Cat in the Hat Treat Bag

Today I'm sharing my first Halloween themed project of the year...a decorated treat bag. I used a Penny Black image (from the 'Spooky!' set), stamping the kitty on to watercolour paper, then colouring him using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Hocus Pocus' pad by Taylored Expressions...managed to use a couple of snippets up too. I cut the circles using my trusty Nesties, then distressed all of the edges, and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and black and white gel pens. I added some little bats cut from a snippet of black card using a Memory Box die.

Challenges for this treat bag:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spots and Stripes')
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Cute')
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Autumn Colours (I picked Oranges, Purple, Green & Black)
• Pixie's Snippet's Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - F is for...

It's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge, and this fortnight Michelle is the host with a theme of:

'F is for Felt or Fabric'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Sweet Stamps:

Prize - a $10 voucher for the Sweet Stamps store

I've used a sweet Penny Black stamp on my card called 'Wishes for Kisses'...coloured using watercolour pencils. FOr the background, I embossed some Core'dinations card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' & Snowflakes' and Sizzix 'Snowglobe' folders..sanding over the top to reveal the core...I also distressed the edges a little too. The felt flower is from a pack by Making Memories...the button is from my stash and threaded with some Dovecraft twine. Oh...and I added a few pieces of Craftwork Cards Card Candi.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Animals
• CCEE Stampers - Pencils, Please (I coloured the image using watercolour pencils) 
• Crazy4Challenges - Sketch
• Winter Wonderland - A Little Bird

For more inspriation from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Pesky Critters!

This week we have an extra special Penny Black Saturday Challenge for you...because the PBSC is 3 years old today!!!

The theme for this week's challenge is:

'Pesky Critters'

So, show us your adorable Penny Black critters.

We have a mega stash of fabulous prizes from our lovely regular sponsors to help us celebrate:

From Penny Black Inc - A Penny Black Stamp

From PB Stamps - A 'T for Transparent' set of the winner's choice

From 1-2-3- Stitch! - A $20 Voucher

From The Ribbon Girl - A bundle of goodies including: Divine Twine, Seam Binding Ribbon, Buttons, Organza & Satin Ribbon, and Hat Pins

And, from Fantastic Ribbons - a gorgeous mixture of designer ribbons in a special dispenser box!

Phew...what a lot of lovely prizes!!!

But...there's a catch...they're hidden on the DT members' blogs...and we're not telling you which ones! ;0)

So...in order to win, as well as entering this week's challenge, you need to 'hop' around all of my lovely DT buddies' blogs, and leave them some love...and don't forget to leave me a comment too...because...you never know???

Ok...so on to my card...I had a rummage through my stamped images box for some 'peksky critters'...and I thought that these cute little mice playing on the typewriter fitted the bill. The stamp is called 'Cheesecake Message'...I added a sentiment and paw prints from the 'Micey Day' set. The papers and the die cut border are from the 'Ooh La La (for Him)' collection...I distressed the edges a little, and added faux stitching. The seam binding ribbon and yellow flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, the spotty flower is from a Making Memories pack, the brads are BasicGrey, and the Card Candi was 'custom coloured' using a chalk inkpad.

For more inspiration...and the chance to win one of the fabulous prizes on offer this week...please visit my lovely Penny Black Saturday Challenge DT buddies...here are the links to all their blogs:

Ali

Beth

Debby

Domi

Helen (me)

Jenny

 Kath

 Liz

Pauline

Oh...and don't forget to enter the challenge too!

Cuttlebug Spot - Oh So Soft

This is the last of our embellishment challenges over at the Cuttlebug Spot, and the theme is:

'Oh So Soft'

We'd like to see you using felt on your projects.

I've used another of my new Lili of the Valley stamps on my card...'Good Luck Cats'...so cute! I coloured it with watercolour pencils, to match the BasicGrey 'Marjolaine' papers. I embossed one of the papers with my 'Perfect Paisley' Cuttlebug folder, as I haven't used it in a while, and added a Wild Rose Studio sentiment - the only one that I could find in my stash that says 'Good Luck'! The seam binding ribbon is from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the felt flowers (which match the colours of the papers much better in real life!) are from an embellishment pack by Making Memories. I distressed all of the edges using my distressing tool.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• Sweet Stop - Sketch
• Creative Fridays - Embossing

This is my last challenge with the Cuttlebug Spot...in fact it's the last Cuttlebug Spot challenge, for a few months at least...the blog will stay open, so you'll still be able to be inspired by our past challenges, and I hope you'll join in with the challenges again (I know I will) when it returns refreshed.

