ABC Christmas Challenge - C is for...

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

'CASE One of Us'

(CASE = Copy & Selectively Edit) 

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

Prize - 2 Images from the Saturated Canary Shop!

This time I CASED Carissa's card from the U is for Up to You challenge.

I used a different Lili of the Valley James the Bear (shhhh...I cheated and used a pre-coloured die cut, but did add lashings of gold Stickles to his star), but kept the layout (although omitting a sentiment) and colour the same. My papers are from a Kaisercraft set that came free with a craft mag a few months ago...instead of matting them on to red card, I distressed the edges, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen for a little definition.

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

• Forever Friends (Fortnightly) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Christmas - Anything Goes

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

Just a note...

I have a card inspired by this week's Less is More challenge to show you today...the challenge is to make a one layer card with the theme of 'Music'. I've used a Penny Black stamp called 'Carollers'...I love these chickens!...stamped on to kraft and coloured using watercolour pencils, and a sentiment from the CCSR set by Papermania.
 

Challenges for this card:

• Fashionable Stamping - Birds
• Less is More - One Layer Card with Music
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Shaped Cards

I have a card for the new challenge over at Pile It On! to show you today...where the theme is:

'Shaped Cards'

(Anything but Square!)

We are sponsored for this challenge by Flonzcraft

I've made a little scalloped circle card (cut using the largest of my Nesties), with a die cut image from Lili of the Valley...I cut it into a circle shape, then added some sparkle to the baubles with some Stickles. The red layer was embossed with my 'Snow Globe' folder (by Sizzix/BasicGrey), and I added some little adhesive pearls to each of the scallops.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Shaped Cards
• Challenges4Everybody - Anything Goes 
• Christmas Cards - Scallops
• Craft Us Crazy - Die Cuts
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - No Snow
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Winter Wonderland - Shaped Cards

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

 

Raise the Bar Challenge - Guest Bar-Tender

A couple of weeks ago, I was picked to be a 'Guest Bar-Tender' over at Raise the Bar...so, today I am joining them for their new challenge:

'A Couple of Things'

In honour of Valentine's Day next week, feature a couple...of people...or animals...or even bugs!

I've used a couple of bunnies, from one of my favourite Penny Black stamps - 'Bunny Friends' (I masked off the other bunnies before stamping). The papers are a mixture of 'Love Bandit' (Bo Bunny) and 'Ooh La La - for Her' (My Mind's Eye)...I thought the fresh 'Spring' colours would be a perfect match for the bunnies. I doodled some borders, added a couple of Prima flowers, held in place with a BasicGrey brad, and a sentiment (from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp).

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

• Card Makin' Mamas - Love
• Corrosive - Hearts & Flowers
• Crafty Calendar - Love & Marriage 
• Creative Inspirations - Sent with Love
• Heck of a Challenge - Love is All Around Us
• Incy Wincy - Love is in the Air
• Inky Impressions - Love
• Papercrafting Journey - Love
• Simon Says Stamp - Have a Heart
• Stamping Sensations - Fur & Feathers

For more inspiration from the fabulous DT, and other guest bar-tenders, please pop over to Raise the Bar.

ABC Christmas Challenge - C is for...

This fortnight, Emma is hosting the ABC Christmas Challenge, where the theme is:

'CASE One of Us'

(CASE = Copy & Selectively Edit) 

We are sponsored for this challenge by:

Prize - 2 Images from the Saturated Canary Shop!

I chose to CASE one of Wilma's cards...from her first challenge with us...'J is for Jingle Bells' from last year:

I loved the bright colours, and used papers from the same My Mind's Eye collection ('Colourful Christmas')...copying most of the layout too! Instead of inking the edges, I used my distressing tool, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The image is 'Welcome Party' by Penny Black.

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

• Allsorts - Let's Get Cute 
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Christmas - Anything Goes

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

Oldie but a Goodie - Red & Pink

It's time for a new Oldie but a Goodie Challenge, and this fortnight the theme is a colour combination of:

'Red & Pink'

Our sponsor for this challenge is:

Bugaboo Stamps

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

I've used a sweet little Penny Black image on my card that's been sitting in my image box for years...not sure what it's called, as I've been unable to locate it...please leave me a comment if you know it's name). I kept my card really simple, embossing kraft card using my Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and 'D'Vine Swirls' folders, matting the layers on to red and pink card. I'm not sure where the ribbon is from...but thought it was perfect to use with it's red hearts on pink...clash central!

