Tuesday 28 June 2011

Oldie But A Goodie #22 - Anything Goes



Hello strangers, and welcome to another Oldie But A Goodie Challenge. It's been a whole 10 days since I have posted a card ... just been SOOO busy I don't know where the time has gone to!! July is looking set to be pretty hectic too, but after that I'm hoping that things will calm down a bit and I can get a bit more "me" time :-)

This week we have a very easy peasy challenge that you are bound to love ....

Anything Goes

Just remember there are only a couple of simple rules for the challenge - you should submit a new piece of work that uses a stamped image (no digis please) that's at least six months old ... that's why we're called An Oldie But A Goodie ;-)

This challenge we are sponsored by The Angel Company, who have kindly offered this cute prize ...


The other DT ladies have created a fabulous selection of cards for your inspiration, and this week we are welcoming a new DT member - Claire - so please do go and check out her creation. Here's my effort ....



I had to overcome the temptation to use one of several uninked newbie stamps I have got around the place at the moment; as I wanted to make a card which would also tie in with this week's sketch over at Lili of the Valley. This image seemed like a good choice to fit both the sketch and the new papers that I was itching to play with lol!


Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Fairies - On Tiptoe" coloured with Promarkers and decorated wtih Stickles on the wings;
Sentiment: Debbi Moore Designs;
Papers: sei;
Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; lace from Crafts4U2Do; pearl spray from local craft shop; ribbon from my stash;
Tools: small, large, and large scalloped circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart small monarch butterfly punch.


Challenges:

2 Sisters #45 - Fairies
Bloggers Challenge - Things With Wings
Totally Gorjuss #86 - Ribbons and Lace
Ooh-La-La #83 - Summer Flowers
Deep Ocean #2 - Flowers
Crafty Pad #127 - Soft Pastels
Dream Valley #10 - Ribbons
Crafty Creations #124 - Let It Shine!
Stampin' For The Weekend #11 - My Favourite Things
(LotV, WOC, lace, pastel colours)
The Shabby Tea Room #68 - My Favourite Things
(favourite papers are always my newest, and my fave embellishments are flowers, lace and pearls)
Pile It On #26 - Circles
Kaboodle #73 - Circles
Top Tip Tuesday #40 - T is for ...
Turquoise, Tiptoe Fairy, Two Butterflies, Two Papers
I ♥ ProMarkers #71 - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey #13 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join in with us this week - have a great week and let's hope the weather will hold!

Saturday 25 June 2011

Penny Black Saturday #157 and Blog Hop Winner

Morning everyone - wow thanks so much to everyone who entered our 3rd birthday blog-hop fun last week over at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, and for all your kind comments on my card. I managed to visit every single entry and was blown away by the gorgeous standard of them all.

Now the exciting bit .....

All the ladies in the DT asked the question:
and the answer from me is .....

YEP!!  :-)

 I have been hiding this fantastic prize from our sponsor Fantastic Ribbons


Let me tell you it was extremely difficult to pick a winner, but after a lot of agonizing I managed it ... and that would be you

Wendy (Flowergirl) - entry 62

Here is Wendy's fabulous card - I adored everything about it.


Wendy could you please contact Kath via the main challenge blog, and she will arrange to get your prize out to you :-)

Don't forget to check out the other ladies' blogs, to see if any of them are hiding a prize with your name on it  ;-)

So now onto this week's challenge, and we have a theme

Stitch It Up

Alas there is great big gap where my card should be, as I didn't manage to make on for a combo of reasons that I won't bore you with.  The other ladies have stepped up though, so please do go and check them out for some inspiration.

I'll be round to visit your creations during the week - have a great weekend!

Saturday 18 June 2011

Penny Black Saturday #156 - Third Birthday Challenge and Blog Hop!


Happy Saturday everyone - welcome to the weekend and another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks as always to everyone who entered last week's One For The Guys challenge - fabulous entries as always, and don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see whether you are a winner.

This week we are all very excited because we are having a birthday .. yes the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is three!

Wow - where did the time go to?? It has just flown by!! I remember very well entering the first ever PBSC by email using my first PB stamp - the wonky looking photo of cute Chrimbo hedgies under an umbrella is still there as an email entry :-) It was also the main reason I set up my blog about 3 weeks later, and the first week I entered the PBSC using my blog (Challenge #3) I won !! :-)  How funny looking back!! I was absolutely dancing around when I got picked for the DT from Challenge 21... and 135 challenges later here we are ..wow!  PB stamps were definitely my first love, and although I have developed other crafting obsessions in the meantime,  PB's still have a very special place in my crafting heart!!

So in honour of this momentous occasion we are having both a challenge and a blog hop.

So first .... the challenge!!

This week we would like to see your Penny Black creations that feature

Pesky Critters

Yes .. it's time for all those darling little cute creatures that Penny Black does so well to come out to play ... can't wait to see what you create!!

This week we have an absolutely fabulous stash of prizes from a range of our regular sponsors including Penny Black Inc, PB Stamps, 1-2-3 Stitch, The Ribbon Girl and Fantastic Ribbons ....






... But here's the twist ... the challenge prizes are HIDDEN amongst the DT members' blogs!!

So how do you find out where they are hidden??

When you have completed your challenge entry, you will need to hop around all the DT members blogs and leave a comment on each one ... we will keep it secret all week which blog is hiding which prize, and when it gets to next weekend we will reveal the prize locations and winners!

It doesn't matter what order you complete the blog hop, but here is a list of all the DT members who are taking part to help you ...

 Liz
Pauline (me)

So without further ado, here's my pesky critter card ....


This challenge theme immediately put me in mind of cute creatures being silly and/or having fun ... and let's face it, when it comes to Penny Black stamps there are plenty to choose from! I very soon alighted on this darling image which I think is perfect for a friendship card ... I don't use this stamp very often as it is so big but it has got to be another of my favourites ... and as luck would have it I also have a PB sentiment that I think fits it perfectly!  This whole thing made me feel pretty cheerful so I also pulled out some bright and cheerful papers and summery daisies and blossoms to match!

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Daisy Chain" (1690K), coloured with Copics (mice) and Promarkers (flowers); edges doodled with a Marvey marker pen;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Everything's..." (2733E);
Papers: DCWV "Pocket full of Posies" stack;
Supplies: large daisy from Wild Orchid Crafts; 2-tone cherry blossoms from Crafts4UDo; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash;
Tools: mega scalloped rectangle nestabillities; martha Stewart "Floral Vine" deep edge punch; Magnolia doohickey "Vintage tag" die.


Challenges:
Penny Black At Allsorts (June) - You're My Favourite (2nd entry)
Simon Says - Let's Play Bingo! (shape/ribbon/sentiment)
Totally Papercrafts #71 - Die Cuts & Punches
MAWTT #103 - Inspired By A Song
(I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends)
Southern Girls #21 - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday #38 - Open Challenge

Look forward to seeing all your critter creations this week, and hope you'll find time to hop around the DT and leave us some comments - keep your fingers crossed that we will be hiding a prize with your name on it lol!

Thursday 16 June 2011

Sorry I'm a bad blogger!!

Hi there,
Sorry I haven't been round much to comment on my dear bloggy friends' blogs, or indeed on challenge entries ... but there are two reasons for that right now ....

First - i'm still having problmes with blogger and logging in. I have noticed a pattern to this actually - it only happens on blogs where the comment box is embedded in the blog post, not where you open a new commenting window. regardless, this has slowed my pace when trying to hop around commenting.

Second - I have been suffering lately with terrible pain in my right elbow and forearm .. I reckon it is an RSI type pain as it goes worse when I do a lot of computing (bearing in mind that I also have to work at a PC off and on all day for my job). This week it flared up really badly to the point that it knoocked me off work one day - I never slept a wink all night long and felt like I was being stabbed in the arm with hot knives!!

It's a bit better now but I'm still in ibuprofen city, so I reckon I need to minimise my blogging just for the time being ....

Luckily crafting doesn't seem to harm it so far as i can work out :-)

Thinking of you all
Hugs
Pauline x

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Oldie But A Goodie #21 - Where In The World?


Hi there, and welcome to another Oldie But A Goodie challenge. Thanks so much to everyone who entered our Lots of Layers challenge - there were some fabulous entries. Don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won the prize.

Before we get on to this fortnight's challenge we have a bit of news ... we have a new DT member joining us, so hope you will give a big welcome to Sara  :-)

This time it is Laurie's turn to pick the challenge theme, and she has chosen

Where in The World?

We would like to see something associated with a particular country ... maybe the colours of a flag, holidays, national flowers etc ... you can interpret this however you like, but in order to be eligible for our prize you should submit a new piece of work that uses a stamped image (no digis please) which is at least six months old ... that's why we're called An Oldie But A Goodie :-)

Laurie has also donated the prize for this challenge ... it is this yummy Oriental selection.


Hope you will have a look around the other DT ladies' fab cards and see if you can guess where in the world they are trying to represent .... I have stayed right here in England with English roses.


Recipe:
Main image; Elusive Images "Script Rose", heat embossed with detail gold, coloured with Promarkers and highlighted with Twinkling H2O's; matting distressed with "Victorian Velvet" distress ink;
Sentiment: Elusive Images;
Papers: Andrea James "Pampered Pets";
Supplies: pink and ivory roses and lace from Crafts4U2Do; green roses from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from my stash;
Tools: deckle edge blade used on image matting and papers; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.


And here's a closeup of my delicious new flowers which are mostly from Crafts4u2Do.


Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Distressed / torn edges
Kaboodle #71 - Floral Showcase
Totally Gorjuss #84 - Flower Power
Stamp With Fun #115 - Pearls and Flowers
Shabby Tea Room #66 - Pink Lemondade
(Pink + green + neutral + flowers, with the following gorgeous inspiration picture)


Scrapbook Sisters #39 - English Country Garden
CES #40 - Saturday Night At The Movies
(The Name of the Rose)
Crafty Pad #125 - Just Because You Can

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Saturday 11 June 2011

Penny Black Saturday #155 - One For The Guys


Hi everyone ... another week had flown by, and here we are again at Saturday, which means it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Thanks to everyone for your doodletastic entries into last week's challenge - don't forget to check the main blog to see if you have won either of last week's yummy prizes.

This week we guess many of you may be gearing up for Father's Day ... or if not, then maybe you need a card for one of the men in your life. So this week's challenge theme is

One For The Guys

As always you can interpret this however you wish; but to be eligible for this week's prize you should submit a new piece of work which features a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo.

And to tempt you this week we have got another delish prize ... it is from our lovely ex-teamie Carole



and is this delish PB stamp "Love Nip".


The other ladies have conjured up some fabulous masculine cards - here is my effort for this week.


Initially I thought I would really struggle with this theme, as I have loads of PB stamps but hardly any "masculine" ones .. and those few I do have have already been seen by the only two male family members I need to make cards for! When I started scrabbling around amongst my stash I found these couple of images in a tranparent set called "Bubbly" - masculine and sight unseen by my nearest and dearest - but ... they are absolutely TINY and no way would they make a focal point of a card. I therefore decided that I would make my text big and artfully (?) place the images around it ... but then came the next problem - my die cut alphabet isn't big enough, and I don't have any templates for letters .... so I ended up making some letter templates using Wordart, and then cutting out the letters by hand from patterned paper. If you look closely they are a bit rough and ready, but the thought's there!


Recipe:
Main images: Penny Black transparent set "Bubbly", coloured with Promarkers and Copics;
Sentiments: computer generated, with "Dad" cut out from Wordart templates;
Papers: All My Memories (double sided paper), distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink;
Supplies:  buttons from stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart "scalloped dots" edge punch.


Challenges:
PaperPlay #23 - Father's Day / Man's Card
CRAFT #106 - Father's Day
Sparkles #13 - Father's Day
Alphabet Challenge - F is for Father's Day
Creative Inspirations #115 - Card For Dad / Man's Card
Fab 'n' Funky #76 - Magnificent Men
Crazy4Challenges #91 - Masculine Card
Wags 'n' Whiskers #56 - One For The Boys
Stamp Something - Something Punched
Passion For Promarkers #103 - Blue and Brown ( with accents of green)
Crafts and Me #38 - Stamp Something
Crafty Ann's #42 - Use More Than One Image
Cupcake Crafts #145 - Things With Tails
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Hope you can join in with us this week - have a great weekend!

Monday 6 June 2011

For Dad


It's my dear dad's birthday this week, so last night I sat down to make him a card so that I could pop it in the post at lunchtime today. My dad hasn't been at all well over the past few months plus he is the main carer for my mum ... he's a real rock so he definitely deserves a card that gives it my best shot!

I bought this darling LotV stamp specially when I went to Port Sunlight 3 weeks ago, and here is the card I made for him. it is deliberately not too fussy but hopefully has enough detail that he will know I made an effort :-)


Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Cheers Bear", coloured with Copics (bear) and Promarkers (clothes and gift), and edges distressed wtih "Vintage Photo" and "Walnut Stain" distress inks;
Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles, distressed wtih "Antique Linen" and "Walnut Stain" distress inks;
Papers: BasicGrey "Capella";
Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; ric rac and peel offs from my stash.


Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - Sketch #56 (rotated)
Creative Inspirations #61 - Father's Day / Card For Dad
Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day / For A Male
Craft Your Days Away #21 - Father's Day / Special Man
Fussy and Fancy - A Card For a Man or a Boy
Stamp Man #24 - Boys and Men
Scrapbook Sisters #38 - A Man's World
BasicGrey #45 - Shabby Chic (2nd entry)
Copic Creations #51 - Vintage / Distressed
Crafty Pad #124 - Stripes
Craft Your Passion #61 - Anything Goes

Gotta dash ... been at home studying today and I want to do a bit more before I sit down for dinner.

Saturday 4 June 2011

Penny Black Saturday #154 - Doodlebug!


Hi there and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Loved all your fabulous girlie creations last week - don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won a prize :-)

This week our challenge theme is

Doodlebug

We would like to see some doodling on your project :-)  You can interpret this however you fancy, so long as you submit a new project featuring a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus.

Again we have two fab prizes  for randomly drawn winners this week. Firstly we have a prize from Penny Black Inc.


which is this adorable hedgie stamp

and secondly we have a prize from The Ribbon Girl

which is this yummy selection of baker's twine and button twine.




So .... time to get doodling!!

My first reaction to the thought of doodling was eek! Not really my forte, but you've got to have a go haven't you?? Here's the result of my efforts ....


I specifically chose this stamp as it is my all time favourite PB (I think the snoozing bear is just so adorable! ... to the extent he is in my blog header lol!!), and this month's Penny Black at Allsorts challenge is to use your favourite Penny Black stamp.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Dream A Dream" (3615H), coloured with Promarkers and Copics, and decorated wtih silver gems and lilac doodles;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Birthday Dreams" (3849E);
Paper: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time";
Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; gems, ribbons and peel off from my stash;
Tools: large circle and lacy circle nestabilites; Martha Stewart "garden trellis" edge punch; small butterfly punch.


Challenges:
Penny Black At Allsorts (June) - Favourite Penny Black Stamp
Creative Inspirations #114 - Cute Bears / Animals
Pollycraft #95 - Be My Teddy Bear
Crafter's Companion #13 - Here Comes Summer
Truly Scrumptious #58 - Summer Sparkle
I ♥ Promarkers #68 - Sparkly Bling
Spoon Full of Sugar #154 - Flower Power
Cute Card Thursday #167 - Embellish It
(main image embellished wtih gems and doodling)
ABC - V is for Variety
 (3 different embellishments - ribbon, gems and flowers)
Crafts and Me #37 - Punch It Out
My Mum's Challenge #8 - Things With Wings


The other DT ladies have produced some fab doodles so do go and have a look at them. Hope you can join in with the challenge this week :-)