Penguin Gift Bags

Hello lovely people,

So that's Christmas over for another year, but I have one more Christmassy thing to share for my Dies to Die For DT project this week...

I made these little gift bags to pop some choccies in for my family.

The gift bag is a Mama Elephant die and it's quite an investment so I have debated a long time whether to get it, and I am so glad I did because these bags are fabulous!

I guess it's hard to get a sense of the scale of these; the bag portion is about 10.5 x 8cm and here's me holding one.

FYI: this is the ONLY time I painted my nails all year - lol!

I used some cute penguins to decorate them because I just love penguins!

I have to give a shout out to the Uniko sentiment I used here because it's totally brilliant and I have both Christmas and everyday sentiment sets.  You can't buy these from Dies to Die For online but they do have them at the shows so definitely check them out!

Next time I'm writing will be 2019 (eeek!), so see you then :-)

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Tote Bag 3D XL - Mama Elephant
Arctic penguins - Mama Elephant
Stitched mini scallop circle STAX - My Favorite Things 
Inside and out stitched circle STAX - My Favorite Things
Mini tags - Mama Elephant
Layered snowflakes - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Simply Said Blocks Christmas - Uniko
glitter card - from stash
silver twine - from stash

Hot Chocolate Cutie

Hello lovely people,

Just 4 sleeps to go!!!!

I was making Christmas cards right up until a couple of days ago when I finally put away all my Christmas stash!

I coloured up one of the gorgeous Stamping Bella cuties and wanted to share her as my Dies to Die For DT inspiration this week...

I coloured this stamp up just before the lovely Elaine (Marker Geek) released her colouring video for it - doh!

If you want to check it out head over HERE and I will definitely be watching it when I get a spare few minutes...and maybe having another go because I love to colour along :-)

I spent all my time on the colouring and none of it on the design here...just a bit of festive red stripe and sparkle...and what is now definitely one of my favourite Christmas sentiment stamps!

By the way...do you think this Teeny Tiny Townie is actually IN the hot chocolate or just behind it?!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you all have the most wonderful festive season!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Tiny Townie Hot Chocolate - Stamping Bella
Candy Land 6x6 pad - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Glitter card - from stash

Copic colours;
I accidentally put my pens away before writing down the colours (oops!) but go check out Elaine's video for her suggestions :-)

Festive flamingo

Hello lovely people,

It's a Fabulously Festive Flamingo Friday!!

I've been enjoying a day off today and made a few more Christmas cards as I just can't seem to stop so am sharing one as my Dies to Die For DT inspiration today.

I tried hard to resist jumping on the flamingo bandwagon...but you can see how much willpower I have - lol!

I initially planned to add the 'Fla la la la la la la mingo' sentiment to this cute CAS design, but wasn't sure it worked so well once I'd used the text paper, so I left it off.

I might just stamp it inside because it's too good not to use!

Oh, and did I mention that you can get this stamp and matching die set with 35% off right now?  Well now I have, so even if you're done with Christmas cards this year I'd grab one and save it for next year!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Festive flamingos - My Favorite Things
Candy land 6x6 paper pad - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Stitched rectangle scallop edge frames - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
silver glitter card - from stash

Copic colours;
Flamingo body: R81, R83, RV55
Flamingo beak: T1, T6
Lights: YG23, BG45
Ground: T0, T1, T2

Tweet holiday greetings

Hello lovely people,

Ahem, it's been a while hasn't it?!

Nothing terrible to report...other than my utter pants-ness at getting any blog posts done recently.

But I am back now with a Dies to Die For DT card :-)

I'll admit that I was quite restrained with the latest MFT release but there was no way I could resist the sweet robin stamps, especially this pair all snuggled up sharing a scarf...just tooooooo cute!

I also used the new holiday sentiment background and stamped it with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a lovely cosy day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Tweet holidays - My Favorite Things
Tweet holidays die-namics - My Favorite Things
Stitched arch STAX - My Favorite Things
Christmas background - My Favorite Things
Stylish snowflakes - My Favorite Things (for the tiny snowflakes)

Other ingredients;
Crystal Glamour Dust
Distress Oxide in Tumbled Glass

Copic colours;
Robin bodies: E23, E25, E27
Robin tummies: R24, R27, R46, R59
Robin beaks: YR14, YR16
Scarves / hats: BG01, BG02, BG07

Sparkly Star Bottle Tag

Hello lovely people,

I love creating non-card projects so for my Dies to Die For DT make this week I am sharing a simple and elegant wine bottle tag.

