A couple of challenges and more Be Creative products

There are some challenges around at the moment that are right up my street, with Autumn colours at Penny Black and more, and Inspired by nature at Allsorts this week. I am using some more papers and buttons from Be Creative. The paper pad that this sheet comes from has some wonderful nature inspired double sided designs, very suitable for masculine cards. The deer birds and grasses are Inkylicious stamps, and the oval scene was created using Distress inks, memento inks and ink dusters. The leaves are a Joy Crafts die.
If you fancy coming along to have a play with some of the wonderful products from Be Creative, I will be there on Saturday 17th October, and there is also an open day on Friday 16th October. There will be a make and take as well as the chance to test out some products. Sign up for the Once upon a Stamp newsletter for more information.
Thanks for looking!

A Sneak Peek!

Hi There! I am popping in today with a card made using papers and embellishments from 'Be Creative', a new company who will be launching their range of craft products later next month.

The papers are 180gsm and double sided, so you get two different designs per sheet. There are 24 pages and 4 different double sided papers (that is 8 different designs) per 8"x8" book. They are made from recycled paper, but ooze quality and elegance! Can you tell I am impressed? At 180gsm they are stiff enough to make easel cards with, and I will be back with one of those soon! The flat backed pearls and buttons are self adhesive and each pack contains a range of sizes. I used inkylicious stamps and distress markers for the main image.
This weekend we are busy helping Meg to move into her student flat. The house has been full of boxes for the last few weeks and it will suddenly seem very empty once she has gone! I am looking forward to exploring new craft shops in Sheffield when I visit her! I have had one or two slightly tearful moments as she had her last karate classes in Notts for a while, and both Sensei spoke of their pride in her achievements and wished her luck - More proud mum moments!
I will share some more of the gorgeous products from 'Be Creative' very soon, and let you know a bit more about them.
Thanks for looking!

Ribbons Buttons and Bows at Stamping Sensations

Hi There! It is the first Sunday of the month and time for a new Challenge at Stamping Sensations. This month our theme is Ribbons, buttons and/ or bows. We are sponsored by the wonderful Ignacio from Nicecrane Designs, and he very kindly gave us some images to use. The gorgeous set of Jessie Wilcox images appealed to me instantly as it seems so rare to see images of children reading these days! It took me back to the days of Janet and John reading books! I added some snippets of paper from some magazines and stamped the main background papers with Vintage flowers (Inkylicious) in Tea Dye DI.

My second card used stamps from Inky Doodles 'Happiness is...' set, stamped in memento inks.This gorgeous set of stamps was a Christmas present from my lovely hubby.  I used the Victoria Cuttlebug embossing folder and some buttons and ribbon from my stash.
Now onto the prize - Thirty-Five Pounds worth of goodies from the Nicecrane website!!! How marvellous is that? There are so many fabulous images to choose from too. Thanks, Ignacio! Don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog to see the fabulous inspiration from my lovely teamies. They have done themselves proud once again!
Both of my cards have gone a little way (not that you can tell!) to using up my snippets, so I am off to the snippet playground with them, where there has been a bit of wild weather. Think I will take my bucket and wellies too!
Thanks for looking!

An animal and a song

 My Card for Tuesday Taggers needed to feature something wiith more than two legs this week. It was a very quick one, using papers from an Artylicious CD and the stamp is a Pink Gem one, coloured with promarkers. Please do pop over to the TT blog and take a look at the fabulous DT work.

My next card is for the Allsorts challenge this week where the theme is inspired by a song...can you guess?

Fields of Gold - a bit obvious I think! I used distress inks in Mustard Seed and Wild Honey and that fabulous Hero arts stamp - Sooo glad I bought it from Sir Stampalot, along with that ribbon too. I also sprayed it with gold creative colour spray. The sponsors at Allsorts this week are Sir stampalot and this card would also fit beautifully into the Sir Stampalot challenge where the theme is Autumn colours with bow(s) and button(s). I've now started singing Forever Autumn. I feel another card coming on!

Love, Love, distressed buttons and bows!

On Sunday I decided to make another wiper card, but this time a single wiper that would fit into a C6 envelope and be easy to cut from A4. I decided to follow the Allsorts requirements for this week, which is 'Get distressed with buttons and a bow'. I sprayed some crumpled paper with Moon Shadow mists in tawny turquoise and burnished bronze. When it was dry I tore it roughly to fit the front,  two side strips and wiper square. I attached some cream lace, a very old button and some 'paper string'. On the two side strips and wiper I attached some ribbon and some stamped and embossed hearts ( Elusive images).  the front has an image from a Crafty individuals book and more stamped embossed hearts from a CI stamp.
It is a very different colour scheme for me, but I like the grungy feel of it, and as it is about love I've decided to enter it into the 'By the cute and Girly challenge' for February too.
I am having a lovely week. I picked up my new car yesterday (new to me, but only thirteen months old and still looks and feels like new). It is a lovely drive and feels a bit posh! I'm looking forward to the weekend when I can take it on a longer run. I'll be back soon with other news! Thanks for looking x
P.S. was thinking of doing a photo tutorial for a double wiper card  - let me know if you are interested

Dare you to Digistamp Challenge - Buttons

This weeks challenge at DareU2Digistamp is Buttons. I've been busy with the promarkers this week, so I put them together and added a few buttons. Both cards are for young ladies. The first is for a daughter of a friend and the second for a young neighbour. The digistamp on the first is from Sassy Studios and the gorgeous teddy is a creation of Vince and a freebie from his blog - check it out, because he is a very talented guy! Thanks for looking!