WHIFF OF JOY - ICE SKATING HENRY MOUSE

Henry definitely has the 'cute' factor that I love so much.  He was quick and easy to colour in using Copics.  I paper pieced his jacket with a scrap of paper lying on my craft desk and added some Stickles for snow.

Not sure about the embossing folder as I do not think it is a CB one.  The red paper used for the background was plain and I stamped 2 different snowflakes around the edges using SU craft ink - Whisper White to liven it up.

 SANTA XMAS CARD

For this card I started with the idea of using the Art Impressions Santa Front and Back image and then I sort of got a little carried away !

The card is SU Creamy Caramel textured cardstock with the front being cut in half leaving only the bottom half attached.  I then started with bricklaying on the chimney using the Fiskars squeeze rectangle punch and scrap bits of brown paper.  Once it was all glued I Distressed Inked the chimney to give it a weathered look and added the icicles using a MS border punch called Drippy Goo.

Santa was coloured in using Copics and the front and back were cut out and stuck together.  As Santa appeared to be standing in midair and I had trouble with designing a roof I thought I would go with another chimney - easy since I had 'bricks' left over.

When the card was closed it looked a bit too bare on the top so I stamped a sleigh from the Inkadinkado Filigree Holiday Pattern set and a reindeer from Victoria Case Art Designs onto a piece of cardstock.  The snowflake background was done using a couple of stamps from the Inkadinkado Warm Holiday Wishes set plus SU Whisper White craft ink and the gifts are from Clear Dollar Filled with Cheer.  All these were coloured in using a mixture of Tombow, SU and Marvy Le Plume II markers.
I love using a mixture of stamps and markers together and have to smile when companies want you to put their specific trademark 'handmade by' stamp on the back of the card.  Think I would have run out of space on this one !

STAMPIN UP - MOOSE FANCY FAVOR BOX

Looking at this picture it has just struck me there is nothing Christmasy about it.  Will have to put a suitable tag around the handle to rectify that as I made it for Xmas.

Of all the SU Bigz XL dies (can be used in the Big Shot but not the CB) my favourite it definitely the Fancy Favour Box.  I used Distress Ink on the sides of the box and attached the handle with brads.  The decoration on the handle is from a new SU die, also a Bigz XL one, called Tasteful Trim. 

The moose was cased from a card I saw on  Card Scraps blog .   I did alter the moose to suit the punches I had using a CB leaf die for the antlers, part of the SU Two Step Bird punch for the ears, the head is a SU retired punch and the nose / mouth section is a SU Wide Oval.  The arms are SU Word Window and the gift is made using Nestabilites long rectangles.

STAMPIN UP - FANCY FAVOR BOX

With Christmas being just around the corner I thought I had better get a move on in making a couple of boxes.  I cased this one from the Add Ink and Stamp.blog and followed the detailed instructions.

The long scalloped white trim is from a SU Bigz XL die called Tasteful Trim as is Santa's beard.  The moustache was made using 2 SU ovals.  I could not find a suitable punch for the hat so used a Nestabilities egg shaped die which seemed to do the trick.  The snowflake is from a MS punch.

COTTAGE CUTZ DIES - STYLIZED OWL

When I saw this owl die I just knew I had to have him.  I had seen Cottage Cutz dies on the Peachy Keen online store and thought they were exclusive to them.  Imagine my delight when I saw them in  the UK store I went to.

The owl is cut from scraps and sponged with Distress inks.  The background papers are SU with the exception of the yellow which is CM.  The sentiment label punch is from EK Success and the oval is SU as is the sentiment.  I decided the page looked a little bare and added a freehand frame around using a Tombow marker.  I enjoy drawing squiggly frames as I have a hard time drawing a straight line !

Please excuse the shadows on this card as it was photographed in the early morning sun.  What is good about an image like this is seeing you have the CB, die and papers out you can do more than one at a time.  I did 5 and have put them in a packet for when I need to make a card in a hurry.

GINA K DESIGNS - FUNNY FARM

These two smaller cards are also from the Funny Farm kit.  Again, not normally colours I would put together but sometimes you have to try new ideas.

The background embossing folder is from CB, the scalloped edge border punch with a hole in is an EK Success one and the plain, larger scalloped edge punch is from SU.  The scalloped heart is a Nestabilities die and the corner punch used is from CM.

