ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for...

It's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge...Carissa is the host, and the theme is:

'U is for...Up to You!'

That's right...anything Christmassy goes!!

We have two wonderful sponsors for this challenge:

Our very own Lacey, with her awesome Stamp & Create store!

 The prize is a whopping $25 gift certificate - wowee!

and:

Meljen's Designs: 

Prize: 4 (non-coloured) images from Meljen's Designs!

I've used a cute James the Besr image from Lili of the Valley called 'Present Pile'. I coloured him using watercolour pencils to match my My Mind's Eye 'Believe' papers...they're sparkly and I added some Stickles to the fur trim on his hat too.

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

• Lili's Little Fairies - Classic Christmas
• Sparkles Christmas - Traditional
• Stamp with Fun - Three Papers
• Totally Stampalicious - Christmas

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

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Purple Black & Stripes

This week at Oldie but a Goodie we have a recipe for you to use:

'Purple, Black & Stripes'

We are sponsored for this challenge by Robyn's Fetish

The prize is 5 Robyn's Fetish digi stamps of the winner's choice!

I thought that the colour combo would be perfect for a Hallowe'en card...and used a cute little mouse witch image from the 'be very scared!' set by Penny Black. The purple 'stripes' are embossed with pumpkins using a Cuttlebug folder, and the little bats and sentiment are from a pack of Hallowe'en 'confetti' that I think came from Poundland a couple of years ago.

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

• Allsorts - Too Cute to Spook
• Aud Sentiments - Hallowe'en
• Challenge Up Your Life - Autumn/Hallowe'en 
• Craft Your Passion - Which Witch is Which?
• Stamping with the Dragon - Hallowe'en
• Stamptacular Sunday - Boo-tacular!

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

Par Avion

I'm alternating between Christmas and Hallowe'en on my blog this week...and today I have a Christmas card to show you. It's a one-layer-card for this week's Less Is More's 'Wings' challenge. I've used a cute Penny Black chicken stamp called 'Par Avion'...now why is it that when there's a 'things with wings' themed challenge everyone else is entering elegant butterfly and arty bird stamped cards...and I go for chickens??? The sentiment stamp is from a Lili of the Valley set.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Card Crew - Birds
• Less Is More - One Layer Card with 'Wings'
• The Stamp Man - Butterflies, Birds & Bees
• Top Tip Tuesday - Things with Wings

Pile It On! Challenge - Shaped Cards

This week at Pile It On! we are challenging you to make:

'Shaped Cards'

Well...obviously every card is shaped...but we want you to step away from square and rectangular shaped cards for this challenge.

We are sponsored for this challenge by the fabulous:

From Simon Says Stamp - a $15 voucher to spend in their store!

I used some of my Nesties to make a little scalloped circle card from Core'dinations card. The cute image is called 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' by Penny Black, which I coloured using watercolour pencils, and the gingham ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Shaped Cards
• 2 Sisters - Anything Goes
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Traditional Colours & Non-traditional Image
• Drunken Stampers - Wild At Heart
• Papertake Weekly - All Creatures Great and Small
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Animal Magic
• Simon Says Stamp - Dies and/or Punches
• Totally Gorjuss - Traditional Christmas Colours

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

 

Micey Birthday

My stash of non-male birthday cards is running dangerously low...so I'm trying to top it up...this card uses an image from the 'Micey Day' set by Penny Black...and sparkly papers from the 'Summer Breeze' pad by First Edition. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafter's Companion - Birthdays
• PaperPlay - Simply Cute
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Animal Magic
• Simon Says Stamp - Die Cuts/Punches

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes

This week we're taking it easy over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long, with a challenge theme of:

'Anything Goes'

Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps:

With a fabulous prize:

The cute Santa image I've used is called 'Old World Santa 6' by Bugaboo Stamps...which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I kept the card really simple...embossing a panel of white card using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder, then layering a piece of patterned ribbon (from Hobbycraft) over the top. I used my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch for the red border, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black.

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

• Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspiration - Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet - Simple

For more inspration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.

Boo!

