Creative Card Crew #43 - first DT card

I was absolutely thrilled when Paula asked me to join the DT of Creative Card Crew following from their DT call - all the ladies on the DT make some fabulous inspiring creations so it is very exciting to join the team.

This fortnight the challenge theme is

Punch It

What a fabulous opportunity to pull out all those hand, corner and/or edge punches to make your creations look pretty!

And to get your creative juices flowing we have a fab prize for you from our sponsor Sunshine Stamps - 3 digital images of the winner's choice!

The DT members have been busy making some fabulous projects to inspire you - hope you will pop over to their blogs to check them out. And don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see whether you have won the prize for the last challenge.

Here's my first DT card .....


There was definitely something spooky going on here, as I found out I had been selected for the DT the day after I ordered 2 gorgeous new Martha Stewart punches. Unfortunately due to the adverse weather conditions the post wasn't getting through, and it took my precious parcel a week and a half to arrive ... but luckily it turned up in the nick of time so I was able to "punch my weight", so to speak, in the DT stakes. In fact, I think I've gone a little bit punch-tastic! lol!!

I'd also like to enter this card for the following challenges:

A Spoon Full of Sugar #87 - Lots of Layers
One Stop Craft Challenge #63 - Fancy Edges or Corners
Incy Wincy #26 - Colour Me Wonderful (fave medium - watercolours)
Crafty Cardmakers #12 - What's new? (MS punches)
Charisma Cardz 10 #2 - Anything New
Flutterby Wednesdays #92 - butterfly, angel or fairy
Paper Play - furry friends
Stamping Vacation - Pick 3! I chose spring colours (pink & pale green), a butterfly, and a card for no specific occasion.

Edited: I've just found 2 new challenges:

Raise the Bar - Debut Day
Sophisticats #18 - Spring

Their challenges were open before I posted this card so I hope it's ok to enter ... and I've added them to my sidebar for future weeks :-) I am of course debuting my fab new MS punches, and this card is full of spring colours, and butterflies and flowers in the garden :-)!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Dream a dream" (3615H), coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with silver gems;
Sentiment: from "The Stampman" "Flutterby Dreams" set;
Papers: BasicGrey "Porcelain";
Supplies: pastel pearl brads and spacers from The Hobby House; silver holographic card, "ice gold" white pearlised card and pink glitter card from my stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart "garden trellis" deep edge punch and "large monarch butterfly" punch; X-Cut small and medium "flower head" punches; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch; Fiskars paper cutter "deckle" blade.

I'm really looking forward to working with the rest of the CCC DT, and to seeing your punched creations.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #74

Well, it's been a busy old week, and before I know it Saturday is here again, which of course means it's time for another Penny black Saturday Challenge (yippee!). I was a good blogger this last week and hopefully managed to visit everyone's blog who entered last week's white on white challenge, but it was hardly a chore as there were some amazing creations - thanks to everyone who took the time! Don't forget to check the challenge blog to find out who won last week's prize.

This week we have a theme that can really get your creative juices flowing ... we would like to see a card based around a

Song Title / Lyrics

As always you can interpret this however you want, so long as we can see a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your project.

Once again we are offering a fabby prize to one lucky randomly chosen winner - this week it is a £10 SU voucher to spend with our regular sponsor Valentines - now that's really something to sing about!!

My fellow DT members have all been "singin' in the rain" this week and come up with some fabulous compositions - hope you'll check them out. We have also got a wonderful guest designer for November - the very talented Debby whose stunning card for this week really knocked me out and also made me chuckle (go check it out and you'll smile too :-) )

Here is my card ... perhaps not surprisingly I am still in the Christmas zone so my effort this week is based on the song

"Frosty the Snowman"

As with so many recent cards, it is actually quite sparkly irl, but the miserable weather we have been having doesn't allow that to show up very well in pics.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Snowy" (2521K) coloured with Cosmic Shimmers (hat & scarf) and Sakura sparkle pens (nose and shadows), and decorated with polar white Flowersoft;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Papers: Kaisercraft (from The Hobby House); all matting on pearlescent "ice gold" card (from Edwin Allen);
Supplies: sparkly ribbon by Papermania; sparkly brads by Doodlebug; pearl gems and spacers from my stash;
Tools: large classic ovals and large classic scallop oval nestabilities; Marth Stewart "Arctic snowflake" punch and "embossed snowflakes" border punch.

Hope you have a great weekend, and look forward to seeing all your creations.

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!

Spectacular Santorini sunsets ... and a silver celebration!

Hello everyone ... I haven't been around or visited anyone's blogs for the past week as I have just got back from a week's holiday on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini ... and it was a very special holiday as it was to celebrate my silver wedding anniversary! Yep! 25 years .. how time flies when you're having fun lol!

Seriously though, I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful husband, and it was great to be able to spend some time together in this gorgeous location. We only booked it fairly last minute due to family circumstances that I won't bore you with, so it was all a bit of a rush to get organised ... but it was well worth it. Santorini is a beautiful island renowned for its beautiful views and sunsets, and so is often a wedding or honeymoon destination. We stayed in a resort called Imerovigli in the beautiful Tholos Resort hotel ... the hotel was fantastic, and the staff there were incredibly welcoming - we were even upgraded to the honeymoon suite!

The first two photographs are the sunset from our room terrace ... I'm sure you'll agree the view is absolutely breathtaking!



Here is a also a little video clip of the stunning view from our balcony in the daytime ....

Another beautiful village on Santorini is Oia, and here's a picture of another sunset behind one of the many beautiful church towers.

Of course, we couldn't have a posting without a card could we?? Here's the silver wedding anniversary card I made for my husband - I had a few crises over this as I couldn't decide between hearts and flowers, and also had to take into account that he really doesn't like the colour red so that couldn't predominate! Many thanks to Squirrel who sent me some wonderful romantic images - I didn't use one in the end as I decided it just HAD to be this image (like you do!) .... but I have a lovely stash of cute romantic hedgies and meeces ready to smother my dear OH with love on future occasions lol!

And here's the inside .... sorry for the poor picture quality but I had to take this at night before I wrote in it ready for the next morning !!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "You're a Treasure" (front); hedgies from Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" (inside) - all coloured with watercolour pencils and Sakura sparkly pen on the hearts and roses;
Sentiments: rub on (front), Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" (inside);
Supplies: paper, silver holographic card and silver ribbon from my stash;
Tools: heart border punched with Martha Stewart "Valentine Lace" punch; silver numbers punched using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet dies.

I didn't specifically make this card for any challenges, but as it is the only card I have made in the past week and a half I would like to enter it into a couple that I hope it fits ok :-) They are:

Creative Card Crew #29 - decorate the inside of your card

Stamp Something - use your favourite colours or papers ...

Well ... my fave colours change like the wind, but have always had a soft spot for blue and silver (esp when I'm making Christmas cards!)

And last but not least .... Pile It On #16 - punches.

I'll be trying now to catch up with all my blogging and commenting ... so please be patient if it takes me a little while to visit as I think I'll still be feeding the washing machine in several days time ... and alas it's work tomorrow!!

Friday Sketchers #58 - cool when it's hot!

Yesterday must have been the hottest day of the year so far, so when I saw the fabulous sketch over at this week's Friday Sketchers #58, what did I do ?? That's right ... I made a Christmas card! Not sure why ... the sketch just kinda struck me that way!

I used one or two new items from my stash ... I have had the cute hedgie for some time but not inked him up until now; and last week I bought a new MS embossed snowflake punch, as I figured if I got in early I could get one before the Christmas rush lol!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Fur collared", watercoloured and decorated with diamond Stickles;
Sentiment: Stamps Away;
Papers: BasicGrey "Wassail";
Supplies: flowers and star from Prima Christmas bubble; charm from Dolls Made Up; fancy edging punched with Martha Stewart "embossed snowflake" edge punch.

Hope you're enjoying the fab weather - take care in the heat!

7 challenges - well knock me down with a feather!

Every month a group of crafty friends and I get together for a little "bits & pieces" challenge where one member sends out a kit .... and all 16 of us then have to make a card using some part of each item from the contents. This month I received a kit from my crafty friend Kaz, which contained:

1 piece or green cardstock embossed with leaves

1 piece of pale yellow handmade paper

1 piece of white Japanese silk paper

1 large green jewel brad

1 length of white/silver ribbon

1 white feather

OMG!! I thought .. this is all very pretty and nice, but what am I supposed to do with a feather ??? And just to add a bit more brain ache, the other element of the challenge was to make our own flowers ....eek!

Time was passing by and inspiration wasn't coming to me, but as the deadline had passed and I also needed to make a "get well" card for my other friend Squirrel who has just had a big knee op, I thought I'd better get to it!! As usual I also cast around for other challenges to inspire me, and here is the result ....

I bought my new WOJ Melinda on Monday and she struck me as very apt for a get well card; and then it occurred to me I could tie her in with the theme of a white feather ... thank the angels for that! I was still struggling with the handmade flower theme, but I had seen another fab card by my friend Samantha featuring a gorgeous flower for which she has put a great tutorial on her blog, and decided to give it a go! So finally I was up and running.

I would like to enter the card for the following challenges:

Stamp With Fun - I have laid out the card in line with this week's sketch

Stamp Something - yellow, green and blue - which I have reflected in the cardstock and papers

Cute Card Thursday #56 - Floral Fantasy

One-Stop Craft Challenge - Decorative Cuts (my greeting is Cuttlebug diecut, and I have punched the edges inside and out)

Creative Card Crew #7 - Round and around - I have made a circular flower, used a circular brad, and punched a border of circles using my new MS "Scallop Dot" punch

Dutch Dare #44 - Favourite Things - well I have so many ... but at the moment my Melinda stamp is right up there, as is my new MS punch.

...and of course I have made the card for my friends' challenge, making a total of 7 :-)

Recipe:

Image: WOJ "Melinda with bouquet", coloured with watercolour pencils and Sakura glitter pen (flowers), and wings deorated with Glamour Dust;

Papers: BasicGrey "Oh! Baby Boy" collection;

Supplies: papers used for flower, green cardstock, brad , ribbon and feather from my friend's kit; raffia lace from Hobbyraft; flowers inside by Prima and Floradoodles; edging created using MS "Scallop Dot" punch (from ebay); large gold beadcaps (flower centres) from the Hobby House; pearl gems from my stash.

In the end I'm actually pretty pleased with how the card turned out, and think I may well use the idea of a white feather with Melinda again in future :-)

Penny Black Challenge #43 - Easter

Hi everyone, and welcome to week 43 of the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks so much to all of you who entered last week - spring has now definitely sprung! ... and the weather has actually been a bit kinder for most of this week, although there's a bit of a nip in the air again today methinks!

Having started to get into the mood for spring, this week's challenge should hopefully take it up a level as the theme is

Easter

... so it's time to get out all those cute bunnies, chicks, images with eggs or anything else that you feel adequately sums up the season.

This week we have another fab prize for you that our wonderful DT member Jacqui has kindly donated - this brilliant transparent set of numbers.

So here's my card. I've seen this image on a few people's cards and adored it so much I just HAD to buy it last Saturday ... so of course I had to use it today!

I used:
Main image: Penny Black "Bunny Friends" coloured wtih watercoloru pencils and decorated with pearl gems;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Easter";
Papers: My Mind's Eye, punched with Martha Stewart doily lace punch; pearlescent cardstock from papermania "Gemstones" pack;
Supplies: Prima flowers; Papermania pearl brad; Anita's ribbon; leaves punched with Leone Em Ash Branch punch; zoomz from my stash.

Hope you all have a fun weekend! ... and don't foget to take a look at the challenge blog to find out last week's winner and to see all the gorgeous cards from the DT who have been as busy as ... well ... bunnies !!

Penny Black Challenge #41 - Let's Doodle!

Happy Saturday everyone and welcome to this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge . I'm sure you'll agree Tracie's sketch last week was a stunner, and the result was some brilliant entries for last week's challenge. As always details of the prizewinner will be posted on the challege blog this morning.

So onto this week's challenge, which is

Doodling!

Now if like me you get nervous at the thought of doodling, I hope you will be tempted to try by this week's prize ..... I'm particularly excited as I chose and donated it so naturally I think it's adorable! It is the PB stamp "Dream a Dream" ... this cute li'l bear even features in my blog header!!

