I ♥ ProMarkers #96 - Colour Combo

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another I ♥ ProMarkers Challenge. Thanks very much to everyone who entered last week's shaped cards challenge - fab entries, and don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you're the winner.

This week we have a colour combo for you -

Blue & White

You can either use this for a last minute Christmas make or go in a different direction altogether ... so long as you use Promarkers, Flexmarkers, Aquamarkers or Tria pens :-)

This week's prize is a £10 online store voucher for Crafty Emma's

Lovely! ... so what are you waiting for ??

I used this colour scheme to make my mum and dad's Christmas card ... and here it is.

This really is one of my fave stamps - I always make a few Chrimbo cards using Snowy as I think he is so adorable ... but I have never used him on a card for my mum and dad before. I also took the opportunity to use a couple of the fab blue coloured sheets from my Crafter's Companion "The Snowman" paper pack, as the pack is A5 and I always like to make an A5 card for my parents.

Stamps: Penny Black "Snowy" (2521K) and "a wish..." (3502F);

Media: Promarkers (Midnight Blue, Cornflower, Pastel Blue, Rose Pink, Cool Grey 1) and Flexmarkers (Glacier Blue, Blue Grey 1, Tea Rose);

Papers: Crafter's Companion "The Snowman";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls and large pearl brad from The Hobby House; lace from The Ribbon Box; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large circle and lacy circle nestabilities; Cuttlebug "Ice Crystal" die.

Challenges:

CYDA #35 - Snowmen

Paperplay #49 - Snowman
Papertake Weekly - I'm Dreaming Of A Blue Christmas
Stamptacular #142 - Christmas Glitz

Pretty Little Ribbon #5 - Christmas With A Bow

Incy Wincy #124 - Christmas With Brads

Passion For Promarkers #129 - Mega Christmas Challenge (2nd entry)
Crafty Purple Frog - It's Cold Outside

The Ribbon Reel #17 - Shabby Holiday Winter

(I used Blue + White + Silver)

Everybody Art #172 - Blue & White

DYSU #49 - Something Old

(I have had my Snowy stamp for several years !!)
Hotshot Crafts #1 - Promarkers (2nd entry)

Sunday Sketch & Stamp #85 - Sketch

(I flipped the sketch vertically)

Looking forward to seeing your creations this week :-)

I did what I had to do ...

According to the news, Monday was the busiest day of the year for the Royal Mail, as they had to cope with approximately double the normal volume of post - so I bet a lot of people must have been writing their Chrimbo cards whilst watching the X-Factor Final on Sunday evening lol!!

For me this was crunch time though, as I looked at my sorry stash of cards and could no longer deny the fact that I had made nowhere near enough!

So ... time for "Plan B" !! I visualised a simple card based around die cuts and a simple embossed greeting .... and I went for it major league!! 3 hours later I had made 16 cards that looked pretty much like this ....

Stamps: Pink Gem Christmas sentiment (heat embossed with gold powder);

Supplies: two shades of dark green glitter card, gold and holographic silver mirri card;

Tools: Marianne D Creatables "Fir Branch", "Baubles" and "Bauble/Star".

Challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge #161 - Traditional Christmas Colours

CES #65 - A Traditional Christmas

Crafty Hazelnut #50 - Traditional Christmas
Paper Sundaes #99 - Anything Christmas

Dream Valley #22 - Christmas

Hooked On Craft #14 - Christmas
Rainbow Lady #182 - Trees & Baubles

Crimbo Crackers #4 - Embossing

Cupcake #172 - Don't Look At The Light (sparkle & shine)

I also made another 12 cards based around other simple themes, but I was in such a rush to get them written I never took photographs - hey ho never mind!!

Back tomorrow with a new I ♥ ProMarkers Challenge - here's a sneak peek :-)

Have a great evening!

Penny Black Saturday #181 - Sketch

Good morning everyone, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who entered last week's Total White-Out challenge - fab entries as always, and a good opportunity for many of you to catch up on some last minute Christmas makes.

This week we have a sketch for you by our teamie Domi - fab layout and I'm sure you'll enjoy using it as much as I did.

Our prize this week for a randomly drawn winner is a $20 online gift voucher from our sponsor 1-2-3 Stitch to spend in their store - fab!

