Crazy Dog

Today's card features one of the 'Crazy Dog' stamps from Tim Holtz's set for Stampers Anonymous. It's been a while since I last used him, and even longer since I used the matching dies, so I inked him up and stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used his matching die to cut him out. For the background, I used a snippet of paper from an old Core'dinations card pad from Tim Holtz's collection. I embossed it using my Crafts Too 'Bone & Paw Print' embossing folder, then lightly sanded over the raised surface to reveal some of the kraft core. I added it to a snippet of kraft card, matted onto a piece of navy card, distressing all of the edges, then added the pup on top using 3D foam pads. I stamped a sentiment, using stamps from the Paper Smooches 'Birthday Buddies' set, onto snippets of watercolour paper, then added those using more 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Happy Birthday
• Cut It Up - Critters
• Just Us Girls - Long-neglected Dies (The dog die was last used in 2021!)
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Neglected Stuff - Anything Goes (The stamp & matching die were last used in 2021!)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Contented

Today's card features a cute Penny Black dog stamp called 'Contented'. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment, using one of the stamps from the 'Birthday Wishing' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then used Nesties to cut out the circle shapes. For the background, I embossed a piece of green card using a Crafts Too embossing folder called 'Bone & Paw Print'. I distressed the edges a little, then matted it onto kraft card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Optional 'Boys to Men'
• Cardz 4 Guys - Use an Embossing Folder
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Sweet Stampin' - Something for the Boys

Birthday Dog

Today's card features another old favourite stamp by Penny Black...'Birthday Dog'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I made the rainbow background, by attaching snippets of brightly coloured card to a scrap of paper, then trimming them into a rectangle, before embossing them using a 'Bone & Paw Prints' embossing folder by Crafts Too. I added the embossed panel to a white card blank, stamped simple sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts, before adding the pup on top using 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - Masculine
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Use Embossing Folders (Optional 'Masculine')
• Little Red Wagon - B is for Birthday
• Moving Along With the Times - Pets
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Mini Starz

Today's card features an intricate die set from John Next Door called 'Mini Starz'. I used a selection of snippets of silver mirror card and blue glitter card to cut the shapes, then layered them up, matting the whole thing on to some silver glitter card before adding it to a white card blank. I heat embossed the sentiment (from the 'Winter Blessings' set from the 'Winter White' collection by Crafter's Companion), in silver on a snippet of white card, then matted in on to a snippet of the blue glitter card before adding it to the card using 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - All Occasions
• My Time to Craft - Lots of Layers
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Rudolph Days - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - A & B are for?

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

'A is for Anything Christmas Goes

&

'B is for Baubles'

Here's the prize on offer for the lucky winner:

A selection of Christmas ribbons & a couple of 'Me to You' clear stamp sets.

I used some lovely new crafty goodies that I received for Christmas on my cards...on my 'A is for Anything Chirstmas Goes' card, I used a John Next Door/Crafts Too 'Majestic Mandela' die and snippets of silver mirror card and blue glitter card to make a layered snowflake. As the de cuts are so intricate (read difficult to cut & extract all of the little cut pieces!), I kept the rest of the card really simple, adding to an A6 card blank using some 3D foam pads, and a sentiment from the 'Winter Blessing' set from the 'Winter White' collection by Crafter's Companion.

On my 'B is for Baubles' card, I heat embossed my new 'Merry Christmas Sentiment' stamp by Just Rite Stamps, using 'Metallic Silver - Rich' embossing powder by WOW on black card, then watercoloured the holly leaves and bauble using some Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water. I matted the panel on to some green glitter card, then on to a card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Something New (The die on the first card & the stamp on the second card are new)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Dream Valley - Anything New (The die on the first card & the stamp on the second card are new)
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (The die on the first card & the stamp on the second card are new)

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

Merry Band

Today's card features a cute Penny Black image called 'Merry Band', that I stamped on to watercolour paper, then coloured using watercolour paints. I made a simple background by embossing snippets of card using my Crafts Too 'Music Notes' folder...disdtressing the edges and sanding over the reaised areas to reveal the lighter core. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - Embossing Folders
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - All Occasions
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Emboss It
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Embossing

