52CCT September Sketch

Hello Everyone,
Can you believe that we are already in September!
It is the first week of the month which means 2 things

1. we have a new Hostess for the month and this time it is Myrna

and 2. it is sketch week.

If you have seen my other blog you will know how much I love sketches. They are one of my favourite things to play within my craft room. And this is the sketch that we have had fun playing with

and this is the card that I came up with using this sketch.

Oh I am so in love with these gnome stamps. This time around I decided to put him somewhere other than the snow. I am really happy with the little scene that I made.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team card. I hope that you will come on over to the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown blog and play along with us.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT August Technique Challenge

Hello Everyone,
This time around on the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge it is the 4th week of the month so it is either a Stash or Technique Challenge. And this time around Netta has decided that we are going to explore a Technique. 

When I saw this as one of the things for us to play with I must admit that I had never heard of it before so of course, I went to YouTube for assistance. And I found this tutorial by Gina K that helped a lot. This is my interpretation of this technique.

I am really happy with how the card turned out. I think that if I do this technique again I am going to have to buy a wider brayer because you can see how wide the one I used was. I kept the rest of the card pretty simple with just layering a piece of washi tape because I wanted the focus to be on the technique, not something else.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my Design Team work for this week. I hope that you will come on over to the 52CCT blog and play along with this fun technique. Look forward to seeing you there.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT August Colour Challenge

Hello Everyone,

It is the 2nd week of the month and 

Netta has chosen this colour combo for us to play with.

I must admit that this colour combination was a bit difficult for me to get my head around. But this is the card that I came up with.

When I started making this card I looked through my stash; I found that I didn't have any craft products that suited so this meant a trip to my local big box craft store. I was lucky to find this bronze coloured tape but no papers in these colours. So I decided to make my own using a set of Layered Stencils to make a plaid background paper. I am not sure if I like this set of stencils but this is my first time using this particular set so I will have to play with different colour combos to make my final assessment.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team creation. I hope that you will come on over to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and participate in the challenge.

Until Next Time,

Tracy B

52CCT August Sketch

Hello Everyone,
I am here today with the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge blog for the beginning of our August set of Challenges. This month we have Netta as our host. And since it is the first week of the month we have a sketch to play with.

Netta has also turned this sketch into a Triptych Sketch.
Triptych means that your creation is split into 3.

I have created this card using the sketch

This is me diving into my scraps drawer because I couldn't find anything that I was happy with. Then I found this paper and these adorable images plus the sentiment that actually goes along with this paper. 

I hope that you will come on over to the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge blog and play along with our challenge this week.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT July Stash Challenge

Hello Everyone,
I am here for my last post as a hostess over on the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Since it is the 4th week of the month it is time to choose between a Technique or a Stash Challenge. I chose to go with a Stash Challenge, and we won't talk about how big those are ... will we!

But the stash item I want you to dust off is

I know that I have a lot of ribbon in my stash and it doesn't get used as often as it should. I don't know why because I love that little something that it adds to a project.

And this is the card that I made with some of my ribbon

I got to also use one of the images that has been sitting in my done pile for a while. This cute little Elf is from Faery Ink. When I was colouring her in with my Prismacolour Pencils I decided to try multi-colour hair as I had never tried this before and I am quite happy with the results.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team work for the last hosting duties of this month. I will be back on the blog next week to announce the winner of the stash challenge. Please come on over to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge and play along with the challenge.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT July Theme

Hello Everyone,
It is week 3 of my hosting duties over on the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. And this week we are up to a theme challenge. I had to thing for awhile about this one and what I was going to set my theme as and this is what I came up with

Now you may be asking yourself exactly what does she mean? Well I want you to dig into your non-Christmas images and see what you could use on your cards. What about an image of a stack of Birthday Presents or a family going on Holidays. How could these be used on your Christmas cards?

I know as a crafter in Australia I have to look at Summer themed images for my Christmas cards because when Christmas comes around we are in the middle of hot Summer not a snowy Winter.

And this is the card that I came up with

This is actually a birthday image from Some Odd Girl. And just by colouring the present in Green and Red I can now use her on the front of this Christmas Card. The paper pack "Silent Night" from Kasiercraft really helped me to sell the idea of a Christmas card as well.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my Design Team work for my Theme Challenge. I hope that you will decide to come along and play with us.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT July Colour Challenge

Hello Everyone,
I am back with my 2nd week of hostess duties for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. And since it is the 2nd week of the month we are up to a colour challenge. And this is the combination of colours that I have chosen for us to play with

The red and green are very traditional colours for Christmas but I decided to add in some brown for just a bit of difference.

And here is what I did with this combination

There is some of the brown in the papers but most of my brown in actually my layers except I have noticed in my photos that it is looking more maroon than brown. This card came together quite quickly because I used a familar placement of elements on my page but I was lucky to be able to use this bird and sentiment image from the elements pack as well.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my design team work for this week I hope that you will come and play along with myself and the rest of the team.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT July Sketch

Hello Everyone,
This is a very different Design Team post for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge because for the month of July I am your hostess. I really hope that you are going to like the challenges that I have come up with for you to play along with.

