Gingerbread, Spice and Little Mice

Hello Peeps!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!  I have another quick(ish) Christmas card to share today:

Supplies:

Image - House Mouse.  Ok, I have a confession to make - this image was not stamped, it is actually a sticker.  In my defense, I did embellish the image with Glossy Accents and Distress Stickles!  When I saw this adorable sheet of House Mouse Christmas stickers, I couldn't resist them - I thought they would be a fabulous way to get a bunch of cards done more quickly.  But then, it turns out that in my immense stash of Christmas papers, I did not have a single one to match, so I ended up having to make my own DP, which made the whole process not quite as quick as I had hoped (and yes, I know, that is one long run on sentence).  I think the moral of the story is that I need a bigger stash...

Stamps - sentiment and frame from Hot Off the Press Christmas Stamp and Punch set
Ink - Distress Tea Dye
Tools - Martha Stewart border punch, Crafter's Workshop mini Swiss dot template
Other - Glitter Ritz transparent micro fine glitter, Distress Stickles rock candy (on the gum drops - I don't know if it shows in the picture, but this really makes them look sparkly and sugar coated), Glossy Accents (on the candy cane, peppermint and doormat), ribbon recycled from an old blouse, Ranger wonder tape for making glitter strips, Versamark marker and Stampendous Star Dust embossing powder for making the glittery Swiss dot background, and liquid applique pen for framing the image (I kind of thought it looked like the icing!).  I think that is all.

This card was inspired by the following challenges:

House Mouse and Friends - Christmas Sparkle
Papertake Weekly - for the wonderful and easy to use sketch
Allsorts Challenge - keep it simple
Simon Say Stamp Challenge - anything goes

Thanks for visiting!  Hope the rest of your week is fabulous!

Hugs,

Dawn

Something Fishy

Hello Folks,

First off, I want to welcome my new followers!  So glad to have you!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Mine had some exciting moments.  A beautiful stray husky found me Friday evening.  I couldn't just let it run loose, so I kept it overnight until animal services came to pick it up the following day.  When I took it for it's morning walk, it mistook me for a tree!  Apparently, it really did have to go, for the 11th time.  Luckily, I have fast reflexes and avoided a shower, but I sense a trend...  Oh, well - I'm sure some peeps who witnessed the ordeal got a little chuckle out of it anyway. 

Today, I have another birthday card to share with you.

Supplies:

Paper - Bazzill card, Stampin' Up DP

Stamps - Magnolia, Hot Off the Press

Inks/colour - Black Stazon, Distress Inks (walnut stain, tattered rose, broken china, antique linen) and watercolour pencils (browns and oranges, various brands to match paper)

Tools - Martha Stewart border punch, Spellbinders die

Other - seashells collected from the beach, netting, pearls

This card was inspired by the following challenges:

Magnolia-licious - brown, orange and teal

Magnolia Down Under - fancy folds

Simon Says Stamp - use dies and/or punches

Pink {Ink} Sketch Challenge - for the beautiful sketch

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I really appreciate all your comments and love to read them - thanks for taking the time to leave one!

Have a great week!  Hugs,

Dawn

Chocolat

Hello Peeps!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend - the last official weekend of summer! :( Did anyone even get a summer?  I'm feeling a little cheated by mother nature at the moment...

Before I get on to my latest creation, I want to welcome my new followers - I'm so glad to have you along!

I took a little break from making Christmas cards, so today I have a birthday card to share:

Supplies:

Paper: Bazzill and Stampin' Up card, 300g hot pressed watercolour paper, My Mind's Eye DP

Stamps: House Mouse - Birthday Cupcake and Stampin' Up - Look Who's Turning

Ink: Stazon - brown and Distress Inks - black soot, tattered rose, pine needles, walnut stain, frayed burlap, old paper

Other: Cream ribbon for flower is recycled from a gift bag, other ribbon and lace from my stash, McGill pine branch punch, Cheery Lynn French Pastry Doily, wood and glass beads from my jewelry making stash, circle punch for flower base, Stampin' Up dazzling diamonds for frosting

This card is for the following challenges:

House Mouse and Friends - Birthday with optional flowers (it is their birthday, so they are also having a fun blog hop)
Top Tip Tuesday - Birthday time
My tip is a really simple one - while perusing blogland, I came across a blog which recommended making circular cards by cutting two scalloped circles, scoring a straight line across the top three scallops on the back side of the card and adhering the top of the two circles together with strong adhesive.  This being my first ever circular card, I followed these directions without thinking about the physics of it.  However, it would work much better if you scored across an even number of scallops - that way, the score line will sit parallel to the table top when the card is propped open, allowing it to balance better.  Also, larger scallops would work better.

