Blooms & Stars

I have a couple of simple one layer cards for the current Less is More Challenge to share today, where the theme is 'CAS Embossing (Less than 1/3 of card)'. In my first card, I heat embossed my Hero Arts 'Blooming Meadows' stamp along the bottom of a kraft card blank with a Simon Says Stamp sentiment (from the 'Handwritten Borders' set) above using clear embossing powder.

On my second card, I heat embossed one of the stamps from my Lawn Fawn 'Starry Backdrops' set using 'Metallic Gold Sparkle' embossing powder by WOW along one side of a kraft card blank, then added a sentiment from another Lawn Fawn set ('Upon a Star') along the bottom...heat embossing the word star in more of the gold.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - May Showers & Flowers (First card only)
• Less is More - CAS Embossing (Less than 1/3 of card)
• Stamping Sensations - In an English Country Garden (First card only)
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Blossom Branch Golden Wedding

Today's card is a golden wedding anniversary card made for a friend of mine to give to her parents next month. I stamped my Penny Black 'Blossom Branch' stamp across one corner of a panel of white card, then heat embossed it using 'Metallic Gold Sparkle' embossing powder by WOW. I added a sentiment (from the 'Everyday Messages' set by Happy Little Stampers), also heat embossed in the sparkly gold, and some die cut numbers (cut from gold glitter card using my Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet dies. I lightly distressed the edges, matted the panel on to a piece of gold glitter card...and distressed the edges of that too before adding it to my card blank.

In an effort to show the sparkle...here's another photo:

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• CCEE Stampers - Use a Die
• Cute Card Thursday - Square
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Inkspirational - Gold Dipped
• Little Red Wagon - Flower Frenzy
• Moving Along with the Times - Monochrome
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Wedding or Anniversary
• Stamping Sensations - In an English Country Garden

In the Shed

I have a masculine birthday card to share today...featuring an old Lili of the Valley stamp called 'In the Shed', which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Prince Charming' pad by Recollections/Michaels (found at TK Maxx). I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Cupcakes' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• C.R.A.F.T. - Father's Day/Male
• Crafty Cardmakers - Birthdays
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - In an English Country Garden (I'm sure you'd find a shed in most English gardens!)

Christmas Pups

I have an ultra simple one layer Christmas card to share today...featuring a couple of pups from the 'Christmas Hugs' set by Penny Black. I stamped the pups along the bottom of my card blank, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Up to One Third
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Christmas
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Chicken Gift Tags

I have a couple of simple little gift tags to share today...featuring Penny Black chicken stamps. The first one is for a birthday gift...and uses the stamp 'Present Pile'...which I coloured using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. I added a sentiment (from the 'Birthday Critters' set by Paper Smooches' and a few strips of washi tape to a plain kraft tag, then added my chicken on top using 3D foam pads.

My second tag is for a Father's Day gift...and features a chicken from the '12 Days of Christmas' set...he's the 'French Hen'. Again, I coloured him using watercolour penils, and cut him out. This time I stamped a 'Chicken Wire' background stamp (by Darkroom Door) on to my tag using Versamark Ink, and heat embossing it using silver embossing powder. I added some sentiments (from the 'Sentiments' set by Hero Arts, and 'Laugh Out Loud Again' set by Clearly Besotted) and the chicken over the top on 3D foam pads.

Challenges for these tags:

• As You Like It - Favourite Non-card (I don't make a lot of things that aren't cards, but I do like to make tags to put on gifts)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Little Red Wagon - Happy Bird-Day (Just the first tag)
• My Time to Craft - Tag You're It

Pile It On! Challenge - Beverages and/or Food

I'm back with some more inspiration for this month's Pile It On! Challenge where the themes are:

'Beverages'
and/or
'Food'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps:

Prize - 4 Digi Stamps of the Winner's Choice!

I went with the 'Food' option this time, making a birthday card featuring a House Mouse stamp called 'Birthday Cupcake' which I coloured using watercolour pencils. I added some little adhesive pearl 'sprinkles' to the frosting, and a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'Anytime Messages' set). The papers are snippets from the 'Tea House' pad by Dovecraft...I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are the challenges I've piled on:

• Pile It On! - Beverages and/or Food
• Allsorts - Happy Birthday
• Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Pastel Colours
• Everybody Art - Lace or Pearls
• House Mouse & Friends - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Feminine or Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stitches

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

PBSC May - Anything Goes (Optional 'Make Your Own Background')...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
'Make Your Background'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used a stamp called 'Celebration Song' on my card...colouring it with watercolour pencils. As the image is fairly large, I made a simple background using a Hero Arts 'Music' background stamp...stamping it a couple of times on to a piece of kraft card. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

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

• Crafter's Cafe - Things Beginning with M (Mice)
• Cute Card Thursday - Stitching
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Stitches
• Sweet Stampers - Animals

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

Guest Designer - CAS Christmas Challenge

I'm back sharing another guest designer card for the CAS Christmas Card Challenge today, where the theme for the month is:

I've used stamps from a little Papermania set on my card called 'At Christmas - Stockings', colouring the image and holly around the sentiment using watercolour pencils. I doodled a simple border with a black gel pen, then added the panel to my card blank using 3D foam pads.

For more inspiration from the awesome design team, please pop over to the CAS Christmas Card Challenge. Thanks so much for having me ladies!

Cheering Critters Twofer

I'm back with a couple more cards made with stamps from my new 'Cheering Critters' stamp set from Penny Black...when I saw that the Twofer Challenge prompt this month was 'Things with Wheels' I just had to ink up the cycling pups!

