Challenges Galore!

I've been a busy little cardmaking bee lately, playing with some fab images and making cards for blog challenges. :)

Rather than spamming people's reading lists with multiple blog posts, I thought I'd combine them all into one post....

The first card uses a cute Sugar Nellie image and I'm entering it into The Sugar Bowl challenge (sketch challenge plus optional theme of Shades of Violet):

She's coloured with my Promarkers to match these pretty papers (Freebie Kate Knight ones that came with a magazine) and I added some lace, Stampin' Up! pleated ribbon, flowers and a butterfly brad to finish.

Next up, more playing with my new Dilly Bean digi stamps, this time a card to enter into the Dilly Bean Designers and Friday Challenges blog challenge (current theme: stripes):

When I saw this image, I just had to have it... not least because it's called Mia and that's my DD2's name. :) I coloured the image with my Promarkers and then masked the image and the border with masking fluid and blended Tumbled Glass Distress Ink over it and flicked water onto it to make a speckled, distressed background. The papers are more freebies (I wish craft magazines would stop giving away such pretty papers, I'll never use up any of my stockpiled stash at this rate! :lol:) and I cut a border strip using a Martha Stewart punch and added some seam binding ribbon that I'd coloured with Distress Stains. A few pearls finished it off.

And finally, a card for the One Stitch at a Time challenge (theme: Use a Digi), using this lovely Stitchy Bear digi stamp:

I've kept this card really simple because the image just went SO well this gorgeous paper (another freebie!) and I felt too much embellishment would detract from the "garden scene" look of the fairy (coloured with my Promarkers) layered through the paper. So I just stamped a TH sentiment and heat embossed with pale pink powder and finished with a couple of butterly stickers.

Happy Birthday Passion for Promarkers! - Part 2

My second card for Passion for Promarkers' birthday challenge uses a Sugar Nellie stamp and I'm also entering it into the current "free for all" challenge at The Sugar Bowl blog.

The papers and the chipboard greeting are all Kate Crane freebies that came with a magazine a while back and I've coloured the cute Sugar Nellie image to match the papers for a pretty, summery card. :)

Why Thankee, Pardner!

Hee. Dontcha just love this little cowgirl stamp?

She's from Sugar Nellie and I'm entering this card into the current challenge over at The Sugar Bowl challenge blog. The challenge is to use the sketch provided with an optional theme of paper piecing.

Paper piecing is such a fun - if fiddly - effect and it works fantastically with an image like this. I really must do this more often! :) I've had the denim patterned paper sitting around in my stash for at least 5 years and I immediately thought of it for the paper piecing of the cowgirl's jeans, and of course she needed a gingham-style check paper for her shirt.

I have a bunch of thank you cards to send to friends and rellies for their christmas gifts to the girls so I figured (oops, I've gone proper Western now!) I'd make this card into a thank you card to get the ball rolling. :)

Happy (gothy) Birthday!

With any luck, this card will now have reached its recipient so I am safe to share it (Helen, if you're reading this and Nor's card hasn't arrived yet, then hit the back button now! :lol:).

It was my neice's birthday earlier this week (yes, the card is late - sorry, Nor!!) and she's a little bit goth and a lot into manga, so I thought Sugar Nellie's Manga Girl stamp was the perfect image to use for a birthday card! :)

I went with a goth-y colour scheme of black and purple and added in some funky black and silver holographic card for a bit of bling! The image was coloured in with ProMarkers and cut out and layered onto a square of card that I'd stamped and heat embossed with a funky text stamp.

I followed the sketch for the current challenge over at the Sugar Bowl challenge blog and I'm entering this card into the challenge.

It was a fun card to make so I hope Nor likes it! :)

A birthday card...

Happy Birthday Auntie June! :)

It's my auntie's birthday on 3 September and I decided to combine her birthday card with the current challenge over at the Sugar Bowl challenge blog. :) This is the result:

I love this stamp (and if you buy it the money goes to a good cause too!) and she looked so cute coloured in in red and white that I decided to go with red and white papers to match. :) I also had a play with my Enamel Accents on this card to echo the circle element of the sketch. Overall, this turned out as a lovely, bright, cheerful card that I hope my Auntie will enjoy.

Dentists, cards and broken bones!

Thanks to those who wished me well for my dentists appointment on Wednesday. It went about as well as expected... I need two fillings. I knew I needed one at least as a) a tooth was niggling a bit and b) I never *ever* go to the dentists and not need work doing!

However, needing fillings is the least of my health worries today. I've done something astoundingly stupid this morning... I managed to stub my little toe on the bedroom door with such force that I've gone and broken it! After the initial pain it wasn't too bad for most of the morning but as the day wore on it got more and more painful - and stiff and swollen - and began turning a nice shade of purple. I bought some micropore tape so I could strap it up and it was doing okay... until on the way out of DD1's room after putting her to bed tonight, I only went and stubbed the same darn toe in the exact same way on the doorframe of her room! Talk about painful! I can't believe I have been so flipping clumsy, twice!!

Anyway, aside from injuring myself in new and stupid ways, I have also been doing a bit more crafting lately. As mentioned in my WOYWW post on Wednesday, my yummy new Sugar Nellie stamps arrived this week and I've been having a play:

This card is my entry for the current challenge over at the Sugar Bowl so it follows the sketch for the challenge and also uses the optional challenge theme of blue. :) Loved this Goldielocks stamp (the name also makes me giggle cos Goldilocks and the Three Bears is currently DD1's absolute favourite bedtime story!) and she looks so pretty when coloured in! I used my Nesties to frame her, with her legs dangling over the edge. To go with the blue theme I used some scrummy Blue Awning papers from K&Co and also added some matching 3D flower stickers. These papers and matching goodies have been sitting around in my stash for aaaaages, held hostage to my "too pretty to use" hoarding instinct... so as part of my attempt to *stop* hoarding and use all the pretty papers instead of just stroking them, I gritted my teeth and cut into them for this card. :) Glad I did cos they look lovely!  To finished off I added green velvet ribbon and a ruffle of cream lace behind the image.

I've just found out that the annual agricultural show in my town, happening this Sunday, has a greeting card category in the "domestic and crafts" section of the competitions and am thinking I might just enter this card - the contest might take my mind off the pain of my broken toe as I hobble around the showground!