Allsorts Challenge # 812/3

 I was invited recently to be part of the Design Team for the Allsorts Challenge and this is my first 'designer'  post. The challenge will run for two weeks with prizes from Oakwood  and full details can be seen on the Allsorts blog.  

The theme, chosen by Sarah, is **Use Dies** or of course, as always, there is the option of *Anything Goes*.  For my card I cut a panel slightly smaller than the card blank and lightly stencilled an area using Distress Oxide ink.  The white die was used twice and naturally I saved all of the little 'fall-out' circles.  The flower was also cut using white card and then gold embossed.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut, with a larger die being used as a backing layer.  Finally a few of the little dots were coloured with a gold pen and added for extra interest.

Stencil - from Lavinia
White circles die - from Tattered Lace (several years old)
Flower - from Tim Holtz Wildflowers #2
Sentiment Panel - from a retired Snowflake Stampin' Up set

Winter Themed Challenges

 There are two stamping challenges both with a Winter Theme so I'm popping along to We Love Stamping and Stamping Sensations with this card.  There great prizes from Aall & Create for both of these.

My card is loosely based on a tutorial which I saw on YouTube from, I think, one of the Lavinia designers but I'm afraid I can't find it again to give proper credit.  I really should make a note of things which I use as inspiration.  I clearly need more practice with the water colouring of the background and I also 'borrowed' an idea from Jo Rice to stamp and fussy cut the two robins as they didn't really stand out sufficiently from the background in my original attempt.  The important thing is that I really enjoyed making this card and will try harder another time.  Practice makes perfect as they say 😉

Stamps - Lavinia designs
Christmas Word - from a set of magazine gift stamps
Inks - Versafine Claire and Distress Oxides
Colouring - watercolour pencils

Allsorts Challenge for This Week

 The All sorts challenge this week is to **Use Lots of White* or of course there's always the *Anything goes* option.  I'm a fan of white on white cards although the one I've made here also has touches of silver. There are three prizes of great stamps from Aall & Create and don't forget to make a note of the changes coming to this challenge.   Read all about it by following the link.

This is yet another Christmas card but I think now I've made all that I need in that area and quite possibly have a goodly number to put by for next year - can't stop making once I get started 😉 but must put the seasonal things away for a while.  The main part of this card is white on white with some sparkly silver used as a background and a backing for the sentiment.  The white layer has been die cut which left a curvy piece of 'ground' which I then decided to emboss with a snowy effect.  Sentiment was stamped and layered onto silver and that was job done - quite quick and easy really and certainly lots of white.

Die - unbranded
Embossing Folder - a discontinued one from Sheena Douglass (had it for years)
Sentiment - from a set of Seasonal stamps which were a magazine gift (also an oldie)

Snippets Playground Challenge #495

 Time to visit the Snippets Playground with my card for the first of the two December challenges where there are to be four prizes of bumper mystery parcels for the lucky winners.  Definitely time to rummage through your piles of snippets to see just what you can make with them.

For my card I've used a sentiment  die which I believe was won from Snippets a couple of years back and paired it with a Gnome/Santa die which I've had in my collection for even longer.  The sentiment was layered up on a couple of white squares, one of which has been embossed with a snowfall embossing folder.  I did have to cut into a whole piece of white card and also of the red for the background but of course I have quite large snippets left for future projects.  I also remembered to take a picture of some of the smaller snippets left over from die cutting the squares. sentiment and Santa.

Sentiment - die from Memory Box
Santa/Gnome - die from Simon Says Stamp
Embossing Folder - from Sheena Douglass a while ago, no longer available

Allsorts Challenge #810

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge has been chosen by Lynne and is *It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas* or of course there is the usual Anything Goes option.  For my card I've used dies from a set of four characters which come with a choice of headgear and specs which are mostly interchangeable for some fun results.  These two were put together and then I decided to pop them onto some torn edge die cuts along with a sentiment..

Santa and Snowman - from Tim Holtz Cool Yule die set
Rectangles - from Sizzix (TH) Stacked Deckle set
Sentiment - from a magazine give-away Christmas stamp set (a few years back)

Allsorts Challenge # 809

 The theme for the current Allsorts Challenge is **Winter Flora and Fauna** or of course there is the *Anything Goes* option - lovely prize from Aall & Create.  For my card I've chosen to use a Stickeroo which I've adhered to a stitched rectangle cut slightly larger.  Some background printed onto pearl finish paper mounted onto a larger square of gold.  That takes care of the fauna and for the flora I've used a layered die and added a simple printed  and punched sentiment.

Background - printed from Artylicious Season's Greetings CD probably discontinued
Image - Penny Black Stickeroo from Buddly Crafts
Poinsettia - dies by Tim Holtz for Sizzix Seasonal Sketch
Sentiment - free download from Netty's Cards resized to fit a punch 

Snippets Challenge #494

Having a bit of a change from making Christmas cards so these birds are flying along to the Playground for the latest Snippets challenge which as usual has a lovely prize for a lucky winner picked at random.  I had some snippets of white card  suitable for cutting a couple of pierced squares and an even smaller snippet of black card for the birds.  I've actually remembered to include a picture of the left overs too.  I smooshed some ink onto one of the squares  and added a bit of visual texture using a circle stamp.  The birds on a gingko branch were then die cut and placed over the detailed area.  A simple stamped sentiment and that's it - quick card for the challenge.

Circle stamp - from Crafty Roo
Birds - one of a set of dies from Amazon
Squares - dies from Noble Pierced squares Creative Expressions