Sending Christmas Cheer

I have a Christmas card to share today, that features an old Anita's stamp. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from an old Lili of the Valley set), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted it onto some red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Fab 'N' Funky - Cute as a Button

Hello

Today's card features a cute little puppy stamp by Anita's. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then cut him out. I though that he looked like he should be peering ver the top of something, so cut a fence (using my Die-namics 'Picket Fence' die) from a snippet of kraft card, adding a 'hedge' behind it (cut from a snippet of green card using one of my Die-namics 'Grassy Edges' dies) to hid the fact that he has no body! For the background, I used a piece of 'cloudy sky' paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations, then matted it all on to a piece of kraft card before adding it to my card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes

Kitty Litter

Today's card features another couple of charity shop finds...an Anita's cat & dog themed background stamp, and a Whipper Snapper stamp called 'Kitty Litter'. I stamped the cat image on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I inked the stamp using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink, and stamped it a couple of times on to pinky beige coloured paper from the 'Pastel Pinks' pad from The Works. I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stitch It

Scribble Flowers

Today's card features some really old Anita's stamps, that I've had since long before I started my blog...a set of 'Scribble' flowers..an outline flower in large & small, and a solid version of the smaller flower. I can't remember the last time I used these stamps, but they were what came to mind when I saw the 'Solid & Outline' prompt for this fortnight's Less is More Challenge.  I stamped the outline flowers using black ink, then stamped the solid one using a couple of shades of purple Distress Inks (Dusty Concord & Shaded Lilac). I added adhesive pearls to the centre of the flowers, and a Hero Arts sentiment.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - One Layer
• Alphabet Challenge - Flora & Fauna
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Black, White & One Other Colour')
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'No Deisgn Paper')
• Less is More - Solid & Outline

ABC Christmas Challenge - S is for...

We have a new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Samantha is the host, and the theme is:

'S is for Something Festive'

Easy-peasy...just make something Christmassy!

We are sponsored for this challenge by Freckled Fawn:

Prize - a $15 gift certificate to spend at Freckled Fawn!

I was sent a goody bag from Freckled Fawn containing some washi tape, rub-ons and adhesive gems to use for this challenge...and although they weren't specifically Christmas items, I made a festive card. I stamped and watercoloured n Anita's Christmas Tree (called 'Swirly Tree')...then added some bling with the blue adhesive gems. After doodling a simple border, I attached the image to my card blank with some of the washi tape, then combined a Hero Arts month stamp with a couple of the rub-ons to make a sentiment.

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

• Completely Christmas - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafting When We Can - Christmas
• Delightful - CAS

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

Scribbled Flowers

I spent a happy hour yesterday sorting through my stamps...re-organising them...and discovering some forgotten gems, including the flower stamps I used on today's card. The large one is 'Scribble Flower' by Anita's Stamps, and the smaller ones are by Funstamps, and are called 'Sketched Flower' and 'Scribbled Flower'. I stamped them over one half of the card blank, allowing the flowers to go off the edge, then simply coloured them using watercolour pencils, and added a Hero Arts sentiment.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Inspirations - Bold & Bright Colours
• Krafty Hands - Floral Frenzy
• Less is More - Off the Edge
• Papercrafting Journey - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

Simple Sympathy

I have the other two cards I made for my Mum to show you today...a couple of simple  sympathy cards using a new sentiment stamp (by Anita's) I received for Christmas. On the first one I used the watercolour technique with my 'Agapanthus Clusters' stamp (by Stampendous) and some Distress Inks ('Faded Jeans' & 'Forest Moss'). I blended a little 'Bundled Sage' and 'Stormy Sky' over the top at the base of the card before stamping the sentiment.

On the second card, I used butterfly stamps from the 'Social Butterfly' set by Penny Black and more Distress Inks ('Shaded Lilac' and 'Dusty Concord'), stamping on to linen textured card. This time I masked off the flower image from the sentiment stamp and distressed the edges a little.

Challenges for these cards:

• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Less is More - Week 79 'Blue & Green' (First Card) & Week 16 'Butterflies' & Week 18 'Monochrome' (Second Card)
• Kaboodles Doodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Free & Easy

2013 Calendar - Part 4

And here are the last few pages of my little Penny Black 'birthdays' calendar:

October:

Image - 'Spooky!' set

Papers - 'Whoo-ligans' (Bo Bunny) & 'Boo to you!' (My Mind's Eye)

November:

Image - 'Fetching Slippers'

Papers - 'Maddison' (Penny Black) & 'Turning Leaf' (First Edition)

December:

Image - 'Ice Dance Dog'

Paper - 'Winter Wonderland' (My Mind's Eye)

Die - Tree (Marianne Designs)

 If you want to see the rest of the calendar, the posts are here, here & here.

2013 Calendar - Part 3

I have another installment of my little 'birthdays' calendar to show you today:

July:

Images - 'Wonderful Day' set 

Papers - '72 & Sunny' (We R Memory Keepers) & Unknown (Heidi Grace)

August:
Image - 'Critter Party' set
Papers - 'Tea Party' (Dovecraft)
Die - Nestie Circle

September:

Image - 'Hugs' set

Papers - 'Prairie Hill' (Pink Paislee)

Die - Nestie Circle

If you're interested, you can see the January to March on this post...and April to June here...I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of it.

