Desk Calendar July

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for July - how are we already half-way through the year?!?! I've kept up with my Penny Black stamp theme, and have picked one of the little critters from the 'Bubbly' set. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolou pencils, before cutting the circle shape using one of my Nesties. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges a little before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Floral Happiness

Today's card features a Julie Hickey stamp called 'Floral Happiness'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it in shades of purple and green using watercolour pencil. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Bless Your Heart' set by Stamps by Me. I distressed the edges a little, before adding the panel to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - Two Colours (Purple & Green)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Clean & Simple
• Use Your Stuff - Plants/Flowers

Polar Pals

I have a Christmas card to share today that features an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Polar Pals'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut around the top of the image. I made a simple snowy sky background by embossing a snippet of paper form the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations' using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' embossing folder, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal the white core.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Card Throwdown - Dry Embossing
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Clean & Simple

The Park Bench Affair

Today's card features a Penny Black stamp I picked up in a charity shop a few weeks ago called 'The Park Bench Affair'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pecils. I paired it with papers from the 'Happy Colours' and Watercolour Moods' pads from The Works...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 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Something to Say
• Fab 'N' Funky - Summer Colours
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Add Layers
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped

Xmouse Ornament

Today's card features an 'oldie but a goodie' from Penny Black called 'Xmouse Ornament'. I stamped him on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment (another old wood mounted Penny Black stamp), then coloured him using watercolour pencils, adding some Stickles to his snowflake for a little sparkle.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Less is More - One Layer Card + Just One Image
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Clean & Simple
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped
• Winter Wonderland - Flying High

Gone Fishing!

Today, I'm sharing the card I made for my Dad for Father's Day. The image is called 'Gone Fishing' from the 'Mulberry Wood' collection by Crafter's Companion...I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Vintage Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations...I used a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders (Swiss Dots and Spots & Dots) to emboss the plainer ones, then distressed all of the edges, before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I made the sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, and 'Everyday Messages' set by Happy Little Stampers.

Challenges for this card:

• Cardz for Guys - Father's Day
• CCEE Stampers - Fathers
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Friends - Men/Boys
• Creative Knockouts - Two or More Patterned Papers
• Moving Along with the Times - Masculine/Father's Day
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Simply Create Too - Patterned Papers
• Stamping Sensations - Masculine
• Sweet Stampin' - Father's Day/Masculine

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Transport')...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'
or

'Transport'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I picked a tractor for my form of transport this time, with a pup stamp from the 'Wintertime Cheer' set. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I used a piece of paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations as a snowy sky background, then layered up some trees (cut from a snippet of white card using my Penny Black 'Christmas Tree Border' die) behind some snowy hills (cut from another snippet of white card, using one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies), and a simple torn snippet of card over the top for the snowy ground. I added a stamped sentiment (from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil), then the tractor driving pup on top using 3D foam pads.

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

• Christmas Kickstart - Perfectly Pawsome Christmas
• C.R.A.F.T. - Transport
• Dream Valley - Add a Sentiment
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Seasonal Landscapes

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

Flowerfly

Today's card features another stamp I got recently from a charity shop for the princely sum of 75p! It's an old woodmounted Stampendous stamp called 'Flowerfly', and I stamped it on to a white card blank using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder from WOW. I added some colour to the flowers on the tips of the wings using some Cosmic Shimmers mica pigment mixed with a little water. The sentiment, also embossed in gold, is from the 'Just for You' set by Penny Black.

Here's a close-up of the shimmer:

Challenges for this card:

• Dream Valley - Add a Sentiment
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Perfectly CAS - One Quarter
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Sparkles Forum - Things with Wings
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped

Baby Hammock

Today's card features a cute Penny Black stamp that I picked up in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago, called 'Baby Hammock'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils before cutting it into a circle using one of my Nesties. I paired it with papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges a little, then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I added a sentiment (from a set by Art Impressions) stamped on to a snippet of paper from the same pad.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Any Stamped Image
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampers - Animals

Guest Designer - AAA Cards Challenge!

A couple of month's ago I was picked as one of the favourites of a challenge over at AAA Cards, and asked to guest design for a future challenge which starts today. The game this week is 1/9th with optional 'Butterflies':

If you're not sure what this means...simply divide your card base into 9 rectangles/squares, and keep your entire design (including the sentmiment) within one of the rectangles/squares:

I used a white, square card blank and picked the centre 9th for my butterfly (it's from the 'Butterflies' set from the 'Urban Stamps' range by Papermania), stamping it directly on to my card blank using Versamark ink. I then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold' embossing powder from WOW, before adding a sentiment (also heat embossed in gold) from the 'Just for YOu' set by Penny Black. To colour my butterfly, I used Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments...mixing them with a little water to create a paint.

As always with shiny, shimmery things, it's really difficult to get it to show in a photo, but here's a close-up of the butterfly that shows it a little better:

For more inspiration from the wonderful AAA Cards design team, please pop over to their challenge - thanks for having me!

Birthday Dog

It's my Dad's birthday today and this is the card that I've made for him. I used an 'oldie but a goodie' stamp from Penny Black called 'Birthday Dog'...one of the first stamps I ever bought, and still one of my favourites! I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then cut the circle using one of my Nesties. I used papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...although these are all spotty, no flowers in sight! I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamps are from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Male
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Cute Animals')
• Creative Inspirations - Masculine
• Fab 'N' Funky - Celebrations
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Bright & Cheerful
• Stamping Sensations - Masculine
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Use Your Stuff - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - L & M are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Julie is the host, and the themes are:

'L is for Little'

&

'M is for Music'

There's a little prize from Julie for the winner:

For my 'L is for Little' card, I used one of the images from the 'Christmas Critters' set by Penny Black...stamping him directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment from the 'Many Blessings' set by Hero Arts, then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

I picked another Penny Black image to use on my 'M is for Music' card called 'Carolers', stamping it on to watercolour paper, then colouring it using watercolour pencils. I used a couple of papers from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio for the background...distressing the edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Little Critters
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Cute Christmas Critters
• Sweet Stampin' - Three of a Kind (Three Chickens)
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

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

Man's Best Friend

Today's card features one of the little pups from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black. I stamped him directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment from the 'Just for You!' set (also by Penny Black), then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Little Critters

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Transport')

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'
or
'Transport'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I have a surprising number of Penny Black stamps that feature a mode of transport, but picked this cow taking her chicken friends for a ride called '...for a spin'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are a mixture of 'Happy Colours' and 'Watercolour Feelings' from The Works...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamps are from the 'Everyday Sentiments' set by Happy Little Stampers.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Card Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Summer Colours
• Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act

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

Desk Calendar - June

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for June...which features a cheerleading hedgehog from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils, before cutting him out using one of my circle Nesties. I used snippets of papers from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works...distressing the edges a little before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything but Birthday
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Little Critters