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

• Crafty Ribbons - Anything with Ribbon
• Dream Valley - Valentine's
• Forever Friends (Fortnightly) - Ribbon or Lace
• My Time to Craft - Love is in the Air
• Stampin' with the Dragon - Love is in the Air
• Sweet Stampin' - Love is all Around

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

Kraft & Cream Christmas

I have a clean & simple Christmas card to show you today, ispired by the 'Kraft & Kreme' colour combination over at Less is More this week. I used my Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' folder to emboss the background, and 'Ice Crystal' die for the snowflake. The sentiment is from a Lili of the Valley set, and I rounded the corners using my Woodware corner punch.

Challenges for this card:

• Less is More - Kraft & Kreme
• One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Christmas - Anything Goes

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.

2013 Calendar - Part 4

And here are the last few pages of my little Penny Black 'birthdays' calendar:

October:

Image - 'Spooky!' set

Papers - 'Whoo-ligans' (Bo Bunny) & 'Boo to you!' (My Mind's Eye)

November:

Image - 'Fetching Slippers'

Papers - 'Maddison' (Penny Black) & 'Turning Leaf' (First Edition)

December:

Image - 'Ice Dance Dog'

Paper - 'Winter Wonderland' (My Mind's Eye)

Die - Tree (Marianne Designs)

 If you want to see the rest of the calendar, the posts are here, here & here.

2013 Calendar - Part 3

I have another installment of my little 'birthdays' calendar to show you today:

July:

Images - 'Wonderful Day' set 

Papers - '72 & Sunny' (We R Memory Keepers) & Unknown (Heidi Grace)

August:
Image - 'Critter Party' set
Papers - 'Tea Party' (Dovecraft)
Die - Nestie Circle

September:

Image - 'Hugs' set

Papers - 'Prairie Hill' (Pink Paislee)

Die - Nestie Circle

If you're interested, you can see the January to March on this post...and April to June here...I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of it.

ABC Christmas Challenge - B is for...

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

'B is for Bows or Boys'

(Or both if you like!)

We have two wonderful sponsors for this challenge:

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 free digis!

and

Prize - a £10 gift voucher to spend at the Ribbon Reel!

I went with 'Boys' this time, using a LIli of the Valley die cut image...I squared off the corners, and then inked aaround the edges using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink. The papers are by Kaisercraft, and came free with Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine a couple of months ago...I inked the edges of those too, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a white gel pen. The little wooden snowflake was a gift from my lovely friend Samantha...and the twine is by Dovecraft.

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

• Allosrts - Masculine
• Creative Stamp Friends - Winter/Wintersport
• Joanna Sheen - 3 Papers, 2 Embellishments, 1 Image
• Lili of the Valley - Anything Goes
• Raise the Bar - Message Me
• Squirrel & the Fox - Something New (Papers)
• Willow Sketchie - Sketch
• Winter Wonderland - It Takes Two

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

Hearts & Hedgies

I have a simple one-layer card to show you today..following the sketch from this week's Less is More challenge. I used some sweet hedgie stamps from the 'Every Which Way' set by Penny Black and a sentiment from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp.

Challenges for this card:

• Less is More - Sketch
• Penny Blakc & More @ Allsorts - Love is in the Air
• Pink Elephant - Hearts

2013 Calendar - Part 2

I have the second installment of the little Penny Black 'birthdays' calendar I made to show you today...the first three months and the info about the 'frame' are on this post if you want to look.

April:

Image - 'Gifts for You!'

Papers - 'Hopscotch' (BasicGrey)

 

May:

Image - 'Cat on the Moon'

Papers - 'Papa' (Fancy Pants Designs)

Dies - Nesties Circles & Stars

June:

Image - 'Dream a Dream'

Paper - Unknown (Heidi Grace)

Dies - 'Puffy Clouds' (Memory Box)

Pile It On! Challenge - Use Decorative Tape

This week at Pile It On! we're challenging you to use:

'Decorative Tape'

(Washi tape etc...)

Our sponsor for this challenge is Freckled Fawn:

And the prize is a fabulous $15 giftcard to spend in their wonderful store!

Now...I've never used any decorative tape before...and I had to go on a last minute emergency dash to Hobbycraft yesterday to get some! Thankfully, they had some 'decor tape'...although in not very inspiring colours or patterns...that'll teach me not to check the challenge themes in advance! Anyway, I picked up a roll of red & white spotty tape...and used it to create a background...carefully lining up the half spots on the edges of the tape:

Over the top of this, I added a layer popped up on 3D foam pads, into which I'd cut a heart shape, using my Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die, with a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'Sentiments' set), a doodled border and a few adhesive pearls.

 
Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Use Decorative Tape
• Challenges4Everybody - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Valentine's Day/Love
• Craft Us Crazy - Celebrate Love and/or Use Red
• Crafty Ribbons - Love/Romance/Anniversary
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Hiding in my Craftt Room - Valentine's Day
• J & C Creations - Something Old (Heart Die) & Something New (Washi Tape)
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Hearts
• Stamp & Create - Love

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