October Desk Calendar

I'm sneaking on a day early with my October desk calendar page, as I have another post scheduled for tomorrow. I used stamps from the Penny Black 'Be Very Scared!' set...stamping the kitty onto a snippet of watercolour paper, colouring him using watercolour pencils, before carefully cutting him out. I stamped the spider onto a snippet of starry sky paper (not sure what brand it is, as I've had it for years and only have tiny snippets left), then coloured the white of his eyes using a white gel pen, and gave him some snazzy sparkly glasses using a gold glitter gel pen. I added a snippet of green patterned paper (I think this is by My Mind's Eye, but again, it's old and I only have tiny snippets left!) along the bottom, before adding the kitty on top. I distressed the edges, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Moodboard
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Dotty Flowers

Today's card features an old Penny Black stamp called 'Dotty Flowers'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold' embossing powder from WOW. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added a matching gold embossed sentiment using a stamp from the 'Signature Greetings' set by Memory Box. I matted it onto some pink card...distressing all of the edges, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - CAS
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Single Flower

Jolly Friends

I have a Christmas card to share today...featuring one of the cute critter stamps from the 'Jolly Friends' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto a piece of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye...distressing the edges and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Trees
• Inkspirational - Trees
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Your Favourite Brand (My Mind's Eye was one of the first brands I fell for - they had such cute designs, but sadly they no longer seem to do patterned papers for crafting, so I'm eking out the last of my supplies!)
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Have Your Cake & Eat it Too!

Today's card features House Mouse stamps from a set by Stampendous called 'Birthday Splash'. I stamped the image and one of the sentiments onto a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I cut the circle shape using one of my Nesties, then cut a matching scalloped circle mat from some aqua coloured card. I paired it with papers from the 'Geometrie' pad by Folia Paper...distressing all of the edges, before adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favourite Die (My circle Nesties - such a simple shape, but I could never cut one so neat by hand!)
• Crafty Calendar - Lots of Layers
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes (Optional 'Birthdays')
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Starry Reindeer

Today's card features a Woodware stamp set called 'Starry Reindeer'. I stamped it, along with one of the sentiments from the set, onto watercolour paper using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it all using 'Metallic Gold' embossing powder from WOW. I coloured the reindeer using watercolour pencils, then added some shine to the stars, and doodled a simple border using a gold gel pen. I matted it onto some gold mirror card, lightly distressing the edges, then added it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Slimline Cards
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

PBSC September - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spots and/or Stripes')

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

'Spots and/or Stripes'

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

I picked a cute little mouse image from the 'It's Your Day!' set...and stamped him directly onto a kraft card blank. I added some stripes to his balloon using a black gel pen, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• I Spy with Little Eye - Something Clean & Simple
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• We Love Stamping - Make it Cute

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

Sending Christmas Cheer

I have a Christmas card to share today, that features an old Anita's stamp. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from an old Lili of the Valley set), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted it onto some red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Fab 'N' Funky - Cute as a Button

Moo Birthday!

Today's card features a fun Penny Black stamp called 'Moo Birthday'. I stamped it directly onto a white card blank, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - CAS
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Birthdays

Silver Snowflakes

I have a Christmas card to share today, inspired by the 'Teal and Silver' colour combination of this week's 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge. Teal is my favourite colour, so I couldn't resist! I used snowflake stamps from the 'Big & Bold - Winter Wishes Snowflake' set from the Colorado Craft Company, and 'Let it Snow' set from Happy Little Stampers, stamping them onto a snippet of teal card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them using 'Metallic Silver' embossing powder from WOW. I added a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Festive Flurry - Baubles & Bows' set by Creative Expressions, embossing that in silver to match, then matted the panel onto a snippet of silver mirror card before adding it to a white card balnk.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Teal & Silver
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Time Out - Favourite Season (Winter - I love cold & frosty weather...and Christmas!)

Noel

Today's card features an unbranded wooden Christmas stamp that I picked up from a charity shop a couple of weeks ago. I stamped it onto a snippet of black card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using gold metallic embossing powder from WOW. I watercoloured the image using Cosmic Shimmers pigments mixed with water, then matted it onto some gold mirror card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - Gold
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Holly

ABC Christmas Challenge - S & T are for?

