Old Crock!

Good morning - hope everyone reading this has had a Happy Easter! I am on holiday from work this week ... but alas very little time for cardmaking and/or blogging as i am taking the opportunity to catch up on various jobs and support my husband in decorating and refurbishing our study. It also means that the normal desktop computer is disconnected so I am doing my best with the laptop ... working out how to load a photo was a bit of a challenge this morning lol!!

Anyhow, regardless of the fact that I haven't even managed to make my DT cards over the past week I needed to make this one, as it is for my best friend's husband who will be 50 this week. Fancy calling him an old crock, I hear you say ..... in fact that is the name of the stamp I've used!!

It is only the second time I've ever used this stamp, and I love the way you can decoupage it so it seems to "drive off the page" .... the other time I used it was for my dad's 80th birthday card, which was actually the first card I ever posted to this blog .... here :-)

I made this card to fit with this week's Simon Says Challenge which is it's so distressing ... I don't know if he will find the prospect of being 50 distressing lol, but I thought the general aged and vintage feel was kinda appropriate!! I edged my papers and image with Tim Holtz distress ink in "Antique linen", deckle edged my papers, and also used papers that had a distressed look about them to start with.

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

A Spoon Full of Sugar #98 - One for the Boys
Sweet Stampin' Challenge #20- It's a Man's World
Crafty Ann's #11 - For Someone Special
Simple Doodles #14 - Add Some Layers
Pollycraft #38 - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations #61 - Anything Goes
Meljen's Designs #1 - Anything Goes
For Fun - Anything Goes
Just Add Ink #11 - Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time #7 - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Open Theme

Recipe:
Main image: Butterfly Kisses "Old Crock", heat embossed, coloured wtih Twinkling H2O's and USArt Quest pearlescent paint, edges distressed wtih Tim Holtz distress ink, and Glossy Accents used on car windscreen and headlights;
Sentiment: See-D;
Papers and vellum postcard: K&Co;
Supplies: vinage style brads from stash;
Tools: Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet used for numbering; Fiskars papercutter deckle blade.

Just off now to get on with some more jobs ... hope to get a little more cardmaking in some time this week :-)

Penny Black Challenge #91 - easel card

Woo hoo its Saturday, so it's time again for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. It was fabulous to see last week's interpretations of Carole's fabulous sketch - don't forget to pop over the the challenge blog to check if you have won last week's prize.

This week we have another great challenge - we would like you to make an

easel card

The only other rule is that you need to use a Penny Black image or sticker somewhere on your creation.

This week we have another great prize from our regular sponsor Clair at

- an SU corner rounder punch.

The DT has been busy making some really gorgeous creations - hope you will pop over to their blogs and check them out. We also have a brilliant new guest designer for March - Nadine - so please do go and say hello!

I really love easel cards as they are so easy to make and give you a bit more "display" area than a standard card .... so I have taken the opportunity to make my mum's Mother's Day card.

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

Simon Says - Mother's Day
C.R.A.F.T. #40 - Mother's Day / Flowers
Totally Papercrafts #6 - Mother's Day / Special Lady
Magical Crafts #9 - Something for Mum
My Time to Craft #81 - Just for Mum
Lili of the Valley #48 - Easel Card
Kaboodle Doodles #25 - Fancy Folds
Stamp Something - Something Girly
Crafty Calendar #6 - Flower Power

Spoon Full of Sugar #93 - beads (hope the little pearl beads on the flower stamens count ... they're all I've got lol!)

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Wind Caressed" (3818J) heat embossed wtih detail gold powder and coloured with Cosmic Shimmer paints;
Sentiments: peel offs and Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet lettering;
Papers: BasicGrey "Wisteria";
Supplies: roses from Hobbycraft decorated with stickles; large pearl brads from The Hobby House; floral ribbon and flowers with pearl bead stamens from my stash;
Tools: Fiskars paper trimmer "deckle" blade; Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch.

Looking forward to seeing all your creations and have a great weekend :-)

Creative Card Crew #45 - Get Well Soon

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to another Creative Card Crew challenge. It was fabulous to see everyone's Valentine projects this past fortnight ... what a romantic lot you are!! Don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog to see if you have won last week's prize.

On then to this week's challenge, which is

Get Well Soon

So you can make a card to cheer someone up who's under the weather, or just to have ready in your card box just in case :-).

This week's prize is a scrummy selection of ribbons, buttons and charms form our sponsor

Truly Scrumptious Crafts

So without further ado, here's my card.... hope you'll also check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the DT :-)

I followed this week's fab sketch over at Sketch Saturday #90 for inspiration ....

...and I would also like to enter this card for this week's Stamp Something - Something Cute.. I just couldn't resist inking up my new LotV teddy ... I really do think this range of stamps is the cutest!! I'm just waiting patiently now for my EZ Mount to arrive and then I'll be able to ink up the rest of the stamps I ordered loL!

I think teddy is looking quite spring-like what with the profusion of flowers and happy colours - so I hope this one also qualifies for this week's Spoon Full of Sugar #91 - Spring is in the Air.

Last but not least, I would like to enter this card for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #54, which is All About Me - ie to use the things you love :-) Well I'm really loving these LotV teddies, and I always love my flowers, spacers and large pearl brads.

Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Teddy with Flower", coloured with watercolour pencils;
Sentiment: die cut using Cuttlebug Cut & emboss set "Everyday Greetings";
Papers: My Mind's Eye "Pretty Please";
Supplies: pearl brads and spacers from "The Hobby House"; flowers and wrought iron brads from my stash;
Tools: large classic circle and large classic scalloped circle nestabilities; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Looking forward to seeing all your creations.

Roses Grow on You - & sweet 17

I've had a few things going on this week, which means I'm moving towards the end of the week feeling a tad sleep-deprived and my mojo has been all over the place!! Not managed to do too much crafting, but luckily I managed to make one card which fits quite a lot of challenges :-) In fact I reckon I've managed 17 ... so I've beaten my personal record - yay!


First of all, I followed the fab sketch over at Papertake Weekly #33

I really love this adorable LotV teddy with bouquet (waiting right now for the postie to come with my new LotV stamps ... can't wait!!) and meanwhile this stamp just had to have an outing. I'm also currently loving my Papermania "Blueberry Hill" paper pad ... even though it's not newly released, I bought it for the first time this week. I've also suddenly discovered paper roses - now I know I've not exactly been quick out of the blocks on this one ... but I'm suddenly seeing and buying them in all sorts of places lol!!

I think I also managed to complete the following challenges:

BasicGrey #12 - Animals ... now I bet you're wondering where there's any BasicGrey items on this card .... hmmm? Well actually there are two ... the butterfly is cut from BG "Two Scoops" pink paper, and all the pearls on the card are BG "Opaline" demi-perles.
Die Cut Dreams #32 - Bears
Just Cute Bears Challenge #1 - One for the Girls
Creative Inspirations #45 - Feminine!
Pile It On #3 - Warm Wishes
Crafty Creations #52 - Celebrate!
Raise the Bar #2 - The Gift that Keeps On Giving. I chose my image both for the bear challenges, and also because it was part of my "Secret Santa" Christmas gift from a crafty friend :-)
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #51 - Inspired by the letter P. That would be Papermania paper, pink, pearls and petals.
A Spoon Full of Sugar #88 - Freestyle (anything goes)
Cute Card Thursday #97 - Blooming Gorgeous!
Dutch Dare #70 - Summer in Winter
My Time to Craft #76 - Elegant Rose
Quixotic #11 - Flutter By
Flutterby Wednesdays #94 - butterfly, fairy or angel
Your Next Stamp #8 - Anything That Sparkles
Cooking It Up With Katie #9 - "non human" image + texture + a product you've never used before. My texture is from the Stickles, and my new products are the roses and white pearly flower.


Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Teddy with bouquet", coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with Stickles;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Papers: Papermania "Blueberry Hill"; BasicGrey "Two Scoops" (pink butterfly);
Supplies: Pink/cream roses from John Lewis, decorated with Stickles; white satin/pearl flower from Edwin Allen; BasicGrey "Opaline" demi-perles;
Tools: Martha Stewart large monarch butterfly punch; large circles, small circles and large classic scalloped circles nestabilities.

I think I may be taking a couple of days' break from crafting and blogging to recover from the stresses of the past few days ... but I hope I may get chance to play over the weekend :-)

Blimey! ... and a funky Rudolph

Blimey - I didn't make a card for a whole ten days until last night .... where has the last week and a half gone to lol?? I'm surprised I didn't have to go to the Priory for counselling to recover from my withdrawal symptoms!

Anyhow, I managed a little sesh last night and made two cards from scratch plus completed another two which had been hanging around the house for a while. Here's the first one, which I have nicknamed "Funky Rudolph" !


I followed the fab sketch for this week's Friday Sketchers #80 - suitably encouraged by the Magnolia-licious prize they have on offer this week :-)

I also chose my Christmas theme and contemporary colours for the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers #9 - Alternative Christmas
A Spoon Full of Sugar #80 - Non-traditional Christmas colours
Charisma Cardz #47 - Anything Christmas
Creative Card Crew #39 - Christmas
Stamp With Fun #35 - Christmas
Stamp with Stampavie #72 - Christmas

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "slapstick" stamp "Fancy Antler", coloured with watercolour pencils;
Sentiment: Penny Black "a wish...." (3502F), stamped with Versacolour chalk ink;
Paper: BasicGrey "Eskimo Kisses";
Supplies: pearls gems, and pink/brown dotty ribbon (just seen) from my stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart "embossed snowflakes" edge punch; Cuttlebug "snowlakes #2" die.

Off to have a cup of tea now and catch up with some telly - hope to be back tomorrow with another card :-)

Teddy & robin

I just had to have a play with my cute new Gillian Roberts stamp "Bear & Robin" - he is just sooo cute!

I made this card for this fortnight's Colour Create Challenge #32 - green, red & white, for Simon Says - Animal Antics, and I also followed the sketch over at this week's Friday Sketchers #79.


I also made this card to fit a few more challenges, namely

Spoon Full of Sugar #78 - Baby's First Christmas/ Pre-Schooler. I don't actually have any babies or pre-schoolers amongst my immediate friends and family, but i thought this card with its cute image and fairly simple layout and strong colorus would be appropriate if I had :-)
One Stop Craft Challenge #56 - Snowflakes
Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge #7 - Merry Christmas, Happy Winter!
Die Cut Dreams - Santa

Recipe:
Main image: Gillian Roberts "Bear & Robin" coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with polar white Flowersoft & glamourdust;
Sentiment; Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Paper: make unknown;
Supplies: pearl brad and spacer from The Hobby House; "ice gold" pearlised white card and pearlised red cardstock from Edwin Allen; Papermania gems; red ribbon from Warrington market;
Tools: Shapeabilities "make a Flake 2"; cuttlebug "Snowflakes" embossing folder.

Here's a close up of teddy with his darling fluffy hat!

Hope you're having a great weekend and thanks for looking.

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!

A Brown Paper Bag Full of Sugar

I'm part of a group of crafty friends, where each month one member of the group sends everyone else some supplies, with an instruction to make a project using what we receive. This month our mission was set by Cathy, who asked us to decorate a brown paper bag. Now I had never done this before although I did receive a totally fabulous one as an image wallet from the lovely Marcea, so I couldn't wait to get started. I really enjoyed doing it, and hope to make more in future.

Now I hope you'll humour me over the number of photos in this post, but I really was quite chuffed by how it turned out. It was a big project which took me quite a few hours all bank holiday afternoon and much of the evening, and it has 4 sides fully decorated, which is rather more than I usually manage.... So on that basis I would like to split it into two for challenge purposes - I hope the challenge blogs think that's fair...

I'd like to enter the OUTSIDE (front) for the Sugar Bowl Challenge #18 - Kathy's sketch + buttons ...

and as a totally separate issue I'd like to enter the INSIDE into the Spoon Full of Sugar challenge # 67 - distressing, Everybody-Art-Challenge #55 - brown & blue, and Dutch Dare #25 - Back In Time: I would like to tie it in to Challenges #8 "Pimp Some Packaging" and/or #11 - "not a card".

So .... here's the front .....


Seeing as the paper bag was brown, I decided to go for an overall vintage look and feel. I stamped Sugar Nellie "Basket of Happiness", coloured her with watercolour pencils and decorated her hat with tiny pearls. The shape was cut using large deckled rectangle nesties, and I distressed the edges with Antique Linen & Walnut distress inks. I cut all the edges of my K&Co papers with deckle edge scissors and then layered them onto dark blue pearlised card, which gave a bit of sturdiness when stuck on to the paper bag.

I also used crocheted ribbon from Quixotic Paperie, Prima flowers, blue, cream and tan tea roses from Hobbycraft, a cute bonnet charm from Dolls Made Up, and pearls, ribbon, dragonfly brad & button from my stash. the dark blue swirl was cut using Shapeabilities "doodles".

And here's the back ....


I also partly followed the Sugar Bowl sketch for the back of the bag. The papers and techniques were similar to above, and the sentiment stamp is from Great Impressions.

Here's the inside ...

On the inside, I used more of the same papers. On the left I used the lighter paper (no rigid card) tucked under the bottom of the paper bag, which I secured to form a "pocket". I then used the dark paper matted into blue pearlescent card to give a bit of structure and shape to the pocket, and slightly tucked my sentiment inside. The sentiment is Penny Black "... dreams..." (2711F) and the flowers are Penny Black "Aspire" (3381K), stamped in champagne gold ink. Nestie shapes, distressing and other decorations are as before.

.. and a closeup of the sentiment - I really love this stamp but the opportunity to use it doesn't seem to arise that often.


Here's another view of the front and back when the wallet is laid flat .....



.... and the inside when the wallet is standing up ....


Lastly, here's a view of the wallet with the opening - just ready to pop some images into!


I daresay it will be quite some time before I manage to sit down to a mammoth project like this again ... but i really loved doing it and really think it is a fab idea for an image wallet - so thanks Cathy for the inspiration.

Summer fruits

Here is a "Congratulations" card I made for a lady at work who has got a fantastic new job - I think hedgie looks so joyful he is clearly celebrating!

I made this card for this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge, which is to use any two or more of the colours lemon, orange, apple green and pink: well my paper is lemon, apple green and pink so I kind of took it from there and tried to co-ordinate the rest of my embellishments etc.

The summery papers also made me think of entering this card for a few other challenges - Cupcake Crafts #46 and A Spoon Full of Sugar #58 both have summer as their theme this week, and One Stop Craft Challenge #35 is fruity colours (I have used lemon, apple green and raspberry pink!!).

Here's the inside .... I've been getting a bit lazy and short on time to keep up with this tradition, but I do like it when I get round to it!

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Hedgehog Joy" coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with little pearl gems;
Sentiment: diecut using Cuttlebug cut'n'emboss folder;
Papers: K&Co "Wild raspberry", cut with MS doily punch;
Supplies: flowers, ribbon and pearls from my stash; Doodlebug "sugar coated" brads in the centre of my flowers; charm from The Hobby House; leaves punched with Leone Em "Ash Branch" punch.

Zeddy teddy does the combo

Here is a baby card I have made for the birth of my dear friend Sharon's grandson, who was born after a very traumatic time for her family last week ... sending all my love and best wishes...hopefully the card has arrived so I am safe to post!



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

1. My start point was to use my favourite stamped image, which is the theme for this week's Creative Inspirations Challenge #9. I have lots of stamped images I really love but i think this one is without doubt my favourite .. he is even slumbering in my blog header lol! He also a very versatile teddy ... I have never used him for a baby card before but have seen him on other baby cards .. and he is so cute!
2. A Spoon Full of Sugar #52 - celebration! (Happy first birthday to SFoS too!)
3. Secret Crafter Challenge #33 - new beginnings
4. The Pink Elephant #15 - monograms and letters
5. Colour Create #16 - sky blue, tan & ecru -now I must hold my hand up and say it's mostly a happy accident that my card fits this challenge. Obviously we have blue for a boy + tan for a teddy; and as luck would have it I didn't think it neded much more colour ... I just did the flowers in pale blue and a kind of creamy colour. OK I hear you say, there is green in the leaves ... but nature is what it is, right?

Recipe:

Image: Penny Black "Sweet Slumber" coloured with watercolour pencils and flowers decorated with Stickles.

Paper: Forever Friends Christmas stack (!)

Supplies: Raffia lace from Hobbycraft threaded wtih two shades of blue ribbon from my stash; letters cut using Cuttlebug "Hippy Chick" alphavelt from ecru pearlescent card; flowers by Floradoodles; charm from Dolls Made Up.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend!