PORTRAIT OF A BEAR.

This weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is Animals, so your cards have to have an animal on them. The sponsor this week is CRAFTY EMMA with a £10 voucher to spend in the online store.

I considered using an animal as my focal image but then I found this Sarah Kay stamp still unused in my drawer. The bear she's painting wasn't really enough of an animal so I searched for a cat image and found this one in an Ollyfant set of stamps by Kars, so I stamped it and masked it before stamping the main image. Ok, so the cat is a 'little' large, but hey ho! lol.


My papers are from the V & A collection and I inked them all around the edges. Using my Tim Holtz ruler (the one with the holes down one side) I used my pokey tool and punched around the edges of the panels then added a few flowers and half a dozen pearls and that was basically it. Oh, and a Martha Stewart punch for the mat.

Entering into:
AMBER'S CRAFTS 'N STUFF - Cats and/or dogs.
CRAFTS AND ME - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Cute and girly.
DIVA'S BY DESIGN - For the girls.
PAPER PRETTIES - Use flowers.
TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS - Anything goes.
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Anything goes.
CLAUDIA AND COMPANY - Birthday for a girl.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Always anything goes.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
STAMP SOMETHING - Anything goes.

NESTIE STORAGE...

Some time ago I made a storage book for my nestie dies. It was in an issue of Craft Stamper magazine and I thought it was a great idea and so easy to make with some card and magnetic paper sheets. I used Basic Grey papers (Infuse and others) to cover them.



Anyway, it's now so full that I can't actually get any more pages in it and I have dies all over the craft room so I've just made another one. The new one has all my Marianne D, Joycraft and Nellie Snellen dies in it and the old one now has all my nesties safely stored together. These are on my desk all the time and used constantly. So much better than keeping them in those horrible stiff plastic cases they come in.



Papers for this one are Basic Grey 'Urban Couture'. The stamp on the front of this one is from the Rescue Remedies set at Waltzingmouse Stamps (another Craft Stamper discovery). Really, that magazine costs me a fortune, lol. These stamps are 'nestie friendly' which means that when you've stamped it out, it will fit perfectly inside one of the nestie frames. A bit of distress ink around the edges and it's all you need.

Entering into:
BY THE CUTE AND GIRLY - Anything goes.
DESERT ISLAND CHALLENGES - 3 items from itinerary (paper, ribbon, stamp).
CREATIVE COWGIRL - Anything goes.
EMERALD FAERIES - Anything goes.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
SCRAPPY FROGS - Anything goes.

ONE FOR THE BOYS.

It's time for challenge #106 over at THE CRAFTY PAD and this weeks theme is 'Something for the Boys'. I find most crafters seem to have trouble with men/boy cards, including me lol, but I'm sure you'll all come up with some great designs.
Our sponsor this week is CRAFTY SENTIMENTS and she is offering this lovely uncoloured image as a prize.


Before I show you my card, I've just a bit of news to share. We'd like to welcome ALI and LEESA to our design team. We're really looking forward to working with them, so why not go visit their blogs and see what fabulous inspiration they can offer you. They will be making their first cards for us next week. Also, as of next week, I will be taking over the running of The Crafty Pad challenge blog. Debbie will still be sending out your prizes and Maxine will be setting the challenges, but I'll be doing the posts and announcing the winners etc, so I hope to still see you all there (and so does Debbie, or she'll sack me, lol).

So, here's my card for this week. The image is 'Birthday Meeces' available HERE at The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs and my paper is Basic Grey 'Oliver' and that's pretty much it, lol.



Also entering into:
ALPHABET CHALLENGE - M is for Men.
DELICIOUS DOODLES - Spots or stripes.
FUZZY WUZZY - Anything goes (with animal).
POLKA DOODLES - Party Time.
AI FACTORY - For the boys.
DO YOU STACK UP #4 - Patterned paper.

THE HOBO'S PRAYER

So, we've come to the last challenge of the year over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and we are going to leave you with a theme of ANYTHING GOES. This challenge will run until the evening of 4th January and we'll be back with a new challenge on Wednesday 5th. Our sponsor this week again, is the lovely DIGI DOODLE SHOP. There's a 50% off everything sale on over there too, so why not go take a look.

Now, to be quite honest with you, I don't care if I never see another Christmas card as long as I live, lol so as our theme is Anything Goes, I obviously chose not to make a Christmas card. :o) All the design team used a Digi Doodle Shop image and I chose to use another hobo image. This is not an image that would immediately jump out at most people to use, but I think it's fabulous and if I say it myself, I think this is one of my most favourite cards of the year. I am so pleased with how this turned out. Coloured of course, with my Promarkers.

I'm not sure whether he is praying for more or saying thank you for what he has, but I prefer to think it's the latter. I think we should all be grateful for what we have and think of those that have very little or nothing at all, especially at this time of year.

My papers are Basic Grey 'Capella' with a little strip of a Papermania 'Hamstead'. I distressed all the edges and inked them with a Walnut Stain distress ink pad. The stitching is a rub-on. The tree was embossed with a Crafts Too folder and lightly inked. A Tim Holtz on the edge die cut the right hand side. The hobo was cut out and mounted on foam pads and the greeting is a Personal Impressions clear stamp.


Also entering it into the following challenges:
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Anything goes.
CRAFTY SENTIMENTS - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Birthday.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
CRAFTY EMMA'S - Anything goes.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes (surprise us).
DIGI DOODLE SHOP - New Beginnings. (You never know, his prayers may be answered). Won.
GINGERLOFT - Distressing.
PAPER SUNDAES - Cut it out.
I DID IT CREATIONS - Anything goes.
SUNDAY SKETCH - Anything goes.
STAMPTACULAR SUNDAY - TREEmendous.
ALLSORTS - Free and easy.
OPUS GLUEI - Anything.
CRAFTY CATZ - Your choice.
SUGAR SWEET PAPER TREATS - Anything goes.

INK IT UP...

Ooooh, two posts in one day. A rarity for me, lol.

I was in the mood for some inking and rubber stamping so I got out my distress ink pads and some of my gorgeous stamps from Onyx Impressions and sat down to see what I came up with. Onyx Impression stamps are just so beautiful. They have some super designs, cut in black rubber and really well made.

I stamped my tiger onto some orange paper from my Fancy Pants 'All Fall' pad but the black background didn't come out as dark as I'd like, so I stamped the tiger again, cut him out and used it as a mask. Then I used my Memento Black and some foam and really deepened the background. Some Marmalade was used to give some patches to the Tiger. That's Spiced Marmalade ink, not the stuff in a jar, lol and I used my black Promarker to draw my own stripes.

The frame is one of the newer Nestabilities...beaded oval.



Then I made a tunnel card. I'm quite fond of these at the moment, but this one didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. I'd actually binned 3 before deciding I'd had enough and going with this one. The black inking around the edges is a bit untidy, but I used a chalk ink pad, which I'd not done before, so I'll not be using one again.

I inked a piece of plain card with my distress inks and then stamped the scene on to it, making sure I had a yellow patch where the sun was. I then inked another the same and stamped the image again. This was cut along the tree and horizon line to make the middle 3D layer. The concertina folds were stamped with an orange swirl on the outside and inked black on the inside. More marmalade ink was added to the panels and then they were stamped with some Basic Grey swirl stamps.







They're really easy to make but just takes a little care (a bit more than I gave this one, lol).

MYTH AND MAGIC

Well, I've got a couple of cards for you today and very different they are. The first one is my DT card for I ♥ PROMARKERS. The theme this week for challenge #30, as chosen by me, is Myth and Magic. Lots of scope here...dragons, fairies, mermaids...etc. We are sponsored this week by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN who is offering a £10 gift voucher to the winner to spend in her online store.




I have had my dragon image for a long time now so I'm sorry, I can't tell you where I got it from as I can't remember. The papers are Papermania 'Hampstead'. This is the first time I've actually found them suitable for a card, lol. I used walnut stain distress ink to ink all the edges (after giving them a good distressing with a sanding block) and did the same to the Sizzix 'Tim Holtz' hinge dies to try and make them look a little rusty. The swirl at the bottom is a nestability shape and the trellis is a Martha Stewart punch. I am also very fond of this fold and use it quite a lot now.

I'm also entering this at:
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Just One.
CHRISTMAS STAMPING - Anything but Christmas.
CORROSIVE CHALLENGE - For the Boys.
GINGERSNAP CREATIONS - Ancient Ages (I think this card has a distinct medieval look to it).
CRAFTY EMMA'S - Anything Goes.
STAMPIN' FOR THE WEEKEND - Anything Goes.
BELLI CHALLENGE - Old Stamps.


So, do you ever go back to basics? I am finding at the moment that crafting seems to have gone full circle and things that were popular at the beginning of the craze are now popular again. I am seeing more heat embossing, dry embossing, die cuts and other things. I am currently involved in a ZENTANGLE swap. Google it to find out what it's all about, but let me tell you that I, and I suspect many of you, were doing it as a child and possibly still do it without knowing that it's now got a fancy new name. Basically, it's doodling, lol but doodling with rules. Go search and you'll find some fabulous examples.

My second card resurrects another basic which also seems to be all the rage again now and it's paper piecing. Now, this is the first time I have ever done it as I didn't like it before, but using DP's for clothes and things seems to make such a difference and so I've used it on this card and I must admit, I quite like it, lol.

I think you'll agree...two VERY different cards from me this week.


My image is 'Charley' stamp from Cuddly Buddly and the papers are MME which was a freebie pad in a mag a few weeks ago. Her dress and hat are pieced and the rest of Charley and her flowers are coloured with my Promarkers. Labels eight nestability, Martha Stewart heart punch, Prima flowers and a bit of lace finish it off.

I'm going to enter this at:
FAB 'N FUNKY - Material World.

The lovely DAWN has given me this super blog award.


Thanks so much, hun. It's much appreciated.
Now, I have to nominate 7 people to pass this to, so I'll be back soon with their names and blogs. :o)

Well, I've written a bit of a tome this week, pmsl so I'll shut up now.

ONLY 3 COLOURS.

Another day, another dollar or should I say another week, another challenge. Boy! where does time go, eh?
Anyway, this week over at I ♥ PROMARKERS we had to follow a sketch by our very own Wynneth, and use no more than 3 colours (excluding flesh tones). We are sponsored this week by the gorgeous JOANNA SHEEN who is giving the winner £10 to spend in her online store.


For my card, I decided to use blue and brown with a bit of green on the flower stems. I used the digi stamp 'Flower Girl' from KAREN'S DOODLES which, obviously, was coloured with Promarkers. My background paper is Basic Grey 'Capella' and the blue are some scraps of Rusty Pickle 'Chocolate Bunnies' I had left over from the pocket book I made. I punched down each side of the strip for the centre and then cut the squares from another punched edge to make the corners (I added 4 instead of just 2). All edges were inked with walnut stain distress ink. Little pearls and the bow were added to finish it off.



I'm also going to enter this in the following challenges:
KAREN'S DOODLES CHALLENGE - Anything goes.
MAMI DOODLES - Anything goes.
O.W.H. - Patterned Paper.
2 SISTERS - Punches.
WHOOPSIE DAISY - Blue and Green. (OK, not a lot of green in mine, but it is there, lol).
DUTCH DARE - Anything Goes.
TELLENS PLACE - A candy link rather than a card challenge.
ONE STOP CRAFT CHALLENGE - Patterns.

POCKETS IN BLUE.

I recently hosted a pocket page book swap on the craft forum that I run. It was great and the girls produced some fabulous little books. They all used the tutorial that I did some time ago over at MAKE SOMETHING NICE (which reminds me, it's time I got some more up) and this was mine.




I used my last pieces of Chocolate Bunny papers from Rusty Pickle (really didn't want to part with these, sob!) and inked the edges with Ranger walnut stain distress ink. The key holes were cut using the fabulous T.H. die and I thought they'd make nice tab pulls as well as a faux fastener - it actually fastens with a small Basic Grey magnet. For the inner pages, I used plain old printer paper and using my Crafters Workshop template, I stencilled with the walnut stain ink and weathered wood alternately. The back of each pocket is stamped with a lace background stamp. Each tab in the pockets has a quote on it.

