Steaming hot chocolate!

When I saw that the challenge theme this week over at Simon Says Stamp and Quixotic Challenge #8 is Hot Chocolate, my first thought about what I would most like to make was a cup of this ....

I bought this dinky stocking filler for my husband for Christmas, and what with all the snow, the bitterly cold temperatures plus the fact that I have been confined to the house for the past 4 days with a stinking head cold (this afternoon is the first time for a few days I have felt vaguely human!) it just seemed like the obvious choice!

However I soon realised this wouldn't really cut it in blogland, so I managed to make a card. Willow on the front looks pretty much how I feel ... desperate to keep warm and soothe herself with hot drinks lol! Excuse the electric light photo but there has never really been any decent daylight today all day long.

I tried to follow the hot chocolate theme both in terms of the image and colour scheme, and I also followed the sketch (which I rotated) for this week's Secret Crafter #65.


I also made this card to fit with the themes of the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz #1 - colour combo pink, brown, cream and toffee
Crafty Calendar #4 - Keeping Warm (image associated with keeping warm, plus optional extra of texture)
Cupcake #73 - Going Girly
Creative Inspirations #24 - Distressing (I sponged the edges of the image, and also lightly distressed the embossing on the two plain pieces of paper).

Recipe:
Main image: WOJ "Willow with hot chocolate", coloured with watercolour pencils, and edges sponged with Versamark chalk ink;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Papers: BasicGrey "Bittersweet", "Sugared" and "Two Scoops";
Supplies: flowers - Prima and Petaloo; pearl brads and spacers from The Hobby House; ribbon by American Crafts; heart charm from Jackie's Charms and Crafts Shop;
Tools: large classic ovals and large oval scalloped nestabilities; Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch; Cuttlebug "Perfectly Paisley" embossing folder; X-Cut distressing tool (for lightly distressing the embossed paper).

Off to keep warm now with more hot drinks!

Christmas joy with Penny Black and Popcorn

Well ... it's now officially less than one week to go to Christmas ... hope you're all calm, relaxed and in control (unlike me lol!!) I've got two cards to show you today ... mainly because I had to make 2 "special" cards for close relatives so I thought I would make them similar to save time ... one is my PBSC DT card, and the other I can use for a few challenges :-)

First up is my DT card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge #80. This week's theme is

Christmas charms

... so if you've still got the odd item left to make, now is your perfect opportunity before the big day. In fact this is the last PBSC challenge for 2009, so you have actually got a full two weeks to enter - the next challenge will be on Saturday January 2nd 2010!

As always we have got a fab prize on offer for you .... one lucky winner will win a £10 gift voucher from The Crafty Garden


AND....

.... as if that's not enough, they are also giving all PBSC readers a 10% discount for life - just use the code Penny Black at checkout!!

So why not pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the DT's wonderful creations (including our fab GDT member Liz), check whether you have won last week's prize, and then get crafting with charms (which are amongst my fave of all crafty things!!)

Here's my card for this week ...


Now then, I hear you say ..... I'm sure that's not a Penny Black image!! Ha! Indeed the cutie carolling bears are Popcorn ... I just had to use them to tie in with the darling Magnolia papers I had bought for my special cards including the "Silent night" hymn sheet paper .... however the sentiment IS by Penny Black ... so it's job done lol!! My spin on this is that I am "ringing the changes" to show how well PB fits with all other makes of stamps ... or I could just put my hand up and say it was the best I could manage!!

Here's an angle shot to show Popcorn's fluffy hat :-)


Recipe:
Main image: Popcorn the Bear, coloured with watercolour pencils and Marvey markers, and hat/snow decorated wtih polar white Flowersoft and glamour dust;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Merry Christmas" heat embossed in gold;
Papers: Magnolia "Under the Mistletoe" collection;
Supplies: flowers and leaves from Prima red Christmas bubble; pearl brad and gold spacer from the Hobby house; "joy" charm from my stash.

So it's a big

thankyou

to everyone who has joined us in the Penny Black Saturday Challenges this year .. hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy new Year ... look forward to seeing this week's creations, and joining you again for a new year of challenges starting January 2nd

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK ... onto my second card which is the "version" I would like to enter into a few challenges. Most of the details are as per the card above, except that I have replaced the PB sentiment with some red ribbon from my stash and a sentiment by Craftwork Cards.



I would like to enter this for the following:

Simon Says - Merry Christmas
My Time To Craft #70 - Yuletide Wishes
Stamp Something - Holdiay Somethings

Crafty Calendar #3 - Winter sparkle
Creative Card Crew #41 - Anything Goes
Kaboodle #20 - Sparkling Winter

Hope you're all keeping safe and warm in this freezing weather and maange to get a bit of crafting done before Christmas ;-)

Bubbles!

This week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #74 is a sketch by Debbie, which seemed to me just right for a friend's birthday card I needed to make.
I also took the Secret Crafter Challenge #54 to dig deep, and I found a stamped image deep in my stash that was an RAK ages ago from the lovely Marcea. The image is Daisy & Dandelion "Bubbles" - how could I possibly have left her alone 'til now??


Recipe:
Main image: Papermania - Daisy & Dandelion "Bubbles", coloured with watercolour pencils and the flower decoupaged;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Paper: Papermania "Sweet Nothings";
Supplies: organza ribbon, flowers, brad and charm all from my stash.

Thank goodness I have only a couple more friends with birthdays between now and the end of the year .... my Chrimbo card production is going to have to soon get into full swing lol!

Thanks for looking!

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!

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!

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.

Penny Black Challenge #62 - colour scheme

Saturday has come around again so quickly, which means that it's time again for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered last week using Beth's fab sketch - there were some brilliant interpretations ... and of course not forgetting that if you check back on the challenge blog you may find you have won last week's prize from 1-2-3 Stitch!