Jolly Friends

This card uses one of the stamps from the 'Jolly Friends' set by Penny Black, which I coloured with watercolour pencils. I used my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder for the embossing, and EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the scalloped edges. The button I used (from a Making Memories pack) had slits in it rather than holes, so I threaded it on to the ribbon before tying a bow.

Challenges for this card:

• Penny Black Inc - Sketch
• Bah! Humbug! - Buttons & Bows
• Our Creative Corner - Branch Out (Tree image in a CAS style)
• Pollycraft - Baby it's Cold Outside
• Sir Stampalot - All Creatures Great & Small

Cuttlebug Spot - Happy New Year!

Today sees the final Cuttlebug Spot Challenge of the year...with a theme of:

'Happy New Year!'

We want to see projects that celebrate the New Year.

I've made an easel card style 2011 calendar - I'll be making a few more of these to give as Christmas gifts. The image is 'Bunny Bath' by Penny Black, the papers are from the 'Wild Asparagus' collection by My Mind's Eye, the flowers are Prima, the buttons Making Memories, the pearls from Wild Orchid Crafts and the calendar tabs are by Anita's. So where did I use my Cuttlebug??? On the strip across the middle...it's the 'Victoria' folder...one of my favourites. I cut the image out using one of my deckled rectangle Nesties, and then distressed all of the edges and over the raised areas of the embossing with a brown chalk inkpad.

Here's a view showing the easel card shape:

And a close up of the front:

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous samples by my Cuttlebug Spot DT buddies.

Oh...and make sure you stop by tomorrow for an exciting ABC Christmas Challenge & Blog Hop!

Bunny Bath!

I had a little play this afternoon, and made a card for a few challenges. I followed the fabby sketch by my lovely friend Cathy from Sketch & Stash, using a new image ('Bunny Bath' by Penny Black) that I stamped while I was visiting my friend Samantha last week...I can't believe she let me loose with her stamps & inks! ;0)
I also managed to incorporate the recipe from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge of: '1 Circle, 2 Papers, 3 Flowers'. The papers are from the 'Garden Party' collection by Making Memories, the flowers are from Poppicrafts, and the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Buttons & Blooms

It's my turn to set the theme for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge...and I have chosen:

'Buttons & Blooms'

I've used 'Jump for Joy' (by Penny Black), and papers from My Mind's Eye's 'Abbey Road' collection...which I though sort of looked like droplets of water. I used my Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' folder to 'deboss'...yes...I did put the paper in the folder the wrong way up!...then I lightly sanded the surface to bring out the detail. The felt flowers are by Making Memories, and the buttons are Papermania.

 

 My lovely DT mates have created some gorgeous cards again this week...so do pop over to the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge to check them out.

Dream a Dream...

I've used one of my favourite Penny Black stamps ('Dream a Dream') on this card. I followed the sketch from Friday Sketchers...and it combines quite a few other challenges...so I'll list them at the end. The papers are all from the '29th Street Market' collection by My Mind's Eye...another of my favourite things, and I used my Cuttlebug 'Victoria' and 'Swiss Dots' folders for the embossing. The flowers are by Making Memories, and I used an EK Success punch for the scalloped border.

Other challenges entered:

• Colour Create: Light Green & Soft Aqua
• Papertake Weekly: Say it with Flowers
• Stampavie & More: Flower Power
• Teddy Stampers: Bedtime Bears

Relax!

I love this Lili of the Valley bear...he's called 'Deckchair Dreaming'...and he just looks so happy snoozing in his chair! lol
I followed the sketch from Create4Fun...and have incorporated the One Stop Craft Challenge's 'Summer Breeze', and Stamp with Fun's 'Stripes' themes. The papers are from the 'Penny Lane' glitter stack by My Mind's Eye, the flowers are by Making Memories, and the lettering was done using a little set of Studio G stamps.

On Tiptoe

This is another of the gorgeous Lili of the Valley images my lovely friend Pauline sent to me a few weeks ago...I'm not really a 'fairy' kind of girl...but this one ('On Tiptoe') is adorable! I followed the sketch from the Creative Card Crew Challenge, and am also entering this card into the Papertake Weekly's 'Shiny, Sparkly & Special' and Creative Inspirations (Wednesdays) 'Fairies' challenges. The sparkly papers are from the 'Penny Lane' stack by My Mind's Eye, and the flowers are a mixture of Prima and Making Memories.