CD Sunday Feathered Friends Challenge

This is my card for the CD Sunday Feathered Friends Challenge.  The CD element comes in the form of the gorgeous backing paper from Joanna Sheen's Eastern Treasures CD Rom which is rather lovely.  The swan and cygnet image is a photo I took, appropriately enough, last Sunday during a dog walk to a local lake.  Those cygnets are adorable, it was a beautiful sight. 

I have also used stamps from an American Crafts set on my card.  The tiny birds were stamped onto blue plastic, the flowers stamped in black onto blue and red cardstock.  The tassel behind the stamped sentiment is also from Joanna Sheen's store.  I used my Nestabilities label dies on the image and mat and placed white feathers behind.  This was a good opportunity to dig out my craft CDs and actually use them as opposed to oohing and aahing over the lovely images and never getting round to actually printing and using them! 

Stamp Something with a Birthday Recipe

I have just made this birthday card for a friend and am entering it into the latest Stamp Something Challenge (birthday recipe with designer paper, a tag, ribbon and a bow).  I used this cute House Mouse stamp with the bunny eating a carrot, coloured with Promarkers.  I used Nestabilities dies in the Cuttlebug for the mats and the papers are My Mind's Eye.  I added some green ricrac ribbon and a green bow, plus a button, small flowers and a couple of gems to finish off my card.

Play Date Cafe Challenge #31

I think it has taken me longer to photograph this card than it did to make!  That's a slight exaggeration but I am hopeless at photography.  I did try to scan it but it's too dimensional because of the flowers.  Here is my card for the Play Date Cafe Colour Challenge 31.

I used another of my favourite stamps on this card and coloured the little girl image with Promarkers.  The paper is Laura Ashley and the flowers I have had for years. 

Passion for Promarker - Anything Goes

Here is my latest card which is a last minute entry for the Passion for Promarkers Anniversary Challenge.  This stamp is one of my favourites and I always enjoy colouring it in, though this is the first time I have used Promarkers.  The backing paper is Laura Ashley with Distress Ink Tattered Rose round the edge.

Every Woman is a Star

I made this card over the weekend and although it is primarily for a friend's birthday, I am also entering it into the Stamp Something - 2 of something challenge.

The stamps I have used here are from a great set by Non Sequitur and I coloured the lady image with Promarkers.

I used 2 types of ribbon and 2 pieces of Coredinations cardstock. The gold ribbon was recycled from a gift and the gorgeous multicoloured sari ribbon is from Paddy's Stamping Place. I really love the rich colours and got a huge skein of ribbon for not a lot of money....perfect!

The deep turquoise card stock was embossed using the paisley Cuttlebug folder, then sanded and highlighted with Ranger Perfect Pearls in Gold. The mat behind the image was simply torn from gold coloured Coredinations and sponged with Stazon Pumpkin ink. I used a brush to apply the same Stazon ink shade plus Nick Bantok Rose Madder to my base card before stamping the sentiment in Stazon Teal. The wording at the top of the card was finished with a coating of Ranger Sepia Accents.

Finally, although it does not show up well in the scan, I have also used gilding flakes at the top of my card and above the stamped stars. I hope my friend manages to look at this without her shades as it is rather vibrant....I do love colour though!

Colour Create Challenge

I was amazed to receive some nice comments on my previous card as I imagined my blogging pals would have thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth, so thanks, it was a nice surprise! Here is a card I made yesterday for the latest Colour Create Challenge.

I decided to dig out the Cuttlebug and a flower die I bought ages ago but had never used. It was fun trying out the endless combinations after cutting out the various shapes and colours. I have used the stamp before but cannot recall the manufacturer.

Fairy Slider Card

I am seriously shocked to see that this is my first blog post for 8 months...where has the time gone!!!!!! Speaking of time I hardly ever seem to have the opportunity to craft these days but I decided mid week that I would definitely get my craft gear out and make something this weekend.

This morning as I turned on the PC I remembered the fun I used to have entering challenges and so, inspired by Rainbow Lady's beautiful butterfly card, I came up with this magic slider card which uses Joanna Sheen's wild rose fairy stamp set.

The image was stamped twice; once onto acetate with Stazon and then onto cardstock with Memento black ready for colouring with pro-markers.

As the challenge was to use ocean shades of blue and green plus an initial I grabbed several blue and green inkpads (Versacolor pigment and Adirondack dye) and set to work stippling the various shades onto my white card blank. I then inked up the rose stamp from the wild rose fairy set with mid blue Versacolor to make the frame and finished it with off with an inner section coloured and stamped with dark blue inks.

I used some of the leftover card pieces to punch out daisies and layered them up across the bottom of the frame, adding four cream dried flowers for contrast (I'm sure they have a name but I'm no botanist). I have had those flowers for donkeys' years, so long in fact it's a wonder they haven't disintegrated!

I think the little round letter embellishment is by Doodlebug and again I've had those for a very long time (the 'g' is the initial of the recipient). The plastic was pink so I coloured it with turquoise permanent marker and the last stage was to set an eyelet into the pull tab and add a punched daisy and some dark blue organza ribbon.

I really enjoyed getting covered in ink and won't admit to how long it took me to make the card! That was partly due to being out of practice and also because I made a total hash of my first attempt due to assembling it all wrong so it didn't even slide.....we live and learn!

RSS Challenge 3

Here is my card for the latest Ready Steady Stamp challenge. The ingredients this week were:


Monument
Blue
Metal Embellishment
Cuttlewax technique
Cork

At first I thought I was going to have to give this one a miss as I was pretty sure I wouldn't have any cork. Then I remembered the old cork coaster on my bedside table....managed to punch a little heart from it! I had to think about the wax paper, had a good look through my kitchen cupboard and voila! I knew the wax paper discs which came with an ancient burger press I never use would come in useful one day (well, no, didn't really think that, but come in useful they did!).

Anyway, back to the card itself....I used various Cuttlebug folders (about 10!!!!!) to make the wax patterns and once ready I inked the papers with various red and blue inks before stamping the Paper Artsy Eiffel Tower several times, cutting out and layering the images. I have no idea where the can-can girls stamp is from but the wings behind the clock face hanging from the Tim H idea-ology chain are part of an angel stamp and the lace stamp is by Kodomo (I used red spray inks on the paper first before stamping with black Versafine).


The red cardstock shape with the tower image was die cut with a Nesabilities label in the Cuttlebug. The swirly bird stamp in the background is by Stampin Up and I used a Castaway inkpad on plain red cardstock to create the bleached image. You can just about spot the cork heart on the layered label bottom left. I used an white gel ink pen to make the dots on the red labels. That's about it really, just finished it off by threading some red grossgrain ribbon through punched holes down the inner right hand side of my blue card base and added a dotty bow, or is it a butterfly?

Neglected Stash!

I don't make childrens' cards very often but on Tuesday, whilst looking for some cardstock I came across a huge stash of 12 x 12 papers I bought a few years ago and decided I really should actually use some of them. I went through a phase when I started making cards of buying any pack of paper that caught my eye but never got around to using it. The large card blank was another impulse buy consigned to the back of a drawer! This all fits in very nicely with this week's My Time To Craft challenge (neglected or forgotten stash). Although the hills/grass were just cut from some pieces of thin card and coloured with various shades of green ink, the sky is ready made, as it's a sheet from a large DCWV photo stack and the pink dotty paper is by Doodlebug. I went a bit mad with the Cuttlebug when I bought some Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle dies a year or so ago and ended up with enough diecuts to last a lifetime. The happy birthday circle was embossed using a folder I bought at the same time as my Cuttlebug machine. I even dug out my first ever cardmaking purchase ....peel off stickers for the name and age, something else I bought quite a few of, then wondered why, as they got dog eared and stuck together every time I peeled one off the sheet and tried to cram them back into the storage box.

Tyger Tyger......

Here is my latest card for the first Ready Steady Stamp challenge. Hopefully this will work....not been able to use the PC much due to hard drive failure and it is currently working via an ancient spare hard drive. We cannot use Windows XP either so we are temporarily on Linux with Firefox as the web browser and I am so used to Microsoft I am struggling!!!!! Anyway, back to the card.....The tiger stamp (Tanda) is on a book page background coloured with black/gold spray ink. The textile background was made with silk fibres and fusible fibres, coloured with spray inks. This was a technique I learned from Patricia Cosgriff...thanks Paddy! Thanks also to Chris for the demo (ages ago!) which enabled me to stamp the jigsaw pieces imprinted with raffia after heating the foam to make the impression. I have used Brilliance Galaxy Gold to stamp directly onto my black backing sheet and the top peice was stamped with Adirondack green and various shades of brown and amber inks.

Bunny, Buttons & Bows

Here is my entry for The Next Level's latest challenge (Buttons & Bows). The stamped image has been coloured with Pro Markers. The buttons are by PaperMania. The orange flower ribbon and backing paper are both craft mag freebies. The grossgrain and sparkly ribbons are from my stash.

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Card

I liked the sound of the latest Simon Says Stamp Challenge as I haven't used paper piecing in conjuction with stamping for a while. I spent ages trying to decide which stamps to use and finally settled on this little bird by Imaginisce, plus strawberry and birthday stamps which were free with Craft Stamper magazine. The papers and cardstock are all leftover pieces from my bits box. No matter how many times I get that box out the contents never seem to go down! I did enjoy making the card as it was a change from colouring in with markers, though some of the cutting out was a bit fiddly.

50th Birthday Roses

I have just made this 50th birthday card using the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday Challenge. I tend to shy away from sketch challenges but felt like a change and this is the result. I have decided I really must use up some of the many papers and embellishments I have bought over the years but never used. These papers and decoupaged roses are all by Anna Griffin. The colours match the bottom right floral embellishment very well but I am not sure if that is Anna G or Kay & Company. I used a rose punch on the green mat and threaded a length of pearl string through it, then attached a strip of cream paper behind the cut outs. The paper lace is left over from a pack I bought at Lakeland Ltd many moons ago. The white organza ribbon is from The Mulberry Bush and the Celebrate stamp is by Stampin Up.

Thank You Teddy

Here is my latest card using one of my favourite teddy bear stamps. It also happens to be my entry for the latest Cute Card Thursday Challenge (Thank You Miss!). The words were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in gold using a Stampin Up sentiment stamp. The bear was stamped with Imperial Purple Versafine ink on plain card then mounted onto a nestabilities scalloped gold mirri card circle. The felt ribbon is from Anna Griffin's Sierra range.

V is for Vellum

As I am off work and the weather is nothing like it was last week (typical!!!), breezy, dark and about to rain, I have spent the day making cards and ironing, not at the same time obviously! Here is my entry for the latest ABC Challenge, which is V is for Vellum. I can't remember where I bought the pale green vellum with gold butterflies but I have had it a long time and seem to recall having it in various pastel colours. Tilda is stamped in Versafine ink and coloured with Pro Marker pens. The gold sentiment was made with my Cuttlebug and matted onto a piece of card cut with stamp edge scissors. The petals were left over from Cuttlebug flowers I cut from papers stamped with a background pattern stamp and I finished the card off with eyelets to attach the vellum to the card blank.

Make A Child Smile

Here is a card I made today for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge. Sue came up with a wonderful and very special dare....create a card to make a sick child smile and send it to one of the children listed on the Post Pals home page. Post Pals is a great idea and it was set up to create smiles for children with long term or life threatening illnesses. I will be posting my card off soon and hopefully it might raise a smile. I stamped the pixie image with black versafine and coloured her with shimmer paints. The corrugated card base was sprayed with various shades of pink Glimmer mist. The circles and scalloped mats were cut with Nestabilities in my Cuttlebug and I used rub on sentiments which I have had lying around for ages. The striped paper is a leftover strip and the ribbon is by Doodlebug. Finally I added a lilac Floradoodle secured with a daisy brad.

