Bonkers About Buttons

Another doggone birthday

2012-03-02T01:16:00.000Z

Not long until Mother's Day now, and I've not even started making my mum's cards. I hope I'm not the only one leaving it a wee bit late? March already, where is the time going?

PaperCrafting Journey - Anything goes
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
Cards For Men - Sketch
Crafty Boots Challenges - Food, glorious food

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Birthday Dog'
Papers - Basic Grey
Paw brads from stash. The edges of the paper were inked with Tim Holtz 'Frayed Burlap' Distress Ink.

Young at heart

2012-02-28T17:01:00.000Z

I won 7 Bugaboo digi stamps in a blog challenge recently, and this is the first of them. Hopefully I'll be able to play with the others soon - my printer is playing up at the min, and is leaving ink splatters on the paper :o(

Creative Card Crew - Humour
Delightful Challenges - Use patterned paper
Do You Stack Up - Distress
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - It's a man thing
Creative Craft Challenges - Boys will be boys
Wags 'n Whiskers - Masculine birthday

Image - Bugaboo 'Gus Birthday - Recount'
Papers - My Mind's Eye and Basic Grey
Card Candy from stash

Happy birthday, Ember!

2012-02-20T19:56:00.001Z

One of my pet rats, Ember, will be two on the 1st of March and this is the card I've made for her - it's okay, she doesn't look at my blog so the surprise won't be spoiled ;o) This is another of the DigiStamp Boutique images I won in a recent blog challenge. It's not quite a rat but I'm sure Ember won't notice the difference.

DigiStamp Boutique - February competition
Paper Sundaes - Birthday
One Stitch At A Time - Digi or don't
Cutie Pie Challenge - Flower power
Cute Card Thursday - Flower power
Crafter's Companion - Anything goes
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Celebrations
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Happy
Pile It On - Sending happiness
PaperCrafting Journey - Make it cute
The Poodles Parlour - Mother's Day or for a female (Ember's a girly)

Image - DigiStamp Boutique 'Willow And Flowers'
Paper - Basic Grey
Flowers and pearls from stash. The sentiment was computer generated and the edges of the paper were inked with Tim Holtz 'Frayed Burlap' Distress Ink.

Angel Henry

2012-02-18T19:16:00.007Z

My second Christmas card of the year. I'm on a roll, woohoo! This is actually the second card I made yesterday but nothing went right with the first one, and after trying to fix it I realised it was a lost cause and fed it to the recycle bin. A few hours later I tried again and came up with this one. This is one of the Whiff of Joy stamps I bought at the end of last year, when they were having their sale. I've still got another four Henry stamps to use, which is why I haven't allowed myself to buy any stamps this year. So far the only crafty stuff I've bought are a Cuttlebug alphabet that I've wanted for ages and four distress inks. I think I must be coming down with something ;o)

Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Sketch
Allsorts - Anything goes
CES Challenges - Spots and dots
Winter Wonderland - A Christmas card
PaperPlay Challenges - Critters
Crafty Ribbons - Paws for thought
Crafts And Me - Distressed
Truly Scrumptious - All creatures great and small

Image stamp - Whiff of Joy 'Angel Henry Mouse'
Sentiment stamp - Lili of the Valley
Papers - Basic Grey
Buttons and twine from stash. The edges of the papers were inked with Tim Holtz 'Peeled Paint' Distress Ink.

Happy Christmas!

2012-02-13T16:04:00.001Z

This is my first Christmas card of 2012. I'm a bit late this year, as I usually manage to start in January.

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Entwined (use twine)
One Stitch At A Time - Anything goes
ABC Christmas Challenge - C is for Charming

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Carolling Trio'
Sentiment stamp - Lili of the Valley
Papers - Basic Grey
Card Candy, charm and twine from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystals' folder and the border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

High as a kite

2012-02-10T15:05:00.006Z

When I bought this stamp I only imagined it being used for masculine cards, but the Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog is having another Case It challenge and the card we've to case uses this stamp and is lovely and feminine (which I don't think I've really managed) with a bow and flowers. I wish I had used a dark pink ribbon though, instead of the lace, to make it a wee bit more 'zingy'.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Case it
Moving Along With The Times - Cute critters
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes
Birthday Sundaes - Birthday card with sentiment

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Fly With Me'
Sentiment stamp - Elzybells
Papers - My Mind's Eye
Lace and dew drops from stash

Cupful of love

2012-02-04T17:28:00.003Z

Joanna Sheen - Love is in the air
Winter Wonderland - Blue and white
The Poodles Parlour - Anything goes
Paper Sundaes - Valentine
By The Cute And Girly - Love is in the air
Simon Says Stamp - Animal antics
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Sketch
Top Tip Tuesday - Valentine
Stampin' For The Weekend - Embossing
One Stop Craft Challenge - For the one I love
Allsorts Challenge - Free and easy
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - The one I love

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Cupful Of Love'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'General Greetings' set
Papers - My Mind's Eye
Dew drops from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Roses' folder and the edges of the papers were inked with Tim Holtz 'Tumbled Glass' Distress Ink.

Fishing Stan

2012-02-01T16:09:00.002Z

I recently won 6 DigiStamp Boutique images - of my choice - in a blog challenge, and despite not really being 'into' digi stamps (I've tried, oh how I've tried!) this wee guy inspired me to make a card. I think it's the first digi stamp I've actually enjoyed colouring, so it's a start.

Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - Use a digi image
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Recycle (the button is from a jacket my mum was chucking out)
One Stitch At A Time - Use a digi
CES Challenge - Check it out
Crafty Boots Challenges - Inspired by a song title ('Gone Fishing' by Bing Crosby)

Image - DigiStamp Boutique 'Fishing Stan'
Sentiment stamp - Elzybells
Paper - Paper Cellar 'Checks'
Twine and googly eye from stash, button from an old jacket.

70th birthday

2012-01-29T03:06:00.013Z

One Stop Craft Challenge - Real or faux stitching
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Animals
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Floral Frenzy
Moving Along With The Times - Blooming marvellous
PaperPlay Challenges - Lovely lace
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
Pile It On - Add lace

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Just Buzzin' By!'
Papers - Bo Bunny (a freebie from a magazine)
Lace and dew drops from stash. The sentiment is computer generated and the numbers were made using a Cuttlebug 'Hippie Chick' alphabet die.

Make a wish

2012-01-23T20:33:00.003Z

One Stop Craft Challenge - Under the weather
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Crafty bargains (I've not bought anything crafty since before Christmas, so haven't benefited from any of the post-Christmas sales, but these papers were bought in a sale earlier last year. I hope this counts.)
A Gem of a Challenge - Sketch

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Cheesecake Wish'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'Occasions' set
Papers - My Mind's Eye
Dew drops and flowers from stash.

Ewe can play the bagpipes

2012-01-20T15:22:00.004Z

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything goes
Allsorts Challenge - Celebrations of nations
Creative Craft Challenges - The colour blue
Truly Scrumptious - Something forgotten (I haven't used this stamp since 2009)

Image stamp - From the Penny Black '12 Days of Christmas' transparent set

Boys will be boys

2012-01-14T20:41:00.006Z

Winter Wonderland - Birthday wishes
Lili's Little Fairies - Your favourite Lili of the Valley stamp (I found it impossible to choose but this is the LOTV stamp I've used the most)
Here Comes The Boys - Sketch

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Hanging Around'
Sentiment stamp - Elzybells
Paper/card - My Mind's Eye and Core'dinations card
Card Candy from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Distressed Stripes' folder.

Feel better soon

2012-01-13T01:50:00.005Z

This is yet another of my poor neglected stamps. It's only been used once and that was 19 months ago, which is a shame as it's gorgeous. I'm not into resolutions but I'm going to try my best to resist buying too many stamps this year (some hope!) so that I can use more of my older ones.

Crafty Cardmakers - No floral embellishments
Oldie But A Goodie - Back to work (the image stamp is at least 19 months old)

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Little Nurse'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'Occasions' set
Papers - Tim Holtz 'Vintage Shabby'
Pearls from stash. The edges of the papers were inked with Tim Holtz 'Tumbled Glass' distress ink.

Henry the mouse

2012-01-13T01:25:00.007Z

I treated myself to *cough* a few Whiff of Joy stamps, when they were having their sale at the end of the year. It was hard to choose but this one jumped into my basket straightaway.

Charisma Cardz Challenges - Happy Birthday
Crafty Creations - Something new (the stamp)
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Die cute special (the image and sentiment have been cut with Nesties and the image is incredibly cute)
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Something new
Birthday Sundaes - Birthday card, with the option of using something new
Quirky Crafts - Food, glorious food

Image stamp - Whiff of Joy 'Henry Celebrating Mouse'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley ' General Greetings' set
Paper - My Mind's Eye
Card Candy and lace from stash. The embossing was done with a Craft Concept 'Cupcakes' folder.

Shop 'til you drop

2012-01-09T03:18:00.003Z

It's only 10 weeks to Mother's Day so I thought it was about time I made a start on some Mother's Day cards for charity. Knowing me I'll be frantically making my own mum's card the day before, or I'll have it made in good time then realise the day before I've fluffed something up and have to fix it. I've had this stamp for a wee while but this is the first time I've inked it up. It seems to be a bit of a habit of mine, oops.

Sunday Sketch And Stamp - Sketch
Winter Wonderland - Let's go shopping
CES Challenges - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday -Anything goes

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Born To Shop'
Sentiment stamp - Elzybells
Papers - My Mind's Eye
Pearls from stash

Meeces in love

2012-01-09T02:32:00.002Z

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Spots and dots

Joanna Sheen - Celebrations

Delightful Challenges - Have a heart

Penny Black And More - Love and hearts

Sketch N Stash - Sketch (the image stamp is a bit neglected as I last used it 10 months ago)

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Snuggle'

Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'For You' set

Paper - My Mind's Eye

Card Candy and lace from stash

First card of 2012

2012-01-05T15:19:00.005Z

I know I'm a few days late, but Happy New Year!

Please excuse the wonky outline on this image. I bought my one and only Promarker to outline images but it turned out to be a bad idea.

Paper Sundaes - Something old, something new (I got the stamp in 2009 and the pearls are new)
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes
Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Sketch
Creative Inspirations - With thanks

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Frequent Flyer'
Sentiment stamp - Elzybells
Papers - My Mind's Eye
Pearls from stash

Glitter galore!

2011-12-30T17:04:00.009Z

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and didn't eat or drink too much? ;o) This is one of the Lili of the Valley stamps I treated myself to when they had their recent sale - isn't she a cutie? I think I went a wee bit overboard with the Glamour Dust on this card as I had to dig a channel so that the middle part of the fairy's wand was visible. It's all really shimmery but unfortunately it doesn't show up well on this photo.

Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Anything goes
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Anything goes
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Pom Pom'
Paper/card - My Mind's Eye and Core'dinations card
Twine and Card Candy from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Roses' folder.

Ooops!

2011-12-23T13:18:00.007Z

This is me back in my comfort zone which is making messy - some may call it distressed, my version tends to be messy ;o) - male cards. I was tempted by this wee chap (and a *cough* couple of other stamps) when Lili of the Valley had their recent sale.

Stampin' For The Weekend - Anything goes
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Anything goes
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
One Stitch At A Time - Anything goes

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Ooops!'
Papers - Tim Holtz 'Retro Grunge'
Buttons and twine from stash

Sweet snowman

2011-12-19T00:53:00.004Z

This is one of these cards that doesn't look finished to me. I don't suppose I'll ever get the hang of clean and simple and this one was unintentionally CAS as I didn't realise the image was so large and there wouldn't be much space for anything else on the card. He IS a sweet snowman though.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Make a tag
Crafty Boots Challenges - Christmas
Stampin' For The Weekend - Christmas
Creative Card Crew - Tis The Season
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Last minute Christmas makes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Sweet Snowman'
Pearls and twine from stash

A very ratty Christmas

2011-12-08T17:12:00.007Z

This is the card I made for my rats and you'll be glad to know that they liked it. I'm sane, honestly! ;o)

Cute Card Thursday - Anything goes
Moving Along With The Times - Last minute Christmas
Crafty Ribbons Challenge - Traditional colours for Christmas
Paper Sundaes - Sundae bar. We've to choose at least two from the following - the colour red, stripes, die cuts and stitching. I've chosen red, striped (the twine) and die cuts (Nestabilities)
ABC Christmas Challenge - Y is for Yippee! Anything Christmassy goes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Xmouse Ornament'
Papers - Freebie from a magazine - I think they might be Bo Bunny
Card candy, twine and button from stash. The sentiment was computer generated.

Waiting for Santa

2011-12-06T15:32:00.002Z

Another card, featuring another cute Penny Black hedgehog image, for my mum, this time from her 8 'grandrats' ;o)

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes, with the option of adding something dangly
Creative Card Crew - Tis the season

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Just Wishing You...'
Papers - Basic Grey
Dew drops, charm and twine from stash. The sentiment is computer generated and the border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

New challenge blog

2011-12-02T19:18:00.002Z

There's a brand spanking new Joanna Sheen challenge blog and the first challenge is Christmas Wishes. This is the card I made for my mum. There was a discussion on a craft forum recently about suitable images for cards for older ladies and the opinion was that cute images aren't suitable. Well my mum's in her 60s and she'd be disappointed if she received a card that didn't feature a cute image - Penny Black hedgehogs are her favourite. Thank goodness for that seeing as I can't seem to get out of the habit of using cute images ;o)

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Christmas Mix'
Paper - Mad About Cards download
Buttons, Card Candy and twine from stash. The sentiment is computer generated and the snowflake was cut using a Sizzix die.

Hanging around

2011-11-27T18:57:00.003Z

Here Come The Boys - For the man in your life
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - Happy birthday
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Teenage boys

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Hanging Around'
Sentiment stamp -Elzybells
Papers - Tim Holtz 'Retro Grunge'
Card candy from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Diamond Plate' folder.

Christmas cracker

2011-11-26T13:27:00.008Z

The ABC Christmas Challenge blog's current challenge is a really clever one. It's X for Xerox which means we've to case any of the cards made by the DT in 2011. The DT there make gorgeous cards and it was hard to choose but one in particular jumped out at me, partly because of the colours and partly because of the image. I've just put in my first order at Whiff Of Joy so will soon be the proud owner of the super cute Henry stamp myself, yay! Anyhoo, the card I've chosen to case is Samantha's 'G for Girly' card, which was also to have the colour combo of pink, silver and purple. I don't have any pink or purple Card Candy so had to colour some white ones with my Prisma pencils and it's actually worked better than I thought. Unfortunately I had to miss the sentiment out as I don't have any stamps that fit. The stars on the cracker were the same purple colour as the hat but Glossy Accents and Glamour Dust turned them dark pink. Very strange!

The other challenges I'm entering this card into are -

Totally Papercrafts - Christmas

Charisma Cardz - Snowflakes

Lili of the Valley - Anything goes

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Christmas crackers

Creative Craft Challenges - Free for all

One Stitch At A Time - Anything goes

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Christmas Cracker'

Card - Core'dinations

Card Candy and googly eyes from stash. The embossing was done with Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes' and 'Snowflakes 2' folders.

Black and white kitty

2011-11-16T00:56:00.005Z

It's taken me a few days to get a passable photo of this *insert naughty word of your choice here* card. I find mainly white cards hard enough to photograph as it is, and it's been so dull here but if I use my camera flash the embossing disappears. This is about the best it gets I'm afraid, but at least I've managed to get it done before the challenges close, hoorah!