The stamps were coloured in using Copics and the jury is still out on the pink used for the pig - I think it is way too bright and need to get some softer pink colours in Copics.

KRAFTIN' KIMMIE - ARIANA

When I ordered this stamp I had my youngest niece, Alana, in mind.  She loves mermaids and with her birthday being yesterday I thought it would be perfect.

This was my first Kraftin' Kimmie stamp and I am impressed with how easy it was to colour in.  I did use Copics as I wanted to get the shading in the hair right.  The seaweed, and bubbles are also part of the stamp set.  The fishes and sentiment are from Hero Arts Oceans of Joy with the fishes being completed ages ago - I found them in a container where I keep finished images.  The background  is painted using Perfect Pearls and a paint brush.  It was a bit fiddly and at one stage I thought I would have to scrap it but in the end it turned out alright.

On the white cardstock background I used a CB border embossing folder and on the middle blue section I sponged the blue paper with Distress ink to get it to the colour I wanted.

GINA K DESIGNS - FUNNY FARM

This card was another in the card kit and only once I got started with it I realised just how fiddly and involved it was.

The colouring in is all with Copics (the kit provided paper specifically designed for use with Copic markers).  The ribbon came with the kit and I used a SU scallop border punch underneath it.  I did use chalk around the trees as I had allowed the Copics to bleed a little over the line and could not get rid of it.  The chalks seem to hide the problem.

GINA K DESIGNS - FUNNY FARM

This stamp set came with a free kit and instruction sheet and I thought I would try out their designs.

I do not think I would normally match these particular colours together but it is fun to try something outside of your comfort zone.  All the colouring in is done with Copics and the background is a CB folder which I totally forgot I had !  The cutting out as shown in the kit is wider and not as detailed as I would usually do but I thought I would follow the instructions.  I did add a little distressed ink on the sentiment band as it looked just a little plain.

STAMPOSAURUS STAMPS - WHOOPS RUDIE 2

Another cute stamp from the UK.  He appealed to my sense of humour !

I coloured Rudie in using Copics, paper pieced the present and added a couple of snowflakes from the set Sending Holiday Cheer by Hero Arts.  The sentiment is also from the same Hero Arts set and the background paper is CM.  I thought the Nestabilities Ovals, classic and scalloped, suited the image perfectly.

STAMPOSAURUS STAMPS - DUCK

I could not resist this stamp set on my recent trip to a craft store in the UK.  These little ducks stamp really well and are easy to cut out around the frame.

Using 3 different shades of Copic orange I coloured in the feet and beaks and used yellow for the small ducks.  When it came to the larger ducks I was not sure I had the right colour Copics so I opted to use chalks for them.  This gave it a subtle look which is what I wanted.

The embossed background is from a Sizzix folder and the orange strip is from a pack by Doodlebug Designs Inc. called Paperbug.  The sentiment is from the same Stamposaurus set.

With just having arrived back from a short break I have no finished projects to pop onto the blog.  I have, however, been looking through a few other blogs and think you might be interested in the following punch art projects :

• Paper Perfect Designs - Bookmarks
• Calla Lily Studio - Christmas Carolers
• Created by You - How to make an ice-cream cone
• Paper Punch Addiction - Snowman ornament
• Flower Sparkle - Dandelion bookmarks
• http://stampingaddict.blogspot.com/2010/10/free-pattern.html
• Stamp & Scrap with Frenchie - cute card
• Splitcoaststampers - Golfer
• Sarahs Ink Spot - Mr & Mrs Claus cards
• Splitcoaststampers - Get well Owl

Hope to be back to normal by Friday.  I have a couple of new cute stamps I want to try out.

HALLOWEEN TREAT BAG

I made this small treat bag using a paper bag from Merrypak on the inside and  black cardstock for the outside.  With the inside paper bag I used my SU scalloped edge border punch and then coloured it with Distress Ink to give a light orange colour.

The ghost stamps are from Peachy Keen Nikkity Knack Cat Gang coloured in using only chalks and the witches hat is from SU Wicked Cool.  The Spooky sentiment is SU Seasonal Greetings and the 'tasty sweet' one is SU Holiday Best.  The handle is twine from the local hardware store.