Bruce Springsteen Live at Glastonbury

Absolutely nothing to do with craft but just a note to say how amazing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were last night at Glastonbury, brilliant as ever. I have seen them live many times but this time I watched courtesy of the BBC.

Eastern Treasures

Just made this last minute birthday card using Joanna Sheen's new Eastern Treasures CD which contains stunning artwork by a contemporary Chinese artist. Not much else I can say about the card really, just a very simple one!

Summer Tilda

I haven't had much time to post but have actually manged to get online this weekend as well as make a card or two! I have also given my blog a makeover, though may switch to Wordpress, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, back to the card...Tilda in a sunhat picking flowers which is for the latest Just Magonolia Challenge #10 Summer. Tilda is coloured with Promarkers and as you can see I have used a scallop punch to cut round the image and for the card mats. I just added floral embellishments and a little hat I have had since I started making cards, just never got around to using it! I don't recall where the bright and colourful backing paper is from. The sentiment was made using a small Cuttlebug embossing folder on gold mirri.

Honey

Here are some photos of the beautiful Honey....not mine unfortunately....I wish!!!!!!!!! We recently looked after Honey whilst her very lucky owners were on holiday and I enjoyed every minute of it. She is a lovely friendly and funny dog who likes to fetch (everything in sight!). It's hard to believe she is a middle aged lady, she is rarely still. The graphics are courtesy of Scrapbook Flair by the way.

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 11

I have just made this birthday card which I am entering for The Sugar Bowl Challenge 11 (Kathy's Sketch + pearls). The Sugar Nellie stamp is 'Poise' by Leanne Ellis, coloured with Letraset markers. The patterned papers are all HOTP and the green and brown card shapes were cut with Nestabilities label dies. I used a rose punch on the corners and added a string of pearls tied into a bow, dried flowers and a couple of gems to finish off my card.

The Next Level

I am looking forward to finding out what the new challenge blog 'The Next Level' is all

about....not long to go now as it launches on Monday 1st June. All I need now is more spare time!

Good Luck Card

I have just made this card to wish a friend well in finding a new job after she was made redundant recently. I am also entering this into Papertake's latest challenge which is to use scraps, as I have had the blue card circle in my bits box since I got my Cuttlebug, when I sat down and cut out lots of different sized circles, so it must be 2 years now! The bit of blue card I stamped the words onto has also been hanging around for a couple of years and was part of a double sided sheet by Crafty Secrets.

New Job Card

I have just made this card for a friend about to start a new job after being made redundant recently, so it fits in nicely with the Secret Crafter Saturday 'New Beginnings' challenge. The embellishments are all from the Anna Griffin Sierra collection and the cat and dog stamp is by Inca.

Happy Birthday - A Spoon Full of Sugar

Here is my card for the latest challenge over at 'A Spoon Full of Sugar' who are celebrating their first birthday. My Tilda image is coloured with Promarker & Sakura Sparkle pens and cut out with a scallop punch. It is matted onto a piece of green card cut out with a Nestabilities label die and a piece of green patterned paper from my bits box. I don't remember where the sentiment stamp was from but the flowers are Flora Doodles.

Good Luck Card

My latest card is a good luck card in the shape of a handbag. The template and paper is by Pink Petticoat. I am still tempted to put more bling on the front but suspect the single gem, flower and padlock charm are more than enough. The inside is decorated with more clear gems clear embossed stamped butterflies (Elusive Images). These were stamped onto glossy cardstock coloured with blue ink. The sentiment labels are Nestabilities labels.

Graphicus April Challenge Card

Here is my card for the Graphicus April Challenge (theme - blossom, colour palette - pink & green). I have used stamps from 3 different Elusive Images themeplates for this card. The leaves (square image in centre of card) and the small blossoms cut out and stuck onto the leafy image are both stamps from the Texture Blocks themeplate. They are stamped onto glossy cardstock with Graphite Black Brilliance ink . The cardstock was first coloured with various pink and green inks (Stazon, Brilliance, ColorBox). The flowers in top left and bottom right hand corners are from the Funky Doodles Fresh themeplate. I used pink and green inks to stamp the flowers, cut them out, and misted them with pink and green spray inks from the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Fairy Blossom set. The torn paper on the right of my card is from the Graphicus Guild paper pack. I finished off my card by highlighting the small blossoms with some dimensional glaze and a little bit of pink glitter and sticking on small pink and green seed beads to form a stem for the Funky Doodle flowers and added a small pink bow.

