Happy Bark-Day! - Inspirational Cards Sketches #21 meets Shirleys2Girls

I got my prize stamp from Shirleys2Girls in the post earlier this week and I used it for this week's Inspirational Card Sketches Challenge. It's a great stamp with several alternative sentiments included; I've used two here. I love this stamp, it's going to be so useful, thanks Shirleys2Girls!The circular birthday sentiment is a Hero Arts clear stamp.

I've paper pieced the stamp and coloured it in with Koh-i-Noor pencils, the papers are Basic Grey cupcake, which are bright and summery, with some blue Bazzill card as the base to the card.

The card is for Dad's birthday, Happy Birthday Dad!

Hey Cupcake - Ismaki 01/06 Delphine

The challenge at Ismaki this week is to use Delphine's sketch, as well as at least one button and one flower. Oh, and a white background too :). I found it quite challenging to fit all the elements onto it, Delphine designed it as a 12 x 12" scrap layout and I've fitted it all onto a 6" square card. There won't be many more challenges from Ismaki and I didn't want to miss one even though I don't scrapbook.

I went to Stamp Attic today and saw a card, in the flesh, that Wendy has posted on her new blog, using the Hero Art cupcakes. It jogged me to get my cupcake stamps out and use them with the most gorgeous set of double-sided papers that I bought there a few weeks back. They're called On A Whimsy and made by Fancy Pants in lovely soft vintage ice cream colours, but the designs are ever so slightly edgier than the pastels imply.

I paper pieced the cupcake and mounted it onto the co-ordinated back, with the sentiment stamped at the top. The candle has a Stickles flame. I've followed the layout using the papers and some yellow Bazzill card, the border is cut with a Sissix die. The flowers are from Stamp Attic and the button is from my button box. :). Ahem I found some equally lovely paper from Basic Grey on my visit but a card from that will have to wait for another time...

Corrosive Challenges #14 - Sad Flowers

It's time for another Corrosive Challenge, which is sadly my last as a member of Janet's Design Team. Yes, three months really have gone that quickly :). It's been great fun being a DT member and I'd like to thank Janet for setting up her Challenge Blog; I can't wait to take part as a player from now on. It's been great seeing what everyone has come up with each week and I'm sure the next DT will produce work that is equally awesome.

On to the challenge: create a sympathy card with flowers on. Sadly sympathy cards are always needed; I tend to keep mine fairly simple and un-fussy and this one is no exception. I've used two Hero Arts stamps: the dandelion clock works well for a sympathy card I feel with all its connotations of Time. The sentiment comes from a long border set that I've had for quite a while now. Both are stamped in brown Stazon onto a green Bazzill bling card. The background has three strips of paper on it, though as two are from a stripe it's hard to tell that the centre brown floral isn't all part of the same piece of paper! The papers were a magazine freebie.

Have fun entering the Challenge, I look forward to seeing everyone's creations!

Whiff of Joy Challenge 31

This week's Whiff of Joy challenge is a pretty sketch from Heather. I've used it with an image sent to me by my blogging "Sistah" Leslie. Thanks Leslie (waving!), I know you have a lot going on just now, hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend :).

I've coloured with my new Koh-i-Noor pencils, I'm quite pleased with the effect I'm getting using them on clothes, the background needs some practice though...

I've used Stickles on her wings, belt buckle and jewellery with Glossy Accents on the hearts. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts cupcake set of clear stamps. Papers are from the Stamp Attic, aqua and chocolate are one of my favourite combinations. The embellishments came from Hobbycraft's sale.

Three birds with one stone...

This card combines three challenges, hence the name, I know there are two birds, not three, sitting on the fence :) To begin, I've used the Dawn's great sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches #16 .

The lilac and lemon colour scheme (plus digi image) is from Dare You to Digistamp's Friday Challenge and the final touch is GLITTER for Secret Crafter's Saturday Challenge # 32

The digi image is a free printable from Pollycraft called Lovebirds. The page comes with extra sets of the birds and fence to cut round, very handy. I'm not totally sure about digis, I do like to be able to emboss images when I want, but this freebie is a great way to test them out, thank you Paula for your generosity. I've coloured with Inktense pencils and used Glitter on top of Glossy Accents on wings, tails and hearts, then Stickles as it wasn't glittery enough for me.

