PBSC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'Things with Wings')

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

'Things with Wings'

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

I picked a cute chicken stamp called 'Best of Luck!' for my card, stamping it onto watercolour paper, then colouring it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with snippets of papers from a really old My Mind's Eye pad called 'Indie Chic - Saffron'. I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company.

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

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• I Spy With My Little Eye - Something With Wings
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stitch It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'On the Move')...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 the Move'

(Transport)

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

This time I used a cute pup stamp called 'Airborne', stamping it onto a piece of smooth white card, along with a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I used my CutterBee Bug to pierce a simple border, before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Addicted to CAS - Up
• As You Like It - Favourite Pet - Dog (Specifically golden retriever - we had several when I was growing up, and they're the most lovely (and daftest!) pet)
• Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'On the Move')

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

'On the Move'

(Transport)

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

I have a fair few transport themed Penny Black stamps, and picked a cute cycling cat from the 'You're Retro!' set. I stamped him, along with one of the sentiments from the set, onto a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I paired it with a trio of spotty papers from the 'Fresh Florals' pad from Craft Sensations. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• The Male Room - Hobbies

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

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

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

'Use Patterned Papers'

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

I picked one of the cats from the 'Good Day!' set to use on my card...I stamped him onto watercolour paper, along with one of the sentiments from the set, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. To match the spotty wrapping paper on his gift, I picked three spotty papers from the 'Here is Happy' pad by My Mind's Eye to use for the background. I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

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

'Your Favourite Penny Black Stamp'

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

I cheated slightly this time, and picked my favourite Penny Black Christmas stamp...'Snowy'! I stamped him onto a piece of watercolour paper, used a black gel pen to extend the snowy ground on either side of him, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment, using a stamp from the 'Snow Bunnies' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then carefully cut around the top of the image. I layered it over a piece of snowy sky paper, from an unnamed pad from The Works, then matted it onto a piece of teal card before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Jingle Belles - Snow
• Krafty Chicks - Christmas
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

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

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')...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

'Pastel Colours'

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

For my card, I picked a cute cat image from the 'Christmas Hugs' set for my card, and stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment (using a stamp from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company), then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a snowflake covered paper (from the 'Christmas' pad by Craft Sensations, and a couple of snippets of plain-ish papers from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad, also by Craft Sensations. I embossed the plain-ish papers using snowflake embossing folders from Cuttlebug and Sizzix, then lightly sanded over the raised areas to reveal some of the white core. I distressed the edges a little, then layered everything up on a white card blank.

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

• Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - That Song ('Joy to the World')

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.

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

'Four-legged Friends'

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

For my card, I picked a cute mouse stamp called 'Surprise!'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from a couple of different pads...the green one is from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations, and the yellow and lilac papers are from the 'Bumblebee Dance' pad from The Paper Boutique. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Four-legged Friends
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Gingham/Tartan/Plaid
• We Love Stamping - Wildlife

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

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.

PBSC February - Anything Goes (Optional 'Romance')...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

'Romance'

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

I picked a cute pup from the 'Critter Party' set (an oldie, but a goodie), and stamped him directly onto a kraft card blank. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Furry Friends' set by Funky Fossil.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Cute or Elegant (Cute for me...especially Penny Black critters - they were what got me into cardmaking)
• CAS on Friday - Cute
• Crafty Calendar - Love is in the Air
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
• I Spy with My Little Eye - Something You Love (Penny Black critters, CAS one layer cards, kraft card)
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - No Designer Papers
• The Male Room - CAS

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

PBSC February - Anything Goes (Optional 'Romance')

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

'Romance'

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

I used a cute hedgie stamp called 'The Park Bench Affair' to make an anniversary card. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Champagne Anniversary Silhouette' set by My Sentiments Exactly, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used a piece of heart covered paper from the 'Vintage Dreams' pad by Craft Sensations...I distressed all of the edges, then matted the layers onto some red card before adding it to a white card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Love
• Creative Knockouts - Love/Valentine's/Anniversary
• Everybody Art - Hearts
• Fab 'N' Funky - Love is All Around
• Inkspirational - XOXO
• Little Red Wagon - Picturing Love
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Heart
• We Love Stamping - Hearts

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

PBSC January - Anything Goes (Optional 'Something New')...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

'Something New'

(New Year, New House, New Job, New Baby, New Stash...)

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

My 'Something New' is a stamp from the 'Frosty Feathers' set by Penny Black that I received as a Christmas gift. I stamped one of the snowmen and a sentiment from the set, directly onto a kraft card blank, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. 

