Inkspirational Challenge - Sprinkle

It's time for a word prompt at Inkspirational and it is:

For my DT card, I used a sprinkle of stars, made using a stencil and silver glitter paste. I used a resist technique with a sentiment from Clearly Besotted and several colours of ink. 

I hope you'll come and join in our challenge at Inkspirational  and first, please do pop over and see the projects from our fabulous DT and our amazing Guest Designer, Beate (aka Stempolomi).

I'd like to enter
Eureka  birthday
Creative Card Crew birthday with sentiment
Shopping Our Stash  out of a jar - glitter paste. 

Hamster

Can you tell what animal this is? Well, I suppose the blog post title was a bit of a clue! This is a birthday card for my grandson who is getting a hamster for his birthday. Actually, after I had planned(ish) the card, I discovered he's getting two dwarf hamsters but I decided not to change it!

The hamster is a Sarah Bailey cutting file, cut on the Silhouette and coloured with alcohol markers. The sentiment is Clearly Besotted and the 10 is from Sizzlet dies, cut on the Big Shot. I do love a googly eye (or two!) , so what better opportunity?

I'd like to enter:
Quirky Crafts pets 
Clear it Out  animals and striped papers
Cut it Up  'exotic' animals
Crafty Cardmakers  stripes
Seize the birthday  masculine

Graduation Layout

I only finished one layout at the crop on Saturday, but I also started on this one- I didn't finish it because I lost the exclamation mark and had to recut it!

I used the sketch from Stuck on Us Sketches 

Creative Cutting Challenge - Baby

The new theme at Creative Cutting Challenge is 'baby'.

For my DT card I used the Baby Circus Animals set from  The Creative Pointe .

If you have an electronic cutting machine, use an SVG to make a baby themed  project and join us at Creative Cutting Challenge. 

I'd like to enter:
Cupcake Inspirations cute critters
Suzy Bees Bloomin Challenge  monochrome
Crafting for all Seasons dies
Perfectly Rustics little boy/girl

Make My Monday - Tag

We have a lovely apple tree in our garden and most years we get a good enough harvest to make some jars of chutney. Next autumn, I will be styling my jars like this and giving some edible gifts!

The label and the circle on the lid were printed onto sticker paper using a digital version of the Echo Park Fall Fever kit.  The tag is made using jar, apple and leaf stamps by Stampin Up.

Tags are our theme this week at Make My Monday. You can use them as part of a project, like I have done, or on a card, or just on their own.  Show us what you do with tags and join us at Make My Monday . 

I'd like to enter:
Alphabet Challenge a for apples
Craft your passion  anything goes
Brown Sugar boxes, bags, tags

Empty Box Project #8 - Baby Layout

I went to my lovely local crop yesterday - it was a full day, but I only managed to complete one layout!

I used the sketch from The Studio Challenges.

The papers I used are by an unknown manufacturer - I think I was given them. I used a Stampin Up embossing folder on the circle and these stamps from my 'empty box project' box:

An old magazine freebie - strangely upside-down! 

Just to recap:

On New Year's day I revealed my stamping shame - a big box of unused stamps - and started my Empty Box project. My aim is to work through the box , one stamp/ stamp set at a time and see if I can use them. If I can't use them, I will dispose of them. The aim is to finish with an empty box.

As well as Studio Challenges, I'd like to join in with Another Freaking Scrappy Challemge.

Painted Jar

I've been playing around with my large stash of empty jars - I really don't seem to be able to throw anything away!  I was inspired by the challenge at Paper Artsy  to try painting on the outside of a jar, using the Fresco paints. After painting a base, I stamped it with an Indigo Blu script stamp and painted flowers with a stencil.

As I haven't glazed the glass, I don't think it will last long and the paint will chip, but I do like that it has a kind of stone effect.

As well as Paper Artsy , I'd like to link up with Craft Stamper (stencil) .

Matchboxes

I was inspired to make these by an artwork I saw in the gift shop at the V and A. I had some blank matchboxes and coloured them black.  The images (including the backgrounds) are from My Craft Studio Floral Masterpieces CD - I got this CD in a bundle with several others and didn't load it onto my pc as I thought the images were too old-fashioned for me...but I like them for this project!  I created the wrappers for the matchboxes in Silhouette Studio and used 'fill pattern' for the backgrounds and did a Silhouette 'print and cut'.

I imagine them on an antique desk in a private library, holding bronze paperclips and spare pen nibs.

I'd like to enter:
CD Sunday   floral frenzy
Brown Sugar  boxes, bags, tags

Football Fan

It's my son's grandad's birthday (my partner's mother's husband!) next week. He has two hobbies - koi carp and watching football. (That's soccer to our North American friends!) . Well, I'm running out of fish ideas!

The digistamp and sentiment here are Jellypark, coloured with Promarkers and I cut everything on the Silhouette and added glitter glue and liquid pearl.

I'd like to enter:
Gem of a Challenge  children's playtime
Use Your Stuff  circles
Sparkles Forum  one for the boys
Little Red Wagon  round ( the sentiment has wobbly lines so I swear they are not 90 degree angles!)
Come and Get it  birthday

Make My Monday - Two Favourite Colours

This week's challenge at Make My Monday  is to include your two favourite colours.Red and green is, of course, a popular combo for Christmas, but I have used it here in a non- Christmas card.

The tulips are Sarah Hurley; the script , Indigo Blu; the birdhouse is by Paper Artsy ; the sentiment, Clearly Besotted and the scrap of paper in the background was a magazine freebie by Craftwork Cards.

Come over to Make My Monday and show us what you have done with your two favourite colours.

I'd like to enter:
Ooh La La  add something green
Aloha Friday  favourite colour combo
Stamping Sensations anyting goes

Pegs

My daughter asked me to decorate some clothes pegs for her to hang notes and drawings from. I decided to cover them with washi tape. I've never been that big on washi tape, so I was surprised how many different rolls I've got!

I'd like to enter:
Little  Red Wagon  winter washi land
Stempelgarten  anything but a card

Hot Flush

Just when I thought I'd finished my Valentine's cards, I decided to enter an unusual challenge at Shopping our Stash  - use toilet paper !

I did have to try several ideas before I got one to work.  I wet the toilet paper, stamped into it with an uninked swirl stamp and left it to dry on the radiator. When it was dry I die cut it with a Sizzix original die and then coloured the smaller heart with Distress Ink. I coloured some white paper with Distress Spray, inked a Tom Holtz embossing folder and embossed the card with it.  So, a grungy Valentine featuring toilet roll!

As well as Shopping Our Stash, I'd like to enter:
Artful Times  romance
That's Crafty  be my valentine
Crazy 4 Challenges  valentine

Inkspirational Photo and Empty Box Project #7

Here is my DT card for Inkspirational  - we have a photo inspiration this time and here it is:

I'm sure you can see what elements I have taken from the photo! But you don't need to make an Asian- themed card - take a look at the fabulous work by our DT and our Guest Designer, Darnell, to see a wide interpretation of the theme.

The woman is cut from an unmounted stamp with 4 Geisha's sitting on a bench - not sure who made it. The sentiment (In the cherry blossom's shade there is no such thing as a stranger) and the cherry blossom branch are by Sheena Douglass and are from my empty box project box.

On New Year's day I revealed my stamping shame - a big box of unused stamps - and started my Empty Box project. My aim is to work through the box , one stamp/ stamp set at a time and see if I can use them. If I can't use them, I will dispose of them. The aim is to finish with an empty box.

I look forward to seeing you at Inkspirational. 

I'd like to enter:
Fashionable Stamping Challenges black, white, hint of red
Red Carpet Studio  black and white plus one
Red Rubber Inspirationals  so sentimental
My Time to Craft oriental

Creative Cutting Challenge - Love

The theme is Love at Creating Cutting Challenge this week. For my DT project I used the Bee Skep (???never heard this word before! I would call it a hive) from The Creative Pointe .

I made a background using a hexagonal stencil and spray mists. I cut the beehive from Basic Grey papers and dry embossed the bottom layer. The 'Bees Knees' and the letters for the sentiment are stickers from the same Basic Grey set and I punched out a little heart.

If you have an electronic cutting machine, use an SVG to make a love themed  project and join us at Creative Cutting Challenge. 

I'd like to enter:
Use your Stuff  love theme
Cuttin and Stampin  masculine
The Male Room  valentine
Ooh La La  love

Make My Monday - Valentines

It's a Valentines challenge this week at Make My Monday. 

For my DT card I used a lovely freebie from A Day for Daisies, which I masked and added clouds using a stencil cut on my Silhouette machine and grey ink. Then I coloured the angel with Promarkers and added glitter.

Come over to Make My Monday and share your Valentine's Day makes with us.

I'd like to enter:
A Day For Daisies valentine
Perfectly Rustics wings
Artisitc Inspirations  hearts
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge  wings

Case-ing Kylie

At Time Out  they are CASE-ing my blogger friend , Kylie . I apologise for the quality of the photo here, taken in the bathroom after the daylight had gone!  Anyway, I hope you can see how Kylie inspired my card - the tag, the top fold, the scoring.

Kylie's original 

My tag is a 'print and cut' that I made during an online Silhouette workshop by Kerry Bradford, I embossed pearly card with snowflakes and coloured the die-cut snowflake with a Promarker.  Then I added glitter to the tag and the snowflake.

As well as Time Out, I'd like to enter:
Tis the Season  a campy Christmas 

 Creative Card Crew - glitter
Christmas Stampin all year long  anything goes
Completely Christmas snowflake 

Empty Box Project #6 - New Home

closed 

This is one of three 'new home' cards I have made lately. Lots of people on the move!

The house is an SVG from Miss Kate's Cuttables and the leaf and fence were also cut on the Silhouette. The circular stamp was a cover gift with the Docrafts Creativity magazine. I bought it on Saturday and couldn't wait to use it - I think I'll use it a lot.

I  punched a lace effect edge and stamped the card behind with a stamp from my 'empty box project' box. This stamp is a big background stamp by Hero Arts. I received it, from an online retailer but it was not the one I'd ordered. As there were a series of problems with getting my order, the retailer refunded me and told me to keep this stamp.

On New Year's day I revealed my stamping shame - a big box of unused stamps - and started my Empty Box project. My aim is to work through the box , one stamp/ stamp set at a time and see if I can use them. If I can't use them, I will dispose of them. The aim is to finish with an empty box.

Thanks for all the positive comments I've had about my project. It seems  my stamping shame is not unique!

I'd like to enter:
City Crafter  roses and lace
Open Minded Crafting Fun  no pink, no red
Eclectic Ellapu hearts and roses
Crafty Calendar  anything goes
Sister Act  anything goes

Valentine's Birthday

My (grown up) daughter's birthday is on Valentine's Day so I usually like to incorporate a heart or two into her birthday card design ...but this year, I've gone a bit over-the-top!

This box card was made using a cut file from SVG Cuts, pink cardstock  and some Pebbles papers and I stamped 'happy birthday ' on several of the hearts.

I'd like to enter:
Fab n Funky  hearts
Seize the Birthday anything goes
The Crafter's Cafe  birthday
Crafty Catz birthdays
Artistic Inspirations  hearts

My Oldest Ink Pad

This week's challenge at Shopping Our Stash  grabbed my attention - use your oldest ink. The other day I found a very old Colorbox Petal Point Pigment Option Pad at the back of a drawer. Several of the colours had dried up or come apart from the base and had to be chucked.

With the ink colours that were left, I made a background on a tag. I randomly stamped with a Kaisercraft tiny dot stamp and then stamped the numbers(7 gypsies). I stamped the butterfly (Anita's) three times and then doodled a frame.

As well as Shopping Our Stash, I'd like to enter:
Fashionable Stamping Challenges numbers
My Time to Craft bugs
Sir Stampalot anything goes 

Make My Monday - Hearts and flowers

This week's challenge at Make My Monday is Hearts and Flowers - perfect for Valentine's cards . But I haven't made a Valentine's card, I've made a new home card. The flower stamp is (I think) Kaisercraft and the sentiments are from Little Claire.

I'd like to enter:
Fairytale Challenge  something with a heart
Red Rubber Inspirationals  CAS
Cute Card Thursday stamping mad. 

Empty Box Project #5 - Valentine for a Child

My mum somehow acquired some pink deckle- edged cards, and for many years she used to leave one for each of us outside our bedroom doors on valentine's day. They had hearts drawn with biro and a question mark where the sender's name would be. It's a lovely memory.

This card is for my four-year-old grandson. The bubble background is a Creative Expressions stamp  and the fishes and sentiment are from an old magazine freebie by Pink Petticoat - grabbed from my 'empty box project' box.  I glittered up the red bits with Wink of Stella.

On New Year's day I revealed my stamping shame - a big box of unused stamps - and started my Empty Box project. My aim is to work through the box , one stamp/ stamp set at a time and see if I can use them. If I can't use them, I will dispose of them. The aim is to finish with an empty box.

I'd like to enter:
Card Mania add some red 
Perfectly Rustics hugs and kisses
Aloha Friday   Valentine's /love 
Less is More Little Ones 
Addicted to CAS  hugs and kisses 

Wine Bottle Tag

Here's a wine bottle tag - I cut the tag and the clock on the Silhouette. The woman is from Joanna Sheen Fashion CD (I cut her out from the background) and I made the sentiment on my PC.
Here's it modelled by a wine bottle:

Unfortunately I couldn't find a bottle that was actually full! Where did that wine go? 

I'd like to enter:

CD Sunday - Tag 

Sparkles Forum raise a glass

City Crafter cheers 

Poinsettia

How traditional is this?  I used a die cut poinsettia and leaf flourish, printed gold ribbon, gold liquid pearl and one sheet of patterned paper.

I'd like to enter:
Glory of Christmas  stripes
Allsorts flower power
Fab n Funky  Christmas