Another Hallowe'en for you today...using one of the images from the 'Spooky' set by Penny Black. The papers are a mixture of Bo Bunny 'Whoo-ligans' and My Mind's Eye 'Boo to You!' collections...and that's it...I'm trying to keep my Hallowe'en cards flat for posting! lol

Challenges for this card:

• Crafting for All Seasons - Costumes/Dressing Up
• Crafty Calendar - Spooky
• Crazy4Challenges - Hallowe'en
• Just Some Lines - Too Cute to Spook
• No Matter Which - Hallowe'en
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Animal Magic
• Stamping with the Dragon - Animals

ABC Christmas Challenge - T is for...

I have another project for our current ABC Christmas Challenge where the theme is:

'T is for the Twelve Days of Christmas'

We want you to take your inspiration from the words of the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'

We have two fabulous sponsors for this challenge:

The prize from Simon Says Stamp is a $15 voucher to spend in their wonderful store!

And from the Stamp Fairy...3 digital images of the winner's choice!

In case you're not familiar with the song, here are the words:

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas,
My True Love Sent to Me:
Twelve Drummers Drumming;
Eleven Pipers Piping;
Ten Lords-a-Leaping;
Nine Ladies Dancing;
Eight Maids-a-Milking;
Seven Swans-a-Swimming;
Six Geese-a-Laying;
Five Gold Rings;
Four Calling Birds;
Three French Hens;
Two Turtle Doves;
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

I've got the rest of my Penny Black 'Twelve Days of Christmas' tags to shoow you today...I used the same layout as before, but with different papers from the 'Christmas Fancy' pad by Dovecraft...and some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Crafty Mess - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
• Papertake Weekly - All Creatures Great & Small

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

Present Pile

Sshhh...don't tell anyone, but I've cheated a little on today's card...I used one of the Lili of the Valley pre-coloured die cuts to make a quick Christmas card...although I made it less quick by choosing to cut 'lil James out! The papers are a mixture of Cosmo Cricket and My Mind's Eye, the snowflake was cut using a Marianne Designs die, the sparkly twine and button are from my stash.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Crafting - Buttons & Twine 
• Craft Your Passion - Hip to be Square
• Lili's Little Fairies - Christmas for Boys
• Ribbon Girls - Boys

BMX Birthday

It's my flatmate's birthday next weekend...and today's card is for him. He races BMX bikes...despite the fact he's old enough to know better! lol...so I had a little search for a suitable digi image, and found 'Bike Kid' by Kenny K. I coloured it using watercolour pencils...then used co-ordinating colours of card for the background. I embossed the card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots', 'Diamond Plate' and 'Stars' folders, and Craft Concepts 'Hexagon Illusion' folder. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp, and the brads are BasicGrey.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Sport
• Cutie Pie - Use a Digi
• Inky Impressions - Boys
• Sketch Saturday - Sketch
• Squirrel & the Fox - Things with Wheels
• Totally Gorjuss - Anything Goes

An Apple a Day

Today's card features a Happy Hopper stamp called 'An Apple a Day', which I thought would be perfect for some of the autumn themed challenges around around at the moment. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils to match the PinkPaislie 'Prairie Hill' papers. I distressed the edges of the papers, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The stamp sentiment is from the 'Fabulous' set by Hero Arts, the flowers were cut using my Tim Holtz 'Tattered Florals' die, and the brads are by BasicGrey.

Challenges for this card:

• Card Makin' Mamas - Autumn Colours
• Crafty Catz - Autumn Colours
• Crafty Creations - Colours of Fall
• Crafty Sentiments - Happy Birthday
• Crazy Challenge - Handmade Flowers
• House Mouse & Friends - Harvest/Autumn (oops...missed the deadline)
• Joanna Sheen - Down in the Garden
• Kaboodles Doodles - Autumn Colours
• Sisterhood of Crafters -Birthdays
• Stamp with Fun - Autumn
• Sweet Stop - Sketch
• Top Tip Tuesday - Food

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Sketch

It's the first Saturday of the month...so that means a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...and this month it's a sketch by me:

There are lots of lovely prizes up for grabs from our lovely sponsors:

 Lilac Mini Makes Kit

$20 voucher from 1-2-3 Stitch!

I've used the sketch to make a Christmas card...using onr of my favourite Penny Black stamps...'Wishes for Kisses'. For the background I embossed Core'dinations card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and 'Snowflakes', and Sizzix/BasicGrey 'Snowglobe' folders...sanding over the surfaces to reveal the lighter core. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Joy to the World' set (also by Penny Black), and the snowflakes were cut using Marianne Designs and Cuttlebug dies.

