October Desk Calendar

As it's the first of the month, I'm sharing the October page of my Paper Mill desk calendar. The stamps I used this month are from the 'Spooky!' set by Penny Black. I stamped them directly on to the calendar, then coloured them using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Winter Village

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features a Spellbinders 3D stamp called 'Winter Village'. I inked it up using 'Twilight' Versafine Ink, then stamped it on to some smooth white card. I added a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz, for Stampers nonymous) using the same blue ink, then added the panel to a navy card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - M is for Monochrome
• Everybody Art - Stamps
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Time to Paw-ty!

Today's card features a few of the fab doggies from the 'Les Chiens' set by Katzelkraft. I stamped them (or partially stamped them) on to a piece of watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pecnils. I added a sentiment using a couple of stamps from the 'Watch This!' set by Anita Jerum for the Colorado Craft Company, then added the panel to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Four-legged Friends')
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Clean & Simple
• Just Us Girls - CAS
• Less is More - C is for Celebrate

Driving Home for Christmas

Today's card features one of the critters from the 'Joy to the World' set. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I made the background by stamping my Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' background stamp on to a piece of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I die cut a few trees using an old Marianne Designs die and snippets of green card, then added some 'snow' to their branches using a white paint pen, then layered everything up and added it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Wheels
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use a Background Stamp
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes (Optional 'Trees/Leaves')

Poinsettia Ornament

Today's card features another of the dies that was part of a recent prize from Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge...this one is called 'Poinsettia Ornament' by Memory Box. I cut it from snippets of red glitter and gold mirror card, then inlaid the red glitter 'petals' and ornament into the gold outline before adding it to some cream card. I heat embossed a sentiment from the 'Christmas Sparkle' set by Woodware (also part of the prize) using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder from WOW, then matted it all on to some more gold mirror card, before adding it all to a cream card blank.

Challenges for this card

• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Little Red Wagon - Christmas, but No Snow
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Die Cuts

Pups with Present

Today's card features an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Pups with Present'. I stamped it on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered it over the top of a snippet of snowflake covered paper from the 'Frost & Snow' pad by Craft Creations, and added a sentiment from the 'Scribby Christmas' sey by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• My Time to Craft - Does and/or Cats
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Cute
• Simply Create Too - Use Stamps

PBSC September - 'Anything Goes' (Optional 'Lots of Layer')...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

'Lots of Layers'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

The image on my card is called 'Merry Band'...I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of paper from the 'Party Day' pad by Crate Paper, with a piece of musical washi tape (mounted on to some white card, so that designshowed more clearly) layered over the top. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Cute

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

Just For You

I have a simple one layer card to share today, made using one of the stamps from the 'Just for You' set by Penny Black. I stamped it directly on to a kraft card blank, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Watch This!' set by Anita Jerum for the Colorado Craft Company.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Mushrooms
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Cutie Pie - Birthdays and/or Bears
• Happy Little Stampers (Birthday) - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Balloons
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Cute
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - S & T are for?

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

'S is for Snowmen'

&

'T is for Three of a Kind'

There's a surprise package on offer for the lucky winner!

For my 'S is for Snowmen' card, I inked up an old Lili of the Valley satmp called simply 'Snowman', stamped him on to watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I used a piece of snowflake covered paper from the 'Frost & Snow' pad by Craft Creations for the background...distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, and matted the layers on to aqua card. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.

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

• As You Like It - Autumn or Winter (Winter for me - I love a cold, crisp winter day...and Christmas!) 
• Christmas Kickstart - Snowmen
• Christmas with the Cuties - Something Snowy
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Build me a Snowman
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

For my 'T is for Three of a Kind' card, I picked a Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Brightest Xmas'...stamping it on to a white card blank. I added a sentiment from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils.

