An alternative take on things, and beauty in darkness

Hello hello hello :)
It's Sunday again, and that means it's time for another challenge over at OSAAT (One Stitch At A Time). This week the challenge is to use something new, and, lol, I'm promoting myself this week instead of one of the other designers. So, ummm, I'm great, please go buy my papers :P And the current sale at Stichy Bear Stamps will end at the end of May, so to get some fantastic bargains at 50% off the normal price, you need to pop along quickly.
This piece uses my brand new paper set, Decadent Grunge, and I made the wings with a brand new CU script that I purchased as well. I'm actually quite chuffed with the butterfly skull creature here, I used a skull and spine from a vintage medical text, did the wings with my new script and then used both to create this little darkling beauty.
Here are the challenges that I made this piece for:
Order of the Opus Gluei - Seasonal Icons - The butterfly is a seasonal icon, although mine doesn't really look very summery. *points back to the title* I did say I was taking an alternative view :P I think I'm actually a little late for this one, lol, but I'm hoping the gluey goddesses will still be busy and will let this one slip in ;)
Haunted Design House - Beautiful beastly butterflies. Lol, this is one of only a couple of challenges for today in which my piece won't count as an alternative, it will fit right in :D
Daisy Doodles - anything goes
Flutterby Wednesday - open but must include a fairy butterfly or angel
Paperplay - Up in the air
Theme Thursday - beauty
4x4 Friday - wings
Paper Make Up - colour combo. My colours are darker and dirtier than the swatch, but the colours are all there, apart from the yellow :)
Stamp It Crazy - skulls
Challenge Up Your Life - recycling. I used the skull from a vintage medical text and digitally recycled it into the creature you see above.
Totally Gorjuss - wings
Lucy's Cards - digital
Pals Paper Arts - followed the sketch

Thanks for looking, and remember even dirt and dark can be beautiful :D

Hello!

I made this card with one of the new images from DezinaWorld's latest collage sheet, Personality Girls, and I used papers from my Cafe Creme set, whcih you can buy at Stitchy Bear Stamps or Creations By Penny
The challenges I made it for are:
Quirky Crafts - chocolate and cream
Theme Thursday - Beauty
ABC challenge - V is for Vintage
Papertake Weekly - followed the sketch
Daisy Doodles - anything goes

Lots of stuff

Ok firstly, I'm now selling my papers at a new store, so you have a choice of where to browse. LOL, I think world domination may take a little longer. but selling my papers at two stores is a start, right? :P
The new place is Creations By Penny, and as well as my papers, there's a fab selection of other digi stuff to download, so please pop along and have a look :)


This card uses papers and a sentiment from my new Alice Dreams set, which you can find here or here, and the digi stamp image is by Sassy Studio Design
Challenges I've entered with the groovy cat/Alice card:
Friday Sketchers - followed the sketch
Stampin' For The Weekend - card to cheer someone up or make them smile
AI Factory - animals and brads
Some Odd Girl - 3 patterned papers
Crafty Creations - encouragement or celebration
Quixotic Challenges - focus on the sentiment
My Time to Craft - vivid cards
Paper Sundaes - favourite book inspiration, lol, I hope it's obvious that I went for Alice in Wonderland :P

I have to admit, I think this next one is my favourite card that I've made in a while, I'm really pleased with thw way it turned out :D It uses papers from my Gothic Bruise set, which you can also find here or here, and the digi stamp is from Tiddly Inks. I also digitally paper-pieced her dress with one of the papers from the set, and I love the way it turned out :D I made this one for the following challenges:
Oh Alice! - followed the sketch
The Burtonesque Dolls - An affair to remember
Three Muses - relationships
Sassy Studios challenge - distressing
Paperplay challenge - wedding celebrations
By the cute and girly - celebrations
Spoon Full of Sugar - celebrations
C.R.A.F.T. - celebrations

It's bright and sunny outside, so . . .

I've gone for creating something dark, lol, these things make me laugh so much :D The challenge this week over at OSAAT is Furry Friends, so I was all set to make something with a cute kitty on it, and then my Dark Mojo came out to play and scared all the cuteness away :P LOL, your piece can be in any style at all, as long as it has a "furry friend" on it somewhere. Animal, teddy, hairy monster with a crooked smile, the choice is yours. The prize this week is provided by the lovely Stitchy, and it's your choice of 3 digis from the store PLUS a set of summer promarkers from the lovely Kevin who sells HERE. Pretty cool, so why not hop over and join in the fun?
I used Lil Goth Girl by Lil Diva Stamps for my DT piece this week, and also a couple of the papers from my new Gothic Bruise set. I added the nurse hat, the scissors and the teddy bear "wound" with stuffing coming out, all in PSP.
Here are the other challenges I was working with:
Sketch and Stash - followed the sketch and used my new papers, I finished this set earlier in the week
Die Cut Dreams - use lace
Haunted Design House - Devious Doctors and Fiendish Florence Nightingales
Crazy Challenge - use something new. Again, my papers are brand new
Cards and Things - colour challenge - Orchid Opulence, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry
Sew Many Cards - anything goes

