Dottie is ready for school

This card is for the sketch on Sunday Sketch and Stamp challenge 12:



I've used a Dottie download digi stamp - Dottie goes to school - this week's Dottie's World challenge is 'charmed, I'm sure', which is why I've put the bag charm over Dottie's arm - she looks quite loaded, doesn't she?

On the new challenge blog Crafty Catz, the first challenge is a colour combo: green, blue and brown, with the option of adding a charm, which is there.

Whimsy this week for challenge 21 is: the eyes have it - use eyelets (there is one on the top of the tag, set with my big bite).

Pink Elephant 34 calls for something with dots (that's the base paper surrounding the card), a punch (using the big bite) and a tag.

This week's CCEE challenge is 'let's go digital' - the digi stamp of Dottie.

Stamp Something this week asks for something to do with apples/teachers/school (I hope it's OK that I've used a digi stamp)

The colour scheme for 365 cards day 109 is there on my card - and it needs to be a feminine one, so Dottie is OK for that.

As the card has a charm, it's another one for Dutch Dare 61,

The background paper is BG, the 'school books' paper is Poundland, the brown paper for the tag is Be Blessed. ABC rub ons and school stickers are from Poundland.

Pile it on ... and on ...

Challenge 17 on Pile it on this week is 'let them eat cake', so I remembered that I'd got a cute Penny Black stamp with a birthday cake on it.

I used Card Patterns sketch 34 - this was lovely to work with:



The idea of the Pile it on challenge blog is to see how many other challenges you can combine with theirs - so here goes:

Penny Black 68 Colour challenge: chocolate, lemon and pink
Secret crafter Saturday challenge 51: animal antics
365 cards day 189: charming - add a charm
Cooking it up with Katie challenge 2: Recipe - metal (I used a charm, border punch (scalloped edge)and make the image be of something alive
Dutch Dare 61: so charming
3 Clovers 33: think pink
Colour Create 28: hot pink, dusky pink, ice chocolate
Die Cut Dreams 16: ribbons and trims
ABC: E for embossing (Cuttlebug swiss dots)
Stampavie 63: animals
Cute Card Thursday 80: a pinch and a punch - celebrate a 'first' (the cake has one candle, making it suitable for baby's first birthday)
Die Cuts R Us 9: Possibility city - use two products sold in DCRU shop - swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder and copics

BF September inchies swap

I've receivd my fab inchies today from the BF swap, hosted by Leigh - thank you, Leigh. They are smashing, girls - all so different, but totally on theme: rainbow:



Mine is on the bottom right.

Serendipity Christmas

This card is for the sketch on If the shoe fits ... Fashionista Friday 2 (the one that I wanted to do a few days ago and followed a wrong card instead!):



This week on Fab's Big Christmas Cards challenge the topic is 'green and more green' (I think there's enough on this card to qualify).

It's also another one for Simon Says: red and green - and this time there is some stamping - the two squares of Christmas greetings (btw why do colours sometimes show differently in scans?)

The theme on Rainbow Lady atm is 'Christmas with the stars' - there are quite a few on these serendipity squares.

There are stripes as well as stars on those red, green and white squares, so I'm also linking for one of the Rosie-Dee challenges that I missed: week 53 'stars and stripes'.

Stars are also featured on GC24 Gingersnap Random Redhead challenge, so it's good for that.

Lastly, this is for challenge 71 on A spoon full of sugar: 'Christmas'.

Kewl colours for autumn

This card follows te Friday Sketchers 71 sketch:



And the colours used are for Easy Breezy Kewl Colours challenge: more fall colours:



I think these are unusual colours to have together and I found just the right papers - they are by imaginisce (some sent to me by Annmarie) and the autumn tree stamp is one of a set of seasons by Whispers. TGIF has the topic this week of 'wonderful trees', so I'm linking there, although I've just noticed that they already have their new challenge up and it's still Thursday evening. Tuesday Taggers this week also has the theme of 'trees' - there is a voucher to be won there to spend at The Craft Barn.

