Lovely Bubbly

Today's card is in honour of the 500th(!) challenge over at Pixie's Snippets Playground - congratulations Di & Sarn! So, with the 'Celebratory' theme in mind, I picked a Penny Black image called 'Lovely Bubbly'....stamping it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and black and white gel pens. I cut a 'Celebrate' sentiment using a Clearly Besotted die from a snippet of gold mirror card, then layered it on top of the image, then matted that on to another snippet of gold mirror card before assembly the card.

As is always the way with anything shiny, it's a real pain to photograph, but here's a slightly different angle - I promise that the sentiment is much clearer to read in person!

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets & 'Celebration' Theme
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute & Cuddly
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Drinks

ABC Christmas Challenge - N & O are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Fabiola is the host, and the themes are:

'N is for No Stamping'

&

'O is for Off the Edge'

The prize for the lucky winner is this a 30.00 CHF Cap sur le Scrap Gift Certificate

:

For my 'No Stamping' card, I used a mixture of die cuts and dry embossing. I started by embossing a snippet of watercolour effect paper from the 'Pastel Watercolours' pad from The Works using a Tim Holtz for Sizzix embossing folder called 'Snowfall'...sanding lightly over the raised areas to reveal a little of the white core. The I took snippets of white hammer card, and used some dies (Clearly Besotted 'Tree Landscape', Your Next Die 'Houses on a Hill' & Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders') to cut the wintry landscapes, then layered them up over the background...placing some teeny tiny snippets of yellow card behind the windows of the houses. Finally, I added a large star cut from a snippet of silver glitter card using one of the dies from the Tim Holtz for Sizzix 'Snowy Stars' die set.

For my 'Off the Edge' card, I used one of the stamps from my Simon Says Stamp ' Snowflake Edges' set, stamping if just off the edge of a snippet of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations, using Versamark ink, then I heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I then carefully tore around the edge of the image before adding it to a navy card blank. I added a simple sentiment, heat embossing it in white to match the snowflakes, using one of the stamps from the Crafter's Companion 'Winter Blessings' set.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• AAA Cards - Anything CAS (Second card only)
• Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - Embossing
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Stamping Sensations - Christmas in July (Second card only)

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

Houses on a Hill

Today's card uses a die that I picked up with my As You Like It Challenge prize called 'Houses on a Hill' by Your Next Die. I used it along with a Clearly Besotted die called 'Tree Landscape', and some snippets of white card to make a snowy hillside village scene, layering them up over a snippet of snowy paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations. I added a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then matted it all on to a snippet of navy card, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Colours of Winter')
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Lots of Layers
• Dream Valley - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Pink Wonderland

I have a Christmas card to share today made using some dies and punches and lots of snippets of card and paper. I started by heat embossing my Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' background stamp on to a fairly large snippet of pink watercolour effect paper (from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations) using white embossing powder. I cut a couple of snowy slopes from snippets of white card using my 'Tree Landscape' die (from Clearly Besotted) and one of the 'Stitched Hillside Borders' (from Lawn Fawn), and layered those over the top. I added a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) and a little pink house cut from a tiny snippet of the same pink paper as the background.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Christmas Kickstart - Christmas, But Not As We Know It (I went for untraditional Christmas colours)
• Cut It Up - Layer It Up
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes with Dies
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Driving Along in my Automobile

I have a simple one layer card to share today...featuring one of the critters from the 'Hello Friend' set by Penny Black. I stamped it on to a kraft card blank, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a fun sentiment from the 'Laugh Out Loud Again' set by Clearly Besotted.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Less is More - A is for Automobiles
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Animals

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something Funny')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or

'Something Funny'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used a real 'oldie but a goodie' on my card...called 'Bee-have!. I stamped it on to a kraft card blank, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The sentiment is from the 'Laugh Out Loud Again' sentiments by Clearly Besotted.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - CAS
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something Funny')!

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or

'Something Funny'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used one of the stamps from the '12 Days of Christmas' set...he's meant to represent the 'Three French Hens', but I thought that he'd go well with a couple of the fun sentiments from the 'Laugh Out Loud Again' sentiments by Clearly Besotted. I stamped him directly on to a kraft card blank, along with the sentiments, then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

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

• As You Like It - People or Critters (Critters - so much easier to colour than people!)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - W & X are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Marie is the host, and the themes are:

'W is for White'

&

'X is for Xtra Special'

There is a surprise gift from Marie on offer for the lucky winner:

For my 'White' card, I used lots of snippets of white card, and an assortment of dies and embossing folders to create a wintry scene. I used a Tim Holtz/Sizzix embossing folder called 'Falling Snow' for the background, then layered panels cut using my Clearly Besotted 'Tree Landscape', and Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies over the top...lightly distressing the edges to add a little definition. I added a couple of deer cut using my Tim Holtz 'Winter Wonderland' dies, and a large star using a die from another Tim Holtz set called 'Snowy Stars'. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Winter Blessings' set by Crafter's Companion...I stamped it using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it in silver.


