PBSC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'Water and/or Watercolour')...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
'Water and/or Watercolour'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I received this adorable 'Friendship' stamp for my birthday last weekend...and it was just perfect for our 'Water' theme this month...so I couldn't resist using it...in fact I made two cards!

On the first one, I stamped the image on to watercolour paper...extended the waves a little...coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut it out using one of my circle Nesties. I curved the sentiment  (from the 'All of Us' set by Avery Elle) around the image, and added a few die cut clouds (cut using the 'Puffy Clouds' dies by Memory Box).

On my second card I stamped the image, along with the sentiment that came in the set, on to some watercolour paper, and again coloured it using watercolour pencils. I doodled a simple border, then matted it on to some red card before adding it to my card balnk.

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

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - For Boys and Men
• Twofer - Nautical

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

Airborne

It was my birthday a couple of days ago and I was the lucky recipient of some lovely new crafting goodies...including this adorable Penny Black stamp called 'Airborne'. I stamped it on to some watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. I stamped the sentiment that came with it on to a snippet of blue card, and doodled a simple border using a black gel pen. I added the puppy image, along with a few die cut clouds (cut from a snippet of white card using my memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' dies) using some 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Aud Sentiments - Animals & a Sentiment
• Dream Valley - Hand Coloured Images
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Midsummer Blues
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Die Cut

Pile It On! Challenge - Use Mostly Black, Purple & Orange

We have a fun new Pile It On! Challenge starting today, with a spooky colour combination as our theme:

'Use Mostly Black, Purple & Orange'

(Your creation does not to be Halloween themed)

Our sponsor this month is Ike's Art:

Prize - $15 store voucher!

I used the colours to make a Halloween treat bag...and picked some fab papers from the 'Hocus Pocus' pad by Taylored Expressions, and a cute Penny Black cat image from the 'Spooky' set. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, added a sentiment (no idea of the brand of the stamp...I picked it up for 50p in a charity shop a little while ago), then cut it out using one of my Nesties. I added some simple doodled borders to all of the layers using black and white gel pens, and a couple of die cut cobwebs (cut using a Memory Box die).

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Use Mostly Black, Purple & Orange
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Always Fun - Dies & Punches
• Aud Sentiments - Two Word Sentiment
• Crafty Friends - Use More than Die
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Forum - Dies and/or Punches

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

Guest Designer - Fussy & Fancy Challenge

Today I'm excited to be sharing a guest designer card for the Fussy & Fancy Challenge that starts today. The theme is:

'White on White with a Splash of Colour'

This colour scheme screamed Christmas to me, so I had a rummage through my dies, and grabbed some plain white card. I started by cutting the frame using my Memory Box 'Tree Silhouette' die, then cut another piece of card to fit behind it, and embossed that using a Tim Holtz/Sizzix folder called 'Snowfall'. I then built up the scene by cutting some snowy hills using my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders'...although I used the non-stitched side. I cut a couple of reindeer using dies from the 'Winter Wonderland' set also by Tim Holtz/Sizzix and placed them on the scene before attaching it all to my card blank. Finally, I added a red pearl to give one of the reindeer a red nose for my 'splash of colour'.

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

• Allsorts - Create a Scene
• Crafty Friends - Embossing
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from the awesome design team, please pop over to the Fussy & Fancy Challenge.

Madeleine Bird

I have a simple little card to share today, inspired by this fortnight's Less is More colour combination of 'Yellow, Blue & Grey'. I started by choosing a couple of papers from my My Mind's Eye 'Breeze' pad, and used them to cut my 'Madeleine Bird' die (by Memory Box). I thought that the little birdie would look sweet against a blue sky background, so stamped one of my Simon Says Stamp 'Handwritten Border' sentiment stamps on to a blue card blank, then perched him on the 'wire' using 3D foam pads.

Challenges for this card:

• Craftaholics R Us - Blue
• Crafty Calendar - Things with Wings
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Things the Fly
• Less is More - Yellow, Blue & Grey

Teddy Birthday

I have a birthday card to share today for a little girl who turned five earlier this month. I used lots of Penny Black teddy bears...the little ones holding her name are the 'Birthday Bears' set and 'Bear Blank One', and the one floating down with the balloons is called 'Transported'. I coloured them all using watercolour pencils, then added the numbers and letters using a black gel pen. I created a simple outdoor scene for them using plain card and a few dies...the 'Stitched Hillside Borders' by Lawn Fawn and 'Puffy Clouds' by Memory Box. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - B is for Bears
• Always Happy Birthday - Anything Goes (Optional Balloons)
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Cardmakers - Birthdays
• Fussy & Fancy - Add a Die Cut
• Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - Die Cuts

Pile It On! Challenge - Large Sentiments

It's the first Sunday of the month, so that means that we have a fun new Pile It On! Challenge starting today...the theme is:

'Large Sentiments'

We are sponsored for this challenge by Pickled Potpourri:

Please see Pile It On! Challenge post for details of the prize.

I used a Memory Box die for my large sentiment...it's called 'Grand Merry Christmas'...and I cut it from plain white card. I made a background using Distress Inks (Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, Peacock Feathers & Cracked Pistachio) on watercolour paper, then stamped some snowflakes (from the 'Detailed Snowflakes' set by Stampendous) in Versamark Ink, and heat embossed them using 'Sparkling Snow' embossing powder by WOW. I scuffed up the edges a little using my distressing tool, then matted it all on to some teal card.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Large Sentiments
• Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Christmas or Non-Christmas (Christmas - It's my favourite occasion to make cards for, and I make them all year round!)
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Friends - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (CAS) - Christmas
• Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
• WOW - Christmas

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

Silly Bat!

I have one last Hallowe'en treat bag to share today...this one uses a stamp by Funstamps called 'Silly Bat', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I used papers by Carta Bella (from the 'Spooky' and 'Happy Haunting' collections...distressing th edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The little bats and cobwebs were cut using Memory Box dies.

Challenges for this bag:

• Come & Get It - Halloween
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Halloween
• Fussy & Fancy - So Spooky
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - All Creatures Great & Small
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Fantasy and/or Spiders & Cobwebs

It's the third Sunday of the month, so we have more inspiration and a bonus theme for this month's Pile It On! Challenge. The themes this month are:

'Fantasy'

&

'Spiders & Cobwebs'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Sasayaki Glitter Digital Stamps

Prize - a digi image of the winner's choice

I went with the 'Spiders & Cobwebs' theme to make another Hallowe'en treat bag. I used stamps from the 'Spooky' and 'Be Very Scared' sets by Penny Black...masking off the bats above the cat's head before inking, so that he could be looking at the spider instead. I coloured the images using watercolour pencils, and added a sentiment made using stamps from the 'Graffiti' alphabet set by Paper Smooches...adding a handwritten exclamation mark. The papers are from the 'Haunted', 'Spooky' and 'Haunted House' collections by Carta Bella...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The cobweb was cut using a Memory Box die.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Fantasy and/or Spiders & Cobwebs
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
• Creates & Makes - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Spots/Stripes and/or Halloween
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Not a Card
• Sweet Stampers - Autumn or Halloween
• That's Crafty - Get Your Spook On!

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

Balloon Kitty

I'm sneaking on before bed to share a little birthday card...featuring a Penny Black cat from the 'Bubbly' set, which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I used a couple of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border dies to cut the curved sections at the bottom...then used various embossing folders (Cuttlebug 'Charles', Sizzix 'Plaid' & 'Chevron Texture') to add some texture. The clouds were cut using my Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' die, and the sentiment is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crazy Challenge - Birthday Card
• Critters & Creatures Linky Party 
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Embossing

Pile It On! Challenge - Make Your Own Background

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...and the theme is:

'Make Your Own Background'

Our sponsor this month is Paper Sweeties:

Prize - a $25 Gift Certificate to the Paper Sweeties store!

I made my background by 'smooshing ' Distress Inks on to watercolour paper. Blues for the sky: Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Broken China, Stormy Sky & Faded Jeans. Greens for the grass: Lucky Clover, Mowed Lawn, Cracked Pistachio & Evergreen Bough. I added a couple of layers...drying with my heat gun before adding the second layer, then splattering with a little water. I used my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border dies to cut the grass, then added a cute little mouse ('Daisy' by Whipper Snapper Stamps), which I coloured using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut out. The clouds were cut using my Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' dies, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Make Your Own Background
• Animal Friends - Summer
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Two of Something (Clouds)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Celebrate
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Dog-gone It! Dad!

I have a simple little Father's Day gift tag to share today...it's doggy themed to match the card I made to go with it. This cute little chappie is from the 'Man's Best Friend' set by Penny Black...I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut him out. I covered a plain kraft gift tag using some sky blue card, then used one of my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies and a Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' die to create a little scene to place him in. The sentiment stamps are from the 'You & I' set by Clearly Besotted and a little set by Wild Rose Studio.

I attached it to a ktaft paper gift bag that I'd decorated by stamping a Hobbycraft paw print background stamp in Versamark Ink all over.

Challenges for this tag:

• Catch the Bug - Masculine
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Animal Magic
• Crafty Cardmakers - For a Special Man
• Crafty Creations - Tic-Tac-Toe (Sentiment-Image-Tag)
• Crazy 4 Challenges - Make It Masculine
• Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies
• Little Red Wagon - Tag, You're It!
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Father's Day/For a Guy
• The Male Room - Father's Day

Pile It On! Challenge - Tic-Tac-Toe

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...the theme is:

'Tic - Tac - Toe'

Simply choose a line...vertical, horizontal or diagonal from the board below:

Our sponsor this month is Eureka Stamps:

Prize - 2 Digi Stamps of the Winner's Choice!

I picked the bottom row (Stripes - Die Cut - Bird) and used my Memory Box 'Madeleine Bird' die to cut the little bird from some snippets of Pebbles Inc 'Yours Truly' papers. I mounted the bird on 3D foam pads on to a square of white card having pierced a simple border using my CutterBee Bug. I added an adhesive pearl for the bird's eye, and a sentiment from the 'Birds & Trees' stamp set by Marion Emberson Designs.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Tic-Tac-Toe (Stripes - Die Cut - Bird)
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Fussy & Fancy - Dies/Punches
• Outside the Box - For the Birds
• Pixie's Snippet Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Floating by...

Today's card is for the birthday of a friend. My starting point was wanting to feature some balloons...I'm not sure how it ended up with a floating pig! The pig is a digi stamp from Hambo...I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut him out (removing the balloon and flowers from the image). I created the background scene using simple coloured card and my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside' border dies, and my Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' dies. I cut the balloons using my Die-namics 'Party Balloons' dies, added some numbers cut using my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet dies, then tied them around the pig using some rainbow twine. I popped them all up using 3D foam pads, then added a little mouse (from the Penny Black 'Hello Friend' set & coloured using watercolour pencils) and a sentiment from the 'Anytime Messages' set by  Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Crafting for All Seasons - Dies/Punches
• Creative Knockouts - Outdoor Fun
• Creative Playground - Birthday
• Let's Colour Linky Party - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - Be Funny
• Sunday Stamps - Rainbows/Rainbow Colours

Chick, Chick, Chick, Chicken!

Happy Easter!

I have one last Easter treat bag to share today. This time I used a couple of Penny Black stamps...'Totally Excited!' (the chicken) and 'Hello World! (the little chicks)'. I coloured the images using watercolour pencils, then fussy cut them out. I made a little background scene using papers from the 'Here + There' pad by Studio Calico and dies by Lawn Fawn (Stitched Hillside Borders), Die-Namics (Picket Fence & Grassy Edges), and Memory Box (Puffy Clouds). The sentiment stamp is from the 'Egg-cellent Easter Sentiments' set by AmyR/C C Designs.

Challenges for this bag:

• Allsorts - Wings
• Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - To Die For
• Fantasy Stampers - In the Springtime
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Any Holiday (Easter)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (I stamped the images on to, and cut the clouds out of snippets of white card left over from making square cards from A4 sheets)
• That Craft Place - Anything Goes
• Wags 'N Whiskers - Wings

Toadily Happy!

I picked up a cute Penny Black stamp set called 'Toadily' at a charity shop yesterday...and used it last night to make this riverside scene card. I stamped the frogs on a snippet of white card, then fussy cut them out. I used papers from various pads to create the scene - a whole piece from the 'Hello Today' pad by Heidi Swapp for the sky, and snippets of brown (from the 'North Country' pad by Prima) and blue (from the 'Blue Floral' by My Minds Eye) for the river bank and water. I used one of my Lawn Fawn 'Grassy Edges' dies to cut the grass from a snippet of green card and my Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds' dies to cut the clouds from a snippet of white card. I stamped some bees (from the same stamp set) on to the 'sky' then added my frogs popped up on 3D foam pads...I doodled some ripples and water droplets...then added their 'eyebrows' that I'd cut off! The sentiment is also from the same stamp set.

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to Stamps - Die Cuts
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Stamp & Die
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Any Holiday

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today...and the theme is:

'Any Holiday'

Our sponsor this week is Doodle Pantry:

Prize - 3 Digital Images of the winner's choice!

I picked Christmas as my holiday...and made a white on white card using various dies to create a winter scene. I embossed the background using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder to look like falling snow, then built up the scene using my Memory Box 'Tree Silhouette', Lawn Fawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' (without the stitched edging), and Die'sire's 'Reindeer' dies. I added a stamped sentiment (from the Tim Holtz 'Scribbly Christmas' set for Stampers Anonymous) and a little red adhesive pearl to Rudolph's nose! 

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Any Holiday (Christmas)
• Alphabet Challenge - Tis the Season
• Come & Get It - Winter Holiday
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafting for All Seasons - Embossing
• Cut it Up - Inspired by a Book, Movie or Song (Winter Wonderland/& Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer)
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas
• Wags 'N Whiskers - Embossing

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

Welcome Party

I have another Christmas card to share today...featuring an idea for using my Memory Box 'Grand Merry Christmas Script' die that  I *borrowed* from Bonnie. I used a cute Penny Black stamp from the 'Joy to the World' set, which I coloured using watercolour pencils...paper piecing their clothing from scraps of 'Winter Wonderland' papers (by My Mind's Eye).

Challenges for this card:

• Animal Friends - Hats, Scarves or Gloves
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Less is More - Paper Piecing
• Penny Black & More - Anything Christmas
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Snippets

Snowy & Sparkly

I have a set of Christmas cards to share today...all made from a piece of inky blue, sparkly snowflake covered panel that I made. I started by stamping and heat embossing a Hero Arts Snowflakes' stamp on plain white card using Versamark Ink and white embossing powder. Then I blended several colours of Distress Ink over the top (Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Pine Needles & Cracked Pistachio), before spritzing with 'Baby's Breath' Shimmerz paint to make it nice and sparkly. I added a Lili of the Valley stamped sentiment...although I didn't manage to capture the sparkle in any of my photographs, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

For the first two cards, I followed the sketch over at Jingle Belles...cutting the curved panels using my Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Border' dies, and adding some die cut snowflakes (cut using a Memory Box die, then coated with sparkle using a Wink of Stella pen, with an adhesive pearl in the centre).

Challenges for these cards:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Resist Embossing
• Clear It Out - Christmas Cards & Die Cuts
• Dream Valley - Blue
• Jingle Belles - Sketch
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Blue & White

For the second two cards, I followed this week's Less is More sketch, simply cutting a pennant shape.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafty Friends - Your Favourite Colour
• Fab 'N Funky - Christmas
• Less is More - Sketch
• Time Out - Christmas