Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop

I'm delighted to be part of the Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop, to celebrate and thank the moxie fab Cath Edvalson, former editor at Paper Crafts Magazine and brilliant blogger at Moxie Fab World!

You should have arrived here from sunny California from the blog of the very talented and sweet Nancy Krueger. If you didn't begin at the start of the hop, you can go to Moxie Fab World where the hop begins. A list of all of the stops on this blog hop will also be listed there.

Cath has been such a big part of the paper crafting world so needless to say I was very shocked and saddened when I read Cath's farewell post over at Moxie Fab World. So today I'd love to say thanks a million to Cath for everything and let her know I'll miss her so much.

In her farewell post Cath quoted Winnie the Pooh, and today I have to say to Cath, also in the words of that wise bear, I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen. And what adventures I've had since I came across Cath's wonderful, inspiring, eloquent, fun and intriguing posts in Moxie Fab World. Because of Cath, visits to Moxie Fab World have always been a must for me. I've also thoroughly enjoyed playing along with the Tuesday Trigger and the amazing variety of challenges Cath has come up with over the years. Cath has always been so generous with her kind words of encouragement to paper crafters. She has even managed to keep me, a non trendy person, interested in and abreast of all the latest trends. My online “visits” to CHA with Cath have been fantastic. Often because of her I’ve ended up with a very long shopping list indeed!



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Exotic Bloom & Dolls (sentiment)

Cath, this card was made for you and about you. The panel represents all the colour you have brought into my life, something for which I will always be thankful. I want to wish you all of the very best in your new adventure in life. I'm sure many, many exciting and fun experiences lie ahead! As the blog hop banner says, Cath, you'll always be moxie fab! Hugs and best wishes :)

Thanks so much for visiting today and now why don't you join me as I hop from here in Ireland over to Switzerland for the next stop in the hop. You will be visiting the lovely and talented Isha Gupta . Happy hopping and hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Merriest Wishes

Now that Halloween is over, it's full steam ahead with making Christmas cards. I'm trying to come up with some ideas for quick cards to make for Christmas so I can get a number of cards made in any one sitting, or I should say standing, as I always seem to stand when making cards!

I pulled out the Merry Christmas Tree stamp and die set I got last year to make a card that is very quick and easy to put together. This card is for a relative who loves muted colours and lots of bling, so I went a bit wild on the shimmery gems! I'll probably make a couple more cards like this using different colour combinations.



Stamps & die (Hero Arts) - Merry Christmas Tree & Very Merry Christmas

I started by embossing a square of vellum using a snowflake folder and applied some white ink here and there. Then I embossed the Christmas tree, die cut it and added lots of gems and a bow. The sentiment was also embossed and I lightly inked the edges of the sentiment piece and added a little gem.

I'm submitting this card into the current Hero Arts Challenge (A Few of my Favourite Things category) as I used embossing which is one of my favourite stamping techniques. Also I'm submitting it into the Die Cut Divas Let's Celebrate Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Someone here is already in their relaxed weekend mode!

Hope you have a relaxing, fun and inky weekend!

Happy Halloween

The day our younger son has been eagerly awaiting with much anticipation has finally arrived, and now he's wishing away the hours until it gets dark enough to go out spooking! Meanwhile I need to run into the town to get some more cobwebs. With all the windy weather we've had recently there was no point in decorating outside until today, otherwise we would have had cobwebs, gravestones and creepy creatures blowing around the neighbourhood!

As usual I was up early so I thought I'd make a quick little Halloween picture.



Stamp (Hero Arts) - Ghostly Greetings

The background is another piece of Core'dinations card that my friend Linda had sent me. I love embossing and sanding these to see what will be revealed. The sentiment was embossed and I just added a baker's twine frame. The little owl ghosts/witches represent our two boys who, each year, over the years have gone back and forth deciding what to wear for Halloween. So I thought I'd have the little owls trying to make up their minds about what they wanted to dress up as for Halloween. It's hard to see in the photo but I added gold pen and some stickles to the little buckles on the hats.

I also have to share another Halloween project, made by Linda. She sent me these super cute treat bags for the lads - I just love them and so do the lads! Thanks again, Linda:):) Here you can find details of all the supplies Linda used to make these fun bags.



Hope you have a fun Halloween!

