Skating Penguin

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features one of the penguins from the 'Les Penguins' set of stamps by Katzelkraft. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, drew a line for the icy ground using a black gel pen, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then carefully cut around the top of the image. For the background, I used a piece of 'snowy sky' paper from the 'Christmas' pad by Craft Sensations, layered it behind the image then added some gold metallic die cut stars (cut using dies from the 'Snowy Stars' set by Tim Holtz for Sizzix). I matted it all on to some more gold mirror card before adding it to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Winter
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Once Upon a Time - Mr Popper's Penguins
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Winter Wonderland
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Watercolour Snowflakes

I have a Christmas card to share today...made without stamping, not something I do very often! I started by making the background...embossing a piece of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations using a Sizzix 'Snowflakes' embossing folder. I distressed the edges a little, then sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core of the paper. For the sentiment, I used a Creative Expressions die...cutting it three times from snippets of white card, then carefully layering them up for more dimension, before adding it to the embossed background.

Here's a better look at the texture:

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Snowflakes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add Some Texture

Scooting Along!

Today's card features a cute Penny Black hedgie stamp called 'Scooting Along'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of paper from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections from Michaels (found at TK Maxx)...I distressed all of the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Cardz for Guys - No Balls Sports
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions

I Ruff You!

Today's card features a cute little pup from an old Penny Black clear stamp set called 'Critter Party'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour card, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I made a simlpe background by heat embossing a heart background stamp in white on a snippet of blue watercolour effect paper (from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations). I distressed the edges a little, then added the pup on top using some 3D foam pads. The sentiment is from the 'Furry Friends' set by Funky Fossil.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - CAS (Optional 'Love is the Air')
• Allsorts - January Blues
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Winter Blues

Prank Call

Today's card was inspired by the 'Let's Have Some Fun' theme of the current Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) Challenge. I couldn't resist using this adorable Penny Black stamp called 'Prank Call'...not sure that 'The Cat' will be having as much fun as them! I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Vinatge Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Your Favourite Paper Brand (I think it's very unfair to make me choose a favourite...they're ALL my favourites...but Craft Sensations are probably my most used at the moment...there are so many different styles, and they're really good value)
• Dream Valley - Two or More Papers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Let's Have Some Fun
• The Male Room - Funny

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')

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

'Something New'

(New Year, New Craft Stash, New Baby, New Home, New Job...)

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

Now, if you saw my original 'Something New' challenge post a couple of weeks ago, you would be forgiven for thinking that I'm posting the same project...but this is a different calendar! This is the one I made for my Aunt for Christmas. The blank calendar is from the Paper Mill and I used a different assortment of Penny Black images on this one. I stamped all of the images on to watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut the circle and oval shapes using some of my Nesties. Again, I used lots of snippets of older papers to decorate each page...I distressed the edges of all of the papers, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Fab & Funky - Stamp It
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - New Beginnings (New Year)

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

Guest Designer - I Spy With My Little Eye Challenge!

Today, I'm excited to be sharing a Guest Designer project for Ellie's I Spy With My Little Eye Challenge, where the theme this month is:

'Hearts and/or Roses'

I hoped to combine 'Hearts and Roses', so picked a cute Penny Black hedgie stamp to use on my card called 'Park Bench Affair', that features a bunch of roses. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Happy Watercolours' pad from The Works...using an old Sizzix 'Hearts' embossing folder to emboss the plain-ish pink paper. I lightly sanded over the raised embossing to reveal some of the white core, then distressed all of the edges, and added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I layered up a couple of old Prima Hydrangea flowers, and used an old BasicGrey brad to hols them in place. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp.

For more inspiration for this challenge, please pop over to I Spy With My Little Eye - thanks so much for having me Ellie!

Fancy Foliage

Today's card features another stamp that I received for Christmas...'Fancy Foliage' by Julie Hickey. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Sketched Flowers' set by Simon Says Stamp, then coloured it in shades of green and pink using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges, then matted it on to some dark green card, before adding it to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'No Designer Paper')
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - New Craft Item (The floral stamp is new)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• We Love Stamping - Something New (The floral stamp is new)

Just Wishing You...

Today's card features some goodies that I got for Christmas...a cute Penny Black hedgie stamp called 'Just Wishing You...' and a piece of navy & gold starry night sky paper from the 'Christmas Night' pad from The Works. I stamped the image on to watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment from a really old C. C. Designs/Pollycraft stamp set. I distressed all of the edges, then matted the image on to gold card before layering it all on to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Christmas Kickstart - A Touch of Gold
• C.R.A.F.T. - New (The stamp & papers are new)
• I Spy with My Little Eye - Something Old and/or New (The sentiment stamp is very old, and the hedgie stamp and paper is new)
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• My Time to Craft - Somehting New in Your Stash (The stamp & papers are new)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas

ABC Christmas Challenge - A & B are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge...and today, we are starting our fifteenth trip through the alphabet! I'm the host, and the themes are:

'A is for Anything Christmas Goes

&

'B is for Berries'

The prize for the lucky winner is this stamp set & paper pad:

On my 'A is for Anything Christmas' card, I used a stamp that I got for Christmas, called 'Starry Reindeers' by Woodware Stamps. I stamped it on to watercolour paper using Versamark Ink, along with a sentiment from the set, then heat embossed them in gold. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, adding some shimmer to the stars using gold mica pigment mixed with water. I distressed the edges a little, then matted it on to some gold mirror card before adding it to a kraft DL card blank.

For my 'B is for Berries' card, I used another new stamp 'Christmas Bells' by Denami Design, which I stamped itno the centre of a piece of black card using Versamark Ink and then heat embossed it in gold. I then used my stamping platform to repeat stamp my 'Sketchy Sprigs' stamp (by Woodware Stamps) around the edges...again heat embossing it in gold. I watercoloured the image using Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water. I matted it on to some gold mirror card, then added it to a white card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

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

• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New
• We Love Stamping - Something New (First card only - the stamps are new)

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

Background Poppies Sympathy

Today's card features a 'new to me' stamp by Hero Arts called 'Background Poppies' that I received for Christmas. I inked it up with 'Twilight' ink (by Versafine), and stamped it on to a snippet of smooth card...repeating the process a few times to get a really saturated image. Once dry, I stamped a sentiment (from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image) over the top using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it in gold. I trimmed it down, then matted it on to a snippet of gold mirror card before adding it to my card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Sympathy
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (The floral stamp is new)
• Sweet Stampin' - What's New with You? (The floral stamp is new)
• We Love Stamping - Something New (The floral stamp is new)

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')

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

'Something New'

(New Year, New Craft Stash, New Baby, New Home, New Job...)

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

For my 'Something New', I went with 'New Year' and am sharing one of the Penny Black calendars I made for Christmas gifts. I've been decorating some of these Paper Mill calendars for Christmas gifts since 2009, and each year use an assortment of Penny Black images, and lots of snippets of older papers to decorate each page. I stamped all of the images on to watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut the circle and oval shapes using some of my Nesties. I distressed the edges of all of the papers, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black or white gel pens.

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

• Krafty Chicks - Stamps
• Little Red Wagon - What's New?
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - A New Start
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New

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