2013 Calendar - Part 2

I have the second installment of the little Penny Black 'birthdays' calendar I made to show you today...the first three months and the info about the 'frame' are on this post if you want to look.

April:

Image - 'Gifts for You!'

Papers - 'Hopscotch' (BasicGrey)

 

May:

Image - 'Cat on the Moon'

Papers - 'Papa' (Fancy Pants Designs)

Dies - Nesties Circles & Stars

June:

Image - 'Dream a Dream'

Paper - Unknown (Heidi Grace)

Dies - 'Puffy Clouds' (Memory Box)

2013 Calendar

I'm going to show you my 'birthday' calendar today...well, some of it, as it's not yet finished! I saw the photo frame/holder in Ikea ages ago, and thought that it might make a good calendar...and when I looked closely at the display one, and saw that it had pockets for 12 photos...I just had to get one! The base is perspex, and the little pockets for the photos/months are flexible plastic...the 'windows' are 6x4, so it's a good size too. I'm going to use this to keep track of all of the birthdays I need to send a card - I've circled the dates, and keep a list in my diary with the names on...I made a little one last year, and it worked really well! I'm using all Penny Black images, a whole mixture of papers, and a calendar tab by Anita's. Here's the first installment:

January:

 Image - 'Bubbly' 

Papers - 'Hippity Hoppity' (We R Memory Keepers), 'Madison' (Penny Black) & Unkown (Heidi Grace)

Dies - Nesties Circles & Stars

February:

Image - 'Every Which Way'

Papers - '72 & Sunny' (We R Memory Keepers) & Unkown (Heidi Grace)

Die - 'Puffy Clouds' (Memory Box)

March:

Image - 'Bunny Friends'

Papers - 'Hippty Hoppity' & '72 & Sunny' (We R Memory Keepers)

Challenges for this calendar:

• Creative Craft - New Beginnings
• Gem of a Challenge - New Beginnings
• Joanna Sheen - New Beginnings
• One Stop Craft - New Beginnings

Happy New Year...

...to me! Well...I liked the easel card calendars I'd made for other people so much, I thought I make one for myself! lol
The image is 'Champagne Thomas' by Lili of the Valley...which I coloured with watercolour pencils, adding a little sparkle to the bubbly with a Sakura Stardust pen. The papers are from the 'Oh La La (for her)' collection by My Mind's Eye, the ribbon is from Poppicrafts, the calendar tab is by Anita's, and the numbers were cut using my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.

From the side:

And a close-up of the front:

Challenges for this card:

• Crafter's Companion - Sketch & New Year
• Creative Stamp Friends - New Year's Cards
• Dutch Dare - New Beginnings
• For Fun - New Year
• Lili of the Valley - New Beginnings
• One Stop Craft - New Beginnings
• Prairie Fairy - New Beginnings
• Sew Many Challenges - NewThings

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Buttons & Bows

Before I get on to this week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, I'd just like to say:

 Happy New Year to all my lovely visitors!

It's Bridget's turn to choose the theme...and she's easing you gently into 2011 with a nice simple challenge of:

'Buttons & Bows'

I've made an easel card calendar, using the fab 'Bee Costume' stamp by Penny Black, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, and then cut out using my Labels 1 Nesties (available here at the Secret Crafter). The checked paper is from the 'Kioshi' pad by BasicGrey (available here at the Secret Crafter), and I embossed the plain yellow card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder (available here at the Secret Crafter). The flowers are by Prima, the ribbon is from Poppicrafts, the buttons and brads are by Papermania, and the calendar tab is by Anita's.

Here's a view from the side showing the easel card shape:

And a close-up of the front...you can just about see the sparkle on his wings I added with a Sakura Stardust pen:

I used the sketch from the Truly Scrumptious Challenge for the layout of this card.

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous samples by my lovely Secret Crafter DT buddies.

In the shed!

I've made this easel card calendar for my Dad...and the image I chose to use is 'In the shed' by Lili of the Valley...as my Dad is rather fond of his shed! I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, and added '2011' to the little sign. The papers are all from the 'Max & Whiskers' pad by BasicGrey...and I distressed the edges with my distressing tool, before adding some faux stitching with my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The calendar tab is by Anita's.

Here's a better view of the 'easel card' shape:

And one showing the front:

Challenges for this card:

• Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
• Creative Craft - Anything Gooes
• Digi Doodles - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Anything Goes (NO Christmas Cards)
• Scrapbook Sisters - It's a Man's World
• Stamp Fairy - Anything Goes
• Stamp with Fun - Sketch
• Totally Stampalicious - It's all faux fun! (I've used faux stitching)

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!

Funky Christmas

A quick post from me...have to dash out to work, but before I do...here's another Christmas card...I'm sure you're all sick of them by now! lol
I've used an adorable Lili of the Valley bear called 'Present Pile', and fab funky papers from the the 'Colourful Christmas' collection by My Mind's Eye. I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the border, and the spotty ribbon is by Anita's.

Challenges for this card:

• Taylored Expressions - Sketch
• Everybody Art - Untraditional Christmas
• Incy Wincy - Anything Goes