Challenges mini-break :-(

I am having to have a mini-break from entering challenges for the rest of this week and next but I'll be back at the end of the month.

Illness has stopped me making as many cards as I would like and it's NEC weekend so no cardmaking to be done (just lots of new things to be bought- I hope!). Easter holidays are here soon though so hopefully I can get rid of all the bugs floating around my body and get some more crafting done!

I am making my debut as a guest design team member for the Basic Grey challenge blog on Saturday so there will be a new card from me to see over there- check it out at the weekend! (good job they gave me plenty of advance notice!)

Kanban Bon Voyage

We recently had a much loved member of staff leave to go back on her travels to India- I wanted to make a special card to wish her luck and some of the toppers and papers from my newest Kanban blockbuster were just perfect.

I started with a dusky pink A4 sheet of card which I folded into an A5 card blank. The backing paper came from the Kanban kit, as did the camera border. The main topper & message were attached using 3d foam pads and then I finished the card with a prima flower with a pale yellow papermania brad.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Creative Inspirations 'good luck'
Daring cardmakers 'a cute angle'- as it unusual for me to have wonky toppers! I love straight edges!
Challenges for Everybody 'anything goes'
Cute Card Thursday 'anything goes'
Love to Create 'anything goes'

Kanban 'so feminine' toppers- more Tea for Two

Here's another new card made with the Kanban 'Tea for Two' topper sheet.

This is quite a simple card and was therefore pretty quick to make. I started with a 6x6 scalloped edge card blank that I inked using my 'spun sugar' distress ink. I did this by applying the ink to my 'Stamps Away' ink blending mat first and then applying to the card- this meant that I could get a very subtle colouring. I then added the main topper using double sided tape and the small message using 3d foam.

The final element was to add the 3 paper flowers to the bottom left corner of the card and add a self-adhesive pearl to the centre of each.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-

Papertake Weekly '1, 2, 3' challenge- 1 card, 2 toppers, 3 flowers

Catch the Bug 'bingo' challenge- pearl (centre of flowers), circle (macaroons) & die-cut (topper & message)

You're Number 1!

Here's a cute card perfect for many occasions where you need a card for someone special- as it's March though, I expect it will become a card for my mum's birthday which is at the end of the month. It uses a 6x6 scalloped edge card blank, Lily of the Valley die-cut topper embellished with silver stickles glitter glue and faux stitching and 2 different papers from the new Forever Friends Kraft range. I also edged the star design paper with some pink pearlescent brilliance ink.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Papertake Weekly 'anything goes'
Creative Inspirations 'mother's day'
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'stitching'
Crafty Catz 'all stitched up'
Lili's Little Fairies 'for mum'
Songbird 'mother's day (mama)'
MayzyArt 'stars'

Magical Mermaid

This is my latest card for the Card Makin Mamas DT where our current challenge is 'spring'. We have been sponsered by 'Hobby Book' who have the lovely mermaid image I have used on my card.

This card starts with a 6x6 scalloped edge card blank that I have coloured using a range of blue & green shades of H20's. This has given the card a shimmer that doesn't really show up on the photo unfortunately. I used my cricut 'Elegant Edges' cartridge to cut a mat with a 'bubble' border from DCWV 12x12 patterned paper. I mounted this onto my card using double sided tape. I coloured the mermaid topper using a mix of both promarkers & spectrum noirs and then cut around the edge leaving a small white border. I then attached this to the card with 3d foam pads. The finishing touch was to add the real mini shells to the base of the card using some pva glue.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Cutie Pie 'magical'
Creatilicious 'colour challenge- brights'

Mucky Pup!

It will soon be my grandads birthday and he is a very keen gardener. I have made this card ready for his birthday and will be entering it into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'pick 2'- die cuts & distressing
Paper Shelter 'punches & dies'- flower punch
Polkadoodles 'distressing'- papers
Here Come the Boys 'no stamps allowed'
Kanban 'anything goes'
Cute Card Thursday 'spring fever'
Catch the Bug 'green thumb'
Basic Grey 'spring'- archaic 6x6 papers

This was a very quick card to make using some new(ish) Kanban toppers from the mens themed blockbuster kit from C&C, my xcut flower punch for the flowers, punching them from Basic Grey 'archaic' 6x6 papers and some card candi for the centre of each flower.

Simply Betty Stamps- 'pwew pwew pwew Jude'

This is my latest card for the Card Makin Mamas design team and it uses a brilliant image from 'Simply Betty Stamps'. I chose the 'pwew pwew pwew Jude' image as it reminded me so much of making things out of junk boxes which was something I always did as a kid and I am lucky enough to still get to do in a regualr basis with the children I work with (the latest being a 7ft tall dinosaur- it's fab!). The theme was 'green' and so the alien/space theme was perfect. I also chose to use my DCWV 'All About Boys' stack which has some really good space themed papers.

I inked an 8x8 scalloped edge card blank with 'chipped sapphire' distress ink and then mounted the trimmed backing paper onto it. I coloured the digi-stamp with my promarkers & spectrum noirs and then trimmed it to leave a small white border. I inked the edge of the topper with 'peeled paint' distress ink and then mounted it onto a mat also cut from the DCWV 'All About Boys' stack.

Floral wreath card

I was lucky enough to win a beautiful wreath kit from Craftwork Cards in one of their challenges recently and this is the first time I have used it. Rather than making a wreath though, I have used the components to make a card. I am entering it into the Daring Cardmakers 'colour combo' challenge and Challenges 4 Everybody 'anything goes' challenge.

I started by making up the flowers from the kit and added a little extra card candi to the centres of some of them. To make all of these flowers, I used just 2 sheets from the kit of which there are 8 in total. I attached these to one of the rings from the kit to give me a base and more stability. I then got an 8x8 scalloped edge card and used 2 different Craftwork Cards papers as mats before adding the flower wreath topper. It is my intention to put a simple peel-off sentiment in the centre of the card but have not done so yet as it may be a card for a birthday or mother's day as that is also so close by.

Spring daffodils

This is my latest card, perfect for the start of spring and the current challenges at Crafty Catz 'St Davids Day- dragons or daffodils' and Polkadoodles 'spring flowers'.

It's an incredibly simple card that very much goes back to my card making roots...

I started with a 6x6 scalloped card blank that I inked with 'Squeezed Lemonade' distress ink. The topper came from 2 copies of the 2013 'Hugs' calendar that I used to make the decoupage topper. Done.

Saturated Canary 'walker girl' zombie with skulls

Here is another new card that I've made to enter the Digital Tuesday 'birthdays' challenge and Saturated Canary 'good vs evil' challenge. I'll let you decide if it's good or evil though!

I love all things a bit gory & gothic so while this card has images some people may find 'evil', I most definitely find it 'good' and it is perfect for a friends birthday, even though it's not until October! This is the first time I have used the 'walker girl' zombie image from Saturated Canary but it was one I bought when I first discovered their wonderful designs. I have also used 'Midnight Spell' papers from DCWV which I have had for ages but not really found a suitable project for them- now I have!

I started by folding a piece of A4 black card into an A5 base and then used one of the DCWV papers as a mat. There is a hidden element to the backing that can not really be seen in the photograph but I have added some very subtle skulls to it. I did this by using some new skull shaped post-it notes that I saw in Wilkos- I cut the eyes, nose & teeth out of the post-it and than stuck it to my card, inking with 'dusty concord' distress ink. As this colour is similar to the original background,  the skulls are not obvious when you look at the card from the front, but as the light shines on the side view, they suddenly appear. It's a bit like that famous painting of Henry VIII that from the front has a blurry splodge in the corner but from the side, it's a skull.

I coloured the SC image with my spectrum noirs and then mounted it onto another paper from the DCWV stack. I mounted this onto the card and then tied some black organza ribbon around the spine. Before tying the bow, I added the metal skull charm so that it would hang from the ribbon freely.

New Gorjuss girls stamps, papers, buttons, twine... ;-)

Yesterday, I went to The Range to go and have a look at the new DoCrafts goodies because I was super excited about the launch of the new Gorjuss range. I have to say a huge thank you to the really helpful staff at The Range in Kings Lynn as they hadn't been able to put some of the new products out yet but they went to the warehouse and bought out a pallet of boxes and let me find what I wanted! I ended up with 8 fabulous stamp sets, papers, ribbons, decoupage, bakers twine & buttons (that came free with the Creativity magazine) as well as the new goodie bag and new animal urban stamps. The stamps inparticular are brilliant because they are really deep cut rubber and while that does mean they are not see-through, they stamp perfectly with excellent clarity (even though I'm not a great stamper). Here's my first card I've made using my new goodies-

This card was inspired by the packaging of the Gorjuss products (which can also be used) as it shows the stamped images left as black & white, giving a drawn look. I really liked how it looked so thought I'd use it on my card. I started with a dark purple A4 piece of card that I've had in my stash for ages which I folded into an A5 card blank. I then used 2 papers from the 8x8 and 6x6 paper packs as mats. I made the topper by stamping using a black memento ink onto one of the 6x6 papers that has a distressed lined effect. I mounted this onto the purple mat and then added the buttons (free with magazine) and a mini black bow from my crafty stash. I finished the card by wrapping the purple & cream bakers twine 3 times around the edge of the card and then knotting it before fraying the hanging part.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:-
Love to Create 'wrap it up' (bakers twine)
Cute Card Thursday 'something old' (A4 base card)
Creative Inspirations 'buttons and bows'
Paper Shelter 'animal magic' (cute pussy cat)
The Pink Elephant 'anything goes'
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges 'favourite colours' (purple & black)

Basic Grey 'Love Owls'

Here is my latest card that I am entering into the Basic Grey 'Anything Goes' challenge and Catch the Bug 'Anything Goes' challenge.

I started this card with the fabulous 'Love Owls' image from Bugaboo. It's an image I used for a project for the Card Makin Mamas design team and I really do love it! I tried to find promarkers/spectrum noirs that matched the colour scheme of the challenge but I was really struggling to find some in my collection so instead I found out my beautiful Basic Grey 'sugared' 6x6 papers as I knew those colours matched the challenge theme and then matched my pens to that instead. I coloured the image using a mix of both promarkers & spectrum noirs but the pink colour didn't really work for me so I ended up blending in some blue & grey to try and get a better match- it really does show just how well alcohol pens will blend. When I had finished the colouring, I trimmed the design down and then inked the edges with 'Frayed Burlap' distress ink. I rounded the corners and then mounted it onto a pink distressed card from the Basic Grey 'sugared' 6x6 paper pad. I then got a floral patterned paper from the same paper pad and trimmed it down just a little to fit on the 6x6 scalloped card blank, I also rounded the corners on this too. I used 3d foam to attach the topper at an angle onto the card.

*I managed to miss the deadline for the Catch the Bug colour challenge but their new challenge is 'Anything Goes' so thankfully I can post it for that challenge instead!*