Doodle Flowers

I have a simple one layer card to share today, featuring a set of stamps that I think I must have bought over 10 years ago, but haven't seen a lot of ink in all that time...they're called 'Doodle Flowers' by Inkadinkado. I stamped them on to kraft card using 'Smokey Gray' Versafine Ink...to make them look like they'd been doodled using a pencil. I stamped a sentiment from the 'Thoughtful Messages' set by Hero Arts in the same grey ink, then used my watercolour pencils to colour the flowers. I didn't use any water on the colouring as I wanted the colours to remain quite vibrant, but added some white accents with a gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• CAS on Friday - One Layer Wonder
• Cute Card Thursday - Bright Colours
• Inkspirational - Oldie but a Goodie
• My Time to Craft - Krafty

Pile It On! Challenge - Quote/Lyric/Saying

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...and we're challenging you to be inspired by a:

'Quote/Lyric/Saying'

There's a rather special prize for this challenge...a $30 donation to a charity of the winner's choice!

I had a rummage through all of my sentiment stamps and found a set of 'Kid's Quotes' sayings by Inkadinkado...and picked two of them to use on a couple of cards. Inspired by the colour/rainbow themes of the stamps, I created a watercolour rainbow background using washes of Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Lucky Clover, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire & Wilted Violet) on wet watercolour paper. I used two layers...allowing the first to dry before adding the second, then once the second was dry, I splattered water over the top, allowed it to sit for a minute, before patting off the excess using a paper towel, which removed some of the pigment, and creating some texture. I trimmed the panel down, to created two strips, then stamped the quote stamps in the centres using black ink. I added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are some close-ups of the two cards:

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Quote/Lyric/Saying
• Come & Get It - No Design Paper
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Playground - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Stitch It!
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes
• Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Flurry of Flowers

I have another flowery card to share today...using stamps from the 'Doodle Flowers' set by Inkadinkado. I simply stamped the flowers across my card blank, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then added a Hero Arts sentiment.

Challenges for this card:

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Less is More - Berry Shades
• Penny Black & More - Summer Flowers
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Funny Birthday

Yes...I am still alive! I haven't blogged for a few days because I've been snowed under with work...I spent far too much time over the Christmas holidays crafting, so I've been chasing my tail this last week or so trying to get all of the music arranged for this term's concerts, whilst suffering from some kind of cold/virus which seems to present a new symptom every couple of days! Anyway...I'm getting there, and have a card to show you today for the new challenge over at Pile It On! where our theme is:

'Funny Birthday'

Our sponsor this week is SK Digis:

The prize is a $5 gift certificate to spend in their online store!

I've made a really quick and simple card, using a mini clear stamp set by Inkadinkado called 'Unlisted'. The paper is from the 'Archaic' pad by BasicGrey which I had for years...still got a few scraps left though! The button was from a big bag I got in a charity shop, and is threaded with some Dovecraft twine.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Funny Birthday
• 2 Sisters - Celebrations
• Allsorts - Dies & Punches (I used Nesties to cut the circles)
• Card Makin' Mamas - Anything Goes
• Challenges4Everybody - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Buttons & Bows
• Dream Valley - Anything Goes
• Inky Impressions - Add a Sentiment
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Dies & Punches (I used Nesties to cut the circles)
• Papercrafting Journey - Anything Goes
• Raise the Bar - One (One Paper, One Button, One Bow)
• Shopping Our Stash - Old Buttons
• Simon Says Stamp & Show - Embrace the Old (Everything, except the twine, is at least two years old!)
• Totally Stampalicious - Buttons & Bows

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Pile It On! Challenge.

Pile It On! Challenge - Funny Bones

*Please click here for my Goodwill Blog Hop post*
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The theme of this week's Pile It On! Challenge is:

'Funny Bones'
(In other words, show some humour in the sentiment on your projects)

We are sponsored by Heart Song Designs for this challenge.

The prize is the winner's choice of 3 digi images from the Heart Songs Designs store.

I took one of the Inkandinkado 'Kid's Quotes' stamps as the starting point for my card...they always make me giggle! Then, whilst searching through my stamps for a suitable image to go with it, I found a sheet of cute froggy stickeroos by Penny Black, and thought that this one with their wide grins was just perfect! The papers are by We R Memory Keepers, from the 'Hippity Hoppity' and '72 and Sunny' pads - the little die cut arrow is from one of those too. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and I added some co-ordinating pieces of Card Candi.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Funny Bones
• CES - Favourite Colour Combo
• Crafty Catz - Quote/Sentiment
• Crafty Sentiments - Flowers
• If the shoe fits...scrap it! - Green
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Pollycraft - Anything Goes
• Top Tip Tuesday - Open Theme

For more inspiration, please check out the fabulous samples by my lovely Pile It On! DT buddies.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Include a Quote

 The theme for this week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge has been chosen by Mel...and she wants to see us:

 'Include a Quote'

Now, this is something I don't very often do...but I do have a set of fab 'Kids Quotes' stamps by Inkadinkado...so I took one of those ('You make me smile all over my face') as my starting point. I picked this image ('Here's Lookin' at You' by Penny Black) because it made me smile, and coloured it with watercolour pencils, adding some Glossy Accents (available here at the Secret Crafter) to the lenses on the glasses. The paper is Classic K 'Margo' by K&Co, the swirl stamp are by Whiff of Joy, and the tag was cut using a Sizzix die.

 

So...where's the quote??? It's on the tag hidden in the pocket behind the image...

 

You can check out the fab creations by my lovely DT buddies on the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge blog.

Age is only a number...

There's a fab sketch for this week's Mojo Monday Challenge...where it's contest time...so I just had to have a go. I've combined it with the themes from some other challenges: A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'One for the boys'; Cards for Men's 'Humour'; Crafty Calendar's 'April Fools'; and Creative Inspirations (Wed) 'Green, Brown & Blue' (although the colours all look a bit grey in the photo! lol). The image is 'Unlisted' by Inkadinkado, and the papers are from the 'Archaic' pad by BasicGrey...I thought that the dinosaurs kind of looked like the lizard! lol

Shopping List Pad & Gift Holder

Here are a couple of 'non-card' creations I've made for birthdays coming up this month.
The first is an altered shopping list pad:


I bought the pack of pads from one of those shops that sell everything...then removed the flimsy cover, and replaced it with some thicker card. I decorated the front with some My Mind's Eye '29th Street Market' papers, and flowers made using stamps from a set called 'Doodle Flowers' by Inkadinkado. I added a strip of adhesive magnetic paper to the back, so that it can be kept on the fridge door...perfect for writing shopping lists!
It's not very exciting...but here's a view of the back:


I'm going to enter this into Stampavie & More's challenge to 'Use some green', the Cupcake Crafts challenge which this week is to 'Make your own flowers' (I hope that my 'stamped' flowers are allowed), and the Quixotic 'Joys of Spring' challenge (I think the greens are quite 'springy'! lol).

My other project is a gift carrier:

I wanted a pretty way to package a couple of aromatherapy bath oils for my friend's birthday...to make up for the fact that I didn't make her present this year! After a bit of blog hopping, I decided to make the kind of carrier which you usually see carrying paper milk cartons. I had to fiddle around to get the dimensions right, as I needed the 'pockets' to be quite deep in order to support the bottles. I decorated the outside using some paper by Crate Paper (from the 'Mia' collection), and added a matching gift tag made using my Nesties.

Check this out!

I'm getting in early (well early for me anyway) with week's Penny Black Challenge...where the theme is 'Check it Out'. I followed the sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches, using 'Birthday Dog' and papers from the 'Archaic' pad by BasicGrey. I distressed all of the edges using inks and my distressing tool...so I'm also going to enter this card into Simon Says Stamp's 'It's so distressing' challenge. The sentiment stamp is by Inkadinkado, the stars were cut using Nesties, and the brads are by Papermania.

Monster Sax!

Having got all my DT stuff done for next week...I've had time to play along with some other challenges this morning. I've used the sketch from Sketch & Stash...although I used a circle rather than an oval, as it suited my image ('Monster Sax' by Hambo stamps) better...which although I've had it for a couple of months...this is the first time I've used it. The papers are by My Mind's Eye ('29th Street Market'), and I used my Cuttlebug 'Moroccan Screen' folder to emboss the green strip, before distressing the edges with inks and my distressing tool. The sentiment stamp is by Inkadinkado, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts.


The other challenges I'm entering this card for are:

Cards for Men: 'Happy Birthday'
Cupcake Craft: 'Going Green'
Fussy & Fancy Friday: 'Green'
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential: 'Birthday Card in your Birthstone Colour' (Mine's peridot)
Simon Says: 'A Splash of Green'
Stamp Something: 'Distressed Somethings'

Superstar Pringle

This the first card I've uploaded this week using patterned paper...I know...that's not like me at all! lol
I've used the sketch from the Sugarbowl Challenge...and included lots of the requested 'Stars'. There are stars on the papers ('Papa' by Fancy Pants Designs), and some stars cut using Nesties too. The image is 'Pringle', and the sentiment stamp is by Inkadinkado. It's a boy's card, so no extra embellishments...just a bit of inking around the edges.

ABC Challenge - Q is for...

Our challenge for you this fortnight at the ABC Challenge, is:

'Q is for Quotation'

We'd like to see you use a quotation in a prominent place on your projects.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Cute Daisy May Digi Stamps, who are offering 5 sheets of digi stamps from their store for the lucky winner.

