Spring Chick Easter Treat Bag

I have another Easter treat bag to share today...using another Penny Black stamp called 'Spring Chick'. I picked some older papers...from the 'Tea Party' pad by Dovecraft...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The flowers are really old (I bought them before I started blogging), and are held in place with a BasicGrey brad. The little adhesive pearls and bag are from Hobbycraft.

Challenges for this bag:

• Bunny Zoe's - Spring Colours
• Creative Knockouts - In Stitches
• Everybody Art - Something Old (I've had the flowers since before I started blogging...so they're at least 6 1/2 years old!)
• Little Red Wagon - Cute, Cute Cute!
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - B is for... (Bunnies, Blooms, Brad & Bag)
• Stampavie & More - Easter
• Sweet Sunday Sketch - Pick a Previous Sketch (I used #243)
• Wags 'N Whiskers - Ready for Spring

Pile It On! Challenge - Feathers and/or Flowers

We have a fun new Pile It On! Challenge starting today...with a theme of:

'Feathers and/or Flowers'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Aurora Wings:

Prize: a $10 gift certificate to spend in their etsy store!

I went for feathers and flowers, and used a Penny Black stamp called 'Cluck, Cluck, Cluck!'...colouring the image using watercolour pencils. The papers I've used are from the 'Ooh La La (for Her)' pad by My Mind's Eye...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual, and the flowers (held in place using a BasicGrey brad) are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Feathers and/or Flowers
• Crafting at the Weekend - Anything Goes
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Bloggers Network - Anything Goes
• Crafty Girls - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Spots and/or Stripes
• Creative Corner - Cute Animals
• Cute Card Thursday - Too Cute
• Inky Chicks - Stitching
• Love to Create - Flowers & Stitching
• Penny's Paper Crafting - Stitching
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - Things with Wings
• Sweet Stampin' - Spots & Stripes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Nellie the Elephant...

It was my birthday at the weekend...and I was lucky to receive a few new crafty goodies to play with...and I've used one of my new stamps on today's card...it's a Rachelle Anne Miller stamp called 'Sorry I forgot' (by Crafter's Companion). I coloured the image using watercolour pencils to match the 'Blue Floral' papers (by My Mind's Eye). I distressed the edges of everything a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The flowers are a mixture of Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts, Poppicrafts and Papermaina, and are held in place using BasicGrey brads. I used my E K Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the border, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Wonderful' set by Penny Black.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafter's Cafe - Lots of Layers
• Crafty Creations - Flower Power
• Crafty Girls - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Delightful - Anything Goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Blogiversary #4 Freestyle
• Love to Create - Inspired by a Song/Movie/Book (Song - 'Nellie the Elephant')
• Penny's Paper Crafting - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Scratched Up
• Squirrel & the Fox - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Summertime

This week at the Pile It On! Challenge, we have a nice and easy theme for you:

'Summertime'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Doodle Pantry:

Prize - 3 Digital Products of the Winner's Choice!

I've used a Penny Black stamp called 'Cat Nap', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are from the '72 & Sunny' pad by We R Memory Keepers...I doodled the borders using a black gel pen. The sentiment is from the Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp, the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the brad is BasicGrey.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Summertime
• 4 Crafty Chicks - The Great Outdoors
• Craft Your Passion - Citrus/Tropical Colours
• Crafty Calendar - Summertime Fun
• Crafty Catz - Hot Summer/Hot Colours
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Crazy Challenge - My Summer Vacation
• Cute Card Thursday - Fun in the Sun
• Gem of a Challenge - Spots & Stripes
• Inky Impressions - Summer Brights
• Little Red Wagon - I need a Vacation
• Penny's Paper Crafting - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp - Spots & Dots
• Stampavie & More - Animals
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

Sharing Spring Easter Treat Bag

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you've not eaten all of your Easter eggs already!

I have another Easter treat bag to show you today...using another older Penny Black image...this one's called 'Sharing Spring', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The flowery papers are from the 'My Girl' pad by American Crafts...I distressed the edges  little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The flowers have been in my stash for what seems like forever, but I think they came from Wild Orchid Crafts, and are held in place with a BasicGrey brad.

Challenges for this bag:

• Clear It Out - Easter & Pastel Brads (The flowers & brad are at least two years old)
• Corrosive - Pretty Pastels
• Creative Knockouts - Furry/Feathered Friends
• Cutie Pie - Easter Bunnies, but not on a Card
• Delightful - Bloom
• Fab 'N Funky - Flower Power
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Flowers
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Blossoms & Blooms

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Spring has Sprung!

This fortnight's Oldie but a Goodie Challenge theme was chosen by me...and (rather optimistically) I picked:

'Spring has Sprung'

I've used an old stamp that always makes me think of spring...its 'Bunny Friends' by Penny Black...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are 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. The flowers are a mixture of Prima, Wild Orchid Crafts and Poppicrafts, and are held in place by some BasicGrey brads.

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

• Allsorts - Spring is Coming
• Cards Galore Encore - Use a Stamp
• Corrosive - Animals
• Cute Card Thursday - Springtime
• Crafty Calendar - Animal Antics
• Created with Love - Think Spring
• Emergency Crafters - Flowers
• Hiding in my Craft Room - Spring Colours
• Little Red Wagon - Yearning for Spring
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - So Sweet
• Stamp and Create - Ready for Spring
• Sweet Stampin' - Cute

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Best Dressed

We have a new challenge starting over at Oldie but a Goodie today, where the theme is:

'Best Dressed'

So put on your glad rags, dust off your old stash and join us!

Our sponsor for this challenge is Rick St Dennis:

I've gone for one of the glammed-up Penny Black girls...this stamp is called 'Light the Night'...she's been sitting in my image box for years...so long in fact that I can't remember who sent her to me! I coloured her using watercolour pencils, to match the red and pink shades in the 'Paper Heart' papers by Crate Paper. I distressed the edges of the papers a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The flowers are a mixture of Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts, the brads are BasicGrey, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Fabulous' set by Hero Arts.

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

• Card Makin' Mamas - Monochrome
• CCEE Stampers - Sing, Sing a Song (Lady in Red)
• Charisma Cardz - Girly
• Craft Your Passion - Happy Birthday
• Crafty Cardmakers - Birthday
• Pink Elephant - Monochromatic
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch #215

• That Craft Place - It's a Girl Thing

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Oldie but a Goodie - Make it Girly

This fortnight at Oldie but a Goodie Challenge, we're asking you to:

'Make it Girly'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

I've used a girly image from Bugaboo Stamps...called 'Ava Christmas - Sitter'...which I coloured using watercolour pencils, and carefully cut out. I've used papers from the 'Christmas Fancy' pad by Dovecraft...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The ribbon is absolutely ancient...I sorted out my jumble of ribbons last week and discovered lots of little scraps including this one, which I think came in a goody bag from Poppicrafts...which closed down several years ago! The snowflakes were cut using Marianne Designs and Cuttlebug dies, and the pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

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

• Sweet Sketch Sunday - Sketch 182
• Winter Wonderland - No Red or Green

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Pile It On! Challenge - Wood

This week at Pile It On! our challenge theme is:

'Wood'

Use some kind of wooden element, or woodgrain texture.

We are sponsored for this challenge by Jellypark...and the prize is 2 digis from the Jellypark store!

My wooden element is a wooden flower (from a set by Kaisercraft)...I layered it up with a paper flower (from the long since closed Poppicrafts) and held it in place using a BasicGrey brad...the other flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The image is 'Gift Wrapped' by Lili of the Valley, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, and the sentiment is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts. The papers are from an old Papermania pad called 'Sweet Nothings'...I distressed the edges then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Wood
• 2 Sisters - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Spring has Sprung
• CCEE Stampers - Things with Wings
• Challenges for Everybody - Anything Goes
• Crafts & Me - Spring Flowers
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Flutterby Wednesdays - Flowers
• Fussy & Fancy - Faux Technique (Stitching)
• Gem of a Challenge - Animals
• Lili of the Valley - All Stitched Up (My stitching is faux)
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes
• One Stop Craft - Birthdays
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp - Happy Birthday
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter/Spring
• Stamp with Fun - Spring
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch #200
• Sweet Stampin' - Scallops
• Wags 'N Whiskers - April Showers/Spring

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

Oldie but a Goodie - Feeling Floral

It's my turn to choose the theme of the new Oldie but a Goodie Challenge, and I have gone for:

'Feeling Floral'

The prize for this challenge is some yummy hand-made flowers:

I've used a rather neglected floral stamp on my card...'Irises' by Penny Black...which I stamped using the watercolour technique with a couple of Distress Inks (Dusty Concord & Forest Moss). I stamped my Hero Arts 'Music Background' stamp over the top in 'Old Paper'...removing some of the ink before stamping for a distressed effect, then blended some more 'Old Paper' ink around the edges. I added a sentiment (from the 'Wonderful' set by Penny Black, then distressed the edges a little with my distressing tool. The adhesive pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

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

• CAS-ual Fridays - Stamp Your Own Background
• Crafty Ann's - The Sound of Music
• Drunken Stampers - The Sound of Music

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Oldie but a Goodie Challenge.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Love & Marriage

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

'Love & Marriage'

As usual, we have some fabulous prizes on offer from our wonderful sponsors:

$20 voucher

I've used an image from the 'Every Which Way' set...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The papers are very old BasicGrey...from the 'Blush' collection...I inked the edges with a little 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp, the hearts were cut using my Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die, and the little adhesive pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts. 

