Here Comes Christmas with Penny Black :)

Good morning! It's Christmas week, agghhhh!! Can't believe how close it is :) Woohoo :)

http://pennyblackinc.wordpress.com

This week's challenge is Here Comes Christmas with Through the Purple Haze Challenges and we are sponsored by the amazing Penny Black Stamps.

Penny Black Facebook Page

One lucky winner will receive these 3 stamp sets - how beautiful.

This week I choose to do a layout, again I'm using a 8" x 8" layout.

I used a doily stamp to add a bit of colour to my white 8" x 8" sheet. As this was a pigment ink, I heat embossed it to seal it in. (Can you guess the embossing powder used?!!) I embossed a strip of paper with a circles folder. I haven't dry embossed in ages, and forgot how lovely it looks after embossed. I will make sure in future to do more embossing!!

I stamped the cute little hedgehogs onto a bauble in black ink, that I hand cut out slightly smaller than the die. With some mirrored card I cut out the bauble and layered them. I used a combo of watercolour paints and some fine nibbed markers to colour them in.

I used some green snowflake paper, and real doily to layer my frame. I die cut the 'garden trellis' in grey board to make the frame. I sprayed it with some Rangers ink, and then put lots of glitter glue on it. I used some washi tape and buttons, and star charms to finish off the layout.

I put a photo of one my little elves in it!! :)

The photo does the layout no justice! Just can't get the light right in these short dark days. Over Christmas I have great hopes to make a light tent, and hopefully my problems with light will be gone :D 
I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the second last Monday before Christmas. What crafty stuff are you up to?
I hope to enter this in a few challenges. Why not pop over and enter the Through the Purple Haze Challenges. Have a brilliant Monday and week.
Eithne

Sketch challenge

This week over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges, the challenge is a sketch.

Sketches can be a love/hate relationship with me sometimes!! But once I saw this one, I knew I would love it. As you might have noticed I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 'scalloped circle lace die', and thought it would fit right in with the circle. I also have a tendency to do banner style designs with washi tape, and let me tell you, this week was no different!! ;-)
This week it is Team A vs Team B, our monthly inter team challenge. So please, do pop over and vote for your favourite. The sponsors this week are Penny Black

and Stitchy Bear.

As it happened, this weekend was a crazy one for us! My youngest brother James, had his 21st birthday party, so I decided to make a card, following the sketch for him:

I used a brown board for the back, and used my *favourite* die, (any guesses??!!) "Scalloped lace circle die', using some green paper I recently bought (his favourite colour is green) As per usual, I have no embellishments that suit a card for a male, so I had to dig deep!!

I used a kraft tag, and cut out a slightly smaller size cream piece of card and embossed it, using my Happy Birthday folder. I then lightly smudged some blue and green ink over the raised letters to highlight them. I cut out the two digits out of glitter foam.

With the twine, I threaded some alphabet beads spelling out 'JAMES'. I attached some honeycomb greyboard that I inked in brown (really need to get some more of this honeycomb!!) and attached it with two pegs. I used some washi tape, and cut it to give the bunting look, to tie in with the sketch.

 I cut some cream card, and used a ribbon punch to punch out the slots, and then threaded some music printed paper through (James is a drummer and loves music). I used a combo of buttons and flat backed pearls around the scalloped die. I took the printed sentiment from a lovely scrapbook kit that I recently bought second hand.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you are having a wonderful Monday! Why not give the challenge a go?
I will be entering the card in some challenges.
Anything Goes - http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.ie/
Emboss like a Boss - http://anyoneforanya.blogspot.ie/
Music - http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.ie/ (the strip of music paper)
Cards for men - Tag - http://cardsformen.blogspot.ie/
Lots of layers - c is for challenge - http://cisforchallenge.blogspot.ie/
Simon Says Stamp - embossing - http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/challenge-embossed/


Eithne