Oh I had fun with this colour scheme for Christmas.

Handmade Christmas Card using Stampin' Up! Dashing Deer, dies and Merry Christmas to All

It's a happy day today as our son is home from is African adventure. He's had an amazing time swimming with whales, lassoing buffalo, bird spotting, and seeing many of the stunning wild animals there.  It's good for Mum to have him home safe though.

Back to today and Sylvie set a fun challenge for our fortnightly Christmas Card Club today.  we've used non traditional Christmas colours.

I've gone a bit wild on the pink and purples, but I think I quite like it and it's cooled down a bit with lots of white space.

I first coloured a stitched circle with my alcohol markers, mine are Stampin' Blends and I used a cross section of shades.  I coated the circle in Wink of Stella so that it sparkles and I've added a simply stamped deer from the Stampin' Up! set Dashing Deer and I've die cut it with the coordinating Detailed Deer Dies.  I stamped the deer in Lovely Lipstick which is one of those colours that can be red or pink depending upon what you team it up with.  My die cut flowers are also Lovely Lipstick and the rhinestones are from a pack of really LUSH, did you get that LUSH, Noble Peacock rhinestones in the annual catalogue.  They are  Gorgeous Grape but you also get Old Olive, Blueberry Bushel, Melon Mambo and Pretty Peacock in the pack of 140 rhinestones, almost as good as real diamonds.  I also added some rose metallic thread on the outer edge of the die cut circle.

I used my stamp positioning tool (Stamparatus) to get the two stamps of my sentiment exactly where I wanted them.  The happy and Christmas are part of the festive set Merry Christmas to All which is perfect for creating just the sentiment you want with lots of individual word stamps and also a coordinating die set called Merry Christmas Dies.  All can be seen in my Stampin' Up! Shop.

I"m off now to look at the other lovely ladies of CC Club creations and hope you'll pop by them too.

Enjoy the remains of this weekend and best wishes for the week ahead.

Hugs Zoe x

Love Stampin' Up! products you really should consider this membership offer. 

Anything goes for me this time!

When Stampin' Up! launched the Daisy Lane Bundle I wonder if they had thought about using it as a Christmas stamp set?  

Our challenge for the Christmas Card Club from Elizabeth was for ornaments this fortnight, but I don't have any ornament stamps at the moment so I've gone for the Anything Goes fail safe option.  I've used the Daisy Lane bundle and turned the beautiful daisy stamps into snowflakes.  I have fallen in love with the new in colour Pretty Peacock and am finding it useful in some many colour combos and here is no exception.  It's simple stamping using one Daisy stamp ontop of the other  to give a snowflake look. By adding some silver and sparkly irredescent sequins it instantly give a Christmas look.  My simple Happy Christmas is done using the carryover Merry Christmas to All stamp set and coordinating Merry Christmas dies. It's a pair of products that you can mix and match to create your sentiment of choice and you can add the happy for example to any birthday that you might already have.  I've cut two happy die cuts one in silver foil card and one in Pretty Peacock.  By just off setting them slightly it creates depth.   The Christmas is heat embossed with silver powder and punched out with the Classic Label punch.

I'm late posting as we are getting Charlie ready for an interview for his next life chapter and also for his school trip to South Africa where he is going to study Elephant migration patterns and learn to scuba dive.  I'm really proud of him as he has worked hard to earn the money to pay for the trip himself by getting his first job and also washing cars at my crafting events for the lovely ladies.  Exciting times for him and us as we watch him grow into a young adult.  

Don't forget you can check out more inspiration from the other ladies in the Christmas CC via the link above.  

The Daisy Lane stamp set or stamp and medium daisy punch bundle is available for purchase along with the Merry Christmas products in my online Stampin' Up! shop.

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Thanks for popping by.

Happy crafting Zoe x

Christmas Card Club - Christmas Lights

 When you are late to the party the last thing you need is to have coloured your red door only to drop the inside of your pen onto your project to get a beautiful splatter effect, but just not wanted on this occasion.................!!!!!!  It is fair to say that expletives that my Mother would chastise me for even now did exit my mouth.  I'm sorry Mum.  However once again in crafting there is a remedy to every problem, in this case not the proverbial butterfly, but a die that cuts out the door.

Our theme was chosen by Margaret who is our chief organiser. She has made a fabulous card which really says Christmas lights, do go and visit here.

