Four more challenges - that makes 7 today!

Whilst playing with my new and existing stash on the craft weekend I decided to make a card for Basic Grey Challenge #4, which this week is Susie's sketch.



However whilst I was about it I thought I would incorporate a few other challenges that are also in progress, so ....

• A Spoon Full of Sugar #18 is So Charming - use a charming character or charms on your card;
• ABC Weekly Challenge - J is for Jewels;
• Cute Card Thursday #29 asks for lots of sparkle.

I used: Basic Grey "Two Scoops" papers; Kerry Jo image (gifted from Mand), watercoloured and then dusted with pee wee glitter to create "fairy dust"; sentiment stamp from Penny Black "Party Critters"; pink star and flower gems by Papermania; cute little "dream" clip gifted from Mand; and ribbon and charm from my stash.

Three Challenges in One

Whilst trying to make the most of my craft weekend I decided to make a card for one of my fabourite challenges - Penny Black - but also to tie it in with a few other challenges that are currently in progress.

First: Penny Black Saturday Challenge #16 is Seasons - so I have made a Christmas card.

Second: My Time To Craft #30 is Blue, which ties in nicely with the Christmas theme.

Last but not least: I have laid out the card in line with Friday Sketchers #21 , though I should mention I didn't have internet access and a friend drew it out for me ... the sketch I followed was slightly different from the picture below, but I did my best LOL :-).

I used: Penny Black "Snowy" stamp inked and edged with Colour Box queue ink from the "deep sea" set (this idea was devised by Mand, who tried it cos she hadn't got her waterbrush to colour in a Versafine image!!); sentiment stamp from "Make Your Mark" in York; snowflake brads by Dovecraft; white sparkly brad from Doodlebug "sugar coated" range; flower by Cardology; blue star gems by Papermania; ribbon and papers from my stash; white glitter card embossed with Cuttlebug snowflakes folder.

Fab weekend in crafting heaven!

Well I have just got back - very tired but happy - from a craft weekend away with a few crafting buddies in Penrith. My crafting friend Samantha works in Penrith Crafts which is owned by Sandra, so a small group of us headed north for a weekend of meeting up (in many cases for the first time), crafting and having fun. Sandra's shop is absolutely fab and stocks some gorgeous things, so we were able to add to our stash and then play with it all to our hearts' content., staying in a local b&b, and going out for an Italian meal on the Saturday night.

I think it's fair to say that we all had a great time, establishing friendships made online and also getting some new crafting inspiration. Heartfelt thanks to Samantha and Sandra for hosting and organising it, and also to Samantha's friend Angi who helped with the arrangements. here's to the next one!

Latest blog candy news

Michelle over at Donkey Smiles is celebrating 25,000 hits on her blog - wow! To celebrate she has got 2 sets of stamps to give away ... and they are the cutest donkey images you have ever seen! I suggest you take a look at her fab blog, leave her a message and enter her prize draw (by October 8th)

Han is offering some gorgeous girly pink ribbons, gems etc. plus beautiful stamped images to celebrate 20,000 visitors - her blog is well worth a look! pop pver there before October 1st.

Wow!! Two awards in one day !

Well... I can scarcely believe this I'm so chuffed! In one day two new blogging friends have passed me awards - I'm overwhelmed!

Sharon has kindly passed me the "Wylde Women" award: the purpose of it is to send love to and acknowledge women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.


The rules are:
1 You can give it to one or one hundred and any number in between - your choice.
2. Make sure you link to their site.
3. Link back to this blog site http://www.tammyvitale.com/ so Tammy can visit all these wonderful women.
4. Remember the purpose of the award.

I am inspired by many lovely blogs whose owners give me great ideas and brighten my day ...and I think most of them already have this award!! But there are a four bloggers who I would like to nominate as they really inspire me in different ways:
Helen - who has become a lovely friend through a shared love of Penny Blacks and who has inspired me with her gorgeous cute decorated candles;
Sarah - who has a fantastic way of using ribbons and flowers on her creations;
Kerry - who makes lovely cards and is great to chat to, and
Vonnie - who has been having a tough time the past couple of weeks but is still making the best of her crafting.

