a little bird told me....

Happy Saturday Penny Black fans.

Time for another challenge and this week it is....

Pearls and Lace

I watercoloured my PB image 'good friends' and the papers are from my scrap box. Added some machine stitching to this one 'cos I thought it matched the look of the card.

So, to find out all about this weeks prizes, last weeks winner and some fabby inspiration from my PB team mates pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

friends are special treasures

This weeks challenge on Simon Says is 'coffee and cream'. So my card fits two ways. I have used some coffee(kraft) and cream and these two little cuties are having a chinwag over a coffee!

I'm loving gingham ribbon at the moment, can you tell?

lots of love

Tonight I want to show you a card made with the super cute Grace from the DigiStamp Boutique.

I used Promarkers to colour Grace and the papers are Sugar and Spice by Dovecraft. I embossed using the very first cuttlebug folder I bought. I think this might only be the second time it has been used. Shame on me!

Make me feel better and tell me I am not the only one who does that.

we have a winner.....

.....and the winner is.....

Georgia from Kitty Krafts

chosen randomly by my ever patient with these requests hubby!

So let me know your address and this little bundle will be on it's way to you. Thanks everyone for the lovely comments and a big welcome to my new followers.

Good News Candy

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Well stab me with a pokey tool and colour me with copics!
I am on the Design Team of Papercraft Essentials magazine. Never in a million years did I think this would happen to me, it's a dream come true.

So here I am with my first commission on pages
72 and 73 of issue 64. On the shelves now.

It all started when my boss Jacqui at Simply Create sent me a small box with my November DT kit. I altered it into a holder for Christmas cocktail recipe cards. It was spotted by the editor of the mag and I was commissioned to make something similar.

So to celebrate I have put together a little bit of candy. Max & Whiskers paper pack by Basic Grey, some twine and, of course, a few buttons. The usual sort of thing applies, leave me a comment, spread the word on your own blog and if you like what you see become a follower.

The candy will close at midday Sunday 20th February.

spring is here!

Well, I dare say it is spring somewhere but here in the West of Scotland it does seem a little way off at the moment!

For this morning's creation I have used a fun Penny Black stamp 'baa'. A little touch of watercolour brings him to life. I drew the black line freehand round the card and stamped random little flowers along the way. The sentiment and butterfly are from a transparent PB set 'garden friends'.

This is for two challenges.....

Less is More....spring

Delightful....animals

I'll be back later to announce the winner of my candy which closes in just under one hours time.

plane crazy

Good morning Penny Black fans.

Another week has flown by and it's time for another challenge.
Which this week is.....

Cards for Men

I watercoloured 'hedgehopper' and carefully cut him out. Mounted on to some cloud paper and added some brads. I am so glad I found those little lettering stamps at the back of the crafty cupboard, I can't stop using them!

We have two gorgeous prizes this week.....

from Pauline 'gentlest kiss'

and from Carole 'a scholar'.

So, for all the latest info' on last weeks winner, this weeks challenge and some examples of cool mens cards visit the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Oh, and look, we are famous.....

We have been listed in Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine

as one of their favourite blogs! We are sooo chuffed!

best friends

Thought I would give a different shape a bit of a whirl! I simply cut the front of my card blank diagonally but centred my image where the middle would have been. The papers are from the NitWit Collection 'joyful hearts' and the image is Lili of the Valley.

My card is for three challenges....

Creative Card Crew....friendship

Simon Says....make your own embellishments

LOTV....favourite colours

I'll be back bright and early tomorrow for Penny Black Saturday.

very thoughtful

I'm loving this weekly go at clean and simple.

This time I used two pieces of scrap to block off the top and bottom sections of my card blank. I stamped Hero Arts 'colour me flowers' randomly in the middle section. I then used my watercolour pencils to add some colour. To finish I used a fine black marker to define the stamped area and added a sentiment from the 'sending smiles messages' clear set by Hero Arts.

This card is for two challenges....

Less is More....one layer

Creative Inspirations.....plain and simple

happy day

New for February are these cute little spring animals from the Digistamp Boutique, so adorable. I might be back later in the week with their friends Moo, Oink and Bunny! I used promarkers to colour and the papers are Sugar and Spice by dovecraft. The flowers and brads are from the same range.

My creations are for this weeks challenge over on Digital Tuesday....die cuts.

live love laugh

Just popping on to share the card I made for my hubby. I used my Banana Frog 'build-a-bloom' stamps and added a bit of colour with a promarker.
This card fits these two challenges....

Creative Card Crew 'for a loved one'.

Cupcake Craft 'I love you'.

While I'm here a big hello to my new followers. I am slowly but surely making my way round everyone to say hi. So if I haven't paid you a visit I soon will!

you're a good egg!

It's monthly give-away time on the DigiStamp Boutique and this image plus a £5.00 voucher is what 3 lucky people could receive.

Find out all about it here . But basically all you have to do is leave a comment here, follow the DSB blog and spread the word. Have a peek at more inspiration here.

Edited to add....a few folk have asked about the paper.It's card by Kanban called 'Easter Mini Egg'. I simply used it for my card base.

happy days

Good Morning Penny Black fans!

Time for another challenge. This week it's.....

Pretty in Pink

Anybody remember the film from the eighties? Molly Ringwald had a style all of her own and I sooo loved it. So, who sang the song? Pretty in piiink, isn't sheeee.
It was The Psychedelic Furs. Take ten points if you got it!

There is a $20 voucher up for grabs from 1-2-3 Stitch this week. So pop over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge to get all the info' on how to enter, find out who was last weeks lucky winner and feast your eyes on some very pretty and very pink creations from my teamies.

Barney and Flower

Aww, how sweet is Barney?
He's brought his owner home a beautiful rose for Valentines!

I made the card base with gingham patterned card. Coloured Barney from the DigiStamp Boutique with copics and promarkers. Inked the edges of the Kraft card with white ink. Rounded the corners, punched three flowers and finished with ribbon and a biggish bow.

Barney fits quite a few challenges, so here goes......

A Spoon Full of Sugar......let's see some love

Papertake....have a heart

Digital Tuesday....from the heart

Cute Card Thursday....hearts and flowers

Delightful.....get punchy

and last, but certainly not least... That's Krafty Thursday

forever friends happy birthday

Got this little stamp in the sale at the Glitter Pot, a bargain! Coloured him with water colour pencils. The paper is also from the Forever Friends range 'spring time' (I wish).

I am entering my card into this weeks Creative Card Crew challenge, pink and purple. OK then, just been there and missed that challenge by an hour. Oh well, ho hum!

Is anyone else watching Gary - Tank Commander? My current telly favourite.

just a note....

I have been trying my hand at leaving white space on my cards for a little while now. So when I discovered a new challenge blog 'Less is More' for clean and simple cards (which is what hubby calls me after a bath) it was right up my street.

Their first challenge is 'pink, white and black'. I used a stamp set I picked up in TKMaxx, some black and pink card and two pearls. Job done.

cute

It always takes me ages to work up the courage to machine stitch round my card. I'd be really annoyed if I messed it up after carefully putting all the bits together. But when I do have a brave moment I am always pleased that I did. And so what if it goes a bit wonky?

This is Grace, one of the latest images from the DigiStamp Boutique. I coloured with copics and promarkers. The papers are the free ones with this months SCAP mag.

I am entering this creation into the challenge over on ABC which is N for Nesties with an optional sketch.

If you decide to make a card using one of the DSB images why not enter into the February competition? You could win 5 images of your choice.

And new this month is the give-away. Click here for all the details.

sending wishes with hugs & kisses

Me again! A new month and time for a new challenge over on Crafty Calendar.

And the challenge is.....

Love

Nice and easy, so no excuses for not having a go.

We have a really cool prize. £15 gift voucher from Squiggle Stamps.

I am entering my card into this weeks challenge at Sir Stampalot.....
all creatures great and small.

love is....

and the big reveal.....

Good Morning Penny Black fans!
Wow! Did you enjoy Pauline's sketch? You betcha! Fabulous number of entries. Pop over to the Penny Black Challenge blog and find out if you are the lucky winner.

And this weeks challenge.....

Love is.....

We have two gorgeous prizes.

This from the Ribbon Girl.

And this super cute stamp from Penny Black.

We have a very talented guest designer with us for February. Helen from Helen's Craft Haven is joining us. So there is plenty of inspiration to see this week over on the PB challenge blog. I'll be back in a bit with this month's Crafty Calendar Challenge. Phew, two posts in one day, think I'll need to go for a lie down!

My card also fits the challenge at Allsorts......love love love.