Tuesday 30 November 2010

Merry *hicc*mas!



Lol, today I turned Vamp Lilith from Tickled Pink Stamps into a somewhat inebriated Christmas reveller ;) The papers are from the Berry Snow set at Crafty Chaos Designs, the stamp is obviously Tickled Pink.
These are the challenges I made it for:
Karber Weekly Challenge - sparkle
Craft Your Passion - monochrome
Gingerloft Challenges - bows
Lil Lolita Boutique - sketch
Incy Wincy Designs - 3 flowers, 2 papers, 1 image
A Crafty Little Place - anything goes
Allsorts - monochrome
Top Tip Tuesday - open challenge
Tuesday Throwdown - embellish it. I noticed that I've been using fewer and fewer embellishments recently, and I don't know why, so I bucked the trend with a big floral corner arrangement.
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge - have a bow on your card
Riley and Co. - Christmas

Monday 29 November 2010

Monday, Monday, looks good to me

Hello hello hello , it's bitterly cold again here today, but I have two fab challenges to tell you about, so grab a cuppa and feel the warming glow ;)
First up is the new sketch at Fairymoon Crafts, and this week has a MYSTERY PRIZE! This is my last GDT challenge over there, and I'd like to thank everyone for putting up with me for the past month :D



My card will also be entered in the following challenges:
Quirky Crafts - black white and one other colour, plus use punches. I'm the guest DT for this one, so not really an entry, but I had fun using the recipe
Pile It On - feathers and/or fur
I Did It Creations - Surprise Me (I was actually working towards last week's Wings challenge, but forgot it would be over :P)
Ooh La La Creations - inspired by a Christmas song. Hmmm, mine isn't inspired by one song in particular, but rather by all of them at once ;)
Cards for Men - Christmas (Yes, it has an angel on it, but she's not at all girly and the male in question is going to get it with the rather edgy Santa sentiment below)
Creative Cottage - untraditional Christmas colours
Crafts and Me - snowflakes (my brads)
Stampin' B's - make a holiday card
My Partner in Crafting Crime - black, white plus one
No Time to Stamp - use black
Totally Papercrafts - untraditional Christmas
2 Sisters - untraditional Christmas colours
Crazy 4 Challenges - use scrpt paper or embossing
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - Day 2, create a Grinch-mas project. The digi I used is Angelika from Simply Betty Stamps, and the first half of the verse comes from the Grinch film, the second part I made up. There were actually a couple of alternatives for the second half, but I settled for the one that used the word Grinchful because it amused me, and frankly, the one that makes me laugh the most is probably not suitable for public viewing. So, be warned, don't read the next bit if you're easily offended. Option 2 - "Blast this Christmas music; it's so joyful and triumphant. Does wishing it was over really make me so aberrant?" Option 3 - "Blast this Christmas music; it's so joyful and triumphant. I hate the festive season, and Santa's a complete . . ."



And this is my piece for the brand new Macabre Monday challenge at Haunted Design House. I'm sponsoring this week's challenge, so the winners will get some goodies from my store, and this week all we'd like to see is you using at least two different patterned papers. And I know the challenges here are designed towards the creepy and macabre, but I actually find this one strangely comforting, lol, if it's already too late, then there's no point stressing. I'm going to have to display this one somewhere prominent ;) I've used papers from the Gothic Bruise set at Crafty Chaos Designs, and the digi is from Smeared Ink



These are the challenges for this one:
Create 4 Fun - sketch
Karber's Weekly Challenge - use two or more DPs and a digi
Craft Your Passion - monochrome
Allsorts - monochrome
And the following all have Anything Goes challenges this week, thanks so much ladies for allowing me free rein and to get away from Christmas cards ;)
Paper Cutz, Hodge Podge Shop, Inktegrity Hump Day, Fab n Funky, For Fun Challenges, Totally Stampalicious A Spoon Full of Sugar,

Saturday 27 November 2010

Dear Santa . . .



Here's one I did today, a very simple Christmas card for those people who have a more irreverant attitude towards Christmas ;)
The image is by Simply Betty and the bps are just plain cardstock but I embossed the white one. This is for the following challenges:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - make a Christmas card using a Simply Betty Halloween stamp
Mojo Monday - sketch 166
Sketchy Colours - red and white
Stampin' B's - make a holiday card
Alphabet Challenge - E is for embossing
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - anything goes
Fairy Tale Challenge - white
Fashionista Friday at If The Shoe Fits - white with a splash of colour
Delicious Doodles - celebration

Thursday 25 November 2010

The worst pies in London!


