Going round in circles

This is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

It's the first time I've ever made a circular card and I drew round a saucer for the basic card shape and then used some of my Nestabilities in my Cuttlebug to cut the smaller circles.

The little hedgehog is another one of the printed samples given me by Kath and I coloured it with Copic markers again. The 'Lots of Love' stamp was part of a freebie set from a craft magazine and I stamped it with Versafine 'Satin Red'. A little white ribbon bow and some sparkly dots finishes it off.

Little Angels

I though I'd try something different today so here,Ladies & Gentlemen, for your delectation my very first two Twinchies (which if you don't know are supposed to be little works of art which measure 2" x 2")!

The original stamp is by Crafty Individuals and has four little images on it so I stamped the whole and picked the two that 1. I liked and 2. had come out better. They were coloured in with Copic markers and the wings were sparkled with a Sakura clear glitter pen. 

The 2" x 2" bases are black mountboard which I decorated with Radiant Rain Daubers in 'Majestic Blue', 'Snap Dragon' and 'Wine & Roses' before giving it a quick spray with Moon Glow Glitz Spritz in 'Scintillating Silver'. 

The final touches were some twill word ribbon coloured with ink and two iridescent stones by Papermania.

I've been tagged!

And now apparently I have to go to my pictures and take the 6th picture from the 6th folder and explain it and then tag 6 other poor souls!

This is a picture of a family of geese taken on a trip to Chatsworth last year with some friends from a forum I belonged to. The weather was pretty foul but because all the others had seen the house on a previous visit we spent the whole time wandering around the grounds, which are beautiful, in the (almost) pouring rain! I'm afraid it's not the most exciting of photos but it is a reminder of a very enjoyable day and maybe next time I'll get to see inside the house which apparently is fantastic.

Now for my tagging

Linnie

RubyMay

Pascale

Faye

Rita

Irene

Sorry girls! 

Cat & Window

This ATC is for Rainbow Lady's challenge this week. I don't know why a window always seems to need a cat but then, in my opinion, everywhere needs a cat!

The image of the window is a download from Sketching Stamper Digi-Stamps coloured in with Copic Ciao markers. The backing of bricks comes from Scrapbookscrapbook.com as does the little plank that the cat is sitting on. The cat itself, stamped once on the backing paper and then again on white card and mounted on a foam pad, is from Magenta stamps 'Whiskers the Cat sitting'.

A Cheeky Girl

This little lady is for the Cuttlebug Be Inspired Challenge #16.

She is an image I've had on my computer for so long that I've no idea where she came from but I love her to bits!

I made the frame using 2 Cuttlebug  folders and 2 toning colours of Core'dinations cardstock which I sanded lightly to show the core colour. The edges were torn to size and the centre oval was torn with the help of a Whispers layering template. The frame was embellished with little punched hearts, some ribbon and handmade lace from my stash and some tiny pearls in pink and lavender.

The whole was then mounted on a card using foam pads to raise it a little.

The colour is a bit warmer than it looks -- I tried to improve it in PSP but it's not really right, sorry!

I Start the Morning off Right...

...with another award from my lovely cyber friend Faye in the US. Thank you so much Faye, as you say, it's an honour to receive it!

I promise I will pass it on in a while but at the moment I'm still half asleep -- OK I know I should be up and about and ready for anything; but the weather's so miserable I feel like hibernating right now.

Stormy Weather

I was going to make this card for a challenge but when I checked I found out it was over!

I decided to make it anyway and here is the finished article.

Both the image and the two papers are from Joanna Sheen's Fashion Boutique CDs - all matted and layered on black leather effect paper from my stash and the embellishments are 2 Flora Doodle flowers and a peel-off corner from my stash.

Maybe I'll find a challenge for her later?

Thanks to Ann I've got a challenge - Created by Hand .

Doggy Love

This little ATC is for two challenges and is thanks to the lovely Kath who, after learning that so far I only have one Penny Black stamp, has sent me loads of stamped images to play with and this is my first play.

The two challenges are Arty Girlz and Penny Black Saturday Challenge and I think this fits both.

Obviously the image is a Penny Black stamp (!) which I coloured with Copic Ciao markers. I cut the frame on my Cuttlebug with a little multi-frame die, unfortunately I don't remember the make and it says nothing on it. The two little hearts were punched out of the same card stock as the frame and were then embellished with tiny black pearl stickers from my stash as was the frame.

Anyone for a spot of tobogganing?

This is my entry for this week's challenge on Gothic Arches which is 'Winter Sports'.

I printed the background straight onto the card added the vintage image and embellished it with glitter chipboard stickers which were a freebie from a magazine and a liberal dollop (or several!) of DecoArt Glistening Snow Writer. The sparkle doesn't really show up properly in the photo but a scan would be even worse.

Cuttlebug 'Thank You'

This was made for Cuttlebug Be Inspired #15 which, as far as I was concerned was certainly a challenge! I ended up using practically every Cuttlebug folder I possess for this one.

I cut the circles out of Core'dinations card stock using my Cricut, then embossed them with the cuttlebug and then sanded them so the core colour (pale pink) highlighted the embossing.

The 'Thank you' was stamped in Stazon 'Jet Black' and I decorated the buttons, which came from my button jar, with a black peel-off pen.

I finished the card off with a scalloped edge peel-off as I thought the left hand side looked a bit naked -- I don't know whether I was right or not! Perhaps ribbon would have looked better?

A Cat and her Cat

This is today's offering for the Cupcake Craft Challenges.

The image is a stamp by Stamps Happen called 'A Cat and her Cat' and was stamped in Stazon 'Stone Gray' and coloured in with Copic Ciao markers, mounted on fuchsia pink and then black card. A piece of fuchsia organza ribbon from my stash knotted twice, a pink polka dot flower by Petaloo and a little cat button by Dress It Up completes the card.

And another!

This one comes from my blogfriend Lorraine and this award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY..nearness in space, time and relationships. It is to be passed on to 8 fellow bloggers and if you already have it then you must pass it on to someone who doesn't! It's a lovely award to get and I'm really grateful. I must admit though that I'm finding it harder and harder to find people who haven't got these awards but I am going to try. Be back later!

An award from Christine

I'm really going to have to work hard to keep up with all these awards!! They make you think hard and that's not something I do a lot. This one comes from Christine who has a super blog here -- do go and visit her.

Now, what I'm supposed to do with this is :

List 7 of my favourite things 

Pass the award on to 7 friends 

So, the first challenge 

7 of my favourite things

1. My family (all of them, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephew) who have been so wonderful to me since my husband died.

2. My cats ( who rely on me for almost everything which is a lovely responsibility)

3.Crafting ( which keeps me relatively sane)

4. Good friends (both cyber and real life) and spending time with them

5. Good books ( I love reading)

6. Challenges (cardmaking and others)

7. A lazy evening at home chilling out with a glass of wine and watching rubbish on the television.

Well that's worn me out so now I have to think of 7 people I'd like to award this to and hopefully they don't have it already. So here goes :

Pat at http://pipspastimes.blogspot.com/

Ann at http://craftworkblog.blogspot.com/

Anne at http://cardmakingtranquility.blogspot.com/

Hazel at http://didosdesigns.blogspot.com/

Cynthia at http://rainbowladyscraftyblog.blogspot.com/

Rita at http://rmgdesign.blogspot.com/

Julie at http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/

That's it then. I now have to think about the other two awards but I definitely need a cup of tea first.

Magnolias

This is for the Sketch Saturday Challenge; it's taken me all day to make, and I'm still not sure about it!

The image (a stamp from Stamps Happen called Magnolia Floral) was stamped and embossed with black detail powder on dark blue card and coloured with US ArtQuest Stargazers paints and mounted on black silk Mirri board.

The border was made with a Martha Stewart border punch to which I added some pink twill ribbon from my stash and a sentiment stamped and embossed with silver detail powder.

The three flowers are by Papermania as are the brads.

Unfortunately the photo doesn't show the beautiful pearlescence of the image.

Thanks Kym

I have to say thanks to Kym for this award which she gave me yesterday. I'm still trying to decide who's going to get my previous one so this one will be the next one after that!! Not only do I think everyone deserves them but sometimes it's difficult to know who has them already. I think I'll have to go on an blog hunt and I may be some time.

Excuse me!

Today's card is for two challenges -- The first is the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - to use 1 image,2 papers and 3 embellishments, and the second is the One Stop Craft Challenge - use a charm on your card.

The image is a stamp from 'Stamps Away' called 'Cat on Dress' stamped with Archival Ink in 'Coffee' and the girl's dress is coloured with a Copic Ciao marker - I've only just got a set of these so I'm learning what can be done with them as I go along!

The two papers are by K & Co and the embellishments are two little flowers by Hero Arts and a heart from my stash.

I also took delivery of a 'Purple Cows' trimmer today - hence all the wavy edges. Well, I had to try it out didn't I?

Another award!

