Papertake Weekly Challenge - Guest Designer Card

This is my last card as a Guest Designer for the Papertake Weekly Challenge, where the challenge this week is a colour combo:

'Lemon & Lilac'

Now these aren't colours I use very often...and I was a bit worried about how they'd work...but I love the way they look together on this card. I couldn't find any suitable papers...so I decided to use plain card, and emboss with my Cuttlebug to create some texture. I used the 'Swiss Dots' and 'Victoria' folders on the lemon card, which I matted on to lilac. The image is 'Lavender Dreams', the flower (split in two, and added behind the image) is from Poppicrafts, and the pearls are from the Quixotic Paperie.

Make sure you go and check out the fabulous cards by the regular design team - thanks for having me girls, I've really loved being a part of your team! :0)

Silly Birds!

I won this fab digi stamp a couple of months ago...but this is the first time I've used it...it's called 'Silly Birds with Hats' from Hambo Stamps. I've made this card for the Dare U 2 Digi Stamp 'No Patterned Paper' challenge...and if you know me...you'll know that this really was a challenge! lol
Although saying that...I've got three more cards to show you this week that don't use any patterned papers either...I guess they must be like buses! lol
As the birds have wings...I'm also going to enter this into the Totally Papercrafts 'Things with wings' challenge.
I followed the sketch from Create4Fun...rotating it to fit my image.
I used my Cuttlebug 'Happy Birthday', 'Swiss Dots' and 'Spots & Dots' folders to emboss the papers, lightly sanding the surface to reveal the detail.


I didn't add any extra embellishments as I think this card would be suitable for a boy's birthday...so with that in mind...I'm also entering it into the following challenges:

My Time to Craft - 'Kids Cards'
Crazy4Challenges - 'Men'
Creative Inspirations - 'Male'

Easter Bunnies

I think I can just about see a patch of blue sky out of the window this morning...perhaps Spring is finally on it's way! lol
I've used the sketch from Friday Sketchers to make another Easter card...the image is part of the 'Bunny Friends' stamp by Penny Black...I just love the way these two are looking at each other! :0)
The papers are from the '29th Street Market' collection by My Mind's Eye...and I embossed the green one with my 'Swiss Dots' folder. The organza ribbon (from Poppicrafts) is 'spotty' too...although it doesn't show up too well in the photo...so I'm also entering this card into the One Stop Craft Challenge's 'Spots & Dots' challenge...and I hope that my pink & green colour combo is 'Springy' enough for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge too. The flowers are a mixture of Prima & Poppicrafts, the brads are BasicGrey, and the sentiment stamp is by Hero Arts.

Hope all you Mum's out there are enjoying Mother's Day! :0)

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes!

Today is the launch day of the Secret Crafter's first ever range of stamps...woo-hoo!!! And to celebrate...we have an extra special Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge for you!!!

Our theme is:

'Anything Goes'

And we have seven...yes seven prizes on offer too! Each of the lucky winners will receive one of the brand new stamps!

The stamps are of two adorable children...Mollie & Jake...I loved them so much...I made two cards for this challenge! lol

The first one uses 'Jake with Bubbles'...which I coloured with watercolour pencils to match the plain white core card. I embossed them with my 'Swiss Dots', 'Spots & Dots' and 'Tiny Bubbles' Cuttlebug folders...then sanded to reveal the core, and distressed the edges. I added a few buttons to make it look like the bubbles were floating out of the image.

My second card uses 'Mollie Gardening'...she's coloured with watercolour pencils too...to match the vibrant colours of the BasicGrey 'Lemonade' papers. As there's a lot going on with the papers, I've kept it quite simple, adding just a couple of flowers.


The rest of the design team have also been working with the new stamps this week...so to see the other designs...pop over to the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, where you can see them all.

All of the new stamps are now available to order from Wendy at the Secret Crafter...as well as the Cuttlebug folders and BasicGrey papers I used on my cards...click the banner to visit Wendy's fab shop....she's got loads of other lovely goodies too!

Hoppy Spring!

I'm back with another 'Spring' themed card...this time for the Stampavie Challenge. I followed the sketch from Sunday Sketch & Stamp...and as I've used quite a few flowers on this card, I'm also entering it into the Crafty Calendar & Cupcake Challenges, both of which have 'Flower Power' as their current theme.
The image I've used is called (rather appropriately) 'Hoppy Spring', by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie. The stripey paper is from the '29th Street Market' collection by My Mind's Eye, the flowers are a mixture of Prima and Poppicrafts, the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft, and the sentiment stamp is by Cuddly Buddly.


We have a really special Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge going live at midnight tonight...Wendy has some very exciting news to share! I'd love to be able to tell you all...but then I'd have to kill you! lol
All I can say is...you won't want to miss it...

Amelie Bunnykins

I was inspired by the gorgeous colour combo from Paper Sundaes, to make my first Easter card of the year. I followed the sketch from Sketchy Colours....and am also entering this card into Stamp with Fun's 'Spring' challenge. The image is 'Amelie Bunnykins' (by Toodles & Binks), and the papers are 'Penny Lane' by My Mind's Eye. I distressed the edges, added some ribbon from Poppicrafts, and a Hero Arts stamped sentiment.