Secondly, Vonnie has passed me the JAVABLU award. The rules are:
1. The winner can put the logo in her/his blog.
2. Put a link back to the person who gave you the award.
3. Nominate at least 5 persons with a blog, but first you have to tell why you want to give it to those persons.
4. Put a link to those you have nominated.
5. Visit the blogs to the nominees and tell them you gave them an award!

Well, I would like to nominate
Sharon - her blog is new but her cards are truly stunning, and she has got some fantastic technique tutorials on there
Mand - because she is such a lovely friend even though she hasn't been too well the past few weeks and so I would love to help cheer her up
Samantha at Penrith Crafts - cos she is so bubbly and friendly and would do anything for you... and I am looing forward to meeting her in person for the first time soon :-)
Helen and Sarah - for the same good reasons I outlined above.

I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside now .... :-)

Papertake Weekly - 2 for Children in Need

This week's Papertake Weekly Challenge is Mellow Yellow - Quick Cards Made Easy magazine is trying to break the world record for the biggest handmade card to support the charity Children in Need, and Papertake Weekly is sending in yellow cards that people donate as part of this challenge and donating 25p per card! How great is that?

I have made 2 cards to donate - I have kept them both fairly simple as they are small A6 cards, plus I needed to make them quickly after work before it got dark (didn't quite achieve that, but never mind!)

The first card includes the Penny Black image "Delights" that was gifted to me by Sharon (check out her fab blog which contains some brilliant card tutorials); and I have also used paper Adventures pearlised paper "Yellow Bees" with the edge punched using a Papermania multishaper punch, WH Smith and papermania flowers, Doodlebug sugar coated yellow brad and sentiment by ge studio clear stamps.

The second card uses a teddy image that was also gited to me (sorry I don't know what it was called, and it was one of several friends who may have sent it me - oops!), lemon coloured glitter card, more Doodlebug sugar coated brads, WH Smith flower and ribbon from my stash.

Go over and check out the challenge - it's well worth joining in for such a good cause!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #15

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is to decorate the inside of your card. Now this is a great opportunity for me, because my new blogging friend Sharon has recently posted a tutorial on how to make a trifold envelope card, and I was desperately wanting to try it. So here is my interpretation for the PB Saturday Challenge.

Update! I loaded this post earlier with appalling uncropped photos as I had been messing about in Adobe Photoshop and caused all my settings to go funny whereby I could no longer edit ... but I now seem to have overcome the problem (phew!)

I used: Main image is Penny Black "Dream a Dream"; birthday sentiment is PB "Birthday Dreams"; "Dream a little dream" sentiment is by Hampton Art stamps; paper is a double sided piece by Deja Views. I also used Prima flowers, Doodlebug "sugar coated" brad, papermania gems and ribbon from my stash.

Four into one

Finally ... after some 'pooter problems with this post ....

Cute Card Thursday #28 this week has set a challenge theme of food, so I couldn't resist making a card with this uber cute Penny Black stamp "Sweet Slumber" - the image was gifted to me by Cathy. I coloured the image with a mixture of Cosmic Shimmers & Twinkling H2O's (they are actually much more pearlescent than the camera pic shows!) with the mouse coloured in with watercolour pencils.

I also laid out the card in line with Cupcake Craft Challenge sketch, using Sandylion background papers, Prima flowers, Papermania pearl brads and a new Doodlebug "sugar coated" brad (another foody reference? LOL). The sentiment stamp is also Penny Black.
This week's challenge at Stamp Something is to embellish something ... well as usual my card has got flowers, brads and gemstones (though no ribbon for once!) so I guess that's ok.

Lastly, Artygirlz are celebrating their first birthday this week, so their challenge theme is birthdays - I think this card pretty much fits the bill.

This is going to be a birthday card for a crafting friend .. haven't quite decided which one yet :-)

More Yummy Blog Candy

Beth is celebrating 200 posts to her lovely blog by giving away a stunning Forever Friends stamp and paper pack. I suggest you rush over there to take a look both at the candy and her lovely cards, before midnight October 5th.

Bev is giving away a fabulous Whiff of Joy stamp ("Willow with hot chocolate") plus gorgeous ribbons, flowers and more ... why not take a look at her blog and leave a comment before Monday September 22nd.

Spoon Full of Sugar #17 - Christmas is Coming!

Well, we cardmakers all know that fact only too well, don't we?? So this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge is really perfect for anyone at the moment.

This card is something different for me. On a whim I bought the new Forever Friends paper pack "Winter Snow", but wasn't sure what to do with the papers that had a large character image on them.... . I completely covered a card blank with a 6" x 6" sheet and decoupaged the teddy, then for my stamping I introduced a large text stamp by Crafty Individuals, inked with various shades of Colourbox Queue pigment inks set "dark sea". I also decoupaged a paper snowflake and decorated it plus the paper with random Papermania gemstones. Simple but I quite like it .. hope you do too!

I've been tagged!

Jennifer has tagged me ... now this is the first time I've been tagged so I'm racking my brain to think what random facts about myself might be of interest to fellow bloggers LOL!

Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list the rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

OK .. here goes ...
1. I've just passed my second cardmaking anniversary - never believed my interest (and my credit card bill!!) would take off so much!
2. I'm terrified of spiders
3. I never bothered learning to cook, but am married to a wonderful man who makes yummy dinners! (I do wash an iron his shirts for him .. bless!!)
4. I love watching theatre and ballet, and last year attended the world premiere of a new major ballet ("The Snow Queen") in Liverpool - fabby!!
5. I'm currently reading the Tudor murder mystery "Dissolution" by C.J. Sansom.
6. My favourite card embellishment is flowers .. can't get enough of them!
7. I always watch Coronation Street.

Now I am going to tag Helen, Sharon, Mand, Vonnie, Sarah, Dawny and Vicki.

My first Sarah Kay Challenge

I have never previously taken part in a Sarah Kay challenge as I don't own any of the stamps (yet!) but I was recently gifted a few by my friend Cathy, so I thought I'd have a go this week, and would use the outcome as my Docrafts image swap wallet for Vonnie.

Sarah Kay Challenge #11 is a trio of papers, which I have to say is right up my street as I have developed a serious obsession for multiple co-ordinating papers on cards recently LOL!

I used: base mottled green cardstock from the Papermill shop; 3 papers by K&Co; flowers by Prima; pearl brads and small gemstone flowers (which are actually blue in daylight!) by Papermania; seintiment by ge studio; ribbon from my stash. The inside of the wallet is decorated with the same flowery stripe paper as is used immediately behind the image on the card front. I also had a go at faux stitiching as one of the papers already had some as part of the design.

Friday Sketchers #19 - Docrafts September friendship & my first Sugar Nellie

As I had a whole afternoon crafting yesterday I wanted to make my Docrafts September Friendship card for Sharon T, and decided to have a go at the fabulous sketch over at Friday Sketchers .


I used the gorgeous Sugar Nellie Elisabeth Bell "Flowers" image gifted to me by my friend Cathy - I don't own any of these stamps but could possibly feel a credit card splurge coming on! I watercoloured the image using a mixture of pencils and Marvey markers, and decorated the hat and bracelet with tiny gemstones. The papers are all from my stash (most didn't have a make printed on them); flowers are by WH Smith (purple) and Prima, and buttons are from the local market. The sentiment is Penny Black "..Second Self", which I love to use on friendship cards.

Basic Grey Challenge #1 - Buttons

I love BasicGrey papers and am currently coveting some of their new stamps, so I was thrilled to spot the new BasicGrey Challenge , where the first challenge is to make anything with the theme of buttons. I am only just getting into buttons but I bought some yesterday from the market, so after a rummage through my paper holder I was set to go!

I love this BasicGrey "Gypsy" (or "Romani") paper called Archangel; and I based the whole card around that. The stylised flower topper is one of the new Cuttlebug cut'n'emboss sets, coloured with glimmer chalks and decorated wtih Papermania gemstones. The sentiment is a diecut from the same set. The centre strip is my first attempt with Core-dinations paper, embossed wtih my Cuttlebug and sanded to reveal the core. last but not least I chose three co-ordinating buttons and tied them up with a narrow dotty ribbon from my stash.