The birds and fence are both cut round (ack the fence has a lot of detail!) and are mounted onto foma pads to give dimension. The lilac spots and stripes are free magazine papers, the purple butterfly is an Artylicious paper. The vellum is stamped with a Hero Arts sentiment and is attached with brads. Purple gems at the top are from Kaiser. Nice colourscheme, with hindsight it could have used a little contrast...

Elzybell's Challenge #19 & Cute Card Thursday #58 - Mirror Mirror

Isn't this dog image from Elzybells cute? There is a matching image of a dog carrying a rolled up newspaper but I like this one best, he is giving a very feeble tail-wag because he knows he shouldn't tear up the paper but sometimes you just can't resist temptation :).

I've used Rachel's sketch from this week's Elzybell's Challenge and I've included lots of gold shiny card, which means I'm also entering it for Cute Card Thursday's Mirror, Mirror Challenge.


I've coloured the dog with my Copics; I'm a bit underwhelmed with the effect I'm getting, doesn't look all that professional :(. The edge started out with faux stitching drawn in with a Pigma Micron pen. Annoyingly I smudged a corner so went over it with a waterbrush and Distress Ink to blend it in. To my surprise, the "permanent" ink ran into the blend... Hmm...


Flowers are Hero Arts, Design Paper is from a gorgeous Basic Grey pad I bought at Ally Pally. The card blank is left showing in the background, I like the contrast of brown matte with gold shiny.

Ismaki Challenge 27/04 - sketch & violet

Ismaki has a great sketch to use for this week's challenge, with the twist that there must be some purple included in the card. I've used a new stamp set that I bought at Ally Pally last week from Dimension Fourth The set is their Parisian stamp set and it includes a map of Paris, a little dog, and the threee stamps I've used here: Ooh La La, Eiffel Tower and the woman drinking cafe au lait.

This is the first time I've bought from Dimension Fourth. They sell clear stamps that I'm really liking using. They give a sharp image and seem to take various inks happily without the problems I've had with a better known brand. I think you'll be seeing more of Dimension Fourth on here... :)

I've watercoloured the woman in purple and edged the oval with chalk ink. The Eiffel Tower and the text are stamped in Adirondack Eggplant onto a greyish purple cardstock from the Stamp Attic, it's the plain side of one of their lovely florals. The cardstock was edged with a decorative blade on my paper trimmer.

The flowers are made from Bazzil bling and the cardstock, using two flower punches. I've stamped leaves behind them I' don't have anything to cut leaf shapes. The ribbon is from Stamp Attic and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear set.

Card Sketch A Day - #239

Today another couple of cards that I made for Susan Costanza's blog were published. The theme with the sketch was "split the sentiment". Top card uses a flower stamp from the Craftwork Cards botanicals set. I've used Glossy Accents on the flowers to give them some dimension. The sentiments are from a Hero Arts set and the papers are all from the Stamp Attic, I've used this co-ordinating set a lot.

Thse second card uses the Craftwork Cards botanicals stamps again. The Get Well Soon is all on one stamp, can't remember who makes it. I've split it by masking part of the stamp with a Post-It. The paper is from the Stamp Attic again, I've cut the papers with a decorative blade in my paper trimmer to make it a little different from the first card.

CPS Challenge 112

I've used a pretty sketch from Card Positioning System's blog challenge to make this simple card. It isn't easy to get a good photo of it, the paper used is silver and black and it looks better in real life! The paper, card flowers and faux brads are all from Craftwork Cards. The two sentiments are both from a Hero Arts set of birthday greetings.

Corrosive Challenges #7 - sketchtime

This week on the Corrosive Challenges blog, Janet has created a great sketch to use. I got out my Hero Arts clear stamps and tried some of the treatments that were suggested to get them taking up ink. So they've had an eraser rubbed over them, Stazon cleaner, Versamark ink and then washed. I've not yet tried sandpaper, I'm worried about losing the impression.

It then stamped ok using Stazon, which stamped well as I expected, however the stamp stuck to the paper and I had problems lifting it without tearing the paper :). Hmm....

I coloured in the flowers with Inktense pencils, cut the oval and the framing oval with Nestabilities and added Crate Paper dp from the Stamp Attic. I don't know where the "Thank You" stamp came from, I think I bought it in a job lot on Ebay. Centres of the flowers are highlighted with amethyst coloured gems.

Don't forget to join in this week's Corrosive Challenge to be in with a chance to win some fab prizes :)

Inspirational Cards Sketches #10

Still sticking to my CAS (clean and simple) theme for this week, here is a card I've made using this great sketch from Dawn Baty over on the ICS Challenge. There's a bit more going on in the sketch, but I've simplified where I could.





The cupcake is from my Hero Arts clear set, the wrapper is paper pieced from gold card, the colour is Inktense pencils with some Stickles added to the icing. Both of the sentiments, the design paper and the ribbon all come from the Craftwork Cards Goody Bag that I bought at Make It in February. I'm getting good value for money from it :). I plan to go to Ally Pally later this month and maybe get another of their goody bags.


I love the sketch and hope to have another play with it, when I'm not in CAS mode, but for now I'm quite pleased with the result I've got.

Sketch & Stash Challenge #7

This week's Sketch & Stash has a simple and very usable sketch to follow, with your choice of if and where embellishments and sentiments go. From my stash I've used some Hero Arts clear stamps that I really struggle with and which have consequently been neglected. The tree and the owl are part of a large set with a long tree branch. I find the stamps just impossible to ink up successfully with anything other than a one-colour inkpad such as a Versafine, even that doesn't take too well, colours just bead on the surface and seem to vanish. If anyone has suggestions for how to make the stamps more usable I'd love to hear them! These stamps are my old stash.





For this card I've used Marvy le Plumes and spent HOURS going over and over the colours, they still look pretty faint :(. The owl and the sentiment are easy, the were copper embossed so no problems there. Basic Grey paper is new stash that I won from a challenge on Papercraftplanet.

Have Your Cake & Eat It

This week there are several food related challenges, I want to make several cards and hopefully not combine projects, you can never have too many cake cards :). Secret Crafter's Saturday Challenge #23 is to use something cake related on a project.

I got out the co-ordinated pack I bought from Craftwork Cards and added in a Hero Arts cupcake. The cupcake is coloured with watercolour pencils, the frame is chalked. Paper, ribbon, frame, tag and faux brads are all Craftwork Cards.

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Dawny's Sketch

I've used Dawny's sketch from Papertake's Weekly Challenge to make a very simple With Sympathy card.

The Dawn Chorus is an Elusive Images stamp, the sentiment is from Hero Arts. They are both stamped onto Glimmer Misted paper which is then matted with a bronze paper I bought ages ago at a Fill-Your-Box stand at a show. The final yellow paper is from Stamp Attic, the flowery bits hopefully don't show too much as it's a card for a man....

First Gorjuss Card - Cats

Yesterday my Gorjuss Girls stamps arrived! I didn't do the first pre-order due to lack of money :), but when a few extra full sets went on sale at the weekend I snapped one up. They are maybe a little smaller than I was thinking but, as everyone has said who has bought them, they colour like a dream.



Karen from Sugar Nellie has issued a challenge on Split Coast Stampers to make a card using only part of the image, adding some verse or poetry and sending it to a friend. So this card is for our dear friends who until this year were "owned" by Rusty and Jessica. Rusty was a very old gentleman and his loss was not unexpected, but when Jessica was diagnosed with diabetes and swiftly went downhill it was a shock.



Foxy and the two cats are coloured with watercolour pencils. The peom is by Eleanor Farjeon, although not a cat person I've always loved this :). There's some decorative stitching on the cardstock and the flowers are by Hero Arts. The papers are from the Stamp Attic.



The next week is very hectic for me, I hope to find some more time to play with my lovely new stamps :)

Secret Crafter, Challenge #20

Jill has designed a nice sketch at Secret Crafter this week which is similar to the Friday Sketchers card I made below. Again, I've made it using the card kit that I bought on Friday from Craftwork Cards .

The brighter pink square is from my stash. The two pearelscent triangles, the cards that the Hero Arts cupcake is stamped on and the frame (coloured with chalks and Stickles) are from the kit. I've mounted the flower on a sticky pad togive dimension and used some Stickles, as well as gold peel-offs in the corners. I love the frame!

Friday Sketchers - Sketch 40

On Friday I went to MakeIt, a craft show at Farnborough. I found a new-to-me trader called Craftwork Cards with some really nice stuff. I bought a card kit to make 40 cards, with cards, papers, ribbons, die-cut embossed frames and printed greetings for £10 and decided to use it to make this week's challenge for Friday Sketchers, a very nice sketch from Jacqueline in the Netherlands.

The really interesting product that they had on their stand is an interesting kind of faux brad that they call Card Candy . They are made from cardboard and are stuck down with silicone glue or foam pads. Now I like brads, but... sometimes they make the card so bulky that it costs extra to post, sometimes the "legs" show through tin paper on cards and sometimes I don't know that a card "needs" a brad until I've matted and layered and it's too late to put one on! So I thought this was a great idea and bought a couple of packs in different colours to the ones in the card kit.

Anyway, on with the card :). All papers from Craftwork Cards kit, as are ribbon, "brads" and greeting. I've gold-embossed a Hero Arts cupcake onto their paper, rubbed chalk ink onto the cake wrapper and added a pink gemstone to the top of the cake. It's a nice sketch to use and I love the card kit. I'm not sure it will make 40 for me as I like to layer quite a lot of papers onto my cards, but it certainly makes plenty of quick and easy co-ordinated cards.

Sketch & Stash Challenge 4

The latest Sketch & Stash Challenge uses two images side by side. For this card I've really mixed old and new. The two stamps are Hero Arts and are almost the very first stamps I ever got. I used them a lot and still really like them but they've been sitting in the drawer for a while as I have so many other goodies to play with :). I've used Marvy le Plume pens and then added some Stickles from the Stamp Attic to give them a different look. They are matted onto Glimmer Misted green paper and then onto some lovely new paper from Stamp Attic. The "Best Wishes" is an Elusive Images stamp.

The new part of the card is the lovely Prima flowers that I've used. Again they're from the Stamp Attic, aren't they gorgeous?

Wishing Gatefold - SBS Challenge

Janet, from my SBS "sisters" has challenged us all to make a gatefold card this week. I've used my Leanne Ellis Wish image again, stamped onto glossy paper and coloured with a mixture of Copics and Marvy le Plume pens. I've cut round her and put her onto a Glimmer Misted background.

There is some silvery prisma glitter (Hero Arts) on her wings. The wings nearly went horribly wrong. I decided I wanted gold shaded wings and coloured them with a yellow Copic pen, using the mauve of her skirt for the splotches. Oh no! Instant leopard-skin Chav wings! Disaster! I rescued them by colouring over them with a blue Copic, making them a grey-green and covering up with the prisma glitter. This was a close escapre, I'd hate to be responsible for the first Chav Sugar Nellie card :0)

The main background paper is from the Graphicus Guild paper packs and the darker purple is from the Stamp Attic. I've embossed a sentiment from Elusive Images and swirls from my Paper Artsy "free" set, using silver tinsel powder.

Friday Sketchers Challenge #9

This week Heidi from Norway has made a very pretty sketch. As she says, this is ideal weather to be indoors crafting. I imagine Heidi has much more snow than we do, at long last I can see grass, the snow is only a couple of inches thick now!

I've used lots of different stamps on this card. I've started off with a Sugar Nellie stamp, Talking to the Birds, watercoloured, in the oval. "It's Your Birthday" is a Hero Arts clear stamp. The two birds above the oval are by Inkadinkado and the final flourishes are copper embossed, using stamps from Elusivve Image's Ruby Tuesday and Diamante Delights sets.

The papers come from the Stamp Attic, the mauve is the reverse of the pretty flower paper.