Sunday, December 17, 2017

Koala Christmas

Well, another month has gone since I last posted, who knows where the time goes?  
This is a card I made for my Aunty in Wales; we live in Australia and the sun is blazing at Christmas time, so I usually try NOT to use "traditional" Christmas images on cards I'm sending to the UK... coals to Newcastle and all that :-) 
The truth is I've been suffering from depression for a while - it's a longstanding struggle and Mum's death and Dad's demise has knocked me.  I'm finding it hard to get enjoyment out of Blogging, anything really, even crafting - luckily this little chap "found" me and I really enjoyed making this card... leaving plenty of offerings in my Drafts Folder, some actually worth Blogging, lol.  
He is a digi stamp called, unsurprisingly, "Digistamp Koala from Lili of the Valley but he came sans hat; I added a digi hat - I DO love digis, so versatile... do you want to know HOW glad I am LOTV started doing digis?? Well, VERY :-)) He is one of their "bears" - even though koalas are NOT bears, and of course while I was there I HAD to buy the entire gorgeous Alpha Bears and NumBears collections, it seemed rude not to :-) 
I coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils, adding Stickles to the fur trim and Glossy Accents to his nose.  Koalas don't actually have glossy noses, so a bit of poetic license, lol, and they are not native to my state of Western Australia so MORE poetic license... still I did say "From Australia" not "From Western Australia" :-)
The latest "thing" in my life is foil embossing.  I bought a laser printer and already had a laminator so I've been "foiling" like a mad thing.  I generated the sentiment in Word then foiled it in gold.... I have discovered that foil is as hard as sparkle to capture in a pic! Doesn't show at all in this one, sigh. Looks good IRL... yeah, I know they all say that! 

The frame is cut with a Paper Roses Stitched Frames die, they cut beautifully, btw, using American Craft card - I must say this cuts SO much cleaner than the Kaisercraft card I usually use.  I kept the whole thing pretty flat for posting Air Mail. The background paper is from Wild Rose Studio, it's lovely, but it is paper, not card, so a sharp blade is a must for a clean finish.  The piece on the front actually had a square cut out of the middle that I used on another card, as did the outer mat. - love getting double duty out of supplies - AND it kept the weight down for mailing :-) I used another sheet from the Annabelle's Christmas pack for the inside.
That's it.  I am doing "Christmas" stuff today.... hubby has had to go to work, yup, on a Sunday (he is definitely too old for this cr@p, lol) so I am making hay as it were
I am entering my card in the following challenges... one thing for sure there's an embarrassment of riches at this time of year when you make a Christmas card, lol
Hiding in- my Craft Room Use a Digital Image
Cute Card Thursday Festive Colours
Allsorts Challenges Cold and Frosty Colours
Pile It On Non Traditional Colours
Little Red Wagon Christmas Critters - Christmas is in summer in Australia, hope my festive koala fits the bill, please ignore my entry if not
4 Crafty Chicks Christmas/Winter Critters; again, hope my Santa Koala fits the "Christmas" part of the challenge, Christmas being a summer event here.  If not sorry for the inconvenience
Animal Friends Anything Goes using an animal image
Tuesday Throwdown Is either Christmas or Anything Goes… they didn't say
Pixies Snippets Playground Use snippets - the blue card.. And the paper on the front
Cupcake Inspirations These gorgeous cupcakes with a "Holiday" theme 


I will be back before Christmas, this is my goal, and I'll probably Blog multiple cards as I HAVE "mass produced" to a certain extent and I'm embarrassed to dedicate a whole post to each foiled card.  I can slip in some of the less than stellar offerings from my Drafts while I'm at it, teehee.
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

35 comments:

meg said...

Such a cute image, thank you for joining in at Paper Creator

Angie said...

Gorgeous make, thanks for joining us for the Polkadoodles Blog Challenge.
Angie DT

As.I.Do.Rodos. said...

Fabulous card

Ginny x
My Blog As I do Rodos

Tink said...

Very Cute card! Thanks for joining the Challenge over at HIMCR!
DT.. Ellen

Wendy said...

Awww so gorgeous Donna, super cute! ....Sending hugs your way, feeling just like you:( losing a parent is unbelievably hard, feels like a big part of me died too when my Dad passed away two & half years ago.
Hugs
Wendy xx

Sue said...

Such a cutie! love the image and thanks for sharing with us at Paper Creator hugs Sue J x

Tracey T said...

So good to see you back again and with another fabulous card, too! I'm really sorry to hear that you've been feeling so low but after all you've been through it's hardly surprising. You're still standing, Donna and that makes you a bit of a hero in my book. Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a wonderful 2018 - you deserve it. xxx

Elizabeth Hart said...

So darling and the Santa hat - perfect! Thanks so much for joining us this time at the Creatalicious Challenge, Elizabeth (DT)

Megan J said...

Hi Donna, a beautiful Aussie Christmas card, love that a UK company has made some Aussie images. Have a wonderful week... Megan

Becca Sadler said...

