Willow with Flower Basket

We really are being spoilt by all the great sketch challenges this week...I don't time to do them all, but I couldn't resist this pretty sketch from the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge. I've combined it with the Whiff of Joy 'Paper Piercing' challenge, and the Stamp Something Challenge colour combo of 'Pink, Green & Yellow'. I used 'Willow with Flower Basket', and watercoloured her to match these yummy BasicGrey 'Sugared' papers. The sentiment stamp was a freebie with a Docrafts mag, and the little roses are from Hobbycraft.


It's my last day of work before the summer holidays today...yippee...but I have a marathon concert to endure this afternoon...including a performance by the whole of Year 3...that's 60 kids playing the recorder...all at the same time...eeeek...so I'm sure that my ears will be ringing by the time I get home! lol

Boo Boo Bear

I've used another of my new Whipper Snapper stamps ('Boo Boo Bear') on this card...it's a 'Get Well' card...I haven't made it for anyone in particular...but Boo Boo's so cute...I just had to use him! lol
I followed this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge sketch, and have added a spot of faux-stitching, so am also entering this for the Creative Inspirations Challenge. The paper is by K&Co ('Classic K - Margo'), and I embossed the green card using the Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' and one of the 'Just my Type' (the 'stitching' effect one) border folders. The sentiment stamp is by Personal Impressions.

ABC Challenge - W is for...

This week over on the ABC Challenge we've reached the letter W which stands for 'Windows'.
The first thing I thought of when I saw this week's theme was a window in the form of a 'Shaker Card'. In keeping with the 'Window' theme, I wanted to use an 'outdoor' image, to try and make it appear as though you were looking at it out of the window. I chose 'Let it snow' (by Penny Black)...so yes...it's yet another Christmas card! lol
I made a 'window frame' from a piece of card, fixing a piece of acetate on the reverse, then added strips of 3D foam along the edges, put some snowflake confetti (from the £ Shop) in the centre, before attaching my coloured image. I then mounted my 'Window' on to my card blank, which I'd covered with Pebbles Inc paper.


The snowflakes look pink in the photo above, but they're actually clear with a sort of 'two tone' coating. In the photo below (taken from a different angle), you can see the 'other' green colour:


As ever, don't forget to check out the other design team members blogs for more inspiration...including our newest member Dawn...welcome to the gang!

Sketch & Stash meets Creative Inspirations

I've combined this fortnight's Sketch & Stash sketch, with the 'Gems & Pearls' theme of the Creative Inspirations Challenge on this card. My new item is the Miss Anya image (sent to me in a swap by my lovely ABC DT mate Jen). I coloured the image first...and then really struggled to find a paper that matched...but did eventually find this design in the 'Eva' pad by BasicGrey which sort of goes...which is why I usually choose the papers first! lol
I used 3 different colours of grosgrain ribbon (from Poppicrafts), to meet the optional challenge, with some adhesive gems and pearls in the corners. The flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts and Hobbycraft.


Apologies for the awful photo...I really struggled to get a decent photo of this card...I just can't get the colours to look right! lol

Joy

Here's the final card I made during my craft marathon yesterday...and yes...it's yet another Christmas card! This time I've managed to combine a couple of the Christmas challenges: the sketch from Just Christmas & Birthday Cards; the 'Christmas Present' theme (I hope that they do mean 'present' as in 'modern'...and not literally 'presents' lol!) of the Winter Wonderland Challenge. It was also supposed to be for the 'No Stamping' challenge of Christmas Stampin' All Year Long too, but naughty Mr Blogger didn't publish my scheduled post in time!
My whole card has been 'Cuttlebugged'...I used the 'Snowflakes' folder for the embossing and 'Winter' and 'Olivia' alphabet dies for the shapes and sentiment.

How many fingers are you?

Wow...four posts in one day...but I promise that this is the last! lol
I've managed to combine 2 challenges on this card: the fab Friday Sketchers sketch; and the 'Make us laugh' theme of the Cuttlebug Spot. Ive used one of my new Whipper Snapper stamps ('Balancing Act'), combined with BasicGrey 'Cupcakes' papers, one of which I embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' folder. The large brads are from Poppicrafts.


I used the same layout inside the card, with more BG papers, and a fab sentiment from the 'Kids Quotes' set by Inkadinkado...well it makes me chuckle! lol



The Cuttlebug Spot is having a drive to reach 1000 followers by the end of this month...not that it's going to take them that long as they've already got over 900. If they reach their target they will be giving away a $1000 gift certificate fro Custom Crops to one lucky follower...so if you haven't already signed up get yourself over there right now to be in with a chance of winning!

Just for you

I really am having a crafty day...this is my third post...and I'm not done yet! This card combines a few challenges:the fab Mojo Monday contest sketch; A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge 'Hearts' theme; and the Papertake Weekly 'My Favourite Things' challenge. I used a Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl stamp ('Bear Hug'), watercoloured in one of my favourite colour combos, to match the gorgeous BasicGrey 'Bittersweet' and 'Blush' papers (another of my favourite things). The sentiment is a freebie stamp from a Docrafts Creativity mag, and I just had to add some of my favourite card candy (by Craftwork cards).

Buttons, buttons everywhere!

I decided to have a little tidy up of my embellishments this morning, as everything had become a bit of a jumble, taking up more space than was necessary. So I've made a container for all of my buttons...they were all in little packets, making it difficult to see what I'd got. I rescued a container that I'd put in the recycling bin after a spot of baking on Friday, and set about altering it...the first time I've ever done anything like this.

I covered the body of the container with some My Mind's Eye papers (from the 'Adore' range...then I cut the lettering using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet from some BasicGrey paper. I've kept it quite plain, as I didn't want anything raised on the outside of the container, in case it get bashed about in my embellishment box. Here are a couple of photos (couldn't get the whole word 'buttons' in one picture! lol):

I also decorated the lid, and as it's recessed, I added a Prima flower, attached with a button tied on with organza ribbon:


So now I have somewhere lovely to store all of my buttons...now I can find them all I'm sure I'll be using them more often! lol


And this is what happened to the chocolate chunks that were originally in the container...yum!


I'm going to enter this into a couple of challenges: the Charisma Cardz 'Alter it' challenge; and the Next Level's 'Buttons & Bows'...there is only one bow, but I hope that all of buttons will make up for that! lol

Swirly Snowy

It's another Christmas card...that's three in a row this week...I don't know what's wrong with me?! This one combines the fab sketch from the Secret Crafter Challenge by my buddy Jane, and the 'Swirls' theme of this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge.
After a hunt through my stash for some swirly paper, I remembered this pattern from the 'Classic Black Christmas' pad by Anita's. I also used my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' folder, on some silver card, and coloured 'Snowy' in black and silver to match...although I had to give him a bright red nose! I finished it off with a piece of silver organza ribbon, and a few adhesive gems...but I'm afraid I didn't add a sentiment...as there just wasn't enough room.

I'm looking forward to a day of crafting today...so hopefully I'll have something non-Christmassy to upload later!

Sugar & Sparkle

There's another great sketch for this fortnight's Sugar Bowl Challenge...with the additional challenge to include some 'Sparkle'...how could I resist?! I used 'Snowflake'...so it's yet another Christmas card from me! I watercoloured her to match the yummy 'Figgy Pudding' papers by BasicGrey. The flowers are by Prima and the sentiment stamp is by Penny Black. The 'Sparkle' is is the form of adhesive gems...in the corners, and in the centres of the snowflakes on the stamped image.


I did flip the sketch, as I felt it suited my image better this way round...I hope that's ok!

I wish it could be Christmas everyday!

It's another Christmas card....this time using the fab Sketch Saturday sketch. I've used my Sugar Nellie snowman, and BasicGrey ('Figgy Pudding') papers...which I think have a 'vintage' feel...so I'm also entering this card for the Winter Wonderland Challenge where the theme this week is 'Christmas Past'. The sentiment stamp is by Penny Black, the snowflake brads are by Woodware, and the ribbon is by Anita's.

ABC Challenge - V is for...

Well, we've reached the tricky end of the alphabet over at the ABC Challenge...and this week:

V is for 'Vellum'

Vellum is not something I use very often, but after a rootle through my stash I found a pack of Papermania 'Exquisite' vellums, and a little pad of quotes and sentiments, that I won in Jacqui's blog candy, some of which were on vellum. So taking those as my starting point, I decided to make an anniversary card, as I felt that the elegant designs on the vellum lent themselves to that. I tore the edges of the vellum using my Fiskars deckle edge tearing ruler, and cut out the sentiment using a deckle edged Nestie to match, then I matted the layers onto silver frosted card, using silver brads. I cut some hearts using the Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die from the same silver card, and tied a piece of silver organza ribbon around the middle - can you guess which anniversary it's for?! lol

Thank you for all of the gorgeous entries to our 'U is for USA' challenge last week - you really did give us all some difficult decisions choosing the winners of our anniversary RAKs, and it was even tougher choosing our new DT member.
The winners will be announced later today on the ABC Challenge blog...so make sure you check back to see if you've been lucky!

'Blue & Green...

...should not be seen without a colour in between'...what nonsense - I love blue and green together! There are plenty of gorgeous cards to prove the saying wrong over on the Daring Cardmakers blog too, which has this colour combo as their dare this week. I followed the sketch from this fortnight's Carol's Sketch Fun Challenge (this is my first time entering one of her challenges); and managed to use the Whiff of Joy Challenge recipe of '3 papers, 3 flowers & 1 ribbon' too.
I used 'Kneeling Willow', an image sent to me in a swap by my lovely ABC DT mate Vicky, colouring her to match these yummy BasicGrey papers (from the 'Two Scoops' pad). I embossed the 'plain' one using the Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' folder, and tied a piece of ribbon (from Poppicrafts) around it. The roses are from Hobbycraft, the sentiment is from the Clare Curd Signature Range set by Papermania, and I couldn't resist adding some card candy to fill the empty space in the top right-hand corner.

Whiff of Joy Blog Hop

To celebrate the first anniversary of Whiff of Joy stamps, Katharina is hosting a guest designer call for WoJ fans, to take part in a special blog hop. She's designed a fab sketch for us to use...and I will admit to being a bit scared of the shape at first, but really enjoyed it once I got going! lol
I chose to use 'Henry - Celebrating Mouse' as he's my favourite WoJ stamp...and he fits perfectly in the circle shape on the sketch. I coloured him with watercolour pencils, then added a touch of glitter to the frosting on his cake. The papers are all from the 'Bittersweet' pad by BasicGrey - I love the rich pinks and browns. The flowers and ribbon are all from Poppicrafts, and the sentiment is from the Hero Arts 'Cupcakes' set - I had to place it slightly lower than in the sketch to cover a mishap while I was inking all of the edges! lol


As I only shaped the front flap of my card, the inside is partly visible, so I've decorated that too, using more BG paper, and Hero Arts stamps:


Here's a view of the card laying flat, so that you can see how the inside is showing around the curve:

If you fancy your chance to join in with the blog hop fun...and get your hands on one of the new release of stamps!...you'll need to be quick, as the DT call ends on Wednesday 8th July.

Summer Blossom

With all of the glorious weather we've been having lately, it's not surprising that a lot of the challenges are celebrating 'Summer' at the moment, so once again I'm combining quite a few on this card: Cupcake Craft, A Spoon Full of Sugar and Everybody Art with their 'Summer/Summertime' themes; the fab sketch (by my lovely friend Cathy) of the Dutch Dare Challenge; and the 'Favourite Colour Combo' challenge of the Pink Elephant.
I've interpreted the 'Summer' theme by using bright summery colours and flowers. My image is the lovely Annie ('Blossom' by Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie), coloured with watercoloured pencils to match the gorgeous K&Co papers ('Amy Butler' and 'Classic K - Margo'). The flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts and Hobbycraft, the sentiment was cut using the 'Olivia' alphabet, and the ribbon is also from Poppicrafts.

This card is going to my partner for this month's friendship swap on the Docrafts forum, where there was no theme, but I thought that a bright summery card was in order this month!