Penny Black Challenge #70 - buttons & bows

Well here we are already at week 70 of the Penny Black Saturday Challenge ... where does the time go? It's wonderful to see so many fabulous entries each week, and last week was no exception with your gorgeous autumnal cards. I really enjoy visiting your blogs each week for a peek, and it's great to see so many people entering often :-)

This week we have another great theme for you .... what we would like to see on your projects is

buttons & bows
How easy is that? You can make a project to suit any occasion so long as we can see at least one Penny Black stamp or sticker on it!

As usual we have got a fab prize on offer for one lucky winner. This week our regular sponsor

is offering a $20 voucher to spend in their online store. It's an absolute Aladdin's cave of crafting goodies including a humungous selection of PB stamps ... I suggest you check it out regardless of whether you're a winner or not!

Anyhow, onto my card for this week. Now I have to admit that when we're talking "buttons and bows" it would be more correct in my case to say ... err ... button and bow lol!! I based the whole card around a gorgeous blue and white dotty button I had in my button box, and surprise, surprise it suggested another Christmas card to me ! (17 down now .. God knows how many to go!!) Don't forget to check out the other fab DT cards - there's definitely a lot more yummy buttons & bows going on out there!!


Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black transparent set "Christmas Critters" coloured with watercolour pencils and Stickles, and edges distressed wtih Colorbox Queue pigment ink;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Paper: Forever Friends "Christmas Snow" pack;
Supplies: three colours of glitter card from Edwin Allen; sleigh charm from button and sparkly brad by Doodlebug; Dovecraft snowflake brads; Papermania blue and transparent gems; organza ribbon from my stash;
Tools: large classic oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities; edges punched using Martha Stewart "embossed snowflake" border punch; snowflakes cut using Shapeabilities "Make a Flake 2" dies.

Here's another pic to show the sparkle a bit more, plus the dimension I tried to introduce on the snowflake.


I would also like to enter this card for a few challenges, namely:

Winter Wonderland #19 - Sleigh bells ring
Creative Inspirations #18 - Christmas in October
Cute Card Thursday #81 - so charming
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - A Season that Sparkles

Happy crafting everyone, and I look forward to seeing your creations. I'm off to Port Sunlight craft fair today, so hopefully I'll have some new goodies to play with before next week :-)

Crafty Cardmakers #5 Guest DT Card - and a bit of a photographic nightmare!

I was really thrilled when Vixykins asked me if I would make a guest DT card for this week's challenge on the new-ish challenge blog she has set up with some other fab talented ladies - Crafty Cardmakers.

If you haven't discovered it yet, then please do pop over and check it out .... here's what it's all about ...

"We are a blog designed for newer and less experienced cardmakers and bloggers with a new challenge every other Monday. Our design team also range from very new cardmakers through to more experienced with a special guest designer each challenge too! We also have tutorials and how to's which you will find links to down the sidebar. You don't have to be new to join in the fun but why not try something a bit different :)"

Hope you will be able to join in this fortnight, and to help get your creative juices flowing there is a great prize - a £10 voucher for Joanna Sheen - how great is that?


This fortnight challenge is

ribbons &/or fibres

... so I thought I would focus on using some "unusual" ribbon AND fibre ... and as my favourite fibre is white, turquoise and sparkly, that immediately suggested Christmas. I quickly got stuck in and tried an experiment, embossing using a brass stencil and my Cuttlebug (thinking of quick Christmas makes for when the production line really kicks in lol!) I was reasonably pleased with the result at the time .. but oh horror! ... when I tried to photograph it the next day I realised that taking an adequate photograph of mirri card is nigh impossible! As I've been out & about pretty much all weekend I didn't have time to make another .. so i hope youw ill all be kind (Vix was very kind - bless her!)

So here it is anyway ...