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

'S is for Stockings'

&

'T is for Trees'

The prize for the lucky winner is a set of Christmas tree dies, and a set of sentiment stamps:

For my 'S is for Stockings' card, I used a cute Anita Jeram stamp called 'Getting Ready'. I stamped it, along with one of the sentiments from the set, directly onto a kraft card blank then coloured the image using watercolour pencils.

For my 'T is for Trees' card, I decided to use my Penny Black 'Immense Joy' die, to create an aperture for a Christmas tree. I cut the 'Joy' sentiment a few times from snippets of white card, then layered them all up. I cut the centre of the 'O' in Joy from a snippet of watercolour effect card to create a wintery sky, added it to the centre of the die cut sentiment, then added a tree (cut using a Happer Little Stampers die) and a tiny snippet of white card for the snowy ground. I embossed another snippet of white card using a Crafter's Companion 3D embossing folder called 'Glittering Snowflakes', then layered it all up on a white card blank. 

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

• As You Like It - Flat or Layered Cards (First card only - flat cards for me...especially Christmas cards so that the postage is cheaper!)
• Creative Inspirations - Christmas in September (Second card only)
• Just Us Girls - Dies (Second card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It! (First card only)
• Stamping Sensations - CAS (First card only)
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes (Second card only)
• We Love Stamping - Make It Cute (First card only)

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

Micey Nice Birthday

I have a one layer card to share today, featuring a cute mouse stamp by Penny Black called 'Cheesecake Parade'. I stamped it directly onto a white card blank, along with a sentiment using a stamp also by Penny Black, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Birthdays
• Alphabet Challenge - K is for Keep It Simple
• Krafty Chicks - Birthdays
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It!
• Stamping Sensations - CAS
• We Love Stamping - Make It Cute

PBSC September - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spots and/or Stripes')

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

'Spots and/or Stripes'

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

I picked an image with both spots and stripes on from the 'Cheerful Critters' set, of course by Penny Black. I stamped it ontowatercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with some spotty and stripey papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted all the layers onto some teal card before adding it to a kraft card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Birthdays
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It!

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

Guest Designer - C.R.A.F.T. Challenge

Today, I'm excited to be sharing a Guest Designer project for the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge, where the theme this fortnight is:

'Back to School!'

The prize for the lucky winner is three digi images from Colour of Love.

I'm a music teacher (teaching one to one instrumental lessons), so I've decorated myself a notebook (bought from Hobbycraft many years ago in a post-Christmas sale for 50p!) to keep myself organised in the term ahead! I picked a cute Penny Black image (called 'Literally Giant!'), for the front of the book, stamping it onto watercolour paper, and colouring it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

I decorated the back in a mirror image of the front, but used a musical Penny Black stamp this time called 'Suspenseful Music':

Here's a better view of the back:

For more inspiration from the fabulous C.R.A.F.T. Challenge Design Team, please pop over to their blog. Thanks so much for letting me join you for this challenge!

Hoppy Birthday!

Today's card features a long neglected Penny Black stamp called 'Leap for Joy!'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut it out using one of my circle Nesties. For the background, I took strips of paper, from the Craft Consortium 'Over the Rainbow' pad, and embossed them using a Sizzix embossing folder that I picked up from a charity shop recently. I distressed the edges a little, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal the white core before adding them to a kraft card blank. I cut a matching scalloped mat using anotheer Nestie, then added that to the card along with a sentiment made using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches...I masked off the 'A' in 'Happy' before stamping then added an 'O' using a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Birthdays
• Alphabet Challenge - J is for Jump
• Neglected Stuff - Anything Goes (The frog stamp was last used in March 2024)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

September Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of a brand new month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for September. I'm a music teacher (teaching one to one woodwind lessons) and it's back to work this week, so I picked a flute playing cat from the Penny Black 'Jazzy Cats' set. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Vintage Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations. I stamped the cat again onto the background...so that he didn't lose his whiskers, then added some extra notes using a stamp from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn. I distressed the edges, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to my calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes