Dog Tag

I know I don't usually post at night...but I've been busy working on music...and making DT stuff all day...so I thought I'd pop on and show a quick little tag I snuck in before I toddle off to bed. I started by stamping a 'Happy Birthday' background stamp by Funstamps on a blank luggage tag (from WHSimths) inked with various Distress Inks (Pumice Stone, Brushed Corduroy, Stormy Sky & Faded Jeans), which I then heat embossed with clear powder. I inked over it using the same Distress Inks, then roughed up the edges using my distressing tool. The doggy image is from the '12 Days of Christmas' set by Penny Black...I inked around the edges using more Distress Inks. The stars were cut using Nesties...then distressed, and inked...then embossed using my Sizzix/BasicGrey 'Plaid' folder.

Challenges for this tag:

• Cards for Men - Texture 
• Corrosive - Tim Holtz Products (Distress Inks)
• Crafts & Me - Embossing
• Here Come the Boys - Hobbies (Drumming)
• Sweet Stampin' - Anything but Square
• Top Tip Tuesday - Anything but a Card
• Wags 'N Whiskers - Distressing
• Whimsy Inspires - Distressing

Ok...time for bed...have to get up at 6am for school...yawn!

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Cute 'n' Fluffy

This week it's Bridget's turn to choose the theme of the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, and she want's to see all things:

'Cute 'n' Fluffy'

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

The prize is a $15 voucher for Heather's Hobbie Haven!

I chose a couple of cute 'n' fluffy bears by Penny Black (called 'Snug')...I coloured them using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

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

• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Animals
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes 
• Fab 'n' Funky - No DP
• Love to Create - Anything Goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Starts with a 'B' (Bears)
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - May Day (Spring Theme)

This week at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, we're celebrating May Day (where did April go???) with our theme:

'May Day (Spring Theme)'

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

 

And the prize is 4 rolls of gorgeous Kendra Crystallized Lace in bright zingy colours...here's some in hot pink:

The image I've used on my card is called 'You're the Bestest'...the daffodils are perfect for 'Springy' cards. The papers are from the Ooh La La (for Him)' collection by My Mind's Eye...I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching usnig my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I cut the flowers using my 'Tattered Florals' die, and attached them using BasicGrey brads.

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

• Crafty Ann's - Stitching (Mine's faux)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Craft - Animal Antics 
• Cute Card Thursday - Animal Magic 
• Inky Impressions - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Use at least 3 flowers
• Moving Along with the Times - Garden or Flowers
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
• Stampavie & More - Spring
• Stamptacular Sunday - Layers
• Truly Scrumptious - Distressing & Die Cuts/Punches

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - H is for...

I have another card for the current ABC Christmas Challenge today, where the theme is:

'H is for Hardware'

Feature something metal on your project

Our very own Lacey is the sponsor for this challenge, with her wonderful Stamp & Create Store

The prize is a whopping $25 gift certificate to spend at Stamp & Create!

Wowee!!!

Not only do we have a fabulous challenge this fortnight, but we're looking for some new playmates, and are holding a DT call on this challenge...so if you like fancy joining our happy little family, make sure you check out the post over on the ABC Christmas Challenge...but not yet...I haven't shown you my card!

My card is another simple one...crafting time was in short supply last weekend! The image is from the 'Jolly Friends' set by Penny Black, I embossed the background card using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder, and the little umbrella charm (sorry, I have no idea where it's from) is attached using some twine from the 'Tea Party' collection by Dovecraft.

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

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Snowflakes
• Cute Card Thursday - Metallica
• Kaboodles Doodles - Embossing
• Less is More - Charming 
• Paper Sundaes - Let's Get Cute

Pile It On! Challenge - Sparkle & Shine

Ooops...naughty Mr Blogger forgot to publish my scheduled post...ggggrrrrr!

We have a nice easy theme for you this week over at the Pile It On! Challenge:

'Sparkle & Shine'

Who doesn't like a bit of glitter & bling?

Our sponsor for this challenge is Some Odd Girl...and the prize is 3 digis of the winner's choice.

My card was a real quickie to make...I didn't stamp & colour as I normally would do, but cheated and used one of the Lili of the Valley pre-cloured die cuts (from the Christmas Cuties sheet). The papers are all from the 'I Believe' glitter pad by My Mind's Eye...and I made everything even more sparkly by Gamour Dusting all of the edges...then added a few adhesive gems & pearls - super quick!

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

• Pile It On! - Sparkle & Shine
• Crafty Catz - Stripes or Checks
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Lots of Layers
• Do You Stack Up - Stripes
• Lili's Little Fairies - Diamonds & Pearls
• PaperPlay - Animal Antics 

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Inspired by a Film Title

This week it's Andie's turn to choose the thme eof the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, which is:

'Inspired by a Film Title'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

With a prize of three digis of the winner's choice from the Stamping Boutique!

My card is inspired by the animated film 'Chicken Run'...and the image is 'Cluck, Cluck, Cluck!' by (of course) Penny Black. The zingy papers are from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by We R Memory Keepers...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The flowers are by Prima and the brads are BasicGrey.

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

• Card Crafter's Circle - Stitching (Mine's faux)
• Crazy - Inspired by a Movie (Chicken Run)
• Fairy Fun Fridays - Anything with Flowers
• My Mum's Craft Shop - Favourite Song/Movie - (Chicken Run)
• Oldie but a Goodie - On the Farm/In the Garden (I've had this stamp for several years)
• One Stitch at a Time - Bright Colours
• Papertake Weekly - Stitching

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - No Patterned Papers

This week at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge we're asking you to use:

'No Patterned Papers'

Eeeek!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Craftwork Cards

The prize is:

'Sweet Pea Collection - Peas in a Pod Pad'
(contains: 24 sheets paper, 2 sheets die cut flowers, 2 sheets nesting sentiments, 4 sheets embossed squares)

I decided to emboss my background...the card at the back is a piece of Core'dinations card (one of the the Tim Holtz Distress colours) embossed with me Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder, and the piece on top started off white...I blended some Distress Inks ('Weathered Wood', 'Stormy Sky' & 'Iced Spruce') over it, then a little 'Picket Fence' Distress Stain...then 'de-bossed' it (this is something I usually do by accident when I have my embossing folder the wrong way round!) so that I could fill the snowflakes with Crackle Accents to give an icy effect. The adorable image is 'XMouse ornament'...coloured with watercolour pencils...I inked around the edge with 'Stormy Sky'. The raffia lace trim has been languishing in the bottom of my stash box fo ages, but seeing as it was just the right colour I though it was about time I used it.

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

• Moving Along with the Times - Christmas
• Pollycraft - Cute Critters
• Sparkles Christmas - Favourite Colour Combination (Blue & Brown)
• Stamp with Fun - Favourite Colours (Blue & Brown)
• Sundays with Crissy - Favourite Colour Combination (Blue & Brown)

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - H is for...

Woo-hoo...it's time for a brand new ABC Christmas Challenge...and Samantha is our host...with a theme of:

'H is for Hardware'

Feature something metal on your project

Our very own Lacey is the sponsor for this challenge, with her wonderful Stamp & Create Store

The prize is a whopping $25 gift certificate to spend at Stamp & Create!

Wowee!!!

Not only do we have a fabulous challenge this fortnight, but we're looking for some new playmates, and are holding a DT call on this challenge...so if you like fancy joining our happy little family, make sure you check out the post over on the ABC Christmas Challenge...but not yet...I haven't shown you my card!

I've used a little stamp from the 'Jolly Friends' set by Penny Black...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I embossed the background using my Sizzix/BasicGrey 'Snowglobe' & 'Powdered Sugar' folders...making a scalloped border using my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch. For my 'hardware'...I attached a little 'Joy' charm using twine from the Ribbon Girls.

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

• Craft Your Days Away - Metal
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Sing Song ('When the red, red robin comes bob, bob bobbin' along'!)
• Craft Your Passion - Punches & Die Cuts (I used my Nesties & a scalloped border punch)
• Daring Cardmakers - Hat Boutique
• Jingle Belles - Sketch
• PaperPlay - Things with Wings
• Totally Papercrafts - Things with Wings

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, and to find out more about the DT call, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Cuttlebug Spot Challenge - Easel Cards

This fortnight's challenge over at the Cuttlebug Spot is to make an:

'Easel Card'

I've made a little scalloped circle one...using my Nesties to cut the shapes from aqua card...on the top part I added a piece of bright orange card covered with some vellum embossed using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots'...and on the bottom part a piece of bright pink card covered with vellum embossed with my 'D'Vine Swirls' folder. The cupcake stamp is from the Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' set...I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then glittered the frosting using 'Diamond' Stickles and added Glossy Accents to the cherry. The sentiment is a stamp from the 'Anytime Messages' set (also by Hero Arts)...I stamped it a couple of times on to different coloured card, then cut up the letters.  The teeny brads are BasicGrey...and are helping to hold the vellum on...there's also some glue placed under each of the letters and the cupcake. The spotty ribbon is from the Ribbon Girls.

And a view from the side:

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

• Charisma Cardz - Fancy Folds
• Corrosive - Hit the Bottle! (I've used Glossy Accents & Stickles)
• Paper Sundaes - Anything Goes
• Ribbon Girls - Orange, Pink & Aqua
• Stamp Man - Vellum (I layered embossed vellum over the pink & orange card)
• Whimsy Inspires - Easel Cards

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge.

Sending Smiles :0)

Today's card is in marked contrast to yesterday's inky affair...I've gone all CAS for this week's Less is More 'Doodling' challenge. I combined a couple of stamps from the 'Hello Friend' set by Penny Black...then doodled some grass and flowers to make a little scene...I also doodled some patterns on the cat's balloons. You know me...I can't leave a balloon 'un-glossed' so I added some Glossy Accents, and a sentiment from the 'Mini Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafting When We Can - Just the Two of Us
• Less is More - One Layer Card with Doodling
• Stamptacular Sunday - Freebie Week
• Wags 'n Whiskers - Anything Goes

Spring Meadows

I've been playing with my Distress Inks again...and one of my favourite stamps...'Blooming Meadows' by Hero Arts. I used three colours...'Dusty Concord', 'Stormy Sky' and 'Bundled Sage'... to watercolour stamp the flowers...and then to blend on to white card and stamp my 'Paisley Swirls' background (also a Hero Arts stamp). I softened the edges a little using 'Old Paper' and my distressing tool...and added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Wonderful' set by Penny Black.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Sisters - Flowers
• Aud Sentiments - Anything with Spring/Summer Colours
• Card Crafter's Circle - Gentle Pastel Colours
• Craft Us Crazy - Flowers/Mother's Day
• Crafty Sentiments - Spring/Pastel Colours
• Creative Inspirations - Pastel Purple, Green & Blue
• Cupcake Crafts - Spring is in the Air
• Cute Card Thursday - Spring Flowers
• Everybody Art - Spring
• Little Red Wagon - Spring Colours

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - A Man's Card

It's Wendy's turn to set the theme of this week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, and she has chosen:

'A Man's Card'

Our sponsor this week is:

The prize is a $10 gift voucher to spend in the Digi Doodle Shop!

I've used a House Mouse image on my card...not sure who sent it to me, as it's been waiting patiently in my image box for such a long time...but the stamp is called 'Ready, Set, Go!' The papers are a mixture of BasicGrey 'Max & Whiskers' and Prima 'North Country'...I distressed the edges using inks and my distressing tool, then added faux stitches using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I embossed the green paper using my Craft Concepts 'Hexagon Illusion' folder.

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

• Crafter's Companion - Four-legged Friends
• Crafty Ann's - It's a Man Thing
• Crafty Catz - Animals
• Papercrafting Journey - Three or more patterned papers
• Let's Ink it Up - Distressing
• Shopping Our Stash - Masculine
• Stamping Boutique - Distressing

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Spots & Stripes

I's Saturday...so that means it's time for a brand new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...and this week, the theme is:

'Spots & Stripes'

 Our sponsor for this challenge is:

and the prize is a $20 voucher to spend in their online store!

The stamp I used on my card is 'By the cartful' (of course by Penny Black)...which I coloured using watercolour pencils, then added a little sentiment (from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts). I used scraps of spotty papers (from the 72 & Sunny' pad by We R Memory Keepers) to make a 'stripey' background...adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen.

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

• Creative Card Crew - Kraft 
• Delightful - Stitching
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Oh so cute!
• Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes
• Sketchy Colours - Sketch
• Top Tip Tuesday - Spotty Dotty

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

Happy Birthday Mum!

It's my Mum's birthday today...and this is the card I made for her. I used a House Mouse stamp called 'Birthday Cupcake' which I coloured using watercolour pencils...adding a generous helping of 'Diamond' Stickles to the frosting. The papers are from the 'Tea House' pack by Dovecraft...I added faux stitching around the edges using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts...and the bunting was cut freehand, and then attached using some pink twine (from the 'Tea Party' collection by Dovecraft). I inked the edges of everything using 'Old Paper' Distress Ink.

Challenges for this card:

• Do You Stck Up - Glitter/Bling (My cupcake frosting is very Stickled! lol)
• Drunken Stampers - Use Kraft 
• Fab 'n' Funky - On All FOurs (Animals)
• House Mouse & Friends - So Sweet
• Inky Impressions - Create your own embellishments (I made the bunting)
• Love to Create - It's a Party!
• My Mum's Craft Shop - It's a Celebration!
• One Stop Craft - Pastels & Die Cuts
• Sweet Stop Sketches - Sketch 81 
• The Shabby Tea Room - Birthday Bash/Photo Inspiration

**Edited to add - here's the birthday cake I made for my Mum**

It's a lemon sponge filled with lemon buttercream & lemon curd - delicious! :0)

B for Beads...and Bear!

A bit of a mixed bag for you today...I've been doing a little more beading...and made a couple more single wrap bracelets:

The first one is made from Denim Lapis beads on brown waxed linen:

And the second one is Snowflake Obsidian with a few silver beads on black waxed linen:

If you'd like to try making one of these yourself (and they're really very simple to make) here's a link to a tutorial.


And now for a card...I can't remember the last time I used this adorable bear ('Rainin' Daisies' by Penny Black), so thought I ink him up...in honour of the April showers we're having at the moment! The papers are from the 'Isabelle' pad by First Edition...I've had these since Christmas, but this is the first time I've been brave enough to cut them up! The flowers were cut using my 'Tattered Florals' die...and they do match the colours in the papers...but for some reason look totally different in the photo! I added some faux stitching to the papers using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen...and embossed the flowers using my Craft Concepts 'Budding Vine' folder.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Creations - Flower Power
• Oldie but a Goodie - April Showers (Not sure exactly how long I've had this adorable stamp, but it must be several years!)
• Papercraft Star - Umbrellas
• Paper Playtime - Umbrella & a Die Cut
• Papertake Weekly - April Showers
• Simon Says Stamp - April Showers Bring Spring Flowers
• Stampin' for the Weekend - Ready, Teddy, Go!
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch 

ABC Christmas Challenge - G is for...

I have another card for our current ABC Christmas Challenge today...where the theme is:

'G is for - Gold, White & a touch of Green'

We have two wonderful sponsors:

The prize from Simon Says Stamp is a $15 voucher to spend in their online store

And

The prize from Elizabeth Craft Designs is 3 sheets of gold Christmas outline stickers

I've used a stamp from the Penny Black 'Holly-Jolly' set...which I coloured using watercolour pencils...adding some sparkle to the gold stars using a Sakura Stardust pen...and some 'Polar White' Flowersoft for the snow. I used a couple of Sizzix/BasicGrey embossing folders ('Powdered Sugar' & 'Snowglobe') for the background...it's so simple, but I love how white card looks when it's embossed. I bought the gold lace from Dunelm Mill last weekend, and the sentiment is from the 'Critter Party' set (also by Penny Black).

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

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Sketch 
• CCEE Stampers - Use an embossig folder
• Christmas Cards - Flowersoft/Flocking
• Critter Sketch - Critters
• Forever Friends (April) - Embossing
• Incy Wincy - Cute Critters
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Oh so Cute!