Bundled Snowmen

I have another Christmas card to share today, featuring a cute snowman stamp from the 'Bundled Snowman' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto a piece of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my circle Nesties to cut out the circle shape. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, then matted it onto a pink scalloped circle (cut using another Nestie die). For the background, I used snowflake covered papers...the blue one is from the 'Let it Snow' pad by Art Studio, and the pink one is from the 'Snowscapes' pad from Woodware...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. I matted it all onto some more pink card, before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Christmas in September
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

September Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of a new month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for September. This means 'back to school' for me (I'm a music teacher), so I picked a cute Penny Black hedgie stamp called 'Scooting Along'... who, with his balloon removed, looks like he could be on his way to school with his satchel slung over his shoulder! I stamped him (minus his balloon) onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then cut it out using one of my circle Nesties. For the background, I used snippets of patterned papers from the 'Awesome Boy' pad from Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx). I distressed the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - All Creatures Great & Small
• As You Like It - Favourite Wild Animal (Hedgehog - I went with a cute (and non-scary!) animal - I'd be happy to welcome them into my garden, although I think they're probably put off by our urban foxes!)
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Use a Die Cut

August Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for August. As it's my birthday month, I picked a cute image from the Penny Black 'Good Times' set of two celebrating pups. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut it out using one of my oval Nesties. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'My Girl' pad by American Crafts...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Stripes or Chevrons

Outline Snowflakes

Today's card features a Simon Says Stamp background stamp called 'Outline Snowflakes'. I stamped it onto a piece of black card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic silver embossing powder from WOW, the coloured it using Cosmic Shimmers watercolours. I heat embossed a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Festive Phrases' set from Funky Fossil, on some more black card, then used one of my Circle Nesties to cut it out. I cut a mat from some silver mirror card using the matching scalloped circle die, then added it onto the background, matting that onto some more silver mirror card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Cut It Up - Emboss It
• Rudolph Days - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make Your Own Background
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes

July - Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my Penny Black desk calendar for July. I'm a music teacher, and July for me means holidays (albeit not for another couple of weeks!), so I picked a cute pup driving off on a road trip from the 'Hello Friend' set. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my oval Nesties to cut him out. 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.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favourite Non-Card Project (My desk calendar...I decorate a couple of the Papermill's A4 sized calendars for Christmas gifts each year, and I'm always sad to give them away, so when they started making the little desk sized ones, I started making one for myself each year, decorating it month by month, to keep on my craft desk)
• Inkspirational - Leftovers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

Friendship

Today's card features a Penny Black stamp called 'Friendship'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I stamped a sentiment, using one of the sentiments from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, onto a snippet of white card, then used Nesties to cut the circle shapes, and scalloped mats from navy card. The papers are from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx)...I distressed the edges, added the image and sentiment, then matted it all onto some more navy card before adding it to a white card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - For Boys
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - C is for Circles
• Aud Sentiments - Monochrome and/or Birthdays + Sentiment
• Creative Moments - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Masculine
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Masculine
• Sweet Stampin' - Something for the Boys
• The Male Room - The Outdoors
• We Love Stamping - Sports & Hobbies

 

May Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my Penny Black desk calendar page for May. I picked one of the frogs from my long neglected 'Toadily Happy' set, stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut out the circle shape. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Here + There' pad by Studio Calico...distressing the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted it onto a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Neglected Stuff - Anything Goes (The frog stamp was last used in 2020!)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make it Colourful
• We Love Stamping - All Creatures Great & Small

PBSC May - Anything Goes (Optional 'Your Favourite PB Stamp')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Your Favourite Penny Black Stamp'

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

My all time favourite Penny Black stamp, is also one of the first ones I bought, 'Birthday Dog'. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. I paired it with snippets of papers from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TKMaxx), and 

'Refreshing Basics' pad from The Works...distressing the edges and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I used another Nestie die to cut the scalloped mat from a snippet of kraft card, then layered everything up on a kraft card blank.