Recipe:
Main image: brass stencil of Christmas trees (sorry, no make on the packaging) run through Cuttlebug onto silver mirri card, matted onto pale blue and then white glitter card;
Sentiment; Cardology "Oh! My Words";
Paper: Reminisce; pale blue and white glitter card from Edwin Allen
Supplies: white felt snowflake ribbon by Papermania; fluffy sparkly fibre by Cardology;
Tools: punched edge on glitter card is Martha Stewart "embossed snowflake" edge punch.

Thanks for looking.

Penny Black Challenge #69 - Autumn Breeze

Welcome once again to the weekend, and to the latest Penny Black Saturday Challenge. It looks like the weather is on the turn here in the UK and autumn is definitely on its way, so to celebrate we thought this week we would have a theme challenge for you ... and surprise, surprise it is

Autumn Breeze

... so what we would like to see is anything on your card that reminds you of autumn .. whether it's an image, shapes or just autumnal colours. As always, the only rule is that we need to see at least one Penny Black stamp or sticker on your creation.

This week we have an absolutely fantastic prize ... our own dear Carole has donated this gorgeous stamp from the latest PB Christmas 2009 range - "Hand mailed" - how cute is that? You've got to be in it to win it, so we look forward to seeing your creations.


Here's my card for this week ... I treated myself to a couple of new Daisy Bucket papers in autumnal colours, and then I couldn't resist inking up this cute li'l mouse swinging from a branch (first time I've inked him up - naughty!!) as I thought the flowers complimented the flowers on the paper. This card is very different from my usual colour palette, but I kinda like it (and of course it allowed me to buy some paper and flowers so I'm more geared up for future autumn cards lol!)

Indeed, life being short and all that, I'd also like to enter this card for 2 other challenges that have an autumn theme this week .. namely the new Crafty Calendar Challenge (where I have also included the optional extra of plants and vegetation) and One Stop Craft Challenge #49.

Recipe:
Main image: mouse from Penny Black transparent set "Tiny Wishes":
Sentiment: from PB transparent set "Party Critters";
Papers: Daisy Bucket "Sweet Marabella";
Supplies: lace from Quixotic Paperie; pearls by BasicGrey "opaline"; flowers and flower-shaped gems by Petaloo; gold, copper and iron brads from my stash;
Tools: image matting and layering cut with large oval and scalloped oval nestabilities; leaves cut using Leone Em "Ash Family" punch.

Thanks to everyone who joined in last week with your fabulous pink, lemon & chocolate themed cards - there were some really yummy creations. Don't forget to check out the challenge blog later to see who has won last week's prize, and whilst you're there do check out the fabulous cards for this week from my fellow DT teamies :-)

Hope you have a great weekend.

Katharina's WOJ Winter Stamp Kit candy

To celebrate the launch of the Whiff of Joy Winter Stamp kit which is now on pre-order until October 23rd, Katharina is very kindly offering 2 complete kits and some embellishments to lucky winners .. why not visit her blog to find out more and enter?

There must be a WOJ angel .....

The Whiff of Joy Challenge blog is one year old this week ... wow how time flies when we're having fun lol! They're having a party over there with a GRAND PRIZE (!) (yippee!!) so I thought it would be rude not to enter!

This week's challenge is a fabulous sketch, so I rapidly got on the case with it.


Here's my card. I used this gorgeous image of "Confirmand Melinda", which was a birthday RAK from the lovely Helen.

I also made this card to fit with the following other challenges:

Pollycraft Challenge #25 - use at least 2 of snowflakes, sparkle, spots, stripes & swirls ... well I have used quite a few snowflakes, and trust me, this card is VERY sparkly!!
Spoon Full of Sugar #71 - Christmas
Creative Card Crew #30 - All that sparkles
ABC Challenge - E is for Embossing

And here's another view to highlight the card's extreme sparkliness!


Recipe:
Main image: Whiff of Joy "Confirmand Melinda", coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated (liberally!!) with glamour dust on the dress and wings - edges sponged with Colourbox Queue pigment ink in "thistle";
Sentiment: E-Z rub-ons individual letters - "silver funky font";
Paper: sparkly snowflake paper by Carol Wilson Fine Arts;
Supplies: glitter card in white, pale blue & teal from Edwin Allen; sparkly brads by Doodlebug; pearls from stash;
Tools: oval and scalloped oval nestabilities; pale blue glitter card embossed using Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder; snowflake shapes cut using Cuttlebug die "Snowflakes #2".

