One Stitch at a Time - Challenge 23

I made this card for my parents' wedding anniversary this past weekend -it's a bit different for me because there's no stamping involved!

I've used black and white decoupage which has feint silver lines in it - hard to pick up on the photo but they look much better ' in the real'. I've layered the design up using black and silver pearl paper and added a peel off greeting on the base of the easel as the 'stopper'.

The theme for challenge 23 on One Stitch at a Time is black and white plus one other colour so I'm entering this card.

Christmas in July!

This card is for two challenges:

Anya Ink - Christmas in July

Anyone for Anya - Be Dazzled

The image is of course from The Greetings Farm and I've used Stickles on the hem of her coat and muffler. I've also added little clear gems to the centres of some of the snowflakes on the background paper. I've finished the card with a greeting from Craftwork Cards.

A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge 6

Here's my entry for Challenge 6 on A Gem of a Challenge which was a sketch challenge.

My image is from Pink Gem and my background papers from My Minds Eye. I've used some paper flowers (also from the Pink Gem site) which I've coloured with Promarkers and some Card Candy and a greeting, both from Craftwork Cards, to finish the design.

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 121 - Get a Head Start!

The challenge this week on Cute Card Thursday is to get a head start on making your Christmas cards!

I've made a die cut card for a change using the Bambino cutting die from Little Claire Designs. He's cut from Bazzill cardstock and I've stuck black peel off dots on the back of each die cut to give him black markings.

I've layered the white panel onto green Bazzill card and then onto tartan paper and green Bazzill again and added a Little Claire Designs peel off greeting and some green Nailhead stick on gems.

Dottie the Dalmation

This card was made using "Dottie's Slipper" from Little Claire Designs - I die cut the image using the largest cutting die from their Squirly Frame #2 set and then layered it on to pink and black cardstock. The image was coloured with Promarkers.

The paper I've used is from Craft Creations and I've added some punched flowers, peel off dots and some punched dots to finish off the card.

I'm entering the card into three challenges:

Moving Along With the Times - challenge #55 which is a sketch plus an animal theme

Passion for Promarkers - week 60 - animals

Pollycraft - challenge #52 - bold and bright

Corrosive Challenge #72

This is my entry for the current sketch challenge on The Corrosive Challenge Blog using a floral design from Aspects of Design (The Stampman). I've Cuttlebugged the panel at the side of the card and layered it all with blue and navy card.

The strip along the front of the base was punched with a Martha Stewart punch and I've added a greeting stamped from a set by Personal Impressions.

Lili of the Valley - Challenge 57

This card is for the current sketch challenge on the Lili of the Valley Challenge Blog using one of their own stamped images. The papers are from My Mind's Eye (again!) coloured with Promarkers and I've added a greeting from Craftwork Cards.

Just Cute Bears - Challenge 25

This is my take on the current sketch challenge at the Just Cute Bears Challenge Blog using a Lili of the Valley stamped image. I've coloured the bear and flower with Promarkers and then layered them using papers from My Mind's Eye and some pink cardstock. I've finished the card with some peel off dots and some punched dots.

Pink Pyjamas

The image on this card is from Little Claire Designs and I've layered it with paper from My Mind's Eye and pink cardstock in two different shades. I've added some punched flowers and dots and white peel off words.

I'm entering this in two challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge - challenge 88 'monochromatic'

Moving Along With the Times - I've followed the sketch for the card.

Pink, Black and White

Two challenge blogs have 'pink, black and white' as their theme at the moment so here's my take on the colour combination. The image is from The Greetings Farm 'Dressed Up Anya' set and she's been coloured with Promarkers. I've die cut the image and layered it with a pink scallop and another oval in black. The strip on the left of the card was punched with a Martha Stewart punch and the detail added with black line and dot peel offs. The flowers are punched and the greeting from Craftwork Cards. The links are:

Crafts and Me Challenges - challenge 8

Anyone for Anya - colour combo

A Little Distressed ......

