Sharon's birthday candy - 50 not out!

My dear bloggy buddy Sharon is celebrating becoming a "big hitter" in the next 2 weeks as she reaches the magical milestone of her 50th birthday. her cards and blog are fab and well worth a look ... so why not pop over to say hello and help her to celebrate ... and whilst you're there you might want to enter for this yummy candy selection that she is offering to celebrate :-)

Happy forthcoming birthday hun!

One snow lady - six challenges.

Just managed to fit in a quick cardmaking session this afternoon, so I thought I'd better crack on with the Christmas cards ... here's what I produced.

I followed the sketch at this week's Friday Sketchers #71, which I thought was ideal for this image. I also followed the colour scheme for this week's Colour Create Challenge #28 - namely hot pink, dusty pink & ice chocolate (yummy!) ... I actually picked out this darling snow lady image as I thought she would fit this colour scheme so well. Therefore the card is also a good fit for this week's Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge #35, which is non-traditional colours.

I decided to use a charm as one of the sketch elements which is also in line with Dutch Dare Challenge #61 - so charming - and I would like to enter the One Stop Craft Challenge #48 - die cuts - as I have die cut my snowflakes using a Cuttlebug die. Last but not least, BasicGrey Challenge #4 is embossing: I have embossed my pale pink glitter card with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and my BasicGrey element is the pearl gems on the snowflakes and hat - they are "opaline" pinks and browns.

Phew! six challenges .... I can sit back and relax now lol!

Recipe:
Main image: Inca Snow lady "Angelina" (which was an RAK);
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh My Words";

Paper: Bo Bunny; pale pink, bright pink and white glitter card from Edwin Allen;
Supplies: pearl gems by BasicGrey "opaline" (pink pack and brown pack); snowflake charm & ribbon from my stash;
Tools: Cuttlebug die "Snowflakes 2".

Just off now to tidy away before settling down for the X-Factor!

Penny Black Challenge #68 - colour scheme

Yippee! Saturday again, which can only mean one thing ... it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered last week - "lace & pearls" was a gorgeous theme, and there were some pretty gorgeous entries to suit! Don't forget to check the challenge blog to see who won last week's fab prize of papers from Simply Create.

Onto this week's challenge, which is a colour scheme .... we would like to see creations that primarily use the colours

chocolate, lemon and pink

Yummy!

We have also got a fab prize as always ... our regular sponsor

is offering one lucky winner a 15% discount voucher for use in the online store.

Here is my card for this week .... I got rather carried away with the whole yumminess of the colour combo, and rather max'd out on the chocolate theme!! I think it was because I found this ribbon which I got from the lovely Samantha and Sandra at Penrith Crafts, and somehow I just couldn't help myself. I also started to fondly imagine that my paper was decorated with chocolate buttons lol!! (or maybe it's Maltesers??)

The other DT members have also produced some yummy samples for you so please do visit them and check them out :-)

And here's a picture of the inside .....

Recipe:
(particularly apt this week, hey?)
Main image: Penny Black "Sweet Slumber" (1916J) - mouse and chocs coloured with watercolour pencils and box coloured with Twinkling H2O's;
Sentiments: Penny Black "Happy Bithday" (2912D) (front), "birthday dreams" (3849E) (inside); Papers: My Mind's Eye "Magnolia";
Supplies: Flowers by Prima and Papermania; "chocolat"ribbon from Penrith Crafts; choc bar charm from Dolls Made Up; flower spacer from The Hobby House; dotty ribbon, dragonfly and pearl brads from my stash.

Here's an attempt to show up the shimmer of the H2O's - not easy to get a good pic now that the days are so dull!

Looking forward to seeing your creations this week - have a great weekend whatever you're doing!

Spectacular Santorini sunsets ... and a silver celebration!

Hello everyone ... I haven't been around or visited anyone's blogs for the past week as I have just got back from a week's holiday on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini ... and it was a very special holiday as it was to celebrate my silver wedding anniversary! Yep! 25 years .. how time flies when you're having fun lol!

Seriously though, I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful husband, and it was great to be able to spend some time together in this gorgeous location. We only booked it fairly last minute due to family circumstances that I won't bore you with, so it was all a bit of a rush to get organised ... but it was well worth it. Santorini is a beautiful island renowned for its beautiful views and sunsets, and so is often a wedding or honeymoon destination. We stayed in a resort called Imerovigli in the beautiful Tholos Resort hotel ... the hotel was fantastic, and the staff there were incredibly welcoming - we were even upgraded to the honeymoon suite!

The first two photographs are the sunset from our room terrace ... I'm sure you'll agree the view is absolutely breathtaking!



Here is a also a little video clip of the stunning view from our balcony in the daytime ....

Another beautiful village on Santorini is Oia, and here's a picture of another sunset behind one of the many beautiful church towers.

Of course, we couldn't have a posting without a card could we?? Here's the silver wedding anniversary card I made for my husband - I had a few crises over this as I couldn't decide between hearts and flowers, and also had to take into account that he really doesn't like the colour red so that couldn't predominate! Many thanks to Squirrel who sent me some wonderful romantic images - I didn't use one in the end as I decided it just HAD to be this image (like you do!) .... but I have a lovely stash of cute romantic hedgies and meeces ready to smother my dear OH with love on future occasions lol!

And here's the inside .... sorry for the poor picture quality but I had to take this at night before I wrote in it ready for the next morning !!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "You're a Treasure" (front); hedgies from Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" (inside) - all coloured with watercolour pencils and Sakura sparkly pen on the hearts and roses;
Sentiments: rub on (front), Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" (inside);
Supplies: paper, silver holographic card and silver ribbon from my stash;
Tools: heart border punched with Martha Stewart "Valentine Lace" punch; silver numbers punched using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet dies.

I didn't specifically make this card for any challenges, but as it is the only card I have made in the past week and a half I would like to enter it into a couple that I hope it fits ok :-) They are:

Creative Card Crew #29 - decorate the inside of your card

Stamp Something - use your favourite colours or papers ...

Well ... my fave colours change like the wind, but have always had a soft spot for blue and silver (esp when I'm making Christmas cards!)

And last but not least .... Pile It On #16 - punches.

I'll be trying now to catch up with all my blogging and commenting ... so please be patient if it takes me a little while to visit as I think I'll still be feeding the washing machine in several days time ... and alas it's work tomorrow!!

Penny Black Challenge #67 - Lace & Pearls

Hello again, and welcome once more to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who joined in last week's challenge with Domi's wonderful sketch - sorry I haven't been around much this week to look at all your entries, but I'm sure they were all fabulous as usual!!

This week we would like to see your projects that contain

Lace & Pearls

The only rule, as usual, is that you should use a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your creation.

And once again we have another fab prize on offer, which is a selection of "October Afternoon" papers from Kath's local craft shop Simply Create.

As usual the DT have been weaving some PB magic, so I hope you'll stop by their blogs and check them out.

Here is my card for this week - this was a great challenge for me, as I absolutely adore both lace and pearls so i didn't need to be asked twice to incorporate them into my card!

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Crossing Bridges" (3206J), watercoloured and decorated with tiny pearl gems;

Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Birthday" (2912D);

Papers: BasicGrey "Porcelain";

Supplies: Poppicraft flowers were a birthday RAK from Helen, pink dotty ribbon and lace from Hobbycraft; butterfly charm from Dolls Made Up; large spacer from Quixotic Paperie; pearl brad and pink butterfly gem by Papermania; pearl gems from my stash.

Tools: pink pearlescent card embossed using new Cuttlebug "Daisy Pattern" embossing folder; leaves cut using Leone Em "Ash Family" punch.

Hopefully I will get a bit more time to get round and view all your creations this week - looking forward to seeing them! Have a great week.

Penny Black Challenge #66 - Sketch by Domi

Good morning everyone - fabulous weather we've been having the past few days ... let's hope it keeps up for the weekend!!

Here we are again with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge - it was great to see everyone getting loved up with last week's "heart's desire" challenge; and I particularly enjoyed it as the fab entries gave me plenty of inspiration for my own silver wedding card for my husband .. as we will have been married 25 years this coming week!

Without further ado, let's get onto this week's challenge, which is a fabulous sketch by Domi. Don't forget that the only rule is that you must use a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your project.

The DT members have as always been hard at work making some stunning samples - do pop over to their blogs to have a look, and don't forget to visit the challenge blog for details of this week's prize and to see who won last week's yummy palette of pearlescent paints from Horseshoe Crafts.

Here is my card ... it is also my Docrafts September Friendship card for Loralou.

I based the whole thing around this darling Penny Black image which was an RAK from my lovely friend Squirrel. Squirrel actually sent me a fab variety of PB romantic images to help me with my silver wedding card preparations, as she has probably got the best collection of PB's I have ever seen (!) (I recommend you pop over to her blog for a lookee). As it stands I'm having an "important occasion crisis" and can't decide what I'm going to use for the OH's card for next week, but whatever happens I am well prepared for forthcoming Valentine's Days and other cuddly occasions for some time to come - thanks hun! :-)

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Sharing Spring" (3613J), coloured with watercolour pencils, edges distressed using Colorbox Queue inks;

Sentiment: Penny Black "...second self" (3386D);

Papers: My Mind's Eye "Bloom & Grow";

Supplies: Charm from Quixotic Paperie; hydrangeas by Prima; pearl brads by Papermania; sparkly red & orange brads by Doodlebug (sugar coated - brights);ribbon and dragonfly brad from my stash;

Tools: image and paper rectange cut using large deckled rectangle nestabilities; borders cut using MS "doily lace" edge punch.

Looking forward to seeing all your interpretations of this wonderful sketch - have a great weekend, whatever you're doing!

Seeing double

I had a pretty productive evening yesterday (for me!) as I managed to make 3 cards - my PBSC DT card which I can't reveal until Saturday, plus two Christmas cards. I decided to get into a mini production-line mode, so I made a couple of very similar cards with the main difference being that they followed different sketches!

My first card follows the sketch at Crafty Cardmakers #3

I would also like to enter this card for the Winter Wonderland challenge #15, which is Frosty the Snowman .... this PB Snowy is undoubtedly one of my all time fave stamps - I think he is just so cute! ... and talking of favourites, this week's Stamp Something challenge is to use your favourite stamp .... so there we go!
As luck would have it it also fits another of today's challenges which is Dutch Dare #60 - a colour inspiration. Now this really is luck rather than judgement, but I think it must be serendipity as I was lucky enough to win last week's challenge - thank you ladies !! :-)
Here's the card ...
Here is another pic to show the glamour dust on his hat!


My second card is very similar but follows and rotates the sketch for this week's Friday Sketchers #68. Actually now I come to look at my card again I realise I've gone slightly wrong with the dimensions of my background papers ... but hey! I did my best :-)
I would also like to enter this card for this week's ABC Challenge - D is for Diecuts ....and also for a challenge I've only discovered today whilst blog hopping, but which was already open when I posted this card this morning. It's Kaboodle doodles #13 which is charms ... well I love charms on cards so how could I not have a go?


Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Snowy", watercoloured and decorated with glamour dust;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh My Words!";
Paper: Forever Friends;
Supplies: pearl brads (card 1) by Papermania; sparkly brad (card 2) by Doodlebug; charm from the Hobby House;
Tools: large snowflakes cut using new Shapeabilities "Create a Flake 2"; small snowflakes cut using Cuttlebug Snowflakes #2: embossing on white pearlised card made with Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder.

Penny Black Challenge #65 - Heart's Desire

Well it's been a short working week here in the UK what with the August Bank Holiday, so before we know it the weekend's here again and it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thanks very much to everyone who entered last week's Christmas challenge ... there is such a fabulous variety of PB Christmas cuties and classy brushstrokes and scene stamps ... seeing your creations really put us in a festive mood! Don't forget to check the challenge blog to see who has won last week's gorgeous snowman stamp from PB Stamps.

This week's challenge is a theme, which as usual you can interpret however you want so long as we can see a Penny Black stamp or sticker on it .. and the theme is

Heart's Desire

To help get you in the mood we are offering a fantastic prize from our sponsor

Horseshoe Crafts is an independent craft store in Ellesmere, Shropshire - sells a huge range of rubber stamps in their shop (including PB's) plus a large range of other craft material - including Penny Black papers! They also have an online store.

The prize is a USArtQuest Watercolour palette - mica pearlescent paints in "interference" colours (these are the colours which are most vibrant when used on dark cardstock).

Here is my card for this week .... hope you will also pop over to the other DT members' blogs as they have made some really adorable cards this week!

I decided to interpret the theme a bit laterally - this adorable little mouse is writing his wishlist to Santa, asking Father Christmouse for his heart's desire!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black transparent set "Christmas Critters";
Papers: BasicGrey "Dasher" and "Figgy Pudding";
Supplies: flowers by Prima; peel off sentiment words; stocking charm from The Hobby House; ribbon, gem and brads from my stash;
Tools: matting layers cut using Nestabilities "labels one"; embossed/punched border cut using Martha Stewart "embossed snowflake" edge punch; leaf branches cut from gold glitter card using Leone Em "Ash Branch" punch; small snowflake cut using Cuttlebug die - Snowflake #2.

Here's another view to show the sparkle on the flowers and leaves.

Hope you will manage to join in this week, and look forward to seeing your creations.

A Brown Paper Bag Full of Sugar

I'm part of a group of crafty friends, where each month one member of the group sends everyone else some supplies, with an instruction to make a project using what we receive. This month our mission was set by Cathy, who asked us to decorate a brown paper bag. Now I had never done this before although I did receive a totally fabulous one as an image wallet from the lovely Marcea, so I couldn't wait to get started. I really enjoyed doing it, and hope to make more in future.

Now I hope you'll humour me over the number of photos in this post, but I really was quite chuffed by how it turned out. It was a big project which took me quite a few hours all bank holiday afternoon and much of the evening, and it has 4 sides fully decorated, which is rather more than I usually manage.... So on that basis I would like to split it into two for challenge purposes - I hope the challenge blogs think that's fair...

I'd like to enter the OUTSIDE (front) for the Sugar Bowl Challenge #18 - Kathy's sketch + buttons ...

and as a totally separate issue I'd like to enter the INSIDE into the Spoon Full of Sugar challenge # 67 - distressing, Everybody-Art-Challenge #55 - brown & blue, and Dutch Dare #25 - Back In Time: I would like to tie it in to Challenges #8 "Pimp Some Packaging" and/or #11 - "not a card".

So .... here's the front .....


Seeing as the paper bag was brown, I decided to go for an overall vintage look and feel. I stamped Sugar Nellie "Basket of Happiness", coloured her with watercolour pencils and decorated her hat with tiny pearls. The shape was cut using large deckled rectangle nesties, and I distressed the edges with Antique Linen & Walnut distress inks. I cut all the edges of my K&Co papers with deckle edge scissors and then layered them onto dark blue pearlised card, which gave a bit of sturdiness when stuck on to the paper bag.

I also used crocheted ribbon from Quixotic Paperie, Prima flowers, blue, cream and tan tea roses from Hobbycraft, a cute bonnet charm from Dolls Made Up, and pearls, ribbon, dragonfly brad & button from my stash. the dark blue swirl was cut using Shapeabilities "doodles".

And here's the back ....


I also partly followed the Sugar Bowl sketch for the back of the bag. The papers and techniques were similar to above, and the sentiment stamp is from Great Impressions.

Here's the inside ...

On the inside, I used more of the same papers. On the left I used the lighter paper (no rigid card) tucked under the bottom of the paper bag, which I secured to form a "pocket". I then used the dark paper matted into blue pearlescent card to give a bit of structure and shape to the pocket, and slightly tucked my sentiment inside. The sentiment is Penny Black "... dreams..." (2711F) and the flowers are Penny Black "Aspire" (3381K), stamped in champagne gold ink. Nestie shapes, distressing and other decorations are as before.

.. and a closeup of the sentiment - I really love this stamp but the opportunity to use it doesn't seem to arise that often.


Here's another view of the front and back when the wallet is laid flat .....



.... and the inside when the wallet is standing up ....


Lastly, here's a view of the wallet with the opening - just ready to pop some images into!


I daresay it will be quite some time before I manage to sit down to a mammoth project like this again ... but i really loved doing it and really think it is a fab idea for an image wallet - so thanks Cathy for the inspiration.