Rudolph Day Challenge 2023# February

Usually my February entry is a card made from a recycled one I received. This year I had very few suitable salvaged pieces, but I did keep two lovely images of robins, and these are the cards I made.

For the one on the left I used a new doiley die from China trimmed to suit my need, and some digital background paper from my files.

The one on the right has a new die cut frame and a recycled card base that was complete with the gold corners.

As I sorted out the mess on my desk I found a few previously cut pieces, as well as some older cards kept from previous years, so I sorted them out and tried to make a card from each one, or a from a combination of them.  When I recycle cards I always make sure mine look very different from the original, and always add some form of my own crafting. 

I was pleased to use up so many pieces, and ended up with a set of nine cards. (2 above plus 7 below). You should be able to click on this picture to enlarge it and see them better. 

I used too many dies, stamps and papers to list but if you would like to know what any of them are, please ask.

Now I will link them up with the Februaury Rudolph Day Challenge over at Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo, and see what everyone else has made.

Rudolph Day Challenge #January 2023

I have made a good start to my 2023 collection of cards. I often buy Christmas related items, stamps, dies, papers etc, too late to use them so at the start of a new year I look for things that have not been used. This month I have gone with a set of cutting files from DreamOnPrint. They were a bundle including a long advent calendar, several small ornaments and the one I chose to use which is a set of Cathedral Windows depicting parts of the nativity story. They were intended to be cut from lightweight wood or heavy card for a large wall display, but I decided to down-size them to fit on a DL card. 

I used an odd piece off-white card for the base, and various snippets of brown and gold card for the elements.

I liked the result so I made five more using some 300g bright white card for the bases, and a mixture of oddments for the rest of the layers. I did make sure to use the same colour pieces for the three windows on each card. 

Many years ago, maybe twenty years, I bought my first cutting machine, a Craft Robo, at a craft show at NEC Birmingham, and because it was at a show, I was given a whole range of paper and card and some cutting files to start me off. Among the paper was a lot of thinnish gold paper that may have been plastic, because it was textured but it had no fibres, and therefore it cut beautifully. I have used it for odd things over the years and for these cards I used up all the last little pieces, just managing to cut all the window frames, trees and stable scenes, one at a time. The grid on the cutting mat makes it possible to put these scraps in just the right place to match the position of the image in the software. I am sad it has all gone, but at least I made good use of every little piece.

To finish my cards I stamped a simple sentiment at the top using a very old Inkylicious stamp.

And now I have a set of six cards to start off my collection.

Now I shall link ip with Rudolph Day Challenge# January  and

The Snippets Playground

Rudolph Day Challenge# November 2022

Well my cards are mostly written and all the ones for UK and other countries have been posted, so this month I have made something a bit different. I used svg files bought from a designer on Etsy, and uploaded them into my silhouette Cameo machine. It was in a good mood and cut everything very well, with none of the usual problems.

I chose this Nativity scene and as I had quite a bit in stock, I used some Vanilla American craft card. The style of sculpture is called slice-form, and it it consists of many layers of card, (about 32 layers in this one), which are interlocked using carefully placed slots. It is fiddly to do, and annoying sometimes when as you put one piece in place, another pops out again. But it gradually stabilises as the shape is completed.  Mine had a small LED light base , purchased from Amazon, placed underneath it. 

This is the view from the top, so you can see how the layers fit together.

I was quite pleased with the result, but once I understood how it worked, I wanted to have another go, so I asked my husband Chris to chose another design, and he chose this one. I bought a pad of white 216gm card for this, and as it is a sphere without any construction for a base under it, the light shines though better, and I actually like this one the best. 

Although not a card, these do fold flat to go in a large envelope so could be posted, and it also makes it easy to store for another year.

I am linking this with Rudolph Day Challenge over at Scrappy Mo's, and also with 

ABC Cristmas Challenge # W is for white.

Rudolph Day Challenge# October 2022.

Here are my cards for Rudolph Day this month. I have been sorting through my files and came across this cut file from Dreaming Tree and decided it deserved a turn to be used. I am wary because it has several layers and I have to watch the weight of my cards for posting to UK, but I do hand deliver some locally  so I decided to go ahead.  Each card has three layers on the front plus three for the banner, and inside there are four layers plus the star. 

As with all the Dreaming Tree files I have bought, it cut well on my Silhouette Cameo machine and went together easily - they do have a good assembly video on their site if you need it.

I used three shades of plain card for the base cards, white and cream pearliosed paper and two types of mirri card and managed to make six cards in three colourways.

Inside the card there is a fancy panel to write on and the cameo image seen through the 'window' on the front.

I am entering this in Rudolph Day# October 2022 over on Scrappy mo's blog, and

 ABC Christmas Challenge which this month is U for an Unusual colour. I hope my green card qualifies.

Rudolph Day 2022# September

 A couple of months ago Sue used some images and dies from a company called Carnation Crafts. I have not visited this site for years and had forgotten how much I liked them - though some of their designs may be a bit 'fussy' for some folks. They sell a large range of dies, and for most of them you can also download a printed image to cut. Unfortunately the company is based in UK so I am wary of ordering from them in case I get caught for high import duties. But I did buy just a couple. 

But the last time I visited their site I found they now have a 'digital market' section where you can buy a selection of their designs as SVGs which can be used on most electronic cutters, including my Silhouette cameo. Unlike many cutting files, which only give the outline and inner windows of a piece, these have the option to cut the detail which are just lines, but do enhance the finished image. So yes, I did treat myself to a few, and here are the cards I made to try them out. 

These are using the robin family. An advantage of a cutting machine over dies is that you can choose what size the image is, so my first card uses a large robin which has three decoupaged layers. I used some torn paper effect circles to cut the window frame, and torn paper square fames from the silhouette store. The branch is a part of the cutting file for the robin.

The paper is an oddment from a pad and I no longer know its name, and the surround is embossed with my snow fall folder. I don't know the make and am not sure it is still available, but I use mine a lot.

I finished the card with random drops of glitter glue, and a peel-off sticker. (I have straightened it since I took this photo!).

For my second card I again cut images from the robin family set. The brown lines you can see on the robins are tiny cut lines which make their feathers so much more realistic.

The white frames are another set from the same company, and I used the silhouette software to make a matching base card and mat. The sentiment was a file in my silhouette library. I again added a small amount of glitter glue and some snowflakes from silver holographic vinyl. They have picked up some blue in the photo but really they are fairly white.

I can see me using these print and cut files more in the future, and I already have several designs to try.

For now I will link up with September Rudolph Day Challenge over at scraps of life with Scrapy Mo.

Rudolph Day Challenge 2022 # August

Well here we are again, and as I have had various family groups visiting me for the past six weeks I had to think of a quick card for today.

Quite a while ago I ordered a Penny Black stamp that I saw on Amazon without realising it was coming from America. They said they would send it when it became available, and it should arrive before 10th October! To my surprise it turned up last week. I couldn't even remember what was in the little envelope until I opened it. Anyway it was this sweet group of children singing carols. The stamp was called 'Choir kids'.

I stamped it on a scrap of white paper, added a little colour with copic markers, and loosely cut around it..

I made a 17 x 11.5 cm base card in deep red, (a standard European size). Then I found a set of vintage Christmas music papers that I think came with a large bundle I bought from Creative fabrica, but I am not sure. I didn't recognise all the songs on the papers but I thought Joy to the World was quite fitting for this image.

The frame is from Carnation Crafts, as a print and die cut set. As it is a die I cannot resize it, and it was a little too big really. I didn't want to hide the title at the top so I cut a slit across the paper,  and a matching one at the lower edge, and tucked the two ends of the frame behind it. Then I mounted the image on top, and a relatively quick and easy card was done.

Next month when all my visitors have left, I shall try to do a run of cards again, as I think I am rather behind with my collection this year. But every one helps. So if you feel like starting on your Christmas cards, do join us for some inspiration, and link one up at Rudolph Day Challenge for August, on Scraps of Life by Scrappy Mo.

I am also linking with the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #22, where  - 'Anything goes as long as it is for Christmas.'

Rudolph Day Challenge 2022 # July

I recently saw a post on one of the Silhouette pages I follow on Facebook, where a lady named Sabine Harris, showed a card she had designed, and she generously shared the cutting file for the template. I like it, and it is very versatile as the circles could have flowers or butterflies etc for a birthday card, a sentiment on each one, or of course Christmas images and BP. So I went for this option to try it out.

I chose three fun images from the Silhouette store. They were each layered cutting files but as I wanted to use them quite small, I kept them as a one-layer complete image each, and used the print and cut option on my Cameo. I used some plain red paper snippets to cut the mats for each circle. Then I found solid green lightweight card snippets to cut the inner circles and some of the outer pieces, and chose a backing paper to cut the rest. To give some contrast I used plain white card for the centre circle background. (I think the BP was some offcuts from a magazine giveaway).

I glued all the pieces in place and added perfect pearls in white for the fur trim on the hats, and gold and yellow glitter glue for the stars on the centre wreath and the lights on the third image. I also cut one small piece of holly from the BP to add interest to the dark green lower panel. I haven't decided whether or not to add a sentiment to the upper panel as only half of it will show when the card is closed.

The card folds up over itself to give a small 8½ x 17cm card. Fortunately the designer added a file to cut a matching envelope.

I have since enlarged the file to make a card that will fit nicely into a standard slimline envelope.

I will link this with Rudolph Day# July over on Scraps of Life with Scrappy Mo, 

Also in the Snippets Playground where the theme is anything Christmas related,

And My Time to Craft Christmas have the theme "Cutesy Christmas" so I am linking there too.

Rudolph Day Challenge # June 2022

Recently I saw a card I liked on a Facebook page. The lady who posted it had made a design for her Cricut machine. This is similar to my Silhouette Cameo but I think the software is much more restrictive. Anyway I cannot use Cricut files in my Silhouette, so I looked up the link where she said she had found the original design. This was by a designer called Iced Images, and the card design is called Z-fold pop-up block card. She does not design for a machine but measures and cuts everything by hand. Her video tutorial was good, so although she was working in inches, which I left behind many moons ago, I followed her step by step and made a birthday card that I was quite pleased with. (Unable to show it yet).

But I realised that it would be a lot easier if I cut it all in cms on my machine, so I set about making my own file for Silhouette, changing the dimensions of each piece slightly to fit my usual base card (17 x 11.5cms). I used this to make a second birthday card and was very happy with the results, so I now have a file in my library that I can use at any time. And I used for my Christmas designs this time.

For my first card today I chose a sheet of scrapbook paper from my extensive collection on the computer, and down sized it to give the effect I wanted.

The santa was made from some clipart pictures merged together, resized and cut from glossy black vinyl.

I cut the background twice so I could continue it across the front and side panels. I chose some navy card snippets for the mats, and finished it off with a silver peel-off sentiment and some randomly placed stars.

I then decided to have a second go while I was on a roll and this time I used some dark red card for the mats, red patterned paper from a magazine, and a pale pink sheet from a give-away. It has probably been in my files for years.

All the panel designs were cut using files from my Cameo library, mostly bought from the Silhouette store, using green and red vinyl.

So I will be linking these up to The June Rudolph Day Challenge at Scraps of life by scrappy mo.