Guest Designer - Seize the Birthday Challenge (CAS + Dies)

I'm back with another Surprise Party Guest card for the Seize the Birthday Challenge.

The theme this fortnight is:

Any regular visitors to my blog will know that I'm a stamper at heart, but I do have a little collection of dies, and this theme was the perfect excuse to dust off a set of cupcake dies (by Marianne Designs) that I have had for a very long time! I cut the 'cupcake case' from a snippet of spotty paper from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works, and the 'frosting' and 'cherry' from snippets of papers from the 'North Country' pad by Prima Marketing. I assembled the cupcake on a piece of kraft card using 3D foam pads of varying thickness to add dimension, then added some adhesive pearl 'sprinkles'. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' stamp set, then distressed the edges of the kraft panel before adding it to a matching kraft card blank.

For more inspiration from the fabulous Design Team, please pop over to the Seize the Birthday Challenge!

PBSC November - 'Anything Goes' (Optional 'Anything but a Card')

It's the third Saturday of the month, so I'm back with some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or
'Anything but a Card'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

Ages ago, I received a pack of Prima watercolour tags as part of a challenge prize...I've never got round to using them before as they're huge for tags (8.5 inches long!), but I thought that I'd turn one into a bookmark for this month's challenge. I used stamps from the Penny Black 'Social Butterfly' set, and heat embossed them on the tag using clear embossing powder. I then watercoloured over the top using Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves & Mermaid Lagoon), drying in between layers with my heat gun. I then splattered some water droplets over the top, distressed the edges a little, then added a selection of co-ordinating ribbons & twine.

I'm also entering this bookmark/tag into the following challenges:

• Addicted to Stamps - Use Ribbon
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Things with Wings')
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Cozy Winter Owl

I have another Christmas card to share today...featuring a Meljen's image that I dug out of the bottom of my image box...he's called 'Cozy Winter Owl', and I coloured him using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'North Country' pad by Prima...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 a Pollycraft set for C. C. Designs.

Challenges for this card:

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Birds
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Let's Colour Linky Party - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Birds or Feathers
• Stampavie & More - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Rainbow Celebrations

I have another rainbow coloured card to share today. I used the same stamping technique as yesterday's card (colouring my Prima oil pastels directly on to the stamp, then spritzing with water before stamping), but this time used my Hero Arts 'Magical Backgound' stamp. I got several impressions out of just one 'inking' (I just spritzed the stamp with a little more water each time)...this is the second one, and there was a patch in the centre that didn't stamp as cleanly as the rest, so I used one of my circle Nesties to cut it out. I added a panel embossed using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder behind the aperture, a die cut sentiment (by Clearly Besotted), some adhesive pearls, then popped my stamped panel up on 3D foam tape.

Challenges for this card:

• A Blog Named Hero - Rainbow
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Pearls & Swirls
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Rainbow Meadows

I have a bright and cheery card to share today...I'm hoping that it will help encourage some better weather! I stamped my Hero Arts 'Blooming Meadow' stamp using Prima Oil Pastels by colouring directly on to the stamp with the pastels in a 'rainbow' pattern and spritzing with water. As the pastels don't really 'set', I inked over the whole thing using a Versamark ink pad, then heat embossed it all using clear embossing powder. I simply attached the panel to my card using 3D foam, and added a sentiment from the 'Handwritten Borders' set by Simon Says Stamp.

Challenges for this card:

• A Blog Named Hero - Rainbow
• Come & Get It - In the Garden
• Creative Inspirations - Nature
• Fab 'N Funky - Flowers
• Moving Along with the Times - In the Garden
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - Flower Power

Toadily Happy!

I picked up a cute Penny Black stamp set called 'Toadily' at a charity shop yesterday...and used it last night to make this riverside scene card. I stamped the frogs on a snippet of white card, then fussy cut them out. I used papers from various pads to create the scene - a whole piece from the 'Hello Today' pad by Heidi Swapp for the sky, and snippets of brown (from the 'North Country' pad by Prima) and blue (from the 'Blue Floral' by My Minds Eye) for the river bank and water. I used one of my Lawn Fawn 'Grassy Edges' dies to cut the grass from a snippet of green card and my Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' dies to cut the clouds from a snippet of white card. I stamped some bees (from the same stamp set) on to the 'sky' then added my frogs popped up on 3D foam pads...I doodled some ripples and water droplets...then added their 'eyebrows' that I'd cut off! The sentiment is also from the same stamp set.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to Stamps - Die Cuts
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Stamp & Die
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Rainbow Chevrons

I thought I'd give you a little break from Christmas cards (I have do have a couple more ready to blog though...so the festive posts will return shortly!) and show you this pair of cards that I made over the Christmas break. I received some Prima water-soluble oil pastels for Christmas, and I used them on these cards to create a rainbow effect. I started by stamping a Hero Arts background stamp 'Chevrons') in Versamark Ink on white card, then heat embossed it using white powder. I scribbled with my pastels over the top of the embossing using a rainbow of colours, then blended them together using a paintbrush and some water. To create the cards, I trimmed my coloured piece in half vertically, then matted them on to some snippets of black card. They weren't quite long enough for a standard A6 card, so I cut across each piece to stretch them over the full length of the cards...it left a handy space for stamping a sentiment (these are from the 'Handwritten Borders' set by Simon Says Stamp).

