Simple Snippets Notecards

I have a set of simple 'Thank You' cards to share today, that feature lots of snippets of patterned papers...some from pads that I must have had for over 10 years! I lightly distressed the edges of all of the papers, ans added some faux stitching using my CutterBee Bug and a black gel pen, before placing them o the card blanks. The sentiment stamp is from the 'Signature Greetings' set by Memory Box.

'Marjolaine' pad by BasicGrey:

'Hattie' pad by My Mind's Eye:

'K-Ology' pad by K & Co:

'So Sophie - Graceful' pad by My Mind's Eye:

'Bittersweet' pad by BasicGrey:

'Bumblebee's Dance' pad by The Paper Boutique:

Challenges for these cards:

• A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes
• Corrosive - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Anything Goes
• Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
• Creative Moments - Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Include a Quote

 The theme for this week's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge has been chosen by Mel...and she wants to see us:

 'Include a Quote'

Now, this is something I don't very often do...but I do have a set of fab 'Kids Quotes' stamps by Inkadinkado...so I took one of those ('You make me smile all over my face') as my starting point. I picked this image ('Here's Lookin' at You' by Penny Black) because it made me smile, and coloured it with watercolour pencils, adding some Glossy Accents (available here at the Secret Crafter) to the lenses on the glasses. The paper is Classic K 'Margo' by K&Co, the swirl stamp are by Whiff of Joy, and the tag was cut using a Sizzix die.

 

So...where's the quote??? It's on the tag hidden in the pocket behind the image...

 

You can check out the fab creations by my lovely DT buddies on the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge blog.

Blooming Gorgeous Hedgie!

I love Dawny's sketches...so I just had to have a go at the one for the Papertake Weekly Challenge this week...although I did replace the sentiment with some flowers...I couldn't decide what I wanted it to say! I've used a Penny Black hedgie (from the 'Wonderful' set), and papers by K&Co ('Classic K Margo'). I distressed the edges a little, then added some faux stitching with a white gel pen, and a couple of Prima flowers. So, as there are also flowers on the image, and on the paper too...I'm also going to enter this card for Cute Card Thursday's 'Blooming Gorgeous' challenge...and as the colours are 'summery' the Dutch Dare Challenge of 'Summer in Winter'.

Wishlist Mouse...

I managed to find a little time yesterday to have a go at a couple of challenge cards once I'd got my DT stuff for the week done & dusted...
This one combines the sketch from Quixotic Challenges, with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge colour combo of 'Blue, Cream & Gold'. I don't very often use gold...it's not a colour I like very much...on cards or even jewellery...but when I do use it, it's usually on a Christmas card...so that's what I've made. I used this wee mouse form the Penny Black 'Christmas Critters' set with his letter to Father Christmouse...awwww how sweet! The spotty paper is K&Co ('Blue Awning'), and I used my Cuttlebug 'D'Vine Swirls' (on the gold card) and 'Victoria' (on the cream card) folders. The sentiment stamp is by Paper Make-Up, and I inked the edges of the papers with gold pigment ink, then embossed them with clear embossing powder.

Well, so far I'm managing to keep up with my plan to make at least one Christmas card a week...this is my third...and I have another to show you later in the week. I noticed a 'Christmas card tally' on someone's blog whilst blog-hopping the other day...a great idea to keep track...so I think I'll add one to mine too! :0)

2010 Calendar

I managed to sneak some photos of one of the Papermill Shop Calendars that I decorated as a Christmas gift...and as there are a lot of photos...I've turned them into a slideshow:

The images are mainly Penny Black stamps, but I did sneak in a couple of Whipper Snappers, a Whiff of Joy and a Forever Friends. The papers are a mixture of BasicGrey, My Mind's Eye, Fancy Pants Designs, K&Co and Daisy D's. The embellishments are a mixture of Poppicrafts flowers & ribbons, Woodware and Papermania buttons, Craftwork Cards card candy, and raffia lace in assorted colours from Hobbycraft. I used a few Cuttlebug folders: 'Swiss Dots', 'Tiny Bubbles', 'Moroccan Screen' and 'Victoria', the Cuttlebug 'Ice Crystal' die, and a few different shaped Nesties.

Don't forget that there's still time to join in with the ABC Christmas Challenge blog hop...you can find the first stop here.

More Presents...

Well, I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday...and that Santa brought you some crafting goodies ;0)
He brought me a digital camera...not strictly a craft item...but hopefully you'll notice an improvement in the quality of the photos on here...once I've figured out how it all works! lol

Now that the recipients have received these...it's safe for me to show you some more of the gifts I made this Christmas. A couple of beaded bracelets...the first one uses a mixture of green freshwater pearls, moss agate and some silver filigree beads, all threaded on to tiger tail, with a toggle clasp.


The second one follows the same design, but this time with tiger's eye and magnetic hematite beads.


These two frames are from the Papermania Bare Basics range...simply covered with some My Mind's Eye '29th Street Market' paper.


And finally, some altered notebooks (I bought these from the Craft Barn)...covered front and back with a mixture of K&Co and My Mind's Eye papers, with a simple ribbon bow and letters cut using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.


I did also make a couple of the Create a Calendars from the Papermill...but I didn't get them finished in time to photograph...but I may try to snaffle them back to pop on here in the next few days.

Don't forget, there's still time to enter the ABC Christmas Challenge blog hop, if you haven't already done so...there's candy! lol

More simple cards...

I had a bit of a production line going yesterday and made some more simple cards for charity. I kept the layout the same, but used different colours and papers by My Mind's Eye, Daisy D's and K&Co.


I used three different Cuttlebug folders: 'Victoria', 'Textile' and 'Moroccan Screen'...trying to match them to the paper designs. The flowers and ribbons are all from Poppicrafts, and the sentiment was cut using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.

ABC Challenge - Y is for...

We've nearly reached the end of the alphabet on the ABC Challenge...and have arrived at:

Y is for Yellow

Now, yellow is not a colour I use very often...I just don't like it...so I found this week's challenge really tough. After a rootle through my stash, I found some yellow papers in my 'Roam' pad (by K&Co), and watercoloured my image ('Peek a bunny' by Sugar Nellie) to match. I embossed a piece of plain card with the Cuttlebug 'Textile' folder, and added a few adhesive pearls and flowers (the roses are from Hobbycraft, and the larger ones are from Poppicrafts).

Make sure you check out the other design team members blogs for more inspiration...looking forward to seeing what you all create this week!

Boo Boo Bear

I've used another of my new Whipper Snapper stamps ('Boo Boo Bear') on this card...it's a 'Get Well' card...I haven't made it for anyone in particular...but Boo Boo's so cute...I just had to use him! lol
I followed this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge sketch, and have added a spot of faux-stitching, so am also entering this for the Creative Inspirations Challenge. The paper is by K&Co ('Classic K - Margo'), and I embossed the green card using the Cuttlebug 'Spots & Dots' and one of the 'Just my Type' (the 'stitching' effect one) border folders. The sentiment stamp is by Personal Impressions.

Summer Blossom

With all of the glorious weather we've been having lately, it's not surprising that a lot of the challenges are celebrating 'Summer' at the moment, so once again I'm combining quite a few on this card: Cupcake Craft, A Spoon Full of Sugar and Everybody Art with their 'Summer/Summertime' themes; the fab sketch (by my lovely friend Cathy) of the Dutch Dare Challenge; and the 'Favourite Colour Combo' challenge of the Pink Elephant.
I've interpreted the 'Summer' theme by using bright summery colours and flowers. My image is the lovely Annie ('Blossom' by Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie), coloured with watercoloured pencils to match the gorgeous K&Co papers ('Amy Butler' and 'Classic K - Margo'). The flowers are a mixture of Poppicrafts and Hobbycraft, the sentiment was cut using the 'Olivia' alphabet, and the ribbon is also from Poppicrafts.

This card is going to my partner for this month's friendship swap on the Docrafts forum, where there was no theme, but I thought that a bright summery card was in order this month!

Distressed Melinda...

...well actually it's 'Confirmand Melinda'...but she is quite distressed too! lol
I used the fab Friday Sketcher's Sketch...but I was a little naughty and left off the sentiment...I just couldn't decide what to use...but I may add one when I come to use the card. I paper pieced her dress and hairband with some gorgeous K&Co paper ('Blue Awning - Polka Dots'), so I'm also entering this card for the Whiff of Joy and Creative Inspirations Challenges, which both have the theme of 'Paper Piecing' this week.


I used the same K&Co paper for the background of the card, with a strip of paper from the 'Boxer' pad by BasicGrey, and a piece of Core'dinations card embossed with the Cuttlebug 'Textile' folder underneath the image. As I'd used a deckled edge Nestie to cut out Melinda, I decided to have a go at distressing the edges of all of the papers with ink and sandpaper to stop them looking 'too neat'. The flowers are a mixture from Poppicrafts and Hobbycraft, and I also inked the edges of those to match the papers.

ABC Challenge - S is for...

Wow - it seems that you all love roses as much as we do....thank you for all of the fabulous entries to last week's challenge! :0)

This week over at the ABC Challenge, we've arrived at the letter S...which is for 'Summer'.

I chose to use bright summery colours on my card, in the form of some gorgeous 'Amy Butler' papers by K&Co. The fab image is by Penny Black ('Lazy Days')....now that's how I'd like to spend the summer! lol
I kept the layout fairly simple, as the patterns on the papers are quite busy, adding only a few flowers from Poppicrafts, and some pieces of card candy in co-ordinating colours.


Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's creations.

Polka Doodles meets Dutch Dare

The fab sketch from this week's Polka Doodles Challenge is just perfect for making a 'Criss-cross' fold card. I decided to keep the front really simple, covering the two triangular flaps with the same 'Le fleur' paper (by K&Co), and layering up three fabric flowers held in place with a Papermania pearl brad - the largest one is from the candy I won from lovely Polka Doodles DT member Kath, and the smaller ones are both Flora Doodles. I made a simple band from a strip of the same paper to make a band to hold the card closed.


This week's Dutch Dare Challenge is to decorate the inside of our cards...not something I usually do, but this style of card needs at least some decoration on the inside, as you see the centre panel from the front when the card is closed. I added a couple more Flora Doodles on the reverse of the large flower on the front (they are all mounted onto circles of card (cut with Nesties), then stuck together over the edge of the flap of card), and used more of the same paper from the front of the card on the inside of the triangular flaps. I used two other K&Co papers ('Blue Awning' & 'Blue Diamond') on the centre panel (the torn edge was made using a Fiskars tearing ruler), and added a plain circle of card in the centre to write my greeting. The lettering was cut using the Cuttlebug 'Olivia' alphabet.


This card is going to my partner in this month's Friendship Card Swap on the Docrafts forum.

Blooming Gorgeous!

I've used the fab sketch from this week's Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge to make a 'Blooming Gorgeous' card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge...where the theme was to use flowers on our cards. I decided to use an image with lots of flowers ('Hedgehog Joy') sent to me by lovely PBSC DT member Pauline, who also gave me the sentiment stamp (from a Studio G set) for my birthday last year. The papers are all by K&Co ('Classic K Margo'), the swirl stamp is by Hero Arts ('Fantastic Flourishes'), the hydrangeas are by Prima, and the roses and lace are from Hobbycraft.

ABC Challenge - Q is for...

Over on the ABC Challenge we've arrived at the letter Q...which is for 'Quilted'.

Now, I've taken the theme quite literally...and I will admit to Goggling 'patchwork quilt patterns' whilst deciding what to do this week! lol I found a fairly simple pattern, and cheated a little, by using squares of paper (rather than triangles). I used two pretty floral design papers...which I think may be by K&Co...I'm afraid I don't know the names, as they were pieces sent to me in a swap...which I thought fitted with the 'country cottage' feel of a patchwork quilt. I then added zig-zag faux stitching around all of the edges. As I wanted the quilting to be the main feature of this card, I've added only a simple flower, made from scraps of the same papers cut using some of the 'Blossom' Nesties, cutting down to the centre to make the 'petals', and then I inked around the edges for definition...and as a hangover to last week's challenge, I've attached it with a Papermania pearl brad.

As always, for more inspiration, don't forget to check out the other DT members fab creations.

If you were one of the many entrants to last week's 'P is for Pearls' challenge, don't forget to check back later to see if you've been chosen by Denise from Whimsy Stamps, as the lucky winner of that cute monkey stamp.

Happy Birthday Cathy!

My lovely friend Cathy is celebrating a milestone birthday today...but I'll be kind, and not reveal which one! lol She loves her Sugar Nellie stamps, so I decided to use the Sugar Bowl Challenge sketch to make her card. I've used 'Pen Pal' as the main image...in fact I think that Cathy may have sent it to me for my birthday last year...I hope she doesn't mind me sending it back! lol The papers are a mixture of K&Co and BasicGrey, and I embossed the plainest one using the Cuttlebug 'Textile' folder. The sentiment is from the 'Critter Party' set by Penny Black, the flowers are all from Poppicrafts, the raffia lace is from Hobbycraft, and I added pieces of Craftwork Cards card candy in each corner. I managed the additional challenge of 'Pearls', with a few adhesive pearls in the corner of the image in place of the photo corner in the sketch, and the Papermania pearl brads in the centres of the flowers.


Hope you're having a fabulous birthday Cathy...and enjoying your holiday too!