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

• Everybody Art - Happy Birthday
• Krafty Chicks - Colour an Image
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Four-legged Friends
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Pastel Colours)

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Pastel Colours'

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

I made a set of tags to put on some Easter treat boxes. The stamps used were: 'Totally Excited! (the chicken); 'Butterflies & Ewe' (the sheep); 'Hello World' (the two chicks); and the goose is from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set. I stamped them all onto snippets of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut out the circle shapes using one of my Nestie dies.  I distressed the edges a little, then added them to mats cut from snippets of pastel coloured card using one of my scalloped circle Nestie dies, sandwiching some Baker's twine in between.

For the boxes, I used sheets of 12x12 papers from a pad by Premium Stacks called 'Baby Boy', and my We R Memory Keepers punchboard. Once assembled, I tied up the boxes with more Baker's twine, then added the tags:

I'm also entering these tags & boxes into the following challenges:

• Creative Inspirations - Easter/Spring
• Just Us Girls - Dies + Spring/Easter
• Moving Along with the Times - Anything Spring
• Sweet Stampin' - Spring or Easter

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

April Desk Calendar

As it's the first day of the month, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for April. I went with an Easter theme, and used one of the stamps from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set by Penny Black...this cutie represents 'Six Geese a-laying'. I stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut out the circle shape using one of my Nesties. For the background, I used a couple of snippets of paper from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by We R Memory Keepers...I've had this pad since 2011, and it's still going strong! I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Spring
• Fab 'N' Funky - Easter/Spring
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Sparkles Forum - Springtime

PBSC March - Anything Goes (Optional 'Four-legged Friends')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Four-legged Friends'

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

I picked a cute puppy image from the 'Good Times!' set, and stamped it onto a piece of watercolour paper. I added a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my circle Nesties to cut it out. For the background, I used papers from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted it all onto some orange card, cutting a matching scalloped mat for the image using another Nestie die, then added it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Cheerful Sketches - Sketch
• Creative Inspirations - Cute Critters
• Creative Knockouts - Birthday Wishes
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Little Red Wagon - Include an Animal
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Make it Cute

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

March Desk Calendar

Today, I'm sharing my desk calendar page for March. I picked a Penny Black stamp called 'Totally Excited', and stamped it onto a snippet of watercolour paper. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. For the background, I used snippets of papers from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations. There are no full sheets left in this pad anymore, I'm down to mostly tiny snippets, but will I ever finish it???

I distressed all of the edges, added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted it onto a snippet of kraft card, before adding it to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Leftovers
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Birthday Dog

Today's card features one of my all time favourite stamps...'Birthday Dog' by Penny Black. I stamped him onto a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my circle Nesties to cut him out. I paired him with papers from the 'Party Day' pad by Crate Paper. I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Favourite Stamps
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Anything Goes

Sebastian

Today's card features a cute Whipper Snapper pup stamp called 'Sebastian' that I picked up from a charity shop over Christmas. I stamped him onto some watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using stamps from the 'Birthday Buddies' set by Paper Smooches, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. The spotty background papers are from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• As You Like It - Favourite Die (Mine is my set of circle Nesties...simple but effective)
• Crafter's Cafe - One for the Boys
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Spots & Dots

Guest Designer - I Spy with My Little Eye Challenge

Today, I'm excited to be sharing a Guest Designer card for Ellie's I Spy with My Little Eye Challenge.

The theme this month is:

'I Spy with My Little Eye...New Beginnings'

I went with 'New Baby' for my card, and picked a cute Penny Black stamp called 'Baby Hammock'. I stamped it onto some watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. I paired it with papers from the 'Bumblebee Dance' pad from The Paper Boutique. I distressed the edges a little, added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen, then matted all of the layers onto some lilac card. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Art Impressions.

For more inspiration from Ellie and Pauline, please pop over to the Eye Spy with My Little Eye Challenge.

Penny Black 2026 Calendar

I have another Penny Black calendar to share today...this is the one I made for my Aunt for Christmas. The blank calendar is one of the A4 ones from Paper Mill Direct...and I decorated it using lots of Penny Black critter stamps, and snippets of patterned papers. I stamped all of the images onto watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then cut some into circles using my Nesties. I distressed all of the edges of the papers, and matted them all onto pieces of kraft card before adding them to the calendar.

Challenges for this calendar:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Happy New??? (New Year)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wedensdays) - Something New (New Year)