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!

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.

Two Challenges

I'm entering this Thank You card for two challenges this week - Charisma Cardz (for tomorrow -just done in time!) which is simply to create a thank you card and Papertrey which is a recycling challenge.  The recycled elements on the card are the ribbon, which is from Christmas and the pink button I've put the sentiment on, which was taken from a birthday card, both have been sat in my stash box just waiting to be re-used.

The sentiment is Stampin' Up! from the wonderful "Circle of Friendship" - I use this set so much, the script in the middle is from Papertrey's Raspberry Fizz papers, as is the small rose at the top, the cardstock is SU! Whisper White and Chocolate Chip (another favourite) and I've embossed the card with a Cuttlebug folder.

I'm sorry this is such a rubbish photo the light wasn't very good, I'll get hubby to take another I think!

Doodle Palace

There's a fairly new blog called Doodle Palace created by Dee & Robin, two excellent digital stamp designers, they have some gorgeous stamps available and were very kindly giving away some freebies last week, I chose the fab Noah's Ark digi-stamp and this is the card I made with it:

I've coloured the image with my SU! markers and used SU! cardstock in Only Orange & Whisper White, the sentiment is also SU! from a set called "Circle of Friendship" and I've cut out a disc using my Cuttlebug to put the sentiment on.  The papers are from my stash & the ribbon is recycled from a gift (see card below).

Stamp Something - Yellow, Green & Blue

This is my entry for this week's Stamp Something Challenge, to make a card using yellow, green & blue.

The gorgeous BP came from a free download I received from Kaboodle Doodles for a challenge entry, the set I chose is called Morris Dance, I fell in love with this paper and wanted to use it straight away and knew I could fit it in with this challenge. The stamp is from an SU Hostess Set called "A Little Bit of Happiness" & I've coloured it in with SU markers Not Quity Navy; Summer Sun; Old Olive & Garden Green and the cardstock is also SU in Whisper White, Not Quite Navy and Summer Sun.

I've used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on some Not Quite Navy cardstock to place behind the image and the buttons are from my stash.

I had a funny sort of weekend and a bit of a confidence crisis, just wasn't pleased with anything I was making and feeling completely uninspired, so it was really lovely to get an injection of inspiration & motivation from this gorgeous paper and I'm glad to say I'm really pleased with the finished card too - phew!!

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!

Creative Card Crew - Challenge No. 3

The theme for this week's challenge was to use warm colours and I've really enjoyed making this card & am pleased with the finished result.

I used my brand spanking new SU Playful Petals stamp set, I've coloured it using SU inks Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie & Summer Sun with a blender pen, then I've cut out the image and decoupaged it - oh yes & the leaves are done with Garden Green. The sentiment is also SU from a set called Cheer & Wishes & if you can't read it clearly (not the best photo I admit) it says "Warm Wishes" which seemed rather appropriate for this card.

I've used SU cardstock Summer Sun, and the layer underneath the flower has been cut using an X Cut die. I don't know where the DPs came from as I was given a stash recently but have no idea whose papers they are and I've embossed a strip of the paper with a Cuttlebug folder and chalked over the raised image so it shows a bit more clearly.

Driving Test Congratulations

My stepdaughter Katie passed her driving test this week and after quite a struggle to find the image I wanted, I finally came up with this card to send her.

The image is a Forever Friends stick on, which I've mounted onto card, cut around & attached with silicon to raise it slightly off the background, the ripped in two L plate image I found on the internet and again mounted onto card & raised. The map background was an idea I "borrowed", with permission, from my friend Laura, who had used the idea on her own cards which I thought was very clever and I used the Swindon area because that's where Katie lives. The pink sentiment is cut out using a Cuttlebug die, from SU Pink Passion card which is the same as the layer underneath the map. So it's definately a girl's card and I think she'll like it!

It's a Boy! It's a Girl!

Two cards made using an SU stamp, can I just say though it's the pictures that are wonky not the cards! They're perfectly straight - honest!

The image and the sentiment are both SU from the "Fun & Fast Notes" set, which I love, it covers so many different occasions and this is such a simple, sweet image. The background papers were a freebie from Sketching Stampers blog and I've used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the white background. Ribbons and button brads from my stash.

Cuttlebug Mellow Yellow Monday Challenge

This week's challenge had a yellow theme, so I thought I'd go for a summery birds and flowers card. I used some green mulberry paper & yellow card from my stash, I embossed the card using the Birds & Swirls folder, two yellow buttons also from my stash, and the gorgeous embellishments are from a pack I bought ages ago (for the life of me can't remember where I got it from) but it was exactly what I wanted for this card.

Pollycraft Monday Challenge No. 8 & Kaboodle Doodle Challenge

Another Challenge card this time for the Pollycraft Monday Challenge & also for the Kaboodle Doodles Challenge as the theme for both of them this week is "love". The two birds on the fence came from the Pollycraft website and is one of their free downloads and I thought it was just right for this week's challenge. The backing papers are from the FunkyHand Seasons CD, the love heart & embossed paper behind the birds image have both been embossed with Cuttlebug Folders and the heart brad came with my Crop-a-dile.