NOVEMBER'S CHALLENGE!!

Well for November Pat very nicely chose the theme "Earth, Fire, Wind & Water" ........ doesn't sound too difficult does it? HaHa, I don't think any of us found it as easy as we expected! Both my parcels contained lots of lovely bits and pieces as always but, unlike some months where pieces almost shout at me to put them together, this month nothing was even whispering!! Just a ghostly silence as I perused what I'd been given ............ and I needed to make at least 4 cards from each parcel. For the first time I felt failure creeping in, but I don't give up easily and slowly 1 card emerged, then another, then (with the aid of a few images from my stash) I had my cards, 4 from Pat's parcel & 5 from Liz's.
So here they are, Pat's first .........

This one is obviously "wind", the cloudy background and the hot-air balloons made me think of the wind pushing them around the sky.

I did think this was cheating a little but as Pat had included the words it just had to be "Earth"

"Fire" .... my own image on this one, a lovely log fire

And finally "Water",

So I was pleased with those 4, ......... now onto the cards from Liz's parcel ..........

Firstly we have "Wind" .......... you need a nice windy day to fly a kite

Secondly we have "Fire" ............. slight artistic licence maybe but candles have flames and flames equal fire!

The another "Fire" one

Onto "Earth" ........ I loved this picture Liz included and it didn't need much to turn it into a lovely (IMO) card

And lastly "Water" ........ you can't sail your boat without it

So that's November done and another year of monthly challenges completed, I've complained at times, despaired frequently ......... and thoroughly enjoyed every one of those challenges and now look forward to next years.

But .......... first there is something I look forward to maybe a little more, Decembers advent parcels! My inner child comes out when I wake on the 1st and realise it's time to start opening those little parcels .......... I love it!!!!!

I MADE IT ......... JUST!!!!!!

Phew!! I was almost late with my October cards but I made it by the skin of my teeth. This month the theme was "Spots" ............ by the time I finished I was seeing spots before my eyes! My parcels contained soooooo many beautiful spotty papers I didn't know where to start. Eventually I made 3 cards from each parcel ......... so let's start with the results of my parcel from Pat, .........

I really wasn't sure where I was going with this one, I wanted to use at least 1 of the lovely spotty circles Pat included ........ I realised it would fit the centre of a small doily and went from there. I puzzled over the topper for a while though but eventually I found this flower one that fitted the circle nice and went with the colours.

I like this one ......... and not just because it's red!!! It's bright and cheerful

Very similar to the one above but I think I used all the inspiration I had on the first one, LOL

So onto my parcel from Liz ...........

All fairly straightforward here, this one didn't scan well for some reason. I put the topper and layered card to the side just for a bit of difference. The topper was from my own stash as it was all I could find that matched!

I like this one, very simple and quick to make. I used my own flowers on it again.

 

Another very quick & easy one, but probably my favourite of the lot.

So that's the October cards ................ bring on Novembers!!!

SEPTEMBER CARDS

Another month almost gone ............ how do they go so fast? This months theme for the parcels was "Strippety Stripes", and what a lovely lot of stripey papers I got in my parcels! The choice was almost too much but eventually I picked my bits and made 2 cards from Liz's parcel & 3 from Pat's ............... and I have so much stuff left to use at another time too!
So here we go, first the cards from Liz's parcel ...............

A fairly simple card, as usual I'm not really happy with my colouring of the picture but I quite like the card

Another quite simple card but the rather busy paper didn't seem to need anything else

.... and another simple card!!! Pat had included this rather large "celebrate" which, once placed on a darker backing, fitted exactly across the card. The stripey paper matched the colour too and seemed to be all that was needed

This one I did have a little fun with. The backing paper was a sheet with just diagonal stripes but as Pat had included 2 sheets I was able to use half of each one and turning one round make an arrow shape of the stripes. A little tag on a nestie shape and that was that

Again fairly simple ....... but I like it!!

So another months cards done, I was pleased with them all and now looking forward to next month!

AUGUST PARCELS

The theme this month was "Swap the Swaps" where we send a selection of bits we haven't been able to use from the previous months parcels ................ surprising sometimes how different things look second time around.
I only managed 2 cards from each parcel, not because of what I was sent but because of time ....... I know I can get more from the bits I have left in the future.
So here is what I did do ............

First one from Liz's parcel, a nice Christmas card to add to my stash

Second from Liz's parcel another Christmas card, it wasn't a conscious choice to make 2 Christmas cards just the way it turned out. This one gave me a lot of problems as I couldn't decide on white or coloured background! Eventually I found a piece of paper in my stash that seemed to fit and used that

Now 2 from Pat's parcel .......... first a cute little cat, a very simple card as Pat had included the lovely embossed backing paper, so I didn't have to do much

and secondly a pretty flower card, again very simple

So that is my efforts for August, I'm quite happy with them .......... now to look forward to September

JULY CARDS

Look at this .......... it's not the last day of the month yet here I am with my cards made & ready to blog, think the sunshine has gone to my head, LOL.
This months theme was sport and I've made 2 cards from Liz's parcel & 3 from Pat's. I could have made more with all the lovely bits I was given by both Liz and Pat but I don't need them at the moment so I'm saving the bits for now. All the cards are fairly simple because I'm still searching for some inspiration!


So these first 2 are from Liz's parcel  ............ this is my least favourite of the lot! I like the picture but it just didn't turn out how I wanted it to really.

The 2nd one from Liz's parcel, I like this a lot more now it's done than when I was making it, I wasn't too sure about it then.

These 3 are from Pat's parcel ............... I liked my colouring on this one, I only used coloured pencils as I didn't want it too bright at all. I love the picture so I'm glad I managed not to spoil it!

The 2nd from Pat's parcel and again I was fairly happy with my colouring. I liked the blue background paper as it looks a bit like water and went well with the fishing pic.

And my last from Pat's parcel ......... a very simple card, a lovely background paper that made me think of grass and a cute little bicycle topper and a greeting ........ even I couldn't go wrong, LOL

So there we are, Julys cards all done, although I may yet make some more, I don't know.

JUNE CARDS .......... FINALLY!!

Well I've just managed to get my June cards here before the end of the month. I have really struggled for some reason. The theme was "Animals" and when I first looked at my parcels I thought "yes, I can work with these", BUT when I came to put things together it was a different story!
Both parcels contained (as usual) some lovely bits and a nice variety of things but all inspiration had left me and, despite liking the bits and pieces, somehow they suddenly seemed to have a mind of their own and, and with no inspiration, nothing seemed quite right!!!
Eventually I managed to make 2 cards from each parcel, all fairly plain & simple. Hopefully by next month I'll have found some inspiration from somewhere and will be able to do my parcels justice .......... I don't think I did this month, sorry Liz & Pat.

These first 2 came from the parcel from Liz. I don't much like the brown backing on this now even though it seemed ok when I made it!!

I do quite like this one, I added some peel off edging and gems to give it a bit more but a very simple card.

The next 2 are from Pat's parcel.
I had no idea where this one was going! I was fairly happy with my colouring although as always it could have been better!

I loved this Hippo pic, it's so cute and I wanted to use it but it really didn't need much added to it, so I cut it into a circle that was slightly bigger than the card, then trimmed the edges, just to give a little bit different shape, and added some gems and a greeting.

So there we are, my cards for June, ............... I did my best, LOL

MAY PARCELS

Ooooops!!! Only just in time to get this done before the end of the month!! Where does the time go? One minute I've got ages and the next I'm late!
Never mind, I'm here now and ready to show you the cards I made from my May parcels. The theme was mine and I chose "busy patterns" ........ in other words all those bright, colourful, busy papers that we tend to push to the back of the drawer because we're just not sure what to do with them. When it came to making the cards I half wished I'd picked something easier, LOL, but not one to shirk a challenge I set to and eventually made 3 cards from Pat's parcel & 4 from Liz's, so, without further ado, here they are ....

Firstly the cards from Pat's parcel ....
This one I used a frame Pat had included and a piece of a very busy paper behind it, a strip from another piece of paper went behind it and 4 small blue dots at the corners, I then added the little fairy to the corner

This really was a busy piece of paper, nice but so much going on ............ in the end I chose to use a black & white picture Pat had included, which I placed onto a piece of purple paper leaving a very narrow edge, on top of it

This one was a very simple one, I used part of a piece of paper from the parcel and just added a piece of ribbon & a greeting

So on to the cards from Liz's parcel .......................

I loved this paper from Liz, at first I wasn't sure what to do with it though, then I decided to add 2 thin strips of ribbon across the corner and to make a tag from some other bits in the parcel, then I just had to add a greeting

A very simple one, although I don't like green much I did like this paper and decided to use it with this sweet picture of the little girl blowing bubbles which I layered onto another piece of green

This one took a little bit of working out and came together gradually. I wanted to use the piece of green card Liz had included and rounded the corners on it, then I was stuck!!! Liz had also included a sheet of paper which had lots of squares similar to the 2 I used here (which I cut from it of course), I rounded the 2 end corners on each of them. Liz suggested the greeting in the centre and I decided to use a strip of white paper so it would look like the topper piece was slipped behind it. Small pieces punched from a remnant of the green card added the finishing touch.

Ooooh one of Liz's gorgeous butterflies, of course I had to use that, although at first I wasn't sure how as it seemed to get lost on everything I tried. Eventually I decided these 3 bits of paper layered together worked and (just to be different) I chose to line them up with the edge of the card for a slightly different look.

So that's the end of the May parcels, although I still have lots of lovely bits to use in the future ......... now onto the June parcels with a theme from Liz of animals.

APRIL PARCEL FROM LIZ

Almost at the end of the month but I just have time to show the cards I made from Liz's parcel. Inspiration was short to begin and, although I had 3 planned, I thought that would be it but in the end I managed to make 6, so my Christmas card stash is looking good now.
Here we go then ........

This one came together as I played around with all the lovely bits and pieces, like most of them this month it was very quick & simple to make

Another very quick & easy one but this gorgeous little fellow just didn't need much to add to his attraction

A lovely robin, always very Christmassy

For once I was quite pleased with my colouring here. I just backed the image onto a darker purple paper and the lighter purple went lovely with it

I really wanted to use this lovely ornament image that Liz included but at first I just didn't know how, ....... eventually (after a suggestion from Liz, thank you) I used some lacy tape I had to go down the edge and let the image stand out

I'm not sure where this one came from, LOL, just playing around with bits and pieces and it seemed to work so I took a chance and made it up ................. know what?..... I actually like it!

So there we are, from my 2 April parcels I made 15 Christmas cards!!!! Great parcels.
Now to get ready for May which was my choice ............. I decided it was time we all used more of those really "busy & colourful" patterned papers that we tend to keep putting aside because we're not sure what to do with them ................ can't wait to see what we all make!!

PARCEL WITH SECRET INGREDIENT?

Time to get on with the April parcels, the agreed theme for this 4th month was Christmas so we could get an early start on those cards! First up my parcel from Pat ............ lots of lovely bits and pieces to play with and I think she slipped in an invisible secret ingredient because I ended up making 9 ---- yes NINE!!! --- cards!! Please can I have more of that secret ingredient Pat?
Because I managed to make so many I am letting one of these be my monthly Christmas card for April.
So here we go ...........

This one was very simple, I loved the old house and the blue spotted paper was perfect behind it for a snowy sky.

Another fairly simple one, ........ not one of my favourites though!

I like this one, my colouring wasn't that good although it is better than it's come out here.

Another easy one to make and another one I like.

When I sorted out the bits to make cards this one was not among them but somewhere along the line it seemed to come together and get made

I really liked this background paper but it was a bit busy so needed covering a little.

I rarely use aperture cards which is probably why there are quite a lot at the bottom of my draw!! So I thought I'd have a play and ended up with this which I quite like

Another aperture card used,

And number 9 (this will be my April Christmas card!) ......... I like this one even though I don't like green!

So there we are .......... I think that is enough from Pat's parcel for now, I shall save the remaining bits for another day and move onto my parcel from Liz, .......... hmmmmm, wonder if she'll include a secret ingredient to help me too?