                                                              The Lemonade Award 

Well, aren't I the lucky one! I got this lovely award from my blogfriend Pascal ,do have a look at her blog  to see what she does.It is for people who show attitude or gratitude. I think the saying goes something like "If life gives you a lemon, make Lemonade" but I'm sure you could use it to do something crafty as well!

I will pass it on to 5 people soon but I need to put my thinking cap on as there are so many people who deserve it so I'll come back to you on that.

A double Challenge

This card will, I hope, do for two challenges.

The first is Rainbow Lady's Challenge this week which is to use peel-offs as the main image on your card and not just for sentiments. I hardly ever use peel-offs myself but I happen to have a large stash of oriental ones which I bought an eternity ago and this was the ideal opportunity to use a few. 

I stuck the main one,the kimono, on acetate which makes it suitable for the second challenge which is Arty Girlz Weekly Challenge #69.

The kimono was coloured in with Sakura Souffle pens for the decoration and a Copic Ciao for the main part. Backed with an oriental paper from an old Joanna Sheen pad it was then mounted with sticky pads on black gloss card on a red card base.

I managed to use up quite a few more peel-offs and the final flourish was a little chinese tassel which, I suppose,doesn't really go with a japanese kimono does it?

New Award

I've decided that I'm going to present an award of my own. It is the 'Beautiful Blog' Award and it should be passed on to 5 people who have inspired you and helped to make your blog what it is .

I'm making the following five people the very first recipients of this award

Ann at http://craftblogspiritofcreativity.blogspot.com/

and Cynthia at http://rainbowladyscraftyblog.blogspot.com/

for giving me the courage to set up my own blog

To Frankie http://dragon-dragonsweb.blogspot.com/ for taking the plunge into the world of blogging with me

To Beryl http://wlpandivascraft.blogspot.com/ for having a lovely blog and two cats!

And to Kym http://kyms-crafty-cards.blogspot.com/ for her charity work in spite of illness

Thanks Girls!!

Introducing Esmeralda ...

or at least that's what I call her. She's my very first attempt at a Gothic Arch and the challenge here was 'Gypsies'.

I started by printing the backing onto some card and then I cut out the arch shape. I then distressed it with Stazon 'Timber Brown' and Encore Ultimate Metallic 'Gold' before attaching the picture of Esmeralda.She was one of several old images I have on my computer and I have absolutely no idea where she came from. Then I stamped a few flourishes in the same two inks as I used to distress and finished it off with a little coin embellishment to match those in her head-dress which I had highlighted with a Sakura metallic pen.

A Big Hug

My lovely blogfriend Ann has given me this award; thank you so much. Isn't it a sweetie!

Apparently this award is given 'in appreciation of lovely and witty comments and for always knowing the right thing to say at the right time' and that is something I certainly try to do but whether I always manage it is another matter.

Anyway I shall wear it (if that's the right term!) with pride and I now have to pass it on to 10 people.

The first one for a hug is Frankie http://dragon-dragonsweb.blogspot.com/

And the second is Christine http://christine-ladylacecraftingblog.blogspot.com/

Next comes Linnie http://linniepink.blogspot.com/

I'll have to come back to you on the rest as I don't yet know who has or hasn't got a hug but if you haven't and you're reading this please feel free to grab one as I'm sure you could do with one -- couldn't we all?

Craft Like An..........?

This is for this week's One Stop Craft Challenge.

I decided to go Oriental with a touch of Egypt (the pyramid!) for my entry to this challenge. I used a Wendy Stenton template for the base card.The image of the lady and the backing paper pattern for the pyramid itself are from Joanna Sheen's 'Oriental Dreams' CD . I made a black card tag for the image itself which I attached to the top of the pyramid with black cord and the whole thing is embellished with a tassel, also from Joanna Sheen, and some black oriental peel-offs from my stash which continue round the other sides and are out of sight, like the dark side of the moon.

Is this a Moo?

I keep reading about 'Inchies' & 'Twinchies' & 'Skinnies' and 'Moos' so I thought I'd have a go at a Moo. I got a little information from here but if anyone can tell me any more about any of them I'd be really grateful.

To make this I took a piece of dark brown mountboard,stamped and embossed it using a Hot Off The Press swirl stamp and Moon Glow Two-toned embossing powder in Hyacinth Blue/Jade. The two-tone effect doesn't show up on the scan I'm afraid.

The embellishments are a charm from Artgirlz,some little glitter stickers and a heart from my stash and a piece of ribbon also from my stash. I was intending to fray both ends of the ribbon but only one was willing!

Now you tell me -- is this a Moo?

Daisy Dots

This is my entry for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge and also for Cupcake Craft Challenge.

I only have one Penny Black stamp and this is it. It's called 'Garden Poems' so it inspired the title of the card 'Daisy Dots'.

I started with stamping the image in my favourite(at the moment!) Stazon colour - Stone Gray- and coloured it with Winsor & Newton watercolours. I then attached it to a piece of dark pink Alchemy card which had been embossed using the Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder using four little green brads to make it even dottier. The alphabet beads (which come from the ELC) are tied on with a piece of rainbow cord from my stash -- I was going to put 'DAISY DOTS' but I'd run out of' T's!

The green spotty paper was made with the help of PSP, and the final embellishment is a piece of pink twill ribbon from my stash and three little Papermania flowers and brads. The base card is pale pink Alchemy trimmed to fit.

Two Awards for me!

Today I had a lovely surprise -- my friend Ann has very kindly presented me with these two awards --- my very first!

I know I'm supposed to pass them on but as a very new blogger I don't really know where to send them so, all you who read my blog please feel free to help yourselves I know you all deserve them if you don't have them already!

I'm Blue

It does seem a rather appropriate title as this is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year -- but look on the bright side, things can only get better! But I did, in fact, make this for The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge this week and I think it'll do for the Papertake Weekly Challenge too.

The base card is pale blue Tapestry card to which I added some K & Co paper in a gorgeous bluey paisley mix. I then added a strip of dark blue textured card topped with a strip of white linen paper with the edges decorated using Martha Stewart's 'Doiley' border punch. Then a piece of navy blue organza ribbon knotted either side of a heart of pale blue Alchemy card run through the cuttlebug with the 'Script' folder and the embossing enhanced with Archival Ink in 'Cobalt'.

I printed out the sentiment 'I'm blue without you' on the computer and mounted it on a dark blue homemade ribbon slider with the same navy ribbon knotted on the sides.

The other embellishments are little blue acrylic stone hearts by Habico and a couple of punched out hearts with little blue pearls on them.

Flaunt it!

This my entry for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge but she'd also do for My Time to Craft.

The base is a dark blue DL card.

Then I added a piece of blue and cream shell-patterned paper from Joanna Sheen on to which I fixed a piece of parchment which had been run through the cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder. The parchment was attached with small blue brads.

Ethel (from 'Murray & Ethel Set 2' by Creative Expressions) was stamped with @Stone Gray' Stazon onto white card and water coloured. I then fixed her on to the dotty parchment. The sentiment from the same set was stamped and embossed and fixed on to a piece of ribbon from my stash.

The whole thing was finished off with tiny seaside embellishments which actually came in a box from 'The Early Learning Centre'. I've found lots of things in there really useful for crafting including some fantastic gems!

Have a Heart

This is for 'Secret Crafter' Saturday Challenge #15. And this time it isn't a card or an ATC but a hanging decoration.

It consists of four heart-shaped pieces of Stardream card in 'Mars' (or at least I think that's the colour!) scored vertically and folded and glued together - I hope that makes sense - with some ivory ribbon in the middle to which I attached an ivory tassel. I embellished it with a variety of shapes of ivory pearl gems and finished it off with strings of adhesive pearls on the edges. 

Cat in control

I made this for the 'This Thursday it's all about ...' challenge.

I used a 'stamp by 'Stamps Happen' called 'Cat in Control' which I just bought in a sale. As a cat lover I couldn't resist it and I think it's really appropriate for the challenge. It was stamped with Stazon 'Stone Gray' and then I had my first attempt at water colouring. I used a Winsor & Newton paintbox with some Cotman Water Colours which I had treated myself to ages ago and never got round to using before. 

The image was then mounted on to a piece of black card to form a narrow frame and then on to a piece of backing paper from the Paisley pad by Joanna Sheen and then on a pale orange card.

Embellishments are flowers and brad from Papermania and two colours of toning organza ribbon.

Friday Sketchers Challenge # 35

This is my entry for the Friday Sketchers challenge. This weeks' sketch is shown above and is by Mumur from France. I hope I did it proud.

I started with an 8" x 8" black card added a backing paper I'd designed myself with PSP then a piece of antiqued gold card with a strip of calligraphy paper from a Joanna Sheen pad and a stamped sentiment in Stazon 'Timber Brown' on a piece of distressed parchment paper. The sentiment comes for a set I bought in WH Smith some time ago. The image of the lady which comes from a sheet of Cherry Pie Art Stamps called Plate# 36 'Renaissance' was also stamped on parchment paper with 'Timber Brown' and distressed. It was then mounted on gold mirri card, fancy card from my stash embellished with Cuttlebug swirls and felt flowers by Creative Impressions, mounted on more mirri card and then attached to the base card.

