Toasting with Tiddly Inks

I've just finished this card, so I thought I'd get it posted now. The image is by Tiddly Inks, and these are the challenges I made it for:
Tiddly Inks - New Year's Eve card event
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - followed sketch #82
Creative Inspirations - black silver and gold
Sweet Stampin' - celebrate
Catch the Bug with Bugaboo - New Year
Pixie Dust Studio - Happy New Year using silver and/or gold
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - pearls (in the centre of each flower)

Sparkling with StampInsanity!

The StampInsanity challenges are back, and this week we'd like to see you create something sparkly. I've used Lilith from the Devil Dolls collection, I just love this little sweetie :D And since you can't really tell how much sparkle there is in the main pic, here's a close-up of some of the sparkly bits, because trust me, there's glitter all over the place on this one ( the dots, the ribbon, the flowers, the doodle, the frame, the corners) You still can't really see it on the polka dots, but I promise every dot is glittered :P

Here are the other challenges I followed when creating:
Sketchy Colour - followed the sketch and used blue, white and silver
Irish Teddy - blue white, not Christmas
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Corrosive Challenges - bling
Top Tip Tuesday - embellishing
Aly's Sunday Challenge - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Crafts and Me - anything goes
Hodge Podge Shop - blue and silver
Rainbow Lady - re-do a past challenge. I chose a couple of the Raibow Lady challenges for the past year, although I messed up one of them, so only two were followed in the end. Firstly, I went for Sparkle/Shine, and secondly, Edge It (scallops around the main part and glitter around the image mat)
The Character Cafe - sparkle
Crafty Catz - pick a CC challenge from the last year. I chose to go with a few of them, so here they are #21 fancy edge and a ribbon, #25 white and one other colour, #30 spots, #37 shaped cards, and #38 go digital.

Laugh if you dare!

Hmmm, after going through my cards for the Top 10 post below, I realised there are woefully few of them that I still like. So, I decided to get myself into gear and start making lots more, so that next year I'll have a bigger selection to choose from, and hopefully won't be stuck :P
This one uses the fantabulous Sugarplum from The Octopode Factory and sentiment and Regal Rampage papers from Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the challenges I'll be entering:
Sweet Stop Sketches - followed sketch 88, although I flipped it on its side.
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Aly's Sunday Challenge - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Crafts and Me - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
For Fun Challenges - anything goes
Moving Along with the Times - anything goes but no Christmas cards
Aud sentiment Challenge - anything goes
Crafty sentiments - anything goes
Crafty Ann's Challenge - anything goes
Crafty Emma's Store - anything goes
Allsorts - anything goes

Thanks for looking :D

My Top 10 Cards of 2010

Mr Random has done his job and he picked number 14 from the comments, which means Rhonda Miller is the winner! Congrats Rhonda, I've sent you a message :D

I'd seen a few posts around blogland with this title, but didn't have time to investigate until this morning. Suzi over at The Manic World of Mrs Weyremaster has set up a blog hop, and all you have to do to join in is look through the cards you've made in the last year, then make a post about them and link it to HERE. You can see all the details, plus get links to the other participants there as well. I love seeing what each of you has chosen as your favourite cards, and I have no idea how some of you managed to narrow it down to just 10 when you have so many wonderful creations to choose from. :)
Here are mine, in no particular order:


Main image by Simply Betty Stamps, tree by me, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image is by Tellen's Place, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Main image is by Tiddly Inks, mirror and bg by me, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image and sentiment by StampInsanity, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image is by Kenny K, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image is by Stamp It Crazy, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image is by Tellen's Place, ad hoc papers by me


Image is by DezinaWorld, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image is by Kenny K, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs


Image is by DezinaWorld

Thanks for looking. I'll pick a random number from everyone who comments to win a free paper set or stamp from my shop, Crafty Chaos Designs, and there are other prizes dotted throughout the hop, so gather up your favourite cards and join in the fun :D

Merry Christmas to all my blogging buddies!

I'm finally feeling all festive and jolly, woohoo! I've made lots of fudge fridge magnets and notebooks and finshed my slippers and wrapped up gifts, all to be delivered today with a true smile on my face and a genuine desire to spread some good cheer, so I'd also like to take a moment to say Happy Holidays and THANK YOU to everyone who visits my little blog and leaves such lovely comments, I've made this card for you all :D This sweet little digi is Jusy from the Sweet Gothic World Kids collection at Simply Betty Stamps, and she seemed to personify the excitement I'm feeling. Papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs
This is also an entry into the following cjallenges:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas Challenges - Day 12, use an SBS image to create a Christmas Eve card
The Pixie Cottage - sketch and celebration
Sparkles Forum Challenges - Christmas
Sentimental Sunday - inspired by song
Paper Playtime - anything Christmas
Critter Challenge - Christmas
Craft Your Passion - Christmas
Cards and More - Santa is coming
Crazy Amigos - Xmas
My Time to Craft - Santa baby
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Christmas card
Fresh Brewed Designs - Merry Christmas
Etsy Inspired Challenges - The inspiration this week is the wonderful Ling Glass shop, and I've used inspiration from several of the glass pendants available. Firstly, I used the colours from this one, this one, and this one. Then I tried to make the squares down the side look like little pendants similar to this one and this one. I also chose two backing papers that had pendant-like designs, and I made my ribbon across the middle curvy instead of straight to represent the swirls and curves and spirals in many of the designs.
Creative Inspirations - Christmas
2 Sisters Challenge - Christmas
Frosted Designs - inspired by a Christmas song
Thanks for looking, I wish each and every one of you a wonderfully happy holiday season :D

