Oldie But A Goodie #20 - Lots of Layers

Good morning, and welcome to another Oldie But A Goodie Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered my Teddy Bears' Picnic challenge last time - I looked at every entry in order to pick my winner and top 3, and they were all adorable! Sorry I wasn't able to leave any coments but Mr Blogger has been so naughty this past week!!

This time it is Debs' turn to pick the challenge theme, and she has chosen a really fab one which is

Lots of  Layers 

Debs has also donated this yummy prize of papers, ribbons and flowers..

Don't forget that to be eligible for the challenge prize you should submit a new project using a stamped image (no digis please) that is at least six months old.

Here's my card for this challenge. I decided to go for a vintage/shabby chic look to build up my layers, as there are a few challenges around on that theme right now.

I created my image background by daubing "Tattered Rose" and "Antique Linen" distress inks onto an acrylic block and spritzing with water before stamping, and then built up the colour some more with more distress ink and a stencil brush. (Top tip: I bought a set of Dreamweaver stencil brushes after seeing them used in a demo for distressing at Port Sunlight - they create a really good blened effect with no harsh edges if you brush in circular motions on your non-stick craft mat). I then randomly stamped a Crafty Individuals text background stamp onto the background using more "Antique Linen", and swirls from a "Butterfly Kisses" set with"Tattered Rose". Finally I stamped my main image in "Walnut Stain" - two stamps from the Lavinia "dandelions" set. I struggle to describe any stamp as my favourite, but this set is definitely right up there.

I built up my layers using three different patterned papers from the BasicGrey pad "Capella" (thanks Laurie!) and then stamped a LotV postcard stamp onto a 4th plain paper, which I then distressed with "Tattered Rose". I stamped my Whiff of Joy greeting onto the postcard, and finished off with an assortment of flowers and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts, pearls from The Hobby House, and a Dovecraft dragonfly brad.

Having completed my card I realised that the postcard stamp I used isn't actually 6 months old .... but my main image flowers, background text and swirls are all older ... so on this occasion I will regard the postcard as a bit of a sideline lol!

Challenges:

BasicGrey #45 - Shabby Chic

Paper Sundaes #71 - Vintage or Shabby Chic

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Your Favourite Stamp (Lavinia "dandelions")

Dream Valley #8 - Stamp Something

Stamp With Fun #113 - In The Garden

Incy Wincy #96 - Nature

Allsorts #105 - Things With Wings

Crafty Purple Frog - Things of Beauty

Bunny Zoe's Challenge #12 - Lace (2nd entry)

Hope you can join in this time - looking forward to seeing your creations, and hopefully being able to comment on them over the next two weeks!

Penny Black Saturday #153 - One For The Girlies

Yippee! It's a Bank Holiday weekend again here in the UK, and time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. So sorry I haven't been able to get round and comment on your wonderful creations for last week's Fussy and Fancy challenge due to the problems we've been having with Mr. Blogger - but they were all wonderful! The stamp I donated last week will be winging its way to one lucky winner - do go and check out the main challegne blog to see if it's you!

This week our challenge theme is

One For The Girlies

Brilliant theme for me this week, as I love all things girly - dresses ... pink ... flowers ... gems ... ribbons ...lace - ooh fab! And if you think it's a great theme too you could be in with a chance of winning this week's lovely goodies, to be awarded to 2 randomly drawn winners!

Firstly ..... 4 rolls of ribbon of the winner's choice from Fantastic Ribbons

and secondly, a 15% lifetime discount voucher from PB Stamps

Here is my girly creation - the other DT ladies have gone girly too so don't forget to check them out.

I decided to go for a freindship card, as I so love this cute vintage PB image. Normally I tend to use this image with vintage colours and papers, but I was feeling girly so decided to go for a fresh summery pink and green colour scheme - i think it is my favourite colour combo.. A different look for this image, but I'm quite pleased with it :-)

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Rain or Shine Friends" (312K), coloured with Promarkers;

Sentiment: Penny Black "Second Self" (3386D);

Papers: Pink Petticoat "Vintage Rose" and Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: cherry blossoms and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; roses from Sweet Lilac (Crafts4U2Do); papermania pink heart gems; ribbon and pearls from my stash;

Tools: Marianne D Creatables doily die; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Pale, Pretty Pastels

Stamp With Stampavie #143 - Pink

Totally Papercrafts #68 - Pink and Girlie

My Mum's Challenge #7 - Favourite Colours

(pink and green as a combo)

Crafty Catz #84 - Pink and Green

PaperPlay #21 -  Blossoms and Blooms

(I have actually managed to incorporate both cherry blossoms and rose blooms on this card :-) )
All Ways Something Creative #6 - Flowers

I ♥ ProMarkers #67 - Pearls

Crafts and Me #36 - Gems and Pearls

Passion For Promarkers #101 - All The Twos

(2 girls, 2 roses, 2 cherry blossoms, 2 trims, 2 heart gems)

Stamp Something - Something Sentimental

My Time To Craft #142 - Use A Die Cut

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes!

Hope you have a great Bank Holiday weekend!

Penny Black Saturday #152 - Fussy and Fancy

Good morning everyone ... yippee it's Saturday, so it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Many thanks for the wonderful array of Clean and Simple cards last week - don't forget to check whther you won last week's prize.

This week we are going to the other extreme ... our theme is

Fussy and Fancy

So feel free to pile on those papers and embellishments to your heart's desire ... just remember that to be eligible for this week's prize you should submit a new project which features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

And talking of prizes .. this week I have donated the prize :-) and it is this beautiful PB floral stamp "winsome"

The rest of the DT have been getting busy making their gorgeous fussy and fancy creations so do go give them a look. Here's mine.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Fanfare" (3946K) coloured with Promarkers and dusted with glamour dust;

Sentiment: Debbi Moore Designs "Kerry Jo Plate 1";

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: Dovecraft dragonfly brad; most flowers and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts (decorated with Stardust Stickles); medium lilac roses from local craft shop; pearls from my stash;

Tools: "Fleur-de-lys" nestabilities (frame); Crafts Too "Butterflies" embossing folder.

This card is actually very sparkly what with the glamour dust on the image, Stickles on the paper flowers, lilac glitter card and pearlescent white card matting - here's a close up to try to catch the sparkle a little more.

Challenges:

Simon Says - Sparkle and Shine

PaperPlay #20 - Sparkle Galore

Creative Inspirations #112 -Lace and Pearls

Southern Girls #19 - Frills and Polish (lace & pearls)

Bunny Zoe's Challenge #12 - Lace

Papertake Weekly - Bloom and Grow

Sweet Stampin' - In The Garden
CES #37 - Embellish It! (flowers, lace, pearls, brad)
CRAFT #103 - Happy Birthday

Crafty Purple Frog - Mono Moments

Kaboodle #67 - Tic Tac Toe (glitter, brads, flowers)

Spoon Full of Sugar #152 - Anything Goes

Truly Scrumptious #57 - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me #35 - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #83 - Anything Goes

Flutterby Wednesday #155 - Open Theme with angel fairy or butterfly

Hope you can join in the challenge this week .. have a great weekend!

Blog candy - we have a winner!

Hi everyone ... thanks very much to everyone who entered my Bg Birthday Candy .... sorry for the slight delay in posting my candy winner!

Well I tried and tried to get a winner using a random number generator ... I could generate a winning number but couldn't publish the output!! (any tips, anyone??)

Anyhow, eventually I just said to my husband ... "give me a number between 1 and 77 inclusive" and he replied ....

59

That's you Pamela.

Please email me with your details by next Wednesday 25th May and I will get your prize out to you, otherwise i will draw another winner :-)

hugs

Big Birthday Candy – Especially For You

This post is a sticky - please scroll down for current posts

Updated!! As Mr Blogger has been so naughty I have extended the deadline for my candy until midnight (UK - BST) on Tuesday 17th May :-)

Ok … so fifty is the new forty – right?? Well I’m about to find out real soon, as I am due to celebrate my “special” birthday on Wednesday. And it wouldn’t be a celebration without candy would it? So I have put together a li’l bag of sweeties for your delight :-)

Basically this is one candy which has two parts to it ….

Firstly, I have put together a selection from the adorable new Tatty Teddy “Especially For You” collection from Papermania.

1 rubber stamp – Teddy with Flowerpots
1 rubber stamp – teddy with umbrella and gift
1 “Especially For You” 6” * 6” paper pad
1 box of matching ribbon reels

I think this range is absolutely delightful – I myself have the stamp with the teddy & umbrella plus a teddy with cupcakes and the paper pad (examples here, here, and here!) … though when I went back to buy the candy there were no more teddies with cupcakes, and also only one of the teddy with flowerpots, or I would have had him for myself too!!

Secondly, I will be including a LotV £10 gift voucher :-)

If you would like to get your hands on this little lot, here’s what you need to do ….

1. be or become a follower of my blog (but please, only if you like what you see .. not if you are going to delete it the minute the candy is over lol!)
2. spread the word by posting a pic of my candy and link to this post on your blog (sidebar is fine)
3. leave your name and link to your blog with Mr Linky below
4. keep your fingers crossed.

This candy will stay open until midnight (BST) Saturday 14th May, and will randomly pick a winner asap after that :-)

Good luck!

Oldie But A Goodie #19 – Teddy Bears’ Picnic

Good morning everyone – hope you’re having a good week. It’s time for a new Oldie But A Goodie Challenge – thanks so much to everyone who entered last time, and don’t forget to check whether you’re a winner.

Before we get on to this week’s challenge – we have a couple of bits of news. Sadly due to family illnesses and other commitments we have lost a couple of members of the DT over the past few weeks, and they will be sadly missed. However the good news is that this means the blog is running a DT call – both for full time and and guest designers. be sure to check out the main blog for further details!

So on to this fortnight’s challenge – today it is my turn to pick the challenge theme :-) and I have chosen

Teddy Bears’ Picnic

We would like to see your creations featuring teddy bears …. and if you can optionally  incorporate a picnic theme as well, so much the better!!

We are sponsored this time by Stämpelkällan who are offering a randomly drawn winner their choice of 5 stamps :-) … they have also had a new release of stamps yesterday (16th May) so be sure to check them out!

Don’t forget .. to be eligible for this week’s prize you should submit a new project whose main focus is a hand stamped image (no digis please) which is at least six months old!! This explains why despite buying some adorable new release LotV teddy bear stamps at Port Sunlight on Saturday, I will NOT be showcasing them right here and now ;-)

The other ladies have produced some fab teddy creations .. here’s mine.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black transparent set “Teddy and Company” coloured with Copics and Promarkers;
Sentiment: Penny Black transparent set “Salutations”;
Papers: Papermania “Forever Friends – Springtime”;
Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; lace from my stash;
Tools: small, large and lacy circles nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables leaf die.

 

Challenges:
Allsorts #103 – Teddy Bears’ Picnic
Cupcake #142 – In The Garden
Dutch Dare #112 – Winged Things
Daring Cardmakers – Darling Bugs of May
PaperPlay #19 – Celebrating Summer/Anything Goes 
Paper Sundaes #69 – Birthday
Corrosive #116 – Birthday
My Mum’s Craft Shop #5 – To Die For
Crafty Pad #121 - Holes Sketch Saturday #155 – sketch (rotated by 180 degrees)

That’s all from me for today – hope you can join us at An Oldie But A Goodie :-) !

Penny Black Saturday #151 – Clean and Simple

Good morning everyone and welcome to this week’s Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks very much to everyone who entered last week’s Distressing Challenge – hope you all managed to post your entries being as Mr Blogger was being so naughty yesterday!  As always, don’t forget to check back on the main challenge blog to see if you have won either of last week’s fabulous prizes.

Well I’m off to Port Sunlight craft fair today, so i hope that by the time you read this i will already be well in the swing and my credit card will be all a-quiver … hope I find a few good bargains ;-)

Don’t forget that you still have until midnight tonight (Saturday May 14th) to enter my blog candy here – hope you’ll give it a look!

Anyhow on to this week’s challenge, and we are plugging into a theme which is very much the latest trend and all the rage in blogland at the moment – yes, we would like to see your cards that are

Clean and Simple

As always you can interpret this to your heart’s desire, so long as you submit a new project that features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

This week we have another fab prize for you … a $20 online store voucher from our regular sponsor 1-2-3 Stitch :-)

My fellow teamies have produced some stunning cards to inspire you – here is my effort for this week.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black “Radiant” (2950K) coloured with Marvey brushstroke markers and spritzed with water;
Sentiment: Penny Black transparent set “Salutations”;
Paper: Docrafts “Pampered Pets” collection;
Supplies: Papermania shimmer dots; dragonfly brad from my stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart “woodland bough” edge punch.

Challenges:
Penny Black Inc. Challenge – Tall Cards
Crafts and Me #34 - Punches
Top Tip Tuesday #33 – Flower Frenzy
Creative Card Crew – May Flowers
MAWTT #98 – 2 B’s (brushstroke stamping, brad)
Crafty Creations #118 – Anything Goes
Stamp Something – Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp and Show – Anything Goes

Hope you can join in this week.

LIM #14 – White on White

I really love white on white cards although I think they are quite hard to make … and this one for this week’s Less Is More Challenge #14 particularly so, as it is TOTALLY white on white rather than being a coloured image.  However i started to get a few ideas straight away, and here’s what I’ve had time to make so far …

I used the embossing folder from my Cuttlebug "Friends Forever” cut ‘n’ emboss set to emboss the flowers onto highly pearlescent white card, and dusted all the floral dots and the edges of the image with glamour dust. I then mounted this onto more of the same pearlescent white card – if I had mounted it straight onto linen base cardstock then the background would have looked quite “dirty” as the pearlescent card is ultra white.

The background card was also embossed using a second Cuttlebug folder “Snowflakes”. I punched two small butterflies using my Martha Stewart punch and also covered these in glamour dust; and finally cut a sentiment using my Cuttlebug cut ‘n’ emboss set. The outlines of the sentiment are the only colour on the card, and I kept this as colourless as possible by using iridescent silver paper.  This card is actually incredibly sparkly – I hope the picture captures it to some degree, but it definitely doesn’t completely

Challenges:
Less Is More #14 – White On White
Everybody-Art #141 - Flowers
Creative Inspirations #59 – Glitz and Bling
Papertake Weekly – Fancy A Punch?
Sentimental Sundays #54 – Anything Goes

Don’t forget you’ve still got plenty of time to enter my Big Birthday Blog Candy, where you could win not only a selection of yummy Tatty Teddy stamps, papers and ribbons; but also a £10 LotV gift voucher :-)

Penny Black Saturday #150 - Distressing

Good morning all, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. It was wonderful to see all your milestones cards last week, and special thanks to those of you who made cards for me to help me celebrate my 50th birthday last Wednesday :-) Don’t forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won last week’s prize.

Before we get on to this week’s challenge we have some exciting news – we have two new members of the Design Team … so hope you will give a big welcome to

Helen
and
Ali

They are both fab girlies and big Penny Black fans who make gorgeous cards … so you’re all in for a treat!

On then to this week’s challenge, and the theme this time is

Distressing

As always you can interpret this however you like as long as you submit a new piece of work, using a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

We have two fabulous prizes for randomly drawn winners this week … firstly from Penny Black

… this adorable stamp – 4054K  “Gentlest Kiss”

..and secondly from The Ribbon Girl

10 bundles of seam binding of the winner’s colour choice – wow!

This week’s challenge theme made me start thinking of vintage styles and colours, which was brilliant as it gave me opportunity to use some of the goodies I received from bloggy friends for my birthday! :-)

I have actually used a number of distressing and related techniques on this card.

First of all I embossed my script stamp onto card with detail white powder, then I created a distressed background using antique linen and tumbled glass distress inks daubed onto an acrylic block and spritzed with water before stamping onto white card. I “aged” the background a little more by stamping age spots onto the image using antique linen distress ink; then I stamped my main image twice using tumbled glass and peeled paint distress inks spritzed with water.

I distressed the edges of my image using my Tim Holtz distressing tool before mounting it onto brown card with deckle edges. I used BasicGrey papers and Prima hydrangeas kindly sent to me for my birthday by Laurie; and yummy chocolate coloured ribbon (or is it seam binding?? .. whatever, I love it!) from Helen – thanks so much to you both! My papers already had a distressed inked-edges kind of look, but I further distressed my darker paper by inking the edges and deckling the edges.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black “Quite Dandy” inked with tumbled glass and peeled paint distress inks;
Background stamps: Crafty Individuals script stamp; Butterfly Kisses age spots;
Sentiment: Penny Black transparent set “Salutations”;
Papers: BasicGrey “Capella” from Laurie;
Supplies: Prima hydrangeas from Laurie; cherry blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my friend Helen; dragonfly brad and lace from my stash;
Tools: Leone Em “Ash branch” leaf punch.

Challenges:
Cute Card Thursday #163 – I Love Chocolate A Lot! PaperPlay #18 – Show Us Your Style
(I love lots of lace and flower embellies and also brushstroke stamping)
Creative Inspirations #110 - Embossing
Raise The Bar #65 – Flower Power
Crazy4Challenges #86 - Flowers
Really Reasonable Ribbon #23 – Use 2 ribbons, laces or trims
Stamp With Fun #109 – Lace or Ribbon
Kaboodle #65 – Embellishments beginning with a “B” (brad, bow)
Allsorts #102 – Stamp A Lot (use 3 different stamps)
Secret Crafter #133 – Dust Off Your Stash
(old stamps and dragonfly brad)
Papertake Weekly – Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday #32 – Open Challenge

That’s all for today – hope you can join us and have a great weekend!

Many birthday thanks … and some pics!

I would just love to thank everyone who sent me kind birthday wishes, cards and gifts for my 50th birthday yesterday – I was overwhelmed and really spoiled!

I’ve put together just a few photos to show my lovely day, and have also taken pics of the stunning handmade cards I received from so many lovely bloggy (and non-bloggy) friends … of course I also received some wonderful cards from non-crafty friends and family but for the purposes of this I have concentrated on handmade ones! :-)

First … my flowers :-) …
I don’t normally get bouquets much, so was really thrilled with these (most of which came on Saturday when i was in!) – l-r are from my oldest school friend Helen and her husband; my mum & dad, and my husband

…. then with all the cards that arrived yesterday (there are 1 or 2 missing which arrived today, but they are pictured later :-)  )

For the first time ever I had a personalised cake from M&S so I could take it to work and share with my colleagues …yummy!

Here’s me cutting it in the office …
 

I had lunch out with 15 colleagues but won’t share those pics here as I haven’t asked their permission … but we had a fab time at the local Ask :-)

in the evening I went out with my husband to see “Swan lake On Ice2 – a fabulous ice show :-)

… and here are close ups of the gorgeous handmade cards I received … I was totally blown away by these and will treasure them!

Beth

Christine
(an old school friend who I met again 2 years ago after nearly 30 years!)
 

Clare
(crafty friend who I used to work with)

Debbie

Debby

Fleur

Francesca

Helen

Jenny
 

Kath

Katina

Kaz

Laurie

Lil
(friend from work)

Lisa Jane

Lynda

Nat
 

Samantha

Squirrel

Tracy

Totally amazing!

Unfortunately it’s back to normality today, but I have got  some wonderful cards and memories to treasure.

Don’t forget that you still have time to enter my Tatty Teddy + LotV birthday candy – it’s open until May 14th!

Hugs