Micey Nice Birthday

Today's card features another charity shop find...the sentiment stamp, which is by Penny Black. I paired it with a trio of little mice from the 'It's Your Day' set (also by Penny Black), stamping them directly on to a kraft card balnk, then colouring them using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Sweet Snowman

Today's card features a Penny Black stamp that I found earlier this week in a charity shop, called 'Sweet Snowman'. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a Craft Sensations pad called simply 'Christmas'. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Craft Creations - Patterned Paper
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creative Moments - Cute
• Dream Valley - Christmas in July
• Little Red Wagon - Stitching
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Sketched Flowers

Today's card features a lovely floral stamp from Simon Says Stamp called 'Sketched Flowers'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment from the 'Signature Greetings' set by Memory Box, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Summer Flowers
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped (Optional 'Hot, Sunny Colours')

Deckchair Dreaming

I have a summery card to share today, featuring an old Lili of the Valley bear stamp called 'Deckchair Dreaming'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils before cutting the circle shape using one of my Nesties. The papers are from a couple of Craft Sensations pads...'Fresh Florals' and 'Vintage Dreams'...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Summer
• Alphabet Challenge - Holidays
• Creative Inspirations - Summer Fun
• Cut It Up - Summer Lovin'
• Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Let's Go On Vacation

Holly Jolly Christmas

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features a large sentiment stamp from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil, and a 'Holly Spray' stamp from Woodware. I started by stamping the sentiment in the centre of a black piece of card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed in 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder from WOW. I stamped and embossed the holly spray in more gold, stamping it off the top and bottom edges of the panel, then added some colour to the leaves and berries using Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water. I then splattered some gold mica over the top...then matted the panel on to some gold mirror card before adding it to a DL card blank. It's all lovely and sparkly and shimmery in real life...but not easy to get that to pick up in the photos!

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Friends - Embossing
• Creative Knockouts - Christmas in July
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Goes (Optional 'Gold')
• My Time to Craft - Christmas in July
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped

Balloon Birthday

Today, I'm sharing the card I made for my brother's birthday last week. I used my Die-namics 'Party Balloons' dies, to cut balloons from a selection of snippets of paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations. I stamped the sentiment using one of the 'Handwritten Borders' stamps by Simon Says Stamp, to act as the 'string' for the central balloon, then doodled the 'strings' for the other balloons using a black gel pen...remembering to doodle the 'string' tied around the bottom of each of the balloons. I die cut the numbers using my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet, added them to the central balloon, then added the balloons to the card ...layering them up using 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Snowy!

Today's card features one of my most favourite stamps...it's 'Snowy' by Penny Black. I was inspired to ink him up after seeing Jo's card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge. I'm this month's Guest Elf, and picked the theme of 'Show Us Your Snowfolk', but didn't use Snowy on my Guest Elf card, as I wanted to include several snowfolk in a wintry scene. I couldn't resist getting him out to join in with some of the 'Christmas in July' themed challenges that around at the moment. I kept it really simple, stamping him on to a piece of hammered white card (the same as I use to make my card blanks so that it would match perfectly), along with a sentiment from the 'Winter Blessings' set (by Crafter's Companion). I used watercolour pencils to add some minimal colouring, then paper pieced his hat and scarf using a snippet of paper from an unnamed Stampin' Up pad. I then distressed the edges of the image panel before adding it to my card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Christmas in July
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Christmas in July')
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Less is More - Traditional Christmas Colours

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spots and/or Stripes')...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

'Spots and/or Stripes'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used some really old stash to make my card...digging a stamped image out from the bottom of the box called 'Aftermath'. I had stamped this image at a craft retreat back in 2009, using a stamp that my lovely friend Uma had brought with her...so it's been waiting very patiently for it's turn! Keeping with the 'old' theme, I paired it with papers from the 'Penny Lane' pad by My Mind's Eye that, according to my blog, I last used in 2011!!! 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 House Mouse 'Birthday Splash' set by Stampendous.

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

• Creative Knockouts - Celebrations
• Dream Valley - All Occasions
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Birthday
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - N & O are for?

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

'N is for New'

&

'O is for Old'

There are a couple of little prizes on offer from Lynda:

My 'New' is some snowflake covered foiled paper from the 'Glittering Snowflakes' pad by Crafter's Companion...I bought them quite a while ago, but couldn't bring myself to use them until now! I used the edge of one of the sheets, tearing around the cascade of snowflakes, along the edge of my card blank, to make a background for a glittery snowflake (cut using my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die. The sentiment stamp is also by Crafter's Companion, from the 'Winter Blessings' set).

My 'Old' is a Penny Black woodmounted stamp called 'Ice Dance' that was one of the first Penny Blacks I bought, many moons ago...long before I had a blog! I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. I paired him with papers from a pad called simply 'Christmas' by Craft Sensations. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Snowflakes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Die Cuts or Punches (Just the first card)
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes (Just the first card)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampers - Christmas in July (Just the second card)
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Reindog

I have a Christmas card to share today...featuring a cute Penny Black pup from the 'Wintertime Cheer' set. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I added a snippet of spotty paper from an un-named pad by Stampin' Up (that I picked up a few years ago in a charity shop) along the bottom of a kraft card blank, before adding the pup on top using some 3D foam pads. The sentiment is an old wood mounted Penny Black stamp.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Anything Goes (Optional 'Christmas Pets in July')
• Allsorts - Allsorts of Animals
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Optional 'Red')
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (CAS) - Christmas
• Incy Wincy - Wincy/Meow
• Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act
• Little Red Wagon - Christmas in July
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets & Christmas
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Sweet Treats

Today's card features an adorable House Mouse stamp that I won over at the House Mouse & Friends Challenge recently. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from a pad from Poundland called 'Let's Celebrate'...distressing all of the edges, then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Guest Designer - Christmas Kickstart Challenge!

A little while ago, the lovely Jo asked if I would like to Guest Design for an upcoming Christmas Kickstart Challenge...well, if you've visited my blog before, it's probably not escaped your notice that I'm rather fond of making Christmas cards, so of course I said 'yes'!

So, today I'm sharing the card I made for this month's challenge, where the theme is:

I have a fairly comprehensive collections of 'Snowfolk', but my favourites are by Penny Black, so I combined a few of them from different clear stamp sets (L-R 'Jolly Friends', 'Snow Much Fun' & 'Holly-Jolly'). I stamped them on to watercolour paper, then joined up the snowy ground between them using a black gel pen, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut around the top of the image...and also around the middle snowman's snowballs! I used a piece of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations for the background, adding a stamped sentiment (from an old set by Lili of the Valley), and the snowballs. I matted the panel on to some navy card, then added it all to a DL card blank.

For more inspiration from the fabulous Jo, please pop over the Christmas Kickstart Challenge - thanks for having me!

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spots and/or Stripes')

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
'Spots and/or Stripes'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I picked a cute puppy image from a little clear stamp set called 'Friendship', which I stamped on to watercolour paper, coloured using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut out. I used a snippet of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations for the 'sky', then tore strips of spotty paper (from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels - found at TKMaxx) for some 'ocean waves'. The stripey papers are also from the 'Prince Charming' pad.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Layers')
• Creative Knockouts - Outside Fun
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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