Phindy's Place Challenge #43 - sketchtime

 Good Morning and welcome to a new Phindy's Place Challenge!  My goodness I am so glad it's Friday and nearly the weekend!  We had a lovely time away but I'm finding it very hard to get back into the swing of things, hence the lack of blogging!

Anyhow, on with the challenge, which is to use one of Anne-Marije's fab sketches.  For once I've stuck quite closely to the sketch.  My image is Little Star, no prizes for guessing that this long legged beauty is one of my all time favourite images:).  He's simply coloured with Copics, all the DP is My Mind's Eye very heavy weight cardstock, the punch is Martha Stewart Picket Fence.
My card is for the following challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - Spring - what could be more spring-like than the new crop of foals?
Digital Tuesday - use punches
Crazy Challenge - baby love
Gingerloft - furry friends
Paper Sundaes - masculine colours
Allsorts - inspired by nature

Teacup Pansies

I escaped to my craft room for an hour this morning, in between all the bouts of sickness from various family members:).  I made a card using the Cute Card Thursday sketch, with Fred, She Said's Teacup Pansy image coloured in with Copics and Stickles.  The background is pearlised lilac card, cut with a Marianne Creatables die and run through an embossing folder, then Inked with Distress Ink.  I've embossed a border around the large square of pearlised card too, it shows up better in real life!  All the DP is Artylicious from CDs, the thread is hand dyed.
My card is for the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Lisa's sketch
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs - distressing
Simon Says - anything goes
Paper Sundaes - cut it out

Baubles and bling!

Yesterday we put the Christmas tree up, it never goes up until after DS's birthday on the 18th.  In celebration I managed to finish this superbly blingy card using one of Fred, She Said's Christmas Ornament digis, you can buy them here.  I coloured this a few days ago and was really chuffed with the "shine" I got on it with my Copics.  I added some Stickles and some gems to it as well as Glossy Accents on the holly berries and then combined it with one of the last sheets from my Basic Grey Jovial pad, I LOVED this DP!  I finished it off with gold mirri card and Martha Stewart lattice punch, some blue snowflakes with gems and a Craftwork Cards sentiment.  What do you mean I can't have blue snowflakes?  I think it's cole enough for blue snowflakes LOL!
This card is for the following challenges:
Create4Fun - Anne-Marije's sketch
Corrosive Challenge - non traditional Christmas
Copic Creations - sparkle
Digital Tuesday - sparkling digi
Digis with Attitude - anything Christmas

Phindy's Place Challenge #35 - All Creatures Great and Small

Good Morning and welcome to a new Phindy's Place Friday Challenge.  This week our theme is All Creatures Great and Small, which is a great excuse to use one of Phindy's many fabulous animal images.  I've chosen a stunning new image called Peace and Cheer and had fun blinging it up with Stickles and silver embossing powder in addition to the Copics I used to colour it, the background uses Distress Inks.

I've based my card on this week's Sunday Sketchers Challenge and I'm entering it for the following challenges:
Sunday Sketchers Challenge - sketch
Simon Says - silver, blue, white
Dutch Dare Challenges - Winter
Copic Creations - sparkle
Digital Tuesday - sparkling Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenges - non traditional Christmas

Phindy's Place Challenge #34 - Winter

Good Morning and welcome to a new Phindy's Place Challenge, this week we have the fun challenge of Winter - which can be Christmas but doesn't have to be - as long as you use a Phindy's Place image!  We've had far more snow and ice than is usual for England at this time of year and I've been busy making icy, snowy Christmas card.  Today I've used Winter Walk, an image that works for all kinds of occasions, not just as a Christmas card (think engagement, Thinking of You...) but I've tried to use a warmer colour palette.  Maybe the weather will follow suit!

Colouring is Copics and some Distress Ink in Pumice Stone, Liquid Pearls were added for snow.  I've followed the Inspirational Card Sketch for this week, the sentiment is Impression Obsession and I've stitched across the My Mind's Eye DP, which has been maturing in my stash!
I'm entering the following challenges:

Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch
Simon Says - Christmas but no red or green
Papertake Weekly - red and green must not be seen
A Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas Card
Digital Tuesday - baby it's cold outside
Sassy Studio Designs - non traditonal Christmas colours
Inktegrity Challenges - non traditional Christmas colours
Christmas Card Challenges - monochrome

Home for Christmas

I'm getting to the end of my cards from my Phindy's Place colouring marathon at the weekend!  This image is called Cosy Cottage and was so much fun to colour, I didn't want to add a lot of embellies to it as the image is the star of the card.  I coloured using Copics, lots of Glossy Accents on the windows and Glamour Dust sparkle everywhere that is snowy.  I wasn't sure how to make my fir trees look snowy until I checked out Tammy's blog here.  When I grow up I want to be able to colour like Tammy!  The DP is My Mind's Eye, leaf is cut using a Woodware punch and the sentiment is Craftwork Cards.

