And finally an easel card which doubles as a little desk calendar:

A few challenges for these cards:

Passion for Promarkers - 'white on white' (first card)

Crafts and Me - 'simples' (first card)

Sweet Stampin Challenge - 'gingham' (third card)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year ....

This week's project on the Little Claire blog is my easel card made using the stamp "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - you can find all the details plus step by step instructions here on the blog.

I've used some Craft Creations Purple Scroll paper plus Bazzill card and silver paper.  You can't see it very well in the photo but the stamped image panel is covered with Glitter Sparkle Sheet from Little Claire - definitely one of my favourite products because it gives you a lovely glittery effect without the mess!!

A few challenges for this card:

Crafty Hazelnut's Challenge - 'whatever lights your candle' (glitter without mess!)

Totally Gorjuss - 'Christmas traditions' (decorating the tree)

Sweet Stamps Blog - 'non traditional Christmas colours'

I Love Promarkers - 'Christmas trees'

New Challenge at The Squirrel and the Fox - Summer!

Today there's a new challenge on The Squirrel and the Fox challenge blog and the theme is 'summer'!  You can find all the details plus the amazing cards made by my fellow Design Team members here plus you can find out if you're one of the lucky winners in our last challenge here.

The challenge is sponsorted by The Paper Shelter and the lucky winner will receive a $20 gift certificate.

For my card, I've used "Sunny Day" from the Paper Shelter with some Kraft paper from Craft Creations.  My patterned paper is from Dovecraft and the circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards.  I finished the card off with some white Card Candi coloured with my Sandstone Promarker and some ribbon which came from a perfume gift set!!  Finally, I added some Glossy Accents to her sunglasses which you can see if you look carefully as the photo!

A few challenges for this card - Paper Sundaes where the theme is 'digital images', Alphabet Challenge Blog where the theme is 'under the sea' and Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge where the theme is 'use a digital image'.