Baby's First Christmas

This time last year we were all excitedly (and nervously) awaiting the arrival of my brother and sister-in-law's first child.  So this is my first Baby's First Christmas card and I hope you think it's special enough for their special Lucia. 

Card Recipe:
Stamp: Mo Manning, Kanban
Colouring Mediums: Promarkers, Pebbles Inc Chalks, Versamark, Glitter & Clear Embossing Powders
Paper and Card: Stardream, DCWV, Satin Elegance
Tools: Tonic Studios Verso Holly Rings, Frond Finesse and Tag Dies, Snowflake and Simplicity Snowflake punches, Spellbinders Scallop Circle and Grand Labels1, Grand Calibur
Embellishments: snowflake ribbon, gingham check ribbon, rhinestone crystals, snaps

I don't often use "cute children" images but for a Baby's First Christmas Card, I felt one was needed, and this Mo Manning image was just perfect.

I coloured the main image in hues of pink and green to echo the lovely pink and green DCWV snowflake patterned paper I've used on the card base.

I also masked the main image and stamped and heat-embossed some tiny snowflakes around the baby girl.  I'm not sure if my photography shows this, but I used clear embossing powder on the sugar cane and white glitter embossing powder on the stocking top.  Finally, I used pink chalks to very subtly wash the background (so subtle that I don't think you can see it)!

I printed the sentiment off from my computer and die cut it with a little label tag. I thought the gingham check ribbon added a lovely fresh touch to the card, and do you remember the craze for snaps a few years ago?  Well I dug out a pack of pink snaps to secure my gingham ribbon trim to my sentiment.  Finally, it was mounted onto smallest Verso Holly Ring die-cut from stardream card.





I really wanted to showcase the filigree die-cutting of the large Verso Holly Ring, which I've used as the mat to my main image.  So I used a fancy shaped card, folded in half, as my card base, leaving over half of the Holly Ring free-standing above the card base.

At the bottom, you can just see some Brenda Pinnick snowflake ribbon, which coordinates perfectly with my card.






Finally, I die cut a number of swirls from my Frond Finese die set and created multi-layer snowflakes from some snowflake punches.  I wove these around the top of the mat along with a couple of pearl strands, to create an ethereal finish to my card.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Clear it Out - Warm Fuzzies

I would like to end by wishing you all a happy, safe and loving Christmas with those that matter most to you, peace, joy and happiness to you all. Pin It Now!

Twit-Twoo - Here's Sneaky Peak Two! A Pillow Box Owl

This little Pillow Box Owl thinks you'd be Wise to tune into Create and Craft on Friday 13th for the launch of the Tonic Studios new range of Dies including the Pillow Box die used to make this little fella!

Project Recipe:
Tools: Tonic Studios Pillow Box Die Set, Layering Circles and Layering Scalloped Circles Die Sets, Love Arch Die set, Grand Calibur
Paper and Card: DCWV, feltmark card, textured card
Embellishments: Googly Eyes
You can find my tutorial on how I made this cute owl here!

In the meantime, I would like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Crafting for all Seasons - Christmas Anything but a Card

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Sneak Peek - Tonic's New Layering Dies & Verso Hearts

Normally it's no peeking at this time of year - but I'm making an exception for these fabulous new Tonic Studios Dies! Would you like a sneak peek too? 

Card Recipe:
Tools: Tonic Studios Indulgence Affections Square Base, Heart Base & Mother's Day, Square and Scalloped Square Layering Die Sets, Grand Calibur
Decoupage: Kanban
Paper and Card: HOTP, feltmark card, mirri card
Embellishments: satin ribbon, jingle bell, rhinestone crystals, pom poms

Goodness, there's so much to show, I don't know where to start - but let's start with the new Indulgence Affections Dies.  No doubt these have been developed with next February in mind, but as soon as I saw them, I thought the effect of a laser cut filigree heart would work perfectly on my Christmas Card for my brother and his wife.

So I used all 3 dies in the Indulgence Affections Heart Base set and teamed it with the inner heart from the Mother's Day set but just the outer cutting edge of the base heart.  On this picture you can also see the brand new Tonic Studios Layering Die Sets. Available in both square and circle shapes and with a bevelled or scalloped egde, each die set contains 14 nesting dies ranging from 2.3cm to 14cm in size.  I used the bevelled square to cut out my decoupage base layer and mounted it onto the equivalent die in the scalloped edge set to give the narrowest of mats.  Obviously, I could have chosen the next size up for a larger mat but I didn't want to obscure any more of my heart die cut.  If you've previously struggled with matting and layering, you will want these fabulous dies.  And, as a really thoughtful added extra, them come ready mounted onto a magnetic sheet and with their own file folder pocket sleeve.......now I wonder what that might fit into??????

I'm not sure what is the official name for the card base I made, so I'm just going to show you a picture and describe how I made it!  I die cut 2 of the largest mats from the Indulgence Affections Square Base set, and scored 1 exactly in half and folded it so that it was a tent-shape.  Then I stuck the other square to the front half of the tent.  I used a patterned paper cut with the Scalloped Layering Square dies as they fit perfectly into the middle.   
Isn't this a pretty decorative edge for a card?

This gave me the perfect strong base to add my main focal decoupage and filigree heart, but with them both coming off the edge of the card base in a more freestanding style.






Here's one last look at this card

Don't forget, if you haven't already done so, you can enter into my 100th Blogpost Celebratory Prize Draw for the chance to win some great Tonic Studios Prizes -details here. 

I love to know who's visited my blog, so why not leave a comment and tell me what you think of this card, it would be much appreciated!

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Woo Hoo - 100th Post Celebration Giveaway

Hello Everyone - I can't believe it, this is my 100th Blogpost and my previous posts have now been visited by over 100,000 readers, wow!  I'm so grateful to everyone who takes the time to visit and especially to the extra-special crafters who follow this blog, that I wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU by running a give-away competition.  




All you have to do to enter is:

•  to already be, or to become, a follower AND
• leave a comment to this post, telling me which is your favourite post on this blog

My very lovely friends at Tonic Studios have so kindly provided me with a fabulous prize for this giveaway, a complete set of Verso Corner Dies!

This give-away competition is open to all (one entry per person), whether you have your own blog or not.  

However, if you do have your own blog, there is a second prize open to everyone who links to my blog from their blog.

This second prizes are a set of Metal Embellishments from Tonic Studios that includes 5 metal butterfly charms and 5 metal bird charms.  I have 2 sets to giveaway so there will be 2 winners of this prize!

To enter into the second draw use the linky tool below with the link to the specific post on your blog that links to my blog.





Pesky details (ie the rules):  
The Giveaway will run until midnight on 31st December 2013 (GMT).  
One entry per person.
The winners will be selected completely randomly. 
The winners will be announced on New Year's Day 2013.
You will have 7 days to contact me to arrange delivery of your prize otherwise I will announce a new winner.
You must follow the eligibility requirements to be entered into the draw, failure to do so will nullify your entry.

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