Birthday Wishes

I have a very simple birthday card to share today, featuring stamps from the 'Birthday Wishes' set from the 'Mulberry Wood' collection by Crafter's Companion. I stamped the immage and sentiment onto a snippet of smooth white card, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges a little, then added it to a matching white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Critter
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Seize the Birthday - Sweet Treats

June Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my deskn calendar page for June. I used a cute daisy-chain making mice stamp from the 'Micey Day' set, by Penny Black, and stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a couple of little snippets of paper from the 'Pretty Please' Spring papers by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Par Avion

Today's card features a background stamp called 'Festive Background' by Woodware Stamps that I got from a charity shop earlier this week. I stamped it using Versamark ink onto a snippet of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I used it as a background for a trio of Penny Black chickens called 'Par Avion'. I stamped them onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, than carefully cut them out. I distressed the edges of the background, added the chickens on top, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favouorite Season (Winter - I love a crisp, sunny winter's day, and of course there's Christmas!)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Three of Something (Chickens)

Flower Shower

Today's card features a cute House Mouse stamp, by Spellbinders, called 'Flower Shower'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Nana's Nursery - Baby Boy' pad from Premium Stacks (the purple), and 'Fresh Florals' pad from Craft Sensations (the green one). I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before matting some of the layers on purple card, and adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Flowers

Falling Sparkles

Today's card features a background stamp from Stamps by Chloe called 'Falling Sparkles' that I got from a charity shop earlier this week. I stamped it onto purple card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using 'Magical Mauve' embossing glitter from WOW. I matted it onto some purple mirror card, then added a sentiment cut using a Tonic Studios die from more of the purple mirror card. This is so sparkly and shiny in real life, but a real pain to photograph!

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• I Spy with My Little Eye - Something Monochrome
• Little Red Wagon - Make Your Own Background
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Birthday Wishing

Today's card features stamps from the 'Birthday Wishing' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them onto watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Here Is Happy' pad by My Mind's Eye...it's been a long time since I used them, but there are still plenty of snippets left! I distressed the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters

Cluck, Cluck, Cluck!

Today's card features a Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Cluck, Cluck, Cluck!'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels...I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Feature an Animal
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters

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