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Inspired by a song or movie title- I was inspired by the movie Chocolat.  The little mouse sleeping on the chocolate cupcake reminds me of the scene where the Comte had a little snooze in the shop window after 'sampling'  the display.  To go along with the theme, I used the French Pastry Doily and the MME paper with the loops on it reminds me of the swirls that are often used to decorate chocolates.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Shaped card
Creatalicious Challenge - anything goes
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
Allsorts Challenge - alter/recycle (my flower is made from ribbon recycled from a gift bag)

Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment - they are very appreciated.  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Dawn

QAS - Quick and Simple

Hi Peeps,

Hope everyone's week is going well.  A very quick post today to share a very quick card I whipped together using this fabulous French Pastry doily die I discovered by Cheery Lynn Designs and stamps by Hot Off the Press.   Stickles are still wet!

This card is for the following challenges:

Cheery Lynn Designs - anything goes

Stamp Something - their final challenge :(  so anything goes

Craft us Crazy - autumn colours and/or use your favorite embellishment.  Mine is ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Dawn

Not Too Shabby

Hello peeps!

Hope everyone is well!  Things have been a bit exciting for us this week as our son is getting closer to becoming fully potty trained.  Well, my poor cat might not use the word 'exciting.'  We all know that cats don't enjoy getting wet on the best of days, but an unexpected little shower as she wandered across the bathroom was a whole new level of insult...

But speaking of exciting - I am very excited to share my latest creation with you.  I was very inspired by a shabby chic tutorial I saw on the Stampartic blog and I knew the moment I saw it that I wanted to give it a try.  Luckily, there were a couple of shabby chic challenges this past week with even more great inspiration and examples, so I just had to make a card.  This really is quite a different style than I am used to and I found it very challenging. 

Supplies:

Stamps - Silent Night Tilda (Magnolia) and Bells and Boughs (Stampin' Up)

Paper - Bazzill and Stampin' Up card, 300g watercolour paper and Bo Bunny Midnight Frost DP

Ink/Colouring - Stazon (black), Distress inks (walnut stain, antique linen, pumice stone, weathered wood, stormy sky, black soot, forest moss), watercolour pencil (skin), Distress Stain (picket fence) and Adirondack Mixatives (snow cap)

Other - Distress stickles (rock candy), pearls (stash), Tim Holtz ribbons, Stampin Up snowflake die, Spellbinders fancy tags 2, jingly bells (found in my stash), crochet lace (from a friend's garbage - no that isn't a brand name; a friend of mine actually threw that out after using part of it on a scrapbook layout), cotton fabric (from my old curtains), liquid applique (unheated because I'm a bit of a chicken and was afraid I would wreck my image and I liked how it looked without heating it) and I think that is all.

Tilda's close up:

And an artsy view:

I would like to enter my card in these challenges:

Stampartic - Shabby Chic

Top Tip Tuesday - Shabby Chic

(my tip - Picket fence Distress Stain is the perfect product to use on porous surfaces to create the white washed look commonly found in the shabby chic style.  I used it on the blue snow flakes and the crochet lace - it is sooo easy to use!  Adirondack Mixatives in snow cap is the perfect product to use on metal to give it that painted white look that is also common to shabby chic.  I used it on the jingly bells, which started out gold.)



ABC Christmas Challenge - R is for recycling and ribbon or rhinestones (I recycled my old curtains)

Magnolia Down Under - frame it (I framed my image with TH ribbon; hope this counts!)

Just Magnolia - Anything goes with optional circles

Simon Says Stamp/Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything goes and a fun blog hop

Thank you so much for visiting and taking the time to leave a comment - I really appreciate them!  Have a great week! 

Hugs,

Dawn