Deckchair Dreaming

I have an ultra simple card to share today...featuring a cute Lili of the Valley bear stamp called 'Deckchair Dreaming'. I stamped him directly on to my card blank, coloured him using watercolour pencils then added a Penny Black sentiment (from the 'Bubbly' set).

Challenges for this card:

• Bunny Zoe's - Summer
• Cardz for Guyz - Clean & Simple
• Crazy Challenge - R is for ? (Relaxing)
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes (Summer)
• Fantasy Stampers - Teddy Bears' Picnic
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Inky Flowers

I have a couple of inky cards to share today, using a stamp set from Honey Doo Crafts called 'Spring Flowers'.

I stamped the images using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed them in white, before blending Distress Inks over the top. On the card with the leaves, I used Lucky Clover, Cracked Pistachio & Mermaid Lagoon:

And on the card with the flowers, I used Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves & Picked Raspberry:

On both cards, I matted the panels on to some silver mirror card, and added a sentiment (from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual) stamped on to a banner shape.

Challenges for these cards:

• Alphabet Challenge - I is for Ink It Up
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Fussy & Fancy - Flowers
• Penny Black & More - Flower Power
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - It Moves Me!

We have a fun new Pile It On! Challenge starting today...and the theme is:

'It Moves Me!'

(Feature a mode of transport)

Our sponsor for this month is Bugaboo Stamps:

Prize - 7 Digi Stamps of the Winner's Choice!

I went with a bicycle as my form of transport, and picked this cute Penny Black stamp called 'Hedgie Delivery', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a pad by Raspberry Road that came free with a craft magazine ages ago...I distressed the edges then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Critter Party' set, also by Penny Black.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - It Moves Me
• 4 Crafty Chicks - Sew Cute
• Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Animals
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Crafty Friends - Inspired by a Song ('Bicycle Race' by Queen)
• Daring Cardmakers - On Your Travels
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Use Patterned Paper
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - M is for...

It's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge...Sue is the host, and the theme is:

'M is for Mice'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Lawn Fawn:

Prize - a Stamp Set & a 6x6 Paper Pad of the winner's choice!

I actually have quite a lot of  Christmas mice images in my collection, and was tempted to go with one of my Penny Black ones, but couldn't resist this little cutie from Bugaboo Stamps called 'Christmas Mouse Ornaments'. I coloured him using watercolour pencils and added some sparkle to the baubles using a Wink of Stella pen. The snowflake paper is from the 'Bundled Up' pad by Crate Paper...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

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

• Christmas Cards - Colour Combination
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Cute
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Animal Magic
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Cupcake Mice

I have a super simple card to share today...using a cute little Penny Black mice stamp from the 'Party Critters' set. I coloured the mice using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment from the same stamp set, before cutting the image out using one of my circle Nesties. The paper is from the 'Tea House' pad by Dovecraft...I distressed the edges then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. To finish, I added a few pieces of pink Craftwork Cards Card Candi.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Favourite Die & Why? (My Nestie circle dies are my favourite and most used dies - I'd never be able to cut a perfect circle without them!
• Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Use a Die Cut
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippet's Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Animal Magic

PBSC June - Birthdays & Blog Hop...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...we're celebrating our 8th birthday, so as well as our usual challenge, we're having a fun blog hop too!

The theme of this month's challenge is...of course:

'Birthdays!'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

In addition, there are some fabby little prizes on offer on some of the stops on the 'hop'...I have a cute kitty cling stamp as a blog prize for one lucky commenter on my blog:

To be in with a chance of winning, please leave a link to your entry for this month's PBSC 'Birthdays' challenge with the linky at the bottom of my blog hop post along with a comment to let me know that you 'hopped by'!

I picked one of my oldest (and most used) Penny Black stamps for today's card...'Birthday Dog!'. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut him out. I added a few strips of washi tape (by Dovecraft) to my card blank, then added Birthday Dog over the top popped up on 3D foam pads, and a sentiment (from the 'Critter Party' set also by Penny Black).

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

• ABC Challenge - J is for Just as You Like
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Man's Best Friend
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Animal Magic
• Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, and a complete list of the blog hop links, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Design by Me!

Today's card was inspired by the 'Splatters' challenge over at Less is More this week. I started by stamping the cute little Penny Black cat (called 'Design by Me!), then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I thought that he looked like he might be making a mess with that paintbrush, so I splodged some watered-down Distress Inks in co-ordinating colours (Spiced Marmalade, Picked Preserves & Broken China) on to my card blank, then added a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'Anytime Messages' set) over the top.

Challenges for this card:

• Creatalicious - Anything Goes with Animals
• Less is More - One Layer Card with Splatters
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Animal Magic
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Dog-gone It! Dad!

I have a simple little Father's Day gift tag to share today...it's doggy themed to match the card I made to go with it. This cute little chappie is from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black...I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut him out. I covered a plain kraft gift tag using some sky blue card, then used one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies and a Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' die to create a little scene to place him in. The sentiment stamps are from the 'You & I' set by Clearly Besotted and a little set by Wild Rose Studio.

I attached it to a ktaft paper gift bag that I'd decorated by stamping a Hobbycraft paw print background stamp in Versamark Ink all over.

Challenges for this tag:

• Catch the Bug - Masculine
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Animal Magic
• Crafty Cardmakers - For a Special Man
• Crafty Creations - Tic-Tac-Toe (Sentiment-Image-Tag)
• Crazy 4 Challenges - Make It Masculine
• Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies
• Little Red Wagon - Tag, You're It!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Father's Day/For a Guy
• The Male Room - Father's Day

Pile It On! Challenge - Something Old, Something New & Something Blue

It's time for a fun new Pile It On! Challenge...where the theme this fortnight is:

'Something Old, Something New & Something Blue'

Our sponsor this month is Eureka Stamps:

Prize - 2 Digi Stamps of the Winner's Choice!

My somethings are:
Something Old - the papers
Something New - the Stamps
Something Blue - some of the papers

This sweet hot air balloon is from the 'Patch a Flight' set by Woodware...I stamped it directly on to my card blank, then paper pieced it using snippets of papers from the 'Hello Today' pad by Heidi Swapp and the 'Yours Truly' pad by Pebbles Inc. The little sentiment, heart & bird stamps are from the same stamp set.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Something Old, Something New & Something Blue (The papers, the stamps & the paper)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Inspired by a Film (Up!)
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Love & Romance
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Super Scraps
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Cluck, Cluck, Cluck!

It's my Dad's birthday today, and this is the card that I made for my Mum to give to him. He has a bit of a thing for chickens, so I used my Penny Black 'Cluck, Cluck, Cluck!' stamp (I masked off the chicken carrying flowers before stamping). I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment made up from stamps from the Paula Pascual 'Big Messages' set and the 'You & I' set by Clearly Besotted. The papers are from the 'Recollections - Charming' pad by Michaels...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - H is for Hand Coloured Image
• Corrosive - Lots of Layers
• Creative Moments - Stitching
• Inky Chicks - Father's Day/Male
• Let's Colour Linky Party - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day/For a Guy
• Stamping Sensations - Feature a Creature

ABC Christmas Challenge - L is for...

It's time for a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge...Mandy is the host, and the theme is:

'L is for ?'

Well...whatever you like, as long as it begins with L!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Drawn with Character:

Prize - 3 images of the winner's choice!

I picked a cute Penny Black image (from the 'Christmas Critters' set) of some wee mice caroling around a Lantern, and coloured them using watercolour pencils...giving one of the mice a Lime green scarf. I created a snowy little scene for them using my Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' background stamp (embossed in WOW 'Sparkling Snow' embossing powder), and some Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies. I fussy cut the mice, the added them popped up on 3D foam pads. I thought that thy might be singing 'Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!' so added an appropriate 'L' sentiment (from a set by Lili of the Valley).

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
• Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes using Embossing Powder/Loose Glitter
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Use Two or More Dies
• Stamping Sensations - Feature a Creature
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Doggy Giftcard Holder

I have another 'doggy' themed item to share today...this is a little giftcard holder for my Dad's birthday later this week. I (sort of) followed this tutorial, but altered the dimensions a little to use half a sheet of A4 card, and make a slightly larger area for my image. I stamped little paw prints over both sides of my piece of kraft card using a Hobbycraft background stamp and Versamark ink before measuring and scoring the folds. On the outside, I added a dog image (from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black) coloured using watercolour pencils, and a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'Fabulous Birthday' set).

On the inside, I used scissors to cut a slit wide enough for the giftcard to slide in, then one of my circle Nesties to cut a little notch. I stuck it all together with some thin doublesided tape, then punched a couple of holes in the front and back, and tied it all together using some  Baker's twine.

Challenges for this giftcard holder:

• Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Masculine
• Fantasy Stampers - Man's Best Friend
• Love to Scrap - It's a Boy Thing
• Stamping Sensations - Feature a Creature
• Sweet Stampin' - Father's Day or Special Man (My Dad)

PBSC June - Birthdays & Blog Hop!

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...not only that, but this month we're celebrating our 8th birthday, so as well as our usual challenge, we're having a fun blog hop too!

The theme of this month's challenge is...of course:

'Birthdays!'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

In addition, there are some fabby little prizes on offer on some of the stops on the 'hop'...I have a cute kitty cling stamp as a blog prize for one lucky commenter on my blog:

To be in with a chance of winning, please leave a link to your entry for this month's PBSC 'Birthdays' challenge with the linky at the bottom of this post, and a comment on this post to let me know that you 'hopped by'!

My card is for my Dad's birthday later this month. I used one of the cute pups from the 'Man's Best Friend' set, which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I combined him with papers from the 'Recollections - Awesome Boy' pad by Michaels. I doodled some simple borders using a black gel pen, the added a couple of sentiments (from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual, and the 'You & I' set by Clearly Besotted).

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

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Masculine
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday

The next stop on our birthday blog hop is the lovely Lorraine...but before you hop off, don't forget to leave me a comment & a link to your PBSC 'Birthdays' challenge entry for a chance to win my blog hop prize.

An InLinkz Link-up

Bonnet Bunny

I picked up this adorable Penny Black stamp in a charity shop yesterday...she's called 'Bonnet Bunny'. I coloured her using watercolour pencils, and as it's quite a large image, just added a strip of patterned paper (from the 'Paper Hearts' pad by Crate Paper) - the sketch over at Sketch Saturday this week was perfect! The sentiment is from the 'Handwritten Borders' set by Simon Says Stamp (I only inked up the word part of the stamp). I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Sketch Saturday - Sketch #414
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Father's Day Dogs

I have a Father's Day card to share today...featuring some Penny Black dogs from a set called 'Dog-gone Sweet!' I coloured the images using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut them out. For the background, I embossed a piece of plain-ish brown paper (from the 'Awesome Boy!' pad by Recollections/Michaels) using my 'Bone & Paw Prints' folder by Crafts Too...sanding over the surface to reveal some of the white core. I distressed the edges a little, then added a sentiment (chopped in half!) from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• ABC Challenge - I is for Important Event (Father's Day)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Father's Day/Male
• Naughty or Nice - Man Up!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Embossing