Dies to Die for Challenge

Doing well on the old challenges this week and here's another, a fab sketch over at Dies to Die For this week and I thought I'd get another Father's Day card done.  This one is all Stampin' Up! The image is from the set "Loads of Love" and the hearts in the back of the truck are just one of the things you can put in there, there's also flowers or a Christmas Tree, so I chose hearts, cos we all "heart" our dear old dads after all.  I've coloured the image in using PM's, apart from using Sakura Glaze pens on the tyres, the hearts and the windows, although you can't really tell in the picture. The DSP's are from Summer Picnic (the circles) and Washington Apple (the stripes), the cardstock is Bashful Blue and the sentiment is from Elzybells, I've also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to get the spots on the strip across the middle as I wanted some texture but thought a ribbon might be too girly!

A Glittery one for the boys

Now that might seem an unusual combination, but I made this card and realised that not only would it fit Simon Says Challenge, which this week was "For the boys" but also Secret Crafter's challenge which was to add glitter as I'd already glittered the spaceman

The image comes from a Crafters Companion CD, which I don't use very often, but a friend had asked for a card on a space theme for her son, and I remembered the CD had some space images on it.  I've decoupaged the image and put onto SU! Whisper White cs and added a couple of silver stars (peel offs) layered onto some silver cardstock from my stash and Stampin' Up! Real Red. I then stamped out the spaceman from the matching stampset onto acetate and have glittered him from behind.  I love glitter, but boy, does it get everywhere, so I'm sitting here sparkling like a Christmas fairy at the moment!  I cut around the spaceman to make the "dangler" which I've then attached to the top of the card.  I've also used some Sakura Glaze pens on the back of the image to colour his badges, gloves, boots & visor. The sentiment is also from the CD.

Show's Over and a Challenge card

Last night was the final night of the show I've been in with my AmDram Society, a very saucy comedy called "Habeas Corpus" which has been great fun to do and went down very well with the audiences. We had a full house each of the 3 nights, and lots of laughs which makes it all worthwhile. It's always a bit of a relief when it's all done, but sad at the same time - ah well, onto the next one! This is me dressed up as Connie Wicksteed, a sad spinster who longs to have a bigger bust (and when she gets one misbehaves terribly!) It was a great role, really fun to do, but not very glamorous! LOL

Got a load of birthdays coming up so made a start on some cards today, this one is for my stepson, who trained as a chef for a while, so it seemed rather apt! I'm also going to enter it into this week's Cupcake Craft Challenge which is to make a card for a man or boy, the one thing all us cardmakers seem to struggle with!

The image is a retired SU! stamp, that I got from a lovely lady called Ali, who let me have a play with her SU! stamps when she came over to my house for a class. I've coloured him with a right old mixture of SU! markers, ProMarkers and Sakura Glaze pens. The sentiment is SU! from the set "Cheer & Wishes" and has been inked up with Night of Navy, the cardstock is SU! Whisper White and Really Rust which I've embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, the blue paper is from Pebble Ink (which matched the Night of Navy quite well) and the eyelets are from my stash.

FunkyFairies Challenge No. 15

FunkyFairies released some new papers this week and also a set of fab funky fairies digi-stamps, which, despite being on a tight budget at the moment, I just couldn't resist, they were such good value though, it would have been rude not to!  The challenge was to make a get well card & I think this sweet little fairy would make anyone feel a bit brighter.

I've coloured her with a combo of ProMarkers and Sakura Stardust pens, as a fairy has to have some glitter, not too clear in the pic, but her wings and the pink on on her boots, flower and the border are all sparkly.  The sentiment is computer generated onto FunkyFairies elements, I've layered up 2 of the scallops together

The papers are all FunkyFairies and the cardstock is Stampin' Up! in Whisper White and Tempting Turquoise, the added bling is from my stash

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge # 29

The challenge over at Secret Crafter this week was to make a shaped card & as it's for tomorrow I've left it to the last minute - again!! Seem to be doing a lot of that lately, which has resulted in a pretty shabby photo as it's 6pm, wet & dreary & the light outside is awful, that's what happens when you leave it so late to do something.

Quite a challenge for me, I've not done something like this before and it took a while to decide what to do, but then thought of using my trusted Nesties and went from there.

I've used some glittery card (doesn't really show in the picture) for the base, then added 2 smaller scallops cut from Stampin' Up! DSP's Sweet Always set and put the image, from a Stamposaurus stamp on the smallest scallop and coloured her with Sakura Stardust pens for some more sparkle.  I've used the same DSP's and a computer generated sentiment inside the card & hinged the two scallops together with some more DSP - which has a good weight to it, so it's not too flimsy.