Here's what I've done today; the papers are from the new Simply Steampunk set by Crafty Chaos Designs, the image is by Simply Betty Stamps and the embellishments are all by DezinaWorld. This is my interpretation of Mrs Lovett from Sweeney Todd (I know the razor is the wrong kind, but it matched the papers so well that I threw historical accuracy out of the window :P)Why is she wearing goggles? To keep the blood spatter out of her eyes of course!
Just a few challenges for this one, I wanted to play with Steampunk ;)
Getting Crafty with Ann - the colours of Fall
Inspiration Avenue - ingenuity. Bit of a stretch for this one, but because the whole steampunk ethos is about the ingenuity of the time, and because using your murder victims to improve your pies is pretty ingenious, if not exactly moral ;)
My Time to Craft - tags
The Burtonesque Dolls - sketch (this is my second entry, just ignore it if that's not allowed)
365 Cards - Day 269, vintage distressing

Christmas kisses


Time for another challenge over at Stamp Insanity, and the DT are showcasing the new Elfin Morgan release, isn't she a cutie? We'd like you to either try something new or use something new, it's really that easy. AND, Beth has a sale going on at the store, you can get 30% off everything just by adding the code CyberBlack2010 at checkout. So go grab a few new stamps at a bargain price and then use one of them to enter the challenge - simples! :D The papers used are from the Berry Snow set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
Here are the challenges I'm entering:
One Stitch At A Time - season or event
Pile It On - winter means. . . .Christmas
Scrappy Frogs - Christmas
Create 4 Fun - sketch
Karber Challenge - use 2 or more DP + a digi
Lollipop Crafts - Christmas
Whoopsi Daisy - holidays
A Spoon Full of Sugar - anything goes
Crafty Creations - Christmas
Creative Cottage - non-traditional Christmas colours
Timeless Flourishes - Christmas card
Fresh Brewed Designs - winter or Christmas
Crafts and Me - snowflakes (all over the backing papers)
Charisma Cards - one for the girls
Dutch Dare - sketch
Crafty Sentiments - Christmas
Stampin' B's - holiday card
Fussy and Fancy - Christmas with no red or green (just for fun, I'm on the Stamp Insanity DT)
Christmas Stampin' All Year - anything goes
Totally Gorjuss - non-traditional Christmaas colours
2 Sisters Challenges - snowflakes
Creative Inspirations - Christmas/Winter

Wednesday 24 November 2010

You're not Absolem!



Here's a 4x4 I did today, using a still from Alice in Wonderland and papers I made myself. These are the challenges I made it for:
Everybody Art - use shapes. I have square, circle, oval, rectangle, triangle and hexagon (the bottle in the corner)
Pear Tree Designs - colourful
Cupcake Crafts - fairy tales or pantomime. I'm not entirely sure whether Alice in Wonderland counts, but obviously that's what inspired me.
A Spoon Full of Sugar - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - layer upon layer. Lots and lots of layers for this one, and my tip here is that if you can't find a stamp that perfectly fits what you want, don't forget you can search online for an image that people will allow you to use. As long as you don't sell anything you've made with it, and don't claim the original image as your own, you're usually good to go. DeviantArt is my favourite place to find images, and the Terms of Use are always listed there, but occasionally even that doesn't have exactly what I want, so I got this one using Google.
Inktegrity Designs - anything goes
Stampavie and More - hearts (the orange backing paper has repeated hearts, although most of them have been covered up)
Make It Crafty - anything but a card. I knew from the beginning that this wasn't going to be a typical card piece with a sentiment suitable for sending, so a 4x4 seemed an ideal choice
Fab n Funky - Go with the flow! (anything goes)
For Fun Challenges - anything goes
The Burtonesque Dolls - sketch
4x4 Friday - fantasy
Pattie's Creations - anything but a card
Oh Alice! - use a butterfly or caterpillar
Drunken Stampers - no stamps

Monday 22 November 2010

Hurrah hurrah hurrah!



WOOHOO, Dylan is back from the vets and he's ok! :D I didn't mention this earlier, but Dylan (the kitty in my avatar) has been at the vet today having some teeth taken out. Relatively low-risk operation, but Dylan's about 15/16 and I was panicking a little that he wouldn't come out of the anaesthetic, but he's home now and fine, although disgusted at me for taking him there in the first place :D :D :D
So I'm feeling all relieved and happy now, so on with the craft stuff. It's time for a new sketch over at Fairymoon Crafts, and I'm sponsoring this week, so if you join in you have the chance of winning some goodies from my shop. Any three items of your own choice, I'd love to see your entries.



The image I used for my card is one of the cuties from Some Odd Girl, and the papers are from the Berry Snow set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the other challenges I'm entering:
Whoopsi Daisy - Holiday
Lollipop Crafts Challenges - Christmas
Pear Tree Designs - colourful
Anything Goes - let it snow (all the patterned paper is snowflaked)
Riley and Co - outdoors. I'm hoping that her warm outdoor clothing and the chilly look on her face will count ;)
Timeless Flourishes - Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - buttons. And my tip for this one is to remember that you can recolour your embellishments. The star buttons and the ribbon on this one have both been recoloured by me to match the pink tones of the rest of the card.
Tuesday Throwdown - buttons and bows
City Crafter - feature children
Pixie Cottage - ribbons and bows
Stampavie and more - monochrome
ABC Christmas - X for Xmas + optional flowers
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Christmas
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Christmas
Fairy Fun Fridays - buttons and bows
Fussy and Fancy - Christmas without red or green (just entering for fun, I'm on the StampInsanity DT)

One, two, Freddy's coming for you . . .


It's time for another Macabre Monday Challenge over at the Haunted Design House blog, and this week Barb has challenged us all to create something inspired by the Nightmare on Elm St films. Can you believe I've never seen any of them? I was a teenager in the 80's and horror films used to scare me silly, so I barely watched any and although I watch lots now, I've never quite got around to catching up on the Nightmare ones, or the Friday 13th ones for that matter. But obviously they've become such a cultural icon that I know enough to create a little something ;)
These are the other challenges I followed whilst creating:
What If Wednesday - sketch N1710
A Spoon Full of Sugar - distressing
Theme Thursday - faces
Corrosive Challenge - the 80's
Crafty sentiments - red and black
Something Completely Different - numbers
Frosted Designs - distressing

Sunday 21 November 2010

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I'm going to regret singing that soon, I think; we have about a 95% chance of snow next week! :o
A few weeks ago I won the challenge at Quirky Crafts and was thrilled when they asked me to GDT on a couple of challenges :D This is my first make for them, and this week the challenge is to use black, white, and just one other colour, PLUS use punches, the more the merrier.



These are the challenges I'm entering it into:
Stamps R Us - sparkles and scallops
The Burtonesque Dolls - Edward Scissorhands. I may have to explain this a little, since it's not immediately obvious how the card relates to the film. I used the colour scheme from the posters, the phrase "Let It Snow" always reminds me of Edward, because if it snows, it means he's still creating ice scuptures up on the hill, and all the punched shapes and edges conjure up thoughts of him creating art with his bladed hands.
Cards and More - a round thing
Diva Coffee Break Designs - followed the sketch
Stampin' Royalty - make a feature of your patterned paper
Simon Says Stamp - sparkle
Paperplay - let it snow
Stampin' B's - snowflakes
Delightful Challenges - winter weather
Rainbow Lady - fancy edges
Totally Papercrafts - snow or snowflakes
Daring Cardmakers - We three . . .snowflakes, in this case
Fussy and Fancy - Christmas without red or green (just entering for fun; I'm on the StampInsanity DT)
Stampin' for the Weekend - winter
Easy Craft Projects - snow
Drunken Stampers - no stamps
Crazy 4 Challenges - circles
SSDS - no flowers
Totally Gorjuss - non-traditional Christmas colours
2 Sisters - snowflakes
One Stitch At A Time - pick an occasion or event
Scrappy Frogs - Merry Christmas
Thanks for looking!

Friday 19 November 2010

Thank you!

