One notebook, one keyring, two challenges

The current challenge over at the Paperplay blog is to let a movie or book inspire you. I thought about it for a while, because I wanted it to be a book or film that meant something to me. Illusions, by Richard Bach, really gave me comfort when I was going through a very low period in my life, so I found a picture of the cover and stared at it for a while. Lol, and then eventually I made this, which I think sums up the way the book made me feel.
Here's the book



And here's the notebook I did. I just couldn't get a photo where all the black bits looked black, but the background is velvet paper and the image and text are glossy photo paper. In real life, both look very deep black, not that navy shade :P



And I think I'm also going to enter the book into the challenge over at the Digital Ink Co. blog, which is to make a last-minute gift. The silhouette stamp is by Stitchy, and if you click on her name you'll get to her blog, where you can see her other lovely stamps. But, this may not be eligible because I designed it digitally, and I heard a whisper that that might not be allowed. If it isn't, just ignore this, but I colour everything digitally now, because I find it so much easier being able to zoom in, and to have limitless colour possibilities, rather than being confined to whatever pens/paints I have. And, I actually made this keyring the day before the challenge went live, but it fits perfectly, so I'm going to sneak it in. But, lol, again, I coloured it digitally. This stamp is called All Dressed Up and is by M&M Designs, again available at DICo.



Lolol, and I'm also hopelessly un-used to uploading pictures to anywhere but PictureBay, so I have my fingers crossed that this will all look allright. ;)

PictureBay has disappeared!

I don't know what's going on, but I'm about to add my images to the posts again, bear with me :D

Crossword Puzzle

Jules is having a crossword challenge over at her blog, and the top prize is $20 worth of digital stamps! Grab a cuppa and go have a browse through her blog to find the answers to the puzzle. Good luck to all!

Betty's Tilly Claus

One of my forum buddies, Betty, doesn't have a blog, but when she showed me these cards I knew Wendy would like to see them, so I offered to post them on here. Isn't it a beautiful card? Gorgeous, gorgeous work Betty :D

Red and Green card

The current challenge over at the Dare You to Digi Stamp blog is ro use red, green and one neutral colour. This is my take on it, the frame was a freebie from the Daisie Company, and the image was a freebie from Inger Harding

Thanks so much for looking! :D

Snow card 2

My second snowman card was made with two different challenges in mind.
Digi Kitty is hosting a blog challenge, in which you need to use one of her digi dtamps on any Christmas project.
And the challenge over at the Incy Wincy blog this week is snowflakes.
So, I used DK's Snow Couple, decoupaged the hats, gave Mrs Snow some brad earrings and a scarf, and gave Mr Snow a thicker pipe and an extra snowflake on his hat, and put them both on snowflake background. Oh and I stencilled the text with some fake snow.
Again, thanks for looking :D

Snow Card

This card was made with two challenges in mind.
The Digital Ink Co. challenge was to use one of their images and either a line from a Christmas song, or a theme of a Christmas song.
And the Lots To Do challenge this week is Snow.
So, I decided to use the Skating Snowman digi stamp from Lil Diva stamps, available from the DICo store, put him over a Winter Wonderland backing and then used Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas for the sentiment.
Thanks for stopping by :)

Creative Inspirations Challenge 22

Hello everyone, I've been without the pc all weekend, so I'm way behind. I thought I'd actually be too late for this challenge, as I finished the card on Friday but haven't been able to upload, but, yay, I just double-checked and I'm still in time :)
The current challenge over at the Creative Inspirations challenge blog is a sketch, and here's my take on it. I tried to use a circle for the image, but I have to handcut them, and I kept making them wonky, so in the end I gave up and went back to straight line cutting :)
The image is from Pollycraft and the papers are my own. I was following another challenge with the colour scheme, from the Lots to Do challenge blog, that one ended on Saturday, but I really enjoyed it, you had to pick your favourite from a list of chocolate bars and then make something in that colour scheme.
Anyway, enough waffling or I'll miss another deadline, thanks for visiting me here :)

Magical Crafts Fortnightly Challenge 3

Wow, I'm so on top of challenges at the minute, lolol, do NOT expect it to last :P
There's a lovely sketch over at the Magical Crafts blog, and this is my take on it.
The image is from Pollycraft, I coloured it in PSP and made the papers and sentiment to match. The black-looking bits in the top corner are actaully dark green-y gems.



Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Paperplay Challenge Week 43

This week is a sketch over at the Paperplay Challenge blog, by Sandie. I had fun with this one, the thin strips aren't something I would normally have used, but I'm really quite pleased with the way the card has turned out, so thanks Sandie, for challenging me to try something new :)
The image is a freebie from Birdscards, and she has lots of other freebies available, as well as some video tutorials, so pop along and have a look. I coloured the poinsettia in Paintshop, decoupaged it and used some teeny gold gems in the centre. :)
The green paper and the vellum and the sentiment are all from Mad About Cards pound range, and the gold paper, red paper and gems are all USOs (Unbranded Stash Objects :P)
Overall, the colours are rather deeper than in the photo, but after taking LOTS of shots, it came down to a choice of the green and red colours looking true-to-life, and the gold looking dreadful, or the gold looking ok and the red and green looking a bit less deep. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Magical Crafts Challenge 2

This will be a very quick post because I'm *just* in time for the current challenge over at the Magical Crafts blog. It's a recipe challenge this week:

A Santa or Snowman Image (both if you like)
Something Sparkly
Ribbon
Christmas Flower (includes Holly and Ivy)

The snowman image is a freebie from Inger Harding, the ribbon sparkles, and I've stardusted the stars on his scarf, but you can only see that if I take the photo at an odd angle, and there's a flower on top of the ribbon. Phew, talk about last minute (the flower gem is hiding the fact that the glue underneath it isn't dry yet :P

Incy Wincy Challenge

I was determined to enter the Incy Wincy challenge this week, as last week I keot dithering and dithering until I was too ltae. And last week the theme was Purple, which I love, so it should have been a really easy challenge for me. So, I'd decided that I would definitely make a point of entering this week's challenge, and if at all possible, I would also make it purple.
And the theme this week is ANYTHING GOES, so it should have been REALLY eas for me. Lolol, but there is an optional sketch.

Ok, I thought, I can use the sketch and make a purple card. Easy peasy! And then I discovered that I didn't have any landscape Xmas digis, all of mine are portrait ones. Ooooh, but yay, Hope Jacare gave away a free reindeer digi, and it was a landscape one! Click on the name to go to her blog post and read all about Post Pals, which is such a lovely idea.
So then all I had to worry about was how to make a reindeer go with a purple card. Wooohoooo, so, after that long and rambling story, here's my card.



Thanks so much for looking :)

Mrs Tilly Claus

Hello again :)
I've finished another card, yay, I'm gradually getting it together.
The image is a freebie from Wendy's Digital Doodling, do pop over and leave her some love, she has beautiful digis :)
The papers I designed myself, the sentiment is a die-cut that the lovely Lyn sent me which I painted silver then hand-cut some blue card to go on top, popped a peel-off on and tied a bow for the top,
The two challenges that I'm entering are:
Just Christmas and Birthday Cards. They have a sketch to follow, by Nessie, do pop along and have a look at the fab DT work.