Don't forget to be eligible for the prize you need to use a Penny Black stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo as the main focus of your project.

The rest of the DT have really rocked the sketch so I hope you'll go look-see ... here's mine.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I  ordered 4 new Flexmarkers to increase my furry colouring options in the Letraset family (outside of using Copics!). Well they arrived yesterday so I was able to put them to work in colouring this little meece ... what d'you reckon?? (I coloured him using Flexmarkers "Cappuccino" and "Champagne", and Promarkers "Sandstone" and "Ivory").

Stamps: Penny Black "Xmouse ornament!" (1673H), "a wish..." (3502F);

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Crafter's Companion "The Snowman";

Supplies: various sparkly gems;

Tools: large oval and large scalloped oval nestabilities; Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch; Memory Box "Frosty Border" die.

Challenges:

Quirky Crafts #25 - It's Quirky Well Snowing!

Winter Wonderland - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Deep Ocean #14 - Let It Snow!

Top Tip Tuesday #63 - Let It Snow!

Totally Gorjuss #110 - Let It Snow!
Creative Inspirations #141 - Snow Much Fun!

The Pink Elephant #128 - Snowflakes & Sparkle

Crafts & Me #64 - Winter Snow / Snowflakes

Stampin' For The Weekend - Christmas
Incy Wincy #123 - Non-Traditional Christmas Colours

Moving Along With The Times #127 - Last Minute Christmas

Crafty Creations #147 - Card With A Sentiment

Cute Card Thursday #194 - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #112 - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion #87 - Anything Goes + Glitter (2nd entry)

Despite all the bad weather and last minute Christmas panic, hope you can join us this week!

I ♥ Promarkers #95 - Shaped Card

Hello everyone and welcome to another I ♥ Promarkers Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered last week's snowmen and snowflakes challenge - gorgeous entries!

This week's theme is

A Shaped Card

... by which we really mean anything but a rectangle or square lol!

This week we have a fantastic prize on offer for a randomly drawn winner ... a £10 store gift voucher from the lovely Joanna Sheen

Don't forget ... to be eligible for the prize draw you must use Promarkers, Flexmarkers, Aquamarkers or Tria pens on your creation :-)

The rest of the DT have been fantastically creative and have come up with some fabulous cards - do check them  out.

Again this was a bit of a challenge for me ... I don't really "do" shaped cards as I don't have any large cutting machines, mega-nesties or anything like that ... so the biggest I can make is the size of a standard nestie. Not to be deterred though I decided to make a mini-easel, so at least I would have a bit more space to play with. I also chose fairly teeny decorative elements, including a small image for my main focus ... Yes, you've guessed it - it's the li'l Forever Friends Santa teddy lol!! In fact this card was the reason for me getting out the stamp whereby I ended up colouring eight images (see Monday's post lol!).

Anyhoo .. here's the result.

I have to confess this is also the first time I have coloured a bear using Promarkers, as in the past I found I couldn't get the right shades so bought (whisper it quietly!!) 5 Copics especially for the purpose.However I persevered this time as Iwas determined to do right by the spirit of the challenge. Not entirely happy wiith my colouring but I have ordered 4 new Flexmarkers to give me more furry colouring options in future lol!!

Stamp: Forever Friends;

Media: Promarkers & Flexmarkers; glamour dust on coat and hat;

Papers: none - ultra white pearlescent card;

Supplies: flowers by Petaloo; sentiment by Craftwork Cards; gems from The Hobby house; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: small, large and scalloped circle nestabilities; Cuttlebug "Snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges:

CES #64 - Bear Necessities

Allsorts #132 - Going Round in Circles

Passion For Promarkers #129 - Mega Christmas Challenge

Forever Friends (December) - It's All Christmas

Bling it On (December) - It's Christmas

Creative Card Crew - 'Tis The Season

Crazy 4 Challenges #116 - Inspired By A Christmas Movie

(Santa Claus - The Movie)

Pile It On #49 - Bling It Up!

Christmas Inspirations #38 - Folded Card

Crazy Challenge #96 - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us this week at I ♥ Promarkers and look forward to seeing what you create :-)

Sending Love At Christmas

Yesterday evening I sat down to a bit of a colouring session, and completely outdid any previous attempts at batch colouring as I completed EIGHT images of this gorgeous FF Santa teddy. Or to put it another way ... over the next week or two you are likely to see this image featuring on my cards a LOT lol!

