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

Birthday Balloons

Today's card features one of the critters from the 'Hello Friend' set by Penny Black. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, and also onto the piece of cloudy sky paper (from the 'Let's Fly Away' (magazine freebie) pad). I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then cut him and his balloons out. I didn't need to be too careful here, as all of his whiskers, wispy fur, and balloon strings would show from the stamping on the background once I'd added him on top. The 'grass' is a snippet of paper from the 'Over the Rainbow' pad by Craft Consortium, cut using a Die-namics die leftover from making this calendar page, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I layered it all up, then matted it onto a snippet of red card before adding it to an A5 card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Animals
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Happy Birthday

Guest Designer - Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge

And, I'm back with another Guest Designer post...this one is for Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge, where the theme this fortnight is as always:

'Anything Goes'

I started with a piece of paper from the 'Ink Drops Vivid' pad from Craft Consortium, then stamped my 'Floral Garden' stamp from Simon Says Stamp onto it using Versamark ink, and then heat embossing it in white. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Brushstroke Expressions' set by My Favorite Things', heat embossing in white to match. I distressed the edges, then added it to a white card blank.

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

• Everybody Art - Birthday
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes (Optional 'Florals')
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Flowers

For more inspiration, please pop over to the Penny's paper Crafty Challenge blog.

PBSC March - Anything Goes (Optional 'On the Farm')

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 the Farm'

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

I picked a little sheep stamp called 'Butterflies & Ewe', and stamped it on to a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut out the image. For the background, I used a piece of cloudy sky paper from a pad called 'Let's Fly Away' that I picked up in a charity shop, but I think it was originally a magazine freebie, then layered a picket fence, cut from a snippet of brown card using a Die-namics die, with some grass cut using another Die-namics die and a snippet of paper from the 'Over the Rainbow' pad by Craft Consortium layered over the top. I added the sheep and her butterflies, before matting it on to a snippet of kraft card and adding it to my desk calendar.

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

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

Blue Baubles

Today's card features a Cuttlebug embossing folder that I picked up in a charity shop earlier this week. I used it to emboss a piece of blue paper from the 'Over the Rainbow' pad by Craft Consortium. I distressed the edges a little, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal the white core. I heat embossed a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous and white embossing powder, then added it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Shades of Blue')
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Winter Blues
• The Male Room - Monochrome

Sleeping Under Flowers

Today's card features a House Mouse stamp by Stampabilities called 'Sleeping Under Flowers' that my Mum picked up recently in a charity shop. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of purple paper from the 'Over the Rainbow' pad by Craft Consortium. I cut four squares, then used a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders to emboss it. I sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core, distressed the edges, and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted it all on to a piece of kraft card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Stamping or Digi? (Definitely stamping - I love to have a rummage through my stamps, picking out what I want to use - looking through file names on my laptop just isn't the same!)
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes Using Embossing Folders (Optional 'Something Beginning with F' - Flowers)
• Fab 'N' Funky - Stitching (Real or Faux)
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spring Flowers')
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes