Daring Cardmakers - Getting Punchy With It!

Keryn has set the Dare this week at Daring Cardmakers as follows:-

"I love punches and use them on almost every card I make. This week I want you to join with me and make a card, any type, any theme but it needs to use your latest craft punch purchase. If you haven't bought any punches for a while or don't own any at all your latest craft purchase will be quite acceptable".

My card:-

I purchased 2 new punches last Sunday 1 mega sized retro flower punch and a tiny retro flower punch and I used them both for the pink flowers on my card.

The yellow flower has been punched out using the whale of a punch sized retro flower punch so this should give you an idea of the size of the others.

To create the largest of the flowers I drew around the largest chipboard peek-a-boo flower from Craftwork Cards and hand cut it.

I used Martha Stewart border punches (Doily Lace and Arch Lattice) to make the decorative edges to some of the petals.

So that's my "New" and other punches covered.

Other items used:-

Craftwork Cards - Lots of Dots Vellum

Pink Paper - Doodlebug Designs

Bazzill and DCWV Textured Card Stock

Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' Embossing Folder

Sizzix Branch w/leaves Die

Sentiment - Melissa Frances Rub-On

Prima - Say it in Crystals Swirl (part)

Inkssentials white pen

Gem Brad and Faux Flower Stamen from stash

Lynda xxx

An Award from Dolly

What a lovely surprise - the very lovely and very (and I mean very) talented Vicky, or Dolly as we have all come to know and love her, has sent me this lovely award.

I am so thrilled - thank you Vicky!

Now the hard bit - I have to say 5 things about myself and then pass it on to 5 others to keep the smiles rolling on.

1. My 2 favourite TV programmes are Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives - I will actually stop crafting to watch these!

2. My 2 favourite authors are J.K. Rowling and Jeffrey Archer (quite a contrast there lol) - don't read much these days - too busy crafting!

3. I Love Baking but hate Ironing.

4. I was into Pottery for about 20 years and had my own little workshop.

5. I really hate Mushrooms, Peppers and Liver yuk yuk yuk!

I would really like to pass this onto the following very lovely and talented ladies:-

1. Kathy

2. Pascale

3. Jan

4. Sue

5. Deanne

I could have picked a whole load more to send this to as there are loads of talented ladies out there who really make me smile when I visit their wonderful blogs but rules is rules lol.

Love Lynda xxx

Winter Wonderland - Open Theme

I'd like to say a huge thank you to the team over at Winter Wonderland for having me as their guest for the last couple of weeks and I feel so privileged to have had my cards and projects showcased on their wonderful blog.

This week the very talented Teri (who is not only on the Design Team but also has her very own Digital Stamp Shop) has kindly given us a very beautiful image of a Dove to work with and I have absolutely fallen in love with it. You can find more of Teri's digital stamps here. If you use Copics the printer ink doesn't 'bleed' when colouring!

These are the cards I made:-

Items used:-

1st card:-

DP - Basic Grey "Eskimo Kisses" 6x6 paper pad

Distress Ink - Broken China

Copics

Craftwork Cards - Poinsettias and Card Candy

Woodware Holly Punch

Bazzill Card Stock

Nestabilities

Glamour Dust

American Crafts Rub-Ons

2nd card:-

Stampin Up - Medallion Stamp

Distress Ink - Broken China

Copics

Melissa Frances Rub-Ons

Ribbon from stash

Glamour Dust

3rd card:-

Distress Ink - Broken China

Copics

Nestabilities

Krylon silver Leafing Pen

Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Dovecraft Snowflake Punch

I also made the above Advent Calendar which started out as being a flat one! I made 24 very simple pockets (instructions below) and placed 6 rows of 4 of them onto a sheet of black card. Then I thought it was going to be too big so I scored between each row and joined the ends and made a cylinder. At this point it stood on it's own and was very sturdy so I thought it would be a good idea to fill it with treats and the pockets could contain little notes that instructed how many treats could be had on that day I cut 6 strips of felt slightly bigger than each of the sides, sewed them together and then cut a circle of felt and sewed that into the bottom to make the liner, I then added a lace edge to the top.

To make the pockets:-

Cut a strip of paper 15cms x 6cms

Score at 4cms and 10cms and fold edges together.

Use a Corner Rounder for the Top Flap and a Circle Punch to punch a half circle out of the edge of the Bottom Flap.

Glue the sides to form a pocket.

Cut out Circles of Co-ordinating Card Stock using a 1" punch and glue just the bottom half of the circle to the pocket so that the top flap slips under it to close.

Print the numbers 1 to 24 and cut out using a 3/4" punch and adhere to larger circle.

************

Another idea I thought of was that the pockets could contain those Chocolate Coins as they are flat enough to fit into them and a Christmas Floral Arrangement could be placed in the centre. You wouldn't have to make a liner then!

