Test Tubes

While still thinking of science themes because of our Geek Chic challenge at City Crafter, ( my DT card is here) I saw that Casology's new cue word is 'science' ! Great minds think alike,

I used an svg cutting file, but instead of cutting the rack and test tubes, I printed them and coloured them with Promarkers (if you can call grey , colouring!). Then I used 'print and cut' to cut out the liquids and bubbles.

I haven't added a sentiment because I am going to wait for an occasion and add it then - congratulations for a science grad? You passed your test? Or just happy birthday to someone who loves science.

As well as Casology, I'd like to enter:
Creative Card Crew  masculine
Tuesday Throwdown cas
Addicted to Stamps  cas

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Geek Chic

I have chosen this week's theme at City Crafter Challenge Blog and it is 'Geek Chic' - use the theme of science, technology or sci-fi,  or be inspired by the mood board.

For my DT card I used an image by Stamping Bella, coloured with Promarkers.  I love to see an image of a girl doing something more than looking pretty! The background is number and sum stamps by Hampton Art and 7 Gypsies. 

At City Crafter this week we have a fabulous Guest Designer, Padoriaa , so do come and see how she, and the DT interpreted this theme and join in with the challenge. 

I'd like to enter:
That's Crafty  girls will be girls
Allsorts numbers 
Come and Get It  use a stash item - sequins and enamel dots
Crafting with Dragonflies anything goes  

Make My Monday - Autumn Colours

Our challenge this week at Make My Monday is 'Autumn Colours'.

For my DT card I used an Inky Doodles stamp set - the wheelbarrow and pumpkins were three separate stamps. (Cue gasps of amazement at the masking on display!)  I coloured them with Promarkers and paper-pieced the hearts.

The sentiments are from an old magazine freebie stamp set. I really love these two sentiments together.

I hope you will join us at Make My Monday, see what the DT have done and link up your own creation using autumn colours.

I'd like to enter:
Friday Mashup  pumpkin
Little Red Wagon  fall
Simply Create Too autumn splendor
A Gem of a Challenge   autumn
Uniko  autumn

Big Wheel

This was going to be a one-layer-card...but I got fed up of wasting the card blanks!

The hills and sentiment are Inky Doodles and the ferris wheel is My Favorite Things.

I'd like to enter:

Addicted to CAS dream
Casology circles (hope the wheel is counted as a circle)
Simon Says Stamp  no designer paper

Happy Birthday Honey

The main panel was made using Mama Elephant stamps. The bee, stamped onto the kraft card, is from The Alley Way.

The bee's trail is from a  Lawn Fawn set and it is the only stamp from the set that I've successfully used! It's the set that has the see-saw and swing and I've not been able to get on with it!

I'd like to enter :
Cardz4Guyz kraft and blue 2nd entry
Fab n Funky cute critters
Sweet Stampin  non-white base 

Inkspirational Picture Inkspiration ( and Empty Box Project #29)

Our new challenge at Inkspirational is to be inspired by this picture:

As you can see, I picked out the dogs , and stamped this spotty dog ( Magenta) in front of a bench stamp from my Empty Box Project box. 

We have a fabulous guest designer , Jen  and great inspiration from our DT, so please do come over and visit us at Inkspirational, and join in the challenge. 

I'd like to enter:

Cardz4Guyz kraft and blue 

QKR Stampede dogs or cats 

City Crafter - Fall has Arrived Picture

At City Crafter Challenge Blog Stella has chosen a picture and asks you to make a project using an element of this picture.

I decided to create the scene of harvest in the orchard.  The tree, tractor and trailer are from a Kaisercraft stamp set , and the sentiment was a magazine freebie. I created the sky with cloud masks that I cut out on my Silhouette. 

There's so much inspiration in this picture, and from our Design Team and our Guest Designer Andie Miller . I hope you'll join us at City Crafter.

I'd like to enter:
Crafter's Cafe  create a sky scene
Creative Card Crew  fall
Use Your Stuff fall 

Make My Monday - Nature

Our challenge this week at Make My Monday  is 'nature'.

For my DT card I stamped an Indigo Blu stamp ( don't know what it is - some kind of wildflower or weed!) onto marbled paper - this was part of several I made when I had a messy shaving foam session earlier this year.

The butterflies are from a Papermania stamp I have had for ages and not much used.  I wasn't using it because it had three butterflies of different sizes together and they just never seemed right. Then I had a light bulb moment - cut the stamp up! Why didn't I think of that before?!

Anyway, please do join us at Make My Monday  - take a look at the varied projects the DT has made and then enter one of your own.

I'd like to enter:
Love to Scrap anything goes
Craft Your Passion   anything goes
Crafty Corner autumn colours

Alien

There's been a flurry of activity in my craft room today as my partner has taken my son out to a bus event - yay!

I do like to play along with Shopping Our Stash as they often come up with some slightly different themes - who could forget the toilet paper challenge, for example? This week the theme is 'aliens'.

As you can see I kept it very simple - I used an alien digi from A Day for Daisies, the sentiment (by Clearly Besotted) and Promarkers.

I'd also like to enter A Gem of a Challenge (boys) and The Male Room (Neon).

Empty Box Project #28 - Christmas Squares

Here are the four nicest of a set of nine little square stamps, given away free with a magazine (years ago) and left to languish in my craft room until ending up in my Empty Box Project box.  I really don't know why I didn't use them before, as I quite like them now I've coloured them in.

I'd like to enter;
Jingle Belles old stash
Shopping our Stash  old Christmas stash
52CCT for a man
Addicted to Stamps making your mark
Moving Along with the Times hats and scarves

Christmas Fairy

Here I used a digi stamp from Sugar Nellie, Promarkers, Cosmo Cricket design papers (digital version) glitter, and lots of Distress Ink in both ink pad and spray form.

I'd like to enter:
Winter Wonderland  Christmas Fairy
Cas-ual Chic  music
Crafting with Dragonflies  something magical
Artistic Inspirations magic

Chill

Here's a one-layer-card using some new Paper Smooches stamps that I treated myself to, as I don't have enough snowman stamps. (That's a joke! I have loads!)

I'd like to enter:
Tis the Season - colour  ( I actually made this specifically for the challenge but when I see the graphic next to my card the blue looks wrong! I am rubbish at matching colours.)
Moving Along with the Times  hats and scarves (love this theme and may well enter more than once)
One Layer Christmas  not managed the twist
Inky Chicks  white Christmas

A Kind of Umbrella

When I saw that Casology's   new cue word is 'umbrella', I knew I would enter as I love umbrella images and have several. Unfortunately , I didn't have any card ideas (especially cas ones) yet, so I thought I would rummage through my stamps and use the first umbrella I came across.

Okay I know it's a parasol, but it's a kind of umbrella isn't it?

This is a Papermania stamp and I paper-pieced it and coloured it with Promarkers. The sentiment is Clearly Besotted.

As well as Casology, I'd like to enter:
Addicted to Stamps  make your mark
Crafty Creations  it takes two ( the girl and her dog)

City Crafter - Paper Piecing

Regular visitors to my blog may have noticed that I love paper-piecing. So I was delighted when my teammie Ros, at City Crafter Challenge Blog, chose it for this week's challenge.

I do have a Silhouette electronic cutting machine, but for paper-piecing I just get in there with the scissors. Here, I've combined my Silhouette and hand cutting. The houses and sentiment are a cutting file, but I drew it onto the card by replacing the blade with a sketch pen. The dress was cut by hand, but I cut out the girl on the stool (Heather Ellis digi) with the Silhouette, and coloured her with Promarkers. 

I hope you'll join us at City Crafter , see the work of our DT and Guest Designer Oribella , and link up your own paper-pieced creation .

I'd like to enter:
Glitter n Sparkle beginning with g - girl, green. gingham
Paper Girls grateful
Simon Says Stamp Monday fave technique - paper piecing
Aud Sentiments   ag
Incy Wincy  digi images 

Make my Monday - Black, white and hint of another colour

Our new challenge at Make My Monday  is black,white and a hint of another colour.

Now I am a little worried that I may get thrown off the design team as in the photo the city scene does look grey. But in real -life you would say that the paper (by First Edition) is black and white - just a lighter black than the card I used to border it. Yes there are shades of black!

Regular visitors to my blog may know that my partner owns two classic double-decker buses, so bus cards are always needed, and this one has a die-cut cut on the Silhouette Cameo.

I hope to see you joining in at Make My Monday. 

I'd like to enter:
Eclectic Ellapu anything goes
Craft your Passion anything goes
Let's Craft and Create  dies

Reindeer Decorating

I have fallen out with Wink of Stella . This is the second version of this card I have made . The first was ruined when I tried to add WOS to the fairy lights and it all blobbed all over the place.  On this replacement, I went back to a glue pen and fine glitter. Of course you can't see it on the photo anyway ...but you would have been able to see the WOS as it looked like big greasy stains!

Here I've used 4 stamps from a Taylored Expressions set and Promarkers.

I'd like to enter:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin  festive decor
ABC Christmas Challenge beginning with R - reindeer
One Layer Christmas Card not done twist this time
Christmas Card Challenges anything goes

Marbled Balloons

I've paper pieced this Stampin Bella stamp using marble effect paper I made months ago, using the shaving foam technique.

I'd like to enter:
Mod Squad  marvelous marbling
Stempelgarten up in the sky
Just us Girls balloons
Crafty Friends  b is for ...balloons and blue

Empty Box Project #27 - Autumn

I made this using some magazine freebie stamps from my Empty Box Project box.

I stencilled the circle and stamped the sentiment inside. Then I added the individual leaves around it, masking some behind and placing some in front of the circle.

I'd like to enter:
Fantasy Stampers  autumn leaves
Addicted to Cas leaves
Crafty Catz  autumn colours
Alphabet Challenge one layer card
That's Crafty lovely leaves 

Inkspirational - Green and Orange

Our challenge at Inkspirational is Orange and Green.

For my DT card I used a stamp from Stamping Bella, Promarkers and an embossing folder.

I hope you'll visit us at Inkspirational , see the work of our DT and guest designer Chriss , and enter your own green and orange creation.

I'd like to enter:
Chocolate,coffee and cards fancy and feminine
Fantastic Tuesday feminine

Gorgeous Gown

The challenge at CD Sunday  is 'gorgeous gowns' and for me this is a great chance to use one of my favourite techniques - paper piecing. This lovely poppy paper was in a magazine freebie paper pack.

The fairy is a digi from Daisy Trail Fantasy Digistamp collection for Serif Craft Artist. I coloured her with Promarkers and added Wink of Stella to her wings. For about a day I thought about embellishments and concluded that I just liked it left plain. I have many beautiful embellishments but I very often feel they are not quite right!

As well as CD Sunday, I'd like to enter:
Unicorn Challenge mythical and magical
 Little Red Wagon digi
Chocolate Coffee and cards fancy and feminine
Seize the Birthday  anything goes

Happy Birthday Yvonne (and Empty Box Project #26)

It's my lovely Inkspirational team-mate, Yvonne's   birthday and I hope she has received this through the post (if not, it's on its way). As it had to cross the Atlantic, I kept it light by making a one-layer-card.

This girl stamp was languishing in my Empty Box Project box, waiting for the right person and occasion , and I felt that Yvonne was the right person, as she likes vintage images . I also used a Hero Arts birthday text stamp (very faint in background), a sentiment (I think it may also be Hero) , Judikins stamp (the diamonds)  and Distress Ink spray in Antique Linen (which I bought after seeing Yvonne use it on her cards).

Happy Birthday Yvonne.

I'd like to enter:
Fantasy Stampers  the colour purple
Alphabet Challenge  one layer
Pinspirational  picture
Craft Barn  stamping

City Crafter - Feeling Flat

This week at City Crafter , Kirsty has chosen 'Feeling Flat ' - create a card that is as flat as possible, in another word, envelope friendly, easy to put in a regular envelop to mail without extra postage cost.

I did think I'd go for a One- Layer Card but in the end I chose die- cutting - keeping the layers light ( cutting away bottom layers where it does not show) and sticking everything right down flat. 

This turned out to be the right decision as I had made this card for my neighbours who were moving away - I had intended to hand it to them before they left but as we came back from holiday we found the new neighbours unpacking! So we had to send it on to their new address and yes, no extra postage required. 

Please come and join in at City Crafter and see the work of the DT and our guest designer Buffy Burnside. 

I'd like to enter:

Let's Craft and Create use dies or punches 

Love to Scrap double take

Get Creative  include a tag - I hope you can spot it top right with the word 'happiness' on it!

Tuesday Throwdown anything goes 

Make My Monday - Something beginning with F (and Empty Box Project #25)

Make My Monday is back after our summer break! We have four great new DT members, and I hope you will visit their blogs.

Our challenge is 'something beginning with F' and you can see I used fox, forest and fall.....yes, I know I'm British , so it should be autumn but it just fitted in so nicely!

The fox is from Stampin Up In the Forest set and is from my Empty Box Project box.

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.

I bet you're surprised I haven't previously used this lovely ( and not inexpensive !) set. I think it's because the stamps are quite small so the obvious thing is to use several together. But I don't feel the proportions go together very well - the mouse is almost as tall as the fox . In the end I have used the biggest stamp - the fox  but I do have other fox stamps so that is probably why I haven't rushed to use it. 

(A little note: I've nipped back to say that, after I'd scheduled this post, I actually used two more of the stamps in this set . Due to the magic of scheduling , I posted them yesterday, even though I made this card first!) 
I'd like to enter: 
Animal Friends forest animals 
Aud Sentiments  fall fun 
4 Crafty Chicks  fall
Cute Card Thursday autumn leaves
Ooh La la  signs of autumn 

Little Mouse Says " Yay! "

I'm going for cute here. And CAS.

The mouse and the toadstool are from Stampin Up 'Life in the Forest' set, the balloons are from Stampin Up 'Pedal Presents' and the sentiment is (I think) Hero Arts. I used Promarkers to colour.

I'd like to enter:
Little Red Wagon clean and simple
Addicted to Stamps photo
Fantastic Tuesday cute
Moving Along with the Times  cute animal
Time Out make your mark - thanks for prodding me Sandie

 

Pear-shaped Christmas

Here I've used an Inky Doodles stamp, Promarkers, a Sizzix heart die and magazine freebie papers.

I wish I could enter this to the challenge at City Crafter  - but I can't, as I'm on the DT there and the current (fruit or jam jar) challenge was my choice!

I'd like to enter:
Christmas Cards All Year Round a country Christmas
ABC Challenge hearts
Polkadoodle wings
Holly Jolly  use a die
Creative Card Crew Christmas

Alphabird

Had a play and tried to combine some of my favourite challenges : Paper Artsy (Circles), Shopping Our Stash  (bird) and That's Crafty  (alphabet soup).

I used dies, (circles and bird), spray inks, a sentiment stamp and an alphabet stencil.

Little Mermaid

This card is for my grandson...yes, that's right ...he loves mermaids and anything pretty and sparkly, so let's let him enjoy it before the world (almost inevitably) tells him that those things are not for boys.

The mermaid is an image from Digistamp Atelier - I would say this is not a regular digistamp, in that it is very heavily (although beautifully) sketched - and I found I needed a light touch on the colouring to make it work. I used seaweed cutting files from Miss Kate Cuttables, shell cutting files from Creative Pointe , a birthday sentiment stamp, liquid pearl, Promarkers, Distress Inks and Wink of Stella. I also (daringly I think, given my history of wrecking cards when adding a final touch!) added a dot of white gel pen to each eye - I've seen others do this to add light, so I hope it worked.

I'd like to enter:
Unicorn Challenge  mythical and magical.
Dream Factory  little mermaid
Crafting with Dragonflies under the sea
Time Out Make your Mark (This came up in my blog feed as I was about to post this - and it fitted perfectly!) 

City Crafter - In a Jam

I chose this week's theme at City Crafter Challenge Blog  so I hope you like it and join in. The theme is - 'In a Jam - feature a fruit or a jam jar (mason jar) or both'.

For my DT card I used a Stampin-up jam jar stamp, a digi of a straw that I made into a cutting file, and a Lettering Delights citrus fruit SVG cutting file.

I've recently discovered that one of my favourite alcoholic drinks - Limoncello- can be made at home using vodka, lemons and patience. It's a twist on the saying 'when life hands you lemons,make lemonade' and I thought it'd be fun to send to someone who is unwell or has had a difficult time (and obviously doesn't have a drink problem , of course!).

I hope you will visit us at City Crafter , see the creations from our DT and guest Katarzyna, and enter the challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Come and Get it  Get Well
Crafty Catz old stamp (jam jar)
Shabby Tearoom inspired by photo colours.
Retro Rubber anything goes