I've added some flowers and bling from my stash and a chipboard sentiment, which seemed appropriate.

Bee Happy

Made this cute little card and found it fits 3 challenges, so that's a bonus!

DU2DS - are asking for "Things with Wings"

Digital Tuesday - are asking for Showers or Flowers

Stamp Something - also asking for Shower or Flowers

This cute little fella is a freebie from Dustin Pike and I've coloured him with a variety of medium, it took two attempts as I just couldn't get him right! Who would have thought colouring in a bumble bee would be so hard?! Anyway, I've used pencils for his body, Sakura glaze pens for his umberella, boots and water, a Sakura Stardust pen for his glittery wings and my brand new Promarkers, which I bought yesterday and just love, for his face.

The papers are from Here's a Scrap as are the embellishments

Bookmarks for Christine's Challenge

Here's a candy with a difference over at Christine's blog, you can enter in the usual way by leaving a comment, but if you make a bookmark you get extra entries - the twist is that the two winners are asked to send their bookmark's over to Christine, which I thought made a fun difference. I made two bookmarks, the first one I've kept very simple and just used a die on my Cuttlebug on some gorgeous cherry & spotty Pebbles Ink paper and threaded some beads onto the red ribbon. The second one I've stamped with SU Garden Whimsy set in Close to Cocoa ink onto more Pebbles Ink paper (using the same die) and add some brown felt ribbon to the top. I've also gone over the images with a Sakura stardust pen for a bit of added sparkle - not sure if that's clear in the photos.

Really quick & easy to make.

Sketch and Stash Challenge #8

I love these challenges because they get me to either use stamps/papers and embellishments that haven't yet seen the light of day and have been loitering amongst all my crafting stash or a chance to use a brand new item that has been waiting for the right project to come along.

So today's card is a mixture of the two, I've had the Smirk stamp for ages, but hadn't yet inked it up, so it was lovely to use that & I've coloured it in with pencils as I didn't have the right coloured pink in any of my markers, apart from her bag which I coloured with a Sakura Stardust pen to give it some glitter. The "cute as a button" embellishment is from a pack of Smirk plastic tags I bought recently and have been waiting to use one of them. The papers are from some freebies I had in my stash as are the buttons.

Pollycraft Monday Challenge No. 13

You'll never guess what the theme over at Pollycraft's Challenge was this week - Orange I hear you say? How did you guess! LOL

I love orange & really enjoyed making this card, it's so bright & zingy.

I've used a Pollycraft digi-stamp, this is from the set "Penelope in the Garden" and she's now a gorgeous auburn Penelope! I've coloured her with SU markers in Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa and Garden Green and some Cameo Coral for the dragonfly. Her hair has been done with a Sakura glaze pen for a bit of shine and I've used a Sakura clear Stardust pen to give the dragonfly wings and the flower centres a bit of sparkle.

The sentiment is also from an SU set - Cheer & Wishes and the backing papers are from my stash.

The cardstock is a graduated orange colour which is why it's dark orange on one side only, the lighter side is a very pale orange, which isn't so clear in the picture.

I've also added a couple of orange eyelets, just in case the card wasn't quite orangey enough!

Dottie's World Challenge - All things bright & beautiful

It's been a lovely sunny day here today & and I think this card has a lovely, bright & sunny feel to it, so should qualify for "All things bright & beautiful" which is the theme over at Dottie's World this week.

I've used a Charmed download and this very elegant lady comes from "Girls About Town", I've coloured her using a red Sakura glaze pen (it looks a bit orange in the pic) for her dress & shoes, glaze pens for her hair & bag and watercolour pencils forher shopping bags, gloves & skin tone - and doesn't she look smart - a bit like me when I go out shopping NOT!!

The DP is from a set of Pebbles Ink papers I won (and love) and the sparkly flower is from my stash.

I'm really pleased how this card came out, I usually look at a finished project and think I should have done something differently, but I do like this one and am pleased with the end result.

One card for two challenges

I've been a busy girl this afternoon and this is the second card I've made, which I'm entering for two challenges.

The first is for Sketch and Stash Challenge no. 7 and the new item on this card is the image, which is a free Digi-stamp from Bee Crafty which is the second challenge the card is for.

I've coloured the image with Sakura Glaze pens & also some watercolour pencils; the papers are from Pebble Ink and the pink card is Stampin' Up! Pink Passion.

The sentiment is from HamptonArt, oh first time I've used that stamp too and it's been in my drawer for ages, and the flower embellishments are from my stash.

Creative Card Crew - Challenge No. 4

This week's challenge was to use texture on your cards.

The image is a free Digi-stamp I got from TwoScoopsRice and is so cute, I've coloured him with very pale pink water colour pencils and use Sakura Glaze pens on the rest of the image.

I put some card through the Cuttlebug with one of their embossing folders and have used chalks to pick up the embossing.

The DP is Stampin' Up! and is from a set called Sweet Always, the sentiment is also SU from "Simply Said".

I've added more texture with a ribbon, flower brad & a tiny heart stick on all from my stash.

The base card is a graduated coloured card that I've had in my stash for ages and glad to finally use!

Kaboodle Challenge No. 5

The theme this week at Kaboodles was "not a card" so I've made a little pyramid gift box instead. I've used Kaboodles papers for the pyramid and the sentiment is also from a Kaboodle download, the image on the front is an SU stamp from the set Fun & Fast Notes, which has been coloured with Sakura Stardust pens for a bit of sparkle. The ribbon on the top is from my stash

My entry for Karen's awesome Copic Markers Candy

For a chance to win an incredible 72 Copic markers, Karen from Charmed Cards & Crafts has linked up with Graphics Direct & all you have to do is show a card where you've coloured in the image, either stamped or downloaded. If you use a Charmed download, then you get two entries! So of course that's what I decided to do as it's a fab prize and two entries are better than one!

I used one of the Girls About Town images, which I've coloured in with Sakura glaze pens and a Stardust pen on her scarf and jumper for a bit of sparkle. I've coloured a couple of the boxes with watercolour pencils and attemped a shadow down one side of the image with watercolour pencils, but I don't think I've done it very well!

I've used Pebbles Ink DP's and a couple of buttons from my stash to finish it off.

Truly Scrumptious Challenge No. 2

The theme for this week's challenge was to follow a sketch and to use handmade buttons somewhere on your design.

The image is from the SU stamp set "Garden Whimsy" which I've stamped and then embossed, the gorgeous papers are Pebble Ink and the sentiment is also from the same SU set. One of the buttons is made of felt, I just cut a circle from felt and punched in two small holes, the other is from a Button Stamp I have which has been coloured with a Sakura glaze pen & diamond glazed over the top for an extra shiny finish and some dimension. I've also added a sparkly embellishment for a bit of bling!

Birthday Wishes

I made this card for my gorgeous little step-grandaughter, who is 1 today! Happy Birthday Sophie.

The image & backing papers all came from a Crafters Companion CD, I've coloured the image with Sakura Stardust pens & H2O's, the sentiment is a peel off I've coloured and the number came off my computer, I coloured it with H2O's and used Diamond Glaze on the top of it.

3 in 1

That's 3 challenges with one card! Sketch Saturday, which gave me the layout, Penny Black's challenge was a Get Well card & Charisma Cardz had an animal theme so the card fits all three.

The stamp is a Penny Black one which I've coloured with watercolour pencils, the roses are done with a Sakura Stardust pen for a bit of sparkle. The papers are Pebble Ink, which I received from the lovely Steph this morning as I won them in one of her giveaways, and put them to use straightaway, the circles and flower border are punched using Nestability dies and the flower embellishments are from my stash.

The only problem is it's not a very good photo, it was a bit dim outside and the colours are a bit stronger than they look in the piccy!

Dottie's World Challenge - Blast From the Past

The challenge on Dottie's World this week was to recreate a layout from an old card, so here are my two cards for the challenge:

Card 1 - the original card has been made using a FourthDimension stamp and coloured with H2O's, the papers are from an Artylicious CD and the brads are from my stash.

Card 2 - Is using a Girls About Town download from Charmed and coloured with Sakura Glaze & Stardust pens and the papers are from Pink Petticoat, ribbon & flower embellisments both from my stash

First Easter Card

Well the sun is shining & the birds are singing, it feels like Spring - hurrah! So with that in mind I felt inspired to do an Easter Card using this gorgeous little chick I fell in love with on the Pink Petticoat website, it's a digital stamp & I've coloured it in using Sakura glaze pens. The yellow backing papers are also from Pink Petticoat & the pink dotty paper is from Kaboodle, the button is from my stash.

First Easter card made this year and nice to be ahead of myself for once, instead making Easter Cards on Good Friday like I usually do!!