Papertake Weekly Challenge - Dawny's Sketch #7

There's a fab sketch by Dawny for this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge. I've stuck quite closely to the sketch, on adding a little ribbon (from the £Shop), but there's plenty of scope for extra embellishing with it, so I'm sure it's one I'll use again. One of my crafting friends is moving house in a couple of weeks, so I'm sending this card to her :0)
The image and sentiment, are stamps by OneFourZero, and I've combined them with paper by BasicGrey ('Boxer') and some distressed Core'dinations cardstock, that I've embossed with the 'Tiny Bubbles' Cuttlebug folder.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 34

Now, I must admit that I was a little scared when I saw that the challenge for this week's Penny Black Challenge is to create a 'Circle Card'. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to card shapes, nearly all of mine are square, with the odd A5 and DL thrown in occasionally, but actually it was really fun making a circular card.
I cut my base card from a pink pearlescent card blank using the largest of the scalloped circle Nesties (making sure that I left a 'hinge' at the top). The image I've used ('Bundle of Wishes'), was one I received this week, in a swap with my lovely friend Pauline - thank you! The ribbon is from Hobbbycraft, the gems are from Lakeland, and the flowers are from Poppicrafts.

I've been tagged...

I've been tagged by Pauline...but thankfully, I don't have to reveal any deeply embarrassing facts or confess any addictions to you this time! I simply have to pick the 6th photo, from the 6th folder in the photos I have stored on my PC...show it to you, and then explain a little about it. Then I need to tag 5 people, and get them to do the same.
I don't have a digital camera, so I use the camera on my phone to photograph my cards (hence the dodgy pictures!) and I don't really take many photos of anything else...so I going to cheat a little (as the 6th photo in the 6th folder is a card I uploaded last week) and pick the 6th folder of non-card related photos to take my photo from...

This is Cassie and Seamus (or Shazberry to his friends...don't ask!). They belong...or rather did belong to my parents...sadly Seamus is no longer with us. This photo was taken at Easter 2007 in my parents' back garden, on a gloriously sunny and warm spring day. I do love the way that it looks like they're holding hands in this photo...so cute! They were 'adopted' by my parents as adult dogs, and lived together all their lives, although they're not related to each other. I think they were friends, although they never really played together. Seamus would always keep a look out for Cassie when they went out for walks, and he was always a gentleman...letting her through the door first...although she's really pushy, so he didn't get much say in the matter! lol Cassie is now enjoying being an only dog, but she does seem quieter now, so I think she does miss him too.

Now, the people I'm tagging for this are:

Caroline, Jo, Lyndsey, Sarah and Shary.

It's Award Time...

The lovely Sharon has passed this award on to me...thank you Sharon!

The rule of the award is that I must pass is on to 5 other bloggers...and this time I'm going to pass it on to people whose blogs are fairly new to me, so, I'm choosing:

Debby, Kathy, Marlene, Mina and Rach.

Cupcake Craft Challenge #23

I'm still managing to stick to my New Year's resolution of making a Christmas card every week, and this week, I've used the sketch for the Cupcake Craft Challenge to make it, as it's a nice simple sketch to follow (although I did have to resize the central section to fit my Sugar Nellie snowman). The papers are by Pebbles Inc and the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug.

Friday Sketchers #36

I've spent all morning playing about with bits'n'pieces trying to decide what to do with this week's Friday Sketchers sketch...it's not my usual style, and I'm not entirely happy with the finished result, but I thought it might be good for me to get out of my comfort zone, and try a bit of distressing!
My main image is by Sugar Nellie ('MacBeth), the patterned paper is by DCWV ('Far East' stack), the sentiment stamp is by Whiff of Joy, the flowers are from Sarah's Cards, and the ribbon, brads and beads are from my stash.

Whiff of Joy Challenge #15

This is the first time I've joined in with the Whiff of Joy Challenges, as I've only just purchased my first WoJ stamp - I just couldn't resist this gorgeous little mouse...I love his expression! The sketch this week is provided by the fabulous Katharina - I loved working with it, so I'm sure I'm likely to use it again, although I couldn't do the long scalloped edge along the bottom, so I tore the edge of the vellum instead. The spotty paper is by Papermania (from the 'Sweet Nothings' pack), the ribbon is from Hobbycraft, and the sentiment stamp (which I think is just perfect to use with this mouse) is by Hero Arts (from the 'Cupcakes' clear set).

Sketch & Stash Challenge #2

I've still got lots of lovely new bits'n'pieces to use...a combination of Christmas pressies, sales bargains and image swaps...so it was tough deciding which 'new' item I should use for this sketch! On the upside, it means that I should have no trouble joining in with the Sketch & Stash Challenges for many months to come! lol

My 'new' thing on this card is the fab Whipper Snapper stamp ('"Moo"d Swing') - a bargain in the sales after Christmas. I've combined it with dotty paper from Doodlebug, spotty ribbon from Hobbycraft, Papermania brads, and a sentiment stamp by Penny Black (from the 'Critter Party' set).

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 33

The challenge this week, over on the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Blog, is to 'Frame it'.
I've used my trusty Nesties to create the frame, which I've raised from the image using 3D foam pads and have added some gems that came with a set of Hero Arts stamps. The image is 'Cat on the Moon', the starry paper is by Papermania ('Inspirations' black & white pack), the sparkly paper is by DCWV ('Glitter' stack), and the two sentiment stamps are also by Penny Black (from the 'Critter Party' set).

A lovely award

I received this lovely award from Tracey...

...thank you Tracey! So now the difficult part...I have to choose 5 people to pass it on to.
I've chosen these people, firstly because they are all lovely, and secondly, because they all have fab blogs:

Cathy
Lyndsey
Pauline
Tara
Tracie

Blog Sherbet

To celebrate the release of a new stamp set by Pollycraft, called 'Sharing Sherbet', Paula is offering the chance for one lucky blogger to win the complete set of nine stamps, and a cute little box that she has decorated to store them in. The candy closes on Sunday 1st February (the day the new stamps are released), and the draw will take place the following day. Look here for details of how to enter, and a look at the fab new stamps.

Sweet Candy

Mina is celebrating her birthday and reaching 5000 hits by offering some gorgeous candy:

The draw will be on Tuesday 27th January, so why not take a moment to visit her fab blog, and leave a comment here to be in with a chance of winning.

The Sugar Bowl Challenge #2

The theme for the second Sugar Bowl Challenge is 'Three', and we've been challenged to use 3 different design papers, and 3 different types of embellishments...no more, no less.
The three papers I've used are all by BasicGrey (from the 'Archaic' and 'Boxer' pads), and my three types of embellishments are: a flower (from Poppicrafts); buttons (2 Papermania buttons layered up in the centre of the flower); and brads (again by Papermania, placed in the corners of the smaller sections of DP). The image is the fabulously cuddly-looking 'Pringle'.

Just Christmas & Birthday Cards Challenge - Sketch #14

So far I'm managing to stick to making a Christmas card every week...not sure how long that's going to last though! There's a lovely sketch to follow this week - perfect for quick cards. I've rotated it, and used it on the horizontal for both of my cards, to fit the shape of the stamps I wanted to use.
On the birthday card I've used 'Bunny Friends' by Penny Black, papers by Sandylion, flowers from Poppicrafts and the sentiment stamp (in the centre of the flowers) is from a clear set called 'Fabulous Birthday' by Hero Arts.

I've also used a Penny Black stamp on the Christmas card - 'Par Avion' a bargain in the New Year sales. The papers are by Pebbles Inc, and the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge meets Sketch Saturday and Dutch Dare

First of all I like to say a BIG thank you to Tracie for the gorgeous card she sent to me with my prize I won last week - I haven't had a chance to use the lovely stamp yet...but hopefully I'll find some time to play with it soon!

