Penny Black Challenge #42 - Springtime ... there is magic in the air ...

Woo hoo the weekend is here again, and what better way to get the fun started (apart from going to Harrogate and spending loads of money, of course!) than to take part in this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge?

As ever we had some fabulous entries last week - thankyou so much for your continuing support. I'm really looking forward to seeing who has won the cute teddy stamp I donated last week, so don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog to check it out.

This week we have another fab prize on offer, donated by our very own Jackie. It is the brilliant transparent set "Salutations" - I have this set myself and use it often!

So what do you need to do to be in with a chance of winning? Well - just make a card or other project for this week's theme which is

Spring

I know the weather has been cold and windy again this week, but hey - surely the weather should turn soon, and Easter is just around the corner. So we are really looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Don't forget that you must just use one or more PB stamp or sticker on your project. The DT has really "sprung into spring" to make some fab inspirational cards, so please do visit their blogs to have a look-see.

For my card I decided to try something a bit different which is a "swivel" card - I have only ever made one once before.

I felt that this style worked really well with the idea of having a picture image on one side and sentiment "revealed" on the other. I must admit, though, that my craft knife skills aren't the best and I think the concept was rather better than the execution - but we have to try these things!

Recipe:

Stamps used: Penny Black "Duckling" and "Spring Magic".

Colouring media: watercolour pencils.

Supplies: papers from my stash, punched with Papermania Multishaper punch "Country garden"; ribbon - DCWV; flowers & pearl brads - Papermania; zooms from my friend Kaz.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Another dip in the sugar bowl

This fortnight's challenge over at the Sugar Bowl is to make a card that a mum could love .... luckily for me that's easy is one sense as my mum loves all my cards, bless her! ...but less easy in another, as my only SN stamps at the moment are Christmas ones lol! I decided to use this gorgeous RAK from Helen of Annie ("Blossom") - I actually already made my mum a bit more traditional card for Mother's Day, so I tried to make a card that mum or indeed anyone else might hopefully love! I have been playing with my nesties, MS doily punch and Leone Em Ash branch punch again, and am quite pleased wtih this as I was blown away by these fabulous papers when I saw them on an outing to Horseshoe Crafts.

Recipe:
Stamps used: SN "Blossom", Penny Black sentiment from "Salutations" clear set.
Colouring media: Watercolour pencils, crystal stickles.
Paper: My Mind's Eye.
Supplies: lace from Hobbycraft; Prima flowers; Papermania pearl brads; spacers, charm & zoomz from my stash.


Gotta dash now to get ready for work - have a nice day everyone!

Penny Black Challenge #41 - Let's Doodle!

Happy Saturday everyone and welcome to this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge . I'm sure you'll agree Tracie's sketch last week was a stunner, and the result was some brilliant entries for last week's challenge. As always details of the prizewinner will be posted on the challege blog this morning.

So onto this week's challenge, which is

Doodling!

Now if like me you get nervous at the thought of doodling, I hope you will be tempted to try by this week's prize ..... I'm particularly excited as I chose and donated it so naturally I think it's adorable! It is the PB stamp "Dream a Dream" ... this cute li'l bear even features in my blog header!!

Please don't forget to check out the other DT members' blogs for some brilliant inspiration - there are some much more artistic efforts than I could manage lol! Sadly our dear friend Tracie cannot join us this week as she has received the sad news that her granddad has passed away - our thoughts are with you hun and we hope you will be able to face rejoining us soon.

On a happier note, here is my card for this week. Now I will hold my hand up and say that originally I wanted to make a card using the bear above, but that went a bit pear shaped when I unexpectedly had to make mum's Mother's Day card a day earlier than anticipated..... so I had to incorporate some doodling as I had no time to make two cards! Doodling isn't my forte I have to say, but hey it's done now! However I tried to make up for it by introducing a whole new element - I used Penny Black papers!! :-)

Recipe:

Stamps used: Penny Black "Blush"; Woodware clear sentiments ("On Mother's Day"); WOJ sentiments ("From the Heart" & "Wishing You the Perfect Day").