And since it is the first week in July it means that it is time for us to play along with a sketch. Now if you are a regular visitor over on my other blog you will find that I am in LOVE with Sketches. I find that they help me so much with my card crafting and where I usally turn when I am stuck.

So without further ado here is my sketch for July

I had a lot of fun coming up with this sketch. And this is the card that I came up with using it

Thanks for coming on by and looking at my creation for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Remember even though this sketch is in the landscape orientation you can make it portrait or even flip it. Go on have some fun I am really looking forward to seeing what you come up with by using my sketch as your starting point.

Until Next Time,

Tracy B

52CCT June Technique

Hello Everyone,
Why do we procratinate? It doesn't do us any good and we have to do what we have been putting off eventually anyway - and usually in a rush.

That's how it was with this weeks 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. I knew that it was coming up but I just kept on putting off doing anything about it until today when at the same time I am trying to get ready to go away for the weekend with my spinning and weaving group.

But anywho onto this weeks challenge and for Fabiola's last week as hostess she had the choice between a stash or a technique challenge and she went with

This technique can be intereperted in many ways. Oh this was part of my problem with making this card - what type of pop up should I do? But this is the card that I came up with.

I decided that I would pop up my layers. This card was decided by the die-cut set that made this card possible. I can see it being used for different occasions and not just Christmas.

Thank your for stopping by and looking at my Design Team work for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. I hope that you will come and play along with our challenge.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT Theme Challenge

Hello Everyone,
It is week 3 of June which means it is time to play with a theme to make our Christmas/Winter cards this time around. And this time around Fabiola has chosen this theme

Even though I love these kinds of cards I found that I have been second guessing myself for these past couple of weeks whether what I had made suited this challenge. I don't know if it is vintage enough ... here is my creation

I would really love to know what you think of my creation. Do you think it is vintage enough? I wanted to use a simple design and I am sure that I have used a sketch similar to this in the past but I couldn't find it to refer too. The paper pack that I used is Twig and Berry by Kasiercraft. This came out a few Christmases ago and I loved it so much at the time that I bought several pads. Now I am trying to work through it all and the emphoria packs that came with it.

Thanks for stopping by today and looking at my Design Team Work for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. I hope that you will come on over and play along with our challenge this week.

Until Next Time,

Tracy B 

52CCT June Sketch

Hello Everyone,
Here in Australia we are starting our Winter Time of the year and it feels funny to be making Christmas Cards 😊
But it is the first week of June which means over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown we are going to be playing with a sketch and this is the one that Fabiola our hostess for the month has chosen for us to play with

You can see that I have added the measurements that I have used to make this card

The image that I have used is Angel Marci from La La Land and I have used my Prismacolor Pencils to colour her in. I still feel like a beginner using these as I have been quite afraid to use them but I am venturing into using them more as I can transport them when I am going to be out.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team make for 52CCT. I hope that we will see you over there and that you will play along with our latest challenge.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

CCT May Technique Challenge

Hello Everyone,
Today I am here to share with you my Design Team Work for Week 4 of May Challenges over on the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge and this time it is a 

And if you are wondering what this technique is you can find information here.

I had a lot of fun once I understood the technique and this is the card that I created.

I chose to use a patterned piece of paper for my eraser technique and I am really happy with the results. I know that I will be using this technique again and I may try the technique with other pencils and see what I can come up with or maybe even chalk 😊

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my Design Team Work for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. I hope that you will give this technique a try and come and play along with us.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT May Theme

Hello Everyone,
Today is the 3rd week in May and this means it is time for a Theme Challenge with the Design Team from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. And Rosie has chosen this theme for us to play with

I have to admit that this one stumped me as to what to make for quite awhile. But this is the card that I came up with

I decided to have a play around and just started making something. I knew that I wanted something other than people singing. I knew that I had this "Baaah Humbug" set which I used this sheep image and the song book came from a 2nd Set called "Holiday Party Animal" both stamp sets are by Lawn Fawn. I coloured these sheep in with my Copic Markers. Then I needed to find a background paper suited and I thought I had some sheet music paper but I couldn't find anything in my stash. 

So I used the string of Christmas lights from the Baaah Humbug set and some musical notes from another set. After I stamped this out I thought that the background was a little plain so I decided to do a splatter technique. I got out my spatter cubby and put the background in it then I got 3 Distress Inks, my spray bottle, a small fat brush and a stamp block and had some fun flicking ink. I must admit that I had to trust the process. After setting the panel aside to dry I rubbed the ink pad onto sections of the card base so that the colours would co-ordinate with the panel. Then I assembled everything together gluing the panel directly to the base but popping up the sheep on foam tape.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team work for 52CCT. I hope that you will consider coming on over and playing along with us this week.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT May Colour

Hello Everyone,
Today is the 2nd week of May which means its Colour Challenge time over at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. And this time Rosi has chosen these colours for us to work with

