Sketched Flowers

Today's card features a lovely floral stamp from Simon Says Stamp called 'Sketched Flowers'. I stamped it onto a piece of kraft card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using white embossing powder. I added a sentiment, using one of the stamps from the 'Fabulous Birthday' set by Hero Arts, embossing that in white too, then coloured the flowers using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges, then added it to a kraft card blank. 

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Colour Challenge
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Fabulous Florals
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Flowers

 

Woodland Sprigs

Today's card features stamps from a Woodware set called 'Woodland Sprigs'. I started by stamping a Hero Arts 'Music Background' stamp onto a snippet of kraft card using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink. Once dry, I stamped the 'sprigs' over the top using Versamark ink, then heat embossed them using 'Gold Pearl' embossing powder from WOW. I used an old die from my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet set to cut the sentiment from gold mirror card, then added it over the top. I matted the panel onto a piece of gold mirror card, distressing the edges, before adding it to a kraft DL card blank.

This angle shows the gold embossing a little better:

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Cut It Up - Make Your Own Background
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

PBSC June - Anything Goes (Optional 'Use Patterned Papers')...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

'Use Patterned Papers'

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

I picked a cute hedgie stamp called 'Fish are Jumpin' stamp, and stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Alphabet Challenge - D is for Double (Two Hedgies & two fish)
• Crafty Calendar - Men/Boys
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Masculine
• The Male Room - The Outdoors
• We Love Stamping - Sports and Hobbies

For more inspiration, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Many Blessings

I have a Christmas card to share today, made using stamps from the 'Many Blessings' set by Hero Arts. I did a little bit of masking to have the trees behind the snowmen, then added one of the sentiments from the set before colouring the image using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'May Your Days Be Merry & Bright' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed all of the edges a little, and matted the image and base layer onto snippets of green and red card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Two or More Patterned Papers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas

ABC Christmas Challenge - E, F & G are for?

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

'E is for Elves'

'F is for Foliage'

&

'G is for Gems'

The prize for the lucky winner is these two stamp sets:

For my 'E is for Elves' card, I used a sweet Penny Black stamp called 'Bauble Balance'. I stamped it, along with the matching sentiment from the set, onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I distressed the edges a little, then added it to a kraft card blank.

For my 'F is for Foliage' card, I started by stamping a lovely background stamp by Julie Hickey called 'Holly Jolly Christmas' onto a snippet of black card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment, from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil, in gold, on another snippet of black card to match, then coloured all of the leaves and berries using Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments mixed with a little water. I distressed the edges, then layered the sentiment on top, before adding it to a white card blank.

For my 'G is for Gems' card, I went all out with the bling! I used a Woodware stamp called 'Trio of Trees', stamping it onto some smooth white card, then coloured it using watercolour pencils (although I didn't use any water). I added a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts, then carefully placed adhesive gems onto the trees - there were little 'circles' representing trim or lights strung around each tree. I matted it onto some green card, then added it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Aud Sentiments - Glitter/Bling and/or St. Patrick's Green + Sentiment (Third card only)
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - E & F are for (Elf & Foliage - First & Second cards only)
• Fab 'N' Funky - Shades of Green (Third card only)
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes (Second card only)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes (First card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - A Bit O'Green (Third card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make It Cute (First card only)

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

Guest Designer - Seize the Birthday Challenge (CAS + Dies)

I'm back with another Surprise Party Guest card for the Seize the Birthday Challenge.

The theme this fortnight is:

Any regular visitors to my blog will know that I'm a stamper at heart, but I do have a little collection of dies, and this theme was the perfect excuse to dust off a set of cupcake dies (by Marianne Designs) that I have had for a very long time! I cut the 'cupcake case' from a snippet of spotty paper from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works, and the 'frosting' and 'cherry' from snippets of papers from the 'North Country' pad by Prima Marketing. I assembled the cupcake on a piece of kraft card using 3D foam pads of varying thickness to add dimension, then added some adhesive pearl 'sprinkles'. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' stamp set, then distressed the edges of the kraft panel before adding it to a matching kraft card blank.

For more inspiration from the fabulous Design Team, please pop over to the Seize the Birthday Challenge!

Favourite Five Cards 2025

As has become traditional on New Year's Eve, I'm sharing my favourite five cards of this year. As I look back through my blog posts, I always find it interesting to see if any themes have emerged in my cardmaking over the course of the year. Whilst there are still plenty of cute critter cards, I used more die cuts this year, and my cards have become increasingly clean and simple.

All of the photos are linked to the original blog post, so please click through for more information.

My first card is from February, and features (unusually for me) die cuts as the main focus. I love the modern shape of these floral dies...and they're great for using up little snippets of card & paper!

My second card is from May, and features several things that I love (and usually make it onto at least one of my favourite cards each year) - Distress inks, gold embossing and the big butterfly stamp!

My next card is actually a bookmark...I'm an avid reader, and always like to have plenty of bookmarks handy...and they're a great way to use up offcuts of card! This one features a favourite floral stamp, and Cosmic Shimmers that I've used many times this year.

Of course, there's a Penny Black image amongst my favourites, and the next card, from August, features a 'new to me' stamp called 'Surprise!' I also love the colour in these floral papers.

My final card is from November, and although I've made a lot of one layer cards this year, I love the effect the added layer gives on this CAS card.

I'm going to link up this post over at Ellie's I Spy With My Little Eye - Favourite Creations of the Year.

I posted my Favourite Five Christmas Cards here last week, if you'd like to take a look.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has visited and taken the time to comment on my blog this year - I wish you all the very best for the New Year!

Ups & Downs

Today's card features a cute Penny Black stamp that I picked up from a charity shop a few weeks ago, called 'Ups & Downs'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with snippets of papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

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

Moo Birthday!

Today's card features a fun Penny Black stamp called 'Moo Birthday'. I stamped it directly onto a white card blank, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - CAS
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Birthdays

Blooming Meadow

Today's card features an old Hero Arts stamp called 'Blooming Meadow'. I inked it by mixing Distress Inks (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch and Mowed Lawn) with a little water, and painting them onto the stamp. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image, then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Pretty Flowers
• Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Birthday
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Summer Flowers

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'On or In the Water')...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

'On or In the Water'

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

The image I used on my card is called 'Friendship'. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. I made a simple background from a snippet of watercolour effect paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations for the sky, and a couple of snippets from the 'Pastel Watercolours' pad from The Works for the sea...tearing the top edges to look like the breaking waves. I layered it onto a snippet of teal card, then added it to an A5 card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

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

• AAA Birthday - Summer Birthday
• Cardz for Guys - Summer Holidays
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters
• Sparkles Forum - Summer Days
• We Love Stamping - Sun, Sea & Sand

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

Sketched Flowers Bookmark

I have a bookmark to share today...made from a snippet of kraft card left over from making a square card blank from an A4 sheet of card. I trimmed it down a little, then stamped a music background stamp from Hero Arts onto it using 'Smokey Gray' Versafine ink. I then stamped my Simon Says Stamp 'Sketched Flowers' stamp over the top using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder from WOW. I added stamped sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Sending Sunshine' set (also by Simon Says Stamp), embossing it in gold to match, then coloured the flowers using metallic watercolour paints in shades of pink and purple.

It's wonderfully shiny, but that makes it tricky to photograph, but here's another angle that shows the colours a little better:

Challenges for this bookmark:

• As You Like It - Favourite Non-Card Project (I often give books as gifts, and always like to make a bookmark to go with it)
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Fun with Paint
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Emboss It
• Stamping Sensations - Summer Flowers

Surf's Up!

Today's card is a Summer-themed card, but made using a Christmas stamp called 'Snowboard Ride' by Penny Black. He usually wears a Santa hat, so I masked that off before I inked the stamp, stamped it onto watercolour paper. I drew on the top of his head using a black gel pen, before carefully cutting him out. For the 'sea', I took a piece of blue watercolour effect paper (from the 'Happy Watercolours' pad from The Works) and trimmed it to the width of my card base, then tore it a couple of times to create the white 'surf', then layered them up at the bottom of the card blank. I added a stamped sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts), then placed my snowboarding surfing chicken on the waves.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to CAS - Water
• Allsorts - Seaside
• Creative Knockouts - Summer Fun
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Vacation
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Kraft
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Fun in the Sun

Ice Cream Cone

Today's card was inspired by the recent hot weather and features an ice cream cone made from lots of little snippets of card. I cut the 'cone' freehand from a snippet of kraft card, then embossed it using a Sizzix/BasicGrey 'Plaid' embossing folder to make it look like a waffle cone. I cut the 'scoops' of ice cream from snippets of different coloured card using one of the dies from a set of cupcake dies by Marianne Designs, then embossed them using my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' folder. I used 3D foam pads to attach it all to a DL card blank...using thicker pads in the centre of each piece to give it some dimension. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• CAS on Friday - Summer
• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Embossing
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

Twiggy Trees

Today's card features some Woodware Christmas tree stamps - 'Mini Tall Twiggy Tree' and 'Mini Wide Twiggy Tree'. I inked them with some bright shades of Distress Ink (Wilted Violet, Twisted Citron & Picked Raspberry), and stamped them onto a DL white linen card blank. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Very Merry Christmas' set by Hero Arts...inking it with 'Blueprint Sketch' Distress Ink.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Photo Inspiration
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• We Love Stamping - Nature

Moo Birthday

Today's card features a Penny Black cow stamp that I picked up in a charity shop over the half-term break called 'Moo Birthday'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...distressing the edges, then adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - What Makes You Happy? (Penny Black stamps)
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times - Birthday
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Masculine

Sketched Flowers

Today's card features one of my favourite floral stamps called 'Sketched Flowers' by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a Hero Arts stamp that I found in a charity shop at the weekend. I watercoloured the image using lots of Distress Inks (Mustard Seed, Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass, Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Pine Needles, Evergreen Bough & Cracked Pistachio), then distressed the edges a little before adding it to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this catrd: 

• Addicted to CAS - Birthday
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Flowers
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Bright & Cheerful