Nativity Card no. 2 :o)

Yes, I know Christmas was only a month ago, & there may be a good 12 months between each one, but let's be honest - it comes round quicker every year :o) 

 

So, one of the items on my *MUST DO IN 2013* list, is to make at least 2 Christmas cards a month. I really should make more than that, but even if I did , I'd still get behind & end up with that mad rush in December, trying to finish everything in time. But - it's part of Christmas, really, isn't it, that panic about whether or not you'll get all the presents made or bought & wrapped, the cards written & posted, the cake made & iced, the pudding steamed & wrapped till needed   :o)

 

However - having said that, I am pleased to say that I've actually made 4 cards this month & this one, I am going to enter in to CHNC Challenge 109 - Nativity  & CHNC Challenge Extra for January, just like my first nativity card :o)
 

 

 

I have a feeling Liz may soon regret the challenge she set me for this year. She's created a challenge MONSTER !! :o)

 

Nativity Card

Liz's second challenge was for me to make a Nativity card & enter it into another competiton. She's only doing this to torment me - she KNOWS I'm a severe technophobe, & so, by challenging me, I have to learn how to link to other blogs :o)

 

So. Fingers crossed & here we go. This is the card:

 

 

& hopefully, this link to CraftyHazelsChristmas Challenge - 109 Nativity - will be active :o)

Update: I've just checked & by golly jingoes - I did it !! :o) I am a success !! :o)

I'm also going to enter it in the CHNC challenge extra for January, just for fun :o)

Christmas card challenge - GULP :o)

I'm not one for entering competitions but I have been set a challenge by my friend, Liz, to make & enter a Christmas card into Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge. I have never linked to another blog before & I have never entered anything I've made into a blog competition, so goodness knows if this is going to work !! :o)

 

So. Here is the card . . .

 

& here, I hope, is the link to craftyhazelnuts's challenge

 

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/chnc-challenge-extra-for-january.html

Card challenge - the gauntlet has been thrown down !!

As my friends & family know, I like to make cards. I'm not very artistic & my efforts are usually just that - efforts :o) I'm a very plain & simple girl - in every way :o) - & my crafts reflect that, be it knitting, card making, scrapbooking or baking. I'd love to be more artistic, have more imagination & inspiration, be able to create something beautiful every time, but I fear it'll never happen. So, with all that in mind, when my friend, Liz, suggested a card swap challenge between me, her & our friend Terri, I thought - why not ? They both have great ideas, they both turn out some lovely cards. Maybe some of their magic & inspiration will rub off on me :o) 

 

How wrong I was . . .

 

Our January swap theme is co-ordinating colours. I had some lovely creams, yellows & browns from Liz, with a bright in-yer-face orange thrown in to knock me off balance & it did just that.

 

Terri gave me browns & greens, which was fine, until I saw that she had included Chinese figure stickers & a picture of sheep. Now,where on earth did she think I was going to find a Welsh Chinaman to give a card to ?? Maybe in a Chinese takeaway in Llanelli  or Bridgend ? But, it was a challenge & so I knuckled down & had a go.

 

The following cards are my efforts. I have to say, they aren't my best efforts, one of them I hate with a passion, a few of them are OK, but I really have GOT to try better.

 

The first 5 are made from Liz's swap parcel, the last 3 are from Terri's.

This card I like :o)  I think it's quite elegant :o)

 

 

 This one I hate with a passion. It's too orange, it looks like it's been tangoed. I love the stamped image, I hate the colour. The image is on watercolour paper & so I used watercolour pencils to colour it.  It didn't turn out well at all :o(

 

 

 This card is quite plain & boring. It was a lovely image of a post office, so I just cut it with a circle die, water coloured it & stuck it on a card. I'm sure I could have come up with something better, but I just couldn't think of anything.

 

 

I quite like this one - yellow is one of my favourite colours, I find it so cheerful.

 

Another one I quite like.

 



 I don't like anything Oriental, Indian or Egyptian. I don't know why, they just leave me cold. Always have. So, when I saw the Chinese stickers, my heart just sunk. What on earth was I going to make with them ? However, I think I managed  OK because I no longer have this card - it was snaffled from under my eyes this very morning - right, Val ??!! ;o)

 

 Now, THIS card - I like !! Not for the picture, which I only used part of,  but because of what I managed to do with it :o) Plain, simple but with a bit of humour

 

 

And lastly - a decoupage frangipani card.

 

I still have a bit of Terri's swap parcel & I'm using that for a Christmas challenge that Liz threw at me - a card to enter into a blog competiton. So, I'd better get my skates on & get it made :o)