Ice Dance Dog

My lovely friend Cathy created the sketch for this fortnight's Dutch Dare Challenge...so I just had to have a go - thanks Cathy...it's fab! :0)
I've flipped it to create a Christmas card, which I'm also entering in the Winter Wonderland's 'Open Theme' challenge. The image is 'Ice Dance Dog' by Penny Black, the papers are '29th Street Market' by My Mind's Eye...not meant for Christmas, but I think the frosty colours work. I embossed two pieces on the reverse side using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' and 'Snow Dots' folders, then sanded them to reveal the white core. I then distressed all of the edges, and added some adhesive pearls and organza ribbon from my stash. The snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die.

Oh Christmas Tree...

I've had another little play with some of my birthday goodies, and have made a card for a few challenges: Carol's Sketch Fun (love this sketch...I'm sure I'll use it again); Dutch Dare Challenge - 'Christmas in August'; and Pile It On's 'No patterned paper' challenge. I used another of the images from the 'Holly-Jolly' set by Penny Black, and the Cuttlebug 'Stars' embossing folder. The large star was cut using a Nestie die, and the smaller ones were done using the Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes #2' die.

It's a Girl Thing

After a morning spent working...and then sorting out dusty books...I decided to treat myself to a little play time...and have made a card for a few challenges: the Creative Card Crew's 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' challenge; Stamp Something's 'Paper Piecing' challenge; and the Dutch Dare to 'Use Lace on Our Cards'.
I paper pieced my Gorjuss Girl's dress with some BasicGrey 'Blush' paper, and stamped some swirls (by Whiff of Joy) in the corners of another piece of the same paper for the background. The strip across the centre was embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder, and the lace is from Hobbycraft.

My first 'Curvy' card

My lovely friend Uma, set myself, and a group of our crafting buddies the challenge to make a 'Curvy Card'...with the additional rule of 'No stamping or decoupage'...eeeek!
I'm not really a 'template' kind of crafter...and I hardly ever make a card without any stamping...so this was a real challenge! After reading the (two pages!) of instructions a couple of times, I started to think it didn't look so bad...and after an hour had managed to produce this:


The papers I used to cover the card base, and create the flowers are a mixture of BasicGrey, and My Mind's Eye. I cut the flower shapes using my 'Blossom' Nesties, inking the edges for definition. I'm also entering this card for the Dutch Dare 'Die-cuts and/or Punches' challenge.

Summer Blossom

With all of the glorious weather we've been having lately, it's not surprising that a lot of the challenges are celebrating 'Summer' at the moment, so once again I'm combining quite a few on this card: Cupcake Craft, A Spoon Full of Sugar and Everybody Art with their 'Summer/Summertime' themes; the fab sketch (by my lovely friend Cathy) of the Dutch Dare Challenge; and the 'Favourite Colour Combo' challenge of the Pink Elephant.
I've interpreted the 'Summer' theme by using bright summery colours and flowers. My image is the lovely Annie ('Blossom' by Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie), coloured with watercoloured pencils to match the gorgeous K&Co papers ('Amy Butler' and 'Classic K - Margo'). The flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts and Hobbycraft, the sentiment was cut using the 'Olivia' alphabet, and the ribbon is also from Poppicrafts.

This card is going to my partner for this month's friendship swap on the Docrafts forum, where there was no theme, but I thought that a bright summery card was in order this month!

Buddy's Birthday Challenge

The lovely Buddy has hijacked his Mum Kath's blog to set us a Birthday Challenge...to make him a Birthday card to help him celebrate his 3rd Birthday (21st in doggy years) on Tuesday...how could I resist those big brown eyes?!

I picked out a Penny Black stamped image ('Circus Act')...which is just perfect for a doggy birthday...watercoloured it, then carefully cut it out (nearly cut off an ear! lol). I decided to use a triangle card blank (from Lakeland) that I've had for ages, but never got around to using, and covered the panels with paper by Prima Marketing. I cut a smaller triangle of the same paper, and stamped some 'muddy paw prints' using a Hero Arts stamp (from the 'I love my dog' set) on the plain blue reverse side of the same paper. The tower of dogs is mounted using 3D foam, and I added a few Nestie stars in co-ordinating colours.