We have anpther challenge for you today over Tellen's Place, and this week it's all about giving Thanks, in whatever way works for you. This will be the last challenge of the year from us, as all the Divas are taking a break, but we'll be back in January, feeling fully refreshed and raring to go. And Terry has lined up a whopper for our last challenge of the year, not only could you win a $20 gift card from Scrapbooking.com, there are also TWO fabulous free images to go with the challenge today!
Here's my interpretation of the theme, using the glorious Sheskuller image, which you can find, along with many others, in Terry's Etsy store, and the patterned papers are from the Glowing Embers set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
The front:


The back:


These are the other challenges I made it for:
Sketchy Colors - sketch
Getting Crafty with Ann - #112 Thanks
Crafty Hos - Fall colours
Crazy Challenges - Thanks
Papertake Weekly - Autumn colours
Creative Card Crew - Thanks
Tuesday Throwdon - buttons and bows
Top Tip Tuesay - buttons
For Fun Challenges - thanks
Sisterhood of Crafters - thankful
Aud sentiment - thanks
So artful - thankful

Thursday 18 November 2010

Sparkly Christmas card


Wey hey, it's Thursday again, and that means it's time for another challenge at the StampInsanity blog. We're taking next Thursday off, as many of the team are US and they'll be celebrating Thanksgiving, and the rest of us will have a little holiday ;) AND, there's a new release this week, the glorious Holiday Princesses set, plus Beth has decided that there will be THREE winners chosen from everyone who enters this challenge, and all three will win the complete Holiday Princesses set! So, what do you have to do to be in with a chance of winning? Just follow the fab sketch which you can find at the blog. Yup, that's it! What are you waiting for?
My piece uses one of the wonderful images and one of the sentiments in the set, and I've gone for a very traditional-looking Christmas card this time.
These are the other challenges for this one:
The Crafty Pad - Christmas sparkle
I Did It Creations - traditional Christmas colours
Scrappy Frogs - Merry Christmas
Lexi's Creations - traditional Christmas colours
Pollycraft - glittery Christmas
Stamps R Us - sparkles and scallops
Timeless Flourishes - Christmas cards
Timeless Flourishes - glitter
Simon Says Stamp - sparkle
ABC Christmas Challenge - X is for Xmas, plus optional flowers
Crafts and Me - glitter
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Christmas
The Stamp Man - Christmas
Stamp It Crazy - free for all with glitter
The Secret Crafter - sparkle and shine
Crazy 4 Challenges - Christmas
Totally Gorjuss - traditional Christmas colours
Bee Crafty - Christmas
Elliephantastic - Christmas
Creative Inspirations - Christmas or winter
2 Sisters Challenge - Christmas
Meljen's Designs - sparkle and shine
Treehouse Thursday Challenge - glitter

Monday 15 November 2010

Ravens, ravens everywhere!


It's time for another Macabre Monday challenge over at the Haunted Design House, and this week Barb has challenged us all to use a raven as our main focal image. I decided to make a 4x4 and used a raven brush by flordelys, available at DeviantArt HERE

The patterned bp are from the Bittersweet aset at Crafty Chaos Designs The bg text is a quote from King Solomon's mines, and it says:
Out of the dark we came, into the dark we go. Like a storm-driven bird at night we fly out of the Nowhere; for a moment our wings are seen in the light of the fire, and, lo! we are gone again into the Nowhere.

Here are the challenges I'm entering it into:
The Three Muses - blackbirds
Pixie Cottage - sketch and/or only two colours. I haven't followed the sketch on this one, but I have limited myself to only using purple and black
One Stitch At A Time - favourite colour. Mine is purple, in case you were in any doubt :P
Sweet Stop Sketches - followed sketch 82
Totally Papercrafts - black and purple
Something Completely Different - wings
Drunken Stampers - stitching

Saturday 13 November 2010

Dragon birthday


This is what I made today, what do you think? I'm not altogether sure; I like all the individual pieces, I just can't quite bring myself to feel that it's finished. But I've been playing and altering and fussing for a while now, and frankly I'm a little sick of looking at it :P Maybe when I come back to it tomorrow I'll decide I do like it after all :P The fabulous dragon digi is by Mosh_X, and you can get it for free at DeviantArt HERE
These are the challenges I made it for:
Tuesday Taggers - purple, silver, gold and stamping
Cupcake Craft Challenges - followed the sketch
Crazy Challenge - things with wings
Critter Challenges - dragons
Karber Challenges - animal using a digi
Lollipop Crafts - birthday
Cards for Men - animals
Sisterhood of Crafters - birthday
Something Completely Different - wings
Pattie's Creations - birthday
The Secret Crafter - sparkle and shine
Thanks for looking :)

Friday 12 November 2010

Gruffy Little Gnome!


I won a challenge at Meljen's Designs blog recently and part of my prize was this little guy, isn't he fab? This will be going on top of the box of fudge that I always make my father-in-law at Christmas. It's a bit too early to make it as yet; even if it would last that long because of the ingredients, we'd simply eat it before the big day :P I make him fudge, and my mother-in-law truffles, and both accuse the other of nicking "their" sweets, so she'll get a more girly one with a similar sentiment.
These are the challenges I made it for:
365 Cards - Day 257 warm and cozy
Inspiration Avenue - community and food. I don't really interact with people much outside my family, so they're my community :)
Pear Tree Designs - followed the sketch
Color Dare - soft suede, night of navy and pear pizzazz
Cooking It Up with Katie - feature food or drink, use a tag and add a sentiment
Meljen's Designs - food
Pixie Dust Studios - all about the men or boys in our lives
Stamp Something - use a digi
Challenge Up Your Life - blue and green

Use a black background


There's another new challenge up at the Tellen's Place Designs blog, and this week we'd like you to create something using a black background. That's right, no other restrictions at all. And since my last couple of cards have been relatively attitude-free, I thought I'd go all out with this one :P The fabulous image is called Creepish and you can find it, along with many others, in the Tellen's Place Etsy shop. And although I LOVE the darker images, Tellen's Place do have some more traditional digis as well, with sassy divas and cute holiday characters, so go have a look. You can win three images of your choice in this challenge, so what are you waiting for?
These are the other challenges I made it for:
Sketchy Colors - green and silver
Sketch Saturday - followed the sketch
Digital Tuesday - use something that you purchased but never used before. The sparkly black bg was created using a spiderweb stamp that I got in a set but have never really liked. The web is almost invisible, but it does show droplets of dew or ice hanging off it. And I realised I could make it into a non-webby bg by hiding the shape of the design and stamping it more than once.
Top Tip Tuesday - use an image you've coloured in. And my tip for this one is: Do what makes you happy! For whatever reason, cards like this make me ridiculously cheerful, even if they're not considered the norm ;)
Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
Crafty Purple Frog - sparkle
Stamping Vacation - build a sketch (I snipped the bit that was White 5 1/4 x 2 1/4, to create the bg with the mesh and the sentiment) ETA - darn it, I forgot about the scalloped strip, sorry ladies!

Thursday 11 November 2010

Scrap It!


It's Thursday and of course that means another new challenge over at the StampInsanity blog, and this week Beth has challenged us all to use up some scraps. All those leftover bits that you keep "just in case". Now, I haddn't thought of this before, but using almost excusively digi papers means that I no longer have a scrap pile. If I need less than a full sheet of a particular paper, then that's all I use, but magically, I still have a complete sheet of the paper left over afterwards. So, I decided to make a card using small, slightly wonky, rectangles of two different papers. Not really scraps since I created them for this project, but very representative of scraps generally. The image and sentiment are both by Stamp Insanity, lol, you gotta love a good pun, right? :P And the scraps of paper were created with the Blue Christmas set by Crafty Chaos Designs.
Here are the other challenges I made it for:
Corrosive Challenges - black and blue
Order of the opus Gluei - Thanks
Craft Your Passion - double up (on this one I've used two different patterned papers)
Creative Card Crew - Thanks
My Time to Craft - Rhapsody of roses. Does one rose count as a rhapsody? If it was delivered by a dashing young man in a swirling cape then possibly :P
City Crafter - thank you
Top Tip Tuesday - use an image or sentiment that you've coloured in. My tip here is, when you'e colouring digitally, open up the papers that you're going to use as well as the image you're colouring, and then you can take colours from the papers and make your image match exactly.
Freshly Brewed Designs - 2 or more patterned papers
Fashionista Friday - blue
Fairytale Challenges - anything goes
Our Creative Corner - attitude of gratitude
Sweet Stop Sketches - sketch 81
Thanks for looking! :)

Wednesday 10 November 2010

For Remembrance Day


Another card with no snippy sentiment from me, but sometimes the subject matter is too serious for humour. It's remembrance Day tomorrow, and we'll be observing a two-minute silence at 11am.
These are the challenges I made it for:
365 Cards - Super Sketchy Sunday
Stampin' Royalty - Lest we forget
Curtain Call Color Challenge - red, black, white, orange, dark brown
Oooh La La Creations - remember remember
Craft Your Passion - double up (two ribbons on this one)
Inktegrity Hump Day Inspiration - ribbons and flowers
Dutch Dare Card Challenge - clean and simple
Some Odd Girl - use a digi to create a background. I took the poppy from the main image, muted the colours just a little and then repeated it over the bg
Our Creative Corner - attitude of gratitude (doesn't need to be a Thank You card, per se, but it should depict something for which you are grateful)
Thanks for looking! :D

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Merry Christmas, no foolin' :P


Because sometimes you do need some more traditional cards;) I won the Think Ink Challenge at Artful Inkables a few weeks ago and that means I got to choose today's challenge! :D
I'd like you to make a card that focuses on the sentiment and uses fancy corners of some description, you can see all the details and enter at Artful Inkables.
My card uses papers from the Holiday Wishes set and the sentiment from the Unbound Christmas set, both from Crafty Chaos Designs. I'll also be giving the winner of the challenge the papers and the sentiment set.
These are the other challenges I made it for:
Paper Sundaes - Let it snow
Lexi's Creations - anything goes
Charisma Cardz - with love at Christmas
Pattie's Creations - Christmas
Crafty Ann's Challenge - Christmas in non-traditional colours
Dutch Dare - clean and simple
Theme Thursday - favourite colour combo. I just love purple and green :)
Inktegrity - followed the sketch, but I moved the main panel to the middle
One Stitch At A Time - winter wonderland

Monday 8 November 2010

Two DT cards for today!


Firstly is the Macabre Monday Challenge over at Haunted Design House, and this week Barb has made a Butchered Blueprint (sketch) for you. We're sponsored by Limited Runs, who have some wonderfully offbeat and creepy digis available, and all the DT got to work with them. My piece uses Mushroom 1 and Grimm Dolls 1 and 2, peeking out from nehind. You know the sond The Teddy Bear's Picnic? Well, many years ago, one little boy crept into the woods disguised as a log. He thought this was a very clever idea, because it meant he could lie on the ground and not get tired while waiting to see the cute bears at their picnic. He went out and laid down and settled himself in to wait. But it was a warm day, and he was comfortable, and the birds and the insects provided such a calming background noise, that he soon fell asleep. When he woke, many hours later, it was already dark, and there was no more sound of birds. But there was a faint squelchy sound coming from behind a nearby clump of mushrooms. The little boy saw faces peering out! He was so scared he didn't stay and investigate but ran straight home, and spent the rest of the night shivering in his bed, hoping the horrible squelching trolls wouldn't be able to find him. Now the young boy is an old man, and he keeps this picture in his house, to warn everyone to stay away from the woods after dark!
These are the challenges I made it for:
Art on the Dark Side - bats
Treehouse Thursday Challenge - old olive, ivory plus optional other colour. Now, for some reason I had this in my head as old olive and vanilla, so my "ivory" shade is much creamier than would normally be the case.
Rainbow Lady - make a picture. The mushrooms, bats and dolls are all seperate images put together by yours truly.
Darkness Inspiration - trolls
DezinaWorld Spot Prize - song, dance, music. (Teddy Bear's Picnic) And don't forget that there's a great challenge going on at DezinaWorld at the minute, where EVERYONE wins!
Crafty Creations - fables and fairy tales. Is Teddy Bear's picnic a fable or fairy tale? Well, sort of, hopefully it's close enough to count :P
Stamptacular Sunday - CASE one of the DT. I chose to be inspired by Karita's lovely Christmas card, and used a similar colour scheme and layout with the image on one side and a long unframed text on the other.
Aly's Sunday Challenge - music (Teddy Bear's Picnic)
There She Goes - create a scene
Craft Your Passion - double up (I went for two corner cobwebs)


AND, I also won the sketch challenge at Fairy Moon Crafts recently and was offered the chance to be a Guest Designer there for a month! Such a lovely group of ladies and fab sketches to work with; how could I say no? Although I almost wish I had, since there's a glorious prize on offer this week and now I can't win it :P Hop on over and get entering for your chance to win :D This is my piece using the current sketch, the image here is by Tickled Pink.



And here are the challenges that I had in mind for this one:
For Fun challenges - metal (I went for a charm)
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Crazy 4 Challenges - square cards
Meljen's Designs - use three different shapes (oval, rectangle and square)
Some Odd Girl - use a digi to create a background. I snipped the skul from her hair and repeated it over the pink bp.
Lil Lolita Boutique - black white and one other colour
Lexi's Creations - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - double up (I know I've entered both cards, just pick whichever. On this one I've gone for a double sentiment
City Crafter Challenge - use a digi

Saturday 6 November 2010

Vintage bombshell



Hello again, this piece uses one of the images from the new Beauty in Black and White sheet from DezinaWorld. And there's a very special challenge offer on at DezinaWorld at the moment, literally EVERYONE wins, so what are you waiting for? Click HERE for the details of this fab offer :)
Here are the challenges I was working towards:
Skrappkammert Chamber Maids Challenge - sketch
Creative Inspirations - glitter glamour girlie
Easy Craft Projects - red
Creative Friday - pin-ups
DezinaWorld - song music dance (the sentiment is the title of a song by Billie Holiday)
Lil Red Wagon - red
Cooking It Up with Katie - use swirls (my pearls, the text and the image frame), use black (bg) and texture (stitches, pearls, glitter and the text is also 3D)
Crazy Challenges - pearls and swirls
Frosted Designs - use a photo that's more than half the total size of your project
Crafty Cardmakers - stitching
Thanks for looking :D

Friday 5 November 2010

Bah Humbug!


Ok, I'm feeling relatively festive, but this digi so isn't :P And, after all, it's her card not mine, so she got to choose the sentiment ;)
The digi is Angelica by Simply Betty and the papers are part of a new set called Blue Christmas by Crafty Chaos Designs, which I'll put in the shop as soon as I've done the preview. Here are the challenges I made it for:
One Stitch At A Time - Christmas
Think Ink - blue silver and white
The Burtonesque Dolls - anything goes. This isn't based on a specific Burton film, but can't you see that digi as a TB character? Lol, she's the doll that you sit on top of your Christmas tree, but she doesn't want to be any more; she wants to fly and not have to remove pine needles from sensitive areas any more :P
City Crafter Challenges - use a digi
Critter Sketch Challenges - Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas, and my second tip for this week is, if you can't find the perfect sentiment, remember you can always create your own via your pc. Because sometime "Merry Christmas" just won't do ;)
Flutterby Wednesday - include a butterfly, angel or fairy
Really reasonable Ribbon - winter in blue silver white
DezinaWorld - song dance or music. I've had Rocking Around the Christmas Tree going through my head ever since I first started to think about this card, can someone PLEASE turn it off now? :P
Charisma Cardz - with love at Christmas. A card like this HAS to go to someone you love or it could be takenn the wrong way :)
Meljen's Design Challenges - use three different shapes. I've gone for rectangle, circle and oval
Raise the Bar - Let's see those curves. I have scallops, a circle, an oval, some swirly paper, and some ricrac in the ribbon flower
Fasionista Friday - blue
Crafty Ann's Challenge - Christmas in non-traditional colours. Hmmm, I'm hoping that traditional means red and green, and blue hasn't become such a popular alternative that it's now regarded as traditional as well
Simply Betty Challenges - followed the sketch
Bee Crafty Challenges - Christmas
Speedy The Cat's Friends' Challenges - holiday card
Elliephantastic Challenges - blue
Pattie's Creations Design Challenges - Christmas

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Non-traditional Christmas colours



I thought I'd better make the most of feeling relatively festive and get some more Crimbo cards made up. This one uses a Tiddly Inks image.
Challenges I'm entering:
Tiddly Inks - olive, purple and mustard. I love the idea of this combo, but I was having trouble deciding what to do with it, and then I decided to see if I could make it look festive.
City Crafter Challenges - use a digi
One Stitch At A Time - Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas + share a tip. My tip is not to limit yourself to specifically Christmas stash when doing your cards this year, and hopefuly that way you won't be bored stiff by the time you've finished all your Christmas projects. My card above doesn't use any Christmas paper or embellishments at all, and I love it :D
Riley and Co. - followed the sketch
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge - holiday card
Critter Challenges - Christmas
For Fun Challenges - use metal, hope my tiny brads count

