Dream Valley Challenge 31 - For a Special Lady

At Dream Valley we would like to see your creations for a Special Lady.  This can be anything you like - doesn't have to be a card - but something girly for a female relative.  We are lucky enough to be sponsored this time by Saturated Canary Digis who are offering a $10 voucher to one lucky person.

I started with a white card blank and added a layer of DP from  Stampin' Up Botanical Gazette.  On top of this I added some swirls (Prima Clear Nouveau) and some butterflies (SU Elementary Elegance) in SU Always Artichoke.  Next I added my main image, the dressmakers dummy from Tim Holtz Seamless Experience stamped in SU Always Artichoke and I added a swirl of Flower Soft (Summer).  This was matted onto white card.  My sentiment frame is from Elementary Elegance, again in SU Always Atichoke.  The sentiment is from SU You're a Gem and was stamped on white, then punched using SU Curly label.  Next I added some bling to finish it off.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Stampalot Challenge - Happy Birthday (April Challenge)

Rogue Redhead - Spring Fashion Colours

Samuel Taylor - Green

My clever DD

I thought I'd share some of the things my daughter has made recently.  She gave me a lovely surprise for Mother's Day.  She hand-crafted my card and some of my presents - and yes, she used my stash, LOL. 

The card was made using the Divine Swirls embossing folder and Penny Black stamps.  The little box was covered with tissue poppies she had cut from napkins and the head-warmer was hand knitted.  It's certainly the weather to wear it today and I feel very elegant in it.

This is a card she made for her Grandma.  The stamps are from Stampin' Up Greenhouse Garden set and are two-step stamps - not helped by the fact that I didn't line the stamps and the images up when I attached them to the wooden block.  It is a CASE from a card by Niki Rowlan in the March Issue of Crafts Beautiful.

Lastly, this is the fabulous cable jumper she made for her Dad.  She taught herself to knit and this is not only her first cable pattern, but her first ever jumper. 

Catch Up

These are just some cards that I made recently and hadn't put on my blog.

This black and white card uses stamps from Design Inks Plate 87.

I used Hobby Art Harbour stamps for this simple New Home card and watercoloured it using Whispers pens as paints.

This cross stitch card was made with a kit from So and Sew Needlecraft and stamps from Cards Unlimited Oriental set.

This was inspired by a card Kim Reygate had in Craft Stamper in April (2012).  I used Stampin' Up Playful Petals and coloured the images with Whispers Pens.  The DP is from Basic Grey Sweet Threads pad and I used a Martha Stewart French scroll punch.

This image is from Penny Black Micey Day set watercoloured with Whispers Pens. 

Finally this is a bracelet that I made for a friend's birthday.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 66 - Fantasy

As it's St George's Day on 23rd April, we would like to see anything with a fantasy or mystical theme at Crafty Cardmakers.  So dragons, fairies, witches, etc.  Please make sure that the fantasy element is the main focus of your creation and not just a small fairy charm in the corner.

We have 2 fabulous sponsors again.  Crop Stop are offering a $15 gift certificate for their store and Di's Digi Downloads are offering a $10 gift voucher for their store.

I stuck to a black/white/silver colour scheme for my card.  I used a white card blank, layered it with black and then added my image with a silver matt under it.  My image is from a plate I've had ages by Non Sequiter and stamnped in Brilliant Graphite Black.  The actual image is from a print by Edward Burne-Jones that he did for the Kelmscott Chaucer.  Then I added some silver border and corner peel-offs.

I'd like to enter my card into the folowing challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Nautical

Paper Sundaes - Anything Goes

Glitter Geeks - Nautical

Annabelle Stamps - Say it in . . . Friday 13th Black

Dream Valley Challenge 30 - Earth Tones

This week our challenge at Dream Valley is Earth Tones.  Your creation, whether its a card, a scrapbook page or even some jewellery, just has to be in the colours of the natural Earth!  Think browns, oranges and greens - those sorta colours!  And remember as long as you follow the rules you can enter anything you like.  We have a fab prize this week too.  A voucher for £20 to spend in Bead Crafty.