It was a really bright day when I took the above photo, so here's a better look at one of the cards:

Challenges for these cards:

• Artistic Impressions - Anything Goes (With a Twist of Thank You)
• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - A is for...

It's time for not just a new ABC Christmas Challenge...but the start of a brand new alphabet! That's right...we're starting our seventh (!!!) trip through the alphabet...and we have a nice & easy theme for you:

'A is for Anything Goes!'

(Well, anything Christmas, that is!)

Our sponsor for this challenge is Sami Stamps:

Prize - $12 Gift Certificate!

I had another play with the oil pastels that I received for Christmas...and cased this card by Kristina Werner. However, things didn't go entirely to plan...and despite carefully ensuring that all of the edges of my masking tape were firmly secured, my watercolours seeped underneath it, so that when I removed the tape once the paint had dried, instead of the crisp straight lines that Kristina had...my trees all had fluffy edges! Nevermind...I actually kind of like how they turned out, although I had to trim one of the pieces down, as the paint had leaked too much. I doodled on some decorations...adding a touch of gold using some Cosmic Shimmer pigment mixed with water. I added a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then matted them on to gold & green.

Here are some close-ups of the two cards:

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

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• That Craft Place - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Irises

I have a pair of cards to share today...made using my new Prima oil pastels, and a much neglected Penny Black stamp simply called 'Irises'. I coloured directly on to the stamp with the pastels, then spritzed over the stamp with water to blend the colours together before stamping. The colours are quite pigmented, so I was able to get two really clear impressions from the one 'inking'. I then stamped a music background stamp (by BasicGrey & Hero Arts) inked with 'Old Paper' Distress Ink over the top...I only inked the edges of the stamp, so that it didn't go too much over the flowers. I blended some more 'Old Paper' over the whole thing, and some 'Dusty Concord' around the edges, before distressing the edges a little. I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen, and a die cut sentiment (the 'hello' is from a Craft Asylum set of Sizzix Thinlits, and the 'thanks' is from the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet set.

Challenges for these cards:

• Allsorts - What's New? (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• Artistic Stamper - Anything Goes
• Come & Get It - Something New (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• Crafty Friends - Use Something New (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Snippets (I cut the sentiments from snippets)
• Sweet Stampin' - Something New (The oil pastels I used for stamping)
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes with a Die

Butterfly Hello

I received a set of Prima oil pastels for Christmas...they're water soluble, so I had a little play at making a watercolour background on today's card. I scribbled a rough butterfly shape using a couple of the pastels, then blended them using a waterbrush. I added a die cut butterfly (cut using a Joy Crafts die) over the top, a sentiment (cut using a die from a Craft Asylum set by Sizzix) cut from a piece of card coloured using the same pastels, and some adhesive pearls.

Challenges for this card:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - W is for...

We have another fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Samantha is the host and the theme is:

'Wild Thing'

Our sponsor for this challenge is our very own Lacey's Stamp & Create store:

Prize - 3 Wags 'N Whiskers digital stamps!

I picked a Penny Black reindeer stamp to use on my card called 'Deer in Skates'...pretty wild hey?! I used scraps of Prima papers (from the 'North Country' pad)...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 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz/Sizzix.

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

• Christmas Cards - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Christmas Critters
• Papertake Weekly - Christmas Criters
• Pixie's Snippet's Playground - Snippets
• Sweet Sunday Sketch - Sketch #294

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

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

I have another Christmas card to share today...not many left to do now! This one was inspired by the 'One Layer Card with Snow' theme of this week's Less is More Challenge. I stamped various snowflakes (stamps by Hero Arts, Papermania & Prima) in Versamark Ink, then heat embossed them in white. The sentiment stamp is by Penny Black.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Sentiments - Winter
• Holly Jolly Christmas - Anything Christmas
• Less is More - One Layer Card & Snow
• Little Red Wagon - Anything Christmas
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas Songs (Let t Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!)

Pile It On! Challenge - Anything Christmas

It's time for the final Pile It On! Challenge of the year. and as usual both design teams are joining together to bring you a month long challenge. We know that it's a busy time of year for everyone, so we have a super easy theme for you:

'Anything Christmas!'

I went down the quick and easy route, picking a pre-coloured Lili of the Valley card topper...simply adding a touch of sparkle with a clear Sakura 'Stardust' pen. The papers are a mixture of different brands...Crate Paper 'Bundled Up' (the red & green papers), Prima Marketing 'All About Me' (the blue paper) and Echo Park 'tis the Season' (the snowflake paper). I inked the edges using a little Pumice Stone' Distress Ink to make them 'match' a little better, then distressed the edges and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. 

