Penny Black meets Sketch Saturday

I have missed the last couple of weeks of the PBSC challenge and Sketch Saturday, so I have combined their challenges and come up with this ...

I do make alot of clean and simple cards for commissions, but very rarely for blog challanges. I watercoloured the teddy and chose just to use white, pink and green cardstock. I embossed the white card using my Swiss dots and D'vine Swirls folders and drew two embossed lines between the embossing. I cut the scalloped edges using my Fiskers threading water punch. Rather than add a sentiment I tied some ribbon round some white cardstock. I added white and pink brads to finish the sketch. Simple but effective I think.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Penny Black Rainin' Daisies
Colouring Media: Distress inks
Papers: Carstock
Embellishments: brads and ribbon from stash

Red and black love

I don't usually make Valentine's cards but one of my friends (?) asked me this morning at preschool if I could make a Valentine's card for her husband.
So the remit ... no flowers, no pink, no fuss and no cute cuddly image ... hmmm.
So following my CAS post and effort yesterday I thought I would do another CAS using Blossom.

I used red, black and white cardstock, and embossed the white using the flowers CB folder. The image, sentiment and white panels are matted on black, and a simple red organza ribbon to finish it. My lovely friend wrote the sentiment herself. I actually like the result - don't often use red or black on my cards, but I think I'm going to start now!

I used this week's PTW sketch (and its a fab one again Dawny!) and as the theme is love I am using this for the Spoonfull of Sugar challenge.

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Sugar Nellie Blossom
Colouring Media: promarkers
Papers: cardstock, some embossed using CB folder
Embellishments: ribbon from stash

A couple of challenges

My lovely hubby took the girls off for a tram ride and a junk food lunch to give me some crafting time so I had a go at three challenges, My time to Craft (simple elegance), PBSC (embossing) and Sketch Saturday.
I am trying to use up all my papers and ribbon before I get any more so I have used papers from the bottom of my stash for these.
These two cards follow the Sketch Saturday Sketch for this week.

I love this gorgeous Sugar Nellie, it has to be one of my favourites. I coloured her using distress inks (getting the hang of them now!). I matted her onto cardstock. I embossed the backing cardstock using my D'vine Swirls embossing folder and added a ribbon by Anitas. The corneres use Papermania papers and cardstock, the flowers are by Prima and I have distressed them a bit. I added lilac gems to the flowers and a bit of wire.

I followed the Sketch Saturday sketch for this lovely PB Embrace image. The papers are from my stash and Papermania. I embossed the bp using my Swiss dots folder and added prima flowers distressed with tattered rose ink. The ribbon is an Anitas.


I watercoloured the image and backed her in raspberry and black cardstock. I ran a piece of card through the CB folders, Happy Birthday and D'vine swirls, and scored the edges. I matted it onto raspberry and black cardstock and added a raspberry coloured ribbon from my stash. This is my Easy Elegance card for MTTC.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Dutchdare challenge - Charms

For this week's DDCC challenge, charms, I have used this gorgeous new Sugar Nellie designed by Elizabeth Bell. I stamped her in Versafine Sepia and coloured her in blues and brown. The papers are coredinations, run through my embossing folders and distressed. I inked the edges of the papers and images with a papermania pad. I added snowflake charms on wire and ribbon from my stash. I used some Stickles (waterfall) to pick out bits of the snowflake embossing and the stamped snowflakes, and added pale blue gems to the middle of the prima flowers.
I hope you have time to join in the challenge this week.

PTW Monochrome

For those of you who know me well this card will surprise you as it is ... PINK!!! However I have made it as a commission for one of the mums at pre-school - Christmas has not yet addled my brain!
I used my Cuttlebug embossing folders, pink cardstock and this gorgeous butterfly that I embossed.
I really like the effect so might make a few more in this style, but maybe not in pink!

Embossed tree

The Secret Crafter Challenge this week is to use embossing, any kind of embossing. I am still snowed under making Christmas cards, having had the ones I made to send taken from under my nose this weekend by a friend, and 2 people who have recieved cards I made for other people have asked for some - eek!!!


So this challenge was a great oportunity to make a couple of quick cards!

I used my lace tree embossing folder and Ellie helpfully added so green and red adhesive gems. I matted the tree onto green cardstock and used papers from last year and green organza ribbon. The sentiment is a vellum Papermania one from last year.

We managed to get 2 of these made really quickly.

A bit of a long post

... but got quite a bit to share!

Firstly thank you so much to all of you that have left a comment for Ellie about her card. She is over the moon and has asked several times today "has anyone else looked at my card?" It has really perked her up. She is getting better and has managed to get out of her PJs today and go outside and play!!!
Next - THANK YOU BECKY for the lovely card and images.
Sadly Ellie has her eye on quite a few of these, and what she doesn't want she is 'giving' Beth!! I am gong to really enjoy colouring and creating with these as I don't have any of these stamps ... yet!!

Dave, my lovely, wonderful etc hubby finished the technical bits of my craft room (small, compact and bijou!), and after a few coats of varnish it is finished and I have moved in ... it looks like this ...

The work bench ... which also hides a single bed under it.

Lots of storage space

Some of my stash stored away!

He has made a shelving unit to store stamps, ribbons etc.

Anyway finally onto the card!! I got to craft in my lovely room this evening and this is what I have created ....

The CCT challenge this week is autumn and I have combined it with the Dutchdare challenge of only cardstock. I do love this Sugar Nellie image and have coloured her in acqua Promarkers. I used Coreindations cardstock and embossed some of it using my Pumkins folder. I distressed both the background card and the little rectangels to give them that aged feel Autumn has. I added olive green ricrac, ivory lace, Magnolia leaves, copper wire and ochre Prima flowers - pretty much the Autumn colour range. Sadly the wire hasn't shown up as well as it does on the card itself.

Have a grat evening - it has started to rain here, there's a surprise!

Dinky Dots Den Challenge #1

There is a new challenge blog set up by my lovely SBS sister and ABC challenge Design Team member Alison, called Dinky Dots Den. They set monthly challenges and this month's is Halloween. You are encouraged to think out of the box so I have decided to make a recipe book using 8x8 scrap papers.

I decide to use purple, orange and black as my main colours.





I have used Lulu on the front cover and followed this week's sketch on a Spoonfull of Sugar challenge. I have broken with habit and got my Whispers pens out and coloured the images in with them. The papers are inked and distress nad I have added cobwebs from the magnolia Autumn stamp club and die cut pumpkins. The Prima flowers have also been distressed.

I used Versafine black onyx and Sepia to distress the papers and the font for the recipes is CHiller - very appropriate for Halloween!

I have used Wizard AJ and die cut bats and pumpkins. I cut crescent moon and full moons out of mulberry paper. I used the Pumpkin Harvest embossing folder for some of the purple papers.

We had great fun creating this - Ellie and Beth helped with the tearing and distressing, and the embossing and die cutting bits of it. Just going to take a while to get the ink off our hands!

Hope you like it,

A Christmas card!

The Spoonfull of Sugar challenge this week is to make a Christmas card ... I have really struggled with this as I can't, won't get my head round Christmas in September!!!! All that red, green, gold and glitter ... Anyway I have got some lovely blue Christmas papers so I thought I would have a go at making a card for my nephew as he doesn't "do" the traditionally cute Christmas card!!!So I have used Dinky Dots' AJ (hope a download is OK) and coloured him in using my Promarkers. Ellie has helped me with the rest of the card. We embossed some blue cardstock with my Snowflakes and Swiss Dots folders and added a strip of Dovecraft paper. The ribbon and wire is from my stash.

Ellie glitter glued the cuffs and hood (she says it is as neat as she could get it!!!) and put glitter glue around him and sprinkled beads onto it. I am not sure who was more covered in glitter and glue ... Ellie or the card LOL!! Ellie wanted to add the snowflakes as Ed won't do flowers being a boy - good point!
Hope you like it.

Friday sketcher meets PBSC

This week I have combined the Friday Sketcher sketch with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, which is to do a man's card without any blue.

I have rotated the sketch through 90 degrees as the image is too large to go the other way.

As it is a man's card I have gone for plain papers and embossed them rather than patterned papers (and the Kand Co papers that I love for men happen to be mainly blue LOL!). I have used Penny Black's Ode of Joy and coloured it using Promarkers. I used my Swuiss Dots and Allegro embossing folders for the papers, and added copper and gold wire. The sketch hints at buttons - I have non of them so have added some small brads instead. Finally I added a gold sentiment peel off.

Hope you like.

Tilda and co challenge

This week's Tilda and co challenge is ...

Chocolate, Pink & white...

So go as Chocolate Crazy as you like.

I am not a big fan of chocolate, prefer cheese and crisps. However my closest friend, Christine, is so I have made this for her. This Tilda looks a little like her daughter did when she was small.

I have watercoloured this lovely Tilda given to me by Vicky in pinks. I have used brown cardstock and embossed some of it using my flowers folder, and papers from Basic Grey's Twoo Scoops pack. The lace and wire is from my stash, and the text from a K and Co paper.

A simple card with little fuss and no flowers!!! (some of the poor people that get conned into buying my creations don't like flowers!!)

Eskimo AJ

Dinky Dots have been offering a free download of AJ, and as I like freebie and have been resisting Lulu and AJ for ages I thought I would have a go.
This is what I have come up with so far.

Having experimented with red, brown and green coats I finally decided to give him a blue coat. I have coloured him in Aqua Promarkers and glitter glued his fur trim and the ice (Ellie helped with this bit so it has taken 2 days for the glue to dry, in fact the ice is quite textured and deep due to the amount of glue she put on!LOL) I have matted him onto silver cardstock and the new Dovecraft Christmas papers. I embossed the background using the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder, and added some small blue gems to some of the snowflakes. The ribbons are from my stash. As I was playing I also got out my Big Bite and set some eyelets.

I have persuaded Beth that it doesn't need a fish, she was quite adamant to start with and went to rummage through her foam shapes!!

Nessy is celebrating her birthday with some fab candy. For a chance to win pop over and take a look, and have a look at her wonderful creations.

Drumming dog

I have made this card for one of the children I mind - he is mad on drumming and has asked me to make him a card to give to his parents as a begging letter for drumming lessons - I don't mind as long as the drum kit doesn't live here!!!

I have used a PB image from the 12 Days of Christmas set, and matted it onto orange cardstock and papers from DCWV glitter stack. The background has been embossed with the Allegro Cuttlebug folder. For a change I have used a A6 card.
I have kept it simple and as it is bright and bold it fulfils this week's My Time to Craft challenge and the Cute Card Thursday challenge, which is to use cats or dogs.

Tilda embossing challenge

The Tilda and co challenge this week is to use embossing, of any kind on your card.
I love this Tilda and have matted her onto Kand Co papers and added a red bow. I used my D'vine swirls and border folders to embosed some red cardstock. I added the ribbon and green flowers to finish. I have kept it simple so the embossing can be seen.

Blue Tilda

The challenge over at Tilda and Co this week is to create a card using just blue and white.

I have used cardstock and embossed it using my cuttlebug embossing borders. The dotty papers is DCWV adhesive matt stack. The flowers are thanks to Vicky (and Beth for taking them off the card Vicky sent!) and the swirl is from a sizzix die. I have added gems and brads from my stash.

I'm back!!

The internet is finally working after 2 weeks of problems.
I'd love to say I have spent the time crafting but ... I haven't! We've been really busy.

Anyway I have finally got down to trying to catch up on a few challenges.
I have combined the Friday Sketchers sketch with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.
I decided to have a go at using no patterns, so got the embossing folders out and some bold colours. I have reversed the brown paper so its dimples not dots.
I love this image, so cheeky!
A simple card, but I am getting back into the swing of crafting again!

ABC Challenge A is for ...

Animals. Welcome to our new challenge blog.

This is my card for this week's challenge. The image is Penny Black's Ode to Joy, which I have watercoloured. The embossing folder is Allegro from the Cuttlebug range. I have embossed cream cardstock and then washed black over the notes to add some depth. The papers are from K and Co and the ribbon and brads fom stash.

Hope you like it and it has inspired you to have a go. Check out the other DT projects and I look forward to seeing your projects,

More cards from a busy afternoon

The girls went to stay at my Mum's for a few days yesterday so I spent a couple of hours crafting in peace. These are a couple of my labours of love. I have cheated a little and used Penny Black stickeroos - I would love to be able to have all the stamps but can't afford to get all the ones I love so I have got some stickeroos to try out. I like them for quick makes as you don't have to wait for the stamp to dry!



For this card I have used a Penny Black stickeroo and I have mounted it onto pale blue and orange cardstock to match the blue and orange in the backing paper which is DCVW's Pocketful of Posies. I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss some white card and added a panel of this. The flower and bow just finish it of.

This is another Penny Black stickeroo that I have again matted onto to cardstock that matches and complements the gorgeous backing paper (again a Pocketful of Posies). I embossed some white card and added a panel to the top and bottom. The sticky ribbon hides the join between the papers. The greeting is a gold peel off I found.

Hope you like my efforts - comments are welcome.