International Art and Soul Challenge 105

 The challenge for this fortnight has been set by my team mate CG. She wants us to make a shaped card, and is especially looking for creativity.

Now, this is something I struggle with. I think I have a fairly good sense of colour, but I'm not good at shape and dimension, and that's even worse when we move in to three dimensions. But, with the aid of a die set or several, I came up with this:

The main card shape uses a die set from Marianne Creatables. You need three of the die cuts to get this shape. I added patterned paper which I bought from The Works. 

I decorated the inside with a variety of die cuts. I'm honestly not sure about the dies used for the vases. I suspect they might be Spellbinders (definitely bronze coloured). The flowers were made using dies from Printable Heaven. The sentiment here (and the one on the front) are from a set which I think was Spellbinders too.

As you can see better in this picture, the vases and sentiment are designed to 'pop up' slightly when the card is open.

But everything folds together for posting. The hinges you see are part of the Marianne die set, and they definitely add to the strength of the design.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 15

The challenge at International Art and Soul this fortnight is layers. We want to see lots of them. Doesn't matter what you make, what theme, colour, material - just so long as it's got lots of layers.

It won't surprise anyone to discover that I made a card. It might be a surprise that it's a Christmas card.

My base layer uses some pearlescent white card that I embossed using a Crafter's Companion folder. Before embossing, I dusted the folder with some Versacolor ink, so there's a little colour on that layer. The next two layers were stamped (again using Versacolor ink) using background stamps from Creative Expressions. All three background layers were matted. finally, I added a layered sentiment (I think that's a Tonic die, but I'm not sure) and the snowflake (Marianne die) is itself made of three layers connected by foam tape. I make that a maximum of ten layers, but it'll still go in an envelope, although I'd have to use a 'large' stamp if I end up posting this one.

I hope you can join us with your layers!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 99

It's my turn to host the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers this time, and I've chosen to get away from the hot, sunny summer and turn to winter! (Hey, not everybody likes hot weather ...) So, I want to see your creations which include some Christmas ice and snow! Snowmen/women, icy landscapes, anything cold and wintery, as long as that's the main theme of the card. A single snowflake as an embellishment won't do!

Our sponsors this time are:

and

I've chosen an image from Lil Diva called Winterville, which is available here via the Stitchy Bear shop. It's a really pretty image and doesn't need a lot to make a lovely card.

And I've kept it fairly simple! I did a little colouring with Derwent Coloursoft pencils, then added quite a lot of Glamour Dust to give the snow some sparkle. The paper is from a pad that came as a magazine freebie, and I finished with a couple of die cut snowflakes courtesy of a Marianne Creatables die set and my trusty Big Shot Pro.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Creative Fingers where anything goes,
Sister Act where anything goes,

And, in some respects similar and in others very different, I've used a Michael Powell image which I stamped and coloured using Promarkers.

I do like his rather quirky style - which is unusual for me, as I tend to like straight lines and symmetry! The images are quite fun to colour too! In the background, I've made some paper using distress inks, stencils, ink dusters and rubber stamps. The holly sprig is from a Joanna Sheen Signature die.

I hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cuttlebug Mania where they want die cuts,
Lady Anne's Challenge where they want us to use a stamp,

Another Michael Powell Image ...

Well, I managed to colour another of those Michael Powell images, and made it into a card.

The image was coloured with Promarkers, and I kept to three shade types - the violets, yellow-greens and some neutrals for the stonework. I coloured with Promarkers.

I intended to make a five by seven card, but loved those vining flowers in the image, so I wanted to reproduce something similar as a border. But, when I tried it out, the card was too crowded, so I switched to a huge eight by eight!

The background paper is from the Papermania Persimmon collection. The next layer is some lining paper spritzed with various mica sprays in violet and blue colours. The paper itself was kindly given to me by J at A Crafty Habit after I admired some work she'd done using the paper. It definitely copes better with a water-based technique than the papers I've tried before! Although it's already lightly embossed, I wanted something more definite, so I put it through my Big Shot Pro with a Sizzix embossing folder.

The vine tendrils are die cut using a Marianne die, and I used my Promarkers to ensure that the colour matched the stamped image. The individual flowers were punched, coloured with Promarker, and then finished with a single seed bead.

I must say that I do love these images, although they're going to make fairly big cards unless I leave the image pretty much unembellished.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Creations where they want us to use something new (new stamp),
Fresh Brewed where anything goes,
The Paper Shelter where they want lots of flowers,
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge where anything goes,
Inky Chicks where anything goes,
Loves Rubber Stamps where they want die cuts or punches,
Dream Valley where anything goes,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 145

Well, it's a brand new year, and I hope it'll be a happy one for you and yours. At One Stitch at a Time this week, our theme is 'New'. It can be anything new - new baby, new home, new year, or even new crafting goodies being put to use!

Our sponsors are:

This week, I worked with an image from Kassal Crafts, and came up with this:

I thought that bunny just looked so pleased with himself in that waistcoat and bow tie! I added the sentiment in Photoshop Elements and coloured the image with my trusty Promarkers, then matted it onto some Papermania paper and card. The backing paper is also Papermania, and the flowers were cut using a Marianne die set with the centres from a Marianne poinsettia set.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

ATCs and Cards with Attitude where anything goes,
Crafty Catz where anything goes,
Fat Pages and Cards with Attitude where anything goes,
Totally Papercraft where the theme is something new,
Crafty Creations where anything goes,
Divas by Design where anything goes,

Fresh Brewed where anything goes,

Digi Galore where anything goes (with a digi stamp),

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 80

Our challenge this fortnight, hosted by team-mate Fiona, is a photo inspiration challenge.

Make a card or project inspired by the following photo. You can take inspiration from any part of it really, from the actual image or from the colours.

We are sponsored again by

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

and

CROP STOP

The things that stood out for me when looking at that photo, are the colours, the Christmas theme and the fact that the tree looks so sparkly. So, that's what I combined to come up with my card for this challenge:

Now, when my children were small, a regular part of the run-up to Christmas, was watching 'The Snowman'. The stamp I used comes from a set of stamps from Crafter's Companion, and I coloured the image with Promarkers.

In order to get the sparkle, I got out my Shimmer Paper. I used a sheet of the fairly neutral shade in the background, and cut lots of snowflakes from the blue/green variety, using dies from Marianne, Spellbinders and Cuttlebug. I matted using some Nestibilities, and it's complete. (And since I didn't go too 'dimensional', I'll even be able to post it without a 'large' stamp!)

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crazy Amigos where the theme is 'colours of winter',
Ladybug Crafts Ink where the theme is 'snowflakes',
Artistic Inspirations where anything goes,
Bunny Zoe where the theme is 'winter',
Hooked on Craft where the theme is 'Christmas',
Paper Playtime where anything goes,
The Paper Girls where the theme is Christmas,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 140

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is to use a digi. That's it!

We're sponsored by

and

This week, I decided to add to my stash of Christmas cards using an image from Floppy Latte called Christmas Candles 2.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, and added some sparkle with gold Glamour Dust. I cut the image and mat with a Spellbinders die, and made the poinsettia using a Marianne Creatables die. The paper has been in my Christmas paper stash for at least four years, and the ribbon is of a similar vintage - the last length of a much longer piece!

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

LEJ where the theme is 'Season's Greetings',
Tuesday Alchemy where anything goes,
The Pink Elephant Monday Challenge where they want us to use punches/dies
Divas by Design where anything goes,
Just Keep on Crafting where anything (Christmas) goes,
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge where anything goes,
Crafty Catz where they want some sparkle,
Papercrafting Journey where anything goes,
Little Claire's where the theme is Christmas.

More on a Theme

The card I posted a few days ago turned out to be the first of three on a theme. I glittered three of the wrought iron images, and managed to finish two further cards.

For both, I stamped the background on standard black card using Versamark ink and then Perfect Pearls in blues and greens. In addition I've used some Spellbinders border dies, Spellbinders Nestibilities and their new layered flower dies which I've used for the first time, as well as the branch type die from Marianne Creatables. The glittered images here and in the previous post all use the same colours of glitter (green, turquoise and blue) but I got very different effects by varying where each colour went.

I've also been busy working on some DT cards, but they won't be 'public' for a while!

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 118

This week at One Stitch at a Time, the challenge 'Stitch It'! That means you either use some stitching on your project, or you use an image from Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. (Or both!)

Our sponsor this week is

and the lucky winner will win the set of images used by the design team this week.

My image comes from Ike's Digital Art and it's a lovely thatched cottage.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, and cut it with a Nellie Snellen die in my Wizard. I shaded the outside of the frame with Distress Ink in Crushed Olive. The paper is a Kate Knight floral, and the butterfly was cut using a Marianne die.

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Craft Your Passion where anything goes,
Digital Tuesday where they want butterflies,
The Paper Shelter where anything goes,
Stampavie and More where they want things with wings,
Papercrafting Journey where they want a hand-coloured image,
ATCs and Cards with Attitude where anything goes,
Emergency Crafters where they want things with wings,
Fat Pages and Cards with Attitude where anything goes,
Hot Shot Crafts where the theme is distress inks,
Stamping for the Weekend where they want bugs and butterflies.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 105

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we're challenging you to make it girly! (An ideal challenge for Mother's Day too!)

Our sponsors this week are

Now, there's a lot of scope with this theme, but for me, there's nothing girlier than flowers!

So, I took Delicious Doodles gorgeous image Floral Watering Can which is available at Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. I coloured it with Promarkers, first deciding to have a pink and purple theme for the blooms. Then I decided that the watering can just had to be green, but since the flowers were already fairly dark, I decided to go for a limish green. The result was very bright, and I initially despaired of finding some paper to work with the colours. (Note: illogically, I didn't do it the other way round. I rarely do!) Then, I remembered a paper pad I got with a magazine a while ago. I can rarely resist magazines that give paper pads (unless they're full of cute critters, of course), but I have to say that the colours in this pad are so bright I wondered if I'd ever manage to use them (I think it's a Kate Knight pad with the word Tropical in there somewhere.) Anyway, to my amazement, it seemed to work perfectly, so I added a lime green mat or two, die cut a mat in a strong purply-pink, then some die cut flowers (Spellbinders) and butterfly (Marianne) and a couple of sticky gems.

Having done it, I think I'll probably be using more of that pad, as I like the result - even if sunglasses are needed!

I hope you can join us this week, and I wish every mum out there a very happy day! I'm off the the Stitch and Craft show at Olympia with my daughter, so I'll have to wait to link this card to challenges when I get back!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp where anything goes,
Totally Stampalicious where they want flowers,
Digital Tuesday where the theme is 'think spring',
I Love Promarkers where anything goes,
Shelly's Images where anything goes,
The Poodle's Parlour where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 102

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our theme is Easter/Spring, and we're sponsored by Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps.

And this is what you could win!

My image this week is from Ike's Art and it's available at the shop here.

I coloured the image with Promarkers. The papers are from MME, and I used a Marianne die to cut the flowers.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Stamps R Us where anything goes,
Paper Pretties where they want us to use punches or die cuts (flowers, image and mat are die cut),
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge where anything goes,
The Sisterhood of Crafters where they want us to use a digi,
Truly Scrumptious where they want 'all creatures great and small',
Crafty Ann's where they want 'bold and bright',
Delightful Challenges where they want patterned paper,
Sarah Hurley where they want die cuts.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 62 - A Recipe!

This week at Crafty Cardmakers, we want to see what you can cook up with a recipe devised by DT member, Kim! She wants you to create something using one (preferably stamped)  image, two patterned papers and three embellishments one of which must be a heart. So, not too difficult, and lots of scope to put your own 'stamp' on the project. Our sponsor this week is Di's Digi Downloads.

I don't know about you, but I love my Promarkers. They're my first choice when I need to do some colouring - especially if time's at a premium. And for digi stamps they're absolutely invaluable! But, there are some colour ranges where I've struggled to find colours to shade together - especially among the reds, pinks and violets. The normal Letraset descriptions don't help much, I don't think. But, some time after I started collecting Promarkers, they started putting colour codes on them, defining a colour family as well as hue, saturation and luminosity. Now, they're not measures I'm particularly familar with (give me good old hexadecimals any day ...) but I'm a scientist by training and inclination, and numbers are meant to be crunched. So, I set out to categorise my pens, started up a spreadsheet and finally mapped the colours into something I can get my teeth into.

The first project I used after that, is a Ching Chou Kuik image I've used many times before, and this is what I came up with.

Now, my colouring's still not as good as I'd like it to be. (Not an artist! See above!) but it's much better than I've managed with these colours before. I've mainly used colours in the Magenta and Violet sets, with a tiny bit of blue for the bird, and I've added some very pale shades from the Flexmarkers I've recently added to my collection. I've used some paper and card from the Papermania Capsule collection, and cut a mat using the Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis rectangle which is definitely my favourite die at the moment. The flowers were cut using a Marianne Creatables die set, and I've added a sticky gem heart to complete the challenge.