A Gem Of A Challenge - Sketch, stitching and sentiment
One Stitch At A Time - Black and white

Image stamp - Penny Black (Shock, horror! Heehee) 'Merry Kitty'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'Christmas' set
Dew drops and twine from stash. The embossing was done with Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes 2' and 'Ice Crystals' folder and the border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

Skating Snowy

2011-11-14T22:23:00.002Z

Despite promising myself that the next card/s I made would be non-Christmas I made another two Christmas cards last night (I know!), while watching Christmas films. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Here Come The Boys - Red/white/green colour combo
Sketch Saturday - Sketch
Delightful Challenges - Snowflakes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Skating Snowy'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'Christmas' set
Papers - Basic Grey
Snowflake brads from stash

Winter sports

2011-11-11T16:07:00.004Z

Creative Inspirations - All stitched up
Cards For Men - Christmas card for a man
ABC Christmas Challenge - W for winter sports
Crafty Creations - Kraft/brown, white/cream and one other colour (my other colour is green - the paper is a dark green but looks brown in the photo)
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Christmas
Sketch 'N' Stash - Sketch (my neglected stash is the stamp, which hasn't been used since 2009)
Anything Goes - Real or faux stitches

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Ice Dance'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'Christmas' set
Paper/card - Tim Holtz 'Retro Grunge' and Kraft card
Twine and Card Candy from stash. The embossing was done with Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes 2' and 'Ice Crystals' folders.

There's a moose loose aboot this hoose

2011-11-07T17:21:00.004Z

Another Christmas card! What's wrong with me? ;o) Looking through old photos of my cards I realised this cute wee fellow hasn't seen the light of day since August 2009.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Christmas, snowflakes and silver
Winter Wonderland - Make your card sparkle
Charisma Cardz - Cutesy
Penny Black And More - November challenge/All creatures great and small
Delightful Challenges - A very sparkly Christmas
Totally Stampalicious - Anything goes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Xmouse Ornament!
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'Christmas' set
Paper - Funky Fairy (no longer around) download
Lace, silver string, dew drops and Card Candy from stash. The snowflakes were cut using a Sizzix die (the small snowflake was cut out of shrink plastic - it's the only one out of five attempts that shrunk properly).

Snow joy

2011-11-03T01:49:00.006Z

Despite saying that Christmas cards aren't my favourite cards to make, here's another Christmas card. I've got enough for this year and a few left over for next Christmas - which will be here before we know it ;o)

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Sketch
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything goes (option sparkle and bling - I've added sparkle with Glamour Dust)
Creative Inspirations - Lashings of sparkle
Basic Grey Challenges - Anything goes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Snow Joy'
Paper - Basic Grey
Snowflake brad and Card Candy from stash. The snowflakes were cut using Cuttlebug and Sizzix dies and the border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

All wrapped up

2011-10-30T18:17:00.007Z

Yet another of my poor, neglected stamps from last Octobers craft show. I think it's partly because it's a Christmas stamp and Christmas cards aren't my favourite.

One Stitch At A time - Christmas
A Gem Of A Challenge - Cold and frosty
Sweet Stampin' - Anything goes
Lili of the Valley - Sketch
Totally Papercrafts - Glitter it
Crafty Ribbon Challenges - Bingo (I chose glitter, punch/dies and lace)
Charisma Cardz - Anything goes
Crafts And Me - Winter blues
Simon Says - Anything goes

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Wrapped In Tinsel'
Lace and googly eyes from stash. The snowflakes were cut using a Sizzix die and the embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes 2' folder.

Baby's 1st Christmas

2011-10-24T20:25:00.008+01:00

This poor stamp has been neglected. I bought it at the SECC craft show last October and this is the first time I've used it. *Hangs head in shame*

Paper Sundaes - Sundae Bar - I've chosen sparkle and distressing
One Stitch At A Time - 'Emboss it'
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Embossing
ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for unused stash (my poor, neglected stamp)

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Baby's First Christmas'
Paper - Zoe Pearn 'So Sweet'
Card Candy, charm, twine and googly eyes from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystals' folder.

Merry Christmas to moo

2011-10-19T12:51:00.007+01:00

Another Crimbo card today (less than 67 days to go now, eek!).

A Gem Of A Challenge - Sketch
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges - Distressed or torn

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Xmas Moo'
Papers - Basic Grey
Brads from stash. The snowflakes were cut using Cuttlebug and Marianne D Creatables dies and the border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

Piggin' freezing!

2011-10-18T17:48:00.008+01:00

I've made this card for Crafty Ann's challenge, which is 'Inspired by a Christmas song - any Christmas song'. My song is 'See Amid The Winter's Snow', although 'Baby It's Cold Outside' (well it would be if you were sitting on your bare bum in a pile of snow! ;o) Those cheeks - both sets - aren't just pink because he's a piggy!) would also fit.

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Merry Wishes'
Card - Core'dinations
Twine, Card Candy and charm from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Snowflakes 2' folder and the border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

Yappy birthday

2011-10-12T17:30:00.008+01:00

This is the last of the stamps I recently bought from PB Stamps, and it's definitely my favourite out of the three. He looks a bit grumpy about it being his birthday though.

Sketch N Stash - Sketch (my new stash is that luvverly stamp)
Birthday Sundaes - Fall/Autumn colours birthday card
Stampin' For The Weekend - Colours of Autumn
Totally Papercrafts - Animals
Cute Card Thursday - Time for cake
Truly Scrumptious - Distressing
Crafty Cardmakers - Anything goes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Birthday Dog'
Sentiment stamp - From the Lili of the Valley 'General Greetings' set
Paper/card - Basic Grey paper and Core'dinations card
Twine, button and bone brads from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Diamond Plate' folder.

My first (successful) gatefold card

2011-10-01T23:15:00.004+01:00

I've tried gatefold cards in the past, but gave up as they went a wonky (what's new there?), and this is the first one that I've managed to finish. It's my mum's birthday card from her 'grandrats', and now that her birthday is over I can show it. How cute is that image?

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Cheesecake Wish'
Papers - Tim Holtz 'Vintage Shabby'
Flowers from stash and the sentiment is computer generated

Less is more

2011-09-30T18:49:00.005+01:00

Stamping straight onto a card blank still scares me. I've tried it lots of times and ended up ruining most of them. Ink smudges or the image or sentiment is completely squint, and usually with me it's all three that happens. I managed to avoid all that with this one, hoorah! This card is for the Less Is More challenge, which is a sketch this week.

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Swine & Roses'
Sentiment stamp - Penny Black 'Hogs n'...'

Birthday bear with balloons

2011-09-30T17:49:00.005+01:00

It was my mum's birthday yesterday, and now that she's received her card I can safely upload it here. It's an 8x8, which I usually find quite hard to do as I can't add the usual insert but, apart from ruining a few sheets of paper (eek!) when I kept running out of thread, I quite enjoyed making it.

Crafts & Me Challenges - Flowers
Cupcake Craft Challenges - 'If you go down to the woods today'
Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Anything goes at Anything Goes
Simon Says Challenge - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Animal Crackers
Sweet Stampin' - Anything goes (optional sketch)
Paper Sundaes - Anything goes

Image Stamp - Penny Black 'Joie De Vivre'
Paper - Tim Holtz 'Vintage Shabby'
Lace and flowers from stash. Computer generated sentiment.

Scooter Dog

2011-09-16T20:58:00.012+01:00

Here's the second of my stamps from PB Stamps. I love Penny Black stamps but I wish they made more dogs as they're great for male cards. Please ignore the Card Candy being a bit squint.