This was an interesting combo to try and figure out what to do. So I actually went to my printed sketch box and found something I could work with it is actually a previous 52CCT from November 2017 and this is it

and this is the card that came out of combining these all together

I flicked through my stamp sets and I found the Baaah Humbug set from Lawn Fawn and thought I could make something with this. I first cut out the oval elements then I knew where I could place my stamps from the set. I used some distress inks for the background then I coloured the everything in with my Copic Markers.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team work today. I hope that we will see you over at the 52CCT and that you will join in with the colour challenge.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

52CCT March Technique

Hello Everyone,
I am here today with our 4th Challenge for March which is a technique challenge. Goga has asked us to do the following

I was pretty sure that I had some folders that would suit this challenge as this is craft item is one of my favourite items to buy. And this is the card that I came up with

I was first going to go with an embossing folder that had words on it just didn't look right. Especially once I put my Old World Santa image from Bugaboo Digi Images which I coloured with my Copic Markers on it . So then I searched through my collection of embossing folders and I found this one by Craft Concepts called Secret Garden which I thought looked like Christmas Berries so I went with it. I decided to keep the card pretty simple this time around because I wanted to keep the focus on the embossing.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team work for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Please consider coming over and participating in this weeks challenge.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

March Theme Challenge

Hello Everyone,
Today is week 3 of the month and this is Theme Challenge week over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge. Goga has given this theme to play along with

I search through my entire Christmas stash and I don't have any Gingerbread in there. So I went looking online for a free image as I couldn't afford to buy a new digi image at the moment even though they are a great price. But I found an image I was able to work with and this is what I made

To give a little more life to my image I found this piping bag and chef hat that fit my image perfectly. I used a cover up die that I have had for a while to make the background because I couldn't really find papers that I was 100% happy. I used several brown Distress Inks on the frame because I thought that it looked a little like baked goods.

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team project. But if you would like to keep in touch with what I do away from here I have a 2nd website where you can see my other card projects and other crafts. Hope to see you around some time.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

March Colour Challenge

Hello Everyone,
Well it is week 2 of the month so this means we are having a Colour Challenge over at the 52 Christmas Card Challenge. And our host Goga has chosen these colours to play with

This was interesting to play with because I usually play with a lot more colours but this is the card that I came up with for the challenge

I must say that it is hard to photograph metallic colours. I have been wanting to try this design out for a while ever since I got this intricate star die last Christmas and this challenge gave me the perfect opportunity. 

Thanks for stopping in and looking at my Design Team project. Please consider coming on over to our blog and joining in on the fun. 

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

February Stash Challenge

Hello Everyone,
It is week 4 of the month which means our host had a choice between a technique or a stash challenge. And Alison chose to go along with a stash challenge and that challenge is

I must admit that when I saw it as a technique I didn't know what to do so I went with it as a stash challenge. To look into our stashes and have a find those pieces that we just had to keep for a project sometime in the future. Well this is the challenge for you to use that stuff! 

And this is the card that I came up with

So how did I complete the challenge - well I had these trees that I had cut at a friends place and these were made out of embossed paper doilies which were left over from a party. And the sentiment came from an older paper pack but good for any Christmas card.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my Design Team project. I hope to see your entry into our challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Before you go though I would like to leave you with this thought

I just had to go with this today. It gave me a laugh again when I read it and it always does. Sometimes you just need something to make your day a little brighter.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

February Theme Challenge

Hello Everyone,

It's the 3rd week of the month and over at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge this means it's Theme Challenge time. And our hostess this month Alison has suggested this theme

I must say that I always find winter theme cards a challenge. Because where I live in Australia we don't really have a winter ... well we do but nothing that needs snow gear unless we travel down to the south of our country. So I had to dig through my stamp stash to see what I could find because I don't really buy this theme either. But I did find something suitable and this is the card I came up with.

I am quite happy with how this came together. Even though I didn't use traditional colours at all for this card I thought the pink, blue and purples lent to the winter theme. I used my embossing supplies to give this poor leafless tree a slight covering of snow. Using my white gel pen I added some snow to the background of the "photo" which I had coloured using my Distress Inks.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and having a look at my Design Team Submission. I hope to see you over at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Before you go I want to leave you with this thought

I love the advice from a tree. These things are quite good for humans to remember as well. I sometimes forget to do some of these thing actually.

Until Next Time,
Tracy B

February Colour Challenge

Hello Everyone,
The Christmas card that I am sharing today is a little on the simpler side but I am actually liking it a lot. I don't usually go for this simple but being challenged can push you in different directions. So since this is week 2 of the month it is time for a colour challenge over at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. Our host Alison has given us this combo to play with

52 Christmas Card Throwdown
February Colour Challenge

and with this inspiration this is the card I came up with

My Cuttlebug got a bit of a work out making this card first for the cutting of the stars and 2nd for using an embossing folder that I got from a card making magazine last year. To give this simple design a little more interest I added some small holographic silver stickers.

I hope that you will consider coming over to the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge and play along with our latest challenge. Thanks for stopping in to look at my Design Team project. Before you go I would like to leave you with this thought

I chose this quote because of the floods that have been happening in the northern part of the state I live in. The new beginning hasn't even been able to start yet because there is still so much uncertainty with the weather. I pray that the clean up can start soon and people will know the way forward from here.

Until Next Time,
👣 Tracy Blackburn