Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Week 25

Good morning, woohoo it is the weekend at last - that makes me a happy bunny after such a busy week at work. Thankyou so much to every single one of you who entered last weeks challenge, it was great seeing all those funky christmas cards. This week we have a real challenge for you ...

No patterned paper!!!

Oh no, I hear you scream, is it possible???? Well I can assure you it is!! You really must see all the Design Team's cards for some real inspiration - I was blown away by them, they are stunning.

This fabulous embellishment caddy is up for grabs for one lucky person who enters this week. Tracie has very kindly donated this prize that she bought from Poppicrafts, oooh I wish I could enter.

Now, here is what I made. It isn't a card as you can see. Luckily for me this challenge tied in perfectly with the retirement of one of my colleagues. It was her party last night, after 25 years of service, and we all had a page in a book to leave our comments and words of love and best wishes etc. I 'kidnapped' the book one evening last week and this was my page for Shirley.

Here she is when she was given it last night - she was delighted!! It was lovely reading everyone elses memories and funny stories. I am sure she will treasure it forever.

Here I am (on the right) in a very blurry pic taken last night (loving the verrrry soft focus - hides all those fine lines haha)

.... and me again with one of the other nurses and one of the fab GP's

Hope you enjoyed the tour, lol, have a fab weekend :o)

Image coloured with prismas, glitter glue and sakura stardust pen, flowers punched with x cut daisy punch, studio g sentiment, ribbon from stash

Triple combo - lilac, sparkles and a sketch!

How do folks, how is your week so far??? Mine is so busy, both at work and home ... roll on tomorrow night!

Ok, so a couple of apologies to start with - yep, another combo ... soz but the pressures of time etc mean this is what I have to do til after the festive season. Secondly the scanned pic - as usual I will replace with piccie from camera but it will be on Saturday because I have a boring old meeting during my lunch tomorrow ... sob.

Now all that apologising is out the way lets get onto the fun stuff!! Woohoo, this is my lucky day - so many of my fave things!!! As in the title of this post - lilac, sparkles AND a sketch ... does it get any better? :o)

CCT have the colour lilac as their theme (just lurve this colour soooooo much), LOTV has sprinkles and sparkles - even better :o) and last but not least was the fabulous sketch on SFOS .

Did you all manage with the abbreviations????? I bet you all did, lol. I am desperately trying to catch up on visiting you all and trying to leave some comments as I go, promise to get to you all by the end of the weekend ... sorry for being such a naughty blogger xxx

Elzybells image coloured with prismas, white glitter and stickles and a little bit of sakura stardust pen, Papers from DCWV's rose tinted christmas, papermania ribbon and star shaped gems, snowflake diecuts and chipboard sentiment from last years xmas kit off QVC

ABC Challenge - S is for ...

....... Snow!!

Yep, thank goodness for that I say - think we all need to get as many christmas cards made as possible. Thankyou to you all who entered last week, great to see so many of you taking part :o) If you pop over to our challenge blog you will be able to get details of this weeks prize and also view the fab cards by the rest of the DT.

Here is this weeks effort by me .... plenty of snowy things - snow, snowman and snowflakes so think it just about covers it, lol. Getting great use out of my woodware punch as you see but for a change I ran the snowflakes through my swiss dots folder and used my first ever buttons on a card (what has taken me so long????). Tried to get a decent piccie but the mirricard reflects so much it is almost impossible I think.

Been a little cheeky too (would you expect anything else from me?) and have managed to use this card for 2 other challenges - there are simply not enough hours in the day are there?! The theme is also snow over at Cute Card Thursday so seems a pity not to enter. I have used the sketch from this weeks challenge at Sketch Saturday , loved this sketch and will deffo use again!

'Snowman' by Rachelle Anne Miller coloured with prismas, stickles and white glitter to image, paper from Winter Wonderland pack by Dovecraft, See D's sentiment stamp, Woodware snowflake punch, swiss dots folder by Cuttlebug, buttons and ribbon by Papermania

I have an award - thankyou ladies

Wow, would you look at this beautiful award that I have been given by 2 wonderful ladies. Thankyou so much to the mega talented Rach and also to fellow DT member and talented Tracie for thinking of me.

Have you ever seen such an elegant award !! And it has such a great sentiment behind it ~ here's it is:

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind blogger's aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight blogger's who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

So .... the 8 wonderful ladies that I nominate are ...

Linda
Dawny
Bev
Diane
Pops
Emma
Marlene
Mrs W


There are so many more of you who deserve this award too, sorry I couldn't include you all

Update - Thankyou also to Nat , my fellow DT member and very talented lady for this award :o)

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Week 24

Good morning to you all, wow is it Saturday already??? That means it is time for another challenge on PBSC . We had a fantastic response to last weeks challenge so thankyou so much to all of you who took part.

So onto this week, the theme is...

FUNKY CHRISTMAS

How cool is that ..... so get rid of all your traditional christmas colours and have some fun and go wild with some different colours.

This week there is the chance for one lucky person to win these fabulous stamps kindly offered by our sponsors .... Crafty Krafts . Make sure you visit their site for some fab retail therapy!

I had great fun making my card this week, I love bright colours so this was the perfect excuse to use them. It really shimmers in real life because I gave her outfil a quick wash with my sakura star dust pen and a damp brush - I think I might need something similar for my party gear :o) I have also used a glaze pen on the bauble, berries and dots on her skirt .... she sure is a funky diva!!!

I look forward to seeing all your fab creations .... now go get creating - it's far too cold outside :o)

'Lets mistletoe' by PB coloured with Prismas, sakura glaze and stardust pens, Papers from PM naughty and nice pack, woodware snoflake punch, nesties, cuddlybuddly sentiment stamp heat embossed in silver EP, brad and gems from stash, stickles to brad.

Sketch Saturday #25 ... updated

Hi folks, well here is my entry for this weeks Sketch Saturday . I promise to replace scanned pic with proper piccie tomorrow. Didn't get chance today during my lunch break cos I was busy buying a mega cute little fake fur bomber jacket to keep me warm tonight on my drunken escapades round York :o) ... after 20 years of not wearing a jacket on a night out I have finally given in!! Brrrrrrrr.

Just had to upload card for this weeks challenge before I go out- I really love this card, it came together so easily. Proper details etc tomorrow, got to go rush and get ready. Have fun folks, I will have a tipple for you all tonight :o)

*Update* Morning, had a fab night and as I promised (what a good girl I am , lol) here is my piccie. Hope you all have a great weekend - I am going shopping this afternoon .... for stamps, woohoo, so hope I get some beauties. Stay warm girlies :o)

Penny Black image coloured with prismas, papers from PM Basic Pastels and also Antique Cream paper packs, Cuddlybuddly sentiment stamp heat embossed in lilac EP, glitter glue to flower centres, ribbon, flower, gems and brad from stash.

ABC Challenge - R is for ...

.... Ribbon!

Yes, a nice easy challenge for you all this week so hopefully we will see lots of you taking part. As long as you have a ribbon somewhere on your creation then it can be entered for a chance to win some stamped images - wish I could enter!! Pop over to our blog for a look at the DT cards and to leave your comment/link for your entry.

I wanted to try and make something a little different for me because I use ribbons so often on my cards (just bought loads more today ... I think I may now have an addiction, lol). I have used images and the backing paper from the downloadable ekits from Making Handmade Cards which I really love - there are so many gorgeous papers to choose from :o)

Have fun everyone and good luck if you take part

Images and papers from MHC, coloured with prismas and sparkle added with wash of sakura stardust pen, woodware snowflake punch, nesties and swiss dots cuttlebug folder, ribbon and brad from stash.

A Spoonful of Sugar #25

Everybody take a seat .... yes it is true .... another card from me. There must be something in the water this weekend because I seem to be on a roll. This time my card is for A Spoonful of Sugar's Challenge. The theme is to make a card for a child. I had to make a baby card so hopefully this will do the job!

Just a very simple card but I couldn't bring myself to cover this beautiful paper any more than what I had to - it is one of my faves ever. This little stamp is also a fave with me and is just the perfect image for a new baby. You are safe now .... there should be no more posts this evening because it is too dark now to take any pics - I must ask santa for a daylight lamp :o)
Penny Black image coloured with Prismas, stickles, nesties, papers by Making Memories, cuddlybuddly sentiment, pearls from sally, fibres from stash.

PTW meets CCT

Hi to you all, hope you are having a lovely Sunday. The sun is shining here and it is a lovely day, makes you feel glad to be alive!

I am afraid I have had to do another combo, there really aren't enough hours in the day!! Cute Card Thursday has a colour theme this week which is red and green (perfect, another crimbo card!!) and I have used the brilliant sketch by Dawny P over on Papertake Weekly's challenge.

Another cute Forever Friends stamp again, lol, these guys are so cute! Also first go with my new Woodware snowflake punch .... will definately be using this a lot in the coming weeks. Now I have to decide whether to make another card or do the ironing ... decisions decisions, lol ....

Forever Friend image coloured with prismas, paper from Anita's classic xmas red pack, cuddlybuddly sentiment -embossed and coloured with gel pens, stickles to fur trim, pearls from sally, nesties, woodware and x-cut snowflake punches.

Magnolia vs Stampavie #2 ... Clean and Simple

Oooh it seems so long since I coloured little Tilda but thought this was the perfect time to make friends again. I just love the new style Tilda, I think she is even more cute than before - thankyou to my lovely friend who sent me this sweetie :o)

Clean and simple is the theme this week on Magnolia vs Stampavie with no more than 3 colours allowed and for it to be simple and streamlined.

I have managed to keep it pretty simple I think and have used browns, blues and greens for my card. I did not have any large brown flowers so I got my ink pad out and changed the colour of a pale yellow bloom ... think it worked quite well. I have cut out Tilda after colouring her and perched her on the edge of the nesties with 3d foam pads - a perfect place to have a rest after looking cute all day.

Magnolia image coloured with prismas, paper from retro prints stack by DCWV, card stock from the papermill shop, swiss dots cuttlebug folder, nesties, papermania flowers and velvet ribbon, brad and gems from stash.

Penny Black Saturday Challenge #23

Well, it is Saturday again which means it is time for a brand new challenge!! Before I tell you what it is I would like to thank everyone who took part last week - boy was that a tough week, lol.

Onto this week and theme is ......

Monochromatic

A much easier theme I am sure you agree so I want to see lots of you joining in :o) You can choose black and white, or like lots of the DT choose one colour and use different shades of it to make your creation. All we ask is that you use at least one Penny Black stamp.

This weeks fab stamp is offered by our sponsors Sir Stampalot. A perfect image for this time of year!

So here is my card for this week. Lots and lots of purple - my fave colour!!! I just adore these little hedgies. To see all the other creations by the design team pop over to PBSC . I look forward to seeing what you all make. Have a fab weekend!!

Penny Black image coloured with prismas, papers by papermania, studio g sentiment stamp, nesties, flowers, skeleton leaves, brad and gems from stash.

Server meltdown .... some info for you

Hi everyone, I understand from Claire at 'Making Handmade Cards.com' that there has been an overwhelming response to the launch of her new kits. As a result they are experiencing some technical propblems with the server. I got this message earlier so thought I would post for any of you who aren't on her mailing list...

Hi

A big thanks to everyone who has ordered the bundle of Christmas Goodies so far.

I'm afraid my servers have experienced a meltdown linked to the amount of demand for the bundle! I'm so sorry - I really didn't expect the bundle to be so popular!

If you have experienced problems downloading your bundle, please could I ask that you try downloading your bundle later today, when things are quieter.

I really apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your patience with this.

You will be getting your bundles as soon as possible!

All the best

Claire
Making-Handmade-Cards.com

If any of you did not receive an email with your download access details then please email her and she will activate your downloads manually for you. You can get in touch with Claire by using the contact form

Hopefully things will be up and running smoothly again very soon - they are working on it as we speak

News about tomorrow's launch and amazing freebie kits!

Wait til you hear this - you won't believe your ears!!! As some of you may already know I have been helping with samples for some brand new e-kits by Making-Handmade-Cards.com ready for their release. Well .... the waiting is almost over!! The launch will take place tomorrow at 2pm GMT and the price of these kits have been slashed for the first week. There are also free bonus kits for the first week as well as special freebie kits for the first 50 orders. For more details please visit the 60 second promo video . Make sure you don't miss out on this fantastic offer!!!!

ABC Challenge ... Q is for ........

...... Quick Card! So here are the basics for this weeks challenge on ABC . The idea is that you are allowed to colour your image first but after that has been done you need to be able to complete your card in 20 minutes or less!!! If you all knew how long it normally takes me to make a card (several hours, lol) then this is near on impossible for me. Luckily no mention of inserts so gave all that a miss.

Thanks goodness for my nesties thats all I can say although I did have to redo my sentiment because I didn't get it central the first time. I think I made it inside the 20 miunutes but I didn't time myself so who knows, lol. Hope you all have fun and manage to squeeze a quickie card in this week with us. Please have a look at all the other fab ideas by the DT if you have chance and a very big thankyou to you all who took part last week. Sorry I didn't get chance to visit you all.

Forever Friends coloured with prismas, papers by Papermanis - love all the different colours in these packs, cuddlybuddly sentiment, nesties, butterfly and gems from stash

1 card 2 challenges

I know I am naughty for combining but sometimes you just have to, lol. I was really pleased to discover a pretty new challenge blog this week for Forever Friends . This week they want cards made 'With Love' so I inked up this cute stamp (for the first time) and had a play. I lovethese stamps because they are so quick and easy to colour but they are so gorgeous too. Almost everyone I know loves them ... even non crafters, hehe.

I have used the sketch from Secret Crafter challenge blog which I absolutely loved using. I am really pleased with how this card turned out and it is a nice simple card. Updated now with proper pic :o)

Forever Friends coloured with prismas, papers by Laura Ashley - thankyou Emma, Pearls from Sally, swiss dots folder from cuttlebug, see d's sentiment (didn't know I had this little beauty), ribbon by Papermania

Sketch Saturday #24

Wow, I am doing quite well this week with getting cards made .... fingers crossed it continues. I just had to take part in this weeks Sketch Saturday as soon as I saw the fab sketch to play with. It is perfect for larger stamps like my lovely WOJ stamp which refuses to fit in my nesties, lol

Have gone with non traditional colours again for this card but I think the pinks and greens look lovely together. I really loved colouring Charlotte and can feel the pennies burning a hole in my pocket for some more of these beautiful stamps.

WOJ image coloured with Prismas, papers from PM's 'Naughty & nice xmas' pack, cuddlybuddly sentiment stamp, x-cut punches for holly and flower, stickles to edges, glitter glue to tree, ribbon and brad from stash.