Penny Black 2026 Calendar

I have another Penny Black calendar to share today...this is the one I made for my Aunt for Christmas. The blank calendar is one of the A4 ones from Paper Mill Direct...and I decorated it using lots of Penny Black critter stamps, and snippets of patterned papers. I stamped all of the images onto watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut some into circles using my Nesties. I distressed all of the edges of the papers, and matted them all onto pieces of kraft card before adding them to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Happy New??? (New Year)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wedensdays) - Something New (New Year)

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'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I went with 'New Year' as my Something New, and am sharing the calendar I made for my Mum for Christmas. Every year I decorate a couple of the Paper Mill blank calendars to give as gifts, and use exclusively Penny Black images. The panel on each month is A6 in size, and I used lots of snippets from a mixture of brands for the simple backgrounds. I distressed the edges of everything, and added some faux stitching to the papers using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I won't list the names of all of the images, or papers...partly because there are too many to list, but also because I can't remember and I'm not at home able to check!

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - Y & Z are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today, our last of the year...Marie is the host, and the themes are:

'Y is for Your Favourite Colours'

&

'Z is for Zoo Animals'

The prize for the lucky winner is this three piece gingerbread ornament die set!

My favourite colour is blue...I love pretty much any shade of blue from duck egg to navy and everything in between, so I picked a piece of snowflake covered paper from the 'Pure Frozen' pad from Poundland, with many different blues on as my starting point. I stamped my favourite snowman ('Snowy' by Penny Black) on to a snippet of watercolour paper, used a black gel pen to extend the snowy ground, coloured him using watercolour pencils then carefully cut around the top of the image. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then placed 'Snowy' on to the background. I matted it on to a snippet of teal card, then added it to a white card blank.

For my 'Zoo Animals' card, I had pretty limited options, but one thing I have a fair collection of penguin stamps, so I picked the one with the most penguins...'Penguin Parade' stamp by Woodware. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then added a sentiment using a stamp from a set by Crafter's Companion called 'It's Penguinning'. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft DL card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas') (Second card only)
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes (Optional 'Monochrome') (First card only)
• Cutie Pie - Cute Christmas (Second card only)
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas Animals (Second card only)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Winter Blues (First card only)
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Optional 'Winter') (First card only)
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes (Optional 'Winter') (First card only)

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

December Desk Calendar

The start of a new month means a new page in my Penny Black desk calendar. For December, I used a couple of cute bird stamps from the 'Snow Much Fun' & 'Wintertime Cheer' set, stamping them on to a snippet of watercolour paper, before colouring them using watercolour pencils, and cutting the circle shape using one of my Nesties. I paired it with snippets of papers from the 'Season's Greetings' pad from Poundland...distressing all of the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. 

Challenges for this calendar:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - R is for Round
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - L & M are for?

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

'L is for Lanterns'

&

'M is for Music'

The prize for the lucky winner is this cute 'Santa  Activities' die set from Sizzix & Olivia Rose:

For my 'L is for Lanterns' card, I used a Crafter's Companion stamp from the 'Moonbeam Meadow' collection called 'Christmas Delivery'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, along with one of the matching sentiments, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a pad from The Works...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

On my 'M is for Music' card, I used a Penny Black image from the 'Christmas Hugs' set, stamping it on to watercolour paper along with a sentiment from the 'Carolling Chicks' set by Stamping Bella, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are a mixture of Folia Paper 'Geomentrics' (the pink & stripey ones), and Poundland 'Pure Frozen' (the aqua snowflake one). I distressed all of the edges, 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 - Cats and/or Dogs (Second card only)
• Creative Knockouts - Two or More Patterned Papers
• Everybody Art - Three Patterned Papers (Second card only)
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - At Least Three Different Papers (Second card only)
• Just Us Girls - Pink & Aqua (Second card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Let the Music Play (Second card only)

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

Game Changer

Today's card features a stamp I won as part of a prize from the Allsorts Challenge 15th birthday...it's called 'Game Changer' by AALL & Create. I stamped the images on to watercolour paper, adding a sentiment using a stamp from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company to the screen, then coloured the images using watercolour pencils. I used papers from a Christmas pad from Poundland called 'Let it Snow' for the background...distressing the edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Masculine
• Crafty Calendar - For a Child
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Masculine
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - All About the Men

Christmas Pandas

I have a Christmas card to share today, featuring a cute panda stamp from a set I found in a charity shop last week. It wasn't in its original packaging, so I'm not sure what brand the stamps are...they look a lot like Wild Rose Studio, but despite persistent Googling, I've not been able to identify them - if you do know what they are, please let me know! I stamped the image on to watercolour paper, adding a sentiment from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Let it Snow' pad from Poundland...I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and black and white gel pens.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Christmas in June
• Little Red Wagon - Cute
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Moodboard Inspiration
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Festive Friends

I have a Christmas card to share today, featuring an old Sugar Nellie stamp called 'Festive Friends'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from a couple of old psper pads...'The Christmas Wishes' multistack by DCWV and 'The Christmas Collection' from Poundland. I used a black gel pen to doodle a simple black border to mirror that of the one on the stamped image.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Santa/Gnomes/Elves
• Christmas Kickstart - Santa & his Sidekicks
• Jingle Belles - Santa Claus
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - E, F & G 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:

'E is for Embossing'

'F is for Faux'

&

'G is for Gingerbread'

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

For my 'E is for Embossing' card, I used a Penny Black stamp called 'Warm Reception'...stamping it on to a piece of kraft card using Versamark ink, then heat embossing it using white embossing powder. I added a heat embossed sentiment (from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp), then inked around the edges with the Versamark ink pad and heat embossed that in white too before adding it to a kraft card blank.

FOr my 'F is for Faux' card...I went with faux stitching on some papers from the 'Pure Frozen' pad from Poundland...distressing the edges before adding the stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The snowflakes are a Stampendous stamp set called 'Delicate Snowflakes'...I stamped them on to snippets of navy, turquoise and aqua card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them in white before cutting them out using the matching dies. I layered them up using 3D foam pads, then added them to the front of the card. The sentiment stamp is from an old Lili of the Valley set.

I really struggled with the 'G is for Gingerbread' theme...but eventually found some paper with little gingerbread men on...it was a freebie from a magazine years ago...but just the job for this! I matted a strip of the patterned paper on to some gold mirror card, and placed it down one side of a card blank, then cut the sentiment (using a Creative Expressions die) from some more mirror card, then added that over the top.

Challenges for these cards:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Monochrome') (First card only)
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Jingle Belles - Use Dies (Second card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment (Third card only)
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Embossing (First card only)

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

Sanford the Birthday Boy Stuffie

Today's card features a Stamping Bella stamp called 'Sanford the Birthday Boy Stuffie'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I paired him with papers from the 'Let it Snow' pad from Poundland...distressing the edges, then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted the image on to a snippet of kraft card, then layered everything up on a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Lots of Layers