Already it is Christmas card club again and we're sharing cards with Christmas lights of any kind. At first I was thinking I may have to opt for the 'anything goes' alternative option, but then thought what better lights are those that welcome folk to your home in the festive season, not only the lamps outside but the warm glow through the windows and any glass in your front door.  I've made it a festive door by adding a beautiful holly garland and door wreath.  It's a simple card with a clear message. All images were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then I've coloured them all in with my Stampin' Blends.  Also all images are from the Stampin' Up! set At Home with You which compliments my thoughts of warm lights at home and a warm welcome.  The stamp set has coordinating dies called At Home framelits. This super set of products retire at on 3 June so if either the stamp set or dies appeal now is the time to buy.  

The stamp set is rather like a puppy - not just for Christmas and can be used all year.  The dies fit the images including one that cuts the door out as I mentioned before, but also  one that cuts it so you can open the door and reveal images behind.  You can see an example  on this stampingscene post. 

I'm running late so I'm off to visit the other CCC ladies and see what light cards they've shared.  

Thanks for checking in and Happy Bank Holiday or Memorial Day weekend.  

Hugs Zoe 

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Christmas Card Club - Children at Christmas

Our lovely Kate, has chosen the theme of Christmas with children for us this fortnight. At first I was stumped but then remembered I had a stamp from a very long, long time ago that was this small boy excited about his Christmas gifts.  It is from my stash and not even sure where it came from. However it goes well with the Ready for Christmas Stampin' Up! set.  The sentiment is part of the set and is stamped in Poppy Parade with the flourish in Garden Green.  I used the tree and staircase to create a scene and having created a paper mask of the boy was able to stamp the tree and stairs before stamping the boy.  I did however stamp the boy again onto thick white card stock so that I could use my Stampin' Blends to colour him in.  I then fussy cut him out and I'm afraid I took off his arms and legs which he regained when I added the cut image over the top of the stamped one. It also helps to add a little depth doing this.  I found that my stamparatus helped enormously for stamping the stairs and tree and getting them in the right position.  I used 3 shades of green for the tree and added some silver pen, a gold foil star and red rhinestones for the Christmas treatment.  Turned out fine in the end for Kate's theme and after all you often hear folk say "Christmas is for the children". 

The Ready for Christmas stamp set is retiring at the end of this month along with many other Stampin' Up! sets from the annual and Spring/Summer catalogues. If you haven't bought your favourite stamp set yet be sure to check out the retiring products in my Stampin' Up! Shop. 

Thanks for popping by.

Zoe x

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Christmas Card Club - Santa

 It's time for the Christmas Card Club challenge from Rita this week and she asked us to make cards featuring Santa Claus.  Mine was a quick and relatively easy card using the Stitched Rectangle dies which are perfect for creating frames just like this and adding some detail with the stitching.  I've stamped on the centre using Memento Black and then coloured with my Stampin' Blends.  The stamps are all from the retired set Signs of Santa which is really cute and I just love this little fellow.  I used silver embossing powder to add the stamped seal and some black and white striped bakers twine.  To carry the design into the card I've stamped further sentiments pieces and added a strip of the Botanical Butterfly papers that you can still get free with an order of £45 TODAY, but sadly only today as Saleabration ends tonight. 

Of course it's Mothering Sunday here in the UK so I'm off to enjoy my beautiful flowers from my children and entertain my family for delicious roast lamb.

Happy Sunday all

Hugs Zoe x

Christmas Card Club - Anything Goes

#simplestamping 

It's been a while since I've been organised enough to create a card and share it with my lovely Christmas Card Club friends.  The challenge for my return was festive food, but I couldn't find anything from my stash so as I'm having so much fun with Stampin' Up! Painted Seasons I thought I'd share this card under the Anything Goes get out of jail free option.  It has been a popular design with lots of folk using different colour ways and sometimes the flowers in the set, but I decided it was just perfect for a Christmas card too.   I adore the pine cone because of the detail that you get with this set due to the distINKtive manufacture of it giving you light and shade.  I've added a simple sentiment, sequins and gold metallic pearls just to give a little depth, but it would be easy to create a batch of these cards in no time at all. 

My colours are Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede. Remember that the two greens will retire from the Stampin' Up! colour palette at the end of May, so be sure to get them while you still can and consider a bottle of re inker too to add to their longevity. 

You can see the other lovely CCC ladies cards via the link to them at the top of my blog.

Happy Monday and have a great week.

Hugs Zoe xx

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Christmas Card Club - Gifts

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for yesterday's presentation at Stampin' Up! UK Onstage event.  If you missed yesterdays post I shared a scrapbook page for the Stampin' Up! Needlepoint Nook Suite.  Today's card features on stamp from the same set and again uses one of the coordinating punches of the suite the Pretty Label Punch.  It also coordinates with the Label Me Pretty set from the Stampin' Up! annual catalogue and I've used one of the stamps to decorate it.  

The theme for our Christmas Card Club is to share projects with gifts or ornaments on and the label is pretty enough to be an ornament and really makes this sweet little gift pop. Both it and the sentiment are from the At Home with You set.  I used Stampin Blends to get some shading on the gift and although you might not see it here it is covered with Wink of Stella for a subtle sparkle. 

I matted the stamped layer onto a piece of gold foil to make it a little more special.  Just simple stamping and punches to make a pretty card.  

Thanks Rita for a fun challenge.  Don't forget you can visit all the other CC Club ladies blogs via the page at the top to see their take on our challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by and if you like the Pretty Label Punch and/or the Label Me Pretty stamp set you can buy those along with most of the other products featured right now in my shop. 

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Thanks for visiting today.  Hugs and best wishes for the week ahead. 

Zoe xx

No Line Watercolouring with a twist

Stampin' Up! shared a no line watercoloring technique in our latest member magazine.  I've not done of lot of it so thought I'd have a go with this stunning ornament stamp from the Beautiful Baubles stamp set.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out for a first serious attempt.

I stamped the bauble on watercolour paper using Smokey Slate ink.  I slowly then added colour to each detail using a couple of aqua painters, one for painting with water first and the second for adding colour to each section.  I cleaned the second between  colours using kitchen towel.

The colours I used included Balmy Blue, Pear Pizzazz and Highland Heather. It takes some time as you need to let each section dry before you revisit it to add deeper shades and get some of the finer details.  Once complete I added some highlights with a white gel pen and some Wink of Stella for the inevitable sparkle that I believe an bauble needs.

Beautiful Baubles includes a 'string' stamp for the hanging of the bauble and a pretty bow stamp.  I embossed these in silver and added basic rhinestones.  The ornament itself I fussy cut and then went around the edge with a Balmy Blue marker pen to just highlight the edge and make it pop from the card base.

The sentiment is from the same Stampin' Up! stamp set and stamped simply in Highland Heather directly onto the card base.

Are you a fan of non traditional Christmas card colour combos?

Zoe x

You can buy all the materials used in on this card from my online shop

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Christmas Card Club - Polar Bears of Teddy Bears

Valery chose Polar Bears or Teddy Bears for our Christmas Card Club Challenge this time. I was a bit stumped at first, but then remembered that Stampin' Up! set Cookie Cutter Christmas has a very cute bear and to be honest I had not used it before being drawn to the gingerbread man, Santa and Rudolph stamps instead.  However he's turned out to be perfect and I've teamed him up with some stickers from the Stampin Memories and More Santa's Workshop card pack, to give him a hat and cane. Once again the new Buffalo Check background stamp looks different in another colour namely Poppy Parade stamped onto card of the same name.

A handful of red rhinestones that I'm really finding useful for Christmas projects and a silver foil Happy stuck down by using the double sided adhesive sheets on the back of the foil card before die cutting it.  This helps you to cut a piece just the right size for the die.  The Christmas was stamped and heat embossed with white powder and die cut.

Now I started this challenge with a great plan to create a spinner card with the bear on a bauble and it got a little messy and complicated, but slowly it turned around and I'm happy to share although it isn't quite as elegant as I had planned, but then it is a spinner card with a teddy.

Using the Detailed Baubles Thinlits Dies I created an aperture for the spinner to fit inside and then I used a layering circle to cut one slightly smaller than the aperture.  I actually cut 2 in Pool Party and then stamped with the small Poinsettia flower from Dashing Deer and heat embossed a patterned in white.  I stamped and punched out the teddy from the Cookie Cutter set.  I added a layer of fine tip glue to the baubles and waited for it to dry as I was trying to create a sheen across the baubles. I added too much glue and so it was taking too long to dry.  I decided to add a teddy to each circle and push them down into the glue and then brushed of much of the glue so now instead of having a sheen they look more like papier mache which is fine just not what was planned.  I had to wipe off much of the glue so that the colour of the stamped bears didn't run.  It did a bit on the bow ties so to salvage I added another punched tie for each side.  Once done I left it to dry in the hope that all would not be lost.  It's turned out ok I guess in the end.  

