James - Big Heart

I have a simple little one layer card to share today...featuring a couple of Lili of the Valley stamps...the image is 'James - Big Heart'. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then doodled a simple border using a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crazy Challenge - Love
• Dream Valley - Love
• Less is More - One Layer Card & Cute
• Shopping Our Stash - Valentine's
• Sweet Stampin' - Valentine's/Love

Birthday Dog

My crafting (and baking) ban is over...it was self-imposed since the beginning of the month while I caught up with my music arranging 'to-do' list...so I celebrated by baking brownies (yum!) and making some cards this weekend! I began my craft marathon today by sorting through all of my stamps...integrating my recent acquisitions...and rediscovering some old favourites, including this one...'Birthday Dog' by Penny Black. He's one of the first Penny Black stamps I bought, and he still gets a regular inking. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, cut him out with one of my Nesties, and then added a simple doodled border. The snippet of paper is from the 'Blue Floral' pad by My Mind's Eye, and the sentiment stamp is from a set by Lili of the Valley.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Old Favourites
• CAS on Friday - Use Markers or Pencils
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Birthday

Snowy & Sparkly

Today I'm sharing the last of the cards I made over the Christmas holiday...and surprise, surprise...it's a Christmas card! I picked up the snowflake stamp (by Papermania) recently in a charity shop, and I'd give a quick stamp...just to give it a test! I stamped it (along with a sentiment stamp form a Lili of the Valley set) in Versamark Ink on to a navy card blank, then heat embossed them using 'Sparkling Snow' powder by WOW.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional Something New - the stamp is new)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Deep Ocean - Let it Snow
• Gem of a Challenge - Blue
• Merry Monday - Let it Snow
• Rudolph Days - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Cold & Frosty Colours
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Winter
• Winter Wonderland - Embossing

Sparkly Dragonflies

I have a couple of simple thank you cards to share today...featuring another new stamp...the 'Dragonfly Dinkie' by Indigo Blu. I was using it to test another new WOW embossing glitter...called 'Sensational Sage'...so I stamped it on to white and black card to see how the colour showed up. I inked around the edges of the panels, then embossed those too. I stamped and embossed the sentiments too...they're from the 'Heartfelt Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

Christmas Cake

I have a simple Christmas card to share today...it features a new stamp simply called 'Christmas Cake' by Woodware. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added some shimmer to the cake's icing using a clear Wink of Stella pen. I added the matching sentiment from the stamp set, then doodled a simple border and matted the image on to a snippet of red card.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes (Use a Sentiment)
• Creative Inspirations - Something New (The stamps are new)
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Goes (Optional CAS)
• Heartful Stamping - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Something New (The stamp is new)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Though the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Thank You and/or Black & White

It's the third Sunday of the month, so that means we have some more inspiration and an additional theme for this month's Pile It On! Challenge where the themes are:

'Thank You'
and/or
'Black, White & a Pop of Colour'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Sasayaki Glitter

Prize - 1 Digital Image

I heat embossed my 'Floral Dream' background stamp by Stampendous using  'Coral Reef' embossing glitter by WOW...it's so sparkly in real life! I trimmed it down, then matted the panel on to some black card. I stamped a sentiment (from a set that came free with a magazine) in white pigment ink on a snippet of black card, then heat embossed it using white powder. I popped the sentiment up using some 3D foam pads, then added everything to my white card base.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Thank You and/or Black, White & a Pop of Colour
• Daring Cardmakers - Black, White & a Pop of Colour
• Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Sparkles Forum - Thank You

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'

(In fact, all of our challenges will now be 'Anything Goes', but from next month we will have an additional optional theme for those of you that like a prompt)

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I've used a new (to me) stamp that I found in a charity shop recently...called 'Uplifting Occasion!'. I coloured it using watercolour pencils to match the colours in the papers...they're from the 'Vintage Charm' pad by My Mind's Eye. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitches using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The flowers are by Prima, and the brads are BasicGrey.

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

• Craftaholics R Us - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - In Stitches
• Cute Card Thursday - Something Fun
• Fab 'N' Funky - Girly
• Fussy & Fancy - Distress It
• Penny Black & More - Something New (The stamp is new...to me)
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

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

Bethlehem Nights

I have a clean and simple Christmas card to share today. I was the lucky winner of a challenge over at WOW recently, and picked up some lovely new embossing glitters with my prize. I used one of them to heat emboss my 'Bethlehem Nights' stamp by Stampendous. The powder is called 'Silent Night' and is a really pretty blend of gunmetal grey/black/silver glitter. I trimmed around the image, then simply distressed the edges before mounting it on to my card blank.

Here's a better look at the sparkle:

Challenges for this card:

• CAS-ology - Glimmer
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - CAS
• My Time to Craft - Something New (The embossing powder)
• Simply Create Too - Embossing
• Use Your Stuff - Monochrome

Crazy Dogs

I have a birthday card for a little boy to share today...featuring some of Tim Holtz's 'Crazy Dogs'. I coloured the dogs using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out. I used snippets of spotty papers (from the 'Awesome Boy' pad by Recollections/Michaels), placing a different colour in each corner of my card blank. I cut some apertures in a piece of kraft card using one of my circle Nesties for the dogs to peek through, and stamped a sentiment (from a set by Lili of the Valley) in the centre. I trimmed the dogs down, then added them using 3D foam pads, and a number sentiment in the final 'window' made using Nesties & my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Heartful Stamping - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Masculine
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Patterned Papers
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Sparkle on your Birthday!

I have another card featuring some new stamps to share today...this set is called 'Mimi Bubble Blooms - Annie' by Woodware. I started by smooshing some Distress Inks (Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers & Cracked Pistachio) on to a piece of watercolour paper. I then stamped the flowers over the top using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed them with 'Vintage Peacock' embossing glitter from WOW. I added the sentiment from the stamp set, distressed the edges and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

I 'coloured' the 'bubbles' on the flowers using a clear Sakura Stardust pen...th whole card is really sparkly in real life...you can see it a little better in this photo:

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - No Patterned Papers
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Something New (The stamps are new)
• Dream Valley - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Flowers
• Shopping Our Stash - Out with the Old, In with the New (Old Inks & New Stamps) 
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Winter Blues
• Stampavie & More - Something New (The stamps are new)
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Use Stamps

Patchwork Owls

I have a pair of clean & simple cards to share today, featuring some owl stamps by Woodware that I picked up recently in a charity shop. I stamped the owls on to kraft card blanks, along with a sentiment from the same set, then paper pieced them with lots of snippets of My Mind's Eye papers.

Papers - My Mind's Eye 'Floral Blue'

Papers - My Mind's Eye 'Stella & Rose - Mabel'

Challenges for these cards:

• Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Craftaholics R Us - Use Patterned Paper
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Heartful Stamping - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Patterned Papers
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Happy Birthday Fishes!

I had burst of crafting activity over Christmas and the New Year, so although I'm on a strict 'no crafting' ban at the moment (I have lots of work to do!) I still have lots of cards to share. This one uses stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches that I got for Christmas. I started with watercolour paper that I'd smooshed with Distress Inks...an orange piece for the fish (Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade & Fired Brick) and a blue piece for the sea (Broken China, Stormy Sky, Salty Ocean & Chipped Sapphire). I stamped the fish, added a little extra colour (using watercolour pencils) to their party hats, then carefully cut them out and gave them googly eyes. I stamped a sentiment (from the same stamp set) on the background, then doodled a simple border using a black gel pen. I mounted the fish on to the card using some 3D foam pads, then added a few sequins to look like bubbles in the water.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Celebrations
• Gem of a Challenge - Happy Anything 
• Penny Black & More - Something New (The stamp set is new)
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (The stamp set is new)

Pile It On! Challenge - Thank You!

It's the first Sunday of the month, so that means that we have a fun new Pile It On! Challenge starting today...the theme is:

'Thank You'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Sasayaki Glitter

Prize - 1 Digital Image

I used my new 'Big Butterfly' stamp from Indigo Blu again on my card...in fact I made it at the same time as these ones I blogged last week...but used a different technique. I started by stamping the butterfly on to watercolour paper using Versafine 'Smokey Gray' ink. I then used Distress Inks (Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Broken China and Mermaid Lagoon) to watercolour the image. I added a sentiment (from the 'Heartfelt Wishes' set by Hero Arts), also stamped in 'Smokey Gray' ink, and distressed the edges of the watercolour paper a little before mounting it on to my card blank.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Thank You
• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Artistic Stamper - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - 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.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge January - Anything Goes!

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

'Anything Goes'

(In fact, all of our challenges will now be 'Anything Goes', but from next month we will have an additional optional theme for those of you that like a prompt)

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

My project for this challenge is a 2018 Penny Black calendar. I buy a few of the blank 'Create a Calendars' from Paper Mill Direct to decorate and give as Christmas presents each year, and this is the one I made for my Mum. They still have some available here if you fancy making yourself one.

I used a variety of Penny Black stamps and papers from lots of different manufacturers...far too many to list, but I did manage to use up lots of snippets! Here's a look at each of the months:

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

• Animal Friends - New Beginnings
• Cut It Up - Calendars
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New (New Year)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - A & B are for?

Over at the ABC Christmas Challenge, we're starting our ninth (!) trip through the alphabet...I'm the host, and the themes for this month are:

'A is for Antlers'

and

'B is for Birds'

We have two wonderful sponsors for this challenge:

Wild Orchid Crafts

Prize - £20 Gift Certificate!

and

Neat & Tangled

Prize - $25 Gift Certificate!

There's also a little prize from me too...a DoCrafts Christmas stamps:

I made a card for each of the themes...and on my 'A is for Antlers' card, I used a new (to me) die set by Tim Holtz (for Sizzix) called 'Winter Wonderland'. I started by cutting the deer from snippets of kraft card...then inked them with a little 'Brushed Corduroy' and 'Gathered Twigs' Distress Ink. To make the sky, I took a piece of watercolour paper that I'd 'smooshed' with various shades of blue Distress Inks (Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Broken China, Salty Ocean & Chipped Sapphire), and used the 'falling snow' die in the set a couple of times, then added a piece of plain white card behind it. I used my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies to cut the snowy slopes, then layered them all up, and placed the deer on top. 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:

• Everybody Art - Latest Purchase (I bought the die set last weekend)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New (The die set is new)
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

I stuck with some old favourites on my 'B is for Birds' card...using a trio of chickens by Penny Black called 'Carolers', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Christmas Cheer' pad by Lily Bee Design...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is again from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Shopping Our Stash - Watercolour (I used watercolour pencils)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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