A Wee Girl For Summer

Good afternoon, I'm back again for a rare second post on the same day (my Penny Black Saturday Challenge DT post is here). I made this card yesterday, but  by the time I'd finished the light was going so I couldn't get a decent photograph. However I made this card especially for the Ribbon Girl  colour challenge which closes today ... so here I am :-)

I've been desperate to ink up this darling stamp ever since I got her - she was part of a really fabulous set of Wee stamps designed by Sylvia Zet for Whimsy stamps, exclusively for this month's Papercraft Essentials magazine. I first saw her used on a fabulous card by my bloggy bud Squirrel; and when shortly afterwards I spotted the magazine in WH Smith I just had to buy it, even though I don't really buy many craft magazines nowadays. Mind you, my papers were also free in this month's Quick Cards Made Easy lol! .... I deliberately chose them so that I could tie my card in to the fabulous colour theme over at the Ribbon Girl.

Stamps: Image and sentiment both Wee Stamps by Whimsy (free in papercraft Essentials magazine);

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Wild Rose Studio  "Butterfly Garden";

Supplies: cherry blossom flowers by Hobbycraft; all other flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large classic oval and large classic scalloped oval nestabilities; Magnolia Doohickey "Lovely fence" die; X-Cut small butterfly punch.

Challenges:

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge #20

Joanna Sheen - Summer Daze

Bunny Zoe's Challenge #25 - Girls, Girls, Girls!

Sentimental Sundays #108 - Cute & Girly

Corrosive #152 - Summertime Girls

Dream Valley #35 - Things With Wings

Craft Your Passion #116 - Things With Wings

Stampin' For The Weekend #12 - Show Us Your Style 

(pink, girly and cute with lots of flowers)

Crafty Creations #176 - At Least 3 Different Types of Embellishment

(flowers, pearls, ribbon, diecuts, punched butterfly)

Dutch Dare #171 - Flutterby Butterfly

Allsorts #161 - In Bloom
Sweet Stampin' - Scallops
 I ♥ Promarkers #123 - Anything Goes

Sunday Sketch & Stamp #112 - sketch

That's all for today .. I'll be back tomorrow with a very special card for a new friend :-)

 

Penny Black Saturday #208 - Hot Metal

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  Hope you've all had a good week ... I managed (for once) to get off work very early yesterday, so I had a bit of a cardmaking sesh yesterday afternoon and evening, and caught up with myself a little! 

Before I get on to this week's challenge, we have lots of news for you this week.

Firstly, our former teamie, the very talented Jacqui is rejoining us after a spell away pursuing her other fabby projects ... woo hoo and welcome back hun!!

Secondly, we are welcoming a brand new regular sponsor this week - the brilliant J&C Creations - who are offering one lucky randomly drawn winner a £10 voucher for their online store :-)

Last and by no means least .... from next week we are changing the format of the challenge and relaunching it as a MONTHLY challenge on the first Saturday of every month ... and we will be kicking off with a blog hop featuring lots of inspiration and prizes!!

But back to this week - and our challenge for you this time is

Hot Metal

As always you can interpret this however you like, but to be eligible for our prize you should submit a new piece of work that features a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

The rest of the DT have made some amazing samples so I do hope you will check them out - here is what I did.

I cut a square of embossed sparkly paper, and punched around the page to form a snowflake border. I then embossed a snowflake pattern onto a larger square of silver holographic card (which looks very colourful when photographed - it is much more silver in real life!!), cut an aperture in my white paper, and matted it onto the silver card. I cut a smaller piece of card using the same set of nestie labels, and embossed a greeting in silver. I then mounted the greeting panel raised on foam tape with some silver thread ricrac ribbon behind, and finished off with some silver metal snowflake brads and teeny gemstones.

Stamp: Penny Black "a wish..." (2502F)

Paper: Best Creations Inc.

Supplies: Dovecraft snowflake brads; Papermania ric rac ribbon; gems from The Hobby House;

Tools: Martha Stewart "Snow Flurry" PATP set; Create Too "Snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges:

Crafty Catz #139 - Show Us Your Metal

Winter Wonderland - Monochromatic

The Stamp Man - Bling it On!

Little Red Wagon #139 - Sentimental You

Crimbo Crackers #18 - Anything Goes

Scrapbook Sisters #90 - Anything Goes

Charisma #25 - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations #169 - Anything Goes

Party Time Tuesdays #74 - Anything Goes

Incy Wincy - Anything Goes

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, and that you can join us this week. I'll be back later with another card which I made yesterday, but which I could not post as it was too dark to take a photograph. Until then ...

