A Stitch in Time Saves Nine...

This week's challenge at the Sugar Bowl is to follow a nice, usable sketch by Gayle, adding ribbons and bows. Ribbons and bows sounded like a good excuse to use Stitch, my gorgeous Leanne Ellis stamp. And just look at the paper I found at Stamp Attic last week - just had to bring it home to meet Stitch :).

I kept the card fairly simple, the image and the DP are both quite busy. Stitch is coloured with Promarkers and Copics, and a little yellow Stickles on her buttons and the knitting needles. The sentiments is Elusive Images, mounted onto Bazzill card and the ribbons are from stash.

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy

Katherina at Whiff of Joy is giving away a very generous blog candy: the Elizabeth Bell Autumn Release stamp kit. Closing date is 26 July, if you haven't yet visited her be sure to look out for the anniversary blog hop tonight, from Katherina's blog.
See you there :)

Northern Papercraft Retreat Blog Candy

There's great blog candy on offer to publicise the Northern Papercraft Retreat: 36 Copic markers. Check out the blog, the retreat sounds great fun. Enter by 31 July.

Whoever stole summer, please give it back!

I'm a bit down in the dumps today, mainly because of the weather. Rain, rain, rain :(. We go on holiday in a week, Windermere where we're going had 1 1/2" rain in a day last time I looked at the weather records. I know, if you want hot summer sun don't book a holiday in England. Just like last year, we booked lateish in the hope that the hay would be in and the kind friend who looks after the horses wouldn't have that to worry about. Of course, just like last year, the hay is sitting wet and uncut...

Anyway, enough whingeing, I've tried to make the sun come out with my card today. Slightly bizarrely, I've begun by looking at the Pile It On Challenge, the Challenge that encourages combining as many challenges as possible in one card. I've not entered this one before, but it's theme of mostly orange sounded fun. I've not managed to combine it with too many other challenges, but I've certainly cracked the orange thing :).

I've used the sketch from the Sketch & Stash Challenge, which is always fun to take part in. I need to list old, neglected and new stash for this one. The gorgeous House Mouse image is negelcted stash, sent to me by my blogging friend Janet ages ago. I love it and haven't wanted to use it up, how silly is that! The sentiment is new, it's from Dimension Fourth and came as part of my July stamps. The bright yellow flower is old stash, it was a freebie with a magzine ages ago and the orange spotty K&K paper is new stash from Newbury Art Stamps show.
I've coloured in with Copics and a grey Promarker, the card candy (faux brads) are from Craftwork Cards and I changed my beige ribbon to orange with my Copics.

The third challenge I've entered is another I've not entered before: Pink Elephant Challenge this week is to use animals on your card.

Just Walkin' the Dog

Charmed Cards & Crafts has the most amazing blog candy on offer: 72 Copic pens worth £160 - yes 72 pens!!! To enter, all you need do is to link to the candy, as I've done here, make a card with a coloured-in stamped or digi-image. If you use a Charmed Crafts digi-image or stamp, you get two entries into the draw. This is just too good to miss, check it out and get your entry in by 4 August.

I've used "Walkies" one of Charmed Craft's Girls About Town digi set which has some great girly images. She's coloured with a mixture of Promarkers (pine, pastel yellow, pastel blue, cool aqua) and Copics (skin white, barely beige & chamois). As she doesn't quite fit my oval I've chopped her terrier off and decoupaged another over the edge of the oval. Terriers need cutting down to size, they're always trying for world domination I find :).

The stripe is a K&K paper, brads are Papermania and the sentiment on the tag is from Elusive Images. I've used Janet's great sketch from this week's Corrosive Challenge to make my card and I'm also entering it for this week's Charisma Cardz Challenge, which is Tag It.

Three Challenges - One Birthday Card

This week I have the exact match for one of the colours for Copic Colour Challenge this week and two others that are close - hooray! I have Pea Green and I used R32 Peach and YR02 Light Orange with the green.

I followed a very nice Sketch from this week's Simon Says Challenge, first time I've entered this one, though I've seen Dawny P's sketches all over blogdom, they're always good ones to work with. I'm also entering the card for Papertake Weekly's Challenge, which is a take your pick colour combi from any or all of: pink, black, white, yellow, green, grey and lilac, plus any other colours. I've used pink and green from the list.

On to the card: I chose to use one of my favourite Leanne Ellis images from Sugar Nellie - she's called Poise. As you know, I've coloured her with Copics. Other colours I've used are skin white, chamois and pale blue. When I'd coloured her, I didn't like the plain background so I coloured it blue. I was worried it looked uneven and went over it with the blender pen. It's still uneven but now it's in a nice mottled way, not a nursery-school colouring book way. At least I hope so :). I think I need to learn more about the blender pen, it doesn't work the way I think...

The sentiment is from Dimension Fourth and I've used pearl gems on the flowers and beside the entiment. The papers are lovely double sided papers by Crate Paper, from Stamp Attic, all edged with Distress Ink, and I've added some blue grosgrain ribbon.

Anita The Orphan Stamp Comes Home

I'm thrilled with the cards that I got back from the Stamp Attic Swap with my orphan stamp. I found that Judy, a very creative member of the group, had my stamp for the month. She really like it and took several images to use for herself, which I'm glad about. She obviously warmed to it more than I did the bunch of violets stamp I had :).

My orphan is a Stampington stamp called Anita. I bought it on holiday in Florida last year and loved it but had, shamefully, never inked it up. Judy's given me some great inspiration for using it, thanks Judy!

First one is matched with a lovely sepia backing paper and given a vintage feel, eyelets and ribbon are added to the card.


The second is a feminine pink card, the image is trimmed to a tag shape and mounted onto pearlescent card with gold brads and organza ribbon:


Just look at this b&w stunner: a Cuttlebug sentiment, deckle card and some torn black paper, looks like mulberry paper. I love them all but this is just so elegant and beautiful. Now I'd better play with the stamp :)

Bee Happy - Elzybell's Challenge #23

There's a very pretty, CAS sketch on the Elzybell's blog for their challenge this week. I've used some blue-green floral paper for my colour scheme. Back when I first went to a cardmaking shop, the shop owner showed me this paper pack and told me how good it was that it's available in 6", 8" and 12" sizes, with the patterns in proportion. I was a bit muddled so would you believe I bought all three sizes! The woman must have thought I was mad and I have enough paper to cover the walls of a small room - in 3 different sizes :).

Anyhow, I picked out a paper, coloured my flowery Elzybell's images to co-ordinate, matted them onto co-ordinating card and stood back to admire my creation. From about 5' you couldn't see anything but blue, it was all so well blended in that it looked like a sheet of paper! So I took it apart and added a zingy orange to the row of flowers and the sentiment. Much better!

Elzybell's stamps were coloured with Koh-i-Noor pencils (available from Elzybells), card is matted onto Bazzil Basics and I can't remember who made the three sizes of paper :)

The Last of the Orphans and an ATC

Here's the third and last of the cards I've made with an orphan stamp for the Stamp Attic swap. I should get my stamp back with three cards, can't wait to see what has been made with it :).

For this card I've trimmed the image down to just over 1" of detail, stamped with Dusty Concord Distress Ink; I've drawn some of the colour into the violets.

The card is a pearlescent yellow DL, I've trimmed off the RH edge and used my new Martha Stewart punch on it, mounting Graphicus Guild paper under the shaped edge. I've cut a strip of the same paper and shaped it on each side with the punch. The images are mounted onto gold card and stuck over the paper strip, with an Elusive Images sentiment at the bottom.

I think this is my favourite of the three cards, I won't be sorry to give the stamp back to its owner :). It's a good swap idea though, it's made me think :)

Here's my ATC for the Stamp Attic July swap, which is holidays:

I won the Beachabella in a Challenge from my awesome Blogging Sister Janet. She's coloured with Copics and paper pieced onto Bazzill card and pearlescent yellow. Her sunglasses are highlighted with black Stickles, they really show up well in the flesh. I've stamped a sun and some seashells on there to make her feel at home :)

My Grafico Challenge #10 - Brown & Teal

This week's Challenge at My Grafico is to use the lovely colour combination of brown and teal.
The winner gets the digi stamp set Garden Elements used this week by the Design Team. I can honestly say this is one of my favourite sets. Before I was picked for the DT at My Grafico I was lucky enough to win a challenge. The prize was any one of the sets from the site and this is the one I picked, it's so versatile. Check out the DT work, it's really lovely.

For my card I arranged the three different flowers in a row and printed them onto a teal blue paper from my Graphicus Guild membership, an Artylicous background paper and some pearlized blue card. I've assembled the flowers in several different layers using the papers and added pale blue Stickles. I've edged the image with Distress Ink in Scattered Straw and coloured the stems with Promarkers. I've added some teal organza ribbon and some brown brads and mounted it onto a brown pearlized card and then added it to my card.

Soft & Sweet

I've been looking at the Copic Colour Challenges for a few weeks, now I'm getting to grips with my pens, but I've not entered until now as I've not had anything like the right colours. This week I'm in luck, Challenge #22 is to follow a sketch. I've flipped the sketch on its side and I've used my Copics, mainly in the skintones, to colour in a new Penny Black stamp that I got at Newbury. The theme over at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is "Soft & Sweet", which fits the image perfectly, I think.