Lynda xxx

Carol's Sketch Fun #17

I always love to use Carol's sketches, she doesn't make them over fussy or complicated and I am always pleased with my finished cards and this time I got 2 for the price of 1 lol.

This week's sketch:-

My cards:-

Another dull day so not a good photograph I'm afraid but I'm sure you've all seen these papers so will know how lovely they look in 'real life' lol.

I cut out the baubles on my QuicKutz Silhouette and as I had to cut two different colours I thought I may as well make two cards.

Items Used:-

Baubles cut from Self Adhesive QuickStripz

Bazzill Card Stock

DPs - My Mind's Eye and Basic Grey

Melissa Frances Rub-Ons

Scallop Border Punch

Decorative Peel Off Borders

Lynda xxx

Daring Cardmakers - A Few of my Favourite Things

Our Lovely Kathy has set the Dare over at Daring Cardmakers this week.

"These are a Few of My Favourite Things"

This is a chance to go mad with the papers, embellishments, tools and styles you really love to use.
I'd like you to use at least 5 of your own personal favourite things on your card this week - if you can make it 10 then you can claim our DCM Gold Star - virtual, of course lol.
If you can't bear to give it away when it's full of all those treasured goodies, then make the card for yourself - you can always stick it up on your wall and enjoy seeing it every day!

That's it - any type of card, any occasion, any theme - just enjoy using your favourite stash and have fun.

I went "Christmas" again!

"Christmas" cards are my favourite make at the moment - I need to take the pressure off come December!

So my list of favourites for this card are:-

Craftwork Cards Card Blank - I use their card blanks for just about every card I make

My Mind's Eye Papers (think they're everyone's favourite at the moment)

Bazzill Card Stock (green)

DCWV Textured Card Stock (white)

Card Candy also from Craftwork Cards

Liquid Pearls

Melissa Frances Rub-Ons

Creata Sticker Image - Owls are one of my favourites from this pack. The Robins and Rudolphs are also favourites - not keen on the snowman and I think the teddies are positively scary! (I purchased these from QVC)

Doodling/Faux Stitching

Sizzix Branch w/leaves Die

Woodware Holly Punch

Nestabilities (Circle)

QuicKutz Silhouette (Scallop Circle)

I can't believe I haven't used any Flowers, Gems or Stickles! I might have to go back and add a few lol

Lynda xxx

Penny Black Saturday - Wk 71

It's week 71 at Penny Black Saturday Challenge and there's a great sketch to follow yet again... and a fabulous prize on offer too. The Design Team as always have produced some fabulous cards.

The Sketch:-

My card:-

Penny Black Stamp is the sentiment one "To You...."

Image is a new stamp I've just bought by Magenta - no name on it!

I've used Marvy-le-Plume Pens to ink the stamps and then added Stickles.

DP from The Whimsy Stack by DCWV

Textured Card Stock by DCWV

Nestabilities

Cuttlebug Swiss dots Embossing Folder

Sizzix Embossing Folder - Damask Pattern

Sizzix Leaf Die

Card Candy

Distress Ink - Broken China

Lynda xxx

The Wheels on the Bus....

....go round and round!

I'm always up for a challenge lol.

One of my Best Friends, Susan, had been asked by a colleague at work to make a card with the theme "The Wheels on the Bus go round and round" and before she could say "I don't think I've got anything that would be suitable" the chap just said "I know you can do it I'll leave it with you!" Why do people do that? Just because we make cards doesn't mean we can make ANY card with ANY theme without the necessary stuff to do it! Or can we lol. I couldn't leave it, I had to have a go and this is the card I came up with:-

DP - The Green Stack by DCWV

Trees from Little Sprout Collection by Crate Paper

All in the Family Stamp set by Stampin Up

Bus, Bus Sign and Road - Handmade by me

Bazzill Card Stock

Sentiments - Computer Generated using "Scrap Twiggy" Font from ScrapNFonts

This was one of those "it just came together" cards. The ones that always end up being my favourites. I am quite chuffed to bits with it.

Lynda xxx

Winter Wonderland - Christmas Stocking

The lovely team over at Winter Wonderland have invited me to be Guest Designer for this week and next! I've been following the challenges every single week since they started and I am so glad that I have as my Christmas card stash is looking quite healthy now. That's got to take some of the pressure off come December! The Design Team have been thoroughly inspirational and there's some really talented ladies over there so why don't you pop over and have a look at what they have created and have a go yourself.

This week the theme is "The Christmas Stocking"

and this is my card:-

Christmas Stocking cut out using QuicKutz Silhouette

QuickStripz Self Adhesive Cardstock

Cuttlebug Swirls Embossing Folder

Glitter - Denami Design 'Sparklets'

Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias

Ribbon and Brads from stash

Hand Cut Tag

Sentiment - Basic Grey Clear Stamps "North Pole"

The background paper is some I have had for a while and the piece I have doesn't have any brand name.. sorry!