On to this week's Penny Black Challenge...the theme is 'Lets get Dotty'...and I've gone completely dotty on my card! I've combined it with two other challenges - using the Sketch Saturday sketch, and the colour theme of the Dutch Dare, which is green, blue and brown. I've used three different Cuttlebug embossing folders to create my dotty background ('Swiss Dots', 'Spots & Dots' and 'Tiny Bubbles'), the dotty flower is by Flora Doodle, and the ribbon is from Hobbycraft - I placed some small brads in the centres of some of the spots. My main image is from the 'Critter Party' set...and if you look really closely a couple of the mice are wearing dotty bandannas!

Another lovely award

This award was given to me by my lovely friend Pauline:

The rules of this award are:
1) Post a link of the person who gave you this award
2) Nominate 5 other people and give a link to their sites
3) Let your nominators know that they got an award from you
4) Put a logo of the award on the blog

Now, most of the people I'd like to give this award to, have already received it, but as it's designed to thank those who have encouraged you in some way, I'm going to give it to them anyway.

Pauline - for her encouragement in setting up my blog (and all the helpful little tips too!)

Tracie - it was the Penny Black Challenge that got me into blogging in the first place!

Cathy, Samantha and Sharon - who are regular visitors to my blog, and always have kind words to say.

Candy, candy...and yet more candy!

There seems to be blog candy everywhere I look at the moment!

Bev is celebrating a massive 100,000 hits on her fab blog by giving away a mountain of candy:

The winner will be chosen on Saturday (17th January), so make sure you visit and leave a comment here before then.

Michelle has some gorgeous Valentines themed candy on offer for one lucky blogger:

The draw will be on 15th January, and all you need to do is leave a comment here and spread the word on your blog.

Lim has two separate candies on offer, each containing a massive 100 images, and a stamp plus a few other goodies (depending on where you live). Check out her post to see what you could win before Saturday 24th January.

A Spoon Full of Sugar #33

I've been busy this weekend trying to finish some music arrangements for classes next week, but what I really wanted to be doing was playing with all my lovely new stash! So I've been setting myself targets, with the incentive of allowing myself a little 'play time' when I reach them!
This card has been made using the fab sketch for the current Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge. The stamp is another of my new Sugar Nellies ('Blossom' by Leanne Ellis), the paper is by Papermania (Inspirations 'Warm Tones'), the sentiment stamp is from a set by Studio G, the flowers are a mixture of Prima and Poppicraft, the satin ribbon was wrapped around a stack of soaps, and the ric-rac was a Christmas gift from a crafty friend.

Sketch & Stash Challenge #1

As I've 'acquired' loads of new stash recently, I just had to have a go at the fab new Sketch & Stash Challenge! I resized the sketch to fit a square card, so that I could use my new 6x6 'Sweet Nothings' papers by Papermania, as I thought that these lovely birdies go so well with my new Sugar Nellie stamp ('Lola with Bird' by Rachelle Anne Miller). Other new items on the card are: Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' folder; flowery ribbon; and the sentiment stamp (by 'Whiff of Joy'). The flowers are from Poppicrafts, and the button is from my stash.

This card is going to my partner in a friendship swap over on the Docrafts forum.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 31

Woo-hoo...I can't believe it...I won the stamp from last week's challenge! It looks so cute...can't wait to get my hands on it! Thank you!
On to this week's challenge, and it's a colour scheme - 'Pink & Brown'. Now, I'm not really a pink person, but I've just got these gorgeous 'Eva' papers by BasicGrey, which have pink elements to them, but are not too 'girly'. I've embossed the plain(ish) pink paper with the 'Perfect Paisley' embossing folder. My main image is called 'Gifts for You', and the sentiment is by Stampendous (a bargain in the New Year sales), and I thought it would be great for using with the Penny Black stamps featuring bumble bees! The flowers are Flora Doodles, the MOP button and ribbon is from my stash.