Kitty in Pink

I had a day's holiday yesterday following fomr the Bank Holiday :-), so I managed a crafty session in the afternoon and get a little bit ahead with my next week's DT work ... and when I was done I had a little time left over so decided to make a card for a few challenges.

Recipe:

Main image: LotV coloured wtih Promarkers;

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards;

Papers: Pink Petticoat "Summer Blooms";

Supplies: cherry blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts; small pink blossoms from Sweet Lilac; pearls from The Hobby House; sparkly ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Leone Em "Ash Family" punch.

Challenges:

Lili of the Valley #109 - Thankyou

Simon Says - Dawny's Sketch

My Time To Craft #155 - In Full Bloom

Truly Scrumptious #64 - Rocked Up Pink

Passion for Promarkers #115 - Anything Goes

I ♥ ProMarkers #81 - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

Got to keep it brief this morning, as I'm edging in writing this post and photographing my card around getting ready for work, so that I can catch the end of a couple of challenges.

Catch you later!

Bank Holiday Offerings

Hope everyone is enjoying the Bank Holiday in the UK despite the miserable weather ... I'm just pottering about wondering whether to brave going out this afternoon, but in the meantime I thought I would post a couple of cards I made on Saturday.

My first card was primarily inspired by Dawny's wonderful sketch for this week's Simon Says Challenge. I actually couldn't wait to get started as I have several deep border punches which would be ideal for this sketch. Here's what I came up with.

In the event I was feeling very flowery, so I used my Martha Stewart "wildflowers" PATP and made a card in restful tones of lilac ... I also managed to play with my gorgeous new Magnolia swirly butterfly; and I took the opportunity to incorporate one of my Marianne D Creatable dies as they really are my favourites, and it meant I could also enter the new Marianne's Design Divas challenge :-). I decided to slightly cut down diecuts from my swirly leaf die to make them suitable as a leafy frame for my large flower - I rather like the result and think I will use it this way again.

Recipe:

Main image: LotV fairy coloured with Promarkers and liberally dusted with glamour dust;

Sentiments: Penny Black transparent set "Party Critters";

Papers: Papermania Forever Friends "Springtime";

Supplies: large gardenia from Wild Orchid Crafts; Papermania gems;

Tools: Martha Stewart "wildflowers" PATP; Marianne D Creatables leaf flourish die; Magnolia doohickey "swirly butterfly" die.

Challenges:

Simon Says - Sketch by Dawny P

(rotated by 90 degrees to the right)

Flutterby Wednesday's #168 - Open Theme

Sparkles #19 - Punch It

Papertake Weekly - Dies To Die For (2nd entry)

Fab 'n' Funky #87 - Mono Madness

Marianne's Design Divas #1 - Anything Marianne D Goes!

Spoon Full of Sugar #162 - Happy Birthday (2nd entry)

For my second card ...this week Chrissie and Mandi over at Less is More are challenging us to combine any three of the previous challenges. I had a little time left over after making my previous card so decided to make a quick one ... and here it is.

I simply embossed the flowers onto pearlised white card and mounted onto pink and black pearlised matting, then added a die cute sentiment with a single gem heart on the "i" in "friend" plus two punched butterflies. This to fulfil the following three previous challenges:

Week 1- Pink, White & Black

Week 2 - Flowers &/or Trees

Week 15 - Embossing

Week 16 - Butterflies

Recipe:

Supplies: pink and black gems + heart gem from stash;

Tools: Cuttlebug Cut 'n' emboss folder; Martha Stewart small monarch butterfly punch.

Challenges:

Less Is More #30 - Take Three Challenges

I think that will be all for today .. enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday.

Penny Black Saturday #166 - Sketch!

Yippee! not only is it a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, but it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. So plenty of time to get down to some crafting and submit your entries this week :-)  Yikes my scheduled post failed again this week so it's a good job I logged on again this morning!!

Thanks very much to everyone who entered last week's Shabby Chic challenge - fabulous entries everyone!

This week we have a brilliant sketch for you by our wonderful teamie Nat.

We are also offering a brilliant prize as always - this week it is 4 rolls of ribbon of the winner's choice from our regular sponsor Fantastic Ribbons

Yummy!

All the ladies on the DT have really rocked the sketch, and I really enjoyed working with it. Here is what I produced.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black transparent set "Christmas Critters" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: LotV Christmas sentiment circles;

Papers: Dovecraft "Jolly Holiday" collection;

Supplies: poinsettas and gold leaf from Prima Christmas Bubble; pearls from The Hobby House; sparkly ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large and small circle nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables flourish die.

As I am entering this for a "glitter" challenge, here is a (not very good) closeup of the glitter on the poinsetta and glittery ribbon ...

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Dies To Die For

Stampavie and More #150 - Christmas In Summer

Christmas Card Challenge #38 - Glitter

Penny Black At Allsorts (August) - Free & Easy (3rd & final entry)

Totally Gorjuss #95 - As You Like It

Have a great weekend whatever you've got planned, and I look forward to seeing your creations.

I Love Pickle!

No, this isn't an exhortation to "bring out the Branston's", but a declaration of adoration for this cute little guy who features on Wild Rose Studio's latest release of stamps - isn't he the cutest ever?? As soon as I saw these stamps I had to order two ... I'm currently waiting for the lovely ladies at The Glitterpot to send me the second one as some naughty person must have popped the last one into their basket at the same time as me, but I'm sure it will soon be here. Meanwhile I just HAD to make a card with this adorable stamp "Pickle With Presents".

This stamp is really quite big, so I decided to keep the whole thing simple and make a card for this week's Less Is More challenge - Things That Move. I'm sure you'll agree that Pickle is putting his best foot forward dragging along that sleigh, even though the vehicle would also move of its own accord if it was given just the teeniest push downhill in the snow !  I know that the general LIM style is arty rather than cute but I thought this one ticks the boxes, so I couldn't resist!

I'm very pleased with this stamp as it is very simple to colour, which I'm sure will be a godsend when it gets nearer to Christmas!!

Recipe:

Main image: Wild Rose Studio "Pickle With Presents", coloured with Promarkers and dusted with glamour dust on his hat :-);

Sentiment: Pink Gem Designs;

Supplies: dotty ribbon from a box of Christmas goodies sent to me by Helen;

Tools: background white pearlescent card embossed with Cuttlebug "snowflakes" folder.

Challenges:

Less Is More #29 - Things That Move

Totally Gorjuss #94 - Cute and Cuddly

Passion for Promarkers #114 - No Patterned Paper

Ooh-La-La #87 - No Backing Paper

Charisma #34 - Glitter It!

That's all for now ... back on Saturday with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Oldie But A Goodie #26 - Lots of Sparkle!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another Oldie But A Goodie challenge. Thanks to  everyone who entered our last challenge - don't forget to check whether you have won Lisa Jane's fab prize.

This fortnight it is Tracy's turn to choose the theme, and she has picked

Lots Of Sparkle

Well I don't need to be asked twice when it comes to that one, and I'm sure you won't either!

This time we are sponsored by Robyn's Fetish - full prize details on the main challenge blog.

I think it would be fair to say that I have gone for a complete sparkle-fest on this card, with gliiter card, glamour dust, stickles and sparkly ribbon - and here it is ...

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Rosie With Cake", coloured wtih Promarkers and Copics, and decorated wtih glamour dust;

Sentiments: both from Penny Black transparent set "Salutations";

Papers: Pink Petticoat (dotty) and unknown (checked);

Supplies: all flowers from Crafts4U2Do decorated wtih Stickles; sparkly ribbon from local craft shop; clear gems from my stash;

Tools: "Labels ?" nestabilities; martha Stewart "eyelet lace" edge punch and small "monarch butterfly" punch; Magnolia "vintage tag" die.

Challenges:

Sunday Sketch & Stamp #69 - Sketch

Simon Says - Food & Drink

Pile It On #34 - Sweet Treats

Pretty Little Ribbon #1 - Use a Pretty Ribbon

Kaboodle #81 - Ribbons

Corrosive #130 - Girlie

My TIme To Craft #154 - Here Come The Girls

Birthday Sundaes #23 - Pink, Green and White

Crazy4Challenges #101 - Bingo!

 (square card / die cuts / 2 or more DP's)

Sentimental Sundays #69 - Birthday

Looking forward to seeing all your sparkling creations!

Red, Cream and Gold Christmas

Just a quick post from me this evening, as I'm skidding in by the seat of my pants to a couple of challenges that close this evening!

I spotted that this week's Penny Black Blog challenge is red, cream and gold, and as luck would have it I had a PB poinsetta image already inked up and ready to go ... so I sought out some tradtional coloured papers, plugged in to a sketch and here's the result.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Ponsetta" coloured wtih Marvey markers and distressed with TH "Antique Linen" distress ink;

Sentiment: LotV Christmas sentiment circles;

Papers: Papermania "Silent Night" collection;

Supplies: ribbon, pearls and lace from my stash;

Tools: small circle nestabilities.

Challenges:

Penny Black Blog - Red, Cream and Gold

Cupcake - Birthday Sketch

Totally Papercrafts #80 - Christmas In August

Gotta dash so I can link up before the challenges close :-) Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Penny Black Saturday #165 - Shabby Chic

Good morning - it's Saturday and time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Oops - just realised at 1.30pm my scheduled post didn't work - sorry! Thanks to everyone who joined in last week - fab entries as always! Sorry if I haven't managed to get round all my commenting .... I have had a rotten cold for a full 2 weeks now which for some reason I seem unable to shake off - oh the misery of sniffling and vicious nose blowing all day long!!

Anyhow ... onward and upward! This week we have a brilliant theme for you which I really love -

Shabby Chic

The possibiilties for this are endless .. cute creatures used in conjunction with shabby chic techniques, or you could use any of the vintage style figure stamps, or even go for a traditional look with florals (esp the fabby brushstroke stamps)! However just a quick reminder of the rules ... in order to qualify for the weekly prize you should submit a new piece of work which features a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo is its main focus .. that's why we're called the Penny Black Saturday Challenge ;-).

And talking of prizes .. this week we have an adorable stanp for you from our lovely ex-teamie Carole

"Love Nip"

Awww!

Do hope you'll check out the shabby (but in a very good way!) examples created by the rest of the team - here is my effort for this week.

My starting point for this card was my Martha Stewart PATP punch set. I have used the individual punches several times, but had never yet created a completed PATP square as the size is slightly bigger than a normal square card (15.4 cm to be exact). However I started trying to think creatively, and decided to make an easel card whereby I would cut away the part of the easel which supports the front of the card, so that you would be able to see through the cut outs in the punchwork when the card is standing up. It was a bit fiddly but I'm actually rather pleased with the result :-)

I selected my BasicGrey papers on the basis of a shabby chic colour scheme, and then realised that the space  left for an image isn't very big ... so I turned to a cute but vintage style hedgie from one of my transparent sets - I'd never inked him up until now, shame on me!! I also tried to add a few other elements which I interpret as shabby chic such as lace, seam binding, vintage gold coloured spacers and charm, pearls, deckle edging and a vintage tag. This card actually took forever to produce, but I am pleased with it and think I will give it to one of my best friends for her birthday.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black transparent set "Tiny Wishes", coloured wtih Promarkers and edges distressed wtih TH distress ink;

Sentiment: See D "Celebration Messages":

Papers: BasicGrey "Capella" (thanks Laurie);

Supplies: Prima hydrangeas (thanks again Laurie!); seam binding from Wild Orchid Crafts (thanks Helen); pearls and spacers from The Hobby House; lace, brads and charm from my stash;

Tools: Martha Stewart "Wild Flowers" PATP; Magnlia doohickey "vintage tag" die; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch; X-Cut small butterfly punch.

As easel cards are so notoriously difficult to photograph, here's a closeup of the front.

Challenges:

I ♥ ProMarkers #79 - Easel Card

Bunny Zoe's Challenge #15 - Easel Card
Fuzzy Wuzzy #12 - Shaped Card

Flutterby Wednesdays #167 - Punches or Die Cuts + a Butterfly

Fussy & Fancy #43 - Use A Lot

Fussy & Fancy 1000 followers - Celebrate Something

Papertake Weekly - Eyes Down, Look In

(Blooms/Pearls/Lace)

Ribbon Girl - Use Ribbon

Dream Valley #13 - Distressing

Penny Black at Allsorts (August) - Free & Easy (2nd entry)
BasicGrey #51 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us at Penny Black Saturday this week - have a great weekend.

Getting inky!

What with one thing and another I haven't had a lot of time for crafting outside of my DT cards over the past few weeks, but I was determined that I would join in with this week's Less Is More Challenge to use ink in a new or favourite way on a one-layer card..

Over the past few months I have been starting to get into distress inks .. I'd never much bothered with them in the past, but now I really love making a mess on my non-stick craft mat!!  I decided that rather than using themn to sponge or brush a masked square, I would have a go at splodging inks onto an acrylic block and spritzing them with water before "stamping" onto my base card.

Approx ten attempts later this is what I ended up with ...