Hedgie Harmony

Today's card features three of the little hedgies from the 'Hedgie Harmony' set by Penny Black...stamped on to a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a few extra notes and a sentiment, and coloured using wtercolour pencils. I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, and layered it over a snippet of red card embossed with with my Crafts Too 'Music Notes' embossing folder.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Moo Mania - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Carolers

I have another Christmas card to share today...featuring one of the first Penny Black stamps I bought...called 'Carolers'. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment from a set by Stamping Bella called 'Caroling Chicks'. I made a simple background by embossing a piece of kraft card using my 'Musical Notes' embossing folder by Crafts Too...matting everything on to snippets of red card.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes
• Animal Friends - Birds
• Cardz for Guyz - Christmas Critters
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Toot Your Own Horn!

I have a quick and simple card to share today featuring more of the hedgies from the Penny Black 'Hedgie Harmony' stamp set. I stamped them on to a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn, then coloured the image using wtercolour pencils. I embossed a snippet of yellow card using my 'Music Notes' embossing folder by Crafts Too to make a simple background.

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Cutie Pie - Add an Animal
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Musical Christmas

I'm back with a couple of Christmas cards featuring the remaining critters from my new Lili of the Valley 'Carol Singers' stamp set...you can see my first card featuring the other critters here. 

This time I used the animals individually, stamping them on to watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils and cut them out using one of my circle Nesties. For the background, I embossed snippets of aqua coloured card using my 'Music Notes' embossing folder by Crafts Too. I used sentiments from from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous...stamping them on to snippets of watercolour paper, adding them along with my images using 3D foam pads.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Add a Sentiment
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon says Stamp (Mondays) - Something Beginning with 'S' (Singers)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

PBSC February - Try Something New...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:

'Try Something New'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

This time, I tried a new (to me) technique...Distress Resist...Jennifer McGuire has a fab blog post & video demonstrating this technique here. I stamped a few background stamps on to plain white card (Hero Arts 'Zig Zag' & 'Magical' and a paw print one from Hobbycraft) using Versamark Ink, then blended Distress Inks (Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Lucky Clover, Pine Needles & Gathered Twigs) over the top. You get a much softer effect than emboss resist...I really like it, so I'll be using the technique again. I used my Distress Resist pieces to make a background for one of the pups from the 'Man's Best Friend' set. I added a circle embossed using my 'Bone & Paw Prints' folder by Crafts Too, and a sentiment (from the Hero Arts 'Anytime Messages' set). I inked around all of the edges with some more 'Gathered Twigs' Distress Ink, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Crafty Sentiments - Your Favourite Combo (Penny Black stamps & Distress Inks)
• Cute Card Thursday - No Patterned Paper
• Little Red Wagon - Season of Love (My 'Go To' brand is Penny Black...thy were my first crafting love & I have over 1000 posts on my blog using their stamps!)
• Moving Along with the Times - For a Man

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

Father's Day Dogs

I have a Father's Day card to share today...featuring some Penny Black dogs from a set called 'Dog-gone Sweet!' I coloured the images using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut them out. For the background, I embossed a piece of plain-ish brown paper (from the 'Awesome Boy!' pad by Recollections/Michaels) using my 'Bone & Paw Prints' folder by Crafts Too...sanding over the surface to reveal some of the white core. I distressed the edges a little, then added a sentiment (chopped in half!) from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• ABC Challenge - I is for Important Event (Father's Day)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Father's Day/Male
• Naughty or Nice - Man Up!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Embossing

Doggone Sweet!

I have a set of three 'doggy' cards to share today...using a cling stamp set from Penny Black called 'Doggone Sweet'...co cute! The cards are all really simple, using the same design...I embossed the bottom portion of each card using my 'Paw Print & Bone' embossing folder by Crafts Too, then added  strip of Washi tape (a mixture of Freckled Fawn, Hobbycraft & Papermania). I coloured the dogs using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them out, popping them up on the cards on 3D foam pads. I added a sentiment stamped inside a 'speech bubble' cut using Sizzix Thinlit die.

And all three cards together:

Challenges for these cards:

• Alphabet Challenge - No Design Papers
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Friends - CAS
• Creative Knockouts - Celebrations
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday

In the Dog House!

I have another 'doggy' theme card to share today...using another of the stamps from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black. I've used him to make a masculine card...so I kept it nice and simple...embossing some blue card using my Crafts Too 'Bone & Paw Print' and Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folders. I doodled some borders using black and white gel pens, and added a sentiment from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Your Favourite Colour (Blue!)
• Sweet Stamps - Masculine
• Sweet Sunday Sketch - Sketch #282
• That Craft Place - Blue

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Valentine's

This fortnight's Oldie but a Goodie Challenge theme is:

'Valentine's'

I don't have the prize details at the time of writing this...so I'll add them later today :0)

I used my old Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die to cut hearts from a rainbow of shades of card scraps...then embossed them using a different embossing folder for each one (folders by Cuttlebug, Craft Concepts, Sizzix & Crafts Too). I simply arranged them in colour order across my card, popping the ones in front up on 3D foam pads. I doodled a simple border, then added a sentiment from the Hero Arts 'Sentiments' set.

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

• Craft Your Passion - Love is in the Air
• Less is More - Rainbow
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Love Notes
• Totally Gorjuss - Sunny Colours

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Crafty Little Fairies Challenge - Kraft

This week at the Crafty Little Fairies Challenge, our theme is:

'Kraft'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Delicious Doodles

 Prize: 4 Delicious Doodles images of the winner's choice!

I went a bit 'kraft' crazy...and used it for all of the elements on my card...even stamping and watercolouring my image (an un-named dog stamp by Home & Heart' that I received for Christmas) on kraft! For the background layers, I continued the doggy theme, using a Crafts Too 'Bone & Paw Prints' embossing foder, and Hobbycraft 'Paw Print' background stamp...stamped in 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink. I stamped my sentiment (from a Studio G set) onto a strip of kraft die cut tickets (by Craftwork Cards), then doodled a simple border, and inked around the edges of everything using more 'Brushed Corduroy' ink. I found a little bone shaped button in my stash, and tied that on using some button twine (from the Ribbon Girl).

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

• Card Makin' Mamas - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Let's Celebrate
• Heck of a Challenge - New (New stamp)
• Just for Fun - New (New stamp)
• Sweet Stamps - Kraft Paper

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Crafty Little Fairies Challenge.
 

Birthday Pup

I have rather a collection of doggy stamps...so for this week's Less is More 'Cats & Dogs' challenge, I thought I'd ink up one that I haven't used in a while...he's called 'Birthday Pup' by Whipper Snapper. I simply coloured him using watercolour pencils, added a Penny Black sentiment (from the 'Critter Party' set) and a doodled border, then matted it on to a piece of card embossed using my Crafts Too 'Bone & Paw Prints' folder.

Challenges for this card:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Birthday
• Allsorts - True Blue
• Craft Your Passion - Party Animals
• Less is More - Cats & Dogs

Doggy Pile

I've used a rather neglected stamp on today's card...it's called 'Doggy Pile' by Whipper Snapper...I love how squishy they look! For the background, I embossed Core'dinations card using my Crafts Too 'Bone & Paw Print' embossing folder.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Ann's - Birds and/or Animals
• Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
• Forever Friends (Monthly) - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Domestic Pets
• Simon Says Stamp - Sketch

Party Pup

I have another 'boy' type card today...I'd coloured this image ('Party Pup' by Whipper Snapper) a couple of weeks ago and decided it was about time he made it on to a card. I coloured plain white card using 'Faded Jeans' and 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Inks for the background, then used my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and Crafts Too 'Bone & Paw' folders for the embossing...then sanded lightly over the top to reveal the core. The sentiment is a stamp from the 'Anytime Messages set by Hero Arts (snipped in half). I added a few pieces of Card Candi...and a button threaded on to some twine...I'm not sure where the star shaped button came from...I have a feeling it may have been in a pack from a charity shop.

Challenges for this card:

• Charisma Cardz - Happy Birthday
• Dutch Dare - For the Boys