I'm editing this because I've just found the new monthly challenge blog 'By the cute and girly' with 'autumn glory' as the first topic, so I'm linking this card there as it was made after the challenge was launched.

Tartan it up

The challenge this week on DCM is 'tartin it up' - Sue said, 'I would like you to use some sort of tartan on your cards, fabric, ribbon, paper, even a piece of an old tartan rug(!)etc.'

I've used Kathy's sketch 11 from her sketch file. Kathy's sketch is called 'Simple eliptical' - she called it this because of the shape of the prominent sentiment on the sketch. I actually used a rectangular sentiment, but kept it quite large so that it is a central focus of the card.



Having said earlier in the week that I had some ribbon suitable for this challenge, in the end I didn't use it, but used a tartan paper from BG June bug. The green paper is also from that range.

This card also fits the challenge on 365 for day 156 which had an ad-inspired picture with green and red quite prominent.

Simon Says this week asks us to use red and green for a colour combo challenge.

Pumpkin time?

Day 213 on 365 cards on Tuesday was 'In Pieces': 'We have done a paper piecing challenge before, but this one is specific. If you complete this challenge, you must use this image:



It seemed at first as if we were being asked to make a halloween card - and I don't hold with halloween, so I thought I couldn't take part. However, when I asked I was kindly told: 'If you wish to use only part of the image - for example, just the pumpkin body, that's just fine :) If you don't celebrate Halloween, it's not a requirement, just an idea for those who do.'

So I incorporated the image into a card, together with my autumn ATC that I did for the 'ribbon' swap on BF.


I'm editing this because I've just found the new monthly challenge blog 'By the cute and girly' with 'autumn glory' as the first topic, so I'm linking this card there as it was made after the challenge was launched.

You can see here how I put the ATC together. The background of this card is K & Co Brookfield paper. The pumpkin was coloured with various shades on copics orange - which is just right for today's challenge 13 on Copic Creations: colouring a pumpkin.



This is another entry for 'shades of autumn' on Ooh-la-la 37, also for challenge 35 on Crafty Creations: leaves/autumn theme, another one for Allsorts 20: autumn days, another one for If the Shoe Fits ... Fashionista challenge 4: fall themed - it must contain leaves.

Salt: Growth

It's Salt challenge day - and I'm afraid that I'm a little late with posting my LO today, but here I am at last.

It was Esther's turn to choose the topic - and Mona last Thursday chose a meditation on growth for her 'in between' slot - neither Esther nor Mona knew what the other was choosing, so it's quite clear that they were both led in the same direction.

You can read what Esther said here and if you didn't manage to stop by Salt last Thursday you can read what Mona wrote in her meditation here.

When reflecting upon this topic to seek to decide what I should craft, it struck me that physically our growth is dependent on many things, but primarily on food for our bodies; so it is in our spiritual life, we need food to sustain our souls and for us to grow in maturity in the faith. Jesus said, 'I am the Bread of Life' - we need Him in our lives and to regularly seek His plan and purpose for us to grow spiritually.

So my LO meditates upon the passage from John 6 where Jesus talked about Himself as the Bread of Life - well worth looking up that chapter and reflecting on it.

The photos of bread were royalty-free ones found on the internet. The textured card is DCWV, the background paper is K & Co McKenna and the patterned strip of paper is K & Co Brookfield.

As always, if you click on the picture you can more easily read what I've written.



If you get time, why not pop along to Salt and read what Esther has to say and see the lovely crafting of the rest of the team - we would appreciate any comments you wish to leave us.

Just for Karen

Karen left a comment on my WOYWW picture from last night, asking if I'd show more of the stamps that were at the top of the picture.

So here they are - difficult to see what's there really because they are squeezed behind and on top of one another to use the available space. Once upon a time I said that I wouldn't buy any more wood mounted stamps because they take up too much room, but I seem to have forgotten that I ever said that. And I do happen to have a few (!) acrylic and unmounted rubber ones too.

A better view if you click on the pictures - oh, and please excuse the teddy's paw on the top right of the second picture - all teddies etc live up on the top shelf.

BF September ATCs swap

Postie's brought me my BF ATC swaps for September this morning - they are all so lovely. The theme was 'ribbon' - and it's amazing how different each one is and yet they all stick to the theme.

Thanks, girls - and thanks to Ali for once again organising.

What's on your workdesk Wednesday

No crafting here today (yet!) because we've been up at Guy's again today - so why is it that there is such a mess in this photo? Simple - I crafted yesterday and didn't clear it up, only the bit in front of me.

So this is for WOYWW:

Movie stars sparkle

This card is for the sketch on Clean & Simple FTL61:



It is also for GC21: Chestnut theme challenge 'Movie Stars' on Gingersnap. Also for Creative Card Crew 30: 'all that sparkles' (even if it doesn't show up properly here, that bottom pinkist white strip is glitter card and really shimmers, and the twisted pyramage is edged with gold foil.

It also fits the theme for day 142 on 365 cards: Movie Monday - 'Let the Twilight movie inspire your card. Use a black card base or black background, patterned paper where the dominant color is red, and embellish with either glitter or rhinestones.'

Bee happy

This card is for this sketch on Sweet Sketch Wednesday:



It's also for challenge 79 on Cute Card Thursday: 'Buzz off!' - 'we want you to use a black and yellow colour combo'.

Cupcake challenge 59 is 'cute as a bug' (I think a bee qualifies as a bug!)

I'm also linking for Alphabet challenge blog: Y is for ... yellow.


Day 150 on 365 cards was 'An 'eye' for an 'I' - use one word that sounds like another - hence the 'Bee happy'.

The checked paper is HOTP - other bits are from my stash - have had the quilled bees for quite a long time and not found a use for them until now. I suppose if I'd really been clever I would have had a hexagonal background like a beehive, but I didn't think of that at the time.

A sporty card

This is for the sketch on Prairie Paper & Ink:



Day 182 on 365 cards: Sporty Saturday ...'The specifics: Use a ball on your card - baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis, golf, or volleyball.'

And Charisma Cardz challenge 38 is 'getting sporty', so I'm linking for that.

Also for Die Cut Dreams challenge 15: it's raining 'men'!! (sorry, bit late for this one)

I don't know what the image is because I got it in a swap - coloured it in with copics. Black spotty paper is HOTP and red stripy is K & Co.

Thanks to Vee, I now know that the image is a Paper Nation stamp - I should have known that because I've got some of the others, for instance, the rugby one, which is similar. Thanks, Vee.

Thinking of you

Color Dare challenge 35 asks us to use these colours:



Challenge 6 on Stampin' Sisters in Christ is to make a 'thinking of you' or 'praying for you' card. I realise that I haven't actually stamped on this card, so I might do another one for this later.

I've used an aperture 'window' card for challenge 34 on Crafty Creations

I used flowers cut from a K & Co embossed vellum. The sentiment ties up the three colours asked for in The Color Dare:

A recipe for a cute card

Just amended this post to say that Leah supplied the sketch, not Nikki as I previously put - that'll teach me to read things properly - sorry, Leah.

This card is for this week's sketch by Leah on Paper Blooms:



This week's Cute Daisy May challenge is 'Easy as 1, 2, 3!' - 1 ribbon, 2 buttons and 3 flowers. The wide ribbon with spots on has been in my box neglected for far too long. The buttons are tiny, but are definitely there! and it seemed a sensible place to put them. The flowers are layered but you can't see that too well here.

The image was obtained in a swap so I can't say what it is - if anyone recognises it, please tell me) and I coloured it with copics,V09, B23 and BG01, which were the nearest I had to the colours specified in this week's Copic Colour challenge:



Papers are BG wisteria and euphoria.

Autumnal sepia

Autumn is really upon us now, although the last few days have been more like summer than that season was! Anyway, there are a few more challenges this week about autumn.

For this card I used this lovely sketch given for the Spoon Full of Sugar challenge 70:



I used an autumn stamp that I've shown before, stamping with Heritage timeless sepia, appropriate for the 'sepia' challenge on Tuesday Taggers.

With the autumnal theme, the card is good for:

Ooh-la-la 37: shades of autumn
Crazy Amigo: autumn
My Time to Craft 78: autumn fest
Allsorts 20: autumn days
Creative Belli 74: fall or halloween
If the shoe fits 4: autumn theme (must use leaves - these are on the stamped image)
No time to stamp? challenge 106 - rich autumn leaves, added element: sponging - I hope the sponging with ink on the flowers counts.

This is also another card for Our Creative Corner: monochromatic mania

The papers are all BG- from infuse, scarlet's latter, wisteria and lemonade. The autumn stamp is by Hero Arts. I inked some beige flowers with the sepia.

A winning streak!!

I've just found out that I was awarded shoe of the week for my card for challenge 3 over on If the Shoe fits, which means that I can put the appropriate blinkie on here (will do that tomorrow). Thank you so much to that blog for choosing my card, which is this one.

Also, as you can see here, my number was randomly picked as the winner for challenge 16 on Pile it on.

My number has also come up on Crafty Pad challenge 38 - I get a turn as a guest designer sometime soon - watch this space!

A silly mistake

This is a card that I made a few days ago - unfortunately, I made a silly mistake.

I originally made it for Fashionista Friday 2 on If the shoe fits, which was a sketch. Silly me, I went to the shoe blog to get the sketch and saw the first card on that challenge pageand proceeded to make a card to that 'sketch'. It was only after I'd made it that I realised that the card was the one that had won the previous challenge and the sketch was underneath - so, in fact, I hadn't done the sketch for the challenge, but had card lifted from Susan Z!! Thank you Susan for such a super card that inspired me so much that I didn't look further down to find the right sketch!!

So, this is the card I made, using HOTP papers and stamps, adding a coin etc:



The toile strip is actually a linen type of ribbon. This makes the card suitable for 365 cards 168 challenge: a touch of toile.

Continuing my Rosie-Dee catch up!

This was the challenge for week 52 on Rosie-Dee: 'This months theme of SHAPES continues with a recipe. So, we'd like to see 2 squares and a rectangle on your project this week please.' There are definitely at least 2 squares on my card and one rectangle (and one or two more squares).

For this I decided to use the sketch for challenge 17 on Creative Inspirations this week:



The current challenge on Our Creative Corner is 'monochromatic mania - 'This week we are making monochromatic cards. You can incorporate as many colors of one shade onto your card/project. You may also use neutrals (White, Cream, Kraft, and Black).' I suppose I've cheated a tiny bit (but it is only a tiny bit) in that there is a hint of green here and there, but I think I'll get away with the overall impression of various shades of pink.

The two images were ones that I originally made for a twinchies challenge on Something Completely Different (another challenge blog that I haven't done anything for for a while - and would like to get back to). The pictures of the girls were taken from a Crafty Individuals pad, but the backgrounds of the two images were stamped with a paisley stamp. This means that this card qualifies for the Banana Split Sunday challenge on 2 red bananas: easy as 1, 2, 3: 1 piece of ribbon, 2 stamps and 3 dew drops or gems.

All behind like the donkey's tail!

There are some challenges that I don't like to miss, but it's not surprising that, with the way things have been with John in recent months, crafting has had to be somewhat erratic. Because of the treatment John is currently having on his foot, he, once again, isn't allowed to put his weight on that foot, so only absolutely necessary walking indoors. That gives me more to do, but it does mean that on non-hospital days I can usually fit in a bit of crafting.

So, I'm trying to catch up with the recent Rosie-Dee challenges, so this card is for challenge 51, for which there was a sketch and 'We want to see at least one circle and one oval.'



It's a simple card, with BG granola papers and oval and flowers by Deni Designs:



Now to check their blog for the next September Shape challenge that I've missed.