A Gnomey Christmas Card

I love Tomte gnomes and this card uses 2 of Mo Manning's gorgeous images which come as a set - Bjarne and Folke - and one of her FREE digital designer papers - Colorful Trees. I layered all the digital images together, coloured and then added a 3D element with die cut pine leaves and pine cones.

Of course it's Christmas so I couldn't help but add a little sparkle. I applied stardust stickles to the thin white border around the image and the tips of the pine leaves.

These images and so many more are still available until the end of the year for 50% off HERE

A Snowglobe Card

Recently I saw a cute box card design that was made to look like a snowglobe. Having made box cards in the past I used that concept and drafted out a design in my Silhouette Cameo. I love that this card has so much depth but can be folded flat for popping into an envelope. I used Mo Manning's Fairy Snowman and 2 of the elves from Fairy Christmas as my images, one added to each of the first 3 panels. To stabilise the circles I added some plastic circles. For these I used laminate sleeves that I had splattered some white paint into the middle of before laminating and cutting into circles.

Side view 

A Little Christmas Bauble

Today I'm bringing you a little Christmas bauble I decorated using Merry Mousemas from Mo Manning. 

Here's a little tutorial on how I did it :)

1. I layered the image onto a digital paper I had set inside a circle, the circle isn't necessary as it gets trimmed back anyway. Make sure you measure so your image fits the bauble. I printed this onto regular printer paper as it's light weight and will mould around the curve of the bauble. I then carefully coloured the image. Be careful not to saturate the paper with ink if you use markers as it will bleed easily.

2. I then ran a wet q tip around the edge so the paper would tear easily. I do this because torn edges blend better and don't leave a hard ridge.

3. To protect the design I painted the back with mod podge and let it dry.

4. Remove the silver top and paint the bauble with sealer and then sponge on a coat of paint. Mod podge the image onto the front.

5. Using silicone molds create some 3D elements to border the image. I used holly leaves and rope molds with paper clay. Glue these pieces onto the bauble before they dry so they will mold around the curve easily. 

The paper clay I used was red as as that was all I had. It was also a bit old so it was a bit crumbly. I am going to try and make some for future projects, there are plenty of versions online if you Google.

6. Glue on the elements. Paint the bauble in your chosen colour, including the paper clay border.

7. Protect your image area and then splatter some paint all over the bauble with whatever method you prefer, I used a toothbrush. The colours I used were dark brown. white and metallic gold.

8. Uncover the image and paint the paper clay elements. Varnish. I used high gloss but satin would be lovely too. Add the top back onto the bauble and hang.

If you give this a go I hope you have fun with it.

This project was inspired by the amazing artist I found on YouTube - Inspirations from the Soul

 

Pretty in Pink - Christmas Cookies by Mo Manning

Today I'm bringing you a card made using Mo Manning's fabulous Christmas Cookies image. I decided to use non traditional colours and went with pink and silver, and I think she looks fabulous. 

I found a Gingerbread Cookie recipe and used the ingredient list as the background. Then I added some die cut festive elements in the corner. I applied some glitter to all the "fur" on her clothes and the die cut pinecones to add the Christmas sparkle

CASE me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

I always love it when my friend Michelle Lupton contacts me to ask if I want to be a part of her "Case me a Christmas Card" challenge, especially as she was unable to commit to one last year. She has some amazing artists on board taking part in her challenge and, it's always fun to see how people interpret each other's work, especially when styles can vary so much.

This is the card I chose to CASE this year. I used Michelle's basic layout of a coloured central background with an image on top, a simple stamped sentiment and white die cuts. Of course with it being Christmas I had to add some sparkle with glitter and rhinestones. For my card I used one of the gorgeous Christmas images from Polkadoodles Stamps called Watch Your Step.

Michelle's work is always so beautifully elegant, and I hope I've done her design concept justice.

You can check out how Michelle CASE'd one of my cards HERE

Christmas in July with Mo Manning

This week I thought I had a FABULOUS idea to use a number of Mo's "Little Elves" to create a pop up card. Well I have to say it didn't go to plan! Yes I created a pop up card, but I hated it! It was clunky and didn't fold down nicely. The elves also warped a little when it was folded as I had them hanging! What to do???

I decided I had to re-purpose the embossed card and  images I had coloured. In the end I created what is now one of my favourite Christmas cards of all time!!! The disaster was well worth sharing to show that there is often a fix in crafting!

The images I used can be found in Mo's shop in the Retiring Images section and have always been some of my favourites!

Santa Napping by Mo Manning

I know Christmas is over for another year but this image is just a fabulous one for AFTER Christmas too. I think Santa deserves his rest, as do many of us after the craziness of the season! I know I'm taking things a little easier this week ;)

The image is called Santa Napping. The side table with the lamp is a separate image that comes with Santa, along with his boots. It's fun to play with the different elements to create a little scene.

For the Tree by Mo Manning

With just a few days left before Christmas I decided to use Mo Manning's For the Tree for my card. It evokes memories for me of trimming the tree with my kids when they were younger. I miss those days!

Since this will be my last post before the BIG DAY I want to wish all my followers all the very best for the Season and nothing but good things for 2024.

When a Dwarf plays Santa

With Christmas coming it's always fun to see an image and re-imagine it. This is Mo Manning's Dwarf 6 and instead of seeing a dwarf with his ale tankard, I saw Santa at the end of a Hot Cocoa break.

I used Mo's gorgeous free digital paper Colourful Trees for the background to add to the festive spirit.

Gnome Christmas by Mo Manning

It's the first week of November when all things in my house begin focusing on Christmas. I have begun my Christmas shopping and of course, my Christmas crafting!

Today's card uses a mix of elements from 2 different image sets - Father Christmas Gnome Set and the Gnome Tree Set. Gotta love a Gnome ;)

Until Next Time

Happy Crafting 

Gnome by Mo Manning

When I saw this fabulous image I just knew I HAD to get him and colour him up. This is Gnome and I just love the way his eyes seem to stare into your soul. I've seen him coloured by several different people and he is gorgeous no matter what colour his clothing is. I decided to go with a non-traditional Christmas colour palette for my easel card and I'm really happy with how it turned out. The poinsettia and sentiment are all glittered up, adding to the festive feel.

Sandy Santa by Mo Manning

Now that Summer has officially arrived here in Australia I thought it was time to create a more Aussie Christmas card. This is Sandy Santa and I think he's FABULOUS! You gotta love a man who is happy to roll up his sleeves to relax on the sand. Great to see him being sun smart too with his hat and sunnies 

Case me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

I always love it when my friend Michell Lupton contacts me to ask if I want to be a part of her "Case me a Christmas Card" challenge. She has some amazing artists on board taking part in her challenge and, it's always fun to see how people interpret each other's work, especially when styles can vary so much.

 

This is the card I chose to Case this year. I took the ombre coloured background with the rest of the card being predominantly white. I also added a little bit of glitz, just in a different way to Michelle.

 

Michelle's work is always so beautifully elegant, and I hope I've done her design concept justice.

You can find Michelle's CASE of my work HERE, and she's teased me saying she hasn't chosen one of my cards but one of my recent quilts to CASE instead! I'll be heading over to check it out soon hope you do too

Christmas Crackers

I promise this is my last Christmas in July card.....for now ;)

I couldn't resist playing with these cuties from Twistoon Digi Stamps - and they come in a set of 4! It was supposed to only be 3 images but one of the boys lost his beard in the "cracked" image set so now you can choose if you want him beardless or not. You can find the Stan and George Cracker set HERE

I created a slimline card and added a little explosion to the background - those boys do love to do things to the extreme ;)

Until Next Time

Happy Colouring

Toyshop Helper by Mo Manning

This adorable little guy is called Toyshop Helper and I may have had him coloured up for a while just waiting for the right time to post and luckily I can use Christmas in July to justify posting him now. That cheeky little face is just so sweet!

I hope you like him, and until next time...

Happy Crafting

xXx

Christmas in July with Twistoon Digi Stamps

 It's always a bit of fun to create card for Christmas in July for me given Christmas is my favourite time of the year! Here are a couple I did using images from Twistoon Stamps.

This first one uses one of Lisa's adorable Gnomes - this is "George Christmas Tree" and you can find him HERE. The word dies I used are from La-La Land Crafts.

This fun lovin' gal is called "Wreath Head" and you can find her HERE. I wish you could see how sparkly this is IRL with her glittered stockings and trees, and the sparkly baubles. 

Let's hope we can all feel a little festive and sparkly this July.

CASE Me a Christmas Card

Every year for the past few years my crafty friend Michelle Lupton has asked me to play along with her "Challenge Me a Christmas Card". In the past we've chosen a theme and created to that theme. Last year Michelle tweaked it a little - and I have to say it was a FABULOUS tweak and one I really enjoyed. Once again this year we are CASE'ing a card created by each other. 

I checked out Michelle's Instagram Page - Michelle_Lupton and chose THIS card she created to CASE (published with permission from Michelle), isn't it adorable? Michelle and I have such different stryles but we both have a love of the art and that's what makes this challenge even more fun, interpreting her style into my own. Her use of die cuts, embossing and colour are truly amazing, I feel I may have short changed her here using her card made from pre-printed paper, but she showcases it in such an amazing way that she definitely shows her design skills.

 I love Christmas and Christmas baubles are so versatile. I chose 3 of  Mo Manning's gorgeous playful elves to use on my card and added a striped digital paper corner so that I could overlay one of my elves into it. I added some stickles and washi tapes to the border for extra Christmas sparkle and the baubles are also glittered up. Michelle used a paper pack from Paper Rose Studio. 

Thanks Michelle for another awesome challenge. I do think I tend to be quite literal when I CASE someone's work. but then I don't want to lose too much of the inspiration in my redesign either.

To check out which of my cards Michelle chose to CASE check out her link HERE. I can't wait to see what she did! And don't forget to check out more of her amazing CASEs for this challenge on her BLOG.