Stamps: Forever Friends Santa teddy; Pink Gem sentiment;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on coat and hat;

Papers: Dovecraft "Holly Jolly";

Supplies: flower by WIld Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House;

Tools: large oval and large scalloped oval nestabilities; Cheery Lynn "holly flourish" die.

Challenges:

Crimbo Crackers #3 - Santa

Kaboodle #96 - Colours of Christmas

Sparkles #26 - One You Love At Christmas

Daring Cardmakers - December Flowers (Holly)

Crafts & Me #63 - Pearls & Swirls

My Mum's #34 - Keeping Warm

Paper Sundaes #98 - Sundae Bar

(I used red + stripes + die cuts)

Craft Your Passion #87 - Anything Goes + Glitter

Simon Says - Anything Goes
Totally Gorjuss #109 - Sketch

The weather here has been absolutely freezing today, t hough we haven't had any snow (YET!!). Hope you are all keeping warm .. I'm just off for a cockle-warming cup of tea now :-)

LotV - Anything But a Christmas Card

What with the Christmas rush I don't seem to have made anything other than Chrimbo cards recently. However my best friend from school has her birthday coming up this next week; so this week's LotV challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to use my fave LotV fairy, and also some very girly but slightly eclectic papers I bought at Port Sunlight craft fair a couple of months ago and haven't yet had chance to use yet!  :-)   I also decided to follow the fab sketch at this month's Quixotic Paperie challenge - I flipped it vertically as I felt that was more appropriate given the way the fairy is facing,  but I hope you can still see the basic layout :-)

I absolutely adore this pretty fairy and never tire of colouring her - probably because I also adore fluffy dandelion clocks. As this card was for my oldest friend I did rather go to town on it, so I hope you'll excuse the large number of photos.

I also decorated the inside which is rather unusual for me nowadays - here's a pic.

Stamps: LotV "Dandelion Clock";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on dandelion clocks and fairy wings;

Papers: Crafty Individuals "Springtime";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and Crafts4u2Do; lace from The Ribbon Box; pearls and large pearl brad from The Hobby House; sentiment by Craftwork Cards; two-tone organza ribbon from my stash.

Tools: Martha Stewart "wildflowers" PATP edge punch; X-Cut small butterfly punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges::

LotV #123 - Anything But A Christmas Card

Penny Black & More At Allsorts (December) - Happy Birthday
Hotshot Crafts #1 - Promarkers

DYSU #48 - Ribbon (2nd entry)

Simon Says - Anything Goes
The Ribbon Reel #16 - Anything Goes
Quixotic Paperie #2 - Sketch

Crafty Pad #150 - Give It A Punch (at least 3 punched shapes)
(not sure whether this meant 3 different shapes ... I have 2 small butterflies, 2 larger leaves, 1 smaller leaf, and 1 edge punch flower ...)
Thanks for visiting. Hope you're having a great day :-)

Penny Black Saturday #180 - Total White Out

Hello everyone, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. It was fabulous to see all your Christmas-themed makes over the past four weeks - we hope it has helped you get on top of the Chrimbo rush lol!

Now we are into December .. the big day is a mere 22 days away - eek!! So although our month of Chrimbo challenges is officially over, you may just want to make a last minute Christmas card with this week's theme (though it's not complusory :-) ) ... which is

Total White out

Yes we would like to see everything white on your card apart from your coloured image ... which of course must be a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo if you would like to be considered for this week's prize.

And talking of prizes ... this week we  have two fabulous prizes for randomly drawn winners.

From Penny Black

this gorgeous stamp ..

and from The Ribbon Girl

this beautiful assortment of lace

The rest of the DT have made some truly stunning creations which are much better than merely all-white (sorry, couldn't resist that!) - here's mine.