Lynda xxx

Daring Cardmakers - I Can See Clearly Now!

This week's dare over at Daring Cardmakers has been set by Lythan as follows:-

I can see clearly now

and I would love to see something clear on your card. It could be an acetate card, an acetate embellishment, a window cut in the card, clingfilm, OHP sheet, Mirror fragments - anything that shows that your card is clearly one of the best!

My card:-

Items Used:-

Acetate Card from Craftwork Cards

Bazzill Card Stock

Sizzix Spooky House and Ghosts#2

Fence, Scallop and Apron Lace Border Punches

Circle Punch

Sizzix "Happy Halloween" Clear Stamps

Black and White Stazon Ink Pads

Inkssentials White Opaque Pen

Lynda xxx

Edited to add:- I've had a few comments asking how long it took me to make this card. It was at least 8 hours! I knew exactly how I wanted it to turn out but really struggled - me and acetate do not get on at all - I think it hates me lol. Having said that now I've made it I could probably make another one in less than an hour so don't let me put you off. It's just a case of sticking with it.

Three's a.....

......production line. Well for me it is. I look around other people's blogs and they are so organised and make batches of Christmas cards all in one go. I find it really hard to be so disciplined and am always making just the "one". So I set myself the challenge of making a batch. Yep all 3 of em lol... and here they are:-

Stamps:-

"En Francais" and "Medallion" for the background

Sentiment was cut from the "Punches Three" set all by Stampin Up.

"Leaping Deer" by Penny Black

Distress Inks - Brushed Corduroy and Broken China

Nestabilities

I used my QuicKutz Silhouette to cut out the flower shape

Brads

Lynda xxx

Winter Wonderland - Gingerbread

I was in a right old flap when I saw the theme for this week's Winter Wonderland challenge. Gingerbread! I haven't got anything in my crafting stash that even remotely says "gingerbread" so I had to have a real ponder over this one. After putting my thinking cap on though I remembered I had seen cards with recipes on them so that was the start - look on t'internet for a simple recipe - got that done! Then I looked for a template for a gingerbread man and found one. I reduced the sizing and printed a couple onto the back of some card stock cut them out and decorated them with liquid pearls (before decorating the little men I used an embossing tool around the edges just to take away the sharpness of them being cut out by scissors).

I quite like the little gingerbread men and will no doubt be making some more now. They would even make great little decorations for the tree too!

Lynda xxx

Carol's Sketch Fun #16

It's time for another sketch over on Carol's Sketch Fun and as ever Carol as given us a fab one to follow. There's also a great prize on offer too to one lucky winner - a voucher for some Stampin Up goodies! Fantastic!

Carol's Sketch:-

My Card:-

DPs - My Mind's Eye - Bloom & Grow Collection 6"x6"

(flowers and leaves cut from 12"x12" papers)

DCWV Textured Card Stock

Sentiment Stamp - Penny Black

Nestabilities

Scallop Border Punch

Liquid Pearls

Brad from stash

Lynda xxx

Daring Cardmakers - Autumn Purple

I just can't believe it Friday again! so soon! How quick are the weeks flying by?

The only good thing is that it means there is another fab Dare over at Daring Cardmakers so why don't you pop over to see what the rest of the DT have come up with for inspiration and have a go yourself. We love to come and have a look at what you've all created.

Vanessa has set the Dare this week as follows:-

This week we're seeing purple! You can blame me (Vanessa) for this one. I'm not a great fan of purple, but after wandering through the streets browsing the shop windows of my new town, I saw lots of purple going on in the fashion displays. So that is your brief for this week! :) Anything goes as long as the predominate colour is purple.

My card:-

I don't have much in the way of purple in my crafting stash but after a major rummage I found two papers that matched up quite well. They're by Daisy Bucket and DCWV. I also found some gorgeous Bazzill Bling card stock too so that was the main papers sorted! The creamy/brown lined paper unfortunately doesn't have any manufacturer's name on it but it was perfect for printing the quote onto.

Other items used:-

Scalloped Edge Frame by Spellbinders

Woodware Leaf Punch

Tim Holtz "Love" Adage Ticket (I used some rub-ons to add the word "with")

Prima - Windsor Rose

Large Purple Flower and Ribbon from stash

Card Candy - coloured with Copics

Lynda xxx

Cupcake Craft Challenge 60 - Thanks a Bunch

Over at Cupcake Craft Challenges this week the theme is "Thanks a Bunch"

My card:-

Main image is from Popcorn the Bear "Thanks a Bunch" set from Crafter's companion. This stamp is also a lot bigger than you think. There's not much room left for anything else so I've simply coloured the image with Copics and attached a second layer of flowers with silicone glue. I matted and layered onto Bazzill Card Stock and added a Melissa Francis Rub-On and then finished off by adding Stickles glitter glue to the flowers.

