Party Cat

It's nearly half-term...just one more day...and then I'm off...yippee!!!
Today's card is for another of the many October birthdays. The image is from the 'Bubbly' set by Penny Black, which I coloured with watercolour pencils, and then added some Glossy Accents to the balloons. The papers are from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts.

Challenges for this card:

• Card Patterns - Sketch
• Scrapbook Sisters - Pets

ABC Christmas Challenge - V is for...

It's Samantha's turn to host the ABC Christmas Challenge this week, where we have reached the letter 'V'...she has gone with a 'Vertical' theme...and has designed two fabulous sketches for us to use:

Sketch 1:

Sketch 2:

...and we'd love to see you  add as many other 'V's as you can to your creations too!

We are sponsored for this challenge by Pink Cat Studio...and the prize is 5 digi stamps!
They have also very generously given the DT some adorable images to play with! :0)

I've used 'Penguin Candy Cane Swing' (by Pink Cat Studio) on my card...he's 'Very' cute! I coloured him with watercolour pencils to match the 'Vibrant' colours of my 'Wonderful Winter' glitter papers by My Mind's Eye. To echo the 'Vertical' lines on the Sketch (I used Sketch 1), I have 'Vertical' stripes, and 'Vertical' spots! I made it 'Very' glittery by adding Glamour Dust around the edges of all the papers and the image, and a few acrylic gems (from Paperchase).

I'm also going to enter this card into the follwing challenges:

• Crafty Ann's - Digi plus favourite colouring medium
• Top Tip Tuesday - 'Anything Goes'...and my 'Top Tip' is to get ahead for Christmas by Joining us at the ABC Christmas Challenge! :0)

If you're a little 'Vexed' by our 'V' challenge...you can find lots more 'Very' inspiring projects from the rest of the DT at the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Carol Singing

I love white on white cards...especially for Christmas. The image I've used is 'Carol Singing' by Lili of the Valley, which I've coloured using watercolour pencils...I added a touch of sparkle with some Stickles. For the background, I embossed plain white card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and 'Snowflakes' folders, then distressed all of the edges with my distressing tool.

Challenges for this card:

• Sweet Stop - Sketch & Sparkle
• Crafty Sentiments - White on White Plus Coloured Image

Cuttlebug Spot - Totally Frightful!

This week's Cuttlebug Spot Challenge is:

'Totally Frightful!'

We want to see your scary Hallowe'en projects.

Eeeeeek!!!

I don't have much Hallowe'en stash, and most of what I do have is rather cute...so these pumkins (from the 'Spooky' set by Penny Black) are the best that I could do. I created the orange background by randomly stamping a spider's web (from the same PB set) in Versafine, then embossing with clear powder. I embossed a piece of black card with my Cuttlebug 'Skeleton Scroll' folder, then highlighted the raised detail with a white chalk inkpad. I distressed all of the edges with inks and my distressing tool, and added a piece of ribbon from Poppicrafts.

For more 'frightful' inspiration, please check out the scary creations by my lovely Cuttlebug Spot DT buddies...if you dare!

Pile It On! Challenge - Hallowe'en for Kids

The theme of this week's Pile It On! Challenge is:

'Hallowe'en for Kids'

 We are sponsored for this challenge by KAH-Wink-E-Dink

I've used a cute Penny Black image called 'Apprentice' for my card. The papers are from the 'Boo to You!' collection by My Mind's Eye, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts. I distressed all of the edges, and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug, and a white gel pen. I added some googly eyes to the spider on one of the papers, and a pair peeking out from the dark night sky! lol

Here are the challenges that I've Piled On!:

• Pile It On! - Hallowe'en for Kids
• Penny Black Saturday - Sketch
• Crafts & Me - Hallowe'en
• Craftalicious - Anything Goes
• Creative Cottage - Hallowe'en
• Creative Craft - Trick or Treat
• Creative Inspirations - Hallowe'en/Fall
• Cupcake Craft - Scary Creatures
• Double Dutch - Boo to You!
• Everybody Art - Hallowe'en
• For Fun - Googlie Booglie
• Fussy & Fancy - Hallowe'en
• Moving Along with the Times - Hallowe'en
• One Stop Craft - Hallowe'en
• Stamp Something - Hallowe'en
• Stampin' for the Weekend - Hallowe'en

