Penny Black Saturday #135 - January Sales!

Good morning everyone, and welcome once more to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who joined in last week and don't forget to check whether you have won last week's prize. Just a short post from me today as I'm still feeling pretty much under the weather, and also apologies because it also means I have not completed my commenting this week. So straight to business ... this week we have got a theme for you... January Sales Yes, we would like to see your bargain stash used on your project. Don't forget that the only rule is that you must submit a new piece of work, which must feature a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus. This week's prize is four roll of ribbon of the winner's choice from Fantastic Ribbons, for one randomly drawn winner. Hope you will visit the main challenge blog to see the fab creations from the rest of the team - here's mine. I didn't actually buy anything in this year's January sales (aren't I good??) so I reached for a couple of bargains from craft fairs I have visited previously. Many of my PB stamps have been bought at a discounted rate from the "bargain bucket" on the Stampers Supermarket stall at Port Sunlight, including this one. I also got a good price for my MS border punch last year at Aintree craft show. Recipe: Main image: Penny Black "Crossing Bridges!" (3206J), coloured with Promarkers and Copics; Sentiment: Penny Black "the journey" (3177F); Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time"; Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from stash; Tools: large circles and lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "floral vine" deep edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch; Cuttlebug "Daisy pattern" embossing folder. I would like to enter this for the following challenges: Sketch & Stash #53 -

(new paper; neglected stamp, sentiment, embossing folder and border punch) Fab 'n' Funky #56 - Animal Magic Simon Says - Bingo!

(Punch/die cuts, embossing; ribbon) Crafty Catz #66 - A Forgotten Stamp Wild Orchid Challenge #15 - Let's Get Sentimental Top Tip Tuesday #18 - All Sentimental

Paper Sundaes #52 - Favourite Challenge from the Past Year (3rd entry)

(this time I have chosen #14 - No People) That's all from me - hoping to spend the day with my feet up :-)

Keeping It Simple

There hasn't been much going on in my craft space for the past few days, as I have been off work since the middle of the week with a stinking head cold. I've spent the past couple of days ambling listlessly around the house - yesterday I never even got dressed til mid afternoon, so I'm feeling pretty dopey and sorry for myself. I thought today I would try making a card to cheer myself up a bit, but my energy has got up and run for the door, so I stuck with a couple of simple themes which didn't require too much mental attention lol!


I made a card which is rather more simple than my usual style, and would like to enter it for the following challenges:

Challenge Up Your Life #35 - Clean and Simple
Creative Craft - Monochromatic Madness
Crafts & Me #22 - Monochrome
Wee Memories #39 - For the Love of Ribbon
Papertake Weekly - Ribbons and Pearls
Creative Belli #109 - The letter P (petals, pearls)
Pile It on #3 - Anything Goes
Paper Sundaes #52 - Favourite Challenge of the Past Year (2nd entry)
(this time I have chosen #46 - Adorn Those Corners)

I have to confess I also made this card with a view to entering it into the Passion for Promarkers Challenge ... but ... errr ... I didn't use Promarkers - oops!! (told you my head was full of cold lol!!)

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Blush" (2666K) inked with Marvey brushstroke pens;
Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles;
Paper: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time";
Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; patterned ribbon from my stash;
Tools: small circle and lacy circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart PATP corner punch "Wild Flowers".

Off now to cheer myself up with a coffee and a cupcake ... see if that will get my mojo back on track!! :-)

Hello baby!

I rarely have the need to make baby cards, but I made a couple last week for "New Beginnings" challenges - one for a girl and one for a boy. No sooner done than a colleague's wife had a baby girl, and next minute another colleague asked me if I could make a card for another baby girl ... I was actually quite thrilled as I don't very often get asked to make one.

So here's another card for a baby girl - my second within two weeks!


Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Basket of Joy (2075F), coloured with Promarkers;
Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles;
Papers: checked paper by Deja Views; glitter dots card from local craft shop;
Supplies: wild rose and cherry blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts edged with Stickles; blossom stems from local craft shop; ribbon-threaded lace from my recent winning prize pack from An Oldie But a Goodie Challenge;
Tools: large, small and lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "eyelet lace" PATP.


Normally when I send cards that have raised elements such as flowers, I put them in a padded envelope (top tip - Wilkinsons padded white CD mailers - decent looking and 70p for four!!) ... but in this case I didn't feel it would be appropriate to provide a padded envelope to the girl who is giving this card as it would rather spoil the ambience. So I got a bit carried away and made a box for the card :-)

I made the base from normal white linen cardstock, and the lid from the same pearlescent pink bazzill that I had used for matting the image on the card. I told myself I wasn't going to spend too long decorating it, but came up with the quick but (I hope) effective idea of plonking a fancy tag on the top ready to write the baby's name and date of birth. This also had the added advantage of allowing me to use my brand new "Magnolia vintage" tag which I have been itching to do for the past couple of days :-)


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

Passion for Promarkers #82 - Baby Cards
Crafty Creations #101 - New Beginnings
Crafty Pad #104 - Something New
Penny Black At Allsorts (January) - All You Need is Love
Totally Gorjuss #63 - Cuddly
Corrosive #99 - Lace and Pearls
Incy Wincy #76 - Go Dotty
The Ribbon Girl #4 - Pink & Green
Top Tip Tuesday # 17 - Anything Goes
(I have also left 2 tips linked to this post)

Paper Sundaes #52 - Favourite Challenge of the Past Year
(I really like the Paper Sundaes Challenges, and have chosen #40 "For Someone Little" - I am a bit late entering with this as I was a bit confused what was required [doesn't take much!!] but now I've looked again at the challenge i would like to enter ;-) )

I have also used (and flipped) the sketch for January's Crafters' Companion Challenge #8 for a second time - not sure if two entries are allowed but I'm giving it a go :-)

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

A few of my favourite things (2nd post today!)

Whilst waiting excitedly for my new LotV stamps to arrive, I thought I would pass the time by playing with another of the stamps I have had been storing but not got around to inking up. I have had this adorable bear and butterflies since last summer, but am ashamed to say this is the first card I have ever made using him ... but I'm certain it won't be the last :-) . As predicted I also used some more of my scrummy new FF "Spring Time" paper, and threw around a few of my fave WOC flowers including a yummy daffodil which was part of my Secret Santa Christmas present :-).


Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Bear and Butterflies", coloured with Promarkers & Copics and decorated with glamour dust; Sentiment: Craftwork Cards;
Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time" pad;
Supplies: all flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, glittered with Stickles; pearls from The Hobby house;
Tools: Martha Stewart "Wild Flowers" PATP edge punch and small monarch butterfly punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

I specifically made this card to tie in with two of my favourite challenges - Lili of the Valley challenge #80 - Things With Wings, and the sketch for Wild Orchid Challenge #14.



I would also like to enter this card for

Sentimental Sundays #37 - Anything With WingsWinter Wonderland - Paws for Thought
Stamp With Stampavie #124 - Glitter
I ♥ ProMarkers #48 - Punches
Pollycraft #75 - New Things

( stamp, paper, edge punch)

My Partner In Crafting Crime #17 - Something New
Stamp Something - Anything Goes
Fuzzy Wuzzy #5 - Anything Goes

Since I made this card my latest LotV stamps have arrived - yippee!! - so I daresay I will be having a stamping frenzy in the near future lol!

Penny Black Saturday #134 - Card buffet

Woo hoo !! Saturday again, and time for anther Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks as always to everyone who entered last week - there were some fab entries. Don't forget to check the main blog to see if you have won any of last week's three prizes .. including my scrummy "Aspire" stamp :-)

This week we are trying something different and new, and would like to invite you to join us for a

Card Buffet
Please take any 4 of the following items:

Patterned Paper
Ribbon
3 gems
3 flowers
3 buttons
Twine
A charm

.... and use them to make your card.

