Joy to the World

I have a Christmas card to share today, made using one of the stamps from the 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, added a sentiment using one of the stamps from the 'Gift Exchange' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Ho Ho Ho' pad by Polkadoodles, distressing the edges and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before adding them to a kraft card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Animals
• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Peace on Earth Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Cute Critters
• Stamping Sensations - Cute Creatures

More Christmas Hats

Today's card features another couple of critters from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them, along with one of the sentiments from the set, on to watercolour paper, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I paired it with a piece of candy cane striped paper from the 'Ho Ho Ho' pad by Polkadoodles...distressing the edges and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Kickstart - If it's Christmassy, Link it Up!
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Lil Red Wagon - Animal or Human
• The Male Room - Christmas

Christmas Hats

Today's card features a couple of the critters from the 'Christmas Hats' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company. I stamped them on to watercolour paper, along with one of the sentiments from the set, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I used a piece of checked paper from the 'Ho Ho Ho' pad by Polkadoodles for the background, distressing the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Stitching
• Cardz for Guys - Festive Creatures
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Make Them Smile')
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Festive Animals
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

ABC Christmas - J & K are for?

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

'J is for Jingle Bells'

&

'K is for Kissing'

(underneath the mistletoe)

The prize on offer for one lucky winner is these Fizzy Moon stamps:

For my 'Jingle Bells' card, I took inspiration from the words of the song, and picked a cute Penny Black stamp called 'Coming Your Way'...a 'one hedgehog' open sleigh, rather than 'one horse'! I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Ho Ho Ho Christmas' pad by Polkadoodles, distressing the edges and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is from an old Pollycraft set.

For my 'K is for Kissing' card, I used stamps from the 'Christmas Hugs' set (also by Penny Black), again stamping them on to watercolour paper, and colouring them using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works...not specifically Christmas, but the colours matched! I distressed the edges, and added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is from a Lili of the Valley set.

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

• Christmas with the Cuties - Something Hand Coloured
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Inspired by Music (First card only)
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Include a Sleigh (First card only)
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

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

Guest Designer - Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge

A couple of month's ago, I was the lucky winner of a Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge, and asked to guest design for a future challenge, and today I'm sharing that card. 

This challenge is sponsored by Sheepski Designs, and the image I chose to work with is called 'Vixen'. I printed it on to smooth white card, then used watercolour pencils to colour it...I didn't use any water to blend the pencils, as I often have issues with that smudging digi stamps (I don't have the right kind of printer...which is why you don't see me using a lot of digi stamps), but I quite like the texture it's given the fur. I used some of my Nesties to cut the circles, and paired the image with a snippet of bauble paper from the 'Ho, Ho, Ho!' pad by Polkadoodles...doodling simple borders using a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

For more inspiration from the fabulous design team, please pop over to the Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge - thanks for having me!

Sledging Penguins

I have a Christmas card to share today, featuring a cute penguin stamp from an old Lili of the Valley set. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Many Blessings' set by Hero Arts, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the 'Ho Ho Ho Christmas' pad...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug.

Challenges for this card:

• Aud Sentiments - Christmas + a Sentiment
• Christmas Craft Creations - Winter Activities
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Spots and/or Stripes
• Little Red Wagon - Cute, Cute, Cute!
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Stamp It
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp It
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Winter Wonderland - Christmas Animals

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 Embossing'

'F is for Fussy & Fancy'

&

'G is for Glitter'

There's a little prize on offer from Carol for the lucky winner:

For my 'E is for Embossing' card, I used stamps from the Woodware 'Sketchy Sprigs' set...stamping them using Versamark Ink on to kraft card, and heat embossing them using WOW 'Metallic Gold Rich' embossing powder. I added a sentiment from the Funky Fossil 'Festive Phrases' set to the centre of the card, then inked around the edge of the panel with more Versamark Ink, and heat embossing that with more of the gold.

I don't tend to add lots of 'stuff' to my cards, so my interpretation of 'Fussy & Fancy' is lots of layers, patterns and colours. I used a Penny Black stamp called 'Brightest Xmas'...stamping it on to watercolour paper, colouring it using watercolour pencils, and adding some Glossy Accents to the baubles. The papers are from the 'Ho Ho Ho Christmas' pad by Polkadoodles...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

I am however, a BIG fan of glitter and sparkle on Christmas cards, and picked my 'Big Snowflake' by Colorado Craft Company to heat emboss using 'High Heels' embossing glitter by WOW. It's so sparkly in real life, which also means that it's a pain to get a decent photograph of! The sentiment is from the 'Winter Blessings' set from the 'Winter White' collection by Crafter's Companion.

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

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional Distress)
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Christmas Kickstart - Snowflakes are Winter's Butterflies (third card only)
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Stamp Act
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

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

Boo!

I have another Halloween treat bag to share today...this one features one of the cats from the 'Spooky' set by Penny Black. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I used my Polkadoodles 'Going Batty' stencil for the background...inking through it with some Versamark Ink on some purple card, then heat embossing the bats with 'Halloween' embossing glitter from WOW. It's a lovely mix of black and orange glitter - so pretty, but as always with anything sparkly, such a pain to photograph! I used a few die cuts to complete the spooky background...my Memory Box 'Silhouette Tree' (with the border cut off) and my Die-namics 'Grassy Edge' dies. I used my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet dies to cut the lettering for the sentiment.

Challenges for this bag:

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Embossing Delight
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes (Optional 'Halloween')
• Fab 'N' Funky - Halloween
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Spooky/Halloween
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Spooky/Halloween
• Stamping Sensations - Animals, Birds & Bugs

Mice Treats

I have another Halloween treat bag to share today...featuring one of the critters from the 'Be Very Scared' set by Penny Black. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, before carefully cutting him out. I used snippets of papers from the 'Hocus Pocus' pad by Taylored Expressions for the background, using my Nesties to cut the circles, and adding a couple of cobwebs cut from snippets of white card using my Memory Box 'Creepy Web' die.

Challenges for this bag:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Trick or Treat')
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Halloween/Fall Colours
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Spooky/Halloween
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Not a Card

PBSC October - Anything Goes (Optional 'Colour Inspiration')...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

'Colour Inspiration'

(Pick at least two colours from: Black, Orange, Purple, Green, Red, White & Teal)

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I picked Black, White, Orange & Purple and decorated another Halloween treat bag. I started by blending 'Black Soot' Distress Ink through my Polkadoodles 'Going Batty' stencil on to a piece of purple patterned paper from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations. I added a die cut 'moon'...stencilling the bats over the top...and some grass cut from a snippet of black card using one of my Die-namics 'Grassy Edge' dies. The cat is from the 'Be Very Scared' set...I stamped him on to watercolour paper,coloured him with watercolour pencils before carefully cutting him out and adding him to background using 3D foam pads.

I'ma also entering this bag into the following challenges:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Halloween/Autumn/Thanksgiving
• Crafter's Cafe - Use a Stencil
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Black & Purple')
• Happy Little Stampers (Stencils) - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything but a Card
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything but a Card
• Simply Create Too - Spooky/Scary

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

Crazy Dog Witch

I have another Halloween treat bag to share today...this one features one of the Tim Holtz 'Crazy Dogs' dressed up for trick or treating in a witches hat cut using a Polkadoodles die. The background is a sheet of paper from the 'Apothecary Emporium' pad by Echo Park, with a die cut fence (cut using my Die-namics 'Picket Fence' die).

Challenges for this bag:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favourite Non Card Project (Gift & Treat bags...like a card, but better because there are goodies inside!)
• Crafty Calendar - Halloween
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Halloween and/or Thankful
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Not a Card
• Sweet Stampers - Autumn or Halloween

PBSC July - Anything Goes (Optional 'Monochrome')

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
'Monochrome'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used 'Snowy' on my card, stamping him on to watercolour paper and colouring him using watercolour pencils. I gave him red accessories, and paired him with red papers from the 'Ho Ho Ho Christmas' pad by Polkadoodles and the '12 Days of Christmas' pad by Papermania. I distressed the edges a little then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and black and white gel pens.

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

• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Red, White and/or Blue
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

Bauble Balance

I have another Christmas card to share today...this one features a new (to me) Penny Black stamp called 'Bauble Balance'. I stamped it, along with the matching sentiment, directly on to a kraft card blank, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I added a snippet of (sort of) matching bauble covered paper (from the 'Ho Ho Ho' pad by Polkadoodles) along the bottom edge of the card.

Challenges for this card:

• Alphabet Challenge - K is for Kraft
• C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
• Crafty Friends - Fairies & Fantasy
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stamp

ABC Christmas Challenge - W & X are for...

We have another fun ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Lindsey is the host, and the themes this month are:

'W is for Wreath'

&

'X is for fauX'

And the prize for the lucky winner:

My 'W is for Wreath' project is a Quality Street chocolate wreath...I make a couple of these every year. I'm still using the original polystyrene wreath shapes...and simply use my hot glue gun to attach the chocolates. I use a whole tub of chocolates on each wreath...although every year there are fewer chocolates, so the white of the wreath shape underneath is starting to show through this year! 

I went with faux stitching on my 'X is for fauX' card. I picked a Penny Black image called 'Wishes for Kisses', which I stamped on to watercolour paper and coloured using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment and little snowflake from a couple of the Penny Black transparent sets. The plaid papers are from two differentpads...the green paper is from the 'Ho Ho Ho Christmas' pad by Polkadoodles, and the red paper is from the 'Festive Chalkboard' pad by Craftwork Cards...I distressed the edges a little before adding my 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 
• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes with a Sentiment
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Something Beginning with H - Hedgehog)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Animals
• Penny Black & More - Christmas
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Traditional Christmas Colours

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - P, Q & R are for?

We have another fun ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...I'm the host, and we have three fantastic themes this month:

'P is for Penguins'

'Q is for Quarters'

&

'R is for Reindeer'

There are three prizes on offer for three lucky winner (three 6x6 paper pads):

I made a card for each of the three themes (the more cards for the box the better!), and picked a cute Lili of the Valley penguin stamp called 'Present Pile for my first card. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, added a sentiment (from a set by Pollycraft for C.C.Designs) and a simple doodled border, then simply popped it on to my card blank using 3D foam pads.

For my second card, I divided my background into quarters...using squares of papers from the 'Ho Ho Ho' pad by Polkadoodles...with a little bit of faux stitching added using my CutterBug and a black gel pen. The image and sentiment stamps are from the 'Christmas Hugs' set by Penny Black...and is again coloured using watercolour pencils.

My third card feature another Penny Black image...called 'Deer in Skates'...I stamped it directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then coloured it using watercolour pencils, but without any water.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Christmas Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• 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 ABC Christmas Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - N & O are for?

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so we have another fun ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Samantha is the host, and we have two lovely themes:

'N is for No Peeking!'

and

'O is for Ornaments'

Samantha has a special birthday later this month...and she is celebrating with us and is very generously offering eight(!!!) prizes for eight(!!!) lucky winners:

I couldn't resist using this adorable Penny Black hedgie image for my 'No peeking!' card...he's called 'Hide-out'...and it's a good job there's not a gift underneath that box! I coloured him using watercolour pencils, then doodled a simple border using a black gel pen. The paper is from the 'Ho Ho Ho Christmas' pad by Polkadoodles, and the sentiment stamp is from a set by Lili of the Valley.

For my 'O is for Ornaments' card, I used an Indigo Blu stamp called 'Connor's Crown Jewels. I stamped it on to a piece of teal card using Versamark Ink, then used 'Sparkling Snow' embossing glitter by WOW around the edge, and 'Metallic Gold Sparkle' embossing glitter (also by WOW) over the centre portion of the image. I trimmed the panel down, then matted it on to a piece of gold glitter card, and then on to a card blank made from the same teal card.

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

• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• 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 ABC Christmas Challenge.