My Favourite Cards of 2023 Part 2!

   Good Morning!
I'm back today with my final 5 favourites from 2023!

First up is a clean & simple 3x3 card. I love my Penny Black stamp but always feel that the smaller sized stamps can sometimes look out of place in the middle of a regular sized card blank. This year I decided to ink up the design after cutting it with my favourite stitched edge die and use it on a smaller base, then literally all on the focus is on the design. I think these simpler designs are perfect for cards needed as a quick thank you note or birthday's that you've accidently forgotten!
Back to my usual crafting style is a card that speaks for itself as to which occasion it can be used for, I went all pink and lovely-dovey on this design!
Back to my Penny Black's this larger stamp is one that I've had for years.
I love how happy the hedgies look whilst having a calm afternoon fishing!
Another pink card but this time I've paired it with gold to celebrate a milestone birthday.
Stamping Bella are perfect for female birthday cards to give to those that may not necessarily like the cuter designs I tend to use.
To finish today we're back to a clean and simple card. I love creating Halloween cards and Pumpkins are my favourite things to grow up on my Allotment card. I inked up a Penny Black stamp with Distress markers and then added some inky splashes with the paintbrush after blending.Well I hope you've enjoyed my little look back over the past year these past 2 days, but don't worry there'll be some new creations to share with you all over the next few days.
Now just before I go I'd like to wish you all a ...
HAPPY & HEALTHY 2024!
XXX

My Favourite Cards of 2023 Part 1!

  Good Morning!
I'm back today to share the first part of my favourite cards that I made throughout the year, it's always nice to look back as you always spot something that you've forgotten you'd made!

First up is my first card of the year using this Cactus digi for the challenge blog that I run. Kept on a small scale I made the image the main focus paired with some bright pops of colour.
Everyone should know by now that I love making cards using cute bunny designs by LOTV. This design was released last year and again I kept it rather scaled down, finished with a bright orange trim across the bottom.

Gnomes are certainly more popular these days and this was another design released this year by LOTV. The perfect design for a fellow gardener!

I couldn't share my favourites without including a Clean & Simple card. This stamp is originally a Christmas design by Penny Black however I changed the 'berries' to Wisteria blooms and I think (well I hope!) that it worked.

Last up is a card back in my usual style complete with lots of embellishments and flowers. This digi is by All Dressed Up and perfect for any girly birthday cards.

Thanks for taking a look, I'l be back soon to share my final favourites from 2023!
HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX

My Favourite Christmas Cards of 2023!

 Good Morning!
It's time for my annual tradition of sharing my favourite Christmas cards with you all from throughout the year. The last hurrah to this year's Christmas!

First up is this sweet little bear from Polkadoodles. After inking it up I fell in love with the design and paired it with a contemporary colour scheme of dusky pink and dark green with a touch of gold. A colour combination I'l definitely be using again.
Of course I couldn't leave this little Angel out. I've developed a real fondness for Gold Christmas cards this year and this one paired with Silver and Brown has resulted in a card that I haven't been able to part with this year as I'm just too fond of it! lol
Clean & Simple cards is another style that I love to craft and this Penny Black card which I made at the end of Summer is one that I'l probably repeat next year. Adding a mix of coloured dew drops to the image to represent baubles and provide a pop of colour I thought was the perfect finishing touch.

When making Christmas cards you've got to at least make one with some traditional colours and this red and gold card certainly embraced that lol I used another older LOTV stamp and finished it off with a selection of sparkly embellishments.

Back to the Clean & Simple style this one has slightly more layers but still kept to a minimum. As you all know I had a flush of cards using coloured images from my Maja Design paper collections and this Christmas Tree design was my favourite from the lot.

Last up it is my most recent card but I couldn't not share it again. Using my favourite gold tones and an LOTV Angel stamp this is another card that I will find hard to part with.

I hope you all had a wonderful time yesterday and manage to have a relaxing day today.

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX

Lili of the Valley Design Team - Angel with Trumpet

            Good Morning!

Well it's Christmas Eve! I can't believe it's here already I hope you're all ready for it, I've just got some presents left to wrap myself.
Today I just wanted to share one more card with you all, I'd had this image inked up for a week or so but hadn't had chance to make anything with it so thought I'd get something made this morning ... the first card to add to my 2024 stash!
The stamp I've used is an older design by LOTV called 'Angel with Trumpet'. 
 