Here's a view of the whole card:


This is the front panel:


I added more stars to the sides, and on one side a number 3 cut using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet:


And on the other, I've personalised it with Buddy's name (also cut using the 'Olivia' alphabet):



I'm also entering this card for the Dutch Dare 'Triangle Card' challenge, and the Everybody Art Challenge to make 'A Card for a Male'.

Hope you don't get in too much trouble for this Buddy...and enjoy your birthday on Tuesday!

Sketch & Stash meets Dutch Dare...Pile It On!

I've used some more new rubber on this card - the adorable'Dexter Bear' and the 'So Sweet' sentiment stamps by Sugar Nellie. I followed the fab Sketch & Stash sketch...and the Dutch Dare 'Colour Inspiration' photo. The papers are by Crate Paper, the buttons are by Papermania, and the ribbons are from Poppicrafts. I'm also entering this card to the new Pile It On Challenge...which is perfect for crafters like me who love to combine challenges! Their challenge this week is to use 'at least two different ribbons'...and of course combine it with at least one other challenge.

Triple Challenge Charity Card

I know I'm cutting it fine, but I just had to make a card for the Dutch Dare 'Post Pals' challenge....I've managed to combine it with a couple of other challenges too: the Stampavie Challenge, and the Roses on Paper Challenge, which both asked for flowers...so I've given them flowers on my image ('Garden Bears' by Rachelle Anne Miller), flowers on my paper (by Sandylion), and some paper flowers too (all from Poppicrafts). The sentiment is from the Clare Curd Signature Range set (by Papermania), and I couldn't resist a few pieces of card candy (by Craftwork Cards).

Polka Doodles meets Dutch Dare

The fab sketch from this week's Polka Doodles Challenge is just perfect for making a 'Criss-cross' fold card. I decided to keep the front really simple, covering the two triangular flaps with the same 'Le fleur' paper (by K&Co), and layering up three fabric flowers held in place with a Papermania pearl brad - the largest one is from the candy I won from lovely Polka Doodles DT member Kath, and the smaller ones are both Flora Doodles. I made a simple band from a strip of the same paper to make a band to hold the card closed.


This week's Dutch Dare Challenge is to decorate the inside of our cards...not something I usually do, but this style of card needs at least some decoration on the inside, as you see the centre panel from the front when the card is closed. I added a couple more Flora Doodles on the reverse of the large flower on the front (they are all mounted onto circles of card (cut with Nesties), then stuck together over the edge of the flap of card), and used more of the same paper from the front of the card on the inside of the triangular flaps. I used two other K&Co papers ('Blue Awning' & 'Blue Diamond') on the centre panel (the torn edge was made using a Fiskars tearing ruler), and added a plain circle of card in the centre to write my greeting. The lettering was cut using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.


This card is going to my partner in this month's Friendship Card Swap on the Docrafts forum.

Snowy Two in One...

I've kept my promise, and made a second Christmas card this week to make up for not getting one done last week, and have used the fab sketch from this week's Our Creative Corner Challenge. I've also used the colour combination from the Pink Elephant Challenge of 'Blue, Green & White'. I decided to give the gorgeous 'Snowy' (by Penny Black) his first inking of 2009, and papers by Pebbles Inc, combined with the 'Snowflakes' embossing folder and a few adhesive gems.

Sketch Saturday meets Dutch Dare

I've combined the 'recipe' of the Dutch Dare Challenge, as the ingredients (basic card, 3 pieces of card, 2 DP, 2 flowers, 2 brads and 3 buttons) seemed perfect for this week's Sketch Saturday sketch. My main image is 'Lazy Days' by Penny Black, and the 2 DP are from the 'Amy Butler' pad by K&Co. I used the Cuttlebug 'Perfect Paisley' and 'Swiss Dots' folders to emboss 2 of my pieces of card, the sentiment stamp is by Papermania, the flowers are from Poppicrafts, and the buttons are from my stash.

