Penny Black Saturday #166 - Sketch!

Yippee! not only is it a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, but it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. So plenty of time to get down to some crafting and submit your entries this week :-)  Yikes my scheduled post failed again this week so it's a good job I logged on again this morning!!

Thanks very much to everyone who entered last week's Shabby Chic challenge - fabulous entries everyone!

This week we have a brilliant sketch for you by our wonderful teamie Nat.

We are also offering a brilliant prize as always - this week it is 4 rolls of ribbon of the winner's choice from our regular sponsor Fantastic Ribbons

Yummy!

All the ladies on the DT have really rocked the sketch, and I really enjoyed working with it. Here is what I produced.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black transparent set "Christmas Critters" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: LotV Christmas sentiment circles;

Papers: Dovecraft "Jolly Holiday" collection;

Supplies: poinsettas and gold leaf from Prima Christmas Bubble; pearls from The Hobby House; sparkly ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large and small circle nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables flourish die.

As I am entering this for a "glitter" challenge, here is a (not very good) closeup of the glitter on the poinsetta and glittery ribbon ...

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Dies To Die For

Stampavie and More #150 - Christmas In Summer

Christmas Card Challenge #38 - Glitter

Penny Black At Allsorts (August) - Free & Easy (3rd & final entry)

Totally Gorjuss #95 - As You Like It

Have a great weekend whatever you've got planned, and I look forward to seeing your creations.

I Love Pickle!

No, this isn't an exhortation to "bring out the Branston's", but a declaration of adoration for this cute little guy who features on Wild Rose Studio's latest release of stamps - isn't he the cutest ever?? As soon as I saw these stamps I had to order two ... I'm currently waiting for the lovely ladies at The Glitterpot to send me the second one as some naughty person must have popped the last one into their basket at the same time as me, but I'm sure it will soon be here. Meanwhile I just HAD to make a card with this adorable stamp "Pickle With Presents".

This stamp is really quite big, so I decided to keep the whole thing simple and make a card for this week's Less Is More challenge - Things That Move. I'm sure you'll agree that Pickle is putting his best foot forward dragging along that sleigh, even though the vehicle would also move of its own accord if it was given just the teeniest push downhill in the snow !  I know that the general LIM style is arty rather than cute but I thought this one ticks the boxes, so I couldn't resist!

I'm very pleased with this stamp as it is very simple to colour, which I'm sure will be a godsend when it gets nearer to Christmas!!

Recipe:

Main image: Wild Rose Studio "Pickle With Presents", coloured with Promarkers and dusted with glamour dust on his hat :-);

Sentiment: Pink Gem Designs;

Supplies: dotty ribbon from a box of Christmas goodies sent to me by Helen;

Tools: background white pearlescent card embossed with Cuttlebug "snowflakes" folder.

Challenges:

Less Is More #29 - Things That Move

Totally Gorjuss #94 - Cute and Cuddly

Passion for Promarkers #114 - No Patterned Paper

Ooh-La-La #87 - No Backing Paper

Charisma #34 - Glitter It!

That's all for now ... back on Saturday with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Oldie But A Goodie #26 - Lots of Sparkle!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another Oldie But A Goodie challenge. Thanks to  everyone who entered our last challenge - don't forget to check whether you have won Lisa Jane's fab prize.

This fortnight it is Tracy's turn to choose the theme, and she has picked

Lots Of Sparkle

Well I don't need to be asked twice when it comes to that one, and I'm sure you won't either!

This time we are sponsored by Robyn's Fetish - full prize details on the main challenge blog.

I think it would be fair to say that I have gone for a complete sparkle-fest on this card, with gliiter card, glamour dust, stickles and sparkly ribbon - and here it is ...

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Rosie With Cake", coloured wtih Promarkers and Copics, and decorated wtih glamour dust;

Sentiments: both from Penny Black transparent set "Salutations";

Papers: Pink Petticoat (dotty) and unknown (checked);

Supplies: all flowers from Crafts4U2Do decorated wtih Stickles; sparkly ribbon from local craft shop; clear gems from my stash;

Tools: "Labels ?" nestabilities; martha Stewart "eyelet lace" edge punch and small "monarch butterfly" punch; Magnolia "vintage tag" die.

Challenges:

Sunday Sketch & Stamp #69 - Sketch

Simon Says - Food & Drink

Pile It On #34 - Sweet Treats

Pretty Little Ribbon #1 - Use a Pretty Ribbon

Kaboodle #81 - Ribbons

Corrosive #130 - Girlie

My TIme To Craft #154 - Here Come The Girls

Birthday Sundaes #23 - Pink, Green and White

Crazy4Challenges #101 - Bingo!

 (square card / die cuts / 2 or more DP's)

Sentimental Sundays #69 - Birthday

Looking forward to seeing all your sparkling creations!

