The Sugar Bowl - Challenge 30

This is the first challenge that I've entered at The Sugar Bowl so I hope the card is going to be OK. Challenge 30 was a sketch and the 'added extra' was to use a shabby chic style.

The image is from Sugar Nellie (of course!) and the backing papers from K&Co and Basic Grey. I coloured the image a bit darker than usual - I used vanilla Promarker under my usual pink shades to tone it down. The sentiment is from a Papermania set and I've added a Sizzix flower and some paper flowers coloured with Promarkers.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 101 - Ribbon-Tastic

Challenge 101 on Cute Card Thursday this week is called Ribbon-Tastic and the challenge is to make a card using a little or a lot of ribbon. The ribbon is my card is the orange and white gingham on the tag - both behind the main image and at the bottom of the tag as well.

The main image is one of the newest stamps from Little Claire Designs called 'Duckmum' - there are actually three characters on the stamp but by masking off the stamp with low tack tape, I just stamped one of them. I've also used my new Martha Stewart punch down one side and used the little cut out flowers as accents.

Anyone for Anya Challenge - Something Completely Different

This card is for the "Something Completely Different" challenge on the Anyone for Anya Challenge blog.

I actually made my first card shaped like this at a class yesterday so it's still new to me - the image is of course from Greetings Farm and the sentiment is a Hero Arts one.

I Love Promarkers Challenge Blog - Challenge #2

I found the I Love Promarkers Challenge blog when I was browsing through other people's blogs earlier in the week and then spotted the sketch challenge they were running.

This is my card made with a Greetings Farm image and a sentiment from Hero Arts. The backing paper is from Basic Grey and I've added some pink and dark cream card. The base flower is coloured with a Promarker and I've added an extra peel off too.

Papercraft Essentials Issue 52

These two cards are featured as the 'Online Favourite' in the latest issue of Papercraft Essentials - a lovely suprise!

They appear on page 12 under my gallery name of Stamping Helen. The flower image is from Little Claire and the girl on the stool is another stamped image.

Little Claire Workshop

I've been to a workshop this afternoon with the Little Claire stamp company all about making shaped cards. We made five cards in all but I've shown two of my favourites here - a stepped card and an easel card.

They have some gorgeous stamp designs as well as other lovely products - you can see them all at www.littleclaire.co.uk

Cute Card Thursday - Metal Mania

And this card is for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge this week which is called "Metal Mania". I've used metal flower brads over the paper flowers in each corner of the card and put a nail head gem in the centre of each to finish them off. The main image is from Elzybells.

Quixotic Challenges - Something for Mum

This card is for the latest Quixotic Challenge "Something for Mum". The main image and sentiment are from the "Me Time" Greetings Farm set. The backing paper is actually a Christmas one by Craft Creations but I thought it went well with the image and words! I've finished it with some black ribbon and paper flowers coloured with Promarkers to match the image.

Anyone for Anya - Flower Power Challenge

This is my card for the Anyone for Anya Flower Power challenge. I needed to make a green themed card for another swap so decided to combine the two.

The image is coloured with Promarkers and I coloured the paper flowers to match adding a Sizzix die cute flower behind the middle one. I finished the flowers with nail head gems and added some more the the top and bottom on the left hand side.

Stitched Valentine Swap

This is a stitched card made for a Valentine swap using a pattern from the Stitching Cards website. It's stitched in DMC threads and then matted onto gold paper and a white card.

Anya ATCs

These are three ATCs that I made over the weekend for a 'cute' swap - they had to have a peel off on each one so I've added peel off dots and a greeting to each one.

Cute Card Thursday - Blooming Gorgeous

This card is for the current Cute Card Thursday challenge. The image is Valentine Magnolia and the words are from Visible Image. I've coloured the paper flowers with Promarkers and added some paper centres.

Anya ATC

And I couldn't resist using the other main image on the Me Time Anya sheet to make an ATC for a blue swap - the sentiment is the same as before.

Anyone for Anya Sketch #6 Challenge

This is for the new Anyone for Anya sketch challenge.

The image is from the Me Time Anya sheet and I've combined it with pink and black backing and some pink shaded paper flowers. The sentiment is from the same Anya sheet.

Penny Black Birthday ATCs

These are two birthday RAK ATCs that I made over the weekend using some Penny Black stamps. The little mouse image and the wording are separate stamps but I thought they look perfect together.

As before, the backing paper is from Craft Creations and I've highlighted the images by matting them onto black paper.

Anyone for Anya Heart 4 Heart's Sake Challenge

Here's my card for the latest Anyone for Anya Challenge, Heart 4 Heart's Sake.

I've used Stella from The Greeting Farm, coloured with Promarkers and then on a scalloped circle. The backing paper is from Craft Creations and then I've added some red ribbon, punched hearts and paper flowers and finally some red Nailhead gems.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 96 Fairy Fantastic

This card is for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge, Fairy Fantastic. The Image is a Sugar Nellie one called Guardian Angel - I've coloured it and applied frosted lace Stickles to both sets of wings although it doesn't show up on the scan.

The background is from Kanban and I've coloured the Prima flowers to match the image colour.

Quixotic Challenge 10 ....

The challenge is to ink up an old stamp or (like me!) a stamp you've had for a while and not used before!!

This image is from Pink Gem - not sure why I haven't used it before. I used Prima flowers and peel off dots and words on the background and some swirly and dotty purple paper.

Aperture Card

This card was made for an aperture swap using the square of card left after cutting out a scalloped circle. The image is Chelsea from The Greeting Farm and I've added ribbon and some paper flowers coloured with Promarkers to blend in with the design. I've also added some Nailhead gems at the opposite ends of the ribbons.

Anyone for Anya Black and White +1 Challenge

This is another card made using Ruby from The Greeting Farm and is for the Anyone for Anya Black and White + 1 Challenge - my extra colour is pink.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 95 Pink & Grey

This is the card I've made today for this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge.

The image is Ruby from The Greeting Farm coloured with Promarkers. The grey and black background paper is from an Anita Christmas pad and I've coloured the little paper flowers with the rose pink Promarker to match the image. Finally the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Stitched Decoupage Card

This is something a little bit different to the other cards I've uploaded recently and was made for a swap. The stitched frame is from a Stitching Cards pattern and the decoupaged figure just fitted perfectly inside. It's then matted onto gold and finally dark blue pearl paper.

Winter Wonderland - Week 33 Sketch .....

Something a bit different for me - I thought I'd have a go at a challenge on one of the blogs I've been following.

This one is a sketch challenge from the Winter Wonderland blog - the link is in my blog list at the side of this page. It doesn't have to be a winter themed card so I thought I'd do an early Valentine card with a very cute Lily and Milo design. It's backed onto pink card which I've Cuttlebugged and then some Craft Creations backing paper.

In the Pink ....

This is one of my favourite stamps - it comes from a sheet of different 'girl' images but I can't remember the name of the stamp company! The background paper came from a free pack with "Simply Cards and Papercraft" magazine and I've added some pink Bazzill card, black paper, pink ribbon and pink Nailhead gems.

Sweet Wonderful You ......

These images are all from the Hero Arts clear stamp set called "Sweet Wonderful You" - I used them to make a set of three ATCs for a swap. The backing paper is from Craft Creations and the flowers from Papermania.

Snowy Days

This is a card I made yesterday for a blue card swap on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. The image is from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design - a new stamp that I just couldn't resist! The backing paper is a couple of years old and made by Craft Creations - I thought it went really well with the design.

Another One for the New Year .....

This is another New Year card made for a swap using a new stamp from Magnolia. The background paper is a design by Basic Grey and image and scalloped border were cut with Nestabilities.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful New Year.

See you back here again next year for more blogging!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas whatever you're doing. Have a wonderful time and I hope you like this stitched card I've made today.

Christmas Anya

I've used this image a lot for Christmas cards but have tended to use blues and purples to colour it so I decided to go back to traditional red and green for this card. The background is scrapbook paper (I also had the same design in grey and purple!) and I used a circle punch with Bazzill card for the peel off greeting.

