Heart Balloon

This little cutie was sent to me as part of a prize ages ago...I think it's a Lili of the Valley image, but must be an old one as I can't find it on their site. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I embossed some bright pink card using my 'Candy Hearts' embossing folder (by Sizzix), and added it to my card blank to create a border along the top and bottom of the image.

Challenges for this card:

• CAS on Sunday - Hearts
• Creative Knockouts - In Stitches
• Dream Valley - Love
• Less is More - Balloons
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) -Anything Goes

Colourful Snowflakes

I have a Christmas card to share today that I made using some scraps of watercolour paper that I'd painted in a rainbow effect using Distress Inks whilst making these cards last weekend. I cut a couple of snowflakes using a Cuttlebug die from the purple/blue/green portion...then carefully trimmed one in half. I glued the snowflakes to a panel of white card...and added a Lili of the Valley sentiment, then mounted it on to my card blank using some foam tape.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Sentiments - Dies
• Fairytale - Colourful Snowflakes
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Guest Designer - Crimbo Crackers

I'm sharing a Guest Designer card today for Crimbo Crackers...where the theme is:

'Something Cute'

I picked a Penny Black image from the 'Wintertime Cheer' set...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye...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' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes (Use a Sentiment)
• Heartful Stamping - Cute
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Colour It
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

For more inspiration, and to enter the challenge, pop over to Crimbo Crackers - thanks for having me Ruth!

New Home

I have a 'New Home' card to share today...I don't know anyone that's just moved or is moving any time soon, but it's always good to be prepared! I punched lots of little 'houses' from snippets of kraft card using a Woodware punch that was a Snippets Playground prize (thanks Di!), and one from a snippet of watercolour paper coloured with Distress Inks (Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers & Cracked Pistachio). I mounted them on to a kraft card blank using 3D foam pads, and added a sentiment (from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual).

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Cardmakers - New Beginnings
• Crafty Friends - New Beginnings
• Less is More - New Beginnings
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simply Create Too - New Beginnings

Pile It On! Challenge - Quote/Lyric/Saying

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...and we're challenging you to be inspired by a:

'Quote/Lyric/Saying'

There's a rather special prize for this challenge...a $30 donation to a charity of the winner's choice!

I had a rummage through all of my sentiment stamps and found a set of 'Kid's Quotes' sayings by Inkadinkado...and picked two of them to use on a couple of cards. Inspired by the colour/rainbow themes of the stamps, I created a watercolour rainbow background using washes of Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Lucky Clover, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire & Wilted Violet) on wet watercolour paper. I used two layers...allowing the first to dry before adding the second, then once the second was dry, I splattered water over the top, allowed it to sit for a minute, before patting off the excess using a paper towel, which removed some of the pigment, and creating some texture. I trimmed the panel down, to created two strips, then stamped the quote stamps in the centres using black ink. I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are some close-ups of the two cards:

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Quote/Lyric/Saying
• Come & Get It - No Design Paper
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Playground - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Stitch It!
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes
• Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

PBSC January - Anything Goes...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...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I made a pair of simple heat embossed cards, using stamps from the 'Social Butterfly' set and 'Silver Sparkle' embossing powder by WOW. I matted the panels on to some silver mirror card, and added sentiments from a set by Hero Arts.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Artistic Stamper - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional Monochrome)
• Heartful Stamping - Embossing
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Anything Goes

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

Let it Snow!

I have a Christmas card to share today that I made over the Christmas/New Year break. I re-discovered an embossing powder in my stash...'Peppermint Stick' by Sparkle N Sprinkle...and tried it out stamping and heat embossing some snowflakes (a Hero Arts stamp) on to some watercolour paper ('smooshed' with various blue Distress Inks). I die cut some snowflakes from snippets of white card using Marianne Designs and Cuttlebug dies...then gave them a generous coating of the embossing powder too...it's a really pretty mixture of super sparkly pink, red and green glitter...but of course trying to get that to show in a photo is virtually impossible! The sentiment stamp is from a Penny Black set.

You can just about see the colours in the embossing powder on the white snowflakes on this close-up:

Challenges for these cards:

• Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes
• Come & Get It - Good Ol Winter
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Cut it Up - It's Snow Fun
• Cute Card Thursday - Cool Colours
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Chill
• Sparkle N Sprinkle - Anything Goes with Loose Glitter/Embossing Powder
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Rainin' Daisies

I have another Penny Black card to share today...I seem to be stuck in a PB rut at the moment! This one features another 'oldie but a goodie' stamp...'Rainin' Daisies', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Paper Hearts' 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 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual.

Challenges for this card:

• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes with a Sentiment
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Ribbon Girls - Cards (Anything Goes)

Reindog & Robin

I have a Christmas card to share today featuring a couple of the stamps from the Penny Black 'Wintertime Cheer' set that I got for Christmas..I combined the cute dog in his reindeer antlers with the little bird (coloured to look like a robin). I used a snippet of My Mind's Eye 'Wonderful Winter' paper, and a sentiment from the 'Jolly Christmas Sentiments' set by Pollycraft for C. C. Designs. I inked all of the edges with 'Old Paper' and 'Pumice Stone' Distress Inks, the distressed them a little, before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Cats or Dogs
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes (Optional CAS)
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Something New (New Stamps)
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Freestyle
• Inky Chicks - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - New Something (New Stamps)
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Colourfully Aware

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

'Colourfully Aware'

(Inspired by the colour of an awareness ribbon...you can find a comprehensive list here)

There's a rather special prize for this challenge...a $30 donation to a charity of the winner's choice!

I picked light blue which represents, among other things, Prostate Cancer, Addison's Disease and Lymphedema. I didn't really know where this card was headed, but found some light blue papers from my 'Prince Charming' pad by Michaels/Recollections and coloured a Penny Black image ('Cat on the Moon') to match...it ended up looking like a baby boy card, so I added a sentiment (from a set by Lili of the Valley, stamped in 'Nautical Blue' Memento Ink). I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Colourfully Aware (Light Blue for, among other things, Prostate Cancer, Addison's Disease and Lymphedema)
• Allsorts - Cats and/or Dogs
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
• Crafter's Cafe - Monochromatic
• Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Something New (New Baby)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Corner - Anything Goes
• Mojo Monday - Sketch #478
• Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - New Something (New Baby)
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Blue, Stars & Stitching
• Sweet Stampin' - Something New (New Baby)

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

PBSC January - Anything Goes!

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...the theme this month is:

'Anything Goes'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used an old favourite...'Birthday Dog'...to make a masculine birthday card. I coloured him using watercolour pencils and combined him with some papers from the 'Awesome Boy' pad by Recollections/Michaels. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

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

• Card Mania - Layer It
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Celebrate
• Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Anything Goes

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

Merry Little Robin

I have another Christmas card to share today...in fact I have some more ready to blog, but I promise that the next post will be less festive! I've used another Christmas present...the 'Merry Little Robin' stamp set by Sweet Dixie...I've never seen these before, but he's really cute! The bunting, robin image & sentiment are all from the set, and I coloured everything using watercolour pencils, then doodled a simple border using a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• CCEE Stampers - Birds
• Cute Card Thursday - What's New (The stamps)
• Little Red Wagon - Something New (The stamps)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Start Afresh (Something new - all of the stamps)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - New Something (The stamps)

ABC Christmas Challenge - January 2017...A & B are for?

Over at the ABC Christmas Challenge, we're starting our eighth trip through the alphabet today...with two letters:

'A is for Anything Goes'

AND

'B is for Things Beginning with B'

We have two amazing sponsors this month:

Sami Stamps

Prize - a $12 Gift Certificate!

AND

Wild Orchid Crafts

Prize - a £10 gift certificate!

And...that's not all...there's also a little prize from me too:

Two Docrafts Christmas stamps!

I made a card for each of the two themes this month...I had lots of lovely new stamps for Christmas...including the new 'Wintertime Cheer' set by Penny Black...and used some of the stamps on my cards. On the first card...for 'Anything Goes'...I used a sweet image of a ct & mouse hurrying along, which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I used some really old papers (from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye)...distressing the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Pollycraft for CC Designs.

On my second card...for 'Things Beginning with B'...I couldn't resist this little pup riding on his tractor! I coloured him brown, and gave him a blue tractor...and a pile of presents wrapped in blue in his little trailer! I also coloured a couple of little birdie stamps from the set, and coloured them to look like robins...then fussy cut all of the images. I created a snowy background for them by smooshing lots of shades of blue Distress Inks on watercolour paper (Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Broken China, Salty Ocean & Chipped Sapphire), then heat embossed my Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' background stamp using WOW 'Sparkling Snow' embossing powder over the top. I cut the snowy ground using a Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border die...adding a sentiment from a Lili of the Valley set.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• Allsorts - Something New (The image stamps)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Something New (The image stamps)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Something New (The image stamps)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Start Afresh (Use something new - the image stamps)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Penny Black Calendar 2017

Every year I decorate a few of the Papermill Shop's 'Create a Calendars' for Christmas presents...and today I'm sharing the one that I made for my Mum. I used all Penny Black stamps, and papers from pads by Crate Paper, My Mind's Eye, American Crafts, Studio Callico & Recollections. I kept the layouts all really simple, using two different papers on each one (I managed to use up lots of snippets too!), just adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Hello 2017
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Open Minded - Stitching (Mine is faux)
• Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Your Favourite Cards of 2016

Happy New Year everyone!

Yesterday, I shared my favourite fives cards of 2016, and today I'm back sharing your favourite cards of mine from last year...I did this last year, and it was interesting to see which posts received the most comments and views...over half of them were Christmas items! For each month I've linked first of all the most commented on card/project, and secondly the most viewed card/project...click on the photos to go to the original posts with all the details.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

(Bit of a snowman theme going on this month!)

September

October

(One project this month...his was also my most viewed post for the whole year!)

November

December
(One project for most comments & views)