Red, Cream and Gold Christmas

Just a quick post from me this evening, as I'm skidding in by the seat of my pants to a couple of challenges that close this evening!

I spotted that this week's Penny Black Blog challenge is red, cream and gold, and as luck would have it I had a PB poinsetta image already inked up and ready to go ... so I sought out some tradtional coloured papers, plugged in to a sketch and here's the result.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Ponsetta" coloured wtih Marvey markers and distressed with TH "Antique Linen" distress ink;

Sentiment: LotV Christmas sentiment circles;

Papers: Papermania "Silent Night" collection;

Supplies: ribbon, pearls and lace from my stash;

Tools: small circle nestabilities.

Challenges:

Penny Black Blog - Red, Cream and Gold

Cupcake - Birthday Sketch

Totally Papercrafts #80 - Christmas In August

Gotta dash so I can link up before the challenges close :-) Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Penny Black Saturday #165 - Shabby Chic

Good morning - it's Saturday and time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Oops - just realised at 1.30pm my scheduled post didn't work - sorry! Thanks to everyone who joined in last week - fab entries as always! Sorry if I haven't managed to get round all my commenting .... I have had a rotten cold for a full 2 weeks now which for some reason I seem unable to shake off - oh the misery of sniffling and vicious nose blowing all day long!!

Anyhow ... onward and upward! This week we have a brilliant theme for you which I really love -

Shabby Chic

The possibiilties for this are endless .. cute creatures used in conjunction with shabby chic techniques, or you could use any of the vintage style figure stamps, or even go for a traditional look with florals (esp the fabby brushstroke stamps)! However just a quick reminder of the rules ... in order to qualify for the weekly prize you should submit a new piece of work which features a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo is its main focus .. that's why we're called the Penny Black Saturday Challenge ;-).

And talking of prizes .. this week we have an adorable stanp for you from our lovely ex-teamie Carole

"Love Nip"

Awww!

Do hope you'll check out the shabby (but in a very good way!) examples created by the rest of the team - here is my effort for this week.

My starting point for this card was my Martha Stewart PATP punch set. I have used the individual punches several times, but had never yet created a completed PATP square as the size is slightly bigger than a normal square card (15.4 cm to be exact). However I started trying to think creatively, and decided to make an easel card whereby I would cut away the part of the easel which supports the front of the card, so that you would be able to see through the cut outs in the punchwork when the card is standing up. It was a bit fiddly but I'm actually rather pleased with the result :-)

I selected my BasicGrey papers on the basis of a shabby chic colour scheme, and then realised that the space  left for an image isn't very big ... so I turned to a cute but vintage style hedgie from one of my transparent sets - I'd never inked him up until now, shame on me!! I also tried to add a few other elements which I interpret as shabby chic such as lace, seam binding, vintage gold coloured spacers and charm, pearls, deckle edging and a vintage tag. This card actually took forever to produce, but I am pleased with it and think I will give it to one of my best friends for her birthday.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black transparent set "Tiny Wishes", coloured wtih Promarkers and edges distressed wtih TH distress ink;

Sentiment: See D "Celebration Messages":

Papers: BasicGrey "Capella" (thanks Laurie);

Supplies: Prima hydrangeas (thanks again Laurie!); seam binding from Wild Orchid Crafts (thanks Helen); pearls and spacers from The Hobby House; lace, brads and charm from my stash;

Tools: Martha Stewart "Wild Flowers" PATP; Magnlia doohickey "vintage tag" die; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch; X-Cut small butterfly punch.

As easel cards are so notoriously difficult to photograph, here's a closeup of the front.

Challenges:

I ♥ ProMarkers #79 - Easel Card

Bunny Zoe's Challenge #15 - Easel Card
Fuzzy Wuzzy #12 - Shaped Card

Flutterby Wednesdays #167 - Punches or Die Cuts + a Butterfly

Fussy & Fancy #43 - Use A Lot

Fussy & Fancy 1000 followers - Celebrate Something

Papertake Weekly - Eyes Down, Look In

(Blooms/Pearls/Lace)

Ribbon Girl - Use Ribbon

Dream Valley #13 - Distressing

Penny Black at Allsorts (August) - Free & Easy (2nd entry)
BasicGrey #51 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us at Penny Black Saturday this week - have a great weekend.

Getting inky!

What with one thing and another I haven't had a lot of time for crafting outside of my DT cards over the past few weeks, but I was determined that I would join in with this week's Less Is More Challenge to use ink in a new or favourite way on a one-layer card..

Over the past few months I have been starting to get into distress inks .. I'd never much bothered with them in the past, but now I really love making a mess on my non-stick craft mat!!  I decided that rather than using themn to sponge or brush a masked square, I would have a go at splodging inks onto an acrylic block and spritzing them with water before "stamping" onto my base card.

Approx ten attempts later this is what I ended up with ...

This is a card that I love in concept, but I have to admit that the execution leaves a bit to be desired ... I got rather impatient and as a result my text stamp is a little smudged, but my story is that that is all part of the grungy look ... and I'm sticking to it lol!

Recipe:

Main image: Unity set "Insighful Meadows" flowers stamped with TH "Chipped Sapphire" distress ink;

Background: text stamp by Crafty Individuals; background rectangle stamped using Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint distress inks;

Sentiment: Unity set as above.

Challenges:

Less Is More #28 - OLC - Use Ink

Crafts & Me #48 - Blues/Greens

Pile It On #33 - Three Shades of Blue

(Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass)

Off to catch up with my DT work now ...

Penny Black Saturday #164 - Touchy Feely

Good morning and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Hope you have had a good week ... mine hasn't been the best as I have been laid low by a really rotten stinking cold for over a week now. For some reason when I get one it is always really bad and takes a lot of shaking off. I've still been going into work but it's really taken it out of me, so thank goodness the weekend is here!! So I'm hoping to get some rest for at least part of the weekend and hopefully turn the corner!

Thanks very much to everyone who joined in last week's Anything Goes challenge - a brilliant variety of cards :-)  Don't forget to check out the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner.

This week our theme for you is

Touchy Feely

So we would like to see all sorts of yummy texture on your cards.

This week's fab prize is a $20 store voucher from 1-2-3 Stitch.

The other ladies have been very busy making fabulous strokable cards .. here's mine.

When I first saw the theme, the thing that came immediately into my head was the concept of "fluffy snow" , and I also thought that concentrating on texture chimes very well with making a white-on-white card ...and as luck would have it there are quite a few white challenges around right now!

I coloured my image using Promarkers, and decorated it "fluffy snow" made from flowersoft mixed with glamour dust ... although it doesn't seem to have stuck very thickly (I think my glue pen was running quite dry!).  I also went for further texture with dry embossing on pearlised white card, glitter card, glittery white lace and shimmer-edged ribbon ... hope this all counts as "touchy-feely"!! :-)

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Royal Mail" (3766J) coloured wtih Promarkers and decorated with Alpine White Flowersoft mixed with glamour dust;

Sentiment: Elzybells;

Supplies: white sparkly lace, ribbon, brad and pearls from my stash;

Tools: large circle and large scalloped circle nestabilities; Cuttlebug two different "Snowflakes" embossing folders and large snowflake die.

Challenges:

Simon Says - All White!

A Gem of a Challenge #27 - White on White

Fab 'n' Funky #85 - It's Christmas

Ooh-La-La #86 - Oh Christmas!

Jingle Belles - Bling on the Holidays

Christmas Sparkles #7 - Robins
Cute Card Thursday #177 - Clean & Simple

Truly Scrumptious #63 - Lace It Up!

Rainbow Lady #165 - Stamp It!

Crafty Catz #95 - Emboss It

The Crazy Challenge #79 - Embossing

Sketch & Stash #67 - Sketch

Hope you can join us this week - enjoy the weekend whatever you're doing.

Oldie But A Goodie #25 - The Great Outdoors

Hi everyone and welcome to another Oldie But a Goodie Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered last time - some fab interpretations of Francesca's sketch! Don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won the prize from the last challenge.

This time it is Lisa Jane's turn to choose the challenge theme, ad she has chosen

The Great Outdoors

.. and Lisa has also donated this fab prize by Flippin' Stamps ...

Don't forget that in order to be eligible for the prize you should submit a new piece of work which features a stamped image (no digis please) that is at least six months old.

I decided to interpret the great outdoors as encompassing nature and the garden ... and here's what I did ...

I really adore this Penny Black bunny and hadn't used him in a while, so I thought I would create a kind of country garden look with floral paper, and a punched garden trellis with butterflies and foliage.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Bunny Bath" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: Debbi Moore;

Papers: Prima;

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon recycled from some packaging (can't quite remember what now lol!)

Tools: large oval and large scalloped oval nestabilities; Martha Stewart "garden trellis" edge punch and small monarch butterfly punch; Marianne D Creatables foliage die.

Challenges:

Craft your Days Away #26 - Birthday

Sentimental Sundays #67 - Flowers

Penny Black Flickr Challenge - Nature

I ♥ ProMarkers #77 - Things With Wings

Spoon Full of Sugar #162 - Happy Birthday

Pollycraft #105 - Recycle

Hope you can join us this fortnight.

Hugs

Beary special mum ... with roses

It's my mum's birthday this coming weekend, so I decided to make her a card that would fit with this fortnight's Wild Orchid Challenge Beary Special and LotV Roses. I always like to go to town on my mum's cards ... the more flowers and details the better .. and this one is no exception lol!

I had a bit of a dilemma with this card actually, as I have to post it mid week, but mum is not at all well and is waiting for some test results which won't come until after I post it but before her birthday. So I have gone for a sentiment that I hope will hit the spot whatever.

For some reason I can't get a big picture of the A5 size card that fills the width of my blog post .. so here's a closeup of the cute teddy.

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Teddy Bouquet" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: LotV Sentiment Circles;

Papers: Best Creation Inc. (sparkly swirly paper) and Papermania "Henbury lane" (sparkly dots);

Supplies: roses and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; blossoms from Crafts4U2Do; Papermania heart gems;

Tools: large circle and large lacy circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart floral edge punch; marianne D Creatables swirls (from ribbon flower set); letters cut using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Challenge #29 - Beary Special

Lili of the Valley #108 - Roses

Charisma #31 - Bingo!

(flowers / gems / circles)

That's all for today ... back tomorrow with a new Oldie But A Goodie DT card :-)

Penny Black Saturday #163 - Anything Goes!

Hi everyone and welcome to this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Lots of fabulous entries last week .. it was really hard to pick a guest designer but somehow we managed it ... please pop over to the main challenge blog to check if it's you!!

This week we have a really nice and easy peasy challenge for you, as we know a lot of people are very busy with the summer holiday period ... our theme is

Anything Goes

The only rules to be eligible for this week's prizes are that you should submit a new piece of work that features a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus - other than that it's entirely up to you!!

And what prizes?? I hear you ask ... well this week we've got two fabulous ones for randomly drawn winners ....

From Penny Black

3914K Joy Filled Stockings

and from The Ribbon Girl

 a Fuschia Mini Ribbon Kit

So all in all there are plenty of reasons to enter this week! The rest of the DT have come up with a fabulous variety of sample cards - this is what I did.

Bizarrely, I actually found the theme of Anything Goes rather challenging to start with ... it was rather a case of being spoilt for choice so not knowing what direction to go in lol! I eventually decided though that I was feeling floral, and as I ruffled through my stash I came across a beautiful piece of glittery paper by The Robin's Nest (from Crafts4u2Do) which so reminds me of sunrises and sunsets ... so everything else kinda went from there.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Aspire", stamped twice onto a background created with "Scattered Straw" and "Dried Marigold" distress inks and a masked circle for the moon;

Sentiment: sticker from my stash;

Paper; The Robin's Nest (from Crafts4u2Do);

Supplies: all flowers from Crafts4U2Do; sparkly "sugar coated" brads by Doodlebug; metallic dragongly brads by Dovecraft; organza ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Fleur de Lys square nestabilities.

This card is rather unusual in that it is very shiny and sparkly but not on the image itself - just the paper, corner and dragongfly brads and the matting card - the ribbon is also rather shimmery. Here's a closeup... it doesn't really show the full glittery effect though!

Challenges:

Incy Wincy #105 - Monchromatic

My Mum's #17 - Monochromatic

Creative Inspirations #123 - Lemonade (yellow and white only)

Scrapbook Sisters #46 - Silhouette

Crafter's Companion #15 - Glitter and Glitz

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Penny Black at Allsorts (August) - Free & Easy

Cooking It Up With Katie #69 - Something Old, Something New, Favourite technique

(old stamp, new flowers, distressed background technique)

Bling It On #6 - A,B,C

("Aspire" rubber stamp; brads; cherry blossom flowers)

Hope you can join us this week - look forward to seeing your creations :-) have a great weekend.

CAS Contemporary Christmas

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I always find that however much I resolve to make my Chrimbo cards in good time, I always end up in a last minute panic come mid-December when I find I've nowhere near enough! Last year I tried to think of a  couple of reasonably simple concepts that I could use to make a number of cards quickly, and funnily enough the ones I made using that principle generally got the most positive comments from the recipients!! I also got a bit of a shocker last year when it came to postage costs, so I have decided that this year I'm going to make a few more "flat" cards that don't need "large letter" stamps!!

My local craft shop had some new stock of Marianne D Creatables Christmas bauble dies, and I could immediately see some possibilities to use them for this type of card. So I had a play last night and this is my first prototype :-)

As always mirror card is a bit difficult to photograph, but I can definitely see the scope for ringing the changes with different colours of bauble etc.

Recipe:

Sentiment: Stampendous;

Supplies: mirror card and gems from my stash;

Tools: Marianne D Creatables bauble dies; Dovecraft corner holly punch.

Challenges:

Sweet Stampin' - Christmas In July

Totally Gorjuss #91 - Christmas in July

Fussy & Fancy Friday #42 - Christmas In July

Crafty Catz #93 - Christmas in July

Simon Says - Christmas In August

PaperPlay #31 - Christmas In August

Cute Card Thursday #176 - No Designer Paper

Totally Papercrafts #77 - Bling It Up!

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me #46 - Anything Goes

Allsorts #114 - Free and Easy

Hope everyone is coping with the humid weather :-)