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:

• Delightful - Winter Holiday
• Fab 'n' Funky - No Patterned Paper
• Papercraft Star - Anything Goes

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

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Tags

This week at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long, we want to see:

'Tags'

There's no sponsor this week...but we'll be picking one lucky entrant to join us as a guest designer!

I started by embossing a piece of blue Core'dinations card using my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder...sanding over the raised areas to reveal the lighter core...then adhering it to a plain manilla tag. I added some strips of torn white card to the bottom for some 'snow' and some trees cut using a Marianne Designs die from more Core'dinations card...sanding the edges to look like a dusting of snow. I stamped a sentiment (from the 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black) and some adhesive pearls to the centres of the embossed snowflakes.

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

• Crafts & Me - Add a Sentiment
• Fab 'n' Funky - No Patterned Paper
• Stamp & Create - Winter Wonderland

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.

Mice Treats

I have another Hallowe'en card for you today...using a stamp from the 'be very scared' set by Penny Black...and some papers from the 'Boo to You!' collection by My Mind's Eye. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, and doodled borders using a black gel pen...I also continued the spider's trail across the orange paper. For the sentiment, I cut a 'b' using a Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet die...then used a couple of googly eyes for the 'o's.

Challenges for this card:

• Heck of a Challenge - Spooktacular
• Hooked on Craft - Hallowe'en
• Paper Playtime - Tric or Treat & Die cut/Punch 
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Stampavie & More - Hallowe'en

ABC Christmas Challenge - T is for...

This week at the ABC Christmas Challenge Lacey is the host with a theme of:

'T is for the Twelve Days of Christmas'

We want you to take your inspiration from the words of the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'

We have two fabulous sponsors for this challenge:

The prize from Simon Says Stamp is a $15 voucher to spend in their wonderful store!

And from the Stamp Fairy...3 digital images of the winner's choice!

In case you're not familiar with the song, here are the words:

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas,
My True Love Sent to Me:
Twelve Drummers Drumming;
Eleven Pipers Piping;
Ten Lords-a-Leaping;
Nine Ladies Dancing;
Eight Maids-a-Milking;
Seven Swans-a-Swimming;
Six Geese-a-Laying;
Five Gold Rings;
Four Calling Birds;
Three French Hens;
Two Turtle Doves;
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!

I couldn't resist using my Penny Black 'Twelve Days of Christmas' stamp set...and have made some Christmas gift tags...using the images coloured using watercolour pencils, and papers from the 'Fancy Christmas' pad by Dovecraft.

I added the co-ordinating sentiment, and some faux stitching along the edges of the papers.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that there are only six tags here...bet you can't guess what my mid-way reminder project will be??? lol

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

• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Anything but a Card
• Anything Goes - Animals
• Everybody Art - Tags
• Forever Friends Fortnightly - Anything Goes
• Totally Gorjuss - Punches/Dies (I used Nesties to cut out the circles)

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

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - Inspired by a Film or Song Title

This week at Oldie but a Goodie, our challenge theme is:

'Inspired by a Film or Song Title'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

and the fabulous prize:

The film title I took my inspiration from is 'The Snowman'...and I've used one of my oldest (and still most favourite' stamps...'Snowy' by Penny Black. The papers are also old...from the 'Tis the Season' collection by Bo Bunny...I distressed the edges, then added faux stitching using my Cutterbee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is from the 'Joy to the World' set by Penny Black, and is stamped on to a die cut ticket from my lovely buddy Samantha...I think it's from Craftwork Cards.

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

• 2 Sisters - Favourite Stamps ('Snowy'...he's one of my all time favourites) 
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Traditional Image with Non-traditional Colours
• Crafty Ann's - Film Title ('The Snowman')
• Crafty Mess - Distressed
• Friday Sketch - Sketch
• Hiding in my Craftroom - Freestyle

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

Count Catular

I have another Hallowe'en card for you today...using a stamp from the 'Be very scared' set by Penny Black...and papers from the 'Whoo-ligans' collection by Bo Bunny. I doodled a border around the edges of the papers using a black gel pen...and that's it...as the papers are so busy, I didn't add anything else.

Challenges for this card:

• Corrosive - Something Wicked this way Comes (Dracula...)
• Do You Stack Up - Scallops
• Fab 'n' Funky - Beginning with F (Fangs! lol)
• Try It On Tuesday - Lots of Layers