Pile It On! Challenge - Punch It!

This week at the Pile It On! Challenge, we're asking you to:

'Punch It!'

Our sponsor for this challenge is SuzyQ Scraps.

The DT were given an adorable stamp set called 'Winter' to use on our projects this week, and I chose a cute polar bear from it for my card. I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, added some Glossy Accents to the bear's eyes & nose, and 'Ice Crystal' Stickles to the snow, then matted it on to a shape cut using my 'Lacey Circles' Nesties. I used my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' and 'Ice Crystals' folders on plain white card for the background - I love white on white Christmas cards. My 'punched' element is the scalloped border along the bottom, which I created using my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch. The snowflakes were cut using a mixture of Cuttlebug and Marianne Creatables dies, then coated with more Stickles.

Here are the challenges I've Piled On!:

• Pile It On! - Punch It!
• Cooking it up with Katie - Sketch me a Textured Punch
• Crafts & Me - Monochrome
• Crafty Sentiments - Favourite Things (Christmas, Embossing & Glitter!)
• Creative Craft - Monochrome
• Double Dutch - White
• Everybody Art - Favourite Things (Christmas, Embossing & Glitter!)
• Fab'N'Funky - Delight in your Digi
• My Time to Craft - Emboss, Emboss, Emboss
• PaperPlay - Layer it up
• Simon Says Stamp - Animal Antics
• Sketch & Stash - Sketch
• Stamp Something - Winter
• Totally Papercrafts - Kiddies Cards
• Wags'N'Whiskers - White

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous samples by my lovely Pile It On! Challenge DT buddies.

And....if you haven't already entered, you can find my candy on this post.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Hot Chocolate

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

'Hot Chocolate'

We are excited to announce that we have a new monthly sponsor:

The Stamping Boutique

The prize is five digis of the winner's choice.

They also provided some images for the DT to play with...and I chose to use 'Princess Jennifer Latte-Heartbreaker'. I coloured her with watercolour pencils, and then cut out the image using my 'Lacey Circles' Nesties (available here at the Secret Crafter). The papers are a mixture of Bo Bunny 'Tis the Season', My Mind's Eye 'Colourful Christmas' and '29th Street Market', and I distressed all of the edges, and added faux stitching with my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I embossed the plain brown paper with my 'D'Vine Swirls' Cuttlebug folder (available here at the Secret Crafter). The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the jewelled brads are from Craft Obsessions.

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

• Papertake Weekly - Sketch
• Crafty Creations - Heat It Up!
• Critter - Distressing & a Circle
• Delightful - Have a Heart (There are hearts on the image)
• Digi Doodles - Swirls
• Stamping Boutique - Monthly Challenge

We also have a DT call running at the moment, so for more information about that, and some fabby inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

And...if you haven't already entered, I have candy on offer here.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge DT Call

Just a quick post this morning to let you know that we are having a DT call over at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge...for all the details, please check out this post over on the challenge blog.

Oooh...and I have candy on offer here :0)

It's Candy Time...

My little blog's counter went past 50,000 hits just after the New Year...so to celebrate that, I've put together some candy:

Crafts-Too embossing folder - 'Daisy & Swirl'

BasicGrey 6x6 paper pad - 'Curio'

Hero Arts Clear Design stamp set - 'Thinking of You Messages'

200 mixed colour paper flowers (2 sizes)

60 5mm white adhesive pearls

Mini 'Glossy Accents'

5m white seam binding ribbon

So...if you fancy winning those goodies, all you need to do is pop the photo of my candy with a link back to my blog on your blog (sidebar is fine), and then leave me a link to you with the linky widget at the bottom of this post...that's it.

This candy to open to bloggers everywhere...and will close at 10pm (UK time) on Wednesday 9th February. I will announce the lucky winner, chosen at random, the following day. One entry per person please...duplicates will be removed.

Winter Snuggles

I've used some goodies I bought in the post-Christmas sales to make this card. The adorable hedgie image is from the 'Jolly Friends' set by Penny Black, which I got in the Sir Stampalot sale...I coloured it with watercolour pencils, and then added some Polar White Flowersoft to the umbrella for the snow. The papers (from the 'Countdown to Christmas' pad by My Mind's Eye) were also a sales purchase...from Hobbycraft, where I discovered all of the Christmas stock was reduced to half-price a couple of weeks before Christmas! The glittery brad (from an American Crafts pack) was also bought in the Hobbycraft sale...but a different Hobbycraft, and this time after Christmas. The snowflakes were cut using a mixture of Cuttlebug and Marianne Creatables dies, and the sentiment stamp is also by Penny Black.

Here's a close-up of the Flowersoft 'snow':

Challenges for this card:

• Crazy Challenge - Dots & Stripes
• Dutch Dare - Sketch
• Penny Black Saturday - January Sales

Cuttlebug Spot - Inspired by a Magazine Advert

This is our final week of 'Inspiration' challenges at the Cuttlebug Spot, and this time we're being:

'Inspired by a Magazine Advert'

After a quick flick through my flatmate's glossy fashion mags for a suitable advert, I was feeling rather uninspired...so I thought I'd take a look through some of my magazines...I only have craft & food ones...so I wasn't hopeful...but I came across this one for Bonne Maman jam on the back of last month's Delicious magazine, and fell for the gorgeous colour combo of peach, aqua and green.

I found some old My Mind's Eye papers (from the '29th Street Market' Collection), the backs of which were a perfect match for the colours in the advert. I embossed them with my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls', 'Victoria', 'Floral Fantasy' and 'Just My Type' folders, then sanded over the raised areas to reveal the white core. I chose the adorable Lili of the Valley bear image ('Teddy with Flower'), because of the butterflies...if you click on the photo of the advert above it should be big enough to make out the butterfly that the little boy is trying to catch. I distressed all of the edges, and then added a couple of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm also entering this card into a couple of other challenges:

• Lili of the Valley - Sketch
• Teddy Stampers - Anything Goes

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

Birthday Monkeys!

If this card looks familiar to you...it's probably because it's very similar to this card, which I uploaded last Sunday...different image and layout, but the same colour combo. The image is 'Birthday Monkeys' by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie, and I coloured it with watercolour pencils, before coating the balloons with Glossy Accents. I used my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots', 'Spots & Dots' and 'Stars' folders for the background, inking all of the edges to add definition. The stars were cut using Nesties.

Challenges for this card:

• Sketchy Thursday - Sketch
• Allsorts - Men's Cards
• Creative Card Crew - For Men
• Digi Doodles - Anything Goes
• Fab'N'Funky - Animal Magic
• My Time to Craft - Spots & Dots
• Paper Sundaes - Distressing
• Sew Many - Monkey Business
• Sweet Stampin' - Brown & One Other Colour
• Totally Stampalicious - Masculine Cards

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - It's a Couple Thing

This week, it's Kate's turn to set the theme of the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, and she has chosen:

'It's a Couple Thing'

I've used a Sarah Kay stamp from Stampavie called 'First Kiss' on my card...just perfect for a Valentine's card. The papers are all from the 'Lemonade' pad by BasicGrey (available here at the Secret Crafter)...I love this pad...I only have a few scraps left now! I embossed the plainer paper with my 'Flower Fantasy' Cuttlebug folder (available here at the Secret Crafter), then sanded over the raised design to reveal the white core. I used one of my 'Deckled Rectangle' Nesties (available here at the Secret Crafter) to cut out the image, then inked the edges, and used my distressing tool on the papers, before adding some faux stitching with my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I cut the heart using my Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die, and the sentiment is a stamp from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp.

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

• Fussy & Fancy - Sketch
• Crafty Cardmakers - Pencils (I used watercolour pencils)
• Paper Sundaes - Revisit an old challenge (I chose #3 - Valentine's)
• Simon Says Stamp - Bingo! (I've used the bottom row: Punches/Die cuts - Embossing - Ribbon)
• Totally Papercrafts - Add a Heart
• Wild Orchid Crafts - Sentimental

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

Cluck, Cluck, Cluck...

It's a really dull day here today...so I have a bright and cheerful card to share. The image is 'Cluck, cluck, cluck' by Penny Black, which I coloured with watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Ooh La La (for Her)' collection by My Mind's Eye, and I distressed the edges using my distressing tool. I punched a strip of orange card with my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' border punched, and tied a piece of rainbow ribbon (from Hobbycraft) around it. The flowers are by Prima, and the buttons are Papermania.

Challenges for this card:

• Sweet Sunday - Sketch
• Penny Black Saturday - Card Buffet (I used: papers; ribbon, 3 flowers; & 3 buttons)
• Crazy Challenge - Buttons
• Cute Card Thursday - 1,2,3 (1 ribbon, 2 papers, 3 flowers)
• Oldie but a Goodie - Bright & Cheerful (I've had this stamp for at least 2 years...but am ashamed to say, I can't remember the last time I used it)
• Pink Elephant - Pink, Orange & Aqua

ABC Christmas Challenge - B is for...

If you read my post last Wednesday, about our 'New Year makeover' at the ABC Christmas Challenge, you'll know that we have a really exciting challenge for you this time...but before I get on to that, I have a winner to announce. Sadly, the winner of my 'Z for Zero' blog hop candy has not contacted me to claim the prize....so, I've drawn another winner using Random.Org from the comments on my blog:

#57 - Lisa

Congratulations Lisa! Please email me with your address (helenbrammer@hotmail.com) by next Wednesday to claim your prize :0)

Ok...so on to our new challenge!

Carissa is our host this week, and our theme is:

'B is for Black & White'

We are sponsored this time by the one and only Dustin Pike...not only is he very generously donating not one, but two prizes...but he has designed a special freebie image for you to use on your cards! As this challenge is a little bit special...and to say thank you to Dustin for drawing a new freebie just for us and our challengers...we have some extra rules. In order to qualify for a prizes, you must not only follow the theme of the challenge...use only black & white on your card...(you may add more colour to your image if you wish)...but also use a Dustin Pike image - either one of his digi images from his store...(there are some older Christmas freebies on his blog too)...one of his High Hopes rubber stamp designs...or the fabulous freebie...which you can get from the ABC Christmas Challenge blog...oh and don't forget that your project must be Christmas themed! All entries regardless of the image used will of course still be eligible for the Top 3.

I couldn't resist using the freebie that Dustin created especially for this challenge...isn't it just perfect for a black & white theme with the zebra and penguin!? I coloured it with watercolour pencils, and added some 'Ice Crystal' Stickles for the snow. I didn't have any black and white papers, so I created my background using my 'Swiss Dots' Cuttlebug folder, and spotty ribbon (from Poppicrafts). The sentiment stamp is from a Lili of the Valley set, and the snowflakes were cut using Cuttlebug dies, and then sprinkled with Glamour Dust.

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

• Sketch Saturday - Sketch
• Glitterbabes - Anything Goes
• Sundays with Crissy - Ribbons
• My Time to Craft - Spots & Dots

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous samples by my lovely ABC Christmas Challenge DT buddies...and if you do choose to download and use Dustin's special freebie...remember to stop by and say thank you :0)

Cuttlebug Spot - Inspired by a Children's Game

This week at the Cuttlebug Spot, we're getting inspired by:

'A Children's Game'

Hmmm...had me stumped too...until I looked through a list of traditional children's games on Wikipedia...and spied 'Cats Cradle'...I used to love playing that! If you're not sure what it is...you can find out more here. I did start out by thinking that I could incorporate some string wrapped around my card...but when I stumbled across this image in my box ('Cat in a bra' by Penny Black)...I knew I'd found my cat's cradle! lol 

I coloured it with watercolour pencils, adding some shimmer with a Sakura Stardust pen. I used my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and 'D'Vine Swirls' to emboss the purple card, then distressed all of the edges. The flowers are a mixture of Prima & Poppicrafts, the jewelled brads are from Craft Obsessions, and I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch along the bottom edge.

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous samples by my lovely Cuttlebug Spot DT buddies.

Pile It On! Challenge - Anything Goes!

This week at the Pile It On! Challenge:

'Anything Goes!'

Our sponsor for this challenge is the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store.

I've used another of my new stamps on this card...he's called 'Birthday Beagle' by Whipper Snapper...awww...so cute and ready for a party! I've not used any designer papers on this card...kept it really simple, embossing plain card with my 'Swiss Dots' and 'Spots & Dots' Cuttlebug folders. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts, and I used Nesties to cut out the circles and stars. The spotty ribbon is from Poppicrafts.

Here are the challenges I've Piled On!:

• Pile It On! - Anything Goes!
• Allsorts - Teal & Brown
• CES - No Designer Papers
• Crafty Ann's - Old & New (Old - my 'Swiss Dots' folder, New - the stamp)
• Creative Inspirations - Celebrate
• Incy Wincy - Go Dotty
• One Stop Craft - Card for a Male
• Prairie Fairy - Happy Birthday
• Stamp Something - Anything Goes
• Stampin' for the Weekend - New & Blue (the stamp is new)
• Sweet Stop - Sketch & Dry Embossing
• Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes
• Totally Gorjuss - Cuddly
• Totally Papercrafts - Happy Birthday
• Winter Wonderland - Paws

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous cards by my lovely Pile It On! DT buddies.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - With Love...

This week it's Jane's turn to set the theme of the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, and she has chosen:

'With Love'

I've used an adorable Lili of the Valley fairy image on my card called 'On Tiptoe', which was sent to me in a RAK from my lovely friend Pauline. I coloured her with watercolour pencils to match the BasicGrey 'Kioshi' papers (available here from the Secret Crafter). I distressed all of the edges with my distressing tool, and added a sentiment from Cuddly Buddly. I used my Nesties (available here at the Secret Crafter) to cut out all the circles.

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

• Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Sketch
• Lili of the Valley - Things with Wings
• Paper Sundaes - Circles
• The Stamp Man - Distressed
• Wags'n'Whiskers - With Love

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

Coming Your Way...

...well, maybe not for quite a few months...but this stamp is called 'Coming Your Way' (by Penny Black)...and it's another of my post-Christmas sales purchases. I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, to match the glittery papers from the 'Countdown to Christmas' pad by My Mind's Eye. The snowflakes were cut using a mixture of Marianne Designs Creatables and Cuttlebug dies.

Challenges for this card:

• Simon Says Stamp - Sketch
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Goes (Card 5)
• Creative Cottage - Something New (the stamp)
• PaperPlay - Cutie Patootie

ABC Christmas Challenge - Makeover & Sneak Peek!

We've had a New Year makeover at the ABC Christmas Challenge...the lovely Samantha has created us a new header using each DT member's favourite card from last year's challenges:

Isn't it fab??? 

Can you spot which one's my card??? 

It's the one in the top left corner.

And if that wasn't enough...she's made us new DT blinkies...winner's badges...Top 3/5 blinkies and one for all our lovely ABC Christmas Challenge followers:

Feel free to snag that one and add it to your blogs :0)

And the sneak peek???

Can you tell what it is???

It's a brand new drawing by the wonderful Dustin Pike...created especially for us and our challengers to use for our challenge...'B is for...'...which Dustin is sponsoring...how fab is that!?!? He's making this freebie available exclusively for those entering that challenge...so...if you want to see the whole image...make sure you check out the ABC Christmas Challenge next Wednesday...but in the meantime...we still have another week left on our 'A is for Anything Christmas' challenge.

And before I go...this is the final call  for the winner of my ABC Christmas Challenge blog hop candy...Katarina...please contact me by 9am (UK time) next Monday (17th January) to claim your prize...otherwise I will re-draw my winner.

Doggy Pile!

Today's card uses another of the stamps I bought in the sales after Christmas...it's called 'Doggy Pile' by Whipper Snapper...and I'd been hankering after it for ages! :0)

I've kept this card really simple...I stamped some 'muddy' paw prints , using a stamp from the Hero Arts 'I love my dog' set on to the card blank, added a strip of checked paper from a Paper Cellar pad, and a piece of 'bone' print ribbon from Hobbycrafts. 

Challenges for this card:

• Totally Gorjuss - Sketch
• CES - All Creatures Great & Small
• Crazy Challenge - Animals
• Cupcake - Something New (The stamp)
• Pollycraft - New Things
• Totally Stampalicious - Mixed Up (Use stamps from two different sets)

Cuttlebug Spot - Inspired by a Song

This week at the Cuttlebug Spot we're getting:

'Inspired by a Song'

I think it's fairly obvious which song I took my inspiration from...but just in case you haven't guessed...it's 'Lady in Red' by Chris de Burgh (can't actually stand the song, but it was the first thing I thought of! lol)

The image is 'Ginger' by Penny Black (although I've made her blonde), and the papers are from the '365 Degrees'  pad by Pink Paislee. I used my Cuttlebug 'Kassie's Brocade' folder to emboss on some of the plain red paper, sanding the surface to reveal the white core. I added a sentiment (from the Hreo Arts 'Anytime Messages' set), some Prima flowers, and some spotty ribbon.

I have a little confession to make...I originally got the theme totally wrong...eeeek...for some reason when I transfered my lists of DT project themes into my diary, I somehow managed to write the theme of today's challenge as 'Inspired by a Film'...ooops! Anyway...after I emailed it to Nilda, she pointed out that it should have been a 'song' and not a 'film'...but not to worry...just pick a song from the film...and that's fine...well...the film I took as my inspiration was 'The Snowman' based on the Raymond Briggs...and there is a song in the film, a very famous one in fact...called 'Walking in the Air' (I'm sure you must have all heard it a million times over Christmas...which would have been fine, except...this was the card I made:

Not exactly flying are they? lol

The particular scene I took my inspiration from was the one where the little boy wakes up the morning after his adventure with the snowman, to find him melted on the lawn....only a hat and scarf to mark where he'd been...

