Penny Black Challenge

Wooo Hoo, I won at the Penny Black's Challenge blog hop. Never entered one before so you can imagine how surprised and excited I was to see I was one of the winners. I get to choose $25 Simon Says products, so a shopping spree awaits.

And this week they have a great sketch to follow. It's not unlike one I quite often use so feel really at home with this one. I have used Daisy Bucket DP's on the base card and inked a mat using my very watery swish and swoosh inky technique with Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap, Peeled Pain and Broken China. The main image is Penny Black 3822K which I stamped with versafie sepia and embossed with detail clear and highlighted with stickles. The sentiment is Stamp by Judith SK-LG-207 and the border and corner punched with Fiskars Threading Water.

Rosie D's challenge 59

It's time for another challenge at Rosie D's and we have a super prize on offer of a mystery bag of craft goodies for one lucky winner. There is a lovely traditional feel to this challenge - Red, Green and a bit of bling, now how simple is that and the perfect chance to make that extra Christmas card you forgot you needed. I am also entering this card for this weeks Cupcake challenge who have the theme of Red and Green.

I have used one of my favourite images this Christmas from Sarah Kay, stamped and embossed with versafine black and clear embossing powder and coloured with Copics. The DP is from Magnolia Tilda range.......I absolutely adore these DP's, they have a wonderful texture and the colours and designs across the whole range are super........I know I don't do Tilda, but one has to make an exception here.

The little girls coat has been liberally glittered and JudiKins snow glitter added for the ground. The oval is cut with Nesties through the Bug as have the leaves and flowers using Sizzzix dies. I added tiny gold gems to the centre of the flowers, some ribbon and a sentiment from Creative Expression Victorian Christmas sheet.

And just a little taster of the Big Demo Day Saturday at Sir Stampalot......more to come tomorrow.

Allsorts challenge 29

It was super to see so many of you joining in the fun at Allsorts again this week and so many varied creations for Emma's song title theme. Lots of old favourites, but some new ones as well. Lisa has selected the theme for this weeks challenge and would like to see "Buttons" on your creations. As always it can be a card or any other crafty make, just remember the buttons to be in with a chance of winning the wonderful prize on offer from our sponsors Digisparkle.

I know I said I was done with Christmas cards but I did make this one a couple of weeks ago ready for today. The snowman is Mr Cool, Penny Black 4003H coloured with Copics. The Christmas trees are cut out from JudiKins 2996H which I stamped onto black gloss cardstock and embossed with detail white embossing powder, then decorated the trees with gems, cord and buttons.

The DP is My Minds Eye and the vellum torn across the bottom is Word Prints Scrapbook Sally which is ready embossed with snowflakes. The big snowflake is from the Cuttlebug cut and emboss folder.

Challenges

After vowing only this morning that I really had done with Christmas cards and was making no more, here I am back with another.......mind you it's a bit unconventional, but my daughter will adore it and that's just where it will be going.

The theme for this weeks ABC challenge is "I for Indigo" and as I don't work with blue a great deal it's made me step outside my comfort zone a bit which is never a bad thing. I have coupled it with Everybody Art Challenges theme of "Christmas" and Creative Card Crews "Favourite Things"........everyone who know me knows I adore butterflies. Not sure if the finished card is a bit overkill, but my hubby's (who is my main critic) comment was "not in the current run of pile it on crafting". Hmmmmm !

I created a background with Brilliance inks, sky, silver and Mediterranean blue, dabbing them onto a silicone sheet, spritzing with water then whooshing a piece of card around to get a good covering which when dry gives a lovely glistening background to work on. I stamped my image, Penny Black 3896K with versafine blue and embossed with detail clear, then painted the poinsettias with the same brilliance inks. The lovely sentiment is Hero Arts C2604.

The card itself which is pearlescent silver is randomly stamped with Penny Black 3999H using the same blue versafine and embossing with iridescent powder. A piece of pale blue vellum has been laid diagonally across the card because I felt the snowflakes were a bit overpowering. The gorgeous ribbon which has tiny butterflies all over was a present from a great blogging friend......I know you don't like your name in lights, but you know who you are, so thank you mate.

To finish I made up a stick pin with blue and pearl beads and some butterflies punched from vellum. Overkill possibly, but I actually quite like the finished project.

One for Mel (and Stampalot)

A few weeks ago at one of the crafty sessions at Sir Stampalot..........don't let anyone try to convince you that these are really an excuse for idle craft chatter and gossip.......perish the thought........Mel -who is a whiz with all things sizzix, so do check her out, convinced me that I 'needed' this Martha Stewart bunny punch.

Now Mel loves her bunnies so this one is really for her and I thought this new Rachelle Anne Miller stamp which I have named Raggy Annie and which Janice asked me to create some samples with, really does lends itself to the whole rural theme. So bunnies, scarecrows, birds and garden raffia.

The image has been stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured with Copics........all going well on that front I am pleased to say, a real joy to work with. The metal panel was run through the Bug using the Bird Call folder and then sanded to show the base colour. The bunny border is the so needed Martha Stewart punch.......have to confess I do rather like it and I also cut off a few more of the bunnies and placed around the image. I added chopped raffia to the scarecrows arms and legs some flowers and leaves to embellish. The DP is Basic Grey.

Don't forget Sir Stampalot's Bid Demo Day is not far away now - 5th December, so mark it in your diaries. Here is a little taster of what I have been preparing and will be sharing lots more with you very shortly.

Penny Black challenge

I said I needed an excuse to use some of my new goodies from Sir Stampalot and the team over at the Penny Black challenge have given me the perfect opportunity with their theme of 'Winter Wonderland'. And that's not the end of it this week as they have a 'Christmas Countdown Blog Hope', a competition and lots of prizes on offer.

This is one of the card samples created ready for Stamplot's Big Demo Day on 5th December using the gorgeous Penny Black 3770K Christmas in Paris. I shall be making a few more with this one and a very special one for one of our sons and his fiancee who is French and I think she will really appreciate this image.

I stamped with versafine majestic blue and embossed with detail clear. I distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Broken China and stamped a second image of the sentiment section and raised this with silicone and silver brads and added some silver foil and crystal stickles to the Tour Eiffel and holly sections of the main image. I then masked the edge of the card and stamped sections of the stamp down the side using versafine and embossing with detail silver and again adding some stickles to highlight. The border is punched with Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop. To finish, some silver ric rac tied across the card, punched holly, leaves and snowflakes (using my new MS snowflake punch) finished with a silver gem.

A real mixture

Well, how is everyone this Sunday morning ? I have just one card to share having been very, very good, done as I was told and yesterday made just one card and no blog hopping.......sorry peeps, I will be round to see you all soon. I found that if I lowered my daylight light so I was sort of working above the gaze that seems to work OK and I promised myself if my eye started to hurt I would stop and leave my card !!!!

I am being a bit naughty and combining three challenges here as realistically I can't spend any longer crafting just yet.......but I have managed to use some of my new goodies from Sir Stampalot so you can all see what super new stuff they had delivered this week.

The challenges are Friday Sketchers who have a nice sketch by Jeanette, Tuesday Taggers who want to see 'Red, Gold and Green' and Creative Card Crew who would like to see 'String, Hemp, Twine, Rope etc' on projects.

The image is one of the new Rachelle Anne Miller images - Scarecrow RM064, stamped in versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured in with my brand new Copics which I absolutely love and am getting on with really well. The little board round her neck - yes she is a lady scarecrow - is blank, so I wrote in the name I have given her - Raggy Annie and diamond glazed over.

I stamped her hat and the patches again onto some scraps of Junkitz DP and decoupaged them and also cut out some squares from the same paper to create the background. I added a band of hessian and some raffia which I thought went well with the rustic feel of the card. The layered flowers are from a new Woodware punch from Stampalot called Sakura which does a multi stamp of five flowers in various sizes for layering up. The sentiment it Stamps by Judith SK-LG-207 available from Stamp Addicts.

The red panel has been run through the Bug and lightly sanded and a stamped and coloured a second image onto Shrink Plastic which is placed just above the sentiment.