Penny Black Saturday Challenge 36

This week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge combines my two favourite things...a sketch, and, of course, Penny Black stamps! I decided to use it to make this week's Christmas card - I can't believe I'm still managing to stick to that resolution! The image ('Night before Xmas') was sent to me in a swap by lovely PBSC DT member Pauline, and I've coloured it using traditional reds and greens. The stripey paper is by Scrapbooking Australia ('Story Time - Arthur's Stripes'), and the other patterned papers are from the 'Festive' pack by My Mind's Eye. The plain green card was embossed using the Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder. The red and green shimmery ribbon was a Christmas present from my Secret Santa - thank you Pauline ;0) - and the buttons and brads are from my stash.

The Sugar Bowl Challenge #1

The Sugar Bowl Challenge Blog launched yesterday with a fabulous sketch by Tiets. If you're a fan of Sugar Nellie stamps, and haven't yet visited, there are some wonderful cards from the very talented DT members on the blog for you to take inspiration from. I just couldn't resist joining in, but as I'm still away from home, I don't have all of my stash with me. I didn't bring any Sugar Nellie images, but I was lucky enough to receive this gorgeous 'Snowman with present' stamp from my 'Secret Santa' for Christmas...so I decided to use the sketch to get a head start with this year's Christmas cards! lol
I didn't bring any 'Christmas' papers, embellishments or sentiment stamps, but after a quick rummage through the stash I've got here, I managed to find some suitable paper and card. The striped paper is by Scrapbooking Australia ('Story Time - Arthur Stripe'), the plain cardstock was embossed using the 'Swiss Dots', 'Textile Texture', and 'Forest Branches' Cuttlebug embossing folders. The sentiment is from a little set by Studio G (not really Christmassy, but it's the best I can do at the moment!).

I loved working with this sketch, although I feel that my card could do with an embellishment in the top right-hand corner, to balance out the sentiment, but I'll have to sort that out when I'm reunited with the rest of my stash!