I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

It's another Christmas card today...this one uses the adorable 'Presents for 2' stamp by Lili of the Valley. I created the background using my 'Swiss Dots', 'Snowflakes' and 'Ice Crystals' Cuttlebug folders...and used my new Papermania 'Christmas Borders' folder for the snowflake strip across the bottom. I cut out the image using one of my Nesties, and used my Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die for the snowflake...I cut off the ends before coating it with Galamour Dust.

Challenges for this card:

• A Spoon Full of Sugar - Sketch 
• Double Dutch - The Easy Challenge (choose your favourite challenge...I've chosen #47 - Movie Madness...and the film title...'White Christmas')
• Papertake Weekly - Just the One (I've used just one colour)
• Pink Elephant - Mostly White

Puppy Post!

I've another of my new birthday stamps on this card...it's one of the adorable new Lili of the Valley releases called 'Puppy Post'. I coloured him with watercolour pencils, and then added some Polar White Flowersoft for the snow. The papers are from the 'Tis the Season' collection by Bo Bunny, and the snowflake brads are by Dovecraft.

Here's a close-up of the 'snow':

Challenges for this card:

• Sketch & Stash - Sketch
• Creative Cottage - Christmas
• Sew Many Challenges - Christmas in August
• Spoon Full of Sugar - Christmas in August

Secret Crafter Manga Stamp Release...Day Four

The stamp released today, from the new range of Secret Crafter manga stamps is called 'Rockability Couple'...perfect for retro-themed cards.

I coloured the image in shades of black and grey, to match the sparkly DCWV 'Glitter Stack' papers. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Sending Sunshine' set by Simon Says Stamp.

 

I followed the sketch from Sunday Sketch & Stamp,  and I'm also going to enter this card into A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Celebrations' challenge.

For more ideas of how to use this image, see the fabuous cards by my team mates on the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge blog.

Spring Bunny with Daffodils

I've used another of the adorable Lili of the Valley images sent to me by my lovely friend Pauline...this one is called 'Spring Bunny with Daffodils'...just perfect for the Totally Papercrafts 'Spring' challenge. I followed the sketch from the Lili of the Valley Challenge, and used papers by Pink Paislee (from the '365 Degrees') pad. The flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts and Hobbycraft, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' by Hero Arts. I'm also going to enter this card into Stamp with Fun's 'Animals' challenge, and A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Happy Birthday' challenge.

Age is only a number...

There's a fab sketch for this week's Mojo Monday Challenge...where it's contest time...so I just had to have a go. I've combined it with the themes from some other challenges: A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'One for the boys'; Cards for Men's 'Humour'; Crafty Calendar's 'April Fools'; and Creative Inspirations (Wed) 'Green, Brown & Blue' (although the colours all look a bit grey in the photo! lol). The image is 'Unlisted' by Inkadinkado, and the papers are from the 'Archaic' pad by BasicGrey...I thought that the dinosaurs kind of looked like the lizard! lol

Rainin' Daisies

I had a little play last night, and made a card for a few challenges. I used the sketch from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge; and combined the themes of: the Simon Says Stamp Challenge of 'Vintage with Flowers'; A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Distress Inks, Pearls & Glitter'; and Crazy4Challenge's 'It's all about texture'. The image is 'Rainin' Daisies', and the papers are all from the '29th Street Market' collection by My Mind's Eye. I don't have any distress inks, so I used chalk inks, and my distressing tool to distress the edges. For the textures, I used my 'Swiss Dots' and 'Textile' Cuttlebug folders, and added flowers (decorated with some Stickles) and some adhesive pearls.

Snuggle

I dug out some of my older papers last weekend...the ones on this card are from the 'Two Scoops' pad by BasicGrey. I followed the sketch from Stampin' for the Weekend...and managed to include the themes from a couple of other challenges too: Anyone for Anya's 'Hearts'; and A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Freestyle'. The image is 'Hope & Grace - Snuggle' by The Greeting Farm...and I used my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' folder for the embossing...which I then lightly sanded to bring out the detail. The ribbon is from Poppicrafts, and the hearts were cut using the Cuttlebug 'Concentric Hearts' die.

Birthday Ruffles

This card combines the sketch from Carol's Sketch Fun (so pleased it's back, as I love Carol's sketches!) and the 'Lots of Layers' challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar. The image is 'Ruffles with Present' by Helz Cuppleditch (for Stampavie). I decided not to use patterned papers for once...and used my Cuttlebug to emboss plain green and blue card...with the 'Swiss Dots', 'Spots & Dots' and 'Moroccan Screen' folders. I distressed all of the edges, added a Cuddly Buddly sentiment, and a few pieces of card candy.

Dream a Dream...

After spending all afternoon working in front of my computer, I decided to treat myself to some craft time last night...and made a couple of cards. This one uses Sketch 2 from the Penny Black Saturday Challenge (I also like Sketch 1...so I might have a go at that too today!). I've also managed to include a couple of other challenge themes: the Cupcake Craft 'Baby Card'; the Papertake Weekly 'New Beginnings'; and A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Hearts'.
The image is 'Dream a Dream' (by Penny Black), and the paper is 'Blush' by BasicGrey...and I decided to use the same paper for all of the layers, to make the image really stand out. The sentiment stamp (which says 'Cherish'...although it's not that easy to see in the photo) is from a Studio G set, and I added a few pieces of card candy, and some organza ribbon.


