Merry Monday Tropical / beverage / berries / tartan / bell / flat / Santa / chalk board Christmas Card Challenge

I really wasn't going to make a card this week for the Merry Monday Challenge as I could not think who on earth I would send a tropical card to.  But then this evening with a daft idea in my head I decided to put pencil and crayons to paper and draw the entire card for fun.  This is not a serious card at all but a bit of a play on all the challenges that we have been given since I joined the group.  So this card has:-

A Santa

A beverage in Santa's hand

Holly and berries in the corner of the card & berries in the drink

A Tartan rug on the sun bed

A bell dangling from Santa's hat

Drawn on a chalk board

With a Tropical flavour to it

and it is a Flat Card

It kept me quiet and helped me divert my eyes from a really good murder mystery that I was enjoying but couldn't look at... just had to listen!!! ha ha..

Door Wreath Card

I wanted to make a Christmas Card to add to my stash and decided to try heat embossing as someone had given me a heat gun and I had some powders.  So I set about trying out my new die cutters and used them to look like a front door and added a wreath which I made up with a series of branches in a circle. I embossed this although to be honest unless you look very closely you would not realise, and then I stamped a ribbon and berries and dressed up the wreath. Not the most inspiring card I have made but another handmade card to give someone at Christmas.

Merry Monday Bells Christmas Card Challenge

Pleased to get an honourable mention for my Bells Card Challenge this week.

The Merry Monday Challenge was bells this week. Well I only had two bells which were stamps lent to me by a friend, the same design but different sizes, so they were the bells that were going to be used.

I began by stamping the bells in gold and the bows in red and thought how boring they looked so I drew a black edge around the bows to give them emphasis and stuck glitter on the bells to brighten them up.  Well what was I going to do with them then? I looked in my ribbon box for some gold twine and came across this beautiful ribbon I bought some years ago for a friends birthday card and this was what I had left over. I felt it would make a good anchor for the bells and ribbons. So then I set about staging them on layers of card and stamping a sentiment to finish it off.  Despite starting off feeling quite lack lustre about this challenge I have to say I ended up really enjoying myself and think it is my favourite MM card so far... but then I have only made six! 

Mini ipad birthday card

Making a birthday card for my sister-in-law isn't easy in fact to quote her, she is a challenge because she does not like cards with flowers on.  To add to things she is also a very good card maker herself.  So I put my thinking cap on and knowing how much she really loved her new ipad mini, thought what else could I turn a card into that would be better.  It was fun to make. Inside I put copies of one of her favourite card making sites and her BT login page.  I am pleased to say she sounded very happy to have received it even if she was poorly on the day.  Get well soon Sue!

Golfing Cake

Our Neighbour Wilf was having a surprise 75th birthday party organised by his children.  They had ordered a large sponge celebration cake for the event but said to go ahead and make him a fruit cake as a birthday gift.  I tried to keep it low key but in keeping with his hobby playing golf. I put myself under pressure by baking the cake Monday, marzipanned it Wednesday, iced it Friday and made the model golfer and decorated it on Saturday before the party on the evening..... I really must start these cakes earlier!

Painting of our Lovely Dog

This is a beautiful painting our daughter and son-in-law had made for us for our wedding anniversary in memory of our gorgeous dog Sally who died on 23rd December 2016. She had a good life, nearly 15 years old. For anyone interested in having a painting done of their pet then contact Annes at:- Pet Portraits by Annes Mien

Husband's Wedding Anniversary Card

Well as my husband really liked the chalk board card I made for the 'Merry Monday Challenge' I decided to make something similar for our wedding anniversary.  The font was far too small but was all I had yet he was thrilled with it. I decorated it with some of the things he likes and is interested in.

Merry Monday Berries Card Challenge

The Merry Monday challenge this week was berries. Well with a very busy week, two birthday cards, hubbies anniversary card and a 75th birthday cake to bake, ice and decorate before Saturday, I wasn't going to enter this week. But then I felt a bit mean not taking part and it all adds to my stash of Christmas cards so I made the quickest card I could think of.  Stamping holly, berries and mounting some of them onto card for a 3-D effect.  A simple stamp with Seasons Greetings and a touch of gold smudged around the edge of the card and done!

Merry Monday Chalk Board Challenge

I so enjoyed this weeks challenge because it is a method I have never come across before, creating a chalk board effect. I stamped a 'Crafty Impressions' sentiment on the chalk board and then used 'Papertrey Ink Co.' Spruce and Sprigs die cutters and stamps for the embellishments.  I shall be trying this method again especially as my husband was wowed by this card and he is not usually quite so animated by my cards as he was with this one.

Merry Monday Father Christmas Card Challenge

The was another good Merry Monday Challenge for me because I had no stamps or die cutters of a Father Christmas so I decided to build one out of card.... it was great fun and I felt like a child again making a card to take home for Mom & Dad. The red card is shiny and the shapes were cut out of a gift bag from Christmas and the only shapes I cut using my die cutter were the circles, the rest I had to cut by trial and error! With no appropriate sentiment to go with a Father Christmas I decided cutting the card to emphasize the shape was the best option.

Re-cycled cards

I had two cards to make this week, a wedding anniversary card for my brother and his wife and a birthday card for my daughter's mother-in-law.  I don't know about you but I struggle with cards given to me that have nice elements to them. There is not the room to keep every card I am given and so my solution is to create re-cycled cards using them. Both of these cards have four and five elements on them that are from different sources and yet they don't look like it.  It was enjoyable and nice to see such pretty bits and pieces re-used.