This is a card that I love in concept, but I have to admit that the execution leaves a bit to be desired ... I got rather impatient and as a result my text stamp is a little smudged, but my story is that that is all part of the grungy look ... and I'm sticking to it lol!

Recipe:

Main image: Unity set "Insighful Meadows" flowers stamped with TH "Chipped Sapphire" distress ink;

Background: text stamp by Crafty Individuals; background rectangle stamped using Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint distress inks;

Sentiment: Unity set as above.

Challenges:

Less Is More #28 - OLC - Use Ink

Crafts & Me #48 - Blues/Greens

Pile It On #33 - Three Shades of Blue

(Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass)

Off to catch up with my DT work now ...

Penny Black Saturday #164 - Touchy Feely

Good morning and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Hope you have had a good week ... mine hasn't been the best as I have been laid low by a really rotten stinking cold for over a week now. For some reason when I get one it is always really bad and takes a lot of shaking off. I've still been going into work but it's really taken it out of me, so thank goodness the weekend is here!! So I'm hoping to get some rest for at least part of the weekend and hopefully turn the corner!

Thanks very much to everyone who joined in last week's Anything Goes challenge - a brilliant variety of cards :-)  Don't forget to check out the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner.

This week our theme for you is

Touchy Feely

So we would like to see all sorts of yummy texture on your cards.

This week's fab prize is a $20 store voucher from 1-2-3 Stitch.

The other ladies have been very busy making fabulous strokable cards .. here's mine.

When I first saw the theme, the thing that came immediately into my head was the concept of "fluffy snow" , and I also thought that concentrating on texture chimes very well with making a white-on-white card ...and as luck would have it there are quite a few white challenges around right now!

I coloured my image using Promarkers, and decorated it "fluffy snow" made from flowersoft mixed with glamour dust ... although it doesn't seem to have stuck very thickly (I think my glue pen was running quite dry!).  I also went for further texture with dry embossing on pearlised white card, glitter card, glittery white lace and shimmer-edged ribbon ... hope this all counts as "touchy-feely"!! :-)

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Royal Mail" (3766J) coloured wtih Promarkers and decorated with Alpine White Flowersoft mixed with glamour dust;

Sentiment: Elzybells;

Supplies: white sparkly lace, ribbon, brad and pearls from my stash;

Tools: large circle and large scalloped circle nestabilities; Cuttlebug two different "Snowflakes" embossing folders and large snowflake die.

Challenges:

Simon Says - All White!

A Gem of a Challenge #27 - White on White

Fab 'n' Funky #85 - It's Christmas

Ooh-La-La #86 - Oh Christmas!

Jingle Belles - Bling on the Holidays

Christmas Sparkles #7 - Robins
Cute Card Thursday #177 - Clean & Simple

Truly Scrumptious #63 - Lace It Up!

Rainbow Lady #165 - Stamp It!

Crafty Catz #95 - Emboss It

The Crazy Challenge #79 - Embossing

Sketch & Stash #67 - Sketch

Hope you can join us this week - enjoy the weekend whatever you're doing.

Oldie But A Goodie #25 - The Great Outdoors

Hi everyone and welcome to another Oldie But a Goodie Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered last time - some fab interpretations of Francesca's sketch! Don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won the prize from the last challenge.

This time it is Lisa Jane's turn to choose the challenge theme, ad she has chosen

The Great Outdoors

.. and Lisa has also donated this fab prize by Flippin' Stamps ...

Don't forget that in order to be eligible for the prize you should submit a new piece of work which features a stamped image (no digis please) that is at least six months old.

I decided to interpret the great outdoors as encompassing nature and the garden ... and here's what I did ...

I really adore this Penny Black bunny and hadn't used him in a while, so I thought I would create a kind of country garden look with floral paper, and a punched garden trellis with butterflies and foliage.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Bunny Bath" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: Debbi Moore;

Papers: Prima;

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon recycled from some packaging (can't quite remember what now lol!)

Tools: large oval and large scalloped oval nestabilities; Martha Stewart "garden trellis" edge punch and small monarch butterfly punch; Marianne D Creatables foliage die.

Challenges:

Craft your Days Away #26 - Birthday

Sentimental Sundays #67 - Flowers

Penny Black Flickr Challenge - Nature

I ♥ ProMarkers #77 - Things With Wings

Spoon Full of Sugar #162 - Happy Birthday

Pollycraft #105 - Recycle

Hope you can join us this fortnight.

Hugs