How yummy is that??

And talking of yummy, we have a fab prize this week for one lucky randomly drawn winner, from our regular sponsor Penny Black Inc.


It's these 2 gorgeous "slapstick" stamps - woo hoo!

40-024 Rain or Shine


40-011 Paisley Swirls



Don't forget that in order to be eligible for the prize, you must link to a new piece of work. and must use a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as the main focus of your project.
the other DT members have been tucking in to the buffet with a vengenance, but luckily they left some for me ;-) so here is my card for this week.
Earlier in the week i put in a li'l order to The Glitterpot and it arrived the next day (amazing!), so I just had to play with my scrummy new paper pack which is "Forever Friends - Spring Time" - you will be seeing quite a few of cards using these papers in the near future. I had a little root around and found these cute heart shaped buttons in my box, which I thought went pretty well with the papers. I had also got in mind that I wanted to make a cheer-up card for a colleague and friend who has been quite poorly recently, so the "Friends" charm just kinda suggested itself, and I decided to be bold and try some twine instead of ribbon - so that was 4 items from the buffet - job done!


Recipe:
Main image; Penny Black "Duckling" (3347H), coloured with Promarkers;
Sentiment: Whiff of Joy "swirls" set;
Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time";
Supplies: Papermania shiny purple twine; charm from Bunny Zoe's Crafts; buttons from stash;

Tools: Martha Stewart "doily lace" punch.
I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Simon Says - Sketch

(I rotated it by 90 degrees to the left and must admit that I have only just spotted the delicate swirls .. but luckily it seems some of the DT didn't include them either so I hope they'll be kind ;-) )

Oldie But A Goodie #10 - Bright & Cheerful
Cupcake #124 - Something New (my paper pack)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #16 - Heart Theme
Paper Play #2 - Cutie Patootie
Top Tip Tuesday #17 - Anything Goes
Craft your Days Away #11 - Anything Goes

Have a great weekend and help yourselves to the buffet ;-)

Yummy LotV candy

LotV Ideas to Inspire is today directing us to the blogs of all the company DT members, where the ladies not only have fab sneak peeks of the latest LotV release due out on Tuesday, but also fabulous candy to give away - yippee!!

You'll need to hurry though .... thse sweet treats are only on offer until midnight tomorrow (Monday Jan 10th).

Can you tell by the fact that I have posted on my main blog (not even my sidebar) that I would REALLY REALLY ... (100 more reallys...) like to win??lol!!

Penny Black Saturday #133 and 1st Crafty Calendar DT card

Good morning, and I hope you're having a great weekend. I have lots to share today, as not only is it the first challenge of 2011 for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, but also today is my first DT card for the monthly Crafty Calendar Challenge!

So taking things one step at a time ......

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #133

Thanks so much to everyone who found time amongst the Christmas preparations to take part in the last challenge of 2010 - there were some stunning entries as always. Don't forget to check whether you won a prize on the main challenge blog.

The DT is now raring to go with a whole load of new challenges for 2011, and this week we would like to see projects on the theme of

New Beginnings

As always you can interpret his however you like - the only rules are that you must link to a new project which uses a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as the main project focus.

This week we have not one but THREE fantasic prizes for three randomly drawn winners.

Firstly we have a new monthly sponsor - The Ribbon Girl


- who is offering the following prize.


Secondly our regular sponsor 1-2-3 Stitch is offering a $20 prize voucher to spend in their online store ...

And last but not least, I am offering a prize of this gorgeous Penny Black wooden stamp "Aspire"



(if you would like to see a couple of example cards using this stamp, click here and here ... the more observant amongst you may also notice that this stamp appears in my blog header :-))

The rest of the DT have made some gorgeous samples - hope you will visit them to have a look. Here is my card for this week.


Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Basket of Joy" (2075F), coloured with Promarkers;
Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles;
Papers: baby blue gingham by Craft Creations; floral patterned gingham free with an old craft magazine;
Supplies: heart buttons were a Christmas present from my dear friend Kaz; ribbon from my stash;
Tools: small, large and lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "eyelet lace" PATP.

I would like to enter this card for:

Simon Says - New Beginnings
Creative Card Crew - New Beginnings
Quirky Crafts #1 - New Beginnings
Order of the Opus Gluei #84 - It's a New Year, Baby
Stampin' for the Weekend - New & Blue
Cute Card Thursday #146 - Out With the Old
(I have used an old image from an image swap, old ribbon from stash and paper from a very old craft magazine)
Delightful Challenges - Buttons
Sketch & Stash #52

Crafters' Companion #8 - sketch + option of Something New(thanks to Lisa for the heads up on this one!)

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

Crafty Calendar Challenge - January

I am really excited to have joined the Crafty Calendar DT for the New Year, and this is my first DT card.

The Crafty Calendar Challenge for January runs until 8pm GMT on Friday 4th February, and again is on the theme of

New Beginnings
with an optional extra of punched borders.

This month we have a wonderful prize from our sponsor and this month's guest designer Janet at Pink Gem Designs.

which is the pack of digi papers "Oh Boy"
It must be such a rare occurrence for two DT cards to fall due on the same day with the same theme, that I must admit I was tempted to combine both into one card ... but no!! I made the effort, and here is another baby card ... this time for a girl :-)

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "dream a dream" (3615H) coloured with Copics and Promarkers;
Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles;
Paper: from my stash;
Supplies: all flowers from Wild orchid Crafts; sparkly ribbon from Kaz; velvet ribbon and peel off corners from my stash;
Tools: small circles, large circles and labels nestabilities.

I would also like to enter this one for

Dutch Dare #94 - New BeginningsTuesday Taggers - A New Beginning
Creative Cottage #30 - Something New
(New baby, new WOC flowers, new LotV sentiment)
Rainbow Lady #134 - It's All New to Me
(new items as above)
Teddy Stampers #27 - Celebrations!
Secret Crafter #116 - Tons of Texture
Fab 'n' Funky #54- Anything Goes

Hope you will be able to join in both of these challenges - look forward to seeing your creations!

Have a great weekend.

Exciting news and a couple of sneak peeks

I was really excited when Lisa asked me to join the DT of the Crafty Calendar Challenge, which posts a new challenge on the first Saturday of every month ... the first challenge for 2011 is tomorrow - Saturday 8th January.

And don't forget that after a two week Christmas break, the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is also back tomorrow with its first challenge for 2011.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks of what's in store ....




Back tomorrow where all will be revealed :-)

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 .....

Many Thanks

Yesterday I started 2011 in the way I mean to go on (I'm sure it can't last!!) ... and made 2 DT cards ahead of time - they're not needed until NEXT WEEKEND - yay! Having done that I rewarded myself with a little play, and made 2 cards for a few challenges.

Here's the first card .... I had almost forgotten I had this cute Forever friends stamp but was reminded when I received a couple of very cute FF shop bought Christmas cards ... I mentioned to a colleague that you can actually get stamps to hand make a FF card and she was really interested!


Recipe:
Main image: Forever Friends, coloured with Copics and Promarkers;
Sentiment:Penny Black transparent set "Salutations";
Papers: My Mind's Eye;
Supplies: Prima flowers; Doodlebug sparkly brads; lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; spacers and pink velvet ribbon from my stash;
Tools: large classic ovals and scalloped ovals nestabilities; Marainne D Creatables "flower swirl" die.
I would like to enter this one for the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Be ThankfulAllsorts #84 - Thank You
Cute Card Thursday #145 - Thank You
Winter Wonderland - Thank YouCRAFT #83 - Thank You
Charisma #51 - Pearls and Lace
Passion for Promarkers #80 - Anything Goes
I ♥ ProMarkers #46 - Anything Goes
Kaboodle #48 - Anything Goes

Hope you are enjoying the end of the New year holiday ... back to work tomorrow (sigh!)