Big Hugs

I hadn't inked up this stamp ('Hope & Grace - Snuggle' by the Greeting Farm) in such a long while, that when I had a stamping session at the weekend, I decided I must use it. I coloured her with watercolour pencils to match the 'Bloom & Grow' papers by My Mind's Eye. I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamond' punch, and Nesties for the scalloped edges, and added a few pieces of Card Candy and a sentiment by Cuddly Buddly.

Challenges for this card:

• Anyone for Anya - Sketch
• Crafty Sentiments - Border Punches
• Crazy Challenge - No Ribbons or Buttons
• Sketchy Colours - Yellow, Orange, Green & Brown
• Stamp Something - Fall Colours
• Stamptacular Sunday - Seasons Change (Fall Colours)

Indian Summer

Today's card is something a little different for me...no cute image...shock horror! lol

I recieved this gorgeous stamp ('Irises' by Penny Black) in the post at the weekend...it was a prize I won on the Penny Black Saturday Challenge a while back - thanks girls! I have quite a few lot of Penny Black stamps in my collection, but they are nearly all 'cuties' and there's only one floral stamp amongst them...and not any of the 'brushstroke' type ones, so I was eager to have a play with this one straight away!

I've made this card for the 'Indian Summer' themed Penny Black Staurday Challenge. I took my inspiration from the gorgeous BasicGrey paper...from the rather appropriately named 'Indian Summer' collection. I stamped the image using Versamark on to some red paper, then embossed it with opaque white powder, to imitate the pattern on the backing paper. I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamond punch for the border across the centre of the card, and along the bottom of the image, and added a sentiment from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Other challenges for this card:

• Friday Sketchers - Sketch
• Allsorts - Plain & Simple

Little Star

Well, after all the bright colours on yesterday's card, I've toned it right down today...and gone for an all white Christmas card. The image is 'Little Star' by Lili of the Valley, which I coloured with watercolour pencils, and then added some Stickles for a touch of sparkle. I used my Cuttlebug 'Stars' folder and one of the Papermania border folders (which I doubled up to make a wider strip) for the embossed background. The star was cut using a Nestie, then I ran it though my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder.

Challenges for this card:

• Bah! Humbug! - Stars
• DCD Christmas Club - Christmas Furry Things 
• Pollycraft - No Designer Paper
• Sew Many Card Challenges - Christmas
• Totally Gorjuss - Christmas

Christmas Bunnies

You might need your sunglasses on for this card...it's VERY bright! lol

I've used an adorable Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Christmas Bunnies - Robin', and papers from the 'Colourful Christmas' collection by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges, and added some faux stitching. I used my EK Succes 'Diamond Scallop' border punch, added a couple of die cut snowflakes from the accesory sheet that came with the papers, and some Stickles to the the fur trims.

Challenges for this card:

• Create4Fun - Sketch
• CES - Animal Antics
• Crafty Catz - Stitching
• Lili of the Valley - Untraditional Christmas
• One Stop Craft - Snowflakes in September

Just Cute Bears - Swirls & Bling

Before I get on to the theme of the new Just Cute Bears Challenge...I have a couple of announcements to make...firstly, the challenges will now be fortnightly, starting with this week's challenge, which gives you more time to play and hopefully join in with our challenges...and secondly, that Lols, our lovely guest designer this month, is joining us permanently...yippee...we're so pleased to have you on our team!

Ok, so the theme of this fortnight's challenge is:

'Swirls & Bling'

We are sponsored for this challenge by Pollycraft...

...and the prize is an amazing 10 digis from the Pollycraft store!

I've used one of my favourite Penny Black stamps ('Rainin' Daisies') on my card...I haven't used it ages, so I thought it was about time. I cut the image out with a Nestie, then stamped some swirls around the edge using some Whiff of Joy stamps and a pink chalk inkpad. The paper is Bo Bunny 'Back to Basics', and I embossed the reverse side with my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' folder, then sanded the raised area to reveal the white core. I used my EK Success 'Diamond Scallop' border punch on plain white card to separate the two papers. The sentiment is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts, and the pink gems are by My Mind's Eye.

I'm also going to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Taylored Expressions - Sketch
• Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes
• Digidoodles - Embossing
• Oldie but a Goodie - Pink & Girly
• Penny Black @ Allsorts - Punch Away
• Spoon Full of Sugar - Anything Goes

For more inspiration, please stop by the Just Cute Bears Challenge to see the fabulous cards by my lovely DT buddies.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Purple & Silver

This week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge has been set by Mel, and she has chosen a colour theme of:

'Purple & Silver'

I decided to make a Christmas card, and have used an adorable Lili of the Valley image, called 'Present Pile', which I cut out using Nesties (click here for the range of Nestabilities at the Secret Crafter). The Purple paper is from the 'Rose Tinted Christmas' stack by DCWV, and I used my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' emboossing folder (available here at the Secret Crafter) on the lilac strip across the centre. For a touch of bling, I added some Stickles to the lil' bear's hat (available here at the Secret Crafter) and some adhesive gems.

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous creations by my lovely Secret Crafter DT buddies.

Wishing...

Before I get on to today's card...I have some exciting news to share with you...I've been chosen as one of the new DT members of the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge! I love my 'Bug, so I'm really excited about joining their team! :0)




So, to celebrate, I have a Cuttlebugged card to share today! I've used a sweet little Penny Black image called 'Wishing', that I received in a swap a while ago. I coloured it with watercolour pencils, and added some Stickles to the baubles and snow. I embossed the background using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' and 'Ice Crystals' folders, and for the strip across the centre, I used a Papermania border folder. The snowflakes are all cut using Cuttlebug dies, and then I gave them a generous coating of Glamour Dust.

Challenges for this card:

• Cute Card Thursday - Sketch
• Colour Create - All White (Optional extra of 'Embossing')
• Delightful - Make it Sparkle
• Incy Wincy - All White
• Little Red Wagon - Glitter

Get Well Bunny

I made this card for my Nan, who had an operation on her hand earlier this week. The image is 'Get Well Bunny' by Lili of the Valley, and the paper is from the 'Ooh La La (For Him)' collection by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges, and added some faux stitching. The flowers are Prima, and the rose and pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Challenges for this card:

• Simon Says Stamp - Sketch (which I've rotated)
• Papertake Weekly - Animal Magic
• Pollycraft - Cute & Cuddly
• Totally Gorjuss - Animals

ABC Christmas Challenge - T is for...

It's time for another ABC Christmas Challenge...Jayne is the host this time,and the theme couldn't be easier...

'T is for Tree'

Optional extra of buttons

We are sponsored for this challenge by the lovely Regina of The Cutting Cafe'.

Regina is kindly offering our winner any 3 sets from

The Cutting Cafe'

Some of the design team are working with products from The Cutting Cafe'...and I chose a cute little pillow box template...which I printed directly on to the reverse of some BasicGrey 'Eskimo Kisses' papers. There's a little tree shaped aperture in the box, which I cut out using my craft knife (saving the tree shape to use later)...there were two templates in the set, one with the tree on the vertical, and the other on the horizontal...so I made one of each! Before I glued fixed the boxes together, I attached a piece of acetate over the aperture...to help keep the contents in place. I made a couple of matching tags using the tree shaped offcuts, and tags cut using a Sizzix die, then tied them around the boxed using garden twine. You're probably thinking...'where are the buttons?'...well, I did use some...I found some teeny tiny 'star' shaped buttons in my stash...and if you look really closely (if you click on the photo it should enlarge it), you'll find them on top of the trees on the tags.

Oh...and if you're wondering what's in the boxes...I couldn't find any sweets to fill them with for the photo, so I used glass nuggets! lol

I'm also going to enter these boxes into the Top Tip Tuesday Challenge...my top tip is to save all your scraps and offcuts...I used mine to decorate the matching tags.

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Let It Snow!

Well...after Hallow'een, comes Christmas...and this little cutie is 'XMouse Ornament' by Penny Black. I've used my favourite Christmas papers...'Wonderful Winter' by My Mind's Eye, snowflakes cut using a Cuttlebug die, and a sentiment stamp from a Lili of the Valley set. I added a toufch Glamour Dust to the snowflakes, and around the edges of the image and sentiment...well you can never have too much glitter at Christmas...can you?! lol

Challenges for this card:

• Penny Black Saturday - Sketch
• For Fun - Glitter
• Glitterbabes - Anything Goes...with Sparkle
• Scrapbook Sisters - Scalloped Circles
• Sundays with Crissy - Sparkle & Shine

Happy Hallowe'en!

This is my first 'Hallowe'en' card of the year...I've used a cute CC Designs stamp called 'Cow Emma' that I won in a candy last year. The papers are from the 'Boo to You!' collection by My Mind's Eye, and the sentiment and cute little bat are form the 'Spooky' set of stamps by Penny Black. I made a little pumpkin using oval nesties, and added some googly eyes.

Challenges for this card:

• Stampavie & More - Sketch
• Delightful - Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere
• Paper Sundaes - Fall/Hallow'een Colours

Just Cute Bears - Punch It!

This week's Just Cute Bears Challenge is to:

'Punch It!'

In other words use your punches & dies

We are sponsored by

And the prize is two Wild Rose Studio stamps.

The design team were all given Wild Rose Studio images to play with...and I've used 'Winter Millie'. I coloured her with watercolour pencils to match the 'Eskimo Kisses' papers by BasicGrey. I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamond' punch to make a border along one of the strips of papers, my circular and square Nesties, and my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die for the snowflake. The sentiment is from a stamp set by Lili of the Valley.

I'm also going to enter this card into the following challenges:

• BasicGrey - Sketch
• Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Border Punches
• Crafty Ann's - Monochrome
• Moving Along with the Times - Christmas
• Winter Wonderland - Monochromatic Christmas

For more inspiration please check out the cards my my lovely Just Cute Bears DT buddies.

And the winner is....

...drumroll please!

I've just used Random.Org to pick the winner of my candy:

Here are your random numbers:

111

Timestamp: 2010-09-18 19:15:56 UTC

111 - Pen to Paper

Congratulations! Please send me an email with your address, so that I can get your prize posted out to you asap! If I have not heard from the winner by next Friday (24th September), I'll draw another.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes!

We have a really special challenge for you this week at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, as today see the release of the latest range of stamps exclusive to the Secret Crafter shop. We're all so excited about these fabulous new stamps...that we've decided that this week:

'Anything Goes!'

So, there's no excuse for you not to join us, and in addition to being in with a chance of winning the usual monthly prize, you could be the lucky winner of a complete set of the new stamps!

I loved the new stamps so much...I made a card with each of them...so beware...this is a LONG post today! lol

Ok...first up we have 'Italian Girl':

Doesn't she make you fell summery? Even though it's blinkin' cold here in the UK today! lol
I coloured her with watercolour pencils to match the bright 'Ooh La La (for Her)' papers by My Mind's Eye. I distressed all of the edges, and added some faux stitching. The flowers are by Prima, the brads are Papermania, and the sentiment stamp is by Simon Says Stamp.

The next one is called 'Angel Boy':

When I first saw him, I thought of 'Cupid', so combined him with 'Adore' papers from My Mind's Eye. Again, I distressed the edges, and added some Prima flowers and card candy. I carefully cut around the bottom of his wings, and his hanging leg so that it would look like he was sitting on the bottom panel, then I coated the whole image with Crackle Accents. It was really difficult to photograph it, but I think you can just about see the crackled effect.

The third stamp is called 'Ice Skating Couple':

This image would be perfect for anniversary cards, winter birthdays or even Christmas cards. I watercoloured it to match the yummy 'Wild Asparagus' papers by My Mind's Eye. The flowers are a mixture of Prima and Poppicrafts.

The final image is the one I gave you a sneak peek of yesterday...and I think she's my favourite...she's called 'Bird Fairy':

Again, I coloured her with watercolour pencils, and used My Mind's Eye 'Wild Asparagus' papers, and Prima flowers. I kept it really simple, distressing the edges, and adding some faux stitching.

Well...I hope you're still with me! If you hop over to the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, there are lots more fabulous samples made with these gorgeous new stamps from our DT, and a couple of special Guest Designers.

I'll be back later today to announce the winner of my blogoversary candy.

We are so excited!

We have a fabulous set of four new stamps exclusive to Secret Crafter which will be launched tomorrow. 


Here's a sneak peak of one of the cards I've made using one of the images:

Well...I'm not really supposed to show you! lol

Come back tomorrow to see projects I've made with the fabby new stamps, and visit the the  Secret Crafter blog to  see the DT creations and also those by two wonderful Guest Designers.

This is also the last call for my candy which closes at 10pm tonight...if you haven't already entered, you can find all the info on this post.

Happy Birthday to you!

Woo-hoo...I have a 'non-Christmas' card for you today! I've made a masculine birthday card using a Penny Black stamp that I love...but have neglected recently...called 'to You....'. The papers are all from the Max & Whiskers' pad by BasicGrey, and I distressed all of the edges using inks and a distressing tool, before adding some faux stitching. I cut the stars using Nesties, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts.

Challenges for this card:

• Sweet Stop - Sketch
• Creative Cottage - Birthday Boy
• Cute Card Thursday - A Tweet and a Flutter (I have birds...although, I don't my chickens go 'tweet' or 'flutter'! lol)
• Little Red Wagon - Stars
• Penny Black Saturday - Cards for Men/Boys

I have candy on offer at the moment...if you haven't already entered, you can find all of the details on this post...you'll need to be quick though...it closes tomorrow night.

Present Pile!

I've got another clean & simple Christmas card to show you today...I do love this style of card, but it's never going to help make a dent in my patterned paper stash! lol
I've used 'Present Pile' by Lili of the Valley...I just love these bears! The paper is from an old DCWV 'Christmas' stack, and I used my EK Success 'Diamond Scallop' punch along the edges of the red card that I've matted it on to. To finish off, I added some card candy, and a couple of snowflakes cut using a Cuttlebug die.

Challenges for this card:

• Card Patterns - Sketch
• Create4Fun - Red, White & Blue
• DCD Christmas Club - Children's Christmas
• Lili of the Valley - One for the boys

I have candy on offer at the moment...if you haven't already entered, you can find all of the details on this post.

Pile It On! - Operation Write Home

We have a really special challenge for you this week at Pile It On!:

'Operation Write Home'

We are working with Operation Write Home...an organisation that supports the US Armed Forces by providing the service men and women serving overseas with blank cards for them to send home to their loved ones. They accept cards for all occasions, but at the moment are particularly requesting Birthday, Anniversary and Christmas cards, so that's what we'd like you to make this week. As I'm in the UK, I'm going to support the UK based Support Our Soldiers charity. It also runs appeals for blank cards for the service men and women of the British Armed Forces to use, but their last appeal was so succesful, that they're not currently accepting donations of general handmade cards. But, they are still asking for donations of Christmas cards...there are some guidelines to follow, which you can see here on their website.

I've made a set of really simple Christmas cards...so simple in fact that I just stamped directly on to the card blank, watercoloured the simge, and then added a sentiment. All of the cards use images by Penny Black, and the sentiments are a mixture of Lili of the Valley, Penny Black and Studio G.

'Bedecked Antlers' & 'Par Avion'

From the 'Holly Jolly' set & 'Reindeer Pup'

'XMouse Ornament' & from the 'Christmas Critters' set

'Wishes for Kisses' & from the 'Holly Jolly' set

Here are the challenges that I've 'Piled On!':

• Pile It On! - OperationWrite Home
• Bah! Humbug! - Favourite Medium (Watercolour Pencils)
• Charisma Cardz - Try Something New (Completely flat card, with no texture!)
• Crafty Creations - Transportation (The Sledge)
• Creative Cottage - Celebrations (Christmas!)
• Incy Wincy - Celebrate (Christmas!)
• Simon Says Stamp - Holiday Fun!
• Winter Wonderland - One Layer Cards

I really hope that you can join us this week for this special challenge...for more inspiration please check out the fabulous creations by my Pile It On! DT buudies.

I have candy on offer at the moment...if you haven't already entered, you can find all of the details on this post.

Just Cute Bears - Photo Inspiration

This week on the Just Cute Bears Challenge, we have a photo inspiration challenge for you:

Now, when I first saw this photo I was a little bit scared...but then I remembered some fabby papers in the 'Penny Lane' glitter stack by My Mind's Eye, that looked just like the 'eyes' on the peacock's feathers...perfect! The image is 'Teddy with Bouquet' by Lili of the Valley, which I coloured using water colour pencils, and added some sparkle to the flowers with a Sakura Stardust pen. The flowers are by Prima, and the jewelled brads are from Craft Obsessions.

I'm also going to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Sketchy Thursday - Sketch (It's the 100th challenge, so BIG congratulations!)
• Crafts & Me - Gems & Sparkle
• My Time to Craft - Jewelled
• Totally Gorjuss - Flowers

For more inspiratio, check out the fabulous samples by my lovely DT buddies on the Just Cute Bears Challenge.

I have candy on offer at the moment...and if you haven't already entered, you can find all of the details on this post.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Sketch

This week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge is a sketch by me:

I've used an adorable Lili of the Valley image on my card called 'Thomas - Big Bunch of Flowers'...and I thought that the gorgeous flowery papers from the 'Kioshi' pad by BasicGrey (available here at the Secret Crafter) would be the perfect match for his bouquet. I embossed one the plain sheets from the pad using my Cuttlebug 'Just My Type' folder (available here at the Secret Crafter), then sanded the surface to reveal the white core. I distressed all of the edges...just a little...and added a sentiment (from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by SImon Says Stamp) to the centre of a paper flower from Poppicrafts. I used Nesties to cut the circles & blossom shape (available here at the Secret Crafter).

For more inspiration...check out the fabulous creations by my lovely DT buddies at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

I've have candy on offer at the moment...if you haven't already entered, you can find all of the details on this post.