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Top Tip Tuesday who've got a Fantasy theme,
Inky Impressions where they want us to use dies or punches (die cut mat and flowers),
Shelly's Images where anything goes,
Sarah Hurley where they want die cuts,
Digi Doodle's Shop where anything goes,
Crafty Purple Frog where the theme is Flower Power
4 Crafty Chicks where they want doubles (two papers and two flowers)
Guylou's Inimitability where they want 'girly girly' creations,
Crafty Ann's where they want 'bold and bright'

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 96

This week at One Stitch at a Time we're sponsored by Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps.

and by

This week I worked with a gorgeous digi from Stitchy herself. It's called Park Bench, and it's available here

I colured the image with Promarkers. the background paper is from a pad I've had for ages. The flowers were die cut using Marianne Creatables dies, as was the frond.

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
House of Gilli where anything goes,
Lexi's Creations where anything goes,
Bearly Mine where anything goes,
Top Tip Tuesday where anything goes,
Passion for Promarkers where they want something inspired by a song. And that image has got to be inspired by Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters ...
The Anything Goes Challenge where anything goes!
Meljen's Designs where anything goes.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 95

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we want you to use three embellishments! Any theme or colours you like, as long as we can count three embellishments.

Our Sponsor this week is

This week, I had an image from Reece's Scrap Pieces called Stroll in the Rain which is available from Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and used nesties to cut and mat the result. The flowers are made from multiple layers of tissue paper cut with my Dahlia dies from Spellbinders, and the green fronds use a Marianne Creatables die. The paper used was the same both times, although I oriented the paper both ways in the die so I got mirror images of the final result. I think that slight difference in curvature of the die cut is the reason they look so different in the photo! The background was embossed in my Wizard using a dragonflies embossing folder.

Hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Incy Wincy where anything goes,
Paper Creations Ink where they want die cuts (die cut image and mat, flower layers and leaf swirls),
Stamps R Us where anything goes,
Truly Madly Crafty where anything goes,
Cupcake Craftroom where anything goes,
Stamp N Doodle where anything goes,

The Paper Shelter where anything goes,
Inky Impressions where anything goes,
One Stop Craft where they're playing bingo. (Flowers, die cuts and embossing).

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 89

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we've got the best challenge of all - Anything Goes!

We're sponsored this time by Creative Craft World who're offering three Promarkers to the lucky winner .


This week, I chose a gorgeous image and paper set from Reece's Scrap Pieces. It's called In the Meadow we can Build a Snowman and it's available at the Stitchy Bear shop where there's a great deal coming up.

 

The set consists of a standard digi-stamp, a pre-coloured image and five toning papers.

Here, I've used the pre-coloured image and four of the five supplied papers. I matted three of the papers with a fourth one (a dark blue) in Photoshop Elements before printing them onto Ryman Matte Ink Jet paper. I printed the image onto Glossy photo paper and added some Glamour Dust before matting onto blue card. The snowflakes were die cut using a Marianne Creatables set in my Wizard, using white card that had been sprayed with Crafter's Companion Spray and Sparkle in irridescent.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Fab'n'Funky where 'Baby, it's cold outside,'
Moving Along with the Times where the theme is 'Let it Snow',
Shelley's Images where anything goes,
Crafter's Companion where the theme is Let it Snow,
Tiffany Doodles where they want glitter and sparkle,
Glitter Fairies where they want Christmas without red, green and gold,
Creatalicious Challenges where they want Christmas with sparkle,
Winter Wonderland where they want cute Christmas images,
Two Sisters where they want sparkle,




I also coloured the image to match some paper I had, and came up with this:

I shaded the sky area of the image a pale blue in Photoshop Elements before printing, but you can't see that in the photo. (I can either use artificial light which washes out pale colours or have a really dark photo just now!) The paper and gold mesh are from my stash, and the snowflakes and stars were cut from gold card using a Cuttlebug die.
I hope you can join us this week.

Craft Your Passion where the theme is 'Let it Snow',
The Craft Garden where they want Christmas without red of green,
CRAFT where they want to see stars,
Phindy's Place where they want Christmas Cards,
Cardmadfairy where they want texture,
Crafty Emma where they want snowflakes,
Rogue Redhead where they want just one design paper.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 56

This time at Crafty Cardmakers, we want you to recycle something! It can be a box or container, or even something you add as an embellishment, so long as it's recycled. And make sure to mention what's been recycled too!

I decided to make something other than a card this time, and found a sturdy little box which originally had some jewellery in it. It was rather plain, except for the manufacturer's logo on the lid, so I decided to convert it for Christmas.

