Joy to the World

I have a Christmas card to share today, made using one of the stamps from the 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Gift Exchange' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Ho Ho Ho' pad by Polkadoodles, distressing the edges and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before adding them to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Animals
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters
• Stamping Sensations - Cute Creatures

Suspenseful Music

I have a birthday card to share today, featuring a Penny Black stamp called 'Suspenseful Music'. I stamped it onto a piece of watercolour paper, added some musical notes and a sentiment using stamps from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Party Day' pad from Crate Paper...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favourite Sketch/Layout (This is my go-to on rectangular and square cards...it works well for combining a few different papers)
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Time Out - Playing Music
• We Love Stamping - All Creatures Great & Small

PBSC May - Anything Goes (Optional 'Your Favourite PB Stamp')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Your Favourite Penny Black Stamp'

We're currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I cheated slightly this time, and picked my favourite Penny Black Christmas stamp...'Snowy'! I stamped him onto a piece of watercolour paper, used a black gel pen to extend the snowy ground on either side of him, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered it over a piece of snowy sky paper, from an unnamed pad from The Works, then matted it onto a piece of teal card before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - Snow
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

Monster Birthday Cake

Today's card features an old Bugaboo Stamps image, called 'Monster Birthday Cake' that has been lingering in my stamped images box for years. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment, using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I matted it onto a snippet of purple card, distressing the edges a little, before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Cake & CAS
• C.R.A.F.T. - Birthday
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Food and/or Drink

ABC Christmas Challenge - J & K are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge...I'm the host, and the themes are:

'J is for Just Enough' (CAS)

&

'K is for Knitwear'

The prize for the lucky winner is this 'Doe A Deer' A6 stamp set from Creative Expressions:

For my 'J is for Just Enough' card, I made a really simple one-layer card. I stamped an unbranded bauble stamp directly onto a kraft card blank using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it in white. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Bubble Mini Baubles' set by Wooware, heat embossing it in white to match.

For my 'K is for Knitwear' card, I used three of the cute bears from the 'Beary Merry Christmas' set by Funky Fossil. I stamped them onto snippets of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I stamped a sentiment using one of the stamps from the same set onto a kraft card blank, then added the bears popped up on 3D foam pads.

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

• Allsorts - Monochrome (First card only)
• Aud Sentiments - Embossing (Wet or Dry) and/or Flowers + Sentiment (First card only)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Stamping Sensations - Cute Creatures (Second card only)

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

Snowboard Ride!

I have a Christmas card to share today...featuring an old favourite Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Snowboard Ride'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, doodled a snowy slope using a black gel pen, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered it over a piece of paper from an unnamed pad from The Works, then matted it onto some navy card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Christmas Kickstart - Seasons Tweetings
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Gone but not Forgotten (I love Margaret Sherry's designs for Penny Black - her chickens always make me smile!)
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Colourful
• Sweet Stampin' - Things with Wings
• We Love Stamping - All Creatures Great & Small

Great Catch!

Today's card features a cute Happy Hopper stamp from Stampendous called 'Great Catch!'. I stamped him onto kraft card, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Addicted to CAS - Birthday
• CAS on Friday - Animals
• Cardz for Guys - CAS
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Cute Creatures

May Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my Penny Black desk calendar page for May. I picked one of the frogs from my long neglected 'Toadily Happy' set, stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut out the circle shape. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Here + There' pad by Studio Calico...distressing the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Neglected Stuff - Anything Goes (The frog stamp was last used in 2020!)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make it Colourful
• We Love Stamping - All Creatures Great & Small

Tulips in a Vase

I have a simple birthday card to share today, featuring a floral stamp from Woodware called 'Tulips in a Vase'. I stamped it onto a piece of smooth white card, adding a sentiment to the vase using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft company. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then matted it onto a snippet of pale pink card, distressing the edges, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Primarily Pink
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Mother's Day/Feminine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

PBSC May - Anything Goes (Optional 'Your Favourite PB Stamp')

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

'Your Favourite Penny Black Stamp'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

My all time favourite Penny Black stamp, is also one of the first ones I bought, 'Birthday Dog'. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. I paired it with snippets of papers from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx), and 

'Refreshing Basics' pad from The Works...distressing the edges and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I used another Nestie die to cut the scalloped mat from a snippet of kraft card, then layered everything up on a kraft card blank.

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

• Everybody Art - Happy Birthday
• Krafty Chicks - Colour an Image
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Four-legged Friends
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

Many Blessings

I have a Christmas card to share today, made using stamps from the 'Many Blessings' set by Hero Arts. I did a little bit of masking to have the trees behind the snowmen, then added one of the sentiments from the set before colouring the image using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'May Your Days Be Merry & Bright' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed all of the edges a little, and matted the image and base layer onto snippets of green and red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Two or More Patterned Papers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas

Burst into Bloom

I have a simple sympathy card to share today, made using a lovely floral stamp from Woodware called 'Burst into Bloom. I stamped it onto a piece of navy card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic silver embossing powder from WOW. I heat embossed a sentiment, using one of the stamps from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, in silver to match, then coloured the flowers using watercolour pencils. I matted it onto some silver mirror card, distressing all of the edges, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• CAS on Friday - Sympathy
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Cheerful Flowers

I have a bright & cheerful birthday card to share today, which features a lovely floral stamp that I picked up from a charity shop...it's an unmounted grey rubber stamp, and it was not in its original packaging, so I have no idea what it is! I stamped it, along with a sentiment from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, onto watercolour paper using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it all using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. I coloured the flowers using watercolour pencils, then matted it onto some gold mirror card, distressing all of the edges, before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Brights or Pastels (Bright colours for me - I love how cheerful they look)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Feminine
• We Love Stamping - Spring

Snow Scroll

Today's card features a Penny Black Christmas stamp called 'Snow Scroll' that I picked up in charity shop over Easter. I stamped it a couple of times onto some navy blue card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using 'Fairy Dust' embossing glitter from WOW. I added a sentiment, heat embossed to match, using one of the stamps from the 'Winter Blessings' set from Crafter's Companion, then matted it onto some silver glitter card, distressing the edges a little, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

Red Poppies

Today's card features a poppy covered embossing folder that I received with some choccy eggs for Easter. It wasn't in its original packaging, and has no branding on it, so if you recognise it, please let me know the details! I used it to emboss a snippet of red card. I stamped a sentiment, using one of the stamps from the 'Brushstroke Expressions' set by My Favorite Things onto another snippet of the same red card using a white pigment ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I distressed the edges of both snippets a little, then added them to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - In the Garden
• Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Floral Flourish

I have a simple one layer card to share today, featuring a stamp called 'Floral Flourish' by Stamps by Chloe. I stamped it directly onto a lilac card blank using a white pigment ink, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then heat embossed it all using white embossing powder. I added some shading to the flowers using purple watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Inspired by Nature
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Stamp
• Time Out - Pick Two (Pastel & Bloom)

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Pastel Colours')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Pastel Colours'

We're currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

For my card, I picked a cute cat image from the 'Christmas Hugs' set for my card, and stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a snowflake covered paper (from the 'Christmas' pad by Craft Sensations, and a couple of snippets of plain-ish papers from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad, also by Craft Sensations. I embossed the plain-ish papers using snowflake embossing folders from Cuttlebug and Sizzix, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core. I distressed the edges a little, then layered everything up on a white card blank.

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

• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - That Song ('Joy to the World')

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

Snowflake Edges

I have a pair of simple Christmas cards to share today, made using stamps from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped the borders, with one of the sentiments in between, onto smooth white card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it all using metallic silver embossing powder. I coloured the snowflakes using mica pigments mixed with a little bit of water, then distressed the edges before adding them to card blanks.

The snowflakes are really shiny in real life, but terrible to photograph:

Challenges for these cards:

• As You Like It - Simple or Fussy (Simple for me - especially Christmas cards so that they are cheaper to post!)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Clean & Simple
• Krafty Chicks - CAS

Floral Garden

Today's card features a lovely stamp from Simon Says Stamp called 'Floral Garden'. I stamped it, and a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, onto smooth white card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it all using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. The floral stamp is huge - there's quite a large portion below the section shown on my card. I coloured the image using a mixture of mica pigments and Cosmic Shimmers watercolour paints. I distressed the edges a little before adding it to a card blank.

It's super shiny - this is what it looks like when the light hits it:

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - In the Garden
• Creative Knockouts - Embossing Delight
• Seize the Birthday - Make a Spring Garden
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Bright & Cheerful
• Stamping Sensations - Inspired by Nature

Slippery Slope

Today's card features penguins from a Helz Cuppleditch set called 'Special Delivery - Penguins' that I last used (according to a quick search through my blog) in 2014! I rediscovered them last week when I sorted through all of my stamps to donate some that are no longer my style to charity. I stamped them onto a piece of watercolour paper, drew a line for a snowy slope using a black gel pen, then added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I coloured the penguins using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered the image over a piece of 'snowy' paper from an unnamed pad by Craft Sensations, then matted it onto some pink card before adding it to a DL card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Seasons/Weather/Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Neglected Stuff - Use Neglected Stuff (The penguin stamps were last used in 2014!)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Tractor Birthday

I have a birthday card to share today, featuring a pup from a Christmas set of Penny Black stamps called 'Wintertime Cheer'. I stamped him (minus his Santa hat) onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a pad by Premium Stacks called 'Nana's Nursery - Baby Boy'. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen and a few adhesive gems.

Challenges for this card:

• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Vehicles or Transport
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Make Someone Smile