Colouring media: detail gold embossing.

Papers: Penny Black gold embossed papers - inside cut with MS doily punch.

Lettering: Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet.

Supplies: lace from Hobbycraft; Prima flowers; ribbon and brads from my stash.

And the inside .....

Now I would also love to enter this card into the current Sketch & Stash challenge #6, as I was inspired by the sketch which I have rotated by 180 degrees. What's new?? Well ... the flower stamp, WOJ sentiments (first inking), ribbon, and gorgeous PB papers which I got from a visit to Horseshoe Crafts in Shropshire whilst on a country break last weekend.

You have probably noticed by now that I have been on a bit of a roll with this new flower stamp. I'm really loving its versatility, but promise I will try to go for a change on my next cards!

Looking forward to seeing all your creations - have a good weekend.

My blog candy - we have a winner!

I am completely overwhelmed and would like to say a humungous thankyou to everyone who has visited my blog over the past couple of weeks and left such lovely comments whilst entering for my blog candy draw. I am also thrilled that so many people have become new followers - I haven't actually been able to post many new cards recently but will try to get back into the swing and hope you will continue to visit!

Anyway, without further ado ... whis going to get their hands on this uber-cute D&D stash?? I have used the random integer generator from Random.org and it has generated the following number ... (this is actually not the first number I drew .. the first winner hadn't linked to my candy from her blog so sorry ... no link, no cute D&D stash!!)

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:88
Timestamp: 2009-03-20 13:28:26 UTC

So the winner is .....

Francesca
who said ....
Wow Great Candy and fantastic blog. I have added a link to your candy on my blog
Francesca x

Please send me your name & address detail Francesca to my email link on the blog sidebar, and I will get your D&D stash in the post - happy crafting!

12345 - Blog Candy!

This blog candy is now closed - thankyou so much for the overwhelming response! I will pick a winner as soon as possible.

Well ... I meant to offer some blog candy to celebrate 10,000 hits, but somehow that passed me by, and before I knew it 11,000 had been and gone too. So I decided that a great time to offer some goodies would be when my counter passed 12,345 ... and last weekend that time arrived :-)

So I have been out hunting and gathering, and put together a cute candy selection of newly released Daisy & Dandelion goodies that I hope everyone will like! I like them so much I have also bought most of the stuff for myself lol!

Here's what I've got on offer for one winner....

• 1 set of "Pickles & Onion" clear stamps (cute elephants!)
• 1 set of "Daisy & Dandelion" stickers
• 1 set of "Bubbles & Squeak" stickers
• 1 D&D A5 paper collection pack
• 2 packs of Papermania paper flowers - pink & blue
• 1 pack of Doodlebug sugar coated sparkly brads in pastel.

Sorry a bout the poor quality photo - the colours onf the stickers are much nicer than in the pic, and the pink flowers are actually a mid/deep pink that matches the paper!!

As they say you've got to be in it to win it, and if you would like to get your mitts on this stash here's what you have to do .....

• Leave me a comment on this post before midnight GMT on Thursday 19th March.
• Put a post or link on your blog to promote that I am offering this candy.
• Errr.... that's it!! I hope you will take a look around my blog, and if you would like to become a follower or add me to your blog roll I will be thrilled, but it isn't a condition of entry.
• I will pick a random winner on Friday 20th March, and will post worldwide.
• Sorry this draw is only open to people with active blogs.

Hugs

Keeping it sparkling clean ... for our soldiers

I spotted a post saying that Tracy at Dies to Die For has put out an appeal for cards, so that our soldiers serving in Afghanistan can get cards to send to their loved ones (as she says, the're a bit short on the old shops out there!) What a brilliant idea! And as if it's not a good enough cause by itself, Tracy is offering an entry for each card sent into a prize draw to win a coveted MS Valentine Lace punch - YAY!