The image is stamped with Cocoa Brown Memento inks and coloured with Copics, with the exception of the grey around the image, which is a Promarker. The chocolate and gold paper and the butterfly sentiment are from Craftwork Card's Chocolate Goodie Bag, the two patterned pink papers are K&K and the flowers are Prima.

You can't beat a good book

I've used a new Mary Hall stamp from Sugar Nellie to make this card. As soon as I saw the sneak peek of it on the SN blog I knew it would find its way home with me :).

The card is for several challenges: first of all the colour scheme is from this week's Passion for Promarkers Challenge: Gold & Ruby with jewels or gems. I've got Gold but I had to substitute Poppy for Ruby as I don't have too many colours yet. I've used the sketch from The Next Level, which is to be used with a 3D effect. I've decoupaged the image, the girl and cushions are raised on pads and then I've put a third layer for her mug, the cat and the book. Stamp with Fun and Dutch Dare both have Challenges to use dies or punches; I've used Nestie circles and I've cut the flowers with a die as well.

On to the card: I've used all Promarkers to colour the image, which is stamped with Cocoa Brown Memento onto white card. Face is Vanilla with some grey shading, dress is cocoa and the rest is Poppy and Gold. I also used the Promarkers to colour pearls to give the card its gems, to colour the flowers I diecut from white card and to colour the lemon yellow ribbon. Aren't they brilliant for this? I plan to buy a couple of reels of ivory ribbon, knowing I can colour it however I want...

The two papers are Artylicious, one from the Seasons Greetings CD and one from Graphicus Guild membership paper. The sentiment is by Elusive Images. The picture isn't the best, I hope to take a better one in the morning, in daylight :).

Saturday Challenge #40 - the orphan stamp

Jane has supplied this pretty sketch for this week's Secret Crafter Challenge. I still have two more cards to make for the Orphan Swap at Stamp Attic's Club and I decided to use the sketch for this. For the orphan swap, we each brought in a "wonder why" stamp - as in "Why did I Buy this?", "Why don't I use this?". We took home someone else's stamp, in a bag, without knowing what came from who, and need to make 3 cards to return with the stamp, to give its owner some inspiration.

I've stamped onto navy card with clear embossing ink and powder, then painted it with resist colour paints. The flower centres have Perfect Pearls in them. I stamped a spare image and added flowers and leaves to the card on 3d pads, for interest. I cut the navy card into a circle with Nestabilities, added a larger gold card circle and then a navy scalloped circle, hopefully giving it the look of a gold ring. The papers are Artylicious, from my Graphicus Guild membership. The sentiment stamp is also Graphicus Guild, an Elusives Images stamp and I've had the sheer ribbon for ever - well pre cardmaking anyway :). Two cards made, one to go...

In the Doghouse - Friday Sketchers #60 and Corrosive Challenges #20

Friday Sketchers has a great, very usable sketch this week, which I've based my card on for Janet's Corrosive Challenge, which this week is All About Dogs. I've made a fairly simple card using a lovely Elzybell's stamp called In The Doghouse.

I'm getting more confident with the Copics and the Promarrkers and I've used some bright colours this time, with a little Stickles on the flowers and some Glossy Accents on the dog's nose, which shows up better in real life than in the photo :). The image is edged with blue chalk pad and with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

The papers are K&K Hopscotch and the brads came from Made by You.

DT Call for My Grafico!

My Grafico is looking for three more cardmakers to join our design team, having fun creating for the challenge blog each week. Check out the blog for more info. Deadline for applications is 19th July.

Sugar Bowl Challenge #14

This week's Sugar Bowl Challenge is to use Judy's fun sketch and to include sparkle. I've delayed making this a bit as I've been playing with my new Mary Hall images that I didn't want to "bling up" :). So I went back to my trusty Leanne Ellis Annie with birdhouse image (can't see it on Funky Kits at present, I'm sure it'll be back on there soon).

She's stamped with cocoa brown Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers and Copics. The edging is done with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. Papers are mostly K&K, apart from the green nearly vertical one behind Annie, which is from Basic Grey's Porcelain papers and worked well with the others. The flower is Prima. I've added the sparkle in green gems that are on the papers and the sentiment, Stickles on Annie's dress and the flower centres and Stickles on the brad in the flower.

My Grafico Challenge - Fruity Fun

This week brings another great challenge at My Grafico - Fruity Fun. The prize is a great digi-stamp set: Yummy Fruits. I've made an anniversary/wedding card with one of the images. I've reduced it, mirrored it and made a border on white cardstock that I coloured with a Copic and a Promarker. Two more pears are coloured with the pens, mounted onto foam pads and coated with Glossy Accents. The image is mounted onto Bazzill card in green and then yellow and then onto a fern print cardstock. The sentiment is computer generated.

Do check out the Challenge and give it a go; you don't have to use a My Grafico image to enter and you have a great chance of winning :)

Whiff of Joy Challenge #38

For this week's Whiff of Joy challenge, which is a lovely sketch by Katherina, I've used a very cute image sent to me by my blogging sister Leslie, who is a big Whiff of Joy fan. I'm getting the hang of my Copics now, as well as the Promarkers, which I'm still finding easier to use, and I've coloured Melinda with them. Her wings and bangle have Glossy Accents on them and there is red Stickles on the hearts on her jewellery. The Distress Ink on the edges is Scattered Straw.

The gorgeous papers are Basic Grey porcelain and I've used a Woodware punch to make the diamond border to the spotty brown paper. The flowers are Prima and the "foliage" is a Halloween tree punch. No idea who made the sentiment stamp, it belongs to my friend Marion and has no manufacturer's name on it.

And all because the lady loves Milk Tray... Stampin' for the Weekend #6 & Papertake Challenge

I've gone ever so slightly over the top with my card for Stampin' for the Weekend's challenge :). The challenge for this week is Strawberries Dipped in Chocolate... yum. There have been quite a few pink/brown challenges, and very nice they are too, but this is a red and brown theme, slightly different. I'm putting it as a second entry to Papertake Weekly's Challenge, which I hope is allowed, it just fits their theme of My Favourite Things so well ;).

When I was looking at Dimension Fourth's stand at Newbury last week, I remembered that I'd bought a stamp set for a box of chocolates from them, having seen some wonderful artwork on their stand, but hadn't used the stamps. Now I can justify a mega stamp collection, but not one that sits unused :), so I decided to get to work with the set for this theme. There wasn't any artwork on the stand last week but I talked to the very helpful woman who was demoing on the stand who told me about a mocked up box of chocolates and how it had been put together. So this is my take on the theme:

Detail:
I found two different sheets of brown pearlescent card and some pink pearlescent card to stamp my chocolates onto. I embossed all of the chocolates to give them a realistic look. I don't have any brown embossing ink or powder, but I found that, if I worked fast, I could emboss my Memento dye ink with clear powder and get the effect I was looking for. I've never tried this before, I'm so happy it works, gives me a lot more colours I can heat emboss now!

The chocolate box itself is gold embossed onto Bazzil card; it's hard to see all the lovely detail in the stamp as I've given it a lid with an acetate centre. This is the first time I've stamped onto acetate, in fact it's the first time I've ever used it on a card. I started with a box lid with "Thanks" stamped on it, but when my elder son came home from work late last night he claimed the card for a birthday party this evening. I tried to remove the acetate from the first lid to change it over and noticed that it had smudged even after a long drying time. So this lid was stamped around midnight, with "Happy Birthday" and left overnight to dry thoroughly. I don't think the midnight bit's too important, but the long drying time certainly is :).

Inside:
The chocolates are all mounted onto foam pads, I've used a double layer of foam pads around the box lid to make it stand out. The card is made from the same Bazzil card as the box and I've trimmed an inch from the RH side to use my new punch that I got at Newbury last week. It's a Woodware punch, about 1/5th the cost of the Martha Stewart punch I intended to buy; I have no problem buying expensive stamps but I can be such a miser when it comes to other craft stuff :). The papers come from Craftwork Cards, as does the brown greeting button. For the first time in ages I've used peel-offs, on the box lid. They just looked right...

Inside the card I've added more chocolate (you can never have too much chocolate, right?) and the greeting. Oh, both sentiments are Elusive Images. It's going to be difficult to let this card go, it's different from anything I've done before. It was a lot of work, but I think it's worth it :).

Truly Scrumptious Challenge #11 - Christmas in July

This is my second try at this week's Truly Scrumptious sketch - the first time I forgot that the challenge uses black, white and one other colour! I know no one wants to think about Christmas yet, but I had an idea for a card using my Art Impressions stamp of Bethlehem and decided it would look good in black, white and silver.

Stamped on white paper using Soot Distressed Ink and the ink used to colour the rooftops, I've used a glue pen and some Hero Arts prisma glitter for the star. The circle is layered onto silver card, which I've also used the a Cuttlebug swirls folder on the card. The papers are from Craftwork Cards, I've added some black grosgrain ribbon and the felt snowflake came from, in think, the Stamp Attic. As always, the silver card is a challenge to photograph. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to photograph it without the distracting rainbow effect please?