Happy Bee-Day!

I've combined a few challenges on this card...the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge sketch; the Cupcake Craft Challenge theme of 'Green...Pink...Brown...Animals & Flowers'; and the Simon Says Stamp Challenge to 'Distress'. The image is 'Gifts for You!' by Penny Black, and the papers are from the 'Sugared' pad by BasicGrey. The pink flowers are from Poppicrafts, the white roses are from Hobbycraft, and the sentiment stamp is by Stampendous...the edges of everything have been distressed with a brown chalk inkpad.

Beaded Snowflakes

I didn't think I was going to enter this week's Winter Wonderland Challenge, as the theme is 'Christmas Tree Decorations'...and although I like making Christmas cards all year round...this seemed like a step too far! lol

But, I was doing a bit of beading this morning (I'm not posting pics on my blog yet, as I don't want to spoil the surprise), and thought I make a couple of quick beaded snowflakes, while I had all my tools out. These are really simple and quick to do...I bought the wire 'frames' a couple of years ago, and made a load of these to give as presents. I threaded a mixture of blue and clear faceted glass beads on each frond, then turned the excess wire back on itself, to hold the beads in place...and also create a hook for hanging on the tree. As I don't have my Christmas tree out yet (lol!)...I've photographed them on my jewellery display stand:


Here's a closer look:

Jump for Joy!

This card combines the Midnight Madness sketch, with the Penny Black Staurday Challenge 'Recipe' of '3 ribbons, 2 flowers & 1 charm/pin'. My image is 'Jump for Joy' (by Penny Black), and I cut out the frog and flower, and raised them on foam pads. The papers are by My Mind's Eye ('29th Street Market'), the ribbons and flowers are from Poppicrafts, the card candy is by Craftwork Cards, and the charm and brad are from my stash.

Triple Challenge Snowy

This week's Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge theme is 'Snowmen', so I just had to use 'Snowy' (by Penny Black). I followed their sketch this week, and used Colour Create's colour combination of 'Blue & White'. The background is a mixture of card embossed with the 'Snowflakes', 'Swiss Dots' and 'Snow Dots' Cuttlebug folders...so I'm also entering this into the Cuttlebug Spot's 'Christmas in July' challenge.

ABC Challenge - Y is for...

We've nearly reached the end of the alphabet on the ABC Challenge...and have arrived at:

Y is for Yellow

Now, yellow is not a colour I use very often...I just don't like it...so I found this week's challenge really tough. After a rootle through my stash, I found some yellow papers in my 'Roam' pad (by K&Co), and watercoloured my image ('Peek a bunny' by Sugar Nellie) to match. I embossed a piece of plain card with the Cuttlebug 'Textile' folder, and added a few adhesive pearls and flowers (the roses are from Hobbycraft, and the larger ones are from Poppicrafts).

Make sure you check out the other design team members blogs for more inspiration...looking forward to seeing what you all create this week!

Birthday Monkeys

There's another great sketch for this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge...which I've combined with the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 'Recipe' of '3 Buttons, 2 Design Papers, 1 Ribbon'. I rotated the sketch to fit my 'Birthday Monkeys' image (by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie). The papers are by Cosmo Cricket ('Papa') - the stars were cut using Nesties and show the reverse side of the paper...I hope that's not cheating! ;0)
The sentiment stamp is from the Circular Greetings set by Woodware, and the buttons and ribbon are from Poppicrafts.

Christmas Pringle

There's a fab sketch for this week's Simon Says Challenge...which I've used to make a Christmas card...for the One Stop Craft Challenge's 'Christmas in July' challenge. I flipped the sketch so that 'Pringle' (by Sugar Nellie) was facing the centre of the card. The papers are by My Mind's Eye ('Festive - Frost'), the sentiment stamp is by Studio G, and the buttons have been coated with glamour dust.

Chocolate & Marshmallows...yum!

I'm afraid that I don't have any actual 'Chocolate & Marshmallows' for you...just a card made using those colours...and the fab sketch for this week's Allsorts Challenge. I've also managed to include the themes from a few other challenges: A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Swirls'; Creative Inspirations 'Distressing'; and Pile it On's 'Watercolouring. When I saw the 'Brown & Pink' colour combo, I just knew I was going to use Henry (by Whiff of Joy) and these 'Bittersweet' papers by BasicGrey. I watercoloured Henry (with pencils), then added a touch of glitter to the top of his cupcake. I embossed the pink paper with my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' folder, then distressed it with some sandpaper to reveal some of the white core. The sentiment is a stamp form the 'Fabulous Birthday' set by Hero Arts, which I curved to fit around the edge of a circle. All of the edges have been distressed with chalk ink pads, and sanded lightly...I just can't bring myself to really o for it with the distressing tools! lol


I was so excited to see yesterday that I was picked to be the guest designer on the Allsorts Challenge...really looking forward to joining their fab DT for a couple of weeks!

Hedgie Friends

I've made this card for a couple of challenges: Creative Card Crew's 'Polkadots' challenge and Stampavie & More's 'Summer' themed challenge...I also based the layout on an old Charisma Cardz Challenge sketch...but I'm too late for that one! lol
I've used an image from the 'Hugs' set by Penny Black, and the polkadot paper is by My Mind's Eye ('29th Street Market'). The flowers and brads are from Poppicrafts, and both the raffia lace and patterned ribbon are from Hobbycraft. The sentiment is from the Clare Curd Signature Range set by Papermania, and I added a few pieces of Craftwork Cards Card Candy.

