Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Week 26

This week's theme on the Anything Goes Challenge Blog is animals. I've used a stamp from Little Claire Designs called called 'Warmest Wishes' which is available here on their website. The image has been coloured with Promarkers, layered on to red card and then on to patterned paper from the Papermania Silent Night pack. The circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards.

Winter Anya

My final card for this evening! This one was made using one of Greeting Farm Anya stamps, coloured as always with Promarkers. The striped background paper is from K&Co and I've added some punched snowflakes, nail head gems, crystal gems and ribbon to finish it off. I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Pear Tree Designs - where the theme is 'colourful'

Anyone for Anya - girlie fun

Winter Birthday

The current theme on Just Cute Bears is winter birthdays so I immediately thought of this cute Elzybells stamp of a bear posting a letter. I know that it's really a Christmas stamp but I thought it would fit for the winter birthday theme too. The image has been coloured with Promarkers, the papers are from Dovecraft and the little circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards.

Thank You Card

I've made this card using a stamp from Wild Rose Studio - coloured with Promarkers and then layered onto silver card. I made my base card into a fold back card (I'm told it's called a 'kick card) and then layered Kanban card onto the base. The little circular sentiment is also a stamp from a Personal Impressions set. I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Raise the Bar - this week's theme is 'thankful'

Stamp Somthing - something with thanks

Fun in the Snow

This card was made with the "Christmas Pals" stamp from Little Claire Designs which is available here. The image has been coloured with Promarkers and then layered onto a circular scallop, navy snowflake paper and then silver card. I've used my Martha Stewart snowflake punch to create the border down the side. The circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards. I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge - snow people

Totally Papercrafts - snow and snowflakes

Anything Goes Challenge Blog - let it snow

I Love Promarkers - snowmen

A Blog Award from Maria

It's been a mad busy and stressful week at work (and I've had to bring a pile of work home with me too) so it was a lovely surprise to find that Maria had left this lovely award for me on her blog. And what's even better is that this award comes with a free gift - the full details are on the Digis With Attitude Challenge Blog. To qualify, I need to say three things about myself that make me different from everyone else (only 3?!) and then pass this award on to three other blogs. So here goes -

1. In the 'real world' I'm a solicitor specialising in divorce and childcare work

2. I'm a Soroptimist

3. I love ironing!

And here are my five blogs -

1. Mary's Card World

2. The Crafty Goat Girl

3. The Little Stamper

4. Home is Where my Craft Room Is

5. Craftie Goddess

Calendar Card - Part 1

This is the first of two calendar cards I've made today using an easel card as my base. For this one I used a Penny Black stamp coloured with Promarkers and then layered onto a scalloped circle and Craft Creations pink gingham paper.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - your favourite colour

Cute Card Thursday - challenge 138, anything goes

Lili of the Valley - anything goes (using any stamp range)

Calendar Card - Part 2

This is my second calendar card - this one is made with an image from one of the Crafty Individuals pad. I've also used a piece of Black Magic card which I've put through my Cuttlebug with one of the embossing folders and then sanded the surface off to reveal the purple underneath. I've finished it off with some purple and black card.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - challenge 42, black and purple

Anything Goes Challenge - emboss it

WOYWW - Week 75

Here's a photo of my desk for this week's WOYWW. You can see the sheet of LOTV stamps that I've finally got round to using and the card in progress is the one that I've just posted a photo of today. You can also see my trusty cassette hole punch, my punch collection and some snowflake brads (I used three of these on the card I posted yesterday). My black Versafine pad is there too - I use this on every card I make embossed with the detail fine powder that you can also see. Will try and leave as many comments as I can for everyone else but it may be tomorrow before I get round very many blogs!