Santa Baby

I wanted to make a card for a baby's first Christmas and pulled out a stamp and die set as well as some blue Core'dinations paper, both of which my good friend Linda sent me. Thanks again, Linda:)


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Onesie (Hero Arts Archiver's exclusive), Small Variety Alphabet & Christmas Reindeer

To start with I embossed the background and sanded it. Then I embossed the onesie on scraps of red card and white card. After that I embossed the name and snowflakes and did some paper piecing. When the little onesie was on the card I added some stickles and a couple of gems to finish.

I'm submitting this card into the current Hero Arts Challenge (A Few of My Favourite Things category), as I used a couple of my favourite stamping techniques on this card - embossing and paper piecing.

Now I've got the song Santa Baby in my head, I'll be singing it all day long. Though I have to say I'm using the term "singing" very loosely here, as I'm certainly no Eartha Kitt!

Wreath of Thanks

Between busy times at work and being sick, unfortunately I haven't had a chance to get inky in three weeks. So I was delighted this morning to finally get back into the swing of things and get up to my eyes in ink and paper!

I love Cath's gorgeous Tuesday Trigger photo over at the Moxie Fab World and am definitely one of those people who is enthralled with fall. I do love to see the first green shoots in spring, but for me nothing can beat the splendid display of colours that nature puts on for us in autumn.

My card was inspired by a number of elements from the photo - the gorgeous leaves, the wood in the background and the circular shape of the container.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Scattering Leaves & Celebrate Everyday

To start with I stamped the leaves using Hero Arts shadow inks (pale tomato, butter bar & orange soda), cut them out and then applied distress inks (barn door, spiced marmalade & mustard seed ) to the edges. I embossed the woodgrain background and embossed the sentiment in gold. To finish I just add a few gems.



I'm also submitting this card into The Die Cut Divas Autumn and Animals Challenge.

It’s a bank holiday weekend here so we’ll get to enjoy an extra day off as well as the extra hour in bed we had this morning with the clock going back. Hope you have a great weekend too!

Happy Happy Birthday

Given the day that was in it, I was delighted to have a chance to join in on Jennifer's fun scramble yesterday afternoon. The theme of the scramble was to make a birthday card for someone aged between one and eighteen years old.

One of my favourite stamps for birthday cards for boys is a cute rocket from the BAM! set by Hero Arts. So I inked it up yet again for this card.



Stamps (Hero Arts) - BAM!, Tiny Star Background and Fantastic Birthday

To make the stars for the background, I embossed the Tiny Star Background in white, applied faded jeans distress ink and die cut into stars. I wanted a few more stars in the background so added tiny star gems, again from Hero Arts.

Initially I paper pieced a rocket, but it looked too dull so I just layered it with another rocket that I coloured with ProMarkers and a silver gel pen.



The sentiment was also stamped with faded jeans distress ink. I'm submitting this card into the Color Media Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. Hope you had a wonderful World Card Making Day yesterday too!

Trick or Treating Candy Corn

Happy World Card Making Day! I just love having a special day that celebrates making cards right around the world. I intend making the most of today by having lots of inky time throughout the day. In a little while I hope to join in on the fun with friends as we make cards in a scramble hosted by Jennifer over at the Hero Arts Group.

But a little earlier today I decided to play with some fun Halloween images that my good friend Linda sent me - thanks again, Linda:)



Stamps (Lawn Fawn) - Trick or Treat and Sweet Christmas

Anyway I thought it might be fun to have these little candy corns from Lawn Fawn out trick or treating on a moonlit Halloween night. The sky and grass were made in the same way - I applied distress ink (either dusty concord or mowed lawn) to white card and sprayed with water. The little hill is on foam pads for some extra dimension. Then I die cut the moon with the sentiment and added an outline with diamond stickles.

After that I had to decide what the trick or treaters would wear for Halloween. I cut bat wings for the little one and the taller one ended up with some alien eyes. The wings came from the same set as the candy corns but I made the eyes from some images from the Sweet Christmas set. I also wanted to give the trick or treaters little legs so they could cover lots of ground on Halloween night (lol okay I know they’re not real!!) and used one of the lollipops from the same Christmas set to make them. The little candy corn trick or treaters were coloured with ProMarkers and colouring pencils.



I'm submitting this card into the Color Media Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

Hope you have lots of inky fun on World Card Making Day!