Pansy Spray

Today's card features another floral stamp that I got for Christmas called 'Pansy Spray' by Stampendous. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - CAS
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes (Optional 'Anything but Square')

Pinwheel Daisies

I have a pair of cards to share today, made using some stamps from a set by JustRite that I received for Christmas called 'Pinwheel Daisies'. I stamped then on to navy blue card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them using silver embossing powder from WOW. I added sentiments, using stamps from the 'Signature Greetings' set by Visible Image, heat embossing them in silver to match, then watercoloured the flowers using a blue Cosmic Shimmer paint. I matted the panels on to some silver mirror card before adding them to white card blanks.

Challenges for these cards:

• Addicted to CAS - Blue
• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Card on the left only)
• Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Use a Sentiment
• We Love Stamping - Anything but Square (Card on the right only)

Birthday Ball

Today's card features a cute puppy stamp from the 'Stay Pawsitive' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped him on to a kraft card blank, along with a ball and sentiment using stamps from another Anita Jeram set called 'What This!', then coloured the image using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Celebrations
• Just Us Girls - Masculine
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• The Male Room - CAS
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes (Optional 'Anything but Square')

Iris Bouquet

Today's card features a lovely floral stamp I received for Christmas called 'Iris Bouquet' by Judikins. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Sketched Flowers' set by Simon Says Stamp, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - T is for Thank You
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'CAS')
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Optional 'Hand Coloured Image')

ABC Christmas Challenge - A & B are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge...and today, we are starting our sixteenth trip through the alphabet! I'm the host, and the themes are:

'A is for Anything Christmas Goes

&

'B is for Buildings'

The prize for the lucky winner is this stamp set & paper pad:

For my 'Anything Christmas' card, I used a new Penny Black snowman stamp that I received for Christmas...he's called 'Jolly Snowy'. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using an old Lili of the Valley stamp, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Back to Basics Christmas' pad by Dovecraft...distressing the edges, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

For my 'B is for Buildings' card, I used a Memory Box die called 'Snowy Cabin Circle'. I cut the whole die from a snippet of white card, then used tiny snippets of blue, pink and yellow papers to cut some of the details of the cabin, and added those to the scene. I layered a circle of paper from the 'Glittering Snowflakes' pad by Crafter's Companion behind the scene, then added it to a card blank using 3D foam. The sentiment stamp is from an old Lili of the Valley set.

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

• Crafty Calendar - Use a Die Cut (Second card only)
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Goes/Optional 'Moodboard' (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New (The stamp is new) (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (The stamp is new) (First card only)
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes/Hand Coloured Image (First card only)

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

Mosaic Butterflies

I have a couple of cards to share today, made using stamps from a set that I received for Christmas called 'Mosaic Butterflies' by Woodware stamps. I stamped them on to snippets of watercolour paper using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them using silver metallic embossing powder from WOW. I watercoloured them using Cosmic Shimmers, then carefully cut them out. I stamped and heat embossed sentiments (using a stamp from the 'Signature Greetings' set by Memory Box) on to snippets of white card, cut into squares, then pierced a simple border using my CutterBee Bug, before adding the butterflies using 3D foam pads.

Here are some close-ups:

Challenges for these cards:

• AAA Cards - Anything Goes (Optional 'Flies in the Air')
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New (The stamps are new)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (The stamps are new)
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes (Optional 'Hand Coloured Image') (Card on the right only)
• Sweet Stampin' - New (The stamps are new)

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.

January Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for January. I've made one of these for myself for each of the last few years, and get the blank calendars from Paper Mill Direct. Once again, I'm going to use all Penny Black stamps, and picked the 'Birthday Bears' set to use for January. I stamped them on to a snippet of watercolour paper, and used the number stamps in the set to add the year, then coloured them using watercolour pencils, before arefully cutting them out. For the background, I used a snippet of star covered paper from the 'Shine Like the Stars' pad from The Works, matting it on to a snippet of kraft card, having distressed the edges a little. I added a little gold star left over from making these tags.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Crafting Happiness - Happy New Year
• Little Red Wagon - New Beginnings
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)
• Time Out - Beginnings

Favourite Five Cards of 2024

As it's New Year's Eve, I'm sharing my favourite five cards of the last year. Each of the photos is linked to the original blog post, so please click through if you'd like any more details.

The first card is one I made for my Dad after his hip replacement surgery earlier this year...I do love this Lili of the Valley image, but thankfully, I don't have many occasions to use him!

The second card features a floral stamp that has been a regular in my favourite cards of the year posts...doesn't matter what colours I use, I always love it!

The third card was made for the same occasion as the previous one, but I had to include this for the Penny Black critters.

The fourth card features another favourite floral stamp, and a favourite technique of mine...watercolour stamping.

I chose the final card just because it makes me smile...and I had to include a CAS card in my favourites.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Sledding Sweetness

Today's card features a Penny Black stamp set that I received for Christmas called 'Sledding Sweetness'. I stamped the critters on to watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I made a snowy background for them using a piece of snowy sky paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations, and snippets of white card. I cut some trees using a set of Happy Little Stampers dies from the white card, glued them on to the background paper, then added a strip of white card, with a torn top edge, along the bottom for the ground. I added the critters on top using 3D foam pads, then matted the scene on to some red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for these cards:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Use Your Dies')
• Christmas with the Cuties - Cute & Christmassy
• C.R.A.F.T. - New (The stamps are new)
• Creative Knockouts - Snow Much Fun
• Cut It Up - Anything Goes 
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Cold & Frosty
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Dies

Dotty Tree

I have a simple Christmas card to share today, made using a stamp that I received for Christmas called 'Dotty Tree' by Woodware stamps. I stamped it on to a snippet of black card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. I used Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water to watercolour the tree in a mixture of green, gold and red. I matted it on to a snippet of gold mirror card, before adding it to a white card blank.

It's super shiny...so a real pain to photograph!

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Pick a Previous Stash Challenge ('Embossing' - August 2024)
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• My Time to Craft - New (The stamp is new)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes

Favourite Five Christmas Cards 2024

Today, as has become traditional, I'm shyaring my favourite five Christmas cards of the year. I made fewer cards this year (81, compared to 101 last year), but still had more than enough for my Mum and I to send. Each photo is linked to the original blog post, so if you would like any more details, please click through.

The first card is from January, and is one of the few that has no stamping on it. I love this snowflake embossing folder...even if it is an awkward size!

The second card features a relatively new favourite of mine...Anita Jeram stamps - I just all the critters in their Christmas hats!

The third cards are from August...I love the combination of fun coloured papers on these ones.

The fourth card is from October, and is representative of a style and layout I used for several cards this year...a cute critter against a snowy background stamped directly on a kraft card blank.

The final card is from November...I love the watercolour effect on this one, and I had to include at least one card with some mica pigment sparkle!

Before I go, here's this year's Christmas cake...the robins from 2016 have returned, but this year they've formed a choir!

Merry Christmas everyone!