This card is for my friend Christine who starts a new job on Monday - hope it all goes well!

A Spoonful of Sugar for our wedding anniversary

I sat down this morning to make my husband's wedding anniversary card (I'm confident he won't see it cos he doesn't look at my blog LOL!). I already had the image and papers to hand so was just waiting for a bit of inspiration for the layout, and decided to follow the sketch for this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #16.

My image is PB "Squeeze Until I Squeak" watercoloured, cut out and decoupaged onto gold card embossed with the Cuttlebug "Swirls" folder. Papers are by Papermania, gold sticky ribbon and peel offs from my stash.

I'm also being cheeky and entering this one day old card into the Penny Black Challenge #14 which this week is for A Man's Card - No Blue! Very rare that I make a card fulfilling those criteria, not least because my husband is an Everton fan, but this card fulfils it so perfectly I just had to use it ... plus I'm a bit bizzy this weekend so don't want to be making a new card I'm never gonna use :-)

Blog candy galore!

Chris is putting together her first blog candy to celebrate 1,000 hits and would love you to visit .. she will be giving away various surprises ! You have until 26/9 t0 say hello.

There is a fab competition over at Spiral Whisper offering a £15 voucher for their shop - they want to know which are your favourite September new stamps and what else you would like to see - pop over and check it out before 20/9

Nikki really has something to celebrate with 20,000 hits, and whoever pops over to say hello and wins her blog candy will also have something to celebrate as it is a couple of fabulous High Hopes stamps and gorgeous Basic Grey Christmas paper ... she has also made an absolutely stunning card to show what you can do with these items! I suggest you rush over before 17/9!

Angelo is saying a big "thankyou" to everyone who visits her blog by giving away 2 lots of candies including a selection of fabulous Magnolia stamps ... link to her blog and leave her a comment by 15/9 to have a chance to win.

Adele is celebrating 15,000 hits by offering at least 50 stamped images icluding Sugar Nellies, Crafty Individuals and Cuddly Buddly. Why not pop over to say hello before midnight 14/9 and join her draw?

Two for the girls!

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is One for the Girls ... now on Saturday I bought the cute "Uplifting Occasion" stamp from the Papermill Shop, so I just had to have a play yesterday ... and I ended up making two!

My first card is a birthday card for my crafting friend Uma - I coloured the stamp with watercolour pencils, trimmed the bra with the cute new Papermania sparkly trim and a tiny bow from the Papermill Shop (I bought both of these at the same time as the stamp, with this technique in mind LOL!), and mounted on white and lilac glitter card and DCWV "Pocketful of Posies" glitter accented paper. The sentiment is from PB transparent set "Bubbly", the lace is from my friend Cathy, and the flowers are Making Memories (large), WH Smith (medium) and Prima (small).
I also notice that this card falls in nicely with the theme for this week's TGIF Challenge #49 which I almost missed but which is Birthdays ... so I'd like to enter it into that challenge too.



The second card is very similar, but instead of lace I used more Papermania sparkly trim (white) and I edged the DCWV paper with my Multishaper punch. The sentiment is a rub on from my stash. This card is to cheer up my mum, as she is currently in and out of hospital and I hope this card will make her smile!

Bits'n'pieces challenge & Cute Card Thursday

My crafting friend Samantha set a little group of us a challenge ... she sent each of us a secret envelope and we had to make a card with the contents ...yikes! This is what she sent:

• Penny Black flower stamped image - "Portraits"


• Penny Black butterfly stamped image


• Pink silk flower


• Silver flower brad


• length of pink sticky ribbon


• Piece of whitecard embossed with Cuttlebug dots


• Pink tag

This what I made.... I based my theme around the piece of brown/pink background paper I had luckily bought just before - so I coloured the flowers and butterfly with pink Twinkling H2O's and used some pink pee wee glitter to mirror the glitter on the paper, then cut them out and decoupaged them. I also used a Papermania brown pearl brad, a silver peel off on the tag, pink Papermania gems and some silver stringed ribbon to add finishing touches.

Luckily enough this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge #26 is Pretty in Pink ... so I hope the general girly, flowery, sparkly, fluttery nature of this card qualifies LOL!