Merry Band

Today's card was made to send to one of my pupils, to go with her certificate for passing a music exam. It features a Penny Black stamp called 'Merry Band', stamped directly on to a kraft card blank, then simply coloured using watercolour pencils. The sentiment stamps are from the 'Critter Concert' set by Avery Elle.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
• Cutie Pie - Cute Celebrations
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Cute & Simple
• We Love Chocolate Baroque - Anything Goes (Optional 'Celebrations')

Suspenseful Music

I have another couple of simple congratulations cards to share today. Again, I made these to send out to some of my pupils with their exam certificates, so there's a musical theme to the image, which is 'Suspenseful Music' by Penny Black. I stamped it directly on to kraft card blanks, along with sentiments from the 'Critter Concert' set by Avery Elle, then coloured them using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for these cards:

• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Toot the Flute!

I have a set of simple congratulations cards to share today. I made these to send out to some of my pupils with their music exam certificates, as they're leaving the school, so I won't be seeing them again. These ones are for pupils who all play the flute, so I used the Penny Black image 'Toot the Flute', stamped directly on to a kraft card blank. I added sentiments from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn, and coloured the images using watercolour pencils.

Here's a closer look at one:

Challenges for these cards:

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + Sentiment
• CCEE Stampers - Tigers (or other cats)
• Crafter's Cafe - Anything Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes (Optional 'Animals')
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

All of Us

I have a really simple one layer card to share today, featuring one of the stamps from the 'All of Us' set by Avery Elle. I picked the row of dogs, and stamped then along the bottom edge of a kraft card blank, adding one of the little signs and the birthday sentiment from the set, then coloured it all using watercolour pencils.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Cards - Along the Edge
• My Time to Craft - No Patterned Papers
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

Funny Farm

I have another non-Christmas card to share today...this time featuring most of the animals from my Tim Holtz 'Funny Farm' set. I stamped the critters on to snippets of watercolour paper, coloured them using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut them all out. I made a simple field like background for them using more snippets of card, and my 'Grassy Edges' and 'Picket Fence' dies (all by Die-namics). The sentiment is a combination of stamps from the 'Critter Concert' set by Lawn Fawn and the 'All of Us' set by Avery Elle.

Challenges for this card:

• AAA Birthday - For a Child
• Always Fun - Anything Goes
• As You Like It - Favourite His or Hers Birthday (His - I'm not a very girly girl...my favourite colour is blue, and I don't really like adding 'fluff' to my cards...so much prefer making cards for Men)
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Fab 'N' Funky - Old MacDonald
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets

PBSC September - Anything Goes (Optional 'Your Favourite Colours')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or
'Your Favourite Colours'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used a combination of three Penny Black pups ('for you!', 'Birthday Dog' and one from the 'Good Times!' set) and a little bit of my favourite colour, teal. I stamped the dogs on to watercolour paper...with a little bit of masking, then coloured them using watercolour pencils. I doodled a simple border using a black gel pen, then added the panel to a teal card blank. The sentiments are a combination of stamps from the Penny Black 'Birthday Bears' set, and 'All of Us' by Avery Elle.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:

• AAA Birthday - Animals & Critters
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Daring Cardmakers - Masculine Makes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Frame It

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

PBSC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'Water and/or Watercolour')...More Inspiration!

It's the third Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for some more inspiration for this month's Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'
or
'Water and/or Watercolour'

As usual, we are sponsored by the awesome 1-2-3 Stitch:

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I received this adorable 'Friendship' stamp for my birthday last weekend...and it was just perfect for our 'Water' theme this month...so I couldn't resist using it...in fact I made two cards!

On the first one, I stamped the image on to watercolour paper...extended the waves a little...coloured it using watercolour pencils, then cut it out using one of my circle Nesties. I curved the sentiment  (from the 'All of Us' set by Avery Elle) around the image, and added a few die cut clouds (cut using the 'Puffy Clouds' dies by Memory Box).

On my second card I stamped the image, along with the sentiment that came in the set, on to some watercolour paper, and again coloured it using watercolour pencils. I doodled a simple border, then matted it on to some red card before adding it to my card balnk.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Cards Galore Encore - Anything Goes
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - For Boys and Men
• Twofer - Nautical

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

All of Us!

I have little trio of cards to share today using a set of Avery Elle stamps called 'All of Us'. I stamped the rows of animals on to snippets of watercolour papers...adding an arm holding a sign to each one, along with a sentiment from the set, then coloured them using watercolour pencils, before carefully cutting them out. I made a simple background for each of the images, using kraft card and snippets of patterned paper (from the 'Bright Freshness' pad by Craft Sensations)...distressing the edges a little and matting each one on to a snippet of co-ordinating coloured card.

Challenges for these cards:

• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• Pixie's Snippets Playground - Use Snippets
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

My Favourite Five Cards of 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that 2015 treats you all well!

I thought I'd start the new year by reviewing last year's makes...so I'm playing along with my lovely bloggy buddy Debby and sharing my favourite five creations of 2014:

I'm starting with the card I made for my Mum's birthday back in April...I love the papers on this one...and of course those cute LotV bears!

My second card was a bit of an inky experiment...but I like the way it turned out!

My next card features a person...which any regular visitor to my blog will tell you is a rare occurrence...I just find animals so much easier to colour...but I like the bright summery colours on this  card.

My fourth creation is a notebook I made for myself...well, I just to include a Penny Black image somewhere in my selection...and this is by far the most used item I made last year...love the colours & distressing too!

Lastly, I have a piece of wall art I made using lots of bicycle stamps...I share a flat with a bike obsessive and made this to go on our shared office/craft room wall along with some others...but he liked it so much that it ended up in the living room! I had  to include it in my favourites for last year, as I love looking it every day...it was well worth the 3 and bit hours I spent stamping it!

I linked all of the photos to the original blog posts, so please click through for all of the information. I'm off to have a snoop around everybody else's favourites...

Bicycles, bicycles, bicycles!

I have a couple of stamped pieces of wall art to share today...along the same theme as this piece I shared a few months back...but on a much larger scale.

I sketched outlines first, then filled them using a variety of Hero Arts, Elle Avery and Hobbycraft bicycle stamps and Distress Inks. The frames are from Ikea and measure 60x80cm.

They were supposed to go in the office/craft room that I share with my flatmate who runs his business (The Bicycle Society) from there...but have ended up in our living room instead...so it looks like I'm going to have to make some more! Apologies for the dodgy photos...they weren't the easiest things to photograph!

Challenges for these pictures:

• Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
• Inky Impressions - Anything Goes
• My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

Bicycle Thanks

My flatmate asked me to make a bicycle themed 'Thank You' card earlier this week to give to one of the teachers that has helped him run the activities this year at one of the 'Biking Schools' that his new company  (The Bicycle Society) runs. As usual...it was a last minute request, so I kept it clean & simple...using a similar idea to this piece of wall art that I made a few months ago. The bicycles are a mixture of Hero Arts ('Bicycles' and 'Classic Bike') and Avery Elle ('Roll with It') stamps...I stamped them in a few different colours of Distress Inks, then added a Hero Arts sentiment (from the 'What a Life' set), and a simple doodled border.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Sentiments - Inspired by a Song ('Bicycle Race' by Queen)
• Inky Chicks - CAS
• Penny Black & More @ Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stamps - Anything Goes

I want to ride my bicycle...

I inked up some of my (many) bicycle stamps to create a simple masculine card...these ones are a Hero Arts cling set simply called 'Bicycles'. I used shades of Distress Inks (Mowed Lawn, Brushed Corduroy & Spiced Marmalade), a sentiment stamp from a set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous called 'Going Somewhere', then simply doodled a border using a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• CAS on Sunday - Masculine
• Crafty Creations - Keep It Simple
• Creative Knockouts - No Square Cards
• Less is More - Masculine

While I has my bicycle stamps and Distress Inks out...I used them to create a piece of wall art:

I used the same stamps as on the card above, another Hero Arts one ('Classic Bike') and a couple from a set by Avery Elle called 'Roll With It'...I had to play around a little bit with layout to get them to fit on my A4 card, but I'm pleased with the end result. The frame is from The Range.

This is going to go on the wall in my new craft space...I'm going to be sharing it with my flatmate, who will be using it as an office for his business...he runs cycling training courses...sells bikes...and generally eats, sleeps & breathes all things bike...so that explains my choice of images!

I will be making some others...but thought I'd start with this one as a sweetener...I'm not sure he realises the full extent of my craft stash! I'm usually only a weekend crafter (except during the school holidays...I'm a music teacher) and all of my stash is currently stored in boxes in a cupboard on the landing...I'm hoping that if I have easier access to my stash, and a dedicated space for crafting, that I might be able to sneak some in during the week!

Right now the room is completely empty...our other flatmate moved out last weekend...we have a trip to Ikea planned to pick up some pieces of furniture, and various bits'n'pieces for storage, so hopefully it won't be too long before it will be usable. I'm so excited about finally having a dedicated place to craft (even if I'm having to share it!)...up until now it's mainly been on the floor in my room!

Challenges for my stamped bicycle artwork:

• All Crafts Challenge - Anything but a Card
• Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
• One Crazy Stamper - Anything Goes
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Bicycles...

I have another bicycle themed project to share today...this time I've given a freebie notebook (from Barclay's Bank) a makeover for my flatmate who is obsessed with bikes, and makes lots and lots of notes! This is how the notebook started life:

And this is what it looks like now:

I used stamps from the Hero Arts 'Bicycles' and Avery Elle 'Roll with It' sets...stamping them on to paper from the 'Party Days' pad by Crate Paper. I inked the edges using 'Brushed Corduroy' Distress Ink, doodled a border, and matted it on to sme kraft card before varnishing it (to make it more durable), and sticking it to the notebook. I decorated the back too:

I cut some notches out of a couple of the corners where the elastic wrap is, and added a sentiment from the Hero Arts 'What a Life' cling stamp set.

Challenges for this notebook:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Anything but a Card
• Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes
• Loves Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Happy Birthday Rob!

It's my flatmate's 30th birthday today... so, while he's sleeping off the excesses of yesterday's celebrations, I thought I'd pop on and show you his card and the wrapping paper I made. He's bike obsessed...so that explains the theme. I created a little scene using papers from the 'Sweet Girl' and 'Party Day' pads by Crate Paper...then added lots of die cut shapes using circle Nesties, Memory Box 'Puffy Clouds', Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet, and a bike by Die-Versions. The sentiment stamp on the outside is from a little Studio G set...and on the inside it reads 'Happy 30th Birthday...it's all downhill from here!'...but I forgot to take a photo of that before I sealed it in the envelope.

Challenges for this card:

• 2 Sisters - Anything Goes 
• Fussy & Fancy - One for the Boys
• Seize the Birthday - Anything Birthday

I also stamped some bicycle wrapping paper for his gifts...using stamps from the 'Roll with It' set by Avery Elle, and Hero Arts 'Bicycles' and 'Classic Bike' sets:

I made a matching tag, and tied everything together using black and white Baker's Twine:

Challenges for the wrapping paper and tag:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - Crazy About Wheels
• Creative Corner - Anything but a Card
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Use a Rubber or Clear Stamp
• Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything Goes