Wednesday 1 September 2010

All Shopped Out...well, ‘til my next LOTV order anyway!! ;)

Hello again!! :)

I’m back with my second and third Christmas cards and my first with my new Lili of the Valley Xmas stamps :D :D I think I may have alluded to the fact that I bought rather more of these little cuties than I had intended to...but I just couldn’t resist!!! And I love them all so much!!! :) The biggest problem I had was knowing where to start playing!!

One of the reasons- aside from their utter gorgeousness that is!!- that I love these bears so much is because of a decoupage card kit I got from C&C a couple of years ago; before that I’d never bought a decoupage kit as I’ve always loved stamping too much but I loved the little bears so much that I had to have it!! I made all my Christmas cards from it that year, loving every minute of working with the gorgeous bears, and, when I went back to the remains of the kit last year to make up a card as a request from a friend, I found myself smiling from ear to ear all over again :) And so when I saw the LOTV James and Jenny bears, which are the same adorable characters, I was so happy that I went all mushy again and lost all restraint- well, not quite true I didn’t buy all of them...yet... ;)



I loved the look of my last monochrome card and the paper I used so much, and the paper was perfect for the LOTV Challenge, so I used it again for these cards :) I cut half the front off the base cards (I’m still trying to make two cards the same or similar whenever possible to build up my stocks- a particularly good idea with any Xmas cards I manage to make, I think) and then cut a square of dotty paper slightly smaller than the base cards and cut it half diagonally, too, to line both cards.


This image wasn’t the first I stamped or even coloured, but as soon as I had the stamps, I wanted to enter the LOTV challenge and the idea for this card just popped into my head so I inked her up :) The bears from the C&C kit were in black and white with just a little colour in their hats etc. and that was the look I was trying to recreate for myself. I had to wait for the Cool Greys Promarker pack I’d ordered in readiness to arrive, but then I got going :) Jenny is coloured using Cool Greys 1, 2, 3 & 4 and for her hat, scarf and shopping bags I used Slate (one of my new colours which I love :) ), Lavender and Rose Pink, all of which were blended out with the Blender Pen :) I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to get this look right as I wanted to so much but, although I know my colouring’s still far from perfect, I’m really pleased with how it came out- and better still, it came out right first time!! :) I used circle and scalloped Nesties to cut her out and then added plenty of Crystal Stickles to her hat, the ground and all around the edge for some Xmas sparkle!! :)



The sentiments and snowflake rounds are more of the ones I’ve been designing whilst playing around with the new graphics program I downloaded- I still can’t quite believe a technophobe like me could do that but I think the key to any improvement I may have made with computers is the development of a ‘dog with a bone’ mentality of just not giving up ‘til I get the (d**m!) thing to do what I want it to!! lol – printed out and cut with Nesties (I sized them to fit first) and matted on Nestie Blossoms cut from glittery black card :) The snowflake is from a free font I found online :) I also used more of the fab hat pins from Crafty Emma's :)


And this pic is just to show the circles in the paper and pearls- I promise I’ll stop taking pics of pearls soon, I just love the way they look- and it is relevant to the challenge as they're circles!! ;)


A pic of both cards together :) I love these so much that I think I’ll save one of them to be my sister’s Xmas Card and change the sentiment to include the word ‘Sister’- one of the great things about being able to make them myself!! :) But I may change my mind if I make something I think she’ll like even more so I’ll leave doing that till nearer the time!! :D

So, firstly, I’d like to enter this in the Lili of the Valley Challenge – Go Dotty for Circles :) My first of many entries I hope!! :) And I’d also like to enter it in the following: Winter Wonderland – All I Want For Christmas :) ; Wild Orchid Crafts – Make It Sparkle :) ; Paper Sundaes – Christmas in August :) ; Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight – Glitter and Sparkle :) ; Creative Inspirations – Christmas in August :) ; CES – Anything Goes :) ; and Passion For ProMarkers - Teddy Bears' Picnic :)

Wow- now I just have to go and link all those up...!! ;) Thank you to all the people who’ve left such lovely comments on my last cards- it really does make such a difference to me as I’m not usually able to be with people when they open my cards and it’s great to hear what people think of them :) :) Hope you’re all having a good week!! :) I’m off for a much needed rest then back to work later on my next big project- my Aunty’s 60th card- a learning curve for sure!! :)

hugs,

21 comments:

Shell Shearer Swinscoe said...

Oh hun you have created such a fab look..I've tried to do monocromatic cards but they never look right, but yours are stunning
Thanks for joining us this week at CES for our 1st challenge, hugs shell xx

Josephine said...

Beautifully sparkly, and a gorgeous result.

Thanks for joining us in the Spotlight at Crafty Cardmakers this week.

downrightcrafty said...

wow I would love all of those bags and presents for Xmas, great mono card, and love the image
thanks for playing along with us this week at Winter Wonderland, hope you will be back on Friday for some more challenge fun
Hugs Kate xx

Lynsey said...

What gorgeous Christtmas cards! I love the cute bears and the colour looks great.
Thanks for joining in the Winter Wonderland Challenge this week.
Hugs Lynsey x

Little K Smith said...

Gorgeous cards Rachel, adore these little bears too! Great layout and fab dotty paper!
Kelly.x

Pattie said...

I love the black and white with a hint of color...so beautiful and how cute is he! I just got some LOTV Christmas stamps too! Great job and thanks for joining us at Paper Sundaes!

The Crafty Den said...

Hi Rachel, your cards are gorgeous and what a great tip to make two at a time. Love the cute LOTV bear and your colouring is fab. The paper and pearls are perfect. Thanks for sharing with us at PFP this week. Hugs, Denise x
ps Thanks for the lovely comment on my blog, it was very much appreciated :)

Cor* said...

So cute and adorable and you did a smashing job! Great non-traditional colors and love all the bling, nesties & highlight shots! Thanks for joining in at Creative Inspirations for our Christmas Challenge.

coops said...

stunning cards rachel.the image is so cute and i love your mono colours with the hit of colour:)
your papers are lush and i love your layout and gorgeoua sparkle :)

xx coops xx

socks said...

They're so lovely Rachel. :)
xx

Michele Roos said...

Such gorgeous cards Rachel. Love the image you've used and the colours also. Thanks for joining us this week at PFP. Hugs Michele x

Wendy Ramlakhan said...

Such a sweet card. Love the Mono colors.

Thanks for joining us at Paper Sundaes.

Hugs,
Wendy

Emma said...

Such beautiful cards, the image is adorable and gorgeous details.
Thanks for joining us at CES Challenges / PFP and good luck.
Hugs Emma x

Sue said...

Hi Rachel
wow stunning card, awesome colouring, luv the papers & design, thank you for joining us on our first challenge at CES, hope to see you next time, sue,x

Steph said...

What a gorgeous card! Really love the unusual colour scheme! This is my first time visiting and you've got some fab cards!! Am totally inspired by your idea of making sentiments- thanks for the tip x

Julie said...

Gorgeous card, Rachel - fab colouring and I love the colours you've used. Thanks for joining us at PFP this week! Juliexx

Kat said...

Gorgeous cards. That image is so sweet and I love your colouring. Thanks for joining us at CCM in the spotlight challenge.

Kat x

XxJULESxX said...

Rachel i love the card! i just had to pop on and tell you it's just gorgeous!!!!and i love the colour combo!!!

Andie's Space said...

Hi Rachel,
I love this. Your colouring is gorgeous & the slate colour looks fab. Love your little sentiments too. Thanks for joining us at PFP.
Hugs,
Andie xx

Debs said...

fabby card Rachel:0)..so cute...thanks for joining us at PFP....Debs x

fionalawlor said...

Great card,your colouring is fab!
Thanks for playing along at Crafty Cardmakers.
Fiona x

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