Sketch Saturday 32 + Lili of the valley: anything goes

This card is for Sketch Saturday 32:

and for this week's Lili of the valley challenge: anything goes.

I've used some of my favourite BG papers from Scarlet's letters and a stamped image that I got in a swap on CBC.

I have to laugh - I carefully cut circles into quarters and matted and layered in the corners of the card, as per the sketch - and then covered them up with the blooms!!

The red and black paper in the square in the middle is much more vibrant irl.

I guess that this could be my first Valentine card made, although it could be used for an anniversary or whatever.

BG 16: first sketch of 2009 + Cute Card Thursday 42

This week's challenge on BG is a sketch - the first for 2009:

I've used BG two scoops papers and a Forever Friends stamped image, coloured with copics, and with a piece of pink raffia tied around the card:

I'm also submitting this for the challenge on Cute Card Thursday, which is: 'This week we would like to see you use something you got for Christmas on your cards (if you didn't get anything suitable for Christmas then you can use something that you bought yourself over the holidays)!' I received a set of 36 copics and I have used six of them to blend on the image. The stamped image was received in the candy I blogged about yesterday.

2008 Top Ten

While blog hopping I've found that quite a few crafters have shown their Top Ten makes for 2008 - I eventually traced the idea back to this lady's blog

I found it quite an experience to look through my crafting for 2008 and very difficult to choose my 'top ten' because some crafting is special because of the technique involved, whereas other makes are special because of the purpose for doing them.

These are my chosen highlights of 2008 (but I really wanted to include more):

1. Card and exploding box made for mum for Mothering Sunday:

2. Book of vouchers made for John for Easter - the first time I used my BIA(you can see the rest of this project here

3. A card made for a competition on Tanda Stamps, using alcohol inks on acetate (I love using alcohol inks):

4. This was a match book I made for John for our wedding anniversary in May - more pictures and info here

5. I just love this stamp and used it on a piece of evenweave for a change:

6. No 'top ten' would be complete without one of my LO for Salt:

7. This tin was made for the Think Pink project - more pictures and information here

8. This card uses one of my favourite stamps (you will have seen those trees quite a bit if you are a regular visitor). In fact, mum bought this from me to give to John for his birthday:

9. One of my favourite Christmas cards of 2008 - I do love that stamp!

10. A simple card, but I love the sentiment and the photo:

Why not have a look through your own crafting for 2008 and show your 'top ten'? If you do, please leave me a comment to tell me and I'll come and have a look.

Look what postie brought me!!

Wow!! You may remember me posting to say that I'd won some blog candy from Claire on Claire's Crafty Corner - well, postie's just been and this is what's in the package:



I have to admit that I'm not feeling up to much today, so this has come at a good time. Thank you so much, Claire - what a super selection of goodies.

Salt: self control

Because of the New Year holiday, we delayed this time's Salt challenge till today. Ruth chose the subject of Self Control and you can read what she wrote here.

There are many areas in life where self control is needed. When I was younger I was the typical stereotype redhead with a quick temper that sometimes let me down. James in the Bible warns of the danger that can be caused by the tongue and this is the basis of my LO for this theme. Self control is one of the fruit of the Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5, so it isn't something that comes naturally to us, but is God-given.

For my LO I chose a simple white handmade paper 12 x 12 , using another one to print my journaling and the scripture verses.

You can read what I've written if you click on the image - and you will also be able to see that I used some delicate white flowers and leaves down the sides of the writing.



Unfortunately, during the year two of our DT on Salt have had to stand down and we are now looking for others to join us, so part of today's post is a call for DT members - please have a look and see whether you could consider joining us. I count it a real privilege to be part of the team of such talented Christian crafters.

Yummy card

I used sketch 29 on Dutch Dare for this card )I turned the sketch upright):



The papers are Steffi Tutti Frutti by craftwork cards (sorry that the photo makes the papers look as if they're not stuck properly, but they are really! - very difficult to get a photo especially as there is glitter on the ice cream sundae).

This week's challenge 43 on My time to craft is 'food, glorious food' and on This Thursday it's all about ... 25: naughty or nice (think this qualifies for both!):

Four New Year challenges in one

I needed to make another New Year card, so I used the current Di Hickman sketch:



The new challenge on Papertake Weekly is 'seeing spots', so the papers and ribbon I've used qualify this card for that challenge. The papers are American Crafts the goods confetti and cummerbund.

Challenge 12 this week on Lili of the valley is to make a New Year card - and I also promised to make a new one for the RosieDee challenge.



That's one I can get into the post tomorrow!

Experimenting with something new!!

Saturday's Workout 36: salted backgrounds

DCM 'giving thanks'

Rainbow Lady 41: new ideas

Theme Thursday: something new

The challenge this week on Saturday's workout is to make and use salted backgrounds, a technique which is explained here.

I thought that if I tried out a new technique I could also use the result for the challenges this week on Rainbow Lady and Theme Thursday, both of which were asking us to try something new.

Now, I'm willing to try anything once (or perhaps twice!), but, oh dear, this wasn't exactly a success (to put it mildly) - I used dye ink pads as instructed and tried to follow the tutorial, but this is what I ended up with:

I realise that I should have been bolder with the original dyes before applying the salt.

And then I had an idea to try Adirondack Color Wash, cranberry, lettuce and stream, instead of dye ink pads - well, they are water-based dyes, after all! And I did have better success with these:



However, I don't like wasting anything, so I decided to try and rescue my first pathetic attempt. With a bit (well, OK, a lot of imagination), it suggested a seascape background to me. So I swiped over the disaster area with some chalk ink pads - blue iris, yellow citrus and a touch of tangerine. This has then formed the basis of the background of this card:



I then used some of the color wash background on this card, just adding the 'thanks' sentiment and K & Co 3D flower stickers:



As I added 'with special thanks' this card is suitable for this week's DCM challenge: giving thanks.

Please click on the various links to see these wonderful challenges that inspire us to try new things (even if they don't turn out as expected!)

Created by hand: chalks

This week's challenge on Created by hand is to use chalks or pastels.

Everything I've used for this card is from the Laura Ashley Contemporary range - the random stamped flowers were done with versamark and chalked:

Caardvarks Becky Fleck pagemaps sketch

This is my first time of taking part in a Caardvarks challenge - a sketch provided by Becky Fleck of Pagemaps:



The papers are DCWV Pocket full of posies and the little 'Thank you' clear tag was bought from CBC:

Inchies challenges

It's a long while since I've made any inchies (in fact, I've just signed up for a swap on BF), but this past week I found two challenge sites that incorporate inchies:

Inchy by Inch - this week the theme is 'gifts' and

Small World of Inchies and Twinchies - this week's challenge is to make a collage.

So I combined the two and used them for this card:



The backgrounds are BG Scarlet's letters and I've used various epoxy stickers on foiled gold for the inchies, using sticky ribbons to make some of them look like 'gifts'.

As always, difficult to get a photo because of having to use flash - might replace if light is better in the morning.

Papertake challenge: Dawny's sketch 5 + Cuttlebug 12: sand the embossing

This is the sketch on Papertake this week:



I decided to combine this with Cuttlebug challenge 12: sand the embossing.

And, having made a few very quick cards, this one took me quite a bit longer!

As you can see, I used two different Cuttlebug embossing folders and inked them before I then sanded (have often done it the other way round, but quite like the effect of this). The strip across the bottom is DCWV pocket full of posies and the embossings are mounted on HOTP papers. The flower stamped image is a Dawn Bibby one, stamped with Brilliance pearlescent purple and embossed, as are the edges of the 'Happy Birthday' flower. The base card is a pale lilac.

My Time to Craft challenge 42: easy elegance

Having made a very quick card last night for the Dottie challenge, I seem to be into quick cards, because I've made three for the 'easy elegance' challenge on My Time to Craft.

These were made with some of the concept card range that I got from QVC - good for when you're not feeling very creative, but just want to make a couple of cards:

BubblyFunk Crafty Calendar

You will see that a new picture has been added to my sidebar - please visit the BubblyFunk Crafty Calendar blog and see the delightful calendar and monthly projects that have been designed by members of BF - such a lot of hard work has gone into producing this - thanks to all those who contributed. Please use the Just Giving link to donate to Action for ME.

The quickest card ever!

I wanted to do the challenge on Dottie's World this week - get well wishes - but time ran out. So this is the easiest, quickest card on record - a download of Dottie at work, ready coloured picture of nurse and words added - and still in time for the deadline of the challenge (I sort of promise that I'll spend more time on the next challenge!):



Dottie's downloads are terrific - if you haven't seen them yet, why not follow the link and try some for yourself - but be warned: you'll want more!

Sunday Stamper 41 + Mixed Media Monday

Following on from the last post, I used the same background and stamp for this card for Sunday Stamper and Mixed Media Monday (links as below) - both of which challenged to make something using favourite things - in this case, using alcohol inks. I used some stickles on the trees:



As is often the case, I'm not happy with the scan (and a photo looked worse) - the sky doesn't look as good as it does irl (looks somehow softer and more blended).

Sunday Postcard art

I found Sunday Postcard art today and thought I'd combine this with some stamping challenges - I ended up making one postcard and one square card, using the same background and stamp - which I'll submit for Sunday Stamper and Mixed Media Monday.

I used alcohol inks for the sky background. a mixture of denim, silver, slate and red pepper. And, of course, I've used the trees stamp again that I used earlier today, seen in a post below.

Becuase the trees were stamped on to shiny card I must have moved the stamp slightly and it became a bit blurred, but I thought that it gives a more shadowy look which might even suggest a hint of frost or snow, so I decided to keep it as it is.

Joanna Sheen January challenge: stamped background + Lots to do 1: Time

The January challenge on Joanna Sheen is to use a stamped background on a card and the new challenge on Lots to do (kindly taken over now by Hilda) is 1: Time.

I've used a couple of Debbi Moore text stamps randomly to make the background and the two images are from Miniatures 'People & Places' from craftyindividuals.



The background card is from pda.

I thought this card could be used for someone going away, either on holiday or for another reason, adding a 'bon voyage' on the insert if appropriate.

Four challenges in one!

There are so many lovely challenge blogs out there now - so much to inspire us and get the creative juices flowing - thank goodness, because today I don't really feel like doing much at all (my back is feeling as if I've ridden a horse for hours and hours and got off it and can't move - not that I've ever ridden a horse in my life!!).

Anyway, to get back to the reason for this post. I was very taken with the background provided on Art Creations Friday (found this lovely challenge site via a link from somebody else - as you do!). The brief is: 'Every friday we post a new challenge, a picture or a background. You must use that picture or background and make a atc or card, or something els you like.'

A few days ago I said I would do something for the 'trees or leaves' challenge 41 on Lots to do, so it was a lovely opportunity to use one of my favourite tree stamps, simply stamped with black versafine on to the background provided on Art Creations. This was then mounted on to a black card blank (it has an iridescent sheen to it that you can't see on the scan) and added a couple of pieces of black and gold sticky ribbon.

If you follow the link to Lots to do, you'll see that this is the last challenge, but the good news is that Hilda is taking over the challenges, so there will still be lots to do!

The other challenges I'm linking to are Wednesday stamper open theme, using at least one rubber stamp, and TGIF 66: winter time.



(As often is the case, the top of the card looks crooked, but not irl!)

Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog

I've just come across a new challenge blog - a sketch one with a twist - 'Every 2 weeks there will be a sketch to follow. You can rotate the sketch, resize the elements and add extra elements if needed.
The second part of the challenge is to use your newest stash on your card. You can use a new paper, new stamp, new embellishments etc. They can all be new or just one thing which is new, that's up to you!
When you're posting your card on your blog please let everyone know what your new item is, the make or manufacturer and a link to where you bought it from if possible!
But most importantly, HAVE FUN!!'

'To celebrate the launch of the Sketch and Stash Challenge Blog we are offering some blog candy! One lucky person will win a Willow with Umbrella stamp from Whiff of Joy. We are offering some blog candy! One lucky person will win a Willow with Umbrella stamp from Whiff of Joy.'

The first challenge is going to be on Monday 5 January, but there is an opportunity until today to win some candy by leaving a comment and linking.

Looks interesting! Why not take a look here

Forever Friends challenge + Cupcake Craft: 20 background inspired

I've visited the Forever Friends challenge blog previously, but have never done anything for it. Before Christmas I bought some FF stamps and was going to get them out for the current 'open' challenge, but in the end I used some stickers, mounted on to a piece of English Paper Company paper, the addition of a couple of chippie cupcakes, together with a PG tips coaster!

The challenge on Cupcake this time is 'background inspired' and so the 'cupcake' theme fits very well for this challenge as well.