Lynda xxx

Penny Black Saturday wk 69 - Autumn Breezes

Well there's definitely been some very strong Autumn Breezes blowing over the country this last week so it's apt that the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is embracing our wonderful weather lol with the following challenge:-

AUTUMN BREEZES

As always you can create a card....altered art..bag...notebook...scrapbook layout...etc ...the only RULE being that you use at least one Penny Black image or sentiment.

If you don't have any Autumny Penny Blacks......don't worry....just go with autumn colours

Here's my card:-

Stamps:-

Penny Black - "To you..."

Hero Arts - Graceful leaves and Sketch Blossom 4

Bazzill Kraft Card Stock

Plain White Card Stock

Distress Inks - Aged Mahogany, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick and Mustard Seed

Nestabilities

Paper Crimper

Woodware Leaf Punch

Stickles

Lynda xxx

Winter Wonderland - Sleigh Bells Ring

Ooooh I'm on a bit of a roll today! Don't ask me where this card came from though - it's a bit different and simple lol.

Over at Winter Wonderland the theme is Sleigh Bells Ring so I wanted to create a scene of the sleigh flying over the rooftops. I knew I had a sleigh on my QuicKutz Silhouette so set off with that and the rest just happened!

Here's my card:-

Cityscape, Sleigh, Celebrate - cut out on QuicKutz Silhouette using Self Adhesive QuickStrips.

Background Paper - BoBunny "Tis the Season"

Bazzill Cardstock

Melissa Frances Rub-On

I used my Penny Black "Leaping Deer" stamp and stamped the deer's legs off to the front of the sleigh and there's a sort of flourish coming off the deer's head so I stamped that at the back of the sleigh to try and create some "movement".

It's not your "normal" Christmas card but I think it would be ideal to send to a man lol.

Lynda xxx

Allsorts Challenge #21 - Kraft

This is the challenge over at Allsorts this week:-

This week we would like you to use the colour 'Kraft'

...and the wording is aptly coloured in pink as they have a fab sponsor this week in the form of Pink Petticoat. I absolutely love Pink Petticoat designs and just wish I had them all. But I have managed to make a card that incorporates one of the designs I do have. Hope you like it!

Backing Paper and Main Image - Pink Petticoat

Bazzill Kraft Cardstock

Foiled Kraft Paper from Craftwork Cards

Copics

Ribbon and Buttons from Stash

Lynda xxx

Daring Cardmakers - Folding Up

What a difference a week can make!

Last Friday I posted my final card as Guest Designer for the Daring Cardmakers. Well, not long after that I receive a lovely e-mail from Kathy asking me if I would like to stay on and become a full time member of the team. I was absolutely dumbstruck to say the least.... and the answer was a very resounding YES please!

This was the first challenge blog I ever entered a card onto and it really helped me get going with my own blog. After all I needed to have something to post and the support from the team with comments etc real gave me the confidence to carry on. Little did I know then that I would actually be a part of that team now! So I would like to say hello to the rest of the team and thank you all for having the confidence in me.

I'd also like to wish Sue well too - she had to have emergency surgery on her eye this week and has to lie still for a week or so until everything settles down. I really hope things improve very quickly for you Sue. Take care xxx

So onto this week's Dare:-

Folding Up

It's "just what it says on the tin", we'd like to see some folds on your cards this week.
Fold the whole card, fold some paper, fold some ribbon.
Do some origami, teabag folding or just fold over a corner of your paper to reveal the other side.
As long as there's some sort of folding used as a feature of your card then it counts. Any subject, any theme, any reason.

Why don't you pop on over here to see what the team have created for inspiration and have a go yourself.

Here's my card:-

A different angle just so you can see the fold and the inside.

There's also some folding going on on the two strips of paper ribbon on the front on the card too!

The image is by Unity Stamp Co. and is courtesy of the lovely Carol who kindly posted me some stamped images. I just love it. Thanks Carol you're a star.

Image coloured with water colour pencils

DP - Crate Paper "Little Sprout" Collection

Greeting on inside - Penny Black Stamp "...every day"

Distress Inks - Tea Dye

Nestabilities

Stickles

Gems

Lynda xxx

Penny Black Saturday wk 68 - Colour Challenge

The challenge this week on Penny Black Saturday is a colour one - we have to use:-

CHOCOLATE....LEMON & PINK

Image and Sentiment - Penny Black "Dino Party"

Paper - DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies Stack

DCWV Pastel Textured Card Stock Stack

Copics

Sizzix Flowers, Branches and Leaves Set

Nestabilities

Retro Flower Punches

Card Candy

Lynda xxx