PBSC #55 - Sketch! .... and some candy!!

Hello everyone, and welcome to week 55 of the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Some of you may just about have noticed that I've not been around for the past couple of weeks ..... I had to take a little bloggy break due to the fact that my department at work was having a re-org and I have had to apply for my job. After a lot of sweat and heartache, preparation, interview & presentation, the result is finally known ... and I'm very relieved to say I still have a job. However some of my colleagues are less fortunate right now and have got to go through the whole rigmarole again to try to secure a different job ... so right now I'm rooting for them.

Anyhow, I'm now trying to put all the stress behind me and get back in the bloggy saddle .. so here we are with a new card..... and what better way to start than with this week's PBSC, which is a fab sketch by Nat??

I'm sure you will love this sketch as much as the DT did .... and to be sure they have produced some wonderful cards to inspire you, so do pop over to their blogs for a look. Don't forget, to enter the challenge all you have to do is produce any project using the sketch, so long as we can see at least one Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on it!

As always we have got a great prize this week ... Dick at PB Stamps is giving a 15% off voucher to one lucky winner.

Before I get down to my card, I should say that I was gutted to miss the challenge's first birthday party two weeks ago ... so I have decided to have a belated celebration of my own!! I am offering a

mini candy

to one lucky winner which will consist of this week's card along with a small package of goodies .. now the contents are a secret but I can tell you that they include similar colours to the card -

pink and green

yay!

All you have to do to enter my candy is the following:

1. Enter this week's PBSC in the normal way, leaving a comment on the challenge blog with a link to your work.

2. ADDITIONALLY, leave a comment on this post with a link to your work, to let me know you would like to enter my candy :-)

I will choose my favourite entry next Saturday and post the results on my blog.

So without further ado, here's this week's effort!

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Bundle of Wishes", coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with Papermania gemstones, cut out using labels nesties and matted onto pink cardstock;

Sentiment: Whiff of Joy "Everyday Greetings";

Papers: BasicGrey "Sultry";

Supplies: Papermania patterned ribbons; Prima hydrangeas; sparkly brads by Doodlebug & Making Memories; green leaves cut from pearlised cardstock using Leone Em "Ash Family" punch

Here's another view of the card, in a lame attempt to show the sparkly gems and brads a bit more clearly.

Hope you all have a great weekend; and I look forward to seeing all your creations this week and entries for my candy!

For my dad

It's now almost two weeks since I have made a card, and I'm sorry to say I have hardly done any blog-hopping at all, so I am sure to be missing out on a lot of fabulous creations! I'm still up to my eyeballs with my job application, presentation and interview preparation; but at least the deadline is now looming and by next Tuesday it will all be over (unless of course I am unsuccessful, in which case I will have to go through it all again for however many jobs in the organisation I choose to apply for until I get one.... but let's not dwell on that!!)

Anyhow, last night I just NEEDED a break, and in any case how I could possibly fail to make my dear dad a Father's Day card?? I decided from the start to ensure I incorporated this week's theme over at Stamp With Fun #11 which is dots - cos boy, have they got a fab prize on offer! (Penny Black - my favourites!) but I have also managed to tie the card in with the following challenges:

Cupcake Craft Challenge #44 - Father's Day

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #36 - Father's Day

Paper Blooms #12 - Men of Influence.

I used:

Main image: Penny Black "message from above" coloured with watercolour pencils, matted using nesties labels, with the edges inked with Brilliance "pearlescent ivy" ink.

Sentiments: Woodware "Tiny Greetings" (front); Whiff of Joy - from "Swirls" collection (inside);

Papers: BasicGrey "Boxer";

Supplies: punched edges made with MS "Scallop dot" punch; adhesive ribbon by DCWV.

Here's the inside.....

Now this card is safely in the post I guess I'd better get my nose back to the grindstone! hope to be back next week lol!

Taking a little step back .....

I'm not going to be around in blogland for the next couple of weeks, as my departmental re-organisation at work is coming to a head and I need to reapply for my job ... 6 candidates, 2 jobs (slightly better odds than the Apprentice, but there isn't £100K at the end of it lol!!) Due to the level of competition I'm going to be VERY BIZZZZY the next couple of weeks what with application form ... presentation preparation ... interview preparation .... background research etc .... all of course on top of being out of the house from 8.30am to 6.45pm anyway due to working full time! . My head's spinning already !