I took one the 'Kid's Quotes' stamps by Inkadinkado for the inspiration for my card...and watercoloured 'Splashing Maggie' (by Sugar Nellie) in an assortment of rainbow colours to go with it...I thought her happy expression was the perfect match. I decided to make a side-step card in order to be able to display the quote alongside the image, and added a rainbow that I doodled on the 'step' behind the quote. For the background, I embossed some plain blue card using my 'Tiny Bubbles' Cuttlebug folder, to look like droplets of rain. I matted the image and quote with card in rainbow colours, and added a bow in rainbow ribbon (which I think came form Hobbycraft) along the bottom.

I've made a tutorial (my first ever!) of how I made this card which can be seen on the ABC Challenge Tutorial blog...and for more inspiration for this challenge, don't forget to check out the fab cards by the rest of the ABC Challenge DT, including our lovely new member Sandie! :0)

Swiss Ribbon

I haven't entered the Sketch & Stash Challenge for a while...it's not that I haven't liked the sketches...'cos I have...or that I haven't had any new or unused stash to use...'cos I have mountains! lol But more a case of 'too many challenges...too little time'...so I thought it was about time I played again...and unearthed this gorgeous House Mouse image 'Swiss Ribbon', that I've had for ages, but have never got around to using. The papers are from the 'Ooh La La (for Him)' collection (by My Mind's Eye), as is the little 'ticket' embellishment, onto which I've stamped a sentiment by Inkadinkado. The brads and ribbon are from Poppicrafts.

I'm also going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Allsorts: 'Tag, Ticket or Label'
Papertake Weekly: 'Check this Out!'
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential: 'Doing the Mess Around'
Simon Says Stamp: '3 types of embellishments (in my case: ribbon, brads, ticket), 2 papers, 1 image'

Party Time!

Whilst having a rootle through the stamped images at the bottom of my image box (it's an A4 sized Really Useful Box, so it's easy to lose track of what I've got! lol) I found this fab Penny Black hedgehog image (called 'Cake Dance') which is just perfect for this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge where the theme is 'Party!'. I used the sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches...rotating it to fit the image. The papers are from the Papermania 'Sweet Nothings' pack, the sentiment stamp is by Inkadinkado ('Happy Birthday Ticket'), and the buttons are also Papermania.


There's still time to join in the fun of the ABC Christmas Challenge blog hop before the first challenge launches on Wednesday...click here for the first stop.

How many fingers are you?

Wow...four posts in one day...but I promise that this is the last! lol
I've managed to combine 2 challenges on this card: the fab Friday Sketchers sketch; and the 'Make us laugh' theme of the Cuttlebug Spot. Ive used one of my new Whipper Snapper stamps ('Balancing Act'), combined with BasicGrey 'Cupcakes' papers, one of which I embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' folder. The large brads are from Poppicrafts.


I used the same layout inside the card, with more BG papers, and a fab sentiment from the 'Kids Quotes' set by Inkadinkado...well it makes me chuckle! lol



The Cuttlebug Spot is having a drive to reach 1000 followers by the end of this month...not that it's going to take them that long as they've already got over 900. If they reach their target they will be giving away a $1000 gift certificate fro Custom Crops to one lucky follower...so if you haven't already signed up get yourself over there right now to be in with a chance of winning!

Four Challenges in One...

I've followed the sketch from the Sketch & Stash Challenge for this card...and have managed to include the themes of a few other challenges too...Cupcake Craft asked us to use numbers on our cards (they are on the paper); the Daring Cardmakers wanted 'Farmyard Animals' so I've given them a chicken; and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge was to use at least three different shapes...and I've managed to get squares, rectangles, triangles and a star on this card. My main image is 'Party Perch' by Penny Black...which I've had for ages, but can't remember the last time I inked it up, and my new item is the sentiment stamp (from the 'Kids Quotes' set by Inkadinkado). The papers are all from the 'Cupcakes' pad by BasicGrey, and the star was cut using a Nestie die.

ABC Challenge - L is for...

We've arrived at the letter L this week on the ABC Challenge blog...which stands for 'List'. We have a list of ingredients for you to use on your cards:

• 1 ribbon
• 3 flowers

• 6 brads

You can of course use other items, but you must include the items on the list on your card.

We are joined this week by a guest designer...the lovely Samantha who runs the shop blog for Penrith Crafts. She's offering a fab prize this week for one lucky challenger:

So, now on to my card. I've used another of the new Rachelle Anne Miller designs 'Hoppy Spring' (by Stampavie), and a fab sentiment form the 'Kid's Quotes' set by Inkadinkado. The paper is by K&Co (from the Amy Butler pad), my ribbon, and the three flowers are from Poppicrafts. The five plain round brads are by Papermania, and the sparkly butterfly brad is by Dovecraft.

Don't forget to check out the cards by the rest of the design team and our lovely guest designer Samantha.