Bah Humbug Reindeer

Hello Friends -

I'm back with another Bah Humbug challenge.  This week the ladies of the manor decided we needed to use reindeer in our creations.  Now, they mentioned cute reindeer or elegant reindeer, well, that had me thinking.  Are there any other types of reindeer Christmas cards?  I found a different kind.  I think it is so ugly that it is cute (but then I'm biased, maybe it is a card only the creator could love?).

What do you think?  Donna at Popsicle Toes turned me onto this wonderful artist, Lily Chilvers, and her Etsy Store, Octopode Factory.  You need to understand, Donna has an incredible style and always makes a digi shine.  I, on the other hand, needed Glossy Accents to even come close to having this little guy shine.  The Glossy Accents are on his nose and hooves.

Now, I've been wanting to use one of Lily's incredible drawings for a long time but I never found the right place for them.  That is until now.  Can you believe here it is almost Halloween and I find a way to put something a bit quirky in a Christmas card?  This digi can be found here.  After I bought this one and a couple of others, Lily posted three more Christmas digis.  She even has a girl reindeer, now.  I would go check them out.  They are a ton of fun.

I made the design paper myself using MS Word and the Chiller font.  The sentiment is done up with the same font.

OK, for everyone wanting a more traditional card, how about this one?

This digi is part of a set of 4 called Inky Critters over at Tiddly Inks.  You can find it right here.  The sentiment is a rubber stamp from Michaels.  I colored this one, like the first one, with my ProMarkers and Dick Blick alcohol markers.  The sentiment is stamped with cocoa ink from Memento.

So, now for my exciting news.  Next week I start my month at Humbug Hall.  Can you believe I get to guest design for a whole month? Wait until you see some of the creations I've been cooking up.  I hope they meet with everyone's approval.

I'm just hoping Barb has taken care of all the spiders at the Hall.  If not, Max and Ann had better have an extra sturdy table because I plan on sitting on top of it the entire month.

So, check back next Friday for my first Guest Designer spot at Humbug Hall until then, I have a few t-shirts to share and hopefully some fun birthday cards.  I have been designing my own birthday subway art.

Scandinavian Woven Christmas Hearts

Hello Friends -

This week at Bah Humbug Manor the challenge was to use weaving in a Christmas project.  I thought about weaving on a card but couldn't come up with anything that I thought I would use.  So, I started looking at 3D projects.

I don't remember where I first saw these Scandinavia  Christmas hearts but they seemed like the perfect project.  I looked at a ton of websites with many different ideas on how to make them and information about their origin.  The Daughters of Norway have a website which describes the hearts.  Generally speaking, they are decorations at Christmas time.  They are oftentimes put on the tree with small gifts or treats inside them.  There seems to be some relationship between Hans Christian Andersen and these hearts but it was difficult to figure out what it was (although it might be that he is the first to mention them in the 1860's).  Any way you look at it, they are fun little decorations.

This is the inside of one of the hearts.  It would hold quite a bit of "loot" if you weren't worried about it breaking the branches of your tree.

I used paper for my hearts, as opposed to cardstock.  I wouldn't use anything too firm because it will be tough to weave the pieces back and forth.  I also used this template from Diane at Capadia Designs.  You can cut these like most of the websites say but I found this a little neater and easier.  If you have a Cricut she has a cut file for both Design Studio and a Gypsy.  She used them at Valentines Day but the Scandinavian tradition was for St. Lucia's.

I love incorporating different traditions into our holiday celebrations.  Last year I enjoyed learning about the 3 Kings traditions in Hispanic households.

One final look at my Christmas decorations.

Tiddly Inks Card

Hello Friends -

I'm back, not with the project I planned to show today but I'm back.

Today I have a card for one of my nieces.  It also is for the Tiddly Inks challenge -- Reading Fun.  I chose School Girl with School House.  The card is 5 x 7 inches.  The colored cardstock is from Core'dinations.

I pop dotted School Girl to give it a bit more dimension and add to the perspective.  I'm pleased with the way she turned out.  I feel like I'm getting a little better at adding dimension to hair.  She still needs a little something but I see some progress.

Here is School Girl, a bit closer.

What do you think of the hair?  Now, if I could just work out the shading on her face.  I would really be on a roll.

It is funny, when I was growing up EVERYONE started school the day after Labor Day.  We went to the Great Geauga County Fair over the long weekend, saw friends, ate fair food and then started school.  I didn't know anyone that started school on a day other than the one after Labor Day.  It was that way for as long as I knew and all the way through school.  Now, the Wonderkid has been in school for two weeks, already.  Many of the schools in our area have been in for a month.  So, Labor Day doesn't have that same end of the summer feel.  Add to that, we live in the South and we'll be wearing shorts for another 6 weeks and could be swimming for a month.

It certainly changes the way I think about the holiday.  It was a nice day off, I think about the meaning of the holiday, thank everyone that fought to bring us the 40 hour work week (when we can still get it) and the weekend.

So, Happy Labor Day, Y'all.

Bugaboo Voices Card

Hello Friends -

I have another fun card today from the digis at Bugaboo Stamps.  This one is going to my cousin who has been a bit ill.  I think she is going to giggle up a storm over this one.

I used Tim Holtz's Pattern & Stitches Texture Fades.  I love this set and haven't used it nearly as much as I would like.  The blue base is Core'dinations and the digi is cut out using the Deckled Edges Nestability.

Here is the sentiment.

What do you think of the card?  Do you think she'll like it?

Can you tell the Wonderkid has been back in school for a week and a half?  I've been busy (Thursday found me painting the pantry before I put all of the food back in and organized it.) but I still feel like some of my time is "my own".  I've noticed the Wonderkid is willing to play by himself a bit more after a day with all of his friends.

So, I am hoping to get back into the swing of the blog.  I have a ton of things to show but I need to take the time to prep the pictures and write up the posts.  I also have a list of projects about a mile long.

Lettering Delights Gift Bag

Hello Friends -

Today I needed to whip together a quick gift bag for the Wonderkid to take to a birthday party.  It was for a 7 year old boy so I didn't want it to be too babyish.  The Lettering Delights Animal Boxes and Bags were perfect. 

I cut the bag out of a 12 x 24 piece of black cardstock.  That made the entire box about 7 inches tall (not a huge gift bag but large enough to hold part of the gift).  I sized the robot to fit on the front of the bag.  

This is the inside so you can see there is a good bit of room.  I also used velcro to close the bag.  It was still sticking after the Wonderkid opened and closed the bag a half dozen times.  I used a couple of glue dots to keep it on.

Here is a side view of the bag with the robot.  All of the pieces of the robot were cut out of Core'dinations cardstock.  I wish they had 12 x 24 pieces of Core'dinations but since they don't I had to ink the edges of the bag.  I can't stand the white core showing through the edges and cuts.

Finally, here is the bag front with the flap up.

What do you think of this sweet little robot.  I, also, made the quickest card ever but I didn't take a picture because I had the Wonderkid at my feet wanting to leave for the party.  It is amazing how quickly you can make a card with that kind of motivation.

Have a good day and I hope to be back this weekend with my Bah! Humbug! creation.  It has been a fun project.