Surprise!

Today's card features a Penny Black stamp that I got for my birthday recently called 'Surprise!'. I stamped it onto watercolour paper, along with a sentiment using a stamp from the 'What This!' set by Anita Jeram for the Colorado Craft Company, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. The papers are from a pad by Violet Studio...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Allsorts - Animals
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Elliebelle's Crafty Wednesday - Anything Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Birthday
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Quite Quirky

PBSC August - Anything Goes (Optional 'Flowers')

It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme is:

'Anything Goes'

or

'Flowers'

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

Prize - a $20 voucher!

I used a stamp that I picked up in a charity shop earlier this week called 'Pansy Bunny'. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, coloured it using watercolour pencils, then used one of my Nesties to cut the circle shape. For the background, I used some floral papers from a Violet Studio pad...distressing the edges, and adding faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before matting on to kraft card. Inspired by the cards of my lovely DT buddy Lorraine, I added a die cut picket fence (cut using a Die-namics die), and a few paper flowers held in place using BasicGrey brads.

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

• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes
• Crafty Animals - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Four-legged Friends
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes

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

Xmas Puppies

Today's card features a stamp that I picked up in a charity shop earlier this week, called 'Xmas Puppies' by Lawrence Designs for Stampavie. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio...distressing the edges before adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Winter Wishes' set by Hero Arts.

Challenges for this card:

• Christmas Craft Creations - Designer Paper
• Christmas with the Cuties - Two or More Papers
• Krafty Chicks - Stamps
• Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

Top Hat Robin

Today's card features another birthday present...this adorable robin from Woodware Stamps called 'Top Hat Robin'. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, along with one of the sentiment from the set (splitting it in two, so that it would fit in the square), then coloured him using watercolour pencils. For the background, I used papers from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio...doodling simple borders using a black gel pen, and matting the layers on to some bright blue card.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Christmas
• Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Champion!

Today's card features a stamp set that I picked up in a charity shop called 'Champion' from the 'Mulberry' Wood' collection by Crafter's Companion. I stamped it on to watercolour paper, then coloured it using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio...I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen.

Challenges for this card:

• Creative Knockouts - Stitching
• Incy Wincy - Food and Drink and/or Monochrome
• Stamps + Fun = Creativity - Monochrome

ABC Christmas Challenge - L & M are for?

It's the second Wednesday of a new month, so that means it's time for a new ABC Christmas Challenge! Julie is the host, and the themes are:

'L is for Little'

&

'M is for Music'

There's a little prize from Julie for the winner:

For my 'L is for Little' card, I used one of the images from the 'Christmas Critters' set by Penny Black...stamping him directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a sentiment from the 'Many Blessings' set by Hero Arts, then coloured him using watercolour pencils.

I picked another Penny Black image to use on my 'M is for Music' card called 'Carolers', stamping it on to watercolour paper, then colouring it using watercolour pencils. I used a couple of papers from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio for the background...distressing the edges a little, and adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Festive Phrases' set by Funky Fossil.

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

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) - Anything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Little Critters
• Sparkles Forum Christmas - Cute Christmas Critters
• Sweet Stampin' - Three of a Kind (Three Chickens)
• The Holly & the Ivy - Anything Christmas Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.

Father Xmas

I have a Christmas card to share today, featuring a cute 'Father Xmas' stamp (no clues as to the brand, but it's wood mounted) that I received as a gift. I stamped him on to watercolour paper, then coloured him using watercolour pencils before cutting out the image using one of my circle Nesties. The papers are from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio...I lightly distressed the edges before layering them up on an A6 card blank. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Big & Bold - Holiday Ornament' set by the Colorado Craft Company.

Challenges for this card:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Gem of a Challenge - Anything Goes
• Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes
• Merry Little Christmas - ANything Christmas Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Mondays) - Something New (The Father Xmas stamp is new)
• Stampin Sensations - Anything Stamped Goes (Optional 'Use a Die')
• Sweet Stampin' - New (The Father Xmas stamp is new)

Stocking Surprise

Today's card features another Christmas gift...a cute Hunky Dory stamp set called 'Stocking Surprise'. I stamped the images on to watercolour paper, then coloure them using watercolour pencils. I paired it with papers from the 'Home for Christmas' pad by Violet Studio...distressing all of the edges, and then adding some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Silver Bells' set by Kaiserkraft...it's actually in the centre of a bauble outline, so I masked off the outline before inking with Versamark Ink, then stamped it on to a snippet of kraft card, and heat embossed in white before cutting it out using one of my circle Nesties.

Challenges for this card:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes
• Time Out - New (New stamps)