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Anything Christmas
• 4 Crafty Chicks - Animals
• Allsorts - Animal Magic
• Animal Friends - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Completely Christmas - Add some holly
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Bright Colours
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments- Anything Goes
• Fab 'N Funky - Pre-coloured Images
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Christmas
• Jingle Belles - Anything Christmas
• Moving Along with the Times - Christmas Climate
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• That Craft Place - Christmas
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Sketch Saturday - Sketch #339

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - W is for...

We have a brand new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Carissa is the host, and the theme is:

'W is for Winter Wishes'

We hae two fabulous sponsors for this challenge:

Saturated Canary

Prize - 2 digis from the Saturated Canary store

and our very own Lacey, and her Stamp and Create store:

The prize is a $25 gift certificate!

I've used Lili of the Valley 'Snowman' on my card...colouring him using watercolour pencils, adding some sparkle to the 'snow' using Stickles. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Prima, and the twine is from Hobbycraft.

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

• Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas - Outdoors 
• Creative Corner - Inspired by a Song (Frosty the Snowman/Winter Wonderland)

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

The Snowman

I have a Christmas card for you this afternoon...using a sweet Lili of the Valley 'Snowman' stamp...which I coloured using watercolour pencils, then added some Stickles glitter glue to the snow, and some Glossy Accents to the baubles. The papers are from the 'North Country' pad by Prima...I inked the edges using 'Stormy Sky' Distress Ink, then distressed them a little using my distressing tool, before adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen (which looks like it needs replacing...I can hardly see the stitches!). The sentiment stamp is from the 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black.

Challenges for this card:

• CCEE Stampers - Wintry with a Snowman
• Fussy & Fancy - Anything Goes
• Lili's Little Fairies - Anything Goes 
• One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stop Sketches - Sketch with a Spin (My card is inspired by 'The Snowman' by Raymond Briggs)

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything but a Card

This week at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long, we're challenging you to make:

'Anything but a Card'

(Tags, Giftbags/boxes, Gifts...anything really...just don't forget the stampin'!)

There's no sponsor this week, but there will be a surprise package for the lucky winner!

I've made some tags...I'm usually well prepared with my cards, but never seem to remember to make the gift tags in advance! I was inspired by these fabulous tags by Penny Black designer Jenyfur Pohl...and totally CASED them for some simple elegant tags. I inked plain manilla tags using various Distress Inks, then stamped some of my favourite 'non-cute' Penny Black stamps over the top, adding a sentiment, and a sprinkling of snowflakes - I'll list the colours/stamps under the individual photos of each tag.

Here are some close-ups:

Inks: Stormy Sky; Faded Jeans; Chipped Saphire; & Tea Dye

Stamps: 'Snow Dust' (Penny Black); 'Merry Christmas' (Penny Black); 'Snowflakes' (Hero Arts); & flourish from 'North Country' set (Prima)

Inks: Evergreen Bough; Pine Needles; Iced Spruce; & Tea Dye

Stamps: 'Before the Snow' (Penny Black); sentiment from 'North Country' set (Prima); & 'Snowflakes' (Hero Arts)

Inks: Scattered Straw; Wild Honey; Spiced Marmalade; & Tea Dye

Stamps: 'Holly & Globe'; sentiment (Paper Make-Up); &'Snowflakes' (Hero Arts)

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

• Allsorts - It's a Gift
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.

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After I published this post, I noticed that this is my 1500th post...wow...that's a lot of blogging! It's also my blog's 4th birthday in a few days time...so watch out for some celebratory candy coming this way!

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - A Man's Card

It's Wendy's turn to set the theme of this week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, and she has chosen:

'A Man's Card'

Our sponsor this week is:

The prize is a $10 gift voucher to spend in the Digi Doodle Shop!

I've used a House Mouse image on my card...not sure who sent it to me, as it's been waiting patiently in my image box for such a long time...but the stamp is called 'Ready, Set, Go!' The papers are a mixture of BasicGrey 'Max & Whiskers' and Prima 'North Country'...I distressed the edges using inks and my distressing tool, then added faux stitches using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I embossed the green paper using my Craft Concepts 'Hexagon Illusion' folder.

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

• Crafter's Companion - Four-legged Friends
• Crafty Ann's - It's a Man Thing
• Crafty Catz - Animals
• Papercrafting Journey - Three or more patterned papers
• Let's Ink it Up - Distressing
• Shopping Our Stash - Masculine
• Stamping Boutique - Distressing

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Neutral Noel

I have another neutral card using my 'Pumice Stone' Distress Ink today...I hadn't realised how pretty 'beige' could be until I used this ink on this card last week. I stamped the tree stamp (from the 'North Country' set by Prima) in Versamark, then eat embossed it in white, before blending the 'Pumice Stone' ink over the top. I matted it on to white, and then kraft card, and added a sentiment (from the 'Bubble Tree' set by Woodware) stamped in Memento 'Rich Cocoa' ink.

Challenges for this card:

• Crazy Challenge - No Designer Papers
• Jingle Belles - Neutral Noel (I was inspired by the colour scheme, and gorgeous tree & snowflake cushions in the photo)
• Lollipop - White with a Splash of Colour

I'll be back with another Christmas card tomorrow for our current ABC Christmas Challenge.