The sketch I've chosen for the Sketch N Stash challenge -

Sketch N Stash - Free choice sketch (my new stash is my lovely new stamp)
Crafty Ribbons - Anything goes
Cute Card Thursday - Anything goes
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
Totally Stampalicious - Anything goes

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Scooter Dog'
Sentiment stamp - Lili of the Valley
Paper - My Mind's Eye
Card Candy, buttons and twine from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' folder.

X Factor wannabe?

2011-09-16T18:01:00.008+01:00

I made my very first order with PB Stamps recently (what's taken me so long???) and this is one of the stamps that the postie very kindly delivered yesterday. I'm entering this into the Simon Says Stamp challenge, which is 'Sing It!' - song or film title inspired. As the lovely wee hedgehog isn't singing to anyone in particular my song is 'Song For Whoever' by The Beautiful South.

Image stamp - Penny Black 'A Song For You!'
Paper - My Mind's Eye
Card Candy from stash. The embossing was done with a Cuttlebug 'Allegro' folder.

Feeling froggy

2011-09-13T17:27:00.006+01:00

I dithered for ages over whether to buy the Tim Holtz 'Retro Grunge' paper stack, and now I can't stop using it. I love those papers!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Delicious
Crafty Boots Challenge - Anything goes
Catch The Bug Challenge - Let's get punchy (use punches or dies)
Totally Papercrafts Challenge - Cute with buttons

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Ice On The Pond'
Paper - Tim Holtz 'Retro Grunge'
Buttons and twine from stash

Cupcake Craft challenge 158

2011-09-06T14:27:00.005+01:00

The current challenge is 'Patchwork Quilt'. This was my second attempt with my sewing machine and I think it's looking a bit less wonky than the first.

Image stamp - Elzybells 'Flower Girl'
Paper - Tim Holtz 'Vintage Shabby'
Flowers from stash

Penny Black at Allsorts September challenge

2011-09-06T14:21:00.004+01:00

A lady on the Docrafts forum posted about a dinky wee sewing machine she'd just bought, and a few of us went on to buy the same one. This is the very first card I've made with 'proper' stitching on it, and as you can see I need to practice a lot more ;o) This is for the Penny Black at Allsorts September challenge which is 'Get ahead for Christmas'.

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Xmas Kiss'

Paper - Basic Grey

Lace from stash. The poinsetta was cut using Marianne D Creatables dies.

Cards For Men - challenge 18

2011-09-02T14:46:00.010+01:00

The challenge is 'G is for...' and I've chosen Green, Grass, Goal and Grunge (the papers).

Image stamps - Elzybells
Sentiment stamp - Elzybells
Papers - Tim Holtz 'Retro Grunge'
Card Candy from stash

'In the meantime' cards

2011-08-29T21:49:00.007+01:00

I thought I'd post some of the cards I've made since my blog was last 'live'. Some members of Docrafts have probably already seen a few of these in my gallery.

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Balloon Bunny'

Papers - Echo Park 'Walk In The Park'

Lace and card candy from stash

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Birthday Fairy'

Sentiment stamp - Lili of the Valley

Papers - Echo Park 'Walk In The Park'

Flowers and lace from stash

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Puppy Post'

Card candy from stash

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Snowy'

Sentiment stamp - Penny Black 'Snowflakes...'

Ribbon and card candy from stash. The border was made with a Martha Stewart 'Icicle' punch.

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Party March'

Ribbon and buttons from stash

Image stamp - Forever Friends

Papers - My Mind's Eye

Button and string from stash

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Beehave!'

Papers - My Mind's Eye papers

Charm and string from stash

Image stamp - Lili of the Valley 'Big Present'

Papers - My Mind's Eye

Button and string from stash

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Gifts For You'

Sentiment stamp - Elzybells

Papers - Echo Park

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Butterfly Wishes'

Papers - Basic Grey

Flowers from stash

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Yearning'

Papers - My Mind's Eye

Ribbon from stash

Image stamp - Penny Black 'Xmas Treat!