The Christmas Choir

This is a Stamps Away design that I thought was really cute - love those faces! I've just coloured it and just some Bazzill card and patterned paper behind. The greeting is a peel off.

Autumn Tag

This is a tag made for a mingle on one of the groups I belong to. The background paper is from a magazine paper pack and the image is from the Greetings Farm. The quote is printed from the computer and I added some fancy brown yarn to finish it off.

Another Christmas ATC

This is another ATC made from a free magazine stamp - I thought it was a really cute image and a perfect size for an ATC!

Lola Christmas Card

Another Christmas card - this stamp is called Lola With Present and it a really cute one. It's finished with silver and snow backing papers, some corner peel offs and then two punched circles with peel off words.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

This is another Visible Image stamp and one of my favourites from their range. I've just put some backing papers behind it and some nail heads at the corners of the image.

Christmas Robin

This is one of the Christmas card designs I've made this year. The robin stamp is from Visible Image and he fits perfectly inside the circular scalloped Nestability with a red layer behind the image. The background paper has metallic red holly berries which don't show up on the scan but look much better 'in the real'.

Christmas ATCs

These are four ATCs that I've made recently for Christmas swaps. I think the poinsettia was a cover mounted stamp from Craft Stamper last year. The stamp of the three birds on a branch is from another free set of stamps from this Christmas and the last one is a Smirk stamp

Winter Mimi

This is a card made with the Winter Mimi stamp from Pink Gem designs with some blue spotted background paper and a Cuttlebugged panel behind the stamped image. I finished it with some silver line peel offs and some punched silver snowflakes.

Positive and Negative

These are two ATCs made for a Christmas Tree swap - they had to include peel off stickers. I used the positive peel off on one and the bits left over on the other. The top and bottom borders were done with a Fiskars Border Punch and finished with gold dot peel offs.

Skating Friends

This card has been made for the lucky card dip at the stamp club I belong to. The stamp is a Rachelle Anne Miller design, the paper is DCWV and I've finished it with a scalloped border and some peel offs.

Winter Wishes

This is a swap card made for one of the Yahoo groups I belong to - each month a member chooses a theme or technique and this month it was my turn. My choice was winter.

The stamp is from Whiff of Joy, coloured with Promarkers and then with some Stickles added. I've backed the image with pale blue card and the paper is from an old DCWV pad. Finally I added a white peel off on the blue punched circle.

Character ATCs - Part 2

These two cute characters are from Basic Grey as is the backing paper which has tiny versions of them printed on it. They were just too lovely to resist when I spotted them on ebay .....!!

Character ATCs - Part 1

I love these Oriental characters and thought this backing card went well with the images and also the words. The characters are from Woodware and the words from a plate from Katy's Corner. The card is from a pack of Kanban seconds I bought at the last G Mex craft fair.

Christmas Mini ATCs

These are four of the six mini ATCs that I've made today for a swap - each one is 1.5 by 2.5 inches and they are double sided with some gold thread in between the front and back so they can be hung up. They're made using scraps of backing paper, Crafty Individuals images and some word stamps.

Ruby Wedding Anniversary Card

This is a card I've made to celebrate the ruby wedding anniversary of a couple of my parents' friends. It's done using the Bookatrix board with red Craftword Cards card, gold matt board and acetate. The sentiment was printed on the computer and the embellishment on the other side is a peel off with red stones in it.

Colour ATC Swap

These are two ATCs that I've made for a colour swap on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. The image and word comes from a Penny Black sheet I bought recently. Colour is a bit of a new thing for me - it's a standing joke that most of my cards in the past have been done in shades of brown!

Stamp Camp Workshop

This is a pendant that I made today at a workshop by Mary Kay from Stamp Camp in Dallas (http://www.stampcamp.com/).

We used a large metal washer as the base. We then used self adhesive label paper which we coloured with Judikins Mica Gloss using small dots of colour which was then brayered to spread the colour. We then overstamped with permanent black ink and then stuck this onto the washer.

Something a little bit different .....

This is a card made for an animal swap in a stitching cards group I belong to. The pattern is from the Stitching Cards site (http://www.stitchingcards.com/) and was just too cute to resist!