Christmas Shopping

This is the first card that I've made with my new LOTV stamps - I bought a sheet of four designs a little while back and have been meaning to use them ever since! I've made an easel card using papers from Do Crafts. a white snowflake and a paper flower coloured to match my image.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Keep it Simple - shape up
Raise the Bar - let's see those curves

Snowflakes

This is a card I've made today for several different challenges using an image from Pink Gem Designs. I coloured the image with Promarkers and a silver gel pen and then stamped the central star again on silver pearl paper, cute it out and placed it over the main image. The background was made from Whitewash cardstock which I ran through my Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and then sanded. I've added three snowflake brads and a greeting from Craftwork Cards. I'm entering the card in the following challenges:

A Spoonful of Sugar - snow or snowflakes

One Stitch at a Time - winter wonderland

One Stop Craft Challenge - embossing

I Love Promarkers - snowflakes

A Little Bird Told Me - New from Little Claire Designs

November's club stamp from Little Claire Designs is now on their website here - a very cute little girl and tiny bird and also the words 'a little bird told me .... it's your birthday" which you can see on the second and third cards I've made. For this first card I've used the stamp to make a Christmas card - my background paper is from Craft Creations and the peel off greeting is from Little Claire Designs. I've punched some silver snowflakes for the four corners and used an oval and scalloped oval die to cut out the main image. I'm entering this card in two challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - Christmas, traditional or modern

One Stop Craft - anything goes

A Little Bird Told Me - Part 2

This is the second card that I've made from the new "A Little Bird Told Me" stamp set - it's an easel card made using papers from Dovecraft and I made it as a winter birthday card. I've also used green Nailhead gems at the corner of the image panel to finish it and backed this and the greeting panel onto green card.

I'm entering this card in the current challenge on Moving Along With the Times which is to make a card for a child.

A Little Bird Told Me - Part 3

This is the third card that I made using the new "A Little Bird Told Me" stamp set - both the main image and the words are from the set. I have paper pieced the little girl's coat and hat using the same paper as I used on my base card (from Dovecraft). The base card is an easel card which I cut away at one side to make a slightly different shape. I've added some punched flowers and some black peel off lines on the base.

I'm entering this card in this week's Stamp Something blog challenge which is to stamp something with some pink.

Pear Tree Designs - Second Entry

This is my second entry for the "Free for All" challenge on Pear Tree Designs. The image is from the Pansies set made by Papermania as is the sentiment. I've coloured it with Promarkers and used some green and purple card for the background.

One Stitch at a Time - Challenge 35

This is my card for the current challenge on One Stitch at a Time which is "Embellish It". I'm not that good at putting embellishments on my cards and I always worry that too much on them will look a bit overdone but I do use paper flowers quite a bit, usually coloured with Promarkers as I have for this card. My other favourite is punched paper dots - as you can see! The image I've used for this card is one of the SWALK range from Crafters Companion and my background paper is from Dovecraft.

Decorating the Tree

This is another Christmas card which I've made today for three different challenges. The image is from Elzybells, coloured with Promarkers. The background papers are from Doodlebug and the circular greeting from Craftwork Cards.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Teddy Stampers - week 22 "Anything Goes"

Pear Tree Designs - challenge 22 "Free for All"

Moving Along With the Times - challenge 69 - "Use Promarkers - Anything Goes" sponsored this week by Letraset

Anything Goes Challenge Blog Week 21

The theme on the Anything Goes Challenge Blog this week is black and white so I thought I'd make a Christmas card using one of my favourite Christmas stamps bought a couple of years ago. The stamp is from a company called Inkwell Stamps who make some lovely images. I've kept the card simple with black and white layers, an oval and scalloped oval die cut and some black peel off dots.

Charisma Cardz Challenge Week 41

Here is my card for this week's challenge on the Charisma Cardz which is "More than One Fold". I've used a stamped image from Wild Rose Studio, coloured with Promarkers and backing papers from Dovecraft. The 'stopper' on the base of the card is from Craftwork Cards.

The base card was made by folding an easel card and then cutting away a portion of the folded part - just a little bit different to a standard easel card.

A Blog Award from Maria

Many thanks to Maria for another blog award and for cheering me up at the end of a stressful few days at work!