I thought I'd lost this stamp so it was really pleasing to find it and thanks to Murielle for inspiring me to use it!

Two Curious ATCs

These weren't made for any challenge but I love the quirkiness of Paper Artsy stamps and these two images come from Wings Plate 3. They're just the perfect size for ATCs although they'd make great toppers too.

The first one 'Imagine' was stamped and embossed in copper on a dark red background and coloured with paints from one of my US ArtQuest watercolor palettes. I then ran a copper leafing pen round the edges and added three little glitter gems.

The second one 'Believe' was stamped on to a background done with Moon Glow Glitz Spritzes, paper piecing for her face, a piece of twill ribbon coloured with the ink I used for stamping , and a gem flower from my stash.

Gracious Lady

This is my entry for Rainbow Lady's Challenge this week.

For a change it's an ATC. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm not the most fashionable of people but I do love things to do with fashion. I've had the Hero Arts 'Gracious Lady' stamp for a while now but have never used it before.

For this ATC I did what I think is called 'Paper Piecing' in that I stamped the image several times on different coloured card and cut separate elements of it out to create the final picture. The only colouring I did was on her face where I gave her a slightly rosy glow.

I attached the finished picture to an ATC sized piece of amethyst card and embellished it with some gem stickers from my stash.

Everything for the garden

This card wasn't exactly made for a challenge but it did have to be made in a bit of a hurry! It was one of the samples I made for Joanna Sheen's new CD 'Cottage Garden' which will be showing on Create & Craft on Sunday 18th from 2 - 4 pm.

It was a fantastic CD to work from and I had such fun with it. There are some gorgeous images on it of cottages, gardens, etc. etc.

I picked this image as it appealed to me as being a bit different from the rest. I printed the main image out 4 times on satin paper and decoupaged it on to a linen-effect card printed with the co-ordinating backing paper and then embellished it with lots of little seed packets (from a sheet of embellishments on the CD) printed on matt paper.

Obviously the ideal card for a gardening friend.

I hope you like it -- I'm off now to search for another challenge!

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #14

And for my second challenge today (and there's no way I'm going to keep this up!) I've entered the Cuttlebug Be Inspired challenge to make a card with your favourite folder.

Well my favourite, for today at least, is Texture and this is what I did with it.

The base is a pale green DL card and at the top I added some K & Co paper which I thought was ideal as the pattern is very similar to the Texture one and I liked the colours. I ran a piece of pink card through the Cuttlebug  and highlighted the embossing in Adirondack 'Lettuce'. Over the join I used a piece of 'Chatterbox' ribbon and finished the card off with embellishments from 'Laura Ashley'.

I think that's certainly enough challenges for today but who knows what tomorrow will bring?

A New Day, A New Challenge

This is my entry for the Sketch Saturday Challenge #33.

I started with a square lilac card, added a piece of pale turquoise swirly paper from a 'Goodie Box' from Kanban to start it all off.

Other embellishments are a piece of vellum put through the cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder, some paper lace from 'paper cellar' on vellum,a sentiment from a  freebie from 'Cardmaking & Papercraft', a Papermania flower and brad and a stamped image from a foam stamp by 'La Blanche'.

I think that's about it!

Two challenges in one day!

There'll be no stopping me now.

This card is for a challenge on the Joanna Sheen forum to make a card with a stamped background.

I used a pair of Agapanthus stamps by Stampendous for this one with Versamark and White Detail embossing powder for the background on amethyst coloured card and Brilliance 'Victorian Violet' for the image on white card which I fixed with four differently coloured brads. The card is finished with a fancy lilac ribbon.

Roll on the next challenge!

My first attempt at a challenge

Today I've done my first challenge entry.

This one is for Rainbow Lady's 'Green & Black' challenge. The image comes from Dover Publications 'Art Deco Fashions' and I created the backing paper with Paint Shop Pro (I'm still learning all the things I can do with it as I'm only a beginner and not the most computer literate of people!)

I hope you like it and I hope that it's the first of many challenges that I attempt.

My first ATC

This is the very first ATC I ever made; some time ago now but I'm still learning about them and enjoying them as a change from cardmaking. It's quite a challenge to do something exciting in such a small space.

January 12th Well here I am

I don't really know what I'm doing yet but almost everyone I know seems to have a blog so I thought I'd give it a go! You'll have to be patient with me as I'll take some time to get this up and running as I'd like it and to find out what I can and can't do. This card was made as a sample for Joanna Sheen's 'Baby Love' CD.