Xmas Card

I've finally got round to making some Christmas cards. This one is using a Penny Black stamp (always a favourite) and is coloured with Promarkers which I'm still getting to grips with.

Penny Black Challenge

This week's Penny Black Challenge is a sketch. This is my interpretation of it.

The papers are all by My Minds Eye.

The image is a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os.

The snowflakes are paper punches with small gems in the centre.

The swirl is a Sizzix die which I've customised. 

Less Is More Challenge

This weeks "Less is More" Challenge is "Stars" Having looked through all my stamps this is about the only one I have that has stars on it. It is of course a gorgeous Penny Black Stamp which I've coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The sentiment is from the Fizzy Moon collection by Trimcraft.

Card and Present

I made this card and altered box for my daughter's friend Darcy who has just turned 8. They are designed using the info I got from her which was she like pink and purple and her favourite animal is rabbits.  

For the card I used a Penny Black Stamp which I coloured with Twinkling H2Os

The sentiment and flowers are all done with Go Kreate Dies and the leaves are a paper punch.

The box is made using the same things as the card but I also added some lace ribbon around the edge of the box just to finish it off.



Laura's card

I made this card for one of the girls at work. I try to keep the front as flat as possible because the other girls at work all need to sign it and it's hard to write on the inside of the front cover if there are lots of bulky embellishments on the front. It's not an easy task, let me tell you!

The stamp is a Penny Black which I half paper pieced and half coloured with Twinkling H2O's.The sentiment and swirls are a combination of Sizzix and Go Kreate Dies.

Xmas Card

This week's Less Is More Challenge is "In the Frame" and it has to be one layer.

The Merry Christmas frame stamp is by Hobby Art.

The mouse enjoying the snow is a Penny Black Stamp.

I added a little stickles to the snow and ice to make it sparkle.

Happy Mother's Day

I thought I'd start by showing you the cards my children made for me. This is Josh's card which he made on the computer at school.This is the insideand this is the back. Charming eh?! lolAnd my daughter raided my stash (with permission of course) to make me this cute card using one of my favourite Penny Black stamps.

This year I thought I'd make a photo frame for my mum. It didn't quite turn out how I wanted to. I think its because now I'm working I just haven't been able to spend the time on it that I would have liked to have done. Maybe it will look better when it has a nice photo in it?! Failing that I might ask for it back and re-vamp it for next year. ;0)

This is how the photo frame started out. and this is how it looked when I'd finished with it... or ran out of time to do anything else with it.

The papers, labels and sentiment are all from a set by K&Co. The flowers are made with die cut by Marriane Designs and two other paper punches.

For the card I used the same K&Co papers and the Marrianne Designs die cut to make the flowers. The rabbit stamp is by Penny Black and coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The Happy Mother's Day stamp is by Inka Stamp Designs.

For the inside I used a clear stamp by Inkadoo it says "You make me smile all over my face" which my mum does. She's the best mum in the world ever! :0)

That just leaves me to say Happy Mother's Day to all you Mums out there in Blog land. Hope you enjoy your special day.

Less is More Challenge

This week's Less is More Challenge is "Off The Edge"

I don't have many stamps that would look ok "Off the Edge". In fact I looked through all my stamps and didn't think I had any that would work so I'd decided not to do this challenge. Anyway I was messing around on the old interweb, as you do, and I came across some Christmas stamps and then I suddenly remembered my new Christmas Tree stamp that is part of a set my mum bought me for Christmas.

So I stamped it off the edge in Black Stazon and added a Penny Black Sentiment which says "have yourself a merry little Christmas" then added some small green gems to the tree to add a bit of bling - hope that still qualifies as one layer otherwise I'll have to pick them off again!!!

Stamps: Penny Black, Papermania

I've just been to upload it to the challenge blog and realised it's not that different to the example card. Doh! I did try putting the sentiment in various different places but it didn't look right. Oh well it's the taking part that counts! :0)

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Yes sorry, it's another Christmas card. I made it using a sketch for a challenge over on Trimmies although I flipped the sketch on it's head - just for the fun of it. The image is a stamp by Stampavie coloured with Twinkling H2Os, the papers are by Kars and the Sentiment is a Penny Black.

Cat in a Bra

This is one of my favourite Penny Black Stamps. It started life as my Mums' but somehow found its way to my house and decided to stay!
The papers are by K&Co. The cat in the bra stamp is coloured partly with Twinkling H2Os and partly by paper piecing. The "Hello Friend" is a Cuttlebug Die.

Bad Blogger!

A big hello to anyone who is still checking in on my blog. Sorry I've not up-dated in what seems like years! So much has been happening.

Where to begin. Well, my husband and I split up in February and I finally managed to move out the 1st October. So lots of changes there and a lot of packing and un-packing although luckily we didn't have to shift it all too far as we've only moved to the house next door. It's great for the kids though as they haven't had to change schools or anything and our morning routines have managed to stay the same so it's all good in that respect.

The other big change is that I've now gone back to work so not so much time for crafting and up-loading. I've started working at the Day Nursery that is on the grounds of my daughter's school which is lovely because I get to wave to her at play times and lunch times when they are all out in the playground.

Ok so enough about my life and onto the more important crafting. :0)

I know I'm very late but these are the invitations I made for the Halloween Party that we had.

The stamp is a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The embossing is done using a Cuttlebug embossing folder in my Cuttlebug, the wording is Peel Off stickers.

Saturday Challenge

I made this card for the Saturday Challenge at the beginning of this week but I've been having a mum and son week while my daughter is over at my mum's for a few days so I've only just got round to putting it on my blog.

The Saturday Challenge this week is blue and cream. I used my Penny Black Stamp for this card and papers from Papermania.

Josh and I went to a secret nuclear bunker on Wednesday. Unfortunately it wasn't the best day out ever but we had fun looking for the spy mice and rats.

There were a couple of hands on exhibits but not really enough to keep Josh interested. We had a nice picnic outside afterwards though before we drove home and it was certainly something different. I don't think we'll be going again though.

Sunday Sketch and Stamp

It's my friend Denise's birthday a week tomorrow. Last year I made her a cheeky card so this year I thought I'd make her a cute one and use my Penny Black Hedgehogs. I also decided to use the sketch from the Sunday Sketch and Stamp Challenge.

This is their sketch. And this is my card for it.
The papers are My Mind's Eye. The hedgehog stamp is a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The Happy Birthday is also a stamp which I printed in Perfect Plumera Chalk ink then outlined it with a red Marvey le Plume pen.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

This week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge is "It's Christmas in July". Very handy since I've been making lots Christmas cards at the moment.


For this card I used papers by Cricut and Lily Of the Valley. The hedgehog is a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The snowflakes are brads. Christmas in July - Done! :-)

Christmas Cards

I thought I'd have a blitz on making Christmas cards today as I'm already so behind. I started by making one for the Bah! Humbug! Challenge which is "Christmas Stocking"

I used my Penny Black stamp of the little mouse with the stocking. I think it's the first time I've used this one. The background stamp is a Magnolia one. The patterned papers are all freebies and odd scraps that I've had left over from other projects. I actually managed to make 8 cards altogether which I thought was pretty good going. I won't put them all on in one go though I'll spread them out a bit for you.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

This week the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is a sketch challenge.

I thought I'd use the sketch to make a thank you card for my daughter's teacher.

I used papers by K&Co. The bottom piece I have scalloped the edge like in the sketch but you can't see it very well in the photo as the tag and the image cover most of it but the tag is free swinging so you can see it in real life when it moves.

The image is a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The oval and circle were cut using Nestabilites Dies in my Cuttlebug.

I swapped the text and the flowers places round from the sketch to make it work for my card but I'm pleased with the result. Hope Ellie's teacher likes it too.

I've now finished the tin to go with it. It started life looking like this.

And now it looks like this.

And this is the card and the tin together.

I bought some fudge and toffees from Thorntons to go in the tin - hope they last until Friday without me eating them!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

This weeks Penny Black Challenge is "Paper Patch" which is where you use paper squares to make a patchwork quilt effect. I must say I do love the way it looks and it's a great way to use up those little paper scraps you get left with from other projects.

For this card I used papers by Blonde Moments. The image is of course a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os. The Happy Birthday is a Go Kreate Die. It's been a beautiful day again here today. I even got the paddling pool out when we got back from school - the one I bought 3 years ago and this is the first time it's been out of the box. Good old British Summer eh?! Hope this beautiful weather is going stick around for the 6 weeks holidays and we can actually get some use out of it rather than it go back in the box. Fingers crossed eh?!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

I haven't done any crafting for a while and need to make some more birthday cards for up coming birthdays. So I thought I'd have a go at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge as I do love my Penny Black Stamps. This week it's a sketch challenge. I thought I'd use one of my Hedgehog stamps. I do love the expression on the face of this one, so cute. I coloured the image with Twinkling H2Os. The papers, flowers and frame are all from a set by Colorbok. I've got a busy week next week, I'm starting my Paediatric First Aid course. It's only Monday to Wednesday but I have to be there for 9am. Luckily Peej isn't working so he's going to take Ellie to school in the morning and I'll just take Josh then go straight to college from there. It's going to be really funny going back to college and being a student again even if it is only for 3 days!

Monochrome Card

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is to create a monochromatic brown card. Since I needed to make a card for my friend Shaeron and I'd already decided I wanted to use this Penny Black Stamp I thought I'd give it a go.

The papers are by Papermania, the stamp, of course, is a Penny Black coloured with Twinkling H2Os and paper piecing. I really do love this stamp. It used to be my Mum's but I have permanently borrowed it from her and now it's mine, all mine!! :-)

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

I was making this card for my brother and I had already picked out the image I wanted to use but I thought as it was a Penny Black I'd just check out the Penny Black Saturday Challenge blog to see if I could make it to fit in with their challenge.

Their challenge this week is "Check it out" they want to see checks on your project. So I looked through my boys/men papers and found this great checked paper by K&Co to use. It's not the most inspiring card I've ever made but I'm trying to keep them quite simple at the moment so that I can get more done just in case the house sells and we have to start packing everything up and I can't get to my craft stuff for a while. It's not my brother's birthday until May 3rd but I don't think he looks at my blog so I'm safe!