Allsorts Challenge ~ Balloons

Mervi has chosen the theme of  'Balloons' for this week's Allsorts Challenge.  There is also the optional theme of Anything Goes, as we love to see your all creations.

I've used a hot air balloon for this week's theme and made a fairly CAS card.  The image and the sentiment are both stamps from Creative Expressions 'Let's Fly Away' set.  The image was stamped with Memento 'Tuxedo Black' and coloured with Promarkers.  I used Memory Box 'Stitched Rectangle Layers' dies for matting and layering the image.  The background was embossed with an Embossalicious 'Clouds' embossing folder.  The sentiment was stamped with Versafine Clair 'Nocturne' and die cut with a Sue Wilson 'Stitched Flag' die.  The mat was hand cut.

There are some lovely prizes to be won from AALL and Create.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Stamping Sensations April Challenge ~ Anything Goes

We Love Stamping April Challenge ~ Anything Goes

I Love Promarkers Challenge #557 ~ Anything Goes

The Male Room Challenge #185 ~ Embossing

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #244 ~ Embossing, Die Cut, Square Card

I Spy With My Little Eye ... Something with Wings

I was delighted to be invited to be a Guest Designer for Ellie's 'I Spy With My Little Eye' challenge.  The theme this time is 'Something with Wings'.  I decided to use this cute little owl on my card. 

The owl is a Cottage Cutz 'Owl' die cut which I cut from a snippets of brown card.  I used a dark brown Promarker to colour the branch.  I added two tiny white circles for the eyes and a black pupil.  The background is Cheery Lynn 'French Lattice Small Frame' die cut, layered on a plain white piece of card.  The green mats are patterned paper from The Range.  The sentiment is raised up on foam pads.  Everything, apart from the card base was snippets, so I'll be sharing my card over the Playground. (Totally forgot to take a photo of the snippets this time.)

I am joining in the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #478 ~ Use snippets

Make My Monday Challenge #223 ~ Nat. Picture of a Bird

Dragonfly Dreams April Challenge ~ Use a Die

Allsorts Challenge ~ It has to be spring

The Allsorts Challenge theme this week is 'Spring', chosen by Brenda.  There is also the Anything Goes theme if spring themed cards are not your thing.  We have lot of tulips in our garden and this gave me the inspiration for my card.

 I made a Tri Panel Z Fold card, a fold which is easy to make and perfect for using up snippets of patterned paper.  The patterned paper is from The Works.  I used a Marianne Design cross-stitched tag die cut and used crochet cotton to stitch the tulip design.  The sentiment is a stamp from the Stampin' Up 'Best Year' set, stamped with Versafine Clair 'Glamorous'.  The number dies I used are from The Works.

There are lovely prizes to be won from AALL and Create

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge ~ Use a Die

I was delighted to be invited to be a Guest Designer for the Dragonfly Dreams April Challenge.  The theme this month is 'Use a Die'.

I decided to make a masculine card for a friend.  To make the card base I used a Spellbinders 'Happy Days' die.  The papers are from a paper pad from The Works and I added four punched stars on the steps. The sentiment was made with Creative Expressions dies, 'Mini Shadowed Sentiments - Happy Birthday', which cuts out the words and the shadow background.

Allsorts Challenge ~ For The Love of Animals

This is my second post today.  Please scroll down to see my Crafty Calendar Challenge DT card.

A new Allsorts Challenge begins today and Lolo has chosen the theme 'For the Love of Animals', an appropriate theme as April is National Pet Month.  We love to see all your entries and there is always the optional theme of Anything Goes.

I used a die from the Spellbinders 'Pawing Around -Dog) set and layered the heart shaped die cut on Memory Box 'Stitched Circle Layers' die cuts.  The panel was embossed with a Creative Expressions 'Pawprint Lattice' embossing folder. The sentiment is a stamp from the Happy Little Stampers 'Wish You Were Here' set, stamped with Versafine Claire 'Rain Forest'. 

Prizes for weeks 773/4/5 are from Highlight Crafts and Stamp Addicts.

Crafty Calendar Challenge ~ Dry/Wet Embossed

The theme for the Crafty Calendar Challenge this month is 'Dry/Wet Embossed'.  Our generous sponsor this month is All Dressed Up.

Our sponsor kindly gave us digi images to work with and I chose to use Little Sports Champ.  I coloured the image with Promarkers.  I embossed the pale green with Darice dots embossing folder.  The footballs are peeloff, attached to white card and fussy cut.

The Crafty Calendar Challenge ends at on 28th April, so please hop over to the challenge blog to see the beautiful creations the DT have made for inspiration. 

Good Luck

I needed to make a quick Good Luck card today.  I looked through my abandoned half finished cards and came across this one.  I had already cut the front of a white card blank in half, covered it in green card and attached a triangle of dotty paper.  Then I changed my mind and made a totally different card. It's been sat in my unfinished projects box for probably a couple of years.

 

The patterned paper was from an old Papermania 'Secret Garden' paper pad.  I used punches for the lucky four leaf clovers and layered them on Memory Box die cut circles.  The inside of the back of the card looked too plain, so I looked through my snippets and by chance found a thin strip of the same patterned paper, so I added it across the top.  I finished off my card with a sentiment, attached with foam pads to add some dimension.

I remembered to take a photo of the snippets I used, except I forgot to take a photo of the strip of patterned paper before putting in on the card. 

I am joining in the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #477 ~ Use Snippets

Dragonfly Dreams March Challenge ~ Circles

Butterfly Challenge

The current Butterfly Challenge ends in a couple of days and as I left if too late to join in last time, I was determined to enter a card this time.  The theme this time is 'D for Decoupage Card' and the elements are Decoupage, Dairy Cream, Dusty Pink, Dark Green, Delft Blue, Daffodil, Damson, Die Cuts and Diamonds (gems) + a Butterfly. 

This card didn't turn out at all like I'd planned in my head.  I started by using a Lavina Stamps 'Dynamics' stencil with Daffodil, Delft blue and Damson coloured inks to make the background.  I was going to include Decoupage by stamping butterflies, colouring them, fussy cutting them and layering them up.  However, it made the card far too busy, so I die cut Memory Box 'Darla Butterfly' and 'Swirl Butterfly', put one on top of the other and layered the butterfly on Memory Box 'Stitched Circle Layers' die cuts. I was going to just add the sentiment on the stencilled background, but it would have got lost in the stencilling.  I added a plain panel at the bottom, cut along the top edge with a die from the Memory Box 'Stitched Country Borders' set, and put the sentiment on top.  The sentiment is a die from the Stampin' Up 'Best Year' set, stamped with Versafine Clair 'Chianti'.  Three clear gems around the butterfly finished off my card.  As I didn't include any decoupage, I'll be playing for the first prize in the Butterfly Challenge.

I am joining in the following challenges: 

Butterfly Challenge 'D' ~ 3 colours, die cuts, diamonds and a butterfly

Creative Knockouts #518 ~ Birthday Wishes 

Try It On Tuesday Challenge ~ Use a Stencil

Triple B March 2024 Challenge ~ Birds, Butterflies and Blooms

Crossover Card

Just checking through my draft fold and this card is one I made a little while ago and I forgot to add to my blog.

The patterned paper is from an old Papermania pad.  I made the tag with a Stampin' Up punch and added a flower made with dies from the Sue Wilson 'Passion Flower' set.  I put a white pearl in the middle of the flower.

The two side panels inside were embossed with an old Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The plain panel in the centre is for the message.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Dream Valley Challenge # 312 ~ Dies and AND/OR Punches

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #15 ~ Anything Florals Goes

Crafty Catz Challenge #668 ~ Anything Goes with optional twist - Use an Embossing Folder

Christmas Milk Carton Gift Boxes

The Rudolph Days March Challenge begins today.  Helen took over the challenge from the lovely Maureen last month and the new place for finding the challenge is HERE.  I love making these Milk Carton gift boxes after seeing them demonstrated on the Nifty Noodles Crafting Facebook page.  I've made a couple ready for Christmas.

