Monthly Challenge 11 (Nov/Dec)

Thank you to everyone who entered last month's challenge - we have loved visiting and seeing your work! Jenny will be along in a few days to announce last month's winner!

Our new theme for this month's challenge is:

Christmas!!

And the (optional) extra is ....Mix Up The Alphas!!

It's not long now until Christmas will be here so we want to see Christmas cards, gifts, last years photos scrapped .... or anything with a Christmas theme!

Closing date for entries is: 19 December at 1pm

One random winner will win a Mystery Christmas themed prize! Don't forget to check back to see if you are our lucky winner or you are chosen for our favourite 3 entries!!!

Please remember to check out the monthly challenge rules on the tab at the top of this blog, before entering. A quick reminder of our main rules:

Please link directly to your post & not a general link to your blog. 

You must mention and include a link back to the challenge in your entry post. No back linking please - new work only.

The winner must contact me by e mail to receive their prize. A few of our favourites will also be selected to be featured on this blog!

The final (& most important rule) is to have fun!!

Check out the festive samples from the Design Team!

Please do click on the name to visit their blog and leave them a comment ... I know they'd love you to pop by and say hello! There's also lots of detail and extra photos on their own blogs of their challenge piece.

Jenny - Easel Card Luminaire

I used a Hero Arts stamp and some old papers from my stash, inked with Antique Linen  distress ink. I added a couple of pearls to the corners and the cute little wooden deer. I've achieved the extra challenge by using a sentiment with different fonts.

Lisa-Jane - Joy layout

I used lots of layers on this layout of a photo we took of my baby son in the days before we had a digital camera. 

I mixed up the alphas for my title including some black and white Jenni Bowlin stickers and red Cosmo Cricket tiny alphas. The chipboard Joy die-cut is sprayed with green Mister Huey mist and some sparkle added on top.

Jennifer - Photo Shoot layout

This layout features a photo from 2008, of a photo shoot I did with my daughter. 

My supplies included Bazill Sugar Cookie Cardstock. My Mind's Eye All is Bright 6x6 Pad, Stickers from the Collection Kit, Buttons, Rhinestones, and Decorative Tape. Hero Arts Clear Gemstones. Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Cream.

Louise - Christmas Wreath

I've been wanting to make one of these since I pinned something similar on Pinterest. It was so simple to make and my only supplies were a snowflake sizzix die, White Bazzill Card, some Gems and a White Huey Mist.These snowflakes would look so pretty with liquid pearls in the centre as an alternative to the gems and you could add some sparkle with stickles!!

We can't wait to see your Christmas projects 

Please remember to link directly to your blog post and not just your blog and to include a link back to the challenge.

Good Luck and Have Fun!!

Jennifer Grace - Inspired By Winter

Welcome to our very first "Inspired By Winter" Post!

Just over 12 months ago I announced our Design Team here. Since then we have had a fantastic 12 months working together. Their endless support and talents continues to amaze me and I can honestly say they have all become firm friends.

A few weeks ago, I asked them if they were happy to continue on the S J Crafts Team and I'm delighted that Jennifer, Louise, Lisa-Jane and Jenny all agreed to stay on the team.

This new blog series, "Inspired By Winter"  is a celebration of my amazing Design Team, a chance for you, our readers to get to know them a little better and  best of all enjoy seeing some crafty goodness!

Each week, on a Wednesday there will be a chance to "meet" a DT member and find out what inspires them this Winter!

I hope you will join us!!

First up is .... Jennifer!

*  *  *

Hello! I'm Jennifer Grace, a craft-crazy mum-of-two, from Dorset, England, and I'm super happy to be on the SJ Crafts Design Team for another term!

I like to craft as much as possible, and I frequently run around with alphas stuck on my top when my daughter wants to decorate me with my stickers, or with a glittery baby on my hip because he wanted to investigate mummy’s supplies! I love going on family adventures (especially to the beach), dressing up (I was Ariel the Mermaid for my 30th birthday), and celebrating the little moments of joy that life brings!

Here's a few questions & answers to help you get to know me and my crafting:

• What was your last crafty purchase? I've been buying lots of winter/Christmas crafting supplies, including bits from the collections of Crate Paper's Sleigh Ride, Pink Paislee's City Sidewalks, My Mind's Eye All is Bright, and Studio Calico's Wonderland!

• Who is your favourite Craft Manufacturer? This is a hard question as I love all those mentioned above, and more! I guess right now it's My Mind's Eye, but I reserve the right to change my mind on a daily whim!

• What is your favourite technique/style? I don't know how to define my style - it's somewhere between graphic and arty! I like my photos to always be straight, but I don't mind tilting other elements, and I love to scatter small circular items - most often gems/pearls, but also sometimes buttons, brads, or drops of mist. If anyone can come up with a phrase to describe my style, I'd be happy to hear it!

We're approaching winter now - it really feels like it here, as it's been cold and drizzly! But I don't mind, as I love crafting in winter... I'm especially inspired because it's a season of 'giving'. I love crafting gifts, cards, and tags, to give to those I know and love, and hopefully light up their day. It's a great feeling to see someone appreciating what you've made for them, I love sharing my hobby and putting my thoughts and love into projects to pass on to others!

With this in mind, I've made a couple of tags to decorate some gifts this Christmas:

Supplies: White Cardstock, Jenni Bowlin Studios Kraft Flag Tags, Red Rhinestone Stars, andClear Rhinestone Stars, Hero Arts Clear Gemstones, Glitz 'Yours Truly' Alpha stickers, Studio Calico My. Huey Calico White Mist, Sewing Machine with White Thread, Bakers Twine.

They look great on some gifts with a bit of twine and ribbon:

These are a tiny sample of the things I've been making lately with a winter or Christmas theme.
I'd love it if you joined me for my 'Frosty Festivities' Blog Event this coming weekend (16th - 18th of November) to see more! There will be winter themed posts every hour, including tips, tutorials, challenges, crafts, a blog hop, and lots of GIVEAWAYS! Check out more information in my announcement post here.

I hope you'll be able to stop by, but either way I'm sure I'll see you again on the SJ Crafts Blog soon! Thanks for reading a bit about me, it would be lovely if you can leave a comment to say hello!

Jennifer x

Visit Jennifer's blog at Jennifer's Jumbles

Gift Bag & Tealight Holder!

On the last post I showed you some cards I made with the Studio Calico Wonderland 6" x 6" pad. Today I'd like to show you a couple of handmade gifts.

This little gift bag is made with Kraft card which really seems to work so well with many of the papers in the Wonderland pad. The snowflake paper is from the Wonderland Collection and I added some red twine. The sentiment is a digital one from Whimsey Stamps and I added a tiny button which I coloured to match and tied with twine to the centre of the snowflake.

The bag opens up and revels a little pocket into which I put a few celebration sweets.

 Now for something different .... the papers are again from the Wonderland Collection and I think this shows just how versatile this collection is as I have gone away from Christmas completely and made a tea light holder. 

With the light lit!

Will you be making any handmade gifts for the festive season?

Jenny x

You can see more of Jenny's work on her blog: Dragonllew's Spot

Jenny followed these tutorials to make her bag and tealight holder:

Bag Tutorial

tealight holder tutorial

Wonderland Cards - By Jenny

Hi Everyone, Jenny here today!

This month Sarah gave me Studio Calico Wonderland to work with, I love the range of colours in this pad - you have your traditional reds and greens but also some lovely blues, creams and browns. There is a good mix of Winter/Christmas patterns and also more general patterns. I made a few different things to to try and show you how versatile these gorgeous papers are!

First up a nice simple card using Kraft card to mat the patterned paper onto and some twine wrapped around the paper which gives the card a nice rustic look. I have used glossy accents to highlight some of the pattern on the paper and stamped a sentiment in Rich Cocoa Memento ink.

The large snowflake has been cut from a piece of patterned paper and then covered in glamour dust and the smaller one is cut from white card, a clear button tied with some blue twine finishes the snowflake off.

Another fairly simple card - this time using one of the green papers from the Wonderland pad which is matted onto some dark green cardstock and then onto a card blank. I stamped the sentiment in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then drew the square around the card with a fineliner pen. The snowman is a diecut which has been embossed and coloured with promarkers.

I'll be back soon to show you a gift bag and a tealight holder - both would make great Christmas gifts!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Jenny x