Now so far I have just the one MS punch which I did get from Tracy and she was absolutely brilliant to deal with, so I'm bound to buy more from her in future regardless of whether I win this one lol! Unfortunately having been away last weekend I was a bit on the last minute with this (the appeal is open til Saturday 21/3) but I managed to make a couple of cards last night + found one or two more in my stash.

This is one of the 2 cards I made - both virtually identical. I thought I'd best keep it simple as I wasn't sure how fussy soldiers would like their cards to be, plus I'm not the fastest cardmaker in the world. Luckily this came together perfectly with this week's theme for Creative Card Crew Challenge #2, which is Keep It Clean - no paper. I'm really loving my new PB brushstroke stamp at the moment, so I was able to quickly make a focal point, mat it with a bit of ribbon and pop on a trio of co-ordinating gems ... and voila! The little gems not only add a bit of interest but also cunningly put me in the frame for this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #43 which is ... err... little gems!

This card is actually about as simple as it gets, but I really like it! The stamp is PB "Blush" coloured wtih Marvey brushstroke pens, and the sentiment is also PB from the "Hugs" set.

Hope you like it, and hope that some soldier far from home will like it too enough to send a loving message to someone close. Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday CCT + 3 more challenges

CCT is one year old this week, so they're having a big celebration! I've been away for a few days over the weekend so I almost missed it - hence the quick post in the morning before leaving for work!

The theme this week is a fab sketch, which I really enjoyed working with. Actually I scribbled it down on a piece of paper and looking at it now I don't think I've got it quite right, but I did my best so I hope it qualifies!!


The card is bit different for me - I have used my brand new Penny Black stamp "blush", which I have coloured using Marvey brushstroke pens to create a watercolour effect. I also lightly sponged the edges of the tag with pink ink and edged with silver, though the photo doesn't show it very well. The sentiment is also a new stamp by Great Impressions (I bought it while I was away from a fab little shop called Horseshoe Crafts); papers are by Craft Creations; Coredinations cardstock is embossed with Cuttelbug Swiss Dots and sanded lightly; flowers by Prima; ribbon, gems, brad and spacer from my stash.
I hope the generally floral theme of this card also makes it a good candidate for this week's ABC Challenge which is flowers - actually most of my cards would qualify for this is some way shape or form cos I love flowers, but it has been quite a while since I have used a flower for the main image, and even longer since I did a brushstroke flower.
I would also like to enter this card for the Artygirlz challenge - stamping, and the this week's MTTC challenge #53 - nature.
Gotta dash to get ready for work - hope everyone is having a good week.

Penny Black Challenge #40 - Sketch

Wow this week has flown by, and here we are at Saturday again already, which of course means it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. As always thanks to everyone who got cooking with last week's recipe challenge - sorry I've been a bit bizzzzy this week so didn't manage to comment on everyone's creations but I'm sure they were as fab as usual :-)

This week we are very excited as we have got a fab sketch by our very own Tracie - we know people generally like to work with sketches and I'm sure you'll agree this one really hits the spot.

Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see details of last week's prizewinner and all the wonderful cards created by the DT.

This week we also have a wonderful prize which is a $25 gift voucher from our sponsor Simon Says Stamp - so what are you all waiting for ??

Here is my effort - next Monday it is my mum & dad's 56th wedding anniversary, and luckily as my craft time has been very limited this week this sketch lent itself extremely well to making their card (phew!).

Recipe:

Image: Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" - hedgies coloured with watercolour pencils, roses decorated wtih glamour dust, and image matted onto pink pearlescent and silver holographic card;

Sentiment: rub on

Papers: Papermania "Exquisite" paper pac (a gift from my Secreat Santa :-) ) and silver printed vellum (cut with trusty MS doily punch!)
Supplies: Prima flowers; Papermania pearl brads; charm from Dolls Made Up; pearl gems from my stash.

And the inside ...


Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and look forward to actually seeing your creations this week!

Henry mouse does a combo!

So many challenges, so little time!! Next weekend it's my husband's birthday, so as I've got a lot on next week I thought I'd better get on the case with his card. it also meant I felt the need to try to be creative with no flowers and (possibly) no ribbon - eek!!

This is what I came up with - as usual I looked around for some challenge inspiration, and have done my best to incorporate the following:

• Friday Sketchers #42 - loved this sketch once I got going with it
• Cute Card Thursday #50 - wine and dine
• Spoon Full of Sugar # 41 - Torn Edges
• ABC Challenge - D is for Distressing
• Stamp Something - Favourite Somethings (I have used my favourite nestabilities - at least they are my faves until the newest ones come out lol! )

I'm actually really pleased with how this card turned out as for once I've managed to make card that's not at all girly! The man himself is under strict instructions not to look on here before next weekend (not that he does anyway, methinks!) so I really hope he's going to like it!


Recipe:
Main image: WOJ Henry mouse, coloured with watercolour pencils, Cosmic Shimmers & Twinkling H2O's, and decorated with blue peewee glitter.
Sentiments: PB "Salutations" & "Critter Party" (front) and "Every Which Way" (inside) transparent sets.
Papers: mostly BG Boxer - don't know what the backgound one is!
Wooden hearts: East of India (from John Lewis)
Swirls: Spellbinders Shapeabilities.
Just off now to get a shower and then tackle a mountain of housework ... I may be sometime, lol - but hope to catch up on some blog hopping later or tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and don't forget to check out my blog candy :-)

Penny Black Challenge #39 - Recipe!

Welcome to the weekend, and to the latest Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Last week there was a fantastic response as usual to the something you can eat challenge - I probably speak for the whole DT in saying we spent the week in a state of drooling hunger whilst viewing all your fab creations! Don't forget to check out who won the fabby PB stickeroos!

This week the challenge requires you to get your creative juices cooking in a different way, as this week we have a

Recipe - 3 brads, 2 ribbons, 1 flower

As usual you can interpret this in any way you choose so long as you include at least one PB image on your project.

This week's prize has been donated by our very own Kath, and is a couple of fab sentiment stamps by Debbi Moore Designs.

So here is my card .... I struggled with this a wee bit cos the thought of using only 1 flower sent me cold!! ... so I interpreted it loosely and used just the one flower head lol! Also I couldn't seem to get a matching combo of any given paper plus 2 co-ordinating ribbons (I clearly need to purchase some more ribbons!!) so eventually I used just a teeny bit of my second ribbon tied in the button.

Recipe:
Image: Penny Black "Jump for Joy" coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with Stickles;
Sentiment: Cuttlebug "Everyday Greetings" set;
Flowers: new Papermania packs (white & pink), Prima (green);
Brads: Doodlebug sugar coated brights.
Paper and ribbon from my stash.

I'm going to be a bit busy this next week so apologise in advance if i don't get round all your entries .. but I'll do my best :-)

Have a great weekend!

An obvious thing to do ...

It's St. David's Day, the sun is shining and there are tentative signs of spring in the air .... so what could be more obvious than to make a Christmas card lol?

Actually this isn't as crazy as may at first appear ... the current theme for the Sugar Bowl Challenge #5 is Christmas, and boy do they have a fab prize on offer for one lucky winner! Not only that, but only own two SN stamps (so far!!) and they are both Christmas images ... so what's not to like?

Here is my card: I used SN "Juggling Snowman" for my main image; sentiment is by Stamps Away; paper is by Daisy Bucket; snowflake is Cuttlebug cut'n'emboss folder; ribbon, brad and gems from my stash. I'm also trying to get my money's worth from my new MS punch lol! so I thought the shape and holes mirrored the arc of the snowballs quite nicely!

Thanks for looking! Just off out shopping now so I hope to be back in time to do a bit of blog hopping later