Cake Nibbler

I have a simple one layer card to share today...featuring a 'Happy Hopper' stamp from Stampendous called 'Cake Nibbler'. I stamped him on to a kraft card balnk, along with a sentiment from another Stampendous 'House Mouse' set called 'Birthday Splash', then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes (Optional 'Celebrate It')
• Less is More - Anything CAS
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Rainbow Christmas Trees

I have a Christmas card to share today...made using lots of little snippets of brightly coloured card. I cut the Christmas tree shapes using one of the dies from the 'Reindeer' stamp and die set by Hero Arts & Sizzix, then arranged them into a rainbow pattern, popping them up using 3D foam pads. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Rainbow Colours
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Use Dies and/or Punches
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Less is More - Anything CAS
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Trees

Urban Butterfly

Today's card features one of the butterfly stamps from the Papermania 'Butterflies' set (from the Urban Stamps' range. I stamped it on to watercolour paper using Versamark Ink, along with a sentiment from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then heat embossed them using 'Gold Pearl' embossing powder from WOW. I watercoloured the image using Distress Inks (Gathered Twigs for the body, and Peacock Feathers & Uncharted Mariner for the wings). I splattered a little of the inks over the top, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - F is for Flying
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Garden Bugs
• Just Us Girls - CAS Thinking of You
• Krafty Chicks - Any Occasion
• Sweet Stampin' - No Designer Papers

Snowflake Edges

I have another Christmas card to share to share today...featuring one of the stamps from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp. I used my Time Holtz stamping platform to stamp it in the corners of a square of navy card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed using 'Silver Pearl' embossing powder from WOW. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil, embossing that in silver to match. I then matted it on to some silver mirror card before adding it to a matching navy card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Use a Sentiment
• Krafty Chicks - Any Occasion
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

Ice Skating Henry Mouse

I have a Christmas card to share today...featuring an old Whiff of Joy stamp called 'Ice Skating Henry Mouse'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a Chloe Creative Stamps background stamp called 'Christmas Sentiment Background'...stamping it on to a piece of watercolour effect paper (from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations) using Versamark Ink, then heat embossing it in white. I added a snippet of white card along the bottom, then carefully cut Henry out, popped him on top using 3D foam pads, then matted it all on to navy card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Favourite Non-Birthday Reason to Make Cards (Christmas - it's what started my addiction to carkmaking!)
• Christmas Craft Creations - Heat Embossing
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Emboss Your Background
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped

Sanford the Birthday Boy Stuffie

Today's card features a Stamping Bella stamp called 'Sanford the Birthday Boy Stuffie'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I paired him with papers from the 'Let it Snow' pad from Poundland...distressing the edges, then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted the image on to a snippet of kraft card, then layered everything up on a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Lots of Layers

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Masculine')...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

'Masculine'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used the three dog stamps from the 'Doggone Sweet' set by Penny Black to make my Dad a Father's Day card. I stamped them on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I used a piece of paper from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx) for the background...distressing the edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Cardz for Guys - Father's Day
• Daring Cardmakers - Make it Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Masculine
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped

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

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! Carol is the host, and the themes are:

'L is for Lots of Layers'

&

'M is for Mice'

The prize on offer for one lucky winner is this set of Altnew stamps:

For my 'L is for Lots of Layers' card, I used a Hunky Dory image called 'Trimming the Tree'...stamping it on to watercolour apper, and colouring it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Jolly Santa' pad from The Works...distressing the edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

The mouse on my 'M is for Mice' card, is 'XMouse Ornament' by Penny Black. I stamped him directly on to a kraft card blank, then coloured him using watercolour pencils before adding a touch of sparkle to his snowflake using some Stickles. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

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

• Addicted to CAS - One Layer (Second card only)
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Trees (First card only)
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped (Optional 'CAS') (Second card only)

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

Fish are Jumpin'

It was my Dad's birthday at the weekend, and today I'm sharing the card that I made for him. The image is 'Fish are Jumpin'' by Penny Black...I stamped it on to some watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Party Day' and 'Awesome Boy' pads 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 was made using a couple of stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Masculine
• Creative Knockouts - Outside Fun
• Cutie Pie - Dads and/or Lads
• Happy Little Stampers (Birthdays) - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Masculine

Rainbow Sketched Flowers

Today's card features my favourite floral stamp...'Sketched Flowers' by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped it on to watercolour paper using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it in white. I stuck the paper down on to a piece of board using masking tape, then brushed over the entire piece with water, before blending watercolour paints over the top in a rainbow pattern. Once dry, I trimmed it down, then added a sentiment from the same stamp set, distressed the edges, and matted it on to some black card (distressing the edges of that too), before adding it to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - Watercolours
• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Birthdays')
• As You Like It - Pastel or Bright (Bright colours for me...always look so cheerful!)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Bright
• Incy Wincy - Rainbow and/or Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Flowers
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Stamped
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped

A Wish & a Kiss

Today's card is a simple one layer Christmas card, that features a cute Penny Black duck stamp called 'A Wish & a Kiss'. I stamped him directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Foxy Christmas' set by Woodware, then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - One Layer
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Six of Something or a Farm Animal
• Christmas with the Cuties - Something Simple
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - One Layer CAS
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Little Red Wagon - Things that Fly
• We Love Stamping - Anything Stamped (Optional 'CAS')

Lil Bear - Cake

Today's card features an old digi stamp by Bugaboo Stamps called 'Lil Bear - Cake'. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Birthday Wishes' set (from the 'Mulberry Wood' collection) by Crafter's Companion. The papers are from an old Crate Paper pad called 'Party Day' pad...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. 

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Cardz for Guys - Lots of Layers
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - For a Man or Boy

June Desk Calendar

Today I'm sharing my desk calendar page for June. The sweet hedgie image is from the 'Hello Friend' set by Penny Black, and once again, I stamped directly on to the calendar page, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Not a Card
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Masculine')

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

'Masculine'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used a fabulous chicken stamp on my card called 'Best of Luck!'...which I stamped on to watercolour paper, then coloured using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment (from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches), and paired it with papers from the 'Party Day' pad by Crate Paper...distressing the edges, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Crafty Catz - Cute for a Guy
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Birthdays')
• Everybody Art - Something for Men
• I Spy with My Little Eye - Something with Wings
• Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act
• My Time to Craft - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Wings
• Sweet Stampin' - Things with Wings
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Birds

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

Winter House

I have a Christmas card to share today, made using a Cuttlebug embossing folder that I picked up earlier this week in a charity shop. It's called 'Winter House', and I used it to emboss a snippet of white card. As it has an embossed border around the edge, and is not quite the right size for an A6 card, I trimmed it down, then lightly distressed the edges. I cut a 'snowdrift' from another snippet of white card using one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border dies, distressed that a little, then added it along the bottom to cover the border at the bottom. I used some of the dies from my Tim Holtz/Sizzix 'WInter Wonderland' set to cut a few deer from some more snippets of white card, then placed them along the bottom of the panel before adding it to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Use Your Scraps
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Use Your Stuff - Anything Goes