Vintage white Christmas


Ok, this one was a real challenge for me. Vintage children tend to creep me out, not in a good way, and I don't like using white. So, when I found out June at DezinaWorld was bringing out a Christmas Children collage sheet, I decided to combine it with the All White challenge over at Craft Your Days Away, because after all, they're meant to be challenging, right? Lol, and this little cutie isn't creepy, and the images is white. Add in a few more challenges for good measure, and this is the end result.
Here are the challenges:
Friday Sketchers - sketch 126
Craft Your Days Away - all white. Leave lots of white background
Die Cut Dreams - no colouring plus feature a heart
Kaboodle Doodles - vintage
Totally Stampalicious - use a red bow
Bah Humbug Christmas Challenge - presents

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Autumnal birthday


Well I'm back again, this time with a quick birthday card in autumnal shades. Image is by Tickled Pink, papers and sentiment are by Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I was working towards:
Lil Lolita Boutique - birthdays
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch No. 73
Crafty Creations - Halloween or Autumn/Fall
Polkadoodles - Autumn
Easy Craft Projects Challenge - Autumn or Fall
Catch the Bug - Fall/Autumn colours or theme
Inktegrity Hump Day Challenge - anything goes

Looking forward to Christmas yet?


Hmmm, I'm not sure myself, but I am finally enjoying playing in a Bah, Humbug sort of way :P This image is Santa Called by Bugaboo Stamps, and the text on the tag reads "Santa just called . . . you ain't getting *#@%!" The sentiment comes with the stamp as well. :D
Here are the challenges I was playing with:
One Stitch At A Time - Christmas
Stamptacular Sunday - hide and seek
Critter Challenge - Christmas
Paper Playtime - use a clock ticket or tag
Stampavie and more - Christmas
Quirky Crafts - followed the recipe Red and gold, one image, one paper, one ribbon, different types of gold)
Eat Sleep Stamp - sketch 106

Monday 1 November 2010

Just one final Halloween project



This one uses three of the fabby digis by Simply Betty, and the paper is by Crafty Chaos Designs. The rhyme says "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning or in rain? Not until next Halloween, When Betty does her challenge thing!"
These are the challenges I had in mind when creating:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - This is the last one in this series of challenges, and I want to say THANK YOU to Betty and her DT for putting in all the work in providing us with a boatload of fun challenges and gorgeous inspiration all this month :D
Stampin' Royalty - I also followed the gorgeous sketch over at Stampin' Royalty, thanks so much to the ladies there for prividing such a perfect layout for my project :)
And of course, there have been other challenges involved, because I couldn't stick with just two :P
Anything Goes Challenge - Halloween
Lots To Do - Halloween
Art on the Darkside - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - no copics. I feel like a bit of a cheat with this one since I don't actually own any copics :P everything here was coloured by me in PSP
Lexi's Creations - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs - anything goes

Have a rockin' birthday!



Here's a male birthday card, image is by Kenny K and paper is by Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the challenges I made it for:
Sketchy Colours - followed the sketch
Sentimental Sundays - birthdays
Paper Sundaes - create a card for a boy or man
Kenny K Krafty Girlz - anything goes
Three Muses - hats
Cards for Men - anything male
Crafty Sentiments - male something
Something Completely Different - claret and blue
Gingerloft Creations - buttons
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle - buttons

Yesterday, upon the stair


It's Monday again, and since I'm sure you're all half-crazed now that Halloween is over, we thought we'd give you a nice easy challenge at HDH this week, so we're having a Macabre Monday Fabulous Freaker's Free-For-All! Anything you like, as long as it's suitably dark of course :D
This rhyme REALLY scared me when I was young. How do you run away from someone who isn't there? So I thought this wonderful digi would exorcise those particular demons and make sure he stayed away. The ending was changed to suit :P She's called Dorothy and she's from The Octopode Factory, isn't she fantabulous? And I added in all her defences - the voodoo doll is by Kah-Wink-E-Dink, and the hatchet and the noose were both from free clip art sites.
These are the other challenges I made her for:
Fab n Funky - clean and simple. No patterned paper, no fancy bits anywhere, just an image a frame, some solid blocks of colour and text
Truly Scrumptious - sketch + optional petals pearls and/or pins. Well I followed the sketch and got the pearls in the frame and the pins in the doll but I couldn't get any petals in there as well without losing the clean and simple requirements for the above challenge
Rainbow Lady - spooky and scary
Design Dollies - purple black and white
Totally Gorjuss - spooky
2 Sisters Challenge - no designer paper
Irish Teddy - use a frame