Flower Shower

Today's card features a cute House Mouse stamp from Spellbinders called 'Flower shower'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Nana's Nursery - Baby Boy' stack from Premium Stacks (the purple one) and the 'Fresh Florals' pad from Craft Sensations (the green one).  I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Add Some Text

Sailing with Butterflies

Today's card features an old Penny Black stamp called 'Sailing with Butterflies'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Happy Day' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with some floral papers from the 'Happy Watercolours' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before matting all of the layers onto some hot pink card.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• AAA Birthday - For Girls
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Outdoor Fun
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Add Some Text
• We Love Stamping - Summertime

Polar Pals

Today's card features an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Polar Pals'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. For the background, I embossed a piece of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations using an old Cuttlebug embossing folder, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz, then layered the image over the background before matting it onto a snippet of purple card, lightly distressing all of the edges, and adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas in July
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Four-legged Friends
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas in July

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 No Stamping'

&

'O is for Once in Royal David's City (Buildings)'

The prize for the lucky winner is the matching stamp & die from Your Next Stamp

For my 'No Stamping' card, I started by cutting a couple of baubles from snippets of watercolour effect papers (from the 'Pastel Watercolours' pad from The Works) using my Memory Box 'Classic Ornament' die, then cut the 'Snowflake Ornament' die from snippets of silver mirror card to layer over the top. I embossed another piece of the watercolour paper using an old Cuttlebug folder and matted it onto some more silver mirror card. I cut a sentiment from silver mirror card using my Poppy Stamps 'Folk Merry Christmas' die, then added it all to the embossed background using a couple of little strips of mirror card to 'hang' the ornaments.

For my 'Once in Royal David's City (Buildings)' card, I picked another Christmas Carol themed stamp - 'Bethlehem Nights' by Stampendous. I stamped it onto smooth white card using a Versafine pigment ink in dark blue called 'Twilight'. I stamped it several times to get a really clear image, then heat embossed it using 'Midnight Dream' embossing glitter from WOW. I matted it onto a snippet of navy card, then added it to a white card blank.

The card is really sparkly, and a gorgeous mix of colours, but a real pain to photograph!

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

• A Cut Above - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Allsorts - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - M, N & O (O is for Ornaments) (First card only)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Creative Knockouts - Christmas in July (First card only)
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Monochrome (Second card only)
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas in July (Second card only)

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

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'On the Move')

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

'On the Move'

(Transport)

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

I have a fair few transport themed Penny Black stamps, and picked a cute cycling cat from the 'You're Retro!' set. I stamped him, along with one of the sentiments from the set, onto a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I paired it with a trio of spotty papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad from Craft Sensations. 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:

• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Hobbies

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

July - Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my Penny Black desk calendar for July. I'm a music teacher, and July for me means holidays (albeit not for another couple of weeks!), so I picked a cute pup driving off on a road trip from the 'Hello Friend' set. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my oval Nesties to cut him out. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favourite Non-Card Project (My desk calendar...I decorate a couple of the Papermill's A4 sized calendars for Christmas gifts each year, and I'm always sad to give them away, so when they started making the little desk sized ones, I started making one for myself each year, decorating it month by month, to keep on my craft desk)
• Inkspirational - Leftovers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Use Patterned Papers')...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

'Use Patterned Papers'

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

I picked a cute hedgie stamp called 'Fish are Jumpin' stamp, and stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Alphabet Challenge - D is for Double (Two Hedgies & two fish)
• Crafty Calendar - Men/Boys
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Masculine
• The Male Room - The Outdoors
• We Love Stamping - Sports and Hobbies

For more inspiration, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - L & M are for?

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

'L is for Let it Snow'

&

'M is for Mice'

The prize for the lucky winner is this Gemini 'Joyful Snowmen' Create-a-Card' die:

For my 'Let it Snow' card, I used one of the cute stamps from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped it onto a snippet of white card, along with an old Penny Black woodblock sentiment, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I cut around the top of the image, then layered it over a snippet of snowy sky paper from the 'Christmas' pad by Craft Sensations. I matted it onto a snippet of grey card, then added it to a white card blank.

For my 'M is for Mice' card, I used an old Penny Black stamp called 'Holly Jolly Christmas'. I stamped it onto smooth white card, and coloured it using a sentiment stamp from the 'Holly Jolly' set, also by Penny Black. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Christmas Kickstart - Snow Day (First card only)
• Creative Inspirations - Christmas in June (Second card only)
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Second card only)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)

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

Par Avion

Today's card features a background stamp called 'Festive Background' by Woodware Stamps that I got from a charity shop earlier this week. I stamped it using Versamark ink onto a snippet of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I used it as a background for a trio of Penny Black chickens called 'Par Avion'. I stamped them onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, than carefully cut them out. I distressed the edges of the background, added the chickens on top, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favouorite Season (Winter - I love a crisp, sunny winter's day, and of course there's Christmas!)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Three of Something (Chickens)

Flower Shower

Today's card features a cute House Mouse stamp, by Spellbinders, called 'Flower Shower'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Nana's Nursery - Baby Boy' pad from Premium Stacks (the purple), and 'Fresh Florals' pad from Craft Sensations (the green one). I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before matting some of the layers on purple card, and adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Flowers

Many Blessings

I have a Christmas card to share today, made using stamps from the 'Many Blessings' set by Hero Arts. I did a little bit of masking to have the trees behind the snowmen, then added one of the sentiments from the set before colouring the image using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'May Your Days Be Merry & Bright' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed all of the edges a little, and matted the image and base layer onto snippets of green and red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Two or More Patterned Papers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Pastel Colours')...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

'Pastel Colours'

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

For my card, I picked a cute cat image from the 'Christmas Hugs' set for my card, and stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a snowflake covered paper (from the 'Christmas' pad by Craft Sensations, and a couple of snippets of plain-ish papers from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad, also by Craft Sensations. I embossed the plain-ish papers using snowflake embossing folders from Cuttlebug and Sizzix, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core. I distressed the edges a little, then layered everything up on a white card blank.

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

• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - That Song ('Joy to the World')

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

Slippery Slope

Today's card features penguins from a Helz Cuppleditch set called 'Special Delivery - Penguins' that I last used (according to a quick search through my blog) in 2014! I rediscovered them last week when I sorted through all of my stamps to donate some that are no longer my style to charity. I stamped them onto a piece of watercolour paper, drew a line for a snowy slope using a black gel pen, then added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I coloured the penguins using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered the image over a piece of 'snowy' paper from an unnamed pad by Craft Sensations, then matted it onto some pink card before adding it to a DL card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Seasons/Weather/Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Neglected Stuff - Use Neglected Stuff (The penguin stamps were last used in 2014!)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Guest Designer - Allsorts Challenge!

Today, I'm excited to be sharing a Guest Designer card for the Allsorts Challenge, where the theme this fortnight is:

'Spring'

(Or 'Anything Goes')

The prize is some Penny Black stamps from Buddly Crafts.

I picked a cute Penny Black cat stamp to use called 'The Bestest!', and stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations. Only the two edge snippets are long strips, the others are teeny tiny, but the image covers the gap in the middle. I distressed all of the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen before mounting them, and the image, onto some yellow card.

For more inspiration from the fabulous Design Team, please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge.

PBSC March - Anything Goes (Optional 'Four-legged Friends')...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

'Four-legged Friends'

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

For my card, I picked a cute mouse stamp called 'Surprise!'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from a couple of different pads...the green one is from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations, and the yellow and lilac papers are from the 'Bumblebee Dance' pad from The Paper Boutique. 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 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Four-legged Friends
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Gingham/Tartan/Plaid
• We Love Stamping - Wildlife

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

March Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for March. I picked a Penny Black stamp called 'Totally Excited', and stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations. There are no full sheets left in this pad anymore, I'm down to mostly tiny snippets, but will I ever finish it???

I distressed all of the edges, added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card, before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Leftovers
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Jolly Snowman

I have a Christmas card to share today, which features a cute Penny Black stamp called 'Jolly Snowman'. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Merry & Bright' pad from Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Christmas Hats

Today's card features a couple of the critters from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them, along with one of the sentiments from the set, onto watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of paper from the 'Merry & Bright' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - C & D are for? (Cats & Dogs)
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - Red
• Little Red Wagon - Seeing Red
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Stitching

Bah! Humpug!

Today's card features a cute Pug stamp that I picked up in a charity shop over Christmas...it's from a set by Crafter's Companion called 'Bah! Humpug!'. I stamped it, along with the sentiment from the set, onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Merry & Bright' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed all of the edges a little, and matted the image onto some red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

PBSC February - Anything Goes (Optional 'Romance')

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

'Romance'

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

I used a cute hedgie stamp called 'The Park Bench Affair' to make an anniversary card. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Champagne Anniversary Silhouette' set by My Sentiments Exactly, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of heart covered paper from the 'Vintage Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed all of the edges, then matted the layers onto some red card before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Love
• Creative Knockouts - Love/Valentine's/Anniversary
• Everybody Art - Hearts
• Fab 'N' Funky - Love is All Around
• Inkspirational - XOXO
• Little Red Wagon - Picturing Love
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Heart
• We Love Stamping - Hearts

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