ABC Christmas Challenge - J & K are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...I'm the host, and the themes are:

'J is for Jingle Bells'

&

'K is for Kraft'

The prize for the lucky winner is these Woodware stamp sets:

For my 'J is for Jingle Bells' card. I used an unbranded bell stamp...heat embossing it using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW on plain black card. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, heat embossing it in gold to match, then used one of my circle Nesties to cut it out. For the background, I heat embossed a 'Holly Background' stamp from Kirtsy Wiseman using more gold embossing powder on black card. I matted that onto some gold mirror card, added  it to a white card blank then popped the 'Jingle Bells' on top.

For my 'K is for Kraft' card, I picked one of the bears from the 'Beary Merry Christmas' set by Funky Fossil, and stamped it directly on to a kraft card blank, along with one of the sentiments from the set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Second card)
• Christmas Kickstart - Winter Warmers (Second card)
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Embossing') (First card)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes (First card)
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Second card)
• Neglected Stuff - Anything Goes (The holly background on the first card is much neglected - this is only the second time I've used it since I got it in January 2020!)
• Sparkles Forum - Weather Related (Second card)

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

A Touch of Purple

Today's card features a Penny Black stamp that I got from a charity shop a few weeks ago, called 'A Touch of Purple'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I doodled a simple border using a black gel pen, then added a sentiment cut from a snippet of purple card using a die I got in a set from a charity shop. I matted the panel onto a snippet of the same purple card, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - May Flowers
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Beautiful Blooms
• Stamping Sensations - Feminine

Dog Tag

I have a gift tag to share today...made for my brother's birthday present. I used a tag die that I got from a charity shop a couple of weeks ago to cut the tag shape from a snippet of kraft card, then stamped a cute dog image onto it using one of the stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches', then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment cut from a snippet of blue card using another die from the same charity shop set, and some blue baker's twine to attach it to the gift.

Challenges for this tag:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Birthday
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• We Love Stamping - Four-legged Friends

Christmas Bunnies - Stocking

Today's card features an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Christmas Bunnies - Stocking'. I stamped it onto a white card blank, along with a sentiment, using a stamp from an old C. C. Designs/Pollycraft set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I found a snippet of patterned paper the exact width of the card blank (from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye), then used one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders' dies to cut the curve, then added it along the top edge of the card.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Christmas Stcokings
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Clean & Simple
• We Love Stamping - Four-legged Friends

Friendship

Today's card features a cute Penny Black dog stamp called 'Friendship'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then doodled a simple border using a black gel pen before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Inspired by a Song ('Sailing' by Rod Stewart)
• Cardz for Guys - Body of Water
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

PBSC May - Anything Goes (Optional 'Monochrome')

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

'Monochrome'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I picked my favourite colour...blue...and a lovely floral stamp called 'Together'. I inked up the stamp using a few shades of blue Distress Inks (Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky & Chipped Sapphire), then spritzed it with a little water before stamping it onto watercolour paper. I added a sentiment (using a stamp form the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image) in blue ink, then splattered some of the same blue Distress Inks over the top. Once dry, I matted it onto some navy card, distressing the edges, before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Fab 'N' Funky - Use Your Favourite Colours
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

May Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for May. I picked a cute little hedgehog stamp from the 'Wonderful Day' set by Penny Black, and stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I used snippets of papers for the simple background...the cloudy sky paper is from a magazine freebie pad called 'Let's Fly Away', and the green paper (that already had its edge cut into a curve using one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders' dies) is from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed the edges a little, and matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Happy Spring Day

Today's card features one of the stamps from the 'Happy Day' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped it directly onto a kraft card blaank, along with one of the sentiments from the set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - A is for Alphabet (I pick 'B is for Bunnies!')
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Seasonal
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - CAS

Gardenias & Roses

Today's card features an Inkadinkado stamp that I received for Easter. It doesn't have a name, but I believe that the flowers in the buckets are gardenias and roses. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I matted it on to a snippet of lilac card, distressing all of the edges first, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - New (The Stamp is new)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Blooming Blooms
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Girly

Pile of Presents

Today's card features another stamp that I picked up in a charity shop over the Easter break. It's by Molly Blooms, and is called 'Pile of Presents'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from an old Lili of the Valley set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I used a piece of paper from the 'Back to Basics Christmas' pad by Dovecraft...distressing the edges a little before adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Make It Sew
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

Stylised Poppies

Today's card features a floral stamp that I picked up in a charity shop last week. I have no idea what brand it might be, it was just a single grey rubber cling stamp in a cellophane bag, so if anyone recognises it, please do let me know! I stamped it onto a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment from the 'Brishstroke Expressions' set by My Favorite Things, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this carrd:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - CAS or Fussy (CAS for me...I do still love my patterned papers, but there's something very satisying about stamping directly on to a card blank)
• Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes (Optional 'Feminine')
• Crafty Catz - Feminine Birthday
• I Spy With My Little Eye - April Showers and/or May Flowers
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Blooming Blooms
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Girly
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

Tulips in a Vase

I have a 'Spring' themed card to share today, featuring a Woodware stamp called 'Tulips in a Vase'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then added a sentiment using a stamp from (I think!) another Woodware stamp set, but I stamped this quite a while ago, and now can't find the set it came from! I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, and paired it with paper from a pad that was a magazine freebie, called 'Let's Fly Away'...I distressed the edges a little before adding it to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Calendar - Feminine
• Fab 'N' Funky - Think Spring
• Flower Challenge - Use Spring Colours
• Moving Along with the Times - Spring Flowers
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Blooming Blooms
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Patterned Papers

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Easter')...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

'Easter'

We're currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I used my 'Bunny Friends' stamp to decorate a set of Easter gift tags...it's one of my favourite Penny Black stamps, but as it's fairly large, I don't often get to use all of the bunnies! I stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured the bunnies using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them all out. I stamped some fun Easter sentiments, from the 'Egg-cellent Easter Sentiments' set by C C Designs, onto some kraft tags, then added the bunnies using 3D foam pads.

I used papers from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works and my We R Memory Keppers punch board to make some gift boxes. These are each made from a single piece of 12 x 12 paper, and make a 4 inch cube box...the largest size. I tied some ribbons around the boxes, thenadded the tags using some Baker's twine.

Challenges for these tags/boxes:

• Crafty Gals Gorner - Adorable _______ (Bunnies)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Happy Easter
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Patterned Papers
• Sweet Stampin' - Easter Creations
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes (Optional 'Favourite Stamps') (Tag on left in first photo only)

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

Boy Racer

Today's card features one of the pups from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then cut the circle shape, and matching blue scalloped circle, using one of my Nestabilities. For the background, I used snippets of yellow and blue papers. The yellow papers are from the 'Geometric' pad by Folia Paper, and the blue papers from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michales. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Little Red Wagon - Birthday
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes (Optional 'Layer It')
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Patterned Papers
• The Male Room - Geometric

Caroling Cats

I have a Christmas card to share today...made using one of the stamps from the 'Christmas Hugs' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from a pad from The Works...distressing the edges a little, then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Krafty Girls - Christmas
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - Furry Friends
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Optional 'Birds, Animals, Flowers & Nature')

Together Tag

I have another tag to share today...this time for my Mum's birthday gift. This time I stamped a Penny Black floral stamp called 'Together' onto a kraft tag using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. I added a sentiment using stamps from the 'It's Your Day' set also by Penny Black and some gold twine to attach it to the gift.

Here's a picture of it 'in situ'...the lovely gold twill tape was the very last bit from a very long roll found many years ago at TKMaxx:

Challenges for this tag:

• Aud Sentiments - Embossing and/or Flowers + Sentiment
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Tag It!
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Optional 'Birds, Animals, Flowers & Nature')

Oh...and here's a photo of the cake I made for my Mum...it's Biscoff flavoured...yum!

Birthday Tags

I have some birthday giftwrap to share today. The first one features a cute Penny Black pup stamped directly onto a kraft tag. I added a sentiment using a sentiment from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Coloraado Craft Company, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. I added it to the gift using some red and white Baker's twine.

The second one is a little giftbox I made using my We R Memory Keepers punchboard and a piece of floral paper from the 'Happy Watercolours' pad from The Works, tied together using some yellow velvet ribbon. I made a matching tag from a snippet of the same paper and a Sizzix tag die, then attached it to the box using some yellow Baker's Twine

Challenges for these tags/box:

• Cut It Up - Anything but a Card (Second box & tag only)
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes (Optional 'Springtime') (Second box & tag only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Tag It! (First tag only)
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Springtime Design Paper (Second box & tag only)

ABC Christmas Challenge - H & I are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Carol is the host, and the themes are:

'H is for Ho Ho Ho!'

(Santa)

&

'I is for Ice'

This is the prize for the lucky winner:

For my 'Ho Ho Ho!' card, I used stamps from the 'St. Nick' set by Jane's Doodles. I stamped them onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Santa's Delivery' set from the 'Christmas in Moonbeam Meadow' collection by Crafter's Companion, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Christmas Multistack' by DCWV...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

For my 'I is for Ice' card, I selected an ice skating bear stamp from the 'Beary Merry Christmas' set by Funky Fossil. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, along with one of the sentiments from the set, drew a line for icy ground using a black gel pen, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I stamped my 'Falling Snow' background stamp by Simon Says Stamp onto a kraft card blank using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I carefully trimmed around the top of the bear image, then added it over the top of the stamped background.

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

• Alphabet Challenge - Z is for Zoom (Second card only)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (First card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes (Second card only)

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

Snow Bunnies

I have a Christmas card to share today, featuring one of the stamps from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped it, along with one of the sentiments from the set, onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added some sparkle to the snow using a Wink of Stella pen, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Bunny
• Cardz for Guys - Fun & Games
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - CAS
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Hip Hop
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Optional 'Birds/Animals/Flowers/Nature')

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Easter')

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

'Easter'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I picked a cute little goose stamp from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set to decorate my little desk calendar with an 'Easter' theme'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him (and the little eggs) out. I made a background using snippets of papers from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by Memory Keepers...adding some little clouds cut using a die from the 'Rainbow' set by Sweet Dixie. I distressed the edges a little, then matted it on to a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

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

• As You Like It - Cute or Floral (Cute for me...especially Penny Black critters because they were what got me hooked on crafting!)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Spring/Easter/Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Sparkles Forum - Easter

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