I Baked a Cake!

Today's card features another old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'I Baked a Cake!'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Bumblebee's Dance' pad by The Paper Boutique, distressing the edges before adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted all the layers onto some lilac card, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - F is for Food
• My Time to Craft - Two or More Designer Papers

Deckchair Dreaming

Today's card features an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Deckchair Dreaming'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then matted it onto some yellow card, distressing the edges a little, before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Sunshine
• CAS on Friday - Animal
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• We Love Stamping - Sun, Sea & Sand

Blue Snowy

I have a Christmas card to share today featuring one of my favourite (and most used) Penny Black stamps...'Snowy'. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered it over a snippet of snowy paper from the 'Snowscape' pad by Woodware, then matted it onto a snippet of navy card before adding it to a card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Blue Christmas
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Moodboard Inspiration
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Goes

Blooming Meadow

Today's card features an old Hero Arts stamp called 'Blooming Meadow'. I inked it by mixing Distress Inks (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch and Mowed Lawn) with a little water, and painting them onto the stamp. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Pretty Flowers
• Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Birthday
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Summer Flowers

Candy Cane Bartles

Today's card features a cute little pup stamp from Purple Onion called 'Bartles'. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, added a sentiment from the 'Santa's Sweets' set by Penny Black, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used 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.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Critters
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Stars and/or Stripes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stitch It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'On or In the Water')...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

'On or In the Water'

We're currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

The image I used on my card is called 'Friendship'. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. I made a simple background from a snippet of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations for the sky, and a couple of snippets from the 'Pastel Watercolours' pad from The Works for the sea...tearing the top edges to look like the breaking waves. I layered it onto a snippet of teal card, then added it to an A5 card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

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

• AAA Birthday - Summer Birthday
• Cardz for Guys - Summer Holidays
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters
• Sparkles Forum - Summer Days
• We Love Stamping - Sun, Sea & Sand

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

Furry Christmas

I have another Christmas card to share today, featuring stamps from the 'Gift Exchange' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them directly onto a white card blank, then added a sentiment using one of the stamps from another Anita Jeram set called 'Furry Christmas'. I coloured them using watercolour pencils, then added a snippet of spotty paper along the edge of the card, cutting the curve using one of my 'Stitched Hillside' border stamps (from Lawn Fawn), then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Christmas
• CAS on Friday - Christmas in July
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Little Red Wagon - Cats (& other pets)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stitch It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters
• The Male Room - Dogs and/or Cats
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Stripes and/or Dots

Joyful Snowflakes

I have a Christmas card to share today. I started by stamping my Simon Says Stamp 'Outline Snowflakes' background stamp onto watercolour paper using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I wet the whole paper with some clean water, then loosely painted the background using 'Picked Raspberry', 'Wilted Violet' and 'Salty Ocean' Distress Inks, allowing the colours to blend. Once dry, I trimmed it into a square, and distressed the edges a little before adding it to a white card blank. I cut a sentiment using a Penny Black die called simply 'Joy' from a snippet of white card, and a couple of snowflakes using dies from the Tim Holtz/Sizzix 'Paper Snowflakes - Mini' set, then added those to the background.

Challenges for this card:

• Aud Sentiments - Tags and/or Christmas in July + Sentiment
• Crafty Gals Corner - _____________ in July (Christmas)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Use a Die Cut
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Embossing
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

Sketched Flowers Bookmark

I have a bookmark to share today...made from a snippet of kraft card left over from making a square card blank from an A4 sheet of card. I trimmed it down a little, then stamped a music background stamp from Hero Arts onto it using 'Smokey Gray' Versafine ink. I then stamped my Simon Says Stamp 'Sketched Flowers' stamp over the top using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. I added stamped sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Sending Sunshine' set (also by Simon Says Stamp), embossing it in gold to match, then coloured the flowers using metallic watercolour paints in shades of pink and purple.

It's wonderfully shiny, but that makes it tricky to photograph, but here's another angle that shows the colours a little better:

Challenges for this bookmark:

• As You Like It - Favourite Non-Card Project (I often give books as gifts, and always like to make a bookmark to go with it)
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Fun with Paint
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Emboss It
• Stamping Sensations - Summer Flowers

Birthday Balloons!

Today's card features a trio of Penny Black hedgies with balloons. The one with the party hat is from the 'Cheerful Critters' set, and the other two are old wood block stamps that I picked up in charity shops...'Ballooning!' and 'Bouncing with Joy'. I stamped them all onto a piece of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'What This!' set by the Coloraado Craft Company, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works...distressing the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. 

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - For a Child
• Crafty Catz - Child's Birthday
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Birthday
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday

ABC Christmas Challenge - N & O are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...I'm the host, and the themes are:

'N is for Non-Christmas Stash'

&

'O is for One Layer Cards'

This is the prize for the lucky winner:

For my 'N is for Non'Christmas Stash' card, I picked one of the cats from the 'Jazzy Cats' set by Penny Black. I stamped him onto a snippet watercolour paper, added a sentiment from the 'Joy to the World' set (also by Penny Black). I used one of my circle Nesties to cut him out, and cut a matching scalloped circle mat from a snippet of kraft card. The papers are also from 'Non-Christmas' pads, but in Christmassy colours...the light green and red stripey papers are snippets from the 'Party Day' pad by Crate Paper, and the dark green snippet is from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and white gel pen.

For my 'O is for One Layer Card' card, I used a Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Carolers'. I stamped it directly onto a kraft card blank, added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils.

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

• Christmas Kickstart - Spots, Dots & Circles (First card only)
• Inkspirational - Three of a Kind (Second card only)
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Second card only)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas in July (Second card only)

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

Burst into Bloom Thank You

I have a simple 'Thank You' card to share today. The floral stamp is called 'Burst into Bloom' by Woodware Stamps. I stamped it onto a piece of smooth white card, along with a sentiment stamp from the 'Brushstroke Expressions' set by My Favorite Things, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I matted it onto a piece of pink card, distressing the edges a little, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Thank You
• CAS on Friday - Botanical
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Sending Flowers
• Stamping Sensations - Summer Flowers

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'On or In the Water')

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

'On or In the Water'

We are currently without a sponsor, so this challenge is just for fun.

I have a few 'watery' stamps in my Penny Black collection, and picked 'Fish Are Jumpin'' to use on my card. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The background paper is from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and black and white gel pens.

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

• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Little Red Wagon - Bold/Bright Colours
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - In the Water

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

Par Avion

I have a Christmas card to share today...featuring a cute Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Par Avion'. I stamped it directly onto a kraft DL card blank, along with a sentiment from an old Lili of the Valley set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - F is for Feathers
• Creative Knockouts - Christmas in July
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas in July
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

July Desk Calendar

As it's the first of the month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for July. The image is from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black...I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. For the background, I used snippets of patterned paper from three diffferent pads...the 'cloudy sky' is from the 'Cut & Paste - Charm' pad by My Mind's Eye, the checked yellow 'cornfield' is from an unnamed pad from The Works, and the spotty grey 'tarmac' is from the 'Breeze' pad also by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges a little before matting it onto a snippet of kraft card and adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes