Friday 27 May 2011

Bah Humbug Challenge 21

Seems like Mr. Blogger has had another 'hissy fit' and eaten my scheduled post but Naomi and I are going to Dundee shortly, so this will have to be a quick visit.
Our theme this week at Humbug Hall is "Bells" and I opted to make a simple card using elements from a Pepper and Friends Christmas kit which was originally a QVC item, but I picked it up for a 'steal' at Every Craft's A Pound.  
The base card was already preprinted so all I had to do was cut the cute reindeer from one of the sweet papers and matt it onto red foil card before adding Stickles ... (which is still wet - whoops) ... for a bit of sparkle.  
The gold bow embellishment has 2 teeny wee bells which actually jingle ... so cool!  Some Anita's text ribbon across a narrow strip of gold mirri card finish it off nicely. 
Our Guest Designers, Karen and Clare are almost finished their time with us at Humbug Hall and this is their final DT challenge, so please pop over and check out their lovely cards before they sign out.
May not be around too much this weekend ... busy ... busy ... busy ... but hope you all enjoy yours, wherever you are and whatever you are doing. 
Ciao for now xxx

Monday 23 May 2011

Strong Winds and Sparkles

The Met Office issued a weather warning of exceptionally high winds for today across Central and Southern Scotland.  Oh My Giddy Aunt! - they aren't wrong and those nasty winds are accompanied by lashing rain too!  Sensible people are staying home where it is safe and warm.  Others who fall into the category of not so sensible and have appointments to make ... YEP! Yours Truly ... are wrapping up and venturing out, hoping they will make it back in one piece.  
Just in case the unthinkable should happen, I'd like to show a card made for my sister whose birthday was earlier this month.
The pretty glittered peacock feather was another result from when Humbugger Ann was visiting in March and I sneaked a 'steal' of her lovely metal stencil and embossing paste.  
With the stencil carefully removed, 3 complimentary colours of fine glitter were sprinkled seperately ... one side, then the other and finally the middle ... to create a graduated look.
  
Ooooooohhhhh ... sparkly-licious!
This was then trimmed before double-matting onto mega-shiny turquoise and purple foil card.   A DL card blank was decorated with alternating panels of blue sparkly card and purple foil card, which had been Cuttlebug embossed with Swiss Dots.   
A little bow, birthday sentiment and adhesive gems are all the finishing touches this glittery card needed. 
Think it may qualify for a few challenges and there's only one way to find out so here goes nothing.
Creative Inspirations - Bling
Cupcake Inspirations - Photo Inspiration 
(my colours maybe a bit too bold for this one)
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Sparkle and Shine

Friday 20 May 2011

Bah! Humbug! #20

Another Friday ... another Bah! Humbug! Challenge and this time we're raising the bar a little and asking for Kinetic creations.   Sounds impressive I know, but the dictionary definition of kinetic is quite simply " ... relating to or resulting from motion" so all we want is some kind of movement.   Fortunately, there are plenty of wonderful ways to get action into your cards and a gazzillion online tutorials which show us how ... so there's no excuse not to join in!
I opted to make a Penny Spinner card using only an A4 sheet of mega-shiny card for decoration, black cardstock for the base, a few adhesive gems and some silver peel offs ... you wanna' see?
Okay here you go ... TA DAH!
So NOW you want to know what it does ... right?  
Watch carefully ...
Flower on the right.
Flower on the left 
Isn't it cool? 
I have a pirouetting poinsettia which spins from side to side ... and you wouldn't believe how easy it was to make.  There is a link to the tutorial over at Bah! Humbug! along with other fabulous ideas for Kinetic Cards from Ann, Karen and Clare, so shake your booty over there and check them all out.  

Saturday 14 May 2011

Bah! Humbug! #19

Well naughty Mr. Blogger managed to send everyone into a tail spin over the last couple of days when he decided to have a major hissy fit and lock us all out of blogland!  Kind've makes you wonder what we did with our lives before blogging came along because there were plenty of people who were totally lost for the last 2 days without it lol?
Hopefully he has been sorted out now and we'll have no more silly nonsense ... but just in case ... I'd better show my latest challenge offering for Bah! Humbug! pretty darn quick.
This week we're looking for cards and projects following the theme of Snowflakes and the focal image on my card was something I had a bash at when my Humbugger Buddy Ann came to stay and kindly introduced me to the delights of using embossing paste with brass stencils and then colouring by blending with inks.   What inky fun we had that day!
I trimmed the panel and matted it onto pale blue glitter card, before placing it, off centre, on top of a panel of Debbie Moore text foil paper which was also matted, firstly onto black and then onto more of the blue glitter card.  
Ice blue sparkly ribbon is knotted and trimmed to add a little interest.  The fancy peel off snowflakes are already decorated with tiny clear gemstones and provide a touch more sparkle ... just in case it was needed. 
Check out what Ann and our Guest Designers have been up to at Humbug Hall and then join in with our challenge to show us what fabulous ideas you can come up with using snowflakes.  
Reckon it's almost time for la-la-land ... but before I go let me show you the beautiful azalea bush that is blooming beside the garage. 
Stunning ... or what?
 After the rain ...


A beautiful sight to see every morning ... but such a shame that the flowers are so shortlived and will only last a couple of weeks.
Enjoy your weekend ... wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Friday 6 May 2011

Bah! Humbug! #18

The challenge theme at Bah! Humbug! is 'Going Green' and this can be interpreted to mean either 'Recycling' or alternatively,  it's most literal sense, where the colour Green is used.  If you prefer you can even do both!  
Whatever you decide, we are really looking forward to seeing some super projects again this week ... talking of which, you should check out what the new Guest Designers and Humbugger Ann have been up to!     
Hang on ... HANG ON!  Before you disappear let me give you a quick rundown of how my card came to be.
The base card is an A4 sheet of foiled cardstock from Kanban - where else? - folded in half ... nothing complicated about that.   The cute puppies were salvaged from a card received last Christmas which I couldn't bear to throw out and the gorgeous, scrumptious, fabby-licious ribbon was 'reclaimed' from a Christmas parcel and was originally intended for last week's 'Pleats and Ruffles' challenge ... but ... ahem ... never quite got there.  Actually 'reclaimed' is a polite way of saying 'snatched back' ... *blush*.   I was so quick that the ribbon had hardly been unwrapped before it was back in my sticky little paws whilst the poor unsuspecting recipient was still faffing with the sellotape  lol!    
 Just couldn't help myself!
Anyway ... that's it!  Told you I'd be quick!  
A good example of a Bish ... Bash ... Bosh kinda' card.   If you'd like to see something more elaborate then I suggest you head over to Humbug Hall where there's been some super recycling happening and what's more there's a prize up for grabs again this week!   
Are we good to you or what?