This week we have a colour challenge for you - yes, we would like to see a card that primarily uses the following colours:

Blue, cream and tan

As always you can interpret this however you like in your project, so long as we can see a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your creation. Don't forget to check out the other DT cards - there are some totally gorgeous creations this week.

This week's prize consists of the following yummy selection of October Afternoon papers, alphabets, die cut stickers & rubber charms from Simply Create

Here's my card - I struggled a bit with this colour combo initially, but hopefully I got there in the end (gave me an excuse to buy some new paper and bazzill bling cardstock lol!!)

And the inside .....

Recipe:
Main image : Penny Black "Cheesecake Wish" (1652J), which was an RAK from my lovely friend Karen;
Sentiments: Penny Black "Happy Birthday" (2912D) (front); ge studio (inside);
Papers: BasicGrey "Granola";
Supplies: various shades of Bazzill bling and non-bling cardstock; flowers by Prima; paper tea roses from Hobbycraft; lace by Quixotic Paperie; butterfly charm from Dolls Made Up;

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and look forward to seeing your creations :-)

Mum's birthday combo

Last night I made my mum's birthday card .. her birthday isn't until Thursday, but as she doesn't own a computer I think I'm fairly safe posting it on here lol!

This card is actually very similar to one I made about three weeks ago ... I love this particular stamp (whch I've never yet used to make my mum a card!) and these papers, also I thought my mum would like this kind of design;so I just went with it with a few small differences from my previous effort.

I'd like to enter this card for a few challenges:

Stamp With Fun #19 - Birthdays
Secret Crafter #44 - cute as a bug - well my paper is covered with dragonflies, and I have used a couple of cute dragonfly brads and a li'l silver butterfly charm :-)
Stamp Something - Charmed somethings - I'm really crossing my fingers with this one, as the prize is sponsored by Quixotic Paperie which has THE most fabulous lace and charms ... I was lucky enough to win some another time, but they're so lovely I'm quickly working my way through them lol!
Papertake Weekly - Four Seasons - this card makes me think of summer with the wisteria, dragonflies and butterfly ...

Here's a picture that tries to capture the shine and sparkle of the embossing and glamour dust, but sadly there wasn't a lot of light this morning.

And the inside ...

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Fanfare"(3946K) embossed in detail silver, coloured with Marvey brushstroke pens and decorated with glamour dust;

Sentiments: Craftwork Cards "Oh my Words!"; letters cut from pearlescent white card using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet;

Papers: BasicGrey "Wisteria";

Supplies: mulberry paper flowers & pearl brads by Papermania; charm from Dolls Made Up; punched borders using Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch; dragonfly brads & ribbon from my stash.

Hope everyone is having a good evening, and thanks for looking :-)

Sugar Bowl #16 - Marlene's Sketch ... and Happy birthday to Heffa!

Here is my birthday card for my great bloggy friend Helen - I actually made it several days ago but didn't want to publish it until now because today (Monday) is her birthday and she is one of my most loyal visitors and commenters :-) (thanks hun!!)

So that being the case, it's a good job I chose to make this card in line with the theme for this fortnight's Sugar Bowl challenge #16, which is still open and is Marlene's sketch + the option of "doodling".

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

Recipe:

Main image: Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl "Sitting", coloured with watercolour pencils;

Sentiments: Craftwork Cards "Oh My Words!";

Papers: not sure but think they are My Mind's Eye;

Supplies: flowers - mixture of Prima and Floradoodle; charm from Quixotic paperie; Doodlebug sugar coated brad; ribbon and lace from my stash;

Tools: Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch; Martha Stewart "Doily Lace" edge punch.

Actually I was a bit embarrassed when I finished this card .. my white gel pen was acting up so Ikept going over it .. then I walked away and came back and found it had dried VERY white!! Oh dear! So my card does contain a bit of a grovelling apology but I hope we all agree it's the thought that counts (!)

Penny Black Challenge #61 - Sketch by Beth

Yippee! The weekend's here again, which means it's time again already for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. You may have noticed (or maybe not!) that I didn't take part in the DT last week as I was on holiday the previous week ... too busy enjoying the summer to make a summer card lol!! But I hope all the fantastic summery entries you made last week have put you in the holiday mood - don't forget as always to check the blog to see who won last week's prize.

This week we have a special treat for you - a fabulous sketch by my teamie Beth. I totally loved working with this, and I'm sure you will too.

This week we also have a fantastic prize by our new regular sponsor:

a $20 gift certificate to spend in their online shop.

I strongly recommend you get over there regardless of whether you win or not ... I wasn't aware of this shop before but it has a humungous selection of Penny Black stamps including some unusual ones, and at very reasonable prices .. so what's not to like??

Anyhow .... onto my card. This is a friendship card I made for Karen, who I have been chatting to online for about a year but who I met last week for the first time when we both visited the Gitterpot. I tried to use some of the new stash I bought during my visit too, to remind us of a happy day.

I also partly replicated the sketch on the inside ...

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "bunny bath" (3616J) * coloured with watercolour pencils:

Sentiments: Penny Black - front - "...second self" (3386D); inside "...Smiling" (2909E);

Papers: My Mind's Eye "Bloom & Grow", decorated with faux stitching & a teeny bit of doodling; shimmery cardstock from Papermania "gemstones" pack;

Supplies: flower on front cut from MME paper and decoupaged, fixed with spacer from The Hobby House and pearl brad from stash; Sizzix Sizzlits Decorative strip - swirly * ; "Friends" charm from Quixotic Paperie; dragonfly brad and zoomz from my stash.

(Items marked * were from my trip with Karen to The Glitterpot)

Looking forward to see your creations - hope you will visit the other DT blogs too to check out their fabulous sample cards.

Have a great weekend!