This is the first Christmas Koala I've seen! :) Your card is a charmer!!! Thanks for linking this to the HIMCR's #331 3rd Saturday challenge/use a digital image for this week! DT member, Becca

Wendy L said...

Love it, so cute, thanks for joining us at Allsorts. Xxx

brenda said...

A really lovely creation following our 'Cold and Frosty Colours' at Allsorts challenge this week, many thanks for joining in. And wishing you and yours a wonderful festive season.

B x

Bev said...

A stunning creation. Thank you for joining in with the fun over at Polkadoodles

Cicci said...

Awww so sweet!!! A Wonderful and cute image!! And a wonderful design!!! Love this card!!!
Thank you so much for entering our ATG challenge at Through The Craft Room Door this week. Looking forward to see you again next challenge.
HUGS Cicci
TTCRD DT
Cicci With the Pen {welcome to vistit and follow my blog}
Through The Craft Room Door

Heidi MyLittleStampingBlog said...

That is such a cute koala with the added hat! A perfect Christmas card! I do hope that crafting is helpful and enjoyable for you again! Thanks for your entry to CraftyHazelnut’s December Patterned Paper challenge! Hope to see you at new year’s challenges, too!

~~Heidi @ My Little Stamping Blog

Judy McKay said...

Love your cute bear. Adorable. Lovely card. Thank you for joining our anything goes challenge at Polkadoodles. Judy DT Polkadoodles

Deepti Aggarwal said...

Such an Adorable Christmas card..Thank you so much for joining us at Crafty Creations Challenges. Hugs xx Deepti Aggarwal

Kate said...

Such a cute, cute card!! The little Santa hat is such a fun way to dress up your darling koala!

I'm sorry you had some trouble with the link at Little Red Wagon. Your card is perfect for the challenge and wasn't removed so I'm not sure what happened. I've been checking the projects each day and this is the first time I saw yours. I'm glad you noticed it was missing - and please know it's a wonderful fit!!

I'm so sorry that you've been struggling with your depression and do hope that you'll be able to take time for rest and recovery over the holidays.

Kate xox

Lisa Lynn said...

I saw your card, and had to come say that it is GORGEOUS!!! Have a Merry Christmas. So sorry that you are having a rough time, sending you a hug from the other side of the world.

The Red Mullet Band said...

Lovely card!!!
Thanks for joining us at Corrosive Challenge blog.
Ana Isabel DT Coordinator.

Di said...

Wonderful card Donna and such a cute koala in his hat! I bet he'd give Parsnip a run for his money in a cute competition!

So sorry to read you've been so low - actually coming out and admitting it is a lot of the battle. Sending special hugs.

Di xx

Lori Turner said...

Oh my gosh how adorable is this!?! Thank you so much for joining us at 4 Crafty Chicks this week xoxoxo

Megan J said...

Hi Donna, I'm back again with my DT hat on a super Aussie Christmas card, thank you for joining us at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends, good luck in the prize draw. Have a wonderful Christmas... Megan

Dr Sonia S V said...

Your koala is so super cute...love the gorgeous coloring and especially the shiny nose!!!
Thank you so much for joining us at the Cuttlebugmania Challenge!
Cuttlebugmania Challenge DT
Dr Sonia

Indy's Designs said...

Oh goodness, this is such a delightful card! Thanks for sharing with us at Cupcake Inspirations!
Debbie

Unknown said...

Gorgeous!!
Thank you for joining us at Crafting With An Attitude Challenge and best of luck with your entry.

Mary DT Member for Crafting With An Attitude...

Shylaashree said...

cute koala and a great card.Thanks for playing along with us in our Anything Goes challenge at Polkadoodles
Wishing you a very happy 2018!
Shylaa DT@Polkadoodles
Adhiraacreations

FiestyCrafter (Tina) said...

Adorable Christmas card and image! Thanks for joining us at Creatalicious
Tina dt

samanthadesigns said...

Beautiful card! Thank you for joining us at Creative Fingers Challenge Blog. -Samantha(DT)

Unknown said...

Wonderful card, love the cute koala and pretty papers
Thank you for joining us at My Time To Craft :)
Kaz DT

Helen said...

Such a sweet card!
Thanks for playing at Pile It On!
Happy New Year!
Helen x

Annette said...

I really love this little Koala Donna, and I also wanted to pop by to say thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a lovely comment on my blog recently. It really means a lot. I may be one of the few who's not embracing the Facebook addiction, but it's nice to know I am not entirely alone! ;0). All the best for 2018. xx

flossbite said...

Great project! Thank you so much for joining us at Crafty HazelNuts Challenge Extra, which has sadly finished now. Please come and join in the fun in the weekly challenges! http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/
Fiona x

CraftyLyn said...

This card is really beautiful,the colouring is fantastic and I hope that you are feeling even a little bit better,as I know this time of year can be hard,your cards are really great.I also am not a Facebook fan and am sorry a lot of the challenges seem to be changing,thanks for joining us here at winter wonderland challenge

Irene said...

So sweet...Thank you for sharing your nice project at Creat and Inspire.
Crafty hugs, Irene (Made In Borgo)