Spring is in the Air!

It would seem that 'Spring is in the air' in blogland...with lots more 'Spring' themed challenges this week...so I've made this card using fresh 'Spring' colours for the following challenges: Allsorts; Crazy4Challenges; and Cuttlebug Challenges. I followed the sketch from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge...flipping it to suit the way my image (from the 'Wonderful' set) is facing. The papers are by BasicGrey, from the 'Romani' (floral) and 'Two Scoops' (plain green) collections. I embossed the green paper using my Cuttlebug 'Moroccan Screen' folder, sanding to reveal the white core, before distressing all of the edges of the papers, and adding some faux stitching. The flowers & ribbon are from Poppicrafts, and the pink pearls were a gift from my Secret Santa last Christmas.

Lovely in Lavender!

I think my colour choice for this card must have been inspired by the colours on the sketch I followed from the Create4Fun Challenge...it's a vision in lavender! lol
I've also managed to include a few other challenge themes: the '3,2,1' of the Allsorts Challenge (in my case 3 papers, 2 circles and 1 flower); and the 'Stitching' theme of the Cuttlebug & Corrosive challenges. The image is from the 'Wonderful' set by Penny Black, the papers are by My Mind's Eye ('29th Street Market'), the flower is from Poppicrafts, and the sentiment is by Cuddly Buddly. I used my Cuttlebug 'Victoria' folder and 'Just my type' border folder for the embossing, which I then sanded to reveal the white core of the paper. After distressing all of the edges of the papers, I added some faux stitching using my Cutterbee Bug and a white gel pen.

Poppy Fields

I had a little play yesterday with one the Sugar Nellie's I won...and used my new stamp ('Poppy Fields') to make a card following the Sketch & Stash Challenge sketch. I'm also entering this card for some of the 'Thank You' themed challenges around this week: Cuttlebug Challenges; Cuttlebug Spot; Simon Says Stamp Challenge; and (I'm not sure if I've got this in in time...but they haven't put up the new challenge yet...) Pile It On. The poppy paper was a RAK from my lovely ABC DT buddy Fiona, so I'm not sure who it's by, but it was a perfect match for the image. I embossed the plain card with my 'Perfect Paisley' and 'Victoria' embossing folders. The sentiment stamp is by Hero Arts (from the 'Anytime Messages' set), the teeny brads are from Poppicrafts, and I distressed all of the edges, and added some faux-stitching using a white gel pen.

Stars & Stripes Forever!

It seems that a lot of the challenge blogs are celebrating Independence Day with USA themed challenges...so I've managed to combine quite a few on this card: the fab sketch from the Friday Sketchers Challenge; the 'Red, White & Blue' colour combo from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge and Our Creative Corner; the 'Red, White & Blue, Buttons and Swiss Dots' challenge from Cuttlebug Challenges; the 'Stars & Stripes' theme from the One Stop Craft Challenge; and the 'Buttons' theme of the Charisma Cardz and Pile It On challenges. Phew...that's seven challenges!
I used '...to you' (by Penny Black) as my main image, so no need for a separate sentiment. I couldn't find any suitable papers, so embossed plain card with the 'Swiss Dots', 'Spots & Dots' and 'Forest Branches' (these are my 'stripes'). The stars were all cut using Nesties, and thee buttons are by Papermania.

Three Challenges in One...

This card combines sketch #32 from Sketch Saturday, the theme of this week's Penny Black challenge of embossing, which I have sanded, so it also qualifies for this week's Cuttlebug challenge too.
The image is one of current favourites, 'Rainin' Daisies', the paper is from the 'Two Scoops' pad by Basic Grey, Core'dinations cardstock (freebie with the new Docrafts mag) embossed with Cuttlebug 'Textile Texture' folder, then sanded, all shapes cut with Nestabilities, and the flowers are from Poppicrafts.

Cuttlebug Challenge #6 meets Cupcake Craft Challenge #12

I decided to combine the sketch for this week's Cuttlebug challenge, with the inspirational photo on the Cupcake Craft challenge blog.

I've used the Cuttlebug 'Birds & Swirls' embossing folder on cream card, then used 'shimmer' chalks to highlight the detail. I've taken the colours I used from the 'inspiration' photo, as well as the idea of bands of each colour, and also the pearlescent finish. The embossed pattern is supposed to echo the floral detail running across the bed linen. The sentiment is part of an image on a stamp from a set ('Garden Wisdom') by Hero Arts, and the flowers are Flora Doodles.

Apologies for the 'smudge' on the photo - I've tried cleaning my camera lens, but it just won't shift! I'm going to send this card to my partner in this month's Friendship card swap over on the Docrafts forum.

Yet more Christmas cards...

Well, all good things must come to an end...it's back to school tomorrow, but before I get back into work mode, here are a few more cards I made yesterday.
The first is using a Forever Friends image I got sent in a swap, with a sentiment stamp from a set by Studio G:


The image on this one is called 'Winter Pup' by Hero Arts - I've decoupaged his head, but you can't see that very well in the photo, and the green paper has been embossed with the 'Swiss Dots' folder:

The last one has a Penny Black image from the set 'Christmas Critters':

All patterned papers are from the 'Christmas Wishes' stack by DCWV, and the circles and ovals were cut using Nesties.

Cuttlebug Challenge #5

This is the first time I've made a card for this challenge, but as I've got a bit more time to craft this week, I thought I'd give it a go. The challenge this week is to create a project embossing on a metallic finish - perfect for yet another Christmas card! I've used two embossing folders on this card: 'Swiss Dots' on the pearlised blue backing paper, and 'Snowflakes' on the metallic silver paper. The text paper is by DCWV (from the 'Christmas' stack), the sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug, and the main image is from the Penny Black 'Christmas Critters' set.
The card was tricky to photograph because of all the shiny paper...but at least it clearly shows the embossing!
If you're a Cuttlebug fan, and haven't seen this challenge before, have a look here for some fabulous projects and great ideas of new ways of using your bug.