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

• CAS on Friday - Snowman
• Crafty Calendar - Anything New
• Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes (Optional 'Snowman')
• Creative Knockouts - Something to Say
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• We Love Stamping - Something New

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

PBSC December - Anything Goes (Optional 'Snow/Snowmen')...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

'Snow/Snowmen'

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

My all-time favourite snowman is 'Snowy' by Penny Black, so I just had to use him for my card. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, extended the line for the 'snowy ground' on either side of him using a black gel pen, then coloured him using watercolour pencils. I paper-pieced his hat and scarf using a snippet of paper from the 'Fresh Florals' pad by Craft Sensations, adding some shading using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut around the top of the image. For the background, I used a piece of snowy paper from an unnamed pad from The Works, then layered Snowy over the top. I added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous, and some snowflakes, cut using some of the 'Paper Snowflakes Mini' dies by Tim Holtz/Sizzix, then matted it onto some teal card before adding it to a card blank.

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

• Creative Knockouts - 'Tis the Season
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Anything Christmas
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Snowmen
• Sweet Stampin' - Christmas

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

PBSC December - Anything Goes (Optional 'Snow/Snowmen')

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

'Snow/Snowmen'

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

I have a fairly 'healthy' collection of Penny Black snowman stamps, and picked 'What a Snow!' to make a large 8x8 square card. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Joy to the World' set, also by Penny Black, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with some pastel coloured papers from the 'Snowscape' pad by Woodware...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I cut some snowflakes from matching pastel card snippets using dies from the 'Paper Snowflakes Mini' set by Tim Holtz for Sizzix, then added those to the card with some little gems in their centres.

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

• Aud Sentiments - Non-traditional Christmas and/or Winter + Sentiment
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas
• Jingle Belles - Anything Christmassy
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Use Dies
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use Dies

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

PBSC November - Anything Goes (Optional 'Music')...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

'Music'

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

For my card, I used an unbranded music background stamp, and inked up a portion of it using 'Pumice Stone' Distress Ink, then stamped it onto some smooth white card. Once dry, I stamped one of the butterflies from the 'Social Butterfly' set over the top using 'Uncharted Mariner' Distress Ink, then heat embossed it with a little 'Vintage Peacock' embossing glitter from WOW. I added a sentiment using a stamp from the 'Go To Words' set, matted it onto a piece of teal card, distressing all of the edges before adding it to a card blank.

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

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Thank You')
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Thank You
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Thanks

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

PBSC November - Anything Goes (Optional 'Music')

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

'Music'

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

I have a fair few musical critter stamps from Penny Black, and picked 'Marching Band' to use on my card. I stamped it onto a piece of watercolour paper, then added a sentiment using an unbranded stamp that I picked up in a charity shop last week. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added some more musical notes using a black pen. I matted it onto some red card, distressing the edges a little, then added it to a kraft DL card blank.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

PBSC October - Anything Goes (Optional 'Too Cute to Spook!')...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

'Too Cute to Spook!'

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

I decorated another Halloween treat bag...and this time used one of the critters from the 'Be Very Scared!' set. I stamped him onto watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. The papers are a mixture of Carta Bella 'Spooky' (the ghosts), unbranded (the cobwebs) and a pad from The Works (spotty). I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted all the layers onto black card, cutting a scalloped circle using another Nestie die, before adding it to a kraft gift bag.

I'm also entering this treat bag into the following challenges:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Halloween
• Crafty Gals Corner - Spooky...
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• I Spy with My Little Eye - Something Spooky
• Stamping Sensations - Autumn
• We Love Stamping - Anything Autumn

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

PBSC October - Anything Goes (Optional 'Too Cute to Spook!')

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

'Too Cute to Spook!'

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

I picked one of the cute critters from the 'Be Very Scared' set to decorate a Halloween treat bag. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut out the circle shape using one of my Nesties. The papers are from a pad from The Works...I distressed the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I matted the image onto a scalloped circle cut using another Nestie, then matted it all onto some black card before adding it to a kraft gift bag.

Challenges for this bag:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Autumn/Something Spooky
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Animals

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

PBSC September - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spots and/or Stripes')

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

'Spots and/or Stripes'

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

I picked a cute little mouse image from the 'It's Your Day!' set...and stamped him directly onto a kraft card blank. I added some stripes to his balloon using a black gel pen, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company.

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

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• I Spy with Little Eye - Something Clean & Simple
• Krafty Chicks - CAS
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• We Love Stamping - Make it Cute

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