 Now it was a little fiddly bringing it all together, but I used some silver cord from my stash and threaded it through the outer pretty border and by adding lots of double sided tape on each back of the bear circles I was able to secure it in the middle of the two circles.  I added pearls and a bow along with some more red rhinestones to enhance the bauble.

All's well that ends well and I think it would please a young child if not me! 

Remember the other ladies will have gorgeous creations to inspire you so please do visit their blogs via the Christmas Card Club button at the top of my blog, but just before you go here's a couple of pics of bears we saw in Canada on our trip this summer. 

Bears seen on our extended trip to Vancouver

I love bears

Happy Sunday all, hope you have a great week. I'm going to be busy visiting the hospital for my pre-op appointment with the hope that the scheduled operation the following week to fix my Achilles will go ahead.  Wish me luck.  

Hugs Zoe x

Challenges

Winterwonderland Challenge - use ribbon or twine

CHNC # 403 - Use gingham, check

Die cutting Divas - Any animal

Christmas Card Club - Festive Foliage with Winter Woods

Stampin Up Winter Woods stamp set and In the Woods Framelits perfect for Christmas Cards

I've had fun experimenting with ink, sponges and masking to make this card and have enjoyed being able to take the photo outside whilst the weather continues to be pleasant. Although it does seem odd taking photos of Christmas cards in the warm sunshine.  

This one is for our fortnightly Christmas Card Club Challenge and it was my turn to choose the theme. I opted for Foliage and as soon as I saw this new Winter Woods Stampin Up set I knew I'd finally picked a sensible theme rather than those I've selected in the past and struggled to create with. I love this single tree stamp which is perfect for using the masking technique. I stamped it on scratch paper and then cut it out, a little laboriously with scissors, but also very therapeutic.  I stamped the first tree on the left onto Crumb Cake card and used Old Olive and Garden Green inks. The stamp itself is so clever as it's made to give depth to the tree, but if you ink with one colour and then add some darker shade with a dauber it looks even better.  I moved to the right using the mask to cover the previous tree and if there was a gap after stamping I just moved the mask and stamped again. Now how did you do that Zoe to get it in the same place I hear you say! Well I used my stampartus positioning tool to get it where I wanted it.  I'm so glad Stampin' Up! created their version of this tool and that they asked lots of demos for their comments and suggestions it's just perfect for perfect stamp placement.  

Now you may not be a fussy cutter, but I like it and hence the trees were all cut out with scissors just like the  mask.  Then to disguise some of the tricky bits which are tiny I used a dauber to add a gentle covering of Old Olive ink to bits I just couldn't quite fussy cut well.  I sponged it over the whole piece too to just lightly shade the bits of crumb cake showing through.  

My background is with the Stampin Up Buffalo Check Background stamp available to order from Tuesday. Again this is great when used freehand or to build up deeper shades on the stampartus where you can ink the same design multiple times.   I've added some new Suitre Specialty washi tape strips and some striped burlap, I love this as it adds more texture and has more colour to it. 

The sentiment is from the same Stampin Up Winter Woods set and it is heat embossed in black onto some Wood Textures designer paper.  I've stamped and sponged some extra pine pieces to add a little detail. These were die cut with coordinating In the Woods framelits.  Stampin Up have acknowledged that sometimes with itty bitty dies it could take you a lifetime to cut all the pieces you need and so they have tripled and doubled up on some of these small dies in the set so you can cut several at one time. How sensible is that! 

Learn to make Christmas cards with Zoe Tant

I like the vintage feel of this card with all it's smudging and it reminds me of log cabins and ski trips. Not for me this year as fingers crossed my snapped achilles will be repaired very soon, but skiing will be out this winter.  

As you know there are several ladies in our Christmas Card Club so do visit them via the CC Club tab at the top of this page and see their fabulous designs too for more inspiration.  

Here's to a great week ahead. 

Hugs all Zx

This book full of seasonal loveliness is live on Tuesday 5 September.

If you don't have a demonstrator and would like a copy please email me at zoetant@live.co.uk

or shop with Zoe Tant Stampin Up Online Shop

Faux Linen Technique for Totally Techniques Blog Hop

Welcome to August's Totally Techniques Blog Hop.  Hello if you've arrived from Kelly Acheson in the USA.  Welcome to the UK.  

We are a small group of Stampin' Up! demos this month as some lucky folk are still on holiday.  Lovely Lynsay Mahon in Canada chose our theme this time and we are showcasing the Faux Linen technique. One I hadn't done before and one that I think you'll find as you visit the other fab blogs that can be done in different ways.  

For my version I chose to use the So Santa Stampin Up set which will be available from 5 September as one of many fun sets in the Stampin Up autumn winter catalogue.  This one is cute and has some fun sentiments to accompany some very cute outline images which are fab if you like colouring.   

The colours I used for the card above include Granny Apple Green, Shaded Spruce, Poppy Parade, Black, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Basic Grey, Crumb Cake, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo.  I've added a matting layer cut with the Layered Squares dies in Granny Apple Green and the sentiment is white embossed onto Poppy Parade Ink.  You will also love the red rhinestones that are just perfect for Festive Projects and any unused will be great for Valentines. 

Here's a link to my video of this fun technique. Faux Linen Technique

This is the card I created in the video.  The colours used are Poppy Parade, Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Basic Grey, Black, Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, Smokey slate, Blushing Bride. 

I used the Layering Square and Stitched Shape dies for the image and matting layer.  The square for the santa 5.5cm square (21/8 ") and the scalloped edge square is 6.3cm square (21/2").  The sentiment banner is 1.5cm x 7cm (5/8" x 23/4").  The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder.   

Pop to my previous post to see another version of this card using the Beautiful Day stamp set, in  particular the butterfly, along with the incoming Buffalo Check background stamp which you have to have as it will change every time you use a different colour. 

From here you are off on a trip down under to see what Shannean has done with this technique. It will be amazing so you're in for a treat. 

Thanks for dropping by and remember if you haven't got a copy of our Autumn/Winter catalogue and you're in the UK, France, Germany, Austria or the The Netherlands then please contact me by email on zoetant@live.co.uk to ask for a complimentary copy. 

More soon Zoe x

Here's the list too of everyone in the hop

1. Lynsay Mahon - Canada

2. Nadine Weiner - Germany

3. Kelly Acheson - USA

4. Zoe Tant - UK You're here

5. Shannean Moncrieff -Australia

6. Barbara Meyer - Austria

Christmas Card Club - WOW Theme

We've got a WOW theme going on at Christmas card club this fortnight.  If you haven't come across that before it does mean wow cards, but in this instance as a theme it means White on White. Which I love tinkering with, but they are not so easy to photograph especially in the sunshine we are so lucky to have at the moment.  Thank you to Christine for this challenge. 

I was inspired by a beautiful card I saw by my lovely friend Shannean Moncrieff down in Australia. She used the Rooted in nature stamp set and dies to create a Poinsettia with the traditional colours that it usually comes in. I've used her clever idea and turned it white and have used my new embossing mat bundle from the Stampin' Up! catalogue, page 221 to cut and then emboss the texture onto the white leaves/petals and I've also heated embossed in silver onto vellum using the coordinating leaf stamp.  You can build the flower really easily and if you have a silicone mat you can put a blob of tombow glue onto it and build the flower on it. Add more glue when required to layer the petals and then allow to dry.  The flower then peals straight off the silicone mat and you can use Stampin dimensionals to adhere it to your project.  

I've added a sentiment from Snowflake Sentiments, also silver heat embossed and some dry embossed lines using my Stampin' Up! Simply Scored Scoring Tool.  A few rhinestones to look just like the tiny  yellow centres of Poinsettia and also some new Stampin' silver pearls.  A couple of matting layers just adds a little more luxury to my DL sized card.  

Don't forget to see the other ladies in our challenge group for more WOW inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by and remember  if you have a BIG Stampin' Up! wishlist in July you can get £130 product + £63 ink pads for only £99 with free shipping and become a discount shopper. It's so easy to do.  

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More soon Zoe x

Simple, but effective Christmas Card

Christmas Card Challenge with Stampin Up Rooted in Nature 

Ooh what a busy time..... Friday we dropped Charlie at camp where he was helping with the Scout regional camp, Saturday we drove to visit Olivia at Uni and to take her out for a fun birthday celebration meal.

A couple of my favourite people

I'm sure many of you, gentle readers, have had children go off to Uni and so you understand when I tell you how hard it is to get used to the fact that your daughter is no longer a little girl, but an adult and capable of ruling the world!!! It still scares me though how much it shocks when she casually replies "Sex on the Beach" to the question "What is the name of your cocktail?"  I guess I will get more used to the whole idea, but for now am happy to be proud and pleased that she is happy in her world.  A fab, fun evening celebrating her birthday.  

My card today is very simple. Our challenge of 'Anyting but a square' was set by the lovely Sylvie.  I have to say I've not been very adventurous following a late night my mojo has been MIA - missing in action and so I've played safe with a rectangular card with circles.  By now you realise I'm a little bit addicted to Rooted in Nature and have used it once again for this simple tree and my new sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Sentiments the set replacing Teeny Tiny Sentiments which we had had for some years.  It's perfect for neat easily punched out short wording and is all that was needed for this simple card. I started by also using a new embossing folder, Striped Scallops to add some detail to the base and then added polka dot flocked net ribbon, real red ribbon and rhinestones, gold thread and glimmer star to a whisper white back drop with real red, old olive, garden green and early espresso stamping.  

I hope the sun has shone with you this weekend and that it continues through the week.  

Have a good one

hugs Zoe x

Christmas Card Challenge meets Moving Along with the Times

Carol is our challenger for this fortnight's Christmas Card Club challenge. She asked for cards with the sentiment as the focus and Christine is the theme Queen for this fortnight's challenge over at Moving Along with the Times with a similar theme of Sentiment Focus with no images, so I'm killing two birds with one stone today.

I've made a very simple, elegant card and there's now doubt that the sentiment is the focus of it.  I've used my new Stampin' Up! Swirly Frames set again to create the silver embossed frame.  I cut an aperture to raise the frame above my sentiment which I stamped on another piece of card using my Stampin' markers to colour the stamp from Snowflake Sentiments and then added the 'filigree' swirl from the same set which I heat embossed in gold.  This gorgeous Stampin' Up! set will still be available in the new annual catalogue from 1 June.  Some enamel shapes are currently on the discounted retiring list so a bargain to be had.

I've added a layer of Mossy Meadow (which looks wonky in my photo) a returning in colour to the Stampin' Up! colour collection in June where it will be a neutral colour!  I've added some Cherry Cobbler enamel shapes to just finish off the design which is all mounted onto a whisper white thick card base.  Simple, but says just what you need for an elegant card.

I'm all for simple at the moment as I've snapped my Achilles tendon and so am sporting a very fetching Storm Trooper boot and am waiting for more appointments to see what happens next.  Posts might be somewhat sporadic or thin on the ground for a while so bear with me please.

Our challenge club is made up of ladies will different styles and techniques so do visit us all for more seasonal inspiration. You can find everyone listed on the page Christmas CC above.  We'd love you to join us at Moving Along with the Times too HERE.

Have a great week all. I'm celebrating my birthday this week with an MRI scan and orthopaedic appointment so it's going to be one to remember.

Hugs Zoe x

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Christmas Card Club Challenge - Christmas Poinsettias and foliage

I'm a little behind the curve as we had a busy weekend celebrating Charlie's birthday which included a visit to see Olivia at university and also the main reason I haven't posted for a few days my desk top has been on strike not wanting to play.

No matter the age cake is always wanted!

However I'm here now sharing my club challenge card set by Mary.  I made a shaker card using the very pretty stamp set Peace This Christmas which I will be very sad to see retire from the Stampin' Up! range in May.  It's been a trusty set of mine and fab for foliage cards like this.  I used one stamp and coloured it with my stampin markers to stamp it twice and then fussy cut them out. I then also stamped the whole image with cherry cobbler ink to be able to fussy cut the central flower and add a little dimension with glue dots to my floral sprigs.  I also stamped a sentiment from the same set in Mossy Meadow ( a returning colour for Stampin' Up! in June) and the border is cherry cobbler from the same set too.  I used this set for previous challenges,   you can see a couple an earlier stamping scene posts and also here. The latter uses the very popular Large Letter Dies that I'm pleased to say are staying in the new Stampin' Up! catalogue and gives a different use to the popular eclipse cards. 

To make the shaker I used the Stitched Shape framelits largest circle die and cut from a piece of very vanilla card 9.5cm x 13.8cm.  I placed the vanilla layer onto my mossy meadow base card (10.5cm x 29.7 scored at 14.8cm) and let the cut circle stay on the base card whilst carefully removing the outer vanilla card. I kept my finger on the circle and drew a light pencil circle around it for respositioning later when I put it all together.  I added window sheet to the back of the vanilla layer and a circle of adhesive shaker strips.  Half a teaspoon of gold glitter flakes sit nicely on the sentiment before replacing the vanilla layer with window and sticky strip to hold it all in place.
Top Tip
Did you know that you can reduce the static by using an embossing buddy on the sentiment and window sheet before putting it all together?

Please do visit the club members and take a look at their wonderful foliage creations.

Thanks for popping by and see you soon.

Zoe x

Christmas Card Club Challenge - Animals at Christmas

Hand stamped Christmas Card by UK Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Zoe Tant with We Must Celebrate

I'm a little late for our fortnightly Christmas card club challenge set by Kate up in Scotland, but a) I didn't have it made yesterday to post and b) it just felt not quite right being Easter Sunday. So I've enjoyed tinkering today and have made this card for the theme Animals at Christmas.  Mine are cute, fluffy and not what you'd usually expect for Christmas, but I think this fun combo of stamp sets from Stampin' Up! and animals has worked out quite well.  If you like cute and humorous Christmas cards you may also like one I made last year with Stampin' Up! This Little Piggy.

Ready for Christmas provides the tree, gifts, ornament, main sentiment and cute little dog.  The other critters are from the Stampin' Up! spring catalogue set We Must Celebrate which I adore as it is so sweet and full of great sentiments like 'We're behind you all the way" and 'We think you're the best' which are great for teachers and children to give to teachers.  I used the tree lights from a set called Confetti Celebration stamped them in black ink and add white gel pen to make it simple white lights.

As the critters are adding baubles to the tree I just added some gold metallic enamel stars to help them along the way and the tree was first stamped with old olive ink and then just partially with garden green to give some shading although my photo doesn't show it ever so well.  The parcels coloured up nicely with my stampin' blends alcohol markers and I gave them some depth by raising some with stampin dimensionals.  To break up the old olive matting layer I embossed it first with the Scattered Sequins Dynamic Textured Impressions folder.  My card base is 5.75" square and so I was able to make it from a sheet of thick whisper white card.

I hope you've managed to have a relaxing Bank Holiday weekend and that the weather has dampened your spirits as much as your garden.  We've played games and chilled and it's been great to have Olivia home from Uni.

I'm now spending the week doing a little more of the above and some final preparations for going to the Stampin' Up! Onstage event in Telford next weekend.  I've made my swaps ie cards to trade with others for ideas and now just have my team presents to wrap.  Hope you have a good week.

Zoe xx

Christmas Card Club - Reindeer and Friends

Stampin' Up! Merry Mistletoe Stamp Set

It's my choice for the Christmas Card Club Challenge this fortnight and way back when we did the list I chose Reindeer and or their friends as the theme.  I've taken a very elegant reindeer from Stampin Up set Merry Mistletoe and added him to the new elegant Saleabration free gift paper Springtime Foils which seems a contradiction in terms when posting about Christmas, but hey you just have to get use from all your papers as much as you can. They are no use sat on the shelf and attract unwanted attention from partners who might just question what you've spent recently, so I find using them distracts husband from making unwanted comments tee hee. 

This stunning set of papers are as the name implies foiled. They are a mixture of patterns and come with silver, gold and copper foiling.  I chose this one which has gold and silver and then added some old olive using my Stampin Blends alcohol markers as the paper has a shiny/glossy coating and the Stampin Blends work perfectly on this card.  If you like foiled card take a look at my last post with a tutorial for an Easter Basket using stampin up Sweet Soiree foiled papers. 

I stamped my deer with chocolate chip ink onto whisper white and cut a partial circle with the stitched shape framelits and also a silver foil layer using one of the layering circle dies which is a mix of scalloped edged and plain circle dies.  The sentiment is also from Stampin Up set Merry Mistletoe and that is heat embossed with gold powder then matted onto a layer of chocolate chip card as is the foiled paper.  A loop or two of metallic edged ribbon and a stampin petal passion embellishment add that bit of pizzazz that I like on my projects and a simple, but elegant card is achieved.  

This card was really quick and easy to complete and had the added bonus of the therapuetic colouring thrown in.  I hope you'll enjoy visiting our merry clan of ladies and our early preps for the festive season.  

Thanks for popping by today.  

Zoe x

P.S. You can see the new Saleabration free gifts with purchase on my stampin up website.