Penny Black Saturday #199 - May Day

Wow - this week  has flown by, and it's time once again for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who joined in last week's no patterned papers challenge - sadly I didn't get round to look as I've had a bit of an eye infection, which has meant I've tried not to do too much close work (on top of sitting at a computer all day in work :-) )

This week we have a seasonal challenge for you, with a theme of

May Day (Spring Time)

So we'd love to see your cheerful spring time cards ... goodness knows we could do with something cheerful what with the absolutely awful weather we've been having here in the UK!

Our prize this week for a randomly drawn winner is from our regular sponsor Fantastic Ribbons, and is this scrummy selection of Kendra crystallised lace in fabulous summery colours - hot pink, light pink, lime and opalised white - woo hoo!!

Don't forget, to be eligible for this delish prize you need to submit a new project which features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

I'm sure you'll feel cheerful when you've looked at the rest of the team's fabulous spring-time cards - here is what I did.

This image is the first one that always comes to mind when I think of PB stamps for spring .. the kitty is so cute and I just love the big bunch of daffodils .. and it gives me opportunity to use up some of my left over paper daffodils from Easter :-)

Stamps: Penny Black slapstick "You are the bestest" (PB/40-015); sentiment from "Salutations" transparent set;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Me To You "Spring Chic";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; gems from my stash;

Tools: Magnolia doohickey "lovely fence" die; Martha Stewart small monarch butterfly punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Sketch

CRAFT #152 - Animals

Secret Crafter #183 - Cute & Fluffy

Penny Black & More at Allsorts (April) - Oh So Cute! (2nd entry)

Passion For Promarkers #146 - Cut It Out

Stamptacular #160 - Loaded With Layers

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations #160 - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #130 - Anything Goes

Try It On Tuesday - Anything Goes With A Twist ...

(I used a Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly punch available from The Craft Barn)

Looking forward to seeing your creations this week.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #198

Good morning all, the weekend is here so I hope you'll be able to join us for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. It was great to see all your fabulous spotty and stripy creations last week.

11:50 - Just came on here and found my correctly scheduled post for 8am hadn't published - naughty Mr Blogger!!

I'd like to give a special wave to Jennifer who entered her first ever challenge this week and it was the PBSC - woo hoo!! Jennifer is a new  blogger but an experienced cardmaker (whose cards are gorgeous, by the way) and she wrote me a couple of lovely emails asking a little advice about blogging, and said some really kind words about my blog and cards :-) So hope we'll be seeing more of your creations soon hun :-)

This week we have another fab challenge theme for you ...

No Patterned Papers

As usual the only rules are that you should submit a new piece of work that follows the theme, and that it should feature a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

This week's prize for a randomly drawn winner is from Craftwork Cards, and is the Sweet Pea Collection "Peas In A Pod Pad" which contains 24 sheets of paper, 2 sheets of die cut flowers, 2 sheets of nesting sentiments and 4 sheets of embossed squares - lovely!

Don't forget to check out the gorgeous cards from the rest of the DT - here's what I did.

When faced with a "no patterned papers" theme I always seem to resort to dry embossing; but this time I thought I would jazz it up a bit by introducing a large die cut ... in this case my brand new Marianne D die (I have wanted this one for ages but my local craft shop had got it into stock so i just couldn't (and didn't) resist!!)

Stamp: Penny  Black "Christmas Critters" transparent set;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Stickles on meece's gloves and lantern;

Supplies: sparkly silver ribbon and gems from my stash;

Tools: small, large and lacy circle nestabilities; Marianne D "lamp and sign" dies; Cuttlebug "snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges:

Die-ing For A Challenge#3 - Sketch

Stampin' For The Weekend #8 - Sparkle & Shine

Whimsy #35 - Punches or Die Cuts

Paper Sundaes #116 - Anything Goes

I'm due to go on a hen night tonight for one of my workmates - strangely the first one I have ever been to! So I guess I'll be spending most of this afternoon getting ready, and possibly some portion of tomorrow recovering. Otherwise (and if the weather holds) I'm hoping to go to see the cool Titanic-inspired street theatre that is on in Liverpool this weekend called Sea Odyssey which features the 30 foot high "little girl giant" searching to be reunited with her giant uncle who has trawled the sea for 100 years to return the letter she sent to her father who was lost .... soooo sad but an amazing spectacle!

(photo reproduced from Liverpool Echo, April 20 2012)

Have a great weekend whatever you've got planned, and hope you can join us for this week's challenge.

 

Squirrel's fabby blogoversary candy

Ooh goodness I nearly forgot - my lovely bloggy friend Squirrel is offering an absolutely brilliant candy to her followers to celebrate the 3rd birthday of her brilliant blog!! ... winner's choice of a £20 gift voucher for one of Lili of the Valley, The Glitterpot or Bunny Zoe's Crafts! WOO HOO!

So get on over to Squirrel's candy post before April 20th, and don't forget to look at all her fantastic cards (and esp. her distress ink colouring) whle you're there :-)

Time To Celebrate

Today is a special day for Tracey in my office, as it is her 50th birthday. I think she was rather overwhelmed when she came in to work on Friday and found her desk covered in balloons, cards and gifts not to mention daffy toddler photos plastered all over the doors and in the lifts!!  Little did she know though, when we waved her off in the afternoon staggering under the weight of her gift bags, that the biggest surprise was yet to come. Her daughter had arranged a surprise party for last night to which we were all invited :-) ... and bless her, she hadn't got a clue!!  Goodness only knows how we managed to keep it under wraps, but I think it's fair to say that EVERYONE knew apart from her lol!!

I'd never been to a surprise party before and it was really fun .... there was lots of nervous anticipation and muffled giggles as we waited for Tracey to arrive. There was also a brilliant turnout as she had lots of family and friends there as well as her workmates. Tracey's face was a picture when she walked in, and it all turned out brilliantly and we had a great night - I'm sure her family must be really chuffed that their great organisation turned out so well :-)

I didn't take my camera though I'm sure there will be plenty of photos plastered all over Facebook today -so by way of a change (I'm not a Facebook girl myself) here are pics of the card I made for her.

I was struggling a bit initially with my mojo on this one, until I decided to break out this adorable brand new LotV image which I think is just so party-ish ... and I managed to find a doily in the back of my stash to go with it - yummy!! A bit more rootling around soon unearthed a sparkly sugary confection of papers (which are actually baby papers but I thought they fitted this card!), and with some stickle-frosted flowers (the roses could almost be made of icing don't you think??) I was on my way! 

Just in case there was still any doubt about the theme I carried it on with the sentiment inside ....

Stamps: LotV "Lots of Cupcakes" and "Calendars"; Penny Black "Bubbly" transparent set sentiment inside;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; Stickles on cakes and flowers;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - New Arrival";

Supplies: ribbon from Hobbycraft; lace from John Lewis; flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts;

Tools: large and lacy circle nestabilities; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch; numbers die cut using Cuttlebug "Hippy Chick" dies.

Challenges:

My Mum's #52 - It's A Celebration!

Joanna Sheen - Someone Special

Shabby Tea Room #109 - Birthday Bash With A Cupcake + photo inspiration

OSCC #178 - Three Circles 

(image, doily and sentiment)

Pretty Little Ribbon #9 - To Die For

Totally Papercrafts #112 - Things With Wings

DYSU #67 - Glitter / Bling

Totally Gorjuss #127 - Bling

Paper Pretties Wednesday - 2 or More Designer Papers

Stamptacular #159 - Freebie Week!

I'm going out this afternoon to see the special exhibition at Liverpool Maritime museum to mark the 100th anniversary today of the sinking of the Titanic. hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend whatever you're doing.

 

Penny Black Saturday #197 - Spots & Stripes

Good morning ... Saturday again and yes it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks very much to everyone who joined in last week's CASE it challenge  - there were some gorgeous interpretations of Helen's card.

This week our theme is

Spots & Stripes

... so hopefully it should be pretty easy for you to join in. Remember that you can interpret the theme however you like so long as you submit a new piece of work, using a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

This week's prize is a $20 store voucher from our regular sponsor 1 2 3 Stitch - woo hoo!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT's gorgeous cards - here's mine for this week.

This is actually a rare commission card that I made over the Bank Holiday, and as it is a real keepsake I also made a matching box.

Stamps: Penny Black "Baby Hammock" (2073J); LotV sentiment circle;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - New Arrival";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls and ribbon from my stash;

Tools: small, large, scalloped and lacy circle nestabilities; Marianne D "Branch Forest" die; magnolia "vintage tag" die; Leone Em "Ash family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Kaboodle #114 - Celebrate New Life

Penny Black & More at Allsorts (April) - Oh So Cute!

Crafty Pad #165 - Die-Licious!

Bunny Zoe's #23 - Ribbon or Twine

Crafty Creations #165 - Flower Power
Fab 'n' Funky #116 - On All Fours
Paper Pretties Monday #34 - Lots of Layers (3 or more)

Paper Crafting Journey #7 - 3 or More Patterned Papers
Crafts & Me - 3D
Deep Ocean #23 - Song Inspiration ("Baby Love")

Enjoy your weekend, and hope you can join in the Penny Black Saturday challenge this week.

 

What A Wash-Out!

I'm looking out of the window this Bank Holiday Monday and what a surprise! .. it's tipping down with rain! Luckily I didn't have any plans for trips or outings ... I hope those of you who do will still manage to enjoy yourselves today despite the abysmal weather.

The prevailing climate made me start thinking about the numerous "April Showers" challenges that are out there at the moment - I think today is the perfect day to get stuck in to them lol! I always struggle with these as I somehow feel strange putting images of eg. umbrellas onto birthday cards; but then I had a bit of a brainwave based on another card I made quite a long time ago.

This is really a very simple card, but I'm quite pleased with it :-)  Unfortunately it's so dull that it was difficult to get a decent picture, but i hope you get the general idea!

Stamp: "Me To You";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; rain created with lines of glamour dust;

Extras: computer-generated sentiment; gems from my stash.

Challenges:

Crafting For All Seasons #24 - April Showers

Little Red Wagon - April Showers Bring May Flowers

Oldie But A Goodie - April Showers

Passion For Promarkers #143 - Whatever The Weather

Stampin' For The Weekend #7 - Ready Teddy Go!

Crafter's Companion #23 - Four Legged Friends

Incy Wincy #141 - Cute Critters

Crafty Catz #127 - Clean and Simple

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Off now for an afternoon of crafting while my dear husband is at the football ... come on you Blues!!

 

Penny Black Saturday #196 - CASE It!

Good morning Penny Black lovers ... Happy Easter and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Many thanks to everyone who entered last week's Sing-A-Long challenge - you certainly hit the right note lol!

This week we have our regular monthly feature, which is to 

CASE a DT member's card ... 

and this month it is the turn of the lovely Helen.

We would like to see a card inspired by the following card by Helen - and not just any old card either - this card won 3rd prize out of countless entries in the Penny Black category of the 2011 Papercrafter of the Year competition :-) ... woo hoo!!

You may feel inspired by the colours, techniques, layout ... we can't wait to see what you create!

And as usual we have fabby prizes - two this week for two lucky randomly drawn winners.

Firstly from our monthly sponsor Penny Black

we have this stamp

and from The Ribbon Girl 

we have this yummy yellow ribbon kit - perfect for spring!

Don't forget that to be eligible for a prize you should submit a new piece of work (no backlinking please!) which features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

The other ladies have created some fabulous examples to inspire you - here's my card for this week.

Stamps: Penny Black "Blush" (2666K); Whimsy Friendship Ticket;

Media: flower watercoloured with Marvey markers and edges distressed with lilac pigment ink; ticket stamped with TH "Vintage Photo" distress ink;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: lace from John Lewis; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Th distressing tool on all paper edges; Crafts Too embossing folder.

Challenges:

Crafty Purple Frog #38 - Let's Get Distressed!

Totally Papercrafts #111 - Bingo!

(2 lines - either flowers / lilac / pearls; or lace / lilac / ribbon)

Whimsy #33 - Use Ribbon

Party Time Tuesday #62 - Flowers

Anything Goes #64 - Anything Goes

That's all for today - hope you can join us for this week's challenge.

 

Happy Easter :-)

Oh bliss! I've had an extra day off from work today for Easter, so I've had chance to potter about and catch up with one or two things. Didn't have time for any crafting, but here is my last Easter teddy card which I made at the weekend. Unfortunately I didn't manage to make enough Easter cards to send to all my friends as I have been working late recently, but even so I'm quite pleased with the value I got out of this free decoupage pack ... I think I'm all teddied-out now lol!

Image: Forever Friends decoupage pack;

Sentiment: Penny Black;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby  House; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Martha Stewart edge punch; Cuttlebug "daisy pattern" embossing folder; Leone Em "ash Famiily" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Creative Inspirations #157 - Easter

My Mum's #51 - Easter Creations / Animals

Hooked on Craft #19 - Easter
Forever Friends (April) - Embossing

Fab 'n' Funky - Emboss It!

Craft Your Passion #104 - Dots & Stripes

Simon Says - Use Your Favourite Tool (Cuttlebug)

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Divas By Design #29 - Anything Goes

Hopefully I'll get a bit of time to craft tomorrow .. if not I'll be back on Saturday with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge :-)

Cutie with cupcakes :-)

I'm still patiently working my way through my free decoupage kit for Easter ... I'm determined to get some good value from a magazine gift for once instead of letting it all go to waste lol!

Here's an adorable Forever Friends teddy peeking at some  Easter cupcakes ... I can't quite decide but they look to me like chocolate cornflake "bird's nest" cakes - yummy!! I so remember these from when I was little and indeed I could scoff one right now :-)

Making this card gave me opportunity to use up some more of my yummy "Me To You" Easter papers ... I even cut out some little eggs from the paper and decoupaged them along with the teddy image! Here's the result.

Image: Forever Friends decoupage kit;

Sentiment: Penny Black;

Papers: Papermania "Me To You - Spring Chic";

Supplies: gems and ribbon from my stash.

Challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge #176 - Easter

Craft Your Days Away #42 - Easter

Crafty Cardmakers #65 - Easter

Totally Papercrafts #110 - Easter

Charisma #12 - Easter
Paper Sundaes #114 - Happy Easter

Crafty Pad #164 - It's Egg-Tastic!

Simply Create Too #10 - Eggs &/or Bunnies

Simon Says - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

Sketch 'n' Stash #84 - Sketch (rotated)

I still have enough decoupage cut out to make two more cards ... I'll have to get a wriggle on though if I'm to get them done, dusted and posted in time for Easter; and I think I'll be ready for a change by then!