Well, as it's far too cold to go outside...I plan to spend today crafting...so I'll probably have lots to show you next week! lol

Nearly there!

Phew...after a weekend of furious crafting...I've nearly finished making my Christmas presents....just a couple more to do...then everything to wrap...eeek! I've made a couple of easel card calendars...which I'm going to enter into the Stampin' for the Weekend 'Calendar' challenge. For the first one I followed the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge sketch. This one's for my Dad to keep on his desk...so I've gone for masculine colours with these Fancy Pants Designs papers ('Papa'), and a Whipper Snapper image called 'Balancing Act'. I embossed the circle with my Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' folder, the buttons & ribbon are from Poppicrafts, and the calendar tab is by Anita's.


The second calendar is for my Aunt...who has a bit of a thing for teddy bears...so I used three of the Penny Black 'Bear Blanks'. The papers on this one are by My Mind's Eye ('29th Street Market'), and all of the edges have been distressed. Once again the buttons & ribbon is from Poppicrafts, and I used the same Cuttlebug folder on the panel behind the bears. I'm entering this one into the Charisma Cardz 'Anything but Christmas!' challenge.


Must dash...so much more to do...but before I go...make sure you check out the brand new ABC Christmas Challenge blog...if you haven't already.

Wee & Reindeer

Isn't this stamp ('Wee & Reindeer' by Whiff of Joy) just adorable?!
I just had to use it for this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge, where there's a fab sketch...although I did rotate it, so that the flowers didn't cover Wee's head. The papers are all BasicGrey ('Eskimo Kisses')...I love the colours on these. The sentiment stamp is by Studio G, the flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts and Sarah's Cards Ltd, and the pearl brads are by Papermania. I threaded some thin silver ribbon through the raffia lace (from Hobbycraft).
I'm also entering this card for A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Non-traditional Christmas Colours' challenge, and the Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential's 'Christmas Flowers' challenge.

Naughty or Nice?

There's a fab sketch for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...which I've used to decorate the front of a plain notebook that I bought from the Craft Barn. This was one of the projects on the course I won at My Creative Classroom...it's supposed to be a gift...but I'm keeping this one to use to keep track of all of the Christmas cards and presents I'm making this year...well I wouldn't want to forget anyone! lol
I thought that this little mouse image (from the 'Christmas Critters' set) was just perfect, and I've combined him with some My Mind's Eye papers ('Festive Frost'). The sentiment stamp is by Three Bugs in a Rug...and yes, I know it's the wrong shape...but this book is for all of the people who've been 'nice' this year! lol
I'm also entering this for the A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge, which has a colour theme of 'Brown with either Blue or Pink' this week.

Merry & Bright!

Yet another Christmas card from me today...I really am building up a nice stash now! :0) This one fits a few challenges: Stamp Something's 'Favourite Sketch/Layout'...this isn't from a sketch challenge...but after a quick look through my cards, found that this is the sort of layout I find myself using when I'm out of other ideas...lol; the One Stop Craft Challenge's 'Die-cuts' theme; and the 'Christmas' theme of this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge. The image is from the 'Holly-Jolly' set by Penny Black and the papers are from the 'Christmas Wishes' stack by DCWV. I cut the snowflakes using a Cuttlebug die, and embossed the white panel with my 'Snow Dots' folder. The polkadot ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

It's Henry again...I haven't used him in a while, so I thought I'd dust him off...lol. I followed the fab sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches to make a boys card. The paper is from the 'Arhaic' pad by BasicGrey, the buttons are from my stash, and the sentiment stamp is from the 'Anytime Messages' set by Hero Arts (I stamped it a couple of times, then separated the words, to give the three rectangles on the sketch). I distressed all of the edges with my distressing tool and ink...which fits in nicely with the 'Distressing' theme of this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge. I'm also going to enter this card for the Guest Designer Call, that Katharina is hosting for Whiff of Joy Stamps.


It's my first blogoversary tomorrow...and I'm just putting the finishing touches to some celebratory candy...so watch this space! lol

Birthday Monkeys

This is another of the cards I made on last weekend's retreat. I followed the sketch from A Spoon Full of Sugar...rotating it to fit my 'Birthday Monkeys' image (by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie). I usually colour this image in using masculine colours...but I thought I'd make them girls for a change. The papers are from the 'Bittersweet' pad (by BasicGrey)...the brown one has been embossed using the 'Spots & Dots' Cuttlebug folder.

Summer Willow

I've combined a few challenges on this card: the Whiff of Joy Challenge sketch (although I've just noticed that I forgot the sentiment! lol); the Papertake Weekly 'Seasons' challenge (I chose summer); A Spoon Full of Sugar's 'Floral Fantasy' challenge; and Pile it On's challenge to use at least 3 flowers.
I've used 'Kneeling Willow', and watercoloured her to match these summery Cosmo Cricket 'Hey Sugar' papers. The flowers are from Poppicrafts, the pearl brads are Papermania, and the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft.

Happy Bee-Day!

I've combined a few challenges on this card...the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge sketch; the Cupcake Craft Challenge theme of 'Green...Pink...Brown...Animals & Flowers'; and the Simon Says Stamp Challenge to 'Distress'. The image is 'Gifts for You!' by Penny Black, and the papers are from the 'Sugared' pad by BasicGrey. The pink flowers are from Poppicrafts, the white roses are from Hobbycraft, and the sentiment stamp is by Stampendous...the edges of everything have been distressed with a brown chalk inkpad.