And, for a better view of the top,

The papers are from a recent Crafts Beautiful freebie, and I've added some ribbon, some mirror board cut with a Martha Stewart border punch, and a poinsettia cut with a Marianne Creatable die set in my Wizard. Unfortunately, I wasn't convinced I'd be successful, so I didn't take a photo of it in its original state.

It's a nice, solid little box, and I suspect I'll fill it with tablet as a gift, once I've made the tablet, that is!

Hope you can join us this time.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday where it's 'anything goes Christmas'
Mami Doodles where the theme is Christmas,
Wags 'n Whiskers where the theme is Christmas
Totally Gorjuss where the theme is Christmas Traditions,
Pile it On where they want Traditional Christmas,
Karen's Doodles where they want anything but a card.

Christmas Cards

 During the summer, and again earlier this week, I had to go away for a few days to somewhere that I don't have internet access. The problem of what to do with myself in the evenings is a worry - the flat has horrible lighting in the living room, (almost none) and I can't abide watching TV without something to do with my hands. The solution was to take some pre-printed images and colouring paraphenalia and sit in the kitchen! And now, I've finally managed to transform those images into Christmas cards.

But to start, one I've done from scratch this weekend, again practising my brayering!

Of course, if you look carefully, you'll spot the mistake - the mask for the moon didn't stick as well as I'd thought, and the moon has a distinctly blue shadow. I thought it looked like an interesting effect, though, and left it be.

The sky uses Distress Ink in Faded Denim, and the tree image (Clarity split tree) was stamped in Versafine ink. I added the detail in the snow with a stencil brush, and finished the image with some Glamour Dust adhered with Sakura glue pen.

The result is fairly stark, so I decided to continue with that theme, matting it onto black card and adding a hand-written sentiment in silver.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge where the theme is 'cold and frosty',
Sweet Stamping Challenge where anything goes,

And this one is definitely not stark! The image is Stitchy's Wishing You Well which she generously gave me to help me to stay sane during what I thought would be a summer without much crafting. I framed it and added the sentiment in Photoshop Elements, then coloured the image with Promarkers.

I had been counting on buying some card blanks when I went to the craft show at Alexandra Palace a few weeks ago, but by the time I got around to getting some, all the straight edge cards had gone! (Those things are heavy - I normally leave them to the end.) Knowing I was getting low, I did buy one pack of the scallopped edge cards, but I've found them quite hard to use. In an attempt to find something that works, I dug out my Spellbinders scallopped Borderabilities. The holographic card is from a local 'cheap' shop. It's not the best quality, but for a bit of Christmas glitz, it's perfect.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge where the theme is 'cold and frosty',
Bah Humbug where they want die cuts,
Card Makin' Mamas where they want die cuts,
Charizma Cards where anything goes,

This card uses a Just Inklined image that was a freebie a while ago. It's coloured with Promarkers, and cut using a Nellie Snellen die that's a perfect compliment to the Spellbinders dies, being narrower and longer. The hand-written sentiment is cut with a die from the same set. I used some paper from Trimcraft and embossed the green panel with a Papermania folder.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Bah Humbug where they want die cuts,
Card Makin' Mamas where they want die cuts,

Digi Doodles Shop Best where anything goes,

This image was one stamped for me last year by my Secret Santa from a group I belong to. The paper she used wasn't suitable for Promarkers, so last week, while I was limited to my Derwent Coloursoft pencils, I had a go. I've still got some way to go as regards technique with pencils. I used Baby Oil for blending, but suspect that's part of the reason I'm never completely happy with the degree of blending I get. (Then again, it could just be me!) I added a little sparkle with a Sakura Stardust clear pen.

I covered the whole image in some dimensional glaze to give a glass effect then matted onto holographic card cut with a Spellbinders die. The paper was a magazine freebie, and the snowflakes were cut using a Marianne Creatables die set.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: One Stop Craft Challenge where the theme is 'no sentiments',
Bah Humbug where they want die cuts,
Card Makin' Mamas where they want die cuts,
Crimbo Crackers where anything goes,
Christmas Inspirations where they want die cuts.

And finally! The image is from the fabulous Beccy Muir. All her images (as far as I know) are available as freebies, and she has some gorgeous drawings. I added the frame and sentiment in Photoshop Elements then coloured the image with Derwent Coloursoft Pencils blended with Baby Oil. In the background, you'll see some beautiful fir-tree embossing - a result of an impulse buy yesterday. It's an embossing folder from Sissix which came with another which will be more generally useful despite it's 'snow flower' name. I love how it embossed!

So, there we have it - five Christmas cards to add to what I've got stashed away. Still got a long way to go, though!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge where the theme is 'cold and frosty',
Papercrafting Journey where they want a digi,

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 85

This week, One Stitch at a Time is giving you the chance to win some gorgeous images or papers from the Stitchy Bear shop. The theme this week is embossing - so whatever occasion you're making cards for, add some embossing and let us see what you've done!

My image this week is from Ginger Loft, and it's called Christmas Door. It's so lovely and detailed that I thought I'd leave it just as it is. Well, except for adding some glitter.

The white background has been embossed using a couple of folders from Papermania and my Wizard. The snowflakes were die cut using some Marianne Creatable dies, and the card is standard black that's been sprayed with Crafter's Companion Spray and Sparkle in Irridescent.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Ooh La La where it's snowing,
Charisma Cards where they want embossing,
Paperplay where they want us to use black,
Shelley's Images where anything goes,
Some Odd Girl where they want a black and white image,
One Stop Craft Challenge where they want no design paper,
Paper Sundaes where they want (among others) black and sparkly
Pan Pastel where they want glitter.

But, because I got carried away with the image, I forgot the purpose of the challenge was embossing, so I made another card first.

This time I added a little colour with Promarkers, and I added a 'wreath' made with gold-coloured jewellery wire and some beads. The background paper is from Trimcraft, and I finished the card with some punched pieces. The border uses a star punch I've had for ages, and gold mirror board, and I used the cut out stars and some larger ones in gold to finish the card.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks whose theme is 'marker it up',
Christmas Inspirations where they want punches or die cuts.

(I may be late actually linking for these challenges - hope that's ok.)

Hope you can join us this week.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 67

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our challenge is to make something with wings! That's right - a bird, fairy, butterfly, bat ... as long as it's got wings, you're ok.

And even better, we're sponsored this week by the amazing Joanna Sheen. Remember, she ships around the world without charging extra for postage!

And this week, the artist in the spotlight is Floppy Latte Designs. There are some gorgeous papers and images in her collection, among them some stunning silhouettes.

The image is coloured with Promarkers and I added a little Glamour Dust in gold to her wings. The paper is from Papermania. The butterfly was cut using a Marianne Creatables die in my Wizard. Now, I find those intricate non-Spellbinders dies hard to cut cleanly, so I turned that disadvantage into a positive by cutting it from some fairly thin white card that I use for punching. Then, I coloured the die cut with Promarkers, using the same range of reds I had in the image, and again, added some gold Glamour Dust.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Stampavie and More where they want butterflies,
Craft Your Passion where the theme is 'magical',
Bunny Zoe's Crafts where the theme is 'fairies',
Top Tip Tuesday where there's an open challenge this time,
Delightful Challenges where anything goes,
Southern Girls where anything goes,
Delicious Doodles where they want things that flutter,
Polka Doodles where their theme is 'all of a flutter',
Simply Create where they want us to fly with them,
The Stampman where they want butterflies and dragonflies.

One Stitch at a Time Challenge 65

Now, early as it seems to me, this week's challenge at One Stitch at a Time is 'Schools Out/Graduation'. Of course, it's early because in this part of the world, our summer Half Term week is just about over, and tomorrow we go back to school for what always seems to be the longest half term of the year. And graduations won't happen until the university terms are over and final exam results announced - next month for the most part.

We're sponsored this week by Creative Craft World who are offering five romarkers as a prize. Now go on, you can always use five more Promarkers, can't you?

So, when faced with this challenge, my mind went from 'End of Term' straight to 'holidays' and so, when choosing an image, Hope Jacare's 'Island Getaway' seemed ideal.

Isn't that a fabulous image? A little cottage on an island surrounded by the sea, where hopefully the weather will be bright but not too warm, with a lovely breeze. I coloured the image with Promarkers, of course. The background paper is another magazine freebie - this one from Quick Cards some time ago, and designed by Nel Whatmore. I thought the 'doodley' style of the paper was a perfect match for the image.

The flowers and leaves are die cut using a Marianne Creatables die set and the flower centres are punched.

I hope you're able to join us this week.

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Crafter's Companion where the theme is 'Here Comes Summer' and what's better for summer than an island getaway?
Sir Stampalot where they've got a picture inspiration (I was inspired by the colours.)
Paper Pretties where they have a sketch,
Divas by Design where the theme is 'Florals',
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges where the theme is 'Here Comes Summer' and what's better for summer than an island getaway?
A Spoonful of Sugar where they want us to use something floral.