Anyway...in case anyone's interested...the image and sentiment on my snowman card are from the 'Meting Snowman' set by Woodware...it's the 'after' image from the 'before' one on the card I posted on Sunday. I stamped some little snowflakes (from the 'Bubble Tree' set also by Woodwaare) in Versamark on the card blank, and then added some more kraft card embossed with my beloved 'Snowflakes' folder.

For more inspiration...on the correct theme! lol...please check out the fabulous samples by my lovely Cuttlebug Spot DT buddies.

Baby Girl

Today's card is for a baby girl...makes a change from Christmas! The image is 'In a nutshell' by Penny Black, which I coloured with watercolour pencils. The papers are from the Papermania 'Sweet Nothings' pack...thought it was about time I tried to use up some of my old papers! I distressed the edges, then added some faux-stitching with my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The flowers are a mixture of Prima and Poppicrafts, and the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft.

Challenges for this card:

• Friday Sketchers - Sketch
• Crafty Calendar - New Beginnings
• Creative Card Crew - New Beginnings
• Penny Black Saturday - New Beginnings
• Simon Says Stamp - New Beginnings

Jolly Snowmen

I've used some of the goodies I bought in the sales on this card...the snowmen and sentiment are from the 'Melting Snowmen' set by Woodware...this is the 'before' image...you'll be able to see the 'after' on Tuesday. I coloured them with watercolour pencils, and combined them with papers from the 'Countdown to Christmas' glitter pad by My Mind's Eye. I've kept it really simple (flat for posting too!), just adding a piece of ribbon and a couple of die cut snowflakes (cut using Marianne Designs Creatables and Cuttlebug dies).

Challenges for this card:

• Sweet Stop - Sketch
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Goes (Card 4)
• Craft Your Days Away - Anything Goes
• PaperPlay - Clean & Simple
• Stampavie & More - Snowmen
• Winter Wonderland - Let's Go Dotty

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Tons of Texture

It's my turn to set the theme of the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge this week, which is:

'Tons of Texture'

I love to make my cards look tactile, with Cuttlebug embossing, distressed edges, ribbons, buttons, pearls, gems, flowers, glitter and lace...and I've managed to cram most of those on this card!

The adorable image is a House Mouse stamp called 'Birthday Cupcake', which I coloured with watercolour pencils, before giving the icing a generous coating of 'Crystal' Stickles (available here at the Secret Crafter). The papers are a mixture of My Mind's Eye (from the freebie 'Quite Contrary' pad) and Heidi Grace. I used my Cuttlebug 'Happy Birthday' folder on one of the plainer papers...sanding the raised areas to let the white core show through. I distressed all of the edges, and then added some faux stitching with my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I added some paper flowers, in place of a sentiment...threading some organza ribbon through a button (from this Woodware pack at the Secret Crafter) for the centre. For some finishing touches I added a few adhesive pearls (available here at the Secret Crafter) and a simple bow.

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

• Cooking it up with Katie - Button me a Ribbon Animal
• Crafty Catz - Food & Drink
• Creative Friday - Let's Have a Party
• Totally Stampalicious - Cupcakes
• Wild Orchid - Sketch

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

Marley's Bauble

I know...another Christmas card and it's only January 6th...but I love making Christmas cards...and I have lots of lovely new Christmas themed stash to use :0)
This stamp is called 'Marley's Bauble' and is by Pollycraft....I won it in a challenge a couple of months ago, but this is the first time I've used it. I coloured him with watercolour pencils, then added some sparkle with Glamour Dust. For the background, I used my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots', 'Snowflakes' and 'Ice Crystals' folders on plain white card, adding definition to the edges with more Galmour Dust. I've tried to keep this card as flat as possible (for posting)...so thought the sparkle would help make it look more interesting! The snowflakes were cut using Cuttlebug and Marianne Designs Creatables dies....then sprinkled with more Glamour Dust...I love the stuff!

Challenges for this card:

• Sketch & Stash - Sketch (the digi stamp is my new stash)
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Goes (Card 3)
• Crazy Challenge - All Things New (the digi stamp is new)
• Creative Craft - New Year's Resolutions (One of mine is to make roughly half of my Christmas cards 'flat' this year...I hand deliver quite a lot of my cards, but the ones I posted last year cost me a fortune...so my aim is to not have to use 'large' stamps on the one I post this year).
• Cupcake - White is White
• Fab 'n' Funky - Anything Goes
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes

Today is my last day of freedom...*sigh*...back to school tomorrow...am really not looking forward to the 6am alarm! I'd love to be able to spend the day playing with some more of my lovely new stash...but unfortunately I have lots of music to finish preparing for the term ahead...oh well...better get back to it...I'll be back on Saturday with my DT card for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.