Slightly more traditional

I realised that I really do need some cards that don't scream "Bah Humbug!", so here's another one I did today. The image is again a Stamp It Crazy digi, and papers are by me. Here are the challenges for this one:
Stamp It Crazy - Christmas using an SIC digi
Truly Scrumptious - sketch plus optional frame
For Fun Challenges - Christmas
Crafty Purple Frog - Christmas
Fresh Brewed Designs - Christmas
Off The Wall - be inspired by the colours in this photo:

Yeah, like, Merry Whateva! :P

Here's one I did today using a fabby digi from Stamp It Crazy and papers I created myself to match, after I'd coloured the image. Here are the challenges I'm entering:
Stamp It Crazy - Christmas using an SIC digi
Friday Sketchers - sketch 133
Crafty Hos - Christmas in red and green
Shannon's Sentiments - Christmas using red green and white
Wee Memories - colours of the season

To friends old and new

I did another steampunk Christmas piece today, using the Mercius digi from Simply Betty Stamps and Technologie Fantastique papers from Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the challenges I created it for:
Craft Your Passion - follow the sketch
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Order of the Opus Gluei - anything goes
Crafty Sentiments - anything goes
Rainbow Lady Challenges - make it a vintage delight
Freshly Brewed Designs - Merry Christmas
Crafts and Me - moody blues
For Fun Challenges - Christmas
Cards for Men - Christmas card for a male
Creative Card Crew - anything goes
Stamps R Us - anything goes
Karber weekly Challenges - anything goes using a digi
Pear Tree Designs - Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenges - non-traditional Christmas
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - Day 11, Skully Jolly Christmas use skulls. I went subtle for a change on this one, and decided I wanted to make a card with lots of sulls, but that weren't immediately obvious. So, they're on his chair, all around the image and on the steampunk clock embellishments down the side.
Alphabet Challenge - H is for Hats
Stampin' for the Weekend - Christmas

We three queens

I am having fun writing my own little parodies of verses and songs, the one for this particular card goes:

We three queens of darkness and night
Bearing spells, we make quite a sight
Sultry and sexy, headstrong and hex-y
Singing on Christmas night

All three images are from the Spooky Hallow range at Simply Betty Stamps, and here are the challenges I made it for:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - Day 10, Christmas Carolers... or if you would please... SCARE-olers
Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime - sketch 152
Diva Coffee Break Designs - river rock, elegant eggplant and melon mambo
Critter Sketch Challenge - no patterned paper
ABC Challenge - J is for Jewels or gems

Festive and joyful? Not me :P

Here's my second post for today, using the Spiderella digi from Simply Betty Stamps and papers from the Regal Rampage set at Crafty Chaos Designs. I recoloured some Halloween ghosts and gave them santa hats that were a freebie from The Octopode Factory. The smaller text reads:

"Festive and Joyful"
is just not my style
So I made a spooky Xmas card,
'cos that's what makes me smile!

Here are the challenges:
Our Creative Corner - sketch
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - Day 9, ghosts
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs - non-traditional Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenges - non-traditional Christmas
Karber Weekly Challenge - anything goes with a digi
Stamps R Us - anything goes
Moving Along with the Times - lots of spots

Colourblind Christmas!

It's Monday again, and that can only mean one thing; a new challenge over at the Haunted Design House blog! This is also our last challenge of the year as Barb is taking a break over the holidays and we Minions wil be stuck in the dungeon with no sign of daylight . . .

You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based Winter Holiday card WITHOUT using RED or GREEN... (Not even a teensie bit of it anywhere :)



Judging by my current rate of organisation, I'm going to need lots of copies of this one this year. I;m always late for one or two people, but this year I think I might be on time for one or two and late for everyone else. This FANTABULOUS Santa image is by Stamp It Crazy, this is my favourite Santa image of all time, I love it! The papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs, from the Velvet Descent and Bittersweet sets.
These are the other challenges I had in mind when creating:
Stamp It Crazy - use an SIC digi to create a Christmas project
Order of the Opus Gluei - if you make it, we will come
Getting Crafty with Ann - non-traditional Christmas colours
Sparkles Forum Challenge - Christmas
One Stitch At a Time - anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs - non-traditional Christmas colours
Pear Tree Designs - Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenges - non-traditional Christmas
Stamp with Fun - Christmas
Papertake Weekly - red and green must not be seen
Creative Card Crew - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - use a ribbon
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Christmas cards
Simon Says Stamp - Christmas without red or green
Stampavie and More - Christmas
Crafty Ann's Challenge - sketch and/or Christmas (I used both, but turned the sketch sideways)
Penny's Challenges - Christmas
Thoughtful Thursdays - the letter N (for Noel, in this case)
Shirley's 2 Girls - holidays + glitter and bling (my snowflakes)
CARDS Challenge - Christmas with no red or green
Delicious Doodles - 1 image, 2 dps, and 3 embellishments (I ribbon and 2 snowflakes)
Frosted Designs - use a ribbon
Stamp Something - digi
Creative Inspiration - Christmas
Stamp Scrap and Doodle - monochromatic. Also another quick note to let you know that I won a challenge back in October, and I've tried to get in touch with you numerous times since then, via email and your blog, but I still haven't heard anything at all. I really don't want to start a Wall of Shame, it seems so mean, but, seriously, what do I need to do to hear back from you?

Missing mojo; if found, please return!

You know how sometimes a piece will just come together almost effortlessly, and everything goes right first time? Well, today has NOT been one of those days :P


This is my entry for the following challenges:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - Day 8, make a Sandy Claws project using an SBS image. Ok, I couldn't turn any of my Betty images into a Sandy Claws one, and seeing the WONDERFUL digi that's on offer as a prize made everything I tried look dreadful in comparison :P So, I gave up on actually using the guy himself, and decided to use some lyrics from the "Kidnap The Sandy Claws" song as inspiration, and hide him away in a box. Rio is plotting various nefarious schemes to bring Sandy Claws to Oogie Boogie ;)
The Pixie Cottage - sketch and/or sparkle and shime
The Play Date Cafe - colour combo of blues, purple, black and white. Most of my purple has ended up looking black, but all the glitter bits and half of her outfit are deep purple.
Aly's Sunday Challenge - be inspired by your favourite Christmas movie (Nightmare Before Christmas)
Ooh La La Creations - be inspired by a Christmas song (Kidnap the Sandy Claws)
Freshly Brewed Designs - sparkle and shine
The Character Cafe - glitter
Alphabet Challenges - G is for Glitter
Lots to Do - glitz



And this one is for the following challenges:
Crafty Emma's Store - anything but a Christmas card
Fairymoon Crafts - sketch plus white and green.
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Karber Weekly Challenge - fantasy
Creative Card Crew - anything goes
The Burtonesque Dolls - Oogie Boogie fun
Stamp Something - Digital

The images are Devil Rio by Simply Betty Stamps, Oogie Boogie by chlorene at DeviantArt, and the papers are all by me, some of them are available at Crafty Chaos Designs.

Happily clueless!

I feel like the White Rabbit - "I'm late! I'm late!" Thankfully I'm not yet for any of the challenges I want to enter, I'm just cutting it a bit close. This one uses a Simply Betty Stamps image and papers from the new Clueless set at Crafty Chaos Designs, and here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - All I want for Christmas is . . .My Emos! Use an Emo image in a holiday project, plus use the colours purple, lime green and turquoise. (I loved this colour combo so much that I made a new paper set :P)
Crafty Hos Challenge - any religious holiday
Scrappekammeret - Christmas card
Gingerloft Challenge - bows
Pear Tree Designs - Christmas card
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge - ribbons and bows
Spoon Full of Sugar - Christmas cards
Riley and Co - Let's think Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - use a ribbon
Stampin' Royalty - winter holidays
Penny's Challenge - Christmas
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch 79
Stampavie and More - Christmas
Inktegrity Hump Day - your favourite non-traditional holiday colours. I'm a sucker for purple and green and purple and turquoise, lol, I use it for every occasion ;)
Dutch Dare - Christmas
item
Aud sentiment - Happy Holidays
The Stamp Man - Christmas in any three colours (purple green and turquoise in this case)
The Secret Crafter - Christmas
Challenge Up Your Life - Christmas
Karber Christmas Challenge - use a digi

Pieces of eight!

It's Monday, and that means it's time for another wonderful new Macabre Monday challenge over at the Haunted Design House blog!
Ok, my little pretties... your challenge this week:

Octopodally Ominous
You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween project / card using EXACTLY 8 items. Every little thing counts... card base, image panel, every gem, ribbon, sentiment, etc!! This may be harder than you think ;) No cheating on this one!

And we're sponsored this week by the fantabulous Octopode Factory, I just love these images! I used Cleo the Clown from the Whimsical Circus set, and added a quote by Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's It. I made this one a 4x4, thinking that the smaller size might make it easier to use only 8 items, but, lol, it was still hard. My items are the black card base, the red paper, the text layer, the image, the frame, two spiders and a band of stabby black icicles.
I followed the sketch over at Simon Says Stamp, the theme at Three Muses is "world of movies" and that's it for challenges for this one! Shocking for me, I know, I was originally intending to make this red and white, which would have covered a couple of other challenges, and fitted with the look of the film, but as I worked the white all turned to black. Thanks for looking, and start counting those supplies, because there must be exactly eight on your project this week :)

Best witches!

It's Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas at Simply Betty Challenges, and today the theme is "Jingle Spells, Jingle Spells...it's a Witches Christmas day" and the prize for today is so amazingly wonderful that I had to make more than one card, because it's a personalised digi! Lol, I'm drooling as I type :P


Here are the challenges I made it for:
Totally Gorjuss - sketch
The Stamp Man - any three colours (purple, green, black) plus Christmas theme



For this one, I used the following challenges:
Pear tree Designs - sketch + gems
Stamp It Crazy - snowcones or snowflakes, blue and white, red ribbon
Stampavie and More - snow/snowflakes
Cute Card Thursday - blue
Paper Cutz - Christmas card using two different patterned papers
Pattie's Creations - use a ribbon and at least three embellishments


This one used the following challenges:
What If? wednesday - sketch D110
ABC Christmas Challenge - Y is for Yuletide, include at least one of the following - red and green, holly and berries, candle
Prairie Fairy Fridays - use a star
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenges - red and green
Elliephantastic - red and green
Stamp Something - Christmas colour combo

Toxic bats!

Lol, another very un-seasonal Christmas card, they do make me laugh :P This one uses the Devina digi by Simply Betty Stamps and the paper is from Crafty Chaos Designs, Admiring the Lovelorn. These are the challenges I made it for:
Simply Betty Challenges 12 Days of Christmas - Day 4, incorporate some creepy elements into a Christmas card.
Simon Says Stamp - followed the sketch
Stampin' B's Designs - turquoise purple and something shiny
Creative Cottage - untraditional Christmas colours
Top Tip Tuesday - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - animals at Christmas time. I'm guessing radioactive bats weren't top of the list of possibilities :P
Magical Monday at Paper Cupcakes - anything goes
Karber weekly Challenge - sparkle
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes
Card Making Mama - anything goes
Raise the Bar - trees
Delicious Doodles - use a digi
2 Sisters Challenges - non-traditional Christmas colours
Totally Gorjuss - tree

Luscious Lace!

It's Thursday, and that means it's time for a new challenge over at the Stamp Insanity blog, and this week we'd like you to incorporate lace into your creations. And if you pop over to the blog, not only will you see the bee-yootiful creations by the other DT inmates, Beth also has some very exciting news about some HALF-PRICE rubber stamps! My card today uses a sentiment from the Holiday Princesses set by Stamp Insanity, and the paper is from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the other challenges I'd like to enter:
Corrosive Challenges - things that move (dangly stars on chains)
Top Tip Tuesday - anything goes
Riley and Co. - let's think Christmas
A Crafty Little Place - anything goes
Magical Monday at Paper Cupcakes - anything goes
Stamps R Us - holday cards
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes
Crazy Challenges - on the move (dangly stars on chains)
Scrappy Frogs - Merry Christmas
Get Sketchy - I'm not really sure what's happening with this one, as the winners seem to have been decided prior to the challenge closing, but I used the sketch
Crafty Catz - Christmas
Paper Cutz Challenge - anything goes
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - anything goes
Just Us Girls - add a 3-D holiday embellishment to your project
Your Next Stamp - CASE a DT member. There are so many wonderful cards to CASE, but I chose to use the layout and the stars on this one, by Maureen Wong

Scary Christmas to you!

Here's one I just finished, the image is by Simply Betty and the papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs Here are the challenges:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 use a creepy Christmas tree. I had such trouble thinking of how I could make a Christmas tree look creepy, and tried dozens of different things, none of which looked right. I almost thought I might not be able to enter this one, and then this morning I had the idea of pyramiding skulls, and I love it, lol, I know I shouldn't say that about my own stuff, but you have no idea of the time I took trying to make a standard Christmas tree look creepy, and once I'd got the idea for this one it was so easy! :D
Pattie's Creations - sketch
One Stitch At A Time - celebrate with bling
Getting Crafty with Anne - not your usual Christmas items. Lol, no actual Christmas stuff in sight here, the colours, image, papers and embellishments are all non-Christmas things ;)
Stamp It Crazy - Christmas

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, 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