Present Pile

Sshhh...don't tell anyone, but I've cheated a little on today's card...I used one of the Lili of the Valley pre-coloured die cuts to make a quick Christmas card...although I made it less quick by choosing to cut 'lil James out! The papers are a mixture of Cosmo Cricket and My Mind's Eye, the snowflake was cut using a Marianne Designs die, the sparkly twine and button are from my stash.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Crafting - Buttons & Twine 
• Craft Your Passion - Hip to be Square
• Lili's Little Fairies - Christmas for Boys
• Ribbon Girls - Boys

A Bright Tomorrow

I used more Birthday goodies on this card...all but one stamp from the 'A Bright Tomorrow' set by Penny Black I stamped them on to navy card using Perfect Medium, then dusted 'Soft Gold' Cosmic Shimmer pigment over the top...I also did this around the edges of all the pieces.

Challenges for this card:

• Joanna Sheen - Try Something New (the stamping technique) 
• My Time to Craft - Christmas in August
• Stamping with the Dragon - Christmas in August

Cute & Cuddly

Hurrah - I have a new card to show you today! I haven't made a card in nearly two weeks...which for anyone who knows me, will know that's some kind of record! lol
I was aksed to make a 'new baby' card for the latest addition to our family...a baby boy (I hope!) due tomorrow. The image is called 'Cute & Cuddly' by Sugar Nellie, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, adding Glossy Accents to the balloon. The only instruction I was given was to keep it simple, so I used just a couple of papers (My Mind's Eye & Cosmo Cricket), embossing the plainish one using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafter's Companion - New Beginnings
• Little Red Wagon - Something New
• Paper Sundaes - Celebrate

ABC Christmas Challenge - V is for...

I'm back with another card for our current ABC Christmas Challenge...where the theme is:

 'V is for Vintage'

We have two wonderful sponsors for this challenge:

The prize from Crafty Emma is a £10 voucher to spend in her fabulous store!

The prize from the Ribbon Reel is this delicious bundle of ribbons & lace:

I've used a Lili of the Valley image this time...it's called 'Skating Along'...I think she looks kind of 'old-fashioned' in her furry coat and hat. The papers are a mixture of My Mind's Eye...I distressed all of the edges using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink, and my distressing tool...then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I cut a few snowflakes using Cuttlebug and Marianne Designs Creatables dies...inking them with more Distress Ink to give them an 'aged' look...then coating them with a generous amount of Glamour Dust, and adding pearls to their centres. The lace is from Wild Orchid Crafts.

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

• Anything Goes - Stitches
• Lili of the Valley - Sketch
• One Stop Crafts - No Sentiments
• Pink Elephant - Distressing
• Raise the Bar - Sew What
• Ribbon Girls - Jingle All the Way to Christmas

For lots more inspiration...please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Party Princess

I know this is my second post today...and my second Gorjuss Girl card...but it is half-term...so I've a little more time to play.
There's another fab sketch for this fortnight's Sugar Bowl Challenge...lots of layers...so plenty of opportunity to use lots of lovely papers! :0)
I've used 'Party Princess'...stamped for me by my lovely friend Cathy...and papers by Cosmo Cricket ('Hey Sugar')...I distressed the edges and added faux stitching with my Cutterbee Bug and a white gel pen. For the 'extra' element to the challenge, I've added 3 flowers held on with the 2 brads and 1 button...all from Poppicrafts.

Guest Designer - Winter Wonderland Challenge

This is the second of my two weeks as a guest designer for the Winter Wonderland Challenge...where the theme is:

'Gingerbread'

I have to say, I found this challenge really tough...and was even debating whether to bake some real gingerbread, instead of making a card! lol
With no suitable stamps, I resorted to Google Images to find an outline drawing of a gingerbread man, which I printed on to some brown card. Once I'd cut him out, I inked around the edges with a dark brown chalk inkpad to add definition. I added a face and some buttons using some white Woodware 'Fluffy Stuff' to look like icing. The papers are a mixture of Cosmo Cricket ('Be Good') and My Mind's Eye ('Festive'), the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft.

Make sure you stop by the Winter Wonderland Challenge, to check out the fabulous creations by the design team. I've had great fun these past two weeks...thanks girls for having me in your team! :0)

I {heart} Christmas!

I'm back with a Christmas card this morning...for a few challenges: the sketch is from Christmas Stampin' All Year Long; I followed the Simon Says Stamp Challenge 'Recipe' of '3 embellishments, 2 papers and 1 image'; and the 'Animals' theme of the Creative Inspirations Challenge. The image is from the 'Holly-Jolly' set by Penny Black...I watercoloured it, then added some glitter to the baubles, and replaced the star on the top of the tree with a brad. The sentiment stamp is also by Penny Black...I masked off the heart before stamping and embossing, then added the heart-shaped brad in it's place (both brads are from Tesco). My third embellishment is the gold ribbon (wrapped around the middle strip, behind the sentiment). My two papers are actually both sides of a double-sided Cosmo Cricket paper (from the 'Be Good' range)...I hope that counts...and I used my 'Snowflakes' folder to emboss the plainer side.

Summer Willow

I've combined a few challenges on this card: the Whiff of Joy Challenge sketch (although I've just noticed that I forgot the sentiment! lol); the Papertake Weekly 'Seasons' challenge (I chose summer); A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Floral Fantasy' challenge; and Pile it On's challenge to use at least 3 flowers.
I've used 'Kneeling Willow', and watercoloured her to match these summery Cosmo Cricket 'Hey Sugar' papers. The flowers are from Poppicrafts, the pearl brads are Papermania, and the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft.

Birthday Monkeys

There's another great sketch for this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge...which I've combined with the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 'Recipe' of '3 Buttons, 2 Design Papers, 1 Ribbon'. I rotated the sketch to fit my 'Birthday Monkeys' image (by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie). The papers are by Cosmo Cricket ('Papa') - the stars were cut using Nesties and show the reverse side of the paper...I hope that's not cheating! ;0)
The sentiment stamp is from the Circular Greetings set by Woodware, and the buttons and ribbon are from Poppicrafts.

ABC Challenge - X is for...

Well, I'm sure that you've all been wondering what we were going to choose for this week's ABC Challenge...

X is for 'X on a Sketch'

I've created a sketch for you all to play with...which you can rotate, flip or re-size, should you wish...just make sure the original elements...including the 'X'...are still visible.

I've used 'Musing Melinda' (by Whiff of Joy) for my image...colouring her to match these yummy Cosmo Cricket papers ('Hey Sugar'). I inked all the edges with a pink chalk inkpad for definition. The flowers are from Poppicrafts and the buttons and bards are by Papermania. My 'X' is a couple of pieces of grosgrain ribbon also from Poppicrafts.

As always, don't forget to go and see the fabulous cards created by the rest of the design team.
Hope you have fun with my sketch!