The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #50

Hi, guys! It is the middle of May - and time to make Christmas cards! Well, it's never too soon to start! We have a new challenge at The Holly and Ivy, where it's always Anything Christmas Goes.

The MFT Santa's Elves stamps are so cute, and a joy to colour. I matched my Promarkers to the background paper, which is from an old pad by Papermania. I used a scrap of red holographic card to mat the image, and the foiled sentiment is from a magazine freebie. For more sparkle I added Crystal and Gold Stickles to the image.

Check out the inspiration that my teamies have left on the blog, as usual they have done a terrific job!

Thanks for looking and have a good week!

love Mags B x

My Time to Craft #397 Tag! You're It!

Hi, guys! Apologies that I'm a day late with my DT post for My Time to Craft.

This fortnight we'd like to see your Tags

Mine is a mixed media/shabby chic mashup and somewhat out of my comfort zone, but I think it works ok!

I used a woodgrain stencil and Indian Gold Nuvo Embellishment Mousse on the tag base. I inked and distressed a scrap of pink patterned paper, and stencilled 'love' using the same mousse. The die-cut fairy and the little shaker bottle came with a kit by Love From Lizi and so did the ribbons and sparkly butterfly stickers. The lace and star gems are from my stash.

My teamies have made a wonderful array of tags in so many different styles to inspire you, do go and check them out!

Thanks for looking, and have a good weekend! This afternoon I'll be tidying the craft hovel (yet again!) and this evening I'll be listening to the FA Cup Final and making cards! Come on, Watford!

love Mags B x

Dream Valley #202 Only Girls Allowed

Hello, my dearios! I hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are now rarin' to go!

We have a new challenge for you at Dream Valley - Only Girls Allowed. Our lovely sponsors, Star Stampz and Cute N Crafty. Both have gorgeous girly images, do check them out!

I used Spring Flower from Star Stampz.

The papers are from an old pad by First Edition. I used green mirror card for the scalloped oval, and green glitter peel-offs by Love from Lizi to edge the central panel. The daisy lace and gold gems are from my stash.

My teamies' have done a marvellous job, as usual, showcasing images from our sponsors - do go and see!

Thanks for looking, and have a good week!

love Mags B x

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #48

Hello, all! I hope you're all keeping well. Here in S-E Hertfordshire it is a very cold day, and the rain is teeming down from a very grey sky. Brrr!

On the other hand, we have a new challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge to join in with! The theme is Always Anything Goes. Eek! A rumble of thunder! Apparently hail is expected later today, too. It's all appropriately wintry for our new challenge!

I kept it CAS this week, using an old Whimsy stamp of pine branches and ribbon.

(Yes, here comes the hail!)

Colouring an embossed image with alcohol markers is a no-no, as the alcohol dissolves the embossing and the embossing ruins the pens. However, Jennifer McGuire has a way around it! Using a Misti, stamp the image in pale dye ink and colour that in. Then replace it in the Misti and reink with Versamark, they you can emboss on top of the dried inks! So that's what I did.

Go and see my teamies' inspiring creations, and join the fun!

Thanks for looking and have a good day!

love Mags B x

My Time to Craft! #396 Clean and Simple.

Hello, my dearios! I hope you're all looking forward to a good weekend, with plenty of time to craft! We have a new challenge at My Time to Craft which is Clean and Simple.

I have used items from the Simon Says Stamp April card kit to make 2 cards to the same layout.

I made 2 cards because I used 2 papers to die-cut the wellie boot and just swapped them around!

I die-cut the base from white card and coloured in the flowers, then paper-pieced the boots. I added shading with grey alcohol markers to give more definition. Finally I went over the boots with Glossy Accents.

My teamies have made some beautiful cards to inspire you, do go and see!

Thanks for looking!

love Mags B x

Dream Valley Challenge #201 Pink Birthday

Hi, guys! I hope you're all keeping well! We have a new Challenge at Dream Valley and it's a lovely, girlie theme - Pink Birthday.

Our fab sponsor is Fabrika Fantasy and the DT were lucky enough to be given some images to work with - I chose the darling Flying Elf. So cute!

I chose the Promarker colours from the background paper, which is a very old piece by Kanban, and has lovely silver foiling which really gleams in the light. Because I didn't have quite enough to stretch across my card I added a matted scrap of an old Nitwits paper down the middle to hide the gap. The elf's hair and dress, and the dragon's horns, have Spectrum Noir sparkle added to them.

The silver-embossed banner and sentiment are also old, they are by Clearly Besotted. I added pink Nuvo drops around the scalloped mat which I cut with a Spellbinders die, and inked the edge of the image with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.

Is this pink enough, do you think?

So if you want an excuse to make something pink and girlie, join in with the challenge! Don't forget to check out my teamies' creations for inspiration!

Thanks for looking, and have a good week!

love Mags B x

The Holly and Ivy Challenge #48

Happy birthday, William Shakespeare!

Good evening, all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that going back to work hasn't been too stressful!

We have a new Challenge at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge for you to enjoy!

I used an old Woodware stamp and heat-embossed it in gold. Then I coloured it using my Zig pens. I scribbled the colour onto a palette (nothing fancy - just a piece of A4 white card that's been laminated!) and used a damp brush to pick it up. I added Nuvo Drops to the flower centres. The sentiment is also gold-embossed, and the sequins are from my stash. The background paper was loose in my Snippets drawer, I have no idea where it's from!

Have a look at the festive creations my teamies have left on the blog to inspire you and join in the fun!

Thanks for looking, and have a good week!

love Mags B x