ABC Christmas Challenge - S & T are for?

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Wei is the host, and the themes are:

'S is for Stencil'

&

'T is for Two'

There's a wonderful prize on offer for the lucky winner a $10 gift card for MFT:

I don't have any stencils, so 'S is for Stencil' was a bit of a challenge! I set about making my own using some of my Christmas dies...and after a few failed attempts with acetate, I ended up cutting one using my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die and some very thick card. I used it to stencil a snowflake on to a navy card blank used a couple of colours of Izink Diamond glitter paints, allowing the two colours to blend together. Once dry, I stamped and embossed a Penny Black sentiment using 'Metallic Platinum Sparkle' embossing glitter from WOW.

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

• Allsorts - Clean & Simple
• Christmas Card Throwdown - Stencils
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Glimmer & Sparkle
• Time Out - Coloured Card Base

On my 'T is for Two' card, I used a Penny Black image of TWO hedgies with TWO gifts from the 'Jolly Friends' set...stamping it on to a snippet of watercolour paper and colouring it using watercolour pencils, before carefully cutting it out. I made a simple background for them using snippets of TWO papers (one from the 'Pastel Pinks' pad from the Works, and one from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations), tearing the edge of the one for the 'snow'. I added a TWO word sentiment from the 'Bauble Owl' set by Woodware and some sparkle to the snow on their umbrella using some Stickles, matting it all on to some navy card before adding it to my card blank.

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

• As You Like It - Favourite Wild Animal (Hedgehogs...especially these cute Penny Black ones!)
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

Stained Glass Candles

Today's card features a Woodware stamp called 'Stained Glass Candles'. I stamped it on to black card using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder, along with a sentiment from another Woodware stamp set called 'Bauble Owl'. I watercoloured the image using Cosmic Shimmer pigments, then matted the panel on to gold card before adding it to my card blank.

It's really shiny in real life, so here's another angle:

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes (Optional 'Embossing')
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Sketched Flowers

Today's card features one of my favourite stamps...'Sketched Flowers' by Simon Says Stamp. I partially stamped it along the top and bottom edges of a piece of watercolour paper using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using gold metallic embossing powder from WOW. I then watercoloured the images lots of Distress Inks (Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Shaded Lilac, Forest Moss, Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles & Lucky Clover). I made the sentiment using several of the stamps from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Images, heat embossing each section as I went with more of the metallic gold. I matted the watercoloured panel on to some gold mirror card before adding it to the card blank.

Challenges for this card:

• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (CAS) - Off the Edge
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• We Love Chocolate Baroque - Favourite Stamps

Butterfly Wishes

Todays cards feature a new die I got for my birthday a couple of weeks ago...'Butterfly Wishes' by Crafters Companion. I kept the design of the two cards the same, cutting the die from hammered white card, and mounting it over lilac card on the first, and from aqua card and mounting it over aqua glitter card for the second. On both cards I added a sentiment from the 'Go To Words' set by Visible Image.

Challenges for these cards:

• CAS on Friday - Butterfly
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - Monochromatic (second card only)
• Sparkles Forum - Monochromatic (second card only)

A Wish and a Kiss

Today's card features another of my charity shop bargain stamps...this one is 'A wish and a kiss' by Penny Black. I stamped it directly on to a kraft card blank, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Bauble Owl' set by Woodware.

Challenges for this card:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Christmas Card Throwdown - Birds
• Christmas with the Cuties - Anything Cute & Christmassy
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Swntiment
• Stamping Sensations - Any Celebration

PBSC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'Interactive')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or

'Interactive'

(Shaker, Slider, Spinner, Pop-up, Wobble etc)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I made a wobble card this time...complete with a DIY 'wobble'! I started by stamping one of the cute pups from the 'Man's Best Friend' set onto a snippet of watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils before carefully cutting him out. I then set about making the 'wobble' by winding some jewellery wire around a pencil a few times to make a 'spring', then sandwiched each of the ends between a couple of die cut circles cut from more snippets of cardboard. I made a little scene for him to be jumping through from more snippets of card and lots of dies (Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds', Lawn Fawn 'Stitched Hillside Borders' and Die-namics 'Picket Fence' & 'Grassy Edge'). I added some texture to a couple of the layers using Cuttlebug embossing folders ('Dots' & 'Charles'), then added my wobbling pup over the top!

The 'wobble'was not the easiest thing to capture in a photo, so here's a short video showing it in action:

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

• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Dies) - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Dry Embossing
• Sweet Stampers - Dies and/or Punches

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

Muscle Mouse

Today's card features another of my '5 for £1' charity shop bargain stamps. This one is an old House Mouse stamp called 'Muscle Mouse', which I stamped on to watercolour paper, then coloured using watercolour pencils. I picked some snippets of card in co-ordinating pastel colours, then embossed them using various Cuttlebug embossing folders (Spots & Dots, Zig-zag, Diamond Plate & Stars). I distressed all of the edges a little before assembling it all. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black.

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Animal Antics
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Dry Embossing
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Add a Sentiment
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Guest Designer - Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge

I was picked as the winner over at the Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge of a recent challenge, and asked to guest design for one of their future challenges. 

Today, I'm excited to be sharing my card their new challenge the theme is:

'Anything Goes Using Paper'

The sponsor for this challenge is Dr Digi's House of Stamps:

(See challenge blog for prize details)

I have used one of Dr Digi's images on my card...this one is called 'Patient Pets'. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then simply matted it on to some green card, then on to a kraft card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Dawn loves her doggie' set by Stamping Bella

For more inspiration from the wonderful Design Team, please pop over to Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge.

Meeting Shelty!

Today's card features another recent charity shop find...this adorable Penny Black stamp called 'Meeting Shelty'. The wooden stamps were all on offer (5 for £1!) and there were lots of lovely ones, including some more Penny Blacks, so it would have been rude not to fill a basket! I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using waterolour pencils, and added a sentiment from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual. The papers are from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations...I lightly distressed the edges before adding some faux stitching using my CuttleBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - All Stitched Up
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - Any Celebration
• Sweet Stampin' - Feature an Animal

Sparkling Snowflakes

Today's cards feature an embossing folder I picked up in a charity shop earlier this week...it's by Crafter's Companion, and I think it's called 'Sparkling Snowflake'. I started by inking a large acrylic block with Distress Inks (Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac, Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio & Salvaged Patina), spritzing it with a litte water, then stamping on to snippets of watercolour paper a couple of times...re-wetting the block in between. Once dry, I embossed them using the embossing folder, then inked over the raised areas using a Versamark inkpad before heat embossing it with 'Diamond White' embossing glitter from WOW. I heat embossed the sentiments (from a set by the Colorado Craft Company) in white on snippets of black card adding them using 3D foam pads, then matted the panels on to black card before adding to my card blanks.

These are really sparkly in real life...but as always it's virtually impossible to capture in a photo:

Challenges for these cards:

• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + Sentiment
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Christmas Craft Creations - Non-tradional Christmas Colours
• Jingle Belles - Cardstock Christmas
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Heat Embossing

Bauble Owl

I have a Christmas crad to share today featuring another stamp I received for my birthday...this one is called 'Bauble Owl' by Woodware. I stamped it directly on to a kraft DL card blank, along with one of the sentiments that came with it, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• CAS Christmas - Decorations
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Something Beginning with O or P (Owl & Ornament)
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Golden Holly Spray

I received some lovely new crafty goodies for my birthday yesterday...and today I found time to have a play. This card features a new Woodware stamp called 'Holly Spray'. I stamped it on to kraft card using Versamark ink, then heat embossed it using metallic gold embossing powder. I added a doodled border using a gold gel pen, then matted it on to a layer of gold glitter card, and a sentiment cut from more glitter card, before adding it to a kraft card blank. 

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Dream Valley - Embossing
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Heat Embossing
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Leaves

Suspenseful Music

I have another couple of simple congratulations cards to share today. Again, I made these to send out to some of my pupils with their exam certificates, so there's a musical theme to the image, which is 'Suspenseful Music' by Penny Black. I stamped it directly on to kraft card blanks, along with sentiments from the 'Critter Concert' set by Avery Elle, then coloured them using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for these cards:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

PSBC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'Interactive')

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

'Anything Goes'
or
'Interactive'

(Shaker, Slider, Spinner, Pop-up, Wobble etc)

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I made a simple Christmas shaker card, featuring the stamp 'Snow Dance', which I stamped on to watercolour paper, coloured using watercolour pencils. I carefully cut around the top of the image then added a piece of snowy sky background paper (from the 'Mystery Marbles' pad by Craft Sensations) behind it. I made the shaker part, but cutting a circle from the center of a piece of navy card using one of my circle Nesties, adding a piece of acetate behind the window. I then mounted it on to the background and image, using a double layer of 3D foam pads, sandwiching some powdery craft 'snow' in betwwen. I then added the whole thing to the front of a navy card blank.

It's always difficult to show a shaker card in a photograph, but here's one of it 'shaken up':

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

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cardz for Guyz - Shades of Blue
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes (Optional 'Wonderland')
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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

ABC Christmas Challenge - P, Q & R are for?

It's the first Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Lindsey is the host, and the themes are:

'P is for Plump'

'Q is for Quality Street'

&

'R is for Ribbon'

There's a wonderful prize on offer for the lucky winner:

For my 'P is for Plump' card, I picked a cute Stamping Bella image called 'Caroling Chicks'...just look at those round little bellies! I stamped it directly on to a kraft card blank, along with the matching sentiment, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

For my 'Q is for Quality Street' card, I took inspiration from the colours on some of the sweets...specifically, the blue (coconut), pink (fudge) and of course the purple one (hazelnut caramel).

I heat embossed my 'Mod Trees' background stamp (from Simon Says Stamp) on to blue, pink and purple card, using coordinating WOW embossing glitters (Coral Reef on pink, Pacific Wave on Blue and Magical Mauve on purple). I made a ptachwork from little squares of the embossed card, mounting them on to gold mirror card, and cutting a sentiment from more of the mirror card using a Creative Expressions die.

As always, being so sparkly and shiny, it's difficult to get a good photo, but here's another angle:

Finally, on my 'R is for Ribbon' card. I decided to try to make a bit of a feature of the ribbon, as it's not somehting I often use on my cards. I made a 'gift box' from red card...embossing part of it using my 'Outline Snowflakes' background stamp (from Simon Says Stamp) in white. The tied some spotty ribbon around it before adding it to a kraft card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Wintertime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

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

• Christmas with the Cuties - CAS (first card only)
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Christmas in July
• Cut it Up - Make Your Own Background Paper (second card only)
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Perfectly CAS - Embossing (last card only)
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Christmas Forum - Christmas Music (first card only)
• Stamping Sensations - Any Celebration

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

Toot the Flute!

I have a set of simple congratulations cards to share today. I made these to send out to some of my pupils with their music exam certificates, as they're leaving the school, so I won't be seeing them again. These ones are for pupils who all play the flute, so I used the Penny Black image 'Toot the Flute', stamped directly on to a kraft card blank. I added sentiments from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn, and coloured the images using watercolour pencils.

Here's a closer look at one:

Challenges for these cards:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + Sentiment
• CCEE Stampers - Tigers (or other cats)
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Animals')
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes