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,

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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