Floral Flourish

I have a simple one layer card to share today, featuring a stamp called 'Floral Flourish' by Stamps by Chloe. I stamped it directly onto a lilac card blank using a white pigment ink, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then heat embossed it all using white embossing powder. I added some shading to the flowers using purple watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Inspired by Nature
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Stamp
• Time Out - Pick Two (Pastel & Bloom)

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Pastel Colours')...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

'Pastel Colours'

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

For my card, I picked a cute cat image from the 'Christmas Hugs' set for my card, and stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a snowflake covered paper (from the 'Christmas' pad by Craft Sensations, and a couple of snippets of plain-ish papers from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad, also by Craft Sensations. I embossed the plain-ish papers using snowflake embossing folders from Cuttlebug and Sizzix, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core. I distressed the edges a little, then layered everything up on a white card blank.

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

• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - That Song ('Joy to the World')

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

Snowflake Edges

I have a pair of simple Christmas cards to share today, made using stamps from the 'Snowflake Edges' set by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped the borders, with one of the sentiments in between, onto smooth white card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it all using metallic silver embossing powder. I coloured the snowflakes using mica pigments mixed with a little bit of water, then distressed the edges before adding them to card blanks.

The snowflakes are really shiny in real life, but terrible to photograph:

Challenges for these cards:

• As You Like It - Simple or Fussy (Simple for me - especially Christmas cards so that they are cheaper to post!)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Clean & Simple
• Krafty Chicks - CAS

Floral Garden

Today's card features a lovely stamp from Simon Says Stamp called 'Floral Garden'. I stamped it, and a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, onto smooth white card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it all using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. The floral stamp is huge - there's quite a large portion below the section shown on my card. I coloured the image using a mixture of mica pigments and Cosmic Shimmers watercolour paints. I distressed the edges a little before adding it to a card blank.

It's super shiny - this is what it looks like when the light hits it:

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - In the Garden
• Creative Knockouts - Embossing Delight
• Seize the Birthday - Make a Spring Garden
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Bright & Cheerful
• Stamping Sensations - Inspired by Nature

Slippery Slope

Today's card features penguins from a Helz Cuppleditch set called 'Special Delivery - Penguins' that I last used (according to a quick search through my blog) in 2014! I rediscovered them last week when I sorted through all of my stamps to donate some that are no longer my style to charity. I stamped them onto a piece of watercolour paper, drew a line for a snowy slope using a black gel pen, then added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I coloured the penguins using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered the image over a piece of 'snowy' paper from an unnamed pad by Craft Sensations, then matted it onto some pink card before adding it to a DL card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Seasons/Weather/Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Neglected Stuff - Use Neglected Stuff (The penguin stamps were last used in 2014!)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Tractor Birthday

I have a birthday card to share today, featuring a pup from a Christmas set of Penny Black stamps called 'Wintertime Cheer'. I stamped him (minus his Santa hat) onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a pad by Premium Stacks called 'Nana's Nursery - Baby Boy'. I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen and a few adhesive gems.

Challenges for this card:

• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Vehicles or Transport
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Make Someone Smile

ABC Christmas Challenge - H & I are for?

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

'H is for Hats'

&

'I is for Image Only'

(No Sentiment)

This is the prize for the lucky winner:

A $30 Gift card to your favourite craft store!

For my 'H is for Hats' card, I used some of the critters from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them, along with one of the sentiments from the set, onto a white DL card blank, then coloured them using watercolour pencils.

For my 'I is for Image Only' card, I used the stamps from a Penny Black set called 'Sledding Sweetness'. I stamped them onto a piece of watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

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

• Christmas Cards All Year Round - G & H are for? (H is for Hats)
• Christmas Kickstart - Brimming with Style (First card only)
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Second card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (Second card only)

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

Good Day Birthday

Today's card features another of the cats from the 'Good Day!' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with one of the sentiments from the set, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from a magazine freebie pad called 'Let's Fly Away!'. I distressed all of the edges, added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted the layers onto some yellow card before adding them to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Happy Birthday!

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Pastel Colours)

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

'Pastel Colours'

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

I made a set of tags to put on some Easter treat boxes. The stamps used were: 'Totally Excited! (the chicken); 'Butterflies & Ewe' (the sheep); 'Hello World' (the two chicks); and the goose is from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set. I stamped them all onto snippets of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut out the circle shapes using one of my Nestie dies.  I distressed the edges a little, then added them to mats cut from snippets of pastel coloured card using one of my scalloped circle Nestie dies, sandwiching some Baker's twine in between.

For the boxes, I used sheets of 12x12 papers from a pad by Premium Stacks called 'Baby Boy', and my We R Memory Keepers punchboard. Once assembled, I tied up the boxes with more Baker's twine, then added the tags:

I'm also entering these tags & boxes into the following challenges:

• Creative Inspirations - Easter/Spring
• Just Us Girls - Dies + Spring/Easter
• Moving Along with the Times - Anything Spring
• Sweet Stampin' - Spring or Easter

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

April Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of the month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for April. I went with an Easter theme, and used one of the stamps from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set by Penny Black...this cutie represents 'Six Geese a-laying'. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut out the circle shape using one of my Nesties. For the background, I used a couple of snippets of paper from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by We R Memory Keepers...I've had this pad since 2011, and it's still going strong! I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Spring
• Fab 'N' Funky - Easter/Spring
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Sparkles Forum - Springtime