Mono 3 sheet now available at DezinaWorld

The lovely June over at DezinaWorld has given her DT the fab Mono 3 sheet to play with this week, pop along to the DezinaWorld blog and see the fabulous collage sheets June has available and also pick up the freebies. And, for all of you who love freebies (and, really, who doesn't? :P), June has re-started her Art Freebies blog, which is packed with wonderful images and ephemera, you really need to grab a cuppa and settle down because there's TONS of stuff there :)
Here's the piece I made with one of the images from the new Mono 3 sheet, and here are the challenges I chose to work with as well:
Lexi's Creations has their first ever sketch challenge. I flipped the sketch on its side for this one.
Stamp with Fun - stripes, included in the backing paper.
Ann's Creative Nook GCA challenge - round and round - use a circle or circles somewhere on your card.
Magical Crafts - Black white and one other colour. Now black and white is often difficult for me, and, LOL, you have no idea of the amount of time I spent trying to decide which other colour to use.
Incy Wincy Designs - Blast from the past. I was aiming for Art Deco with this piece, I'm not really sure if this qualifies as Art Deco, but I hope the vintage b/w photo will count as a Blast From The Past anyway.

You know my avatar?

Well, it's a picture of Dylan, one of my older kitties and this week I've made a Brag Book page to honour him. We're on Challenge 13 already over at OSAAT (One Stitch At A Time) and it's been fantabulous to see so many of you joining in with our challenges. Challenge 13 is to make Anything But A Card. The possibilities are limit-less - you could make an ATC, a 4x4, a scrap page, a gift box, a tag, a mini book, heck, even bake a cake (yum yum)
I made a brag book page using one of my new paper sets, Old Curiosity Shop, which you can find at Stitchy Bear Stamps. Sale prices will be applied to my products very shortly too, so if you're not in a desperate rush you could get it at a bargain price too!
Stef, aka glitterbabe is our lovely sponsor this week and the DT all got to work with her lovely images. You can buy her digi stamps at I Did It Creations, among other places. I chose King Cat, lol, I just love the smug expression on his face, I'm very used to cats looking inordinately pleased with themselves.
So, with King Cat, and a photo of Dylan and Anything But A Card in mind, I went hunting to see what other challenges I could use to inspire me. Here's what I came up with:
Tuesday Taggers - step out of your comfort zone. Hmmmmm, I thought, I've already decided on a digi scrap page, and I'm getting more used to them now, so what can I do to step out of the box a bit? Well, it may not seem like a big leap out of the box, but it is a little step to the side, lol, instead of doing one of my usual 12x12 pages, I went for a brag book 7x5 page format instead, which I don't think I've ever done before because I'm just much more used to big square pages.
Dare You To Digi Stamp - anything goes
Crafty Ann - anything goes
Totally Terrific Thursday - anything goes. This one's a new challenge blog, pop along and see :D
KL Stampin and Scrappin - show our animal friends some love
Paper Cutz - feature a cat or a dog
Cute Card Thursday - Someone Special Again, lol, a pet may not count as a Special Someone in your house, but they do in mine :P
Stampin' Royalty - Family themed. Do pets count as family? They definitely do in this house :D
Creative Card Crew - sketch. I twisted the circle, so the embellishments are on opposite sides, and added i some text, but I added it where the signature is on the sketch, which amused me, lol, I do know the sig wasn't part of the sketch, but I thought I'd use it anyway ;)
My Time To Craft - Too cute.
and Crazy Challenges - Cute and Cuddly
Maybe not the page so much, but Dylan is definitely a cutie in my eyes :D How cute do I think he is? For whatever reason, Dylan decided a long time ago that he doesn't much like the catflap, and prefers to enter and leave the house via one of the doors, which must of course be opened by a co-operative human. Now, however, if he wants to come in, rather than go out (he still goes out on his own legs, what a trooper :P), he sits on the windowledge and waits for me to go and pick him up and carry him inside. Yes, of couse I do it, lol, every time, even when it's cold and raining and I've only got slippers on and he's been rolling in garden clippings and is covered in vegetation. He just purrs so darn much when I pick him up, and snuggles into my neck on the way in, I just can't resist :D
Lol, I think all the Anything Goes challenges are just a chance to spread the Dylan love, and I know I already entered one of them before. If multiple entries aren't allowed, just dis-include one of them, I just couldn't resist sharing Dylan with as many people as possible :P
Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day!

Sweetie!

It seems like a long time since I last made a post, lol, I've been buried in graphics programs, making paper sets. And then twiddling with them. And tweaking them. And altering them. And fiddling about with dozens and dozens and dozens of settings :D
Here's a piece I made last night, using the wonderful new Sweetie collage set from DezinaWorld and two of the patterned papers from my brand new Fragrant Mint digi paper collection, availabel here. I do have some things in the shop at the moment, but don't buy anything from my section just yet, because there's a 50% off sale goibg on in the store, and the reductions will be applied to most of my sets as soon as the shop Admin have beaten the Sales pixies into submission and got them to reduce my products :D But I would love to know what you think, so please pop along and have a look. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see? Is there a particular size you prefer for digi papers? Any and all comments welcome and appreciated :)
Anyway, here are the challenges that I had in mind while making this one:
Sunday Sketch and Stamp - followed the sketch
Sentimental Sunday - for someone special. The sentiment on here is a freebie from the blog, pop along and check it out :)
The Pixie Cottage - Vintage and/or distressed
Incy Wincy Designs - photo inspiration
ABC challenge - U is for unused stash. I have no idea when I first got the butterfly I used here, but it's been lurking in a folder on my desktop just waiting for the perfect project, and I think this is it :)
Color Throwdown - kraft, old olive, so saffron and baja breeze. Clearly, I've subbed here, but I hope it's close enough to count. The kraft is the brown matting layers, and the other colours are all included in my papers.
Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day!

Hectic week, DT project and some news :)

This week seems to have just flown by, I don't know where the time has gone, I've done hardly any blogging or commenting, hopefully things will get back to normal soon.
It's Sunday, and that means it's time for another challenge over at One Stitch At A Time (OSAAT). And this week the theme is POLKA DOTS. I had such fun with this one, I used Strawberry Mouse by Robyn's Fetish, and it's got me itching to go strawberry picking. I will have to wait a while since sadly Nature doesn't pander to my every whim, but I'm really looking forward to when I can go Pick-Your-Own-ing.
Have a look at the other DT projects if you need some inspiration, they have some beautiful work to show you, and don't forget that the May sale is still on at StitchyBear Stamps, so for the entire month of May the full-price stamps are 50% off, , including this little cutie,AND they have a regular store feature where you can get a selection of products at only 99cents each!

And on to my news. Part of the reason that this week has been so busy is that I was asked if I'd like to start selling my digi papers, and, feeling momentarily confident, or maybe I was just in shock, I said Yes. Soon, you'll be able to buy sets of my digi papers at the StitchyBear store. I don't have anything in there yet, but I've been working on designing sets of papers and hopefully you'll be able to see them there soon.
I also have another piece to show you using some of my own papers (get me! :P) and the new sheet from DezinaWorld, but I need to take a photo of it first, so I'll add that in later.
Here are the challenges that I'd like to enter:
Pollycraft - Here comes the sun. I think this is wishful thinking on my part, lol, no sign of the sun here yet, it's cold and damp and grey but I WANT some fresh-picked strawberries :P
Lexi's Creations - Animals
Incy Wincy Designs - anything goes
Crafty Ann - anything goes
Dare You to DigiStamp - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - include food or drink
A Spoon Full of Sugar - furry friends
Papertake Weekly - sketch

Angels? Us??????

Well it's Sunday again, and that means it's another new challenge over at One Stitch At A Time (OSAAT), and this week we'd like you to make something either for a child, or with a child on it. We're sponsored by SewnTogether, and the winner can choose 5 digis of their choice from the store. The DT have all used ST images this time, to showcase just some of the great stamps available.
I've used a digi called Hershey with Angel Owen, and the surprised expression on his little face just made me think of putting him with these photos of my nephews pulling faces at my sister-in-law's wedding last month. I'm really enjoying using digi stamps for scrapbook layouts, I highly recommend giving tit a try :) The brads and the tag are both by Mitsybelle, and the papers and the frames are by me.
AND, for the whole month of May, Stitchy Bear Stamps are having a 50% off sale on all regular price stamps, so it's a great time to stock up. And, as if that wasn't enough, there is a regular selection of stamps at only 99cents each. (These ones aren't included in the 50% off, as they're already at sale prices.

A note from Stitchy and Sue:

"A little surprise for you lovely followers and all who see...Stitchy & Sue are so pleased at all the beautiful creations that have been flowing through the blog here and now that we have reached 200 followers they decided it's time for a little treat...
Not only is there a storewide sale going on from now until the end of the month at 50% off EVERYTHING...there are ALSO some fab FREE digis hidden around the store, one from each creator!"

And, finally, here are the other challenges that I'm entering this LO in to :)
Crazy challenge - buttons brads and/or eyelets
Crafty Creations - make your own paper. I'm not sure that everyone would think that digital paper counts, but I did do each one by myself in every way, lol, started with a plain colour and went from there.
Moving Along with the Times - sketch. I rotated the sketch but I think you can still see it :)
Cute Card Thursday - make your own. Again, I created all the backing papers myself :)
Some Odd Girl - no ready-made patterned papers
Allsorts - animals (I'm thinking of the dog in the digi image, rather than my nephews :P)
Lots To Do - faces
Crafty Catz - spots (on the back layer)