My card is for the following challenges:
Sketch & Stash - sketch
Stamps R Us - holiday card
Ooh la la - Christmas song
Digital Tuesday - baby it's cold outside
Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas card

Christmas Blues

 

I'm continuing to play with my Phindy's Place images and this is yet another favourite of mine, it's called Holiday Wreath and I think it's just stunning.  Yet again I've used the sketch from Simon Says, though I've changed it around a little this time; the lovely Lols is trying to get their number of entries this week to over 500!  So I'm doing my bit :).
I've coloured my digi with Copics and decoupaged it on top of a piece of cardstock that I've decorated with spray inks and white embossed swirls stamped on it.  Makes a very chilly looking background!  I was sticking to self-made papers, so I embossed white pearlescent cardstock with my Scor-Pal for the background and stuck a seed bead on each junction.  Snowflake is made with a Woodware punch, sentiment is Craftwork cards inside a Nestie circle.
I'm entering the following challenges:
Simon Says Challenge - sketch
Saturday Challenge - Christmas
Winter Wonderland - penguins and polar bears
Totally Papercrafts - Xmas punches (snowflake)
Cute Card Thursday - the blues
Digital Tuesday - animals at Christmas
Sew Many Cards - snowflakes

Sweet Stampin' - create your own background paper

Christmas Colt

Yesterday I was looking through my digis and decided to have a Phindy's Place weekend, I have so many gorgeous images to choose from and I settled down and printed a few off.  Here's the first card I've made:  Christmas Colt was a favourite image of mine last Christmas (he's available as a non-Christmassy version too) and I was surprised to realise that I've not used him yet this year.  He is a Phindy's Place image, you can buy him here.  Isn't he adorable!
I based my card on the sketch at Simon Says Challenge, coloured him with Copics and with Distress Inks for the background, adding some snow with a Viva pen.  The DP is Basic Grey Jovial, sadly I'm coming to the end of this lovely pad of paper:(.  Embellies are velvet ric-rac, Craftwork Cards candy and sentiment and Prima flowers.
My card is for the following challenges:
Simon Says - sketch
Rainbow Lady - Christmas animals
Digital Tuesday -animals at Christmas time
Pile it on - feathers 'n'n fur
Stamp Something - Christmas colour combo
Dutch Dare - Christmas card, tag or ornament
 Fairy Fun Fridays - use a star - my colt has a star on his face!
Ellephantastic - red and green
Stempel-traume - red and green
Stamp and Create - 'tis the season

Indian Summer?

I've had this Summer cutie image, called Just Hanging Around, from Phindy's Place  for a while and not used it yet...  Decided it was time I coloured him in and chose to give him an Autumn makeover.  I took a liberty with the image and drew in some falling leaves.  We've had some lovely Autumn days but today it would be a bit chilly to go without a shirt:).  My colourscheme came from some gorgeous Memory Box papers that I bought at the Stamp Attic. The fibre ribbon is also from Stamp Attic.   I've coloured with Copics and Glossy Accents and tried out a pointillist style background.

Papertake Weekly has a Three of a Kind Challenge this week, to use things in threes and I thought it went really well with the 3 shape sketch from Card Patterns Challenge.  There are:  3 shapes, 3 rows of stitching, 3 Dew Drops, 3 distressed shapes.
I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly - 3 of a kind
Card Patterns Challenge - sketch
Stampin' for the Weekend - Autumn  inspiration
Stamp, Scrap or Doodle - Halloween or Fall
Secret Crafter - Distressing (image and 2 brown semi-circles are distressed)
Pile It On - things in threes
Wild Orchid Challenge - Stitch it up
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Autumn colours
Paper Sundaes - a change of season
Digital Tuesday Challenge - sew special
Craftalicious - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown - 3 elements

Emma the Carol Singer

 

Carol Singing Emma is a new digi I've just got my hands on from Fred-She-Said, I'm really liking these, you can have pre-coloured as I've used here or digis to colour.  Also there's a carol singing version AND an angel singing, so lots of bang for your buck!  I wanted to try my hand at less traditional colours for my card, so I've used blue and green, adding lots of sparkle.  I have decoupaged Emma, giving her lots of dimension with Pinflair glue, I've added green Stickles to her dress and cap, and lots of sparkly Stickles for snow.  There is sparkly ribbon and a row of felt snowflakes and the DP is Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses.  The blug card is embossed with a music score.

My card is for the following challenges:   

Midnight Madness - sketch

Digital Tuesday - ribbons, buttons, bling

A Spoonful of Sugar - sparkle and shine

Anything Goes - Christmas has come early

Incy Wincy Designs - sparkly glitter

Basic Grey - sparkle

Phindy's Friday Challenge #18 - Pretty in Pink

Good Morning!  It's Friday the 13th but no need to worry about that, just enjoy the fact that it's nearly the weekend and it's also time for a new Phindy's Place Challenge.  This week the challenge is to be Pretty in Pink.  So it's time to make an unashamedly girly card!  Don't forget to use one of Phindy's gorgeous digis and enjoy being pretty in pink:). 

I've used one of those adorable Summer Cuties, this is Bye-bye Butterfly.  There is a beautiful, to scale butterfly included in Phindy's digi, of course.  However my card is so busy that I chose to add a little punched butterfly instead.  I wanted to add lots of flowers and swirls so I made an easel card, basing it on the sketch at Spoonful of Sugar Challenge this week.  Image is coloured with Copics, cut out and popped up onto silicon glue on top of an embossed circle.  The DP is a freebie from My Mind's Eye that came with a magazine.  The left hand flower is a Prima, with a metal spacer from Quixotic Paperie added.  There are metal butterfly charms added to the computer generated sentiment.  All the leaves, swirls, butterflies and flowers are punched and there are Liquid Pearls centres to the flowers.

I am entering my card for the following challenges:

Spoonful of Sugar - sketch

DareU2Digigstamp - blooms and charms

Flutterby Wednesday - open theme with butterfly

Paper Sundaes - metal

Charisma Cardz - easel

Digital Tuesday - butterflies or lace

Sweet Stampin' - pretty in pink

One Stop Craft Challenge - summer fun
The Pink Elephant - summer fun

Crafty Cardmakers - spotlight on punches

Berry Simple

I needed a quick Thank You card and, as I'd coloured this beautiful strawberry image I decided to use it and add some computer generated text. The main image is from Isabella's Sketchbook, love it! The tiny strawberries, leaves and flourishes are tiny tapestry stamps on wooden dowel, that were all the rage a couple of years back. Main image coloured with Copics, sponged with Distress Inks, Glossy Accents added to those juicy berries.

This card is for the following challenges:
Digital Tuesday - Summertime
Crafty Cardmakers - Inky Fingers
Isabellas' Challenge - Summer Fun
Secret Crafter - Strawberries & Cream

Dance Yourself Dizzy

I treated myself to a couple of Mo Manning images the other day and finally got round to printing them out, here's my first card from them, using the imcomparable Mummu.

My card is based around Jane's lovely sketch at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, I'm also entering it for Stamp Something's Digi Challenge and this week's Charisma Cardz Challengewhich is flowers. Pile It On's theme is Quirky, which I think is Mummu to a T and Digital Tuesday Challenge has Trendy, again I think she's right on trend:).

Image is coloured with Copics, sentiment is computer generated. The DP is Basic Grey Capella. The flowers are cut with my gorgeous new Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die, top layer is from wide mesh ribbon. I've stitched with straight and zig-zag stitch to add interest and texture.

Easter Bonnet takes in a lot of challenges

What do you think of my lovely Easter bonnet? It's a gorgeous digi from Shirleys2Girls.

I've printed and coloured it twice, popping one up on silicon glue to give it dimension. Image is coloured with Copics, Stickles, Glossy Accents and two tiny flower buttons. Sentiment is also Shirleys2Girls, comes with the digi. The image is mounted onto a piece of Cuttlebigged cardstock that has been distressed around the edges (doesn't show up too well in the photo). The punch is a Martha Stewart pansy punch, with Liquid Pearls on the flower centres. All the DP is Basic Grey Cupcake, ribbons, buttons and thread are all from stash.

This card is for these challenges:
Papertake Weekly for a brilliant sketch
Just Us Girls for the colourscheme of light brown, light blue, yellow and light green
I Love Digi Challenge - Easter
Allsorts Challenge - Spring is in the Air
Crafty Cardmakers - Spring into Spring
Secret Crafter Sat Challenge - Spring has Sprung
Digital Tuesday - Happy Spring
Stampin' for the Weekend - Easter
Stamp Something - Distressed
Your Next Stamp - Distressing
Fussy & Fancy - Green
Simon Says - Easter or Spring with some Glimmer
Everybody Art Challenge - Easter
Incy Wincy Designs - Easter or Spring
Ooh-la-la Creations - a Button, a Bow and some Bling
Stamp with Fun - Easter
Crazy 4 Challenges - Spring
Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog - Spring is in the Air
Totally Gorjuss - Ribbon
Daring Cardmakers - use a bird (check out the bonnet!)
Paper Garden Challenge - Spring or Easter card

On a Carousel

I've made another carousel card using Wings of Hope digi image, which is on sale to raise funds for Red Cross in Haiti, such a lovely image and a good cause purchase too. If you've not already bought your stamp you can get it from Whimsy Stamps here.

I made this card to enter the Copic Colour Challenge, which uses E18 Copper, E42 Sand White and E77 Maroon, which sounded perfect for the horse. Then I realsied that, despite my ever-growing collection, I don't own any of these colours! Oh well, I used E51 Milk White, E33 Sand and E57 Light Walnut, hope that's ok :). I used masses of Stickles in Cinnamon and Gold for the wings and a couple of contrast greens and yellows on the image. The DP is Basic Grey from Nook & Pantry, the copper embossed sentiment is Elusive Images. Ribbon is from stash and card candy from Craftwork Cards.

I'm also entering Papertake Weekly's Challenge, Dawn's sketch was ideal for this image, and Digital Tuesday's It's All About the Animals theme.

It takes all sizes...

Shirleys2Girls are sponsoring this week's Digital Tuesday Challenge, which is to create a Valentine's card for a loved one. I've used the adorable digi image "All Sizes" which is part of S2G's relaunch as a digi company. I printed the image twice and decoupaged the elephant couple as well as adding a few extra hearts. Coluoring is with Copics and Stickles, the black sparkle embossed sentiment is from Elusive Images. The DP has been in my stash forever, sorry don't know who made it and I've cut a scalloped rectangle with a Nestie. I'm also entering my card for A Spoonful of Sugar's Challenge, which is to include Hearts, and for Pile it On's challenge to include anything digital.

Bling - or why is mirricard so camera shy?

I think mirri card must be the hardest thing ever to photograph - this card looks a lot better in real life, I promise. I took loads of photos and these two poor pictures are the best I can do :). No chance of another try, this is the final Christmas card (I hope) and went through a letterbox tonight...

The image is an exquisite digi freebie from Fred She Said that I have decoupaged and glittered. Background is papers from Dovecraft matted onto navy card and that dratted mirri card that looks so good until you try to take its picture. Sentiment from Craftwork Cards.

This card is for Corrosive Challenges' Bling theme and also for Digital Tuesday's Let it Snow challenge - lots of snowflakes in the DP and the digi could be a fantasy flower, or it could be a snowflake - what do you think?

Bronte & Bella get glittered

Last week's challenge over at Mo Manning's blog was a glittery, blingy one. I didn't get time to take part, but this week I've managed to make a card for this week's Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge, which is to follow a sketch by Caryn. I've made up for missing last week with lots of glittery bits on it :). This is also a card for Charisma Cards' Challenge, which is "Merry & Bright" this week, which is even the sentiment on this card. Digital Tuesday's Challenge this week is Holiday Wishes, Papertake Weekly's Challenge is Digi Sparkle and Cute Card Thursday Challenge has has Glitter Me Silly as it's theme. Allsorts Challenge is to Bring Out the Bling and Cupcake Craft Challenge's theme this week is Snow Much Fun. Crafty Creations also has Snow for it's challenge this week. Whew that's eight challenges in one card!

Image coloured with Copics, Stickles and Perfect Pearls. Snow falling was added with Liquid Pearls, which had Glimmer Dust added for even more sparkle. Snowflake was cut with a new Spellbinder set I got at the NEC last week, it has Liquid Pearls and Glamour Dust added. The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards and the ribbon from stash. Papers are Basic Grey. Glue pen and more Glamour Dust are on the snowflakes and around the edges of the image and the sentiment. Bellan and Bronte are certainly glittered and so am I now:)

Falling for Grace

The lovely Shirley's2Girls held a Digi-day on the SNR Card Universe at the weekend and generously gave away this fab image called Grace does Fall. Join their group and you can also get the image. They challenged everyone to make an Autumn card (OK probably they called it Fall :) ) using the image and adding some Kraft paper. I didn't quite get my first effort finished in time for their challenge, but here it is below:
Grace is coloured with Promarkers and Copics, I've added Glossy Accents for the leaves and her specs. I didn't have any Kraft paper so I used some brown wrapping paper, torn at the edges, on the card. The DP is K & Co Que Sera, which has delicious Autumn shades and the ribbon with leaves on was bought by my DH last Christmas for me. The background looks a bit washed out, it is a stronger blue than the scan shows, from painting with Adirondack Deninm ink.

Having seen that Digital Tuesday's Challenge this week is to create a clean and simple Fall card I decided to have another play with Gracie. I've made the colours as vibrant as I could this time.
Isn't the photo I've added beautiful? It's from some junk mail for a garden centre's sale that I got through the door. It's far too pretty to throw away so I mounted it onto yellow card and added it to my card. On my first card I felt the leaves looked very insignificant. This time I cropped them from the image and enlarged them. They show up much better and they're not so tricky to cut out! A Spoonful of Sugar also has Fall into Autumn for its challenge this week, so this card fits a second challenge.

DT Call - Digital Tuesday

Digital Tuesday is looking for Design Team members, check out the details here. As you'd expect, DT members need to be familiar with working with digital designs. Deadline is 8 September.