It's like a Rudolph Day challenge and a Friday Funny

Morning all,

Is your weather still Christmas-y? Well, have I got a deal for you then ......

A few people commented that they were really behind with their Christmas cards in 2012 and wanted a helping hand for 2013 ...... now, other sites have a RUDOLPH DAY challenge (See Sandra's Rudolph Day challenge here and my card will be entered for this too) - I didn't want to nick the idea but ..... I said how about calling it "Create a Christmas Card Day"? (CCCD for short). I volunteered to set a challenge on the 25th of January so here is my sketch for this months Christmas card .. You gotta concede that RUDOLPH DAY is way catchier! Thanks Sandra, and, SORRY I sort of accidentally (honest) nicked your challenge name! EDITED TO READ: apologies for any confusion as to where the challenge is being hosted - my mistake - I should have said that it's set on two crafting forums, the first being on www.craftbubble.com and the second on the forum www.auntysforum.com

I offered a recipe as an alternative to the sketch which went along the lines of:

• Take  lots of glitter, add a button, a stamped image and some patterned paper and simmer till a card comes out!

Here's the sketch I designed

And here is my card which actually follows both the sketch AND the recipe - check it out:-



Sparkly and blingy!



In case you can't see how sparkly - here's the close up!

Materials used:

• 300 gsm white C5 card and matching sized envelope
• Patterned paper (from an 8" x 8" stack that I've had so long I don't recall its origins
• Strip of gold patterned card layered on to gold mirri card
• 11½ cm square of gold mirri card
• 11 cm square of red patterned card from a DCWV stack
• Die cut scalloped circle of gold mirri card
• Die cut plain circle of white card
• Forever Friends image inked using Memento tuxedo black and coloured with pro markers, flitter glue and crystal glamour dust (for the sparkle).
• Once the glitter/glue was dry I used a Tim Holtz blending tool (with foam pad) and distress inks in Antique linen and tumbled glass to lightly colour the white part of the image circle
• Costco wide wired satin ribbon (with the wire removed)
• White button coloured with classic gold liquid leaf, applied using a cotton bud - so much EASIER than cleaning out a paintbrush!
• Red/White bakers twine threaded through the button holes

Hope you like it - just lately I've been more or less obsessed with Clean And Simple so this is QUITE a departure for me! In addition to the challenges above, I intend to enter this for Sarn's challenge, the "ANYTHING GOES" theme over on the I Love Pro Markers challenge blog and my own challenges on both Auntys forum and craftbubble - making four challenges - wish me luck!

I have some more wrap to share with you, I'm really very taken with personalised wrapping paper at present (pun INTENDED!) .....



The stamped wrapping



The wrapped gift

Materials used:

• IKEA brown paper roll (£1.95p for 8m)
• Hampton Arts sentiment and We R Memory Keepers plane image stamped multiple times using Versafine onyx black ink as it shows the densest - though if it was likely to go through the post I think I'd probably have gone with Ranger Archival jet black but hey .......
• Red organza ribbon
• For the tag: I used a Go Kreate tag die, TPC Studio plane and Funstamps sentiment and the versafine ink

And now for the Friday Funny, this week courtesy of Pat - thanks Pat. It came in e-mail form entitled "An Essex Winter Story" - ENJOY

An Essex Winter Story

As a lorry driver in Essex stops for a red light, a blonde in her car pulls up alongside. She jumps out of her car,runs up to his lorry cab, and knocks on the door. The driver lowers the window, and she says, "Hi, my name is Sharon and you're losing some of your load!"

The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street. When the lorry stops for another red light, the girl again catches up. She jumps out of her car, runs up to his cab, and knocks on the door. The guy lowers the window, and she says, "Hi, my name is Sharon and you ARE losing some of your load."

Shaking his head, the driver ignores her again and continues down the street.

At the third red light, the same thing happens again. All out of breath, the blonde gets out of her car, runs up, knocks on the lorry cab door. The driver lowers the window again and she says, 'Hi, my name is Sharon and you really are losing some of your load!

When the light turns green, the driver revs up and races to the next light.

When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of his lorry, and runs back to the blonde ....... He knocks on her window and, as she lowers it, he says...

"Hi, my name is Kevin and I'm gritting the road."

Kind of topical given the weather we've been having of late! Have a great weekend and stay warm and safe peeps!