For more spooky inspiration, please check out the creations by my lovely Pile It On! Dt buddies.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Oriental

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

'Oriental'

I've used one of the Secret Crafter's own Manga stamps...'Samurai Boy' (available as both a clear polymer stamp, and as a digital download). The papers are from the 'Far East' stack by DCWV, and I used my Cuttlebug 'Forest Branches' folder to emboss the middle panel....I though it sort of looked like bamboo! lol 

I inked around all of the edges using chalk inkpads, and added a sentiment using a stamp from the CCSR set by Papermania.

I'm also going to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Midnight Madness - Sketch (I've used the simple version, which I 've rotated)
• Cards for Men - Happy Birthday
• Digi Doodles - My Peeps

For more inspiration, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge to see the fabulous samples by my lovely DT buddies.

A Girl's Best Friend...

No....not diamonds...but a dog! :0)

I love this vintage feeling Lili of the Valley stamp ('Little Girls - Swing Time'), and I've used it to make my card for this month's friendship swap on the Docrafts forum. The paper is from the 'Wild Asparagus' collection by My Mind's Eye, the flowers are by Prima, the ribbon is Laura Ashley, the bottons were from Poppicrafts, and the sentiment stamp is from a little Studio G set. I distressed all of the edges with inks and my distressing tool, then added some faux stitching with my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The scalloped edging on the main image was done using my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch.

Challenges for this card:

• Our Creative Corner - Sketch
• Allsorts - Song Title Inspiration (Mine's 'You've got a friend in me' from Toy Story)
• Little Red Wagon - Something Old (The main image stamp) & Something New (The ribbon)
• Pink Elephant - Childhood
• Stamptacular Sunday - BFF (Buttons, Flowers & Friendship)

Cat up a tree!

I think I must be slacking...it's already Thursday, and this is my first Christmas card of the week! lol The cute image is from the 'Holly Jolly' set by Penny Black, and the papers are from the 'Eskimo Kisses' pad by BasicGrey. I distressed all of the edges, and added some faux stitching to the papers using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The baubles have been 'Stickled', and I replaced the star on top of the tree with a star shaped brad from Tescos. The small green brads are by Dovecraft, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Sketch
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Distressing & Stitching
• Bah! Humbug! - Favourite Cuties
• BasicGrey - Sparkle
• DCD Christmas Club - 3 Papers, 2 Ebellishments (Brads & Ribbon), 1 Image
• Incy Wincy - Something 'faux' (mine's stitching)

Big Bouquet!

This card is for another of the many October birthdays...I've used the adorable 'Teddy with Bouquet' by Lili of the Valley, and watercoloured him to match the Autumnal My Mind's Eye 'Bloom & Grow' papers. The flowers are by Prima (from a couple of different packs), and the sentiment is from the CCSR set by Papermania.

Challenges for this card:

• Friday Sketchers - Sketch
• Crafty Sentiments - Autumn Colours
• Crazy4Challenges - Birthdays
• Lili of the Valley - Autumn Colours
• Teddy Stampers - Fall Colours

Eat, Drink and be Scary!

I have another 'spooky' project for you today...this one is a card using one of the images from the 'Spooky' set by Penny Black - I bought the stamps in the sales after Christmas last year...and have been waiting patiently to use them! lol The papers are from the 'Boo to you' collection by My Mind's Eye, and the sentiments are also from the PB set.

Challenges for this card:

• Sketch Saturday - Sketch
• For Fun - Use New Stash
• Simon Says Stamp - Hallowe'en

Cuttlebug Spot - Hallowe'en Treat Holders

We have a 'spooktacular' challenge for you this week at the Cuttlebug Spot...the theme is:

'Hallowe'en Treat Holders'

I made a couple of little bucket bags...I sort of followed a template that I downloaded here, but it wasn't tall enough so I altered it a little. I used stiff black card for the bags, decorating them with card embossed with my 'Skeleton Scroll' Cuttlebug folder, and images from the 'Spooky' set by Penny Black.

I've filled them with cute little 'eyeball' and 'pumpkin' chocolates, that I found in Tescos:

For more spooky inspiration, please check out the fabulous creations by my Cuttlebug Spot DT buddies.

Just Cute Bears - Baby Cards

The theme of our Just Cute Bears Challenge this fortnight is:

'Baby Cards'
(with an optional extra to include gingham & ribbon)

We are sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp for this challenge, who have very generously donated this Popcorn the Bear stamp set as the prize.

I've used some of the cute little Penny Black 'Bear Blanks' on my card...which is an easel card made using the largest of my scalloped circle Nesties. The gingham paper is from the 'Wild Asparagus' collection br My Mind's Eye, and the button and ribbon are from Poppicrafts.

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

• C.R.A.F.T. - Shaped Card 
• Craft Your Days Away - Babies
• Crafty Cardmakers - Step away from the square
• Penny Black Saturday - At least 2 Penny Black images
• Sundays with Chrissy - Buttons & Bows
• Totally Gorjuss - Not a square
• Totally Papercrafts - Buttons & Bows

For more inspiration, please visit the Just Cute Bears blog...and don't forget you now have 2 weeks to enter our challenges.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Distressing

This week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge theme has been set by Suzie, and she has chosen:

'Distressing'

I love to distress...so this wasn't really a 'challenge'. The image I've used is 'Wee & Reindeer' by Whiff of Joy, and the papers are from the 'Eskimo Kisses' pad by BasicGrey (available here at the Secret Crafter). I used my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystals' die to cut the large snowflake. I distressed all of the papers with inks and my distressing tool, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug, and a white gel pen (available here at the Secret Crafter).

I'm also entering this card into a couple of other challenges:

• Sweet Sunday Sketch - Sketch (Oops...am too late to enter)
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Stiching & Distressing
• Wild Orchid Crafts - Stitch It Up!

For more inspiration for my lovely DT buddies, and our guest designer for October, Kate, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Butterfly Wishes

This is another of the cards I made last weekend for one of the many October birthdays that are coming up. The image is 'Butterfly Wishes' by Penny Black, which I coloured using watercolour pencils to match the Autumnal shades in the 'Bloom & Grow' papers by My Mind's Eye. I inked around all of the edges using chalk ink pads, and added a sentiment (from the 'Critter Party' set by Penny Black).

Challenges for this card:

• Sketch Saturday - Sketch
• Charisma Cardz - Autumn Colours
• Crafty Calendar - Birthdays (Optional extra of Autumn Colours)
• Penny Black @ Allsorts - Colours of Autumn
• Stampin' for the Weekend - Autumn Inspiration

Skiing Henry

My lovely friend Samantha and I swapped some images and papers last week...and this adorable 'Skiing Henry' (by Whiff of Joy) was amongst them. I decided I'd use him to make a 'male' Christmas card...nice and simple, no fuss...or glitter! I used three different Cuttlebug folders for the background: 'Snowflakes', 'Snow Dots' and 'Ice Crystals'. I did ink around the edges of the layers, but it's not showing up very well in the photo. The large snowflake was cut using my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die, and the spotty ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

Challenges for this card:

• Friday Sketchers - Sketch
• Papertake Weekly - Pick your favourite challenge (Mine's 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!')
• Winter Wonderland - Male Christmas Card

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for...

It's time for another ABC Christmas Challenge...it's my turn to host it, and the theme I have chosen is:

'U is for Under the Tree'

In other words make a gift/gift bag/gift box

Our sponsor for this challenge is the fabulous Simon Says Stamp

The prize is a $15 Gift Certificate...and they'll pay the shipping too!

We are also holding a DT Call on this challenge, as we are looking for some new members for our happy little team...so if you love Christmas crafting as much as we do...you can find all of the details on the ABC Christmas Challenge blog.

I decided to do some beading, and made a couple of simple bracelets...actually I made nine...but I've only photographed and made packaging for these two. The one on the left is made from freshwater pearls in a gorgeous silvery/petrol colour, and the one on the right is Indian Agate. For both bracelets I threaded the beads on to stretchy elastic, and then added a heart shaped charm on a jump ring to cover where the knots are tied.

