ABC Christmas Challenge - A is for...

It's time for a brand new ABC Christmas Challenge, and this time I'm hosting..again! We're about to embark on our fifth trip through the alphabet...so we're back at the start with a nice easy theme for you:

'A is for Anything Christmas'

We have a wonderful sponsor for this challenge:

The prize is 7 digis from Bugaboo Stamps for one lucky winner!

The stamp I used on my card was a Christmas present from my lovely ABC Christmas Challenge DT buddy & friend Samantha....thank you...I love it! It's called Ice Dance Bunnies' by Nellie Snellen...so cute! The papers are from the 'Winter Wonderland' pad by My Mind's Eye...I distressed the edges a little before adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. I added a sentiment (from the 'Jolly Snowmen' set by Woodware) and a couple of die cut trees (cut using a Marianne Designs die).

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

• Animal Friends - Punches & Dies
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Anything Christmas
• Crafting When We Can - Outside
• Gem of a Challenge - New (New stamp)
• Jingle Belles - Old & New (Old - papers & tree die...New - bunny stamp)
• Stamp & Create - Winter Wonderland
• Sweet Stampin' - Sports/Fitness

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

Oldie but a Goodie Challenge - New Beginnings

We have a new Oldie but a Goodie Challenge starting today...the theme is:

'New Beginnings'

Our lovely Francesca is providing the prize...I don't have a photo yet, so will add it later

 I'm celebrating the beginning of the 'New Year' by showing you another one of the calendars I decorated for a Christmas gift...it's become a kind of tradition that I make a few of these for Christmas gifts (you can see the one I made for my Mum here).I get the blank calendars from the Paper Mill Shop (if you fancy making one of these for yourself...they're now half price):

I used all Penny Black stamps...but the papers are a real mixture (American Crafts, BasicGrey, Crate Paper, First Edition, My Mind's Eye, Penny Black, Pink Paislee, CRaft Creations, Raspberry Road & We R Memory Keepers!)...I distressed the edges a little, then added faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a gel pen:

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

• Corrosive - New Beginnings 
• Cut It Up - New Year (I used my Nesties to out most of the images)
• Simply Create Too - Anything Goes
• Totally Papercrafts - New Beginnings

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

Pile It On Challenge! - Just Because...

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Pile It On!...and this week the theme is:

'Just Because'

Our sponsor this week is:

Prize - a $10 gift certificate to spend at Inky Impressions!

I used a flowery stamp from Hero Arts and Distress Inks to make my card. I inked up the stamp Silhouette Flowers' using 'Forest Moss', 'Peeled Paint', 'Salty Ocean', 'Stormy Sky' & 'Faded Jeans'...then misted it with water to blend the colours together before stamping. The sentiment is from the CCSR set by Papermania.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Just Because
• Card & Scrap - Flowers
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
• Creative Craft - Anything Goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Squirrel & the Fox - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes 

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

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - New

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

'New!' 
(New Year...New Home...New Job...New Stash)

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

The Ribbon Girl:

1-2-3 Stitch!:

Prize - a $20 voucher

I went with 'New Year' and am showing you the calendar that I decorated for my Mum...it's become a kind of tradition that I make a few of these for Christmas gifts...I get the blank calendars from the Paper Mill Shop (if you fancy making one of these for yourself...they're now half price):

Of course I used all Penny Black stamps...but the papers are a real mixture (American Crafts, Crate Paper, First Edition, My Mind's Eye, Penny Black, Pink Paislee, Raspberry Road & We R Memory Keepers!):

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

• Crafting When We Can - Countdown or Calendar
• Crazy Challenge - Happy New Year

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

Bake a Cake

Virtually everything I've used on today's card is new...and free! The stamps and papers are from a set called 'Bake a Cake' that came with the latest Papercraft Inspirations magazine, and are designed by Jennifer Ellory. I used several of the stamps to create the cake...paper piecing the two tiers, and adding some little pearls to the cake stand, and glitter on the candle's flame. I used the other papers from the pack for the background...carefully cutting out a string of the bunting from one of the sheets. The sentiment stamp is also from the set...then I simply doodled borders around everything using a black gel pen.
 

Challenges for this card:

• A Little Bit Crafty - Celebrate
• Charisma Cardz - Birthdays 
• Creative Inspirations - Celebrations
• Cuttin & Stampin - Anything Goes with Something New (New Papers & New Stamps)
• Kaboodles Doodles - Anything Goes
• Mojo Monday - Sketch #326
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes

Crafty Little Fairies - Starting Over

It's time for a new challenge over at the Crafty Little Fairies...and seeing as it's our first of 2014, the theme is:

'Starting Over'

(New Home/Baby/Job etc)

The sponsor this week is:

The Ribbon Girl

Prize - a £10 voucher to spend at The Ribbon Girl!

It's not actually my team's week...but I'd made a card at the weekend that was perfect for the theme...so couldn't resist playing along :0)

I've made a 'New Baby' card...and used a new stamp too...it's by All Night Media, but doesn't have  name on it. I simply coloured the nappy pins using watercolour pencils in various pastel shades so the card is suitable for either a baby boy or a baby girl. I used my trusty Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder for the embossing...distressing the edges a little. The sentiment stamp is from a set by Art Impressions, the ribbon is the last scrap of a piece that I think came from the Ribbon Reel, and the Card Candi is by Craftwork Cards.

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

• Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - New Beginnings
• C.R.A.F.T. - Anything Goes
• Cuttin & Stampin - Anything Goes with Something New (New Stamp)
• Little Red Wagon - New Beginnings
• Shopping Our Stash - Use the last of something (Ribbon - I had hoped to tie a bow, but there wasn't enough left for that!)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Something New (New Stamp & New Baby)
• Sweet Stamps - Something New (New Stamp & New Baby)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Crafty Little Fairies Challenge.

Favourite Five Cards of 2013

Happy New Year! 

I hope that 2014 treats you all well! :0)

I thought I'd start this year by playing along with the lovely Debby, and show you my favourite five cards of last year:

Most of them seem to be CAS in style...I made plenty of non-CAS cards too...but it was the CAS ones that leapt out at me as I went through last year's cards. As with my Favourite Christmas Cards, I've linked all of the photos to the original blog posts so that you can click through for all the info should you want.

The first one uses one of my favourite Penny Black stamps ('Bunny Friends')...I cut them out of their flower pots on this one...I love that this stamp is so versatile!

I had lots of fun making the second of my choices...I don't like ice cream, but this card still appeals to me!

The next card was also a bit of an experiment...and I love how it turned out!

My final CAS card is similar to one of my favourite Christmas cards...love the watercolour effect background...it's a Christmas stamp ('Snow Dust') but I masked off the snow before stamping.

And I had to include a non-CAS cute card somewhere in the mix...this one is quite recent (from last week in fact!)...but I just love this cute chappie...and the bright colours.

I'm sneaking in a cheeky sixth creation...I think that this nappy cake that I made for a friend is my favourite thing I've made this year...it was a labour of love, but it was worth it as my friend loved it so much that she didn't dismantle it for a couple of months after her daughter was born!