Thursday 31 January 2019

Present Pile

Another day...another Christmas card! This one also features a Lili of the Valley image, but it's a James the Bear one this time called 'Present Pile'. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then cut him out using one of my Nesties. For the background, I used a snippet of card left over from making this card...I made it using a Simon Says Stamp background stamp (called 'Mod Trees') stamped in a  white pigment ink, then heat embossed in white on kraft card. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitches using black and white gel pens. The sentiment (from a set by Pollycraft for C. C. Designs) is also heat embossed.


Challenges for this card:


Tuesday 29 January 2019

Polar Pals

I have another Christmas card to share today...I must be on a roll! This one features a cute Lili of the Valley image called 'Polar Pals' which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I made a snowy background by stamping my Simon Says Stamp 'Outline Snowflakes' stamp on to a piece of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations using white pigment ink. I then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.


Challenges for this card:


Sunday 27 January 2019

Shepherds

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features a Penny Black stamp simply called 'Shepherds'. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then doodled a simple border. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Lili of the Valley.


Challenges for this card:


Thursday 24 January 2019

Party Pups

Another simple little card today...but not Christmas! This one uses a couple of the cute pups from the 'Good Times!' set by Penny Black...I coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I added a snippet of paper from the 'Awesome Boy' pad by Recollections/Michaels along the bottom of the card blank, and a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'Anytime Messages' set along the top.


Challenges for this card:


Tuesday 22 January 2019

The Same but Different

I have a set of simple Christmas cards to share today...made using another of the stamped background pieces I made when I made this card.


I stamped my new Simon Says Stamp 'Outline Snowflakes' stamp on to a piece of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations using a white pigment ink, then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I trimmed the panel down into three pieces, distressed the edges a little, added some faux stitching, then added them to three card blanks, along with a stamped sentiment (from the 'Letter It Christmas' set by Ranger.




Challenges for these cards:


Sunday 20 January 2019

Pile It On! Challenge - Land and/or Water Animals

It's time for some more inspiration for this month's Pile It On! Challenge where the themes are:

'Land Animals'
and/or
'Water Animals'

We are sponsored for this challenge by A Day for Daisies


Prize - $8 Gift Certificate!

I found a cute Crafter's Companion stamp in my collection of a bear and his puppy fishing that combined the two themes...it's called 'Gone Fishing' from the Mulberry Wood collection. I coloured it using watercolour pencils to match some snippets of patterned papers that are from the 'Awesome Boy' pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx). I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual.


Here are the challenges I've piled on:
For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Saturday 19 January 2019

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')...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 New'
(New Year, New Baby, New Home, New Job, New Stash...)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:
Prize - a $20 voucher!

My 'New' is some new paper that I received for Christmas. It's from a pad by Craft Sensations (found at The Range) called 'Mystery Marbles'...the papers are a mixture of marble patterns, and watercolour effects in gorgeous purples, pinks, blues & greens. I used a small piece of one of watercolour-y papers that had what looked like a falling snow effect on it as a background for one of the snowmen stamps from the 'Snow Much Fun!' set. I extended the snowy ground around him, coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. I added it to the snowy sky background, then carefully positioned his snowballs. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.


I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thursday 17 January 2019

Layered Tree Thank You Cards

I have a couple of simple 'Thank You' cards to share today...made using a set of layering stamps that were a magazine freebie. I used Distress Inks for the stamping (Gathered Twigs, Mowed Lawn, Picked Raspberry & Festive Berries), starting with the trunk, then adding the leaves and flowers or hearts at the end. The sentiment stamp is from another magazine freebie set. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then layered the stamped panels on to some coordinating pink or red card.



Challenges for these cards:


Tuesday 15 January 2019

Time Out

Today's card features another of my recent charity shop bargain stamps...it's from the 'Moonbeam Meadows' collection by Crafter's Companion and is called 'Time Out'. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut it into a circle shape using one of my Nesties. I found a spotty piece of paper to (almost) match the toadstool in a pad by Stampin' Up (also found in a charity shop), distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.