I just love this die and it's such a great way to dress up a bottle of something as a gift...or it doubles quite nicely as a door hanger!

I've gone with a white and silver theme as you can't beat a bit of sparkle for Christmas :-)

I die cut the large stitched circle then stamped the sentiment onto it using my Misti.

I layered up 2 of the star frames as I think this gives it a more dimensional finish and then added a few more die cut stars as accents.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a wonderful sparkly day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Wine tag - My Favorite Things
Inside and out stitched circle STAX - My Favorite Things
Stitched circle scallop frames - My Favorite Things
Jingle greetings - Mama Elephant (currently out of stock but I think Hand lettered holiday greetings from MFT would also work perfectly for this)
Star Frame - Avery Elle (currently out of stock - use the 'notify when back in stock' button or use any decorative frame from your stash!)

Other ingredients;
silver sparkle card - from stash

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hello lovely people,

It's not long to go and I still don't have all the Christmas cards I need, so guess what my Dies to Die For DT card is today?!

I definitely didn't need any more Christmas stamps but somehow a set from Neat & Tangled came home with me when I was on the DtDF stand at the last Motorcycle Museum show!

This little snowman and the sentiment are from that set and there are a whole heap of other cute images in there too.

I did basically the same design with the penguin from the set, but he was feeling camera shy and I don't have a photo of him!

I hope you have all been enjoying some Christmas crafting!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Copic colours;
Snowman: C00, N0, N1, N2
Snowman buttons: N5, N6
Snowman nose: YR14, YR07
Mint green: G000, G00, BG32
Lilac: BV000, BV00, BV11
Snow: B0000, B000, B00

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Santa's Wonderland stamps - Neat & Tangled
Graphic grid pastels 6x6 paper pad - My Favorite Things 
Square Peek-a-boo window - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Crystal Glamour Dust

Elves with treats

Hello lovely people,

I'm ashamed to say I have quite a few lovely Stamping Bella Christmas images that haven't been inked up yet, so I'm using one of them today for my Dies to Die For DT card.

I absolutely love these little elves...just look at their adorable little pointy ears and those little legs...sooooo cute!

I'm not sure if they're packaging treats for all those good children (and adults!) or just stuffing their faces!

It's another super simple layout from me but I did find the perfect little candy cane die to use as a co-ordinating detail. 

The sentiment is from a lovely Stamping Bella Christmas sentiment set and I've used a new tag shape to cut it out.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Copic colours;
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04
Red bits: R27, R46, R39
Green bits: YG03, YG25, YG17 (except sweet: YG01, YG03, YG25)
White bits on sweets / leggings: W00, T0, T1
Gingerbread man: E31, E34, E35
Belt buckle: Y17, Y35, Y38
Hat bobbles / ground: W00, T0, T1, T2

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
The Littles Christmas Collection: Elves with treats - Stamping Bella
Winter holiday sentiment set - Stamping Bella
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Slim tags trio - Mama Elephant

Other ingredients;
Joyous 6x6 paper pad - Authentique
Twine, Crystal Glamour Dust, Candy cane die - from stash

Festive bottle tags

Hello lovely people,

I'm afraid I'm back to being busy behind the scenes with not much happening on my blog!

But since it's Friday I have a Dies to Die For DT project to share :-)

"I love wrapping bottles" said pretty much nobody ever, so these bottle gift tags are the perfect answer!

...and yes, you could still wrap the bottle if you were so inclined - lol!

I've used a brilliant die from MFT to make it super easy to cut the base shape and then used some fab festive dies to decorate them.

I LOVE these snowflakes :-)

I liked the linked chain circle dies but wasn't sure I would use them...then they just somehow came home with me after I was helping out on the DtDF stand at the Motorcycle Museum...and they were perfect for this project...hurrah!

I love a story with a happy ending :-)

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Wine tag - My Favorite Things
Circle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 2 - My Favorite Things
Merry Christmas circle frame die - My Favorite Things
Layered snowflakes dies - My Favorite Things
Linked chain circle dies - My Favorite Things
Circle shaker window and frame dies - My Favorite Things (for frame around aperture)

Other ingredients;
Papers, pearls -  from stash

Cosy lights

Hello lovely people,

I have a day off today and soooo much I want to get done!  Getting my hair cut is already ticked off my list so now it's onto my blog post for the day, then some shopping and crafting for the rest of the day :-)

It's Friday so that means I'm sharing a Dies to Die For DT make and today I have a set of fairly quick and easy Christmas cards that would be perfect for batch making.

I've used digital sentiments for these but a stamped sentiment would work just as well.

How cute do those lights look in knit-effect DP?!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
String of lights - Lawn Fawn
Knit Picky 6x6 pad - Lawn Fawn
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 2 - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Scriptalicious Christmas digital sentiments - The Lovely Studio
Kraft card from stash

Snowman love

Hello lovely people,

I have a Dies to Die For DT card for you today and I dived straight into my gorgeous new stash of Stamping Bellas for this one!

These Littles look so cute and cosy as they build their snowman, and I've added Nuvo drop snow in the sky and along the snowdrifts on the ground.

I finally got round to using the mod squares I bought and they are fab...so I can't wait for the stitched ones I ordered to arrive now!

I've just added a touch of detail with my favourite snowflakes...or at least they are my favourite for now but guess what?  I have some more arriving soon and they may soon become my favourites - lol!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Copic colours;
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04
Girl's hair: E53, E35, E59
Boy's hair: E21, E25, E29
Snowman: C00, C0, C1, C2
Snowman hat: C7, C8, C10
Snowman nose: YR12, YR04
Snowman stick arms: E35, E59
Pink clothing: RV10, RV11, RV34
Blue clothing: B000, B01, B02
Mint green clothing: BG10, BG11, BG23
Snow: BG000, BG70, BG000

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
The Littles Winter Collection: Snowman Love - Stamping Bella
Winter Holiday Sentiment Set - Stamping Bella
Perfectly Plaid Winter 6x6 pad - Lawn Fawn
Mod square STAX - My Favorite Things
Stylish snowflakes - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Tonic Studios Nuvo Drops in White Blizzard
pearls from stash

A Very Merry Thoroughly Modern Miss

Hello lovely people,

From midday today you can get your hands on the Thoroughly Modern Misses from LOTV!!
They will be available as digi stamps and Simply Print sheets.

There are 12 modern girly images, one for each month, and today I have used the December image.

I love how stylish this little lady is and I do really enjoy colouring red so she absolutely had to have a red coat!

One tip I have for these images is to make sure you add a teeny little bit of pale blue to the eyes which helps to stop them looking flat...even white should be coloured - lol!

I've added tiny spots of Nuvo drops to the wreath.

I keep finding great ways to use my stitched rectangle dies and for this card I discovered that they look lovely with a frame layered on top!

Now, why is this is the first time I have used those tiny stitched tags when I have had them for ages?!  I guess they were waiting for just the right project - lol!

I've just been working this weekend so am enjoying a day off today and a spot of crafting!

I hope you all have a great week :-)

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Copic colours;
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11, E04
Eyes: B0000, B000
Hair: E53, E35, E59
Coat: R37, R56, R39
Belt: W7, W8, W10
Leggings / hat: W0, W1, W2, W3
Boots: W7, W8, W9 (& W00, W0, W1 for fluffy bits)
Wreath / ribbons: YG93, YG95, YG97
Presents: E41, E42, E43
Ground: W00, W0, W1, W2, W3

Lovely things I've used;

Thoroughly Modern Miss December - LOTV (coming soon!)
Jingle 6x6 paper pad - Lilybee Design
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 2 - My Favorite Things
Stitched rectangle scallop edge frames - My Favorite Things
Stitched scallop edges - My Favorite Things
Stitched tiny tags - My Favorite Things
Snow globe sentiments - My Favorite Things
Hemp twine
Autumn red Nuvo Crustal Drops

Oh deer!

Hello lovely people,

Friday is here again so I have a Dies to Die For DT card for you and I have been playing with my new MFT stash :-)

I *almost* couldn't decide what to play with first...ok, who am I kidding?  It was always going to be those darling deer!

I had my first play with my new Distress Oxides, which I totally did NOT need until I saw them being demoed at a craft show...and 12 of them came home with me - lol!

I've used just one colour to lightly ink around the background panel and added a few very light water splashes.

The gorgeous deer is joined by his little birdie friend for my scene and they were so fun to colour...I just had to add pink hats and scarf, and a tiny sprinkling of sparkle!

It may be stating the obvious but just in case anyone is wondering, I made the spots on the deer using the blender pen after I had coloured the image, and I did this a few times over to get a slightly clearer spot.

I had a lightbulb moment where I realised that I might be able to stamp sentiments nicely with the DOs because the colour is so much creamier than the normal DIs...and yes, you can!
It does take a little longer to dry though...I found that out the hard way - lol!

I was really unsure if I *needed* to buy the stitched rectangle dies but am delighted that I did as they are going to be so useful for creating mats and layers on cards.  I do already have the inside & out stitched rectangles but these new ones are bigger and there are more of them so I needed them too!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Copic colours;
Deer body: E30, E31, E34, E35
Deer chest / face: YR30, E50, E30
Deer spots: blender pen
Bird: E31, E34, E35, E37
Hats / scarf: R81, R83, R85

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Dashing deer stamps - My Favorite Things
Dashing deer dies - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 2 - My Favorite Things
Stitched hillside borders - Lawn Fawn
Blueprints 31 - My Favorite Things (for the sentiment strip)
Stylish snowflakes dies - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Distress Oxide pad in Faded Jeans

Time to sparkle

Hello lovely people,

Today I have a DT card for The Ribbon Girl and I wanted to use some of the gorgeous sparkly things to make a Christmas card.

I don't use gold a lot in my crafting but these papers are absolutely gorgeous and I have heat embossed the sentiment in gold to match.

I don't think the photos do the ribbon justice either!  It is simply stunning; the shade of gold and the subtle shimmer is so elegant.

I'm rather taken with the hemp twine as an alternative to the button twine I often use too.  I was going to tie a small bow with it but the long ends fell onto the card like this and I thought it looked pretty so I left them long!

Don't forget we also have our October Card challenge running over on The Ribbon Girl blog at the moment and we'd love to see you enter...all you have to do is make a card - easy!

If you find yourself tempted by any of the pretty supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to The Ribbon Girl and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Lovely things I've used from The Ribbon Girl;
Time to sparkle 6x6 mini paper pack by Dovecraft Premium
25mm gold pearl sparkle ribbon
Ivory hemp twine
10mm silver jingle bells


Other card ingredients;
Traditional Christmas Greeting - Lili of the Valley
Stitched rectangle scallop frame - My Favorite Things

Santa overload!

Hello lovely people,

It's Friday (woohoo!) so it's time for me to show off some gorgeous goodies from Dies to Die For.

I was so excited to play with my new Tiny Santa Agenda from Mama Elephant that I couldn't stop making cards with them so I have 3 cards to share!

For my first card I have Santa standing on a triple stacked die cut word.

I used the same Authentique paper pad for my second card and this sentiment is included with the Santas.

I added some sparkle to the images because Santa loves a bit of bling!

Finally, I used a Blueprints set from MFT to create this layered design, and this is a different paper pad from Carta Bella.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links at the end of my post or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Copic colours;
Skin: E000, E00, E21, E11
Clothing: R24, R46, R39
Beard: W00, N0, N1, N2
White trim on clothes: N0, N2
Boots: N5, N7
Sack: E33, E35, E37
Presents: B14, YG17, R46

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Little Santa agenda stanps - Mama Elephant
Little Santa agenda dies - Mama Elephant
Inside and out stitched rounded square STAX - My Favorite Things
Stitched mini scallop circle STAX - My Favorite Things 
Blueprints 13 by My Favorite Things 
Scripty Merry - Lawn Fawn

Other ingredients;
Bundle 6x6 paper pad - Authentique
So this is Christmas 6x6 paper pad - Carta Bella
Crustal Glamour Dust
Twine, Kraft card - from stash