Hearts and flowers

Although I am a huge fan of their cute hedgies, teddies and meeces, I also really love Penny Black brushstroke flowers. I hadn't used one for quite a while so decided to ink up the beautiful and very versatile "blush" stamp ... or rather watercolour up, as I used various shades of Marvey brushstroke marker (how long is it since I got them out of their packet??) to produce a soft impressionist effect.

I followed the sketch for this fortnight's BasicGrey Challenge #29 - I did employ rather a lot of "artistic licence" with the shapes for the different elements of the sketch as I was stuck on using the heart doily which has been sitting in my stash since I received it as a birthday RAK from Paula :-). So I hope it's ok for the challenge!! Still, it also gave me opportunity to break out my heart shaped nesties which have been sitting naughtily unused in my stash for quite a while!

I would also like to enter this card for the following:

A Pocket Full of Posies #7 - Lavender & Old Lace
Challenge Up Your Life #28 - Lace & pearls
CRAFT #70 - Fancy Floral
Creative Card Crew - Bloomin' Marvellous

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Blush" (2666K) stamped twice and coloured with Marvey brushstroke markers;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Birthday" (2912D);
Papers: BasicGrey "Wisteria";
Supplies: Papermania lilac flowers; large pearl brads, pearls, lilac ribbon and lace from my stash; heart doily was an RAK from Paula;
Tools: classic hearts nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables "leaf swirl" die.

Just time before I go for a quick sneaky peek of this week's card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - don't forget to join us then :-)

Penny Black Challenge #116 - Summer Lovin'

Woo hoo! Welcome to the weekend .. and not just any old weekend but a Bank Holiday here in the UK :-) So here's hoping you'll find plenty of time to join in with this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Many thanks to everyone who joined in last week - there were some fabulous interpretations of the sketch ... and don't forget to check back to the challenge blog to see if you have won a prize. So on to this week's challenge - and we have a theme for you ... Summer Lovin' You can interpret this however you like so long as you follow the one and only golden rule if you wish to be eligible for this week's prizes - we need to see a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo as the main focus of your project. And talking of prizes ... this week we have 2 fab prizes on offer to randomly drawn winners, from 2 of our regular sponsors. First up, Fantastic Ribbons is offering this selection of black and white buttons ... ... and Dick at PB Stamps is offering a 15% lifetime discount voucher - lovely! The rest of the DT have all been getting loved up and producing some stunning creations ... here's my effort. I really adore this stamp though I don't own it - the image was kindly sent to me by Squirrel. It struck me as perfect for this challenge as it kinda incorprates both summer and lovin' in the one cute image ... awww!! (It was only afterwards when I looked up the stamp details I realised it is called "Sharing Spring" lol!!) Recipe: Main image: Penny Black "Sharing Spring" (3613J), coloured with Copics and Promarkers, and decorated with Stardust Stickles. Sentiment: Papermania; Paper: BasicGrey "Urban Prairie" and MME "Quite Contrary"; Supplies: large rose from Hobbycraft; small roses, cherry blossoms and rosebuds from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; lace from my stash; Tools: Spellbinders small circle, large circle and large scalloped circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart "Valentine lace" edge punch; Marianne D Creatables "swirl leaf"; Fiskars "Victorian" paper cutting blade.

As always I would like to enter this card into a few other challenges ... I'm finding recently my crafting time is so limited I have to make the most of it Wild Orchid Challenge #4 - Make It Sparkle Penny Black At Allsorts (August) - Glitter & Glitz Creative Card Crew - Sparkle & Shine A Pocket Full of Posies #5 - Winged Things Flutterby Wednesday #119 - Open (angel, fairy or butterfly) Crafts & Me #11 - Petals & Pearls Kaboodle Doodles #38 - Lovely Flowers & Lace Alphabet Challenge - R is for Roses Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #81 - Lace Stamp With Stampavie #105 - Swirls Crafty Emma's Store #1 - Anything Goes

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing your creations :-)