PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')...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
'Something New'
(New Year, New Baby, New Home, New Job, New Stash...)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used some more new stash...a cute little succulent stamp from the 'Happy Together' set, along with some 'No Line Colouring' Ink by Ink on 3, that I got for Christmas. I stamped the image using the no line ink on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using another stamp in the set, then distressed the edges a little before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• As You Like It - Anything Goes
• Crafty Cardmakers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Something New or Something Old (The stamps & ink are new)
• Daring Cardmakers - Something New (The stamps & ink are new)
• Dream Valley - Something New (The stamps & ink are new)
• My Time to Craft - New Stash (The stamps & ink are new)

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

Prank Call

Today's card features a 'new to me' stamp that I picked up in a charity shop over the Christmas break. It's called 'Prank Call' by Penny Black...I love that those naughty little mice are dialling 'the cat'! I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolourpencils. I added a simple 'hello' sentiment (from the 'Sketched Flowers' set by Simon Says Stamp), then distressed the edges a little before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - What's New? (The stamp is new)
• Cutie Pie - Cute & CAS
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes

Which One's Rudolph?

I have a simple Christmas card to share today...featuring a Woodware stamp that I picked up in the post-Christmas sales called 'Which One's Rudolph?' I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured the reindeer using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle to the snowy ground using some Stickles. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, and matted the panel on to some red card to match Rudolph's nose.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Optional 'Animals')
• Fab 'N' Funky - No Designer Paper
• Inkspirational - Fauna
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Winter Wonderland - Little Friends

Thomas with Flowers

I have a cute Lili of the Valley card to share today...featuring 'Thomas with Flowers'...a charity shop find - a total bargain...it was in a pack with another stamp for 50p! I stamped him on to watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. The papers were also from a charity shop...they're from the 'Pretty Please' pad 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. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Lili of the Valley.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Say it with Flowers
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Animals)
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Wishes')
• Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Make it Feminine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Fun with Florals
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Use Your Stuff - Anything Goes

Happy Together

Today's cards feature a couple of stamps from a Penny Black set that I got for Christmas called 'Happy Together'. I stamped them on to watercolour paper using another Christmas present...a 'No Line Colouring' ink pad by a brand called Ink on 3...then coloured them using watercolour pencils. This was my first attempt...and I really like the effect, but definitely need more practice! I added a sentiment (from the same stamp set), then distressed the edges a little and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for these cards:

• Alphabet Challenge - T is for Try Something New (No line colouring)
• Allsorts - Soft Pastels
• As You Like It - Thank You
• Crafty Friends - Something New (New Stamps & New Technique)
• Crazy 4 Challenges - Something New or New Technique (I did both!)
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - All Things New (New Stamps & New Technique)
• Penny Black & More - Make It Feminine
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Somehting New (New Stamps & New Technique)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Fun with Florals
• Sweet Stampin' - New Stash (New Stamps)

Christmas Pudding!

I have a Christmas card to share today...using a 'new to me' stamp that I received for Christmas. It's by Personal Impressions...and although it doesn't have a name on it, I think we'll call it 'Christmas Pudding'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I found a piece of pudding covered paper in my Craftwork Cards 'Peppermint Forest' pad, so used that as a simple background. I added a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Trees' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then distressed the edges a little, and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New (New Stamp)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Stamp)

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'
(New Year, New Baby, New Home, New Job, New Stash...)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I went with 'New Year', and my project for this challenge is a 2020 Penny Black calendar. I buy a few of the blank 'Create a Calendars' from Paper Mill Direct to decorate and give as Christmas presents each year, and this is the one I made for my Mum. They still have some available here (50% off with the code 202050) if you fancy making yourself one. I used a variety of Penny Black stamps and papers from lots of different manufacturers...far too many to list, but I did manage to use up lots of snippets! Here's a look at each of the months:

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

• Always Fun - New Year 2020
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - 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.

ABC Christmas Challenge - A & B are for?

Happy New Year!

Over at the ABC Christmas Challenge, we're starting our eleventh (!) trip through the alphabet...I'm the host, and the themes for this month are:

'A is for Anything Christmas Goes'

and

'B is for Bingo'

(Pick three elements in a row, column or diagonal)

I have a card for each of the two themes...and used new (to me) stamps on both. My 'A is for Anything Christmas Goes' card features a huge Christmas tree stamp by Indigo Blu called 'Baroque Christmas Tree'. I had an attempt at 'shadow stamping', and started by stamping it on to kraft card using Versafine 'Smoky Gray' ink, then moved the card along slightly and stamped it again using Versamark Ink, and heat embossed it using white. I matted it on to a layer of white card, distressed the edges a little, and then on to a kraft card blank adding a few adhesive pearls in the corners.

My 'B is for Bingo' card uses stamps from a set that I think came free with a magazine at some point...I went for the central column on the bingo board (Coloured Image - Christmas Sentiment - CAS), colouring the tree using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle to the baubles and bows using liquid pixiedust. The sentiment came in the same stamp set, and I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Moo Mania - Triangles (Just the first card)

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

Favourite Five Cards 2019

Today, I'm sharing my favourite (non-Christmas) cards of the year...I've included links back to the original blog posts, so please click through for the full info on any of the projects.

Buzz in the Air

This card was made for the 'Thank You Di' blog hop that Darnell organised...and I tried to use as many snippets as possible.

Cheers

Despite my love for patterned papers, I made quite a lot of CAS cards without any, inclusing this one featuring some Penny Black critters.

Burst into Bloom

Another CAS card featuring another favourite of the year...colouring on kraft card.

Big Gold Butterfly

I've also loved metallic embossing and watercolouring this year...

Sketched Flowers

This card features probably my favourite stamp of the year...and another 'new to me' technique...colouring on coloured card.

Before I go, I'd like to wish all of my lovely blog visitors a very Happy and Crafty New Year! See you in 2020!

Cheerful Critters

I have a birthday card to share today...featuring some critters from the 'Cheerful Critters' set by Penny Black, and lots of snippets of paper from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels. I stamped the image on to watercolour paper, thn coloured it using watercolour pencils. I distressed all of the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is from a set by Lili of the Valley.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Celebrations
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Party Time
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Party Time

My Favourite Five Christmas Cards

As has become traditional, I'm sharing my favourite five Christmas cards of the year this evening...I made 96 this year, so I had quite a few to choose from! For additional information on any of the cards, click on the image to go to the original post.

The first one is from January, and features a cute Penny Black snowman...I love the soft pastel colours on this one.

My second card was an experiment in heat embossing using a couple of different powders using a beautiful Indigo Blu image that I picked up in the bargain bin.

My next card features a similar layout to the first, but this time a cute Lili of the Valley image and stamped snow.

I made rather a lot of CAS cards this year (cheap to post!), and these were among the simplest to make...a technique I will definitely be revisiting next year!

My final card is also my most recent one...and features lots of my favourite things...a Penny Black image, pretty papers, faux stitching...

One more thing before I go...I always share a photo of my Christmas cake on Christmas Eve too...so here it is:

Have a lovely Christmas everyone!