I have to pass the award on to fifteen other people so my list is:

Georgina, Lisa, Heidi, Carol, Mary, Sharon, Heike, Jen, Missy B,

Joanne, Debbie, Janette, Dot, Yone and Katina

WOYWW - Week 71

Here's my photo for this week's WOYWW showing a card in progress and some of my recently purchased items. The card is an iris folded one - it's just waiting for a border to be added using black straight line peel offs and a greeting in the bottom right hand corner. My sheet of iris folding patterns is underneath the card. To the side of that sheet you can see my new stamp from Craft Individuals as well as my new Basic Grey Christmas Cuttlebug folders and on the other side two of the stamps I bought with my gift voucher from Nutcrafters for winning one of their challenge blogs.

Nutshells #26 - Stripes

When I was at the Port Sunlight show on Saturday I visited the Nutcrafters stand to use the £10 gift voucher I won in one of the challenges on the Nutshells challenge blog a few weeks back. This is one of the stamps I chose - the image is called 'Harriet and Patch' and is available on their website here.

I made this card with the stamp today for the latest challenge on the blog which is to use stripes on your card. I've used pink striped paper (there's no company name on it unfortunately) flowers coloured with my Promarkers and some little gems.

Keep It Simple Challenge 7 - Seeing Stars

Here's my card for this week's challenge on Keep It Simple - the challenge is 'Seeing Stars'. You might wonder how the card fits in with the challenge but it you look very carefully, the background paper has tiny white stars all over it!

My image is from the SWALK range by Crafters Companion, the paper from Dovecraft and I've added some black paper and a peel off to finish it all off.

Dancing Bear

This is one of my favourite stamps from Elzybells - a very cute ballet dancing bear! I've coloured her with Promarkers and layered her on to pink Dovecraft paper and card with some black added by way of contrast. I've put pink gems around her waist and some larger sized pink gems in the four corners of the card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

I Love Promarkers - challenge 35 'Think Pink'

Pollycraft Monday - challenge 64 'Anything Goes'

WOYWW Week 70 and Port Sunlight

Here's my photo for this week's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday week 70. You can see a selection of the ATCs that I've made to swap at the stamping show at Port Sunlight on Saturday as well as my punches, pile of tape, embossing powder, my little sanding block, trimmer etc.

If you're coming to the Port Sunlight show please look out for me - I'll have my HSNW badge on and will be working on the card competition table at the end of the day.

Another Card Featuring Halloween Chloe

Here's another card made with Halloween Chloe from Pink Gem (coloured with Promarkers) - this time I've made an easel card using the circle and scalloped circle Amazing Frame dies from Little Claire Designs. I've used orange dotty embossed card and black paper again and this time used my two flower punches on the base.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - spooky Halloween

By the Cute and Girly - spooky

Anything Goes Challenge Blog - going round in circles

New from Little Claire Designs - Owlgate

The new October club stamp from Little Claire Designs is now on their website here - it's called Owlgate and as you can see, shows three cute owls sitting on a gate complete with their Christmas hats and scarves.

This is my first card made with the stamp. It's been coloured with Promarkers, matted on to gold paper and then on to Craft Creations paper. The peel off greeting is also from Little Claire Designs.

Owlgate - Part 2

Here's another card made with the new Owlgate stamp - I've used the little footprints on this one too.

My base card was made using the circle and scalloped circle Amazing Frames from Little Claire Designs available here and here with pale blue card and Craft Creations paper.

Owlgate - Part 3

Here is another card made with the new Owlgate stamp.

I stamped the image twice for this one, cut out the owls and decoupaged them onto the base image. The stamped design was then cut into a tag shape using one of the dies from the "3 Tags" pack also from Little Claire available here. The tag has been matted on to green card with narrow strips of ribbon down each side and then on to red card.

Halloween Chloe

And this is my last card for today - made with the very cute Halloween Chloe stamp from Pink Gem Designs.

I've matted the design on to a scalloped black circle and then orange card embossed with a raised dot design. To finish I've added some black and white spotty ribbon and some black punched dots.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - It's a Kind of Magic

One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes

Keep It Simple - Gold Dust

The theme this week on Keep It Simple is 'gold dust' so I've made a Christmas card using a gold and white colour scheme.

The image is from a Paper Mania set and I've also used a gold peel off word underneath the tree.

Anyone for Anya? Sketch Challenge

And this is my entry for the Anyone for Anya? challenge blog sketch challenge.

My image is, of course, an Anya one from The Greeting Farm and she's been layered onto papers from Dovecraft with a sentiment from Craftwork Cards. I've added white paper flowers and little black gems to finish the card.

Allsorts Week 71 - Plain and Simple

This week's theme on the Allsorts Challenge Blog is 'plain and simple' so I've uploaded this card that I made last week as a 'get well' card for a friend.

The image is an Elzybells one and I've layered it on to Craft Creations gingham blue paper and blue card and then finished it with peel off dots and a greeting.

Oldie But a Goodie Challenge 2

This is my card for the second challenge on the Oldie But a Goodie Blog where the theme is 'pink and girly'. The stamped image on your card has to be at least six months old - mine is from The Greetings Farm and is from one of the first sets I bought called 'Me Time Anya'. The words 'pamper yourself' come from the same set.

I've die cut circles and scalloped circles to make my card and then added a paper flower coloured to match my image and some backing paper from Craft Creations.

Keep It Simple - Bling It!

This is my card for the current challenge on Keep It Simple! which is 'bling it'. I've used a stamp from Wild Rose Studio and backed it onto lilac card and then added some purple nail head gems in the four corners and down each side of the image.

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday 68

Here's a photo of my desk today for this week's WOYWW. I've been off work today so have made some sample cards for Little Claire Designs with their new Christmas Giraffe stamp - you can see all three in the photo and I've also uploaded one earlier today for a challenge.

The photo also shows my trusty Yellow Pages which I use for stamping on, my Fiskars paper trimmer which I use all the time, all my punches and my other essentials - DST, glue, scissors, tweezers, ATC bags, anti-static bag etc.

Moving Along With the Times #64 - Christmas

Just about made it in time for the Christmas theme on Moving Along With the Times using a new stamp from Little Claire Designs called the Christmas Giraffe which is available here. The backing papers I've used are from a Dovecraft pack called Jolly Happy Christmas which is also available on the Little Claire website here.

As always, I've coloured my image with Promarkers and then die cut it into a circle and added a scalloped circle behind. I've punched red dots to add to the corner of the green paper and then added a peel off greeting from Little Claire Designs to finish it.

Allsorts Week 70 - At Least 3 Punches

The challenge this weeks on the Allsorts Challenge Blog is to use at least three punches on your card. On my card I've used a Martha Stewart border punch on the edge of the base of the card and then different flower punches and a dot punch to make the flowers.

My image is a Penny Black stamp and the pink background paper is from Craft Creations. The 'stopper' on the card is from Craftwork Cards.

I'm also entering the card into the September challenge on Penny Black at Allsorts where the challenge is Punch Away.

Anyone for Anya? Monochromatic

And finally for today, here's my card for this week's challenge on Anyone for Anya? where the theme is monochromatic.

This is one of the first Anya images I bought (she comes in a set with a summer and winter version) and still one of my favourites. She is coloured with Promarkers and layered onto a scalloped then plain oval and I've added some punched flowers at the side.

Corrosive Challenge Blog #82 - Clean Up the Dust!

This card is for the current challenge on the Corrosive Challenge Blog which is to use something that you've had for a while but not got round to using!

The stamp I used on my card is from C&C Designs and is one that I've for quite a while - I really like the design but just hadn't got round to using it. And the backing paper is from a DCWV pad that I bought a while back but can never bring myself to use because the papers are so gorgeous!

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 130 - Tweet and a Flutter!

The theme this week on Cute Card Thursday is "Tweet and a Flutter" - your card either has to incorporate a bird or a butterfly.

I've chosen an Elzybells image which I've coloured with Promarkers and then layered onto brown card and pink gingham Craft Creations paper - I've added some brown punched dots in the corners to finish it off.

Totally Papercrafts Challenge #34 - Happy Birthday

The theme this week at Totally Papercrafts Challenge is "Happy Birthday" so I've chosen this card that I made recently for a friend's birthday.

My base card was made using the Amazing Frames circle and scalloped circle dies from Little Claire Designs and the paper is from Dovecraft. My image is from Pink Gem Designs and the 'stopper' on the base of my easel is from Craftwork Cards.

I Love Promarkers - Challenge 31

The theme on the I Love Promarkers Challenge Blog this week is transport. My card is made with an Elzybells stamp die cut into a oval shape and coloured, of course, with Promarkers. The backing paper is from Dovecraft and I've layered it on to black paper and then a white card and added some black punched dots and a peel off greeting.

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday - 66

I've remembered to take and upload a photo this week - by the time I remembered the past couple of weeks it was already Thursday!

This photo shows the main part of my desk with my cutting mat, draining board holder (with all my gems, pearls etc) and my Promarkers at the right hand side of the picture. You can also see (again far right) the set of tag cutting dies I bought from Little Claire Designs at the weekend and my collectio of punches on the other side. On my desk I've got a Penny Black stamp, a coloured image from the stamp and some patterned and plain card - I'm part way through making another card using this image. I've already made one card with it and liked it so much, I'm making another one which is virtually the same! The blue spotted card was another bargain from G-Mex at the weekend - ten A4 sheets in a pack for £1. They are supposed to be seconds but I can't see anything wrong with them!

By the Cute and Girly - Indian Summer

I've had this stamp from Penny Black for a few weeks now and finally got round to using it today - isn't she a little cutie?!

The background is some more of the cut price seconds card I bought on Saturday and I've added some ribbon and some blue card to finish it off.

I'm entering this in the current challenge on By the Cute and Girly which is 'Indian Summer'.

Bear and Bubbles!

I've made this card today to fit several different challenges. The image is from Elzybells and he's been coloured with Promarkers and then die cut and mounted onto a scalloped circle shape. The background is from a pack of seconds card I bought on Saturday at the G-Mex show and I've finished the card with a ribbon and some punched flowers. I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Pear Tree Designs - animals

Just Cute Bears - let's go dotty

Allsorts Challenge Blog - new beginnings (I think he looks a bit like a baby bear!)

Passion for Promarkers - where they want to see a bear on your card

Pollycraft Monday Challenge 60

This week's challenge on the Pollycraft challenge blog is to make a Christmas card without using red or green.

My card is made with the Christmas peel offs from Little Claire Designs and I've used a black sheet and white sheet in the "Christmas Pals" design. I used the black outline and then inlaid the white sections inside the outline to make the picture, leaving some of the scarf blank so my polar bear has got a stripey scarf.

I used the oval and scallop oval "Amazing Frames" die cuts also from Little Claire Designs to make my base card and some pale blue and silver card and paper to layer it up. The greeting and snow flakes are from the same peel off sheet.

All Set Up for Christmas - Part 2

Here's my second card from this month's club set of stamps at Little Claire Designs - a very quick and easy one made with the cute little penguin stamp.

He's been stamped and coloured with Promarkers and then I die cut a circle round him, added a circle of red card in the next size up and put that on to some Craft Creations green gingham paper. I've finished it with red dots of card.

The base card is from Craftwork Cards.

All Set Up for Christmas

The latest club stamps from Little Claire Designs are now on their website here - a lovely set of different Christmas designs including some great word stamps.

This is one of the cards I made using the set and is the club card for members this month. I've used red and green Swiss dot Bazzill card, a large and small scallop and circle die and then a small strip of card and punched dot to make the little faux fastening.

Another Blog Award

A big thank you to Heike for giving me another blog award - very much appreciated and a lovely surprise after a stressful day at work!

I have to say why I started my blog and then pass the award on to ten other people.

I started my blog as a way of sharing my cards and also entering all the great blog challenges that are out there. It's also a great way to get inspiration and ideas as there are many wonderful card makers and crafters out there with blogs.

Now to pass the award on to ten other people:

Mary's Card World

Sharon - The Little Stamper

Missy B

Susie's Cardmaking Adventures

Yone - Artes da Yone

Cockney Blonde

Cazro's Crafty Corner

Ali's Art Factory

Purple Murtle

Wishcraft