Anyhow ... sorry I probably won't be visiting any of my bloggy buds, nor commenting on the fabby entries into the PBSC for the next couple of weeks ... alas I will also be missing the PBSC first birthday ... but keep your eyes peeled cos I may have a li'l surprise when I get back into my blogging stride :-)

PBSC Week 52 - Blooming Gorgeous!!

Woo hoo it's Saturday again, so it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. We are now up to week 52 ... can you believe that this week completes our first year of challenges, and next week it is our birthday!! ..... but more of that later ...

Thanks as always to everyone who took the time to enter last week's challenge using Domi's fab sketch - there were some wonderful interpretations, and one lucky person should check the challenge blog later to find out that they have won last week's prize.

So .. onto this week's challege which is

Blooming Gorgeous!

Yep .. we would like to see lots of lovely flowers! Of course you can interpret this however you want, so long as we can see a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your creation! As ever the DT have all beena s busy as bees around a flower (sorry!) ... do check out their blogs because there is an absolute garden going on out there!!

As an incentive to get your creative juices flowing, we have got a fantastic prize this week by our new sponsor Fantastic Ribbons - a selection of 6 reels of ribbon, each containing 5 metres. Now I picked out these ribbons myself when I went to Port Sunlight, and I can tell you they are so gorgeous it's lucky they ever made it into the prize pot LOL!! Fantastic Ribbons has just launched a new online shop and I strongly recommend you visit ... they have LOTS of high quality ribbons and fantastic value prices .. what's not to like??

So here is my card, which I have to confess was a bit of rush job at the last possible minute - so please be kind!!


I embossed the beautiful floral panel onto iridescent pale pink cardstock using the Cuttlebug "Friends Forever" cut'n'emboss folder, and matted it onto pearlescent fuschia and lime green cardstock. The sentiment is Penny Black "... dreams ..." stamped in Brilliance pearlescent orchid ink and cut out using my deckle edge rectangle nesties. Paper is Bo Bunny with the bottom edge punched with my MS doily punch; flowers are from various sources including a birthday RAK from Helen; leaves were punched with my Leone Em Ash Branch punch; sparkly brads are by Doodlebug; spacers from The Hobby House, ribbon from my stash.

As I mentioned above...

next week is the PBSC birthday .... yes.. we will be ONE!! (awww!)

So save the date, because we are going to be having a big party!! There are going to be lots of lovely prizes plus some surprises - you won't want to miss it! Unfortunately I will be missing it due to personal commitments, but I will be really hoping the party week will go with a swing... given the fantastic efforts of the rest of the DT I'm sure it will!!

Have a great weekend!

Dandelion does the combo .. for my dad!

Here's my card for my dad's birthday, which is next Monday. In the usual way I thought I'd try to get some inspiration from a few challenges ... like so many of us, I do find men's cards the most difficult to do and don't have very many images to suit ...luckily this darling image of Dandelion that was an RAK from the lovely Marcea came to the rescue. I'd like to enter this for the following challenges ...

1. Sketch Saturday #53 ... which is a fabulous sketch. I've had to change it slightly as most of my images don't fit on the teeny tiny shape that is a nestie oval ... so I used a kinda wavy rectangle nestie linstead and hope that is ok lol! (by the way ... Happy birthday to SS!!)
2. Creative Inspirations # 10 - card for a male
3. Simon Says ... Animals
4. One Stop Craft Challenge #31 - Let's Hear it For the Boys
5. Charisma Cardz #21 - Going Dotty

Here's the inside ....


... and here's what I used...

Main image: Dandelion - coloured with watercolour pencils.
Sentiments: Penny Black (front), Hero Arts (inside); letters for "Dad" free with Creative Cardmaking issue 3
Papers: Penny Black "Black & Gold" and cream/black dotted paper free with Creative Cardmaking issue 3.
Supplies: ribbon - Anita's; brads from my stash.

Hope dear dad is going to like it!