Matching Card and Gift Box for a Friend...and a few Challenges too!

I needed to make a card for a friends birthday...and a gift box to put the necklace in that I'm making for her...and seeing as I'm addicted, I couldn't resist joining in with a few challenges along the way!

The first challenge is the Charisma Cardz Challenge which this week is to use our favourite things...now I'm a bit like Brucie when it comes to my craft stash...'they are all my favourites' lol!

But in this case, my favourite things are: the BasicGrey papers (from the 'Blush' range); the fab 'Henry - Celebrating Mouse' stamp by Whiff of Joy; the paper flower (from Poppicrafts); my Nesites; a touch of glitter glue on the cupcake icing; and the Raffia Lace (from Hobbycraft). The other items I used on my card, which follows this week's Sketch Saturday sketch, are the swirl stamp (by Whiff of Joy), and the circular sentiment stamp (from the 'Circular Greetings' set by Woodware - like the one I gave away in my candy).

I've made a matching gift box (using a template I downloaded from Pink Petticoat)...with the same paper and image, tied with a piece of organza ribbon...which I'm entering for the Dutch Dare Challenge...

...all I need to do now is make the necklace...eeek!

Dutch Dare Challenge #40

There' s a fab sketch for this week's Dutch Dare Challenge...which I thought I had followed...until I started writing this post and took another look at it! lol I'd left the sentiment off deliberately (as I'm not sure what this will be used for), but I can now see I've also missed off the circular element behind the flowers! doh! It's too late to add it, as I can't think of a way of adding it without taking the whole card apart, so I'm not sure if it still count for the challenge...nevermind! (Note to self...pay closer attention to the sketches in future!)

My main image is a Sugar Nellie stamp ('MacBeth'), and the papers are all by BasicGrey (from the 'Sultry' pad) - the plain ones have been embossed with the 'Perfect Paisley' and 'Textile' Cuttlebug folders, then I've rubbed over the embossing with a fluid chalk ink pad to highlight the detail, and give a slightly distressed look. The flowers are from Poppicrafts, and I've used a piece of lace from Hobbycraft in place of the long scalloped edge at the bottom.

Another Three Challenges in One...

Wow! I can't believe how many challenges I've managed to enter this week...unfortunately I'll be back at school on Monday, but although I do have some bits'n'bobs to get done before then, I'm hoping to have a little play at the weekend. This card combines the 'Hugs & Cuddles' theme of the Charisma Cardz Challenge, with the colour combination of 'Green & Yellow' of the Dutch Dare Challenge, which is perfect for the 'Signs of Spring' theme of this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge. As this is such a small card (cut with the largest of the large scalloped circle Nesties), I've kept it really simple. The image ('Squeeze 'til I Squeak') is from the 'Hugs' clear set by Penny Black, the yellow card is embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder, the flowers are from Poppicrafts, and the ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge meets Sketch Saturday and Dutch Dare

First of all I like to say a BIG thank you to Tracie for the gorgeous card she sent to me with my prize I won last week - I haven't had a chance to use the lovely stamp yet...but hopefully I'll find some time to play with it soon!

On to this week's Penny Black Challenge...the theme is 'Lets get Dotty'...and I've gone completely dotty on my card! I've combined it with two other challenges - using the Sketch Saturday sketch, and the colour theme of the Dutch Dare, which is green, blue and brown. I've used three different Cuttlebug embossing folders to create my dotty background ('Swiss Dots', 'Spots & Dots' and 'Tiny Bubbles'), the dotty flower is by Flora Doodle, and the ribbon is from Hobbycraft - I placed some small brads in the centres of some of the spots. My main image is from the 'Critter Party' set...and if you look really closely a couple of the mice are wearing dotty bandannas!

Dutch Dare Challenge #29

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday, playing with some of my new crafty bits and catching up with some of the challenges. This sketch is from the Dutch Dare challenge blog, which I have stretched to fit a square card. My main image is a Forever Friends stamp, the papers are by Papermania ('Sweet Nothings'), and I've used another of my new Cuttlebug embossing folders ('Spots and Dots') on the plain cardstock.