Challenges for this card:


Sunday 13 January 2019

Krafty Christmas

I have a simple Christmas card to share today...featuring some new goodies from Simon Says Stamp. I picked up a couple of their large background stamps 'Mod Trees' and 'Outline Snowflakes', and a set of calligraphy style sentiments by Ranger... the 'Letter It Christmas' set. I played around with the background stamps, stamping them a few different ways, with different inks on plain card, watercolour paper, patterned papers...and heat embossed...like the snippets I used on this card. I stamped on to kraft card using a white pigment ink pad, then heat embossed them using white embossing powder. I used small pieces of each of the two background stamps, along with one of the sentiments, fitting them on to a square of white card, and then adding that to a kraft card blank. I have lots of left over pieces...and all of the other stamped pieces...so no doubt you'll be seeing these stamps again soon!


Challenges for this card:


Wednesday 9 January 2019

Floral Delight

I have another simple CAS card to share today...this time featuring a floral stamp that I got for Christmas called 'Floral Delight' by Hobby Art. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured in soft pastel shades using watercolour pencils. I added some sparkle to the flowers using my Versamark embossing pen, and some Stampendous holographic embossing powder. The sentiment stamp is from a set that came free with a craft magazine.


Challenges for this card:


Monday 7 January 2019

True Love

I have a very simple card to share today, featuring a Crafter's Companion stamp (called 'True Love' from the Moonbeam Meadows collection) that I picked up in a charity shop a week or so ago, in a packet with another from the same collection for the princely sum of 80p! I did originally think they were Lili of the Valley stamps (I also got a couple of those packaged together...including the one I blogged yesterday...also for 80p), but after googling all manner of combination of keywords to try to identify them, I discovered that they were in fact by Crafter's Companion. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added some sparkle to the water, moon and butterflies using a Wink of Stella pen. I used my CutterBee Bug to pierce a simple border, then added it to my card blank. The sentiment stamp is from a magazine freebie set.


Challenges for this card:


Sunday 6 January 2019

Pile It On! Challenge - Land Animals

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...the theme is:

'Land Animals'

We are sponsored for this challenge by A Day for Daisies
Prize - $8 Gift Certificate!

I went BIG for my land animal, and picked a cute Lili of the Valley elephant image called 'Blowing Bubbles' that I picked up in a charity shop a week ago to make a birthday card for a little girl. I coloured the image in pastel shades using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle to the bubbles using a Wink of Stella pen. The papers are a mixture of American Crafts (pink & yellow from the 'Star Shine' pad) and First Edition (blue from the 'Silent Night' pad). 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 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts.


Here are the challenges I've piled on:
For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Saturday 5 January 2019

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')!

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 New'
(New Year, New Baby, New Home, New Job, New Stash...)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:
Prize - a $20 voucher!

I went with 'New Year', and my project for this challenge is a 2019 Penny Black calendar. I buy a few of the blank 'Create a Calendars' from Paper Mill Direct to decorate and give as Christmas presents each year, and this is the one I made for my Mum. They still have some available here if you fancy making yourself one. I used a variety of Penny Black stamps and papers from lots of different manufacturers...far too many to list, but I did manage to use up lots of snippets! Here's a look at each of the months:













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


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

Wednesday 2 January 2019

ABC Christmas Challenge - A & B are for?

Happy New Year!

Over at the ABC Christmas Challenge, we're starting our tenth (!) trip through the alphabet...I'm the host, and the themes for this month are:

'A is for Anything Christmas Goes'
and
'B is for Berries'

This year, we're changing things up a little, and have gone sponsor free...so I've donated a couple of little prizes for this challenge:



I had some new Christmas crafting goodies to play with, so made a card for each of the two themes. On my first card, I used stamps from the 'Let it Snow' set by Happy Little Stampers (which I won recently on one of their challenges). I stamped the largest snowflake from the set using Versamark Ink on navy card, then heat embossed it with 'Sparkling Snow' embossing glitter by WOW. I stamped one of the sentiments from the set on to my card blank, and heat embossed it using the same powder, then used more of it to make a matching mat for my snowflake image. It's so sparkly in real life, but impossible to capture in a photograph!


I used a die I received for Christmas on my second card...'Candy Canes & Holly' by Sweet Dixie. I cut the image three times, from red, white and green card, then carefully pieced them together. I embossed a piece of kraft card fro the background using my 'Jolly Christmas' folder by Couture Creations, matted it on to a piece of red card, then added the candy canes on top. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts.


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

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