You Are In My Heart And Thoughts

Just a very simple card from me today - this is a sympathy card for a friend. Not much else to say about it really ... a sympathy card isn't really the best opportunity in my view to chatter enthusiastically about various crafting techniques.

Stamps: Penny Black "Whispers" paper pieced; sentiment from PB trnasparent set "Hugs";

Papers: Crafty Creations (paper pieced on to flowers);

Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash.

Challenges:

Less Is More #73 - Paper Piecing

Sweet Stampin' - Ribbons & Bows

Everybody-Art #198 - Thinking of You

Try It on Tuesday - Anything Goes

That's all for today - thanks for looking.

 

Penny Black Saturday # 207 - Fly The Flags!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  Thanks to everyone who took part last week - I didn't manage to make my card for last week's challenge as I made this one by mistake the week before (looked at the wrong week in the list ... blush!!) and never had time to make another. Indeed I haven't posted for over a week as work has been so crazy - but I'm hoping to get a really good crafty session in today and rediscover my mojo!

So, on to this week's challenge which is

Fly the flags

We would like to see flags, pennants or bunting on your cards ... anything which would flap in the breeze to denote you're celebrating :-)

This week's delicious prize for one lucky randomly drawn winner is from the DT, and is these two gorgeous PB stamps.

Don't forget to be eligible for this prize you should submit a new piece of work that features a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

The rest of the DT really have hung the flags out this week - here is my effort.

Stamp: Penny Black "Hedgehog Joy" (1436K); free bunting stamp with this month's "Craft Stamper" magazine;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Me To You "Spring Chic";

Supplies: pearls from The Hobby house; lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from local market; rub-on letters form my stash;

Tools: large circle and large scalloped circle nestabilities; small X-Cut flower punch; Marianne D die.

Challenges:

Oldie But A Goodie - Banners or Bunting

(my hedgie stamp is several years old :-) )

J&C Creations #2 - Animal Antics
Marianne's Design Divas #11 - Animal Antics

PaperPlay #25 - Use A Die

Divas By Design  #40 - To Die For

Corrosive #151 - Feeling Punchy!

Quirky Crafts #13 - Handmade Flowers and Ribbons

Papertake Weekly - Bingo!

(ribbon / gems / punches)

Crafty Catz #138 - Pastel Colours

Crafts & Me #89 - Anything Goes

Hope you're enjoying your weekend ... as this is published I hope I'll still be sleeping peacefully after the week I've had, but hopefully I will be chillin' and craftin' later :-)

Poppies in Pink

Last week I made my first card with my new Memory Box "Prim Poppy" die; and I'm loving this die so much I decided to use it again for a birthday card. 

This time the challenge was slightly different as I needed to make a bigger card; so I couldn't cut an aperture using my Cuttlebug (I don't have, and don't intend splashing out on, a large diecutting machine lol!). This card is for my husband's aunt and I don't think she really likes "cute"; so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try to blend a more traditional look with a modern twist.

Once again I layered up my die cuts using green glitter card and then adding pink glitter card flower heads on top - this time I used three die cuts and also three shades of pink card for the flowers so as to add a bit of depth. My sentiment is just stamped onto a nestie die and the edges distressed with "Spun Sugar" distress ink; and I added some flowers and lace and a Cuttlebug die-cut and embossed butterfly in a very soft shade of silver card.  I actually won this Cuttlebug butterfly cut'n'emboss set quite a while ago and I only use it very occasionally, but I think I should use it more often as it is really pretty.

Stamps: Penny Black sentiment "For You";

Media: "Spun Sugar" distress ink on edges of image;

Papers: embossed white cardstock from local craft shop Edwin Allen;

Supplies: pearls from The Hobby house; ribbon and lace from my stash;

Tools: labels nestabilities; Memory Box "Prim Poppy" die; Cuttlebug "Butterflies" cut 'n' emboss set.

Challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday #78 - Sparkle Galore!

Hooked on Crafts #21 - All That Glitters

Penny Black At Allsorts - All My Favourite Things (2nd entry) 

(flowers, lace, ribbon, butterflies and glitter)

Stampin' For The Weekend - Bugs & Butterflies

Allsorts #158 - Ice Cream Colours (I chose strawberry, vanilla and pistachiio!)

Craft Your Days Away #47 - Bingo! 

(pearls / ribbon &  lace / glitter)

Ribbon Girl - Use Ribbon Or Lace (2nd entry)

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion #114 - Anything Goes

Creatalicious #35 - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking :-)

 

Deckchair Dreaming

Yesterday I managed to get my dad's Father's Day card made, so for once I won't be on the last minute to get it posted ! :-)

I decided to go with a theme of relaxing and chilling out, based primarily on this darling LotV stamp "Deckchair Dreaming" which I have had since last year ... and is another one which has never seen ink!! The concept of the deckchair put me in the mood for some co-ordinating paper, so I downloaded me some nice fresh stripy paper from Pink Petticoat which I am sure I will use many times in the future.  Here's the result of my efforts.

I have to say that I did struggle a bit with this stamp ... I have quite a lot of LotV stamps and most give really good impressions, but I do have a couple that don't stamp a very good image and unfortunately this is one of them. It took quite a few attempts but I got there in the end!

Stamps: LotV "Deckchair Dreaming"; Fizzy Moon "Special Dad";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Pink Petticoat "Stripes" printed in "quartz";

Supplies: Papermania star gems; raffia lace from Hobbycraft.

Challenges:

Secret Crafter #189 - Father's Day

OSCC #186 - Father's Day

Penny's Paper Crafty #81 - I Love You Dad

Lili's Little Fairies  - One For The Boys

Dream Valley #34 - For That Special Guy

Sentimental Sundays #106 - For A Special Guy

Creative Inspirations #166 - Card For A Male

Totally Gorjuss #135 - Sunshine

Crafty Catz #136 - Summer Time

Sketch Saturday #211 - Sketch

Let's hope we will soon be having some weather so that we can sit out like that cute bear!

Less is More

Just a quick post from me this evening with a card for this week's Less is More Challenge #71 - one layer + flourishes.

I used a Crafty Individuals flourish stamp I have had for several years and never inked up until now!! I also stamped a sentiment and then just added a few black gems to the flourish + a single pink heart gem to the sentiment to finish.

Although the card is very simple, I have to admit it took quite a few goes before I was even vaguely happy with it, and then it was an absolute nightmare to photograph - not least because the only smooth base cardstock I had for a one-layer card was extremely heavy, so wouldn't lie flat despite the best efforts with my bone-folder to smooth it down!!

Stamps: Crafty Individuals flourish; Unity "Insightful Meadows" sentiment;

Supplies: gems from my stash.

Back tomorrow with a card for my dear dad for Father's Day :-).

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Penny Black Saturday #205 - Red, White & Blue

Well, it's been a short working week here in the UK what with the long Diamond Jubilee bank holiday ... but it has somehow seemed VERY long due to the appalling weather we have had the past few days. So thank goodness it's the weekend at last, an opportunity to say warm and dry indoors and get down to some serious crafting :-) And what better than to get stuck in to this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge?

Thanks to everyone who joined in last week's CASE it challenge ... fabulous interpretations as always.

This week we are in celebratory and patriotic mood with the jubilee, and would like to see your

red, white & blue

creations.

As always you can interpret this however you choose, so long as  you submit a new project which features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

This week we are sponsored by

who are offering one lucky randomly drawn winner a $20 online store voucher.

Don't forget to check out the stunning creations by the rest of the DT - here is my effort for this week.

I have to 'fess up that I always find red, white and blue a real struggle - mainly because I really don't like the colour red at all. For quite a long time though I have admired the way some of my teamies have used this particular stamp; and at the weekend I finally got round to ordering it with a view to doing a bit of paper-piecing. My original concept was for red flowers with a soft pale blue background, but when I started shuffling the papers in my stash I ended up going in a slightly different direction!!

Stamps: Penny Black "Whispers" (3377K); sentiment from Penny Black transparent set "Party Critters";

Media: edges of image distressed with "chipped sapphire" distress ink;

Papers: Papermania "Portobello Road" and My Mind's Eye;

Supplies: ribbon from Hobbycraft; pearls and doily from my stash.

Challenges:

DYSU #75 - Paper Piecing

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Texture

(paper-piecing, doily, pearls and ribbon)

Crafty Pad #173 - Ribbon

Really Reasonable Ribbon #49 - Flowers and Ribbon

Crafting For All Seasons #28 - Many Layers

Sentimental Sundays #105 - Spots

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Try It On Tuesday - Anything Goes

Crafty Boots - Bowtastic / Anything Goes

Enjoy  your weekend!

Prim Poppy

Hello everyone, today I have got a card to show you that is rather different from my usual style. It was inspired by the beautiful new Memory Box die " Prim Poppy" - I thought it was so elegant when I saw it I just had to have it, although I hadn't really thought how I would use it!  Having got the die I was also inspired by the current jubilee colour theme of red, white and blue ... this is a colour combo I would never normally use but it's rather difficult to avoid at the moment lol!!

I decided to keep the card very simple but to give the die cut some impact by draping it around an aperture - something else I never normally do. This also enabled me to showcase the flower die while making a sentiment stamp the central focus.  lastly I got the idea of using the die twice from a card I saw in my local craft shop Edwin Allen - that one was a white on white card which also looked very effective, but I'll leave that experiment for another day! Here's the result ...

Technically I don't know if this card qualifies for a red, white and blue challenge as the flower stems are green .. but hey flower stems just ARE green aren't they ... and my story is they're a natural element like skin or hair!! 

Stamps: Penny Black "friends" ..

Supplies: Memory Box "Prim Poppy" die; Martha Stewart "small monarch butterfly" punch.

Challenges:

Less Is More #70 - Red, White and Blue

Creative Craft - Red, White and Blue

Craft your Days Away #46 - Red, White and Blue

Die-ing For A Challenge - Anything Goes With A Die Cut.

That's all for today ... thanks for looking.

 

Bella Bella!

Hi everyone, I'd like you to say hello to my new best friend ... Bella With Butterfly by Wild Rose Studio. Isn't she just the cutest and totally adorable??

I'm ashamed to say that Bella has been sitting in my stamp box for two or three months now, so I thought I would let her come out to play for the Bank Holiday weekend :-)  Unlike the rest of us she probably isn't fazed by the torrential torrential rain we've been having!!

Stamps: Wild Rose Studio "Bella With Butterfly"; LotV entiment circle;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: unknown (bought as individual sheets at a craft fair);

Supplies: all flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls & large pearl brad from The Hobby House; ribbon from The Ribbon Box; lace from John Lewis;

Tools: Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Crafts #51 - Bingo!

(I actually fulfil 4 lines with this card: ribbon & lace / flowers / pink; wings / pink / pearls or bling; lilac / glitter / pearls or bling; wings / flowers / lilac ... do I get a bonus prize lol!?!)

Whimsy #41 - Bingo!

(pearls / image / flowers or flowers / lace / pink)

Pretty Little Ribbon #11 - Lots of Layers
Crafter's Companion #25 - Time To Embellish
Papertake Weekly - sketch

That's all for today, although I have  managed to make one or two more cards over the Bank Holiday to show you during the week.  Enjoy your day whatever you're doing.

 

Penny Black Saturday #204 - CASE It

Good morning everyone .. yes I know it's Sunday, but I had no chance at all to do any crafting this past week so yet again I'm running a bit behind!! Even though I'm late, though, I had to make a card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge because I loved the theme so much!!

This week it's our monthly feature of

CASE It

and it's the turn of our uber talented teamie Kath, who would like us to CASE this card ... 

This card is so gorgeous I absolutely had to have a go even though I'm so  behind!!

In the unlikely event that Kath's card isn't enough to inspire you on its own, we also have two fabulous prizes for randomly drawn winners this week ..

from  

we have this brilliant stamp 

and from 

this delicious ribbon kit.

No doubt you will already have seen the rest of the team's stunning creations by now - here's mine.

I have to give a little toot straight away to Nat, because to be honest I was struggling with ideas as to how to make my circle frame as I have nothing larger that a large circle nestie ... so when I saw her use of a doily that provided me with the inspiration I needed for that particular element :-)

Stamps: Penny Black "Aspire"; Whimsy Sentiment Ticket;

Media: image coloured with Marvey markers and spritzed with water; distress inks background;

Papers: Prima "Botanicals";

Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; lace and doily form my stash.

Challenges:

PB & More At Allsorts (June) - All My Favourite Things 

(PB stamps, lace, pearls)

Ribbon Girl (June) - Use Ribbon Or Lace

Incy Wincy - Vintage

Corrosive #150 - Not Too Shabby

Crafty Cardmakers #69 - Distress It

Our Creative Corner - Embellished Frame

Creative Card Crew #11 - Dimension

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Divas By Design #37 - Anything Goes

Kaboodle - Anything Goes!

Hope you're all enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend if you're here in the UK despite the awful weather today. I think the best solution is to stay indoors and do some crafting - look forward to seeing your creations !