Celebration Chicken!

After a couple of days of no crafting...I just had to get my fingers inky...and have made a quick card. I followed Carol's Sketch Fun sketch for the layout, flipping it, as it suited my image better this way around. I used 'Celebration Chicken' (by Whipper Snapper) as my image...colouring him to match the Fancy Pants Designs papers ('True'). I added some buttons in place of the scalloped border, and the sentiment is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts. I'm also entering this card for a few other challenges: Stamp Something's 'Winged Things' challenge; Everybody Art Challenge's 'Spots & Stripes' challenge; and the Pink Elephant's 'Animals' challenge.

Ho Ho Ho!

I'm back in Christmas card mode...and have combined two challenges on this card: Winter Wonderland's 'Santa Claus in Coming to Town' challenge; and Cupcake Craft's 'Christmas Card' theme. I don't have a Santa stamp (something I'm sure I'll remedy soon! lol), but found this cute Dustin Pike freebie digi stamp...which I watercoloured, then decoupaged a couple of extra layers (his moustache, nose and boots). I embossed some plain white card with my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder for the background, and added a simple sentiment cut using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.

ABC Challenge - X is for...

Well, I'm sure that you've all been wondering what we were going to choose for this week's ABC Challenge...

X is for 'X on a Sketch'

I've created a sketch for you all to play with...which you can rotate, flip or re-size, should you wish...just make sure the original elements...including the 'X'...are still visible.

I've used 'Musing Melinda' (by Whiff of Joy) for my image...colouring her to match these yummy Cosmo Cricket papers ('Hey Sugar'). I inked all the edges with a pink chalk inkpad for definition. The flowers are from Poppicrafts and the buttons and bards are by Papermania. My 'X' is a couple of pieces of grosgrain ribbon also from Poppicrafts.

As always, don't forget to go and see the fabulous cards created by the rest of the design team.
Hope you have fun with my sketch!

Whiff of Joy Fall Stamp Kit Candy

Katharina has 2 complete Fall Stamp kits to give away as candy to celebrate the release of Elisabeth Bell's new Whiff of Joy stamps.

Click this link to visit her fab blog, to find out how you could be in with a chance of winning these stamps, before the draw on July 26th.

Bear Hug

I've combined this week's Mojo Monday sketch with the Allsorts Challenge to use just 'One of Everything' on our cards. I used 'Bear Hug' (by Sugar Nellie') as my one image, then cut my one piece of '29th Street Market' paper (by My Mind's Eye) into three panels. I used one piece of additional cardstock...but I did cut it into three, so that I could also mat my image and sentiment (by Papermania). I added one flower (from Poppicrafts) held in place with a Papermania pearl brad. This was a really tough challenge...I really had to restrain myself from layering up the flowers! lol

Talking to the Birds

There's another great sketch for the Sugar Bowl Challenge...plenty of room for extra embellishments. I used 'Talking to the Birds' (by Leanne Ellis) as my image...watercoloured in shades of lilac and purple. The papers are by My Mind's Eye (29th Street Market) and the flowers are by Prima. I added a couple of pieces of ribbon, layered around the middle, and tied together in a bow for the additional ('Ribbons & Bows'), and a few adhesive pearls.

Soft & Sweet

This is my card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge, where the theme is 'Soft & Sweet'. I followed the Stamp Something Challenge sketch for the layout. My 'soft' something is the white fluffy fibre, and my 'sweet' somethings are: the cupcake (stamp is from the 'Critter Party' set, the sentiment (by Sugar Nellie), the 'Sweet Nothings' papers (by Papermania), and the 'sugar-coated' (well it's glamour dust really) buttons.

Wishes for Kisses

There's a fab sketch for this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge...which I've used to make a Christmas card using one of my favourite Penny Black images - 'Wishes for Kisses'. I've also used the 'Spots & Stripes' theme of the Secret Crafter Challenge with my My Mind's Eye - '29th Street Market' papers; and met the 'Three types of embellishments' challenge of Our Creative Corner with a piece of ribbon, some card candy and a button coated with glamour dust. The sentiment stamp is also by Penny Black.

My first 'Curvy' card

My lovely friend Uma, set myself, and a group of our crafting buddies the challenge to make a 'Curvy Card'...with the additional rule of 'No stamping or decoupage'...eeeek!
I'm not really a 'template' kind of crafter...and I hardly ever make a card without any stamping...so this was a real challenge! After reading the (two pages!) of instructions a couple of times, I started to think it didn't look so bad...and after an hour had managed to produce this:


The papers I used to cover the card base, and create the flowers are a mixture of BasicGrey, and My Mind's Eye. I cut the flower shapes using my 'Blossom' Nesties, inking the edges for definition. I'm also entering this card for the Dutch Dare 'Die-cuts and/or Punches' challenge.

Night Before Xmas

It was my last day of school yesterday, so what have I made on the first day of my summer holiday? A Christmas card of course! lol
I used the Midnight Madness sketch for the layout, and have managed to combine it with a few other challenge themes too: Cute Card Thursday's 'Christmas in July'; Our Creative Corner's 'Pets' theme; and the 'Furry Things' One Stop Craft Challenge. The image is 'Night Before Christmas' by Penny Black, and the papers are from the 'Christmas Wishes' stack by DCWV. The 'furry' snowball trim is from Tescos, and the buttons (which I coated with clear nail varnish, then sprinkled with glamour dust) are from Poppicrafts.