Sharon's birthday candy - 50 not out!

My dear bloggy buddy Sharon is celebrating becoming a "big hitter" in the next 2 weeks as she reaches the magical milestone of her 50th birthday. her cards and blog are fab and well worth a look ... so why not pop over to say hello and help her to celebrate ... and whilst you're there you might want to enter for this yummy candy selection that she is offering to celebrate :-)

Happy forthcoming birthday hun!

One snow lady - six challenges.

Just managed to fit in a quick cardmaking session this afternoon, so I thought I'd better crack on with the Christmas cards ... here's what I produced.

I followed the sketch at this week's Friday Sketchers #71, which I thought was ideal for this image. I also followed the colour scheme for this week's Colour Create Challenge #28 - namely hot pink, dusty pink & ice chocolate (yummy!) ... I actually picked out this darling snow lady image as I thought she would fit this colour scheme so well. Therefore the card is also a good fit for this week's Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge #35, which is non-traditional colours.

I decided to use a charm as one of the sketch elements which is also in line with Dutch Dare Challenge #61 - so charming - and I would like to enter the One Stop Craft Challenge #48 - die cuts - as I have die cut my snowflakes using a Cuttlebug die. Last but not least, BasicGrey Challenge #4 is embossing: I have embossed my pale pink glitter card with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and my BasicGrey element is the pearl gems on the snowflakes and hat - they are "opaline" pinks and browns.

Phew! six challenges .... I can sit back and relax now lol!

Recipe:
Main image: Inca Snow lady "Angelina" (which was an RAK);
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh My Words";

Paper: Bo Bunny; pale pink, bright pink and white glitter card from Edwin Allen;
Supplies: pearl gems by BasicGrey "opaline" (pink pack and brown pack); snowflake charm & ribbon from my stash;
Tools: Cuttlebug die "Snowflakes 2".

Just off now to tidy away before settling down for the X-Factor!

Penny Black Challenge #68 - colour scheme

Yippee! Saturday again, which can only mean one thing ... it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered last week - "lace & pearls" was a gorgeous theme, and there were some pretty gorgeous entries to suit! Don't forget to check the challenge blog to see who won last week's fab prize of papers from Simply Create.

Onto this week's challenge, which is a colour scheme .... we would like to see creations that primarily use the colours

chocolate, lemon and pink

Yummy!

We have also got a fab prize as always ... our regular sponsor

is offering one lucky winner a 15% discount voucher for use in the online store.

Here is my card for this week .... I got rather carried away with the whole yumminess of the colour combo, and rather max'd out on the chocolate theme!! I think it was because I found this ribbon which I got from the lovely Samantha and Sandra at Penrith Crafts, and somehow I just couldn't help myself. I also started to fondly imagine that my paper was decorated with chocolate buttons lol!! (or maybe it's Maltesers??)

The other DT members have also produced some yummy samples for you so please do visit them and check them out :-)

And here's a picture of the inside .....

Recipe:
(particularly apt this week, hey?)
Main image: Penny Black "Sweet Slumber" (1916J) - mouse and chocs coloured with watercolour pencils and box coloured with Twinkling H2O's;
Sentiments: Penny Black "Happy Bithday" (2912D) (front), "birthday dreams" (3849E) (inside); Papers: My Mind's Eye "Magnolia";
Supplies: Flowers by Prima and Papermania; "chocolat"ribbon from Penrith Crafts; choc bar charm from Dolls Made Up; flower spacer from The Hobby House; dotty ribbon, dragonfly and pearl brads from my stash.

Here's an attempt to show up the shimmer of the H2O's - not easy to get a good pic now that the days are so dull!

Looking forward to seeing your creations this week - have a great weekend whatever you're doing!

Spectacular Santorini sunsets ... and a silver celebration!

Hello everyone ... I haven't been around or visited anyone's blogs for the past week as I have just got back from a week's holiday on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini ... and it was a very special holiday as it was to celebrate my silver wedding anniversary! Yep! 25 years .. how time flies when you're having fun lol!

Seriously though, I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful husband, and it was great to be able to spend some time together in this gorgeous location. We only booked it fairly last minute due to family circumstances that I won't bore you with, so it was all a bit of a rush to get organised ... but it was well worth it. Santorini is a beautiful island renowned for its beautiful views and sunsets, and so is often a wedding or honeymoon destination. We stayed in a resort called Imerovigli in the beautiful Tholos Resort hotel ... the hotel was fantastic, and the staff there were incredibly welcoming - we were even upgraded to the honeymoon suite!

The first two photographs are the sunset from our room terrace ... I'm sure you'll agree the view is absolutely breathtaking!



Here is a also a little video clip of the stunning view from our balcony in the daytime ....

Another beautiful village on Santorini is Oia, and here's a picture of another sunset behind one of the many beautiful church towers.

Of course, we couldn't have a posting without a card could we?? Here's the silver wedding anniversary card I made for my husband - I had a few crises over this as I couldn't decide between hearts and flowers, and also had to take into account that he really doesn't like the colour red so that couldn't predominate! Many thanks to Squirrel who sent me some wonderful romantic images - I didn't use one in the end as I decided it just HAD to be this image (like you do!) .... but I have a lovely stash of cute romantic hedgies and meeces ready to smother my dear OH with love on future occasions lol!

And here's the inside .... sorry for the poor picture quality but I had to take this at night before I wrote in it ready for the next morning !!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "You're a Treasure" (front); hedgies from Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" (inside) - all coloured with watercolour pencils and Sakura sparkly pen on the hearts and roses;
Sentiments: rub on (front), Penny Black transparent set "Every Which Way" (inside);
Supplies: paper, silver holographic card and silver ribbon from my stash;
Tools: heart border punched with Martha Stewart "Valentine Lace" punch; silver numbers punched using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet dies.

I didn't specifically make this card for any challenges, but as it is the only card I have made in the past week and a half I would like to enter it into a couple that I hope it fits ok :-) They are:

Creative Card Crew #29 - decorate the inside of your card

Stamp Something - use your favourite colours or papers ...

Well ... my fave colours change like the wind, but have always had a soft spot for blue and silver (esp when I'm making Christmas cards!)

And last but not least .... Pile It On #16 - punches.

I'll be trying now to catch up with all my blogging and commenting ... so please be patient if it takes me a little while to visit as I think I'll still be feeding the washing machine in several days time ... and alas it's work tomorrow!!

Penny Black Challenge #67 - Lace & Pearls

Hello again, and welcome once more to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who joined in last week's challenge with Domi's wonderful sketch - sorry I haven't been around much this week to look at all your entries, but I'm sure they were all fabulous as usual!!

This week we would like to see your projects that contain

Lace & Pearls

The only rule, as usual, is that you should use a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your creation.

And once again we have another fab prize on offer, which is a selection of "October Afternoon" papers from Kath's local craft shop Simply Create.

As usual the DT have been weaving some PB magic, so I hope you'll stop by their blogs and check them out.

Here is my card for this week - this was a great challenge for me, as I absolutely adore both lace and pearls so i didn't need to be asked twice to incorporate them into my card!

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Crossing Bridges" (3206J), watercoloured and decorated with tiny pearl gems;

Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Birthday" (2912D);

Papers: BasicGrey "Porcelain";

Supplies: Poppicraft flowers were a birthday RAK from Helen, pink dotty ribbon and lace from Hobbycraft; butterfly charm from Dolls Made Up; large spacer from Quixotic Paperie; pearl brad and pink butterfly gem by Papermania; pearl gems from my stash.

Tools: pink pearlescent card embossed using new Cuttlebug "Daisy Pattern" embossing folder; leaves cut using Leone Em "Ash Family" punch.

Hopefully I will get a bit more time to get round and view all your creations this week - looking forward to seeing them! Have a great week.

Penny Black Challenge #66 - Sketch by Domi

Good morning everyone - fabulous weather we've been having the past few days ... let's hope it keeps up for the weekend!!

Here we are again with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge - it was great to see everyone getting loved up with last week's "heart's desire" challenge; and I particularly enjoyed it as the fab entries gave me plenty of inspiration for my own silver wedding card for my husband .. as we will have been married 25 years this coming week!

Without further ado, let's get onto this week's challenge, which is a fabulous sketch by Domi. Don't forget that the only rule is that you must use a Penny Black stamp or sticker somewhere on your project.

The DT members have as always been hard at work making some stunning samples - do pop over to their blogs to have a look, and don't forget to visit the challenge blog for details of this week's prize and to see who won last week's yummy palette of pearlescent paints from Horseshoe Crafts.

Here is my card ... it is also my Docrafts September Friendship card for Loralou.

I based the whole thing around this darling Penny Black image which was an RAK from my lovely friend Squirrel. Squirrel actually sent me a fab variety of PB romantic images to help me with my silver wedding card preparations, as she has probably got the best collection of PB's I have ever seen (!) (I recommend you pop over to her blog for a lookee). As it stands I'm having an "important occasion crisis" and can't decide what I'm going to use for the OH's card for next week, but whatever happens I am well prepared for forthcoming Valentine's Days and other cuddly occasions for some time to come - thanks hun! :-)

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Sharing Spring" (3613J), coloured with watercolour pencils, edges distressed using Colorbox Queue inks;

Sentiment: Penny Black "...second self" (3386D);

Papers: My Mind's Eye "Bloom & Grow";

Supplies: Charm from Quixotic Paperie; hydrangeas by Prima; pearl brads by Papermania; sparkly red & orange brads by Doodlebug (sugar coated - brights);ribbon and dragonfly brad from my stash;

Tools: image and paper rectange cut using large deckled rectangle nestabilities; borders cut using MS "doily lace" edge punch.

Looking forward to seeing all your interpretations of this wonderful sketch - have a great weekend, whatever you're doing!

Seeing double

I had a pretty productive evening yesterday (for me!) as I managed to make 3 cards - my PBSC DT card which I can't reveal until Saturday, plus two Christmas cards. I decided to get into a mini production-line mode, so I made a couple of very similar cards with the main difference being that they followed different sketches!

My first card follows the sketch at Crafty Cardmakers #3

I would also like to enter this card for the Winter Wonderland challenge #15, which is Frosty the Snowman .... this PB Snowy is undoubtedly one of my all time fave stamps - I think he is just so cute! ... and talking of favourites, this week's Stamp Something challenge is to use your favourite stamp .... so there we go!
As luck would have it it also fits another of today's challenges which is Dutch Dare #60 - a colour inspiration. Now this really is luck rather than judgement, but I think it must be serendipity as I was lucky enough to win last week's challenge - thank you ladies !! :-)
Here's the card ...
Here is another pic to show the glamour dust on his hat!


My second card is very similar but follows and rotates the sketch for this week's Friday Sketchers #68. Actually now I come to look at my card again I realise I've gone slightly wrong with the dimensions of my background papers ... but hey! I did my best :-)
I would also like to enter this card for this week's ABC Challenge - D is for Diecuts ....and also for a challenge I've only discovered today whilst blog hopping, but which was already open when I posted this card this morning. It's Kaboodle doodles #13 which is charms ... well I love charms on cards so how could I not have a go?


Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Snowy", watercoloured and decorated with glamour dust;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh My Words!";
Paper: Forever Friends;
Supplies: pearl brads (card 1) by Papermania; sparkly brad (card 2) by Doodlebug; charm from the Hobby House;
Tools: large snowflakes cut using new Shapeabilities "Create a Flake 2"; small snowflakes cut using Cuttlebug Snowflakes #2: embossing on white pearlised card made with Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder.