2022 year in review

 Realizing that I haven't posted more than a couple of crafts per month this entire year I decided to make a top 5 instead of a favourite per month. And I'm participating in Ellibelle's Year in Review 2022 blog hop. 

So, my top 5 for 2022 is:

It has been a good crafting year, but I have used the sewing maching a lot more than the paper crafting table, let's see what kind of mojo 2023 brings...

I will send a surprise gift to one of the people hopping by, so don't forget to leave a comment on my post to be included in the prize draw. 

And here are the other talented crafters joining in the blog hop:

1. Bonnie from Stamping in the Light
2. Brenda from Floral Fantasies
3. Debbie from Secrets to Stamping
4. Diane from Nellies Nest
5. Ellie from Ellibelle’s Corner
6. Helene from Mummylade
7. Hilary from Fiddling About
8. Joanne from My Slices of Life
9. Melissa from The Stamping Ninja
10. Rachel from Slow Down, Enjoy and Create
11. Sara from Sassy’s Cards and Gifts
12. Sue from Just Peachy Stamping

If you want to link up your own Year in review, you can do so here:

CAS gift bag

 Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and got exactly what you wished for. I wished for my children and grandchildren to be healthy, happy and home for Christmas and I got all my wishes granted 💕.

Today I have a small gift bag, using just a cherry blossom branch coloured with distress inks, clean and simple. I really like giving gifts in hand made gift bags, then the receiver can give the gift bag on to someone else, a sort of "pay it forward-situation" 😊

Challenges:

Allsorts - CAS
Dare2Bartzy - CAS
Lilpatchofcraftyfriends - A/G
CAS on Friday - Christmas
AAAcards - non traditional Christmas colors

ABC Christmas - Y and Z

 This last challenge for 2022 at ABC Christmas we have reached Y and Z. Tricky letters but my brilliant team mates came up with Y for Youngsters and Z for Zoom. 

I actually managed to combine them with a LOTV-image of youngsters zooming down the snowy hill :), coloured with distress inks.

The sentiment is computer generated. 

The prize for a lucky winner is provided by Wendy: 

Other challenges:

As you like it - Anything Christmas
Happy little stampers Watercolor - A/G
Ellibelles crafty Wednesday - A/G
Christmas kickstart - A/G
We love stamping - I love (Lili of the Valley images and distress inks)
Stamping sensations - Anything stamped and Winter Wonderland
Taylormadecards4u - Christmas
Crafty calendar - A/G
Crafty Catz - A/G
Sweet Stampin - Christmas creations
Allsorts - A/G, optional Let it snow
Fab´n´Funky - last minute Christmas

Digital kalender 2023

 Jag har gjort en kalender till min iPad och tänkte att jag kan gärna dela med mig av den om någon känner att de har användning av den.

På startsidan - och dit kommer man från alla sidor genom att klicka på det lilla huset - finns flikar för årets alla månader. Dessa flikar är länkar till en månadsöversikt och i högerkanten finns den månadens veckor. Så om jag väljer fliken maj och vill till den 3 maj så väljer jag att klicka på vecka 18 i högerkanten och kommer då till bladet för den veckan. 

Formatet är pdf så du behöver bara hämta den på din iPad - eller maila den till dig själv om du sitter vid en dator eller telefon, och öppna den i det anteckningsprogram du använder. Jag använder appen Goodnotes så jag väljer bara alternativet Öppna med Goodnotes. 

Länk för nedladdning

ABC Christmas - W/X

 This month at ABC Christmas the theme is 

W for white or X for X-tra special. 

I have long thought about making a shadow box and decided that I would give it a go for this challenge. I used my Silhouette cameo for cutting out the pieces and then I mounted them together. I must say I'm really pleased with the result. 

This is the box with an electrical tea-light behind it.

Other challenges:

Crafty Catz - 3 or more layers
Happy little stampers - Christmas 
Crafty Calender - A/G
Stamping sensations - Christmas celebrations
We love stamping - Christmas
Dare 2B Artzy - non birthday
Peace on earth Christmas - A/G Christmas
613 Avenue - Fancy cuts
Holly & the Ivy  - A/G Christmas
Corrosive challenge - A/G
Little red wagon - winter

Celebration card

 Here is a celebration card using my beloved daisy die from Sizzix, with some sparkling ribbon, pearls and gingham paper.

Thought I'd step away slightly from the Christmas cards since Allsorts are having a big celebration with lovely prizes and I never had the opportunity to enter the prize draw when being a DT member. (Not that I count on winning since I live in Sweden and the challenge blog usually just sends stuff within the UK but it's a hommage for old times sake)

challenges:

Allsorts - celebrate any special occasion (well, this is celebrating Allsorts 700th challenge)
Happy little stampers - Birthday A/G
Try it on Tuesday - Sparkle and Shine
Love to Craft - A/G
Fab'n'Funky - shades of blue

ABC Christmas reminder - U and V

 Here is a reminder that the challenge at ABC Christmas is still underway.

It's U for Unusual colours and V for Velvet.

I have a slimline card, using a poinsetta stencil and some purple distress inks and oxides. 

Other challenges:

Christmas Kickstart challenge - Poinsettas and Posies
The Holly and Ivy challenge - A/G
C.R.A.F.T challenge - Christmas non traditional colours
Addicted to stamps and more - Die cuts or stencils
FabnFunky - seasons greetings
TTCRD - A/G

🎅ABC Christmas 🎄 - U and V

 This month at ABC Christmas the theme is 

U for Unusual Christmas colours and V for Velvet. 

I opted for Unusual Christmas colours and made a gift tag in orange shades, using distress oxides and distress inks. The PB snowman is stamped and fussy cut, and coloured with the same colours. 

Other challenges:

Happy little stampers - Christmas A/G

Allsorts - monochromatic

Sweet stampin - anything but birthday
Crafty catz - A/G autumn colours

Crafty Galz - halloween colours

Autumn card

 Here is an autumn card using a leaf stencil, distress inks and some stamps from Lavinia. 

I also want to remind you that there is still time to enter our challenge at ABC Christmas where the theme is S for snow or T for trees. Good luck!

Other challenges:

We love stamping - Autumn colours

Stamping sensations - All things autumn

Inkspirational challenge - use stencils
Sweet stampin - Christmas in september

My time to craft - I used the colours beige, brown and green

613 Avenue Create – Anything goes

 Creative Moments – Autumn colours

 Through The Craft Room Door – Anything goes

The Creative Crafters – Anything goes

 World Wide Open Design Team Challenge – Anything goes

🎄ABC Christmas ☃️ - S and T

 It's time for a new challenge at ABC Christmas and this time it is:

S for snow
T for trees

I chose S for Snow, used a Lili of the Valley snowman stamp and masked it to create a background, as you can see in the pictures below. The text strips are cut from a design paper. 

Other challenges;

Christmas with the cuties - Frosty the snowman
Merry little Christmas challenge - A/G
Happy little stampers - A/G with dies
A perfect time to craft - A/G
TTCRD - A/G
The holly and Ivy - A/G
Simon says - Die cuts
We love stamping - A/G stamps
52cct - blue, white,gold
Elliebelles Wednesday challenge - A/G

Bauble card

 I used a Christmas bauble stencil and distress inks to create the background and stamped the winter scene inside the bauble. 

Don't forget to enter our current challenge at ABC Christmas with a chance to win these stamps:

Other challenges:

Christmas kickstart - Never in nativity
Try it on Tuesday - keep it simple
Cardz4guys - use a stencil
52cct - one layer cards
CHNC - Anything Christmas goes
Holly and Ivy - Anything Christmas goes
Addicted to stamps and more - Christmas
Simon says stamp Monday - make your own background
52 WTC - Winter blues

Christmas Kraft card

Here is a Christmas card on kraft paper, using a stamp called Winter Cabin. I stamped the image, then used a maple leaf stencil and some white ink to frame the cabin.

Don't forget that there is still time to enter the challenge at ABC Christmas (themed P for pink, Q for quarters or R for reindeer) for a chance to win a small prize from me.

Other challenges:

Try it on Tuesday - keep it simple

Jingle belles - Walking in a vintage wonderland

Colour crazy - A/G

Alphabet challenge - K for kraft

52 weeks to Christmas - color chart (blue and beige)

Ellibelles crafty wednesday - A/G

Welovestamping - in the garden (well, a winter garden is still a garden, right?)

Holly and the Ivy - anything Christmas goes

TTCRD - A/G

MAWTT - A/G

Crafty calendar - A/G

🎅 ABC Christmas reminder

 I'm home from my trip to Ireland (Dublin, Galway, Lough Rea, Galway, Dublin in that order) and we had a great time. And after shoveling through all the unread workmail today, here's a reminder of the current challenge at ABC Christmas:

P for Pink, Q for Quarters and/or R for Reindeer.

Other challenges:

Christmas with the cuties - A/G
Make my Monday - christmas in August
Polkadoodles - A/G
Allsorts - A/G
Creative fingers - A/G
Winter wonderland - Reindeer
Moving along with the times - A/G
Lilpatchofcraftyfriends - A/G
613 avenue - A/G
Happy little stampers - A/G with dies

ABC Christmas - P, Q and R

 It's my turn to host the challenge at ABC Christmas and this month it is:

P - Pink
Q - Quarter
R - Reindeer

So you can choose one or you can choose all.

I chose quarters and them being pink is a pure bonus 😊. I cut out the text on my silhouette cameo and doodled a bit with a white pen on the letters.  

I'm offering a prize from my stash since I have duplicates of these - yes, sometimes I buy the same stamp again cause I forget I already own it 🤭. To win them, just hop over to the challenge blog and participate. Maybe you'll be the lucky one!

Other challenges:

Christmas with the cuties - A/G

Cupcake inspirations - pink, grey, white

A perfect time to craft - A/G

Creations in pink - A/G

Love to craft - A/G

Merry little Christmas challenge - A/G

Papercraft challenges - Christmas in July

Sparkles Christmas - Sentiment main focus

WWoDT challenge - A/G

Allsorts - A/G

My obsession with bags

 First let me appologize for the very old posts from 2011 that might have popped up for you, some posts from back then had a link to the challenge at Wild Orchid challenge and apparently that site is flagged now for virus or malware. Blogger sent me a notice so I fixed the posts and when Blogger checked them they posted them again, with today's date... sigh...

Anyhow, if you know me you know that I love gift bags and that doesn't necessarily mean paper bags. Oh no, I realized that I have hoarded fabric bordering on silly and I found a bag - yes a whole bag - of zippers so I have dusted off my sewing machine and made some fabric bags and why make one when you can make plenty :)

I selected one that I will enter in some challenges and then I will line up the ones I made this far. Picture heavy doesn't begin to describe it :)

Challenges:

Allsorts - summer
Try it on Tuesday - feminine
TTCRD - A/G
613 Avenue - A/G
Shopping our stash - WTH embellishments (why on earth did I have a whole bag of zippers???)

And here we go:

My big bag for shopping: 

Various size bags:

Cell phone bags:

And zipper pouches:

My daughter asked me if I needed this many bags. "Honey, need has nothing to do with crafting!"

Summer poppies

 I saw a nice sketch that I wanted to test out so I stepped away from the Christmas cards and used these poppies from My favourite things, coloured with Festive Berries distress oxide for the red and a mix of Rustic Wilderness and Mowed Lawn for the green. Sentiment is computer generated using the font Hashed browns outline.

Challenges:

MFT Stamps - sketch
The paper shelter - A/G
Fab'n'Funky - A/G
Happy little stampers watercolor - A/G
Welovestamping - A/G with hot sunny colors
Stamping sensations - Summer blooms
Addicted to stamps and more - Any occasion
The flower challenge - CAS

Christmas bauble in July

 Another Christmas card using distress oxides on a bauble stencil from Sweet Poppy stencils and stamps from Lavinia placed in the middle. 

I love my new stencil and will probably use it lots :), and might I remind you of our current challenge at ABC Christmas where the theme is N for New and O for Old.

Challenges:

Allsorts - Christmas in July
Lilpatchofcraftyfriends - A/G
613 Avenue - A/G
AAA cards - Christmas (pets) in July
Dare2Bartzy - Christmas in July
CHNC - Anything Christmas
Less is More - traditional Christmas
Inkspirational - Favourite color in monochrome
Taylormadecards4U - Holidays in July
CRAFT challenge - Christmas
CraftyGalscorner - Christmas in July
The holly and Ivy challenge - A/G
Crafty Catz - Christmas in July
Alphabet challenge - Holidays

🎅ABC Christmas 🎄 - New and Old ☃️

 This month at 🎅 ABC Christmas Lynda set the theme to N for New and O for Old. I chose N for New as in Newborn baby, using a stamp from Lili of the Valley, coloured with distress inks, and the sentiment is made using a really old die cut set of letters, so I guess I fill the O for Old as well :)

Lynda also has a lovely prize for a lucky winner:

      

Other challenges:

Crafty Catz - A/G

Creative fingers - A/G

Merry little Christmas challenge - A/G

Sweet stampers - Christmas in July

TTCRD - A/G

Cutiepie challenges - Little cuties

Double trouble - Christmas in July

The holly and ivy - Anything Christmas goes

Allsorts - allsorts of animals

We love stamping - A/G

Happy little stampers - Christmas in July

Christmas in July

 Christmas in July is a popular challenge theme, personally I love to make Christmas cards and projects all year round :). Today I have a snowman card in red and white. Stamp is Penny Black, the doily and the letters are die cuts and to make the letters pop I traced the edges with a black pen. 

challenges:

Christmas kickstart - show us your snowfolk
Happy little stampers - July Christmas A/G
The holly and Ivy - A/G
Unicorn challenge - Christmas in July
PBSC - A/G or spots/stripes
Corrosive challenges - A/G
Love to craft - A/G
The creative crafters - A/G
DoubleTrouble - Christmas in July