I'm referring to the card here, not me!!

The image I've used on this card is Maria from The Greeting Farm Role Call set and she's been coloured with Promarkers. The background was made by running some Coredinations Whitewash Card through my Cuttlebug with a floral embossing folder and then sanding it to bring through the pink colour. I've also distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Ink. The flowers were coloured with Promarkers and the Vintage Photo Ink and I've added some K&Co pearls to the flower centres and down the brown card on the left.

I'm entering this for four challenges:

Quixotic Challenge - challenge 31 'Pretty Pearls'

I Love Promarkers - challenge 22 'Distressing'

One Stop Craft Challenge - challenge 87 'Distressing'

Anyone for Anya - 'Anything Goes'

Just Cute Bears Challenge #24

And this is my entry for the current decoupage challenge on Just Cute Bears - I just had to use one of the designs from Forever Friends for this one!

The pink papers are from the decoupage pack and I've added some beige pearl paper, punched flowers and some little pink gems.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 120

This is my card for the current Cute Card Thursday challenge which is 'School's Out for Summer' - I've chosen a card with a holiday and seaside theme.

The stamps I've used are all part of the Beach Huts set from Little Claire Designs - I've coloured them with Promarkers and then layered the images onto dark brown card except for the sign which I've cut out. The backing paper is from My Mind's Eye.

Corrosive Challenge Blog - Challenge #71

This is my entry for Challenge 71 on the Corrosive Challenge Blog where the theme is Christmas.

I've used a stamp from Little Claire Designs (one of my favourites because there isn't much colouring to do on it!), some navy card and backing paper from Bella Press. The circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards and I've added some punched dots and scalloped circles to finish the design off. It doesn't show up very well on the photo but I've also used Glossy Accents over the igloo, baubles, snow and star.

Little Claire Design Team

The design team for Little Claire Designs has now been announced here and I'm one of the twenty people chosen!

I've listed the blog links for the other team members who have their own blogs in a separate list at the side of my blog - I'm off to see who else is involved!

In the Summertime .....

This is one of my favourite Anya images and this card is for three challenges.

The patterned paper is from DCWV and the plain card from Dovecraft - I've just added some punched flowers, punched dots and a peel off greeting.

I'm entering it into the following:

Quixotic Challenge - challenge 30 which is a sketch

Nutshells - challenge 19 'summertime fun'

Pollycraft - challenge 50 'pinkalicious'

Sugar Nellie Cheerleader - Two Challenges

This card is for two challenges and is also a swap card on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to so it's a multi-purpose one!

The image is from Sugar Nellie and the backing paper (again!) from the Dovecraft Piece of Cake collection. At this rate I'm going to have to buy another pack!!

I'm entering this in the current challenge on I Love Promarkers which is to include stripes on your card and also for the current pink and brown challenge on One Stop Craft Challenge.

The Office - First Card

This card was made with another new stamp set from Little Claire Designs called 'The Office' - you can find the stamps here and also see my cards on their blog here.

The backing on this just plain card in two shades of brown. The image was coloured with Promarkers and I cut around three sides of the shed door with my craft knife so it 'opens'.

The Office - Second Card

This is the second card made with 'The Office' and for this one I cut a triangle from the front panel of the card by cutting on a diagonal line. I coloured the image with Promarkers, die cut it into an oval and then die cut the next size of oval in black.

The paper is from My Mind's Eye and I've added black peel off lines and black dots to emphasise the shape together with a peel off greeting.

The Craft Barn Shaped Card Competition

And here's the final one for today! This is a card I made this afternoon using July's club stamp from Little Claire Designs and I'm entering it in The Craft Barn shaped cards competition.

The card itself was made using a scalloped oval Nestabilities die and I then stamped the lily image, coloured it with Promarkers and layered it on the top of the card. The sentiment 'stopper' was stamped onto a smaller die cut oval to complete the card.

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 119 - Let's Get Fruity!

