A Bundle of Joy

Another baby card from me today...again, we don't know if it will be a boy or a girl...so it's gender neutral. This time I've used a Stampavie stamp by Rachelle Anne Miller called 'Hoppy Spring'...I discovered to my shame (when I searched back through my blog archive) that I haven't used it in just over three years! For the background, I used a couple of Sizzix/BasicGrey Christmas embossing folders ('Plaid' & 'Diamonds')...I distressed all of the edges a little to help the layers stand out. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Art Impressions.

Challenges for this card:

• Craft Your Passion - Adorable Animals
• Crafty Creations - No Patterned Papers
• Cupcake Craft - Cute & Cuddly
• Forever Friends (Fortnightly) - Dies and/or Punches
• J & C Creations - Nurturing 
• Sketch & Stash - Sketch

ABC Christmas Challenge - H is for...

It's time for a new ABC Christmnas Challenge, and this fortnight Fiona is the host, and the theme is:

'H is for Holiday Helpers'

(Think Elves, Reindeer etc)

Our fabulous sponsor is: 

Our very own Lacey, with her awesome Stamp & Create store!

I went for reindeer as my 'Holiday Helpers'...and used stamps and dies from the 'Holiday Cheer' set by Sizzix/BasicGrey...stamping them on to kraft, and paper piecing their jumpers with papers from the 'Winter Wonderland' pad by My Mind's Eye. I used more of the papers to make the background...tearing some white card for the snow. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Furry Christmas' set by Simon Says Stamp.

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

• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Krafty Christmas 
• Creative Stamp Friends - Paper Piecing
• Forever Friends (Monthly) - Paper Piecing
• Incy Wincy - Fur or Feathers
• Pink Elephant - Paper Piecing

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

Oldie but a Goodie - Make it Girly

This fortnight at Oldie but a Goodie Challenge, we're asking you to:

'Make it Girly'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

I've used a girly image from Bugaboo Stamps...called 'Ava Christmas - Sitter'...which I coloured using watercolour pencils, and carefully cut out. I've used papers from the 'Christmas Fancy' pad by Dovecraft...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The ribbon is absolutely ancient...I sorted out my jumble of ribbons last week and discovered lots of little scraps including this one, which I think came in a goody bag from Poppicrafts...which closed down several years ago! The snowflakes were cut using Marianne Designs and Cuttlebug dies, and the pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

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

• Sweet Sketch Sunday - Sketch 182
• Winter Wonderland - No Red or Green

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Bear Blanks Baby

This is the card to go with the Nappy Cake I showed you last week for my friend's new baby (a little girl named Megan Alice). I used the same colours as the nappy cake...gender neutral...originally picked because I didn't know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl...but my friend dislikes pink as much as I do, so I don't think she'll mind! The cute wee bears are the 'Bear Blanks' by Penny Black...I coloured them using watercolour pencils, then added the lettering to their boards. I used my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' for the embossing, added a big satin faux-bow (held in place with a diamonte brad from Craft Obsessions) to match the nappy cake...and a few pieces of Craftwork Cards 'Card Candi'.

Challenges for this card:

• Card Crafter's Circle - Die Cuts and/or Embossing 
• Corrosive - Life's Special Occasions (New Baby)
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Animal Antics
• Sweet Stamps - More than One Stamped Image

Clownin' Around

I've used an image on today's card that I haven't used in absolutely ages...it's called 'Clown Gifts' by Hambo Stamps. I won a gift certificate for Freckled Fawn a little while ago...and my package of washi tape arrived this week, so I used a few different designs as a background for the clown. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Aud Sentiments - For a Guy
• Celebrate the Occasion - Clownin' Around
• Critter - Washi Tape 
• Moving Along with the Times - Inspired by a Song or Movie (Song - 'Send in the Clowns')
• Sketch Saturday - Sketch 
• Stampavie & More - For a Boy 
• That Craft Place - For a Child
• Totally Papercrafts - Get Krafty

Cheesecake Parade

It's my Mum's birthday today...and this is the card I made for her:

The image is 'Cheesecake Parade' (picked this stamp up for the bargain price of £2 in Hobbycraft last week along with a fab Hero Arts sunflower stamp...well worth a rummage around the bottom of the Bargain bins!). I coloured it using watercolour pencils to match the BasicGrey 'Hopscotch' papers...I distressed the edges a little, then used my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen to add some faux stitching...and added some Card Candi.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Papercraft Star - Use a Stamp
• Simply Create Too - Use Your Stash (The papers are several years old...still going strong!)
• Stamp with Fun - Birthdays
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch 201

ABC Christmas Challenge - G is for...

I have another card today for our current ABC Christmas Challenge...where the theme is:

'G is for Girl or Guy'

Show us your feminine or masculine creations.

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

As I made a masculine card last week, I thought I'd better make a girly one this time...the image (and sentiment) is from a set of stamps by Lili of the Valley. I coloured it using watercolour pencils to match the glittery paper (from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye)...adding some more sparkle to the image with some Stickles. The snowflakes (covered with more Stickles) were cut using Marianne Designs and Cuttlebug dies, I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the border, and the pleated ribbon is from the Ribbon Reel.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Use the word 'Christmas'
• Creative Stamp Friends - Punches
• Cupcake Crafts - Cats & Dogs
• Top Tip Tuesday - Boys or Girls
• Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle
• Winter Wonderland - Lots of Spots

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

Nappy Cake

One of my friends is having a baby...so I thought I'd have a go at making her a nappy cake!

It's been a bit of a labour of love...and took me most of the weekend...what with the shopping for bits...and then trying to put it all together...making sure it all looked neat! I finally added the finishing touches yesterday, after an exhaustive search to find a cuddly toy in the right colours and of the right size!

 

 Here's a close-up of said cuddly toy (and some sock flowers/candles)...I'd really been looking for a bear, but this little pup stole my heart!

Nearly all of the baby clothes, blanket & towel came from Boots...the little booties tucked into the folded towel on the bottom layer are from TKMaxx (as is the cuddly toy).

I made a little tag using Nesties, and Penny Black bear image ('Snug'), and alphabet stamps from OneFourZero...and wrote a list of 'ingredients' on the inside:

I followed the advice I'd seen on various blogs, and didn't use things for new-borns...I'm sure my friend will recieve plenty of those!

Just to show you...it's even fairly neat on the back!

The baby was due last Thursday (4th April)...but has yet to make an appearance! My friends are doing it the 'old-fashioned' way...and decided not to find out the gender...so that's why I've not gone for blue or pink!

**Edited to add**

I've just found out that the wee one arrived safely this morning at 9.25am...it's a girl!

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

• Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes
• Ready Teddy Go - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Special Occasions

Birthday Star

I have a card for this week's Less is More challenge to show you today...now I wasn't sure about the 'Lime & Black' colour combo...not really my sort of colours at all...but I thought I'd give it a try. I found a piece of lime green patterned paper is an old BasicGrey pad ('Lemonade') and cut a star our of it using one of my Nesties. I layered that over some black card...I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the border. The sentiment stamp is from a little Studio G set.

Challenges for this card:

• BasicGrey - Clean & Simple 
• Dream Valley - Happy Birthday
• Dutch Dare - Birthday Fun
• Less is More - Lime & Black
• Little Red Wagon - Be a Neagtive Nellie

Pile It On! Challenge - Wood

This week at Pile It On! our challenge theme is:

'Wood'

Use some kind of wooden element, or woodgrain texture.

We are sponsored for this challenge by Jellypark...and the prize is 2 digis from the Jellypark store!

My wooden element is a wooden flower (from a set by Kaisercraft)...I layered it up with a paper flower (from the long since closed Poppicrafts) and held it in place using a BasicGrey brad...the other flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The image is 'Gift Wrapped' by Lili of the Valley, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, and the sentiment is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts. The papers are from an old Papermania pad called 'Sweet Nothings'...I distressed the edges then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Wood
• 2 Sisters - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Spring has Sprung
• CCEE Stampers - Things with Wings
• Challenges for Everybody - Anything Goes
• Crafts & Me - Spring Flowers
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Flutterby Wednesdays - Flowers
• Fussy & Fancy - Faux Technique (Stitching)
• Gem of a Challenge - Animals
• Lili of the Valley - All Stitched Up (My stitching is faux)
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes
• One Stop Craft - Birthdays
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp - Happy Birthday
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter/Spring
• Stamp with Fun - Spring
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch #200
• Sweet Stampin' - Scallops
• Wags 'N Whiskers - April Showers/Spring

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

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Sketch by Beth

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge! This month, we have a fabulous sketch for you to use by our wonderful DT buddy Beth:

As usual, we have some fabulous prizes on offer from our generous sponsors:

$20 voucher

I kept my card ultra simple...using a butterfly stamp from the 'Social Butterfly' set...stamped on to kraft card in black, then coloured using watercolour pencils. I used a Sizzix/BasicGrey folder (called 'Snowcap') for the embossing, my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the border, added some twine from the Ribbon Girls, and a sentiment from the same stamp set as the Butterfly.

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

Pencil Sketch Flowers

More CAS cards from me today...this time a couple of flowery one layer cards using a some of my favourite Hero Arts stamps, and a technique that I spotted on this card in the Hero Arts Flickr group. I stamped the floral stamps ('Blooming Meadows' & 'Garden Bouquet') in 'London Fog' Memento ink, then coloured over the top using my watercolour pencils...although I didn't add any water...and it sort of looks like a pencil sketch. I did the white one first, then wondered what it would look like on kraft...I also stamped the sentiment (from the 'Wonderful' set by Penny Black) in grey...I thought that black might look too harsh...but once it dried it almost disappeared on the kraft!

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafting for All Seasons - Floral Delight (Both cards)
• Creative Inspirations - Let's Get Krafty (Just the card on the right)
• Cupcake Craft - Get Your Kraft On (Just the card on the right)
• Cute Card Thursday - Something Borrowed (I 'borrowed' the idea for stamping in grey then colouring over with pencils to give a 'sketch' effect from this card I spotted in the Hero Arts group on Flickr)
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Freestyle
• Moving Along with the Times - Let's Get Krafty (Just the card on the right)

ABC Christmas Challenge - G is for...

It's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge...and this fortnight Chris is the host, with a theme of:

'G is for Girl or Guy'

Show us your feminine or masculine creations.

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

I've used a cheeky little monkey image from Bugaboo Stamps called 'Sock Monkey November', which I coloured using watercolour pencils..adding some sparkle to the snowballs with some Stickles. I embossed the background card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' & 'Snowflakes' and Sizzix 'Snowflakes' folders...I distressed the edges and added the doodled border before I did the embossing. The snowflake was cut using my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die, and the sparkly brad is by American Crafts.

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

• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - No Red or Green
• Crimbo Crackers - No Papers
• Joanna Sheen - Weather (Well...with the weather we're having in the UK at the moment, it just has to be snow!)
• Simply Create Too - Animals
• Totally Gorjuss - Something Blue

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

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Transport

This fortnight over at Oldie but a Goodie, our challenge theme is:

'Transport'

I've used a stamp from the 'Hello Friend' set by Penny Black...love this doggy zooming along in his car! created the background scene by layering up some plain coloured card...I cut the green one to look like grass...then added a couple of die cut clouds ('Puffy Cloud' die by Memory Box). The sentiment stamp is from the 'Critter Party', also by Penny Black.

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

• Card Makin' Mamas - No Patterned Papers
• Seize the Birthday - Sketch (Masculine)
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
• Stamp & Create - Use at least one Die (The clouds are die cut) 

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Butterflies...

Another CAS card from me today...I used one of the butterflies from the 'Social Butterflies' set by Penny Black stamping it in various Distress Inks (Bundled Sage, Stormy Sky, Old Paper & Dusty Concord) on to white card. For the panel behind, I stamped by Hero Arts 'Music Background' stamp in Old Paper, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts. I blended more 'Old Paper' around the edges of everything, then inked just on the very edge using 'Pumice Stone'...the sentiment is popped up on 3D foam.

Challenges for this card:

• Amusing Challenges - Anything Goes
• Card Makin' Mamas - No Patterned Papers
• Penny's Paper Crafting - Anything but Square
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes
• That Craft Place - Animals