And Digital Doodling are hosting a challenge recipe. You need to use Mrs Tilly Claus (free digi stamp), anything which sparkles, and a current sketch (see above). I've put two sparkly ribbons and some gems on the card. (The ribbons aren't sparkling as much as they should in the photo, but that bottom gem is doing its best to make up for it :P)



Thanks so much for looking, wishing you all a lovely day :)

Pollycraft Challenge 29

Yay, I've finally got back in to actually making cards, instead of just colouring the images :D
The current challenge over at the Pollycraft challenge blog is simply Christmas, which is wonderfully convenient at this time of year. My card uses the Sweet Christmas Dreams set from Pollycraft, and the image and the papers are all included, with just some brads and a peel-off from my stash :)
Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Paperplay Challenge Week 42

I finally came out of Paintshop long enough to finish a card! Lol, I was determined to get at least one posted, as I've been too late for many of the challenges I'm working on recently.
So, this card is to be entered into the current Paperplay challenge, which is to use text somewhere on your piece. I think I may have stretched the rules just a little, because I'm not sure if two words repeated over and over count as "text", but I had to type them all out, none of that copy and paste convenience ;D (I'm sure there will be a way to do background texts in PSP that's much easier than the way I do it, but I don't know how yet :P)
The image is a FREE digi stamp available from Lil Diva stamps, so pop on over there and leave some love :D I did the backing papers and sentiment in Paintshop, popped Tubby onto some 3D foam pads and placed the wreath in his hand, and stuck a few peel-offs on the sentiment corners. Easy peasy! :D

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge

The challenge this week over at Incy Wincy Designs is to make a Thank You, or Thanksgiving item. Please pop over to the blog and see what they're up to, by buying their digi stamps you'll be helping out children's charities.
And I made my first easel card, after seeing one by the lovely Cheryl, thanks so much Cheryl, I had no idea what an easel card was. You basically make it so that the finished project stands up a little like an easel, and part of the inside can be seen too, there are lots of How-To videos on YouTube.
The image is by Wendy's Digital Doodling. You can see some of my other makes with Wendy's designs in older posts, because I love them :D AND, Wendy has promised to release a FREEBIE Mrs Claus digi when she reaches 200 followers, so if you aren't already following, shoot on over there and add yourself :D Be warned, you may want to protect your keyboard before you go, as drooling all over it makes typing much less fun ;P



Thanks so much for looking!

Papertake Weekly Challenge

Hello all :)
I've been trying to re-code the forum, and nothing is working the way it should, so before I tore out all my hair, I made a card, following the Papertake Weekly Challenge.
This week the theme is Digi Sparkle. You have to use some kind of digital work and also add some sparkle.
The image is a digi stamp from Pollycraft, and the papers I designed myself, so they're also digital, and there is some sparkle on the deep pink paper. There's also a swirly green flourish all over it, but you can barely see that either. The flowers are hand cut, and the leaves were done with a punch.



Thanks for looking, I hope you all have a better day that I've been having! :P

Two (or maybe four) challenges, one card :)

Hello, here's my latest make. I really like this card in real life, but all the photos I've taken of it make all the colours look really flat, which isn't the case at all. The image is from Pollycraft, one of their digital stamps, the flowers are from Fred She Said, and I made the paper myself. I also really like this paper, and tried to design a whole set that I could give away, but so far I've disliked every other design I tried, so it may end up being a solitary paper, rather than a whole pack.
Anyhoo, it matches the following challenges:
The Magical Crafts blog is running its first fortnightly challenge, and the colour combo is red green and gold. There is a second part to this challenge as well, which is to make a Christmas ornament, but I haven't done that yet, if I come up with anything I'll post it later :)
And the Crafty Pad challenge, is the same colour theme this week, which keeps things nice and simple.
And the following two challenges don't really count because I'm running them, but this card also follows the current sketch over at Creations by JJ, and also fits into the fun weekly challenge which this week is simply to enter a challenge ;)
Thanks for looking, have a great day :)

Brave people? Cowards make stuff too!

The original title is "Brave people make brave things" and if that applies to you, then feel free to substitute. I'm NOT brave, lol, I'm a complete coward, but I'm giving it a go, so you can too :P

The bold text is copied from Hilda's blog. She makes such FAB items that I knew I wanted one, lol, but it took me a while to screw up enough courage. If you haven't already been, I highly recommend a visit to her blog :)

The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.

2. What I create will be just for you, with love.

3. It’ll be done this year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something strange.

6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you.

Incy Wincy and Magical Crafts challenges

Hello again everyone :)
The challenge this week at Incy Wincy Designs has been chosen by Liz, and she's told us all to use our favourite embellishments. I chose gems, as I've been sticking them on and in all sort recently. There's a fab prize on offer too, so pop over and post your own entry :)
And, I'm late (not surprising) but Jackie posted a recipe to follow for Christmas cards over at Magical Crafts. The recipe was:
2 papers
1 image
1 brad
and some sparkle

The image is a freebie from Wendy's Digital Doodling blog, I made the papers and the sentiment in Paintshop, the ribbon is sparkly (and it's actually an iridescent pale blue, I'm not sure why part of it looks green in the photo) and I stuck a snowflake peel-off on a plain brad to make it Christmassy :)

Wendy's Digital Doodling challenge

You know how much I love digi stamps? And you know how much I love freebies? Well, the two are perfectly combined the the current DD Challnege.
Wendy has a fab free digi stamp of her character Tilly, perched delicately on a fairy cake, and this is the 4x4 I made with it.
Tilyy and the hearts are decoupaged. I stick small flower gems in her hair. In real life, the ribbon isn't as bright and the matting layer under the sentiment isn't as dark, but you get the general idea. If you like the image, why not pop over to Wendy's blog and have a go yourself?

Casing Chris!

I went blog-hopping this afternoon for some Halloween inspiration, and I spotted some beautiful silhouetted work on Chris' blog, which I loved. If you haven't already seen her work, you should really go and have a browse.
And, in homage to Chris, or in honour of Chris, or, let's face it, just straight out copying Chris, this is what I came up with.
The text is from a poem called The Hag by Robert Herrick.

The dark side

Ok, I was meant to be staying off Paintshop today, but it didn't last. However, I didn't make any papers and I didn't use any gradients, lol, so I'm counting it as progress :P
This digital piece is for two challenges.
The first is the So Artful challenge, where you can pick up wonderful free spider's web image, which forms the basis of my piece.
And the second is Art on the Dark Side, who are celebrating the 13 days of Halloween.
The lady and the hat images are both from Dezinaworld :)

Yup, it's another set of free papers

Freshly finished in Paintshop, please feel free to click on the images and then save them to use in your own personal craft work. If you do make anything, I'd love to see it :)













Thanks for looking! :D

Lots To Do challenge - simply a card :)

The current challenge over at Lots To Do is to make a card, with no other restrictions at all. LOL it seems to have been a while since I've made anything that wasn't following some rule or theme or colour combo, I nearly forgot what to do :P
The image I used is available for free download at the very talented Inger Harding's blog, and the papers are the ones I made the other day.
But I am quite pleased with this one, although I can't get a great photo. The pearl card that I used for layering looks much darker in the photo than it does in real life, it's actually a sort of muted purple. And the rest of the card looks more colourful when it isn't being over-shadowed by the dark layers in the pic :P LOL, so here's what my card doesn't really look like :P

Pollycraft Birthday Challenge and blog hop!

The lovely ladies over at the Pollycraft blog are celebtaying their first anniversary with a blog hop and a challenge and oodles of prizes, and it's open until the 26th October, so pop along and have a look :)
It's a colour challenge, and the colours are Tangerine Turquoise and Chocolate. I went for a more muted look, and used lower opacities on all the colours, then made some dotty backing paper to match. The image is Mischief, available as a digi stamp for a limited time only from the Pollycraft shop.

More free papers

I've been playing again. I did this set in 6x6 size, but if any of you have a preference as to whether I upload free papers in A5 or 6x6 format, just let me know. And you can of course re-size them, but if everyone and his mother prefers one shape over the other, I'm happy to go with the flow. Again, just click on the image to see it full-size, and then right-click and save ;)













Thanks for looking, and if you make anything with these, I'd love to see it :)