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

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Wings and/or Scales
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act 
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It

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

Snowy Cabin Circle

Today's card features another one of the dies that was in my lovely Pixie's Snippets Playground prize. This one is by Memory Box, and is called 'Snowy Cabin Circle'. For its first outing, I decided to keep it simple, cutting it from a snippet of plain white card. I kept all of the little cut out pieces in place, and simply backed it with a snippet of 'snowy' paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations. I added it to a teal card blank, then stamped a sentiment from another part of the prize...the 'Christmas Sparkle' set by Woodware...and heat embossed it in white.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Die Cuts')
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Christmas')
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Christmas Presents

Today's card features another of the stamps from the Joanna Sheen/House Mouse stamp set called 'Christmas Presents' that I picked up in a charity shop earlier this summer. I stamped it directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Holidays
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Less is More - Anything CAS Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It

Bunny Hello

On a recent visit to a craft charity shop, I picked up several woodmounted stamps...in my defence they were on 'Buy One Get One Free'! The one I used on this card is an unnamed stamp by Great Impressions...I couldn't resist the cute bunny faces! I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolur pencils. I added a sentiment from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp, then distressed the edges. I made a simple background by embossing a snippet of watercolour effect paper (from the 'Watercolour Feelings' pad from the Works) using an old Cuttlebug embossing folder called 'Spots & Dots'.

Challenges for this card:

• Dream Valley - Dry Embossing
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Guest Designer - Stamping Sensations Challenge

Today, I'm thrilled to be sharing a Guest Designer card for the Stamping Sensations Challenge, where the theme this month is:

'Garden Delights'

I picked a trio of Penny Black hedgehog stamps, all of them involving flower pots, to combine...the one of the left is called 'Garden Visit', and the other two (and the little bumblebee) are from the 'Wonderful' set. I stamped them on to watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of flowery papers from the 'Happy Watercolours' pad from The Works...distressing the edges, then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. 

For more inspiration from the fabulous design team, and to check out the details of this month's wonderful prize, please pop over to the Stamping Sensations Challenge.

PBSC September - Anything Goes (Optional 'Lots of Layers')

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

'Lots of Layers'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

The image on my card is from the 'Cheerful Critters' set by Penny Black...I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I used several papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations for the background...I distressed all of the edges, added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then layered it all up. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Watch This!' set by Anita Jerum for Colorado Crafts.

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

• AAA Birthday - Animals
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

 

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

September Desk Calendar

As today is the first of a new month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for September. I used an image from the 'Cheerful Critters' set by Penny Black...this little mouse is an accurate representation of how I have spent today...sitting at my desk sorting out my timetables for the term ahead! I stamped it directly on to the calendar as I have done each month, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Wedding Congratulations

Today's card is a wedding congratulations card...made with a limited selection of supplies as I was away from home. The image is from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black...I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The heart print paper is from the 'Vintage Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image.

Challenges for this card:

• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Weddings/Anniversaries

Frames & Baubles

Today's cards feature a set of dies that were part of a prize I won recently over at Pixie's Snippets Playground - thank you Di & Sarn! They're from an unnamed Memory Box set, and I used nearly all of the dies in the set, and some snippets of silver mirror and pearlised turquoise card to make a couple of cards. I mounted the die cuts on to navy card, alternating the colours, then added the panels to white card blanks.

Challenges for these cards:

• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Use Die Cuts
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Sparkle & Shine

Stocking Garland

Today's card features another stamp I recieved for my birthday called 'Stocking Garland' by Creative Expressions. I stamped it on to black card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder by WOW. I added a sentiment, also heat embossed in gold, then used Cosmic Shimmers watercolour paints and mica pigments to watercolour the image. I matted the panel on to some gold mirror card, then on to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes

Mugs of Joy

I have a set of Christmas cards to share today, made using a new Penny Black stamp set called 'Mugs of Joy' that I got for my birthday recently. I stamped each of the four mugs on to watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of watercolour effect paper from the 'Pastel Watercolours' pad from The Works...it's a 12x12 sheet, but had four separate squares on the sheet each with slightly different colours. I heat embossed snowflakes in white, using stamps from the 'Snowflakes' set by Personal Impressions, and 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts on to each square. I distressed all of the edges, then matted the images and backgrounds on to coordinating pastel card, before adding a sentiment to each using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Goes

Christmas Mice

Today's card features some more of the stamps from the 'Christmas Presents' House Mouse set that I picked up recently in a charity shop. I stamped them directly on to a kraft card blank, along with the sentiment from the set, then coloured them using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - CAS

PBSC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'One Layer Cards')...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

'One Layer Cards'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I've just realised that I have used the same stamp as last month's mid-month reminder card...which is 'Together', of course by Penny Black...I did at least use slightly different inks this time! I inked it up using Distress Inks (Broken China, Chipped Sapphire & Dusty Concord for the petals, and Mowed Lawn & Rsutic Wilderness for the stems & leaves), then stamped it directly on to my card blank. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Signature Greetings' set by Memory Box.

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

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - CAS
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped

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