I used a Stampin' Up set - Natures Walk and stamped the eggs using SU Soft Suede onto Kraft card (sorry for bad lighting in pic), then coloured in a couple of the eggs using Derwent Drawing pencils.  I die cut the image and matted it using Oval Nestabilities.  I made a card blank again using Kraft and added a strip of dark brown.  Next I added a strip of caramel coloured card with the edges punched using a Martha Stewart punch - scallop dot.  On top of that another strip of Kraft which I embossed with the Cuttlebug using the Forsest Branches folder.  Lastly I added some feathers from my stash.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations - Inspired by Spring

Everybody Art - Spring

Creative Card Crew - Kraft

The Sausage Snatcher

I was lucky enough to win a voucher for Lili of The Valley and I had so much fun choosing my new stamps.  This was one I just couldn't resist.  He is called Sausage Snatcher.  I stamped him using Versafine Majestic Blue and the watercoloured him using Stampin' Up inks (Pacific Point/Not Quite Navy/Marina Mist) adding a little bit of Sakura Stardust pen to his tail for sparkle.  I then matted and layered him with Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, and edged the image with faux stitches.  The papers are from American Traditional Design Pastel stack with more faux stitching.  The message is from Hero Arts Anytime Messages set and I added a couple of paw prints (Anita's stamp).  There is also some lovely SU ribbon.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Delightful Challenges - Delightful stitches

Top Tip Tuesday - Spotty Dotty (TIP - you can use die inks to watercolour, just dab them onto a plain tile that you can use as your pallette)

Bunny Zoe - Ribbon or Twine

Sketch N Stash - Kevin's Sketch (and new stamp)

The Crafty Pad - Just Die-delicious

One Stop Craft - Pastels and Die Cuts

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 65 - Easter

This week's theme at Crafty Cardmakers has been piced by Doreen, who has chosen Easter.   So what we'd like to see from everyone is something - cards, tags, bookmarks, hats, baskets, anything - as long as it has an Easter theme.  We are being sponsored this week by the Digi Doodle Shop who are offering a $10 gift certificate and also Hobby Art who are offering two fab stamp sets.

I decided to  make a pillow box out of parchment to fill with little yummy chocolate eggs to send to a friend.   I used a template from Palm Tree Parchment Craft for the box.  The gridwork pattern was made uisng a small straight grid and took ages!!!  The centre design is by Anneke Oostmeijer and is from Parchment Craft Magazine May 2009.  I drew the design with white gel pen and then coloured with a combination of Whispers pens and Derwent Studio Pencils, adding embossing and some more gridwork (small diagonal grid) to one of the Eaaster eggs.

I'd like to enter my box into the following Challenges:

Paper Sundaes - Happy Easter

Charisma Cardz - Easter

Delightful Challenges - Easter

Paper Play - Easter

Top Tip Tuesday - Easter (top tip - do your central decoration before the gridwork so you don't smudge your work)

Dream Valley Challenge 29 - Wedding/Love

This week at Dream Valley we have gone with a Wedding/Love theme.  You can create anything you like as long as it follows our theme. It can be Wedding, love or even anniversary.  And one lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher from the fab One Stop Card Crafts. 

One of the boys that works with my husband is getting married next week so I made a Wedding card.  I used a colouring page from www.coloringpages101.com for my image.  I chose it because it's a nice simple image and I wanted it to be mainly white.  I added hair and face colour and little bit of green (bow tie) and pink (for the flowers).  I cut it out and mounted it with circle Nestabilities and then cut a matt with Nestabilities Eyelet Circles using Stampin' Up Designer Series paper (subtles).  The white background was run through my Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder, a ribbon stuck in the middle to hide the join as the folder is only small, and then was mounted onto green card before being mounted onto a square white card blank.  The sentiment is from a set I won (Penny Black Sentiments).