INGREDIENTS -

LOTV 'Angel with Trumpet ' Stamp & LOTV Sentiment
Maja Design Papers
Shabby White Frantage Embossing Powder

Clear Dew Drops, Glittered Snowflake, Ribbon & Wooden Stars

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
SIMON SAYS STAMP - PARTY TIME
(Christmas is the season to celebrate is it not?!)
ALLSORTS - COLD AND ICE
(Snowflake embellishment and 'snow' on image created with embossing powder)

 Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Father Christmas Set

  Good Morning!

Following on from yesterday evening's post I'm sharing some mini cards using a smaller version of the same Father Christmas image. I will admit that I loved these mini cards so much I almost kept them for myself! 

INGREDIENTS -
Maja Design Papers
Papermania Shimmer Dome Stickers

I;d like to enter this into the following challenges - 
ALLSORTS - ANYTHING GOES

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Father Christmas

 Good Evening!
I'm still going with my Christmas creations, at this rate I'l end up having still having some to share after the actual event! lol
Today's card is using another of the vintage style Maja Design images that I've been using recently. I absolutely adore this image of Father Christmas because to me this is exactly what he looks like ... 
I've kept the card simple again but I have added some patterned payers layers and of course my usual sparkly embellishments!INGREDIENTS -
Maja Design Papers
Paper Doily
Papermania Shimmer Dome Stickers

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Sincere Christmas Greetings

Good Morning!
I just wanted to start by saying how lovely it has been to read the comments left on my recent cards, I really do appreciate every single one of them that is left :)

Today's card is back to using another of the images in my stash by Maja Design, in fact the next couple of creations that I will be sharing are using their images. Can you tell I have little bit of a fondness for them? You'll notice that I don't like to embellish them too much either as I don't want to make the overall design 'too busy'.

INGREDIENTS -

Maja Design Paper

Papermania Shimmer Dome Stickers

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
ABC CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - Y IS FOR 'YOUR CHOICE'

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Lili of the Valley Design Team - A Trio of Pugs!

 Good Morning!

I've still got a few more Christmassy creations left to share with you so I'm trying to get them all squeezed in before the big day, I can't believe it's less than a week away!

As you will know I haven't had time to make as many of my usual layered cards this year so when I was sending out my Christmas cards I made a few which were of a more C&S style. I do enjoy switching between the two styles as it's always fun to mix things up a little bit!

Today's post is sharing a trio of cards that I made using some pre-coloured images from LOTV, perfect for this style of crafting. 

I kept it simple by mounting them onto cardstock before adding to a 3x3 card blank and then finishing them off with some embellishments.

These designs can be bought as Digi's or Simply Prints if you click HERE.

INGREDIENTS -

LOTV 'Christmas Pug' Simply Prints

Papermania Shimmer Dome Stickers

I'd like to enter the following challenges -

SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - CHRISTMAS BIRDS OR ANIMALS

ABC CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - Y IS FOR 'YOUR CHOICE'

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!

XXX   

Warmest Thoughts and Best Wishes!

              Good Evening!
A little later posting than planned but here's another Christmas card for you.
I have used another image from the paper set mentioned in my previous post. This time it's of a gorgeous vintage Christmas tree, I also added stickles to the silver baubles for extra sparkle but you can't really tell in the photo!

INGREDIENTS -

Maja Design Papers
LOTV Sentiment

Clear Dew Drops & Stickles

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
TIME OUT CHALLENGES - SPARKLY
(The sparkly ribbon gives it the card that Christmas sparkle)
ABC CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - Y IS FOR 'YOUR CHOICE'

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Merry Christmas

             Good Morning!
Today I have a Christmas card to share with you all that has a slightly masculine feel to it.
As you all will probably know by now my favourite design paper brand is Maja Design and in their packs they always have a sheet which includes a set of pictures. Usually I try to resist using them because I love the designs so much but I decide to bite the bullet and finally use some on some cards this year lol 
Today's card is using one of those!

INGREDIENTS -

Maja Design Papers

Clear Dew Drops & Silver Ribbon

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
TIME OUT CHALLENGES - SPARKLY
(The sparkly ribbon gives it the card that Christmas sparkle)
ABC CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - Y IS FOR 'YOUR CHOICE'
SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - CHRISTMAS ANIMALS OR BIRDS

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Lili of the Valley Design Team - Twinkling Star

            Good Morning!