Martha Stewart (as usual, involved in a lot of my work recently) provided the lattice punch on the front cover and I finished off with a couple of flat back pearls as I didn't want to pierce the cover.

I made a card last night too with an image I fell in love with when I saw him, so I'm off to do a challenge search and see if he fits more than the one I made him for.
Have a great day, everybody.

SOOOO DISTRESSED!!!!! I ♥ PROMARKER #22

Ha, ha. Not me - my card. :o)
This weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is distressing. A technique close to my heart. I love it. We are sponsored again this week by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN and she is giving a £10 gift voucher to the winner.

For my card I used one of my fave stamps from Lost Coast Designs and the ruler stamp is also LCD. The papers are Basic Grey 'Recess', other stamps from Paperartsy and the gorgeous leather look lace was a RAK from my mate, Karelyn. There's also lots of inking with my Walnut Stain Distress ink pads.


I'm also entering this into a few challenges.
ONE STOP CRAFT who want distressing.
CRAFT CATZ WEEKLY who also want distressing.
CRAFTY CARD MAKERS who have Inky Fingers so need inks used on your card.
FLUTTERBY WEDNESDAY who have an open week but it still must have wings of some sort on.
PRAIRIE FAIRY DESIGNS anything goes.

IS IT A PLATE....?

Editing: It's 11th May 2011 today but I'm linking this post to MAKE IT MONDAY. I really like this card so am showing it again.

I had a go at something a little different this afternoon and made a plate card. I think I'll be making more of these as I love the way it sits on its stand and you can pop your written greeting on the back. I raided my scrap box for my papers again as there is so much in there. The pink paper is Basic Grey but where the brown came from is anybody's guess, lol. I wanted it to look a bit distressed so the BG paper was perfect and I inked all the edges with Black Soot distress ink. The image is by Elizabeth Dulemba who is a children's book author and illustrator and the flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm entering this card for 4 challenges this week.

PASSION FOR PROMARKERS whose theme is books.
MY TIME TO CRAFT are asking for Wild Things - something that lives in the wild and I figure an Owl fits the bill.
PEAR TREE DESIGNS who want flowers on your card/project.
CRAFTS AND ME who want distressing.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX..

Another weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week (#12) it's a sketch and one I really liked. Our sponsor this week is Susie at DIE CUT DREAMS and the prize is some lovely door hangers for you to decorate.

I didn't want to do cute this time, so I started thinking 'outside the box' and then remembered I had the perfect stamps from PAPERARTSY, one of my fave stamp sites, and here's what I came up with.


I stamped the lady (which includes the diamonds) and then masked her off and used a Prima stamp for the background. The background paper is, I think (had it so long I can't remember), an SEI one and it had clock faces all round it. I cut a piece out and then cut the four required squares out, inked them with Black Soot distress ink and attached them to the background card that I'd coloured with my Cinnamon Promarker. The mats and circles were also coloured with this. The dress was coloured with cinnamon, cocoa and burnt sienna. I finished by stamping the sentiment, stamping clock faces and attaching a real watch face to one of the circles. Oh yeah, there's also a real watch part over her mouth.

I'm not sure what occasion this card could be sent for or who would even want it, lol but hey! it's a card and I like it. :o)

DISTRESSED

I've been playing at being Tim Holtz and distressing some tags. I really like my distress ink pads and the more I use them, the more I like them.


I used my silicone mat this time and started with some ink tapped onto it and then spritzed with water for the background on the large coloured tag. I blended more ink in from outside to get the soft edges, then just stamped some images on. The image on the right hand side of the centre tag was stamped with Fired Brick which was gently spritzed to 'blur' the image and then overstamped with Black Soot to get the double image. The stamps are by Rubadubadoo (watches) and Prima Marketing. The luggage tags are from the newsagents as they're much cheaper than buying them from a craft shop. :o) When I'd finished stamping, I blended a bit of Black Soot ink around the edges.

I've added a couple more slideshows to my blog today too, so take a look if you want to see some of my parchment work and jewelry.