For my 'Xtra Special' card, I combined glittery and shiny gold papers from a pad from Poundland (I think) with a swirly Christmas tree stamp from a set by Hero Arts called 'Merriest Wishes', and a sentiment stamp from the 'Wonder Collection' set by Penny Black, heat embossed in gold on kraft. I added a few adhesive gold pearls and some gold edged ribbon (that I think came from Crafty Ribbons).

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:
Allsorts - Sparkle & Shine (Second card only)
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Creative Knockouts - Lots of Layers
Dream Valley - Dies or Punches (First card only)
Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes (First card only)
Stamping Sensations - Christmas Celebrations
We Love Stamping - Christmas
For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - H & I are for?

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Lynda is the host, and the themes are:

'H is for Houses/Home'

&

'I is for Icicles'

There's a fab prize on offer from Lynda for the lucky winner of this challenge:

On my 'H is for Houses/Home' card, I used dies and punches to create a wintry scene on a DL card. I used lots of snippets of white card (so glad I keep all those offcuts when making square cards!) to cut the snowy slopes...mainly using my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border dies, alhough the one at the top with the little trees is a Clearly Besotted die called 'Tree Landscape'. To add a little definition to the edges, I distressed the edges before I layered them up. The little house was cut using a Woodware punch, from a snippet of kraft card...adding an even tinier snippet of navy card behind for a coloured door. The snippet of snowy paper is from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

I used lots of dies on my 'I is for Icicles' card too...repurposing one of my Die-namics 'Grassy Edges' dies to cut some 'icicles'. I cut them from white glitter card, then trimmed along the top with scissors to create a more 'organic' edge, then placed them on top of a 'wooden fence'...made by inking a snippet of kraft card with 'Gathered Twigs' Distress Inks, before embossing it using a woodgrain embossing folder from Sizzix/Doodlebug. I made a cheeky reindeer to pop over the top of the 'fence' using dies from the Tim Holtz/Sizzix 'Winter Critters' set...using lots of snippets of card...inking the edges with more 'Gathered Twigs' ink. I used a snippet of snowy sky background left over from making this card, then matted it all on to kraft card, before adding it to a card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Celebrate Everyday' set by Hero Arts.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Something Beginning with G or H (House)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Jingle Belles - Dies
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Layer It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

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

Starry Twofer

I have a couple of cards for this month's Twofer 'Stars' Challenge to share today. The star element that I used on both cards is one of the stamps from the 'Magical Christmas' set by Creative Expressions...it's a wavy spray of solid stars.

On the Christmas card, I stamped the stars a few times using Versamark Ink on some navy card, then heat embossed them using 'Metallic Gold Sparkle' embossing glitter by WOW. I used some snippets of white hammer texture card to make a snowy landscape scene, using my 'Tree Landscape' die by Clearly Besotted, and a couple of the Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies. I added a large star, cut using one of the dies from the 'Snowy Star's set by Tim Holtz for Sizzix, cut from a snippet of gold mirror card, and a sentiment from a set by Lili of the Valley, also heat embossed in gold.

For the birthday card, I started by stamping the stars using Distress Inks (Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean & Lucky Clover) on a diagonal directly on to my card blank in a rainbow pattern. I then layered snippets of co-ordinating coloured card on to a piece of scrap paper, then cut a star shape using one of my Nesties, adding it on to the card using 3D foam pads. The sentiment stamps are from the  Happy Little Stampers 'Everyday Sentiments' set.

Challenges for these cards:

• Christmas Card Throwdown - Winter Wonderland (first card only)
• Creative Knockouts - Winter Wonderland (first card only)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (both cards use snippets)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Christmas (first card only)
• Sweet Stampin' - Birthdays (second card only)
• Twofer - Stars

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Partial Stamping')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or
'Partial Stamping'
(Either by only inking and stamping part of your image, or by stamping off the edge of your project)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

This time, I stamped my image off the edge of my card blank...it's one of the images from the 'Hello Friend' set. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment (from the 'Laugh Out Loud Again' set by Clearly Besotted) along the top of the card.

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

• AAA Cards - One Layer
• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + a Sentiment
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Male/Father's Day')
• Cute Card Thursday - CAS

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Warm Winter Wishes

Today's card was inspired by the 'Olive & Tangerine' colour combination of the current Less is More challenge. I used them to make a Christmas card using dies and a punch. I cut the trees from green card using my Clearly Besotted 'Tree Landscape' die, then cut it again from white card...removing the trees from that one, then layered it over the green one. I used a Woodware punch to cut a house, then added it behind the snowy hill. I layered another couple of pieces of white card behind it...distressing the edges, and added a sentiment stamp from a set by Lili of the Valley.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Christmas in July
• As You Like It - Fvourite Celebration (Christmas - I love having a stash of one-of-a-kind Christmas cards to send to friends & family, so love making them all year round)
• Crafty Cardmakers - At Least Two Dies/Punches
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Less is More - Olive & Tangerine

PBSC December - Winter or Christmas...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Winter or Christmas'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used 'What a Snow!' to make a Christmas card for my Mum to give to her Mum. It's quite a large stamp, so I made an A5 sized card. The papers are from the 'Wonderful Winter' and 'Countdown to Christmas' pads by My Mind's Eye...I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added some sparkle using some Stickles. I cut a couple of snowflakes using dies from  set by Tim Holtz for Sizzix...then added some glitter to those too before layering them up. The Christmas sentiment is from a set by Pollycraft for C C Designs, and the 'Mum' stamp is by Clearly Besotted.

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

• Addicted to Stamps - Season's Greetings
• Animal Friends - Anything Goes
• Artistic Stamper - Christmas
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Winter/Christmas
• Cutie Pie - Stars and/or Snowflakes
• Daring Cardmakers - Cards: The Special Ones
• Heartful Stamping - Anything Goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Christmas/Winter
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Christmas/Winter Holidays
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stitch It
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Snowmen

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Gone Fishing!

I've already blogged the card I've made for my Dad's for birthday tomorrow...and this one is for my Mum to give to him. He's a keen fisherman, so when I saw this cute stamp set by Crafter's Companion in a charity shop a little while ago I just had to pick it up...50p well spent I think! I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, and paired it with some papers from the 'Awesome Boy' pad by Recollections/Michaels. I inked around all of the edges using 'Old Paper' and 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Inks, then distressed them a little, before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is a combination of stamps from sets by Paula Pascual & Clearly Besotted...I matted it, and the image, onto pieces of recycled corrugated cardboard...turning the sentiment into a little 'wooden' sign.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Calendar - Boys Will Be Boys
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Boys/Men
• Give a Crafter a Cookie - Photo Inspiration
• Great Impressions - Masculine
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Boyz Rule
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make it Masculine
• Sweet Stampin' - Dads/Special Men

ABC Christmas Challenge - April 2017...H & I are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today, and this month we have two themes for you to choose from....or combine!

'H is for Home'

AND

'I is for Informal'

We have two awesome sponsors for this challenge:

Crafty Ribbons

Prize - £10 gift voucher!

AND

Wild Rose Studio

Prize - this fab stamp & paper pack!

I made a card for each theme...the first features two little 'homes' punched with a Woodware punch from some watercolour paper that I'd painted in a rainbow effect using Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Lucky Clover, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire & Wilted Violet). I used a larger piece of the same paper for a wintry sky background, placing some die cut 'snow drifts' (cut using some Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders' and a Clearly Besotted 'Tree Landscape' dies). The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

I interpreted the 'I is for Informal' theme by doing some watery /loose stamping using Distress Inks. I stamped on to dampened watercolour paper, with a Christmas tree stamp called 'Before the Snow' by Penny Black...first in 'Peeled Paint', then in 'Forest Moss' over the top. I filled in the sky using a mixture of 'Stormy Sky' and 'Faded Jeans' Distress Inks. I distressed the edges a little, then added a sentiment from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes (Just the second card)
• Heartful Stamping - Anything Goes (Just the second card)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Just the second card)
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Sparkling Snowflakes

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features lots of Cuttlebug products and is all white...even the stamped sentiment! I embossed a piece of card using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder, then cut the bottom using one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border dies. I cut the snowflakes from glittery funky foam using Cuttlebug dies, and added some sequins (from Clearly Besotted) to the centres of some of the embossed snowflakes. The sentiment is from the 'Merriest Wishes' set from Hero Arts and is heat embossed in 'Sparkling Snow' powder from WOW...you can barely make it out in the photo, but I'm happy to tell you that it's much more visable in real life!

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - A Touch of Sparkle
• Less is More - Something Tactile
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Add Some Texture
• Sisterhood of Crafters - White on White
• Winter Wonderland - Embossed Background