Yes I'm still enjoying my gold theme but as you can see it's been jazzed up with some red on today's card lol. The stamp I've used is another older design by LOTV called 'Twinkling Star' and I've also used the shabby embossing powder again too on the main image.
The sentiment I've used is actually from the bottom edge border strip that goes along the bottom of 12x12 sheets, the sentiment was repeated 4 times and the perfect size to be cut up and used on cards!

INGREDIENTS -

LOTV 'Twinking Star' Stamp
Maja Design Papers & Sentiment
Shabby White Frantage Embossing Powder

Clear Dew Drops & Papermania Shimmer Dome Stickers
 Ribbon, Wooden Star & Paper Doily

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
STAMPING SENSATIONS - FAVOURITE COLOURS
(as mentioned above my favourite colour at Christmas is Gold which I've paired with Red today)
TIME OUT CHALLENGES - SPARKLY
ALLSORTS - I SPY SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH 'B'
(Bow & Star Button)

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Lili of the Valley Design Team - Christmas Delivery

           Good Morning!
Here's another card form me continuing with the Gold theme however this time I added a little bit of silver too. The stamp I've used is another older design by LOTV called 'Christmas Delivery'. 
You might spot as well on the cards that I've used the colour Gold on that I've also used a different embossing powder for the snow effect, the shabby white one which I've used today also has speckles of gold embossing powder and glitter in it too.

INGREDIENTS -

LOTV 'Christmas Delivery ' Stamp & LOTV Sentiment
Maja Design Papers
Shabby White Frantage Embossing Powder

Clear Dew Drops, Ribbon & Wooden Stars

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
STAMPING SENSATIONS - FAVOURITE COLOURS
(as mentioned above my favourite colour at Christmas is Gold)
TIME OUT CHALLENGES - SPARKLY
ALLSORTS - I SPY SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH 'B'
(Berries in the angel's garland and Bow)

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Creative Inspirations December Challenge - Happy Christmas/Happy New Year!

     Good Morning!

It's the first wednesday of December today and it's also time for a brand new challenge over at CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS!
This month's challenge theme is 'Happy Christmas / Happy New Year!'.
We have been joined by long-term sponsor The Paper Shelter who let me and the DT use this fabulous digital stamp. Speaking of the DT, we have 2 brand new ladies that have joined us this month so please pop over and take a look at their creations ... they're wonderful!

INGREDIENTS -
;A Snowman in the wind' Digi by The Paper Shelter
Sentiment Digi by LOTV
Maja Design Papers
Paper Doily & Ribbons
Clear Dew Drops, Glittered Snowflake & Frantage Embossing Powder

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
ALLSORTS - STITCHING REAL OR FAUX 
(stitched edge die used on image)

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Crafting!
xxx

Lili of the Valley Design Team - Angels with Crib

          Good Morning!

I haven't made as many Christmas cards as I'd of hoped by now so yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a card-making frenzy, something that hasn't happened in years and I must say I really enjoyed it!
One that I'd managed to make a couple of days earlier is today's card and it is using one of the older designs by LOTV called 'Angels with Crib'. For me the colour scheme just had to be Gold, there's just something about Gold cards too that seme to make them feel extra special at Christmas!

INGREDIENTS -

LOTV 'Angels with Crib' Stamp & LOTV Sentiment
Dovecraft Papers
Shabby White Frantage Embossing Powder

Clear Dew Drops & Papermania Shimmer Dome Stickers
 Ribbon, Flowers and Berries

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
STAMPING SENSATIONS - FAVOURITE COLOURS
(as mentioned above my favourite colour at Christmas is Gold)
SIMON SAYS STAMP - ANYTHING GOES
TIME OUT CHALLENGES - WINTER / HOLDAYS
ALLSORTS - STITCHING REAL OR FAUX 
(stitched edge die used on image)

 Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX   

Penny Black Saturday - December Challenge!

                     Good Morning!

Today we have a new challenge over at PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE. 
This month's challenge is 'Anything Goes with the Option of  Christmas!'
I kept this one simple 'ish' due to the size of the stamp and added two sentiments which are lyrics from 'Silent Night' to go along with the carolling mice.

INGREDIENTS -
Penny Black Stamps

Maja Design Papers

Glittered Snowflake & Clear Dew Drops

Frantage White Embossing Powder

I'd like to enter the following challenges -
SPARKLES CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - CHRISTMAS ANIMALS
SIMON SAYS STAMP - ANYTHING GOES
TIME OUT CHALLENGES - WINTER / HOLDAYS

I'd also like to share that my previous card made the Top 3 this month over at House Mouse Challenges which was a wonderful surprise!

 Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can play along this month!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
XXX