Favourite Things

My latest card fits in well with the Dutch Dare Challenge (Favourite Things), which in my case happen to be rubber stamps and ribbon. I have used one of my favourite stamps here, 'Sybil' from Chapel Road Art Stamps, with Versafine Sepia ink, mounted onto a frame made with spray inks. The paper and matching ribbon is by Laura Ashley, not sure where the green organza ribbon is from, as I have had it for ages. I rubbed some of the Versafine ink onto a piece of green card, cut a shape out using a Nestabilities label die and stamped the swirls and sentiment onto it (HOTP words and magazine freebie swirl stamp).

Pink & Green

Here is my latest simple (but still took ages to make because I am so out of practice) card for this week's Dare U 2 Digi Stamp Challenge, where theme is pink and green. The image is Cute Daisy May, coloured with a variety of pens including Promarkers and Sakura Sparkle. The shape mat was made with a Nestabilities label die and the pink & green patterned paper is by K & Company. The base card has been sprited with Garden Fairy & Cherry Blossom Glimmer Mists. The flowers are from Poppicrafts and the green sequin ribbon was the last piece of ribbon I bought at a craft fair ages ago.

Hungry Garden Visitor

I am hoping to do some crafting this weekend but in the meantime I thought I would share this photo of a beautiful song thrush enjoying a tasty worm in our garden yesterday.

Chocolate, Coffee & Cream

Here is my card for the latest Colour Create Challenge, not a very good photo I'm afraid but it was the best of a bad bunch! No idea where I go wrong but I do not get any better at photography. The papers are Pink Petticoat, the cardstock is from The Papermill Shop. I used a free template from a craft magazine for the cupcake shapes and just doodled the stitches and corners.

Charmed Delectable Blog Candy

To be in with a chance of winning this lovely candy, which is on offer at Charmed Delectable Stamps, to celebrate the launch of a new stamp range, all you have to do is leave a comment on your blog...simple!

Crafty Goings On Blog Candy Card

Karen of Charmed Cards & Crafts fame is offering an amazing pack of 72 copic markers over on her Crafty Goings On Blog. To be in with a chance of winning you have to link to a project on your blog which uses a download or stamped image you have coloured in and if it is a Charmed download you can enter twice!

Here is my entry. I coloured Dottie with Promakers and mounted the image onto a Nestabilities scallop circle . She appears to have got into the sort of mess I do when I attempt to bake! The colourful paper is Basic Grey and I just added some ribbon, eyelets and a strip of blue gingham vellum to finish off my card.

I have precious few Dotties left as I must have somehow deleted the folder on our PC but luckily I printed some off when I originally bought this download.

Lilac & Blue

I have been longing to have a go at the latest Colour Create Challenge all week as the colours really appealed to me....only just got around to it, so very last minute!!!!! The card was designed with the Serif Draw Plus graphics programme and I really enjoyed making it. All that remained then was to cut out my design, mat it onto a square of blue cardstock and attach it to my white scallop edge card blank and finish it off with some lilac ribbon.

Dawn Chorus Card - Graphicus March Challenge

I can hardly believe this is my first blog entry for almost 6 weeks!!!!! I haven't been crafting either, due to lack of time and/or energy, which also means I haven't been online much or reading blogs. However, I did visit one blog yesterday....Graphicus....to see what the March challenge is and I decided to make a last minute card to enter. The theme is yellow/sing which reminded me that my friend challenged me last year to make her a yellow birthday card as it is a colour I rarely opt for where cardmaking is concerned. I never did rise to that challenge I'm afraid...until now! I just had to use the Elusive Images Dawn Chorus stamp as the local bird population is in fine voice right now. The papers are all from my Graphicus Guild pack.