Stamps: Penny Black "Let It Snow!" (1524K); sentiment by Make Your Mark;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on snow; glossy accents on puddle;

Supplies: silver gems from The Hobby House and Papermania;

Tools: Memory Box "Snowflake Corner" and "Frosty Border" dies; Cuttlebug "Snowflakes" embossing folders (*2); Crafts Too "snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges:

Forever Friends & Co - White + Sparkles

Top Tip Tuesday #62 - A Touch of Colour

(white + silver + a hint of colour - mine's blue in the sentiment)

Oldie But A Goodie - Christmas - No Red or Green

Forever Friends Monthly - It's Christmas
Creatalicious #28 - Christmas + Sparkle

By The Cute & Girly (December) - Let It Snow
Totally Papercrafts #95 - Let It Snow
Shelley's Images - There's Snow Business Like Snow Business!
ABC - E is for Embossing
Simon Says - Anything Goes (3rd entry)
Papertake Weekly - Sketch

Hope you can join us this week - can't wait to see what you will make :-)

Let It Snow ... Let It Snow ... Let It Snow ...

While I was making my first DT card for I ♥ Promarkers the other day, it occurred to me that I could really do with some colouring practice, esp. with my new Flexmarkers ... so I practiced on several images of the cute Robyn's Fetish snowman that I used for my DT card. I also pulled out a stunning brand new pad of paper which I bought from Hobbycraft a couple of weeks ago - Crafter's Companion "The Snowman" -  must be one of the most gorgeous Christmas pads I've ever seen!

The result was the following three similar but different cards:

Stamps: Robyn's Fetish "Carl The Snowman"; LotV sentiment circles;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on scarf and mittens;

Papers: Crafter's Companion "The Snowman";

Supplies: white sparkle-edge ribbon from Hobbycraft; gems from The Hobby House; peel offs from my stash;

Tools: Memory Box "Snowflake corner" die (card 1); Martha Stewart edge punch (card 3); Martha Stewart "Aspen Snowflake" punch.

Challenges:

Delightful Inspiration - Snowmen

Paper Sundaes #97 - Winter Wonderland

Anything Goes #55 - Decorative or Altered Corners

Creative Card Crew - Monochromatic

Crafty Catz #111 - The Colours of Christmas + Sparkle

DYSU #48 - Ribbon (cards 2 & 3)

Fab 'n' Funky #101 - Anything Goes

Divas By Design #16 - Anything Goes

Simon Says - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Creative Craft - Free For All (2nd entry)

The Ribbon Reel #16 - Anything Goes (3rd and final entry)

Back tomorrow with a new Penny  Black Saturday Challenge ... here's a sneaky peek.

Penguin Fun

I absolutely adore this cute Pickle stamp from Wild Rose Studio - he looks like he is having so much fun delivering his sleigh full of presents. This image is one of several I coloured in a few weeks ago and I have been gradually working my way though them since. A few days ago while having a bit of a crafty clear out I found several squares of embossed pearlised white card sitting ready to make up into cards ... so I quickly put the two together to make another Chrimbo card. I tried to add a bit of interest with these yummy poinsettas from my local craft shop Crafts4U2Do, who are now stocking their own fabulous brand of flowers called "Sweet Lilac", and finished off with my new Cheery Lynn die which is just sooo gorgeous and I'm really pleased with it :-)

Not the best light for photos again ... for some reason I have a real problem getting a true colour when photographing red, as  it always comes out far too bright. I have photo-edited it to calm it down although it is still too light, but that has made my green go a bit off-kilter lol!

Stamps: Wild Rose Studio "Pickle with Sleigh";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust all around!

Supplies: poinsettas by Sweet Lilac dusted wtih Stickles; gems from The Hobby House; ribbon and peel off my stash;

Tools: Cheery Lynn die "holly flourish"; Cuttlebug Snowflake folders.

Challenges:
Joanna Sheen Challenge #1 - It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Pollycraft Monday #120 - Christmas Fun

Stamptacular #140 - Anything Christmas

Craft Your Passion #86 - 'Tis The Season

Ooh-La-La #94 - Lots of Sparkle

Dream Valley #21 - Sparkle
Colour Create #85 - Red, White and Green
Cooking it Up With Katie #86 - Anything Goes

Simon Says - Anything Goes

The Ribbon Reel #16 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Scrapbook Sisters #62 - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations #146 - Picture inspiration

(I was inspired by the red for the flowers, the green holly wreath, and the wood for the sleigh)

Thanks for looking - have a great day.