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

• BasicGrey - Love is in the Air 
• Charisma Cardz - Pink & Brown
• Love to Create - Anything Goes with a Sentiment
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Have a Heart
• Shopping Our Stash - Valentine's, Love, Hearts, Red etc...
• Simply Create Too - Valentine's Day/Hearts
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
• Stampavie & More - Love
• Sweet Stamps - Valentine's/Love
• Top Tip Tuesday - Layers

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

Oldie but a Goodie - Lace, Pins & Pearls

Today sees the first Oldie but a Goodie Challenge of 2013...and the theme is:

'Lace, Pins & Pearls'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

And here's the fabulous prize:

Almost everything I've used on my card is at least a year old...with the exception of the butterfly die ('Darla Butterfly' by Memory Box') and the embossing folder ('Whimsy' by Papermania) which were Christmas presents. The papers are from the 'Hopscotch' pad by BasicGrey...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I used a safety pin to attach a little heart charm to my piece of lace. The adhesive pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

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

• BasicGrey  - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Sketch Saturday - Sketch
• Totally Papercrafts - Something New (The embossing folder & butterfly die)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to Oldie but a Goodie.

Garden Bouquet

I had a little break yesterday from making Christmas and Hallowe'en cards to make a birthday card for my Aunt. I started by inking a white piece of card with 'Old Paper' Distress Ink...then stamping a Hero Arts music background stamp in Old Paper over the top...I wiped some of the ink off before stamping to create a distressed effect. I then used the watercolour technique to stamp the Hero Arts 'Garden Bouquet' over the top in 'Dusty Concord' and 'Forest Moss' Distress Inks. I embossed the purple Core'dinations card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder...then sanded over the dots a little. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set (also by Hero Arts), the lace is from Hobbycraft, and the pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafts & Me - Lace & Pearls
• Critter - Embossing
• Daring Cardmakers - Don't Worry, Be Happy
• Gem of a Challenge - Flowers
• Lollipop Crafts - Happy Birthday
• Sketch Saturday - Sketch
• Stamptacular Sunday - No Rules

ABC Christmas Challenge - R is for...

I have another card for our current ABC Christmas Challenge today, where the theme is:

 'R is for Recycling'

Our sponsors for this challenge are:

Prize - a $20 gift certificate to spend at the Simon Says Stamp Store!

and

From In 2 Stamps - a €10 gift voucher to spend in their store!

My recycled item this time is some spotty wrapping paper from one of the presents I received for my birthday last month: 

(By the way...the little cookbook that was inside is fabulous...I made the most delicious chocolate fudge cake from it at the weekend...yum!)

I've used a Lili of the Valley stamp called 'Mr Snowman'...he's new to me...but he's one of their older stamps. I coloured him using watercolour pencils, and added some sparkle to the snow using Stickles. After trimming the edges of the wrapping paper straight, I matted it on to black card...not something I would normally do on a Christmas card, but it really maakes to blue 'pop'...then doodled a border using a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black, and the black pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

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

• Anything Goes - Early Christmas
• Card Positioning Systems - Sketch
• Lili's Little Fairies - Black Magic
• Top Tip Tuesday - Recycle It! (The spotty paper)

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

PS - I have Christmas themed candy on offer here.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Back to School

This week it's Linda's turn to choose the theme of the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, which is:

'Back to School'

(Eeeek!)

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

The prize is a $10 voucher to spend in the Digi Doodles store!

I'm a music teacher, so it's back to school for me too...and I've made myself a little notebook to help me keep track of all the pieces that pupils and people in the the various ensembles I teach/conduct have requested, so that I remember to arrange them for them! The image is 'Toot the Flute' by Penny Black, which I cooured using watercolour pencils. The spotty paper is from the 'Festive Frost' by My Mind's Eye, and I made the musical paper by stamping a Hero Arts background stamp in 'Tea Dye' Distress Ink on the reverse of a piece of My Mind's Eye '29th Street Market' paper. I distressed all of the edges, with my distressing tool, and more 'Tea Dye' ink, then added some adhesive pearls, and lettering cut using my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.

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

• Crafty Creations - Back to School
• Critter - Back to School
• Incy Wincy - Back to School
• Kaboodles Doodles - Music or Dance
• Little Red Wagon - Back to School
• Love to Create - Back to School
• Simon Says Stamp - Stamp On It!
• Totally Stampalicious - Anything but a Card

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

Oldie But a Goodie Challenge - 3,2,1 Recipe

This fornight at Oldie but a Goodie, we have a recipe challenge for you:

'3 Flowers, 2 papers & 1 Image'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

and the fabulous prize:

I've used a cute Bugaboo Stamps image called 'Theodore Flowers', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. The bright papers are from the '72 & Sunny' pad by We R Memory Keepers...I doodled a little border around the edges using a black gel pen. The teeny sentiment is from the 'Mini Messages' set by Hero Arts, the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and the brads are by BasicGrey.

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

• Crazy Challenge - Seeing Spots
• Joanna Sheen - Going Dotty

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to Oldie but a Goodie.