Please don't forget to check out the other DT members' blogs for some brilliant inspiration - there are some much more artistic efforts than I could manage lol! Sadly our dear friend Tracie cannot join us this week as she has received the sad news that her granddad has passed away - our thoughts are with you hun and we hope you will be able to face rejoining us soon.

On a happier note, here is my card for this week. Now I will hold my hand up and say that originally I wanted to make a card using the bear above, but that went a bit pear shaped when I unexpectedly had to make mum's Mother's Day card a day earlier than anticipated..... so I had to incorporate some doodling as I had no time to make two cards! Doodling isn't my forte I have to say, but hey it's done now! However I tried to make up for it by introducing a whole new element - I used Penny Black papers!! :-)

Recipe:

Stamps used: Penny Black "Blush"; Woodware clear sentiments ("On Mother's Day"); WOJ sentiments ("From the Heart" & "Wishing You the Perfect Day").

Colouring media: detail gold embossing.

Papers: Penny Black gold embossed papers - inside cut with MS doily punch.

Lettering: Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet.

Supplies: lace from Hobbycraft; Prima flowers; ribbon and brads from my stash.

And the inside .....

Now I would also love to enter this card into the current Sketch & Stash challenge #6, as I was inspired by the sketch which I have rotated by 180 degrees. What's new?? Well ... the flower stamp, WOJ sentiments (first inking), ribbon, and gorgeous PB papers which I got from a visit to Horseshoe Crafts in Shropshire whilst on a country break last weekend.

You have probably noticed by now that I have been on a bit of a roll with this new flower stamp. I'm really loving its versatility, but promise I will try to go for a change on my next cards!

Looking forward to seeing all your creations - have a good weekend.

Penny Black Challenge #40 - Sketch

Wow this week has flown by, and here we are at Saturday again already, which of course means it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. As always thanks to everyone who got cooking with last week's recipe challenge - sorry I've been a bit bizzzzy this week so didn't manage to comment on everyone's creations but I'm sure they were as fab as usual :-)

This week we are very excited as we have got a fab sketch by our very own Tracie - we know people generally like to work with sketches and I'm sure you'll agree this one really hits the spot.

Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see details of last week's prizewinner and all the wonderful cards created by the DT.

This week we also have a wonderful prize which is a $25 gift voucher from our sponsor Simon Says Stamp - so what are you all waiting for ??

Here is my effort - next Monday it is my mum & dad's 56th wedding anniversary, and luckily as my craft time has been very limited this week this sketch lent itself extremely well to making their card (phew!).

Recipe:

Image: Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" - hedgies coloured with watercolour pencils, roses decorated wtih glamour dust, and image matted onto pink pearlescent and silver holographic card;

Sentiment: rub on

Papers: Papermania "Exquisite" paper pac (a gift from my Secreat Santa :-) ) and silver printed vellum (cut with trusty MS doily punch!)
Supplies: Prima flowers; Papermania pearl brads; charm from Dolls Made Up; pearl gems from my stash.

And the inside ...


Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and look forward to actually seeing your creations this week!

4 into 1 does go!

I needed to make a "get well" card for a close friend who is having a knee op done next week, so looked around for some challenges to help me with some inspiration. I think I managed to fulfil 4 challenges with this card:


1. Colour create #4 - pink & grey, with the optional theme of cute and cuddly (well I think Ellie is exceptionally cute and cuddly, don't you?)
2. CCT # 49 - animal magic
3. Charisma Cardz #8 - Animals
4. Cupcake Craft Challenge #28 - sketch.


This is my first go at the Colour Create Challenge which I thought was Sunday, but I'm now hoping I'm not too late !! (eek!)

Recipe:
Main image and sentiment (inside) : Penny Black
Sentiment (outside): Cuttlebug diecut
Supplies: flowers - Prima; brads - Doodlebug sugar coated; charm - Dolls Made Up; paper and pearl gems from my stash.
Silver card border cut with my new Martha Stewart doily punch.

The inside follows the outside layout fairly closely.

I hope that this will cheer my friend up while she is laid up and that she'll soon be back to full fitness.

Have a good weekend and thanks for looking.