Sugar Nellie ~ Winter Birthday

Well Christmas has come and gone in a blur. The kiddies have been spoilt to bits and loved every minute of it. We've had a glorious warm Summer day for Christmas which we spent at my brothers place with all the extended family. He has a gorgeous house overlooking the Manukau harbour in Auckland with a lovely big yard and a chicken run at the bottom of it. So the kids had great fun enjoying the Kiwi sunshine and gathering eggs from the chooks.

I've popped in today to share my last Christmas card of the season. It's a little bit late sharing, but things were manic in the lead up to Christmas. So here it is. A simple kraft paper backing for a sweet Sugar Nellie image. One I really wanted to use this year, having bought it earlier in the year. I just love this sweet penguin and his little mousy pal from the talents of Marina Fedotova. I kept it simple, because time is always at a premium in the lead up to Christmas.

I have used an embossing folder with snowflakes on the kraft backing, which was just me playing with the new folder when it arrived with my Quick Cards magazine, issue 143. I loved the effect, so wanted to use it on a card. I'm not one to throw things away, so most of my 'play and experimentation' gets used. I added a simple red glittery mesh ribbon behind the image for a bit of sparkle and interest and a snowflake corner from Memory Box for which I glittered for the lower left corner. I've coloured this sweet Sugar Nellie image with my Promarkers and glittered the fur on the hat for texture.

The sentiment is a lovely Lili of the Valley sentiment. I added a circle of glitter around the sentiment to bring balance. The sentiment I kept neutral, as this card is actually for a Winter Birthday and has been sent to Denmark to a lovely blog pal who has a birthday close to Christmas. I just love the way the glitter sparkles around the edge of the sentiment, it adds that little 'je ne sais quoi' necessary to finish the card. 

Well that's it from me for now. We've had a lovely day yesterday catching up with friends from Canada, we visited Auckland Zoo and had dinner at Wagamama before finishing the night off at ours for Pepparkakor and Coffee. We have party plans in full swing for New Years, so there's no time to slow down now! Love and hugs to you all and Happy New Year wishes, that all your passions, dreams and desires be your reality in 2016. Wends x

Challenge Entries:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Make It Sparkle

Crafty Creations Challenges: #305 ~ Anything Goes

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Winter Wonderland

The Sugar Bowl: #131 ~ Anything 'Sugar Nellie' Goes

Creative Inspirations: #341 ~ Anything Goes (+ Sketch)

Pile It On Challenge: Anything 'Christmas/Winter' Goes

Creatalicious Challenges: #82 ~ Something Old, Something New

Passion For Promarkers: #326 ~ Mega Christmas Challenge (Third Entry)

Papertake Weekly: Last Ever Challenge - Take Your Pic ~ Flash back to Let It Snow *

Mod Squad Challenge: Anything Goes (Thanks for the Top 3 honour last challenge ladies! x)

*Dawny and the Papertake Weekly Crew ~ you will be missed! I loved your challenge and wish you all joy and success in whatever crafty adventures you set out on next. Thanks for all the great challenges xxx