Dear Santa . . .

Autumn is now upon us, the cherry trees out at the front of our house are turning shades of red and gold whilst the fallen pine cones seem to be attracting the local squirrels. My apple tree has so far produced enough apples for some pies and crumbles with more still to come - will check later once the rain goes off as it has been windy enough to get some fallers.

It's been a few weeks since I took part in the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge so thought it was time to try and get back into the swing of things.  Unfortunately my photos aren't too great as I've had to use the camera on my phone (put the SD card reader for my proper camera in a safe place - well, you know the rest!)

 

 

I've used a combination of Tim Holtz and Dyan Reaveley stamps to come up with this bird that's got itself in a bit of a mess:

 

 

Now that it's a getting a bit close to Chrimbo to be misbehaving and making messes about the house, this little bird has decided to write a letter to Santa - just in case!

   

 

 

The card uses with Tim Holtz Bird Crazy and Dyan Reaveley's Christmas Words stamps with the Splats courtesy of a Tim Holt stencil and Distress Inks.

 

 

 

Cardstock

Image Supersmooth  -White

PayPer Box - Kraft

 

Stamps & Stencils

Tim Holtz - Splatters Layering Stencil

Tim Holtz - Bird Crazy

Dyan Reaveley - Christmas Words

Inks

Momento Tuxedo Black

Versafine - Onyx Black

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Spiced Marmalade

Tim Holt Distress Ink - Faded Denim

Oh Joy!

Okay some may say I'm leaving it late because they've been at it since January but to me this is soon enough to start thinking about C*******s cards - oh joy! Don't get me wrong, I like C*******s I just don't like the commercial hype in the run up to it - even seen decorations & cards in a shop already!

Now the schools are back, Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes night are approaching so I reckoned it's perhaps about time to start thinking about designs. Last year I had my heart set on the Creative Expressions Filigree Poinsettia dies but left it so late they couldn't be had for love nor money so this year I've made sure to get them and they arrived at the weekend. Also in the package was the IndigoBlu Flitglu starter set and two pots of gilding flakes - something else I've been promising myself. What better excuse to try them out than this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

 

I think the gilding flake panel gives an unintentional an Gustav Klimt-esque look to the card that may become intentional in other cards!

 

 

CardStock:

PayPer Box - Pearlised White
PayPer Box - Matt Bronze

Dies:

Creative Expressions Sue Wilson - Filigree Poinsettia Set
Creative Expressions Sue Wilson - Snowflake Striplet Die

Other:

IndigoBlu Flitglu
Cosmic Shimmer - Gilding Flakes - Persian Dawn
Stamp - Christmas Words from (Magazine) Freebie Set

 

Naughty or Nice

I've had the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamps for a wee while now but earlier today I took delivery of some Dyan Reaveley Dylusions stamps that I thought would go quite nicely with them. I'd been looking at these stamps for a while but finally bought some from "Art from the Heart".  I discovered them on their website at half price so managed to get two of her sets for the price of one! When I opened the package this afternoon I got a lovely surprise, the stamp sets were gift wrapped in red tissue paper and tied with twine which had a double heart charm attached to it - a lovely touch - I should have taken a photo!


This particular word stamp is from Dyan Reaveley's Christmas range but thought it was quite appropriate for this particular avian. I think the quiff looks like a question mark which, to me at least, makes it a rather thoughtful, yet quizzical looking bird !

 

 

 

 

 

I thought that the saying I had in mind for this bird, "Naughty or Nice", was one more suited to a feminine bird  than a masculine one.   So to turn the bird a bit more girly I added eyelids and some long lashes with a fine liner pen and finished her off with some blue eye shadow to complete the look. 

Personally, I think this flirtatious little bird has already made up her mind . . . naughty it is then!!!

Cardstock:
Image Supersmooth White

American Craft Summer Collection - Green

Crelando - Purple

Stamps:

Tim Holtz - Bird Crazy

Dyan Reaveley Dylusions - Christmas Words

Inks:

Memento Tuxedo Black

Letraset Promarkers