Christmas Scene - CCC Challenge

Good morning friends.  Well, not a male card in sight today I'm pleased to say.  Instead this is a card for the Christmas Card Club challenge.  Lorraine's choice was for us to make a Christmas scene.  Unfortunately Lorraine is unwell and so is not actually taking part herself so let's hope she feels better soon.

My Card

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From the side to see the 3D box effect and stand

I decided to make a 3D box card since it is so long since I have made one. I never quite know what to call these, I guess they are a bit like a shadow box only made from card. I started with a piece of card 8" x 8" and a slightly smaller piece for the back.  After the cutting and folding it becomes 6.5" x 6.5".

My stamp is  many many years old and is from an American company called Petaluma.  I stamped it in black ink and heat embossed with Blue Pearl which gives it a lovely blue colour.  To enhance the blue I matted it onto blue card and then attached it to the back of the box with foam pads.  I used glossy accents and Diamond Dust on the rooftops and trees.  I coloured the diecut fence with Promarkers.  I used Memory Box Snowflake Corner and Frosty Border and the Christmas trees are Dees Distictly A Cut Above - what a mouthful that is!!  Again I used lots of glue and glitter on them.  I didn't have any blue pearls so I coloured some with Promarkers and dotted them onto the snowflakes.  I finished off with a few peel off snowflake because the area at the top seemed a bit bare.  I have attached a stand to the back of the box but I might actually remove that and attach it to a card.  I have done both in the past.

I'm not a sports lover but for the next three weeks I shall be very happy following the Tour de France! Yesterday was the start in Corsica which was an interesting start to say the least. Can't wait for the rest.

Well that's it from me for today.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Love and hugs from Christine. xx

Another Mountain

Hi!  Here is my third offering for Darren.

My Card

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I cheated a little and used the mountain stamp again from Our Daily Bread Designs  but it just seems so perfect for the occasion.  This time I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black and die cut it with SB Resplendent Rectangles.  It just fit the die almost exactly.   I then die cut the Bazill Bling black card stock with the next die up in the set.   I computer generated the quote from Sr Edmund Hillary about his Everest climb and printed it onto parchment. I then hand cut a pennant shape frame and attached it with tiny foam pads . The frame actually looks wider at one side than the other but that really isn't the case.  The fact is my photo is wonky, which makes everything look slightly off.  The striped card is some I  bought from the craft fair at the Motorcycle Museum from a company called "Pennies Worth" and I bought a few different colours because I must admit to liking stripy card/paper.  A few black gems finished it off.  Again, I can add another quote inside when he decides which card he wants.

Yesterday really was an extremely wet day until about 5pm when the rain cleared and it brightened very slightly.  Still, the gardens (and my well!) needed it.  Wonder what today will bring?

Well that's all from me. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Keep On Climbing

Hello my friends. Yesterday was a beautiful day and so John and I decided to have a day out. We really just wandered around the Cotswold villages, stopping when we felt like it and having a walk round, had lunch and then ended up in Cheltenham - where I just had to pop into Hobbycrafts and the Range. Well, it would have been rude not to!! However, I didn't really see anything I couldn't do without so I just bought a few necessities. I thought I would have a trip out to a "real" craft shop next week where I'm sure I will be able to lighten my wallet. Lol!

My Card

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This is the second card for my nephew to choose from. I did a similar one last year but have changed the sentiments and the dies, although the layout is pretty much the same. The sentiments and the mountain stamp are from Our Daily Bread Designs "Keep Climbing" set. I love this set and use it a lot. The main sentiment is very apt because it is from the book "Kilimanjaro And Beyond" by Barry Finlay. I used SB Resplendent Rectangles and Radiant Rectangles to frame the main sentiment quote. I'm not too happy about the punched leaves in the bottom corner so I think I'll be taking them off and just popping a pearl in the corner. What do you think? The flower and leaf stamps at the top and bottom are Stampendous "Wildflower Sprigs." If  this is the one he chooses I have found a few more quotes about climbing, so I thought he could then choose one to put inside the card.

Now I just have to rack my brains to come up with one more card. Considering making male cards is not my favourite thing I don't think I've done too badly so far.

Well that's all from me today. I hope you all have a good day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Follow Your Dreams

Hi. My nephew's GP will be retiring next month and once of his first tasks will be to climb Kilimanjaro. Darren has asked me to make a card suitable for the occasion. I thought I would make two or three so he could make his own choice. This is the first of my offerings.

My Card

 

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I have made this quite plain but I think the black and greys are very suitable for a man and the quotation is very apt.  I made a 5" x 7" card from pale grey cardstock then matted it with black and dark grey.  The papers are Dovecraft "Charcoal Prints" which I have had for years  and I must admit they seem to be my "go to" papers when I make cards for men. There are also some black and white florals in the pack too.  I computer generated the sentiment and printed it onto pale grey card, although it looks white on the picture. I then diecut it with SB Labels 18 and used the largest die on black card to mat it.  I raised the fishtail pennant and the Labels 18 with foam pads. I don't have the fishtail dies so I had to cut it myself. The 3D butterfly is a Fly Stickers from Hobbycraft, but again it doesn't show too well.. To finish off I added a few black pearls from my stash.

Hope you all have a happy and productive day, whatever you decide to do.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Matching Card Set

Good evening friends and fellow bloggers!   My poor garden has been sadly neglected what with the bad weather, and then when the weather was reasonable I was out cycling.  So I decided to spend the last couple of days trying to sort it out and make it look neat and tidy again.  The gravel drives and walkways still need quite a bit of weed clearance, but I'm getting there slowly but surely.  My vegetable garden is very much behind this year.  Anyway, enough of that!

My Cards

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I decided to make a set of cards to go into the easel drawer card I made in my last project. In order to mimic the easel card  I used SB Grand Labels 1 to make the card bases and the next layer, and then used  SB Lace Doily.   I used the same ODBD stamp sentiment as the easel card but the rest I computer generated and die cut with SB Classic Squares.  Apart from dotting some pearls on with Cosmic shimmer I decided not to add any further embellishments.  My pearls aren't brilliant, but at least I am getting better.  I used the coloured card stock in the opposite way to make them look slightly different.  So it now makes a nice little gift set.

I have only been out on my bike once this past week for a fairly short ride so I'll have to try and make up for it this coming week.  Tomorrow I am meeting a group of friends I used to work with.  Every three months we get together for lunch and a good old chin wag, so I'm sure we'll have a great time again. Hopefully I will get some more crafting done later in the day.

Have a good day everybody. Love and hugs from Christine xx

Easel Card With Drawer

Good morning everybody. I decided to have a couple of days playing hookey. On Monday I was very tired - thought I would sleep like a top on Sunday night but I guess I was overtired and also had lots on my mind thinking back over the day. Apart from my knees being a bit creaky I was otherwise fine. Other parts of my anatomy were okay too - thank goodness for padded shorts! Lol! Thanks Sue P for the offer of a rubber ring but luckily I didn't need it!  I must confess to not being the world's best sleeper so the tiredness builds up. Anyway, I had a really good night's sleep last night and feel great today!

My Project

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 I decided to make an easel card with a drawer since I haven't done one for a while. The actual drawer part measures 14 x 14 cms. I then used Grand Labels 1 to make an overlapping top and base to finish it off nicely. The easel card also measures 14 cms and I again used Grand Labels 1. I used SB Lace Doily Motifs for the centres of the top and base of the easel card, decorating with pearls from my stash. A rose from Wild Orchid Crafts acts as the stopper for the easel, together with some leaves from SB Foliage. The drawer handle is a punched white flower with a a dotty ribbon covered brad. The stamped sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs. I do love to use quotes in my work.

I thought this would make a nice gift with some note cards in the drawer. I'll show this in another post since I haven't actually done them yet.

I thought I would also give you a quick peek at my medal! The cheeky little badge was given to me by mum after the very first London to Brighton Bike Ride I did 26 years ago. I put it on every time I reach Brighton !!

I pinned the ribbon so you could see the wording

Well that's it from me today. The sun is shining so I think I'll go out and do some gardening.

Have a good day everybody.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Entered into: http://eurekastamps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/challenge-44-anything-goes.html

Christmas Card Club - Baubles

Good morning friends and fellow bloggers.  I have scheduled this post because by the time you read this I will be either travelling to London  - by car, or if you are reading it after half past seven then I will already be on my bike and cycling to the seaside.  Lol!  Look out Brighton here I come! The first time I did this ride somebody told me it was downhill all the way to Brighton!! And so it is  - if you don't take into account the hills, the worst being the dreaded Ditchling Beacon which comes after you have already cycled 50 miles, is very steep, and winds up for almost a mile. However, when you reach the top you are welcomed by the most stunning views over the South Downs, and then it really is practically downhill all the way into Brighton. Yippee!

Unbelievably another two weeks have passed and it is time for another Christmas card. This time it is Kerry's turn and she has asked that we use baubles on our cards. This is quite simple Kerry but I hope you think it does your challenge justice. It's probably going to be Monday before I get round to checking the rest of the CCC cards and the rest of my friends' blogs.

My Card

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My card is 6" x 6" and matted with red. I ran  more white card through an Anna Griffin embossing folder from Cuttlebug called "Matelasse" and it also comes with a border  embossing folder.  The baubles are die cut from Memory Box "Classic Ornament" and "Snowflake Ornament", and the corner die is another Memory Box die called, appropriately,  "Snowflake Corner."  I have been trying to keep my cards flat to enable cheaper postage this year, as I'm sure most of us are.  Once I had added the picture I could see that I had used a different card to cut the top bauble and it is a different shade of white. I have now replaced it but haven't had chance to re-take the photo.  I am also not happy with the stamped sentiment so I think on Monday I shall probably replace it (yet again!), but I really do not have time at the moment.

Well I hope you all have a really great day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx