Penny Black Saturday #155 - One For The Guys

Hi everyone ... another week had flown by, and here we are again at Saturday, which means it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thanks to everyone for your doodletastic entries into last week's challenge - don't forget to check the main blog to see if you have won either of last week's yummy prizes.

This week we guess many of you may be gearing up for Father's Day ... or if not, then maybe you need a card for one of the men in your life. So this week's challenge theme is

One For The Guys

As always you can interpret this however you wish; but to be eligible for this week's prize you should submit a new piece of work which features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo.

And to tempt you this week we have got another delish prize ... it is from our lovely ex-teamie Carole

and is this delish PB stamp "Love Nip".

The other ladies have conjured up some fabulous masculine cards - here is my effort for this week.

Initially I thought I would really struggle with this theme, as I have loads of PB stamps but hardly any "masculine" ones .. and those few I do have have already been seen by the only two male family members I need to make cards for! When I started scrabbling around amongst my stash I found these couple of images in a tranparent set called "Bubbly" - masculine and sight unseen by my nearest and dearest - but ... they are absolutely TINY and no way would they make a focal point of a card. I therefore decided that I would make my text big and artfully (?) place the images around it ... but then came the next problem - my die cut alphabet isn't big enough, and I don't have any templates for letters .... so I ended up making some letter templates using Wordart, and then cutting out the letters by hand from patterned paper. If you look closely they are a bit rough and ready, but the thought's there!

Recipe:

Main images: Penny Black transparent set "Bubbly", coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiments: computer generated, with "Dad" cut out from Wordart templates;

Papers: All My Memories (double sided paper), distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink;

Supplies:  buttons from stash;

Tools: Martha Stewart "scalloped dots" edge punch.

Challenges:

PaperPlay #23 - Father's Day / Man's Card

CRAFT #106 - Father's Day

Sparkles #13 - Father's Day

Alphabet Challenge - F is for Father's Day

Sew Many Challenges #56 - Father's Day

Creative Inspirations #115 - Card For Dad / Man's Card

Fab 'n' Funky #76 - Magnificent Men

Crazy4Challenges #91 - Masculine Card

Wags 'n' Whiskers #56 - One For The Boys

Everybody-Art #145 - Distress

Stamp Something - Something Punched

My Mum's Craft Shop #9 - Punch It

Passion For Promarkers #103 - Blue and Brown ( with accents of green)

Crafts and Me #38 - Stamp Something

Crafty Ann's #42 - Use More Than One Image

Cupcake Crafts #145 - Things With Tails

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Hope you can join in with us this week - have a great weekend!

For Dad

It's my dear dad's birthday this week, so last night I sat down to make him a card so that I could pop it in the post at lunchtime today. My dad hasn't been at all well over the past few months plus he is the main carer for my mum ... he's a real rock so he definitely deserves a card that gives it my best shot!

I bought this darling LotV stamp specially when I went to Port Sunlight 3 weeks ago, and here is the card I made for him. it is deliberately not too fussy but hopefully has enough detail that he will know I made an effort :-)

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Cheers Bear", coloured with Copics (bear) and Promarkers (clothes and gift), and edges distressed wtih "Vintage Photo" and "Walnut Stain" distress inks;

Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles, distressed wtih "Antique Linen" and "Walnut Stain" distress inks;

Papers: BasicGrey "Capella";

Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; ric rac and peel offs from my stash.

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Sketch #56 (rotated)

Creative Inspirations #61 - Father's Day / Card For Dad

Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day / For A Male

Craft Your Days Away #21 - Father's Day / Special Man

Fussy and Fancy - A Card For a Man or a Boy

Stamp Man #24 - Boys and Men

Scrapbook Sisters #38 - A Man's World

BasicGrey #45 - Shabby Chic (2nd entry)
Copic Creations #51 - Vintage / Distressed

Crafty Pad #124 - Stripes

Craft Your Passion #61 - Anything Goes

Gotta dash ... been at home studying today and I want to do a bit more before I sit down for dinner.

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 #148 – Happily Ever After

Good morning everyone … welcome to Easter weekend and another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Hope you have been enjoying the fabulous weather we’ve been having … let’s hope it will last over the Easter weekend!!

Thanks as always to everyone who entered last week’s challenge – wonderful Easter cards, so hopefully you will now all be completely geared up to give your Easter greetings :-) Don’t forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won last week’s adorable prize.

This week we have all been overtaken (along with much of blogland, it seems) with Royal Wedding fever, so our challenge theme isn’t really such a big surprise ….

Happily Ever After

Now this phrase is usually taken to refer to weddings, but we realise that not all of you will necessarily have got PB wedding stamps, as they have only ever made a few (I know I don’t have any!). So we have decided to be kind, and this theme can encompass any other event to do with living happily ever after, such as engagements  and anniversaries.

This week’s prize is four rolls of yummy ribbon on the winner’s choice from Fantastic Ribbons.

Please remember that in order 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.

The other ladies on the DT have produced some fabulous romantic cards – here’s mine for this week.

As i  mentioned I don’t have any PB wedding stamps although I do have several romantic hedgies, mice and cats; so I decided to make an anniversary card.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black “You’re a Treasure” (1589F) coloured with Promarkers and roses dusted with glamour dust;
Sentiments: LotV circle sentiments and Woodware sentiments;
Papers: Pink Petticoat “Vintage Rose”;
Supplies: large and small roses and lace from Sweet Lilac (Crafts4U2Do); middle size rose from Wild orchid Crafts; Papermania pink crystal heart; velvet and organza ribbon from my stash;
Tools: Magnolia doohickey “vintage tag”; Martha Stewart “Valentine lace” edge punch; Leone Em “Ash branch” leaf punch; Spellbinders “decorative photo corners” die.

Challenges:
Spoon Full of Sugar #148 – Let’s Celebrate!
Crafts and Me #31 – Pink and Sweet
Creative Inspirations #108 – Animals / Pets
Cupcake #138 – Lots of Layers
I ♥ Promarkers #62 – Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday #30 – Open Theme
Create4Fun (April) – Sketch

Hope you have a great weekend and look forward to seeing your creations!

Penny Black Saturday #147 – Easter Extravaganza

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  Thanks once again to everyone who entered last week’s Say It With Flowers challenge –what a frenzy of fabulous florals you came up with!! Don’t forget to check out the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner.

Anyhow, this week our challenge theme is seasonal .. yes it is

Easter Extravaganza

So it’s time to seek out those cute bunnies and chicks, spring flowers or any other suitable PB images you may have to hand. You can interpret the theme however you like, but remember that to be eligible for the prize you must submit a new piece of work that uses a Penny black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

This week’s fab prize is from our former teamie Carole, and is this gorgeous PB slapstick stamp, “Hedgehog Birthday”

 

The other ladies have made some fabulous and adorable Easter creations – here’s mine.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny  Black “Jonquils” inked with Marvey brushstroke pens;
Sentiment: See-D “Easter”;
Paper: Craft Creations;
Supplies: daffodils and pearls from Wild Orchid Crafts;  raffia lace from Hobbycraft; ribbon from my stash;
Tools: classic large ovals and large scalloped ovals nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables swirly leaf die.

Challenges:
Penny Black Blog Challenge -  flowers (use a floral PB stamp)
Creative Inspirations #107 – Easter
Die Cut Dreams #87 – Easter
Stampin’ For The Weekend #7 - Easter
Pollycraft Monday #88 – Easter
CRAFT #98 – Easter 
Daring Cardmakers – Spring Fling (Spring or Easter)
Top Tip Tuesday #29 – Spring Has Sprung
Rainbow Lady #148 – Springtime
Totally Papercrafts #62 - Springtime
Papertake Weekly – Truly Dimensional

Hope you can join us this week – looking forward to seeing your creations :-)

Penny Black Saturday #146 - Say It With Flowers

Good morning all, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks very much to everyone who rocked Domi's sketch last week - don't forget to check the main prize blog to see if you are a winner. I'm still struggling mightily with blogger and my recent attempt to install Windows Live Writer crashed and burned ... so I'll get straight to business ...

This week's theme is

Say It With Flowers

Easy peasy!!

And we also have a fantastic prize as always - this week it is a $20 online store voucher from our sponsor 1-2-3 Stitch.

Do check out the other ladies' lovely floral arrangements - here is my card for this week.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Hedgehog Bouquet" (1444K) coloured with Promarkers;

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large circles and lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "wild flowers" PATP edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Challenge #20 - Sketch (flipped horizontally)

Crafty Pad #115 - Flowers

Paper Sundaes #63 - Spring Blossoms

PaperPlay #14 - Critters Galore

Creative Inspirations #106 - Punches & Dies

Pollycraft #87 - Old / Neglected stamp

Corrosive #110 - Pastel Colours

Craft your Passion #52 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us this week - look forward to seeing what you create :-)

Penny Black Saturday #141 - More Than One Fold

Hi everyone - it's Saturday, and also the first Saturday of the month ... that means it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge, and also for a new monthly Crafty Calendar Challenge.

I'd like to start off with this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in with last week's "pearls and lace" theme - I'm sorry to say that due to work I didn't manage to get around all my commenting this week so apologies for that - but don't forget to check the main blog to see if you are a winner!

This week's challenge is

Cards With More Than One Fold

Any shape or size of card is allowed as long as it has more than one fold ... don't forget the only rules are that you should submit a new piece of work (no backlinking) and that you should use a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as the main focus.

This week we have two fab prizes for randomly drawn winners - firstly a stamp from the one and only Penny Black Inc (check the main blog for details)

and secondly a yummy prize from The Ribbon Girl:


The winner can choose one colour selection which includes ribbons, seam binding, button twine, divine baker's twine, buttons, pins, lace, a charm and even a roll of 3mm ultra sticky tape!!

Wow!!

The other members of the DT have gone fold crazy so please do check them out ... here's mine.


I decided to make an easel card, even though they are always so difficult to photograph lol!! Another reason was that I really wanted to use this adorable kitty image, and it is so large that it almost fills a standard square card - so it was good to have a little more space to decorate with the sentiment etc.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "You're The Bestest" coloured with Promarkers;
Sentiment: Whiff of Joy;
Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time";
Supplies: flowers and pearls from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from Hobbycraft;
Tools: Shapeabilities "Fancy tags"; Martha Stewart "Floral Vine" deep edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch; Cuttlebug "Floral Fantasy" embossing folder.

Challenges:
Creative Inspirations #101 - In the Garden
Die Cut Dreams #84 - Spring Garden Scene
Cooking It Up With Katie #51 - Spring + Yellow + Flowers
Penny Black at Allsorts (March) - Welcome Spring (1st entry)
Daring Cardmakers - Jonquils and Daffodils for March
Creative Belli #112 - Animals
Charisma #9 - Four Legged Friends
Fussy & Fancy - Embossing and/or Paper Piecing
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Spoon Full of Sugar #141 - Tags
(Spellbinders "Fancy Tags" used to mount my sentiment)

Hope you can join in this week and look forward to seeing your creations. I'll be back later with another card for this month's Crafty Calendar Challenge.

Coffee and cream (cakes)!

The challenge this week over at Simon Says is coffee and cream ... and I was determined to enter for two very good reasons - not only have they got a fantabadozie prize as always, but this week they're also having a DT call - woo hoo! However I felt less sure when I started thinking about the theme ... coffee and cream are not two colours I normally craft with, so not only are they WAY out of my comfort zone, but what to do about supplies?? So this is hardly my best week to put my best foot forward for the DT ... but hey, you've got to give it a go, haven't you?? So, I started riffling madly through my stash in search of something suitable. Here's what I came up with ... I already had this darling image stamped up, so I decided to give her a "coffee and cream cakes" makeover!. I agonized for some time over papers, and this was really the best combo I could come up with, but I hope the soft script-printed paper adds to the overall vintage feel. I was also a little concerned initially about what I would do for embellies as I have never purchased flowers in brown shades and only a few cream ones .... but that's where I really got lucky!! I recently won a yummy little candy from Dawny P ... and not only had she included a yummy selection of WOC flowers in shades of cream and terracotta, but also some really vintage looking deep cream lace - yippee!! I also found a few coffee coloured roses knocking around in my stash which were a present some time ago from my bloggy friend Sue, and remembered that I had a teapot charm lurking in the depths of my charm box ... things were finally starting to come together! (Some of you may think that you can detect a peach coloured rose on the card ... but given that it really gave the overall scheme such a "lift" I would argue that it is in fact cinammon ...y'know ... the stuff you get sprinkled on your coffee. That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;-) ) Recipe: Main image: LotV "Hello Cupcake", coloured with Promarkers and Copics; Sentiment: Penny Black transparent set "Salutations"; Papers: various from stash; Supplies: pearls from the Hobby House; all flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts (with thanks to Dawny P and Sue); lace from Dawny P; ribbon and charm from stash. Challenges: Simon Says - Coffee and Cream (+ DT Call) Secret Crafter #123 _ Sweet Treats Crafty Pad #110 - Something Yummy For Your Tummy Raise the Bar #55 - Mug Shots Paper Sundaes #58 - How Charming Rainbow Lady #141 - Shabby Chic Sweet Stampin' - Oh So Girly Craft Your Passion #47 - Girly Girl My Time To Craft #129 - Hats Creative Inspirations #100 - Stripes Stampin' For The Weekend #4 - Monochrome Wild Orchid Challenge #18 - Anything Goes Sentimental Sundays #44 - Anything Goes Friday Sketchers #143 - sketch

Think I'll go and have a cup of tea and a cupcake now lol (only kidding)!!

Penny Black Saturday #138 - Cards For Men

Hi there, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. This week's been a bit of a slog for me as I've been working late a few evenings, but now the weekend's here - yippee!! - so it's time to fit in a little crafting :-)

Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last week's "Pretty In Pink challenge" - so may adorable and pretty entries! As always, don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner.

This week we have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum with our theme, which is

Cards For Men

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

This week we have two fab prizes for randomly chosen winners .. firstly I have donated a prize this week, which is this adorable teddy stamp "Gentlest Kiss"


... and our lovely former teamie Carole has asked us to continue to give away the prize stash she donated when she was on the DT - how kind is that?? .. and this week we have this cutie slapstick stamp "A Scholar".


Here is my card for this week.


I only have a fairly limited selection of PB cute stamps suitable for men; and as the only men I need to make cards for are my husband, dad and one male friend, they have already seen them all!! So I decided to make a contemporary non-cute card using masculine colours ... this stylish tree stamp seemed to me to fit the bill.


Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Fantasy" (3880K), inked with black Brilliance ink and embossed wtih clear embossing powder; edges of image sponged with two colours of Versamagic chalk ink;
Sentiment: See-D "Celebrations";
Paper: BasicGrey "Oliver";

Supplies: black ribbon with white stitching by DCWV; Papermania "Sparkly trims" metallic ric rac; pearls from The Hobby House.

Challenges:
Allsorts #91 - Inspired By Nature
Creative Inspirations #53 - Distress
Creative Inspirations #99 - Plain & Simple
One Stop Craft Challenge #119 - Birthday Card

Please do go and check out the other DT members' gorgeous samples. Looking forward to seeing your entries this week!

Brand Spankin' New!

Here's another card I made during my recent mega craft session.

Before Christmas I bought a few of the new LotV stamps, but rather naughtily I then proceeded to neglect them completely due to the Christmas rush! I thought now would be a good time to start inking them up, as the next lot are due out next week!!


I didn't go mad on new stash at Christmas, but I did get a couple of presents, so I decided to use them too - my new MS "wildflowers" punch-around-the-page which was a present from my darling husband (thanks hun!), and the two-tone lilac gardenia was part of a yummy "not-so-secret Santa" present pack (many thanks to Lynda :-) )


Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Hello Cupcake", coloured with Promarkers;
Sentiments: Penny Black transparent set "Salutations";
Paper: Paper Pzazz;
Supplies: all flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, decorated with Stardust Stickles;
Tools: border punched using Martha Stewart "Wildflowers" PATP; swirls from Marianne D Creatables "Ribbon Flower" set; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch.

I would like to enter this for the following challenges:

LotV #78 - New Beginnings

(includes use of new stash)
Creative Inspirations #50 - Use Something New on Your Project

Paper Sundaes #50 - Something New
Pile It On - Brand Spankin' New!
Stamp Something - Glitter
By the Cute & Girly (January) - Bling It On!
Simon Says - Time to Party / Celebrate

(the little girl looks to me like she is on the brink of celebrating her birthday big time lol!!)
Shabby Tea Room #43 - 11 elements

(base cardstock; bazzill; patterned paper; stamping card; stamped image; Promarker pens; paper flowers; die cut swirls; edge punch; punched leaves; glitter).
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #99 - Flowers
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

By the time this post goes live I daresay I will have struggled through my first day back in work after an 11 day break. Christmas already seems like a distant memory .....