Calendars 2013

Here are the family calendars for 2013. I made a re-usable background so every year we can just replace the calendar bit with a new one.

I stamped the square pieces of cardstock with various GinaK Designs stamps (the "To Do" and "notes" are from the "Getting Organised" set).
I found these really cool large wooden clothes pegs which I dressed up with some paper scraps. I added felt to the tips to protect any photos or notes they clamp. They are not glued or fixed to the background at all so can be moved around.

The background (incl. the note squares) are laminated so it can be written on with white board marker.

Here's what some of the other backgrounds look like:

Let's play along! Entering into:
http://paper-craftingjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/anything-goes-challenge-and-winner.html
http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/ (12 DEC)
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/12/challenge-66-anything-goes.html

Quick packaging!

I bought a bag of nuts-in-the-shell for a friend's husband and the silly shop had the price printed ON the front. So what is a paper crafter to do but to package it herself! I've seen this here and it worked perfect!! And so quick!

And then how do you wrap a round candle? You do the same!!! (I made this one a bit bigger to fit the candle base and had to add an extra piece of cardstock on the back. Still worked!

Entering these into:
http://paper-craftingjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/anything-goes-challenge-and-winner.html
http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/ (12 DEC)
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/12/challenge-66-anything-goes.html

DS4J challenge #57: There's something magical about Christmas

What a blessing is the celebration of Christmas. A true miracle!

And we're celebrating at Digistamps4Joy too!

Challenge #57: There's something magical about Christmas

Every year I either have a 'theme' for my Christmas wrapping or a color scheme. Last year was purple & white. This year I just loved these polka-dot lime-green paper! For my project, I made gift tags for all the presents and used Digistamps4Joy's Nativity Silhouette as the image.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

PHILIPPIANS 2: 5-11

Entering into:

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2012/12/simon-says-merry-christmas.html

http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2012/12/quick-tags.html

http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/ (19 DEC)

http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/ (12 DEC)

http://rubysrainbow.blogspot.com/2012/12/rubys-rainbow-ch44-nativity.html

Library cards

I got this idea from a local craft & home decor magazine (www.ideasmag.co.za). Papertrey Ink also has a stamp set to make these. I went the electronic route however. This was just perfect to make for my friend Lianne since we are often talking about how we lend out books and can't remember where they went to!

The magazine has a downloadable template here but I made my own in MS Powerpoint since I wanted to save paper and get more cards out per page.
The holder on the left gets glued inside the book and the card fits inside. When you lend out a book, you write the date and the person's name on the card and keep it.

Here's the box (seen from the top) I made to put it in. It was also the "packaging" :D

Let's go play somewhere:

http://artisticinspirationscrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/challenge-20.html

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/ (#120. the current post didn't have a seperate link)

http://cutcreatehavefun.blogspot.de/2012/12/cchf-no2-geschenk-verpackung.html

http://joannasheenchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/with-love-at-christmas.html

Red, White, Blue

Here's a card made with the sweet lighthouse from Doodlepantry:

That gorgeous background paper is from www.fabscraps.co.za.
I glued a tiny piece of foil to the lighthouse for some added sparkle. The image has a heart where the foil is but since this is for a boy birthday I covered it. The heart seemed a bit girly.

Entering this into:
http://bythecuteandgirly.blogspot.com/2012/12/december-red-white-and-blue.html

CAS boy birthday

Here's a quick CAS birthday card. The image is from a coloring picture on the web:

Image source: http://hawaiidermatology.com/cowboy/cowboy-with-his-horse-coloring-page-picture-super-coloring.htm
Sentiment: Papertrey Ink "Think Big Favorites #12)
Colored with Spectrum Noir

Entering into:
http://atcswithattitude.blogspot.com/ (#29)

NEWS!!! DT for Moving Along with the Times

Today I can announce that I'm on the design team for "Moving Along with the Times". Be sure to follow me there and join in the challenges!

Here's the URL: http://movingalongwiththetimes.blogspot.com/

My first posting will be in January so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Elephant row

I do struggle with OLC (one-layer-cards) since I always feel that there's something missing (usually in the sense of it seeming too floaty). I always want to anchor it on a frame. I used the cute little elephant from Unity Stamp's "How cute am I" set with a sentiment from the same.

I added some Glossy Accents to the hearts & Liquid Pearls to the eye dots.

I'm playing with:
http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/2012/12/friends-with-flair_14.html
http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/2012/12/ttcrd-challenge-48-december-11-17-2012.html

Ocean-themed

The current Simon Says challenge is to use your favorite stamp/tool/etc.  The "Enjoy the Sunshine" set from GinaK stamps was my very first stamp set (and my first win!) and I cannot say it enough that this set makes a perfect first-time set. It's got most of the main occasions covered! There are also masculine, feminine and kiddies images to play with. I STILL use it, A LOT!

Leafy wishes

This card is for the Lawnscaping color challenge. The photo doesn't show it well but the leaves are cut from a pale turquoise patterned paper. It looks too green here :(

Here's the color challenge:

http://lawnscaping.blogspot.com/2012/12/lawnscaping-challenge-color-inspiration.html

The sentiment is from Unity Stamp's BIRTHDAY CHIC!

http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/2012/12/friends-with-flair_14.html

Masculine wood grain & tree

Here is a quick card that I made for the men's cards for my card ministry at church. These are for January. Can't believe I am starting a whole new year with it!

Tree stamp: Tree Silhouettes (GinaK Designs)
Sentiment: Petals & Wings (GinaK Designs)
Embossing folder: Cuttlebug

Embossed section is distressed with Antique Linen and the trees are stamped with Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz, of course).

I used a Clean & Simple layout, #216, from a couple of weeks ago. I just turned it upside down since I wanted to have my image stamping at the top.

Entered into:
http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/2012/12/ttcrd-challenge-48-december-11-17-2012.html
http://everybody-art-challenge.blogspot.com/2012/12/challenge-217-alles-geht.html

New release at DS4J - Using Brush Stroke Frame

There are new images available at Digistamps4 Joy. See them all here: http://www.digistamps4joy.co.za/newbies.html.

We were given the Brush Stroke Frame to play with and here is what I made. I combined it with those gorgeous birdies from DS4J, "Juvenile Trio":

 Close-up below show some highlights I added with Sakure Stardust pen.

CAS birthday

Here is a quick CAS birthday card. I used a flower from Joanna Sheen's Fantasy Flowers and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink (Spiral Bouquet):

The edges of the flowers are popped up with 3d foam for some dimension.
I'm entering this into:
http://movingalongwiththetimes.blogspot.com/2012/12/clean-simple.html
http://www.flonzcraft.com/vsc/?p=336 (Flowers)
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/2012/12/hi-happy-monday-crafters.html
http://joannasheenchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/with-love-at-christmas.html

Elegant birthday

I made these Birthday cards (10) by using the Clean & Simple sketch 219. http://cleanandsimplestamping.blogspot.com/2012/11/219.html

I stamped the background with GinaK Designs' Wild Flowers set's smaller butterfly.
The front panel uses the flower from Great Sayings (GK)   and a sentiment from GKD I received in a grab bag.

quick party packs

I made up these party packs very quickly for little boy's birthday. I used Unity's Mix up of Cuteness and Alphabets from Chiswick.

Also for http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/2012/12/friends-with-flair.html

Digistamps4Joy release

There is a new release available at http://www.digistamps4joy.co.za/newbies.html
We got the image "Gwendoline" to play with and here is what I made. I wanted her to face to my right so I flipped the image in MS Powerpoint before printing out. I also cut the image out:

I just love my new dies from Nellie Stellen. I cut the 'doilie' circle out twice and then overlayed them so that the back one in solid color shows through. I added some liquid pearls on the ends of the front die-cut.
Colored with Spectrum Noir of course.
My sentiment is from the Spanish sentiments set at Papertrey Ink :D
Background paper & for front doilie is from Webster's Pages.
To make the rosette I cut two flowers with a flower punch and overlayed them. The die-cut on their front is from the same Nellie Snellen die-set. The "ribbon" is just cut from scrap paper (We R Memory Keepers)

Digistamps4Joy Challenge #56: Baby it's cold outside!

It's actually so ironic that although the challenge #56 for Digistamps4Joy is about "cold" and probably aimed at our Northern hemisphere friends, it's actually COLD and RAINING here today as I'm writing this post! This is indeed very strange weather for us here in Johannesburg in December.

This bi-weekly challenge is not only about "cold" but is also a RECIPE CHALLENGE!

1 Image + 2 Designer papers + 3 Snowflakes!

I made this card using a popular DS4J image: Juvenile Trio
I created some "snow" on the branch by making a line with a grey Spectrum Noir Marker and filling the gap with Stickles.
This was quite a challenge since I've got NOTHING 'snowy' nor snowflakes in my stash :D. The "snowflakes" are from a flower punch and I just trimmed 2 of the 'flakes' ends into different points.
DP is from We-R-Memory Keepers.
Coloring with Spectrum Noir Markers

I'm entering this for:
http://www.spectrumnoir.com/challenge/
http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/2012/12/simon-says-snowflakes.html
http://craftycreationschallenges.blogspot.com/2012/12/199-winter-scene.html
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/12/challenge-64-let-it-snow.html
http://www.craftdoormagazine.com/2012/12/ttcrd-47-december-4th-10th.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.com/