Snow-Splattered Trees

I'm having a day off work today! It's time-off-in-lieu for extra hours worked on open evenings. My son's at school , so crafting is top of my to-do list.

Here I used Paper Smooches tree stamp and a Hero Arts sentiment.  I used two shades of green Brushos, pearl-gold  watercolour paint (actually doesn't look very gold) white spray mist (splattered on with a paint brush as my nozzle is blocked , as most of them are) and glittery enamel dots.

I'd like to enter:
My Time to Craft Christmas
Creative Craft Cottage  Christmas
Shopping Our Stash  cas

Pro-Am Showdown #9 - City Zoo

This year, my self-imposed challenge is Pro-Am Showdown, where I take on a commercially produced card I've received (the Pro) and see if I can beat the professionals at their own game with my amateur card.

This is the card I am using as inspiration:

the commerically produced card

This was a card sent to my son, and judging by how long I've kept it, I must really love this card - the senders kindly dated it - 2009 - my son's 2nd birthday!

For my card, I used five animal stamps from My Favorite Things Sweet Safari, masked, coloured with Promarkers and with a Distress Ink background. I think the sentiment is Hero Arts. The zoo sign is a Silhouette cutting file.

I'd like to enter:
Through the Purple Haze  spots and stripes (spots - giraffe, stripes - zebra)
Crazy Challenge  animals
Use Your Stuff all creatures great and small
A Gem of A Challenge  animals

City Crafter - Two Colours Only

I really love seeing simple colour combos, so I chose this week's challenge at City Crafter- Two Colours Only.

For my DT card I used a very old stamp from Stampington and a script stamp (Indigo Blu?) . My two colours are navy and minty green. I distressed the edges of my central panel and I dry embossed the navy panel and the base card.

This week we welcome a new DT member, Lucille , and I hope you will come over to the City Crafter blog, see what she and the rest of the DT have made, and enter our challenge.

I'd like to enter:

Penny Black and More for the boys 

Crafty Friends   man 

Butterflies

I copied Jennifer Maguire by rubbing distress inks onto an acrylic block , squirting with water and stamping with it.

I stamped butterflies (Papermania) and a sentiment. Then I did loads of gold paint flicking. (Not sure it shows up well in photo but it catches the light in real life). I mounted this onto an embossed card base.

I'd like to enter:

Alphabet Challenge insects
Country View  wings
Cardz4Galz butterflies
That's Crafty anything goes 

Wool

Some challenges are more challenging than others, aren't they? Compare, for example, 'anything goes'  against a challenge that says 'use some wool'. When I first saw the wool challenge at Crafter's Cafe, I didn't think I'd enter, but something must have been brewing in my brain because, doing a bit of early Sunday morning crafting, I decided to give it a try.

I used a Pure Innocence image , coloured with Promarkers, some wool found languishing in a box (all tangled up with rarely-used ribbon etc) and some pompoms (same box!) . The sentiment stamps are by Avery Elle.

Top tip - if you're going to use a stamping tool to place your sentiment, do it before attaching bulky pompoms- doh!

Finally, I added buttons - I just thought they'd go with the knitting theme and also to join in the challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters.

I'd also like to join in the little girls and boys challenge at Fab n Funky .

Thanks with Flowers

I tried something different here (well, different for me).

I stamped 'thanks' (Waffle Flower) , then stamped round it with flowers from Penny Black 'Flower Medley'. Then I added colour by inking with Distress Oxide Ink through a Prima bricks stencil.

Then I realised that I had dulled the 'thanks' by getting the ink on it (should have clear embossed it!) , so I went over it with a black marker, which I also used to create a thin border. Finally, I added black enamel hearts.

I'd like to enter:
4 Crafty Chicks  stamping, no digis
Penny Black Saturday Challenge flowers (all the flower stamps are PB)
Stamping Sensations  flowers

Blue Flowers

I made this card last week, playing around with my new Lawn Fawn Fab Flowers stamps. These are layering stamps and also needed lots of masking to make a bunch.  The girl is a stamped and embossed image sent to me by my lovely teamie Shauna - it was included in my birthday card , which used the same image. There were also some die-cuts which I will use another time. Anyway, I coloured her with Zig markers.

I'd like to enter:
Watercooler feminine
Paper Craft Happy  anything goes with a girl

Pizza Chef

A few days ago I was doing a Silhouette 'print and cut' for a DT card I was making, and as I had some spare space on the cardstock, randomly chose this never-before-used freebie digi from Dearie Dolls, and printed and cut it too.  So I was pleased when I saw that the new challenge at Casology is 'pizza'!

I coloured the chef with Promarkers and paper-pieced his trousers and scarf. I've seen several challenges to use red, white and blue or flag colours and so I made the pizza cheese-free! The sentiment is Clearly Besotted.

As well as Casology, I'd like to enter:
Shopping our Stash  flag day (UK flag is red, white, blue)
Less is More flag colours
Come and Get it  colours of your nation

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Black and White

glitter shot 

Our new challenge at City Crafter is to use black and white (and maybe a touch of grey).

For my DT card  used a digital stamp, coloured it with Promarkers and added lots of glitter. The sentiment was heat embossed in white and I added some washi tape.

This week we're saying a sad farewell and big thank you to the wonderful Ros.

I hope you will come over to the challenge blog, and see what she and rest of the DT have made, and enter our challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Addicted to Stamps - holiday
Fab n Funky - Christmas
Allsorts sport
Jingle Bells stripes



Thanks Jingle Bells for featuring this card. 

Inkspirational Challenge - Rural

Our new challenge at Inkspirational  is 'rural'. 

For my DT card I used the sentiment and carrot stamps from a set by Your Next Stamp.  In the set there is a single full carrot and a group of (half) carrots growing out of the ground. I stamped the group twice and then masked the bottom of the single carrot and stamped it in the middle. I coloured the carrots with Promarkers and made the background with Distress Ink. 

Elaine is our Guest Designer, ans I hope you'll come over to Inkspirational and see what Elaine and the DT have made , and enter your own countryside inspired project. 

I'd like to enter:

Just Add Ink  add a - agriculture

Creative Craft Cottage  no patterned paper