I used the one speeding along on his bike to make a birthday card. I created a background using various Hero Arts stamps ('Classic Bike' stamp, and the 'Bicycles' set), stamping them on to watercolour paper using Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Broken China, Spiced Marmalade & Lucky Clover). I used watercolour pencils to colour the image to match the background, distressed the edges and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment is from the 'Fabulous Birthday' set by Hero Arts.

On my congratulations card, I used the same cycling pup alongside a couple of the other images, and sentiments from the 'Cheering Critters' set. Again, I coloured the images using watercolour pencils, but kept the card more CAS...just adding a faux stitching as before.

Challenges for these cards:

• Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• C.R.A.F.T. - Birthday (First card only)
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
• Twofer - Things with Wheels

Guest Designer - Less is More Challenge

I was picked as the lucky winner of a Less is More Challenge a little while ago, and today I'm excited to be sharing a Guest Designer card for their new challenge:

I've used a new stamp on my card...it's from the 'Cheering Critters' set by Penny Black...I'd just received it when I found out the theme for the challenge, so I just had to use the image of the critters clinking their champagne glasses! I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then added one of the sentiments from the set. I used one of my CutterBee Bugs to pierce a border around the image, then added the panel to my card blank using 3D foam.

I used a clear Wink of Stella pen to add a touch of sparkle to their bubbly...which of course was a pig to get a decent photo of! 

For lots more inspiration from the awesome design team, don't forget to visit the Less is More Challenge...thanks so much for having me ladies!

Dandelions

Today's card features a couple of recent purchases from a lovely little Aladdin's Cave of a craft shop...that unintentionally 'match'. The main panel is a Creative Expressions stamp called 'Dandelions Mini Striplet' (and was in the 'last chance' bargain bin)...I heat embossed it using 'Gold Metallic Sparkle' embossing glitter from WOW on to a snippet of kraft card, then trimmed it down. I used stamps from the Woodware 'Dotty Flowers' set to make a 'matching' background...stamping just the flower heads on to my kraft card blank using Versamark Ink, then heat embossing them using clear embossing powder. I couldn't decide where to put a sentiment...so didn't bother!

Challenges for this card:

• Addicted to Stamps - Flowers
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Sisterhood of Crafters - Flowers

Gift Wrapped

I have a birthday card to share today...featuring an old Lili of the Valley image called 'Gift Wrapped'. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils to match the fresh Spring colours of the papers, from the 'Pretty Please' pad by My Mind's Eye, which were a charity shop find. I distressed all of the edges, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - Anything Birthday Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Feminine or Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Happy Birthday
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Pile It On! Challenge - Beverages

We have another fun Pile It On! Challenge starting today, and the theme this month is:

'Beverages'

Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps:

Prize - 4 Digi Stamps of the Winner's Choice!

I used a cute Crafter's Companion image from the 'Moonbeam Meadow' collection called 'Time for Tea', that I found in a charity shop recently. I coloured it using watercolour pencils, then added a sentiment (from the 'Big Messages' set by Paula Pascual. I paired it with papers from the 'Happy Day' pad by My Mind's Eye...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Here are the challenges I piled on:

• Pile It On! - Beverages
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Catch the Bug - Anything Goes
• Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes
• Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Incy Wincy - Coffee or Tea
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes
• Time Out - Playful

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

PBSC May - Anything Goes (Optional 'Make Your Own Background')

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
'Make Your Own Background'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used a mixture of Distress Inks and heat embossing to make a background for a Christmas card. I started by smooshing the inks (Stormy Sky, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch & Dusty Concord) on to a piece of watercolour paper...doing a couple of layers, drying with my heatgun in between. I then stamped my Simon Says Stamp 'Falling Snow' background stamp over the top using Versamark Ink, then heat embossed it using 'Sparkling Snow' embossing glitter by WOW. I stamped 'What a Snow!' on to a fairly large piece of card, and extended the snowy ground to the edges using a fine liner pen, then coloured the image using watercolour pencils. I added a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then carefully cut around the image, then glued ut over the top of my background.

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

• Christmas with the Cuties - Feature a Creature
• Crafter's Cafe - Make Your Own Background and/or Use Dies or Punches

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

Guest Designer - CAS Christmas Challenge

I was thrilled to be chosen as a guest designer for the CAS Christmas Card Challenge a little while ago. I'm sure any regular visitors to my blog will be aware that I love making Christmas cards...and try to make as many of them as CAS as possible in an attempt to save on postage costs so I was delighted to be able to join then for this month's challenge.

The theme for this month is 'Stocking'...I have quite a few images that feature stockings, but the first one that popped into my head was this cute one by Penny Black called 'Joy Filled Stockings'. I coloured the image using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut it out. I stamped a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) on my card blank, before adding the image popped up on some 3D foam pads.

For more inspiration from the awesome design team, please pop over to the CAS Christmas Card Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - J & K are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Dorte is the host, and there are two themes this month, which are:

'J is for Jingle'

&

'K is for Kids'

There's a surprise prize from Dorte on offer for one lucky winner!

For my 'J is for Jingle' card, I took inspiration from the words of the song 'Jingle Bells'...although instead of a 'one horse open sleigh', I have a 'two mouse open sleigh'! The image is from the 'Jolly Follies' set, and is coloured using watercolour pencils. I found a sentiment stamp (from the 'Tattered Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) with words from the song 'Jingle Bells', so added that to the image panel. I made a simple background using my Simon Says Stamp 'Mod Trees' background stamp, heat embossing it in clear on some plain green card. 

For my 'K is for Kids' card, I picked an old Lili of the Valley image featuring some carol singing kids that came in a set of vintage themed stamps. I stamped it on to a piece of watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolou pencils. I added a sentiment (from the 'Tattered Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous), then distressed the edges a little and added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen before adding it to a kraft card blank.

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

• Alphabet Challenge - C is for Clean & Simple (Second card only)
• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes
• Crimbo Crackers - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

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