Here's my card for the latest Cute Card Thursday challenge 'Let's Get Fruity'. The image I've used is from the Greetings Farm 'Roll Call' plate and this little cutie is called Jade.

The backing paper is from Die Cuts With a View with strawberries to fit in with the theme and I've used my Martha Stewart punch to create the strip across the middle of the card.

The Further Adventures of Dottie - Part 1

Here's the first of two cards made with another Dottie stamp called 'Amongst the Flowers'. Once again the stamp is from Little Claire Designs and you can find it here and also see my cards on their blog here together with some of my other cards.

The base card for this one was made using a scalloped Nestabilities die and I've added some paper flowers and a peel off as well as a Nailhead gem to the tag on Dottie's collar.

The Further Adventures of Dottie - Part 2!

And another one featuring Dottie the Dalmation - once again I've coloured the image on this card with Promarkers and added some Craft Creations gingham paper plus layered flowers coloured with Promarkers.

Introducing .... Dottie the Dalmation

This is the first of two cards that I've made with a new stamp called 'Dottie's Slipper' from Little Claire Designs.

The paper on this one from Die Cuts with a View and I've added a white ribbon, white paper flower and black brad.

I cut off part of the front panel of the card and put black paper on the inside where this will show (the left side of the inside is still white so I can write there). The words are white peel offs and I've added some white dots punched from paper.

Another Card Featuring Dottie

This is the second of the two cards. The paw prints and the words 'woof woof'' on this one are from another of Little Claire Designs stamp sets called 'Silhouette Dogs'.

This is a great stamp if you're in a hurry as it needs very little colouring! I've coloured the slipper with Promarkers and also outlined the image. The blue gingham paper is from Craft Creations.

The stamp should be available online from Little Claire Designs in the next few days.

Just Cute Bears Challenge 23

And this one is for the current challenge on Just Cute Bears which is an open challenge this week. My image is from Little Claire Designs and I've layered it using circle Nestabilities and the largest of the Nellie circle dies. The paper is from the Piece of Cake pack by Dovecraft and the sentiment from Hero Arts.

Stamped Tag

This is a stamped tag that I've made for a mingle on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to. The main image is from a sheet of stamps called 'Birds in Nest' by Artemio - I've added an extra flower head to balance the image out in the oval. The backing paper is from K&Co and I've added some black jewels, a stamped sentiment and some black ribbon.

A Pocket Full of Posies Challenge 1

This is my entry for the first challenge on the new blog A Pocket Full of Posies - the theme is 'one for the girls'.

I've used a stamped image from Pink Gem and the paper on the bottom of the card is from Die Cuts With a View. The card and the layers have been made using one of the cutting dies from Little Claire Designs. My flowers are all punched the the 'stopper' on the base of the card is a greetings circle from Craftwork Cards.

Pink and Brown Maria

This is Maria from The Greetings Farm Roll Call sheet and I've coloured her with Promarkers, adding some paper dots at the four corners of the image. The striped and spotted papers are from the Dovecraft 'Piece of Cake' pack and I've used my Martha Stewart punch again and also a white peel off greeting.

I'm entering this card in the Anyone for Anya Challenge 11 as I've followed their sketch and also the Crafts and Me Challenge 7 which is birthdays.

Cupcake Tilda

This card uses a Tilda image coloured, as always with Promarkers and then die cut with an oval Nestabilities die. The background paper is from Imaginisce and is called 'Painted Stripes' - some of the lines are glittered although that doesn't show up on the photo. I put black peel off lines on the strips of card to emphasise them and also used my Martha Stewart punch on the top and bottom strips. I've Cuttlebugged the blue panel behind the oval and added some punched flowers and a sentiment sticker.

I'm entering this in I Love Promarkers Challenge 20 as I've followed their sketch and also Passion for Promarkers Week 57 'your favourite things' which for me is the cake that Tilda is holding!

Vintage Paris

And something completely different .... ATCs made for a 'Ladies of Paris' swap. The three along the top row had to be themed - Folies Bergere, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame and the remaining three were images I picked out. I've used Tim Holtz stamped images and inks, Paper Artsy stamps and foregin text pages. The flowers are punched using black paper for the larger flower and some foreign text for the smaller one.

Pink Elephants ....

Well, not quite pink elephants but it seemed a good title for this card and post!

The image I've used on this card is from Little Claire Designs and the paper is from the new Dovecraft Piece of Cake pack. For the 'stopper' on the base of the card I punched out a pink card circle then punched a black flower, a smaller pink flower and a black dot.

Deocarated Canvas

The stamping group that I attend had a workshop back in May given by Imagination Crafts which I missed because I was in hospital.

My friend Sylvia very kindly bought me a blank canvas and has shown me step by step the project that the group did at the workshop - this is my finished version.

The canvas was spritzed with ink and then a template with a swirl on it used to complete the designs on the four corners. Two were done by spraying bleach through the template to remove the ink from the canvas and the other two by putting embossing paste (custom coloured) through the same stencil. The panel in the middle was made using embossing paste through another template. I think the end stage at the workshop was to add an image to the middle of the panel but I liked the pattern on it so much that I've used added a ribbon and a layered paper flower so you can still see the design.

Happy Father's Day

This is the card I made for my Dad for Father's Day today. Anyone who knows him will know how appropriate the image is and also the phrase 'why do dads have so many ties?' because he always wears a shirt and tie!

The stamp and sentiments are from Elzybells.

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 117

This one is my entry for the sketch challenge on Cute Card Thursday. My image is from Little Claire Designs and the backing paper from My Mind's Eye. The centre pink panel has been put through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and I've added some paper flowers coloured with Promarkers and some black paper dots.

Moving Along With the Times Challenge 51

The current challenge on Moving Along With the Times is a sketch and this is my interpretation of it.

The stamped images are from Hero Arts and the blue backing paper from Making Cards magazine. The other two panels are Cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and I've added a peel off greeting, some paper flowers coloured with Promarkers and some tiny Oriental coins in the corners.

Little Claire Designs Blog

If you head over to the new Little Claire Designs blog there are some great new card examples on there including some that I submitted here and here. This card is one of the ones on the site and was made using some Kanban seconds card (from the last show at G Mex), white peel offs and some paper flowers.

Something a Little Bit Different ....

I've been making ATCs today - these are for the current swap on Heather's blog using images from another great blog called The Sum of All Crafts. The theme for the swap is "A Midsummer Night's Dream" so I've used images of winged women and children on my ATCs.

The background on each card is pale brown pearlescent paper which I've overstamped with a swirl design. I've distressed a strip from a book page on each ATC and added a stamped phrase and a paper fower to each one.

Nutshells Challenge 18 - Fathers Day

This card is for Nutshells Challenge 18 which is to make a card for Fathers Day. It's also the first time I've tried using a digital stamp!

The digital stamp is called 'Time for a Cuppa' and is available free for the next few days on the Nutcrafters website. I was a bit apprehensive about using my Promarkers with the printed image but it worked fine and I'm really pleased with the result!

The backing paper I've used is from My Mind's Eye and the ribbon was coloured with Promarkers to match the image. The sentiment is computer generated and I've edged the circle and beige cardstock with Distress Ink.

A Gem of a Challenge 5

And finally for today, my card for the latest Gem of a Challenge which is to use a ribbon and buttons.

My image is from Pink Gem and the blue background paper from Making Cards magazine. My ribbon is across the bottom of the panel of white dotty card and I've sewed buttons on the top and bottom corners and in the middle of the paper flowers.

Introducing Paul .....

This is Paul, one of the characters from The Greetings Farm 'Roll Call' sheet of stamps - all gorgeous designs and real mixture of characters. The background paper I've used is from My Mind's Eye and I've inked the edge of the circle and the beige card with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I'm entering this card into two challenges:

Passion for Promarkers - a sketch and a male themed card

Anyone for Anya - only men allowed

Just Cute Bears Challenge 21 - Here Comes Summer

This is my card for the current Just Cute Bears Challenge which is 'here comes summer'. For once that's appropriate for today as it's actually sunny and warm!

My image is from Little Claire Designs and the background paper from My Mind's Eye. I've also used my new Nellies die cutting circle and I really like the effect it gives! I've added some ribbon and two flowers coloured with Promarkers and then layered.

Happy Day

This is a card to fit a few challenges which I've listed below. The base card was created using the largest of my circular scalloped Nestabilities - I cut through a square card, making sure the die was just above the fold line so it didn't split the card in two. I then added pink cardstock cut with the same scalloped shape and some Craftwork Cards paper and a greeting. The image is from the Greetings Farm 'Happy Day' sheet.

I'm entering it into the following:

Crafts and Me Challenge - friends and family.
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - nice and girly
Cute Card Thursday - anything but square
Passion for Promarkers - pink birthday
Quixotic Challenge - fold it

Anyone for Anya Challenge

This is my card for the current Anyone for Anya Challenge which is 'hot, hot, hot' - a bit optimistic for the weather we've had here for the last two days!! The image is from The Greetings Farm and the background paper from Kanban. I've punched the borders with my Martha Stewart punch and added a greeting from Craftwork Cards.

Nutshells Challenge 17

Finally for today, here's my card for the latest Nutshells Challenge. This one was a free choice using any stamp sold by Nutcrafters. I've used one of their own range called 'Hazel with Cupcake' and background paper and a greeting from Craftwork Cards. I've finished the card with some black dots and a flower which I've coloured with Promarkers.

Sugar Bowl Challenge 36

This is my card for the latest sketch challenge on the Sugar Bowl Challenge site. The image is from Sugar Nellie and it's coloured with Promarkers. The pink background card is from Kanban and I've added some black to contrast it and some plain pink panels as per the sketch. The circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards and I've then added paper flowers coloured with Promarkers and some black dots to finish it off.

Pink Gem Challenge 4

This is my card for Challenge 4 on A Gem of a Challenge where the challenge was to use burgundy, pink and green. Green is not a colour I use very much on main images so I decided to use it for the dress on my stamped image as something different! The image is of course from Pink Gem Designs and coloured with Promarkers. I've used green and burgundy card, backing paper from DCWV and some pink ribbon just behind the stamped image. The greeting is from Craftwork Cards and I've also added some card dots and punched the side of the card with a Martha Stewart punch.

Cupcake Tree

This card has been made with the latest club stamp from Little Claire Designs called 'Cupcake Tree'. The image has been coloured with Promarkers and then cut out with an oval die cut followed by a scalloped oval border. I've used K&Co paper and dark red card for the base and folded panel to make it into an easel card.

The line of cupcakes on the base comes in the same set as the tree - I've stamped it twice and then coloured them in. Finally, I've added a white peel off greeting and some white and dark red dots.

Just a Little Thank You .....

This card was made with one of the new stamps I bought last weekend - it's one of the Milton Bear range from Wild Rose Studio - the image has been coloured with Promarkers using vanilla and tan for the bear and then lilac, amethyst and and wild orchid on the dress. I've added some blue pearl and china blue to the flowers and the bear's bow is amethyst.

I'm entering the card into two challenges:

I Love Promarkers Challenge 17 - the recipe for the card was to use two different papers (mine are from HOTP and Craft Creations), 3 buttons and 1 ribbon.

Just Cute Bears Challenge 17 which was to make a thank you card.

Flower Garland Card

I made this card today for a swap - the card had to feature a flower garland. I stuck the flowers onto a circle of card so I could keep them in the pattern but you can't see the circle on the main card so it looks like I put them straight on the card blank! I finished it off with some paper dots as the flower centres and a peel off greeting.