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

Christmas Boxes

Every year, I make some little gift boxes for family members using a We R Memory Keepers punch board that I picked up in TKMaxx. This year, I used 12x12 papers from a Make & Create pad from The Works (I really wish that they'd name these!) to make the largest size (4x4x4). They don't require any glue/tape and simply fold together - so quick to make! I cut some simple gift tags using an old Sizzix Bigz die from some snippets of silver glitter card, then added a snowflake (cut from matching plain card using dies from a Tim Holtz/Sizzix set called 'Paper Snowflakes Mini'), and attached them to the boxes using some white organza ribbon.

Challenges for these boxes:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge - R is for Ribbon
• As You Like It - Anything Festive
• Creative Moments - It's a Wrap!
• Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Wrap It Up
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Easter')...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

'Easter'

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

I used my 'Bunny Friends' stamp to decorate a set of Easter gift tags...it's one of my favourite Penny Black stamps, but as it's fairly large, I don't often get to use all of the bunnies! I stamped it onto watercolour paper, coloured the bunnies using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them all out. I stamped some fun Easter sentiments, from the 'Egg-cellent Easter Sentiments' set by C C Designs, onto some kraft tags, then added the bunnies using 3D foam pads.

I used papers from the 'Happy Colours' pad from The Works and my We R Memory Keppers punch board to make some gift boxes. These are each made from a single piece of 12 x 12 paper, and make a 4 inch cube box...the largest size. I tied some ribbons around the boxes, thenadded the tags using some Baker's twine.

Challenges for these tags/boxes:

• Crafty Gals Gorner - Adorable _______ (Bunnies)
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Happy Easter
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Patterned Papers
• Sweet Stampin' - Easter Creations
• We Love Stamping - Anything Goes (Optional 'Favourite Stamps') (Tag on left in first photo only)

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

Birthday Tags

I have some birthday giftwrap to share today. The first one features a cute Penny Black pup stamped directly onto a kraft tag. I added a sentiment using a sentiment from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Coloraado Craft Company, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. I added it to the gift using some red and white Baker's twine.

The second one is a little giftbox I made using my We R Memory Keepers punchboard and a piece of floral paper from the 'Happy Watercolours' pad from The Works, tied together using some yellow velvet ribbon. I made a matching tag from a snippet of the same paper and a Sizzix tag die, then attached it to the box using some yellow Baker's Twine

Challenges for these tags/box:

• Cut It Up - Anything but a Card (Second box & tag only)
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes (Optional 'Springtime') (Second box & tag only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Tag It! (First tag only)
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Springtime Design Paper (Second box & tag only)

PBSC April - Anything Goes (Optional 'Easter')

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

'Easter'

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

I picked a cute little goose stamp from the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' set to decorate my little desk calendar with an 'Easter' theme'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him (and the little eggs) out. I made a background using snippets of papers from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by Memory Keepers...adding some little clouds cut using a die from the 'Rainbow' set by Sweet Dixie. I distressed the edges a little, then matted it on to a snippet of kraft card before adding it to the calendar.

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

• As You Like It - Cute or Floral (Cute for me...especially Penny Black critters because they were what got me hooked on crafting!)
• C.R.A.F.T. - Spring/Easter/Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Sparkles Forum - Easter

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

Little Christmas Boxes

I have some little Christmas gift boxes to share today. Every year I make some of these using a We R Memory Keepers punchboard that I picked up in TKMaxx...it's proved to be a really useful little gadget, and can make a variety of sized/shaped boxes. The papers I used, were, I think from Lidl orignally, although I got them from a charity shop. They're an odd size, so I trimmed them to a 9 inch square, then used the board to make the boxes in a 3.5 x 3.5 x 2.75 size. The boxes don't require any adhesive, but once folded and filled, I tied some gold and silver metallic ribbon around each one purely for decoration.

Challenges for these boxes:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Gift Box/Bag
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Love Those Pretty Papers - Anything Goes (Optional 'Christmas')
• My Time to Craft - Anything but a Card
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

Little Boxes

Today I'm sharing a group of little Christmas gift boxes. I made them using my We R Memory Keepers punch board...these ones are made using full sheets of 12x12 snowflake covered paper (can't remember the name or brand of the pad, and now I'm not at home to check!), and measure 4x4x4 once folded. There's no cutting involved, just some punching and scoring before folding. I made simple tags for each box using an old Sizzix tag die and snippets of silver glitter card, then fastened them to the boxes using some silver organza ribbon.

Challenges for these boxes:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes (Optional 'Cold & Ice')
• Crafty Calendar - Christmas
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Cut It Up - Celebrate
• Little Red Wagon - Last Minute Christmas

Totally Excited Treat Bag

I have another Easter treat bag to share today. This one features a Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Totally Excited!'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, along with a sentiment from the 'Egg-cellent Easter Sentiments' set by C C Designs, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut the circle shape using one of my Nesties. The papers are really old...and are from the 'Hippity Hoppity' pad by We R Memory Keepers...they first appeared on my blog back in February 2011! I distressed the edges a little, added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen then matted the layers on to some orange card.

Challenges for this treat bag:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Optional 'Spring Colours)
• My Time to Craft - Spring Time
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Easter/Spring
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Poultry or Bunny
• We Love Stamping - Spring is in the Air

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

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

'Something New'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

My 'Something New' is the New Year. Each Christmas, I decorate a couple of the blank calendars from Paper Mill to give as gifts, and this is the one I did for my Mum. I used Penny Black images (of course) for each month, and combined papers from lots of different pads...managed to use up a fair few snippets too! I distressed all of the edges, and added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, then matted everything on to kraft card before adding to the calendar.

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

• Lil Red Wagon - New Beginnings
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Year)
• Use Your Stuff - Stitching (Faux or Real)

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

Christmas boxes

Every Christmas I make a set of little gift boxes using my We R Memory Keepers punchboard...and today I'm sharing the set I made this year. I used papers from the 'Arctic Christmas' pad by Paper Addicts (Trimcraft)...a 12x12 sheet makes a 4x4x4 box...with no cutting or measuring! You don't even need any adhesive, you can if you want, but with a little scoring and folding, the boxes hold their shape without any glue.

Once filled, I tied them up with some white organza ribbon:

Challenges for these boxes:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Cut It Up - Christmas Projects

Christmas Boxes

I have a set of Christmas gift boxes to share today...made using my We R Memory Keepers punch board. These boxes are 4x4x4...the largest size the board can make, and are each made one a single sheet of 12x12 paper...these ones are from the 'I Believe' pad by My Mind's Eye.

I made some simple little tags from snippets of gold glitter card, using an old Sizzix die to cut the tag shapes., then added little Christmas trees cut from snippets of the My Mind's Eye papers using a die from a Sizzix/Hero Arts set called 'Reindeer', popped up on 3D foam pads, attaching them to the gold sparkly ribbon with some bakers twine.

Challenges for these boxes:

• Cut It Up - Holiday Gift Giving
• Daring Cardmakers - Baubles, Boxes & Bows
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets (Christmas themed)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! 

Today I'm sharing some little Easter treat boxes I made for my family. I used papers from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations, and my We R Memory Keepers punch board to make the boxes. I cut co-ordinating tags from snippets of brightly coloured card using an old Sizzix die, stamped an Easter greeting on one side (from the 'Everyday Sentiments' set by Hero Arts), them toed them around the boxes using some multicolour twine (from TKMaxx). I forgot to take a photo of them before I parcelled them up to post, so my Mum took this photo for me upon their arrival.

Challenges for these boxes:

• Crafty Calendar - Spring or Easter
• Everybody Art - Easter
• My Time to Craft - Easter
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Easter or Spring
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter or Spring

Little Boxes

I have a set of little Christmas gift boxes to share today, made using my We R Memory Keepers punch board. They're the largest size that the board can make...4x4 inches, and each one is made from a single piece of 12x12 paper (from a pad simply called 'Christmas' by Craft Sensations, that I bought at The Range in the sale just after last Christmas). I cut matching tags from another sheet of the paper (one covered in smaller square designs), using a Sizzix tag die, then attached them to the boxes using bakers twine.

Challenges for these boxes:

• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas, but NO Cards
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Winter Wonderland - Anything Christmas Goes

PBSC April - Anything Goes...Optional 'Use Ribbon or Twine'

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 Ribbon or Twine'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used my Penny Black 'Bunny Friends' stamp to make a set of five little gift tags to add to some Easter treat boxes for my family. I stamped the bunnies on to watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them apart so that I could use one bunny per tag. I made simple little boxes from papers from a pad by Folia Paper called 'Geometrie' using my We R Memory Keepers punchboard, and used strips of the same papers as a background for my bunnies on their tags.

And here they are attached to my little Easter treat boxes with some baker's twine:

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Easter
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• My Time to Craft - Easter Cuties
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Spring Mood Board
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Spring
• Sparkles Forum - Easter
• Sweet Stampers - Easter or Spring

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