The box is made from one sheet of A4 card.  The patterned paper is from a paper pad from The Works.  The box is kept closed with the bulldog clip.

I am joining in the following challenges with this project:

Rudolph Days March Challenge

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge # 159 ~ Anything Christmas Goes

I made a second one in blue and white, my favourite colour combination for Christmas.  These patterned papers were from The Works too.

Allsorts Challenge ~ Keep It Simple

Sarah has chosen the theme of  'Keep it Simple' for the Allsorts Challenge this week.  You can always choose to use the Anything Goes option if you prefer.  With Easter next weekend, this challenge will be running for two weeks.

A simple masculine card today for a friend who loves pigs.  I used a set of dies from the Creative Expressions 'Farmyard Residents' set to make the pig.  The sentiment is a  Memory Box 'Grand Happy Birthday' die, cut in grey card and attached to the card blank.  I used the die again in pink card and inlaid the 'waste' letters into the letters in the grey card.  As this was a card for a man, I decided not to add any other embellishments.  The pig was from a preloved set of dies I bought recently.  As I used it for the first time, I'll be sharing my card in the NBUS Challenge.

Prizes are from Highlight Crafts  Stamp Addicts.

I am joining in the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge #60 ~ Use Never-Before-Used-Schtuff

Alphabet Challenge ~ Z is for Zoology

Dream Valley Challenge # 312 ~  Dies and and/or Punches

Classic Design Challenge #3 - Anything Goes with Optional Twist: 4-Legged Friends

Daisy Chain Challenge #83 ~ Animals

Craftlandia Challenge 18 ~ Easter/Anything Goes

The Craftlandia Challenge 18 begins today and runs until 30th March. Ayla has chosen the theme of Easter or there is the Anything Goes option if you prefer.

For my DT card, I've used stamps from the Stampin' Up 'Timeless Tulips' set.  The stem and leaves were stamped onto a snippet of white card with Versafine Clair 'Green Oasis'.  The ovals are Memory Box 'Stitched Oval Layers' die cuts.  I used the same ink pad to stamp the sentiment.  The tulip head stamp was stamped with a mixture of Versafine Clair 'Golden Meadow' and 'Summertime', punched out with a matching punch and attached to the card with foam pads to add some dimension.  The designer paper is from Stampin' Up. Three brown pearls finished off my card. 

Prizes (given by Mia):

1st prize:

Deco Star stencil

2nd prize:

Tote bag with handmade bow

3rd prize:

Handmade writing book cover

Please hop over the the challenge blog to see all the creations the DT have made for inspiration.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #591 ~ Spring

I Spy With My Little Eye Challenge #13 ~ Something Yellow

Make My Monday Challenge #221 ~ Spring, Flowers, weather etc.

Triple B March 2024 Challenge ~ Birds, Butterflies, Blooms

Stamping Sensations March Challenge ~ Spring

We Love Stamping March Challenge ~ Feminine

Cardz 4 Galz Challenge #221 ~ Spring Flowers with Dies and or Punches

Double Trouble Challenge #162 ~ Spring Florals

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge ~ Anything Florals Goes

Split Stepper Card with Pop Out

I watched Lisa Shaw's live video on Nifty Noodle Crafting page this morning demonstrating a 'new to me' fold.  I decided to give my card a sea theme, which I thought might be suitable for a masculine or feminine card.

 

The patterned paper was snippets from a paper pad from The Works.  The dolphin is a Lin and Lene die cut, cut from a snippet of silver holographic card.  The tiny fish and seahorse were from a Memory Box 'Ocean Corner' die cut, I snipped out the parts I needed.  I added some silver holographic Card Candi and a sentiment.  The card folds flat for posting.

When I started making the card I got out various snippets from the same paper pad and some navy blue card.  Originally I was going to use a couple of different patterns but in the end just used one, so I've plenty of snippets left for another project.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #476 ~ Use Snippets

Dream Valley Challenge # 312 ~ Dies and AND/OR Punches

Three Panel Cards

I've bought a few 12" x 12" paper pads from The Range recently which include a couple of sheets with a large design across the whole page.  I've used one of the pages to make these two cards.  The top half of the page was plain navy blue, so I'll save it to use for mats on future cards.

Allsorts Challenge ~ Fur and/or Feathers

A new Allsorts Challenge begins today and Ellie has chosen the theme 'Fur and/or Feathers'. I'm sure you will all have lots of ideas of how to interpret this theme.  As always there is also the Anything Goes option.

I was crafting with friends a while ago and borrowed a set of Lisa Horton's 'Red Red Robin' layering stencils to play around with.  I used a square of white card with several different inks. Somehow I got a few stray bits of ink of the card where they shouldn't be and I didn't know how to cover them up.  The image has been sat on my desk for a few weeks, waiting for some inspiration of what to do with it.  Finally I decided to fussy cut the image.... something I really dislike doing.  The background was embossed with a Crafter's Companion 'Snowflakes' embossing folder.

Prizes are from our generous sponsors, Craftstash and AALL and Create

I am joining in the following challenges:

Ellie's I Spy With My Little Eye ~ Something Beginning with B (bird) 

ABC Christmas Challenge ~ E For Embossing 

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge # 158 ~ Anything Christmas Goes

Little Dutch Girl

A card I can post on my blog now that I know it's been received.  

I won this lovely Aall & Create stamp (#888) recently over on the Nifty Noodles Crafting Facebook page and inked it up for the first time.  The image was coloured with Promarkers and I used Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities dies for matting and layering.  The background was embossed with Spellbinders 'Dainty Dots' embossing folder.  I added three Card Candi and a sentiment to finish off my card.

All the card used was from my snippets drawer, except for the card base.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #475 ~ Use Snippets

NBUS Challenge # 60 ~ Use Never-Before-Used-Schtuff

Stamping Sensations March Challenge ~ Spring/Anything Goes

We Love Stamping March Challenge ~ Feminine

Allsorts Challenge ~ Use Yellow

Lynn has chosen the theme of  'Use Yellow' for this week's Allsorts Challenge .  It would be lovely to see the challenge blog filled with yellow creations, but as always there is the option of A/G.  I had to go with Sunflowers for a yellow theme!

I thought I'd have a change from making a card for my DT creation, so I've made a Milk Carton Gift Box.  The box was made from a sheet of card measuring 10½" x 8" and I watched a video on the Nifty Noodles Crafting Facebook page for the instructions for making this size.   The patterned paper is from The Range and I layered it on plain yellow mats.  A bulldog clip keeps the box closed.

Prizes are from our generous sponsors, Craftstash and AALL and Create.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #14 ~ Anything Floral Goes

Make My Monday Challenge #220 ~ Fun Folds

Allsorts Challenge ~ Spring

This is my second post today, please scroll down to see my Crafty Calendar Challenge DT card.

A new Allsorts Challenge begins today and Lorraine has chosen the theme of 'Spring'.  There is always the option of Anything Goes if you haven't got anything Spring related.

I love to see snowdrops appearing in my garden as a sign that spring it on its way.  The snowflake is a preloved die a bought a little while ago and I'm using it for the first time.  It didn't come in the packaging, so I don't know the brand.  It's a large die which fills a DL card.  I die cut the snowdrop in white and used green and vanilla Promarkers to add the colour.  The background was embossed with an A4 embossing folder.  I'm not sure of the brand as there is nothing written on the folder.  It possibly might be Creative Expressions.  I added a strip of green organza ribbon and raised up the sentiment on foam pads.

 

Prizes are from our generous sponsors, AALL and Create and Aldridge Crafts.

I am joining in the following challenges:

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge ~ Anything Goes with Dry Embossing

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #710 ~ Female (I love floral cards for feminine cards)

NBUS Challenge #60 ~ Use Never-Before-Used-Schtuff

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #242 ~ Floral, Embossing, Favourite Colours (I love yellow and green together for Spring cards)