Frosty Noel

Just a short post to wish you all

                    A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

and to thank you for all your visits and supportive comments throughout the year, I do appreciate it.

I thought I would finish off with this little MDF shape that I bought about 3 yrs ago and it has finally been given it's 'transformation'  just in time for the big day!

I am entering this at: That's Crafty - Anything Goes

Best Wishes to You All
Avril xx

Make Your own Background at FSC

Hello, it's time for our new challenge at Fashionable Stamping and this month it was my turn to choose the challenge.... and as I like making my own backgrounds and background papers, I thought that was a good place to start.  Flonzcraft are again our sponsor and are offering one lucky random winner a $20 spend in their online store.
My card base was inked with Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch, before stamping elements from the  Tim Holtz Correspondence Set along with  some script, in Potting Soil Archival. I also splattered on some Tarnished Brass stain, but you will have to look very hard to see that! the light when I took the photo this week has been so poor.  My Butterfly was stamped and heat embossed with Gold EP, fussy cut  and then coloured with Blueprint Sketch, Peacock Feathers and Abandoned Coral DIs, this was added with some foam pads to help give the wings some definition.  The gold die cut was dulled down with the Tarnished Brass and Vintage Photo stains.
It would be lovely if you could join us for this challenge, which is really  an anything goes - as long as we see you have made your own background and have used real stamping for the main focal image.  The rest of the DT have some wonderful inspiration for you so please pop over to the main blog for all the details.
I am entering this at:
  Allsorts - Golden Days
  We love to Create - Anything Mixed Media Chall. 25
  Penny Black and More - Anything Goes with a Stamp

We've had our first covering of snow here in the N.E, although I missed the actual  'snowing' as I spent the day in heavy rain in York, Christmas shopping with DD.  Whatever you're doing this weekend, hope its a good one.
Thanks for your visit,
Avril xx

Snowflakes /and or/ Winter Whites at TioT

Hello,it's time to tell you about the new challenge Try it on Tuesdays which is 'Snowflakes or Winter Whites' and its out last challenge of 2015 - where has this year gone!
I've gone for Winter Whites  - I don't know why -  as I know they are a nightmare to photograph!
A scalloped edged card, I cut an oval aperture with a Nesti and then die cut the Tattered Poinsettia and Thinlits  Winter Greens holly in white glitter paper.  I stamped and embossed the greeting with Silver EP through the aperture.

A nice festive challenge to end off the year, so it would be lovely if you could join us.  The rest of the DT have some wonderful and varied inspiration, so please pop over the the main blog for all the details.

I am entering this at:
  Make My Monday - White Christmas

Thanks for visiting,
Avril xx

Ladies in Red!!!

Hello, and thanks for visiting.
A few weeks ago I was a winner at Stamping Sensations and was asked to do a Guest Spot for one of their challenges, and as they have Really Reasonable Ribbons as their sponsor this time, the challenge is 'Anything Goes with a Stamp and a Ribbon'.
I've got a few birthdays coming up, so needed to make some 'girly' cards and what better stamps to use than Tim Holtz ' Runway girls.   I used Rose Red Brushos for my colour on all the layers, the background  was made  with  stamps from the TH Correspondence set, and some white embossing paste through the Flourish stencil. The main image was masked before stamping again on either side, I used the Rose Red brushos with the thickener to colour the dresses.
The DT have some fabulous inspiration for this challenge, so why not pop over to their blog for all the details

I am entering this at:
  Love to Create - Anything Mixed Media.
  Penny Black and More - Anything Goes with a Stamp

Thanks for visiting,
Avril xx

It's another 'flat one'

Hello and thanks for visiting today - and talking about visiting we've just arrived home after visiting Krakow for the last week - a last minute booking with not a lot of  preparation time, but very enjoyable.  Lots of walking and sightseeing  and although they have a Christmas Market, which was one of the attractions of going this time of the year, it wasn't as big and varied as I'd expected.
When we got home there were some Christmas cards in our post, which makes me realise just how close Christmas is - better get a move on - so here's another  'flat' card made for the post.  I've inked  up one of my older stamps from Chocolate Baroque (they were Elusive Images when these were bought), stamped this up in Versamark and heat embossed with white EP, I used DIs for the background before layering on to some gold mirri card, added some red and gold glitter, well, it is Christmas and you've got to have sparkle - another simple make.
Hopefully I'll be doing a bit more 'visiting' this weekend and catching up with you in Blogland.
Have a great weekend,
Avril xx