ABC Christmas Challenge - F is for...

Our challenge for you this fortnight over on the ABC Christmas Challenge blog, had been set by the lovely Lols...and she has chosen:

'F is for Frosty'

...with the optional extra of 'Snow'.

I've gone with 'Frosty the snowman'...but you could also interpret the theme as 'Frosty Colours'. I've used an image from the 'Holly-Jolly' set by Penny Black...colouring the snowman's hat, scarf and sledge to match the My Mind's Eye 'Colourful Christmas' paper. For the 'snow' element...I added some 'Polar White' Flowersoft to the image, and some die cut snowflakes (from the accessory sheet that came with the papers). The sentiment stamp is by Cuddly Buddly.

I followed the sketch from the Winter Wonderland Challenge...or at least I thought I did...I print out the sketches so that I can craft away from my laptop...and the two grey strips came out the same colour as the yellow background...and I didn't realise until I came to write out this post and upload the sketch here! lol So, I hope you'll accept my apologies...I'll try to do better next time! lol

Don't forget to go and check out the cards by the rest of the ABC Christmas Challenge DT...and to see who the lucky winner of the last challenge's prize is!

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Guest Designer Card

It's time for another of my guest designer cards for the Papertake Weekly Challenge...and another of Dawny's fab sketches. I found this adorable Penny Black image ('Friendly Surprise') in amongst my box of images...and after a quick rummage through my papers...I found some scraps of this BasicGrey 'Phoebe' paper...the little bird on the image is the spitting image of the birdies on the paper...how fab is that!? I distressed the edges of all the layers of papers, and added some faux stitching with my Cutter Bee Bug, and a white gel pen. I wanted to make the paper as much of a feature as the image, so kept the embellishing to a minimum, adding just a few pearls in the corners. The sentiment stamp is by Whiff of Joy.


As always, there's more inspiration from the awesome design team over on the Papertake Weekly Challenge blog.

Celebrating Henry

I hadn't inked up 'Henry - Celebrating Mouse' (by Whiff of Joy) in such a long time...so just had to get him out to use on my card for the Creative Card Crew's 1st Birthday challenge, where the theme is...what else...but 'Celebrations'. I followed the Sketch Saturday sketch, and added some faux stitching for the One Stop Craft Challenge's 'Sew Simple' theme. The papers are by BasicGrey (from the 'Blush' and 'Figgy Pudding' collections), and I used my 'Diamond Plate' Cuttlebug folder for the embossing. The sentiment stamp is by Studio G, the spotty ribbon is from Poppicrafts, and the brads are by Papermania.

Daisy Chain

Having got all my DT stuff for next week done & dusted...and a couple of other 'Top Secret' projects finished too (I'd love to be able to show you...but I have to keep them 'under wraps' for now)...I've had a little play and come up with a card for a few challenges. I followed the sketch from Card Patterns, and have made a DL sized easel card, which I'm going to enter into the Penny Black Saturday & Lili of the Valley challenges...which both have the theme of 'Easel Cards' this week. I've used 'Daisy Chain Mice' (by Penny Black), and papers and die cuts from the 'Ooh La La (for Him)' collection by My Mind's Eye. The sentiment stamp is by Funstamps.

As I'm sending this card to my partner for this month's Friendship card swap on the Docrafts forum, I'm also going to enter this card into the Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential's 'Hey Girlfriend' challenge.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Black, White & Shades of Grey

The theme for this week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, set by our old DT buddy Gina, before she left us, is:

'Black, White & Shades of Grey'

I have to admit to being rather scared of this challenge...I love using colour...and rarely use just black & white on my cards...so this took me way out of my comfort zone! lol

After a fruitless search for some suitable papers...I had to admit defeat and make some of my own, stamping with a white chalk inkpad on to black and grey card for a subtle background. All of the stamps I've used are from the CCSR 'Doodles' set by Papermania...and I heat embossed the large butterfly in white on black, to really make it stand out. I distressed all of the edges...don't seem to be able to stop myself from doing that lately, and added some small adhesive black pearls to the scalloped frame.

The rest of the design team have done great job with these colours...you can check out their cards here...and also find out if you're the lucky winner of last month's prize! :0)

Jump for Joy!

I recently donated a big box of cards to a local charity...so I'm in the process of building up my stocks again...so I've been trying to make cards for a variety of occasions...this one is a 'Good Luck' card. I followed the sketch from Paper Sundaes...and have also managed to include some other challenge themes too...but as there's quite a few, I'll list them at the end of this post. The image is 'Jump for Joy' (by Penny Black), and the papers are all form the '29th Street Market' collection by My Mind's Eye. I used my trusty 'Swiss Dots' folder on the plain green paper, and distressed all of the edges, before adding some faux stitching. The flower is by Prima, and the sentiment stamp was a freebie with a DOcrafts mag...although it did originally have a frame around it, but I didn't like that, so cut it off! lol

The other challenges that I'm entering this card for are:

Cute Card Thursday: 'Lucky Green!'
Cuttlebug Spot: 'Green' (I hope there's enough green on here!)
Pile It On: 'Lucky Me'
Pink Elephant: 'Add Green to Your Colour Combo'
Pollycraft Monday: 'Distressing'
Stampavie & More: 'Spring'

Shabby Poppy Fields

There's yet another fab sketch for this fortnight's Sugar Bowl Challenge...with the 'extra' of 'Shabby Chic'. I've used one of my favourite Sugar Nellie stamps...'Poppy Fields'...and some yummy My Mind's Eye papers (from the 'Penny Lane' and '29th Street Market' collections. I embossed the plain ones using my 'Perfect Paisley' and 'Victoria' Cuttlebug folders, and then distressed all of the edges with inks and my distressing tool, before adding some faux stitching with my Cutter Bee Bug, and a white gel pen. The flowers are from Poppicrafts, and the pearl brad is by Papermania.

Brightside Award

I've been given this award by the lovely Sharon...thank you!

To accept it you need to take part in a little information sharing.

Instructions:

1. Give a top 10 list of the things that makes you happy.

2. Give a top 5 list of trivia about yourself.

3. Share the award with only 5 persons and ask them to do the same thing.

4. Link the blogs you choose and link the blog of the person awarded you.

Ok...here goes:

10 things that make me happy:

1. Crafting! lol
2. Blogging
3. Cooking...and then...
4. Eating! lol
5. Spending time with my family...
6. with my friends...
7. and also by myself
8. Making music...
9. and listening to other people make music
10. Making other people happy :0)


5 pieces of trivia:

1. ssshhhh...but I actually like cleaning and doing housework!
2. I'm much more a winter person, than a summer bunny...just love cold crisp mornings
3. I don't like ice cream
4. My favourite food is...chocolate!
5. My bass clarinet is called Bert! lol

Ok...so now for the really tricky bit...I need to choose just 5 people to pass this award on to:

Carol, Cathy, Samantha, Squirrel & Uma

ABC Challenge - P is for...

Our challenge for this fortnight at the ABC Challenge is:

'P is for Paper Piecing'

I dusted off my 'Lola with Bird' Sugar Nellie stamp, and paper pieced Lola's hat and coat, as well as the little bird, with some checked paper from the 'Lemonade' pad by BasicGrey. I used some of the same paper on the card, as well as a couple of others form the same pad. The sentiment stamp is by Cuddly Buddly, and the flowers are by Prima.

Make sure you stop by the ABC Challenge to check out the fab cards by the rest of the design team...and for details of the prize on offer.

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Guest Designer Card

Here's the second of my four guest designer cards for the Papertake Weekly Challenge...where the theme this week is:

'Buttons, Bows, Brads & Bling!'

You can use any combination of these...or all four if you're feeling brave, like I was! lol

I decided to make a Christmas card...still managing to get at least one a week done...and went with an image from the 'Holly-Jolly' set by Penny Black. I added a star shaped brad (from Tecsos) to the top of the tree, and some Flowersoft 'snow' with some Glamour Dust mixed in for extra sparkle underneath the tree. The sparkly papers are from the 'Wonderful Winter' collection by My Mind's Eye, the sentiment stamp is by Cuddly Buddly, the buttons are from my stash, and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts.


For more inspiration there are some fabulous cards by the regular design team over on the Papertake Weekly Challenge...and details of this week's prize.

Rainin' Daisies

I had a little play last night, and made a card for a few challenges. I used the sketch from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge; and combined the themes of: the Simon Says Stamp Challenge of 'Vintage with Flowers'; A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Distress Inks, Pearls & Glitter'; and Crazy4Challenge's 'It's all about texture'. The image is 'Rainin' Daisies', and the papers are all from the '29th Street Market' collection by My Mind's Eye. I don't have any distress inks, so I used chalk inks, and my distressing tool to distress the edges. For the textures, I used my 'Swiss Dots' and 'Textile' Cuttlebug folders, and added flowers (decorated with some Stickles) and some adhesive pearls.

A Card for Margaret

My lovely ABC Christmas Challenge DT buddy Lacey, is holding a card drive on her blog, to get a 100 cards sent to her friend's Aunt for her 100th Birthday, which is on April 4th. What a lovely way to celebrate! Everyone that sends a card in time for Margaret's birthday, will also be entered into a draw for a $20 voucher for Lacey's store, Stamp & Create...click the banner to find out more on Lacey's blog.


For my card, I followed the sketch from the Create4Fun Challenge, rotating it so that I could use the three circles at the top for the numbers. The image is 'Cake Dance' (by Penny Black)...and as it has a candle on it, I'm also entering this card for the Charisma Cardz 'Birthday Card with a Twist' challenge. The papers are from the 'Sweet Nothings' pad by Papermania, I used my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet to cut the numbers, and 'Swiss Dots' folder to emboss the circles behind them.

Well, after a weekend spent working, I'm going to indulge in some crafting this evening...so hopefully I'll have something else to show you tomorrow...