I made a box for each bracelet out of plain navy blue card using my Easy Score Board, then added some silver tissue paper for packaging. I used my star shaped Nesties to make the tags out of silver and navy card, adding a cute little Penny Black mouse (from the 'Holly Jolly' set) coloured with watercolour pencils.

I used some fluffy and sparkly fibres to tie the tags around the boxes...I have loads of these they come free with orders from Craft Obsessions, and I never know what to do with them...but as I couldn't find any ribbon in the right colour/thickness...I decided to use them on the gift wrap! lol

I'm also entering these into the following challenges:

• Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Not Square (The star shaped tags)
• Crafty Ann's  - Anything but a Card

For more details of the DT Call, and more inspiration check out the fabulous creations by my lovely DT buddies on the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Champagne Thomas!

I need loads of birthday cards this month...so I made a couple at the weekend. This one uses 'Champagne Thomas' by Lili of the Valley, and papers form the 'Wild Asparagus' collection by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges, and added faux stitching using my Cutterbee Bug and a white gel pen. I used one of my Cuttlebug 'Just My Type' folders, which I haven't used in ages, on the strip across the centre, then sanded the raised area to reveal the white core of the paper. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Fabulous Birthday' set by Hero Arts, and the flowers are by Prima.

Challenges for this card:

• Lili of the Valley - Sketch
• Cupcake Craft - Happy Hour (Drinks)
• Paper Sundaes - From your stash (the border embossing folder)

Cuttlebug Spot - The Power of Women

I'm so excited...this is my first DT card for the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge...where the theme is:

'The Power of Women'

As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I've make a 'Pink Ribbon' themed card. The image is 'Pink Ribbon Twyla' by Bugaboo Stamps...I love the pink ribbon pattern on her dress! I used my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and 'Floral Fantasy' embossing folders on plain pink card, matting it on to a darker pink. The flowers are from Poppicrafts, the card candy is by Craftwork Cards, and the sentiment came with the image.

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous creations by my new Cuttlebug Spot DT buddies.

Pile It On! Challenge - 4 or More Embossing Folders

This week's Pile It On! Challenge is to use:

'4 or More Embossing Folders'

We are sponsored for this challenge by CropStop.com, and the prize is a $10 Gift Certificate

Well, I'm sure that any regular visitors to my blog will know that I love using my 'Bug for embossing...so I loved this challenge! I used one of my favourite techinques, especially for Christmas cards, which is to emboss on plain white card. The folders I used were (working up from the bottom layer): 'Swiss Dots', 'Ice Crystals', 'Snowflakes' & 'Snow Dots' (all made by Cuttlebug). I distressed all of the edges, and then matted them on to red card. The image is 'Night Before Christmas' by Penny Black, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, the added some sparkle using Stickles to the furry trim on the hat. The snowflakes were cut using a Cuttlebug die, which I sprinkled with Glamour Dust.

Here are the challenges that I've Piled On:

• Pile It On! - 4 or More Embossing Folders
• Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
• C.E.S. -Get Ahead, Get a Hat!
• Charisma Cardz - Christmas
• Creative Inspirations (Wed) - Christmas
• Double Dutch - Sketch
• Glitterbabes - Embossing
• Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
• Sew Many Challenges - Anything Goes
• Stamp Something - Something to Celebrate
• Stamptacular Sunday - At Least 5 Layers

For more inspiration, please visit the Pile It On! Challenge blog to see the fabulous samples by my lovely DT buddies.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Easel Cards

This week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge has been set by Renate, and she has chosen:

'Easel Cards'

I made my card to give to my Nan for Grandparent's Day, which is tomorrow here in the UK. The image is one of the adorable Lili of the Valley bears, 'Teddy with Bouquet'. I coloured him with watercolour pencils to match the bright colours of the 'Ooh La La (for Her)' papers by My Mind's Eye. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching, and some Stickles glitter glue (available here at the Secret Crafter) to the flowers on the image. On the bottom part of the card, I used a similar layout, adding a sentiment printed on my computer, and then cut out using my oval Nesties (available here at the Secret Crafter).

Here's a view from the front:

I'm also entering this card into the this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge, which has a fab sketch to follow.

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